The staff of the Massachusetts State Senate announced earlier this year that they had gathered the requisite number of authorization cards needed to form a union with the IBEW.
They are organizing to ensure fair wages, protection from workplace harassment, sufficient healthcare benefits and accountability from their management.
Much of what happens in the State Senate would be impossible without the hard work of staffers. They respond to constituents, draft and redraft legislation, meet with advocates, organize scheduling and so much more.
However over half of House staffers and more than a quarter of Senate staffers earn less than $45,000/year—hardly a livable wage in a state with some of the highest housing and day-to-day living costs in the nation—costs now spiraling upward due to inflation. In addition, Senate staffers face a 60 day waiting period for health care benefits. Many staffers have to resort to second jobs just to make ends meet. On top of this, workplace harassment, and long working hours lead to burnout and high turnover rates.
This means that many individuals without independent financial means choose not to enter public service—depriving the state of a diverse workforce and the perspective that this brings to policymaking. Moreover, inasmuch as many staffers move on to run for office, this lack of diversity means that the statehouse will continue to be unrepresentative of the state’s population as a whole.
The right of workers to organize and bargain collectively is not only a cornerstone of American democracy, it is a core policy position of the Democratic Party, to which a veto-proof majority of the State Senate belongs.
It is high time for our State Senators to live up to the values they profess to admire and permit their staffers to unionize.
John Kyriakis
