Charlottesville non-licensed school staff vying for collective bargaining victory

Licensed education staff negotiated an historic contract—now non-licensed workers hope to follow.

The licensed staff of Charlottesville City Schools won their first contract through collective bargaining in March, and now the non-licensed staff that serve as the backbone of the city’s education system are ready to follow suit. 

Charlottesville Education Association (CEA) president Shannon Gillikin told Dogwood the new three-year contract for licensed staff, which includes teachers, nurses, social workers, and counselors, guarantees annual step increases on the pay scale as well as 4% annual raises. The new contract also guarantees stipends to make sure teachers are getting paid for extra work they are asked to do along with wins around scheduling. 

Gillikin, a kindergarten teacher with 15 years of experience, called the new contract negotiated through collective bargaining an “historic win” that was received enthusiastically by the 550-member bargaining unit it covers. The group ratified the contract with 99% of a vote that saw 51% voter turnout.

Next up for the Charlottesville Education Association is to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement for non-licensed staff, a separate bargaining unit that includes safety officers, nutrition managers, and custodians – people who Gillikin called the backbones of schools who are “drastically underpaid.” 

Teletha Howard, a care safety assistant who helps teachers manage their classrooms and monitors school safety, hopes a new contract for her and other non-licensed staff will recognize their contributions to the schools. In addition to securing better pay, Howard, who graduated from Charlottesville High School, hopes to win more mental health support to help her manage the stress of her job. 

“The teachers have had their victory, but it’s time for us to have our victory,” Howard said. 

Negotiations on the licensed staff contract ran from August 2024 until February 2025, and the School Board ratified the agreement in March. Previously, the Charlottesville City School Board passed a resolution to allow for collective bargaining in 2023. 

Charlottesville was among the first, and remains one of the few Virginia school divisions, to allow for collective bargaining, after state lawmakers lifted a 43-year-old ban on collective bargaining for local government workers in 2020.  

Charlottesville City Schools Superintendent Royal Gurley spoke positively about the collective bargaining agreement in a statement to Dogwood. 

“Having a collective bargaining agreement has also impacted recruitment,” Gurley said.  “We are hearing from applicants who are interested in working for our division because of collective bargaining.”

Gillikin, riffing on a C.S. Lewis quote, said the more she learned about collective bargaining, the more she learned about possibilities it opened up for her and her fellow workers. 

“It’s like we’ve just had mud pies, and we can’t even imagine what to ask for at a seaside resort because we’ve never even seen one,” Gillikin said. “Asking people to dream big and to even know what you can ask for is a new concept. And it’s been a year of learning like, ‘Oh, we can ask for that. We can guarantee that.’ And we’re still learning what to ask for.”

Gillikin’s message for other licensed professionals working in Virginia school divisions is that getting half of your bargaining unit plus one more person to sign cards to form a union is not a big hurdle. Gillikin said people interested in forming a union should reach out to her and other peers who have already gone through the process. 

“You don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” she said. “We can tell you exactly how we did our card campaign.”