Today's Teamster News 10.03.14

Teamster News
Allied Waste Workers Go Back To Work  Daily Journal   ...Terry Hancock, president of Teamsters Local 731, the union representing the 24 waste haulers and two mechanics that serve many communities within parts of Kankakee, Iroquois and Will counties, said a negotiating session has been set for Friday. Workers will continue to work under the four-year contract, which expired Jan. 31...
First Student School Bus Workers Choose Teamsters  teamster.org   ...First Student school bus drivers and monitors in Adrian, Mich., have voted to join Teamsters Local 1038 in Detroit. There are 29 drivers and monitors in the bargaining unit. “We want to be treated equally, and we would like to have some sick days. When we get sick, we don’t have any,” said Cindy Justice, an aide on a bus for children with special needs...
School safety agent struck by bosses: Teamsters  New York Post   ...A school safety agent was struck in the chest and her hand was crushed in a door while she was being grilled by her bosses, according to a labor grievance...
What It’s Like To Win A 19-Year Union Organizing Campaign In The South  Washington Post   ...A couple weeks ago, a group of 14,500 U.S. Airways and American Airlines customer service representatives, people who take reservations over the phone and work check-in counters and boarding gates voted to unionize with the Teamsters and the Communication Workers of America. The election was remarkable for a couple reasons: First, because of the margin of victory, with 86 percent voting yes on 77 percent turnout. And second, because it took place in the anti-union South, with most of the agents in Florida, Texas, North Carolina and Arizona...
Trade
Interview: TPP talks unlikely to conclude in 2014, says expert  Xinhua   ...The trade talks of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement are unlikely to conclude this year as the United States and Japan have differences on the market access of agricultural products, a U.S. expert said Thursday...
US NGOs Warn TTIP Could Weaken Chemical Oversight  Chemical Watch   ...In the US, critics of the negotiations say they are wary of how the TTIP agreement could hold back work to tighten regulation at the state level; which they say is important in the face of continuing weak federal legislation. In particular, they point to investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) measures they say would allow corporations to challenge, and potentially overturn, tighter state regulations...
State Battles
Corporate executives are purchasing our states — one governorship at a time  Salon   ...The Republican Governor’s Association has devised a layaway purchase plan allowing brand-name corporations to make secret donations of $100,000 or more a year to the RGA in support of the corporate-friendly agenda of various GOP governors. And a lot of execs have been buying...
Supreme Court to weigh Arizona redistricting challenge  Reuters   ...The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a challenge by Arizona's legislature to a voter-approved plan that stripped state lawmakers of their role in drawing congressional districts in an bid to remove partisan politics from the process...
One in five Wisconsin voters don't know they'll need photo ID to vote in November  The Cap Times   ...With the election about a month away, roughly one-fifth of Wisconsin voters are unaware that they will be required to show a photo ID at the polls on Nov. 4...
ACLU Asks Supreme Court To Block Wisconsin Voter ID Law  Los Angeles Times   ...Civil rights lawyers filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking to block Wisconsin from enforcing a strict voter ID law they say could prevent as many as 300,000 of the state’s registered voters from casting a ballot next month...
6 Ohio lawmakers defend ALEC in letter to Google  cleveland.com   ...Six Ohio lawmakers signed onto a letter admonishing Google for cutting financial support of conservative policy group ALEC and for accusing the organization of denying climate change...
Businessman Nik Patel Held Rick Scott Fundraiser At Home  Orlando Sentinel   ...Orlando hotelier Nik Patel, who was arrested Wednesday on fraud allegations, held a fundraiser for Gov. Rick Scott at his home in Windermere in April...
War On Workers
US Issues Final Minimum Wage Rule For Contractors  ABC News   ...Labor Secretary Thomas Perez issued a final rule on Wednesday raising the minimum wage for employees of federal contractors to $10.10 an hour. The action puts in force a step announced by President Barack Obama in February. The Labor Department said nearly 200,000 American workers will benefit from the new minimum, which takes effect Jan 1...
US: Tobacco Group Adopts Child Labor Protections  Human Rights Watch   ...The Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina, which represents more than 2,300 tobacco farmers in North Carolina and neighboring states, issued a policy on October 1, 2014 stating that it “does not condone the use of child labor.” The policy says that children under 16 should not be hired to work on tobacco farms, even with parental permission...
Job Woes Linger in 29 States as U.S. Recovers Unevenly  Economy in Crisis   ...Nevada, Arizona and Florida are among those furthest from their peak employment during the December 2007-June 2009 downturn. Those states, along with five others – Alabama, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and Ohio — remain more than 50,000 positions short of that level...
Why is our Infant Mortality so Bad?  Economist's View   ...That difference was almost entirely due to excess inequality in the US...
Hackers’ Attack on JPMorgan Chase Affects Millions  New York Times   ...A cyberattack this summer on JPMorgan Chase compromised the accounts of 76 million households and seven million small businesses, a tally that dwarfs previous estimates by the bank and puts the intrusion among the largest ever...
The Middle Class Is Poorer Today Than It Was In 1989  Washington Post   ...the top 1 percent grabbed 95 percent of all the gains during the recovery's first three years. And that's not even the most depressing part. Even adjusted for household size, real median incomes haven't increased at all since 1999. That's right: the middle class hasn't gotten a raise in 15 years...
Rising Tides Lift All Yachts – Why the 1% Grabs all the Gains From Growth  naked capitalism   ...While our economy is often referred to as “market-driven”, it is actually driven by power. P. O. W. E. R...
Pro-Union Burger King Worker Disciplined For Poor Pickle Placement  Huffington Post   ...EYM King, which runs 22 Burger King restaurants in and around Detroit, broke labor law by threatening a worker for discussing protests while on the job; giving a disciplinary warning to a union sympathizer; and enforcing a "no solicitation" rule on its own employees. Most absurdly, the company was found to have illegally sent a pro-union worker home one day for allegedly failing to "put pickles on her sandwiches in perfect squares as she was supposed to do"...
Federal Appeals Court Rules Evidence from Warrantless GPS Tracking Does Not Have to Be Suppressed  firedoglake   ...In 2010, FBI agents attached a GPS tracking device to the car of Harry Katzin in order to track his movements because they suspected he was involved in the robberies of multiple Rite-Aid pharmacies. The agents did not seek a warrant from a judge...
Worker killed in south Ga. industrial accident  WRCBtv.com   ...a front-end loader crushed 61-year-old Isabel Gomez while he was working on a hydraulic system at an agricultural business Thursday morning...
Charter schools, civil rights and the theft of education funds  The Hill   ...the lax system of federal oversight of the rapidly expanding charter industry has led to the theft of more than $100 million due to fraud, mismanagement and outright theft...

