9-10-26 LT DIGITAL EDITION

VOLUME 90 No. 7 ® ★

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Thursday, September 10, 2026

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What’s Inside

90

YEARS

Shuler: Workers ‘sick and tired’ of both parties, but trust unions Page 3

Missouri Supreme Court delivers wins for working families in initiative petition, redistricting cases Both questions will be on the Nov. 3 ballot

By TIM ROWDEN Editor-in-Chief And SHERI GASSAWAY Missouri Correspondent

Madison County Federation of Labor’s Wood River Labor parade a big success Page 4

The Missouri Supreme Court last week ruled in favor of working families by ordering two measures to appear on the Nov. 3 ballot: Amendment 6, which makes it harder for lawmakers to overturn citizen-approved changes to state law, and Prop A, which will allow voters to have a say on the state’s gerrymandered Congressional map.

Last month, Republican Secretary

THE MISSOURI SUPREME COURT ruled in favor of working families last week, ordering Amendment 6, which makes it harder for lawmakers to overturn citizenapproved changes to state law, and Prop A, which will allow voters to have a say on the state’s gerrymandered Congressional map to appear on the Nov. 3 ballot.

– Pool/KSHB-TV photo

of State Denny Hoskins refused to certify signatures for the citizen ballot initiatives, calling them unconstitutional. Critics sued, and both cases were referred to Cole County

Judge Daniel Green, who sided with Hoskins. On appeal, the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of letting voters decide on both referendums.

“In two unanimous decisions Missouri workers came out on top,” said Missouri AFL-CIO President Jake Hummel. “We’ve got the ability to take the fight to them to stop the politicians from overturning our will at the ballot box. I’d like to thank all the union members who collected signatures to get these two measures to the finish line.”

STRENGTHENING THE INITIAVE PETITION PROCESS The group behind Amendment 6, Respect Missouri Voters, and union members collected 367,000 signatures to put the question before voters.

See SUPREME COURT page 9

Missouri AFL-CIO, unions rallied in support of Amendment 6 ahead of Supreme Court decision

By SHERI GASSAWAY Missouri Correspondent

St. Louis Labor Council treats delegates to a night at the ballpark Page 7

IBEW Local 1 banners new O’Fallon law enforcement building Page 8

St. Louis – Just hours before the Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments to determine the fate of Amendment 6 on the November ballot, the Missouri AFL-CIO and its unions rallied in support of the referendum that would strengthen the citizen initiative petition process by making it harder for legislators to overturn the will of the people.

The Sept. 1 rally, which included about 150 members from the state’s union locals, took place at SMART Sheet Metal Workers Local 36 union hall shortly after the second day of

See AMENDMENT 6 page 11

UNION MEMBERS RALLIED in support of Amendment 6 Sept. 1 at SMART Sheet Metal Workers Local 36 ahead of the Missouri Supreme Court hearing on whether the measure would appear on the November ballot.

– Labor Tribune photo

Missouri AFL-CIO hopes to flip two senate seats blue in November In an effort to flip two Senate seats from red to blue in November, the Missouri AFL-CIO is supporting two current state representatives in their bids for the upper chamber: Democratic Reps. Keri Ingle and Betsy Fogle.

Both Ingle and Fogle were guest speakers at the Missouri AFL-CIO’s 33rd Biennial Convention at the Marriott Grand Hotel at 800 Washington Ave. in St. Louis last week. The convention ran Aug. 31 to Sept. 2.

‘TWO EXCELLENT CANDIDATES’ Outdoor Guide Pages 12-15

the Missouri AFL-CIO’s 33rd Biennial Convention in St. Louis.

Last month, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins refused to certify 367,000 signatures to put the question before voters, calling it unconstitutional because he said it contained multiple subjects. Critics sued. Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green agreed with Hoskins.

The Missouri Supreme Court began hearing arguments in the case Sept. 2 and issued its unanimous decision the following day to let the voters decide. The court had to rule on the decision by Tuesday,

“Senate seats in Missouri are notoriously difficult to change hands,” said Missouri AFL-CIO President

Periodicals Publication

Jake Hummel. “But we happen to have two opportunities this cycle, which almost never happens. We have two excellent candidates. Keri Ingle and Betsy Fogle are stalwart supporters of us and always reach out to us, and we need both of their voices in the Missouri Senate.”

If both seats are won by Democrats, the Senate would be without a Republican supermajority for the first time in 14 years — a 2212 party line split would require help from Democrats to override vetoes, according to the Missouri Independent.

KERI INGLE Ingle, of Lee’s Summit, is run-

Follow Us labortribune.com facebook.com/labortribune linkedin.com/company/st-louissouthern-illinois-labor-tribune News: (314) 535-9660

MISSOURI STATE REP. KERI INGLE, who is running for the Senate District 8 seat in southwestern Jackson County, speaks at the Missouri AFL-CIO’s 33rd Biennial Convention on the importance of flipping two senate seats to blue in the November election for working families.

– Labor Tribune photo

ning for the Senate District 8 seat, which represents southeastern Jackson County, including Lee’s Summit, Blue Springs and parts of the Kansas City metropolitan area. Current District 8 Sen. Mike Cierpiot is term-limited. Ingle will face District 8 Senate candidate Rep. Jon Patterson, who is currently the Missouri Speaker of the House.

Ingle was elected to her state representative seat in 2018. She represents District 35, which includes Lee’s Summit, Kansas City and Raytown. Rep. Ingle earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Central Oklahoma and a master’s degree See SENATE SEATS page 11

Members of the following unions and councils see page 5 for changes in your notices ILLINOIS

• Southwestern Illinois Central Labor Council

MISSOURI

• St. Louis Labor Council

2 • LABOR TRIBUNE • Thursday, September 10, 2026

How workers struggle in Don’t wait for Trump’s Postal America’s dead-end economy Service to block your rights.

Millions find themselves stuck in Make voting plans now part-time jobs, unable to get ahead

By ROXANNE D. BROWN International President United Steelworkers

BROWN

It’s common to see members of the United Steelworkers (USW) retire after dedicating their entire working lives to a single

mill or plant.

They deliver decades of skill and experience to an employer. In return, they receive the security of a USW contract, including steady pay, quality health care, fair treatment and strong retirement plans that carry them through their golden years.

This is how a healthy system functions — one generation driving prosperity and empowering the next to continue the fight.

It’s the American dream.

But today, the notion of the American dream is coming apart at the seams. Tens of millions of workers find only a dead-end economy that sells them short and leaves them grasping.

These workers — from all ages, backgrounds, and parts of the country — simply cannot find career-long, family- and community-sustaining jobs amid Trump administration policies that choke investment and kill growth.

MULTIPLE PART-TIME JOBS Instead, their backs are against the wall, and these workers have little choice but to juggle multiple part-time jobs that provide neither the opportunities they crave nor the wages, benefits, and security their families require. Unable to get the jobs they want, they take whatever they can get and try to make do.

About 54 million Americans now draw incomes from multiple sources, up from 41 million in 2024, according to a Cash App study. Researchers found the U.S. worker’s gold standard — a “steady, predictable paycheck” — increasingly giving way to income arriving in dribs and drabs at “variable times.”

HANGING ON This isn’t living. It’s no longer the dream.

It’s hanging on — and a world away from the stability that hundreds of thousands of USW members still get in the contracts they negotiate.

One woman threw the scope of the crisis into sharp relief when she went public with her story earlier this year, writing that she and her husband have 10 jobs between the two of them but still struggle to raise five kids and pay the bills. “The sobering realization that even 10 jobs isn’t enough is very defeating,” she wrote. “I’m still working on a solution.”

How much more can she and her hus-

band do?

They’re holding up their end. But instead of supporting them, the government all but ignores so-called “income stackers” like these.

FUNCTIONALLY UNEMPLOYED The nation’s official unemployment rate — 4.1 percent in July — measures only the number of Americans 16 and older who are unemployed and looking for work.

It fails to count the skyrocketing number of people who work part-time against their will and barely scrape by. As a result, the unemployment rate offers a gerrymandered view of the economy, making conditions look healthier than people know them to be.

After adding up all of those out of work and all of those working less than they want, analyst Gene Ludwig concluded that nearly 25 percent of Americans are “functionally unemployed.”

In other words, we sidelined a huge swath of the workforce, leaving no suitable outlet for their skills, no way to parlay those skills into adequate income, and no path forward.

Little wonder that members of this burgeoning underclass describe themselves as feeling “defeated,” “stuck,” and “sick of trying.” They characterize the job market as “truly abysmal,” “very bleak,” and a “mental war.”

By ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH EDITORIAL BOARD It’s something of a mystery how Missouri ended up on a list of nine states being newly targeted by the Trump administration’s election-fraud witch-hunters. The other eight on the list are all either solidly blue or are swing states; Missouri alone is neither. The administration isn’t explaining it.

Of less mystery and more urgency is the administration’s broader attack on voting by mail. It’s a frontal assault on electoral democracy nationally that’s clearly intended to disenfranchise those most likely to vote for Democratic candidates in the upcoming congressional midterms.

Voters aren’t helpless. In Missouri as everywhere else, those eyeing the Nov. 3 election should begin planning, now, to vote in person if possible, as early as possible.

BASELESS CLAIMS

Most Americans by now are used to Trump’s constant, baseless claims that America’s elections are “rigged.” It’s a dangerous thing to get used to.

This must be repeated constantly to prevent his Big Lie from metasDRAGS US ALL DOWN tasizing: There is no evidence The current administra— none, zero, nada — of tion owns this mess. mass voter fraud in modern The on-again, off-again elections involving undocutrade policies inject uncermented immigrants (or anytainty into the economy, one else). A decade’s worth of killing investment and jobs.

Trump’s desperate attempts Hundreds of thousands to twist that reality for his of federal workers, many with unique skill sets, were Views from Near and Far own self-serving purposes hasn’t moved it a millimeter. fired and forced into lengthy Trump’s efforts to sabotage our elections searches for new careers. Next-generation have until now been mostly limited to unsupmanufacturing grants that promised to creported rhetorical bluster and fruitless legal ate a new era of prosperity for workers, key action. But he has crossed an ominous new line industries, and communities were stripped with his March executive order directing the away or rolled back.

U.S. Postal Service to refrain from delivering All of this was compounded by attacks on any mail-in ballots for voters who aren’t on a Labor rights, aimed at preventing workers federally approved “citizenship list” putatively from joining unions and fighting for the pay, designed to weed out non-citizen voters. benefits, and working conditions that collective The order is unconstitutional on its face. bargaining provides.

