Boston-bred Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said if the Trump tariffs bring back “good-paying, middle-class jobs,” it’s worth all the pain because it will benefit future generations.

O’Brien, three years in as the head of the 1.3 million-member International Brotherhood of Teamsters, added that he’s fed up with Democrats who have “lost the working class” and just “sit on the sidelines and throw rocks.”

The nation needs ideas and a bipartisan government, he said. That’s why he has launched his own podcast — “Better Bad Ideas” — to push back at the soundbite culture and “gotcha” politics.

It’s a byproduct of the bump he received, and some scorn, for his address at the Republican National Convention last summer that was quickly followed by a very public snub by the Democrats.

“I want to be the face of working people,” O’Brien, 53, told the Herald in the Seaport. “I’m a realist and we have to get real in this country.”

O’Brien stressed he’s “not a politician,” but if someone called floating a vice presidential job — or higher — he wouldn’t hang up the phone. He’s proud of his Teamsters post and said he’s not backing down from the work it will take to help his growing membership.

“We need to find out what we agree on,” he said of D.C. politics. “Why wouldn’t we talk to Republicans? President Trump could cure cancer and the Democrats would still be opposed to him.”

Down on Democrats

O’Brien accused the Democrats of losing the working class and didn’t hold back on his views of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, saying bluntly: “He should take his pension and retire.”

O’Brien said his “people are not happy with the Democratic party” and a poll the Teamsters included pre-election in the union magazine generated 140,000 responses with then-candidate Trump winning 63.4% to 34% over Vice President Kamala Harris. The rest were undecided.

That resulted in the Teamsters not endorsing in the race at all, in a shock to the Democratic party.

But O’Brien said that’s too bad.

“The Democratic party is not the party I grew up in,” he said. “D.C. is treacherous.”

Tariffs rolling out

O’Brien said he speaks with Trump “three to four times a month,” with the president saying “he feels he owes it to the working people” to stay connected with those who punch in every day.

That includes backing the new Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer and giving the tariffs a chance because the payoff is just too big.

O’Brien said a four-year college degree no longer guarantees a good job. That’s the hope from the tariffs, with companies setting up in the U.S. instead of heading overseas or to Mexico.

“The short answer is bring back jobs,” O’Brien said of tariffs. “We need a path to careers. Why not?”

The 25% tariff on Mexican beer, for instance, will help the 80,000-plus brewery workers in the Teamsters in America almost immediately, O’Brien said. His union said this tariff will help set a “standard for dignified living that America workers deserve.”

That’s just one example, he said, while adding Teamsters in Canada need his backing, too.

“Let’s have a discussion on President Trump’s 101st day in office and let’s assess where we could have been more valuable,” O’Brien said, adding he’s not shying away from responsibility. That day will be at the beginning of May.

Podcast rolling

O’Brien said his podcast is not affiliated with the Teamsters, but he approaches it with the same work ethic and blunt talk.

“It’s an opportunity to showcase what we do as Teamsters,” he said, with episodes featuring actor Casey Affleck, former Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley with more on the way via YouTube.

His podcast partner, and in life, Christine Lynch said it’s a “platform for real conversations with real people.”

With CNN and MSNBC, O’Brien singled out, giving just “7 minutes” to make a point, it’s impossible to escape being pegged. That’s what he’s shedding as politics remains so polarized.

“We need to find out what we can agree on,” he said. “And I can say exactly what I want, and we can clean up some of this false narrative.”

This is coming from a leader who heads a union that has $1 billion in assets, with the headquarters in Washington, D.C., 80,000 new members in the past three years under his watch, and a $350 million strike fund. That’s a lot of power to sway the economy.

“I can ask anything I want and the person I have on can answer as long and they want,” he stressed.

A refreshing idea seldom seen in politics these days.

President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Sean O’Brien speaks on stage on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Teamsters boss Sean O’Brien says he talks to President Donald Trump 3-4 times per month. (Pool via AP)