The Virginia Worker

Virginia labor is having a fit over Spanberger’s recent announcement that she would veto the collective bargaining bills passed through the state legislature. In a calm and collected manner she made it very clear that since labor didn’t approve of her proposed amendments – which would have consolidated power for all future Virginia governors to dismiss or modify any collective bargaining by state or municipal workers – she would rather scuttle any bill to expand union rights to state workers. 

A plethora of responses poured in from every union that sees a future for itself in signing up new dues-paying members out of the 500,000 state workers employed across Virginia. The Virginia AFLCIO stated Spanberger “turned her back” on workers and that they “will not forget this moment” while thanking Virginia Democrats for passing these bills to expand collective bargaining rights, and that Democrat delegates “did the right thing”. Other unions, like the IAFF, VEA, SEIU, etc called the veto a “betrayal”.

Hypothetically, if the bills had been signed into law it would have been of some benefit for state workers, but it’s a far stretch for the Virginia AFLCIO to claim what Democrat delegates offered in their bills were “doing the right thing”. Abolishing “right to work” was never on the table for Virginia Democrats. What bills were passed excluded college workers despite the protestations of United Campus Workers (UCW-CWA).

The truth is Spanberger and the Democrats never cared or represented Virginia labor. The Virginia AFLCIO itself didn’t even endorse Spanberger during her gubernatorial run for office due to her lack of explicit support for unions. How can Virginia unions on the one hand recognize that she wasn’t for labor while on the other accusing her of betrayal? They are simply opportunists who feign outrage at the outcome of what they already could have predicted. 

“Angry” press releases by union heads will be the only repercussion for Spanberger’s veto. There will be no holding to account for Spanberger as Virginia has one-term limits of the governor’s office. And while she is clearly being groomed to succeed current Virginia US senators this still won’t be a blow to her larger political ambitions and the political ambitions of the Democrat Party nationally. The sad fact, which Spanberger and the Democratic Party know all too well, is that US unions are all bark and no bite. 

Union misleaders fetishize legality, arbitration and mediation. And through this legal fetishism and proceduralism the role of actual workers remains that of a spectator to organizations and efforts that are done in their name and claim to represent them while they have no active role other than to show up for work, do their jobs with no disruption, and have their wages taken to pay for two sets of bosses – one the state, and the other the union misleaders.

Unless Virginia state employees want to take a cue from their West Virginia neighbors and engage in mass wildcat strikes (regardless of legal status) to win their demands then Spanberger and the Democrat Party have nothing to fear from Virginia unions. They know the union misleaders will still donate to Democrat candidates, they know Virginia unions will still, even if “begrudgingly”, vote blue. 

Virginia unions have put themselves and their members into a hostage situation. They will not even pander to the idea of breaking from the Democrats. No union convention has been held where any motion has passed to cut funding and support for Democrats or capitalist parties in general. No union convention has carried a motion to fund and establish an independent working class party to represent and fight for Virginia workers. Until this changes Virginia unions are no threat to Democrats and they will gladly keep using and abusing them as union misleaders further the destruction of organized labor and the working class overall. They have no one to blame for this situation but themselves.