Labor & Worker Rights

Right to Work

What it promised. What it delivered. And why the fight for worker protections is more urgent than ever.

I guess I am still confused about "Right to Work."

When it was passed, the representative from Nicholas County told me that I "just didn't understand it." He promised that jobs would become plentiful, that there wouldn't be enough West Virginians to fill them, that wages would rise, and that employers' costs would fall. Maybe he was right about one thing — I don't understand it. Because I have yet to see the results he promised.

As far back as I can remember, I have always had the right to work. I don't recall any group of people being denied that right. What I do understand is that "Right to Work" has little to do with the right to work and much more to do with the right to work for less — less pay, fewer benefits, and weaker protections.

No one has ever forced me to join a union. I have done so of my own free will. Workers have choices about where they apply for jobs and whether they want union representation. If someone doesn't want to join a union or contribute to protecting workers' rights, that's their choice. If they would rather place all their trust in a company, that's their choice too. After all, we're often told that corporations always have our best interests at heart. But we know that when workers have no voice, employers can rule with an iron fist, and workers are left with little recourse.

"Right to Work" has little to do with the right to work and much more to do with the right to work for less — less pay, fewer benefits, and weaker protections.

Look at what is happening today. Worker protections are being chipped away piece by piece.

On the final day of the last legislative session, HB 5441 was passed. According to the bill, future employees of the Department of Transportation — and employees who move from their current positions — will lose civil service status and access to the grievance process. The legislation also eliminates the state's merit-based personnel system for the State Tax Division and the Bureau for Social Services. These changes take effect July 1, 2026.

What does that mean?

To me, it means that jobs at the Department of Transportation could return to the old political patronage system, where employment decisions depend more on who you know than what you know. It means staffing changes with every election cycle. It means workers who believe they have been treated unfairly may no longer have a meaningful grievance process available to them.

The elimination of a merit-based system should concern everyone. Merit systems are designed to reward performance, experience, and qualifications. Without them, what happens to the employee who shows up every day, works hard, never misses work, and consistently gets the job done? If promotions and raises are no longer based on merit, what are they based on? Connections? Political loyalty? Personal relationships?

Years ago, a supervisor told me that if I learned to play golf, I would get along better with management. I never learned to play golf. I always believed hard work and performance should matter more than who you spend your weekends with.

This is why it matters.

Worker rights are being weakened every day. Job protections are disappearing. Merit systems are being dismantled. Grievance procedures are being eliminated. As these protections vanish, workers may find that the only effective safeguard they have left is standing together in solidarity through collective representation.

The question is not whether workers have the right to work. The question is whether they will continue to have rights once they get there.