Fight Over Right to Work Evokes History of Richmond Unions
In this Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021, file photo, Michael Foster of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union holds a sign outside an Amazon facility where labor is trying to organize workers in Bessemer, Ala. Despite the strongest public support and the most sympathetic president in years, the American labor movement just suffered a stinging defeat. Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, overwhelmingly voted against joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union in much-anticipated election results announced Friday, April 9. (Photo: Jay Reeves/AP Photo)
Virginia has one of the lowest union membership rates of any state. In 2020, only 4.4% of Virginia workers were union members, fifth lowest in the nation. But unions have a long history in the commonwealth, flourishing around the turn of the 20th century in industrial Richmond and the coalfields of the Southwest before union density began to fall in the 1950s. �