TEAMSTERS
Teamsters Ratify National Agreement With First Student Teamster.org ...After several months of negotiations and a month-long balloting process, the Teamsters have ratified the second national agreement with the largest private provider of school bus transportation in North America, First Student, Inc. The agreement, ratified by 89 percent of the votes cast, improves working conditions and on-the-job protections for more than 20,000 Teamsters who work at First Student nationwide...
BLET members ratify new contract with CP Rail-U.S. (Soo Line) BLET ...Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with the Canadian Pacific-U.S. Railway (Soo Line) on October 9, 2015. The 5-year deal governs rates of pay, work rules and health and welfare benefits for nearly 400 locomotive engineers...
Teamsters OK to proceed with action to force arbitration with Rush Medical Center for newly unionized patient care techs Cook County Record ...On Oct. 19, U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall denied Rush’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Local 743 International Brotherhood of Teamsters in its dispute with the hospital over whether wages, hours and other employment conditions for Rush’s patient care technicians (PCTs) should be decided in arbitration under a longstanding collective bargaining agreement between the hospital and its other unionized workers...
20 salad workers hospitalized in chemical spill The Californian ...A toxic stew of chemicals spilled at a Taylor Farms processing plant last week, sending 20 workers to the hospital with symptoms ranging from nosebleeds to vomiting and fainting. Doug Bloch of Teamsters Council 7 says all of the workers returned to work the following day, except for one pregnant woman, who took unpaid leave. “It’s déjà vu,” said Bloch of the latest incident...
Still No Contract for EVSC, Teamsters TriState Homepage ...EVSC and Teamsters haven't met to negotiate a new contract in more than a month. Both sides say they're willing to resolve their issues, but can't say when it will happen. EVSC superintendent Dr. David Smith says the board is prepared to sign contracts. Officials with Teamsters Local 215 say they want the same, but they're not going away until they get a fair deal...
Coca-Cola Forklift Operator Receives $5,000 in Back Pay Local 727 ...A Teamsters Local 727-represented member at Coca-Cola Niles received more than $5,000 in back pay after he was wrongfully denied workers’ compensation. Arel Cervantes, a third-shift forklift operator, requested light duty following an injury, but the company unjustly refused his request and he was forced to continue doing his normal duties. The union filed a grievance and worked swiftly to resolve the issue...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Workers Covered By Union Contracts Dropped Worldwide After Financial Crisis: International Labor Organization IBTimes ...The share of workers covered by union contracts has fallen worldwide since the Great Recession. Across a sample of 48 nations -- including the United States and countries in Europe, South America and Asia -- collective bargaining coverage dropped 4.6 percent from 2008 to 2013, according to research from the International Labor Organization (ILO), a United Nations agency that sets and monitors global labor standards...
Pharma flap imperils president’s trade deal The Hill ...The most important trade deal of Barack Obama’s presidency could hinge on a single provision that’s reigniting a years-old debate on monopoly rights for drugmakers. The exact details of the pharmaceutical provision, which involves a class of drugs called biologics, won’t be made public until later this month. Still, it’s already threatening to drag out — and possibly derail — the approval process for a deal reached by a dozen nations...
Commerce Secretary Pritzker touts Trans-Pacific Partnership for Oregon OregonLive ...The Obama administration brought its argument for the Trans-Pacific Partnership to Oregon on Tuesday, and not for the first time. In May, it was President Obama's visit to Nike to deliver a forceful argument for TPP, which was approved last month by the United States and 11 other countries. On Tuesday, Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker participated in a conference call with reporters to stump for the pact...
EU to offer new TTIP proposals in Miami Politico ...In a sign that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks will make progress in Miami this week, the European Union will propose a labor and environment chapter and product-specific rules of origin for most industrial sectors, EU trade officials said ahead of the round. But don’t expect the focus of the negotiations to shift very far from discussions over goods market access...
EU Trade Deals with US and Canada Blasted as 'Attacking Public Services' Common Dreams ...As EU and U.S. negotiators start the 11th round of TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks in Miami on Monday, a European watchdog group is sounding the alarm over the negative impacts such "trade" deals could have on citizens' rights to basic services like water, energy, education, and healthcare...
Spain eases spending constraints as 'reward' following years of austerity The Local ...Spain's lower house has approved a 2016 budget designed to ease some spending restrictions after years of austerity, ahead of legislative elections due on December 20th. The budget passed on Tuesday provides for increases of 9.3 percent for education, 3.6 percent for health and 7.6 percent for culture, as well as a rise of 0.25 percent in state pensions and a one-percent boost in pay for civil servants...
Madrid metro workers call strikes during rush hours on Thursday The Local ...Madrid’s metro could grind to a halt on Thursday as workers have called several hours of strikes during the busiest hours of the day. Three workers unions called the strikes in protest at the "lack of personnel" and the "pitiful" service offered by the capital’s transport service with complaints including long waiting times and overcrowded carriages...
‘I Was a Garment Worker and I Know Exploitation’ Solidarity Center ...The “Made in Jordan” label is familiar to U.S. consumers shopping for shirts, jeans and other clothes. Mervat Jumhawi, a Jordanian union organizer, is actively ensuring the largely migrant workforce that cuts and sews these garments does so in safe conditions, receives fair wages and is treated with respect on the job. “I was a garment worker and I know what exploitation is, I knows what that means,” says Jumhawi...
Mexican Farmers Accuse Mining Companies of Shady Tactics in Chiapas Truthout ...Mexico's government gave the green light for titanium mining to occur below 500 of the 530 hectares that make up the Los Cacaos community. Villatoro and his neighbors in Los Cacaos express acute fears about the potential environmental effects. He believes that local leaders "were tricked into signing off on the exploration process" by the mining company...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Scott Walker Is Ready To Turn Back The Clock On Ethics And Campaign Finance In Wisconsin Think Progress ...“This is the week from hell.” “It’s a complete nightmare.” “It’s ugly. It’s not a pretty picture.” That’s how government watchdogs described to ThinkProgress the series of votes the Wisconsin state legislature has lined up this week on bills designed to deregulate state campaign finance law, dissolve the state ethics and elections board, and take away a key tool prosecutors use to investigate political crimes...
Pa. Bill Would Limit Prevailing Wage Rule For Some Roadwork Law360 ...A Pennsylvania state lawmaker introduced a bill on Monday that would exempt workers on road maintenance projects from prevailing wage requirements. While certain maintenance projects are already exempt from the state’s prevailing wage requirements, the measure introduced by Rep. Cris Dush, R-Indiana, would expand the exemptions to include work performed on dirt, gravel, and low-volume road maintenance projects...
Half of food workers go to work sick because they have to, survey finds KPCC ...Fifty-one percent of food workers — who do everything from grow and process food to cook and serve it — said they "always" or "frequently" go to work when they're sick, according to the results of a survey released Monday. An additional 38 percent said they go to work sick "sometimes." Four states — California, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Oregon — have passed legislation to provide paid sick leave, in addition to a number of cities across the country...
Congratulations Tennessee: You’ve Got the Most Regressive Tax System in America The Atlantic ...According to a study by economists at the Federal Reserve, Tennessee, Mississippi, and West Virginia have structured their tax codes so that middle and lower-income families pay a bigger share of their incomes than wealthy families do. Many economists, including Thomas Piketty, believe that such systems can make inequality worse. Tennessee has taken this strategy the furthest: The state has the most regressive tax system in the country, according to the study...
Will Colorado Become the First State to Implement Single-Payer Health Care? Truthout ...The fight for a statewide single-payer health-care system has shifted from the Green Mountains to the Rocky Mountains: Colorado citizens are about to put single-payer up for a statewide ballot referendum in the 2016 election. If voters approve, the state constitution will be amended to create a statewide, publicly financed, universal system for the first time in US history...
Minneapolis leaders rally support for Seattle's minimum wage champion Star Tribune ...Two Minneapolis City Council members and a long list of local labor organizers are throwing their support behind a candidate running for city office -- in Seattle. Council Members Alondra Cano and Cam Gordon are among the co-hosts of a fundraiser supporting Kshama Sawant, a current member of the Seattle City Council who led the successful effort to raise that city's minimum wage...
U.S. LABOR
Signs of support for UAW-FCA contract voting Detroit Free Press ...Substantial dissatisfactoin among UAW remains to the proposed agreement with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles but workers and other sources say the intensity of opposition is subsiding. The yes votes by the two workers are in line with what others have been telling the Free Press in recent days — while there are still vocal opponents, many who rejected the first contract are prepared to accept this one...
CSU faculty to vote on major strike over contract KCRA ...Faculty members at the California State University's 23 campuses started voting Monday on whether to permit their labor union to call a strike over stalled salary negotiations. The strike authorization vote being held online and in person is at least the fourth that the California Faculty Association has held in eight years. Balloting is scheduled to run through Oct. 28...
NLRB delivers response to FedEx challenge of 'micro union' test Reuters ...The National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday defended its standard for approving the formation of so-called micro unions made up of distinct groups of employees from a challenge by FedEx Freight Inc, which says the board violated federal law in unilaterally creating new policy. In a brief submitted to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the NLRB said its 2011 decision in Specialty Healthcare, merely clarified existing law...
Verizon Makes Over $1 Billion In Profits Per Month And Demands Concessions From Workers NH Labor News ...In response to today’s Verizon earnings report, the Communications Workers of America, which along with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, represents 39,000 Verizon workers, issued the following statement: "Yet again, Verizon’s quarterly report shows the strength of the company’s bottom line. But despite another almost $1.5 billion dollars a month in profits, the company turns its back on its workers"...
Is Nevada’s Labor Movement Ready to Forgive Democrats? National Journal ...Last year, as the Republican wave crested across the country, labor organizers seeking to rally union members in Nevada foresaw a rout. The evidence was in their door-to-door efforts to excite the faithful: Some workers slammed their doors. Others tore up campaign literature and threw it in the organizers’ faces. Still others simply asked, “Why?” It was a stark display of a dispirited movement that has been the backbone of the Democratic Party in this swing state for decades...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
San Francisco Votes to Keep Shielding Immigrants From Deportation Officials New York Times ...The Board of Supervisors upheld San Francisco’s status as a sanctuary for immigrants on Tuesday, unanimously passing a resolution that called on local law enforcement not to notify the federal authorities when unauthorized immigrants are released from custody. The city had been under pressure from critics of its policies on immigrants...
Google Tests Drone Delivery As Feds Move For More Regulation Think Progress ...Google was spotted conducting more delivery drone tests Monday in an effort to beat competitor Amazon. But regulators are close behind, moving to require drone operators to register unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) with the Department of Transportation much like drivers do with their cars. The Federal Aviation Administration has been working on guidelines for commercial use...
Rural Alabama Judge Gives Penniless Defendants the Option to Give Blood or Go to Jail Slate ...A rural Alabama judge is facing criticism, and an ethics complaint, for telling a courtroom full of defendants, many indigent, that if they could not pay their fines or court fees, they could donate blood. Otherwise they would be sent to jail. The Southern Poverty Law Center released a recording of Perry County Circuit Judge Marvin Wiggins spelling out his policy to his courtroom last month...
Showing posts with label FedEx. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FedEx. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Today's Teamster News 09.29.15
Teamsters
Hoffa: Retirees, Workers Deserve to Receive Their Pensions Huffington Post ...The golden years of everyday Americans who worked hard for decades to put away money for retirement are increasingly being jeopardized by the nation's pension system. Earlier this month, several hundred Teamster members and retirees came to Washington to voice outrage over proposed rules governing pension cuts and support for legislation offered by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) that would bolster multi-employer plans...
Teamsters Local 357, Republic Airways Reach Tentative Agreement on New Contract Teamster.org ...Teamsters Local 357 and Republic Airways Holdings Inc. announced today that they have reached a consensual tentative agreement on the terms of a new three-year contract for the 2,100 Republic pilots represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. “This milestone is long overdue,” said Captain Jim Clark, Teamsters Local 357 president...
Teamsters-Sun Tran contract includes some 50% pay raises Arizona Daily Star ...A labor contract released Monday details pay raises of up to 50 percent for some Sun Tran workers. Teamsters Local 104 and Sun Tran management firm Professional Transit Management signed the two-year contract on Sept. 16, ending a 42-day bus strike in Tucson. Details of the contract were first made public Monday...
FedEx stockholders approve union-backed proposal Commercial Appeal ...FedEx stockholders on Monday approved a Teamsters-backed resolution that proposes an easier path for share owners to promote candidates for the board of directors. It was the only shareholder proposal adopted during the Memphis-based company's annual meeting, and the first such proposal to pass since 2010...
Browning-Ferris Joint-Employer Row Back At NLRB Law360 ...The Teamsters on Friday filed an unfair labor charge against the successor company to Browning-Ferris Industries, bringing the parties at the center of the board’s decision changing the joint-employer standard head-to-head for another round after the company refused to bargain with the union. Workers at a recycling plant owned by Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc., now owned by Republic Services Inc., had voted to be represented by Teamsters Local 350...
Global Labor & Trade
Chief TPP negotiators race to wrap up broad trade deal Japan Times ...Chief negotiators from the United States, Japan and 10 other countries restarted talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership initiative Saturday, seeking to conclude years of negotiations before tight political schedules in some countries crimp the chances of making a quick deal. Ahead of a TPP ministerial meeting beginning Wednesday, the top working-level officials will try to reduce differences over thorny issues...
The unexpected upshot of John Boehner’s ouster: The Trans-Pacific Partnership is in danger Salon ...Even if negotiators work out a tentative agreement this week, the biggest announcement on TPP may have already happened. That would be last Friday’s resignation of House Speaker John Boehner. We don’t even know if the meetings in Atlanta can produce a deal, given all the deadlocks and unresolved provisions between the nations involved. But even if there’s a big announcement this week, the administration won’t have John Boehner in their corner...
