TEAMSTERS
Strike Ends as Chicago Teamsters Reach Tentative Agreement with Coca-Cola Teamster.org ...Teamsters Local 727 ended its unfair labor practice strike against Coca-Cola Refreshments late on Tuesday, Dec. 29, after reaching tentative agreement on a fair three-year contract for 319 production and warehouse workers. Upon ratification, the tentative agreement will transfer Local 727 members into a new health and welfare plan previously available to Coca-Cola management...
Teamsters reach tentative pact with Coca-Cola, end strike Chicago Tribune ...Coca-Cola workers who have been on strike for nearly a month are heading back to work after their union reached a tentative three-year contract with the company. Teamsters Local 727, which says it represents 319 production workers at Coca-Cola plants in Niles and Alsip, announced late Tuesday that the bargaining committee recommended ratification of what it called a "fair" contract offer by Coke...
Teamsters: Port Drivers Win Nearly $7 Million in Wages, End Misclassification Teamster.org ...On Dec. 14, the California Labor Commissioner determined that 38 drivers at leading port trucking company Pacific 9 Transportation, which hauls containers from the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach for some of America’s premiere brands – including Costco, Goodyear Tires, Ugg Boots, and Microsoft – are in fact employees, not independent contractors, and ordered Pac 9 to pay them nearly $6.9 million in stolen wages...
Port drivers win millions in back pay from trucking firm LA Times ...A port trucking firm in Carson has been ordered to turn over nearly $7 million in back pay to 38 drivers, the latest in a series of recent wins for port drivers and the Teamsters union that has been trying to organize them. The state Labor Commissioner's Office ruled this month that the drivers at Pacific 9 Transportation were improperly treated as independent contractors rather than as employees...
NYC horse carriage industry thanks supporters for help Daily News ...Horse carriages — which for the past two years have operated under a cloud of uncertainty — are starting 2016 on a positive note. The industry, which Mayor de Blasio threatened to ban on his first day in office, bought a full page ad in Friday’s Daily News thanking its supporters for helping them stay around for the past two years...
American Red Cross Workers Vote To Join Teamsters In Maine PR Newswire ...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...
Beer hauler moves to bust Teamsters union NW Labor Press ...Teamsters Local 162 is facing what more and more looks like a union-busting effort by General Distributors Inc. When truck drivers, warehouse workers, and sales employees learned that the profitable company would seek $1.5 million a year in concessions from them in their next union contract, they voted 59 to 5 to strike, and about 80 members of Teamsters Local 162 walked off the job Nov. 17. In response, the company threatened to permanently replace them...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Zimbabwe: Public workers threaten strike over delayed pay Africa Report ...The year is opening on a tense note for the Zimbabwean government, as tens of thousands of public workers have threatened to go on strike over delayed salaries. Civil servants in the southern African nation are yet to be paid their December salaries, with the government promising to pay them by Tuesday, but this has not been enough to calm the restive workers...
Jerusalem sanitation workers strike after 170 fired Times of Israel ...Jerusalem sanitation workers went on strike Thursday, after the city sent termination letters to 170 employees in the department. The municipality also warned that the move was the first of many necessary cutbacks to come — with up to 2,000 more firings — if the Finance Ministry does not transfer to the city the funds needed to keep a balanced budget in 2016...
U.S. Election Debate Complicates Passage of Pacific Trade Pact Wall Street Journal ...An international trade agreement embraced by President Barack Obama and the Republican-controlled Congress is drawing fire from many presidential candidates, illustrating the populist shift of both parties in the age of Donald Trump. Contenders ranging from Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas have spoken out against the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership...
TPP nations arranging to sign free-trade deal in early February Japan Times ...Japan, the United States and 10 other nations that reached a broad agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade pact in October are arranging to sign the deal in early February, an official from one of the nations has said. Following the broad agreement after more than five years of negotiations, the 12 nations released the text of the landmark trade deal in November...
TPP trade deal pits Pittsburgh against Philadelphia Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ...Pittsburgh manufactures the products. Philadelphia ships them around the world. One city stands to gain from expanding trade into the Pacific Rim while the other has much to lose, their mayors say. That’s why Philadelphia’s outgoing mayor, Michael Nutter, has been helping the White House stump for the Trans-Pacific Partnership while Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto stands opposed...
