Missouri workers will no longer earn mandated paid sick leave after today, just months after the policy went into effect.
Voters passed Proposition A last year with nearly 58% of the vote. The measure raised the minimum wage and allowed employees to earn sick days. But because it was a statute change, lawmakers could repeal all or parts of Proposition A. They overturned the paid sick leave portion in the spring, with many citing the cost it would add to businesses.
Workers who find themselves without the benefit they approved are fighting to bring sick leave back, this time as a constitutional amendment that lawmakers can't overturn.
Republican state Rep. Sherri Gallick of Belton wants to prevent that from happening. She sponsored the legislation to eliminate mandated sick leave. She said she heard from business owners who said they wouldn't survive the increased costs associated with the benefit.
"I heard from many, many businesses that said they were going to cut hours," Gallick previously said. "They were going to look at alternatives."
Ashley Ball is one worker impacted by the repeal. The single mom used to work a job that offered her a salary and sick leave, but when she and her family had to move, she got back into the profession she loved and has a passion for: food service. She currently works at Taco Bell in Kansas City.
In addition to the lower pay, she lost all of her benefits. Ball thought she'd quickly earn those back, but that hasn't happened yet. Her son got sick last summer and was in the hospital for a week. In order to be there for him, she went without pay.
This summer was different, thanks to the mandated sick leave, which went into effect on May 1.
"My son did get sick again, and he was hospitalized with pneumonia in ICU for a while," Ball said. "Just knowing that (sick time) will be there for me that'll leave me a piece of a check versus no check at all, made me more focused on the healing process and what was really needed for him over constantly thinking, 'How am I going to take care of this and try to get us on our feet?'"
Ball is an organizer with Stand Up KC, a low-wage workers group that fought to win paid sick leave in the first place. She said her son helped her canvass for Proposition A so that if he got sick again, "Mommy can be there with him instead of feeling lonely."
Ball just recently got back into stable housing after being unhoused over the summer. She said not having sick leave anymore throws her back into instability.
"I'm going to have to see what I can set aside," Ball said. "I worked so hard to get into this new place and to set my family on a solid ground for us to build on. All of my hard work can be taken away from something so small as a virus that's going around in the schools or in the city."
'Without having to worry'
Richard Eiker is another worker who will no longer get paid sick leave. He's worked in food service for 30 years and currently works at a McDonald's in North Kansas City. He's spent 10 of those years as a member of Stand Up KC, organizing to win higher wages and benefits like sick leave.
Eiker was his mother's primary caregiver for a decade. But he couldn't afford to take a day off to care for her when she wasn't feeling well. She had a stroke while he was at work and was in a coma for three days before she had to go into a full-time care facility. He said things could have been different if he had paid sick leave.
"Paid sick time would give us that opportunity to care for ourselves or for our loved ones, without having to worry about whether we're going to get evicted or get the electricity turned off," Eiker said.
As fall begins and flu season starts back up, Eiker is worried that he lost his sick leave just before he'll really need it.
The debate over paid sick leave
Missouri Jobs with Justice, another group that fought to win Proposition A, has filed a proposed constitutional amendment that would bring back paid sick leave. It needs about 170,000 signatures to get on the ballot.
Gallick said Republicans need to get ahead of the proposed amendment so it doesn't pass. Other groups that were against Proposition A, including the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Missouri Restaurant Association, are also opposed to bringing it back.
Kara Corches, president and CEO of the Missouri chamber, said Proposition A would kill jobs.
"Having this one-size-fits-all approach, it was going to exponentially increase costs for businesses," Corches previously said. "When inputs are increased, then either jobs can be lost, hours can be cut."
For their part, Ball and Eiker said they're ready to fight once again to put paid sick leave back on the ballot. Eiker said he believes voters will approve it a second time.
"I would like politicians to know that we're not going to give up," Eiker said. "I'm not going to stop fighting for workers, and we workers aren't going to stop fighting either. We're going to keep trying to get these things that we feel that all workers are entitled to."
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