Henrico Education Association plans push for collective bargaining

The Henrico Education Association, long known as the local teachers union, has been advocating for Henrico’s educators since the 1970s. But it has never been a true union since it hasn't been able to collectively bargain; that's because – until earlier this year – Virginia was one of three states in which local government and school board employees lacked that legal ability.

On the last weekend of the 2020 regular session of the General Assembly, however, the Virginia House and Senate passed a compromise bill that repealed the ban on collective bargaining. The bill was “permissive,” meaning that public sector employees can negotiate agreements only if individual localities vote to allow that process to occur.

The right for local government workers to unionize must be permitted by a local ordinance or by a resolution. For teachers, that means the local school board has to vote to approve a resolution.

“This elective approach to bargaining with unions gives organized labor half a loaf in Virginia,” said Rip Verkerke, director of employment and labor law studies at the University of Virginia law school. “But that’s half a loaf more than they had under the preexisting ban on all public employee collective bargaining.”

Although the law was not as robust as advocates sought, overturning the ban that had stood since 1977 is seen as a historic turning point for Virginia’s labor movement. The law took effect on May 1, after being delayed by Gov. Ralph Northam, who cited the impact of COVID-19 on Virginia’s economy.

Virginia has been ranked as one of the best states for business for years. It’s also been consistently ranked one of the worst states for workers, until this year when it moved from last up to number 23 in Oxfam’s annual ranking.

The HEA’s collective bargaining committee has been meeting for almost a year to plan its way to collective bargaining.

“Because of Virginia's history with collective bargaining, there's a strong negative association with the term and the practice, but it comes mostly from a lack of knowledge and a lack of information — and that's among teachers and school staff,” said Elizabeth Broda, a teacher at Henrico High School who sits on the HEA's collective bargaining committee. “I think it gets washed away that collective bargaining could make significant improvements for students, not just for teachers, and that it's not some corruptive evil that it's been made out to be in past moments.

“This really could be, or will be, a good thing for students who have a variety of needs that can't always be met by teachers who are overstretched and underpaid.”

'No plans' currently for resolution from Henrico School Board

So far, there hasn’t been a resolution passed for school board employees in Virginia. One in Loudoun County Public Schools and one in Richmond Public Schools are set to appear on school board agendas this month.

One way for a resolution to get on a school board’s agenda is for the school board to take it upon itself to introduce one. That’s what is happening with the Richmond School Board, which counts several members who are explicitly friendly to unions.

“I expect that more liberal localities will promptly take advantage of the provisions of the new law and authorize collective bargaining with teachers’ unions,” Verkerke told the Citizen. “Most elected officials in those areas are pro-union, and they will be happy to extend this new right to their workforce.”

Henrico School Board Chair Roscoe Cooper III said that the board has "no present plans to place such an item on the agenda."

After a school board passes a resolution allowing for collective bargaining, the next step is to follow the certification process, then meet the threshold to trigger an election. If 30% of teachers sign cards to show their support of forming a collective bargaining union, then a secret election would be held. If the union wins through the majority of votes, then the union has secured certification and can begin bargaining.

“We're obviously going to be working very hard to engage across the Commonwealth to get those resolutions passed,” said John O’Neil, director of communications and public affairs for the Virginia Education Association.

But if school board members don’t introduce the resolution themselves, it will be harder to get a resolution on the agenda.

HEA members on the collective bargaining committee are working out plans to build relationships with school board members, hoping to earn their support and introduce the resolution.

But, if the Henrico School Board doesn’t bring it upon itself to introduce the resolution, the HEA would have to go a different route. The law allowing collective bargaining for local government employees didn’t prescribe all of the parameters typically found in collective bargaining frameworks for school staff and their employers. However, it’s clear that in order to win collective bargaining, a local school board must adopt a resolution endorsing bargaining and recognize the bargaining agent.

"I think we know that the school board could easily vote it down, which is why it's important for us to have community support not just from other unions but our students' families," said Patrick Miller, HEA president. "We believe better working conditions for teachers equal better learning conditions for students."

