U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, participated in a hearing titled “Labor Law Reform Part I: Diagnosing the Issues, Exploring Current Proposals.” During the session, Mullin and Teamsters President Sean O’Brien discussed labor issues and expressed willingness to work together on national priorities.
Senator Mullin acknowledged former President Trump’s influence in facilitating dialogue between leaders with different perspectives. “Oklahoma is a strong right-to-work state,” said Senator Mullin. “As the Republican Party continues to make significant gains with labor, including the 58 percent of Teamsters who supported President Trump, it’s critical we partner with the Trump administration, business owners, and workers across the country to help our economy thrive.”
Reflecting on past disagreements with O’Brien during committee hearings, Mullin stated: “The last time Teamster’s President Sean O’Brien and I were in a hearing room; I was telling him to ‘stand his butt up.’ President Trump has a way of bringing people together. I’d like to see if labor can help us build in America again.”
Mullin recently appeared on the Better Bad Ideas Podcast alongside O’Brien. The episode is now available for playback on all platforms.
During their exchange at the hearing, Mullin addressed previous tensions while highlighting shared interests: “I guess everybody is surprised to see Sean and I on the same page… We don’t agree on every issue, but I think underneath the leadership of President Trump and our common love for those that work in the labor industry, we found quite a quite a friendship and so welcome back.”
Mullin also commented on recent discussions about government shutdowns within Congress: “We’ve heard our Democrats come in and with their talking points about the shutdown… Every one of those Democrats that spoke about it today also voted for it in December. Most of them voted for it in January, and 10 of them voted for it in March… So for them to sit there and say that it’s blamed on anybody else but themselves is a lie… when they chose to shut down the government, they gave the power to the President of the United States during a shutdown… So, if they really are concerned about the employees of the government, open the government back up.”
Addressing labor compensation statistics mentioned by another senator regarding Amazon employees worldwide versus those in the United States, Mullin clarified wage differences: “Inside the United States, the average Amazon employee when they start on probation is somewhere between 55 and $60,000… once they’re off probation is somewhere between $75,000 and $177,000…”
Turning attention to national security concerns related to shipbuilding capacity in America, Mullin sought O’Brien’s collaboration: “Mr. O’Brien, I would like to partner with you because you represent the largest labor force in the country… We need help with the labor force… especially shipyards. No other place we can find it. There’s not a workforce like that either… while we have worked together on several issues since last time we talked, I would love to dig down on this issue with you more and figure out what we can do something great for not just workers but for our nation too.”
O’Brien responded positively: “Well, yeah. I mean, it’s a great segue into a conversation about bringing industry back into the United States… And I think if you ask majority of people that once came from that industry or generation… It’s a very noble profession… we should be building ships in United States to avoid any type of breach of security issues… So I would welcome a conversation how we bring industry but also train this next generation of workers…”
The exchange concluded as both agreed publicly to collaborate moving forward.
