Port drivers' strike fuels movement to organize low-wage workers

Yesterday

The successful port drivers' strike at the Port of LA and Long Beach added to the growth and momentum of the movement to organize low-wage workers and to raise their wages. Striking port drivers at three companies were joined by Walmart workers, longshoremen and Teamsters on the 48-hour picket lines.

Today, striking truck drivers serving the nation’s largest port complex returned to work after an historic unfair labor practice strike. It marked a dramatic escalation of drivers’ fight for dignity, respect, and a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work.
Dennis Martinez, a port truck driver misclassified as an “independent contractor” by Total Transportation Services Inc., said:

With the support of my family, my faith, and the Teamsters, I spent nearly 48 hours on the picket line. We spoke with our feet, with our picket signs, and with our voices, and we know that we have finally been heard. Our resolve has never been stronger: we will not tolerate any form of retaliation, harassment, or intimidation in our fight to have our rights as employees – and our right to form a union – recognized.

Striking Green Fleet Driver Byron Contreras said,

The reason I went on strike is because two of my co-workers were fired when they decided to take a stand, to fight for their rights. It is illegal to retaliate against workers like this, and we are united in our demand for justice.

Santiago Aguilar, a driver for Pacific 9 Transportation, said,

When the ILWU members refused to cross our picket line at Long Beach Container Terminal, I instantly saw a brighter future for myself, my coworkers and for all port drivers. Together, we will make a stronger port. Together, we will work to be sure that the ports work for everyone, not just the shippers like Walmart, Forever 21, and Skechers Shoes.

Solidarity, brothers and sisters!

Officials cite Bill Gates' burning, radioactive landfill near St. Louis

It's burning underground, AND radioactive

Billionaire Bill Gates' burniing, radioactive landfill near St. Louis has been cited by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for multiple violations.

A citation was issued on April 21 against Republic Services, of which Bill Gates is the largest shareholder. The DNR cited the Bridgeton landfill for
'failure to operate the landfill in a manner which protects the health and safety of personnel and associated with and affected by its operations.' (That would include our Teamster brothers and sisters.)

It was also cited for:

• Storage or disposal of solid waste in a manner that creates a public nuisance or adversely affects public health
• Failure to operate the landfill in compliance with the terms and conditions of the permit to prevent or minimize potential health hazards or conditions that could create a public nuisance or environ. Pollution
• Burning of solid waste.
• Conducting solid waste burning operations in violation of the rules and regulations of the Missouri Air Conservation Commission or the Department.

Teamsters want Republic Services to clean up its mess. Yesterday,  Teamsters and community members protested Republic Services, Inc., at WASTE EXPO 2014 in Atlanta. According to the press statement:

The protesters held banners that read “Republic Services: Toxic For Our Communities” as they called on Republic to protect the health and safety of its workers and communities. The protesters had also distributed leaflets and reports to attendees of the WASTE EXPO Investor Summit ... The protest was followed by a press conference about Republic’s risks to investors and the public. 

In Bridgeton, Missouri, Republic’s West Lake landfill is a Superfund site containing illegally buried radioactive nuclear waste. An underground fire at the landfill is spreading dangerously close to the radioactive wastes, forcing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build a barrier trench. 

Radioactivity has allegedly spread outside the boundaries of the Bridgeton landfill. Elected Missouri officials, community groups, environmental activists and labor organizations are advocating for the Army Corps of Engineers to completely remove the nuclear wastes and charge Republic for the cost of the cleanup.

On May Day, Korean workers express sorrow and rage over ferry tragedy

Our brothers and sisters at the Korean Federation of Public Services and Transportation Workers’ Unions say the Sewol ferry tragedy was caused by privatization, deregulation and temporary employment schemes.

Sound familiar?

At least 210 people died in the ferry sinking. Korean workers will celebrate May Day with solemnity. We share with you the union's newsletter

This year, Korean workers commemorate May Day in the midst of a period of mourning. The tragic April 16 Sewol ferry disaster, which left hundreds of school children and other passengers dead or missing, has cast a dark shadow across this day, which should be used to celebrate the international labour movement.

There will be no colourful marches and rallies this year. Instead, the theme for Korean Confederation of Trade Union (KCTU) May Day events this year will be the expression of ‘sorrow and rage’. KCTU’s main rally in Seoul will be used to mourn the victims of the Sewol disaster and channel into a positive voice for reform the growing anger at the government and capital’s inattention and avarice – the causes of these and so many other deaths. Ten thousand workers are expected to gather in Seoul and fifty thousand nationally.

Safety experts are now pointing to excessive deregulations, privatisation of public transport and emergency services, the use of precarious work arrangements and the corrupt appointment of officials in oversight agencies as causes of the Sewol tragedy. These issues are at the heart of the erosion of social and democratic rights now underway in South Korea. On May Day, Korean workers must mourn not only the senseless loss of life from the ferry accident, but also rampant occupational accidents and illness, the social murder of mass dismissals and the neglect of low-wage workers, the poor, the disabled and other vulnerable groups. Korean unions will also declare their commitment to struggle against the capitalist greed and government support for it that are the root causes of so much tragedy.

This May Day, the KCTU and its affiliates will call on the government to take responsibility for the inattention to safety that led to the ferry sinking and put forth demands in relation to the Sewol tragedy including calling for an end to policies of deregulation and privatisation, which put profit ahead of people’s lives, strengthening of penalties against business owners responsible for large-scale accidents and enforcement of laws prohibiting the use of precarious workers for permanent work.