Today's Teamster News 09.06.13

Teamster Mailers Union Respond to Star-Ledger Publisher Threats  teamster.org ...This is the official statement from Steve Grant, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 1100 in Fairfield, N.J. which represents 195 mailer employees at the Star-Ledger newspaper...
Teamsters among grocery workers picket to raise regional awareness  Auburn Reporter   ...Members of three unions representing grocery store workers in the Puget Sound region, including members of Teamsters Local 38, took to the streets on Aug. 28, picketing to raise awareness about ongoing contract negotiations with several local grocery stores, including the Auburn Safeway and Fred Meyer stores...
BMWED’s Western Region Association Holds Annual Meeting  teamster.org   ...Representatives from the Unified System Division;  Atchison, Topeka, Santa Fe, Frisco System Federation; Allied Federation; and Burlington System Division, all part of the Western Region Association, met to conduct an educational conference this week...
Allied Waste drops lawsuit filed against Youngstown Teamsters Union  WFMJ 21 News   ...Allied Waste has dropped a federal lawsuit that was filed against the Teamsters Union during this past spring's walkout against the trash hauler...
Union contract talks continue  Dyersville Commercial  ...The Delaware County (Iowa) board met again with representatives of the sheriff’s department deputies and jailers to further iron out details of a proposed switch over from American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union membership to the Teamsters Union...
JPMorgan Will Stop Making Student Loans  firedoglake   ...Competition from the government may be a factor, another might also be that student loans are in a massive trillion dollar bubble...
Failed Policy — The 401(k) Shrinks In A Growing Economy  The National Memo   ...even though the economy is improving, the number of workers saving out of their paychecks for old age is shrinking. So is the amount they save, down 6 percent in real terms from 2008 to 2010...
Nearly Half Of U.S. Births Are Covered By Medicaid, Study Finds  Kaiser Health News   ...About half the births in the United States are paid for by Medicaid — a figure higher than previous estimates – and the numbers could increase as the state-federal health insurance program expands under the Affordable Care Act, according to a study released Tuesday...
Demonstrators protest against low wages at Walmart store in Lakewood  Denver Post   ...The protest outside the store at West Colfax Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard was one of about 15 demonstrations held nationwide Thursday against the retailer...
24 Walmart Protesters Arrested At Demonstrations In New York And Los Angeles (UPDATED)  Huffington Post   ...The New York Police Department arrested three Walmart protesters in New York City on Thursday during demonstrations against the company's wages and worker conditions...Also on Thursday, 21 protesters were arrested in Los Angeles during a similar demonstration downtown...
New York Unions Might Find a Friend in City Hall  Wall Street Journal   ...Private-sector labor unions could have a strong ally in the next mayor as they embark on new efforts to organize workers in New York City...
Fast-food condemnation  The Economist   ...What do you say to a teenager with a job? Answer: “A Big Mac, fries and a Coke, please.” At least, that was the joke in happier times. Today’s question might be: “What do you say to a single parent with two jobs and no health insurance?...”
Gov. Brown plan exempts thousands of transportation workers from pension limits  Los Angeles Times   ...Brown's proposal comes in response to a federal threat to withhold transit money from California...
Organized labor readies for Kentucky right-to-work battle  Louisville Morning Call   ...Kentucky legislators seeking to curb the power of unions could face major hurdles if a Labor Day event was any indication. About a dozen unions participated in a Louisville picnic for organized labor members, and thousands of people showed up...
Hart Schaffner Marx, Apparel Union Workers Stand In Solidarity Against Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement   Progress Illinois   ...The Chicago-based apparel firm Hart Schaffner Marx, its factory workers and their union say they will collectively fight against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement that is currently under negotiations...
U.S. likely to approve Chinese purchase of Smithfield  Reuters   ...The U.S. government is unlikely to block Chinese meat company Shuanghui International's $4.7 billion deal to buy Smithfield Foods, Inc. on national security grounds, according to one person familiar with the matter...
Female doctors make $56,000 less than male MDs  MSN Money   ...The Journal of the American Medical Association points out the wage gap, which has been getting wider over the years...
Detroit Billionaires Get Arena Help as Bankrupt City Suffers  Bloomberg News   ...In the wake of Detroit becoming the biggest U.S. municipality to declare bankruptcy and raid pensions, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder approved a plan to put public money toward a $450 million downtown arena on behalf of the NHL’s Red Wings and their billionaire owners...
Alabama's job creation struggle: Growth is not only slow, but also low-quality   The Huntsville Times   ...A comparison of job growth in Alabama and Utah published last week looked at changes in unemployment rates and job growth overall. This story goes a level deeper, and looks at the quality of jobs being created in each state...
Signatures collected for Alaska wage initiative  The State   ...Sponsors of an initiative to raise the minimum wage in Alaska said they have collected more than a third of the signatures required to qualify the measure for the ballot...

