Press Releases
Teamsters Denounce Passage of Destructive Anti-Worker Bill in Missouri
(WASHINGTON) – The Teamsters Union strongly denounces an anti-worker bill passed by the Missouri legislature and signed by Gov. Eric Greitens today making Missouri a right-to-work-for-less state.
The destructive right-to-work law is designed to drive down wages and weaken workers’ bargaining rights. States that have already mandated right to work have lower wages, higher unemployment and poverty levels, and fewer protections for workers than free bargaining states.
Teamsters and their allies representing workers throughout Missouri fought for several years against right to work as it was repeatedly introduced in the legislature. Their vocal opposition to the passage of right to work resulted in former Gov. Jay Nixon vetoing the legislation in 2015. The recent Republican legislative majority and governorship ensured its final passage.
“Teamsters and the people of Missouri rallied by the thousands to fight against this legislation because they know how dangerous it is. ‘Right to work’ is a fictitious play on words aimed to confuse the public. It will hurt rather than help working people,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President.
“Rather than working to strengthen the middle class and create jobs, Missouri lawmakers are choosing to wage an attack on the working people of this state,” said Jim Kabell, President of the Missouri-Kansas-Nebraska Conference of Teamsters and Joint Council 56 in Kansas City, Mo.
Kabell called the law ‘government hijacked by corporate interests’ and a measure that will enrich elites, not the working people of the state.
“The people of Missouri will not be defeated. This law will only serve to further mobilize workers in the fight for what is just and right,” Hoffa said.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and “like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.