The collective bargaining agreement between Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign and its employees includes guarantees for transgender people, non-English speakers, and individuals not authorized to legally work in the United States, according to a copy of the contract obtained by the Washington Examiner.
Sanders, 78, is one of the highest-polling Democratic presidential campaigns to have unionized employees. That’s a marked departure from traditional campaign structures, often a mix of grizzled veterans and idealistic young people operating in fast-changing conditions, surviving on little sleep, unhealthy food, and little money, all for the chance to help elect the next president and potentially snag a White House job themselves.
Sanders, a socialist who has served in Congress for nearly 30 years, touts expanded unionization in the American economy and has said his campaign will abide by the same rules he expects the private sector to. Sanders largely appeals to voters and potential voters on the far left end of the political spectrum, and his campaign’s union rules reflect the identity politics of his “woke” supporters who fancy themselves sensitive to the concerns of what they call marginalized groups.
The agreement, for example, grants flexibility for the union to establish committees to “discuss issues” concerning “diversity, anti-harassment, microaggression, transgender worker rights, gender neutrality, inclusion, and implicit bias training.” Those who wish to participate in such committees cannot be disciplined for their involvement and can spend up to three hours each month, with pay, working on the committees.
All concerns recorded by those committees, once submitted to management, must receive a response within two business days.
Under the agreement, which took effect May 2 and expires on March 31, 2021, the campaign must also keep a record of an employee’s ethnicity, gender expression, and preferred gender pronouns, should the employee voluntarily submit the information. All offices, whether they be a national office in Burlington, Vermont, or a smaller field outpost in Iowa, must “make best efforts” to have “at least one gender neutral bathroom” or the campaign risks going through a grievance process.
If housing is provided by the campaign, the private room for the employee must be equipped with “a reasonable bed” that includes “clean bedding, pillows and blankets.”
The contract also has a section dedicated to “gender neutrality,” which requires the campaign to issue a rule “notifying all employees that transgender employees may use the restrooms and changing rooms designated for the gender they identify with,” as well as “requiring everyone at the work place or engaged in the Employer’s business to speak or refer to transgender Employees by the names they choose and the pronouns they identify with.”
Then there’s the issue of what to call, or not to call, campaign employees.
“In order to best balance the personal preferences of all Employees, supervisors and Employees will be encouraged to make preferred pronouns a part of introductions at meetings, but no Employee will be required to state a preference, nor shall they be discriminated against for not stating a preference at such meetings,” the contract reads.
All “boarding materials and policy manuals” must also include gender-neutral language.
The Sanders campaign is also forbidden from asking about a candidate’s criminal history or conduct a background check on a potential employee prior to an offer, nor will an employee’s absence due to “detention or incarceration by law enforcement pursuant to the Employees’ citizenship status or Visa status” lead to any discipline or be recorded on his attendance record.
Additionally, the campaign is also required to “work with the Union to provide English as a Second Language (ESL) and literacy classes to Employees, either directly or in partnership with not-for-profit ESL providers,” although the contract does note that “English is the language of the workplace.”
In the case of a Social Security “No-Match” letter, a notice from the federal government if a potential illegal immigrant falsified his social security number, the Sanders’ campaign is forbidden from contacting the Social Security Administration and cannot “interrogate any Employees about their SSN.” The contract also outlines strict rules prohibiting campaign workers from cooperating with federal immigration officers.
Sanders, Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey, and former Housing Secretary Julián Castro have all opted to allow their presidential campaign workers to unionize. California Rep. Eric Swalwell had unionized staff affiliated with Teamsters Local 238 but dropped out, citing financial woes as one of the reasons he ended his campaign.
Former Vice President Joe Biden has also signaled openness to allowing his campaign to unionize, with a spokesman saying in May that “if staff decided they wanted to unionize, the vice president would welcome it.”
Revelations about Sanders’ campaign union contract comes at a precarious time for his presidential effort. Sanders suffered a heart attack last week, his doctors said Friday as he was released from a Las Vegas hospital. Sanders was stable upon arriving at Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center on Tuesday and was immediately taken to surgery to receive two stents following the discovery of a blocked artery.
Sanders, who in 2016 challenged Hillary Clinton from the left, is facing sagging poll numbers after peaking at 27% in the spring. According to the RealClearPolitics average of the four most recent Democratic polls in its database, Biden stands at 26.3%, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is at 26.0%, while Sanders is third at 14.3%.
[Also read: Sanders campaign trail absence gives Warren fresh chance to win over his supporters]
