Richmond is poised to consider expanding collective bargaining to city employees.

A proposal to authorize City Hall and public safety employees to organize and negotiate contracts on pay and working conditions is headed to City

Council just days after city schoolteachers were authorized to organize and negotiate con- tracts with Richmond Public Schools.

City Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell, 8th District, is expected to introduce the ordinance on Monday, Dec. 13, to launch the debate over extending union rights to public workers under a new state law that went into effect May 1.

Ms. Trammell did not respond to a request for comment, but her aide, Rick Bishop, confirmed that Ms. Trammell requested that the City Attorney’s Office draft the legislation for introduction at the next meeting.

Lincoln Saunders, the city’s chief administrative officer, also did not respond to a request for comment on the legislation that has drawn some critics who see such bargaining as laying the ground for imposing limits on management and for significantly raising costs.

Keith Andes, president of Richmond Local 995 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, is optimistic that Ms. Trammell’s legislation will pass and grant employees a bigger say on pay, benefits and working conditions. Currently, the local can make recommendations, but has no part in developing pay plans or in setting policies affecting employees.

Mr. Andes said that ahead of the November 2020 City Council elections, every incumbent and challenger “responded positively” to Local 995’s question of whether they supported collective bargaining.

However, only Councilman Michael J. Jones, 9th District, has publicly voiced his support for authorizing employees to bargain with the city over pay and working conditions.

The new state law lifted a ban imposed in 1993 that barred public employees from organizing and bargaining for contracts with local governmental entities. State employees are still barred from engaging in collective bargaining.

If approved, Richmond would follow in the footsteps of Alexandria and Arlington and Fairfax counties, which already have authorized their employees to engage in collective bargaining.

Portsmouth endorsed the idea in 2020 before the law became effective, but then rejected it during the summer.