Labor unions ask for summary judgment in West Virginia right-to-work case

Having been granted a preliminary injunction in August blocking enforcement of the state’s new right to work law, state labor unions have filed a petition in Kanawha Circuit Court seeking a summary judgment to overturn the law as being unconstitutional.

Judge Jennifer Bailey granted the preliminary injunction Aug. 10 barring enforcement of the law — which prohibits requiring workers in union shops to pay union dues — until legal questions about the new law could be resolved.

“I think when people are facing the possibility of criminal charges and civil damages, both of which are provided for in this law, it is quite serious,” Bailey said at the time, granting the injunction sought by the West Virginia AFL-CIO and 10 labor unions in the state.

Union representatives contend the law amounts to an illegal taking of union property, since federal law requires unions to provide representation to all employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement, whether they are union members or not.

- See more at: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news-business/20161005/labor-unions-ask-for-summary-judgment-in-wv-right-to-work-case

Cross-posted in Omaha Steve's Labor Group.