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| Home Front: Politix |
| Obama campaign workers angry over unpaid wages |
| 2008-11-06 |
| Posted: Nov 5, 2008 03:38 PM EST Updated: Nov 6, 2008 10:47 AM EST Indianapolis - Lines were long and tempers flared Wednesday not to vote but to get paid for canvassing for Barack Obama. Several hundred people are still waiting to get their pay for last-minute campaigning. Police were called to the Obama campaign office on North Meridian Street downtown to control the crowd. The line was long and the crowd was angry at times. There was an un-easy rustle down the line as if something was about to happen. The birds had stopped chirping. "I want my money today! It's my money. I want it right now!" yelled one former campaign worker. Been watchin too many TV adds. A former spokesman for the Obama campaign said 375 people were hired as part of the Vote Corps program and said people signed up to work three-hour shifts at a time. Three hours of canvassing got workers a $30 pre-paid Visa card. The workers showed up to get their cards Wednesday morning at 10:00 am. "There was a note on the door saying 1:00 pm and then at 1:20 pm everybody was like why is nobody here. They just got here and they're trying to get it organized," said Heather Richards, a former campaign worker. The large gathering of around 375 people prompted police to call in extra officers and set up temporary barricades. The barricades helped keep the crowd from spilling out onto Meridian Street. Police say the several hundred people in line were for the most part orderly. "No arrests. Some of the people were upset at first because the line wasn't moving as fast as they thought it should. But we really haven't had any problems," said Major Darryl Pierce, Metro Police. Eventually people did start getting paid, but some said they were missing hours and told to fill in paperwork making their claim and that eventually they would get a check in the mail. "Still that's not right. I'm disappointed. I'm glad for the president, but I'm disappointed in this system," said Diane Jefferson, temporary campaign worker. "It should have been $480. It's $230," said Imani Sankofa. Did you forget about taxes? "They gave us $10 an hour. So we added it. I added up all the hours so it was supposed to be at least $120. All I get is $90," said Charles Martin. Welcome to Obama's "Spread the Wealth". "I worked nine hours a day for 4 days and got paid half of what I should have earned," said Randall Waldon. Welcome to the Obamaworld. Some people weren't satisfied with filling out a claim form for money they felt was still due to them. "Where the heck is my Instant Gratification? Just gimmie what I say I earned. NOW!!""They say that they gonna call you or they going to mail it to you, but I don't know. We'll see what happens," said Antron Grose. If ya can't trust Obama, Bub, why'd ya work for him? "Talking about they'll mail it to us. I ain't worried about that, man. They're not going to mail nothin'," said Martin. Don't dis The One, man, yer gonna have trouble. |
| Posted by:Deacon Blues |
| #15 Back pocket money holy polecats Makes a man feel like a fancy Dan Front pocket money won't make those girls smile Oh, I wish I was a Back Pocket Money Man |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2008-11-06 21:13 |
| #14 Wait till they find out they're not getting a tax break either. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2008-11-06 20:47 |
| #13 The muddy Wabash awaits you, JUMP IN cool off! |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2008-11-06 19:47 |
| #12 600 million bucks in campaign money and they can't pay these guys? That's a bummer. The Obama Campaign needs a bailout package! |
| Posted by: eLarson 2008-11-06 18:52 |
| #11 Their mistake was thinking that their wealth belonged to them. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2008-11-06 15:41 |
| #10 "I worked my ass off for Obama and all I got was this old stained Che T-shirt" |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2008-11-06 15:26 |
| #9 Comedy gold, this writes itself. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2008-11-06 14:46 |
| #8 well they got what was comin too them , and the bubble is bursting only 2 days after election |
| Posted by: chris 2008-11-06 14:46 |
| #7 There was an un-easy rustle down the line as if something was about to happen. The birds had stopped chirping. That has my vote for 'snark of the week'. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2008-11-06 14:45 |
| #6 hey, you got change. |
| Posted by: newc 2008-11-06 14:43 |
| #5 Change we can't believe in. |
| Posted by: Mike 2008-11-06 14:23 |
| #4 No word if the bitch in the video got her mortgage paid and gas tank filled, yet. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2008-11-06 14:16 |
| #3 "Math is hard!" -- OBarbie |
| Posted by: SteveS 2008-11-06 13:23 |
| #2 Don't worry, he'll 'redistribute' it as he sees fit. Prolly to himself. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-11-06 12:58 |
| #1 "It should have been $480. It's $230," said Imani Sankofa. So that higher tax bracket thingy is now down to $480? I don't think this is the "change" they had in mind. My advice? Get used to it. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-11-06 12:50 |