Bernie Sanders Campaign Reaches Deal With Staff Union for Pay Raise
ORGANIZED LABOR
Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign reached a new deal to raise its staffers’ salaries following some reported frustrations that the length of work weeks had effectively kept them from earning $15 an hour.
“We are proud to represent the first unionized presidential campaign in history,” Jonathan Williams, spokesperson for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 said in a statement Tuesday announcing the changes. “As with any unionized workplace, our members have the ability to collectively and democratically work with their employer to address any number of issues in the workplace. Both the campaign staff and management have engaged in this process in good faith and to achieve a mutually agreed upon outcome. This is what democracy in the workplace looks like.”
Included in the new terms are a hike in field-organizer salaries from $36,000 to $42,000 and 100-percent coverage of platinum health-care plan premiums, paid vacation, sick leave and other benefits. “We have and will always be committed to the fight for fair pay, decent work conditions, and a strong labor movement—for our own workers and those all across this country,” campaign manager Faiz Shakir said in a statement. “We’re proud to have successfully negotiated with the union in good faith to raise the pay of field organizers, while continuing to ensure our campaign staffers are being paid a living wage.”