The vast majority of eligible state and local government workers in bargaining units in Iowa have voted to retain their union representation. Danny Homan is president of the Iowa local for the American Federation of State, Countil and Municipal Employees — the AFSCME union.
A new state law requires “recertification” votes before each round of contract talks with public sector workers.
The AFSCME union faced recertification votes in 42 bargaining units. One of those 42 units will no longer be represented by AFSCME. Homan says employees worked through a number of barriers to make their choices.
More than 28-thousand Iowans cast ballots over the past two weeks in these recertification elections. If their public-sector employers negotiate one-year contracts, there’ll be another round of voting like this a year from now.
