Teamsters
Teamsters Praise Lt. Governor Stack For Supporting Working Families IBT ...Teamsters across the state are praising Lt. Governor Mike Stack for standing strong and striking down an attempt by some lawmakers to place a stranglehold on unions...
Could The Gogama Derailment Have Been Prevented? NewsWire ...The Teamsters Union once again raises concerns following the third train derailment in Northern Ontario in less than a month. For years, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC)—which represents more than 12,000 railway workers—have continually stressed the need for more inspectors to be hired to see to the optimal operation of the equipment and the integrity of the tracks...
Facebook approves shuttle drivers contract USA Today ...Facebook and the contractor that supplies the shuttle drivers who transport the social networking giant's employees have agreed to a union-negotiated contract...
Google Shuttle Drivers To See Pay Hike, Better Benefits San Jose Mercury News ...The overtures come amid a growing Silicon Valley labor movement that has unionized some companies' shuttle drivers and also sought to lift up janitors, cooks, security guards and other service workers who buttress the high-tech economy. Shuttle drivers for Yahoo, Apple, Genentech, eBay and Zynga voted to join the Teamsters last month, following the lead of Facebook drivers, who joined the union in November...
Ryder Drivers In California Unionize Materials Management and Distribution ...Drivers with Ryder Integrated Logistics at three California locations have voted to join the Teamsters Union, gaining representation for 105 workers in one week. Eight-four drivers in Riverside and nine drivers in Fontana are now members of Teamsters Local 166 in Bloomington, California, and 12 drivers in Orange, have joined Teamsters Local 952, also located in Orange...
Time to Celebrate with Some Union Wine Beeson Tayer & Bodine ...Nearly 50 workers at the Constellation Brands Woodbridge Winery have joined the ranks of Teamsters Local 601. Constellation Brands is one of the largest wineries in the United States and produces some of the finest wines in California, including Ravens Wood, Toasted Head and Robert Mondavi wines...
Trade
AFL-CIO head on Obama’s trade push: ‘We are going all out to oppose it’ Washington Post ...The head of the nation's largest labor organization on Tuesday slammed President Obama's trade push and vowed to block efforts in Congress to help the administration finalize a major free trade pact in the Asia Pacific...
Saving Obama from a Bad Trade Deal American Prospect ...lans to rush fast-track authority for two trade deals for a quick House and Senate vote abruptly broke down on Tuesday. The White House was hoping to put the vote to Congress as early as this week...
Elizabeth Warren Says Trade Deal May Force U.S. Payouts to Overseas Firms Bloomberg ...A nearly completed trade agreement among 12 Pacific Rim nations may require U.S. taxpayers to finance settlements to multinational corporations that say U.S. regulations hurt their companies, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren said Wednesday...
Major U.S. Unions Step Up Battle Against TPP Japan Times ...The largest American labor federation says it and its affiliated unions are freezing political contributions to federal candidates “until further notice” to channel funds into labor’s intensifying battle to stop or at least help shape a proposed free trade agreement being negotiated by the U.S. and other nations that border the Pacific Ocean...
State Battles
Bill would curtail bargaining power of public sector unions in Kansas Wichita Eagle ...Senate Bill 179, which had a hearing in the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday, would define “conditions of employment” to exclusively mean salaries and wages in future contract negotiations between state and local governments and employees. That would mean that sick leave, insurance benefits and retirement benefits, for example, would no longer be included in negotiations between municipalities and police and firefighters’ unions...
Wages Are Lower in States With These Laws New York Times ...Where unions are strong, compensation increases even for workers not covered by any union contract, as nonunion employers face competitive pressure to match union standards...
House Narrowly Approves Right-To-Work Bill New Hampshire Union Leader ...A measure prohibiting labor unions from collecting agency fees to pay for negotiating and administering collective bargaining agreements was approved by the House on a 149-146 vote Wednesday. However, the bill faces a near-certain death in the Senate, which is evenly split 12-12 on the issue...
NY Assembly Democrats Propose State Budget Increasing Minimum Wage, School Aid Syracuse Post Standard ...Assembly Democrats on Tuesday proposed a $150.7 billion state budget they say will put families first, proposing larger increases in the minimum wage and public school aid than Gov. Andrew Cuomo did...
War on Workers
Wall Street's Yearly Bonuses Could Double the Pay for All of America's Minimum Wage Workers New Republic ...So how much are the wolves of Wall Street cashing in? Collectively, the report found, the employees received $28.5 billion in bonuses last year, a 3 percent jump, despite a decline in industry profits...
Union signals possible proposal coming to end U.S. refinery strike Reuters ...The United Steelworkers union signaled that lead refinery owner representative Shell Oil Co. may offer a possible settlement in the coming days that could end the largest refinery strike in 35 years...
Juries To Decide Landmark Cases Against Uber and Lyft Forbes ...Two landmark lawsuits that claim that drivers for ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft should be considered employees rather than contractors will both go to jury trial, two U.S. judges ruled Wednesday. The decisions could have a ripple effect on the business models of the burgeoning on-demand and sharing economies...
1 Worker Killed, 1 Hurt in New Mexico Oil Field Explosion Associated Press ...
An explosion at a New Mexico oil field site has killed one worker and injured another. Authorities say preliminary information indicates the workers were loading material into perforated pipe being installed into a drilling pipe in southern Lea County when the blast occurred Wednesday...
Why Salaries Don’t Rise (opinion) Washington Post ...At the root of our great pay stagnation is the appropriation by major investors of the funds that used to go to businesses’ research, modernization, expansion and workers. Full employment will certainly boost workers’ wages, but unless the power shift from workers to investors is reversed, the stagnant middle class we will always have with us...
