Letter to the Editor

Mo. GOP needs to back up its promise

Thursday, November 29, 2012

To the Editor:

However one views the results of the recent election, one thing is apparent. The Republican Party has what should be a veto proof majority in both houses of the Missouri Legislature. If the GOP now wants to back up its promises to pass legislation to assist the economic climate in Missouri, it should be able to do it no matter whether the Governor is willing to sign that legislation.

One issue I heard time and again during the election campaign was the need to pass Right-to-Work legislation to help get major companies in Missouri. As Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder stated at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon last month, when he and others went to call upon major carmakers and manufacturers about coming to Missouri one question always asked was whether Missouri was a Right-to-Work state. When told that it was not, these potential employers said when that changed come back to see them.

It is an economic fact that the Right-to-Work states have a higher rate of economic growth than do the states that do not have that right. I know when I visit relatives down in the Right-to-Work South I pass new car plants and manufacturing facilities. Right-to-Work is not an anti-union concept but a means to keep union leadership honest to keep looking after employees benefits and not what is just good for the union leaders. Right-to-Work does not mean employees lost the right to vote in a union if they see that would be good for them. It does mean that employees keep the right not to join or to join a union as the individual employee sees the situation. That is in line with the basic American rights we think we all should enjoy.

Please urge our legislators to pass Right-to-Work legislation as soon as possible so we can start calling upon those carmakers and manufacturing employers who have said to come back when Missouri becomes a Right-to-Work state. I would really like to see major employers come to Southeast Missouri. We now have 4-lane highways and railroad systems to help attract them.

Richard (Rich) P. Montgomery

Poplar Bluff, Mo