VIDEO: Emergency responders in Virginia have a new way to fight for better wages, and many will soon be looking at what happens specifically in the city of Portsmouth.
This week, the Portsmouth Professional Fire Fighters & Paramedics Association -- IAFF 539 -- took to social media, calling the rate of firefighters leaving the city "alarming."
"It is time to STOP the MASS EXODUS!" the Facebook post from June 1 reads.
It's just one of the recent posts made through the account regarding collective bargaining efforts that could soon take place in the city, a process that would allow Portsmouth's firefighters and other city employees to negotiate work conditions.
“We’re seeing a big issue with keeping tenured people that taxpayers have paid to train," Secretary of IAFF 539 Thomas Sessoms told 13News Now Thursday.