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09/05/22 Missouri Mondays - Respect and living wages! Lift up workers and..

help elect those who will stand with them! News, events, and actions to make a difference this week!


Welcome to another Missouri Mondays. It’s Labor day and the time to honor the sacrifices, contributions and achievements of American workers. The rise of unions and the Labor Movement brought good wages, benefits, and safe working conditions. But today far too many hard-working Missourians not protected by a union struggle to make ends meet with low wages, no healthcare benefits, no paid sick leave or time off. Workers and their families deserve better! Today we lift up their stories and their voices and we hope you will join us and share with friends and family. Let’s also take action NOW to help elect those who will fight for them.


 

MISSOURI NEWS

“Taco Bell staff walk out of Kansas City restaurant: 'We wanted to be treated like human beings'

“Employees at the Taco Bell on Wornall Road staged a walkout in the middle of lunch Thursday, shutting down the store and rallying for a union and higher wages.

Taco Bell employees at one Kansas City restaurant walked off the job Thursday to protest conditions at the store.

Shift leader Fran Marion, who has worked at the 8215 Wornall location for a year, says the group chose to strike just before Labor Day to call attention to abusive customers, short staffing, lack of paid sick days, disrespectful management and low wages. “A job shouldn’t be this difficult to come to and clock in and try to make a wage, not even a living wage,” she said.”

“Marion said the tipping point for her and other employees was an incident two weeks ago where equipment malfunctioned and flooded the floor of the restaurant. “There was literally standing water throughout the store,” she said. Marion and other employees tried to close the doors to customers for safety reasons. She said she was later written up for insubordination by her general manager for closing the store without asking first.”

“Terrence Wise, another shift leader at the store and a member of Stand Up KC, was not working Thursday but attended the rally.

“We wanted something that had nothing to do with money or union rights,” Wise said. “We want respect and that’s what we’ve been dealing with at this Taco Bell: a lot of lack of respect.”

Wise said workers have been belittled by management and customers, and have received racist comments. Wise, who has worked in fast food for nearly 20 years, said these conditions are not unique to this store but rather are endemic in the industry. “Those are things we don’t need legislation passed for,” he said. “We want 15 (dollars an hour). We want a union. But most importantly, we wanted to be treated like human beings and we want to be respected on the job.”

Wise said the rally also urged Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to support legislation similar to a bill that passed in the California Assembly on Monday, raising the minimum wage to $22 an hour by 2024. Wise said he hopes California Gov. Gavin Newsom will sign the bill.

Minimum wage in Missouri currently stands at $11.15. Parson has asked legislators to pass a $15 minimum wage for state workers, although not private employees. His request stalled in the General Assembly earlier this year. Thursday’s protest follows in the wake of Starbucks workers voting to unionize at several area locations. Taco Bell employees said they are mulling a similar idea.

Read more here: https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-09-01/taco-bell-staff-walk-out-of-kansas-city-restaurant-we-wanted-to-be-treated-like-human-beings KCUR Sept 1

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“Starbucks says it closed its Plaza cafe for safety worries, but workers claim it's union busting”

“Workers and customers were surprised Monday when the company announced the store would close an hour and a half ahead of schedule — permanently. Employees say they were given just 15 minutes notice. When Steve Henson came to work Monday as a shift supervisor at the Country Club Plaza Starbucks, he had no idea he’d be out of a job before his shift was done. A flyer signed by the store manager and the Starbucks district manager posted at 3:30 p.m. Monday thanked customers for “being part of the store community.” Employees said they were told worries about safety led to the shuttering of the coffee shop. Those workers, who’d been in the midst of forming a union, said they learned of the closing only 15 minutes earlier. The company offered workers transfers to other Kansas City area Starbucks locations.

Henson said the closure came just a week after he’d heard a succession of 10 gunshots near the store. After the gunshots, the store limited its hours to 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., closing two hours earlier than usual and during the weekend. Still, Henson said the permanent closing of the chain’s Plaza location caught workers by surprise. “We feel confused because, after a history of incidents, nothing has been done,” Henson said. “Then once the shooting happens, we’re completely closed forever — no safety regulations, drills or training. There are so many things that we all feel could have been implemented. And they skipped all of that and just shut us down.” So shutting down this week made her conclude the closure is about the upcoming results of the store vote on whether to form a collective bargaining unit. The workers voted about forming a union, but the vote ended in a tie in June and that outcome is under challenge. The store was the first in the Kansas City area to attempt to unionize. “I definitely don't believe that their only reasoning was safety and security,” Wright said. “They’re afraid of the organizational power of the workers at this store. We were completely blindsided by the decision.” Wright and McKenzie Mays, a barista at the cafe, said they see the closure as Starbucks retaliation for trying to unionize.

