Biden cancels appearance at NEA in Philadelphia after union announces strike

President Joe Biden’s campaign announced Friday that the president had canceled his upcoming appearance at the National Education Association (NEA) convention in Philadelphia this weekend after part of the union announced a strike.

The National Education Association Staff Organization (NEASO) said it filed two unfair working conditions complaints against the NEA on Friday because the parent company violated union standards, including eliminating overtime pay on holidays.

Biden claimed in 2021 that he aspired to be the “most pro-union president leading the most pro-union administration in American history” and has met union members on picket lines throughout his presidency, including during the United Auto Workers strike last year.

“President Biden is a staunch union supporter and will not be breaking picket lines,” said a statement from the Biden campaign, quoted by the Washington Examiner. “The President still plans to travel to Pennsylvania this weekend, and we will provide further details at a later date.”

According to NEASO, the NEA committed “wage theft” when it eliminated overtime pay on holidays and failed to respond to union requests for information about why it outsourced more than $50 million worth of work to contractors, which it allegedly violated the National Labor Relations Act.

“We do not make this decision lightly. It breaks our hearts to have to take this action during the Representatives’ meeting,” the union said in a statement. “However, NEA management has forced us to do so through repeated violations of the Unfair Labor Practices Act (ULP), demonstrating that it would rather cancel a multi-million dollar convention than comply with labor law.”

Union president Robin McLean said the association had threatened to cancel its annual event so that no one could protest at the congress.

“The idea of ​​a union inciting its members to break a picket line is reprehensible. It also confirms what we have said all along: The NEA has abandoned its union values ​​with its conduct at the bargaining table,” McLean said, according to The Hill.

The NEA said it was “deeply disturbing” that misinformation was being spread about the association’s contract negotiations, but that it remained “fully committed to a fair negotiation process.”

The strike at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia is expected to last throughout the weekend.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter at Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.