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Charlottesville s fire department may be one of the first public agencies in the state to unionize.
Credit City of Charlottesville
Greg Wright heads the Charlottesville Professional Firefighters Association, and he was not surprised when state lawmakers voted to allow unions to represent city employees.
“From a state level perspective, this was our top legislative priority for years,” he explains.
So in March he wrote to the city council, asking members to approve collective bargaining at the local level. At the very least, Wright says, that would help this communities attract the best firefighters.
“The market for public safety officials across the commonwealth is unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Wright says. “Highly intelligent, highly motivated candidates can go just about anywhere, and obviously at the end of the day working conditions, salary, benefits all factor into those decisions. They would know that they had an equitable seat at the table when it did
GINNY BIXBY
CHARLOTTESVILLE â Greg Wright and other members of the Charlottesville Fire Department are planning to unionize after a change in the Code of Virginia, effective May 1, allows municipalities to enter into collective bargaining agreements with their employees.
Wright, a captain with the fire department and third-term president of the Charlottesville Professional Firefighters Association, submitted an email to City Council members on March 6 informing them of the upcoming change in the state code and asking them to adopt an ordinance to allow collective bargaining for city employees.
âI humbly ask that you, and all the members of Council support this Amendment. Empowering ALL City employees to participate in traditional collective bargaining is something that I hope you consider as important as we do,â he wrote.