Prince William County is the last big Northern Virginia jurisdiction to consider granting collective bargaining rights to public employees, but labor organizers say the county’s draft plan is so filled with holes they have major doubts about whether they can support it.
In a strongly worded letter to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors this month, union leaders pointed out the draft ordinance, prepared by the county administration with the help of an outside employment consultant, gives management the final say over “work rules, policies, procedures and standards of conduct.”
“At a minimum, staff and their outside counsel have misled the board — if not outright lied to you — into believing we will be able to bargain over working conditions,” wrote the labor leaders from three groups representing police, firefighters and other public workers. “The list of exclusions is so broad that there would be no bargaining over working conditions.”
The letter also proposed clearer language ensuring part-time employees can be included in collective bargaining units and more authority for a neutral labor relations administrator who would handle arbitration and investigation of unfair labor practice claims.
The Virginia General Assembly passed legislation in 2020 empowering local governments to allow collective bargaining by their workers, while leaving localities free to decide specifics of what...
Posted 17 minutes ago OREM, Utah — A Utah man has sued political commentator and podcaster Candace Owens for allegedly falsely linking him to the shooting death of Charlie Kirk. In the lawsuit fil...