South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s team is the latest 2020 Democratic presidential campaign to allow some members to unionize.
The campaign announced on Thursday that some of its staffers, all those with the title “organizer,” were joining the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, according to Politico. The eligible staffers will be organized through Local 2321 based in Massachusetts.
“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,” Buttigieg campaign manager Mike Schmuhl said in a statement. “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.”
Union leadership for the campaign workers also celebrated the decision.
“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,” union leaders said in a statement.
Buttigieg’s campaign is the fifth to recognize a union among its staffers. Staffers on Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign were the first in the history of U.S. presidential campaigns to unionize. The campaigns of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro have also unionized.
