Pasco County, Fla., Teamsters ratify first contract

Pasco County Teamsters

Getting that first contract after an organizing victory is especially sweet, as employers often delay and obstruct negotiations. So 1,100 newly organized Pasco County Teamsters have reason to be especially pleased with a strong first contract that ushers in on-the-job representation.

Ken Wood, president of Teamsters Local 79 in Tampa, said they fought to win a strong first contract for hardworking public employees -- and they won.

The battle took almost four years, but our negotiators knew that they must bring the employees a contract that honored their job seniority, has just-cause provisions and included wage increases. And, that is just what they delivered.

The one-year contract was ratified by Pasco County employees late last week. It covers a variety of workers, including people who work on roads and bridges, in libraries and at water treatment plants.

Frank Pilgrim, a 10-year mechanic at a water treatment plant, praised the contract and the new strength it provides.

With the Teamster contract we now have someone to back us up on the job. It’s security that we did not have before.  

John Sholtes, business agent at Local 79, did an outstanding job helping to negotiate this contract. His work is much appreciated and I know that we can count on him to represent us going forward.

Pasco County employees are the newest county employees to be represented by Teamsters Local 79. The Local already represents public service employees in Hernando, Citrus and Collier counties.

Today's Teamster News 03.22.14

Teamster News
Truckers for Costco and Forever 21 land victory that may allow joining the Teamsters  Salon ...The Port of Los Angeles workers who alleged stolen wages and false "independent contractor" scam now one step closer to organizing with the Teamsters Union...
Truck Drivers Handed Labor Victory That Could Reshape The Industry  ThinkProgress   ...Truck drivers at a Los Angeles-area freight hauling company cannot be treated as “independent contractors” or harassed for discussing the possibility of unionizing, according to a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling issued Thursday...
Port truck drivers vying to join union get state, federal boost  Los Angeles Times   ...A string of actions by state officials and the National Labor Relations Board has strengthened the hand of truck drivers who say they need union representation to improve pay and working conditions for the thousands who transport cargo out of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach...
Port Truck Drivers Labeled 'Independent Contractors' Told They Have Right To Unionize  Huffington Post   ...As part of a settlement with the Teamsters that was finalized on Thursday, Pacific 9 Transportation in Carson, Calif., has agreed to hang a posting in the workplace saying workers have the right to form a labor union...
Teamsters Local 722 Highway Maintainers Ratify New Contract  Joint Council 25   ...Carroll County, Illinois, public employees represented by Teamsters Local 722 unanimously approved a new three-year contract with the county’s highway department...
APAC/Old Castle Inc. Drivers Choose Teamsters  Teamsters Local 523   ...Drivers at APAC/Old Castle Inc. in Vinita, Okla. voted to join Teamsters Local 523 in Tulsa, securing a strong voice on the job, despite the company's blatant union-busting tactics...
Teamsters at CCTA find support from fellow workers  Burlington Free Press   ...Drivers with Chittenden County Transportation Authority (CCTA), who are represented by Teamsters Local 597, were joined by numbers of organizations at a rally in support of their strike against the company since Monday....
Teamsters, Pasco reach tentative contract deal  Tampa Bay Times  ...Teamsters Local 79, which represents more than half of Pasco County, Florida's workers, says it has reached a tentative contract deal after a final round of talks...
Georgia Senate votes to bar some workers from unemployment benefits  Atlanta Journal-Constitution   ...The Georgia Senate approved a measure Thursday that would ban bus drivers, cafeteria workers and other people who work for private firms in public schools from claiming unemployment benefits when school is out...
