Incoming state Senate President Pro Tem Robert Mayer, R-Dexter, thinks his neighbors' experiences in southeast Missouri suggest a need to change the entire state's labor laws.
Looking at new jobs created in Tennessee and in northeastern Arkansas "over the last 15 years," Mayer told reporters last week, "I believe that "Right to Work' is a good policy for Missouri - certainly for southeast Missouri, southwest Missouri and other rural areas of the state."
"Right to Work" is a provision of federal law that allows a state to prohibit what is called a "closed shop," where membership in a union is required as a condition of having a job. But Senate Democrats immediately questioned Mayer's plan.