Worker’s Almanac
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What Kilmar’s Deportation Means in Iowa
Share with a friend It’s Thursday, Apr. 24, 2025. Amie here. I saw a few “Free Kilmar” signs at the latest protest I covered this weekend, and for good reason: Folks are worried about what it means that the Trump administration is deporting people directly to a foreign torture prison with the flimsiest justification, and…
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Has DOGE Hacked Your Union?
Share with a friend It’s Thursday, Apr. 17, 2025. Amie here. Elon Musk told us DOGE (the “department” of government efficiency that isn’t a real department but definitely gets real taxpayer money anyway) was simply looking into all of our internal systems to tackle “waste, fraud, and abuse.” Turns out that DOGE, which is…
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What Iowa’s Electeds Are (Not) Doing About Tariffs
Share with a friend It’s Worker Wednesday, Apr. 9, 2025. Amie here, and yes, the stock market’s 11% loss is not great for our retirements. But what’s more concerning is prices getting a hell of a lot higher on basic goods in the coming weeks and months. Sure, only one doofus (helped by his…
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651 Laid Off at Whirlpool in Amana
Share with a friend It’s Worker Wednesday, Apr. 2, 2025. Amie here, thinking about the 651 Iowans soon to be laid off by June 1 from Whirlpool in Amana, about a third of its workforce. It’s the biggest mass layoff of the year in Iowa (so far), and the largest since Tyson closed its Perry…
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Anti-Apprenticeship Bill Rushed Through Iowa Legislature
Share with a friend It’s Worker Wednesday, Mar. 26, 2025. 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…
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Guess Who’s Unionized?!
Share with a friend It’s Worker Wednesday Thursday, Mar. 20, 2025. 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…
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Coralville Costco Would Be 1st in Midwest to Unionize
Share with a friend It’s Worker Wednesday, Mar. 12, 2025. Amie here. I may be changing around my newsletters a bit, but don’t worry: The Iowa Worker’s Almanac isn’t going anywhere. First of all, news about what folks are going through on the job is kind of the main thing we all worry about:…
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How to Protect Your Trans Coworkers From Legal Discrimination
Share with a friend It’s Worker Wednesday, Mar. 5, 2025. Now that Iowa Republicans have passed their latest bill attempting to force us all into their pretend gender binary (which won’t go into effect until July 1, if it’s not stopped in the courts before then), it got me thinking: If Iowa employers can…
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Iowan Fired in DOGE Purge Breaks Silence
Share with a friend It’s Worker Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. It turns out that DOGE is less of a waste-reduction project and more of a wrecking ball that is cutting vital services. Like USDA folks working on bird flu, whoops! And it’s also cutting workers, like Iowans, who will likely move out of our…
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This Could Be Iowa’s 3rd Unionized Starbucks
Share with a friend It’s Worker Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. As Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) members representing more than 500 Starbucks stores nationwide prepare for mediation with their company—a huge step in their quest to begin bargaining a first contract—I spoke with workers at a Starbucks in Bettendorf who are getting ready for an election…
