House of Representatives Votes to Give Their Staff the Right to Unionize

The House of Representatives has voted in favor of providing staffers with protections should they seek unionization, The American Prospect reports.

The Congressional Workers Union (CWU), a coalition of staffers across the political spectrum, formally announced their intention to unionize in February, after a survey by the Congressional Prgressive Staff Association (CPSA) found that 91% of employees surveyed wanted greater protections to give them voice at work because they were underpaid and overworked

Amid increased pressure from the union, Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed in a press release last week to increase the minimum annual salary per staff to $45,000 by September 1, to which she gained appraisal from the CPSA. The speaker also increased the maximum pay salary to $203,700 to match the Senate’s increase.

Congressional staffers were given the right to unionize through the Congressional Accountability Act in 1995, but according to the New York Times, lawmakers did not provide workers with the necessary legal protections to freely do so.

“For 26 years, Congress has had the opportunity to pass this resolution but has failed to act, until our collective demands were too loud for them to ignore,” said the CWU in an online statement. “Tonight is a reminder of the power of collective action and what the freedom to form a union truly means — democracy not just in our elections, but in our workplaces too.”...

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