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'Economic Recovery' activist meet, fret over middle class

'Economic Recovery' activist meet, fret over middle class

The ranks of middle-class Iowans are shrinking while the number of poor are increasing amid a deepening national recession, several activist leaders warned Saturday at a community forum in Des Moines.

The activists urged religious, community and labor organizations to band together and lobby for political change. They want Congress to quickly adopt a broad and bold economic stimulus package to help address problems of joblessness, hunger and lack of access to health care.

“By addressing these basic human needs, we can strengthen our communities, shore up our crumbling infrastructure and build the America that we dream of,” said Sue Dinsdale of Huxley, an organizer for the Iowa Citizen Action Network, one of the primary sponsors of the town hall style meeting.

About 50 people attended the community event, titled, “Road Map to Economic Recovery,” at the Bidwell-Riverside Center on Des Moines’ south side. A similar meeting was held last month in Davenport, and another is planned for Waterloo later this month or in February, organizers said.

Some of the other sponsors included the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; the Iowa United Methodist Conference, American Friends Service Committee, South Central Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO; and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom-Des Moines.

The Rev. Robert Crandall, executive director of the Bidwell-Riverside Center, said 799 families sought help from the facility’s emergency food pantry in October, up from about 600 to 650 families the same month a year earlier. The number of items of used clothing being supplied to needy people has also increased sharply, he added.

More people are seeking help whom Crandall considers to be traditional working-class Iowans. He told of encountering one man who is a church-goer and a youth athletic coach who was requesting emergency food assistance. The man is still employed, but he hasn’t received a pay raise in five years and fears losing his home.

“People are very frightened. They are looking at how much money they have to spend and how much money they owe, and there is a gap there,” said Crandall, who is also a United Methodist minister.

Don Brown, acting president of the South Central Federal of Labor, AFL-CIO, said that news about layoffs at Winnebago Industries, Pella Corp., Principal Financial Group and other major Iowa employers tell only part of the story. Thousands of additional jobs have been eliminated at other Iowa firms, he said.

Brown told of long lines of Iowans seeking jobless benefits. Iowa’s seasonably adjusted unemployment rate in November was 4.3 percent compared to 3.8 percent a year earlier, according to Iowa Workforce Development. The statewide estimate of unemployed totaled 72,300 in November compared to 63,700 for the same month in 2007.

Brown said he believes foreign trade agreements could be contributing to unemployment in Iowa. He also said tax laws should be reviewed so that billionaires pay their fair share of taxes and labor laws should be revised to make it easier for workers to join unions and to negotiate union contracts with employers.

Lana Ross is executive director of the Iowa Community Action Association, which works in partnership with agencies serving low-income people. She said relatively small investments of federal money can have huge payoffs in programs such as Head Start to educate children and weatherization programs to make homes more energy efficient.

There is no better time than now for Congress to adopt a health care reform plan, suggested Charles Wishman, an organizer for the Iowa Citizen Action Network. He urged people to contact U.S. Sens. Charles Grassley and Tom Harkin; to write letters to the editor; and to do other personal lobbying on the issue.