Workers in Virginia— a longtime anti-union (“right to work”) state— won a major victory earlier this year with the passage of a state law that allows city employees to engage in collective bargaining beginning May 2021. Collective bargaining means that workers will actually have a say in their pay and working conditions, as opposed to the bosses making all these decisions. But Virginia Beach city workers aren’t waiting until May rolls around. In November, workers in Public Works, Public Utilities, and Parks and Recreation and Human Services rallied outside of the City Council in Virginia Beach, VA demanding higher wages, hazard pay, an end to threats by their bosses, and democratically-elected worker leaders in each department.
City workers across the country—custodial workers, sanitation workers, firefighters, EMS, etc.—are facing wage cuts and layoffs during the pandemic. They are saving lives and making sure our cities are clean and running—all while facing high risks of infection—but bosses and politicians don’t want to give them a living wage or hazard pay and an end to threats by their bosses.