Today's Teamster News 07.09.15

Teamsters
Eco Flow Port Drivers Vote To Join Teamsters  Teamsters.org   ...Late on July 8, 2015, port truck drivers from Eco Flow Transportation, LLC, voted unanimously and selected Teamsters Local 848 as their exclusive bargaining agent in an election conducted by Region 21 of the National Labor Relations Board.  Pursuant to an agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Eco Flow agreed to remain neutral with respect to the drivers’ efforts to form a union...
Teamsters Local 340 Members Protest At City Council  Teamster.org  ...Local 340 members were out in force last night at the Biddeford, Maine, city council meeting to demand action on new contracts.  The city leaders have stalled negotiating on new contracts which cover 60 police officers and 50 public works employees which the local union has tried to negotiate for the past six months.
“The city is not negotiating in good faith…we have tried to meet them half way,”  said Ray Cote, business agent with Local 340...
Danafilms workers vote to join Teamsters  Telegram  ...Production employees of RKW Danafilms Inc. have voted to organize under Teamsters Local 170, the union reported this week. Workers at the plastic film manufacturer voted in April, but their ballots were impounded while the Teamsters pursued unfair labor practice charges against the company. The Teamsters reported that when ballots were finally counted June 29, the final vote was 23-13 to unionize...
Marker honoring fallen Minneapolis Teamsters to be dedicated July 18  Union Advocate  ...After a lengthy fundraising campaign, the Remember 1934 Committee will unveil a permanent plaque July 18 in the Warehouse District of downtown Minneapolis commemorating the historic Teamsters strikes that echoed across the U.S. – and made Minneapolis a union town...
Teamsters go on strike at Cranesville Block Company  Daily Gazette  ...Cement truck drivers at the Cranesville Block Co. plant in Glenville and Albany went on strike Wednesday. Among their demands are a reduction in what they pay toward company-provided health care and changes to the company’s pension program...

Global Labor & Trade
European Parliament backs key TTIP compromise  Politico  ...After months of fighting, the European Parliament voted to back a compromise on the most controversial piece in Europe’s evolving free trade pact with the U.S., while also giving its blessing to the future of the talks. The Parliament on Wednesday voted, 447-229, to green-light a proposal to revamp a disputed investor court...

Trans-Pacific Partnership’s Potential Impact Weighed in Asia and U.S.  New York Times  ...Banks from rich countries like the United States and Japan would have the right to be treated more like local banks in less affluent countries, including Peru, Malaysia and Vietnam. Japan would be required to let in more American farm goods. Makers of pharmaceuticals would have an extra tool to protect their patents abroad, limiting competition from less expensive generic drugs. Auto parts would move more smoothly around the Pacific, with fewer taxes...
Japan, U.S. resume talks ahead of TPP ministerial session in late July The Mainici  ...Japan and the United States resumed bilateral talks for a Pacific free trade agreement Thursday ahead of a crucial ministerial meeting of all 12 negotiating countries in late July at which they will seek to reach a broad agreement. The working-level talks "will be the last negotiations before the ministerial meeting"...
Menendez worried Obama will upgrade Malaysia in trafficking report  The Hill  ...Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) expressed concern Wednesday night that Malaysia may get an upgrade from the Obama administration in its human-trafficking status in order to remove a potential hurdle to completing negotiations on a vast Pacific Rim trade agreement. The State Department is expected to bump up Malaysia to tier 2 from the lowest level in its Trafficking in Persons report that is expected to be released next week...
U.S. upgrades Malaysia in annual human trafficking report  Daily Mail  ...The United States is upgrading Malaysia from the lowest tier on its list of worst human trafficking centers, U.S. sources said on Wednesday, a move that could smooth the way for an ambitious U.S.-led free-trade deal with the Southeast Asian nation and 11 other countries. The upgrade to so-called "Tier 2 Watch List" status removes a potential barrier to President Barack Obama's signature global trade deal...
Greece PM Tsipras tells EU parliament: Greece has been failed austerity lab experiment  Reuters  ...Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras pleaded in the European Parliament on Wednesday for a fair deal to keep his country in the euro zone, acknowledging Greece's own responsibility for its plight, after EU leaders gave him five days to come up with reforms. With its banks closed, cash withdrawals rationed and the economy in freefall, Greece has never been closer to a total state bankruptcy...
London commuters battle to get home as tube strike begins  The Guardian  ...London commuters were starting to battle major transport problems as the most widespread tube strike in decades started on Wednesday evening. The strike action by four unions representing almost 20,000 staff, including train drivers, is the result of a continuing dispute over pay and rosters for the all-night tube services planned to start at weekends in September...
Labour Ministry intervenes to stop maritime workers strike   News24 Nigeria  ...The Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, has formally intervened in the strike threat by Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) against the Nigeria Ports Authority over the demand for non-payment of wage arrears to tally clerks and on-board security gangway men. Samuel Olowookere, Deputy Director of Press in the ministry, the intervention is in line with section 4 and 5 of Trade Dispute Act...

