West Virginia Goes Right To Work — Legendary labor powerhouse West Virginia — the land of Matewan and the UMWA — just went “right to work”.
“Right to work” means it is illegal to make as a condition of employment joining a union or paying union dues. One can still join a union, of course, or pay dues. He just can’t be fired if he chooses not to do so. Maybe he doesn’t like his hard-earned, involuntarily taken money being used for his local’s leader’s $277,000 salary. Or perhaps, he’s really mad that it winds up as donations to politicians who support unrestricted immigration, closing refineries, and Planned Parenthood while opposing letting him have the means to defend himself if he should feel the need.
Polling shows that 74 percent of U.S. voters support “right to work”.
West Virginia follows in the footsteps of legendary labor powerhouses Michigan and Indiana which went RTW in 2012, and Wisconsin which did so last year.
West Virginia’s law was enacted yesterday, Feb. 12, when the state House and Senate overrode Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s veto.
West Virginian also, yesterday, repealed its prevailing wage law which is a law that mandates workers on public projects be paid at a rate set by the government rather than the market.
Pennsylvania also has a prevailing wage law. It is estimated that it adds 20 percent to the cost of public works. This means that a new high school that cost $130 million with prevailing wage would cost $104 million without it. It would be almost as if the community magically found $26 million.
If reforms such as these could happen in West Virginia, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin, there is no reason to think they couldn’t happen in Pennsylvania.
West Virginia Goes Right To Work and ends prevailing wage.
“If reforms such as these could happen in West Virginia, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin, there is no reason to think they couldn’t happen in Pennsylvania.”
The only reason I can think of, is that we have the Keystone Obama in the governor’s mansion. Till he’s gone, the General Assembly could pass it, but he’ll veto it every time. We have to get him out, first.
I don’t see it happening during Wolf’s reign as well but the first thing to do is to get the Keystone GOP’s mind right. When it had everything two years ago they didn’t do it either.