Previously: HB 1770: Pyrrhic pay cut (April 9, 2014)

From the Journal of the House, Forty-ninth Day-Wednesday, April 9, 2014, 1058 [pdf]:

….HB 1770, relating to labor organizations, was again taken up by Representative Burlison.

Representative Burlison offered House Amendment No. 1.

House Amendment No. 1

AMEND House Bill No. 1770, Page 1, Section 290.591, Line 1, by inserting after the number “290.591. 1.” the following:

“All people shall be guaranteed the freedom to work without being required to join or pay dues to any labor organization as a condition or continuation of employment. To this end, subsections 2 and 3 of this section shall apply to labor organizations, employers, and employees.

2.”; and

Further amend said page and section, Line 9, by deleting the number “2” and inserting in lieu thereof the number “3”; and

Further amend said bill, Page 2, Section C, Lines 5 through 7, by deleting all of said lines and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

“”Shall Missouri law be amended to guarantee all people the freedom to work without being required to join or pay dues to any labor organization as a condition or continuation of employment?

It is estimated this proposal will result in little or no costs or savings for state and local governmental entities.”.”; and

Further amend said bill by amending the title, enacting clause, and intersectional references accordingly.

On motion of Representative Burlison, House Amendment No. 1 was adopted.

On motion of Representative Burlison, HB 1770, as amended, was ordered perfected and printed by the following vote:

AYES: 078

Allen Anderson Austin Bahr Barnes

Bernskoetter Brattin Brown Burlison Cierpiot

Cookson Cox Crawford Cross Curtman

Davis Diehl Dohrman Dugger Elmer

Entlicher Fitzpatrick Flanigan Fraker Franklin

Frederick Gosen Guernsey Haahr Hampton

Hoskins Hough Houghton Hurst Johnson

Jones 50 Justus Keeney Kelley 127 Koenig

Kolkmeyer Lair Lant Leara Lichtenegger

Love Lynch Marshall McGaugh Messenger

Miller Moon Morris Muntzel Parkinson

Phillips Pike Pogue Redmon Rehder

Reiboldt Remole Rhoads Richardson Ross

Rowland Scharnhorst Schatz Schieber Shull

Shumake Swan Thomson Walker White

Wilson Wood Mr. Speaker

NOES: 068

Anders Black Burns Butler Carpenter

Colona Conway 10 Conway 104 Curtis Dunn

Ellington Engler English Englund Fitzwater

Frame Funderburk Gannon Gardner Gatschenberger

Harris Hicks Higdon Hubbard Hummel

Kelly 45 Kirkton Korman Kratky Lauer

May Mayfield McCaherty McCann Beatty McDonald

McKenna McManus McNeil Meredith Mims

Mitten Molendorp Montecillo Morgan Neth

Newman Nichols Norr Otto Pace

Peters Pierson Riddle Rizzo Roorda

Runions Schieffer Schupp Smith Sommer

Spencer Swearingen Torpey Walton Gray Webber

Wieland Wright Zerr

PRESENT: 002

Berry Pfautsch

ABSENT WITH LEAVE: 012

Cornejo Ellinger Grisamore Haefner Hansen

Hinson Hodges LaFaver Neely Rowden

Solon Stream

VACANCIES: 003

[emphasis in original]

In November working people need to remember who their friends are. We’ll help remind them.

“…House Bill 1770 was perfected by a vote of 78-68, four votes short of the constitutional requirement for final passage…”

A press release from Governor Jay Nixon (D):

Gov. Nixon issues statement on the failure of Right to Work to garner the votes necessary for final passage

April 9, 2014

Jefferson City, MO

Gov. Jay Nixon issued the following statement on the failure of House Bill 1770 to garner the votes necessary for final passage:

“Today, a bipartisan coalition of legislators rejected Right to Work, marking a victory for Missouri working families and a setback for the out-of-state ideologues and special interests trying to attack them,” Gov. Nixon said. “At a time when we should be focused on policies that create jobs and move our state forward, this misguided political maneuver would take us backward by undermining workers and weakening our economy.  I will continue to stand on the side of the hard-working men and women of Missouri as we work together to build a brighter, more prosperous future for our state.”

The Missouri Constitution requires a constitutional majority for final passage of a bill.  House Bill 1770 was perfected by a vote of 78-68, four votes short of the constitutional requirement for final passage.