State & Living Wage Battles
Labor Battles Heat Up In State Legislatures  Huffington Post  ...The battles this year over the legislation — perceived as free-market initiatives by proponents and anti-union by foes — reflect the tremendous power that Republicans have gained in state capitols following November’s elections and the declining political clout of organized labor in many states...
What Is Scott Walker Trying to Hide?  The Nation  ...The governor—who former White House counsel John Dean refers to as “more Nixonian than Nixon”—has never been much for transparency. But a botched attempt by his legislative allies to gut the state’s open-records law has blown up on Walker in a big way...
Prevailing Wage Law fight heats up  WLNS  ...It is a law that has been around for 50 years and the fight to change it is picking up steam. Opponents have raised $1 million to their petition drive; the Prevailing Wage Law. Currently the law reads state funded construction projects must pay workers wage scales that are similar to local union groups...
Wisconsin lawmakers pass state budget, partial repeal of prevailing wage law  Business Insider  ...Wisconsin lawmakers approved early on Thursday a $73 billion state budget that partly repeals the state's prevailing wage law, one of several contentious measures that delayed the two-year spending plan for five weeks. The state Assembly voted 52-46 on the measure, a day after the state Senate approved the spending package...
MO Sec. of State approves voter ID amendment  KHQA  ...The Missouri Secretary of State approved for circulation the photo voter ID constitutional amendment on Tuesday. The amendment was filed by Jay Ashcroft on May 21, 2015. Ashcroft issued the following statement following the announcement: "Requiring a photo ID to vote is a common sense way to protect our elections from fraud"...
About 2,000 expected for voter ID protest on Monday  Winston-Salem Journal  ...Winston-Salem police officers have been assigned to protect the nearly 2,000 participants expected for the N.C. NAACP’s downtown march and rally Monday, authorities said Wednesday. Monday is scheduled to be the first day of a trial in U.S. District Court in Winston-Salem on the constitutionality of the state’s voter ID law...

The Roots of Puerto Rico’s Debt Crisis—and Why Austerity Will Not Solve It  The Nation  ...What Puerto Rico has in common with Greece is that it is a peripheral economy that has been invaded by hedge funds and pushed, by speculation and ballooning debt-service payments, to its limits. But since Puerto Rico’s banks are tied to the US Federal Reserve and not its own government, there is no bank panic. What it has in common with Detroit is a history of inefficient administrations...

U.S. Labor
Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits climb to 297,000  Dallas Morning News  ...he number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level since late February. But the increase likely reflected temporary auto plant shutdowns rather than any underlying labor market weakness. The number of people filing applications for unemployment benefits rose by 15,000 to 297,000...
Verizon preps for a strike as labor talks continue  RCR Wireless News  ...Amid labor negotiations with some 45,000 union employees, Verizon is prepping for a potential work stoppage by training more than 15,000 non-union employees to take over in the event of a strike. Verizon is working on a three-year contract with representatives from the Communication Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers...
​The UAW gears up for a labor talks showdown CBS  ...The day before hundreds of United Auto Workers delegates gathered to set strategy for contract talks with the Detroit Three, General Motors (GM) sent them a not-so-subtle message. GM announced a $350 million investment in a Mexican factory to build the Chevrolet Cruze compact car, currently built for all of North America at a sprawling plant in Lordstown, Ohio, east of Cleveland...
State reaches tentative deal with AFSCME  East Oregonian  ...The state has reached a tentative two-year agreement with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the union that represents the second-largest group of state workers. The agreement was reached late Tuesday after a 14-hour bargaining session...
“It’s not a good record”: When it comes to worker safety, Obama is a lot like Bush  Salon  ...Not only are many of the laws already on the books to protect workers desperately in need of updating, but the government resources devoted to protecting workers are woefully insufficient. The result? Some tens of thousands of human beings, every year, suffer due to health hazards that could be addressed with relative ease...
If You Could Decrease a Workplace’s Injury Rate by 65 Percent, Would You?  The Nation   ...Registered nurses face more than 50 percent the rate of musculoskeletal injury of the general workforce; nursing assistants more than six times the rate. Registered nurses face more than 50 percent the rate of musculoskeletal injury of the general workforce; nursing assistants more than six times the rate...

Miscellaneous
Report: Immigrants commit fewer crimes than native born  Monterey Herald  ...t a time when the century-long American debate on whether immigrants commit more crimes than native-born residents is raging again, a new report concludes exactly the opposite. The debate, which has always been present when immigration increases, is being renewed by the killing of a young woman in San Francisco by a Mexican national who entered the country illegally several times...
The NYSE Shutdown Isn’t Just A Glitch, It’s A Glimpse Into Our Chaotic Future  Think Progress  ...The digital sky is officially falling as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) suddenly shut down all trading activity Wednesday, raising speculation of a major technical glitch or a malicious cyberattack. The exchange is experiencing an unexplained “critical issue,” according to alerts on the NYSE website, and stocks are tumbling fast. The NYSE hasn’t provided any additional information regarding the cause of the unexpected trading suspension...
The Confederate Flag Will Be Removed  The Atlantic  ...After more than six decades flying at the statehouse—first atop it, then nearby—the Confederate battle flag will soon come down for the final time in Columbia. The state House of Representatives voted 94-20 on Thursday to remove the flag, following a 36-3 vote in the Senate on Tuesday. Many people deserve credit for the flag coming down, from the thousands who marched in Charleston to Bree Newsome, who took matters into her own hands...
Obama Administration Takes On Segregation And Racist Housing Schemes  Think Progress  ...Cities and counties that want federal grants for development projects will have to start taking segregation much more seriously under a set of rules to be announced Wednesday by Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julian Castro. The new system will require cities to report regularly and in far greater detail on segregation in their communities, making it harder for towns to quietly maintain existing racial inequities in development...

