TEAMSTERS
Teamsters Applaud Supreme Court's Refusal to Hear Amerijet Lawsuit Teamster.org ...Teamsters Airline Division Director Capt. David Bourne in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of a petition this week by Amerijet International Inc.: “It comes as no surprise that the Supreme Court would refuse to hear this case, and in doing so, uphold the Eleventh Circuit Court’s reasoning that this lawsuit is without merit. The lawsuit by Amerijet is unnecessary and a blatant abuse of the legal process in an effort to circumvent the legally established standards of labor law”...
Judge: Con-way Violated Rights of Workers in Los Angeles Teamster.org ...Con-way Freight, Inc. violated the rights of workers who were trying to form their union with the Teamsters and must re-hire two workers it unlawfully fired during the organizing campaign, among other remedies, an administrative law judge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled. The workers at Con-way’s Los Angeles terminal were trying to join Local 63. The company must cease its illegal activities, reinstate the two fired workers and pay them back wages and benefits, and take other steps...
Pettiness Reaches New Heights At Résidences Soleil Teamsters Canada ...Unhappy with being forced to pay half of its workers’ life insurance premiums, Résidences Soleil owner Eddy Savoie is taking it out on his workers by making them pay… for their coffee! This bizarre story began in October 2012 when the management of Résidences Soleil decided to do away with its long-standing practice of paying 50% of its employees’ life insurance premiums. Teamsters Local Union 106 filed grievances to protest against this arbitrary decision...
Concord city employees to strike Wednesday Contra Costa Times ...Barring a last minute deal, the city's largest employee union will strike Wednesday to protest alleged unfair labor practices in the public works department. Teamsters Local 856 represents 137 employees, including administrative, clerical and maintenance staffers. The union also represents police dispatchers, but they will report to work Wednesday...
San Francisco tech shuttles get long-term approval USA Today ...San Francisco’s tech shuttles that service Facebook, Google and other companies have gained a permanent place in the city’s transportation system. The Teamsters have been involved in helping to organize shuttle drivers and other workers at Silicon Valley tech giants including Apple, eBay, Facebook and Yahoo. “We are pleased with this ruling, which protects daily public transit riders and the shuttle drivers who deserve to be treated properly and with dignity,” said Rome Aloise...
21 Organizations Fighting for Labor Rights in the Food System Huffington Post ...In Tracy, California, Teamsters members are fighting poverty wages and severe violations of basic rights at Taylor Farms. And more than 11,000 Teamsters workers have united to defeat a mega-merger of U.S. Foods and Sysco, which would have jeopardized thousands of broadline food service and transportation jobs...
Local 727 Beverage Members Stand Together for Strong Contracts in Niles, Alsip Local 727 ...Teamsters Local 727 members at Coca-Cola Refreshments and Reyes/Great Lakes Coca-Cola Distribution wore their unity loud and proud on Tuesday, November 17, as negotiations continued for new contracts with both companies. Hundreds of members sported red Teamster T-shirts as they started their shifts in beverage production and warehouse facilities in Chicago, Niles and Alsip, Ill. Local 727 also brought food and refreshments to members in Niles and Alsip, rallying together in support of new agreements...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Petrobras holdout strikers to vote on new deal Thursday Reuters ...A union representing workers in the Brazil's top oil region will vote on Thursday on a contract offer from state-run oil company Petrobras on Thursday or continue a strike, the most disruptive in 20 years, the union said Wednesday. The union, Sindipetro Norte Fluminense, called the vote after Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is known, agreed to discuss its demand that members receive back pay for all the days they were on strike...
Prospects dim for 2016 Pacific Rim trade vote in US Congress Reuters ...A 12-nation Pacific Rim free-trade deal, facing stiff opposition from many Democrats and unexpected resistance from Republicans, is unlikely to be voted on by the U.S. Congress before President Barack Obama leaves office, according to some Republican lawmakers and aides. A veteran Senate Republican aide, who asked not to be identified, said Republican leaders intend to shelve the deal until after the November 2016 presidential election...
