Fairfax Education Unions

Fairfax Education Unions
Fairfax Education Unions
Founded2023
Location
Members27,500+ (2024)
Key people
Leslie Houston (FEA president); David Walrod (FCFT president)
Affiliations

The Fairfax Education Unions (FEU) is the bargaining agent for Fairfax County, Virginia Public Schools (FCPS) employees, formed as a partnership between the Fairfax Education Association and the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers. Certified in 2024 following an election covering around 27,500 workers, with around 14,000 teachers and 13,000 support staff, and ended a nearly 50-year period during which FCPS employees had no collectively bargained contract.[1][2] The first collective bargaining agreements between FEU and FCPS were ratified by the Fairfax County School Board in January 2025.[2]

Background

Collective bargaining by public employees was effectively prohibited in Virginia for nearly half a century after a 1977 Supreme Court of Virginia decision;[3][4] the prohibition was codified in state law and remained in force as one of the most restrictive public-sector labor regimes in the country.[1][5] In 2020, the Virginia General Assembly, then under Democratic control, passed legislation signed by Governor Ralph Northam permitting local governments and school boards to authorize collective bargaining by their employees.[3][6][7]

The Fairfax Education Association, founded in 1920, is the older and larger of the two FCPS-employee unions and is affiliated with the Virginia Education Association and the National Education Association.[8] The Fairfax County Federation of Teachers is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO.[9] The two organizations had historically competed for members; in 2023 they formalized an alliance, branded as the Fairfax Education Unions, in order to appear together as a single option on any future representation ballot and avoid splitting the pro-union vote.[10]

History

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) held a collective bargaining work group with several groups in September 2021.[11] The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors (FCBOS) approved an ordinance allowing for county government employees to engage in collective bargaining in October 2021 and Fairfax County Public Schools released a draft resolution in December 2021.[11][12] In March 2023, the Fairfax County School Board adopted a draft Collective Bargaining Resolution defining the scope of bargaining at FCPS and authorizing employees to seek union representation.[3][12][13]

FEU spent the following year collecting union authorization cards and building support among FCPS employees. The campaign drew on FCFT's own staff organizers, whose bargaining unit had recently formed and ratified a first collective bargaining agreement with the local in August 2023, affiliated with the Washington-Baltimore News Guild (TNG-CWA Local 32035); the FCFT–Guild contract identified Hayden Gise among the bargaining unit organizers who organized the staff-union contract. Gise was on staff during the build-up to the school board resolution vote.[14] On May 1, 2024, FEU filed for elections in the licensed instructional and operational bargaining units.[15][16][10]

In June 2024, FEU won the right to represent and collectively bargain for FCPS employees, winning 96.92% of instructional staff and 80.68% of operational staff in a union election.[17][18][19] The FEU election increased the number of Virginians working under a collective bargaining agreement by 12%.[6] The American Federation of Teachers hailed the formation of the union as "the largest U.S. public sector union victory in 25 years."[20] People's World reported that the result increased Virginia's overall union density by at least 15 percent.[1]

Negotiations between FEU and FCPS began in 2024 and produced tentative three-year agreements covering the instructional and operational units in October 2024.[21] Bargaining-unit members ratified the agreements in November.[2] The agreement was approved by the Fairfax County School Board in January 2025.[2][22] The agreement included a 7% pay raise for all employees, more equitable pay raises for lower-paid staff, increased pay for special education teachers, just cause requirements for firing teachers, and increased planning time for elementary teachers.[21][23][24] In May 2025, the FCBOS negotiated the pay raises down to 6% for employees in the union and 5% for employees not in the union, citing a budget shortfall.[25][26][27] The collective bargaining agreement between FCPS and FEU is set to run from July 2025 to June 2028.[28]

