Teamsters
Genentech Waste Workers Vote to Join Teamsters Local 853 Teamster.org ...Workers who collect waste materials for Genentech Inc., are the latest Silicon Valley workers to vote in favor of representation by Teamsters Local 853 in San Leandro, Calif. The 15 workers include compliance technicians, chemists, in-site technicians and administrative assistants. They work at Genentech’s South San Francisco campus through contractor Clean Harbors, collecting and packaging waste and biodegradable materials needing special attention and care...
Teamsters Laud SEC Decision Making CEO, Employee Wage Gap Public Teamster.org ...In a victory for corporate disclosure, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today completed the CEO pay ratio rule required under the five-year-old Dodd-Frank financial law. The provision will require for the first time that companies reveal the pay gap between top executives and rank-and-file workers...
Second Group of Industrial Cleanup Workers Joins Teamsters Local 107 Teamster.org ...For the second time in four months, workers at a Philadelphia industrial cleanup company have joined Teamsters Local 107. On August 3, 2015, technicians at PSC Industrial Outsourcing, LP voted 13-2 to join Local 107 in Philadelphia. The technicians work along-side drivers of vacuum/tanker trucks and clean up contaminated liquids under city streets. The victory follows another at PSC, on March 26, when the drivers voted 11-0 to join Local 107, for a combined vote of 24-2...
Tucson bus system: Union strikes after rejecting contract Arizona Daily Star ...Unionized drivers and mechanics at Tucson's bus system went on strike early Thursday after rejecting a labor contract, a company official said. The strike against Sun Tran began at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, a spokeswoman said. The strike came after a contract extension expired at midnight. That extension had been agreed to after Teamsters Local 104's members last week rejected an offer. Officials said earlier that with a strike, Sun Tran's normal 43 routes would decrease to five...
Teamsters Call for Director Resignations at Airgas Teamster.org ...A majority, 53 percent, of Airgas shareholders voting in yesterday’s director elections withheld support from three independent board members standing for re-election. Excluding the shares held by board members and executive officers, the “no” vote was 62 percent of shares cast or more than 51 percent of total outstanding shares...
Global Labor & Trade
Trans-Pacific Partnership could pose risk to public healthcare, leaked draft shows The Guardian ...The most recently leaked draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement shows it may pose a risk to public health because of excessive intellectual property protections for medicines, according to an expert on the impact of international trade agreements on healthcare. The draft predates the most recent negotiation round held in Hawaii at the end of July...
The Trans-Pacific Partnership Could Lead to Less Trade CEPR ...As a practical matter it is entirely possible that the TPP will lead to less trade. The rules that the United States is trying to impose on patents and copyrights and other forms of intellectual property claims will lead to considerably higher prices for the protected items. For example, the hepatitis C drug Sovaldi would sell for less than $1,000 per treatment without protection, but sells in the United States for $84,000 per treatment with patent protection...
TPP ministerial talks unlikely to be held by end of August The Japan Times ...Trade ministers from the 12 countries involved in a Pacific Rim free trade deal are unlikely to meet again by the end of this month amid remaining differences that prevented them from finalizing negotiations last week, sources said Thursday. Japan, the United States and the 10 other countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership will look at possibly reconvening a ministerial meeting in September...
Conservatives were sure Trans-Pacific Partnership deal would be signed Globe and Mail ...The Conservative government was so confident in recent weeks it would sign a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that it was asking business groups to loudly support the conclusion of an agreement, reasoning their voices would drown out those of unhappy milk producers – the one sector Ottawa expected would be sorely disappointed...
Ontario, auto parts suppliers raise alarm over TPP negotiations Windsor Star ...The Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association said Wednesday it was alarmed by reports that Japan and U.S. negotiators were striking secret deals on lowering vehicle content requirements that would be part of a Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade deal. “Anything lower than the 62.5 per cent NAFTA standard would threaten Canada’s auto supply chain,” said Flavio Volpe, APMA president...
Canadians spared blind vote on massive trade deal (opinion) The Star ...To trade negotiators and legacy-seeking politicians, the failure to finalize the world’s biggest trade deal in Hawaii last weekend was a frustrating setback. To Canadian voters, it was welcome pause. Most electors know little to nothing about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-country trade and investment pact hatched behind closed doors over the past six years...