America’s founding document puts states, not A dead-end economy drags all of us down. the federal government, squarely in charge of Employers skimp on benefits for part-time administering elections. workers, often denying them health care, Trump seeks to demolish that longstandpaid leave, and retirement plans. Without ing principle in order to confront a supposed these staples, workers often fall into poverty, scourge that, by all reliable metrics, virtually furthering the nation’s division into haves never happens. Even Trump’s own “Presidenand have-nots. tial Advisory Commission on Election IntegBy shoehorning people into any available rity,” which he appointed in 2017 specifically jobs, instead of the ones they want, the nation to dig up evidence to support his ego-driven also squanders the work ethic, ambition, and claim that he would have won the 2016 popuexpertise needed to move the country forward. lar vote if not for undocumented immigrant That’s a sure recipe for stagnation. And it’s an voting, came up with nothing before it was insult to the working people who want nothing quietly disbanded. more than to help build a better tomorrow.

Guest

Opinions

Not just for themselves but for their kids and their grandkids.

(This article was produced by the Independent Media Institute.)

THREATENS VOTING RIGHTS

But Trump’s order empowering the Postal

Service to run interference in state elections is more than just unconstitutional and unnecessary; it actively threatens the voting rights of potentially millions of Americans whose citizenship isn’t remotely in question.

That’s because the Postal Service’s system for confirming citizenship is being hurriedly slapped together in time for the midterms, creating what ProPublica reports is concern among Postal officials that the untested system will improperly block citizens from mail-in voting. One concern is that a scanning error on even one ballot amid a batch of tens of thousands of them could prevent all of them in that batch from being delivered.

Most Americans presumably would call that an unacceptable bug in the system.

Pardon us if we suspect that many in this administration, starting with its chief executive, would instead view it as a feature.

Federal courts have rightly moved to block Trump’s postal scheme. But the U.S. Supreme Court — with its usual bend-overbackward pliability for Trump’s authoritarian instincts — ruled last week that his order could go forward, for now. The ruling didn’t address the obvious illegality of the order, instead finding that, because the plan hasn’t yet been implemented, it’s too early for courts to intervene. Apparently we have to wait until potentially millions of Americans are disenfranchised before the courts are allowed to act.

As that all plays out, CNN reported this week that, separately, the administration has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to launch immigrant-focused voter-fraud probes in nine states, including Missouri. The other eight are the blue states of California, New York, Connecticut and Washington, and swing states Wisconsin, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Nevada.

AN OUTLIER? There is no clear explanation for why redstate Missouri ended up in what is otherwise an obvious exercise in targeting Democratic and swing states for electoral mischief by the administration. Perhaps they needed an outlier to counter that narrative.

Or maybe it’s as simple as the fact that Missouri’s top election official, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, has repeatedly shown himself to be such a Trumpian lapdog that they’re counting on getting unfettered access to the state’s data for whatever fishing expeditions they might want to undertake.

In any case, the course for Missourians and other Americans who want to ensure their votes are counted is clear: Vote in person if possible, and as early as possible.

With Congress AWOL as usual and the courts dithering, only voting can thwart this brazen threat to voting rights.

(Reprint, St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Labor working into the future This Labor Day, shit’s too expensive.

That’s what 94 percent of workers told us, in our new poll. Four out of five say: paychecks aren’t keeping up with the cost of living — groceries, rent, child care, gas.

This is happening, by the way, in a country where CEOs now make an average of 312 times what the median worker makes. CEOs got a 21 percent raise in one year—who else gets that?

Democrat, Republican, Independent— whatever your politics, this economy isn’t working for working people.

So how do we build a better one? The answer is growing the power workers have—joining together, building our numbers so we can

demand more. ers into unions over the next five years.

Last year in our State of the We’re going to deliver a Workers’ Unions, we said we’d put toFirst AI Agenda, making sure gether the single biggest year of technology works for working action in our history. We talked people, not just billionaires Opinions expressed are those about organizing everywhere, and corporations. We’re going of the individual – not their union. getting more young people into to keep fighting for good housSpeak Out our movement, bringing people ing, better pay, health care and together around unions and what we fight retirement—and bringing good union jobs for. A year later, we have more union work- to everyone. ers in this country than we’ve had in 16 But these things don’t just happen. years. Nearly half a million workers joined The Labor laws in our country are rigged a union last year—almost all of them under against workers trying to form a union, so the age of 40. it’s harder to organize. It’s harder to win on So this June, our unions voted to double AI when we have politicians — Republicans down and organize two million more work- and Democrats alike—who cash checks from

Your

Letters

Big Tech CEOs instead of doing their job and regulating them.

It’s harder to build worker power when the people in charge are working every day to undermine the movement that gives working people a voice.

That’s why these midterm elections matter. If we don’t right the ship in November, it gets *that much harder* to build an economy that works for all of us.

We’re 63 days from Election Day. Let’s make every single vote count.

LIZ SHULER President AFL-CIO (See related story on page 3)

LABOR TRIBUNE • Thursday, September 10, 2026 • 3

Shuler: Workers ‘sick and tired’ of both parties, but trust unions

By MARK GRUENBERG PAI Staff Writer Washington (PAI) — Saying “workers are sick and tired of both parties,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler declared they trust unions, though. So the federation has launched a massive effort through Election Day and beyond to validate that trust and convince workers to vote in record numbers and for proworker and pro-union candidates regardless of party.

But those hopefuls must prove they have or will stand strong for workers, despite political pressure and corporate cash, she warned.

Shuler dwelled on politics in her annual State of the Unions address on Sept. 1, six days before Labor Day and 63 days before the Nov. 3 midterm election. She reiterated the federation’s goal of garnering 16 million votes from union members and their families, up from 14 million in 2024.

And Shuler added the AFL-CIO would train and position 50,000 members in key states and congressional districts both during and after the election to ensure everyone’s right to vote and not be banned from the polls, and to have their votes counted and not thrown out.

PROTECTING THE VOTE That threat is real. Tyrannical GOP President Donald Trump has mused about stationing his troops — the ICE agents — at the polls, and it’s considered unsubtle intimidation of voters he hates: Women, workers, students, progressives, academics and people of color.

And his congressional allies and administration officials are imposing a variety of ways to depress turnout

AFL-CIO PRESIDENT Liz Shuler pulled no punches against Republicans or Democrats in her annual State of the Unions address.

– AFL-CIO screencap

by voters, including workers, whom they hate and fear.

Those methods run the gamut from ordering the Postal Service to refuse to mail election materials to voters in states which refuse Trump voter list turnover dictates, to banning vote by mail, to voter intimidation at the polls, to stacking local election boards with Trump faithful to skew the results.

As if all that wasn’t enough, the 50 biggest donors to congressional campaigns, with trillionaire Elon Musk in the lead, have dumped $1.6 billion into congressional races. Shuler said they’re trying to buy the election.

The massive turnout Shuler urged can overcome that cash.

“We can’t outspend them. We can’t compete with the billionaire TV ads.

But we don’t have to. Our answer is people talking to people. It’s the trust, the relationships that union workers have all over America. We are the antidote to billionaire money,” said Shuler.

famous 1963 March on Washington for jobs and justice, other union leaders were blunter about the Trump threat.

Newly retired AFSCME President Lee Saunders declared “Donald Trump is an authoritarian who is deliberately trying to destroy faith in American democracy.”

At the same Aug. 28 event, Government Employees President Everett Kelley said when Republicans and their allies “can’t win, they change the rules and rig the system.”

“Americans have to fight for democracy itself—because unlike some people a few blocks away, we actually believe in it,” concluded new AFSCME President Patrick Moran, gesturing towards the White House a mile away.

But even with all that effort in the next 63 days, Shuler also warned that defeating the oligarchs would be a long-haul struggle lasting beyond 2026.

THE TRUMP THREAT

Politics wasn’t the sole theme of Shuler’s speech. She reiterated the chasm between the rich and the rest

Just days earlier, at the 63rd commemoration of Martin Luther King’s

ECONOMY AND UNIONS

of us, by pointing out the average pay of a CEO rose 21 percent last year and is now 312 times the median pay of all U.S. workers. The median is the point where half the group is above and half below.

That’s without counting Musk’s record $158 billion in compensation from Tesla, SpaceX and his other companies. Including him raises the ratio from 312-1 to 5,387-1, the federation’s Paywatch study revealed last month.

Shuler also repeated the federation’s goal of enrolling two million more people into unions in the next five years. The goal may be eminently attainable: Union membership, not counting free riders whom unions represent, grew by half a million last year despite the concerted and deliberate destruction by Trump of contracts covering a million federal workers.

Shuler blasted the Republican record, especially on the economy — “This Labor Day, shit’s too expensive,” she said. “That’s what 94 percent of workers told us, in our new poll. Four out of five say: Paychecks aren’t keeping up with the cost of living — groceries, rent, childcare, gas.”

She also criticized Trump’s war

on Iran and his voter repression, but Shuler didn’t spare the Democrats.

That’s in line with statements from party progressives, including progressive unions, progressive groups, and individual unionists.

They all contend Democrats, especially congressional party leaders Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, haven’t stood up against tyrannical Trump strongly enough. That’s because “too many Democrats” are beholden to the same corporate interests who finance the GOP, said Shuler.

‘DELIVER FOR WORKING PEOPLE’ “Workers are sick and tired of both parties: Republicans who enable a White House that has made our life worse and more expensive at every turn. Who have rubber-stamped Trump’s needless wars, chaotic tariffs and attacks on our communities,” she stated.

“At the same time, we have too many Democrats who pay lip service to working people, say they understand us, and want our votes on Election Day — and then take office and cozy up to the same corporations See SHULER page 9

4 • LABOR TRIBUNE • Thursday, September 10, 2026

Madison County Federation of Labor’s Wood River Labor parade a big success

By ELIZABETH DONALD Illinois Correspondent PUBLISHED WEEKLY

The Madison County Federation of Labor’s Wood River Labor Parade kicked off a week of Labor Day activities in Madison and St. Clair counties Aug. 29, walking through Wood River, then moving to Gordon Moore Park for a free picnic and softball tournament.

Carpenters Local 664 has been making the rocking horses for the parades for as long as B. Dean Webb, president of the Greater Madison County Federation of Labor which hosts the annual event, can remember.

“The apprentices make them,” Webb said, and they were greatly appreciated by children such as 2-year-old Aspen Jones. She and her mother, Jamie Jones of Florissant, were gathering candy by the side of the road when the Carpenters came along and handed her a rocking horse.

