Today's Teamster News 01.06.15

Teamsters
Trade issues are focus of Wyden town hall in Salem  Statesman Journal   ...Local union leaders and others asked Oregon's senior senator to oppose "fast-track" authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, a proposed free trade treaty with 12 Pacific-rim countries. "I want to know why he feels this is a good idea," Chris Muhs, secretary of Teamsters Local 324, said while holding a sign reading "Fast Track: Wrong Track."...
Trade
Senator Wyden Ends Portland Town Hall After Protesters Take Over  Oregon Public Radio   ...Protesters with the group Don’t Shoot Portland forced Oregon Senator Ron Wyden to cancel a town hall meeting on Saturday after the first 30 minutes. About 200 people had gathered in an auditorium at the Southeast Portland campus of Portland Community College to speak with the senator, who is holding six town halls across Western Oregon this weekend. Many in the audience held signs opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement the U.S. is negotiating with 11 countries in Asia...
Bernie Sanders' Brutal Letter On Obama's Trade Pact Foreshadows 2016 Democratic Clash  Huffington Post   ...Progressive unrest over free trade policies is shaping up to be a major issue in the contest for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, if a strongly worded letter from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to the top Obama administration trade official is any sign...
The Growth Projections for the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Pact Are a Joke  Center for Economic and Policy Research   ... The deal is likely to strengthen patent and copyright protections, leading to higher prices for drugs, software, and other products, all of which will be a drain on consumers and a drag on growth...
State Battles
Delegate Tim Armstead about to make history  Charleston Gazette   ...[Incoming West Virginia House Speaker Tim] Armstead offered no firm commitments but said a number of longtime Republican proposals would be in play. Making West Virginia a “right to work” state, where employees cannot be required to pay union dues? “That’s certainly being discussed,” Armstead said. A law requiring voters to show some sort of ID at the polls? “That’s another area,” Armstead said. “We don’t want to make it harder to vote, at the same time we want to make sure that each person’s vote counts.”...
Unions see right-to-work bill as political attack  Albuquerque Journal   ... labor views so-called right-to-work legislation in New Mexico as a political attack from the right, saying the bill would curtail its ability to raise and spend money to influence public policy...
Right-to-work legislation draws buzz, not necessarily votes  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...The leader of the state Senate has called for a quick debate on so-called right-to-work legislation, but it's unclear whether there are enough Republican votes to pass it...
Scott Walker, Starting Second Term as Wisconsin Governor, Resists New Union Battle  New York Times   ...Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who rose to national prominence in the Republican Party by cutting the collective bargaining rights of most public sector unions, strongly indicated in the final days of his re-election campaign that he had no plans to expand the battle with labor unions that defined his first term...
War on Workers
Even with Recent Low Inflation, Real Wages Continue to Stagnate  Economic Policy Institute   ... real wage growth has been about zero on average for the last five years, and there is no sign of acceleration...
The Real Winners Of The Recovery: The Superrich  firedoglake   ...new research shows that the top .1% has broken away from their uber-wealthy peers and amassed more than 22% of the wealth . In other words, the top one-thousandth of the country controls one-fifth of the wealth...
Railroads seek one-person crews for freight trains  Associated Press   ..."These trains are 7,000 tons going 50 mph. You have to have two people," said J.P. Wright, an engineer for CSX railroad in Louisville, Ky. "It's mind-boggling to me that the railroads would go this far with it."...
CEO Who Said He’d Probably Have To Fire Employees If Obama Won Is Now Giving Them Raises  ThinkProgress   ...Siegel informed Westgate employees that instead of layoffs, he would boost their minimum wage to $10 per hour beginning in 2015...
Nobel Laureate Stiglitz Blocked From SEC Panel After Faulting High-Speed Traders  Bloomberg   ...Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel laureate economist who called for a tax on high-frequency trading, has been blocked from a government panel that will advise regulators on issues facing U.S. equity markets, according to people familiar with the matter. Stiglitz’s rejection shows the partisan infighting that has bogged down Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White’s plan to set up a panel of experts to advise the agency on topics ranging from rapid-fire stock trading to dark pools...
The protesters who are trying to upend the ‘fantasy world’ of economics  Washington Post   ...Harrington now runs a campaign called Kick it Over, which aims to combat what it describes as “the fantasy world of neoclassical economics — a faith-based religion of perfect markets, enlightened consumers and infinite growth that shapes the fates of billions.”...
Let the Fed Lend Directly to Cities and States to Save Taxpayers Billions (opinion)  Next New Deal   ...The Federal Reserve should be allowed to make long-term loans directly to cities, states, school districts, and other public agencies so taxpayers can get low interest rates and avoid predatory Wall Street fees...
Miscellaneous
After two-year delay, construction on California's bullet train is set to start  Los Angeles Times   ...California's bullet-train agency will officially start construction in Fresno this week on the first 29-mile segment of the system, a symbol of the significant progress the $68-billion project has made against persistent political and legal opposition...
Global stocks fall for second day amid oil, Greece worries  Associated Press   ...Global stocks sank Tuesday for a second day as slumping oil prices and concern Greece might leave the European currency union fueled unease about the global growth outlook...

Today's Teamster News 01.26.13

Unions Gain Latino Members, Could Be Unions' Saving Grace  Huffington Post   ...Unions lost a record-breaking 547,000 white members in 2012. Meanwhile, membership increased among other races -- particularly Latino. In 2012, unions gained 156,000 new Latino members...