[emphasis in original]

Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder (r) does a half hearted victory dance, via Twitter:

Peter Kinder @PeterKinder

Thank you to those supporting #RTW today and everyday. Advance worker freedom and kickstart the #Missouri economy. #MOleg 3:39 PM – 9 Apr 2014

And this one, which is quite funny:

Roy Temple ‏@roytemple

While Rep @calebrowden44 lacks conviction, he’s at least consistent in his cowardice. He took another walk on a hard vote. #RTW 3:41 PM – 9 Apr 2014

I’ve got news for you – as long as there are billionaires willing to pay for the debate…

Speaker calls for debate on Right to Work legislation

Jones maps out priorities on eve of legislative session

Jan. 3, 2014

Republican Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones offered a full-throated case for Right to Work legislation Thursday night, placing the policy front and center in his agenda for the new year….

And from the working peoples’ side, along U.S. Highway 50 in west central Missouri:

Paid for by Committee to Protect MO Families Martin Walter, Treasurer.

I admit it. I like making my own end-of-the-year lists, and I like to see how my opinions line up with other list-makers. It’s silly maybe, but it can help to refine one’s perspective. So here’s my first end-of-the-year list which names the political actors and/or acts that struck me as the most absurd and/or inexcusable during 2013, hence the titular worst of the worst. (In order to balance the negativity, though, I’ll be following it with a list of the best of the best.) It goes without saying that my selections are entirely subjective and reflect my opinion only – nobody else is implicated by my judgement, although I invite anyone so inclined to take issue with my selections or offer their contrary assessments in the comments. And with that, away we go:

1. Rex Sinquefield: Sinquefield is a retired billionaire financier whose hobby is buying up Missouri state government in order to provide a staging ground for his libertarian theology. He plays a long game, lavishing tons of dollars on politicians of every stripe as long as they show even some teeny-tiny signs of sympathy for a small sliver of his goals.  What does he want long-term? Just a Missouri with all the attractions of the brutish Randian paradise for wealthy Übermenschen that excites today’s conservatives.

But hey, perverting the political process for the benefit of the rich and powerful is nothing new and, on its own, wouldn’t merit more than an honorable mention among the worst of Missouri’s recent worst. Mr. Sinquefield has been taking full advantage of the Supreme Court’s destructive endorsement of the idea that money equals speech for a long time. This year, however, plantation master Sinquefield found it necessary to crack the whip; he quickly helped launch a lawsuit to stop a campaign finance reform bill that would have reduced the decibels of his green-backed free speech to a level more in line with that enjoyed by less wealthy citizens of the state. And what does he do with this free-speech? He lies – as in his recent Forbes Magazine op-ed, an overtly counterfactual apotheosis of Kansas Governor Brownback’s tax free policies.

2. The Missouri anti-Obamacare obstructionists: And by obstructionists I mean the Republicans who control the state legislature. Thanks to these jerks, 193,000 Missourians will be out in the healthcare cold. These are the people who don’t make enough money to qualify for subsidies on the Obamacare exchanges since those in their income range were were meant to to get coverage through an extension of Medicaid eligibility, an extension that the state’s GOP, taking advantage of another gift from our conservative Supreme Court, have refused to enact. The same folks have refused to set up Obamacare exchanges, tried to hinder use of the federal exchange and pushed one dishonest story after another about the imagined perils of the law. Talk all you want about the initial failures of the Obamacrare Website or Obama’s rather tame “lie of the year,” the folks who’ve done the real damage are quite simply the politicos who are busy patting themselves on the back because they have saved Missouri’s poor from the moral hazard represented by actual health care.

3. Members of the Missouri GOP congressional delegation: These folks, many of them multi-millionaires, came home to enjoy their cushy Christmas celebrations after refusing to extend benefits for unemployed American workers. As a result, last Saturday 21,329 jobless Missourians lost the meager stipend (averaging $242) that often meant keeping food on the table. If nothing is done, 35,400 more workers will lose this cushion in the first months of 2014. The people’s Republican representatives felt free to cut benefits off even though currently there are, according to some sources, three applicants for most jobs and over 4 million long-term unemployed nationally. Missouri’s current unemployment rate is 6.1%.