Composition

The union has two bargaining units: a Licensed Instructional Unit, covering workers requiring a license, such as teachers, counselors, social workers, psychologists, librarians, technology specialists, and speech language pathologists; and an Operational Unit for non-licensed workers, including assistants, food service workers, security, custodians, transportation workers, and front office staff.[1][2] Administrators and supervisors are represented by the Fairfax County Federation of Principals, Supervisors, and Administrators.[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "27,000 Virginia education workers win union recognition". People's World. June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Leayman, Emily (January 10, 2025). "Collective Bargaining Agreements Approved For FCPS Staff". Patch. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 Blitz, Matt (Mar 10, 2023). "Fairfax County School Employees Now Have Collective Bargaining Rights". DCist. Archived from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved 2026-04-23.
  4. ↑ Elwood, Karina (2024-06-11). "Educators, staff in Va.'s largest school district back collective bargaining". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  5. ↑ Elk, Mike (June 10, 2024). "27,000 Virginia Teachers Win Historic Union Election with Presidential Election Implications". Payday Report. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  6. 1 2 Meyerson, Harold (2024-06-18). "Teachers in the South Go Union". The American Prospect. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  7. ↑ "'We'll have a seat at the table'; FCPS employees vote in favor of collective bargaining". WUSA9. June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Fairfax Education Association". InfluenceWatch. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  9. ↑ "About FCFT". Fairfax County Federation of Teachers. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  10. 1 2 Pope, Michael (2024-06-12). "Two competing teacher unions in Fairfax County are joining forces". WVTF. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  11. 1 2 Woolsey, Angela (2021-12-20). "FCPS starts effort to allow collective bargaining for school workers". FFXNow. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved 2026-04-23.
  12. 1 2 James, Acacia (2023-03-13). "Fairfax County Public School workers secure collective bargaining rights". FFXnow. Archived from the original on March 13, 2023. Retrieved 2026-04-23.
  13. ↑ "Fairfax County schools workers vote to officially unionize". InsideNoVa. June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  14. ↑ "Collective Bargaining Agreement between Fairfax County Federation of Teachers and Washington-Baltimore News Guild Local 32035, TNG-CWA, AFL-CIO" (PDF). Washington-Baltimore News Guild. August 24, 2023. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  15. ↑ Lukert, Luke (2024-06-11). "Fairfax Co. teachers vote overwhelmingly for collective bargaining rights". WTOP News. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  16. ↑ DeManuelle-Hall, Joe (2024-06-13). "Big Union Win in Virginia Schools where Bargaining Suddenly Legal". Labor Notes. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  17. ↑ O'Connell, Michael (2024-06-10). "Landslide Vote Grants Collective Bargaining To FCPS Staff, Educators". McLean, VA Patch. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  18. ↑ Woolsey, Angela (2024-06-12). "Fairfax County Public Schools workers vote to officially unionize". FFXnow. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  19. ↑ Soisson, Isabel (June 10, 2024). "Fairfax educators overwhelmingly vote for, secure union representation". Dogwood. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  20. ↑ Mahnken, Kevin (2026-05-20). "A Rising Democratic Star Disappoints Teachers' Unions in Virginia". The 74. Retrieved 2026-06-23.
  21. 1 2 Jarvis, James (2024-12-06). "FCPS agrees to teacher pay raises in union contract, but county might struggle to fund them". FFXNow. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  22. ↑ Jarvis, James (2025-01-14). "Fairfax school board approves new contract with teachers, but pay raises depend on county budget". FFXnow. Archived from the original on January 14, 2025. Retrieved 2026-05-17.
  23. ↑ Gelman, Scott (2024-12-06). "Facing budget shortfall, Fairfax Co. may have trouble finding the money for teacher raises". WTOP News. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  24. ↑ Sparks, Sarah D. (2025-06-25). "How Teachers' Unions Are Confronting the Second Trump Era". Education Week. ISSN 0277-4232. Archived from the original on June 25, 2025. Retrieved 2026-05-17.
  25. ↑ McCaffrey, Scott (2025-05-13). "Pay raises, staffing reduced as FCPS scrambles to balance budget". FFXnow. Archived from the original on May 13, 2025. Retrieved 2026-05-17.
  26. ↑ Wagner, Lauren (2025-10-02). "Strapped for Cash: Districts OK Union Raises, Don't Have the Money to Fund Them". The 74. Archived from the original on 2026-05-18. Retrieved 2026-05-17.
  27. ↑ Nomani, Samir Ali (2025-04-25). "Teachers call on FCPS to honor collective bargaining agreements". Fairfax County Times. Archived from the original on April 25, 2025. Retrieved 2026-05-17.
  28. ↑ McCaffrey, Scott (2026-04-15). "FCPS workers' union urges county leaders to restore last year's budget cuts". FFXnow. Retrieved 2026-05-17.
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