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On the Ballot: Virginia Looks to Cement "Right to Work" Culture

 

This November, the presidential race is not the only thing on the ballot. There’s also little known — but very important — state constitutional amendment that could have lasting consequences for the relationship between workers and their employers. 

 

Tricia Cowell gets behind the wheel of her 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe and plugs the street address of a small private school into her GPS. Then she sets off for a day’s work.

“I investigate allegations of child abuse and neglect.," Cowell says. "So during the course of the investigation we interview all family members."

She drives all over Fairfax county, putting in the miles. We pull up outside a school. 

"What we normally do is go in and we initially make contact with the school staff and let them know why we are here," says Cowell.

Cowell works for Child Protective Services in Fairfax County, and she’s a member of union — sort of. It’s an organization she voluntarily joined, and it doesn’t have the same kind of standing as unions in other states. That’s because she wasn’t forced to join.

That means her union is smaller and less effective than unions in states that where getting a job can sometimes mean having to join a union. And in Virginia, there’s also a ban on collective bargaining for public sector workers.

“Because there’s no collective bargaining, we can work with management through the union to try to impact change but at the end of the day our experience has been we don’t really have the ability to pressure management into changing," says Cowell.

Related: DeadlyAmbush of Fairfax Officer Prompted Constitutional Amendment on Ballot This Year

It’s not just public employees who are influenced by Virginia’s restrictions on labor unions. No workplace in Virginia is allowed to require union membership as a condition of employment.

Quentin Kidd at Christopher Newport University says Virginia’s history as a state with weak unions dates back to the 1920's, when then-Governor Harry Byrd launched a political machine that would rule the commonwealth for half a century.

“The Byrd machine was full of politicians that came out of business for the most part and they weren’t really interested in unions or having a very union friendly state," says Kidd.

 

If a worker wants to join a union and he has one in his workplace, he can still do that. But it does give control of the workplace to the workers and not the unions.

And those pro-business conservativesDemocratsdidn’t care for collective bargaining.

“The political elite that ran the state was never really interested in having strong unions in Virginia anyway, and so they never really constructed a regulatory or legal structure that would have really made unions possible if you will," says Kidd.

The Virginia General Assembly first created the right to work laws back in the 1940's, and one of the key provisions was the ban on employers requiring union membership of their employees.

That's been the law of the land for 70 years. And for the last six years, Republican Delegate Dickie Bell of Staunton has been on a mission to add that restriction to the Virginia Constitution.

See the full text of the Ballot Amendment Here.

Bell dismisses criticism that the amendment is harmful to working people -- saying unions still exist, and private sector employees can still use collective bargaining.

“They can still bargain collectively in Virginia," Bell says. "If a worker wants to join a union and he has one in his workplace, he can still do that. But it does give control of the workplace to the workers and not the unions."

Critics, though, say Virginia and other states that have restrictions on unions are just not as safe.

“In states with so called right to work laws, working people are fifty percent more likely to have worksite deaths," says David Broder of the Service Employees International Union.

Broder points to a recent AFL-CIO report that says states that have restrictions on unions have a higher incidents of workplace deaths. He says that’s because unions help make sure employers spend the money necessary to maintain a safe workplace.

“In states where we don’t see these kinds of attacks, folks are much safer at the job," says Broder.

The proposed constitutional amendment has already met all the other requirements -- it was approved twice by the General Assembly with with an election in between.

Now, voters will get their say on Election Day.   

 

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