Unions pour millions into Missouri to fight right-to-work
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Unions from around the country are pouring money into Missouri ahead of a statewide vote that could ban mandatory union fees at workplaces, just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that dealt a blow to public sector unions.
The group fighting a ballot measure that would make Missouri a right-to-work state has outraised its opponents by nearly $6 million over the past four months.
Formed last year in Jefferson City, We Are Missouri had already raised more than $5.4 million during the last quarter, according to reports released this week by the Missouri Ethics Commission. But a recent flood of money from out-of-state unions from New York to California, including groups affiliated with the AFL-CIO, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and United Food & Commercial Workers, drove their haul since the beginning of April to more than $7.4 million.
In contrast, the three groups campaigning in favor of right-to-work pulled in more than $1.6 million over the same period. The largest donation of half-a-million dollars came from A New Missouri, the nonprofit recently accused in an ethics complaint of violating campaign finance laws while essentially functioning as an unofficial arm of former Gov. Eric Greitens' operation. A New Missouri can shield its donors' identities, so the ultimate source of the money is not known.
Read more: http://www.newstribune.com/news/missouri/story/2018/jul/17/right--work-foes-raise-millions-more-opponents/734937/