Iowa Senate Democrats

Fighting for a Better Deal for Iowans.

  • Boulton: Workers’ compensation should cover coronavirus

    By State Senator Nate Boulton

    More than 100 years ago, Upton Sinclair chronicled the misery and abuse of American workers in the meatpacking industry.

    In The Jungle, he described the packing plants as “centers of contagion, poisoning the lives of all of us.”

    Today, we are witnessing a new chapter in the life and deaths of meatpacking workers and other essential workers through the COVID-19 pandemic. 

    They are called “heroes,” but it’s clear where they rank in this public health crisis. It is painless to say you support them and are proud of those on the front line of public health, the nation’s food supply, or our economy. The hard part: Doing what’s needed when casualties start to mount. And casualties are mounting.

    Too many leaders have shown an alarming willingness to abandon front-line workers the moment words aren’t enough. When outbreaks hit meatpacking plants, the inspectors didn’t rush in. There are still no new workplace safety rules or clarifications of workers’ compensation eligibility for infections.  

    The state took a costly wait-and-see approach. When testing was rolled out, the infection rates were staggering. This week, nearly 60% of the meatpacking workers at one Iowa plant tested positive. That doesn’t include those who couldn’t be tested, meaning more than two-thirds of that workforce is likely infected. Still, the state and federal governments remain on the sidelines when it comes to worker protection, even after the Defense Production Act was used to keep plants open.

    After four years of stripping away workplace rights, it is time to protect those who are now hailed as essential. For our workers and our economy, we need a law and rules presuming COVID-19 infections as qualifying for workers’ compensation and providing a minimum of two weeks of benefits to workers with a positive diagnosis. Those carrying the infection must be removed from their workplace and be supported by benefits for necessary time off—for their own safety and that of their coworkers, families, and communities. Unless another source of infection is proven, no worker who remains on the job should have to fend for themselves on medical care or income when the risks they were asked to take become reality. This should be our first bipartisan priority when the legislative session resumes.

    The state also must back off the dangerous message that refusing to work is simply a “quit” and recognize, with unemployment rules, quits for good cause when employers fail to take reasonable precautions where increased risks of transmission exist. 

    Our essential workers are critical to Iowa’s success. By ensuring they are protected and can take time off when infected, we can reduce the spread of disease and get a step ahead on future outbreaks. Then, after addressing these immediate concerns, we can work on positive policies.

    A government of the people holds a sacred duty and trust to protect the people it serves. If it undermines the wellbeing of its workforce, it has fundamentally failed its purpose. It’s time to repair Iowa’s broken trust with the workers who will strengthen our state’s future.

  • Smith: Making Tyson safe for workers must be first priority

    State Senator Jackie Smith
    For Immediate Release: May 1, 2020

    (Sioux City) State Senator Jackie Smith of Sioux City today said that the Tyson meatpacking plant in Dakota City must be made safe before it reopens.

    Senator Smith believes an independent body must oversee Tyson’s reopening, one with the power to require additional changes, including plant shutdowns, when needed.

    “Tyson created this disaster by failing to protect Tyson workers,” Smith said.  “That’s why independent experts must oversee an intensive, ongoing effort to make the plant a safe place to work.” 

    In conversations with workers, community leaders and public health experts, Smith said several ideas were repeatedly raised.

    “One, we need thorough, repeatedly updated improvements in worker safety. Two, we must have comprehensive, on-going testing of workers, their families and their communities. Three, we need funding for the ongoing treatment and long-term health care needs of Tyson workers, their family and our communities,” said Smith.

    Smith noted that the failure by bad actors in the meatpacking industry is already imposing heavy costs on Northwest Iowa.

    “The meatpacking industry failures have created an unprecedent crisis for farmers across our region.  Tens of thousands of cattle and hogs may be euthanized due to this industry’s reckless disregard for the health and safety of their workers.

    Smith is calling on Iowa’s state and federal leaders to act decisively. 

    “Governor Kim Reynolds has repeatedly told the people of Northwest Iowa that she would fight for us,” Smith said.  “Governor Reynolds, this is your moment.  Help us make sure the Tyson plant does not reopen without fundamental changes, independent monitoring, and comprehensive testing and health care services.”

    Smith also appealed to the area’s Congressional representatives. 

    “Senators Ernst and Grassley, you are our community’s only functional voice in Congress,” Smith said.  “We need you to bring the power and resources of the federal government to help solve these problems.”  

    Smith said the problems exposed by the Tyson outbreak won’t be solved without putting the health and safety of Iowa workers first.

    “Tyson recklessly harmed hardworking Iowa men and women. Tyson’s neglect spread the virus to those workers, their families and our community,” Smith said.  “That’s why independent, ongoing health and safety reforms are essential to recovering from this economic and health care disaster.” 

    END

  • Dem leaders: Take precautions when re-opening state Capitol

    Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen and House Democratic Leader Todd Prichard submitted a memo April 29 to the Legislative Council with recommendations for protecting the health and safety of legislators, staff and constituents when the state Capitol re-opens to complete the 2020 session.

