When workers on former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign ratified a union contract this May, it was both historic—Biden became the first major-party nominee to have a unionized workforce—and a bit of a no-duh. The idea that a campaign would unionize was a bizarre notion as recently as three years ago, but since 2018, progressives and campaign workers have been demanding Democratic candidates and institutions back up their pro-labor rhetoric by giving their workers the perks that usually come with union membership, like a good wage, overtime pay and insurance.
This upends what was once an implicit bargain for campaign workers, who have traditionally been expected to work extremely long hours, sometimes pay their own expenses, and even occasionally endure abusive treatment in exchange for being part of an exhilarating political movement and supporting a cause they believe in. Campaign work is, by its nature, temporary, and unionizing an organization that only exists for a matter of months might have seemed pointless in the past. Unionizing a campaign also potentially puts workers in conflict with management—which is to say, the very candidate they believe in—making bargaining a potentially fraught process.
So what’s changed? Here’s why so many Democratic campaigns have unionized since 2018:
It sends a progressive signal
The first modern congressional campaign to unionize was that of Randy Bryce, the union ironworker who became an internet phenomenon during his campaign against then-House Speaker Paul Ryan, thanks to a slick viral video. When the announcement was made in February 2018, the shop steward of the campaign emphasized the candidate “practices what he preaches.” Bryce’s brand was built on the idea he was an authentic labor Democrat; he couldn’t very well refuse to recognize a union on his own campaign. When Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign became the first of its kind to unionize in 2018, his campaign manager said much the same thing, praising the candidate’s “commitment to collective bargaining rights and a strong labor movement.”
The unionization of campaigns came after a wave of progressive media organizations, from Gawker to Vice to Vox, had union drives of their own, sometimes against stiff opposition from management. Though the job duties of a media worker and a campaign worker are different, both industries rely on the labor of starry-eyed youngsters idealistic enough to put in long hours for low pay. But in both cases, attitudes about work have shifted, and this generation of workers isn’t willing to tolerate poor conditions. And just as left-leaning media outlets can’t bust unions without appearing hypocritical (though some have tried anyway), political campaigns can’t use the excuses anti-union bosses have used for decades without severely damaging their progressive cred. Even back in 2018, when unionized campaigns were still an oddity, no Democrat would make an anti-union argument on the record in an NBC News story about the phenomenon.
Unionization comes with advantages—including more protections from harassment
Campaign union contracts aren’t all public, but reporting indicates that many include guarantees of health insurance and a $15 minimum wage. But just as important may be the grievance and arbitration language included in the Sanders’s campaign contract—women who worked for his 2016 presidential campaign complained of sexual harassment and pay disparities, for which Sanders later apologized.
Campaigns are full of young people, rigidly hierarchical, entail long hours, and often blur what’s personal and what’s professional. This makes them breeding grounds for sexual misconduct, and though Democratic presidential campaigns emphasized more HR processes this cycle, workers may feel, with some justification, that a union contract offers them more protection if they are the target of harassment from higher-ups.
We’ve hit a tipping point
Workers increasingly think campaigns should be unionized, and Democrats don’t have any good reasons to resist union drives. This combination has unleashed a flurry of union contracts, and at this point, it would be strange if a major Democrat tried to stop their staff from unionizing. It’s happening on every level of politics, from state legislative staffers to high-profile races—during the 2020 Senate primary in Massachusetts between Joe Kennedy and Ed Markey, campaign workers on both sides unionized. The industry standard is now trending toward unionization, and there’s no going back, even if some candidates and campaign managers privately wish they could get away with lower wages.
