This Labor Day, Missouri deserves a right-to-work law

Opinion This Labor Day, Missouri deserves a right-to-work law | Opinion These laws give individual workers a tool to hold the union accountable. Getty Images This Labor Day, you and your loved ones might be shopping for back-to-school supplies or gathering for a neighborhood barbecue. As you encounter workers who make this possible — clerks, shelf stockers, truck drivers, and factory workers — consider that each and every one of them may be working under threat. You see, Missouri is one of the 24 states that doesn't have right-to-work protections. Right-to-work laws guarantee that union membership and financial support are strictly voluntary for workers. Without them, a union boss can legally have a worker fired for not paying union dues or fees. If you think this sounds unjust, you're in good company. For years polls have consistently shown that 8 in 10 Americans believe union membership and dues payment should be strictly voluntary. Those who see unions up close every day agree too. In a national poll conducted before the 2024 election, 79% of current union members said they agreed with the statement: 'Workers should never be forced to join a union or pay dues to a union as a condition of employment.' Fortunately, state employees in Missouri and across the country have enjoyed right-to-work protections since the 2018 Janus v. AFSCME U.S. Supreme Court decision. In that case, the high court ruled in favor of Mark Janus and his National Right to Work Foundation attorney who argued the case, finding that the First Amendment protects individuals from being forced to fund union activities as a condition of working for the government. But unfortunately, those who work in Missouri's private sector can still be forced to pay money to union bosses or be fired. This not only denies individual workers the basic freedom to decide for themselves whether union officials deserve their financial support, but granting union bosses such coercion over employees also undermines economic growth and opportunity in Missouri. According to a recent National Institute for Labor Relations Research analysis of government economic data, from 2015 to 2025 the percentage growth in the number of people employed in right-to-work states was almost three times that of forced-unionism states such as Missouri. Over those same years, right-to-work states saw a 7.7% overall increase in manufacturing payroll employment, while forced-unionism states suffered a 2.9% decline in factory payrolls. The NILRR report also found that the rate of dependency on federal Temporary Aid to Needy Families assistance is nearly five times higher in forced-unionism states than in right-to-work states. Also as a share of population, there are fewer than half as many authorizations for new single family housing construction in forced-dues states as in right-to-work states. Moreover, after adjusting for regional differences in cost-of-living, residents of right-to-work states had roughly $3,500 more in disposable income per capita in 2025 than those in states that lack right-to-work laws. The economic benefits of right to work speak for themselves, but this isn't just about boosting the economy. At their core, right-to-work laws protect and empower worker freedom, giving individual workers a tool to hold the union accountable: when union officials fail to advance a worker's interests, they risk losing the worker's financial support. Right-to-work laws don't outlaw labor unions, nor do they prevent anyone from joining one. They simply codify a popular, commonsense principle: every worker should have the choice deciding to join and fund a labor union or not. This Labor Day, take a moment to reflect on the injustices that workers in Missouri might be up against every day. Consider how right-to-work laws would not only protect their choice over whether to join and fund a labor union, but also boost economic growth and opportunity. This Labor Day, Missouri workers deserve more than just our appreciation. They deserve the protection of a right-to-work law. Mark Mix is president of the 501(c)(4) nonprofit National Right to Work Committee and the 501(c)(3) nonprofit National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.