St. Louis ranks sixth nationwide in dog attacks on postal workers
While local dog attacks have declined, experts say not enough is being done to address the problem
By SHERI GASSAWAY Missouri Correspondent
St. Louis ranks sixth in the nation for dog attacks on letter carriers with 40 attacks reported in 2025, according to new data released by the U.S. Postal Service. In 2024, there were 47 attacks.
While dog attacks on letter carriers decreased in 2025 to 5,200 nationwide last year compared to 2024’s 6,088, experts remain concerned. The incidents, which were mostly self-reported by employees, include chases, bites, assaults and deaths.
Across major markets, Los Angeles ranked first with 70 incidents, followed by Dallas with 65 attacks and Denver with 45 incidents. Among states, Illinois ranked sixth with 260 dog bites last year while Missouri came in eighth with 182.
NO DISCERNABLE DIFFERENCE
John McLaughlin, president of National Association of Letter
Carriers (NALC) Branch 343 in the St. Louis area, has been bitten three times in his 30 years with the postal service. He said that while St. Louis experienced fewer dog bites last year compared with the year before, there’s been no discernable difference.
“The Post Office used to air on the side of caution and notify dog owners of problems by cards or written letters,” he said. “But now it’s taking a lackadaisical approach and just paying it lip service. All our carriers have to protect themselves with is their bag and a can of dog repellant, which is ineffective in staving off an attack, if you’ve ever used it.”
PROBLEM IS MULTIFOLD
Richard Thurman, safety coordinator for NALC Branch 343, said the problem is multifold and revolves around the following issues:
See DOG ATTACKS page 8
Lambert Airport security officers ratify historic union contract
After months of negotiations, more than 100 contracted security officers at St. Louis Lambert International Airport voted to ratify their first union contract, marking a historic victory for frontline airport workers who provide essential security services for passengers, visitors, employees and the City of St. Louis.
The agreement, negotiated by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1, establishes important workplace protections and economic improvements, including guaranteed wage protections, raises based on years of service and paid time off improvements that are intended to stabilize the workforce and incentivize experienced airport security officers.
Security officers at Lambert Airport organized with Local 1 in June of last year to address high turnover and poor working conditions for first responders performing critical work at one of the region’s most important transportation hubs.
–
represented by Service
The contract comes after eight months of negotiations between Local 1 and GardaWorld. Workers and community allies continued to push for an agreement that would help stabilize the workforce and recognize the important role security officers play at Lambert Airport.
at
MAJOR STEP FORWARD
John DeWeese, a GardaWorld security officer, said this is a major step forward for security officers at Lambert Airport.
“My coworkers and I joined Local 1 because we wanted respect, stability and a real voice on the
Labor advocate, political activist and author Beatrice Lumpkin has died at 107
organizer, political activist, professor, writer and co-founder of the Coalition
Beatrice Lumpkin, union organizer, political activist, professor, writer and co-founder of the Coalition of Labor Union Woman (CLUW), has died. A leader of the Chicago Teachers’ Union, Lumpkin died June 14, 2026 at the age of 107. Lumpkin was a tenured professor at Malcolm X College. She wrote several books about history and mathematics, as well as a biography of her late husband, Steelworker Frank Lumpkin (Always Bring a Crowd), and an autobiography, Joy In The Struggle After her passing, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called Lumpkin “a towering figure in the Labor Movement, an unwavering advocate for fully-funded education, and a continued source of inspiration for us all.” Her passing inspired a flurry of memorials and commemorations on social media from Labor activists statewide.
DAUGHTER OF RUSSIAN REFUGEES
Lumpkin was born in 1918 in New York, the daughter of Russian refugees. It was a time when workers had no federal right to organize, no minimum wage, no overtime protection and little guarantee that a day on the job wouldn’t be
See LAMBERT page 11 See LUMPKIN page 9
MCLAUGHLIN
BEATRICE LUMPKIN , union
of Labor Union Woman (CLUW), has died. A leader of the Chicago Teachers’ Union, Lumpkin died June 14, 2026 at the age of 107.
– ChicagoTeachers Union X (Twitter) account photo
HISTORIC VICTORY
Security officers
St. Louis Lambert International Airport,
Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1, recently ratified their first union contract marking a historic victory for frontline airport workers who provide essential security services for passengers, visitors, employees and the City of St. Louis.
SEIU Local 1 photo
WHILE DOG ATTACKS on letter carriers in the St Louis area decreased in the last year, local experts remain concerned, saying not enough is being done to address the problem.
– USPS photo
As Americans skip meals, Trump profits from power
Trump is flouting regulations to reap billions for himself, as ordinary Americans teeter on the edge of economic ruin
By SONALI KOLHATKAR Economy for All
President Donald Trump has brazenly engaged in what appears to be insider trading. A bombshell story published in Bloomberg on May 14, 2026, revealed that Trump made thousands of stock trades in the first quarter of this year with companies connected to the government. This isn’t fake news. Bloomberg analyzed publicly available information from the U.S. Office of Government Ethics regarding Trump’s financial disclosures— information that Trump was forced to divulge because of a government regulation called the STOCK Act.
Bloomberg summarized its findings, stating that “President Donald Trump’s latest financial disclosures show that he or his investment advisers made more than 3,700 trades in the first quarter, a flurry totaling tens of millions of dollars and involving major companies that have dealings with his administration.”
‘BLATANTLY ILLEGAL’
Insider trading is blatantly illegal. Among the flood of Trump’s highly questionable, unethical, immoral, and criminal dealings, this one may be the most egregious.
The federal agency, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), defines insider trading as “buying or selling a security, in breach of a fiduciary duty or other relationship of trust and confidence, on the basis of material, nonpublic information about the security.” Perpetrators usually include corporate executives with inside information that gives them an edge on stock prices, enabling them to buy or sell to their advantage. But the SEC also singles out “Government employees who traded based on confidential information they learned because of their employment with the government.”
So blatant are Trump’s trades that a Bloomberg headline states they even “astonished” Wall Street insiders. But the White House dismissed the idea that Trump engaged in any wrongdoing by simply claiming that he “only acts in the best interests of the American public,” and that “there are no conflicts of interest.”
TRUMP COMPANIES PROMOTED AT WHITE HOUSE AND TRIP TO CHINA
A USA Today report found that the president’s stock purchases “reflected a broad overlap of companies that Trump has promoted at the White House and on his trip to meet with China’s President Xi Jinping,” including stocks of Apple, Nvidia, and Tesla. Executives of all three companies accompanied the president during his recent visit to China.
Trump is now worth hundreds of millions of dollars more than he was before his second term began, much of it through the buying and selling of cryptocurrency — yet another venture where he used his public office for personal gain. The New York Times explained, “Mr. Trump’s sale of crypto has been by far his biggest moneymaker, “according to Reuters.” People who hope to influence federal policy, including foreigners, can buy his family’s coins, effectively transferring money to the Trumps, and the deals are often secret. A United Arab Emirates-backed investment firm announced plans last year to deposit $2 billion into a Trump firm — two
weeks before the president gave the country access to advanced chips.”
The president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Donald Sherman, denounced the deal involving the sale of the chips as a “blatant, disgraceful conflict of interest and a possible violation of the Constitution’s Federal Emoluments Clause.”
INSIDER TRADING
Trump has engaged in a dizzying array of insider-trading-type moves that the Brennan Center for Justice called “Epic Corruption in Plain Sight.” These include buying up stocks of Paramount, Netflix, and Warner Brothers at the same time as his administration was overseeing a merger deal involving the three companies, investing in Palantir just before lauding the company in public and approving its contracts with the federal government, and buying stocks of Oracle while approving its deal to buy the social media company TikTok.
That the president is openly cheating is not at all surprising. In an infamous exchange with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016, he claimed he was “smart” rather than a cheat for outwitting the IRS.
Such behavior in any other elected official would be cause for a major uproar — investigations, hearings, and possible impeachment.
Instead, because Trump has skewed the standards of acceptable behavior to such a great degree, it will likely be met with a collective shrug.
VOTERS SUFFER WHILE TRUMP CHEATS
Worse, while Trump is busy cheating his way into extreme wealth, his voters are starving. Literally.
