Building a More Equitable Commonwealth: The Case for Collective Bargaining Rights for Virginia State Employees

Working people should be able to join together with their coworkers to have a voice in shaping their working conditions, benefits, and pay. Yet today, that’s not true for many public-sector workers in Virginia. In 2020, lawmakers created an opt-in system for local government and school boards to allow their employees to choose to engage in collective bargaining, yet the legislation did not extend any collective bargaining rights to state employees. More recently, in 2025, Virginia’s General Assembly passed legislation to expand collective bargaining rights to all state and local employees – everyone from middle school maintenance workers to college faculty to transportation planners to home care workers. Then the governor vetoed that bill, denying rights to hundreds of thousands of Virginians. The good news is that people are still organizing for their rights, and many legislators are committed to passing a bill for public sector collective bargaining again in 2026 and making sure Virginia’s public-sector workers have the rights we all deserve.

While the 2020 change in Virginia law  has drawn important attention to the need for collective bargaining rights to improve pay, benefits, and working conditions for local and school employees, state employees have continued to struggle without the ability to join together and bargain collectively. This report focuses on state workers to provide data about this important group and document the benefits of providing collective bargaining rights for public sector workers at all levels of government.

Virginia relies on its state workforce every day. From nurses in public clinics to social services staff and budget analysts, state employees deliver the programs that keep safety nets strong, ensure fiscal accountability, and support the daily well-being of communities across the commonwealth.

Yet for all their responsibilities, Virginia’s state employees have no formal right to join together to negotiate the terms of their employment. They cannot bargain over their pay, benefits, working conditions, or safety standards. Compensation decisions are made entirely through the state budget process, with no direct input from the people most affected by them. This disconnect is especially significant given who makes up the state’s workforce: women account for 55% of state employees, and nearly a quarter of the workforce identifies as Black. While the fair and transparent standards that come from collective bargaining are particularly effective at addressing labor market disparities that otherwise often disadvantage Black and Latino workers and women of all races, the process improves conditions for all working people.

Over the past two decades, Virginia’s compensation system has not kept up with the rising cost of living or what similar jobs make in the private sector (market value). 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. These structural decisions have real consequences: high vacancy rates and high turnover rates. As of 2024, roughly 1 out of 5 (22.4%) state jobs were unfilled, and the median salary across the workforce was just $61,305 — $5,000 less than city employees in Richmond, which has a collective bargaining ordinance.

In 2025, the General Assembly passed House Bill (HB) 2764 and Senate Bill (SB) 917, legislation that, in part, would have created a collective bargaining framework for state employees. The governor vetoed the bills before it could take effect. 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 ensure bargaining rights for all public workers.

This report explores what collective bargaining could look like for Virginia’s public workforce. It outlines the structure and intent of the 2025 legislation, explains how collective bargaining works in practice, reviews existing policy barriers, and places these choices in the broader context of social and economic equity. Above all, it asks what it means to guarantee equal labor rights for all people who serve the commonwealth — and through doing so, improve services for every Virginian.

Black Communities Drive Public Work

For generations, public employment has been one of the few reliable vehicles for economic security and the ability to get ahead for Black workers — especially in Southern states like Virginia. During the civil rights era, access to government jobs marked a turning point for many Black families. These roles were among the first to offer retirement plans, health benefits, and promotional pathways not consistently available in the private sector. They also tended to be more accessible to workers facing discrimination elsewhere in the labor market. That history still shapes Virginia’s workforce today. 

And while public employment has long been a source of stability for Black families, the structure of Virginia’s current compensation system puts that stability at risk. Stagnant wages, limited promotions, and unpredictable annual bonuses have made it difficult for workers to plan for their future. In recent years, wages for entire job categories have remained below market value for extended periods, with no process in place to self-correct or respond to rising living costs.

In this way, Virginia’s public employment system is still shaped by the same dynamics that collective bargaining was designed to address: inequitable power, race-based economic exclusion, and structural silence of worker voices. Black workers, particularly Black women, are holding up major pillars of Virginia’s public systems — but without same legal rights many of their counterparts in other states (or in Virginia’s private sector) have to influence pay, safety, or job quality.

Any effort to modernize public employment in Virginia must begin by recognizing whose labor is being undervalued, and how policy decisions have helped keep it that way.

