Pasadena Unified, Teamsters Reach Salary Agreement Pasadena News Now ...The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education and Teamsters Local 911 entered into a Salary Increase Agreement on Sept. 24, 2015. This collaborative agreement is in keeping with the district’s priority of working to retain and fairly compensate staff. “I am pleased to see this agreement reached with the Teamsters,” said Superintendent Brian McDonald, Ed.D...
House to hold transportation bill hearing Fleet Owner ...California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation covering ready-mix concrete workers under Assembly Bill 219 wage laws. According to the Teamsters, the bill was introduced by Tom Daly (D-Anaheim), and union members throughout the state have participated in the legislative process before the bill was signed. According to Teamsters, president Rome Aloise said: “We are pleased that the governor chose to recognize the important role that these drivers play in the execution of publicly funded projects...
Teamsters Canada Launches Web Series on Mental Health Market Wired ...Teamsters Canada is launching a documentary web series on mental health issues facing young workers. The seven episodes will be released weekly at www.makeitmandatory.ca. They feature stories from courageous young workers who faced or are facing mental health issues. "Mental health issues take a devastating toll on our members" said Francois Laporte, President of Teamsters Canada...
Teamsters join to fight autism in Mansfield Sun Chronicle ...Union Teamsters and volunteers will be taking to the road Sunday in the fight against autism. Local 25 is sponsoring its annual fundraising walk for Autism Speaks at 10:30 a.m. beginning at the Xfinity Center. The event, now in its 15th year, usually attracts 200 or more walkers to raise funds for autism education and research...
Union rep has concerns after sanitation director admits to wrecking county vehicles CBS ...Disturbing details emerged Wednesday regarding the director of the DeKalb County Sanitation Department. nion representative Eric Robertson, with Teamsters Local 728, identified serious concerns involving Director Billy Malone. “I’ve seen county employees be terminated for incidents much more minor than that one right there,” Robertson said...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
White House wants trade vote before lame duck The Hill ...The White House wants Congress to take up President Obama’s Pacific Rim trade deal long before next year’s lame-duck session, when some congressional aides say a vote is likely to take place. “The timeline that we envision is shorter than that,” press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on Thursday. Earnest did not specify when the White House would like a vote to occur...
House Democrats: Enough With the “Fratricide” on Trade Deal National Journal ...The AFL-CIO has been among the most vocal opponents of the deal, running ads against Democratic supporters like Rep. Ami Bera and holding protests in the districts of others. The group also cut off campaign funding for Democrats during the TPA fight, a move ostensibly aimed at focusing resources on the trade battle but one that was perceived as an implicit threat to would-be supporters...
Lessons from NAFTA for the TPP Common Dreams ...There are many lessons from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that are relevant to the current debate over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). First, like the TPP, NAFTA was never mostly about trade and even less about free trade. In 1994, the U.S. already had low tariff barriers to Mexican goods. The agreement was much more about creating and expanding new rights and privileges for investors...
TTIP protesters warn of Trojan Horse EU Observer ...To the protesters, the treaty could become a trojan horse watering down EU rules on issues like food safety and health, hence the blow-up figure at the entrance of the Parc du Cinquantenaire at the end of the Rue de la Loi in Brussels' EU neighbourhood. Cruls and Voltuan do not trust the people negotiating on their behalf, including European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker...
Trade in services deal: MEPs to hammer out their demands Euro Parl ...As talks on the plurilateral Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) advance between 25 parties, including the EU, international trade MEPs will hold their first debate on Parliament’s draft recommendations to the Commission negotiators on Thursday morning. The aim is to ensure that the views of European citizens, represented by Parliament, can be taken on board before the deal is concluded...
Deprived of Right to Work, Refugees Struggle to Subsist Outside Syria Truthout ...As masses of Syrian refugees continue to flood Europe, paranoia is running high. One of the most common objections is that refugees and migrants rob already established citizens of jobs and income. in countries like Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, on the receiving end of the true brunt of the Syrian mass exit, refugees are not allowed to work at all, forcing them to find jobs "under the table" in the informal labor market...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Mich. Supreme Court hears prevailing wage challenge Michigan Radio ...The Michigan Supreme Court heard arguments for and against local laws that require contractors on public projects to pay union-scale wages. The challenge to Lansing’s ordinance was filed by non-union contractors. They say local governments aren’t allowed to adopt local wage laws...
