Posts tagged Sean O’Brien
Democrats’ rift with unions erupts as shutdown pain worsens
October 31, 2025 // The White House on Thursday night released a video to social media in which the presidents of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, Allied Pilots Association and National Air Traffic Controllers Association endorse Republicans' stopgap government funding bill. "The biggest way to ensure the safety, security and reliability of our national air traffic control system is to pass a clean continuing resolution," said Jody Reven, president of the SAPA. The union leaders said a month of missed paychecks is distracting and stressful for Transportation Security Administration workers and air traffic controllers and will ultimately disrupt airport operations.
Op-ed: The Bad Teamsters Bargain With UPS
October 30, 2025 // Businesses that lose money and are uncompetitive won’t survive. See trucking company Yellow Corp., which filed for bankruptcy in 2023 in part owing to Mr. O’Brien’s labor militancy. Mr. O’Brien refused concessions and tweeted an image of a tombstone “Yellow: 1924-2023.” UPS doesn’t want to be Mr. O’Brien’s next victim. The Teamsters boss has insisted that its contract requires UPS to create 30,000 jobs. He hasn’t read the fine print—or is misleading his members. UPS merely committed to giving part-time employees a chance to apply for some full-time job openings. If UPS reduces job openings, workers don’t have an opportunity to fill them.
Labor Unions Are Chipping Away at Worker Freedoms One Bill at a Time
October 14, 2025 // The so-called Faster Labor Contracts Act is one of the first steps in this new tactical departure. The legislation would force employers to begin bargaining with a new union in just ten days. If the two parties don’t reach an agreement in 90 days, the government forces mediation. One month after that, the matter goes to binding arbitration, meaning an outside arbitrator will dictate wages, benefits, and workplace rules for years to come. That’s not worker freedom. It’s top-down federal control. Americans recognize proposals like this for what they are: a Washington power grab. A U.S. Chamber of Commerce survey released just two weeks ago found that 90% of voters oppose government-mandated union contracts without worker approval.
Teamsters president notes ‘positive change’ with growing Republican union support in Senate testimony
October 9, 2025 // Rachel Greszler, senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, said the complexity of collective bargaining agreements means that both workers forming a union and the employer need ample time to consider their implications for the future of the company and its workforce. "When you have a first contract, especially if you have a company that has never been involved in negotiations or a union, that it's the first time that they're representing workers, they need to understand all the issues," she explained. She also said contracts like the United Auto Workers union's agreements with automakers such as Ford can run thousands of pages when accounting for memorandums of agreement, with several hundred items covered under the bargaining agreement.
Labor Law Reform Part 1: Diagnosing the Issues, Exploring Current Proposals
October 7, 2025 //
Republicans invite Teamsters president to testify on labor laws
October 5, 2025 // Cassidy’s invitation comes after the Teamsters’ decision in September 2024 not to endorse a presidential candidate – the first time the union did so since 1996 – and follows O’Brien’s remarks at last year's Republican National Convention, the first time in history that the organization’s leader addressed the RNC. The hearing, which is set to take place next Wednesday, as well as O'Brien’s invitation to it, is emblematic of the GOP’s slow crawl toward embracing parts of a working-class union message that would have turned heads even half a decade ago.
Teamsters, firefighters union call for boycott of Dublin fire truck manufacturer Sutphen
September 25, 2025 // Last week, the regional office of the National Labor Relations Board found merit in new bad faith bargaining charges brought against Sutphen, according to the Teamsters' news release. Previously, the company settled with the NLRB in April over other unfair labor practice charges.
How California reached the unthinkable: A union deal with tech giants
September 15, 2025 // In roughly six weeks, three California Democrats, a labor head and two ride-hailing leaders managed to pull off what would have been unthinkable just one year prior: striking a deal between labor unions and their longtime foes, tech giants Uber and Lyft. California lawmakers announced the agreement in late August, paving a path for ride-hailing drivers to unionize as labor wanted, in exchange for the state drastically reducing expensive insurance coverage mandates protested by the companies. It earned rare public support from Gov. Gavin Newsom and received final approval from state lawmakers this week.
Kamala Harris pro-union X post inspires major Labor Day backlash
September 2, 2025 // An X post from former Vice President Kamala Harris on this Labor Day has generated hundreds of mostly critical comments. “When unions are strong, our communities and our country are strong. Every person in our nation has benefited from the labor movement. This Labor Day, we celebrate the workers and unions who have fought for fair wages, safe workplaces, and sick leave for all of us,” posted Harris. One commenter posted in response, “The Dems talking point for today is…UNIONS. Today is literally for the worker but in true form, democrats make it about the evil system.”
Op-ed: A GOP-Teamsters Alliance Makes No Sense
August 24, 2025 // Republicans getting on board with these ideas aren’t just awkward—they’re incoherent. There’s little evidence that endorsements from Teamsters executives move the needle in general elections, for parties or for candidates. Can Republicans credibly argue that filling the Teamsters’ coffers (and campaign-donation kitty) will result in the sort of political realignment some hope for, or even a lasting political windfall? The only guaranteed outcome is more power for the Teamsters and other unions over U.S. labor relations. If these overtures to the Teamsters backfire, Republicans can’t say they weren’t warned. As one GOP politician running for Missouri attorney general tweeted in 2015, after labor-aligned Republicans derailed state right-to-work legislation, “time for an end to union-backed candidates in GOP.”