TEAMSTERS
Teamsters file labor charges against New England trucking firm JOC.com ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters union filed unfair labor practices charges against a Massachusetts-based trucking company that shut down Dec. 21, laying off 75 employees, including 40 truck drivers. Teamsters Local 42 in Lynn, Massachusetts filed charges against Crystal Motor Express with the National Labor Relations Board, a spokesperson for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in Washington said...
Teamsters allege tech shuttle company ‘bullied’ drivers SF Examiner ...The Teamsters have filed a complaint alleging Bauer’s bullied its workers into voting down forming a union, which the National Labor Relations Board will address in an upcoming hearing on Feb. 1. Bauer’s is one major provider of so-called “tech shuttles” that ferry tech industry workers in their San Francisco-to-Silicon Valley commute. Teamsters successfully unionized two other providers of tech shuttles...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Rotterdam port workers strike over job losses Dutch News ...Port workers at Rotterdam’s container terminal were set to begin a 24-hour strike on Thursday afternoon and five other day-long strikes are being planned, news agency ANP reports. The unions want port companies to rule out making compulsory redundancies, despite overcapacity and growing automation in the sector...
TPP Countries to Sign Trade Pact in New Zealand Feb. 4 BNA ...The 12 nations party to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will formally sign the agreement on Feb. 4 in New Zealand. Andres Rebolledo, director general of Chile's General International Economic Relations Bureau (DIRECON), confirmed the Feb. 4 date in a meeting yesterday with the country's National Human Rights Institute to discuss how the agreement would affect human rights issues in Chile...
Sen. Sherrod Brown warns against TPP threat to hurt auto industry WFMJ ...With the increase in car sales, Senator Sherrod Brown warns against Trans-Pacific Partnership threat to turn its back on auto industry recovery and hurt auto jobs. U.S. car sales hit a record high in 2015. “To continue that progress and protect jobs, we must ensure a level playing field for America's auto suppliers, but TPP and it's weak auto provisions stand to roll back recovery and cost Ohio jobs,” said Brown...
US Chamber announces support for TPP The Hill ...The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is throwing its weight behind President Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement between the United States and 11 other nations. But the Chamber's endorsement comes with conditions.
The business group wants the Obama administration to work with them and Congress to address concerns about the completed deal that range from intellectual property to financial services...
Business groups united on TPP Politico ...The administration leveled up this week by officially scoring the endorsements of all the major trade associations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. But while the business groups said they would fight for the deal in Congress, the direct message in each of the statements of support this week is to the administration, not lawmakers...
The TPP Train Could Still Get Derailed Foreign Policy ...Trade agreements only mean something in the United States if Congress passes implementing legislation. And that means grappling with domestic trade politics, which have become increasingly contentious. Trade votes, if they pass at all, frequently move with hardly a vote to spare...
Turkey Seeks Inclusion in US-EU TTIP Free Trade Deal - Turkish Deputy PM Sputnik News ...Turkey hopes to renegotiate its current trade agreements with the European Union, so it can be included in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) free trade deal between the United States and EU, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said. The TTIP free trade agreement would reduce barriers to trade in goods and services between Europe and its largest export market, the United States...
TPP, Public Comment Period Open! Huffington Post ...Activists from all sectors converged and spoke with a loud voice against this dangerous "trade" deal. This is important to Americans on both sides of the political aisle as well as anyone concerned with job security, the environment, social justice, or public health. Now the public has an opportunity to weigh-in before it is voted on...
Bleak Prospects for Latin America Under Trans-Pacific Partnership Truthout ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership, agreed to on October 5, 2015 by the twelve participating countries, is likely to prove disastrous for the Latin American states - Chile, Mexico, and Perú - that have joined the pact up to now. Multinational economic interests based in the United States have exerted extraordinary influence over the accord, inserting language that will arguably serve to damage Latin American interests...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Wisconsin Loses 10,000 More Jobs After Passing Right To Work NH Labor News ...Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is in deep trouble as his state is losing jobs at record rates. Last year Walker promised that if the they passed Right To Work they would create tens of thousands of new jobs, once again proving that Right to Work is not a job creator. Gov. Walker’s administration quietly acknowledged over the busy holiday season that Wisconsin surpassed 10,000 layoffs last year as a result of plant closings and economic challenges...
Republican Senate Majority’s Priorities: Education Reform, Right-to-Work and More WFPL ...The priority bills of the Kentucky state Senate’s Republican majority include several familiar policies: right-to-work, repealing the prevailing wage and enacting medical review panels. Senate Republican leaders announced on Wednesday the bills they’ll focus on passing during the 2016 legislative session, which began Tuesday...
NC voter ID trial set for Jan. 25 News & Observer ...The federal judge who will preside over the trial about North Carolina’s voter ID law told attorneys in an order this week to be ready to make their arguments on Jan. 25. In a status report filed two days before the end of the year, the NAACP and others challenging the law continue to argue that much confusion remains about what voters will need in order to cast ballots...
Michigan Governor Declares State of Emergency Due to Flint's Lead Poisoned Water Crisis Jezebel ...In Michigan, Governor Rick Snyder has declared a state of emergency regarding the water crisis in Flint, Michigan where, due to deliberately careless resource management, the number of kids with dangerous levels of lead in their blood doubled in 2015. Sender’s announcement follows Flint Mayor Karen Weaver’s state of emergency declaration: she called the lead poisoning crisis a “manmade disaster” in December...
Voter Suppression Battles To Watch In 2016 Think Progress ...As of this month, a total of 36 states have passed laws requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls, and 33 of those states will enforce their laws in 2016. A number of the state’s provisions are being challenged in court, and litigation in Texas and North Carolina could determine the courts’ ability to apply the VRA after its vital provisions were gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013...
This Is What $15 an Hour Looks Like The Nation ... The movement for a $15 minimum wage began three years earlier, on a chilly fall morning in 2012, when 200 fast-food workers walked off the job in New York City. Their demand was audacious: $15 an hour was more than twice what many of them earned. But more strikes and protests followed, with the movement spreading quickly, driven by workers...
Gazette editorial: ‘Right to work’ dangerous for WV Gazette Mail ...“Right to work” sounds so appealing, doesn’t it, with the vague suggestion that if West Virginia could just get some oppressor’s boot out of its back, its people would be free to prosper? It might be good marketing by out-of-state political interests, but it’s not good policy. The AFL-CIO is right to point out that states that enacted “right to work” laws have suffered...
U.S. LABOR
Phoenix bus contract negotiations continue, strike averted for now AZ Central ...Negotiations to avoid a bus strike by hundreds of drivers along dozens of Phoenix routes will continue Wednesday, with service operating normally for now. Officials from Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1433 and transit company Transdev, which operates 34 routes for the city of Phoenix, did not reach a contract agreement Tuesday...
Union: Dematic’s potential move to Mexico ‘a slap in the face’ WoodTV ...Around 300 people could lose their jobs if Dematic moves forward with plans to relocate its manufacturing plant in Grand Rapids to Mexico. UAW Local 1485 President Scott Wahlfeld said employees were informed Wednesday morning by company leaders about the potential move. Wahlfeld said Dematic will consider finalizing the decision on Feb. 8...
Taxi drivers oppose MSP airport proposal on Uber, Lyft: What's at stake MPR News ...Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is weighing new rules that could better accommodate ride-sharing services like Lyft and Uber. But more than 200 cab drivers showed up at a Metropolitan Airports Commission meeting Monday night in Bloomington to voice their opposition to the plan. They said ride-sharing through smartphone apps like Lyft and Uber would have an unfair advantage...
The Rescue of 17 Workers Trapped in a Salt Mine in Upstate New York The Atlantic ...The miners became stuck 900 feet underground while descending in the elevator to the floor of the mine to begin their shift at around 10 p.m. Wednesday. Emergency officials from Tompkins County were able to communicate with the trapped miners, the county said, and send them blankets and other supplies for the night. The mine, which is north of Ithaca, New York, has been in operation since 1922...
Working conditions at T-Mobile under scrutiny Bangor Daily News ...The German company’s biggest subsidiary has enjoyed two years of rapid expansion in a fiercely competitive U.S. market that has seen it overtake its closest rival Sprint in terms of subscribers. But it has been accused by its main labor union, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), of flouting employees’ rights and was last year found to have engaged in illegal work practices...
NLRB Cites Ingredion for Federal Law Violations at CR Plant KCRG ...The National labor Relations Board has found “sufficient evidence” to issue a complaint against Ingredion Inc., owner of Penford Products in Cedar Rapids, alleging violations of federal law in its contract negotiations with the union at the plant. The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) Local 100G filed a complaint with the NLRB alleging multiple violations of the National Labor Relations Act...
Chicago Teachers Union Joins Demand for Rahm Emanuel, Anita Alvarez To Resign In These Times ...The Chicago Teachers Union's House of Delegates, the union's member-led governing body, voted tonight to demand the resignations of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and State's Attorney Anita Alvarez in the wake of the Laquan McDonald scandal, which has roiled the city for nearly two months and led to the resignations of multiple city officials, including Chicago police superintendent Garry McCarthy...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Democrats lash out at Obama over immigration raids Politico ...Democrats and immigrant-rights groups have turned against the Obama administration in an uproar over recent deportation raids, likening the president to bombastic GOP front-runner Donald Trump and warning him that the controversial strategy will tarnish his legacy on immigration...
Psst: Illegal Immigration Is Actually Declining Time ...With Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz coming out with new ads this week featuring droves of people streaming over the U.S. border, you would be forgiven for thinking that illegal immigration is on the rise. But it isn’t. In fact, the number of immigrants crossing illegally into the U.S. has actually declined over the last nine years...
Executive Action: Bush Opened Guantánamo Without Congress, So Why Can't Obama Close It? Democracy Now ...As President Obama takes executive action on gun control without going through Congress, could closing Guantánamo be next? In January 2009, Obama ordered the closure of the Guantánamo Bay military prison in one of his first executive actions. Seven years later, 107 prisoners are still there...
Sanders Promises to Break Up Big Banks, Tax Speculation, and Establish Postal Banking The Nation ...Speaking just a few dozen blocks from Wall Street Wednesday, Bernie Sanders announced that, with regard to so-called “too-big-to-fail” banks, he would “break them up.” “If a bank is too big to fail, it is too big to exist,” announced the senator from Vermont, as he brought his presidential campaign to New York City’s Town Hall...
Ben Carson’s Flat Tax Would Only Benefit The Rich Think Progress ...On Monday, Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson released his tax plan, the center of which is a flat tax of 14.9 percent. On a static basis — that is, without any assumptions baked in about how the plan might change economic growth or other factors — the Tax Foundation found that only the richest 10 percent would see a benefit. Everyone else would actually see their tax burdens increase...
State Trooper Who Arrested Sandra Bland Indicted on Perjury Charge Common Dreams ...Brian T. Encinia, the Texas State Trooper who made the initial and violent arrest of Sandra Bland during a routine traffic stop just days before she was found dead in a jail cell last summer, was indicted on charges of perjury by state prosecutors on Wednesday for making false statements regarding his behavior during the incident...
Showing posts with label ATU. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ATU. Show all posts
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Today's Teamster News 01.06.16
TEAMSTERS
Hoffa: Congress must act to avert pension crisis The Detroit News ...Opposition is growing in Michigan and across the Midwest against a devastating pension cut proposal put forward by the Central States Pension Fund that would slash benefits by as much as 65 percent. Thousands of Teamsters are letting the federal government know they must reject the plan if they want retirees to be able to subsist on their own...
Treasury Department Announces January Public Sessions for Feedback on CSPF Rescue Plan Teamster.org ... The Treasury Department announced the details today for two public sessions in January for Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund retirees and participants to offer feedback on the proposed rescue plan. The sessions will be hosted by Treasury appointee Kenneth R. Feinberg who is overseeing the rescue plan review process as outlined by the Kline-Miller Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014...
American Red Cross Workers Vote to Join Teamsters in Maine Teamster.org ...Workers at the American Red Cross’ Portland donation center have voted to join Teamsters Local 340. The blood donation center’s 57 employees will now form a bargaining unit that includes collections technicians, collections specialists and mobile unit assistants of various classifications. These employees are responsible for setting up and administering blood drives across the southern half of the state...
Local 710 to Fight Wrongful Terminations at Classic Party Rental Local 710 ...Teamsters Local 710 met Friday, December 18 with Classic Party Rental to discuss the wrongful termination of 35 employees. Local 710 has filed a grievance to have those members reinstated. Classic Party required members to verify their employment eligibility but did not allow adequate time for them to do so. This resulted in the termination of nearly 30 percent of their workforce of 120 employees...
Treasury Department Announces January Public Sessions for Feedback on CSPF Rescue Plan Teamster.org ... The Treasury Department announced the details today for two public sessions in January for Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund retirees and participants to offer feedback on the proposed rescue plan. The sessions will be hosted by Treasury appointee Kenneth R. Feinberg who is overseeing the rescue plan review process as outlined by the Kline-Miller Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014...
American Red Cross Workers Vote to Join Teamsters in Maine Teamster.org ...Workers at the American Red Cross’ Portland donation center have voted to join Teamsters Local 340. The blood donation center’s 57 employees will now form a bargaining unit that includes collections technicians, collections specialists and mobile unit assistants of various classifications. These employees are responsible for setting up and administering blood drives across the southern half of the state...
Local 710 to Fight Wrongful Terminations at Classic Party Rental Local 710 ...Teamsters Local 710 met Friday, December 18 with Classic Party Rental to discuss the wrongful termination of 35 employees. Local 710 has filed a grievance to have those members reinstated. Classic Party required members to verify their employment eligibility but did not allow adequate time for them to do so. This resulted in the termination of nearly 30 percent of their workforce of 120 employees...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
We'll strike until we are paid - Railway workers Ghana Web ...Striking railway workers have reiterated that they will not call off their industrial action until all their demands are addressed by government. The Railway Workers Union announced the withdrawal of passenger services from Accra to Tema and Accra to Nsawam in December following government’s failure to pay their three-month salary arrears...
