He calls it “worker’s choice,” or “Freedom in the Workplace” this year. But state senate President Pro tem Rob Mayer’s proposal is better known by the longtime phrase “Right to Work. Changing what he calls it does not remove one major opponent–Majority Floor Leader Tom Dempsey.
Mayer maintains turning Missouri into a right to work state will improve the state’s opportunities for manufacturing jobs.
But Dempsey says the issue faces the same problems it faced last year. It’s not one of the top-tier priorities of the Republican majority in the Senate. It also is not listed as a priority a coalition of business groups that announced its pro-business agenda yesterday.
But Dempsey says some of the issues that chewed up a lot of debate time last year are not in play this year, which might open time for more discussion of other issues including Mayer’s bill.
AUDIO: Sen. Dempsey comments :30 mp3
Last year, the right to work bill got three hours of debate in the senate and never came to a vote. Dempsey says he told Mayer he could bring the bill back for more debate but Mayer never asked for more debate time.