Webb said there was a great turnout and participation in the parade

(EVERY THURSDAY) Under the auspices of the Greater St. Louis Labor Council and the Central Labor Councils in Southern Illinois and the Unions of the Greater St. Louis and Southern Illinois areas.

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was higher than usual. Groups from AFSCME, IBEW, Plumbers & Pipefitters, and many other unions walked alongside trucks and heavy equipment, wearing shirts and holding signs with pro-union slogans.

Afterward, members gathered at Gordon Moore Park, where volunteers grilled hot dogs and brats for the crowd as the softball teams warmed up for the tournament.

The grand marshal of the parade was Marsie Geldert-Murphey, who is running for the Illinois state Senate opposite Republican incumbent Erika Harriss. Geldert-Murphey stayed for the picnic afterward, greeting union members. She said it was a great honor to be in the parade – she is the first member of her family ever to serve as a parade grand marshal.

Also walking in the parade were Rosetta Brown, candidate for the state House; and Rachelle Bauerle, who is running for Madison County clerk.

Ed Finkelstein Publisher Emeritus edf@labortribune.com Sheri Gassaway Missouri Correspondent sheri@labortribune.com Elizabeth Donald Illinois Correspondent Correspondents Robert Kelly Linda Jarrett Jessie Chafin Bruce Darnell Dan Braun Marketing Director Lynn Alpert Production Manager/ Graphic Designer Kathy Crowe Graphic Designer

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LABOR TRIBUNE • Thursday, September 10, 2026 • 5 Lithuanian and Slovak miners are gunned down by the Lattimer Mine’s sheriff deputies — 19 dead, more than 50 wounded — during a peaceful march from Hazelton to Lattimer. Some 3,000 were marching for collective bargaining and civil liberty.

This Week In

Labor History SEPTEMBER 7 1916 – Federal employees win the right to receive Workers’ Compensation insurance coverage.

SEPTEMBER 8 1909 – Employers give in to the demands of thousands of Wobbliesled striking railroad car production workers in McKees Rocks, Pa., and agree to improved working conditions, 15 percent hike in wages and elimination of a “pool system” that gave foremen control over each worker’s pay.

1942 – Workers give up their Labor Day weekend holidays to keep the munitions factories working to aid in the war effort. Most Labor Day parades are canceled in respect for members of the Armed Services.

1997 – Some 2,600 Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) workers begin what is to be a successful six-day strike for higher pay and against a two-tier wage system.

1919 – More than a thousand Boston police officers strike after 19 union leaders are fired for organizing activities. Massachusetts Gov. Calvin Coolidge announced that none of the strikers would be rehired, mobilized the state police and recruited an entirely new police force from among unemployed veterans of the Great War (World War I).

1973 – United Auto Workers President Leonard Woodcock is named in Pres. Richard Nixon’s “Enemy’s List,” a White House compilation of Americans Nixon regarded as major political opponents. Another dozen union presidents were added later. The existence of the list was revealed during Senate Watergate Committee hearings.

SEPTEMBER 10

SEPTEMBER 9 1890 – In convention at Topeka, Kan., delegates create the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen of America. The men who repaired the nation’s rail cars were paid 10 or 15 cents an hour, working 12 hours a day, often seven days a week.

Miners are gunned down by Lattimer Mine’s sheriff deputies in Pennsylvania, 1897

1897 – In Pennsylvania, Polish,

Important Information From Your Union

Southwestern Illinois Central Labor Council

Third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Laborers’ Local 459 Hall, 100 N. 17th St., Belle­ville, Ill.

Greater Madison County Federation of Labor

Fourth Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Machinists Center, 161 N. Shamrock, East Alton.

Southwestern Illinois Building and Construction Trades Council

DELEGATES meet the third Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m., at Steamfitters Local 439 hall, 1220 Donald Bailey Drive, Caseyville, Ill. BOARD OF BUSINESS AGENTS meets the second Thursday of each month at 10 a.m. at IBEW Local 309 Hall.

Office Address: 2A Meadow Heights, Professional Park Collinsville, Ill. 62234.

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 the Sheet Metal Workers’ Hall, 2701 N. 89th Street, Casey­ville, Ill. 62232.

Southern counties: Meetings will be held at 6 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month at the training center, 13963 Route 37, Johnston City, Ill.

Steamfitters Local 439

Meets first Wednesday of each month, 7:30 p.m. in the Donald Bailey Building, 1220 Donald Bailey Dr., Caseyville, Ill. 62232-2061.

See NOTICES page 9

Mike Johnson begs God to rapture him before midterms

Suicide hijackers crashed planes into the World Trade Center, New York City, 2001

2001 – More than 3,000 people died when suicide hijackers crashed planes into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. Among the dead in New York were 634 union members, the majority of them New York City fire fighters and police on the scene when the towers fell.

SEPTEMBER 12

Notices

ILLINOIS CENTRAL BODIES

SEPTEMBER 11 1897 – Some 75,000 coal miners in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia end a 10-week strike after winning an eight-hour day, semimonthly pay, and the abolition of overpriced company-owned stores, where they had been forced to shop.

1918 – Eugene V. Debs, Labor leader and socialist, sentenced to 10 years for opposing World War I. While in jail Debs received one million votes Eugene V. Debs for president.

1932 – Jobless workers march on grocery stores and seize food in Toledo, Ohio.

1934 – National Guardsmen fire on “sullen and rebellious” strikers at the Woonsocket (Rhode Island) Rayon plant, killing one and injuring three others. A correspondent said the crowd of about 2,000 “went completely wild with rage.” Word spread, 6,000 more workers arrived at the scene, and the city was put under military rule. The governor declared that “there is a Communist uprising and not a textile strike” in the state.

Washington (Satire from The Borowitz Report) — Facing a Republican wipeout in November, on Tuesday House Speaker Mike Johnson begged God to “rapture him up” before the midterm elections.

Witnesses in the U.S. Capitol reportedly saw the Louisiana lawmaker on his knees in the House cloakroom, beseeching the Almighty to “put me out of my misery.”

“I don’t want to be in the minority,” he prayed, choking back tears. “I’m a Republican. We hate minorities.

“You’ve seen the polls, and O Lord, are we screwed,” he added.

“Please call me up to Heaven like you did to Lindsey Graham.”

According to onlookers, the normally taciturn deity thundered, “What makes you think that asshat’s in Heaven?” long been a focal point for working class protest and political expression.

SEPTEMBER 13

Explosion at the Hercules Powder Company, Kenvil, N.J., 1940

1940 – A total of 49 people are killed, 200 injured, in an explosion at the Hercules Powder Company plant in Kenvil, N.J. 1998 – New York City’s Union Square, the site of the first Labor Day in 1882, is officially named a national historic landmark. The square has

Hampton SHoe

Egyptian Building and Construction Trades Council

Second Wednesday, 10 a.m. (unless notified) at IBEW Local 702 at 106 N. Monroe St., West Frankfort, Ill.

LOCAL UNIONS IBEW Local 309

Regular union meetings are held on first Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at Local Union Hall, 2000 Mall Street, Route 157, Collinsville, Ill. Executive Board — Executive board meetings are held at 5:30 p.m. on Thurs­day preceding each regular union meet­ ing at the IBEW Local 309 Hall, 2000A Mall St., Collins­ville.

Iron Workers 392

Meets the last Friday of the month at 7 p.m. at 2995 King­ shighway, East St. Louis.

Operating Engineers 520

Meetings are held at 7 p.m. on the second Friday of the month at the IUOE Local 520 Hall, 520 Engineer Rd., Granite City, IL 62040.

Operators Local 399

Third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at 24 East Fer­­­gu­ son, Wood River, Ill.

Painters District Council 58 Plumbers & Gasfitters Local 360

Union meetings are held at 7 p.m. on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at the Knights of Columbus Council 1712, One Columbus Plaza, Collinsville, IL 62234.

Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 101

Union Meetings will be held on the 4th Wednesday of the month except December, which will be held on the 3rd Wednesday. The meetings will be held at the Local 101 Hall located at 8 Premier Drive in Belleville, IL 62220 at 7:30 p.m.

1926 – The Post Office Department orders 25,000 railway mail clerks to shoot to kill any bandits attempting to rob the mail.

1971 – Eleven AFSCME-represented prison employees, 33 inmates die in four days of rioting at New York State’s Attica Prison and the retaking of the prison. The riot caused the nation to take a closer look at prison conditions, for inmates and their guards alike.

(Compiled by David Prosten, founder Union Communication Services)

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6 • LABOR TRIBUNE • Thursday, September 10, 2026

Union members pack the house at Henry Miller Museum for Missouri AFL-CIO welcome reception St. Louis – Union members from across the Missouri packed the house at IBEW Local 1’s Henry Miller Museum Aug. 31 for the start of the Missouri AFL-CIO’s 33rd Biennial Convention. The museum, which guests were able to tour, occupies the boarding house where the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers was founded by Miller and others in 1891.

– Labor Tribune photos

LABOR TRIBUNE • Thursday, September 10, 2026 • 7

St. Louis Labor Council treats delegates to a night at the ballpark St. Louis – Members of the St. Louis Labor Council enjoyed an early Labor Day celebration with a night at Busch Stadium Aug. 28.

The evening featured unseasonably mild weather and many raucous cheers as the Cardinals beat the Pirates four-to-one. – Labor Tribune photos

8 • LABOR TRIBUNE • Thursday, September 10, 2026

Roxana teachers reach tentative agreement with school district, narrowly averting strike

Roxana, IL – The Roxana school district teachers’ union has reached a tentative agreement with the school district, only a day before the strike deadline.

Last month, the Roxana Education Association declared an impasse in their negotiations with the Roxana Community Consolidated School District 1. They voted to authorize a strike as of Sept. 3, after being in negotiations since January, including federal mediation.

As of Sept. 2, however, a joint statement was released from the union and the board that a tentative agreement had been reached, though details would not be released

SUBSCRIBE

until both the REA membership and the board had ratified it.

“The tentative agreement reflects a shared commitment to supporting students, recognizing educators, and maintaining a strong educational workforce,” the statement read.

ISSUES The main issues at the bargaining table were vacancy language, pay scale, and respect and communication. The district had proposed eliminating the rule that Roxana teachers could apply for open positions within the district ahead of the general public, and to give administrators the right to request a doctor’s note

To the Labor Tribune Weekly.

You Don’t Know What You Are Missing!