Statement by Chairman Pearce on recess appointment ruling  NLRB   ...The Board respectfully disagrees with today’s decision and believes that the President’s position in the matter will ultimately be upheld. It should be noted that this order applies to only one specific case, Noel Canning, and that similar questions have been raised in more than a dozen cases pending in other courts of appeals...
Senate Sets Vote on $60.2 Billion Hurricane Sandy Plan  Bloomberg  ...The Senate plans a Jan. 28 vote to complete congressional action on a $60.2 billion aid package for Hurricane Sandy victims...
JPMorgan Chase Trying To Block Shareholder Vote On Breaking Up Bank  Reuters   ...A federation of U.S. labor unions is looking to force JPMorgan Chase's board to consider breaking up the company after the disastrous "London Whale" affair...
Britain is experiencing 'worse slump than during Great Depression'  The Telegraph   ...Britain's recent economic performance is the worst since records began in the pre-Victorian era, experts said today, apart from the two immediate post-war slumps...

Armed with questions for Gov. Rick Snyder, protesters demonstrate outside press luncheon  Michigan Live  ...Organized by the We Are Michigan Coalition, protesters held signs denouncing right-to-work, fracking, restrictions on women's rights, Snyder's ties to business and attacks against families...

Outnumbered Michigan Democrats start longshot bid to repeal right-to-work laws in Legislature  Michigan Live   ...the bill introductions serve as a reminder that Democrats are starting the 2013-14 legislative session still upset about the right-to-work laws that were signed by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder late last year...
Reluctant to Hire the Unemployed? Too Bad, Says NYC In These Times ...The City Council approved a groundbreaking measure to bar employers from using unemployment status as a factor in reviewing job applicants...
Construction unions enter into a Unity Coalition  Daily Commercial News   ...The Unity Coalition includes ... Teamsters Local 230 ... The unions have agreed to a peace and solidarity pact where no member will raid the other and all will support any member defending a raiding union...
Union asks Cedar Falls School District for 4% increase in wages  Orlando Sentinel   ...The contract covers about 40 full-time equivalent positions, varying from custodial to central services staff. The average employee wage is $14 per hour. The union is also asking the district to pick up the entire cost of any health insurance increases, which district officials said are estimated to be about 5 percent...
Pepsi will shut Salem warehouse next month  StatesmanJournal.com   ...Pepsi Beverages is consolidating its distribution operations in Portland and Corvallis, said Chris Muhs, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 324, which represents workers at the facility. Muhs said many of the (66) employees from Salem likely will be able to transfer to jobs in Portland or Corvallis...
Unions sue to block Marin pension reform  Marin Independent Journal   ...Five unions representing nearly 2,000 public workers at the Civic Center and in San Rafael are suing to block a move by county pension officials limiting the kinds of compensation used to determine pensions for current employees...
Strongsville, Firefighters Reach Contract Agreement  Strongsville Patch   ...It's the same 7 percent over three years that employees in two other bargaining groups -- the Service Department workers and building inspectors ... The two groups represented by the Teamsters are receiving increases of 2.25 percent this year, 2.5 percent next year and 2.25 the following year...
Durham School Services union releases statement  WCBD  ...The Teamsters Local 509, the union involved in the ongoing salary negotiations with Durham School Services released a statement to News 2 Friday morning."We are working diligently at the bargaining table to resolve this, and we appreciate all the public support. The phone calls of support from teachers, principals and parents have been overwhelming"...

Teamsters join swelling protests in IN, WI, OR, NV



Tomorrow there'll be two of these in Madison.


As the protest continued today in Wisconsin, Teamsters joined a crowd of 7,000 in Indianapolis to protest a right-to-work (for LESS) bill expected to pass out of committee today. indystar.com reports

The thousands of union supporters that packed the Statehouse this morning and spilled out onto Downtown sidewalks hoped their show of solidarity would be enough to dilute legislative support of a proposed right to work bill.

Ohio Teamsters prepared for a massive rally tomorrow at the Statehouse in Columbus. Forums and rallies were held today in other Ohio cities, including Dayton, Toledo, Youngstown and Cincinnati.

In Wisconsin, Green Bay got more than a foot of snow last night, so Teamsters from Local 662 were stuck up north today. Teamsters from Milwaukee locals 200 and 344, closer to Madison, were expected to be at today's protest.

Brother Danny McGowan from Local 662 tells us the Minnesota Teamsters will bring down their semi tomorrow, so there'll be two parked across from the capitol. We're hoping for a big Teamster presence in Madison on Tuesday and Wednesday, so those would be the days for out-of-state locals to head for Wisconsin. The Teamsters will gather at about 10 o'clock.

Brother Rick Smith from Harrisburg, Penn., is in Madison today looking for space to broadcast his radio show from. He writes on his Facebook page,

Everyone here has been ULTRA helpful! But at the same time revolutions tend to lack space...

Here's a photo Smith just took of the protesters singing the Star-Spangled  Rotunda.

McGowan said the Teamsters' presence sends a message that the protests aren't just about government workers -- they're about all workers (even though the Teamsters do represent public sector workers such as corrections officers and truck drivers). Said McGowan

When people see Teamsters, they say "We know this is important now, the Teamsters are here." They say, "Can we take pictures of the back of your jacket?" They wanted pictures of the truck, pictures of the guys in front of the truck.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports

The demonstrations at the state Capitol entered their second week Monday morning to the pounding of drums in the rotunda.
With Madison covered in ice from Sunday's winter storm, the crowd in the statehouse was smaller at 9 a.m. than it had been in protests last week. But Madison schools are shut down for another day Monday and many state workers also have a previously scheduled furlough - leaving many public workers with the chance to head to the isthmus.

Add in a rally scheduled for noon and a concert at 5 p.m., and protesters seeking to keep their momentum from last week could still turn out a large crowd.

Sister Fran Almarez, business agent for Local 631, is telling members to watch out for Tea Partiers today at rallies in Las Vegas and Carson City. Local 324 will be participating in a noon rally today in Salem, Ore.

More updates to come.