Fast track is going off track in the House

Teamsters express their distaste for fast track at a D.C. rally.

For weeks, supporters of fast track trade authority that would speed proposed deals like the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) through Congress have expressed confidence they have the support within the hallowed halls of Capitol Hill to get it approved.

The reality, however, is much different. Not only are Democrats overwhelmingly opposed to fast track, but a growing number of Republicans, especially in the House, are expressing doubts. And Politico reports it could end up sinking efforts to back a deal that would ship U.S. jobs overseas:

The House is currently dozens of votes short of being able to pass legislation that would allow President Barack Obama to send trade deals to Congress for fast approval, according to senior lawmakers and aides in both parties, imperiling a top White House priority for the president's final years in office.

At this point, upward of 75 House Republicans could vote against trade promotion authority if it comes up for a vote in the coming weeks, according to aides and lawmakers involved in the process. Some of the lawmakers fear job losses in their districts from free trade; others distrust Obama and oppose giving him more power.

It is now more apparent than ever there is bipartisan opposition to fast track, and members are not backing down. Lawmakers can see that the trade vehicle will stop them from making changes to TPP that would jeopardize American workers, lower their wages and bring unsafe food and products to U.S. shores. Then there's the fact that it does nothing to stop currency manipulation that hurts the sale of American goods or lawsuits by foreign corporations against this country. It's even making one 2016 presidential candidate rethink her support for the deal.

It's time for fast track backers to admit that the reason the legislation doesn't have support is because it isn't a very good.

Today's Teamster News 04.30.15

Teamsters
Disney Teamsters Win Wrongful Termination Case  Teamster.org   ...A federal arbitrator has ruled in favor of three character performers who were fired from Disney's Animal Kingdom for refusing to wear unsanitary costumes, the Teamsters Union announced Monday. The ruling, issued April 26, orders Walt Disney World to reinstate full-time employees Drew Pearson, Matthew Warfield and Raymond “Doug” Biederman...
Group of Shaw’s staff pharmacists in Maine vote to join Teamsters union  Bangor Daily News   ...A group of 21 staff pharmacists at 16 Shaw’s Supermarket stores throughout Maine will join the Teamsters Union Local 340 after approving the move in a vote Tuesday. The union announced the vote in a news release Wednesday. Aligning with the national labor organization will give the staff pharmacists collective bargaining representation...
Unionized: Tiger Transit drivers vote to join International Teamsters Union  The Plainsman   ...The Tiger Transit drivers of Auburn University have voted to unionize in attempt to get more affordable health care, higher wages and respect in the workplace. The workers will be joining the International Brotherhood of Teamsters at the 612 location in Birmingham...
Proxy Voting Advisors Recommend NEX Shareholder Resolution On Internal Review Of Labor Practices  Teamster.org  ...The proposal, which was submitted by the Teamsters General Fund, members of the Local Authorities Pension Fund (LAPFF) and 100 individual NEX shareholders, is the first to be recommended by ISS in at least 10 years that specifically addresses labor issues at a publically-traded company in the U.K...

Global Labor & Trade
Obama trade bill in trouble  Politico   ...At this point, upward of 75 House Republicans could vote against trade promotion authority if it comes up for a vote in the coming weeks, according to aides and lawmakers involved in the process. Some of the lawmakers fear job losses in their districts from free trade; others distrust Obama and oppose giving him more power...
Obama Is Selling the TPP Trade Deal Just Like Al Gore Sold NAFTA  New Republic  ...Gore made a distinction between previous trade deals with Japan and China, and NAFTA, with its side agreements on labor and the environment. Critics of NAFTA “confuse the bad trade deals in the past with this one,” Gore said. This mirrors Obama’s claim about inferior prior deals—including NAFTA. “Not every trade deal has lived up to the hype,” Obama acknowledged...
Rust-belt Republicans face tough sell on global trade deals before 2016  Washington Post  ...Midwest Republicans are keenly aware that their region has been hit hard by disappearing factory jobs, placing these GOP senators in a tough spot heading into the 2016 elections as they tout a message that might not resonate...
White House Trade Pitch Goes Into Overdrive  National Journal  ...The Obama administration is ramping up a massive sales pitch on trade policy, bringing key Democrats to the White House—and using one of its most effective lobbyists in the hallways of the Capitol. Biden seizing the chance to talk trade is just one part of a much wider White House PR and lobbying blitz for the TPP and, equally important, the "fast-track" bill that would strip Congress of its ability to amend sweeping trade deals...
House Dems attack trade deal on eve of Japan PM’s address  The Hill  ...Five Democrats pushed back against the Obama administration’s arguments that adding currency provisions to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would derail the deal and potentially interfere with U.S. monetary policy decisions...
Travel Chaos As Bus Strike To Go Ahead Tomorrow   Dublin's 98FM  ...Commuters face travel chaos tomorrow as strike action at Bus Eireann and Dublin Bus looks set to go ahead. Drivers are downing tools for two days over the privatisation of bus routes...

State & Living Wage Battles
Legislation Allowing Delaware 'Right-to-Work' Zones Stalls  WBOC 16   ...Republican legislation allowing "right-to-work" zones in Delaware stalled in a Democratic-led Senate committee Wednesday amid complaints from organized labor that it is a union-busting measure. Under the legislation sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Greg Lavelle, a person would not be required to join a labor union or pay union dues as a condition of employment in a right-to-work zone...
Republicans push for photo ID voting requirements again  The Columbus Dispatch  ...Rep. Andrew Brenner, R-Powell, backed by some of the more conservative members of the House, is introducing legislation that would require voters show a driver’s license, state photo ID card, passport or military ID...
How This State Plans To Close Its Gender Wage Gap  Think Progress   ...The changes New York lawmakers approved look very similar to changes that would be made nationally if Congress were to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. That bill would ban salary secrecy as well as strengthen the permissible reasons for having gender-based pay differentials... 
Changes to prevailing wage likely but repeal won't happen, Robin Vos says  Milwaulkee Journal Sentinel  ...he 84-year-old law prescribes wages for workers on public works jobs such as bridges and highways according to a complex formula. Conservatives are targeting the law as their next big push after passing right-to-work legislation in March, which prohibits labor groups and employers from agreeing to require workers to pay fees to a union...
Los Angeles Latinas Fast to Raise Minimum Wage  NBC News  ...The 19-year-old daughter of Guatemalan immigrants is among a group of women who are close to completing a 15-day fast in Los Angeles. They hoped to persuade city council members there to raise the minimum wage of $9 an hour to $15 an hour. They planned to break the fast Thursday...
Palo Alto: Committee favors raising minimum wage  Mercury News  ...A City Council committee is backing a proposal to hike the minimum wage -- potentially as high as $15 per hour by 2018. On Tuesday, the four-member Policy and Services Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the full council adopt an ordinance that would see most workers earn $11 per hour starting on Jan. 1, 2016...
La Center school board backs right-to-work   The Columbian   ...The La Center School District made a contentious move Tuesday night, asking union reps to allow district employees to drop their representation. The issue surfaced in the form of a "right-to-choose" resolution that gained unanimous approval from the district's five-member school board...