Teamsters reject CN deal, company proposes binding arbitration   The Northern View ...The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference has rejected a second proposed settlement with CN with a vote of 891 against and 852 voting in favor of the agreement...
Teamsters Step Up Fight for D.C. Taxi Drivers   teamster.org ...The Teamsters Local 922-affiliated Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association filed a petition on Wednesday demanding that ride-sharing companies adhere to similar regulations that the taxi drivers follow...
Trade
Roberto Azevedo urges U.S. to push for Doha finish  Politico   ...World Trade Organization Director-General Roberto Azevedo urged the United States on Monday to reprise its traditional leadership role in the multilateral trading system by pushing to bring the 13-year-old Doha Round of world trade talks to a swift conclusion...
State Battles
W.Va. governor signs budget that taps reserves  Associated Press ...West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed a budget into law Wednesday that dips into millions of dollars in state reserves but gives public employees raises...
Louisiana committee OK's bill to bar teachers unions from public pension system  Times-Picayune   ...The House Retirement Committee on Thursday approved a bill that would bar any future employees of four organizations, two of them teachers unions, from also being members in the state public pension system for teachers...
War on Workers
Real wage stagnation, year 41  Angry Bear   ...The good news is that… real wages advanced somewhat in 2013, from $294.31 per week (in 1982-84 dollars) to $295.51, an increase of 0.4%. Woo hoo! The bad news, of course, is that this is still 13.5% off the peak real weekly wage of $341.73, achieved in 1972... 
Social Security already hit by the austerity squeeze  DailyKos   ... that annual statement you used to get that provided your earnings to date and estimated your monthly benefits is gone now. It was an important educational tool for Social Security, and a reminder that you are paying into a secure retirement fund. The statements are still available, but you have to be able to go online or visit an SSA office...
Microsoft Software Leak Inquiry Raises Privacy Issues  New York Times   ...The company conducted an inquiry by reading through email and instant messages, which may violate its promise of privacy, highlighting the power technology companies have to snoop on their customers...
Fox Has Consistently Minimized Koch Campaign Funding, But The Truth Is Out  Media Matters   ...As the group emerges as a dominant force in the 2014 midterm elections, spending up to 10 times as much as any major outside Democratic group so far, officials of the organization say their effort is not confined to hammering away at President Obama's Affordable Care Act...
Miscellaneous
Discovery of body clock reset mechanism could help shift workers and jetsetters  gizmag   ..."As this work progresses in clinical terms, we may be able to enhance the clock's ability to deal with shift work, and importantly understand how maladaptation of the clock contributes to diseases such as diabetes and chronic inflammation"...
Bernie Madoff: 'JPMorgan knew'  PoliticoPro   ...JPMorgan Chase served as Madoff’s bank for more than two decades and its role in his infamous Ponzi scheme has been the subject of intense interest to both federal authorities and investors who were victims of his fraud...
Hog Wild: Factory Farms are Poisoning Iowa's Drinking Water  Mother Jones   ...Millions of pigs are crammed into overcrowded barns all across the state, being fattened for slaughter while breeding superbugs—all to feed China's growing appetite for Spam...
Revelations of NSA Spying Cost U.S. Tech Companies  New York Times   ...Tech companies in the United States have lost customers and billions of dollars while companies overseas are gaining customers because of the revelations made by Edward J. Snowden,tied these providers to the National Security Agency’s vast surveillance program.

