Pope's visit offers hope for workers

Pope Francis arrives in the United States tomorrow, and whether you are a member of the Catholic faith or not, there is reason to be excited. For more than maybe any other global leader, the pope is a friend of workers worldwide.

Since being selected as the leader of Roman Catholics in 2013, the pope has made it his mission to stand up for the downtrodden. He has been an outspoken advocate

Low-wage workers protest in front of the Capitol in July.

for workers and unions and a vocal critic of the growing issue of income inequality.

In fact, earlier this year, Pope Francis called on world leaders to create new working opportunities for the people of the world:

I wish to extend an invitation to everyone to greater solidarity and to encourage those in public office to spare no effort to give new impetus to employment. This means caring for the dignity of the person.

... Today many social, political and economic systems have chosen to exploit the human person ... not paying a just (wage), not offering work, focusing solely on the balance sheets, the company's balance sheets, only looking at how much I can profit. This goes against God!

It is a message many are hopeful he will continue to address we he arrives in Washington, D.C. tomorrow afternoon and later speaks not only to President Obama, but before Congress as well. The pope will later head to Philadelphia and New York City.

Pope Francis, however, is not the only religious leader taking on big business. In fact, Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich last week challenged the policies of Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner when he spoke out against so-called right-to-work.

Speaking at the Plumbers Hall in Chicago last Thursday, Bishop Cupich said the labor movement is essential to balancing out power in the workplace:

Work and unions are important not simply for what a worker 'gets,' but how they enable a
worker to provide for a family and participate in the workplace and society. Unions are important not simply for helping workers get more, but helping workers be more, to have a voice, a place to make a contribution to the good of the whole enterprise, to fellow workers and the whole of society.

The Teamsters could not agree more. That's why we released our new "Let's Get America Working" platform earlier this month, and it's why we've called on lawmakers, both Democrat and Republican, to work hard to implement it so workers can earn a fair wage and the economy can prosper.

Instituting such a program is going to take a lot of effort. That's why those advocating for workers are trying to appeal to the better angels in us all. The Teamsters welcome the efforts of Pope Francis, Bishop Cupich and all those in the faith community who see value in hardworking people all over the world. And we urge them to continue with the fight for justice.

Today's Teamster News 02.14.15

Teamsters
Teamsters Celebrate, Remember James R. Hoffa  teamster.org   ...Each year in February, Teamsters take a moment to reflect upon and remember a leader who changed the course of history for working men and women in America. James R. Hoffa, born February 14, 1913, served as General President of the Teamsters Union from 1957 to 1971. In that time, he inspired thousands to stand up and let their voices be heard...
Nevada Board Gives Up Supermajority Rule For Switching Unions  Las Vegas Review Journal   ...The three-member Nevada Local Government Employee-Management Relations Board unanimously agreed to make the changes at a meeting Thursday after ruling on a recent vote by Clark County School District support staff to determine whether Teamsters Local 14 would supplant the Education Support Employees Association at the bargaining table...
Union: Heidelberg Dispute Is Trickling Down  Cincinnati Business Courier   ... the battle over ownership of one of the region's largest beer distributing companies is having an effect on employees, and many are working without a contract....
Return To Work: Golan's Workers Claim Win After Six-Month Strike  Chicago Tribune   ...More than six months after workers at Skokie's Golan's Moving & Storage went on strike to try to win their first union contract, they returned to their jobs this month, claiming victory after agreeing to a three-year pact with the company....
CP Rail Faces Two Strike Deadlines This Weekend  Toronto Star   ...The Teamsters represents 3,300 locomotive engineers and other train workers at CP Rail. The union says the company is either unwilling or unable to comply with agreements that require train crews to stop operating and obtain rest after 10 continuous hours of work...
What People Power Can Achieve: Take The LA Port Drivers  City Watch   ...With the support of LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, drivers from dozens of companies last year joined in unity (with Teamsters Local 848) to demand changes from drayage firms.  They met “to fight for justice.”...
FTC Delays Vote On $3.5B Food Merger After Sysco Meetings  New York Post   ...The Federal Trade Commission has blinked. The regulator was close Wednesday night to voting to block a $3.5 billion food industry merger — but postponed the decision after an intense day of meetings with Sysco, The Post has learned...
Sean Corr Will Race In The Lucas Oil 200 At Daytona Saturday To Support NYC's Horse-And-Carriage Industry  New York Daily News   ...One of the top contenders in this year’s Daytona Speedweek is running on Big Apple horse-and carriage power. Sean Corr, an up-and-coming race car driver from upstate New York, decked out his race car with a mural featuring a Central Park horse-carriage driver to show support for the embattled industry...
Labor Council Awards Honor Local Union Activists  Syracuse Post Standard   ...Unsung Hero Award: John Pekoff, Teamsters 317. Pekoff has helped with behind-the-scenes tasks like securing money for buses for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade, lining up food for events and offering up the local Teamster Hall for meetings, training and phone banks...
Trade
Democrat Says Obama Administration Dodging Request To Read Trade Deals Without Restrictions  Huffington Post   …A Democratic congressman has accused the Obama administration of dodging his request for "unimpeded" access to two controversial trade agreements -- reigniting a dispute over transparency as the president presses legislators for so-called "fast-track" authority, which would block members of Congress from offering amendments to either deal...
TPP free trade deal no closer to transparency  SBS   …Australia’s hand in what is potentially the world's largest free trade agreement remains hidden from the public...
State Battles
Right-to-work laws won't save Illinois  Chicago Tribune   … It's impossible to claim that RTW laws help state economies. RTW advocates such as Rauner simply haven't made their case. If these laws have any impact on a state's well-being, the evidence doesn't show it. Except for one thing: Invariably, wages are lower in RTW states…
Assembly Dems Propose Minimum Wage Boost To $10.10  Wisconsin Public Radio   ...Among the bills pushed by state Dems is one that would index the Homestead Tax Credit for low-income families to the rate of inflation and another that would restore cuts to the Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income workers. A third would enact a $10.10 minimum wage...
GOP Contender Walker Draws Wall Street Cash  Wall Street Journal   ...Wall Street is warming up to Wisconsin’s Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Several GOP fundraisers from the financial-services industry and other Manhattan business sectors are hosting donor events for Mr. Walker, a likely presidential candidate, when he visits New York next week...
War on Workers
West Coast Ports Will Take A Split 4-Day Weekend Off  Consumerist   …Today is a holiday according to the port workers’ contracts, and so is Monday. Instead of paying overtime for what shipping line representatives say is deliberately slowed-down work, they’re simply shutting everything down for those four days, as they did last weekend. The unions, meanwhile, claim that the owners are trying to force a lockout, and also making the backlog even worse as a negotiating tactic...
Experts: Unaffordable rents here to stay  Housing Wire   …Unaffordable rents are making it hard for people to save for down payments, and they aren’t likely to ease up for at least two years, according to the latest Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey…
Miscellaneous
Make It A Union-Made Valentine's Day  Union Plus   ...Did you know Necco Sweethearts, See's Candy, and some Hershey Kisses are just a few of the sweet treats made by your fellow union members?  Sweets for your Valentine can be even sweeter when they're union-made...

