3/23/23 by Adri Pray
President Joe Biden is expected to announce his reelection campaign for the 2024 presidential election in the coming weeks, an announcement made possible by his first-of-its-kind unionized campaign staffers, according to his political allies.
Biden is set to be the first presidential candidate in U. S. history to run a reelection campaign with unionized staff. This gives Biden’s staffers established salary minimums, set work hours, overtime pay, and many other benefits. This move allows Biden to solidify his pro-union stance, a position he’s said he’s held through his political career, and is a stark contrast to his Republican opponents, whose staffers aren’t likely to unionize.
Top campaign officials are expected to put in long hours negotiating a collective bargaining agreement, potentially presenting financial and workforce constraints, but union organizers and Democratic operatives insist a unionized workforce would only strengthen Biden’s 2024 bid.
“I told you I was going to be the most pro-union president in history,” Biden said to Associated Press reporters in an interview. “And I’ve kept my promise.”
A unionized campaign is not unprecedented, though the sitting president’s campaign would be the largest in American history. Democratic White House candidates Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker and Julián Castro all had unionized campaigns in 2020.
Biden’s bid for reelection is expected to come next month, after the first-quarter fundraising period concludes at the end of March.