Effort by Michigan House staffers poses test to Democrats' pro-union credentials

Since taking power, Democrats in the Michigan Legislature have passed new labor laws celebrated by unions. Now, they hear a call coming from inside their own House.

Legislative staffers in the Michigan House of Representatives have launched an effort to unionize.

Kevin Shopshire — who currently serves as legislative director for state Rep. Stephanie Young, D-Detroit — has worked as a staffer in the Legislature for 15 years. He was excited to participate in the union drive, signing a card to authorize the Teamsters to represent him and other staffers in contract negotiations.

"I kind of felt like, 'well, it's about time,' " he said.

Michigan Democrats, after winning control of the Legislature, made pro-labor policies a priority. Last year, they wielded their majorities to repeal the state's right-to-work law, making Michigan the first state in nearly 60 years to abandon the policy opposed by labor advocates. Now, efforts by their staff to seek better working conditions pose a test to Democrats' labor legacy.

One Michigan Democrat has already played a leading role supporting a similar effort in the nation's capital. Former U.S. Rep. Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township, introduced the resolution protecting staffers for the U.S. House of Representatives from retaliation for unionizing. Levin said he encountered no opposition from his party. But that doesn't mean every Democrat necessarily embraced his measure.

"I'm sure some of my Democratic colleagues didn't like this, but nobody really yelled at me or called me," he said. "This is I'm sure true in the state House as well. Some colleagues are really robustly for this, and some may say, 'Well, I can't say anything against it, because I’m a Democrat. But I don’t really like it.' "

With Democratic support, Levin’s resolution passed along party lines. After the vote, he met the Hill staffers trying to seize the new opportunity to unionize. “The whole organizing committee was probably in their 20s, and, to me, they’re making history,” he said. Levin’s staff went on to form the first congressional office union, and he looks back on the whole experience as one of his greatest accomplishments while serving in Washington, D.C.

A chance to make history in Michigan?

If those seeking to unionize get enough support from their colleagues, they put the ball in their employer's court. An employer can voluntarily recognize a union that obtains support from a majority of workers or force an election to certify the union, a process that has historically come with opportunities for delay and an opening to campaign against the union.

Michigan Information & Research Service Inc. first reported on the unionization effort.

House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, is aware of it, according to his spokesperson Amber McCann. She expects staff would bring their union campaign to Tate once they collect enough cards. But the House Business Office, which oversees human resources operations for the chamber, may also have a role to play in responding to any request to recognize a union, she said, calling the process "uncharted territory."

Minority Leader Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, declined to comment on the union campaign through his spokesperson Jeremiah Ward. But Ward noted a U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing public sector workers covered by union contracts to opt out of paying union fees. "Democrat staff can't forcibly cut our paychecks to bankroll a far-left union," Ward wrote in a text message.

Votes on labor legislation supported by unions have often broken down along party lines with support from Democrats and opposition from Republicans. But Democrats' pro-union positions don't necessarily translate into vocal support for their own workers to unionize. And when it comes to their own workplace rights, Democratic and GOP staffers may team up for a bipartisan union campaign.

No Democratic lawmaker currently serving in the state House has publicly opposed the union drive. But while some have offered support for the effort, others haven't explicitly backed it.

Each representative decides what to pay their workers

Those who work in the Michigan Legislature describe it as a workplace defined by high turnover, unwritten rules and a lack of boundaries respecting staffers' time.

All 110 state representatives manage their own offices. But unlike workplaces in the private sector, barring an expulsion, state representatives who are poor managers can only be fired by voters in their districts.

"I've watched some representatives treat their staff like crap," said state Rep. Tyrone Carter, D-Detroit. There are some colleagues he said he wouldn't want to work for as a staffer.

State Rep. Joey Andrews, D-St. Joseph, said Lansing has plenty of stories to offer about bad bosses.

Unlike many other state employees, legislative staffers' salaries are not subject to a pay scale setting a salary rate for specific positions. Instead, each representative receives an allotment for their office to pay for staff salaries, send constituents mailings and cover other expenses. Representatives in the majority party receive a slightly larger allotment than those in the minority.

It's up to each state representative to set their employees' salaries with a $75,000 cap, according to McCann, Tate's spokesperson. Representatives must pay their staff at least $35,000. That floor means representatives can pay their staff about $7,000 less than a living wage in the Lansing/East Lansing metro area, according to calculations from the Economic Policy Institute, a research organization focused on low- and middle-income workers.

Pay disparities are common under the allotment structure, said Andrews, with some representatives choosing to pay their staff less to spend more on mailers.

Staffers are also expected to use their vacation days to knock on doors on behalf of their bosses and often work long hours. Shopshire — the legislative staffer who supports the union drive — doesn't necessarily mind knocking on doors, which he sees as a form of job security by keeping his boss and therefore himself employed.

"It's not a 9-to-5," said Shopshire of legislative staffer jobs. "But you know there should be some boundaries."

Courtney Laudick, a former congressional staffer from Michigan, was part of the original group of organizers behind the union drive on the Hill and eventually helped lead the group as the vice president of organizing. After graduating, she started off as an unpaid intern before landing a job in Levin's office.

She recalled spending her first months after moving to D.C. living in the attic of the parents of a college friend who grew up outside the city. "Literally, the only reason that I was able to work on Hill was when I was 20, my dad passed away at age 65 and he had had a life insurance plan out for me and my sister," she said. The low pay that defines entry-level jobs on the Hill creates a barrier to entry, she said. But she and other staffers seized an opportunity to change what a Hill job looks like when they began organizing.

"We joked during that time and we would sort of laugh when we stepped back for a second. But we were just kind of a ragtag group of congressional staffers, you know? It wasn't like we were experts and none of us had years of like organizing or unionizing training but we understood our workplace and therefore we were experts," she said.

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Where Democratic lawmakers stand on union drive

"I 100% support it. I think that it's long overdue," said state Rep. Dylan Wegela, D-Garden City, of the effort by House staff to unionize. Wegela served as a lead organizer of Arizona's 2018 teachers' strike. "I think that this is a time for us to live our values," he said.

Andrews, a former policy analyst with the Michigan AFL-CIO, said he is "very supportive of the effort." Andrews said he has seen firsthand a disconnect between the pro-union stances Democrats take publicly and how they treat their own employees. Before serving in the state Legislature, he was one of the organizers behind the effort to unionize staffers at the Michigan Democratic Party. He called the bargaining process with the party "atrocious."

Other Democrats who previously served as union officers did not offer their full-throated support for the unionization push.

"I welcome the conversation," said Carter. A former union vice president, Carter said he can see the benefits of a union for legislative staff. "But this is a unique situation I believe," he said. Still, he said he doesn't have any specific concerns about the impact of a union.

State Rep. Jaime Churches, D-Wyandotte, a former educator and union vice president, alluded to possible drawbacks of having a unionized legislative staff but declined to provide any specific examples, saying it would be a better question to pose to the staffers trying to unionize.

Asked whether it would be hypocritical for Democrats who repealed "right-to-work" and backed other pro-union measures to oppose a unionization push by their own staff, Churches paused before saying she didn't know how to answer the question. She said being open to hearing what workers are asking for is what Democrats ran on and believe in, calling such a conversation a starting point. "I think that's an important first step," she said.

Michigan's term limits mean lawmakers come and go. Their staff often do, too, their exits marked by ceremonious farewell speeches for departing employees. Those advocating for a union for legislative staff see an opportunity to slow the churn and perhaps lead to a better product: policies that impact the lives of 10 million Michiganders.

Contact Clara Hendrickson: chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter, @clarajanehen.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan House staffers' union push could transform Lansing