A Senate Democrat in Virginia has introduced legislation to repeal the commonwealth’s long-standing “right-to-work” law, setting the stage for a contentious debate in the General Assembly that could reverberate across several Southern states with similar anti-union laws long credited with turning the region into the manufacturing powerhouse it is today. 

State Senator Jennifer Carroll Foy, who represents Prince William County, says she thinks the timing is right for a change. “I’ve filed this bill to make sure that we engage and move on all areas where we can lower costs for Virginia families and protect the rights and opportunities of Virginia workers,” she wrote on X. 

She also said “I understand that the Governor-elect has stated where she stands when it comes to signing a repeal of Virginia’s so-called ‘Right to Work’ statute,” but that won’t make things easier for her.

Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger, a fellow Democrat who won in a landslide earlier this month, said on the campaign trail that she does not support repealing the law, which allows workers to benefit from a union contract without being required to pay union dues. Democrats believe the law leads to lower wages and benefits, causing income inequality.

Ms. Foy points to the Covid-19 pandemic, which highlighted the critical role of essential workers, and the later mass firings of federal workers under President Trump as events that have underscored the need for stronger worker protections.

She described the law as a “‘right-to-work-for-less,’ because we know that with unions, they’re able to negotiate for better working conditions and higher wages,” the senator told Dogwood, which calls itself a “pro-democracy news network.”

She also called the law a “vestige of the Jim Crow-era that was put in place to keep black workers from joining unions” and accessing the middle class, framing its repeal as part of the Democratic party’s core promise to make life more affordable for Virginians.

“The way that you can get equal pay for equal work is definitely with the union,” Ms.  Foy said. “So that’s what I’m focused on, and I think once we get that message out there — who can disagree with that?”

National Right to Work Committee Vice President John Kalb disagrees. “It’s not hard to see why Virginia’s Right to Work law is backed by over 80 percent of Virginians. Right to Work states consistently outperform non-Right to Work states in key indicators of economic opportunity, including job creation and per capita disposable income. But above all, Virginians support Right to Work because it lets individual workers — not union bosses — decide for themselves whether or not union officials have earned their financial support.”

“State Sen. Foy and other union-label Virginia legislators who seek to repeal Right to Work want to take away workers’ free choice rights and give their union boss cronies the power to force workers to pay up or be fired. Virginians of all stripes — including both job creators and rank-and-file workers — don’t agree with that radical agenda,” Mr. Kalb said.

Previous efforts to repeal the law have failed, but Ms. Foy, who served in the House of Delegates from 2018 to 2020 and has been in the Senate since last year, appears prepared for the fight ahead.

The new legislative push follows a related but opposite effort earlier in the year. In January, a Republican-led proposal to enshrine “right-to-work” protections in the state constitution was defeated. The Senate Privileges and Elections Committee blocked the amendment, introduced by Senator Mark Obenshain of Harrisonburg, in an 8-7 party-line vote.

During that debate, Ms. Foy noted that Virginia voters had rejected a similar constitutional amendment in 2016. “Virginians have voted, the voters have spoken, and Virginians have rejected this measure,” she said.

Supporters of the failed amendment, including Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears and Governor Glenn Youngkin, both Republicans, had argued it was necessary to protect worker freedom and the state’s business-friendly reputation.