TEAMSTERS
Teamsters Applaud Supreme Court's Refusal to Hear Amerijet Lawsuit Teamster.org ...Teamsters Airline Division Director Capt. David Bourne in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of a petition this week by Amerijet International Inc.: “It comes as no surprise that the Supreme Court would refuse to hear this case, and in doing so, uphold the Eleventh Circuit Court’s reasoning that this lawsuit is without merit. The lawsuit by Amerijet is unnecessary and a blatant abuse of the legal process in an effort to circumvent the legally established standards of labor law”...
Judge: Con-way Violated Rights of Workers in Los Angeles Teamster.org ...Con-way Freight, Inc. violated the rights of workers who were trying to form their union with the Teamsters and must re-hire two workers it unlawfully fired during the organizing campaign, among other remedies, an administrative law judge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled. The workers at Con-way’s Los Angeles terminal were trying to join Local 63. The company must cease its illegal activities, reinstate the two fired workers and pay them back wages and benefits, and take other steps...
Pettiness Reaches New Heights At Résidences Soleil Teamsters Canada ...Unhappy with being forced to pay half of its workers’ life insurance premiums, Résidences Soleil owner Eddy Savoie is taking it out on his workers by making them pay… for their coffee! This bizarre story began in October 2012 when the management of Résidences Soleil decided to do away with its long-standing practice of paying 50% of its employees’ life insurance premiums. Teamsters Local Union 106 filed grievances to protest against this arbitrary decision...
Concord city employees to strike Wednesday Contra Costa Times ...Barring a last minute deal, the city's largest employee union will strike Wednesday to protest alleged unfair labor practices in the public works department. Teamsters Local 856 represents 137 employees, including administrative, clerical and maintenance staffers. The union also represents police dispatchers, but they will report to work Wednesday...
San Francisco tech shuttles get long-term approval USA Today ...San Francisco’s tech shuttles that service Facebook, Google and other companies have gained a permanent place in the city’s transportation system. The Teamsters have been involved in helping to organize shuttle drivers and other workers at Silicon Valley tech giants including Apple, eBay, Facebook and Yahoo. “We are pleased with this ruling, which protects daily public transit riders and the shuttle drivers who deserve to be treated properly and with dignity,” said Rome Aloise...
21 Organizations Fighting for Labor Rights in the Food System Huffington Post ...In Tracy, California, Teamsters members are fighting poverty wages and severe violations of basic rights at Taylor Farms. And more than 11,000 Teamsters workers have united to defeat a mega-merger of U.S. Foods and Sysco, which would have jeopardized thousands of broadline food service and transportation jobs...
Local 727 Beverage Members Stand Together for Strong Contracts in Niles, Alsip Local 727 ...Teamsters Local 727 members at Coca-Cola Refreshments and Reyes/Great Lakes Coca-Cola Distribution wore their unity loud and proud on Tuesday, November 17, as negotiations continued for new contracts with both companies. Hundreds of members sported red Teamster T-shirts as they started their shifts in beverage production and warehouse facilities in Chicago, Niles and Alsip, Ill. Local 727 also brought food and refreshments to members in Niles and Alsip, rallying together in support of new agreements...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Petrobras holdout strikers to vote on new deal Thursday Reuters ...A union representing workers in the Brazil's top oil region will vote on Thursday on a contract offer from state-run oil company Petrobras on Thursday or continue a strike, the most disruptive in 20 years, the union said Wednesday. The union, Sindipetro Norte Fluminense, called the vote after Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is known, agreed to discuss its demand that members receive back pay for all the days they were on strike...
Prospects dim for 2016 Pacific Rim trade vote in US Congress Reuters ...A 12-nation Pacific Rim free-trade deal, facing stiff opposition from many Democrats and unexpected resistance from Republicans, is unlikely to be voted on by the U.S. Congress before President Barack Obama leaves office, according to some Republican lawmakers and aides. A veteran Senate Republican aide, who asked not to be identified, said Republican leaders intend to shelve the deal until after the November 2016 presidential election...
House Democrats call TPP 'too big' to pass Congress The Hill ...A half dozen House Democrats asserted on Wednesday that opposition is growing for a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade agreement as the White House ramps up efforts to build support for the deal. The six Democrats — Reps. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), Louise Slaughter (N.Y.), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), Nydia Velázquez (N.Y.), Mark Pocan (Wis.) and Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) — said the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal is “too big” to pass Congress and must be scrapped...
Pacific Rim trade pact praised, panned as proposed deal faces uphill battle in to Congress AP ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal between the U.S. and 11 other Pacific nations is drawing potential new members from Asia and criticism from those excluded, as it heads for a tough ride in the U.S. Congress. Leaders of the trade grouping that spans the Pacific Rim met alongside a regional economic summit on Wednesday in the Philippines and President Barack Obama urged them to ratify the deal "as quickly as possible"...
Obama expects TPP approval from Canada after first meeting with Trudeau Globe and Mail ...Barack Obama said he expects Canada will sign on to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The President of the United States made the comment following his first formal meeting with new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The Liberal government has officially been non-committal on the deal...
APEC Protesters Defy Water Cannons as TPP Signing Announced TeleSUR ...While APEC condemned “terrorism” and called for an international security response in the summit's last day, protesters continued to slam free trade. Philippine police pushed back crowds with water canons in Manila on Thursday as demonstrators protested the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, soon after member states agreed that the the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement would be signed on Feb. 4, 2016...
UK PM to Get $15 Mln Private Jet Ahead of Public Austerity Cuts Sputnik News ...David Cameron will be given his own version of the US President's Air Force One. This is despite the government's commitments to cutting billions of pounds of public spending. A Royal Air Force Voyager A330 is to be re-fitted at the taxpayers' expense, in order to provide private transportation for Mr Cameron, senior ministers, and possibly members of the royal family...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
77 California cities on ‘economically challenged’ list SacBee ...Nearly a third of Californians live in 77 “economically challenged” cities – including Los Angeles – with high levels of poverty, and low levels of income and employment, a new study declares. Moreover, says the report from the National Resource Network, California’s distressed cities are more than a quarter of the 297 U.S. cities over 40,000 population that fall into that category...
New York Cities to Raise Minimum Wage for City Workers Wall Street Journal ...Buffalo and Rochester are moving to raise the minimum wage of municipal employees to $15 an hour as part of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s push to raise the wage floor for all workers. The Democratic governor joined the mayors of both cities for their announcements on Wednesday...
Gov. Cuomo: State should enact $2B tax cut if minimum wage is raised to $15/hour Daily News ...Gov. Cuomo suggested Wednesday that the state enact a $2 billion tax cut if the Legislature approves his plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. At an event in Buffalo, Cuomo accused businesses of “stealing from taxpayers” by paying workers low wages knowing those same employees can also qualify for state welfare assistance. The governor called the situation a “scam” and “the mother of all loopholes”...
Democrats attack Rep. Bishop on union wage votes The Detroit News ...The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is running drive-time radio ads this week linking U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop’s votes on prevailing wage bill provisions with campaign donations from the powerful DeVos family of Grand Rapids. The ads, on the air in Metro Detroit and Lansing, charge that the Rochester Republican “wants to gut prevailing wage laws that make sure construction workers get paid a fair local wage”...