Today's Teamster News 04.30.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Applaud School Board Decision To Investigate Durham School Services  Teamster.org   ...Teamsters applaud the Charleston County School Board members for their unanimous (9-0) vote Monday night to conduct an investigation into unsafe practices by Durham School Services, the school bus transportation contractor for Charleston County schools...
Teamsters Protest Republic Services' Toxic Landfills at Waste Expo  Teamster.org   ...Today, Teamsters and community members protested Republic Services, Inc. [NYSE: RSG] at WASTE EXPO 2014 at the Atlanta Convention Center...
Teamsters Lead Effort To Break CEO Moyes' Control at Swift  Teamster.org   ...ISS, the country’s largest proxy voting advisory firm, recommends that shareholders of Swift Transportation [NYSE: SWFT] vote ‘FOR’ Item #4 on the company’s proxy – a Teamster proposal that seeks to address the company’s dual class stock structure which currently provides CEO Jerry Moyes with majority voting control of the company despite owning a minority of the outstanding shares...
Teamsters Call for Improved Oversight at National Express  Teamster.org   ...As shareholders of National Express Group PLC, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters General Fund, along with three major United Kingdom-based pension funds, are calling for a vote FOR Resolution 22 at the Annual General Meeting on May 14 in Birmingham, England...
Most City Council Members Undecided About Carriage Horse Ban  New York Daily News   ...Both sides of the raging debate over horse carriages have their work cut out for them: a majority of the City Council is undecided about banning the rides, a Daily News poll shows...
OCTA Approves New Contracts With Coach Operators, Maintenance Workers  Orange County Breeze   ...The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) Board of Directors today approved three-year collective bargaining agreements with its coach operators and maintenance employees. Both of the contracts with Teamsters Local 952 run through 2016...
Trade
Western Mass. Residents Demonstrate In Opposition To Proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement Outside Rep. Richard Neal's Springfield Office  Mass Live   ...As President Barack Obama and his team left Springfield without a deal following negotiation work on terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, some in Western Massachusetts aren't shy about voicing their opposition to the new proposal...
The troops will finally wear American-made sneakers  manufacturethis   ...Late Friday afternoon, the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) received very exciting news from Rep. Michael Michaud regarding American-made shoes: the Department of Defense (DOD) will comply with the Berry Amendment to ensure that all service members purchase #MadeinUSA shoes with their footwear allowance...
State Battles
Wisconsin Voter ID Law Rejected By Federal Judge  Huffington Post   ...A federal judge in Milwaukee has struck down Wisconsin's voter identification law, saying it unfairly burdens poor and minority voters. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman issued his long awaited decision Tuesday. It invalidates Wisconsin's law...  
Louisiana About To Make It Illegal For Homeless People To Beg For Money  ThinkProgress   ...If you are poor, live in Louisiana, and have the audacity ask someone else for help, be prepared to spend up to six months in jail...
War On Workers
Trucking Used To Be A Ticket To The Middle Class. Now It's Just Another Low-Wage Job  Washington Post   ...It’s the skewed economics of Tigre’s trade that prompted port truckers to go on strike in Los Angeles on Monday as part of a union-backed campaign to regain some of the pay, benefits and respect they say they’ve lost after three decades of decline...
Woman Loses Her Home For Owing $6  ThinkProgress   ...Eileen Battisti owed $6.30 in interest on school district taxes. That was enough, a Pennsylvania court has ruled, for her to lose her house over...
Wall Street’s Pension Gamble  Moyers & Company   ...So what is happening to retirees’ money? ... more and more of it is going to pay the exorbitant fees charged by the Wall Street firms managing the pension money. “Fees have skyrocketed over 1,000 percent since 2000 and have almost doubled since (2008) from $217 million to $416 million...”
How Bank Watchdogs Killed Our Last Chance At Justice For Foreclosure Victims  Huffington Post   ...If the program hadn't been shut down, aggrieved homeowners could have received another $1.5 billion in cash, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office released Tuesday....
Bank of America Pleads “We’re Idiots, not Crooks!”  firedoglake   ...The acquisition of Merrill Lynch was in 2009, Bank of America only caught this mistake last week, and you’re happy they are handling it swiftly?...
What A Higher Minimum Wage Would Mean For Me  Detroit Free Press   ...I have worked as a tipped server for 15 years and, not counting tips, I still only make $2.65 an hour. I'm a divorced mother with three kids. I need to put food on the table...
U.S. Knew Sallie Mae Cheated Service Members On Student Loans, But Still Renewed Contract  Huffington Post   ...Federal investigators discovered evidence showing Sallie Mae cheated active duty service members on their federal student loans at least two months before the Department of Education told the company it planned to renew its lucrative contract to collect loan payments...
NFL Cheerleaders: We're Not Even Making Minimum Wage  CNN Money   ...Cheerleading isn't as glamorous as one might think. Several current and former cheerleaders are suing their NFL employers over pay. Three separate suits against the Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals describe contracts that don't guarantee the minimum wage and claim the cheerleaders are vastly underpaid...
Miscellaneous
Justices Back Rule Limiting Coal Pollution  New York Times   ...the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the smog from coal plants that drifts across state lines from 28 Midwestern and Appalachian states to the East Coast...

Teamsters to shareholders: Swift should not be CEO's piggy bank

Teamsters want Swift Transportation shareholders to clamp down on CEO Jerry Moyes, who has been using the company as his own personal piggy bank. 
The country's largest proxy voting adviser, ISS, agrees.

In a press statement released today, the Teamsters said:

...ISS recommends that shareholders of Swift Transportation [NYSE: SWFT] vote ‘FOR’ Item #4 on the company’s proxy – a Teamster proposal that seeks to address the company’s dual class stock structure which currently provides CEO Jerry Moyes with majority voting control of the company despite owning a minority of the outstanding shares. The company’s annual meeting of shareholders is scheduled for May 8, 2014.

ISS also recommends that shareholders withhold votes from members of the Audit Committee -- Richard Dozer, David Vander Ploeg, and Glenn Brown. It is the Audit Committee's responsibility to guard against excessive financial risks and potential conflicts of interest.

Investors are concerned about company founders pledging stock in light of the events at Chesapeake Energy and Green Mountain Coffee. In both cases, margin calls forced the founders to sell significant amounts of stock they'd pledged, causing their share prices to fall dramatically.

Last year, The Teamsters warned investors that Swift’s board of directors allowed Moyes to pledge nearly 25 percent of all outstanding shares as collateral for personal loans—putting shareholders at serious risk. ISS, said Moyes' gamble with company stock was a material risk to the company and presented potential conflicts of interest. ISS recommended shareholders withhold votes from the five directors who serve on Swift's Audit Committee, including the chairman of the board.

Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall said,

Allowing the company’s CEO and controlling shareholder Jerry Moyes to gamble nearly 25 percent of Swift’s total outstanding shares as collateral for his personal loans is indefensible.

Moyes has a history of skirting the rules.

In 2004, the U.S. Department of Justice and SEC investigated suspected insider trading by Moyes at Swift. In 2005, Moyes paid $1.5 million in disgorgement, prejudgment interest and penalties to settle the SEC insider trading investigation at Swift. He resigned from all of his leadership positions, but then took the company private in 2007 and public again in 2010. He created a dual class stock structure, giving himself 54.5 percent of the voting power for his 40.4 percent holdings of common stock.

“Until there can be meaningful board oversight of management and true accountability at Swift Transportation, Jerry Moyes will continue use the corporate coffers as his own personal piggy bank,” Hall said.

Teamsters walk the line with striking port drivers

In the biggest job action to date, Teamsters are holding picket lines at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach with port drivers who walked off the job yesterday afternoon.

The sudden two-day strike is the third in the past year, and port drivers have filed 500 claims with the state alleging wage theft due to their misclassification as independent contractors rather than employees. Thirty-two drivers won decisions against 13 trucking companies that settled for $3.8 million in wages and penalties.

