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Missouri voters made history on Tuesday, blocking the state’s Republican lawmakers from enacting right-to-work legislation by a two-to-one margin. Proposition A would have made it illegal for unions to charge fees to workers they represent who don’t want to pay them.
Missouri was on track to become the 28th state to pass right-to-work legislation. It’s the first time voters have overturned right-to-work laws through a ballot referendum.
Unions framed the issue as a fight against the billionaires funding anti-worker measures. Missouri native actor John Goodman even did a 30-second radio ad.
“The bill will not give you the right to work,” Goodman says. “It’s being sold as a way to help Missouri workers, but look a little deeper and you’ll see it’s all about corporate greed.”
Missouri AFL-CIO President Mike Louis made the following statement.
The victory in Missouri follows a national wave of inspiring activism that is leading to life-changing collective bargaining agreements and electoral triumphs that remind America the path to power runs through the labor movement. From statehouses and city councils to the halls of Congress, working people are fighting back; and this November, we will elect our allies and retire our enemies. Working people across Missouri made this transformational moment possible, and we are following their lead to changing the world.
Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy issued the following statemen.t
Voters rejected a corporate-backed power grab and instead chose to protect their freedom to join together in strong unions.
Today’s [Tuesday’s] vote, just a few hundred miles south of us, should serve as a clear message to policymakers here in Minnesota that working people are sick of the continued attacks on our freedom to prosper.