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Kamala Harris to meet with Teamsters leaders, including president Sean O’Brien
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris will meet with the Teamsters president Sean O’Brien and the union’s leadership on Sept. 16, the Teamsters said Thursday, after O’Brien told CBS News’ “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” he was holding off on an endorsement because he hadn’t yet met with Harris.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is one of the largest unions in the country, and the only one of the 10 largest unions that has not endorsed Harris. O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, the first time in the union’s 121-year history that its chief addressed the RNC.
Harris committed to meet with O’Brien, union members, the Teamsters general executive board and general secretary-treasurer Fred Zuckerman, the Teamsters said Thursday.
O’Brien told “Face the Nation” Sunday that “under our leadership, we brought every single candidate to the table in front of our rank-and-file members and our general executive board, and we’re waiting on Vice President Harris to commit to come meet with us.”
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“Our union is a lot different than most unions,” O’Brien said. “We represent 1.3 million members. Half of our members are Republicans, half of our members are Democrats, so we have to serve all of our membership equally. Look, everybody has a different style of leadership. We want the opportunity to sit down with Vice President Harris.”
O’Brien said he had asked to address both the Democratic and GOP conventions, but only the Republicans accepted. Although he did not endorse Trump, he praised him as a “tough SOB” following the attempt Trump’s life a few days before the convention and characterized him as a “candidate who is not afraid of hearing from new, loud and often critical voices.”
But O’Brien also delivered an anti-big business message, blasting large corporations and saying “working people have no chance of winning this fight.”
At the time, President Biden was still at the top of the Democratic ticket, and the speech was seen as a blow to his union credentials. Last year, Mr. Biden became the first president in history to join a picket line when workers from the three major auto companies went on strike. United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain spoke at the DNC, wearing a tee shirt that said “Trump is a scab.”
Other labor unions also received prime billing at the DNC.
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Yellowstone hiker burned when she falls into scalding water near Old Faithful, park officials say
Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. — A New Hampshire woman suffered severe burns on her leg after hiking off-trail in Yellowstone National Park and falling into scalding water in a thermal area near the Old Faithful geyser, park officials said.
The 60-year-old woman from Windsor, New Hampshire, along with her husband and their leashed dog were walking off a designated trail near the Mallard Lake Trailhead on Monday afternoon when she broke through a thin crust over the water and suffered second- and third-degree burns to her lower leg, park officials said. Her husband and the dog weren’t injured.
The woman was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho for treatment.
National Park Service / Jacob W. Frank
Park visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and exercise extreme caution. The ground in those areas is fragile and thin and there’s scalding water just below the surface, park officials said.
Pets are allowed in limited, developed areas of Yellowstone park but are prohibited on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry and in thermal areas.
The incident is under investigation. The woman’s name wasn’t made public.
This is the first known thermal injury in Yellowstone in 2024, park officials said in a statement. The park had recorded 3.5 million visitors through August this year.
Hot springs have injured and killed more people in Yellowstone National Park than any other natural feature, the National Park Service said. At least 22 people have died from hot spring-related injuries in and around the 3,471-square-mile national park since 1890, park officials have said.