Today's Teamster News 02.20.15

Teamsters
Teamsters Congratulate Walmart Workers Who Stood Strong For A Raise And Better Hours  teamster.org   …Today, Walmart workers who spoke out and took action won a raise for 500,000 Walmart workers nationwide. The workers and their families need better pay and regular hours from Walmart, a company that can afford it. Walmart last year earned $16 billion in profits, and it is run by a family with $150 billion in wealth…
Members Of Parliament Join Teamsters At Memphis School Bus Community Forum  teamster.org   ...Teamster school bus drivers and monitors with Durham School Services were joined by members of the British Parliament, labor and faith leaders, community members and Teamsters representatives Wednesday night at a community forum on the state of Shelby County, Tenn., student transportation...
Durham Bus Services Under Fire From British Parliament  localmemphis.com   …Durham is owned by a British company that operates a bus system in the UK called National Express Group. Two members of parliament are here in the United States this week to talk with parents, bus drivers and union leaders about the ongoing issues with Durham…
Tech Shuttle Driver Unionization Effort Heats Up  Silicon Beat   ...The Teamsters have asked tech companies chief executives to speak up to stop what they are calling “union busting.” The workers are planning a Feb. 27 unionization vote, as Julia Love reported in the Mercury News.  Compass has contracts with Apple, eBay, Genentech, Yahoo, Zynga as well as Amtrak...
County Board Approves Contract With Sheriff’s Employees  Ogle County News   ...Ogle County Sheriff’s Department employees will be getting raises thanks to a new four-year contract approved Tuesday by the county board...
British Pols Demand Union Protection For Durham School Bus Drivers  WMC   ...Ian Lavery and Jim Sheridan, both current or former union leaders and members of Britain's House of Commons, said they have investigated Durham School Services' on-going problems in Shelby County. They've concluded most of them are to blame on a hostile work environment, in which drivers are discouraged from filing grievances or from expressing their concerns about multiple routes...
CN Plans Unilateral Contacts Modifications After Talks With Unifor Fail  Toronto Star   ...The company’s last offer on Sunday, rejected by Unifor, called for a three-year agreement with three per cent wage increases in each year. It also contained benefit improvements the company said were in line with what it negotiated recently with the United Steelworkers, which represents 3,000 maintenance-of-way employees; as well as the 1,800-member Teamsters Canada locomotive engineers and the 180-member Teamsters Canada-Rail Canada Traffic Controllers...
Fire Official Says Bridgeton Landfill Hotspots Are Close To Radioactive Waste  St. Louis Post Dispatch   ...A Pattonville Fire District official says new infrared footage of the Bridgeton Landfill shows higher heat readings beyond the base of an ongoing fire, raising questions about whether the fire is contained...
Trade
Fast track trade authority a 'close call' in U.S. Congress -Vilsack  Reuters   …Fast track trade authority a 'close call' in U.S. Congress -Vilsack…  Reuters   …Lawmakers' approval of a bill to streamline the passage of trade deals through the U.S. Congress will be a "close call," U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Thursday...
U.S. lawmaker sees fast-track trade power soon in step towards trade pact  Reuters   …The chairman of a U.S. congressional committee responsible for trade said on Thursday he expects passage of legislation to fast-track trade deals soon, a vital step towards a Pacific trade pact covering a large chunk of the global economy...
Obama's Trade Deal Rewards A Brutally Anti-Gay Dictator -- And LGBT Lawmakers Are Not Pleased  Huffington Post   … Prominent LGBT members of Congress assailed the Obama administration on Wednesday for including Brunei and Malaysia -- two nations deeply hostile to gay communities -- in major trade talks...
Democrats Introduce Legislation to Ban Investor-State Provisions in Trade Agreements  U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan   … U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) and 12 House Democrats today introduced H.R. 967: Protecting America’s Sovereignty Act, legislation to prohibit investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions in foreign trade agreements...
Intellectual Property Provisions in the Leaked Japanese RCEP Proposal that Threaten the Availability of Generic Medicines  infojustice.org   …Japan’s proposed intellectual property text, which was leaked and has been posted online by KEI, includes numerous TRIPS Plus provisions.  (South Korea is reported to be advocating for TRIPS-Plus provisions too.) Many of the provisions would be especially harmful to the Indian generic industry, which supplies the majority of medicines used by people in developing countries...
State Battles
GOP readies new wave of voting restrictions  MSNBC   …A roundup this month by the Brennan Center found that at least 40 restrictive voting bills have been introduced in state legislatures just since the start of the year...
Conservative Dem Senators Publicly Say They Won't Blast Right to Work Bill  Santa Fe New Mexican   … if any Senate Committee votes to table House Bill 75, it'll be dead for the session...
Koch Group Claims California Endangers Donors by Demanding Names  Bloomberg News   …A Koch brothers advocacy group contends California Attorney General Kamala Harris has no business demanding the names and addresses of its donors, who might face “grotesque threats” if identified…
Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder Says He's Experienced "Gradual Impoverishment" with $86k Salary, Asks for More Money  AFSCME Council 72   ...[Missouri] Lt. Governor Peter Kinder has been pushing hard for so-called Right to Work and Paycheck Deception legislation which would force wages down, but now he has the gall to ask for a raise for himself - even though Missouri state workers are the lowest paid in the country - saying $86,000 per year is leading him into "gradual impoverishment."...
Vote Delayed On Right-To-Work Bill  Albuquerque Journal   ...A vote on a high-profile right-to-work bill was put off Wednesday in the New Mexico House as some Republican lawmakers balked at a plan to tie a minimum wage increase of 50 cents per hour to the proposed change in state labor laws...
Boone County Tackles Right-To-Work Issue  Cincinnati.com   ..."We believe the time has come to put it on the agenda for a first reading to explore if it should or should not be passed in Boone County," said Judge-executive Gary Moore. ...
Scott Walker Is King Of Kochworld  Bloomberg Politics   ...The relationship between the Kochs and Walker was cemented during Walker's bitter war against public unions that led to a recall election in 2012. During the tense weeks of standoff at the capitol in Madison, it was the Kochs' Tea Party troops who provided the main counterforce to the tens of thousands of union activists protesting the governor, in a battle Walker eventually won...
Common Wage Repeal Advances In House On Party-Line Vote  Indianapolis Star   ...The GOP-controlled House Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee voted 8-4 Tuesday afternoon, along party lines, to recommend repealing the law that allows a board of contractors and taxpayers to set baseline wages for public construction projects worth more than $350,000...
War on Workers
Walmart Gives 500,000 Workers A Raise  Huffington Post   ...In a move that could alter the minimum wage debate and improve the image of the world's largest retailer, Walmart announced it will raise the baseline wage of its current store employees to $10 per hour, bringing pay hikes to an estimated 500,000 workers...
Are We Becoming a Part-Time Economy?  Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta   …Compared with 2007, the U.S. labor market now has about 2.5 million more people working part-time and about 2.2 million fewer people working full-time. In this sense, U.S. businesses are more reliant on part-time workers now than in the past...
Corporate Welfare Queens – Shocking “Development Program” Failure Rate in North Carolina  naked capitalism   …Picking Losers shows that the state’s flagship development program, the Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG), has seen 62 of its 102 projects fail in the period from its inception in 2002 until 2013. That is, 60% of the projects failed to meet either their job, investment, or wage goals, and had to have their awards canceled...

