Staffers at the National Education Association have accused the nation\u2019s largest teachers union of using strikebreakers to lock them out without pay while backing the Democratic presidential ticket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an internet post<\/a> 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\u2019 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sent through Progressive Newswire, the press release<\/a> 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\u2019s annual assembly in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was beyond insulting to see my name on NEA\u2019s emailed release, especially with the number of errors in it,\u201d Ms. Maiers said. \u201cI can assure you that my own work meets a much higher journalistic standard \u2014 and I really would like to get back to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A message sent to Ms. Maiers\u2019 staff email address bounced back with automated instructions to contact an account belonging to NEA communications managers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Wednesday, the 38th day of the lockout, staff members picketed outside NEA\u2019s Washington headquarters as representatives from each side met with federal mediators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBoth parties have mutually agreed to mediation, which began on July 22nd, and are currently working with our assigned mediator,\u201d an NEA spokesperson said in an email. \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The protest sent roughly 6,000 delegates home early and forced President Biden, who was then running for reelection, to cancel a planned address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After Ms. Harris replaced Mr. Biden at the top of the ticket, she named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The NEA, which endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket last year, quickly transferred its support to the Harris-Walz campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe has a track record of getting things done to make people\u2019s lives better,\u201d said Becky Pringle, NEA president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said the union\u2019s 3 million members \u201care fired up and united to get out and elect the Harris-Walz ticket\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is so much at stake in this election for our students and our country,\u201d Ms. Pringle said. \u201cDonald Trump is a convicted felon who only cares about himself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recent events suggest Ms. Pringle\u2019s pledges of unity among NEA members could be illusory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 \u201cgenocide\u201d despite the Biden-Harris administration\u2019s support for Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each side of the labor dispute has accused the other of breaking faith in contract negotiations that began in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NEA staff members say that\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Washington Times has reached out to the NLRB and the Harris-Walz campaign for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several NEA members who attended the shortened assembly last month said the lockdown has interfered with union leaders\u2019 plans to support the Democratic ticket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf they\u2019re getting scabs and doing all of these things the staff union is saying, then they\u2019re getting called out for doing what they say they oppose, and they should be,\u201d said Ms. Halverson, who chairs an NEA caucus that has criticized gender ideology in public schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the NEA leans left, she said, it would be a mistake to say Ms. Pringle\u2019s recent statements represent all members.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m 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,\u201d Ms. Halverson said Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n