by Mike Hall, Feb 26, 2007

In Missouri, working families and their unions are fighting back against a trio of bills that threaten their wages, their political voice and their unions.

The bills have been introduced by Rep. Steve Hunter (R), a long-time anti-worker lawmaker whose ties to a business lobbying group that strongly supports the bills—Associated Industries of Missouri—are under fire. State disclosure records show Hunter earns about $12,000 a year as a part-time recruiter for the organization.

The first bill (H.B. 439) would change long-standing Missouri law and ban workers and their employers from deciding together to have a union-security clause at the workplace. A union-security clause doesn’t force anyone to join the union. Rather, it requires that all workers—union members and nonmembers—pay representational costs.

The proposed legislation forbids employers and workers from agreeing that nonmembers pay a fair share of what it costs the union to negotiate and guarantee their wages and benefits.

Under current law, unions are required to negotiate wages and benefits such as health care, vacation and sick leave for all workers, and nonmembers must pay a fair share fee for the representational activities. They are not required to pay for any other union activities such as political campaigns.

Herb Johnson, secretary treasurer of the Missouri AFL-CIO, says the so-called “open shop” bill is an invitation to “freeloading” because non-members would receive all the benefits of union members without paying a fair share of the costs.

Johnson compares it to taxpayers being allowed to pay just the taxes they voted for. A person may not have voted for a levy to improve the roads or schools, but they still must pay their fair share to get the benefits of better roads and schools, he says.

In addition, workers in states with similar laws receive lower wages and fewer benefits.

Rep. Jeff Harris (D), the Missouri House minority leader, says open shop laws, also known as “right to work” laws, promote lower wages and benefits:

If you want cheap, unskilled labor, shoddy workmanship, then you go the cheap route. If you believe in quality craftsmanship, good solid work, decent wages, then you oppose right to work.

Also on the anti-worker agenda is legislation (H.R. 441) to silence the voices of working families in the political and legislative arena. It goes even further than most “paycheck deception” measures that forbid unions from using payroll deductions for political purposes. The bill broadens the definition of political action beyond just electoral politics to include ballot initiatives—like last year’s successful Missouri minimum wage increase—legislative lobbying and possibly voter-registration drives.

The third bill imposes new reporting rules on local unions that would force union leaders and even shop stewards to compile extensive, expensive and unreasonable reports. Just like the paycheck deception legislationl, this bill (H.R. 440) does not apply the new rules and restrictions to corporations or other organizations.

If you live in Missouri, send your state lawmakers a message and tell them to vote “no” on all three bills. Click here.