Today's Teamster News 03.12.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Back School Bus Drivers in Fight Against ‘Rampant’ Wage Theft  In These Times   ...More than 350 Baltimore-area bus drivers, who are members of Teamsters Local 570, are preparing to celebrate victory in a $1.25 million wage theft case against Durham School Services, an Illinois-based bus-contracting company with operations across much of the country...
Teamsters Stand Up for Port Truck Drivers at Skechers  teamster.org   ...Join port truck drivers who are standing up for their rights by signing this online petition. They were fired by Skechers' trucking contractor, Green Fleet Systems, after they exercised their rights on the job...
Illinois Teamsters Training Fund Certifies 1,300 Drivers in 2013  teamstersjc25.com   ...For the third consecutive year, more than 1,000 truck drivers, students and military veterans across Illinois completed safety and licensing training with Teamsters Joint Council 25...
Teamsters Taxi Association Turn Up the Heat in D.C. Politics   teamster.org   ...In an effort to gain more information to help us fight for D.C. taxi drivers’ interests, the Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association has sent a survey to D.C. mayoral candidates and to D.C. City Councilmembers. See the survey here...
UK Pension Funds Join With Teamsters Union In Submitting Resolution To National Express Annual General Meeting  teamster.org   ...The shareholder proposal calls for the Board to expand the role and responsibilities of its Safety and Environment Committee to provide quality oversight of the company's human capital management and to adopt a meaningful and enforceable workplace human rights policy...
Trade
NAFTA Report Warns Of Trade Deal Environmental Disasters  Huffington Post   ...A report aims to offer an object lesson to President Barack Obama: Free trade deals have high costs in unintended consequences for the environment, people's way of life, and local sovereignty...
Trans-Pacific Partnership Reveals Deadly Cost of American Patents  naked capitalism   ... a cancer specialist in New Zealand (one of the TPPA counties) warned that the TPPA would prolong the high cost of treating breast cancer because of new rules to protect biotechnology-based cancer drugs from competition from generics. And this will affect the lives of cancer patients...
Ford to Move Production of Large Trucks from Mexico to Ohio  Fox Business   ...The automaker said it will invest $168 million in the Cleveland-area facility, which currently makes Ford’s E-series vans. Ford expects the plant to begin production of the F-650 and        F-750 commercial trucks early next year before they go on sale in the spring of 2015...
Chinese components found in B-1 bombers and F-16 fighters  RT   ...A Pentagon investigation has found that despite prohibitions by federal law, multiple US aircraft and weaponry are housing Chinese parts and raw materials...
State Battles
Pennsylvania GOP aims to end legal exemptions for unions  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette   ..."It would criminalize members engaged in protected activity," he continued, "such as organizing drives and picket lines..."
How the GOP ambushed the VW union election  The Hill   ...One local group, Southern Momentum, played a critical role in this frenzy of anti-unionism. Southern Momentum claims to represent ordinary Volkswagen workers, but surprisingly for a grassroots organization, it engaged the services of Projections, Inc., one of the nation’s leading union avoidance firms...
Moral Mondays call for change  WBNG 12 Action News   ...Binghamton, NY community members are pushing for a state budget that works more for the middle class. Opposition to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget extended Monday from religious leaders and labor groups to parents and working families...
Vermont Governor Shumlin calls for wage increase  Associated Press   ...Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin called on lawmakers Monday to raise the state minimum wage but details about how it will be implemented have yet to be finalized. Shumlin is proposing an incremental increase to $10.10 by 2017...
Wisconsin big business interests back campaign finance bill  The Cap Times   ...A campaign finance bill that would ease a number of political contribution rules and expand the time period during which lobbyists can contribute to state campaigns is backed by two of the biggest special interest groups in Wisconsin...
FBI investigating Idaho prison run by Corrections Corporation of America VT Digger   ...The FBI is investigating Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) after its Idaho prison was so violent inmates dubbed it “Gladiator School,” according to a report by the Associated Press...
War on Workers
Obama Will Seek Broad Expansion of Overtime Pay  New York Times   ...On Thursday, the president will direct the Labor Department to revamp its regulations to require overtime pay for several million additional fast-food managers, loan officers, computer technicians and others whom many businesses currently classify as “executive or professional” employees to avoid paying them overtime...
Deal reached to protect retiree committee in Detroit bankruptcy case  The Detroit News   ...The city’s lawyers Tuesday announced they have reached a deal that will protect members of a retiree committee from lawsuits associated with Detroit’s bankruptcy case...
Port trucking almost at a halt behind Unifor pickets  Vancouver Sun   ...Trucking operations at Port Metro Vancouver container terminals ground to a near-halt Monday as about 300 unionized terminal truck drivers set up pickets to join more than 1,000 non-union drivers who withdrew their services more than a week ago...
5 reasons slaves still catch your seafood dinner  The Salon   ...The $7.3 billion seafood industry in Thailand still use slave labor. What's worse: America keeps giving it a pass...
Americans' Views on Quality Job Prospects Still Recovering  Gallup   ...Twenty-seven percent of Americans say it is now a good time to find a "quality job." This is up from the low levels between 2009 and 2012, but the last time Americans' optimism about job prospects reached 30% was January 2008...
Safety Flaws Found in New Inspections of Factories in Bangladesh  New York Times   ...A team plans to assess 1,500 garment factories by early September. Reports on the first 10 factories ... found that some factories lacked adequate fire doors, did not have required sprinkler systems and had dangerously high weight loads on several floors...

The Democrats Stand Up to the Kochs (Opinion)   New York Times   ...Democrats have for too long been passive in the face of the vast amounts of corporate money, most of it secret, that are being spent to evict them from office and dismantle their policies...           
Miscellaneous
ALEC Launches New Effort To Influence Local Government Policy  ThinkProgress ...The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an organization known for helping to advance corporate interests by writing and then pushing to pass conservative legislation at the state level, has created a new initiative. The new project “will offer corporate America a direct conduit into the policy making process of city councils and municipalities"...
Greek tax inspectors get anger management classes amid no ease in austerity measures  The Republic   ...Greek tax inspectors are being offered anger management classes after the government said they would have to continue enforcing a deeply unpopular emergency tax...

This Teamster steward brought fairness to her yard

Here's yet another story about a Teamster shop steward who made life better for school bus drivers on the job. Last week we told you about our Teamster brother Clay Morrison, who brought justice for a driver who'd lost his son at the Baumann Bus Co. on Long Island. This week we bring you Kim Hafford, who fought for fairness at Durham in Jacksonville, Fla., and won. Her story appeared in the Fall 2013 issue of the Drive Up Standards newsletter. To see her story and others, check out the newsletter here.

In 1994 when I became a bus driver, I never knew that an organization such as the Teamsters existed. After 14 years and relocating to Jacksonville, Fla., I began working for a private company called Durham.

What a wake-up call I received. There were so many unfair and unsafe practices going on that I almost gave up the job I loved. But once I became active with our Teamsters Local 512 it became apparent that I had a voice, and boy did I use it.

Favoritism was running rampant within the dispatch office at Durham and the supervisors would just look the other way.

Instead of having a rotating charter wheel in order to give every driver a chance to get a charter, dispatch was allowing their friends and sometimes family members to take all the trips they wanted, usually with the most hours. Drivers at the bottom of the seniority list would never receive a trip at all. When an emergency charter became available it usually went to the same driver, sometimes twice in one day. This incident was a wake-up call to my fellow drivers.

I contacted Teamsters Local 512’s business agent, Stewart Cauthan, and he immediately held a stewards election where I became chief steward at our yard. Now under the watchful eye of Teamsters Local 512, charters are being awarded fairly on a weekly basis. No longer are friends of management receiving all the trips. No longer are employees who disagree when they see something unfair or unsafe afraid to speak up.