TTIP negotiations not even half done Politico ...Negotiations on a massive EU-U.S. trade agreement are not even halfway complete, according to a new European Commission internal assessment, and the lack of progress is raising questions about Brussels’ hopes for concluding the agreement before the end of the Obama administration...
Conservatives line up support from auto-parts makers for TPP deal Globe and Mail ...The governing Conservatives have lined up enough support for a massive Pacific Rim trade agreement from big auto-parts makers to expose a split in the industry ahead of talks this week that may yield a 12-country deal. Talks between trade ministers resume shortly in Atlanta and one of the most contentious subjects is provisions agreed to by Japan and the United States that some warn could sideswipe some of the 80,000 auto-parts manufacturing jobs in Canada...
Good chance for conclusion of TPP: Mustapa News Straits Times ...There is a 50:50 chance for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations to be concluded in the US this Thursday, says International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. "It is 50:50 with a slight edge for conclusion," he told the Business Times before leaving for Atlanta this afternoon. The two-day ministerial round of talks opens tomorrow...
Japan considers making new offer on U.S. rice in Atlanta TPP talks Japan Times ... Japan is considering sweetening the pot for U.S. rice farmers in a bid to reach agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a source close to the matter said Monday. As talks resumed on Saturday between the United States, Japan and 10 other countries negotiating the bloc in Atlanta, Washington and Tokyo remained at odds...
Fiscal Austerity May Jeopardize Brazil's Poverty Alleviation Program Truthout ...Latin America's largest economy, Brazil, has succeeded in lifting 36 million people out of extreme poverty over the past 12 years. But it has still a long way to go towards promoting inclusive and sustainable growth. Financial crisis and fiscal austerity goals resulting in a cut to the 2015 budget of almost USD23 billion may imperil social achievements, according to experts...
UN Finally Puts Child Slavery on Development Agenda Solidarity Center ...Last week the United Nations passed its next set of commitments for development, the “Sustainable Development Goals,” for the coming 15 years and added important labor issues that its member states are obligated to prioritize. “This is significant,” said child labor crusader and Nobel Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi at the UN Summit, “because for the first time these goals include the issues of child slavery, labor and trafficking, and has brought forth the language to address them”...
State & Living Wage Battles
Immigration bill clears NC Senate Charlotte Observer ...The state Senate voted 28-17 to restrict forms of identification for non-citizens and ban counties and municipalities from having “sanctuary city” policies that limit enforcement of immigration laws. The bill was approved largely along party lines, with Sen. Josh Stein of Raleigh as the only Democrat voting yes...
Contractors Ask Legislature to Preserve Prevailing Wage WDET ...A group of construction contractors and trade unions is pushing back against an effort at the state Capitol to repeal prevailing wage requirements on many publicly funded projects. State and local prevailing wage rules require contractors to pay union-level wages on schools and other public building projects. A petition drive led by non-union builders has gathered signatures to put the question before the Legislature....
US politicians agree to delay minimum wage increase Radio New Zealand ...The United States House of Representatives has voted to delay until 2017 a 50 cent increase in the American Samoa minimum wage due to come into effect at the end of this month. The bill sponsored by American Samoa's congresswoman Aumua Amata now goes to the US Senate for consideration. If passed by the full Congress, the measure would still need to get to President Obama for approval...
Changes could be coming for Minneapolis workers Kare11 ...The city of Minneapolis is looking to change how employers schedule and pay their workers. The "Working Families Agenda" has three key issues: fair scheduling, earned sick time and wage theft. "I'm here to continue to listen and that's what we're doing," said Elizabeth Glidden, city council vice president...
Support for fuel terminals is support for state’s workers (opinion) News Tribune ...The governor, the executives of King and Pierce County, the Seattle City Council, some members of the Tacoma City Council and others should seriously rethink their opposition to the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal in Bellingham and the Millennium Bulk Terminal and Vancouver Energy export terminals in Vancouver. While these export terminals provide construction and operational jobs, they are also important private investments in Washington’s trade infrastructure...
U.S. Labor
UAW gets yes vote at Warren Truck Detroit Free Press ...A majority of production workers at Warren Truck Assembly narrowly voted in favor of a proposed national agreement on Monday with Fiat Chrysler, giving the UAW its first glimmer of hope in recent days that it can convince a majority of workers to ratify the proposed contract. The UAW is scrambling to win support from about 40,000 Fiat Chrysler workers that it represents at 37 different UAW local units...
Al Jazeera America Will Not Recognize Union: NLRB Elections Underway International Business Times ...After several weeks, the management at Al Jazeera America (AJAM) has decided not to recognize the union drive announced by staffers on Sept. 3, putting into motion an election in which votes will be cast by employees and administered by the National Labor Relations Board, International Business Times has learned from a source with direct knowledge of the matter. Elections are happening Tuesday...
UFCW Local 5 still negotiating with Safeway Supermarket News ...United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 5, which represents 14,000 Safeway employees in parts of Northern California, is continuing to negotiate with the company nearly a year after the previous contract expired.
UFCW Local 8-Golden State announced a tentative agreement last week with 9,000 Safeway employees in Northern and Central California...
Marco Rubio's paid family leave plan would do little to expand paid family leave Daily Kos ...Four in five Americans thinks companies should be required to "offer paid leave to parents of new children and employees caring for sick family members." So trust a Republican to come up with a paid family leave policy that doesn't require anything and benefits business, not workers. Marco Rubio is the one Republican presidential candidate with any plan on this issue...
After Decades of Discrimination, Farm Workers Get Pesticide Protections Common Dreams ...Farm workers will now have sweeping new protections from pesticides under new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules announced Monday—safeguards which labor leaders say eluded farm workers for decades due to racial discrimination. The new rules [were] announced by EPA administrator Gina McCarthy, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, and United Farm Workers (UFW) president Arturo Rodriguez...
In America, the Poorer You Are, the Poorer Your Children Will Be The Nation ...When people talk about “balancing work and family,” they’re usually talking more about the workplace than what’s going on at home. Now we’re starting to get data on what the workaday life looks like from a kid’s eye view, and it doesn’t look good...
Social Justice & Other News
What John Boehner’s Surprise Resignation Means For Immigration Reform Think Progress ...House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is the favorite to succeed John Boehner (R-OH) after his surprise resignation as the House Speaker last week. The appointment of McCarthy, who represents a heavily Latino district, to preside over a more radically conservative Republican caucus could have implications for immigration reform...
Humane Criminal Justice Is Not Hopeless Slate ...Pope Francis concluded his historic first visit to the United States on Sunday, spending most of his final few hours with women and men imprisoned at Philadelphia’s Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility and putting an exclamation mark on a central theme of his visit: the need to infuse more dignity and hope into America’s criminal justice system...
US supreme court: conservatives set to retake reins after year of liberal wins The Guardian ...The supreme court returns on Monday for a new series of cases, and all indications point to equally dramatic plot twists involving race, class and murder. While 2014-15 will be remembered for surprise wins by the liberal wing of the court, particularly two blockbuster decisions endorsing gay marriage and Obamacare, legal experts expect this year will see a clutch of decisions that reassert the power of the conservative majority...
Trump’s Tax Plan Is A Big Giveaway To The Wealthiest Think Progress ...On Monday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will unveil a detailed tax reform plan — and he is already positioning it as a populist proposal. In a press alert about the plan, the campaign states, “Essentially, the plan is a major tax reduction for almost all citizens and corporations, in particular, those in the middle and lower income classes.” But the plan has a number of provisions that will overwhelmingly help the already well off...
Hoffa: Retirees, Workers Deserve to Receive Their Pensions Huffington Post ...The golden years of everyday Americans who worked hard for decades to put away money for retirement are increasingly being jeopardized by the nation's pension system. Earlier this month, several hundred Teamster members and retirees came to Washington to voice outrage over proposed rules governing pension cuts and support for legislation offered by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) that would bolster multi-employer plans...
Teamsters Local 357, Republic Airways Reach Tentative Agreement on New Contract Teamster.org ...Teamsters Local 357 and Republic Airways Holdings Inc. announced today that they have reached a consensual tentative agreement on the terms of a new three-year contract for the 2,100 Republic pilots represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. “This milestone is long overdue,” said Captain Jim Clark, Teamsters Local 357 president...
Teamsters-Sun Tran contract includes some 50% pay raises Arizona Daily Star ...A labor contract released Monday details pay raises of up to 50 percent for some Sun Tran workers. Teamsters Local 104 and Sun Tran management firm Professional Transit Management signed the two-year contract on Sept. 16, ending a 42-day bus strike in Tucson. Details of the contract were first made public Monday...
FedEx stockholders approve union-backed proposal Commercial Appeal ...FedEx stockholders on Monday approved a Teamsters-backed resolution that proposes an easier path for share owners to promote candidates for the board of directors. It was the only shareholder proposal adopted during the Memphis-based company's annual meeting, and the first such proposal to pass since 2010...
Browning-Ferris Joint-Employer Row Back At NLRB Law360 ...The Teamsters on Friday filed an unfair labor charge against the successor company to Browning-Ferris Industries, bringing the parties at the center of the board’s decision changing the joint-employer standard head-to-head for another round after the company refused to bargain with the union. Workers at a recycling plant owned by Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc., now owned by Republic Services Inc., had voted to be represented by Teamsters Local 350...
Global Labor & Trade
Chief TPP negotiators race to wrap up broad trade deal Japan Times ...Chief negotiators from the United States, Japan and 10 other countries restarted talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership initiative Saturday, seeking to conclude years of negotiations before tight political schedules in some countries crimp the chances of making a quick deal. Ahead of a TPP ministerial meeting beginning Wednesday, the top working-level officials will try to reduce differences over thorny issues...
The unexpected upshot of John Boehner’s ouster: The Trans-Pacific Partnership is in danger Salon ...Even if negotiators work out a tentative agreement this week, the biggest announcement on TPP may have already happened. That would be last Friday’s resignation of House Speaker John Boehner. We don’t even know if the meetings in Atlanta can produce a deal, given all the deadlocks and unresolved provisions between the nations involved. But even if there’s a big announcement this week, the administration won’t have John Boehner in their corner...
TTIP negotiations not even half done Politico ...Negotiations on a massive EU-U.S. trade agreement are not even halfway complete, according to a new European Commission internal assessment, and the lack of progress is raising questions about Brussels’ hopes for concluding the agreement before the end of the Obama administration...
Conservatives line up support from auto-parts makers for TPP deal Globe and Mail ...The governing Conservatives have lined up enough support for a massive Pacific Rim trade agreement from big auto-parts makers to expose a split in the industry ahead of talks this week that may yield a 12-country deal. Talks between trade ministers resume shortly in Atlanta and one of the most contentious subjects is provisions agreed to by Japan and the United States that some warn could sideswipe some of the 80,000 auto-parts manufacturing jobs in Canada...
Good chance for conclusion of TPP: Mustapa News Straits Times ...There is a 50:50 chance for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations to be concluded in the US this Thursday, says International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. "It is 50:50 with a slight edge for conclusion," he told the Business Times before leaving for Atlanta this afternoon. The two-day ministerial round of talks opens tomorrow...
Japan considers making new offer on U.S. rice in Atlanta TPP talks Japan Times ... Japan is considering sweetening the pot for U.S. rice farmers in a bid to reach agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a source close to the matter said Monday. As talks resumed on Saturday between the United States, Japan and 10 other countries negotiating the bloc in Atlanta, Washington and Tokyo remained at odds...
Fiscal Austerity May Jeopardize Brazil's Poverty Alleviation Program Truthout ...Latin America's largest economy, Brazil, has succeeded in lifting 36 million people out of extreme poverty over the past 12 years. But it has still a long way to go towards promoting inclusive and sustainable growth. Financial crisis and fiscal austerity goals resulting in a cut to the 2015 budget of almost USD23 billion may imperil social achievements, according to experts...
UN Finally Puts Child Slavery on Development Agenda Solidarity Center ...Last week the United Nations passed its next set of commitments for development, the “Sustainable Development Goals,” for the coming 15 years and added important labor issues that its member states are obligated to prioritize. “This is significant,” said child labor crusader and Nobel Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi at the UN Summit, “because for the first time these goals include the issues of child slavery, labor and trafficking, and has brought forth the language to address them”...
State & Living Wage Battles
Immigration bill clears NC Senate Charlotte Observer ...The state Senate voted 28-17 to restrict forms of identification for non-citizens and ban counties and municipalities from having “sanctuary city” policies that limit enforcement of immigration laws. The bill was approved largely along party lines, with Sen. Josh Stein of Raleigh as the only Democrat voting yes...
Contractors Ask Legislature to Preserve Prevailing Wage WDET ...A group of construction contractors and trade unions is pushing back against an effort at the state Capitol to repeal prevailing wage requirements on many publicly funded projects. State and local prevailing wage rules require contractors to pay union-level wages on schools and other public building projects. A petition drive led by non-union builders has gathered signatures to put the question before the Legislature....
US politicians agree to delay minimum wage increase Radio New Zealand ...The United States House of Representatives has voted to delay until 2017 a 50 cent increase in the American Samoa minimum wage due to come into effect at the end of this month. The bill sponsored by American Samoa's congresswoman Aumua Amata now goes to the US Senate for consideration. If passed by the full Congress, the measure would still need to get to President Obama for approval...
Changes could be coming for Minneapolis workers Kare11 ...The city of Minneapolis is looking to change how employers schedule and pay their workers. The "Working Families Agenda" has three key issues: fair scheduling, earned sick time and wage theft. "I'm here to continue to listen and that's what we're doing," said Elizabeth Glidden, city council vice president...
Support for fuel terminals is support for state’s workers (opinion) News Tribune ...The governor, the executives of King and Pierce County, the Seattle City Council, some members of the Tacoma City Council and others should seriously rethink their opposition to the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal in Bellingham and the Millennium Bulk Terminal and Vancouver Energy export terminals in Vancouver. While these export terminals provide construction and operational jobs, they are also important private investments in Washington’s trade infrastructure...
