Democratic lawmakers clash with group attempting to unionize in General Assembly

Delaware House Democrats, who usually enjoy the favor of state unions during elections, this week found themselves at odds with a group attempting to unionize workers in the General Assembly.

Members of the group forming the union tweeted Tuesday that the House Democrat leadership fired a longtime employee who had signed a union card and attended organizing meetings.

Delaware's Democratic House leadership said in a statement emailed Tuesday night to Delaware Online/The News Journal that the union's tweets “contain information that is blatantly untrue and inaccurate."

The leaders said they do "not know the identity of employees who sign union cards."

The House Democratic leaders are House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach; House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst, D-Bear; and House Majority Whip Larry Mitchell, D-Elsmere.

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Neither the union organizers nor the House Democratic Caucus will reveal the name of the former staffer or how long they had been working at Legislative Hall.

The person who lost the job declined to comment without talking to a lawyer first.

In the statement, the House leaders said that the former staffer was given a reason in writing as to why they "will no longer be working for the House."

"Because this is a personnel matter, we are unable to provide that document," the statement said. "No action would be taken against an employee because he or she is involved with or is attempting to be involved with a union."

In a series of tweets from the Delaware General Assembly Union, the organization stated that senior staff and elected officials who oppose the unionization have intimidated staffers since a group of them announced plans to unionize Jan. 14.

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House leadership said those tweets were untrue and inaccurate.

The unionization effort has been spearheaded by Democratic staffers, whose bosses make up the majority of lawmakers in both the House and Senate.

Sarah Gamard covers government and politics for Delaware Online/The News Journal. You can reach her at (302) 324-2281 or sgamard@delawareonline.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @SarahGamard.