More than three years after Fairfax County leaders authorized collective bargaining, a majority of the county government’s workers have yet to choose a representative for future contract negotiations.
That could soon change, as one established union gears up for a potential election this month, while a challenger turns to the courts in an effort to halt the vote.
The Fairfax County Government Employees Union chapter of the Service Employees International Union Virginia 512 (SEIU) currently anticipates that ballots for its bid to become the exclusive bargaining representative for general county employees will be sent out in mid-April, a spokesperson told FFXnow.
However, the rival Fairfax Workers Coalition (FWC) filed a lawsuit in Fairfax County Circuit Court on March 5 alleging that SEIU’s petition to qualify for an election included signatures from former members who left the union and shouldn’t have been counted.
Some of those members subsequently joined the FWC and signed a petition to get the coalition on the ballot, but they were disqualified as duplicates by county’s labor relations administrator (LRA), who was hired to serve as a neutral observer of the collective bargaining process, because SEIU filed its petition first, according to the complaint.
“FWC is unable to compete in the upcoming election, in part, because the LRA would not accept hundreds of its members off its own membership rolls because of an arbitrary provision in the Ordinance establishing a ‘first across the line’ rule, with no outside review, for collective bargaining petitions,” the complaint said.
The coalition, which is being represented by attorney and former Braddock District supervisor John Cook, contends that LRA violated its members’ First Amendment rights to associate with and vote for the union of their choice by counting their signatures toward SEIU’s petition.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance on Oct. 19, 2021 that granted county workers collective bargaining rights for the first time in 44 years. Virginia had prohibited government workers from electing union representatives under a 1977 state Supreme Court ruling that was finally overridden by the General Assembly in 2020.
While they’re still barred from striking, the ordinance enables workers to unionize and negotiate formal contracts with the county that would establish standards for pay, benefits and working conditions.
In a recent interview about the county’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget, Ellisa Green, SEIU Fairfax County’s executive board treasurer, told FFXnow that collective bargaining will give employees more leverage in the decision-making process and could perhaps stave off the kinds of cuts currently on the table, which both unions fear will burden workers and reduce the quality of the services they provide.
“Having that seat at the table moving forward would be huge in making sure that we can make sure that our county employees are taken care of not just financially, but making sure that they’re able to get all their needs met through benefits, so that they can continue showing up to work as their best selves every day, ready to serve the community,” Green said.
Coalition maintains criticism of collective bargaining ordinance
However, FWC Executive David Lyons argues that Fairfax County’s collective bargaining ordinance is flawed, written to favor the better-financed, internationally affiliated SEIU over the independent, locally run coalition.
When the county was crafting the ordinance, the FWC advocated for an approach similar to the one adopted by Alexandria, where general county employees would split into different bargaining units based on their trade and position level, separating rank-and-file workers from their supervisors.
The county opted to allow separate bargaining units for police as well as fire and emergency workers — groups that have both since unionized and secured contracts — with a third unit for all other county employees, including temporary workers employed for at least four months. In all units, the ordinance excludes supervisors above a certain rank who have the authority to hire, fire, transfer and discipline workers.
While SEIU Virginia 512 has argued that employees will have more power united in one unit, Lyons says the general county employees unit will encompass approximately 11,700 workers — a size he believes will be difficult to manage and drown out the needs of “workers on the lower end.”
“I think it disadvantages people of color. I think it disadvantages women, because the people that will dominate that group are the people that have the time on the upper end to do so, while the workers are out there working,” he said. “My guys on trash trucks don’t have time to sit in front of computers all day and do all this stuff.”
The scope of the bargaining unit also means the unions had to collect a sizable number of signatures to petition for an election, with the ordinance requiring organizations to get a “showing of interest” from at least 30% of the workers in the unit.
Once an organization submits a petition, other prospective bargaining agents have 21 days to submit their own petition — with the stipulation that it can’t have support from an employee who already signed the first petition, according to the ordinance.
If the labor rights administrator determines that enough signatures are ineligible that the petitioning organization falls short of the 30% threshold, they’re given 14 days to submit additional evidence of support, which could include a current membership roster and dues payments.
Workers counted toward union petition without consent, complaint alleges
According to FWC’s complaint, SEIU filed an initial petition on Dec. 31, 2024 that failed to meet the threshold, but the labor relations administrator determined on Jan. 21 that the union had enough support for an election after it submitted additional evidence.
When the FWC submitted its own petition, however, LRA Sarah Miller Espinosa rejected 400 signatures, even though only about 250 names weren’t dues-paying members, the complaint says.
The coalition alleges that SEIU may have included some workers on its petition without their approval, stating that employees had signed “vague” interest cards without knowing what they were for and that SEIU might’ve used an outdated membership list.
“Several of the Plaintiffs and other employees had contacted SEIU numerous times to state that they no longer supported SEIU, but they continued to receive SEIU communications, leading them to believe that SEIU is still counting them as members,” the complaint said.
With its lawsuit, the FWC is seeking a temporary injunction to put SEIU’s impending election on hold and a permanent one that would prevent an election until its concerns with the county’s collective bargaining ordinance are addressed.
The coalition has also subpoenaed SEIU for copies of its petition after requests under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act were rejected, Lyons says.
According to Lyon, the FWC currently has about 650 members. SEIU says its Fairfax chapter represents “over 2,000 general county employees,” per its website.
“That means over 9,000 people have joined neither union, and yet they will be forced under the thumb of the SEIU if they win,” Lyons told FFXnow. “I don’t think it’s democratic. I don’t think this is handled right.”
SEIU’s Fairfax County chapter disputed the coalition’s allegations, stating that its submitted petition included names of “members and supporters who provided their consent to do so.”
SEIU Virginia 512 is dedicated to following the procedures established in the collective bargaining ordinance, which organizations across the county, including FWC, had the opportunity to help create. We are disheartened that any worker organization would contest the right of workers to participate in a free and fair union election. We trust that the legal process will protect these rights from interference. We submitted members and supporters who provided their consent to do so, and firmly believe that all employees should have the opportunity to vote and choose to be represented by a union in accordance with the procedures set forth in the ordinance passed by the County Board.
SEIU is asking to have the subpoena for its petition dismissed, a motion that will be taken up by the court at 10 a.m. tomorrow (Friday). FWC’s request to suspend the union election during the court process will get a hearing on April 24 at 10 a.m.