In an NPR interview, Gerald, an ardent fan of the president, who lives in Atlanta, revealed that his precarious financial situation — one that he hoped would improve with Trump in the White House — has only worsened over the past year. Among the reasons for Gerald’s struggles are gas prices, which are directly linked to the president’s decision to wage war on Iran. Gerald, who remains “very happy with the president,” was stoic about his situation, saying he skips meals to save money. “[M]e and my wife have been fasting, and there’s a lot of benefits, including one of those benefits is saving money on groceries,” he told NPR.
‘NOT
EVEN A LITTLE BIT’ CONCERNED
Anecdotal evidence shows Gerald isn’t the only one suffering. Trump supporters are realizing that their leader has not, in fact, enacted the economic relief he promised. Even a Fox News poll spelled a dire warning, with the headline “As Economic Pain Deepens, Disapproval of Trump Hits New High.”
How concerned is Trump with the public’s suffering? “Not even a little bit,” he said, in response to a journalist’s question before his China trip. “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation,” he added.
IMPACT OF POLICIES ON ECONOMY
While the Iran war is seen as a source of much economic pain, Trump’s war on immigrants has also hurt U.S. citizens. Conservatives like to claim that immigrants take jobs meant for U.S. citizens and depress wages because they’re willing to work for less. But a new study by the University of Colorado Boulder found that arrests and disappearances by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have resulted in a worse economic outlook for all. Rather than increase wages to attract
Buckle up: Republicans just exposed their big goal for November
By MICHAEL WALDMAN President Brennan Center for Justice
The vote is the heart of democracy. Every two years, citizen organizations mobilize to register Americans and ensure they are on the rolls. That work is especially vital in poor and minority communities. The Ohio Organizing Collaborative is the leading voter registration group in the Buckeye State. In 2024, it registered 100,000 voters.
The group helped lead the fight for fair maps against an egregious gerrymander in Ohio. The Brennan Center represented it in court, where we prevailed repeatedly. When legislators simply ignored those court rulings, the activists went to Ohio voters. Together with a former chief justice of the state supreme court, Republican Maureen O’Connor, they supported a campaign to pass a state constitutional amendment to create a nonpartisan redistricting commission. They called the amendment Citizens Not Politicians. It would have benefited neither party but empowered voters. The ballot measure fell short in 2024, but it was an example of nonpartisan, cross-ideological civic activism at its best.
That’s why what happened late last week is so troubling. Indeed, so outrageous.
In a massive sweep, 100 FBI agents and other federal officers raided the Ohio Organizing Collaborative’s office and fanned out to the homes of volunteers, board members, and staff. Agents seized phones and computers, scooped up papers, and questioned startled citizens.
If citizens are afraid to register to vote, or to help others register, mission accomplished.
The rationale? According to a search warrant, the hunt for voter registration fraud.
ABUSE OF POWER
This gives every indication of being an extraordinary abuse of power. It is part of a strategy that aims to intimidate voters and those who would help them exercise the franchise.
This is, after all, the same Justice Department that repeatedly has probed or prosecuted President Donald Trump’s critics, only to see those cases crumble before grand juries and judges. Combine that with an FBI led by Kash Patel, who wrote an election-denying children’s book about his fealty to the “king.”
MAPPED OUT IN PROJECT 2025
This expanded strategy was mapped out in Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for what became many Trump administration policies. Use the Justice Department, it urged, to go after state election officials and registration groups. Hunt the imaginary threat of widespread voter misconduct.
The Heritage Foundation for decades has been a principal purveyor of the myth that many voters are committing fraud. Now the entire federal government is in the grip of that conspiracy theory.
A reminder: The Brennan Center’s research shows that you are more likely to be struck by lightning than to commit voter fraud.
What will be produced by this massive
display of prosecutorial force? Probably not much of anything but — its progenitors likely hope — dread. If citizens are afraid to register to vote, or to help others register, mission accomplished.
OTHER EXAMPLES
In fact, the strategy seems focused not on enforcing the law but fomenting fear.
We saw that in January when the FBI raided the election office in Fulton County, Georgia, seeking to “prove” that Joe Biden did not win the 2020 election there. When the affidavit that authorized the raid was released, it turned out to be a collection of long-debunked claims. The raid sent a message to election officials everywhere: If you oversee an election where we dislike the results, you might be met by a knock on the door.
We saw it this month when Trump declared that California’s primary election was “rigged,” because a Republican reality show star did not finish in the top two for the mayoral election in deeply Democratic Los Angeles.
We saw it last year when armed, masked federal border patrol agents showed up in force at a press event held by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to announce a redistricting ballot measure.
HERE’S WHAT WE CAN DO
What can we do to protect voters?
We should stand up for those working to register and mobilize voters and ensure they have the best legal advice and follow the rules. We should redouble efforts to protect election officials who face torrents of abuse. We should encourage states to step up, by passing legislation to make doubly sure that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal law enforcement agencies cannot wreak havoc at the polls. We should lift up the nonpartisan work of police, prosecutors, and sheriffs through the Committee for Safe and Secure Elections, which brings together election officials and law enforcement to train officials around the country. And we should unite against efforts to interfere in elections or intimidate voters.
ORGANIZING PEOPLE
The Brennan Center honored the Ohio Organizing Collaborative in 2024 at our annual Brennan Legacy Award Dinner, together with Chief Justice O’Connor. I told the crowd, “This is kind of a buddy movie that I want to watch.”
Molly Shack, the group’s dynamic leader, told attendees about how it approached its work. “We are organizing people in communities around education and criminal justice reform and democracy issues and an ability to have a government that works, that can actually be responsive to citizens in all of our interests.”
She continued: “I think the idea that democracy is a partisan issue is something that I think we’re all trying to fight against. A functioning democracy shouldn’t be about right versus left. It should be about right versus wrong.”
(Michael A. Waldman is an attorney, presidential speechwriter and political advisor, currently serving as the president of the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonprofit law and policy institute whose operations are centered at the New York University School of Law. Waldman has led the center since 2005.)
Views from Near and Far
KOLHATKAR WALDMAN
Citing lack of progress on legislative priorities, Illinois AFL-CIO defers endorsements for 2026 general election
By TIM ROWDEN Editor-in-Chief
Springfield, IL – The Illinois AFL-CIO is holding off making endorsements in the 2026 election, citing a lack of progress on Labor’s legislative priorities
“Over the past year, Illinois AFLCIO affiliates and union members from across Illinois consistently voiced frustrations about the lack of progress around our core legislative priorities,” Illinois AFL-CIO President Tim Drea said. “This past state legislative session was especially concerning, as Springfield not only failed to advance key priorities, but the process by which legislation was considered fell short of what working people deserve. These concerns span the full breadth of our movement, with public sector, private sector, manufacturing, and building trades all expressing dissatisfaction.”
“The Illinois AFL-CIO remains committed to electing and working with pro-Labor politicians,” Drea added. “Our endorsement carries the validation of the largest statewide Labor affiliate in Illinois and activates thousands of working people for grassroots campaigning. Now more than ever, we must be thoughtful about supporting candidates who do not just talk about Labor priorities but deliver real wins for working people.”
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
Two bills on unemployment benefits failed to advance beyond House committees, Capitol News Insider reported.
• House Bill 4416 by Rep. Marcus Evans (D-Chicago), would allow school employees like bus drivers and cafeteria workers to receive unemployment benefits during the offseason.
• House Bill 2565 would allow striking workers to qualify for unemployment benefits.
PENSION REFORM
• Tier 2 pension reform also went nowhere, despite a push in recent years. Unions want to reform Tier 2 pensions to improve benefits, and many lawmakers agree. But they’ve struggled to agree on how to make that happen, and there was little discussion about the issue this spring, Capitol News reported.
DATA CENTERS
Unions appeared to chalk up a win with lawmakers on data centers when a majority of Democrats declined to pause tax incentives for data centers as requested by Gov. JB Pritzker.
Pritzker reapplied the brakes however, directing the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to pause new data center tax credits beginning July 1.
