Today's Teamster News 01.12.16

TEAMSTERS
D.C. Taxi Drivers Accuse Police Of Harassment In Barrage Of Tickets  WAMU  ...Officers in the Metropolitan Police Department’s Fifth District were responsible for writing 1,368 tickets to cabbies from Jan. through Oct. 2015, more than three times the 394 tickets written in the city’s other six police districts combined, according to data obtained by the Teamsters Union Local 922 and shared with WAMU 88.5. The Teamsters’ lawyers are defending the drivers in court, claiming many of the tickets are bogus...
Teamsters, Carhaul Employers to Resume Contract Negotiations  Teamster.org  ...The Teamsters National Automobile Transporters Industry Negotiating Committee (TNATINC) and carhaul employer representatives will reconvene this Wednesday, Jan. 13 and Thursday, Jan. 14 in Detroit to discuss and exchange proposals for a new national contract. In December, both sides made progress toward a new tentative agreement. While several of the outstanding contract issues have been largely resolved, both sides are still evaluating serious and difficult economic issues...
School district support staff union to challenge Teamsters election victory  Review Journal  ...A nearly 15-year fight to unseat the labor union that represents more than 11,000 bus drivers, custodians and other support staff who work for the Clark County School District again will head to court soon.
Thanks to a change in rules governing public-sector unions in Nevada, the Teamsters Local 14 claimed a landslide victory. But a lawyer for the Education Support Employees Association, which represents school support staff, promised to "promptly" challenge that in state court...
Minnesota Teamsters Endorse Angie Craig for 2nd Congressional District  Teamster.org  ...Today, Teamsters across Minnesota endorsed Angie Craig for Congress in the 2nd Congressional seat race set for this fall. “We are pleased to put our support behind Angie Craig who we know will be a strong advocate for working men and women across Minnesota and our country,” said Teamsters Joint Council 32 President Larry Yoswa...

GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Tensions rise as workers for Apple contractor in Indonesia plan strike  Jakarta Post  ...Authorities in Batam, Riau Islands, have called on thousands of workers from a major local company to drop plans to begin a three-week strike on Monday. Batam Free Trade Zone Management Agency public relations and promotions director Purnomo Andiantono said the concerns emerged after some 2,000 workers from PT Amtek Engineering Batam last week announced a plan to stage a collective strike...
UK Transport Union Announces Three 24-Hour Underground Strikes  Sputnik News  ...The United Kingdom's biggest Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union announced on Monday that London Underground staff were to stage three 24-hour strikes and a week of industrial action in two separate disputes over pay and night tube services. According to the RMT statement, Underground workers will strike for 24 hours on January 26, February 15 and February 17 over disputes about pay...
Tug boat workers' strike to disrupt shipping industry  Financial Review  ...Delays are expected to plague Australia's big east coast ports on Tuesday and Wednesday, with workers planning to walk off the job after an agreement could not be struck with tug boat engineers. The industrial action is protected and is over a new enterprise agreement between the Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers and operator Svitzer Australia...
Ontario correctional workers give up right to strike to reach deal  CBC  ...Ontario's correctional workers and the government have agreed to move to binding arbitration within the next 60 days — and to designate the province's nearly 6,000 jail guards, parole and probation officers as essential service workers. That means the union agreed to give up its right to strike, not just for this contract but for successive ones...
Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal to be signed in NZ  NZ Herald  ...The controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal will be signed into existence in New Zealand. Chile let the cat out of the bag early by announcing the signing last week, before officials were ready, leading to swift backpedaling from organisers. But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has just confirmed an event will be held in Auckland in early February...
DeLauro defies Obama on State of the Union issue  CT Mirror  ...Once again, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro is defying President Obama as he prepares to deliver his State of the Union address. Once again, the split is over trade. DeLauro, D-3rd District, is leading a fight against one of the things Obama wants to leave as part of his legacy – a Trans-Pacific Partnership with 11 other nations that ring the Pacific Ocean...
Trans-Pacific Partnership could be worth almost nothing to Australia  Mashable  ...Over the five years it was negotiated, the potential economic impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), set to become one of the biggest free trade deals of all time, has been condemned and praised with equal ferocity. Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb claimed the TPP would deliver "enormous benefits" to Australia. Now the World Bank has looked into the matter, and as it turns out, all that secrecy has added up to very little for Australia...
Tamil National Alliance backs austerity, pro-investor policies in Sri Lanka  WSWS.org  ...As the year began, the Tamil nationalist organizations in Sri Lanka escalated their support for austerity and the use of Sri Lankan workers as cheap labor for international capital. Mavai Senathirajah, a leading parliamentarian of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), told the media, “we are expecting several development projects and economic zones in the North-East”...
Greece Renews Challenge to Creditors’ Austerity Policies  Wall Street Journal  ...Greece’s left-led government renewed its challenge to its creditors’ austerity policies on Tuesday, vowing to resist further pension cuts while calling on Europe to let Greece meet budget targets mainly via economic growth, not belt-tightening. “The best way to fill this gap [in Greece’s budget] isn't by reducing, but by increasing the economy,” Labor Minister George Katrougalos said...
Haiti Earthquake Anniversary: Garment Workers Still Struggle to Survive  Solidarity Center  ...Six years after a major earthquake devastated the Haitian capital and its environs and the international community promised to “build back better,” Haitian workers say their daily lives are a struggle for survival, with their meager wages insufficient to cover basic expenses. In recent interviews, Haitian garment workers told the Solidarity Center that they are worse off today than before the quake...

STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
How Corporate Political Spending Will Stay Secret in Wisconsin  PR Watch  ...Wisconsin Republicans are insisting that they didn't intend to allow corporate political donations to remain secret under the recent overhaul of the state's campaign finance laws. But secrecy, in fact, has become the distinguishing characteristic of Wisconsin elections. And that is by design. Sweeping campaign finance changes signed into law by Governor Scott Walker last month allowed corporations to donate up to $12,000 directly to "segregated funds"...
State ballot measure filed to raise minimum wage to $13.50  Seattle Times  ...Supporters of raising Washington state’s minimum wage filed a ballot measure Monday that seeks to incrementally raise Washington’s minimum wage to $13.50 an hour over four years starting in 2017, as well as provide paid sick leave to employees without it. The initiative was announced at a news conference by a coalition of workers and union members...
Are Neighboring States Putting Pressure on N.H. Lawmakers to Boost Minimum Wage?  NHPR  ...The new legislative session kicked off last week, as lawmakers began the process of again sifting through the hundreds of new bills. Many of these proposals would affect New Hampshire’s business community, including raising the state’s minimum wage, an issue that hasn’t gone anywhere in the past...
House Committee Hears Voter ID Proposal Today  Ozarks First  ...Two voter photo ID proposals will be heard Tuesday by the Missouri House’s Elections committee. Representative Tony Dugger (R-Hartville) is proposing a constitutional amendment that would ask voters to approve requiring a photo ID at the polls. A companion bill sponsored by Representative Justin Alferman (R-Hermann) would create the structure for voter photo ID if the ballot issue passes...
Kasich: New mothers should work at home online, not get paid family leave  Daily Kos  ...Screw paid parental leave. Republican presidential candidate (yes, still) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich thinks new mothers and fathers should rely on their employers to “try to be creative” instead of being required to offer paid leave. And if the extent of their employers’ creativity is “come to work or you’re fired,” as it is for so many Americans, oh well...
Is Ohio headed for 'right-to-work' anyway?  Cincinnati.com  ...Remember that political grudge match called Senate Bill 5? A U.S. Supreme Court case on whether government workers must pay union dues against their wills could upend a key part of Ohioans' decisive vote against the anti-collective bargaining law. If the court rules against unions – and it's looking like it might – Ohio's public workers could become "right-to-work" overnight...
Michigan Knew Last Year That Flint’s Water Might Be Poisoned But Decided Not to Tell Anyone  Slate  ...Michigan governor Rick Snyder declared last week that the poisonously high levels of lead in drinking water in Flint, Michigan constitute a state of emergency. Reporting by Michigan Radio and research by the ACLU, though, alleges that the state government itself may have broken laws last year to cover up evidence of high lead levels that were turned up in tests it was supervising...

U.S. LABOR
UAW Donating Water To Flint Residents  WILX  ...Members of the United Auto Workers union are donating drinking water to Flint residents affected by the city's water crisis. The Flint Journal reported Saturday that bottled water would be brought to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan in a caravan of trucks. An emergency has been declared in Flint where water drawn from the Flint River leached lead from old plumbing for months...
USW: NLRB Issues Third Consolidated Complaint against Asarco  PR Newswire  ...The United Steelworkers (USW) today said that Region 28 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a third consolidated complaint against Asarco, LLC, which includes an allegation that the company unlawfully implemented portions of its so-called "last, best and final" contract proposal on Dec. 1, 2015, in the absence of a bargaining impasse...
National Labor Board takes McDonald’s to court  Al Jazeera  ...Current and former McDonald’s workers who accuse the fast-food giant of illegal union-busting will get their day in court on Monday, when an administrative law judge is expected to begin hearing arguments in a major unfair labor practice suit. The Obama administration's National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will represent the workers in a case that could have wide-ranging consequences for the McDonald’s franchising model...
Graduate Students at Private Universities Could Soon Have the Right to Unionize  The Nation  ... Late last year, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finally agreed to review the cases of Columbia University and New School graduate students who have been campaigning for years to form an official union on their campus. Their pending decision could overturn a precedent that has hamstrung labor organizing on private college and university campuses for over a decade...
Detroit Teachers Hold Sick-Out to Demand Fixes to School's "Abominable" Problems  Common Dreams  ...Detroit teachers on Monday organized a "sick-out" to call attention to the school district's "abominable" problems, including filthy buildings and overwhelmingly large class sizes, and called on officials to follow through on long-held promises to salvage the city's educational system. Ivy Bailey, interim president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT), said Monday, "The deplorable conditions in our schools have created a serious environmental and educational crisis"...
Why Transportation Workers Should Care About Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association  TTD.org  ...Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association (CTA) is an orchestrated, malicious attack on workers’ rights. This case isn’t just about teachers in California—it’s about weakening the rights of workers, specifically those employed in the public sector. The group behind the court case is the Center for Individual Rights, which has ties to greedy CEOs and wealthy special interests...
This is why you’re burning out: Science proves being on call is just as stressful as working  Salon  ...A recent study links extended work availability with decreased calmness, mood, and energy levels. By looking at industries from technical services to nursing, the study evaluated the effects of being on-call — that is, not at work, but being expected to remain available by phone for questions or customer requests...

SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Powerball’s $1.3 Billion Swindle Of Americans  Think Progress  ...In October, the consortium of states that runs Powerball approved a series of rule changes that made it much harder to win the jackpot. The purpose of this change was to increase the chances that there would be no grand prize winner for any given drawing. The purpose of creating massive jackpots is because they induce more people to play. The prospect of big payouts spark a flood of free media attention. For all the money Americans spend, they get very little in return — particularly the poorest...
Clinton calls for stopping immigration raids  USA Today  ...Hillary Clinton on Monday called on the Obama administration to end raids that target undocumented immigrants who recently arrived from Central America. Clinton, whose statement came during the Iowa Black and Brown forum, said that enforcement efforts should be "humane." "We have laws and we must be guided by those laws, but we shouldn't have armed federal officers showing up at peoples' homes, taking women and children out of their beds in the middle of the night"...
A Pill That Cures Hepatitis Costs Just $4, but If You Live in America It's $1,000  Alternet  ...Nearly one year after receiving FDA approval, on October 10, 2014, Gilead Sciences Inc. patented Harvoni, which is Solvaldi combined with one of these inhibitors. Global demand for Harvoni quickly skyrocketed as,according to the World Health Organization, there are currently 130-150 million people living with chronic hepatitis C, globally...
The defining American crisis our corporate media still can’t be bothered to cover  Salon  ...Of the five Republican debates and of the three Democratic debates, not one moderator has asked a question involving the words “poverty” or “poor.” In the GOP debates, the candidates only bring up the topic as a way to swipe President Obama, which is fair enough but is not a discussion of poverty much less a good-faith attempt to mitigate it. By comparison, the Democratic debate moderators brought up “ISIS” or “Terrorism” 21 times total in all three debates...
White Nationalist PAC Blankets Iowa With Robocalls For Trump  TPM  ...Some registered voters in Iowa received robocalls Saturday from a white nationalist super PAC that urged them to support Donald Trump in the 2016 election: “I urge you to vote for Donald Trump because he is the one candidate who points out that we should accept immigrants who are good for America. We don’t need Muslims. We need smart, well-educated white people who will assimilate to our culture"...
Historic Settlement over NYPD's Anti-Muslim Spying Imposes Oversight & Bars Ethnic-Based Targeting  Democracy Now  ...In a major legal victory, New York City will appoint an independent civilian monitor to oversee the New York Police Department’s counterterrorism activities. The announcement comes after two lawsuits challenged the NYPD’s programs of spying on Muslims and religious centers. The suits argued the NYPD violated the U.S. and New York state constitutions by singling out and stigmatizing entire communities based on their religion...

Today's Teamster News 12.07.15

TEAMSTERS
Clark County School District Workers Vote to Join Teamsters  Teamster.org   ...Clark County School District (CCSD) support workers have voted overwhelmingly to join the Teamsters Union, the Employee-Management Relations Board (EMRB) announced today. There are more than 11,000 support workers in the bargaining unit. The vote for Teamsters Local 14 was a decisive win over the current bargaining representative at CCSD, with nearly 82 percent of workers voting to join the Teamsters...
CCSD support staff ousts ESEA in favor of Teamsters union  Review-Journal  ...A decade-long fight to unseat the labor union that represents more than 11,000 bus drivers, custodians and support staff who work for the Clark County School District culminated Saturday in a landslide vote for Teamsters Local 14. Claiming 81 percent of 5, 339 ballots cast in a runoff election, Teamsters leaders and supporters credited their victory to a change in rules that govern union elections...

GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
U.S. car makers count among Pacific trade pact skeptics  Yahoo  ...U.S. auto makers are unlikely to win a much bigger share of the Japanese vehicle market despite a bid to break down trade barriers under a new Pacific trade pact, highlighting the difficulties ahead in winning votes for the deal through Congress. Car makers joined the tobacco industry, pharmaceutical companies and financial services in expressing reservations about parts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership...
Vietnam Sees Record-High Foreign Investment on TPP, Eased Rules  Bloomberg  ...Vietnam expects disbursed foreign direct investment to reach a record high this year after the government eased business regulations, luring investors seeking to benefit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. The surge in the Southeast Asian country’s foreign investments comes as neighboring countries such as the Philippines report declines, reflecting overseas investors’ increasing attraction to Vietnam...
Drug prices expected to rise as result of TPP deal  Globe and Mail  ...The intellectual-property provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement will drive up global drug prices and make it harder to treat diseases in developing countries, Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) says. A month after the final text of the TPP was released, the medical humanitarian organization has completed its analysis of the portions of the massive trade pact that will affect drug costs...
How the TPP Fulfills Big Ag's Wish List  Alternet  ...An initial review reveals that the agreement compromises food safety and public health, notably through measures pertaining to U.S. border inspection of food imports. The agreement limits food import inspections “to what is reasonable and necessary,” and—perhaps most alarming—requires border inspectors to notify food importers if a negative food safety check is issued so they can challenge the port inspection findings...
U.S. trade deficit rises 3.4% in October to $43.9 billion  LA Times  ...The U.S. trade deficit widened in October, the Commerce Department said Friday, as exports of U.S. goods fell to the lowest level in more than four years, a reflection of the impact of a weak global economy and stronger dollar. The trade deficit, the difference between exports and imports, widened 3.4% in October to $43.9 billion, compared to a revised $42.5 billion deficit in September...
Greek parliament narrowly approves 2016 austerity budget  Euronews  ...The Greek parliament has narrowly approved a 2016 budget which includes sharp cuts in spending and some tax increases. The measures were conditions set by the country’s international lenders when Athens signed up to a third rescue package from euro zone governments in August worth up to 84 billion euros. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said it was difficult for a government that wants to promote social justice...
To Lift Quality of Life and Economy, Finland Champions Universal Basic Income  Common Dreams  ...As a way to improve living standards and boosts its economy, the nation of Finland is moving closer towards offering all of its adult citizens a basic permanent income of approximately 800 euros per month. The monthly allotment would replace other existing social benefits, but is an idea long advocated for by progressive-minded social scientists and economists as a solution—counter-intuitive as it may first appear at first—that actually decreases government expenditures...

STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Pre-filed bill targets prevailing wage in disaster areas  Missouri Times  ...One of the shorter pre-filed bills submitted so far calls for a prohibition on prevailing hourly wage to be paid for a tax credit funded project in a disaster area. Rep. Bill White, R-Joplin, filed HB 1406, which “prohibits the Missouri Housing Development Commission from requiring a prevailing hourly wage to be paid to a contractor on a project for a housing tax credit if it is in a Governor-declared disaster area”...
Rauner: Right to work off the table “for now”  Capitol Fax  ...Gov. Rauner has long said he is not pushing a “right-to-work” agenda for Illinois, but when speaking to a friendly crowd Friday at the Illinois Manufacturers Association’s annual luncheon, Rauner said the idea was only off the table “for now.” “Our labor regulations, while all the states around us have gone right-to-work, that’s killing a lot of employers,” Rauner said. “I’ve taken that off the table, for now anyway, in the spirit of trying to get a deal”...
Oregon union fight heats up  Statesman Journal  ...The Northwest Accountability Project has filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service asking to have the Freedom Foundation's tax-exempt charity status revoked. The complaint is intensifying the battle over public unions in Oregon and Washington, and was co-signed by 18 organizations including labor unions and left-leaning activist groups. The Northwest Accountability Project is working to counter the Freedom Foundation's campaign to have home-care workers opt out of paying union dues...
Right to Work is DOA in Ohio for fear of a Senate Bill 5 reprise  (opinion) Cleveland.com  ...Bystanders can unbunch their Dockers: Right to Work isn't going anywhere in Ohio anytime soon, if ever, because the last thing key Republicans want is another Senate Bill 5. True, an Ohio House committee gave a proposed Right to Work (for Less) plan, House Bill 377, a hearing last week. House rules require every House bill to get at least one hearing...
When It Comes to Female Apprenticeship Numbers, Oregon is Blowing Other States Away  We Party Patriots  ...In Oregon, outreach efforts to ensure women have apprenticeship opportunities were rewarded at a ceremony earlier this month, during which elected officials and union leaders touted the state’s leadership and celebrated the receipt of a $3 million federal grant to develop such programs. According to the numbers, Oregon has more than double the number of women in apprenticeships (6.9 percent) than the national average (3.2 percent)...
Paul Ryan Just Accidentally Made a Great Case for Raising the Minimum Wage  The Nation  ...  While Ryan pushed many of his favorite myths about the safety net, he also inadvertently made one of the strongest cases to date for raising the minimum wage and investing in policies to help people balance work and caregiving. Indeed, in his grand finale, Ryan called on Congress to: “Push wages up. Push the cost of living down. Get people off the sidelines. I could think of no better way to restore confidence in the American economy”...

