Iowa Starting Line – Workers Almanac Natural List
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‘I’m done.’ Des Moines worker moving to Germany
Inside: News about and for the working class Share with a friend Amie here with a quick correction: I had the wrong link for Workers Memorial Day events around Iowa on April 28! Here’s the correct one, and I’ve also changed it on our website. (Thanks to reader Caroline L. for catching that!) If break…
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College grads can’t find work. Could this help?
Inside: News about and for the working class Share with a friend Amie here. It’s a tough job market for recent college graduates right now. But at least two colleges in Iowa are trying to help bridge the workforce gap. “It is a highly competitive world right now for graduates,” said Rick Sanders, president of…
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More Iowa health care workers unionize; here’s how
Inside: News about and for the working class Share with a friend Logan Thomas, a nurse at River Hills Community Health Center in Ottumwa, had never unionized before. But he saw the news of thousands of nurses at UnityPoint hospitals in Des Moines unionizing over working conditions, and knew he wanted to try at his…
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Why Iowa women earn less than men
Inside: News about and for the working class Share with a friend Amie here. Today—Thursday, March 26—is Equal Pay Day, a day highlighting how much less the average American woman makes compared to the average American man. In 2025, women made 18.6% less than men, meaning they’d have to work all of 2025, plus January,…
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State wants to force biased curriculum on universities
Inside: News about and for the working class Share with a friend Amie here. Dr. Chris Martin is a professor of communication and media at the University of Northern Iowa (and was also one of my UNI professors back in the aughts). But he may be better known for his advocacy for workers. Martin’s the…
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Unpaid workers making up for Medicaid shortfall
Inside: News about and for the working class Share with a friend Amie here. This week, I spoke with an Iowa woman who says the government’s Medicaid cuts mean she’s relying on unpaid care work from her friends. Christie Cellman is a 39-year-old Ottumwa native. She has her master’s in social work and is…
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Des Moines workers locked out. Here’s how to help
Inside: News about and for the working class Share with a friend Amie here. Workers at a Des Moines plant have been locked out of work by their employer. But what is a lockout—and how can you support workers right now? Watch the latest edition of Clocked In on: YouTube Facebook TikTok …
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7 Brew workers left out in the cold
Inside: News about and for the working class Share with a friend Amie here. An Iowa TikTok creator thought she was calling attention to a specific problem in Des Moines. She had no idea the problems at this coffee chain were so widespread—until hundreds of messages began pouring in. “The number of people I’ve…
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Evelyn K. Davis’ legacy of helping working-class Iowans
Inside: News about and for the working class Share with a friend Amie here. If you’re from the Des Moines area, you probably know the name Evelyn K. Davis. There’s a park named after her, a community center, and more. But who was Evelyn K. Davis, and why does her legacy still matter for working…
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This former Iowa town was a workers’ utopia
Inside: News about and for the working class Share with a friend Amie here. Have you heard about the Iowa town that became a utopia for Black workers over a hundred years ago? (It’s one of my favorite Black History Month stories.) Watch the latest edition of Clocked In on: YouTube Instagram Facebook TikTok Buxton,…
