New Calif. law will bring equal pay for all

Once again taking the lead where the dysfunctional U.S. Congress failed to do so, California’s legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown – with significant lobbying from the Teamsters and other unions – pushed through a strong equal pay law that brings fairness of all workers.

Jerry Brown signed the bill into law in October.

The California Fair Pay Act (CFPA), which takes effect Jan. 1, closes loopholes created since the federal Equal Pay Act passed in 1963, at least in the Golden State, home to one of every eight people in the U.S. The CFPA is among almost two dozen pro-worker laws the Democratic-run pro-labor legislature approved in its 2015 session.

The California law expands federal equal pay rights by mandating that employers pay workers, regardless of sex or gender, equally for “substantially similar” work, not just strictly equal work. Federal courts have been increasingly strict in deciding what is “equal work” the federal law covers. They’ve turned most such pay discrimination cases down.

The California law also strengthens worker protection against employer retaliation and requires firms to keep employment records, including pay records, for three years, not two.

A legal summary says California bans paying workers of the opposite sex less for "substantially similar work, when viewed as a composite of skill, effort, and responsibility." And the employer must take account of "similar working conditions," not just wages at the worksite or company branch involved.

California employers could still discriminate in pay, but only if they can show the wage differences “are due to a seniority system, merit system, a system that measures the quantity or quality of production, or a ‘bona fide factor other than sex, such as education, training, or experience,’" the law adds.

And if they cite those reasons, they must be directly job-related – and show that the factor that produces wage discrimination is “consistent with business necessity." The new law then gives workers a defense against business necessity by showing “an alternative business practice exists that would serve the same purpose without producing the wage disparity.”

The California law also bans employers from retaliating against workers who disclose their own wages, discuss other workers’ wages, ask about others’ wages or help other workers exercise their rights. But if the worker asks about wages, the
employer can refuse to answer.

If the employer is guilty of breaking the law, the worker gets back pay plus interest, an equal amount in damages, and attorney’s fees.

• Press Associates, Inc., contributed to this report.

Today's Teamster News 10.16.15

TEAMSTERS
Pasadena Unified, Teamsters Reach Salary Agreement  Pasadena News Now  ...The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education and Teamsters Local 911 entered into a Salary Increase Agreement on Sept. 24, 2015. This collaborative agreement is in keeping with the district’s priority of working to retain and fairly compensate staff. “I am pleased to see this agreement reached with the Teamsters,” said Superintendent Brian McDonald, Ed.D...
House to hold transportation bill hearing   Fleet Owner  ...California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation covering ready-mix concrete workers under Assembly Bill 219 wage laws. According to the Teamsters, the bill was introduced by Tom Daly (D-Anaheim), and union members throughout the state have participated in the legislative process before the bill was signed. According to Teamsters, president Rome Aloise said: “We are pleased that the governor chose to recognize the important role that these drivers play in the execution of publicly funded projects...
Teamsters Canada Launches Web Series on Mental Health  Market Wired  ...Teamsters Canada is launching a documentary web series on mental health issues facing young workers. The seven episodes will be released weekly at www.makeitmandatory.ca. They feature stories from courageous young workers who faced or are facing mental health issues. "Mental health issues take a devastating toll on our members" said Francois Laporte, President of Teamsters Canada...
Teamsters join to fight autism in Mansfield  Sun Chronicle  ...Union Teamsters and volunteers will be taking to the road Sunday in the fight against autism. Local 25 is sponsoring its annual fundraising walk for Autism Speaks at 10:30 a.m. beginning at the Xfinity Center. The event, now in its 15th year, usually attracts 200 or more walkers to raise funds for autism education and research...
Union rep has concerns after sanitation director admits to wrecking county vehicles  CBS ...Disturbing details emerged Wednesday regarding the director of the DeKalb County Sanitation Department. nion representative Eric Robertson, with Teamsters Local 728, identified serious concerns involving Director Billy Malone. “I’ve seen county employees be terminated for incidents much more minor than that one right there,” Robertson said...

GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
White House wants trade vote before lame duck  The Hill  ...The White House wants Congress to take up President Obama’s Pacific Rim trade deal long before next year’s lame-duck session, when some congressional aides say a vote is likely to take place. “The timeline that we envision is shorter than that,” press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on Thursday.  Earnest did not specify when the White House would like a vote to occur...
House Democrats: Enough With the “Fratricide” on Trade Deal  National Journal  ...The AFL-CIO has been among the most vo­cal op­pon­ents of the deal, run­ning ads against Demo­crat­ic sup­port­ers like Rep. Ami Be­ra and hold­ing protests in the dis­tricts of oth­ers. The group also cut off cam­paign fund­ing for Demo­crats dur­ing the TPA fight, a move os­tens­ibly aimed at fo­cus­ing re­sources on the trade battle but one that was perceived as an implicit threat to would-be supporters...
Lessons from NAFTA for the TPP  Common Dreams  ...There are many lessons from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that are relevant to the current debate over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). First, like the TPP, NAFTA was never mostly about trade and even less about free trade. In 1994, the U.S. already had low tariff barriers to Mexican goods. The agreement was much more about creating and expanding new rights and privileges for investors...
TTIP protesters warn of Trojan Horse  EU Observer  ...To the protesters, the treaty could become a trojan horse watering down EU rules on issues like food safety and health, hence the blow-up figure at the entrance of the Parc du Cinquantenaire at the end of the Rue de la Loi in Brussels' EU neighbourhood. Cruls and Voltuan do not trust the people negotiating on their behalf, including European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker...
Trade in services deal: MEPs to hammer out their demands  Euro Parl  ...As talks on the plurilateral Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) advance between 25 parties, including the EU, international trade MEPs will hold their first debate on Parliament’s draft recommendations to the Commission negotiators on Thursday morning. The aim is to ensure that the views of European citizens, represented by Parliament, can be taken on board before the deal is concluded...
Deprived of Right to Work, Refugees Struggle to Subsist Outside Syria  Truthout  ...As masses of Syrian refugees continue to flood Europe, paranoia is running high. One of the most common objections is that refugees and migrants rob already established citizens of jobs and income. in countries like Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, on the receiving end of the true brunt of the Syrian mass exit, refugees are not allowed to work at all, forcing them to find jobs "under the table" in the informal labor market...

STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Mich. Supreme Court hears prevailing wage challenge  Michigan Radio  ...The Michigan Supreme Court heard arguments for and against local laws that require contractors on public projects to pay union-scale wages.  The challenge to Lansing’s ordinance was filed by non-union contractors. They say local governments aren’t allowed to adopt local wage laws...
Here's what Arizona's minimum wage will be in 2016  Business Journal  ...Arizona businesses won't have to adjust their budgets for workers on the lowest end of the pay scale next year. The Industrial Commission of Arizona, in accordance with the voter-approved Minimum Wage for Working Arizonans Act, calculated this week that the state's minimum wage of $8.05 will remain the same in 2016...
Paid sick leave becomes focus in Mpls after 'fair scheduling' effort stumbles  MPR News  ...Minneapolis leaders are vowing to push for a proposal that will require employers in the city to provide all workers with paid sick time off. Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges announced earlier this week that she was tabling another effort that would have required employers to give employees advance notice of work schedules. That proposal hit a snag after it encountered strong opposition from the business community...
Papa John's Stores To Dish Up Half A Million Dollars In Wage Theft Case  Huffington Post  ...Four current and former Papa John's franchisees have agreed to pay out nearly $500,000 to New York workers in order to settle a wage theft investigation, New York's attorney general and the U.S. Labor Department announced on Thursday. The settlement resolves allegations from workers that they were shorted on pay at nine Papa John's restaurants in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx...