Today's Teamster News 07.08.15

Teamsters
Teamsters warn Frontier Airlines over stalled contract talks  The Denver Post  ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Airline Division has asked the National Mediation Board to arbitrate its ongoing contract dispute with Denver-based Frontier Airlines. And, if that doesn't work, Frontier's union-represented aircraft technicians, ground service technicians and tool-room attendants could exercise their right to strike — a move that essentially could cripple Frontier's operations...
Labor union brings back food drive to feed the hungry in Maine  Bangor Daily News   ...For several years before 2014, the Teamsters Local 340 labor union used the annual Maine Potato Blossom Festival as a vehicle to feed the hungry throughout Aroostook County. But the organization lost major donors in the last couple of years and wasn’t able to sponsor the drive last year. The organization is back this year with the food drive and a float in the Maine Potato Blossom parade...
Biddeford City Council meeting ends abruptly  WMTV  ...Disputes over contracts between Biddeford officials and three employee unions shut down the City Council meeting after just a few minutes Tuesday night. Tensions were already high when union members poured into council chambers. Members of Biddeford’s police, public works and firefighters’ unions said councilors were trying to avoid talking about the contracts. City officials said they plan to meet with the Teamsters Local 340 in mediation...
1934 Teamsters’ strike turned Minneapolis from ‘scab’ town to union supporter  MinnPost  ...“No trucks shall be moved! By nobody!” was the rallying cry of Minneapolis Teamsters Local 574 as they struck in the summer of 1934. Their demands were clear: a fair wage, union recognition, and the trucking firms’ recognition of inside workers as part of the union. Despite the violent reaction of the authorities, the 574 won on all these points...

Global Labor & Trade
TPP ministers to gather in Hawaii July 28-29  Japan Times  ...Pacific Rim countries pursuing a free trade initiative are set to hold ministerial talks on July 28 and 29 in Hawaii to wind up their marathon negotiations, a source said Monday. The United States, Japan and 10 other countries came up with the plan as hopes for an early signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership...
Pacific Trade Deal Negotiators See a Wrap in Late July  New York Times  ...With a final accord in sight, the 12 nations negotiating a trans-Pacific trade agreement linking 40 percent of the global economy have set a last round of talks for late July on the remaining issues on the most ambitious trade deal in a generation...
TPP Still Has A Long Way To Go  Forbes  ...Congress’s having given President Obama fast-track authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership doesn’t assure that the agreement will enjoy smooth sailing the rest of the way. There are still any number of rocks in the water that could sink it. There are enough unresolved issues in the text to keep the negotiators at the table for a long time...
Obama working to make Vietnam an ally in dealing with China’s rise  Washington Post  ...Administration officials said Hanoi has been signaling interest in forging deeper economic and military ties with the United States, and Obama has extended a hand to Vietnam, which is among the 12 nations involved in an expansive Pacific Rim trade pact...
U.S. reports progress on human rights after Obama meeting with Vietnamese leader  NOLA  ...The United States and Vietnam Tuesday (July 7) committed in a joint statement to "support for the promotion and protection of human rights." On Monday, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., organized a letter from seven Republican senators [which] said that human rights should be a priority as the United States moves forward with negotiations for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement with Vietnam and other Pacific nations...
Canada Pledges Support for ‘Powerhouse’ Pacific Trade Pact  Bloomberg  ...The Canadian government is reiterating its support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, with Finance Minister Joe Oliver saying increased trade and investment will benefit the economy. Canada is under pressure to open up its dairy and poultry sectors, where production is controlled through quotas and imports are restricted with high tariffs. Dismantling that system, known as supply management, may become an issue in rural districts...
9 Ways the TPP Is Bad for Developing Countries  Foreign Policy   ...If enacted, the TPP could block these countries from successfully industrializing and joining the developed world. What would this mean in practice? Blocking industrialization would mean locking these countries into low-end agricultural and extractive industries, preventing tens of millions from accessing higher-paying jobs in the manufacturing and service sectors...
Britain slashes spending in new austerity drive  Business Insider  ...Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne unveiled fresh austerity measures Wednesday to slash the country's debt, evoking the plight of crisis-hit Greece in presenting the first purely Conservative budget for nearly 20 years. Osborne slashed welfare spending to honour campaign promises...
Greece Submits New Loan Request, as Tsipras Takes Defiant Stance  New York Times  ... Greece, running out of money and under a tight deadline from European leaders, on Wednesday requested a three-year loan from the eurozone’s bailout fund. But other than alluding to plans to begin overhauling its tax and pension systems next week, Greece did not detail what economic changes it would make in exchange for the loan...

