Buttigieg campaign staffers join union
November 21, 2019Field organizers on the presidential campaign of Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., have joined a union, the campaign announced on Thursday.
It said in a statement that the campaign had “voluntarily recognized” that IBEW Local 2321 would serve as the sole union representing campaign staffers who have the title “organizer.”
Staffers were informed that the organizers were forming a union, and the campaign supported that move on Thursday afternoon.
In a statement, Buttigieg campaign manager Mike Schmuhl said the campaign welcomed the workers’ decision.
“We are proud to work for a candidate who has proposed a bold economic agenda that would restore workers’ rights, expand collective bargaining rights, and make it easier for workers to unionize,” Schmuhl said. “We’ve always said we would live our values and support our staff if they wanted to form a union and today, we are proud to keep that commitment.
“Our team members in the early states and across the country are working hard to make Pete the next President of the United States. We’re looking forward to sitting down at the bargaining table to ensure they are receiving the great benefits and supportive working conditions that every campaign staffer deserves.”
In a separate statement, the union leadership for the workers on the campaign said: “Creating a dialogue between campaign workers and management serves to benefit everyone; not only on this particular campaign, but for future campaigns and for individuals who seek to join the profession. We do our jobs because we believe in the work and we believe in Pete Buttigieg. We consider it a privilege to work for Mayor Pete and to live out our shared values. We believe that part of living out those values is advocating for our coworkers. We look forward to Winning the Era as a unified and unionized campaign.”
Buttigieg’s campaign is not the first to have workers unionize. Campaign staffers for Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker, as well as former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, have also formed unions.
Source: https://www.politico.com/