Durham is no longer treating drivers and attendants as if they have no rights. As one we came together to demand what is rightfully ours: a fair wage, a safe workplace and fair and honest treatment of workers. But most important of all, we became “one voice.”

The voice of all united Teamsters was heard in Jacksonville and I could not be more proud to have been a part of it.

Today's Teamster News 7.27.13

Chicagoland Families Stand With Striking Teamster Funeral Directors, Transfer Services to Alternative Funeral Homes  IBT ...Families throughout Chicagoland are supporting striking funeral directors and drivers by refusing to cross picket lines and transferring their funeral services to worker-friendly funeral homes...
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Encouraged By Actions of Canadian Rail Safety Regulator  BLET   ...The following is the official statement from Dennis R. Pierce, National President of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen in response to media inquiries regarding the BLET’s reaction to the July 23 Emergency Directive issued by Transport Canada...
DD2 renews contract with Durham School Services  WCSC-5 News   ...Dorchester District 2 has renewed its contract with Durham School Services, the company which provides transportation for its students. The workers are represented by Teamsters Local 509...
Teamsters Picket In WV To Support Tenn. Members  WCHS-8 News   ...Members of the Teamsters union are picketing in West Virginia in support of their union brothers in Tennessee. Picketers set up shop outside the Cummins Crosspoint plant in Cross Lanes Friday morning. See the video here...
UFCW Locals 21, 367 and the Teamsters Stand Together for Fair Grocery Contract  UFCW   ...30,000  members of UFCW Locals 21 and 367 and Teamsters Local 38 in Washington state are covered by contracts at grocers Albertsons, Safeway, Fred Meyer and Quality Food Centers and other local independent stores that are up for bargaining this year. As the companies propose the elimination of healthcare, cuts to pay, and denied paid sick days, the union members have responded with more solidarity than ever...
Banks shiver as UBS swallows $885 million U.S. fine  Reuters   ...UBS will pay $885 million (574.8 million pounds) in a settlement with a U.S. regulator over allegations the Swiss bank misrepresented mortgage-backed bonds during the housing bubble, paving the way for billions more to be paid by other banks...
SAC Capital Is Arraigned on a Raft of Criminal Charges  New York Times   ...the firm was arraigned on a raft of criminal insider trading charges, making it the first large American company to face an indictment in more than a decade. Prosecutors on Thursday announced the case against SAC, run by the billionaire Steven A. Cohen, calling it a “veritable magnet of market cheaters...”
Fast-food workers’ pay protests pick up steam  Washington Post   ...Supporters of a fledgling movement for better pay for fast-food and other poorly paid employees are hoping for a major boost next week when thousands of low-wage workers are expected to walk off their jobs in seven U.S. cities. On Monday, workers are planning to stage one-day strikes at some of the nation’s best known and most profitable fast-food restaurants, including KFC, Wendy’s, Burger King and McDonald’s...
Seattle fast-food workers file wage-theft complaints  Seattle Times   ...Fast-food workers announced the filing of wage-theft complaints against some local restaurants Thursday, as part of an effort to spotlight what some say is an epidemic problem for low-wage workers...
Solidarity Sing Along crowd grows as arrests continue at Wisconsin Capitol  The Cap Times   ...Arrests of protesters continued for the third straight day Friday at the state Capitol, suggesting a renewed effort by Gov. Scott Walker’s administration to silence the ad-hoc “Solidarity Sing Along” group is doing little to stop the daily event...
In Scott Walker era, unions are essential (opinion)  Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel   ...Contrary to the notion in the Journal Sentinel July 23 editorial that Act 10 means public employee unions "lost many of their reasons for being," Wisconsin's lagging economy since Act 10 underscores exactly why these unions are needed more than ever...
Labor Leaders Seek Government Aid for Detroit   New York Times ...Top leaders of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. on Thursday called on President Obama and the Congress to offer an immediate financial infusion to Detroit, which last week became the largest American city ever to file for bankruptcy...
Creditors to fight Detroit insolvency claim  Detroit News   ...“pension funds, unions and unsecured bondholders would receive, in some cases, as little as 10 cents on the dollar” while Bank of American and UBS will get 75 cents...
North Carolina approves nation’s most restrictive voter suppression law  Salon   ...the North Carolina state legislature approved a radical voter suppression bill on a party line vote. The measure, easily the most extreme anti-voter bill passed by any state since the Jim Crow era, now heads to Republican Governor Pat McCrory for his signature. Court challenges — many of them — will most assuredly follow...
Florida can continue purging voters  MSNBC   ...More fallout from the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Voting Rights Act came this week as a Federal Appeals court dismissed a lawsuit brought last year that tried to block a Florida voter purge...
Obama and Vietnam’s Leader Pledge Deeper Ties  New York Times   ...Bearing a copy of a letter from Ho Chi Minh to Harry S. Truman, the president of Vietnam met President Obama on Thursday and pledged to deepen trade and military ties with the United States even as they tangled over human rights...
Why a Train Crash like Spain’s is Unlikely To Happen in the U.S.  Time   ...The train that derailed and killed at least 80 people and injured 178 Wednesday night is a harrowing reminder of what can go wrong at high speeds. But experts say that U.S. riders have little to fear from the rails...
Gubernatorial candidate seeks to overhaul public-sector unions  St. Cloud Times   ...Minnesota State Sen. Dave Thompson roused conservative support and drew unions’ ire last year with his sponsorship of a so-called “right-to-work” constitutional amendment...
Illinois Unions Call for Investigation  WTAX News Radio   ...Unions are calling for an investigation into whether business leaders tried to persuade credit agencies to lower Illinois’ bond rating...
Rhode Island Bars Criminal History Questions on Job Applications  JCK Online   ...A new Rhode Island law will prevent employers in the state from asking prospective employees about their criminal history on job applications...
David Simon urges Tribune Co. not to sell the Sun to Koch brothers  City Paper   ...David Simon, who spent 13 years as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun before creating The Wire and Treme, has lent his voice to a campaign urging the Sun‘s owners, the Chicago-based Tribune Company, not to sell the paper to the oil-company heirs and right-wing activists Charles and David Koch...

