The Missouri House sponsor of the 2017 right-to-work bill indicates she’ll continue to push for the measure.
State Rep. Holly Rehder speaks on the Missouri House floor on March 15, 2018 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)
Tuesday’s right-to-work referendum, which was Proposition A, was rejected by Missourians. The vote was about 937,000 to 452,000.
More than 67 percent of Missourians voted against Proposition A.
Veteran State Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston, who sponsored the 2017 House right-to-work bill, issued a statement to Missourinet on Wednesday.
Rehder, who chairs the powerful Missouri House Economic Development Committee, says she’s not giving up on her efforts.
“Last night’s results should not surprise anyone who has followed this issue. We knew that big labor would throw in everything they had to defeat right to work. Spending millions of dollars to confuse voters led to the results last night. Unions will do anything to cling to power but the data is clear, the right to work states around us have seen wages go up and the number of jobs increase. This fight is not going away and I look forward to continuing to push for labor reform,” Rehder’s statement reads.
Rehder, who represents Mississippi and Scott counties, is unopposed in November for her fourth and final term in the Missouri House.
Voters in both Mississippi and Scott counties in her district rejected right-to-work, which says that a person cannot be required to join or refrain from joining a labor organization, as a condition of employment.
Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Stephen Webber, a former state lawmaker who served in the House with Rehder, issued a statement late Tuesday after the votes came in.
“Tonight, Missouri voters rejected a top Republican priority and sent a resounding message that we will not leave working people behind. Standing together, Democrats and working families successfully fought off this shameless attack on the middle class from corrupt Republican politicians in Jeff City,” Webber said in his statement.
Senate Minority Leader Gina Walsh, D-Bellefontaine Neighbors, has warned that right-to-work will lead to lower wages and decreased safety protections.
Rehder disagrees with that, and has told Missourinet that right-to-work would increase union jobs in Missouri.
Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Dan Mehan, who appeared live on Missourinet’s election night coverage Tuesday, also says right-to-work remains “an important and worthy goal” that the Chamber will continue to pursue.
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