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Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe has received another large donation from organized labor after reversing his position on right-to-work legislation in the state.
The Virginia Public Access Project reported last week that his gubernatorial campaign got $500,000 from the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA). Fox News previously reported on the $2 million influential labor unions gave his campaign after he said he would sign a repeal of the state’s right-to-work policy.
Right-to-work laws guarantee an employee’s right to refuse to join a labor union and prevent union dues from being a requirement for employment. More than two dozen states, including Virginia, have right-to-work laws in place, and labor unions and progressive groups continually seek to overturn the statutes.
The recent donation comes from an organization that has vehemently opposed right-to-work legislation. LIUNA’s website refers to the “so-called right to work” as forcing “unions to represent workers who don’t pay dues.”
TERRY MCAULIFFE COLLECTS $2.2M LABOR UNION PAYCHECK AFTER RIGHT-TO-WORK COMMENTS
LIUNA is comprised of 400 local unions and more than 500,000 members, according to its website.
Its members have also protested right-to-work in Illinois. And earlier this summer, LIUNA’s Twitter account declared “#RighttoWorkisWRONG.”
McAuliffe’s pledge to repeal right-to-work has been met with skepticism. McAuliffe previously said: “We are a great right-to-work state. We should never change that.” Politifact mentioned McAliffe’s remark while rating as false his former opponent Ken Cuccinelli’s claim that he opposed right-to-work.
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When McAuliffe committed to repealing right-to-work, he said that it wouldn’t pass the state’s legislature.
“I’ve said all along I’m going to focus on the things that I can actually get done,” McAuliffe told a reporter who asked about a bill reaching his desk.
McAuliffe’s campaign did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment. Neither did LIUNA.
Fox News’ Houston Keene contributed to this report.
Sam Dorman is a reporter with Fox News. Follow him on Twitter @DormanInDC or at facebook.com/SamDormanFoxNews