U.S. Labor
UAW gets yes vote at Warren Truck Detroit Free Press ...A majority of production workers at Warren Truck Assembly narrowly voted in favor of a proposed national agreement on Monday with Fiat Chrysler, giving the UAW its first glimmer of hope in recent days that it can convince a majority of workers to ratify the proposed contract. The UAW is scrambling to win support from about 40,000 Fiat Chrysler workers that it represents at 37 different UAW local units...
Al Jazeera America Will Not Recognize Union: NLRB Elections Underway International Business Times ...After several weeks, the management at Al Jazeera America (AJAM) has decided not to recognize the union drive announced by staffers on Sept. 3, putting into motion an election in which votes will be cast by employees and administered by the National Labor Relations Board, International Business Times has learned from a source with direct knowledge of the matter. Elections are happening Tuesday...
UFCW Local 5 still negotiating with Safeway Supermarket News ...United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 5, which represents 14,000 Safeway employees in parts of Northern California, is continuing to negotiate with the company nearly a year after the previous contract expired.
UFCW Local 8-Golden State announced a tentative agreement last week with 9,000 Safeway employees in Northern and Central California...
Marco Rubio's paid family leave plan would do little to expand paid family leave Daily Kos ...Four in five Americans thinks companies should be required to "offer paid leave to parents of new children and employees caring for sick family members." So trust a Republican to come up with a paid family leave policy that doesn't require anything and benefits business, not workers. Marco Rubio is the one Republican presidential candidate with any plan on this issue...
After Decades of Discrimination, Farm Workers Get Pesticide Protections Common Dreams ...Farm workers will now have sweeping new protections from pesticides under new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules announced Monday—safeguards which labor leaders say eluded farm workers for decades due to racial discrimination. The new rules [were] announced by EPA administrator Gina McCarthy, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, and United Farm Workers (UFW) president Arturo Rodriguez...
In America, the Poorer You Are, the Poorer Your Children Will Be The Nation ...When people talk about “balancing work and family,” they’re usually talking more about the workplace than what’s going on at home. Now we’re starting to get data on what the workaday life looks like from a kid’s eye view, and it doesn’t look good...
Social Justice & Other News
What John Boehner’s Surprise Resignation Means For Immigration Reform Think Progress ...House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is the favorite to succeed John Boehner (R-OH) after his surprise resignation as the House Speaker last week. The appointment of McCarthy, who represents a heavily Latino district, to preside over a more radically conservative Republican caucus could have implications for immigration reform...
Humane Criminal Justice Is Not Hopeless Slate ...Pope Francis concluded his historic first visit to the United States on Sunday, spending most of his final few hours with women and men imprisoned at Philadelphia’s Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility and putting an exclamation mark on a central theme of his visit: the need to infuse more dignity and hope into America’s criminal justice system...
US supreme court: conservatives set to retake reins after year of liberal wins The Guardian ...The supreme court returns on Monday for a new series of cases, and all indications point to equally dramatic plot twists involving race, class and murder. While 2014-15 will be remembered for surprise wins by the liberal wing of the court, particularly two blockbuster decisions endorsing gay marriage and Obamacare, legal experts expect this year will see a clutch of decisions that reassert the power of the conservative majority...
Trump’s Tax Plan Is A Big Giveaway To The Wealthiest Think Progress ...On Monday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will unveil a detailed tax reform plan — and he is already positioning it as a populist proposal. In a press alert about the plan, the campaign states, “Essentially, the plan is a major tax reduction for almost all citizens and corporations, in particular, those in the middle and lower income classes.” But the plan has a number of provisions that will overwhelmingly help the already well off...
Monday, September 21, 2015
Today's Teamster News 09.21.15
Teamsters
Teamsters to FedEx: ‘Stop Paying Executives' Personal Taxes' Teamster.org ...Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), the nation’s leading proxy voting advisor, recommends FedEx shareholders vote for a Teamster-sponsored shareholder proposal aimed at reforming the company’s executive compensation. The proposal urges the company to stop paying the personal taxes on behalf of the senior executive officers...
Local 727 Tackles Unjust Treatment of Beverage Industry Members Local 727 ...Since Teamsters Local 727 began representing more than 1,500 beverage industry members earlier this year, the union has won dozens of grievances relating to discipline and terminations, holiday pay, attendance, overtime, seniority and other issues. In total, Local 727 representatives have filed nearly 150 grievances for members at Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper Snapple, Hinckley Springs and Home Juice over the past five months...
Sun Tran, Teamsters release agreement details Tucson News Now ...Both sides originally did not want to talk about it, but now Tucson News Now has learned new details about the agreement between Sun Tran and the Teamsters Local 104 Union. City of Tucson officials said they used savings from the 42-day strike to come up with $1.5 million to settle it, so taxpayers are not out any extra money. Under the terms of the new agreement, each Teamsters striker will get a one-time lump sum payment of $3,303.37...
Will aggrieved workers get their day in court? OC Register ...In response to the successful complaints, trucking companies that employ hundreds of drivers are now insisting the drivers sign arbitration contracts waiving their right to file complaints, according to Julie Gutman Dickinson, a Teamsters union attorney who has been representing them. “Many drivers are monolingual Spanish speakers,” she said. “They are not given copies of the arbitration agreements they are forced to sign in any language other than English"...
Global Labor & Trade
Japan, U.S., Canada, Mexico to restart auto TPP talks Monday Japan News ...Japan, the United States, Canada and Mexico will hold working-level talks on Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations in San Francisco on Monday and Tuesday, focusing on automobile trade, according to the Japanese government. The upcoming talks are aimed at narrowing their gap over rules of origin, prior to a ministerial meeting that 12 countries joining TPP negotiations plan to hold in Atlanta in late September...
Stephen Harper Says Concessions Likely for Auto Industry in Pacific Trade Pact Wall Street Journal ...Canadian leader Stephen Harper signaled in an election debate late Thursday that he will make a concession on protections for the auto industry to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, a suggestion that is triggering protest from the Canadian units of the big Detroit-based auto makers...
Harper’s TPP remarks draw ire of Ontario, union leader Globe and Mail ...Stephen Harper is being accused of sacrificing Canada’s 80,000-job auto-parts industry in his eagerness to sign on to a massive Pacific Rim trade deal – one his government is negotiating in the middle of the federal election campaign. The Conservative Leader made waves Thursday when he signaled that he’s determined to be part of a Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement even over the objections of the auto sector, whose members fear it will lead to a flood of foreign parts, produced by cheaper labour, killing their industry...
International agreement could hurt Saskatchewan dairy producers Global News ...Many Saskatchewan dairy producers are concerned their domestic market may shrink due to a possible trade agreement, according to their provincial advocacy group. SaskMilk’s policy manager Joy Smith says producers will have their eyes on upcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement talks planned in Atlanta. The trade pact includes 12 North American and Asian countries, including Canada, the U.S. and Japan...
No deal at next TPP talks to extend negotiations for years: minister Mainichi ...The Japanese minister in charge of negotiations for a Pacific Rim free trade initiative said Friday that talks on the free trade deal will not be concluded anytime soon if the 12 member countries fail to strike an accord at an upcoming meeting starting late September. "There is a risk that an agreement will be put off for years" if no deal is reached at the next session, Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Akira Amari said at a press conference...
More Austerity Awaits Greeks in Election Aftermath Greek Reporter ...Greeks are bracing to face a series of austerity measures and harsh reforms in the aftermath of the election that brought to power the previous coalition of SYRIZA and ANEL. About fifty measures and reforms have to be implemented by December as required by the bailout program Athens signed in July. Also a series of pension cuts will be implemented depending on how high each pension is...
Sierra Leone workers strike at Shandong's iron ore mine Reuters ...Hundreds of Sierra Leonean workers at Shandong Steel's iron ore mine declared an unlimited strike on Saturday, alleging unfair treatment, a union leader said. The Chinese firm, formerly a minority partner of African Minerals in the African Minerals-run project, acquired full ownership earlier this year and resumed operations in May...
Workers Strike at Chinese Shipyard, Demand Three Months' Back-Pay RFA ...More than 1,000 workers at a shipbuilding yard in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu are on strike over unpaid wages, workers told RFA on Friday, as the industrial action entered its third day. Around one-fifth of the 5,000-strong workforce at the Sinopacific-owned shipyard in Jiangsu's Dayang city walked out on Wednesday...
State & Living Wages Battles
Scott Walker's Partisans Poised to Raze Nonpartisan Government Accountability Board Huffington Post ...Stung by the campaign finance probe into potentially illegal coordination between Governor Scott Walker and independent campaign finance groups, the Wisconsin GOP is on the warpath. Governor Walker called for "dismantling" of the Government Accountability Board (GAB), the nonpartisan, independent agency that oversees Wisconsin elections, campaign finance and ethics laws that gave the go-ahead to the investigation...
Scott Walker Was Coward During 2011 Wisconsin Protests Alternet ...According to a stunning, detailed new statement by a former top Republican legislative aide, it turns out that Walker isolated himself and hid in tightly controlled, heavily-guarded environments during the conflict covering six intense weeks in early 2011—which directly contradicts his tall tale of courageously facing his adversaries...
NJ minimum wage to remain at $8.38 an hour in 2016 North Jersey ...New Jersey's minimum wage will remain $8.38 an hour in 2016, the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development said Monday. The wage has been tied to the inflation rate since January 2014. In November 2013, New Jersey voters approved a constitutional amendment that increased the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.25 an hour...
Osceola mulls $11.66-an-hour living wage proposal Orlando Sentinel ...Osceola County's newly Democratic-controlled commission has wasted little time taking on controversial issues since January, passing anti-discrimination protections for gay and transgender residents while raising the local gas tax to pay for roads and other infrastructure projects. Now the board is preparing to vote on an ordinance Monday that would set one of the highest minimum wages for county contracts in the state, at $11.66 an hour for the first year...
U.S. Labor
United Farm Workers claims victory in labor battle Californian ...Organized labor claimed a victory in a decades-long fight with one of the nation's largest fruit growers when a judge ruled that the company interfered with its employees' vote on whether to reject union representation. A decision issued Thursday sets aside an election held nearly two years ago by workers at Gerawan Farming Inc., which hires thousands of people annually to harvest nectarines, peaches and grapes in the Central Valley...
Shifting work to Mexico now up for UAW vote Detroit Free Press ...Building more cars in Mexico. It's a flash point for about 40,000 UAW workers preparing to vote on a tentative agreement with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, knowing the new four-year pact includes pay increases, profit sharing and bonuses but also shifts car production to plants south of the border...
Tile, marble union workers preparing to strike statewide Khon ...Members of the Hawaii Masons Union, specifically ceramic tile and marble setters are planning a statewide strike Monday. “Nobody wants a strike, nobody wins but this is like a last resort,” said Todd Saito, a business representative for Local #1 of Hawaii. He says contract negotiations with the Tile Contractors Association of Hawaii have been going on for over a year. “We just want a package that represents industry standards,” said Saito...
HCA, nurses reach collective bargaining agreement in 5 states Tennessean ...HCA reached tentative collective bargaining agreements with National Nurses United that would cover almost 8,000 nurses in five states if ratified. Nurses at the 17 hospitals will vote Monday whether to accept the agreements that cover a range of work conditions, including staffing, scheduling and workplace safety...
IBEW Local 125 authorizes strike at Pacific Power NW Labor Press ...Workers across Northern Oregon and Southeastern Washington voted overwhelmingly Sept. 1 to reject a contract offer and authorize the union bargaining committee to call a strike at Pacific Power. BEW Local 125 represents 320 linemen, meter readers, substation wiremen and other workers at the electric utility, in a service area that extends from Astoria to Bend to Walla Walla...
Judge’s Ruling Awards $600,000 to Exploited Workers New York Times ...More than six years after their rescue from virtual servitude, in which they worked for little pay in a turkey processing plant while living in a decrepit Iowa schoolhouse, more than two dozen men with intellectual disabilities will share nearly $600,000 owed to them, after a federal court order issued Thursday in Dallas...
American Slavery, Reinvented The Atlantic ...Given the scope and scale of prison labor in the modern era, one could reasonably expect some degree of compliance with modern labor standards. However, despite the hard-won protections secured by the labor movement over the past 100 years, incarcerated workers do not enjoy most of these protections...
Social Justice & Other News
New Report Shows How Women of Color Bear the Costs of Mass Incarceration Truthout ...As the report emphasizes, it is overwhelming women - particularly low-income women of color, given the race and class bias of our criminal justice system - who shoulder these burdens. A recent study found that 44 percent of Black women and 12 percent of white women have a family member imprisoned...
Are Student Debt Forgiveness Scams The Next Mortgage Meltdown? Think Progress ...With student loan defaults on the rise, regulatory agencies are increasingly concerned about borrowers being preyed upon by student debt relief scammers. These scammers, which promise students they can cut their student loan payments by 50 percent or more, take advantage of students’ lack of knowledge about repayment options...
Pope Francis in Cuba: "The World Needs Reconciliation in This Atmosphere of a Third World War" Democracy Now ...Ahead of his first U.S. visit, Pope Francis celebrated mass in Cuba Sunday before hundreds of thousands of worshipers in Havana’s Revolution Square. Born in Argentina, Francis is the first Latin American pope. The pope’s homily in Havana included no direct political message besides urging the successful conclusion of Colombia peace talks that have been taking place in Cuba for nearly three years...
The Media Can No Longer Pretend That Trump’s Racist Birtherism Is Old News The Nation ... Until last night, Trump has successfully built a great big wall to keep his ugly birther narrative from crossing into his current presidential run. His candidacy now turns on his racist immigrant-bashing. It’s not that the press has completely forgotten the birther storm, which peaked in 2011...
