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

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

Forget about “tax credit” bills that just help the rich. What have our representatives in Congress done to help workers?
Labor Day events, Iowa layoffs, and worker news
‘We don’t think about the people who test our drugs—and maybe we should.’

All three of them say they’re voting for Iowa’s workers.

But as we all get ready to vote in November, I figured we should test that theory.

I looked into the backgrounds of US Reps. Ashley Hinson, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and Zach Nunn—the three who are running this November in Iowa for either US Senate or House—to find out how they voted on recent legislation that would help workers.

And I ignored the bills that plainly just gave tax breaks to the rich.

It’s this week’s top story.

What’s your top work-related issue when considering who to vote for this November? Reply and tell me.

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Amie Rivers

Newsletter Editor, Iowa Starting Line

Member, COURIER United (WGA East)

Email me

Iowa’s Labor Day celebrations: Celebrate Labor Day on Monday with your fellow laborers at one of the above events. (Lucas, the home of the John L. Lewis Museum of Mining and Labor, will have a special all-day festival on Saturday.)
You heard last week about workers at Deere voting down the company’s offer of a mid-contract extension; now, we know a bit more about it.
Novalex is now hiring scabs to replace workers who have been on strike for more than a month, and workers are asking the public to stand with them and contact the company’s CEO. “This isn’t simply a labor dispute,” Cedar Rapids City Council member David Maier posted. “It is an attempt to break and ultimately eliminate a local union that has represented workers at this Cedar Rapids facility for more than 100 years.”
Farm income fell by more than 50% between 2022 and 2024, according to a recent report by Iowa State University and the Iowa Farm Bureau. “While this has not triggered a collapse on the scale of the 1980s farm crisis, the steady tightening is straining Iowa farm businesses and the industries and rural communities tied to them,” the report’s authors note.
Women were 100% of the US labor force decline in July, with 165,000 of them neither working nor looking for work. “It’s a sign that too many women are being pushed to the sidelines,” said Jasmine Tucker, vice president of research at the National Women’s Law Center.
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) could end next week for the large community of Iowans from El Salvador, meaning they’ll be at risk of deportation despite legally being here for two decades. “This change by the Trump administration is going to have a massive impact on families across the state—but particularly workers,” said Elena Casillas-Hoffman with the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice.
Union endorsements: The American Federation of Government Employees this week endorsed Josh Turek for US Senate. “Josh Turek has a proven record of fighting for working people and for their collective bargaining rights,” AFGE District 8 National Vice President Ruark Hotopp said. The union previously endorsed Christina Bohannan, Lindsay James, and Sarah Trone Garriott for US House.
Voting on a union. Seventy full- and part-time fixture, X-ray, layout, and laboratory workers at Wellman in Creston (WDC Acquisition) will vote Sept. 16 on whether to unionize with IAM District 6.
There has been movement in the last month on the unionization vote challenge of nearly 2,000 nurses at UnityPoint-Des Moines‘ four hospitals, but nothing definitive yet.

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

Verschoor Meats in Sioux City closed Aug. 21, laying off 42 workers. They notified Iowa Workforce Development the day of closure, which may be in violation of the WARN Act.
Wells Fargo in West Des Moines is laying off:
20 workers by Saturday
20 workers by Sept. 19
7 workers by Oct. 3
14 workers by Oct. 17
5 workers by Oct. 31
Read more here.
CNH Industrial in Burlington is laying off:
13 workers by Sept. 25
5 workers by Dec. 31
Read more here.
People First Sanitation in Sioux City is laying off 54 workers by Sept. 25.
NFI Interactive Logistics in Cedar Rapids is closing and laying off 49 workers by Sept. 30. Read more here.
RTX in Cedar Rapids is laying off two workers by Sept. 30.
Great Southern Bank is closing and laying off:
5 workers in Ankeny
4 workers in Pleasant Hill
Read more from the company here.