CREA Enters Its 27th Year

CREA became the exclusive bargaining representative for employees of the Library of Congress’s Congressional Research Service (CRS) on March 8, 1976, when it received its certification from Labor-Management Umpire Frederick U. Reel. The organization effort had begun early in the summer of 1975, shortly after the Library of Congress promulgated a regulation, LCR 2026, creating a labor-management program at the Library.

Approximately 535 of CRS’s 700+ employees are members of the CREA bargaining unit. These employees include attorneys, economists, scientists, environmental specialists, specialists in foreign affairs, political scientists, librarians, computer specialists, and support personnel. By law, the Service is in many respects separate and independent from the rest of the Library of Congress, and its employees have different needs from others in the Library. Recognizing this, CRS employees established an ad hoc committee to form their own union. On August 1, 1975, CREA’s constitution was ratified with the signatures of 472 employees. The union’s purpose was to represent employees’ interests through collective bargaining and other appropriate means, to improve their working conditions, to improve employee-management relations, and to promote high standards on the part of employees and management.

Pursuant to the new constitution, the officers and a 22-member board of governors were elected on August 28, 1975. Congressman Mario Biaggi of New York administered the oath of office to the newly elected officers and board at CREA’s first annual meeting on October 1, 1975.

With a constitution and duly elected officers, as required by LCR 2026, CREA then filed for recognition with Umpire Reel on the first effective day of the regulation, October 24, 1975. CREA was opposed by two other unions vying for exclusive recognition among CRS employees, AFSCME Local 2477 and the Black Employees of the Library of Congress (BELC), as well as the option for "no union." CREA won the representation election of February 18, 1976, by a substantial margin, garnering 343 votes, as compared to 19 for AFSCME 2477, 41 for the BELC, and 51 for no union. CRS employees in professional positions also voted overwhelmingly to include employees in nonprofessional positions in the bargaining unit, thus creating a single union to represent all employees. CREA remains the only union in the Library of Congress to represent all positions.

On March 8, 1976, CREA was certified by Umpire Reel. CREA kicked off its dues drive in May 1976, and over 60 percent of those eligible to join became members. CREA has maintained or bettered this membership percentage for over 25 years — a rarity for federal-sector unions. As of the end of 2002, 324 (just over 60%) of CRS’s 535 bargaining-unit employees were dues-paying members. CRS employees continue to show strong support for a union they built from the ground up.

E-mail comments about CREA or about this page to crea@crs.loc.gov. 

Return to CREA Homepage