Amie Rivers

Amie Rivers

Amie Rivers

Amie Rivers is Iowa Starting Line’s newsletter editor. She writes the weekly Worker’s Almanac edition of Iowa Starting Line, featuring a roundup of the worker news you need to know. Previously, she was an award-winning journalist at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier; now, she very much enjoys making TikToks and memes and getting pet photos in her inbox.

Have a story tip? Reach Amie at amie@iowastartingline.com. For local reporting in Iowa that connects the dots, from policy to people, sign up for Amie’s newsletter.

Latest from Amie Rivers

  • Labor

    Iowa Worker’s Almanac: Upcoming layoffs and news for workers

    What does a government shutdown mean for you? Politico has some good information here. (Also, the National Labor Relations Board site appears to be down, possibly because of this, so you may not be able to click on the links related to union efforts.) Gaining back the public space to assist workers: A group of 200 people gathered…

  • Labor

    Le Mars Kemps workers win strike, raises, pension

    Another group of workers won a pension back; it’s spreading! Around 186 workers at Kemps, a dairy plant in Le Mars, have won raises, a new health care plan, and a defined benefit pension in their first-ever work stoppage at the plant. The workers, who are organized with Teamsters Local 554, were on strike for 27 hours before coming…

  • Healthcare

    We sent Iowans nitrate tests to check their water. Here’s what they found

    We sent out 100 nitrate tests to Iowans across the state, who found levels that exceeded safety guidelines. Experts say these levels may increase cancer risk.

  • Labor

    Iowa Worker’s Almanac, Sept. 26: Layoffs and news for the working class

    This week’s Iowa Worker’s Almanac news briefs: Iowa ranks 43rd for teachers: A new WalletHub ranking puts Iowa 43rd of the 50 states and DC for teachers, taking into account opportunity, competition, academic, and work environment. “Iowa schools used to be our state’s crown jewel, so much so that we put ‘Foundation in Education’ on our quarter,”…

  • Money & Jobs

    150+ interviews, zero job offers: Iowa job market ‘rough,’ says grad

    The Iowa job market is abysmal right now, and one recent University of Iowa graduate is frustrated with how “rough” it is.

  • Labor

    Iowa Worker’s Almanac layoffs and news for Sept. 18, 2025

    Union rallies for Fort Madison prison workers: Prison health care workers unionized with AFSCME Council 61 held a rally Wednesday against a proposal from the state that would outsource prison health care across Iowa. “Whenever we see privatization, it’s not about looking out for the good of citizens,” said Charlie Wishman, president of the Iowa Federation of…

  • Rural

    Iowa farmers are struggling without a China trade deal

    Amie here. Harvest time is upon us, and Iowa farmers are supposed to have the third-largest harvest on record. Yet it all amounts to a hill of beans (literally) if nobody’s buying them. Iowa soybean farmers—and those in the wider ag industry—are hurting in a big way, and they’re not getting any relief with President Donald…

  • Healthcare

    Iowa leads the nation in binge drinking—and faces higher cancer risks from alcohol

    Iowa is fourth in the nation for rates of alcohol-related cancers, and highest in the Midwest.

  • Labor

    Iowa Worker’s Almanac news, unionizing, layoffs and more: Sept. 12, 2025

    Miller-Meeks said she liked clean energy tax credits, but her vote for the Big Beautiful Bill shows she didn’t care, writes Stefanie Warnick, a union construction worker with the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA) Local 43. “Our state needs leaders who will fight for the livelihoods of Iowans, not just sign letters and then vote…

  • Labor

    Support for capitalism at ‘record low,’ says new survey

    Americans are starting to sour on capitalism. That’s according to the latest Gallup survey, which found the number of US adults who say they support capitalism—”an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods,” per Merriam-Webster—is at a record low. To be clear, “record low” is still more than half—54% of all adults still…