Last month, the port drivers scored a huge victory when Pacific 9 Transportation (Pac 9) agreed that its port truck drivers are employees and have the right to join a union

The Los Angeles Times reported on today's action:

More than 100 truck drivers are picketing at three trucking companies and following trucks from those companies as they pick up cargo from the nation’s largest port complex. The drivers, backed by the Teamsters Local 848 union, allege widespread workplace violations, organizers said. 

Justice for Port Truck Drivers, the union-backed group organizing the strike, has accused trucking companies of wrongfully classifying truck drivers as independent contractors, a classification that denies drivers workplace protections such as overtime and mandated work breaks. It also results in lower pay, the group said. 

One of the three picket lines is at Green Fleet Systems, where drivers are pushing to unionize with Teamsters Local 848. The company illegally fired two drivers for their union activity. The drivers and Teamsters are also picketing Total Transportation Services Inc. and Pacific 9 Transportation.

The port drivers were joined by members of the Longshoremen’s Union (ILWU) at the ports. ILWU members walked off the job to support the drivers, shutting down Long Beach’s Terminal F for hours before a federal mediator ordered them back to work.

The Long Beach Press-Telegram reported,

The early-morning picket caused International Longshore and Warehouse Union workers to momentarily halt work and caused some truck traffic backups as workers spilled out into the street. Under the ILWU contract, workers have to stand by when a picket line is established and wait for a federal arbitrator to decide whether the strike is bona fide, which would allow them to honor the picket. 

But by noon Monday, an arbitrator ruled that longshore workers at the ports had to return to work and that ruling applied to all port terminals. 

Teamsters, union members celebrate Workers' Memorial Day

Teamsters mourned the dead and vowed to fight for the living during Workers' Memorial Day services around the country over the past few days.

Labor Department officials lead the Workers'
Memorial Day ceremony.

In Washington, D.C., Teamsters attended a Workers' Memorial Day program that focused on toxic chemical exposure featuring Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels and Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health Joe Main. 

President Obama issued a proclamation honoring Workers' Memorial Day. It began: 

America is built on the promise of opportunity. We believe that everyone should have a chance to succeed, that what matters is the strength of our work ethic, the scope of our dreams, and our willingness to take responsibility for ourselves and each other. Yet each year, workplace illness and injury threaten that promise for millions of Americans, and even more tragically, thousands die on the job. This is unacceptable. On Workers Memorial Day, we honor those we have lost, and in their memory, affirm everyone's right to a safe workplace.

At the Washington ceremony, participants gathered at the site of the American dogwood tree  planted in 2011 on the lawn in Veterans' Plaza for a brief ceremony honoring workers who have died on the job. A moment of silence was observed in honor of the workers and families whose loss motivates union members to fight to make every job is a safe job.

Labor Secretary Tom Perez acknowledged Workers' Memorial Day in a blog post:

No one should have to sacrifice their life for their livelihood, because a nation built on the dignity of work must provide safe working conditions for its people.  Every year, on Workers’ Memorial Day, we remember those who have been killed, hurt, or made sick by their jobs, and renew our commitment to the safety and health of every worker... 

The good news is that we have made historic strides in recent decades.  It’s always worth remembering that in 1970, the year OSHA was created, there were an estimated 14,000 workplace fatalities.  That’s a staggering number.  Think about it: it’s more than one life lost every hour of every day – day and night, weekends and holidays.  But today, with a workforce twice as large, that number has dropped to 4,628 — the second lowest annual total since BLS first conducted the census of fatal injuries in 1992.

Today's Teamster News 04.29.14

Teamster News
Truckers Plan 2-Day Strike At LA, Long Beach Ports  CBS News   ...Truck drivers who haul cargo in and out of the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach planned to go on a two-day strike beginning Monday that they said was not directed at the busy ports themselves but at the companies that employ drivers...
Latest Strike By The Truckers At The Port Could Be More Disruptive  KPCC   ...Some truck drivers for companies that move cargo in and out of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are beginning a two-day strike Monday morning...
In holding pattern for Teamsters' job action in Abbotsford  BC Local News   ...Strike action by Teamsters Local 31 could begin as early as this afternoon, although school district superintendent Kevin Godden said the local hasn't provided any details about "the nature, location or specific time."...
Cerberus Loots Bankrupt Airlines Health Care Account  Huffington Post   ...Private equity firm Cerberus Business Finance, LLC is looting a bankrupt airline that for 66 years ferried troops and equipment to war zones in the Middle East and Southeast Asia...
Trade
Anti-TPP Activists Protest Obama Speech in Malaysia  Democracy Now   ... On Sunday, Obama faced protest at a public event in Malaysia over the Trans-Pacific Partnership...
Obama Fails To Seal Trans-Pacific Partnership Deal  Daily Star   ...No deal. That best sums up United States President Barack Obama's stops in Japan and Malaysia, where bilateral Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations failed to end in an agreement...
Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Pact Must Be Rejected By U.S. (LTE)  Arizona Daily Star   ...Byron Schlomach's article, "Arizona's future depends on international trade," April 21, implies that all international trade agreements are good for Arizona and the United States. Some are good and some are not so good. The Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade agreement, or TPP, is one of those not good for the state or nation...
State Battles
Missouri House Republican Leaders Continue To Push For 'Right-To-Work' Bill  Lake Expo   ...The prospect of a second vote on "right to work" remain uncertain, but state House Republican leaders said they will continue to work on trying to gather enough votes to advance the measure...
War on Workers
Survey Details Struggles Of Syracuse's Low-Wage Workers  Syracuse Post-Standard   ...Low-wage workers in the Syracuse area struggle with conditions that can cause health problems and make it hard to climb the economic ladder, according to a new survey...
One Year After Rana Plaza  New York Times   ...A horrendous building collapse last April in Bangladesh killed more than 1,100 garment workers. Labor groups, Western clothing companies, the Bangladeshi government and others have made progress towards preventing similar tragedies, but more needs to be done...
Restaurant Workers: 'Stop Wage Theft'  Workers World   ...In a powerful demonstration of support, dozens of people marched into Liberato restaurant in the Bronx, demanding better wages and working conditions for the workers on April 19...
Miscellaneous
Student Debt "Celebrated" Outside The Dept. of Education  Open Media Boston   ...The campaign for a debt-free future hit out at growing levels of student-debt in a rally outside the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) in Boston on Friday...

