State House Union
An Act relative to collective bargaining rights for legislative employees
ON THIS PAGE:
- About the bill
- Bill history
- Advocates
What this bill would do:
- Allow staff to discuss concerns about their workplace and have an opportunity to negotiate
- Help the Legislature have greater staff retention rates, which would also allow for a more efficient legislature
- Grant the legislative staff the right to unionize
Why we need it:
Staff in the Massachusetts Senate have successfully organized a union, yet leadership refuses to recognize their right to collective bargaining.
Lean more about the Massachusetts State House Employee Union here.
6
years in consideration by the legislature
3
times killed by the legislature
The Logistics
- Allows the Senate and House staff to form a union that is recognized by the Legislature
Does your legislator support the State House Union?
Bill History
The legislature’s website makes it extremely difficult to track bills from session to session, so we have compiled the complete bill history here. Each time the bill is killed, it is highlighted in red text and the people or committee to blame are linked where possible.
194th Session: 2025-2026
March 2026: No committee vote was taken by reporting date, bill is dead without a vote.
February 2026: Reporting date extended to Tuesday March 3, 2026
October 2025: Hearing scheduled for 10/28/2025 from 10:00 AM-02:00 PM in A-1
February 2025: Bill referred to Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development
193rd Session: 2023-2024
December 2024: “Sent to Study” by Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight, S.3020
July 2024: Reporting date extended to December 31st
July 2024: Reporting date extended to July 19th
February 2024: Reporting date extended to July 1st
September 2023: Hearing scheduled for 09/20/2023
February 2023: Referred to Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight
192nd Session: 2021-2022
July 2023: Senate President and former labor lawyer Karen Spilka refuses to recognize the union
April 2022: Senate staffers announce their intent to organize a union
Advocacy Organizations
Our allies leading the fight for this bill
