TEAMSTERS
Revised NY-NJ clean-trucks plan stirs up controversy JOC ...The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week criticized the port authority for lifting a Jan. 1, 2017 deadline that would have forced 70 percent of the port’s trucks to be replaced or refitted with newer, less-polluting engines. Consolidation of the port’s fragmented drayage industry into fewer, stronger companies that use employee drivers has been a longtime goal of the Teamsters union, which is part of the Coalition for Healthy Ports and claims many owner-operators are misclassified as independent contractors...
10,000 needy families, hospitalized kids aided by Teamsters Joint Council 13 volunteers, friends, family Labor Tribune ...More than 10,000 needy families and their children and dozens of children who had to be in the hospital over the holidays had a brighter Christmas this past season as a result of the generosity and hearts of Teamsters throughout the region, all members of Teamsters Joint Council 13. In three separate programs supported by the Teamsters, food and toys were provided to the less fortunate and the working poor...
Teamsters and Freight; building up America Mandan News ...As many as three million heavy-duty trucks run on the highways, bringing freight to destination terminals from where smaller delivery trucks further carry the products to their destinations. The trucking industry reminds us that “Without trucks, America stops.” Another adage proclaims, “If you bought it, a truck brought it.” Truck drivers and other associated occupations can find membership in a large organization named the International Brotherhood of Teamsters...
Union retirees fearing pension cuts The Examiner ...The president of the Missouri-Kansas-Nebraska Conference of Teamsters, Jim Kabell, outlined troubles in the union’s pension fund to a full house at American Legion Post 21. Many wore T-shirts reading, “Stop the rush to pension cuts!” He also took aim at Congress for actions he said made things worse and for not acting on needed solutions, and he urged Teamsters to get active to address that...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Kia Workers OK Wage Deal After 5 Strike-Free Months Wards Auto ...Kia workers represented by the Korean Metal Workers Union sign a new wage agreement with the automaker Jan. 12, ending negotiations that dragged on for five months. Both sides had agreed when talks began Aug. 11 to conduct all sessions with a total news blackout. A tentative agreement was reached Jan. 6 and a ratification vote was held Jan. 10...
Private sector workers to go on strike on Feb 4 Ekathimerini ...Greece’s biggest private sector union, GSEE, decided on Friday to call a 24-hour strike for Thursday, February 4, in protest at government reforms and particularly a contentious overhaul of the social security system. Meeting in Athens, GSEE’s executive committee decided to ramp up the pressure against the government’s proposal and to join forces with other unions...
Luas workers in Ireland to go on strike Irish News ...Commuters face travel chaos after Luas staff announced plans to stage two 48 hour strikes next month. Workers will down tools on February 11 and 12 and again on February 18 and 19. The Siptu trade union confirmed three of four groups of workers, who balloted overwhelmingly to take industrial action, preferred to strike for 48 hours at meetings this week. Luas operator Transdev released figures claiming drivers are seeking a massive pay rise of almost 54pc...
Morocco Government Assaults Spur Sit-in Solidarity Center ...About four thousand workers staged a sit-in outside parliament in Rabat yesterday in a show of popular protest against socioeconomic policies that are economically harmful to working people, among them planned pension reforms, a freeze on talks with civil society groups and ongoing violations of worker rights–including the government’s refusal to negotiate with trade unions on wages and working conditions for public service workers...
Business leaders doubt trade vote happens before elections The Hill ...Business leaders on Thursday expressed doubt that a sweeping Pacific Rim trade agreement will come up for a vote in Congress before the November elections. Bruce Josten, the top lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said that there are several significant factors in play that will determine whether lawmakers will be ready to vote on the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) by this summer...
Time for negotiations is finished for Trans-Pacific Partnership: trade minister Global News ...A renegotiation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal is not possible even though serious concerns may be raised during public consultations, Canada’s trade minister said Thursday. “The negotiations are finished and for Canadians it’s important to understand that it’s a decision of yes or no,” Chrystia Freeland told reporters Thursday after receiving varied feedback at a meeting at the University of Montreal...
TTIP: what can we expect from 2016? Open Democracy ...TTIP negotiations continue, as the two sides failed to meet their goal of concluding talks by the end of 2015. EU and US negotiators now hope to reach a final political settlement by the end of Obama’s presidency in January 2017, thus making the next 12 months vitally important in the fight to derail the talks. The next round of negotiations is set to take place in Brussels at the end of February...
Protesters rally against Trans-Pacific Partnership WFMZ ...Protesters gathered outside Congressman Charlie Dent's office in Allentown Wednesday, rallying against the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The partnership is a multi-national trade agreement that was reached in October after years of negotiations. The protest was organized by the Pennsylvania Fair Trade Coalition. Protesters want Congressman Dent to vote against the partnership when it reaches the house this spring...
How to Make the Trans-Pacific Partnership Work for Workers and Communities The Nation ... Allowing victimized workers and communities to use dispute-settlement mechanisms in trade agreements provides some measure of re-balance Nothing prevents the United States from going back to its TPP partners to negotiate a supplemental protocol creating a CIDS system to address all stakeholders’ concerns, not just the special interests of investors...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
WVU right-to-work study disputed as Legislature considers bill Gazette Mail ...Just as the West Virginia Legislature began considering “right-to-work” legislation Thursday, a new economic analysis has alleged that the intellectual backbone behind the Republican proposal, a West Virginia University study of the issue, made basic mistakes and “is fraught with several problems.” In November, the WVU Bureau of Business and Economic Research unveiled a study of right-to-work laws that was requested and funded by the Republican-led Legislature...
Senate fast tracks ‘Right-to-Work’ legislation Daily Telegraph ...Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee spent hours Thursday sparring over the provisions of a Right to Work law, slowing if only momentarily its fast-track passage to the floor of the Senate. SB1, which Republicans have renamed “Workplace Freedom,” is the first of the GOP agenda bills...
West Virginia unions protest right-to-work News Center ...Union groups have hit the Capitol for events opposing the right-to-work push introduced by the Republican-led Legislature. At a West Virginia AFL-CIO event Wednesday morning, workers shared negative experiences from Oklahoma and Virginia, both right-to-work states. Americans for Prosperity, a well-heeled conservative group fueled by the industrialist Koch brothers, also announced online and direct mail advertising in favor of right-to-work...
Prevailing Wage Passes Kentucky Senate State Journal ...Unlike the hugely bipartisan support of the bourbon, winery and microbrewing industry in the state, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate stood diametrically opposed to a prevailing wage bill that passed Thursday to the House. Republican Sen. Wil Schroder of Wilder sponsored the bill exempting public school projects of $250,000 or more from the state’s requirement for the prevailing wage cost to workers...
Oregon governor asks for huge minimum wage hikes CNN ...Gov. Kate Brown is pushing a new, two-tiered system that would increases wages in Portland to $15.52 over the next six years, while other areas would have a minimum of $13.50. The state's current minimum wage is $9.25. If approved by state legislators, Oregon would join a growing list of states that are boosting minimum-wage paychecks. Thirteen states, including California, Nebraska and Vermont, are set to bolster their minimum wages in 2016...
Minimum Wage Workers Plan Strike In Charleston Ahead Of Democratic Debate BuzzFeed ...Low-wage workers will strike and protest in Charleston, South Carolina in the lead-up to the Democratic debate there Sunday night, according to the Fight for 15, the union-backed movement to raise the minimum wage. Hundreds of fast-food, home care, child care and other low-wage employees will converge on the city, according to Fight for 15 Organizing Director Kendall Fells...
The Plot Against Paul LePage The Atlantic ...On Thursday, a group of state legislators in Maine will introduce a measure to impeach LePage. “People have really had enough, all across the state,” Representative Ben Chipman of Portland, the lead sponsor, told me Wednesday. “They’re tired of the governor’s behavior and they’re tired of the legislature not doing anything about it." The impeachment order would create an investigative committee to look into allegations against LePage and then bring back articles of impeachment...
U.S. LABOR
Los Angeles Charter Teachers Say Their Administration Is Aggresively Trying To Bust Their Union In These Times ...A formerly low-profile union organizing campaign by teachers at the largest charter school operation in Los Angeles is emerging into the public spotlight as the charter operator is ramping up its effort to defeat the organizing effort, teachers say. The school operator, Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, has been so aggressive against the union that a local judge issued an injunction December 3 against the operator’s apparent labor law violations...
Ski Patrols Seek to Unionize U.S. Slopes as Wealth Gap Grows Bloomberg ...The snowiest peaks in the U.S. are the latest site of pitched union battles, a result of the growing corporatization of the $11 billion ski industry and a widening wealth divide between those who own resorts and those who keep them running. Labor’s promise of better compensation and job security has proved particularly enticing to ski patrollers...
Charged with Firing Teachers for Organizing, a Chicago Charter Network Settles American Prospect ...The National Labor Relations Board finalized a settlement agreement this week between Urban Prep Academies, an all-male charter network in Chicago, and more than a dozen Urban Prep teachers who were fired abruptly back in June. The firings came less than a month after a majority of teachers at Urban Prep voted to unionize with the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff (ChiACTS)...
NLRB rejects McDonalds’ request to treat joint employer cases separately People's World ... Over the dissent of its remaining Republican member, the National Labor Relations Board has rejected McDonalds' request to split its "joint employer" cases into 31 separate cases involving 161 restaurants nationwide. The board's early-January decision allows the massive case of McDonald's labor law-breaking to go forward as one unified case...
With public sector unions on the rocks, middle class may take another hit Washington Post ...For all his talk about "middle class economics" in recent years, it might have seemed odd that President Obama didn't mention the "middle class" once during his nearly hour-long speech to Congress. Instead, he talked about "working families." Those phrases aren't interchangeable anymore — so many working people have exited the middle class that it's no longer the demographic majority...
What Do Unions Do for the Middle Class? Center for American Progress ...The United States has long called itself a middle-class nation. But that statement is less true today than it was 30 years ago.
The most widely used barometer of the financial health of the middle class—real median household income as published by the U.S. Census Bureau—has barely grown over the last thirty years. At the same time, the middle class has been hollowed out as incomes have polarized...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
U.S. justices consider taking Obama appeal on immigration action Reuters ...The nine U.S. Supreme Court justices were due to meet privately on Friday to discuss whether to hear President Barack Obama's bid to revive his plan to shield more than 4 million immigrants from deportation, a move that bypassed the Republican-led Congress. The court could make an announcement as soon as Friday afternoon on whether it will take up the dispute, which would become one of the centerpiece cases of its current term...
As Federal Government Launches New Deportation Raids, Churches Vow To Take In Immigrants Think Progress ...Churches across the country are gearing up to defy the federal government’s deportation efforts, preparing to offer Central American asylum-seekers sanctuary in their churches and protect them from an aggressive new wave of federal raids. Shortly after New Year’s Day 2016, the Obama administration launched a barrage of highly publicized raids primarily intended to detain and deport Central American immigrants...
More Than Half of Americans Reportedly Have Less Than $1,000 to Their Name Esquire ...In a recent survey, 56 percent of Americans said they have less than $1,000 in their checking and savings accounts combined, Forbes reports. Nearly a quarter (24.8 percent) have less than $100 to their name. Meanwhile, 38 percent said they would pay less than their full credit card balance this month, and 11 percent said they would make the minimum payment...
Residents Of Flint Are Being Billed For Poisoned Water And Threatened With Shutoffs If They Don’t Pay Think Progress ...Last week Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) declared a state of emergency over the level of lead being found in Flint’s tap water, and this week he activated the state National Guard to help provide residents with bottled water, filters, and lead testing kits.
But even in the midst of this crisis, city residents aren’t just being charged for their poisoned tap water — they’re being threatened with shutoffs if they don’t quickly pay their bills...
Chicago Releases Another Video Of A Police Officer Killing An Unarmed Teenager Think Progress ...The city of Chicago released a video of another police officer killing an unarmed black teenager three years ago, after giving up a lengthy legal battle to keep it from the public eye. This time, the teenager’s name was not Laquan McDonald but Cedrick Chatman. The grainy video shows the 17-year-old Chatman fleeing the police before he is shot by Officer Kevin Fry...
Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts
Friday, January 15, 2016
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Today's Teamster News 01.12.16
TEAMSTERS
D.C. Taxi Drivers Accuse Police Of Harassment In Barrage Of Tickets WAMU ...Officers in the Metropolitan Police Department’s Fifth District were responsible for writing 1,368 tickets to cabbies from Jan. through Oct. 2015, more than three times the 394 tickets written in the city’s other six police districts combined, according to data obtained by the Teamsters Union Local 922 and shared with WAMU 88.5. The Teamsters’ lawyers are defending the drivers in court, claiming many of the tickets are bogus...
Teamsters, Carhaul Employers to Resume Contract Negotiations Teamster.org ...The Teamsters National Automobile Transporters Industry Negotiating Committee (TNATINC) and carhaul employer representatives will reconvene this Wednesday, Jan. 13 and Thursday, Jan. 14 in Detroit to discuss and exchange proposals for a new national contract. In December, both sides made progress toward a new tentative agreement. While several of the outstanding contract issues have been largely resolved, both sides are still evaluating serious and difficult economic issues...
School district support staff union to challenge Teamsters election victory Review Journal ...A nearly 15-year fight to unseat the labor union that represents more than 11,000 bus drivers, custodians and other support staff who work for the Clark County School District again will head to court soon.
Thanks to a change in rules governing public-sector unions in Nevada, the Teamsters Local 14 claimed a landslide victory. But a lawyer for the Education Support Employees Association, which represents school support staff, promised to "promptly" challenge that in state court...
Minnesota Teamsters Endorse Angie Craig for 2nd Congressional District Teamster.org ...Today, Teamsters across Minnesota endorsed Angie Craig for Congress in the 2nd Congressional seat race set for this fall. “We are pleased to put our support behind Angie Craig who we know will be a strong advocate for working men and women across Minnesota and our country,” said Teamsters Joint Council 32 President Larry Yoswa...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Tensions rise as workers for Apple contractor in Indonesia plan strike Jakarta Post ...Authorities in Batam, Riau Islands, have called on thousands of workers from a major local company to drop plans to begin a three-week strike on Monday. Batam Free Trade Zone Management Agency public relations and promotions director Purnomo Andiantono said the concerns emerged after some 2,000 workers from PT Amtek Engineering Batam last week announced a plan to stage a collective strike...
UK Transport Union Announces Three 24-Hour Underground Strikes Sputnik News ...The United Kingdom's biggest Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union announced on Monday that London Underground staff were to stage three 24-hour strikes and a week of industrial action in two separate disputes over pay and night tube services. According to the RMT statement, Underground workers will strike for 24 hours on January 26, February 15 and February 17 over disputes about pay...