U.S. Labor
University of Chicago Nurses Narrowly Avert Strike, Claim Victory Against Hospital  In These Times  ...Early Tuesday, National Nurses United (NNU) announced that its 1,500 members at the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) would not go on strike as planned. The union called for a one-day strike set for April 30, following nearly eight months of negotiations and a strike authorization vote...
NLRB Issues Complaint Against El Super Chain  EGP News  ...The National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against a Paramount-based supermarket chain for allegedly restraining employees from advocating for union representation, it was announced today. The complaint against the El Super chain alleges that the company has refused to bargain with unions for more than a year after failing to agree on a contract with the local United Food and Commercial Workers...
BP, union reach tentative deal to end Whiting refinery strike  Reuters  ...BP Plc and the United Steelworkers union (USW) chapter representing striking workers at the company's Whiting, Indiana, refinery reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday to end an 11-week work stoppage. The two sides have to negotiate an agreement on returning the striking workers to the Chicago-area plant, but a ratification vote is expected next week...
Capitol Vistory Center Workers Allege Retaliation After Strike  Roll Call  ...On April 24, the advocacy group Good Jobs Nation filed the complaint to the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of Duckett and fellow CVC cafeteria worker Tracy Allen. The complaint is filed against Restaurant Associates, which employes the food service contract workers in the Capitol complex...
Here Are All the Ways People Are Dying at Work  The Nation  ...This week, Workers’ Memorial Day reminded us that the leading cause of death at work isn’t factory fires, mine collapses, or machinery accidents—though it is all those things. The main reason workers die is because those in power look the other way. Global Worker Watch’s labor death map presents a chilling snapshot of an everyday calamity...

Miscellaneous
Man Who Blew the Whistle on Big Bank's Practices Is Now About to Lose His Home to that Same Bank  Alternet  ...He went to the federal government as a whistleblower, hoping to bring an end to these practices. Yet in the process of doing so, the bank – today owned by Wells Fargo, which bought it in 2008 – fired him. Kraus is now on the verge of losing his home...

Unions provide a path to prosperity

The plight of the American worker has been well-documented by the Teamsters and others. Many don't know how much money they will bring home to their families because of uncertain hours and pay. The businesses that employ them are not being held accountable, and we all suffer because of it.

The Teamsters are helping those leaving the military find jobs.

Wages in recent years have been going down, not up, for a majority of workers when inflation is taken into account. Bad trade deals and pro-corporate legislation like so-called "right-to-work" is part of the problem. Retirements are uncertain. And it is having a huge effect on the outlook of many Americans, some of who are ready to give up.

A new study conducted by pollster Anna Greenberg on behalf of George Washington University professor Amitai Etzioni found:

The majority of Americans indeed experience an acute sense of economic anxiety. Americans are most concerned that Social Security will not be there when they retire. They also fear that they will not have enough money of their own when their working days are over. Indeed, even for now, the majority feels it may not have enough money to pay the bills and -- that they may lose their jobs. 

There is no one answer to how the U.S. can rebuild the confidence of our nation's workers and emerge victorious against the growing national scourge of income inequality. But the Teamsters are committed to doing our part, beginning with a partnership with ABF to get those leaving the military their commercial drivers' license and a trucking job.

Speaking to American Legion members today in Washington, D.C., Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa said more parties need to work together to get people back to work:

The whole thing is about partnering. How do we get this job done? We take this tremendous job of transitioning 130,000 people out of the military every year, and find some way to get them into civilian life. And not dead-end jobs. We want to find good jobs, We want to find jobs where they can build their life, make good money, have a family, have health care, have pensions and have a real future.

The most recent election shows that workers can no longer rely on government to do what's right. Unions like the Teamsters, who help our members earn better wages, can play a critical role. Joining one is a way workers can get back on their feet.

Today's Teamster News 04.29.15

Teamsters
Hoffa Statement on Repealing Health Benefits Tax   Teamster.org  ...“Rep. Courtney’s bill stands up for working Americans. The health care excise tax set to take effect in 2018 is an onerous charge that will hit many middle-class families hard in the pocketbook, all because their health insurance is considered too good. It is unconscionable that some hardworking Americans will have to pay a 40 percent penalty on benefits they’ve fought hard to receive"...
Atlanta Sysco Workers Reinstated, Receive Full Back Pay  Teamster.org  ...Fourteen union activists terminated by Sysco during a Teamster organizing campaign in Atlanta, Ga. will be returned to their jobs with full back pay after the company issued unconditional offers to return to work on Monday, April 27. Additionally, two workers unfairly disciplined will also have their records cleared...
Teamsters at Coca-Cola Ratify Contracts Covering 1,400 Workers  Teamster.org  ...Coca-Cola workers in Southern California have ratified two contracts covering about 1,400 Teamsters that increase wages and pension benefits. One contract covers bottling and warehouse workers represented by Local 896 in Los Angeles, and the second contract covers warehouse and truck drivers represented by Local 848 in Glendora, Local 952 in Orange and Local 986 in South El Monte...
Alleging Millions in Wage Theft, West Coast Port Truckers Strike  In These Times  ...The union states that independent contractor misclassification makes truckers ineligible for unionization and victims of wage theft, stemming from lack unemployment benefits, employer-provided health-care and hourly or overtime pay. Despite working under much of the same rules and conditions as full-time employees, port truckers operating as independent contractors have truck leasing fees and expenses related to gas and maintenance deducted from their paychecks...
Railroad unions urge tougher rules on tracks  Philly.com  ..."The key to reducing track-caused derailments is maintaining the tracks to a higher safety standard," said Freddie N. Simpson, president of the Maintenance of Way Brotherhood, the union that represents about 35,000 workers who inspect and maintain railroads. Unfortunately, the railroads' own statistics speak for themselves, and track-caused derailments - including those involving highly volatile crude oil - continue to be a threat to the nation"...

Global Labor & Trade
Which Countries Get the Best Deals Out Of the Trans-Pacific Partnership?  National Journal   ...The chart below breaks down just how the proposed partnership would impact the countries involved, based on estimates from the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Vietnam is in the best position of the 12 nations, poised to see a $46 billion bump in GDP by 2025, an additional 13.6 percent of the baseline GDP projected for that year without the TPP...
Business group launches six-figure ad blitz for Obama's trade agenda  The Hill  ...The Trade Benefits America Coalition — which is backed by the Business Roundtable — will begin airing the ads on national cable networks and in targeted media markets across the country this week. The ad — dubbed "One Thing" — urges lawmakers to pass trade promotion authority (TPA)...
Labor Makes Trade a Line in the Sand for 2016. But What If Hillary Clinton Crosses It?  National Journal  ...One of America's most influential labor organizations is trying to ensure that the political candidates it would support will oppose free-trade deals. But if Hillary Clinton comes out in support of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, labor doesn't have many other options...
New York City Joins Growing Numbers of Cities Opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership  CWA-Union  ...On the heels of Mayor Bill de Blasio criticizing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as a “raw deal” and "huge mistake,” the New York City Council voted to pass a resolution declaring the city a “TPP-free zone” and urging Congress to reject “Fast Track” legislation for the trade deal...
Obama to meet New Democrat Coalition  Politico   ...President Barack Obama will meet with moderate Democrats to discuss his economic agenda, a meeting that will likely include discussion of a contentious trade bill Congress is set to consider. The four dozen members of the New Democrat Coalition were invited to a Thursday afternoon meeting at the White House...
New Front Opens in ‘Fast-Track’ Trade Fight  Roll Call   ...Sen. Rob Portman intends to bring an amendment to the floor as part of the “fast-track” debate that would make it a “principal negotiating objective” under TPA to create enforceable rules to combat unfair currency practices. It was voted down at the committee level, 11-15...
A progressive’s lament about the Trans-Pacific Partnership  (opinion) Washington Post   ...It has come to this. To sell his trade treaty — specifically the fast-track trade authority that would grease the skids for passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP), President Obama is mobilizing a coalition anchored by corporate lobbies, the Chamber of Commerce and Republican congressional leadership. He is opposed by the majority of Democratic legislators, the labor movement and a broad array of mainstream environmental, consumer and citizen organizations...