Today's Teamster News 04. 28.14

Trade
Najib cites ‘sensitivities’ as Obama struggles to push trade pact  The Malaysian Insider   ...Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today that he and US President Barack Obama had agreed to upgrade bilateral relations but suggested that his country remains far from ready to sign a US-led trade pact due to domestic "sensitivities"...
U.S. did not "bully" Malaysia into TPP, Obama says  Global Post   ...There have been a series of protests in Malaysia against the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade initiative in the days leading up to Obama's arrival on Saturday for a three-day visit...
State Battles
House Republicans Still Seeking Needed Votes For 'Right-To-Work' Ballot Proposal  St. Louis Public Radio   ...After two weeks of vigorous lobbying, Republican leaders in the Missouri House acknowledge that they have yet to obtain the extra four votes needed to send to the state Senate a measure to put a right-to-work proposal on the August ballot...
Wall Street’s Pension Gamble  In These Times   ...In a new report for the union representing ...(North Carolina) public employees, former Securities and Exchange Commission investigator Ted Siedle documents how secrecy is allowing financial firms to bilk the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System, which is the seventh largest public pension fund in America...
War on Workers
Recovery Has Created Far More Low-Wage Jobs Than Better-Paid Ones  New York Times   ...But job losses and gains have been skewed. Higher-wage industries — like accounting and legal work — shed 3.6 million positions during the recession and have added only 2.6 million positions during the recovery. But lower-wage industries lost two million jobs, then added 3.8 million...
One Year After Rana Plaza, Safety Issues in Walmart Supply Chain Persist  ...a compensation fund for victims was set up to enable retailers to donate to the impacted workers, but only $15 million—one-third of the $40 million goal—has been raised by the International Labor Organization (ILO), which chairs the fund. The corporate community’s inaction has left survivors scrambling to make a living without adequate healthcare or wages, according to a report by Human Rights Watch…
My protesting isn’t terrorism: How Big Ag teamed with lawmakers to criminalize speech  Salon   ...Activists are being prosecuted for challenging the interests of business. I should know — I spent 40 months in jail...
Supreme Court Taking Up Police Searches of Data Troves Known as Cellphones  New York Times   ...In a major test of how to interpret the Fourth Amendment in the digital age, the Supreme Court on Tuesday will consider two cases about whether the police need warrants to search the cellphones of the people they arrest...
'Happy Days’ no more: Middle-class families squeezed as expenses soar, wages stall  New York Times   ...A recent poll conducted by the Washington Post and the Miller Center at the University of Virginia found that 40 percent of those calling themselves middle class felt less financially secure than they were just a few years ago. Forty-five percent said they worry “a lot” about having enough money stashed away for retirement, and 57 percent said they worry about meeting their bills. Less than half said they expect their kids to do any better...
Miscellaneous
The Koch Attack on Solar Energy  New York Times   ...At long last, the Koch brothers and their conservative allies in state government have found a new tax they can support. Naturally it’s a tax on something the country needs: solar energy panels...

Today's Teamster News 04.27.14

Teamsters
For de Blasio, Carriage Horse Ban Is No Walk in the Park  New York Times   ...The mayor’s plan to ban horse-drawn carriages, an obscure proposal until Mr. de Blasio embraced it in last year’s mayoral race, has erupted into a cause célèbre, landing on the cover of The New Yorker and dominating local headlines, even as Mr. de Blasio is trying to refocus his administration on housing and wage issues...
EXCLUSIVE: FBI investigation of mayoral race includes de Blasio's pledge to ban carriage horses  New York Daily News   ...FBI agents have been questioning people about the pledge de Blasio made in March 2013, and the ads launched the next month by animal rights activists attacking Christine Quinn, the Daily News has learned. Agents also appear interested in a $175,000 contribution to the animal rights group NYCLASS from a union tied to de Blasio's cousin, labor leader John Wilhelm...
Trade
Japan, U.S. tiptoe into new phase of Pacific trade talks  Reuters   ...The United States and Japan are edging into a new phase of trade negotiations after U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's summit, people with knowledge of talks to create one of the world's biggest trade pacts said...
TPP Investment Map: New Privileges for 30,000 Companies?  Public Citizen   ...Under previous presidential administrations, the United States signed a number of free trade agreements (FTAs) that grant foreign corporations extraordinary rights and protections beyond the rights of domestic companies...
War on Workers
U.S. electricity prices may be going up for good  Los Angeles Times   ...Experts warn of a growing fragility as coal-fired plants are shut down, nuclear power is reduced and consumers switch to renewable energy...
91 Percent of Our Seafood is Imported and Only 2 Percent is Inspected  Economy in Crisis   ...The U.S. imports an astonishing 91 percent of our seafood and, unbeknownst to many Americans, much of this seafood is contaminated with antibiotics and toxic chemicals.  We can’t inspect this food for contaminants because we cannot afford the necessary number of FDA inspectors to do the job...
My Life in the New American Minimum Wage Economy  Mother Jones   ...After getting driven out of my job by the State Department, I found myself looking for part-time positions in retail...
Thomas Perez: Jobless benefits are a lifesaver (opinion)  Reno Gazette-Journal   ...With so many people we know facing so much uncertainty, depleting their savings and fearful that their dreams are slipping away, it is unconscionable that Congress has sat on its hands this long...
Scathing Report Finds Rocketship, School Privatization Hurt Poor Kids  truthout   ...A popular chain of charter schools called Rocketship, which originated in California and has spread to Wisconsin, with the enthusiastic support of state legislators and the local chamber of commerce in Milwaukee, is "a low-budget operation that relies on young and inexperienced teachers rather than more veteran and expensive faculty, that reduces curriculum to a near-exclusive focus on reading and math, and that replaces teachers with online learning and digital applications for a significant portion of the day...
Miscellaneous
Texas Republican Spent Over $30,000 In Campaign Cash On Chocolates And Ham  Buzzfeed   ...Texas Rep. Ralph Hall, the oldest serving member of Congress, spent more than $33,000 in campaign funds on orders from Honey Baked Foods and Godiva Chocolatier, campaign filings show...

