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So when Republicans in Missouri repealed a paid sick leave mandate that the state’s voters approved by 58% after an aggressive lobbying campaign by the Missouri chamber of commerce and industry and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.”

  • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    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.world
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      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.