State & Living Wage Battles
Prevailing Wage Repeal, Reform Stripped from WI Budget; Extraordinary Session Called to Address  We Party Patriots  ...Wisconsin Republicans have reached an agreement which will allow them to pass a budget for 2015-2017 after a week of contentious infighting over prevailing wage reforms and funding for a new Milwaukee Bucks arena. As part of the deal, Republicans agreed to eliminate these issues from the budget itself and instead take up an extraordinary session to tackle the outstanding questions...
Wisconsin's budget bill a Pandora's Box of attacks against workers  Daily Kos  ...Wisconsin's GOP lawmakers have packed a lot of punch into a provision in the state's budget bill, with most of it undercutting labor unions and workers along with reducing oversight of law enforcement. The measure, known as Motion 999, gained notoriety when one initiative that would have quashed the state's open record laws came to light. It was so deeply unpopular that lawmakers led by Gov. Scott Walker shelved it...
Wisconsin Is Trying to Take Away the Right to a Weekend  Gawker  ...In Wisconsin, Republicans led by Scott Walker has done an amazing job of destroying public unions and handing all power over the workplace back to business interests. Now, with little fanfare, they want to take away the right for workers to have a single day off. Wisconsin state legislators are preparing to vote on a budget. One additional measure is worth gaping at, perhaps above all others: section 56, which would take away workers’ right to a weekend—even a one day weekend...
Scott Walker's Office Was Part of a Sneaky Effort to Keep His Records Private  Mother Jones  ...Gov. Scott Walker's office has confirmed in a statement that it was involved with the measure to change Wisconsin's open-records law to block access to many currently available government documents. The statement was released after Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R) acknowledged that Walker's office took part in discussions to slip the changes into a last-minute budget bill...
Wisconsin Senate passes budget, votes to scale back prevailing wage law  Chicago Sun-Times  ...The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate passed the $73 billion state budget just before midnight Tuesday, sending it to the Assembly after voting to repeal a prevailing wage law for local government projects, a move Democrats called an affront to the middle class...
Sherrod Brown pushes for charter school accountability and transparency  Daily Kos  ...A lack of accountability and transparency are a key problem of charter schools in many states across the country, allowing them to made into centers of corporate profit above their mission as centers of education. That lack, and that profit drive, is what leads to abuses like charter schools that pay above-market rents to real estate companies connected to school executives. Sen. Sherrod Brown has a bill that would change that and other abuses...
Missouri voter ID measure from GOP candidate OK to circulate  Springfield News-Leader  ...A Republican candidate for Missouri secretary of state now can gather signatures for an initiative petition to allow lawmakers to require voter identification. Democratic Secretary of State Jason Kander on Tuesday announced the proposed constitutional amendment can begin circulating...
Martin O’Malley Has the Right Solution for Puerto Rico’s Debt Crisis  The Nation  ...Puerto Rico is not Greece. But the United States commonwealth is confronted with a debt crisis. It faces the threat of a brutal round of austerity cuts, which could make a bad circumstance dramatically worse. If ever there was a moment that called for enlightened leadership that recognizes both the economic and social challenges facing the Puerto Rico, this is it...

U.S. Labor 
Hospital, nurses union reach tentative contract deal  News OK  ...Negotiators for Eastern Maine Medical Center and a union representing nurses at the hospital have reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract. The deal announced early Wednesday could avert a threatened two-day strike by the nurses next week. It must be ratified by the union membership and the hospital's board...
US: a look back at the UAW-Detroit three talks of 2011  InAutoNews  ...The United Automotive Workers union is set to renegotiate the labor agreements for the represented workers at the three largest US automakers – General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler. The summer negotiations for the contracts for the upcoming four years are going to kick off next week...
Nurse ratio bill advances to D.C. Council's health committee  Washington Business Journal  ...A bill that would require minimum staffing for nurses in D.C. hospitals was approved by the D.C. Council's business committee Tuesday and will now advance to the health committee for consideration. National Nurses United, the nursing union representing many of the local nurses pushing for ratios, called the vote an "important step"...
Union Is the New Black: Labor Organizing in Orange Is the New Black, And What It Means For You  Union Plus  ...In its third season with Netflix, Orange Is the New Black has had a significant effect on America's consciousness regarding: race, women and incarceration, and transgender issues. This season highlighted many character backstories, but personally, the most interesting plot-line was that of the security guards and their efforts to organize a potential union...
Company Raises Its Minimum Wage To $15 So Employees Won’t ‘Worry About Making Ends Meet’  Think Progress  ...Internet Truckstop Group, an Idaho-based company that owns a number of internet trucking logistic websites, is raising base pay for its employees to $15 an hour. The company has 250 full- and part-time employees, about 110 of whom will get a raise because of the increase. Most average $11 to $12 hours currently. CEO Scott Moscrip said the company, whose revenues have grown between 10 and 30 percent a year, was due for a pay increase...

Miscellaneous
After 6-Year Tenure Not Prosecuting Banks, Eric Holder Returns 'Home' to Defend Them  Common Dreams  ...Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's return this week to a high-level position at Covington & Burling, a corporate law firm that represents big banks, has some calling it a dramatic and troubling example of the Washington-to-Wall-Street revolving door. That's because Holder's six years of service under the administration of President Barack Obama were defined by his refusal to criminally prosecute any of the financial institutions...
Donald Trump’s Empire Was (Probably) Built On Immigrant Labor  Think Progress  ...As a real estate tycoon, Donald Trump built up and has given his name to clothing lines, hotels, resorts, golf courses, a winery, and apartment buildings. And for a man who has unapologetically characterized Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug dealers, and has said that infectious diseases are spilling across the border, Trump has decided to work in industries where it’s impossible to avoid the Latino immigrants he is maligning...
The End of Encryption? NSA & FBI Seek New Backdoors Against Advice from Leading Security Experts  Democracy Now  ...Encryption refers to the scrambling of communications so they cannot be read without the correct key or password. The FBI and GCHQ have said they need access to encrypted communications to track criminals and terrorists. Fourteen of the world’s pre-eminent cryptographers, computer scientists and security specialists have issued a paper arguing there is no way to allow the government such access without endangering all confidential data...
Waiting to Die in Prison—for Selling a Couple of Bags of Pot  Mother Jones  ...How many prisoners are serving life sentences for pot? At least 69, based on data collected by the American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations. But that figure probably is low, particularly if you count older inmates serving lengthy sentences who will likely die in prison. Federal judges have sentenced 54 people to life without parole for marijuana crimes since 1996...
Popular Protests Are Spreading Across Central America, and Washington Is Getting Nervous  The Nation   ...In both Guatemala and Honduras, credible accusations of corruption are spurring mass mobilization truly popular in their class composition. In response, Washington is reacting in its usual manner to such threats: more militarization...

