Source: WVgazettemail
Date: March 18, 2025
Legislation advancing in the West Virginia Legislature to end civil service protections for new hires in some state agencies is yet one more example of how far West Virginia has fallen regarding caring about workers and their rights on the job.
Our state was once a place where all workers were treated with respect. Today, it seems as if the state government can’t move fast enough to drive working families to the bottom of the barrel, stripping away rights won long ago in bloody struggles with coal barons and other out-of-state operatives.
Supporters of House Bill 2008 will say that its provisions ending merit-based civil service protections and the state’s grievance procedure at some agencies will not affect anyone currently working for the state. But people retire every day and new employees are hired to fill those positions. People constantly move to different jobs within state government. Those people will lose the protections long afforded them by state law.
But why? What have they done to have their rights as workers taken away? I have not seen or heard of any example of a worker who abused their position so badly that these protections should be stripped away from an entire group of workers.
And let’s get real here: This is just the beginning. These are but the first group of workers who would be subject to this gutting of basic rights on the job. There will be more in the future. Before long West Virginians will be left with a state workforce without any protections and subject to the political whims of whoever is in charge. That’s a recipe for the long-term destruction of a fair and even-handed approach to providing state services.
The UMWA represents hundreds of West Virginia state employees, and we are proud to do so. We believe they deserve the same rights and respect on the job that any other worker anywhere has a right to expect. We will continue to stand up for them, because we believe going to work for the government should not mean that a worker has to give up basic rights. Nor should it mean that a person must meet some political litmus test to get a job serving all West Virginians.
I recognize the political reality in Charleston these days. This legislation is very likely to become law. But all West Virginians should recognize what it means: The degradation of workers, their families and their communities continues in our state. That’s a legacy none of us should be proud of.
Cecil Roberts is international president of the United Mine Workers of America.
By: Cecil E. Roberts
