RESOLUTION BY THE ARLINGTON COUNTY DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE
Supporting Fair and Equitable Collective Bargaining for Arlington County and School Board Workers
Whereas Arlington County is a progressive community which values workers and their unions;
Whereas collective bargaining is an international human right;
Whereas collective bargaining is an efficient process by which county employees can have their voices heard about their wages, hours, and working conditions;
Whereas Arlington County had a long history of bargaining with its county employees until the Supreme Court of Virginia declared the practice unconstitutional in a 1977 court case against Arlington County;
Whereas the Virginia General Assembly last year adopted Virginia Code § 40.1-57.2 (effective date of May 1, 2021), which gives localities the option of adopting a collective bargaining ordinance for their public employees;
Whereas the Arlington County Board and the Arlington School Board consider collective bargaining to be a means by which county employees can have a voice in improving county services;
Whereas a broad ordinance that allows bargaining over wages, benefits, working conditions, health and safety, cost savings, and other subjects would support county employees;
Whereas a broad ordinance that extends bargaining rights to general county employees and first responders who are not confidential employees also would support county employees;
Whereas the use of an impartial, professional arbitrator or mediator to settle disputes and an impartial, neutral party to resolve impasses, subject to approval by the County Board, would be beneficial to county and school employees; therefore be it
Resolved, that the Arlington County Democratic Committee hereby:
1. Supports adoption by the County Board and the School Board of ordinances governing their respective collective bargaining that are similar to the breadth and scope of the bill passed with the near-unanimous support of the Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly last year; and
2. Supports adoption by the County Board and the School Board of ordinances governing their respective collective bargaining that include wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment as mandatory subjects of bargaining; and
3. Expresses its conviction that our county’s dedicated and hardworking employees deserve the freedom to engage in collective bargaining as other public workers enjoy throughout the country.
Passed and Approved this Resolution on the 5th day of May, 2021.
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