Today's Teamster News 03.11.14

Teamster News
Teamster bus strike off for now as drivers must vote on new CCTA offer  Burlington Free Press   ...The proposed Monday strike by members of Teamsters Local 597 has been averted — at least temporarily — while the bus drivers consider the latest offer from management...
Teamsters Union starts negotiations with Cedar Falls schools  Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier   ...Teamsters Local 238, which represents 45 Cedar Falls (Iowa) school district custodial and maintenance staff members, has begun negotiations with the school district...
Driving Horses Remains Passion for Teamster School Bus Worker  teamstersjc25.com   ...Local 777's 'Real Teamster' moonlights with high-end carriage company...
Trade
Lives at stake in TPP trade deal  Asia Times   ...If you or some family members or friends suffer from cancer, hepatitis, AIDS, asthma or other serious ailments, it's worth your while to follow the negotiations on the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement and other similar bilateral trade agreements. It's really a matter of life and death. For the TPPA can cut off the potential supply of cheaper generic medicines that can save lives...
State Battles
Missouri Democrats Solidly Against 'Right To Work,' Less So Regarding 'Right To Farm'  St. Louis Public Radio   ...The banners, the stickers and the rhetoric at this weekend’s Democrat Days made one thing clear: When it comes to “right to work,’’ Missouri Democratic activists and politicians are solidly against it...
WI GOP Marches in Lockstep with ALEC Agenda, Voting Records Show  Center for Media and Democracy   ...Sixty-one legislators, all Republicans, voted with the ALEC agenda 100 percent of the time, according to Stampen's analysis. This amounts to 46 percent of Wisconsin's 132 lawmakers...
Vermont Votes for Public Banking  The Nation   ...The bill would create a “10 Percent for Vermont” program that would “deposit 10 percent of Vermont’s unrestricted revenues in the VEDA bank and allow VEDA to leverage this money, in the same way that private banks do now, to fund…unfunded capital needs”...
Oregon labor supporters savor win as governor drops Right to Work ballot initiative Beverly Hills Courier   ...Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber has struck a blow to the controversial Right to Work movement by reaching a deal that drops an upcoming ballot initiative...
Union calls on Illinois to pay back wages  The Southern Illinoisan ...AFSCME is calling on Illinois lawmakers to make room in next year’s budget for back pay owed to more than 24,000 state employees who didn’t receive pay wage increases due them from July 2011 to July 2013 because no money was appropriated...
SC wants to require food stamp recipients to work or be looking  WCBD TV 2   ...South Carolina will ask for permission from the federal government to require food stamp recipients to work or be looking for work. The state is scrapping a proposal to ban food stamps from being used to buy junk food...
Volkswagen sides with UAW on appeal  Times Free Press   ...The United Auto Workers and Volkswagen Group of America have filed their opposition to two groups supporting some Chattanooga VW workers who want to intervene in the union's appeal for a new election at the plant...
War on Workers
A Modern Day ‘Harvest of Shame’  Pro Publica   ...temp work has grown nine times faster than private-sector employment as a whole. Overall, nearly one-sixth of the total job growth since the recession ended has been in the temp sector...
U.S. network to scan workers with secret clearances  Associated Press   ...U.S. intelligence officials are planning a sweeping system of electronic monitoring that would tap into government,  financial and other databases to scan the behavior of many of the 5 million federal employees with secret clearances, current and former officials told The Associated Press...
Chicagoans Want the Koch Brothers to Stop Polluting The City  VICE News   ...“The piles of petcoke that have been growing along the Calumet River are getting wafted into our homes and onto our children,” nearby resident Olga Bautista told VICE News when we visited the area...
Wal-Mart’s newest big lie: Another misleading ad campaign from a job-killing behemoth  Salon   ...The majority shareholders of the company are members of the Walton family who inherited the stock and have a combined wealth of nearly $145 billion – more than the combined wealth of 42 percent of American families...
MORGAN STANLEY: The Economy's Slow Growth Is Now Permanent  Business Insider   ...drops in productivity and Labor Force Participation mean a new, slower growth track than what we're used to...
McDonald's Worker Claims Manager Told Her to "Put a Bullet" in Her Head  5 NBC Chicago   ...Workers rallied at Chicago’s Rock N’ Roll McDonald’s Saturday afternoon to "call to an end to verbal abuse in McDonald's"...
California Farmworkers Often Forced To Live in Squalor, Says Report  In These Times   ...For California’s farmworkers, toiling all day in the brutal, sun-scorched fields is hard enough; the homes they return to each night are often in even worse conditions...
1,500 Bangladesh factories to be inspected  Associated Press   ...About 1,500 factories in Bangladesh are on track to be inspected by the end of August as part of a safety pact signed by more than 150 clothing brands and 20 countries, according to organizers of the pact...
Miscellaneous
No consensus on how to notify data breach victims  Associated Press   ...The data breach at Target Corp. that exposed millions of credit card numbers has focused attention on the patchwork of state consumer notification laws and renewed a push for a single national standard...
US Plans to Speed Poultry Slaughtering, Cut Inspections  Inter Press Service   ...The U.S. government is in the final stages of weighing approval for an overhaul of regulations governing the country’s poultry industry that would see processing speeds increase substantially even while responsibility for oversight would be largely given over to plant employees...
CPAC Presidential Straw Poll Picks Guy Who Thinks Whites-Only Lunch Counters Should Be Legal  Think Progress   ...With 31 percent of the vote, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) won the closely watched Conservative Political Action Conference presidential straw poll this weekend, dwarfing second place finisher Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) 11 percent of the vote...

