VIRGINIA BEACH — The city council denied collective bargaining of city employees in a 5-5 vote with one abstention Tuesday, but could still consider establishing employee relations committees.
Police officers, firefighters, emergency medical services and public works personnel wanted to negotiate better wages and enhanced employment conditions.
But Mayor Bobby Dyer said the timing wasn’t right yet “given the budget constraints we have now.” Dyer said he supported a more enhanced “meet and confer” process than what currently exists, which would require communication with the city council..
Dyer, Michael Berlucchi, Barbara Henley, Chris Taylor and Rosemary Wilson voted against it. Council members David Hutcheson, Worth Remick, Jennifer Rouse, Joash Schulman and Sabrina Wooten voted for it. Amelia Ross-Hammond abstained, saying she wants more information. A majority vote was needed for the resolution to pass.
Dyer had requested staff provide two resolutions: One to allow collective bargaining and another to allow a “meet and confer” process whereby employee committees will be able to regularly share concerns with the city manager.
For now, the city will continue to use its existing Member Advisory Committee to collect employee input. But Dyer said Wednesday that enhancements to the committee process is forthcoming. It was unclear whether the council would still pursue a vote to establish employee relations committees.
Before the vote was held in City Hall, a picket line of more than 30 people formed outside. Members of the Virginia Beach City Workers Union, UE Local 111, representing city employees in public works, public utilities, parks and recreation, human services, libraries and other departments hosted the demonstration.
Roughly 50 firefighters and emergency medical service workers also turned out for the meeting. They sat together wearing matching yellow International Association of Fire Fighter union T-shirts.
Most of the nearly two dozen speakers were in favor of collective bargaining, including Kathleen Slinde, a teacher and president of Virginia Beach Education Association.
“Collective bargaining gives employees a voice in the decisions that are made about them,” said Slinde. “If Virginia Beach decides not to move forward, our city will lag behind.”
Wooten said she’s long been an advocate of collective bargaining and has been spending time listening to the concerns of city workers.
“They want representatives who will advocate for them to achieve fairness and equity at the table,” Wooten said.
More than a handful of other speakers asked the council not to support collective bargaining.
“Collective bargaining could complicate our workforce management and inflate the cost of government-run services,” said Scott Miller, president of Virginia Beach Vision, a business development group.
Virginia was one of a few states with a blanket ban on collective bargaining for public sector employees until 2020, when the Democrat-controlled General Assembly enacted a new law, effective 2021, punting the final say to localities.
Virginia Beach is the latest city in the region to vote on collective bargaining rights of city employees. Norfolk denied city workers from collective bargaining, and instead supported a meet and confer process. Portsmouth approved collective bargaining in November.
“Let’s see how our neighbors in Portsmouth do with this and learn from their triumphs and challenges,” Dyer said Wednesday.
Dyer and several other council members have said they want an updated market salary survey to see where Virginia Beach stands in terms of what it pays its employees compared with other cities.
The Virginia Beach City Council formed a taskforce last summer to begin looking at collective bargaining options after multiple employee associations expressed interest in organizing agreements over the past several years. The taskforce recommended no more than five bargaining units with the following makeup: fire/EMS; police; service, labor and trades; administrative and technical; and professional.
The city received certification from a majority of public employees in a unit requesting collective bargaining in February, requiring a formal vote on the matter.
Implementing a collective bargaining process in Virginia Beach was estimated to cost nearly $1 million, including about $400,000 to modify the payroll system and $500,000 to hire new employees, including two in Human Resources and two new city attorneys as well as outside counsel.
But the full costs were unknown as many of the items subject to collective bargaining negotiations would require funding including potential raises and additional health benefits.
The fight’s not over, said Max Goano, president of the union that represents the city’s fire and emergency medical services departments. Other employee groups can trigger a council vote again by presenting certification from a majority of it public employees, he said.
Timing, as the mayor said, may be a key factor.
“There’s a new council coming in early 2025, and that’s not that far away,” said Goano. “It’s not the end by a longshot.”
Correction: A correction was made on May 1, 2024. Due to incorrect information provided to The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, an earlier version of this article misstated the outcome of the collective bargaining vote. The City Council has not yet voted to establish employee relations committees.
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com
