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In a statement on Friday, the campaign said it recognized the decision of its employees to join unions, making it the first presidential campaign of the big parties employing a formally organized workforce.
Sanders tweeted that he was "proud" of the historical marker and, taking a page of his speech on the stump, linked the evolution to his own pro-union message.
"We can not just support the unions with words, we have to support it with actions," said Sanders. "In this campaign and when we are in the White House, we are going to help people more easily to unionize, not stronger."
The staff members will be represented by Local 400 of the United Food and Commercial Workers, who stated that anyone with a lower rank than deputy director would have the right to join the unit. negotiation. The campaign voluntarily recognized the group, the union said in a statement after the majority of the 44 eligible employees signed the union card.
Negotiations on a contract should begin soon, said the union, and the bargaining unit could eventually reach 1,000 members.
This decision will put pressure on other Democratic presidential campaigns, especially those contending for progressive voters, and at least remain neutral if their staff decides to organize them. The campaign of the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Julián Castro, announced that she would support such an approach. During the election campaign, Sanders repeatedly promised in speeches – as he had done in 2016 – to facilitate the unionization of workers, often linking him to his desire to raise the minimum wage to at least $ 15 hour.
This time, following reports of sexual harassment and salary disparities in Sanders' latest presidential campaign, additional pressure will be placed on strengthening the safeguards against such ill-treatment.
"We hope that (unionizing) will mean pay equity and transparency of the campaign, without bias or harassment, and equal treatment for all workers," said the President of Local Union 400 of the United Workers Union. of food and trade, Mark P. Federici, in a statement Friday. "that they are in Washington, DC, in Iowa, in New Hampshire or wherever."
As a result of 2016, Sanders set up what he described in January as a robust new reporting structure when he applied for re-election to the Senate in 2018 – regardless of campaign – allegations of sexual harassment and "training all employees on this issue". "
While Sanders is the first large-scale presidential campaign for organizing, this initiative comes after a growing wave of organizing within political operations – for candidates and causes – that have actually been accepted for decades as hard work and sometimes dangerous. environments.
Campaign workers for Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington State were represented by the Campaign Workers Guild in the fall mid-term elections, making her the first incumbent of the Congress with a syndicated campaign staff. Cynthia Nixon's campaign staff, who presented themselves as a progressive underdog in the Democratic governor of New York's primary, was among the handful of other people to take similar action.
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