As of July 1, 2026, legislative staffers who work in the State Capitol and in district offices across California are officially allowed to unionize under a new law that just kicked in. Since then, organizers up and down the state have been quietly feeling out support through one-on-one conversations, after-work meetups and a growing organizing committee meant to knit it all together. "I believe fundamentally in our right to unionize, but I also believe that it’s going to be challenging in many respects," said Zak Castillo-Krings, a legislative director involved in the effort.
The push is still in its early days. District staffers in the Bay Area are connecting with counterparts in Southern California, while Capitol-based aides are trading notes on what they want most, as reported by The Sacramento Bee. Organizers told the outlet they are weighing whether to affiliate with an established union or create an independent employee association, and the committee hopes to settle on a path before the end of the year. Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco, who chairs the Assembly Rules Committee, said the Assembly "respects employees’ right to choose to unionize" and would bargain in good faith if staff decide to organize, according to that reporting.
What staffers are pressing for
Organizers say their initial priorities are nuts-and-bolts workplace issues: clearer promotion paths, formal rules for comp time when work runs late, better base pay and help with costs like parking and travel. Senior field representative Tuan Nguyen said it took roughly a year after he asked for a promotion or title change before anything happened, an example organizers cite as showing how ad-hoc personnel decisions can leave staff in limbo. "There's no policy for comp time, right?" said Zak Castillo-Krings, pointing to the kind of everyday gap they want contract language to close, as reported by The Sacramento Bee.
How the new law works
The new organizing rights stem from Assembly Bill 1, which created the Legislature Employer-Employee Relations Act and was signed into law in 2023. Its provisions became operative July 1, 2026, and set up a bargaining system modeled on the Ralph C. Dills Act. The statute defines the Assembly and Senate Rules Committees as the "employer" for bargaining purposes, gives the Public Employment Relations Board initial jurisdiction over unfair-practice complaints, and excludes certain areas, including the Legislature's core lawmaking functions, from the scope of representation. For the bill text and technical details, see the version on Legislative Information.
Challenges and next steps
Organizers acknowledge they have some serious logistical hurdles. Staff are scattered across Capitol offices and dozens of district locations, turnover is high and employees often hop between the Assembly and Senate, all of which can make card drives and forming a bargaining unit more complicated. Organizers and union strategists note that similar efforts in other statehouses have taken years to produce a first contract, and Oregon's legislative staff reached a first tentative agreement only after a multi-year campaign, according to updates from their union. For now, California staffers say the focus is on outreach and building a credible, statewide organizing committee that can steer whatever comes next.
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