Iowa Senate Democratic Whip Bill Dotzler (D-Waterloo) has issued the following statement regarding the latest round of layoffs at the John Deere Waterloo Works facilities, and ongoing issues with unemployment in the State of Iowa.
“Yet another group of men and women in the Waterloo community will be forced to navigate an increasingly difficult unemployment landscape due to another round of layoffs,” Dotzler said.
“We have to revisit the changes made to the state’s unemployment system in 2022,” Dotzler continued. “Workers throughout Iowa are being hung out to dry with diminished protections as their livelihoods are threatened. Benefit cuts and increased bureaucratic hurdles continue to overcomplicate the unemployment process for workers and exacerbate our ongoing workforce crisis.”
“My heart goes out to the Waterloo families now facing an added burden as the holiday season rapidly approaches,” Dotzler said. “We need a renewed effort at the Capitol to bolster unemployment protections for the Iowans who make our economy run, and I invite my Republican colleagues to join Senate Democrats in that effort in the upcoming legislative session.”
Sen. Dotzler spent 30 years as a machine worker at John Deere and has represented Black Hawk County and the City of Waterloo for over 20 years in the Iowa Senate.
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