Sean M. O'Brien

Watch my full conversation on @betterbadideas with @TeamsterSOB. We discuss the Holy Father and President Trump, globalization’s impact on West Virginia, the future of AI, and how to put American workers first again. Full episode⬇️ m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu-U_l…

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters joins labor unions around the world to honor April 28 as International Workers’ Memorial Day, recognizing workers who have died, been injured, or who have otherwise been physically impacted from their work. Workplace hazards kill almost 140,000 workers each year. While generations of efforts by workers have significantly improved occupational safety across all industries, the fight to ensure safety in the workplace is far from over. Whether it is combatting workplace violence or hazards presented by the increasing use of automation, Workers’ Memorial Day serves as a call to action for workers and employers to prioritize safety over profits. The Teamsters Union honors those whose lives have been tragically impacted on the job and will continue the fight to improve workplace conditions for all workers.

The Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post attacked the growing bipartisan movement for labor law reform, then refused to publish a response from the Teamsters that used words like "Amazon" and "Bezos." The Post built its reputation on the idea that journalism should hold power accountable. That principle shouldn’t change when the power in question belongs to a corporation with the same owner as the paper.

Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien spoke this morning at the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters. Led by Bill Hamilton, International Vice President for the Eastern Region, the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters serves as a unifying voice for tens of thousands of Teamsters across the Keystone State. Members are gathered in Hershey, Pa., to highlight recent organizing, contract, and strike victories, and to strategize upcoming priorities. “In the last four years, we’ve revitalized this union. Pennsylvania Teamsters have been in the fight every step of the way,” O’Brien said. “You’ve been expanding our reach by organizing employers in traditional industries like warehouse and new ones like cannabis. Events like this one are a great opportunity to prepare for the battles ahead. We’re strategizing and setting a new course to strengthen future generations of Teamsters."

Grateful for the chance to set the record straight with @TeamsterSOB. Globalization hit workers in West Virginia harder than almost anyone else in America. NAFTA. PNTR. The war on coal. Our elites put our workers last at almost every turn. Now is the time to reverse course and put the American worker first.

Thank you Senator Marshall (R-KS) @RogerMarshallMD for cosponsoring the Faster Labor Contracts Act. Momentum continues to grow! It's time for a Senate Committee mark-up @SenBillCassidy @GOPHELP @HELPCmteDems

458 days. Because of corporate corruption, a rigged system and broken labor laws, that's how long American workers, on average, wait for their first union contract after voting to unionize. The Teamsters are proud to be leading the charge for the Faster Labor Contract Act, which creates a real timeline that requires prompt, good-faith bargaining, ensuring faster union contracts for millions of American workers.

A first union contract should not take years to secure. The Faster Labor Contracts Act is a simple idea to fix this problem. The Teamsters are rallying and lobbying on Capitol Hill today to do everything in our power to see that the Faster Labor Contracts Act is signed into law.

Just a few weeks ago, players and coaches of the Colorado Spartans secured a strong first Teamsters contract after joining Local 455 last summer. Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien proudly joined the Spartans on the field for their home opener in Denver, which they won big — just as Teamsters always do.

Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien hit the field Saturday in Denver with rank-and-file members of the Colorado Spartans — even suiting up for a play and taking part in the coin toss before kickoff. He was joined by Dean Modecker, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 455, and Western Region International Vice President Karla Schumann. Members of the Colorado Spartans, a National Arena League professional football team, voted to join Local 455 in August 2025 for improved health care, stronger retirement benefits, and real job protections during the offseason. Just a few weeks ago, players and coaches secured a strong first Teamsters contract. Spartans Teamsters now also have access to offseason job opportunities with more than 65 employers, building long-term stability beyond the game. “These talented Teamsters athletes showed what it means to stay disciplined and finish the job,” O’Brien said. “They stuck together, executed their game plan, and turned it into a strong first contract. We always fight as a team — that’s how we win.”

