Posts tagged Missouri
Report: The Battle for Worker Freedom: Grading State Public Sector Labor Laws
September 10, 2026 // Union executives are prioritizing recruitment. The fastest-growing category of public sector labor legislation expands collective bargaining into new workplaces. On the strength of these new laws, union executives are slowly replacing their membership losses since 2018. From 2018 to 2025, the country’s four largest government unions report a net decline in membership of 87,919, or 1.3 percent. However, they also report a collective gain of 232,502 members, or 3.5 percent since 2024. This report awards full letter-grade increases to Idaho (now A) and Louisiana (now B) due to their adoption of pro-worker labor reforms this past legislative session. However, the drops in grades—Nebraska (D), Nevada (D), and Rhode Island (F)—are the result of these states prioritizing union executives over workers and enacting laws helping unions recruit, politick, organize, and strike. Thirteen states now have an “A” or “A+” grade—up from twelve in the previous edition of this report—while six states earned an “F”—up from five over the same time period. Overall, the research finds 25 states fall below a “C.”
KC Streetcar workers vote to unionize after record summer, expansion talks
August 20, 2026 // Batton said pay starts at $20.99 an hour for operators, and they would like higher wages. There are no formal paid sick days outside of accrued paid time off. Break schedules are also inconsistent and often shrink when the system gets busy. Between two extensions of the streetcar and record ridership during the World Cup, the system has been busy.
Progressive groups slam Royals stadium funding while labor unions back project
August 20, 2026 // Many of the speakers who opposed the project were affiliated with Missouri Workers Power, a coalition of progressive advocacy groups that is trying to force a public vote on the project. One member of the group was forcibly removed from the City Council chambers
KEYT-TV News Crews Walk Off Job in Strike During Fiesta Week
August 6, 2026 // News crews at Santa Barbara’s KEYT-TV walked off the job Tuesday night in a 24-hour strike, leaving viewers without local morning news coverage on the first full day of Old Spanish Days Fiesta and raising questions about the station’s ability to serve audiences throughout one of the region’s busiest news weeks. The strike, which began after the 11 p.m. news ended Tuesday and was scheduled to run to 8 p.m. Wednesday, comes after nearly two years of unsuccessful contract negotiations between the station’s unionized employees and management.
KC Streetcar workers are unionizing after record-high passenger traffic during World Cup
July 13, 2026 // The workers would be represented by Teamsters local 955. They want higher pay, more staffing, better working hours and more safety protections on the job. The union, which could include more than 70 streetcar operators and maintenance workers if approved, would also work to get clear hiring, firing and discipline policies. Erhardt said one other priority is securing bathroom breaks, which aren’t currently guaranteed.
NC couple, execs stole $20M from union for ritzy trips, meals & salaries, jury finds
June 10, 2026 // Nearly $2 million more in salaries and benefits were paid to others for jobs that did not require them to work, including $1.8 million paid to Kateryna Jones, documents show. She got some of the money while she was dating Newton Jones and still living in Ukraine, they said. The Chapel Hill couple also enjoyed date night meals that totaled over $160,000 and charged shopping trips and other personal expenses to the union, prosecutors said. Over $5 million was spent on “unnecessary and lavish international travel,” including executive meetings held “for no apparent purpose in extravagant hotels” in Paris, Rome and other cities.
Kearney man among former union leaders convicted of embezzlement
June 9, 2026 // Prosecutors said the group used union money for no-show jobs, expensive trips, lavish meals, and other personal costs. They also said there were unearned payouts, and an unauthorized $7 million loan tied to a union-related bank.
Missouri SSD school board approves pay freeze for union employees
May 28, 2026 // After a majority of the Special School District Board of Education voted to freeze pay for employees represented across six different unions in the 2026-27 school year on May 26, emotions were strong.
St. Louis marijuana workers win union vote after two-year ballot fight
May 21, 2026 // Agricultural workers are excluded from the National Labor Relations Act, the federal law that protects most private-sector employees' right to unionize without fear of retaliation. "We agree with the regional [NLRB] director, for the reasons provided in her decision, that none of the workers employed in the classifications at issue here are agricultural laborers under the secondary definition of agriculture," the national board members wrote.
Union says metro ammunitions manufacturer is on strike
April 7, 2026 // Union members who work at the Lake City Army Ammunition plant began a strike Saturday morning in Independence. The IAM Local 778 announced Saturday that its members rejected a contract proposal from Olin Winchester and began a strike.