AOC labelled ‘inspiring’ after skipping Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony

Amid all the fanfare of President Joe Biden’s inauguration earlier this week, one prominent politician was missing from the crowd.

We heard from Amy Klobuchar, saw Nancy Pelosi and Michelle Obama and even caught a glimpse of Bernie Sanders, but Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was busy.

The congresswoman from New York spent Wednesday evening not in Washington, but just outside her congressional district supporting a union strike in the Bronx.

Claudia Irizarry Aponte, a reporter for local news publication The City, captured images of AOC bringing coffee and hand warmers to members of Teamsters Local 202 on Wednesday. 

The group, which delivers produce to Hunts Point Produce Market, began the strike Sunday night after raise negotiations stalled.

The congresswoman, speaking into a megaphone, said the strikers were “taking the upside down and making it right side up.”

People across social media called the move “inspiring” and even "heroic", sparking discussion about the minimum wage. 

“AOC knows where she is needed and has her priorities straight!” one person commented on her whereabouts.

Ocasio-Cortez also tweeted her support of the strikers Wednesday night, saying it was “embarrassing” that management would not agree to the demand of a $1 raise despite receiving a Paycheck Protection program loan of more than $32,000.

The New York Police Department arrested several members on charges of obstructing roads on Monday night.

In response, the president of the Teamsters Local 202 Daniel Kane Jr. later called the arrests “outrageous” in a statement.

“These are the essential workers who went to work every day through the worst of the pandemic to feed New York,” he said. “All they are asking for is a dollar-an-hour raise so they can feed their families too.”

Of course AOC didn’t act like nothing else was happening on Wednesday, and she congratulated the new president and vice president. 

But it came with a caveat: “Now we must begin creating justice, healing our planet, and improving the material conditions for all people.”

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