(Source: MIRS.news, Published 03/11/2024) Former GOP Sen. Wayne Schmidt and former Democratic House member LaMar Lemmons III, both of whom have worked on legislative staff, agreed the possibility of a successful House staffer unionization effort is unlikely, due to the ever-fluid political landscape of the Legislature.
When asked this week on the MIRS Monday podcast how likely it is they will pull it off on a scale of one to 10, Schmidt said one.
Lemmons said four, and Schmidt laughed. "I like your optimism," he said.
The discussion comes the week after some House staffers working under the purview of House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) have begun taking cards from employees interested in holding a union representation election, with the effort starting with the Democrats and spreading to Republican staffers.
Schmidt, an up-north Republican and former Chicago Teamster himself, said he was surprised to learn about potential unionization. While he didn't say unionization wasn't possible under a Democratic majority, the potential for the House to flip could cause several real issues.
For one, as all legislative employees work for the Senate Majority Leader and House Speaker, the party that's in the majority could have a big impact on legislative staff unions.
While a House union could have Tate's approval, if Republicans take back the House, he asked, "do they de-certify the union?"
Lemmons added that the party in the majority has more staff allotted to them, while the minority party's staff is diminished, and the same goes for party budgets and office allotments, which cover legislative staffer paychecks. This could cause problems with consistency.
Schmidt mentioned the 2010 election, when Republicans flipped 20 seats from the Democrats, resulting in a 67-43 split House, along with the departure of former Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
"There were staff scrambling everywhere," he said, but at the end of the day, "good staff usually find jobs."
Schmidt noted that the disparity between majority and minority staffers has improved under former Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, who helped to negotiate it from a 4-2 ratio to a 4-3.
"Plus, the pay has gotten better, the allotments have gotten better and the House and Senate business offices have made things much better, but it's still tough," he said.
Lemmons said that to work for individual legislators and their staff, a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) model could better fit with the fluidity and frequent elections in the House, allowing legislators to pick from a pool of union members or bring in new staffers to join the union.
High staffer turnover at this point has been attributed to better pay opportunities elsewhere, with staffer jobs likened to stepping stone jobs, and issues with legislators themselves, all of which Lemmons agreed with.
But another area of concern brought up by Schmidt is the unique role played by legislative staffers, who often work well outside the 9-5 norm and can even be asked to use their vacation days to campaign for the caucus or their bosses.
"In reality, these are your personal, key people in your office," he said. "How could you have a chief of staff or legislative director in the House go, ‘Well, I negotiated this. This is what I get paid. I’m not going to work past five o'clock for work rules.'
"I don't think you could do it," he said, adding later, "it's not a clock in, clock out type of job."
Schmidt said the intricacies and the uniqueness of the Legislature ensures the need for a union is really not there, with oversight currently provided by the House and Senate leaders, which he said is the best way to handle the situation right now.
"I would be against unionization," he said. "Not because I'm against unions, but in this particular setting."
Another thing that both former legislators brought up is the potential for a union to choose sides politically and provide endorsements, which in the case of legislative staff membership, could result in "paying dues to an organization that's going to campaign against your boss."
Lemmons said he's had personal experience with this very thing.
During his most recent campaign, when Lemmons ran in the January 2024 special election for the HD-13 seat vacated by Warren Mayor Lori Stone, his wife was part of a union that supported his opponent.
"I got all their mailings," Lemmons said.
"In a general sense, we always say the Democratic, 'yes, we support unions,'" he said, "but in a practical sense, it has to be a type of union and type of model that is non-partisan."
