Teamsters president uses historic RNC speech to denounce corporations
International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien gave a scathing convention speech against the country’s elites, big corporations and Washington’s status quo.
“In 2021, the Teamsters elected me to fight, and that’s precisely what I’m going to do. Something is wrong in this country,” O’Brien said. “And we need to say it out loud.”
He also pledged to be a voice for both union and non-union workers, while empathizing his support for “American workers.”
The Teamsters president decried “economic terrorism,” describing the forces against labor in the U.S. O’Brien pointed fingers at large corporations — naming Amazon, Uber and Lyft — as well as “big money” and big money lobbyists and lawyers. He also called out the harm of Right to Work laws, which make it harder to organize and have been passed mostly in GOP-run states.
O’Brien said that since he took the union’s top job, he’s been happy to find growing support from Republicans, including Donald Trump's running mate J.D. Vance and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).
“The Teamsters and the GOP may not agree on many issues, but a growing group has shown the courage to sit down and consider points of view that aren’t funded by big money think tanks,” he said.
O’Brien became the first union president to address the RNC, and directly addressed the criticisms against him.
“The Teamsters are doing something correct if the extremes of both parties think I shouldn’t be on this stage,” O’Brien said to a round of applause.