U.S. LABOR
Airport workers at 7 U.S. hubs to strike Wednesday night Washington Post ...Airport workers at seven of the busiest U.S. airports are going on strike Wednesday night to protest what they say are poor working conditions and retaliation for unionizing. More than 2,000 workers, including cleaners, wheelchair attendants, and baggage handlers plan to strike at Fort Lauderdale, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago O’Hare, Newark Liberty and New York’s Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, the Service Employees International Union said...
SEIU, Local 1021 returns to work as negotiators meet with county, mediator The Reporter ...Following a two-day strike action Wednesday, members of Service Employees International Union, Local 1021 voted to take a breather today as union negotiators meet with Solano County negotiators and a mediator. John Stead-Mendez, SEIU executive director, explained that the membership wanted the bargaining team to focus on negotiations and not worry about the striking workers...
Ford's UAW agreement in jeopardy after defeats at big plants Crain's ... Leaders of the United Auto Workers union scrambled Wednesday to salvage a proposed labor agreement with Ford, warning rank-and-file members that a rejection of the deal could jeopardize investments that would sustain U.S. factory jobs. With three-fourths of the national Ford union voted counted, 52 percent have rejected the proposed contract, Jimmy Settles, head of the UAW's Ford Department, said at UAW Local 600 in Dearborn, Michigan...
UAW Taking 'Micro' Approach to Unionizing Volkswagen Plant ABC ...The United Auto Workers union is back with a more concentrated approach after suffering a bitter loss in its efforts to gain collective-bargaining rights for all blue-collar workers at Volkswagen's plant in Tennessee. The National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday granted a petition by a small group of skilled-trades workers to hold a vote on being represented by the UAW for collective bargaining purposes...
Rauner Strikes Contract Deals With Unions, Takes Aim At AFSCME Progress Illinois ...The state of Illinois and a number of labor unions have reached four-year contract agreements, the Rauner administration said Wednesday. In announcing the new agreements, the Rauner administration used the opportunity to take aim at AFSCME Council 31. The union and the administration have yet to reach a new contract agreement...
Remembering the Life and Music of Labor Agitator Joe Hill, Who Was Executed 100 Years Ago Today In These Times ...Joe Hill saw his music as a weapon in the class war, composing songs to be sung on soapboxes, picket lines or in jail. And 100 years ago today, the forces of capital and the state of Utah executed him. Born Joel Hagglund in Sweden, Hill immigrated to the United States in 1902. Hill became politicized, eventually joining the Industrial Workers of the World...
Money and clout on the line for teachers union in 2016 CAL Matters ...The California Teachers Association, one of Sacramento’s most powerful interests, is heading into an extraordinary year with decisions on the ballot, in the Capitol and in the courts holding the potential to impact its clout for many years to come. Billions of dollars for schools will likely be at stake on the 2016 ballot as well as pivotal campaigns for state Legislature and a question about union pensions...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
The Koch intelligence agency Politico ...The political network helmed by Charles and David Koch has quietly built a secretive operation that conducts surveillance and intelligence gathering on its liberal opponents, viewing it as a key strategic tool in its efforts to reshape American public life.
The operation, which is little-known even within the Koch network, gathers what Koch insiders refer to as “competitive intelligence” that is used to try to thwart liberal groups and activists...
Elizabeth Warren Blasts Tax Plan as 'Giant Wet Kiss' to Corporate America Common Dreams ...Denouncing a "rigged" system that favors corporations over middle-class Americans, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said in a "must-watch" speech on Wednesday that any reform of the U.S. corporate tax code must force big businesses to "substantially increase" the amount of federal tax they pay. Warren's address at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. "staked out the left-wing position on corporate tax reform," Politico said...
Growing Number of Voters Have Families Impacted by Immigration Policy NBC ...For a significant number of potential 2016 voters, immigration policies are not an abstraction but have a direct impact for their loved ones. As many as 1.5 million U. S. citizen relatives of immigrants awaiting deportation relief under the president's stalled executive action program will be eligible to vote for president next year...
Hysterical Corporate Media Fueling War Fervor, Xenophobia in 24/7 Cycle Common Dreams ...Just as they did in the wake of 9/11, corporate media outlets—led by cable news networks—are spreading hysteria, fueling anti-immigrant sentiment, and beating the drum for war by providing "context-free coverage of terror," as one analyst put it this week. The 24/7 coverage of Friday's attacks in Paris and their aftermath, marked by speculation and sensationalism, is only helping the media conglomerates...
In Minneapolis, Local Black Lives Matter Activists Draw on a Growing National Network Truth Out ...Like many groups, BLM Minneapolis emerged as the wider movement for black lives exploded into headlines last year. The last few months, the group has been working to further involve community members in their strategizing and decision-making processes, as well as create opportunities to mobilize more broadly around the forces impacting black, Latino and indigenous city residents...
With Demands for Racial Justice, Student 'BlackOut' Actions Sweep US Common Dreams ...Students at colleges and universities from coast to coast walked out of class, held rallies and teach-ins, and protested on Wednesday as part of a coordinated national day of action demanding racial justice both on- and off-campus. The actions were both inspired by and in solidarity with recent protests at the University of Missouri and other institutions...
Showing posts with label Local 856. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Local 856. Show all posts
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Today's Teamster News 10.07.15
TEAMSTERS
Teamsters At Sysco Back in Negotiations Today After Unanimous Strike Vote Local 117 ...Teamster warehouse workers and drivers who are employed at the major food service conglomerate Sysco have voted unanimously to authorize a strike. Union members voted 150-0 in favor of authorizing a strike after the Company allegedly committed a series of Unfair Labor Practices. The National Labor Relations Board is investigating Sysco for charges of bad-faith bargaining, unilateral changes in working conditions, and worker intimidation...
LA-based port truck driver to join President Obama at White House Summit on Worker Voice AJOT ...On Wed., October 7, a port truck driver who was misclassified for years as an “independent contractor” but fought for – and won – the right to be classified as an employee and is now a member of Teamsters Local 848, will be a panelist at the first ever “White House Summit on Worker Voice.” The professional driver, a husband and father to two young children, who was fired for filing a claim for Wage Theft with the California Labor Commissioner, now works for Eco Flow Transportation...
County to consider contract that includes raise for jail staff Merced Sun Star ...A group of Merced County jail and detention center employees would see their first pay raise in six years under an agreement to be considered Tuesday by the Merced County Board of Supervisors. The county has been in negotiations since May with Unit 12 of Teamsters Local Union 856, which represents more than a dozen unarmed and nonsworn employees of jails and juvenile detention centers...
A Strike May Park San Francisco's Tech Buses Gizmodo ...San Francisco’s tech workers may be looking for a new ride to work if their shuttle bus drivers go on strike over contract negotiations. At a meeting yesterday in San Leandro, leaders of the Teamsters Local 853 advised members to be prepared for a strike if there’s no progress on the contract proposal that the union approved and sent to Compass Transportation back in August. The proposal would increase pay and improve benefits for drivers...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Obama’s trade deal faces stiff headwinds The Hill ...The White House’s announcement Monday of an international trade deal covering 40 percent of the world’s economy sets the stage for a bruising, months-long congressional battle that is already spilling into the 2016 presidential race. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), an agreement between the U.S. and 11 other nations from Asia to Latin America, faces stiff headwinds in both parties...
Vilsack: TPP text available in next 30 days Capital Press ...U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership will be made available in the next 30 days. Farmers and members of Congress will be able to read the final text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the next 30 days, the head of the USDA says. Lawyers are “scrubbing the text” of the trade deal between the United States and 11 other countries, making sure it is accurate...