Hedge Fund Manager Buys Rights To Critical Drug, Hikes Price By 5000% Alternet ...The drug, called Daraprim, was acquired in August by Turing Pharmaceuticals, a start-up run by a former hedge fund manager. Turing immediately raised the price to $750 a tablet from $13.50, bringing the annual cost of treatment for some patients to hundreds of thousands of dollars...
Teamsters to FedEx: ‘Stop Paying Executives' Personal Taxes' Teamster.org ...Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), the nation’s leading proxy voting advisor, recommends FedEx shareholders vote for a Teamster-sponsored shareholder proposal aimed at reforming the company’s executive compensation. The proposal urges the company to stop paying the personal taxes on behalf of the senior executive officers...
Local 727 Tackles Unjust Treatment of Beverage Industry Members Local 727 ...Since Teamsters Local 727 began representing more than 1,500 beverage industry members earlier this year, the union has won dozens of grievances relating to discipline and terminations, holiday pay, attendance, overtime, seniority and other issues. In total, Local 727 representatives have filed nearly 150 grievances for members at Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper Snapple, Hinckley Springs and Home Juice over the past five months...
Sun Tran, Teamsters release agreement details Tucson News Now ...Both sides originally did not want to talk about it, but now Tucson News Now has learned new details about the agreement between Sun Tran and the Teamsters Local 104 Union. City of Tucson officials said they used savings from the 42-day strike to come up with $1.5 million to settle it, so taxpayers are not out any extra money. Under the terms of the new agreement, each Teamsters striker will get a one-time lump sum payment of $3,303.37...
Will aggrieved workers get their day in court? OC Register ...In response to the successful complaints, trucking companies that employ hundreds of drivers are now insisting the drivers sign arbitration contracts waiving their right to file complaints, according to Julie Gutman Dickinson, a Teamsters union attorney who has been representing them. “Many drivers are monolingual Spanish speakers,” she said. “They are not given copies of the arbitration agreements they are forced to sign in any language other than English"...
Global Labor & Trade
Japan, U.S., Canada, Mexico to restart auto TPP talks Monday Japan News ...Japan, the United States, Canada and Mexico will hold working-level talks on Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations in San Francisco on Monday and Tuesday, focusing on automobile trade, according to the Japanese government. The upcoming talks are aimed at narrowing their gap over rules of origin, prior to a ministerial meeting that 12 countries joining TPP negotiations plan to hold in Atlanta in late September...
Stephen Harper Says Concessions Likely for Auto Industry in Pacific Trade Pact Wall Street Journal ...Canadian leader Stephen Harper signaled in an election debate late Thursday that he will make a concession on protections for the auto industry to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, a suggestion that is triggering protest from the Canadian units of the big Detroit-based auto makers...
Harper’s TPP remarks draw ire of Ontario, union leader Globe and Mail ...Stephen Harper is being accused of sacrificing Canada’s 80,000-job auto-parts industry in his eagerness to sign on to a massive Pacific Rim trade deal – one his government is negotiating in the middle of the federal election campaign. The Conservative Leader made waves Thursday when he signaled that he’s determined to be part of a Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement even over the objections of the auto sector, whose members fear it will lead to a flood of foreign parts, produced by cheaper labour, killing their industry...
International agreement could hurt Saskatchewan dairy producers Global News ...Many Saskatchewan dairy producers are concerned their domestic market may shrink due to a possible trade agreement, according to their provincial advocacy group. SaskMilk’s policy manager Joy Smith says producers will have their eyes on upcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement talks planned in Atlanta. The trade pact includes 12 North American and Asian countries, including Canada, the U.S. and Japan...
No deal at next TPP talks to extend negotiations for years: minister Mainichi ...The Japanese minister in charge of negotiations for a Pacific Rim free trade initiative said Friday that talks on the free trade deal will not be concluded anytime soon if the 12 member countries fail to strike an accord at an upcoming meeting starting late September. "There is a risk that an agreement will be put off for years" if no deal is reached at the next session, Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Akira Amari said at a press conference...
More Austerity Awaits Greeks in Election Aftermath Greek Reporter ...Greeks are bracing to face a series of austerity measures and harsh reforms in the aftermath of the election that brought to power the previous coalition of SYRIZA and ANEL. About fifty measures and reforms have to be implemented by December as required by the bailout program Athens signed in July. Also a series of pension cuts will be implemented depending on how high each pension is...
Sierra Leone workers strike at Shandong's iron ore mine Reuters ...Hundreds of Sierra Leonean workers at Shandong Steel's iron ore mine declared an unlimited strike on Saturday, alleging unfair treatment, a union leader said. The Chinese firm, formerly a minority partner of African Minerals in the African Minerals-run project, acquired full ownership earlier this year and resumed operations in May...
Workers Strike at Chinese Shipyard, Demand Three Months' Back-Pay RFA ...More than 1,000 workers at a shipbuilding yard in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu are on strike over unpaid wages, workers told RFA on Friday, as the industrial action entered its third day. Around one-fifth of the 5,000-strong workforce at the Sinopacific-owned shipyard in Jiangsu's Dayang city walked out on Wednesday...
State & Living Wages Battles
Scott Walker's Partisans Poised to Raze Nonpartisan Government Accountability Board Huffington Post ...Stung by the campaign finance probe into potentially illegal coordination between Governor Scott Walker and independent campaign finance groups, the Wisconsin GOP is on the warpath. Governor Walker called for "dismantling" of the Government Accountability Board (GAB), the nonpartisan, independent agency that oversees Wisconsin elections, campaign finance and ethics laws that gave the go-ahead to the investigation...
Scott Walker Was Coward During 2011 Wisconsin Protests Alternet ...According to a stunning, detailed new statement by a former top Republican legislative aide, it turns out that Walker isolated himself and hid in tightly controlled, heavily-guarded environments during the conflict covering six intense weeks in early 2011—which directly contradicts his tall tale of courageously facing his adversaries...
NJ minimum wage to remain at $8.38 an hour in 2016 North Jersey ...New Jersey's minimum wage will remain $8.38 an hour in 2016, the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development said Monday. The wage has been tied to the inflation rate since January 2014. In November 2013, New Jersey voters approved a constitutional amendment that increased the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.25 an hour...
Osceola mulls $11.66-an-hour living wage proposal Orlando Sentinel ...Osceola County's newly Democratic-controlled commission has wasted little time taking on controversial issues since January, passing anti-discrimination protections for gay and transgender residents while raising the local gas tax to pay for roads and other infrastructure projects. Now the board is preparing to vote on an ordinance Monday that would set one of the highest minimum wages for county contracts in the state, at $11.66 an hour for the first year...
U.S. Labor
United Farm Workers claims victory in labor battle Californian ...Organized labor claimed a victory in a decades-long fight with one of the nation's largest fruit growers when a judge ruled that the company interfered with its employees' vote on whether to reject union representation. A decision issued Thursday sets aside an election held nearly two years ago by workers at Gerawan Farming Inc., which hires thousands of people annually to harvest nectarines, peaches and grapes in the Central Valley...
Shifting work to Mexico now up for UAW vote Detroit Free Press ...Building more cars in Mexico. It's a flash point for about 40,000 UAW workers preparing to vote on a tentative agreement with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, knowing the new four-year pact includes pay increases, profit sharing and bonuses but also shifts car production to plants south of the border...
Tile, marble union workers preparing to strike statewide Khon ...Members of the Hawaii Masons Union, specifically ceramic tile and marble setters are planning a statewide strike Monday. “Nobody wants a strike, nobody wins but this is like a last resort,” said Todd Saito, a business representative for Local #1 of Hawaii. He says contract negotiations with the Tile Contractors Association of Hawaii have been going on for over a year. “We just want a package that represents industry standards,” said Saito...
HCA, nurses reach collective bargaining agreement in 5 states Tennessean ...HCA reached tentative collective bargaining agreements with National Nurses United that would cover almost 8,000 nurses in five states if ratified. Nurses at the 17 hospitals will vote Monday whether to accept the agreements that cover a range of work conditions, including staffing, scheduling and workplace safety...
IBEW Local 125 authorizes strike at Pacific Power NW Labor Press ...Workers across Northern Oregon and Southeastern Washington voted overwhelmingly Sept. 1 to reject a contract offer and authorize the union bargaining committee to call a strike at Pacific Power. BEW Local 125 represents 320 linemen, meter readers, substation wiremen and other workers at the electric utility, in a service area that extends from Astoria to Bend to Walla Walla...
Judge’s Ruling Awards $600,000 to Exploited Workers New York Times ...More than six years after their rescue from virtual servitude, in which they worked for little pay in a turkey processing plant while living in a decrepit Iowa schoolhouse, more than two dozen men with intellectual disabilities will share nearly $600,000 owed to them, after a federal court order issued Thursday in Dallas...
American Slavery, Reinvented The Atlantic ...Given the scope and scale of prison labor in the modern era, one could reasonably expect some degree of compliance with modern labor standards. However, despite the hard-won protections secured by the labor movement over the past 100 years, incarcerated workers do not enjoy most of these protections...
Social Justice & Other News
New Report Shows How Women of Color Bear the Costs of Mass Incarceration Truthout ...As the report emphasizes, it is overwhelming women - particularly low-income women of color, given the race and class bias of our criminal justice system - who shoulder these burdens. A recent study found that 44 percent of Black women and 12 percent of white women have a family member imprisoned...
Are Student Debt Forgiveness Scams The Next Mortgage Meltdown? Think Progress ...With student loan defaults on the rise, regulatory agencies are increasingly concerned about borrowers being preyed upon by student debt relief scammers. These scammers, which promise students they can cut their student loan payments by 50 percent or more, take advantage of students’ lack of knowledge about repayment options...
Pope Francis in Cuba: "The World Needs Reconciliation in This Atmosphere of a Third World War" Democracy Now ...Ahead of his first U.S. visit, Pope Francis celebrated mass in Cuba Sunday before hundreds of thousands of worshipers in Havana’s Revolution Square. Born in Argentina, Francis is the first Latin American pope. The pope’s homily in Havana included no direct political message besides urging the successful conclusion of Colombia peace talks that have been taking place in Cuba for nearly three years...
The Media Can No Longer Pretend That Trump’s Racist Birtherism Is Old News The Nation ... Until last night, Trump has successfully built a great big wall to keep his ugly birther narrative from crossing into his current presidential run. His candidacy now turns on his racist immigrant-bashing. It’s not that the press has completely forgotten the birther storm, which peaked in 2011...
Hedge Fund Manager Buys Rights To Critical Drug, Hikes Price By 5000% Alternet ...The drug, called Daraprim, was acquired in August by Turing Pharmaceuticals, a start-up run by a former hedge fund manager. Turing immediately raised the price to $750 a tablet from $13.50, bringing the annual cost of treatment for some patients to hundreds of thousands of dollars...
Friday, March 20, 2015
Today's Teamster News 03.20.15
Teamsters
Teamsters Allege "Eavesdropping" At San Francisco Zoo, Management Says Technology Was Meant For Medical Emergencies KNTV ...The union representing scores of workers at the San Francisco Zoo says management is spying on employees' private conversations — but the zoo says its radio monitoring system was put in place for medical emergencies and denied the eavesdropping claims. Still, the executive director vowed to swiftly investigate the spying allegations...
CCSD Support Staff Union Leadership In Trouble After Challenge Las Vegas Review Journal ...A decade long fight between the two unions came to a head earlier this year when 71 percent of workers who voted in a special election backed the Teamsters. However, only 5,190 votes were cast, which was short of the supermajority the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled is needed for one union to oust another...
Transit, shuttle workers get new contract from COG Sharon Herald ...Mercer County Regional Council of Governments on Wednesday approved a contract with public transportation drivers, mechanics and washers that gives workers a pay hike but also institutes health-care co-pays and reduces some sick and holiday benefits...
Bremerton approves pay increase for Teamsters Kitsap Sun ... The City Council has approved a 2.5 percent bump in pay for its management and for city employees represented by the Teamsters union...
Shell oilsands workers to carry electronic trackers on the job CBC News ...The technology is becoming increasingly common in Alberta’s industrial north, said Wayne Garner, the vice president of General Teamsters Local Union No. 362. “It doesn’t really surprise me,” he said. “Electronic monitoring is nothing really new to us.”...
Trade
Hoffa Statement on USTR Trade Deficit Claims teamster.org ...“The U.S. Trade Representative has made recent statements claiming that the U.S. has a trade surplus with its free trade agreement partners. The problem is this simply is not true...
Five reasons to fret about Obama’s trade agenda Financial Times ...Pro-trade Democrats speak with awe of the pressure being applied by unions in their home districts...
EU Trade Commissioner Suggests Special Court For ISDS Cases Intellectual Property Watch ...Acknowledging that the vast majority of citizens rejected ISDS in a recent public consultation and that many members of the EU Parliament Trade Committee (INTA) object to ISDS – INTA Chair and TTIP Rapporteur Bernd Lange said there was just no need for the EU-US deal – Malmstroem offered several amendments to be considered. This includes: A permanent list of arbitrators chosen by governments should avoid conflicts of interest, jumping between ISDS and courts should be banned, and an appeal mechanism should be put in place...
State Battles
Right-To-Work Law Challenged In Dane County Court WDJT ...The controversial Right-to-work law has been challenged by state unions as unconstitutional and gets a hearing Thursday morning in Dane County Court. The suit was brought against the State of Wisconsin by workers represented by the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, Machinists Local 1061 and United Steelworkers District 2 on March 10th...
Report: Wisconsin Drops To 40th In Nation In Job Growth Wisconsin Public radio ...Wisconsin ranked 40th in the nation in private-sector job growth during the one-year period between September 2013 and September 2014, according to the latest detailed job numbers from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics...
Oldham Tables 'Right-To-Work' Law Louisville Courier Journal ...The decision to table the bill, which was approved by a 7-2 vote, was met by applause from a nearly full house of union supporters and those opposing the right-to-work measure. Magistrates Steve Greenwell and J.D. Sparks opposed the motion...