State & Living Wage Battles
Wisconsin rep. introduces bill for $15 minimum wage  Wisconsin Gazette  ...Wisconsin state Rep. Melissa Sargent, D-Madison, on April 28 introduced a measure to raise the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020. Sargent’s bill comes less than two weeks after workers around on the country protested in solidarity for a minimum wage increase to $15...
Aldermen voice opposition to right-to-work zones  Chicago Tribune   ...Union officials lodged their opposition Tuesday to Gov. Bruce Rauner's proposed right-to-work zones as part of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's effort to send a message to state lawmakers that City Hall opposes the idea...
Judge sides with Red Robin servers in minimum wage lawsuit  Morning Call   ...In a first-of-its-kind decision on Pennsylvania's Minimum Wage Act, the judge ruled the degree to which a restaurant worker interacts directly with customers is key to determining whether he or she is eligible to share tips. The decision scuttles Red Robin franchise owner Lehigh Valley Restaurant Group's preliminary bid to dismiss the case...
Court raises tough questions on Texas voter ID law  Dallas News  ...The U.S. Justice Department and others oppose the law as an unconstitutional burden on minority voters. The state of Texas says the law was aimed at preventing fraud. The state is appealing a federal district judge’s ruling in October that struck down the law...
Legal fight continues over Wisconsin's voter ID law  Wisconsin Gazette  ...With two special elections looming next month and one to fill a vacancy in the state Senate coming later this year, opponents of Wisconsin's new voter identification law want a federal court to expand the number of IDs that voters can show at the polls...

U.S. Labor
SEIU caregivers implore supervisors for 'livable wage'  The Californian   ...County-employed caregivers provide in-home services to about 5,000 elderly and disabled patients. The service maintains the clients' dignity, rather than forcing them to live in a health-care facility, said David Werlin, the northern California director for United Long Term Care Workers. ULTCW is under the Service Employees International Union...
Richard Trumka, A.F.L.-C.I.O. Chief, Warns Candidates on Inequality  New York Times  ...Richard Trumka, the president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., vowed Tuesday that organized labor would no longer accept “cautious half-measures” from presidential candidates about how to address economic fairness, an implicit but unmistakable attempt to nudge Hillary Rodham Clinton toward embracing a liberal agenda during her presidential run...
UAW reports 55 percent membership at VW plant in Tennessee   U-T San Diego   ...The filing comes as the UAW works toward gaining collective bargaining rights at its first foreign-owned plant in the South. And the union's case for recognition could be bolstered by leadership shakeup at the German automaker that has left a former union chief, Berthold Huber, as the interim chairman of the world's No. 2 automaker...
Profits Are Up, But Wages Are Stagnant. This Senator Has A Plan.  Think Progress   ...Last week, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) sent a letter to the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about the growing trend of companies giving money to investors through stock buybacks, rather than investing in workers or equipment. Workers’ wages are currently growing at the slowest pace since the 1960s, despite healthy corporate profits and increasing productivity...

Miscellaneous
The Economic Devastation Fueling The Anger In Baltimore  Think Progress  ...The protesters’ anger was fueled, at least in large part, by the Baltimore police department’s long history of ugly violence against the city’s residents and a pattern of officers facing few, if any, repercussions. But the protests also take place in the context of a city that has been ravaged economically, most recently by the foreclosure crisis and predatory lending...
Service Sector Surges, Manufacturers Learn to Do More With Less  US News & World Report  ...The report shows service sector employment reached a peak last month at 121.6 million workers, nearly 10 times the amount of people employed in manufacturing jobs. Service employment includes a relatively broad swath of the domestic workforce that includes most retail, information technology and health care industries, among others...
Apartheid Games: Baltimore, Urban America, and Camden Yards  The Nation  ...All of these cities were at one time synonymous with industry and multiracial labor power. Now they have boarded up factories—or factories that have been transformed into postmodern coffee shops or bars—and baseball stadiums. A publicly funded stadium is not the root cause of what plagues our cities, but it’s a flashing, blaring sign of a set of economic priorities that like sports has created a country that defines people as winners or losers...

Workers in RTW states make $1,558 a year less

Earlier this year, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed into law so-called "right-to-work" (RTW) legislation that curbs collective bargaining rights. And a new report makes it clear how much it will cost workers there and in other RTW states.

Teamsters helped defeat RTW in West Virginia earlier this year.

An Economic Policy Institute (EPI) document notes that wages are 3.1 percent lower in states that impede union rights than they are in free bargaining ones. That's after taking cost of living, demographics and labor market characteristics into account. The result is that union and non-union workers alike in RTW states make $1,558 less each year.

Will Kimball, the report's co-author and an EPI research assistant, says in a press release:

Policymakers who are concerned by the three-and-a-half decades of wage stagnation that have plagued American workers should be trying to strengthen unions. Collective bargaining is a clear way to raise wages, and right to work laws undercut it.

In addition, those living in RTW-for-less states are less likely to have employee-sponsored health insurance or pension coverage. They have fewer workplace protections, which on Worker's Memorial Day, we should all recognize is not a good thing for the a person's health or safety. In short, they are getting screwed.

It's time for elected officials to see through the ruse that is right-to-work. 

Today's Teamster News 04.28.15

Teamsters
Hoffa: Latest Trade Push is a War on Workers  Huffington Post  ...President Obama in an interview last week downplayed the impact of unfair trade on the U.S. workforce, arguing that many manufacturing jobs are low paying. But I disagree with the president. This nation's manufacturing base provides a pathway to prosperity for many Americans, especially those who work union jobs...
Port Truck Drivers on Strike at Ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach   Teamster.org  ...Primary picket lines are now up company yards in the greater Los Angeles area and in San Diego, and truckers and their supporters are picketing company trucks at marine terminals, rail yards, and customer warehouses as far away as the US/Mexico border...
Port truck drivers strike against four companies  LA Times  ...Picket lines went up outside the trucking yards of Pacific 9 Transportation, Intermodal Bridge Transport, Pacer Cartage and Harbor Rail Transport, said Barb Maynard, a spokeswoman for the Teamsters union, which is supporting the truckers. Maynard estimated the number of drivers striking at several hundred...
Port’s Short-Haul Truck Drivers Walking Picket Lines  Times of San Diego   ...Port truck drivers walked picket lines at an Otay Mesa freight drayage company Monday morning as they and their counterparts in Los Angeles and Long Beach went on strike against the short-haul transport companies for which they work. Drivers working at ports in San Diego, Los Angeles and Long Beach voted Saturday to strike following a recent ruling that the drivers are misclassified as “independent contractors”...
Flexjet Pilots Sue Luxury Jet Airline For Union Busting  Teamster.org  ... group of jet pilots filed a lawsuit Friday against airline Flexjet, LLC and OneSky, its Cleveland-based parent company, claiming they were illegally harassed and terminated for speaking out in favor of unionization and better working conditions. The pilots are seeking representation from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Airline Division, which represents over 80,000 workers in the aviation industry...
Shareholders Rein In Golden Parachutes   Forbes  ...Louis Malizia, assistant director of the Teamsters Capital Strategies department at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said his initial assumption following the financial crisis was that golden parachutes would be stigmatized by the public before fading away...