U.S. LABOR
UAW leaders push for OK of Fiat Chrysler deal  The Detroit News   ...The UAW International has released two new videos featuring local UAW leaders and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV hourly members who seem supportive of the second tentative deal, as informational meetings for members proceed ahead of next week’s contract vote. In one video posted Thursday to the union’s Facebook page, several local UAW leaders talk about how the “no” vote on the initial tentative agreement reached by the union and company has strengthened the union...
State Board to Hold Hearing on County Workers' Strike  Patch.com  ...The Public Employment Relations Board will hold a settlement conference in Oakland next week on alleged unfair labor practice allegations that Solano County and the 1,800-member employees of SEIU Local 1021 union have made against each other in an ongoing labor dispute. The union began what was intended to be a one-day unfair labor practices strike on Wednesday...
With hour to spare, custodian union & office building owners reach contract  Business Journal  ...Sixty minutes before the contract was set to expire, a tentative agreement was made and a strike averted. The union representing 2,800 custodians and the managers of 168 Philly-area office properties reached a new 4-year contract. The members of 32BJ Service Employees International Union were prepared to walk off the job if a deal was not made before the current contract expired...
Austerity 101: The Three Reasons Republican Deficit Hawks Are Wrong  (opinion) Huffington Post  ...Congress is heading into another big brawl over the federal budget deficit, the national debt, and the debt ceiling. Republicans are already talking about holding Social Security and Medicare "hostage" during negotiations -- hell-bent on getting cuts in exchange for a debt limit hike...

SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Donald Trump Supporters Spit on Immigration Activist as Rally Turns Violent  Alternet  ...As inflammatory language tends to do, Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric incited a scuffle between his supporters and immigration activists during a rally last night, leading to at least one Trump supporter spitting on a protester. Trump made his first campaign stop in Virginia and held a rally in Richmond, where he went after “maniac” Bernie Sanders before delving into his usual anti-immigrant tirade...
Note to Dems: Simply Not Being Racist Isn’t Enough on Immigration Reform  (opinion) The Nation  ... Trump’s made the immigration conversation easy for Democrats. But candidates have a responsibility to be more than just not-racist; not showing their fear-mongering backsides doesn’t automatically make them good on immigration. The tonal differences matter, but so do the policy conversations...
Feds Arrest Fox News Commentator, Allege He Lied About CIA Past  Huffington Post   ...A regular guest commentator on Fox News who has been lying for years about working for the Central Intelligence Agency was arrested on Thursday and is being charged in connection with falsely claiming he worked as an “Outside Paramilitary Special Operations Officer” for the CIA for nearly three decades...

Rich People Scared to Move into High Rent Apartments Because of Homeless Displaced by High Rents   Alternet   ...In what could lightly be called an ironic twist, it now looks as if wealthy residents are getting turned off from renting in parts of the city with visible homeless people -- and apartment brokers are not happy about it. DNA Info reports: Brokers have noticed that many of their clients are increasingly reluctant to rent or buy an apartment when they spot a homeless person nearby...

Water, water isn't everywhere -- and that's a problem

America finds itself now in the midst of the dog-days of August, a time when the heat and humidity tends to hit home a little harder as the summer season winds down. But it is also a time when many states and localities realize a lack of water is having profound effects on the way government operates and residents live their lives. 

These concerns are best known and most acute in much of California, but worries over water are not a problem for the Golden State alone. Aging and inferior water infrastructure is a major concern nationwide, and one that must be addressed by policymakers on all levels of government if the problem is going to be conquered.

That's why you have unions and business coming together demanding solutions in many cases, like the San Francisco Buildings and Construction Trades Council and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Leaders from both wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle late last month there is a dramatic need to modernize water systems. Both groups have endorsed California Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to fix them:

We rely on our state’s outdated water distribution system to deliver water to 25 million Californians and 3 million acres of farmland. But this 60-year-old water delivery system of aging dirt levees, aqueducts and pumps is outdated and at risk of collapse in the event of a major earthquake or flood. Fundamental structural problems would be even more pronounced during the extreme weather patterns — drought followed by a series of severe storms — that experts say will become the new norm because of climate change. 

