labor

A potential downtown baseball stadium would be an economic boon, possibly creating 20 thousand jobs, according to Kansas City Royals owner John Sherman. An advocacy group wants to make sure workers’ voices are a part of that conversation.

A decision from the National Labor Relations Board found Starbucks violated labor law hundreds of times. While workers in Kansas City wait on decisions for unfair labor practice charges of their own, they say more direct action is needed.

Minimum-wage workers in Missouri now make $12 an hour. While Missouri and other other states have raised worker pay, the Kansas minimum wage has stayed at the federal level of $7.25 per hour.

Thanks to a ballot initiative passed by voters in 2018, Missouri's minimum wage rose in the new year to $12 an hour, while tipped workers now have a minimum wage of $6 an hour.

The court concluded that Missouri refused to allow paycheck deductions to starve the corrections workers’ union during negotiations — violating the “fundamental right” to collective bargaining guaranteed by the Missouri Constitution, and freedom of speech and association rights protected by the state and federal constitutions.

The nursing shortage has led to a greater reliance on travel nurses — who come with big price tags — at hospitals around the country. According to leading travel nursing agency Aya Healthcare, there are nearly 1,500 openings for travel nurses in Missouri and 340 in Kansas. That’s causing some hospitals to rethink their nursing staff retention efforts.

Since contract negotiations failed with Wabtec, a train services company, the union has been picketing outside of the plant from 4:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. But as the holiday season approaches, striking workers are worried about how they’ll provide for their families.

A company hired to clean meatpacking plants in Missouri and other Midwest states is accused of illegally using children for potentially dangerous jobs. Plus: Eric Schmitt is heading to D.C. as Missouri's next U.S. Senator, but he'll be entering a very different legislative environment than the one he's used to at home.

Sheltered workshops are meant to employ adults with disabilities as they prepare to enter the regular workforce. But in Missouri, these subminimum-wage workers rarely "graduate" to higher-paying jobs — keeping them segregated and reliant on disability payments or family support.

Two-time incumbent Democratic Representative Robert Sauls has the support of the local union leaders, but increasingly, union members aren’t voting in a bloc. And in a region that's leaning increasingly Republican, the strength of a union endorsement is on the ballot.

A school librarian recalls ‘surreal’ police visits at a Missouri high school library. And a revolt is brewing at Emporia State University after 33 staff members were laid off due to budget cuts.

A shortage of health care workers in Kansas has created a crisis at nursing homes, which are closing even as the state’s population continues to age.