Tug boat workers' strike to disrupt shipping industry Financial Review ...Delays are expected to plague Australia's big east coast ports on Tuesday and Wednesday, with workers planning to walk off the job after an agreement could not be struck with tug boat engineers. The industrial action is protected and is over a new enterprise agreement between the Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers and operator Svitzer Australia...
Ontario correctional workers give up right to strike to reach deal CBC ...Ontario's correctional workers and the government have agreed to move to binding arbitration within the next 60 days — and to designate the province's nearly 6,000 jail guards, parole and probation officers as essential service workers. That means the union agreed to give up its right to strike, not just for this contract but for successive ones...
Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal to be signed in NZ NZ Herald ...The controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal will be signed into existence in New Zealand. Chile let the cat out of the bag early by announcing the signing last week, before officials were ready, leading to swift backpedaling from organisers. But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has just confirmed an event will be held in Auckland in early February...
DeLauro defies Obama on State of the Union issue CT Mirror ...Once again, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro is defying President Obama as he prepares to deliver his State of the Union address. Once again, the split is over trade. DeLauro, D-3rd District, is leading a fight against one of the things Obama wants to leave as part of his legacy – a Trans-Pacific Partnership with 11 other nations that ring the Pacific Ocean...
Trans-Pacific Partnership could be worth almost nothing to Australia Mashable ...Over the five years it was negotiated, the potential economic impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), set to become one of the biggest free trade deals of all time, has been condemned and praised with equal ferocity. Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb claimed the TPP would deliver "enormous benefits" to Australia. Now the World Bank has looked into the matter, and as it turns out, all that secrecy has added up to very little for Australia...
Tamil National Alliance backs austerity, pro-investor policies in Sri Lanka WSWS.org ...As the year began, the Tamil nationalist organizations in Sri Lanka escalated their support for austerity and the use of Sri Lankan workers as cheap labor for international capital. Mavai Senathirajah, a leading parliamentarian of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), told the media, “we are expecting several development projects and economic zones in the North-East”...
Greece Renews Challenge to Creditors’ Austerity Policies Wall Street Journal ...Greece’s left-led government renewed its challenge to its creditors’ austerity policies on Tuesday, vowing to resist further pension cuts while calling on Europe to let Greece meet budget targets mainly via economic growth, not belt-tightening. “The best way to fill this gap [in Greece’s budget] isn't by reducing, but by increasing the economy,” Labor Minister George Katrougalos said...
Haiti Earthquake Anniversary: Garment Workers Still Struggle to Survive Solidarity Center ...Six years after a major earthquake devastated the Haitian capital and its environs and the international community promised to “build back better,” Haitian workers say their daily lives are a struggle for survival, with their meager wages insufficient to cover basic expenses. In recent interviews, Haitian garment workers told the Solidarity Center that they are worse off today than before the quake...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
How Corporate Political Spending Will Stay Secret in Wisconsin PR Watch ...Wisconsin Republicans are insisting that they didn't intend to allow corporate political donations to remain secret under the recent overhaul of the state's campaign finance laws. But secrecy, in fact, has become the distinguishing characteristic of Wisconsin elections. And that is by design. Sweeping campaign finance changes signed into law by Governor Scott Walker last month allowed corporations to donate up to $12,000 directly to "segregated funds"...
State ballot measure filed to raise minimum wage to $13.50 Seattle Times ...Supporters of raising Washington state’s minimum wage filed a ballot measure Monday that seeks to incrementally raise Washington’s minimum wage to $13.50 an hour over four years starting in 2017, as well as provide paid sick leave to employees without it. The initiative was announced at a news conference by a coalition of workers and union members...
Are Neighboring States Putting Pressure on N.H. Lawmakers to Boost Minimum Wage? NHPR ...The new legislative session kicked off last week, as lawmakers began the process of again sifting through the hundreds of new bills. Many of these proposals would affect New Hampshire’s business community, including raising the state’s minimum wage, an issue that hasn’t gone anywhere in the past...
House Committee Hears Voter ID Proposal Today Ozarks First ...Two voter photo ID proposals will be heard Tuesday by the Missouri House’s Elections committee. Representative Tony Dugger (R-Hartville) is proposing a constitutional amendment that would ask voters to approve requiring a photo ID at the polls. A companion bill sponsored by Representative Justin Alferman (R-Hermann) would create the structure for voter photo ID if the ballot issue passes...
Kasich: New mothers should work at home online, not get paid family leave Daily Kos ...Screw paid parental leave. Republican presidential candidate (yes, still) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich thinks new mothers and fathers should rely on their employers to “try to be creative” instead of being required to offer paid leave. And if the extent of their employers’ creativity is “come to work or you’re fired,” as it is for so many Americans, oh well...
Is Ohio headed for 'right-to-work' anyway? Cincinnati.com ...Remember that political grudge match called Senate Bill 5? A U.S. Supreme Court case on whether government workers must pay union dues against their wills could upend a key part of Ohioans' decisive vote against the anti-collective bargaining law. If the court rules against unions – and it's looking like it might – Ohio's public workers could become "right-to-work" overnight...
Michigan Knew Last Year That Flint’s Water Might Be Poisoned But Decided Not to Tell Anyone Slate ...Michigan governor Rick Snyder declared last week that the poisonously high levels of lead in drinking water in Flint, Michigan constitute a state of emergency. Reporting by Michigan Radio and research by the ACLU, though, alleges that the state government itself may have broken laws last year to cover up evidence of high lead levels that were turned up in tests it was supervising...
U.S. LABOR
UAW Donating Water To Flint Residents WILX ...Members of the United Auto Workers union are donating drinking water to Flint residents affected by the city's water crisis. The Flint Journal reported Saturday that bottled water would be brought to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan in a caravan of trucks. An emergency has been declared in Flint where water drawn from the Flint River leached lead from old plumbing for months...
USW: NLRB Issues Third Consolidated Complaint against Asarco PR Newswire ...The United Steelworkers (USW) today said that Region 28 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a third consolidated complaint against Asarco, LLC, which includes an allegation that the company unlawfully implemented portions of its so-called "last, best and final" contract proposal on Dec. 1, 2015, in the absence of a bargaining impasse...
National Labor Board takes McDonald’s to court Al Jazeera ...Current and former McDonald’s workers who accuse the fast-food giant of illegal union-busting will get their day in court on Monday, when an administrative law judge is expected to begin hearing arguments in a major unfair labor practice suit. The Obama administration's National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will represent the workers in a case that could have wide-ranging consequences for the McDonald’s franchising model...
Graduate Students at Private Universities Could Soon Have the Right to Unionize The Nation ... Late last year, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finally agreed to review the cases of Columbia University and New School graduate students who have been campaigning for years to form an official union on their campus. Their pending decision could overturn a precedent that has hamstrung labor organizing on private college and university campuses for over a decade...
Detroit Teachers Hold Sick-Out to Demand Fixes to School's "Abominable" Problems Common Dreams ...Detroit teachers on Monday organized a "sick-out" to call attention to the school district's "abominable" problems, including filthy buildings and overwhelmingly large class sizes, and called on officials to follow through on long-held promises to salvage the city's educational system. Ivy Bailey, interim president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT), said Monday, "The deplorable conditions in our schools have created a serious environmental and educational crisis"...
Why Transportation Workers Should Care About Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association TTD.org ...Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association (CTA) is an orchestrated, malicious attack on workers’ rights. This case isn’t just about teachers in California—it’s about weakening the rights of workers, specifically those employed in the public sector. The group behind the court case is the Center for Individual Rights, which has ties to greedy CEOs and wealthy special interests...
This is why you’re burning out: Science proves being on call is just as stressful as working Salon ...A recent study links extended work availability with decreased calmness, mood, and energy levels. By looking at industries from technical services to nursing, the study evaluated the effects of being on-call — that is, not at work, but being expected to remain available by phone for questions or customer requests...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Powerball’s $1.3 Billion Swindle Of Americans Think Progress ...In October, the consortium of states that runs Powerball approved a series of rule changes that made it much harder to win the jackpot. The purpose of this change was to increase the chances that there would be no grand prize winner for any given drawing. The purpose of creating massive jackpots is because they induce more people to play. The prospect of big payouts spark a flood of free media attention. For all the money Americans spend, they get very little in return — particularly the poorest...
Clinton calls for stopping immigration raids USA Today ...Hillary Clinton on Monday called on the Obama administration to end raids that target undocumented immigrants who recently arrived from Central America. Clinton, whose statement came during the Iowa Black and Brown forum, said that enforcement efforts should be "humane." "We have laws and we must be guided by those laws, but we shouldn't have armed federal officers showing up at peoples' homes, taking women and children out of their beds in the middle of the night"...
A Pill That Cures Hepatitis Costs Just $4, but If You Live in America It's $1,000 Alternet ...Nearly one year after receiving FDA approval, on October 10, 2014, Gilead Sciences Inc. patented Harvoni, which is Solvaldi combined with one of these inhibitors. Global demand for Harvoni quickly skyrocketed as,according to the World Health Organization, there are currently 130-150 million people living with chronic hepatitis C, globally...
The defining American crisis our corporate media still can’t be bothered to cover Salon ...Of the five Republican debates and of the three Democratic debates, not one moderator has asked a question involving the words “poverty” or “poor.” In the GOP debates, the candidates only bring up the topic as a way to swipe President Obama, which is fair enough but is not a discussion of poverty much less a good-faith attempt to mitigate it. By comparison, the Democratic debate moderators brought up “ISIS” or “Terrorism” 21 times total in all three debates...
White Nationalist PAC Blankets Iowa With Robocalls For Trump TPM ...Some registered voters in Iowa received robocalls Saturday from a white nationalist super PAC that urged them to support Donald Trump in the 2016 election: “I urge you to vote for Donald Trump because he is the one candidate who points out that we should accept immigrants who are good for America. We don’t need Muslims. We need smart, well-educated white people who will assimilate to our culture"...
Historic Settlement over NYPD's Anti-Muslim Spying Imposes Oversight & Bars Ethnic-Based Targeting Democracy Now ...In a major legal victory, New York City will appoint an independent civilian monitor to oversee the New York Police Department’s counterterrorism activities. The announcement comes after two lawsuits challenged the NYPD’s programs of spying on Muslims and religious centers. The suits argued the NYPD violated the U.S. and New York state constitutions by singling out and stigmatizing entire communities based on their religion...
D.C. Taxi Drivers Accuse Police Of Harassment In Barrage Of Tickets WAMU ...Officers in the Metropolitan Police Department’s Fifth District were responsible for writing 1,368 tickets to cabbies from Jan. through Oct. 2015, more than three times the 394 tickets written in the city’s other six police districts combined, according to data obtained by the Teamsters Union Local 922 and shared with WAMU 88.5. The Teamsters’ lawyers are defending the drivers in court, claiming many of the tickets are bogus...
Teamsters, Carhaul Employers to Resume Contract Negotiations Teamster.org ...The Teamsters National Automobile Transporters Industry Negotiating Committee (TNATINC) and carhaul employer representatives will reconvene this Wednesday, Jan. 13 and Thursday, Jan. 14 in Detroit to discuss and exchange proposals for a new national contract. In December, both sides made progress toward a new tentative agreement. While several of the outstanding contract issues have been largely resolved, both sides are still evaluating serious and difficult economic issues...
School district support staff union to challenge Teamsters election victory Review Journal ...A nearly 15-year fight to unseat the labor union that represents more than 11,000 bus drivers, custodians and other support staff who work for the Clark County School District again will head to court soon.
Thanks to a change in rules governing public-sector unions in Nevada, the Teamsters Local 14 claimed a landslide victory. But a lawyer for the Education Support Employees Association, which represents school support staff, promised to "promptly" challenge that in state court...
Minnesota Teamsters Endorse Angie Craig for 2nd Congressional District Teamster.org ...Today, Teamsters across Minnesota endorsed Angie Craig for Congress in the 2nd Congressional seat race set for this fall. “We are pleased to put our support behind Angie Craig who we know will be a strong advocate for working men and women across Minnesota and our country,” said Teamsters Joint Council 32 President Larry Yoswa...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Tensions rise as workers for Apple contractor in Indonesia plan strike Jakarta Post ...Authorities in Batam, Riau Islands, have called on thousands of workers from a major local company to drop plans to begin a three-week strike on Monday. Batam Free Trade Zone Management Agency public relations and promotions director Purnomo Andiantono said the concerns emerged after some 2,000 workers from PT Amtek Engineering Batam last week announced a plan to stage a collective strike...
UK Transport Union Announces Three 24-Hour Underground Strikes Sputnik News ...The United Kingdom's biggest Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union announced on Monday that London Underground staff were to stage three 24-hour strikes and a week of industrial action in two separate disputes over pay and night tube services. According to the RMT statement, Underground workers will strike for 24 hours on January 26, February 15 and February 17 over disputes about pay...
Tug boat workers' strike to disrupt shipping industry Financial Review ...Delays are expected to plague Australia's big east coast ports on Tuesday and Wednesday, with workers planning to walk off the job after an agreement could not be struck with tug boat engineers. The industrial action is protected and is over a new enterprise agreement between the Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers and operator Svitzer Australia...
Ontario correctional workers give up right to strike to reach deal CBC ...Ontario's correctional workers and the government have agreed to move to binding arbitration within the next 60 days — and to designate the province's nearly 6,000 jail guards, parole and probation officers as essential service workers. That means the union agreed to give up its right to strike, not just for this contract but for successive ones...
Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal to be signed in NZ NZ Herald ...The controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal will be signed into existence in New Zealand. Chile let the cat out of the bag early by announcing the signing last week, before officials were ready, leading to swift backpedaling from organisers. But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has just confirmed an event will be held in Auckland in early February...
DeLauro defies Obama on State of the Union issue CT Mirror ...Once again, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro is defying President Obama as he prepares to deliver his State of the Union address. Once again, the split is over trade. DeLauro, D-3rd District, is leading a fight against one of the things Obama wants to leave as part of his legacy – a Trans-Pacific Partnership with 11 other nations that ring the Pacific Ocean...
Trans-Pacific Partnership could be worth almost nothing to Australia Mashable ...Over the five years it was negotiated, the potential economic impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), set to become one of the biggest free trade deals of all time, has been condemned and praised with equal ferocity. Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb claimed the TPP would deliver "enormous benefits" to Australia. Now the World Bank has looked into the matter, and as it turns out, all that secrecy has added up to very little for Australia...
Tamil National Alliance backs austerity, pro-investor policies in Sri Lanka WSWS.org ...As the year began, the Tamil nationalist organizations in Sri Lanka escalated their support for austerity and the use of Sri Lankan workers as cheap labor for international capital. Mavai Senathirajah, a leading parliamentarian of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), told the media, “we are expecting several development projects and economic zones in the North-East”...
