Barring a sudden reversal by their ostensibly pro-labor bosses, the Massachusetts legislative staffers who have long fought to form a union will once again need to wait ‘til next year.
House Democrats have quietly smothered legislation that would have given aides in both chambers a clear legal right to organize and collectively bargain. A similar bill is technically still alive in the Senate, but given that top lawmakers there have already voiced concerns about the legal framework for a staff union, the prospects appear dim.
As a result, legislative employees will likely ride out the remainder of 2026 in an unchanged position: facing a Senate hierarchy that argues current law does not allow staff to bargain collectively, and a Legislature that does not want to rewrite statute to make that possible.
“It’s disappointing. They are for labor, they speak about being pro-labor, and for whatever reason, they don’t see the need to continue or support the measure to allow the staffers to form a union,” said Julio De La Cruz, vice president of the IBEW Local 2222 union that’s working with House and Senate aides.
Organizers have been pushing legislation that would codify staffers’ right to organize. The bill idled before the Labor and Workforce Development Committee for months until March 19, when the committee’s co-chair, Rep. Paul McMurtry, wrote to IBEW organizers to share that it would not move forward.
“While the bill generated important discussions, there was ultimately not sufficient support for its advancement this session, and it has been referred to study,” McMurtry wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by CommonWealth Beacon. “Although this outcome is not what you had hoped for, the conversations sparked by this legislation have been meaningful and necessary. The role of legislative staff across the Commonwealth is critical, and their contributions to serving our constituents cannot be overstated.”
McMurtry’s office confirmed the correspondence and the bill’s status. The Dedham Democrat declined to answer follow-up questions about how he determined the bill did not have support or what his concerns were. House Speaker Ron Mariano also declined to comment.
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Published by MassINC