Today's Teamster News 04.30.15

Teamsters
Disney Teamsters Win Wrongful Termination Case  Teamster.org   ...A federal arbitrator has ruled in favor of three character performers who were fired from Disney's Animal Kingdom for refusing to wear unsanitary costumes, the Teamsters Union announced Monday. The ruling, issued April 26, orders Walt Disney World to reinstate full-time employees Drew Pearson, Matthew Warfield and Raymond “Doug” Biederman...
Group of Shaw’s staff pharmacists in Maine vote to join Teamsters union  Bangor Daily News   ...A group of 21 staff pharmacists at 16 Shaw’s Supermarket stores throughout Maine will join the Teamsters Union Local 340 after approving the move in a vote Tuesday. The union announced the vote in a news release Wednesday. Aligning with the national labor organization will give the staff pharmacists collective bargaining representation...
Unionized: Tiger Transit drivers vote to join International Teamsters Union  The Plainsman   ...The Tiger Transit drivers of Auburn University have voted to unionize in attempt to get more affordable health care, higher wages and respect in the workplace. The workers will be joining the International Brotherhood of Teamsters at the 612 location in Birmingham...
Proxy Voting Advisors Recommend NEX Shareholder Resolution On Internal Review Of Labor Practices  Teamster.org  ...The proposal, which was submitted by the Teamsters General Fund, members of the Local Authorities Pension Fund (LAPFF) and 100 individual NEX shareholders, is the first to be recommended by ISS in at least 10 years that specifically addresses labor issues at a publically-traded company in the U.K...

Global Labor & Trade
Obama trade bill in trouble  Politico   ...At this point, upward of 75 House Republicans could vote against trade promotion authority if it comes up for a vote in the coming weeks, according to aides and lawmakers involved in the process. Some of the lawmakers fear job losses in their districts from free trade; others distrust Obama and oppose giving him more power...
Obama Is Selling the TPP Trade Deal Just Like Al Gore Sold NAFTA  New Republic  ...Gore made a distinction between previous trade deals with Japan and China, and NAFTA, with its side agreements on labor and the environment. Critics of NAFTA “confuse the bad trade deals in the past with this one,” Gore said. This mirrors Obama’s claim about inferior prior deals—including NAFTA. “Not every trade deal has lived up to the hype,” Obama acknowledged...
Rust-belt Republicans face tough sell on global trade deals before 2016  Washington Post  ...Midwest Republicans are keenly aware that their region has been hit hard by disappearing factory jobs, placing these GOP senators in a tough spot heading into the 2016 elections as they tout a message that might not resonate...
White House Trade Pitch Goes Into Overdrive  National Journal  ...The Obama administration is ramping up a massive sales pitch on trade policy, bringing key Democrats to the White House—and using one of its most effective lobbyists in the hallways of the Capitol. Biden seizing the chance to talk trade is just one part of a much wider White House PR and lobbying blitz for the TPP and, equally important, the "fast-track" bill that would strip Congress of its ability to amend sweeping trade deals...
House Dems attack trade deal on eve of Japan PM’s address  The Hill  ...Five Democrats pushed back against the Obama administration’s arguments that adding currency provisions to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would derail the deal and potentially interfere with U.S. monetary policy decisions...
Travel Chaos As Bus Strike To Go Ahead Tomorrow   Dublin's 98FM  ...Commuters face travel chaos tomorrow as strike action at Bus Eireann and Dublin Bus looks set to go ahead. Drivers are downing tools for two days over the privatisation of bus routes...

State & Living Wage Battles
Legislation Allowing Delaware 'Right-to-Work' Zones Stalls  WBOC 16   ...Republican legislation allowing "right-to-work" zones in Delaware stalled in a Democratic-led Senate committee Wednesday amid complaints from organized labor that it is a union-busting measure. Under the legislation sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Greg Lavelle, a person would not be required to join a labor union or pay union dues as a condition of employment in a right-to-work zone...
Republicans push for photo ID voting requirements again  The Columbus Dispatch  ...Rep. Andrew Brenner, R-Powell, backed by some of the more conservative members of the House, is introducing legislation that would require voters show a driver’s license, state photo ID card, passport or military ID...
How This State Plans To Close Its Gender Wage Gap  Think Progress   ...The changes New York lawmakers approved look very similar to changes that would be made nationally if Congress were to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. That bill would ban salary secrecy as well as strengthen the permissible reasons for having gender-based pay differentials... 
Changes to prevailing wage likely but repeal won't happen, Robin Vos says  Milwaulkee Journal Sentinel  ...he 84-year-old law prescribes wages for workers on public works jobs such as bridges and highways according to a complex formula. Conservatives are targeting the law as their next big push after passing right-to-work legislation in March, which prohibits labor groups and employers from agreeing to require workers to pay fees to a union...
Los Angeles Latinas Fast to Raise Minimum Wage  NBC News  ...The 19-year-old daughter of Guatemalan immigrants is among a group of women who are close to completing a 15-day fast in Los Angeles. They hoped to persuade city council members there to raise the minimum wage of $9 an hour to $15 an hour. They planned to break the fast Thursday...
Palo Alto: Committee favors raising minimum wage  Mercury News  ...A City Council committee is backing a proposal to hike the minimum wage -- potentially as high as $15 per hour by 2018. On Tuesday, the four-member Policy and Services Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the full council adopt an ordinance that would see most workers earn $11 per hour starting on Jan. 1, 2016...
La Center school board backs right-to-work   The Columbian   ...The La Center School District made a contentious move Tuesday night, asking union reps to allow district employees to drop their representation. The issue surfaced in the form of a "right-to-choose" resolution that gained unanimous approval from the district's five-member school board...

