Articles Tagged: Organized labor

Strike could come early next month

A strike would have affected not only commuters who rely on the railway to get to work but also the nation's energy supply and drinking water.

Train shipments of grain, fertilizer, lumber, produce and fuel will not come to a screeching halt on Friday, as a strike that could have idled freight and passenger trains across the state and country seems to have been averted -- for now.

Democratic candidates join pickets outside Ingredion plant on Friday, the fifth day of a strike my memners of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union Local 100G.

Strike at Cedar Rapids facility now in third day

About 400 workers at Planned Parenthood offices in five states, including Iowa, said Thursday they plan to unionize.

On one side are investors who want to deliver CO2 from Iowa ethanol plants to sequestration sites in other states. In an unusual pairing, they’ve been joined by some labor unions. On the other side, are “unusual bedfellows” — environmentalists, farmers, landowners and property rights advocates as well as opponents of large-scale farming and ethanol — calling for the Iowa Utilities Board to reject eminent domain for pipeline construction.

The park rangers union called the eviction of rangers a potential violation of its contract with the state because living rent-free in state-owned housing falls under the category of supplemental pay and is a mandatory subject of collective bargaining.

Jeff Cooling is the first candidate to announce in House 77, which includes much of Cedar Rapids from Sixteenth Avenue SW to the Linn-Johnson County line. Rep. Kirsten Running-Marquardt, D-Cedar Rapids, represents that area, but is not seeking re-election to the House.

A district court judge has ordered the state of Iowa to pay a labor union representing state workers nearly $2 million in a five-year legal dispute centered on whether the state could continue to deduct union dues from state worker paychecks after a state law change in 2017.

Cedar Rapids City Council member Ashley Vanorny was among speakers Monday at a “People’s Condition of the State” event hosted Progress Iowa and featuring representative from a number of Democratic-leaning organizations.

Nov. 19 hearing set in Scott County

Continuing strike could mean possible impasse

Company calls rejected contract proposal its ‘final offer’

Workers would have received $8,500 bonus plus an immediate 10 percent bump in pay.