Truth Alert on new Proposition A commercial
A new commercial is airing that’s paid for by the National Right to Work Committee, which is obviously in favor of Proposition A.
This one hits close to home as it features clips of an ABC 17 newscast and Truth Alert.
The ad starts, “The out-of-touch union officials got caught red-handed lying to you about Prop A.”
Then, there is a clip of ABC 17 news anchor Joey Parker saying, “Jobs may have been lost, but more have been added, so there’s a net gain of nearly 165,000 jobs. Even adjusted for inflation, the average wage is higher now.”
Neither Parker nor ABC 17 News takes a position for or against Prop A or any other political issue or candidate. The producers of this commercial have used the copyrighted material from ABC 17 News without its permission.
The facts Parker presented in the newscast were those he discovered in his own research and reporting on the issue. ABC 17 News also sampled data from five random right-to-work states and compared it with non-right-to-work states. There was a nearly $10,000 difference on average, with right-to-work states on the lower side.
The ad continues, “Hey, I’m a retired union later. If workers like their union, they can keep it. Prop A just gives him the choice. The verified truth is Prop A is good for all workers, and that means more for our roads, security and schools.”
Right-to-work laws will not eliminate unions, but critics say they will weaken unions and collective bargaining efforts.
With regard to Prop A meaning “more for our roads, security and schools,” ABC 17 News contacted the National Right to Work Committee to find out what that phrase means. Dan Mehan, at the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jefferson City, told ABC 17 News they studied trends and data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and determined that right-to-work states had stronger economic growth and thus higher tax revenues.
ABC 17 News does not have the data or methodology used by the committee to independently verify those claims.
A “yes” vote on Prop A would uphold Senate Bill 19, which would enact the right-to-work law, which would mandate that no one can be required to pay dues or be forced to join a union as a condition of employment. A “no” vote on Prop A would overturn the legislation.