Boone Leaders Pass Right-To-Work Ordinance Cincinnati.com ...After Boone County Fiscal Court members unanimously approved a controversial right-to-work ordinance, members of the audience booed and yelled they were going to move to Kenton County, where a similar ordinance was recently tabled...
Delaware Bill Would Raise Minimum Wage To $10.25 News Journal ...Legislation to raise Delaware's minimum wage to $10.25 by June 2019, and index future wage hikes to cost-of-living increases, is expected to be introduced this week in Dover...
War on Workers
NLRB Stands by ‘Refined' Contractor Test; FedEx Home Fails in Bid for Reconsideration Bloomberg BNA ...The National Labor Relations Board March 16 declined to reconsider its September 2014 ruling that a group of Connecticut drivers are employees of FedEx Home Delivery under the National Labor Relations Act, not independent contractors outside the act's protection...
It’s illegal to prevent workers from talking about wages. T-Mobile did it anyway. Washington Post ...Last year, however, the NLRB’s general counsel consolidated complaints from four cities into one, putting 12 provisions of the handbook on trial. And on Wednesday, an administrative law judge issued her decision: In 10 of those provisions, T-Mobile’s employee handbook violates federal protections on workers’ right to organize...
Repair The Voting Rights Act (opinion) Washington Post ...The Voting Rights Act requires fixed attention, now, from lawmakers. For decades, the value of the act — all of it — has not been a partisan issue. It should not turn into one...
Miscellaneous
Fed Puts Interest-Rate Hikes In Play Wall Street Journal ...The Fed, in a statement Wednesday after its two-day meeting, dropped an assurance that it would remain “patient” before acting on rates. In the odd parlance of central bankers, the shift meant the Fed would consider raising short-term rates at its June 16-17 meeting...
Teamsters Allege "Eavesdropping" At San Francisco Zoo, Management Says Technology Was Meant For Medical Emergencies KNTV ...The union representing scores of workers at the San Francisco Zoo says management is spying on employees' private conversations — but the zoo says its radio monitoring system was put in place for medical emergencies and denied the eavesdropping claims. Still, the executive director vowed to swiftly investigate the spying allegations...
CCSD Support Staff Union Leadership In Trouble After Challenge Las Vegas Review Journal ...A decade long fight between the two unions came to a head earlier this year when 71 percent of workers who voted in a special election backed the Teamsters. However, only 5,190 votes were cast, which was short of the supermajority the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled is needed for one union to oust another...
Transit, shuttle workers get new contract from COG Sharon Herald ...Mercer County Regional Council of Governments on Wednesday approved a contract with public transportation drivers, mechanics and washers that gives workers a pay hike but also institutes health-care co-pays and reduces some sick and holiday benefits...
Bremerton approves pay increase for Teamsters Kitsap Sun ... The City Council has approved a 2.5 percent bump in pay for its management and for city employees represented by the Teamsters union...
Shell oilsands workers to carry electronic trackers on the job CBC News ...The technology is becoming increasingly common in Alberta’s industrial north, said Wayne Garner, the vice president of General Teamsters Local Union No. 362. “It doesn’t really surprise me,” he said. “Electronic monitoring is nothing really new to us.”...
Trade
Hoffa Statement on USTR Trade Deficit Claims teamster.org ...“The U.S. Trade Representative has made recent statements claiming that the U.S. has a trade surplus with its free trade agreement partners. The problem is this simply is not true...
Five reasons to fret about Obama’s trade agenda Financial Times ...Pro-trade Democrats speak with awe of the pressure being applied by unions in their home districts...
EU Trade Commissioner Suggests Special Court For ISDS Cases Intellectual Property Watch ...Acknowledging that the vast majority of citizens rejected ISDS in a recent public consultation and that many members of the EU Parliament Trade Committee (INTA) object to ISDS – INTA Chair and TTIP Rapporteur Bernd Lange said there was just no need for the EU-US deal – Malmstroem offered several amendments to be considered. This includes: A permanent list of arbitrators chosen by governments should avoid conflicts of interest, jumping between ISDS and courts should be banned, and an appeal mechanism should be put in place...
State Battles
Right-To-Work Law Challenged In Dane County Court WDJT ...The controversial Right-to-work law has been challenged by state unions as unconstitutional and gets a hearing Thursday morning in Dane County Court. The suit was brought against the State of Wisconsin by workers represented by the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, Machinists Local 1061 and United Steelworkers District 2 on March 10th...
Report: Wisconsin Drops To 40th In Nation In Job Growth Wisconsin Public radio ...Wisconsin ranked 40th in the nation in private-sector job growth during the one-year period between September 2013 and September 2014, according to the latest detailed job numbers from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics...
Oldham Tables 'Right-To-Work' Law Louisville Courier Journal ...The decision to table the bill, which was approved by a 7-2 vote, was met by applause from a nearly full house of union supporters and those opposing the right-to-work measure. Magistrates Steve Greenwell and J.D. Sparks opposed the motion...
Boone Leaders Pass Right-To-Work Ordinance Cincinnati.com ...After Boone County Fiscal Court members unanimously approved a controversial right-to-work ordinance, members of the audience booed and yelled they were going to move to Kenton County, where a similar ordinance was recently tabled...
Delaware Bill Would Raise Minimum Wage To $10.25 News Journal ...Legislation to raise Delaware's minimum wage to $10.25 by June 2019, and index future wage hikes to cost-of-living increases, is expected to be introduced this week in Dover...
War on Workers
NLRB Stands by ‘Refined' Contractor Test; FedEx Home Fails in Bid for Reconsideration Bloomberg BNA ...The National Labor Relations Board March 16 declined to reconsider its September 2014 ruling that a group of Connecticut drivers are employees of FedEx Home Delivery under the National Labor Relations Act, not independent contractors outside the act's protection...
It’s illegal to prevent workers from talking about wages. T-Mobile did it anyway. Washington Post ...Last year, however, the NLRB’s general counsel consolidated complaints from four cities into one, putting 12 provisions of the handbook on trial. And on Wednesday, an administrative law judge issued her decision: In 10 of those provisions, T-Mobile’s employee handbook violates federal protections on workers’ right to organize...
Repair The Voting Rights Act (opinion) Washington Post ...The Voting Rights Act requires fixed attention, now, from lawmakers. For decades, the value of the act — all of it — has not been a partisan issue. It should not turn into one...
Miscellaneous
Fed Puts Interest-Rate Hikes In Play Wall Street Journal ...The Fed, in a statement Wednesday after its two-day meeting, dropped an assurance that it would remain “patient” before acting on rates. In the odd parlance of central bankers, the shift meant the Fed would consider raising short-term rates at its June 16-17 meeting...
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Today's Teamster News 12.11.14
Teamster News
Call Congress NOW! teamster.org ...The legislation would: Threaten the retirement security of thousands of retirees; Increase the number of hours that truck drivers can spend on the road every week...
That awful congressional plan to allow pension cuts heads for enactment (opinion) Los Angeles Times ...The congressional proposal to deal with a supposed crisis in worker pensions by allowing trustees to slash the benefits of already retired workers to shreds is heading toward enactment...
Lame-Duck Congress Nears Last-Minute Vote On Sweeping Pension Reform In These Times ...Congress is nearing a vote on arguably the biggest change to private pension law in decades. The proposed reforms would grant sweeping new authority to the trustees of some “deeply troubled” multi-employer pension plans to slash benefits promised to current retirees—something that’s illegal under existing law...
Keystone Pipeline Would Boost Middle Class (opinion) Detroit News ...Jobs might not be in such short supply like they once were in Michigan and elsewhere. But good-paying jobs still are. That’s why the Teamsters support the Keystone XL pipeline project that would allow North America to produce more of the world’s oil supply. And that’s why Michigan’s elected officials should too...
Horse-carriage ban prompts Queens Dem backlash Capital New York ...DenDekker wrote, “How progressive is it to VOTE union workers out of a job ? Maybe WE should VOTE them out of a job in the next election ! UNION workers UNITE and take a stand.
Clallam Reaches Agreement On Labor Contract With Largest Union Peninsula Daily News ...Clallam County and its largest union have apparently reached an agreement on a new labor contract after more than 20 months of good-faith bargaining. Commissioners Jim McEntire and Mike Doherty voted Tuesday to approve a four-year contract with Teamsters Local 589...
Canfield Township, Teamsters agree to deal Youngstown Vindicator ...Greg Shadle, vice president of Teamsters 377, said the three-year contract is effective May 1, 2013, and runs to April 30, 2016. “There were no real big changes,” Shadle said. “We’re happy to get it over with.”
Trade
TPP Negotiators Hit With Protests That Media Don't Cover Huffington Post ...The secret Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations resumed this week, this time in D.C. TPP is a massive agreement that sets up new rules for over 40 percent of the global economy. It will have profound effects on our jobs, our standard of living now and in the future and our ability to make a living as a country. Oddly, though, as of Monday morning you have to read about it in Japan Times because few-to-no US media outlets are covering it...
USTR Protests Demand: Stop The Secrecy, Release The Texts CounterCurrents ...On Monday morning members of Popular Resistance held a ‘Sit-in to End the Secrecy’ on the front steps of the USTR office . As Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiators and USTR staff arrived for their first day of meetings this week, demonstrators demanded that they stop hiding the text of the trade agreement and instead make it available to the public telling them “secret negotiations are anti-democratic...
“No TTIP” Christmas card submitted by singing Santas on behalf of one million World Development Movement ...As the Santa Clauses sang Christmas carols re-written with lyrics referring to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the giant Christmas card depicting Santa carrying a sack with the #noTTIP hashtag, was presented to the BIS offices...
State Battles
Gov. Rick Scott names new chief to run Florida’s troubled prison system Miami Herald ...Gov. Rick Scott announced the appointment of Julie Jones to run the prison system, the nation’s third largest, effective Jan. 5...
Michigan bill would prevent local governments from negotiating wages, community benefits with developers MLive ...A bill that would prevent local units of government from executing community benefits agreements with developers seeking incentives narrowly made it out of the House Competitiveness Committee on Tuesday with strong opposition from some Detroiters...
Michigan: Detroit Manager Ends Work New York Times ...Gov. Rick Snyder on Tuesday agreed to end Detroit’s status as a city in financial emergency and to send home the emergency manager he appointed in March 2013 to oversee the city through its crisis...
Bill Would Raise SC’s Minimum Wage To $1 Over Federal WSPA ...A bill pre-filed in the South Carolina Senate would raise the minimum wage in the state to $1 an hour higher than the federal minimum wage, which is currently $7.25 an hour. Sen. John Scott, D-Columbia, is the sponsor of the bill...
Uber’s System For Screening Drivers Draws Scrutiny New York Times ...Uber has fought against legislation requiring background checks as strong as those demanded of traditional taxis. Other ride-sharing companies like Lyft and Sidecar, Uber’s chief rivals, have also pushed against the laws, but supporters of stronger background checks say Uber has been by far the most aggressive...
War on Workers
Why is Jimmy John's making low-wage workers sign non-compete agreements? AlJazeera America ...For two years, it forbids former employees from working for “any business which delivers more than 10 percent of its revenue” from sandwiches if that business is “within three miles” of a Jimmy John’s store...
Justice Clarence Thomas Suggests Amazon Warehouse Workers Should Unionize Huffington Post ...Addressing the workers' arguments, the court's opinion, delivered by conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, included this curious line: "These arguments are properly presented to the employer at the bargaining table … not to a court in an FLSA claim." It's not clear whether the irony was intended. Amazon's U.S. warehouses, of course, are entirely non-union...
You're Likely to Be a Lot Poorer Than You Were a Few Years Ago—And It's All By Design Alternet ...The typical American is even poorer than his or her equivalent in Greece. The median Australian is four times wealthier. The Canadians are twice as wealthy. The U.S. continues to lead the world in billionaires (571 in 2014, with China a distant second at 190). But after decades of financial deregulation and attacks on employee rights, Americans rank 26th in median wealth...
When Charter Schools Are Nonprofit in Name Only Pro Publica ... charter schools sometimes cede control of public dollars to private companies that have no legal obligation to act in the best interests of the schools or taxpayers. When the agreement is with a for-profit firm like National Heritage Academies, it's also a chance for such firms to turn taxpayer money into tidy profits...
Desperate Workers On A Mexican Mega-Farm: 'They Treated Us Like Slaves' Los Angeles Times ...At the labor camp for Bioparques de Occidente, they and other farmworkers slept sprawled head to toe on concrete floors. Their rooms crawled with scorpions and bedbugs. Meals were skimpy, hunger a constant. Camp bosses kept people in line with threats and, when that failed, with their fists...
Latino Worker Dies Following Exposure to Nitrogen in Tanker Truck Occupational Health and Safety ... The 23-year-old worker was found unresponsive in a tanker truck at Michael Foods Inc.'s Big Red Farms facility in Wakefield, Neb. He was conducting sampling of the tank, which contained egg products and nitrogen. OSHA has cited the company for five serious safety violations, including exposing employees to nitrogen hazards...
Miscellaneous
Report: Significant technical trials remain before drones can safely access national airspace Network World ...the GAO said the main issues continue to include the ability for drones to avoid other aircraft in the sky; what backup network is available and how should the system behave if it loses its communications link...
70 Percent Of Global Mobile Networks Monitored By NSA Daily Sabah ...The National Security Agency (NSA) has monitored about 70 percent of global mobile phone networks and 75 percent of the mobile phone networks in Turkey under the scope of an operation named AURORAGOLD according to recent reports obtained from documents supplied by whistle blower Edward Snowden...
Call Congress NOW! teamster.org ...The legislation would: Threaten the retirement security of thousands of retirees; Increase the number of hours that truck drivers can spend on the road every week...
That awful congressional plan to allow pension cuts heads for enactment (opinion) Los Angeles Times ...The congressional proposal to deal with a supposed crisis in worker pensions by allowing trustees to slash the benefits of already retired workers to shreds is heading toward enactment...