U.S. Labor
University of Chicago Nurses Narrowly Avert Strike, Claim Victory Against Hospital  In These Times  ...Early Tuesday, National Nurses United (NNU) announced that its 1,500 members at the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) would not go on strike as planned. The union called for a one-day strike set for April 30, following nearly eight months of negotiations and a strike authorization vote...
NLRB Issues Complaint Against El Super Chain  EGP News  ...The National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against a Paramount-based supermarket chain for allegedly restraining employees from advocating for union representation, it was announced today. The complaint against the El Super chain alleges that the company has refused to bargain with unions for more than a year after failing to agree on a contract with the local United Food and Commercial Workers...
BP, union reach tentative deal to end Whiting refinery strike  Reuters  ...BP Plc and the United Steelworkers union (USW) chapter representing striking workers at the company's Whiting, Indiana, refinery reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday to end an 11-week work stoppage. The two sides have to negotiate an agreement on returning the striking workers to the Chicago-area plant, but a ratification vote is expected next week...
Capitol Vistory Center Workers Allege Retaliation After Strike  Roll Call  ...On April 24, the advocacy group Good Jobs Nation filed the complaint to the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of Duckett and fellow CVC cafeteria worker Tracy Allen. The complaint is filed against Restaurant Associates, which employes the food service contract workers in the Capitol complex...
Here Are All the Ways People Are Dying at Work  The Nation  ...This week, Workers’ Memorial Day reminded us that the leading cause of death at work isn’t factory fires, mine collapses, or machinery accidents—though it is all those things. The main reason workers die is because those in power look the other way. Global Worker Watch’s labor death map presents a chilling snapshot of an everyday calamity...

Miscellaneous
Man Who Blew the Whistle on Big Bank's Practices Is Now About to Lose His Home to that Same Bank  Alternet  ...He went to the federal government as a whistleblower, hoping to bring an end to these practices. Yet in the process of doing so, the bank – today owned by Wells Fargo, which bought it in 2008 – fired him. Kraus is now on the verge of losing his home...

Today's Teamster News 09.14.11

Legislature begins fall session with arrests, heated debate  WKOW.com   ...After showing up for a pre-planned protest event called a "camera flash mob" in the State Assembly gallery, two people were arrested for videotaping Tuesday afternoon's session...
JobsOhio makes first big investment… in high-priced lawyers  Plunderbund   ... as we predicted and everyone fully expected, JobsOhio is facing legal challenges over its constitutionality...
State: Buss can't testify in prison privatization lawsuit  Tallahassee Democrat   ...The state does not want recently ousted Department of Corrections Secretary Ed Buss testifying in a lawsuit ... to stop privatization of prisons in South Florida...  
Council May Challenge Voter ID Law  Channel9News   ...A new law requiring Tennessee voters to provide photo identification at the polls goes into effect next year, but the Chattanooga city council is considering a challenge to the new law...
Christie: A Koch and a smile (opinion)  phillyburbs.com   ...The troubling relationship between the oil billionaire Koch brothers and Gov. Chris Christie has been confirmed by the recent release of a recording of the keynote speech the governor delivered at a fundraising convention hosted by the fossil-fuel industry giants in June...
South Carolina governor faces scrutiny over trips  Boston Herald   ...Haley, a Tea Party-backed Republican who has decried wasteful spending since she took office this year, is fending off criticism that the trip was more of a personal vacation than an economic development mission...
Gov. Corbett, Keep Our State Parks Public  (opinion)  Nazareth Patch   ... Gov. Tom Corbett recently told reporters that our stunning state park system tops his short list of state assets to privatize -- along with liquor stores and prisons...
Bankruptcy protection case tossed  Kennebec Journal   ...The largest chunk of this debt is $5.3 million for the New England Teamsters & Trucking Industry Pension Fund of Burlington, Mass...
Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010  U.S. Census Bureau   ...The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that in 2010, median household income declined, the poverty rate increased and the percentage without health insurance coverage was not statistically different from the previous year...

Teamsters to bring ME labor mural copy to MD

Remember when Maine's wingnut Gov. Paul LePage decided to remove a labor mural from the state Department of Labor because it "sent the wrong message?"

Working men and women all over the country viewed LePage's action as highly insulting. The Associated Press reported on the angry messages he got:

Gov. Paul LePage's decision to remove a mural depicting the history of the labor movement in Maine struck a raw nerve as critics lashed out in correspondence that poured in from all corners of the country, with several dozen writing letters vowing to cancel summer vacations.

The raw outpouring of emotion, with people opposing the governor's action by a margin of more than 9-to-1, flooded the governor's office with several thousand emails in less than a month.

"Your attacks on the working class of your state are just appalling to me and despite my love of the Maine coast, I will not set foot or spend one red cent there," wrote Audrey Fine Marsh of Media, Pa.

Well, now we learn Teamsters from Local 340 in So. Portland will haul a copy of the mural to a Maryland exhibition of labor murals, which will start on Aug. 30.

Reports Maine Public Broadcasting:

"It was a sad day when our governor, Paul LePage, removed these murals because they weren't syncing with his 'pro-business' vision," says Local 340 President Ken Eaton, in a statement. "When the opportunity arose for us to transport the murals to the art exhibition space in Maryland, we immediately signed on."

The $60,000 work, by artist Judy Taylor, was commissioned by the Department of Labor and hung in 2008. It is currently being stored in an undisclosed location.

Eaton says on Monday, the union will take the copy of the Maine mural to Maryland, where it will be shown in an exhibit featuring other works by Taylor.

We're doubting that the exhibit will include a portrait of LePage.

Here's what we union thugs did in Maine



Joint Council 10's truck full of food at the Potato Blossom Festival.

UPDATE: TeamsterNation apologizes. We lifted this description of the food drive for Aroostook County from Local 340's website, without realizing this was what happened LAST year. We imagine this year's food drive was similar, hopefully without the rear-ending by a dump truck. We'll have news of this year's food drive as soon as we have it.

