Worker’s Almanac
Sign Up for the Worker's Almanac Newsletter
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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:…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
All the Dumb Things Elon Musk Is Doing Now
Share with a friend It’s Worker Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. Unelected billionaire Elon Musk continues his unconstitutional steamrolling through the federal government under the guise of “efficiency” (with President Donald Trump’s blessing). That includes: Cuts at nonprofits everywhere after the loss of federal grants, Thousands of Americans out of a job after USAID cut,…
-
Des Moines Company Drops Lawsuits Against Workers
Share with a friend It’s Worker Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. Remember the 14+ Seneca workers in Des Moines who left their jobs after their company switched the equipment they knew how to service, and then got sued by Seneca over their noncompete agreements? The company has now dropped lawsuits against at least two of…
