Virginia

As of early Monday morning, more than 27,500 Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) workers are now members of Fairfax Education Unions (FEU)—an alliance between Fairfax Education Association (FEA) and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) affiliate, Fairfax County Federation of Teachers (FCFT). Teachers, counselors, librarians, bus drivers, custodians, teaching assistants and other critical staff members who make the ninth largest school district in the country run voted by a massive margin to organize for the wages, benefits, and voice on the job they deserve.

More than 100 members of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 who work at Elizabeth Adam Crump Health & Rehab and Elizabeth House Assisted Living in Glen Allen, Virginia, ratified a new contract that strengthens wages and benefits. The two facilities are owned by Trio Healthcare. The three-year contract includes wage increases averaging 13% in the first year and 175 over the life of the agreement. The contract also includes an additional flexible holiday, improved arbitration procedures, and other benefits.

Members of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) members at Washington Center in Virginia contributed generously to at-risk youth for the holidays. The members purchased several thousand dollars’ worth of toys in support of Loudoun Mobile Hope, a group that provides support and emergency shelter to young people up to age 24 who are at-risk, precariously housed or homeless. The organization empowers these young people to become self-sufficient and experience improved well-being. Mobile Hope’s toy drive, which supplements the Toys for Tots program, has a goal of collecting 10,000 toys this year for local children.

Workers in Arlington County, Virginia, and the city of Alexandria, Virginia, ratified their first contracts. They unionized last year with AFSCME, and the two units represent more than 500 workers who work on essential public services such as water treatment, traffic enforcement, and parks and recreation. The Arlington contract includes 12.25% across-the-board wage increases over the course of the three-year agreement, 6% increases to all starting and maximum salaries for every position, a new grievance procedure and other gains. In Alexandria, the three-year contract guarantees an 8% raise over three years, plus a $1,000 bonus in 2024.