It’s Thursday, May 8, 2025.
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Amie here. Happy graduation month to Iowa’s newest high school and college grads!
Though they’re graduating into a strong labor market—teens and young 20-somethings have had higher wage growth since 2020, and are more employed than other age groups—Trump’s attacks on the federal workforce, apprenticeships, and higher education, plus tariffs that threaten to increase prices on everything, could erase those gains.
And I won’t even mention student loans.
It’s all part of what Michael Podhorzer calls Trump’s “War on Working People,” which has included mass firings and hiring freezes on the federal workforce, eliminating policies and entire labor departments tasked with helping workers organize and stay safe on the job, and even eliminating a raise in wages for federal contractors.
But workers are fighting back. Unions are filing lawsuits and workers are organizing protests and town halls to raise awareness.
Per Podhorzer:
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“Trump’s orchestrated attack on unions and civil service institutions exposes a deliberate strategy aimed at consolidating authoritarian power by eroding the economic and social foundations upon which democracy rests,” he writes. “Recognizing and resisting these attacks, as previous generations have, as increasing numbers of people are doing today, remains essential to safeguarding democratic governance and shared prosperity.”
Are you graduating, or know someone who is? What are your/their concerns about graduating into this economy? Email me.
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Amie Rivers
Newsletter Editor, Iowa Starting Line
Member, COURIER UNITED, WGA East
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Working class news you can use:
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Labor attorney runs for Iowa Attorney General: Nate Willems, a labor attorney from Mount Vernon, announced this week he would be running for Attorney General as a Democrat, and promptly raised more than $130,000 in the first 24 hours after the announcement. The seat is currently held by Republican Brenna Bird, but Willems may not face her; Bird is rumored to be eyeing the governor’s mansion in 2026.
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Iowa’s economy sucks, and the trade wars have just started: Besides the national economy going into reverse, economists are warning Iowa’s labor market “continues to stagnate,” and that’s before tariffs have really hit soybean farmers and pork producers. We’ll know how bad it is once the April jobs report comes out next week. (CBS, Axios)
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China won’t eat our pork anymore—will you? After China stopped all pork shipments because of Trump’s tariffs, the National Pork Board has launched a marketing campaign hoping to convince Americans to make up the difference. Whether it moves the needle on American pork consumption will matter here: Iowa leads all states in hog production, and more than 80,000 Iowa jobs are dependent on the pork industry. (The Economic Times, Iowa Pork Producers Association, USDA, National Pork Producers Council)
- Another tariff hit: John Deere. Maybe Trump could send payments to farmers who lose income because of his tariffs, but they’ll still come down hard on manufacturers like John Deere, which had been counting on a good year after the ag downturn of last year. (IPR)
- DOGE cuts 600 Iowa AmeriCorps workers: “So, we’re going to have fewer young people coming to the state of Iowa,” said Jason Taylor, executive director of Bur Oak Land Trust in Iowa City, where nine of its AmeriCorps members had their service cut short. (IPR)
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Iowa Republicans might eliminate the sales tax on toilet paper, saving the average Iowan a whopping $2.65 per year. “Go to town, Iowa. Buy a couple of candy bars,” Ed Tibbetts writes, pointing out the state likes to tout the small things but in reality is placing less of the tax burden on the richest Iowans and more of it on us. (Along the Mississippi)
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Independence workers sue after repeated attacks: Seven current and former Independence Mental Health Institute employees filed lawsuits against the facility after they said their employer’s lack of security—no cameras, no security guards, malfunctioning radios and improper training—directly resulted in repeated assaults on staff members by patients. “I believe we are looking at perhaps the most dangerous work conditions of any private or public employer in the state of Iowa,” said Darin Luneckas, one of the attorneys working on the case. “What we’ve seen so far may just be the tip of the iceberg.” (KCRG)
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Iowa’s basic income pilot holds Ankeny community conversation: UpLift—The Central Iowa Basic Income Pilot (which was literally banned by Iowa Republicans who can’t stand the idea of giving poor people money with no strings attached) will host a conversation on “workforce stability and economic opportunity” on Monday, May 12, from 10-11:30 a.m. at the Ankeny Public Library. RSVP here.
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Stamp Out Hunger is Saturday: The National Association of Letter Carriers union is holding its annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive for local food pantries this Saturday, May 10. Set out a bag of food by your mailbox or mail slot before you mail comes that day. (St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune)
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Want to salt a Starbucks? “Salting” is an organizing tactic where folks get jobs at places with the goal of unionizing the workforce, and it’s one Starbucks Workers United is now trying. They’re asking folks who want to salt a Starbucks to fill out this form. (Teen Vogue, SBWU)
- A new May Day poll shows Americans like pro-worker policies, including requiring businesses to provide paid sick leave and parental leave, raising the minimum wage, and putting a cap on how much a CEO can make. (YouGov)
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Iowa layoffs coming up in the next month:
– Corteva Agriscience in Johnston is laying off 44 workers by Friday.
– RTX in Cedar Rapids is laying off four workers by May 15.
– BHFO Inc. in Cedar Rapids is laying off 32 workers by May 16.
– Wells Fargo in West Des Moines is laying off 34 workers by May 18, 14 workers by June 1, and 46 workers by June 15.
– Pitney Bowes in Urbandale is closing and laying off 168 workers by May 19. Read more here.
– Michael’s Cookies in Clear Lake is closing and laying off 29 workers by May 23.
– Durham School Services is laying off 62 workers by May 31. Read more here.
– Whirlpool in Amana is laying off 651 workers by June 1. Read more here.
– US Cellular is laying off 497 workers in several cities by June 2: Eight workers in Altoona; nine in Ames; seven in Ankeny; eight in Cedar Falls; 183 at their call center in Cedar Rapids, plus another 31 at three Cedar Rapids locations; seven in Clinton; 10 in Coralville; six in Council Bluffs; nine in Creston; 17 at two locations in Davenport; seven in Decorah; 11 in Des Moines; 18 in Dubuque; 10 in Fort Dodge; six in Indianola; eight in Iowa City; 39 in Johnston; nine in Keokuk; six in Knoxville; six in Manchester; seven in Marshalltown; nine in Mason City; eight in Muscatine; 15 in Ottumwa; five in Sioux City; 11 in Waterloo; 13 in West Burlington; and 14 at two locations in West Des Moines. Read more here.
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