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Release: Republicans don’t believe Missourians support right to work

Majority party blocks Democratic effort to let voters decide the issue

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Fearful that Missouri voters will reject anti-employee right-to-work legislation if given the chance, majority Republicans today blocked efforts by House Democrats to put the controversial measure on the statewide ballot.

“If Republicans truly believed Missourians support so-called ‘right-to-work,’ they would let voters decide,” said House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty, D-Kansas City. “Since they won’t, it’s clear they don’t.”

The House voted 61-99 against an amendment offered by state Rep. Doug Beck, D-St. Louis, that would have required a statewide vote on the measure, House Bill 91. Unified Democrats were joined by a handful of Republicans in trying to give Missouri voters a say on this important matter.

Republican leaders have long been afraid to let Missourians decide on the matter. In 2015, the GOP-controlled legislature sent a right-to-work to then-Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, knowing it faced a certain veto. They could have bypassed Nixon altogether by putting the measure on the ballot, but figured the chances of overriding a veto were better than winning approval from Missouri voters. The veto override attempt failed.

“Right-to-work harms Missouri families by suppressing wages, reducing benefits and making workplaces less safe,” said Assistant House Minority Leader Gina Mitten, D-St. Louis. “If it goes on the ballot, it fails. That’s why Republicans wouldn’t take that path in 2015, and that’s why they won’t let it happen in 2017.”

So-called “right-to-work” bills prohibit companies from negotiating labor contracts that require workers, as a condition of employment, to pay dues for the union representation they receive. This year’s version, House Bill 91, includes an extreme and unnecessary provision that would make it a crime punishable by up to 15 days in jail and a $300 fine for companies to negotiate such contracts.

Once HB 91 clears the House, it will go to the Senate, which also is Republican controlled. In his State of the State address on Tuesday, new Republican Gov. Eric Greitens spoke out against worker rights and said he would sign this and other anti-worker legislation into law.