Staffers at the National Education Association have accused the nation’s largest teachers union of using strikebreakers to lock them out without pay while backing the Democratic presidential ticket.
In an internet post this week, the staffers accused NEA management of using people to take over the duties of union workers to compile an Aug. 6 endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris’ choice of former NEA member Tim Walz as her running mate. The NEA has been stuck in a labor dispute with its staff union for months.
Sent through Progressive Newswire, the press release includes the name and email address of NEA communications specialist Staci Maiers as a contact. She said management froze her out of the inbox last month after she helped organize a July 5 picket line that shut down the union’s annual assembly in Philadelphia.
“It was beyond insulting to see my name on NEA’s emailed release, especially with the number of errors in it,” Ms. Maiers said. “I can assure you that my own work meets a much higher journalistic standard — and I really would like to get back to it.”
A message sent to Ms. Maiers’ staff email address bounced back with automated instructions to contact an account belonging to NEA communications managers.
On Wednesday, the 38th day of the lockout, staff members picketed outside NEA’s Washington headquarters as representatives from each side met with federal mediators.
“Both parties have mutually agreed to mediation, which began on July 22nd, and are currently working with our assigned mediator,” an NEA spokesperson said in an email. “The mediator has asked both parties to maintain confidentiality as part of the process of working toward a solution, and we are upholding our part of that agreement.”
The NEA locked out more than 300 finance experts, information technology specialists, digital strategists, writers, policy analysts and other professionals after they formed a picket line at the July 4-7 assembly.
The protest sent roughly 6,000 delegates home early and forced President Biden, who was then running for reelection, to cancel a planned address.
After Ms. Harris replaced Mr. Biden at the top of the ticket, she named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
The NEA, which endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket last year, quickly transferred its support to the Harris-Walz campaign.
The Aug. 6 NEA press release praising the selection of Mr. Walz noted that he is a former high school teacher and an NEA member.
“He has a track record of getting things done to make people’s lives better,” said Becky Pringle, NEA president.
She said the union’s 3 million members “are fired up and united to get out and elect the Harris-Walz ticket” because of its support for funding free school meals, student mental health and federal student loan forgiveness for teachers struggling to pay off their college bills.
“There is so much at stake in this election for our students and our country,” Ms. Pringle said. “Donald Trump is a convicted felon who only cares about himself.”
Recent events suggest Ms. Pringle’s pledges of unity among NEA members could be illusory.
The protest at the NEA assembly tabled a planned vote on a measure that would have condemned Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip as “genocide” despite the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel.
Each side of the labor dispute has accused the other of breaking faith in contract negotiations that began in April.
NEA leaders have proposed raising the average annual salary of unionized staffers from $124,004 to $133,218. The NEA already covers 100% of medical costs for staff and 75% for dependents.
NEA staff members say that’s not enough. They say the lockdown is retaliation for five unfair labor practice complaints they have filed with the National Labor Relations Board since June 17.
The staff union has accused NEA leadership of cutting holiday overtime pay for the Fourth of July and a lack of transparency in outsourcing $50 million in employee work to contractors, including $8,500 for a three-day hairstyling session for Ms. Pringle.
The Washington Times has reached out to the NLRB and the Harris-Walz campaign for comment.
Several NEA members who attended the shortened assembly last month said the lockdown has interfered with union leaders’ plans to support the Democratic ticket.
Sue Halverson, an NEA member and former middle school special education teacher in Minnesota, said the picket line shocked those who showed up ready to discuss hot-button political issues.
“If they’re getting scabs and doing all of these things the staff union is saying, then they’re getting called out for doing what they say they oppose, and they should be,” said Ms. Halverson, who chairs an NEA caucus that has criticized gender ideology in public schools.
Although the NEA leans left, she said, it would be a mistake to say Ms. Pringle’s recent statements represent all members.
“I’m not voting for Walz because we have extremely high taxes in Minnesota, and he let rioters burn Minneapolis for three days after the George Floyd killing before he called in the National Guard,” Ms. Halverson said Wednesday.
A spokesman for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service said its mediators were working as a neutral third party “to build trust” between NEA leaders and their unionized staff.
“Our goal is to get the parties talking at the table and working together to solve their conflict,” said Greg Raelson, FMCS director of congressional and public affairs. “There isn’t always a one-size-fits-all approach.”
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.
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