The Corporate-Friendly Trade Deals Threatening Ordinary People in 2016 Common Dreams ...Corporate media failed to cover the dangers of business-friendly trade deals in 2015, despite growing grassroots opposition to such pacts—and increasing public awareness about their contents. Will 2016 be the year looming toxic trade policies catapult into the mainstream? Sierra Club trade representative Ilana Solomon hopes so...
Greece Not to Agree to Creditors Unreasonable Austerity Demands - Tsipras Sputnik News ...Athens will follow the memorandum signed with its international creditors, but will not agree to unreasonable austerity demands, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said, as quoted by the local media on Sunday. According to Tsipras, 2016 will be a pivotal year, after several years of crisis for the country. The Greek economy has been severely strained because of the country’s multibillion debt accumulated after the 2008 world economic crisis...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Minimum wage rises in 14 states and several cities Al Jazeera ...As the United States marks more than six years without an increase in the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, 14 states and several cities are moving forward with their own increases, with most having taken effect Jan. 1. California and Massachusetts are highest among the states, both increasing from $9 to $10 an hour, according to an analysis by the National Conference of State Legislatures...
American workers see progress on paid sick leave, no thanks to Congress Daily Kos ...Paid sick days have gained a lot of ground in the last few years, and continued to do so in 2015. Oregon became the fourth state to require paid sick leave for most workers, following Connecticut, California, and Massachusetts. The cities of Tacoma, Washington, and Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, also passed paid sick leave laws...
Missouri speaker sounds doubtful over 'right to work' STL Today ...When it comes to a GOP-led charge to make Missouri a “right to work” state, a top Republican is throwing cold water on one of the hot-button issues of the last legislative session. In an interview with the Post-Dispatch, House Speaker Todd Richardson sounded doubtful that right to work would be a top goal for Republicans when the House and Senate return Wednesday...
Wages in NH expected to increase in 2016 Union Leader ...Wal-Mart, the state's largest retail employer, plans to raise wages for its 7,785 New Hampshire employees in 2016, in one of several signs that the year ahead could finally see meaningful improvement in earnings for hourly workers after years of wage stagnation...
Chris Christie Refuses To Help Unemployed New Jersey Residents Hold Onto Food Stamps Think Progress ...About 11,000 New Jersey residents are set to lose their food stamps after Gov. Chris Christie (R)’s administration said it won’t seek any waivers from the program’s work requirements. Since 2009, state governors have been encouraged to get waivers from the federal government for the requirement that able-bodied, childless adults work at least 20 hours a week to enroll in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)...
Judge's ruling a mixed bag for those challenging voter ID law Journal Sentinel ...A federal judge has thrown out portions of a challenge to Wisconsin's voting laws but is allowing a key part of the lawsuit to proceed that could allow more types of identification to be used under the voter ID law. In his ruling last month, U.S. District Judge James Peterson in Madison also found the liberal One Wisconsin Institute could pursue its argument that recent restrictions on early voting violate the U.S. Constitution...
U.S. LABOR
Tentative agreement prevents custodial workers strike Bristol Press ...Just one day before a strike could have begun, a bargaining committee representing more than 2,100 janitors in Hartford, New Haven and other Connecticut cities and towns reached a tentative agreement with the Hartford County Cleaning Contractors Association. The four-year contract agreed to Wednesday — subject to ratification — includes incremental wage increases...
Labor board hands Whole Foods workers a victory CBS ...Whole Foods Market (WFM) can no longer forbid its employees from taking photographs or recording conversations at work, according to a recent federal ruling. "Smartphone pics and videos in this day and age are particularly 'essential' to proving an employee's rights have been violated," said the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in a decision issued late last week...
150 Muslims Fired For Protesting Their Workplace’s Prayer Policies Think Progress ...About 150 Muslim workers at a meat processing plant have been fired for refusing to show up for work during an ongoing dispute over prayer accommodations. The controversy began on December 18, when 11 Somali Muslim workers at the Cargill Meat Solutions plant in Fort Morgan, Colorado requested to visit the building’s prayer room at the same time...
Ten of the Best Things That Happened to American Workers in 2015 Huffington Post ...Historians may remember 2015 as the year of the minimum wage -- and for good reason. Twenty-one states and multiple cities raised the minimum wage in the past 12 months, scarcely two years after the "Fight for $15" was dismissed as a pipe dream by some observers. The past year also saw other major advances for working Americans...
