Stories

The union representing state troopers and game wardens has reached an agreement with the state aimed at saving 43 jobs, Gov. Chet Culver announced Tuesday.

Iowa’s largest union has reached a tentative agreement with the state, avoiding 479 layoffs that could have resulted from Gov. Chet Culver’s 10 percent budget cut ordered last month, which many feared would impact public safety.

Iowa should privatize its prison system in order to alleviate budget problems, a conservative watchdog group said Monday.
Ed Failor Jr., president of Iowans for Tax Relief, said the privatization of Iowa’s prisons would result in many positive benefits, from making communities safer to minimizing inefficiencies. But the biggest benefit would be cost savings, he said.

Two Republican legislators and the state’s largest labor union are calling on the University of Iowa to cancel a planned trip to the Disney Institute in Orlando, Fla., saying the price tag is too high at a time when the state is facing huge budget deficits.

Instead of resorting to layoffs to meet Gov. Chet Culver’s 10 percent across-the-board budget cuts, state government should implement an employee pay reduction, Iowa Tax Relief President Ed Failor Jr. said Monday.

After my report earlier today about the outlook for organized labor going into 2010, one unanswered political question remains: After Democratic majorities failed to move key components of organized labor’s agenda from 2007 to 2009, will national labor groups continue to direct resources to Iowa Democrats, or will they move on to other states where [...]

“I like to think that good legislation gets passed regardless of whether it is an election year or not,” said Marcia Nichols, political and legislative director for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Iowa Council 61.

The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Iowa Council 61 has issued a response to Gov. Chet Culver’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2010, promising to work with the governor to find cost savings and staying on message when it comes to whom to blame for the current economic crisis.
The cordial statement, sent [...]

“It was one of most peculiar mailings I’ve received,” said Cedar Rapids resident Gary Goldstein.
Goldstein was not the only Iowan confused by a full-color flier that arrived in Iowa mailboxes yesterday from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
“I saw it, read it and my first thought was ‘Who sent this?’ [...]

The presidential campaign for New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has announced the endorsement of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the nation’s largest public sector union.
In total, AFSCME represents more than 1.4 million workers. The union has said it has plans to activate a 40,000-member voluntary force and launch a get-out-the-vote [...]