Washington—On Monday, December 9, the Loudoun Education Association (LEA) announced that the union had won overwhelming support from its two bargaining units, winning 91 percent of the vote among bus drivers, paraeducators and other “classified” staff and 96 percent of the vote among teachers, counselors, psychologists and other licensed staff.
With this, LEA is now the 10th Virginia Education Association (VEA) affiliate to become the exclusive bargaining representative for public school employees. Three other counties in Northern Virginia—Fairfax, Prince William, and Arlington—already have ratified their first contracts and won legally binding language around protected planning time, workload, bereavement leave, and more.
“With the approval of this tentative agreement, Loudoun County educators join a growing and historic chorus of voices across the state of Virginia who are securing wins for their students and powerful changes for their public schools,” said NEA President Becky Pringle. “This agreement is further evidence that when educators stand together to collectively bargain for better pay, benefits and working conditions, such as duty-free lunch or planning, they can demand the public schools their students deserve. More to the point, this win will go a long way towards ensuring that students and schools have the resources they need, and educators have the support they deserve to continue doing the jobs they love.”
Because of the positive outcome, LEA can now negotiate contracts for more than 12,000 employees in the county. LEA will establish bargaining teams made up of LCPS employees and bargaining can begin. LEA aims to begin bargaining with Loudoun County Public Schools at the start of the new year.
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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing more than 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, students preparing to become teachers, healthcare workers, and public employees. Learn more at www.nea.org
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