In response, the AFL-CIO and a coalition of Labor groups issued a statement calling Pritzker’s decision “shortsighted” and arguing “it will send billions of dollars in investment and thousands of union jobs to
Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio — states that sit on the same electrical grid, where those data centers will be built anyway, just without Illinois workers protected by nationally leading Labor standards.”
A KEY VOICE
The AFL-CIO is a key voice in Democratic politics, Capital News notes. It’s endorsement can help a candidate turn out voters from a wide base of union members. Democrats often tout their support for unions on the campaign trail and even in legislative hearings. But Drea said the AFL-CIO is going to evaluate which lawmakers actually follow through on their pro-union rhetoric.
“Illinois has long been a proworker state, and we appreciate the lawmakers who fought hard this session on behalf of workers,” Drea said. “We have an obligation to make decisions that best serve our members in 2026 and into the future. We will continue to evaluate candidates and may reassess in the months ahead.”
Jefferson County Main Event Charitable Organization Comedy Night set for Sept. 26
Get ready for some laughs as five local comedians take the stage for this year’s Jefferson County Main Event Charitable Organization Comedy Night on Sept. 26.
The Main Event Charitable Organization was founded years ago by members of the Jefferson County Labor Club as a way to give back to the local community. All proceeds from the comedy night will support Jefferson County charities.
The event will be held at the Meramec Elks Lodge at 1515 Miller Road in Imperial. Doors open for cocktails at 6 p.m., dinner will be served at 7 p.m. and the show begins at 8 p.m.
The comedians are from the STL Comedy Studio, a St. Louis-based stand-up comedy hub, providing both live stages and online platforms for new and experienced
comedians. Featured comedians include Tyler the Comic, Josh Reynolds, Matt Wayman, Ebony Starr and Marlon Mac.
Tickets, which include dinner and drinks, are $75 a person or $600 for a table of eight. Sponsorships ranging from $100 to $500 are also available.
For tickets, visit https://shorturl.at/CLlUz. For more information call 314-608-4828.
SUBSCRIBE
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DREA
St. Louis Union Solidarity Ride/Poker Run a roaring success
This Week In Labor History
JUNE 22
1918 – A total of 86 passengers on a train carrying members of the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus are killed, another 127 injured in a wreck near Hammond, Ind. Five days later the dead are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Forest Park, Ill., in an area set aside as Showmen’s Rest, purchased only a few months earlier by the Showmen’s League of America.
1922 – Violence erupted during a coal mine strike at Herrin, Ill. A total of 36 were killed, 21 of them non-union miners.
JUNE 23
1947 – Congress overrides President Harry Truman’s veto of the anti-worker Taft-Hartley Act. The law weakened unions and let states exempt themselves from union requirements. Twenty states immediately enacted open shop laws
and more followed.
1978 – OSHA issues standard on cotton dust to protect 600,000 workers from byssinosis, also known as “brown lung.”
1999 – A majority of the 5,000 textile workers at six Fieldcrest Cannon textile plants in Kannapolis, N.C., vote for union representation after an historic 25-year fight.
JUNE 24
1880 – Birth of Agnes Nestor, president of the Int’l Glove Workers Union and longtime leader of the Chicago Women’s Trade Union League. She began work in a glove factory at age 14.
1971 – Seventeen workers are killed as methane explodes in a water tunnel under construction in Sylmar, Calif.
JUNE 25
1943 – Congress passes the SmithConnally War Labor Disputes Act over President Franklin Roosevelt’s veto. It allows the federal government to seize and operate industries threatened by strikes that would interfere with war production. It was hurriedly created after the third coal strike in seven weeks.
1985 – A total of 21 workers are killed when a fireworks factory near Hallett, Okla., explodes.
gas workers at A.E. Staley plant gate one year into the company’s two-and-a-half-year lockout of Paperworkers Local 7837.
JUNE 26
1894 – Members of the American Railway Union, led by Eugene V. Debs, refuse to handle Pullman cars, in solidarity with Pullman strikers. Two dozen strikers were killed over the course of the strike.
1959 – The 189-mile-long St. Lawrence Seaway opens, making the Great Lakes accessible to Atlantic shipping. Thousands of laborers toiled for decades to make it happen; indirectly and directly, the Seaway today supports 75,000 jobs in Canada and 150,000 in the U.S.
JUNE 27
1905 – The Industrial Workers of the World, also known as the “Wobblies,” is founded at a 12-daylong convention in Chicago. The Wobbly motto: “An injury to one is an injury to all.”
1935 – Congress passes the National Labor Relations Act, creating the structure for collective bargaining in the United States.
1985 – A 26-day strike of New York City hotels by 26,000 workers — the first such walkout in 50 years — ends with a five-year contract calling for big wage and benefit gains.
1993 – A.E. Staley locks out 763 workers in Decatur, Ill. The lockout was to last two and onehalf years.
JUNE 28
1850 – Birthday of machinist Matthew Maguire, who many believe first suggested Labor Day. Others believe it was Peter McGuire, a carpenter.
1894 – President Grover Cleveland signs legislation declaring Labor Day an official U.S. holiday.
1944 – A Liberty Ship named after the founding president of the American Federation of Labor, Samuel Gompers, is launched in Sausalito, Calif. She replaced a
Ayatollah’s ‘Art of the Deal’ becomes No. 1 Bestseller
Tehran (Satire from The Borowitz Report) — In an astounding achievement for a first-time author, on Wednesday Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei nabbed the No. 1 spot on the New York Times bestsellers list with a business book entitled The Art of the Deal
The publicity materials provided by the publisher tout, “From the mind of a man who negotiated the sweetest deal in the history of the Middle East, learn how to fend off a hostile takeover — and win!”
“Don’t just be a leader,” the book jacket urges. “Be a Supreme one!”
Among the topics covered, the book “shows, in five easy steps, how to turn a tiny body of water into a money-spinning goldmine.”
An advance excerpt from the book’s first chapter begins, “Rule No. 1: Only negotiate with morons.”
cargo steamship bearing Gompers’ name which had been torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese sub in the South Pacific the previous year.
1988 – The federal government sues the Teamsters to force reforms on the union, the nation’s largest. The following March, the
IBEW Local 1 Union meetings are held the First Wednesday and the Third Friday of each Month at the IBEW, Local 1 Union Hall located at 5850 Elizabeth Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63110. Meetings begin promptly at 5 p.m.
government and the union sign a consent decree requiring direct election of the union’s president and creation of an Independent Review Board.
(Compiled by David Prosten, founder Union Communication Services)
Premier Drive in Belleville, IL 62220 at 7:30 p.m.
Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 160 Union meetings are on the second Friday of the month at 8 p.m. at the hall, 901 Mulberry Street, Murphysboro, Ill. 62966.
Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 553 First Tuesday of each month September through May, 7 p.m., 967 East Airline Dr., East Alton, IL 62024.
Sheet Metal Workers Local 268 Caseyville Meetings: Fourth Thursday of each month at 6:00 p.m. in
LOCAL UNIONS
Applications for Construction Boilermakers Apprentice will be accepted by the Boilermakers Joint Apprenticeship Committee on the second Monday of each month at the Local 27 hall, 1547 South Broadway, St. Louis, Missouri 63104, from 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. The recruitment, selection, employment and training of apprentices during their apprenticeship shall be without discrimination because of race, religion, national origin, age or sex. Every applicant must supply a copy of their BIRTH CERTIFICATE and High School DIPLOMA/G.E.D. that the Committee can keep at the time of filing application for apprenticeship. WELDING QUALIFICATION: Applicants that have a welding certification or welding training qualifications will have priority selection over applicants with no welding qualifications. Applicants must provide a copy and proof of welding certification or welding training qualifications at the time of application.
Bricklayers Local 1 Meets at 5:30 p.m. the first Thursday at Bricklayers’ Local No. 1 Union Hall, 1670 Fenpark, Fenton, MO 63026. To register for a course, contact Dale Jennewein at the Bricklayers Local 1 MO JATC at 314-770-1066.
