The union representing workers at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has accused the party’s leadership of a “callous” betrayal of party values after the sudden announcement of layoffs of permanent employees without severance.
“Despite record-breaking fundraising, the DNC failed to provide any financial support to those who have tirelessly served the Democratic Party and its mission,” said the union in a press release.
They compared the lack of severance to laid-off employees with the Harris-Walz campaign, which provided three weeks of severance to laid-off employees. “These cuts go far beyond typical campaign turnover and impact employees who were previously told their positions would be retained after the election,” the union claimed.
“I’m heartbroken. These are single parents. These are new parents. These are recent graduates. You can ask any laid-off employees, friend or family, and they will vouch for the toll this job takes on you. You already give up so much when you decide to work for this organization and now they’re taking our financial security as well.” said a former DNC staffer and union member who was one of the workers laid off.
They requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from future job prospects. “Losing an election does not absolve the organization of its responsibility to treat workers with basic dignity.”
Over 100 staff at the DNC voted to unionize with Service Employees International Union Local 500 in January 2022.
Workers were notified at night on 13 November of the layoffs, according to the press release, and the union claimed the DNC had not disclosed to the union the full extent of the layoffs or if additional cuts were planned.
The former staffer argued that nothing in the union contract precludes the DNC from providing severance and transparency regarding layoffs.
“How could we have raised record-breaking numbers and still find ourselves in this situation?” they added.
The press release claimed DNC leadership had not been responsive in the wake of the layoffs and criticized the layoffs in contrast to the staff management whose decisions “created this situation” remain on payroll.
“Every cycle, political organizations scale up to meet the demands, and as the cycle comes to a close, it’s a tough reality of our industry that we must part with talented, hardworking staff,” a DNC spokesperson said in a statement to the Guardian “While the DNC has met the terms of the union agreement negotiated by the CBA, we share the entire DNC family’s frustration and continue to provide resources to all members of the team to support them in this transition.”
They claimed, per the Warn Act, staffers were notified 60 days in advance of termination, that 95% of staffers laid off were cycle hires. They also claimed that all union contract terms were upheld and that the DNC union and DNC management had been in communication, adding that the current DNC staff were focused on the transition ahead of the new DNC chair election early next year, ongoing fundraising and infrastructure upkeep, and holding Trump’s Republican party accountable.
