Republican George Allen is looking to make labor a wedge issue in Virginia’s 2012 U.S. Senate race by insisting that right-to-work laws be expanded to all 50 states.
Allen revealed his three-part plan that partially strips power from the National Labor Relations Board, which angered conservatives when it intervened in Boeing’s decision to move a production line from union-friendly Washington state to South Carolina, which, like Virginia, is a right-to-work state where union membership cannot be required as a condition of employment. The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives approved a measure similar to Allen’s earlier this year.
Allen’s plan, called the Freedom to Work Act, also prohibits federal agencies from discriminating against non-union bidders and gives workers a choice whether they want to join a union.
A spokeswoman for Tim Kaine, Allen’s likely Democratic opponent in next year’s election, ripped the plan for failing to focus on job creation.
“Governor Kaine believes real worker freedom is a payroll tax cut for the middle class and small businesses, which George Allen opposes,” Brandi Hoffine said.
Newly elected Republicans in statehouses across the country have worked to strip power from public labor unions thathave long been reliable Democratic Party allies that provide not just money but armies of campaign volunteers. Virginia already bans employers from requiring workers to join a union, so labor’s influence in the commonwealth is weaker than in other states.
Kaine, a former governor, supported Virginia’s right-to-work laws while in office. But some of his top donors between 2000 and 2010 were unions like the Service Employees International Union ($495,485), the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers ($246,250) and the AFL-CIO ($244,400).
Unions are proving to be an important factor in Kaine’s Senate campaign as well. The Ironworkers Union donated $10,000 through June 30 — one of his top contributors.
By injecting labor laws into the debate, Allen is attempting to force Kaine to continue expressing support for the state’s right-to-work laws without alienating the unions that are helping fund his campaign.
“George Allen told voters all they need to know about his approach to ‘worker freedom’ when he saddled this country with more than $3 trillion in debt, championed unfunded tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans that helped create our deficit problem, and voted against raising the minimum wage while voting to increase his own salary as a Senator,” Hoffine said.
