Virginia Beach moves up collective bargaining vote for city employees
VIRGINIA BEACH — Mayor Bobby Dyer has moved up the timeline for a vote on collective bargaining for city employees to April 30.
Dyer wants to hold the vote this month instead of in May so that the City Council can focus on the fiscal year 2025 budget, he said.
“It’s becoming more and more complicated and challenging,” Dyer said of the budget process.
A public comment session on collective bargaining will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall. A public hearing on the matter will then be held April 16, followed by a vote at a special session April 30, according to Dyer.
But some community members are pushing back against the mayor’s decision to “rush” a vote.
The Virginia Beach Democratic Committee stated in a press release Friday that calling for a vote earlier than originally planned sets “an unprecedented timeline that disregards the agreed-upon process and sidelines the city council members’ involvement.”
Dyer challenged that notion.
“We’ve got plenty of time for people to chime in,” he said by phone Monday.
The City Council received a letter Feb. 1 from Max Gonano, president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 2924, requesting that City Council vote to adopt a collective bargaining ordinance proposed by the union, which represents the city’s Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services department employees.
The City Council is required by state law to vote within 120 days on whether it will entertain collective bargaining, meaning based on the timing of the letter it would have to vote by May 30.
In 2021, state law was changed to allow for collective bargaining of city employees if it’s authorized by local law. After hearing from several employee associations expressing interest in organizing agreements, the City Council convened a collective bargaining task force last year. The group recommended the creation of no more five bargaining units that could negotiate three issues: wages and benefits, working conditions, and grievances.
The task force report was completed in November and didn’t include any cost estimates for the city if collective bargaining was approved. After receiving the union letter, city staff provided a range of costs to the City Council which included $400,000 to modify the payroll system and, at the minimum, an additional $500,000 to hire new employees, including two in Human Resources and two new city attorneys as well as outside counsel, depending on the number of bargaining units.
Collective bargaining is the process in which working people, through their unions, negotiate contracts with their employers to determine their terms of employment, including pay, benefits, hours, leave, and job health and safety policies, according to the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.
Dyer directed staff to draft a collective bargaining ordinance using the task force’s recommendations in February. He also requested an alternative one that would instead provide for employee committees to meet regularly with the city manager, similar to what Norfolk created last year when that city denied collective bargaining for its employees.
Portsmouth approved collective bargaining for its employees last year.
City Manager Patrick Duhaney said at that February meeting that two options would be available for council for review in March and a vote would be scheduled in May.
Dyer recently reconsidered the timeline as it became more apparent that the budget vote in May would require the full attention of his colleagues, he said.
“I didn’t want to have to vote on a budget and collective bargaining (in May),” Dyer said. “I thought it would create chaos.”
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com
