strike

Tenant union members at an Independence apartment building are in their third month of a rent strike. Has it been worth the risk? Plus: A Kansas native explains how Truman Capote and Harper Lee ended up joining her family for Christmas dinner.

Tenant unions in Kansas City and Independence started a rent strike in October in response to deteriorating living conditions that went unaddressed by landlords. There have been some small improvements since, but residents have also experienced what they consider retaliation.

Tenants at two apartment complexes in the Kansas City area are now withholding rent payments, in the city’s first rent strike since 1980. Rent strikes are illegal in Missouri, but residents say it's worth the risk, after dealing with deteriorating living conditions and a lack of maintenance.

According to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data, Iowa and Nebraska saw gains in union membership while Kansas and Missouri unions saw slight declines.

Union members and labor experts agree that a collective sense of job insecurity and frustration over wages and working conditions are driving activity in the region.

Workers at the GM plant in Wentzville, Missouri, have been picketing for over 45 days, but to end the strike, union leaders and members still need to vote on the tentative deal announced Monday. Workers would get a 25% raise over almost five years.

Between auto workers, Hollywood, and baristas, it seems like workers are walking out on the job more often this year. Experts say wealth inequalities, inflation and a cultural shift in expectations from jobs are contributing to a more active labor movement.

The members of United Auto Workers Local 2250 were the first employees of General Motors to go on strike. On Sunday, the picket line was joined by Democratic U.S. Reps. Cori Bush of St. Louis County and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

General Motors says the strike that shut down the Wentzville plant near St. Louis means there may not be enough parts to assemble cars in Kansas City, Kansas.

Work at the General Motors assembly plant in Wentzville, Missouri, came to a halt Friday, as the members of the United Auto Workers joined workers at two other Midwest auto plants on strike. The union is calling for the automaker to increase pay 46% over four years.

For the first time ever, the UAW launched a strike against all Big 3 automakers at once, starting with three locations in the Midwest, including the General Motors plant in Wentzville, Missouri.

It's been over 100 days since the writers' strike in Hollywood started over an ongoing labor dispute between the Writers Guild of America, and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.