Today's Teamster News 02.06.15

Teamsters
Buoyed By Election Win, Teamsters Seek To Represent CCSD Support Workers  Las Vegas Review Journal   ...On Tuesday night, a runoff election that’s been pending for nearly a decade was held between the Education Support Employees Association and Teamsters Local 14 for the right to represent the Clark County School District’s support staff at the bargaining table. The Teamsters garnered 71 percent of the 5,190 votes cast in the runoff election, which has been delayed for years over legal wrangling...
More Tech Companies’ Shuttle Drivers To Vote on Joining Teamsters  Wall Street Journal   …In the latest sign of organized labor’s efforts to make inroads in Silicon Valley, the drivers of shuttle buses for employees at five big tech companies will vote late this month on representation by the Teamsters Union, the union said Thursday...
Trade
Latest TISA leak signals new threat to health services  NSW Nurses & Midwives' Association   …Fresh concerns have been raised by the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) over threats to the provision of health services in Australia as part of a trade deal being negotiated in secret by the Federal Government...
Strong dollar pushes US trade deficit higher  AFP   …The US trade deficit expanded sharply in 2014 as the stronger dollar encouraged record imports from China and the European Union, Commerce Department data released Thursday showed...
Breaking: Dismal new trade data shows more job loss from trade deals  TeamsterNation   ...The Census Bureau today released the bad news that the U.S. trade deficit rose 6 percent to a near-record high. "Trade deficit" is another phrase for "lost jobs."...
State Battles
Governor Of Illinois Takes Aim At Labor  New York Times   ...Joining the ranks of Republican governors taking aim at the power of labor unions, the new chief executive of Illinois, Gov. Bruce Rauner, said on Wednesday that the state should ban some political contributions by public employee unions and allow local “right to work” laws...
NLRB: Employer Letters Regarding Dues Payment Options Violated NLRA  National Law Review   ...Since Indiana became a Right-to-Work state, one of the most common employer questions has been – what can I tell my employees about when they can withdraw their dues authorization forms? The NLRB last week, in a non-RTW context, did give us some guidance – even though it’s probably guidance that most employers wouldn’t necessarily welcome...
Missouri House Panel Endorses 'Right To Work' Bills  KSDK   ...The House Workforce Standards and Development Committee on Wednesday approved three right-to-work bills, marking an early start on a measure that failed to pass the full chamber last year...
Lt. Governor Ready To Be Tiebreaker In Right-To-Work, Minimum Wage Votes  Albuquerque Business First   ...Sanchez said that as president of the New Mexico Senate and the tiebreaker, he'll vote for right-to-work legislation and support raising New Mexico's minimum wage to that of neighboring states. This year, for the first time in 60 years, the New Mexico House of Representatives is under Republican control, which gives measures such as right-to-work a greater chance of passing...
Wisconsin Reporter poll: Majority Of GOP Lawmakers Mum On Right-To-Work Vote  Wisconsin Reporter   ...In the Assembly, Republican lawmakers sound a little more squishy about right-to-work legislation. Several say they “support the concept” of allowing employees to decide whether they want to join a union and pay union dues, but they wouldn’t commit to voting for a bill...
Union Reps Protest Prevailing Wage Repeal Legislation  Charleston Gazette   ...Several labor and legislative leaders filled the main hall of the state Culture Center Wednesday afternoon, to discuss what they say are the negative impacts repealing West Virginia’s existing prevailing wage law would have on state workers...
Latest Bid For Minimum Wage Hike In Illinois Lets Chicago Go Higher  Chicago Sun Times   ...The latest bid to raise Illinois’ minimum wage could allow Chicago a higher wage than the rest of the state. However, the city would be prohibited from unilaterally raising its minimum wage beyond the $13 an hour by 2019 approved last year by the Chicago City Council...
Wyoming Lawmakers Again Reject Minimum-Wage Hike  Casper Star Journal   ...A second attempt to raise Wyoming’s minimum wage has failed. The Senate Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee refused to advance Senate File 131 on Wednesday when none of the lawmakers on the panel seconded a motion by Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, to advance the bill...
War on Workers
Whether In Greece Or The U.S., It’s Clear: Austerity Doesn’t Work (opinion)  In These Times   ...Workers were the victims of austerity’s slashed public services, wages and jobs. Those demanding austerity—the 1 percent—and those imposing it—conservative politicians—escaped its bitter effects with shields of cash. Austerity was not for them. It was for those without big bankrolls. That would be bad enough if austerity worked. But, as Greece illustrates horribly, it does not...