Greece Renews Challenge to Creditors’ Austerity Policies Wall Street Journal ...Greece’s left-led government renewed its challenge to its creditors’ austerity policies on Tuesday, vowing to resist further pension cuts while calling on Europe to let Greece meet budget targets mainly via economic growth, not belt-tightening. “The best way to fill this gap [in Greece’s budget] isn't by reducing, but by increasing the economy,” Labor Minister George Katrougalos said...
Haiti Earthquake Anniversary: Garment Workers Still Struggle to Survive Solidarity Center ...Six years after a major earthquake devastated the Haitian capital and its environs and the international community promised to “build back better,” Haitian workers say their daily lives are a struggle for survival, with their meager wages insufficient to cover basic expenses. In recent interviews, Haitian garment workers told the Solidarity Center that they are worse off today than before the quake...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
How Corporate Political Spending Will Stay Secret in Wisconsin PR Watch ...Wisconsin Republicans are insisting that they didn't intend to allow corporate political donations to remain secret under the recent overhaul of the state's campaign finance laws. But secrecy, in fact, has become the distinguishing characteristic of Wisconsin elections. And that is by design. Sweeping campaign finance changes signed into law by Governor Scott Walker last month allowed corporations to donate up to $12,000 directly to "segregated funds"...
State ballot measure filed to raise minimum wage to $13.50 Seattle Times ...Supporters of raising Washington state’s minimum wage filed a ballot measure Monday that seeks to incrementally raise Washington’s minimum wage to $13.50 an hour over four years starting in 2017, as well as provide paid sick leave to employees without it. The initiative was announced at a news conference by a coalition of workers and union members...
Are Neighboring States Putting Pressure on N.H. Lawmakers to Boost Minimum Wage? NHPR ...The new legislative session kicked off last week, as lawmakers began the process of again sifting through the hundreds of new bills. Many of these proposals would affect New Hampshire’s business community, including raising the state’s minimum wage, an issue that hasn’t gone anywhere in the past...
House Committee Hears Voter ID Proposal Today Ozarks First ...Two voter photo ID proposals will be heard Tuesday by the Missouri House’s Elections committee. Representative Tony Dugger (R-Hartville) is proposing a constitutional amendment that would ask voters to approve requiring a photo ID at the polls. A companion bill sponsored by Representative Justin Alferman (R-Hermann) would create the structure for voter photo ID if the ballot issue passes...
Kasich: New mothers should work at home online, not get paid family leave Daily Kos ...Screw paid parental leave. Republican presidential candidate (yes, still) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich thinks new mothers and fathers should rely on their employers to “try to be creative” instead of being required to offer paid leave. And if the extent of their employers’ creativity is “come to work or you’re fired,” as it is for so many Americans, oh well...
Is Ohio headed for 'right-to-work' anyway? Cincinnati.com ...Remember that political grudge match called Senate Bill 5? A U.S. Supreme Court case on whether government workers must pay union dues against their wills could upend a key part of Ohioans' decisive vote against the anti-collective bargaining law. If the court rules against unions – and it's looking like it might – Ohio's public workers could become "right-to-work" overnight...
Michigan Knew Last Year That Flint’s Water Might Be Poisoned But Decided Not to Tell Anyone Slate ...Michigan governor Rick Snyder declared last week that the poisonously high levels of lead in drinking water in Flint, Michigan constitute a state of emergency. Reporting by Michigan Radio and research by the ACLU, though, alleges that the state government itself may have broken laws last year to cover up evidence of high lead levels that were turned up in tests it was supervising...
UAW Donating Water To Flint Residents WILX ...Members of the United Auto Workers union are donating drinking water to Flint residents affected by the city's water crisis. The Flint Journal reported Saturday that bottled water would be brought to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan in a caravan of trucks. An emergency has been declared in Flint where water drawn from the Flint River leached lead from old plumbing for months...
USW: NLRB Issues Third Consolidated Complaint against Asarco PR Newswire ...The United Steelworkers (USW) today said that Region 28 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a third consolidated complaint against Asarco, LLC, which includes an allegation that the company unlawfully implemented portions of its so-called "last, best and final" contract proposal on Dec. 1, 2015, in the absence of a bargaining impasse...
National Labor Board takes McDonald’s to court Al Jazeera ...Current and former McDonald’s workers who accuse the fast-food giant of illegal union-busting will get their day in court on Monday, when an administrative law judge is expected to begin hearing arguments in a major unfair labor practice suit. The Obama administration's National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will represent the workers in a case that could have wide-ranging consequences for the McDonald’s franchising model...
Graduate Students at Private Universities Could Soon Have the Right to Unionize The Nation ... Late last year, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finally agreed to review the cases of Columbia University and New School graduate students who have been campaigning for years to form an official union on their campus. Their pending decision could overturn a precedent that has hamstrung labor organizing on private college and university campuses for over a decade...
Detroit Teachers Hold Sick-Out to Demand Fixes to School's "Abominable" Problems Common Dreams ...Detroit teachers on Monday organized a "sick-out" to call attention to the school district's "abominable" problems, including filthy buildings and overwhelmingly large class sizes, and called on officials to follow through on long-held promises to salvage the city's educational system. Ivy Bailey, interim president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT), said Monday, "The deplorable conditions in our schools have created a serious environmental and educational crisis"...
Why Transportation Workers Should Care About Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association TTD.org ...Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association (CTA) is an orchestrated, malicious attack on workers’ rights. This case isn’t just about teachers in California—it’s about weakening the rights of workers, specifically those employed in the public sector. The group behind the court case is the Center for Individual Rights, which has ties to greedy CEOs and wealthy special interests...
This is why you’re burning out: Science proves being on call is just as stressful as working Salon ...A recent study links extended work availability with decreased calmness, mood, and energy levels. By looking at industries from technical services to nursing, the study evaluated the effects of being on-call — that is, not at work, but being expected to remain available by phone for questions or customer requests...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Powerball’s $1.3 Billion Swindle Of Americans Think Progress ...In October, the consortium of states that runs Powerball approved a series of rule changes that made it much harder to win the jackpot. The purpose of this change was to increase the chances that there would be no grand prize winner for any given drawing. The purpose of creating massive jackpots is because they induce more people to play. The prospect of big payouts spark a flood of free media attention. For all the money Americans spend, they get very little in return — particularly the poorest...
Clinton calls for stopping immigration raids USA Today ...Hillary Clinton on Monday called on the Obama administration to end raids that target undocumented immigrants who recently arrived from Central America. Clinton, whose statement came during the Iowa Black and Brown forum, said that enforcement efforts should be "humane." "We have laws and we must be guided by those laws, but we shouldn't have armed federal officers showing up at peoples' homes, taking women and children out of their beds in the middle of the night"...
A Pill That Cures Hepatitis Costs Just $4, but If You Live in America It's $1,000 Alternet ...Nearly one year after receiving FDA approval, on October 10, 2014, Gilead Sciences Inc. patented Harvoni, which is Solvaldi combined with one of these inhibitors. Global demand for Harvoni quickly skyrocketed as,according to the World Health Organization, there are currently 130-150 million people living with chronic hepatitis C, globally...
The defining American crisis our corporate media still can’t be bothered to cover Salon ...Of the five Republican debates and of the three Democratic debates, not one moderator has asked a question involving the words “poverty” or “poor.” In the GOP debates, the candidates only bring up the topic as a way to swipe President Obama, which is fair enough but is not a discussion of poverty much less a good-faith attempt to mitigate it. By comparison, the Democratic debate moderators brought up “ISIS” or “Terrorism” 21 times total in all three debates...
White Nationalist PAC Blankets Iowa With Robocalls For Trump TPM ...Some registered voters in Iowa received robocalls Saturday from a white nationalist super PAC that urged them to support Donald Trump in the 2016 election: “I urge you to vote for Donald Trump because he is the one candidate who points out that we should accept immigrants who are good for America. We don’t need Muslims. We need smart, well-educated white people who will assimilate to our culture"...
Historic Settlement over NYPD's Anti-Muslim Spying Imposes Oversight & Bars Ethnic-Based Targeting Democracy Now ...In a major legal victory, New York City will appoint an independent civilian monitor to oversee the New York Police Department’s counterterrorism activities. The announcement comes after two lawsuits challenged the NYPD’s programs of spying on Muslims and religious centers. The suits argued the NYPD violated the U.S. and New York state constitutions by singling out and stigmatizing entire communities based on their religion...
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Today's Teamster News 01.06.16
TEAMSTERS
Hoffa: Congress must act to avert pension crisis The Detroit News ...Opposition is growing in Michigan and across the Midwest against a devastating pension cut proposal put forward by the Central States Pension Fund that would slash benefits by as much as 65 percent. Thousands of Teamsters are letting the federal government know they must reject the plan if they want retirees to be able to subsist on their own...
Treasury Department Announces January Public Sessions for Feedback on CSPF Rescue Plan Teamster.org ... The Treasury Department announced the details today for two public sessions in January for Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund retirees and participants to offer feedback on the proposed rescue plan. The sessions will be hosted by Treasury appointee Kenneth R. Feinberg who is overseeing the rescue plan review process as outlined by the Kline-Miller Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014...
American Red Cross Workers Vote to Join Teamsters in Maine Teamster.org ...Workers at the American Red Cross’ Portland donation center have voted to join Teamsters Local 340. The blood donation center’s 57 employees will now form a bargaining unit that includes collections technicians, collections specialists and mobile unit assistants of various classifications. These employees are responsible for setting up and administering blood drives across the southern half of the state...
Local 710 to Fight Wrongful Terminations at Classic Party Rental Local 710 ...Teamsters Local 710 met Friday, December 18 with Classic Party Rental to discuss the wrongful termination of 35 employees. Local 710 has filed a grievance to have those members reinstated. Classic Party required members to verify their employment eligibility but did not allow adequate time for them to do so. This resulted in the termination of nearly 30 percent of their workforce of 120 employees...
Treasury Department Announces January Public Sessions for Feedback on CSPF Rescue Plan Teamster.org ... The Treasury Department announced the details today for two public sessions in January for Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund retirees and participants to offer feedback on the proposed rescue plan. The sessions will be hosted by Treasury appointee Kenneth R. Feinberg who is overseeing the rescue plan review process as outlined by the Kline-Miller Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014...
American Red Cross Workers Vote to Join Teamsters in Maine Teamster.org ...Workers at the American Red Cross’ Portland donation center have voted to join Teamsters Local 340. The blood donation center’s 57 employees will now form a bargaining unit that includes collections technicians, collections specialists and mobile unit assistants of various classifications. These employees are responsible for setting up and administering blood drives across the southern half of the state...
Local 710 to Fight Wrongful Terminations at Classic Party Rental Local 710 ...Teamsters Local 710 met Friday, December 18 with Classic Party Rental to discuss the wrongful termination of 35 employees. Local 710 has filed a grievance to have those members reinstated. Classic Party required members to verify their employment eligibility but did not allow adequate time for them to do so. This resulted in the termination of nearly 30 percent of their workforce of 120 employees...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
We'll strike until we are paid - Railway workers Ghana Web ...Striking railway workers have reiterated that they will not call off their industrial action until all their demands are addressed by government. The Railway Workers Union announced the withdrawal of passenger services from Accra to Tema and Accra to Nsawam in December following government’s failure to pay their three-month salary arrears...
Can Brazil’s Workers’ Party Survive? The Nation ... President Dilma Rousseff is facing an impeachment drive, a tanking economy—and grassroots party activists furious at her austerity policies and pro-corporate development strategy. Re-elected as president on a socially progressive program in October 2014, she has implemented austerity policies that have stopped the economy in its tracks and reversed many of the employment and wage gains made under previous PT governments...
Covered Bridge Potato Chips workers stage strike in Canada CBC ...Unionized employees at Covered Bridge Potato Chips near Hartland have walked out and are now on strike to back demands for a first contract with the company. The 32 members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1288P have been in a legal strike position since June. About 16 union members are picketing outside the company's factory in Hartland...
GOP in no hurry to move Obama's TPP The Hill ...Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is brushing off calls from business groups for quick action on President Obama’s sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal. The National Association of Manufacturers and the Business Roundtable announced their support for the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) this week as part of what looks like a choreographed effort to raise pressure on Congress...
Surprise! Corporate America Is Throwing Down for the TPP Common Dreams ...American big business has now officially endorsed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), giving many all the proof they need that the 12-nation deal—poised to be the largest ever—is bad news for people and the planet. An association of Chief Executive Officers known as the Business Roundtable (BRT) announced its formal backing on Tuesday, indicating that it plans to use its muscle to press Congress to approve the deal this year...
How to Tell TPP Is a Bad Deal (opinion) Huffington Post ...TPP defines bad rules for globalization. It sets up skewed power relationships for dealing with climate change, inequality and many other important public policies. We have trade deals with Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru, where labor standards are at the level of life-and-death. Guatemala is arguably the most dangerous country in the world for labor leaders. Violence against workers in Colombia is still common...
McAuliffe announces port agreement with Cuba Daily Progress ...The Virginia Port Authority has struck a deal with its Cuban counterpart to explore commercial opportunities with the island nation, Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Tuesday. McAuliffe, in the middle of a three-day trade mission to Cuba, said the Virginia delegation signed a memorandum of understanding with the Cuban Port Authority, which recently completed the $1 billion Port of Mariel project, according to the governor's office...
Can Brazil’s Workers’ Party Survive? The Nation ... President Dilma Rousseff is facing an impeachment drive, a tanking economy—and grassroots party activists furious at her austerity policies and pro-corporate development strategy. Re-elected as president on a socially progressive program in October 2014, she has implemented austerity policies that have stopped the economy in its tracks and reversed many of the employment and wage gains made under previous PT governments...
Covered Bridge Potato Chips workers stage strike in Canada CBC ...Unionized employees at Covered Bridge Potato Chips near Hartland have walked out and are now on strike to back demands for a first contract with the company. The 32 members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1288P have been in a legal strike position since June. About 16 union members are picketing outside the company's factory in Hartland...
GOP in no hurry to move Obama's TPP The Hill ...Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is brushing off calls from business groups for quick action on President Obama’s sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal. The National Association of Manufacturers and the Business Roundtable announced their support for the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) this week as part of what looks like a choreographed effort to raise pressure on Congress...
Surprise! Corporate America Is Throwing Down for the TPP Common Dreams ...American big business has now officially endorsed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), giving many all the proof they need that the 12-nation deal—poised to be the largest ever—is bad news for people and the planet. An association of Chief Executive Officers known as the Business Roundtable (BRT) announced its formal backing on Tuesday, indicating that it plans to use its muscle to press Congress to approve the deal this year...
How to Tell TPP Is a Bad Deal (opinion) Huffington Post ...TPP defines bad rules for globalization. It sets up skewed power relationships for dealing with climate change, inequality and many other important public policies. We have trade deals with Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru, where labor standards are at the level of life-and-death. Guatemala is arguably the most dangerous country in the world for labor leaders. Violence against workers in Colombia is still common...