Today's Teamster News 03.09.14

Teamster News
Pasco, Teamsters close to deal Special magistrate sides with union on OT  Tampa Tribune   ...After more than three years, Pasco County and the Teamsters Local 79 may be close to approving their first contract following the second pro-union ruling by a special magistrate...
Bus drivers, company seek to stave off strike  WPTZ News5   ...The Teamsters Union representing almost 70 Vermont bus drivers is still sequestered in one final negotiating session with the Chittenden County Transportation Authority in hopes of avoiding a strike...
MUA OKs Teamsters Pact  Cape May County Herald   ...Commissioners voted to ratify a new contract with its employees of Teamsters Local 331. The contract provides salary increases of 1.5 percent for 2013 and 2014, and 2 percent for 2015 and 2016...
Pa. Turnpike Must Use Teamsters For Mowing, Court Says  Law 360   ...The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on Friday affirmed an arbitrator’s ruling that the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission had violated a collective bargaining agreement with the Teamsters by hiring a subcontractor to cut grass, but it overturned a punitive damages award...
Teamsters file grievance over road work by Mahoning County inmates  Youngstown Vindicator   ...their use of day-reporting sheriff’s inmates to help fill the potholes should have been discussed in advance with Teamsters Local 377, which has filed a grievance concerning the use of free labor by the inmates...
Trade
In the Real World the Trade Deficit Is More Important Than the Budget Deficit  Center for Economic and Policy Research   ...The trade deficit matters hugely to the economy and to ordinary workers, there is no excuse for not giving it a substantial amount of coverage...
The War on Workers
'They're Not Dead Yet': Planning The Demise Of Labor Unions At CPAC  Huffington Post   ...Norquist didn't dwell on his Tennessee victory, instead steering the discussion toward a larger picture: how the right can fundamentally weaken unions through state legislation. That includes collective bargaining rollbacks like the monumental one carried out by Gov. Scott Walker (R) in Wisconsin in 2011, as well as right-to-work laws like those recently passed in Michigan and Indiana...
Which Side Is Your Pension On?  Jacobin   ... The corporate control of finance is not simply due to the weakness of regulations on the system. Instead, active state intervention since World War II has pushed labor’s finance into the hands of corporate fiduciaries...
Auto Regulators Dismissed Defect Tied to 13 Deaths  New York Times   ...Federal safety regulators received more than 260 complaints over the last 11 years about General Motors vehicles that suddenly turned off while being driven, but they declined to investigate the problem, which G.M. now says is linked to 13 deaths and requires the recall of more than 1.6 million cars worldwide....
Miscellaneous
London’s Laundry Business  New York Times   ...Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, gets it: you pay them, you own them. Mr. Putin was absolutely certain that Britain’s managers — shuttling through the revolving door between cabinet posts and financial boards — would never give up their fees and commissions from the oligarchs’ billions. He was right...
The Fat Drug  New York Times   ...decades of agricultural research has shown that antibiotics seem to flip a switch in young animals’ bodies, helping them pack on pounds...But what if that meat is us? Recently, a group of medical investigators have begun to wonder whether antibiotics might cause the same growth promotion in humans...
Facebook to Buy Drone Company Titan Aerospace for $60 Million  NBC News   ...Facebook is supposedly interested in Titan because its solar-powered drones — which can reportedly stay airborne for five years — can help Facebook achieve its goal of providing Internet access around the world...

