© 2025 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

GM workers and the labor movement in Kansas City

A GM plant in Wentzville, Missouri, was one of the first units of United Auto Workers to go on strike. After the layoffs of 2,000 workers at the Fairfax GM plant in Kansas City, Kansas, the union is only escalating its efforts.

It feels as if workers are going on strike left and right these days, but union membership has hit all time lows in recent years. So what's driving this surge in labor organizing?

On KCUR's Up To Date, Steve Kraske spoke with Dante Wilson, President of UAW local 31, about the local autoworkers union impacted by the strikes against GM and Stellantis.

Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Paris Norvell, Byron Love and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

As a newscaster and a host of a daily news podcast, I want to deliver the most important and interesting news of the day in an engaging and easily understandable way. No matter where you live in the metro or what you’re interested in, I want you to learn something from each newscast or podcast – and maybe even give you something to talk about at the dinner table.
Trevor Grandin is a contributing producer for KCUR Studios.
Paris Norvell is a freelance podcast producer for KCUR Studios,
KCUR prides ourselves on bringing local journalism to the public without a paywall — ever.

Our reporting will always be free for you to read. But it's not free to produce.

As a nonprofit, we rely on your donations to keep operating and trying new things. If you value our work, consider becoming a member.