Can Brazil’s Workers’ Party Survive? The Nation ... President Dilma Rousseff is facing an impeachment drive, a tanking economy—and grassroots party activists furious at her austerity policies and pro-corporate development strategy. Re-elected as president on a socially progressive program in October 2014, she has implemented austerity policies that have stopped the economy in its tracks and reversed many of the employment and wage gains made under previous PT governments...
Covered Bridge Potato Chips workers stage strike in Canada CBC ...Unionized employees at Covered Bridge Potato Chips near Hartland have walked out and are now on strike to back demands for a first contract with the company. The 32 members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1288P have been in a legal strike position since June. About 16 union members are picketing outside the company's factory in Hartland...
GOP in no hurry to move Obama's TPP The Hill ...Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is brushing off calls from business groups for quick action on President Obama’s sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal. The National Association of Manufacturers and the Business Roundtable announced their support for the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) this week as part of what looks like a choreographed effort to raise pressure on Congress...
Surprise! Corporate America Is Throwing Down for the TPP Common Dreams ...American big business has now officially endorsed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), giving many all the proof they need that the 12-nation deal—poised to be the largest ever—is bad news for people and the planet. An association of Chief Executive Officers known as the Business Roundtable (BRT) announced its formal backing on Tuesday, indicating that it plans to use its muscle to press Congress to approve the deal this year...
How to Tell TPP Is a Bad Deal (opinion) Huffington Post ...TPP defines bad rules for globalization. It sets up skewed power relationships for dealing with climate change, inequality and many other important public policies. We have trade deals with Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru, where labor standards are at the level of life-and-death. Guatemala is arguably the most dangerous country in the world for labor leaders. Violence against workers in Colombia is still common...
McAuliffe announces port agreement with Cuba Daily Progress ...The Virginia Port Authority has struck a deal with its Cuban counterpart to explore commercial opportunities with the island nation, Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Tuesday. McAuliffe, in the middle of a three-day trade mission to Cuba, said the Virginia delegation signed a memorandum of understanding with the Cuban Port Authority, which recently completed the $1 billion Port of Mariel project, according to the governor's office...
Can Brazil’s Workers’ Party Survive? The Nation ... President Dilma Rousseff is facing an impeachment drive, a tanking economy—and grassroots party activists furious at her austerity policies and pro-corporate development strategy. Re-elected as president on a socially progressive program in October 2014, she has implemented austerity policies that have stopped the economy in its tracks and reversed many of the employment and wage gains made under previous PT governments...
Covered Bridge Potato Chips workers stage strike in Canada CBC ...Unionized employees at Covered Bridge Potato Chips near Hartland have walked out and are now on strike to back demands for a first contract with the company. The 32 members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1288P have been in a legal strike position since June. About 16 union members are picketing outside the company's factory in Hartland...
GOP in no hurry to move Obama's TPP The Hill ...Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is brushing off calls from business groups for quick action on President Obama’s sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal. The National Association of Manufacturers and the Business Roundtable announced their support for the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) this week as part of what looks like a choreographed effort to raise pressure on Congress...
Surprise! Corporate America Is Throwing Down for the TPP Common Dreams ...American big business has now officially endorsed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), giving many all the proof they need that the 12-nation deal—poised to be the largest ever—is bad news for people and the planet. An association of Chief Executive Officers known as the Business Roundtable (BRT) announced its formal backing on Tuesday, indicating that it plans to use its muscle to press Congress to approve the deal this year...
How to Tell TPP Is a Bad Deal (opinion) Huffington Post ...TPP defines bad rules for globalization. It sets up skewed power relationships for dealing with climate change, inequality and many other important public policies. We have trade deals with Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru, where labor standards are at the level of life-and-death. Guatemala is arguably the most dangerous country in the world for labor leaders. Violence against workers in Colombia is still common...
McAuliffe announces port agreement with Cuba Daily Progress ...The Virginia Port Authority has struck a deal with its Cuban counterpart to explore commercial opportunities with the island nation, Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Tuesday. McAuliffe, in the middle of a three-day trade mission to Cuba, said the Virginia delegation signed a memorandum of understanding with the Cuban Port Authority, which recently completed the $1 billion Port of Mariel project, according to the governor's office...
Greece's economic crisis goes on, like an odyssey without end The Guardian ...Like an odyssey without end, Greece’s great economic crisis goes on and the predicament of people such as Staikos is igniting new fears of social unrest. Ushering in the new year, prime minister Alexis Tsipras predicted that 2016 marked the beginning of the end, “a final exit from economic crisis”. With a financial lifeline sealed via an €86bn (£63bn) aid package from the International Monetary Fund, EU and the European Central Bank, the country could look ahead to radical change...
Happy 2016! These CEOs Have Already Banked An Average Worker's Salary Common Dreams ...By lunchtime Monday, Canada's top chief executives had already banked an average worker's annual salary. To put that another way, in 2014, the country's top-paid CEOs took home 184 times as much as the average Canadian worker, according to an annual report on publicly-traded companies released Monday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives...
Happy 2016! These CEOs Have Already Banked An Average Worker's Salary Common Dreams ...By lunchtime Monday, Canada's top chief executives had already banked an average worker's annual salary. To put that another way, in 2014, the country's top-paid CEOs took home 184 times as much as the average Canadian worker, according to an annual report on publicly-traded companies released Monday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
California’s $15 Minimum Wage Initiative Is Likely Headed to Voters RH Reality Check ...A California initiative calling for a $15 minimum wage by 2021 is likely headed to state voters in November after gathering more than enough signatures to qualify. The voter measure would hike the statewide minimum wage by a dollar on January 1 of every year from 2017 to 2021. California’s statewide minimum wage stands at $10, making it one of the nation’s highest and second only the District of Columbia...
Minority Groups Knock Redistricting Ballot Measure Colorado Public Radio ...A proposed ballot measure that would change the way Colorado’s political maps are drawn is being criticized by some minority groups and lawmakers. Currently, the state Legislature determines Colorado's congressional districts after each census. The ballot measure would shift that responsibility to a 12-member independent commission...
Bevin's road fund cuts bemoaned in Louisville Courier-Journal ...Due to falling state gas tax revenues, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin issued an order Monday cutting the state Transportation Cabinet budget by $112.5 million. The order calls for more than half of the savings – $62 million – to be achieved by a reduction in state road aid to cities and counties...
Ethics, voter ID among measures to watch in Missouri session KY3.com ...Missouri lawmakers are set to discuss issues ranging from how to repair state roads and bridges to laws on abortion. The 2016 legislative session begins Wednesday. Legislative leaders have said tightening state laws on ethics will be a top priority. Proposals on the table include banning lobbyist gifts to lawmakers...
Minority Groups Knock Redistricting Ballot Measure Colorado Public Radio ...A proposed ballot measure that would change the way Colorado’s political maps are drawn is being criticized by some minority groups and lawmakers. Currently, the state Legislature determines Colorado's congressional districts after each census. The ballot measure would shift that responsibility to a 12-member independent commission...
Bevin's road fund cuts bemoaned in Louisville Courier-Journal ...Due to falling state gas tax revenues, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin issued an order Monday cutting the state Transportation Cabinet budget by $112.5 million. The order calls for more than half of the savings – $62 million – to be achieved by a reduction in state road aid to cities and counties...
Ethics, voter ID among measures to watch in Missouri session KY3.com ...Missouri lawmakers are set to discuss issues ranging from how to repair state roads and bridges to laws on abortion. The 2016 legislative session begins Wednesday. Legislative leaders have said tightening state laws on ethics will be a top priority. Proposals on the table include banning lobbyist gifts to lawmakers...
Minimum Wage to Raise for All City Workers in 2018 NY1.com ...Minimum wage for city workers is going up. Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to announce plans to raise the minimum wage for city workers to $15 an hour by 2018. Those who will see the increase include school crossing guards and teacher's aides. Not-for-profits with city contracts city will also have to pay their workers at least $15 an hour...
Group Seeking Comment From Workers, Employers On Paid Sick Leave CBS ...A group looking to study the impact of workplace regulations in Minneapolis is holding a series of community meetings this month to get ideas related to earned sick time and paid time off. The city of Minneapolis says its Workplace Partnership Group will hold six meetings in January, with each one focused on different groups...
Group Seeking Comment From Workers, Employers On Paid Sick Leave CBS ...A group looking to study the impact of workplace regulations in Minneapolis is holding a series of community meetings this month to get ideas related to earned sick time and paid time off. The city of Minneapolis says its Workplace Partnership Group will hold six meetings in January, with each one focused on different groups...
U.S. LABOR
Phoenix Bus Drivers Will Strike, Union Leaders Say New Times ...About 650 bus drivers in Phoenix will go on strike tonight at midnight, according to local transportation union leaders. Bob Bean, president of the local Amalgamated Transit Union chapter says the strike, which will affect 75 percent of bus routes in Phoenix, comes after weeks of failed negotiations between ATU and Transdev...
Talks resume between ATI, union Rep-Am ...Allegheny Technologies Inc. and the United Steelworkers met this week, resuming talks for the first time since September over a labor dispute involving a four-month lockout of more than 2,200 union employees -- including 30 workers at a plant in Waterbury. The talks were held in the union's Pittsburgh headquarters with a federal mediator...
Talks resume between ATI, union Rep-Am ...Allegheny Technologies Inc. and the United Steelworkers met this week, resuming talks for the first time since September over a labor dispute involving a four-month lockout of more than 2,200 union employees -- including 30 workers at a plant in Waterbury. The talks were held in the union's Pittsburgh headquarters with a federal mediator...
'Depressing' atmosphere envelops DuPont as layoffs begin Delaware Online ...A grim mood hung in the air Monday as DuPont Co. workers in Delaware learned whether their positions will be included in a massive round of layoffs that will eliminate 1,700 positions in the First State. Ron Ozer, an engineer at the DuPont Experimental Station near Alapocas, lost his job Monday after nearly 25 years with the company...
Utz workers sue Pa. snack company over pay PennLive ...The chips are down at Utz as the Hanover, Pa., company faces a federal lawsuit brought by three drivers who claim they are owed thousands in overtime pay, WITF is reporting. Right now, the suit is confined to three drivers from Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania who say they cart Utz snacks into stores and stock shelves for far longer than 40 hours a week -- but only receive their normal pay...
United Farm Worker pioneer Alfredo R. Vazquez’s life remembered Fresno Bee ...Civil rights activist and United Farm Workers Association pioneer Alfredo R. Vazquez, 98, died on Dec. 31, 2015. Vazquez often endured abuse and threats during farm labor strikes, marches, boycotts and fasts with civil activist, Cesar Chavez. Vazquez’s last words are reported to have been “I did what I came here to do,” according to his son, Miguel Vazquez...
Why Skills Are Not Enough to Land a Job The Nation ... in light of rising graduation rates in recent years, education experts—presumably those who previously worried about low high school completion rates—now worry this seemingly good news is actually meaningless because diplomas are losing their “value”...
Denying People A Job After They've Left Prison Is Unconstitutional, Court Rules Huffington Post ...A court in Pennsylvania on Wednesday struck down a state law that imposed a lifetime ban from employment on as many as 200,000 people with criminal records in the state. A unanimous seven-judge panel ruled that part of the state's Older Adult Protective Services Act was unconstitutional because it was too broad in delineating the types of past crimes that disqualified people from jobs that involve caring for the elderly and other kinds of long-term care...
The Labor Prospect: What to Watch in 2016 American Prospect ...The year 2015 was widely regarded as a reinvigorating one for the labor movement, with federal administrative rulings and local minimum-wage ordinances breaking workers’ way. Last year, however, merely set the stage for a much more consequential 2016. This year could either go very badly or very well, depending on a whole host of labor prospects...
Utz workers sue Pa. snack company over pay PennLive ...The chips are down at Utz as the Hanover, Pa., company faces a federal lawsuit brought by three drivers who claim they are owed thousands in overtime pay, WITF is reporting. Right now, the suit is confined to three drivers from Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania who say they cart Utz snacks into stores and stock shelves for far longer than 40 hours a week -- but only receive their normal pay...
United Farm Worker pioneer Alfredo R. Vazquez’s life remembered Fresno Bee ...Civil rights activist and United Farm Workers Association pioneer Alfredo R. Vazquez, 98, died on Dec. 31, 2015. Vazquez often endured abuse and threats during farm labor strikes, marches, boycotts and fasts with civil activist, Cesar Chavez. Vazquez’s last words are reported to have been “I did what I came here to do,” according to his son, Miguel Vazquez...
Why Skills Are Not Enough to Land a Job The Nation ... in light of rising graduation rates in recent years, education experts—presumably those who previously worried about low high school completion rates—now worry this seemingly good news is actually meaningless because diplomas are losing their “value”...
Denying People A Job After They've Left Prison Is Unconstitutional, Court Rules Huffington Post ...A court in Pennsylvania on Wednesday struck down a state law that imposed a lifetime ban from employment on as many as 200,000 people with criminal records in the state. A unanimous seven-judge panel ruled that part of the state's Older Adult Protective Services Act was unconstitutional because it was too broad in delineating the types of past crimes that disqualified people from jobs that involve caring for the elderly and other kinds of long-term care...
The Labor Prospect: What to Watch in 2016 American Prospect ...The year 2015 was widely regarded as a reinvigorating one for the labor movement, with federal administrative rulings and local minimum-wage ordinances breaking workers’ way. Last year, however, merely set the stage for a much more consequential 2016. This year could either go very badly or very well, depending on a whole host of labor prospects...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Uber fail: Why the start-up giant stumbled in Europe — and how it could happen in the U.S. Salon ...It’s hard to imagine Uber permanently giving up on Europe’s biggest economy, of course. But according to a report in The New York Times, Uber’s problem goes well beyond Germany’s borders. Deutschland is just one of many places where Uber’s struggling — and it’s almost always for the same reason...
