On the Western Banks of the Shenandoah

I’ve talked alot on this blog about how the candidates for Governor are taking very different tacks on the labor issue. On one hand, there’s Terry McAuliffe, who has coddled the unions, picking up two endorsements, and, along with the other candidates for Governor on the Dem side, walked the picket lines against a company that has just moved its corporate HQ to Virginia. 

On the other hand, you have Bob McDonnell, who has taken a very firm stance on keeping Virginia a right to work state. 

To ensure that new jobs continue to come to Virginia we must defend our pro-free enterprise, Right to Work Law, the cornerstone of our economic prosperity. But Right to Work is under attack in Congress with the job-killing Card Check legislation pushed by big national unions.

The job of the Governor is to put the people of Virginia and their job opportunities first. All three of my opponents recently stood in union picket lines in Northern Virginia and now will not oppose the job killing card check bill!

I will defend our Right to Work law; oppose Card Check and fight to keep Virginia the best place in America to do business! We can’t let big national unions turn Virginia into southern Michigan!

Note particularly that last line. As the nation debates Card Check legislation that would open up opportunities for shadowy cabals to impose unionization on threatened employees, Union proponents are beginning to get rowdy. From the Pittsburgh Tribune Review: 

Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher — better known as Joe the Plumber — headlined a raucous rally against pro-union legislation Monday night where critics and supporters of the Employee Free Choice Act jeered one another.

Two Green Tree police officers broke up several arguments to prevent fights in the midst of a crowd of about 150 packed inside a Radisson ballroom. The crowd was divided about evenly between union members and opponents of the so-called “card check” bill. No one was arrested.

Wurzelbacher, in a flannel shirt, T-shirt and jeans, drew some of the loudest rebukes from union members, who booed and jeered him for not having a plumber’s license in his native Ohio.

Now I’m not the biggest fan of Joe the Plumber, but this is one issue that he can actually speak with some knowledge. However, it’s clear that union organizers are high jacking events and recognizing that people are opposing the increasing collectivization of America. Emotions are clearly running very high on this issue. 

If this is what we see when we’re discussing card check, what do you think the environment will be like if card check passes?