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Activists in Lansing calls for expanded worker protections

Activists in Lansing are calling for expanded worker protections like guaranteed sick time.

Tina Marie Sanders joined a small group of protestors on Wednesday outside Michigan’s capitol building. She says she was hospitalized with COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic and faced constant anxiety about missing work.

“If I'm worrying about how I'm going to put food on the table, so I can't worry about what my next breath is going to be, then I am not your best Michigan worker.”

Progressive groups are suing Michigan’s attorney general after state lawmakers blocked ballot measures three years ago that would have expanded sick leave requirements and raised its minimum wage. Legislators kept the proposals from the ballot by adopting them as law before amending them in a scaled back form.