Worker’s Almanac
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Who needs heat safety? Iowa layoffs and news, Aug. 6, 2026
Republicans in the US House are advancing legislation that would disallow OSHA from passing national heat safety standards.
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‘I gotta choose between gas and bread:’ Workers on strike in Cedar Rapids
Fifty-four skilled workers at the Pactiv Evergreen plant are tired of inflation eating up their paycheck—and tired of the middle class getting eaten up, too.
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Legal Haitian workers suddenly not legal: Iowa worker news and layoffs, July 30, 2026
Haitian workers who are here legally on Temporary Protected Status had that protection stripped away Monday, leaving 300,000 of them at risk of deportation—including many in Waterloo.
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‘Nobody is gonna come save us:’ Iowa’s university workers form different kind of union
Workers at Iowa’s three public universities who aren’t faculty aren’t unionized, and the state makes it hard to form one. So workers are trying something a little different.
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Gov. Reynolds asks UIHC to lower cancer bills: Iowa worker news and layoffs for July 23, 2026
Pretty please lower the hospital bills, Gov. Kim Reynolds is apparently asking University of Iowa Health Care after the Des Moines Register found thousands of patients were being charged more for cancer care. UIHC’s response? Take it up with the feds.
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‘Really shocking:’ ICE detained 1,779 Iowans since 2025
Nearly 1,800 Iowans were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since 2025, with nearly 90% of them deported, according to a new report from a statewide immigrant advocacy group.
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Pesticide drift could have ruined Iowa farmer’s crop
A Page County farmer’s entire crop may have just been ruined by his neighbor’s pesticide drift—and the only punishment is a slap on the wrist.
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Food, fuel prices still high: Iowa worker news and layoffs, July 16, 2026
Food and fuel costs remain 3.5% higher than they were a year ago, and the average Iowa household has paid an extra $516 on gas since Feb. 28.
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ICE detains 4 Iowans on way to Fairfax construction site
Four immigrant Iowans were recently carpooling on their way to work when they were boxed in by unmarked ICE vehicles and jailed because of their suspected immigration status.
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USDA cut 17% of Iowa workers in 2025: Worker news and layoffs for July 9, 2026
Iowa lost 17% of its USDA staff in 2025, including nearly 19% of its Natural Resources Conservation Service and 8% of its Farm Service Agency staff, both of which help farmers with federal loans and other programs.
