Bernie Sanders to Cut Hundreds of Staff Members and Turn to California

[azurnoir]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by mcar (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: NYT

Senator Bernie Sanders is planning to lay off “hundreds” of campaign staffers across the country and focus much of his remaining effort on winning California, he said in an interview Wednesday.

The Vermont senator revealed the changes a day after losing four of the five states that voted Tuesday and falling further behind Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Despite the changes, Mr. Sanders said he would remain in the race through the party’s summer convention and stressed that he hoped to bring staff members back on board if his political fortunes improved.

“We want to win as many delegates as we can, so we do not need workers now in states around the country,” Mr. Sanders said in the interview. “We don’t need people right now in Connecticut. That election is over. We don’t need them in Maryland. So what we are going to do is allocate our resources to the 14 contests that remain, and that means that we are going to be cutting back on staff.”

“It will be hundreds of staff members,” Mr. Sanders said. “We have had a very large staff, which was designed to deal with 50 states in this country; 40 of the states are now behind us. So we have had a great staff, great people.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/28/us/politics/bernie-sanders-campaign.html?_r=0

[Hoyt]

1. We'd slam a corporation that let that many loyal staff go so cold-heartedly.

[pnwmom]

3. Anyone who takes a campaign job knows it's probably temporary. He did what he needed to do.

[72DejaVu]

7. That what the boss always says

[Hoyt]

9. I'll stick with the cold-heartedness. Hiring people and saying you don't need them sounds like what

Sanders has been yelling against. And he supposedly has campaign funds, so it sounds like he's trying to hold on to it. Not to mention, you'd think his supporters would not want campaign workers to be treated shabbily.

I get conserving money for the greater good -- but Sanders can't even manage his staff and keep them employed. He's kind of treating them like pawns. He's just another cold-hearted business person. He and Trump are a lot a like.

[JDPriestly]

34. What would a campaign worker from and in New York do now that

primary is over?

In California, the political reality is very different from New York.

How many New Yorkers know who Kamala Harris really is?

Political work is temp work. That's the nature of it.

I've neer done it for pay, but I have worked as a volunteer for lots of campaigns. And when the campaign is over, you don't continue working to elect your candidate. You go home and rest. I suppose the paid staff have to find new jobs and expect that they will be laid off before long when they start a new job.

[NanceGreggs]

43. And just like a CEO ...

... he gave himself a bonus - a private jet getaway to Rome for himself and his family - before laying off staff.

[2pooped2pop]

55. lol

crock

[Dont call me Shirley]

61. What happens when Hillary lets go of her campaign staffers? Thats the nature of the job, duh!

[RealAmericanDem]

66. With Hillary they get new jobs at the White House.

[Dont call me Shirley]

68. Thats right. And jobs with private Election database and voting machine companies.

[riversedge]

69. BINGO.

[Phlem]

63. Keep it up. You're making yourself look fucking smart.

[RufusTFirefly]

4. Always finding that silver lining, I see

If I carped this much and this shamelessly, I think I'd have to get rid of all my mirrors in order to make life just a bit more bearable.

[democrattotheend]

6. Campaign jobs are by definition temporary

All campaign jobs end when the election is over, the candidate withdraws, or the election is mostly over (few states left) and fewer staff are needed. If he were to drop out, as many here have urged him to do, he would have to let his entire campaign staff go. By staying in until the end, at least some people stay employed longer.

[Hoyt]

10. So are corporate jobs in the 21st Century. Sanders is not much different from anyone else

conserving money and treating loyal staff like crud.

[democrattotheend]

44. If you want to help some of them keep their jobs, by all means, pitch in

https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/lets-go-bernie?refcode=homepage_main_nav

[beastie boy]

48. To fund Bernie's trip to Paris? No thanks.

[redwitch]

18. Political campaign jobs are mostly temporary.

And at least he paid his staff!

[Hoyt]

20. So are most jobs nowadays. There's always an excuse.

[Plucketeer]

19. It's not like productivity has plummented

or his product isn't se4lling well. ALL his money comes from guys and gals like lil ol me - retired an on SS and a small VA disability allowance. As an "investor", I'd want him to be fiscally frugal. Especially since I'm fixin' to send him a few more bucks!

