Mason-Dixon Poll: Virginia Voters Support Collective Bargaining Reforms
With several localities in Virginia having passed ordinances allowing government unions a monopoly on representing public employees, the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy today released results of Mason-Dixon poll commissioned to measure certain provisions commonly contained in those ordinances. Those provisions are unpopular with Virginia voters. The results may be found by clicking here. The […]
Lawmaker Introduces Bills Protecting Workplace Freedom
As a handful of localities push to give government unions a monopoly over public employee contracts, lawmakers in Richmond are looking to protect public employees around the state. Del. Nick Freitas, R-Culpeper, has introduced a suite of bills to help protect the rights of public employees, promote union democracy and protect taxpayers. The three bills […]
Securing Workplace Freedom and Rights: Ideas for the New General Assembly
In 2020 the Virginia Assembly changed a decades-old law and allowed local governments to collectively bargain with most public employees. The law went into effect on May 1, 2021 and gives “a county, city, or town… [which includes] any local school board” the ability to adopt a local ordinance or resolution to allow them to […]
Heat Rule Gets Cold Shoulder
Virginia’s Safety and Health Codes Board on Friday voted down a proposed workplace heat protection standard, strongly opposed by the state’s business community but ardently sought by organized labor and farmworker advocates. The Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) was seeking to push the proposed rules out for a final round of public comments. Abiding by the […]
Election Shows Why Caution Necessary on Local Collective Bargaining
Virginia’s new collective bargaining law is forcing local government officials to deal with a controversial issue fraught with potential errors and legal risks. If the 2021 election showed anything, it was that Virginia voters felt the Commonwealth was going in the wrong direction. The sweep of Republicans for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and the […]
VIDEO: Watch “Confessions of a Union Negotiator”
Counties, cities towns, and school boards in Virginia now have the ability to allow government unions to collectively bargain on behalf of all public employees. While there is no obligation to allow such monopoly union contracts, local governments and School Boards who wish to consider public sector bargaining should go into it clear-eyed about what […]
May Day Brings Virginia’s Labor Revolution
Four major changes in Virginia’s labor laws delayed at the beginning of the COVID-19 recession will all take effect May 1. All were approved by the 2020 General Assembly once Democrats controlled both legislative chambers and then delayed at the 2020 Veto Session. May Day 2021 is almost here. Minimum Wage. The 31 percent increase […]
The Jefferson Journal: No Escape From New Rules
The first thing every employer in Virginia needs to understand about the state’s new COVID-19 temporary workplace standard (here) is it is universal. It applies to every workplace, public and private, for-profit and non-profit, with 10,000 workers or two, The rules are the same, “one size fits all,” without regard to the nature of the […]
The Jefferson Journal: Stop the Problem Before It Begins
With the General Assembly taking up policing reform in this summer’s special session, there should be at least one bill stopping a problem before it begins. Provisions commonly found in Collective Bargaining Ageements negotiated between governments and the local police union create obstacles to holding bad cops accountable. Unless the General Assembly takes action now, […]
Jefferson Journal: The Revolution Has Been Postponed, Not Cancelled
Governor Ralph Northam has asked the General Assembly to put off until May 1, 2021 the implementation of several key pro-union changes in Virginia’s labor and employment laws, including a 31 percent increase in the minimum wage. But the revolution has merely been postponed, not cancelled.