The newsletter for the Iowa worker.

It’s Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024.

Jesse Case with the Teamsters Local 238 union
has had ENOUGH.

Iowa Republicans have been caving to corporate interests for years. But last week, after yet another bill undermining public workers was introduced by Republicans, Case took to YouTube to call for action.

A screenshot of a video of Jesse Case, secretary/treasurer for Teamsters Local 238.

Saying the Teamsters planned to have “rolling strikes,” along with “concerted activity” and “protests” across the state, Case struck a ready-for-action tone not unlike what we’ve seen from national union presidents.

“We’re fighting back. We’re not taking it,” Case says in the 3-minute video. “We’re not gonna let dark money flow into the state of Iowa and harm working families.”

He’s not the only one upset with the bill:

“This is an insult
to the hard-working prison guards, bus drivers, maintenance workers, teachers, people who brave the elements, clear snow from our highways and streets, and pick up our trash,” said Iowa Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Pam Jochum. “They deserve to have the opportunity to bargain for fair wages and benefits.”
“We fought against the Republican union-busting agenda in 2017, filling the Capitol with workers and debating the bill all through the night,” said Sen. Nate Boulton. “We won’t let them make another anti-worker power grab without a fight.”
“We are calling on everyone to take action,” said Iowa Federation of Labor President Charlie Wishman, asking Iowans to write their elected representatives (which you can do here).

Today, the union is holding a rally
at the Iowa Capitol against the bill. But Case said they won’t stop there.

“We’re going to shut down business across the state of Iowa if they shut down unions,” he warned. “We’re not going to let them burn down the house of labor … We’re here to fight.”

Watch the video here, then tell me: What do you think about his stance?

Amie Rivers

Community Editor, Iowa Starting Line

Email me

CORRECTION:
Last week I had some information about USPS workers and their fight for better working conditions. But I only included information about ONE of the USPS unions. My mistake! Here are all four:

National Association of Letter Carriers,
the union of city letter carriers;
American Postal Workers Union, the union of clerks behind the counter and inside the buildings;
Iowa Rural Letter Carriers Association, the union of rural carriers;
National Postal Mail Handlers Union, the union of those who mainly load and unload semi-trailers.

(thanks to Thomas K. for the tip!)

This week’s Iowa worker news:

Are you an independent contractor, or an employee? A new federal rule slated to go into effect in March will classify more workers as employees entitled to fair wages and anti-discrimination protections. Find out what it means for you here in this story from our sister paper in Arizona, the Copper Courier (
which also applies to Iowa workers).
Biden calls out price gouging and shrinkflation, rightly putting blame squarely where it belongs.
Making it harder to get the unemployment benefits you deserve? Just another day at the Iowa Legislature!
If you lose your job, how can you pay your tax debt?
Iowa might not be on the list of states that take away your driver’s license for unpaid income tax debt, but we do take away your professional licensure. Make that make sense.
You used to be able to walk into a restaurant,
sit down with the manager for a few minutes, and walk out with a job. But in the Year of Our AI Overlord 2024, now you have to take a weird and nonsensical personality quiz as an Avatar clone.
New Iowa unions: Unionized workers at Asplundh Tree Expert are petitioning to add to Sioux City employees to their union represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 55. One hundred technicians and nurses with BioLife Plasma Services
in Ankeny, Des Moines and West Des Moines want to form a union with AFSCME Council 61.

Thank you for your love and support.

Worker Education

For more information or to register by Mar. 11, click here.

Before You Punch Out 🥊

A lot of hay is made of the “problem at the border,” which is to say the people fleeing desperate conditions in their home countries (that the United States definitely helped facilitate, but that’s a topic for another day!).

But companies, which are allegedly people too, cross borders all the time to get cheaper labor, pay fewer (or no) taxes, and generally better their own financial situations while everyone else suffers. Where’s the outrage in that?

“When you think about our national political debate over immigration in this context, it is clear that we are lunatics,” says Hamilton Nolan in this
must-read essay.