Picnickers worry about politics, lost jobs

Labor union members and supporters who gathered Monday at Iowa City's City Park said it's especially important now, given what they see as a national political climate harmful to unions, for union backers to unite to defend their cause.

Iowa City's Harriet Johnson-O'Mara is a former union member and her husband is a member of AFSCME. She attended the annual Labor Day picnic because she wants to get more involved with the cause in the run-up to the 2012 election.

“It seems government right now wants to take us back to the 1900s,” she said. “They're doing their best to bust unions left and right. Solidarity is really important.”

More than 100 people attended the picnic sponsored by the Iowa City Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.

Federation President Patrick Hughes said it's important to have one day a year to celebrate what labor unions are about and the rich history they have. Unions helped establish the middle class in America, Hughes said, but what he sees as political attacks on unions recently have played a role in diminishing the middle class here.

“We're seeing a transfer of wealth,” he said. “Unions are under attack because they are among the few people who still have health and retirement benefits.”

With the upcoming 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Hughes said, people should remember that many of those first responders and emergency personnel were labor union members.

“And those are the type of people we're beating up” now in the political climate against unions, he said.

At the Hawkeye Labor Council's picnic in Cedar Rapids, meanwhile, many hoped that next year's event would be a celebration of more employment throughout the state.

“We've lost a lot of manufacturing jobs right here in Cedar Rapids, Iowa,” council President Shelley Parbs said. “... We need to rebuild our manufacturing to bring those jobs back here and rebuild the middle class.”

Attendee Michael Lundby of Marion said he has ideas on how to do that.

“Make a decent business climate in Iowa and further our education within Iowa,” he said. “Well-educated people will bring good jobs.”

Nadia Crow of Sourcemedia Group contributed to this report.