DES MOINES, IOWA (May 17, 2019) — The Iowa Supreme Court issued its decision today in Iowa State Education Association (ISEA) and Davenport Education Association (DEA) vs State of Iowa, Iowa Public Relations Board, Mike Cormack, Jamie Van Fossen and Mary Gannon. The Supreme Court decided 4-3 to uphold the legislative changes to Chapter 20.
"We are disappointed in the 4-3 decision by the Iowa Supreme Court. We believe this case was about the issue of fairness. Their decision does not stop our work. The ISEA has been working to protect the rights of Iowa’s working men and women for 165 years, and nothing will stop that march forward. As always, we will continue to fight for our members to ensure they receive the same rights and privileges enjoyed by other employees. We will also continue to advocate for the students in our care. Our professional environment is their learning environment,” said Mike Beranek, President of the Iowa State Education Association.
The decision and case is filed under Iowa Supreme Court Case #17-1834 under this link:
Recap of Appellants’ Brief in the Iowa Supreme Court formally asking the Court to consider whether the new collective bargaining law:
Iowa State Education Association (ISEA) and Davenport Education Association (DEA) vs. State of Iowa, Iowa Public Relations Board, Mike Cormack, Jamie Van Fossen and Mary Gannon
(1) Violates the Uniformity Clause found in Article I, Section 6, of the Iowa Constitution because it establishes different collective bargaining rights for bargaining units containing less than 30 percent public safety employees; and
(2) Violates the Uniformity Clause of the Iowa Constitution because it prohibits the use of payroll deduction for payment of employee organization dues, while continuing to allow such payment for dues connected with professional or trade organizations;
Among ISEA’s arguments was that so long as all public employees are treated in the same class under Iowa’s no strike provisions, they must be treated the same under Iowa’s new collective bargaining law. To do any differently is creating a “special class” of public employee and violates the Uniformity Clause of the Iowa Constitution.
The ISEA represents preK-12 educators, education support professionals, community college faculty, Area Education Agency professionals, retired educators and aspiring educators with contracts covering more than 50,000 employees. We promote quality public education by placing students at the center of everything we do while advocating for education professionals.
