[Peace-discuss] Bernie Sanders And The Culinary Workers: Behind Effort In Nevada To Undermine Support For His Campaign

[David Johnson]

Another example of corrupt corporate collaborating Union “ leaders “ working
against the best interests of their members.

 

Bernie Sanders And The Culinary Workers: Behind Effort In Nevada To
Undermine Support For His Campaign

 

 
<https://medium.com/@kevin_33184?source=post_page-----f9f10ccf815c----------
------------> Kevin Gosztola

 
<https://medium.com/@kevin_33184/bernie-sanders-and-the-culinary-workers-beh
ind-effort-in-nevada-to-undermine-support-for-him-f9f10ccf815c?source=post_p
age-----f9f10ccf815c----------------------> Feb 15 · 9 min read

 

 

Jon Ralston, political journalist, commentator, and founder of The Nevada
Independent (Screen shot
<https://www.msnbc.com/craig-melvin/watch/key-nevada-union-hits-sanders-7868
8325578> from MSNBC is fair use as it is included for news reporting and
criticism)

Weeks before the Nevada caucuses, Senator Bernie Sanders’ Democratic
presidential campaign engaged in massive outreach to rank-and-file workers
in the Culinary Workers Union, which is viewed as highly influential in the
state.

The Sanders campaign talked to workers at their homes and work sites. They
<https://theintercept.com/2020/02/11/bernie-sanders-new-hampshire-nevada/>
sent “hundreds of thousands of pieces of mail to culinary workers, who are
Latino in Nevada.”

Yet, about a week before early voting started in the Nevada caucuses, the
Culinary Workers Union leadership moved to suppress interest and support for
Sanders among their own members.

Leadership approved and
<https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6774361-Culinary-Union-flyer-on-San
ders-wanting-to-end.html> distributed a “union scorecard” for presidential
candidates that singled-out Sanders as a candidate who would “end Culinary
Healthcare,” “require Medicare For All,” and “lower drug prices.”

The Nevada Independent, a “nonpartisan nonprofit news and opinion website
founded in 2017 by veteran political journalist and commentator Jon
Ralston,” gained notoriety for
<https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/in-new-flyer-culinary-union-warns-
members-sanders-would-end-their-health-care-if-elected-president> reporting
on the scorecard. Coverage stirred
<https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/culinary-union-officials-face-prof
anity-laced-attacks-after-scorecard-says-sanders-would-end-their-health-care
> anger among lowly Sanders supporters, and the narrative
<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-sanders-nevada/democrat-san
ders-nevada-union-in-escalating-feud-ahead-of-state-nominating-contest-idUSK
BN207031> evolved: “Democrat Sanders, Nevada union in escalating feud ahead
of state nominating contest.”

It upset several rank-and-file workers, including workers in the larger
umbrella organization known as UNITE HERE. They
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeW1fhTsi39gxB58R2c9_sxntSGJdChLaB
6SnFNvvFplR7qWQ/viewform> urged members to sign on to a letter of support
for Sanders and Medicare For All.

Union leadership announced on February 13 they would not endorse any
candidate.

What went virtually ignored was the conflicts of interest of the Nevada
Independent, as well as the record Ralston has as a political journalist
known for promoting false stories and manufacturing the news. Nor was there
attention given to the Culinary Health Fund and the incentive that union
leadership has to drive a wedge between Sanders and rank-and-file workers.

As POLITICO
<https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/13/nevadas-powerful-culinary-union-de
clines-to-endorse-a-2020-candidate-115019> noted, the Culinary Workers Union
and its affiliates “represent some 60,000 workers in the restaurant and
hospitality industries in Las Vegas and Reno. It is also the largest
immigrant organization in the state, with Latinos accounting for more than
half of its membership, and it is a major source of voter mobilization.”

“Nevada is the early voting state with the largest Latino population, 29
percent,” POLITICO added.

Ralston’s Nevada Independent has
<https://thenevadaindependent.com/our-donors> received $957,500 from MGM
Resorts International, which owns The Mirage, $145,000 from Caesars
Enterprise Services LLC, $31,500 from Boyd Gaming, and $7,500 from Caesars
Entertainment.

The Culinary Health Fund is what is known as a multi-employer Taft-Hartley
Fund. It pays for health insurance coverage for members through collective
bargaining agreements.

Employer trustees for the Culinary Health Fund
<https://www.culinaryhealthfund.org/library/UNITE_HERE_Health_Trustees.pdf>
include executives from Boyd Gaming, Caesars Palace, Hilton Worldwide,
Hostmark Hospitality Group, Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, The Mirage, Sodexo,
Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Tishman Hotel Corporation, and Geneva HRM
Advisors, which is involved in corporate labor relations.

Neither of these donors were disclosed at the bottom of the Nevada
Independent’s coverage, despite the outlet’s stated commitment to
transparency. However, the outlet acknowledged the Culinary Workers Union
donated $7,325 to support their work.

The casino and gaming corporations, which financially support the Nevada
Independent, have an incentive to keep contract negotiations focused on
health care to limit the leverage union workers have to demand better
pensions, higher wages, and improved workplace conditions, which may
undercut profits.