McAuliffe announces port agreement with Cuba Daily Progress ...The Virginia Port Authority has struck a deal with its Cuban counterpart to explore commercial opportunities with the island nation, Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Tuesday. McAuliffe, in the middle of a three-day trade mission to Cuba, said the Virginia delegation signed a memorandum of understanding with the Cuban Port Authority, which recently completed the $1 billion Port of Mariel project, according to the governor's office...
Greece's economic crisis goes on, like an odyssey without end The Guardian ...Like an odyssey without end, Greece’s great economic crisis goes on and the predicament of people such as Staikos is igniting new fears of social unrest. Ushering in the new year, prime minister Alexis Tsipras predicted that 2016 marked the beginning of the end, “a final exit from economic crisis”. With a financial lifeline sealed via an €86bn (£63bn) aid package from the International Monetary Fund, EU and the European Central Bank, the country could look ahead to radical change...
Happy 2016! These CEOs Have Already Banked An Average Worker's Salary Common Dreams ...By lunchtime Monday, Canada's top chief executives had already banked an average worker's annual salary. To put that another way, in 2014, the country's top-paid CEOs took home 184 times as much as the average Canadian worker, according to an annual report on publicly-traded companies released Monday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives...
Happy 2016! These CEOs Have Already Banked An Average Worker's Salary Common Dreams ...By lunchtime Monday, Canada's top chief executives had already banked an average worker's annual salary. To put that another way, in 2014, the country's top-paid CEOs took home 184 times as much as the average Canadian worker, according to an annual report on publicly-traded companies released Monday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
California’s $15 Minimum Wage Initiative Is Likely Headed to Voters RH Reality Check ...A California initiative calling for a $15 minimum wage by 2021 is likely headed to state voters in November after gathering more than enough signatures to qualify. The voter measure would hike the statewide minimum wage by a dollar on January 1 of every year from 2017 to 2021. California’s statewide minimum wage stands at $10, making it one of the nation’s highest and second only the District of Columbia...
Minority Groups Knock Redistricting Ballot Measure Colorado Public Radio ...A proposed ballot measure that would change the way Colorado’s political maps are drawn is being criticized by some minority groups and lawmakers. Currently, the state Legislature determines Colorado's congressional districts after each census. The ballot measure would shift that responsibility to a 12-member independent commission...
Bevin's road fund cuts bemoaned in Louisville Courier-Journal ...Due to falling state gas tax revenues, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin issued an order Monday cutting the state Transportation Cabinet budget by $112.5 million. The order calls for more than half of the savings – $62 million – to be achieved by a reduction in state road aid to cities and counties...
Ethics, voter ID among measures to watch in Missouri session KY3.com ...Missouri lawmakers are set to discuss issues ranging from how to repair state roads and bridges to laws on abortion. The 2016 legislative session begins Wednesday. Legislative leaders have said tightening state laws on ethics will be a top priority. Proposals on the table include banning lobbyist gifts to lawmakers...
Minority Groups Knock Redistricting Ballot Measure Colorado Public Radio ...A proposed ballot measure that would change the way Colorado’s political maps are drawn is being criticized by some minority groups and lawmakers. Currently, the state Legislature determines Colorado's congressional districts after each census. The ballot measure would shift that responsibility to a 12-member independent commission...
Bevin's road fund cuts bemoaned in Louisville Courier-Journal ...Due to falling state gas tax revenues, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin issued an order Monday cutting the state Transportation Cabinet budget by $112.5 million. The order calls for more than half of the savings – $62 million – to be achieved by a reduction in state road aid to cities and counties...
Ethics, voter ID among measures to watch in Missouri session KY3.com ...Missouri lawmakers are set to discuss issues ranging from how to repair state roads and bridges to laws on abortion. The 2016 legislative session begins Wednesday. Legislative leaders have said tightening state laws on ethics will be a top priority. Proposals on the table include banning lobbyist gifts to lawmakers...
Minimum Wage to Raise for All City Workers in 2018 NY1.com ...Minimum wage for city workers is going up. Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to announce plans to raise the minimum wage for city workers to $15 an hour by 2018. Those who will see the increase include school crossing guards and teacher's aides. Not-for-profits with city contracts city will also have to pay their workers at least $15 an hour...
Group Seeking Comment From Workers, Employers On Paid Sick Leave CBS ...A group looking to study the impact of workplace regulations in Minneapolis is holding a series of community meetings this month to get ideas related to earned sick time and paid time off. The city of Minneapolis says its Workplace Partnership Group will hold six meetings in January, with each one focused on different groups...
Group Seeking Comment From Workers, Employers On Paid Sick Leave CBS ...A group looking to study the impact of workplace regulations in Minneapolis is holding a series of community meetings this month to get ideas related to earned sick time and paid time off. The city of Minneapolis says its Workplace Partnership Group will hold six meetings in January, with each one focused on different groups...
U.S. LABOR
Phoenix Bus Drivers Will Strike, Union Leaders Say New Times ...About 650 bus drivers in Phoenix will go on strike tonight at midnight, according to local transportation union leaders. Bob Bean, president of the local Amalgamated Transit Union chapter says the strike, which will affect 75 percent of bus routes in Phoenix, comes after weeks of failed negotiations between ATU and Transdev...
Talks resume between ATI, union Rep-Am ...Allegheny Technologies Inc. and the United Steelworkers met this week, resuming talks for the first time since September over a labor dispute involving a four-month lockout of more than 2,200 union employees -- including 30 workers at a plant in Waterbury. The talks were held in the union's Pittsburgh headquarters with a federal mediator...
Talks resume between ATI, union Rep-Am ...Allegheny Technologies Inc. and the United Steelworkers met this week, resuming talks for the first time since September over a labor dispute involving a four-month lockout of more than 2,200 union employees -- including 30 workers at a plant in Waterbury. The talks were held in the union's Pittsburgh headquarters with a federal mediator...
'Depressing' atmosphere envelops DuPont as layoffs begin Delaware Online ...A grim mood hung in the air Monday as DuPont Co. workers in Delaware learned whether their positions will be included in a massive round of layoffs that will eliminate 1,700 positions in the First State. Ron Ozer, an engineer at the DuPont Experimental Station near Alapocas, lost his job Monday after nearly 25 years with the company...
Utz workers sue Pa. snack company over pay PennLive ...The chips are down at Utz as the Hanover, Pa., company faces a federal lawsuit brought by three drivers who claim they are owed thousands in overtime pay, WITF is reporting. Right now, the suit is confined to three drivers from Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania who say they cart Utz snacks into stores and stock shelves for far longer than 40 hours a week -- but only receive their normal pay...
United Farm Worker pioneer Alfredo R. Vazquez’s life remembered Fresno Bee ...Civil rights activist and United Farm Workers Association pioneer Alfredo R. Vazquez, 98, died on Dec. 31, 2015. Vazquez often endured abuse and threats during farm labor strikes, marches, boycotts and fasts with civil activist, Cesar Chavez. Vazquez’s last words are reported to have been “I did what I came here to do,” according to his son, Miguel Vazquez...
Why Skills Are Not Enough to Land a Job The Nation ... in light of rising graduation rates in recent years, education experts—presumably those who previously worried about low high school completion rates—now worry this seemingly good news is actually meaningless because diplomas are losing their “value”...
Denying People A Job After They've Left Prison Is Unconstitutional, Court Rules Huffington Post ...A court in Pennsylvania on Wednesday struck down a state law that imposed a lifetime ban from employment on as many as 200,000 people with criminal records in the state. A unanimous seven-judge panel ruled that part of the state's Older Adult Protective Services Act was unconstitutional because it was too broad in delineating the types of past crimes that disqualified people from jobs that involve caring for the elderly and other kinds of long-term care...
The Labor Prospect: What to Watch in 2016 American Prospect ...The year 2015 was widely regarded as a reinvigorating one for the labor movement, with federal administrative rulings and local minimum-wage ordinances breaking workers’ way. Last year, however, merely set the stage for a much more consequential 2016. This year could either go very badly or very well, depending on a whole host of labor prospects...
Utz workers sue Pa. snack company over pay PennLive ...The chips are down at Utz as the Hanover, Pa., company faces a federal lawsuit brought by three drivers who claim they are owed thousands in overtime pay, WITF is reporting. Right now, the suit is confined to three drivers from Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania who say they cart Utz snacks into stores and stock shelves for far longer than 40 hours a week -- but only receive their normal pay...
United Farm Worker pioneer Alfredo R. Vazquez’s life remembered Fresno Bee ...Civil rights activist and United Farm Workers Association pioneer Alfredo R. Vazquez, 98, died on Dec. 31, 2015. Vazquez often endured abuse and threats during farm labor strikes, marches, boycotts and fasts with civil activist, Cesar Chavez. Vazquez’s last words are reported to have been “I did what I came here to do,” according to his son, Miguel Vazquez...
Why Skills Are Not Enough to Land a Job The Nation ... in light of rising graduation rates in recent years, education experts—presumably those who previously worried about low high school completion rates—now worry this seemingly good news is actually meaningless because diplomas are losing their “value”...
Denying People A Job After They've Left Prison Is Unconstitutional, Court Rules Huffington Post ...A court in Pennsylvania on Wednesday struck down a state law that imposed a lifetime ban from employment on as many as 200,000 people with criminal records in the state. A unanimous seven-judge panel ruled that part of the state's Older Adult Protective Services Act was unconstitutional because it was too broad in delineating the types of past crimes that disqualified people from jobs that involve caring for the elderly and other kinds of long-term care...
The Labor Prospect: What to Watch in 2016 American Prospect ...The year 2015 was widely regarded as a reinvigorating one for the labor movement, with federal administrative rulings and local minimum-wage ordinances breaking workers’ way. Last year, however, merely set the stage for a much more consequential 2016. This year could either go very badly or very well, depending on a whole host of labor prospects...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Uber fail: Why the start-up giant stumbled in Europe — and how it could happen in the U.S. Salon ...It’s hard to imagine Uber permanently giving up on Europe’s biggest economy, of course. But according to a report in The New York Times, Uber’s problem goes well beyond Germany’s borders. Deutschland is just one of many places where Uber’s struggling — and it’s almost always for the same reason...
Obama Said He Would Focus on Deporting Criminals. He’s Targeting Families Instead. Slate ...A nation-wide deportation campaign targeting families fleeing violence from Central America began this past weekend, sending immigrants from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala—and their governments—scrambling to prepare for more. This isn’t the first or the biggest ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, raid: George W. Bush’s administration is infamous for its raids on residential areas and workplaces...
"Every Time I Think About Those Kids It Gets Me Mad": Obama Tears Up as He Orders New Gun Control Democracy Now ...President Obama has laid out his plans to take executive action in an attempt to cut gun violence. Part of his plan will result in mandatory background checks for individuals purchasing firearms online or at gun shows. The administration is also calling for the hiring of 200 new federal agents to enforce the nation’s gun laws...
The Oregon Standoff, Black Lives Matter, and Criminal-Justice Reform The Atlantic ...The standoff in Oregon between armed militias and federal law-enforcement provides a great moment for reflecting on some of the lessons of Black Lives Matter and the criminal-justice-reform movement that grew over the last year. The antigovernment protesters took over the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in support of two ranchers convicted of committing arson on public lands and have vowed “to stay as long as it takes”...
Obama Said He Would Focus on Deporting Criminals. He’s Targeting Families Instead. Slate ...A nation-wide deportation campaign targeting families fleeing violence from Central America began this past weekend, sending immigrants from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala—and their governments—scrambling to prepare for more. This isn’t the first or the biggest ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, raid: George W. Bush’s administration is infamous for its raids on residential areas and workplaces...
"Every Time I Think About Those Kids It Gets Me Mad": Obama Tears Up as He Orders New Gun Control Democracy Now ...President Obama has laid out his plans to take executive action in an attempt to cut gun violence. Part of his plan will result in mandatory background checks for individuals purchasing firearms online or at gun shows. The administration is also calling for the hiring of 200 new federal agents to enforce the nation’s gun laws...
The Oregon Standoff, Black Lives Matter, and Criminal-Justice Reform The Atlantic ...The standoff in Oregon between armed militias and federal law-enforcement provides a great moment for reflecting on some of the lessons of Black Lives Matter and the criminal-justice-reform movement that grew over the last year. The antigovernment protesters took over the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in support of two ranchers convicted of committing arson on public lands and have vowed “to stay as long as it takes”...
How to Understand Donald Trump’s Sexist New Low The Nation ...Donald Trump, the man of the bottomless bottom, is making headlines for slurring Hillary Clinton as an “enabler” of her husband’s sexual misbehavior. Chris Matthews of MSNBC’s Hardball, who doesn’t shock easily, seemed staggered by it Monday night, insisting he’d never heard such a claim about Clinton before. “It’s beyond indecent,” he said...
Sanders Blasts Trump On Weird Climate Change Claim Think Progress ...On Monday night, the Democratic candidate blasted Trump’s claim that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. “What an insight. The entire scientific community has concluded that climate change is real and causing major problems, and Trump believes that it’s a hoax created by the Chinese. Surprised it wasn’t the Mexicans”...
Sanders Blasts Trump On Weird Climate Change Claim Think Progress ...On Monday night, the Democratic candidate blasted Trump’s claim that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. “What an insight. The entire scientific community has concluded that climate change is real and causing major problems, and Trump believes that it’s a hoax created by the Chinese. Surprised it wasn’t the Mexicans”...
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Today's Teamster News 12.22.15
OUR LAST NEWS ROUND-UP OF THE YEAR
TEAMSTERS
How did two leaders with Teamsters union shape St. Louis with the ‘total persons’ movement? St. Louis Public Radio ...In the 1950s and ‘60s, two labor leaders were influential in St. Louis through their involvement with a new kind of ideology: the “total persons” movement. Both were involved with Teamsters Local 688, forming a political alliance that would shape public services, civil rights and economic justice in the region. Their names were Harold Gibbons and Ernest Calloway...
Right-to-Work in West Virginia Could be Political War of Words WOWK ...In three weeks, the state legislature will begin considering a bill that could affect thousands of workers in the Mountain State. Senator Cole (R-WV) says his goal is, "Making West Virginia a place where businesses want to locate." Ken Hall of the Teamsters said, "It's all about driving the wages down. I guess they could create a lot of jobs, if they get the wage rates down to a dollar an hour"...
Is D.C.’s Taxicab Complaints System Improving? City Paper ...Royale Simms, the local management chief of the Teamsters-affiliated D.C. Taxi Operators Association, says the real problem that the commission needs to address is a lack of front-end training for taxi drivers. One area to start with is the test for obtaining a taxi license: Simms says potential drivers have three chances to take the test, and the questions are repeated in the same order each time. “So you can learn A, B, C, and pass”...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Strikes at Amazon German warehouses up to Christmas Reuters ...Workers at German warehouses of U.S. online retailer Amazon.com Inc were called out on a new strike by labor union Verdi on Monday as part of a long-running dispute over pay and conditions. Verdi said in a statement that workers at six of the nine Amazon warehouses were joining the strike, which will run until Dec. 24 at four of the centers and for shorter periods at the others...