China Responds Cautiously To TPP Deal, Which Analysts Say Will Bring Pressure For Faster Reforms IBTimes ...China has reacted cautiously to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (TPP), which U.S. President Barack Obama said explicitly was designed to prevent “countries like China” from writing "the rules of the global economy." China’s Ministry of Commerce said it took an “open-minded attitude” to the deal, though Chinese analysts said it would increase pressure on Beijing to introduce further economic reforms...
The Meat Industry Is Licking Its Chops Over Obama's Massive Trade Deal Mother Jones ...The US meat industry scored a big victory this week when world leaders hammered out an agreement that would reduce trade barriers across the Pacific: from the United Sates, Canada, Mexico, Peru, and Chile on this side to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, and Singapore on the other. So how would the TPP affect Big Meat in the United States? The industry is currently facing stagnant domestic demand for its product as Americans eat less meat. The TPP would open markets...
Breast Cancer Patient Arrested for Protesting TPP: "This is Price Gouging at the Cost of Lives" Democracy Now ...The United States and drug companies had pressed for longer monopolies on new biotech drugs, while multiple countries opposed the push, saying it could deny life-saving medicines to patients who cannot afford high prices. The compromise reportedly includes monopolies of between five and eight years. Last week in Atlanta, Zahara Heckscher, a cancer patient, disrupted TPP negotiations and was arrested...
The Trans-Pacific Pact Would Kill Jobs and Consumer Protection (opinion) New York Times ...The TPP includes investor protections also found in NAFTA that incentivize American job offshoring by eliminating risks otherwise associated with producing in low-wage countries. It would drive down our wages by putting Americans in competition with Vietnamese workers who make less than 65 cents per hour...
Three million #noTTIP signatures delivered to EU Commission in London The Economic Voice ...Over three million signatures from across Europe calling for TTIP to be scrapped were submitted to representatives of the European Commission in London at 11.30 am this morning, in the shadow of a 6 metre high inflatable TTIP Trojan Horse. The Trojan Horse symbolised that while TTIP is presented as a 'trade deal,' critics argue that it actually constitutes an unprecedented corporate power grab...
IMF warns of stagnation threat to G7 economies The Guardian ...The International Monetary Fund is warning that the weak recovery in the west risks turning into near stagnation after cutting its global economic growth forecast for the fourth successive year. In its half-yearly update on the health of the world economy, the Washington-based fund predicted expansion of 3.1% in 2015, 0.2 points lower than it was expecting three months ago...
Tens of thousands protest government free-market measures for biggest demo in a year US News & World Report ...Tens of thousands of workers are demonstrating through Brussels to protest the free-market regulations and austerity measures that the center-right government has been pushing through during its first year in office. Belgium's three main unions joined hands Wednesday behind a common platform arguing that the government of Prime Minister Charles Michel is promoting big companies at the expense of the workforce...
IndustriALL Union files ILO complaint against Thailand Reuters ...IndustriALL, a global labor union with 50 million members, has filed a complaint against Thailand at the International Labour Organization in Geneva, the union said on Wednesday. The complaint, sent to the ILO's committee on freedom of association, details 18 cases of worker and labor abuses, IndustriALL said in a statement...
Cambodian Garment Workers Rally for Minimum Wage Raise Solidarity Center ...Some 21,000 garment workers from six unions at more than 60 factories across Cambodia dedicated their 30-minute lunch breaks to rallies calling for a higher minimum wage. The monthly minimum wage for garment and footwear workers is $128. Last year, Cambodia’s garment exports totaled $5.7 billion...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
W.Va. Gov. Tomblin Announces $100 Million Statewide Budget Cut WSAZ ...West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin on Monday announced a plan to save the state nearly $100 million. Tomblin said it is needed to curb the loss from declining coal and natural gas revenue. The governor said most state agency spending will be cut by 4 percent. Tomblin said the fiscal year deficit currently exceeds more than $250 million...
Gov. Brown signs bill aimed at eliminating gender wage gap LA Times ...California took a major step Tuesday toward closing the lingering wage gap between men and women, as Gov. Jerry Brown signed one of the toughest pay equity laws in the nation. Women in California who work full time are paid substantially less — a median 84 cents for every dollar — than men, according to a U.S Census Bureau report this year...
California minimum wage measure seeks to tap into income inequality worries SacBee ...Proponents of a statewide ballot measure to raise California’s minimum wage signaled Tuesday that their effort will seize on unrest over income distribution and frame the wage debate as one of fairness. In the first major event in support of the proposed initiative, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said they would lead the union-funded endeavor to hike the state’s base wage to $11...
Little Rock Workers Convene City's First Wage Board NPR ...As part of a national movement to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, some Little Rock workers plan to convene the city’s first wage board Tuesday. Little Rock’s four-member board is made up of Democratic State Representatives Charles Blake and Vivian Flowers, the chair of Arkansas Community Organizations Donna Massey, and Revered Stephen Copley, who led the recent voter-approved effort to gradually raise the minimum wage in Arkansas to $8.50 by 2017...
U.S. LABOR
Al Jazeera America becomes the latest new media organization to unionize The Guardian ...Al Jazeera America’s digital newsroom became the latest new media organization to unionize on Tuesday. Staff voted in favour 32 to 5, the National Labor Relations Board declared after counting the ballots cast by eligible employees. Al Jazeera America is the latest of a number of newsrooms to unionize this year...
Pot growers at Maryland company get union representation Business Journal ...Bethesda Biomedical Inc., awaiting state approval for a license to grow marijuana and operate a medical marijuana dispensary, has reached an agreement with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 to represent its employees. The agreement covers wages, health care, a retirement pension and other benefits for Bethesda Biomedical’s future employees...
UAW threatens strike at Fiat Chrysler U.S. operations Reuters ...United Auto Workers members are planning to strike at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV U.S. plants as soon as Wednesday evening, the first work stoppage since 2007, threatening to bring manufacturing to a halt. A strike at its U.S. operations could cost the automaker $40 million a week in operating profit, said Sean McAlinden, chief economist with the Center for Automotive Research...
With Sanders at the Helm, Lawmakers Lobby for Labor Common Dreams ...With organized labor increasingly under attack in the U.S., a handful of lawmakers is pushing to make it easier for workers to join unions, allowing them to pool their collective power to bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) on Tuesday unveiled new legislation, dubbed the Workplace Democracy Act, which would expedite the process for forming labor unions and penalize companies that delay negotiations...
Neoliberalism is crushing your mailman: The myth of the postal service’s financial ruin Salon ...The truth is that almost all of the postal service’s losses can be traced back to a single change in the law made by the Republican Congress in 2006. That year, the Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA). Under the terms of PAEA, the USPS was forced to “prefund its future health care benefit payments to retirees for the next 75 years...
This Is What The World's Largest Companies Are Making Off Their Employees Huffington Post ...You’re going to want a raise after reading this. Marketing firm MVF Global has calculated the “true value” of employees around the world, and maybe not surprisingly there is a pretty large gap between what workers at the world’s largest companies are paid and what they're actually worth to the company...
The US Tells Other Countries to Respect Unions—Shouldn’t the US Do the Same? The Nation ... While the just-announced Trans-Pacific Partnership deal is flawed on many levels, it includes language that requires countries such as Vietnam to recognize and respect the right to form independent trade unions. Yet, while the US government tells other countries to respect the right to organize unions and collectively bargain, those rights have been under assault here...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Immigrant Rights Groups Will Start Protesting Obama Again Huffington Post ...Several immigrant rights groups announced Tuesday that they will spend a week protesting the deportation and detention policies of President Barack Obama, timed to mark the one-year anniversary of his announcement of executive actions to expand deportation relief. Obama, who has presided over more deportations than any other president, has long faced protests from immigrant rights activists...