California Water Fix will replace this aging infrastructure, better protect against disruptions to water supply during earthquakes, floods and natural disasters, and will improve the ability to move and store water during wet years. This project needs to move forward because it represents the most viable approach to securing our state’s water future. We strongly encourage Californians to join us by supporting this plan and commenting on the environmental impact report.

Others are also getting behind the effort to improve water infrastructure elsewhere. Whether its editorial boards in Texas or local government officials in Kansas, there is a profound understanding that more needs to be done. Water is a commodity we all need. It's necessary for life. 

These type of infrastructure issues must be moved to the front burner. Government at all levels needs to invest in people, and that in turn will help business. Let's get America working by improving systems we all need.

No ICE for Calif. employers

The Teamsters are hailing the passage of a trio of California bills this week that protect immigrant workers from abusive employers. The measures crack down on retaliation when workers attempt to organize or speak out against unfair treatment or wage theft. They now head to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk for his consideration.

The governor has until Oct. 13 to act on all three bills.

AB 263, offered by Assemblyman Roger Hernandez, and SB 666, sponsored by Sen. Darrell Steinberg, are identical versions of the same bill. They help enforce basic labor laws by barring bosses from calling Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials after working condition complaints are filed against the business. AB 524, offered by Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, prohibits similar threats against workers who file complaints about not being paid fairly.

Art Pulaski, the California Labor Federation’s executive secretary-treasurer, said the legislation plays an essential role:

Employers should be on notice that with these bills, retaliating against workers who stand up for their basic rights will have serious consequences. These new protections are vital to protecting all workers who are afraid to report these abuses.

The lengths companies will go to in an effort to keep their workers quiet was on full display earlier this year during a committee hearing. Owners of the Marquez Brothers cheese facility in Hanford intimidated one worker who testified before the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee in March. The company hired notorious labor-hating law firm Littler Mendelson to follow her and other employees who attended the hearing in Sacramento. The testifying employee, a mother of four, was later fired by Marquez.

Workers at the Marquez plant have been trying to negotiate a first contract as Teamsters for about a year, to no avail. But at least the company’s workers will be allowed to speak out, said Gerardo Aguirre, a former Marquez worker who was fired while standing up for his rights:

The workers at Marquez Brothers are united in standing up to intimidation, at work and in the state legislature. We need laws that allow all workers to speak up and protect immigrant workers from these kinds of abuses.

Gov. Brown has until Oct. 13 to sign them into law.

Woot! New Calif. law protects jobs

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill yesterday that scraps the state's $750-million-a-year bad-business boondoggle known as the enterprise zone program. The program killed scores of good-paying union jobs to create minimum-wage jobs elsewhere in the state.

California Teamsters have long opposed enterprise zones. Earlier this year, Teamsters were laid off when two companies --  building products distributor Blue Linx and laboratory supply and distribution company VWR -- moved to enterprise zones in California. Our brothers and sisters were told the law forbade them from following their jobs.

In place of enterprise zones, the law establishes the Governor's Economic Development Initiative, meant to create good jobs. A statewide sales tax exemption will apply to manufacturing equipment or research and development equipment purchases for biotech and manufacturing companies.

Brother Doug Bloch from Joint Council 7 in San Francisco witnessed the signing and called it a "great moment for the state's workers."

Under the new program, money that was originally directed toward companies like Walmart and FedEx to create minimum-wage jobs will now go to manufacturers who create new jobs that pay at least $12 an hour. Hiring credits could go to Teamster employers in food processing, dairy, breweries, beverage and more. They'll also be eligible to get tax credits for equipment investments, including any retrofits they do to their plants to comply with AB 32, the Greenhouse Gas initiative.  And employers who want to transfer jobs now need to offer people the right to move with their job at their current rate of pay.  

In short, this is a big win for us.

Californians can now be more secure that corporations will not eliminate their jobs by moving their plants just to pad their bottom lines. Teamster strong!

