Right-to-Work Advocate Blames Unions’ Legal Threats for Loss
GEORGETOWN, Delaware—Officials in one of Delaware’s three counties rejected right-to-work legislation Tuesday, shortly after the county attorney detailed his legal opinion and predicted a thicket of costly court challenges to the law from labor unions.
Sussex County Council member Rob Arlett, who has spearheaded the proposal, told The Daily Signal that the council backed down in the face of those legal threats from unions.
“Today, the Sussex County Council made a decision based on fear of litigation,” Arlett said in a phone interview after digesting the 4-1 defeat of his bill. “I’m encouraged by the outpouring of support from the business community. I’m disappointed the council decided to uphold the status quo.”
Arlett was the only one of the council members, all Republicans, to vote yes on the right-to-work measure.
Right-to-work laws prohibit private sector employers from entering into agreements that make union membership and payment of union dues a condition of employment.
A total of 28 states and the territory of Guam now have right-to-work laws, with Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and West Virginia making the move since 2012.
Delaware last month became the only state in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic with a local right-to-work law on the books. The city council of Seaford, not …read more