Faux radical misleaders like International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien and International Longshoreman Association Harold Daggett have crossed the line from labor independence to tailing Donald Trump and his far right Republican regime. United Auto Workers President Shawn Fein also stated that the union would “support aggressive tariff action to protect American manufacturing jobs” as Trump leveraged new tariffs on Canada and Mexico. All three leaders have demonstrated a shocking lack of intestinal fortitude in protecting workers rights. In reality, these misleaders of labor are playing right into the hands of Trump’s attack against workers and turning the class struggle into a nationalist one.
Sean O’Brien’s comments during his interview with Sen. Josh Hawley stating that “people are trying to protect illegal aliens that come here and commit crimes … and steal jobs” gives cover for the bosses to continue pitting workers against each other. Harold Daggett credited Trump with being a “true friend of the working class” after securing a tentative Master Contract in early January. Fein spent so much time at the DNC calling Trump a scab and how he will hurt workers to then support his tariff plan.
Right now is the time when unions need to be working towards independent political action, not tailing the Democrats or Republicans. O’Brien’s speech at the RNC in July 2024 was welcomed, not because Republicans are going to be a party for workers, but because it represented an opening in our ability to reach conservative workers with a class-oriented message.
The lack of an independent labor party in the United States means that inevitably there will be a rightward shift as more people pull away from the Democratic Party. Misleaders like O’Brien, Daggett, and Fein only encourage a rightward drift even more with their sloganeering about “protecting American jobs”. Fein’s comments may not have been xenophobic like O’Brien’s, but a tariff war and attack on immigrants both objectively help the bosses. The working class needs unity now the most, not more division.
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