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Recognizing Congressional Workers' Rights to Organize

Floor Speech

Date: May 11, 2022
Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 1096, to ensure that House staffers have the same fundamental rights to organize and collectively bargain as workers across the Nation. Unions play an essential role in providing higher wages, better benefits, and safer workplaces. For decades, unions workers have consistently enjoyed 10- to 20-percent higher wages than their non-union counterparts. The benefits of union membership are so strong that studies show even the children of union workers enjoy greater economic mobility.

Unions also narrow both the racial wealth gap and the gender pay gap. Union members of color have almost five times the median wealth of their non-union counterparts. Moreover, unions close the gender wage gap almost completely, whereas on average non-union women are paid 78 cents for every dollar paid to non-union men.

Ultimately, unions provide workers with a voice on the job--and this proved to be critical during the pandemic. While the entire economy suffered from massive job losses throughout the pandemic, union workers suffered fewer job losses because they were able to bargain for fewer layoffs and safer workplaces.

As the Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, I have led legislation that ensures workers can form and access all the benefits of a union. These rights should also be extended to House staffers.

House staffers are central to moving our country forward. They help constituents find affordable health care coverage and access social security benefits; they ensure Members of Congress can hear directly from the people; and they help draft legislation that protects and strengthens our democracy.

As I have repeatedly said, joining a union is a fundamental right-- and that must hold true for House employees, too.

I thank Speaker Pelosi, Leader Hoyer, Congresswoman Lofgren, Congressman Levin, and so many others for their leadership on this important issue.

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