Bernie Sanders campaign hit with unfair labor practices federal complaint
According to a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board filed July 19, the Bernie Sanders campaign is behaving like a ruthless anti-union corporation of labor history lore. Bloomberg reports:
Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign has been hit with an unfair labor practice complaint alleging illegal employee interrogation and retaliation against staffers.
The July 19 complaint to the National Labor Relations Board, filed by an unnamed individual in Indiana, was posted to the agency's website late July 22. It comes as tense negotiations between the Sanders campaign and the union representing staffers recently boiled over publicly. The Washington Post reported July 23 that unionized organizers for the campaign had won a pay raise and reached a compromise to reduce the hours of some workers.
A copy of the charge has not yet been made public, but the agency's July 22 docket lists five potential violations of the National Labor Relations Act. The charge also alleges that the campaign unlawfully discharged an employee, modified a labor contract, and engaged in illegal discipline.
It is not known who filed the complaint, and Bloomberg notes that any person can file such a complaint, so it is not even clear if a campaign employee was responsible for it. Nonetheless, the complaint automatically triggers an investigation:
The charge filing will initiate a preliminary investigation by the labor board's Indianapolis office to determine if there is merit to the allegations. The board's lawyers will then decide whether to move the case forward or dismisses it.
It is possible that there is nothing to the charge. If so, the preliminary investigation will show that to be the case, and nothing will come of it. On the other hand, if the charges are supported by evidence of illegal interrogation and retaliation, the faltering Sanders campaign will implode. The great champion of workers needs to be held to the standards he would force on others.