In short order, and in an apparent rebuke of the national leadership, a number of local and state affiliates of the Teamsters announced that they would endorse the candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris, even as a poll of rank-and-file Teamsters members indicated that 60% support former President Donald Trump.

But the nonendorsement by the national organization was hardly a surprise for anyone who has observed the political and organizational shift that the Teamsters, one of the nation’s largest unions, has undergone over the past three years. It is a shift that long predates the historic speech Teamsters President Sean O’Brien gave at the Republican National Convention in July, even as the local chapters continue to operate in a more partisan fashion.

In 1992, the Teamsters union endorsed former President Bill Clinton in his successful bid for the White House. It marked a departure for the union, which had endorsed the Republican ticket in three successive elections. President Ronald Reagan had earned the support of the union in both of his landslide campaigns of 1980 and 1984, and President George H. W. Bush earned the union’s endorsement in his 1988 campaign.

But in endorsing Clinton, the Teamsters repudiated the previous 12 years of Republican governance.

“Many Teamsters supported George Bush and Ronald Reagan, who promised ‘jobs, jobs, jobs,’” then-union President Ron Carey said at the time. “The Republicans failed to deliver.”

While the union would elect to stay out of the 1996 race, the last time no candidate received a Teamsters endorsement, Carey would go on to win reelection to another term as president of the union the same year, narrowly defeating James Hoffa Jr., the son of Jimmy Hoffa, the famed union president whose disappearance in 1975 remains a matter of intrigue and speculation.

It proved to be a short-lived victory. A year later, the federal government launched an investigation into the union and ordered a new election, which was won by the younger Hoffa, and the Teamsters would go on to endorse the Democratic candidate in every presidential election during his 24-year tenure atop the union.

Ahead of the 2021 Teamsters presidential election, James Hoffa Jr. announced that he intended to retire at the conclusion of his term. On his way out, he endorsed his ally Steve Vairma to succeed him. But O’Brien, who was fired by James Hoffa Jr. while leading a UPS contract negotiation in 2017, defeated Vairma in a landslide vote on a promise to make reforms to the union’s operations.

At the same time that the younger Hoffa retired, clear evidence was emerging that rank-and-file Teamsters members were no longer supporting Democrats, even as the leadership continued to enjoy cozy relationships with the party’s politicians and wrote them large checks.

With O’Brien in charge, the union began to operate much differently. It pushed for more aggressive strikes that secured more lucrative contracts for workers and offered a willingness to work with any politician, regardless of party, who was interested in advancing the union’s policy goals. In one unusual move, the Teamsters worked with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) on legislation and then, in a public show of support, donated $5,000 to his reelection campaign.

As the union began working toward an endorsement in the presidential race, it embraced a new process that indicated the organization’s support was not a given for Democrats. First, the union announced it would host each of the major candidates for sit-down interviews with union leadership, and second, it would also poll its members to ascertain their preference in the race.

The end result was a lack of sufficient commitment to either candidate for the union’s policy priorities and overwhelming support among its members for Trump.

In its statement on the nonendorsement, the Teamsters said that Harris had pledged to sign the union-backed PRO Act, which would prohibit employers from engaging in certain activities designed to quash worker organization, but did not commit to keeping the federal government out of contract negotiations with railway workers, a key priority for the Teamsters. At the same time, Trump also declined to endorse key union policy priorities, including vetoing “right to work” bills, even as he commanded the support of the rank-and-file members.

The two results left the union with three options. It could endorse Harris, who was despised by the rank-and-file and had refused to back all of their priorities. It could also endorse Trump, who declined to back their policy priorities but had the support of their members, and risk jeopardizing the union’s relationships with the Democrats. Instead, the Teamsters opted for the third option: Stay out of the race entirely and continue to find allies on both sides of the aisle who support their priorities.

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It may have proved shocking to a political class accustomed to the union endorsing Democrats. But under O’Brien, the union has not shied away from new attitudes.

On Wednesday, the union’s national leadership sent a clear message that no party can count on its support unless it is earned.