Bernie Sanders is hosting a town hall early this evening. The town hall is called CEOs vs. Workers, and it will feature workers on a panel who are employed (or were employed) at companies like Amazon, Disney, McDonald’s, American Airlines, and Walmart. Learn all about how to watch the town hall below.
Bernie Sanders’ CEO vs. Workers town hall begins at 7 p.m. Eastern (6 p.m. Central.) You can watch the town hall in the video above or on YouTube here. The town hall will last until 8:30 p.m. Eastern. The live stream above is having issues periodically. If it gets interrupted, it should be back online soon. Sen. Sanders’ Facebook page live stream has also had issues. The Young Turks are also covering this and you can watch their stream below while you wait:
The description for the town hall reads: “The average cashier at McDonald’s would have to work for 895 years to make what the company’s CEO makes in one year. Disney’s CEO gets over $400 million in compensation while Disneyland workers can’t afford three meals a day. Amazon’s CEO is the wealthiest man in the world while thousands of Amazon workers rely on public assistance to make ends meet.
The United States is the richest country in the history of the world, and yet due to outrageous levels of inequality there are millions of workers who live in poverty or can barely get by. Sen. Bernie Sanders has invited CEOs and workers from five major corporations—Amazon, Disney, McDonald’s, Walmart and American Airlines—to hold a conversation on corporate power in America and how to move forward to create an economy that works for all people, not just a few at the top. The town hall will be presented in partnership with digital media outlets act.tv, Good Jobs Nation, NowThis, TYT Network, Guardian US, ATTN:, Free Speech TV, The Nation Magazine, CREDO Mobile and MoveOn.”
Sanders said that they invited the CEOs of the corporations listed above to participate and speak with the employees on the panel. However, none of those CEOs accepted or showed up for the town hall:
Bernie Sanders
Among the invited CEOs were Bob Iger of Disney, Doug Parker of American Airlines, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Doug McMillon of Walmart, and Steve Easterbrook of McDonald’s. None showed up for the town hall, but a number of employees did join the panel.
Here’s a list of some of the employees who were scheduled to participate tonight:
- Adrianna Alvarez, a single mom who works at McDonald’s in Chicago, makes $12.50/hour after eight years.
- Artemis Bell, a Disneyland employee, is a night shift custodian who makes $11.86/hour, less than $2 above her starting wage after seven years.
- Heather Hudson, a gate agent at American Airlines-Piedmont Air in North Carolina, has worked there for 11 years. She makes $13.47/hour and has to work 50 hours a week just to make ends meet. She’s a single mom who must rely on food stamps.
- Cynthia Murray, a Walmart employee in Maryland, works 32 hours a week and makes $14.39/hour after 17 years.
- Seth King, a former Amazon employee, worked as a night shift stower for two months, after being in the Navy for eight years. Even working 40 hours a week, he needed a second job as a security guard to make ends meet.
The town hall will take place at the Congressional Auditorium in the Capitol Visitor Center.
This is a developing story.