By Heather Michon
Editor
Gov. Abigail Spanberger has vetoed legislation that would have expanded collective bargaining rights for Virginia public employees, ending, for now, a proposal Fluvanna supervisors had warned could drive up local costs and weaken local control.
The veto, announced Thursday, May 14, drew sharp criticism from labor unions that had supported Spanberger’s campaign and urged her to sign House Bill 1263 and Senate Bill 378.
The bills would have expanded collective bargaining rights for state and local public employees, including teachers, firefighters, police officers, state workers, and other public employees.
Virginia currently operates under a “local option” system. A 2020 law allowed local governments to adopt collective bargaining ordinances, but did not require them to do so. The bills passed by the General Assembly this year would have gone further, requiring state and local governments to bargain with public employees if workers voted to form a union.
Spanberger said she supports collective bargaining rights but believes the bills needed additional changes before becoming law.
Her proposed amendments would have given public employers more flexibility regarding local budget timelines and delayed bargaining for some local employees until 2030.
The General Assembly rejected those changes, leaving Spanberger with the choice to sign the original bills, veto them, or allow them to become law without her signature.
Labor groups called the veto a major setback. The Virginia Public Sector Labor Coalition said the governor had denied roughly half a million public service workers the ability to bargain over wages, health care, and workplace safety.
But the veto was welcomed by many local-government advocates and conservatives who had warned that a statewide mandate could strain municipal and county budgets.
That was the argument Fluvanna supervisors made earlier this spring.
On March 25, the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to oppose the legislation, saying it would strip elected officials of local authority and place too much control in the hands of a state-appointed Public Employee Relations Board.
Under the proposed framework, the board would have defined bargaining units, or groups of employees with similar job duties. If a majority of workers in a unit voted for representation, the county would have been required to negotiate in good faith over wages, hours, and other employment terms.
If the two sides failed to reach an agreement, the legislation called for binding interest arbitration, a process in which an outside third party could settle the dispute by setting final contract terms.
County Administrator Eric Dahl told supervisors in March that the mandate could increase personnel costs by 10% to 20%. He also warned that the county might need to hire negotiators, a labor relations administrator, and specialized legal counsel.
“It would be a nightmare,” Dahl said.
The collective bargaining fight is likely to continue in Richmond. Spanberger said she wants to keep working with lawmakers, unions, localities and public servants on a public-sector bargaining system “that works for Virginia.”
