Felicia Boney didn’t grow up in a union household. In fact, she doesn’t even remember having any family members who were a part of one. They didn’t work in fields where unions were a part of their lives or their jobs.
That might be because, in Virginia, unions had been dealt a major blow in the late 1970’s, when the state Supreme Court put a stop to collective bargaining for local government employees. But then, almost 50 years later, lawmakers reversed course. That’s when Boney started seeing flyers and decided to finally learn what a union was.
"I thought it was a ruse so I said let me go and see what it’s all about," Boney remembers. "And, oh my goodness, by the time the meeting was over with, I was on fire."
She learned how state law now allowed city workers to band together and represent themselves at a bargaining table. They could fight for higher wages and new safety standards.
In the meeting there were people from all different city departments— some of the skilled trade workers, mechanics, and trash guys. Boney learned they had been pushing for years.
She thought "I’m going to ride this train just to see how far we can get. Just to see."
Turns out they got pretty far. But it took years of effort.
Their first step was just to spread the word.
"Do you know somebody? Can you spread the word to that department? It went basically word of mouth," Boney says. "We did not want to use the city servers or their phones or anything because we didn’t want you or me to become a target.”
But even with that fear, employees started showing up to city council meetings to tell their stories. A librarian who’d worked for three decades and was still making less than 18 bucks an hour. A trash worker, injured on the job, without even a first aid kit.
They were all there because the second step was to convince city leaders to let them unionize.
Boney remembers the night in 2022 when all that work paid off and council passed an ordinance allowing for collective bargaining.
"And council chambers just erupted in cheers," she remembers. "Such a formal thing but you’re not supposed to yell, clap whatever, it was just such a beautiful thing."
They had ticked the boxes of approval from state lawmakers, local lawmakers, and the workers themselves.
But all that only laid the foundation for another step— contract negotiations. Sitting across the table from city administration and making their demands.
Librarian Cathy Bruce was a part of that team. "I remember as we were going through meetings beforehand for our team— how to behave. And we paid attention and we definitely had a united front and I felt good about that," Bruce says. "It’s empowering. And it’s worthwhile."
They negotiated a three-year contract that includes guaranteed raises, paid breaks, and new safety standards.
"Satisfied employees, they're more productive," Bruce explains. "They have good benefits, they’re healthier. And you get more work out of them. Go figure. Because they’re happy to be there and they want to keep working."
Both Boney and Bruce believe this work is just the start and imagine what 50 years of improved working conditions could mean for not just employees, but city residents as well.
The final contract goes before Richmond City Council soon to be funded. If it is, it will be one of the first in the state.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
