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So when Republicans in Missouri repealed a paid sick leave mandate that the state’s voters approved by 58% after an aggressive lobbying campaign by the Missouri chamber of commerce and industry and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.”
This is why progressives win when they’re not being undermined by corporate Democrats. Average people, including Republican voters, support this stuff by large majorities most of the time, even in the face of right wing propaganda.
I don’t think they deserve this because they vote Republican. I think they deserve paid sick leave and a higher wage. We should look inward and ask how we’re failing them if they’re voting traitor lunatic.
It’s because we let the Democrats get away with being awful. Their goal is to be barely less evil than Republicans. If they had to actually fight for votes, we’d start to see results.