Global Labor & Trade
12-country TPP talks end without a breakthrough  Japan Times   ...Chief negotiators from 12 countries aiming to forge a Pacific free trade initiative finished four days of talks on Sunday, a Japanese official said, apparently without making major progress. The trade officials from the United States, Japan and 10 other countries gathered in a Washington suburb with intellectual property, including data on new drugs, and reform of state-owned entities as their main issues...
Trade Fight Galvanizing the Left  Roll Call   ...If they can’t stop the TPA bill, the nearly 70 voting House members in the Congressional Progressive Caucus are determined to make such a ruckus that the party’s 2016 candidates — presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton in particular — realize Obama’s middle-of-the-road approach to trade, or any major policy area, is not acceptable...
Obama shifts his pitch for the Trans-Pacific Partnership   Washington Post  ...The sharp shift in the way Obama is now presenting the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation trade deal in the Asia-Pacific region, illustrates his biggest challenge as he tries to wrap up a late-term policy victory over fierce opposition from fellow Democrats...
Elizabeth Warren Tells Obama To Put Up Or Shut Up On Trade   Huffington Post   ...On Saturday, Warren and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) responded with a letter essentially telling Obama to put up or shut up. If the deal is so great, Warren and Brown wrote, the administration should make the full negotiation texts public before Congress votes on a "fast track" bill that would strip the legislative branch of its authority to amend it...
2,009 Organizations Call on Congress to Oppose Fast Track Authority for the TPP  Citizens Trade  ...An unprecedentedly united movement of labor, environmental, family farm, consumer, faith, Internet freedom and other organizations escalated their campaign to defeat Fast Track trade authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) today with a joint 2,009-group letter urging Congress to oppose it...
Trans Pacific Partnership is bad deal for senior citizens  (opinion) The Hill  ...Prescription drug prices in the United States are the highest in the world and last year they increased by 13 percent. If Congress enacts the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal in its current form, it could increase those expenses for seniors and all Americans dramatically...
Currency provisions essential in Asian trade pact  (opinion) Detriot Free Press   ...While the economy is growing stronger every day, many people in Michigan still don't feel the success at home or in their pocketbooks, which is why it's imperative we promote policies to help hardworking families get ahead. And a bad trade deal jeopardizes all the shared progress we've made...

State & Living Wage Battles
Mayors to Rauner: 'Follow our lead, don't cripple our progress'  Chicago Sun-Times  ...A group of suburban mayors is pushing back against Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposal to cut in half the amount of state money that goes to municipalities, saying their residents are asked to pay the price for the state’s lack of fiscal discipline...
Bernie Sanders and other senators urge ‘living wage’ for Senate workers  MarketWatch  ... A group of nine senators is pushing for Senate contract workers to be paid a “living wage” following reports of workers barely getting by. Roll Call writes that the senators, including Vermont independent Bernie Sanders, wrote Monday to the Senate Rules and Administration Committee: "The U.S. Congress should be working to improve the economic security of middle class families across the country"...
State Senate shelves minimum wage measure  Oneida Daily Dispatch   ...A proposal to let cities in New York state set their own minimum wages was shelved by lawmakers in the state Senate on Monday — dealing a setback to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and others who want the state to relinquish its total control of the wage...
Prevailing wage reform proposed in Pa. House  Herald-Mail Media  ...Pa. Rep. Jesse Topper is pushing for prevailing-wage reform that would allow school districts to pay market rates for construction, rather than adjusted rates determined by the Pennsylvania Secretary of Labor & Industry...
Florida Passes Law That Bans Discriminating Against Pregnant Women In Public  Think Progress  ...Last week, the Florida legislature passed a bill banning discrimination against pregnant women at work as well as in public places like restaurants or hotels. The bill amends the state’s Civil Rights Act by adding pregnancy to race, sex, and physical disability as protected classes...

City considers minimum wage increase   Minnesota Daily   ...The Minneapolis City Council approved a resolution earlier this month to create a group to research the possible effects of raising the city’s minimum wage. The group will investigate the economic impact of raising wages and consider concerns from both workers and businesses. It will give recommendations to city officials before the year ends...

U.S. Labor
UAW to protest proposal to close DHHS offices  Lansing State Journal  ...The United Auto Workers Local 6000 will on Tuesday begin demonstrating against a proposal to close Michigan Department of Health & Human Services offices around the state...
Union files NLRB charge against Lyondell Basell for impasse   Reuters  ...The United Steelworkers union filed a charge with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board against Lyondell Basell Industries for declaring an impasse in negotiations with striking Houston refinery workers, the union said on Monday. Lyondell declared the impasse on April 14 following the rejection of its "last, best and final" contract offer by striking workers...
Manufacturer cuts hundreds of N.C. jobs as operations move overseas  Charlotte Business Journal   ...The company will eliminate 143 positions in Lenoir and 82 jobs in Greensboro, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN notice, filed with the N.C. Department of Commerce. Avery Dennison is ending manufacturing operations in both locations and moving production to Juarez, Mexico, and to Honduras...

Miscellaneous
Connecting Baltimore Riots to Lead Poisoning, Wealth Disparity  Mediaite   ...Quoting Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s statement that “a riot is the language of the unheard,” Dyson suggested it would be difficult to condemn this riot without also mentioning the broad context for why a local community would destroy itself. “What we don’t have commentary about is the theft of capital from these urban post-industrial conditions”...
Why Millions of Americans Feel Like They Have No Power Over Their Lives  Alternet  ...Companies are treating workers as disposable cogs because most working people have no choice. They need work and must take what they can get. Although jobs are coming back from the depths of the Great Recession, the portion of the labor force actually working remains lower than it’s been in over thirty years...

Striking against stolen wages, LA and Long Beach port drivers set up pickets

With strong Teamster backing, workers are striking a major fulcrum of the nation's economy this week. Picket lines went up early this morning at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach where truck drivers are targeting several companies in a massive action against wage theft.

Port truck drivers gathered before sunrise, carrying signs and wearing reflective safety vests as they began picketing company trucks at marine terminals, rail yards, warehouses and targets as far away as the U.S./Mexico border.

According to the Justice for Port Drivers press release:

Port truck drivers serving the nation’s largest port complex began a strike of four major drayage firms at the twin ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, where a crippling slowdown in early 2015 sent shock waves through the U.S. economy. Primary picket lines are now up at company yards in the greater Los Angeles area and in San Diego.

The companies being struck are Pac 9 Transportation, Pacer Cartage, Harbor Rail Transport and Intermodal Bridge Transport. Another company, Green Fleet Systems (GFS), avoided the strike with an announcement today that it reached a labor peace agreement with the Teamsters that recognizes its drivers' union rights.

GFS said in a statement this morning:

We are pleased to announce that Green Fleet Systems, LLC, and the Teamsters Union have entered into a comprehensive labor peace agreement designed to ensure that Green Fleet’s drivers have an opportunity to exercise their rights under the National Labor Relations Act and, if they choose, to select an exclusive representative for purpose of collective bargaining.   

