In Missouri, voters have overwhelmingly rejected a right-to-work law passed by the state's Republican-controlled Legislature that would have banned compulsory union fees. Missouri Proposition A, the Right to Work Referendum, was on the Missouri ballot as a veto referendum. The ballot measure was defeated, thus repealing the right-to-work law. Almost 98 percent reported the "No" vote on Missouri's Proposition A (which supported the law), and nearly 33 percent voted "Yes."
A "yes" vote was to uphold the contested legislation, Senate Bill 19, which would have enacted a right-to-work law to mandate that no person can be required to pay dues to a labor union.
A "no" vote was to repeal the contested legislation, Senate Bill 19, thereby rejecting a right-to-work law to mandate that no person can be required to pay dues to a labor union.
The President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) Richard Trumka stated in an interview that because of the vote, it was clear that the voters in Missouri had rejected a state law meant to reduce unions' power. He even went so far as to compare right-to-work laws as poisonous anti-worker legislation, and equated the vote to a victory for all workers.
"Right to work" is the name for a policy designed to take away rights from working people. Supporters of right-to-work laws claim that these laws protect workers against being forced to join a union. The reality is that federal law already makes it illegal to force someone to join a union.
These laws make it harder for working people to form unions and collectively bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions. Despite the name, right-to-work laws do not confer any sort of right to a job. Rather, they dilute union bargaining strength by making it harder for unions to sustain themselves financially. Some supporters of RTW laws falsely claim that these laws ensure that no one is forced to be a member of a union or pay to advocate political causes they do not support.
Across the country, large sums of money have been devoted to backing Right-to-work (RTW) bills, with lobbyists claiming that an RTW law in their state would create jobs and boost wages by attracting companies to the state.
The claims of this report are completely without merit. RTW laws do not boost jobs—they restrict unions and hurt wages. Only 5.2 percent of private-sector workers are union members in right to work states, and these laws have not boosted employment in areas that have enacted them. Additionally, the average employee makes 3.1 percent less than similar workers in non-RTW states.
Hundreds of factors affect a state's economic growth—including warm or cold weather, the urban or rural nature of its economy, whether it possesses natural resources such as oil, and a wide variety of laws. RTW is just one of these factors. Contrary to RTW proponents' claims, there is no causal pattern of RTW states growing faster or slower—or having better or worse employment indicators—than other states.
Missouri should not support this law because the law hurt wages; unionization raises wages for both union members and nonunion workers in unionized sectors. Given the union wage boost, it is not surprising that research shows that both union and nonunion workers in RTW states have lower wages and fewer benefits than comparable workers in other states. Previous research by EPI shows that wages in RTW states are 3.1 percent lower than wages in non-RTW states.
