Scoop: Democratic Party union blasts leadership over layoffs
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The union representing workers at the Democratic National Committee blasted the party's leadership Monday morning following large layoffs the past several days.
- "The principles we champion on the national stage have been disregarded in our own workplace," the union said in a statement obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: It's the latest fallout for the Democrats after President-elect Trump beat Vice President Harris in the 2024 election.
Driving the news: The DNC dismissed hundreds of employees this past week.
- Most people let go were only hired to work through the election but some were considered "permanent" employees that stay on between election cycles.
- Many DNC employees felt blindsided by the extent of the layoffs and felt that their managers had not been upfront with them about the possibility, eight current and recently fired DNC aides told Axios.
In a statement, the union said: "DNC leadership refuses to disclose to the DNC Staff Union the full extent of these layoffs and whether additional cuts are planned."
- The union called for the DNC to offer "severance to every permanent employee who was laid off" and more for transparency from the party's leadership.
Between the lines: The layoffs have raised more anxiety about the extent of the debt from Kamala Harris' campaign.
What they're saying: A permanent DNC employee fired this week told Axios: "If they want to be the party of the working people they should have more respect for their workers. There's an inauthenticity to how they talk about workers and clearly voters feel the same thing."
- A person familiar with the DNC's thinking countered: "The reality is: this is what happens when you lose. We have a generation of people who haven't had to go through a really brutal loss. We aren't trying to hatchet people."
- A current DNC staffer told Axios: "This scale of the layoffs is shocking people who have been here for a decade. People are blindsided by this...I've completely lost faith in the Democratic Party and I'm still working for them."
A DNC spokesperson told Axios: "Every cycle, political organizations scale up to meet the demands, and as the cycle comes to a close, it's a tough reality of our industry that we must part with talented, hardworking staff."
- They added: "While the DNC has met the terms of the union agreement negotiated by the CBA, we share the entire DNC family's frustration and continue to provide resources to all members of the team to support them in this transition."
Zoom out: DNC staff voted to unionize in 2022 and reached a collective bargaining agreement in the summer of 2023.
- The future of the party and the union will be changed by the expected election of a new DNC chairman early next year.
- A DNC official said that leadership is in regular communication with the DNC union representative on all updates about staff.