Freedom for 6,000 Federal Prisoners The Atlantic ...About 6,000 federal inmates whose long sentences were reduced last year will be released at the end of October, marking the start of the most substantial effort yet to reduce America’s gargantuan prison population. The U.S. Sentencing Commission, an independent judicial agency that oversees federal sentencing guidelines, first voted in April 2014 to reduce federal drug guideline sentences in an effort to curb prison overcrowding and excessive punishments...
Teamsters At Sysco Back in Negotiations Today After Unanimous Strike Vote Local 117 ...Teamster warehouse workers and drivers who are employed at the major food service conglomerate Sysco have voted unanimously to authorize a strike. Union members voted 150-0 in favor of authorizing a strike after the Company allegedly committed a series of Unfair Labor Practices. The National Labor Relations Board is investigating Sysco for charges of bad-faith bargaining, unilateral changes in working conditions, and worker intimidation...
LA-based port truck driver to join President Obama at White House Summit on Worker Voice AJOT ...On Wed., October 7, a port truck driver who was misclassified for years as an “independent contractor” but fought for – and won – the right to be classified as an employee and is now a member of Teamsters Local 848, will be a panelist at the first ever “White House Summit on Worker Voice.” The professional driver, a husband and father to two young children, who was fired for filing a claim for Wage Theft with the California Labor Commissioner, now works for Eco Flow Transportation...
County to consider contract that includes raise for jail staff Merced Sun Star ...A group of Merced County jail and detention center employees would see their first pay raise in six years under an agreement to be considered Tuesday by the Merced County Board of Supervisors. The county has been in negotiations since May with Unit 12 of Teamsters Local Union 856, which represents more than a dozen unarmed and nonsworn employees of jails and juvenile detention centers...
A Strike May Park San Francisco's Tech Buses Gizmodo ...San Francisco’s tech workers may be looking for a new ride to work if their shuttle bus drivers go on strike over contract negotiations. At a meeting yesterday in San Leandro, leaders of the Teamsters Local 853 advised members to be prepared for a strike if there’s no progress on the contract proposal that the union approved and sent to Compass Transportation back in August. The proposal would increase pay and improve benefits for drivers...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Obama’s trade deal faces stiff headwinds The Hill ...The White House’s announcement Monday of an international trade deal covering 40 percent of the world’s economy sets the stage for a bruising, months-long congressional battle that is already spilling into the 2016 presidential race. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), an agreement between the U.S. and 11 other nations from Asia to Latin America, faces stiff headwinds in both parties...
Vilsack: TPP text available in next 30 days Capital Press ...U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership will be made available in the next 30 days. Farmers and members of Congress will be able to read the final text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the next 30 days, the head of the USDA says. Lawyers are “scrubbing the text” of the trade deal between the United States and 11 other countries, making sure it is accurate...
China Responds Cautiously To TPP Deal, Which Analysts Say Will Bring Pressure For Faster Reforms IBTimes ...China has reacted cautiously to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (TPP), which U.S. President Barack Obama said explicitly was designed to prevent “countries like China” from writing "the rules of the global economy." China’s Ministry of Commerce said it took an “open-minded attitude” to the deal, though Chinese analysts said it would increase pressure on Beijing to introduce further economic reforms...
The Meat Industry Is Licking Its Chops Over Obama's Massive Trade Deal Mother Jones ...The US meat industry scored a big victory this week when world leaders hammered out an agreement that would reduce trade barriers across the Pacific: from the United Sates, Canada, Mexico, Peru, and Chile on this side to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, and Singapore on the other. So how would the TPP affect Big Meat in the United States? The industry is currently facing stagnant domestic demand for its product as Americans eat less meat. The TPP would open markets...
Breast Cancer Patient Arrested for Protesting TPP: "This is Price Gouging at the Cost of Lives" Democracy Now ...The United States and drug companies had pressed for longer monopolies on new biotech drugs, while multiple countries opposed the push, saying it could deny life-saving medicines to patients who cannot afford high prices. The compromise reportedly includes monopolies of between five and eight years. Last week in Atlanta, Zahara Heckscher, a cancer patient, disrupted TPP negotiations and was arrested...
The Trans-Pacific Pact Would Kill Jobs and Consumer Protection (opinion) New York Times ...The TPP includes investor protections also found in NAFTA that incentivize American job offshoring by eliminating risks otherwise associated with producing in low-wage countries. It would drive down our wages by putting Americans in competition with Vietnamese workers who make less than 65 cents per hour...
Three million #noTTIP signatures delivered to EU Commission in London The Economic Voice ...Over three million signatures from across Europe calling for TTIP to be scrapped were submitted to representatives of the European Commission in London at 11.30 am this morning, in the shadow of a 6 metre high inflatable TTIP Trojan Horse. The Trojan Horse symbolised that while TTIP is presented as a 'trade deal,' critics argue that it actually constitutes an unprecedented corporate power grab...
IMF warns of stagnation threat to G7 economies The Guardian ...The International Monetary Fund is warning that the weak recovery in the west risks turning into near stagnation after cutting its global economic growth forecast for the fourth successive year. In its half-yearly update on the health of the world economy, the Washington-based fund predicted expansion of 3.1% in 2015, 0.2 points lower than it was expecting three months ago...
Tens of thousands protest government free-market measures for biggest demo in a year US News & World Report ...Tens of thousands of workers are demonstrating through Brussels to protest the free-market regulations and austerity measures that the center-right government has been pushing through during its first year in office. Belgium's three main unions joined hands Wednesday behind a common platform arguing that the government of Prime Minister Charles Michel is promoting big companies at the expense of the workforce...
IndustriALL Union files ILO complaint against Thailand Reuters ...IndustriALL, a global labor union with 50 million members, has filed a complaint against Thailand at the International Labour Organization in Geneva, the union said on Wednesday. The complaint, sent to the ILO's committee on freedom of association, details 18 cases of worker and labor abuses, IndustriALL said in a statement...
Cambodian Garment Workers Rally for Minimum Wage Raise Solidarity Center ...Some 21,000 garment workers from six unions at more than 60 factories across Cambodia dedicated their 30-minute lunch breaks to rallies calling for a higher minimum wage. The monthly minimum wage for garment and footwear workers is $128. Last year, Cambodia’s garment exports totaled $5.7 billion...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
W.Va. Gov. Tomblin Announces $100 Million Statewide Budget Cut WSAZ ...West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin on Monday announced a plan to save the state nearly $100 million. Tomblin said it is needed to curb the loss from declining coal and natural gas revenue. The governor said most state agency spending will be cut by 4 percent. Tomblin said the fiscal year deficit currently exceeds more than $250 million...
Gov. Brown signs bill aimed at eliminating gender wage gap LA Times ...California took a major step Tuesday toward closing the lingering wage gap between men and women, as Gov. Jerry Brown signed one of the toughest pay equity laws in the nation. Women in California who work full time are paid substantially less — a median 84 cents for every dollar — than men, according to a U.S Census Bureau report this year...
California minimum wage measure seeks to tap into income inequality worries SacBee ...Proponents of a statewide ballot measure to raise California’s minimum wage signaled Tuesday that their effort will seize on unrest over income distribution and frame the wage debate as one of fairness. In the first major event in support of the proposed initiative, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said they would lead the union-funded endeavor to hike the state’s base wage to $11...
