Protecting the Right to Organize

Last Updated: February 10, 2022

While working in the United States Congress can be exciting and rewarding, many Capitol Hill staffers have long faced low pay, long hours, and other working conditions that are often challenging. A January 2022 study found that one-in-eight staffers based in D.C. do not make a living wage. House staffers, on average, had not seen a pay increase in more than 14 months. In the Senate, the Congressional Research Service found that median pay for several staff positions has decreased substantially over time. Between Fiscal Years 2001 and 2020, for example, median pay for a Senate press secretary fell by 23.35%.

Other long-standing problems include the lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion and barriers to advancement that are especially acute for people of color. A study from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies found that just 14% of all senior staff in the House and 11% of senior staff in the Senate were BIPOC, despite making up 38% of the U.S. population. 

Reports indicate that these problems contribute to low job satisfaction, high turnover, and brain drain on Capitol Hill. This, in turn, has negative ramifications for effective policy-making, affecting all Americans. Furthermore, the lack of diversity among Capitol Hill staff, especially at senior levels, means that key perspectives may be absent during the lawmaking process—potentially resulting in laws that fail to meet communities’ needs. 

There have been myriad studies released over many years detailing the challenges Congressional staff face and policy solutions that might remedy them. These discussions took on a new urgency in the wake of the white supremacist insurrection on January 6, 2021, after which staff associations representing primarily people of color met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and others to discuss workplace concerns. More recently, on February 4, 2022, the newly formed Congressional Workers Union released a statement announcing “staff efforts to unionize the offices and committees of the United States Congress.” Discussions about congressional staff unionization are not new. The regulations that would permit congressional staff unionization were drafted 26 years ago, but Congress has never taken the necessary steps to approve them.