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

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

ICE detains 4 Iowa workers on way to Fairfax construction site;
Upcoming Iowa layoffs and worker news;
Their website was shut down, so these workers started it back up.

Four immigrant Iowans were recently carpooling on their way to work when they were boxed in by unmarked ICE vehicles and jailed because of their suspected immigration status.

According to Escucha Mi Voz, all four were questioned about their identities, transported to the ICE office in Cedar Rapids, then detained at the Linn County Jail. None have criminal records.

The four work in construction—the same industry the state says will require 6,000 new workers over the next eight years.

The news comes in the wake of ICE pausing such traffic stops after high-profile killings in Texas and Maine—and President Donald Trump saying the stops should continue.

It’s this week’s top story.

Do you think ICE should go after undocumented workers, or those who employ them? Reply and tell me.

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Amie Rivers

Newsletter Editor, Iowa Starting Line

Member, COURIER United (WGA East)

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The cost of gas: The average Iowa household has paid an additional $516 on gasoline since the start of the Iran War on Feb. 28. The national average is $477 extra.
Food and fuel costs remain 3.5% higher than they were a year ago.
New layoff high: Iowa companies laid off 656 workers in June—the most in one month in a year, according to the Des Moines Register.
FSA staffing cuts: Iowa offices of the Farm Service Agency lost 6% of its county staff last year. That’s on top of losing 21% of its federal jobs.
Can AI replace a nurse? Twelve nurses lost their jobs to AI in New York City recently, while this week, hundreds of economists signed an open letter warning the technology will upend the economy if reforms aren’t made.
Voting on a union: Seven full- and part-time and PRN registered nurses at Bettendorf Health Care Center will vote Tuesday on whether or not to join the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 431.
Won a union: Sixteen full- and part-time clean ambassadors and team leaders with Mydatt Services/Block by Block in the downtown district of Iowa City voted 8-5 to be represented by Teamsters Local 238.

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

Ryder Systems in Waterloo is closing and laying off 153 workers by July 24, with workers told they can apply to work for the new company, HODGE. Read more here.
UnityPoint Health is laying off 203 workers statewide by July 24:
1 worker at UnityPoint Clinic Multi-Specialty in Cedar Rapids,
3 workers at Iowa Methodist in Des Moines,
19 workers at Accountable Care in Des Moines,
76 workers at UnityPoint Health Thornton in Des Moines,
2 workers at Finley in Dubuque,
1 worker at Trinity Pain Management Center in Fort Dodge,
1 worker at Accendra Health in Grimes,
97 workers at Proxy Access in Hiawatha,
1 worker at Marshalltown Hospital in Marshalltown,
1 worker at St. Luke’s in Sioux City, and
1 worker at Allen Hospital in Waterloo.
Read more here, or in UnityPoint’s press release here.
Wells Fargo in West Des Moines is laying off:
1 worker by July 25,
43 workers by Aug. 22, and
20 workers by Sept. 5.
Read more here.
US Cellular offices within Appliance Plus Cellular stores are closing and laying off 35 workers statewide by July 31:
5 workers in Algona,
5 workers in Charles City,
5 workers in Dyersville,
5 workers in Independence,
3 workers in New Hampton,
4 workers in Oelwein,
1 worker in Waukon,
3 workers in Webster City, and
4 workers in West Union.
Read more here.
The Iowa Department of Management in Des Moines is laying off 192 workers by Aug. 3. Read more here.
Independence Premium Foods in Independence is laying off 41 workers by Aug. 9. Read more here.
Plastic Products Co. in West Branch is closing and laying off 77 workers by Aug. 14.

When Climate.gov was shuttered and its scientist workers laid off by the Trump administration, some didn’t want to see their work just disappear to anti-science forces.

So they restarted it as Climate.us, a scientist-backed free resource for the public.

Read the workers’ story in Grist.