Good morning – A right to work ordinance in Sussex County is not out of the question.
At issue is whether the southernmost county has the power to order the ordinance that would bar unions from collecting mandatory dues for workers represented in negotiations. Unions fight right work laws tooth and nail since dues are their lifeblood.
Delaware typically gives only limited powers to counties. After all, all the county sheriff in Delaware does is issue subpoenas and conduct foreclosure auctions.
Backers point to a court decision that allowed a Kentucky county to pass a right to work law as the basis of the effort.
The ordinance has been championed by The Daily Signal, a website of the Heritage Foundation, a right to work supporter, which calls the site an alternative to the mainstream media. Their recent story suggested the ordinance was making headway.
The effort has picked up support from Caesar Rodney Institute, a free market public policy group that has taken on the state’s environmental policies and is clearly a skeptic of global warming.
The mainstream media in Sussex, the Cape Gazette and Delaware State News, have covered the issue in a fair and objective manner.
The coverage noted that ordinance sponsor and councilman Bob Arlett was chided for not consulting with the county’s attorney in drafting an ordinance. Arlett said he will comply.
As noted in an earlier column, big companies often stay away from states without right to work laws.
However, it is not clear if passing right to work would bring many jobs to the county that is some distance from interstates and other infrastructure sought by many employers.
Sussex does have an all-Republican County Council that is sympathetic toward Arlett’s ordinance. The sticking point might be whether the ordinance would trigger a legal battle, with the county’s property taxpayers picking up the tab.
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