Voters approved sick leave mandate by 58% but lawmakers are caving to lobbying by the state’s chamber of commerce

Voters approved sick leave mandate by 58%, but lawmakers are caving to lobbying by the state’s chamber of commerce

Being sick is a costly business for Bill Thompson, who worked in the fast-food industry in Independence, Missouri, for more than 30 years, and recently worked at Guitar Center until early July, when he was laid off as.

“As an older worker, I have health issues from working on my feet and with my hands for many years with no breaks for eight to 10 hours a day. I have done it for 38 years now, living paycheck to paycheck,” 54-year-old Thompson said, noting in Missouri, workers are not mandated breaks of any kind during work.

So when Republicans in Missouri repealed a paid sick leave mandate that the state’s voters approved by 58% after an aggressive lobbying campaign by the Missouri chamber of commerce and industry and other business industry groups, he said, “It was a literal gut punch.”

    • Mulligrubs@lemmy.worldEnglish
      34·
      2 days ago

      They’re not the same, but both are anti-labor and pro-corporate. Neither provides any benefits for workers, Rs have always been awful and Ds have ignored labor for decades.

      Poland has better worker benefits than the USA… we’ve been surpassed by Japan, Australia, Korea, Canada, most of Europe and now even eastern Europe. Sad.

      • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        3·
        2 days ago

        At the risk of repeating myself from another reply to a similar comment you made elsewhere in this thread:

        The Democratic party, as a whole, is as you say. That said, there absolutely are progressive candidates at the state and local levels.

        • Mulligrubs@lemmy.worldEnglish
          31·
          2 days ago

          Of course! With state politics, even third parties have had some success (socialist, green, libertarian, et al).

          The Fed leadership of the party will always tolerate low-level activists, we even have one congressperson who is pro-labor.

          She agrees with me; Democrats abandoned labor long ago.

        • Mulligrubs@lemmy.worldEnglish
          23·
          2 days ago

          “Both sides are anti-labor” is not “both sides are the same”.

          Some day it will sink in, and boy will you feel dumb