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Union Members to Missouri Lawmakers: Show Me the End of Anti-Worker Agenda |
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| State reps and union members (L.-R.) Joe Fallert (Steelworkers), Bruce Darrough (Machinists) and Tim Meadows (Teamsters) acknowledge some of the 700 union members who lobbied against several anti-worker bills. |
More than 700 Missouri union members, braving severe weather warnings, traveled to Jefferson City last week to tell state lawmakers it’s time to stop the anti-worker agenda being pushed by the business group Associated Industries of Missouri and its legislative allies.
In February we told you about three of the bills that threaten working families’ wages, political voice and their unions. Since then, an even more radical attack on union members’ political rights has surfaced.
The bill, H.B. 1149, is aimed solely at unions. It would take away union members’ rights to serve in the legislature if they hold union office. It also would restrict union members already in office from voting on issues affecting employee rights or benefits.
The Republican-controlled House already is cracking down on pro-union actions. AFL-CIO field rep Randy Kiser reports that House business came to a halt Tuesday morning when House Speaker Rod Jetton (R) stopped proceedings and demanded that Minority Leader Jeff Harris (D) remove a small sticker from his jacket that read “Anti-Worker Agenda” in a red circle with a slash through it.
The union members participating in last week’s lobby day came from more than a dozen Missouri AFL-CIO and other unions to lobby their hometown lawmakers in person. Adding to the volume of their voice were 16,000 union activists who e-mailed and phoned their representatives on the lobby day.
Other bills concerning the union members include:
- H.B. 439, which 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, members and nonmembers, pay representational costs. The legislation forbids employers and workers from agreeing that nonmembers should pay a fair share of what it costs the union to negotiate and guarantee their wages and benefits.
- H.R. 441, designed to silence working families’ voices 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 electoral politics to include ballot initiatives—such as last year’s successful initiative to increase Missouri’s minimum wage—as well as legislative lobbying and possibly voter registration drives.
- H.R. 440, which imposes new reporting rules on local unions in the public sector that would force union leaders and even shop stewards to compile extensive, expensive and unreasonable reports. Just like the paycheck deception legislation, this proposal does not apply the new rules and restrictions to corporations or other organizations—just unions.
For more details on the bills, click here.
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