[V]ermont’s largest union joined the ranks of unions nationwide that are endorsing Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in his run for president.
The Vermont National Education Association, which represents teachers and education workers across the state, issued a statement in support of Sanders’ bid for the Democratic nomination for president, citing aligned interests between the senator and their membership and the senator’s long-held support for labor unions.
“Bernie’s core values are in line with ours: he is pro-family, pro-worker, pro-education and pro-labor and we believe the time has come for his vision to become a national reality,” said Martha Allen, the organization’s president and a K-12 librarian from Canaan, in a news release.
“In Vermont, we’re very fortunate to have a senator who represents the middle class over the titans of Wall Street,” Allen also said, according to a release from Sanders’ campaign.
“We believe that with Bernie in the White House, America’s working families will be able to flourish and grow. His ideas around banking reform, student debt, and public education are refreshing and exciting,” Allen said.
Vermont-NEA, with 12,000 members, is the state’s largest union and represents educators located in “virtually every town in Vermont,” according to a statement by the union. The group has been a long-time supporter of Sanders, his campaign said.
The union’s news release also promised that, with the NEA board’s nod, members “will begin to spread Bernie’s message, particularly to the state directly east of Vermont’s border.”
What that means, is that the union will connect members in New Hampshire with volunteer opportunities to help with Sanders’ campaign.
“There are 350 Vermont NEA members who live in New Hampshire … our organizers are going to start to identify members, and connect them to the (Sanders) campaign, phone banking, leafleting,” and essentially, “whatever the Sanders campaign needs,” said Allen.
All work would be voluntary, and she added, “some of our members aren’t interested in politics, but some of them are … there are plenty of people who do want to go out and knock on doors. We’ll look for the people who want to get out and work.”
Though Sanders plans to make six stops in New Hampshire over the weekend, Allen said the union had not yet arranged to help in these early days. “It’s way too soon. We haven’t sat down with the Sanders campaign at all. That will all come in time.,” she said.
UNION BACKING AROUND U.S.
Unlike other unions that have voiced support for Sanders’ campaign – including the Vermont chapter of the AFL-CIO, which announced support May 24 and urged the national body to do the same, Allen said her group was not urging such action from the national NEA.
Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO Resolution Urging Support for Bernie 2016 On May 24th, 2015, the Vermont State …
Posted by Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO on Sunday, May 24, 2015
“The NEA does know that we’ve done this. But the NEA has a more lengthy system for reviewing candidates,” she said. So far, the national body had interviewed Sanders and Hillary Clinton, as well as Martin O’Malley, she said, each of which had to apply to meet with the Board of Directors, by filling out a Q and A form. No Republican candidates had applied for support, she said.
Other unions that have vocalized support for Sanders: the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers, which issued a statement of support on May 28-29, and the South Carolina AFL-CIO, which also urged the national board to back Sanders, announced their support on June 13.
CITES EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT
Sanders voted in favor of the now-spurned No Child Left Behind Act, but since then he’s been vocal in helping recreate the bill, now called the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Allen said.
As a member of the Senate Health Committee, he’s helped ensure that language in the bill “is something that will work for public schools and for students,” said Allen, especially in rural areas.
“He’s been working on that, and that’s been really helpful. And, just supporting public schools,” she said. In other areas, as pushes have come to support educational funding of charter schools and allowing the privatization of public schools, she said he’s been firm against such moves. “He’s always been in favor of supporting public schools and the middle class,” she said.
Sanders’ campaign didn’t return calls for comment by publication time.
“School teachers and educators are real American heroes. I am honored to have their backing,” Sanders said in a statement released by his campaign.