After months of urging UPS to honor its Teamsters contract and return to the bargaining table over unilateral driver buyouts, UPS on Sunday agreed to terms on a new settlement with the Teamsters National Negotiating Committee — capping severance offers while rewarding and protecting the seniority of Teamsters drivers.   Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien successfully pushed UPS into negotiations in the wake of national grievances filed against the package giant over its Driver Choice Program (DCP), which UPS pursued in February without agreement from the union. Those grievances forced UPS to withdraw the DCP in 13 states in March before ultimately agreeing to negotiate.   Under terms of the strong new settlement, UPS will be limited in the number of severance packages it can offer. Those who wish to accept them will receive $150,000 payments for early retirement. Offers will be made to long-haul feeder drivers and Regular Package Car Drivers based on seniority in all regions of the country. UPS has agreed not to pursue or offer any other severance programs for the life of the current Teamsters National Master Agreement, which does not expire until July 31, 2028.   “UPS never had the contractual right to unilaterally offer driver buyouts, but with enough pressure and member solidarity UPS finally did the right thing by putting its commitments to hardworking Teamsters down in writing,” O’Brien said. “Lifelong Teamsters who have given so much of themselves to making UPS the king of parcel delivery will have the right of first refusal on any severance agreements. Union seniority and the rights of all our members will be honored. UPS will no longer have the chance to go around the union without giving Teamsters the respect they deserve at the bargaining table.”   The settlement between the Teamsters and UPS caps the total number of severance payments to 7,500 drivers across all job classifications nationwide.   “Rank-and-file Teamsters have given their blood, sweat, tears and, most importantly, their labor to ensure UPS’s success for a century. This agreement is a powerful reminder to UPS executives that the Teamsters never want to harm the company’s ability to be competitive, but we will also never tolerate any violations of our contract or our members’ rights,” O’Brien said.

This is a huge win for @Teamsters and for workers everywhere but it never should have taken this long. These workers voted to unionize in 2022 and Amazon used every tool at its disposal to delay the collective bargaining process. This is exactly why we must pass my Faster Labor Contracts Act and speed up first contracts for new unions.

Today, Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien joined the 750 nurses at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital who have been on an unfair labor practice strike since September 1. Teamsters have remained on the picket line due to this hospital’s unwillingness to honor the years of service of striking nurses and agree to a fair and reasonable return-to-work agreement. "For more than 200 days, Teamsters have stood strong on the line while Henry Ford Genesys management gambles with nurse and patient lives," O'Brien said. "Nurses want to go back to work so they can care for the patients and community that rely on them — but not if they have to sacrifice the years of service they've committed to their jobs. Management needs to prioritize the experience of Teamsters nurses over temporary workers and the NLRB should get off the sidelines and step in to protect these workers' statutory rights to return to their jobs."

Over 17,000 Teamsters Avert Nationwide Strike at First Student, Reach Tentative Agreement The Teamsters First Student National Negotiating Committee (TFSNNC) has reached a strong tentative agreement with First Student, averting a nationwide strike that could have included thousands of school bus workers across 96 locals. The deal comes after members voted by an 88 percent margin to authorize a strike, sending a clear message to the company that they were prepared to take action to win a fair contract. “First Student Teamsters were unified and prepared to take on this company nationwide. Our solidarity forced real movement at the bargaining table, and we delivered a contract in the 11th hour that honors the critical work our members do every day,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “Teamsters set the standard for the entire school bus industry, and this agreement raises the bar for school bus transportation workers everywhere.” The new agreement establishes a national foundation for economics that will be applied across all local agreements, including stronger retirement benefits, improved access to health care benefits, and robust contractual protections for all members. These improved national minimum standards only serve to boost bargaining on important issues at the local level. Teamsters at First Student will have the opportunity to vote on the agreement in the coming weeks. “This tentative agreement is the direct result of members standing shoulder to shoulder and refusing to settle for less,” said Matt Taibi, Director of the Teamsters Passenger Transportation Division. “Workers showed the company they were prepared to strike if necessary, and that solidarity made the difference at the bargaining table. This agreement reflects the strength and determination of Teamsters who keep students safe and communities running.” The National First Student Master Agreement protects more than 17,000 bus workers across the country and was set to expire March 31. “We went into negotiations determined to secure an agreement that reflects the value of the work we provide to our communities every day,” said Kelly Plaisted, a school bus worker with Teamsters Local 633 and member of the negotiating committee. “We stood ready to strike nationwide, and that strength gave us the leverage to reach this tentative agreement.”

WATCH NOW: Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien sits down with NewsNation’s Batya Ungar-Sargon to talk about bipartisanship, protecting Americans, and creating good union jobs.

Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien and General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman convened the first meeting of 2026 of the union’s General Executive Board on Tuesday at Teamsters headquarters in Washington, DC. International Vice Presidents and Trustees received reports on the organizational and financial state of the union, as well as critical updates on communications, political engagement, and ongoing contract campaigns from the Department of Strategic Initiatives, Political and Legislative Action, and Teamsters Canada. “From enforcing our national and local contracts to organizing thousands of new members in just the last three months, the Teamsters Union is staying aggressive this year to improve the lives of Teamsters families across North America,” O’Brien said. “We are negotiating for strong and historic agreements with tens of thousands of members right now at First Student, DHL, Corewell Health, United Airlines, and other employers. We are pursuing meaningful legislative reforms on the state level and before Congress to strengthen workers’ rights. In the Teamsters, there are no days off when it comes to fighting for the safety and security of working people.”

