Pelosi hails 'historic' passage of bill allowing congressional workers to unionize

The House of Representatives voted 217–202 on Tuesday night to pass a resolution empowering congressional workers to form a union.

Because the resolution applies only to the operations of the House, it does not need to be approved by the Senate or signed by the president.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the vote "historic" and said that by "empowering staffers to advocate for themselves and each other, we take an important step to ensure the House is best able to serve the American people." Last week, Pelosi set a minimum salary of $45,000 for House employees.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Congressional Workers Union, which went public in February after "more than a year of organizing," also celebrated the vote. "Tonight is a reminder of the power of collective action and what the freedom to form a union truly means — democracy is not just in our elections, but in our workplaces too," the group said in a statement.

In February, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said President Biden supported the unionization effort.

According to Vice News, there are no Republican staffers on the union's organizing committee, "but the group has had 'outreach' from Republican staffers."