Governor Eric Greitens will make Missouri the 29th ‘right-to-work’ state in the country when he signs the legislation Monday morning in Springfield, keeping a campaign promise and marking a Republican win for lawmakers that would have seen the legislation fall to former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto pen.
“It leads to more jobs and higher pay,” said Gov. Greitens on the evening of his State of the State address.
Gov. Greitens will make right-to-work official at an abandoned warehouse at 9:30 a.m. in Springfield, “a far too familiar sight for many towns across Missouri,” said the press release announcing the event.
The Governor will continue to Poplar Bluff and sign a copy of the legislation.
“The Governor will declare that Missouri is open for business and that this legislation is a key part of his fight for more jobs,” said the release.
“You don't get to go to Sam's Club if you don't pay your dues and it's not right for the union management to collect and bargain and fight for all those things and you not to pay your share,” said Kathy Miller who fought the legislation at the capital in Jefferson City.
Miller believes right-to-work helps companies rather than employees while undermining the strength of unions and lowering pay rates.
Though overall data is inconclusive, a 2015 study by The Institute for Research on Labor and Employment discovered the average employee pay to be higher in non-right-to-work states.
Miller says groups opposed to the legislation plan on putting the right-to-work choice in voter’s hands by getting enough petition signatures to place the issue on the 2018 ballot.
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Brian Abel can be reached at brian.abel@kshb.com.