Today's Teamster News 10.25.13

Washington Taxi Drivers Form Association With Teamsters Union  teamster.org   ...Cab drivers in the nation’s capital are joining together with the Teamsters Union to announce the formation of the new Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association…
Hernando County, Teamsters agree on employee contract  Hernando Today   ...A strong, new contract for about 400 government employees has been approved by the county in Florida and unanimously ratified by the workers, who are represented by Teamsters Local 79…
Gettysburg police union files for arbitration over 2013 wages  Hanover Evening Sun   ...Teamsters Local 776 has filed for arbitration over 2013 wages on behalf of the police officers who work for the Gettysburg Borough...
US trade union leaders in Dublin to talk about ‘devastating impacts of austerity’  The Journal.ie   ...A number of American trade union leaders , including Teamsters, are in Dublin this week as part of the 1913 Lockout centenary celebrations and to talk about what they view as the “devastating impact” of austerity policies...
Multinational Meatpacker Trying to Gut Food Labeling  Trade Reform   ...Tyson ... will cease and desist buying fed cattle from Canada until the courts overturn the country of origin labeling (COOL) rule implemented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on May 23, 2013.
“Tyson is flexing its muscle to demonstrate to our U.S. courts that it alone can literally devastate livestock producers in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere if it doesn’t get its way...”
Apple finally begins assembling in the USA  manufacture this   ...Apple previously announced that it would make its new computer in the U.S., reportedly in Texas...
4 Things You Need to Know About the Plot to Sell Off Your Pensions to Wall Street  AlterNet   ...“reformers” have changed the law to prevent retirees from even seeing how much of their money is being handed over to hedge fund billionaires....
Many Americans don't expect to ever retire  USA TODAY   ...In a sign of just how bleak retirement prospects have gotten, more than a third of Americans say they will have to work until they literally can't anymore...
Who Buys the Spies? The Hidden Corporate Cash Behind America’s Out-of-Control National Surveillance State  Next New Deal   ... In sharp contrast to endlessly repeated claims that big business was deeply suspicious of the President, our statistical results show that a large and powerful bloc of  “industries of the future” – telecommunications, high tech, computers, and software – showed essentially equal or higher percentages of support for the President in 2012 than they did for Romney...
Unions score court victory, but it's unclear whether it will stick  Associated Press   ...Wisconsin union leaders scored a win when a Madison judge ordered state labor relations officials to stop enforcing portions of Gov. Scott Walker's collective bargaining restrictions...but it could be a hollow victory...
Strike authorization vote due by LA County workers  Associated Press   ...Tens of thousands of Los Angeles County employees are voting this week on whether to authorize a strike that involves 55,000 workers…
Large companies find ways to a zero tax rate  USA Today   ...Despite widespread groans about the recent disclosure that Apple is finding ways to cut its federal tax bill, an analysis shows the computer giant is one of scores of corporations largely dodging the taxman...
Corporations Reap Billions from Mass Incarceration  The Real News   ...A new video series called Prison Profiteers exposes the corporations that profit from the nation's incarceration system, including medical companies, bail companies, phone companies, and even police departments...
JPMorgan May Face Federal Sanctions Over Madoff Ties  Reuters   ...JPMorgan Chase & Co. may be forced to make a deal with federal authorities to avoid criminal prosecution over its handling of accounts of imprisoned swindler Bernie Madoff…
Texas Judge Almost Blocked from Voting Due to New Strict Voter I.D. Law  ThinkProgress   ...Judge Sandra Watts cautions same could happen to lots of women...

