1. United States
2. Va.
3. Letter

Override Governor Spanberger's veto of the collective bargaining bill. Both chambers passed this legislation. The votes are there. Half a million public sector workers — including 8,000 to 9,000 firefighters whose municipalities never opted in — are still denied a right that Virginia stripped away in 1948 specifically to suppress Black workers organizing at UVA hospital. That history demands action, not another veto. Spanberger campaigned on restoring collective bargaining, attended an SEIU rally in February, met with union members, and made a promise. Then she vetoed the bill. Her own amended version was rejected by the assembly because, as the Economic Policy Institute found, it would have locked Virginia into a system where collective bargaining remains "merely optional." That's not reform — it's the status quo with better branding. Glenn Youngkin vetoed the same legislation last year. Democrats should not be handing workers the same outcome with a different signature.