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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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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