Massachusetts legislative employees would be allowed to bargain together

House and Senate employees could belong to groups that negotiate working conditions together. The rules would cover legislative employees, including committee and support staff. Personal staff means workers approved by the House speaker or Senate president for a lawmaker’s office at that lawmaker’s request. Employees who meet the law’s definitions of managerial or confidential workers could be excluded. For lawmakers’ personal staff, those exclusions would apply only in the offices of chamber leaders, minority leaders, budget committee chairs, clerks, and legal counsel.

The proposal would provide for specific ethics exceptions and steps to address perceived conflicts of interest involving employee bargaining representatives. This provision would cover representatives who bargain on behalf of an entire group of public employees under the public employee bargaining law. The clause concerns perceived conflicts of interest; it does not spell out particular exceptions or procedures.