It’s Worker Wednesday Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024.

My coworkers and I at Iowa Starting Line are lucky to have this Thursday and Friday off for the Thanksgiving holiday, so I’m getting you this newsletter early this week.

It made me wonder: How many workers don’t get Thanksgiving/Friday off?

Obviously, the essential workers are essential year-round:

Somebody’s gotta staff the hospitals, the nursing homes, the child-care centers, and the ambulances.
Grocery stores and gas stations are generally open for those last-minute turkey pickups and fill-ups for driving to Aunt Betty’s.
Many retail and restaurant workers still have to show up, or not get paid.
And farmers and others in the agriculture supply chain nearly always have trouble taking a day off. (My dad, a dairy farmer’s kid, used to tell me: the cows don’t care that you need a day off!)

While the vast majority of workers do get paid time off on Thanksgiving Day (91% of private and civilian workers), far fewer get the Friday after off as well (43%), though it’s becoming more common among employers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That’s especially true for those retail and food workers, who bear the brunt of Black Friday shopping (only 21% get the Friday after Thanksgiving off with pay). So remember to treat them nicely this weekend!

Do you get both days off, just one, or none? Email me here.

Amie Rivers

Community Editor, Iowa Starting Line

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This week’s Iowa worker news:

Nearly half of America’s 2 million farm workers lack legal status, leaving them at risk of deportation under incoming President Donald Trump’s promise of mass deportation. A quartet of Iowa Catholic leaders came out against that policy and in support of Iowa’s migrant workers.
But Iowa needs every worker we can get: Iowa’s job growth is among the worst in the country—we’re shedding thousands of jobs even as the unemployment rate remains steady.
Another cleaning contractor at Sioux City plant busted for child labor: Qvest, of Oklahoma, allegedly employed 11 underage workers to clean overnight at the Seaboard Triumph Foods pork plant between 2019 and 2023, according to a complaint filed this week (🔐) by the US Department of Labor. You may recall Seaboard then replaced Qvest with Fayette Janitorial, which was later cited for employing nine minors at that plant.
Nurses trying to unionize in Central Iowa: Nurses at four Des Moines-area UnityPoint Health hospitals are looking to be collectively represented by Teamsters Local 90, but say their employers “have engaged in an anti-union campaign full of misinformation.” They’re asking the public to sign a petition asking them to stop union-busting, and holding a demonstration in front of Methodist Hospital at 3 p.m. today.
Buckeye Partners workers win union: There were only two workers eligible to vote to join the United Steelworkers union, and they both did.
Recertification election results: The vast majority of public employee recertification elections (mandated by Iowa Republicans as an anti-union effort) recertified their unions last month. That included 93 of 94 public school unions, per the Iowa State Education Association—and United Faculty at the University of Northern Iowa, which voted to keep their union with more than 98% of the vote. “For people interested in getting rid of absurd and costly state regulations, rescinding these frequent recertifications elections should be at the top the list,” said United Faculty president Christopher Martin said. “They are a complete waste of taxpayer money.”
Davenport city workers ask for fair wages: Davenport Public Works Department workers unionized with Teamsters 238 are asking for a market adjustment in their wages as they began contract negotiations last month. So far, there still hasn’t been any movement with the city. “Fair compensation is necessary to attract high-quality applicants and ensure Davenport residents continue to receive top-tier public services,” Sami Scheetz with Teamsters said in a release.
Two Des Moines-area unions collected supplies for homeless: Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Local 254 and District 6 started what they expect will be an annual initiative to collect winter supplies and hygiene products for homeless veterans in Central Iowa.
An interesting Trump pick for Secretary of Labor: President-elect Donald Trump is nominating Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon as his labor secretary, who intriguingly was one of the few Republicans to cosponsor both the PRO Act and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act in Congress, both pro-worker policies.
But if she’s actually pro-labor, EPI notes, she’ll need to prove it with her actions, including reversing decisions Trump judges have put in place, and convince Trump buddies Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos to back off their lawsuit to neuter the National Labor Relations Board. (Of course, it will be interesting to see if she also stops or slows one of Trump’s signature promises: the mass firing of millions of federal workers, which would include nearly half a million military veterans.)
Farmers can’t just farm anymore: In 1974, only 37% of family farmers held a primary job off the farm. Now, it’s 84%, according to the latest USDA study—and that’s contributed to more than 140,000 farms closing down since 2017.
Fewer school bus drivers, and low pay is to blame: The number of workers driving school buses remains below pre-pandemic levels, and they tend to be older workers. One reason: Pay is 43% below the median weekly wage.
Are you an officer in your union responsible for financial recordkeeping? A two-day course is being offered at the University of Iowa in December; learn more and sign up by today, here.
Last chance to weigh in on disability barriers to employment in Iowa: Fill out this survey from Disability Rights Iowa by this Saturday.
Correction: A couple of weeks ago, I told you about the impending union election of DFA Dairy Brands/Kemps, and it appeared that two unions were both petitioning to represent them (which can happen). A reader let me know the National Labor Relations Board website was incorrect on that (now corrected!), and it was actually just Teamsters Local 554 petitioning to represent them.
Iowa layoffs coming up in the next month:
– Wells Fargo in West Des Moines is laying off eight workers by Dec. 1, 32 workers by Dec. 29, and two workers by Jan. 12.

– Myers Industries in Atlantic is closing and laying off 60 workers by Dec. 15. Read more here.

– Perfection Press in Logan is closing and laying off 25 workers by Dec. 31.

Before you punch out 🚜

It is becoming increasingly difficult to fix any product that you buy yourself—and that’s by design.

Companies can prevent you repairing what you have bought altogether, by making unique parts you can’t easily find at hardware stores, as well as requiring pricey software or subscriptions in order to make any fixes at all.

The Right to Repair movement sprung up to fight against this. Now, some states—and now, the Federal Trade Commission—are passing rules and legislation putting that right back in your hands again.

(Send me your book/movie/article suggestions here.)