U.S. LABOR
UAW wins historic victory in U.S. South with vote at VW plant  Reuters  ...The United Auto Workers union won its first organizing vote at a foreign-owned auto assembly plant in the U.S. South on Friday, in a groundbreaking victory after decades of failed attempts. About 71 percent of skilled trades workers who cast ballots at Volkswagen AG's factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee voted to join the UAW, according to the company and the union. The skilled trades workers account for about 11 percent of the 1,450 hourly employees at the plant...
Communications Workers of America Ratify Agreements Covering AT&T Southeast Wireline Employees  Fierce Telecom  ...AT&T today announced that employees represented by the Communications Workers of America have voted to ratify a four-year contract with AT&T Southeast wireline operations. Employees also voted to ratify tentative agreements on two southeast regional contracts covering AT&T Billing Southeast and Southeast Utility Operations. The contracts cover about 24,000 employees in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee...
Nexteer UAW workers reject proposed contract by a landslide  MLive  ...Nexteer Automotive workers represented by UAW Local 699 rejected a proposed contract in a landslide vote, according to the group. UAW Local 699 on Monday, Dec. 7 posted the tentative results of the vote on its Facebook page. The outcome was 399 "no" votes to 8 "yes" votes for trade workers, and 2,704 "no" votes to 72 "yes" votes for production workers...
The single ugliest myth the rich perpetuate about the poor  Salon  ...Many wealthy white conservative males believe they deserve their good fortunes, and that the poor are taking handouts. But on average little of the money of the wealthiest Americans is spent on productive job-creating ventures. Based on the evidence, the very people demeaned by the rich as ‘lazy’ are generally the hardest workers. 73 percent of public support recipients are members of working families...

SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Activists Stage Paris Sit-In To Protest Role of Corporate Polluters in Climate Talks  Democracy Now  ...Despite restrictions on protests following the November 13 attacks that killed 130 people, activists attempted to stage a mass sit-in at the Grand Palais in Paris today to protest corporate sponsors pushing for so-called "solutions" to climate change that include genetically modified foods, privatized water and biofuels...
Chicago Cover-Up Deepens as 80 Minutes of Footage Confirmed Missing  Common Dreams  ...Chicago's cover-up scandal is deepening after city officials were forced to release additional surveillance footage of the deadly shooting of 17-year-old African American Laquan McDonald by a white officer—and it showed an unexplained 80-minute gap covering the time the teenager was killed...
Hunger-Striking Asylum Seekers Bring Their Case to Clinton’s Front Door  The Nation   ...Immigration activists brought the current fight over immigrant detention to Hillary Clinton’s doorstep Thursday. Two dozen activists protested outside Clinton’s Brooklyn headquarters to push the Democratic presidential front-runner and Bernie Sanders to respond to #Freedomgiving—the name activists gave to a week-long hunger strike that began the day before Thanksgiving...

