It’s Wednesday, June 19, 2024.
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“As a matter of politics, the new legislation might be defensible. As a matter of constitutional law, it is not.”
That’s US District Judge Stephen Locher, issuing a temporary injunction against Iowa’s SF 2340. It’s a win for the Department of Justice and a coalition of Iowa-based civil rights groups who challenged the legality of the new law, which would have gone into effect July 1.
As expected, the Supremacy Clause had, well, supremacy over the state’s arguments—which basically means Iowa can’t make our own immigration laws, because the federal government already does that.
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Iowans rally in opposition to SF 2340, a new immigration law that targets legal US residents, on May 9, 2024. (Avery Staker/Iowa Starting Line)
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“The court was right to block this cruel and blatantly unconstitutional law,” said Emma Winger, deputy legal director at the American Immigration Council. “If it had been allowed to go into effect, it would have meant that even people currently living in the US lawfully could have been arrested, imprisoned, and forced to leave the country.”
“The judge’s ruling gives us more time to keep fighting,” said Guillermo Trevino, Jr., of St. Joseph Catholic Churches in West Liberty and Columbus Junction. “I pray Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has a change of heart and does not appeal the judge’s decision.”
Gov. Kim Reynolds didn’t have an argument against the Supremacy Clause. But she had plenty of political talking points!
“More crime, overdose deaths, and human trafficking,” Reynolds wrote on X (Twitter). “All because Biden won’t do his job!”
Fact check: WRONG.
And re: President Biden: He’s been using executive orders where he can, on the US/Mexico border and for undocumented longtime residents, while Republicans are fighting among themselves and doing nothing.
It’s really easy to demonize an entire group of folks; fear and anger get the best ratings. But what if Iowa really lost the contributions of all our immigrant workers? We might find out July 1.
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This week’s Iowa worker news:
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Current and former Bruegger’s Bagels workers, along with supporters from Starbucks Workers United and others, picket outside of the Bruegger’s Bagels location at South Riverside Drive in Iowa City to call attention to low wages and union-busting tactics by their company during a picket June 15, 2024. (Courtesy Bruegger’s Workers United)
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Workers trying to unionize for better pay at a national bakery chain in Iowa City and Coralville were inspired by Iowa City Starbucks workers—so much so that they started their own union, Bruegger’s Workers United, right here in Iowa. I talked to the organizer about why she started it and how you can help.
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The former director of an Iowa nursing home is suing: Stephanie Schlegelmilch says her former employer, Avoca Specialty Care in Pottawattamie County, as well as its owner, Care Initiatives of West Des Moines, did not provide enough space or staff for its residents, leading to inadequate care and an unsafe environment. Iowa is one of the worst states in terms of nursing home staffing levels.
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A national heat stress standard for workers that OSHA has been working on since 2021 is now under review by the Biden administration. Details haven’t been released, but it’s likely to affect both outdoor and indoor workers once the heat index surpasses 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and might go into effect as early as next summer. (Add your voice to the conversation by signing this United Farm Workers petition here.) The CDC tracks heat’s effect on workers daily, and Iowa is not immune.
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The Supreme Court just made it harder to protect the jobs of workers during unionization: Specifically, SCOTUS said temporary injunctions were improper when the National Labor Relations Board issues orders for companies to reinstate workers that were fired during unionization campaigns. The case concerned seven workers fired by a unionizing Starbucks store in Tennessee. “Working people have so few tools to protect and defend themselves when their employers break the law. That makes today’s ruling by the Supreme Court particularly egregious,” said Lynne Fox, president of Starbucks Workers United.
- A win for Uber and Lyft drivers: Rideshare drivers have tried organizing for better pay and hours for years. They finally got a win for the first time last month in Minnesota. Here’s how they did it.
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Iowa layoffs coming up:
– John Deere Waterloo Works in Waterloo is laying off 192 workers by June 21.
– PSSI in Perry is laying off 76 workers by June 28.
– Tyson Foods in Perry is closing and laying off 1,276 workers by June 28 (read more about that here).
– DTG2Go in Storm Lake is closing and laying off five workers by June 30.
– Family Resources Inc. in Davenport is laying off 26 workers by June 30.
– Glenwood Resource Center in Glenwood is closing and laying off 235 workers by June 30 (read more about that here).
– Amcor in Des Moines is laying off 10 workers by July 1, one worker by Aug. 1, and nine workers by Sept. 1.
– Bridgestone in Des Moines is laying off 118 workers by July 5 (read more about that here).
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Gov. Kim Reynolds thought she could improve Iowa’s labor shortage by cutting off additional pandemic-related unemployment benefits from the federal government.
But not only did it not help the labor shortage, nor did it help Iowans who desperately needed the extra money, it hurt local economies as a result.
Ed Tibbetts wrote all about it this week.
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