An Inequitable System: Virginia’s State Employee Workforce Today

Across Virginia, agencies are struggling to recruit and retain the people needed to keep public services running. From health care to corrections to IT systems, workforce shortages are now a defining feature of state government — not a temporary challenge, but a structural one. And the reasons behind it are not a mystery. They are built into how Virginia pays and supports its public employees.

Unlike many employers, including public agencies in other states, Virginia does not have a standing system for reviewing or adjusting state employee salaries on a regular basis. There are no automatic cost-of-living adjustments. No standard wage steps based on years of service. No opportunity for agencies to offer retention raises without legislative approval. Compensation is determined each year through the General Assembly’s budget and amendment process — a political and often unpredictable cycle that leaves workers waiting for raises they may never receive.

Over time, this has created deep misalignment between market standards and state employee salaries. The average annual raise for state employees between 2001 and 2023 was just 2.9%, compared to 3.4% in the private sector, according to data presented to the House Appropriations Committee in January 2025. These policies don’t just affect individuals, they affect the quality of services the public receives. As of late 2024, Virginia’s classified workforce had a turnover rate of 14.4% and a vacancy rate of 22.4%. Early-career employees were leaving at even higher rates, with probationary turnover (typically within 12 months of hire) at 21.7%.

In agencies that deliver frontline services, like the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, the Department of Corrections, and the Department of Social Services, these shortages are particularly harmful. Staff burnout, caseload backlogs, and delayed response times are now the norm. This puts pressure not only on remaining employees, but on the communities and families who rely on their work.

While these challenges are often framed as workforce issues, they are at their core policy decisions. They reflect a compensation system that prioritizes centralized control over agency effectiveness, and legislative timelines over the needs of workers and the public. And they reinforce a status quo where thousands of state workers — especially women and workers of color — continue to do essential work without fair compensation or a voice in how they’re treated.

Collective Bargaining: What It Is — and Isn’t

Collective bargaining is a collaborative process. It brings together employees and employers to negotiate over the terms and conditions of employment in a structured and legally protected way. Rather than making unilateral decisions, both sides commit to working toward a mutual agreement — through dialogue, compromise, and shared goals.

In practice, collective bargaining means that employees, through and alongside a bargaining committee chosen by employees to represent them in the negotiation process, meet with management to discuss pay, benefits, grievance procedures, scheduling, safety standards, and other aspects of work life. This process results in a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), which functions as a transparent, legally binding contract between the two parties. It can only take effect when both sides agree to its terms. The goal of collective bargaining is not confrontation — it’s problem-solving. A well-functioning collective bargaining relationship creates stability, predictability, and accountability for both employees and public agencies. It helps resolve disputes, builds trust in the workplace, and ensures that workers have a voice in decisions that affect their well-being.

It’s equally important to clarify what a statutory framework for collective bargaining with public employees would not do.

First, it would not override the legislature’s authority to manage the state budget. Provisions of a bargaining agreement with fiscal implications, such as salary increases or benefits, would still require funding by the General Assembly through the appropriations process or negotiations could be reopened by either party. The legislature would retain final decision-making authority over funding decisions, just as it does today.

Second, a collective bargaining framework would protect workers’ rights to freely choose whether to unionize and pursue collective bargaining, but could not require any employee to form or join a union. State workers in a given agency would have to make their own decisions about whether and when to pursue unionization, and–as is already the case in private-sector or local government settings where Virginia workers have exercised their rights to unionize and collectively bargain–the decision of whether to become a union member would remain up to each individual worker.

Third, far from eliminating managerial authority, collective bargaining creates mutual agreement on clear and consistent rules and processes for management to follow in exercising its authority to hire, fire, discipline, and direct staff. In unionized workplaces in other states, agency leaders and supervisors still set expectations, make operational decisions, and manage employee performance–but they do so while following collectively bargained procedures .

Lastly public employees in Virginia would still be prohibited from striking. Virginia currently prohibits work stoppages by public workers, and all recent proposals to ensure collective bargaining rights for state employees have maintained this restriction. 

Across states with strong legal frameworks for public employee bargaining, the evidence shows that this process leads to improved retention, more equitable compensation systems, and better communication between frontline workers and leadership. It builds a workplace culture where issues are addressed early, not after they’ve grown into crises.

