Bernie 2020 Becomes First Presidential Campaign in History to Unionize

Bernie 2020 will be the first presidential campaign in history to have a unionized workforce, the campaign announced Friday.

According to the announcement from Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) 2020 presidential campaign, “a majority of the campaign’s bargaining unit employees designated the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 to represent them as their exclusive bargaining representative.”

“Bernie Sanders is the most pro-union candidate in the field, he’ll be the most pro-union president in the White House and we’re honored that his campaign will be the first to have a unionized workforce,” said Sanders’ campaign manager Faiz Shakir in an emailed statement.

The campaign recognized a card check system as an indication of support for the union and did not require an election, which is a model the campaign says Sanders has advocated for years to be applied to unionizing efforts everywhere.

“We expect this will mean pay parity and transparency on the campaign, with no gender bias or harassment, and equal treatment for every worker, whether they’re in Washington, D.C., Iowa, New Hampshire or anywhere else,” Mark P. Federici, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 400, said in an email statement.