Planned Parenthood Workers in Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota have filed an Unfair Labor Practices complaint with the National Labor Relations Board as the two sides work to reach a new contract.

It has been more than a year, and bargaining teams for Planned Parenthood and its health care clinic workers, represented by the Service Employees International Union, have met nearly three dozen times.

Ashley Schmidt, training and development specialist for Planned Parenthood of Nebraska and Western Iowa, said she is one of the few remaining members of the original bargaining team. She stressed the two sides are still far apart on some basic issues.

"We are really trying to get better wages and better health care," Schmidt explained. "Those are our two really big asks."

Schmidt acknowledged slight progress has been made. A past contract offer from Planned Parenthood presented all 14 members of the union bargaining team with what's known as a "final written notice," making them at-will employees and effectively allowing the company to let them go for any reason, with no notice. Planned Parenthood countered it has continued to bargain in good faith.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1970s court ruling legalizing abortion, a patchwork of local and state laws has meant a rush for clinic services, including in Iowa. Schmidt stressed many of the employees who had remained at already understaffed and overwhelmed clinics were demoralized, and left for better-paying jobs.

"We can't retain employees," Schmidt noted. "We have had an over 44% turnover rate since last July. You know, we tout ourselves on being 'reproductive experts,' but it's so hard to create experts when people don't stay long enough to even gain any knowledge."

The group is now awaiting word on its complaint with the labor relations board, in which it claims a Planned Parenthood employee was fired without just cause. Employees have also held recent informational pickets in Iowa and Minnesota.


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Thousands are expected to rally in Harrisburg on Monday for a "Raise the Wage and Immigrant Rights Day of Action."

More than 47,000 Pennsylvania workers earn the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour or less.

Jarrett Smith, legislative director for the Service Employees International Union, said Pennsylvania hasn't raised its minimum wage in more than 15 years, while more than 30 other states and Washington, D.C., have all moved toward $15 an hour.

Smith said this makes it harder for the state to stay competitive.

"We are demanding that we raise the wage in Pennsylvania to $15 an hour," he said, and "that we include a cost-of-living adjustment so that we don't have to keep coming back, year after year."

Smith said the coalition Pennsylvania Stands Up is leading the protest, backed by labor and community groups and some lawmakers.

Two years ago, the House passed a bill to raise the state minimum wage to $15 by 2026, but the Senate hasn't acted. Smith said Gov. Josh Shapiro has pointed out it could bring in up to $60 million a year in tax revenue.

Smith said it's key to distinguish low-wage from minimum-wage workers. Nearly 1.2 million Pennsylvanians earn wages less than $15 an hour, and many are single moms. He added that these workers often support families, pushing the state to cover gaps with programs such as SNAP and Medicaid.

"When we talk about how do we actually lift workers out of poverty," he said, "one of the things that you can do is raise that floor and give families the financial independence to actually earn a wage that's going to allow them to not have to make decisions between paying a grocery bill or getting health care."

Smith noted that Pennsylvania is losing workers to neighboring states with higher minimum wages, making it hard to keep a strong workforce.

"We are one of the fastest-shrinking states in the Northeast," he said. "New Jersey, across the border, they have a $15 minimum wage to start, and they're already increasing it for certain workforces, like health care and education."

He added that SEIU represents around 80,000 service workers in the state, across industries such as government, health care and food service. The union is also negotiating its first national Starbucks contract.


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New national rankings out this week show South Dakota jumped a few spots higher in teacher pay for each state. However, there are questions about whether the shift will be temporary.

The National Education Association puts South Dakota at 46th in the U.S. for compensation offered to educators around the state. The current rank is the highest South Dakota has achieved since reporting began. Teachers in the state now earn an average salary of more than $56,000.

Loren Paul, president of the South Dakota Education Association, credits higher bumps in state aid the past few years.

"That extra effort from our state gets us out of the bottom rankings," Paul explained. "It also is supportive in recruiting teachers and also retaining teachers in the profession."

In this year's legislative session, education got a smaller funding increase of 1.25%, falling behind inflation. Paul cautioned it could mean South Dakota will slide back in future rankings. The smaller bump came as part of a "belt tightening" mood at the State Capitol this year, with uncertainty over federal funding and declines in sales tax revenue.

Educators said they understand the budget challenges facing South Dakota but Paul contended taking the foot off the accelerator only puts the state in a troubling pattern it has been trying to shake off.

"It has to be year after year," Paul stressed. "It's not a, 'Oh, we're going to address this for a year or two, and then we're going to fall back into very small increases,' or no increases, or actually going backwards."

He added when shrinking investments cause a state to tumble in rankings, public pressure goes back up because no state wants to be seen as holding the last spot.

The union noted when adjusted for inflation, teachers in many parts of the country still make less than they did a decade ago, and if they cannot afford to cover basic expenses, some will choose to leave the profession.

Wyoming labor unions will gather Thursday in Casper in honor of May Day, a holiday celebrated in 80 countries commemorating the labor movement and promoting workers' rights.

Dirk Andrews, vice president of the Wyoming Education Association and an organizer for the event, said he is not only expecting teachers, but also AFL-CIO labor organizers, postal workers, firefighters and unionized writers and grocery store workers. Everyone is invited, Andrews added.

"Our mission really is just to try and unite our working class across Wyoming," Andrews explained. "We're the ones that are working in the fields every single day. Doing the hard work and making sure that we're serving our community."

Andrews noted the event is family-friendly and there will be summer learning kits and treats for children. The Casper rally will take place May 1 at 5 p.m. in Healing Park.

Several bills passing the Wyoming Legislature this session will affect labor groups. Those affecting teachers include one expanding the state's education savings accounts, or voucher program, and another repealing gun-free zones in the state, including its schools.

Andrews stressed the Wyoming Education Association's focus is less on legislation and more on education.

"Really our focus is ensuring that public education is fully funded, that we're doing what's best for our students on a daily basis, that we have buildings and all of those things that are helping our students learn to the best of their ability," Andrews outlined.

Andrews hopes the rally will "bring the working class together," he added, to "do better for everybody."


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