Bern-ing Hypocrisy
Sean Sullivan writes in the WaPo about, well, let's call it unintended consequences in calling for a $15-an-hour minimum wage:
Unionized campaign organizers working for Sen. Bernie Sanders's presidential effort are battling with its management, arguing that the compensation and treatment they are receiving does not meet the standards Sanders espouses in his rhetoric, according to internal communications.Campaign field hires have demanded an annual salary they say would be equivalent to a $15-an-hour wage, which Sanders for years has said should be the federal minimum. The organizers and other employees supporting them have invoked the senator's words and principles in making their case to campaign manager Faiz Shakir, the documents reviewed by The Washington Post show.
The Sanders campaign late Thursday issued a statement lauding its union contract. "We know our campaign offers wages and benefits competitive with other campaigns, as is shown by the latest fundraising reports," Shakir said. "Every member of the campaign, from the candidate on down, joined this movement in order to defeat Donald Trump and transform America. Bernie Sanders is the most pro-worker and pro-labor candidate running for president. We have tremendous staff who are working hard. Bernie and I both strongly believe in the sanctity of the collective bargaining process and we will not deviate from our commitment to it."
"We know our campaign offers wages and benefits competitive with other campaigns..."
Suddenly, he's a capitalist, paying market prices?
I like this commenter on the WaPo site:
Orville Persnikapuss
I suggest that Bernie not only provide a livable wage to his workers but give them all the other free stuff he wants to give everyone else. Free college, free housing, free health care along with forgiving their college debt. He will be left with the purchasing power for a bagel and a coffee.
Well, how cruddy is that union that they start at less than $15 an hour?
Fayd at July 19, 2019 10:08 PM
They will soon receive a lesson in economics that the real Minimum Wage is $0.
Currently they are making about $13.75/hr. plus benefits. By harming Bernie on this issue, they will depress his campaign donations and poll numbers. This will either force Bernie out of the race before the Dem Convention - and he’ll fire all of them when his campaign closes - or he goes into the Convention with a reduced staff - and, so he only fires some of them. And, in any event, his campaign closes after the Convention and does not continue through the election (and any transition team), so he fires all of them at that time.
Wfjag at July 20, 2019 1:13 AM
These people never mention this minimum wage thing when talking about immigrants, either...
Radwaste at July 20, 2019 4:06 AM
Bernie is just a typical socialist. “You little people should follow my rules. But I exempt myself from these petty rules.“
Jay at July 20, 2019 5:50 AM
I think that it is more pernicious than Jay suggests. I see it as "See! we can't trust anyone to do the right thing, especially those evil capitalists! there ought to be a law! I'am living proof of the need of that law!!"
I R A Darth Aggie at July 20, 2019 6:37 AM
"l'état, c'est moi."
iowaan at July 20, 2019 7:29 AM
For many of them I would believe you IRA. But this is Bernie. The man just isn't that crafty. He isn't that competent either.
Ben at July 20, 2019 10:56 AM
Bernie's campaign is paying them the union-negotiated $36,000 in annualized salary. This is more than $15 an hour for a standard 40-hour work week.
The problem is the campaign workers are working 60 hours a week without overtime, which cuts their hourly rate to below $15 an hour.
The workers argue the campaign is taking advantage of their salaried status. Management argues it is paying the workers a fair wage, one their union negotiated on their behalf.
From Reason: "The contract that the union signed with the campaign promises $36,000 in salary (and full health care benefits) for the lowest-level field workers. The workers now say they are earning less than $15 an hour when you calculate how much they make while toiling for 60 hours or more each week to help get Sanders elected. But they agreed to be paid a set salary rather than an hourly rate, so the criticism should be taken with more than a few grains of salt. Maybe joining the union didn't quite go the way they planned."
Welcome to the Party comrades.
Conan the Grammarian at July 20, 2019 12:07 PM
"Bernie's campaign is paying them the union-negotiated $36,000 in annualized salary. This is more than $15 an hour for a standard 40-hour work week."
Apparently they were not smart enough to specify the number of hours to be worked in their contract.
iowaan at July 21, 2019 8:45 AM
Perhaps the union was naive enough to believe the campaign's rhetoric about capitalism exploiting workers and socialism not. Perhaps they believed what the campaign practiced what it preached.
Seems to me, the campaign had savvier negotiators who circular-walked the union negotiators into a salary demand, knowing they'd take advantage of not having to pay overtime later.
Welcome to the Party comrades. By the way, the Party is for the Party's benefit only, not for yours, despite what it tells you.
Conan the Grammarian at July 21, 2019 2:20 PM
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