JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.—Gov. Eric Greitens’ political-action committee has contributed $750,000 to a group opposing the
union-backed ballot initiative to repeal Missouri’s “right to work” law. A New Missouri, Greitens’ “dark money” outfit—it can accept unlimited donations, but is not required to disclose who gave them or what it spends money on—made the contribution to a PAC called Freedom to Work. “We believe that every employee should have the freedom to work without being forced to pay any fees to a union, or join a union, in order to gain or keep a job,” Greitens’ campaign manager, Austin Chambers, said in a statement Jan. 5. Meanwhile, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters donated $750,000 on Jan. 1 to We Are Missouri, the union-financed PAC supporting the repeal initiative. Anti-union groups are also collecting signatures to get counter-initiatives on the November ballot, including one that would let workers in union shops opt out of paying “fair-share fees” to cover the costs of representation. “They have pulled out every possible tool to try to stop the will of the people,” Missouri AFL-CIO President Mike Louis told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
