Fairfax County firefighters, teachers and other public sector workers recently rallied outside the county government center, asking Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger to sign legislation granting public workers the right to engage in collective bargaining.
The May 6 rally was one of several held around the commonwealth by unions, including the Virginia Education Association, the International Association of Firefighters, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), in support of HB 1263 and SB 378.
Sponsored respectively by Del. Kathy Tran (D-18) and Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-34), who both represent portions of Fairfax County, the bills passed the House of Delegates and state Senate in March.
“Collective bargaining is not a privilege, it’s a right. It’s the foundation of fairness in the workplace and without it, every promise made to educators is just that. A promise with no protection,” Matt Wallace, a local elementary school teacher and member of the Fairfax Education Association, said at the rally. “We are tired of being told to be patient, we are tired of being told to wait. We are tired of being praised in speeches and dismissed in policy.”
Under current law, local governments may choose to pass ordinances allowing collective bargaining, where a labor union represents workers during contract negotiations. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors authorized an ordinance for general county government and public safety employees in 2021.
If the new bills become law, the commonwealth would no longer simply give localities the option to allow collective bargaining; it would repeal any bans on the practice once public employees form a union.
Spanberger had attempted to substitute legislation that would have delayed implementation of collective bargaining for local employees who do not have a current contract until 2030. Her changes would have also framed arbitration decisions as “advisory”—giving local government employers significantly more power to decide what to do during an impasse.
However, legislators in the General Assembly rejected Spanberger’s amendments — which means that the governor now has less than two weeks to decide if she will sign the legislation, veto it, or simply allow it to become law without her signature.
“In Fairfax County, we have chosen to stand with our workers by supporting and participating in collective bargaining, and it is time to expand that commitment across the commonwealth,” Mason District Supervisor Andres Jimenez said at the rally. “Today, I stand with you as we urge Governor Spanberger to sign into law the collective bargaining bill ensuring equal rights, equal pay, and equal protection for our workers, not only here in Fairfax County, but throughout Virginia so that the people who support our schools, protect our communities, and deliver essential public services don’t just have a seat at the table, they have a voice.”
Despite the supervisor’s support, the legislation is opposed by the Virginia Association of Counties, a group of 95 local governments, which has called on the governor to veto it.
“The bill replaces longstanding local decision-making processes with a uniform statewide mandate that introduces new administrative, legal, and fiscal obligations, which are likely to create uncertainty for local budgeting and service delivery,” the organization said in a blog post dated April 24.
The board approved its first contract with general county employees in decades last December and adopted a fiscal year 2027 budget on May 5 that funds compensation increases and other terms of the agreement.
However, Fairfax County Public Schools employees learned last year that a collective bargaining agreement isn’t set in stone. After the county board declined to provide all of the money requested by Superintendent Michelle Reid, FCPS had to scale back pay raises promised in a contract negotiated with the Fairfax Education Unions in the fall of 2024.
This story initially identified Matt Wallace as the president of the Fairfax Education Association. He is a member of that union, but the president is Carla Okouchi.
