Swalwell says his 2020 presidential campaign is unionizing

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), who just announced his 2020 presidential bid, announced Wednesday his campaign staff has unionized. 

“We are recognizing them as members of the Teamsters local 238,” Swalwell announced during a speech at North America’s Building Trades Unions’s annual conference.

{mosads}Swalwell’s campaign is the second to unionize this presidential cycle.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced last month his campaign will have a unionized workforce.

“Today, we say to low wage employers: Stop paying your workers … starvation wages,” Sanders said last month when announcing his campaign’s union. “We are going to raise the federal minimum wage to a living wage — $15 an hour. Nobody who works 40 hours a week in this country should live in poverty. And yes, we’re going to make it easier for people to join unions, not harder.”

Swalwell, who is running in a primary field packed with other Democrats with beefier war chests and higher name recognition, has sought to differentiate himself early on in his campaign.

The California congressman vowed on Tuesday that his campaign would be centered around gun control and has sought to establish himself early on as a supporter of labor movements, two popular positions that unite a party often fractured between moderate and progressive flanks. 

The AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the U.S., in 2017 gave Swalwell a 98 percent lifetime score for his record of voting “with working people.”

The crowded Democratic presidential primary pack has cast a spotlight on economic inequities, highlighting income inequality and business malpractice, saying such issues support the need for unions.