Mikeinmich wrote: Wed Sep 18, 2024 9:19 pm I saw this today.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/teamsters-un ... 56888.html

The teamsters have refused to endorse either Harris or Trump. The internal survey they took is pretty damaging to Harris (2/3 support Trump). I was a bit surprised to say the least.

Following the Republican National Convention and Biden’s exit, the Teamsters commissioned a national electronic poll of its 1.3 million members, overseen by an independent third party. During a voting window from July 24 to Sept. 15, rank-and-file Teamsters voted 59.6% for the union to endorse Trump, compared to 34% for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

In the past week, following the Democratic National Convention and recent presidential debate, the Teamsters commissioned independent polling firm Lake Research Partners to conduct the union’s final national survey. This phone poll resulted in Teamsters selecting Trump by 58% for endorsement over 31% for Harris.

Among the Teamsters’ board members, 14 voted to endorse neither, while three voted to endorse Harris. None voted for Trump.

“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,” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said in a statement. The union had “sought commitments from both Trump and Harris,” specifically about their union campaigns, core industries and right to strike, but was “unable to secure those pledges,” he added.

Ylatkit wrote: Wed Sep 18, 2024 11:27 pm I have never seen a labor union that wasn't hard-core Democrat.

The Carpenters build the stands for all the Democratic rallies, assisted by all the construction unions. As volunteers.

They're not just democrats. They're hard-core, heavy duty, all weather night capable low drag I-don't-want-to-hear-it, capital fucking D Democrats.

They don't need blue hats. They're in a labor union.

Ylatkit wrote: Thu Sep 19, 2024 11:00 am If you say so. Our experiences diverge again-- none of the "long haul" boys (we call them "over-the-road") I know are teamsters.

The union membership rate—the percent of wage and salary workers who were members of unions—was 10.0 percent in 2023, little changed from the previous year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The number of wage and salary workers belonging to unions, at 14.4 million, also showed little movement over the year. In 1983, the first year for which comparable data are available, the union membership rate was 20.1 percent and there were 17.7 million union workers.

The International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) has decided not to endorse a presidential candidate this election cycle in an effort to “preserve and strengthen” unity, according to a statement from the organization’s president.

“Today, the IAFF Executive Board, by a margin of 1.2%, voted to not endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election. Over the past year, the IAFF took unprecedented steps to hear our members’ views on the candidates and the policy issues that matter most to them,” labor leader Edward A. Kelly said in a statement. “The IAFF Executive Board determined that we are better able to advocate for our members and make progress on the issues that matter to them if we, as a union, are standing shoulder-to-shoulder. This decision, which we took very seriously, is the best way to preserve and strengthen our unity.”