Fresh off his election as president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Sean O’Brien took a victory lap Sunday morning in Charlestown, where he was greeted by hundreds of cheering supporters from Local 25, his hometown union.
O’Brien, a fourth-generation Teamster who has led Local 25 since 2006, was elected last week to a five-year term to lead the union, which represents 1.4 million workers in the United States and Canada.
He succeeds Jim Hoffa, the longtime Teamsters president and son of the late James Hoffa, one of the most storied leaders in American labor history who disappeared in 1975. The younger Hoffa’s term ends in March 2022, when O’Brien will take office.
O’Brien defeated Steve Vairma, a Teamsters at-large vice president who had been endorsed by Hoffa, by a vote of 115,573 to 57,983, according to online election results. While long associated with workers in the transportation industry, the Teamsters also represent workers in a number of fields, including health care, construction, and airlines, among others.
On Sunday, dressed in a navy-colored suit, O’Brien returned to Charlestown for Local 25′s monthly membership meeting. He stepped off a flatbed set up outside the union’s headquarters on Main Street to greet his fellow Teamsters.
He promised to continue to fight for them and their families for good wages and workplace protections. O’Brien currently is a vice president of the international.
Among the first fights, he said, will be negotiating a contract for DHL delivery workers and organizing Amazon workers, despite the e-commerce giant’s notorious anti-union messaging and insistence that workers are better off without a union coming between them and the company.
“Amazon is going to be our most formidable opponent, not just in the parcel delivery business, but in every portion of transportation, planes, trains, and automobiles,” O’Brien, 49, told the crowd.
Under O’Brien’s tenure, Local 25 persuaded local elected officials in Greater Boston to call on Amazon to improve employment standards at local delivery or warehouse operations. Boston’s resolution says officials should consult Local 25 before opening an Amazon warehouse within city limits.
“Luckily we’ve got a secretary of labor who comes out of Boston who we know very well, who I’ve been in dialogue with,” O’Brien said, alluding to former Boston mayor Martin J. Walsh.
He referenced plans to use municipal legislation and union drives to push Amazon toward better working conditions. “And hopefully, with the support of our members, we’ll invest in that strike and defense fund, put a plan together, and successfully organize Amazon.”
O’Brien takes the helm of the Teamsters at a time when workers have been emboldened by increased public support. At a time when workers are in demand, and the pandemic highlighted the services of front-line workers, such as delivery drivers, support for labor has jumped to its highest point in decades, according to a Gallup poll released in September.
“The most corrupt people in America are not unions,” O’Brien told reporters Sunday. “They’re corporate America, where they try and take advantage of our members day in and day out. That is going to end under our leadership.”
At Sunday’s meeting, current and retired Teamsters took the microphone to tell O’Brien they were proud of him.
“You once said to me, the union is only as strong as our membership. We’re strong because we have the strongest leaders in the nation, and now we have you to lead us into the future,” said Jared Henderson, a steward and maintenance mechanic in Norwood. “You’re there for us, so we’re here for you.”
They also conducted business. Members received updates on contract negotiations and arbitration proceedings. They also passed motions to donate money to members and retirees in need of help, rounding up the union’s donation matches.
Along with O’Brien, Local 25 business agent Joan Corey was elected vice president at-large for the international organization. She was the first woman elected business agent for the local union, and is the first woman from Local 25 to ascend to an elected position with the parent organization.
“Over the next few days, we will really hit the ground running,” Corey said. “We’ll start prioritizing where we will be, what our priorities are. There are many, we understand that, but we are ready for the fight.”
Gal Tziperman Lotan can be reached at gal.lotan@globe.com or at 617-929-2043.
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November 22, 2021 at 07:46AM
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Teamster president-elect Sean O'Brien returns to Local 25 in Charlestown - The Boston Globe
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