FAIRMONT — The Republican Labor Caucus wants to expand its membership in the West Virginia Legislature.
“It’s raised a lot of eyebrows,” Guy Ward, caucus executive director, said. “We’ve got this labor caucus going. A lot of the Republicans and the higher ups don’t like it, but people do. We’re increasing our numbers.”
The caucus is trying to shift perception workers have toward the Republican Party. Del. Evan Worrell, R-Cabell, founded the caucus in November 2021. The first major issue for the caucus came three months later, when Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, sponsored a bill which removed enforcement power from the Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training.
Two other Republicans joined Steele in sponsoring the bill, which died after House Democrats failed to move the bill back into committee to address the other half of the bill, which dealt with safety training. Ward said the caucus opposed the bill, and claimed responsibility for defeating it. Worrell did not return a phone call seeking comment for this story.
Ward is not in the state legislature currently, but is working with the caucus. He provided his help getting labor-friendly Republican candidates past the primary election and now, the general. Ward, who was in the West Virginia House when the caucus formed, said Worrell and like-minded Republicans formed the caucus to push back against bills deemed detrimental to the working class.
Ward said the caucus has already had some success. In 2022, he said the caucus stopped Senate Bill 2, which aimed to cut unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 20 weeks, the aforementioned mine safety bill and House Bill 4394, which would have eliminated the type of lawsuits protecting workers who are injured or killed on the job.
In 2024, the caucus helped pass House Bill 5435, which pays tuition costs for trades workers receiving associate degrees and stopped Senate Bill 156, which required certain documents containing wage information to be confidential. Ward said labor opposed the bill because it would have made it possible for construction companies to hire undocumented immigrants.
Another bill the caucus supported was House Bill 5528, which stopped state programs that promote renewable energy from ending next year. Ward said the bill would have provided many construction jobs but Gov. Jim Justice vetoed it, fearing it would impact the coal industry.
Republicans are reaching out to labor not just at the state level, but at the national level. The leader of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention on invitation from Former President Donald Trump.
“The Republican Party, an organization historically supportive of the corporate elite, is now seeing those same corporations work against them on the national level through campaign fundraising and at the ballot box,” Worrell wrote in an opinion piece from Aug. 3. “Because of this, the Republican Party is now raising leaders from the labor movement in a seismic shift toward populist ideals that support working families.”
Under the current political alignment, Democrats are typically seen as the party of labor. While the Republican Labor Caucus supported two bills and opposed one on behalf of labor, state Democrats supported 23 bills aimed at buttressing labor. However, due to the West Virginia Republican Super Majority none of them passed, while the Republican Labor Caucus was at least able to pass one. State Democrats also opposed 8 bills harmful to labor.
Worrell wrote the caucus has only grown since 2021. Today, the caucus has 25 core members, endorsed 46 candidates for the upcoming election and has given $60,110 in campaign contributions. Worrell said in 2021, the then chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party renounced the caucus, claiming that supporting working class men and women went against the party line. Today, he hopes that outlook has changed.
“If Republican leaders hope to connect with working-class voters in the years to come, we would be wise to continue this new path of supporting working class families and organized labor unions,” he wrote.
Nationally, while Trump claims he’s pro-worker, he’s also connected to Project 2025 and its set of anti-labor policy proposals. The 900-page manifesto that was written by former Trump aides includes recommendations to limit overtime pay, abolish public sector unions, weaken child labor law protections and increase the power corporations have to bust unions.
Although Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025, various links exist. J.D. Vance wrote the forward to Project 2025 and several key staffers from Trump’s administration helped put it together. Trump has his own set of policy proposals, some of them similar to Project 2025, called Agenda 47.
Ward didn’t rule out the caucus from working across the aisle with Democrats on labor issues. Ward said it was the one issue they and the caucus agreed on, and with their votes and the caucus’ votes, it’ll be enough to make a difference.
George Capel, government relations director at the W.Va. State Building & Construction Trades, a construction union lobby based in Charleston, gave the West Virginia Republican Labor Caucus praise for standing up for working class issues. He credits the stance the caucus took on unemployment benefits as an example.
Construction work is temporary, the job ends once the project is complete, making the time between projects a challenge. Winter also stops all construction due to weather and environmental concerns. Capel said construction workers hope they don’t have to use unemployment benefits, but they help cover workers in-between jobs. That’s why the caucus defended those benefits against cuts.
“We’ve worked with them for multiple legislative sessions,” Capel said. “The greatest thing that they have done is come together as a formal, organized group that will listen to labor issues.”
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