Little Rock Workers Convene City's First Wage Board NPR ...As part of a national movement to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, some Little Rock workers plan to convene the city’s first wage board Tuesday. Little Rock’s four-member board is made up of Democratic State Representatives Charles Blake and Vivian Flowers, the chair of Arkansas Community Organizations Donna Massey, and Revered Stephen Copley, who led the recent voter-approved effort to gradually raise the minimum wage in Arkansas to $8.50 by 2017...
U.S. LABOR
Al Jazeera America becomes the latest new media organization to unionize The Guardian ...Al Jazeera America’s digital newsroom became the latest new media organization to unionize on Tuesday. Staff voted in favour 32 to 5, the National Labor Relations Board declared after counting the ballots cast by eligible employees. Al Jazeera America is the latest of a number of newsrooms to unionize this year...
Pot growers at Maryland company get union representation Business Journal ...Bethesda Biomedical Inc., awaiting state approval for a license to grow marijuana and operate a medical marijuana dispensary, has reached an agreement with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 to represent its employees. The agreement covers wages, health care, a retirement pension and other benefits for Bethesda Biomedical’s future employees...
UAW threatens strike at Fiat Chrysler U.S. operations Reuters ...United Auto Workers members are planning to strike at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV U.S. plants as soon as Wednesday evening, the first work stoppage since 2007, threatening to bring manufacturing to a halt. A strike at its U.S. operations could cost the automaker $40 million a week in operating profit, said Sean McAlinden, chief economist with the Center for Automotive Research...
With Sanders at the Helm, Lawmakers Lobby for Labor Common Dreams ...With organized labor increasingly under attack in the U.S., a handful of lawmakers is pushing to make it easier for workers to join unions, allowing them to pool their collective power to bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) on Tuesday unveiled new legislation, dubbed the Workplace Democracy Act, which would expedite the process for forming labor unions and penalize companies that delay negotiations...
Neoliberalism is crushing your mailman: The myth of the postal service’s financial ruin Salon ...The truth is that almost all of the postal service’s losses can be traced back to a single change in the law made by the Republican Congress in 2006. That year, the Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA). Under the terms of PAEA, the USPS was forced to “prefund its future health care benefit payments to retirees for the next 75 years...
This Is What The World's Largest Companies Are Making Off Their Employees Huffington Post ...You’re going to want a raise after reading this. Marketing firm MVF Global has calculated the “true value” of employees around the world, and maybe not surprisingly there is a pretty large gap between what workers at the world’s largest companies are paid and what they're actually worth to the company...
The US Tells Other Countries to Respect Unions—Shouldn’t the US Do the Same? The Nation ... While the just-announced Trans-Pacific Partnership deal is flawed on many levels, it includes language that requires countries such as Vietnam to recognize and respect the right to form independent trade unions. Yet, while the US government tells other countries to respect the right to organize unions and collectively bargain, those rights have been under assault here...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Immigrant Rights Groups Will Start Protesting Obama Again Huffington Post ...Several immigrant rights groups announced Tuesday that they will spend a week protesting the deportation and detention policies of President Barack Obama, timed to mark the one-year anniversary of his announcement of executive actions to expand deportation relief. Obama, who has presided over more deportations than any other president, has long faced protests from immigrant rights activists...
Freedom for 6,000 Federal Prisoners The Atlantic ...About 6,000 federal inmates whose long sentences were reduced last year will be released at the end of October, marking the start of the most substantial effort yet to reduce America’s gargantuan prison population. The U.S. Sentencing Commission, an independent judicial agency that oversees federal sentencing guidelines, first voted in April 2014 to reduce federal drug guideline sentences in an effort to curb prison overcrowding and excessive punishments...
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Staff at Calif. children's home stand up for workplace rights
An organizing victory in California is getting attention because of the unique work the new Teamsters do, and because of the challenges faced by workers in the industry.
After a difficult organizing campaign, direct care staff at Edgewood Center for Children and Families in San Francisco voted to join Local 856 in San Bruno, Calif. In June 2014, workers there began the process of forming a union in an effort to stem the agency’s notoriously high turnover rate and bring benefits and wages on par with comparable nonprofits in San Francisco.
About 150 residential counselors and direct care staff work with some of the most emotionally challenged children in the Bay Area. Staff work up to 16-hours days with no overtime, unaffordable health care options and wages that do not keep up with the cost of living in one of the most expensive cities in the country.
ProPublica, an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest, ran a story on the Teamster victory at Edgewood shortly after they joined the union:
According to ProPublica, the lack of training and low wages resulted in a difficult working environment and high turnover. Residential counselor Cory Henning said in a statement:
Look for a story on these workers in the next issue of Teamster magazine.
 |
| Edgewood workers joined Local 856. |
About 150 residential counselors and direct care staff work with some of the most emotionally challenged children in the Bay Area. Staff work up to 16-hours days with no overtime, unaffordable health care options and wages that do not keep up with the cost of living in one of the most expensive cities in the country.
ProPublica, an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest, ran a story on the Teamster victory at Edgewood shortly after they joined the union:
Workers at a former orphanage in San Francisco that now functions as a large group home for troubled children have unionized—a rare step by frontline employees who work at facilities that can be both demanding and dangerous.
In June 2014, a large group of workers at Edgewood, a complex in the city’s Sunset district that houses a maximum of 48 children, first began to work with a local of the national Teamsters union. The workers wanted higher wages, better benefits and a greater say in the treatment of the children under their care, said Michael Shih, a residential counselor who worked on the Edgewood campus for five years and played a leading role in organizing the workers.Previously, ProPublica reported on the demise of a similar home in Davis, Calif., run by a nonprofit called EMQ FamiliesFirst. Due to staffing problems, workers there were ill equipped to care for the troubled children entrusted to them.
According to ProPublica, the lack of training and low wages resulted in a difficult working environment and high turnover. Residential counselor Cory Henning said in a statement:
In the past year, I have had to take over two months off of work due to assaults on the floor. Instead of receiving support from the management while injured, I was asked to return to the floor… essentially risking my safety due to low-staffing.Edgewood’s conduct in an October 2014 election resulted in a National Labor Relations Board investigation. Edgewood agreed to a settlement and the workers won a new election, voting to join the Teamsters in May.
Look for a story on these workers in the next issue of Teamster magazine.
Friday, March 20, 2015
Today's Teamster News 03.20.15
Teamsters
Teamsters Allege "Eavesdropping" At San Francisco Zoo, Management Says Technology Was Meant For Medical Emergencies KNTV ...The union representing scores of workers at the San Francisco Zoo says management is spying on employees' private conversations — but the zoo says its radio monitoring system was put in place for medical emergencies and denied the eavesdropping claims. Still, the executive director vowed to swiftly investigate the spying allegations...
CCSD Support Staff Union Leadership In Trouble After Challenge Las Vegas Review Journal ...A decade long fight between the two unions came to a head earlier this year when 71 percent of workers who voted in a special election backed the Teamsters. However, only 5,190 votes were cast, which was short of the supermajority the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled is needed for one union to oust another...
Transit, shuttle workers get new contract from COG Sharon Herald ...Mercer County Regional Council of Governments on Wednesday approved a contract with public transportation drivers, mechanics and washers that gives workers a pay hike but also institutes health-care co-pays and reduces some sick and holiday benefits...