Today's Teamster News 06.11.15

Teamsters
Hoffa: TAA Will Offer Little Help to Workers Hit Hard by Trade  Huffington Post  ...For years, the Teamsters have been strong supporters of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) legislative efforts that have offered support to thousands of workers who have lost their jobs due to bad trade deals. But not this time. As lawmakers get ready to consider TAA legislation in the House in an effort to sweeten the pot and encourage the passage of the fast track trade bill, they too should reconsider their support of the measure...
United Airlines Maintenance Workers Warn Shareholders of Problems at Airline  Teamster.org  ...United Airlines aviation maintenance technicians and related support personnel rallied outside the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Chicago today to warn investors and customers of problems at the airline. More than 9,000 Teamster aviation maintenance workers are seeking a fair collective bargaining agreement...
Clark County School District Employees To Vote For Teamster Representation  Teamster.org  ...Today, in a major victory for support staff workers at the Clark County School District (CCSD) in southern Nevada, the Employee-Management Relations Board (EMRB) announced a union election to be held November. The ballots will be mailed on November 2 and counted on December 5 in a simple-majority vote for Teamster representation at the nation’s fifth largest school district...
Teamsters Kick Off Carhaul Negotiations in Chicago  Teamster.org ...Six days after the Teamsters exchanged contract proposals with the carhaul employer group, the union kicked off negotiations in Chicago today for a new national contract covering almost 6,000 employees. “Today is the start of a long process to negotiate a strong contract for our carhaul members, and we will not stop until we address our members’ concerns at the bargaining table,” said Kevin Moore, Director of the Teamsters Carhaul Division...
Hoffa: Safety Of Motorists Could Be Jeopardized By Transportation Bill  Teamster.org  ...Highways across Michigan and the U.S. have become increasingly dangerous for motorists. And that will only get worse if Congress approves  a transportation spending bill that effectively keeps the suspension of  rules in place that allow truck drivers to work longer hours, that permits  larger double-trailers and that prevents the U.S. Department of Transportation from raising minimum insurance standards that have been frozen in place for the last three decades...
United Airlines employees protest at annual meeting  Chicago Tribune   ...Frustration among United Airlines' 9,000 unionized maintenance technicians, some of whom demonstrated outside the carrier's headquarters in Chicago on Wednesday, spilled over to the corporate annual meeting inside. United and the workers, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, have been working on a joint contract since January 2013 that covers workers of United and Continental, which merged in 2010. Mediated talks are scheduled to continue next week in Las Vegas...
D.C. area Teamsters endorse Donna Edwards for Senate  Washington Post  ...Rep.  Donna F. Edwards (D-Md.) has won support from the Washington area Teamsters for her Maryland Senate campaign, two months after her primary rival U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) scored the first union endorsement in the contest. The Teamsters Local #639, which represents about 8,500 workers in Maryland, Virginia and the District and is largest in the region, announced their decision Wednesday...

Global Labor & Trade
House GOP prepares for close 'fast track' vote  USA Today  ...Seeing momentum for passage, House Republicans are aiming to move forward Friday with an anticipated close vote to renew trade promotion authority. The "fast track" trade bill is a top priority for Republicans and President Obama, but overwhelming opposition from the majority of congressional Democrats has pro-trade lawmakers anticipating a tight vote...
John Boehner set to move ahead on trade  Politico  ...Speaker John Boehner plans to bring a package of trade bills to the House floor Friday, despite lingering disagreements with Democrats. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), wading into the fast-track trade fight for the first time publicly, spent all week pressing Boehner to change the package, which passed the Senate last month...
Labor chief rebukes Obama in letter  The Hill  ...AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka this week sent President Obama a five-page letter slamming his push for fast-track trade authority, arguing labor unions have been treated unfairly throughout the process. Trumka railed against Obama in the letter, which was sent on Monday, asserting that he has “repeatedly isolated and marginalized labor and unions as the only opponents of fast track” and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...

Paul Ryan Seeks to Bar Obama From Tweaking Immigration, Climate-Change Law  Wall Street Journal  ...Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) is seeking to prevent President Barack Obama from using trade agreements to make changes to U.S. laws on immigration and climate change, a move aimed at reassuring conservatives wary of voting to give Mr. Obama special trade authority...
House passes bill to repeal meat labeling rules  The Hill  ...The House passed legislation late Wednesday that would repeal country-of-origin labeling requirements for beef, pork and chicken products. Passage of the measure came easily on a vote of 300-131. The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled last month against the U.S. appeal to keep its existing country-of-origin labeling regulation for imported cuts of beef and pork...
Leaked trade deal terms prompt fears for Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme  The Guardian  ...The leak of new information on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) shows the mega-trade deal could provide more ways for multinational corporations to influence Australia’s control of its pharmaceutical regulations. Revealed via Wikileaks, the annexe on “transparency and procedural fairness for pharmaceutical products and medical devices” uncovered the draft agreements regarding medicines between the 12 TPPA member countries...

Left wingers stage anti-austerity protest at Greek finance ministry, as bailout talks continue  Associated Press  ...Greek left-wing demonstrators are staging a sit-in at the finance ministry building in central Athens, in a protest against the radical, left-led government, which they accuse of planning new austerity measures. Thursday's protest came as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is engaged in a diplomatic offensive in Brussels to try to persuade European creditors to pay out the bailout loans the country needs to avoid default...
Jobsite Improvements Can’t Happen without Workers  Solidarity Center  ...The global economy generally is unregulated and the system encourages multinational corporations to operate or source from countries where wages are low, laws to protect human rights are few or unenforced and workers are impoverished and vulnerable, Shawna Bader-Blau, Solidarity Center executive director, said before the Canadian Parliament late yesterday...

