Why the APS Collective Bargaining Resolution is the Worst

APS calls it “collective bargaining.”

The “collective bargaining rules” passed by APS are vastly different from those passed in Fairfax, Charlottesville, Richmond, Prince William, and the rules for Arlington County Government employees.  

You don’t have to take our word for it. Three independent and experienced labor lawyer firms  have reviewed the APS resolution and all three came to the same conclusion - do not bargain under this resolution. Arlington’s resolution is unfair and contains provisions that will harm this school district for decades to come if not changed.

Here is what the lawyers said:

“The language is troubling and does not conform with the language of similar resolutions in Virginia”

“A primary issue is that the Arlington Resolution gives extraordinary, unilateral power in the hands of the employer.”

“You can drive a truck through it.”

AEA wants to proceed with bargaining under this Resolution, but that would leave employees stuck with its unfair terms.

There is no neutral referee or level playing field

True collective bargaining begins with a level playing field and a neutral referee. Each side bargains in good faith. Each side has the ability to appeal to a neutral referee to resolve occasional but inevitable disputes that will arise. In other school districts, equity and neutrality are ensured by allowing both parties to veto candidates until a mutually agreeable candidate is found. The LRA can also be fired by either side. Not in Arlington Public schools. The referee is Stephanie Maltz who is an APS administrator who reports to Dr. Duran. 

Other collective bargaining resolutions ensure a level playing field because the employees and the employer hire a referee (director of labor relations) that is agreeable to both the union and the employer. In many cases, this is a part-time job paid via stipend and is never added to the payroll.

APS hired two full-time administrators—with no input from the employees—who are in charge of “all aspects” of bargaining. They get to write all the guidelines with no input from employees outside Syphax.

The School Board gave itself the power to tear up an agreement without due process

Would you punish everyone in your class for the actions of a single student? How about every student in the county for the actions of one class member?  It sounds outlandish, yet that’s exactly what the APS “collective bargaining” rules do. Every APS employee can be punished for the action of just one. 

“Any method of interference or even suggested interference in operations of the school division, as determined solely by the school board, may automatically terminate any collective bargaining agreement then in existence.”

Suggesting that you might limit the number of college recommendation letters to 30 letters or participating in a walk in, APS gets to decide if that’s “interference” in the operation of the school system and if so, terminate agreed upon COLA’s, steps or any agreed upon benefit. 

Is this language found in other collective bargaining resolutions? Absolutely not. No such provisions exist anywhere else in the state of Virginia, nor is it found in the collective bargaining rules for Arlington County Government employees. 

Teachers work hard for our students every single day, why should we be treated worse than members of fire and rescue, the police and other Arlington Government workers? Why should we be treated worse than teachers in Richmond or Charlottesville? 

The APS Director of Labor Relations’ Guidelines

The APS Director of Labor Relations published guidelines for collective bargaining and impasses on February 2, 2023. In our view, the guidelines reflect the damage of AEA repeatedly giving in to the School Board. EVERYTHING in these “guidelines”—which are really edicts from on high—should be negotiated in good faith, as is the case in all non-APS Virginia collective bargaining resolutions.

Topics of negotiation are “narrowly construed” by APS

The Resolution uses the phrase “shall be construed narrowly” when discussing what the union can negotiate. This means they get to dictate what is negotiable, rather than negotiating issues important to educators—like class size, curriculum, professional development, staff shortages. This gives the School Board the ability to unilaterally ignore issues that educators want to see addressed for our students.

This is a classic employer tactic to prevent employees from having any input on issues crucial to their jobs.