Initial Unemployment Claims in Iowa Rise For 3rd Straight Week
(Des Moines, IA) — Iowa Workforce Development is reporting an increase in initial unemployment claims for the third straight week. Officials say 11-thousand-125 laid-off workers filed claims between July 5th and 11th – compared to 10-thousand-698 the previous week. Iowa paid out 33-point-three-million dollars in unemployment insurance benefits last week.
Manufacturing and self-employed contractor filed the most claims. One-point-three-million Americans filed for unemployment last week.
Iowa Department of Public Health Spokeswoman Forced Out
(Des Moines, IA) — A woman who’s been the Iowa Department of Public Health’s lead spokesperson for more than a decade has been forced out of the post. Polly Carver-Kimm said she believes she’s a casualty of the pressure the department’s been under in the midst of the pandemic and, as a former journalist, she sought to be an advocate for openness and timely responses.
Carver-Kimm said, “I felt that maybe that was part of the reason why I was let go because, you know, we kind of closed up a little bit.” She said her dismissal was not a surprise. Carver-Kimm said “I have sensed that something was coming for several months now because I was just consistently relieved of duties and it started back in March not long after we had our first case of
COVID-19.” She said the department’s director called her Wednesday and gave her the choice to resign or be terminated.
76 Female Rockwell Collins Employees to Receive $250K in Back Pay
(Cedar Rapids, IA) — The U-S Labor Department says Rockwell Collins has agreed to pay 250-thousand dollars in back to 76 female employees in Cedar Rapids. The aerospace company is paying the women to resolve alleged pay discrimination. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program found that
discrimination occurred against female employees in auditor, commodity management and integrated program specialist job families when compared to male employees in similar roles. Rockwell Collins agreed to review employee compensation practices and make necessary adjustments, but admitted no
liability in the agreement. The employer also consented to better monitor its employee compensation and provide Equal Employment Opportunity training to avoid future violations. United Technologies acquired Rockwell Collins in 2018, and the company now does business as Collins Aerospace.
Nine JCPenney Stores in Iowa Remain Open During Bankruptcy
(Plano, TX) — Going-out-of-business sales are underway at J-C Penney stores in Carroll and Marshalltown and the company announced it will shed a thousand jobs, mostly from its corporate office in Texas. J-C Penney filed for bankruptcy in May and announced then that it would close 152 stores. The
company operates 11 stores in Iowa, nine of which will remain open under its current reorganization plan. Those nine locations are in Ames, Cedar Rapids, Coralville, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Dubuque, Sioux City, Spencer and West Des Moines.
