EAA & VEA Express Major Concerns About Current Collective Bargaining Resolution Draft

In a meeting open to all members the Virginia Education Association (VEA) met with the Education Association of Alexandria (EAA) on January 31st to discuss the collective bargaining resolution (CBR) the ACPS School Board collective bargaining committee had introduced.

They were not happy to say the least.

In a conversation that lasted for about an hour the VEA expressed grave concern at much of the language in the draft. Highlights that the VEA were most concerned about (in no particular order):

Proposing the ability to only negotiate 4 topics during the first CBA and adding 2 during every subsequent collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
The proposed list of prohibited topics based on things like "policy." Essentially it means we only have collective bargaining in name only.
The board proposes to leave administrators out of the CBA.
The board proposes to have a participation threshold of 30% in order to validate the union election of an exclusive bargaining agent.
Numerous clauses which allow the ACPS School Board to ignore and/or void a CBA.

Unfortunately, the meeting was not recorded so it cannot be refrenced in this article. However, if you would like a more detailed breakdown of the problematic language included in the CBR you can read our breakdown of the draft in out "Collective Bargaining Drafts Comparison & Analysis" article. Also below is a picture of the communication EAA sent out to detail their concerns with the current CBR draft (1).

However, what proved to be most controversial may have been the revelation that the ACPS School Board utilized the services of Isler Dare P.C., a law firm the VEA has picked numerous fights with (2). This includes a high profile fight in Loudon County where Loudoun County Education Association President Sany Sullivan described the firm as "anti-worker" (3).

Isler Dare's influence on the process is most directly seen in the advice the law firm has given the ACPS Collective Bargaining Committee in the process so far, with that advice manifesting in the inclusion of attorney Steven Ray at the January 25th ACPS School Board Collective Bargaining Committee meeting (4, 5)

Upon researching Isler Dare I found that they do not have a big online profile. The only news I was able to find out about their practices come in Loudoun County when the firm tried to get a 50% voter participation threshold passed in their CBR, lending credence to their characterization as being "anti-labor." (6, 7)

Sure you may say that employers deserve protection too. That claiming Isler Dare is "anti-labor" is too "inflammatory." While I agree that employers deserve protection, I do not accept that claiming they are "anti-labor" is "inflammatory" when they are advising School Board's in Alexandria City and Loudon County to adopt anti-democratic measures like a voter participation threshold.

To put it bluntly, I believe our School Board has been mislead. They have been mislead into accepting advice from a law firm who has a track record of stifling workers rights and we cannot allow that from our supposedly "pro-labor" Board.

Therefore, it is our duty to inform them of what is truly in their CBR draft. That is why the February 8th School Board meeting will be so important. We will need as many people to come and have their voices hear because what is currently proposed is simply unacceptable.

If you can make the meeting wear red to show your support for our educators. If you can't make it convince someone else to go.

The more pressure we put on the more change will occur.

-Alex's Pen

Picture 1. Official response from EAA and VEA about ACPS School Board's CBR draft (8)