Another path to get a resolution on the school board’s agenda involves getting the majority of people in a "unit" (a group of specific employees, such as teachers) to sign authorization cards indicating that they want union representation in collective bargaining. From there, the school board has 120 days to consider the collective request to negotiate.

The HEA is planning for both possibilities, Broda said.

In more conservative localities, it’s much less likely for a school board to authorize collective bargaining, according to Verkerke.

“[S]chool boards and local governments in more conservative areas of the Commonwealth tend to be hostile towards unions, and I’m reasonably confident that none of them will pass the necessary resolution authorizing collective bargaining,” Verkerke said.

Teachers dealing with burnout, working overtime

Unless a more forceful law is passed in a future General Assembly session, collective bargaining for teachers lies in the hands of local school boards, and the current law doesn’t allow a way around this.

Whether or not the HEA receives collective bargaining rights could have long-lasting impacts on recruitment, retention and the relationships between teachers and school division officials.

This year especially, teachers in Henrico and throughout the commonwealth have expressed their feelings of exhaustion and burnout just weeks into the school year.

“There's been more than one incident where many tears have been shed, angry tears, because it's too much to be honest,” said Kari King, a first-grade collaborative teacher at Dumbarton Elementary School. “We really are trying to keep our head above water with all of this stuff, not to mention the anxiety and stress that comes with the global pandemic.”

Due to a shortage of bus drivers and more than 100 teacher vacancies in HCPS, teachers are working overtime more often than ever, some teachers claim.

“I don't know how you could possibly do this job within your contract hours. I don't think it's possible,” King said. “But they keep loading on more and more stuff for us to do.”

Anticipating the potential of substitute teacher shortages going into this school year, each school was provided at least one permanent substitute position, to assist with covering classes on a full-time basis, according to Henrico Superintendent Amy Cashwell. As the school year got underway, school administrators reported the occurrence of unfilled substitute jobs, and the fact they’d had to lean on staff for coverage at times.

“Our ultimate goal would be to eliminate the need for teachers to provide coverage for unfilled substitute positions,” Cashwell said in a statement provided to the Citizen.

But in the meantime, HCPS has identified funds to hire additional permanent substitutes to assist in filling this void. The jobs are posted and the school division is working to fill those positions now, Cashwell said. Starting on Oct. 18, teachers who use their planning time to cover a class will be compensated at their respective hourly rates.

'Collaboration is essential'

HEA officials are focused on several key issues, including planning time, fair compensation and working outside of contract hours.

King said that some of the things contributing to working unpaid overtime are new data collection requirements, more assessments and a new reading program.

“Last year was hard, and this year is harder,” King said. “Part of it is because they've made some changes in a year where I think maybe we should have all been able to take a collective breath, and kind of get our bearings and maybe focus on the differences that COVID was creating.”

John Reaves, a teacher at Godwin Mills High School and former HEA president, said each day this year starts with a shortage of transportation, with bus drivers working hard and support staff there to receive students.

“It’s hard to give the amount of love these kids need in the wake of a traumatic disruption to their lives, academically, socially, and spiritually,” Reaves said. “I know we are all working around the clock to be there for the students, but I also worry about my colleagues who themselves have been pushing relentlessly hard – finding a balance in this new challenge seems extremely difficult to strike.

“We are all hoping this thing levels off, but everyday brings more obstacles.”

Collective bargaining for teachers in Henrico County could relieve some of the obstacles that teachers are facing this year after the pandemic brought monumental disruptions to education, HEA members have said.

“We are significantly more likely to be heard when we stand together,” Broda said. “We're not always used to doing things together, because so much of our job is independent. But this is one of those times when collaboration is essential in order to improve all of the things we can possibly improve.”

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Anna Bryson is the Henrico Citizen's education reporter and a Report for America corps member. Make a tax-deductible donation to support her work, and RFA will match it dollar for dollar.