IA Legislation Aims to Free Teachers

A new law in Iowa will limit monopoly bargaining for public employees, similar to Act 10 in Wisconsin, which has been deemed a success for both taxpayers and students. Although Iowa is a Right to Work state, teachers are still bound to forced representation by monopoly bargaining contracts which are negotiated by union officials. Consequently, a teacher must be a union member in order to vote on the contract. Teacher union officials scrambled to keep control by signing as many monopoly contracts as possible before the law went into effect on Friday. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Iowa Council 16, however has taken more serious measures.

Grant Rogers and William Petroski have the story in the Des Moines Register.

A union representing 40,000 Iowa government workers filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to halt implementation of the state’s new law altering the collective bargaining rights of public employees.

A Des Moines attorney representing the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Iowa Council 61 described the changes as “draconian” in the complaint, which seeks an injunction hearing as soon as possible.