Fulfilling a major campaign promise, Missouri's newly elected governor signed into law the right-to-work bill presented him by the state Legislature.

This makes Missouri the 28th state where a union cannot force workers that don't want to be members, but still work under that union's contract, to pay union dues. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Gov. Eric Greitens was surrounded by supporters as he played up the new law at an abandoned warehouse in Springfield, as well as stops in Poplar Bluff and his office at the Missouri Capitol.

Predictably, union representatives bemoaned the signing and promised to try to overturn it, and pro-business forces cheered the law, which they hope will make their state more competitive.

The law does not go into effect until August, at which time however, according to the Post-Dispatch, all current union contracts will still be recognized and allowed to run full term under their present conditions.