Bernie Sanders Aides Accused of Posing as Union Members to Access Hotels in Las Vegas
Nevada’s tasty Culinary Union says it just busted multiple Bernie Sanders aides who were posing as union members in an attempt to talk to hotel workers about the February caucus.
Union representatives told CNN Thursday that multiple union members had reported that Sanders staffers were “attempting and gaining access to employee dining rooms at Las Vegas Strip properties.”
The powerful union, which represents workers in Nevada’s hotels, restaurants, bars and airports, has not endorsed a candidate.
The aides were spotted at The Rio, Paris, The Mirage and Planet Hollywood, reports Nevada political reporter Jon Ralston, wearing “distinctive yellow Local 226 pins” in an apparent attempt to infiltrate employee dining rooms.
Incredibly, Sanders’ campaign manager confirmed the report to CNN, saying that although the presumably non-union staffers were wearing union pins, they did not misrepresent who they were.
Weaver, Sanders' campaign mngr, says staffers did wear Culinary buttons to try to talk to workers, but did not misrepresent who they were.
— Dan Merica (@danmericaCNN) January 28, 2016
“Obviously there was some confusion,” Jeff Weaver told the network. “We would not want anyone making a misrepresentation of who they are. To the extent that happened, I am unhappy about that.”
Weaver said the Sanders staffers were only wearing the pins, which allowed them to access the private employee dining rooms, “in solidarity with people.”
Assemblywoman Maggie Carlton, a Culinary Union member who just endorsed Hillary, said the Sanders campaign’s techniques were an invasion, but more importantly, they were a security risk—to which I say, maybe there should be a higher barrier to entry than an easily obtained pin.