Workers near victory in reform of faulty Calif. jobs program

California Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to sign legislation to change a corporate tax break that cost Teamsters their jobs.

The state Assembly yesterday approved the bill, AB 93, yesterday.

For years, companies across the Golden State used the $750 million-a-year enterprise zone program as a way to relocate good-paying jobs to other areas deemed economically challenged. Then the companies pay the workers less in the new location. In some cases, corporations used the tax breaks for hiring decisions made years earlier.

Brown called the program wasteful and pushed for reform. The bill approved by both chambers of the California Legislature this week strips the power of the state's 40 locally owned enterprise zones. It replaces the program with a broader slate of statewide business incentives. About $200 million would be used for updated enterprise zones that target the hiring of the poor and unemployed.

The California Labor Federation praised the legislation for replacing the existing program with one that will improve the state's job market:

By flipping the broken enterprise zone program into Gov. Brown's smart, strategic plan for job growth, the Legislature strengthened California's economic recovery. We applaud the Legislature for rooting out the waste and abuse in California's enterprise zone program and shifting those tax dollars to create good jobs that boost local economies.

The governor, unions and others had complained enterprise zones strayed from their original purpose. The program had turned into a big business giveaway for jobs that largely would have been available without the tax breaks. It often led a company to move from one place in the state to another. In several cases, employers left their unionized shops behind to set up non-union workplaces elsewhere.

Earlier this year, we noted Teamsters from building products distributor Blue Linx and laboratory supply and distribution company VWR lost their jobs when their employers moved elsewhere in California and they were told they could not follow the company to its new location. The enterprise zones program allowed businesses to receive tax breaks of $37,500 for each new employee they hired.

Calif. enterprise zones kill good jobs

A California program that's supposed to create jobs is killing good Teamster jobs and making corporate bosses richer.

While the Golden State's enterprise zone program does shift jobs to 40 areas it deems economically depressed, employers are the big winners. In many cases, jobs are moving from one California locality to another, sending existing workers to the unemployment line. Meanwhile companies are piling up more profits due to the tens of thousands in tax breaks they get for each employee they hire at the new job site.

The Frying Pan News explains the state-sponsored sham. Established in 1984, the program gives companies tax credits of up to $37,440 per person hired in one of the zones. Yet there is evidence that many areas eligible for the programs shouldn't be, noting that well-heeled neighborhoods in Los Angeles and San Francisco qualify as enterprise zones.

While some workers might be willing to move to continue their employment, they don't get the choice. Under the rules of the program, employers cannot take current workers if they want to receive tax credits. That leaves a lot of people who once earned middle-class wages out of luck. Bay Area warehouse workers John Thomas and Hans Burkhardt, both Teamsters, are just two examples.

The union jobs that Burkhardt and Thomas and their fellow workers had at the BlueLinx and VWR locations paid, on average, about $20 an hour, plus benefits. They were replaced with non-union positions that paid about one-half of that, with non-existent or substantially reduced benefits.

We detailed the plight of many of their fellow workers earlier this year. The loss of union wage jobs by members of Teamsters Local 853 resulted in the companies paying their new non-union employees about $10 an hour with no benefits in their new locations.

Doug Bloch, Teamsters political director for the Central Valley and Northern California, told Frying Pan News the VWR and BlueLinx situation encapsulates all that is wrong with the enterprise zone program.

Our union is all for programs that create jobs in economically distressed areas. This program doesn’t create jobs.

Some elected officials are beginning to see the light. State Sen. Jerry Hill has unveiled legislation soon to be considered on the Senate floor that would revamp the program by saying it must create net new jobs that pay at least $16 an hour. And Gov. Jerry Brown earlier this month proposed that the zones be replaced by a sales tax credit for firms that buy manufacturing or biotech equipment.

Californians need to make sure the rest of the state's lawmakers get on board as well. Tell your elected members to support Sen. Hill's SB 434  and help create new jobs, not just move old ones.