Delegates Guzman, Krizek, Lopez, Bennett-Parker and Scott Speak in Support of Virginia Public Service Workers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 15, 2022
Contact: Katie Baker
Cell: 740-485-1125
Delegates Guzman, Krizek, Lopez, Bennett-Parker and Scott Speak in Support of Virginia Public Service Workers
RICHMOND, Va. – “Stronger Communities. A Better Bargain” – a coalition of labor unions collectively representing thousands of working families across Virginia – today commended Delegates Guzman, Krizek, Lopez, Bennett-Parker and Scott for standing up and speaking on the floor yesterday against bills that would repeal or chip away at the freedom of public service workers to join together in a union and bargain collectively for a contract.
Since taking effect last year, Delegate Guzman’s HB 582 and Senator Dick Saslaw’s SB 939 have triggered a slew of collective bargaining ordinances. Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Arlington County, the City of Alexandria, and the Richmond School Board have all passed measures to opt-in to giving their workers a voice on the job. Prince William County has taken a step in that direction, while workers in Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Richmond and Norfolk and teachers in Albemarle County and Prince William County are engaged in various stages of the process of securing collective bargaining rights. The Daily Press reported that Newport News public service workers are petitioning their City Council for collective bargaining rights.
“There is absolutely no reason to chip away or repeal collective bargaining, other than to remind our public service workers, who power us through this pandemic, of how little the Commonwealth cares about them and the communities they serve,” said Delegate Elizabeth Guzman, who was speaking broadly against a package of bills that included HB 883, HB 336, HB 337, HB 341, HB 790. “We should not be talking about union work as a liability to communities, when the opposite is true. Union work benefits communities. When our public service workers have a seat at the table and a voice on the job, they will use that voice to advocate for their communities so that they can better serve them.”
“Protecting the freedom to bargain collectively and join a union ensures that our valued public service employees are able to better advocate for the communities they serve, and are better invested in those communities,” said Delegate Paul Krizek.
“Having served on the Alexandria City Council, I have a unique perspective on this bill,” said Delegate Elizabeth Bennett-Parker. “ We [Alexandria City Council members] unanimously passed a collective bargaining ordinance after listening to our community – I now represent three jurisdictions, all of which have chosen to pass collective bargaining ordinances.”
“Protecting the freedom to bargain collectively and to join a union ensures that our valued public service employees are able to better advocate for the communities they serve,” said Delegate Alfonso Lopez. “They are able to negotiate up-to-date equipment for emergency responders, smaller class sizes, adequate training, and staffing ratios in hospitals.”
Delegate Don Scott also stood with workers by addressing a pointed question to Delegate Dave LaRock, who introduced HB 790.
All of the bills were advanced to their third reading and are on the House of Delegates calendar for a vote today.
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Authorized by “Stronger Communities. A Better Bargain”, a coalition comprising Virginia AFL-CIO; The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); The American Federation of Teachers (AFT); The Communications Workers of America (CWA); Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Virginia Education Association (VEA); The Virginia Professional Fire Fighters (VPFF) and The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400.