Obama Said He Would Focus on Deporting Criminals. He’s Targeting Families Instead. Slate ...A nation-wide deportation campaign targeting families fleeing violence from Central America began this past weekend, sending immigrants from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala—and their governments—scrambling to prepare for more. This isn’t the first or the biggest ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, raid: George W. Bush’s administration is infamous for its raids on residential areas and workplaces...
"Every Time I Think About Those Kids It Gets Me Mad": Obama Tears Up as He Orders New Gun Control Democracy Now ...President Obama has laid out his plans to take executive action in an attempt to cut gun violence. Part of his plan will result in mandatory background checks for individuals purchasing firearms online or at gun shows. The administration is also calling for the hiring of 200 new federal agents to enforce the nation’s gun laws...
The Oregon Standoff, Black Lives Matter, and Criminal-Justice Reform The Atlantic ...The standoff in Oregon between armed militias and federal law-enforcement provides a great moment for reflecting on some of the lessons of Black Lives Matter and the criminal-justice-reform movement that grew over the last year. The antigovernment protesters took over the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in support of two ranchers convicted of committing arson on public lands and have vowed “to stay as long as it takes”...
Obama Said He Would Focus on Deporting Criminals. He’s Targeting Families Instead. Slate ...A nation-wide deportation campaign targeting families fleeing violence from Central America began this past weekend, sending immigrants from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala—and their governments—scrambling to prepare for more. This isn’t the first or the biggest ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, raid: George W. Bush’s administration is infamous for its raids on residential areas and workplaces...
"Every Time I Think About Those Kids It Gets Me Mad": Obama Tears Up as He Orders New Gun Control Democracy Now ...President Obama has laid out his plans to take executive action in an attempt to cut gun violence. Part of his plan will result in mandatory background checks for individuals purchasing firearms online or at gun shows. The administration is also calling for the hiring of 200 new federal agents to enforce the nation’s gun laws...
The Oregon Standoff, Black Lives Matter, and Criminal-Justice Reform The Atlantic ...The standoff in Oregon between armed militias and federal law-enforcement provides a great moment for reflecting on some of the lessons of Black Lives Matter and the criminal-justice-reform movement that grew over the last year. The antigovernment protesters took over the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in support of two ranchers convicted of committing arson on public lands and have vowed “to stay as long as it takes”...
How to Understand Donald Trump’s Sexist New Low The Nation ...Donald Trump, the man of the bottomless bottom, is making headlines for slurring Hillary Clinton as an “enabler” of her husband’s sexual misbehavior. Chris Matthews of MSNBC’s Hardball, who doesn’t shock easily, seemed staggered by it Monday night, insisting he’d never heard such a claim about Clinton before. “It’s beyond indecent,” he said...
Sanders Blasts Trump On Weird Climate Change Claim Think Progress ...On Monday night, the Democratic candidate blasted Trump’s claim that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. “What an insight. The entire scientific community has concluded that climate change is real and causing major problems, and Trump believes that it’s a hoax created by the Chinese. Surprised it wasn’t the Mexicans”...
Sanders Blasts Trump On Weird Climate Change Claim Think Progress ...On Monday night, the Democratic candidate blasted Trump’s claim that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. “What an insight. The entire scientific community has concluded that climate change is real and causing major problems, and Trump believes that it’s a hoax created by the Chinese. Surprised it wasn’t the Mexicans”...
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Today's Teamster News 01.05.16
TEAMSTERS
Teamsters Call On Solutions One Industries To Recognize Union, Honor Contract Teamster.org ...Teamsters that provide logistical and warehousing support for the men and women who serve at the Fort Irwin National Training Center are fighting an effort by One Solutions Industries to deny the wages and benefits guaranteed to the workers under their collective bargaining agreement. Solutions One Industries (SOI) was awarded the federal contract that covers the 23 members of Teamsters Local 166 on Nov. 1, 2015...
Cargill: Tried to resolve issues before firing Colorado Muslim workers Denver Post ...About 190 workers, mostly Somali, were let go after they left the meatpacking line to protest changes to prayer policy. The workers earn $14 per hour and up and are represented by a union, Teamsters Local 455. More than 2,000 people are employed at the plant...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Strike deadline set in Ontario corrections talks Canadian Labour Reporter ...Ontario correctional workers will be in a legal strike or lockout position on Jan. 10. The Ontario Ministry of Labour issued a “no board” report on Dec. 24, 2015, with respect to negotiations between the provincial government and Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) members in the Correctional Bargaining Unit of the Ontario Public Service...
With European trade deal unfinished, Obama to head to Germany in the spring Washington Post ...President Obama will head to Hannover, Germany in late April to attend a trade fair, the White House announced Wednesday, part of the administration's push to secure a European trade deal before he leaves office. Administration officials are hoping to make progress on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), negotiations between the United States and the European Union that have taken a back seat to the recently-forged Trans Pacific Partnership...
Business leaders announce support for TPP The Hill ..A group of the nation's chief executives is endorsing a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade agreement, calling on Congress to pass the pact this year. The Business Roundtable announced support Tuesday for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) saying it is a “significant” agreement that will open foreign markets and create U.S. jobs. BRT is the second major business group this week to announce support for the 12-nation TPP deal...
The five biggest lobbying fights to watch in 2016 Washington Post ...1. Trans-Pacific Partnership: TPP, the sweeping trade deal reached in October between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations, is expected to be hotly contested, both from members of Congress and from a wide swath of interest groups. It will be the biggest showdown among lawmakers, interest groups and the White House in 2016...
Chile will sign the TPP in February Fresh Plaza ...The Chilean government announced that it would sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) in February in New Zealand. For this purpose, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Heraldo Munoz, will travel to New Zealand to complete the processing of an arrangement that involves 12 countries, including the United States, Japan, Mexico, Canada, and Peru...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Dems say paid sick leave bill a priority WCAX ...Vermont lawmakers will return to Montpelier Tuesday. With a budget to balance, a revenue bill to compose and potentially marijuana legalization to debate, their schedule is full. Democrats also have their sights set on changing the way some companies do business. The two political parties differ wildly over whether mandating that employers offer paid sick leave is a good idea...
Cuomo Lifts Minimum Wage for Workers at New York Universities New York Times ...Continuing a push for the payment of higher wages for public-sector jobs, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York announced a plan on Monday to raise the minimum wage for state university workers to $15. Mr. Cuomo’s action was the latest to address what he sees as subpar wages: He used a state wage board to increase hourly pay to $15 for fast-food workers last summer and unveiled a similar plan for an estimated 10,000 state workers in November...
16 Michigan political issues to watch in 2016 MLive ...There is a legislative appetite to repeal prevailing wage in the state which provides union-scale wages on publicly funded construction projects. But Gov. Rick Snyder has telegraphed that it's not a priority of his. The ballot proposal could essentially circumvent the governor, repealing prevailing wage by getting 252,523 signatures and submitting it to the legislature...
N.H.'s Voter ID Law Remains Big Unknown for Presidential Primary Day NHPR ...New Hampshire’s primary is just five weeks away, and state election officials are anticipating record turnout. There’s something else on their minds too—this will be the first presidential primary with the state’s new voter ID law in place. The law, which passed three and a half years ago, was part of a wave of stricter voter laws pushed by Republicans across the country...
Right-to-work law would hurt workers, weaken labor unions in West Virginia (opinion) Herald Dispatch ...One piece of legislation likely to be considered in West Virginia in 2016 is misleadingly called "right to work," or RTW. It really has nothing to do with that right but a lot to do with targeting all working families. It's more like "right to work for less." According to current law, if most eligible workers in a private-sector job vote to join a union in a National Labor Relations Board election, all belong...
U.S. LABOR
Volkswagen appeals UAW election at Chattanooga plant Times Free Press ...In the latest salvo between Volkswagen and the United Auto Workers, VW has asked in an appeal of the union election at its Chattanooga plant this month that regulators scrap key cases on which the UAW based much of its legal footing. Lawyers for VW said the Specialty Healthcare legal cases on which the UAW depended to organize a small group of workers should be abandoned...
UAW receives notice of 936 layoffs at Freightliner plant WSOCTV ...A representative of the United Auto Workers Union told channel 9 on Monday that the union received a notice that 936 people will be laid off from the Cleveland Freightliner plant in Rowan County. The representative said the UAW received a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice dated Dec. 31. The last day of work will be Friday...
Richmond Baking Company workers strike Pal-Item ...The company was notified Sunday by the Bakery Workers Union that employees would begin a strike at 2 p.m. Monday, and they did just that. Workers held signs saying "On strike unfair contract," "We have pride too," "More work? Less pay? No way," "Work up; family and pay down," "United We Stand Local 1," "Fair work fair pay" and "Honk 2 Help"...
Mediation begins in Valley bus union-operator negotiations KTAR ...Mediation begins Monday between the union representing bus drivers in the metro Phoenix area and the company that operates them. There is a new middle man in the fight between Transdev and the Amalgamated Transit Union. Former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor has been hired to help the two parties settle a collective bargaining agreement in hopes of avoiding a bus driver strike...
Analysis of NLRB Elections Shows Quicker Elections, More Union Wins BNA ...Since the National Labor Relations Board’s controversial amendments to its representation election rules took effect last April, supporters and opponents alike have asked two questions: Have the new rules served to speed up the election process? And, if so, has this pickup in tempo favored unions more than employers? Bloomberg BNA has released a report, Election Speed and the NLRB: How Unions Fare in the Representation Process, which suggests that the answer to both questions is yes...
The middle class is just this screwed: Janet Yellen declares victory while workers drown Salon ...Earlier this month when Fed chair Janet Yellen offered her rationale for raising interest rates, it was sadly reminiscent of President George W. Bush’s infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech, given on the USS Abraham Lincoln when he declared that major combat operations in Iraq were over in 2003. Between 2010 and 2014 poverty increased in one third of America’s 3,000 counties...
Who’s Fighting the Mental-Health Crisis on Campus? Unions. The Nation .... Though Yale’s Mental Health Services system is supposed to provide general psychiatric care for all students and employees, Yale’s Graduate Employee Student Organization (GESO) - the UNITE HERE!–affiliated labor group that Yale graduate employees have been trying to turn into an official union for over a decade - argues that services on campus are deeply inadequate and fraught with bureaucratic barriers...
Women Can’t Expect Equality In The Boardroom Until At Least 2065 Think Progress ...The share of women on corporate board seats among hundreds of the country’s biggest corporations has doubled over the last 17 years. But even if the rate of change significantly increased, it will take decades until women reach equality. In 2014, women made up about 16 percent of board seats among companies in the S&P 1500 index...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
'Don't open the door,' immigrants are warned as family deportation roundup continues LA Times ...More than a hundred immigrants, mostly Central American families, were detained in a handful of states through the weekend in a federal effort to deport those who recently entered the country and stayed illegally, according to officials and advocates. As part of the operation, 121 people were taken into custody -- primarily in Georgia, North Carolina and Texas -- and are being processed for deportation...
Robert Reich: The Economy in 2016: On the Edge of Recession Common Dreams ...Economic forecasters exist to make astrologers look good, but I’ll hazard a guess. I expect the U.S. economy to sputter in 2016. That’s because the economy faces a deep structural problem: not enough demand for all the goods and services it’s capable of producing. American consumers account for almost 70 percent of economic activity, but they won’t have enough purchasing power in 2016 to keep the economy going on more than two cylinders. Blame widening inequality..
5 Things You Need to Know About Oregon’s Militia Movement U.S. Uncut ...The ‘Patriot’ movement is a child of the White Power movement. Many of the tactics and talking points being used were popularized in the 1970s by the white supremacist group Posse Comitatus. This group promoted the “Christian Patriot” movement, advocated the formation of “Citizens Militias,” helped forge an idiosyncratic reading of the Constitution...
Here’s What Happened When Black People Tried Armed Occupation Think Progress ...30 years ago, a similar standoff between police and a black anti-government group in Philadelphia played out very differently. Armed members of a fringe liberation group called MOVE were bombed and burned alive for directing their weapons at police. The bombing highlighted the stark contrast in the way cops treat black and white radicals...
How the Leader of the Oregon Armed Protest Benefited From a Federal Loan Program Mother Jones ...As one of the leaders of a band of armed, anti-government activists who have taken over a Fish and Wildlife Service building in Oregon, Ammon Bundy has denounced the "tyranny" of the federal government. But not long ago, Ammon Bundy sought out help from the government he now decries and received a federal small-business loan guarantee...
The Melting Arctic's Dramatic Impact on Global Weather Patterns Truthout ...Arctic sea ice is melting at a record pace - and every summer looks grimmer. This past summer saw the ice pack at its fourth-lowest level on record, and the overall trend in recent decades suggests this will only continue. "Using satellites, scientists have found that the area of sea ice coverage each September has declined by more than 40 percent since the late 1970s, a trend that has accelerated since 2007"...
Teamsters Call On Solutions One Industries To Recognize Union, Honor Contract Teamster.org ...Teamsters that provide logistical and warehousing support for the men and women who serve at the Fort Irwin National Training Center are fighting an effort by One Solutions Industries to deny the wages and benefits guaranteed to the workers under their collective bargaining agreement. Solutions One Industries (SOI) was awarded the federal contract that covers the 23 members of Teamsters Local 166 on Nov. 1, 2015...
Cargill: Tried to resolve issues before firing Colorado Muslim workers Denver Post ...About 190 workers, mostly Somali, were let go after they left the meatpacking line to protest changes to prayer policy. The workers earn $14 per hour and up and are represented by a union, Teamsters Local 455. More than 2,000 people are employed at the plant...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Strike deadline set in Ontario corrections talks Canadian Labour Reporter ...Ontario correctional workers will be in a legal strike or lockout position on Jan. 10. The Ontario Ministry of Labour issued a “no board” report on Dec. 24, 2015, with respect to negotiations between the provincial government and Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) members in the Correctional Bargaining Unit of the Ontario Public Service...
