Workers pitch proposals to improve wages, workers rights at Iowa City forum

IOWA CITY — Iowa City resident Ricardo Simon said he once worked as a machine operator at a meat packing plant when he noticed the machine wasn't functioning properly. Simon, 30, told his supervisor but he said it was never properly fixed.

Then one day while he worked with the machine it cut off his finger. The next day Simon came to work and found his boss fired him, indicating he did not properly use the machine. Simon said he felt there was nothing he could do and no one there to advocate for him.

'We want support, we want a union and someone to support us so these things don't happen,' he said.

Simon and seven other area workers spoke out on what they say are situations of injustice they've experienced on the job. In response to these issues, workers unveiled five priorities they want to see implemented in the workplace.

These demands included the right to form unions, livable wages, timely pay with a paystub, secure schedules and a workplace free from discrimination and racism. The workers presented their platform for more than 50 area residents at the Iowa City Public Library Thursday evening.

'We're talking about really basic things,' said Misty Rebik, executive director of the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa. 'This is the reality of work for workers. It's our platform saying what we want: we want work with dignity and this is what we think it looks like.'

Rebik said many workers often feel alone and helpless and language barriers can keep them from pursuing further action. The event included six labor-related experts who told workers how to get engaged politically on issues important to them, what are the federal labor laws and the importance of organizing.

Colin Gordon, a University of Iowa professor and researcher with the Iowa Policy Project, said issues like wage theft and many others are a reality for Iowa workers. He cited an 2012 report by the Iowa Policy Project, a not-for-profit public policy organization, that estimated Iowa workers could be losing $600 million each year due to wage theft.

Gordon said the Iowa Policy Project is undergoing a survey of Eastern Iowa Workers and revealed preliminary results that showed workers who had unpaid overtime, 10 percent of the 302 surveyed were not paid for the hours they received. Half of respondents said they felt they didn't have a solidified schedule or when they'd be given work, he said.

Five other experts included Molly Mullholland and LeeAnn Wolf with the US Department of Labor, Iowa City Federation of Labor President Jesse Case, the Diocese of Davenport Social Action Director Kent Ferris and state Rep. Kirsten Running-Marquardt, D-Cedar Rapids.

Marcela Hurfado, president of the Center for Worker Justice, said workers deserve to live and work with dignity and together can help solve these issues.

'We cannot do this a lone that's why together we've identified problems and we've also identified solutions,' she said.