By: Nicholas Wogan
In February, an organization called the Congressional Workers Union (CWU) announced their intent to seek collective bargaining rights for legislative staff members on Capitol Hill. Specifically, staff sought “meaningful changes to improve retention, equity, diversity and inclusion.”[i] The origin of this movement has been attributed in part to an Instagram account titled “Dear White Staffers,”[ii] which drew attention to the lack of diversity among Capitol Hill staffers and served as a platform for their anonymous stories of harassment and “toxic” workplace culture.[iii] Additionally, the January 2021 Capitol Riot and the Covid-19 pandemic both contributed to renewed interest in unionization for staffers seeking better access to counseling and employee services.[iv] This development coincides with legislative staff unionization efforts at the state level, with Oregon legislative staff successfully unionizing in June of 2021.[v]
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have announced their support of the CWU’s efforts, and a majority of House Democrats have signed a resolution in support.[vi] Representative Andy Levin (D-MI), introduced a resolution giving legal protection to House aides wishing to organize.[vii] Rep. Levin emphasized that legislative staff members should be allowed to organize the same as any other kind of worker.[viii] However, the measure has not yet passed and technical questions still remain as to how collective bargaining for legislative staff would function.[ix] Specifically, questions remain as to what aides could bargain for, which senior aides would fall into the managerial exemption, and how a labor agreement would differ between different kinds of staff members.[x]
This effort is representative of a renewed interest in unionization around the country. Because the movement has gained national attention and involves the highest levels of government, the success or failure may foreshadow similar unionization efforts on the local and state level.
[i] Emily Cochrane, Aishvarya Kavi & Zach Montague, On Capitol Hill, a Push to Unionize House Aides Gains Traction, N.Y. Times, (Feb. 11, 2022), https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/us/politics/congress-aides-unionize-house.html.
[ii] dear_white_staffers, Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/dear_white_staffers/?hl=en (last visited Apr. 22, 2022).
[iii] Cochrane, Kavi & Montague, supra note 1.
[iv] Id.
[v] Sam Stites & Dirk VanderHart, Oregon Legislative Employees Become First in the Nation to Unionize, OPB News, (May 28, 2021), https://www.opb.org/article/2021/05/28/oregon-legislature-staff-members-first-to-unionize/.
[vi] Cochrane, Kavi & Montague, supra note 1.
[vii] Id.
[viii] Id.
[ix] Id.
[x] Id.