Anti-austerity protests held across Athens CCTV ...Hundreds of protestors march through the streets of central Athens, demanding an end to austerity measures. They voiced their anger at the government's plans to sign a new bailout deal that includes pension cuts, tax hikes, and privatizations demanded by the country's international creditors. "We are constantly on the streets. The measures are so barbaric and there is no other alternative for us other than to fight"...
Tube strike: London commuters deal with queues and delays BBC ...Commuters are dealing with long queues and delays as they try navigating London during a strike that has shut down the whole Tube network. About 250 extra buses have been laid on but there are reports of 200 miles of tailbacks as commuters switch to cars. The 24-hour strike by four unions began on Wednesday evening and there will be no Tube service until Friday...<
State & Living Wage Battles
In Return Towards Justice, Court Rules Texas Voter ID Law 'Discriminatory' Common Dreams ...A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Texas's controversial voter ID law, the most severe in the country, has a "discriminatory effect" against minority voters, in what civil rights campaigners say is an important step towards justice for African-American, Latino, and low-income people suppressed under the rule...
Kansas Comes To Its Senses, Abandons Plans To Hit Welfare Recipients With Draconian Fees Think Progress ...Kansan politicians tried to force public administrators to make life harder for poor people on welfare, passing a controversial law earlier this year to limit the amount of money public assistance benefits cards can withdraw from ATM machines at any one time to $25. But the public servants are fighting back, announcing Tuesday that they would rescind the law...
Puerto Rico’s Economic "Death Spiral" Tied to Legacy of Colonialism Democracy Now ...The White House has rejected a bailout package for Puerto Rico days after the U.S. territory failed to pay a small portion of the massive $72 billion it owes to bondholders. It was the biggest municipal bond default in U.S. history. Unlike U.S. states and municipalities, Puerto Rico cannot declare bankruptcy...
Local 'right-to-work' decision now in judge's hands Business First ...A "right-to-work" law that could have state or national implications is in the hands of a judge in Louisville. Earlier this year, Hardin Fiscal Court passed an ordinance that would allow workers to go to work for unionized companies without having to join the union. Similar legislation has been passed by some states, including Indiana and Tennessee. The issue has come up for the Kentucky General Assembly before...
I work at the US Senate. I shouldn't have to dance at strip clubs to feed my son (opinion) The Guardian ...I’m a single mother and I struggle to support my son on the $10.33 an hour I make at one of the most exclusive clubs in America – the US Senate. I’m a cashier employed by the British-owned contractor that runs the cafeterias in the Senate office buildings. But even though I serve some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world, I can’t afford to buy my son school supplies or clothes...
U.S. Labor
Companies forced to disclose CEO-workforce pay gap The Guardian ...Publicly traded companies will have to disclose the pay ratios of their CEOs and the median pay of their workforce thanks to a split vote by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday. SEC chairwoman Mary Jo White said the regulator had no option other than to pass the rule, which passed in a 3-2 vote, with the two Republican commissioners voting against...
This new rule could reveal the huge gap between CEO pay and worker pay Washington Post ...Thousands of public U.S. companies are likely to soon be forced to share a number many would rather keep under wraps: how much more their chief executives make than their typical rank-and-file employees. The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to finalize on Wednesday a long-delayed rule forcing businesses to share their "pay ratio," a simple bit of arithmetic that would cast an unprecedented spotlight on one of corporate America's thorniest debates...
Rauner: ‘No lockout’ of State Workers, But Strike Possible CBS ...Gov. Bruce Rauner said Wednesday that he won’t lock out state workers if his administration and the largest public-employee union can’t agree on a new contract, but both sides acknowledged that they are nowhere near a deal.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees’ contract expired June 30, though both sides have agreed to keep workers on the job through September...
Jobless Claims in U.S. Hover Near Lowest in Four Decades Bloomberg ...Filings for U.S. unemployment benefits are hovering near the lowest levels in four decades, a sign the strong labor market will bolster U.S. growth. Jobless claims rose by 3,000 to 270,000 in the week ended August 1, a report from the Labor Department showed on Thursday in Washington. The median forecast of 41 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 272,000. The 255,000 reading two weeks earlier was the lowest since November 1973...
