How Collective Bargaining Works

Definitions
Collective bargaining is when individual employees in a workplace come together and choose a representative, based on a majority vote, who will then negotiate with their employer over terms and conditions of employment.

An exclusive representative is the group responsible for representing the interests of all employees in the unit it represents, without discrimination and without regard to labor organization membership. However, only dues paying members participate in negotiations and vote to ratify the negotiated contract. It’s up to you to decide which organization you want to pay your dues to.

A collective bargaining unit is a group of employees who have a clear and identifiable community of interests with one another. Currently, there are three collective bargaining units in Arlington: licensed staff (like counselors, mental health staff, and classroom teachers), classified employees (like bus drivers, custodians, and education support professionals), and administrators (principals and the like). Arlington Teachers Union believes the classified unit should be able to bargain based on their unique jobs, i.e. bus drivers, custodians, instructional assistants should EACH be their own bargaining unit.


The Process

  1. A group seeking to be Exclusive Representative of a bargaining unit has to show that 30% of the employees in that unit are interested in being represented by that group. We can “show interest” with membership cards, dues payments, a petition, or authorization forms. These are not binding votes.

  2. Other groups have 7 business days to demonstrate that there's enough interest (30%) to be included on the ballot. There will be an election by secret ballot. A group needs a majority of the valid ballots cast to become certified as the Exclusive Representative. 

  3. APS and AEA are willing to keep negotiations secret. In contrast, Arlington Teachers Union negotiators would be elected by members, and we would push for open negotiations.

  4. If there is no agreement, there is something called an impasse. The current APS Resolution protocol for an impasse is determined entirely by the APS Director of Labor Relations, with no input from the employees’ Exclusive Representative. 

    Arlington Teachers Union will fight to change that.

  5. Typically, the members of a unit would then vote to ratify an agreed-upon contract. AEA would allow only dues-paying members to vote. The Arlington Public Schools Director of Labor Relations guidelines doesn’t even mention any kind of ratification by workers (Feb. 2023).

Why support ATU instead of AEA as Exclusive Representative? 

Only AEA members will be able to vote to approve a collective bargaining agreement if AEA is the exclusive representative. People should not have to pay $795 as teachers and $409 as classified employees to have a voice in ratifying a CBA.

You deserve a real say in your workplace. Much lower dues means Arlington Teachers Union is accessible to more APS employees. 

Unlike AEA/VEA/NEA, the founders of ATU also support Open Bargaining as a fundamental principle for contract negotiations with APS. Open bargaining is a union negotiation procedure where all contract engagement between workers and their employer is conducted in transparent meetings open to all members of the union's bargaining unit. 

We believe that a commitment to Open Bargaining is an important part of ATU’s pledge to internal transparency and democracy. In addition, this negotiating strategy helps to prevent APS’s negotiators from isolating our leadership and putting undue pressure on them behind the scenes. It allows for maximum participation of the members of each unit, encourages opportunities for workers to get actively involved in bargaining, and bolsters our power as a collective. We don't just want any contract–we want a strong contract! (from the GWC-UAW Local 2110)

Nothing for us without us.