VIRGINIA BEACH — The pros and cons of allowing city employees to collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions will be hashed out in a study.

Mayor Bobby Dyer called for the analysis and had the support of enough colleagues for the proposal to advance Tuesday. He had suggested studying the matter last month, but the decision walks back his previous call to include a collective bargaining advisory referendum on the November ballot.

Dyer said there’s not enough time to gather information and to educate the public before the November elections. Early voting starts Sept. 20.

A closely divided council already rejected collective bargaining in April after one employee unit requested a vote. But the city attorney confirmed that another employee group could request a vote on the matter again.

As for the study, despite being adopted on the consent agenda; five members voted against it, including Barbara Henley, David Hutcheson, Jennifer Rouse, Chris Taylor and Sabrina Wooten. The same council members who voted in support of allowing collective bargaining of city employees voted against the study except for Taylor.

Henley, Taylor and Wooten have said they couldn’t support another study given the amount of studies the council has commissioned on various topics over the last couple of years.

“These studies, we’re just throwing out a lot of money,” said Henley.

The exact cost of this study hasn’t been determined yet, but it will be a factor in awarding a contract, according to a city spokesperson.

Dyer, Michael Berlucchi, Worth Remick, Amelia Ross-Hammond, Joash Schulman and Rosemary Wilson voted in favor of the study.

“The only intent about this is to the get out the information, the objective information, about the pros and the cons,” Dyer said in the workshop before the vote. “When we go into making a long-term decision that’s going to effect the way that we operate, and it’s going to affect our budget, let’s at least get some of the ideas behind it.”

The analysis will look at collective bargaining experiences of other cities similar to Virginia Beach. A request for proposals will be issued soon.

In February, IAFF Local 2924, representing Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services Department employees, requested the City Council vote to allow collective bargaining. The City Council was required to vote on the request within 120 days.

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On April 30, the City Council denied collective bargaining in a 5-5 vote with one abstention.

Dyer had said before the vote that the timing wasn’t right because of the potential costs, but he supported a more enhanced “meet and confer” process than what currently exists, which would require communication with the council.

A collective bargaining task force, called for by the mayor, convened last year and provided a report with recommendations on the scope of the bargaining and the number of units.

Dyer said at a May 7 meeting that he would request an advisory referendum on collective bargaining on the November ballot. But he walked back those plans May 21, saying he wants more time to study the issue and educate the public.

“I don’t want a rush job and go into a heavy season in November,” Dyer said at that meeting.

The mayor suggested the referendum could be planned for the 2025 ballot instead.

Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com