'Gut punch': Missouri workers 'disgusted' by GOP repeal of paid sick leave mandate

In July, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, signed into a law a repeal of the deep red state's paid sick leave mandate. The move was vehemently criticized by labor groups, but the repeal remains.

The Guardian's Michael Sainato, in an article published on August 12, details the harsh effects the repeal is having on workers in the midwestern state.

One of them is 54-year-old Bill Thompson, who was laid off from a job at Guitar Center in July.

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Thompson told The Guardian, "It was a literal gut punch. If you're not paid for missed days, it literally means food off your table, bills unpaid, rent unpaid — then, that can lead towards homelessness. Some of the people I know in the movement are currently homeless but still are fighting back against this. I was very disappointed and disgusted that hard-working taxpayers this would have helped matters so little to them."

Thompson, who worked in fast food for many years before his job at Guitar Center, also told The Guardian, "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 ten hours a day. I have done it for 38 years now, living paycheck to paycheck."

Kansas City resident and McDonald's employee Richard Eiker is equally critical of the repeal of the paid sick leave mandate.

Eiker told The Guardian, "They chose to side with greed over the health of Missouri workers. But we're not going anywhere; we're going to stay in this and keep fighting until we win better treatment for Missouri workers…. Whether it's been an injury I've sustained at work or been an illness I've had, I've often found myself having to go into work regardless of whether I recovered fully or not, simply because I can't afford to take the time off of work in order to take care of my bills and everything."

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President Donald Trump aggressively campaigned on economic populism in 2016, 2020 and 2024, and he won Missouri handily all three times.

But Richard von Glahn, who serves as policy director for the group Missouri Jobs With Justice, told The Guardian, "Even on a day where Missourians sort of overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump, Josh Hawley and Gov. Kehoe, they also overwhelmingly voted for an increase in paid sick days. Any notion that there's really a Republican Party that is a party of workers, Missouri shows just how much of a stranglehold corporate interests still have on the Republican establishment. I think that's a cautionary tale for working-class people."

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Read Michael Sainato's full article for The Guardian at this link.