Iowa worker news briefs, Oct. 15, 2026:
- Latina workers are rare employment bright spot: While Black, white, and Latino employment rates are flattening or even declining in recent months, the rate for Latinas continues to grow, according to EPI.
- Workers are still dying of heat, this time in Mississippi.
- We’re still boycotting Starbucks until they negotiate with their workers’ union, and now Philadelphia’s City Council is encouraging it too.
- 83% of AFL-CIO members are “extremely motivated” to vote this November, up from 73% in the last midterm election in 2022.
- Union endorsements: AFSCME Council 61 in Iowa, as well as the national AFSCME, endorsed Lindsay James for US House in northeast Iowa’s District 2 this week. “We need leaders who will stand with workers, respect organized labor, and fight for an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top,” said Council 61 AFSCME President Todd Copley.// Jeff Kurtz, former chairman on the state legislative board for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, recently endorsed Dave Bushaw for US House in northeast Iowa’s District 2. “I will endorse a candidate that chooses the fruit of working men and women’s labor over investment capital,” Kurtz said.
Upcoming layoffs:
All information taken from Iowa Workforce Development’s WARN Act website. Read WARN Act and Iowa WARN Act criteria here.
- Wells Fargo in West Des Moines is laying off:
14 workers by Saturday
5 workers by Oct. 31
35 workers by Nov. 14
10 workers by Nov. 28
47 workers by Jan. 27, 2027
Read more here. - RTX in Cedar Rapids is laying off 1 worker by Oct. 30.
- Winnebago Industries in Forest City is laying off:
51 workers by Nov. 9
27 workers by Nov. 30
67 workers by Mar. 26, 2027 - Carry On Trailer in Missouri Valley is closing and laying off 79 workers by Nov. 29. Read more here.
