LABOR
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Davenport Starbucks is 2nd in Iowa to unionize
A second Starbucks has officially unionized in Iowa—and two workers there say they were almost the first. Eighteen workers at the Starbucks store on East 53rd Street in Davenport filed with the National Labor Relations Board to unionize in May. Out of 17 eligible voters, 16 of them voted—and 15 voted for the union, an…
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Former Mercy Iowa City workers say UIHC is threatening pay, seniority
You probably heard about the very public bankruptcy of Iowa City’s *other* hospital, Mercy Iowa City, and how around 1,000 jobs were saved when the University of Iowa Health Care (UIHC) agreed to buy Mercy, changing the hospital’s name to UI Health Care Medical Center Downtown. But you may not have heard about what’s been…
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A Trump judge just blocked the ban of noncompete clauses
The FTC voted to ban noncompete agreements in April—those pesky clauses that employers often force their workers to sign which effectively bar them from starting their own business or finding a new job in the same field within a certain area or timeframe after leaving their current job.
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Bruegger’s Bagels employees launch new union in Iowa
Workers at Bruegger’s Bagels, a nationwide bakery chain, are trying to unionize—and, surprisingly, the effort is starting in Iowa, a state with some of the fewest rights for workers in the country.
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What will happen to 1,276 laid-off Tyson workers in Perry?
What will happen to the 1,276 Iowans who will lose their jobs when the Tyson pork processing plant in Perry closes in June? Roger Kail, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1155, represents workers at that plant, and that is something he is working to figure out. Things had been going…
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1,276 people to lose jobs when Tyson plant in Perry closes in June
1,276. That’s how many people in and around the central Iowa town of Perry will lose their jobs by the end of June, after Tyson announced Monday it would permanently close its longtime pork processing plant there. That’s a HUGE number of workers (and the largest employer in Perry): It’s more than 12% of Tyson’s…
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Widow of Iowa correctional officer killed on the job speaks in support of unions
Sara McFarland wants to make sure her husband’s on-the-job death—during the inmate escape attempt at Anamosa State Penitentiary in 2021— wasn’t in vain. Her husband, Robert McFarland, was a correctional officer at Anamosa. He and nurse Lorena Schulte were murdered on March 21, 2021, by two inmates trying to escape from the medium-security facility. “Robert…
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‘I’m not going to teach in Iowa’: UNI students explain why they’re not sticking around
She grew up in Ames and went to the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) in Cedar Falls to become a teacher. But Lydia plans to leave Iowa as soon as she graduates. “Here at UNI, there’s so much emphasis in our classes on social-emotional learning and inclusion and talking about issues of diversity,” she said.…
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UPDATE: Seaboard ends contract after 9 kids found working illegally in Sioux City meatpacking plant
At least nine children were working on overnight shifts cleaning dangerous meatpacking equipment at a Sioux City plant, according to court filings Wednesday from the US Department of Labor (DOL). The children were allegedly employed by Fayette Industrial, a Tennessee-based company that contracts with other companies to clean their facilities. Fayette had the children working…
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Iowa Teamsters head says statewide strikes possible to stop union-busting bill
Jesse Case, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 238, said everything—including strikes—are on the table if that’s what it takes to stop a union-busting bill that has worked its way through the Iowa Senate. For about an hour on Wednesday, Teamsters members and their supporters circled the Iowa Capitol in various vehicles including semitrailers, and honked their…