IBEW Local 1 banners new O’Fallon law enforcement building

– Illinois Education Association photo

for absences whenever they deem necessary, Current language says a note can be requested only after four consecutive days of absence.

The contract has expired, and teachers began the new school year on Aug. 17 without a contract. That was also the day that the members voted to authorize a strike.

Public posts have stuck to the joint statement without further commentary. On Aug. 24, the REA posted that they had been asked to return to the bargaining table by the federal mediator, and agreed to do so even though the request came from the mediator instead of the district.

O’FALLON, MO – IBEW Local 1 is bannering at the new law enforcement building here at 2400 Highway 79 because its general contractor, Wright Construction, hired Reinhold Electric for electrical work. Reinhold is a non-AFL-CIO affiliated electrical contractor that pays below the area standard wages and benefits established by Local 1. Taking the message to the public are IBEW Local 1’s Steve Payer (left) and Rick Dinella.

– IBEW Local 1 photo

Revised 8-31-26 Please BuckUp what you can.

LOOK FOR THEM — THEY’RE EVERYWHERE

THE DISTINCTIVE CONSUMER EMBLEMS of Organized Labor have played leading roles in our economic society. Every success story has its supporters . . . the millions of union members and the general public have recognized the importance of these emblems by looking for them when purchasing products and services.

Revised 8-31-26

ELECTRICAL WORKERS LOCAL UNION #309, AFL-CIO Collinsville, Illinois and Vicinity Office: 2000 Mall Street (Route 157) Collinsville, Ill. 62234

John Garrett, President Tyler Mueth, Vice President David Rhymer, Recording Secretary Jason McIntyre, Treasurer Chris Hankins, Business Manager Dustin Grice, Organizer

Steve Duft, Mark Link, Carlos Perez

Executive Board Members Jacob Albers, Adam Biagi, Santiago Garcia, Brian Hutson, Joshua Jenkins, Steve Lodes, Michael Meinhardt, Andrew Reibold

Examining Board Members Jeremy Carron Steven Evanoff Ron Scott Joshua Stewart

Take Stock in America . . .

Buy United States Savings Bonds

SHEET METAL WORKERS

Local #363, AFL-CIO

Asst. Business Managers

I.B.E.W. Local #702 AFL-CIO

Charles Bailey, Jr. John Passiglia

618/234-2704 FAX: 618/234-2721 19 Gateway Drive, Collinsville, Ill. 62234

Asst. Business Manager/Vice President

Mack Schmitt

JOSHUA RATERMAN

President

AARON MAY

Steve Kohlberg,

President-Asst. Business Agent

Recording Secretary

Local #649, AFL-CIO

CHAD VERBLE

Vice President-Asst. Business Agent

Steve Marshall,

RYAN MOUSER

Recording Sec.-Asst. Bus. Agent Local 363

COREY DODSON, President (618) 462-1627

2358 Mascoutah Ave. Belleville, Ill. 62220

ELECTRICAL WORKERS Business Manager

3945 Humbert Road, Alton, Ill. 62002

When Unions are STRONG America is STRONG

STEVE HUGHART Business Manager and Financial Secretary

(618) 932-2102

106 N. Monroe West Frankfort, Ill. 62896

Local Union #101, AFL-CIO

PLASTERERS’ & CEMENT MASONS Local No. 90 AFL-CIO

(618) 667-2562

Troy, Illinois 62294

Ryan Gross, Business Manager Sean Foley, President

Matt Biekert Business Agent

(618) 234-5504

8 Premier Dr. Belleville, Ill. 62220

Mark Johnson, Business Manager Chad Goldschmidt, President Jeremy Sanders, Vice President Donnie Ferrari, Treasurer Bob Schmidt, Recording Secretary Rusty Redman, JATC Administrator (618)

931-0500

520 Engineer Road, Granite City, Ill. 62040

Inside Guard

(618) 624-6096

(618) 234-8843

1220 Donald Bailey Drive Caseyville, Illinois 62232-2061

Bridge & Structural

Always buy American-Made products. The job that you help save in the USA may turn out to be your own. Now think about that.

IRON WORKERS Local No. 392 AFL-CIO John E. Schmitt Business Manager & Financial Secretary

John Herrington President & Business Agent

Kyle Rist

International Union — Operating Engineers Local #520 AFL-CIO

Business Manager

MICHAEL DINAN

Vice President

820 Lions Drive

PLUMBERS & PIPEFITTERS

STEAMFITTERS Local 439, AFL-CIO Bus. Mgr., Fin. Sec'y and Treas.

Business Manager-Secretary Treasurer

Daniel McKenna

2727 North 89th Street Caseyville, Ill. 62232

BOILERMAKERS’ UNION

Dustin Ramage, Business Manager Greg Stimac, Secretary-Treasurer www.downstatelaborers.org

Union Local 268, AFL-CIO

(618) 397-1443

Downstate Illinois Laborers' District Council

Kyle Johnson Recording Secretary

Greg Kapp Business Agent

618-874-0313

2995 Kingshighway East St. Louis, Ill. 62201

GREATER MADISON COUNTY FEDERATION OF LABOR, AFL-CIO PRESIDENT

VICE PRESIDENT

TRUSTEE

B. Dean Webb

Mke Fultz Paul Schaefer Kirk Krabbe Bill Eickleberry

Tim Young Logan Sims Mike Roberts

TREASURER Gregg Kapp

SERGEANT AT ARMS Terry Biggs Nick Dodson

RECORDING SECRETARY

RETIREES David W. Hayes Gene Hudson

Rick Stamer

MACHINISTS’ CENTER

161 Shamrock Street

East Alton, Ill. 62024

LABOR TRIBUNE • Thursday, September 10, 2026 • 9

Supreme court From page 1 Hoskins, who waited until the last minute to certify the signatures, had asserted the measure violated the state constitution by containing multiple subjects.

“This campaign has always been about something bigger than one issue or one election,” said Eric Bronner, spokesperson for Respect Missouri Voters and co-founder of Veterans for All Voters. “Missourians may disagree about individual policy issues, but we agree on a basic rule: when the people vote, politicians should respect the result. Amendment 6 gives voters the power to protect their own decisions.”

Specifically, Amendment 6 would require ballot summaries to be clear, unbiased, accurate and easy to understand and prohibit lawmakers from changing voter-approved initiatives unless 80 percent of both legislative chambers agreed.

Additionally, the measure would bar lawmakers from passing laws that overturn ballot initiatives dating to 2010, including Medicaid expansion, so-called “right-to-work,” marijuana legalization, and others.

The Missouri AFL-CIO held a rally Sept. 1 in support of Amendment 6 at the Sheet Metal Workers Local 36 hall

Notices From page 5 MISSOURI CENTRAL BODIES Greater St. Louis Labor Council, AFL-CIO

Third Tuesday, 6:30 p.m., IBEW Local 1 Hall, 5850 Elizabeth Ave., St. Louis.

St. Louis Building & Construction Trades Council

First Wednesday, 10 a.m., Electricians’ Industry Training Center Auditorium, 2300 Hampton.

St. Louis Union Label & Service Trades Council

Meetings third Monday at 5 p.m., IBEW Local 1, 5850 Elizabeth Ave., 63110. John Schepers, president. Information: fritz@ unionlabel.info 314-779-9959

LOCAL UNIONS 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

ahead of the Supreme Court decision.

(See Amendment 6 story on page 1.)

The federation is urging a YES vote on the amendment this November.

REDISTRICTING Finding in favor of People Not Politicians, the Missouri Supreme Court rejected the state’s redrawn congressional map and placed a referendum on the November ballot that will allow voters to decide whether to use the GOP-favored map in future elections.

Those maps were used in the Aug. 4 primary after Hoskins refused the certify the signatures on the petition to place the measure on the ballot until primary election day in a bald-faced move to impose the new maps despite signatures having been submitted to place the legislation creating the new maps on the ballot for voters to decide.

Despite Hoskins’ delays and stonewalling, the decision, means the new maps will not be in effect for the Nov. 3 election, upending a plan by President Donald Trump and Missouri’s GOPcontrolled legislature to gain another Republican seat from Missouri in the U.S. House where Republicans hold a slim majority going into the midterms.

Elevator Constructors Local 3

1525 South Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63104. Email: iuec3@ iueclocal3.org.

Glaziers Local 513

5916 Wilson Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110

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. Please make every effort to attend.

“This is what democracy looks like, the people of Missouri demanded a voice, and the court just confirmed what we’ve been saying all along.

People, not politicians, will have the final say,” said Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians.

Missouri’s Republican Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, who provided Hoskins with legal advice in the case, vowed to take the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

VOTE ‘NO’ ON PROP. A “We launched this campaign in response to an unprecedented power grab orchestrated from Washington, D.C .to try to rig Missouri elections and deliver President Trump another member of Congress,” von Glahn told reporters during a press conference after the court issued its ruling.

People Not Politicians collected over 305,000 signatures – nearly three times what were needed – to place the measure on the ballot.

“We have the right to do a referendum, and a law cannot go into effect until the people decide. We’re going have that decision this November, and we’re going to be out encouraging Missouri voters to send this to a complete defeat by voting no on Proposition A.”

Pipefitters Local 562 Training Center, 3755 Corporate Trail Dr., Earth City, MO 63045.

Roofers Local 2

The regular meetings of Roofers’ Local 2 are held on the first Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m. in the Roofers’ Hall, 45 Worthington Access Drive, Maryland Heights, MO 63043.

The Executive Board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday before the regular monthly meeting.

Sprinkler Fitters and Apprentices Local 268

IBEW Local 1 Apprentices

Regular meetings at 5 p.m. second Thursday of month at the Union Hall, 1544 S. Third St., St. Louis, MO 63104.

IBEW Local 4

St. Louis Theatrical Brotherhood Local 6 I.A.T.S.E.

Meeting on the first and third Friday of each month, 7 p.m. at the Training Center, 2300 Hampton.

5850 Elizabeth Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110

Insulators and Asbestos Workers Local 1

Regular monthly meetings are held on the first Tuesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. at 1611 S. Broadway.

First Friday, 7 p.m. at the Hoisting Engineers Hall, 3449 Hollenberg.

Executive Board meets at 3325 Hollenberg on first Friday at 10 a.m.

Teamsters Joint Council 13

Ironworkers Local 396

4349 Woodson Rd, St. Louis, MO 63134

Union meetings on the last Friday of each month at 8 p.m. at the Union Hall, 2500 59th St., St. Louis, MO 63110.

