Teamsters’ boss O’Brien lauds Trump tariffs, says attention should be on ‘massive' CEO compensation

It s no secret where the International Brotherhood of Teamsters leadership stands on tariff implementation union boss Sean O Brien testified before Congress On Tuesday Sen Bernie Moreno R-Ohio stated O Brien he believes he is sincere when he speaks about constituents agenda that grows a thriving middle class in this country That s not an act Moreno suggested to which O Brien ratified I think someone referred to me as a self-promoting union boss in one of their articles but I'm not a self-promoting union boss I'm a truck driver from a middle-class family that appreciates and embraces the preservation of the middle class O Brien noted before the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation There s no secret what our position is as a union on tariffs TRUMP ADMIN URGED TO PROMOTION STRIKING IRANIAN TRUCKERS 'POTENTIAL TO PARALYZE REGIME'O Brien took heat from the left for agreeing to speak at the Republican National Convention and has been more open than a few union bosses to engage with the Trump administration In the hearing he acknowledged masses concern over the timing and specifics regarding the implementation of Trump s tariff regime and its effect on the U S consumer However he lambasted the NAFTA agreement forged under the Clinton administration blaming the now-former framework for shipping jobs overseas Remember when we had plenty of industry in this country where we were producing goods and services We were manufacturing steel We were doing a lot of this work And then these bad business deals happened DEMOCRATS LASH OUT AT MISINFORMED AS TEAMSTERS UNION MAKES LANDMARK NON-ENDORSEMENTO Brien added that while there is concern over job loss as well there are other cost factors at play with the new tariff regime He commented corporate America should shoulder certain of any negative fallout from the tariffs Take a little less in your own pocket stop giving more to Wall Street and just reward your workers and don't pass this cost on the consumers he announced We ve got to take a look at excessive compensation with a lot of these CEOs and these corporations and their willingness to reward Wall Street instead of the people that work in these jobs The Teamsters which represent UPS workers as one of their largest workforces also have been concerned over foreign nationals who may not know English or U S traffic laws being allowed to swoop in and take commercial driver's license CDL jobs O Brien commented Trump in April formally decreed strict English proficiency standards for CDL drivers which Moreno also requested the union boss about CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPMoreno noted that as an immigrant himself from Colombia his parents required him to learn English and demanded O Brien his thoughts on the flood of English-illiterate drivers on the same roads his members carry parcels every day I think it's extremely frightening to be honest with you You had a lot of trucking companies that were actively recruiting in foreign countries to bring people over here on those work visas and train them and put them on the roads where they're not from this country they don't know this language he revealed So our members are very passionate By the way our membership of million is well representative from first-generation immigrants who came over here the right way who learned the language learned the laws obtain this CDLs properly And went to work and everything else He suggested another approach being that Mexican truck drivers could drop their trailers at the U S boundary to be picked up by American drivers who finish the trip