By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said on Wednesday that the union will not endorse any U.S. presidential candidate despite polling that showed a majority of members backed Republican candidate Donald Trump over Democrat Kamala Harris.
The 1.3 million-member union - which represents truck drivers and a wide range of other workers ranging from airline pilots to zookeepers - had released a national electronic poll of its members Wednesday that showed rank-and-file members preferred the former president over Vice President Harris by 59.6% to 34%.
The Teamsters have endorsed every Democratic candidate for president since 2000 but have on occasion endorsed Republicans, including President Ronald Reagan in 1984 and Vice President George H.W. Bush in 1988. It is the first time since 1996 the union is not making an endorsement.
Most major unions have endorsed Harris, including the United Auto Workers union. The AFL-CIO, which represents 60 unions and 12.5 million workers, endorsed Harris in July.
The Teamsters' executive board endorsement had been widely anticipated because it was seen as a factor in a handful of battleground states that will decide the Nov. 5 election, including Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania, where union membership is strong.
"We couldn't get solid commitments on our core issues," Teamsters President Sean O'Brien told Fox News said in explaining the union's decision. "No endorsement I think sends a message to both parties that if they truly want to support working people, they have to re-evaluate it and understand that nothing is given, it is earned."
Harris campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt noted that despite the national union decision, some Teamsters locals have endorsed Harris. "When she is elected president, she will look out for the Teamsters rank-and-file no matter what - because they always have been and always will be the people she fights for," Hitt said.
Trump, speaking to reporters at a New York bar, said of the Teamsters decision not to endorse a candidate: "It's a great honor. They're not going to endorse the Democrats. That's a big thing."
In a later survey, the union said that, following the Sept. 10 presidential debate, independent polling firm Lake Research Partners found in a survey ending Sept. 15 that Teamsters members selected Trump by 58% for endorsement over 31% for Harris.
O'Brien and other union representatives met with Harris on Monday after meeting with Trump in January.
The Teamsters said its own polling data showed that, before Biden's withdrawal from the presidential race on July 21, members backed Biden 44.3% to Trump’s 36.3%.
O'Brien spoke to the Republican National Convention in July, but also criticized Trump for suggesting that workers who go on strike could be fired.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Heather Timmons, Chizu Nomiyama, Jonathan Oatis and Alistair Bell)
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