When Sean O’Brien, the leader of the Teamsters union in the United States, took to the stage at the Republican National Convention (RNC) on Monday evening, some scratched their heads: what was the leader of a union with 1.3 million members hoping to accomplish with his speech to the Republican Party, traditionally hostile to organised labour?
In his unprecedented address at the gathering of what has historically been the US’s pro-business party, the labour boss made clear that his union was not wedded to the Democrats, a party it has endorsed in every election since 1996.
