An influential labor union has supported every Democratic presidential candidate since 2000, but is refusing to endorse one this year.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of the largest unions in the United States, has announced that it will not support a single candidate in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.

In a statement on Wednesday, the influential union with around 1.3 million members said it would not support either Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris or Republican former President Donald Trump.

“The Teamsters thank all candidates for meeting face-to-face with members during our unprecedented roundtable discussions,” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said in the statement.

“Unfortunately, neither of the two major candidates has been able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure that the interests of working people are always put above those of big business.”

The move breaks decades of precedent: The Teamsters have supported the Democratic candidate in every election since 2000, and the union has never declined to support a candidate since 1996.

This also comes as both the Democratic and Republican parties are courting unions ahead of the November 5 election, which is expected to feature a tough battle between Trump and Harris.

TEAMSTERS RELEASE POLL DATA ON PRESIDENTIAL SUPPORT

“Last year, the Teamsters Union committed to conducting the most comprehensive, democratic and transparent presidential confirmation process in the history of our 121-year-old organization – and today we are keeping our promise… pic.twitter.com/CnFNN9uosx

— Teamsters (@Teamsters) 18 September 2024

The Teamsters said polls among their members showed Trump favoring Harris by more than 25 percent, but there was no “universal support” for either candidate.

The Trump campaign team said the poll results showed that the “overwhelming majority” of group members supported the former president and wanted him to return to the White House.

In a statement to US media, a spokesman for Harris said the Democrat had won the support of local Teamsters unions and other unions across the US.

“While Donald Trump says striking workers should be fired, Vice President Harris has literally walked picket lines her entire career and strongly supported unions,” said Lauren Hitt.

“The vice president’s strong union record is why Teamsters chapters across the country have already endorsed her – along with the overwhelming majority of organized workers.”

In the USA, trade unions have traditionally been a Democratic Party voting bloc. The Republicans’ overtures are largely met with skepticism, as the party has historically taken a harder line on workers’ rights.

Most major U.S. unions, such as the United Auto Workers (UAW) and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), have expressed their support for Harris in the run-up to the upcoming election.

O’Brien, the Teamsters president, was an exception to this trend and spoke at the Republican National Convention in July.

The decision drew mixed reactions from U.S. labor experts, who were divided on whether it was a smart move to send a pro-worker message to a broad audience or a bad move given Republicans’ traditional hostility toward the movement.

The Teamsters also attempted to speak at the Democratic National Convention in August, but said they were denied the opportunity.

While the Teamsters have supported Democrats over the past two decades, the group has also at times supported Republican presidential candidates, including Ronald Reagan in 1984.