Beware What You Wish (Right-to-Work, Obamacare, Seat Belt Laws, and My Damn HOA!)

Today, Missouri became the 28^th state to abolish mandatory union dues.

In the following parable, I speak for a fictional person who supported the Missouri law in 2017 but had a change of heart in 2018.

….

Crystal's Story

My 2017 started out great! In early February, we finally got a law in Missouri that made payment of dues purely voluntary. I went to HR immediately and tore up my payroll deduction form for union dues. I told my co-workers to do the same. Most told me they were planning to do it already. 

It felt great to save $1,200 a year in union dues because I make only $52,000 at the factory in St. Louis.

The year got better for me when Obamacare was repealed on July 4, 2017. It was hugely expensive and my policy had high deductibles. States were given authority to set up their own insurance systems. I wasn’t sure what Missouri had, but I know that my take-home pay increased by $650 a month!

In August, I got together with some of my neighbors and attended the annual condo association meeting. We told the officers that our $300 annual fee was too high—and we demanded that our fees be cut to $100. We won!

By the end of 2017, I saved $1,200 in dues, $200 in condo fees, and about $3,600 in health insurance payroll deductions.

Things changed for me in 2018. 

On January 20^th, we had a three inch snowfall. As I was driving a block from my home, my pick-up skidded into the back of a car. It wasn’t a big deal, but my bumper was damaged and so was the bumper of the car I hit. I was upset, however, because the damn street wasn’t plowed.

I went to the emergency room because I had a bad headache. 

I don’t wear seat belts—I don’t care what the law says, seatbelts are too uncomfortable. 

I found out that I am uninsured. The ER said I’d be treated anyway, and they were right. They got to me after I was sitting there for four hours.

I was so disoriented from the accident that I forgot to call ahead to work.

When I showed up at work, I was told to report to HR. 

These jerks assessed me three points under the company’s damn “point system.” I got one point for an absence. I told HR you can’t give me a point for missing work when I have an accident. They said I get a point anytime I’m absent—they call it a no fault system because they got sick and tired of reading doctor’s excuses they thought were bogus reasons to get out of work.

The real kicker was they gave me two full points for being a no-call, no-show. “That’s crazy! How can you do that to people in an accident?” 

“We had to call in a replacement for you. The line couldn’t start for an hour. We had to pay that person overtime because they were above 40 hours for the week. Your no-call, no-show cost us money.”

That took me from three points to six points—and automatic termination.

“You can’t fire me like that!”

….

Yes, they can. It’s called employment-at-will. 

Her union? They filed papers to de-authorize their status as the bargaining representative for her workplace due to lack of funding.
If they were at Crystal's workplace they'd be able to file a grievance take her case to an arbitrator. 

The $200 she saved on her HOA?
Crystal's HOA dropped its plowing contract—it relies only on city services, and since the condo is on a secondary street, it doesn't  get salted or plowed for a day. 

The bumper on Crystal's truck? She didn’t repair it because of the $2,000 deductible-- but she had to pay for the other lady’s bumper to avoid a lawsuit. 

Now, about the health insurance. Crystal was billed $600 for the ER visit. They checked her vitals, ran a concussion test, said she had a mild concussion, and sent her home with some meds. She still has headaches but can’t see a doctor because she's not insured.

Her job? She doesn't have one. And Crystal's state senator just introduced a bill to limit unemployment from 26 weeks in a year to 10 weeks. He says it will cause more employers to locate in Missouri.