Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, said he’s seen no evidence that not being a right-to-work state has kept businesses from locating in Ohio. West Virginia Republicans, under the leadership of Senate President Bill Cole (right) are pushing for a right-to-work law in the Mountain State, arguing that it will attract businesses.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Surrounded by Republican legislators who are pushing for West Virginia to pass a “right-to-work” law, Ohio’s Republican governor said last week that a similar move was not necessary in his state.
There is no indication that businesses are staying away from Ohio just because it has not passed a right-to-work law, Gov. John Kasich said. “No, we don’t see that in our state, I don’t have any evidence of it,” Kasich said. “Now, if we have major unrest I think it causes a problem, but without major labor unrest, we’re up 300,000, almost 300,000 jobs and I don’t find that to be a big issue in our state.”
Right-to-work laws allow employees in unionized workplaces to opt out of paying union fees, even when they are represented by union-negotiated contracts. Employees, if they choose, are already exempt from joining unions and paying for a union’s political activities.
Republican lawmakers in both houses of the West Virginia Legislature have introduced bills to make West Virginia a right-to-work state.
Hundreds of union members and others showed up at the Capitol in the middle of a snowstorm last week to protest right-to-work and other legislation that the new Republican majorities are pushing in the Legislature.
Backers of the legislation argue both that workers should have the freedom to opt out of paying the fees and that passing the law will help attract companies to locate in West Virginia.
“We want to do what enables the private sector to create jobs and put people back to work,” the Senate bill’s lead sponsor, Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, told the Charleston Daily Mail.
Americans for Prosperity, the political advocacy group founded with donations from conservative donors Charles and David Koch, has pushed relentlessly for a right-to-work law in West Virginia. In automated emails to legislators, the group says that the legislation signals to the business community “that our state is a good place to do business.”
Kasich has not found that to be the case in Ohio…
