‘Right-to-Work’ is WRONG for Missouri!

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The egregious effort by Missouri Republicans to again ignore the will of voters by trying to impose the phony “right-to-work” (for less) in Missouri via a constitutional amendment after Missouri voters – union and non-union – soundly rejected it has created national scorn. This editorial appeared in the United Steelworkers national INFOAlert.)

In 2018, the citizens of Missouri made it overwhelmingly clear that they are not interested in the unnecessary and unfair government overreach into the workplace that “Right-to-Work” would impose on their state.

In fact, Proposition A, the ballot measure that supported “right-to-work,” was voted down by voters by a margin of just over 2-to-1. The Missouri citizens knew then that “right-to-work” would mean lower wages, less healthcare, and higher workplace fatalities for all working families.

Unfortunately, some Missouri legislators aren’t done trying to impose their or their donors’ agenda on the citizens they have been tasked to represent. In December of 2020, State Rep. Jared Taylor was so unwavering in his support of this anti-worker law that he prefiled Missouri’s latest Right to Work bill, HB 87, before the start of the 2021 legislative session. Currently, the bill has four other cosponsors.

HB 87 WILL:

• Lower Wages – Workers in states with RTW laws make $8,989 (15.2 percent) less on average annually than workers in other states.
• Decrease Healthcare Coverage – Workers in RTW states are more likely to be uninsured and less likely to have job-based health insurance.
• Increase Workplace Fatalities – The rate of workplace deaths is 36 percent higher in states with RTW laws, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• Decrease Bargaining Strength – These laws block us from negotiating provisions that ensure that all workers who receive the benefits of a collective bargaining agreement pay their fair share of the costs involved.

(PUBLISHER’S NOTE: But do Missouri Republicans care about its impact on working people? Of course not. RTW is a business-friendly law to help corporate profits and executive pay. Period. Yet another reason why we need to change the composition of representatives in the Missouri legislature, representatives that are willing to listen to, and abide by, the will of voters, not their own distorted sense of what is simply important to them…and their corporate funders.)