Sue Lani Madsen: Legislative assistants aren’t of one party when it comes to unionizing efforts

Some jobs just aren’t 9 to 5 and an uninterrupted lunch. Too many young people want to be in the room where it happens, but aren’t willing to do the work. That’s the complaint coming from some disgruntled legislative staffers, irritated by the passage of “an act relating to extending collective bargaining to legislative employees.”

HB 2124 passed after legislative staff serving Democrats put on the pressure. “The bill was kind of a shock, and the Republican LAs (legislative assistants) have been very vocal about not wanting to be forced to join anything, they by and large don’t think it’s necessary,” said Sen. Shelly Short, R-Addy. Maybe working conditions are just better on the Republican side of the Legislature.

Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, revived the unionization effort after a Feb. 16 “sick-out” when his original bill, HB 1806, was allowed by Democratic leadership to quietly die. According to gleeful reporting by the Stand, a service of the Washington State Labor Council and AFL-CIO, more than 100 Democratic legislative staffers participated. In the midst of a busy session, staff trying to do the work found their in-boxes hit by out-of-office email auto-responders indicating the protesting staffers would be out of the office due to recent events (wink-wink-nod-nod), with the union tag line “In Solidarity.”

Normally, that would be called lobbying and an ethics breach for legislative staff. It was ignored by Democratic Caucus leadership. No consequences were meted out. Those working within the Republican caucus want their voices heard too, but feel muzzled. An illegal work stoppage to protest an illegal faux strike would be pretty silly. Their rumblings of discontent have spilled out into off-the-record conversations between sessions.

Short and Riccelli have been on both sides of the working relationship. Short served as a legislative assistant to Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda, before running for office herself, Riccelli was a policy adviser to Lisa Brown during her service as state senator.

Deadline-driven work, whether it be finishing a set of construction documents for bidding, making hay while the sun shines or the hell-on-fire cauldron of a legislative session is not suitable for anyone with a 9-to-5 mindset. Applicants need to be aware of the working conditions prior to hiring. Some people thrive on periods of intense 60-hour weeks paired with seasons with lighter workload. Some people want to be out the door at 4:58 p.m. every day, deadlines be damned.

Riccelli and Short emphasized how critical staff are as the first constituent contact. “The job is demanding and you do have really long hours (during session), frantic calls, angry people. It does take a toll and it’s draining and even more heightened today,” Short said. Flex schedules are available in the interim, with the opportunity to choose more time off and a lighter workload to compensate for extra time spent during session. It has been up to the caucus leadership on each side to set expectations and hire appropriately, and the responsibility of each member to treat their staff fairly.

At the federal level, congressional offices have the option to form bargaining units by individual congressional district, sidestepping the obvious problem of a bargaining unit representing staff with widely divergent views on the validity of public sector unions. Staffing for representatives and senators is typically a 1:1 assignment, so office-by-office bargaining units are not an option.

But the quality of legislator to staff relationships varies and sometimes needs intervention. That responsibility has fallen to the Chiefs of Staff and to the caucus leadership to police their members. Each caucus manages complaints against members differently, and effectiveness has varied under different leadership teams.

Two months ago, the Legislature hired its first HR professionals to deal with typical workplace conflict as well as the more mundane jobs of a human resources department. HR is about more than grievances, the lack of HR in the past showed up in things like a lack of help navigating insurance coverage and employees needing assistance not getting it , according to Riccelli.

Adding HR infrastructure sounds like a positive step forward.

Riccelli also said there were other more institutional concerns about wages compared to staff in other public jobs. In addition, “the biggest concern I was hearing from public workers was that they didn’t have the same rights as other public workers to unionize,” Riccelli said. On the other hand, some public workers object to the state’s union requirements. Prompting the current staff rumbling in Olympia wondering why the new HR system isn’t being given a chance to work before overlaying a union superstructure.

Meanwhile, the position of legislative labor relations director has been advertised with a salary range of $140,000 to $160,000 annually plus a generous package of benefits. First task of the position will be to contract with an external consultant for support. By Oct. 1, 2023, a final report is due to the Legislature with recommendations for implementing unionization. Fifteen months to write one report with consultant and staff assistance sounds like the kind of work where you knock off at 5 p.m. every day and have a whole hour for lunch.

And even if the staff decides the HR department is addressing problems adequately, the legislation says “collective bargaining negotiations under this chapter shall commence no earlier than May 1, 2024.” It will take a flipped legislature to change “shall” to “may,” or “maybe not.”

Contact Sue Lani Madsen at rulingpen@gmail.com