More than 50,000 students in San Francisco sat at home this week learning nothing because their teachers, who are members of the United Educators of San Francisco, refused to work until they won higher pay and more generous benefits. San Francisco teachers are already among the highest paid in the nation, even though more than a quarter of students are chronically absent and more than half fail math and reading. More and more students are abandoning public schools and going to private ones. Who can blame them?
Across the country in Virginia, Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and Democratic majorities in the state General Assembly want to import California’s chaotic, bloated, and corrupt mess. In April 2020, former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam signed legislation giving Virginia localities, including counties and cities, the ability to adopt collective bargaining agreements with public-sector employees. Fairfax County, once a fiscally responsible jurisdiction that ran regular surpluses, entered into its first collectively bargained contract with the Fairfax Education Union. Teachers got a 7% pay raise, and taxpayers got stuck with a $300 million deficit.
Spanberger’s new collective bargaining bill, which is being bankrolled by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, would force collective bargaining and binding arbitration on all Virginia governments. It would bring a big payday for the Democratic Party and union leaders, for it would increase the cost of government workers, and unions would reward Democratic politicians with more electoral support. It would, though, be a huge loss for taxpayers and everyone who relies on efficient and reliable public services.
Not all Democrats want their state to be Californicated.
“Adding more burden to localities and then not funding it is a bad idea,” said Prince William School Board Chairman Babu Lateef, a Democrat. “If your number one goal of being elected was to do something about affordability, this goes in the exact opposite direction, and you will be putting a burden on the Virginia taxpayer like we’ve never seen.”
Lateef is right. Collective bargaining raises pay and benefits for government employees, but the result is that states and localities that enter into such contracts have to issue more debt to pay for it, raising the cost of borrowing for all other government priorities.
There might be an arguable case for higher spending and more debt from collective bargaining producing better public services, but the opposite is true. Without fiscal or political accountability, government unions almost invariably deliver bad services at higher costs to taxpayers.
When government workers are given collective bargaining power, it takes an equal and opposite amount of power away from voters. Public-sector unions don’t negotiate only over wages. They also impose rules on hours, working conditions, and job protections that are most costly and inflexible. When one administration signs a collective bargaining agreement, it binds the next one, preventing future officials from managing workers to deliver high-quality services.
This is why former President Franklin D. Roosevelt kept government workers out of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935.
“All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service,” he explained. “It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management. The very nature and purposes of government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with government employee organizations.”
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Once a state mandates collective bargaining, unions quickly become the most powerful interest in that state. In California, no other special interest is as successful in getting its agenda passed and blocking the agenda of other special interests. The state has become ungovernable as a result.
Virginia should learn from California before repeating its mistake. Mandated bargaining and binding arbitration won’t improve schools or the provision of public services. It will hardwire higher costs, weaker accountability, and less flexibility for future leaders. If Virginia wants competent governance, it should protect taxpayers and keep power with voters, not unions.