Unionization efforts gain momentum on Capitol Hill
Washington — Michigan Congressman Andy Levin is introducing a resolution Wednesday that would formally allow House staffers to form unions and engage in collective bargaining.
"It basically effectuates something that Congress did for everybody else who works for us except our personal office staff and our committee staff," the Democratic lawmaker Levin told CBS News. "It's a really big deal."
The resolution calls for "approving certain regulations to implement provisions of the Congressional Accountability Act." That 1995 legislation extended labor protections to support legislative branch employees and entities like the U.S. Capitol Police, Library of Congress and the Architect of the Capitol but it stopped short of fully covering House and Senate staff.
"This resolution simply says what we did back then, now we are applying to the staff who work in our personal offices and in our district offices and in our committees and it's about time," Levin said.
The unionization movement accelerated on Capitol Hill last week after an Instagram account dubbed "Dear White Staffers" went viral with grievances from anonymous staffers about low pay, lack of diversity and hostile work environments.
A report by the cross-partisan reform group, Issue One, found one in eight congressional staffers aren't paid a living wage, with staff assistants earning a median annual salary of $38,730. A separate survey by the Congressional Progressive Staff Association found that 39 percent of respondents have taken out a loan to make ends meet.
Republican leaders say they oppose staffers' efforts to unionize but a growing number of Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have expressed support for the move. The White House said President Biden is also on board.
"He supports the right of any individual to seek to join a union, to collectively bargain, and of course Capitol Hill staffers are certainly individuals who are pursuing that," Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
It's unclear how soon Levin's resolution could be taken up by the full House. If approved, he said it would be up to staffers to decide how to organize.
"I think this is a part of a much broader movement in society," Levin explained. "You had industry after industry start to form unions, Amazon, now we have Starbucks … and Capitol Hill is not exempt."