An Act relative to collective bargaining rights for legislative employees

Chairman Collins, Chairman Cabral, and members of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight, my name is Brenna Ransden, I live in Boston, and I am the Organizing Director with Act on Mass. I am testifying today to share our organization’s strong support of S.2014 / H.3069: An Act relative to collective bargaining rights for legislative employees, and we urge your committee to favorably report this bill and promote its swift passage through the rest of the legislative process.

Act on Mass stands with Governor Healey, Lieutenant Governor Driscoll, Senators Warren and Markey, and much of the Massachusetts congressional delegation in support of the Massachusetts State House Employee Union and their demands for formal recognition of their right to collective bargaining.

This legislature has been a leader in labor rights and protections, and the vast majority of members openly support workers, equal pay, and a living wage. However, that commitment to labor rights seems to disappear for the workers within these walls. It is high time the Massachusetts Legislature afforded the same rights to their own staff that they have fought for in the private sector. 

The MSHEU is asking for basic, commonsense measures that could be achieved through a union contract: a livable starting annual salary with clear and comprehensive vacation, personal, sick, and compensatory time, minimal annual cost-of-living raises, and protections from sexual harassment, and unsafe workplace conditions to name a few. It should deeply concern everyone in this room that these basic needs are not currently being met.
 
A 2021 survey of over 200 legislative staffers found that 90% of staff feel they are not paid fairly for their work. 89% live with family or rely on other income to be able to afford to work in the Legislature. 68% report feeling a high level of anxiety about their finances, and nearly one in five staff report being food insecure during their employment in the MA State House. While this treatment is unacceptable for any workplace, it is especially shameful for our government — the very body that sets the standards for workplaces in the Commonwealth.

While legislative leaders may claim they have staffers' best interests at heart, it’s clear that their attempts to remedy workplace issues have lacked transparency, equity, and effectiveness, at the cost of the taxpayers and their own staff’s wellbeing. For example, when the Senate changed their pay structure in 2018-2019, following the passage of the Gender Pay Equity law, it was largely seen by staff as a secretive and unproductive process. Years later, 61% of Senate staffers would say that the 2019 study had a negative impact on their financial situation. 

Again in 2020, the Senate outsourced a study to examine job responsibilities and compensation structure among their staff. That report was never made publicly available, another illustration of the egregious lack of transparency in this process. In response to that study, in order to address the faults of the current employment process in the State House, the Senate hired a “Compensation Specialist” to determine next steps. This Compensation Specialist will be paid over $118,000 this year, which is more than double the average pay of a legislative staffer in 2022. We’re now two years into the specialist’s tenure, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the myriad problems plaguing state house staffers persist. 

Although attempts have been made on the part of Senate leadership to address some of these workplace concerns, time after time they have missed the mark. Simply put, there is no substitute for a strong union.

In conclusion, Act on Mass is concerned by the legislative leadership’s continued refusal to recognize the Massachusetts State House Employee Union. Legislative staff are vital to the work of government in enacting good public policy, delivering critical constituent services, writing legislation, and assisting legislators. A workplace that supports its staff fosters a strong, open, and respectful culture. With improved public service and a stronger democracy, the Legislature will be better equipped to serve residents of the Commonwealth. Every American worker deserves the dignity of working in a unionized workplace.

Current state law does not explicitly allow legislative staff to collectively bargain. S.2014/H.3069 would eliminate any doubt by explicitly affirming the right of State House staffers to form a union. Those who keep the State House running must be paid and treated fairly. For these reasons, Act on Mass strongly encourages the Committee to take favorable action on this bill. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Patrick Joseph Kearney

Kevin J. Holland, IBEW Local 2222 AFL-CIO

James C. Arena-DeRosa

Peter Capano

Mike Connolly

David F. DeCoste

Carol A. Doherty

James B. Eldridge

Rodney M. Elliott

Dylan A. Fernandes

Christopher Richard Flanagan

Carmine Lawrence Gentile

Ryan M. Hamilton

James K. Hawkins

Russell E. Holmes

David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf

Samantha Montaño

Mathew J. Muratore

Steven Owens

Marc R. Pacheco

Rebecca L. Rausch

Lindsay N. Sabadosa

Margaret R. Scarsdale

Danillo A. Sena

Alyson M. Sullivan-Almeida

Erika Uyterhoeven

	SECTION 1. Section 1 of Chapter 150E of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “executive”, in line 10, the following:- , legislative, 
	SECTION 2. Said section 1 of said chapter 150E, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of "Legislative body",  the following paragraphs:-
	"Legislative employees", all employees of the general court, including, but not limited to, legislative personnel employees, employees of committees, caucuses, legislative information services, the house and senate business offices, the engrossing division, the house and senate clerk's offices, the house and senate counsel's offices and the house and senate human resources offices.
	"Legislative personal employees," general court employees whom the house speaker or senate president has approved for employment in the office of a particular senator or representative at the request of said senator or representative.
	SECTION 3.  Section 3 of said chapter 150E, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the third paragraph the following paragraphs:-
	Appropriate bargaining units in the senate may include all legislative employees; provided, however, that (1) in the case of legislative personal employees, legislative employees within the senate president's office, the senate minority leader's office, the office of the chair of the senate ways and means committee, the senate clerk's office, or senate counsel's office may be managerial or confidential employees that are excluded from the bargaining unit if said employees are managerial or confidential employees as defined in section 1; and (2) in the case of all other legislative employees, said employees may be excluded from a bargaining unit if said employees as managerial or confidential employees as defined in section 1.
	Appropriate bargaining units in the house may include all legislative employees; provided, however, that (1) in the case of legislative personal employees, legislative employees within the house speaker's office, the house minority leader's office, the office of the chair of the house ways and means committee, the house clerk's office, or house counsel's office may be managerial or confidential employees that are excluded from the bargaining unit if said employees are managerial or confidential employees as defined in section 1; and (2) in the case of all other legislative employees, said employees may be excluded from a bargaining unit if said employees as managerial or confidential employees as defined in section 1.
	SECTION 4. Section 23 of chapter 268A of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the word ";and (iv) establishing additional exclusions for other situations that do not present a genuine risk of a conflict or the appearance of a conflict of interest" and inserting in place thereof the following words:-  ;(iv) establishing additional exclusions for other situations that do not present a genuine risk of conflict or the appearance of a conflict of interest; and (v) establishing specific exemptions, exclusions and procedures for curing particular perceptions of a conflict of interest as they may apply to exclusive representatives under chapter 150E.


Antonio F. D. Cabral

Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight

Nick Collins

H.3069: An Act relative to collective bargaining rights for legislative employees

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