4. Rep. Ann Wagner (R-2): Wagner makes it onto this list due to her emergence as one of the aspiring leaders of the GOP House membership, in which role she stood behind the recent government shutdown, welcoming the “fight” on behalf of “the American people,” while simultaneously trying to lay the blame on the Democrats who, for some inexplicable reason, wouldn’t roll over and play dead after winning a major election. This shutdown cost taxpayers $24 billion at a conservative estimate. Thanks alot, Ann. If Wagner represents the new face of the GOP, the concept needs some work.

5. Governor Jay Nixon: Nixon arguably doesn’t belong on a list filled with boneheads and charlatans – but he landed here because I expect more of him when it comes to looking out for the long-term welfare of the state as opposed to selling us out for a short-term, politically attractive “get.” I’m talking about the Boeing giveaway here. There’s plenty of evidence that massive incentives such as those offered to Boeing are bad economic policy, particularly in a state that like Missouri is already starved for revenue. It leaves a particularly bad taste when one takes into account the sort of underhanded back-room deals that seem to have been required to bring it into being. But no matter how you cut it, $3.5 billion in tax breaks is a bit much to pay in order to buy bragging rights for a handful of jobs – especially when we’re talking about jobs that were probably never going to come  here in the first place. When politicians you have no choice but to trust are influenced by corrupt, corporatist thinking about the allocation of cost and benefit, it makes it just that much harder to believe that change will ever be possible. You want to know why Democrats don’t turn out in off-year elections, why there’s an enthusiasm gap? Look no further.

6. The Greater St. Louis Labor Council: This one hurts. It hurts because it’s more evidence of the demise of labor. It’s clear that Boeing’s effort to spike a bidding war for its 777X manufacturing facility, as the Kansas City Star’s Mary Sanchez noted, is “just leverage for Boeing Co. to go after the jugular of a labor union.”  Now, I’ve always believed that what made unions work was a little thing called solidarity – and that its exercise is not defined in regional terms. Yet not only were local unions willing to undercut their brothers and sisters in Washington, but they quickly squelched Gordon King, a representative of the  local Machinists District 837, when he attempted to stand up and do what union members are supposed to do for each other. When it becomes “my workers first” and not “all workers together,” unions have truly lost the war, and the unbecoming eagerness of the local labor council to kiss up to Boeing is just one more step along the way. I understand the desperation that has brought our local labor leaders to this point, but it still hurts.

7. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-4): No list of worsts would be complete with the stench of hypocrisy – of which Hartzler is redolent. And make no mistake, it takes chutzpah to vote to cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), part of the safety net for the poor, wile keeping sacrosanct massive agricultural subsidies for rich farmers that Hartzler and her family continue to receive. Hartzler, author of a book titled Running God’s Way that is described as “a must-read for everyone interested in serving God through political involvement,” has shown herself again and again to be unwilling to put into practice Christ’s admonition in Matthew 25:34-36 to minister to those in need, and has, instead, allied herself with the wealthy about whom Christ declared “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 11:25).

8. Brian Nieves: In a state legislature filled with chuckleheads and bozos, if one had to single out one supreme example of the resentment-fueled, raging white doofus, it would have to be state Senator Brian “Mad Dog” Nieves. Sharia law, Agenda 21, drones spying on farmers, gold-buggery, tentherism, you name it, if it’s crazy Nieves is for it. Add to the mix his eagerness to physically and verbally attack opponents, constituents, you name it, and you’ve got a disaster ready to happen. He’s on this year’s list, though, because he’s one of the brains (and I use the term loosely) who responded to the Sandy Hook massacre by pushing a gun bill so irresponsible that even members of his own party ultimately refused to over-ride its veto by the Governor. In his own words:

… If we, as a nation, would collectively take a few short minutes, maybe even an hour, to actually research what our Founding Fathers said, in their own words, about gun ownership and gun control, we would see that what we arbitrarily refer to as “Assault Rifles” would fit squarely with what they wanted us to have! …

Now that constitutional scholar Nieves has devoted an hour or so to researching the issue, I should probably run out and buy my assault weapon today! Then I can wave it around and act tough just like “Mad Dog.” Just in case you’re worried, there’ll be lots more fun and games ahead. And like last year, very little attention to important business.

Slightly edited for clarity.

Today:

Nixon eyeing special session for big Boeing tax breaks, sources say

CHESTERFIELD • Gov. Jay Nixon is poised to call lawmakers back to Jefferson City next week to pass special incentives to help lure Boeing Co.’s 777X assembly plant to north St. Louis County.

