DNC Lets Staff Go Without Resignation, Union Says – Mother Jones

About two-thirds of the Democratic National Committee staff have been fired since the election. Carol Guzy/Zuma

Last Thursday, workers with the Democratic National Committee (DNC) were told they would be fired without severance and on short notice, according to the DNC’s union. The cuts included some longtime employees at the organization, the union said.

With the election over, the DNC intends to to reduce from about 680 employees to fewer than 200. Some degree of seasonality in political campaign jobs is expected. But this degree is unusual — and has affected DNC staffers who have stayed with the organization across multiple campaigns, or even decades, according to the union.

A former DNC caucus member whose last day was Friday said she was shocked. “For a lot of people, this is life-changing,” said the fired employee who spoke to Mother Jones on condition of anonymity.

“Among the members who were dismissed includes a deeply beloved union member who worked at the DNC for 38 years,” the staffers said. “So I’m pushing back on the claim that this is normal because we have members who have been here for decades who are shocked and angry and trying to figure out how to survive this layoff.”

In a statement to Washington PostDNC said that “while the DNC has met the terms of the union agreement negotiated by the CBA, we share the frustration of the entire DNC family and continue to provide resources to all members of the team to support them in this transition.”

A DNC official said Mother Jones that all workers were informed of the possibility of layoffs as early as September 13, and that 95 percent of those let go had a post-election end date in their offer letter.

But a dismissed employee who spoke with Mother Jones said she, like some other staff before the election, felt pressured to leave a full-time role for a temporary one.

“I was told that in order to get a title change or a promotion or any raises, it would only be if I agreed to sign a contract that had an end date of November 15,” she said. The employee said management had said an extension was expected.

“We tried to get answers as to why this happened and we were stonewalled over and over again by management,” she said. DNC officials would not comment on specific labor cases, but said all terms of the workers’ collective bargaining agreement are being upheld.

The DNC workers are not trying to get their jobs back. Instead, the union is organizing a severance package similar to what the workers on the Harris-Walz campaign got. (Run for Something, a major Democratic campaign support PAC, also faced a wave of post-election layoffs in recent weeks, letting go 35 percent of its staff—and well over half of its staff union.) A DNC- spokesman said Mother Jones that the DNC is in ongoing communication with SEIU Local 500, the union that represents DNC workers.

Among the DNC staffers who have not been fired, the mood is uncertain, said a staffer who was unaffected by the firings but requested anonymity for fear of retaliation from the DNC.

“One thing that has been a common thread during my employment has been that we try to break the boom-and-bust cycle of the democratic infrastructure. So I would say it feels very much the opposite of that, she said. She plans to look for another job soon — but calls that decision “heartbreaking” as someone who has spent years working in Democratic electoral politics.

Workers said DNC donors have reached out to them, concerned about how the money the Harris campaign raised is being spent, if not to give them severance pay.

“We find it very cruel that DNC ​​leadership is trying to claim that firings are just part of the job,” said a member of the DNC association. “And we feel strongly that the loss of an election has not relieved the organization of its responsibility to treat its workers with basic dignity.”

Correction, Nov. 21: An earlier version of this article misstated the conversation between SEIU Local 500 and the DNC. They are in communication, not negotiation.