Most Americans have a lot of respect and admiration for truckers. For some it's recognitionof truckers' role in keeping the U.S. supply chain rolling. Others appreciate truckers for their skill and entrepreneurial spirit. Some of us as kids passed the time on a long road trip by getting truckers to pull the air horn and we decided then that truckers were forever cool.
American truckers work hard, they take seriously the economic and safety implications of their job, and they spend a lot of time away from their families and friends. Most Americans will agree truckers deserve prosperity, happiness and job security.
So people take notice when truckers are getting scammed. Unionized and independent truckers are increasingly seeing they are getting scammed by Trump and his tight relationship with the trucking conglomerates, their owners and the union-busting billionaire boys club led by glitch-prone tech bro Elon Musk.
Like most workers, for truckers the Musk-Trump streaming Twitter flop this week was a wake-up call and confirmation of their worst fears. Trump is a union-buster and he delights in broadcasting it to the anti-worker oligarchy that backs him. In his fealty to Musk, Trump demonstrated deep rooted disrespect and contempt for American workers.
“You're the greatest cutter," Trump groveled to a smiling and laughing Musk. "I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in, you say, You want to quit? They go on strike, I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, That’s OK, you’re all gone. You’re all gone. So, every one of you is gone. And you are the greatest."
Vice President Harris' running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, called Trump a "scab" and declared that the only thing Trump and his running mate Vance "know about working people is how to work to take advantage of them."
“When unions are strong, America’s strong,” Gov. Walz, a union member during his years as a social studies teacher in Minnesota, told the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees convention this week. “I happen to be the first union member on a presidential ticket since Ronald Reagan,” he added proudly.
Imagine the embarrassment for Teamsters President Sean O'Brien, who bent the kneebefore the Trump GOP convention, despite warnings that he was being played and would end up looking foolish before the election is decided. That's just what happened with the Musk-Trump talk, but O'Brien to his credit quickly recognized the line had been crossed and he shot back at Trump. “Firing workers for organizing, striking, and exercising their rights as Americans is economic terrorism,” O’Brien said in a statement to Politico’s Playbook.
What Trump said out loud about firing strikers was long suspected to be the low opinion of workers he keeps, but it's what Trump and Musk didn't talk about publicly that should be of immediate concern for truckers. Musk hopes to get richer by putting self-driving vehicles on America's roads, and that includes semi-trucks, which he's already producing at Tesla.
“If you're a truck driver and you want the most badass rig on the road, this is it,” Musk boasted when he unveiled his driverless semis.
Trump has been critical of autonomous 18-wheelers, and truckers fearing for their jobshave too, but things change when the CEO of Tesla is bankrolling a big part of your campaign and the candidate is openly trading favors for campaign cash with billionaires. If Trump is elected he easily can change lanes and clear the road for self-driving semi-trucks according to Musk's wishes and timetable, especially if Trump can figure a way to skim something off the top for himself.
Autonomous semis would be economically devastating for the Teamsters and independent truckers alike, but the thought of 18-wheelers and the tonnage they haul getting rushed onto America's roads without a driver behind the wheel is also scary to a lot of folks.
“It sounds like a disaster waiting to happen,” Kent Franz, a high school basketball coach in Chandler, Oklahoma, explained to the Associated Press. “I’ve heard of the driverless cars — Tesla, what have you — and the accidents they’ve been having. Eighteen-wheelers? Something that heavy, relying on technology that has proven it can be faulty? Doesn’t sound very comfortable to me.”
Some truckers obviously are pretty fond of Trump, and maybe a few even like Musk. They like Trump's style, or perhaps the character he first began playing on The Apprentice, and it all gets reinforced by the endless pro-Trump talk on right wing radio while they are on the road. Whatever, that's fine, but let's be honest, none of Trump's showboating is giving truckers or forklift operators any of the answers they deserve about their current jobs or a clear vision for their economic future.
The Democrats have earned a look. There is no question the Biden-Harris administrationhas made great strides in trying to cut regulatory red tape for Teamsters and independent truckers. Biden-Harris passed the biggest highway and bridge maintenance bill in history, they have been strong on job-protection, good benefits, and they actively support union organizing and actions.
“When people show you who they are, believe them and Trump showed us for over 40 years who he really is: someone who is not for us. Endorsing a candidate with his history would be a betrayal of the values that we have fought to uphold,” James Curbeam, chairman of the Teamsters National Black Caucus, said in a statement. "Labor should focus on supporting candidates who are committed to protecting workers’ rights, promoting equality and building a fairer and more inclusive society. For the Teamsters National Black Caucus, those candidates are Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”
Written by Ken Bazinet, a former White House correspondent, has covered three presidents and five presidential elections. Still writing, he works with organizations and individuals that focus on opening and expanding ballot access to Black, Latino, Women, Native American, pro-worker and rural voters. He is third generation organized labor (his step-father was a Teamster lift operator).