2014: The year the states began to de-privatize

In 2014, taxpayers began to halt runaway privatization of government services. Maryland's Legislature passed a law banning private contractors from contracting with the state if they broke the law. In Oregon, Nebraska and Connecticut, legislatures passed laws requiring more supervision of private contracts.

Today, dozens of cities, counties and school districts are set to impose more control over private contractors, according to a new report by In The Public Interest.  And a total of 19 states had legislation introduced that would let taxpayers reclaim control of public services.

The rush to privatize government services began in the 1970s with claims the private sector could do it 'better, faster and cheaper,' than the government. But by now citizens are finding out 'privatization' often means private contractors looting the public treasury.

In, Chicago, residents rebelled against the privatization of the city's 36,000 parking meters. According to the Atlantic Monthly,

Parking-meter rates had suddenly gone up as much as fourfold. Some meters jammed and overflowed when they couldn't hold enough change for the new prices. In other areas, new electronic meters had been installed, but many of them didn't give receipts or failed to work entirely. And free parking on Sundays was a thing of the past. 

The new meter regime sparked mass outrage. People held protests and threatened to boycott. But there was little recourse: The city had leased its 36,000 meters to a private Morgan Stanley-led consortium in exchange for $1.2 billion in up-front revenue. The length of the lease: 75 years.

It got worse: an inspector general's report found the city's taxpayers overpaid the Morgan Stanley consortium by $974 million.

Here's another example: 65 percent of state contracts with private prison company CCA guarantee 90 percent of the prison beds will be filled, or the state will pay CCA for the difference.

Teamsters have successfully fought privatization of public services when it will replace Teamsters with low-paid, poorly trained contract workers and higher costs to taxpayers. The Teamsters represent several hundred thousand public sector workers.

The In the Public Interest report describes some sensible proposals to let taxpayers take more control of government spending on private contracts:

• In California, a resolution passed the Assembly that said lawmakers opposed any outsourcing of public services and assets that did not meet standards of transparency, accountability, shared prosperity and competition. 
• In Georgia, a bill was introduced requiring contracts to demonstrate a 10 percent cost savings to taxpayers. Minnesota lawmakers considered a bill to require a 15 percent savings from a private contractor.
• A Tennessee proposal would ban contract language that guarantees corporate profits at taxpayers' expense, including 'lockup quotas.'
• A Vermont will would make it easier for taxpayers to cancel a contract if the company doesn't deliver quality services and cost savings. 
• A West Virginia lawmaker proposed a bill that would ban companies that evade taxes or broke the law from receiving state contracts. It would also require fair pay and reasonable benefits. 

Arrests, street closures during massive ALEC protest in Chicago

Here's the large ALEC protest in Chicago, happening now.

(UPDATES to correct spelling of 'Uetricht' in graf 11.)

Thousands of citizens, union members, environmentalists and faith groups are right now marching in the streets of Chicago to protest ALEC, or the American Legislative Exchange Council, meeting at the Palmer House in the Loop. The size of the crowd forced police to close Monroe Street, a major artery, and moments ago we learned they arrested several protesters.

The massive demonstration follows a 10,000-person Moral Monday protest in Asheville, N.C., two days ago. Angry North Carolinians denounced the Legislature's passage of ALEC's agenda. Politicians beholden to corporations and billionaires raised taxes on the middle class, outsourced public education, cut education spending, slashed unemployment benefits and restricted voting for citizens not likely to vote for them.

In Chicago, ALEC-supported politicians are enjoying the luxuries offered by the Palmer House and working on ways to destroy the middle class. Their agenda this year includes crushing unions, keeping the minimum wage at its current level, outsourcing toll roads and education, banning prohibitions on genetically modified food and eliminating licensing requirements for truck drivers and other professions.

In short, they're like a baby with a nail gun aimed at working people.

From early accounts the protest is large, energetic and loud. Watch them here shout "Shame on You":



You can follow the action on Twitter at #ALECinChicago and #ALECExposed. Here's what tweeters are telling us is happening: 

Casey Aldridge ‏@CaseyJAldridge 4m
RT @thegirlone: Get up, get down, Chicago is a union town. #ALECExposed #noALEC #ALECinChicago  

Stephanie Pistachio ‏@supasuga 3m
Raise Up MKE chants: Up With Black Youth, Down With ALEC! #noALEC #ALECinChicago #RaiseUpMKE http://instagram.com/p/cww0jbs8LQ/  

Fair Trade Ervin ‏@fairtrade_ervin 5m
THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE! #ALECinChicago #ALECEXPOSED #NOALEC pic.twitter.com/W6wVL8wmca
Isaac Wright ‏@Izac_Wright 6m 

MT “@ALECexposed: ALEC at 40: Turning Back the Clock on Prosperity and Progress  http://www.prwatch.org/node/12205/  #ALECexposed #ALECinChicago” #arleg

Photos are showing members of UAW, AFSCME and ATU. We're quite certain many other unions are represented.  Micah Uetricht at The Nation explains why:

Targeting ALEC would certainly be in labor’s self-interest: anti-worker and anti-union legislation has been a central focus of the group, with model legislation that includes right-to-work laws, repealing the minimum wage and opposing future minimum wage increases, and other pro-business labor laws. Their fingerprints have been on a number of high-profile legislative battles on labor issues in recent years, including Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s 2011 Budget Repair Bill that led to the state capitol’s occupation, Michigan Republican Gov. Rick Snyder’s right-to-work legislation late last year, and anti-worker (as well as anti-choice) legislation in North Carolina behind the state’s Moral Mondays protests. 

In 2013 alone, at least 117 bills resembling the group’s “model bills” on worker compensation and organizing rights have been introduced in state legislatures around the country. Their bills attacking public sector unions have caught the attention of the American Federation of State, Municipal, and County Employees (AFSCME), who have decried the organization in the past and are also encouraging members members to join the protests. 

Finally, we'll leave you for now with this great photo:

ALEC banner right in front of the Palmer House in Chicago. 

