Iowans Push To Make September “Union Appreciation Month”

The Polk County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday morning to designate the month of September as “Labor Union Appreciation Month.”

“Whereas, hard working men and women across the state of Iowa prove that our community is filled with the most creative, dynamic, and talented workers in the world,” part of the proclamation read. “During this Labor Union Appreciation Month we reaffirm that collective bargaining is a cornerstone of the American dream.”

Matt Sinovic, executive director of Progress Iowa, said his organization wanted to help coordinate an effort to designate the month in honor of labor workers to ensure unions got the recognition they deserved.

“I think sometimes it gets lost in the shuffle, the great work that labor unions have done and still do,” Sinovic said. “I think it’s really appropriate to recognize this over the course of the month, and one of the ways to do that is to get cities, counties and then states issuing proclamations and recognizing it as such.”

Union members have worked to reduce the gender and racial pay gaps significantly, Sinovic said, and fought for parental leave, paid sick leave and created child labor laws.

“There’s a benefit from the simple things we take for granted,” Sinovic said. “And it’s something that we talk about on one day, but I think it’s worth talking about for a month.”

Sinovic said the language the supervisors passed in the proclamation was similar to a proclamation Johnson County approves each year.

Johnson County Supervisor Rod Sullivan said the Johnson County Board of Supervisors has passed a labor-related proclamation for at least six years.

“Johnson County has 500-and-some employees and a number of them are members of two different unions with whom we work and six different bargaining units,” Sullivan said. “Those are the folks that make the county go, and so it’s really critical that we thank them for their work and point out the good working relationships that we have and celebrate it.

“I think the environment has been pretty tough for the labor union the last couple of years in Iowa, and I think my experience in Johnson County has been that by working together we provide the best possible service,” Sullivan said. “We are very pleased with the relationship we have and I don’t want to see anything change.”

Over the last several years, union membership has declined and workplace inequality has spiked, Sinovic said.

“In my opinion there is absolutely a correlation between the two,” Sinovic said. “It’s because there’s — as far as power structures go in our country — there’s only one type of organization whose sole purpose is to fight for the right of workers, and that’s labor unions.

“I think that’s a big reason why we’ve gotten out of whack in this country, where we see wages just stay stagnant and we see CEO pay and corporate profits skyrocketing,” he added. “We need workers to organize and speak out in their workplace for their rights and benefits and workplace safety. We need to balance that out and give families a seat at the table.”

Partnering organizations, elected officials and businesses in support of Labor Union Appreciation Month include: