Teachers union chief happy that Teamster boss ‘destroyed big business’ in RNC speech

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten is “happy” that Teamsters President Sean O’Brien spoke at the RNC.

“Personally, I’m glad @Teamsters President Sean O’Brien was at the RNC,” she posted on social platform. “AND [I’m] glad he attacked big business for their greed. Education used to be a bipartisan issue until the Republican Party thought reducing funding was a better strategy than helping all children thrive.”

O’Brien was the first Teamsters president to speak at a Republican National Convention, and during his speech he criticized “elites” whose only “loyalty is to the balance sheet.”

“Against gigantic multinational corporations, an individual worker has no power. Only when Americans come together in democratic unions can we achieve real improvements in wages, benefits and working conditions,” said O’Brien.

During his speech, O’Brien said that “workers have no chance of winning”, adding that he was at the convention because “he refuses to continue doing the same thing that my predecessors did”.

Unlike most other unions, the Teamsters have not yet supported President Biden. Unions are an important voting bloc within the Democratic Party, and Biden calls himself the “most pro-union president” in the country.

Reuters reported Monday that the Teamsters can choose not to support Biden or any other candidate.

Biden made history earlier this year by participating in a picket line of the United Auto Workers, becoming the first president to do so.

Throughout the campaign, former President Trump and Republicans have worked to turn out union voters in industrial states, including Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — three swing states that could determine the election.

After Trump met with Teamsters leaders in January, he speculated he might receive an endorsement from the union, saying, “Stranger things have happened.”

“Normally, a Republican wouldn’t get that endorsement,” he said. “But in my case it’s different because I employed thousands of truck drivers and I thought we should come here and pay our respects.”

O’Brien’s also visited Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida residence, and the Teamsters donated $45,000 to the Republican National Committee.

O’Brien was the last speaker at the convention on Monday night and also thanked Trump for “opening the doors” of the convention to him as union president.

Most unions do not support Trump, and Weingarten has been an outspoken critic of Trump since he was elected, saying one second A Trump presidency would “send the country backwards.” She has also been a regular target of attacks from Republican leaders.

After Trump announced Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate on Monday, other union leaders across the country criticized the pick, calling Vance a “beacon” who is not “pro-worker.”

“Don’t be fooled – behind all his crafty rhetoric, JD Vance is just another cheat for the corporate class who will sell out workers to American corporations. This note is not pro-worker or pro-union. It’s a billion-dollar ticket in full,” Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, posted in X.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story