The End Of Unions? Upcoming Supreme Court Case Could Overturn Power To Collect Fees IBTimes ...A Supreme Court case beginning Jan. 11 has union members wondering if a ruling could sound a death knell on labor organizations that have grown accustomed to heightened limitations and declining memberships in recent years. Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association will determine whether mandatory union dues violate workers' freedom of speech, and experts say a ruling could dictate the future of unions' ability to collect fees...
Workers' Comp Industrial Complex: The Middlemen Silencing Injured Workers Truthout ...Workers' comp is supposed to be simple. If you're injured on the job, your employer pays your medical bills and part of your wages while you recover. But over the past two decades, a cottage industry of middlemen has emerged, which some have dubbed the "workers' comp industrial complex." Even private equity firms have bought in, seeing profit opportunities in employers' and insurers' quest to contain spending...
Adjuncts at Loyola University Chicago Want a Union. Will the Jesuit University Respect Their Demands? The Nation ...Loyola University Chicago now faces the challenge of putting its Jesuit principles into practice as frustrated professors push for a union. The administration argues a union would interfere with the university’s “mission.” But according to Loyola’s struggling non-tenured faculty members, their poverty wages and exhausting working conditions prove that it is the administration’s corporate greed that is flouting the Jesuit tradition of social justice...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Happy New Year. You’re Deported. The Nation ...This is how the Department of Homeland Security says happy holidays: The federal government will reportedly begin raids to deport families who’ve arrived in the country in the last two years, according to The Washington Post. The enforcement operation could begin in a matter of weeks, and was first reported on Christmas Eve. The raids would target hundreds of adults and children who have a standing order of deportation against them...
Hundreds Demand Prosecutor In Tamir Rice Case Resign Think Progress ...Protests continued on Friday following a grand jury’s recent decision not to indict the two white police officers who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice. More than 100 activists marched to the home of the prosecutor who handled Rice’s case, Timothy McGinty, on New Year’s Day and demanded his resignation. Chanting “New year, no more!”...
Media Coverage of Oregon Militia Standoff Raises Eyebrows — and Ire Common Dreams ...After members of a rightwing militia seized the headquarters of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon on Saturday afternoon, observers questioned the corporate media's treatment of the event, pointing to a double standard in coverage compared to other recent protests. Watchdog site Media Matters pointed out that while Fox's coverage of campus protests against racial discrimination was dismissive, its reporting "looked drastically different when those protesting have aligned with the network's conservative agenda"...
They’d be killed if they were black: The racial double standard at the heart of the new Bundy family standoff Salon ...At least 150 armed white men have seized control of a federal building outside of Burns, Oregon. The actions taken by Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, and their supporters in Oregon are the very definition of terrorism and armed insurrection. If Muslims took up arms, occupied a federal building, recorded martyrdom videos, and threatened to kill police and other authorities, they would be called “terrorists”...
Showing posts with label Local 162. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Local 162. Show all posts
Monday, January 4, 2016
Friday, December 4, 2015
Today's Teamster News 12.04.15
TEAMSTERS
Teamsters Statement on San Bernardino County Shootings Teamster.org ...The Teamsters Union is deeply saddened by the tragic event in San Bernardino County, Calif., which has taken the lives of 14 people, injured 21 and shaken the community at large. As the news continues to unfold, we are saddened to learn that some of the victims were members of Teamsters Local 1932. “Today is a sad day, as we join the San Bernardino community with a heavy heart in mourning this tragic loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and everyone impacted by this senseless tragedy,” said Jim Hoffa...
Teamsters end strike at Portland-area beer distributor, vote to return to work Oregon Live ...A 16-day strike at a Portland-area beer and wine distributor ended Wednesday with a union offer to go back to work, but the company's general manager said striking workers need to report to him Friday to keep their jobs. Representatives of labor and management issued news releases about the latest developments in the labor dispute at General Distributors Inc. in Oregon City. Teamsters Local 162, based in Portland, represents about 80 workers at General Distributors...
