It’s Worker Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024.
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Another round of layoffs at John Deere is coming to Iowa.
This time, 112 workers will be laid off from the East Donald Street plant in Waterloo by Jan. 6, while another 80 will be laid off at the plant in Davenport by Jan. 3, according to Iowa’s WARN Act website.
This year alone—not counting the ones that are coming down next month—Deere and Co. has laid off 1,599 workers at plants across the state. And Waterloo, where Deere employs thousands, has taken the brunt: 963 workers here have been laid off in 2024 alone—again, not counting those being laid off Jan. 6, which will put that number at over a thousand out of work.
“Yet another group of men and women in the Waterloo community will be forced to navigate an increasingly difficult unemployment landscape due to another round of layoffs,” said State Sen. Bill Dotzler of Waterloo. Dotzler called on the Iowa Legislature, which reconvenes next month, to improve unemployment laws to help.
Deere is citing a $3 billion drop in net income as the reason, with fewer farmers purchasing equipment due to declining farm revenues.
What are your thoughts on Deere layoffs this year? Email me here.
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This week’s Iowa worker news:
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UnityPoint nurses in Central Iowa are unionizing, and a big reason, one told Starting Line in a video, was their low starting pay.
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A Woodbury County supervisor illegally tried union-busting, a judge ruled last week. Matthew Ung sent out a press release in August that “raised the prospect that employees would receive greater employment benefits if they voted to dissolve the union,” which is illegal under Iowa Code. It’s also incorrect, as unionized workers generally have higher wages than nonunion workers. (Read up on some union-busting myths here from EPI.)
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One of Trump’s signature promises could cost thousands of Iowa jobs: Trump is looking at the mass firing of millions of federal workers, which Axios found includes nearly 7,000 workers in the Des Moines area and around 14,000 in the Omaha-Council Bluffs metro. They include Iowans who work at the IRS, Social Security, and the Post Office, as well as federal judges and air traffic controllers.
- Loosening child labor rules, again: The Iowa Labor Services Division is proposing new rules around child labor, including a new rule that would decrease the top fine for violating time and wage rules from $10,000 to just $2,500.
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Are you one of 808 Iowa workers owed back wages? The US Department of Labor is looking for you, and has over $535,000 to distribute. But you have to look yourself up on the Workers Owed Wages tool, which you can do here.
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Trump’s plan to put 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico—which consumers will pay for as US importers will pass along the cost to us—will especially hurt Iowa agriculture exports, US Sen. Chuck Grassley warned.
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Wisconsin public workers just won their right to collectively bargain back, thanks to a judge who ruled it was unconstitutional because it treated police and firefighters differently than other public workers. (Sounds familiar!)
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A PAC for working class candidates: Dan Osborne, the independent candidate for US Senate in Nebraska who nearly took down the Republican incumbent in last month’s election, has started Working Class Heroes Fund, a political action committee to “empower more plumbers, carpenters, teachers, nurses and factory workers to run for office, with an emphasis on members of labor unions.”
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The AFL-CIO wants you to call your senators by today, and ask them to confirm Lauren McFerran for another term as chair of the National Labor Relations Board. “So far during her tenure at the NLRB, she has upheld the rights promised by the National Labor Relations Act while treating everyone fairly,” the union says. While you’re on the call, you can also ask about bringing the Social Security Fairness Act to a vote, which would allow public workers to claim Social Security they’ve already paid on.
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First Amazon, now Whole Foods: Workers in Philadelphia are hoping to become the first Whole Foods to unionize with United Food and Commercial Workers.
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Post Office workers say 1.3% raise is “insulting:” The National Association of Letter Carriers, which is the largest of the four postal unions, isn’t officially taking a position on the tentative agreement for 1.3% raises over three years and sped-up working conditions. But many of the 200,000 workers are not happy.
- A $15 minimum wage will be in 19 states by 2027. Iowa is not one of those states, stubbornly sticking to the $7.25 federal minimum. That could mean our neighbors of Illinois, Missouri, and Nebraska luring even more workers away.
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Ending sub-minimum wage for disabled workers: The US Department of Labor has proposed to end the 14C program, which allows companies to pay workers with disabilities less than the minimum wage. Read about it here.
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Fully remote work is on the decline, and workers say they prefer a hybrid arrangement—part home, part office time—the most, according to a new report.
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Iowa union vote: 187 workers at DFA Dairy Brands (Kemps) in Le Mars are voting on whether to unionize with the Teamsters in an election today and tomorrow at the plant’s conference room.
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Iowa layoffs coming up in the next month:
– Myers Industries in Atlantic is closing and laying off 60 workers by Sunday. Read more here.
– Wells Fargo in West Des Moines is laying off 32 workers by Dec. 29, two workers by Jan. 12, and two workers by Jan. 26.
– Perfection Press in Logan is closing and laying off 25 workers by Dec. 31. Read more here (🔐).
– John Deere Davenport Works is laying off 80 workers by Jan. 3.
– John Deere Waterloo Works on East Donald Street in Waterloo is laying off 112 workers by Jan. 6.
– Quad/Graphics Printing II in Waukee is closing and laying off 88 workers by Jan. 10. Read more here.
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