This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Feb. 25, 2011 - The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry has dropped its neutrality on the effort to make Missouri a right-to-work state -- a fact that may ratchet up the tensions between labor leaders fighting the effort, and politicians seeking to pass it. The chamber now is backing the effort; the state AFL-CIO says it's not surprised.
Tuesday night, chamber chief executive Dan Mehan said in an interview that the right-to-work issue (which would bar closed union shops) was not one of the association's key objectives for this session because of a lack of consensus among its business members.
By Thursday, the chamber apparently had changed its mind. The chamber issued a statement of support for right-to-work legislation "citing the goal of creating more job opportunities for Missourians."
"After a rigorous review process of the impact of right-to-work policy on employment figures and real job opportunities, Missouri's largest statewide employer organization concluded that in order to be competitive in job attraction -- both nationally and globally -- right-to-work policy should be adopted," the chamber said in a statement.
Added Mehan in the same release: "It is common knowledge that many site selectors and economic development consultants won't even consider locating businesses in a state that is not right to work. Right-to-work legislation would put Missouri in the first tier of options for economic development professionals searching for the best locations to expand or locate."
Mehan said a membership survey showed that 94 percent of respondents thought the chamber should take a position, and that 87 percent favored right-to-work legislation. Almost 39 percent, the chamber said believed "that Missouri not being a right-to-work state hindered their company's ability to do business in the state."
Bob Soutier, president of the Greater St. Louis Labor Council, had said earlier this week that he believed corporations were unfairly tagging unions as the culprit during tough economic times as part of a general attack on workers.
"We're only 10 percent of the workforce and we're the source of their problems?'' he asked. "I'm not buying it."
The jobs leaving Missouri, Soutier maintained, are generally going out of the country -- not to right-to-work states. (Labor calls the measure "right-to-work-for-less'' because leaders believe the effort is really aimed at driving down wages across the board.)
Thursday night, the state AFL-CIO issued a statement saying, "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. 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. Now these groups expect payback in the form of bad legislation like 'right to work,' attacks on the minimum wage and even a repeal of child labor laws."
"We're not surprised at this latest attack on working Missourians by the Chamber of Commerce. We call on our elected officials to represent Missouri's working men and women by working to create jobs, not on misguided proposals like 'right to work' and repealing child labor," the state AFL-CIO added.
But the chamber's decision was hailed by state Senate President Pro Tem Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, who has made right-to-work a key objective for this session. Also lauding the chamber's announcement was state Sen. Luann Ridgeway, R-Smithville and sponsor of the right-to-work bill.
Said Mayer: "It is great to hear that Missouri's business leaders understand that we cannot continue to do the same things and expect better outcomes for our state. ... By simply making sure that paying dues or joining a union can no longer be a condition of getting or keeping a job, we can bring more jobs to our state. Six of Missouri's eight neighboring states are 'Right to Work' states, and all but one has a lower unemployment rate than Missouri."
Ridgeway said, ""Fifty percent of manufacturers refuse to consider Missouri as a place to locate new jobs because Missouri law has no protection against forced unionization of their workers, according to testimony presented to senators. ... 'Right to Work' is not about whether unions can continue to operate in Missouri, rather it is about removing a legal barrier that is harming our state's ability to compete for jobs that impact the 89 percent of Missourians that are not union members."
The upshot? If the chamber's support helps get a right-to-work measure through the legislature, the result could put Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, in an uncomfortable position if he has to sign or veto the bill. Labor leaders are banking on Nixon rejecting it.
