On the morning of October 1st, Congresswoman Sharice Davids of Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District held an open roundtable with organized labor. Dozens of union leaders from both sides of the state line came and spoke with her for almost two hours.
Rep. Sharice Davids has been showing up consistently for organized labor since she won her seat in 2018. She has hosted quarterly meetings with organized labor ever since at Laborers Local 1290 union hall which also serves as the meeting place for the Tri-County AFL-CIO, except for during the pandemic when they met via Zoom.
Rep. Davids fielded questions from union leaders about a variety of topics, including immigration, construction, union issues, reproductive rights, standard government operations, social security, working across the aisle, and more. Rep. Davids is one of the most responsive and present elected officials in Kansas or Missouri for organized labor.
“She shows up, she has questions, she takes her own notes—which I think is funny because these [politicians] never do—the job that she has done has been incredible,” said Mike Kane, President of the Tri-County AFL-CIO and Political Director for Laborers Local 1290, while introducing the congresswoman. “This is a normal person who prioritizes us and we have to stand with her.”
Rep. Davids has an endearing habit of bringing a small notebook to her meetings with organized labor, writing down notes and questions brought to her from union leaders and directing staff to research and provide answers.
Rep. Davids opened the meeting by noting that they kept the government open, referencing the recently passed spending bill that kept the government from shutting down.
Rep. Davids then joked that next year, assuming the Democrats take back control of the house, they hope that with a Democratic majority they will be able to deliver legislation that benefits working people and tackles actual problems instead of just keeping the government afloat. Rep. Davids and union leaders spoke at length about passing the PRO Act to strengthen the working-class, but Democrats would need a number of things to go their way for that to occur.
One union leader from LIUNA spoke about issues at solar fields in the area, particularly some popping up in Kansas, and the use of non-union labor to build them. Some of the workers on these projects are reportedly making less than half of the wage of union workers doing the same work. These workers are in an apprenticeship that emerged in the last twenty-four months and disproportionately from states like Texas and Arkansas. Greater Kansas City Building and Construction Trades Business Manager Ralph Oropeza testified about the gold-standard that union apprenticeships offer, explaining how non-union apprenticeships break down the long-term integrity of the local workforce. Rep. Davids promised to follow up with union leaders and local power companies to see if they could tackle the issue together.
UAW Local 31 President Dontay Wilson informed Rep. Davids and the rest of the union leaders in the room of the upcoming shutdown of the GM Fairfax Assembly Plant. Workers from the plant will not truly have work from November of this year to February 2026. Wilson discussed conflicts between contract language around layoffs and state law, that could potentially lead to issues for union members who are laid off. Teamsters Local 41’s Roy Nixon shared that they had union carhaulers who would also be impacted by this shutdown. Both Nixon and Wilson emphasized that these impacts will go beyond wages and extend to potentially losing healthcare is action is not taken.
Rep. Davids seems likely to win her district again with relative ease, Johnson County has shifted so far to the Democrats these days that she is in a strong position to win reelection. She is endorsed by every major union in the state.
“From the top of the ticket, from Harris-Walz to the congressional races and here in Kansas specifically, we have a bunch of great state level races. I know a bunch of you guys have been very active in supporting them and I think we are going to break the Republican supermajority in the Kansas state legislature this year!” said Rep. Davids, who emphasized the importance of union support and boots on the ground from organized labor for pro-union and pro-worker candidates.
Tristin Amezcua-Hogan is the Editor of The Labor Beacon and a member of LIUNA Local 264. Tristin also serves as the Director of Communications for the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO and the Chair of the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance.
Tristin grew up as the son of a UA Local 669 member in Tecumseh, KS and the great-nephew of George C. Amis, longtime leader of the United Rubberworkers (now USW Local 307) in Kansas. Growing up in rural Kansas as the child of teen parents, Tristin quickly came to appreciate the life-changing benefit of a union job.
Tristin and his partner, Rebeca Amezcua-Hogan, are residents of the Westside, Kansas City, MO's historic Mexican neighborhood. They are proud members of Kansas City's New Reform Temple.
