Stacey Abrams canceled an appearance in May at the University of California to support a local union involved in a labor dispute.
Abrams' spokesman Seth Bringman said Thursday she won't speak at the University of California-Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy commencement on May 20 because "she is proud to be in solidarity with the workers" of a local union of research and technical workers.
The decision, first reported by Politico California, comes as the Democrat is weighing her next political step. She's set to decide by next week whether to challenge U.S. Sen. David Perdue in 2020, and is also considering a run for president or a rematch against Gov. Brian Kemp.
The union, AFSCME Local 3299, is locked in a long-running fight with the higher education system’s administrators and recently filed an unfair labor practice charge claiming the university illegally intimidated and violated the rights of workers who went on strike in protest of income inequality.
Abrams relied on widespread support from pro-labor groups during her 2018 run for governor, picking up endorsements from most of the state’s major unions.
On the campaign trail, she promised to support legislation that supports the right to form a union and collectively bargain for wages. And she delivered her response to President Donald Trump's State of the Union from the IBEW union hall in Atlanta.
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