(Who Are We Really?)
On Friday January 20th , I attended (without registering) the Chairman’s annual reception at the Government Center. This has been an annual open event for County employees for a number of years. Most of the current Board was there, along with former Board Chair and now Congressman Gerry Connolly. Sharon Bulova, the chair before Jeff McKay, was there as well, gracious to a fault as always.
This event felt different to me this time. It had more of a campaign event vibe, perhaps appropriate for an election year. We skipped the sign in table (not sure why that was needed). In front, Fairfax’s two richest (if not most popular unions) the SEIU Virginia 512 and the Firefighters Local, acted as servers. I’m not sure why they were serving food, given they are among the Board’s biggest contributors. (On the eve of collective bargaining, the Firefighters have been stroking some large checks to politicos and Big Purple is sure to follow suit. (This is what they really mean by “a seat at the table.”)
As host, Chairman McKay gave a campaign style speech, thanking County workers and extolling the virtues of inclusive, democratic government that stood for workers and praised the multiethnic, diverse culture of Fairfax that abhorred discrimination. He received deserved applause from the audience, although I have to say there seemed to be a lot more community players than workers in attendance.
Sounds like standard stuff, right? And there was little new to see there.
But it’s not where we live.
Just that morning, FWC was in circuit court, only a couple of miles from that evening’s gala. We were representing a member, a woman supervisor from the Newington Solid Waste Complex, who was paid $10-12,000 less than her colleagues, despite having considerably more experience and seniority. Our member contended, citing the law for equal pay, that inclusive anti- discrimination Fairfax should allow her grievance the privilege of being heard by the County’s Civil Service Commission.
The County Attorney, well paid by those same elected representatives mentioned above, strenuously argued that our member should not be allowed to go before the Commission on a charge of pay based discrimination. Maybe he didn’t get the memo.
Sadly, this is the Fairfax most people don’t see, but the employees know it’s there. It’s a matter of routine for this supposedly progressive government to fight employees seeking equal pay, workers’ compensation claims, unfairness in the workplace, and safer working conditions. For me, it’s a daily occurrence.
Someone once told me it’s easy to believe in a principle in the abstract. If there isn’t a real human being attached to it, it’s easy to say you support equality and you’re against discrimination. Another way to describe it is “walking the walk.” Whatever you say you believe in means nothing if you don’t stand up when it counts. And the same goes for unions- they shouldn’t be enabling this system by sending large amounts of money to politicians who really don’t believe in the core values we espouse. This just perpetuates the cycle, nothing changes, and whatever power is achieved is ultimately hollow.
FWC is here to fill the gap between what is said and what is done. We’re fighting for all of Fairfax.