Coke workers strike in Alsip and Niles Chicago Tribune ...James Shears has worked at Coca-Cola bottling plants in the south suburbs for almost a half-century and said he has never seen contract negotiations break down as badly as they have over the last six months. Shears joined other members of the Teamsters Local 727 on the picket line early Thursday morning, as about 300 workers at the plants in Alsip and Niles began striking to protest what they claim are unfair labor practices...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
1,200 Irish Life workers to take strike action Breaking News ...1,200 workers at Irish Life in Dublin and Dundalk are to hold two, one day, strikes. The action has been announced for December 17 and January 20. A dispute has been ongoing since the beginning of November, over a new pay model. Unite, which represents the staff, also has said the company is refusing to attend the Labour Court...
Protests erupt as Ecuador scraps presidential term limits DW.com ...Protesters armed with sticks and rocks battled riot police in the capital where lawmakers engaged in a marathon nine-hour debate before lifting term limits, stripping collective bargaining rights for public sector workers and placing the military in charge of domestic security. Rights groups have criticized Correa for using his monopoly across all branches of government to stifle dissent, and they fear the latter measure will even further restrict freedom of expression...
Ryan promotes trade, falls short of endorsing TPP The Hill ...Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) called for boosting U.S. exports but fell short of endorsing an expansive Pacific Rim trade deal that could go before Congress next year. Ryan, who as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee was one of the leaders who guided trade promotion authority through the House, will play a critical role in whether the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) earns enough support to clear Congress...
Reichert Says About 15 Republicans Will Oppose TPP Over Tobacco MyInforms ....Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA), the chairman of the House Ways & Means trade subcommittee, warned Thursday (Dec. 3) that securing congressional passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement will be more difficult than the winning approval of the fast-track bill in June, in part because at the moment roughly 15 House Republicans who voted for fast track would oppose TPP over its treatment of tobacco...
How the Toxic Trade Deal You've Never Heard Of Could Kill the Climate Common Dreams ...As world leaders attempt to hammer out a global climate deal in Paris this week, trade officials are meeting in Geneva to continue negotiations on the mammoth Trade in Services Agreement (TISA)—and according to secret documents published Thursday, "the objectives of each could not be more diametrically opposed." The latest publication by WikiLeaks exposes new threats from TISA, the least well-known of the so-called Big Three "strategic neoliberal trade deals being advanced by the Obama administration"...
New TTIP 'Transparency' Agenca Still Leaves Public in the Dark (opinion) War on Want ...This week’s concession to create more access to secretive EU-US trade deal documents falls woefully short of any meaningful transparency for the 500 million people of Europe. An agreement between the European Commission and European Parliament to make key Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) texts available to all 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) was announced yesterday...
Greek capital brought to a standstill as workers strike against austerity Euro News ...Protesters marched through the streets of Athens on Thursday as over two-and-a-half-million workers took part in a general strike that has brought public services to a standstill. The 24-hour walkout is in response to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ acceptance of a new package of austerity measures by the country’s lenders, that includes a total overhaul of the social security and pension system...
In Oaxaca, Teachers Won’t Give Up the Fight NACLA ...Instead of facing off with the PRI-led state government, this time the union is up against global financiers, national economic elites, its own national union, and all the major political parties in Mexico. Each of these groups support a constitutional reform that would privatize schools, punitively evaluate teachers, and standardize education. The measure threatens the guarantee of a free public education and basic job security...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
What Scott Walker’s Elimination Of Wisconsin’s Living Wage Law Means For Workers Think Progress ...Last year, 100 low-wage workers in Wisconsin decided to sue their governor, Scott Walker (R), over their pay. The state had a century-old statute on the books saying that the minimum wage “shall be not less than a living wage,” enough “to permit an employee to maintain herself or himself in minimum comfort, decency, physical and moral well-being.” But this week they were handed a final defeat: A judge dismissed their lawsuit...
House Bill 337 Would Make Ohio a 'Right to Work' State Gateway News ...Dozens of union members and supporters packed two Statehouse hearing rooms and hallways Dec. 1 in a show of opposition to right-to-work legislation being considered by state lawmakers. At issue is HB 377, which would bar mandatory union membership or dues payments. Comparable law changes have been proposed in past general assemblies and a stalled constitutional amendment petition effort...
Legislative plan would set regional minimum wage rates Portland Tribune ...Spurred by two ballot initiatives to raise Oregon’s minimum wage, a Portland lawmaker plans to propose legislation in February that would set different regional minimum wage rates based on cost of living and median income. Sen. Michael Dembrow, who chairs the Senate workforce committee, said a legislative agreement could help avert an acrimonious and prolonged battle over minimum wage at the ballot box...
