Delaware County Stalls Right-to-Work Vote as Unions Protest

 
 

GEORGETOWN, Delaware—County officials put off action Tuesday on a right-to-work ordinance after dozens of union members turned out in force at government offices to oppose the legislation during a public hearing.

Members of the Sussex County Council asked for a formal opinion from the county attorney pending a vote that could come as early as Jan. 9.

Representatives of local unions affiliates gathered beforehand at a traffic circle outside the Sussex County Administrative Office Building.

“My No. 1 concern is that right to work lowers wages,” Kat Caudle, a member of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, told The Daily Signal.

“Workers should have the right to bargain for wages,” Caudle said, “and unions bring equality to this process.”

Inside, union members helped fill the council chamber to capacity during the first formal hearing on the proposed ordinance and watched the action with others from overflow rooms. Council members questioned speakers over the course of nearly six hours.

Union members and supporters gather at Georgetown Circle just outside the Sussex County Administrative Office Building. (Photos: Kevin Mooney/The Daily Signal)

Besides AFSCME, unions represented included the AFL-CIO, the United Food and Commercial Workers, the Communications Workers of America, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical …read more