On Monday, thousands of largely anonymous Capitol Hill’s staffers won the ability to unionize for the first time — and workers in eight Democratic congressional offices immediately filed union petitions.

The effort was fueled by an “upswell of organizing activity [around the U.S.] like nothing I've seen in my whole adult lifetime,” Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI) told Yahoo Finance Live on Thursday.

Levin — a former union organizer himself who sponsored the resolution that made the unions possible — emphasized that it was the staffers themselves who fueled the movement to improve their working conditions.

Staffers in the Capitol, in spite of the glamorous surroundings, can make wages that simply aren’t enough to live comfortably in Washington D.C. Those concerns — as well as issues with work environments and racial tensions — were crystallized by a widely read Instagram account called “Dear White Staffers” that documented a side of working on Capitol Hill that few ever see.

In addition to Levin’s offices, aides to Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO), Chuy Garcia (D-IL), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D- NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) are all set to hold union elections in the weeks ahead.

These liberal lawmakers hold the unusual position of representing the management of their offices while also supporting the union movement.

Asked about how management in the private sector, specifically at Starbucks and Amazon, were handling their union drives, Levin said: “They're handling it very badly, and they're allowed to handle it badly by our very weak labor laws.”

New union elections have have risen 60% in the last year, Levin noted, arguing that Washington should act to boost funding for the National Labor Relations Board.

'You're trouble, man'

Unionization efforts at Starbucks (SBUX), Amazon (AMZN) and elsewhere have gained national attention in recent months. In May, President Joe Biden approvingly told Amazon organizer Christian Smalls: "You're trouble, man."