Today's Teamster News 04.26.14

Teamster News
Republic Nuclear Dump Fire Threatens Investors, Workers  Huffington Post   ...Since 2010, a landfill fire has been moving toward 8,700 tons of unlined illegally dumped radioactive waste in Bridgeton, Missouri. The site is in the middle of working-class neighborhoods, right next to the Saint Louis airport, and near a hospital, schools and a great number of businesses. The Teamsters believe Bill Gates and other investors in Republic Services, Inc. should take a closer look...
Chicago Art Handlers Vote To Become Teamsters, Today  Art World   ...Art handlers with Mana-Terry Dowd LLC may set an industry precedent this month by being the first employees of a major art transportation company in Chicago to unionize...
Mayor de Blasio Laughs Off Idea Central Park Horse-Carriage Drivers Will Be Offered Taxi Cab Medallions  New York Daily News   ...Mayor de Blasio laughed off a report the city is offering tax cab medallions in exchange for their handsome cab licenses. Asked Thursday if a proposal was on the table, de Blasio gave a one word answer: "No."
Trade
Even Without Deal, U.S., Japan Play Up TPP Talks  Wall Street Journal   ...The U.S. and Japan tried to put their best face on their failure to reach a trade deal during President Barack Obama's Tokyo visit, saying major progress was made during nearly round-the-clock talks...
State Battles
Missouri House Republican leaders continue to push for 'right to work' bill  St. Louis Post-Dispatch   ...The prospects of a second vote on “right to work” remain uncertain, but state House Republican leaders said they continue to work on trying to gather enough votes to advance the measure...
Hicks receives warm understanding and support from colleagues and constituents after RTW vote  Missouri Times   ...Hicks initially felt alienated when he took the vote against RTW, but now feels more validated. “When I stood up and voted no, I went against my party for the first time...
The Kochs' Alternative GOP Comes Out Against Columbus Zoo Animals  The Wire   ...Ohio's chapter of American's for Prosperity, the Koch-brothers funded activist zoo group, sent out a mailer opposing a tax increase for the Columbus, Ohio zoo...
Koch Brothers Group Wipes Cliven Bundy Support From Social Media Accounts  Huffington Post   ...Americans for Prosperity Nevada, the state affiliate of the Koch Brothers-backed group, appears to have hastily deleted social media posts expressing support for Cliven Bundy, the renegade rancher who exposed himself as a racist in recent press conferences...
Republican Senator proposes Michigan minimum wage increase to undermine ballot proposal  Michigan Live   ...State Sen. Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge) on Thursday said he introduced a bill to increase the minimum wage from $7.40 an hour to $8.15 per hour starting Dec. 1, 2014. It also would raise the minimum rate for tipped employees from $2.65 per hour to $2.75 per hour...
Lawmakers advance minimum wage bill  KHON2   ...Lawmakers advanced a bill today to raise Hawaii’s minimum wage for the first time since 2007...
Murray says minimum-wage agreement will take more time  Seattle Times   ...Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said there’s still a few more weeks before a drop-dead deadline for an accord on a $15 minimum-wage proposal...
War on Workers
Northwestern University Football Players To Vote On Union Amid Debate Over Labor Rights  Washington Post   ...Northwestern University football players are scheduled to vote Friday whether to join a union, part of a labor battle that is drawing intense scrutiny from colleges with major athletic programs, national labor leaders and higher education lobbyists in Washington...
Miscellaneous
Americans Have Fewer Credit Cards And Less Debt  FiveThirtyEight   ...A new poll from Gallup suggests that Americans are less reliant on credit cards than any time since 2001. The survey, which was based on a random sample 1,026 adults, found that 29 percent of Americans do not own any credit cards...
Occupy Amazon: Elizabeth Warren, Thomas Piketty, Michael Lewis Books Surging Online  Huffington Post ...If Amazon's top-sellers list is any indication, Americans are fed up with rising income inequality. As of Thursday evening, Sen. Elizabeth Warren's new memoir, A Fighting Chance is the number two best-selling book on Amazon...

A historic day: Northwestern football players vote on union representation

No matter what their highlight reel looks like, the biggest play made by the Northwestern University football team this year is happening off the gridiron. For the first time in the history of the NCAA, players cast votes on whether they will be represented by a union.

College sports are extremely popular in America. Collectively, it is a multibillion dollar business. Coaches at the helms of these programs receive multimillion dollar salaries and plush benefits. Pat Fitzgerald, the head football coach at Northwestern, makes over $2.2 million dollars. But what do the players, the engine in the vehicle that is the NCAA, get from this? An education, rife with limitations on majors and the potential for fraud or abuse. Injuries that can linger for a lifetime and are not covered by the NCAA.

The NCAA is exploiting these kids to the point that, even after winning a championship, they go to bed without food in their stomach.

The National Labor Relations Board has begun to fix this situation. A landmark ruling gave these players a profound choice: the option to join their professional counterparts, unionize and negotiate for better healthcare, stipends to cover the full cost of an education, and revenue from the video games and jerseys sold in their name. Many of these student athletes come from tough economic backgrounds and they rightly see athletics as a way to empower themselves.

We won't know for a while what the outcome is, but we're sure looking forward to finding out.

Today's Teamster News 04.25.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Union Calls On Bill Gates For Westlake Landfill Cleanup  CBS News   ...The Teamsters union is lobbying billionaire Bill Gates to support the total cleanup of radioactive waste from the West Lake Landfill. Chuck Stiles, the Assistant Director of the Teamsters Solid Waste Division...
Teamsters, Taylor Farm Workers Help Push Bill To Protect Temp Workers TeamsterNation   ...The Teamster organizing struggle at Taylor Farms in California moved to the state capitol yesterday where workers helped push forward a bill to make companies responsible for workers hired through temp agencies...
UPS Contract Facts Memo To Locals  teamster.org   ...The documents ... include a UPS contract facts memo from the National Negotiating Committee to Local Unions and supporting documents...
Trade
Japan, U.S. fail to reach agreement on TPP  The Asahi Shimbun   ...Last-minute negotiations between Japan and the United States failed to produce substantive agreement on a Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal...
Why Corporations Are Freaking Out About Obama's Big Trade Deal  Huffington Post   ...as the current head of Ford Motor Co.'s international lobbying operations, Biegun now finds himself allied with environmental activists, labor unions, and some of the most progressive Democrats in Congress -- all raising strong objections to President Barack Obama's proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, or TPP...
State Battles
Right-To-Work Bill Divides Missourians As It Moves Through Legislature  The Missourian   ...Dave Anderson, a shop steward for United Food and Commercial Workers in Columbia, is convinced that organized labor helps far more people than simply its members...
War On Workers
Exclusive: Apple, Google agree to pay over $300 million to settle conspiracy lawsuit  Reuters   ...Four major tech companies including Apple and Google have agreed to pay a total of $324 million to settle a lawsuit accusing them of conspiring to hold down salaries in Silicon Valley, sources familiar with the deal said, just weeks before a high profile trial had been scheduled to begin...
Danger on the rails: outdated tankers carrying crude oil  Axis Philly   ...Virtually all of the petroleum crude being transported around the United States by rail is being shipped in DOT-111s.
And many of those tank cars have been deemed unsafe for the transportation of flammable liquids, like petroleum crude oil, by government agencies...
Port Authority Board Approves Raises For All 12K Airport Workers  New York Daily News   ...All 12,000 of the New York area's poorly paid airport workers are now officially set for financial takeoff. Three months after the Daily News launched a campaign to improve conditions for the struggling airport workers, Port Authority board members...
Many Low-Wage Workers Not Protected By Minimum Wage  CNN Money   ...President Obama's push to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, coupled with recent state-level increases, is welcome news for many people getting by on small paychecks...
Pressure Builds As Northwestern Football Team Union Vote Nears  CNN   ...No matter what the ballots say, Friday will be historic for college sports. By noon, members of Northwestern University's will have cast their ballots that will decide whether they will form a workers union and start demanding more rights...
Breaking the Law? Northwestern Football Coach Pressures Players Not to Unionize  The Nation   ...it takes an enormous amount of chutzpah for Fitzgerald to so strenuously oppose the efforts of his players to have a seat at the table when he is making $2.2 million per year and received a $2.5 million loan from the school upon signing his most recent contract. Yet Fitzgerald’s stance is not only distasteful. It may be illegal...
Meet The Real Amazon Drones  Huffington Post   ...At least five days a week, Myron Ballard races around Washington, DC with a cargo van full of Amazon Prime packages. A career delivery driver with 20 years behind the wheel, Ballard typically gets paid $1.50 for each address he visits...
Miscellaneous
Families Of Aurora Shooting Victims Call Out Koch Backed Group For Insensitive Ad  Huffington Post   ...A group backed by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch has agreed to adjust an ad featuring President Obama and Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) after facing complaints about an insensitive photo. Families of the Aurora movie theater shooting victims called on the conservative nonprofit Americans for Prosperity...
Everything You Need To Know About The End Of Net Neutrality  Huffington Post   ...It may be the end of the internet as we know it. That was the reaction from consumer advocates and some websites after the Federal Communications Commission announced new rules governing internet service on Thursday...

