Kansas City workers to rally Labor Day over lost sick leave, voting rights
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Kansas City workers plan to rally on Labor Day at Mill Creek Park, saying they're fed up with lawmakers stripping away their rights.
Big Picture: Missouri workers say lawmakers keep overriding their will at the ballot box. Thursday, that meant losing voter-approved sick leave under Prop A. Next, it could mean a Trump-backed redistricting plan that unions warn would split Kansas City voters.
Catch up quick: Momentum for the rally has been building, with over 500 people filling the IBEW Local 124 hall in Kansas City last week.
- Emergency meetings held across the state in Springfield, Columbia, St. Charles, and St. Louis drew an additional 1,000 attendees, organizers said.
- Stand Up KC, Missouri Workers Center, SEIU and others will rally Monday at the Plaza area park at noon, linking the loss of paid sick leave and redistricting to what they call a broader campaign to silence workers.
What they're saying: "By gutting this policy … they stole money out of our pockets and food out of our cupboards," said Terrence Wise, a Kansas City worker and leader with Stand Up KC and the Missouri Workers Center.
- Wise said the map would silence Black and Brown voters in the 5th District, adding: "We will remember next year whether legislators uphold the will of the people or buck it in favor of a billionaire-backed authoritarian agenda."
- Axios Kansas City contacted Gov. Mike Kehoe, Sen. Josh Hawley, Sen. Eric Schmitt, Rep. Jonathan Patterson, and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning but received no response.
Context: For Wise, the Labor Day timing is deliberate. He said unions remain "one of the most powerful democratic institutions in American society" and argued that only multiracial worker organizing can counter efforts to divide communities.
What's next: Organizers expect hundreds at Monday's march in Kansas City, then plan to take their demands to the Capitol on Sept. 10.