[erlewyne]

35. Great post!

Thank you Plucketeer!

[wildeyed]

23. It's a campaign.

They knew it was a temporary job when they signed on and that he was losing. I can slam Sanders for a lot, but not this.

[MariaThinks]

37. if bernie can't keep his loyal workers employed ....

it's easy to criticize, but solutions are also needed.

[JDPriestly]

42. If you are a singer or performer (as many are here in California)

you know that after you have done your gig, whether it lasts an evening or a year, you have to look for new work. Politics is the same way. It isn't a job. It is a short-term gig.

[progree]

57. What a ridiculous, silly, asinine, stupid comment

We'd slam a corporation that let that many loyal staff go so cold-heartedly.

No campaign lasts more than a year or so. Everyone, literally everyone except a few silly dumb-ass bozos know that.

And I don't give a hoot in hell if this is hidden. Such asinine stupidity needs to be called out, whatever the consequence.

I haven't had a hide since 2012. But calling out your ridiculous, silly, asinine, stupid comment is well worth despoiling my almost pristine record. Now I will only be able to "brag" that I haven't had a hide since April 2016. Oh well. Very definitely worth it. Congratulations!!!!!!

[Gomez163]

2. I heard Bernie is replacing them with overseas workers.

[Hoyt]

12. LOL.

[Plucketeer]

24. Like this?

[Dont call me Shirley]

62. Thats the NAFTA, CAFTA, TPP way, Bernie did not vote for. Hillary fully supports them.

http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Bernie_Sanders_Free_Trade.htm

[happynewyear]

5. In the meantime

Jobs with Bernie 2016
California

PDI Specialist
Regional Field Director
Field Organizer

https://berniesanders.com/jobswithbernie2016/

[pnwmom]

8. Why doesn't he just transfer some of the laid off workers instead of hiring new ones?

[happynewyear]

14. Bernie is seeking workers w/specifc skills

Did you click on that link and check-out these jobs?

Would require relocating among other things.

Sanders 2016!

[beastie boy]

21. Time to take advantage of the H1B visa program!

[MariaThinks]

38. isn't that what corporations and BANKs do?

[democrattotheend]

45. They probably put that ad up a while ago

I doubt they are hiring right now.

[Plucketeer]

27. Ahhh.... logistics maybe?

[JDPriestly]

32. We need campaign workers in California who know California politics,

geography and mentality.

[TexasBushwhacker]

11. Well his big mistake

is that HE PAID THEM. All of them! Even the lowliest intern was paid at least $10 an hour. All the other candidates have unpaid interns.

[Hoyt]

17. $10? I thought he was pushing $15/hr.

[TexasBushwhacker]

22. A $15 minimum wage would be phased in

And $10 an hour is more than the ZERO that Clinton pays her interns.

[Hoyt]

33. Just getting clarification of his hypocrisy.

[RufusTFirefly]

56. Hypocrisy is pushing a corporatist neocon while using Woody Guthrie as an avatar

He's rolling in his grave.

[TexasBushwhacker]

58. Well let's look at the minimum wage from 40 years ago

and adjust it for inflation. It was $2.30 an hour on 1976 and adjusted for 40 years of inflation it would be $9.63 now.

http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=2.30&year1=1976&year2=2016

So not only was Bernie paying $10.10/hr which is still 47 cents more per hour than $9.63, it's almost 40% higher than $7.25. My guess is that he used the $10 minimum wage in California and Massachusetts as a guideline.

[beastie boy]

29. He paid the fat media moguls a lot more.

If he kept his media buys in Wisconsin and New York on par with Hillary's, he would have been left with a hell of a lot of $10 bills to pay his staff!

[JDPriestly]

31. He did not have her name recognition. I'm sure his staff helped him

make that decision to invest in media in those states. It was especially important in New York where he did better than Obama did in 2008 and where he kept her total number of votes to about 14,000 less than what she had in 2008.

[beastie boy]

36. Wow, more excuses!

No name recognition in his home state? Pahleeze!

He paid tens of millions for a net loss of over 20 delegates in those two states. Sounds like mismanagement of millions of those $27 contributions to me...