Cement Masons Local 527 3341 Hollenberg Dr, Bridgeton, MO 63044
Elevator Constructors Local 3 1525 South Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63104
Glaziers Local 513 5916 Wilson Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110
1994 – Decatur, Ill., police pepper-
Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus train wreck near Hammond, Ind., 1918
Violence erupts during coal mine strike in Herrin, Ill., 1922
Police pepper gas workers at A.E. Staley plant in Decatur, Ill., 1994
Unions win ‘ICE Out’ provisions in contracts
Los Angeles – Last week
UNITE HERE Local 11 made headlines when more than 2,000 stadium workers won the right to strike if ICE showed up during the World Cup.
“These workers are heroes. They stood up to FIFA. They stood up to ICE. They won a historic contract, and they are ready for
whatever comes during the World Cup,” Kurt Petersen, co-president of Local 11, told Payday Report “If federal immigration agencies threaten workers’ safety, our members have the right to walk off the job. That is now in their contract.”
UNITE HERE members at other stadiums hosting World
Cup games around the country also threatened to strike if ICE showed up. It’s part of a growing trend when unions around the country are using their power to demand that ICE stay out of their workplaces.
“I have worked at Seattle stadiums for over two years,” said Ramon Quiroz-Saltos, a cook at
Family Fun Day
Lumen Field. “As we prepare to feed the World Cup community, we are concerned about what ICE will do to immigrant workers. We know we are safer together in the union, so we are standing up, organizing to know our rights, and protecting ourselves.”
In April, the owners of Stauf’s Coffee Roasters and Cup O Joe in Columbus, Ohio, announced that they would not turn away ICE agents if they showed up at their workplaces. In response, workers announced their intent to form a union.
“There’s a way to give ourselves a little more agency and give ourselves more of a voice, I think Stauf’s is a really good place to do this. And if it works, maybe it’s something other people can follow, and maybe it opens up the potential for more workers to have a voice in what they do.”
UNION WON REINSTATEMENT
In April, when Kaiser Permanente tried to fire an employee with a DACA visa that the Trump Administration failed to renew, the union fought back and won
her reinstatement.
“I am so grateful to have the support of my union,” said the DACA nurse who has asked to remain anonymous. “My union has been so supportive during this extremely stressful experience. I’m going to fight for other DACA workers so they won’t have to go through such an ordeal.”
Earlier this year, unionized journalists from Minnesota asked that unions take action to divest from Thomson Reuters demanded that the company end its contract to provide data to ICE, worth over $28 million. Last month, the British Columbia General Union of Employees (BCGEU), which owns shares in Thomson Reuters, announced that it would divest.
“As a Canadian labour union and long-term investor, our goal is to grow long-term sustainable value for our members,” said BCGEU President Paul Finch. “One of the most effective ways to pursue that goal is to exercise our rights as shareholders, using shareholder engagement to influence corporate direction.”
(Reprinted from Payday Report)
• Nature Exhibits
• Backyard Bows Archery
• Fishing Game
• Multiple Learning Stations
• BB guns
• .22 Rifles (age 9 and up)
• Shotgun (age 11 and up)
• Free Snow Cones!
UNIONS ARE TAKING A STAND to prevent ICE from coming into their work places to harass immigrant workers but putting strike authorizations in their contract that allow walkouts should ICE show up.
COPE endorsements for Aug. 4 primary election
IBEW Local 1439 celebrates member service awards
County
1st
Byrnes
ST. LOUIS COUNTY
County Executive (D) Jake Zimmerman
Prosecuting Attorney (D) Melissa Price Smith
County Assessor (D) OPEN
COUNTY COUNCIL
1st District (D) Rita H. Days
3rd District (D) Mark Osmack
Trump profits From page 2
U.S.-born workers, employers in immigrant-heavy industries, such as agriculture and construction, downsized their businesses when their immigrant workers failed to show up because of deportation or fear of ICE terror. That, in turn, led to job losses among U.S.-born workers. One of the study’s authors noted that “For every six male undocumented workers lost, we found that the labor market also loses one male U.S.-born worker.”
It turns out immigrants work in jobs that complement rather than steal jobs held by citizens, and Trump’s war on immigrants has only caused more economic pain for everyone. Everyone, except for Trump, who received campaign contributions from the private prison industry, which is in the business of imprisoning immigrants.
‘ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’
Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” of 2025 also slashed funding for food stamps and Medicaid, the very government programs that lowincome Americans, including his supporters, need in dire times such as these. But this matters little to the president as long as his grand White House ballroom gets built — one that could cost taxpayers $1 billion in security costs.
As Trump’s wealth soars, the economic pain of ordinary Americans is reaching a breaking point — including those of his supporters forking over hundreds of dollars for cheap gold-colored “Trump phones” the president is shilling. The grift is brazen — and apparently made in Taiwan, not the U.S. as promised.
People are hurting, and for now
at least, are expressing their rage in opinion polls. In a recent CNN poll, a whopping 76 percent of Americans said the high cost-of-living was their most important concern. Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s only explanation for the public’s economic pain is that the respondents seem to be collectively lying: “The consumer, while they may be sounding grim, is actually quite buoyant,” he said. “[I]n their heart of hearts, they feel good. I’m not sure what they’re telling the survey people.”
(Sonali Kolhatkar is the founder, host and executive producer of “Rising Up With Sonali,” a television and radio show that airs on Free Speech TV (Dish Network, DirecTV, Roku) and Pacifica stations KPFK, KPFA, and affiliates. This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute.)
ST. LOUIS – IBEW Local 1439 recently celebrated two members who received service awards. They are Francis Barkofske, five years (left) and Daniel Rogers, 20 years (center). Celebrating the occasion with the duo is Local 1439 President Chad Fletcher (right).
– IBEW Local 1439 photo
Golf Tournaments
Coming to Your Area
Union and worker-friendly golf tournaments
Area unions and union-friendly organizations are hosting the following fundraising and charity golf tournaments. To have your tournament listed, contact Editorin-Chief Tim Rowden at tim@ labortribune.com, or mail your information to Labor Tribune, 301 S. Ewing Ave., St. Louis, Mo. 63103.
June 27 – Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Golf Tournament, an 18-hole four-man scramble will begin with 8 a.m. registration and an 8 a.m. tee-off at Quail Creek Golf Club, 6022 Wells Road, in south St. Louis County. Entry fee is $75 per golfer, which includes green fee and cart. Thirty-six team maximum. No payments will be allowed on the day of the event.
All proceeds benefit the BAC ADC of Eastern Missouri PAC Fund. For questions or donation inquiries, contact Committee Member Terry Daniel at 314-621-5560.
July 10 – Downstate Illinois Laborers’ District Council Annual Scholarship Fund Golf Tournament will take place at Far Oaks Golf Course, 419 Old Collinsville Road, Caseyville, Ill. 62232. The event serves as a key fundraising initiative and an opportunity for community members and partners to support a meaningful cause. Registration and lunch will begin at 11 a.m., followed by a shotgun start at 12:30 p.m. Dinner and awards will conclude the day’s activities. Entry fee is $800 per four-person team. Tee sign sponsorships are $200. Bronze,
silver and gold sponsorships range from $1,000 to $5,000. For more information, contact Dustin Ramage at 618-234-2704.
July 13 – St. Louis Building & Construction Trades Fourth Annual Golf Tournament and awards dinner will be held at Glen Echo Country Club at 3401 Lucas & Hunt Road, St. Louis, Mo 63121, with a 9 a.m. registration and 10 a.m. shotgun start. Entry fee is $1,200 per foursome. Hole sponsorships are $200. Non-golfer dinner guests are $50. This year’s award program will honor Florissant Mayor Tim Lowery, St. Louis County Councilwoman Rita Heard Days, St. Louis County Councilwoman Shalonda Webb and St. Louis City Alderman Shane Cohn. Register by July 1. Make checks payable to Building & Construction Trades PAC Fund, Attn: Gina Knoll, 2300 Hampton Ave., St. Louis, Mo. 63139.
July 18 – Machinists Local 1745’s Ron Hartman 30 th Annual Golf Tournament will begin with a 7:30 a.m. fourperson scramble shotgun start at Incline Village Golf Course, 10220 Fairway Drive, Foristell, Mo. Proceeds will benefit Local 1745’s Disaster/Scholarship Fund. Entry fee is $400 per team and includes 18 holes of golf with cart, refreshments and a steak dinner catered by Ron’s Catering. The tournament will include a 50-50 drawing, mulligans, optional skins
Dog
attacks
• A reduced number of animal control officers in St. Louis City and County. Thurman said there are 79 different neighborhoods in St. Louis City and only three patrol officers. Meanwhile, he said in St. Louis County, there are between 85 and 88 municipalities and only two animal control officers.