Drivers on strike this week are calling attention to rampant wage theft and the toll it is taking on their families. They are calling on elected officials to put rules in place that end law-breaking for profit in the form of misclassification, which effectively allows companies to take the costs of doing business out of workers' pockets (i.e. stealing their wages). Click here to sign the petition.

Hector Flores, a driver at Intermodal Bridge Transport, says he is on strike to end wage theft and to ensure a better life for this daughters:

We are here to make sure that these companies stop their lawless behavior.  They cannot keep engaging in wage theft. We demand re-­classification to employees.  We know what we are doing is right, and we are not going to stop striking until these companies stop breaking the law.   

Dozens of other union members and labor leaders are joining port drivers on the picket lines, including Rusty Hicks, Executive Secretary‐Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor (AFL‐CIO):

Six hundred thousand working men and women in Los Angeles stand behind the port drivers fighting to stop wage theft and the ability to have a voice on the job. Our ports are the economic engine for our region. Our drivers deserve a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.

With each new job action, awareness of the port drivers' plight is spreading and their struggle is gaining momentum in the national context of low-wage worker strikes in the retail, fast food and other industries. Misclassified as "independent contractors" moving goods for major retailers like Walmart, Home Depot, Target and Polo/Ralph Lauren, drivers work long hours and often make less than minimum wage. Some weeks drivers even end up owing money to the companies they work for, pulling negative wages on their checks.

Drivers created these two videos about wage theft to show just how bad it is for the men and women who haul $4 billion in cargo every day:

PORT DRIVERS RISING UP

WELCOME TO THE WAGE THEFT ZONE

The struggle at the ports continues. Solidarity, brothers and sisters!

Today's Teamster News 04.27.15

Teamsters
New York Mayor’s Office, Teamsters Team Up For Community Grants  Variety   ...The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and the Theatrical Teamsters Local 817 have partnered to award three “Made in NY” grants to support community-based organizations with media, film or arts programs in high-need communities...
Teamsters Swift Transportaion Shareholder Proposal Recommended By Leading Proxy Voting Advisors  Teamster.org   ...The country’s two leading proxy voting advisors, ISS and Glass Lewis, recommend that shareholders of Swift Transportation vote for a shareholder proposal sponsored by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters that calls on the company to pursue a plan to recapitalize the company and replace the current dual class stock structure with one that ensures equal voting rights for all shareholders...

Global Labor & Trade
Liberals furious with Obama’s trade comments  MSNBC   ...The already bitter fight between the White House and the progressive base over trade policy has turned ugly after President Obama said his critics on the left “don’t know what they’re talking about” and compared their arguments to conspiracy theories about “death panels.” Progressives trade critics are up in arms over the comments, made Thursday night to a gathering of Organizing for Action...
Obama Hits the Warpath Over TPP  The Nation   ...Many of Obama’s claims, however, don’t match up to what we know about the deal so far. Others are impossible to fact-check, as the final language of the deal remains a secret to the public and even many congressional staffers. The members of Congress who have seen the deal can’t disclose what’s in it, but their public statements reveal a deep unease about the text...

Obama escalates push-back against Elizabeth Warren and other trade deal critics   Washington Post   ...The push-back, directed largely at fellow Democrats, shows just how sharply the trade deal is dividing the party — a schism that could only intensify in the days ahead. On the call, Obama ran through a number of Democratic and liberal objections to the deal...
U.S. mulling trade rules change dubbed 'poison pill' for pact   Reuters  ...The amendment, approved by the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, would disqualify trade deals with countries deemed soft on human trafficking from special procedures designed to speed their passage through Congress. The problem arises because the 2014 list of human-trafficking offenders includes Malaysia, a partner in the TPP...
TTIP Negotiators Get An Earful From American Critics  EurActiv   ...In the margins of talks for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) on Thursday (23 April), US opponents to the deal vocally criticised the emerging agreement, saying it was a bad deal for consumers and the environment...
Congressional Panels Approve Fast Track For Trade Deal, With Conditions  New York Times   ...House and Senate committees this week easily agreed to give President Obama fast-track authority to negotiate a sweeping trade accord with Pacific nations, but the package of bills intended to speed completion of the deal also imposes difficult burdens on its negotiators...
Obama, Hillary Clinton don't get trade   (opinion) CNN   ...Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is trying to walk a fine line somewhere in the middle. Clinton has recently courted Warren's support while forcefully repeating the rhetoric of populism. But according to a report by The New York Times, Clinton's staff is at pains to suggest that Clinton has always been a populist as opposed to merely trying to now co-opt a current trend...
Women Around The World Rise Up To Remember Rana Plaza  Common Dreams   ...Marking two years since the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, protesters are converging on the country's capital and feminist actions are sweeping the globe on Friday, to honor the lives of the 1,138 people—most of them women—who perished in the tragedy and to demand justice for those they left behind...
Labour reforms trigger strike in S. Korea  AFP   ...Thousands of South Korean workers and civil servants rallied in Seoul on Friday in response to a nationwide general strike call against government labour reforms. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) said more than 260,000 people across the country participated in the one-day strike, including health workers, teachers and factory employees...

State & Living Wage Battles
Suburbs Not Exactly Embracing Rauner's Turnaround Plan  Chicago Daily Herald   ...Gov. Bruce Rauner's controversial effort to convince local governments to back his reform agenda is getting only a so-so response in the suburbs as union supporters flood meeting rooms to oppose the plan they say will limit workers' rights...
Four Years Later, Texas Is Still Defending Its Voter ID Law  Huffington Post   ...The issue at hand -- Texas' contentious photo ID law -- is expected to ultimately make its way to the Supreme Court. Voting rights advocates will argue that a federal judge's ruling from October -- which called the law an unconstitutional "poll tax," intentionally discriminatory and an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote -- should be upheld...
Right to work amendment unlikely to advance far  Springfield News Sun  ...A legislative panel will consider adding "right to work" to the Ohio constitution, although it seems unlikely the proposal will be approved. The Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission is reviewing the state constitution to make recommendations to the Ohio Legislature on subjects ranging from term limits to school funding...
Debate Over Raising Pennsylvania’s Minimum Wage Continues In State Capitol  CBS Philly   ...Supporters of an increase in the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour held an event at the state Capitol at which time they released a study on the impact it would have on Pennsylvania by The Keystone Research Center...
Debate swirls around whether increase in minimum wage would hurt business   News Tribune   ...This year, Missouri legislators filed five bills proposing raises to the state’s minimum wage, with rates ranging from $9.50 to $10.25 per hour. Similar bills have been filed in the past several years, but most never make it past the committee stage...
Meet The People Going Without Food For 15 Days To Demand A $15 Wage   Think Progress  ...Fast food workers like Farfan have staged nationwide strikes and protests to demand a $15 wage and the right to form a union. That pay floor has caught on in some places like Seattle and San Francisco, which both raised their wages to that level. Los Angeles lawmakers are considering joining them by raising the city’s wage to $15.25 by 2019...

U.S. Labor
SEIU, county talks frozen as Legislature considers bargaining reform  Las Vegas Review-Journal   ...Clark County government and its largest union remain locked in a standoff, unable to bargain a contract. The county and Service Employees International Union Local 1107 cannot even agree enough to take their dispute to an arbitrator for a final decision. Both sides started negotiating in June 2013. By February 2014, the SEIU had declared an impasse that continues to this day...
Assembly bill could give farmworkers a greater voice during mediation  Fresno Bee   ...As a protracted legal fight over who will represent about 3,000 Gerawan Company workers simmers, state Assembly Member Jim Patterson, R-Fresno, is stepping in the fray with a bill that could prevent future conflicts between labor unions, farmworkers and their employer...
Battling A Damaging Workplace Trend (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...One of the most pervasive and damaging trends we are seeing in the 21st-century workplace is the deliberate misclassification of workers by employers looking to shift responsibility and cut costs. Two judgments announced this week in Utah and Arizona demonstrate our commitment to cracking down on this practice, whereby companies claim that their workers are not employees but independent contractors...

