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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Study: Right-to-Work Law Could Disproportionately Impact Black Workers

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Monday, May 21, 2018   

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — As Republican lawmakers advance plans to protect the so-called "right-to-work" legislation they passed last year, a study shows the policy could hurt black workers most.

The law, which deals with banning mandatory union fees, did not take effect because Democrats and union workers gathered enough signatures to force a vote on whether to keep the law. But the debate continues.

Valerie Wilson, director of the program on race, ethnicity and the economy at the Economic Policy Institute, said their analysis found black Missourians would be disproportionately impacted by the law.

"The reason this is disproportionately impacting black workers is because black workers are a larger share of the unionized workforce than they are the total workforce,” Wilson said. “The black workers are more likely to be union members."

According to the study, 13.9 percent of all black workers are unionized in Missouri, compared with 10.3 percent of all white workers, and 9.3 percent of all Hispanic workers. Voters will decide whether to make Missouri a right-to-work state in the August primary election, rather than in November.

Wilson said it's not just black workers who will feel the negative impact of a switch to a right-to-work policy if Missourians vote to approve the law.

"There have been other studies done nationally,” she said. “And what they find is that workers in right-to-work states on average earn about 3 percent less than workers in non-right-to-work states."

Proponents say workers should have a choice about joining a union and paying dues, while opponents argue banning mandatory fees could cripple workers' ability to bargain for better wages.


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