Laborers Local 110

4532 S Lindbergh Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63127. Meetings are the second Wednesday of every month at 6:30 p.m.

Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 562

Second Wednesday of each month, 5 p.m. at Plumbers and

Teamsters Local 688

Tile-Marble Setters & Finishers, Mosaic & Terrazzo Workers & Finishers Local 18 MO

Meets at 5:00 p.m. the first Wednesday of the month at ADC Union Hall, 1670 Fenpark, Fenton, MO 63026.

Utility Workers Local 335

74 Woodstream, Moscow Mills, MO 63362

“THE TOUGHEST STREET CAR EVENT ON EARTH REUTRNS!”

Shuler From page 3 we’re fighting on the picket lines. This year, it’s time to put the full weight of the Labor Movement behind candidates who will actually deliver for working people.”

The hostility to entrenched establishment Democrats, beholden to lobbyists and corporate interests, has become a tide of wins by insurgents, starting with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani last year but also including U.S. House candidates, U.S. Senate nominee Dr. Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and Florida state lawmaker Angie Nixon, nominated for a Senate seat.

Mamdani and Nixon are Democratic Socialists, as are several of the others. And while Shuler was speaking, up on Capitol Hill, the House’s ruling Republicans engaged in an orgy of Red-baiting on a non-binding resolution denouncing “Socialists” and “Communists” among the Democrats, without naming names.

The resolution is one way the GOP is avoiding discussing real issues.

HOLDING CANDIDATES RESPONSIBLE But having political “supporters” who talk a good pro-worker game on the campaign trail and then cater to corporate cash once in office is a

long-standing problem for Organized Labor.

The way to counter that is with the mass mobilization, Shuler said.

“Billionaires can buy their yachts, they can buy their rocket ships — but they cannot buy our democracy, and we’re not going to let them try,” Shuler declared.

“Think about the different world we’d live in right now with just a little more turnout” she said. The three closest U.S. Senate races in 2024, in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin were decided by a total of 63,000 votes, Shuler noted.

Pennsylvania was a 15,115-vote GOP win over Democratic incumbent Bob Casey out of 6.97 million votes cast. Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D) won by 19,006 votes out of 5.58 million cast. And Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin beat the GOP’s Eric Hovde by 28,781 out of 3.39 million cast.

“One midterm election is not going to fix every problem,” Shuler said. “It won’t fix our broken Labor laws overnight. It won’t organize two million more workers into unions. We have to do those things, and we will. But winning in November — righting the ship—puts us directly on the path.

“So, from now until Nov. 3, every day is an all-out sprint.”

Shuler’s entire speech is posted on www.aflcio.org/afl-cio-tv and

a w

10 • LABOR TRIBUNE • Thursday, September 10, 2026

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 Editor-in-Chief Tim Rowden at tim@labortribune.com, or mail your information to Labor Tribune, 301 S. Ewing Ave., St. Louis, Mo. 63103.

Sept. 10 – Laborers Local 42 Veterans Committee Third Annual Golf Fundraiser at Top Golf, Chesterfield, Mo. The event will raise funds for Local 42’s Veterans Committee, The Kaufman Fund, Focus Marines, Memorial Gardens, Veterans Crisis Line and other veterans’ groups. Sponsorship levels range from $300 to $4,000.

Donations are tax deductible and should be mailed or delivered with sponsorship information to Laborers Local 42, ATTN: Veterans Committee Top Golf Event at 301 South Ewing Ave., St. Louis, Mo. 63103 For more information, contact Local 42 at 314-531-1187.

Sept. 11 – IBEW Local 309 Political Action Committee Golf Outing will begin with a 9 a.m. four-person scramble shotgun start at Belk Park, 880 Belk Park Road, Wood River, Ill. 62095. Entry fee of $450 per fourperson team includes cart, green

fees, food, beer, soda, mulligans and skins. Prizes will be awarded for attendance, Closest-to-theHole, Longest Drive and first place in two flights. Hole sponsorships are $150. Make checks payable to IBEW Local 309, 2000A Mall Street, Collinsville, Ill. 62234. For more information, contact the Union office at 618-345-5112 ext. 207 and speak with Stefe Duft.

Sept. 12 – IAM Progressive Local 41 Fourth Annual Charity Golf Tournament benefiting the IAM Veterans Service Program will begin with a four-person scramble shotgun start at Lockhaven Golf Club, 10872 Lawrence Keller Drive, Godfrey, Ill. 62035. The event will include a $10,000 Hole-in-One contest. Entry fee for the tournament is $500 per team. Hole sponsorships at $100 and $150.

Registration deadline is Sept. 4 Make checks payable to IAMAW Veterans L 42 and mail to Mark Grzechowiak, Local 41 ST, 12365 St. Charles Rock Road, Bridgeton, Mo. 63044. For more information, call Mark Grzechowiak at 636293-8213 or email iamprogressivelocge41@gmail.com.

Sept. 17 – Missouri AFLCIO Golf Tournament will be held at Oak Hills Golf Center at 932 Ellis Blvd. in Jef-

ferson City. Registration begins at 9 a.m., and tee off is at 10 a.m.

A silver sponsorship is $800 and includes golf for four with cart, a chance to win Closest-to-the-Pin and Longest Drive awards, attendance prizes, food and beverages. A gold sponsorship is $1,000 includes golf for four and a hole sponsor sign, and a platinum sponsorship is $1,250 and includes golf for four, premium sign locations and special recognition during the awards presentation. Other sponsorships range from $300 to $2,500.

Proceeds from the tournament will go toward member education.

To register, send team/sponsorship information and a check payable to the Missouri AFL-CIO to President Jake Hummel at 131 E. High Street, Ste. 100, Jefferson City, Mo. 65101.

Sept. 18 – Monroe County Democratic Party’s Golf Classic will begin with a 7:30 a.m. four-person scramble shotgun start at Acorns Golf Course in Waterloo, Ill. Registration is $95 per person or $380 per four-person team. Hole sponsorships are $150. Event sponsorship is $400. Prizes awarded for attendance, Closest-to-the-Pin and Longest Drive. Skins game available. Make checks payable to Monroe County Democratic Central Committee, c/o P.O. Box 141, Waterloo, Ill. 62298.

Sept. 19 – 34th Annual Greg Booth/Jack Van Horn Golf Tournament, sponsored by the Tri-County Labor Club, will begin with a 7:30 a.m. shotgun start at Warrenton Golf Course at 24805 State Hwy. 47 in Warrenton. The cost is $400 per team and includes greens fees, cart, beer, soda and barbecue.

Prizes awarded for three flights, Closest-to-the-Hole and Longest

A SALUTE TO VETERANS IN THE TRADES Thursday, November 5th In the Labor Tribune

Are you a veteran of the military now working in the trades?

Current or retired, we are looking to celebrate you this upcoming Veteran’s Day. To be a part of this special Veterans Day Special Issue, just send in a photo (military or current), your name, branch of service, current or past union affiliation.

HAPPY VETERAN S DAY

A SALUTE TO VETERANS IN THE TRADES

Thank you for your service

John Lewis, US Marines Plumbers and Pipefitters 562

Laborers 42

Jane Jones, US Army

Mike Smith, US Army IAM 660

Steven Garcia, US Marines Sheet Metal Workers 36

Amy Franklin, US Marines Ironworkers 396

Charles Miller, US Army Plumbers and Pipefitters 562

Glen Johnson, US Marines Roofers 2

John Wilson, US Marines United Media Guild 36407

Jason Davidson, US Army Plumbers and Pipefitters 562

Andrew Moore, US Air Force Plumbers and Pipefitters 562

Samuel Brown, US Air Force Plumbers and Pipefitters 562

Robert Taylor, US Coast Guard Plumbers and Pipefitters 562

Go to labortribune.com/celebrating-veterans to upload your photo and fill out the form online or mail it to our office.

STL Labor Tribune-Veterans Attn: Dan Braun 301 South Ewing Ave. St. Louis MO 63103

DEADLINE: October 22, 2026

Drives. Hole sponsorships are $125 per and food and beverage sponsorships are $500. To register, make checks payable to the TriCounty Labor Legislative Club and mail to 10 Droste Square, St. Charles, Mo. 63301. For more information, call Joe Mueller at 636-698-5424.

Sept. 24 – St. Louis Port Council Golf Outing at Forest Park will begin with 10 a.m. registration, 11 a.m. lunch and a noon shotgun start.

This year’s outing and awards program will honor St. Louis City Alderman Tom Oldenburg with the Jack Martorelli Award, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Melissa Price Smith with the Able Helmsman Award and Missouri State Senator Doug Beck with the Dick Mantia Award. Hole sponsorships are $200. Dinner and open bar only tickets are $100.

Skins game is $20 per team. A 50/50 drawing and prize raffle will also take place. Premier sponsorships are $950. Platinum sponsorships are $1,250. Make checks payable to: St. Louis Port Council, c/o Bryan Powell, P.O. Box 22108, St. Louis, Mo. 63116. Email all hole signage and/or artwork for event signage to: cgreenwood@seafarers.org.

event serves as a campaign fundraiser for St. Louis County District 2 Councilwoman Gretchen Bangert. It brings together community members, local leaders and labor supporters for a day on the course. To register, make a check payable to Citizens for Gretchen Bangert and mail to 919 Zohner Court, Florissant, Mo. 63031 or contact Janelle Pierce at 314-615-5437 or at jpierce@ stlouiscountymo.gov.

Oct. 17 – Communication Workers of America (CWA) Golf Tournament will begin with a 9 a.m. shotgun start at the Florissant Golf Club at 50 Country Club Lane in Florissant. Registration begins at 8 a.m. The cost is $500 per team and includes drinks, food and a steak dinner after the game. Skins and mulligans are also available.

Sponsorships range between $150 and $1,000. Proceeds will be donated to BackStoppers, Inc. Send names of golfers and checks made payable to CWA Local 6300 to Joe Klenc at 2258 Grissom Drive, St. Louis, Mo. 63146. For more information, contact Klenc at 314-825-8801 or at jklenc@cwa6300.org.

Oct. 19 – Elevator Constructors Local 3 18 th Annual Charity Golf Tournament will be held at the Florissant Golf Club at 50 Country Club Lane in Florissant. Registration begins at 8 a.m. with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. The $100 per person entry fee includes golf, beer, refreshments, lunch and a buffet dinner. Dinner only is $25. Prizes awarded for Longest Drive and Closest-to-the Pin and team prizes for firstand second place in two flights.

