No doubt, Harris hoped to get the nod from the Teamsters, which has historically backed Democratic presidential candidates, including in 2016 and 2020. But despite their nonendorsement, Teamsters leadership still strongly prefers Harris’s Democratic policies over former President Donald Trump and Republicans values. That fact is clear in the Teamsters’ political spending, 99% of which goes to left-wing causes. Many of the union’s local leaders are also endorsing Harris.

The Teamsters’s true political loyalties are equally obvious in the union’s own reasoning for not endorsing anyone. The union highlighted the results of various polls the union conducted among its membership in recent months. In an electronic poll conducted between late July and mid-September, just shy of 60% of Teamsters members backed Trump. Only 34% backed Harris — that’s a 25% percentage point gap. In a phone survey conducted in mid-September, the gap was even wider, with 31% supporting Harris compared to 58% for Trump — close to a 2-1 margin. 

But the Teamsters leaders ignored their membership and declined to endorse Trump. They justified their decision by saying that polling “showed no majority support for Vice President Harris and no universal support among the membership for President Trump.” But majority support and universal support are two different standards. If a majority of members had supported Harris, it seems highly likely that Teamsters leaders would have endorsed her. They never demanded universal support among members in the past. But now they do so they don’t have to endorse a Republican.

Teamsters members should be furious that their voices have been ignored by the very union leaders who claim to represent them. Many will surely ask why they pay dues to an organization that clearly puts left-wing politics ahead of their own wishes.

The presidential election isn’t the only example. On issue after issue, labor unions such as the Teamsters take policy stands that don’t reflect the will of strong majorities of union members. Union leaders back Democratic priorities while the Republican Party largely stands for the same principles and policies as union members.

This fact has been clear since Trump’s first term. He and his fellow Republicans repeatedly pursued policies that union leaders loathed but union members loved. He protected the rights of independent contractors, which has the support of 67% of union households. Sixty-four percent backed his protection of franchise small businesses from union control. Trump also sought to increase transparency and disclosures of union finances, which 81% of union households support.

A second Trump term could see the GOP make further progress on union-member priorities. Polling shows that union members want guaranteed secret-ballot voting, protections for worker privacy, and right-to-work laws — all Republican policies. Yet union leaders oppose these same priorities. The Teamsters president made this fact clear in his speech to the Republican convention this summer, railing against the very policies his own members support.

Republicans should ignore union leaders’ far-left demands. They should also ignore union-curious “conservative” groups that want Republicans to compromise on their principles. Instead, they should continue to speak directly to the needs and wants of union members and workers. The GOP’s best bet to win this crucial voting bloc is to double down on worker freedom. 

Teamsters members lost when their leaders ignored them last week, but they can still win if Republicans pass the pro-worker policies they want and need.

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F. Vincent Vernuccio is president of the Institute for the American Worker.