Alabama governor falsely claims state made deal with feds on voter ID MSNBC ...Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley responded Wednesday to a lawsuit challenging his state’s voter ID law by claiming that the state already came to an agreement with the federal government that addresses concerns about the law. But Bentley’s claim is flatly false: Alabama’s deal with the Feds had nothing to do with the ID law...
Bill would require all Harrisburg businesses to provide paid sick leave ABC27 ...Thousands of people who work in the city of Harrisburg do not get paid sick leave, many make minimum wage.
“Life is hard enough as it is you do not need the pressure of an employer saying if you do not come in today, do not bother coming in tomorrow,” said Brad Koplinski, Harrisburg city councilman. Koplinski has introduced legislation that would require businesses in the city to provide five sick days for both full and part-time employees...
U.S. LABOR
UFCW Members at El Super Strike In Protest Against the Company’s Unfair Labor Practices UFCW ...On the day before Thanksgiving, El Super workers at seven unionized locations in Southern California decided to strike the company over unfair labor practices. Picket lines were established at 4 a.m. asking consumers to do their Thanksgiving shopping elsewhere. El Super union members have been working without a new and fair contract since September 2013...
UAW Election at Volkswagen's Tennessee Plant Ends Friday ABC ...Workers will finish casting their ballots Friday in the latest effort by the United Auto Workers union to organize at Volkswagen's lone U.S. plant in Tennessee. The two-day vote is scheduled to conclude at 8:30 p.m. EST, the end of the work day at the plant. The election involves 162 skilled trades workers, who are responsible for repairing and maintaining machines and robots at the Chattanooga factory...
Asarco's unions protest company's tactics Arizona Daily Star ...Union miners rallied Tuesday afternoon at Asarco’s Tucson headquarters to protest what they say are unfair contract negotiating tactics by the copper-mining company. The United Steelworkers, the lead among eight labor unions representing about 2,000 Asarco workers, said Asarco has announced its intent to unilaterally implement the company’s “last, best and final” contract proposal on Tuesday, calling the move “illegal”...
Mixed Verdict for Donald Blankenship, Ex-Chief of Massey Energy, After Coal Mine Blast New York Times ...Donald L. Blankenship, whose leadership of the Massey Energy Company was widely criticized after 29 workers were killed in the Upper Big Branch mine in 2010, was convicted Thursday of conspiring to violate federal safety standards, becoming the most prominent American coal executive ever convicted of a crime related to mining deaths...
The Entire Labor Movement Should Be Paying Attention to Wisconsin’s Kohler Strike In These Times ...Two thousand workers at the Kohler faucet plant in Northern Wisconsin have been walking the picket since November 16. Such a strike would have been commonplace decades ago. Nowadays it is a rarity. Major strikes of over 1,000 workers are few and far between. Even rarer are open-ended strikes at an industrial plant. The Kohler strike is an open-ended, large scale, non-publicity style strike in manufacturing, a traditionally organized industry...
Wage Growth Stagnated Even As November’s Job Growth Was Strong Think Progress ...The economy added 211,000 jobs in November while the unemployment rate stayed the same at 5 percent, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Analysts had expected 200,000 jobs to be added. November’s gains came in construction (46,000), professional and technical services (28,000), health care (24,000), food and drink places (32,000), and retail (31,000)...
The Incredible Shrinking Incomes of Young Americans The Atlantic ...American families are grappling with stagnant wage growth, as the costs of health care, education, and housing continue to climb. But for many of America's younger workers, "stagnant" wages shouldn't sound so bad. In fact, they might sound like a massive raise. Since the Great Recession struck in 2007, the median wage for people between the ages of 25 and 34, adjusted for inflation, has fallen in every major industry except for health care...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
20 People Now Own As Much Wealth as Half of All Americans The Nation ...The 400 richest Americans now have more wealth than the bottom 61 percent of the population, a report released on Wednesday by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) reveals. According to “Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of Us,” just the twenty individuals at the top of the pile now control more wealth than the bottom half of the population...
6 Noxious Facts About America's Billionaires Alternet ...When Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced this week that he will give away 99 percent of his personal fortune—now estimated at $44 billion—during his lifetime, he was lauded in newspapers and TV broadcasts from coast to coast. But few people noted that giving away his billions will still leave Zuckerberg, his wife Priscilla Chan and newborn daughter Max, with at least $440 million to live on...