New Zealand logistics workers strike to disrupt Nike supply chain Scoop ...Approximately 20 workers from Toll Logistics’ Nike distribution centre in Auckland are commencing strike action today. The workers are striking over poor pay and to protest the company’s excessive use of labour hire employees. The company uses approximately 70 labour hire employees who receive minimum wages and no secure hours, said FIRST Union organiser Jared Abbott...
Mexican Border Workers Make A Push To Unionize NPR ...Delgado is among some 70 former workers who've set up a protest camp outside Lemark, located just 10 miles south of the Texas border. They claim they were fired soon after demanding higher pay. They say they're tired of struggling to provide for their families on a salary that, according to government figures, puts them below the poverty line...
‘When We Made Mistakes in Our Sewing, They Slapped Us’ The Nation ... Over two years after one of the worst industrial accidents in recent memory, Bangladesh’s garment workers are “safer” now—or so they’ve been told. So why do they still go to work afraid? Two years after labor and industry groups brokered a hard-won pact to improve factory safety, the Bangladesh Accord, most of the industry appears to be failing basic safety benchmarks....
Japan more than quadruples TPP economic boost estimate: Nikkei Reuters ...Japan's government has estimated the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will boost the economy by 14 trillion yen ($115.5 billion) or about 3 percentage points, over four times more than its initial calculation, the Nikkei business daily said on Tuesday. In March 2013, the Cabinet Office said joining the TPP would boost gross domestic product by 3.2 trillion yen or 0.66 percentage point based on the assumption that all tariffs would be scrapped immediately after enactment...
Spanish Election Marks Another Rejection of Austerity New York Times ...European leaders and economists are still locked in a heated debate about whether austerity policies have done more to help or hurt people in the region, particularly in Europe’s heavily indebted south. But as the election Sunday in Spain showed, voters seem to have made up their minds...
Hedge Funds vs. Greece: Lobbyists Want "Cheap Ticket" to Speculation Truthout ....This summer, Greece's financial authorities fined 20 hedge funds for speculating against the Greek economy. Now, the main global lobby group for hedge funds is trying to tweak the EU's rules so they can have a free play in the future. Global hedge funds attacked Greek banks in the early part of 2015. These were the months when the Greek economy was particularly fragile...
County commissioners oppose TPP agreement Hibbing Daily Tribune ...St. Louis County commissioners on Tuesday solidified their opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement. Commissioner Tom Rukavina of Pike Township brought the resolution forward after State Rep. Jason Metsa addressed the board earlier in the year on the TPP’s affect on local business and industry, which was unanimously approved...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Prevailing wage repeal may take longer to affect NWI NWITimes ...The 80-year-old system, which the Indiana General Assembly repealed this year, had been in place to ensure construction wages were in line with the local market, said Dewey Pearman, executive director of Construction Advancement Foundation. It also kept governments from having the power to inflate or depress the wages, he said. Common or prevailing construction wages went away July 1, and it's expected to have a big impact on Northwest Indiana...
Senate Leader: Mo. Right-to-Work Needs More Support in House Ozarks First ...Right-to-work is going to need more backing in the state House for it to receive time in the state Senate in 2016, according to the latter chamber’s leader. After leading an effort to bring that issue to a vote last session, Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard (R-Joplin) says it isn’t likely to have the support it needs in the House for the Senate to consider it...
Scott Walker Corruption Case Threatens to Implicate Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices Mother Jones ... For three years, prosecutors in Wisconsin tried to investigate what they believed was illegal campaign coordination between Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and conservative outside groups. The investigation has become a political flash point in the state: Walker and conservatives claim it is a witch hunt led by liberal prosecutors, while liberals believe it is about the power of dark money in Wisconsin politics...
Democrats' effort to change N.J. redistricting pushes on despite Republican outcry NJ.com ...Democratic state lawmakers on Monday continued to move forward with a proposal aiming to overhaul the way New Jersey redraws its legislative districts despite an ongoing outcry from Republicans. The state redraws the districts every decade and won't do so again until 2021. But this resolution would put a question on next November's ballot asking voters whether to amend the New Jersey constitution to approve a number of changes to the process...
Business leaders propose alternatives to Long Beach’s minimum wage push Press Telegram ...The question of whether Long Beach employers will be required to pay a higher minimum wage is on pace to be answered in early 2016, and policymakers have competing studies offering labor’s and business group’s perspectives on the issue. Pro-labor and pro-business groups have released their own reports intended to bolster their sides’ arguments in favor of a $15 minimum or a compromise position backed by local business that would raise the minimum wage to $12.50...
Health service professionals seek minimum wage increase WPTZ ...Lori Lobdell has been working at the Advocacy and Resource Center for over 20 years and describes the work they do as amazing. She feels they should get more money. That's why she supporting a bill in the state Senate asking Gov. Andrew Cuomo to raise the starting salary of human services workers to $15 an hour...
U.S. LABOR
UAW Brings Charges Against Volkswagen for Refusal to Bargain ABC ...The United Auto Workers is bringing charges against Volkswagen for refusing to bargain with a group of skilled workers who won a union vote at the German automaker's lone U.S. plant in Tennessee earlier this month. The UAW's Local 42 says in a filing with the National Labor Relations Board that a Volkswagen representative on Monday declined to recognize or bargain with the union...
How Kohler employees' united front won new contract and 'livable wages' The Guardian ...Before the strike began on 15 November, Kohler, with 48 factories and 30,000 employees worldwide, threatened to move many of the production jobs from its headquarters city here, 57 miles north of Milwaukee, if it were forced to end its two-tier contract. Before walking out, the workers voted overwhelmingly – by a 94% majority – to authorize a strike...
Southwest Airlines suspends 100 ramp workers, alleges illegal sickout Star Telegram ...About 100 Southwest Airlines ramp workers are not feeling the love from their employer this holiday season after they were suspended without pay through January. The Transport Workers Union, which represents over 11,000 ground workers and baggage handlers, said the suspensions are in retaliation for some workers using the time off to attend a “strike preparedness” meeting held by the union...
SEIU puts $3M into ballot fight with California hospitals Business Journal ...Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West says it still has an agreement with the California Hospital Association to work on issues like Medi-Cal financing. “We are just preparing for all potential situations,” spokesman Sean Wherley said in an email. One of those options apparently includes moving ahead with a proposed November ballot initiative that would limit CEO pay, regulate charity care and cap hospital prices...
Why The Fed's Rate Hike Will Hit Black Workers Harder Than Whites Huffington Post ...The Federal Reserve’s decision to raise its benchmark interest rate on Wednesday is bad news for black workers. The move is expected to put downward pressure on job creation by raising borrowing costs throughout the economy. While the rate hike is a modest measure on its own, it sets the stage for a series of additional developments that stand to have a much bigger contractionary effect on the economy...
When the Workers Become the Owners: Taking the Co-op Movement to the Next Level Truthout ...There's a revolution taking place in the US workforce - but you may not have heard about it. Around the country, workers are starting businesses that they democratically control and that financially benefit them. These businesses, called worker cooperatives, are owned and governed by the employees. Every worker is a member of the co-op, which gives them one share and one vote in the company's operations...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
The U.S. Food System Has a Race Problem, and the Farm Bill Is the Cause — and Possible Solution Alternet ...The 10 largest mega-corporations generate $450 million annually in food sales. These companies’ CEOs earn, on average, 12 times what their workers make. A new report out of the University of California, Berkeley, draws a direct line from these and other disparities to the the Farm Bill, the hulking, billion-dollar omnibus federal legislation...
‘Schlonged’: Trump’s Astonishingly Sexist Attack On Hillary Think Progress ...Republican frontrunner Donald Trump used a campaign stop in Michigan on Monday to make astonishingly sexist attacks against Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. At one point, Trump told the Grand Rapids crowd that Clinton got “schlonged” by President Obama during their 2008 Democratic primary race. “Schlong” is a well-known reference to a man’s genitals. There are no alternative definitions for the word, according to Merriam-Webster...
Is Trump Channeling Working-Class Anger or Simple Racism? (opinion) Slate ...Trump is channeling class anger into prejudice, and exploiting the result. And Sanders isn’t the only person who thinks this. In an interview with NPR’s Steve Inskeep, President Obama offered similar sentiments. “[P]articularly blue-collar men have had a lot of trouble in this new economy, where they are no longer getting the same bargain that they got when they were going to a factory and able to support their families on a single paycheck,” said Obama...
'Outrageous and Totalitarian': Mall of America Sues to Block Black Lives Matter Protest Common Dreams ...Black Lives Matter organizers say they have no plans to back down from a racial justice protest planned for Wednesday. The suit requires that organizers "immediately" post messages on social media and send out a mass text message announcing that the December 23rd event—intended to focus on the November police killing of 24-year-old Minneapolis black man Jamar Clark—is cancelled...
Baltimore Officer’s Rescheduled Freddie Gray Trial Complicates Prosecution of Other Cops Slate ...The judge in the first trial of a Baltimore police officer for the death of Freddie Gray ordered a new trial date Monday, after the initial trial of officer William Porter resulted in a hung jury last week. Prosecutors hopes for a sting of convictions was complicated by the jury’s inability to reach a consensus verdict on Porter, who faces charges of manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment, and misconduct in office...
TEAMSTERS
How did two leaders with Teamsters union shape St. Louis with the ‘total persons’ movement? St. Louis Public Radio ...In the 1950s and ‘60s, two labor leaders were influential in St. Louis through their involvement with a new kind of ideology: the “total persons” movement. Both were involved with Teamsters Local 688, forming a political alliance that would shape public services, civil rights and economic justice in the region. Their names were Harold Gibbons and Ernest Calloway...
Right-to-Work in West Virginia Could be Political War of Words WOWK ...In three weeks, the state legislature will begin considering a bill that could affect thousands of workers in the Mountain State. Senator Cole (R-WV) says his goal is, "Making West Virginia a place where businesses want to locate." Ken Hall of the Teamsters said, "It's all about driving the wages down. I guess they could create a lot of jobs, if they get the wage rates down to a dollar an hour"...
Is D.C.’s Taxicab Complaints System Improving? City Paper ...Royale Simms, the local management chief of the Teamsters-affiliated D.C. Taxi Operators Association, says the real problem that the commission needs to address is a lack of front-end training for taxi drivers. One area to start with is the test for obtaining a taxi license: Simms says potential drivers have three chances to take the test, and the questions are repeated in the same order each time. “So you can learn A, B, C, and pass”...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Strikes at Amazon German warehouses up to Christmas Reuters ...Workers at German warehouses of U.S. online retailer Amazon.com Inc were called out on a new strike by labor union Verdi on Monday as part of a long-running dispute over pay and conditions. Verdi said in a statement that workers at six of the nine Amazon warehouses were joining the strike, which will run until Dec. 24 at four of the centers and for shorter periods at the others...
New Zealand logistics workers strike to disrupt Nike supply chain Scoop ...Approximately 20 workers from Toll Logistics’ Nike distribution centre in Auckland are commencing strike action today. The workers are striking over poor pay and to protest the company’s excessive use of labour hire employees. The company uses approximately 70 labour hire employees who receive minimum wages and no secure hours, said FIRST Union organiser Jared Abbott...
Mexican Border Workers Make A Push To Unionize NPR ...Delgado is among some 70 former workers who've set up a protest camp outside Lemark, located just 10 miles south of the Texas border. They claim they were fired soon after demanding higher pay. They say they're tired of struggling to provide for their families on a salary that, according to government figures, puts them below the poverty line...
‘When We Made Mistakes in Our Sewing, They Slapped Us’ The Nation ... Over two years after one of the worst industrial accidents in recent memory, Bangladesh’s garment workers are “safer” now—or so they’ve been told. So why do they still go to work afraid? Two years after labor and industry groups brokered a hard-won pact to improve factory safety, the Bangladesh Accord, most of the industry appears to be failing basic safety benchmarks....
Japan more than quadruples TPP economic boost estimate: Nikkei Reuters ...Japan's government has estimated the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will boost the economy by 14 trillion yen ($115.5 billion) or about 3 percentage points, over four times more than its initial calculation, the Nikkei business daily said on Tuesday. In March 2013, the Cabinet Office said joining the TPP would boost gross domestic product by 3.2 trillion yen or 0.66 percentage point based on the assumption that all tariffs would be scrapped immediately after enactment...
Spanish Election Marks Another Rejection of Austerity New York Times ...European leaders and economists are still locked in a heated debate about whether austerity policies have done more to help or hurt people in the region, particularly in Europe’s heavily indebted south. But as the election Sunday in Spain showed, voters seem to have made up their minds...
Hedge Funds vs. Greece: Lobbyists Want "Cheap Ticket" to Speculation Truthout ....This summer, Greece's financial authorities fined 20 hedge funds for speculating against the Greek economy. Now, the main global lobby group for hedge funds is trying to tweak the EU's rules so they can have a free play in the future. Global hedge funds attacked Greek banks in the early part of 2015. These were the months when the Greek economy was particularly fragile...
County commissioners oppose TPP agreement Hibbing Daily Tribune ...St. Louis County commissioners on Tuesday solidified their opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement. Commissioner Tom Rukavina of Pike Township brought the resolution forward after State Rep. Jason Metsa addressed the board earlier in the year on the TPP’s affect on local business and industry, which was unanimously approved...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Prevailing wage repeal may take longer to affect NWI NWITimes ...The 80-year-old system, which the Indiana General Assembly repealed this year, had been in place to ensure construction wages were in line with the local market, said Dewey Pearman, executive director of Construction Advancement Foundation. It also kept governments from having the power to inflate or depress the wages, he said. Common or prevailing construction wages went away July 1, and it's expected to have a big impact on Northwest Indiana...
Senate Leader: Mo. Right-to-Work Needs More Support in House Ozarks First ...Right-to-work is going to need more backing in the state House for it to receive time in the state Senate in 2016, according to the latter chamber’s leader. After leading an effort to bring that issue to a vote last session, Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard (R-Joplin) says it isn’t likely to have the support it needs in the House for the Senate to consider it...
Scott Walker Corruption Case Threatens to Implicate Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices Mother Jones ... For three years, prosecutors in Wisconsin tried to investigate what they believed was illegal campaign coordination between Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and conservative outside groups. The investigation has become a political flash point in the state: Walker and conservatives claim it is a witch hunt led by liberal prosecutors, while liberals believe it is about the power of dark money in Wisconsin politics...
Democrats' effort to change N.J. redistricting pushes on despite Republican outcry NJ.com ...Democratic state lawmakers on Monday continued to move forward with a proposal aiming to overhaul the way New Jersey redraws its legislative districts despite an ongoing outcry from Republicans. The state redraws the districts every decade and won't do so again until 2021. But this resolution would put a question on next November's ballot asking voters whether to amend the New Jersey constitution to approve a number of changes to the process...
