Dispatches: The Changing American Dream

Updated: St. Louis Jimmy John's Workers Go On Strike

Employees at the Soulard sub shop walk off the job because they want respect and better pay. But, a manger at the Hazelwood location said it would not be affected.

It's spreading like wildfire. Fast food workers from different chains around the St. Louis region are expected to walk off their jobs—or not show up for their shifts— through Thursday. It's a push for respect through better pay, improved working conditions. Shannon Garth-Rhodes, spokesperson with the effort, also said this is part of a fight for the right to form a union without retaliation. "Workers will strike for a $15 per hour wage floor and to take a stand against unfair retaliation targeting workers who are sticking together to speak out for better jobs," she said. Gerneisha Clark has worked at that location for five months and picketed Thursday. She said has been subjected to management abuse of power. "They have a lack of respect …

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Boeing, SEEPA Resume Contract Talks this Week Amidst 787 Dreamliner Fiasco

Both sides concluded first day of talks on Wednesday at 7 p.m. according to SEEPA's Facebook page.

Negotiators representing 23,000 Boeing Co engineers resumed contract talks on Wednesday after a review of the company's latest offer. The companies did not agree over a new contract as the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) posted on it's Facebook page Wednesday night, "Negotiations with Boeing concluded for the day. Will resume Thursday at 9 a.m." Wednesday was also a crucial day for Boeing as the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration grounded all of Boeing's 787 aircraft, after fires and emergency landings. (Get instant news updates. Like Hazelwood Patch on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.) The latest Boeing offer increases pay raises for professional workers by 5 percent in each of the first two years of…

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Boeing, SPEEA Suspend Contract Negotiations, Will Resume in 2013

A strike is not off the table yet. Talks should resume some time in the New Year, most likely late January or early February.

The holidays may be a bit more cheerful for Boeing employees in the Puget Sound area. A federal mediator has suspended talks between Boeing and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SEEPA), the union representing 22,765 engineers and technical workers, until after the first of the year. Talks have unraveled in the past two weeks and that is why Boeing requested a federal mediator be brought in. (Get instant news updates. Like Hazelwood Patch on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.) Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Director George H. Cohen issued the following statement recently: “At the request of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, negotiations between The Boeing Company and the Society of …

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Local Impacts: Boeing Engineers' Contract Negotiations Closer to a Strike

Union members voted down Boeing's first contract offer, with 96 percent voting no, on Oct. 1.

Boeing Co. engineers are currently pursuing a new contract with the company and things are gong no where. The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SEEPA), the union representing 22,765 engineers and technical workers in the Puget Sound area, said the terms Boeing outlined Tuesday regarding wages and medical benefits make a strike very likely. In a message SEEPA sent to employees, the union said it will hold training sessions for picket captains next week, although SPEEA leaders haven't asked members to give negotiators the authority to call a strike, according to The Herald Business Journal. "We are doing everything possible to avoid the need for a work stoppage," SPEEA's negotiators wrote. But they signaled the need…

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Twinkie Maker Hostess Bakery Closes Shop, Causing Job Losses, Online Outrage

What will affect you most: the loss of 365 jobs, fresh Twinkies, or what one Riverfront Times blogger called the the "most delicious field trip ever?"

Wonder Bread no more? The Hazelwood Hostess bakery location closed several years ago. How will the bakery closing affect you Hazelwood? Tell us in the comments.

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