RICHMOND EDUCATORS RICHMOND EDUCATORS FIRST ONES IN! FIRST ONES IN!

REA members negotiate and ratify the frst public school employee contracts in Virginia in nearly a half-century.

By Olivia Geho

While much of Virginia may not know it, some serious history went down in our state capital in December: the Richmond Education Association finished negotiating and then ratified the first four collective bargaining agreements for public school employees in the Commonwealth in almost half a century.

REA’s achievement is monumental—not only for what its members were able to negotiate, but because it’s the start of changing the way public education works in Virginia. REA President Katina Harris says, “Doing what is right and equitable for staff will always benefit our scholars.” It’s true; we’ve said it over and over again that our working conditions are students learning conditions.

Here’s some of what REA members came away from the table with, after negotiating contracts for Licensed Staff, School Nutrition Services, Instructional Assistants, and Care and Safety Associates: raises ranging from 5 percent to 40 percent over three years, depending on position and current salary step; 1.7 percent step increases guaranteed in perpetuity; limits on meetings (Licensed Staff); and compensation for performing additional duties as assigned (Licensed Staff). For a more complete rundown, see page 12.

It didn’t always feel that way, but the whole process happened fairly quickly. REA began organizing in August 2021, lobbied the school board to pass a resolution by that December, and won a representation election the next April. According to research by Bloomberg Law, it takes most education unions an average of until everyone kept congratulating us,” says Shan Lightly, one of the School Nutrition Services bargaining team members. “This is what collective bargaining is: speaking up, letting people know what you’re worth.”

466 days from winning an election to successfully negotiating and ratifying a contract. REA did it in almost half that—240 days.

Even more significant is that those first Richmond contracts contain some very impressive results, like the 40 percent raises that will go to some instructional assistants, and benefits like these for some employee groups: healthcare for first year employees, optional retirement benefits, a decompressed salary schedule, and guaranteed step raises.

Not ‘Us Against Them’

REA members who were on the bargaining teams were pleasantly surprised by the open, civil, and collaborative nature of the process. REA Vice President Darrell Turner, a preschool teacher at Martin Luther King Jr. Preschool, described the relationship with management’s team as “professional and respectful,” adding that “at times we could feel a little tension, but there was no shouting or screaming. We have a partner in this. It doesn’t mean we’re best buddies, but we found out working alongside them rather than in an adversarial relationship is key to getting things done.”

Kacy Mosby, an instructional assistant at Maymont Preschool and IA bargaining team member says she was pleased to learn how much RPS administration actually values its IAs: “I think that was evident in their willingness

“I didn’t know how huge it was ††† to work with us on the matters we were bargaining for.”

Because the whole process is new for many Virginia public school employees and administrators, some approach bargaining with apprehension. Turner says that such feelings subside once you begin. “A lot of the fears really come from not being familiar with the process,” he says. “People think it’s going to be a slugfest full of verbal barbs, but it’s really a learning process. The school district was learning that we weren’t there to attack them or bring them down. We were there to get this agreement. Over the course of bargaining, our mutual respect grew.”

Turner has been part of REA’s efforts since the beginning and was present for all the bargaining sessions, not just the ones for Licensed Staff. “It taught me some vital information about how our district is run,” he says. “Now, being armed with that knowledge, I can enforce our contracts and advocate for members better. For example, I didn’t know that all the funding for our school nutrition services comes through grants rather than directly making and showing which responsibilities they had.”

These statistics helped the CSA team explain why they deserved salary increases. Turner explained that after every negotiation meeting, the teams would reconvene at the REA office or online and come up with research assignments for each team member to help them craft arguments for the next round of negotiations.