University employees, students and Charlottesville residents gathered at Charlottesville Middle School to discuss the importance of collective bargaining Feb. 21. The event was sponsored by the United Campus Workers of Virginia — a group of University students and staff which unionize public college and university workers across Virginia — and discussed the potential for collective bargaining to improve working conditions, pay and healthcare for higher education employees.
Several UCWVA members spoke at the town hall, highlighting recent legislation in the General Assembly that could expand public-sector collective bargaining rights for employees of higher education. Collective bargaining rights are the ability for employees to unionize to advocate for better wages and working conditions, and this change would allow for UCWVA to have greater bargaining power with the University, by necessitating that the University formally recognize the group and negotiate with it.
According to Assoc. Sociology Prof. Ian Mullins and member of UCWVA, collective bargaining of Virginia state employees is currently allowed in some municipalities, but is completely banned for employees of public higher education institutions. However, both chambers of the General Assembly passed different versions of a bill Feb. 17 — HB1263 in the House of Delegates and SB378 in the Senate — that would create a standardized legal framework that would grant the ability to unionize more public employees…