Lame-Duck Congress Nears Last-Minute Vote On Sweeping Pension Reform In These Times ...Congress is nearing a vote on arguably the biggest change to private pension law in decades. The proposed reforms would grant sweeping new authority to the trustees of some “deeply troubled” multi-employer pension plans to slash benefits promised to current retirees—something that’s illegal under existing law...
Keystone Pipeline Would Boost Middle Class (opinion) Detroit News ...Jobs might not be in such short supply like they once were in Michigan and elsewhere. But good-paying jobs still are. That’s why the Teamsters support the Keystone XL pipeline project that would allow North America to produce more of the world’s oil supply. And that’s why Michigan’s elected officials should too...
Horse-carriage ban prompts Queens Dem backlash Capital New York ...DenDekker wrote, “How progressive is it to VOTE union workers out of a job ? Maybe WE should VOTE them out of a job in the next election ! UNION workers UNITE and take a stand.
Clallam Reaches Agreement On Labor Contract With Largest Union Peninsula Daily News ...Clallam County and its largest union have apparently reached an agreement on a new labor contract after more than 20 months of good-faith bargaining. Commissioners Jim McEntire and Mike Doherty voted Tuesday to approve a four-year contract with Teamsters Local 589...
Canfield Township, Teamsters agree to deal Youngstown Vindicator ...Greg Shadle, vice president of Teamsters 377, said the three-year contract is effective May 1, 2013, and runs to April 30, 2016. “There were no real big changes,” Shadle said. “We’re happy to get it over with.”
Trade
TPP Negotiators Hit With Protests That Media Don't Cover Huffington Post ...The secret Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations resumed this week, this time in D.C. TPP is a massive agreement that sets up new rules for over 40 percent of the global economy. It will have profound effects on our jobs, our standard of living now and in the future and our ability to make a living as a country. Oddly, though, as of Monday morning you have to read about it in Japan Times because few-to-no US media outlets are covering it...
USTR Protests Demand: Stop The Secrecy, Release The Texts CounterCurrents ...On Monday morning members of Popular Resistance held a ‘Sit-in to End the Secrecy’ on the front steps of the USTR office . As Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiators and USTR staff arrived for their first day of meetings this week, demonstrators demanded that they stop hiding the text of the trade agreement and instead make it available to the public telling them “secret negotiations are anti-democratic...
“No TTIP” Christmas card submitted by singing Santas on behalf of one million World Development Movement ...As the Santa Clauses sang Christmas carols re-written with lyrics referring to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the giant Christmas card depicting Santa carrying a sack with the #noTTIP hashtag, was presented to the BIS offices...
State Battles
Gov. Rick Scott names new chief to run Florida’s troubled prison system Miami Herald ...Gov. Rick Scott announced the appointment of Julie Jones to run the prison system, the nation’s third largest, effective Jan. 5...
Michigan bill would prevent local governments from negotiating wages, community benefits with developers MLive ...A bill that would prevent local units of government from executing community benefits agreements with developers seeking incentives narrowly made it out of the House Competitiveness Committee on Tuesday with strong opposition from some Detroiters...
Michigan: Detroit Manager Ends Work New York Times ...Gov. Rick Snyder on Tuesday agreed to end Detroit’s status as a city in financial emergency and to send home the emergency manager he appointed in March 2013 to oversee the city through its crisis...
Bill Would Raise SC’s Minimum Wage To $1 Over Federal WSPA ...A bill pre-filed in the South Carolina Senate would raise the minimum wage in the state to $1 an hour higher than the federal minimum wage, which is currently $7.25 an hour. Sen. John Scott, D-Columbia, is the sponsor of the bill...
Uber’s System For Screening Drivers Draws Scrutiny New York Times ...Uber has fought against legislation requiring background checks as strong as those demanded of traditional taxis. Other ride-sharing companies like Lyft and Sidecar, Uber’s chief rivals, have also pushed against the laws, but supporters of stronger background checks say Uber has been by far the most aggressive...
War on Workers
Why is Jimmy John's making low-wage workers sign non-compete agreements? AlJazeera America ...For two years, it forbids former employees from working for “any business which delivers more than 10 percent of its revenue” from sandwiches if that business is “within three miles” of a Jimmy John’s store...
Justice Clarence Thomas Suggests Amazon Warehouse Workers Should Unionize Huffington Post ...Addressing the workers' arguments, the court's opinion, delivered by conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, included this curious line: "These arguments are properly presented to the employer at the bargaining table … not to a court in an FLSA claim." It's not clear whether the irony was intended. Amazon's U.S. warehouses, of course, are entirely non-union...
You're Likely to Be a Lot Poorer Than You Were a Few Years Ago—And It's All By Design Alternet ...The typical American is even poorer than his or her equivalent in Greece. The median Australian is four times wealthier. The Canadians are twice as wealthy. The U.S. continues to lead the world in billionaires (571 in 2014, with China a distant second at 190). But after decades of financial deregulation and attacks on employee rights, Americans rank 26th in median wealth...
When Charter Schools Are Nonprofit in Name Only Pro Publica ... charter schools sometimes cede control of public dollars to private companies that have no legal obligation to act in the best interests of the schools or taxpayers. When the agreement is with a for-profit firm like National Heritage Academies, it's also a chance for such firms to turn taxpayer money into tidy profits...
Desperate Workers On A Mexican Mega-Farm: 'They Treated Us Like Slaves' Los Angeles Times ...At the labor camp for Bioparques de Occidente, they and other farmworkers slept sprawled head to toe on concrete floors. Their rooms crawled with scorpions and bedbugs. Meals were skimpy, hunger a constant. Camp bosses kept people in line with threats and, when that failed, with their fists...
Latino Worker Dies Following Exposure to Nitrogen in Tanker Truck Occupational Health and Safety ... The 23-year-old worker was found unresponsive in a tanker truck at Michael Foods Inc.'s Big Red Farms facility in Wakefield, Neb. He was conducting sampling of the tank, which contained egg products and nitrogen. OSHA has cited the company for five serious safety violations, including exposing employees to nitrogen hazards...
Miscellaneous
Report: Significant technical trials remain before drones can safely access national airspace Network World ...the GAO said the main issues continue to include the ability for drones to avoid other aircraft in the sky; what backup network is available and how should the system behave if it loses its communications link...
70 Percent Of Global Mobile Networks Monitored By NSA Daily Sabah ...The National Security Agency (NSA) has monitored about 70 percent of global mobile phone networks and 75 percent of the mobile phone networks in Turkey under the scope of an operation named AURORAGOLD according to recent reports obtained from documents supplied by whistle blower Edward Snowden...
Friday, November 21, 2014
Port truck drivers vote to end strike at 3 companies after mayor intervenes
Port truck drivers and Teamsters took down picket lines at three companies after Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti called a truce. The port drivers are still striking two companies at the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach. The Justice for LA/LB Port Drivers campaign tells us on Facebook:
Picket lines strong today at Pacer Cartage and Harbor Rail Transport (HRT) (NYSE: XPO) #wagetheft #portstrike #blackfridayAccording to Andrew Khouri at the Los Angeles Times,
The companies -- QTS Inc., LACA Express and WinWin Logistics Inc. -- agreed to “respect drivers' right to choice with regard to unionization," according to the joint statement.
Since Monday, some drivers from the firms had set up picket lines at marine terminals as company trucks entered, then took their lines down when the vehicles left the locations, organizers said.
The drivers from the three companies are the latest to go back to work, in a larger job action at the ports. Drivers from Total Transportation Services Inc. and Pacific 9 Transportation previously did so.
Drivers from two companies remain on strike, organizers said.
The drivers say they are improperly classified as independent contractors, leaving them with fewer workplace protections and lower pay than if they were company employees.We love this comment:
What these trucking companies are doing is illegal and corrupt. They lease the trucks back to the drivers and then they cannot solicit work from any other company. This is an end run around labor laws. These companies should be fined or put out of business.By the way, here's another company that misclassifies drivers: FedEx (you guessed it). CNN Money has a terrific story about a misclassified FedEx Ground driver who sued the company and won:
Reggie Gray thought working for FedEx was his ticket to a better life.
It turned out to be anything but: His years as a driver for FedEx Ground ended with him filing for bankruptcy and taking the company to court.
Gray is one of the thousands of FedEx (FDX) drivers who have sued the company for classifying them as contractors, rather than employees. Many, including Gray, have won.
"We all signed up for what we thought was the American dream," said Gray. "We received the exact opposite. It was a really bad deal."Read the whole thing here.
Friday, October 24, 2014
Today's Teamster News 10.24.14
Teamster News
Teamsters Continue Get-Out-The-Vote Effort in Chicago teamster.org ...Brewers and bottlers at Lagunitas Brewery Company, members of Teamsters Local 727 in Chicago, today confirmed they will be voting in advance of the Nov. 4 election during a visit by Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa...
Uber Drivers Protest Company's Business Practices Outside Santa Monica Office CBS Local ...Teamsters Local 989 organized the demonstration at 11 a.m. outside Uber Technology offices, 1437 Seventh St. in Santa Monica...
Online petition calls for living wage for Facebook drivers USA Today ...Activist group CREDO Action is calling on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to support paying a living wage to shuttle bus drivers who ferry Facebook workers to and from the company's Menlo Park, Calif., campus...
Facebook drivers plan union vote Fusion ...Facebook’s bus drivers have scheduled an election to unionize to seek better working conditions...
How Fedex is trying to save the business model that saved it millions Washington Post ...In FedEx’s case, courts in several states, including California and Massachusetts, have told the company that its strategy of treating drivers as independent contractors doesn’t fly, prompting the shift to the independent service provider model. Now, at least one court has questioned whether even this new model passes muster...
Trade
The Trans-Pacific Partnership – One Sick Treaty? RT ...The TPP will help to maximize profits by increasing the ability of large corporations to acquire or hold international monopolies on a product for longer periods than they are currently able to. They can use this position to ensure that prices remain high – too high for many. Those unable to afford necessary medicine will suffer, become sicker, and in many cases die...
State Battles
Kansas and Wisconsin Continue to Lag Nation Econbrowser ...Some observers have argued that Wisconsin’s poor performance is attributable to regional shocks; if so, it is strange that Minnesota — Wisconsin’s next door neighbor — has failed to evidence a similar slowdown relative to the United States...
St. Pete Plans $12.50 Minimum Wage For City Workers St. Petersburg Tribune ...St. Petersburg is planning to introduce a $12.50 per hour minimum wage for all city workers. ... That will mean a pay raise for about 70 city workers who earn below that amount, including library assistants, sanitation workers, custodians and laborers. Increasing their pay will cost about $125,000...
Kansas Faces Additional Revenue Shortfalls After Tax Cuts New York Times ...Revenue numbers for July through September, the first three months of fiscal year 2015, suggest Kansas’ revenue gap is permanent, not temporary...
Judge Extends Blocking Wisconsin Campaign Law FOX6 ...A federal judge has extended until Nov. 12 his order blocking a Wisconsin campaign coordination law that’s at the center of an investigation into Gov. Scott Walker’s 2012 recall campaign and more than two dozen conservative groups...
Gov. Rick Scott To Avoid Testifying In Public Records Lawsuit Before Election WESH ...Scott was scheduled to give a deposition this Friday over private Google email accounts set up by the governor and two former aides...
War on Workers
Compensation shrinks for all income groups – except the very highest Aljazeera America ...Average pay for 2013 was $43,041 — down $79 from the previous year when measured in 2013 dollars. Worse, average pay fell $508 below the 2007 level, my analysis of the new Social Security Administration data shows...
Elizabeth Warren Demands An Investigation Of Mortgage Companies Mother Jones ...Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called on the Government Accountability Office to investigate non-bank companies that service Americans' mortgages, noting in a letter co-signed by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) that an increasing number of lawsuits has been filed in recent years against these firms—which are not regulated as strictly as banks...
Port Has Valid Concerns About Oil Trains (opinion) The Olympian ...all South Sound residents should worry about the environmental and economic impacts of building terminals that could bring dangerous oil tanker trains moving 175,000 barrels of highly flammable Bakken crude oil per day through Thurston County...
SC Construction Worker Killed In Hit And Run On Highway 170 WSAV ...A construction worker was killed early Thursday morning in a hit and run on S.C. Highway 170 near Cherry Point. Beaufort County Deputy Coroner David Ott identifies the man as 53-year-old Barry Asbury...
Construction worker dies on-site in southern Saskatchewan Leader-Post ...A 43-year-old man from Kelvington is dead after a construction-site accident in southern Saskatchewan...
The Bottom 90 Percent Are Poorer Today Than They Were In 1987 Washington Post ...Once upon a time, the American economy worked for everybody, and even the middle class got richer. But this story has only been a fairy tale for almost 30 years now. The new, harsh reality is that the bottom 90 percent of households are poorer today than they were in 1987...
Miscellaneous
Owners: Taj Mahal To Stay Open Throughout November NBC News ...Trump Entertainment Resorts is dropping its threat to close Atlantic City's Taj Mahal casino on Nov. 13. The company said Wednesday it still cannot guarantee the Taj Mahal won't close by the end of the year, but added it will definitely remain open throughout the month of November...
Why Was The NSA Chief Playing The Market? Foreign Policy ...At the same time that he was running the United States' biggest intelligence-gathering organization, former National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander owned and sold shares in commodities linked to China and Russia, two countries that the NSA was spying on heavily...
Teamsters Continue Get-Out-The-Vote Effort in Chicago teamster.org ...Brewers and bottlers at Lagunitas Brewery Company, members of Teamsters Local 727 in Chicago, today confirmed they will be voting in advance of the Nov. 4 election during a visit by Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa...
Uber Drivers Protest Company's Business Practices Outside Santa Monica Office CBS Local ...Teamsters Local 989 organized the demonstration at 11 a.m. outside Uber Technology offices, 1437 Seventh St. in Santa Monica...
