Biden Cancels Speech At NEA Convention Over Staff Strike, Though Some Doubt The Reason
The public seems wary of any moves that make the President appear unwilling to appear in public—even legitimate ones.
By Peter List, Editor | July 5, 2024
A union strike has caused President Biden to cancel plans to speak at the National Education Association's (NEA) convention on Sunday.
On Friday, members of the National Education Association Staff Organizations (NEASO), representing staff at the nation’s largest union, went on strike over alleged unfair labor practices.
The union, according to a release, stated that it was striking over unfair labor practices that the NEA has engaged in.
The union has filed two unfair labor practice charges against the NEA, stating:
This first recent ULP filing pertains to NEA unilaterally removing holiday overtime pay, which violates the terms of the expired contract and past practice and amounts to wage theft. NEA continues to make unilateral changes to long-standing policies to retaliate against employees and disregard language that has existed in the union contract for more than two decades.
NEASO requested information about these contractors in April in order to bargain over the contract’s outsourcing provision. Contrarily, NEA proposed removing the current restrictions and parameters on contracting. NEA’s failure to provide the requested information violates its obligations under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
“Records show NEA spent an additional $179 million over the same period on other contracted services deemed not to be bargaining unit work,” the union stated, “including thousands of dollars on personal expenses.”
“The National Education Association has threatened to host its convention virtually to avoid a physical picket line. For a union to trick its members into crossing a picket line is reprehensible. It also confirms what we have been saying: NEA has abandoned its union values with its actions at the bargaining table,” NEASO President Robin McLean told The Hill.
“NEA would rather cancel a multi-million-dollar convention than comply with labor law. NEA members should question where their hard-earned dues dollars are being used — and wasted,” McLean added.
Some question Biden’s NEA convention cancellation
"President Biden is a fierce supporter of unions and he won’t cross a picket line," his campaign reportedly stated.
Given President Biden’s staunch support of unions, it is not entirely surprising that he would cancel the event rather than cross union picket line, as Democrat politicians will often cancel events where a union is protesting.
However, his cancellation comes at a time when Biden is trying to reassure supporters that he is fit to continue his campaign following a debate last month wherein his performance called into question his cognitive functions and his ability to remain in office.
Commenters on X (formerly Twitters) were mostly critical of the President’s decision, with many doubting the sincerity of Biden’s cancellation.
“Biden just found an excuse to take another nap,” stated one X user.
“Lol what a convenient excuse for the guy who has literally broken a strike,” stated another X user, referring to the President’s blocking of railroad workers’ ability to strike in 2022.
“More likely is that his handlers don’t want him in front of a crowd,” another X user wrote.
Despite the cancellation of President Biden’s appearance at the NEA convention, Biden does have other appearances he is making on Friday, including to Madison, Wisconsin, as well as a taped interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC News.
Whether these appearances will quell the doubts in his supporters minds is yet to be determined.
