--- title: Iowa labor movement struggles with anti-union legislation description: The America’s Work Force Union Podcast is the nation’s premier daily labor program. Bill Gerhard of the Iowa BCTC joined us on today’s show. image: https://awf.labortools.com/hubfs/AWF-blog-image-template_iowa.jpg --- Season 3, Episode 113 # Iowa labor movement struggles with anti-union legislation [ awfblog ](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/author/awfblog) June 10, 2022 [Building Trades](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/building-trades) [Local Union](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/local-union) [America's Work Force Union Podcast](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/americas-work-force-union-podcast) [Legislative Action](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/legislative-action) [Government Affairs and Policy](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/government-affairs-and-policy) ![AWF-Blogo-Logos-Template-400x400_iowa](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AWF-Blogo-Logos-Template-400x400_iowa.png?width=400&name=AWF-Blogo-Logos-Template-400x400_iowa.png)   Guest Name: --- Bill Gerhard Guest Website: --- [iowastatebuildingtrades.org](https://iowastatebuildingtrades.org/) Guest Social Media: --- [ Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/) [ Twitter](https://twitter.com/iabldgtrades) [ YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/) [ LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/) Supportive Documents: --- [Iowa State Building and Construction Trades Council](https://iowastatebuildingtrades.org/) President Bill Gerhard joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed Republican-led efforts to pass anti-union legislation in Iowa and its impact on organizing. Gerhard also serves as Business Development Coordinator of the [Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust (LECET)](https://www.lecet.org/), Chairman of the Iowa Laborers Health and Welfare Fund and Vice President of the [Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO](https://www.iowaaflcio.org/). One piece of anti-union legislation he cited was the outlawing of Project Labor Agreements within the state, which significantly affected union pay.  Gerhard also talked about the need to grow apprenticeship programs to meet the increased demand for work driven by the solar industry, how the Reagan administration impacted union membership and the efforts of the LECET to create jobs for union workers.  Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics. --- America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues. America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers. - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ##### SUBSCRIBE ON: --- [![Group 342](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/Apple%20Podcasts%20Button-Dark.png?width=171&name=Apple%20Podcasts%20Button-Dark.png)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/id1511224946) [![Group 341](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/Spotify%20Button-Dark.png?width=100&name=Spotify%20Button-Dark.png)](https://open.spotify.com/show/0GzkHxFSBxiXvuX0lZpQBn) [![Group 343](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20343.png?width=135&name=Group%20343.png)](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast-62567752/) [![Group 339](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20339.png?width=110&name=Group%20339.png)](https://www.pandora.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/PC:47979) [![Group 397](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20397.png?width=125&name=Group%20397.png)](https://americasworkforceradiopodcast.podbean.com/) [![Group 397](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/YouTube_button.png?width=125&name=YouTube_button.png)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuQo1PAtRAel1_tS7-PQOkA)   #### [Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on the Union Pacific Merger Threat](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/brotherhood-of-railroad-signalmen-on-the-union-pacific-merger-threat) : July 6, 2026 # Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on the Union Pacific Merger Threat Brandon Elvey, Secretary-Treasurer of the [Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen](https://www.brs.org/),... [Read More](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/brotherhood-of-railroad-signalmen-on-the-union-pacific-merger-threat) #### [AFL-CIO's Fred Redmond on the Convention, AI and America at 250](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/afl-cios-fred-redmond-on-the-convention-ai-and-america-at-250) : July 3, 2026 # AFL-CIO's Fred Redmond on the Convention, AI and America at 250 Fred Redmond, Secretary-Treasurer of the [AFL-CIO](https://awf.labortools.com/), joined the [America's Work Force...](https://awf.labortools.com/) [Read More](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/afl-cios-fred-redmond-on-the-convention-ai-and-america-at-250) #### [C/COBCTC's Dorsey Hager on Drones, Data Centers and Growth](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/c/cobctcs-dorsey-hager-on-drones-data-centers-and-growth) : July 2, 2026 # Dorsey Hager on Drones, Data Centers and Central Ohio's Building Boom Dorsey Hager, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the [Columbus/Central Ohio...](https://columbusconstruction.org/) [Read More](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/c/cobctcs-dorsey-hager-on-drones-data-centers-and-growth) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "awfblog", "url" : "https://awf.labortools.com/listen/author/awfblog" }, "dateModified" : "2022-06-10T20:36:48.309Z", "datePublished" : "2022-06-10T20:36:48.000Z", "headline" : "Iowa labor movement struggles with anti-union legislation", "image" : [ "https://awf.labortools.com/hubfs/AWF-blog-image-template_iowa.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://awf.labortools.com/listen/iowa-labor-movement-struggles-with-anti-union-legislation", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://awf.labortools.com/hubfs/labor-tools-logo-white.png" }, "name" : "BMA Media" } } ```