[A] former staffer for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, who has already accused the campaign of unfair labor practices, now has alleged that the union representing campaign workers refused to process grievances against the campaign.
The former employee, whose name was redacted from documents, says the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 did not take up complaints against the campaign for “arbitrary or discriminatory reasons or in bad faith,” according to a charge filed with U.S. National Labor Relations Board late last week.
This is the latest action involving accusations against the Sanders campaign. the same staffer filed separate documents a week ago alleging that the Vermont senator’s Iowa campaign had fired three people in retaliation for attempting to exercise rights under their collective bargaining agreement.
The original filing contains other allegations, including that the Sanders campaign failed to notify staffers that they had a collective bargaining agreement and maintained they could be fired without “just cause” for termination — called “at-will.”
The former staffer also accuses the campaign of requiring employees to work more than five days a week and of not paying collective bargaining guaranteed relocation fees. In the first filing with the NLRB, the former campaign worker said UFCW Local 400 “did nothing” and the person planned to file a separate charge against the union.
UFCW Local 400, which agreed on a contract with the Sanders campaign in early May, said it could not comment on the allegations at this time.
The Sanders campaign did not respond to requests for comment about the NLRB filing.
Last week, the campaign issued a statement that Sanders respects the rights of all employees to speak collectively and bargain for terms and conditions of their employment.
“That is exactly why the Bernie 2020 campaign voluntarily recognized the employees’ chosen union and engaged in good faith bargaining that resulted in a historic collective bargaining agreement,” the campaign said.
A spokesperson for Sanders added that the campaign’s union contract includes a probationary period in which workers are “at-will” for a period of time before receiving full union protections.
In documents in both the original charge against the Sanders campaign and the additional charge against UFCW Local 400, the NLRB says it is just beginning its investigation into the allegations and that “no decision has been made” about either case.
