Employment Appeal Board Rules Against Woodbury County Supervisor for Violating Union Rights
DES MOINES, IA – In a significant win for Iowa’s public employees, the Iowa Employment Appeal Board has ruled that Matthew Ung, Chairman of the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors, violated Iowa labor law by interfering with the rights of members of AFSCME Council 61 Local 3462. This decision underscores the importance of holding public officials accountable for efforts to silence workers and disrupt the collective bargaining process.
The case stems from Ung’s August 2024 press release, in which he promised increased wages and benefits if union members dissolved their union. This blatant attempt to coerce and interfere with union members’ legally protected rights under Iowa Code 20.8 was deemed a prohibited practice under Iowa Code 20.10. The decision orders Ung to cease and desist from further violations and requires the posting of an official notice acknowledging his unlawful conduct.
“This is a resounding victory for every public employee in Iowa,” said Todd Copley, President of AFSCME Council 61. “Let this decision send a clear message: union-busting tactics and illegal coercion have no place in our state. Our members will always stand strong to defend their rights, their unions, and the public services they provide.”
The ruling comes amidst ongoing negotiations to address critical staffing shortages in the Woodbury County Attorney’s Office. Despite the Union’s good-faith efforts to secure better compensation and benefits for assistant county attorneys, Ung sought to divide workers and weaken their collective power by promising enhanced benefits only if the Union dissolved.
“This decision is a reminder that public employees’ rights are protected under Iowa law, and NO elected official is above that law,” Copley continued. “AFSCME Council 61 will always call out and confront these attacks on our members. When we stand together, no amount of coercion or intimidation can break our solidarity.”
AFSCME Council 61 represents over 40,000 public employees across Iowa who work tirelessly to serve their communities. This decision not only upholds their right to collective action but also reinforces the critical role unions play in advocating for fair treatment and stronger public services.
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In Solidarity,
Melissa Speed
Political Director
AFSCME Council 61
4320 NW 2nd Street | Des Moines, IA 50313
Regardless of the election results, the climate crisis is accelerating and the need for climate action is more urgent than ever. Several Iowans died in disasters this year, and overall Iowans suffered more than $550 million in disaster damage this year (over $170 per Iowan).
Here are four things you can do to take climate action:
1. Send our Congressional delegation a message supporting climate action.
Here is a link from the nonpartisan organization Citizens Climate Lobby where you can easily send an email message to our delegation to urge them to protect existing climate work and support more climate solutions:
2. Iowa Farmers Union Conference in Ames, Dec. 6-7
The Iowa Farmers Union is Iowa’s oldest and most progressive non-profit farm organization. This conference includes a workshop on farming and climate change on Saturday, December 7. I will be attending that day only. Please join me there to learn more about and support farmer leadership for climate solutions. Here is a link with more details and the applicable registration fee:
3. Donate money to the Iowa Democratic Party by December 31.
If we want Democrats to be able to compete across Iowa – and we need to in 2026 with seven statewide elections on the ballot (US Senate, Governor, Secretary of Agriculture, Attorney General, Auditor, Secretary of State, and Treasurer), plus four Congressional races, and State Senate and State House races – we need more volunteers and more money.
Can we raise $1 million or more by the end of the year to lay the foundation for campaign work in all 99 counties across Iowa? That’s 5,000 contributions that average $200 or more. You can contribute to the Iowa Democratic Party by mailing a check to “Iowa Democratic Party,” 5661 Fleur Drive, Des Moines, IA 50321, or online at this link:
4. Iowa Interfaith Power & Light statewide conference in Grinnell, Saturday, March 29
Please save the date for “Called to Climate Action,” the annual conference of Iowa Interfaith Power & Light, at Grinnell College on Saturday, March 29. Iowa IPL is a non-profit organization helping people of faith and conscience respond to the climate crisis with action and advocacy. (I am the board chair for Iowa IPL and would love to have you join me in Grinnell for the day.)
I hope this information is helpful. If you have questions or suggestions, please feel free to send me an email or give me a call. I hope to see you soon.
Rob Hogg (retired state senator)
Linn County
(319) 247-0223
Scroll down for an information/action alert from Iowa CCI. The list of 28 republicans would have been more honestly named “Republicans for Glyphosate” There were no democratic legislators on this list. In any event, seems like there is a political fight in the making for the upcoming Iowa legislative session.
CCI:
So many of us are wondering what will come up, and it’s hard to know which issues will ultimately be prioritized at the Statehouse.
