The pandemic has put a spotlight on the need for workplace protections for campaign and consulting firm staffers. Or at least that’s the lesson the Campaign Workers Guild is taking away from 2020.
“The pandemic has just shined a really, really, really bright light on the fragility of the system,” said Aidan King, a member of the CWG’s executive council.
“When you’re working on a campaign and your election is on June 15 and you’re in the middle of a pandemic, it makes the things we’re fighting for all the more important.”
As of Labor Day, the CWG has successfully unionized two Democratic shops, Aisle 518 Strategies and Middle Seat, and has been recognized at Authentic Campaigns but is still bargaining its first contract.
“Management with these three so far has been receptive and more in line with the cause then you might find if you were trying to form a union at a creative agency that had zero political affiliation,” said King.
Some of the gains that CWG has bargained for are a salary floor, guaranteed raises, profit sharing, 100-percent employer-paid healthcare, and guaranteed work-from-home days — pre-pandemic.
“We think, and I know this from first-hand experience as well, the people at these firms are also in the trenches,” said King, who formerly worked at Middle Seat.
“They’re pulling the same kinds of hours as organizers on campaigns. Our ultimate goal isn’t just to have campaign workers unionized. We are also focused on making sure that workers all across the political progressive space are covered, to have a seat at the bargaining table, to be empowered to have the work culture that they want.”