The Missouri AFL-CIO has this Weekly Labor Report with a focus on the state legislature…
2024 Legislative Session Ends!!!!!!!
The Missouri House does the traditional throwing of paper as session adjourned Sine Die
The 2024 legislative session, which in past years would have been considered weird but is now just the norm, is over!
The centerpiece of the last week was a 50+ hour filibuster by the Senate Democrats to prevent “ballot candy” from being added to a referendum on initiative petition reform. At nearly any point this week Republicans in the House or Senate could have sent their IP reform proposal (removing one person one vote) to the voters, but knowing how unpopular their proposal is they passed on the opportunity. Instead, they insisted on trying to camouflage it by lumping it in with other more popular policies, such as the already in law requirement that non-citizens can’t vote. Major credit to Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo for holding the line and quarterbacking the longest filibuster in Senate history.
Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, who has been a tremendous friend of labor and led the longest filibuster in Missouri history just finished his final session due to term limits. If you would be willing to send him a quick note of thanks for all he has done for union workers in Missouri his office contact form is here.
Here’s a quick rundown of how the session ended.
Wins
Stopping IP “reform” and defending “one person, one vote”
No movement on Right to work or paycheck deception
Stopping cuts to Unemployment Insurance benefits
Stopping attacks on workers compensation
Losses
– Anti-union expansion of charter schools
– Voucher expansion
– Defunding of planned parenthood for Medicaid reimbursement
– Nearly 1.2 billion unnecessarily cut from the governor’s budget proposal, with most of the cuts coming from the Departments of Social Services, Mental Health, and Health and Senior Services
Major shout to the Missouri AFL-CIO lobby team of Jake Hummel, Merri Berry, and Matt Trossier. Together they logged countless hours to make sure union workers were protected from the corporate-owned Missouri legislature. Also a giant THANK YOU to every trade and local that sent workers and staff to Jefferson City, either full time or even just for a day, to help the cause. Your presence made a difference and helped us hold up remarkably well in a very tough legislative landscape.
Finally a shout out to AFL-CIO Political Director Carson Pope, who helped direct hundreds of calls, emails, and postcards into the legislature in a successful effort to defend the initiative petition process.
Union workers in the Capitol for 2024 Union Women’s Lobby Day. Thank you to everyone who took the time to visit the capitol, make calls or write emails this year!
Labor Buzz: What You Need to Know
Nationally
Road bump in the South
Fresh off the heels of the UAW victory at the Chattanooga Volkswagen plant 2 weeks ago, the autoworkers at Alabama’s Vance manufacturing plant had a union election that ended this morning. Unfortunately, preliminary results look like the union is going to fall just short, with 44% of the workers voting yes.
Over 70% of the workers signed cards, so nearly a quarter of the workforce was swayed by the massive anti-union campaign that Mercedes ran. Mercedes, a German company that participated in the nazi war effort, used Jews as slave labor and worked to kill as many Americans as possible in World War II, pulling out all the anti-union stops. They replaced their CEO, and had the new CEO implore workers to “give me a chance,” they are alleged to have fired pro-union activists and hired local pastors to oppose the effort. The UAW has filed unfair labor practice charges against Mercedes at both the NLRB and in Germany.
Autoworkers at Alabama’s Vance Mercedes plant rally to join the UAW In positive news Alabama did see one major union win this week as 600 workers at the New Flyer electric bus factory in St. Cloud, AL who had unionized under Communication Workers of America (CWA) earlier this year, won their first-ever contract which contains 25%-38% pay increases!
The bottom line is that cracking the South in going to be a difficult, long-term effort that is going to see wins and losses along the way. Thank you to all the organizers out there who continue to push the union movement forward.
In Solidarity,
Stephen Webber
Missouri AFL-CIO, Communications Director