Here's what Arizona's minimum wage will be in 2016 Business Journal ...Arizona businesses won't have to adjust their budgets for workers on the lowest end of the pay scale next year. The Industrial Commission of Arizona, in accordance with the voter-approved Minimum Wage for Working Arizonans Act, calculated this week that the state's minimum wage of $8.05 will remain the same in 2016...
Paid sick leave becomes focus in Mpls after 'fair scheduling' effort stumbles MPR News ...Minneapolis leaders are vowing to push for a proposal that will require employers in the city to provide all workers with paid sick time off. Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges announced earlier this week that she was tabling another effort that would have required employers to give employees advance notice of work schedules. That proposal hit a snag after it encountered strong opposition from the business community...
Papa John's Stores To Dish Up Half A Million Dollars In Wage Theft Case Huffington Post ...Four current and former Papa John's franchisees have agreed to pay out nearly $500,000 to New York workers in order to settle a wage theft investigation, New York's attorney general and the U.S. Labor Department announced on Thursday. The settlement resolves allegations from workers that they were shorted on pay at nine Papa John's restaurants in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx...
U.S. LABOR
UAW leaders push for OK of Fiat Chrysler deal The Detroit News ...The UAW International has released two new videos featuring local UAW leaders and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV hourly members who seem supportive of the second tentative deal, as informational meetings for members proceed ahead of next week’s contract vote. In one video posted Thursday to the union’s Facebook page, several local UAW leaders talk about how the “no” vote on the initial tentative agreement reached by the union and company has strengthened the union...
State Board to Hold Hearing on County Workers' Strike Patch.com ...The Public Employment Relations Board will hold a settlement conference in Oakland next week on alleged unfair labor practice allegations that Solano County and the 1,800-member employees of SEIU Local 1021 union have made against each other in an ongoing labor dispute. The union began what was intended to be a one-day unfair labor practices strike on Wednesday...
With hour to spare, custodian union & office building owners reach contract Business Journal ...Sixty minutes before the contract was set to expire, a tentative agreement was made and a strike averted. The union representing 2,800 custodians and the managers of 168 Philly-area office properties reached a new 4-year contract. The members of 32BJ Service Employees International Union were prepared to walk off the job if a deal was not made before the current contract expired...
Austerity 101: The Three Reasons Republican Deficit Hawks Are Wrong (opinion) Huffington Post ...Congress is heading into another big brawl over the federal budget deficit, the national debt, and the debt ceiling. Republicans are already talking about holding Social Security and Medicare "hostage" during negotiations -- hell-bent on getting cuts in exchange for a debt limit hike...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Donald Trump Supporters Spit on Immigration Activist as Rally Turns Violent Alternet ...As inflammatory language tends to do, Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric incited a scuffle between his supporters and immigration activists during a rally last night, leading to at least one Trump supporter spitting on a protester. Trump made his first campaign stop in Virginia and held a rally in Richmond, where he went after “maniac” Bernie Sanders before delving into his usual anti-immigrant tirade...
Note to Dems: Simply Not Being Racist Isn’t Enough on Immigration Reform (opinion) The Nation ... Trump’s made the immigration conversation easy for Democrats. But candidates have a responsibility to be more than just not-racist; not showing their fear-mongering backsides doesn’t automatically make them good on immigration. The tonal differences matter, but so do the policy conversations...
Feds Arrest Fox News Commentator, Allege He Lied About CIA Past Huffington Post ...A regular guest commentator on Fox News who has been lying for years about working for the Central Intelligence Agency was arrested on Thursday and is being charged in connection with falsely claiming he worked as an “Outside Paramilitary Special Operations Officer” for the CIA for nearly three decades...
Rich People Scared to Move into High Rent Apartments Because of Homeless Displaced by High Rents Alternet ...In what could lightly be called an ironic twist, it now looks as if wealthy residents are getting turned off from renting in parts of the city with visible homeless people -- and apartment brokers are not happy about it. DNA Info reports: Brokers have noticed that many of their clients are increasingly reluctant to rent or buy an apartment when they spot a homeless person nearby...