Here’s Why Hundreds of Immigrants in Detention Have Gone on Hunger Strike Mother Jones ...After spending months holed up in detention centers, more than 100 undocumented immigrants in California and Alabama launched a hunger strike on the evening before Thanksgiving. The following Monday, they were joined by dozens of other frustrated immigrants at three more detention centers in California, Colorado, and Texas. Their protest is the latest in a wave of hunger strikes at immigrant detention facilities across the country...
Anti-Muslim Rhetoric Has Gone From Fringe To Mainstream, Report Says Think Progress ...Anti-Muslim rhetoric, recently on display as lawmakers discuss the issue of resettling Syrian refugees, began on the fringes of the far-right and has infiltrated mainstream politics, according to a new report released by the National Security Network. “The current political climate is the culmination of a years-long and well-funded effort to bring Islamophobia and xenophobia from the far-right fringe to the political mainstream,” report authors J. Dana Stuster and Samuel Davidoff-Gore write...
Bombing Hasn’t Worked. Bombing Won’t Work. And Yet, We Will Bomb The Nation ...“If a man beats his head against the wall,” the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci once wrote, “it’s his head that breaks and not the wall.” In the wake of the horrific attacks in Paris, the British political class has been suffering terrible headaches. Once again, all its leaders can come up with is more bombing—this time, against ISIS in Syria. The logic is always the same: We must do something. Bombing is something. We must bomb...
Teamsters Statement on San Bernardino County Shootings Teamster.org ...The Teamsters Union is deeply saddened by the tragic event in San Bernardino County, Calif., which has taken the lives of 14 people, injured 21 and shaken the community at large. As the news continues to unfold, we are saddened to learn that some of the victims were members of Teamsters Local 1932. “Today is a sad day, as we join the San Bernardino community with a heavy heart in mourning this tragic loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and everyone impacted by this senseless tragedy,” said Jim Hoffa...
Teamsters end strike at Portland-area beer distributor, vote to return to work Oregon Live ...A 16-day strike at a Portland-area beer and wine distributor ended Wednesday with a union offer to go back to work, but the company's general manager said striking workers need to report to him Friday to keep their jobs. Representatives of labor and management issued news releases about the latest developments in the labor dispute at General Distributors Inc. in Oregon City. Teamsters Local 162, based in Portland, represents about 80 workers at General Distributors...
Coke workers strike in Alsip and Niles Chicago Tribune ...James Shears has worked at Coca-Cola bottling plants in the south suburbs for almost a half-century and said he has never seen contract negotiations break down as badly as they have over the last six months. Shears joined other members of the Teamsters Local 727 on the picket line early Thursday morning, as about 300 workers at the plants in Alsip and Niles began striking to protest what they claim are unfair labor practices...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
1,200 Irish Life workers to take strike action Breaking News ...1,200 workers at Irish Life in Dublin and Dundalk are to hold two, one day, strikes. The action has been announced for December 17 and January 20. A dispute has been ongoing since the beginning of November, over a new pay model. Unite, which represents the staff, also has said the company is refusing to attend the Labour Court...
Protests erupt as Ecuador scraps presidential term limits DW.com ...Protesters armed with sticks and rocks battled riot police in the capital where lawmakers engaged in a marathon nine-hour debate before lifting term limits, stripping collective bargaining rights for public sector workers and placing the military in charge of domestic security. Rights groups have criticized Correa for using his monopoly across all branches of government to stifle dissent, and they fear the latter measure will even further restrict freedom of expression...
Ryan promotes trade, falls short of endorsing TPP The Hill ...Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) called for boosting U.S. exports but fell short of endorsing an expansive Pacific Rim trade deal that could go before Congress next year. Ryan, who as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee was one of the leaders who guided trade promotion authority through the House, will play a critical role in whether the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) earns enough support to clear Congress...
Reichert Says About 15 Republicans Will Oppose TPP Over Tobacco MyInforms ....Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA), the chairman of the House Ways & Means trade subcommittee, warned Thursday (Dec. 3) that securing congressional passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement will be more difficult than the winning approval of the fast-track bill in June, in part because at the moment roughly 15 House Republicans who voted for fast track would oppose TPP over its treatment of tobacco...
