Coming Together and Rebuilding Stronger for Public Workers Across Virginia

Local public employees are essential to providing the services and resources necessary for a city or county to thrive, and play a critical role in achieving a community’s shared goals. Yet many local public employees are often paid too little to afford a decent quality of life in the communities they serve. With the recent lifting of a ban on local governments allowing collective bargaining, municipal and county workers across Virginia have started advocating for their local governments to recognize this right, which has been shown to increase wages, improve working conditions, and support worker retention.

The reports below provide insight into current pay for local public employees in select communities, typical total compensation for local government employees in Virginia compared to their private-sector peers, and how collective bargaining helps to close pay disparities.

Laura Goren

Research Director laura@thecommonwealthinstitute.org

Mel Borja

Policy Analyst mel@thecommonwealthinstitute.org