Layoffs Suck, Pitch

Vicky Hartzler asks and answers question in same sentence

David Martin — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 14:00:00 -0500

Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives went to the White House on Thursday to meet with President Obama. Vicky Hartzler of Missouri emerged from the meeting in a ponderous mood.…

Over one hundred KCMSD teachers get the ax -- including our source

Nadia Pflaum — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:55:37 -0500

Last Friday, 115 teachers with the Kansas City, Missouri, School District received notice that their contracts would not be renewed for the 2011-12 school year, district representatives confirm.

One of the axed educators, English teacher Amy Smith (not her real name), was

interviewed as part of this week's feature story on Southwest High

School.…

115 KCMSD teachers get the ax -- including our source

Nadia Pflaum — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:49:55 -0500

interviewed as part of this week's feature story on Southwest High

School.…

Jim Lembke, Missouri senator, thinks unemployed people should 'get off their backsides and get a job'

Joe Tone — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0600

This week, in We Elected This Asshole?!? ...

Jim Lembke, a Republican state senator from St. Louis County, is tired of this shit.…

Harley-Davidson reaches new labor deal with union; 145 jobs to be cut

Ben Palosaari — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0600

Anybody who has been following Harley-Davidson's yearlong effort to retool operations by stripping away workers and wrangling concessions from labor unions knew this day was coming. The legendary motorcycle maker and Kansas City labor unions have announced that they reached an agreement.…

Harley-Davidson reaches initial agreement with unions

Justin Kendall — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 06:00:00 -0600

Harley-Davidson has reached an initial collective-bargaining agreement with its unions at the motorcycle maker's Kansas City plant, according to the Kansas City Business Journal.

We don't know what this agreement entails exactly, but details should become public after the unions meet with their members today and vote on the deal on Monday.

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A solemn farewell to Cynthia Davis: Legislator, Mother, Expert SexHaver

Mandy Oaklander — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 15:30:47 -0600

Most reigns, thank God, must come to an end. But as Rep. Cynthia Davis descends into nothinghood after her unsuccessful battle with Senate incumbent Scott Rupp, the moment doesn't come without causing us a tiny twinge of despair.

We'll miss chronicling her bootylicious pat downs, her hot sex tips, her affinity for chickens en masse, and her saucy predilection for mixing guns and church.

Thursday, we found out the feeling is mutual.

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Pennsylvania town previously screwed by Harley-Davidson offers advice to Kansas City

Ben Palosaari — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 08:00:00 -0600

The third act of Harley-Davidson's yearlong effort to muscle unions at manufacturing plants is upon us.

In an almost comically transparent cycle, the hog builder bullied employees at its York, Pennsylvania, plant into wage and staff cuts late last year by claiming it would move jobs to Kansas City.…

Harley-Davidson threatens to close Kansas City plant, move to Pennsylvania

Justin Kendall — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:30:00 -0500

First, Folgers and now Harley-Davidson. The motorcycle maker is threatening to bolt Kansas City unless plant employees bow to wage and other concessions.…

Kansas education officials think journalism is a dead-end job

David Martin — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:00:00 -0500

Of the mind that reporters are going the way of blacksmiths, the Kansas Department of Education plans to stop funding journalism courses with vocational-ed dollars.

State officials want the Career and Technical Education fund to emphasize "high-demand, high-skill and high-wage fields," according to a report in The Topeka Capital-Journal. The journalism profession does not fit this criteria, a fact made sadly evident by the most recent round of pack-up-your-AP-sytlebooks at The Kansas City Star.…

Kansas, Missouri jobsless rates fall -- barely

Joe Tone — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:00:00 -0500

The latest local job news is good news, with unemployment rates falling in both Kansas and Missouri. And Kansas' rate has fallen even further below the national average, which labor experts still describe as "totally in the shitter."…

Power & Light valet tells Cordish to tuck off

Ben Palosaari — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 08:00:00 -0500

Everybody knows it's a tough job market out there, and people are being let go in corporate austerity moves in every industry. But, as a recently canned Power & Light District valet claims, good old-fashioned "I don't like what you did" firings might still alive and well in the workplace.…

H&R Block cutting 400 jobs -- 165 in KC

Justin Kendall — Wed, 19 May 2010 09:10:30 -0500

H&R Block calls it "strategic realignment." But it's really just good old fashioned layoffs.…

Attention, jobless journalists: New York Times opening KC bureau

Nadia Pflaum — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 06:00:00 -0500

The New York Times plans to open a Kansas City, Missouri, bureau this year, Business

Week reported Friday, citing an internal staff memo circulated by national editor Rick Berke and deputy national editor Adam Bryant.

