A Collaborative Approach to Workplace Problem Solving

Collective bargaining provides a framework for employer/employee collaboration and cooperation. The collective bargaining process creates a structured environment for employers and employees to discuss workplace issues and terms and conditions of employment in a truly substantive way. Through collaboration and mutual respect, employers and employees have the opportunity to develop a collective bargaining agreement that is reflective of the shared value of delivering high-quality services to the residents of Virginia Beach.

Increased Safety for Residents and Service Enhancements

Your Virginia Beach fire fighters, career EMS, and Police are public safety advocates and experts. We are committed to delivering the highest quality fire and emergency medical services to the residents and taxpayers of Virginia Beach. Collective bargaining gives the public safety experts, a voice in how these services are delivered to our neighbors. Community safety is our number one priority, and we will continually advocate for the highest quality services for the residents of our city. The benefits from this improved coordination are illustrated by the fact that civilian fire fatality rates are, on average, lower in states that provide these basic rights to fire fighters and emergency medical workers.

Increased Workplace Efficiencies

The collective bargaining process promotes workplace efficiency. Through collective bargaining, employees have a structured and organized vehicle to bring innovative and cost-saving ideas to management. By its very nature, collective bargaining promotes transparency. Local government transparency will often lead to increased efficiency and is always good public policy.

Employee Recruitment, Retention and Engagement

The healthiest workplaces are those in which employees are valued, respected and feel that shared values exist across the organization. Through collective bargaining, employees know their voice is heard and they are partners in a collaborative decision-making process. Studies have shown that workplaces with collective bargaining agreements have lower turnover rate and higher employee engagement. A collective bargaining agreement in Virginia Beach will help to recruit and retain a diverse and talented workforce because employees will know their voice is valued.

When fire fighters have a say in their employment through collective bargaining, employee morale is higher, there is less turnover, and there are fewer worker/management disputes.

A Cornell University study of public sector collective bargaining found that “cooperation results in improvements in both the delivery of public services and the quality of work life.” A recent study by the Economic Policy Institute noted that expanding collective bargaining rights is “particularly important at a moment when state and local governments face staffing shortages and serious challenges to recruiting and retaining qualified employees.” Brock, Jonathan; Lipsky, David B, Public Sector Collective Bargaining and the Imperative for Service Delivery: An Overview, (2003), Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/1813/75991; https://www.epi.org/publication/public-sector-pay-gap-co-va/

Collective bargaining rights improve fire fighter safety and save lives.

Collective bargaining has produced measurable staffing, training, equipment and health and safety improvements throughout the nation’s fire departments – resulting in safer fire fighters and improved local emergency response capabilities. A 2021 academic study found that states with expanded collective bargaining rights for firefighters had fewer firefighter fatalities. A recent report from the US Department of Labor identified unionized workplaces as having “less traumatic injuries and fatalities”, “better health and safety practices”, and “lower COVID-19 infection rates.” Another study in the American Journal of Public Health identified that “collective bargaining contracts promote public health.”
Wells, Dominic, Do collective bargaining rights save lives? A rare event analysis of firefighter fatalities in the United States, RHCPP, Vol.13, No. 2, at 100-117 (2022). (“Using state-level data from 2009 through 2018, this analysis shows that states with duty-to-bargain rights for firefighters have fewer firefighter fatalities than those without duty-to-bargain rights.”). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/rhc3.12224; US DEP’T OF LABOR, How Unions and Unionized Workplaces Advance the Mission of the Department of Labor, (2022), https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/general/labortaskforce/docs/WORK-fs-DOL-Unions-v6.pdf