#campaign workers

[transpondster]

[jerseydeanne]

Show me the money? Yeah, Bernie?

Show me the money? Yeah, Bernie?

“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.”

— Letter by Bernie Sanders campaign staffers According to the Post, field organizers claim that their long hours working on behalf of Sanders drop their actual pay to about $13 per hour.

  “Many field…

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[justinspoliticalcorner]

Bernie Sanders Reaches New Deal With Campaign Workers Union

Some field organizers had complained that long workweeks kept their pay below $15 an hour.

Daniel Marans at HuffPost: 

The presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) reached a deal with its campaign workers union that boosts field organizer pay to account for the long hours.

The accord follows a Washington Post story on Thursday detailing the complaints of field organizers that workweeks of 60 hours or more effectively kept their pay below $15 an hour.

The article prompted allegations of hypocrisy against Sanders, a prominent champion of a federal $15 minimum wage who was the first presidential candidate to recognize a labor union for campaign workers. The report also sparked frustration within the campaign over the source of a leak to the Post about the labor dispute that was not sanctioned by the union or its members.

Members of the campaign staff union, which is a part of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400, have voted to accept an offer to raise field organizer pay from $36,000 to $42,000 a year. Language in the amended collective bargaining agreement would specify that the typical workweek is six days, rather than the five days it had previously specified.

And in a bid to address a key sticking point, the campaign will cover the full cost of health care for employees making up to $42,000. It had previously covered 85% of the cost for employees making more than $36,000 a year.

“Both the campaign staff and management have engaged in this process in good faith and to achieve a mutually agreed upon outcome,” Jonathan Williams, a spokesman for UFCW Local 400, said in a statement. “This is what democracy in the workplace looks like.”

[angelholme]

One of the great annoyances in my life

I haven't had a political activist, worker, campaigner or other such person come to my door and ask my if I am going to vote Tory/Labour/Lib Dem/Bloody Nasty People/Unbelievably 'king Ignorant People/Green party in a while. And I have been working up a lot of good responses, depending on who comes to the door. Maybe next year will be my moment :)

[deadpresidents]

Do you have any advice for a teenager wishing to become active in politics? Not in a "I'm always right because im young and full of good ideas" way but to learn how everything works up close and personal?

Volunteer to work in campaigns at every level -- local, state, federal, and also campaigns for initiatives, school bond issues, things like that. It's such a great learning experience because you see the process and understand it a lot better than if you just vocally support a candidate or go pass out lawn signs. You also can do it now -- even if you're not old enough to vote yet, you can still get involved.

If you belong to a specific political party, I'd recommend volunteering at your local party headquarters. Every major city usually has an office, and you can learn so much there, about so many things, during campaign cycles (which increasingly just means "anytime"). There are also smaller, local groups that you can join and get involved in, and really learn a lot -- and more importantly, because it's politics, get to know the people who are involved and who might be able to help you in the future. Those smaller groups that are only loosely-connected to a party or candidate can also be petty and difficult, but that's a good learning experience, too, because, again, it's all politics.

And volunteer for everything, but don't let yourself get pigeonholed in one area. Campaigns will always want to plug in as many phone-bankers as possible, and it's certainly important, but it's easy to get stuck there and there's not a whole lot to learn. Phone-banking is relatively easy to do, and it doesn't require much oversight by experienced campaign staff. There's a script and reams of phone numbers that you're largely cold-calling and mainly getting hung up on by. Make sure you have an opportunity to go to events (a good way to do that is to volunteer to help with the staging, crowd control, or anything else). Definitely get a chance to canvass because, in my opinion, you learn more from canvassing than any other aspect of campaigning. Registering voters is also a fun and exciting thing to do because you're talking with people who have either never voted or decided not to vote anymore, and those conversations tell you so much about the political process and the electorate.

Here's another thing about volunteering: if someone is an asshole to you, if you're not learning anything, or if you're turned off by the organization you've chosen to give your time to, all you need to do is walk away. You're a volunteer; not an intern, not an employee. People who deserve volunteers don't drive them away.