• Missouri doesn’t have a statewide dangerous dog law – instead, local governments regulate based on individual behavior. Thurman noted that as of Jan. 1, 2024, Missouri state law nullified all local breed-specific ordinances, meaning cities cannot single out specific breeds anymore. He said now, localities must regulate based on each dog’s actions, not its appearance.
• Residents aren’t registering their dogs with the city or the municipalities. Thurman said 90 percent of people don’t know they are supposed to register their animals. Additionally, he said more than 70 percent of St. Louis area homes have fencing that is only four feet high – a height larger dogs like an Akita can jump.
• The Post Office is not following through on carrier complaints, Thurman said.
‘A BIG STORM OF COMPLACENCY’
“It’s like a big storm of complacency,” Thurman said. “Once a carrier submits a complaint about a dog on their route, the supervisor is supposed to send a letter to the resident, but that’s not happening. They are also supposed to walk the routes with the carriers twice a year, and that’s not happening either.”
While St. Louis deals with its own barrage of problems, a postal service dog bite awareness cam-
game and hole-in-one prizes on all par threes – including a $10,000 prize on Hole 11. All paid entries received by July 8 will be placed in a drawing for a free entry in this year’s tournament. For more information, call Adam Conley at 573-953-9206, text Keith Dixon at 314-283-96777 or email machinistll1745@yahoo.com
Aug. 22 – Glaziers Local 513’s Charity Fund’s Annual Golf Classic to benefit the St. Louis Crisis Nursery will be held at Florissant Golf Club, with an 8 a.m. fourperson scramble shotgun start. The St. Louis Crisis Nursery provides a short-term, safe haven for 5,000 children a year, ages birth through 12 years old, whose families face an emergency caused by illness, homelessness, domestic violence of overwhelming parental stress. Entry fee is $450 per foursome, with lunch included. Lunch tickets for non-golfers are $25 each. The event will include raffle items and a 50/50 drawing. Following the tournament, prizes will be awarded for First Place in A, B and C flights, as well as Long Drive and Closestto-the-Pin. Grand raffle tickets are $20 each or three for $50. Call 314644-3922 to purchase tickets. Make checks payable to Glaziers Charity Golf Classic and mail to 5916 Wilson Ave., St. Louis, Mo. 63110.
Aug. 22 – SMART Sheet Metal Workers Local 36 Members Golf Tournament
From page 1
paign is underway this month called “Don’t turn your back on dog bite prevention.”
‘CONSTANT, SHARED VIGILANCE’
“Every single day, our postal employees serve their communities across dynamic, fast-changing environments,” Leeann Theriault, employee safety and health awareness manager, said in a statement. “Preventing dog-related incidents requires constant, shared vigilance.
“This campaign reinforces a vital truth: Animal behaviors can change in an instant, but proactive awareness from both our carriers and the customers we serve can stop painful injuries before they ever happen,” she said.
Even the most predictable pets can act unpredictably when defending territory or feeling startled. Because dogs rely on protective instincts, owners must manage their dogs during delivery times to prevent accidents.
• Keep your dog in a separate closed room before opening the front door.
• If you step outside, ensure the door is firmly latched.
• Always use a leash if your dog is outdoors during mail delivery.
• Finally, never accept mail directly from a carrier in the presence of your dog, and teach children to avoid doing so, as dogs can misinterpret the interaction as a threat.
USPS INFORMED DELIVERY
Another step residents can take is to sign up for USPS Informed Delivery and see the mail on your electronic device before it arrives.
By using the free Informed Delivery feature, customers can digitally
will begin with a four-person scramble shotgun start 7 a.m. at Country Lake Golf Club, 21309 Country Lake Drive in Warrenton, Mo. Entry fee is $100 per golfer or $400 per foursome. Limited to 36 teams. At least one SMART union member per team. Prizes awarded for first, second and third place in three flights, along with Longest Drive and Closest-to-the-Pin. Beverages and snacks provided. Dinner served after golf. Prize money checks will be mailed to team captains following the tournament. For more information, call Tournament Chairman Dan Sutter at 314-285-2625. Deadline to register is Aug. 5.
Oct. 9 – Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 101 Annual Golf Tournament will be held at The Orchard’s Golf Club at 1499 Golf Course Drive in Belleville, Ill. Registration for the four-man scramble begins at 7 a.m., followed by an 8 a.m. shotgun start. The $120 per golfer fee includes 18 holes of golf with cart, lunch provided on the course, a catered dinner after the tournament and skins and mulligans. Cash prizes will be awarded for Closest-to-the-Hole, and a 50/50 raffle will be held. Tee sponsorships are available for $200. To register, mail payment to Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 101 at 8 Premier Drive, Belleville, Ill. 62220. For more information, call 618-234-5504.
preview incoming mail and packages from a computer, tablet or mobile device. This service can help dog owners anticipate when their carrier might arrive. Sign up at informeddelivery.usps.com.
UNSECURED DOGS CAN STOP MAIL DELIVERY
When a carrier feels unsafe because of a roaming dog, mail service can be temporarily suspended. Until the carrier feels safe enough to restart delivery, the mail will have to be picked up at the dog owner’s local post office.
If a carrier feels a house or neighborhood is unsafe to deliver to and there is no way to inform residents their mail service has been suspended, the residents will have to contact the supervisor at their local post office for more information. The residents would also have to pick up their mail at the Post Office until it is safe to resume delivery.
If a dangerous dog issue is not resolved, owners can be required to rent a post office box to receive mail.
HOW CARRIERS PREVENT DOG BITES
Letter carriers undergo extensive safety training to spot potential canine hazards. Carriers are instructed to remain vigilant and exercise the following precautions:
• Announce entry. Rattle a fence gate or make a non-threatening sound before walking into a yard.
• Maintain visual contact. Never startle an animal and always keep eyes locked on the dog.
• Assume dog poses risk. Avoid petting or feeding any animal on the assumption that any dog has the potential to bite.
• Block exits. Secure outwardswinging doors with a foot to prevent a pet from escaping.
Lumpkin
From page 1
your last, according to the obituary provided by one of the many unions with which she worked. By age 14, Lumpkin was working on a factory floor and organizing the workers.
“But that was not her beginning; it was her declaration, her statement of purpose, and one she would never walk back,” according to the Chicago Teachers Union to which she belonged.
She was a founding member of the Coalition of Labor Union Women in 1974. As a retiree, she worked with the Chicago Teachers Union Retiree Committee, the Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans, and Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees, where she focused on intergenerational work with youth activists, according to Doug May of Granite City’s SOAR chapter.
“Bea Lumpkin committed a lifetime of tireless struggle on behalf of workers and other oppressed people and for a better world for all,” May posted.
LONGTIME EDUCATOR
As a longtime educator, she worked with the Chicago Teachers Union Climate Justice Committee in its fight against General Iron. She marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Marquette Park, stood with the Black Panthers on the West Side, and joined Malcolm X as a teacher in the Chicago Public Schools.
“She demanded that her students see themselves in the history they were learning,” her obituary read.
‘A GIANT OF OUR MOVEMENT’
The Illinois AFL-CIO called Lumpkin “a giant of our movement,” and American Federation of Teachers’ national president Randi Weingarten said she was honored to have known her. “Her activism was inspiring, her memory a blessing,” she wrote.
Chicago Teachers Union called her a “matriarch of our movement” in a joint statement from CTU and Illinois Federation of Teachers President Stacy Davis Gates, CTU Vice President Jackson Potter, Recording Secretary Vicki L. Kurzydlo and Dr. Diane Castro.
“For more than a century, Bea dedicated herself to building a stronger Labor Movement and a more just world, standing alongside generations of organizers in struggles for workers’ rights, civil rights, public education, and environmental justice,” the union wrote. “From organizing on factory floors as a teenager to remaining active in CTU’s Climate Justice
Notices
From page 5
Committee in her later years, Bea led with conviction, courage, and an unwavering belief in collective action. We mourn her passing and extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends and comrades. May her memory continue to inspire us in the work ahead.”
