As noted in comments at the dedication by Governor Culver, Commissioner O’Neil, the artist, the Iowa Poet Laureate, and Senator Dotzler – “this monument would never have happened without the diligent and hard work of Jerry Addy.”

For a variety of reasons, but now for his work on the Iowa Workers Monument, Jerry Addy is our Idol of the Month. 

Jerry has paid great respect to his labor roots with his determined approach to fundraising and detailed administrative work to ensure the Iowa Workers Monument was built, located on the State Capitol grounds, and will be maintained into the future.  He noted in remarks about the Monument, “This is a tribute to all of Iowa’s workers – from the astronaut to the custodian - all of the workers who built our great state and who are our greatest assets.”

Here is some of his story.

Jerry’s first job was working at the neighborhood grocery store for 35 cents an hour, often from 6:00 to 11:00 pm.  While still at Grandview College, and working at Super Value warehouse, he became Vice President of Teamsters Local 394 and active with Super Value labor negotiations.

Jerry Addy represented management as the Executive Secretary of Industry Council of Des Moines. During his time there he negotiated approximately 23 labor agreements and participated in various grievance hearings.

It was spring in Des Moines in 1969 and Jerry Addy’s phone rang.  It was Governor Bob Ray’s office and they asked if he would you like to the State’s Labor Commissioner?  Jerry was a Democrat appointed by a Republican Governor. To make a short story short, Jerry was appointed that May as Iowa Labor Commissioner at age 28.  After nearly eight years, he returned to the trade union movement where he served in a number of capacities. His forte was negotiation and the deep understanding of practical policy.

For the next 25 years he extended his reach in his work with the Operating Engineers Local 234, State Building Trades, and in the community, serving in many roles. At Local 234 he was responsible for the negotiations for the non-construction contracts and public sector labor agreements. His role was to negotiate and handle grievances and arbitration, as well as lobbying for the Operating Engineers and Building Trades.  He also became a fixture with local, legislative, congressional, and presidential candidates, and a “reality check” to many. In 2003, he joined SPPG as a Senior Associate. 

A little caveat: At SPPG we typically would not name one of our own as the Idol of the Month. Jerry is different. As he often says, he has a desk in the office and he comes in when he wants to and does what he wants to do on his own schedule, including playing a lot of Solitaire on his computer. The entire state is lucky that one of the things he wanted to do for the last few years was to make the Workers Monument a reality.