Protecting Workers

Nobody working full-time in Virginia should be forced to live in poverty. As a longtime charity executive, I recognize that working people cannot survive on the current minimum wage, especially in this region. I strongly support legislation to raise the Virginia minimum wage to $15 an hour. Increasing the minimum wage will improve Virginia’s economy and reward the hard work of our friends and neighbors in the district.

I also support repealing right-to-work in Virginia to make the Commonwealth a more worker friendly state. Moreover, it is important to note that workers in “right-to-work” states earn far less than workers in states without “right-to-work” policies, are less likely to be provided with health insurance through their jobs, and are also more likely to be exposed to unsafe working conditions. A state that doesn’t value its workers won’t succeed for long. There comes a point where workers will pick up and move to where they are valued and treated with respect. It is the workforce that makes a strong business.

I am committed to working towards guaranteed paid family leave and paid sick days for Virginia workers. Hardworking Virginians should not have to choose between caring for themselves and their loved ones when they are sick and their income.

As the Labor Liaison for the House Democratic Caucus, I was proud to patron many bills during my last two terms aimed at standing up for Virginia workers.

During this past session, my bill HB 2263 was signed into law to ensure that no firefighter can be fired unjustly. This workers’ rights bill prohibits evidence that violates the Firefighters Conduct of Interrogation from being used against a firefighter.

In the 2018 legislative session, I introduced HB 8, which would have repealed an anti-worker measure patroned by then Delegate Barbara Comstock in 2012 that prohibits the use of Private Labor Agreements (PLAs) on state contracts.PLAs create career paths for women, minorities, veterans, and other underrepresented populations, as well ensures that projects are completed on time and on budget and reduces the misclassification of workers and the related underpayment of payroll taxes, workers compensation, and other requirements, which lets a larger percentage of construction wages stay in state.

I was proud to patron HB 1259, which sought to repeal Jim Crow-era language from the Code of Virginia, during the 2018 legislative session. These provisions, written in 1975, allowed for a subminimum wage for "newsboys, shoe-shine boys, caddies on golf courses, ushers, doormen, concession attendants and cashiers in theaters," as well as farm laborers and Virginians with mental, intellectual and physical disabilities. This language was clearly aimed at racial minorities, who historically held service jobs. These racist provisions were finally repealed in 2019 with the passage of Delegate Cia Price’s HB 2473. The repeal of this language is an important step towards eradicating all remnants of racism from the Virginia code. However, wage discrimination does not stop at race, as Virginians with mental, intellectual, and physical disabilities can still be exempted from receiving minimum wage for their work. In my next term, I plan to pass legislation to end this exclusion and increase fairness and inclusivity for all Virginia workers.