With the deadline for School Board action looming, two major advocacy groups are pressing for a blanket ban on student phone use during the instructional day in Arlington.
The Arlington Education Association (AEA) and Arlington Parents for Education (APE) have sent a joint letter to School Board members and Superintendent Francisco Durán, seeking the more restrictive of two options currently being considered.
Arlington County’s firefighter union has taken a vote of no confidence against Fire Chief David Povlitz.
The vote passed by wide margins today (Wednesday), with about 81% of voting members calling for the chief to resign, IAFF Local 2800 announced. About 71% of the union participated.
Arlington Transit workers have reached a tentative deal with their employer, diminishing the threat of possible disruption to ART bus service.
If ratified, the agreement would put an end to several months of increasingly tense negotiations between ART workers and the county-contracted transportation company Transdev.
A fire engine in the Ballston area was out of service last night due to understaffing at the Arlington County Fire Department.
Engine 102 was ACFD’s busiest fire engine last year, responding to over 3,400 calls. As the department continues to grapple with high vacancy rates, however, the equipment was temporarily “browned out” — impacting firefighters’ ability to respond to medical calls as well as fires.
Arlington’s police union is calling for better pay following increases in some violent crimes and two incidents where suspects allegedly fought police.
As of last week, the Arlington County Police Department has 61 vacancies or a 16.2% vacancy rate, Randall Mason, president of the Arlington Coalition of Police, told ARLnow.
Arlington Transit (ART) workers are threatening to strike over a dispute about pay and work conditions.
About 80 ART workers staged a “practice picket” before dawn yesterday (Monday) in a show of solidarity and a signal that they are prepared to escalate the conflict with their county-contracted employer, France-based transportation company Transdev.
Roughly 150 employees at Reagan National Airport are holding informational pickets this week as they pursue the right to organize a union.
The employees, who work across four concessions operated by Master ConcessionAir, were scheduled to picket from 10-11:30 a.m. today (Monday) as well as from 1-3 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday) on the airport’s ticketing level, just outside of Door 6.
Local elected officials are throwing their weight behind a unionization effort at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City.
Writing on behalf of the Board earlier this month, Arlington County Chair Libby Garvey noted that over 70% of housekeeping workers at the hotel next to Reagan National Airport signed union authorization cards in July, filing for a union election.
Arlington unions and state representatives are doubling down on calls for more labor protections in the construction of the new Arlington Career Center.
A $132 million construction contract is up for consideration at an Arlington School Board meeting on Thursday. At least a year of delays would likely result if the School Board seeks a prevailing wage agreement for the project, guaranteeing that workers get paid wages comparable to market rates, Arlington Public Schools staff said at a meeting last month.
Arlington’s state legislators are calling on school officials to provide more labor protections for workers building the multimillion-dollar Arlington Career Center.
Sens. Adam Ebbin and Barbara Favola, along with Delegates Patrick Hope, Alfonso Lopez and Adele McClure, sent a letter to the Arlington School Board last month requesting a prevailing wage requirement. This would require workers to receive wages comparable to market rates when constructing the roughly $180 million project at 816 S. Walter Reed Drive.
Arlington Transit workers have overwhelmingly voted to join the same union as their Metro counterparts.
ATU Local 689 announced this morning that 99% of workers — including bus drivers, technicians and cleaners — voted to join the union last month. More, below, from a press release.
Arlington’s police and fire unions are vying for more funding in the county’s proposed $1.62 billion budget to fix compensation issues they say fuel attrition and vacancy issues.
County Manager Mark Schwartz, meanwhile, makes the case in the 2024-2025 budget that the county has been and is committed to meeting these problems with funding while balancing other budget priorities.