The memo also announced a forthcoming Phoenix bureau.

The Independence Examiner notes that this would be the NYT's second spin in Kansas City -- they closed their former KC bureau in 1992.…

Dan Hesse, quit yer bitchin' about the local media

Nadia Pflaum — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 17:25:37 -0500

Dear Dan Hesse,
I read your complaints about the negativity of the local media in yesterday's Kansas City Business Journal. You're all snippy because in addition to going bonkers over each new gadget Sprint unveils, local media also write about the stuff that affects people who live here -- hello, layoffs?…

Poor people eligible for free cellphones

David Martin — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 08:43:12 -0600

Being poor doesn't mean you have to look for a pay phone when emergency strikes.

Since the 1980s, the federal government has helped low-income people get access to telephone service.…

DST laying off 760. Number of layoffs in KC uncertain

Justin Kendall — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:50:37 -0600

Kansas-City based DST Systems is cutting about 760 jobs due to the recession, the Kansas City Business Journal reports.

How many jobs will be lost in Kansas City? It's unclear.…

Lose a job? Marmaduke will lick your face for $1

David Martin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0600

When joblessness visits a household, a newspaper subscription can seem frivolous. In recognition of this, the Lawrence Journal-World is offering the unemployed an opportunity to take the paper for 13 weeks for just $1.

The deal is available to the those who live within the Journal-World's delivery area.…

KC Star lays off 'about a dozen employees'

Justin Kendall — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 06:55:07 -0600

Tuesday saw yet another round of layoffs at The Kansas City Star. Former business reporter Dan Margolies wasn't around to write the story (he'd left the paper in October to join Reuters' Washington bureau), an unfortunate part of his former job.…

Unhappy New Year: Sprint cutting thousands of jobs

Justin Kendall — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:18:23 -0600

Sprint Nextel could cut as many as 2,500 jobs.

Just saw the "breaking news" from KMBC Channel 9, which says the cuts are company wide and should be done by December 31.…

More layoffs coming at Sprint

Justin Kendall — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:31:37 -0600

More layoffs are coming at Sprint Nextel.

This time, they're cutting "dozens" of jobs in the wholesale division, which employs 575 people.

There have probably been other layoffs that I don't recall, but in January, Sprint announced that it would shed 8,000 jobs

Sprint layoffs is always a familiar story.

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Not to be outdone by American Airlines, Missouri cuts 700 jobs

Justin Kendall — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:57:06 -0500

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon announced today that 700 jobs will be cut to make up for a shortfall in state tax revenues.

Prime Buzz says the cuts are on top of $430 million in budget slashing earlier this year.…

American Airlines cutting 700 jobs nationwide, closing KC overhaul base

Justin Kendall — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:05:41 -0500

More bad news on the layoffs front. American Airlines is shutting down its overhaul base at Kansas City International Airport in September 2010 and cutting 700 employees nationwide, according to reports this morning.

KMBC Channel 9 has the letter to employees announcing the shut down and layoffs, and KMBC's Micheal Mahoney reports that 500 people (450 of them union workers) work at the overhaul base.

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill tweeted her feelings.

My heart goes out to the great American Airlines machinists & their families in KC that got word today that their overhaul base is closing.

Sentiments many of us share.

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Hallmark cutting even more jobs

Justin Kendall — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:30:47 -0500

Hallmark is cutting more jobs -- somewhere between 225 and 250 jobs by the end of the year, the Kansas City Business Journal reports.

The cuts were announced yesterday -- hopefully in person, not in sympathy card form. No word on how many jobs in Kansas City will be lost.

Add these cuts to the 750 jobs Hallmark announced in April.…

175 workers bought out at GM's Fairfax plant

Justin Kendall — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:54:17 -0500

General Motors bought out 175 workers at the automaker's Fairfax plant, KCTV Channel 5 reports.

The workers took the deal Monday; they were part of 6,000 buyouts.

The New York Times says the struggling auto giant will shed another 7,500 by the end of the year.…