Edited by Amelia Cantwell and Rishi Chandra
The history of public-sector labor unions is not one that is often told. Government employees, whether University workers, city bus drivers, teachers, firefighters, or staff members of some kind, operate under different rules than those in the private sector. Further complicating the situation, national-level laws work differently from those at the state level. One of the first pieces of union legislation was the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, which mandated the right of workers to organize and strike—except for public-sector workers, as the Act did not apply to employees of the “United States or any wholly owned Government corporation.” This means that while there have been labor struggles in the private sector for a lengthy period of time, they are all covered by the same 1935 Act. Meanwhile, public-sector employees are covered—or sometimes left uncovered—by a patchwork of laws at the state, county, or municipal level. While public-sector unions are allowed to operate, their power is all but moot without the legal authority to collectively bargain that private-sector unions have. For the longest time in Virginia, public-sector employees had little labor power—primarily due to events transpiring on the University Grounds.
The state of Virginia, in general, and the University of Virginia, in particular, have their own contentious history with public-sector unions. In the early 1940s, several dozen Black workers at the University Hospital walked off the job in protest of low wages and poor treatment. The workers won early victories, including a reduction of the workday from 12 to 8 hours. In order to capitalize on the progress made, these workers formed Local 550 of the State, County, and Municipal Workers of America. The union requested a meeting with then-University President John Lloyd Newcomb, who delayed discussion while awaiting an opinion from the state Attorney General. When it was determined that UVA could not legally recognize the union, the workers pushed ahead regardless and were eventually able to negotiate hours and benefits with the University administration. This success was short-lived, though, as the state General Assembly passed a law in 1946 officially disallowing the University from engaging or recognizing a workers’ union.
After the 2019 state elections brought the General Assembly under Democratic control, the restriction was modified. While there was still a statewide law banning public-sector collective bargaining, counties and independent cities could allow certain bargaining units in their area. Some localities did not take action, however, keeping public-sector unions in certain areas a no-go. Nevertheless, the City of Charlottesville, a liberal bastion, passed an ordinance allowing limited bargaining in 2023. The areas in which bargaining was authorized were Police, Fire, Transit, and Labor and Trades, with other sectors eligible to be recognized in the future.
There has recently been a push for broader change.. Partially as a response to the sweeping majority Democrats attained in Virginia’s 2025 elections, and partially as a response to organized labor being placed on the chopping block in the second Trump administration, the old ordinance has been correctly recognized as an antiquated law, founded in racist thinking and fears of Black unity. While the Democratic supermajority in the Virginia General Assembly passed a bill expanding public-sector unions, Governor Abigail Spanberger vetoed this bill. She claimed this veto was to allow “flexibility”—but to workers, it may be more similar to the description provided by Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax), who called it “an entirely new bill” and said, “It’s kind of hard to negotiate when the goal post gets put on a different field.” Because of the veto, public-sector workers are left out in the cold.
So why should you support public-sector unions, Governor Spanberger? At a time when administration salaries are soaring, with top figures getting paid in the millions of dollars, the University—your alma mater—should support those who run this place day-to-day. At a time when Charlottesville is more unaffordable than ever before, at a time when many workers in the dining halls, on janitorial staff, and in other various positions are forced to live in Albemarle County (or even further out, due to a cost-of-living crisis), the University, at a minimum, should engage in good faith with unions.
The struggle for public-sector unions in Virginia began at the University—your University—with a handful of workers advocating for better wages and working conditions. Although institutions can work to rectify wrongs, they can only do so much. Better wages and working conditions at the University benefit all. The cost-of-living issue in the state, of course, extends beyond Charlottesville—it goes from Abingdon in the south to Alexandria in the north, and everywhere in between. You campaigned on an affordable Virginia—your campaign website still says as much—but doing so without supporting a deeply important workers’ issue is hollow. Those who made under $50,000 per year supported Spanberger in the 2025 gubernatorial election by a 63-37 margin. Support the workers—some of them public-sector—that got you here, Governor Spanberger.