John Cole, Central Square
(The Center Square) – Speaking at the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Teamsters Conference in Hershey earlier this week, the Democratic Party Lt. Governor Austin Davis he made a promise to members as he and his boss, Josh Shapiro, seek a second term in November.
“I want to be clear, brothers and sisters, every employee deserves a safe workplace. Every employee deserves the benefits and pensions that they have negotiated for and earned,” Davis said. “And as long as Josh Shapiro and I rule in Harrisburg. In this Community, the right to work is dead, and trade unions are coming to life.”
Conference represents approximately 95,000 working Teamsters. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, to which he belongs, represents 1.4 million workers, from newspaper reporters to animal guardians, police officers, truck drivers and everyone in between.
As Davis said in his speech, the administration has protected the rights of these workers through expanded apprenticeship programs and increased enforcement efforts against companies that engage in wage theft.
“Over the last three years, we have refunded more than $15 million in unpaid wages to workers across the Commonwealth to make sure that if you work hard, you get what you are owed,” he said.
Although Davis spent most of his speech promoting the work of the Shapiro administration, he was also cautious President Donald Trumpsaying there is “continuous chaos and confusion” coming from the White House.
“Over the last year, the Trump administration has deliberately targeted workers by busting unions, eroding worker protections and forcing higher costs and giving tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires,” Davis said.
“With gas prices in the Commonwealth exceeding $4 a gallon, Pennsylvanians spent over $238 million more on filling up their tanks last month because of this reckless policy,” he continued. “Despite the policies that are causing these increases, the Governor and I remain focused on ensuring that the economy here in Pennsylvania works for all of us.”
Davis didn’t mention it State Treasurer Stacy Garritythe GOP’s likely candidate for governor, by name during his speech on Monday.
On Monday, several candidates running in 2026 won the conference’s endorsement, including the Shapiro-Davis ticket. President Bill Hamilton cried Davis, the son of a union bus driver and “a great friend of truck drivers,” at their annual meeting.
“He’s always supportive. Whenever he’s asked to pitch in, he does,” Hamilton said of Shapiro. “There was never a question.”
The the union also endorsed Shapiro-Davis’ candidacy for governor in the 2022 campaign over the republican state Senator Doug Mastriano.
While unions have supported Democratic candidates for office in the past, Teamsters has supported candidates on both sides of the aisle in recent years.
In 2024 International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced that it would not support any presidential candidate. The decision came just a few months after the president’s decision Sean O’Brien caused a stir when he delivered his speech at the Republican National Convention.
Although the union did not decide to support the presidential candidate, The Pennsylvania Teamsters’ Conference approved the Harris-Walz ticket. However, polling data suggests that 60% of Pennsylvanians support Trump.
In addition to supporting Harris-Walz’s 2024 ticket, the conference has endorsed Democrats US. Senator Bob Casey for re-election, plus Eugene DePasquale for the state and state attorney general Representative Malcolm Kenyattand for the State Auditor General.
However, there is one Republican candidate for statewide office which they approved in 2024 in exchange for a Democrat – Garrity for a second term as state treasurer over a Democratic challenger Erin McClelland. Garrity failed McClelland by 6 points and break the record for most votes received by a candidate for office in Pennsylvania, a record previously held by Shapiro during his 2022 gubernatorial victory.
Several Democrats spoke at the conference and emphasized their support for Shapiro’s bid for a second term Speaker of the House of Representatives Joanna McClinton and condition Representative David Delloso.
However, the 2026 conference also included speeches from many Republicans, including: U.S. Representative Rob Bresnahan AND Brian Fitzpatrickplus condition Representative Martina White.
According to various sources, Shapiro is seen as the favorite in the race for Garrity surveys showing him a double-digit lead and national rating agencies.
Sam Gardner-Bird, manager of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ PAC, also expressed confidence in Shapiro’s pursuit of a second term.
“I think it’s safe to say that Governor Shapiro should be elected relatively easily,” he said. “He has a challenge from Stacy Garrity.”
“In my personal opinion, it will be a real race,” he continued, although he added that he thought “it would be quite easy for him to win.” Gardner-Bird said Shapiro “cut himself out of that bipartisan mold.”
He also addressed the race for control of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, which had no votes. Gardner-Bird said they have a “Teamster majority” in the state House and if Democrats flip a few state Senate seats, it could give their union a trifecta.
“It would be a challenge, four seats, but it is doable,” he said. “And if we can get those three, we’ll have a lot of work to do on the state side.”
Gardner-Bird emphasized the importance of their support in races up and down the ballot.
“Referrals are one of our strongest leverage tools to ensure continued gains for our members,” he said.
