Welcome Home Page: Welcome to the Iowa Public Employment Relations Board Website

Welcome to the Iowa Public Employment Relations Board Website

The Iowa Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) is a neutral state agency that works with both labor and management in employment-related cases. PERB currently consists of three board members, five administrative law judges, and two support staff. 

The Iowa Public Employment Relations Act (PERA), codified in Iowa Code Ch. 20, defines the collective bargaining rights and duties of public employees and employers in Iowa. PERB was created in 1974 as the independent state agency responsible for enforcing PERA. The Act provides rights and responsibilities of labor and management, including the right of public employees to organize and bargain collectively with their employers through labor organizations of their own choosing. PERA defines certain prohibited labor practices and provides PERB with the statutory authority to fashion appropriate remedial relief for violations of PERA.

PERB has the statutory duty and power to determine appropriate bargaining units, conduct representation elections, adjudicate unit determination cases, complaints of unfair labor practices and merit system grievances, and order appropriate remedies of violations of PERA.

Mike Cormack, Board Chair
Jamie Van Fossen, Board Member
Mary Gannon, Board Member

“Iowa has a system that is envied by many states that struggle to achieve the proper balance of protecting workers while maintaining effective management of government.  In Iowa, it is an equal balance of power at the table between labor and management that has provided positive results that work for all Iowans.” Gov. Robert D. Ray (signed PERA into law, 1974)