It’s Worker Wednesday Thursday, Mar. 20, 2025.
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Amie here. I’ve written about labor and unions and union organizing in Iowa for Starting Line for a few years now. Yet, I am not, nor have ever been in my journalism career, a card-carrying union member.
That is, until today.
My Iowa Starting Line coworkers, as well as our coworkers in Courier Newsroom’s other state newsrooms across the country, have officially unionized under Courier United, affiliated with Writers Guild of America-East.
We’re also fortunate to have been officially recognized by our company without having to fight for recognition. Given the horror stories people keep telling me about their union-busting bosses, I feel very lucky.
Also: It’s exciting! I wanted to tell y’all for so long and now finally can! HUZZAH!
Now comes the fun part: Negotiating a first contract!
And that’s where I’m soliciting advice: What’s something you wish you would have known when you started negotiating your contract?
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Working class news you can use:
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Iowa Republicans rush anti-apprenticeship, anti-union contracting bill: Iowa Republicans passed a controversial bill this week stopping local governments from requiring workforce training standards for contractors on public projects, a major blow to union and non-union contractors in Iowa that have established training programs. The legislation was rushed through both chambers on Wednesday and now heads to Gov. Kim Reynolds for her signature. Zachary Oren Smith has the latest. (Iowa Starting Line)
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They’re really still trying Iowa DOGE: Gov. Kim Reynolds claims it’s not a hiring freeze, but any state agency that wants to hire anyone right now has to kiss the ring justify it to her Department of Health and Human Services director Kelly Garcia first. “Uncertainty abounds right now in government,” said House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst. “They don’t need any more uncertainty.” (IPR)
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Mt. Unpleasant: Municipal utility workers and the City of Mt. Pleasant continue to negotiate their contract after a public rally outside of last month’s Public Utilities Board meeting. Workers say the city is attempting to strip their contract of everything except what’s legally required, which in Iowa these days is just base wages. (Southeast Iowa Union)
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Union contract with TSA canceled by Trump: Despite a contract being, like, a very legal document, the Department of Homeland Security announced it was just cutting up its contract (which runs through 2031) with 47,000 Transportation Security Agency workers. Some argue a strike—which would immediately shut down airports—is the only tactic to get it back. Also of note: Privatizing TSA is absolutely a Project 2025 wishlist item. (Labor Notes, How Things Work)
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No tax on overtime? On its face, it seems like a good policy that Iowa and other states may be right to consider. But, as EPI points out, there’s potential downstream problems: “By giving workers who receive overtime an after-tax pay boost—at no expense to employers—there would be less pressure on employers to reduce overwork or raise workers’ wages.” (EPI)
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More L’s for Trump: A judge made him reinstate Gwynne Wilcox, the first Black woman to chair the National Labor Relations Board, whom he fired Jan. 27. The judge said, and I quote, “An American president is not a king.” Also, he has to reinstate up to 6,000 illegally fired USDA workers. (Reuters, Spectrum News, IPR)
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Social Security cuts: Elon Musk called Social Security a “ponzi scheme,” and then the Social Security Administration announced it would cut 7,000 jobs and six of its 10 regional offices. Retirees are understandably pissed, but our state should be too: Social Security accounts for an estimated 7.1% of Iowa’s total personal income. (In These Times, Iowa Capital Dispatch, My Two Cents)
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The PRO Act is back: Here’s who’s sponsoring it this time around (no Grassley or Ernst, we see) and how the major unions are gearing up to fight for it this time. (Common Dreams)
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Sued for anti-DEI memo: Two teachers unions are now suing the Department of Education for threatening to withhold federal funding for any race-conscious practice in schools. (Good, ’cause we’re sick of seeing schools cave.) (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
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Petitions to sign: Here’s one to your member of Congress on not cutting Medicaid to pay for tax breaks for the rich; here’s another that urges RFK Jr. to protect farm workers from bird flu.
- Iowa layoffs coming up in the next month:
– JELD-WEN Inc. in Grinnell is closing and laying off 298 workers by Friday. Read more here.
– Lutheran Services of Iowa is laying off 10 workers in Des Moines, three workers in Sioux City, and two workers in Waterloo by Mar. 28. The company is doing a second round of layoffs by Apr. 25, laying off another six workers in Des Moines, four workers in Sioux City, and two workers in Waterloo. It will lay off one more worker in Des Moines by June 27. Read more here.
– John Deere Des Moines Works in Ankeny is laying off nine workers by Mar. 31, 38 workers by Apr. 7, and 72 workers by Apr. 28. Read more here.
– NSK-AKS Precision Ball Company in Clarinda is closing and laying off 54 workers by Mar. 31. Read more here (🔐).
– Wells Fargo in West Des Moines is laying off 33 workers by Apr. 4.
– Collins Aerospace in Cedar Rapids is laying off 160 workers by Apr. 14. Read more here.
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In a guest post for Starting Line, Gwen Frisbie-Fulton has some thoughts on the rich corporate types that seem to be in control of our government right now:
“When I was ten, my dad didn’t get paid for a big job, but he didn’t have the money to sue for what he was owed. Another time, he and a co-worker found out they were the only active job site for their company, and soon enough, the company declared bankruptcy, leaving them out to dry while the owners protected themselves, liquidated assets, and walked away to start a new company.”
“I grew up clear on who was on our side and who wasn’t.”
Read more here.
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