Creating a collective bargaining framework would not take power away from the state. It would share it more fairly, making room for collaborative solutions and elevating the voices of those closest to the work.

Where Virginia Stands Now

While Georgia authorized collective bargaining for firefighters in 2010, Virginia took a historic step in 2020 by becoming the first Southern state in decades to lift a longstanding ban on public sector collective bargaining and permit local governments and school districts to adopt ordinances “opting in” their employees to collectively bargain. The law, which went into effect in May 2021, allowed cities, counties, and school boards to decide whether to create their own local frameworks for collective bargaining with their own workers.

As a result, Virginia public employees currently work under an uneven patchwork of labor rights that vary across different locations and levels of government. A small but growing number of localities — including Arlington County, City of Richmond, Loudoun County, and the City of Alexandria — have adopted collective bargaining ordinances. In those localities, teachers, firefighters, public works employees, and other local government workers have begun organizing and negotiating contracts. But for the majority of Virginia’s public workforce, no such path exists. 

The state has yet to extend collective bargaining rights to its own workforce. The Commonwealth’s own employees, including those in state agencies, higher education, and constitutional offices, were not covered by the 2021 law. Nor were legislative employees, wage workers, student workers, or other public employees not directly employed by local governments. Ultimately, tens of thousands of state workers — many in high-turnover, underpaid roles — have been left without any formal voice in their work conditions. Salaries, benefits, and working conditions are determined by the legislature through the annual appropriations process, and employees have no legal avenue to collectively negotiate improvements or raise system-wide concerns.

This puts Virginia out of step. The majority of states and Washington, D.C., provide collective bargaining rights to most public employees, including state workers. Many of these states, such as Maryland, Florida, Ohio, and Oregon, have had statewide public sector bargaining laws in place for decades. They’ve developed systems for certification, bargaining unit formation, dispute resolution, and integration with budget processes.

In contrast, Virginia remains one of 12 states that do not provide any right to collective bargaining for state workers. This choice is a barrier to improving wages and job satisfaction, but also the Commonwealth’s ability to recruit and retain staff in competitive labor markets. The divide is especially apparent when state and local workers are compared. In Alexandria, for example, city employees are now able to negotiate directly over wages, schedules, and safety protocols, while their state-employed counterparts across the street cannot.

This policy asymmetry raises important questions. Why are the workers delivering core state services — health, education, transportation, public safety — excluded from the same rights offered to city or county employees? And what are the costs, both fiscal and human, of continuing to delay statewide action?

What the 2025 Bill Proposed

In 2025, Virginia’s General Assembly passed legislation (HB 2764 and SB 917) that would have given all public employees, including state employees, the right to collectively bargain. That means workers could come together, choose a representative, and negotiate with the state over things like pay, benefits, and working conditions, rather than waiting for decisions to be made through the annual budget process. Crucially, the legislation also sought to eliminate the patchwork nature of local collective bargaining by granting all local public employees the right to bargain collectively — removing the current requirement that local governments must first pass an enabling ordinance. This change would have transformed collective bargaining from a locality-by-locality decision into a guaranteed right across the commonwealth.

While the governor vetoed these bills before they became law, HB 2764 and SB 917 show what collective bargaining could be for state public employees.

The proposals would have allowed employees in similar jobs, like home care, transportation, or administrative support, to form groups and bargain together, even if they worked in different agencies. This was designed to make things more fair and consistent across the state. The legislation also created an independent body to help oversee the process, called the Public Employee Relations Board, or PERB for short. This group would have handled tasks such as certifying employee organizations, making sure elections were fair, and resolving disputes between workers and management. Think of it like a referee — neutral, but necessary to keep the process fair.

Importantly, the legislation kept the General Assembly in charge of the state budget. If a bargaining agreement would cost money — say, by increasing salaries — it couldn’t go into effect unless lawmakers approved it through the normal budget process. It also made clear that public employees could not strike or walk off the job.

In short, the legislation would have given workers a voice, added structure to the process, and preserved the legislature’s final say over state spending.