Miscellaneous
In Battle Between Strong Dollar And Cheap Gas, The Strong Dollar Is Winning  New York Times   ...Oil prices plummeted last year, leading to cheaper gasoline — good news for American consumers and companies like airlines and shipping firms that are heavy fuel users. Meanwhile, the dollar soared on global currency markets, making life more difficult for exporters who faced higher costs relative to global competitors. The giant question for the economy in 2015 was which of these forces would prove more powerful. The bad news is that so far, the strong dollar is winning...
The Dirty Secret Of College Athletics Is That Students Pay Exorbitant Fees To Subsidize It  Cleveland Plain Dealer   ...But here's the dirty little secret about athletics at places like CSU and hundreds of others of colleges and universities: All these costly athletic programs are funded, in large part, by fees assessed on students -- fees that, in many cases, students don't ever realize they're paying...
A Drone Program That Has Killed Hundreds Of Civilians Finally Killed Some That The White House Regrets  Huffington Post   ...Watching the coverage of these tragic deaths, a viewer would be left with the impression of a drone program that has had a stellar record of accuracy up until it unfortunately killed two innocent people. But, in fact, killing innocent people has been a central part of the drone program from the very beginning, and is in many ways an inescapable consequence...

Former Teamster unveils new folk album

Joel Rafael, a former Teamster and critically acclaimed songwriter and folk artist, is again striking the right cord with his latest album, Baladista, released earlier this month.

Joel Rafael

Already called "the must have Americana album of 2015," (Boomerocity.com), and "an album overflowing with gentle, melodic grace," (No Depression), Baladista delivers 10 ballads that embrace and celebrate the human spirit and reflect the half-century journey of an American songwriter.

Rafael once worked as a Teamster concert grunt at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. But his ninth album on Inside Recordings -- a label created by Jackson Browne and his management team -- is one that touches the soul, according to Browne:

Joel Rafael's songs are filled with passion and compassion. Passion for social justice, and compassion -- for those among us who have to struggle for a place at the table of American prosperity. His voice is unmistakably his own, big, warm and strong, and a conductor for the human emotions that connect us all.

The album’s first single and video, “Old Portland Town,” tells the tale of Rafael’s experience being arrested in Portland as part of a city-wide sweep of the entire underground. He had migrated there from Los Angeles in an effort to avoid the impending military draft.

Another album highlight is “Love’s First Lesson,” a number co-written with Eagles songwriter Jack Tempchin. The two have been friends since the 1970s when they met while performing at the Blue Ridge Guitar Shop in Encinitas, Calif.

Rafael has been writing and performing since 1974 and over the past decades has released a collection of eight Americana albums, including a 2CD Woody Guthrie collection with five Guthrie/Rafael co-writes. As a solo performer and with his band, he opened shows throughout the southwestern United States for artists including Crosby, Stills and Nash, Sheryl Crow, Laura Nyro, Joan Baez, Taj Mahal, Iris DeMent, Emmylou Harris, and John Lee Hooker.

Baladista is available at all normal retail outlets, including Amazon and iTunes.

Today's Teamster News 04.24.15

Teamsters
Cedar Falls Schools, Teamsters open labor talks  WCF Courier  ...Teamsters Local 238 is in the middle of a two-year contract with Cedar Falls Schools, and officials are only bargaining on wages and insurance, said district spokeswoman Janelle Darst. A total of 46 people are covered by the agreement, including various custodial positions, groundskeepers, mail deliverers, laundry workers, warehouse workers, plumbers, painters, carpenters, technicians and electricians...

Global Labor & Trade
Obama 'Fast Track' Trade Agenda Advances In Senate  Huffington Post   ...The Senate Finance Committee endorsed Obama's request for "fast track" legislation, which would renew presidential authority to present trade deals that Congress can endorse or reject but not amend. If the House and Senate eventually comply, Obama is likely to ask them to approve the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, which involves Japan, Canada and Mexico, but not China. Other trade proposals could follow...
Obama admonishes his base on trade  Politico  ... President Barack Obama told his progressive base that their stance on trade is retro. While Republicans have backed fast-tracking a 12-nation Pacific trade agreement, it’s Democrats who have balked, with liberal voices like Elizabeth Warren warning that the deal would fuel outsourcing and lost wages...
Pelosi criticizes Obama-backed trade bill  The Hill   ...Weighing in for the first time since the trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation was introduced last week, Pelosi said the bill lacks safeguards protecting U.S. workers and fritters an historic opportunity to improve worker rights, food safety and the environment across the globe...
Democrats Balk At Obama Plan To Cut Funding For Workers Hurt By Trade Deals  Huffington Post  ...The rift between President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats over trade policy deepened Wednesday as the administration opposed an effort to fully restore aid for American workers who lose their jobs to international trade...
Obama is failing us all by ignoring the need for currency rules in TPP  (opinion) The Guardian  ...If we recognize the need to address the trade deficit, and the centrality of the value of the dollar, then it is mind-boggling that the Obama administration would not have sought to include rules on currency in the TPP. After all, the Obama administration has been in office more than six years and allowed large trade deficits to persist...
Newly Leaked TTIP Draft Reveals Far-Reaching Assault On US/EU Democracy  Common Dreams   ...A freshly-leaked chapter from the highly secretive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement, currently under negotiation between the United States and European Union, reveals that the so-called "free trade" deal poses an even greater threat to environmental and human rights protections—and democracy itself—than previously known, civil society organizations warn...
Hey Mr. President: Transparency Applies to the TPP, Too   (opinion) Truthout.org   ...when it comes to transparency you can't play pick and choose. You can't be transparent about a counterterrorism operation that went horribly wrong, but then be incredibly secretive about something like... the TPP...

State & Living Wage Battles
Illinois Lawmakers To Consider Right-To-Work  WTHI   ...An Illinois legislator expects Right to Work to be debated in the state legislature.  Right to Work bills prohibit workers from being forced to join labor unions.  Indiana and Wisconsin passed Right to Work laws amidst a huge controversy...
Democrats Are Rallying Around $12 Minimum Wage  New York Times   ...Democrats in Congress are uniting around a proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $12 an hour. Within the next several days, Senator Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that deals with labor issues, plans to introduce a bill to increase the minimum wage, in steps, from its current level of $7.25 to $12 by 2020...
Religious Groups To Scott Walker: Don’t Drug Test The Poor  Think Progress   ...Wisconsin faith leaders from across the religious spectrum are calling on their state legislature to reject a proposal from Gov. Scott Walker (R) that would impose drug tests for some recipients of government-funded aid, arguing such screenings don’t work and unfairly stigmatize the poor...
NLRB Files Brief Supporting Unions' Lawsuit, Calling County Right-to-Work Laws Preempted  Bloomberg News   ...The National Labor Relations Board April 17 urged a federal district court in Kentucky to invalidate a county ordinance that prohibits the use of union-security provisions in collective bargaining agreements and regulates other practices that are either permitted or prohibited by federal law...
66% of San Jose’s Confirmed Wage Theft Money Goes Unawarded; Ordinance Proposed   We Party Patriots   ...San Jose is considering a wage theft ordinance which would help the labor commission recoup lost wages and deny permits and licenses to companies with pending wage theft violations.  The proposal is similar to one passed in Santa Clara County last year.  San Jose’s version is being supported by city council members Don Rocha, Margie Matthews, Ash Kalra, and Magdalena Carrasco.  The ordinance has been sent to the Rules and Open Government Committee...
The homeless man who works in the Senate   (opinion) Washington Post   ...In the basement of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, 63-year-old Charles Gladden works alongside some of the nation’s most powerful people. But unbeknown to any of these bigwigs, or even to his employer, Gladden is homeless. Alongside hundreds of other federal contract workers, he protested the fact that our government doesn’t require the companies it does business with to pay what he considers a living wage....