Teamsters in NYC ask for intervention in pay discrimination suit

Teamsters Local 237 wants a pay discrimination lawsuit settled before it goes to court. They're asking the mayor to intervene in the case.  

More than 5,000 Teamster school safety agents are bringing the pay discrimination suit -- the largest in the United States -- against the City of New York.

The school safety agents, mostly women, receive $7,000 less pay a year than male-dominated peace officers in the city. Members of Teamsters Local 237 want deBlasio to intervene in the class action suit and fix the problem.

The agents are put in harm's way every day.  They have to confiscate five firearms, patrol New York City's schools and make arrests. They are authorized to use deadly force while protecting children, teachers and staff.

Ohio workers gear up to elect friend of labor, Ed Fitzgerald, as governor

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is up for re-election in Ohio this November, and Teamsters aren't about to forget SB5, Kasich's attempt to destroy government-worker unions.

In 2011, the Ohio Legislature passed SB 5, but a historic campaign succeeded in overturning the anti-worker law.

Now working people in Ohio are gearing up to send Kasich packing despite the vast amounts of Koch-linked campaign money he'll have available to him.

The AFL-CIO just posted this video (above) to kick off the campaign:

In its most targeted Ohio political program to date, the AFL-CIO program of voter education and voter turnout will be broad in its scope. In addition to its traditional labor-to-labor outreach, the AFL-CIO programs will be geared toward all middle-class Ohioans, regardless of union membership, as the organization seeks to educate voters on the economic issues central to the debate in the election. Together with its community-based affiliate Working America, the Ohio AFL-CIO has a traditional universe of more than 1 million voters in Ohio. 

The Labor 2014 operation in Ohio will involve more than 35,000 volunteer shifts that will cover all aspects of the campaign, including voter registration, voter education and voter turnout. The effort is to include an unprecedented level of more than 2 million combined door knocks, phone dials and leaflets distributed at worksites and millions of additional voter contacts through direct mail and electronic and social media.

(Look for our brother Matt Ford, political coordinator for Teamsters Local 507 at about 1:36.).

Taylor Farms workers help push CA bill to protect temp workers

The Teamster organizing struggle at Taylor Farms in California moved to the state capitol yesterday where workers helped push forward a bill to make companies responsible for workers hired through temp agencies.

AB 1897 passed the Committee on Labor and Employment on a party-line vote in a defeat for the 25 corporate lobbyists who tried to paint the bill as a "job killer." Lawmakers, including Republicans on the committee, highlighted Taylor Farms as a "bad apple" whose abusive labor practices make laws like AB 1897 necessary. The California Labor Federation and Teamsters from Locals 439 and 601 stood with Taylor Farms food processing workers who traveled to Sacramento to lobby in support of the legislation.

Teamsters with Assemblymember
Roger Hernandez, author of AB 1897

AB 1897 would hold companies accountable to the temp agency workers they hire -- workers who they constantly deny responsibility for yet depend on for labor. The law will require companies to ensure that the temp workers they use are getting fair pay and a safe work environment, and that the agencies are paying their fair share in taxes.

Taylor Farms workers know firsthand how exploitative the labor contracting system is. At its plants in Tracy, Calif., the company hides behind two staffing agencies, SlingShot and Abel Mendoza. The agencies, which staff up to two-thirds of the facilities, allow the company to get away with serious labor violations. One young worker with SlingShot has worked at Taylor Farms for 10 years -- he started working there on the onion line when he was 9 years-old.

When workers are injured, the company and temp agencies deny being the "employer of record" so workers can't get compensation. Taylor Farms pays Abel Mendoza $14 per hour for each worker but Abel Mendoza pays the workers only $8 per hour, costing already impoverished workers over $10,000 a year.

The temp labor contracting scheme also allows companies like Taylor Farms to crack down mercilessly on workers who try to organize. When Taylor Farms workers tried to join Teamsters Local 601, the company retaliated with a non-stop fear campaign run by paid union-busters who threatened and harassed workers, especially immigrant workers. The company got rid of pro-union workers by making the agencies fire them.

All of this made it easier for the company to effectively steal the election when workers held their vote on union representation, forcing the NLRB to impound ballots while it investigates Taylor Farms' extreme misconduct.

By making companies like Taylor Farms responsible for all of their workers, including "temps," AB 1897 will make it harder to violate workers rights with impunity. Teamster friend Roger Hernandez, a California assemblymember for the 48th District, authored AB 1897 with Taylor Farms workers in mind -- similar to his anti-retaliation law signed by the governor which was inspired by Marquez Brothers workers' fight for Teamster representation.

While the NLRB investigates charges against the company, Teamsters and Taylor Farms workers are expanding the campaign for union representation in Tracy by reaching out to allies, the media and political leaders.


Teamsters, Taylor Farms workers at the state capitol

AB 1897 now moves to the Appropriations Committee. As the labor contractor system has moved from the fields of the Central Valley into the food processing facilities -- and as corporations throughout the economy increasingly adopt this employment scheme -- laws like AB 1897 are becoming more urgent than ever.

Taylor Farms workers and the Teamsters plan to continue holding up Taylor Farms as a poster child for temp labor abuses.

