I have been lurking reading here for many years. Thank you for this blog. I wanted to mention:

FRI NOV 19th STRONG FEISTY WOMAN AWARD

WILPF’s 3rd annual “Strong Feisty Woman Award” Banquet

Holiday Inn Downtown 1050 6th Ave. Des Moines

WILPF honors Maggie Rawlands, active in Des Moines WILPF since the 1960s, and State Senator Pam Jochum.

$30 per person, includes dinner. RSVP by November 15 at 515-210-7928.

Indicate choice of meals, pork tenderloin or pasta primavera.

Mary McAdams, musician/singer/songwriter who is a fixture of Des Moines peace activism and social justice work will provide two songs for our program!

DOOR PRIZES will be given out to select guests! Lucky attendees will win prizes from the Green Goods for the Home shop in the East Village!

FREE GIFTS of YES! MAGAZINE’s special WATER ISSUE will be at every place setting. This issue has an article about David Cobb and Move To Amend! Thanks to our friends at Yes! for this giveaway which promotes our favorite magazine! (Fran says hi to all our WILPF feisty women!)

PHOTO WITH JANE & ROBIN! Get your photo snapped with both Jane Addams (lifesize cutout of Jane on her 150th Birthday year!) and Robin Monahan IN THE FLESH! Robin and his brother Laird Walked Across American this summer in awful heat, rain, and traffice on Route 50. He will be our special guest at the STRONG FEISTY WOMAN awards and has agreed to pose with fans for photos!

Hope you’ve been enjoying the perfect Iowa weather during this holiday weekend. The U.S. Department of Labor and Blog for Iowa provide background on the history of Labor Day.

Organized labor doesn’t have a lot to celebrate right now, with more job losses in the manufacturing sector and unemployment rising across the country (though Iowa’s unemployment rate is significantly lower than the national average). The Iowa Policy Project finds that “the state of working Iowa” is not good. As in the previous recession, we are losing jobs with good benefits as wages stagnate for the people who still have jobs. We now rank 32nd in terms of median wages, and lower incomes mean less money for consumers to spend at other businesses. Click here for the full report, which also explains that “policy makers could do more to make work pay for low- and moderate-income working families and to insist upon job-quality requirements in economic development strategies.”  

Iowa hasn’t adopted most of organized labor’s key legislative priorities in recent years, in part because of the “six-pack” of Iowa House Democrats that blocked those bills. On the plus side, Curt Hanson’s victory in the House district 90 special election means we haven’t lost any ground on this front. We only need to persuade one or two “six-pack members” (or defeat them in Democratic primaries) to find the 51st vote for “prevailing wage,” for instance.

I haven’t heard much lately about Senator Tom Harkin’s efforts to find a compromise on the Employee Free Choice Act. Getting 60 votes in the Senate for anything meaningful is likely to be quite difficult. The Service Employees International Union has some news related to the EFCA here.

Two years ago I attended the Solidarity Fest Labor Day celebration in Des Moines, featuring John Edwards and Hillary Clinton. The same event, sponsored by the South Central Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, takes place today in the 4-H building at the State Fairgrounds from noon to 2 pm. Later today, the Friends of Iowa Midwives are having a family-friendly potluck picnic at Raccoon River park in West Des Moines (4 to 8 pm, suggested donation $5).

After the jump I’ve posted details for lots of other events coming up this week.

Parking is going to be a nightmare in downtown Des Moines this weekend, with the Des Moines Arts Festival running in the Western Gateway Park Friday through Sunday, and the Iowa Democratic Party holding its Hall of Fame dinner on Friday night and state convention on Saturday.

If you can’t bike or bus your way to these events, consider carpooling with friends to reduce the number of parking spaces you’ll need to find.

The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom opened its 30th Triennial Congress at Simpson College in Indianola on Wednesday:

The time is NOW for WILPF to take its measure, to listen and learn from each other so we can shout out and stand up for the common good.  Democracy requires us to serve in the interests of those who cannot speak, cannot stand up.  Our 30th Triennial Congress provides a platform of all of us to form cohesive and effective voices in a time of greatest need.

The time is NOW.  The place is the Heartland.  Iowa is a microcosm of the local, national and the global issues that concern so many of us in WILPF.  The Des Moines branch wants YOU to join US in educating and agitating in June (and the rest of year) for a better world, a more peaceful  world, a world where women are respected, a world where children are sheltered, a world with no boundaries, no apathy, and no way but up.

Much more detail about that event can be found here:

http://www.wilpf.org/

I am only putting the highlights of the weekend’s events on this calendar, but WILPF has a lot more planned.

Thursday, June 26:

The Sierra Club Iowa Chapter, Iowa Global Warming Campaign, and Center on Sustainable Communities are proud to have Stephen Hren, one of the co-authors of The Carbon Free Home, at East Village Books, 510 E. Locust St. in Des Moines from 5:30-7:30 pm. There will be a discussion of the book followed by a question and answer session and ‘meet and greet’. There is no admission charge to attendees. Sponsoring groups will be on hand to answer questions about global warming, green building, and other related issues.

Friday, June 27:

The Iowa Democratic Party’s Hall of Fame dinner will be at the Polk County Convention Center in downtown Des Moines, beginning at 6 pm. More information is here:

http://www.iowademocrats.org/

The Des Moines Arts Festival opens in the Western Gateway Park of downtown Des Moines. More information about the weekend’s events is here:

http://www.desmoinesartsfestiv…

As part of the WILPF Congress at Simpson College in Indianola, Amy Goodman will deliver the keynote address at 7:30 pm on “Independent Media in a Time of War.” Amy Goodman is a syndicated columnist, author and the host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on 700 radio and television stations in North America. book signing after the event

Saturday, June 28:

The Iowa Democratic Party State Convention is going on all day at Hy-Vee Hall, 730 3rd Street in Des Moines.

The Story County Democrats are hosting a fundraiser for Becky Greenwald, Democratic candidate in the 4th Congressional district. The event is at the Prairie Moon Winery located at 3801 W 190th St in Ames. It starts at 5PM. There is no set amount to donate in order to attend.

Go here to view the schedule of events at the Des Moines Arts Festival:

http://www.desmoinesartsfestiv…

If you like art that you can buy as well as enjoy looking at, you might want to check out the “other art show” at the State Fairgrounds (Varied Industries Building), which runs on Saturday and Sunday. It’s more like a big craft fair, with many affordable items. I like buying note cards with paintings or photographs by Midwest artists.

It’s “tribute night” at the WILPF Congress in Indianola from 6:00 – 9:00pm. “Moving Forward” – The Great Hall  Public Invited to Join us for a cocktail hour followed by a Formal Dinner

Welcome, Moderator: Pat O’Brien  

Presenter of James Cheney Freedom Prize:   Pastor David Lewis    

Recipient:  Chris Morin and Sha’an Mouliet  Presenter of first annual Des Moines Branch, WILPF Strong Feisty Woman Award: Sue Dinsdale

Recipient:   Peg Mullen      

Introduction of Speaker: Marybeth Riley Gardam

FRAN KORTEN, publisher & executive director of YES! Magazine  Over many years and several countries, Korten has “helped bring about  substantial policy and institutional reform by creating common agendas among visionary leaders from the governmental, nongovernmental, and academic sectors.” *possibility of signing her magazine after the event

Sunday, June 29:

Go here to view the schedule of events at the Des Moines Arts Festival:

http://www.desmoinesartsfestiv…

As I said above, I also recommend the “other art show” at the fairgrounds.