On Election Day there were some major disappointments for labor. Some are calling last Tuesday a “banner night for the Right to Work movement."
In Ohio, anti-union GOP leaders increased their majority in the General Assembly, and in several states, including Kentucky, Missouri and New Hampshire, voters elected leaders who are pushing hard to make Right to Work a reality. However, ballot initiatives on minimum wage and sick leave show that, at the core of it all, good jobs, benefits and union values are still top priorities for many Americans.
With Republican domination in states like Missouri, Kentucky and New Hampshire, Right to Work could soon be a reality in 29 out of 50 states. And in states like West Virginia and Wisconsin, where Right to Work became the law of the land, voters reelected the legislators responsible. Ohio legislators who sponsored Ohio’s current Right to Work bills were also reelected across the Buckeye state.
But not to be defeated, voters did stand up for some working class issues across the country. Voters in Arizona, Colorado, Maine and Washington state approved ballot initiatives to increase their state minimum wages. The measures in Arizona and Colorado will require businesses to provide employees with paid sick days.