UPS National Master Agreement In Effect Starting April 25, 2014

Here's official news about the UPS contract from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters:

The Teamsters UPS National Negotiating Committee, pursuant to Article XII of the IBT Constitution, announced that the 2013 National Master United Parcel Service Agreement, All Supplements, Riders and Addenda is in effect starting April 25, 2014.  

The wages contained in the agreement are retroactive to August 1, 2013 and UPS has committed to expediting the checks for Teamster members’ retroactive wage increases. The retro check will be a separate check to avoid being taxed at a higher rate. In addition, UPS will begin making retroactive contributions to the health and welfare and pension funds immediately. UPS currently owes over $300 million to Teamster members and funds. Now Teamsters will be made whole.  

The agreement contains unparalleled wage and benefit increases. New language offers strong protection from harassment and retaliation. In addition, the new 9.5 language, protections regarding SurePost and all of the other improvements and protections contained in the new agreement will be in effect.

For more information, click here.

Today's Teamster News 04.24.14

Teamster News
New Teamsters Report Details Mounting Liabilities For One of Republic Services' Nuclear Waste Landfills  Teamster.org   ...Today the Teamsters released a report that details the escalating costs to the public and investors for Republic Service Inc's management of its Bridgeton/West Lake Superfund landfill in Bridgeton, Missouri...
Teamsters, Other Unions Pledge Support to Regional Pilots  Teamster.org   ...The head of one of the largest Teamster pilot unions joined other union leaders across the industry in spearheading an agreement to set new standards for regional pilot contracts and to stand together during negotiations...
UPS Employees Union votes to override local bargaining units  Atlanta Business Chronicle   ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said in the memo that the UPS national negotiating committee "voted overwhelmingly" to declare the new contract in effect...
Workers Memorial Day to highlight jobs that kill  People's World   ..."Forty-three years ago, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, promising every worker the right to a safe job," Teamsters President James Hoffa adds.  "Decades of struggle by workers and their unions resulted in significant improvements in working conditions...
Trade
Obama trade push gets thumbs down from Democrats  Politico   ...In an atmosphere in which populism is driving both parties’ bases and more represented in the Senate than ever, convincing members to sign on to multinational trade deals is next to impossible...
Obama fails to secure breakthrough in Japan trade talks  CNN Money   ...Trade talks between the United States and Japan failed to produce a breakthrough Thursday, in yet another blow to the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement...
State Battles
Paycheck Protection heard in Senate  Missouri Times   ...So-called “paycheck protection” legislation that would be placed on the 2014 ballot if approved was heard in a senate committee today, marking another step in the fight between labor leaders and conservative Republicans...
Karl Rove And Americans For Prosperity Join Forces To Aid ALEC Stalwart in North Carolina Race  PR Watch   ...Some powerful players are coming to the aid of ALEC board member Thom Tillis, the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, who seeks to challenge Democrat Kay Hagen for her U.S. Senate seat...
War On Workers
Massive new fraud coverup: How banks are pillaging homes — while the government watches
Salon   ...Joseph and Mary Romero of Chimayo, N.M., found that their mortgage note was assigned to the Bank of New York three months after the same bank filed a foreclosure complaint against them; in other words, Bank of New York didn’t own the loan when they tried to foreclose on it... Housing Rebound in U.S. Losing Steam as Prices Rise  Bloomberg   ...Sales dropped a surprising 14.5 percent to a 384,000 annualized pace, lower than any forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg and the weakest since July, Commerce Department data showed today in Washington. Three of the four regions saw setbacks, with demand in the West slumping to the lowest level in more than two years...
The Koch Brothers Extra Baggage  Washington Post   ...The Republican Party's biggest sugar daddies, the Koch brothers are a mixed bag for the GOP: They bring money, but lots of baggage. Their downside isn't only that they're a convenient foil for Democratic turnout, but they could exacerbate existing tensions within the Republican Party...
Fast Food CEOs Earn Super Sized Salaries; Workers Earn Small Potatoes  NPR   ...At a time when fast-food workers earn an average of about $9 an hour, what are the chief executives bringing home? According to a new report, YUM! (Owner of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut) compensated its CEO $22 million in 2013...
Kellogg Locked Out Kevin to Cut Costs, Paid CEO $8 Million  AFL-CIO Now   ...For 13 years Kevin worked at the Kellogg Co.’s Memphis, Tenn., cereal plant, until the company locked out him and 225 of his co-workers in October. While they missed the rest of the year’s paychecks—and continue to do so—Kellogg CEO John Bryant pocketed nearly $8 million in 2013 compensation...
Northwestern Football Players To Vote On Union Friday  Chicago Tribune   ...Northwestern University football players are scheduled to vote Friday morning on whether they want to be represented by a union. Northwestern, which is a private university, is not allowing reporters on campus at Welsh-Ryan arena, citing the players' wishes to avoid media attention...
US Workers Were Once Massacred Fighting For The Protections Being Rolled Back Today  Moyers & Company   ...On April 20, 1914, the Colorado National Guard and a private militia employed by the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company opened fire on a tent camp of striking coal miners at Ludlow, Colorado. At least 19 people died in the camp that day, mostly women and children...
Miscellaneous
Students Seek Loan Forgiveness In Overwhelming Numbers  MSNBC   ...Enrollment in federal student loan debt forgiveness programs skyrocketed nearly 40 percent in the last 6 months, the U.S. Education Department told the Wall Street Journal as education costs rise...
New Records: IRS Targeted Progressive Groups More Extensively Than Tea Party  ThinkProgress   ...A series of IRS documents, provided to ThinkProgress under the Freedom of Information Act, appears to contradict the claims by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that only Tea Party organizations applying for tax-exempt status “received systematic scrutiny because of their political beliefs.”...

Costs mount for Republic Services over burning, radioactive landfill

Republic Services is facing a major increase in costs for dealing with the burning, radioactive Bridgeton landfill near St. Louis, according to a new report.

The company's mismanagement and refusal to deal honestly with the problem at Bridgeton hurts investors as well as the local community and workers, the report concludes.

The Teamsters, who represent Republic Services employees, issued a statement:

“Today’s report highlights how Republic is risking investors’ money and the public’s safety by mismanaging the clean-up in Bridgeton, Missouri,” said Robert Morales, Director of the Teamsters Solid Waste, Recycling and Related Industries Division. “The report raises a question that we all should be asking Republic – is Bridgeton just the tip of the toxic landfill iceberg?”

