Portsmouth City Council Work Session on Collective Bargaining - April 7, 2025
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Portsmouth City Council Work Session on Collective Bargaining - April 7, 2025
The Portsmouth City Council held a public work session on April 7, 2025, to discuss collective bargaining for city employees. City Manager Steve Carter presented an overview of collective bargaining, its history in Virginia, and its potential impacts on stakeholders. Council members debated the pros and cons, with some expressing strong support and others raising concerns about costs and fiscal responsibility. No final decision was made; the council moved into closed session to discuss next steps.
Discussion Items
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Presentation on Collective Bargaining: City Manager Steve Carter provided a neutral overview, defining collective bargaining as a structured process for employees to negotiate wages, benefits, and working conditions. He noted that in 2020, the Virginia Assembly permitted localities to establish collective bargaining ordinances. Portsmouth took its first step in September 2021 with a resolution and in November 2023 voted 4-2 to authorize an ordinance. Other localities like Alexandria, Richmond, and Falls Church have adopted similar measures.
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Potential Impacts: Carter highlighted possible financial implications for the city budget, school funding, and nonprofit services. He emphasized that the ordinance would be drafted to protect the city's authority over budgets and appropriations, referencing Virginia Code 40.1-55.2.
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Council Goals and Objectives: Council members discussed the need to define collective bargaining goals, including ensuring employee voice, equitable compensation, workplace safety, and budget sustainability. Councilman Tillett stressed that the council itself would determine the framework, not fear it.
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Cost Estimates: Councilman Tillett questioned earlier estimates of $15 million. Carter provided a revised estimate of $1 million to $1.2 million annually for initial implementation (hiring, training, processes), separate from any negotiated agreement costs.
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Employee Voice and Accountability: City Manager Carter noted that collective bargaining provides a single employee voice and accountability, regardless of who holds office. Councilwoman Thomas added that it ensures safeguards for workers and citizens, citing the Portsmouth fire department's improved staffing and equipment after addressing union concerns.
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Concerns Raised: Mayor Glover expressed caution, noting Portsmouth's fiscal constraints and the potential for collective bargaining to increase costs without solving regional employee shortages. He referenced Fairfax County's projected $300 million budget shortfall attributed to collective bargaining agreements. Attorney Derek Challenger reminded the council of a previous work group that met with unions for six months and helped draft an ordinance.
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Next Steps: The council agreed to continue discussions in closed session, with a plan to schedule public meetings and potentially vote on the ordinance.
Key Outcomes
- No Final Decision: The council did not vote on an ordinance or resolution. The session ended with a motion to enter closed session to discuss legal matters related to collective bargaining.
- Directive for Research: Councilwoman Bryant requested case studies from cities similar in size to Portsmouth. City Manager Carter and Attorney Challenger committed to providing resources from a UVA law school task force.
- Continued Discussion Planned: The council agreed to schedule further public work sessions and engage with stakeholders, including unions and the public.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, citizens of Portsmouth. I invited guests, city staff, thank you all for joining us here at our public work session on today, April 7th. I want to also uh thank my colleagues on council for showing up and uh being ready to do the work of the people. I'd like to thank Mr. Carter, our city manager. I would also like to stake uh attorney Derek Challenger for being here. Of course, our city clerk, Mr. Stepper White. Good to see everybody. That in mind, Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll? Yes, sir, Miss Bryant. Present Dr. Gosson. I'm here. Mr. Hugo. Present. Mr. Moody. Here. Mr. Thomas, Miss Thomas. Present. Mr. Tillett. Mayor Glaver. Here. Mr. Carter. Sir, you have the floor. Thank you. We have only one presentation for this evening. I have the honor of leaving this discussion. Sure. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Just say next. All right. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. First of all, thank you for the opportunity to stand before you. Uh thank you, Mayor, Council, my colleagues, and those of you who've uh showed up in the audience. I think this must be a topic that everybody wants to talk about. So we'll endeavor to get through this this evening. Um based on the title of the screen here, you see that we're gonna talk about collective bargaining this evening. Uh the purpose of this particular uh discussion is uh we're not trying to make a decision here tonight, we're just trying to pass out some information, and one of the things I need everybody to understand is um I'm going to try and present this in a neutral version, not trying to convince you either way of what you should do. Uh to do some discussion at the end. Matter of fact, there's near the end of this, I have some kind of thought-provoking questions that I want to kind of throw out to start a discussion. Uh, and then we'll jump into the discussion after that.
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