JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — After conducting hearings on various Right-to-Work bills last week — including one filed by a black Democrat — lawmakers in the Missouri House moved forward this week with more legislation aimed at labor. House Reps Bill Lant and Holly Rehder, both Republicans, had public hearings on bills dubbed by supporters as “paycheck protection.”
Opponents of the bills have taken to calling it “paycheck deception” and, at its core, it would change the current public employee union due collection from an “opt-out” program to “opt-in.”
Under current law, public employee unions may not have dues that fund politically activity automatically deducted from their paychecks. Upon hiring, employees have the option of designating a portion of their check to pay for union political dues, but it is not required.
After approving the dues, an employee may choose to opt out at any time. Under legislation filed by Rehder and Lant, public employee unions would be required to get annual authorization from each member before collecting dues, something unions say is a needless government burden.
“This is an additional government regulation,” Rep. Stephen Webber, D-Columbia, said.
“It’s a simple signature,” Rehder replied.
Public employee unions say the additional regulation would require the hiring of new staff to oversee compliance and that the cost of seeking annual reauthorizations was unreasonable given that employees may choose to opt out at any time.
Crystal Parks, a service representative and member of the Communication Workers of America from Rehder’s district in Scott County, told The Missouri Times that bills like Rehder’s “unfairly single out,” nurses and teachers.
“Paycheck deception bills are promoted by ALEC and the Koch brothers all over the country,” Parks said. “Some extreme and out-of-touch Missouri politicians are working with these billionaires and their front groups against Missouri families. These laws would unfairly single out folks like nurses and teachers and other public workers. We need our leaders to focus on creating jobs, not more attacks on workers.”
But supporters of Rehder’s legislation say opting out may not be so easy. Accusations of intimidation and bullying to keep members in line are not unheard of, Rehder said. She also rejected the premise that unions automatically bring economic success.
“Union laws have been in place for years and yet my area is still [economically] depressed,” Rehder said. “It is time we made some changes.”
Both bills were approved by committee on a party-line vote. Several labor bills failed to pass the legislature last year either as the result of deal making with Democrats in the senate or a concentrated and vigorous lobbying effort in the House. Whether such legislation moves through either chamber in the coming weeks will likely serve as an indicator of how much legislative appetite there is for new labor laws.
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
