Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
The Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO doesn’t just want Iowans to stand up for the rights of Wisconsin workers, it wants them to stand up for workers right here at home, and is planning a Tuesday rally in Des Moines.
Wisconsin is not the only place where working families are under attack. Across this nation, the lives and livelihoods of working families are being attacked systematically by right wing fanatics bent on crippling or destroying the trade union movement in America.
Show your support for Wisconsin workers and all workers by standing with us at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines.
The “We Are One” rally is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 1 p.m. on the west steps of the Iowa Capitol.
The Iowa rally will come after days of protests in Madison, Wisc. by public employees and their supporters. Gov. Scott Walker has proposed a bill that would eliminate most collective bargaining rights for union members.
The rally also follows a discredited statement by a spokesman for Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad that falsely portrayed public workers as earning far more than their private sector counterparts. The statement was offered as justification of why Branstad plans to draw both his state salary and state pension while serving as governor.
One of Branstad’s first acts upon being sworn in as governor for a fifth term was to make good on a campaign promise to rescind former Gov. Chet Culver’s executive order that encouraged Project Labor Agreements (PLAs), which at least one taxpayer watchdog group says inevitably lead to lower project costs. Branstad’s strict position on PLAs — that no government entities should use them — has prompted a battle with Cedar Rapids officials (led by former Iowa House Speaker Ron Corbett), who had planned to use such an agreement in a $75 million convention complex project.
In addition, earlier this week, an Iowa House subcommittee passed a bill that would weaken the bargaining position of public employee unions in the Hawkeye State.
The Iowa Federation of Labor represents more than 50,000 members of 520 unions throughout Iowa.
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