Coalition Letter Supporting Missouri Right-To-Work
Dear Members of the Missouri State Senate and General Assembly:
We represent organizations from across the country dedicated to promoting worker freedom. Our organizations’ nonpartisan analysis shows that increasing worker freedom produces greater prosperity and growth in state economies, and we urge you to consider these benefits as you contemplate “Right to Work” in Missouri.
The data are clear: Right to Work states outperform their non-Right to Work counterparts. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Right to Work states have experienced greater job growth, population growth, and compensation growth over every significant measured amount of time. Adjusted for cost of living, workers in Right to Work states earn just as much as workers in non-Right to Work states. And union membership actually grew in many states after they passed Right to Work legislation.
Missouri is surrounded by Right to Work states and continues to lag economically. But it is not just border states benefitting at Missouri’s expense. According to IRS data, from 1992 to 2013, Missouri lost well over $3.5 billion of income to Florida, Texas, Arizona, and North Carolina – all Right to Work states.
In many of our states, citizens have been fortunate to enjoy the benefits of Right to Work, and our economies have prospered as a result. For those citizens in the states that have not yet passed this crucial reform,
we continue to advocate for and explain the benefits of increasing worker freedom.
As part of this effort, many of our organizations recently participated in National Employee Freedom Week, in which we educate union workers about the freedoms available to them – how to opt out of the union entirely in Right to Work states, and how to be freed from certain dues in non-Right to Work states.
In years past, hundreds of workers across the country chose to free themselves of union obligations. Undoubtedly, there are many workers right here in Missouri who wish to be freed from union membership and all corresponding obligations. We believe every worker in America should be afforded that basic liberty.
The undersigned coalition of public policy research and grassroots advocacy organizations strongly supports Right to Work. Right to Work would mean freedom for workers, accountability for unions, and an enormous boost for the Missouri economy.