The West Virginia AFL-CIO has a rich history of supporting candidates for public office who stand for fair wages, good benefits and a safe workplace, regardless of party affiliation.

After last year’s gubernatorial primary, the WV AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education endorsed Jim Justice because he committed to support our position on issues that are important to West Virginia working families, not because of his party affiliation.

As a sign of that commitment, Governor Justice recently vetoed multiple bills that were part of the Republican legislative leadership’s damaging agenda aimed at hurting working families to the benefit of wealthy corporate interests. 

Governor Justice’s decision to switch political parties is unnerving. But given his vow to only pursue legislation that helps working families succeed, we are hopeful that he will use his position as the most powerful Republican state official to steer the Republican legislative leadership away from its current War on Working Families. 

We will be requesting a meeting with Governor Justice ASAP to confirm that he still stands by his commitment to support working families.

Until that confirmation, we defer making any further statements on this matter.