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Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Presidential Campaign Moves to Unionize


Late last week, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted that she supported her campaign workers moving to unionize and be represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2320 (IBEW).  IBEW Local 2320 business manager Steven Soule noted that the Warren campaign was open to the idea of its campaign staff unionizing.

Notably, the unionization effort by these campaign workers was done by way of an informal collection of authorization forms ( also referred to as a “card check”), rather than by a secret ballot election supervised by the National Labor Relations Board.  The card check is often a quicker, easier, and less expensive way for workers to unionize.  Readers might recall that the Warren campaign is not the only Democratic Presidential campaign to see its workers unionize this election cycle, with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, and California Representative Eric Swalwell, all backing unionization efforts by their campaign workers.

With Democratic candidates for President looking to garner union support and build a coalition among this traditionally Democratic voting bloc, I would not call Senator Warren’s support all that surprising.  It will be interesting though to see which other Democratic campaign(s) seek to unionize next.


For additional information:  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/06/elizabeth-warren-says-she-supports-her-staffers-campaign-union.html

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