Yesterday, the Virginia Senate Commerce and Labor Committee advanced a bill to repeal the commonwealth’s ban on collective bargaining for public sector workers on an 8-6 party line vote.
The bill would result in over 500,000 workers getting the right to collectively bargain, including teachers, firefighters, home care workers, and campus workers. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) published a report last month looking at how this legislation would benefit workers and Virginia more broadly.
“Data show that strong collective bargaining laws help states address persistent public-sector pay gaps, reduce staff vacancies and turnover, and lead to higher unionization rates,” EPI says.
The committee also advanced a bill that would require farm workers to get paid Virginia’s minimum wage and another bill that would make domestic workers eligible to get overtime pay.
And earlier today, the Virginia House of Delegates passed its bill to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Combined, these efforts are helping turn this legislative session into a big one for workers and unions across Virginia.
