by Jason Whisler, Political Action Chair for UE Local 896-COGS, Teaching Assistant and Ph.D. Student in History, University of Iowa
The Senate race in Iowa's District 18 was just part of an ongoing struggle for us in Local 896, public employees in the state of Iowa, and across the nation. Last February, our membership was very involved in the protests against Scott Walker and the Wisconsin Republicans. Many of our members traveled to Madison and knew that we were only a slight majority in Iowa's Senate from having the same thing happen here.
Some of our members, myself included, went to the capitol in Des Moines to protest budget cuts and increases in healthcare premiums. When I heard what Governor Branstad was up to, trying to buy a senate seat by appointing the Democratic senator from a Republican-leaning district to a plush job on the Iowa Utilities Board, I was in the process of researching Iowa's public sector bargaining law for the Iowa Labor Center and my own dissertation on working-class politics in Iowa in the late 20th century. There were attempts to pass a public employee bargaining bill from at least 1964 until it was finally passed in 1974. Throughout that process, and particularly in 1973 when the eventual bill was in the Iowa House, the most outspoken opponent, and the person proposing the most amendments to poke holes in the bill, was none other than Terry Branstad. So it is clear that overturning this law has been his goal for 40 years now.
With a Republican majority in the Iowa Senate, there is no doubt what would happen, so I tried to inform our members of what was at stake in that election. I called on our local Senator, Joe Bolkcom, to come to one of our happy hour gatherings, to speak to a crowd of about 30 members and then asked members to sign up to go volunteer for the Liz Mathis campaign. Our UE field organizer, Jennifer Marsh, was an active volunteer and made several trips to do door-to-door "labor walk" canvasing. I spent one afternoon with another COGS member, Josh Cochran, going door-to-door, and our President Kari Thompson, Chief Cteward Barrett Gough, and at least a couple other members spent time canvasing. I enjoyed it. We were given lists of Democratic voters, so we did not face too much resistance.
About three weeks before the election, almost everyone we talked to was fairly well informed about the election. There were campaign signs in about every third yard, and most people said union folks had been to their home numerous times already. We collected absentee ballot request forms and reiterated the importance of voting in this special election. The response was overall very positive except from those who were tired of supporters knocking on their doors. I had not seen, and I don't think there were any campaign ads that specifically talked about the threats to unions' collective bargaining rights, so we made sure that the voters knew what was on the line. I think some of them did not really understand why a single state Senate Race was attracting hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign money, but understood once they knew what it was really about. Going in to the election, I was fairly sure that Mathis would win. Even in a Republican-leaning district, people do not actually want to vote against unions' collective bargaining rights. That isn't what they voted for when they voted Republican and brought Branstad back to the Governor's mansion. That is a right-wing agenda that very few citizens actually support. I believe what happened in Ohio with SB5, and what has and will happen to Walker in Wisconsin are clear representations of this. Following the election, I sent a letter to Senator Mathis on behalf of our union saying thank you for serving, congratulations on the victory, and to remember the support of unions that got her elected to defend against attacks against workers and unions. What this election means for our unions and other unions and workers in Iowa, is that collective bargaining rights are safe... for now. It also means that when unions spread the message and explain the importance of protecting bargaining and union rights at the ballot box, we can win.
Gov. Branstad has been fighting this law for 40 years, and this one Senate race is not going to stop him. We are still protected by a 26-24 majority in the Iowa Senate, but that majority is all too thin. In 2012, we are going to be facing the same fight across the state, and that's even more scary. In this election, it was a little difficult to get people involved in a state senate race in a district that's a 30 minute drive from Iowa City. I was happy, however, that we had so many people step up and volunteer. Most everyone else that I talked to seemed interested and I was sure to explain why it was important. Those who support the union and know what having the union has meant for graduate employees at the University understand why this political battle is important and something that we need to be active in.
What has happened in Wisconsin and Ohio has set an example for what right-wing corporate Republicans want to do. It shows how difficult it is to do anything after the fact of elections. But unlike Wisconsin and Ohio in 2010, where a harsh anti-union agenda was not a part of the Republicans' election campaigns, here in Iowa we now see what is coming and will not be taken by surprise. A line has been drawn in the sand and I am cautiously optimistic that it is a fight that we can run on, we can win, and thereby continue to protect our union rights. We will be gearing up for this fight in the 2012 elections.