CHARLESTON, W.Va. — United Mine Workers Union President Cecil Roberts says the West Virginia Supreme Court stepped beyond its authority in its decision on the attempted overturning of the state’s right-to-work law.
“They basically told her (Kanawha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey) how to rule, which is not what they should have done. They, as they say, ‘got over their skis on this,'” Roberts said.
Roberts gave his take on the case during an appearance Thursday on the talk show 580-Live on MetroNews affiliate 580 WCHS Radio in Charleston. The show is hosted by Charleston Mayor Danny Jones.
Right-to-work’s legality had been under consideration by Judge Bailey for more than a year following a legal challenge filed by labor unions. The state Legislature passed the bill in 2016. Bailey had issued a preliminary injunction this past Feb. 24, but hadn’t yet ruled further. The Court threw out her injunction and sent the case back to Bailey while chastising her delay in making a final ruling.
The West Virginia AFL-CIO has said the unions will continue to fight during a broader hearing in circuit court and anticipating an eventual appeal of the full issue to the Supreme Court. But Roberts said in reading the ruling it’s clear what the High Court wants Bailey to do.
“In their haste to be supportive of some very powerful interests in the state of West Virginia, they took away, quite frankly, in my view, rights away from the petitioners in the lower court and from the judge who has this case and has the right to rule on its merits,” Roberts said.
Chief Justice Allen Loughry’s concurring opinion included strong wording about the future of the case.
“The respondents have demonstrated no likelihood of success and their failure was abetted by the circuit court’s use of an overruled, effectively meaningless standard for issuance of a preliminary injunction,” Loughry wrote.
Roberts said the Court did everything it could to tie Bailey’s hands.
“(They) basically said, ‘This is how you’re going to rule,'” Roberts said.
Nearly 30 other states have right-to-work laws but Roberts said that doesn’t mean it’s right for West Virginia.
“The Supreme Court of West Virginia is charged with making decisions about the laws of West Virginia,” he said. “They can read these other laws but they should not feel compelled to obey the laws of another state.”
The overriding issue is whether employees who join a workplace represented by a union have to pay some form of dues, whether they embrace union representation or not.
The unions argued that employees who don’t would receive the benefits of collective bargaining without providing financial support to pay for those activities. In other words, they said, the right-to-work law takes union property.
The court’s majority included Ketchum, Justice Beth Walker and Chief Justice Allen Loughry. Loughry concurred and also wrote his own separate opinion.
Justice Robin Davis dissented and reserved the right to write a separate opinion.
MetroNews Statewide Correspondent Brad McElhinny contributed to this story.