‘I gotta choose between gas and bread for my kids’

August 6, 2026

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Welcome to Thursday’s Almanac, for and about Iowa’s workers.

If break time’s over, here’s the tl;dr:

‘I gotta choose between gas and bread:’ Workers on strike in Cedar Rapids
Upcoming Iowa layoffs and worker news briefs
Prison labor is profitable for the states, it turns out!

“I gotta choose between gas and bread for my kids. [Pactiv Evergreen’s] exact words [are], ‘Don’t chase the inflation.’ That’s … I don’t even know what to say to that.”

That’s Dan Derby, a quality inspector at packaging company Pactiv Evergreen in Cedar Rapids and the UAW Local 1024 vice chair. He’s worked at the company for 11 years.

A striking Pactiv Evergreen worker pickets outside the plant on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. (Amie Rivers / Iowa Starting Line)

But he and the 54 other skilled workers at the plant are tired of inflation eating up their paycheck.

They’re pushing for wages that better reflect the value of their work—and they say their fight is bigger than just the 54 workers there.

It’s this week’s top story.

Should companies start sharing more of the wealth? Reply and tell me.

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Amie Rivers

Newsletter Editor, Iowa Starting Line

Member, COURIER United (WGA East)

Email me

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Pizza delivery drivers in Iowa are getting shafted no matter where they work.
AI is only inevitable if you’re not fighting against it.

Information taken from Iowa Workforce Development’s WARN Act website. Read WARN Act and Iowa WARN Act criteria here.

Independence Premium Foods in Independence is laying off 41 workers by Sunday. Read more here.
Plastic Products Co. in West Branch is closing and laying off 77 workers by Aug. 14. Read more here.
Wells Fargo in West Des Moines is laying off:
43 workers by Aug. 22
20 workers by Sept. 5
20 workers by Sept. 19
7 workers by Oct. 3
Read more here.
BrandFX in Swea City is closing and laying off 56 workers by Aug. 31. Read more here.