House Democrats call TPP 'too big' to pass Congress The Hill ...A half dozen House Democrats asserted on Wednesday that opposition is growing for a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade agreement as the White House ramps up efforts to build support for the deal. The six Democrats — Reps. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), Louise Slaughter (N.Y.), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), Nydia Velázquez (N.Y.), Mark Pocan (Wis.) and Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) — said the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal is “too big” to pass Congress and must be scrapped...
Pacific Rim trade pact praised, panned as proposed deal faces uphill battle in to Congress AP ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal between the U.S. and 11 other Pacific nations is drawing potential new members from Asia and criticism from those excluded, as it heads for a tough ride in the U.S. Congress. Leaders of the trade grouping that spans the Pacific Rim met alongside a regional economic summit on Wednesday in the Philippines and President Barack Obama urged them to ratify the deal "as quickly as possible"...
Obama expects TPP approval from Canada after first meeting with Trudeau Globe and Mail ...Barack Obama said he expects Canada will sign on to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The President of the United States made the comment following his first formal meeting with new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The Liberal government has officially been non-committal on the deal...
APEC Protesters Defy Water Cannons as TPP Signing Announced TeleSUR ...While APEC condemned “terrorism” and called for an international security response in the summit's last day, protesters continued to slam free trade. Philippine police pushed back crowds with water canons in Manila on Thursday as demonstrators protested the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, soon after member states agreed that the the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement would be signed on Feb. 4, 2016...
UK PM to Get $15 Mln Private Jet Ahead of Public Austerity Cuts Sputnik News ...David Cameron will be given his own version of the US President's Air Force One. This is despite the government's commitments to cutting billions of pounds of public spending. A Royal Air Force Voyager A330 is to be re-fitted at the taxpayers' expense, in order to provide private transportation for Mr Cameron, senior ministers, and possibly members of the royal family...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
77 California cities on ‘economically challenged’ list SacBee ...Nearly a third of Californians live in 77 “economically challenged” cities – including Los Angeles – with high levels of poverty, and low levels of income and employment, a new study declares. Moreover, says the report from the National Resource Network, California’s distressed cities are more than a quarter of the 297 U.S. cities over 40,000 population that fall into that category...
New York Cities to Raise Minimum Wage for City Workers Wall Street Journal ...Buffalo and Rochester are moving to raise the minimum wage of municipal employees to $15 an hour as part of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s push to raise the wage floor for all workers. The Democratic governor joined the mayors of both cities for their announcements on Wednesday...
Gov. Cuomo: State should enact $2B tax cut if minimum wage is raised to $15/hour Daily News ...Gov. Cuomo suggested Wednesday that the state enact a $2 billion tax cut if the Legislature approves his plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. At an event in Buffalo, Cuomo accused businesses of “stealing from taxpayers” by paying workers low wages knowing those same employees can also qualify for state welfare assistance. The governor called the situation a “scam” and “the mother of all loopholes”...
Democrats attack Rep. Bishop on union wage votes The Detroit News ...The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is running drive-time radio ads this week linking U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop’s votes on prevailing wage bill provisions with campaign donations from the powerful DeVos family of Grand Rapids. The ads, on the air in Metro Detroit and Lansing, charge that the Rochester Republican “wants to gut prevailing wage laws that make sure construction workers get paid a fair local wage”...
U.S. LABOR
Airport workers at 7 U.S. hubs to strike Wednesday night Washington Post ...Airport workers at seven of the busiest U.S. airports are going on strike Wednesday night to protest what they say are poor working conditions and retaliation for unionizing. More than 2,000 workers, including cleaners, wheelchair attendants, and baggage handlers plan to strike at Fort Lauderdale, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago O’Hare, Newark Liberty and New York’s Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, the Service Employees International Union said...
SEIU, Local 1021 returns to work as negotiators meet with county, mediator The Reporter ...Following a two-day strike action Wednesday, members of Service Employees International Union, Local 1021 voted to take a breather today as union negotiators meet with Solano County negotiators and a mediator. John Stead-Mendez, SEIU executive director, explained that the membership wanted the bargaining team to focus on negotiations and not worry about the striking workers...
