Union members, other workers unite for May Day rallies in Mid-Missouri
Euphenie Andre
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Friday is International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day, honoring workers across the U.S. and around the world.
LiUNA Local 955 brought its message directly to the University of Missouri campus, holding two rallies just hours apart to call for higher wages and better working conditions.
The union represents service and maintenance workers at the University of Missouri, MU Health Care and UMKC and other public workers in the area. MU Faculty Librarians and information specialists are trying to join LiUNA Local 955 ahead of a union election scheduled from Monday through Wednesday.
At the center of the push is a call for longevity-based raises and a minimum wage of $19 per hour. Union leaders claim employees are not being properly rewarded for years of service.
“I can tell you there is a significant portion of workers make less than $19 an hour,” LiUNA representative Andrew Hutchinson said. “That include folks at the libraries, a lot of the information specialist… Some of them have been here 10, 20, 30 years,”
Hutchinson points to other union contracts in Kirksville, Centralia, and Columbia that include step pay scales, systems that guarantee annual raises until workers reach the top of the pay scale.
“At the university, what they do is they keep everyone so close to the same wage, and that compresses wages. And that’s how you get custodians who have been here 30 years who are barely making above, what someone walking in through the door makes, ” Hutchinson said.
Workers are also calling for reduced parking costs and improvements to other essential needs.
Students also stood in solidarity, with some voicing frustration with university leadership, following the university’s decision to defund several minority programs.
“Both workers and students are facing an administration that doesn’t seem to be hearing them,” Columbia Ward 2 Councilwoman Vera Elewood said. “It’s focusing more on the budget than the people who are actually building the university.”
The union is currently in wage negotiations with MU. However, workers said broader policy changes could impact their financial future. A proposed bill backed by Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe that could eliminate certain sales taxes has raised concerns about potential budget cuts.
“We know that when the university looks at budget cuts, they come for our folks. They come for the service and maintenance workers who are counting every cent. So if they’re experiencing cuts with their employer and they’re having to pay sales tax on their car, haircuts, and an increased sales tax on grociers. It’s just not going to be enough to make ends meet.”
The group “We Stand United Missouri” held a rally in Jefferson City at the Memorial Park.