Steyer campaign reaches tentative union deal with staffers

Tom Steyer’s presidential campaign announced Friday it has reached a tentative union deal with its staffers and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2325, just a day before Nevada holds its caucuses.

“We are delighted to have reached an agreement with IBEW Local 2325 that will benefit our staff. Tom’s strongest and most steadfast partner has always been organized labor,” Heather Hargreaves, Steyer’s campaign manager, said in a statement. 

“Tom knows that unionization is a living, breathing example of democracy at work, and a critical counterweight to the corporate power that has become entrenched in government at all levels,” she continued. “He will continue to fight for union workers as president, including by protecting their right to keep their hard-won benefits such as health care plans.” 

The Steyer campaign first recognized the local IBEW chapter as the exclusive bargaining representative for its campaign staff earlier this month. 

Democratic presidential candidates have put a premium on gaining support from labor groups as the party works to win back working-class voters who traditionally vote for Democrats but flipped to President Trump in 2016. 

Unions are expected to play an important role in the nomination race including in states like Nevada, where candidates have actively courted the labor vote.

Staff at several other presidential campaigns, including those of Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Vice President Joe Biden, have all unionized.

Steyer has worked to cast himself as an ally of unions, saying in his economic plan that he would “support their right to organize for worker protections.”