When the majority party of the 2017 legislative session dismantled Chapter 20 (the section of the Code of Iowa that gave public employees the right to have a union and bargain collectively with their public employers), they added a section that required every certified bargaining unit to have an election during every contract period, requiring the bargaining unit to vote yes to keep their union and contract. The Legislators and Governor Branstad were hoping to eliminate unions, so public employees would no longer have a voice in their conditions of employment. They even stacked the deck in their favor by requiring 50% plus one of the entire bargaining unit to vote yes to re-certify the Union (which means if someone does not vote, it is counted as a no vote). The Union and the Public Employment Relations Board will be sending out additional information concerning the voting process as we get closer to the date of the re-certification election, but we will be looking for Re-certification Organizing Committee (R.O.C.) members to help remind everyone in the bargaining unit to vote yes. If you are interested in becoming a R.O.C. member, please let the staff person who services your sub-local know, or call the Union Office at (515) 299-9840.

Lastly, concerning the upcoming re-certification elections, we want to make sure that everyone knows that voting YES does NOT make you a DUES PAYING MEMBER of the union, it means you as a public employee believe you should have a say in your conditions of employment, and that you want to keep all of the benefits and protections contained in your current Collective Bargaining Agreement. If UE Local 893-IUP is not re-certified, our contract and it’s benefits and protections will be immediately lost.