Nearly 20 worker-related bills pre-filed for Missouri’s 2015 legislative session

By SHERI GASSAWAY

Correspondent

Missouri legislators have been busy pre-filing bills for the new legislative sesion. Some of the these bills are actually worker-friendly; others, not so much.

As of Dec. 4, nearly 20 bills have been pre-filed for 2015 in the Missouri House and Senate, according to the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Tom Bastian, the department’s director of communications, went through the list of the bills and provided a short description of each at the Dec. 10 Labor Law Breakfast. Several of the bills had breakfast attendees shaking their heads.

“Hopefully, this will motivate people to get out and vote,” Bastian said. “We definitely have our work cut out for us.”

Here is list of bills and their sponsors:

HOUSE BILLS

HB 44 – Stephen Webber (D-Columbia) – Requires the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to create best practice guidelines in gender pay equality for state and local government and private businesses.

HB 46 – Bill Lant (R-Pineville) – Requires the State Board of Mediation to conduct an election to certify the exclusive bargaining representatives of an appropriate collective bargaining units for certain public employees every two years.

HB 47 – Bill Lant (R-Pineville) – Specifies that all individuals shall be guaranteed the freedom to work without being required to join or pay dues to any labor organization. (In other words, this is a right-to-work bill.)

HB 48 – Bill Lant, R-Pineville) – Prohibits any public employee from being required to pay dues or other fees to a labor organization. (Again, right-to-work.)

HB 69 – Bill Lant (R-Pineville) – Allows public bodies to opt out of prevailing wage laws for public works construction projects that are $750,000 or less.

HB 73 – Brandon Ellington (D-Kansas City) – Increases the state minimum wage to $10.25 per hour.

HB 105 – Sharon Pace (D-St. Louis) – Prohibits an employer from using a job applicant’s personal credit history as a hiring criteria except where the credit history is shown to be directly related to the position sought by the applicant.

HB 116 – Eric Burlison (R-Springfield) – Prohibits an employer from requiring a person to become a member of a labor organization as a condition or continuation of employment. (Same song, different verse. This is another right-to-work bill. Burlison also filed right-to-work legislation last session.)

HB 126 – Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville) – Requires all employers and business entities to enroll and actively participate in a federal work authorization program and imposes stricter penalties for employing an unauthorized alien.

HB 127 – Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville) – Requires the State Board of Mediation to conduct an election to certify the exclusive bargaining representatives of an appropriate collective bargaining unit for certain public employees every two years. (Similar to HB 46.)

HJR 2 – Bill Lant (R-Pineville) – Proposes a constitutional amendment that specifies that all individuals shall be guaranteed the freedom to work without being required to join or pay dues to any labor organizations. (Right-to-work again. This measure would need to be approved by voters.)

SENATE BILLS

SB 36 – Gary Romine (R-Farmington) – Modifies the law relating to the Missouri Human Rights Act and employment discrimination.

SB 44 – Jamilah Nasheed (D-St. Louis) – Prohibits employers from inquiring into or considering the criminal records of applicants before offering a conditional offer of employment.

SB 62 – Maria Chappelle-Nadal (D-University City) – Creates a crime for employers who divulge certain personal information of employees and customers.

SB 83 – Maria Chappelle-Nadal (D-University City) – Prohibits a workforce development agency from knowingly omitting from any bidding process an entity with whom it has a contract.

SB 126 – Dan Brown (R-Rolla) – Requires the State Board of Mediation to conduct an election to certify the exclusive bargaining representatives of an appropriate collective bargaining unit for certain public employees every two years. (Same as HB 46 and HB 127.)

SB 127 – Dan Brown (R-Rolla) – Bars employers from requiring employees to engage in or cease engaging in certain labor practices. (Another approach to right-to-work.)

SB 128 – Dan Brown (R-Rolla) – Modifies prevailing wage laws and provisions relating to project labor agreements.

SB 129 – Dan Brown (R-Rolla) – Requires authorization for certain labor unions to use dues and fees to make political contributions and requires consent for withholding earnings from paychecks. (Paycheck deception.)

For more information on these bills, contact Chas Young, legislative liaison for the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, at 573-751-3577 or email: chas.young@labor.mo.gov.