Pirate's Cove

What is the point of a union? Why did they come into being? Well, one of their main goals was to organize as a collective bargaining unit for better wages, and, eventually, things like healthcare, dental, and other perks. Another was to force change on a company to stop unsafe working conditions. Another was to protect against bad companies and bosses, from poor working conditions. Are Democrats bad bosses?

A full-scale unionization drive is underway on Capitol Hill

On Monday, thousands of largely anonymous Capitol Hill’s staffers won the ability to unionize for the first time — and workers in eight Democratic congressional offices immediately filed union petitions.

The effort was fueled by an “upswell of organizing activity [around the U.S.] like nothing I’ve seen in my whole adult lifetime,” Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI) told Yahoo Finance Live on Thursday.

Levin — a former union organizer himself who sponsored the resolution that made the unions possible — emphasized that it was the staffers themselves who fueled the movement to improve their working conditions.

Are Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar abusing them? Yelling at them? Making them get their laundry? Why would people working for a member of Congress need a union? Is the government a bad boss?

Staffers in the Capitol, in spite of the glamorous surroundings, can make wages that simply aren’t enough to live comfortably in Washington D.C. Those concerns — as well as issues with work environments and racial tensions — were crystallized by a widely read Instagram account called “Dear White Staffers” that documented a side of working on Capitol Hill that few ever see.

And few care. They voluntarily chose to apply for the job, to take the job, and to stay at the job. It isn’t like when men on assembly lines and steel mills were dealing with life threatening conditions. If they want tough, go serve in the military.

In addition to Levin’s offices, aides to Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO), Chuy Garcia (D-IL), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D- NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) are all set to hold union elections in the weeks ahead.

Huh. The leftist of the leftist, and they need a union to protect against poor working condition? Double huh. And here’s the main point

On Capitol Hill, the “Dear White Staffers” account and other videos revealed that some aides received such little pay that they need food stamps to survive. Organizers of the effort also note that the low compensation can often dissuade potential applicants who can’t subsidize those low wages.

“Do we want to have the Congress staffed by Americans in all their diversity?” Levin asked in interview with Yahoo Finance. The alternative, he noted, would be to limit the opportunity to “the children of wealthy families, because their families can support them in some other way.”

They want more money. Well, AOC, Omar, Garcia, etc, can increase their pay out of their own Congressional salary. Not on the back of the taxpayer.

(Roll Call) About 1 in 8 congressional staffers are not making a living wage, according to a new analysis of payroll data.

The problem is particularly acute for staff assistants, who are often the most junior staffers in congressional offices. According to Issue One, a “crosspartisan” group that advocates for transparency in politics, nearly 1,200 staffers in 2020 made less than the $42,610 that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says is a living wage for an adult with no children in the nation’s capital.

Right around 13 percent of Washington, D.C.-based congressional aides came up short of that mark.

In the report, shared first with CQ Roll Call, Issue One analyzed LegiStorm data and found staff assistants make a median income short of $39,000 per year, with press assistants and legislative correspondents doing a little better at a median of about $44,000 per year for each.

Well, they can do like so many, and get a roomate. Live within their means. And, get another job if they don’t like the pay. Not have the Congress increase their pay. Those in the private sector do not have the ability to do this. Especially when they just got a raise, since Pelosi, as Speaker, has the authority to raise their income, and set a minimum of $45,000 a year.

A recent House Diversity and Inclusion report found that the median annual pay for House staffers was $59,000. But entry-level staffers often make far less, often in the $30,000 range.

A recent 2022 Cost of Living Index release placed Washington DC as the fifth most expensive place in America. The government’s Bureau of Economic Analysis placed average annual personal consumption expenditures inside the District of Columbia in 2020 at $65,169.

That report is different than what Roll Call says. $59k is a nice chunk of change, right? Don’t live in D.C. Commute from a less expensive area.

“This is just the beginning — worker power is contagious,” Rep. Omar said during a press conference this week.

The organizers have indeed signaled that wider goals beyond just signing up more offices. In one example, this week civil disobedience actions spotlight the working conditions faced by Senate food workers.

How about just doing your f’ing jobs, or go find employment elsewhere.

Read: There’s A Mass Unionization Of Congressional Staffers, Especially Democrat Ones »