Sarah Steelman announced her support of 'Right to Work' legislation in Missouri, moments before the opening of Lincoln Days. (PoliticMo Photo)
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Candidate for U.S. Senate Sarah Steelman (R-Rolla) joined a growing group of conservatives to to announce support of ‘Right to Work’ legislation in Missouri.
“The first step that Missouri has to take to regain its competitive advantage is to become a Right to Work state. For too long we’ve seen jobs leave our country, and now its not just China we have to compete with, it’s the 22 States that have instituted free-market principles by passing Right to Work legislation,” Steelman said.
“We should not be forcing workers to join unions. It is an infringement on their freedom. Missouri employers and workers deserve a competitive economic landscape,” she said.
Steelman’s announcement came moments before the evening reception at Missouri Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Days.
Thursday, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce encouraged weary Republicans to endorse the proposal, after they endorsed it as an organization. The Chamber said they moved because of a push from their members.
“Our membership survey showed overwhelming support of efforts to make Missouri a right-to-work state,” said Daniel P. Mehan, Missouri Chamber president and CEO. “Our members believe that a right-to-work policy could open the door to businesses moving to Missouri – as well as help keep vital companies in our state and encourage rehiring and new hiring.”
The policy, which has already been adopted by 22 states, prevents “unionized shops,” where if a majority of workers approve, all workers must pay union dues. In Missouri, the Chamber says 25 percent of respondents to its survey had unions in their businesses.
Cathy Sherwin, spokesman for the Missouri AFL-CIO, said the proposal would be harmful to Missouri workers, and blames the Chamber’s new position on pressure from the national chamber.
“It isn’t news to working families that the Missouri Chamber of Commerce would support ‘right to work for less’ legislation, finally succumbing to the pressure of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,” Sherwin said. “In the 2010 elections, the U.S. Chamber and shadowy interest groups spent unprecedented sums of money to elect politicians that would pick the interests of greedy CEO’s over working families.”
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those jobs go to china b/c the people that own the companies could give a rats a** about the way the workers are treated, what make you think that they would treat the people here any differant?
We’ve got to be smart about this. RTW requires a vote of the people to enact. If we pass it while a Democrat is governor, he will place the proposal on a general election ballot. The 1978 experience demonstrated that RTW on the ballot gins up Democrat turnout and straight-ticket mentality, at the expense of solid Republican candidates on the ballot. The smart thing is to wait till we have a GOP governor who can put the proposal on a primary ballot where it can’t poison the general election. Sarah should know: That’s what Holden did with her “definition of marriage” ballot measure. Here is more detailed info: http://theunablogger.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/rtw-a-conservative-bridge-too-far/ RTW is the right thing to do, but the right thing to do now is to wait.
as unions go, so goes whats left of the middle class.
With the economy in such poor shape,is this suppose to help?you politicians don’t have a clue on workers rights!support the working class with some respect and dignity! Democrat
Or republican , right to work is not right for us!!and let’s keep Our work looking good here,not like some of those southern states!
Right to Work “WILL” create POVERTY JOB’S!!! WITHOUT UNIONS WAGES WILL BE LOW AND CORPRATE GREED WILL BE HIGH IN PROFITS!
Plus If Right to work is so GOOD? Why do we see so many out of state Tx/Ark/ license plates ON Missouri JOB’S trying to support their family’s?