LTE: The Teamsters Boss Paid a Price for His GOP Speech

WSJ Letter to the Editor: The Teamsters Boss Paid a Price for His GOP Speech

Other union leaders think that even speaking to Republicans was a step too far.

A Letter to the Editor
Published in the Wall Street Journal
July 26, 2024
by F. Vincent Vernuccio, president of Institute for the American Worker

Sean O’Brien’s speech to the Republican National Convention wasn’t the end of the story (“An Enemy of the Workingman at the RNC” by Michael Saltsman and Charlyce Bozzello, op-ed, July 19). Since then, the Teamsters president has been widely condemned by his own organization and other unions. His ordeal shows how far to the left union leaders really are, and why Republicans shouldn’t think they’re newfound allies.

Mr. O’Brien hoped to buy political insurance with his speech—which would have fit in better at the Democratic convention—but others around him think even speaking to Republicans was too far. The Teamsters’ vice president announced that he’ll challenge Mr. O’Brien for the leadership because he went to “kiss the ring” of former President Donald Trump. The head of the AFL-CIO has criticized him for speaking to a party whose leaders “are on the bosses’ side.”

The reaction to Mr. O’Brien’s speech should give pause to labor-curious Republicans and supposedly “conservative” groups that think they can win over union leadership by abandoning worker freedom. Republicans should instead appeal directly to union members with the party’s longstanding and far more principled message of freedom and opportunity.

F. Vincent Vernuccio
Institute for the American Worker