How the Toxic Trade Deal You've Never Heard Of Could Kill the Climate Common Dreams ...As world leaders attempt to hammer out a global climate deal in Paris this week, trade officials are meeting in Geneva to continue negotiations on the mammoth Trade in Services Agreement (TISA)—and according to secret documents published Thursday, "the objectives of each could not be more diametrically opposed." The latest publication by WikiLeaks exposes new threats from TISA, the least well-known of the so-called Big Three "strategic neoliberal trade deals being advanced by the Obama administration"...
New TTIP 'Transparency' Agenca Still Leaves Public in the Dark (opinion) War on Want ...This week’s concession to create more access to secretive EU-US trade deal documents falls woefully short of any meaningful transparency for the 500 million people of Europe. An agreement between the European Commission and European Parliament to make key Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) texts available to all 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) was announced yesterday...
Greek capital brought to a standstill as workers strike against austerity Euro News ...Protesters marched through the streets of Athens on Thursday as over two-and-a-half-million workers took part in a general strike that has brought public services to a standstill. The 24-hour walkout is in response to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ acceptance of a new package of austerity measures by the country’s lenders, that includes a total overhaul of the social security and pension system...
In Oaxaca, Teachers Won’t Give Up the Fight NACLA ...Instead of facing off with the PRI-led state government, this time the union is up against global financiers, national economic elites, its own national union, and all the major political parties in Mexico. Each of these groups support a constitutional reform that would privatize schools, punitively evaluate teachers, and standardize education. The measure threatens the guarantee of a free public education and basic job security...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
What Scott Walker’s Elimination Of Wisconsin’s Living Wage Law Means For Workers Think Progress ...Last year, 100 low-wage workers in Wisconsin decided to sue their governor, Scott Walker (R), over their pay. The state had a century-old statute on the books saying that the minimum wage “shall be not less than a living wage,” enough “to permit an employee to maintain herself or himself in minimum comfort, decency, physical and moral well-being.” But this week they were handed a final defeat: A judge dismissed their lawsuit...
House Bill 337 Would Make Ohio a 'Right to Work' State Gateway News ...Dozens of union members and supporters packed two Statehouse hearing rooms and hallways Dec. 1 in a show of opposition to right-to-work legislation being considered by state lawmakers. At issue is HB 377, which would bar mandatory union membership or dues payments. Comparable law changes have been proposed in past general assemblies and a stalled constitutional amendment petition effort...
Legislative plan would set regional minimum wage rates Portland Tribune ...Spurred by two ballot initiatives to raise Oregon’s minimum wage, a Portland lawmaker plans to propose legislation in February that would set different regional minimum wage rates based on cost of living and median income. Sen. Michael Dembrow, who chairs the Senate workforce committee, said a legislative agreement could help avert an acrimonious and prolonged battle over minimum wage at the ballot box...
Alabama governor falsely claims state made deal with feds on voter ID MSNBC ...Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley responded Wednesday to a lawsuit challenging his state’s voter ID law by claiming that the state already came to an agreement with the federal government that addresses concerns about the law. But Bentley’s claim is flatly false: Alabama’s deal with the Feds had nothing to do with the ID law...
Bill would require all Harrisburg businesses to provide paid sick leave ABC27 ...Thousands of people who work in the city of Harrisburg do not get paid sick leave, many make minimum wage.
“Life is hard enough as it is you do not need the pressure of an employer saying if you do not come in today, do not bother coming in tomorrow,” said Brad Koplinski, Harrisburg city councilman. Koplinski has introduced legislation that would require businesses in the city to provide five sick days for both full and part-time employees...
U.S. LABOR
UFCW Members at El Super Strike In Protest Against the Company’s Unfair Labor Practices UFCW ...On the day before Thanksgiving, El Super workers at seven unionized locations in Southern California decided to strike the company over unfair labor practices. Picket lines were established at 4 a.m. asking consumers to do their Thanksgiving shopping elsewhere. El Super union members have been working without a new and fair contract since September 2013...
UAW Election at Volkswagen's Tennessee Plant Ends Friday ABC ...Workers will finish casting their ballots Friday in the latest effort by the United Auto Workers union to organize at Volkswagen's lone U.S. plant in Tennessee. The two-day vote is scheduled to conclude at 8:30 p.m. EST, the end of the work day at the plant. The election involves 162 skilled trades workers, who are responsible for repairing and maintaining machines and robots at the Chattanooga factory...
