Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with Teamsters General Manager Sean O’Brien and union members as they discuss endorsements in the presidential election, the union said Thursday.
The Teamsters set September 16 as the date for the meeting. But a spokesman for Harris did not respond to questions about when the debate would take place.
The planned debate comes during an unusual election year for the 1.3 million-member union, which included O’Brien speaking at the Republican National Convention.
“Our members are the backbone of this nation, working in all 50 states and representing all political backgrounds. We look forward to discussing the direction of the country and the issues that matter to working people,” O’Brien said in a statement posted on the social media platform X.
It’s the latest development in a saga that has seen one of the country’s most prominent unions grapple internally and publicly with its decision to approve. Harris agreed last month to meet with the Teamsters, but the two sides have avoided publicly embracing each other despite other major unions rallying around the vice president after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
The Teamsters met with former President Donald Trump in January as part of an interview process it opened to all 2024 candidates. Harris was called up by the union in July.
O’Brien angered Teamsters members by speaking at the RNC that month, where he praised Trump after his assassination attempt. He also grilled companies for their hostility toward unions, though he stopped short of criticizing the Trump administration’s record, which many union leaders say is an attack on organized labor.
O’Brien later accused Trump of “economic terrorism” after the former president recommended firing the striking workers.
The Teamsters have historically supported Democrats, but the union has sought to condemn the GOP, and many union members are likely to vote for Trump, as they did in 2016.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report was incorrect when the meeting was announced.