Sponsorships ranging from $150 to $750. Proceeds will benefit Foster Together, which supports children and families impacted by foster care. To register, make a check payable to I.U.E.C. Local 3 Charity Fund and mail to Elevator Constructors Local 3, 1525 S. Broadway, St. Louis, Mo. 63104. To pay by credit card, call Tracy at 314-644-3933. To register online, visit iueclocal3.org. For more information, call Brent Lane at 636-288-5018.

Sept. 27 – UAW Local 2250 Tee off for Tots Golf Tournament will begin with an 8 a.m. shotgun start four-person scramble at Bear Creek Golf Club at 158 Bear Creek Drive in Wentzville. The cost is $125 per person and includes green fees, cart, prizes and a meal. Skins are team mulligans are $20. Proceeds from the tournament will benefit the Local 2250 Community Services Adopt-a-Child program and the United Way. Make checks payable to UAW Local 2250 and mail to UAW Local 2250, 1395 E. Pearce Blvd., Wentzville, Mo. 63385. For more information, call 636-327-5796 or email uawtee4tots@gmail.com.

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 Closet 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.

Oct. 16 – Bangert Fall Classic Golf Tournament, hosted by St. Louis County District 2 Councilwoman Gretchen Bangert, will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Florissant Golf Club at 50 Country Club Lane. Entry fee is $125 per golfer or $450 for a four-person team. Sponsorships range from $100 to $2,500. The

Oct. 19 – Professional Firefighters of Eastern Missouri (PFEM) Golf Tournament will be held at the Old Hickory Golf Club at 1 Dye Club Drive in St. Charles. Lunch and registration begin at 11 a.m., and golf starts at noon. Local craft breweries will be available throughout the course, and there will be Closest-to-the-Pin on every hole. After golf, there will be a steak dinner and awards program at the PFEM Banquet Hall at 115 McMenamy Road in St. Peters. Foursomes are $600, and sponsorships begin at $500.

Proceeds will benefit the PFEM Community Outreach Nonprofit and Playground for All Abilities project. To register, visit iaff2665.org/golf.

Please BuckUp what you can.

LABOR TRIBUNE • Thursday, September 10, 2026 • 11

Amendment 6 From page 1 Sept. 8 in order for the amendment to appear on the November ballot.

‘DONE PLAYING DEFENSE’ “We have played defense for years upon years, and we’re done playing defense,” said Missouri AFL-CIO President Jake Hummel. “It’s time for us to take the fight back to them.

Time and time again, Missouri voters have gone to the polls and passed good pieces of legislation that Missouri workers need and support, and the legislature immediately tries to overturn the will of voters.”

Hummel said the federation made the decision to fight back almost a year-and-a-half ago when it discovered that the legislature was going to put Amendment 4 before voters this August. Amendment 4, which voters defeated by an 80-to-20

margin, would have made it almost impossible to pass citizen-led initiative petitions.

It would have required any constitutional amendment placed on the ballot through the citizen-led initiative petition process to pass in all eight of Missouri’s congressional districts. Currently, those amendments, and amendments proposed by state legislators, need only a statewide, simple majority to pass.

BETSY FOGLE Elizabeth “Betsy” Fogle, of Springfield, Mo., is a Democrat and represents District 135 in the Missouri House, which includes Greene County. She was elected to her first two-year term in November 2020. She is running for the Senate District 30 seat, which is currently occupied by term-limited Sen. Lincoln Hough.

“She is always there for us,” Hummel said of Fogel. “She always has our back.”

One of the things Fogel has done for Labor is fight to protect the budget for the Missouri Works Initiative (MWI), the non-profit organization sponsored and supported by the Missouri AFL-CIO to address the state’s changing workforce needs, including creating healthy and recovery friendly workplaces, connecting laid off workers with job-search and upskilling resources for future employment, and collaborating with community partners to offer innovative points of entry to traditional apprenticeship opportunities. The MWI receives part of its funding from the state.

would bar lawmakers from passing laws that overturn ballot initiatives dating to 2010, including Medicaid expansion, so-called “right-towork,” marijuana legalization, and others.

‘OUR VOTE SHOULD MEAN SOMETHING’ St. Louis Labor Council Secretary-Treasurer Robbie Robertson said it is time to respect Missouri voters.

“We organize, we knock on doors, we collect signatures and we show

up at the polls, and when we win at the ballot box, our vote should mean something,” said Robertson, secretary-treasurer/union steward for APWU St. Louis Gateway Local 8. “That’s why we’re saying yes to Amendment 6. Democracy belongs to the people, and the people should have the final say.”

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‘THEY DON’T CARE’ “Amendment 4 would have changed the initiative petition process – a process we used we used successfully in 2018 to stop so called “right-to-work” in this state. We were hoping that after our epic defeat of right-to-work, we’d have another 40 years of not hav-

Senate seats From page 1 in social work from the University of Kansas.

Ingle, a member of Communication Workers of America, is a social worker and has worked in child welfare as the adoption specialist for the Jackson County Children’s Division, as well as in schools, hospitals, and mental health facilities.

She was awarded the National Association of Social Workers Elected Official of the Year for Missouri in 2021 and the Missouri Kids Win Legislator of the Year in 2022.

“Every single day, when I go into the Capitol, I think about how the legislation that is before me is going to impact the most vulnerable people in our communities and the working families of this state,” Ingle said. “I am very proud to have served in the House for eight years and to have a 100 percent Labor record.”

Ingle thanked the Missouri AFLCIO and its member unions who helped her flip her District 35 House seat from red to blue in 2018.

“Much like in 2018, this year we have another incredibly unique opportunity to not only flip this senate seat, but to retire the speaker of the house, who voted to put Amendments 4 and 5 on the ballot.”

ing that come back. But that’s not what happened. Every year since then, legislators have filed “rightto-work” legislation. It’s not that they don’t get it, they don’t care,” Hummel said. “They do not care what the voters want.”

Specifically, the Amendment 6 referendum would require ballot summaries to be clear, unbiased, accurate and easy to understand and prohibit lawmakers from changing voter-approved initiatives unless 80 percent of both legislative chambers agreed. Additionally, the measure

Outdoor Calendar M I S S O U R I D E PA R T M E N T O F CO N S E R VAT I O N

HUNTING

FISHING Black Bass

Impounded waters and non-Ozark streams: Open all year Most streams south of the Missouri River: Î Catch-and-Keep: May 23, 2026– Feb. 28, 2027 MISSOURI STATE REP. BETSY FOLGLE who is seeking the Senate District 30 seat, wants to bring balance back to Missouri government so the Republican majority in the Senate can’t simply steamroll legislation taking away rights voters have approved by initiative.

– Labor Tribune photo

“We owe her a thank you for everything she’s done for Labor in the state,” Hummel said.

Prior to serving in the legislature, Fogle spent her career in public health while serving as the Director of Program Advancement for Jordan Valley Community Health Center. Born in Springfield, she graduated from Springfield Public Schools. She obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from Missouri State University and a Master’s in sociology from the University of Arkansas.

“Right now, in Missouri, we have one party hellbent on pushing the state government as far right as possible, which means when voters go out and tell us what they want, do things like enshrine paid sick leave and increase the state’s minimum wage, 120 days later we’re back in the building with the majority party taking it away from voters. That has happened time and time again her in Missouri,” Fogel said.

“If we’re able to flip two seats Kerri and I are running for in the state senate, that builds a wall. It puts a wall up between all the bad ideas of the majority and the people of Missouri,” she said.

“If we’re able to flip these two seats, we’ll have balance back in the building,” Fogle said. “I want to get to a place where we can get back to playing some offense.”

TO HELP To donate to Ingle’s campaign, visit https://secure.actblue.com/ donate/keriweb.

To donate to Fogle’s campaign, go to https://secure.actblue.com/donate/betsy-fogle1?refcode=website.

Bullfrog, Green Frog

June 30 at sunset–Oct. 31, 2026

Nongame Fish Gigging

Impounded waters, sunrise to sunset: Feb. 16–Sept. 14, 2026 Streams and impounded waters, sunrise to midnight: Sept. 15. 2026–Feb. 15, 2027

Paddlefish

On the Mississippi River: Sept. 15–Dec. 15, 2026

Trout Parks State trout parks are open seven days a week March 1 through Oct. 31.

Catch-and-Keep: March 1–Oct. 31, 2026 Catch-and-Release: Nov. 13, 2026–Feb. 8, 2027

TRAPPING Beaver, Nutria Nov. 15, 2025– March 31, 2026

Bobcat, Coyote, Mink, Muskrat, Opossum, Raccoon, River Otter, Striped Skunk Nov. 15, 2025– Feb. 28, 2026

Special Trapping Season for Private Lands Only: Coyote, Opossum, Raccoon, Striped Skunk March 1–April 14, 2026

Black Bear*

Oct. 17–30, 2026

Bullfrog, Green Frog June 30 at sunset– Oct. 31, 2026

Coyote Restrictions apply during April, spring turkey season, and firearms deer season.

Open all year

Crows

Nov. 1, 2026–March 3, 2027

Deer

Archery: Sept. 15–Nov. 13, 2026 Nov. 25, 2026–Jan. 15, 2027 Firearms: Î Early Antlerless Portion (open areas only): Oct. 9–11, 2026 Î Early Youth Portion (ages 6–15): Oct. 24–25, 2026 Î November Portion: Nov. 14–24, 2026 Î Late Youth Portion (ages 6–15): Nov. 27–29, 2026 Î Late Antlerless Portion (open areas only): Dec. 5–13, 2026 Î Alternative Methods Portion: Dec. 26, 2026– Jan. 5, 2027

Doves

Sept. 1–Nov. 29, 2026

Elk*

Archery: Oct. 17–25, 2026 Firearms: Dec. 12–20, 2026

Groundhog (Woodchuck)

May 11–Dec. 15, 2026

Opossum, Raccoon, Striped Skunk Aug. 1–Oct 15, 2026

Pheasant

Youth (ages 6–15): Oct. 24–25, 2026 Regular: Nov. 1, 2026–Jan. 15, 2027

Quail

Youth (ages 6–15): Oct. 24–25, 2026 Regular: Nov. 1, 2026–Jan. 15, 2027

Rabbits

Oct. 1, 2026–Feb. 15, 2027

Sora, Virginia Rail Sept. 1–Nov. 9, 2026

Squirrels

May 23, 2026–Feb. 15, 2027

Teal

Sept. 12–20, 2026

Turkey

Fall: Î Archery Portion: Sept. 15–Nov. 13, 2026 Nov. 25, 2026– Jan. 15, 2027 Î Firearms Portion: Oct. 1–31, 2026

Waterfowl See the Migratory Bird and Waterfowl Hunting Digest or visit short.mdc.mo.gov/ZZx for more information.

