On September 3, LiUNA Local 955 held a rally with employees at the University of Missouri-Columbia, demanding a $19 minimum wage, shift differentials, free parking for employees, and a reversal of benefit cuts.
The rally comes after the University of Missouri Board of Curators approved changes in benefits for MU Health Care workers on August 4, including cuts to retirement, paid time off (PTO), and holiday pay starting January 1 of 2027.
Andrew Hutchinson, Deputy Business Manager for LiUNA Local 955 said that this march was about restoring the reduced health care worker benefits and ensuring all the university’s employees receive fair treatment.
“So these workers are coming together to fight against the benefit cuts that MU Health Care just unilaterally did, and also to fight for all workers to make a living wage,” Hutchinson noted.
Local 955, which Hutchinson said has around 800 members across Mid-Missouri, is in negotiations with the university to give the employees their demands. The union also represents employees at the university.
“They’re just taking away our benefits,” said Jeff Hoffman, an MU Health Care worker. “It’s stressful work cause people’s lives are at stake, I have to remember the work I do is directly linked to people’s lives.”
Jason Straub, a campus dining worker at the university, said that the wages he and his colleagues make are barely enough for them to get by.
“It’s hard to make ends meet,” Straub said. “We’re not making enough money to pay for rent. It’s become unattainable for us to work a 40 hour job and survive.”
Laura Mitchell, a former university employee, stated that she believes the university is prioritizing profit over its workers and that the change is hurting the quality of MU Health Care.
“I’ve been watching the university turn more of a profit making machine,” Mitchell said. “In the healthcare system, I know people are understaffed, underpaid and that didn’t used to be true. It used to be the place to go to get care.”
The rally attendees marched through campus all the way to the football game, passing out fliers and encouraging community members to stand with the workers.
Background and Context
MU Health Care is an organization owned by and affiliated with the University of Missouri-Columbia; it conducts research, trains healthcare professionals, and provides patient care. According to their website, they have over 8,000 employees; around 600 of its employees are represented by Local 955 as their collective bargaining agent, according to Hutchinson.
MU Health Care’s announcement in June that they were planning to cut their workers’ benefits came around the same time the organization laid off 74 non-union MU Health Care workers.
MU Health Care’s benefit cuts include reductions in retirement, PTO, and holiday pay, specifically, for employees this means that:
- The maximum employer contribution to MU Health Care worker retirement will be reduced from 8% to 6%. That represents a 2% reduction in the maximum employer contribution, or about $1,400 less per year for a worker earning $70,000 who contributes 8% toward retirement.
- Healthcare workers have 3 fewer days of PTO, while licensed practical nurses (LPNs) could lose up to 5 days of PTO.
- MU Health Care workers will no longer have paid holidays for every holiday except Veterans Day, meaning that from now on they will have to use PTO days to take holidays off.
However, these cuts aren’t the first time the university has reduced benefits for its workers. In 2024 the university cut employee PTO by 10 days.
The University has said its current planned cuts are the result of budget constraints, stating that the cuts are intended to “strengthen the long-term sustainability of MU Health Care” and the organization is “facing sustained financial pressures that require difficult decisions.”
According to Local 955, paying university workers a minimum wage of $19 would cost around $2 million.
Response from MU and MU Healthcare
MU Health Care’s Public Relations Manager Eric Maze emailed a written response to The Labor Beacon’s request for a comment:
“MU Health Care updated its benefits program to better align with current health care industry practices while continuing to offer one of the most competitive total rewards packages in the region. Before the changes, our benefits package was approximately 12% above the average of 18 regional health system peers. After the changes take effect, we remain above the peer average.
“The changes approved by the Board include both modifications to existing benefits and new investments in employees. New benefits offerings include fertility support, adoption assistance, dependent care support and expanded employee assistance resources. Existing parental leave, caregiver leave, bereavement leave and short-term disability benefits also remain in place.
“MU Health Care also continues to invest in employees through merit increases and market adjustments, investing between $10 million and $20 million annually in compensation growth despite significant industry-wide financial pressures.”
Patrick Sanders — an Independence native — is a student journalist from the University of Missouri-Columbia writing for the Labor Beacon. Before joining the Labor Beacon, he wrote for KBIA News, a Mid-Missouri NPR-affiliated news organization. Sanders's grandfather Bruce was a long-time member of the postal workers union, and his older cousin is currently in IBEW Local 124. In his free time, Sanders enjoys spending time with friends and family, reading, and weightlifting. He hopes to bring his knowledge of policy to benefit workers in the greater Kansas City area and give working people a fighting chance.
