Iowa

Iowa City Bruegger’s employees vote against establishing bagel chain’s first union

Published

4 months ago

July 9, 2024

Iowa City Bruegger’s employees vote against establishing bagel chain’s first union

Employees at an Iowa City Bruegger’s location voted against unionization on Tuesday, ending an effort that would have established the first worker’s union at the nationwide bagel franchise.

Workers voted against unionization at the 708 S. Riverside Drive Bruegger’s location during the morning and afternoon on Tuesday. All employees who were on the payroll as of June 18 were eligible to vote in the election. Vote totals were not immediately available.

Bruegger’s Workers United shared a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, about 45 minutes after the voting period came to an end.

“I’m saddened to say that the hard workers of Bruegger’s Bagels on Riverside in Iowa City voted against a union,” the group wrote. “This is not the end of BWU. Bruegger’s has made a mockery of justice with their relentless union-busting tactics, and we will not rest til they are held accountable.”

Union organizer Juniper Hollis was not immediately available for comment.

The vote against unionization comes less than three weeks after the National Labor Relations Board ruled in favor of workers and cleared the way for a vote to be held. The board ruled that Bruegger’s employees had “clearly” met the qualifications to attempt to become a “labor organization.”

From June: Iowa City Bruegger’s Bagels employees get clearance to hold chain’s first union vote

NLRB Regional Director Jennifer Hadsall, who delivered the ruling, shrugged off the bagel brand’s arguments against establishing the labor organization, writing that employees seem to have multiple fronts on which they want to engage Bruegger’s leadership, including “wages, workplace respect and paid time off.”

The downtown Iowa City Bruegger’s location was not part of these bargaining efforts.

Picketing, labor board ruling preceded vote

A small group of employees gathered outside of the 708 S. Riverside Drive location on June 15, demanding recognition of “Bruegger’s Workers United,” the unionization effort with a similar moniker to the successful downtown Iowa City Starbucks unionization effort conducted last spring.

Hollis is a former Bruegger’s employee at the recently closed Coralville location. Employees alleged that the closure, which came shortly after employees first publicly announced their intention to unionize, was in response to union action. Bruegger’s previously declined the Press-Citizen’s request for comment.

From June: Workers at Iowa City, Coralville Bruegger’s Bagels sites picket over unionization attempt

The closure and other actions prompted the workers to petition the NLRB for unfair labor practices. Hadsall wrote in the board’s June 21 ruling that the labor organization is in its beginning stages.

According to the board’s ruling, there is no official union constitution, dues have not yet been collected, and there is no official meeting space. Hollis’ apartment hosted the two meetings prior to the delivery of the board ruling.

“While the Petitioner is not yet fully fledged, the record establishes sufficient evidence to establish labor organization status under the Board’s liberal standards,” Hadsall wrote.

Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at rhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.

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Iowa

ESPN FPI for Week 13 Big 12 games including Iowa State at Utah

Published

4 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Press Room

ESPN FPI for Week 13 Big 12 games including Iowa State at Utah

We have reached Week 13 in the college football season, which means the pressure intensifies and the need for wins is amplified.

This week there are several featured attractions around the Big 12 Conference. Those includes BYU looking to rebound at red-hot Arizona State while Kansas tries to knock off a third straight ranked opponent when they welcome Colorado to Kansas City.

Arizona and TCU kick things off early Saturday afternoon with BYU-Arizona State, Colorado-Kansas, Texas Tech-Oklahoma State and UCF-West Virginia starting 30 minutes later.

The night window includes Baylor at Houston, Iowa State at Utah and Cincinnati at Kansas State.

The mid-afternoon window of games will give those interested in how the conference turns out some key answers. BYU (9-1, 6-1) and Colorado (8-2, 6-1) have it pretty simple: win the next two games and you are in for the title game in December with a berth in the College Football Playoff on the line.