Wilson’s (Common) Snipe Sept. 1– Dec. 16, 2026

Woodcock Oct. 18– Dec. 1, 2026

*Only hunters selected through a random drawing may participate in these hunting seasons.

12 • LABOR TRIBUNE • Thursday, September 10, 2026

Outdoor Guide Hunting, Fishing, Camping, Boating, Outdoor Travel

Late summer catfish tips

By MIKE ROUX If you have a choice, I suggest that you fish for catfish just before dark until about midnight. This seems to be the best time, especially for channel cats. However, any time you can get bait in the water you have a chance to catch catfish. In the middle of the day, when the sun is high, these fish will seek out shade around banks, docks, logs, trees and brush.

As far as time of year, fall seems to generate the best overall bite.

Just before cold weather they will come into shallow water to feed and will be most likely to hit your baits. August through September, depending on the weather, are good times. It is easier to judge the fall bite in impoundments because the water temperature is more constant. In a river this can be very tricky to predict, especially if the river floods due to autumn rains.

For the channel cat, the bait must smell good to them. It is a safe bet that if the bait turns your stomach, the catfish will love it.

You can also use cut bait, dough bait, whole minnows, cheese, chicken livers, night crawlers and commercially made stink baits.

lowed the bait. Channel cats tend to like clearer water than some other catfish species. They can be found in lakes and rivers over gravel or rock bottoms. The big ones in this area come from around the Missouri River wing dam tailraces.

SEPTEMBER FISHING

MASTER CATFISH ANGLER Connor Dietrich swears by “Mike Roux’s Catfish Candy.” Mike Roux (behind) is helping hold this whopper.

– Jason Hill photos

‘CATFISH CANDY’ I prefer to make my own catfish bait. “Catfish Candy” is what I call it. I grill a few hotdogs and cut them into bite-sized piece while they are still hot. I drop these tidbits into a Ziploc bag and add a packet of cherry Kool-Aid. Mix thoroughly.

Catfish cannot resist this combination.

Whatever bait you use, make sure your hook point is exposed and not buried in the bait. Leave the baits out long enough for the cat to find it though the scent it is releasing.

Channel cats will often carry the bait off a short way before they eat it. They have sensitive mouths, so do not apply any drag on the line until you are sure the fish has swal-

As mentioned, September is a good month for channel catfish in this area. This will often coincide with the cooler water temps. When the water temperature reaches about 65-degrees these fish will begin to feed. As the water temp climbs above 55-degrees, they become much more active. The current U.S. record with rod and reel record is 56 pounds.

A good tip to keep in mind when tight lining for catfish is not be overly concerned about the small fish that will nibble at your bait.

The minnows and bluegill will not eat all your bait. In fact, the commotion these little guys can cause around the bait can actually attract the catfish to the spot. When the nibbling stops is when you should pay close attention. It may mean a big cat has arrived.

COOKING CAT Now that we have given the fish a

great meal, let us now discuss how you can prepare the catfish once you get ready for your feast. I prefer all of my fish grilled, but I know the traditional method for preparing catfish is to fry them. Therefore, I will pass along this recipe for Cajun Catfish.

Ingredients needed are 2½ cups cornmeal, ground cayenne pepper, 1 tsp. butter flavored salt, 1 cup milk, 1 cup plain flour, salt, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 10 pounds of catfish and cooking oil.

Soak catfish in milk. Mix dry ingredients in large bowl. Roll fish in dry ingredients. Fry in hot cooking oil deep enough to float the fish.

Be sure the grease in not TOO hot.

My guess is that there are more tons of catfish consumed in Illinois each year than any other fish. And for good reason. They are delicious.

So do yourself and your family a favor this month and next. Mix-up some stinky bait, get your gear and get out and catch some channel cat.

Oh yeah, do not forget to call me when they are ready.

(To see some great late summer catfish action, subscribe to MidMO Reapers on YouTube. To read more from Mike Roux, visit www. mikeroux.com.)

LABOR TRIBUNE • Thursday, September 10, 2026 • 13

Outdoor Guide Hunting, Fishing, Camping, Boating, Outdoor Travel

September Conservation Corner: Spirits on the wing

By DAN ZARLENGA Missouri Department of Conservation For generations, Indigenous people in parts of central Mexico have associated the arrival of monarch butterflies in early November with the return of departed souls during Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Some believe those spirits achieve this amazing journey on the wings of the butterflies.

The monarch butterfly accomplishes an amazing journey of its own. A voyage multiple generations in the making.

The cycle of the eastern cohort of monarchs begins in the high mountains of Central Mexico, in the state of Michoacán. Dense forests of oyamel fir trees at elevations of 7,500 to 11,000 feet provide the ideal climate, humidity, and temperature to sustain them during winter. Laden with countless monarchs, the boughs of the trees bend with their weight. Skies are blocked by clouds of fluttering darkness. And the gentle sound of collective butterfly wings, amplified a millionfold, rises like a sustained breeze.

MONARCH LIFE CYCLE The monarch butterfly exists in a cycle of four generations. Generations one through three focus on reproduction, each one driven northward starting in spring; first

toward a destination they’ve never seen. On the multi-month trek to those special mountains in Mexico, the Show-Me State becomes an essential stopover for rest and refueling.

This super generation of monarchs arrives in Mexico during late October and early November. They converge by the millions just as Mexican families are building beautiful altars adorned with candles, marigolds, and photos to welcome ancestral spirits. Día de los Muertos marks for the butterflies, though,

a time to rest through winter and to mate, beginning the cycle anew.

Come March, these monarchs will embark on the voyage northward. It will be a journey for their descendants to complete.

Perhaps Indigenous peoples in Mexico understood something that science has only recently begun to discover. The monarch butterfly truly does bear the spirits of generations past — in an inherited knowledge that will guide its future descendants.

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to the southern states of the U.S., then through the Midwest, and finally up to southern Canada.

Along the way, these butterflies feed on nectar, mate, and lay their eggs exclusively on varieties of milkweed plants. Missouri provides vital opportunities for the monarchs to hatch successive generations and carry on their reproductive cycle.

These generations of butterflies live for only about a month each.

But it is the fourth generation that is truly amazing. It’s called the “Super Generation.” Using perception beyond our grasp, this generation can sense changes in temperature and shortening day length. It prompts them to enter a condition called diapause. Their reproductive hormones shut down, putting all reproduction efforts on hold; conserving energy for the incredible odyssey to come.

Unlike the other three in the cycle, the lifespan of this particular generation stretches to nine months — many times that of their immediate ancestors. It gives them the longevity necessary to complete their genetic mission.

ESSENTIAL STOPOVER IN MISSOURI In September the monarchs pass southward through Missouri, beginning a 3,000-mile journey mapped out with instinct alone. Guided by the uncanny ability to use the sun as a compass, they flutter their way

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14 • LABOR TRIBUNE • Thursday, September 10, 2026

Outdoor Guide Hunting, Fishing, Camping, Boating, Outdoor Travel

By BRANDON BUTLER Driftwood Outdoors Dust off your blaze orange, fall is almost here. Camping becomes much more tolerable this month, fishing really begins to pick up, and hunting seasons for dove, waterfowl, deer and more open. September is a premiere month for outdoor enjoyment. With so much hunting and fishing opportunity this month, you’re almost obligated to conduct a few cast and blasts.

Waterfowl hunters should look to take advantage of early seasons across the region. Indiana offers many public doves fields at various fish and wildlife areas. Wade fishing a Missouri Ozarks river for smallmouth on a warm summer evening is a great way to soak in the changing of the seasons. The state’s Smallmouth Slam gives anglers motivation to get out there.

Youth Deer Season is a big deal in Kansas, and it happens this month.

Don’t miss out on all September has to offer. It’s some of the best fishing

and hunting of the year.

ILLINOIS – EARLY CANADA GEESE There are over six-million Canada Geese on the planet. Many say that’s too many, especially in nuisance areas like lake side parks, subdivisions, and golf courses. Additional Canada Geese seasons have opened in many states, including Illinois. The state’s Early Canada Geese Season runs from Sept. 1 - 15.

The limits are five daily with a possession limit of 15. The season is open statewide. Rend Lake and Marshall State Fish and Wildlife Area, which provides access along the Illinois River are two top public hunting spots for geese. Demand for geese hunting spots isn’t super high, though, so this is opportunity to obtain permission on private land.

Ask wherever you see a lot of geese.

INDIANA – DOVES The Sept. 1 dove opener marks the return of hunting season for many.

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Outdoor opportunities abound with the arrival of September dove shoot will tune up even the rustiest wing shooter. Doves roost overnight and head to water early.

Position yourself between a wood line where they’re roosting and the nearest water source, and you should have some shooting. Bring lots of shells. Even crack shots miss a lot of doves. Hunting along fence rows next to grain fields is ideal.

Three top public fish and wildlife areas with managed dove fields are Atterbury, Crosley, and Goose Pond.

Doves are great table fare. Wrap the breasts in a piece of bacon, soak in a little Worcestershire, salt and pepper to taste, and grill to medium rare over charcoal.

KANSAS – YOUTH DEER Deer hunting is a big deal in Kansas. The only thing more exciting than punching your tag on a big Kansas buck is watching a kid do the same. The Kansas Youth Deer Season runs Sept. 5 to 13. Youth hunters under 17 must be under the immediate supervision of an adult 18 or older, and all participants in the hunt must be wearing blaze orange. Many landowners will open DOVE HUNTING in early September is a gateway to another fall full of hunting seasons.

their property to a youth hunter, so it is worth seeking permission on private land. For those sticking with public ground, the southeast portion of the state has a number of public properties, including 13,000 acres of quality deer habitat available at Mined Land Wildlife Area.

With great fishing, too, Mined Land is a perfect place to take a youth hunting, fishing, and camping in one trip.

MISSOURI – SMALLMOUTH SLAM Missouri has incredible smallmouth bass fishing in the state’s southern rivers and streams. To celebrate the best bronzeback waters, MDC created the Missouri Smallmouth Slam.

