Erin Ragan covers area business news for the Southeast Missourian and contributes to Business Today, a monthly special publication. Erin began writing for the Southeast Missourian after a college internship in 2009, freelancing in news, arts and entertainment and special publications. She joined the reporting staff in 2011, taking on the county government staff reporting beat. Her beats since have included education and government and political news.

Right-to-work protest

Posted Friday, April 19, 2013, at 7:38 PM

He didn't make it, but if he had, national right-to-work advocate Mark Mix may have met protest in Cape Girardeau.

Mix was scheduled to speak to the SEMO Pachyderm Club Thursday evening in Cape Girardeau, but the event was cancelled after Mix experienced a travel delay at the Detroit airport.

Organizers called off the meeting after they learned Mix wasn't going to get there.

A few minutes after the meeting should have begun, the Southeast Missourian was told protesters awaited Mix outside of Dexter Bar-B-Que, where the Pachyderms meet.

Here's a related news release:

Flood of Special Interest Influences Attempts Landing in Cape Girardeau, Over 50 Local Workers Protest

Missourians Brave Severe Weather as Corporate Special Interests Continue to Push National Political Agenda

Despite the rain and river conditions, working Missourians called out a flood of corporate special interest influence that has been creating disaster conditions in Jefferson City. More than 50 workers and retirees gathered in pouring rain holding signs against the national special interest groups pushing for legislative attacks on middle class Missouri families as the head of the National "Right to Work" foundation was scheduled to speak.

"While Mark Mix didn't quite make it to Missouri tonight, we've been seeing the influence he and other national groups have on our elected leaders. The meeting tonight was only the latest attempt to get political support to attack the utility linesmen, first responders and other Missouri workers who are out risking their safety working for us," said Mark Baker, President of the Southeast Missouri Central Labor Council. "We're out here in the weather to make sure our neighbors and friends know what's at stake in Jefferson City -- and we're not going to stop speaking up about what's going on. The same CEOs and big corporations who have been shipping our jobs overseas are now pushing to change the laws to give them an even bigger unfair advantage."

"Missouri families have been struggling to get by, but instead of working to make things better, too many of our local politicians are choosing special interests over voters in their districts. That's not right," said JJ Lane, a Pipefitter from Cape Girardeau. It is time that our elected officials stop pandering to shady organizations like the National Right to Work Foundation and start working to strengthen our schools, invest in our roads and bridges and create good jobs here."

The SEMO Pachyderms is a local Republican group. House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Chesterfield, called making Missouri a right-to-work state a priority for state lawmakers this legislative session. Many Republican state lawmakers support the idea.

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So, would JJ Lane and his constituents have been holding signs that say...

"Down with Freedom!"

"Workers Don't Have Right To Choose!"

"Unions Can't Survive w/o Forced Unionization!"

-- Posted by bbollmann on Sat, Apr 20, 2013, at 8:27 AM
I think some signs he might carry would be:

"Down with free loading"

"Workers have a right to choose not to go to work for a union company"

"Workers survived the RTW attempt in 1978 and they will survive it again"

bbollmann: If you look you will see all those union thugs that helped the citizens of Boston. Does the "Tea Party" not support our first responders, police and fireman?

-- Posted by left turn on Sat, Apr 20, 2013, at 10:43 AM
Working 40+ hours a week and keeping the fruits of your labor and deciding how to spend it is 'freeloading' to Mr. Turn. This is the mind of a liberal folks.

Typical liberal non-sequitor by Mr. Turn -- change the argument. The argument is not over support of first responders, police and firemen.

The argument is over forced unionization and freedom. But, you don't want to debate the left's continued effort to reduce American Freedom.

Clearly Mr. Turn doesn't believe in Police Sgt Smith's freedom to work for Boston's police department and decide whether or not to join a police union.

-- Posted by bbollmann on Sat, Apr 20, 2013, at 10:56 AM
Hey bbol, you have every freedom to move to AK. Make $10.00/hr less and pay more for every dam thing you need to survive, and pay more sales tax on those items if you like. I exercise my freedom to join a union, and pay for the representation that I receive. A union contractor chooses to sign a contract (A legal document) stating that if a person works for them, they will be in a union. For every union contractor, there are a dozen non-union contractors/manufacturers to work for. Now, keep up if you can here. Those dozens of other cont./manuf. Now their wages and benefits are somewhat less on most jobs, but they are as good as they are because unions set the standard for workers. (your welcome) If the legislators that ALEC and the Koch Bros. and the National right to work committee and the Heritage foundation and the National Chamber of Commerce have hired and obviously you were stupid enough to vote for have their way in MO and eventually the nation, we will all be working for pennies on the dollar, with no benefits, until we die. When your kids need a Dr. you will have to let them die, or take the monies out of your meager paycheck and let the rest of the family go hungry. YOU AND I DO NOT HAVE TO JION A UNION. How ever I was smart enough to. If you don't want to be union, don't, but why would you silence the voice of those of us who want to lift the standard of and for ALL WORKERS? I know fox news didn't say it, but if right to starve worker suppression laws pass, you and I are both screwed.

-- Posted by working class citizen on Sun, Apr 21, 2013, at 10:35 AM
Not only will RTW bring wages down if the market has to compete with lower wage jobs. But the next generation will surely suffer because of the lack of access to education, due to their parents having less money available to save for educational purposes. Of course healthcare is just as important. So, rather than working to ensure your kids have it better than you, you'll be lucky if you'll even be able to give them a head start at all.

I thought back to when Briggs and Stratton moved to PB from WI over 20 years ago. Briggs could have easily moved 20 miles farther south and been in a RTW state, but instead they still chose a MO location in a free state. The RTW logic is out the window there. Briggs in PB was just on the front page of the local Daily American Republic for being named the most efficient small engine manufacturing plant in the US (it may have actually been the world) And now the employees are buzzing about joining a union to protect what they have because of the attacks workers are under by Extremist Republicans in MO. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that Briggs would have to say that this is possible because of the partnerships they've had with Three Rivers College, and the local vo-tech schools. This is not because they're able to pay the lowest wages possible. Why not encourage educational opportunities rather than scheming to remove worker rights and lower wages?

Burley McIntyre

UPS Driver

Teamsters Local 688

-- Posted by burleymcintyre on Sun, Apr 21, 2013, at 11:21 AM
right to work FOR LESS

-- Posted by bagman on Sun, Apr 21, 2013, at 8:16 PM
So are the unions the "special interest group", or are the right-to-work folks? That term was used so much that I lost score.

-- Posted by Rick Vandeven on Mon, Apr 22, 2013, at 4:38 AM
It's worker suppression not freedom.They are lying to you. Stop drinking the kool-aide.

-- Posted by working class citizen on Mon, Apr 22, 2013, at 12:26 PM
I worked for Kroger in the 50's, no limit to the hours in a day, we were working as much as 14 hours a day and returning by 8am the next morning in Hayti, Mo. Right to starve is a better name for this bull.

-- Posted by Dexterite1 on Tue, Apr 23, 2013, at 6:17 AM

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