Hi, my name is Shirley Mata. I’m a recently retired 29-year UAW member at the Kansas City Assembly Plant, and I’m running for the Missouri House of Representatives in District 17.
Here in Missouri, Republicans have held veto-proof majorities in both chambers of the legislature for more than a decade and currently hold every state-wide office from the governor on down.
That doesn’t tell the whole story of what’s happening in our state. In 2018, the UAW and other unions led a successful petition drive to overturn a right-to-work law passed by the Missouri General Assembly in 2017. We gathered an astonishing 310,567 signatures to put our citizen’s veto on the ballot. When the votes were counted on August 7, 2018, more than two-thirds of the state’s voters sided with us to overturn the law.
That same year, we worked with activists from the Fight for $15 to pass a ballot measure – over the opposition of the Republican-controlled legislature – to increase the minimum wage from $7.85 to $12 an hour for 677,000 Missourians.
This year, petitions were submitted to raise the minimum wage to $15. That measure will be on the ballot in November, and we expect it to pass.
In 2020, UAW activists helped win a ballot measure expanding Medicaid in Missouri – again in the face of fierce opposition from the governor and the Republican majorities in both houses of the legislature – to deliver health care to more than 275,000 Missourians.
And I’m excited to announce that a broad coalition, including our members, collected more than 381,000 signatures in just three months – more than twice the total needed to qualify– to place abortion access on the November 5 ballot and overturn Missouri’s total ban on abortion.
Why do the people of Missouri consistently vote for worker’s rights and progressive causes when Republicans so obviously control the state? One key reason is that in many districts, voters have just one choice when they enter the voting booth – a Republican. There simply is no Democrat running in their district.
Over the past several elections, Local 249 CAP activists have spearheaded an increasingly successful drive to elect worker-friendly candidates across the Kansas City metro to replace anti-worker Republicans who previously held those seats. My campaign is a product of that success.
And we’re working hard at it. To date, my campaign has knocked on more than 11,500 doors to talk face-to-face with voters. I believe it’s the key to success – and the interactions can be very rewarding.
As a 29-year member of UAW #249, I care deeply about the issues our members face. I know that many of our members aren’t Democrats, and that’s fine with me. Vote how you want to vote. But make sure you vote pro-worker.
My opponent has spoken against prevailing wage; he’s voted to give tax breaks to large corporations and energy companies, and he’s voted to allow energy companies to pass their costs on to you in rate increases. While we’re all struggling more and more to get by, we don’t need politicians who make it harder for our working families.
I’ve sat at the bargaining table, I’ve fought hard for better pay and benefits, and as State Representative from HD 17, I will keep working hard for Missouri’s working families.
Please vote on November 5 like your pocketbook, family and union depend on it – because they do!
