JULIUS REYNOLDS

It’s simple: quality union jobs mean quality service. When workers have a voice on the job, are paid fairly, and have good working conditions, they’re able to do their jobs better. And in the case of public servants, that means better serving you. Most states respect public servants like teachers, firefighters, nurses, and juvenile probation officers like me as experts who know what we need to do our jobs, and allow us to come together to negotiate contracts. But Virginia is an outlier.

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(Ned Oliver/ Virginia Mercury) By Julius Reynolds Almost exactly 108 years ago, a convention was held for workers in Alexandria. It was June 1913, and for the first time, the Virginia Federation of Labor allowed Black workers to join. Many of the oldest, all-White organizations in attendance left the convention in fury. The federation chose to dissolve the delegation of Black workers. Fast forward a century.