One thing we do know is Bayer is looking for immunity from pesticide lawsuits, and we’re going to have to hop in on the fight.
As CCI President Barb Kalbach pointed out in her Brass Tacks column last week, they’ve been getting sued by folks who’ve gotten sick with cancer – and Round-Up use being their main concern – and they want those lawsuits to stop.
Here is the text of Kalbach’s column in the Waterloo Courier.
With election season behind us,I’m looking forward to the holidays and getting together with friends and family. It’s generally a peaceful time of year, filled with joy, good food and fond memories.
But this year, I’ll be thinking about a storm brewing at the Statehouse when the Iowa Legislature returns in early January. We’re in for a big fight that will pit multinational chemical companies and their billion-dollar profits against the health and well-being of everyday Iowans.
And you can bet that Iowa CCI and other grassroots groups will be in the thick of it. Earlier this spring, Bayer was asking Iowa legislators for protection from pesticide lawsuits. The giant chemical company, which manufactures the popular weed-killerRoundup, was asking for this protection in other states, too.
Bayer wants immunity because they’re getting sued by thousands of individuals who’ve gotten sick. Cancer is the main focus of these lawsuits, and Roundup is the main cause for concern.
As a nurse in rural Iowa,I’ve noticed an increase in cancer during my years working to help take care of people. In fact, some of my family members who’ve been involved in agriculture a long time have battled cancer.
Roundup is the most widely used weed-killer. According to USDA and Iowa State University, Iowa farmers spread nearly 54 million pounds of pesticides annually, which is more than many other states. In 2023, the Iowa Cancer Registry reported that Iowa has the second highest cancer rate in the country. And the National Cancer Institute said we’re the only state where the rate of new cancers increased significantly from 2015 to 2019.
It seems like Iowa has become a ground zero for cancer –and maybe our heavy use of farm chemicals is a contributing factor. It’s encouraging that our public health officials are taking note. According to journalist Keith Schneider, the Iowa Cancer Consortium is developing “a five-year plan for cutting public exposure to environmental carcinogens…including potentially cancer-causing chemicals used in agriculture.”
Given all of this data and the lawsuits that have been filed, it’s no surprise chemical companies are running scared. Last May, Bayer ran full-page ads in The Des Moines Register proclaiming “Health for all, Hungerfor none”in an obvious attempt to convince us they’re looking out for our best interests. And then inOctober – just weeks before the November 5 elections – Bayer and other corporate ag groups ran two more full-page ads in The Register thanking 28 GOP legislators (including Reps Pat Grassley and Matt Windschitl and Sens Amy Sinclair and Ken Rozenboom) for supporting SF2412, the bill that protects chemical companies and their profits from pesticide lawsuits.
Bayer is well-versed at using “corporate speak” and “feel good” messages to sway public opinion and win support for its cause. But isn’t its “cause” to sell more product and make more money? Isn’t that what it’s in business to do? When the Iowa Legislature reconvenes in January, we’ll be demandingthat House Speaker Pat Grassley, Senate President Amy Sinclair and other GOP leaders do the right thing –that means protecting the health and well-being of everyday Iowans, and saying“No”to Bayer and its corporate cronies. It’s time to put people before profits.
Barb Kalbach is a fourth generation family farmer and board president of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. Kalbach can be reached at barbnealkalbach@gmail.com.
Back in October, a special interest group called Modern Ag ran this full-page ad in the Des Moines Register thanking 28 legislators for their support of this bill.
Do you see one of your legislators on the list? If you see them around, be sure to bring it up with them, and let us know what you hear!
And no matter what happens, we’ll be right there to fight back, on this bill, on education, on the things that matter to us. Because we deserve to live in a state that puts people ahead of corporate profits.
Onward!
Katie Biechler, she/her
Political Organizing Director
Jeepers, few are in Reynolds’ class. Not in Iowa, not in the midwest, not in the country. Reynolds just doesn’t get the credit she deserves since she is almost single handedly driving Iowa into the irrelevance once reserved for states like the Dakotas and Wyoming.
Reynolds latest ploy is to exploit hungry kids for the sake of a few headlines. This is one of her favorite themes. Last summer she pulled $29 million from an Agriculture Department program and substituted that money with $900,000. Guess she thought kids educated at one of Iowa’s poorly funded public schools wouldn’t notice.