Business leaders propose alternatives to Long Beach’s minimum wage push Press Telegram ...The question of whether Long Beach employers will be required to pay a higher minimum wage is on pace to be answered in early 2016, and policymakers have competing studies offering labor’s and business group’s perspectives on the issue. Pro-labor and pro-business groups have released their own reports intended to bolster their sides’ arguments in favor of a $15 minimum or a compromise position backed by local business that would raise the minimum wage to $12.50...
Health service professionals seek minimum wage increase WPTZ ...Lori Lobdell has been working at the Advocacy and Resource Center for over 20 years and describes the work they do as amazing. She feels they should get more money. That's why she supporting a bill in the state Senate asking Gov. Andrew Cuomo to raise the starting salary of human services workers to $15 an hour...
U.S. LABOR
UAW Brings Charges Against Volkswagen for Refusal to Bargain ABC ...The United Auto Workers is bringing charges against Volkswagen for refusing to bargain with a group of skilled workers who won a union vote at the German automaker's lone U.S. plant in Tennessee earlier this month. The UAW's Local 42 says in a filing with the National Labor Relations Board that a Volkswagen representative on Monday declined to recognize or bargain with the union...
How Kohler employees' united front won new contract and 'livable wages' The Guardian ...Before the strike began on 15 November, Kohler, with 48 factories and 30,000 employees worldwide, threatened to move many of the production jobs from its headquarters city here, 57 miles north of Milwaukee, if it were forced to end its two-tier contract. Before walking out, the workers voted overwhelmingly – by a 94% majority – to authorize a strike...
Southwest Airlines suspends 100 ramp workers, alleges illegal sickout Star Telegram ...About 100 Southwest Airlines ramp workers are not feeling the love from their employer this holiday season after they were suspended without pay through January. The Transport Workers Union, which represents over 11,000 ground workers and baggage handlers, said the suspensions are in retaliation for some workers using the time off to attend a “strike preparedness” meeting held by the union...
SEIU puts $3M into ballot fight with California hospitals Business Journal ...Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West says it still has an agreement with the California Hospital Association to work on issues like Medi-Cal financing. “We are just preparing for all potential situations,” spokesman Sean Wherley said in an email. One of those options apparently includes moving ahead with a proposed November ballot initiative that would limit CEO pay, regulate charity care and cap hospital prices...
Why The Fed's Rate Hike Will Hit Black Workers Harder Than Whites Huffington Post ...The Federal Reserve’s decision to raise its benchmark interest rate on Wednesday is bad news for black workers. The move is expected to put downward pressure on job creation by raising borrowing costs throughout the economy. While the rate hike is a modest measure on its own, it sets the stage for a series of additional developments that stand to have a much bigger contractionary effect on the economy...
When the Workers Become the Owners: Taking the Co-op Movement to the Next Level Truthout ...There's a revolution taking place in the US workforce - but you may not have heard about it. Around the country, workers are starting businesses that they democratically control and that financially benefit them. These businesses, called worker cooperatives, are owned and governed by the employees. Every worker is a member of the co-op, which gives them one share and one vote in the company's operations...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
The U.S. Food System Has a Race Problem, and the Farm Bill Is the Cause — and Possible Solution Alternet ...The 10 largest mega-corporations generate $450 million annually in food sales. These companies’ CEOs earn, on average, 12 times what their workers make. A new report out of the University of California, Berkeley, draws a direct line from these and other disparities to the the Farm Bill, the hulking, billion-dollar omnibus federal legislation...
‘Schlonged’: Trump’s Astonishingly Sexist Attack On Hillary Think Progress ...Republican frontrunner Donald Trump used a campaign stop in Michigan on Monday to make astonishingly sexist attacks against Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. At one point, Trump told the Grand Rapids crowd that Clinton got “schlonged” by President Obama during their 2008 Democratic primary race. “Schlong” is a well-known reference to a man’s genitals. There are no alternative definitions for the word, according to Merriam-Webster...
Is Trump Channeling Working-Class Anger or Simple Racism? (opinion) Slate ...Trump is channeling class anger into prejudice, and exploiting the result. And Sanders isn’t the only person who thinks this. In an interview with NPR’s Steve Inskeep, President Obama offered similar sentiments. “[P]articularly blue-collar men have had a lot of trouble in this new economy, where they are no longer getting the same bargain that they got when they were going to a factory and able to support their families on a single paycheck,” said Obama...
'Outrageous and Totalitarian': Mall of America Sues to Block Black Lives Matter Protest Common Dreams ...Black Lives Matter organizers say they have no plans to back down from a racial justice protest planned for Wednesday. The suit requires that organizers "immediately" post messages on social media and send out a mass text message announcing that the December 23rd event—intended to focus on the November police killing of 24-year-old Minneapolis black man Jamar Clark—is cancelled...
Baltimore Officer’s Rescheduled Freddie Gray Trial Complicates Prosecution of Other Cops Slate ...The judge in the first trial of a Baltimore police officer for the death of Freddie Gray ordered a new trial date Monday, after the initial trial of officer William Porter resulted in a hung jury last week. Prosecutors hopes for a sting of convictions was complicated by the jury’s inability to reach a consensus verdict on Porter, who faces charges of manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment, and misconduct in office...
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Today's Teamster News 12.17.15
TEAMSTERS
NC Legislators, Community Turn Up Heat on Miller/Coors Teamster.org ...Hundreds of community members joined Teamsters and state legislators at a rally yesterday to protest Miller/Coors plan to close their Eden, NC, facility. "Our rally yesterday brought state legislators and community members together with our members and retirees to show support for the workers here at the Miller/Coors facility," said Vernon Gammon, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 391...
Seattle Teamsters local to organize Uber, Lyft drivers after city council vote People's World ... Teamsters Local 117 in Seattle will step up its efforts to unionize Uber and Lyft drivers - who are already working with it on an organizing campaign - after the city council's unanimous vote to give those drivers workers' rights. The ordinance, passed 8-0 on Dec. 14, says the drivers, whom the ride-sharing services call "independent contractors" are, in Seattle, have the right to organize...
Lockport Town Board ratifies agreements with Teamsters, CSEA Buffalo News ...The Town Board on Wednesday ratified a seven-year contract with the Teamsters union, as well as a health insurance agreement with the Civil Service Employees Association. The deal with the 18 Teamsters members is retroactive to the start of 2014 and offers annual raises of 2 to 2.5 percent, depending on a worker’s job title and position on the pay scale...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Spain's rail workers to stage 23-hour strike on Friday The Local ...People making their way home for Christmas on Friday could be facing serious delays as workers stage an all-day strike to protest privitization plans. The strike, called by the CGT union, will take place from midnight to 11pm on Friday, December 18th, assuring a day of travel chaos for people heading home for Christmas...
Bangladesh tea workers strike against land acquisition USA News ...For the fourth consecutive day, about 15,000 Bangladeshi tea workers have continued an indefinite strike against a government plan to acquire hundreds of hectares of land that would adversely affect their lives and livelihood. Workers and family members from four tea estates in Habiganj district of northeastern Sylhet division are demanding the government scrap plans for a special 207-hectare economic zone...
Canada taking its time to ratify TPP deal Globe and Mail ...Canada is set to hold back on ratifying a key Asia-Pacific trade treaty, a move that would assuage critics but might hamper Washington’s bid to build domestic support for the deal, according to sources close to the talks. Canada is one of 12 countries that initialled the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in early October, agreeing in principle to create a trade zone covering 40 per cent of the world’s economy...
The GOP’s Growing Rift on Trade National Journal ...The Republican Party has split anew on one of its core tenets—free trade—and the question is how long the war will last. While the GOP has largely supported free trade for over three decades, its top-tier presidential candidates are split on the recently-struck Pacific trade accord, the most significant in a generation. And Donald Trump, the GOP front-runner, has been labeled by The Wall Street Journal as potentially the most protectionist nominee since Herbert Hoover...
And Just Like That, "Free Trade" Pact Trounces US Law Common Dreams ...Claims that trade pacts like the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will not trump public health and environmental policies were revealed to be fiction on Tuesday after Congress, bending to the will of the World Trade Organization, killed the popular country-of-origin label (COOL) law...
Trade deal will lock in high drug prices, hurt seniors (opinion) The Hill ... If implemented, TPP will maintain high drug prices for America’s seniors and undermine the sustainability of public health programs like Medicare and Medicaid. The TPP would enact unprecedented protections for Big Pharma. It would lock in patent exclusivity for biologics - specialty drugs used to treat diseases such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis...
Saginaw County Board calls on Congress to oppose Trans-Pacific Partnership MLive ...Saginaw County's elected officials are asking members of the U.S. Congress to reject the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement involving 12 Pacific Rim countries including the United States. The county's Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, Dec. 15, approved a resolution in opposition of the deal "and any similar trade deals if they fail to restructure the misguided and failed policies of the past"...
Does Lexmark Strike Signal New Labor Rights Movement in Mexico? Common Dreams ...Support is growing for over a hundred workers who were fired en masse after asking for pay raises and organizing rights at a Juarez plant operated by U.S.-based Fortune 500 company Lexmark International. Some 700 workers launched a strike last week at their Juarez plant calling for the company to increase pay for long-term employees from 114 to 120 pesos a day—a raise of roughly 35 cents—while others attempted to unionize...
Greece approves new austerity bill changing loan rules Yahoo ...Greek lawmakers on Tuesday approved legislation granting the right to sell bad business loans from local banks to overseas funds as part of a new austerity bill demanded by bailout lenders from the rest of the eurozone. Labor unions, which oppose the reforms, staged two separate, peaceful protest marches in central Athens late Tuesday...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Owner of Arciuolo’s Shoe Store in Milford touts benefits of offering employees paid sick leave NH Register ...Connecticut became one of the first states to pass a Family and Medical Leave Bill, ensuring workers can’t be fired for taking leave, but she said it fails to cover many workers and because it doesn’t require them to be paid, many can’t afford the leave. The new bill establishes a paid family and medical leave compensation program administered by the state’s Labor Department...
New media campaign against House Republicans who opposed "right to work" STLToday ...A new ad campaign was unleashed this week targeting 20 Missouri House Republicans who helped defeat a "right-to-work" measure barring companies from requiring union membership or dues. The Committee for Accountable Government in Missouri, funded by more than $1 million in donations from the Joplin-based Humphreys family, announced a series of radio, television, digital and billboard ads...
Business group files suit challenging minimum wage initiative Review-Journal ...A coalition of business groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging an initiative that seeks to gradually raise Nevada's minimum wage. The suit filed by the Committee to Preserve Nevada Jobs, a coalition of three chambers of commerce, argues the proposed constitutional amendment goes beyond changing the minimum wage and will impose new regulations and penalties harmful to employers...
Hedge Funds Deepen Puerto Rico's Debt, Ravaging Island and Impoverishing People Alternet ...“This is a distress call from a ship of 3.5 million American citizens that have been lost at sea,” Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro GarcÃa Padilla said on December 1, begging the Senate Judiciary Committee to help protect his homeland from an unspooling disaster. After issuing bonds for over a decade on everything not nailed down, Puerto Rico now carries $73 billion in debt...
Florida gave about $70 million to charter schools that later closed; state recouped little Miami Herald ...Charter schools, which are public schools run by private groups, have received more than $760 million from state taxpayers since 2000 according to an Associated Press analysis of state Department of Education records. Schools can use the money for construction costs, rent payments, buses and even property insurance. Yet charter schools in 30 districts have wound up closing after receiving as much as $70 million...
U.S. LABOR
Kohler employees OK new contract, end 32-day strike Journal Sentinel ...Kohler Co. workers overwhelmingly approved a new labor contract Wednesday evening, ending a 32-day strike and returning to their jobs with what they and their leaders said is a significantly better deal. With 91% of the vote, members of United Auto Workers Local 833 ratified a four-year pact that boosts wages, minimizes rising health care costs and improves pension benefits...
SEIU 32BJ Raucous Rally Packs Essex Gym as Union Leader Brown Heads to Negotiations PolitickerNJ ...Janitor members of SEIU 32BJ – 7,000 strong, who clean office buildings in more than 500 office buildings around New1216151659a Jersey – tonight voted to strike if they can’t reach an agreement before Dec. 31st. As he heads back into negotiations tomorrow with the New Jersey Contractors Association, 32BJ Vice President and NJ State Director Kevin Brown wants everyone at $15 an hour...
UAW contract vote at Nexteer latest chapter in company's century-old story MLive ...As United Auto Workers Local 699 members begin voting on a new labor contract with Nexteer Automotive, it marks the latest chapter for a Saginaw County company that dates back more than a century. UAW members began casting ballots Thursday, Dec. 17, and voting continues through 10 p.m. Friday. They are voting on a new labor contract stretching to 2020...
Sanders wins Communications Workers of America endorsement CNN ...The Communications Workers of America will endorse Bernie Sanders in Washington on Thursday, according to a source with knowledge of the endorsement. Despite a long record of supporting unions and marching on picket lines, Sanders has struggled to lock down national union endorsements. With 700,000 members, the Communications Workers of America is the largest union to endorse the Vermont senator...
What It’s Like To Fight For A Union When Your Boss Is Donald Trump Think Progress ...When the management at the Trump hotel caught wind of the union drive last year, they hired the “union avoidance” consulting firm Lupe Cruz and Associates. That company, which has busted union campaigns at American Apparel, the trucking company Conway, and some Hilton hotels, boasts on its website that it can help clients in “preserving a union free work place”...
U.S. To Increase Worker Protection From Deadly Silica Dust for First Time in More Than 40 Years In These Times ...For the first time in 45 years, the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) is poised to increase safety standards for worker exposure to the silica dust that can cause deadly and incurable lung disease. A rule that would cut in half the amount of silica dust to which most workers could be exposed—and limit levels further for construction and maritime workers—is expected to be finalized in February...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
The Fed Raises Interest Rates The Atlantic ...On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve decided to raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. The committee’s two-day meeting concluded with Fed officials voting unanimously in favor of the raise; the target range for the federal funds rate will move from between 0 percent and 0.25 percent to between 0.25 percent and 0.50 percent. Although this is “lift-off” from near-zero rates, these interest rates are still low by historical standards...
Villainous Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli Has Been Arrested for Securities Fraud Slate ...Martin Shkreli, the widely loathed young pharma executive known for drastically hiking the price of a life-saving medication used by AIDS and cancer patients earlier this year, was arrested by federal authorities on charges of securities fraud Thursday morning, according to Bloomberg. Shkreli is currently the chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, which this Summer purchased the rights to Daraprim...
