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Ohio Democratic Party Runs Into Trouble With Campaign Worker Unionization


With November’s midterm elections fast approaching, the Ohio Democratic Party finds itself in a somewhat perilous position as the Campaign Workers Guild has accused the Party of failing to fully engage in contract negotiations and instead claims the Party has hired a union busting firm to represent them in the negotiations.  This all came about after the Ohio Democratic Party voluntarily recognized its midterm election campaign workers union, the Campaign Workers Guild, back in July.  In doing so, the Ohio Democratic Party became the first state political party with a unionized organizing staff.

However, things appear to have gone south, based upon the accusations made by the Campaign Workers Guild.  In particular, the union claims that the Ohio Democratic Party’s failure to meet face to face in these opening negotiations has stalled any progress on a resolution to pay, age, mileage reimbursement, and a fair disciplinary program.  While I would not necessarily say this is the death knell for further labor and contract discussions, it is the exact opposite kind of media coverage that a political party (namely Democratcs who have long been synonymous with labor unions) want leading up to midterm elections.  With Ohio potentially featuring several close Congressional races, Democrats need all hands on deck over the next few months in order to keep the races close.

Stay tuned.



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