As members of the food service industry, we endorse Bernie Sanders for President. His platform attempts to address the precarity faced by service workers, and we see him as an ally in our struggle for stable, dignified lives. As we well know, food service workers in both the front and back of house are typically left to negotiate healthcare on the “marketplace,” and are not guaranteed sick or parental leave (to the detriment of public health.) While we work in an industry notoriously difficult to unionize and collectively bargain within, we are not unorganized or divided. With a collective voice, we invite Bernie into our struggle, and commit ourselves to the campaign.
We come together as service industry workers to imagine a brighter present and future because our community is already a bright one. We count as one of Bernie’s largest bases of volunteer and donor support, and want to formally endorse him for President through this forum, since we do not have a union or formal body through which we can do so. We sign this endorsement echoing the central slogan of the movement that supports Bernie: Not me, us.