Demand a Referendum for Right-to-Work in Missouri!

(The above photo is from NBC NEWS)

Many of the people I care about, myself included come from Union families. I often hear their worries and began wondering why, if so many Missourians are union workers, should we sit and allow a bill none of us agree with to be passed? We shouldn't.

For long periods of time, Unions have been misconstrued and twisted to be something they are not. For long periods of time, laws and legislations have been presented in the attempts of being passed to "bring down" the big, bad, unions. It is unfortunate that so much of the population believes in the falsities that they have heard without so much as a drop of research into the matter.

Unions are no longer "a closed shop" (as said in an article on Forbes.com). The Taft - Hartley Act of 1947 and its additions and amendments thereof, has done its best to limit the concerns of the public for the non-union population. Looking deeper into this act you can also see that a lot of these so called "issues" that have proposed solutions in the Right-To-Work bill, are unnecessary and addressed in the Taft-Hartley Act. Issues such as Union Fees, non-union employees, and the contract agreements made to benefit the non-union employees.

The Right to Work bill is FAR too controversial to just "let it happen." No! The people of Missouri are not bystanders in Missouri's government. We have options. Our best option is to petition for a referendum. A referendum works like this:

"The referendum power is derived solely from a state's constitution and applies to that state's laws; people do not have the right to challenge federal legislation by referendum. The right of referendum and the procedure to be followed in exercising the referendum right are set forth in the state's constitution and statutes. The referendum process is essentially the same in every state. First, there must be a petition for referendum that states, among other things, the title and nature of the legislative act the petition seeks to have submitted for referendum. The petition is then circulated for signatures. Generally, anyone eligible to vote may sign a petition for referendum, even if he or she is not registered to vote. When the required number of signatures is collected, the petition is filed. If the petition is certified as sufficient, the referendum measure is placed on the election ballot for approval or rejection by the people. If the required number of votes, usually a majority of the votes cast, are in favor of the referendum, it passes. Usually, the people vote on a referendum measure during the general election, but special referendum elections also may be held.In some states there is no limit on the referendum power, and any law may be challenged by referendum. In many states, however, the constitution creates exceptions to the referendum power for certain types of legislation. Commonly, constitutional provisions regarding referendums create an exception for laws necessary for the support of the state government and state or public institutions, because a referendum on any such measure might cause a branch of the government to cease to function. This exception applies mainly to tax and appropriation measures. Also, most states create an exception to the referendum power for laws necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, thereby allowing the legislature to exercise the Police Power unimpaired. Finally, measures declared by the legislature to be emergency measures are usually not subject to referendum." - http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/referendum

This petitions purpose is to propose a referendum for the Right to Work bill with alongside a special election period. Only sign this if you agree with the following:


We, the people, of Missouri ask to excercise our legal rights and participation in state government by beginning the legal process of referendum. We propose giving the entire electorate the power to vote on the Right to Work bill. Our decision on signing this petition is based off of our constitutional right to have a voice in our state government because we believe that it is in the best interest of the citizens of Missouri to be granted the right to vote on something that will affect a vast majority of Missouri workers. We agree to follow this process excerpted from the Missouri Revised Statutes:

"116.050. 1. Initiative and referendum petitions filed under the provisions of this chapter shall consist of pages of a uniform size. Each page, excluding the text of the measure, shall be no larger than eight and one-half by fourteen inches. Each page of an initiative petition shall be attached to or shall contain a full and correct text of the proposed measure. Each page of a referendum petition shall be attached to or shall contain a full and correct text of the measure on which the referendum is sought.

2. The full and correct text of all initiative and referendum petition measures shall:

(1) Contain all matter which is to be deleted included in its proper place enclosed in brackets and all new matter shown underlined;

(2) Include all sections of existing law or of the constitution which would be repealed by the measure; and

(3) Otherwise conform to the provisions of Article III, Section 28 and Article III, Section 50 of the Constitution and those of this chapter."

Again, we will need over 100,000 signatures on this petition in order to be heard. (Take this with a grain of salt as there is no magic number but this should do the trick.)

Please Sign and Share!