EDITORIAL: Sean O’Brien Continues Selling Out Workers as He Embraces So-Called “Right-to-Work”

Last month, Teamster-backed, Trump Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer had her confirmation hearing before the Senate, and as predicted, what little pro-labor sentiment she once claimed melted away. What was Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien’s reaction to the hearing? You guessed it; he has caved on so-called “Right-to-Work” while still claiming to be against it.

When pressed by resident sycophant Senator Rand Paul over her endorsement of the PRO Act in Congress, Ms. Chavez-DeRemer backed off her support for the provision repealing state “Right-to-Work” laws. In response, Sean O’Brien not only doubled down on the Teamsters’ endorsement of Chavez-DeRemer but stated he’s working with Senator Josh Hawley in creating a version of the PRO Act that “may not include” repealing of “Right-to-Work.”

In the same interview, ironically on anti-worker Fox News, O’Brien stated, “That’s the beauty of having conversations with people from the other side, where you can collaborate and actually find out what works for that state, what doesn’t work for it—but more importantly, what’s going to work for the American worker.” This statement insinuates that “Right-to-Work”, a notorious union-busting tool promoted by oligarchs to maintain the open shop may work in some states.

Sean O’Brien is the poster child of the modern misleaders of labor, his hollow capitulation on “Right-to-Work” is his latest abandonment of the working class. The closed shop, something our class-oriented forebears fought—and in many cases were murdered for—should be the standard we fight for. Instead of fighting the ravages the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 has leveled against the American labor movement Sean O’Brien is now falling in line with the capitalist bosses.

LUEL saw potential in the Teamster’s non-endorsement in last year’s presidential election as a potential shift towards independent labor political action. Unfortunately, without a strong rank-and-file movement leading the way for an independent labor party, the misleaders of labor, led by Sean O’Brien, are using any potential momentum towards further entrenching “labor-management cooperation” at a time when the capitalist class is intensifying its attacks on the working class.