Status and Outcome

HB 2764 and SB 917 passed the General Assembly in early 2025 with support from legislative majorities in both chambers. However, it was vetoed by the governor later that spring, halting its implementation. Nevertheless, the framework established in HB 2764 and SB 917 provides a clear and actionable model for the future.

A Key Group Excluded: What About Legislative Staff?

One group not included in HB 2764 and SB 917 was legislative staff, the aides who support Virginia lawmakers with constituent services, research, policy coordination, and scheduling. These employees often work long hours with limited job security and were explicitly excluded from the bill’s definition of public employees eligible for bargaining rights, alongside judges, confidential employees, and gubernatorial appointees.

Legislative staff are at-will employees, meaning they can be dismissed without cause and have no access to grievance procedures, salary steps, or collective bargaining. As of 2021, House aides were paid $44,125 and Senate aides were paid $49,641 for their public service work, regardless of years of service or workload. (Some legislative aides are also paid through campaign funds for additional work, separate from their public paycheck.)

Other states have started to expand protections. In 2023, Oregon ratified the nation’s first union contract for legislative staff. The agreement, negotiated by IBEW Local 89, aligned their wage increases with those of other state employees, created a grievance process, and offered up to 10 days of paid leave following separation — acknowledging the instability of at-will employment while providing a basic safety net. Oregon’s model operates under the same public employee bargaining laws that apply to executive branch staff, showing that legislative independence and staff bargaining can coexist.

California passed similar legislation in 2023, and union organizing is also underway in New York, Illinois, and Congress. While HB 2764 and SB 917 did not extend bargaining rights to Virginia’s legislative staff, their growing visibility across the country suggests this could be an area for future consideration or study.

The Path Forward

As Virginia prepares for the 2026 legislative session, the question facing lawmakers is both straightforward and deeply consequential: will the state continue to exclude its own workers from the basic right to negotiate their conditions of employment or will it build a framework that allows those workers to have a voice?

Collective bargaining is not a new idea. The majority of states and Washington, D.C., already provide collective bargaining rights to most public employees, including state workers. These frameworks exist in places with balanced budgets, high-performing agencies, and transparent labor-management relationships. What these states have in common is not just a set of policies, but a shared belief: that government runs better when the people doing the work are part of the conversation.

Virginia’s state workforce includes more than 136,000 salaried and hourly employees, many of whom work in demanding, public-facing roles without any structural say in their compensation, safety, or workload. This workforce is majority women, disproportionately Black, and continues to face instability driven by turnover, vacancies, and a lack of structural voice.

In 2025, the General Assembly passed HB 2764 and SB 917, legislation that would have created a comprehensive bargaining framework for public employees, grounded in occupational units and supported by a neutral oversight board (PERB). The bills preserved legislative budget authority and prohibited public sector strikes, offering a balanced approach that reflected both worker rights and government accountability. But it was vetoed before it could be implemented.

That veto was a setback. But it also clarified the road ahead.

Lawmakers now have a tested framework, informed by feedback and aligned with national best practices. They also have evidence from other states showing that collective bargaining improves morale and equity without compromising fiscal stability. They also have a responsibility — to address the racial and gender pay gaps that persist across public employment, to value the labor that sustains the state, and to bring Virginia’s policies in line with its stated commitments to equity and good governance.

Future legislation may look different than HB 2764 and SB 917. It may revisit exclusions, such as the omission of legislative staff — who, despite working under the authority of a part-time legislature, face year-round pressures without consistent workplace protections. It may incorporate lessons from localities that have already adopted bargaining frameworks. And it may evolve with new data, new coalitions, and new voices at the table.

But the core idea remains the same: public workers deserve the right to advocate for themselves. Not just through individual complaints or exit interviews, but through a shared process, backed by law, designed to solve problems together. Collective bargaining won’t fix every challenge, but it will begin to shift the balance of voice and accountability, giving public workers the power to speak, be heard, and help shape the systems they sustain.

As the federal government continues to scale back investments in state and local programs, Virginia’s own public workforce has become even more critical to delivering core services — from health care to infrastructure to economic support. In a time of rising need and shrinking federal resources, the Commonwealth cannot afford to overlook or underinvest in the people who keep these systems running.

In 2026, lawmakers have a choice: preserve a system that excludes, or move toward one that listens. The case for action is clear.