Capitol Notebook: State’s mobile workforce center heading to Perry where pork plant closing

DES MOINES — A recently created state mobile workforce center will be deployed to Perry to assist workers who are about to be impacted by the closure of a food processing plant there, the state announced Friday.

Tyson Foods earlier this month announced that it is closing a pork plant in Perry that employs 1,200 people, eliminating the largest employer in the central Iowa community.

Iowa Workforce Development will send its IowaWORKS Mobile Workforce Center, a 32-foot, custom-built bus, to Perry on Monday and Tuesday, March 25 and 26.

Career planners with the state workforce agency will be there to answer questions and prepare workers for navigating the unemployment process, including looking for new jobs, the state agency said.

The Mobile Workforce Center was built to supplement the state’s 18 IowaWORKS offices to deliver workforce services to Iowans who may not have easy access to those offices. It was unveiled during a news conference last month.

The state workforce agency has been working with Tyson Foods and Perry community leaders since the plant closure and pending layoffs were announced, the agency said.

“Responding to evolving situations like these is exactly the reason why we’ve deployed the Mobile Workforce Center to reach workers more quickly and directly,” Iowa Workforce Development Executive Director Beth Townsend said in a news release.

“While this is just the initial phase of services for this June layoff, we are committed to supporting every impacted worker through the process to ultimately help them find a new career in the state,” Townsend said. “It’s important that we not only provide wide-ranging support in these situations, but also take the time to identify the specific needs of the impacted workers in Perry.”

Information about the Mobile Workforce Center and a list of rapid response services for Iowa workers facing layoffs can be found on the Iowa Workforce Development website.

Iowa unemployment rate

Iowa’s unemployment rate decreased by one-tenth of a percentage point to 2.9 percent in February, according to the state workforce department.

The 2.9 percent rate equals the February 2023 jobless rate, according to Iowa Workforce Development.

The national unemployment rate in February was 3.9 percent.

“February was warmer than normal, and the impact of that showed up in Iowa’s economy,” Iowa Workforce Development Executive Director Beth Townsend said in a news release.

“Iowa businesses added jobs in nearly every major industry last month, from construction and manufacturing to health care and accommodation and food services. At the same time, we also saw a slight decline in the overall workforce, with most who left saying they were doing so to attend classes.”

Iowa AG Bird joins action on greenhouse gases, military pay

Iowa Republican Attorney General Brenna Bird will lead a lawsuit against Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration over a greenhouse gas emission policy, Bird’s office said.

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The lawsuit challenges a federal requirement that businesses disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related risks, and adopt and release a plan to adapt to climate policy recommendations.

“Biden’s radical climate mandate is the most outrageous act of overreach we’ve seen from the Securities and Exchange Commission since Biden took office. The SEC is supposed to prevent people from getting ripped off, not force an illegal climate mandate that is far outside of their wheelhouse,” Bird said in a news release.

“(Biden’s) climate mandate will only saddle businesses with costly red tape, threaten our supply chain, and devastate Iowa family farms. … Now, we’re going to teach Biden that not even he is above the law.”

Bird, along with 19 other state leaders, signed onto a legal brief on a case in a federal appeals court regarding military reservist pay.

The letter urges the U.S. Supreme Court to make sure federal employees who serve in the military reserves do not lose their pay when deployed, according to the Iowa AG’s office.

“Our military heroes should never face a pay cut for serving our country,” Bird said in a news release. “The least we can do is ensure that those who risk their lives for our safety get the pay they deserve. I am calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the law and protect pay for our military heroes.”