COVER STORY A labor L
question Virginia’s right-to-work law may
become an election issue by Michael O’Connor
ess than three years after voters rejected enshrining Virginia’s right-to-work law in the state constitution, the recent General Assembly
session saw an effort to repeal the law altogether. Del. Lee Carter, a first-term Democrat and professed socialist from
Manassas, sponsored legislation to revoke Virginia’s right-to-work law, which has been in effect since 1947. Such laws prohibit collective bargain- ing agreements requiring workers to join unions or pay union fees as a condition of their employment. Like many other labor-related bills Carter sponsored, the repeal
bill was left in committee, never receiving a vote in the Republican- controlled House of Delegates. “When workers form a union, everyone in the workplace ben-
efits from higher wages and better conditions,” Carter tweeted in December (he had more than 33,000 followers on Twitter in March). “But ever since 1947, Virginia has allowed some to freeload off of their co-workers’ hard-won union without paying dues. I’ve filed [this bill] to end this 70+-year injustice.” Without a vote from the full house, it’s difficult to
gauge just how much support there is among Virginia lawmakers to repeal right-to-work or take a more liberal stance on labor issues. In 2016, the push to let voters decide on adding a right-to-work amendment to the state constitution was passed by the General Assembly on party-line votes. Carter did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Photo by Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch
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