Today's Teamster News 06.27.13

U.S. CEO sets a record with $159 million pension  Associated Press   ...McKesson’s Chairman and CEO John Hammergren has set a new record in corporate America: Largest pension around...
CEO Pay in 2012 Was Extraordinarily High Relative to Typical Workers and Other High Earners  EPI   ...Average CEO compensation was $14.1 million in 2012...
Jeff Olson, California Man, Faces 13 Years In Jail For Writing Anti-Big Bank Messages In Chalk Huffington Post   ...a judge had decided to prohibit Olson's attorney from "mentioning the First Amendment, free speech, free expression, public forum, expressive conduct, or political speech during the trial..."
Foreclosure settlement a billion-dollar bust  USA Today   ...The renegotiated settlement created a $3.6 billion pot to compensate borrowers for shoddy foreclosure practices that ran the gamut from wrongful foreclosures to lost consumer documents.About two-thirds of the recipients received $300 — the smallest possible amount. Fewer than 1,200 got $125,000, the most allowed...
Trans-Pacific Partnership and Monsanto  ZCommunications   ...Something is looming in the shadows that could help erode our basic rights and contaminate our food...
OSHA Citations Follow Fatal Explosion at Cincinnati Hazardous Waste Plant  Waste Management World   ...Environmental Enterprises, an environmental services company specializing in industrial and hazardous waste management, has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) with 22 safety and health violations following a fire and explosion at its Cincinnati waste treatment facility on December 28 last year...
Amtrak: $1.45B Senate appropriation 'workable'  The Hill   ...The safety and efficiency of Amtrak is at stake. The Senate is proposing to fund the railroad at $1.4 billion, which is simply too low. The proposed funding would jeopardize Teamster locomotive engineers and maintenance of way members...
Nevada attorney general urges stronger service member protections  KNTV-13   ...Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto urged the U.S. Department of Defense to strengthen regulations of the federal Military Lending Act, to protect service members and military families from abusive lending practices...
NY Legislature OKs Employee-Driver Bill  Journal of Commerce   ...The New York State Legislature gave final approval to a bill creating the presumption that commercial drivers are company employees unless they meet certain standards showing they are independent contractors...
Teamsters Approve National UPS Contract  IBT   ...The Teamsters Union announced yesterday that a majority of UPS Teamsters have voted to approve a new five-year national contract that contains significant wage increases and other improvements. However, the UPS Freight agreement was rejected in a separate referendum...
Lake Transit workers plan strike following contract negotiations breakdown  Lake County (Calif.) News   ...The county's transit agency is preparing for a strike action by transit workers that's expected to take place early next week. The strike by members of Teamsters Local 665 is anticipated to take place on Monday, July 1, and Tuesday, July 2, in response to a breakdown in negotiations with Paratransit Services…
Brunswick City Council opposes ‘right-to-work’ legislation  Medina-Gazette   ...City Council members in Brunswick, Ohio approved a resolution opposing “right-to-work” legislation Monday night, with the support of more than 30 union members and their families in attendance...
The University of California – Teamster Strong!  Rick Smith Show  ...On June 19, the Rick Smith Show visited Teamsters Joint Council 42 in Los Angeles and spoke with Don Thornsburg, labor historian about the origins of Los Angeles labor unions and the various industries that were essential for the growth of southern California. Listen here. Visit the People’s Tour of America page daily to hear the latest from Rick Smith’s road travels...
Teamsters contract ratified, but dispute with Manchester teachers’ union continues  New Hampshire Union Leader   ...The Manchester, New Hampshire Board of School Committee ratified two-year contracts with the district’s principals and the directors and coordinators, who are represented by Teamsters Local 633...
County Board OKs labor agreement, pay raises  Duluth News Tribune   ...St. Louis County commissioners on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to salary agreements for three categories of employees that include Teamster members...
Teamsters on strike at RL Lipton  The Vindicator   ...Workers are on strike at RL Lipton Distributing Co. in Austintown, Ohio. The members of Teamsters 377 started picketing Tuesday morning at the company…
Durham Driver Speaks Out About Poor Working Conditions  Drive Up Standards   ...“My co-worker said, ‘I cannot afford to miss a day from work,’ even though she’s the one that found her mama dead that afternoon.” --Latrisha Pringle, a school bus driver, talks about poor working conditions at Durham School Services in S.C. The Teamsters are fighting for justice at Durham. Watch the video here...

Today's Teamster News 06.21.13

One million march across Brazil in biggest protests yet  Reuters   ...An estimated 1 million people took to the streets in cities across Brazil on Thursday as the country's biggest protests in two decades intensified despite government concessions meant to quell the demonstrations...
Warren on Trans-Pacific Partnership: If people knew what was going on, they would stop it  Raw Story   ..."If transparency would lead to widespread public opposition to a trade agreement, then that trade agreement should not be the policy of the United States...”
Emails show Detroit emergency manager enjoys perks while taxpayers foot bill   Click On Detroit   ...Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr is promised a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week security team staffed by Michigan State Police officers...
Illinois state workers to see pay raises, but no backpay  Associated Press   ...Gov. Pat Quinn's administration on July 1 will start paying the wage rate that was promised to thousands of unionized government workers in 2011 and 2012, although Illinois lawmakers didn't approve extra funding for back wages owed, officials said Wednesday...
Scaled-back 'Equal Pay for Women Act' to cover Louisiana state workers  Times-Picayune   ...Gov. Bobby Jindal has signed into law a version of the Equal Pay for Women Act that applies only to state workers. While provisions in Louisiana's Constitution already prohibit discrimination based on gender for government employees, state workers are nonetheless welcoming the effort to reiterate the need to ensure equal pay for equal work...
Who's Getting All Those Tax Breaks?  Courthouse News Services   ...Gov. Jerry Brown urged lawmakers to overhaul California's 27-year-old business incentive program, which he says has cost taxpayers $4.8 billion and is shrouded in secrecy...
Nevada attorney general says report shows more work required by mortgage servicers   Las Vegas Review-Journal   ...Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said a recent report shows that more work needs to be done by the largest U.S. mortgage servicers, who are failing to comply with several key aspects designed to regulate how struggling homeowners are treated.

Rhode Island: Disabled students forced to work in sweatshop conditions   World Socialist Web Site   ...The US Department of Justice, the State of Rhode Island, and the city of Providence reached an interim settlement regarding a school for developmentally disabled students who had been forced to work for as little as 14 cents per hour...
Wisconsin justice's spouse head of union-busting law firm  Center for Public Integrity ...A Wisconsin Supreme Court justice is preparing to hear the appeal of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Gov. Scott Walker’s union-busting law, despite the fact that her husband is the president of a law firm that helps employers keep their workplaces “union-free.”...
Arizona Gov. Brewer signs election overhaul bill  Associated Press   ...Gov. Jan Brewer signed a sweeping election bill Wednesday that will overhaul the early voting process in Arizona and make it more difficult for third-party candidates to get on the ballot...
Teamsters Local 237 Endorses Bill Thompson  Capital New York   ...After endorsing Mayor Michael Bloomberg four years earlier, Teamsters Local 237, which represents public housing and other municipal workers, endorsed Democratic mayoral candidate Bill Thompson Thursday…
Mobilize, Energize and WIN! Program Scheduled August 13-15   IBT ...Teamsters Local 667 in Memphis, Tennessee, is hosting a Mobilize, Energize and WIN! Program on August 13-15, 2013. This three-day intensive training will go beyond the basic internal organizing model and focus on developing an action plan that will engage members in activities, such as organizing, preparing for contract negotiations, fighting anti-worker legislation, and building support for grievances...
Vote Count For UPS, UPS Freight Contracts Set To Begin  IBT   ...Ballots for the UPS and UPS Freight contracts were picked up from the post office yesterday and are currently being sorted...
Saluting the “Solid Six”  IBT   ...They call themselves the “Solid Six.” These six Teamster school bus drivers at Durham School Services’ Milton yard in Santa Rosa County, Fla., wear their pride on their backs. Their shirts say, “Solid Six,” because they are six organizing committee members who stood strong during a very difficult anti-union campaign...
Australian Transport Giant Toll Group Re-Launches Anti-Union Crusade On Its American Workforce On The East Coast   IBT   ...U.S. workers responsible for safely hauling loads out of Toll Group’s New Jersey facilities filed charges with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), alleging that their Australian-based employer Toll Group is interfering with their right to form their union...