With European trade deal unfinished, Obama to head to Germany in the spring Washington Post ...President Obama will head to Hannover, Germany in late April to attend a trade fair, the White House announced Wednesday, part of the administration's push to secure a European trade deal before he leaves office. Administration officials are hoping to make progress on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), negotiations between the United States and the European Union that have taken a back seat to the recently-forged Trans Pacific Partnership...
Business leaders announce support for TPP The Hill ..A group of the nation's chief executives is endorsing a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade agreement, calling on Congress to pass the pact this year. The Business Roundtable announced support Tuesday for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) saying it is a “significant” agreement that will open foreign markets and create U.S. jobs. BRT is the second major business group this week to announce support for the 12-nation TPP deal...
The five biggest lobbying fights to watch in 2016 Washington Post ...1. Trans-Pacific Partnership: TPP, the sweeping trade deal reached in October between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations, is expected to be hotly contested, both from members of Congress and from a wide swath of interest groups. It will be the biggest showdown among lawmakers, interest groups and the White House in 2016...
Chile will sign the TPP in February Fresh Plaza ...The Chilean government announced that it would sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) in February in New Zealand. For this purpose, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Heraldo Munoz, will travel to New Zealand to complete the processing of an arrangement that involves 12 countries, including the United States, Japan, Mexico, Canada, and Peru...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Dems say paid sick leave bill a priority WCAX ...Vermont lawmakers will return to Montpelier Tuesday. With a budget to balance, a revenue bill to compose and potentially marijuana legalization to debate, their schedule is full. Democrats also have their sights set on changing the way some companies do business. The two political parties differ wildly over whether mandating that employers offer paid sick leave is a good idea...
Cuomo Lifts Minimum Wage for Workers at New York Universities New York Times ...Continuing a push for the payment of higher wages for public-sector jobs, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York announced a plan on Monday to raise the minimum wage for state university workers to $15. Mr. Cuomo’s action was the latest to address what he sees as subpar wages: He used a state wage board to increase hourly pay to $15 for fast-food workers last summer and unveiled a similar plan for an estimated 10,000 state workers in November...
16 Michigan political issues to watch in 2016 MLive ...There is a legislative appetite to repeal prevailing wage in the state which provides union-scale wages on publicly funded construction projects. But Gov. Rick Snyder has telegraphed that it's not a priority of his. The ballot proposal could essentially circumvent the governor, repealing prevailing wage by getting 252,523 signatures and submitting it to the legislature...
N.H.'s Voter ID Law Remains Big Unknown for Presidential Primary Day NHPR ...New Hampshire’s primary is just five weeks away, and state election officials are anticipating record turnout. There’s something else on their minds too—this will be the first presidential primary with the state’s new voter ID law in place. The law, which passed three and a half years ago, was part of a wave of stricter voter laws pushed by Republicans across the country...
Right-to-work law would hurt workers, weaken labor unions in West Virginia (opinion) Herald Dispatch ...One piece of legislation likely to be considered in West Virginia in 2016 is misleadingly called "right to work," or RTW. It really has nothing to do with that right but a lot to do with targeting all working families. It's more like "right to work for less." According to current law, if most eligible workers in a private-sector job vote to join a union in a National Labor Relations Board election, all belong...
U.S. LABOR
Volkswagen appeals UAW election at Chattanooga plant Times Free Press ...In the latest salvo between Volkswagen and the United Auto Workers, VW has asked in an appeal of the union election at its Chattanooga plant this month that regulators scrap key cases on which the UAW based much of its legal footing. Lawyers for VW said the Specialty Healthcare legal cases on which the UAW depended to organize a small group of workers should be abandoned...
UAW receives notice of 936 layoffs at Freightliner plant WSOCTV ...A representative of the United Auto Workers Union told channel 9 on Monday that the union received a notice that 936 people will be laid off from the Cleveland Freightliner plant in Rowan County. The representative said the UAW received a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice dated Dec. 31. The last day of work will be Friday...
Richmond Baking Company workers strike Pal-Item ...The company was notified Sunday by the Bakery Workers Union that employees would begin a strike at 2 p.m. Monday, and they did just that. Workers held signs saying "On strike unfair contract," "We have pride too," "More work? Less pay? No way," "Work up; family and pay down," "United We Stand Local 1," "Fair work fair pay" and "Honk 2 Help"...
Mediation begins in Valley bus union-operator negotiations KTAR ...Mediation begins Monday between the union representing bus drivers in the metro Phoenix area and the company that operates them. There is a new middle man in the fight between Transdev and the Amalgamated Transit Union. Former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor has been hired to help the two parties settle a collective bargaining agreement in hopes of avoiding a bus driver strike...
Analysis of NLRB Elections Shows Quicker Elections, More Union Wins BNA ...Since the National Labor Relations Board’s controversial amendments to its representation election rules took effect last April, supporters and opponents alike have asked two questions: Have the new rules served to speed up the election process? And, if so, has this pickup in tempo favored unions more than employers? Bloomberg BNA has released a report, Election Speed and the NLRB: How Unions Fare in the Representation Process, which suggests that the answer to both questions is yes...
The middle class is just this screwed: Janet Yellen declares victory while workers drown Salon ...Earlier this month when Fed chair Janet Yellen offered her rationale for raising interest rates, it was sadly reminiscent of President George W. Bush’s infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech, given on the USS Abraham Lincoln when he declared that major combat operations in Iraq were over in 2003. Between 2010 and 2014 poverty increased in one third of America’s 3,000 counties...
Who’s Fighting the Mental-Health Crisis on Campus? Unions. The Nation .... Though Yale’s Mental Health Services system is supposed to provide general psychiatric care for all students and employees, Yale’s Graduate Employee Student Organization (GESO) - the UNITE HERE!–affiliated labor group that Yale graduate employees have been trying to turn into an official union for over a decade - argues that services on campus are deeply inadequate and fraught with bureaucratic barriers...
Women Can’t Expect Equality In The Boardroom Until At Least 2065 Think Progress ...The share of women on corporate board seats among hundreds of the country’s biggest corporations has doubled over the last 17 years. But even if the rate of change significantly increased, it will take decades until women reach equality. In 2014, women made up about 16 percent of board seats among companies in the S&P 1500 index...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
'Don't open the door,' immigrants are warned as family deportation roundup continues LA Times ...More than a hundred immigrants, mostly Central American families, were detained in a handful of states through the weekend in a federal effort to deport those who recently entered the country and stayed illegally, according to officials and advocates. As part of the operation, 121 people were taken into custody -- primarily in Georgia, North Carolina and Texas -- and are being processed for deportation...
Robert Reich: The Economy in 2016: On the Edge of Recession Common Dreams ...Economic forecasters exist to make astrologers look good, but I’ll hazard a guess. I expect the U.S. economy to sputter in 2016. That’s because the economy faces a deep structural problem: not enough demand for all the goods and services it’s capable of producing. American consumers account for almost 70 percent of economic activity, but they won’t have enough purchasing power in 2016 to keep the economy going on more than two cylinders. Blame widening inequality..
5 Things You Need to Know About Oregon’s Militia Movement U.S. Uncut ...The ‘Patriot’ movement is a child of the White Power movement. Many of the tactics and talking points being used were popularized in the 1970s by the white supremacist group Posse Comitatus. This group promoted the “Christian Patriot” movement, advocated the formation of “Citizens Militias,” helped forge an idiosyncratic reading of the Constitution...
Here’s What Happened When Black People Tried Armed Occupation Think Progress ...30 years ago, a similar standoff between police and a black anti-government group in Philadelphia played out very differently. Armed members of a fringe liberation group called MOVE were bombed and burned alive for directing their weapons at police. The bombing highlighted the stark contrast in the way cops treat black and white radicals...
How the Leader of the Oregon Armed Protest Benefited From a Federal Loan Program Mother Jones ...As one of the leaders of a band of armed, anti-government activists who have taken over a Fish and Wildlife Service building in Oregon, Ammon Bundy has denounced the "tyranny" of the federal government. But not long ago, Ammon Bundy sought out help from the government he now decries and received a federal small-business loan guarantee...
The Melting Arctic's Dramatic Impact on Global Weather Patterns Truthout ...Arctic sea ice is melting at a record pace - and every summer looks grimmer. This past summer saw the ice pack at its fourth-lowest level on record, and the overall trend in recent decades suggests this will only continue. "Using satellites, scientists have found that the area of sea ice coverage each September has declined by more than 40 percent since the late 1970s, a trend that has accelerated since 2007"...
Friday, December 11, 2015
Today's Teamster News 12.11.15
TEAMSTERS
Teamsters, Activists Deliver Thousands of Signed Petitions to UPS Calling for Withdrawal from ALEC Teamster.org ...Today, Teamsters Union representatives in Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, Ga. led delegations that included environmental and community activists that delivered thousands signed petitions to UPS offices in both cities. The 75,000 signed petitions collected call on the corporation to withdraw its membership in the controversial American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)...
Hoffa: Final Customs Bill Offers Little More to Make TPP Better for Workers Teamster.org ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa in response to the issuance of a House-Senate conference report on a customs reauthorization bill that does little to address the many shortfalls contained in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): “If leaders in Congress were trying to come up with a way to make trade fair for American workers and those around the globe, they failed miserably"...
Drivers at Transdev Vote to Join Teamsters Local 117 Local 117 ...Drivers, who are employed by Transdev, have voted to join Teamsters Local 117. The 260 workers came together seeking retirement security, affordable health care, fair and equal treatment, strong representation, and respect. “We’ve taken a very important step toward making our work environment better for the future,” said John Secord, a 4-year Transdev employee...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Paris Transport Workers Strike Amid Spike In Suspicious Package Claims IBTimes ...Less than a month since the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 and fueled international concerns over security, Paris transport workers are expressing their concerns for their own safety. Workers went on a 24-hour strike Thursday, saying security concerns have increased as a result of a high number of suspicious packages being reported on Paris public transportation, the Agence France-Presse reported. Passengers in Paris reported severely disrupted train traffic...
McConnell deals blow to Obama TPP hopes The Hill ...Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday crushed any hope that Congress could pass a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade agreement before the 2016 elections. McConnell, who has expressed concerns about the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and has yet to take a stance, said President Obama is risking defeat of his signature trade deal if he tries to push for passage before a lame-duck session next year...
Honduras and CAFTA Show Us One of the Key Reasons Why TPP Should Be Opposed (opinion) AFLCIO ...This week, the governments of Honduras and the United States signed an action plan to begin addressing the widespread failure to enforce labor laws in Honduras. While this is a small step in the right direction, the Honduran government has not fully considered or included workers' recommendations regarding this Monitoring and Action Plan. The Honduran government, employers and unions have reached consensus on some points...
Portugal's new anti-austerity government makes more spending cuts in battle to lower deficit Star Tribune ...Portugal's new anti-austerity Socialist government has hit a snag: it needs to introduce more cutbacks to keep its pledge of getting the budget deficit lower than 3 percent this year, as demanded by its eurozone partners and creditors. Finance Minister Mario Centeno said after a Cabinet meeting Thursday the government is imposing a freeze on non-urgent spending...
Tunisian Unions Receive Nobel Prize in Ceremony Today Solidarity Center ...,The Nobel Peace Prize was formally awarded today to the Tunisian “Quartet,” which includes the country’s labor movement for its role in brokering a peaceful path to democracy. At a ceremony in Oslo, Norway, Houcine Abassi, general secretary of the Tunisian General Labor Union (Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail, UGTT) said, “Tunisia is an exception so far in the Arab Spring countries, but this doesn’t mean that it may not be replicated in other countries”...
How Climate Change Will Transform Work The Nation ...The term “green economy” danced around the corridors at the Paris climate talks, evoking visions of electric cars and “clean tech.” But “decarbonization” is a messier story in the Global South. Workers in the rapidly warming “developing world” need more than wind turbines and highbrow organic farms; they need to build livelihoods that can mitigate ecological crisis—and leap ahead of the dominant fossil-fuel based economies, which historically have both controlled and stifled their development...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Connecticut Legislature Approves Budget Cuts Wall Street Journal ...Lawmakers in Connecticut on Tuesday approved a $350 million plan to address a shortfall in the state’s budget. The state Senate, controlled by Democrats, passed the bill 20-15. The House of Representatives, also controlled by Democrats, passed it 75-65. The plan cuts spending by $195.8 million and diverts $135.7 million from several specialized accounts, including the transportation fund...
Senate moves Pennsylvania budget fight into House's court WTAE ...The Pennsylvania Senate sprinted through hundreds of pages of just-unveiled budget legislation Thursday, handing it back to the House Republican majority and all but ensuring that a five-month stalemate that is crippling social services agencies would plow into next week. The Republican-controlled Senate adjourned Thursday night after a marathon week of passing major bills that authorize $30.8 billion in spending...
California pension overhaul advocates move forward after Kamala Harris issues analyses Sac Bee ...California moved one step closer to a public retirement fight after the state issued official summaries for two pension-change ballot proposals on Thursday – and for the first time neither labor unions nor the measures’ proponents griped that the language was politically slanted or inaccurate. “It’s not the most positive way to describe the initiative,” said Chuck Reed, the former San Jose mayor who is backing the proposal...
U.S. LABOR
Uber drivers get big boost in lawsuit against company SF Chronicle ...In a major setback for Uber, a federal judge on Wednesday dramatically expanded the scope — both in potential financial damages and in the number of people affected — of a class-action lawsuit by California drivers seeking to be reclassified as employees. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen ruled that even drivers who accepted mandatory arbitration in their Uber contract should be included in the case...