Bremerton approves pay increase for Teamsters Kitsap Sun ... The City Council has approved a 2.5 percent bump in pay for its management and for city employees represented by the Teamsters union...
Shell oilsands workers to carry electronic trackers on the job CBC News ...The technology is becoming increasingly common in Alberta’s industrial north, said Wayne Garner, the vice president of General Teamsters Local Union No. 362. “It doesn’t really surprise me,” he said. “Electronic monitoring is nothing really new to us.”...
Trade
Hoffa Statement on USTR Trade Deficit Claims teamster.org ...“The U.S. Trade Representative has made recent statements claiming that the U.S. has a trade surplus with its free trade agreement partners. The problem is this simply is not true...
Five reasons to fret about Obama’s trade agenda Financial Times ...Pro-trade Democrats speak with awe of the pressure being applied by unions in their home districts...
EU Trade Commissioner Suggests Special Court For ISDS Cases Intellectual Property Watch ...Acknowledging that the vast majority of citizens rejected ISDS in a recent public consultation and that many members of the EU Parliament Trade Committee (INTA) object to ISDS – INTA Chair and TTIP Rapporteur Bernd Lange said there was just no need for the EU-US deal – Malmstroem offered several amendments to be considered. This includes: A permanent list of arbitrators chosen by governments should avoid conflicts of interest, jumping between ISDS and courts should be banned, and an appeal mechanism should be put in place...
State Battles
Right-To-Work Law Challenged In Dane County Court WDJT ...The controversial Right-to-work law has been challenged by state unions as unconstitutional and gets a hearing Thursday morning in Dane County Court. The suit was brought against the State of Wisconsin by workers represented by the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, Machinists Local 1061 and United Steelworkers District 2 on March 10th...
Report: Wisconsin Drops To 40th In Nation In Job Growth Wisconsin Public radio ...Wisconsin ranked 40th in the nation in private-sector job growth during the one-year period between September 2013 and September 2014, according to the latest detailed job numbers from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics...
Oldham Tables 'Right-To-Work' Law Louisville Courier Journal ...The decision to table the bill, which was approved by a 7-2 vote, was met by applause from a nearly full house of union supporters and those opposing the right-to-work measure. Magistrates Steve Greenwell and J.D. Sparks opposed the motion...
Boone Leaders Pass Right-To-Work Ordinance Cincinnati.com ...After Boone County Fiscal Court members unanimously approved a controversial right-to-work ordinance, members of the audience booed and yelled they were going to move to Kenton County, where a similar ordinance was recently tabled...
Delaware Bill Would Raise Minimum Wage To $10.25 News Journal ...Legislation to raise Delaware's minimum wage to $10.25 by June 2019, and index future wage hikes to cost-of-living increases, is expected to be introduced this week in Dover...
War on Workers
NLRB Stands by ‘Refined' Contractor Test; FedEx Home Fails in Bid for Reconsideration Bloomberg BNA ...The National Labor Relations Board March 16 declined to reconsider its September 2014 ruling that a group of Connecticut drivers are employees of FedEx Home Delivery under the National Labor Relations Act, not independent contractors outside the act's protection...
It’s illegal to prevent workers from talking about wages. T-Mobile did it anyway. Washington Post ...Last year, however, the NLRB’s general counsel consolidated complaints from four cities into one, putting 12 provisions of the handbook on trial. And on Wednesday, an administrative law judge issued her decision: In 10 of those provisions, T-Mobile’s employee handbook violates federal protections on workers’ right to organize...
Repair The Voting Rights Act (opinion) Washington Post ...The Voting Rights Act requires fixed attention, now, from lawmakers. For decades, the value of the act — all of it — has not been a partisan issue. It should not turn into one...
Miscellaneous
Fed Puts Interest-Rate Hikes In Play Wall Street Journal ...The Fed, in a statement Wednesday after its two-day meeting, dropped an assurance that it would remain “patient” before acting on rates. In the odd parlance of central bankers, the shift meant the Fed would consider raising short-term rates at its June 16-17 meeting...
Teamsters Allege "Eavesdropping" At San Francisco Zoo, Management Says Technology Was Meant For Medical Emergencies KNTV ...The union representing scores of workers at the San Francisco Zoo says management is spying on employees' private conversations — but the zoo says its radio monitoring system was put in place for medical emergencies and denied the eavesdropping claims. Still, the executive director vowed to swiftly investigate the spying allegations...
CCSD Support Staff Union Leadership In Trouble After Challenge Las Vegas Review Journal ...A decade long fight between the two unions came to a head earlier this year when 71 percent of workers who voted in a special election backed the Teamsters. However, only 5,190 votes were cast, which was short of the supermajority the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled is needed for one union to oust another...
Transit, shuttle workers get new contract from COG Sharon Herald ...Mercer County Regional Council of Governments on Wednesday approved a contract with public transportation drivers, mechanics and washers that gives workers a pay hike but also institutes health-care co-pays and reduces some sick and holiday benefits...
Bremerton approves pay increase for Teamsters Kitsap Sun ... The City Council has approved a 2.5 percent bump in pay for its management and for city employees represented by the Teamsters union...
Shell oilsands workers to carry electronic trackers on the job CBC News ...The technology is becoming increasingly common in Alberta’s industrial north, said Wayne Garner, the vice president of General Teamsters Local Union No. 362. “It doesn’t really surprise me,” he said. “Electronic monitoring is nothing really new to us.”...
Trade
Hoffa Statement on USTR Trade Deficit Claims teamster.org ...“The U.S. Trade Representative has made recent statements claiming that the U.S. has a trade surplus with its free trade agreement partners. The problem is this simply is not true...
Five reasons to fret about Obama’s trade agenda Financial Times ...Pro-trade Democrats speak with awe of the pressure being applied by unions in their home districts...
EU Trade Commissioner Suggests Special Court For ISDS Cases Intellectual Property Watch ...Acknowledging that the vast majority of citizens rejected ISDS in a recent public consultation and that many members of the EU Parliament Trade Committee (INTA) object to ISDS – INTA Chair and TTIP Rapporteur Bernd Lange said there was just no need for the EU-US deal – Malmstroem offered several amendments to be considered. This includes: A permanent list of arbitrators chosen by governments should avoid conflicts of interest, jumping between ISDS and courts should be banned, and an appeal mechanism should be put in place...
State Battles
Right-To-Work Law Challenged In Dane County Court WDJT ...The controversial Right-to-work law has been challenged by state unions as unconstitutional and gets a hearing Thursday morning in Dane County Court. The suit was brought against the State of Wisconsin by workers represented by the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, Machinists Local 1061 and United Steelworkers District 2 on March 10th...
Report: Wisconsin Drops To 40th In Nation In Job Growth Wisconsin Public radio ...Wisconsin ranked 40th in the nation in private-sector job growth during the one-year period between September 2013 and September 2014, according to the latest detailed job numbers from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics...
Oldham Tables 'Right-To-Work' Law Louisville Courier Journal ...The decision to table the bill, which was approved by a 7-2 vote, was met by applause from a nearly full house of union supporters and those opposing the right-to-work measure. Magistrates Steve Greenwell and J.D. Sparks opposed the motion...
Boone Leaders Pass Right-To-Work Ordinance Cincinnati.com ...After Boone County Fiscal Court members unanimously approved a controversial right-to-work ordinance, members of the audience booed and yelled they were going to move to Kenton County, where a similar ordinance was recently tabled...
Delaware Bill Would Raise Minimum Wage To $10.25 News Journal ...Legislation to raise Delaware's minimum wage to $10.25 by June 2019, and index future wage hikes to cost-of-living increases, is expected to be introduced this week in Dover...
War on Workers
NLRB Stands by ‘Refined' Contractor Test; FedEx Home Fails in Bid for Reconsideration Bloomberg BNA ...The National Labor Relations Board March 16 declined to reconsider its September 2014 ruling that a group of Connecticut drivers are employees of FedEx Home Delivery under the National Labor Relations Act, not independent contractors outside the act's protection...
It’s illegal to prevent workers from talking about wages. T-Mobile did it anyway. Washington Post ...Last year, however, the NLRB’s general counsel consolidated complaints from four cities into one, putting 12 provisions of the handbook on trial. And on Wednesday, an administrative law judge issued her decision: In 10 of those provisions, T-Mobile’s employee handbook violates federal protections on workers’ right to organize...
Repair The Voting Rights Act (opinion) Washington Post ...The Voting Rights Act requires fixed attention, now, from lawmakers. For decades, the value of the act — all of it — has not been a partisan issue. It should not turn into one...
Miscellaneous
Fed Puts Interest-Rate Hikes In Play Wall Street Journal ...The Fed, in a statement Wednesday after its two-day meeting, dropped an assurance that it would remain “patient” before acting on rates. In the odd parlance of central bankers, the shift meant the Fed would consider raising short-term rates at its June 16-17 meeting...
Friday, November 14, 2014
Today's Teamster News 11.14.14
Teamster News
Teamsters Strike, Allege Wage Theft Los Angeles Business Journal ...Truck drivers who work at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach walked off the job Thursday to protest two trucking firms they accuse of wage theft, according to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which organized the action...
L.A. truck drivers strike as tension mounts at ports Los Angeles Times ...Some truck drivers who work at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach walked off the job Thursday, organizers said, in a protest against two trucking firms they accuse of wage theft...
Walmart sit-down strike follows strikes today by port truck drivers and federal contract workers TeamsterNation ...Walmart workers in a Crenshaw, Calif., store sat down on the job today, even as striking port truck drivers picketed marine terminals and trucking yards at the Port of L.A. and hundreds of federal government contractors marched off the job and onto a Capitol Hill rally...
Teamsters Local 402 Organizes Ready-Mix Drivers teamster.org ...Ready-Mix drivers in Huntsville, Ala., recently voted to be represented by Teamsters Local 402. They are fighting for improved wages and fair treatment on the job...
Teamsters Stand with Students to Stop the Tuition Hikes Teamsters Local 2010 ...Teamsters Local 2010 therefore demands the UC Board of Regents reject the proposed tuition increases and approach both the workers and students to discuss better solutions...
Bus Driver Summer Pay Bargaining Progressing; Other Issues Remain Savannah Morning News ...First Student school transportation provider and Teamsters Union Local 728 are nearing an agreement about year-round pay after three days of bargaining, but continue to disagree on contract and financial issues...
Concord Settles Contract With Employee Union Contra Costa Times ...The city has struck a deal with its largest employee union -- thus averting a threatened strike that could have crippled daily operations. Teamsters Local 856 represents 141 employees -- including administrative clerks, police dispatchers and maintenance workers -- who have been working without a contract since the end of June, despite ongoing negotiations...
William Bounds Jr. Champaign News-Gazette ...Bill continued his career with the Teamsters Union Local 26 in Danville as a business agent. He later was elected president of Local 26 and held that position for 30 years. Bill was also the president of the Teamsters Joint Council 65 located in Springfield for approximately 18 years, overseeing parts of four states and 30,000 members...
Trade
Flaws in granting Mr. Obama fast-track authority (opinion) Washington Post ...Many Republicans, especially in the House, where the real trade action is, question the constitutionality of fast-track trade authority and the wisdom of giving the president even freer rein...
Never Mind ISIS, It’s ISDS That’s The Real Threat The Nation ...mining corporations have taken El Salvador to court for trying to limit their right to open-pit mine the country and pollute its rivers and El Lilly has sued Canada, complaining that its patent laws have hindered profits it could make on an ADD drug...
State Battles
Right-To-Work Legislation Likely To Be On Agenda Albuquerque Journal ...debate is already building over the long-stymied idea of making New Mexico a “right-to-work” state. After seizing control of the state House of Representatives for the first time in 60 years, Republican lawmakers have signaled the legislation will be on the table for the coming session...
Texas GOP’s Voter ID Ploy “Worked”: Turnout Way Down, Provisional Ballots Way Up Salon.com ...Despite a larger population and a contested race for an open gubernatorial seat, turnout in the state of Texas was reportedly down this year... [suggesting] the Texas GOP’s strategy of suppressing the vote this year with polling place Photo ID restrictions seems to have worked...
Emergency Manager Recommended For Atlantic City Press Of Atlantic City ...An emergency manager to oversee the city’s troubled finances and the creation of a new public-private development corporation are part of a package of reforms Gov. Chris Christie will consider to revitalize the struggling resort town...
War on Workers
Walmart Workers Stage First-Ever Sit-In Strike ThinkProgress ...Workers at a Los Angeles Walmart began the first sit-down strike in the company’s history at around 2 p.m. on Thursday. The strike is to protest their low wages and a culture of retaliation at the company...
23 Arrested During Pico Rivera Walmart Protest Associated Press ...Authorities say 23 men and women were arrested Thursday after they blocked traffic at a Pico Rivera intersection during a protest that began with a sit-down strike inside the local Walmart...
U.S. Capitol workers, others strike for higher pay, union Reuters ...Hundreds of striking federal contract workers, including for the first time some from the U.S. Capitol, rallied on Thursday to urge President Barack Obama to boost pay and spur unionization...
Longtime Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship indicted Charleston Gazette ...Don Blankenship, the longtime chief executive officer of Massey Energy, was indicted Thursday on charges that he orchestrated the routine violation of key federal mine safety rules at the company’s Upper Big Branch Mine prior to an April 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners...
Halliburton worker killed in Colorado fracking accident Reuters ...An accident at a fracking site in Colorado killed one Halliburton Co worker and seriously injured two on Thursday as they tried to thaw a high-pressure water line that had frozen in record-breaking cold conditions, the company said...
Worker killed when pedestrian bridge collapses Associated Press ...Officials say one worker was killed and four others were hurt when a pedestrian bridge under construction collapsed at a community college in North Carolina...
Worker dies as wall collapses at Avon Lake construction site cleveland.com ...A construction worker died Thursday afternoon after a wall of a house collapsed on him...
Only 1 State's College Students Graduate With Less Than $20K Of Debt, Report Finds Huffington Post ...For the class of 2013, seven out of 10 college students nationwide carried some form of education debt when they graduated, ... The average graduate was $28,400 in the red, the report says. In six states, students graduated with an average of more than $30,000 in education debt, and only New Mexico grads came in below the $20K mark, with an average of $18,656 in school debt...
Miscellaneous
Keystone On The Move In Congress Politico ...In the House, Republicans quickly announced a vote as early as Thursday on a version of Landrieu’s Keystone bill with Cassidy’s name on it. When Landrieu did not object to a Republican request that Cassidy’s House bill be the measure ultimately sent to Obama — not her own — the Senate agreed to a Tuesday vote on the $8 billion pipeline...