  • Hogg: Don’t deny unemployment to workers

    Statement from Senator Rob Hogg on decision by Governor Reynolds to deny unemployment benefits to workers

    “Governor Reynolds is failing to protect Iowa workers again.

    “The Governor has failed Iowa workers at meatpacking plants, workers and residents at long-term care facilities, and inmates and staff at our correctional facilities.

    “Now, after prematurely allowing Iowa businesses in 77 counties to reopen, the Governor announced that Iowans who don’t go into work — out of fear for themselves or a vulnerable person in their family contracting COVID19 — will lose their unemployment benefits.

    “Iowa workers should have a Governor and a government that has their back during this crisis.”

    • end  –

  • Petersen: Not time to randomly open segments of economy

    Statement from Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen

    “Governor Reynolds needs to put the health and safety of Iowans first. Iowans don’t want to be used as guinea pigs.

    “Iowa is experiencing staggering daily infections, record-high deaths, and it has yet to hit its peak.  This is not the time to try to make people happy by randomly reopening segments of the economy like crowded farmers markets. 

    “Governor Reynolds was elected to lead.  That means listening to health experts, sharing all the data and analysis with Iowans, and doing what it takes to protect all Iowans.  Iowans are strong and resilient. We can do hard things and make sacrifices, especially when we know the lives of our neighbors, families and friends are at stake.

    “Safely reopening our economy will require a massive scale-up of testing and contact tracing and more social distancing until we begin to flatten the curve.  We need to listen to and follow the advice and guidelines of national health experts to get Iowans back to work and protect the people we love.”

  • Boulton: Corrections workers need support

    Statement by Senator Nate Boulton:

    “Our prisons are places where safety and security have to be given utmost attention at all times or bad things happen. That’s true in the best of times.

    “Over the past few years, though, stretched thin with staffing issues, we have seen increasing violence and assaults on staff—one case requiring an inmate to stop an assault on a corrections officer due to unavailable backup. I raised these concerns—and the lack of communication from the administration—in February when the Senate considered the leadership of the Department of Corrections.

    “We now are seeing the lack of communication and tendency toward reaction rather than preparation play out in a new, harmful way. With the dramatic increase in positive cases at the prison (IMCC) at Coralville, it is obvious that the State of Iowa has not done enough to protect Iowa’s public servants who are working the front lines during this public health disaster.

    “There have been way too many missed opportunities. Action and planning should have come when the rest of the state was taking precautions, when the first positive test of a corrections officer was known, when the first positive test of inmate was known, or when a jarring ten cases became known this week. IMCC is the inmate distribution hub for our state. Failure to take precautions and reduce risks there puts our whole corrections system at risk. While many other states stopped doing intake of new prisoners from Iowa’s jails,  the Department of Corrections continued to risk a major outbreak through continued intake and prisoner movement.  In addition, proactively testing staff and inmates should have occurred.

    “I’m calling on this Administration to convene a teleconference today involving all wardens, the Director of the Department Corrections, Public Health and Department of Human Services, and AFSCME develop a new plan and improved protocols for keeping our correctional and DHS facilities as safe as possible, improved PPE standards and usage, expanded testing, and instituting premium pay for these essential workers who are required to show up for longer hours and more restrictive break periods despite the now obvious increased risk of exposure to themselves and the family members they return home to when their shifts are done.” 

    -end-

  • Senators: 3 steps to meatpacking worker safety

    For Immediate Release: April 19, 2020
    Contacts: Sen. Nate Boulton (515-669-4259); Sen. Bill Dotzler (319-240-5594): Sen. Kevin Kinney (319-631-4667)

    As the COVID-19 public health emergency worsens, three Iowa State Senators are calling for immediate action in response to multiple outbreaks at meatpacking facilities across the state.

    The Senators are calling for immediate action by state and local officials to:

    • Protect the health and safety of Iowa’s essential workers when they are on the job.
    • Stop the community transmission of COVID-19 among family members, neighbors and others who may be in contact with infected essential employees.
    • Prevent long-term interruption of  the nation’s food supply.

    “These Iowans are showing up for work, being pressed into service for our economy and for the food security of our nation, but have little confidence that their state or their employer are concerned for their safety. These outbreaks are startling—and so is the lackadaisical attitude coming from the state on what needs to be done,” said Senator Nate Boulton of Des Moines.

    “While the meatpacking plant outbreaks are drawing attention now, there are  many other  manufacturing facilities across the state that could face similar problems if protocols are not established and implemented now,” added Boulton, who grew up in Columbus Junction, where the COVID-19 outbreak is one of the worst in the nation.

    “What we are seeing play out is borderline criminal,” added Senator Bill Dotzler of Waterloo. “I represent workers who are telling me that even the voluntary precautions being taken aren’t doing anything. They’re having temperatures taken and the results ignored. These workers then go to work in close proximity throughout their shifts, go out into the community and expose community members, then go back into the plant where it all starts over again. Action must be taken immediately to stop further spread of COVID-19 and protect not only the workers at these important facilities but our communities as a whole.” 