Asarco's unions protest company's tactics Arizona Daily Star ...Union miners rallied Tuesday afternoon at Asarco’s Tucson headquarters to protest what they say are unfair contract negotiating tactics by the copper-mining company. The United Steelworkers, the lead among eight labor unions representing about 2,000 Asarco workers, said Asarco has announced its intent to unilaterally implement the company’s “last, best and final” contract proposal on Tuesday, calling the move “illegal”...
Mixed Verdict for Donald Blankenship, Ex-Chief of Massey Energy, After Coal Mine Blast New York Times ...Donald L. Blankenship, whose leadership of the Massey Energy Company was widely criticized after 29 workers were killed in the Upper Big Branch mine in 2010, was convicted Thursday of conspiring to violate federal safety standards, becoming the most prominent American coal executive ever convicted of a crime related to mining deaths...
The Entire Labor Movement Should Be Paying Attention to Wisconsin’s Kohler Strike In These Times ...Two thousand workers at the Kohler faucet plant in Northern Wisconsin have been walking the picket since November 16. Such a strike would have been commonplace decades ago. Nowadays it is a rarity. Major strikes of over 1,000 workers are few and far between. Even rarer are open-ended strikes at an industrial plant. The Kohler strike is an open-ended, large scale, non-publicity style strike in manufacturing, a traditionally organized industry...
Wage Growth Stagnated Even As November’s Job Growth Was Strong Think Progress ...The economy added 211,000 jobs in November while the unemployment rate stayed the same at 5 percent, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Analysts had expected 200,000 jobs to be added. November’s gains came in construction (46,000), professional and technical services (28,000), health care (24,000), food and drink places (32,000), and retail (31,000)...
The Incredible Shrinking Incomes of Young Americans The Atlantic ...American families are grappling with stagnant wage growth, as the costs of health care, education, and housing continue to climb. But for many of America's younger workers, "stagnant" wages shouldn't sound so bad. In fact, they might sound like a massive raise. Since the Great Recession struck in 2007, the median wage for people between the ages of 25 and 34, adjusted for inflation, has fallen in every major industry except for health care...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
20 People Now Own As Much Wealth as Half of All Americans The Nation ...The 400 richest Americans now have more wealth than the bottom 61 percent of the population, a report released on Wednesday by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) reveals. According to “Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of Us,” just the twenty individuals at the top of the pile now control more wealth than the bottom half of the population...
6 Noxious Facts About America's Billionaires Alternet ...When Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced this week that he will give away 99 percent of his personal fortune—now estimated at $44 billion—during his lifetime, he was lauded in newspapers and TV broadcasts from coast to coast. But few people noted that giving away his billions will still leave Zuckerberg, his wife Priscilla Chan and newborn daughter Max, with at least $440 million to live on...
Here’s Why Hundreds of Immigrants in Detention Have Gone on Hunger Strike Mother Jones ...After spending months holed up in detention centers, more than 100 undocumented immigrants in California and Alabama launched a hunger strike on the evening before Thanksgiving. The following Monday, they were joined by dozens of other frustrated immigrants at three more detention centers in California, Colorado, and Texas. Their protest is the latest in a wave of hunger strikes at immigrant detention facilities across the country...
Anti-Muslim Rhetoric Has Gone From Fringe To Mainstream, Report Says Think Progress ...Anti-Muslim rhetoric, recently on display as lawmakers discuss the issue of resettling Syrian refugees, began on the fringes of the far-right and has infiltrated mainstream politics, according to a new report released by the National Security Network. “The current political climate is the culmination of a years-long and well-funded effort to bring Islamophobia and xenophobia from the far-right fringe to the political mainstream,” report authors J. Dana Stuster and Samuel Davidoff-Gore write...
Bombing Hasn’t Worked. Bombing Won’t Work. And Yet, We Will Bomb The Nation ...“If a man beats his head against the wall,” the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci once wrote, “it’s his head that breaks and not the wall.” In the wake of the horrific attacks in Paris, the British political class has been suffering terrible headaches. Once again, all its leaders can come up with is more bombing—this time, against ISIS in Syria. The logic is always the same: We must do something. Bombing is something. We must bomb...
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