Arlington approves collective bargaining for county employees, marking shifting tides on labor in VA
The Arlington County Board voted to allow collective bargaining for the county’s nearly 4,000 public employees on Saturday, giving labor unions the right to negotiate pay, benefits and other working conditions.
The unanimous vote makes the affluent, left-leaning county the second locality to approve the practice in Virginia, a state long known for its opposition to organized labor. After the General Assembly lifted local bans in 2019, the city of Alexandria voted to allow collective bargaining for its employees in April.
“In the public sector especially, you want your employees to be high performers with strong attachment to their work,” said Arlington County Board member Christian Dorsey (D). “Collective bargaining enables that.”
While some county workers already are members of unions, the move will allow those groups to formalize contracts with Arlington officials — an accomplishment that Dorsey called a “win-win”: It will give employees a louder voice, management better channels for communication and residents better county services, he said.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/07/17/arlington-collective-bargaining-prevailing-wage/