Anti-ALEC protests converging in Chicago

The pace of protest is quickening throughout the nation as a vast army of fed-up workers sing in the Wisconsin Capitol, disrupt a posh Chicago hotel, hold massive rallies in North Carolina or simply walk off their low-wage jobs.

Though the Solidarity Singers in Wisconsin and the Moral Monday protesters in North Carolina may be thousands of miles apart, their targets and tactics are the same. They are protesting politicians who've been bought by corporations to help them seize more power and wealth. Since April, more than a thousand protesters have been arrested for civil disobedience in Raleigh, Madison and Chicago.

Tomorrow another large protest in Chicago will take direct aim at the corporate-backed group that stands out for its lethality to workers and for the huge number of politicians who have filled its shopping bag: the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. ALEC has written hundreds of bills to outsource public education, destroy unions, raise taxes on the middle class and limit voting to its supporters. ALEC's modus operandi is to treat state lawmakers to luxury vacations and hand them legislation to empower corporations at the expense of workers and citizens.

ALEC is hosting one of its periodic confabs this week at the luxurious Palmer House in Chicago's Loop. Already an offshoot of North Carolina's Moral Monday group staged a disruption in the hotel lobby -- on Monday of course -- demanding that ALEC go home.Six were arrested. Tomorrow another large demonstration will take place outside the hotel.

The Center for Media and Democracy brings us the frightening ALEC agenda at the Chicago meeting:

• New ways to thwart local democratic control by prohibiting city or county governments from regulating genetically modified plant seeds...
• Presentations on how fracking America can lead to increased profits through exporting America's natural gas....
• Updates to some of ALEC's long-standing anti-union policies. The "Employee Secret Ballot Protection Act" will be amended "to call for [union certification by] a majority of members in the bargaining unit, rather than a majority of those voting." This was the same certification policy pushed by Scott Walker in Wisconsin, and creates an almost insurmountable burden....
• Renewing objections to linking the minimum wage to the consumer price index...
• Privatization and outsourcing of toll roads...
• New efforts to eliminate occupational licensing for any profession, which help ensure that people who want to call themselves doctors, long-haul truckers, accountants, or barbers meet basic standards of training and expertise to guarantee that consumers are safe and get what they pay for.
• Expanding virtual “schools,” which enriches ALEC’s online school corporate funders, such as K12 Inc. 

Meanwhile, little notice has been given to the protests against ALEC's agenda in Wisconsin. Yesterday was the seventh day in two weeks that police arrested Solidarity Singers, a group that has met every weekday since March 11, 2011, to sing pro-union and civil rights songs inside the Rotunda. Twenty-two were arrested. Job-killer Gov. Scott Walker has been an ardent promoter of ALEC's agenda to crush unions and lower workers' wages.

One of Walker's political opponents, state Rep. Sandy Pope, was threatened with arrest yesterday for watching the singers.

blue cheddar tells us:

Today was the 7th day of mass arrests in Wisconsin’s capitol building since July 24, 2013 when the mass arrests began... 

According to WMTV, today August 6th, 22 people were cited for not having a permit and one of the 22 also got a disorderly conduct ticket. 

A tally that Jason H. has been keeping shows that capitol cops have dispensed 168 citations and 6 misdemeanors to singalong participants since July 24th.

We understand some of the Solidarity Singers may be on their way to Chicago...

Anti-ALEC Moral Monday protests spread

(UPDATES final graf to CORRECT large Chicago protest is Thursday, sted Wednesday).

An enormous Moral Monday rally in Asheville, N.C., drew about 10,000 people yesterday to protest passage of pro-corporate ALEC legislation in Raleigh even as demonstrators in Oakland and Chicago took up the Moral Monday cause.



A tremendous crowd took in event in Asheville, N.C.

At the county courthouse in Asheville, North Carolinians expressed their anger with Gov. Pat McCrory and the Legislature, which rolled back progress in education, voting rights and social and economic equality. During the legislative session, which just ended, lawmakers slashed unemployment benefits, Medicaid and education spending while cutting taxes to big business.

In Chicago, clergy, unions and community organizers took over the Palmer House Hilton lobby during the first Moral Monday protest outside of North Carolina. They demanded the hotel rescind its invitation to ALEC, which is gathering for a conference there. Police arrested six protesters.

The Carolina Mercury reported:

Oakland protesters held the first of a series of monthly ‘Moral Monday’ peace and justice rallies.

Called “Mountain Moral Monday” by organizers, the Asheville event rivaled the final Raleigh rally held last week. Yesterday’s protest was the first to be held away from the state capital and will be followed by additional events in all of North Carolina’s congressional districts. Teachers again were out in full force at the Asheville event to raise their objections to policies that strike down tenure, end salary increases for those with master’s degrees and caused the firing of thousands of classroom assistants. Angela Patane said it is important to raise attention about what is happening to education in North Carolina and was glad to see others agreed:

I was amazed by the turnout. I wasn’t expecting that many people, so I was really happy to see so many thousands of people.

Retired teacher Sue Bartlett said she too felt the need to stand up for what’s right:

We’re concerned about the children, concerned about health care, concerned about our environment.

The next Moral Monday rally in North Carolina has tentatively been scheduled for Aug. 19 in Charlotte.

There will be another large protest against ALEC in Chicago Thursday. ALEC, or the American Legislative Exchange Council, has been exposed over the past few years as an anti-worker tool of big corporation. ALEC gatherings have been dogged with large protests over the past few years, and tomorrow's may be the largest yet.

Low-wage workers in Chicago, Milwaukee, Seattle join struggle

McDonald's manager in Milwaukee sides with workers, walks out.

Hundreds of low-wage workers walked off the job in Chicago, Milwaukee and Seattle this morning during the fourth day of a nationwide drive to raise their wages. The movement spread beyond the seven cities targeted by organizers when employees in the Pacific Northwest joined in with short strikes of their own.

