A West Virginia judge has delayed the implementation of right to work as she weighs a union challenge to the law.
Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Bailey issued a stay on the law, which allows workers to opt out of union representation and ends coercive union membership as a condition of employment. A coalition of state unions led by the West Virginia AFL-CIO are challenging the validity of the law, arguing that workers should pay for services and benefits generated by union bargaining.
"I don’t see the harm that will occur to delay this for the short while," Bailey said.
West Virginia became the nation’s 26th right to work state in February after the state legislature overrode Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s veto of the legislation.
Republican Del. Gary Howell, who championed the legislation in the House of Delegates, said that he is not concerned with the judge’s order. Right to work laws have been upheld in 24 states and every level of federal court.
"It’s a short term delay," he told the Washington Free Beacon. "Other states have upheld it and I don’t see a reason why it shouldn’t be upheld in West Virginia."
The AFL-CIO did not return request for comment. A spokeswoman for Gov. Tomblin declined to comment on the ruling, instead directing the Washington Free Beacon to the governor’s legal brief in which he voiced his objection to the law, but pledged to faithfully implement it.
"Governor Tomblin takes no position on the merits of the [suit]. Because the Legislature overrode the Governor’s veto, the Governor is obligated to faithfully execute [the law] notwithstanding his public policy objections to the statute," the brief says.
Labor watchdogs called the stay "disappointing," but said that unions will ultimately face an uphill climb in making their argument. Patrick Semmens, spokesman for the National Right to Work Foundation, said that unions cannot assert property rights over the paychecks of workers.
"If you boil down their outrageous argument, union bosses’ assertion is that they have a constitutional ‘right’ to seize dues from workers who don’t want and never asked for the union’s so-called representation," he said. "It is akin to deliberately trespassing on a neighbor’s lawn, mowing it without their permission, then claiming a legal right to payment for your lawn care services."
West Virginia’s law is not the only one facing legal scrutiny. A circuit court judge in Wisconsin struck down Gov. Scott Walker’s right to work legislation, saying that the loss of dues money violated the state Constitution. The state has appealed the decision.