A union vying to represent Amazon employees ignited the largest strike in the company’s history leading up to the holidays.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ strike started Thursday morning in four states, including neighboring Illinois.

“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed,” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said in a statement. “These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible. Instead, they’ve pushed workers to the limit and now they’re paying the price.”

Will the strike impact Amazon deliveries in Iowa this holiday season?

Will the Amazon strike delay deliveries to Iowa?

The strike isn’t expected to have any impact on Amazon’s operations, according to an email from an Amazon spokesperson to the Des Moines Register.

Nationwide, any delays would be minor and similar to winter weather delays, Satish Jindel, president of ShipMatrix, a software provider that tracks on-time delivery data for package shippers, told CNN.

Amazon has a lot of warehouses and very few are included in the strike, he said noting that the retailer could route packages through other facilities.

Why is Amazon on strike?

The strike of nearly 10,000 Amazon workers is aimed at fighting for higher wages, better benefits and safer conditions at work, according to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The union aims to put pressure on the online shopping retailer by threatening to delay deliveries during one of the busiest times of the year.

Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in an email to the Register that the union doesn’t reflect its workers, who have not held an election to seek union representation.

“The truth is that they were unable to get enough support from our employees and partners and have brought in outsiders to harass and intimidate our team, which is inappropriate and dangerous,” Nantel said. “We appreciate all our team’s great work to serve their customers and communities, and thanks to them, we’re not seeing any impact to customers’ orders.”

Are there any Amazon strike locations in Iowa?

Strikes are expected to take place at Amazon sites in New York City, Atlanta, San Francisco, Skokie, Illinois and Southern California. No strikes are planned at any of the facilities in Iowa.

Where are some of the Amazon warehouse locations in Iowa?

Ankeny is home to a new 150,000-square-foot same-day delivery Amazon warehouse. There are at least four Amazon warehouses around the Des Moines metro with locations in Grimes, Bondurant and Altoona.

Iowa City and Davenport are also home to Amazon warehouses.

Kate Kealey is a general assignment reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach her at kkealey@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter at @Kkealey17.

Sheldon, Iowa — Two Northwest Iowa Community College employees have received statewide awards.

NCC tells us that Chuck Ball and Katherine Knobloch have been recognized as the recipients of the 2024
Outstanding Faculty and Staff Awards by Community Colleges for Iowa.

NCC officials say these prestigious awards celebrate Ball’s and Knobloch’s significant contributions to education and their exceptional leadership within Iowa’s 15 community colleges. The awards were presented during the second annual Community Colleges Convention and Tradeshow, held December 3–5, 2024, at the Downtown Marriott in Des Moines. This event honors individuals who exemplify outstanding service and dedication to the academic community. Emily Shields, Executive Director of Community Colleges for Iowa, remarked, “The remarkable achievements of Iowa’s community colleges are a direct result of the commitment and dedication of professionals like Chuck Ball and Katherine Knobloch. Their efforts not only benefit their students and colleagues but also inspire excellence across our statewide network.”

Click here for more information.

Jake Luppen, Nathan Stocker, Zach Sutton, Whistler Allen and DeCarlo Jackson are the forces behind Hippo Campus. This Twin Cities band has found significant success since their 2017 debut full-length, Landmark. “Buttercup” and “Way It Goes” are featured on that first album, and both boast over 100 million streams on Spotify.

Their latest record, Flood, came out Sept. 20. Their fourth album explores introspective themes of growing up and existentialism, all while maintaining Hippo Campus’ signature upbeat sound. The thirteen tracks on the album are just a few of the songs they’ve written over the last few years.

“We spent a lot of time on [Flood]; we were really serious this time. I mean, every record we approach, we kind of try to have a new sort of idea going in. And this one was just to be less focused on the computer side of things and just try to focus on the songwriting,” Allen said. “So we spent about three years writing over 120 songs… we had about ten albums worth of music but had to cut down to 13.”

Flood was recorded over just ten days at Sonic Ranch, which is a sizeable secluded recording studio on the border between Texas and Mexico.

“We went down there with Caleb Wright and Brad Cook producing, and they’re both wizards. Yeah, it’s a magic place. It’s the middle of the desert, and it’s real hot, real sweaty, real and surreal, real surreal… you have to set aside a lot of distractions when you’re in that environment, in that space, and that allows the music to kind of just step forward in a way that it wouldn’t otherwise,” Stocker said.

The members of Hippo Campus met while attending the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists. Multiple members have a history of studying classical forms of music, like lead singer Luppen, who started out in opera.

“I think our technical training informs our musicianship as individuals, which allows us to sort of communicate with our instruments in a way that is arguably easier than communicating with our words sometimes,” Jackson said.

The band has had a pretty extensive history of touring, including a multitude of festival performances, headlining shows and opening for bands like Modest Mouse and My Morning Jacket.

“We started this band opening for those bigger names like Modest Mouse. It was completely unexpected, like, never in a million years would we ever share a stage,” Stocker said. “But as far as influences go, it seems like we draw a lot inspiration from the smaller bands that we see kicking around. As we sort of age up through the scene, there’s… a new class entering, those bands come here like the most inspiring sometimes.”

Despite having accomplished so much, Hippo Campus have their eyes set on even more success. They anticipate playing with even more of their favorite acts, including MJ Lenderman, who they almost played with in Iowa this year.

Hippo Campus played a wonderful set at Hinterland, which included songs from their now-released album. One of those songs is “Paranoid,” a track that’s been getting heavy rotation on Studio One. Despite traveling the world, the Midwestern natives still enjoy coming back to the region where it all began.

“[We’re] honored to be back. The rest of the world is great, but Iowa’s where we want to be, the Midwest,” Allen said.