The newsletter for the Iowa worker.
It’s Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023.
|
|
|
Hey folks, it’s Amie.
We all want to see companies and organizations do right by their workers, particularly ones whose products and services we like or agree with.
Seeing some undermine or fight labor unions—like Starbucks has been doing—leaves a bitter taste in your mouth.
So I’m watching closely to see what happens as bargaining continues between Planned Parenthood of North Central States (PPNCS) and their 430-some employees across five states, including Iowa.
After 32 bargaining sessions since the union was formed under Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in October of 2022, employees at PPNCS locations in Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska had enough, and held informational pickets to garner public support.
Nikoel went to the Des Moines picket on Tuesday morning to find out more; watch her video here:
|
Workers seem to have similar grievances as other health care workers: low wages and understaffing.
“We struggle to have adequate staffing to do this essential work,” said Ashley Schmidt, a training and development specialist serving Nebraska and western Iowa, and one of the few remaining original members of the bargaining team. “We refuse to pit abortion rights against workers’ rights.”
For their part, Planned Parenthood executives say they want to find common ground with workers.
“We respect and echo our colleagues’ interest in reaching an initial contract as quickly as possible,” Molly Gage, vice president of human resources at Planned Parenthood North Central States, said in a statement to Nikoel.
President and CEO Ruth Richardson agreed.
“The bargaining teams have found common ground on several tentative agreements and both are working hard to get to a final first contract soon,” Richardson wrote.
Another bargaining session was scheduled for today. I hope it’s a productive one!
|
|
|
Iowa Worker Highlights 🧑⚕️
|
AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
|
-
Organizing pharmacists: The IAM union announced this month it was working to organize retail pharmacy workers across the country, specifically targeting workers at CVS and Walgreens, in an effort called the Pharmacy Guild. Pharmacy workers have said they are overworked and understaffed. “These are not new problems, but they have intensified exponentially due to rampant corporate greed and consolidation, as well as increased workload and job responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Guild said in a statement.
-
Defrauding the government? That’s what a new lawsuit claims happened at two Iowa trucking companies. Iowa Legal Aid and Farmworker Justice are suing Kuchenbecker Excavating and H & S Farms-Livestock, both of Rake, Iowa, for bringing in workers from South Africa on guest farmworker visas and instead putting them to work as heavy truck drivers, as well as paying them far below the going rate for such jobs. More than 40 workers who came over on those visas apparently quit before their contracts were up, saying the jobs were misrepresented to them.
-
UAW members approve new contract: 64% of 150,000 UAW members at the Big Three auto plants (Ford, General Motors and Stellantis) voted yes on a new three-year contract this month, already agreed to by their employers. The contract gives them double- and even triple-digit wage increases, faster progression of pay increases, improvements in retirement benefits, and even the reopening of a shuttered Stellantis plant in Illinois that will bring back more than 5,000 lost jobs.
|
|
|
Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Amie Rivers. Iowa Starting Line is happily free to read for everyone. Your financial support means a lot to us. Donate here.
|
|
|
Copyright © 2023 Courier Newsroom. All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.
Our mailing address is:
Courier Newsroom
611 Pennsylvania Ave SE
Washington, DC 20003-4303
|
|
|
|
