Judge: Iowa must pay union $2 million in dues deduction case

By DAVID PITT
Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa court judge has ordered the state to pay a labor union representing state workers nearly $2 million in a five-year legal dispute centered on whether the state could continue to deduct union dues from state worker paychecks after a state law change in 2017. Judge Paul Scott in a decision posted Monday said the state knew its failure to deduct union dues from worker paychecks would hurt the UE Local 893-Iowa United Professionals union financially. The legal dispute dates back to 2017, when the Iowa Legislature changed state collective bargaining laws but the courts have found the state still had to honor the 2017-2019 contract ratified days before the law changed.