We collected 30,000 pounds of food and $1,294 for needy families in Aroostook County, Me., despite our semi-tractor trailer being rear-ended by a dump truck hauling a load of asphalt on I-95.

Props to Teamsters Local 340's Women's Committee, which ran the statewide food drive from Kittery to Fort Fairfield. It involved tremendous effort and cooperation from dozens of people and organizations, and it will alleviate the suffering of many poor people in rural Maine. We should all be very proud of our Maine brothers and sisters.

Reports Local 340:

Each stop was well planned to enable convenience for donations to get on the truck and keep it moving. The road crew, driver Paul Flynn, Teamsters Local 340 office staffer Sheena-Jo Randall, business agent Sylvia Hebert, Elmet Technologies Gerry Jean and Mary Hall, business agent Dan Walsh and University of Maine’s Betty Hilton with family Gene and their son, Adam LaPointe.

The truck started out on Friday at 7 a.m. at Exit 2 in Kittery, then stopped at Hostess Brands for a donation, onward to Biddeford, then the union hall in South Portland to pick up lots more donations. Onward to Auburn, but not before stopping at Keebler to pick up a generous contribution. Associated Grocers in Gardiner was next. Then Exit 112A.

We especially like what happened there:

...here we have a break and get met by members of the general public who encourage us to keep unionizing.

Then:

The show must go on, so off we go to Exit 133 in Fairfield…so we thought.  Off the exit the truck gets a call from our road crew that we should be at exit 132.  The truck finds a safe place to turn around and heads back to the Interstate, in approach to enter 133 southbound we suddenly feel like something has blown up forcing the driver and rider up and out of the seats…thank you for seat belt laws.  Realizing that we have been rear-ended by a dump truck loaded up with asphalt the food drive comes to a halt…but not for long.  Our road crew is called ... The truck has received an awful blow to its tail end but it will be able to continue after a careful inspection of the damage.

Exit 180 in Herman is next, then Exit 244 in Medway and Exit 302 in Houlton. A sleepover in Easton, then the crew starts the next day by loading the truck with donations from Presque Isle Teamsters.

And then, the parade starts for the 63rd Annual Maine Potato Blossom Parade, which, Local 340 tells us, has been around as long as the Teamsters in Maine. The truck was 63rd in line. A cookout was prepared for post-parade dining, a CD blared union and work songs from the truck, and the Fort Fairfield police kicked things off by driving up with an SUV full of food and cash from them and the fire department. Along the parade route, the truck was accompanied by walkers who collected more food and donations from the crowd watching the parade.

Many, many people helped out. To read Local 340's special thank yous, click here.

Here's what we union thugs do in our spare time

Feed the hungry is what we do.

Our brothers and sisters at Local 340 are collecting food for needy Mainers in Aroostook County for the third year in a row. Joint Council 10's truck will drive nearly the length of Maine, 341 miles from Kittery to Ft. Fairfield, collecting food along the way.

The Bangor Daily News has the story:

The Teamsters Local 340 Women’s Committee is heading up a statewide food drive to benefit Catholic Charities of Maine in Caribou. Through its “Feed the County” program, Catholic Charities supplies food to 24 food pantries in The County and maintains its own food bank.

As part of this year’s effort, Traci Place, a business agent for the union, said on Tuesday that a tractor-trailer will drive from Kittery to Fort Fairfield, making close to a dozen stops along the way so that members of South Portland-based Teamsters Local 340 can fill the rig with nonperishable food donations.

The truck’s final stop will be in Fort Fairfield, where it also will participate in the Maine Potato Blossom Parade on Saturday, July 16.

All donations will be delivered to Catholic Charities Maine Home Supplies and Food Bank in Caribou following the parade.

Here's our Teamster brother George Corneliusson, posting on Facebook:

Retiree local 671 Ct. Proud of my friends who drive joint council 10 truck true Teamsters.

We're all proud!

Today's Teamster News 05.01.11

Pink slips are United Nation's gift to staffers  New York Daily News   ...Sunday is International Workers' Day - also known as May Day - and people around the world are rallying to protest attacks on workers' and immigrants' rights...
Panel OKs a petition to recall Gov. Rick Snyder  Detroit Free Press   ...clearing the way for the group Michigan Citizens United to begin collecting signatures. The group must get signatures from 807,000 registered voters within a 90-day period to force a recall election...
Walker, Ryan and 'shock and awe' politics  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...Scott Walker and Paul Ryan have upended state and national politics this year, offering deeply controversial ideas that drew little discussion in the last campaign but threaten to reshape the next one...
New contract ends Dichello, Teamsters labor dispute  WTNH.com   ...The agreement between Dichello Distributors, Inc. of Orange and Teamsters Local 443 ends a strike/lockout that began in March...
Doomed workers kept in the dark  Kennebec Journal   ...About 70 workers, mostly members of the Teamsters Union Local 340, listened as they were told the latest information about the company's status and instructed how to apply for unemployment benefits...
SB5 foes look for big turnout  Chillicothe Gazette   ...Organizers hope Ross County's second protest against Senate Bill 5 on Sunday will be bigger than their last one...
No ordinary year in the Statehouse  South Bend Tribune   ...legislation will bar state workers from collective bargaining, allow the governor to authorize new toll roads, lower the corporate income tax rate from 8.5 percent to 6.5 percent over four years, and balance the state's unemployment insurance fund by raising premiums and cutting benefits...
LePage vetting process under scrutiny  Kennebec Journal   ...The resignations of three officials in two weeks is raising questions about LePage's management abilities... 
Rick Scott to leadership: Get my tax cuts done  Florida Times-Union   ...Scott wants nearly $2 billion in tax and fee cuts this year. Legislative leaders have said that will be a tough pull considering the state is dealing with a $3.8 billion budget gap...

