Protecting Paychecks of Missouri’s Workers
By Representative Holly Rehder, 148th District
Unions were created in order to provide a voice for workers and to make wages and conditions better for the working class. Recently, the House passed House Bill 1891 authorizing paycheck protection legislation to help those same working class individuals by holding public sector unions accountable to the members they serve. Paycheck protection requires that public employees give consent annually, either in written or electronic form, before any of their earnings are withheld to go towards the payment of any portion of dues, agency shop fees, or other fees paid to a public labor organization. So if a member does not believe their interests are being properly represented, they have a simple, straight forward way to keep their hard-earned money.
Our paycheck protection legislation provides workers with a greater level of transparency for where their dues are going. It requires public sector unions to follow the same financial disclosure guidelines currently required of private sector unions by the federal government. It is immensely important that union members know how their dues are being spent. The new disclosure provisions require that union members are provided an electronically searchable report of the union’s finances going back five years. Public sector unions should have the same level as transparency to their members as private sector unions.
This legislation also requires public employee unions to obtain annual consent in either written or electronic form from members in order to spend a portion of their individual fees on political activities. It is a safeguard for workers to help ensure that their money is only going to advocate for political purposes that they support.
Paycheck protection does not create any undue cost or burden for public sector unions. Individuals are still free to join or withdraw from public sector unions as they have been. No person should be required to have a portion of their paycheck go towards political activities as a condition of representation in the workplace. Under paycheck protection, we are ensuring that workers know their rights as a member of a public sector union and feel comfortable with the decisions their union is making. I am honored to have had the opportunity to carry this piece of legislation and will continue to advocate for workers’ freedom.