The Cougars, though, are coming off a disappointing loss at home to Kansas. Now, they have to play quite possibly the hottest team in the conference in Arizona State (8-2, 5-2), who has climbed all the way back to contention.

Led by Cam Skattebo and Sam Leavitt, the Sun Devils have won three in a row and five of is around a road loss to Cincinnati. They close with in-state rival Arizona next week.

Colorado will try to do what Iowa State and BYU couldn’t the last two weeks in solving Jayden Daniels and Kansas (4-5, 3-4), who are fighting for bowl eligibility themselves. Heisman Trophy frontrunner Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders have won four straight for head coach Deion Sanders.

* Matt Campbell talks up the Utah defense

* Cyclones right back into contention in wild, wild Big 12

*Three stars in Iowa State’s win over Cincinnati including Stevo Klotz

*Complete game recap of Iowa State’s win over Cincinnati

* Scouting the opponent: Get to know QB Brendan Sorsby

* Latest college football playoff rankings

* What Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield had to say about Cyclones

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Iowa

Burns, 'grapefruit-size' wound and death trigger nursing home lawsuit • Iowa Capital Dispatch

Published

11 hours ago

November 20, 2024

Press Room

Burns, 'grapefruit-size' wound and death trigger nursing home lawsuit • Iowa Capital Dispatch

One of Iowa’s s largest nursing home operators is facing the 10th wrongful death lawsuit filed against the company this year.

Recently, the family of the late Debbie Thomas sued Care Initiatives of West Des Moines and the Appanoose County nursing home the company operates, Centerville Specialty Care, in state court. The family is seeking unspecified damages for professional negligence, wrongful death and dependent adult abuse.

Care Initiatives, which doesn’t comment on pending litigation, has yet to file a response to the lawsuit. So far this year, at least 10 wrongful death lawsuits have been filed against company, which operates 43 Iowa nursing homes as well as several assisted living centers and hospice locations. In each of the lawsuits, Care Initiatives has denied any wrongdoing. Roughly 2,800 elderly or disabled Iowans receive care from one of the company’s facilities.

In August, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported Care Initiatives was facing at least 10 then-active lawsuits, some of which were filed in 2023, alleging negligence or wrongful death. Some of those cases have since been resolved, but additional cases have been filed in the past three months.

One of the new cases involves Thomas, an Appanoose County woman who had sustained brain damage at birth in 1958. As an adult, Thomas could read, write and socialize with others and lived an active adult life, according to court records.

State inspection reports indicate that on Dec. 19, 2022, at the age of 64, Thomas was admitted to Centerville Specialty Care for rehabilitation after a brief hospital stay. According to the recently filed lawsuit, Thomas was joined by family members for dinner at the care facility two days after her admission, at which point the relatives found second-degree burns covering Thomas’ legs.

The family alleges Thomas’ bed had been pushed against a wall near a heating element. According to the lawsuit, the staff at Centerville Specialty Care was unaware of the burns until the family discovered them.

The next day, relatives returned to the home and allegedly discovered Thomas had developed a bed sore that the home’s staff characterized as “minor” – although, the lawsuit claims, the staff refused to say whether the wound was infected.

By Jan. 7, Thomas was allegedly diagnosed as malnourished and dehydrated, and on Jan. 27, the staff allegedly found that her blood pressure had dropped to an extremely low level. On Jan. 29, staff at the home called Thomas’ family to inform them Thomas was in a state of decline and was dying, according to the lawsuit.

“Nobody at Centerville Specialty Care called a doctor or an ambulance for Debbie until (her sister) demanded they do so,” the lawsuit claims.

Thomas was rushed to the emergency room at MercyOne-Centerville, where the medical staff allegedly concluded she was severely dehydrated, had a urinary tract infection, her kidneys were failing, and she had potassium levels so low they could trigger a heart attack. According to the lawsuit, doctors then showed the family a bed sore Thomas had sustained and which measured roughly 4 inches across.

Thomas died on Feb. 1, 2023. State records indicate the cause of death was sepsis – an often-deadly infection – that resulted from a bed sore.