Low-wage workers are demanding an end to retaliation for organizing a union. In all three cities, they went from one business to another to protest poverty wages and workplace abuse. It was expected to be a daylong affair, with final rallies taking place in Chicago, Milwaukee and Seattle in the early evening.

Workers in other industries have joined the revolt, which began last fall when low-wage retail and fast-food workers walked off the job in New York. Sudden short strikes have been used to elicit public support for low-wage workers at warehouse companies, government contractors and the waste industry. Today, Teamster paramedics and EMTs in El Centro, Calif., are in the fifth day of a strike to fight low wages paid by Gold Cross Ambulance. Teamsters yesterday protested pharmaceutical distributor McKesson’s retaliation against workers at a Lakeland, Fla., warehouse.

In Chicago, Samwiseoccupies reported about 200 people were marching from store to store raising awareness about the dire state of their wages. By mid-morning, workers had already visited Wendy’s, Subway, Sally’s Beauty Supply and Sears and were expected to visit many more sites.

Striking employees chanted in English and Spanish:

“Workers can’t survive on $8.25” and “On strike! Shut it down! Chicago is a union town!”

Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, a McDonald’s manager joined her workers in walking out. , She said they deserved higher pay and it was time to stand up for it, according to Wisconsin Jobs Now’s Twitter feed. Protesters later moved out to a Burger King in the city, where all workers walked off the job.

Viva la causa! reported there was a great turn out for the Milwaukee protests:

Too many striking workers, too few seats on the buses. What a great problem!

Seattle workers aren't getting full pay from local Starbucks.

And in Seattle, where low-wage workers weren’t expected to strike, protesters held a teach-in at a local Starbucks about wage theft. They also showed up at a Burger King restaurant to protest low wages.

The Teamsters Facebook page is filled with comments supporting the low-wage workers:

Jim Lutz: Gotta give em Credit for taking 1st step -a hard one when you only make 8 bucks an hour

Dale Felder: These workers are shining examples of bravery, fortitude, and determination. Because of their wonderful actions changes will appear. There is hope for the future of the 99%ers!

Rodney Justice:  If anyone would take the time to see just how much a McDonald's make per month they would see just how right the workers are.

Andy Newhausen:  I like the way it said allow workers to unionize, I believe they should just do it and to bad for the company. Big companies have reaped huge profits at the laborers expense for two long, pay them a fair wage or close your doors !

You can show your support for low-wage workers by adding your name to their petition here.

The petition says:

I support workers who are on strike for a living wage and better working conditions. No job in this country should pay so little that employees can’t make ends meet.

Low-wage strike comes to Chicago, Detroit, Flint, Mich.

Workers in Chicago picket Whole Foods market over pay, poor treatment.

Hundreds of workers joined the nationwide low-wage strike today, walking off retail and fast-food restaurant jobs in Chicago, Detroit and Flint, Mich. to protest low wages and abuse. It marked the third day of short strikes in cities across the country, part of a nationwide movement to raise wages and end retaliation for organizing a union.

In Detroit and Flint, the low-wage strike forced restaurant closings. Large rallies were held in Chicago outside of Whole Foods, McDonald’s and Checkers, while some fast-food workers took their message to the community.

Workers in other industries have joined the revolt. Teamster paramedics and EMTs in El Centro, Calif., are in the fourth day of a strike to fight low wages paid by Gold Cross Ambulance. Teamsters are even now protesting pharmaceutical distributor McKesson’s retaliations against workers at a Lakeland, Fla., warehouse. They are engaging in a rally and shareholder action at McKesson’s annual meeting in San Francisco.

A wave of labor unrest has hit low-wage employers since last fall, when fast-food workers first went on strike in New York City. Since then, a series of short, sudden one-day strikes captured the news media’s attention and elicited sympathy from a broader public. Revelations of extravagant CEO pay have helped galvanize the movement, as worker productivity rose and wages fell since the end of the 2008 recession.

Today in the Windy City, Fight for Fifteen reported more than 200 employees picketed in front of a Whole Foods market at midday to bring attention to poverty wages and the company’s poor treatment of them. Strikers demanded higher pay and an end to Whole Foods’ arbitrary point system used to punish workers.

Circling in front of the supermarket entrance, video of the event showed energetic employees making clear they are not going to stand for mistreatment anymore. Among the chants heard were:

“Hey workers, I’ve got a story. Let’s tell the whole world this is union territory!” as well as “When workers are under attack what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”



Detroit workers demand fair pay at fast-food restaurant.

Earlier in the day, fast-food workers in Chicago, Detroit and Flint made their voices heard both inside and outside restaurants such as McDonald’s and Checkers. McDonald’s employees at different outlets used the same line to criticize the hamburger giant:

Hold your burgers, hold your fries, make our wages super-sized.

Workers also took the low-wage strike into the community. Workers at a McDonald’s in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood, for instance, began handing out leaflets in the surrounding area to raise awareness about their plight. Detroit organizers, meanwhile, used Twitter to call on the public to sign online petitions to show their solidarity with fast-food workers in their push for a living wage.

In all, employees from 80 restaurant chains in Detroit and Flint walked off the job. Organizers in Chicago said workers from 26 fast-food and retail chains were expected to strike as well. They join the low-wage strike started this week by workers in New York City, St. Louis and Kansas City who  are fighting for higher wages and the right to form a union without retaliation.

You can help out by signing the petition here and giving a “Like” to the “Low Pay Is Not OK” Facebook page here.

Chicago families stand with Teamster funeral directors, drivers against SCI

Local 727 is taking a stand against their SCI bosses.

Chicago-area Teamster funeral directors and drivers on strike for a month are standing strong against SCI as bereaved families are rallying to their side.

A growing number of community residents are refusing to cross picket lines at the 16 area SCI-owned homes, which operate under the Dignity Memorial brand name. Instead, they are approaching the funeral directors and drivers, members of Local 727, to pledge their support. They are asking for more information on how they can move their funeral arrangements to other non-affiliated homes and transfer pre-need contracts. Teamsters have responded by assisting them in securing new services.

