Iowa worker news and layoffs for Oct. 29, 2026:
- AFSCME International President Patrick Moran recently called for Fatou Traore’s return to the United States. Traore was a University of Iowa hospital custodian and AFSCME member who was deported to Sierra Leone on Oct. 13, leaving behind her husband and four sons. “AFSCME stands with Fatou and her family,” Moran said. “Fatou is a public service worker, a mother and a member of our community. Bring her home to her children.” Traore was scheduled to be deported by Sierra Leone to Côte d’Ivoire this week, where she is terrified she will be imprisoned or killed.
- Dolores Huerta, a longtime activist and advocate for farmworkers, died this week at the age of 96. “Iowa MMJ’s work is only possible because of steadfast organizers like Dolores Huerta, whose legacy reminds us that lasting change is never given freely,” the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice said in a release yesterday. “We remember her rallying cry, ‘¡Sí Se Puede!’”
- ICE is ramping up stops and detentions of California farmworkers, already among the most exploited workers in the US.
- In a world of increasing grocery prices, Aldi is bucking the trend. Here’s how they’re able to do that.
- Meanwhile, Dollar General is being sued by Iowa and other states for charging higher prices than what the sticker prices show.
- How TSA workers at a Florida airport prevented the outsourcing of their work and got TSA Gold canceled.
- In just seven years, the price for a starter home has doubled.
- Why is Wall Street doing great and we’re not?
- Here’s how AI could actually be pro-worker, according to EPI.
- NAFTA disasta: Iowa has lost over 13,000 manufacturing jobs and 14,000 family farms since the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed in 1994, according to Public Citizen.
Upcoming layoffs:
All information taken from Iowa Workforce Development’s WARN Act website. Read WARN Act and Iowa WARN Act criteria here.
- RTX in Cedar Rapids is laying off 1 worker by Friday.
- Wells Fargo in West Des Moines is laying off:
5 workers by Saturday
35 workers by Nov. 14
10 workers by Nov. 28
2 workers by Dec. 12
86 workers by Dec. 26
Read more here. - Winnebago Industries in Forest City is laying off:
51 workers by Nov. 9
27 workers by Nov. 30 - Cambridge Investment Research in Fairfield is laying off 33 workers by Nov. 11. Read more here.
- Carry On Trailer in Missouri Valley is closing and laying off 79 workers by Nov. 29. Read more here.