Online petition calls for living wage for Facebook drivers USA Today ...Activist group CREDO Action is calling on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to support paying a living wage to shuttle bus drivers who ferry Facebook workers to and from the company's Menlo Park, Calif., campus...
Facebook drivers plan union vote Fusion ...Facebook’s bus drivers have scheduled an election to unionize to seek better working conditions...
How Fedex is trying to save the business model that saved it millions Washington Post ...In FedEx’s case, courts in several states, including California and Massachusetts, have told the company that its strategy of treating drivers as independent contractors doesn’t fly, prompting the shift to the independent service provider model. Now, at least one court has questioned whether even this new model passes muster...
Trade
The Trans-Pacific Partnership – One Sick Treaty? RT ...The TPP will help to maximize profits by increasing the ability of large corporations to acquire or hold international monopolies on a product for longer periods than they are currently able to. They can use this position to ensure that prices remain high – too high for many. Those unable to afford necessary medicine will suffer, become sicker, and in many cases die...
State Battles
Kansas and Wisconsin Continue to Lag Nation Econbrowser ...Some observers have argued that Wisconsin’s poor performance is attributable to regional shocks; if so, it is strange that Minnesota — Wisconsin’s next door neighbor — has failed to evidence a similar slowdown relative to the United States...
St. Pete Plans $12.50 Minimum Wage For City Workers St. Petersburg Tribune ...St. Petersburg is planning to introduce a $12.50 per hour minimum wage for all city workers. ... That will mean a pay raise for about 70 city workers who earn below that amount, including library assistants, sanitation workers, custodians and laborers. Increasing their pay will cost about $125,000...
Kansas Faces Additional Revenue Shortfalls After Tax Cuts New York Times ...Revenue numbers for July through September, the first three months of fiscal year 2015, suggest Kansas’ revenue gap is permanent, not temporary...
Judge Extends Blocking Wisconsin Campaign Law FOX6 ...A federal judge has extended until Nov. 12 his order blocking a Wisconsin campaign coordination law that’s at the center of an investigation into Gov. Scott Walker’s 2012 recall campaign and more than two dozen conservative groups...
Gov. Rick Scott To Avoid Testifying In Public Records Lawsuit Before Election WESH ...Scott was scheduled to give a deposition this Friday over private Google email accounts set up by the governor and two former aides...
War on Workers
Compensation shrinks for all income groups – except the very highest Aljazeera America ...Average pay for 2013 was $43,041 — down $79 from the previous year when measured in 2013 dollars. Worse, average pay fell $508 below the 2007 level, my analysis of the new Social Security Administration data shows...
Elizabeth Warren Demands An Investigation Of Mortgage Companies Mother Jones ...Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called on the Government Accountability Office to investigate non-bank companies that service Americans' mortgages, noting in a letter co-signed by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) that an increasing number of lawsuits has been filed in recent years against these firms—which are not regulated as strictly as banks...
Port Has Valid Concerns About Oil Trains (opinion) The Olympian ...all South Sound residents should worry about the environmental and economic impacts of building terminals that could bring dangerous oil tanker trains moving 175,000 barrels of highly flammable Bakken crude oil per day through Thurston County...
SC Construction Worker Killed In Hit And Run On Highway 170 WSAV ...A construction worker was killed early Thursday morning in a hit and run on S.C. Highway 170 near Cherry Point. Beaufort County Deputy Coroner David Ott identifies the man as 53-year-old Barry Asbury...
Construction worker dies on-site in southern Saskatchewan Leader-Post ...A 43-year-old man from Kelvington is dead after a construction-site accident in southern Saskatchewan...
The Bottom 90 Percent Are Poorer Today Than They Were In 1987 Washington Post ...Once upon a time, the American economy worked for everybody, and even the middle class got richer. But this story has only been a fairy tale for almost 30 years now. The new, harsh reality is that the bottom 90 percent of households are poorer today than they were in 1987...
Miscellaneous
Owners: Taj Mahal To Stay Open Throughout November NBC News ...Trump Entertainment Resorts is dropping its threat to close Atlantic City's Taj Mahal casino on Nov. 13. The company said Wednesday it still cannot guarantee the Taj Mahal won't close by the end of the year, but added it will definitely remain open throughout the month of November...
Why Was The NSA Chief Playing The Market? Foreign Policy ...At the same time that he was running the United States' biggest intelligence-gathering organization, former National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander owned and sold shares in commodities linked to China and Russia, two countries that the NSA was spying on heavily...
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Today's Teamster News 10.18.14
Teamster News
Frontier Airlines President Says Nurse On Flights May Have Been At More Advanced Stage Of Ebola Than Thought Associated Press ...The president of (Teamster-represented) Frontier Airlines says a nurse who was on flights between Dallas and Cleveland and who later tested positive for Ebola may have been at a more advanced stage of the illness than previously thought...
Aramark Workers Negotiate New Contract Chicago Maroon ...The contract was negotiated by Debra Simmons-Peterson, the president of Teamsters Local 743, who represents the dining hall and academic café employees.... “Health insurance is more affordable for members and is now provided through [Teamsters Local’s] health and welfare plan, which includes short term disability and dental insurance,” Catharine Schutzius, a business agent for Teamsters Local 743, said...
Square D Workers Intimidated Into Contract, Union Leader Says Lincoln Journal Star ...A tentative settlement reached early Thursday could end strikes almost two weeks old at two of Schneider's six U.S. factories in Peru, Indiana, and Oxford, Ohio. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, IBEW and International Association of Machinists all represent some of the workers for Schneider...
Golden Gate Bridge Workers Unions, District Reach Tentative Contract Agreement San Francisco Examiner ...The tentative agreement - for which details remain confidential pending votes from all 13 bridge worker unions and the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District - came after both sides met for the first time since Teamsters Locals 856 and 665 announced Oct. 9 a planned bus strike. District spokesman Priya Clemens did reveal that "healthcare is an area where a compromise was reached."...
Sysco Looks To Divestitures To Nail Down US Foods Deal Reuters ...Food distributor Sysco Corp., fighting to complete a merger with U.S. Foods Inc , is attempting to craft a package of potential asset sales weighty enough to convince U.S. antitrust regulators to approve the deal...
State Says Bridgeton Landfill Owner Must Do More To Contain Fire's Spread St. Louis Public Radio ...Republic Services has confirmed that it agreed on Thursday, in writing, to comply with all of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' requirements ― although the company remains committed to its position that the additional measures are not needed...
First Student Teamsters in Georgia to Take Strike Vote teamster.org ... Employees of First Student, who provide school bus service to Chatham County schools, Georgia will vote Saturday to authorize their union to call a strike over unfair labor practices and the Company’s refusal to meet their demands regarding income security over the summer months...
Teamster Taxi Drivers Protest at Union Station in D.C. teamster.org ...Taxi drivers, represented by the Teamster-affiliated Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association, held a protest today outside Union Station in Washington, D.C. to send a strong message to the City Council that drivers demand fairness now...
Business Briefs St. Cloud Times ...The Minnesota Public Transportation Association named Metro Bus driver Jerry Gillman as Minnesota Bus Operator of the Year… He also serves as a driver instructor and Teamsters Local 638 union steward representing Dial-a-Ride bus operators and dispatchers…
Trade
Leaked TPP Chapter Exposes Sweet Deals for Big Pharma and US Bully Tactics RINF ...WikiLeaks on Thursday released a second updated version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Intellectual Property Rights chapter, charging that it will hinder affordable access to medicines globally, increase online surveillance, and impinge on civil liberties while benefiting Big Pharma and other corporate interests...
The TTIP: A Brief History Of An Agenda For Corporate Plunder CounterCurrents.org ...The public is not allowed to know the positions held by the EU (unlike business interests) in these talks, who is being given access to whom and who is lobbying for what on whose behalf...
State Battles
U.S. Census Migration Report: WI Lost Nearly 2K Residents to MN in Past Year Uppity Wisconsin ...9,352 more people moved out of Wisconsin than moved into Wisconsin and a large share of those leaving-- 1,972 to be exact-- are going to our next door neighbor, Minnesota...
Tax returns show Chris Christie and his wife made $698,838 last year, paid $193,510 in taxes Star-Tribune ...Christie's wife, Mary Pat … works part-time on Wall Street and earned $475,854 for her job as a director at Angelo, Gordon & Co. and $34,698 from Cantor Fitzgerald...
War on Workers
FedEx Ground Says Its Drivers Aren't Employees. The Courts Will Decide Bloomberg Businessweek ...several recent court decisions have rejected FedEx Ground’s arguments that the drivers are contractors, which could stem a broader trend of U.S. companies treating more workers as contractors instead of employees...
Walmart Workers Arrested In New York And Washington Protesting For $15 Minimum Wage UPI ...At least 42 Walmart workers and labor rights activists were arrested Thursday while marching for $15 per hour minimum wage outside of heiress Alice Walton's New York City apartment and in front of the Walton Family Foundation's Washington headquarters...
Construction worker involved in flood repair killed by semi on Lefthand Canyon Drive Daily Camera ...Federal workplace safety investigators are conducting an investigation into the death Friday of a road construction worker who was killed on Lefthand Canyon Drive when a truck involved in flood repair backed over him...
Private donors, including Target and IBM, supply spy gear to cops Pro Publica ...police foundations operate with little transparency or oversight and can be a way for wealthy donors and corporations to influence law enforcement agencies' priorities...
Miscellaneous
Hawk Attacks Man's Quadcopter Drone NBC News ...A hawk attacks a man's quadcopter while he was attempting to film the fall foliage in Cambridge, Massachusetts...
Frontier Airlines President Says Nurse On Flights May Have Been At More Advanced Stage Of Ebola Than Thought Associated Press ...The president of (Teamster-represented) Frontier Airlines says a nurse who was on flights between Dallas and Cleveland and who later tested positive for Ebola may have been at a more advanced stage of the illness than previously thought...
Aramark Workers Negotiate New Contract Chicago Maroon ...The contract was negotiated by Debra Simmons-Peterson, the president of Teamsters Local 743, who represents the dining hall and academic café employees.... “Health insurance is more affordable for members and is now provided through [Teamsters Local’s] health and welfare plan, which includes short term disability and dental insurance,” Catharine Schutzius, a business agent for Teamsters Local 743, said...
Square D Workers Intimidated Into Contract, Union Leader Says Lincoln Journal Star ...A tentative settlement reached early Thursday could end strikes almost two weeks old at two of Schneider's six U.S. factories in Peru, Indiana, and Oxford, Ohio. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, IBEW and International Association of Machinists all represent some of the workers for Schneider...
Golden Gate Bridge Workers Unions, District Reach Tentative Contract Agreement San Francisco Examiner ...The tentative agreement - for which details remain confidential pending votes from all 13 bridge worker unions and the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District - came after both sides met for the first time since Teamsters Locals 856 and 665 announced Oct. 9 a planned bus strike. District spokesman Priya Clemens did reveal that "healthcare is an area where a compromise was reached."...
Sysco Looks To Divestitures To Nail Down US Foods Deal Reuters ...Food distributor Sysco Corp., fighting to complete a merger with U.S. Foods Inc , is attempting to craft a package of potential asset sales weighty enough to convince U.S. antitrust regulators to approve the deal...
State Says Bridgeton Landfill Owner Must Do More To Contain Fire's Spread St. Louis Public Radio ...Republic Services has confirmed that it agreed on Thursday, in writing, to comply with all of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' requirements ― although the company remains committed to its position that the additional measures are not needed...
First Student Teamsters in Georgia to Take Strike Vote teamster.org ... Employees of First Student, who provide school bus service to Chatham County schools, Georgia will vote Saturday to authorize their union to call a strike over unfair labor practices and the Company’s refusal to meet their demands regarding income security over the summer months...
Teamster Taxi Drivers Protest at Union Station in D.C. teamster.org ...Taxi drivers, represented by the Teamster-affiliated Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association, held a protest today outside Union Station in Washington, D.C. to send a strong message to the City Council that drivers demand fairness now...
Business Briefs St. Cloud Times ...The Minnesota Public Transportation Association named Metro Bus driver Jerry Gillman as Minnesota Bus Operator of the Year… He also serves as a driver instructor and Teamsters Local 638 union steward representing Dial-a-Ride bus operators and dispatchers…
Trade
Leaked TPP Chapter Exposes Sweet Deals for Big Pharma and US Bully Tactics RINF ...WikiLeaks on Thursday released a second updated version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Intellectual Property Rights chapter, charging that it will hinder affordable access to medicines globally, increase online surveillance, and impinge on civil liberties while benefiting Big Pharma and other corporate interests...
The TTIP: A Brief History Of An Agenda For Corporate Plunder CounterCurrents.org ...The public is not allowed to know the positions held by the EU (unlike business interests) in these talks, who is being given access to whom and who is lobbying for what on whose behalf...
State Battles
U.S. Census Migration Report: WI Lost Nearly 2K Residents to MN in Past Year Uppity Wisconsin ...9,352 more people moved out of Wisconsin than moved into Wisconsin and a large share of those leaving-- 1,972 to be exact-- are going to our next door neighbor, Minnesota...
Tax returns show Chris Christie and his wife made $698,838 last year, paid $193,510 in taxes Star-Tribune ...Christie's wife, Mary Pat … works part-time on Wall Street and earned $475,854 for her job as a director at Angelo, Gordon & Co. and $34,698 from Cantor Fitzgerald...
War on Workers
FedEx Ground Says Its Drivers Aren't Employees. The Courts Will Decide Bloomberg Businessweek ...several recent court decisions have rejected FedEx Ground’s arguments that the drivers are contractors, which could stem a broader trend of U.S. companies treating more workers as contractors instead of employees...
Walmart Workers Arrested In New York And Washington Protesting For $15 Minimum Wage UPI ...At least 42 Walmart workers and labor rights activists were arrested Thursday while marching for $15 per hour minimum wage outside of heiress Alice Walton's New York City apartment and in front of the Walton Family Foundation's Washington headquarters...
