Labor leaders in Virginia are hanging their heads in disappointment.
Despite gaining total control of the state government, it seems that the Right-to-Work repeal effort is dead at the moment.
Virginia established Right-to-Work in 1947, which prohibited employers from forcing workers to pay union dues as a condition of employment.
However, the pro-union lobby faced a major obstacle from the most ironic of places — Governor Ralph Northam’s office.
According to Northam, a Right-to-Work repeal is unrealistic for the time being.
“We will have that discussion if and when it gets to my desk,” the Democrat governor stated.
There will be no discussion now that the Democrat majority in the House killed the bill by not placing it on the agenda for the last Appropriations Committee meeting prior to the crossover day deadline.
Democrat Delegate Lee Carter has worked diligently to repeal the right to work law for years.
“It died a quiet death in Appropriations,” claimed Carter. “But that doesn’t stop the public pressure for this bill. So, the bill will be back next year.”
However, repealing Right-to-Work won’t simply go away. Labor leaders are ready to raise a stink about this issue during the primary elections for Governor next year. They will take advantage of the electoral season to find a candidate who is willing to repeal Virginia’s Right to Work law.
For now, economic freedom advocates can sleep at night knowing that forced unionization is not an imminent threat in Old Dominion.
However, Second Amendment issues are a whole different story.
