Greitens’ disguised attack on working families

In response to Gov. Eric Greitens’ State of the State Address, Missouri AFL-CIO President Mike Louis issued the following statement:

“Last night’s speech had a good feel to it, but the realities of the details will destroy Missouri’s working families and make our communities less safe.

Public employees pay raises are planned to be paid for by cuts in jobs, which means hard working Missourians will lose their jobs and those that are lucky enough to keep their jobs might get a raise, but they will also absorb the workloads of their former colleagues, all in the name of tax cuts for the wealthy.

The government overreach into the private contract negotiations between businesses and their employees, and each of their chosen representatives – the businesses lawyers and the employees’ elected unions will become a reality through deceptive right to work regulations is the wrong direction for hardworking Missourians.

Removing Project Labor Agreements and prevailing wages protected in the Davis-Bacon Act endangers our neighborhoods’ safety and budgets. PLA’s ensure that our schools, bridges, roads and the like are completed on-time, within budget and adhering strictly to safety codes by a trained, local workforce. These highly-skilled working people are paid a standard wage “prevailing wage,” which they spend in our neighborhood shops and restaurants building their own local economies. Plus, this prevailing wage sets a standard wage for similar jobs at other local businesses, giving everyone the same fair shot at a good job.

Gov. Greitens spoke a lot about ethics reform, however nothing about campaign contribution limits. This is especially frightening as his agenda can easily be traced back to the same agenda being touted by the out-of-state special interest groups and uber-rich CEO’s that funded his campaign. The people are watching, Gov. Greitens, we call on you to live up to your word and support the all working people of our great state.”