Construction worker involved in flood repair killed by semi on Lefthand Canyon Drive Daily Camera ...Federal workplace safety investigators are conducting an investigation into the death Friday of a road construction worker who was killed on Lefthand Canyon Drive when a truck involved in flood repair backed over him...
Private donors, including Target and IBM, supply spy gear to cops Pro Publica ...police foundations operate with little transparency or oversight and can be a way for wealthy donors and corporations to influence law enforcement agencies' priorities...
Miscellaneous
Hawk Attacks Man's Quadcopter Drone NBC News ...A hawk attacks a man's quadcopter while he was attempting to film the fall foliage in Cambridge, Massachusetts...
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Today's Teamster News 10.07.14
Teamster News
Saputo Dairy Workers Overwhelmingly Choose Teamsters teamster.org ...Workers at the Saputo Inc. (TSE: SAP) cheese production facility in Lena, Wisc., have voted overwhelmingly, 367 to 79, in favor of representation by Teamsters Local 662 in Green Bay, Wisc. There are 459 production, maintenance and warehouse workers...
Teamsters, St. Louis Community Hold Teach-In On Republic Services’ Nuclear Waste Landfill on Fire Teamsters ...On Saturday, Teamsters gathered with St. Louis-area residents, union members, elected officials, faith leaders, environmental experts and attorneys about Republic Service’s [NYSE: RSG] West Lake Landfill. West Lake is a Superfund site in Bridgeton, Mo. that contains 8,700 tons of buried uncontained radioactive nuclear wastes adjacent to an underground landfill fire...
Teamsters Local 922, D.C. Taxi Drivers to Hold A Second Caravan for Fairness teamster.org ...Taxi Companies, UberX, Lyft, and others should follow the same regulations, rather than the proposed two-tiered system that gives a competitive advantage to private vehicles for-hire and keeps the public vehicles for-hire strictly controlled...
Teamsters Urge Zuckerberg, Loop Trans. To Recognize Facebook Bus Drivers' Union teamster.org ...Rome Aloise, International Vice President and President of Teamsters Local 853 in San Leandro, Calif., wrote a letter to Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg last week on behalf of bus drivers who transport Facebook employees from San Francisco, Palo Alto and other areas to the Facebook campus. The drivers, employees of Loop Transportation, are seeking union representation and a contract...
BLET delegates back two-person train crews on final day of Third National Convention teamster.org ...“The single employee train crew issue is one of the most important questions facing rail labor, and specifically the BLET,” the resolution reads...
PCC tries to impress a formerly unhappy customer philly.com ...When her organization last came to Philadelphia, in 2009, six unions worked in the building. In May, two of the six did not sign a customer satisfaction agreement by a deadline set by management. Those two unions - the carpenters and the Teamsters - no longer work in the building, although they are contesting that move with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board...
Trade
Food fight The Economist ...This week Koji Tsuruoka, Japan’s chief negotiator on the TPP, blasted the media in general, which, he said, pays far too much attention to American spin doctors when reporting on the trade agreement, negotiations for which are conducted in secret...
Find out what TTIP is and how it will affect you On the Wight ...Growing numbers of Islanders have become aware of the threat to public services, food safety and wages posed by an international trade treaty being cobbled together behind closed doors by EU governments – including Britain...
Make No Mistake, the TTIP is a Move in the Wrong Direction Global Economic Intersection ...This week has witnessed the seventh round of talks between EU and US negotiators seeking to hammer out a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). These have been mired in controversy over the supposed impact that the agreement will have on the ability of countries to regulate in the public interest...
State Battles
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s Tax Cuts Cause Another Revenue Hit (opinion) Kansas City Star ... the lower income tax rates that took effect in January 2013 haven’t brought a dramatic surge in revenue from the bonanza of new jobs Kansas was supposed to enjoy....
Secretly kissing up to Kochs pays off for Doug Ducey Arizona Republic ...Fresh off a primary in which dark-money attacks were launched against any Republican who stood in Ducey's way, we now learn that Ducey has been cozying up to America's premier princes of dark money...
Scott Walker Could Win Thanks to Wisconsin's Voter ID Law New Republic ...It’s hard to say how many people might be disenfranchised by the law, but in such a tight election, where Republican incumbent Scott Walker is neck-and-neck with Democrat Mary Burke, it doesn’t take many votes to swing the results...
Perdue ‘proud’ of outsourcing past, blames Washington for jobs lost Atlanta Journal-Constitution ...U.S. Senate candidate David Perdue, … a former CEO for Dollar General and Republican nominee to replace retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss, was stung by his own words last week in an article (that) ... quoted Perdue from a 2005 deposition where he said he “spent most of my career” outsourcing...
War on Workers
The Good News and Bad News About 5.9 Percent Unemployment truth-out ...there is a real danger that the political power of the financial sector will force (Federal Reserve chair Janet) Yellen to start slowing the economy and stopping job growth long before workers gain any bargaining power...
FedEx Drivers Win Kansas Top Court Ruling On Employment Bloomberg ...FedEx Corp. (FDX) drivers in Kansas, in the lead case among 21 consolidated lawsuits over unpaid expenses and overtime, won a ruling by the Kansas Supreme Court that they’re employees and not independent contractors...
Hours Of Service Rules Back As Top Concern In Annual Trucking Industry Survey The Trucker ...Operational impacts being experienced across the supply chain from the changes to the Hours-of-Service (HOS) rules that went into effect in 2013 once again propelled the HOS rules to the top of the list in ATRI’s annual survey of more than 4,000 trucking industry stakeholders...
Exclusive: Hundreds Of Devices Hidden Inside New York City Phone Booths Buzzfeed ...Beacons can push you ads — and help track your every move. Update: Hours after BuzzFeed News exposed the devices, the city ordered the removal of the devices...
Mexico federal agents disarm city's entire police force after student attacks DW ...Mexican federal agents have disarmed all police in the city of Iguala and taken over security. Local officers are alleged to have conspired with a criminal gang to kill 43 missing students, with a mass grave discovered...
Housing Rights Group Says HUD Program Helps Wall Street, Hurts Homeowners truth-out ...They contest that the program has deepened the pain of homeowners and tenants by handing their fates over to hedge funds and investment groups that often have no interest in pursuing loan modifications or other options that would allow residents to remain in their homes...
Michigan judge rules Kalamazoo county has right to take woman's house over one missed tax payment Daily Kos ... Deborah Calley maintains that she was unaware she owed any back taxes and of the ten certified letters sent by the county, only one was sent to her home, the other nine were sent to banks. She steadfastly maintains she never received a single notice. She's also been willing from the get-go to pay the $2,000 debt, but the county has rejected her offers, preferring to sell her mortgage-free home...
Miscellaneous
Keystone Pipeline Opponents Causing Environmental Disaster (opinion) New York Post ...Despite dangers and lawsuits, governments continue to drag their feet on building pipelines or on cracking down on rail practices. By so doing, they merely increase the likelihood of another tragedy. Every day thousands of old tanker cars carry oil along America’s 140,000 miles of track, and another disaster looms...
More Oil Trains Heading To N.J. NorthJersey ... The new rail facility at Bayway is cementing New Jersey’s reputation as a major transportation corridor for crude oil even as the burgeoning “crude by rail” industry faces increasing concerns about safety following a series of explosive derailments in the past year...
Saputo Dairy Workers Overwhelmingly Choose Teamsters teamster.org ...Workers at the Saputo Inc. (TSE: SAP) cheese production facility in Lena, Wisc., have voted overwhelmingly, 367 to 79, in favor of representation by Teamsters Local 662 in Green Bay, Wisc. There are 459 production, maintenance and warehouse workers...
Teamsters, St. Louis Community Hold Teach-In On Republic Services’ Nuclear Waste Landfill on Fire Teamsters ...On Saturday, Teamsters gathered with St. Louis-area residents, union members, elected officials, faith leaders, environmental experts and attorneys about Republic Service’s [NYSE: RSG] West Lake Landfill. West Lake is a Superfund site in Bridgeton, Mo. that contains 8,700 tons of buried uncontained radioactive nuclear wastes adjacent to an underground landfill fire...
Teamsters Local 922, D.C. Taxi Drivers to Hold A Second Caravan for Fairness teamster.org ...Taxi Companies, UberX, Lyft, and others should follow the same regulations, rather than the proposed two-tiered system that gives a competitive advantage to private vehicles for-hire and keeps the public vehicles for-hire strictly controlled...
Teamsters Urge Zuckerberg, Loop Trans. To Recognize Facebook Bus Drivers' Union teamster.org ...Rome Aloise, International Vice President and President of Teamsters Local 853 in San Leandro, Calif., wrote a letter to Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg last week on behalf of bus drivers who transport Facebook employees from San Francisco, Palo Alto and other areas to the Facebook campus. The drivers, employees of Loop Transportation, are seeking union representation and a contract...
BLET delegates back two-person train crews on final day of Third National Convention teamster.org ...“The single employee train crew issue is one of the most important questions facing rail labor, and specifically the BLET,” the resolution reads...
PCC tries to impress a formerly unhappy customer philly.com ...When her organization last came to Philadelphia, in 2009, six unions worked in the building. In May, two of the six did not sign a customer satisfaction agreement by a deadline set by management. Those two unions - the carpenters and the Teamsters - no longer work in the building, although they are contesting that move with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board...
Trade
Food fight The Economist ...This week Koji Tsuruoka, Japan’s chief negotiator on the TPP, blasted the media in general, which, he said, pays far too much attention to American spin doctors when reporting on the trade agreement, negotiations for which are conducted in secret...
Find out what TTIP is and how it will affect you On the Wight ...Growing numbers of Islanders have become aware of the threat to public services, food safety and wages posed by an international trade treaty being cobbled together behind closed doors by EU governments – including Britain...
Make No Mistake, the TTIP is a Move in the Wrong Direction Global Economic Intersection ...This week has witnessed the seventh round of talks between EU and US negotiators seeking to hammer out a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). These have been mired in controversy over the supposed impact that the agreement will have on the ability of countries to regulate in the public interest...
State Battles
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s Tax Cuts Cause Another Revenue Hit (opinion) Kansas City Star ... the lower income tax rates that took effect in January 2013 haven’t brought a dramatic surge in revenue from the bonanza of new jobs Kansas was supposed to enjoy....
Secretly kissing up to Kochs pays off for Doug Ducey Arizona Republic ...Fresh off a primary in which dark-money attacks were launched against any Republican who stood in Ducey's way, we now learn that Ducey has been cozying up to America's premier princes of dark money...
Scott Walker Could Win Thanks to Wisconsin's Voter ID Law New Republic ...It’s hard to say how many people might be disenfranchised by the law, but in such a tight election, where Republican incumbent Scott Walker is neck-and-neck with Democrat Mary Burke, it doesn’t take many votes to swing the results...
Perdue ‘proud’ of outsourcing past, blames Washington for jobs lost Atlanta Journal-Constitution ...U.S. Senate candidate David Perdue, … a former CEO for Dollar General and Republican nominee to replace retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss, was stung by his own words last week in an article (that) ... quoted Perdue from a 2005 deposition where he said he “spent most of my career” outsourcing...
War on Workers
The Good News and Bad News About 5.9 Percent Unemployment truth-out ...there is a real danger that the political power of the financial sector will force (Federal Reserve chair Janet) Yellen to start slowing the economy and stopping job growth long before workers gain any bargaining power...
FedEx Drivers Win Kansas Top Court Ruling On Employment Bloomberg ...FedEx Corp. (FDX) drivers in Kansas, in the lead case among 21 consolidated lawsuits over unpaid expenses and overtime, won a ruling by the Kansas Supreme Court that they’re employees and not independent contractors...
Hours Of Service Rules Back As Top Concern In Annual Trucking Industry Survey The Trucker ...Operational impacts being experienced across the supply chain from the changes to the Hours-of-Service (HOS) rules that went into effect in 2013 once again propelled the HOS rules to the top of the list in ATRI’s annual survey of more than 4,000 trucking industry stakeholders...
Exclusive: Hundreds Of Devices Hidden Inside New York City Phone Booths Buzzfeed ...Beacons can push you ads — and help track your every move. Update: Hours after BuzzFeed News exposed the devices, the city ordered the removal of the devices...
Mexico federal agents disarm city's entire police force after student attacks DW ...Mexican federal agents have disarmed all police in the city of Iguala and taken over security. Local officers are alleged to have conspired with a criminal gang to kill 43 missing students, with a mass grave discovered...
Housing Rights Group Says HUD Program Helps Wall Street, Hurts Homeowners truth-out ...They contest that the program has deepened the pain of homeowners and tenants by handing their fates over to hedge funds and investment groups that often have no interest in pursuing loan modifications or other options that would allow residents to remain in their homes...
Michigan judge rules Kalamazoo county has right to take woman's house over one missed tax payment Daily Kos ... Deborah Calley maintains that she was unaware she owed any back taxes and of the ten certified letters sent by the county, only one was sent to her home, the other nine were sent to banks. She steadfastly maintains she never received a single notice. She's also been willing from the get-go to pay the $2,000 debt, but the county has rejected her offers, preferring to sell her mortgage-free home...
Miscellaneous
Keystone Pipeline Opponents Causing Environmental Disaster (opinion) New York Post ...Despite dangers and lawsuits, governments continue to drag their feet on building pipelines or on cracking down on rail practices. By so doing, they merely increase the likelihood of another tragedy. Every day thousands of old tanker cars carry oil along America’s 140,000 miles of track, and another disaster looms...
More Oil Trains Heading To N.J. NorthJersey ... The new rail facility at Bayway is cementing New Jersey’s reputation as a major transportation corridor for crude oil even as the burgeoning “crude by rail” industry faces increasing concerns about safety following a series of explosive derailments in the past year...
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