Spreading Fake News During The 2016 Primary

 

 

Jon Ralston on KTNV Channel 13 Las Vegas in 2016. (Screen shot
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrATrlHsFVI> from KTNV and fair use as it
is included for news reporting and criticism.)

Ralston will be one of the moderators for the MSNBC/NBC News Democratic
presidential debate in Las Vegas, which is scheduled for February 19.

In 2016, according to Snopes, a leading fact-checking organization, Ralston
<https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/did-sanders-supporters-throw-chairs-at-ne
vada-democratic-convention/> falsely claimed that Sanders supporters “threw
chairs at a Nevada convention.” It was “widely reproduced by other news
outlets,” including MSNBC, CBS, the Associated Press, and the New York
Times.

“Convention ended w/security shutting it down, Bernie folks rushed stage,
yelling obscenities, throwing chairs. Unity Now! On to Philly 2/2,” Ralston
tweeted. He also
<https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/did-sanders-supporters-throw-chairs-at-ne
vada-democratic-convention/> declared., “Hey, Berniebot chair-throwing
truthers: It happened. People saw it, including one journalist who was there
and reported it.”

Around three weeks before the Nevada caucuses in 2016, Ralston “reported”
that “operatives from Bernie Sanders’ campaign [had] donned Culinary union
pins and secured access to employee areas inside [Las Vegas] Strip hotels to
try to garner votes for the February 20 caucus,” according to “sources.”

A headline at his personal website
<https://www.ralstonreports.com/blog/sanders-workers-are-masquerading-culina
ry-members-campaign-inside-hotels> read, “Sanders workers are masquerading
as Culinary members to campaign inside hotels.”

Geoconda Argüello-Kline, the secretary-treasurer for the union, “confirmed”
the reports of Sanders’ staffers “attempting and gaining access to employee
dining rooms.” She said the union was “disappointed and offended,” and
added, “It’s completely inappropriate for any campaign to attempt to mislead
Culinary Union members, especially at their place of work.”

Neera Tanden, the Center for American Progress director who was a part of
Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign,
<https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/54501> gleefully
<https://thinkprogress.org/how-bernie-sanders-campaign-disappointed-and-offe
nded-nevada-s-most-powerful-union-21015499103b/> shared a link from CAP’s
Think Progress website, where the story from Ralston was boosted. “See we
are not always bad!” (Argüello-Kline is a
<https://www.culinaryunion226.org/union/officers/geoconda-arguello-kline>
member of CAP’s Advisory Board.)

Jennifer Palmieri, who was the Clinton campaign’s communications director,
replied, “It’s great!”

CNN
<https://www.cnn.com/2016/01/28/politics/bernie-sanders-union-nevada-culinar
y-union/index.html> followed-up on the report. Jeff Weaver, the campaign
manager for Sanders’ 2016 campaign, maintained no staffers “ever
misrepresented who they were.” In fact, Sanders staffers wore the Culinary
Union’s button “in solidarity with people” in the union. They also wore
“Bernie paraphernalia.”

Emilia Pablo, who was the Nevada communications director for Sanders, was
stunned by the response of the Culinary Workers Union. “It is surprising
because we have been building a positive relationship with them from the
moment that we go to the ground. We have always thought we have had a
positive relationship with them and for them to come out so strongly against
us and to go to the press first, that surprises me.”

In both election cycles, the effort to undermine support among not only
rank-and-file members but also Latinos in Nevada came as Sanders surged in
the polls. Clinton, as Ralston
<https://www.rgj.com/story/news/politics/2016/02/14/ralston-reports-team-cli
nton-growing-nervous-nevada/80330062/> reported, saw a 25-point lead in
Nevada evaporate after Sanders’ huge victory in New Hampshire.

A national Morning Consult poll released on February 12 showed Sanders
surged 10 percent among Latino voters to 48 percent. “Political strategy
company Plus Three
<https://plusthree.com/strategy/hispanic_outreach/sanders_leads_candidates_i
n_latino_fundraising/> found in a study published [February 13 that Sanders
has four times the donations from Hispanics of any other Democrat running
for president,”
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/14/polling-shows-sanders-extendin
g-lead-among-hispanics-ahead-nevada-caucuses> according to Common Dreams.

“In Iowa’s 12 Hispanic-majority caucuses, Sanders got more than 66 percent
of the raw vote. The next highest percentage was former Vice President Joe
Biden, with close to 11 percent of the vote,”
<https://aldianews.com/articles/politics/elections/how-bernie-sanders-flippi
ng-his-2016-script-latino-voters-2020/57615> wrote Al Día’s Nigel Thompson.

Biden’s campaign has cratered since the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire
primary, leaving industry interests panicked that Sanders may pick up a
massive win in Nevada.

Culinary Workers Town Hall ‘Was Not Pretty For Bernie Sanders’

Although Jon Ralston did not author the reporting at the Nevada Independent,
he went on MSNBC multiple times to promote the agenda of Culinary Workers
Union leadership.

