Unions Seek to Block Missouri 'Right-to-Work'; Referendum Vote Likely Next Fall

Yesterday, Missouri's newly elected governor, Eric Greitens, signed legislation that would kneecap unions by allowing employees to opt out of paying dues — a plan known as "right to work" now in place in 27 states across the U.S.

But just a few hours later, the unions said not so fast — with the AFL-CIO filing paperwork stating its intention to challenge the plan with a referendum.

The petition paperwork was jointly filed with the NAACP.

Now those two groups will need to gather enough signatures by August to get the referendum on the ballot. If they succeed, it will pause implementation until voters get a chance to weigh in in November 2018. And since getting on the ballot is typically just a matter of having enough money to organize a giant petition drive, odds are very, very good this thing is going to a vote.

So what are its odds at that point? Once a swing state, Missouri is clearly becoming more and more conservative with each election cycle. The dearth of Democrats who've been elected statewide of late makes that clear. And "right to work" has been very popular in conservative states.

Read more: http://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2017/02/07/unions-seek-to-block-missouri-right-to-work-referendum-vote-likely-this-fall