John T. Coli, Local 727’s secretary-treasurer, said SCI has placed such families in a difficult position by forcing a strike. But union members are stepping up to help them:

The Teamsters cannot thank those families enough who’ve stood alongside workers and realized they don’t have to pay into SCI’s corporate greed and intimidation. Local 727 has been proactive about informing families of more than 60 community-friendly funeral homes that are ready to arrange their funeral services.

Previous SCI customers said the company is recklessly treading upon workers who have been pillars of the community. Janice Lapinski, a longtime Orland Park resident who has previously used the services of Ridge Funeral Home in Chicago, said:

SCI uses the Dignity logo, but where is the dignity in the inexcusable treatment of their employees engaged in this labor dispute?

And Linda Stearns, an Oak Lawn resident whose family has used the Blake-Lamb Funeral Home for generations, added:

These funeral directors are so kind and so generous, always willing to help any member of our community. Until these men and women return to work, families need to go somewhere else. You won’t get the service right now that you got before.

Picketers express their unhappiness with SCI.

Teamsters Local 727 represents 59 funeral directors and drivers at SCI-owned funeral homes across the Chicago area. The union has established a website and hotline (312-206-4123) to direct families to funeral homes not affected by this labor action.

SCI last week tried to get an injunction against the funeral directors and drivers to end the strike, but a Cook County court shot them down. Meanwhile, since negotiations began June 14, the Teamsters have filed more than 10 unfair labor practice charges against the company.

Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

ALEC pushes 117 bills to crush unions in 2013, report says

ALEC, the escort service for corporations and state lawmakers, was responsible for 117 bills in 40 states to lower wages, reduce benefits and weaken workers rights this year. That's according to a report released today from our friends at the Center for Media and Democracy called "Just How Low Can Your Salary Go."

"As working Americans speak out for higher wages, better benefits, and respect in the workplace, a coordinated, nationwide campaign to silence them is mounting -- and ALEC is at the heart of it," CMD tells us.

ALEC has been trying to tilt the playing field in favor of corporations -- and at the expense of workers -- since 1979, when it began pushing No Rights At Work bills. When Republicans took control of 26 statehouses in 2010, ALEC was emboldened to attack workers as never before. Newly elected Job-killer Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker followed ALEC's marching orders and took collective bargaining rights away from nurses, snow plow drivers and school teachers.  Ohio Gov. John Kasich soon followed with the much-hated (and ultimately repealed) SB5. All along, ALEC-supported extremists had the financial and political backing of the Benedict Arnold Koch brothers. 

The CMD report is the third in a series of four being written in the run-up to a protest against ALEC in Chicago on Aug. 8. The Chicago Federation of Labor will demonstrate outside ALEC's 40th anniversary conference at the Palmer House.

ALEC is bringing state politicians to Chicago to push their agenda that rewards CEOs at the expense of middle class families and our public schools and puts our safety at risk. Forty years of ALEC is nothing to celebrate.

(If you can make it, RSVP on Facebook.)

The report tells a frightening tale of giant corporations able to hijack governments in order to make their CEOs even more obscenely wealthy than they already are. CMD documents the sordid details. Here are a few:

• ALEC's No Rights at Work bill was introduced in 15 states;
• ALEC bills to silence workers' political speech were introduced in 11 states, to weaken unions' finances in four states, to prohibit employers from honoring employees' voluntary requests to deduct their union dues in five states;
• ALEC bills attacking prevailing wage, minimum wage and living wage laws were introduced in 14 states; 
• ALEC bills promoting the outsourcing of government services were introduced in four states. 

Here are the corporations that benefit from these policies: Pfizer, FedEx, Visa, Exxon Mobil; the Spanish company Cintra and the Australian companies Macquarie and TransUrban; tobacco companies Altria and Reynolds American. All charming folks.

Here's who doesn't benefit from these policies: non-billionaires. In Wisconsin, where Walker is the poster child for ALEC stooges, the state's economy has been in a freefall almost from the minute he took office.

Find out how ALEC is trying to turn your state into a feudal serfdom by reading the whole CMD report here. And if you can make it, go to Chicago on August 8.

What's dignified about a scab?

Nothing at all. But the Dignity Memorial company, also known as Houston-based SCI, is asking striking funeral directors to scab.

This is the same company that hired armed thugs six years ago to spy on Teamster funeral directors and drivers during negotiations.

SCI could learn a thing or two about dignity.

The striking funeral directors and drivers belong to Local 727 in Chicago. They walked off the job at 16 funeral homes a week ago because SCI refuses to negotiate in good faith.

Here's what happened with the invitation to scab, according to the local's press statement:

Lawrence Mandel was picketing in front of Dignity Memorial Piser Funeral Services in Skokie when he received an email:

We are contacting you for a potential opportunity on a temporary basis due to a strike in progress at some funeral homes owned and operated by SCI Illinois Services, Inc. These temporary assignments could lead to permanent positions based on the outcome of the strike and your performance; a permanent opportunity is not guaranteed... 

Thank you, Amber Kennedy
SCI-Service Corporation International
Recruiter 

John T. Coli, Local 727's secretary treasurer, said the company's plan to bring in out-of-state funeral directors must not be working.

From what we understand, the few funerals Dignity has performed have left families dissatisfied.

Dignity Memorial has not contacted Teamsters Local 727 to resume talks.

Jay Horowitz, a 20-year funeral driver, explained why they're striking:

Two days before the strike, our negotiating team made an offer to Dignity that contained lower wage increases than they were offering so we could maintain our pension and health benefits.  It kept the rest of the contract intact with virtually the same language we’ve been working under since 2007. We’re asking SCI the same thing we asked when bargaining began:  let’s negotiate a fair contract.

 Stay tuned.

