A new bill recently passed by the California Assembly would give legislative staffers the opportunity to unionize.

Currently at the state Capitol, there are more than 1,800 full-time staffers between the Assembly and Senate, including legislative directors, district coordinators, secretaries and aides. Assembly Bill 1 would allow these employees to form a union and collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and worker protections.  

The author of the bill, Assembly member Tina McKinnor, D-Inglewood, sat down with “Inside the Issues” host Alex Cohen to discuss why she decided to present the bill. 

Previously, she served as chief of staff for several California Assembly members before being elected to the Assembly last year. She noted her experience as a staffer at the Capitol influenced her decision to bring this legislation to life.

“We had a lot of bullying going on. A lot of sexual harassment. That’s why we stood up and said we’d had enough. I felt like the staff didn’t have the representation that they needed. So I was determined to come back as a member to make sure to help with this type of legislation,” she said.

The state Legislature is the sole branch of California’s government that does not allow their employees to join a union.

McKinnor hopes her legislation will eventually help balance out salary inequity among legislative staffers at the state Capitol.

“I came in as a Black Chief of Staff, Black female, and I was making about $90,000 when my white male counterparts were making up to $150-180,000. That’s a big gap, because each member has the opportunity to set the salary they want to pay their staff, and we all know that when it comes to black women, we’re not valued as much,” she noted.

Other states across the country have started to get on board with unionization for legislative staffers as well. Oregon became the first state to allow staffers to unionize two years ago, and Washington, New York and Massachusetts have also been exploring the notion. 

California has attempted to pass similar legislation for half a decade. Four plans to allow staffers to unionize have failed over the past five years. But McKinnor said this new group of legislators at the state Capitol is more willing to move forward with Assembly Bill 1.

“I think that after the COVID epidemic, this last election in 2022, we saw campaigns turn progressive. So I just think that the Legislature has changed and we have the political will to take care of our staff. We’re just not afraid of collective bargaining,” she added.

While the bill faces no major opposition this time around, in the past, organizations have argued that the potential of staffers organizing could result in powerful unions having closer proximity to lawmakers and undue influence in Sacramento. 

McKinnor argued her bill is only set on giving staffers a seat at the table in order to be protected.

“We just don’t know what union will be formed. It may be a union that doesn’t even do state business. And we just don’t know yet. This is all up to the workers. I think that everybody has access to us, by the way, and I don’t think that we shouldn’t even worry about that,” she said.

Now that the bill has been approved by the Assembly, AB 1 heads to the Senate next for more consideration. 

McKinnor remains confident her efforts to reach across the aisle and gain bipartisan support will ensure her bill’s success.

“I was able to get more members involved in really talking about collective bargaining. We did a couple of seminars for the staff, and just really explained to people what it means to be unionized, and being bipartisan. I think that helped a lot.”

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