After speaking at the Republican National Convention, International Brotherhood of Teamsters Vice President John Palmer announced he was challenging current president Sean O’Brien.
In the letter, Palmer formally announced his candidacy for Teamsters national office in the 2026 election and called on all Teamsters members to join him in forming a slate of opposition candidates to “get Sean O’Brien back on the track.”
“This administration came to power riding a wave of excitement generated by the aspirations and frustrations of our members. We were promised more proactive leadership and a more militant union. What we have received so far is a PR furnace of misinformation and betrayal,” Palmer wrote in the letter. First reported By Kim Kelly for In These Times
Palmer also appears to have posted the letter to a Teamsters Facebook group.
O’Brien’s speech was one of the first of many delivered at the Republican National Convention this week.
Palmer cited several reasons that showed O’Brien was unfit to lead, including fear of retaliation among members and not supporting members in contracts.
“All of this led to him attending an anti-union, anti-labor Republican National Convention, kissing the ring of the man who broke up a strike, not paying his workers, discriminating against people of color as a landlord, falsely accusing five black New York men of murder, orchestrating an insurrection against the United States, evading the draft, and appointing union busters from the law firm Jones Day to create the most anti-union labor committee in history,” Palmer writes.
Palmer argued that it was “naive to believe” that people attending the Republican National Convention would support labor unions “in any way, shape, form or fashion.”
“We have been successfully alienated from the rest of the labor movement by the actions of one man. Should we really go looking for more enemies now?” his letter states.
The Hill has reached out to Palmer for comment.