State & Living Wage Battles
Scott Walker Congratulates Himself On His Education Record But Leaves Out Important Facts  Think Progress  ...In an op-ed for The Des Moines Register, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) talked up his record on education, saying that his decisions to get rid of teacher tenure and seniority and encourage the growth of more charter schools is responsible for better graduation rates and higher third grade reading scores. The data is skewed a little by the fact that the ACT test is largely taken in the Midwest and not on the east coast, and is required in certain states and not in others...
Kansas Waffles On Restriction That Would Only Let People Withdraw A Max Of $25 From Welfare Each Day  Think Progress  ...Though Kansas has been deadlocked over whether to raise taxes — something that should be unthinkable under its “tea party experiment” of baiting economic growth with lower taxes — it may be rolling back one particularly egregious aspect of restricting benefits on the poor...
California: Raise in Minimum Wage in Los Angeles Is to Be Signed Saturday  New York Times  ...Officials have given final approval to an ordinance that makes Los Angeles the largest city in the United States to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. The City Council on Wednesday voted 12 to 1 for the increase and forwarded it to Mayor Eric Garcetti. His office says he plans to sign it on Saturday...
Could West Virginia Lose Prevailing Wage?  WDTV  ...Prevailing wage has the potential to disappear temporality come next month. On Monday June 8th, a Republican-led committee voted to not extend the deadline to set a new prevailing wage in our state. The agency met a June 1st deadline to share it's method on how the wage would be reached, but If WorkForce West Virginia doesn’t submit more details on it's plans by July 1st, the state will no longer have a prevailing wage for the time being...
Walmart Violated Minimum Wage Laws, Federal Judge Rules  Huffington Post ...Wal-Mart could be on the hook for more than $100 million in back pay after a federal judge ruled the company failed to pay California minimum wage to truck drivers for activities that included inspecting and washing their trucks, an attorney said Wednesday. The ruling came after the company argued that the drivers are paid for particular activities that include those tasks...
Council Rejects Prevailing Wage Ordinance  Woodstock Independent  ...The Woodstock City Council refused to pass a state-mandated prevailing wage ordinance at its June 2 meeting, a vote that will likely prove to be symbolic. The vote came after a presentation from Larson detailing the cost to municipalities of Illinois’ prevailing wage laws. Such laws, which exist at the federal level as well as in 32 states, dictate the hourly wage and benefits paid to many government-contracted laborers, workers and mechanics...

U.S. Labor
With Thousands Marching in the Streets, Chicago Teachers Union Declares ‘This Means War!’  In These Times  ...Cries of “this means war!” echoed throughout Chicago’s financial district this Tuesday as teachers demonstrated against the Board of Education ahead of union contract negotiations this summer. The rally, which began in front of Chicago’s James R. Thompson center, served as an unofficial kickoff for the CTU’s campaign to bargain a new contract with CPS’s Board of Education, which represents 400,000 students and the country’s third-largest school district. The current contract expires on June 30...
Now interns are unionizing, too  Washington Post  ...Of all workplace positions, perhaps none is quite so exploitable — at least stereotypically — as the intern. Sometimes paid, but often not, they're asked to perform duties nobody else wants to do in exchange for that essential first line on a resume indicating “experience.” Haley Quinn, a 20-year-old student at New York University, thought life could be a lot better for the nation’s youngest professionals. Last summer, while interning at the American Federation of Teachers in Washington, D.C., she did what seemed natural in that environment: Organizing her co-workers...
Agreement with Cal-OSHA gives UFW bigger role in heat protection enforcement  Bakersfield Californian  ...Cal-OSHA, the state’s workplace safety agency, has agreed to adjust its approach to heat-illness protections, including stepping up inspections during the warmest weather and targeting repeat offenders, under a lawsuit settlement announced Wednesday by the United Farm Workers labor union. The agreement gives the UFW a bigger role in reporting employers it suspects of violating existing rules, and calls on the union to do more to persuade field workers to cooperate with state inspectors...
Clark County stops pay increases for SEIU members  Las Vegas Review-Journal  ...Clark County management has informed its largest union that employees won’t receive salary or benefit increases anytime soon, citing a new state law and contending that the contract between the county and Service Employees International Union Local 1107 has expired. The freeze is expected to end in August or early September, when the county expects to have a new contract in place with the union...
Saline UAW workers avoid strike minutes before deadline  Click On Detroit  ...A Saline auto parts plant avoided a potential United Auto Workers strike. They reached a deal minutes before midnight with auto supplier Faurecia. The union had told its members to prepare for strike assignments at 5:30 a.m. Thursday. UAW Local 892 President Larry Robinson passed out a negotiations update Wednesday, which regarded the end of deadline extensions, concluding that, if there is no deal at midnight, "unless you hear otherwise, you should consider yourself on strike"...
USW to vote Thursday to end lockout at Century Aluminum's Hawesville smelter  Platts  ...Hundreds of union members would return to work Monday at Century Aluminum's 244,000 mt/year Hawesville smelter in Kentucky if the United Steelworkers union ratifies a tentative agreement with the Chicago-based company to end a monthlong lockout, a USW official said Wednesday. The five-year deal was hammered out Tuesday by negotiators with the assistance of a federal mediator...