‘UNWAVERING IN HER DEDICATION’
SOAR member Julie Stein re-
membered Lumpkin in her own post. “Throughout her life, Bea was unwavering in her dedication to advancing the rights of working families and striving to create a better world for all. Her legacy of compassion and activism will be dearly missed.”
CTU carries a scholarship in Lumpkin’s name. “It is a recognition that Bea invested in the next generation the way she invested in every campaign. She never met a struggle she was willing to leave to someone else, and accepted the
challenges faced by Organized Labor without reservation or condition… She was our sister and our friend in this movement, and while we are devastated at the loss of someone who meant so much to our work, we vow to carry her with us in everything we do.”
The Chicago Federation of Labor presented her a resolution in her honor on her 100th birthday.
At age 104, Lumpkin was grand marshal of the Chicago Labor Day Parade, and the American Federation of Teachers honored her with
a lifetime achievement Award two years ago.
“She accepted it the way she accepted everything: with grace and a vow to keep fighting, and without ever slowing down,” the CTU statement read.
As late as October 2025, she participated in Indivisible Chicago’s No Kings protest at age 107, speaking before a huge crowd. “It’s a long fight, but it’s the only way to go. And we are winning. It’s nice to be on the winning side!” she told the crowd.
St. Louis Newspaper Guild (United Media Guild) Local 36047’s Ronald Scott
Ronald Scott, age 76, of St. Charles, Mo., was baptized into the hope of Christ’s Resurrection on May 11, 2026.
Born on May 16, 1949, in St. Louis, he was the beloved husband of Joan (Barberis) Scott, his bride of 53 years; cherished brother of Roger Scott (Barbara), of Olivette, Mo., Ray Scott and Randy Scott, both of Overland, Mo.; Marcia Bax, of Maryland Heights, Mo.; Marti Gore, of St. Charles, Mo.; Margie Ess (Kevin), of St. Charles, Mo.; and Mary Killmade (Tom), of Labadie, Mo.; and many nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, the late Robert L. and Marcella (Betz) Scott and his brothers Robert Scott and Richard Scott.
Brother Scott was a 1967 graduate of Ritenour High School in Overland, Mo., and a 1971 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Ron was a devoted advertising man, having spent over 32 years with the Washington Missourian in Washington, Mo., the St. Louis Globe-Democrat and the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch
After retirement, he and Joan explored the country in their RV, which they affectionately named “Philly.” Ron enjoyed spending time with Joan, playing golf, winning board games and telling grand (and sometimes accurate) stories. His laugh was infectious, and he kept his sense of humor even when ailments took his mobility and sight.
During this season of darkness, he enjoyed talking with family, friends and visitors and listening to music (mostly The Beatles), St. Louis Cardinal’s ball games, and the birds while enjoying the warmth of the sunshine. Ron was never shy about telling family and friends how much he loved them and will be remembered for his generous hugs.
Mass of the resurrection was celebrated on May 19, followed by Interment in Calvary Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at www.stjude.org.
Laborers Local 110’s Paul Thomas Freeman Jr.
Paul Thomas Freeman Jr., 68, of Lonedell, Mo., departed this life in St. Louis on May 28, 2026. Paul was born in Pacific, Mo., on Sept. 13, 1957, the son of Paul Thomas Freeman Sr. and Rosemary Catherine Freeman (nee Dailey). He was united in marriage to Sharon Ann Hillen on Sept. 16, 1995.
of St. Clare Catholic Church in St. Clair, Mo. He was a fourth-degree knight of the Knights of Columbus Council 4667 of St. Clair, Mo.
During his working career, he was a laborer with Laborers Local 110, St. Louis, Mo., where he retired after 35 years of service.
Brother Freeman is survived by his wife, Sharon Freeman, of Lonedell; two step-sons, Donald J. (Lillie) Copeland, of Richwoods, Mo. and Michael P. Copeland and significant other, Nikki Jackson, of Union, Mo.; three brothers-in-law, Larry (Kris) Hillen, of St. Louis, Tom Hillen of Brentwood, Mo. and Bob (Marily) Hillen and wife, of Alton, Ill.; two sisters-in-law, Mary Bowers of St. Louis, and Dee (Jim) Richardson, of O’Fallon, Mo.; five grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, great and great-greatnieces and nephews, cousins and many friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Paul and Rosemary Freeman; brother, Joseph Freeman; and sister, Suzanne Hollis.
Brother Freeman was a Christian of the Catholic faith and member
Brother Freeman enjoyed spending time at his property at Table Rock Lake and especially loved being out on his boat. He also enjoyed working with his tractor.
He was a loving and caring person that was very outgoing and would help anyone and everyone he could. He cherished the time he spent with family and especially his grandchildren. The love they shared and many precious memories they created together will be held dear in their hearts forever.
A kind and loving husband, stepfather, grandfather, uncle, great and great-great-uncle, cousin and treasured friend, he will be sadly missed and lovingly remembered by all who knew and loved him.
A funeral mass was held June 3 at St. Clare Catholic Church in St. Clair, Mo. A private committal will take place at a later date.
Mailers Local 3’s Louis Bertani
Louis Ambrose Bertani, 86, passed away peacefully in his home on May 22, 2026.
Born in St. Louis, Lou was the son of Ambrose and Mary Bertani (nee Gioia). He was also the brother of Frank Bertani and Rosemary Spitler (nee Bertani), all of whom preceded him in death.
Brother Bertani is survived by his former wife, Eileen Bertani (nee Owens); children, John, Ann Marie and Michael (Christine); grandchildren, Madeline (William), Elyse (Taha), Christopher (Megan), Megan Newsham and Benjamin White; great-grandchildren, Melody and Daniel; and his partner of 31 years, Vicky Gusman. Lou was a beloved uncle, cousin, and friend to many.
A graduate of McBride High School, class of 1957, he began working in the Job Room at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. After serving as a medic in the U.S. Army, he returned to the Post-Dispatch and retired from there as a mailer after 43 years.
As an athlete and lifelong Cardinal fan, naturally his passion was playing and following sports. But this was especially true for baseball. In 1995, he drove in the winning runs
to take the team gold medal in the Senior Olympics. He was inducted into the Amateur Baseball H.O.F. (2004), Amateur Softball H.O.F. (2008) and the McBride High School Hall of Fame (2010). After his storied baseball career, Brother Bertani turned his attention to coaching. For decades he coached baseball, soccer and basketball at Our Lady of Sorrows and Arts Boys Club. His teams won far too many championships and accolades to list. Lou’s teaching of fundamentals and making even practices fun, led many of his former players to go into coaching themselves with the same approach.
Brother Bertani had a gift for making people smile and laugh. He was well known for his great sense of humor and always having a joke at the ready. This was especially true with his family and friends, whom he cherished and loved deeply. He frequently would share how blessed he felt with the people that God had placed in his family and life. When really, WE were the ones blessed for having Lou in ours.
Funeral services were held June 1 with interment in Resurrection Cemetery.
Laborers Local 110’s Alvin H. Griffith
Alvin H Griffith, age 82, of Nixa, Mo., passed away on June 6, 2026, at home in Nixa.
Brother Griffith was born on Nov. 20, 1943, to Amos Griffith and Evelynn Franklin in Sullivan, Mo. He was raised in Sullivan and graduated from Sullivan High School. He was united in marriage to Marianne Taylor on April 26, 1969, in Sullivan. They were married for 17 years before her untimely passing on March 24, 1986.
Brother Griffith proudly served in the United States Army as an Army Ranger and sharpshooter and was a veteran of a foreign war. He served for three years and was honorably discharged on Aug. 2, 1970. Alvin and Marianne were blessed with one child, a son, Gerald Dean Griffith. Marianne brought a daughter into her marriage, Suzie Taylor.
Alvin was a construction worker for over 40 years and a member of Laborers Local 110 for 59 years
until his death. He had many hobbies and interests including the St. Louis Cardinals, watching wrestling (especially Dick the Bruiser), fishing, camping and country music. His favorite pastime was sitting on the back porch listening to country music and watching his grandchildren play.