[JDPriestly]

41. As I explained, Hillary received fewer votes this year than she did

in 2008 in her home state. Enough is enough. Bernie did a great job in New York state. It is his childhood home state, but he has not be politically active there for maybe 50 years. She was the senator from that state from maybe 2001 until 2008.

[beastie boy]

46. You are making my point for me.

Hillary got less votes than before, yet Bernie lost over 20 delegates to the carpetbagger while outspending her 2 to 1.

You want to call this embezzlement instead of mismanagement?...

[MariaThinks]

39. why not $15?

[democrattotheend]

54. He's not calling for a $15 minimum wage right away

His plan calls for phasing it in over several years. Plus, he's the only candidate I have ever heard of who paid interns at all.

[colorado_ufo]

13. This is being a prudent steward of the money that was entrusted to his campaign

through the donations of many people, many of whom have limited resources and to whom a campaign contribution represented a sacrifice.

Campaign workers have one objective: to get their candidate elected. That is the sum total of their job description. When the campaign is over, their job is over, and if they believe in the purpose of their job, then they will understand that this is a necessary strategy.

No one wants to be laid off work, but it is hopefully for a more long-term gain.

[Hoyt]

16. Sounds exactly what every employee ever laid off has heard.

[TexasBushwhacker]

26. A campaign job is always temporary n/t

[Hoyt]

40. Yeah, and I'm sure any business feels the same when things aren't looking good.

[TexasBushwhacker]

51. I've worked temp jobs

I knew from the beginning they were temporary. I didn't expect them to last forever.

I've been laid off from permanent jobs too. I didn't like it, but in my situation I understood why they did it. It was a cost cutting measure that made sense for the company.

Working decades for the same company and getting a gold watch has been gone for a long time. For political campaigns it was never there to begin with.

[Doitnow]

52. Oh, Go smoke your cigarette somewhere else.

[colorado_ufo]

47. If a job is temporary, and the employee knows that, then there is no room for complaint

unless they were promised a certain length of employment.

Do you know if they were promised a certain length of employment?

[George II]

15. His explanation seems to say that he doesn't expect to win the nomination. If he won....

....the nomination he would need all those workers for the General Election.

"What we are going to do is allocate our resources to the 14 contests that remain". Who gets allocated to Guam?

[wildeyed]

28. Guam is mad because of that thing Sanders surrogate

Tim Robbins said, about how SC matters as much as Guam. Pretty sure SC was mad, too

[JDPriestly]

30. Bernie is an excellent money-manager.

There are only ten states left. Political aides know from the get-go that their work is temporary. I've never done political work other than as a volunteer, but I have always figured they must be very flexible in their job approach.

Bernie's staff has done a fantastic job bringing Bernie from virtually no even name recognition to being a real contender and possible candidate.

Feel the Bern!

California is the big one, and we are just starting to organize over the past couple of weeks.

[JDPriestly]

25. Thanks a million to all of Bernie's staff.

Good luck in the future. You did a great job.

I bet you are tired, but still: Feel the Bern!

I'm also pretty sure it hurts when the work ends and you get laid off, but that is part of political work.

I've never done it professionally in any capacity, but I can imagine that it is not very dependable.

[colorado_ufo]

50. I will second that

with another big "thank you." I hope that your excellent work will shine on your resume and help give you a step-up to even better jobs in the future. It will be very nice to be able to put a United States Senator, and hopefully future President, as a reference.

[FailureToCommunicate]

67. Yes! Thank you! -from all of us who have been unpaid -but entusiasic- Bernie campaigners.

[xloadiex]

49. Didn't he do this in each state once the primary

in that state was over? I see this article as nothing more than to try and make it seem like Bernie is giving up.

[azurnoir]

53. That would make sense wouldn't it? I can see phone bankers being retained but not actual field worke

[left-of-center2012]

59. Is Hillary still paying her Iowa and Vermont campaign workers?

I think not.

[FailureToCommunicate]

65. +1

[SoapBox]

60. Camp Weathervane has hired and fired, since the beginning...

There have been numerous articles over the past months about her campaign bringing on and then letting go...many, many not even paid in the first place.

[Cryptoad]

64. That new Path to Victory

has been calculated. Bern now must win CAL three times. this is going to take all his focus,,,but plz keep those $27 a rolling in!

[mcar]

70. Locking

Dupe: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141430046