Amie Rivers

Striking Ingredion workers in Cedar Rapids say it’s more than their livelihoods at stake if the company refuses to negotiate with them: Hazardous and potentially explosive chemicals and starches used to make Ingredion products are now being manufactured by replacement workers with unknown training. It’s especially dire because Ingredion is located not in an out-of-the-way…

Maybe you’ve noticed a trend of companies giving shareholders and executives even-bigger piles of money while offering their employees a pittance. One recent example from Iowa: Case New Holland International (CNHi), which has a plant in Burlington where 440 United Auto Workers members are on strike, noted in late July it had amassed “record consolidated…

In the midst of running her first Iowa Senate campaign, Deb VanderGaast had another big life change to deal with: Closing Tipton Adaptive Daycare, her disability-friendly daycare of 17 years. VanderGaast, a 54-year-old Tipton resident, talked about the ways she’d improve the lot of educators and childcare providers were she to be elected. As she…

Ingredion officials brought half a dozen armed guards to negotiations with unarmed workers in what union officials called “despicable” and “a clear attempt to silence and intimidate union members.” However, it appears it was the hotel revoking conference rooms that ultimately caused negotiations to break down this week. Catch me up Around 122 Ingredion workers…

As the strike of unionized Ingredion workers in Cedar Rapids continues well into its second month, company leaders publicized their side, frustrated workers promptly refuted it, and the Cedar Rapids City Council has opted to take a “work it out yourselves” approach. Ingredion, a manufacturer of starches, sweeteners, and other food products, took out a…

A big, BIG rail strike was temporarily averted in the early morning hours Thursday after the rail companies finally agreed to concessions regarding punishing attendance and time-off policies. Maybe you’ve only heard about the #railstrike in the context of how bad it would have been for the US economy or railroad companies’ bottom line. But…

Christopher Smith wants you to know two things. One: A nationwide railroad strike is the last thing his Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation (SMART) members, some 700 of whom work for Iowa’s rail carriers, want. For the last three years, and through an arduous federally mandated bargaining process, they’ve tried to come to an…

Iowa is one of five states that will receive new money to upgrade software, reduce backlogs, identify fraud and increase training at their state employment offices, thanks to a round of grants courtesy of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) will receive $2,937,757 from the US Department of Labor’s Employment and…

Unionized workers at Ingredion in Cedar Rapids have held the line for a month, striking to keep their pay, benefits, and retirement intact, and in support of those who would lose their jobs. “We’re hanging in there,” said Mike Moore, president of the local union. “We’re getting through it.” Workers affiliated with the Baking, Confectionery,…