The nuclear waste remediation has already cost Republic Services $219 million and may cost much more if the Army Corps of Engineers takes over the site. The company's effort to avoid any Army Corps of Engineers' involvement failed, and it is now resorting to such desperate tactics as impersonating the EPA, creating a front group headed by an extremist blogger, opposing radioactive waste cleanup and lobbying the Missouri Legislature to pass a law stripping local authorities of their right to sue.

This is an ongoing and developing crisis, as engineering efforts to control the fire aren't working. Let's hope Republic decides to do the right thing and clean up the landfill instead of trying to deny there's a problem.

In the meantime, Republic Services investors can ask this question and more on Thursday, April 24, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. ET during the company’s first quarter investor conference call. The call can be accessed by logging onto the Republic Services’ Investor Relations page on www.republicservices.com or by dialing (800) 369-3117 or (210) 234-0084, passcode "Republic Services."

Teamsters mourn the dead, fight for the living

Our Teamsters brothers and sisters from
Local 200 in Milwaukee have been to this
memorial  honoring 3 fallen ironworkers

Teamsters will honor fallen workers on April 28, Workers' Memorial Day, a little over a year after 15 workers died in a West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion and more than 1,100 died in the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh.

Sadly, those aren't the only workplace deaths over the past year. Just do a Google news search of 'worker killed' or 'worker died.' You'll read about the oilfield worker killed in a West Texas drilling accident, the Illinois highway worker killed by a sleepy driver, the Aberdeen Proving Grounds worker killed in a grass-cutting accident in Maryland, the construction worker who died on the job in Ottawa. All in the past few days.

An average of 4,400 people are killed every year at work, 50,000 workers die from occupational diseases and millions are injured on the job.

That's why working people throughout the world mourn for the people who were hurt or killed on the job on Workers' Memorial Day. Then they organize, because the best way to make workplaces safe is to make sure workers have the freedom to join in a union.

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa is urging members of the Teamsters Union to honor Workers' Memorial Day. Today in a statement he said,

On this Workers’ Memorial Day, we need to join hands to seek stronger safety and health protections and better standards and enforcement.  To quote Mother Jones, a small woman but a giant in the American labor movement, “Mourn for the dead and fight like hell for the living.”

Honor our fallen brothers and sisters at a workers' memorial near you. You can find a list of workers' memorials here. If you hold an event, tell us about it here. Learn more about Worker's Memorial Day here.

Memo to Open Secrets: Unions are nothing like the Koch brothers

Open Secrets, a voter information group, is aligned with the secretive Koch brothers -- at least according to its own logic.

Open Secrets published a blog post claiming there was only 'one degree of separation' between the carpenters' union and the Koch brothers because they use the same lobbying firm. This is not the first time Open Secrets has bashed unions. The Koch brothers bash unions. So according to Open Secrets' reasoning, Open Secrets is in bed with the Koch brothers.

Open Secrets claims it 'aims to create a more educated voter,' but has yet to educate itself on the role of unions in America. It was union pressure that led to Marian Anderson's historic concert at the Lincoln Memorial 75 years ago. Unions staged the first March on Washington in 1941 and strongly supported Martin Luther King's March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. It was in support of a striking sanitation workers union that Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis.

Here is what Martin Luther King said about unions:

The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress.

And here is what two researchers from Northwestern and Princeton concluded about unions:

Some particular U.S. membership organizations – especially the AARP and labor unions – do tend to favor the same policies as average citizens.

These are the same researchers, Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page, who studied the U.S. government's responsiveness to ordinary citizens and found none. They discovered the government responds only to business interests and wealthy people.

Unions are a bulwark against the wealthy and powerful who want to exploit and impoverish the people. Unions have fought and are still fighting for the things the Koch brothers are fighting against: Social Security, unemployment compensation, a living minimum wage, child labor laws, paid overtime, paid sick days, workplace safety and environmental protections.

Here's something else Martin Luther King said:

History is a great teacher. Now everyone knows that the labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it. By raising the living standards of millions, labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed of levels of production. Those who attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them.                            

Today's Teamster News 04.23.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Urge Buffalo Common Council To Keep Rural Metro Contract  The Buffalo News   ...The unionized workforce of Buffalo's exclusive ambulance provider came to city hall today to urge the common council not to change providers...
Trade
Obama Faces Headwinds On Trans-Pacific Partnership In East Asia Trip  South China Morning Post   ...As US President Barack Obama embarks on a four-nation Asian tour, his effort to push the economic side of the US "rebalancing" towards the Asia-Pacific faces hurdles...
Abe-Obama Deal On TPP Unlikely  The Japan Times   ...Japan and the United States are not expected to announce a broad bilateral agreement for a Pacific trade pact when their leaders meet Thursday in Tokyo, as they remain considerably apart over the issue of market access for agricultural products and automobiles...
State Battles
Missouri Considers Right-To-Work Law  The Patriot Post   ...Following on the heels of some of its Midwest regional neighbors, Missouri's legislature is considering right-to-work legislation. With a heavily Republican legislature it seemed like passage would be a slam dunk. But that hasn't turned out to be the case...
Ohio Labor Supporters Gain Valuable Lesson From Missouri Right To Work Fight  PR News Channel   ...In Ohio, union supporters have so far kept the legislature off the ballot and are working tirelessly to ensure Right to Work doesn’t gain a foothold in their state....
War on Workers
The American Middle Class Is No Longer the World’s Richest  New York Times   ...After-tax middle-class incomes in Canada — substantially behind in 2000 — now appear to be higher than in the United States. The poor in much of Europe earn more than poor Americans...
Moving in with parents becomes more common for the middle-aged  Los Angeles Times   ...For seven years through 2012, the number of Californians aged 50 to 64 who live in their parents' homes swelled 67.6% to about 194,000, according to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the Insight Center for Community Economic Development. The jump is almost exclusively the result of financial hardship caused by the recession...
Cabdrivers Seek To Unionize To Push Case For Fair Hike  Chicago Sun Times   ...Tired of waiting nine years for a fair increase and being pushed around as independent contractors, Chicago cab drivers are trying a different tack to press their case for a "living wage"...
White House approves stricter coal dust rule  The Hill   ...The rule was proposed in 2010 by the Mine Health and Safety Administration in an attempt to reduce black lung disease, a deadly condition that kills hundreds of miners each year and is caused by coal dust...
Sherpas Move to Shut Everest in Labor Fight  New York Times   ...The avalanche that killed at least 13 Sherpas last Friday has prompted an extraordinary labor dispute, as Mount Everest’s quiet workhorses took steps on Tuesday to shut down the mountain for the season, demanding that the government share proceeds from what has become a multimillion-dollar business...
Miscellaneous
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Michigan Affirmative Action Ban  Think Progress   ...The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Michigan's ban on affirmative action in higher education Tuesday morning, in the latest ruling to effectively weaken affirmative action without killing it...