     “I see problems in two places: the livestock agriculture community and the meat processing workforce. I’m hearing from workers that they feel completely expendable right now, particularly immigrant workers who are trying to make a better life for themselves. They feel particularly at risk,” said Senator Kevin Kinney of rural Oxford, a grain and livestock farmer. “But outside those packing plants, farmers across the state are  concerned that unaddressed problems in the packing plants will lead to widespread outbreaks in those facilities that could shut them down for long periods of time. If that continues, we are going to have a lot of farmers with no place to market hogs, chickens and cattle in this state.”

     The Senators are calling for three immediate points of action to address this crisis:

    1. The State Labor Commissioner — with input from representatives of the major livestock processing companies, representatives of the major labor unions representing livestock processing workers, and the department of public health – must issue stricter requirements for worker safety operational standards and protocols that include consideration of systemic disinfecting, reorganizing, and reopening closed facilities after new safety measures are put in place.
    2. As part of the process of seeking input on safety protocols, Iowa’s Labor Commissioner and Iowa Department of Public Health must also develop new public health crisis emergency rules for limiting the spread of COVID-19 in manufacturing and livestock processing facilities.  
    3. Iowa OSHA inspectors must immediately inspect each livestock processing facility to ensure current and any newly-enacted emergency rules and standards are being followed. According to the Labor Commissioner, not one meatpacking facility in Iowa has had an OSHA inspection since the public health emergency was declared.

    “Protecting both Iowa workers and the nation’s food supply is just too important for us to wait and see what happens as individual meatpacking companies are left to lead on this. Hoping for the best is a high-stakes gamble that threatens the health and safety of thousands of Iowans,” Boulton said.

    -end-

  • Petersen: Need transparency in fight against COVID-19

    By Janet Petersen, Iowa Senate Democratic leader

    When trouble hits our state, Iowans want leaders who talk straight and make sure all Iowans can be part of the solution.

    That’s true when we are helping fellow Iowans recover from flooding, tornadoes and other natural disasters. And it’s certainly true of our efforts to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

    If we are not all pulling in the same direction, that hurts everyone.

    Last fall, I had a conversation with a member of Gov. Kim Reynolds’ team who was refusing to invite lawmakers to attend a Maternal Health Summit to discuss such dangerous trends as labor and delivery departments shuttering across the state at record speed.

    I reminded him, “You are the Department of Public Health, not the Department of Private Health.”

    Like many Iowans, I was frustrated. I could see our health care infrastructure crumbling, and the Reynolds administration was continuing its alarming pattern of not sharing information.

    Since the for-profit privatized Medicaid program began, Iowa’s health care infrastructure has taken a beating. Iowa’s nursing homes, rural hospitals, ambulance services and public transportation services, and mental health providers were already financially reeling before COVID-19 crossed our state’s borders.

    The onset of this pandemic was like pouring lighter fluid on Iowa’s financially shaky health care system. In this perfect storm, the virus could trigger a wider health care disaster.

    It’s impacted our everyday lives, our jobs, our paychecks, our education, and our future.  It’s gone from being a public health crisis to a full-blown economic crisis, too.

    Fortunately, Iowans want to be part of the solution. That requires more Iowans knowing what is going on.  We deserve straightforward leadership that includes timely, accurate data, and clear directions.

    Iowa should take lessons from leaders in states who are doing things right.

    Governors who have been clear in their message and have had tough conversations with the people they represent about what to do to beat the virus are seeing better results. Most important, they’ve acted quickly to save lives, knowing that time matters.

    Leaders shouldn’t keep people in the dark. There is no reason to withhold knowledge of COVID-19 cases from Iowans who share the same living space or workspace with those infected. Iowa families with relatives in nursing facilities and meatpacking plants deserve to know immediately if their loved ones are being exposed.

    Iowans are frustrated that Reynolds is basing her decision-making on a “mystery model” instead of the scientific modeling that other states are using, especially when they are seeing better results elsewhere.

    Iowans deserve to know the governor’s plan for testing. The lack of widespread testing may give some a false belief that COVID-19 is not going to hit our state as hard as it has hit other states. The truth is that the continued lack of widespread testing and contact tracing puts us at greater risk than states with more aggressive testing measures.

    Our continued shortage of personal protective equipment should have more Iowans sounding the alarm because it’s putting our front-line workforce in danger.

    Overcoming the COVID-19 crisis will not be simple, but we can get there sooner with bold leadership, better information, and more confidence that everything possible is being done to protect the health and safety of all Iowans.

    Iowans want to be part of the solution. We want to help our front-line workforce. We want to protect our friends and neighbors. Most important, we want more sunshine, especially from the governor and her team.

  • How to make face masks

    Simple instructions for making face masks, thanks to JOANN Fabric and Craft Stores.

    Download PDF of instructions.

    Download PDF of pattern.

  • Democratic leaders call for statewide stay-at-home order

    Download pdf of letter, April 2, 2020