The Democratic National Committee Staff Union blasted its leadership for laying off scores of employees without severance last week, blaming the “shocking” move on “callous and short-sighted mismanagement.”
“The Democratic National Committee is facing the fallout of callous and short-sighted mismanagement by senior leadership,” the union said in a Monday statement. “The principles we champion on the national stage have been disregarded in our own workplace.”
While dismissals are common among temporary staff after an election, the DNC staff—which unionized in 2023—was blindsided by the size of the layoffs, which included many permanent employees, Axios reported. Staffers were given one day’s notice and no severance, and DNC chair Jaime Harrison and executive director Sam Cornale have “offered no explanation for how these cuts were decided,” according to the union.
“These cuts go far beyond typical campaign turnover and impact employees who were previously told their positions would be retained after the election,” the union said. “Despite record-breaking fundraising, the DNC failed to provide any financial support to those who have tirelessly served the Democratic Party and its mission.”
The mass layoffs have heightened concerns over the extent of the debt from Vice President Kamala Harris’s failed presidential campaign, according to Axios.
Throughout her campaign, Harris struggled to garner support among union workers—historically a core constituency of the party. Democratic Party employees laid off last week slammed DNC leadership for its hypocrisy and “inauthenticity” regarding its promise to be the “party of the working people.”
“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,” one employee told Axios.
Even DNC employees who retained their jobs after the layoffs condemned the committee’s leaders, saying they have “lost faith” in their party.
“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.”
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