Five days later, the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing initiated an investigation at the Centerville home in response to seven complaints. Four of the complaints were substantiated, according to DIAL records.

The inspectors reported that the hospital’s emergency room physician said that when Thomas arrived there from Centerville Specialty Care, she was in serious pain and was admitted in critical condition with a deep, open, “grapefruit sized” bed sore that had become infected. The physician allegedly described Thomas’ hair as “matted, very dirty and unkempt” when she arrived in the ER.

State inspectors also reported that the physician questioned the accuracy of the nursing home’s claim that Thomas had been up and about and eating breakfast just hours before her admission to the ER.

The state proposed a $9,750 state fine that was then held in suspension while the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services considered a federal fine. CMS records indicate the agency eventually imposed a fine of $56,750 against the Centerville home.

Care Initiatives home cited for dental care

A Marshalltown nursing home operated by Care Initiatives is accused of repeatedly failing to provide emergency treatment for a resident with “grossly decayed” teeth.

According to state inspectors, Southridge Specialty Care of Marshalltown failed over several months to thoroughly assess and follow through on physician-ordered interventions for a female resident’s “grossly decayed and non-restorable teeth.”

According to inspectors, the woman reported mouth pain to the Southridge staff from July through October, during which time she lost one tooth and other teeth broke, cutting her tongue.

In early September, a dentist allegedly gave the Southridge staff instructions to send the woman to the University of Iowa Hospitals emergency room to be evaluated by an oral surgeon for severe pain. According to inspectors, the dentist later complained that “nobody took her to the ER.”

On Oct. 23, the woman was seen again by the dentist who, according to inspectors, observed the woman’s teeth had worsened. “He referred her to go to the university hospital but no one set up the appointment,” inspectors later wrote in their report.

The inspectors’ report indicates University of Iowa Hospitals told the woman’s care providers the soonest they could schedule an appointment for the woman was Jan. 16, 2025, and the emergency room referrals were an attempt to provide immediate care.

On Oct. 29, the woman reportedly met with state inspectors and told them she was still experiencing severe pain and the decayed teeth had yet to be pulled. She allegedly stated that she didn’t know if she could wait a few months to have her teeth removed because “it hurt a lot” and she couldn’t eat or drink.

A proposed $5,500 state fine has been held in suspension for consideration of a federal fine.

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Iowa

Iowa Wrestling Media Day Before Iowa State Dual – FloWrestling

Published

19 hours ago

November 20, 2024

Press Room

Iowa Wrestling Media Day Before Iowa State Dual – FloWrestling

Iowa vs Iowa State is one of the most highly anticipated dual meets on the college wrestling calendar every single year. Iowa head coach Tom Brands addressed the media along with #1 ranked 157-pounder Jacori Teemer and #13 ranked heavyweight Ben Kueter on media the week of the event.

Hawkeye Insider On Cy-Hawk Week

For in-depth analysis of Iowa’s media day, check out John Bohnenkamp’s Hawkeye Insider.

Tom Brands Loves Lineup Headed Into Cy-Hawk Dual

Head coach Tom Brands shares his thoughts on how All-American transfers Jacori Teemer, Kyle Parco, and Stephen Buchanan have added to the Hawkeye program and explains how he’s preparing his team for a matchup against Iowa State.

Jacori Teemer Wishes He Would Have Been A Hawkeye His Whole Career

Arizona State NCAA finalist Jacori Teemer looks ahead to his first ever Cy-Hawk dual and shares why his first few weeks in the Hawkeye lineup have been so enjoyable.

Ben Kueter Isn’t Phased By Yonger Bastida Matchup

Redshirt freshman heavyweight Ben Kueter shares his experience of watching Iowa vs Iowa State last year and explains his approach to taking on highly ranked Yonger Bastida.

Watch FloWrestling On-Demand, Archived Footage

Video footage from the event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloWrestling subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscription.