KC’s data center boom is a windfall for construction trades. But the AI powered by those buildings is already reshaping who has job security — and who doesn’t.
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Posted inHealth, Labor
Kansas City nurses kick off contract talks saying they’re prepared to strike
Takeaways: When nurses rallied outside Research Medical Center this week to kick off contract negotiations, the refrain rang familiar. “Hey HCA,” the nurses’ signs read. “Put patients over profits.” In an increasingly unionized health care industry, still recovering from the pandemic, nurses across the country demand that hospitals beef up staffing and improve working conditions. […]
Posted inHealth
‘We’re unionized. You can’t ignore it.’ Wichita nurses vow another strike again if they don’t get a contract
Takeaways: It’s been a year since the nurses at Ascension via Christi St. Joseph Hospital in Wichita voted to unionize. Even longer since St. Francis nurses made the same play. About nine months have passed since they walked off the job the first time to protest what they contend are the hospitals’ spare staffing levels […]
Posted inLabor
Kansas City cannabis dispensary workers win union to gain leverage in a growing industry
Takeaways:1. Workers at the Homestate Dispensary have voted to establish the first cannabis union in the area in the Kansas City market. 2. Homestate employees have complained about not receiving paid holidays and a lack of security in the workplace. They want better pay, job security, better health insurance and protections from wrongful termination. 3. This unionization […]
Posted inLocal Government
Is the city of Wichita understaffed? The Wichita Beacon analyzes a public sector staffing problem.
Gretchen Lenth, The Wichita Beacon’s Dow Jones News Fund data intern, contributed data analysis and graphics to this story. On the morning of June 28, Jeff Erker stood outside Wichita City Hall with his daughter and a sign that read “Support Wichita Firefighters.” Trucks and cars sped past, honking their support for the higher wages […]
Posted inLocal Government, Watchdog
Wichita police’s new contract ignores appeals for more transparency in misconduct cases
A new three-year union contract for the Wichita Police Department includes pay raises and retention bonuses, but critics say it fails to address demands for improving transparency around police misconduct. The contract with the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) will cost the city at least $9 million more than budgeted, in part to fund salary […]