AFSCME union leader elected to 8th term

DES MOINES — The leader of the labor union which represents a majority of state employees has been reelected to another term.

Danny Homan won his eighth term as president of AFSCME Council 61 in a weekend vote at the union’s convention. AFSCME represents some 20,000 state employees.

Homan issued a statement saying that despite what he calls legislative attempts to “destroy our union,” Council 61 “will continue to strongly advocate for our members and all working families. We’re not going anywhere.” AFSCME had sued the state seeking to overturn the new collective bargaining law passed by the Iowa Legislature in 2017 — but the Iowa Supreme Court upheld the law.

Homan became a public employee with the corrections department in 1984 and was first elected president of AFSCME in 2005.