DES MOINES, Iowa  —  The Polk County Board of Supervisors has approved a resolution siding with workers in the collective bargaining debate now going on at the State Capitol.

The resolution said, in part, “workers are entitled to basic protection including the right to organize and bargain collectively and be paid a living wage.”

The vote was 3-2 in favor of the resolution. Wording in the document also speaks against efforts by state Republicans to pass a new minimum wage law, which would negate increases passed in Polk County and other places, and set to be implemented in April.

“I just can’t imagine why the Republican Party would be so mean about taking away people’s rights and ability to make a living,” said Supervisor John Mauro, a Democrat. “On minimum wage, shame on them, shame on them. It’s just hard for me to visualize why they would be so mean-spirited.”

“I think we’ve all been following the debate, and I think I find it more of a pro-taxpayer kind of approach than an anti-worker,” said Supervisor Robert Brownell, a Republican. “I know it’s been characterized as anti-worker, I don’t think it’s that so.”