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Former Teamster and substitute teacher Tim Beaty sworn in to Alexandria School Board

Published January 19, 2024 at 10:55AM

Tim Beaty is the new District A School Board member (via ACPS)

There’s a new member of the Alexandria School Board. Tim Beaty, the retired former global strategies director for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, was sworn into office on Thursday night.

Beaty won a special election on Jan. 9 to fill the seat vacated by former School Board Member Willie Bailey. He will fill the remaining 11 months of Bailey’s term before the next School Board is sworn into office in January 2025. During that time, he said that he wants to help Alexandria City Public Schools edge closer to a collective bargaining agreement with staff.

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Alexandria City Public Schools is prepping a collective bargaining proposal

By James Cullum

Published November 30, 2022 at 2:15PM

Alexandria City Public Schools is in the initial stages of organizing a collective bargaining effort for thousands of its employees.

The school system has more than 2,400 employees and pays $11.6 million in salaries, with funds approved by the City Council. That means that any agreement reached between ACPS staffers and the school system will have to be approved by Council.

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Alexandria Police to get significant raise after reaching collective bargaining agreement

By James Cullum

Published November 23, 2022 at 1:30PM | Updated November 30, 2022 at 12:54PM

Mayor Justin Wilson (on right) shakes hands with Damon Minnix, president of the Alexandria chapter of the Southern States Police Benevolent Association, after coming to a collective bargaining agreement on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022. (Via City of Alexandria)

The Alexandria City Council unanimously approved a collective bargaining agreement with the Southern States Police Benevolent Association, ushering in a new era of collaboration with city employees.

If likely approved in the fiscal year 2024 budget this May, the agreement means substantial pay increases for new officers, sergeants and lieutenants. The current base salary of $54,698 for an officer would be increased by 11% to $61,503 at the beginning of the next fiscal year, July 1, 2023. After next year, salaries for officers would increase 2% annually.

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Alexandria reporter tackles the anti-unionization and anti-integration legacy of The Byrd Machine

By Vernon Miles

Published October 11, 2022 at 3:50PM | Updated October 11, 2022 at 6:08PM

Years before Alexandria would grapple with collective bargaining and the legacy of discrimination in schools, Virginia was ruled by a political faction dead-set on fighting unionization and integration.

Alexandria reporter Michael Lee Pope — a reporter with the Alexandria Gazette who has frequently covered Virginia’s state politics for WAMU — announced a new book last week that dives into the history of The Byrd Machine, a political operation led by Harry Byrd that dominated Virginia politics during the mid-20th century.

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Alexandria public sector workers vote to unionize

By Vernon Miles

Published October 6, 2022 at 2:45PM

Alexandria workers post-unionization (image via AFSCME)

Nearly 200 Alexandria workers hopped onto a wave of unionization in Virginia following a new law allowing collective bargaining.

In an election held by mail, the City of Alexandria Labor and Trades Bargaining unit voted to select the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) District Council 20 Local 3001 as their union representative, AFSCME said in a release