This Labor Day, you and your loved ones might be shopping for back-to-school supplies or gathering for a neighborhood barbecue. As you encounter workers who make this possible — clerks, shelf stockers, truck drivers, and factory workers — consider that each and every one of them may be working under threat.
You see, Missouri is one of the 24 states that doesn’t have right-to-work protections. Right-to-work laws guarantee that union membership and financial support are strictly voluntary for workers. Without them, a union boss can legally have a worker fired for not paying union dues or fees.
If you think this sounds unjust, you’re in good company. For years polls have consistently shown that 8 in 10 Americans believe union membership and dues payment should be strictly voluntary.
Those who see unions up close every day agree too. In a national poll conducted before the 2024 election, 79% of current union members said they agreed with the statement: “Workers should never be forced to join a union or pay dues to a union as a condition of employment.”
Fortunately, state employees in Missouri and across the country have enjoyed right-to-work protections since the 2018 Janus v. AFSCME U.S. Supreme Court decision. In that case, the high court ruled in favor of Mark Janus and his National Right to Work Foundation attorney who argued the case, finding that the First Amendment protects individuals from being forced to fund union activities as a condition of working for the...
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