Amie Rivers

Despite worries about inflation, hiring, the supply chain and the lingering coronavirus pandemic, business owners are profitable and expected to continue that trend, according to two new surveys released last week. The US Chamber of Commerce, a national advocacy group for businesses, released its Small Business Index for the first quarter of 2022. The report,…

The price of beef at the grocery store has gone up, but Iowa cattle producers say they’re seeing their income dry up while the four major beef packers who control the industry are raking in billion-dollar profits. Faced with angry producers in smaller cattle-producing states, a bipartisan coalition of senators is looking to advance a…

Employees at one of the state’s largest hospital systems who argued they weren’t receiving overtime pay in a timely manner won damages from their employer in federal court this week. Six employees at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City brought the suit against the Iowa Board of Regents, which oversees UIHC, on…

After passing the US House of Representatives more than a year ago and languishing in the Senate ever since, the PRO Act is getting a renewed push now, particularly from unions who want to modernize the nearly 90-year-old labor law. Here’s a quick refresher on what it is, and how Iowa’s elected officials voted or…

Iowa legislators who say they’re concerned about the state’s worker shortage are trying to pass a new law restricting unemployment benefits in a move both seasonal workers and union officials say would force more workers to leave the state. House File 2355 would lessen the number of weeks someone who is laid off through no…

On March 23, 2021, two workers were killed and one taken hostage on the job at an Eastern Iowa prison. One year later, an Iowa labor union says more legislation is needed for corrections employees and their families. Robert McFarland, a 46-year-old corrections officer from Ely, and Lorena Schulte, a 50-year-old nurse from Cedar Rapids,…

The labor strike at Eaton-Cobham Mission Systems in the Quad Cities ended Tuesday night after an agreement was reached between workers and management. More than 400 workers affiliated with Machinists Union Locals 388 and 1191, collectively District 6 and based at the Davenport facility, had been on strike since mid-February. The union locals are part…