U.S. Labor
Have We Seen the End of the Eight-Hour Day?  The Nation   ...Along with wages and conditions, hours used to be a basic concern in worker organizing. But since the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 enshrined the 40-hour week, hours have tended to be taken for granted. This is changing only because, in recent years, employers have entered a devastating new race to the bottom: Involuntary part-time is becoming the new norm for low-wage workers, together with schedules so unpredictable and varying that one can’t easily get another job, or go to school, or be a reliable parent...
Unions converge in Jersey City to protest legislation that they say will cut American jobs  NJ.com ...More than 100 strong, labor leaders and union workers demonstrated at the plaza in Journal Square this afternoon, urging lawmakers to vote down a federal bill they say would take jobs away from Americans. Led by Ray Greaves, a former Bayonne City Council member and chairman of the Amalgamated Transit Union, the group -- which included the Hudson County Central Labor Council, Food & Water Watch, ATU, NJ Industrial Union Council, Anakbayan and Communications Workers of America  -- spread the word to anyone in Journal Square who stopped to listen....

Miscellaneous
House Republicans vote against American consumer, again   Daily Kos  ...Proving once again how much disdain Republicans really have for the American public, the House passed a bill Wednesday, 250-173, to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Because they really, really don't want us to have any recourse against predatory businesses trying to fleece us...
Fed’s Rate Decisions Hang On Dollar, Growth Concerns  Wall Street Journal   ...The strong U.S. dollar and an unsteady global economy are emerging as primary concerns for Federal Reserve officials as they prepare for a policy meeting next week to consider the timing of the first interest-rate increase since before the financial crisis...
Airmail Via Drones Is Vexing For Prisons  New York Times   ...Drones flying over prison walls may not be the chief concern of corrections officials. But they say that some would-be smugglers are experimenting with the technique as an alternative to established methods like paying off officers, hiding contraband in incoming laundry and throwing packages disguised as rocks over fences into recreational yards...
It's Not The 1% Controlling Politics. It's The 0.01 Percent.  Mother Jones   ...In other words, about 1,200 Americans control more than 40 percent of election contributions. Notably, between 2010 and 2012, the total share of giving by these donors jumped more than 10 percentage points. That shift is likely the direct result of the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling, which struck down decades of fundraising limits and kicked off the super-PAC era. And this data only includes publicly disclosed donations, not dark money, which almost certainly means that the megadonors' actual share of total political spending is even higher...
Inequality’s Big Enabler? The Tax Code. (opinion)  Washington Post   ...Of the 10 largest tax expenditures, only two — the $70 billion-per-year earned-income tax credit and the $57 billion child tax credit — favor the poor. The others disproportionately benefit the top 20 percent of earners, according to a Congressional Budget Office report...

House, Senate panels side with corporate cronies on fast track

The House Ways and Means Committee last night misguidingly followed the lead of its Senate counterparts by approving a fast track trade promotion authority (TPA) bill that will allow secret trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to be rammed through Congress.

Demonstrators protest fast track on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

Despite the objections raised by Rep.Sander Levin (D-Mich.) and others on the panel who noted the legislation is a continuation of bad U.S. trade policy over the past two decades, a majority decided to side with big business interests by rejecting amendments by Levin and others that would have beefed up worker protections in fast track.

Levin, the panel's top Democrat, told his fellow committee members:

The TPP negotiators today are not on the right track. In some vital areas, we don't know where the USTR is heading. In other areas, we don't like where they are going. It is simply incorrect to say this TPA puts Congress in the driver's seat. Instead, it puts us in the back seat.

Meanwhile, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) said it seemed fast track supporters were speeding forward with little concern about the possible consequences of the legislation. He said there is a real need for trade to benefit all Americans:

The question is not whether we should have more trade, but what the nature of that trade should be.

The House committee, like the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday night, rejected efforts that would have bolstered currency manipulation provisions so other countries can't rise up the costs of U.S. imports while lowering their export prices to Americans. They also pushed aside concerns about language that would allow foreign corporations to sue the U.S. government over laws on the books that they think hurt their company's business.

Both the House and Senate are expected to bring the fast track bill to the floor next month. It's now even more critical that Teamsters and other fair trade advocates let their lawmakers know that fast track is the wrong track for America.

Today's Teamster News 04.23.15

Teamsters
Teamsters reject fact-finder report, talks ongoing with Metro RTA  Ohio.com   ...A local Teamsters union has rejected a fact-finder’s report, spurring more contract talks with Metro RTA over increased wages and benefits. Teamsters Local 348, which represents 34 mechanics and maintenance workers, and RTA negotiators held a hearing March 20...
Abridged funding for infrastructure upgrades hurts all of us   Teamster Nation   ...Unions like the Teamsters take a great deal of pride in our country. We're proud to build what makes America work and we would be thrilled to get more workers on the job making our infrastructure the best in the world. It's time for a bipartisan solution to do so...

Global Labor & Trade
With 'Brave Tactic,' Sanders Tries to Slam Brakes on Fast Track  Common Dreams   ...In what is being heralded as a "brave tactic," Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday temporarily blocked lawmakers from rushing through legislation that would allow the Obama administration to "Fast Track" the controversial and highly secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. Sanders forcibly delayed the Senate Finance Committee from considering Fast Track legislation by using a rarely invoked senate scheduling rule...
China's shadow looms over Senate trade debate   Politico   ...The Senate Finance Committee’s vote late Wednesday to approve “fast track” trade legislation revealed two things: Some Democrats strongly support the measure, and concerns about China’s currency practices will dog the bill as it moves through Congress...
House Democratic Leader Joins Bid to Upend Trade-Deal Compromise   Bloomberg   ...With Pelosi’s endorsement, the Levin version could siphon Democratic votes from a bill by Representative Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who heads Ways and Means Committee, and introduced in the Senate by Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah and Ron Wyden of Oregon, the panel’s top Democrat...
Eyes wide shut on ISDS   The Hill  ...The ISDS provision allows foreign companies to sue their “host” governments though a specialized international arbitration mechanism that often grants protections exceeding those available in domestic courts. While the Obama administration has sought to downplay concerns about ISDS, the decision in Bilcon v. Canada highlights its very real problems...
Sen. Warren to Those Promising TPP Is So Great: 'Prove It. Let Us See the Deal'  Common Dreams   ..."The Administration says I'm wrong – that there’s nothing to worry about," Warren wrote in a blog post addressed to constituents and the general public on Wednesday. "They say the deal is nearly done, and they are making a lot of promises about how the deal will affect workers, the environment, and human rights. Promises – but people like you can't see the actual deal"...
Obama and Republicans Agree on the Trans-Pacific Partnership … Unfortunately   (opinion) New York Times  ...This is a bipartisan effort if ever there was one; George Will has called the TPP “Obama’s best idea.” Thus we see the administration, along with pro-business Democrats and Republicans, trying to bulletproof the deal. If that passes, Congress could vote only up or down on the deal, not amend it. That’s quite a bit of presidential power for a scheme that would have a striking impact on the global economy...
Congress Must Stop Fast Tracking Fast Track!  (opinion) Daily Kos   ...This Fast Track for secret, unread trade deals must be a wake up call that our democracy is in trouble and that politics as normal does not work. The corporate lobby from Nike, Microsoft, Google, Big Pharma, and led by the US Chamber of Commerce are all lined up against us like never before...
Murder Doesn't Matter Under U.S. Trade Deals, AFL-CIO Reveals  Huffington Post   ...Defenders of the White House push for sweeping trade deals argue they include tough enforcement of labor standards. But a top union leader scoffed at such claims Tuesday, revealing that administration officials have said privately that they don’t consider even the killings of labor organizers to be violations of those pacts...

