Illinois House speaker’s staff sues to unionize

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Staff members for the Illinois House speaker on Friday filed a lawsuit demanding the right to negotiate working conditions as a union, something the speaker has said he supports.

The action by members of the Illinois Legislative Staff Association in Cook County Circuit Court seeks confirmation that they have a right to “organize and bargain collectively,” as was guaranteed to all workers by an amendment to the state Constitution in 2022.

It also seeks injunctive relief compelling House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch to take steps to negotiate or for a mediator to step in, and it wants the court to order Welch to communicate by a public post or mail to employees assuring them of their right to unionize. Members said Welch has been recalcitrant since they first sought negotiations in November 2022.

Welch sponsored legislation last fall to allow staff to unionize, but the measure didn’t make it through the Senate and it has received pushback from the association because it wouldn’t take effect until next year.

“Speaker Welch says he was ‘proud’ to stand with us back in October — while the cameras were rolling and the people were watching,” the association, which is made up of about 33 legislative coordinators, policy analysts and communications specialists, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, he was also too proud to sit down and work with us once his publicity stunt was over.”

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Welch spokesperson Jaclyn Driscoll said no one in the speaker’s office had received a copy of the lawsuit and declined comment.

Legislative aides work long hours for wages that start in the $40,000 range. They research and write dense, complicated legislation, ensuring lawmakers are prepared to present and defend them while tracking their progress and keeping appraised of opposition.

After Oregon legislative staff became the first in the nation to unionize in 2021, the movement has gained momentum. California endorsed collective bargaining last fall. In Washington state, House and Senate Democratic staffers filed paperwork this month to organize.

Welch, a Democrat from Hillside who has been at the helm since 2021, pushed through legislation last fall that would allow his staff to organize — beginning in July 2026. He said it was necessary because state labor law prohibits unionization by “public employees.” But the Senate didn’t take any action on the legislation.

Before the legislation was introduced, the association said Welch’s staff decreed it couldn’t negotiate with the employees unless their union was recognized by the Illinois State Labor Relations Board. But the board has no jurisdiction over legislative staff and as a result denied their petition to be recognized.

Now, the speaker’s office says it can’t negotiate with the staff unless the Senate approves Welch’s legislation and it’s signed into law. But even if it became law, the association asserts it violates workers’ rights because it delays unionization until next year.

It also lumps Welch’s staff in with legislative aides assigned to the Republican caucus, who are “hired by a different employer, so as to make it potentially impossible for the Speaker to claim authority to conduct bargaining.”