JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The national conservative activism group FreedomWorks issued a call to action on Monday, asking its members in Missouri to call a list of wary Republicans and urge them to support ‘right-to-work.’
FreedomWorks, which claims 6 million online members, is the latest national conservative group to join the ‘right-to-work’ fight in Missouri, as a potential vote pends in the Missouri House later this week.
“Obama’s Big Labor allies want to force workers across Missouri to pay dues, and then use that money to support Big Government politicians,” wrote Matt Kibbe, president & CEO of the organization, in an email to supporters. “With your help, we can stop them. If Missouri passes a Right-to-Work law we can stop Obama’s Big Labor cronies in Missouri once and for all.”
The bill, a chief priority of House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eurekea, would aim to restrict labor unions from collecting representation dues from non-union members in closed shops.
Kibbe’s group went further than many others organizations in touting the potential political benefits of ‘right-to-work’ for Missouri and national Republicans. “It’s time to make Missouri the 25th Right-to-Work state and stop Barack Obama and his Big Labor allies,” he wrote.
On its website, the group is targeting lawmakers like Reps. T.J. Berry, R-Independence, Chuck Gatchenberger, R-St. Charles, Ron Hicks, R-St. Peters, and Jeanne Riddle, R-Fulton. FreedomWorks suggests members call the lawmakers and tout three claimed benefits of ‘right-to-work’, including “HB 1770 would put Right-to-Work on the November ballot,” “Right-to-Work protects workers from being forced to join a union”, and “24 states have already passed this common sense legislation.”
Last week, the bill received support from the American Conservative Union, Americans for Tax Reform’s Grover Norquist, and Americans for Limited Government.
Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon, who was critical of the policy while speaking on the campaign trail over the weekend, said he was not sure who was pushing the bill, but that he believes Missourians would overwhelmingly oppose it if it is placed on the ballot, as they have before in the late 1970’s.