Top 2020 Candidates Threaten To Skip Upcoming Democratic Debate Amid Labor Dispute
Amid a labor dispute at the site of next week's presidential primary debate, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang are siding with unions and threatening not to participate in the party's next presidential debate.
Candidates are scheduled to meet for the Democratic presidential debate on the Loyola Marymount University campus in Los Angeles on Thursday, Dec. 19.
Workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 11 have been picketing since November. Union representatives say that Sodexo, the subcontractor that employs the workers, abruptly canceled scheduled negotiations. Workers are set to picket Thursday outside the debate venue.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, one of seven candidates set to appear on stage Thursday, was the first to signal that she would not cross the picket line.
" .@UNITEHERE11 is fighting for better wages and benefits—and I stand with them. The DNC should find a solution that lives up to our party's commitment to fight for working people. I will not cross the union's picket line even if it means missing the debate," Warren tweeted on Friday.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders followed soon after, tweeting that he "will not be crossing their picket line" until the union reaches a deal with Sodexo.
Candidate Andrew Yang also vowed not cross the picket line to take part in the debate. "[T]here is nothing more core to the Democratic Party than the fight for working people," wrote Yang on Twitter.
Choosing to participate in the debate as workers picketed would be challenging for any Democratic candidate, and would almost certainly antagonize organized labor, a core Democratic constituency. The Democratic National Committee has not said whether it plans to look for a new debate venue, or other potential solutions.
Ada Briceño, a co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11 told NPR that the union had reached out to all campaigns and sent a letter to the DNC.
"We felt that it would be imperative to let the candidates know that we would be holding a picket line on Thursday," Briceño said. "As you can tell, they are pledging their support of the workers, and are not going to attend the DNC debate."
"I think it's imperative for wages and healthcare to be taken care of and our contract to be settled," Briceño said. "It has become clear to us that the company Sodexo is not taking the workers seriously."
Neither the Democratic National Committee, Sodexo nor Loyola Marymount University had an immediate response to interview requests.
This is the second time this cycle that Democratic presidential candidates have found their debate site roiled by a labor dispute. The December debate was originally slated to be held at the University of California, Los Angeles.
It was relocated because the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 3299 had been calling for a boycott of speaking engagements at University of California campuses, over "ongoing labor disputes over outsourcing, income inequality and alleged illegal labor processes." [Copyright 2019 NPR]
