Republicans and Labor

Interesting development last week, Missouri’s state Legislature decided a minimum wage of $10/hour is a hardship for business and too much for Labor. This comes after the MSC sided with St. Louis and Kansas City in setting a minimum wage of $10.10/hour. The Republican legislature decided differently and passed legislation to prevent local communities from establishing minimum wage above what the state mandates.

Thousands of workers in St. Louis will likely see smaller paychecks starting Monday, when a new Missouri law takes effect barring local government from enacting minimum wages different than the state minimum.

The law is drawing protests in St. Louis and in Kansas City, where a recent vote approving a higher minimum wage is essentially nullified without ever really taking effect.

The impact is direct in St. Louis, where the minimum wage had increased to $10 after the Missouri Supreme Court sided with the city in a two-year legal battle. Days after the Supreme Court ruling, Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature passed a statewide uniform minimum wage requirement. The state minimum wage is $7.70 per hour. Republican Gov. Eric Greitens declined to veto the bill, allowing it to become law.
An estimated 35,000 St. Louis workers saw pay raises after the court ruling, and the city’s plan had called for the minimum wage to increase to $11 per hour in 2018.

Republican State Sen. Dan Hegeman from rural northwest Missouri, said the higher minimum would force some employers to either cut jobs or move. Just like having healthcare insurance at Papa John’s would really impact the cost of pizza . . . 10 cents for a medium pizza.

‘You end up having fewer jobs and you do a disservice to the workers,’ Hegeman said. ‘In my heart of hearts, I really think it hurts people in the long run.'”

Missouri Republican Governor Eric Greitens refused to veto legislation limiting local minimum wage laws, is pushing RTW laws, and is looking to boost pay for some state employees who are “star” performers.

Some more original ideas from the Republican sector on how to improve the economy by riding on the back of the low-income citizens.