(The Center Square) – Addressing the annual gathering of the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters in Hershey earlier this week, Democratic Lt. Gov. Austin Davis made a pledge to its members as he and his boss, Josh Shapiro, seek a second term in November.
“I want to be clear, brothers and sisters, every worker deserves a safe workplace. Every worker deserves the benefits and pensions that they’ve negotiated for and that they earned,” Davis said. “And as long as Josh Shapiro and I are in charge in Harrisburg, Right-to-work is dead in this Commonwealth and union organizing is alive.”
The conference represents approximately 95,000 working Teamsters. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, of which they are affiliated, represents 1.4 million workers, from newspaper reporters to zookeepers to police officers to truck drivers, and everything in between.
And as Davis said in his address, the administration has protected the rights of those workers through expanded apprenticeship programs and stepped-up enforcement efforts against companies that commit wage theft.
“In the last three years, we’ve returned more than $15 million in unpaid wages to workers across the Commonwealth to make sure that if you work hard, you are paid what you’re owed,” he said.
Although Davis spent most of his speech promoting the work of the Shapiro administration, he also took jabs at President Donald Trump, saying that “constant chaos and confusion” is coming out of the White House.
“For the last year, the Trump administration has purposely targeted workers through union busting, worsening worker protections and forcing costs to rise and giving tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires,” Davis said.
“With gas prices over $4 a gallon in the Commonwealth, Pennsylvanians have spent over $238 million more last month to fill up at the pump because of these reckless policies,” he continued. “Despite the policies that are causing these rises, the Governor and I have been laser focused on making sure the economy here in Pennsylvania works for every single one of us.”
Davis didn’t mention State Treasurer Stacy Garrity, the likely GOP nominee for governor, by name during his speech on Monday.
Several candidates running in 2026 earned the conference’s endorsement on Monday, including the Shapiro-Davis ticket. President Bill Hamilton called Davis, a son of a union bus driver, a “great friend of the Teamsters,” during their annual meeting.
“He always has our backs. Whenever he’s asked to step up for labor, he does.” Hamilton said of Shapiro. “There’s never been a question.”
The union also backed the Shapiro-Davis ticket for governor during the 2022 campaign over Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano.
While labor unions have historically backed Democratic candidates for office, Teamsters have, in recent years, supported candidates on both sides of the aisle.
In 2024, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced that it would not endorse a candidate for president. The decision came just a few months after President Sean O’Brien made waves by delivering a speech at the Republican National Convention.
Although the union opted not to endorse a candidate for president, the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters endorsed the Harris-Walz ticket. Survey data, however, suggested that 60% of Pennsylvania members favored Trump.
In addition to backing the Harris-Walz ticket in 2024, the conference endorsed Democrats U.S. Sen. Bob Casey for re-election, plus Eugene DePasquale for state Attorney General and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta for state Auditor General.
However, there is one Republican candidate for statewide office that they endorsed in 2024 over a Democrat – Garrity for a second term as State Treasurer over Democratic challenger Erin McClelland. Garrity went on to defeat McClelland by 6 points and break a record for most votes received by a candidate for office in Pennsylvania, a record previously held by Shapiro during his 2022 win for governor.
Several Democrats addressed the conference and highlighted their support for Shapiro’s bid for a second term, including House Speaker Joanna McClinton and state Rep. David Delloso.
The 2026 conference, however, also featured speeches from multiple Republicans, including U.S. Reps. Rob Bresnahan and Brian Fitzpatrick, plus state Rep. Martina White.
Shapiro is viewed as the frontrunner in the race over Garrity, according to various polls showing him leading by double digits and national ratings outlets.
Sam Gardner-Bird, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters PAC Manager, also expressed confidence in Shapiro’s quest for a second term.
“I think it’s safe to say that Governor Shapiro should be re-elected pretty easily,” he said. “He has a challenge from Stacy Garrity.”
“It’ll be a real race, in my personal opinion,” he continued, although he added that he thinks “it’ll be pretty easy for him” to win. Gardner-Bird said Shapiro has “cut sort of that bipartisan mold.”
He also addressed the down-ballot races for control of Pennsylvania’s General Assembly. Gardner-Bird said they have a “Teamster majority” in the state House and if Democrats flip multiple seats in the state Senate, it could provide a trifecta for their union.
“Those would be challenging, four seats, but it’s doable,” he said. “And if we get that trifecta, then we’ll have some great work to do on the state side.”
Gardner-Bird emphasized the importance of their endorsements in races up and down the ballot.
“Endorsements are one of our strongest tools for leverage in pushing forward gains for our members,” he said.