Chicago Teamster funeral directors hope they won't have to strike

As Teamster funeral directors in Chicago head into talks with corporate giant SCI tomorrow, they're hoping they don't have to sanction a possible strike or job actions at local funeral homes and cemeteries.

But the company's unchecked greed and indignation may force strikes and labor disputes.

The Teamster funeral directors' new website, integrityinillinois.com, explains SCI is a $3.8 billion company with about 13 percent of the market share in the funeral industry.

Founded in 1962, SCI has grown into a company with 1,423 funeral service locations and 374 cemeteries (including 214 funeral service/cemetery combination locations) in North America. The company’s business model is based on buying successful funeral homes that are well known in any given community. The company then retains the home’s original name and often the home’s original owners as managers. Many times the affected community doesn’t even know a multi-billion dollar corporation now owns the funeral home. 

You'd think a company would reward its employees after its stock rose 56 percent in the last year. You'd be wrong. SCI is demanding 40 concessions from the funeral directors who have made it so successful. The funeral home giant wants to eliminate the  pension plan, raise the cost of health insurance, freeze wages for new hires and remove protections for disabled employees.

You can help your brothers and sisters at Chicago funeral homes by signing the petition here. It says, in part, 

These workers are professionals who provide an invaluable service to grieving families, and they deserve the same respect they give to our communities.

We'll keep you posted on the negotiations.

Whoa! Chicago Teamsters attacked by Texas corporation

Teamster funeral directors in Chicago are in tough contract talks with SCI, a Houston-based company that’s trying to force steep concessions. They may need your support in the very near future.

Teamsters Local 727 has been negotiating a contract for its 59 funeral directors and drivers at 17 area SCI funeral homes since June 14. The current contract expires at 12 a.m., Monday, July 1, and talks will continue through June 30.

Over the course of negotiations, SCI has approximately 50 regressive changes to the current contract including:

• Eliminating the funeral directors’ pension plan
• Increasing the cost of health insurance premiums for employees
• Wage freezes for new hires
• Paltry wage increases after years of wage freezes
• Removal of contractual protections for disabled employees
• Elimination of authority of arbitration decisions

Elimination of holiday pay. John T. Coli, Teamsters Local 727 secretary-treasurer, said SCI has consistently tried to freeze wages, gut health benefits and eliminate the directors’ retirement plan.

“Our 59 local funeral directors are being bullied by a $3 2 billion company that is intent on eking out every last penny out of the community.”

Teamsters Local 727 has represented Chicago’s funeral directors and embalmers since 1946. It represents more than 6,800 hardworking men and women in the greater Chicagoland area.

Please stay tuned.

Today's Teamster News, 06.03.13

Obama’s Covert Trade Deal (opinion)  New York Times   ...THE Obama administration has often stated its commitment to open government. So why is it keeping such tight wraps on the contents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the most significant international commercial agreement since the creation of the World Trade Organization in 1995?...
China Is Reaping Biggest Benefits of Iraq Oil Boom New York Times ... “The Chinese had nothing to do with the war, but from an economic standpoint they are benefiting from it, and our Fifth Fleet and air forces are helping to assure their supply.”...
Virginians uneasy over Chinese purchase of Smithfield Reuters ...Smithfield Foods has received a $4.7 billion buyout offer from a Chinese food company. News that an agreement had been reached and was awaiting U.S. government approval sent a shiver through the community, where it is the largest employer with a payroll of nearly 4,000 people...
NM High Court Says State Violated Union Contracts Santa Fe Reporter ... In a victory for two state public employee unions, the New Mexico Supreme Court yesterday ruled that the State Personnel Office violated a 2007 collective bargaining agreement involving thousands of state employees...
TSA chief defends allowing knives on planes LA Times …Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole has delayed a plan to let passengers carry small pocketknives on planes for the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. But it is clear from a recent speech he gave that he still supports allowing knives on planes...
California Looks To Close A Loophole That Will Hit Corporations Where It Hurts, Their Profits NH Labor News ...California legislators introduced a bill that would fine an employer up to $6000 per full-time employee who ends up on Medi-Cal...
Chicago Closes 50 Public Schools, Spends $100 Million in Taxpayer Funds on Private College Stadium The Real News ...critics note that Chicago is simultaneously transferring hundreds of millions in tax dollars meant for public education to the private sector, including $100 million for De Paul University, a private institution, to build a new sports stadium...
An illustrated history of payday lending in Ohio Plain Dealer ...How did payday lenders get into Ohio? And why won't they leave, even though Ohio voters asked nicely? This illustrated history will give you the highlights of how an industry whose product is designed to push customers into repeat, high-cost borrowing has managed to dig in and thrive, despite numerous attempts by state or federal governments to rein it in...
Maine House OKs "E-Fairness' bill  Associated Press  ...A bill that would close a tax loophole used by large online retailers faces only a final Senate vote after being overwhelmingly approved by the Maine House. It would close a loophole that allows large online retailers that use affiliates to avoid paying sales tax...
Michigan bill could cut foreclosure redemption period  Associated Press   ...Michigan lawmakers are considering changes to the state's foreclosure law, including a measure that would significantly shorten the period homeowners have to sell or save their foreclosed property...
Vermont passes law on unclaimed life insurance  Associated Press…Retired bus driver Rodger Brassard says he didn’t know he had more than $5,000 coming from his late mother’s life insurance policy, but found plenty of uses for the money. Brassard, 67, of Burlington, was one of the beneficiaries of an audit of insurance companies done by a Connecticut company at the request of several states...
Port of Savannah truck drivers fight for fair working conditions  WTOC News   ...Truck drivers gathered together Saturday to show their struggle to the Savannah community. Port of Savannah drivers and their families fought for fair working conditions during a community driver forum held at Savannah's Coastal Georgia Center...
Union rejects Marquez contract offer  Hanford (Calif.) Sentinel   ...Locked in a battle with Hanford cheese plant Marquez Brothers International, Teamsters Local Union 517 officials said Friday that employees overwhelmingly rejected the company’s latest contract offer...