Today's Teamster News 03.07.13

McDonald's Franchises In Pennsylvania Accused Of Exploiting Student Guest Workers  Huffington Post   ...some students received as few as four hours of work a week, at the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. After "exorbitant" deductions for housing, those wages were pushed below the legal minimum, the group says, while the students lived "up to 8 students to a room" at a cost of $300 per person...
Fast Track Authority for Trans-Pacific Trade Deal Opposed  AgWeb   ...The groups are most concerned with unfettered access to U.S. markets by Fonterra, New Zealand’s large dairy company, which controls some 90% of that country’s milk supply. ..
Florida Gets Organized to Stop the TPP  Public Citizen   ...most ... had never heard of the TPP ... Many reacted with surprise and anger when they learned about the provisions the Obama administration is secretly negotiating that give more power to corporations...
The War On Entitlements (opinion)  New York Times   ...Simply by eliminating the payroll tax earnings cap — and thus ending this regressive exemption for the top 5.2 percent of earners — would, according to the Congressional Budget Office, solve the financial crisis facing the Social Security system...
Citizens in Europe are rejecting austerity policies as deeply misguided (opinion)  The Guardian   ...European leaders recognise that, without growth, debt burdens will continue to grow, and that austerity by itself is an anti-growth strategy...
FAA says 173 air traffic control towers will close on April 7  CNN   ...The federal government will close 173 air traffic control towers at small- and medium-size airports on April 7 because of forced spending cuts...
Rahall Promotes ‘Made In America’ Bill For Infrastructure Projects  Charleston Gazette  ...The “Invest in American Jobs Act of 2013″ will require the use of products stamped “Made in America” to build highways, bridges, public transit facilities, passenger rails and airports across the country. Labor unions and manufacturing companies are backing the new legislation...
Gov: 250K Jobs Will Be 'Tough To Get'  Wisconsin Public Radio   ...Governor Scott Walker may be acknowledging he won't make his goal of creating 250,000 jobs in his first term, but Walker says he should still “aim high.”...
Game show host Bob Barker opposes bill that targets whistleblower videos  Indianapolis Star   ...Bob Barker, the former host of the TV game show “The Price is Right,” is urging Indiana’s lawmakers to defeat a bill that makes it unlawful to take unauthorized video at farms and businesses....
Teamsters Union Faces Pension Decision  WYFX   ...Members of a local teamsters union who work for a major garbage collection service are faced with a tough decision on whether to continue dumping money into their current pension plan or start investing money into the company's 401(K)...

Links 08/31/10

Paterson to sign domestic workers rights law wcax.com ...The nation's first extensive domestic workers rights measure will become law in New York today.

Pact between KC hospital, unions can stand, labor board says The Kansas City Star ...A federal agency has dismissed complaints against the owner of Research Medical Center and two unions...

Investigation reveals undocumented workers, unsafe conditions in oil spill cleanup The Michigan Messenger ...The workers are expected to work 12 to 14 hour shifts, seven days a week, for which they receive $800 a week — in cash — a hotel room, and food while on the job sites.

Striking garbage workers paid overtime to catch up San Jose Mercury News ...Allied Waste employees were paid overtime for catching up on San Mateo County garbage pickups they missed because of a strike last week.

Teamsters Union Protests Coca Cola's Labor Practices, as Company Shutters Plants Huffington Post ...the company is now facing growing labor conflicts here in the United States.

Workers rate safety most important workplace issue in new Labor Day study R&D Magazine ...More than eight of ten workers -- 85 percent -- rate workplace safety first in importance among labor standards...