Virginia Beach Council rejects collective bargaining in close vote

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia Beach City Council narrowly rejected a resolution that would allow for collective bargaining for the city’s public workers.

The vote Tuesday night was 5-5-1 on the request put forward by the city’s firefighter and EMS union, with council members David Hutcheson, Sabrina Wooten, Jennifer Rouse, Joash Schulman and Worth Remick voting yes.

Mayor Bobby Dyer, Vice Mayor Rosemary Wilson, Councilwoman Barbara Henley and Councilman Chris Taylor voted no.

Councilwoman Amelia Ross-Hammond meanwhile abstained, causing the vote to fail because of a tie. In her abstention request to the city, she said: “Collective bargaining is a complex issue, and I have not had sufficient time to fully consider whether authorizing collective bargaining would be in the best interests of the City.”

“We are incredibly disappointed in this vote,” said Max Gonano, the president of the local firefighter and EMS union, in response.

“This has been a long process of member information sessions, a council task force report, presentations to city council by city staff and the city attorney, and public engagement on the issue that in the end it came down to a member of council who arbitrarily decided to abstain on the night of the vote. Politicians are elected to make decisions, not to leave their workforce in the lurch. We remain steadfast in our resolve to bring collective bargaining to Virginia Beach public employees.”

Before the vote, Mayor Dyer and Vice Mayor Wilson said they were concerned about the costs and the timing, and suggested the city move forward with an “enhanced” version of the city’s current meet and confer negotiation practices. However, a second item on the agenda after the approval vote to “to decline to authorize collective bargaining and add a code change to create employee committees to enhance communications among the City Council, City Manager, and employees of the City regarding the terms and conditions of employment” was not voted on Tuesday.

“Given the budget constraints we have now, rather than taking money to hire attorneys to oversee the implementation of collective bargaining, and putting in an expensive payroll system, I’d rather focus on what we can do,” Dyer said. “… I’d rather put those resources into addressing, which I believe this entire council believes, is the crisis of we have to get 60 more bodies in our fire department.”

Wilson again cited concerns relayed to her from Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander, including that he believed collective bargaining would “bankrupt” Virginia Beach.

Councilwoman Wooten, who motioned to approve the resolution, said she moved to do so because she wished she had similar representation when she worked lower wage jobs in the past. She said collective bargaining would not just allow workers to negotiate for higher wages to help offset cost of living increases, but also “achieve fairness and equity at the table.”

Councilman Remick before voting yes said: “I ran for my District 6 less than two years ago with a personal commitment to people’s lives who dedicate themselves every to making Virginia Beach great … I know that not everyone will agree with my vote tonight, that’s the tough part of this job. It’s also the most rewarding.”

“All you’re really asking for is an opportunity to sit at the table and negotiate the terms of your employment, and workplace policies and conditions collaboratively. And I don’t think that’s too much to ask,” added Councilman Schulman.

While the official request was filed back on February 1 by the Virginia Beach Professional Fire & EMS union, the effort to get Virginia Beach to approve collective bargaining has gone back several years. If the request was approved, collective bargaining would have extended to the city’s more than 7,000 public employees overall, including the city’s police force, sheriff’s office and its general wage workers.

It all comes as the city is coming to grips with staffing issues across its departments, especially in Fire and EMS.

Workers said a move to approve collective bargaining would have not only allowed for increased pay to help with hiring and retention, but also allow them negotiate for better working conditions and more through a union. They said many workers cannot afford to live in the city.

Virginia Beach is now the second city in Hampton Roads to reject collective bargaining, joining Norfolk. Portsmouth approved collective bargaining last year, three years after Virginia’s Democratic General Assembly passed a law to allow public sector employees to collectively bargain pending local approval.

Other localities in Virginia, including Richmond and several in Northern Virginia, have approved collective bargaining measures.

Check with WAVY.com for more updates.

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