Brother Griffith was preceded in death by his wife, Marianne; mother, Evelyn; father, Amos; brothers, Melvin, Earl, Billy, Brian and Ronny Griffith; and a nephew, Franky Lewis. He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Dean and Christy Griffith; seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren; sister, Linda Lewis and her husband, Frank; sister, Judy Bell; brother, Dale Griffith and his wife, Paula; and several nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.
A visitation and funeral were held on June 12 at Reedville Baptist Church in Sullivan at Reedville Cemetery.
Laborers Local 110’s
Nathan William Raban
Nathan William Raban, 49, of Freeburg, Ill., passed away on May 27, 2026. He was preceded in death by his grandparents Charles and Julia Raban, and Raymond and Marie Procasky; and his brother Charles “Chuck” Raban. He is survived by his significant other Kisha Raban; his children, Aubrey and Little Nathan Raban;
his parents, Marilyn and Gerry; and his siblings, Gerry Raban Jr. (Lara), Tina Hicks (Betram) and Julia Sheridan (Shawn). He is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews, extended family, friends and coworkers.
A celebration of life will be held from 3-6 p.m. on June 27 at Catholic War Vets, 3535 IL-159, Freeburg, Ill. 62243.
Scott Gerard Hutson, 60, of Festus, Mo., passed away June 4, 2026 in Festus. He was born on Feb. 20, 1966 in St. Louis, the son of Richard and Janet J. (nee Roth) Hutson, of Festus.
In addition to his parents, he is also survived by his loving wife of 34 years, Angela K. (nee Newman) Hutson; son Payton Hutson, of Festus; sisters Dena (Raymond) Skiera, of Festus, Sheryl (Rick) Bayers, of Festus, and Shelly (Ronald) Stillman, of Festus; mother- and father-in-law John and Rose (nee Fly) Newman, of Exeter, Mo.; and numerous nieces, nephews, and great-nieces and great-nephews. He was preceded in death by grandparents Raymond and Viola (nee Grass) Roth, of Ste. Genevieve, Mo.; and close friend Donald “Stringer” Straughn, of Ste. Genevieve.
Brother Hutson attended the former Sacred Heart Grade School, was a 1984 graduate of St. Pius X High School, member of Our Lady Church in Festus, and Knights of Columbus Council #1230. He was a proud member of Glaziers Local 513 for nearly 40 years. He loved music (especially Merle Haggard, Bob Seger and The Rolling Stones), listening to his son play guitar, the outdoors and going to the YMCA.
A visitation was held on June 11 at Vinyard Funeral Home in Festus. A funeral mass was held on June 12 at Sacred Heart Church in Crystal City, Mo., officiated by Fr. Zac Povis, followed by interment at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Crystal City. Memorials in his memory are preferred to the Neonatal Intensive Care Units of either St. Louis Children’s Hospital or Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital.
UNION MEMBERS WE RECENTLY LOST
The Labor Movement mourns the loss of the following members of our union locals:
IBEW LOCAL 1
• Jimmy D. Young, journeyman wireman, retired – 55-year member – passed away June 2, 2026.
• Marc. F. Childers, journeyman wireman, retired – 49-year member – passed away May 29, 2026.
• Jimmie. R. Bean, commercial maintenance, retired – 59-year member – passed away May 16, 2026.
• Kenneth L. Manion, journeyman wireman, retired – 65-year member – passed away May 7, 2026.
• Ronald A. Schultz, plant maintenance, retired – 58-year member – passed away Oct. 20, 2025.
SHEET METAL WORKERS LOCAL 36
• Francis “Frank” Meyer, 57-year member, passed away May 16, 2026.
HUTSON
FREEMAN
GRIFFITH
BERTANI
SCOTT
From page 1 job,” he said. “This agreement proves that when workers stand together, we can win improvements that make a real difference.”
SEIU Local 1 Vice President and Missouri Director Chris Rak said the victory belongs to the officers who stood together, spoke up and refused to give up.
“Now, with their first union contract, Lambert security officers have a foundation for higher standards, stronger job protections and greater respect,” Rak said.
‘IMPROVEMENTS IN AIRPORT OPERATIONS’
St. Louis First Ward Alderwoman Anne Schweitzer congratulated the security officers for achieving their first contract as a union.
“Workers who organize and fight for what they deserve make the market safer for workers everywhere,” Schweitzer said. “I am grateful for the time and effort they put into this huge achievement and to SEIU for their support and advocacy. I believe this contract will
lead to improvements in airport operations, and I can’t wait until the next time my family and I fly, so I can congratulate these essential security officers in person.”
SEIU Local 1 unites 50,000 workers throughout the Midwest, including janitors, security officers, airport workers, higher education faculty, food service workers and others. Local 1 is committed to improving the lives of its members and all working people by winning real economic justice and standing at the forefront of the fight for immigrant, racial and environmental justice.
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940 California Ave. Collinsville, IL 62234 618-345-6646 2501 59th Street St. Louis, MO 63110 314-647-3327
ST. LOUIS FIRE FIGHTERS ASSOCIATION Local 73
Dennis Murray - President Cory Hogan - Executive Vice President John Duffy - Business Manager Andrew Shoop - Secretary / Treasurer
IAFF District 2 Vice President Mark Woolbright (Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska)
David Rodriguez, Secretary-Treasurer Dave Reinecke Financial Officer 4271 Delor St. St. Louis, MO 63116
Ph. 314/352-8340 Dan Clark
Calendar of Events
JULY
July 10-12 – IBEW Local 1 RENEW Annual Float
Trip will be held at Parks Bluff Campground at 199 Elm Street in Lesterville, Mo. All members of IBEW Local 1 and their families are invited to come out for a great day of fun, relaxation and fellowship on the river. The group will be floating on July 11. To rent rafts, kayaks, canoes or tubes, call the campground at 573-637-2290. For campground reservations, call Donnie at 636-675-0331.
July 11 – IAM District 9
Sporting Clay Shoot will take place at Nilo Farms, 15025 State Highway 111 in Brighton, Ill. Registration runs from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Shooting starts at 10 a.m. Entry fee is $150 per participant or $700 for a team of five. All proceeds benefit Guide Dogs of America/Tender Loving Canines. Hotel accommodations can be booked at the Hampton Inn located at 1904 Homer M Adams Parkway, Alton, Ill. 62002. To reserve a room, call the hotel directly by at 618-4338999, press option 4 and mention Guide Dogs of America. The event will include raffles, a 50/50 drawing, and trophies awarded in first, second and third place for overall team score and individual score. For more information, contact Darren Bierman at 618-259-7011 ext. 3 or email dbierman@district9.org ,
or Neil Queathem at 314-739-6200 ext. 242 or email nqueathem@ district9.org
July 16 – Missouri Women in Trades (MOWIT) Meetup for tradeswomen and women interested in joining the building trades, 4 to 6 p.m. at the AGC Training Center, 6301 Knox Industrial Ave. in St. Louis. RSVPs are required and food will be provided. Register at mowit.org or call 636926-6948.