In June, the National Labor Relations Board filed a petition in federal court seeking a nationwide cease and desist order against the company after what it alleges were multiple illegal union-busting tactics, including closing stores that were actively unionizing. Earlier that month, the company announced it would close 16 stores for safety reasons.

Read more here: https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-08-23/starbucks-says-it-closed-its-plaza-cafe-for-safety-worries-but-workers-claim-its-union-busting KCUR Aug 23

 

NATIONAL NEWS

President Biden delivers powerful speech from Philadelphia to the nation describing threats to equality and our democracy from DT and “MAGA forces”

Excerpts from Biden’s remarks:

“I speak to you tonight from sacred ground in America: Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pa. This is where America made its declaration of independence to the world more than two centuries ago, with an idea unique among nations: that in America, we’re all created equal. This is where the United States Constitution was written and debated. This is where we set in motion the most extraordinary experiment of self-government the world has ever known. With three simple words: we, the people; we, the people. These two documents and their ideas they embody — equality and democracy — are the rock upon which this nation is built. They are how we became the greatest nation on earth. They are why, for more than two centuries, America has been a beacon to the world. But as I stand here tonight, equality and democracy are under assault. We do ourselves no favor to pretend otherwise. So, tonight, I’ve come to this place where it all began to speak as plainly as I can to the nation about the threats we face, about the power we have in our own hands to meet these threats and about the incredible future that lies in front of us, if only we choose it. We must never forget, we, the people, are the true heirs of the American experiment that began more than two centuries ago.

We, the people, have burning inside of each of us the flame of liberty that was lit here at Independence Hall. A flame that lit our way through abolition, the Civil War, suffrage, the Great Depression, world wars, civil rights. That sacred flame still burns. Now on our time as we build an America that is more prosperous, free, and just. That is the work of my presidency, a mission I believe in with my whole soul. But first, we must be honest with each other and with ourselves. Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal. Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic. Now, I want to be very clear, very clear up front. Not every Republican, not even the majority of Republicans, are MAGA Republicans. Not every Republican embraces their extreme ideology. I know, because I’ve been able to work with these mainstream Republicans. But there’s no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans. And that is a threat to this country.”

“And here, in my view, is what is true: MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election, and they’re working right now as I speak in state after state to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself.

MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards, backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love. They promote authoritarian leaders, and they fanned the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country.”

“But while the threat to American democracy is real, I want to say as clearly as we can, we are not powerless in the face of these threats. We are not bystanders in this ongoing attack on democracy. There are far more Americans, far more Americans from every background and belief, who reject the extreme MAGA ideology than those that accept it. And folks, it’s within our power, it’s in our hands, yours and mine, to stop the assault on American democracy.

I believe America is at an inflection point, one of those moments that determine the shape of everything that’s to come after. And now, America must choose to move forward or to move backwards, to build a future or obsess about the past, to be a nation of hope and unity and optimism or a nation of fear, division and of darkness.

MAGA Republicans have made their choice. They embrace anger. They thrive on chaos. They live, not in the light of truth but in the shadow of lies. But together, together, we can choose a different path. We can choose a better path forward to the future, a future of possibility, a future to build a dream and hope, and we’re on that path moving ahead.

I know this nation. I know you, the American people. I know your courage, I know your hearts, and I know our history. This is a nation that honors our Constitution. We do not reject it. This is a nation that believes in the rule of law. We do not repudiate it. This is a nation that respects free and fair elections. We honor the will of the people. We do not deny it. And this is a nation that rejects violence as a political tool. We do not encourage violence. We are still an America that believes in honesty and decency and respect for others. Patriotism, liberty, justice for all, hope, possibilities — we are still at our core a democracy.”

“Our task is to make our nation free and fair, just and strong, noble and whole, and this work is the work of democracy, the work of this generation. It is the work of our time for all time. We can’t afford to leave anyone on the sidelines. We need everyone to do their part, so speak up, speak out, get engaged, vote, vote, vote!

And if we do our duty, if we do our duty, in 2022 and beyond, then ages still to come will say we, all of us here, we kept the faith. We preserved democracy. We heeded our words. We heeded not our worst instincts but our better angels. We proved that for all its imperfections, America is still the beacon to the world, an ideal to be realized, a promise to be kept. There’s nothing more important. Nothing more sacred. Nothing more American. That’s our soul. That’s who we truly are. And that’s who we must always be.”

Read the full transcript of President Biden’s speech here: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/01/us/politics/biden-speech-transcript.html NYTimes Sept 1


 

CHECK OUT OUR MISSOURI MONDAYS NEWS SUPPLEMENT!

With so much important news each week we don’t want you to miss a thing!

Check out our brand new MISSOURI MONDAYS NEWS SUPPLEMENT here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13cokjWlCh2EkY5K6bM357rjVPizZDzxlMqjAuoBQfoI/edit?usp=sharing


 


GET READY FOR THE NOVEMBER 8 ELECTION! HELP SPREAD THE WORD!

