On Wednesday, the International Teamsters union made headlines by choosing not to endorse a candidate for president, even as it released internal polling showing its members support Donald Trump by a 16-point margin.

But Gregory Floyd, president of Local 237, the Teamsters chapter that represents some 24,000 public sector workers in the city and on Long Island, announced his members made a different choice.

“Our members want me to endorse Kamala Harris for president of the United States,” Floyd told NY1 in an exclusive interview.

What You Need To Know

  • In a break from its parent union, Teamsters Local 237 endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris for president

  • The International Teamsters had announced earlier Wednesday it would not endorse a candidate in the race

  • The parent union also released internal polling that showed its members support Donald Trump by a 16-point margin

Floyd said Harris is the candidate for working people, pointing to legislation passed under the Biden administration that provided tens of billions of dollars to shore up the union’s financially troubled pension plan.

“I’m certain that if the Teamsters really focused on what was done for them, they would understand that Kamala Harris, Joe Biden are for working people,” he said. “The Republicans had an opportunity to do it, and they didn’t do it.”

Sean O’Brien, the international president, raised eyebrows in July when he addressed the Republican National Convention. The Teamsters had endorsed the Democratic candidate in each of the last six presidential elections, dating back to 2000.

But after meeting with both candidates, including a visit by Kamala Harris on Monday, the union decided to break with longstanding tradition and sit the election out.

“Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business,” O’Brien said in a statement. “We sought commitments from both Trump and Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industries—and to honor our members’ right to strike—but were unable to secure those pledges.”

But Floyd said there was a difference in the two candidates’ records, given that then-President Trump didn’t bail out the pension fund.

“On that issue, comparing an issue that both had an opportunity on, President Biden came up aces,” he said. “Former President Trump came up zero.”