Hundreds of Chicago fast-food, retail workers strike today (VIDEO)

Today Chicago became the second city to experience a massive one-day strike by low-wage fast-food and retail workers who want better pay and a union.

Color Lines reports:

The walk-out is part of an accelerating trend of labor actions by low-wage, non-union workers at some of the country’s largest corporate chains stores and restaurants. 

The Fight for 15 campaign, named for its target wage hike, has been organizing workers for months to pull off today’s strike. Organizers expect employees of downtown Chicago chains including McDonald’s, Subway, Dunkin Donuts, Sears and Victoria’s Secret to join the action. 

The Chicago strike comes on the heels the recent Black Friday Walmart worker actions and several similar walk-outs by New York City fast food workers in November and again earlier this month. Fast food and retail workers are often paid the minimum wage—$8.25 in Illinois—and many say their employers refuse to schedule them for enough hours. 

“At the end of the day, it feels like I’ve done all of this to help everyone else, to help the store, help the managers, help the customers, but it doesn’t feel like anyone is looking out for me.” Macy’s employee Krystal Maxie-Collins told Josh Eidelson of Salon, who broke news of the strike last night. Eidelson writes:

Maxie-Collins, a mother of four who works part-time for the state minimum wage of $8.25 plus a commission, said she had initially been hesitant about the strike because of the risk of retaliation. But “what we are fighting for, the reason for doing it, kind of overrode the fear of doing it.” “Usually the things that are worth it,” she added, “you have to sacrifice for.”

The Chicago Tribune reported,

Charde Nabors, 21, said she's fighting for better pay and more opportunities for workers like her. 

Nabors works at Sears for $9 an hour to support her two children, ages 2 and 5 months. Nabors says she only works about 20 hours a week, though she has asked for a full-time position. 

She has to supplement her income with food stamps, but she's struggling to pay $650 a month for the apartment she moved into after staying with family and living in a hotel. 

And does this sound familiar?

"They keep adding more and more tasks and giving us less and less," added Krista Reese, 22, also an employee at Nordstrom Rack. Reese, who has worked at the store on Chicago Avenue since July, said the store used to have as many as 12 workers close every night and now they're down to four. She also talked about a pay cut. 

Reese says her fellow workers are trying to organize a union there to continue the fight for higher pay and added staff.

Stay strong, brothers and sisters.

Chicago Teamsters to work on blockbusters this summer

Our brothers and sisters in Chicago are excited about two films they'll be working on this year: the sure-to-be epic "Transformers 4" and an adaptation of the young adult novel "Divergent."

Sixty Teamsters from Local 727 will work on the fourth Transformers, an experience likely to be as hectic and exciting as the third. Three years ago, director Michael Bay turned downtown Chicago into a disaster area for “Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon.”

John Coli, president of Local 727, vividly remembers the last "Transformers."

Our members were constantly on the go and really had a great experience. It says a lot about our members and our city that they want to come back.

The film company will descend on Chicago in August, and the film will be released next year.

"Divergent" will be shot solely in Chicago, on location and in Cinespace Chicago Film Studios. Thirty Teamsters from Local 727 will work on the film, which has a working title of "Catbird." It takes place in a futuristic Chicago and centers on 16-year-old Beatrice "Tris" Prior.

Chicago is also in the running for a film by the directors of "The Matrix" and "Cloud Atlas," Lana and Andy Wachowski.

Coli sounds pretty excited about the future for movie Teamsters:

We could potentially be looking at a blockbuster franchise filmed completely in Chicago. That would be a huge milestone for the Chicago film industry.

Teamsters Local 727 represents hundreds of film industry drivers, who ferry equipment, actors and crew to, from and around the sets of productions.

Today's Teamster News 10.12.12

Top German Economists Say Greece Is Lost  der Spiegel   ...Several top German economic institutes on Thursday warned that German growth is slowing as the country continues to be hampered by the ongoing euro-zone debt crisis. And Greece, they say, will be unable to "free itself from its debt burden" and will need another haircut...
A New Era for Wal-Mart Workers?  Dissent   ...no matter how staff-driven these OUR Walmart rallies and walkouts have been, they have actually succeeded in bringing scores of currently employed Wal-Mart workers into an organization and a protest that speaks to their own felt needs and larger aspirations...
Are those Made-in-Nebraska Metro cars as Made-in-the-USA as advertised?  manufacture this   ... the manufacturer, Kawasaki, “estimates the domestic content of the components for the 7000 Series Railcars at 61% for the pilot cars and 69% for the production cars...”
Almost 2,400 Millionaires Pocketed Unemployment Benefits  Bloomberg   ...Another 954,000 households earning more than $100,000 during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression also reported receiving unemployment benefits...
Teamsters, AFSCME leaders also tout Issue 2 in local visit featuring James Hoffa  Toledo Blade   ...Two of the nation’s most powerful union leaders joined local labor officials Thursday at a rally urging their members to approve Issue 2 and keep President Obama in the White House...
Mayor Emanuel And Teamsters President John Coli Announce New Group To Evaluate Work Rules And Identify Opportunities For Savings  ENews Park Forest   ...“I am offering my assistance in finding common sense reforms,” said Coli. “Mayor Emanuel has ushered in a new era of government accountability and I am proud to continue as a partner in that effort...”

Good question: How can Walmart's CEO sleep at night?

A Chicago alderman points out that Walmart's CEO will earn more in an hour than his workers will earn in a year, ABC News reports.

By Ed Smith's math, the CEO of Walmart earns more in an hour than his employees will earn in a year.

Smith, an alderman in Chicago, presented posters at a city council meeting showing that Walmart CEO Michael Duke's $35 million salary, when converted to an hourly wage, worked out to $16,826.92. By comparison, at a Walmart store planned for the Windy City's Pullman neighborhood, new employees to be paid $8.75 an hour would gross $13,650 a year.