Several teachers and community activists urged the Newport News City Council on Dec. 9 to take up and authorize collective bargaining for city employees and to work with the school board to extend bargaining rights to school staff.

A teacher who identified themself as new to Newport News said collective bargaining was not a "magic wand" but described it as "a hail Mary" and "a tourniquet to stop the bleeding" for staffing and retention issues. David Brackman, speaking on behalf of activists supporting the Newport News Educators Association's Red for Ed campaign, said a bargaining framework would give employees more say over working conditions and cited bus-driver shortages as an example of problems bargaining might help address. Mary Voss, an NNPS teacher and member of the Newport News Education Association, told council "I urge you to take action to authorize collective bargaining" and noted that other Virginia localities have used bargaining to stabilize retention.

Councilman Long said the city authorized a collective-bargaining task force and that the report is being reviewed by the council's financing and governance subcommittee; he invited people to attend the subcommittee, which meets the third Tuesday of every month. Council members thanked speakers for participating but did not place a formal binding ordinance on the floor during this meeting.

What happens next: Council indicated the task force report is under review by its subcommittee; no ordinance was adopted at the Dec. 9 meeting.