Last week Reynolds already turned down a similar package from the USDA to feed Iowa’s hungry kids this summer just as she did last summer. She claims there is another competing program she wants to use the money for. But due to rules (those are things MAGAs talk about but seldom follow) money from one place can’t be used in another. Damn rules.
Reynolds says her program choice could feed a gazillion others, but people who truly care about hungry kids say old Kim is fudging the numbers. Lying in other words – a bad thing for governors to do:
In a statement about the USDA rejection. Reynolds said her “summer feeding demonstration project would feed nearly 60,000 more Iowa children than” the Summer EBT program.
Elzinga pointed out the governor based her number on every family eligible signing up for the project using a new online registration portal the state would create, even though participation rates for two well-established nutrition assistance program run below 50 percent. Only 42 percent of Iowans eligible for SNAP participate in the program, and for the Woman, Infants and Children (WIC) program, the participation rate in the state is 45 percent.
<<snip>>
Elzinga was joined at the news conference by Executive Director of Common Good Iowa Anne Disher, Paige Chickering, Iowa state manager for Save the Children Action Network, and Coralville Community Food Pantry Executive Director John Boller, who also serves on the coalition’s board.
<<snip>>
Boller said the program “has been shown to improve healthy eating while reducing childhood insecurity. Parents should be trusted to make the best food choices for their children.”
In addition to her claim that participants would not make healthy choices if allowed to join the Summer EBT program, the governor has also cited her concern over the cost of the program as a reason for rejecting it. The state would have to split the cost of administering the program with the federal government. It would cost Iowa just over $2 million to provide access for the 245,000 eligible children. But, as Chickering explained, the state can qualify for a USDA grant that would cover about half its cost.
I am going to speculate here that Reynolds probably believes that the Trump oligarchy will do away with any program that targets childhood hunger by summer. After all, there are the billionaire tax cuts that are much higher priority than poor kids eating.
Besides, in Iowa by summer the Administration will be gathering up all sorts of kids to ship them and their parents out of the country. That’s the MAGA way to solve problems like hunger! And the bonus to that action will be empty houses for people to move into.
I remember Iowa from about a decade back. Kim Reynolds has really changed the place. People are moving out to show their appreciation!
Oh and let’s not forget what she’s done for Iowa’s once vaunted public school system. Trashed it and turned the money into paying school tuitions at private (often religious) schools for wealthy families whilepublic schools fall apart. Kim, What would Iowa’s rich do without you?
George Carlin on criminals in Reagan’s administration: (Not safe for work – it is George Carlin) (7 minutes). Anything sound familiar?
NPR doesn’t get a lot of money from the government anymore. Doesn’t make any difference. NPR is probably the closest thing to any kind of liberal gathering place as there is in the country and so MAGAs must destroy it and quickly. When they discover it is run mostly by donations Trumpco will probably try to get a list of names and try to charge them with some sort of crime.
Here is the story of NPR funding in a nutshell. Yes, there is still too much public money in NPR. You can expect the target to be on NPR’s back from day 1 of the Trump oligarchy. So if you are a listener like I am be prepared to pay for the radio you think is necessary to the survival of our democracy.
Why? Well when the backroom deals and the kick backs and the million dollar pardons and the bribes from foreign officials start to roll in, Trumpco wants to make sure the media is 100% behind them and more than willing to shut up and divert attention from their crimes. I hope I didn’t give away too much of the first year of Trumpco.
Kind of a loosey-goosey quiz today since it is the holiday season with another rolling quickly behind.
A) Trump promised to impose stiff tariffs on Mexico and Canada if they don’t stop the flow of drugs. What group of people is most responsible for bringing fentanyl into the US?
B) Many voters for Trump said they want Trump to do away with what federal health insurance program and it won’t hurt them because they are protected by the ACA?
C) Also, many Trump voters have been surprised that tariffs will not be paid by foreign countries but by who?
D) The European Federation of Journalists announced Friday that they will quit using what fast-becoming-irrelevant social media on January 20, 2025?
E) December brings us many holidays and solar related dates. This coming Friday is the Christian feast day for the personage who would become the season’s great gift giver?
F) The formal reopening for Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral will be taking place when?
G) Negotiators in South Korea are coming closer to an agreement on a cap on what major source of pollution on earth?
H) The earliest sundowns of the year in Iowa occur around what date?
I) In a resurfaced interview, HHS Secretary nominee RFK jr. said that what illicit drug was a great help to him in school when he was young?
J) Proposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada will raise the average price of a new car in the US by how much according to Wells Fargo?
K) San José State’s women’s Volleyball team advanced to last night’s finals in the Mountain West Conference Volleyball tournament when Boise State forfeited due to what reason?
L) November 27, 1978 who was murdered in San Francisco whose assailant became infamous for using what became known as “the twinkie defense”?
M) Canadian provincial premiers met Wednesday to discuss what suddenly crucial issue?
N) What Christian saint day is recognized as the sun starts to set later in the evening during December?
O) Since Trump has threatened huge tariffs on Mexico and Canada. Can you remember who are the leaders of these two nations?
P) Alice Brock died last week. Why is she famous in popular culture, especially around Thanksgiving?
Q) when will Hanukka happen this year?
R) In what appears to be an attempt to make Joni Ernst relevant before an election, she has been named as the chair of what newly created caucus in the senate?
S) Silly me I almost forgot to point out that today is the first day of what Christmas preparation time?
T) Five Democratic congress members from what state were targeted by bomb threats on their homes on Thanksgiving Day?
My spidey sense tells me to make this a great Christmas because after Trump fueled inflation next Christmas could be a real bummer.
B) Obamacare. Many are panicking now that they found out Obamacare and the ACA were the same thing
C) American consumers like themselves
D) X
E) December 6th is Saint Nicholas Day
F) Next Saturday December 7th
G) plastics. They are working on a total worldwide cap (best wishes)
H) between December 1st and December 12th
I) Heroin. Uh, kids, don’t be like Bobby
J) $2,000/car
K) San Jose allegedly has a trans athlete on their volleyball squad
L) San Francisco city council member Harvey Milk was shot by fellow council member Dan White who used the “twinkie defense” to claim he was depressed.
M) tariffs threatened to be imposed by Trump
N) December 13th Santa Lucia (Saint Light) day
O) Currently Justin Trudeau leads Canada and Claudia Scheinbaum just took over in Mexico
P) Alice Brock was the owner of Alice’s Restaurant made famous in a 1960s story by Arlo Guthrie
Q) December 25 to January 2, 2025
R) the Senate government efficiency caucus
S) Advent
T) Connecticut
Sounds like a plan: In the Philippines both the president (Marcos) and the VP (Duterte) have vowed to have the other killed if something happens to them
Many reports concerning Trump behavior since the beginning of his first round have been buried. We know that Trump wants to bury them again. But we do have at least the report that Jack Smith accumulated on Trump’s mishandling of classified documents during his time and Smith says he plans to release it.. The Mueller Report is still out there but needs to be unredacted.
There must also be reports on rape claims filed against Trump. I am of the opinion that any and all of these reports should be released. No doubt there are trial transcripts of his vast history of unethical business practices.
8 minutes:
Time for Biden to give such an order. If MAGAs scream like stuck pigs and claim that Trump’s rights are being abused, Biden’s legal counsel can remind the MAGAs that when the President is acting in his official capacity it is legal. Chief Justice Roberts said so!
A boy can dream: Mueller Report, the Jack Smith Report: a report on Jared Kushner’s $2 billion from Saudi Arabia; rape accusation reports. America needs to see all the documents that show what Trump really is. How bout something on Ivanka’s dealings with China; maybe an inquest into Ivana’s death. Hey we are just getting warmed up.
Thom Hartmann: What white Americans believe – yes lying to us works – 7 minutes
How many of you realized a couple of weeks ago that we have now been subjected to the daily rantings or activities for over 9 years as of this most recent election. With the results we are apparently on the cusp of another at least 4 years? It is almost overwhelming how this perversion has crept into our lives.
Sadly, thanks to the media that constantly engages in ‘sane-washing’ his rantsand oddities he has become normalized in the absence of what should be a picture of normalized Americans and their behavior. His aberrant behavior shouldn’t be presented as the norm, yet it becomes so in absence of a countervailing image.
Right now as Trump overwhelms the media with constant news of putting his horrible cabinet together, media once again treats the story of a child abuser as the nominee for Attorney General or a full blown woman abuser and misogynist as Secretary of Defense calmly as if is any normal day.
Of course these are not normal times. These times are, depending on your perspective, about to be among the worst ever in the history of the US. Many, including real historians, fear that this period we are about to enter into will be the final end of the American democracy.
Yet there are only a few minor voices being raised in opposition and those often on much splintered media. Through the use of the marketplace and Democrats enduring faith that their message is the most important piece of what they have to sell and it can almost sell itself.
