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Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia Upholds State’s Right to Work Law


Last week, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia issued its decision in Patrick Morrisey, Attorney General v. WV AFL-CIO, et al, and held that the state’s right to work law was constitutional.

Readers might recall that right to work laws prohibit union membership (and dues) as a condition of employment.  West Virginia’s right to work law, passed in 2016, had long been under fire from labor groups who sought to challenge its constitutionality.  After passage, the law was enjoined for a prolonged period of time.

In its arguments before the Supreme Court of Appeals, the plaintiffs (including the WV AFL-CIO) argued the law impermissibly restricted the association rights of unions, required an unconstitutional “taking” of unions’ property, and infringed upon the liberty interstate of unions under West Virginia’s constitution.  The Court was unswayed, however.  Of note, the Court pointed out that the state’s right to work law “operates to protect the right of workers to not be forced to associate against their will.”  Relying upon the United States Supreme Court’s 2018ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, the Court in this case recognized the importance of protecting the rights of workers to be free from financially supporting labor organizations whose views they do not share.  As well, the Court found that nothing in the right to work law required unions to represent non-dues paying employees.  Instead, federal law requires unions to represent employees when the union voluntarily chooses to represent all employees exclusively.

With the Court’s ruling last week, this paves the way for West Virginia’s law to take effect, much to the chagrin of labor groups.


For a copy of the Court’s decision:  http://www.courtswv.gov/supreme-court/docs/spring2020/19-0298b.pdf

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