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Saturday is Nov. 1, and Nov. 1 is when the monthlong federal government shutdown—assuming it hasn’t been lifted—will become very personal and very real. There are two big reasons for that. First: Nov. 1 is when SNAP benefits will end for 42 million Americans, the first time it will have ever happened. That includes 267,000 Iowans…

Nunn, Ernst beg Trump for China deal: President Donald Trump is supposed to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping today to iron out a trade deal after China has refused to buy US soybeans for months. US Sen. Joni Ernst, who is retiring, and US Rep. Zach Nunn, running for reelection, signed onto a letter…

Iowa Worker’s Almanac: Week of 10/23/25 Iowa farm lobby pushes back on Trump: The Iowa Farm Bureau is among those pushing back against President Donald Trump’s comments on importing beef from Argentina. “We encourage the administration to resist actions that negatively impact the cattle farmers in Iowa and domestic beef production,” said Farm Bureau president Brent…

The ongoing federal government shutdown is resulting in lots of Iowans not being paid—and it’s not just federal workers. There are more than 10,000 Iowans who are federal workers, according to the Iowa Federation of Labor. “Working people are already struggling to pay our bills, and the Trump administration is offering no relief,” the group…

News about and for the Iowa working class. ‘No Kings’ is back: The Indivisible-organized protests against President Donald Trump’s authoritarianism, which first took place in June, are back this Saturday, Oct. 18—and there’s likely one near you. The federal government shutdown continues: As the shutdown, which began Oct. 1, drags on, furloughed federal workers can’t pay their bills, Trump…

Another young college graduate from Iowa can’t find any sort of entry-level job, she told me last week. And AI may be to blame. Meghan Holloran just graduated from Drake University this May with a multimedia journalism degree. She did a year-long apprenticeship with Better Homes and Gardens magazine, was on the school newspaper for…

What does a government shutdown mean for you? Politico has some good information here. (Also, the National Labor Relations Board site appears to be down, possibly because of this, so you may not be able to click on the links related to union efforts.) Gaining back the public space to assist workers: A group of 200 people gathered…

Another group of workers won a pension back; it’s spreading! Around 186 workers at Kemps, a dairy plant in Le Mars, have won raises, a new health care plan, and a defined benefit pension in their first-ever work stoppage at the plant. The workers, who are organized with Teamsters Local 554, were on strike for 27 hours before coming…

This week’s Iowa Worker’s Almanac news briefs: Iowa ranks 43rd for teachers: A new WalletHub ranking puts Iowa 43rd of the 50 states and DC for teachers, taking into account opportunity, competition, academic, and work environment. “Iowa schools used to be our state’s crown jewel, so much so that we put ‘Foundation in Education’ on our quarter,”…