Official word is expected Friday, but several sources in the administration and legislature have confirmed that Nixon intends to call a special session, perhaps to start as soon as Monday….

Interesting game.

The view from Seattle, Washington:

Courageous Boeing Workers Say No to Corporate Extortion

Posted: 11/18/2013 12:42 pm

In a remarkable act of courage and solidarity with the next generation, last week Boeing workers in Seattle soundly rejected corporate extortion, by voting down a contract which traded job guarantees for concessions that would severely erode the pay and benefits of younger workers. In doing so, the members of the Machinists are risking their jobs to save an America built on the middle class….

….Early this month, Boeing tried to blackmail both its union members and Washington state. Declaring that it would consider moving assembly of a new line of 777X planes out of state, the corporation asked for mammoth tax incentives and huge concessions on wages and benefits. The governor and State Legislature caved immediately, passing the largest development tax break for a company in American history, $8.7 billion over 16 years, in a special weekend session. The leadership of Machinists Local 751 also wavered, agreeing to put the contract up for a membership vote, over the objections of most of the union’s management council.

But then a remarkable thing happened, in an age in which Americans, scared that they will lose what they have left, seem resigned to shrinking pay and disappearing benefits.  A grassroots swell of membership opposition to the contract rose up, leading to 67% of the member rejecting the contract. The members did so with their eyes wide open, understanding that Boeing might not be bluffing….

Interesting game. Just add Thelma Ritter. Same plot. And if they do the same to Missouri?

So, when they do bluff who ends up paying the bill for the Missouri General Assembly special session? Just asking.

It’s no secret that the American Legislative Education Committee (ALEC), the corporatist front group owned in large part by the billionaire Koch brothers and used to enact their political preferences into law, is really big on right-to-work (RTW) legislation. ALEC is not alone in promoting RTW – the Chamber of Commerce; ALEC’s sister organization, Americans for Prosperity (AFP); along with numerous rightwing groups have also made RTW their cause du jour, but ALEC has had a particularly important role. In fact, several past efforts to enact RTW bills in Missouri adhered closely to he pattern of ALEC model legislation. Those bills – so far – have failed to gain sufficient traction to pass.

But never fear – RTW is still a priority. House speaker, Tim Jones recently, proclaimed that “we’re going to make Missouri the 25th right-to-work state.” The only thing that has changed is the strategy, as Peter Kinder explained to the ALEC overlords last month:

Earlier this month, Republican Lt. Governor Peter Kinder told an audience at the national American Legislative Exchange Council convention in Chicago that “Right to Work” (RTW) didn’t have the legs to pass through Missouri’s Republican-controlled legislature, and that the matter would likely be placed on the ballot for the next general election.

Sounds grim. RTW is not just one more effort to chip away at the ability of unions to function effectively, it’s a chain saw that can be used to slice away huge chunks of union membership.The word is that Missouri unions are already building up their war chests in anticipation of a nasty fight:

The 1978 fight pales in comparison to what the fight would cost both sides now,” Missouri AFL-CIO President, Hugh McVey, told The Missouri Times. “We won big last time and the numbers kind of speak to that, but I don’t know that we’d win like that this time. Although I do still think we would win.”

At a meeting of the Missouri Progressive Action Group (MOPAG) last Saturday, however, Democratic Rep. Bill Otto had a different perspective, all but daring the Republicans to put RTW on the ballot. His argument touched on the issue of turnout during midterm elections. Many of us believe that the reason Missouri sent such a large population of Tea Party fence posts (as in “dumb as a fence post”) to Washington in 2010, and voted for things like the anti-Obamacare Prop. C had more to do with small overall turnout and over-excited Tea Partiers than the real druthers of less extreme Missourians. One thing a RTW ballot initiative could do, if state Democrats are able to act quickly and smartly – a big if, I know – would be to energize the Democratic base. I don’t know about you, but I’ll wait and see. I’ll also keep my fingers crossed.  

Previously:

It’s the last week of the session (May 14, 2013)

May as well (May 15, 2013)

KC-Area Faith Leaders on SB29, Paycheck Deception (May 15, 2013)

Faith, Hope, Charity…and Persistence (May 15, 2013)

As the House considered SB 224 in yesterday’s session it became a vehicle for adding amendments (provisions that existed in other amendments in other bills or for bills which are languishing in legislative purgatory).

