DES MOINES – AFSCME Council 61 President Danny Homan issued the following statement regarding the expiration of the State of Iowa employee contract and other city, county, and school contracts:
“This holiday weekend is often one of celebration with family and friends, but this year is considerably different for public employees with contracts expiring June 30, 2017. Today marks the end of over forty years of collaborative negotiation between employers and employees, over forty years without workers on strike, and over forty years of dignity and respect in the workplace. The catastrophic gutting of Iowa’s collective bargaining system by legislative Republicans and the Branstad-Reynolds administration will show its true impact on working families going forward.
“As the devastating impacts of a hollow contract go into effect, we will continue to remind the families struggling to make ends meet exactly who did this to them. The elected officials who deliberately chose outside special interests, like the Koch brother-funded Americans for Prosperity and ALEC, over working Iowans will be held accountable at every turn. Despite every effort by those in power, our Union is not going anywhere. We will continue to fight for our members and the dignity they deserve for making Iowa happen.”
The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 61 represents 40,000 public employees including law enforcement and correctional officers, firefighters, mental health workers, professional school staff, emergency responders, and many other workers. AFSCME Council 61 also represents home health care and child care providers across the state and private sector workers at Prairie Meadows, Palmer College of Chiropractic, Des Moines University, and ABM (Marshalltown).
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