CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Kanawha circuit judge Wednesday evening issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of West Virginia’s new right-to-work law.
In issuing the injunction, Judge Jennifer Bailey said that until legal questions about the law can be resolved, enforcement of it could cause irreparable harm to unions and union workers.
“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,” she said in granting the injunction sought by the West Virginia AFL-CIO and 11 labor unions in the state.
That followed a hearing that lasted more than 2½ hours in which attorneys for the unions stressed two main issues…