President Joe Biden made his way to the Teamsters headquarters in Washington on Tuesday to make the case as to why he should win members’ support in November as both he and former President Donald Trump vie for the powerful union’s endorsement.
Biden – who often touts himself as the most pro-union president in U.S. history – traveled less than two miles from the White House for the “rank-and-file Presidential roundtable,” as the union billed it. There, he is expected to meet with Teamsters’ president Sean M. O’Brien, general secretary-treasurer Fred Zuckerman and the Teamsters General Executive Board as well as union members, all behind closed doors, according to the group.
“We realize that President Biden’s time is limited and we appreciate that he is making it a priority to meet with Teamsters,” O’Brien said in a statement. “Our rank-and-file members and leadership are eager to have this conversation about the future of our country and the commitments that working people need from our next President.”
Tuesday’s discussion is expected to include conversations on workers’ wages and wealth inequality, antitrust enforcement in the warehouse and package delivery industries, and the freedom to form and join a union more quickly among other topics.
The 1.3 million-member union representing workers in a diverse range of industries endorsed Biden in 2020 and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. But the group has held off throwing its support behind Biden’s reelection bid early, meeting with Trump in Washington in January as well as other current or past candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Asa Hutchinson, Marianne Williamson, Dr. Cornel West, and Dean Phillips.
“Stranger things have happened,” Trump told reporters following his meeting with the group in Washington in January regarding a possible endorsement in the face of the union passing him up in 2020 and 2016.
O’Brien also made the trip to Florida in January to sit-down with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, an event that featured the two posing for a picture together. The potent force in the labor world also drew headlines when its PAC donated $45,000 to a fund for the Republican National Committee in January. The Teamsters’ PAC also donated thousands to the Democratic National Committee’s fund in December.
Through these roundtable conversations, the Teamsters want to make sure that all our members’ voices are heard and our elected officials do not take for granted the power of the Teamsters vote,” O’Brien said in a statement ahead of his meeting with Biden.
Biden and Trump, both of whom have yet to officially lock up enough delegates to win their parties’ nominations but look all but certain to be headed for a 2020 rematch in November, are looking to shore up support from organized labor – something that could be crucial to winning the blue-collar workers in swing states like Michigan and Wisconsin.
Biden secured the endorsement of the United Auto Workers union in January, months after making history when he joined striking UAW members on the picket line in Michigan as they pursued better pay and benefits from the Big Three Detroit automakers.
The president called out UAW Shawn Fain as a “great friend and a great labor leader” during his State of the Union address on Thursday. The White House invited Fain to the address to watch with the first lady from her viewing box.
The UAW leader has feuded with Trump, calling the former president a “scab” while endorsing Biden this year.