Organized labor representing public employees had to decide whether to honor their living or their dead at the Iowa Capitol this year.
Instead, Iowa labor organizations gathered in blustery winds at Union Labor Park on April 28 to honor the 45 public employees who lost their lives on the job in 2024.
Standing in the way of holding the event on the Capitol grounds where it has been held since 1989 is a recently implemented policy by Iowa’s Department of Administrative Services (DAS) that prohibits organizations from holding more than one event a year there.
In the past, organized labor had held two events on the Capitol grounds: the memorial service for public workers who have died on the job and the Labor Day celebration for living workers.
“It hurts, it truly hurts. It’s like it is forcing us to make a decision about honoring either the living or the dead,” said Paula A. Martinez, president of the South Central Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.
Faced with only being able to have one event on the Capitol grounds, the unions opted for Labor Day because of the logistical needs of staging the annual parade.
South Central Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO President Paula Martinez addresses the crowd at the Iowa Workers Memorial Day service at Union Labor Park in Des Moines on April 28, 2025.
State Senate Minority Leader Janice Weiner, D-Iowa City, attended the memorial service and said she did not know why organizations were being limited by the state to just one annual event a year at the Capitol.
“Both of these events (the memorial event and Labor Day) are incredibly important events. If we value Iowa’s workers, both should have been able to be accommodated,” Weiner said.
Event policy brings confusion to organizations
Organized labor aren’t the only organizations feeling the sting of the new policy.
Music Under the Stars, a fixture at the Capitol since 1947, will be moving four of its five performances this summer to the lawn of Hoyt Sherman Place and one performance at Water Works Park, according to Dan Stevenson, director of the 43-piece band consisting of professional musicians.
“We didn’t want to be moving around all summer and couldn’t wait any longer to set our schedule,” Stevenson said of the decision to go to Hoyt Sherman Place.
Stevenson called Hoyt Sherman Place “an amenable place” with the opportunity to possibly attract some new people to the concerts.
Still, Stevenson is hopeful that the band can return to the Capitol in the future.
Complicating the matter even further is a DAS policy that the one-event-a-year extends to “any affiliate, conduit, designee, partner, or subunit” of a requesting organization.
DAS did not respond to an email or phone request from the Register seeking comment on why the once-a-year policy was put in place or for the definition of affiliate, conduit, designee, partner or subunit.
Likewise, Charlie Wishman, president of the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, sought clarification from DAS earlier this year and did not receive a response.
Wishman was following up on an email he received Feb. 19 from Suzy Trotter, Capitol Complex events coordinator, stating, “Please note, an Event Requestor, including any affiliate, conduit, designee, partner, or subunit, may not hold more than one event per calendar year. Is the Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO an affiliate, conduit, designee, partner, or subunit, of South Central Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO?”
Proposed legislation addresses one-event-a-year policy, offers clarity
Legislative clarity on the issue may be on its way.
Rep. Derek Wulf, R-Hudson, has placed an amendment on a bill that would make the process of making a reservation of Capitol grounds clearer, including organizations being allowed up to six events each year.
Wulf said he did not know why DAS was limiting organizations to one event a year and that the department couldn’t explain why to legislators.
“DAS asked us to help fix it,” Wulf said of the legislation that would more clearly define the process as well as provide more flexibility for organizations in setting dates.
Wulf made it clear that the legislation, which he expected to be debated by the House either this week or next, would “in no way stop protests” from occurring at the Capitol, adding that protests are already protected under law.
While the process of utilizing Capitol grounds needs to be loosened up, Wulf said there still needs to be a process.
The Iowa Workers Memorial Day service featured 45 crosses, one for each public employee who died on the job in 2024. The event was held at Union Labor Park in Des Moines on April 28, 2025.
“I compare it to renting a banquet room at the Holiday Inn. Issues like who pays if someone gets hurt or if there is trash everywhere need to be addressed,” Wulf said.
“We need to get this straightened out and we will,” Wulf said.
State Auditor Rob Sand speaks at the Iowa Worker Memorial Day service at Union Labor Park in Des Moines on April 28, 2025.
Asked if he would have restricted the unions to just one event at the Capitol, Wulf said, “No.”
Martinez said having to move the memorial service “saddens” her and that she hopes Iowans still get the message.
“I hope Iowans appreciate the sacrifices our workers have made,” Martinez said.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Honor the living or the dead? Labor union memorial forced from capitol
Read the full article here
