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Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign staff is apparently engaged in their very own fight for $15, according to the Washington Post. Due to overwork, the staffers, who are one of only a few unionized campaign staffs, say they are making less than the living wage that their campaign is promising to all Americans.
Documents obtained by the Post show ongoing negotiations between the union, represented by United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400, and the campaign management starting in May. The two parties still haven’t reached an agreement about a higher wage for campaign workers. According to the Post, it’s unclear whether Sanders himself is aware of the situation.
The union said in a statement that it couldn’t comment “on specific, ongoing internal processes between our members and their employer.”
From the Post:
“As union members, the Bernie 2020 campaign staff have access to myriad protections and benefits secured by their one-of-a-kind union contract, including many internal avenues to democratically address any number of ongoing workplace issues, including changes to pay, benefits, and other working conditions,” the statement said.
“We look forward to continuing to work closely with our members and the management of the Bernie 2020 campaign to ensure all workers have dignity and respect in the workplace.”
But according to the Post, the union is in the process of drafting a letter to Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir demanding higher wages.
In the letter, the union writes that campaign staffers “cannot be expected to build the largest grassroots organizing program in American history while making poverty wages. Given our campaign’s commitment to fighting for a living wage of at least $15.00 an hour, we believe it is only fair that the campaign would carry through this commitment to its own field team.”
The letter alleges that field organizers are working a minimum of 60 hours a week, bringing their actual wages down to an average of $13 an hour. The letter said “many field staffers are barely managing to survive financially, which is severely impacting our team’s productivity and morale. Some field organizers have already left the campaign as a result.”
From the Post:
Field organizers, who are on the front lines of the campaign’s crucial voter contact efforts, were to be paid not by hours worked but via an annual salary set at $36,000. Regional field directors were to be paid $48,000 annually, and statewide department directors were allocated $90,000 per year.
https://splinternews.com/bernie-sanders-staff-union-demands-better-working-condi-1836513077
Update:
Bernie Sanders Refuses To Increase Staff Wages, CUTS HOURS Instead
In a statement provided to Newsweek, Shakir said that the campaign has been in discussions about pay structure changes with the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400, the union representing the organizers.
"We look forward to continuing those discussions and obviously are disappointed that some individuals decided to damage the integrity of these efforts before they were concluded," Shakir said. "As these discussions continue, we are limiting hours so no employee is receiving less than $15 for any hours worked."
https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-san...r-minimum-wage-staff-2020-controversy-1450267
Documents obtained by the Post show ongoing negotiations between the union, represented by United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400, and the campaign management starting in May. The two parties still haven’t reached an agreement about a higher wage for campaign workers. According to the Post, it’s unclear whether Sanders himself is aware of the situation.
The union said in a statement that it couldn’t comment “on specific, ongoing internal processes between our members and their employer.”
From the Post:
“As union members, the Bernie 2020 campaign staff have access to myriad protections and benefits secured by their one-of-a-kind union contract, including many internal avenues to democratically address any number of ongoing workplace issues, including changes to pay, benefits, and other working conditions,” the statement said.
“We look forward to continuing to work closely with our members and the management of the Bernie 2020 campaign to ensure all workers have dignity and respect in the workplace.”
But according to the Post, the union is in the process of drafting a letter to Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir demanding higher wages.
In the letter, the union writes that campaign staffers “cannot be expected to build the largest grassroots organizing program in American history while making poverty wages. Given our campaign’s commitment to fighting for a living wage of at least $15.00 an hour, we believe it is only fair that the campaign would carry through this commitment to its own field team.”
The letter alleges that field organizers are working a minimum of 60 hours a week, bringing their actual wages down to an average of $13 an hour. The letter said “many field staffers are barely managing to survive financially, which is severely impacting our team’s productivity and morale. Some field organizers have already left the campaign as a result.”
From the Post:
Field organizers, who are on the front lines of the campaign’s crucial voter contact efforts, were to be paid not by hours worked but via an annual salary set at $36,000. Regional field directors were to be paid $48,000 annually, and statewide department directors were allocated $90,000 per year.
https://splinternews.com/bernie-sanders-staff-union-demands-better-working-condi-1836513077
Update:
Bernie Sanders Refuses To Increase Staff Wages, CUTS HOURS Instead
In a statement provided to Newsweek, Shakir said that the campaign has been in discussions about pay structure changes with the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400, the union representing the organizers.
"We look forward to continuing those discussions and obviously are disappointed that some individuals decided to damage the integrity of these efforts before they were concluded," Shakir said. "As these discussions continue, we are limiting hours so no employee is receiving less than $15 for any hours worked."
https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-san...r-minimum-wage-staff-2020-controversy-1450267
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