Last week, a new website was launched by the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) entitled the “Faces of $15” highlighting the victims of the Fight for $15 initiative by SEIU. The website chronicles the impact of the minimum wage on 100 small businesses and employees – not a pretty sight. SEIU gave birth to the Fight for $15 initiative and now one of their local presidents wants to become the next governor of Iowa! Cathy Glasson, president of SEIU Local 199, launched an exploratory gubernatorial campaign. Local 199 represents health care workers and nurses in Iowa, where the current minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. There are three other declared democratic candidates for governor in Iowa, where 2 weeks ago republican Kim Reynolds was sworn in as the 43rd governor of Iowa and the first woman to hold the job. Reynolds moved to the governor’s office when Governor Terry Branstad was appointed ambassador to China.
