Bernie Sanders' campaign workers complaining, fleeing over ‘poverty wages': report

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks during a rally in the capital of his home state of Vermont on May 25, 2019 in Montpelier, Vermont. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders has pledged to American workers that he would institute a $15-per-hour minimum wage if he wins the White House in 2020.

But unionized workers on Sanders' own campaign say they wish he would start now -- by paying a higher wage to them.

According to a report, members of Sanders' staff have been using the senator's own campaign rhetoric against him as they try to wrestle more pay from the self-described democratic socialist.

In a letter to Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir, the campaign staffers claim they "cannot be expected to build the largest grassroots organizing program in American history while making poverty wages," the Washington Post reported.

"Given our campaign's commitment to fighting for a living wage of at least $15.00 an hour," the letter continues, "we believe it is only fair that the campaign would carry through this commitment to its own field team."

According to the Post, field organizers claim that their long hours working on behalf of Sanders drop their actual pay to about $13 per hour.

"Many field staffers are barely managing to survive financially," the union letter says, "which is severely impacting our team's productivity and morale. Some field organizers have already left the campaign as a result."

But when contacted by the Post on Thursday, Shakir seemed to paint a different picture.

"We know our campaign offers wages and benefits competitive with other campaigns, as is shown by the latest fundraising reports," Shakir said in a statement, according to the Post. "Every member of the campaign, from the candidate on down, joined this movement in order to defeat Donald Trump and transform America. Bernie Sanders is the most pro-worker and pro-labor candidate running for president."

But when contacted by the Post on Thursday, Shakir seemed to paint a different picture.

"We know our campaign offers wages and benefits competitive with other campaigns, as is shown by the latest fundraising reports," Shakir said in a statement, according to the Post. "Every member of the campaign, from the candidate on down, joined this movement in order to defeat Donald Trump and transform America. Bernie Sanders is the most pro-worker and pro-labor candidate running for president."

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