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Glasson's Campaign Staff is First in Iowa to Unionize

cathy glasson
Katarina Sostaric
/
IPR
Cathy Glasson announces her run for governor Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017.

Workers on Democrat Cathy Glasson’s campaign for governor have become the first campaign staffers in Iowa to unionize. Glasson is a union leader, and making it easier for Iowans to join unions is one of her central campaign promises.

Organizing Director Michael Fasullo said Glasson campaign workers want to set an example.

“It’s really important that electoral campaigns don’t just ask for votes from unions, but actually are doing everything they possibly can to uplift and elevate workers’ abilities to find new ways to form and join unions,” Fasullo said. “And that’s something we’ve been saying from the start, and I think it’s important that we walk that walk.”

Meg Reilly with the Campaign Workers Guild—the national organization that’s unionizing campaigns—said Glasson’s campaign is the second gubernatorial campaign in the country to unionize.

“We are at various stages of the organizing and bargaining process with dozens of other campaigns across the country, including Iowa,” Reilly said in an email.

A congressional campaign in Wisconsin is considered to be the first campaign to unionize. That was announced in February.

Glasson is one of six candidates on the ballot in Iowa’s June 5th Democratic gubernatorial primary election.

Katarina Sostaric is IPR's State Government Reporter