ACPS Makes Collective Bargaining History

While it is a little late (I blame Spring Break), a cause for celebration happened about a week and a half ago when the ACPS School Board voted to approve a collective bargaining resolution on March 21, 2024, giving numerous ACPS educators the right to collective bargaining.

According to numerous educators the resolution had a number of positive evolutions from the draft which was first presented. For example, the approved resolution eliminated the 30% voter participation threshold which educators had decried as being anti-democratic. In addition, the School Board went to great lengths to close potential loopholes in the resolutions language which could have enabled leadership to ignore a duly negotiated collective bargaining agreement.

However, the most significant difference was centered on the number of bargaining topics. The initial draft only allowed for 4 negotiated topics during the initial CBA and added 2 topics per subsequent CBA. In a positively stunning move, this was amended to be 6 topics during the initial CBA and opening up negotiations to all possible topics in subsequent CBAs.

With that said, the document was not without its issues. For instance, employees expressed concern over language in the document which stated that management was not obligated to negotiate over issues of "policy." Employees lobbied for the removal of the clause but were unsuccessful in their ask. This pattern continued when it came to the matter of negotiation confidentiality, with ACPS employees wanting negotiations to be as open as legally possible.

However, even though union members did not get the exact language they wanted into the document, they did have the benefit of having School Board members explaining the intent behind the clauses from their official chairs. This included the understanding that anything negotiated in a CBA would supersede any ACPS policy, and that the level of confidentiality during negotiations would be determined at the beginning of the negotiation. In the end, all these changes and additions came together to catch the attention of union members, with some calling it one of, if not the strongest collective bargaining resolution passed in Virginia. In terms of next steps, the EAA will need to collect 30% of bargaining unit signatures in order for their name to appear on the ballot to become ACPS employee's exclusive bargaining agent. Once that threshold has been met an election will be triggered and we will have more information about that when we get there. In the meantime, have a great day!

-Alex's Pen

REFERENCES

1.) Mar 21, 2024 School Board Meeting - Alexandria City Public Schools, VA (swagit.com)

2.) Collective Bargaining Resolution (Adopted):

CBR Adopted.pdf

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