Hoffa: Vote Down Fast Track Teamster.org ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa on today’s Senate vote for cloture on the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill: “By voting to move forward on the fast track legislation today, the Senate has started us down a road that may lead to the passage of a trade deal that could result in American jobs being sent overseas"...
Swift Transportation Shareholders Give Board Mandate for Second Year in a Row Teamster.org ...A Teamster-sponsored shareholder proposal at Swift Transportation won majority support by public shareholders at the company’s 2015 annual meeting Fri., May 8, 2015. The proposal, which calls on the board to develop a recapitalization plan to replace the current dual class stock structure with a one-share, one-vote system, received 82 percent support...
Horse Carriage Drivers Question Impartiality of Consultant Tasked to Review Effects of Ban NY1.com ...Horse carriages still trot in Central Park, but what would the city be like if they are outlawed? That's the question City Hall hired a consultant to figure out. Its conclusions will play a key role in what promises to be a contentious floor fight in the City Council. It has the final word on the ban. But even before the report is done, horse carriage drivers are already calling foul. "It just smells bad, that's all," said Demos Demopoulos of Teamsters Local 553...
Jacksonville community gathers for D'angelo Stallworth, killed by police Fight Back News ...Stallworth worked at the United Parcel Service hub in Jacksonville, which is one of the three largest ground hubs for the company in the U.S. He was on medical leave from UPS when he was killed and was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Stallworth was due to return to work the following week. More than a dozen of his coworkers at UPS attended the vigil, many wearing UPS and Teamsters shirts...
Dems look to start Senate trade war next week Politico ...A coalition of Senate Democrats who’ve long opposed new trade agreements, led by Sherrod Brown of Ohio, say they are planning to throw up procedural roadblocks and offer amendments that would expand worker protections and undermine GOP support for the fast-track measure...
Senate, in Reversal, Begins Debate on Trade Authority New York Times ...Two days after Democratic senators blocked it, the Senate voted on Thursday to take up legislation that would grant the president negotiating freedom to complete an expansive trade accord with 11 nations on the Pacific Rim, setting off a contentious congressional debate on one of President Obama’s top priorities for his remaining time in office...
The Democratic Party Would Triangulate Its Own Mother Rolling Stone ...Triangulating – beating up on the ideologues within your own party in order to shore up your centrist cred and reassure your money sources – is an especially brilliant solution for Democrats targeting national office. That's surely what happened here with the TPP, a monster deal with the potential to reshape not just our trade profile but our domestic financial regulatory structure...
Senate reversal opens debate on key trade bill Politico ...The Senate voted Thursday to start debate on key trade legislation to “fast-track” a landmark Asia-Pacific free trade deal, reversing an embarrassing setback for President Barack Obama earlier this week and setting the stage for approval of the bill as soon as Memorial Day...
AFL-CIO chief: White House trade bill argument is ‘unadulterated horse waste’ Washington Post ...The head of the nation's largest labor union is ramping up his rhetoric to fight President Obama's Pacific trade pact, calling a key part of the White House argument "horse waste." AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka has been speaking out against Obama's bid to win approval for a 12-nation free trade deal in the Asia Pacific region for months...
Human rights abuses in Vietnam make TPP unacceptable (opinion) The Hill ...Among the potential partners in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Vietnam is the only country that bans independent labor unions and religious groups. It’s the only country considered one of the world’s worst violators of Internet freedom. It harbors severe child labor and forced labor violators. These reasons alone should give members of Congress pause before waiving their power to amend and critically analyze trade pacts like the TPP through regular order...
Defend Workers and the Environment Before Voting Fast Track (opinion) Huff Post ...Fast track puts the politics exactly backward. Workers foresee that service jobs will join manufacturing jobs in the next wave of offshoring. They see a Republican Congress uninterested in supporting those who would be displaced or protecting the environment. In short, Obama and the Republicans in Congress have not made the case to American workers that trade policies under TPP and TTIP will be part of a fair, middle-class, and environmentally sustainable economy...
