Even with Democrat majorities in the Iowa legislature and a Democrat occupying the Governor’s office, Iowa’s labor unions have yet to see any piece of labor-backed legislation be signed into law. Undeterred, House Democrats filed two labor bills yesterday, House File 555 and House File 530.

House File 555 is a bill which will gut Iowa’s right-to-work law. The bill would essentially require non-union employees to pay union dues if the benefit in any way from union agreements. The unions refer to this legislation as “Fair Share.”

The other labor bill filed yesterday is House File 530, a bill that wreak havoc on Iowa’s workers’ compensation system by changing the way physicians are selected to treat injured employees. Iowa’s system has been the model of the nation since 1913.

Local business leaders remain strongly opposed to House Files 555 and 530. John Gilliland of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry said, “Forcing Iowans to pay dues to unions they choose not to belong to is just wrong. ABI and our broad-based coalition will work diligently to stop this legislation and protect Iowans’ paychecks from being debited by labor unions.”

Political insiders had believed that prevailing wage and the workers compensation legislation would be easier to navigate through the Iowa House than the controversial Fair Share bill. However, the future of these bills now appears uncertain after House Democrats failed to pass prevailing wage legislation late last month.