United Parcel Service (UPS) notified the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Tuesday that it was withdrawing its latest driver buyout scheme in Central Region states after nearly 37 local unions filed grievances against the parcel giant for shamelessly violating the UPS Teamsters contract. This action will greatly undermine the company’s illegal pursuit of buyouts in other regions under the National Master Agreement. The Teamsters Central Region encompasses 13 states from Nebraska to Ohio and is home to more than 68,000 rank-and-file Teamsters working at UPS. The latest buyout, which the company calls the Driver Choice Program (DCP), had asked drivers to accept a one-time lump sum payment in exchange for legally committing to never work for UPS again, to waive their rights to union representation, and to sacrifice a career’s worth of strong union wages, employer-paid health care, and guaranteed retirement benefits. “By pulling out of more than a dozen states, UPS has conceded that its buyout programs are illegal. They are scams designed to fuel corporate greed. These programs violate the Teamsters contract and UPS knows it,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “The Teamsters strongly urge UPS to take the next right step and dismantle its Driver Choice Program across the country. If UPS fails to do right by the men and women who deliver its packages and generate its billions in profit, the Teamsters will pursue our grievances nationwide and defeat UPS in arbitration. We are prepared to do whatever it takes to protect our members’ rights.” In court filings earlier this year on the illegality of the DCP, the Teamsters detailed at least six violations of its National Master Agreement by UPS in the rollout of the buyout program, including direct dealing of new contracts with workers, elimination of union jobs when UPS contractually agreed to establish more positions, and erosion of the rights and privileges of union shop stewards. These violations have been cited in grievances against UPS filed by rank-and-file Teamsters since the DCP was rolled out last month. The union has also pointed to contract language in the UPS Teamsters Central Region Supplement — one of 44 regional supplements to the UPS Teamsters National Master Agreement — that restricts UPS from directly offering incentive programs that are not voted on and approved by employees and the union. Until this week, the DCP was being directly offered to all drivers at UPS regardless of length of service and outside of negotiations with the union, irreparably damaging the Teamsters’ right to representation. The letter of separation that workers would be forced to sign by management to complete enrollment in the program would be irrevocable, further damaging the union or any individual worker’s ability to grieve or arbitrate the terms of separation. The scope of UPS’s latest buyout scheme is much broader than the payoff presented to workers last summer, when UPS marketed payouts to more tenured drivers nearing retirement. The earlier program, which UPS called the Driver Voluntary Separation Program (DVSP), was widely rejected by Teamsters nationwide, many of whom took to social media to shred and set fire to the insulting financial package offered by UPS to leave the company. While recent payoffs dangled in front of workers have been larger, the DVSP and DCP programs are unmistakably similar. Grievances over contract violations inherent in the DVSP program are expected to be heard before an arbitrator in May. “UPS’s actions to walk away from its own buyout program is an admission of guilt, plain and simple,” said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. “UPS wants to offload as many well-paid drivers as possible to boost its corporate earnings. The executives currently running UPS have no regard for the health, well-being, or future financial security of their workforce. The Teamsters are here not just fighting UPS to do the right thing but fighting for a better quality of life for the hardworking people who move America.” UPS CEO Carol Tomé was paid at least $23 million in 2025, outearning average UPS employees by a pay ratio of 345-to-1. While UPS Teamsters have been offered insulting payoffs to walk away from the company twice in the last year, UPS awarded $38 million bonuses to senior managers in May to stay with the company, reporting at the time that awards of up to $1 million each were necessary to “retain and motivate [UPS’s] management team during a critical transition time.”

Teamsters nurses across the Corewell Health East system in Southeast Michigan are strike ready. These 10,000 workers are fighting for their first union contract — and they'll take it to the streets if Corewell doesn't give them the strong Teamsters contract they deserve.

Teamsters International Vice President Peter Finn recently appeared on the Today Show to talk about the threats that driverless truck companies like Gatik pose to motorist safety and middle-class careers. The Teamsters are fighting for regulations that impose common sense guardrails on autonomous vehicles all across the country.

Thoughts on Teamsters Union election? We answer YOUR questions on this week’s episode of Better Bad Ideas with Sean O’Brien! Watch the full episode: youtu.be/WACnoGfxQw0?si…