As candidates running for election in Virginia this year seek support from labor organizations or business groups, issues like collective bargaining and right-to-work, are key talking points.

Neither gubernatorial candidate has said she would repeal the state’s right-to-work law — what some labor groups consider a long term goal — so business groups and labor organizations are evaluating other factors.

Virginia’s right-to-work law, adopted in 1947 after a wave of nationwide strikes, says workers are not required to join unions or to pay union dues.

Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican candidate for governor, lists protection of Virginia’s right-to-work law as one of five key policy positions on her website.

“Winsome is a staunch supporter of Virginia’s right-to-work policy because it is essential to Virginia’s economic success,” the website reads. “Right to work also protects workers from heavy-handed union bosses, forced dues, and fewer job opportunities.”

Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, said earlier this year she does not support a repeal of right-to-work, but she would support some reforms. That’s a change from her time in Congress, when Spanberger was one of 213 lawmakers to cosponsor legislation that would have overridden state right-to-work laws and allowed collective bargaining agreements to require all represented employees to contribute fees to a labor organization.

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“My sense is a full repeal of right-to-work is off the table regardless of who wins,” said Josh Zingher, an associate professor of political science at Old Dominion University. “If I was a labor movement, I would suspect maybe a better case scenario or a more realistic case scenario would be to make incremental progress about what you saw four years ago.”

Last time Democrats controlled both the legislature and the governor’s mansion, the General Assembly passed a law that allowed city employees to unionize, with the permission of the city. Lawmakers also passed legislation to incrementally increase the state’s minimum wage, which now stands at $12.41 an hour.

Still, Democratic ties to unions run deep. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees donated $250,000 to the Spanberger campaign. And some organized labor groups said that while a full repeal of right-to-work was a long-term goal, they were willing to work with a Spanberger administration on other issues.

“I think she shares our commitment to immediately making it easier for more working families in Virginia to form unions and create more good jobs through, frankly, expanding collective bargaining rights for home care workers, by enabling legislation at the state level for worker retention laws,” said Jaime Contreras, executive vice president of the 32BJ chapter of SEIU. “Repealing right-to-work, obviously, is an important issue to us.”

But for right now, he said, SEIU is prioritizing issues like allowing home care workers and state employees to unionize.

A recent poll from Virginia FREE found that most Virginians don’t think workers covered by a union contract should be obligated to pay union dues, but a majority of Virginians also support public sector employees’ ability to strike for better wages and benefits.

Nationally, the annual Labor Day Gallup Poll found that support for unions is about 68%.

At least one labor group has not uniformly endorsed Democratic statewide candidates. The Virginia AFL-CIO endorsed state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, and Jay Jones, the Democratic candidate for attorney general, but took “no position” on Spanberger’s campaign.

The Virginia AFL-CIO did not return a request for comment for this story, but the national association describes right-to-work on its website as “a policy designed to take away rights from working people.”

In a statement, Spanberger’s campaign noted she had been endorsed by more than a dozen unions.

“As the proud granddaughter of a union tradesman, Abigail knows that unions built the middle class and believes that organized labor makes sure Virginians can secure better wages, benefits, and working conditions,” the statement said. “As Virginia’s next Governor, Abigail will work with the General Assembly to improve the lives of working families — including by providing more Virginians the opportunity to engage in collective bargaining, giving Virginia workers a pay raise by increasing Virginia’s minimum wage, establishing a paid family and medical leave program, and investing in workforce training programs for the next generation of Virginians.”

Earle-Sears has received the endorsement of some pro-business folks

“Winsome Earle-Sears understands that Virginia’s Right to Work law protects both workers and small businesses,” said Taylor Brannan, vice president at F. Richard Wilton, a commercial construction contractor. “Abigail Spanberger wants to crush small labor providers — many of them family-owned, run by first-generation Americans living the American Dream.”

Earle-Sears’ ticket mate, lieutenant governor candidate John Reid, also details opposing repeals of right-to-work as part of his economic plan.

Virginia’s union population is comparatively small — according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 5.2% of wage or salary workers are union members. That’s lower than national average of 9.9%, but the highest it’s been since 2015.

But union endorsements might still play a role in driving voters to the polls, Zingher said.

“I certainly think for union members, it’s consequential,” he said. “You saw the fraternal order of police in Virginia endorse Spanberger, and I think that could make a difference for some of these swing constituencies.”

The Virginia Police Benevolent Association, the nonprofit that represents police officers in collective bargaining and in matters like use of force cases, endorsed Reid and Attorney General Jason Miyares, Republican running for lieutenant governor and attorney general. But the organization also endorsed Spanberger over Earle-Sears. Though VAPBA has endorsed Democrats including Spanberger in the past, it hadn’t endorsed a Democrat for governor since 2009.

Kate Seltzer, kate.seltzer@virginiamedia.com, (757)713-7881

https://www.pilotonline.com/2025/09/08/va-labor-issues-gubernatorial/