On Thursday, the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) declared that it will refrain from endorsing any candidate in the upcoming presidential election, representing the second significant labor union to adopt this position in recent weeks.
This decision contrasts with the 2020 election, during which the IAFF provided robust support for Joe Biden and was one of the earliest unions to endorse his candidacy. The announcement was made by the IAFF executive board, which stated that members voted against endorsing a candidate in the contest between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris by a narrow margin of 1.2 percent.
“Over the past year, the IAFF took unprecedented steps to hear our members’ views on the candidates and the policy issues that matter most to them,” union President Edward Kelly said after the decision was made.
“As we have over our 106-year history, the IAFF will continue its work to improve the lives of firefighters and their families,” Kelly added. “The IAFF Executive Board determined that we are better able to advocate for our members and make progress on the issues that matter to them if we, as a union, are standing shoulder-to-shoulder. This decision, which we took very seriously, is the best way to preserve and strengthen our unity.”
The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) endorsed Joe Biden in April 2019 during the early phases of the Democratic Party primary, while Kamala Harris was on a trajectory toward an early withdrawal from the race due to insufficient backing. Biden later addressed the union’s legislative conference in 2023, assuring union members of his support.
In a related development, one of the nation’s oldest and largest unions, which has a history of endorsing Democratic presidential candidates, has opted to withhold its support for Harris as well. Sean O’Brien, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, announced last month that following a vote in which nearly two-thirds of its members expressed support for former President Donald Trump, the union would refrain from endorsing any candidate. This marks the first occurrence of such a decision since 1996, as reported by The Hill.
“The Teamsters thank all candidates for meeting with members face-to-face during our unprecedented roundtables,” O’Brien said in a statement.
He added: “Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business. We sought commitments from both Trump and Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industries — and to honor our members’ right to strike — but were unable to secure those pledges.”
The Teamsters have previously endorsed certain Republican presidential candidates, such as Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush during the 1980s. However, the choice to retract their prior support for Harris is perceived as a significantly greater setback for her than for Trump, particularly in light of the fact that nearly 60 percent of members who participated in an internal poll favored him over her.
“For the past year, the Teamsters Union has pledged to conduct the most inclusive, democratic, and transparent Presidential endorsement process in the history of our 121-year-old organization — and today we are delivering on that promise to our members,” O’Brien noted earlier in an X post.
“Our members are the union, and their voices and opinions must be at the forefront of everything the Teamsters do. Our final decision around a possible Presidential endorsement will not be made lightly, but you can be sure it will be driven directly by our diverse membership,” he added.