Today's Teamster News 05.06.13

The Rich Have Gained $5.6 Trillion in the 'Recovery,' While the Rest of Us Have Lost $669 Billion AlterNet   ...Oh, are we getting ripped off. And now we've got the data to prove it. From 2009 to 2011, the richest 8 million families (the top 7%) on average saw their wealth rise from $1.7 million to $2.5 million each. Meanwhile the rest of us--the bottom 93% --suffered an average decline of $6,000 each...
When Your Boss Steals Your Wages: The Invisible Epidemic That’s Sweeping America AlterNet   ...Wage theft is fast becoming a top trend of the 21st-century labor market...
Bangladesh building collapse: death toll over 650 News Limited    ...The death toll from Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster has surpassed 650 after dozens more bodies were pulled from the wreckage of a building housing garment factories...
The Walt Disney Company pulls out of Bangladesh: Will that make workers safer?  Christian Science Monitor   ...The Walt Disney Co. is pulling out of Bangladesh and other developing countries, in part because of fatal accidents in factories that produced branded merchandise for Western firms. Announcement of the move follows last week’s tragedy that may be the worst such accident in world history...
Court not ready to give right-to-work opinion  Traverse City Record-Eagle   ...The Michigan Supreme Court is in no hurry to give an opinion on the legality of the state’s right-to-work law. In fact, the court still hasn’t decided whether to even grant Gov. Rick Snyder’s request...
Ohio 'right to work' fight likely to resurface in state legislature  Plain Dealer   ...Ohio's latest "right to work" effort seems dead on arrival, but don't bet against the issue coming back to life...
Montana Democratic women consider running for U.S. Senate  Missoulian   ...Several Democratic women are among those looking at the 2014 U.S. Senate race in Montana, one of about two dozen states where a woman has never been elected to the Senate...
CDC reports rise in autism, California social security benefits may help   Digital Journal   ...The CDC estimates 1 in 88 children are diagnosed with autism before reaching the age of eight. The disorder can be financially devastating, but social security benefits may help cover the cost of treatment and intervention...
Union Launches Major Ad Campaign Against Liquor Privatization  CBS KDKA-TV   ...So far it’s been mostly Governor Corbett and his allies arguing for privatization of the liquor system. But another side is about to be heard...
Teamsters, ABF Reach Tentative Contract Agreement  IBT   ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters and ABF reached a tentative contract agreement, Gordon Sweeton, Co-Chairman of the Teamsters National ABF Negotiating Committee, announced Friday...
IBT To Conduct Crane Operations Courses in St. Louis  IBT    ...The IBT Safety and Health Department will be conducting the following classes on Crane Operations at Teamsters Local 682 in St. Louis...
Alpha School Bus Workers Ratify Contract  IBT   ...School bus drivers and monitors with Alpha School Bus in Crestwood, Ill., have ratified their first three-year agreement by a nearly unanimous vote...
Illinois Governor Honors BLET Anniversary  BLET   ...California, Massachusetts, and Ohio and two cities (Detroit and Marshall, Mich.) recognize North America’s oldest railroad labor union...
Employees of Durham Bus Services Fight For Respect and Union Rights  RadioLabour   ...Employees of Durham Bus Services in the US have been trying to join the Teamsters union. But the company, owned by National Express in the UK, is actively resisting their right to join a union. A RadioLabour interview with Louis Malizia, the Assistant Director of the Capital Strategies Department of the Teamsters...
Teamsters persist in drive to unionize truckers at L.A. and Long Beach ports  Daily Breeze   ... For decades, the docks at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have been organized labor strongholds, dominated by the powerful International Longshore and Warehouse Union. But other workers handling imports and exports have mostly been left out. But that may be changing...

Teamsters tell European union leaders about National Express's abuses

Sheryl Drake, a Durham school bus driver for Dorchester District 2

Sheryl Drake, a 25-year-school bus driver, told an international panel of union leaders that Durham School Services cheats its workers and lets its buses fall into disrepair.

Drake is speaking tonight at a North Charleston, S.C., forum about National Express, Durham's U.K.  parent company. Attending are local political and labor leaders and trade unionists from Unite the Union in the UK, the International Transport Workers Federation and German unions ver.di and EVG.

Durham contracts with three South Carolina school districts and is the second-largest school bus company in the United States. The Teamsters represent 4,700 National Express workers in North America. The company reports that 94 percent of the U.K. work force is covered by a collective bargaining agreement, compared to only 32 percent of its North American work force.

Here's what Sister Drake told the panel:

The seats on many of the buses are torn and ratty and children shouldn't be forced to sit on them. Durham used to repair the seats but they quit doing this because they didn't want to pay for it.  The buses also leak badly when it rains and the seats get wet and the kids are forced to just endure it.  These kids shouldn't be put into this position of having to ride a bus in this condition. 

At our March safety meeting last month we took a bus from Hilton Head to the meeting because the tires were bald and we wanted to show Sara Johnson, Durham's safety manager in Beaufort.  When we showed Ms. Johnson the tires she told us that the tires were fine and  we should continue to drive the bus.  I have been a trainer for many years and would tell any trainee that these tires shouldn't be driven on...

Buses are never repaired when safety issues are reported.  When mechanics are asked about the reports that Zonar (the system were drivers report repair issues) should be giving them they say they never received them. We even went back to writing paper reports on repairs because the mechanics weren't getting the information from Zonar.  Even with the written reports repairs aren't done in a timely manner. 

...I was shorted 5 hours one week and went to talk to Sara Johnson who also does the payroll.  She told me that Gary Bradley, area manager, shortened the hours.  When I asked Gary Bradley about it directly he said he knew nothing about this issue.  We double up on routes regularly with no extra pay even though Durham is getting aid for both routes.

Drivers also can't call in sick because management belittles them and doesn't understand why they  can't come to work.  I had the flu and knew I shouldn't drive.  When I called in and they couldn't understand why I couldn't work.  I came in and worked part of the morning but was so sick I called and told dispatch that I couldn't safely do my job.  We had a driver that was at her doctor's office and called in from there because she was so sick and wanted her doctor to talk to the management.  She was berated over the phone for not coming into work.  The doctor was amazed that her boss was acting like this when she was doing the right thing by not being responsible for driving kids home when she was too ill to do so.

U.S. panel members included South Carolina state Rep. Wendell Gilliard (D-111), former National Labor Relations Board general counsel Fred Feinstein, South Carolina AFL-CIO president Ken Riley, and senior policy analyst with America Rights at Work Michael Wasser, who served as the delegation chair.

Sebrina Isom, a former Durham driver and member of Teamsters Local 509 in West Columbia, spoke to the panel about the importance of holding the company accountable for its actions in the U.S.:

These drivers are speaking out to raise awareness of what we deal with every day on the job. We transport children, we work hard and it’s not too much to ask that National Express take more responsibility and treat us with fairness and respect.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued 57 formal complaints since 2001 against Durham. These complaints resulted in settlements. The complaints came as a result of charges by Durham workers that include disparate treatment; discipline and discharge of employees engaged in union organizing; surveillance of workers engaged in union activity; and threatening workers with reduction in benefits, working conditions and the loss of employment for supporting unionization.

The delegation will travel to Santa Rosa, Fla., to hear from additional Durham workers on Thursday.

