Skip to main content

Updated: West Virginia On the Verge of Becoming the Next Right to Work State


Back in December, I pointed readers to a recent development in West Virginia after Republicans in the state began to discuss whether to introduce right to work legislation.  (Will West Virginia become the Next Right to Work State?).  This came on the heels of a study that found several economic benefits associated with right to work laws which Republicans pointed to as evidence of why right to work legislation was needed in the state.  Unsurprisingly, several unions and their supporters spoke out against West Virginia becoming a right to work state and argued that the legislation would actually drive down wages and hinder economic development.  To support this argument, they pointed to the fact that since Oklahoma became a right to work state in 2001, the number of new companies moving into the state along with the manufacturing jobs in the state had fallen by a third. 

With that being said, in early January, the West Virginia Legislature began its annual 60 day legislative session.  Almost on cue, the first bill introduced was the one that intends to make West Virginia a right to work state.  As of now, the legislation has passed the Republican controlled Senate and is being considered in the Republican controlled House.  Assuming the legislation is approved in the House, it would go before the Governor for signature or veto.  Note, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin (a Democrat), is expected to veto the legislation.  If that were to happen, this bill would go back to the West Virginia Legislature and only require a simple majority vote in both houses to override the veto.  In other words, a veto would likely only delay the inevitable. 

Stay tuned.  At this point, it appears to only be a matter of time before West Virginia becomes the 26th right to work state.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum,...
Post a Comment
Read more

San Diego Rolls Back Vaccine Mandate For City Workers

Last Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted to do away with the vaccine mandate for city employees. The city’s vaccine mandate that was in place required city workers to get the coronavirus vaccine or risk termination.  Perhaps to this surprise of no one, the city’s policy came under fire with 14 employees being terminated and over 100 other employees resigning.  With the coronavirus subsiding, including in Southern California, the San Diego City Council took action. Now, bear in mind, the repeal of the vaccine mandate does not take place immediately. With that being said, the mandate will be repealed March 8th.  I suppose the question now is, what other cities or regions follow San Diego’s lead? For additional information:   https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-01-24/san-diego-repeals-controversial-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-citing-drop-in-cases-hospitalizations
Post a Comment
Read more

NLRB: Former Employee Cannot Be Barred From Work Premises After Filing Wage Suit

MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC - NLRB Facts :  MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC d/b/a Grand Sierra Resort & Casino ("GSR") operated a facility that included a hotel, casino, restaurant, clubs, bars, and a pool which were all open to the general public.  Tiffany Sargent ("Sargent") was briefly employed by GSR as a "beverage supervisor" in December of 2012.  After her employment ended, Sargent continued to socialize at one of the clubs.  GSR had a long standing practice of allowing former employees to patronize its facility and did not prohibit Sargent from doing so.  In June of 2013, Sargent and another employee filed a class and collective action against GSR for alleged unpaid wages, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Nevada law.  In July of 2014, GSR denied Sargent access to an event at one of the clubs.  GSR followed up with a letter and stated that with the on-going litigation (from the wage suit), it decided to bar Sargent from the premises. ...
1 comment
Read more