PHOTOS AND VIDEO: Campus Workers Hold Town Halls in College Towns Across Virginia to Highlight Importance of Higher Ed’s Inclusion in Collective Bargaining Bill
PHOTOS AND VIDEO: Campus Workers Hold Town Halls in College Towns Across Virginia to Highlight Importance of Higher Ed’s Inclusion in Collective Bargaining Bill
See below for a press release authorized by the Virginia Public Sector Labor Coalition, “which comprises Virginia AFL-CIO; American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); American Federation of Teachers; American Federation of Teachers-American Association of University Professors; Communications Workers of America (CWA); SEIU Virginia 512; Virginia Education Association (VEA); Virginia Professional Fire Fighters (VPFF); UNITE HERE; and United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400. The coalition collectively represents hundreds of thousands of Virginia workers.”
PHOTOS AND VIDEO: Campus Workers Hold Town Halls in College Towns Across Virginia to Highlight Importance of Higher Ed’s Inclusion in Collective Bargaining Bill
Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi Speaks at Town Hall at William & Mary, Calls for Collective Bargaining Legislation to Include All Workers
Campus Workers Removed from House Bill After University Presidents Lobbied Behind Closed Doors
Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi, who is flanked by Del. Mark Downey and Del. Jessica Anderson, spoke in support of collective bargaining rights for all higher ed and home care workers at a Feb. 28 town hall held at the College of William & Mary. (Photo by Bert Shepherd).
RICHMOND, Va. — Hundreds of workers and community members across Virginia attended town halls in Williamsburg, Fairfax, Blacksburg, and Norfolk on Feb. 28 in order to highlight the urgency that campus workers — graduate workers, faculty, and staff — be included in historic collective bargaining legislation currently moving through the General Assembly.
The events were hosted by the Virginia Public Sector Labor Coalition, which represents hundreds of thousands of workers across the Commonwealth.
HB 1263 and SB 378 would allow more than half a million Virginia workers the freedom to decide whether to form a union and bargain collectively for their wages, benefits, and working conditions. According to polling from Christopher Newport University’s Wason Center, 68% of the public supports extending collective bargaining rights to public service workers.
Campus workers were removed from the House bill after university presidents used their power and privilege to lobby lawmakers behind closed doors. Meanwhile, home care workers were unexpectedly removed from the Senate bill. The coalition is standing in solidarity and calling for all public service workers, including campus workers and home care workers, to be included in the final legislation.
Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi addressed the crowd at the William & Mary/Christopher Newport University Town Hall, which was held in Andrews Hall on the William & Mary campus.
“That’s why I’m proud to stand alongside you and alongside working people all across Virginia calling for a collective bargaining bill that includes all workers,” said Lt. Gov. Hashmi. “That means graduate assistants, adjunct faculty, custodial staff, home care workers, faculty, everyone. So thank you for your commitment to solidarity that’s reflected in this collective bargaining coalition. Home care workers and campus workers are united. This solidarity makes us stronger. In the last several years, Virginia has been designated as the best place to do business, but a business or an institution is an empty shell without its people. A state that supports its people, whether it’s in the private or the public sector, that state is the best state for everyone.” [View a reel of Lt. Gov. Hashmi’s remarks HERE].
From left: Delegate Dan Helmer, Sen. Saddam Salim, and Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell at a Feb. 28 collective bargaining town hall in Fairfax. The event was attended by over 100 George Mason University workers, local community members, and members of other labor unions.
“George Mason University is one of the places that has some of the highest social mobility rates of any of our universities in Virginia,” said Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell. “And if we’re going to continue to have the best higher education system in all of the country, we need to make sure that we can attract the best talent. We have to make sure that our workers have the right pay and the right benefits. We have to make sure also that students who choose to work while they’re in school get paid fairly and get fair benefits. When I was at James Madison University, I worked in a dining hall. I worked at PC Dukes. I flipped burgers, I made pizzas, I made cheesesteaks, grilled cheeses, made cookies and salads and take-away stuff. I worked in the dish line after hours at night. Nobody wanted to work that, that’s where I picked up my extra shifts, and if I had had a union when I was at JMU from 1989 to 1993, I guarantee you I would have been able to make more money and had better working conditions.” [View a highlight reel of Leader Surovell’s remarks HERE].
Delegate Lily Franklin spoke at a Feb. 28 Virginia Tech collective bargaining town hall in Blacksburg.
“There are 7,000 grad students at Virginia Tech,” said Virginia Tech graduate worker Emilie Helmbold. “This university doesn’t work without us. This university should not only work because of us, it should work for us.”
Delegate Mike Feggans speaks at a Feb. 28 collective bargaining town hall held on the Old Dominion University campus. (Photo by Bert Shepherd).
Taryah Brown, a UNITE HERE Local 23 member who is a shop steward and lead food service worker at the Chick-fil-A on the campus of Old Dominion University has a union contract since she is not an employee of the university.
She spoke at the ODU town hall as to why it is so important that everyone who works at ODU be allowed the freedom to join a union and collectively bargain for workplace protections, such as consistent scheduling.
“We’re not really seen as human, or, just a tally mark, or just somebody doing this, like the fry person. Like we’re not seen as, ‘Hey, this is Rebecca, and she has feelings, not just putting fries in a box. Like she actually has stuff going on in her life when she leaves the store. She actually has bills that are piling up on her.’”
“Both versions of the legislation leave workers behind,” said Dr. Sarah Langley of Springfield, a home care worker who spoke at the Fairfax Town Hall. “Most home care workers are women, people of color or immigrants. Direct care workers provide essential care every single day, yet we are being denied collective bargaining. So here’s what we’re asking. We’re calling on the lawmakers to fix this and to ensure no worker is left behind.”
The Virginia Public Sector Labor coalition will hold a press conference on Wed. March 4 at 10 a.m. in the House Briefing Room of the General Assembly Building to call for all higher ed workers — faculty, graduate workers, and staff — and home care workers to be included in the final legislation.
News Coverage
WSLS: Virginia Tech workers push to be included in Virginia’s collective bargaining bill
Cavalier Daily: United Campus Workers of Virginia hold town hall on the power of collective bargaining
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Authorized by the Virginia Public Sector Labor Coalition, which comprises Virginia AFL-CIO; American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); American Federation of Teachers; American Federation of Teachers-American Association of University Professors; Communications Workers of America (CWA); SEIU Virginia 512; Virginia Education Association (VEA); Virginia Professional Fire Fighters (VPFF); UNITE HERE; and United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400. The coalition collectively represents hundreds of thousands of Virginia workers…