Last Day to Register: OCTOBER 12, 2022

In Person Absentee Voting Begins: SEPTEMBER 27, 2022

Check your voter registration here: https://s1.sos.mo.gov/elections/voterlookup

Register to vote here: https://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/goVoteMissouri/register

Find your local election authority here: https://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/goVoteMissouri/localelectionauthority

League of Women Voters Kansas City/Jackson/Clay/Platte Counties

NOTE: A new restrictive voter ID law HB 1878 with many other voter suppression provisions went into effect August 28, 2022. We will be sharing important updates and voter resources from Missouri Voter Protection Coalition (MOVPC) as they become available. You can also sign up to join MOVPC meetings on Zoom each Monday at 10am by texting “MOVPC” to 66866 or registering here: https://wustl.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYoceyuqTsqGN1NlXOMKb88rSExyr-kWjbt


 


VOTER REGISTRATION SOLICITORS FORM REQUIRED FOR THOSE HELPING TO REGISTER VOTERS

With new restrictive MO voting law HB 1878 now in effect, to help register voters you must submit the Secretary of State’s “Registration Form for Voter Registration Solicitors”.

Go to https://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/goVoteMissouri/register

Scroll to the very bottom for the form and click on the link “Registration Form for Voter Registration Solicitors” (see screenshot below)

Fill out the interactive form online and print, or download blank form and fill out

Fax completed form to 573.526.3242 or scan and email to: elections@sos.mo.gov

Look for a confirmation email within 24 to 48 hours or call SOS Elections and Voting Division (573) 751-2301.


 

MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR THESE UPCOMING ACTIONS AND EVENTS

Missouri Jobs with Justice - Kansas City Labor Day Solidarity Picnic

Monday Sept 5th

11:00AM - 3:00 PM

Swope Park Bandstand

3999 Swope Pkwy & 3999 E Meyer Blvd

Kansas City, MO 64132

RSVP here: bit.ly/2022KCPicnic

Join us this Labor Day & celebrate KC's amazing organizing and solidarity! Join long-time labor leaders, members, allies & newly organized workers. Kansas City is a union town - let's get together and celebrate it!

Food and drink provided. Suggested donation of $10 per person. All proceeds benefit the Missouri Jobs with Justice Leadership Development Scholarship Fund to train the next generation of leaders!

Contact info@mojwj.org if your union or organization would like to co-sponsor and support this Solidarity Picnic.

Big shout out to our co-sponsors:

- Missouri Jobs with Justice

- Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO

- Our Revolution Kansas City

- SEIU Local 1

- IBEW Local 124

- Teamsters Local 955

- UAW Local 31

- Pipefitters Local 533

- Machinists Local 778

- KC Tenants


 


Fundraiser for Kemp Strickler, Candidate for MO House District 34

w/Special Guest MO House Minority Leader, Crystal Quade

Tuesday Sept 6th

6:30-8:00 PM

Llywelyn's Pub

301 SE Douglas St.

Lee's Summit, MO 64063

If you haven't heard Rep. Quade speak, take advantage of this opportunity! She is the driving force behind the Missouri House Democrats effort to flip MO districts blue including Kemp's! Your donation can also be made here: www.kempstrickler.com


 

Casual Activism to End Gun Violence

Thursday, September 8

5:00-8:00 PM Casual Animal Brewing Co.

1725 McGee St.

Kansas City, MO

In partnership with Everytown for Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action, and Mayors Against Illegal Guns, please join us September 8th to feel and BE A PART OF THE SOLUTION.

Awareness about these social issues is important, but taking the first step and actually doing something is perhaps even more critical. Casual Activism provides something for everyone. We want you to feel good about taking even the first step in learning more and doing more about ending gun violence nationally, and right here in KC.

Get here early so you don't miss Mayor Quinton Lucas' special remarks on how he plans to address gun violence on both a national and local scale. Interact with other gun sense candidates from across the KC metro. Write postcards to your legislators making a case for stronger gun safety measures. Get registered to vote so you're ready for election day on November 8th. Support Moms Demand Action and Everytown USA to elevate their lobbying potential for measures to end gun violence.



 

Trudy Busch Valentine “Nobody’s Senator But Yours Tour” Meet-and-Greet

Saturday, Sept. 10

11:00 - 11:30 AM

Platte County Democratic Headquarters

7124 NW Prairie View Road (I-29 and 72nd St.)

Kansas City, MO 64151

RSVP here: https://www.mobilize.us/trudybuschvalentine/event/497773/

Come meet Trudy at the Platte County Democratic headquarters on Saturday, September 10th at 11:00 AM!


