Senator Markwayne Mullin, R-OK, rained fire down on Teamster President Sean O’Brien after a Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing descended into chaos. O’Brien had been asked to testify about corporate union-busting when Mullin accused him of “sucking the paycheck” out of union members to collect his nearly $200,000 salary. Mullin said he was “not against unions” but felt they often tried to intimidate the employees of his plumbing company.
“They would show up at my house. They’d be leaning up against my trucks. I’m not afraid of a physical confrontation; in fact, sometimes I look forward to it,” Mullin told O’Brien during the hearing.
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“That’s not my problem. But when you’re doing that to my employees? For what? Because we were paying higher wages? Because we had better benefits, and [weren’t] requiring them to pay your guys’ absorbent salaries?”
Mullin then asked the union boss what he made as a salary before saying that O’Brien raked in $193,000 in 2019. Mullin then stated that the average UPS driver only makes $35,000 annually before asking O’Brien, “and what do you bring to the table?”
“What job have you created? One job other than sucking the paycheck out of some other body, somebody else that you want to say that you’re trying to provide because you’re forcing them to pay dues.”
O’Brien tried to interject, telling the senator, “no, we don’t force,” before adding, “you’re out of line.”
Committee Chair Bernie Sanders, I-VT, attempted to cut Mullin off, but the Oklahoma senator continued to trade barbs.
“No, don’t tell me I’m out of line. Don’t tell me,” he said.
“You are out of line. You frame, you frame the statement—” O’Brien said while the three men tried to shout over one another. “Tough guy,” he could be heard saying to Mullin.
Mullin then told O’Brien, “Shut your mouth.”
“You are gonna tell me to shut my mouth!?” O’Brien shouted back.
“Yes, I did,” Mullin replied.
Sanders desperately tried to wrest control of the room, but the two men continued to shout over one another, inviting more chaos.
“I’m not afraid of physical—” O’Brien said before Mullin interjected, “But don’t sit there and tell me I’m out of line.”
Sanders again tried to stop Mullin, but the Oklahoma senator insisted he had not finished asking his question.
“You asked the question. Let him answer to that,” Sanders said, frustrated.
“It was rhetorical,” Mullin insisted.
Sanders eventually regained control of the room, but O’Brien continued to seethe, outraged by Mullin’s comments about his salary.
“I bet I work more hours than you do. Twice as many hours,” he said.
“Sir, you don’t know what hard work is,” Mullin retorted.
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After the exchange, Mullin gave an interview to Fox News Digital, insisting that he was not against unions but supported a worker’s freedom to choose whether or not to join.
“Union bosses conveniently ignore the fact that defending the rights of all workers means defending those who do not want to join a union. If union bosses, like those we saw today, reject common sense measures like private ballots and right-to-work, I have a major problem with that.”
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