BLACKSBURG, VA – Virginia could soon give hundreds of thousands of public employees the right to unionize and bargain over pay and working conditions, but campus workers say they have been left out of the current legislation.
Saturday afternoon, union members held a town hall in Blacksburg as part of a tour of several Virginia college towns to push lawmakers to include higher education employees in the statewide collective bargaining bill.
“Higher educations accounts for a whole lot public employees across the state so that’s leaving a lot of people out.”
Dale Wimberley, a Virginia Tech sociology professor, said the town hall drew campus workers and community members to the Blacksburg Community Center on Saturday to learn more, ask questions and press lawmakers to include higher education employees in House Bill 1263.
“We’re trying to raise awareness and organize around making sure that the collective bargaining bill that’s in front of the general assembly includes all state employees,” said Nick Ruktanonchai, a Virginia Tech Assistant Professor.
Emilie Helmbold, a first-year Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech, said turnout showed strong interest.
“The energy was so great, we had every seat filled and people standing. We see there are people who want to be involved and make change when there’s something concrete to make change for.”
Organizers say Virginia House Bill 1263, which is moving through the General Assembly, would allow more than half a million public employees to unionize and negotiate as a group over pay, benefits and working conditions.
“What it does is enables workers to come together and form what they call a bargaining unit and so when contracts are changed, they’re negotiating collectively,” said Ruktanonchai.
“Now we can make sure to protect everyone all at once, we can make sure everyone has a living wage,” added Ruktanonchai. “When you have a group do that, it’s much more powerful than when one or two people are individually talking to their boss and trying to make things better.”
Supporters say the House passed a version of the bill, but excluding higher education employees was added before passage. A Senate hearing is scheduled Monday.
“The one at the house excludes higher ed workers, the one in front of the senate excludes home health workers. What we want is for everybody who is a state employee to be able to have collective bargaining rights,” said Ruktanonchai.
Organizers say excluding campus workers would leave many lower-paid staff without the protections collective bargaining could provide.
“I’m in a more privileged position as a professor, but most people this would affect are not. We wouldn’t be running without all these folks and so if higher education’s left out of this bill, they’re left out of it,” added Wimberley.
Dale Wimberley said he and other supporters are asking community members to contact legislators.
“Reach out to your senators, your delegates and talk about the need for us to all be able to come to that table,” said Emilie Helmbold, urging supporters to get involved in outreach and advocacy.
Organizers say collective bargaining rights could mean better pay and working conditions for campus workers at Virginia Tech and other colleges and universities across the state.