 

TAKE ACTION WITH THE MISSOURI VOTER PROTECTION COALITION (MOVPC)

TO PROTECT THE RIGHT TO VOTE

NOTE: A new restrictive voter ID law HB 1878 with many other voter suppression provisions went into effect on August 28, 2022. This is a pivotal moment for our freedom to vote. Join Missouri Voter Protection Coalition (MOVPC) to learn more.

***No MOVPC meeting this week due to the observance of Labor Day***

Join the MOVPC meeting NEXT WEEK

MONDAY September 12

10 AM

Text “MOVPC” to 66866 or register HERE: https://wustl.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYoceyuqTsqGN1NlXOMKb88rSExyr-kWjbt

MOVPC is a nonpartisan statewide network promoting access to the ballot

and working to remove barriers to voting in Missouri!


 

MORE UPCOMING ACTIONS AND EVENTS here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19AZUdtRH5WXefOC4Q5D9u-HyuzhBEL8rYX9Ospn3n18/edit?usp=sharing


 

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

HELP ELECT DEMOCRAT TRUDY BUSCH VALENTINE TO THE U.S. SENATE!

We must ACT NOW to help elect Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine to the U.S. Senate! Her opponent supports the Big Lie and the extreme GOP agenda threatening our rights, personal freedoms, and our democracy! Trudy will protect our right to safe and legal abortion and making decisions about our own bodies, protect healthcare, voting rights, defend LGBTQ rights, champion individuals and families struggling with addiction, protect the environment, fight to end gun violence, strengthen the middle class, stand with seniors.

Sign up to volunteer here: https://www.mobilize.us/trudybuschvalentine/event/478447/

Make a donation here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/tbv_web

Website: https://www.trudybuschvalentine.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrudyBuschValentine

Twitter: https://twitter.com/buschvalentine

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trudybuschvalentine/

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HELP ELECT DEMOCRATS TO MO LEGISLATURE TO STOP EXTREMIST GOP AGENDA

Democratic candidates for the Missouri legislature need your help NOW! We must break the GOP super-majority to stop their extremist legislation from being passed!

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DONATE TO ABORTION FUNDS/PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS FIGHTING FOR ACCESS TO SAFE LEGAL ABORTION - SHARE RESOURCES! VOLUNTEER!

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DONATE TO HELP UKRAINIANS IN CRISIS

  • RED CROSS - The International Committee of the Red Cross is supporting the Ukrainian Red Cross supporting food-producing initiatives, repairing infrastructure, and helping hospitals, schools, mental health facilities and community centers. Donate here: https://www.icrc.org/en/donate

SUNFLOWER OF PEACE - Sunflower of Peace Foundation is a non-profit organization committed to helping Ukrainians affected by the Russian military invasion. Donate here: https://www.sunflowerofpeace.com/


 

MISSOURI COVID UPDATE


Missourians Vaccinated vs U.S. as of Sept 4 - The New York Times

  • Fully vaccinated — 57% of Missourians / 67% in the U.S.

  • Fully vaccinated with a booster — 26% of Missourians / 33% in the U.S.

Latest COVID Trends in Missouri as of Sept 4 - The New York Times

  • An average of 1,278 cases per day were reported in Missouri in the last week. Cases have decreased by 26 percent from the average two weeks ago.

  • Deaths have increased by 1 percent.

  • Since the beginning of the pandemic, at least 1 in 4 residents have been infected, a total of 1,636,221 reported cases. At least 1 in 285 residents have died from the coronavirus, a total of 21,502 deaths.

  • January 2022 was the month with the highest average cases, while November 2021 was the month with the highest average deaths in Missouri.

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“CDC endorses updated COVID-19 vaccine boosters for this fall”

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late Thursday signed off on the approval from the agency’s independent vaccine advisers that recommended an updated coronavirus vaccine booster this fall. The CDC recommended boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech for those who are 12 years old and older and from Moderna for those who are 18 and older. These are known as “bivalent” vaccines because they are formulated to protect against the original coronavirus strain as well as the Omicron variant, which is highly contagious. “Updated COVID-19 boosters add Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 spike protein components to the current vaccine composition, helping to restore protection that has waned since previous vaccination by targeting variants that are more transmissible and immune-evading,” the CDC said in its announcement.”

Read more here: https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/cdc-endorses-updated-covid-19-vaccine-boosters-for-this-fall/ Missouri Independent Sept 2

 

MORE COVID-19 VACCINE, TESTING RESOURCES AND INFORMATION HERE: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i1vCikZiGfMulA8tFCDSJbEKV5N37S1JU_TSlgs699A/edit?usp=sharing

 

THANK YOU! for answering the Missouri Mondays CALL TO ACTION!

Invite your friends and neighbors to join us and sign up for Missouri Action Alliance and this Missouri Mondays email at moactionalliance.com/signup

Follow us on Twitter at @MissouriAction, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/MOActionAlliance and check out our website at http://www.MOActionAlliance.com


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