 Missouri became the 28th Right-to-Work state in the U.S. as Gov. Eric Greitens
signed Missouri’s Right-to-Work bill into law Feb. 6. Now, Missouri law protects
a worker’s choice of whether to associate with a workplace union. Illinois is
now the regional outlier, as its neighbors are all Right-to-Work states. The
consequences of being left behind are playing out across Illinois, where job
creation is stagnant and taxpayer costs associated with government unionization
are soaring.
The Right-to-Work revolution began sweeping across the region five years ago,
when then-Gov. Mitch Daniels signed Right to Work into law for Indiana. Prior to
Indiana, the only Right-to-Work state in the region was Iowa, which enacted a
Right-to-Work law in 1947. Indiana was soon followed by Michigan (2013),
Wisconsin (2015), Kentucky (2017) and now Missouri.
Since 2012, states across the region have competed for middle-class jobs and
industrial investment; Illinois, though, has made no improvements to its
industrial regulations. Since the middle of 2012, Illinois has lost 20,500
manufacturing jobs, while Indiana has added 33,100. During this time Michigan
has added 59,700; Wisconsin has added 16,400; Kentucky has added 16,800; and
Missouri has added 6,700.
Illinois’ forced-unionization status has not helped protect union membership,
either. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released a report on union
membership by state. The report showed that in 2016, union membership fell by
35,000 in Illinois, compared with increases of 21,000 in Indiana, 3,000 in
Kentucky, and 32,000 in Missouri. Michigan’s union membership decreased by
15,000, and Wisconsin’s fell by 4,000 over the past year. While union membership
is declining in many places, Illinois’ experience shows that private-sector
unions are especially unlikely to grow when industrial investment and demand for
labor are weak.
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Businesses certainly consider the Right-to-Work status of states
when deciding on industrial expansions: Two-thirds of global chief
financial officers surveyed by CNBC said a Right-to-Work law is
either “important” or “very important” when they decide where to
grow their businesses. This puts Illinois workers at a severe
disadvantage for attracting job-creating investments. Over 1,100
businesses have black-listed Illinois because it is not a
Right-to-Work state, according to Jim Schultz, the former director
of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
With Missouri’s new law, potential business investments that will
lead to new blue-collar jobs are even less likely to end up in
Illinois, and the trend is already working against the Land of
Lincoln. In 2016, Missouri had one of the better jobs growth rates
in the region, adding 64,500 jobs on the year. Illinois, on the
other hand, gained just 28,400 jobs in 2016, the worst rate in the
region.
Illinoisans are likely to continue streaming across the Missouri
border in search of more jobs and a lower cost of living. Over the
past decade, nearly 220,000 Illinoisans have decamped for Missouri,
while only 145,000 left Missouri for Illinois. The resulting loss of
73,000 people, on net, indicates that Illinoisans are voting with
their feet to join the Show Me State. Missouri’s Right-to-Work law
will likely make this trend worse for Illinois.
Illinois has become the regional outlier for labor law, and is now
completely surrounded by Right-to-Work states. The state’s
anachronistic labor law is hurting Illinois’ government finances and
leaving its industrial economy stuck in the 20th century.
Surrounding states, meanwhile, continue to make advances that will
keep taxes low and job creation high. For policymakers, the choice
is increasingly clear: Illinois can either enact reforms or continue
watching its residents flee across the state’s borders for a net
loss of more than 100,000 per year.
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