State & Living Wage Battles
How Raising The Minimum Wage To $15 Changed These Workers' Lives  Huffington Post   ...A valet attendant and shuttle driver at a parking company called MasterPark, Babakrkhil saw his base wage jump from $9.55 per hour, before tips, up to $15. Having scraped by in America since immigrating from Afghanistan 11 years ago, he suddenly faced the pleasant predicament as his co-workers: What to do with the windfall? For the overworked father of three, it wasn't a hard question. Babakrkhil decided to quit his other full-time job to actually spend time with his wife and three young girls...
Federal Contract Workers Just Went on Strike in DC  The Nation   ...Janitors and food service workers at federal monuments are tired of earning a pittance on the taxpayers’ dime, so they’ve gone on a one-day strike. They join workers across the country to demand from Washington what their fellow fast-food workers and retail clerks in the private sector are demanding from private firms: $15 an hour and union rights...
$70,000 minimum pay turns out to be good for business   Daily Kos  ...Remember Dan Price, the CEO who cut his own pay to raise the minimum annual pay at his company to $70,000? Turns out, that wasn't just a morally good thing to do, and Price doesn't have to wait for the longer-term payoff of increased productivity and reduced staff turnover: "Price said the news has brought in dozens of new clients, making it the best week for new business in the company's 11-year history"...

Pennsylvania Scraps Flawed Test Meant To Determine If Food Stamp Recipients Are Poor Enough   Think Progress   ...Pennsylvania will no longer punish its poorest families for saving money after Gov. Tom Wolf’s (D) administration announced the end of a flawed eligibility test for food stamps that was imposed by Wolf’s Republican predecessor. On Tuesday, state officials said they are ending food stamps asset tests...
Kansas Lawmakers Want The Poor To Pay For Tax Cuts For The Rich  Washington Post   ...Even the proposed increases in sales and excise taxes would make up only a fraction of the deficit. To balance the budget for this year, Brownback and other policymakers have proposed temporary measures, such as transferring money out of the state's highway fund...
Chicago Mayor Joins Chorus of Opposition to IL Gov’s Anti-Worker “Turnaround Agenda”   We Party Patriots   ...During a city council meeting this month, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel introduced a resolution to oppose Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed “Right-to-Work” zones, which would enable municipalities to enact hyper-ideological anti-union legislation on a local level...
The Chamber Of Commerce Is Fighting Fiercely To Stop The Scourge Of Corporate Transparency  Huffington Post   ...The Chamber of Commerce had submitted a brief in the Citizens United case in support of lifting certain previous restrictions on corporate spending. The business lobby has been active in elections since 1998, but dramatically stepped up its efforts following the Supreme Court's ruling. Since then, the Chamber has spent over $100 million on federal elections, almost all in favor of the Republican Party...
Corporations to Workers: "We Own You"  Truthout.org   ...Right now, House Republicans are trying to give employers here in our nation's capital the right to fire their employees if they go on birth control. Last year, the Washington DC city council passed a law called the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act of 2014 (RHNDA), which bans employers from firing or otherwise punishing employees for the private decisions they make about their reproductive health. Naturally, right-wing religious groups started freaking out...

U.S. Labor
Barack Obama Proposes $3.5 Billion Gas Pipeline Overhaul  Politico   ...But the amount of money the administration is proposing is just a fraction of what it would take to replace the hundreds of thousands of miles of decades-old cast-iron and bare-steel natural gas distribution pipes — the lines that are considered most vulnerable to ruptures. A full replacement would cost $270 billion, the report says. And the whole proposal immediately ran into GOP skepticism...
Pregnant Fast-Food Worker Robbed at Gunpoint Then Fired for Not Repaying Stolen Cash  Alternet   ...Marissa Holcomb was hard at work at a Popeye's in Texas. She was in the midst of one of the busiest shifts of the week when a gunman with a stocking cap entered the store, jumped over the counter and robbed the clerk at gunpoint. Unable to open the safes, she opened the registers and the thief made of with roughly $400. Did she receive praise for handing over the cash and surviving the ordeal?...
Alabama Dispute Strains UAW-Lear Relationship  WardsAuto  ...The amicable relationship built up over the years between the UAW and Lear, the world's largest supplier of automotive seating, is being tested by a dispute at the company’s non-union plant in Selma, AL. The clash is filling up the dockets in two different courts in Alabama and has triggered an angry exchange over employee safety between the company and the union...
NJEA breaks off pension talks with Christie   Philly.com   ...In a setback to Gov. Christie's proposal to overhaul New Jersey's pension and health benefit systems, the state's largest teachers' union on Tuesday said it would no longer participate in talks with a panel he appointed to tackle the funding crisis. The union also called on Christie to fully fund the pension system. Christie shorted the system about $1.6 billion for the current fiscal year...

Miscellaneous
Detroit Just Had The Single Largest Tax Foreclosure In American History  Mother Jones   ...On March 31st at the Wayne Country Treasurer's Office, that Victorian-era invention was accomplishing neither objective. Then again, no door in the history of architecture—rotating or otherwise—could have accommodated the latest perversity Detroit officials were inflicting on city residents: the potential eviction of tens of thousands, possibly as many as 100,000 people, all at precisely the same time...
Pipelines Blow Up And People Die  Politico   ...Oil and gas companies like to assure the public that pipelines are a safer way to ship their products than railroads or trucks. But government data makes clear there is hardly reason to celebrate. Last year, more than 700 pipeline failures killed 19 people, injured 97 and caused more than $300 million in damage. Two of the past five years have been the worst for combined pipeline-related deaths and injuries since 2000...
GOP Infighting Threatens NSA Bill  Politico   ...It’s the second congressional effort to reform surveillance practices since Snowden’s leaks revealed the vast nature of the NSA’s operations. But if lawmakers don’t do anything this time, key parts of the PATRIOT Act will expire, including a key provision that the government has used to justify bulk data collection...
The Sun Must Go Down On The Patriot Act (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...Some legislators want Congress to reauthorize it in its current form -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has just introduced a bill that would do exactly that, extending it for another five years. Others want to make relatively minor changes. Congress shouldn't do either of these things. Unless Congress can coalesce around far-reaching reform, it should simply let the provision expire...