It’s Worker Wednesday, Mar. 26, 2025.
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Amie here. There are lots of bills winding their way through the Iowa Legislature in a hurry now.
But this one stuck out.
I mentioned in last week’s newsletter how Iowa Republicans passed a controversial bill 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 last Wednesday and now awaits the signature of Gov. Kim Reynolds.
What I didn’t mention was the reaction from folks who actually do this sort of work for a living:
“Registered apprenticeship is the model that is used to train tradespeople; it has been for hundreds of years,” said Andy Roberts, president of the Iowa State Building & Construction Trades Council. “What is so wrong with requiring would-be developers who are asking for millions of dollars in incentives to make commitments to safety and workplace training when it comes to the projects they want subsidized by the public?”
“Apprenticeship programs, both union and non-union, produce high-quality workers who can do the job right the first time,” added Sen. Tom Townsend of Dubuque. “Irresponsible, out-of-state contractors that come in and use untrained, unqualified workers put projects at risk and cost our communities millions when they have to be re-done.”
Others said Iowa Republicans’ desire to gut anything they think has to do with labor unions was behind it—and that apprenticeships aren’t just for union members.
“The politicians that rammed this through clearly do not understand that apprenticeship programs are crucial to the construction industry’s advancement in Iowa and are supported by both union and non-union contractors,” said Jason Copple, President of the Central Iowa Building and Construction Trades Council.
Have you gone through an apprenticeship program? Email me and tell me: What do you think of this bill?
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Shameless plug: If you haven’t yet subscribed to Cornhole Champions, a podcast in which Zachary Oren Smith has bad takes that Avery and I disagree with (oh, and we talk about Iowa politics), definitely check it out.
This week it’s a video podcast, if you’re into that!
Other shameless plug: We need about another $500 to end our fundraising drive. That little button below helps get us there. Thank you!
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Working class news you can use:
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Threatened with deportation if they spoke out: Six Guatemalan nationals who worked for Iowa industrial egg supplier Centrum Valley Farms are suing the company, saying they were victims of human trafficking and claiming they and other immigrant workers were denied overtime pay. They also said a manager threatened them with deportation—including by bringing a gun to work. As Art Cullen pointed out in a recent column, Iowa’s economy depends on these immigrants, and legislators know it: “We still need undocumented people to do our dirty work. Those are the conflicting facts. The leaders wink. Food processing must go on.” (Iowa Capital Dispatch, Art Cullen’s Notebook)
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Iowa’s biofuels industry, soy farmers stopped by Trump tariffs: Between uncertain tariffs with Canada and Biden tax credits that Trump could undo, both Iowa farmers and Iowa biofuels companies are feeling the strain. Western Dubuque Biodiesel, a million-gallon-per-year biodiesel plant in Farley, has been idled since late December. “If I were to run today, I lose 46 cents a gallon,” said general manager Tom Brooks. “Under that previous credit, I would have made 15 to 20 cents a gallon.” (Des Moines Register)
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Iowa thinks nursing home staffing mandates should go away. Workers disagree: The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) filed a “friend of the court” brief in support of the new staffing requirements, arguing that Iowa and other states suing to stop the mandates are confusing “a workforce shortage with workers’ reduced demand for understaffed, underpaid positions.” SEIU alleges that care facilities’ history of understaffing has not only put residents at risk, it has greatly increased employees’ workload and risk of injury. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
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Funding for this year, next year maybe not: The University of Iowa’s graduate student worker union, COGS, said the university has now told them their multi-year contracts will only be honored a year at a time, due to federal funding uncertainty. “If they weren’t already freaking out or feeling precarious, they’re feeling extremely precarious now,” said COGS president Cary Stough. In an email, COGS noted it was “exploring all available options for recourse, including legal options,” because they noted: “Without guarantees of funding, graduate research and teaching is simply untenable.” (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
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UNI faculty against censorship bills: United Faculty, the faculty union at the University of Northern Iowa, came out against three bills in the Iowa Legislature: HF 269 (the “Freedom from Indoctrination Act), HF 295 (the “Accreditation Autonomy Act”), and HF 401 (the “Core Curriculum Act”), which they say “all seek to censor university faculty and bend the universities and their curriculum to an agenda that undermines critical inquiry, free speech, and student choice.” According to president Christopher Martin, “the bills endorse a radical agenda that seeks to muzzle free speech and violate the First Amendment.”
- Davenport city workers win good contract: Davenport Public Works workers unionized under Teamsters Local 238 ratified a new contract last week with the city that they say gives them “better wages, stronger protections, and long-overdue respect.”
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“You’re fired, uh, rehired”: After being told by multiple judges that Elon Musk can’t just unilaterally fire tens of thousands of federal workers, the Trump administration is attempting to rehire them. It isn’t going well. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
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Segregation: A thing the Trump administration doesn’t want to enforce. The federal government no longer explicitly prohibits contractors from having segregated restaurants, waiting rooms and drinking fountains, after Trump repealed a Civil Rights-era executive order which forbade things like “whites-only” restrooms and drinking fountains. (IPR)
- Trump explicitly coming after unions: He’s now mandating federal agencies report how much they spent negotiating labor union contracts for the past year, a sign that collective bargaining agreements could be the next target in a government cost-cutting push. (Bloomberg Law)
- Rally upcoming: The National Association of Letter Carriers is holding a rally to stop the privatization of the US Postal Service on Sunday, April 6, at South District Market in Iowa City. Here’s why Trump wants to do that. (EPI)
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Working on a union: Two workers at Collis Toolholder Corp. in Clinton ifiled this week to be represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Lodge 6.
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Iowa layoffs coming up in the next month:
– Lutheran Services of Iowa is laying off 10 workers in Des Moines, three workers in Sioux City, and two workers in Waterloo by Friday. 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 Monday, 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 Monday. 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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