Members of the Congressional Workers Union recently argued for unionization of congressional staffers to end long hours, low pay, and abusive working conditions.
While congressional staffers work to secure better working conditions for the public, they face the same conditions they’re seeking to end, two Democratic staffers argued in an op-ed for The New Republic. On behalf of the 12-person organizing committee, which has been organizing for over a year, the staffers urged Congress to pass Rep. Andy Levin’s (D-Michigan) resolutionThis would unlock a provision in a decades old law that would allow staffers on an office-by–office basis to form unions.
The op-ed is published before a crucial vote on the union. scheduled for Tuesday evening. Last month, the union had Democratic leaders were asked to schedule a vote for the measure.The Democratic caucus currently supports this policy with strong support 165 cosponsors. The union is entirely made up of Democratic staffers.
“The cruel ironies of our jobs in Congress are hard to swallow,” wrote the workers, whose names were kept anonymous to avoid potential retaliation from their bosses.
“We advocate for livable wages while qualifying for food stamps due to low pay. We write speeches condemning corporations’ failure to protect against sexual harassment in the workplace, even as we too, lack sufficient recourse,” they continued. “We assure our constituents they’re being represented, even if we are the only person of color in the room. We fight for working families while questioning whether we can financially survive another year in public service.”
The offices hire only those who can afford to reside in D.C., which means that they pay low salaries. As a result, many opportunities go to people of privilege.
“In 2020, 89 percent of top Senate aides and 81 percent of top House aides were white,” the op-ed went on. “If Congress is advised by workers far whiter and wealthier than the communities we represent, how can we ever hope to achieve our promise of equal justice under the law?”
Low wages are also causing a “brain drain” from Congress, as well-qualified staffers are taking better paying jobs in the private sector, often as lobbyists. “Collective bargaining will help Congress retain the talent it needs to serve the American people,” the staffers said.
The writers then asked legislators if they would live up the principles they claimed to uphold for the public and vote to pass the resolution. Last year, every Democrat but one, Rep. Henry Cuellar (Texas), voted in favor of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO) Act, which would make union formation much easier for workers across the country.
The staffers also detailed facing “abusive bosses” and working 60 to 70 hour weeks while having no room for recourse or seeking accountability. The abusive conditions became especially clear after the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, which triggered psychological fallout among staffers — as one staffer told Roll Call last year, “When I see those members in the hallway or the basement, I think to myself that they wouldn’t care if I was dead.”
It’s unclear if Democrats will vote to pass the resolution, which was amended and approvedThe House Administration Committee earlier in the year. When workers In February 2002, they first announced their union., many Democratic lawmakers voiced their support for the effort, including Pelosi and figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) — but conservative Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) He basically announced his opposition to the drive, and it’s unclear if there are lawmakers in the House that share Manchin’s anti-union opinion.