Miscellaneous
'Infrastructure? Who Cares,' Says GOP-Led House as it Slashes Amtrak Budget  Common Dreams  ...The GOP-led U.S. House of Representatives late Tuesday voted to slash $242 million from the Amtrak budget. "Amtrak currently receives $1.3 billion from the government, most of which goes toward capital improvements and debt service," AP reports. "The GOP-drafted measure cuts $242 million from capital accounts but fully funds the $289 million request for operating losses"...
Here little lady, let me tell you how banking works: Jamie Dimon mansplains to Elizabeth Warren  Salon   ...Jamie Dimon, the billionaire CEO of JP Morgan Chase and face of Wall Street bankers, doesn’t think Senator Elizabeth Warren “fully understands the global banking system” but he’s reportedly offered to meet with her and explain a few things. Dimon told a group of bankers at a luncheon for The Executives’ Club of Chicago today that although he agrees with some of the concerns expressed by America’s most vocal critic of Wall Street, he just doesn’t think that Warren actually gets how the whole global banking thing works...
Police Kill Black Women Too—and We Don't Talk About It Enough  Mother Jones  ...During protests that shook Baltimore in April, Freddie Gray's name became a rallying cry in calls for criminal justice reform nationwide. But how many of us have heard of Rekia Boyd, the 22-year-old unarmed black woman who was fatally shot by a police detective in Chicago back in 2012? Just five days before demonstrations erupted for Gray in Maryland and then across the country, a judge acquitted the Chicago detective who killed Boyd, despite finding that he had acted in a manner that was "beyond reckless"...

At Unity, Teamsters look ahead to a bright future

Building Teamster Power at Unity Conference.

Some 1,600 Teamster brothers and sisters from across North America gathered together today as part of the 12th annual Unity Conference to share their success stories and speak truth to power about the increasingly perilous state of workers across the continent.

Rank-and-file union members joined with Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa as well as other Teamster leaders to let attendees know they all have a role in ensuring that Teamster Power will not flourish if they don't continue to contribute and speak out.

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa

Hoffa said there are political forces that are trying to hamper the power of the Teamsters and the labor movement, both in Congress and in state capitals across the country. But he said the union won't sit quietly by and let that happen:

These people are crazy. They want to roll the clock back to 1890. We need to make sure we stand together. They are not going to get rid of us.

One of those fights is against fast track trade authority, which would allow lousy trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to move forward. Hoffa said the government shouldn't sacrifice good U.S. jobs for even bigger corporate profits:

We are not sending any more jobs out of America. Leave the damn jobs at home!

Hoffa greeted new Teamsters likes the 13,500 San Bernardino County, Calif. public workers who joined the union earlier this year. And he also gave a shout out to more than 11,000 Clark County, Nev. school district employees who won a battle against the state that nearly ensures those same workers will be joining the Teamsters after a planned union election this fall.

Elena Rodriguez, a clerical worker at the school district, said she and her fellow workers will be empowered once they can join the union:

With the Teamsters, we will have real power. This time next year, we will be your brother and sisters.

Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall

Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall said the union is in excellent financial shape, which will enable it to seek out organizing opportunities and flex its muscle when necessary to get better contracts for its members:

We have the money and the resources to take on the fights. That's what we're supposed to be doing.

That said, it was clear there have been plenty of victories for the Teamsters in the past year. Whether it was Facebook contract bus drivers, workers at several hubs of Fed Ex Freight and Con-way, port truck drivers in Los Angeles and Long Beach or Selland car haul workers, the victories kept coming.

For many, the union plays an important role in their life. A waste worker at Universal Waste in Los Angeles who recently joined Local 396 talked about how his life has improved for himself and his family since becoming a member.

Meanwhile, Ricardo Ceja Morones, a driver with new drayage trucking firm Eco Flow Transportation that will hire all its Southern California drivers as employees, said he is already winning by having a more stable job:

The Teamster have taught us how to fight our fights. With the support of the Teamsters, we will earn a good  wage, good benefits, and respect on the job.

Clark County worker Elena Rodriguez

But there are still more battles to be won. A worker at salad processing giant Taylor Farms in California's Central Valley talked about the company's ongoing illegal attacks on their right to organize. And there are other such challenges that must be defeated.

Beyond all the important talk of organizing and politics, the Unity Conference also provides an opportunity for leaders and members to get back in touch with what it means to be a Teamster. Preach Haynes, a trustee for Local 41 in Kansas City, said:

When you talk about Unity, it means you've got come out of your comfort zone and be willing to help under any circumstances and lend your ear to your members because their concerns are your concerns.