Biden says he agrees with a $15 minimum wage for campaign workers

[DonViejo]

By Sean Sullivan July 21 at 6:00 AM

LAS VEGAS — Joe Biden said Saturday that he thinks campaign workers should make at least $15 an hour, but he declined to weigh in on the standoff over pay between unionized field staffers and management on Democratic presidential rival Bernie Sanders’s team.

“I think so, yes,” Biden told reporters when asked whether $15 an hour should be the minimum wage for campaign staff. Asked whether his field organizers are being paid that wage, the former vice president replied, “The answer is I think that’s true but I gotta double-check it,” and glanced at a nearby aide.

Asked for more clarity, Biden spokesman Andrew Bates said that interns on the campaign are paid at a rate of $15 an hour and that field organizers are paid a salary of $4,000 a month. The latter comes out to $48,000 a year.

The hours that organizers work each week vary, Bates said. During a 60-hour workweek, which is not atypical for presidential campaign organizers, they would be making the equivalent of $16.67 an hour.

Biden declined to offer an opinion about the recent back-and-forth between the Vermont senator’s field staff and Sanders’s campaign manager Faiz Shakir, which The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-says-he-agrees-with-a-15-minimum-wage-for-campaign-workers/2019/07/20/d2c239f8-ab51-11e9-a3a6-ab670962db05_story.html

[ucrdem]

1. This doesn't surprise me.

The fact is that Biden is pretty generous with staff and campaign workers which has led to problems in the past. There was a scandal about a staffer skimming tens of thousands over many months and Biden had never noticed. But at least he pays them decently.

[thesquanderer]

2. Good for him!

And that $48k figure might put pressure on Bernie, who pays a much lower $36k. (Though that $36k at least also includes providing full health coverage, we don't know whether Biden's $48k does... but still...)

[marylandblue]

3. Bernie's $36,000 is the lowest I've heard of so far. Warren pays $42,000

And 100% of healthcare. He's also the only one so far to have a public labor dispute. You'd think a pro-union candidate would bend over backwards to ensure a fast, private, and collaborative process to resolve any disputes.

[thesquanderer]

4. With all this publicity, I bet Sanders addresses this soon.

Between some of his comments, and Biden's comments here about having to check to be sure, I suspect that usually the candidates themselves don't usually get involved in the minutia of staff salaries... but they will now.

[marylandblue]

5. I can understand Biden not getting involved, but Sanders hammer private companies

On.the minutia of their salaries. He should be equally involved of his own. And when this story broke he didn't say, "I'll take care of this right away." Instead, he castigated the leakers for going outside the process. He doesn't seem to realize why an employee would do that.

[Gothmog]

6. sanders is not paying this wage

Link to tweet

[Cha]

10. Wow! I'm adding this to my post on another thread..

Link to tweet

Thanks Goth!

[Scurrilous]

7. ...

[Gothmog]

8. From my Twitter feed

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

9. sanders is cutting hours

Link to tweet

[Kahuna7]

11. If he's cutting hours, are they making a "living wage?"