“The union has basically said to members, listen — this is the leadership,
of course. We have your best interests at heart. We have gotten you this
Cadillac plan. Bernie Sanders wants to take that away,” Ralston declared on
“MSNBC Live” on February 13. “Whether you agree with that characterization
or not, that is the messaging to their members.”

Ralston added, “Bernie Sanders and the other candidates went and did town
halls with the Culinary members. The issue [of health care] came up, and it
was not pretty for Bernie Sanders.”

Yet, video of the town hall, which occurred on December 10, shows Ralston is
misrepresenting or outright exaggerating the tension that occurred between
Sanders and union members.

At the town hall, Sanders was
<https://twitter.com/kgosztola/status/1228131459933843456?s=20> told by a
member, who was part of the Frontier Hotel and Casino worker strike, one of
the longest labor strikes in history, that she wanted to keep her Culinary
Health Plan. She was very concerned about losing coverage if Medicare For
All was adopted.

Sanders let her speak, and then he launched into part of his stump speech.
“Number one, we’re going to expand Medicare to cover dental care. Because
dental care is health care,” and, “We’re going to make sure everyone in
America who need it has hearing aids, has eyeglasses.”

“And the other thing that we are going to do is have Medicare cover home
health care so that elderly people are not pushed out of their homes,”
Sanders added.

Workers cheered and applauded the policy proposals, which Sanders advocated.

“We are going to have Medicare For All because we are going to take on the
greed of the pharmaceutical industry and lower drug prices significantly.
Nobody will pay more than $200/year for prescription drugs,” Sanders
promised.

A small group of members in attendance chanted, “Union health care! Union
health care!” But Sanders never lost control of the room. He directly
addressed the concern about their union health plan.

“Because we spend so much on health care, your employer is spending a lot on
your health care,” Sanders replied. He argued ending the “bureaucratic
nightmare of thousands of separate health programs that have to be
administered” would save “hundreds of billions of dollars.”

Medicare For All would mean “your employer will not have to pay $15,000 a
year for your health care. Your employer will pay $3,000. That’s a $12,000
differential. You know who gets the $12,000? You get the $12,000,” Sanders
stated.

What Sanders said was met with cheering and applause, and he reiterated some
of the points he previously made then concluded his answer. The crowd
applauded, and by that time, there was no more chanting or disruptions.

Still, D. Taylor, who once  <https://unitehere.org/d-taylor/> led and grew
Culinary Workers Union, took the microphone and said, “I believe in town
hall meetings, but we’re going to let candidates speak without any sort of
heckling. And if you want to heckle, go outside.”

Workers did not boo or become angry when Taylor scolded a small group in
attendance. They did not object. Rather, there were people who clapped when
Taylor admonished them.

Furthermore, Taylor declared, “This union stands very strongly that every
single American, just like Senator Sanders has said, deserves to have good
quality health care. It is a right. It should never be a privilege in this
country,” which workers applauded.

Ralston and the Nevada Independent omitted any specific details from this
town hall from their coverage. Nor did they explore any of the issues around
union health care.

‘I Just Hate Socialists’

Weaver previously described Ralston as a “journalist/talking head held out
as a local expert on state politics — your go-to insider.”

He wrote in his book, How Bernie Won, “Most states have one. Unlike most,
Ralston’s view is, shall we say, more ‘truthy’ than truthful.”

The “truthiness” of Ralston’s views inflame widespread opposition to the
very brand of cynical political journalism that he has peddled to make a
name for himself. Dividing or undermining support among Latinos, who support
or are interested in the Sanders campaign, benefits industry interests in
Nevada and beyond.

 

 

Back on April 25, 2017, the Las Vegas Democratic Socialists of America asked
Ralston, “What bias do you operate under then? What is your ideology?
Educate us.” He responded, “I just hate socialists.”

Finally, Ralston and The Nevada Independent claim to be nonpartisan, but
Stephen Cloobeck, the founder of Diamond Resorts International and a
big-money donor to the Democratic Party, has contributed $600,000 to the
Nevada Independent.

In 2016, he donated $1 million to Priorities USA, a Super PAC aligned with
Clinton, and over a half million to the HIllary Victory Fund and Hillary
Action Fund. He also gave $100,000 to the Democratic National Committee.

Many rank-and-file workers in the Culinary Workers Union and UNITE HERE
believe Medicare For All would offer them a huge benefit because it would
“expand and improve” upon their health care “benefits and choices available
to members.” It would “provide benefits” to their “extended family and adult
children currently excluded” from their plans.

Expanding Medicare For All would “guarantee uninterrupted health care
regardless of layoff, job loss, or disability.” It would “completely
eliminate out-of-pocket costs, such as co-pays and premiums.” And it would
“guarantee money saved by employers will go to workers” — and not bosses,
giving members a pay raise.

Ralston, the Nevada Independent, and the corporate interests that fund his
media outlet are entrenched in the status quo, which is why they push a
story about literature from the Culinary Workers Union leadership that
divisively suggests Sanders is as much of a threat to rank-and-file workers
as Trump.

 

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