July 16 – St. Louis Faith Labor Alliance Breakfast, hosted by Missouri Jobs with Justice (MOJWJ), will be held at the Painters District Council 58 union hall at 2501 59th St. in St. Louis from 7:30 to 9 a.m. To register, visit mojwj.org/action/join-a-st-louis-faith-labor-alliance-breakfast
July 17 – Bingo Night, sponsored by Laborers Local 660, will be held at the Local 660 union hall at 1320 S. Callahan Road in Wentzville, Mo. The cost is $20 per person or $160 for a table of eight. All proceeds will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. This is a cash only event. Attendees may bring in food and drinks and snacks, soda and water are available for purchase. For tickets or more information, contact Kim Vitale at 636-634-1885 or at kim. vitale@nhccare.com
AUGUST
Aug. 1 – Inaugural Ryan
Dintleman Classic Barbecue Competition, hosted by IBEW Local 1, will begin at 9 a.m. at Local 1 at 5850 Elizabeth Ave. to honor Dintleman, a Local 1 electrician. All unions are welcome to participate. The cost to enter the competition is $250 per team. Overall winner brackets are first place, $2,000; second place, $1,500; third place, $600 fourth place, $400; and fifth place, free entry next year. The top 10 meat categories will win between $100 and $500. The event will include food trucks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, a DJ, raffles, prizes and fun and games for the kids. Tickets are $10 per person or $5 for children five to 10. Children under five are free. Sponsorships ranging from $500 to $15,000 are also available. To register your team or to buy tickets, visit https://shorturl.at/jyavi
Aug. 15 – Coats for Kids Charity Bingo Night, hosted by the Electrical Workers Minority Council, will be held at the IBEW Local 1 union hall at 5850 Elizabeth Ave. Doors open at 5 p.m. and games begin at 6 p.m. There will be 10 themed rounds. Extra cards and hot word bingo cards are $5 each. Sponsorships are also available. Admission is $30 per person or $200 for a table of eight. For more information, contact
Shondra Adams at 314-960-6613 or at greaterstlewmc@gmail.com
Aug. 20 – Missouri Women in Trades (MOWIT) Meetup for tradeswomen and women interested in joining the building trades, 4 to 6 p.m. at the AGC Training Center, 6301 Knox Industrial Ave. in St. Louis. RSVPs are required and food will be provided. Register at mowit.org or call 636926-6948.
Aug. 20 – St. Louis Faith Labor Alliance Breakfast, hosted by Missouri Jobs with Justice (MOJWJ), will be held at the Painters District Council 58 union hall at 2501 59th St. in St. Louis from 7:30 to 9 a.m. To register, visit mojwj.org/action/join-a-st-louis-faith-laboralliance-breakfast
Aug. 22 – Union Cycle & Hotrod Night, hosted by Chariots of Fire Customs, will be held from 7 to 11 p.m. at American Legion Post 226 at 111 American Legion Drive in Elsberry, Mo. The event will benefit Camp Hope, which is an all-expenses-paid retreat dedicated to providing recreational, therapeutic, and bonding experiences for veterans wounded in the War on Terror. Entry to the event is a donation of personal care items, like shampoo, body wash and cleaning supplies The first 100 attendees with a donation will receive a commemorative poker chip, and all attendees with a donation will receive 20 percent off any purchase at Chariots of Fire. For more information, call 636-462-1648.
SEPTEMBER
Sept. 17 – Missouri Women in Trades (MOWIT) Meetup for tradeswomen and women interested in joining the building trades, 4 to 6 p.m. at the AGC Training Center, 6301 Knox Industrial Ave. in St. Louis. RSVPs are required and food will be provided. Register at mowit.org or call 636-926-6948.
Sept. 17 – St. Louis Faith Labor Alliance Breakfast, hosted by Missouri Jobs with Justice (MOJWJ), will be held at the Painters District Council 58 union hall at 2501 59th St. in St. Louis from 7:30 to 9 a.m. To register, visit mojwj. org/action/join-a-st-louis-faithlabor-alliance-breakfast
Sept. 26 – Comedy Night, sponsored by the Jefferson County Main Event Charitable Organization, will be held at the Meramec Elks Lodge at 1515 Miller Road in Imperial. Doors open for cocktails at 6 p.m., dinner will be served at 7 p.m. and the show begins at 8 p.m. Featured comedians are from the STL Comedy Studio and include Tyler the Comic, Josh Reynolds, Matt Wayman, Ebony Starr and Marlon Mac. Tickets, which include dinner and drinks, are $75 a person or $600 for a table of eight. Sponsorships are also available. All proceeds support Jefferson County charities. For tickets, visit https://shorturl.at/ CLlUz. For more information, call 314-608-4828.
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Have something for the Calendar? Send it to Sheri Gassaway at Labor Tribune, 301 S. Ewing Ave., St. Louis, MO 63101 or email sheri@labortribune.com
Unions hit money bill’s dismantling of Labor, education programs
By MARK GRUENBERG PAI Staff Writer
Washington (PAI) — The nation’s two big teachers unions, and U.S. House Democrats, swung hard, but unsuccessfully at a pending money bill’s continued dismantling of the federal Education Department. And pro-worker programs took a big hit, too. But the unions and the Democrats were unable to overcome the radical right, MAGA, and GOP President Donald Trump, all of whom have made the Education Department a target of their ideological culture war.
The latest battles occurred in the GOP-run House Appropriations Committee at its June 9 work session on how many federal dollars the Departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services will get, and where they will (or won’t) go, in the fiscal year 2027, which starts Oct. 1.
Committee Democrats went 0-for-17 in trying to restore funds the GOP majority cut. Democrats tried to restore federal Medicaid funding for reproductive rights and for Planned Parenthood and lost.
WORKERS’ PROGRAMS, NLRB
Workers’ programs and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) also got cut. Slashes included:
• A one-third cut ($99 million) to the NLRB, which pleases anti-worker corporate forces, who ally with MAGA rightists. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), a Painters member, tried to restore that money putting the board back at $294 million, which it has during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. In the closest vote of the day, he lost 28-30. Trump proposed a $9 million NLRB cut, to $285 million.
The $200 million would be the NLRB’s lowest allocation in more than a decade and force layoffs and slowdowns in judgements of workerboss disputes and union elections.
• OSHA money was cut by $52 million, to $582 million. And the GOP inserted a ban on OSHA writing a rule to prevent workers from sickening and dying due to excessive heat exposure. Rep. Norma Torres, (D-Calif.), tried to reverse that, and lost, 26-33.
OSHA’s National Enforcement Program, targeting the worst industries for “proactive enforcement” against heat exposure, lapsed in April and the Labor Department
didn’t renew it, said Jessica Martinez, co-Executive Director of the labor-backed National Council on Occupational Safety and Health. That left it up to the agency to write a permanent rule limiting and banning exposure. The ruling Republicans want to ensure it can’t.
“We already know what works,” Martinez said when the prior enforcement lapsed. “Water. Shade. Rest. Acclimatization. Training. These are simple, evidence-based steps.
“But without a standard, they are not guaranteed. They are not enforceable. When OSHA steps back, workers are left exposed to preventable harm.”
• The Wage and Hour Division, which enforces minimum wage and overtime pay laws, was cut by $25 million (nine percent) as Trump proposed, to $235 million.
• Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Fla.), tried to restore all $101 million Trump cut from the small Labor Department agency that rides herd on firms getting federal contracts to ensure they obey civil rights laws. By an executive order, Trump eliminated that program. Wasserman-Schultz lost her bid to restore it, 28-34.
EDUCATION
But the ruling Republicans reserved particular venom for the Education Department, its workers, its programs and the constituency it serves: Public school students, a majority of them students of color, and their teachers, a majority of them union members.
• Trump plans to continue dismantling the department by transferring key programs it runs elsewhere. Its student loan programs would go to the Small Business Administration, for example. Its office that now provides $15 billion for special education teachers for students with disabilities would go to the Health and Human Services Department.
And its Office of Civil Rights would be dumped into a Trump Justice Department whose Civil Rights Division now makes “discrimination” against white conservative “Christians” its top priority.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, (D-Conn.), the panel’s top Democrat, offered an amendment mandating no money could be used for program transfers to dismantle the department. She lost, 26-33 on a party-line vote.
On the other hand, committee chair Rep. Tom Cole, (R-Okla.),
crowed about a nationwide charter school program increase, from $25 million this fiscal year to $60 million in the year starting Oct. 1.
‘DAGGER TO THE HEART’ Teachers/AFT President Randi Weingarten called the panel’s decisions “a dagger to the heart of what the Department of Education was always supposed to do: Protect the most vulnerable.
“The administration’s goal may be ideological and political, but this reckless decision will have dire, realworld consequences,” said Weingarten, a New York City civics teacher who also holds a law degree.
“Students with disabilities who require individual, tailored attention will see their futures bound up in a department run by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—the same man who believes vaccines cause autism.
“And those children whose civil rights are violated — by antisemitism or Islamophobia, or simply for having special needs and not receiving an accommodation — will now be handled by an unqualified, underresourced department (Justice) focused on prosecuting President Trump’s political enemies.” In addition to the print edition, the Labor Tribune is available online at labortribune.com
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