SB 224 [….]

Last Action: 5/16/2013 – Requests to Recede or Grant Conference Calendar–SCS for SB 224-Curls, et al, with HA 1, HA 2, HA 3, HA 4, HSA 1 for HA 5, HA 6, HA 7 & HA 8 (Senate requests House recede or grant conference)

[….]

[emphasis added]

HA 5 to SB 224 was introduced by Representative Rick Brattin (r). Representative Jeff Roorda (D) raised a point of order, pointing out that this particular amendment was going to be a vehicle for something else (it was). From the House Rules:

Must Be Germane

Rule 69. [pdf] No motion or proposition on a subject different from that under consideration shall be admitted under color of amendment.

The Speaker ruled against the point of order.

Representative Jeff Roorda (D).

Sure enough, Representative Holly Rehder (r) was recognized and introduced HSA [House Substitute Amendment] 1 to HA 5 to SB 224.

Representative Roorda (D) asked in his inquiry of Representative Rehder (r) if the substitute amendment was another vehicle to apply “right to work” to public sector first responder unions (specifically, the bill would apply to Kansas City Police). Representative Rehder (r) answered, eventually, that the amendment would indeed do so. A request was made for a recorded vote (with at least five members standing to agree). The recorded vote was granted.

Representative Holly Rehder (r).

Curiously, Representative Rehder (r) is Chair of the Issue Development Standing Committee on Workers Freedom of the House. That’s so 1984.

Meanwhile, Representative Rick Brattin (r) watched the proceedings:

Representative Rick Brattin (r). Yes, that Rick Brattin.

Representatives Eric Burlison (r) (left) and Holly Rehder (r) (right).

The amendment was approved 85-71 in a roll call (recorded vote).

The republican anti organized labor agenda will keep returning like zombie b-movie sequels.

I grew up on the romance of the the early labor movement. My father was a full-on supporter of unions and I knew what solidarity meant before I was old enough to go to school. Today, we talk about the need to defend FDR’s New Deal, which many of us consider the single most important factor in the creation of today’s  strong though embattled middle class. The New Deal, however, and programs like Social Security, would have been impossible without the fifty to sixty years of labor ferment, often violent, that preceded the Great Depression, and the sacrifices of the individuals who fought in the name of solidarity. So, in honor of that history, I’ve put up a song that reflects the union spirit:

And here’s a song about the archetypal union man:

Some more suggestions for celebrating Labor Day: Get a copy of Labor’s Untold Story: The Adventure Story of the Battles, Betrayals and Victories of American Working Men and Women by Richard Boyer and Herbert Morals, and begin reading it. John Dos Passos’ U.S.A. Trilogy is also a great, if pessimistic, mix of fiction, news clippings and biographical sketches that present the social ferment of the 1920 and 30s. It’s not just history, but one of the greatest literary achievements of the 20th century. For those who prefer movies, my favorites are the 1999 film, Cradle will Rock, and, of course, John Sales’ Matewan.

*1st paragraph slightly edited.  

Yesterday, Claire McCaskill voted to oppose  a compromise bill to authorize Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) spending. She, along with 20 other Senators, voted against weakening a National Mediation Board ruling allowing airline and railroad employees to form a union by a simple majority of those voting. The compromise would, as DailyKos Labor‘s Laura Clawson describes it, permit employers to:

… control information about what workers should be eligible to vote in an election, allowing them to pad the numbers required for the 50 percent of workers now required to even hold an election. Then employers would be able to delay the election, find out which workers were supporting the union and intimidate them. Not only that, but in cases where a larger non-union airline and a smaller union airline merged, the union and the contract would just be gone.

GOP efforts to gut union protections have held up a long-term FAA authorization for five years, and the compromise was negotiated by the Senate Democratic leadership. Add these considerations to the fact that there were lots of good things in the bill – it will facilitate the transition from radar to GPS flight control, for instance – and it becomes clear that remaining steadfast in support of the unions represents a reasonably tough-minded stance for a politician who has reliably wavered on most progressive issues.

Last week, McCasill scored when she stood up for reproductive rights and signed a letter protesting the Komen Foundation’s politically motivated treatment of Planned Parenthood. This week, by standing up for the right of unions to organize, she scored big for a second time. Who knows, maybe acting like a progressive will become a new habit for Senator McCasill – and if not, it’s good to know that there at least two issues on which we can count on her support.