The actual slam recognizes anglers who have caught a smallmouth bass in at least six of these 12 streams. Participants who choose to, can have their successes listed on the MDC website. The 12 waters include in the slam are: Big Piney River, Big River, Eleven Point River, Elk River, Gasconade River, Jacks Fork River, James River, Joachim Creek, Meramec River (Mineral Fork, Osage Fork of the Gasconade River, and Tenmile Creek. Each of these waters has a specific area that qualifies for the slam. Look them up on mdc.mo.gov See you down the trail…

(For more Driftwood Outdoors, check out the podcast on www.driftwoodoutdoors.com or anywhere podcast.)

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LABOR TRIBUNE • Thursday, September 10, 2026 • 15

Outdoor Guide Hunting, Fishing, Camping, Boating, Outdoor Travel

Squirrel teeth

By LARRY DABLEMONT When I was a boy, we had a fellow back home in the hills that had two big teeth that stuck out in front. His big front teeth didn’t bother him much as he did just fine with the local ladies on account his outgoing personality and gentle ways – offset the fact that he was a little on the homely side. The fellows at the pool hall said they thought he developed those front teeth from eating so many squirrels when he was a kid.

That scared me a little because I figured no one ate more squirrels than I did. I’d tie my shotgun to the handlebars of my bicycle and head for the Tweed Bottoms on the Piney every chance I got, to hunt squirrels. And Dad and I would float the river and shoot a limit of squirrels about every time we hunted ducks.

It had been that way for most of the country folks well back before I was born. There were no deer or turkey in the ’30s and ’40s when my dad was a kid. They survived on what was plentiful, rabbits and quail, fish and bullfrogs, and squirrels.

that he could tell if a man grew up poor or not. If he had, Bill told me, he knew how to skin a squirrel. Otherwise he likely had grown up rich and wasn’t worth much.

There are two good ways to skin a squirrel of course, and if you are a country kid who grew up hunting with your dad or grandfather, you know how to do it both ways. So there isn’t any use in me telling you

CHEWING UP THE ROAD how to do either one here, because I never knew anyone who didn’t know how to skin a squirrel who cared to learn.

I often see fox squirrels especially, in the middle of a paved road, chewing on the road. I can’t figure out why they do that, because it gets so many of them harvested by car tires. I am assuming they are

attracted to the salt or something like it, in the pavement, but I am not sure.

One thing about them, since they are a rodent, their teeth grow all the time, and they must wear them down by gnawing on nuts, and on deer antlers and bone. The teeth grow in a circle and I once saw a squirrel which had one tooth growing so crooked he couldn’t wear it down by normal gnawing, that is, gnawing normally like a nut-gnawer normally would. It had grown in a circle and back into his skull just beneath his eye, and that killed him. That’s kind of an awful thing to imagine. If I had been him, before those teeth penetrated my skull I would have run out in front of a farm truck or went and thumbed my nose at a fox.

bullseyebaitandtackle.net

SQUIRREL BOUNTY You can read about squirrels from Byron Dalrymple’s book, North American Game Animals.

Dalrymple was an old-time outdoor writer who no doubt was a true outdoorsman like me. In his book, he passes on this fascinating information about squirrels: “…. In the mid 1700’s crop damage from squirrels in Pennsylvania was so severe that a three-pence bounty was instigated for each scalp that had two ears. The human population was small there, but 600,000 squirrel scalps were turned in over a short time. In the early 1800s every white male in Ohio was required to pay an annual tax of three dollars — a substantial sum in those days — or turn in 100 squirrel scalps per year in place of the money.”

I had a friend once who hunted squirrels for money. Well, of course he ate them too, and claimed much of his outstanding health was due to eating so many squirrels over the years. But he also sent all the tails to the Mepps lure company in Wisconsin which paid from 15 to 20 cents for each tail, using them in the making of some of their flies and fishing lures back then. Those tails paid for his ammunition.

PET SQUIRRELS Over the years, this writer has had too many pet squirrels to count.

Many young squirrels are born in February, when country people were still cutting firewood, so my cousins and I made pets out of fox and gray squirrels both of which were easy to bottle feed and raise.

The grays made outstanding pets; the fox squirrels get a little grouchy, particularly the males, as they mature. Here on Lightnin’ Ridge I have had several pet gray squirrels.

One lived in a minnow bucket on my back porch for much of a year.

In the pool hall when I was a kid, I heard Ol’ Bill Stalder say once

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16 • LABOR TRIBUNE • Thursday, September 10, 2026

Calendar of Events Save the Date SEPTEMBER Sept. 10 – Third Annual Top Golf Tournament, sponsored by the Laborers Local 42 Veterans Committee’s, will be held from noon

to 3 p.m. at Top Golf at 16851 N. Outer 40 Road in Chesterfield. Proceeds will support the Laborers Local 42’s Veterans Committee, The Kaufman Fund, Focus Marines, Memorial Gardens, Veterans Crisis Line and other veterans’ groups. Sponsorships range from $300 to $4,000. Donations are tax deductible and should be mailed or delivered with sponsorship information to Laborers Local 42, ATTN: Veterans Committee Top Golf Event at 301 South Ewing Ave., St. Louis, Mo. 63103. For more information, contact Local 42 at 314-531-1187.

Sept. 12 – 15th Annual Fall Classic Poker Run, sponsored by the Teamsters Horsemen Ch. 13 Motorcycle Association, will start and end at Gettemeier’s at 269 Salt Lick Road in St. Peters. Registration is at 10:30, and kickstands go up at 11:30 a.m. The entry fee is $20 per bike/ vehicle and includes the first hand.

Additional hands are $10 each. The grand prize raffle is an M&P9 Shield with carry bag and six magazines or $500. The event will also include raffle baskets, a 50/50 raffle and door

Learn to Duck Hunt!

The Missouri Department of Conservation and the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance are hosting

Free guided Duck Hunts

with experienced mentors this November and December at the Jay and Carolyn Henges Wetland Education and Conservation Center in St. Charles

For youths age 11-15 and first-time adult hunters Must attend one of two free educational clinic at the August A. Busch Shooting Range and Outdoor Education Center in Defiance to participate Saturday Oct. 3 from 8 – 11 a.m. or Monday Oct. 5 from 4 – 7 pm.

More information:

Bryant Hertel – bryant.hertel@mdc.mo.gov Scott Boyd – scott.boyd@mdc.mo.gov

prizes. Sponsorships are $100 each.

Proceeds will benefit the Butterfly Haven, which helps children, families in foster care who are in crisis.

For more information, contact Jay Krueger at jayk611@msn.com.

Sept. 12 – The Greg Booth Harleys & Hotrods Run, hosted by the IBEW Local 1 Electrical Workers Riding Club, will begin at the Local 1 union hall at 5850 Elizabeth Ave. in St. Louis with registration at 8:30 a.m. The ride starts at 9:30 a.m. Bring a Harley, a trike, a classic, a custom, a coupe, a sedan, an old car or a new one. Every dollar raised goes to the IBEW Local 1 Relief Committee, which assists members and their families in times of hardship. The first hand is $25, and additional hands are $5. Stops include the Hideout Sports Bar in High Ridge, Wente’s in Chesterfield, Westbound Bar & Grill in Lake St. Louis and Gettemeiers in St. Peters.

For more information, call Mike Vartanian at 314-761-3050.

Sept. 15 – United Way of Greater St. Louis Night at the Ballpark will begin at 6:45 at Busch Stadium at 700 Clark Ave. in St. Louis as the Cardinals take on the San Francisco Giants. A $24 ticket (before fees) includes a jumbo hot dog and soda. A portion of each ticket sold will help benefit the St. Louis region through United Way. For tickets, visit https:// shorturl.at/kHqsz.

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-faith-laboralliance-breakfast.

Sept. 19 – IBEW Local 309 RENEW Mouse Races will be held at the Local 309 union hall at 2000 Mall St. in Collinsville, Ill. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the races begin at 7 p.m. In addition to the mouse races, the event will include mouse roulette, Plinko and a 50/50 raffle. The entry fee is $200 for a table of eight. For more information or to buy tickets, contact Lauren Streff at 636-357-9941 or at 309renew@ gmail.com

Scan the code for a full list of hunts and to register:

Sept. 26 – Third Annual Meet the Machines/Open House, hosted by Operating Engineers Local 513, will be held at the Local 513 Training Center, located at 75 Hwy. F in Silex, Mo., which is about 25 minutes north of Wentzville. The free, family-friendly event, which includes barbeque, drinks, hayrides, bounce houses and children’s games, will be from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Attendees can ride and operate real heavy equipment under expert supervision, test their skills by playing games with excavators and crawler cranes or take a thrilling ride on 550 hp tractors and articulated trucks.

One of the event’s highlights will be watching a bulldozer crush a car. For

more information, call the training center at 573-485-2200 or send an email to info@iuoelocal513training.com.

Sept. 26 – Franklin County Political Labor Committee 3rd Annual Picnic will begin at 1 p.m. at Union Park at 500 West Park Ave. in Union. All Franklin County union members and their families are invited for lunch and to meet their COPE-endorsed political candidates. Hot dogs, chips and refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Club President Dan Kloeppel at 314-713-2320 or at frankcolaborcomm@yahoo.com.

Sept. 26 – Star Strangled Banner Murder Mystery Night, sponsored by the IBEW Local 1 Electrical Workers Riding Club, will be held at the Local 1 union hall at 5850 Elizabeth Ave. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the show starts at 7 p.m. Gather a table of friends, dress in your patriotic best and settle in for a night of mystery, laughs and good company. There’s a cash and prize side to the evening too, with a 50/50 drawing and raffles running throughout. Tables are of eight are $320 each. To reserve a table or for more information, contact Mike Crocker at 636-275-8768.

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.

Sept. 26 – 13th Annual Truman Dinner, sponsored by the Missouri Democratic Party, will be held at the Sheet Metal Workers Local 36 union hall at 2319 Chouteau Ave. in St. Louis. A VIP reception begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Join your fellow Democrats for a night of community building and special guest speakers.

A VIP ticket is $500 and includes the VIP reception. A VIP reception only ticket is $300. Early bird ticket sales run through Aug.31, and the cost is $225 per person. Tickets purchased after that date will be $250. For more information, visit trumandinner. org.

OCTOBER Oct. 2 – 2026 Blue Collar/Black Tie Tradeswomen Awards Gala, hosted by Missouri Women in Trades (MOWIT) will be held from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the LIUNA Event Center at 4532 S. Lindbergh Blvd. The event includes dinner, an open bar and cash raffles.

Tickets are $90 per person, $45 for apprentices or $700 for a table of eight.

Sponsorships range between $750 and $3,500. To register, visit https:// shorturl.at/3CCt2.

GET LISTED 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.