Teamsters presidential candidates spar over direction of union

Two experienced candidates for Teamsters general president traded lively barbs in a spirited debate at the National Press Club Wednesday over which one can best lead their union’s 1.4 million members after the current long-time president, James P. Hoffa, steps down in March.

Vying to lead the union in the post-Hoffa era are Steve Vairma, international vice president at-large, who heads the Teamsters Power slate, and Sean M. O'Brien, international vice president-east, who represents the Teamsters United slate.

"I believe I’m the best candidate for this job going forward,” Vairma said in his opening statement. “Our focus is organizing.”

Hoffa, who has served as the Teamsters president for 23 years, has endorsed the Teamsters Power ticket. He is the son of Jimmy Hoffa, who led the Teamsters from 1957 to 1971.

Vairma touted his team for its “new, exciting energy, diversity in race, ethnicity, gender and most important, in industry [background].”  He and running mate Ron Herrera are the only incumbents on his ticket, he added.

O’Brien countered that his slate is best positioned to take in a new direction a union that was founded in 1903 to represent freight drivers and warehouse workers and now has members from a wide range of industries.

“We believe we are the team for the future and we can take this international and make it bigger, faster, stronger," said O'Brien, president of International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 25 in Boston. "We’re all about reuniting this union. My opponent has stated clearly Hoffa’s not running, but that doesn’t mean Hoffa and his bad habits won’t continue.”

Vairma, who is secretary-treasurer of IBT Local 455 in Denver, later charged O’Brien with “browbeating and punishing” people who didn’t agree with him, being “reckless” in bargaining, and playing politics with contracts.  O’Brien charged Vairma with “taking the path of least resistance” in bargaining and continuing the status quo.

Club President Lisa Nicole Matthews, U.S. video assignment manager for the Associated Press, moderated the event, which was held in the Club's ballroom before a live and virtual audience.

It was the Teamsters first national  debate. Richard Mark, the union's election supervisor, was in attendance. No longer under federal oversight, the Teamsters agreed to continued election monitoring. Voting starts Oct. 4.

Ian Kullgren, a Bloomberg News labor reporter, and Harold Meyerson, editor-at-large for The American Prospect and longtime labor journalist, joined Matthews in questioning the candidates.

The debate focused on organizing Amazon workers after an earlier failure, opposing autonomous commercial tractor-trailers on the nation’s roads, increasing union membership and voter turnout and rejoining the AFL-CIO, among other topics.

The discussion became heated at times.

Vairma said he’s never been suspended, as O’Brien has, and he’s never been investigated. In a jab at Vairma, O’Brien said: “If we’ve negotiated concessionary and substandard contracts, It doesn’t look good.” 

Neither candidate supports unilateral vaccine mandates because they noted it is a mandatory subject of bargaining. Teamster employers are legally obligated to negotiate with the union over those conditions. Vairma and O’Brien don’t want their members to lose their jobs if they can't be vaccinated.

When asked whether union's defense fund for accused officers should continue in a post-George Floyd era, both men pointed to teamsters in law enforcement and their members of color. They voiced support for Black Lives Matter, stressing the need to discuss “these issues” and pointed to their diverse leadership slates. According to the Teamsters Women United website, women represent 30 percent of the union's membership.

As far as rejoining the AFL-CIO, both candidates said they're open to discussions.