After Pelosi's comments, Capitol Hill staffers are trying to unionize. Here's the complicated process it would take to make that a reality.

• A Congressional Workers Union announced staff efforts to organize Capitol Hill on Friday.
• Capitol Hill office and committee staff actually can unionize, but it requires an act of Congress.

A secretive group of Democratic congressional staffers emerged from the shadows on Friday to announce an ambitious goal: they were going to unionize Congress.

The Congressional Workers Union isn't technically a union, but an underground effort from staffers to investigate the possibility of organizing Capitol Hill employees. Their work got a major political boost from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday, when she said she would support congressional staffers forming unions. On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer followed suit.

The group's numbers are in the "double digits" and is made up of Democratic staffers who have been investigating the issue for more than a year, a spokesperson for the Congressional Workers Union, who requested anonymity to not face retaliation for organizing, told Insider.

But how would unionizing Congress — which is composed of 538 separate lawmakers' offices that operate as their own fiefdoms, plus dozens of committees with their own staff — actually work? And are congressional staff even allowed to organize?

The answer, like so many things when it comes to Congress, is both straightforward, and very complicated. Congressional support agencies such as the Government Accountability Office, Library of Congress, and Capitol Police were governed by a slightly different provision of the Congressional Accountability Act and have already unionized.

[Are you a Capitol Hill staffer who is making an effort to organize your office or committee? We want to hear from you. Email the reporter Kayla Epstein at kepstein@insider.com]

Yes, congressional staffers can unionize. But there are some technicalities.

Congressional staffers are allowed to unionize, thanks to Section 220 of the Congressional Accountability Act. The provision means congressional office and committee staff can form unions — but only if each chamber passes a resolution that allows it first. So far, no such resolution has been passed, and Congress is entering uncharted territory.

"What that means is that for the last 27 years the House has been able to implement these regulations…that will allow staff to unionize," said Daniel Schuman, policy director of Demand Progress, who has advocated for congressional workplace reforms such as higher salaries.

"You built the car but you have to turn it on," Schuman told Insider. "The resolution will turn it on."

The Congressional Workers Union spokesperson contended that there was no regulation that prohibited a member from voluntarily recognizing a union that formed in their office today. But so far, no staffers have made such an attempt.

On Friday, Rep. Andy Levin, a Democrat of Michigan, seemed to commit to introducing the necessary legislation in the House, tweeting that, "At the request of the new union, next week we will take legislative action to afford congressional staff the freedom to form a union — a fundamental right of all workers."

Levin is one of at least 14 Democratic House members who have tweeted that they supported their staffers forming a union, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey.

"I'm for all workers in America having the freedom to form unions and congressional staff are no different," Levin, a former labor organizer, said in an interview with Insider. "It's a process they should drive and a decision you should be able to make."

Should it make it to a full vote in the House and pass, not only would it give a green light to organizing efforts, but the resolution also would activate the same kind of labor protections that apply to the rest of the public workforce. That means that staff who begin to discuss unionizing efforts in their workplaces have protections against retaliation. It would allow the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights to recognize unions that workers choose to form, and members and committees would have to accept that decision.

And then things might get messy.

It's every office for themselves

The way the law is written, Schuman said, every congressional office and committee would have to independently organize for itself. That means that staffers in each of the 538 separate offices and dozens of committees would have to go through the process themselves.

An overarching entity like the Congressional Workers Union can help guide their efforts, but there wouldn't be one massive union representing all congressional workers.

Workers in every office and committee would vote on whether to form a bargaining unit and be represented by a labor organization. The vote would then be reviewed and verified by the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, according to their website.

Democrats and Republicans have different perspectives on unionizing in politics; Democrats, politically, tend to support unions, while Republicans are more skeptical.

This could result in a situation where only half of Congress' offices unionize, with a split evident between Democrats and Republicans. Committee leadership also changes back and forth between the two parties, depending on who is in the majority, which could lead to complications.

"It definitely is Democratic workers," the Congressional Workers Union spokesperson confirmed of the group.

The political landscape also gives potential organizers a deadline to get their resolution through Congress. With the midterm elections in November, control of the House or Senate could flip to Republicans, who might be less likely to greenlight the necessary legislation.

And while momentum is building among Democratic staffers and, at least publicly, their bosses, there is also the reality of Capitol Hill culture to contend with. Loyalty to members is paramount to all else, and a culture of silence around bad behavior and poor working conditions has always hovered over Capitol Hill. It's true of Democratic offices as well as Republican ones.

"Unionization is contrary to the way Congress works," said one former senior Democratic staffer. "Members currently have all of the power. It's the way they like it to be. Unionization significantly guts their ability to control their staff in the way they currently do, which is unhealthy and toxic to staff."

The former staffer said he wanted to see the underlying labor issues that would cause staffers to agitate for union representation to be addressed, but after working in Congress, he was skeptical they'd occur.

"I'd like leadership in both parties to work with the union and improve pay, training, and opportunities for staff," the former staffer said. "But there's a better chance the Miami Dolphins win the Super Bowl."