Today's Teamster News 03.01.13

Bureaucratic Blunder helps over 100 Oil Companies Avoid Paying Royalties  Oil Price.com   ...Democratic lawmaker Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts ... claims that more than 100 oil and gas producers, including Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), BP Plc (NYSE: BP), Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), Royal Dutch Shell Plc, (NYSE: RDS-A) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), have benefitted from bungled leases awarded by the federal government. The leases enabled the companies to drill for oil and gas in federal waters without paying, or at least paying at a much lower rate, any royalties...
Wal-Mart Struggles to Restock Store Shelves as U.S. Sales Slump  Bloomberg   ...Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT), already struggling to woo shoppers constrained by higher taxes, is “getting worse” at keeping shelves stocked, the retailer’s U.S. chief told executives...
Big Energy Firm Agrees to Replace Coal-Burning Plants with Wind and Solar Operations  AllGov   ...American Electric Power (AEP) will stop using coal by 2015 at power plants in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. It intends to replace the energy produced by the plants with new wind and solar investments in Indiana and Michigan...
Revised GDP: Economy grew 0.1 pct in fourth quarter  CBS News   ...The U.S. economy grew at a 0.1 percent annual rate from October through December, the weakest performance in nearly two years...
Spain falls further into recession as GDP plunges by 0.8%  The Guardian   ...Spain's recession worsened dramatically at the end of last year as the government made a final austerity push in order to meet deficit targets imposed by Brussels. GDP fell by 0.8% over the final quarter of 2012, as state spending was reduced and the public sector continued to shed jobs...
13 arrested as 200 march on Wells Fargo demanding fair banking practices Occupy Homes MN ...demanding turnover of vacant homes to community control and fair banking practices. The march, organized by Occupy Homes MN, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, and allies from faith and labor communities, began at the home of Gayle Lindsey, fighting her foreclosure...
Only 6% Rate News Media As Very Trustworthy  Rasmussen Reports   ...25% use the Internet as their main source of news, while only 10% still rely on print newspapers...
Governor to announce EFM decision tomorrow; State takeover of Detroit possible  WXYZ   ...Detroit Mayor Dave Bing says ... the governor will announce his decision regarding the possible appointment of an Emergency Financial Manager for the city of Detroit on Friday...
Proposed union law a bad idea, city workers tell Assembly  Anchorage Daily News   ...Hundreds of union workers jammed Assembly Chambers at Loussac Library, spilled out into the lobby, and filled another meeting room Wednesday night for an Assembly hearing on Mayor Dan Sullivan's plan to limit the power of city labor groups....
Maverick Maine Democrat signs on to public sector right-to-work bill  Bangor Daily News   ...Rep. Terry Hayes, D-Buckfield, will be the only Democratic co-sponsor of the bill...
Does Taylor teacher pact flout right-to-work law?  Detroit Free Press   ...The union agreed to a 10% wage cut over the first three years of the contract in exchange for the lengthy contract...
Carlson Takes Aim at ALEC, Seeks to Rein In Undeclared Lobbyists  Burnsville Patch   ...Carlson is one of several co-authors listed on a bill authored by District 61 Sen. Scott Dibble (DFL) that would define ALEC—and other organizations that propose "model legislation" for legislators as lobbyists. Such a move would require those groups to adhere to stricter financial reporting requirements under Minnesota campaign finance laws...
"Paycheck Protection" Bill Remains Stalled In Mo. Senate  KBIA   ...The Missouri Senate spent a few hours Wednesday debating legislation that would bar labor unions for public workers from withholding money from public employees’ paychecks....
The Tuesday Count: Effort underway to introduce “Right-to-Work” laws in Ohio  Ballot News   ...Chris Littleton, of the group Ohioans for Workplace Freedom, is sponsoring the initiative effort and believes he will be able to deliver the necessary 396,000 names by July in order to place the measure on the ballot this year...
Deal Reached for Dorchester 2 Bus Drivers, Durham  SummervillePatch   ...Durham School Services and Dorchester Two spokespersons released statements confirming Teamster Local 509 members have ratified an agreement with the private company that runs the bus system...
Charleston bus drivers to vote on new contract Associated Press ...The drivers plan to vote on a new contract Saturday. The president of Teamsters Local 509, L.D. Fletcher, says if union members reject the contract, a strike would begin Monday...
Council OKs contract for Transit employees  The Leader Herald   ...the Common Council unanimously passed a resolution establishing a new contract with the city's transit union...Teamsters 294 Business Agent Thomas Quackenbush said the union is pleased that an agreement finally has been reached between the transit employees and the city...
OSHA Finds Norfolk Southern Railway Violated Federal Railroad Safety Act  BMWED   ...OSHA, after a full investigation, concluded that NS fired Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED) members merely for seeking medical attention for on-the-job injuries...
City reaches agreements with employee unions  The Beach Reporter   ...The city and its Police Officer and Firefighter Associations, as well as California Teamsters Local 911, have successfully negotiated three-year Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) following several months of labor negotiations...

Today's Teamster News 02.26.13

Eric Cantor will propose Federal Law that Ends Overtime Pay for hourly workers  Democratic Underground   ...Eric Cantor wants to end the Federal law that mandates certain workers get paid overtime for the extra hours they labor. ..
Italian Voters Stage 'Rebellion', Markets Plunge  Business Insider   ...The markets were hoping for the liberal leader Pier Luigi Bersani to win easily, allowing him to form a coalition government with technocrat leader Mario Monti. This would have paved the way for more unpopular austerity and reforms...But the voters had a different idea...
Nary a positive word heard on liquor privatization during PA budget talks  PhillyBurbs.com    ...The Senate Appropriations Committee met with Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board officials to talk about its 2013-14 line item, but they only talked about keeping the PLCB around...The sight of some two dozen members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776 dressed in bright yellow T-shirts may have kept Republicans from publicly pushing Corbett’s plan...
How Much Support Does "Smart Justice" Bill Really Have?  WFSU   ...A Republican-backed proposal to reduce the number of former inmates going back into Florida’s prisons is now taking shape in the form of a bill. But, some unions and even some Republicans may not be on board with the “Smart Justice” idea...
Snyder defends right-to-work, urges GOP to stay unified in surprise appearance  Detroit Free Press   ...In 2014, all state and legislative offices will be on the ballot. Snyder hasn’t publicly declared his intention to seek a second term as governor, but political observers say it’s all but certain he will, especially given public remarks like his 7-minute address before the GOP faithful on Saturday...
Unions shouldn't have to protect 'squatters' who don't want to pay for services (Letter)  Michigan Live   ...A person shouldn’t have to join a union to be employed, but they also shouldn’t be allowed to enjoy benefits they’re not willing to pay for them, from a union they don’t believe in...
Republicans in Missouri Legislature are out to destroy unions (Letter)  St. Louis Post-Dispatch   ...the Republicans are not interested in jobs or workers rights. Their initiative is a scam. They are interested in destroying unions in order to cut off funding to the Democratic Party so Republicans can gain complete control with little opposition...
Montana Bill Would Give Corporations The Right To Vote  ThinkProgress   ...Provision for vote by corporate property owner.... if a firm, partnership, company, or corporation owns real property within the municipality, the president, vice president, secretary, or other designee of the entity is eligible to vote in a municipal election...
Christie Fails to Pull Off New Jersey 'Comeback'  Newsmax   ...New Jersey, the 11th most populous state, is still in need of a comeback. It has the fourth highest unemployment rate of any U.S. state, at 9.6 percent, nearly 2 percentage points above the national rate. It was one of three states to report late in 2012 that revenues were lagging expectations...
Scott Walker’s job-free austerity  The Cap Times   ...When Walker assumed the governorship two years ago, Wisconsin was holding its own economically. Job growth was competitive with neighboring states and the nation. No more. Since Walker began implementing his austerity agenda, growth has stalled...
American, US Airways unions still have lots to settle  Fort Worth Star-Telegram   ..."American Airlines mechanics came to us and said, 'We want new representation,' and they have been working very hard since June of last year to make that a reality," Teamsters spokesman Chris Moore said...   
Drivers and Monitors Unite for Better Safety, Working Conditions  IBT   ...School bus drivers and monitors with Durham School Services in Jay, Pace, Navarre and Milton, Fla., have voted overwhelmingly to join Teamsters Local 991 in Mobile, Ala. The 204 workers are seeking improved safety and working conditions...

