Sean O’Brien closed the first night of the Republican National Convention with an address that was decidedly not the usual Republican fare, which he called attention to by telling the crowd in Milwaukee that he was the first president of the Teamsters union to address such a gathering.
O’Brien acknowledged at the outset that his presence had roiled his union, angered many on the left and sparked protests from anti-union voices on the right. He had asked for invitations to address the conventions of both parties, and he has not yet received a response from the Democrats, who gather next month.
His praise of former President Donald Trump — “In light of what happened to him on Saturday, he has proven to be one tough SOB,” O’Brien said — will not sit well with some leaders of his 1.3 million-member union. Nor will his praise for some other Republicans, including Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York.
But the Teamsters leader also laced into corporate America for having what he called no allegiance to the United States. He lamented that “Americans vote for a union but can’t get a union contract,” and he mourned workers who are fired for labor organizing.
“That is economic terrorism at its worst,” O’Brien said — rhetoric not usually heard in the halls of a Republican convention.
At first O’Brien’s remarks were well-received, particularly as he talked about the criticism he would receive from Democrats for speaking at the convention. But as he continued to speak, the audience fell largely quiet, a marked contrast to the enthusiastic applause and cheers for other speakers.
A few moments that were clearly intended as applause lines were greeted with just a few claps or outright silence. And as the speech went on, some in the auditorium turned away from O’Brien to look instead at Trump, who was seated on a riser toward the back of the room.
Many in organised labor say Trump was no friend of labor as president, while President Joe Biden has done pretty much all the unions have asked for, including signing into law a more than $30 billion bailout for the Teamsters’ embattled pension fund.
One rank-and-file Teamster responded to the address on social media: “A true Teamster Leader would not be at the Republican National Convention under any circumstances,” wrote Keith Gleason, a Chicago member. “Biden helped save our pensions, not Trump.”