Obama Drafts Order on Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors New York Times ...Stymied by Republicans in Congress, President Obama has drafted an executive order to force any company that contracts with the federal government to issue paid leave to employees who are sick, are seeking medical attention or need to care for a sick relative. The draft order, obtained by The New York Times on Wednesday, could affect hundreds of thousands of workers...
Christian University Claims Unions Are Against Its Religious Mission Gawker ...Duquesne is a Catholic University in Pittsburgh with nearly 10,000 students. The school’s adjunct professors would like to unionize. Conveniently, Duquesne does not believe Jesus would be in favor of that. Adjunct professors across America tend to be poorly paid with little job security. Unionizing is one of the few things they can do to try to improve their tenuous positions...
Some Uber Drivers Say Company Misled Them CNBC ...Three weeks ago, Uber rallied 400 drivers to testify in an employee classification lawsuit that they wanted to stay contractors. Now, some of them have changed their minds. After speaking with Lichten & Liss-Riordan, the law firm representing the plaintiffs in the suit, six Uber drivers out of the 400 who originally testified on behalf of Uber have decided to speak against the ride-hailing company. They submitted new court declarations saying they were misled about the difference between contractors and employees...
#BlackLivesMatter and so should the high black unemployment rate — which is almost twice as high Raw Story ...The US unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 5.3% on Friday – the lowest unemployment rate in seven years. Yet there is one group whose unemployment rate is still close to 10%: African Americans. The unemployment rate for black Americans has remained almost twice that of the general population for so long that experts believe it’s suffering from the “wallpaper effect” – no one notices anymore. That may be about to change...
Social Justice & Other News
In Midst of Shutoffs, Protesters 'Liberate' Water from Detroit Mayor's Mansion Common Dreams ...Over a dozen protesters on Tuesday converged at the Detroit mayor's publicly-funded mansion and "liberated" his water supply, in a creative direct action highlighting the inequities that underlie the city's mass water shutoffs and resultant humanitarian crisis. Campaigners from the Detroit and Michigan Coalitions Against Tar Sands went to Mike Duggan's "Manoogian Mansion" and filled jugs of water from a hose attached to an external spigot. They carried banners that read "Water is Life"...
A Failure of Capitalism: Trump, Trucks and Voter Rage (opinion) Huffington Post ...Senator Casey's opposition to larger trucks confronts a classic example of industry misbehavior. Rather than raising wages and hiring more drivers, trucking companies are attempting to use the Federal Government to force truck drivers to haul even more freight for the same wage. Workers are being crushed from both sides -- more work for the same pay, while taxes creep steadily up. The government empowers corporations to impose demands on small businesses and workers that enable a race to the economic bottom. Trump's success is getting these small business people and workers to blame those below them...
Give Us the Ballot: The Struggle Continues 50 Years After Signing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act Democracy Now ...It was August 6, 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Voting Rights Act, as Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and now 14-term Congressman John Lewis looked on. The law has been under constant attack ever since. Just two years ago, the Supreme Court struck down parts of the measure in a case called Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder when it ruled states with histories of voting-related racial discrimination no longer had to "pre-clear" changes to their voting laws with the federal government...
Trump Mocked For Having No Real Immigration Plan, But Are His GOP Rivals Any Better? Think Progress ...Thursday’s premier GOP debate will feature real estate mogul Donald Trump comfortably in the number-one slot after his controversial remarks about undocumented Mexicans. Trump, when pressed by reporters for a concrete immigration plan, has said he would build a nearly 2,000 mile wall on the U.S.’ southern border and force Mexico to pay for it, deport all 11 million undocumented people currently living in the U.S., and then let whoever he determined to be the “good ones” back in. The statements were widely mocked as costly, unrealistic, and illegal...
Jonathan Ferrell Asked for Help—and Cops Killed Him Daily Beast ...The Ferrell case began before the deaths of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, and many others sparked a media firestorm and national debate over the use of excessive police force on black men and teens. Shortly after Ferrell was killed, Kerrick was charged and suspended without pay. But it took a second grand jury to finally indict him...
Why Schools Need More Teachers of Color—for White Students The Atlantic ...In public schools, where roughly 90 percent of the country’s children are enrolled, the lessons students learn are often skewed because of who is delivering the instruction and what kind of curricula and learning materials that instruction entails. Not only is the vast majority of the country’s teaching force white, but Eurocentric attitudes also tend to filter into classrooms...