ME's wingnut gov: 'Cut pensions for all but me'

It's hard to say which of our new corporate-owned governors is worse --  Koch whore Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker? Ohio Gov. John Kasich? Florida Gov. Rick Scott?

Maine Gov. Paul LePage is certainly a front-runner. He first came to national attention when he said the NAACP "can kiss my butt" for his refusal to attend Martin Luther King Day events. He later backed down, while making the strange claim that he has a black son -- a young man he met in Jamaica and never formally adopted.

LePage also told the Bangor Daily News that the worst thing about bisphenol A (BPA) is that it might make some women "grow little beards." Here's the exact quote:

The only thing that I’ve heard is if you take a plastic bottle and put it in the microwave and you heat it up, it gives off a chemical similar to estrogen. So the worst case is some women may have little beards.

LePage has plenty of support from large, out-of-state corporations that want more freedom to plunder Maine.  Maine Insights reports

If the governor is successful there will be no law stopping big box stores from informing communities about their intentions to build in their backyard, no law protecting at least three million acres of northern Maine for development, and no law requiring manufacturers to take back recyclable goods for disposal. His proposed rollbacks of environmental protections would also reverse a ban on the use of a toxic chemicals linked to cancer in children’s products, amongst a long list of other measures he said are designed to, “open Maine for business.

LePage actually told the Bangor Daily News

Wisconsin protests could come to Maine ‘once they start reading our budget’

Like Walker and Kasich, LePage is a clownish reverse Robin Hood who wants to cut taxes for the large out-of-state corporations that own him. Like Walker and Kasich, he wants working families to pay the price for those tax cuts.

But at least Walker had the wit to cut his own pay -- at least in the past -- while asking for others to sacrifice (not clear yet if Walker is taking a pay cut while destroying working families in Wisconsin).

LePage isn't even as smart as Walker. His proposed budget asks working families to bear the brunt of his cuts, while the wealthiest Mainers see a decrease in their taxes. ThinkProgress reports that LePage is planning to raise the retirement age for state government workers and teachers, freeze their cost-of-living adjustments and require that they contribute more into their retirement pension funds, from 7.65 percent to 9.65 percent.

Mike Tipping at the Kennebec Journal reports:

The governor has exempted himself.

So much for that “shared sacrifice” phrase LePage has been throwing around.

Teamster public employees in Maine are in a different pension fund than the teachers and state employees because they primarily work for counties and municipalities.

However, Kenneth Eaton, president of Local 340, which covers the state of Maine, had this to say about LePage:

LePage was mayor of Waterville, which is a highly Democratic city, but when they went into the Democratic caucus, they could only come out with one candidate. There were two running, so the other candidate ran as an Independent, split the vote and Paul LePage gets elected in a Democratic city.

Then, he did it again. It’s hard to get an incumbent out, so he runs for governor and won by 38 percent of the vote, of the voters that voted. If you take all the registered voters in Maine, he had eight percent of the vote and thinks he has a mandate.

I’m just appalled that this governor is trying to balance the budget off the backs of our state’s workers.

So are we all.

Today's Teamster News 01.27.11

Lebanon employees seek to unionize (Local 340)  Journal Tribune   ...Town hall employees are considering joining Teamsters Union 340 after cutbacks in hours and a staff layoff last year...
Firefighters OK pact that saves Appleton money (Local 662)  Post Crescent   ...Fourteen other contracts must still come before the council...Teamsters Local 662 represents 264 workers in 10 different units...
N.J. toll collectors prepared to offer millions in concessions to avoid privatization  (Local 97)  The Record   ...Turnpike toll collectors may ...make as much as $14 million or more in concessions – including $2.4 million in salary rollbacks...
Railroads trim payrolls in December  Journal of Commerce   ...The seven largest freight railroads trimmed 642 positions from their combined U.S. workforce in December, for the first reduction since August...
Railroads Post Big Profit Increases, Resume Hiring   Wall Street Journal ...The largest North American railroads hauled more of most everything in the fourth quarter, spurring new hiring...
Montana Files Lawsuit Over Video Late Fees  Associated Press   ...People who didn't return movies to Hollywood Video and Movie Gallery before they closed their doors for good last year may run into credit trouble when looking to take out a mortgage or finance a car...
Illinois Plan for Pensions Questioned  New York Times   ...The Securities and Exchange Commission has said it has a special team devoted to investigating public pensions, and last year it brought its first case ever against a state, accusing New Jersey of securities fraud for claiming to have pension assets that did not really exist...
UPS to close billing center in Des Moines  Des Moines Register   ...The shutdowns are part of a UPS plan ... to reduce U.S. billing centers from 10 to eight...
Keystone link to Gulf finds enough producers  The Globe and Mail   ...TransCanada Corp. has signed up enough customers to proceed with its 150,000 barrel-per-day pipeline from Oklahoma to the Gulf Coast...
Illinois manufacturers have high hopes after Obama promises access to high-speed rail, infrastructure repair  The Medill Report   ...With a goal of putting 35 million people within a three-hour trip to Chicago, the Midwest High Speed Rail Association advocates building four bullet train routes...
Senate GOP proposing NH public pension reforms  Associated Press   ...Republicans are proposing raising the retirement age for public safety workers...
A Reservist in a New War, Against Foreclosure  New York Times   ...In violation of a law intended to protect active military personnel from creditors, agents of Deutsche Bank foreclosed on his small Michigan house, forcing Sergeant Hurley’s wife, Brandie, and her two young children to move out...