Wed, 06/09/2021
On June 1, 2021, the Missouri Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional a 2018 law that established numerous restrictions against certain public sector unions, except “public safety labor organizations.” The law—H.B. 1413—required these unions to obey a strict set of requirements to establish themselves as the exclusive representative for a bargaining unit and then maintain that status over time. For example, the law required a union wishing to represent a group of employees to first pay a fee to a state mediation board to hold a secret ballot election. Then, for the union to be successful, it would have to receive affirmative votes from more than 50 percent of all public employees within the bargaining unit (instead of simply winning a majority of votes, which is standard). In addition, H.B. 1413 established detailed reporting and annual filings, mandated union officers file certain disclosures, required public employees to annually authorize their dues withholdings, and prohibited the supervisory employees from being included in the same bargaining unit. Even if a union successfully obtained certification and complied with these (and many other) burdensome requirements, it then must be recertified every three years.
The Missouri Supreme Court found that H.B. 1413 violates the equal protection provision (article I, section 2) of the Missouri Constitution. This provision guarantees Missouri citizens the equal protection of the laws. The Missouri Constitution (article I, section 29) also protects the right of public employees to organize and to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing. As the court explained, its purpose is to “protect employees against legislation or act which would prevent or interfere with their organization and choice of representatives.” H.B. 1413, however, did not apply to all public sector unions equally. The Missouri legislature exempted public safety labor organizations from H.B. 1413’s coverage. As a result, the court found that this exemption lacked even a rational basis justifying the different treatment of different unions.
Critically, the court differentiated between laws that carve out exceptions for public sector employees and those that carve out exceptions for only public sector unions. Many unions, the court explained, may include employees that perform public safety functions but not be a “public safety labor organization” as defined by H.B. 1413 (defined as organizations that “primarily” represent public safety employees). Therefore, some public safety employees would be subject to the bill’s requirements, but not all, leading to arbitrary treatment between similarly situated labor organizations and public safety employees. “A labor organization composed of 51 percent public safety employees is similarly situated to a labor organization composed of 49 percent public safety employees. HB 1413, however, would treat the two drastically different.” As a result of this unequal treatment, the court declared H.B. 1413 void in its entirety—a clear victory for public sector labor unions in Missouri.
For more information on workers’ right to join labor unions, visit our webpage on labor unions here.
