Tag: collective bargaining

Collective Bargaining Advances to Virginia House Committee

The Center Square
VA Collective Bargaining

Two bills to expand collective bargaining in the commonwealth came before the House Labor and Commerce Subcommittee #2 Thursday, one by Del. Katrina Callsen, D-Albemarle, for public transportation providers and the other by Del. Kathy Tran, D-Fairfax, for all public employees in Virginia.

The subcommittee quickly voted to incorporate Callsen’s bill into Tran’s HB 1001, expanding collective bargaining for public sector employees from something authorized at the local level to a universal right for all, including state employees.

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Commentary: Public Sector Unions Are a Growing Threat to Taxpayers

RealClearWire

Following the resolution of the six-week United Auto Workers strike last month and the ensuing glut of news coverage, one could be forgiven for believing that private sector unions were experiencing a generational comeback the likes of which haven’t been seen since their halcyon days of the 1950s.

The reality, however, couldn’t be further from the truth: union participation in the private sector is now a tiny sliver of the overall employment picture in the United States. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unionization rate of private-sector workers currently sits below 6% at just under 7 million workers nationwide – down from 17 million in 1950.

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Commentary: Outlaw Public Sector Unions

Virginia Star Staff

Money doesn’t guarantee victory in political campaigns. For proof, look no further than Meg Whitman, the California billionaire who in 2010 squandered $179 million in her futile campaign to beat Jerry Brown and become that state’s next governor.

When money is married to institutional power, however, it makes all the difference. This is why, 10 years after the Whitman debacle, Mark Zuckerberg was able to purchase the presidential election outcome in 2020 for $419 million. Whitman’s money paid consultants and bought ads on television. Zuckerberg’s money went to supplement the activities of election offices in swing states – election offices that employed workers represented by unions that overwhelmingly favor Democrats over Republicans.

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Youngkin Signs Executive Order Focused on Teacher Shortage, Launches Pilot Program Centered Around Student Learning Loss

Eric Burk

Governor Glenn Youngkin signed his third executive directive as part of an announcement of his administration’s efforts to address teacher shortages; at the same event in Stafford County, Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera announced the Bridging the Gap Initiative, aimed at addressing learning losses.

“So when we have a shortage of teachers and we’re trying to bridge the gap, we’ve got to work extra hard in order to close the gap of teachers as well,” Youngkin said, emphasizing the importance of in-person learning within the context of learning losses.

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Virginia Police Benevolent Association Wants to Ban Ticket Quotas

Eric Burk

The Virginia Police Benevolent Association is drafting legislation to ban ticket quotas in all law enforcement agencies across the Commonwealth.

“This legislation comes from my state police chapter,” VPBA Executive Director Sean McGowan said. “We have a state police chapter that has 800 troopers that are members. This is their concern, this is not something that Sean McGowan or the committee came up with. This is directly from our members.”

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Portsmouth City Council Votes Against Collective Bargaining

Eric Burk

The Portsmouth City Council voted 5-2 against allowing collective bargaining for city employees. In a Tuesday Council meeting, some members said that although they would like to support unionizing efforts, the high cost of implementing collective bargaining didn’t make sense.

“It was something we had all hoped would be good for the city last year when the city council passed a resolution to move forward,” Council Member Lisa Lucas-Burke said. “After hearing the information from our CFO regarding the financial cost that would be associated, I think that until we get more information and more funding to be able to carry this out it’s going to be pretty difficult for us to carry that through. My heart was there to get collective bargaining for our unions, for the departments that were interested in it, but with the information that was since provided we have to respond to that in that manner.”

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Firefighters Association Asks Charlottesville for Collective Bargaining Ordinance

Eric Burk

Charlottesville firefighters are seeking formal recognition as a union from the City of Charlottesville under new authority granted by a 2020 law that allows localities to form collective bargaining agreements.

According to The Daily Progress, Charlottesville Professional Firefighters Association President Greg Wright wrote in an email to the City Council, “I humbly ask that you, and all the members of Council support this Amendment. Empowering ALL City employees to participate in traditional collective bargaining is something that I hope you consider as important as we do.”

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Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Opts to Draft Collective Bargaining Ordinance

Eric Burk
Loudoun County Board of Supervisors

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted six to three to draft a collective bargaining ordinance enabling labor unions to represent county staff in negotiations with the county. County staff proposed drafting the ordinance, noting that a new law going into effect in May enables employee organizations to petition the county for formal union status. However, the law allows localities to decide for themselves whether they will recognize those organizations. As May approaches, other localities in Virginia are considering similar action; Alexandria has already adopted an ordinance allowing collective bargaining. 

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Alexandria Collective Bargaining Proposal Would Not Allow Employees to Challenge Vote Determination

The Center Square

The City of Alexandria in Virginia is considering an ordinance to provide collective rights to workers, but the current proposal would not allow employees or the city government to challenge the determination of certain votes.

As it is currently written, the proposal would allow a labor relations administrator to determine the results of a majority vote in the following areas: a petition for certification without an election, certification by representation election and decertification. No person, whether it be employees or the government, would have the right to challenge this determination.

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Study Shows Collective Bargaining, Now Reinstated in Virginia, Shields Police Officers from Discipline

Admin

A recent study of collectively bargained deals negotiated by police unions nationwide found these deals often scale back accountability and shield police from disciplinary action.

Before this year, public-sector collective bargaining was banned in Virginia. But after Democrats won control of the House and Senate, party leaders were able to pass legislation to end that prohibition, and Gov. Ralph Northam signed it into law. The law will go into effect in May 2021.

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