Major Argentine labor group calls national strike Turkish Weekly ...The General Labor Confederation, a leading faction of the biggest union umbrella group in Argentina, vowed Thursday to join transport workers in a national strike planned for next month. Labor tension is on the rise in Argentina as a stagnating economy and high inflation make it harder for workers to get by...
State & Living Wage Battles
Illinois House votes down right-to-work proposal State Journal-Register ...As expected, the Illinois House on Thursday overwhelmingly rejected Gov. Bruce Rauner's idea to allow local right-to-work zones that would let workers to opt out of paying union dues at jobs covered by unions. The House voted 0-72, with another 37 lawmakers voting "present." All 71 Democrats voted against the bill. They were joined by one Republican: Rep. Raymond Poe of Springfield...
Missouri Lawmakers Push for Right to Work Measure FourStatesHomepage.com ...House Bill 116 has been approved by both the House and Senate, leaving its future in the hands of the governor. There's no word when that may happen. State law allows for up to 15 days before a bill passed in session becomes law without the governor taking action...
Senate votes 22-15 to repeal prevailing wage laws Detroit Free Press ...The vote was derided by Democrats and some Republicans, who said the issue merely takes money out of the pockets of hardworking construction employees. Gov. Rick Snyder has expressed concern about it depressing wages at the same time he has been encouraging those looking for jobs to explore skilled trades...
Public hearings starting over minimum wage hike WKBW.com ...Governor Andrew Cuomo's Wage Board will soon be holding public hearing across the state. The Wage Board will hold four public hearings, where testimony will be taken. The board is looking into a possible increase in the minimum wage in the fast food industry...
U.S. Labor
Nail Salon Workers Sue Employer Over Allegedly Paying $60 A Day Think Progress ...Employees of a chain of nail salons in New York City filed a class-action lawsuit against the owners for allegedly paying them $60 or less a day. The suit says the salons, Nailsway, Naulo Nails, Nailsmetic and Nailscure, required plaintiffs Blanca Fernandez and Gloria Marca to work 10-hour shifts and also often denied them breaks...
NLRB says Crozer acted unfairly during September strike Philly.com ...The National Labor Relations Board said that Crozer Chester Medical Center management acted unfairly before, during and after a two-day strike in September involving 550 nurses in the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals. The NLRB said Wednesday that the hospital improperly interfered with informational leafletting and threatened other employees with retaliation...
Crew of nonunion ironworkers goes on unfair labor practice strike at Instafab NW Labor Press ...A group of young nonunion ironworkers has launched an unfair labor practice strike against their employer, Instafab Company, a steel fabrication and erection company based in Vancouver, Wash. The workers decided to take a stand against their employer after years of feeling ignored and disrespected...
UAW joins protest of Lear's pay, working conditions Detroit Free Press ...Hundreds of UAW members joined some workers from Lear's plant in Selma, Ala., this morning outside the supplier's Southfield headquarters to protest low wages and working conditions at the southern plant. The protest was timed to coincide with Lear's annual meeting and allow workers to directly pressure the company's CEO and its board of directors...
The Legacy of Labor Pioneer Walter Reuther In These Times ...At the time of his death, Reuther was not only one of the nation’s most powerful labor union leaders—especially of the progressive wing of the labor movement—but also a key figure in nearly every liberal movement, including the Civil Rights movement, and an influential member of the Democratic party’s power elite, often surpassing the influence of his labor rival, George Meany...
Miscellaneous
'We Will Not Surrender Our Voices': British Teens Lead Thousands-Strong Protest Against Austerity Common Dreams ...A spirited protest against austerity reportedly led by teenagers swept Bristol, England on Wednesday, drawing thousands to the streets and garnering widespread media attention just days after the country's electoral lurch to the right. The group Bristol Against Austerity put a call-out for the mobilization...
As Train Crash Death Toll Reaches 7, GOP Votes to Cut Amtrak Budget by $250M & Delay Safety Upgrades Democracy Now ...Just hours after the crash, the Republican-controlled House Appropriations Committee rejected a Democratic amendment to offer $825 million to speed up positive train control implementation. In addition, the committee voted to cut Amtrak’s budget by $250 million...
