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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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A food company known for popular grocery store condiments has recalled a package of tortilla strips that may be contaminated with wheat, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday. The product is meant to be gluten-free.
Sugar Foods, a manufacturing and distribution corporation focused mainly on various toppings, artificial sweeteners and snacks, issued the recall for the “Santa Fe Style” version of tortilla strips sold by the brand Fresh Gourmet.
“People who have a wheat allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume the product,” said Sugar Foods in an announcement posted by the FDA.
Packages of these tortilla strips with an expiration date as late as June 20, 2025, could contain undeclared wheat, meaning the allergen is not listed as an ingredient on the label. The Fresh Gourmet product is marketed as gluten-free.
Sugar Foods said a customer informed the company on Nov. 19 that packages of the tortilla strips actually contained crispy onions, another Fresh Gourmet product normally sold in a similar container. The brand’s crispy onion product does contain wheat, and that allergen is noted on the label.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
No illnesses tied to the packaging mistake have been reported, according to the announcement from Sugar Foods. However, the company is still recalling the tortilla strips as a precaution. The contamination issue may have affected products distributed between Sept. 30 and Nov. 11 in 22 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington.
Sugar Foods has advised anyone with questions about the recall to contact the company’s consumer care department by email or phone.
CBS News reached out to Sugar Foods for more information but did not receive an immediate reply.
This is the latest in a series of food product recalls affected because of contamination issues, although the others involved harmful bacteria. Some recent, high-profile incidents include an E. coli outbreak from organic carrots that killed at least one person in California, and a listeria outbreak that left an infant dead in California and nine people hospitalized across four different states, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The E. coli outbreak is linked to multiple different food brands while the listeria outbreak stemmed from a line of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products sold by Yu-Shang Foods.