Entrepreneurs say Prop A ‘good for business’

“I built my businesses on a belief in the American Dream, and that includes paying people fairly so they can make a living.”

Joe Edwards, the owner of Blueberry Hill restaurant and music club, the Moonrise Hotel, The Pageant and other University City businesses is one of the 500 businesses in the Missouri Business for a Healthy Economy coalition urging voters to vote “yes” on Proposition A.

The ballot proposal on November’s ballot to raise the minimum wage from $12.30 an hour to $13.75 in 2025 and $15 in 2026. Passage will also guarantee paid sick leave for over 700,000 Missouri workers lacking it now.

The amendment will exempt governmental entities, political subdivisions, school districts and education institutions from the minimum wage increase. If passed, this measure will have no impact on taxes.

The business coalition says raising the minimum wage and enabling workers to earn paid sick time will “boost consumer spending, reduce costly employee turnover, increase productivity, and strengthen Missouri’s workforce, businesses and economy.” 

In a statement released by the alliance, Edwards added that Prop A will make Missouri’s businesses and communities “stronger and healthier.”

“Investing in employees has paid off in thriving hospitality businesses serving a growing number of new customers and repeat customers over decades,” Edwards said.

“Raising the purchasing power of low-wage workers by raising the minimum wage drives a virtuous economic cycle that leads to local business growth and hiring.”

Tameka Stigers, owner of Locs of Glory in the 5800 block of Delmar Blvd. agrees.

“I am in support of increasing the minimum wage; prices are going up all around us. So, we need to pay our workers a fair wage,” Stigers said, adding: “I’ve been paying our workers above $15 per hour so, it’s not going to impact my business.”

Several union and workers’ advocacy groups and social justice and civil rights organizations like “Missouri Jobs with Justice Voter Action” and the D.C.-based “The Fairness Project” support Prop A.

Stigers admits the measure could have a negative impact on some small businesses but maintains that a higher wage will equate to more reliable, long-term employees.

“People are not going to stick around a job where they’re not being adequately compensated for your time, energy and efforts,” Stigers stressed. 

The political campaign, Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages, has raised more than $5 million to support the measure. The organization argues that voting for Prop A in its totality means, “improving total compensation for workers.”

“Hardworking Missourians often face impossible choices. Parents decide between sending their children to school sick or losing a day’s pay because they don’t get paid sick days. Families choose between paying for groceries, housing, or utilities because the minimum wage has not kept up with rising costs.”

In an interview with Missouri Independent earlier this month, Richard Von Glahn, campaign manager for Missourians for Healthy Families … made the case for the paid sick leave portion of the measure.

“Everybody gets sick. Everybody has a child or someone they care for that gets sick,” Von Glahn said, “But when there’s an unequal ability to care for yourself or care for your family, that is unjust.”

Missouri businesses, Von Glahn added, should consider essential workers “essential.”

“Sick days are very common amongst the highest paid workers, you know, executives, those types of positions,” Von Glahn said, “but particularly in some of the lower wage industries — the industries that we’ve been calling essential for a number of years now — construction, retail, food service, nursing home, childcare workers, they lack access to this (paid sick leave).”

Stigers admits that paying employees sick leave may be challenging for some small business-owners, but she still supports the measure.

“It could be more of a task for some small businesses but when you consider where we are now-especially coming out of COVID-being able to retain your employees … knowing that they can have some buffer, be it a mental or health sickness day, I just think it’s important.”

Kara Corches, president and CEO of the often-conservative Missouri Chamber of Commerce, argues that increased labor costs will ultimately be passed down to consumers.

“As many U.S. families struggle with the effects of inflation, Proposition A will further increase the costs of goods and services here in Missouri,” Corches said. “Nearly half of all minimum wage earners are teenagers or young adults and raising the minimum wage can push them out of the job market if employers reduce hiring.”

According to an analysis from the progressive nonprofit, the Missouri Budget Project, if passed, the ballot measure would guarantee sick leave for more than 700,000 workers (or more than 1 in 3 Missouri workers).

The St. Louis University/YouGov poll conducted in August found the ballot measure has strong support, with 57% of those surveyed in support of it. If the measure passes in Missouri, the paid sick time provision will kick in on May 1, 2025.

Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow.