'Dedication does not pay my bills': Hopewell considers collective bargaining for city workers

HOPEWELL – Saying dedication to her job “does not pay my bills,” the secretary of the city’s Police Benevolent Association chapter urged City Council Tuesday night to permit collective bargaining here for public-safety personnel.

Hopewell Police currently operates at about 78% of its allocated 68-officer payroll. Officer Constance Moreau told councilors thay by the end of that week, vacancies could be growing “by two or even more.”

“And it’s not because we don’t like the city. I chose Hopewell,” Moreau, a police officer for two years, said. “I chose Hopewell for what it offers to me as an officer. I like the people. I like the type of work I do … I learned a lot in two years.”

Moreau said she learned a lot from Hopewell’s senior police leadership, some of whom attended Tuesday’s meeting. She added they are “the same senior people who are looking at other agencies, the same senior people who do not feel appreciated for the hard work that they do.”

Moreau said she was not up there lamenting that police officers work harder than anyone else.

“I knew what I signed up for, and I’m happy about it,” she added. “But my dedication does not pay my bills as much as I would like it to.”

Moreau and Vance Stallings spoke during a public hearing on the proposal to allow public-safety and other city personnel to take part in collective bargaining. Proponents say that allowing collective bargaining increases communication between city workers and city administration, and is a proactive strategy for addressing issues before they become official grievances.

Stallings, an attorney working with Hopewell’s chapter of the Southern Police Benevolent Association, told council that collective bargaining also increases the retention rate for law-enforcement personnel. He called Hopewell’s department “a young police department” and noted that every time an officer leaves, the city loses its investment “on the officers you paid to train.”

The 2020 Virginia General Assembly voted to allow collective bargaining in municipal government. Since then, Stallings said his firm has worked with a dozen localities – including Richmond and Charlottesville – to set up bargaining units. These units would be green-lighted to work with city administration on the department’s behalf on any issues before they could have legal ramifications.

Stallings also said city administration would not be giving up any authority to govern if collective bargaining is allowed. Granting permission is “a launching point” for the process to be created in Hopewell.

“Collective bargaining is just a tool. It’s not a panacea,” he said.

Moreau came to Hopewell from a police department in south Florida, a state where collective bargaining has been permitted for years. She said it created “massive competition for employment” in her department and others there.

“A lot of things could be fixed by collective bargaining,” she said.

Tuesday was the first of two public hearings on the issue. The next hearing Oct. 10 would be the one where councilors vote on it.

The atmosphere in council chambers was completely different from the status quo, as both the mayor and vice mayor were not physically present. Vice Mayor Jasmine Gore is on childbirth leave, and Mayor Johnny Partin Jr. was on vacation, even though he took part in the meeting electronically.

Ward 2 Councilor Michael Harris also took part electronically.

Ward 6 Councilor Brenda Pelham, a former mayor, presided over the meeting. She was joined on the dais by Ward 1’s Rita Joyner, Ward 5’s Janice Denton and Ward 7’s Dominic Holloway.

More: Hopewell names interim police chief to the role permanently

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Hopewell council mulls collective barganing for city workers