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The appearance of Sean O’Brien, chairman of the Teamsters Union, in a major speech at the Republican National Convention raised eyebrows across the political spectrum regarding developments on the part of the unions and the Republican Party.
The union agenda and the traditional Republican agenda – free markets, free trade, free competition in the labor market – are not a cocktail that we normally think of as fitting together.
But we live in a political era of razor-thin majorities. Swing states are won with majorities of around 1%. To win the swing electorate, you have to be able to penetrate the gray area and win over voters who may not agree 100% with the candidate or the party’s entire platform – but for whom the benefits of one side outweigh the costs of the other.
Trump was successful with union voters. In 2016, he received 42% of the vote from union households. In 2020, that figure was 40%.
According to a recent Pew Research poll, 39% of union members are Republicans.
Furthermore, when we examine the polling data, we find a discrepancy between what voters think about unions and what workers actually do.
Regarding the latter, the data clearly show that fewer and fewer workers are joining unions.
In 1983, 20 percent of workers were unionized. Forty years later, in 2023, that figure was only 10 percent.
But polls show resentment across the country over the trend. According to Pew, 54 percent say the decline in union membership is bad for the country, and 43 percent say it is good.
Even among conservative Republicans, 60% say the decline in union membership is a good thing, according to the Pew poll, but 38% still think it is a bad thing.
The biggest gap is actually between the professional leadership of the unions and the mood of American workers.
As mentioned above, despite the rhetoric of union leadership, fewer and fewer workers are joining unions. And despite the fact that about 4 in 10 union members identify as Republican, union political spending is skewed in favor of Democrats. According to opensecrets.org, so far in 2024, of $165,892,301 in union political spending, 86.23% has gone to Democrats and 13.27% to Republicans.
Regardless of what O’Brien had to say at the Republican convention, his appearance was a victory for Republicans. O’Brien’s base is much more heavily in, or leaning toward, the Republican camp than her leadership, and that relationship is strengthened by having the president of one of the largest labor unions show up to speak to Republicans.
The most regrettable thing about O’Brien’s remarks is his completely distorted portrayal of the real problems facing American workers.
The idea that corporations, O’Brien says, somehow control everything (“The corporation has no consequences, only the worker”) and that unions are about giving working Americans the organized power to fight back is ridiculous.
If corporations controlled everything, their share prices would constantly rise. But that is not the case.
The Dow Jones list of the 30 most influential American industrial companies has been changed 58 times since its introduction in 1896.
Large companies come and go because markets are competitive and constantly changing.
And just as the American worker is further to the right than we might expect, the leadership of corporate America is also further to the left than we might expect. In recent years, the DEI, ESG and woke agenda have taken root in America’s largest companies.
The current conflicts in our country are not about business and workers getting into each other’s hair.
Today it is about keeping our market free, open and competitive.
Free, competitive markets mean that it is not business or work that will prevail, but excellence and performance.
This is what best serves our country domestically and internationally.
Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show “Cure America with Star Parker.” Her latest book, “What Is the CURE for America?”, is available now.
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