Labor leaders call veto of collective bargaining bill a ‘betrayal’ by Virginia governor | Virginia
Virginia Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Thursday vetoed a bill that would have restored collective bargaining rights to 50,000 of the state’s public sector workers. Union leaders say the veto is a “betrayal” and a “slap in the face” after the governor campaigned last year on promises to restore collective bargaining rights.
Although both houses of the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation that would restore bargaining rights to most public sector workers, Spanberger introduced an amended version of the bill last month that was ultimately rejected by the assembly.
According to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, Spanberger’s amended bill so weakened the collective bargaining rights originally passed by the General Assembly that it would “lock Virginia into an unstable and ineffective system in which collective bargaining remains merely ‘optional’.”
The veto was welcomed by conservatives who said the bill would have led to significant tax increases.
Union leaders say the veto is a reversal from promises she made during the election campaign. In February, a month after taking office, the governor participated in a rally in support of the bill introduced by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), according to the Virginia Mercury.
SEIU leaders April Verrett, LaNoral Thomas and Jaime Contreras said in a joint statement that the veto was a “betrayal of Virginia workers who were promised change.”
“Collective bargaining is not a privilege, it is a right. Governor Spanberger looked workers in the eye, met with our members, affirmed her support and made a promise. Today, she broke it,” they said.
Edward Kelly, president of the International Association of Firefighters, also said the veto “is a slap in the face to all the workers who trust him.” Of the state’s 11,000 firefighters, about 8,000 to 9,000 still don’t have collective bargaining rights because their municipalities have not chosen to grant them.
“Firefighters keep their word every day on the job. It’s a shame the governor can’t do the same,” Kelly said.
Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the largest public sector workers’ union in the United States with 1.4 million members, highlighted the history of “anti-worker extremists” in Virginia who have given the state the “reputation of being one of the most anti-worker in the country.”
“Governor Spanberger campaigned on a promise to end this historic injustice. But she broke that promise by vetoing legislation that would have finally given most state and local workers the freedom to bargain collectively,” Saunders said.
The Virginia Public Sector Labor Coalition, a group of several major unions, echoed the feelings of betrayal and noted that Glenn Youngkin, Spanberger’s Republican predecessor, vetoed similar legislation last year.
A spokesperson for Spanberger deferred his comments to a news release and said the governor signed other laws last month that expanded paid family and medical leave, raised the minimum wage and helped combat wage theft.
“I remain committed to continuing to work with the General Assembly, unions, localities and public officials across the Commonwealth to develop a public sector collective bargaining system that works for Virginia,” Spanberger said in a statement. “However, I believe additional amendments are necessary to the bill currently before me.”
During the Jim Crow era, Virginia banned collective bargaining in the public sector in 1948 in response to a group of black workers organizing a union at the University of Virginia Hospital.
Before Virginia passed a law allowing local governments to adopt their own collective bargaining system in 2021, the state was one of only three states to completely ban collective bargaining for public sector workers. Even after the law was passed, collective bargaining for state employees remains illegal.