Negotiations Resume Between Kohler Company, Striking Workers CBS ...Negotiations resumed between Kohler company and union officials on Thursday, according to UAW Local 833 members. The 2,000 striking employees got their final paycheck at the end of last week from the company. Some will also have their vacation time paid out, members said...
Suburban office janitors rally for $15 wage as contract expiration looms Business Journal ...Dozens of janitors who staff more than 150 suburban Philadelphia office buildings called for a wage that would give their children a Christmas they deserve in a demonstration Thursday outside Vanguard's Malvern offices. Members of the 32BJ Service Employees International Union want the owners of the approximately 170 properties in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties to agree to raise their wage...
D.C. Streetcar Management Found Guilty of Threatening Workers DC Labor ...As news surfaced that the beleaguered DC Streetcar will not be ready this year and an exposé showed that the project has drained more than $200 million in taxpayer funds, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that the private DDOT contractor charged with operating the streetcar engaged in illegal anti-union activity, including threatening workers who wanted to join a union. The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) says the decision is a legal victory...
The Tipping Point: Most Americans No Longer Are Middle Class NPR ...Americans have long lived in a nation made up primarily of middle-class families, neither rich nor poor, but comfortable enough. This year, that changed, according to the Pew Research Center. A just-released analysis of government data shows that as of 2015, middle-income households have become the minority...
Proposed House and Senate Bills Would Roll Back New Worker Protections in Guestworker Program In These Times ..After years of legal battles, the H-2B guestworker program finally acquired official rules in April. For the first time, workers in the program were guaranteed basic protections like minimum hours and local average wages. But now those rules are being challenged in several Congressional bills. The proposed bills could dramatically alter the program, cutting protections for U.S. and foreign workers alike...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Report Shows How Charter Schools Are in Business of 'Privatization and Profiteering' Common Dreams ...The explosion of charter schools in the U.S. is allowing individuals, corporations, and organizations to use public funds to secure their own financial gain and private profit—often at the expense of the common interest they claim to serve, a new policy brief from the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado-Boulder finds...
Immigration official: Etowah immigration detainee hunger strike over AL.com ...A hunger strike by immigration detainees at the Etowah County Detention Center that began the day before Thanksgiving has ended, immigration officials say. Bryan Cox, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said eight detainees ate the evening meal Wednesday and "voluntarily ended their strike." "As of today the Etowah hunger strike is over," Cox said Wednesday...
Climate Apartheid: Greenpeace Chief Says Poorest Suffer Brunt of Rich Nations' Emissions Democracy Now ...Representatives from nearly 200 nations are in the final stretch of negotiations at the U.N. climate summit in Paris. The text has nearly 100 outstanding points of disagreement that still need to be resolved. One of the most contentious issues is the role that wealthy and more advanced developing countries should play in helping vulnerable nations cope with the impacts of climate change...
Poll: Majority of Americans oppose Trump's Muslim ban plan Daily Kos ...Poll: Majority of Americans oppose Trump's Muslim ban plan. There are sharp differences by political party. Just over half of Republicans responding -- 54 percent -- support such a ban, while most Democrats and independents do not...
Hundreds of U.S. Groups Join Forces to Stand Against 'Dangerous Tide of Hatred, Violence' Common Dreams ...It is incumbent on every public figure, elected politician, and media outlet to stand up against the "dangerous tide of hatred, violence, and suspicion" taking hold in the United States, over 700 prominent organizations and people declared in a full-page ad in Thursday's New York Times. Signatories warn that, in particular, violence is aimed at "Arab and Muslim Americans, women and the places we seek health care, Black people, immigrants and refugees...
A Guilty Verdict for Daniel Holtzclaw The Atlantic ...An Oklahoma County jury handed down a series of guilty verdicts on Thursday night in the trial of former Oklahoma City Police Department officer Daniel Holtzclaw, who allegedly raped and sexually assaulted at least 13 black women in the neighborhood he patrolled. Holtzclaw, who turned 29 years old on Thursday, faced 36 charges in total...
Teamsters, Activists Deliver Thousands of Signed Petitions to UPS Calling for Withdrawal from ALEC Teamster.org ...Today, Teamsters Union representatives in Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, Ga. led delegations that included environmental and community activists that delivered thousands signed petitions to UPS offices in both cities. The 75,000 signed petitions collected call on the corporation to withdraw its membership in the controversial American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)...
Hoffa: Final Customs Bill Offers Little More to Make TPP Better for Workers Teamster.org ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa in response to the issuance of a House-Senate conference report on a customs reauthorization bill that does little to address the many shortfalls contained in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): “If leaders in Congress were trying to come up with a way to make trade fair for American workers and those around the globe, they failed miserably"...
Drivers at Transdev Vote to Join Teamsters Local 117 Local 117 ...Drivers, who are employed by Transdev, have voted to join Teamsters Local 117. The 260 workers came together seeking retirement security, affordable health care, fair and equal treatment, strong representation, and respect. “We’ve taken a very important step toward making our work environment better for the future,” said John Secord, a 4-year Transdev employee...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Paris Transport Workers Strike Amid Spike In Suspicious Package Claims IBTimes ...Less than a month since the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 and fueled international concerns over security, Paris transport workers are expressing their concerns for their own safety. Workers went on a 24-hour strike Thursday, saying security concerns have increased as a result of a high number of suspicious packages being reported on Paris public transportation, the Agence France-Presse reported. Passengers in Paris reported severely disrupted train traffic...
McConnell deals blow to Obama TPP hopes The Hill ...Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday crushed any hope that Congress could pass a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade agreement before the 2016 elections. McConnell, who has expressed concerns about the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and has yet to take a stance, said President Obama is risking defeat of his signature trade deal if he tries to push for passage before a lame-duck session next year...
Honduras and CAFTA Show Us One of the Key Reasons Why TPP Should Be Opposed (opinion) AFLCIO ...This week, the governments of Honduras and the United States signed an action plan to begin addressing the widespread failure to enforce labor laws in Honduras. While this is a small step in the right direction, the Honduran government has not fully considered or included workers' recommendations regarding this Monitoring and Action Plan. The Honduran government, employers and unions have reached consensus on some points...
Portugal's new anti-austerity government makes more spending cuts in battle to lower deficit Star Tribune ...Portugal's new anti-austerity Socialist government has hit a snag: it needs to introduce more cutbacks to keep its pledge of getting the budget deficit lower than 3 percent this year, as demanded by its eurozone partners and creditors. Finance Minister Mario Centeno said after a Cabinet meeting Thursday the government is imposing a freeze on non-urgent spending...
Tunisian Unions Receive Nobel Prize in Ceremony Today Solidarity Center ...,The Nobel Peace Prize was formally awarded today to the Tunisian “Quartet,” which includes the country’s labor movement for its role in brokering a peaceful path to democracy. At a ceremony in Oslo, Norway, Houcine Abassi, general secretary of the Tunisian General Labor Union (Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail, UGTT) said, “Tunisia is an exception so far in the Arab Spring countries, but this doesn’t mean that it may not be replicated in other countries”...
How Climate Change Will Transform Work The Nation ...The term “green economy” danced around the corridors at the Paris climate talks, evoking visions of electric cars and “clean tech.” But “decarbonization” is a messier story in the Global South. Workers in the rapidly warming “developing world” need more than wind turbines and highbrow organic farms; they need to build livelihoods that can mitigate ecological crisis—and leap ahead of the dominant fossil-fuel based economies, which historically have both controlled and stifled their development...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Connecticut Legislature Approves Budget Cuts Wall Street Journal ...Lawmakers in Connecticut on Tuesday approved a $350 million plan to address a shortfall in the state’s budget. The state Senate, controlled by Democrats, passed the bill 20-15. The House of Representatives, also controlled by Democrats, passed it 75-65. The plan cuts spending by $195.8 million and diverts $135.7 million from several specialized accounts, including the transportation fund...
Senate moves Pennsylvania budget fight into House's court WTAE ...The Pennsylvania Senate sprinted through hundreds of pages of just-unveiled budget legislation Thursday, handing it back to the House Republican majority and all but ensuring that a five-month stalemate that is crippling social services agencies would plow into next week. The Republican-controlled Senate adjourned Thursday night after a marathon week of passing major bills that authorize $30.8 billion in spending...
California pension overhaul advocates move forward after Kamala Harris issues analyses Sac Bee ...California moved one step closer to a public retirement fight after the state issued official summaries for two pension-change ballot proposals on Thursday – and for the first time neither labor unions nor the measures’ proponents griped that the language was politically slanted or inaccurate. “It’s not the most positive way to describe the initiative,” said Chuck Reed, the former San Jose mayor who is backing the proposal...
‘Right to work’ a tired, failed proposal (opinion) Cincinnati.com ...Here in Ohio, a broad coalition of working people is mobilizing against yet another attack on collective bargaining. Even though “right to work” has failed repeatedly in the past, Rep. Tom Brinkman, R-Mount Lookout, is pushing a new bill in the statehouse. It’s an effort to keep middle-class Ohioans from speaking up together for wages and benefits that can sustain our families...
Tucson talks of requiring paid sick leave from employers Arizona Daily Star ...The City Council is studying a proposal to require all Tucson employers to give earned sick days to employees, but the issue got off to a shaky start. Councilwoman Regina Romero proposed a city ordinance Tuesday making sick time mandatory as part of a “working family agenda,” but the discussion got heated and turned to whether the city can spend time on social justice issues while it’s trying to get its own fiscal house in order...U.S. LABOR
Uber drivers get big boost in lawsuit against company SF Chronicle ...In a major setback for Uber, a federal judge on Wednesday dramatically expanded the scope — both in potential financial damages and in the number of people affected — of a class-action lawsuit by California drivers seeking to be reclassified as employees. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen ruled that even drivers who accepted mandatory arbitration in their Uber contract should be included in the case...
Negotiations Resume Between Kohler Company, Striking Workers CBS ...Negotiations resumed between Kohler company and union officials on Thursday, according to UAW Local 833 members. The 2,000 striking employees got their final paycheck at the end of last week from the company. Some will also have their vacation time paid out, members said...
Suburban office janitors rally for $15 wage as contract expiration looms Business Journal ...Dozens of janitors who staff more than 150 suburban Philadelphia office buildings called for a wage that would give their children a Christmas they deserve in a demonstration Thursday outside Vanguard's Malvern offices. Members of the 32BJ Service Employees International Union want the owners of the approximately 170 properties in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties to agree to raise their wage...
D.C. Streetcar Management Found Guilty of Threatening Workers DC Labor ...As news surfaced that the beleaguered DC Streetcar will not be ready this year and an exposé showed that the project has drained more than $200 million in taxpayer funds, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that the private DDOT contractor charged with operating the streetcar engaged in illegal anti-union activity, including threatening workers who wanted to join a union. The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) says the decision is a legal victory...
The Tipping Point: Most Americans No Longer Are Middle Class NPR ...Americans have long lived in a nation made up primarily of middle-class families, neither rich nor poor, but comfortable enough. This year, that changed, according to the Pew Research Center. A just-released analysis of government data shows that as of 2015, middle-income households have become the minority...
Proposed House and Senate Bills Would Roll Back New Worker Protections in Guestworker Program In These Times ..After years of legal battles, the H-2B guestworker program finally acquired official rules in April. For the first time, workers in the program were guaranteed basic protections like minimum hours and local average wages. But now those rules are being challenged in several Congressional bills. The proposed bills could dramatically alter the program, cutting protections for U.S. and foreign workers alike...
UC Berkeley Workers, Students Say University’s Subcontracted Campus Jobs Mean Poverty Wages In These Times ...Twenty-two student protesters were arrested on December 3 after staging a two-hour occupation of the central administration offices at the University of California, Berkeley. The protesters stormed California Hall, where school head Chancellor Nicholas Dirks is headquartered, and sat down in the office lobby demanding living wages and benefits for workers employed by private contractors on campus...
After Laquan McDonald’s Shooting, Chicago Targets Police Contract Protections Mother Jones ...The Fraternal Order of Police contract with the city shapes how Chicago handles police misconduct allegations, disciplines rank-and-file officers, as well as when the city pays legal costs for police officers accused of wrongdoing. While activists have long called for changes to the contract, many people in local government have not been eager to take on that fight—until now...
Report Shows How Charter Schools Are in Business of 'Privatization and Profiteering' Common Dreams ...The explosion of charter schools in the U.S. is allowing individuals, corporations, and organizations to use public funds to secure their own financial gain and private profit—often at the expense of the common interest they claim to serve, a new policy brief from the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado-Boulder finds...
Immigration official: Etowah immigration detainee hunger strike over AL.com ...A hunger strike by immigration detainees at the Etowah County Detention Center that began the day before Thanksgiving has ended, immigration officials say. Bryan Cox, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said eight detainees ate the evening meal Wednesday and "voluntarily ended their strike." "As of today the Etowah hunger strike is over," Cox said Wednesday...
Climate Apartheid: Greenpeace Chief Says Poorest Suffer Brunt of Rich Nations' Emissions Democracy Now ...Representatives from nearly 200 nations are in the final stretch of negotiations at the U.N. climate summit in Paris. The text has nearly 100 outstanding points of disagreement that still need to be resolved. One of the most contentious issues is the role that wealthy and more advanced developing countries should play in helping vulnerable nations cope with the impacts of climate change...
Poll: Majority of Americans oppose Trump's Muslim ban plan Daily Kos ...Poll: Majority of Americans oppose Trump's Muslim ban plan. There are sharp differences by political party. Just over half of Republicans responding -- 54 percent -- support such a ban, while most Democrats and independents do not...
Hundreds of U.S. Groups Join Forces to Stand Against 'Dangerous Tide of Hatred, Violence' Common Dreams ...It is incumbent on every public figure, elected politician, and media outlet to stand up against the "dangerous tide of hatred, violence, and suspicion" taking hold in the United States, over 700 prominent organizations and people declared in a full-page ad in Thursday's New York Times. Signatories warn that, in particular, violence is aimed at "Arab and Muslim Americans, women and the places we seek health care, Black people, immigrants and refugees...