Ford's UAW agreement in jeopardy after defeats at big plants Crain's ... Leaders of the United Auto Workers union scrambled Wednesday to salvage a proposed labor agreement with Ford, warning rank-and-file members that a rejection of the deal could jeopardize investments that would sustain U.S. factory jobs. With three-fourths of the national Ford union voted counted, 52 percent have rejected the proposed contract, Jimmy Settles, head of the UAW's Ford Department, said at UAW Local 600 in Dearborn, Michigan...
UAW Taking 'Micro' Approach to Unionizing Volkswagen Plant ABC ...The United Auto Workers union is back with a more concentrated approach after suffering a bitter loss in its efforts to gain collective-bargaining rights for all blue-collar workers at Volkswagen's plant in Tennessee. The National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday granted a petition by a small group of skilled-trades workers to hold a vote on being represented by the UAW for collective bargaining purposes...
Rauner Strikes Contract Deals With Unions, Takes Aim At AFSCME Progress Illinois ...The state of Illinois and a number of labor unions have reached four-year contract agreements, the Rauner administration said Wednesday. In announcing the new agreements, the Rauner administration used the opportunity to take aim at AFSCME Council 31. The union and the administration have yet to reach a new contract agreement...
Remembering the Life and Music of Labor Agitator Joe Hill, Who Was Executed 100 Years Ago Today In These Times ...Joe Hill saw his music as a weapon in the class war, composing songs to be sung on soapboxes, picket lines or in jail. And 100 years ago today, the forces of capital and the state of Utah executed him. Born Joel Hagglund in Sweden, Hill immigrated to the United States in 1902. Hill became politicized, eventually joining the Industrial Workers of the World...
Money and clout on the line for teachers union in 2016 CAL Matters ...The California Teachers Association, one of Sacramento’s most powerful interests, is heading into an extraordinary year with decisions on the ballot, in the Capitol and in the courts holding the potential to impact its clout for many years to come. Billions of dollars for schools will likely be at stake on the 2016 ballot as well as pivotal campaigns for state Legislature and a question about union pensions...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
The Koch intelligence agency Politico ...The political network helmed by Charles and David Koch has quietly built a secretive operation that conducts surveillance and intelligence gathering on its liberal opponents, viewing it as a key strategic tool in its efforts to reshape American public life.
The operation, which is little-known even within the Koch network, gathers what Koch insiders refer to as “competitive intelligence” that is used to try to thwart liberal groups and activists...
Elizabeth Warren Blasts Tax Plan as 'Giant Wet Kiss' to Corporate America Common Dreams ...Denouncing a "rigged" system that favors corporations over middle-class Americans, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said in a "must-watch" speech on Wednesday that any reform of the U.S. corporate tax code must force big businesses to "substantially increase" the amount of federal tax they pay. Warren's address at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. "staked out the left-wing position on corporate tax reform," Politico said...
Growing Number of Voters Have Families Impacted by Immigration Policy NBC ...For a significant number of potential 2016 voters, immigration policies are not an abstraction but have a direct impact for their loved ones. As many as 1.5 million U. S. citizen relatives of immigrants awaiting deportation relief under the president's stalled executive action program will be eligible to vote for president next year...
Hysterical Corporate Media Fueling War Fervor, Xenophobia in 24/7 Cycle Common Dreams ...Just as they did in the wake of 9/11, corporate media outlets—led by cable news networks—are spreading hysteria, fueling anti-immigrant sentiment, and beating the drum for war by providing "context-free coverage of terror," as one analyst put it this week. The 24/7 coverage of Friday's attacks in Paris and their aftermath, marked by speculation and sensationalism, is only helping the media conglomerates...
In Minneapolis, Local Black Lives Matter Activists Draw on a Growing National Network Truth Out ...Like many groups, BLM Minneapolis emerged as the wider movement for black lives exploded into headlines last year. The last few months, the group has been working to further involve community members in their strategizing and decision-making processes, as well as create opportunities to mobilize more broadly around the forces impacting black, Latino and indigenous city residents...
With Demands for Racial Justice, Student 'BlackOut' Actions Sweep US Common Dreams ...Students at colleges and universities from coast to coast walked out of class, held rallies and teach-ins, and protested on Wednesday as part of a coordinated national day of action demanding racial justice both on- and off-campus. The actions were both inspired by and in solidarity with recent protests at the University of Missouri and other institutions...
