A Virginia Democrat has filed legislation that would repeal its "right-to-work" law, which would allow for mandatory fees on employees who benefit from union-negotiated contracts. While a repeal of the law is popular with labor groups, debates among General Assembly Democrats could showcase rifts within their party.
The law, which has been untouched since 1973, bans what's known as "union" or "agency" shops: businesses that require union membership or paying union dues as a condition of employment, respectively. (The US Department of Labor defines Virginia's law as one that permits "open shops.")
Proponents of the long-standing law say that it keeps Virginia competitive and depict it as preventing forced unionization. Opponents say that it guts labor's ability to organize by allowing workers to gain access to union benefits without paying fees or membership dues.
Sen. Jennifer Carroll Foy (D–Prince William) filed the bill for the 2026 session early.
"We need an above-all approach to address the largest redistribution of wealth from the bottom 90% to the top 1%," she told VPM News. "The only way to level out the playing field is when workers have just as much bargaining power, and that power comes from the option to join a union. And so the only response to organized money, I believe, is organized people."
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