A Guilty Verdict for Daniel Holtzclaw The Atlantic ...An Oklahoma County jury handed down a series of guilty verdicts on Thursday night in the trial of former Oklahoma City Police Department officer Daniel Holtzclaw, who allegedly raped and sexually assaulted at least 13 black women in the neighborhood he patrolled. Holtzclaw, who turned 29 years old on Thursday, faced 36 charges in total...
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Today's Teamster News 11.17.15
TEAMSTERS
EVSC ratifies agreement with Teamsters 14 News ...The EVSC school board ratified its agreement with Teamsters Local 215 on Monday. EVSC union members have been working under a tentative agreement with the school corporation. The contracts are for non-teaching positions, like custodians and other support staff. The board president calls it "a fair agreement"...
Uber Drivers, Taxis to Rally at Seattle City Hall Local 117 ...Drivers will rally at City Hall on Wednesday, November 18 at 11 A.M. to highlight unfair working conditions in Seattle’s for-hire transportation industry and to demand fair pay, a level playing field, dignity, and respect. At the event, drivers will address a variety of issues such as public safety, driver safety, insurance regulations, deactivation, and low pay...
Teamster vote Nov. 23-24 at Threshold Enterprises Santa Cruz Sentinel ...Elena Cruz, 46, said she gets up at 3:30 a.m. so she can drive from her home in Castroville to Santa Cruz to start her 5 a.m. shift at Threshold Enterprises. She works in shipping and packaging for the privately held nutritional supplement-maker. She came to the Sentinel with two co-workers to explain why they support the union, which is negotiating a new contract to replace one for 600 workers that expired Sept. 16 and facing a decertification election on Nov. 23 and 24...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Obama’s trade deal is in trouble The Hill ...President Obama’s trade deal with 11 other Pacific Rim countries is in deep trouble with Congress. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) haven’t decided whether they’re going to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — even after they helped the president win fast-track authority in a bruising interparty fight that was meant to ease its passage...
Anti-TPP Protesters in Washington, DC Call on Congress to Reject TPP Trade Deal Sputnik News ...The US Congress must not approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement and should start new trade talks on a deal that would raise working, environmental and human rights standards, US advocacy group PopularResistance.org Co-Director Margaret Flowers told Sputnik....
Putin questions U.S.-led TPP trade pact arrangements Japan Times ...Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized on Tuesday the way the U.S.-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal is being arranged, saying the “clandestine talks” do not promote stability in the Asia-Pacific region. His comments were published on the Kremlin website just before this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum...
The TPP's Children's Table: Labor Rights and Currency Truthout ...The TPP has two classes of issues. On the one hand, there are the issues that really matter to the drafters of the deal. These are issues like protection of patents and copyrights and other forms of investment. That is the story of the adult table. The children's table is for issues that are of concern to labor rights, human rights and environmental rights activists...
More labour strikes in South African fruit industry Fresh Plaza ...More than 1500 workers, all members of FAWU employed by the Du Toit Agri Pty Ltd Group in Ceres, Prince Alfred Hamlet and Humansdorp in the Eastern Cape went on a strike Thursday, 12 November in demand of a wage increase and better working conditions. The company is said to be the leading packing and exporter of fruit and vegetables in the country. Last week a strike involving 2,000 banana workers at organic producer Umbhaba Banana Estates Farms, took place...
How the Paris Attacks Are Changing the EU’s Debate on Refugees The Atlantic ...The revelation that one of the suicide bombers who carried out Friday’s attacks on Paris entered Europe last month through the Greek island of Leros has complicated the increasingly fragile European plan to handle an historic migrant and refugee crisis. More than 700,000 people have entered Europe this year from the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Lawmakers feel new influence to raise the minimum wage Statesman Journal ...Oregon lawmakers are under renewed pressure to raise the state's $9.25 minimum wage. If lawmakers won't, several coalition groups have said, the issue will be decided by Oregon voters on the 2016 ballot. Monday afternoon, protesters at the Senate Interim Committee On Workforce and General Government broke into chants of "Fifteen now" and "Black lives matter"...
Voter photo ID, ethics reform among top priorities for Missouri Senate Republicans Missourinet ...State Senate Republicans have caucused and the filing of bills will begin December 1. The man who can decide what does and doesn’t reach the Senate floor in the 2016 session said he can’t rank legislative priorities, but Mike Kehoe (R-Jefferson City) told Missourinet there are some issues that stand out. Voter photo ID will be proposed again...
Legislation cut California’s workers’ compensation medical costs SacBee ...Three years ago, Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature enacted a major overhaul of the system that compensates workers for job-related injuries and illnesses. Senate Bill 863, backed by employers and labor unions, affected many specific aspects of the system but was aimed largely at reducing medical costs and redirecting savings into cash benefit increases for disabled workers...
'Poverty Pay' Leads Walmart Employees to Skip Lunch or Steal it From Co-Workers Alternet ...Walmart employees are so poor that they are skipping lunch, sharing it or, in some cases, stealing it from their coworkers, some of the company’s workers claimed on Thursday while announcing a fast in protest of the company’s wages. Starting Friday morning, over 100 Walmart associates who are members of Our Walmart, a workers organization, and about a 1,000 supporters will begin a fast to shine light on what they describe as Walmart’s “poverty pay”...
U.S. LABOR
General Motors and UAW Union Delay Ratifying New Contract Fortune ...Disagreement between production workers and skilled trades workers at General Motors plants has pushed back the formal ratification of the United Auto Workers’ four-year labor agreement with the car company. The so-called Big Three automakers—Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, GM, and Ford—have all entered negotiations with the UAW...
Ford UAW workers voting on new contract today WDRB ...Ford's 9,000 UAW members in Louisville are voting on a new contract today. The new contract will set wages and working conditions for Ford workers, and includes a number of pay increases, including an $8,500 signing bonus for each UAW member. If passed, it also comes with more than a billion dollars in upgrades to Louisville's two Ford plants...
Metro, Transit Union At Odds Over Contract WVXU ...The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 627 is encouraging members to attend Tuesday morning's Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) board meeting to speak out about the current contract situation. In a letter, the president of the union representing Metro employees told members their health insurance rates will dramatically increase next month despite the lack of a new contract...
EVSC ratifies agreement with Teamsters 14 News ...The EVSC school board ratified its agreement with Teamsters Local 215 on Monday. EVSC union members have been working under a tentative agreement with the school corporation. The contracts are for non-teaching positions, like custodians and other support staff. The board president calls it "a fair agreement"...
Uber Drivers, Taxis to Rally at Seattle City Hall Local 117 ...Drivers will rally at City Hall on Wednesday, November 18 at 11 A.M. to highlight unfair working conditions in Seattle’s for-hire transportation industry and to demand fair pay, a level playing field, dignity, and respect. At the event, drivers will address a variety of issues such as public safety, driver safety, insurance regulations, deactivation, and low pay...
Teamster vote Nov. 23-24 at Threshold Enterprises Santa Cruz Sentinel ...Elena Cruz, 46, said she gets up at 3:30 a.m. so she can drive from her home in Castroville to Santa Cruz to start her 5 a.m. shift at Threshold Enterprises. She works in shipping and packaging for the privately held nutritional supplement-maker. She came to the Sentinel with two co-workers to explain why they support the union, which is negotiating a new contract to replace one for 600 workers that expired Sept. 16 and facing a decertification election on Nov. 23 and 24...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Obama’s trade deal is in trouble The Hill ...President Obama’s trade deal with 11 other Pacific Rim countries is in deep trouble with Congress. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) haven’t decided whether they’re going to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — even after they helped the president win fast-track authority in a bruising interparty fight that was meant to ease its passage...
Anti-TPP Protesters in Washington, DC Call on Congress to Reject TPP Trade Deal Sputnik News ...The US Congress must not approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement and should start new trade talks on a deal that would raise working, environmental and human rights standards, US advocacy group PopularResistance.org Co-Director Margaret Flowers told Sputnik....
Putin questions U.S.-led TPP trade pact arrangements Japan Times ...Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized on Tuesday the way the U.S.-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal is being arranged, saying the “clandestine talks” do not promote stability in the Asia-Pacific region. His comments were published on the Kremlin website just before this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum...
The TPP's Children's Table: Labor Rights and Currency Truthout ...The TPP has two classes of issues. On the one hand, there are the issues that really matter to the drafters of the deal. These are issues like protection of patents and copyrights and other forms of investment. That is the story of the adult table. The children's table is for issues that are of concern to labor rights, human rights and environmental rights activists...
More labour strikes in South African fruit industry Fresh Plaza ...More than 1500 workers, all members of FAWU employed by the Du Toit Agri Pty Ltd Group in Ceres, Prince Alfred Hamlet and Humansdorp in the Eastern Cape went on a strike Thursday, 12 November in demand of a wage increase and better working conditions. The company is said to be the leading packing and exporter of fruit and vegetables in the country. Last week a strike involving 2,000 banana workers at organic producer Umbhaba Banana Estates Farms, took place...
How the Paris Attacks Are Changing the EU’s Debate on Refugees The Atlantic ...The revelation that one of the suicide bombers who carried out Friday’s attacks on Paris entered Europe last month through the Greek island of Leros has complicated the increasingly fragile European plan to handle an historic migrant and refugee crisis. More than 700,000 people have entered Europe this year from the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Lawmakers feel new influence to raise the minimum wage Statesman Journal ...Oregon lawmakers are under renewed pressure to raise the state's $9.25 minimum wage. If lawmakers won't, several coalition groups have said, the issue will be decided by Oregon voters on the 2016 ballot. Monday afternoon, protesters at the Senate Interim Committee On Workforce and General Government broke into chants of "Fifteen now" and "Black lives matter"...
Voter photo ID, ethics reform among top priorities for Missouri Senate Republicans Missourinet ...State Senate Republicans have caucused and the filing of bills will begin December 1. The man who can decide what does and doesn’t reach the Senate floor in the 2016 session said he can’t rank legislative priorities, but Mike Kehoe (R-Jefferson City) told Missourinet there are some issues that stand out. Voter photo ID will be proposed again...
Legislation cut California’s workers’ compensation medical costs SacBee ...Three years ago, Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature enacted a major overhaul of the system that compensates workers for job-related injuries and illnesses. Senate Bill 863, backed by employers and labor unions, affected many specific aspects of the system but was aimed largely at reducing medical costs and redirecting savings into cash benefit increases for disabled workers...
'Poverty Pay' Leads Walmart Employees to Skip Lunch or Steal it From Co-Workers Alternet ...Walmart employees are so poor that they are skipping lunch, sharing it or, in some cases, stealing it from their coworkers, some of the company’s workers claimed on Thursday while announcing a fast in protest of the company’s wages. Starting Friday morning, over 100 Walmart associates who are members of Our Walmart, a workers organization, and about a 1,000 supporters will begin a fast to shine light on what they describe as Walmart’s “poverty pay”...
U.S. LABOR
General Motors and UAW Union Delay Ratifying New Contract Fortune ...Disagreement between production workers and skilled trades workers at General Motors plants has pushed back the formal ratification of the United Auto Workers’ four-year labor agreement with the car company. The so-called Big Three automakers—Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, GM, and Ford—have all entered negotiations with the UAW...
Ford UAW workers voting on new contract today WDRB ...Ford's 9,000 UAW members in Louisville are voting on a new contract today. The new contract will set wages and working conditions for Ford workers, and includes a number of pay increases, including an $8,500 signing bonus for each UAW member. If passed, it also comes with more than a billion dollars in upgrades to Louisville's two Ford plants...
Metro, Transit Union At Odds Over Contract WVXU ...The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 627 is encouraging members to attend Tuesday morning's Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) board meeting to speak out about the current contract situation. In a letter, the president of the union representing Metro employees told members their health insurance rates will dramatically increase next month despite the lack of a new contract...
Union of Sonoma County government employees plans strike Tuesday Press Democrat ...The largest group of unionized Sonoma County government employees is set to go out on a one-day strike Tuesday, protesting what it contends is a stingy contract offer from the county, bad faith in negotiating at the bargaining table and other issues it says amount to unfair labor practices...
8 in 10 Hotel Workers Have Been Harassed at Work The Nation ...As part of UNITE HERE!’s Housekeeper’s Global Week of Action campaign, the hospitality workers of Long Beach, California, rallied on Thursday to push the City Council to adopt a set of labor standards that would limit their workloads and strengthen protection from assault...
Kohler workers reject offer, OK first union strike at company since 1983 Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel ...Union workers went on strike at Kohler Co. on Sunday after overwhelmingly rejecting what the firm had called its "last, best and final offer." Ninety-four percent voted down the Kohler proposal, Tim Tayloe, president of UAW Local 833, told cheering workers after the ballots were tallied...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
For-profit educator to pay $95.5M over recruitment tactics CBS News ...Federal officials on Monday said they reached a $95.5 million settlement with the nation's second-largest for profit educator, accused of running a high-pressure boiler room where admissions personnel were paid based purely on the number of students they enrolled. The civil settlement with Education Management Corporation, the biggest yet involving false claims to the Department of Education, stems from a case first brought by whistleblowers...
The GOP’s devious Wall Street welfare plan: Why the future of the economy hangs in the balance Salon ...This is a consequential week for the future of financial regulation. Republicans have pulled out a successful playbook: stick as many riders onto two must-pass bills as possible, holding them hostage to conservative ideology. The bills include a long-term reauthorization of the Highway Trust Fund, which expires shortly, and a package of appropriations bills to keep the government funded...
Predictable and Deplorable: Over Half of US Governors Vow to Slam Door on Refugees Common Dreams ...In what appears to be a textbook case of xenophobia and political fearmongering in the wake of a tragedy, more than a dozen U.S. governors have declared their states off-limits to Syrian refugees in the days following Friday's terror attacks in Paris. In a statement Monday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the country's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization, decried the rolling announcements as "un-American"...