Today's Teamster News 08.07.13

Keolis Paratransit Workers Choose Teamsters Union  IBT   ...Paratransit drivers and mechanics with Keolis, a global transportation group in Long Beach, Calif., have voted overwhelmingly, 74-2, in favor of Teamster representation...
SCI Regressively Bargains With Striking Funeral Directors As Negotiations Continue  IBT   ...More than a month after Chicagoland funeral directors and drivers were forced to strike over unfair labor practices, Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI) resumed negotiations with Teamsters Local 727 only to regressively bargain...
Teamster Nurses Voting on New Contract  WKBN News   ...Nurses at Northside Hospital, who are members of Teamsters Local 377 in Youngstown, Ohio, began voting on a new contract Tuesday...
Hernando commissioners, Teamsters set to meet on CBA  Bay News 9   ...A collective bargaining session will be held later this month between Hernando Commissioners (Florida) and Teamsters Local 79...
L.A. Story  The American Prospect   ...The Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy: a new model for American liberalism?..
FBI Pressuring Internet Providers To Allow Government Surveillance Software  Fire Dog Lake   ...The FBI is pressuring Internet service providers to install software inside their networks to allow real-time government spying on users. The FBI claims real-time collection of information is suddenly necessary for the agency to do its job...
TEN THOUSAND turn out to protest GOP in Asheville, NC  DailyKos   ...There are plans for future protests in other cities (Charlotte is tentatively August 19) and it appears some smaller satellite protests are happening around the country...
Walmart retaliates against striking workers (opinion)  Digital Journal   ...In June, Walmart workers around the country walked off the job in a coordinated strike to protest working conditions at the nation's number one private employer. In a fit of revenge wreaking of a Hollywood sequel, Walmart has begun terminating employees...
SEIU backs $15 an hour minimum wage  MSNBC   ...“We support the workers demand for $15 an hour and want to hear from the most profitable multinational companies in the world, why not?” said SEIU President Mary Kay Henry...
The Magical World Where McDonald's Pays $15 an Hour? It's Australia  The Atlantic   ...Even in countries with a high minimum wage, the golden arches manage to turn a profit. Here's how...
What it costs to replace a twenty-something  Washington Post   ...Oh, those pesky millennials. They’re been called entitled, lazy and over-confident. They seem to put social media right up there with food, water and shelter. They have–gasp–tattoos and piercings and sleep with their cell phones. Oh my! And now, it turns out, they’re also quite costly to replace on the job...
How cheap 'Made in China' products hurt the US economy in multiple ways  New York Times   ...Here is a symbol of China's assault on the US economy: the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which connects Brooklyn and Staten Island. This landmark, which opened in 1964, is North America's longest suspension bridge. It's also in urgent need of renovation. Unfortunately, $34 million in steel production and fabrication work has been outsourced to China...
How predatory payday lenders pop back up even after states crack down  Pro Publica   ...In 2008, payday lenders suffered a major defeat when the Ohio legislature banned high-cost loans. That same year, they lost again when they dumped more than $20 million into an effort to roll back the law: But five years later, hundreds of payday loan stores still operate in Ohio, charging annual rates that can approach 700 percent...
US gov’t accuses Bank of America of civil fraud in sale of $850M of mortgage bonds in 2008  Associated Press   ...The U.S. government has accused Bank of America Corp. of civil fraud, saying the company failed to disclose risks and misled investors in its sale of $850 million of mortgage bonds during 2008...
Stat of the Day: US Has Enough Empty Houses to Hold All of Britain  treehugger   ...According to the latest data, the number of vacant U.S. homes touched 18.7-million in the second quarter...
Chevron to pay $2 million for refinery violations  Contra Costa Times   ...Chevron Corp. will pay $2 million in fines and restitution after pleading no contest Monday to six misdemeanor criminal charges stemming from a fire at its Richmond refinery last year...
Groups Charge ALEC with Tax Fraud over Secretive "Scholarship" Fund  PRWatch   ...The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is running a secretive, multi-million dollar slush fund that finances lavish trips for state legislators and has misled the Internal Revenue Service about the fund’s activity, two government watchdog groups charged...
State employees get some protections in bill, but grievance procedures shortened  News & Observer   ...North Carolina’s Gov. Pat McCrory is expected to sign a bill that speeds up the employee grievance process for state workers but backs away from earlier efforts to sharply curtail their civil service protections...
Judge Strikes Down City Council's Prevailing Wage Bill  NY1   ...The mayor had vetoed the legislation that requires businesses which receive at least $1 million from the city to pay workers at a rate higher than the state's minimum wage...