Mackinac Center’s Director of Labor Policy F. Vincent Vernuccio joined the Wall Street Journal to discuss his recent work in West Virginia, which is on track to become the nation’s 26th right-to-work state.
Friday, hours after the West Virginia Senate signed off on a bill that would give workers in the state the freedom to decide whether or not to join a union, Vernuccio spoke about the growing trend toward worker freedom and how right-to-work improves lives and can make unions stronger.
“In right-to-work states there are more jobs, so there’s more opportunity for union jobs,” Vernuccio told Opinion Journal host Mary Kissel on Friday. “Right-to-work states have lower unemployment, higher wage growth, higher job growth, higher population growth and when we factor in cost-of-living, workers are making more.”
West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin is expected to veto the bill, but it is believed there are enough supporters of right-to-work in Virginia’s Senate and House of Delegates.
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