Kenny Perdue Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Head of State's Largest Workers Union to Retire

The head of West Virginia’s largest workers union is retiring after more than a decade of service.

West Virginia AFL-CIO President Kenny Perdue announced his retirement this week in an email to union members.

Perdue has led the union since 2004 and previously served as the union’s vice president and secretary-treasurer. Before that, he served as a local union leader and has been involved in organized labor for more than four decades.

A native of Clarksburg, Perdue is also a member of the West Virginia Workforce Investment Council.

In his written statement, Perdue said he will step down at the end of the year and looks forward to spending more time with his family.

His email said:

After more than four decades of working in the labor movement and nearly 20 years with the West Virginia AFL-CIO, I have decided to retire at the end of this year. While I look forward to spending more time with my wife and family (which includes eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren), this decision didn’t come easily. Throughout my years of service, I have been inspired by the work ethic, integrity and kindness of working West Virginians, who ask for no more than the fair wages, quality benefits and safe workplaces they deserve. I am deeply grateful for your support of our efforts, and look forward to assisting as the West Virginia AFL-CIO and the labor movement across our country continues this critical work.

Perdue’s retirement comes at a transitional time for unions in West Virginia. Lawmakers have passed legislation during the past two years that union leaders like Perdue call an attacks on workers.

That legislation includes a repeal of the state’s prevailing wage and the passage of a bill that prevents unions from automatically collecting dues from non-union workers. The right-to-work law is being held up in a state court because of a lawsuit led by several unions, including the AFL-CIO.

Workers from Oklahoma, Virginia Argue Against Right-to-Work in W.Va.

One of the hot-button issues in the 2016 legislative session is whether or not West Virginia will adopt Right-to-Work laws limiting union power.

Right-to-Work legislation would prohibit unions from requiring dues from workers who do not wish to be part of the union.

At a press conference Wednesday, AFL-CIO President, Kenny Perdue, argued the legislation lowers wages and worker protection, and does nothing to help West Virginia as a whole.

“It will be harmful to families,” Perdue said. “The rhetoric of the other side is so strong, but we believe the rhetoric is an untruth and is a making a huge move to destroy the lives of so many people in this state.”

Union workers from Oklahoma and Virginia also spoke about the negative effects of Right-to-Work in their states, urging West Virginians to reject the legislation.

Republican lawmaker say a right-to-work law will promote job growth in West Virginia and could increase average wages.

Is "Right to Work" Right for W.Va.?

Interim meetings at the state capitol are usually laid back. Lawmakers attend their meetings and sometimes meet with a spare group of lobbyists and constituents.

Sunday, however, the House Government Organization Committee Room was overflowing. Men and women in union t-shirts filled the audience seats, the hallway and even the stairwells outside. What drew the crowd? A proposed piece of legislation that would make West Virginia a Right to Work state.

Dozens of union members attended a joint committee meeting Sunday making their opposition for Right to Work legislation clear.

For two hours, the Joint Committee on the Judiciary met to discuss possible Right to Work legislation and how it might affect West Virginia.

Right to Work laws prohibit certain types of agreements between labor unions and employers. The most commonly used example would prohibit a union from collecting dues from people in a workplace who do not wish to be part of the union.

Currently twenty-five states in the U.S. have Right to Work laws including Virginia, Tennessee, Florida, and Michigan.

Even though union members turned out by the dozens Sunday in opposition, Senate Majority Leader, Mitch Carmichael of Jackson County believes Right to Work laws actually make unions stronger.

“This is not an anti-union bill at all, Right to Work,” Carmichael said, “It does not in any way inhibit a person’s ability to join a union, to support it financially; all it does is give the individual the choice, the choice, the freedom to choose whether they want to be a part of the union.”

But Kenny Perdue disagrees. Perdue is the President of the West Virginia AFL-CIO and says Right to Work laws have hurt not just union workers, but all workers in the states that have approved them.

“There is a lot of evidence that a worker will make $6,000 less on a year in a Right to Work state,” Perdue noted, “There is evidence out there at the Bureau of Labor Statistics that an individual that works in a Right to Work state is 54.4 percent more likely to get hurt or killed on a job. We look at other states that like Kansas, Wisconsin, and Minnesota and they’re not doing well at all.”

Senator Herb Snyder, a Democrat from Jefferson County, says there isn’t enough evidence that a Right to Work law would help West Virginia progress economically.

“There’s absolutely no guarantee there would be any benefit whatsoever. That clearly, analytically showed that there are so many factors and drawing in keeping businesses, topography, age, education levels, and everything else,” Snyder explained, “It was very clear that wages go down, go down significantly statewide. We’re already second from the bottom, and why we’re having a discussion about lowering wages is just…perplexes me.”

Senate Majority Leader Carmichael says the laws will not lower wages in the state, but instead promote job growth. He says he’ll support passing a Right to Work law.

“What’s good for everyone for the majority of people is what we’re interested in,” Carmichael said, “and we hope that airing this issue out and discussing it in more detail will provide an education to the entire population that shows Right to Work gives another tool in the economic development box in West Virginia to keep our families together, to provide jobs and hope and opportunity for our citizens.”

Right to Work, like last session’s debate over prevailing wage, is likely to be at the forefront of controversial issues during the 2016 session.

Representatives of Miners, Labor Unions Express Disappointment in Signing of Coal Bill

Representatives of mine and labor unions are expressing their disappointment of Governor Tomblin’s signing of Senate Bill 357, the Coal Jobs and Safety Act of 2015.

Delegate Mike Caputo, who is also Vice President of the United Mine Workers of America International – District 31, expressed his disappointment in the signing of the bill in a Thursday news release:

"It is a sad day when this industry has so much control that they not only have the support of the new Republican majority, but also now have the support of the Democratic Governor, to put miners at risk to increase their bottom line. West Virginia leads the nation in coal mine fatalities. We need to work to strengthen our mine safety laws NOT weaken them."

AFL-CIO President Kenny Perdue also released a statement on the signing of the bill:

“It’s only been five years since the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster that took 29 coal miners’ lives, yet this legislation removes safety provisions intended to protect West Virginia miners in the event of a fire,” Perdue said. “I am shocked and saddened by the Legislative leadership’s pursuit of a bill that places profits above safety, and I am very disappointed that Governor Tomblin apparently did not join the majority of Democrat legislators in seeing the danger the legislation poses to miners.”