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Bernie Sanders is upset that a union representative he nominated for the platform drafting committee wasn't approved. | Getty Sanders accuses DNC of keeping labor union representation off platform committee

Sen. Bernie Sanders lobbed another shot at the Democratic National Committee on Wednesday, charging that chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is keeping labor union members off the DNC's platform drafting committee.

"What we heard from the DNC was they did not want representatives of labor unions on the platform drafting committee. That’s correct. To the best of my knowledge," Sanders said in Spreckels, California, during a news conference on fracking.

The drafting committee, however, does have labor representation. Paul Booth of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union was on the list of names Hillary Clinton's campaign submitted and the DNC approved.

But another union representative — RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United, the largest union of nurses in the country, which supports Sanders — was submitted by the Sanders camp to be included on the committee, but Wasserman Schultz didn’t approve her for the panel.

DeMoro said Sanders called her personally to ask if he could nominate her to the powerful committee.

“Bernie called me and told me that he needed somebody who was a very strong voice for Medicare for all and labor on the DNC [drafting committee] and he thought I would be very vocal,” DeMoro told POLITICO. "Bernie told me it was very important to him that I would agree to do this.”

DeMoro agreed to be nominated and said she didn't hear anything until the DNC publicly announced its names for the platform committee, which didn't include her. She said she was intentionally kept off the committee by the DNC.

“I'm sure it was because I've been a harsh critic of the DNC and the rigged processes that have been going on nationally,” DeMoro said. “I was not surprised whatsoever that Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Hillary Clinton would keep me off the drafting committee because not only would we have participated, we would have fought for our positions.”

A DNC convention official stressed that labor would be represented at the convention.

"Labor is an historic bedrock of the Democratic party and we are thrilled to have many labor leaders on the platform committee as well as a labor policy representative on the drafting committee," DNC spokeswoman April Mellody said in a statement. "We worked carefully with both campaigns to ensure overall balance and representation and have 100% confidence that the views of our allies in the Labor community will be well represented in our Party’s platform as they have always been."





DeMoro's comments came a day after The Wall Street Journal reported that as many as 150 nurses from the union planned to go to the Democratic convention in Philadelphia as pro-Sanders delegates.

In late May, the DNC announced it had given Sanders more sway over the platform committee by allowing both him and Clinton to submit names for the panel. DNC rules allow Wasserman Schultz to pick all 15 members of the committee, but a new agreement between the campaigns and the DNC allowed Clinton to name six members, Sanders to name five and Wasserman Schultz to pick the remaining four.

The move was a bit of a compromise in an escalating fight between Sanders and the DNC, with Sanders charging that the DNC was taking steps to stack the primaries and convention against him. Many Sanders supporters, however, expressed satisfaction at the drafting committee agreement.

"I think if you look at this moment in time, that's proportionally how the votes have broken out across the country," Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) told POLITICO a few days after the drafting committee names were announced.