Over the years businesses have used the various media of the day to sell products. Using radio and TV businesses sold cancer in the form of cigarettes. They sold death in the form of alcohol and still do with the disclaimer not to overdo it. There are potions and lotions galore that are pretty useless if not harmful. Yet they are sold through the media of the day fairly successfully.
The adverts for such products are constant, sometimes irritating – have you seen a medicare advantage ad today? – and often targeted. While Democrats push their main product for three months and then seem to disappear, we see the ads for other products continue on daily even hourly to create a presence in the collective psyche of Americans.
We have been seeing Trump pretty much daily since 2015 and weekly for a decade before that on gawd-awful reality TV. Most of what we have seen is really bad. A man who is a blubbering idiot at his best who peddles hate with half baked ideas and bad slogans. But through his presence in our living rooms through TV and social media he has come to be thought of as acceptable. Normalized is the common word for how Trump is presented.
Many people are making a noise about the money the Harris campaign spent this fall. But it was nothing compared to the years of free media that Trump has been given over the past decade and the amount that he was given in free media by the likes of Fox and Xitter.
I think the time has come, I hope it is not too late, that Democrats must understand that that we need a daily presence in the media. We do not need to be as perverse and abnormal as Trump. No – our strength will be in bringing back truth and decency back into the daily dialogue.
Since the media is almost fully owned by the right it won’t be an easy trick, but we have lots of very bright media savvy veterans and youngsters looking to make an impact on the old media methods and on the new media such as tin-top and Instagram.
The recent emergence of Bluesky as an alternative to the right-wing crazy media sites is truly encouraging. It looks like a site where the right wing can’t overpower and eliminate their opposition.
What the Democrats have to fight with are what Americans prefer. The truth along with intelligent and well thought out policy. But currently we are seldom heard. If the democrats can establish a daily dialogue with America where they can express what is so terrible about MAGA ideas and why Democratic policies are so far superior.
Perhaps you have heard that many MAGA voters, especially the youngsters,are now truly regretting their vote for Trump because they are now finding out that they will probably be losing their health insurance. Seems many of them thought that they were voting for someone who would end Obamacare but that was ok with them since they felt they were safe because they were on the Affordable Care Act (the ACA).
As you know Obamacare and the ACA are one and the same and a big chunk of Americans are looking at losing their insurance that they get throw the ACA next year. And for the rest of us that will likely raise insurance rates. Surprise.
Democrats have true stories like that plus stories on feeding the poor and housing and guns and Social Security and medicare and on and on that the American public simply isn’t hearing.
So Democrats and progressives need a daily presence that can’t be ignored and that does what we do best: tell the truth, counter the lies and give well thought out policies.
Happy Thanksgiving, loyal readers. Just a quick note that we are still on Twitter and we have added an account at BlueSky. Please follow us there and as always, on Facebook.
Everywhere I look I see Thanksgiving-themed posts with tips on how to have a “pleasant” or “peaceful” Thanksgiving family dinner in spite of your right wing uncle who voted for Trump.
Here is a list of a few.
Don’t Let Trump Ruin Thanksgiving
How to Deal with Trump Supporters at Your Family Holiday
Surviving a MAGA Thanksgiving
How to Talk to Your Racist MAGA Uncle This Thanksgiving
Tim’s Guide to Surviving a MAGA Thanksgiving
How to Deal with your Conservative Uncle at Thanksgiving in the Age of Trump
Holiday Survival Guide: Talking to MAGA Family Members
I personally find these “helpful” hint videos tedious and of no use whatsoever. But if you really need one head on over to YouTube and put the title in the search box. There are plenty of others.
Or perhaps this is the year to go for it and verbally duke it out with your MAGA uncle and go home early. Maybe it’s time to start thinking outside of the box.
This Thanksgiving I am grateful for many things including that we still have a democracy – if we can keep it.
Governor Kim Keynolds: (515) 281-5211 U.S. Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121 Iowa Members of Congress - Rep. Randy Feenstra (R) - Rep. Ashley Hinson (R) - Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R) - Rep. Zach Nunn (R) Iowa US Senators - Senator Joni Ernst (R) - Senator Charles Grassley (R)
Employment Appeal Board Rules Against Woodbury County Supervisor for Violating Union Rights
From our inbox: Action request from Rob Hogg –
Scroll down for an information/action alert from 
Blog For Iowa 