Richmond officials are back on the same page when it comes to the collective bargaining rights of the city’s unionized workforce.

The City Council voted unanimously Monday to approve tweaks to the city’s collective bargaining rules, with full support of Mayor Danny Avula’s administration and union organizers.

The changes broaden what city unions can bargain over with management to include procedures for how public workers are chosen for promotions and transfers. Rules for work assignments and scheduling were also added to the collective bargaining framework ahead of an upcoming round of labor negotiations.

“I’m grateful to our labor partners, City Council, and all those who helped shape and advance these amendments,” Mayor Danny Avula said in a news release after the vote. “Collective bargaining has strengthened our workforce and helped us better serve residents. Tonight’s vote reinforces Richmond’s commitment to supporting city employees and building a stronger city for everyone." 

Bill Pantele, an attorney and former City Council member who now works with the Richmond Coalition of Police union, thanked city officials ahead of Monday’s vote for working together to bring the proposal to a smooth finish. Despite fears about collective bargaining, he said, “it’s worked out very well here in Richmond.”

“We’re very happy that we’re at this place where we’re all together,” Pantele said.

At the state level, Democratic leaders are at odds with each other over how fast and how far to expand collective bargaining. Under current law, local governments can choose to adopt collective bargaining. Richmond made that choice several years ago. 

In May, Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger vetoed a Democratic-supported bill that would have allowed collective bargaining even in cities and counties that don’t want it. Diverging views on the topic also flared up in Richmond after Avula wrote a letter to Spanberger raising concerns about the state bill might, a move the pro-union side in Richmond found confusing since it came from a mayor who has professed support for collective bargaining.

After governor’s veto, Avula says Richmond is ‘better off’ with collective bargaining

“We actually really believe collective bargaining is good and Richmond is better off because of that.”

The RichmonderGraham Moomaw

That dispute seemed to fade with Monday’s vote, which served as a unified show of solidarity with the city’s workers.

“The ordinance adopted reflects what we all understood from the beginning: collective bargaining works best when workers have consistent rights and processes," SEIU 512 President Lanoral Thomas said in a release.

City Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald II said the passage of the ordinance shows Richmond’s commitment to “continuous quality improvement” and a “people first, people always” mindset.

“This is one of those times where we get to really be an example for everyone in the commonwealth on what good government looks like,” Donald told the Council. “And I applaud you for taking the lead on that.”

Councilor Reva Trammell (8th District), the initial sponsor of the collective bargaining changes the Council approved, also thanked the Avula administration.

“All of us came together and listened,” Trammell said. “It’s not been easy, but we got it done.” 

Proponents of the changes approved Monday said they mostly cleaned up some points of confusion that emerged in the city’s first round of collective bargaining negotiations. The police union in particular has raised concern about the appearance of favoritism influencing who rises through the ranks of the Richmond Police Department and said adding systems for promotions to collective bargaining was a way of addressing that.

There was some earlier confusion about whether the revised rules would apply only to police and fire unions or all of the city’s five collective bargaining units. In the end, the changes applied to all unions equally.

The ordinance’s path to approval was made easier after it was amended to remove a provision that would have sent disputes not involving wages and benefits to a binding arbitration process.

To ward off any issues with the effective date of the ordinance, it specifies the broader bargaining rules apply to “any active negotiations" that were underway as of Monday’s vote.

Contact Reporter Graham Moomaw at gmoomaw@richmonder.org