Alexandria is the first municipality in Virginia to draft a collective bargaining ordinance in anticipation of a new law that goes into effect on May 1, but the ordinance is hitting some bumps along the way.
The first draft of the ordinance which was presented to City Council on Feb. 9 was too limited in scope, according to public employee associations like AFSCME and IAFF Local 2141 and politicians like Delegate Mark Levine.
In response to organized opposition to the first draft of the ordinance from public employees, public employee associations and proponents of the new law, City Council will discuss the ordinance at a special meeting on March 17 at 7 p.m.
Levine, who represents parts of Alexandria and is a city resident, was one of the proponents of the original bill allowing collective bargaining in Virginia. “Alexandria supports labor, we always have. The vast majority of residents of City of Alexandria support full collective bargaining, which is why I am confident that the Mayor and City Council will do the right thing here,” Levine said at a AFSCME press conference on March 10. “Collective bargaining is not only about wages and benefits as we have heard here. It is about safety and security on the job. It’s about disciplinary procedures. It’s about a right to a seat at the table to discuss how things are handled,” he continued.
It's not just Alexandrians. According to a recent Gallup poll, 65 percent of Americans support labor unions and the majority support collective bargaining for public employees. While the Senate is currently considering passing the PRO Act, the largest expansion for collective bargaining the country has seen in decades, until recently, labor laws have not always reflected this sentiment. Between 1977 and the present, collective bargaining for public employees was banned in Virginia.
We sat down with Alexandria Fire Captain Josh Turner of IAFF Local 2141 and Scott Treibitz with Tricom Associates and discussed what collective bargaining is and why it’s important. Turner is a long time Alexandria resident who has worked for the fire department for 11 years. Treibitz is a Fairfax County resident who has worked with labor unions for more than 35 years. He is currently working with firefighters across the region on how to talk about collective bargaining in their municipalities.
What is collective bargaining?
Treibitz believes that a common definition of collective bargaining is an important part of the discussion. “Everyone keeps talking about collective bargaining, collective bargaining like that’s some kind of key word that we all learned in elementary school, or middle school or high school, and it’s not a word that people understand.” The term is further complicated by negative and inaccurate representations in movies, media and its association with unions he said.
His favorite definition is from the Encyclopedia Britannica which describes collective bargaining as “the ongoing process of negotiation between representatives of workers and employers to establish the conditions of employment. The collectively determined agreement may cover not only wages but hiring practices, layoffs, promotions, job functions, working conditions and hours, worker discipline and termination, and benefit programs.”
The current draft ordinance on the docket for the March 17 meeting limits the scope of bargaining to wages and benefits only. The City argues that the ordinance needs to keep the scope simple until the collective bargaining process becomes more familiar and a more expansive definition is warranted.
Public employee associations also call for more diversity in the number of bargaining units the City will recognize, an expansion of who can and cannot participate in collective bargaining (in particular for first responders) and a more equitable system for resolving an impasse that may arise between the City and employee associations or unions during collective bargaining.
Why does collective bargaining matter?
Treibitz says that the limitations of the current ordinance are short sighted and ultimately counterproductive. He argues that stronger collective bargaining rights will lead to improved efficiency of City services. “Collective bargaining offers a collaborative voice for the public employees that deliver services to offer up ideas on how to maximize the delivery of those services. So in the case of firefighters, if you allow firefighters to have collective bargaining, their focus is going to be on making sure that the delivery of public safety is primary.”
Many City residents would be shocked to know that the Alexandria Fire Department has some operations that are below the NFPA 1710 standards which are based on extensive research on the science of firefighting. As an example, Turner said that Alexandria has the most high rise buildings without sprinkler systems in Northern Virginia. These structures are considered high hazard. NFPA 1710 standards recommend that 43 firefighters be able to respond to a high hazard fire within 10 minutes and 10 seconds, and Turner says the City does not have the capability.
Treibitz and Turner also argue that a broader scope of collective bargaining will lead to a balance of cost and savings for the City. Treibitz referenced the current high turnover rate for Alexandria firefighters. He says that recruiting and training of firefighters costs the City 2 million dollars a year. Improvements to the work environment through stronger collective bargaining will help with retention and ultimately help Alexandria save money in this area.
“One of the conversational points [from the City] was ‘Well, we have to keep it at wages and benefits because of the cost.’ Well, if you’re only talking about wages and benefits, of course the only thing that’s going to be important to you is cost. We’re not talking about that, we’re talking about efficiency, we’re talking about fairness, we’re talking about safety,” said Turner.
What are Public Employees Asking for?
Turner clarifies that Alexandria’s public employees are not asking for something excessive or detrimental to the City. DASH bus employees have their own collective bargaining powers with the City which are broader than what is defined in the draft ordinance for City employees. Many public employees in DC and Maryland also have more expansive rights than what is proposed for Alexandria. “What we’re asking for is baseline of the standard for the region. Some of my counterparts from other areas of the country would look at the ordinance that we proposed and would say that’s actually kind of restrictive,” said Turner.
As both a long time Alexandria resident and 11 year veteran of the fire department, Turner is not looking to implement an ordinance that would hurt the place he calls home. “This is my community. My wife is a lifelong Alexandrian so she’s been here for 33 years. My mother-in-law has been here for almost 45 years. This is a community that they have grown up in. This is a community that we want to be a part of. Not only do I want to work here, but this is where I want to live. Why would I want to set something up that doesn’t address the needs that we have?”
Treibitz and Turner are hopeful that City Council will do more than just listen to their concerns by expanding the scope of the ordinance. “There’s a difference between listening and having a binding voice. Having a binding voice enforces change,” Treibitz said.
