JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.—Just before its session ended May 19, the Missouri legislature passed bills to 
weaken the state’s prevailing-wage law and make it harder for public-sector unions to collect dues. The Senate approved the prevailing-wage measure by 22-9 May 18, while the House, which had voted to repeal prevailing wage completely in March, passed it by 97-50 the next day. The bill, approved largely on party lines, changes the formula used to set wages on public-works projects, to allow lower pay in rural areas. Unless employers in a county report what they paid for at least 1,000 hours of work in an occupation, its “construction minimum wage” would be 120% of its average wage, as determined by the state Economic Development Department. “If we’re wanting to have a race to the bottom, this is a good way to start,” Sen. Jacob Hummel (D-St. Louis), secretary-treasurer of the state AFL-CIO, told the Kansas City Star. Both houses also passed a bill Republicans called “paycheck protection” and unions called “paycheck deception”: It will prohibit public-sector unions from collecting dues without annual authorization from the worker, and require them to win a recertification vote by the workers they represent every three years. Read more