Hung Jury Results in Declaration of Mistrial in Freddie Gray Case Common Dreams ...A judge in Baltimore on Wednesday declared a mistrial after jurors said they could not agree on the guilt or innocence of Baltimore Police Officer William G. Porter, charged on four separate counts related to the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray. The jury deliberated the case for three days before coming to the conclusion they were hopelessly deadlocked and would not be able to reach an unanimous verdict...
How Flint, Michigan, Saved Money and Poisoned Its Children: City Declares Water Emergency Democracy Now ...The mayor of Flint, Michigan, has declared a state of emergency to address lead poisoning in the city’s water supply. Last year, the city’s unelected emergency manager switched the city’s water source from the Detroit system to the long-polluted Flint River in an attempt to save money...
The Market Has Spoken: Funders Flee "Free-Market" Climate Denial Group Truthout ...Funding for climate change denial is drying up. The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), a US climate change denial group that espouses the "free-market," has lost more than two thirds of its funding in the past two years, according to tax filings reviewed by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD)...
Observers Slam CNN for Aiding and Abetting Hate Speech in GOP Debate Common Dreams ...From calls to ban non-American Muslims to pledges to carpet bomb densely-populated cities, the rise of hateful rhetoric among 2016 presidential candidates—and the real, violent consequences for those communities targeted—has raised widespread concern. But also on display during the fifth GOP debate on "national security" was the role of corporate media outlets such as CNN in stoking racist and dangerous rhetoric...
NC Legislators, Community Turn Up Heat on Miller/Coors Teamster.org ...Hundreds of community members joined Teamsters and state legislators at a rally yesterday to protest Miller/Coors plan to close their Eden, NC, facility. "Our rally yesterday brought state legislators and community members together with our members and retirees to show support for the workers here at the Miller/Coors facility," said Vernon Gammon, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 391...
Seattle Teamsters local to organize Uber, Lyft drivers after city council vote People's World ... Teamsters Local 117 in Seattle will step up its efforts to unionize Uber and Lyft drivers - who are already working with it on an organizing campaign - after the city council's unanimous vote to give those drivers workers' rights. The ordinance, passed 8-0 on Dec. 14, says the drivers, whom the ride-sharing services call "independent contractors" are, in Seattle, have the right to organize...
Lockport Town Board ratifies agreements with Teamsters, CSEA Buffalo News ...The Town Board on Wednesday ratified a seven-year contract with the Teamsters union, as well as a health insurance agreement with the Civil Service Employees Association. The deal with the 18 Teamsters members is retroactive to the start of 2014 and offers annual raises of 2 to 2.5 percent, depending on a worker’s job title and position on the pay scale...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Spain's rail workers to stage 23-hour strike on Friday The Local ...People making their way home for Christmas on Friday could be facing serious delays as workers stage an all-day strike to protest privitization plans. The strike, called by the CGT union, will take place from midnight to 11pm on Friday, December 18th, assuring a day of travel chaos for people heading home for Christmas...
Bangladesh tea workers strike against land acquisition USA News ...For the fourth consecutive day, about 15,000 Bangladeshi tea workers have continued an indefinite strike against a government plan to acquire hundreds of hectares of land that would adversely affect their lives and livelihood. Workers and family members from four tea estates in Habiganj district of northeastern Sylhet division are demanding the government scrap plans for a special 207-hectare economic zone...
Canada taking its time to ratify TPP deal Globe and Mail ...Canada is set to hold back on ratifying a key Asia-Pacific trade treaty, a move that would assuage critics but might hamper Washington’s bid to build domestic support for the deal, according to sources close to the talks. Canada is one of 12 countries that initialled the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in early October, agreeing in principle to create a trade zone covering 40 per cent of the world’s economy...
The GOP’s Growing Rift on Trade National Journal ...The Republican Party has split anew on one of its core tenets—free trade—and the question is how long the war will last. While the GOP has largely supported free trade for over three decades, its top-tier presidential candidates are split on the recently-struck Pacific trade accord, the most significant in a generation. And Donald Trump, the GOP front-runner, has been labeled by The Wall Street Journal as potentially the most protectionist nominee since Herbert Hoover...
And Just Like That, "Free Trade" Pact Trounces US Law Common Dreams ...Claims that trade pacts like the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will not trump public health and environmental policies were revealed to be fiction on Tuesday after Congress, bending to the will of the World Trade Organization, killed the popular country-of-origin label (COOL) law...
Trade deal will lock in high drug prices, hurt seniors (opinion) The Hill ... If implemented, TPP will maintain high drug prices for America’s seniors and undermine the sustainability of public health programs like Medicare and Medicaid. The TPP would enact unprecedented protections for Big Pharma. It would lock in patent exclusivity for biologics - specialty drugs used to treat diseases such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis...
Saginaw County Board calls on Congress to oppose Trans-Pacific Partnership MLive ...Saginaw County's elected officials are asking members of the U.S. Congress to reject the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement involving 12 Pacific Rim countries including the United States. The county's Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, Dec. 15, approved a resolution in opposition of the deal "and any similar trade deals if they fail to restructure the misguided and failed policies of the past"...
Does Lexmark Strike Signal New Labor Rights Movement in Mexico? Common Dreams ...Support is growing for over a hundred workers who were fired en masse after asking for pay raises and organizing rights at a Juarez plant operated by U.S.-based Fortune 500 company Lexmark International. Some 700 workers launched a strike last week at their Juarez plant calling for the company to increase pay for long-term employees from 114 to 120 pesos a day—a raise of roughly 35 cents—while others attempted to unionize...
Greece approves new austerity bill changing loan rules Yahoo ...Greek lawmakers on Tuesday approved legislation granting the right to sell bad business loans from local banks to overseas funds as part of a new austerity bill demanded by bailout lenders from the rest of the eurozone. Labor unions, which oppose the reforms, staged two separate, peaceful protest marches in central Athens late Tuesday...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Owner of Arciuolo’s Shoe Store in Milford touts benefits of offering employees paid sick leave NH Register ...Connecticut became one of the first states to pass a Family and Medical Leave Bill, ensuring workers can’t be fired for taking leave, but she said it fails to cover many workers and because it doesn’t require them to be paid, many can’t afford the leave. The new bill establishes a paid family and medical leave compensation program administered by the state’s Labor Department...
New media campaign against House Republicans who opposed "right to work" STLToday ...A new ad campaign was unleashed this week targeting 20 Missouri House Republicans who helped defeat a "right-to-work" measure barring companies from requiring union membership or dues. The Committee for Accountable Government in Missouri, funded by more than $1 million in donations from the Joplin-based Humphreys family, announced a series of radio, television, digital and billboard ads...
Business group files suit challenging minimum wage initiative Review-Journal ...A coalition of business groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging an initiative that seeks to gradually raise Nevada's minimum wage. The suit filed by the Committee to Preserve Nevada Jobs, a coalition of three chambers of commerce, argues the proposed constitutional amendment goes beyond changing the minimum wage and will impose new regulations and penalties harmful to employers...
Hedge Funds Deepen Puerto Rico's Debt, Ravaging Island and Impoverishing People Alternet ...“This is a distress call from a ship of 3.5 million American citizens that have been lost at sea,” Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro GarcÃa Padilla said on December 1, begging the Senate Judiciary Committee to help protect his homeland from an unspooling disaster. After issuing bonds for over a decade on everything not nailed down, Puerto Rico now carries $73 billion in debt...
Florida gave about $70 million to charter schools that later closed; state recouped little Miami Herald ...Charter schools, which are public schools run by private groups, have received more than $760 million from state taxpayers since 2000 according to an Associated Press analysis of state Department of Education records. Schools can use the money for construction costs, rent payments, buses and even property insurance. Yet charter schools in 30 districts have wound up closing after receiving as much as $70 million...
Kohler employees OK new contract, end 32-day strike Journal Sentinel ...Kohler Co. workers overwhelmingly approved a new labor contract Wednesday evening, ending a 32-day strike and returning to their jobs with what they and their leaders said is a significantly better deal. With 91% of the vote, members of United Auto Workers Local 833 ratified a four-year pact that boosts wages, minimizes rising health care costs and improves pension benefits...
SEIU 32BJ Raucous Rally Packs Essex Gym as Union Leader Brown Heads to Negotiations PolitickerNJ ...Janitor members of SEIU 32BJ – 7,000 strong, who clean office buildings in more than 500 office buildings around New1216151659a Jersey – tonight voted to strike if they can’t reach an agreement before Dec. 31st. As he heads back into negotiations tomorrow with the New Jersey Contractors Association, 32BJ Vice President and NJ State Director Kevin Brown wants everyone at $15 an hour...
UAW contract vote at Nexteer latest chapter in company's century-old story MLive ...As United Auto Workers Local 699 members begin voting on a new labor contract with Nexteer Automotive, it marks the latest chapter for a Saginaw County company that dates back more than a century. UAW members began casting ballots Thursday, Dec. 17, and voting continues through 10 p.m. Friday. They are voting on a new labor contract stretching to 2020...
Sanders wins Communications Workers of America endorsement CNN ...The Communications Workers of America will endorse Bernie Sanders in Washington on Thursday, according to a source with knowledge of the endorsement. Despite a long record of supporting unions and marching on picket lines, Sanders has struggled to lock down national union endorsements. With 700,000 members, the Communications Workers of America is the largest union to endorse the Vermont senator...
What It’s Like To Fight For A Union When Your Boss Is Donald Trump Think Progress ...When the management at the Trump hotel caught wind of the union drive last year, they hired the “union avoidance” consulting firm Lupe Cruz and Associates. That company, which has busted union campaigns at American Apparel, the trucking company Conway, and some Hilton hotels, boasts on its website that it can help clients in “preserving a union free work place”...
U.S. To Increase Worker Protection From Deadly Silica Dust for First Time in More Than 40 Years In These Times ...For the first time in 45 years, the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) is poised to increase safety standards for worker exposure to the silica dust that can cause deadly and incurable lung disease. A rule that would cut in half the amount of silica dust to which most workers could be exposed—and limit levels further for construction and maritime workers—is expected to be finalized in February...
The Fed Raises Interest Rates The Atlantic ...On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve decided to raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. The committee’s two-day meeting concluded with Fed officials voting unanimously in favor of the raise; the target range for the federal funds rate will move from between 0 percent and 0.25 percent to between 0.25 percent and 0.50 percent. Although this is “lift-off” from near-zero rates, these interest rates are still low by historical standards...
Villainous Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli Has Been Arrested for Securities Fraud Slate ...Martin Shkreli, the widely loathed young pharma executive known for drastically hiking the price of a life-saving medication used by AIDS and cancer patients earlier this year, was arrested by federal authorities on charges of securities fraud Thursday morning, according to Bloomberg. Shkreli is currently the chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, which this Summer purchased the rights to Daraprim...
Hung Jury Results in Declaration of Mistrial in Freddie Gray Case Common Dreams ...A judge in Baltimore on Wednesday declared a mistrial after jurors said they could not agree on the guilt or innocence of Baltimore Police Officer William G. Porter, charged on four separate counts related to the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray. The jury deliberated the case for three days before coming to the conclusion they were hopelessly deadlocked and would not be able to reach an unanimous verdict...
How Flint, Michigan, Saved Money and Poisoned Its Children: City Declares Water Emergency Democracy Now ...The mayor of Flint, Michigan, has declared a state of emergency to address lead poisoning in the city’s water supply. Last year, the city’s unelected emergency manager switched the city’s water source from the Detroit system to the long-polluted Flint River in an attempt to save money...
The Market Has Spoken: Funders Flee "Free-Market" Climate Denial Group Truthout ...Funding for climate change denial is drying up. The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), a US climate change denial group that espouses the "free-market," has lost more than two thirds of its funding in the past two years, according to tax filings reviewed by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD)...
Observers Slam CNN for Aiding and Abetting Hate Speech in GOP Debate Common Dreams ...From calls to ban non-American Muslims to pledges to carpet bomb densely-populated cities, the rise of hateful rhetoric among 2016 presidential candidates—and the real, violent consequences for those communities targeted—has raised widespread concern. But also on display during the fifth GOP debate on "national security" was the role of corporate media outlets such as CNN in stoking racist and dangerous rhetoric...
Monday, December 7, 2015
Today's Teamster News 12.07.15
TEAMSTERS
Clark County School District Workers Vote to Join Teamsters Teamster.org ...Clark County School District (CCSD) support workers have voted overwhelmingly to join the Teamsters Union, the Employee-Management Relations Board (EMRB) announced today. There are more than 11,000 support workers in the bargaining unit. The vote for Teamsters Local 14 was a decisive win over the current bargaining representative at CCSD, with nearly 82 percent of workers voting to join the Teamsters...
CCSD support staff ousts ESEA in favor of Teamsters union Review-Journal ...A decade-long fight to unseat the labor union that represents more than 11,000 bus drivers, custodians and support staff who work for the Clark County School District culminated Saturday in a landslide vote for Teamsters Local 14. Claiming 81 percent of 5, 339 ballots cast in a runoff election, Teamsters leaders and supporters credited their victory to a change in rules that govern union elections...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
U.S. car makers count among Pacific trade pact skeptics Yahoo ...U.S. auto makers are unlikely to win a much bigger share of the Japanese vehicle market despite a bid to break down trade barriers under a new Pacific trade pact, highlighting the difficulties ahead in winning votes for the deal through Congress. Car makers joined the tobacco industry, pharmaceutical companies and financial services in expressing reservations about parts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership...
Vietnam Sees Record-High Foreign Investment on TPP, Eased Rules Bloomberg ...Vietnam expects disbursed foreign direct investment to reach a record high this year after the government eased business regulations, luring investors seeking to benefit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. The surge in the Southeast Asian country’s foreign investments comes as neighboring countries such as the Philippines report declines, reflecting overseas investors’ increasing attraction to Vietnam...
Drug prices expected to rise as result of TPP deal Globe and Mail ...The intellectual-property provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement will drive up global drug prices and make it harder to treat diseases in developing countries, Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) says. A month after the final text of the TPP was released, the medical humanitarian organization has completed its analysis of the portions of the massive trade pact that will affect drug costs...
How the TPP Fulfills Big Ag's Wish List Alternet ...An initial review reveals that the agreement compromises food safety and public health, notably through measures pertaining to U.S. border inspection of food imports. The agreement limits food import inspections “to what is reasonable and necessary,” and—perhaps most alarming—requires border inspectors to notify food importers if a negative food safety check is issued so they can challenge the port inspection findings...
U.S. trade deficit rises 3.4% in October to $43.9 billion LA Times ...The U.S. trade deficit widened in October, the Commerce Department said Friday, as exports of U.S. goods fell to the lowest level in more than four years, a reflection of the impact of a weak global economy and stronger dollar. The trade deficit, the difference between exports and imports, widened 3.4% in October to $43.9 billion, compared to a revised $42.5 billion deficit in September...