Today's Teamster News 02.07.13

401Ks are a disaster (opinion)  USA Today   ...Recent and near-retirees, the first major cohort of the 401(k) era, do not have nearly enough in retirement savings to even come close to maintaining their current lifestyles...
RBS fined $612 million for rate rigging  Reuters ...Royal Bank of Scotland will pay $612 million to U.S. and British authorities to settle allegations it manipulated benchmark interest rates, and regulators warned there is more to come in the global investigation. RBS became the third bank to pay fines in the Libor scandal...
China made 1.2B mobile phones in 2012  ZDNet   ...China produced 1.18 billion mobile phones in 2012, accounting for more than 50 percent of mobile phone sales worldwide...
China unveils major tax reforms to make rich pay more  The Guardian  ...China has unveiled sweeping tax reforms to make wealthy state-owned firms, property speculators and the rich pay more to narrow the gap between the urban elite and hundreds of millions of rural poor...
Greece orders seamen back to work on 6th day of strike  BBC  ...Workers manning ferry services to Greece's numerous islands have been demanding the payment of wages more than six months in arrears and the signing of collective work contracts with ferry companies...
Thanks To Congressional Incompetence, Saturday Mail Delivery Is History  ThinkProgress   ...Under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, Congress has for years forced the USPS to pre-fund 75 years’ worth of pensions for its employees, a requirement not made of any other public or private institution...
Pointless attacks on unions in Kansas, Missouri (opinion)  Kansas City Star   ...The unnecessary attacks on unions demonstrate how susceptible state legislatures are to outside forces...
Hearing on Missouri 'right to work' bill attracts crowd  Associated Press  ...A standing room only crowd spilled into the Capitol hallway Wednesday to watch a Missouri House committee hearing on a bill barring payment of union dues as a condition of employment...
Senate approves constitutional amendment on union elections  Northwest Indiana Times   ...All union organizing elections would have to be conducted by secret ballot under an amendment to the Indiana Constitution approved 33-16 by the Republican-controlled Senate on Tuesday...
Local 150 will appeal judge’s dismissal of its challenge to right-to-work law  Post-Tribune   ...Attorneys for International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 filed the notice to appeal Monday in the U.S. District Court in Hammond...
Maine Voter ID Law Not Recommended By Independent Elections Panel  Huffington Post   ..."The Commission, by a 4 to 1 vote, finds that the negative aspects of a Voter ID law outweigh its potential benefits and recommends that a Voter ID system not be pursued in Maine," read the report from the five-member panel...
Rich DeVos family gave $1.75 million to fight Michigan's Proposal 2 on union collective bargaining  Michigan Live  ...Betsy DeVos, Dan DeVos, Dick DeVos, Doug DeVos, Elisabeth DeVos, Helen DeVos, Maria DeVos, Pamella DeVos and Richard DeVos altogether gave $2.8 million to the Republican party, political candidates and conservative causes in Michigan last year, a MIRS report calculates...
Right-to-work bill finding little support in NH House  Nashua Telegraph   ...The House Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services Committee dealt a blow to the latest attempt to pass right-to-work legislation in New Hampshire. The committee voted 13-5 to recommend House Bill 322 be killed when the full House takes up the measure...
Sprucing Up Suppression: Pennsylvania GOP Proposes New Election-Rigging Scheme  Center for Media and Democracy  ...Pennsylvania's Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi intends to introduce legislation that would award that state's electoral votes proportionally according to the popular vote, rather than according to the winner in each Congressional district. If the plan had been in place for last November's election Romney would have received 8 of Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes...
Labor lawyer: Kansas union bill will silence workers  Associated Press   ...The payroll bill is one of several proposed measures that Democrats and union representatives see as eroding the rights of public employees to participate in the political process, whether it be supporting candidates with political action committees or advocating public policy changes...
Talks of Bus Strikes Still Alive  The Coastal Source  ...Talks of a possible bus strike for Beaufort County Schools are still up in the air...The Teamsters Union and Durham Services are trying to reach a compromise about possible pay raises for current bus drivers and better benefits, but Tuesday afternoon, rumors spread that Durham Bus Services walked out of the meeting...
Cecil supervisors approve police, public works contracts  Observer-Reporter  ...Public works employees, members of Teamsters Local 205, will receive a 3 percent salary increase over the course of their four-year contract...

Today's Teamster News 02.06.13

Obama seeks $5T European trade deal  The Hill  ...The Obama administration is poised to launch trade talks with the European Union that would form a $5 trillion trans-Atlantic free-trade zone...
No Evidence of U.S. Manufacturing Revival  Wall Street Journal   ...For the past 13 years, the rate of factory closings in the U.S. has been declining. The bad news is that over that time the rate of ribbon cuttings on new operations have consistently fallen even more...
Homes Sell in Two Weeks With Low Supply for Spring Buyers  Bloomberg   ...A plunge in U.S. home listings to a 12-year low is driving up prices and preventing transactions from returning to historically normal levels. Many potential sellers are holding off until values rise more, while investors are snatching up distressed properties before they reach the market. Builders, reporting their best orders in years, can’t increase production fast enough...
Banks No Match for Trucks Where Rigs Pay Twice as Much  Bloomberg   ...(There is) a wave of job growth at trucking companies as they post payroll increases at more than double the pace of the nation’s workforce since the end of 2010. Demand is being driven by the economic expansion, new regulations that cap driver hours and rising turnover caused by long days and time away from home...
Study Says States Lose Billions in Offshore Tax Avoidance  Bloomberg   ...State governments in the U.S. lost $39.8 billion in 2011 because of offshore tax avoidance...
E-mails show plotting by lawmakers, GOP on Florida redistricting  Tampa Bay Times   ...The emails show that a month after voters in 2010 approved an amendment banning coordination between the party and lawmakers, GOP consultant and Gaetz adviser Rich Heffley called a redistricting "brainstorming" meeting at the chairman's conference room at party headquarters in Tallahassee...
Virginia GOP no longer even trying to hide true purpose of voter ID laws  Salon   ...Concealed carry permits, but not utility bills, now accepted at Virginia polling places...
Unions protest ahead of governor's budget  Herald-Standard   ...John Rzodkiewicz, business representative for the UFWU, said the governor’s plan to privatize state-owned liquor stores will destroy 5,000 jobs...
Colorado Senate gives first OK to bill making it easier for firefighters to unionize  Denver Post   ...The Colorado Senate gave initial approval Monday to a Democratic bill expanding unionization rights for firefighters – legislation virtually the same as a bill vetoed four years earlier under a Democratic governor...
Negotiations Between Teamsters, Durham Falter  Summerville Patch  ...Negotiations between a school bus contractor and its union employees have deteriorated, putting school transportation for three Lowcountry school districts into question...The contractor's representatives allegedly walked out of a meeting with its employees during negotiations Tuesday morning...
Teamsters Local 332 president is named health care adviser for union's Michigan council  Michigan Live  ...The president of Teamsters Local 332 in Flint has been named health care adviser for Michigan Teamsters Joint Council 43...

