Collective Bargaining for State Employees Could Improve Virginia Services and Workforce Stability

Virginia denies its state employees the right to collectively negotiate their pay, benefits, or other working conditions, leading to negative consequences for Virginia residents, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Institute (TCI). The General Assembly passed legislation (House Bill 2764 and Senate Bill 917) earlier this year that created a collective bargaining framework for state employees and strengthened collective bargaining rights for other public-sector workers. However, the governor vetoed these bills before they could take effect.

“People who deliver core state services that support our well-being, like health care, education, and transportation workers, are barred from having a formal voice on the job,” says Sophie McGinley, Labor Policy Analyst at The Commonwealth Institute. “We are all harmed by this policy choice: state employees face lower pay and heavy workloads, and the state struggles to retain staff and endures costly turnover — all of which impacts families and communities who rely on this important work.”

Currently, Virginia has a patchwork system of collective bargaining. In 2020, Virginia moved away from the anti-union stance that has predominated in the south for decades, authorizing public sector collective bargaining, but only in part. The law, which went into effect in May 2021, allowed cities, counties, and school boards to decide whether to offer bargaining rights to their own workers. A small, but growing, number of localities and school boards have adopted collective bargaining ordinances, but the state has not extended these same rights to its own workforce, excluding them entirely.

“It makes a big difference for our community when Fairfax County workers like myself have a seat at the table to bargain for good union jobs and quality public services for the families who count on us every day for their health care, mental health care, child care, parks and rec programs, and more,” says Tammie Wondong Ware, President of the Fairfax County General Employees Chapter of SEIU Virginia 512 and has been a Fairfax County employee for over 20 years. “Everyone in Virginia deserves the same. That’s why we will continue to organize, mobilize, and fight for legislation next year that ensures all public sector workers — from educators to first responders to home care workers — have the freedom to come together in their union and bargain for a better future.”

Key findings:

• Women account for 55% of state employees, and nearly a quarter of the workforce identifies as Black.
• Between 2001 and 2023, average salary increases for state workers were just 2.9% per year, compared to 3.4% annually in the private sector.
• As of late 2024, roughly 1 out of 5 (22.4%) state jobs were unfilled.
• The majority of states and Washington, D.C., provide collective bargaining rights to most public employees, including state workers.

As lawmakers prepare for the 2026 session, there is renewed interest in revisiting the proposal — both to address workforce challenges and to better align Virginia with states that already offer bargaining rights to public workers.