Greek parliament narrowly approves 2016 austerity budget Euronews ...The Greek parliament has narrowly approved a 2016 budget which includes sharp cuts in spending and some tax increases. The measures were conditions set by the country’s international lenders when Athens signed up to a third rescue package from euro zone governments in August worth up to 84 billion euros. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said it was difficult for a government that wants to promote social justice...
To Lift Quality of Life and Economy, Finland Champions Universal Basic Income Common Dreams ...As a way to improve living standards and boosts its economy, the nation of Finland is moving closer towards offering all of its adult citizens a basic permanent income of approximately 800 euros per month. The monthly allotment would replace other existing social benefits, but is an idea long advocated for by progressive-minded social scientists and economists as a solution—counter-intuitive as it may first appear at first—that actually decreases government expenditures...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Pre-filed bill targets prevailing wage in disaster areas Missouri Times ...One of the shorter pre-filed bills submitted so far calls for a prohibition on prevailing hourly wage to be paid for a tax credit funded project in a disaster area. Rep. Bill White, R-Joplin, filed HB 1406, which “prohibits the Missouri Housing Development Commission from requiring a prevailing hourly wage to be paid to a contractor on a project for a housing tax credit if it is in a Governor-declared disaster area”...
Rauner: Right to work off the table “for now” Capitol Fax ...Gov. Rauner has long said he is not pushing a “right-to-work” agenda for Illinois, but when speaking to a friendly crowd Friday at the Illinois Manufacturers Association’s annual luncheon, Rauner said the idea was only off the table “for now.” “Our labor regulations, while all the states around us have gone right-to-work, that’s killing a lot of employers,” Rauner said. “I’ve taken that off the table, for now anyway, in the spirit of trying to get a deal”...
Oregon union fight heats up Statesman Journal ...The Northwest Accountability Project has filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service asking to have the Freedom Foundation's tax-exempt charity status revoked. The complaint is intensifying the battle over public unions in Oregon and Washington, and was co-signed by 18 organizations including labor unions and left-leaning activist groups. The Northwest Accountability Project is working to counter the Freedom Foundation's campaign to have home-care workers opt out of paying union dues...
Right to Work is DOA in Ohio for fear of a Senate Bill 5 reprise (opinion) Cleveland.com ...Bystanders can unbunch their Dockers: Right to Work isn't going anywhere in Ohio anytime soon, if ever, because the last thing key Republicans want is another Senate Bill 5. True, an Ohio House committee gave a proposed Right to Work (for Less) plan, House Bill 377, a hearing last week. House rules require every House bill to get at least one hearing...
When It Comes to Female Apprenticeship Numbers, Oregon is Blowing Other States Away We Party Patriots ...In Oregon, outreach efforts to ensure women have apprenticeship opportunities were rewarded at a ceremony earlier this month, during which elected officials and union leaders touted the state’s leadership and celebrated the receipt of a $3 million federal grant to develop such programs. According to the numbers, Oregon has more than double the number of women in apprenticeships (6.9 percent) than the national average (3.2 percent)...
Paul Ryan Just Accidentally Made a Great Case for Raising the Minimum Wage The Nation ... While Ryan pushed many of his favorite myths about the safety net, he also inadvertently made one of the strongest cases to date for raising the minimum wage and investing in policies to help people balance work and caregiving. Indeed, in his grand finale, Ryan called on Congress to: “Push wages up. Push the cost of living down. Get people off the sidelines. I could think of no better way to restore confidence in the American economy”...
U.S. LABOR
UAW wins historic victory in U.S. South with vote at VW plant Reuters ...The United Auto Workers union won its first organizing vote at a foreign-owned auto assembly plant in the U.S. South on Friday, in a groundbreaking victory after decades of failed attempts. About 71 percent of skilled trades workers who cast ballots at Volkswagen AG's factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee voted to join the UAW, according to the company and the union. The skilled trades workers account for about 11 percent of the 1,450 hourly employees at the plant...
Communications Workers of America Ratify Agreements Covering AT&T Southeast Wireline Employees Fierce Telecom ...AT&T today announced that employees represented by the Communications Workers of America have voted to ratify a four-year contract with AT&T Southeast wireline operations. Employees also voted to ratify tentative agreements on two southeast regional contracts covering AT&T Billing Southeast and Southeast Utility Operations. The contracts cover about 24,000 employees in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee...
Nexteer UAW workers reject proposed contract by a landslide MLive ...Nexteer Automotive workers represented by UAW Local 699 rejected a proposed contract in a landslide vote, according to the group. UAW Local 699 on Monday, Dec. 7 posted the tentative results of the vote on its Facebook page. The outcome was 399 "no" votes to 8 "yes" votes for trade workers, and 2,704 "no" votes to 72 "yes" votes for production workers...
The single ugliest myth the rich perpetuate about the poor Salon ...Many wealthy white conservative males believe they deserve their good fortunes, and that the poor are taking handouts. But on average little of the money of the wealthiest Americans is spent on productive job-creating ventures. Based on the evidence, the very people demeaned by the rich as ‘lazy’ are generally the hardest workers. 73 percent of public support recipients are members of working families...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Activists Stage Paris Sit-In To Protest Role of Corporate Polluters in Climate Talks Democracy Now ...Despite restrictions on protests following the November 13 attacks that killed 130 people, activists attempted to stage a mass sit-in at the Grand Palais in Paris today to protest corporate sponsors pushing for so-called "solutions" to climate change that include genetically modified foods, privatized water and biofuels...
Chicago Cover-Up Deepens as 80 Minutes of Footage Confirmed Missing Common Dreams ...Chicago's cover-up scandal is deepening after city officials were forced to release additional surveillance footage of the deadly shooting of 17-year-old African American Laquan McDonald by a white officer—and it showed an unexplained 80-minute gap covering the time the teenager was killed...
Hunger-Striking Asylum Seekers Bring Their Case to Clinton’s Front Door The Nation ...Immigration activists brought the current fight over immigrant detention to Hillary Clinton’s doorstep Thursday. Two dozen activists protested outside Clinton’s Brooklyn headquarters to push the Democratic presidential front-runner and Bernie Sanders to respond to #Freedomgiving—the name activists gave to a week-long hunger strike that began the day before Thanksgiving...
Clark County School District Workers Vote to Join Teamsters Teamster.org ...Clark County School District (CCSD) support workers have voted overwhelmingly to join the Teamsters Union, the Employee-Management Relations Board (EMRB) announced today. There are more than 11,000 support workers in the bargaining unit. The vote for Teamsters Local 14 was a decisive win over the current bargaining representative at CCSD, with nearly 82 percent of workers voting to join the Teamsters...
CCSD support staff ousts ESEA in favor of Teamsters union Review-Journal ...A decade-long fight to unseat the labor union that represents more than 11,000 bus drivers, custodians and support staff who work for the Clark County School District culminated Saturday in a landslide vote for Teamsters Local 14. Claiming 81 percent of 5, 339 ballots cast in a runoff election, Teamsters leaders and supporters credited their victory to a change in rules that govern union elections...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
U.S. car makers count among Pacific trade pact skeptics Yahoo ...U.S. auto makers are unlikely to win a much bigger share of the Japanese vehicle market despite a bid to break down trade barriers under a new Pacific trade pact, highlighting the difficulties ahead in winning votes for the deal through Congress. Car makers joined the tobacco industry, pharmaceutical companies and financial services in expressing reservations about parts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership...
Vietnam Sees Record-High Foreign Investment on TPP, Eased Rules Bloomberg ...Vietnam expects disbursed foreign direct investment to reach a record high this year after the government eased business regulations, luring investors seeking to benefit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. The surge in the Southeast Asian country’s foreign investments comes as neighboring countries such as the Philippines report declines, reflecting overseas investors’ increasing attraction to Vietnam...
Drug prices expected to rise as result of TPP deal Globe and Mail ...The intellectual-property provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement will drive up global drug prices and make it harder to treat diseases in developing countries, Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) says. A month after the final text of the TPP was released, the medical humanitarian organization has completed its analysis of the portions of the massive trade pact that will affect drug costs...
How the TPP Fulfills Big Ag's Wish List Alternet ...An initial review reveals that the agreement compromises food safety and public health, notably through measures pertaining to U.S. border inspection of food imports. The agreement limits food import inspections “to what is reasonable and necessary,” and—perhaps most alarming—requires border inspectors to notify food importers if a negative food safety check is issued so they can challenge the port inspection findings...
U.S. trade deficit rises 3.4% in October to $43.9 billion LA Times ...The U.S. trade deficit widened in October, the Commerce Department said Friday, as exports of U.S. goods fell to the lowest level in more than four years, a reflection of the impact of a weak global economy and stronger dollar. The trade deficit, the difference between exports and imports, widened 3.4% in October to $43.9 billion, compared to a revised $42.5 billion deficit in September...
Greek parliament narrowly approves 2016 austerity budget Euronews ...The Greek parliament has narrowly approved a 2016 budget which includes sharp cuts in spending and some tax increases. The measures were conditions set by the country’s international lenders when Athens signed up to a third rescue package from euro zone governments in August worth up to 84 billion euros. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said it was difficult for a government that wants to promote social justice...
To Lift Quality of Life and Economy, Finland Champions Universal Basic Income Common Dreams ...As a way to improve living standards and boosts its economy, the nation of Finland is moving closer towards offering all of its adult citizens a basic permanent income of approximately 800 euros per month. The monthly allotment would replace other existing social benefits, but is an idea long advocated for by progressive-minded social scientists and economists as a solution—counter-intuitive as it may first appear at first—that actually decreases government expenditures...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Pre-filed bill targets prevailing wage in disaster areas Missouri Times ...One of the shorter pre-filed bills submitted so far calls for a prohibition on prevailing hourly wage to be paid for a tax credit funded project in a disaster area. Rep. Bill White, R-Joplin, filed HB 1406, which “prohibits the Missouri Housing Development Commission from requiring a prevailing hourly wage to be paid to a contractor on a project for a housing tax credit if it is in a Governor-declared disaster area”...
Rauner: Right to work off the table “for now” Capitol Fax ...Gov. Rauner has long said he is not pushing a “right-to-work” agenda for Illinois, but when speaking to a friendly crowd Friday at the Illinois Manufacturers Association’s annual luncheon, Rauner said the idea was only off the table “for now.” “Our labor regulations, while all the states around us have gone right-to-work, that’s killing a lot of employers,” Rauner said. “I’ve taken that off the table, for now anyway, in the spirit of trying to get a deal”...
Oregon union fight heats up Statesman Journal ...The Northwest Accountability Project has filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service asking to have the Freedom Foundation's tax-exempt charity status revoked. The complaint is intensifying the battle over public unions in Oregon and Washington, and was co-signed by 18 organizations including labor unions and left-leaning activist groups. The Northwest Accountability Project is working to counter the Freedom Foundation's campaign to have home-care workers opt out of paying union dues...
Right to Work is DOA in Ohio for fear of a Senate Bill 5 reprise (opinion) Cleveland.com ...Bystanders can unbunch their Dockers: Right to Work isn't going anywhere in Ohio anytime soon, if ever, because the last thing key Republicans want is another Senate Bill 5. True, an Ohio House committee gave a proposed Right to Work (for Less) plan, House Bill 377, a hearing last week. House rules require every House bill to get at least one hearing...
When It Comes to Female Apprenticeship Numbers, Oregon is Blowing Other States Away We Party Patriots ...In Oregon, outreach efforts to ensure women have apprenticeship opportunities were rewarded at a ceremony earlier this month, during which elected officials and union leaders touted the state’s leadership and celebrated the receipt of a $3 million federal grant to develop such programs. According to the numbers, Oregon has more than double the number of women in apprenticeships (6.9 percent) than the national average (3.2 percent)...
Paul Ryan Just Accidentally Made a Great Case for Raising the Minimum Wage The Nation ... While Ryan pushed many of his favorite myths about the safety net, he also inadvertently made one of the strongest cases to date for raising the minimum wage and investing in policies to help people balance work and caregiving. Indeed, in his grand finale, Ryan called on Congress to: “Push wages up. Push the cost of living down. Get people off the sidelines. I could think of no better way to restore confidence in the American economy”...
U.S. LABOR
UAW wins historic victory in U.S. South with vote at VW plant Reuters ...The United Auto Workers union won its first organizing vote at a foreign-owned auto assembly plant in the U.S. South on Friday, in a groundbreaking victory after decades of failed attempts. About 71 percent of skilled trades workers who cast ballots at Volkswagen AG's factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee voted to join the UAW, according to the company and the union. The skilled trades workers account for about 11 percent of the 1,450 hourly employees at the plant...
Communications Workers of America Ratify Agreements Covering AT&T Southeast Wireline Employees Fierce Telecom ...AT&T today announced that employees represented by the Communications Workers of America have voted to ratify a four-year contract with AT&T Southeast wireline operations. Employees also voted to ratify tentative agreements on two southeast regional contracts covering AT&T Billing Southeast and Southeast Utility Operations. The contracts cover about 24,000 employees in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee...
Nexteer UAW workers reject proposed contract by a landslide MLive ...Nexteer Automotive workers represented by UAW Local 699 rejected a proposed contract in a landslide vote, according to the group. UAW Local 699 on Monday, Dec. 7 posted the tentative results of the vote on its Facebook page. The outcome was 399 "no" votes to 8 "yes" votes for trade workers, and 2,704 "no" votes to 72 "yes" votes for production workers...
The single ugliest myth the rich perpetuate about the poor Salon ...Many wealthy white conservative males believe they deserve their good fortunes, and that the poor are taking handouts. But on average little of the money of the wealthiest Americans is spent on productive job-creating ventures. Based on the evidence, the very people demeaned by the rich as ‘lazy’ are generally the hardest workers. 73 percent of public support recipients are members of working families...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Activists Stage Paris Sit-In To Protest Role of Corporate Polluters in Climate Talks Democracy Now ...Despite restrictions on protests following the November 13 attacks that killed 130 people, activists attempted to stage a mass sit-in at the Grand Palais in Paris today to protest corporate sponsors pushing for so-called "solutions" to climate change that include genetically modified foods, privatized water and biofuels...
Chicago Cover-Up Deepens as 80 Minutes of Footage Confirmed Missing Common Dreams ...Chicago's cover-up scandal is deepening after city officials were forced to release additional surveillance footage of the deadly shooting of 17-year-old African American Laquan McDonald by a white officer—and it showed an unexplained 80-minute gap covering the time the teenager was killed...
Hunger-Striking Asylum Seekers Bring Their Case to Clinton’s Front Door The Nation ...Immigration activists brought the current fight over immigrant detention to Hillary Clinton’s doorstep Thursday. Two dozen activists protested outside Clinton’s Brooklyn headquarters to push the Democratic presidential front-runner and Bernie Sanders to respond to #Freedomgiving—the name activists gave to a week-long hunger strike that began the day before Thanksgiving...
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