Today's Teamster News 02.05.13

U.S. Accuses S.&P. of Fraud in Suit on Loan Bundles  New York Times   ...The Justice Department filed civil fraud charges late on Monday against the nation’s largest credit-ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s, accusing the firm of inflating the ratings of mortgage investments and setting them up for a crash when the financial crisis struck...
Land Battles Rise as U.S. Eyes 450,000 Miles of New Pipe  Bloomberg   ...With the natural gas industry estimating that 450,000 miles (724,000 kilometers) of pipelines need to be built in the next 25 years, a distance to the moon and almost back to earth, conflicts will multiply over eminent domain, or the legal power to condemn private property...
30,000 Golden Dawn Supporters March in Athens Under Neo-Nazi Banners  International Business Times   ...The party has been able to capitalise on the harsh austerity that has been imposed as a condition of Greece maintaining its Eurozone membership. As Greece's economic fortunes have plummeted, so Golden Dawn's fortunes have soared...
UK Declares New Powers to Break Up Banks  TIME  ...Britain’s treasury chief warned the country’s banks on Monday that they face being broken up if they fail to protect their retail operations from their riskier investment arms...
Google CEO Warns about China's hacking  manufacture this   ...In a world that is becoming increasingly digital, the willingness of China’s government and state companies to use cyber crime gives the country an economic and political edge, they say...
Everybody’s working for the…health care benefits Washington Post ...Three-quarters of retirees said they worked longer than they would have otherwise to maintain access to their health plan...
Koch-Funded Rand Paul Introduces National ‘Right To Work’ Bill To Senate  Bold Progressives  ...Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) just introduced a federal so-called “right to work” law that would undermine labor organizing nationwide...
Beltway-aired Super Bowl ad goes after union card check  MSNBC  ...Football fans in the Washington, D.C. area were treated to an anti-card check ad from the conservative Center for Union Facts (CUF) right before kickoff...
Ohio Gov. John Kasich's budget would slash income taxes, lower and broaden the sales tax and revamp oil and gas tax  The Plain Dealer  ...Kasich's sweeping tax reform plan calls for a 50 percent income tax reduction for almost every small business over the next two years, and a 20 percent cut for individuals. The 5.5 percent sales tax rate would drop to 5 percent, but more services would be subjected to the tax, helping to make up for the lost revenue...
Wisconsin: State pension board rejects request for $200M for economic development initiatives  Pioneer Press  ...The board that oversees Wisconsin's pension program for public employees has rejected a request by the head of Gov. Scott Walker's semi-private economic development agency to tap $200 million from the fund to invest in risky startup businesses...
Voter Advocacy Groups Say Mo. ID Bills Unfair, Unconstitutional  KBIA   ...This week lawmakers in Jefferson City are taking another crack at requiring Missouri voters to show a photo ID when they go to the polls...
Unions promise legal battle if pension benefits touched, leading lawmakers wary  WITF   ...The two largest public sector unions in Pennsylvania said Friday that they’ll sue the state if their members’ pension benefits are changed...
Fighting continues over anti-union bill  Lawrence Journal World   ...House Bill 2023 would prohibit the ability of teachers and public union members to have automatic payroll deduction that would go to a political action committee...
LePage again warns schoolchildren off newspapers  Bangor Daily News   ...“My greatest fear in the state of Maine: newspapers,” LePage told children at the St. John Catholic School...
Walmart Workers Get Organized—Just Don't Say the U-Word  Mother Jones  ... UFCW pledged to the NLRB that it would not try to unionize Walmart workers and would ease up on picketing for 60 days... OUR Walmart wants the same things a real union wants, but it is not a union. It can't bargain with management or bring grievances on behalf of workers. But it is a new toehold for the union...
Talks to resume between Durham, school bus drivers' union  WCSC  ...Negotiations between Durham School Services and the Teamsters Local 509 union representing many of the company's drivers were set to resume on Monday...

Today's Teamster News 01.31.13

Libor Lies Revealed in Rigging of $300 Trillion Benchmark   Bloomberg  ...the manipulation of Libor stands out for its breadth and audacity. Details are only now revealing just how far-reaching the scam was...
Activists shine a light on secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership talks  The Straight  ...“We are talking about allowing, basically, a parallel system that would undermine national sovereignty...It would allow conglomerates to sue citizens, threaten citizens, and remove [Internet] content that they disagree with or that they think is infringing on their intellectual property.”...
GOP's Electoral Vote Scheme Already on Life Support  Talking Points Memo  ...Key Republican officials in Virginia, Ohio, Florida, and Michigan are coming out against a RNC-backed scheme to rig the electoral vote in Democratic-leaning states in order to boost Republican presidential candidates. That leaves just Pennsylvania and Wisconsin ...
States Tax The Richest 1 Percent At Half The Rate Of The Poor  Think Progress  ...The poorest Americans are subject to a tax rate at the state and local level that is twice as high as the tax rate paid by the wealthiest earners... Middle-class taxpayers also pay higher effective rates than the wealthy....
Right-to-work bill back before N.H. Legislators  Associated Press  ...Legislation that would excuse nonunion employees from contract-negotiation fees is up for discussion once again before lawmakers, after two recent failed attempts...
UAW, salaried Chrysler workers receiving bonuses or profit sharing checks  Michigan Live  ...All eligible Chrysler Group LLC’s salaried and hourly workers will receive either a performance bonus or a profit-sharing check ... the Auburn Hills-based automaker’s turnaround ... included a $1.7 billion profit, up from $183 million in 2011...
Hoffa Statement On The Decline In U.S. Gross Domestic Product  IBT   ...the U.S. economy is shrinking due to a fall in government spending. That should tell us that government austerity is not just wrong, it's bad economic policy...
Hoffa Statement On President Obama's Immigration Reform Proposal  IBT ...We're especially concerned that the final result truly protects all workers and isn't reminiscent of guest worker programs of the past...
Nowak Sworn In As New President of Michigan Teamsters Joint Council 43  IBT ...Determined to chart a new course for Michigan Teamsters during the challenging months and years ahead, Teamsters Local 1038 President Greg Nowak was sworn in today...
Durham, Teamsters Negotiate on School Bus Driver Salaries  Mount Pleasant Patch   ...A Durham School Services spokesman said Wednesday the company is offering school bus drivers a 3 percent raise in response to their request for a 12 percent raise, ABC News 4 reported...In response to Durham's press conference Wednesday, Teamsters 509 released this statement: Durham School Services initially told us they did not want to negotiate this contract through the media. We have honored their request despite the fact that they have not done the same...
Sanitation workers end strike against Republic Services  The Commercial Appeal  ...The 180 members of Teamsters Local 984 still don't have a contract with Republic Services; it expired last fall. But they decided to end a three-day strike after learning the company is handing over bonus checks that were two weeks late...
Workers at Avis Budget Group in Florida Join Teamsters Local 385  IBT  ...by a 15-7 vote, workers at the Avis Budget Group chose to join Local 385 in Orlando, Florida. There are 27 workers in the bargaining unit, located at Orlando International Airport...
Arkansas Best Corp. Reports Loss, Seeks End to Teamsters Talk  Arkansas Business Online  ...ABF Freight System Inc. expects contract negotiations with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to be resolved by a March 31 deadline, but the CEO of its parent company said Wednesday that the firm is exploring options in case a new agreement can't be reached...
Union: We offered to suspend NYC school bus strike, but Bloomberg said 'no'  Staten Island Advance ...The striking workers of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181 say they've offered a two-to-three-month "cooling off" period where they would return to their school bus routes...