Here We Go Again? Muslim Americans Brace for a Backlash After Paris The Nation ...When news of the Paris attacks spread, Muslim, Arab, and South Asian activists in the United States began a process that has become all too familiar in the 14 years after 9/11. In the midst of expressing their grief, Muslim, Arab, and South Asian advocates are also placed in the position of having to monitor for a backlash against their own communities...
Number of people killed by US police in 2015 at 1,000 after Oakland shooting The Guardian ...The number of people killed by law enforcement in the US this year has reached 1,000 after officers in Oakland, California, shot dead a man who allegedly pointed a replica gun at them. Authorities said several officers opened fire on the man on Sunday evening when he walked toward them as they towed away cars that had been used to perform so-called “sideshow” stunts in east Oakland...
8 in 10 Hotel Workers Have Been Harassed at Work The Nation ...As part of UNITE HERE!’s Housekeeper’s Global Week of Action campaign, the hospitality workers of Long Beach, California, rallied on Thursday to push the City Council to adopt a set of labor standards that would limit their workloads and strengthen protection from assault...
Kohler workers reject offer, OK first union strike at company since 1983 Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel ...Union workers went on strike at Kohler Co. on Sunday after overwhelmingly rejecting what the firm had called its "last, best and final offer." Ninety-four percent voted down the Kohler proposal, Tim Tayloe, president of UAW Local 833, told cheering workers after the ballots were tallied...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
For-profit educator to pay $95.5M over recruitment tactics CBS News ...Federal officials on Monday said they reached a $95.5 million settlement with the nation's second-largest for profit educator, accused of running a high-pressure boiler room where admissions personnel were paid based purely on the number of students they enrolled. The civil settlement with Education Management Corporation, the biggest yet involving false claims to the Department of Education, stems from a case first brought by whistleblowers...
The GOP’s devious Wall Street welfare plan: Why the future of the economy hangs in the balance Salon ...This is a consequential week for the future of financial regulation. Republicans have pulled out a successful playbook: stick as many riders onto two must-pass bills as possible, holding them hostage to conservative ideology. The bills include a long-term reauthorization of the Highway Trust Fund, which expires shortly, and a package of appropriations bills to keep the government funded...
Predictable and Deplorable: Over Half of US Governors Vow to Slam Door on Refugees Common Dreams ...In what appears to be a textbook case of xenophobia and political fearmongering in the wake of a tragedy, more than a dozen U.S. governors have declared their states off-limits to Syrian refugees in the days following Friday's terror attacks in Paris. In a statement Monday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the country's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization, decried the rolling announcements as "un-American"...
Here We Go Again? Muslim Americans Brace for a Backlash After Paris The Nation ...When news of the Paris attacks spread, Muslim, Arab, and South Asian activists in the United States began a process that has become all too familiar in the 14 years after 9/11. In the midst of expressing their grief, Muslim, Arab, and South Asian advocates are also placed in the position of having to monitor for a backlash against their own communities...
Number of people killed by US police in 2015 at 1,000 after Oakland shooting The Guardian ...The number of people killed by law enforcement in the US this year has reached 1,000 after officers in Oakland, California, shot dead a man who allegedly pointed a replica gun at them. Authorities said several officers opened fire on the man on Sunday evening when he walked toward them as they towed away cars that had been used to perform so-called “sideshow” stunts in east Oakland...
Friday, September 11, 2015
Today's Teamster News 09.11.15
Teamsters
Hoffa Joins Congressional Leaders, Retirees at Rally to Stop Pension Cuts Teamster.org ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa joined Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), retiree advocates and hundreds of retirees on Capitol Hill today to call on Congress to protect the earned retirement benefits of millions of American retirees and workers. The “Keep Our Pension Promises Act” (KOPPA), sponsored by Sen. Sanders and Rep. Kaptur, would protect workers and retirees from cuts to their earned retirement benefits...
BMWED/Teamsters Organizes Maintenance of Way Workers On Indiana Railroad Teamster.org ...Twenty-four maintenance of way employees with The Indiana Railroad Company are the newest members of the BMWED, a division of the Teamsters Rail Conference, voting in a super-majority Sept. 2 to join our Union. The results of the vote were certified by the National Mediation Board Sept. 3. The new members are now a part of the BMWED's Allied Federation...
First Contract For Teamsters At Engineered Wire Products Teamster.org ...After voting to be represented by Teamsters Local 377 in Youngstown, Ohio, in March, more than 25 workers at Engineered Wire Products recently ratified their first collective bargaining agreement. The company produces rebar used in cement construction projects as well as specialty wire products for other uses in the industry...
Fresh from car-hauler talks, Teamsters back UAW JOC ...The Teamsters union is lending its horsepower to United Auto Workers Union efforts to secure a contract for more than 140,000 workers employed by the largest U.S. automakers. International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa promised on Labor Day that unionized car-haulers will support the UAW if the union calls a strike against any of Detroit's Big Three car makers...
Building Trades’ Bill to End Wage Disparities for CA Cement Drivers Clears Senate We Party Patriots ...By a 24-13 tally the California State Senate voted in favor of Assembly Bill 219, which closes loopholes that previously exempted some drivers of ready-mixed concrete from receiving the prevailing wage on public works projects. The bill was introduced by Assemblymember Tom Daly (D-Anaheim) and was sponsored by the State Building Trades, the Teamsters, and the California Labor Federation...
Union Pushes for Fair Efficiency Standards at Coca-Cola Warehouses in Chicago, Alsip Local 727 ...Teamsters Local 727 will continue to fight any discipline Reyes management issues for not complying with efficiency standards until the union’s engineers complete independent testing at the Great Lakes Coca-Cola Division Chicago and Alsip warehouses. Local 727 submitted a request to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters asking for engineers to perform efficiency standards tests at the two locations, and now the union is waiting for the testing dates...
Global Labor & Trade
Senators urge hard line on auto trade talks The Detroit News ...Three senators urged the Obama administration to win more concessions for automakers as 12-nation trade talks may be getting closer to a deal. U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, wrote U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman urging the administration to take a hard line on auto issues in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The three urge him to negotiate an agreement that keeps U.S. tariffs on Japanese cars and trucks...
Trans-Pacific Partnership slammed by Unifor CBC ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership would kill Canadian auto jobs says Unifor, the union that represents thousands of autoworkers in this country. The TPP is a proposed agreement between not only the 12 Pacific Rim countries at the table, but others who could join later - countries like China, India or the Philippines. In June, the prime minister called the deal "essential" for Canada...
NAFTA risks becoming collateral damage in Obama’s geopolitical plans Globe and Mail ...U.S. negotiators recently left their Canadian and Mexican counterparts gobsmacked by a proposal that would allow auto parts with as little as 30-per-cent content from Trans-Pacific Partnership countries to enter North America tariff-free, a development that would reverse two decades of supply-chain integration on this continent and undermine the billions of dollars suppliers have invested in plants in Canada and Mexico...
The TPP Will Finish What Chile’s Dictatorship Started The Nation ...The global rentier class that enriches itself off the neoliberal property-rights regime had, a decade ago, hoped to lock-down Latin America under the hemisphere-wide Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA). But that scheme fell apart with the return of Latin America’s post-Washington Consensus left. So Washington came back with the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-country treaty—including Chile, Peru, and Mexico—vigorously promoted by the Obama administration...
Uruguay’s Vazquez Casts Doubt on Services Trade Pact Herald Tribune ...President Tabare Vazquez, who pulled Uruguay out of negotiations on the proposed international Trade in Services Agreement, known as TISA, said Thursday the accord may never become a reality. “Let’s try to describe things as they are,” Vazquez said to reporters. “TISA does not exist"...
Anti-Union Violence in Honduras: Sixth Time this Year Solidarity Center ...A second Honduran union leader and participant in the Network Against Anti-Union Violence in Honduras has been threatened with death if he does not stop his union-related work, according to the human rights group Aci Participa. Tomás Membreño Pérez, president of the agricultural workers union, Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Agroindustria (STAS), received death threats by phone and on Facebook in recent days...
Ford workers strike at Brazil factory to protest job cuts Automotive News ...Workers at a Ford Motor Co. plant in Brazil began an open-ended strike on Thursday to protest job cuts, adding to labor tensions that have rattled the country's auto industry in the midst of its worst crisis in nearly two decades. The local metalworkers union said about 4,300 employees at Ford's Sao Bernardo do Campo plant, which makes trucks and compact passenger cars, went on strike...
State & Living Wage Battles
New York OKs $15 minimum wage for fast-food workers USA Today ...New York state will gradually raise the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $15 an hour — the first time any state has set the minimum that high. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration formally approved the increase Thursday, a move the Democratic governor announced at a labor rally with Vice President Joe Biden. Cuomo said he would work to pass legislation setting a $15 minimum for all industries...
Nixon announces drop in workers compensation rates St. Louis Public Radio ...Missouri businesses can expect to pay less for workers compensation insurance. During a visit to Nelson Mulligan Carpenters Training Center in Affton on Thursday, Gov. Jay Nixon announced that a variety of Missouri businesses would see a drop in their workers comp rates. Companies pay for this insurance to avoid paying big costs when a worker gets hurt. he highest decrease will come in the contracting industry, which Nixon attributed to investments in worker safety...
Dozens of workers to strike at Sea-Tac Airport Friday over minimum wage Seattle Times ...Dozens of baggage handlers, cabin cleaners and others who work for Menzies Aviation at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport are expected to walk off their jobs Friday, protesting what they call unfair labor practices and demanding to be paid a $15 minimum wage. Menzies is a contractor for Alaska Airlines, providing ramp agents, baggage handlers, and other such service workers...
Could a Backroom Political Deal Stop Prevailing Wage Repeal? CapCon ...Unions are trying to cut a deal with business groups to prevent a repeal of the state’s prevailing wage law, according to a news account out of Lansing. The idea is that business groups would use their influence on Republican lawmakers to halt a repeal measure that is likely to succeed in exchange for the unions dropping a proposed ballot initiative to nearly double the state’s main business tax...
Puerto Rican government unveils anti-worker austerity plan WSWS.org ...On Wednesday September 9, Governor Alejandro Padilla announced his government’s plan to deal with Puerto Rico’s historic debt crisis. The plan is a frontal attack on education, health care, jobs and living standards. The five-year plan, elaborated by Padilla and the Popular Party government, contains an extensive series of budget cuts to deal with the Island’s $72 billion public debt...
Scott Walker's Day One Plan to "Wreak Havoc" Lifted from ALEC PR Watch ...If Scott Walker is elected president, he will enact American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) policies on the first day of his presidency. Walker was an ALEC member as a state legislator, and according to outlets like The Guardian, Walker could be "The First ALEC President." In a speech today at Eureka College, Walker pledged to "wreak some havoc on Washington," and promised his first day in office would be "one of the busiest the White House has seen in years"...
John Kasich Was Against Poor People Before He Was for Them Mother Jones ...The tax policies Kasich has championed and implemented since he was elected governor in 2010 left Ohio's low-income folks worse off than they were decades ago. His economic policies have led to growing inequality in a state that should be in recovery. Median household incomes began falling in 2007 and continued to drop during Kasich's governorship...
U.S. Labor
Haggen employees' union prepared to fight to keep contract Bellingham Herald ...The union representing Haggen’s employees says it will fight to keep its contract as the company reorganizes after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In a letter sent to Haggen employees Wednesday night, Sept. 9, UFCW 21 President Todd Crosby said the union is coordinating effors for all the local chapters up and down the West Coast in order to have a focused response and keeping a united front...
'Won't Back Down': Seattle Teacher Strike Continues for Third Day Common Dreams ...'The teachers remain on strike. The picket lines are united. And support among parents is strong.' That is the latest message from Seattle Education Association on Friday as classes were cancelled for the third day with the continuation of the strike which is demanding an unfreezing of wages, the end of unreasonable standardized testing for students, a more fair evaluation system for teachers, and new policies to increase equity of opportunity for the student body...
AFSCME, Rauner reach another deal to keep talking Illinois News Network ...Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration and the state’s biggest public-employee union have reached their third pact to continue contract talks without threat of strike or lockout. This time, the extension or tolling agreement does not include an end date. Instead, both the administration and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 agree to stay at the table until they reach impasse...
UAW contract negotiations are getting down to the wire Business Journal ...The current collective bargaining agreement between the United Automobile Workers and Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Chrysler is set to expire Sept. 14, and the parties appear calm and confident even though there still hasn’t been a lead company named for the negotiations. The UAW typically chooses one of the three automakers to serve as the lead for negotiations...
SEIU jubilant over proposed labor contract with Oregon public universities Register-Guard ...Some 1,600 University of Oregon classified employees will receive 2.25 percent pay increases this year and next, and many will also receive annual so-called “step” increases of up to 4.9 percent, under a tentative deal announced Thursday. The deal covers 4,400 classified employees in more than 270 types of jobs at the state’s seven public universities, including the UO...
Union president voices concerns over potential RFTA negotiator Aspen Daily News ...The president of a local transit union went before the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority Board on Thursday morning to voice the group’s displeasure with the potential hiring of controversial chief negotiator in upcoming collective bargaining talks. The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1774 is seeking quicker wage progression for its members...
Social Justice & Other News
Most Americans differ with Trump on immigration, poll shows NJ.com ...Does illegal immigration lead to more violent crime? Should the U.S. build a wall to keep unauthorized immigrants out? While GOP front-runner Donald Trump has argued both questions get a resounding "yes," a new poll by Monmouth University finds most Americans see it differently than the real estate tycoon...
Dems filibuster Iran vote The Hill ...Senate Democrats held ranks Thursday and blocked a resolution disapproving the Iran nuclear deal, handing President Obama a major political victory. Only a few months earlier, some Senate opponents of the deal predicted they would be able to muster 67 votes to override a presidential veto...
