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 a three-part plan Wednesday 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.
“As governor, I saw firsthand how our right-to-work law gives Virginia a crucial competitive economic advantage in encouraging investment and attracting new jobs to our commonwealth,” Allen said. “But today, through executive fiat and government intrusion, [President Obama’s] administration is waging war on private employers under the guise of protecting workers.”
Allen’s proposal, called the Freedom to Work Act, bans the NLRB from ordering an employer to move, shut down or transfer employees, even if the company violates federal laws. It would also prohibit federal agencies from discriminating against nonunion bidders, remove requirements that federal construction projects go to union employers and gives all 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 Allen’s 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 that have 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 supported Virginia’s right-to-work laws while he served as governor between 2006 and 2010 and has said he will continue to back them if he is elected senator. Still, between 2000 and 2010 unions like the Service Employees International Union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the AFL-CIO contributed a combined $1 million to Kaine campaigns.
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 forces Kaine to continue expressing support for the state’s right-to-work laws without alienating the unions that are helping fund his campaign.
