Try to beat this for sheer hypocrisy and gall.
Excerpted from Steve Tawa’s article for CBS News – Philadelphia:
The Host Committee for the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia has paid out nearly a million dollars to staff members, and local institutions, from leftover money it raised to stage the event.
But, dozens of people who worked in the field elsewhere in the country for Democrats feel shortchanged and are now part of a class action federal lawsuit.
“I think everyone’s reaction is the same. It’s obscene,” says Justin Swidler, a Cherry Hill-based attorney.
Swidler is pursuing a lawsuit on behalf of 40-to-50 “field organizers” all over the country, whom he says were denied overtime compensation.
“One of the arguments that the Democrats are making is that they just don’t have the money to pay overtime to their workers,” said Swidler.
The named defendants are the Democratic National Committee, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and five more state party organizations.
“These workers were out there in a campaign that was promising $15 an hour minimum wage, and expanding the overtime rights of workers,” Swidler said.
Rendell notes when he hired Host Committee workers, he made it clear, since they didn’t know how much money would be raised, salaries would be below market rates.
One of the lead plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit is Bethany Katz of Rosemont.
Swidler says she and others believed in the Democratic platform and ideals, and put in 80-to-90-hours a week in the last stages of the race to support Hillary Clinton.
“They got paid a flat salary of $3,000 a month, which isn’t even minimum wage for some of the hours that they were working,” said Swidler.
He says the lawsuit seeks “fair pay for fair work,” and holding the Democratic Party to the very ideals that it embraces.
Look, I have not seen the numbers, and I don’t know whether this laswuit is justified. But if those were Trump workers suing for being underpaid, you can bet your butt national news would be featuring it in their reporting.
But don’t count on that happening to those nice folks who tried to give you Hillary Clinton. Much more important things are out there – like, for example, demanding that the “Russian collusion” investigation be prolonged, despite the the fact that, after over half a year, there is no evidence showing it ever happened.