As Refugee Aid Falters, European Leaders Pursue Military Action at Sea Common Dreams ...As their humanitarian response to the ongoing refugee crisis falters, European leaders are pressing the United Nations Security Council to authorized an escalated military force to pursue so-called "human smugglers" in the Mediterranean Sea's international waters. The effort to advance the draft resolution is, according to Foreign Policy, being led by Britain, whose government has come under fire for "turning its back" on people seeking refuge...
California Police Ransacked Public Apartments Without Warrants Under ‘Neighborhood Blitz’ Program Think Progress ...In an invasive, war-like operation known as the Neighborhood Blitz, police officers in Stockton, California illegally searched the apartments of poor minorities and physically disabled people, according to a class action lawsuit filed Wednesday. Under the guise of standard housing inspections, armed officers routinely burst into homes with little to no warning, ransacked the premises without warrants...
Robert Reich: Americans Obsess Over the Sex Lives of Strangers While CEOs Rob the Country Blind Alternet ...At a time many Republican presidential candidates and state legislators are furiously focusing on private morality – what people do in their bedrooms, contraception, abortion, gay marriage – America is experiencing a far more significant crisis in public morality. CEOs of large corporations now earn 300 times the wages of average workers. Insider trading is endemic on Wall Street, where hedge-fund and private-equity moguls are taking home hundreds of millions...
The Government Might Finally Get Tough on Wall Street Fraud The Atlantic ...On Wednesday, the Justice Department issued a new policy regarding the prosecution of white-collar criminals. Amid post-recession complaints from the public that the Wall Street executives responsible for the crash escaped criminal charges and jail time—and that in these seven years Wall Street hasn’t cleaned up its act—the new policy prioritizes the prosecution of executives involved in fraud...
Hoffa Joins Congressional Leaders, Retirees at Rally to Stop Pension Cuts Teamster.org ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa joined Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), retiree advocates and hundreds of retirees on Capitol Hill today to call on Congress to protect the earned retirement benefits of millions of American retirees and workers. The “Keep Our Pension Promises Act” (KOPPA), sponsored by Sen. Sanders and Rep. Kaptur, would protect workers and retirees from cuts to their earned retirement benefits...
BMWED/Teamsters Organizes Maintenance of Way Workers On Indiana Railroad Teamster.org ...Twenty-four maintenance of way employees with The Indiana Railroad Company are the newest members of the BMWED, a division of the Teamsters Rail Conference, voting in a super-majority Sept. 2 to join our Union. The results of the vote were certified by the National Mediation Board Sept. 3. The new members are now a part of the BMWED's Allied Federation...
First Contract For Teamsters At Engineered Wire Products Teamster.org ...After voting to be represented by Teamsters Local 377 in Youngstown, Ohio, in March, more than 25 workers at Engineered Wire Products recently ratified their first collective bargaining agreement. The company produces rebar used in cement construction projects as well as specialty wire products for other uses in the industry...
Fresh from car-hauler talks, Teamsters back UAW JOC ...The Teamsters union is lending its horsepower to United Auto Workers Union efforts to secure a contract for more than 140,000 workers employed by the largest U.S. automakers. International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa promised on Labor Day that unionized car-haulers will support the UAW if the union calls a strike against any of Detroit's Big Three car makers...
Building Trades’ Bill to End Wage Disparities for CA Cement Drivers Clears Senate We Party Patriots ...By a 24-13 tally the California State Senate voted in favor of Assembly Bill 219, which closes loopholes that previously exempted some drivers of ready-mixed concrete from receiving the prevailing wage on public works projects. The bill was introduced by Assemblymember Tom Daly (D-Anaheim) and was sponsored by the State Building Trades, the Teamsters, and the California Labor Federation...
Union Pushes for Fair Efficiency Standards at Coca-Cola Warehouses in Chicago, Alsip Local 727 ...Teamsters Local 727 will continue to fight any discipline Reyes management issues for not complying with efficiency standards until the union’s engineers complete independent testing at the Great Lakes Coca-Cola Division Chicago and Alsip warehouses. Local 727 submitted a request to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters asking for engineers to perform efficiency standards tests at the two locations, and now the union is waiting for the testing dates...
Global Labor & Trade
Senators urge hard line on auto trade talks The Detroit News ...Three senators urged the Obama administration to win more concessions for automakers as 12-nation trade talks may be getting closer to a deal. U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, wrote U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman urging the administration to take a hard line on auto issues in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The three urge him to negotiate an agreement that keeps U.S. tariffs on Japanese cars and trucks...
Trans-Pacific Partnership slammed by Unifor CBC ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership would kill Canadian auto jobs says Unifor, the union that represents thousands of autoworkers in this country. The TPP is a proposed agreement between not only the 12 Pacific Rim countries at the table, but others who could join later - countries like China, India or the Philippines. In June, the prime minister called the deal "essential" for Canada...
NAFTA risks becoming collateral damage in Obama’s geopolitical plans Globe and Mail ...U.S. negotiators recently left their Canadian and Mexican counterparts gobsmacked by a proposal that would allow auto parts with as little as 30-per-cent content from Trans-Pacific Partnership countries to enter North America tariff-free, a development that would reverse two decades of supply-chain integration on this continent and undermine the billions of dollars suppliers have invested in plants in Canada and Mexico...
The TPP Will Finish What Chile’s Dictatorship Started The Nation ...The global rentier class that enriches itself off the neoliberal property-rights regime had, a decade ago, hoped to lock-down Latin America under the hemisphere-wide Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA). But that scheme fell apart with the return of Latin America’s post-Washington Consensus left. So Washington came back with the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-country treaty—including Chile, Peru, and Mexico—vigorously promoted by the Obama administration...
Uruguay’s Vazquez Casts Doubt on Services Trade Pact Herald Tribune ...President Tabare Vazquez, who pulled Uruguay out of negotiations on the proposed international Trade in Services Agreement, known as TISA, said Thursday the accord may never become a reality. “Let’s try to describe things as they are,” Vazquez said to reporters. “TISA does not exist"...
Anti-Union Violence in Honduras: Sixth Time this Year Solidarity Center ...A second Honduran union leader and participant in the Network Against Anti-Union Violence in Honduras has been threatened with death if he does not stop his union-related work, according to the human rights group Aci Participa. Tomás Membreño Pérez, president of the agricultural workers union, Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Agroindustria (STAS), received death threats by phone and on Facebook in recent days...
Ford workers strike at Brazil factory to protest job cuts Automotive News ...Workers at a Ford Motor Co. plant in Brazil began an open-ended strike on Thursday to protest job cuts, adding to labor tensions that have rattled the country's auto industry in the midst of its worst crisis in nearly two decades. The local metalworkers union said about 4,300 employees at Ford's Sao Bernardo do Campo plant, which makes trucks and compact passenger cars, went on strike...
State & Living Wage Battles
New York OKs $15 minimum wage for fast-food workers USA Today ...New York state will gradually raise the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $15 an hour — the first time any state has set the minimum that high. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration formally approved the increase Thursday, a move the Democratic governor announced at a labor rally with Vice President Joe Biden. Cuomo said he would work to pass legislation setting a $15 minimum for all industries...
Nixon announces drop in workers compensation rates St. Louis Public Radio ...Missouri businesses can expect to pay less for workers compensation insurance. During a visit to Nelson Mulligan Carpenters Training Center in Affton on Thursday, Gov. Jay Nixon announced that a variety of Missouri businesses would see a drop in their workers comp rates. Companies pay for this insurance to avoid paying big costs when a worker gets hurt. he highest decrease will come in the contracting industry, which Nixon attributed to investments in worker safety...
Dozens of workers to strike at Sea-Tac Airport Friday over minimum wage Seattle Times ...Dozens of baggage handlers, cabin cleaners and others who work for Menzies Aviation at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport are expected to walk off their jobs Friday, protesting what they call unfair labor practices and demanding to be paid a $15 minimum wage. Menzies is a contractor for Alaska Airlines, providing ramp agents, baggage handlers, and other such service workers...
Could a Backroom Political Deal Stop Prevailing Wage Repeal? CapCon ...Unions are trying to cut a deal with business groups to prevent a repeal of the state’s prevailing wage law, according to a news account out of Lansing. The idea is that business groups would use their influence on Republican lawmakers to halt a repeal measure that is likely to succeed in exchange for the unions dropping a proposed ballot initiative to nearly double the state’s main business tax...
Puerto Rican government unveils anti-worker austerity plan WSWS.org ...On Wednesday September 9, Governor Alejandro Padilla announced his government’s plan to deal with Puerto Rico’s historic debt crisis. The plan is a frontal attack on education, health care, jobs and living standards. The five-year plan, elaborated by Padilla and the Popular Party government, contains an extensive series of budget cuts to deal with the Island’s $72 billion public debt...
Scott Walker's Day One Plan to "Wreak Havoc" Lifted from ALEC PR Watch ...If Scott Walker is elected president, he will enact American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) policies on the first day of his presidency. Walker was an ALEC member as a state legislator, and according to outlets like The Guardian, Walker could be "The First ALEC President." In a speech today at Eureka College, Walker pledged to "wreak some havoc on Washington," and promised his first day in office would be "one of the busiest the White House has seen in years"...
John Kasich Was Against Poor People Before He Was for Them Mother Jones ...The tax policies Kasich has championed and implemented since he was elected governor in 2010 left Ohio's low-income folks worse off than they were decades ago. His economic policies have led to growing inequality in a state that should be in recovery. Median household incomes began falling in 2007 and continued to drop during Kasich's governorship...
U.S. Labor
Haggen employees' union prepared to fight to keep contract Bellingham Herald ...The union representing Haggen’s employees says it will fight to keep its contract as the company reorganizes after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In a letter sent to Haggen employees Wednesday night, Sept. 9, UFCW 21 President Todd Crosby said the union is coordinating effors for all the local chapters up and down the West Coast in order to have a focused response and keeping a united front...
'Won't Back Down': Seattle Teacher Strike Continues for Third Day Common Dreams ...'The teachers remain on strike. The picket lines are united. And support among parents is strong.' That is the latest message from Seattle Education Association on Friday as classes were cancelled for the third day with the continuation of the strike which is demanding an unfreezing of wages, the end of unreasonable standardized testing for students, a more fair evaluation system for teachers, and new policies to increase equity of opportunity for the student body...
AFSCME, Rauner reach another deal to keep talking Illinois News Network ...Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration and the state’s biggest public-employee union have reached their third pact to continue contract talks without threat of strike or lockout. This time, the extension or tolling agreement does not include an end date. Instead, both the administration and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 agree to stay at the table until they reach impasse...
UAW contract negotiations are getting down to the wire Business Journal ...The current collective bargaining agreement between the United Automobile Workers and Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Chrysler is set to expire Sept. 14, and the parties appear calm and confident even though there still hasn’t been a lead company named for the negotiations. The UAW typically chooses one of the three automakers to serve as the lead for negotiations...
SEIU jubilant over proposed labor contract with Oregon public universities Register-Guard ...Some 1,600 University of Oregon classified employees will receive 2.25 percent pay increases this year and next, and many will also receive annual so-called “step” increases of up to 4.9 percent, under a tentative deal announced Thursday. The deal covers 4,400 classified employees in more than 270 types of jobs at the state’s seven public universities, including the UO...
Union president voices concerns over potential RFTA negotiator Aspen Daily News ...The president of a local transit union went before the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority Board on Thursday morning to voice the group’s displeasure with the potential hiring of controversial chief negotiator in upcoming collective bargaining talks. The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1774 is seeking quicker wage progression for its members...
Social Justice & Other News
Most Americans differ with Trump on immigration, poll shows NJ.com ...Does illegal immigration lead to more violent crime? Should the U.S. build a wall to keep unauthorized immigrants out? While GOP front-runner Donald Trump has argued both questions get a resounding "yes," a new poll by Monmouth University finds most Americans see it differently than the real estate tycoon...
Dems filibuster Iran vote The Hill ...Senate Democrats held ranks Thursday and blocked a resolution disapproving the Iran nuclear deal, handing President Obama a major political victory. Only a few months earlier, some Senate opponents of the deal predicted they would be able to muster 67 votes to override a presidential veto...
As Refugee Aid Falters, European Leaders Pursue Military Action at Sea Common Dreams ...As their humanitarian response to the ongoing refugee crisis falters, European leaders are pressing the United Nations Security Council to authorized an escalated military force to pursue so-called "human smugglers" in the Mediterranean Sea's international waters. The effort to advance the draft resolution is, according to Foreign Policy, being led by Britain, whose government has come under fire for "turning its back" on people seeking refuge...
California Police Ransacked Public Apartments Without Warrants Under ‘Neighborhood Blitz’ Program Think Progress ...In an invasive, war-like operation known as the Neighborhood Blitz, police officers in Stockton, California illegally searched the apartments of poor minorities and physically disabled people, according to a class action lawsuit filed Wednesday. Under the guise of standard housing inspections, armed officers routinely burst into homes with little to no warning, ransacked the premises without warrants...
Robert Reich: Americans Obsess Over the Sex Lives of Strangers While CEOs Rob the Country Blind Alternet ...At a time many Republican presidential candidates and state legislators are furiously focusing on private morality – what people do in their bedrooms, contraception, abortion, gay marriage – America is experiencing a far more significant crisis in public morality. CEOs of large corporations now earn 300 times the wages of average workers. Insider trading is endemic on Wall Street, where hedge-fund and private-equity moguls are taking home hundreds of millions...
The Government Might Finally Get Tough on Wall Street Fraud The Atlantic ...On Wednesday, the Justice Department issued a new policy regarding the prosecution of white-collar criminals. Amid post-recession complaints from the public that the Wall Street executives responsible for the crash escaped criminal charges and jail time—and that in these seven years Wall Street hasn’t cleaned up its act—the new policy prioritizes the prosecution of executives involved in fraud...
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