Teamsters Strike, Allege Wage Theft Los Angeles Business Journal ...Truck drivers who work at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach walked off the job Thursday to protest two trucking firms they accuse of wage theft, according to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which organized the action...
L.A. truck drivers strike as tension mounts at ports Los Angeles Times ...Some truck drivers who work at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach walked off the job Thursday, organizers said, in a protest against two trucking firms they accuse of wage theft...
Walmart sit-down strike follows strikes today by port truck drivers and federal contract workers TeamsterNation ...Walmart workers in a Crenshaw, Calif., store sat down on the job today, even as striking port truck drivers picketed marine terminals and trucking yards at the Port of L.A. and hundreds of federal government contractors marched off the job and onto a Capitol Hill rally...
Teamsters Local 402 Organizes Ready-Mix Drivers teamster.org ...Ready-Mix drivers in Huntsville, Ala., recently voted to be represented by Teamsters Local 402. They are fighting for improved wages and fair treatment on the job...
Teamsters Stand with Students to Stop the Tuition Hikes Teamsters Local 2010 ...Teamsters Local 2010 therefore demands the UC Board of Regents reject the proposed tuition increases and approach both the workers and students to discuss better solutions...
Bus Driver Summer Pay Bargaining Progressing; Other Issues Remain Savannah Morning News ...First Student school transportation provider and Teamsters Union Local 728 are nearing an agreement about year-round pay after three days of bargaining, but continue to disagree on contract and financial issues...
Concord Settles Contract With Employee Union Contra Costa Times ...The city has struck a deal with its largest employee union -- thus averting a threatened strike that could have crippled daily operations. Teamsters Local 856 represents 141 employees -- including administrative clerks, police dispatchers and maintenance workers -- who have been working without a contract since the end of June, despite ongoing negotiations...
William Bounds Jr. Champaign News-Gazette ...Bill continued his career with the Teamsters Union Local 26 in Danville as a business agent. He later was elected president of Local 26 and held that position for 30 years. Bill was also the president of the Teamsters Joint Council 65 located in Springfield for approximately 18 years, overseeing parts of four states and 30,000 members...
Trade
Flaws in granting Mr. Obama fast-track authority (opinion) Washington Post ...Many Republicans, especially in the House, where the real trade action is, question the constitutionality of fast-track trade authority and the wisdom of giving the president even freer rein...
Never Mind ISIS, It’s ISDS That’s The Real Threat The Nation ...mining corporations have taken El Salvador to court for trying to limit their right to open-pit mine the country and pollute its rivers and El Lilly has sued Canada, complaining that its patent laws have hindered profits it could make on an ADD drug...
State Battles
Right-To-Work Legislation Likely To Be On Agenda Albuquerque Journal ...debate is already building over the long-stymied idea of making New Mexico a “right-to-work” state. After seizing control of the state House of Representatives for the first time in 60 years, Republican lawmakers have signaled the legislation will be on the table for the coming session...
Texas GOP’s Voter ID Ploy “Worked”: Turnout Way Down, Provisional Ballots Way Up Salon.com ...Despite a larger population and a contested race for an open gubernatorial seat, turnout in the state of Texas was reportedly down this year... [suggesting] the Texas GOP’s strategy of suppressing the vote this year with polling place Photo ID restrictions seems to have worked...
Emergency Manager Recommended For Atlantic City Press Of Atlantic City ...An emergency manager to oversee the city’s troubled finances and the creation of a new public-private development corporation are part of a package of reforms Gov. Chris Christie will consider to revitalize the struggling resort town...
War on Workers
Walmart Workers Stage First-Ever Sit-In Strike ThinkProgress ...Workers at a Los Angeles Walmart began the first sit-down strike in the company’s history at around 2 p.m. on Thursday. The strike is to protest their low wages and a culture of retaliation at the company...
23 Arrested During Pico Rivera Walmart Protest Associated Press ...Authorities say 23 men and women were arrested Thursday after they blocked traffic at a Pico Rivera intersection during a protest that began with a sit-down strike inside the local Walmart...
U.S. Capitol workers, others strike for higher pay, union Reuters ...Hundreds of striking federal contract workers, including for the first time some from the U.S. Capitol, rallied on Thursday to urge President Barack Obama to boost pay and spur unionization...
Longtime Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship indicted Charleston Gazette ...Don Blankenship, the longtime chief executive officer of Massey Energy, was indicted Thursday on charges that he orchestrated the routine violation of key federal mine safety rules at the company’s Upper Big Branch Mine prior to an April 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners...
Halliburton worker killed in Colorado fracking accident Reuters ...An accident at a fracking site in Colorado killed one Halliburton Co worker and seriously injured two on Thursday as they tried to thaw a high-pressure water line that had frozen in record-breaking cold conditions, the company said...
Worker killed when pedestrian bridge collapses Associated Press ...Officials say one worker was killed and four others were hurt when a pedestrian bridge under construction collapsed at a community college in North Carolina...
Worker dies as wall collapses at Avon Lake construction site cleveland.com ...A construction worker died Thursday afternoon after a wall of a house collapsed on him...
Only 1 State's College Students Graduate With Less Than $20K Of Debt, Report Finds Huffington Post ...For the class of 2013, seven out of 10 college students nationwide carried some form of education debt when they graduated, ... The average graduate was $28,400 in the red, the report says. In six states, students graduated with an average of more than $30,000 in education debt, and only New Mexico grads came in below the $20K mark, with an average of $18,656 in school debt...
Miscellaneous
Keystone On The Move In Congress Politico ...In the House, Republicans quickly announced a vote as early as Thursday on a version of Landrieu’s Keystone bill with Cassidy’s name on it. When Landrieu did not object to a Republican request that Cassidy’s House bill be the measure ultimately sent to Obama — not her own — the Senate agreed to a Tuesday vote on the $8 billion pipeline...
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Today's Teamster News 10.18.14
Teamster News
Frontier Airlines President Says Nurse On Flights May Have Been At More Advanced Stage Of Ebola Than Thought Associated Press ...The president of (Teamster-represented) Frontier Airlines says a nurse who was on flights between Dallas and Cleveland and who later tested positive for Ebola may have been at a more advanced stage of the illness than previously thought...
Aramark Workers Negotiate New Contract Chicago Maroon ...The contract was negotiated by Debra Simmons-Peterson, the president of Teamsters Local 743, who represents the dining hall and academic café employees.... “Health insurance is more affordable for members and is now provided through [Teamsters Local’s] health and welfare plan, which includes short term disability and dental insurance,” Catharine Schutzius, a business agent for Teamsters Local 743, said...
Square D Workers Intimidated Into Contract, Union Leader Says Lincoln Journal Star ...A tentative settlement reached early Thursday could end strikes almost two weeks old at two of Schneider's six U.S. factories in Peru, Indiana, and Oxford, Ohio. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, IBEW and International Association of Machinists all represent some of the workers for Schneider...
Golden Gate Bridge Workers Unions, District Reach Tentative Contract Agreement San Francisco Examiner ...The tentative agreement - for which details remain confidential pending votes from all 13 bridge worker unions and the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District - came after both sides met for the first time since Teamsters Locals 856 and 665 announced Oct. 9 a planned bus strike. District spokesman Priya Clemens did reveal that "healthcare is an area where a compromise was reached."...
Sysco Looks To Divestitures To Nail Down US Foods Deal Reuters ...Food distributor Sysco Corp., fighting to complete a merger with U.S. Foods Inc , is attempting to craft a package of potential asset sales weighty enough to convince U.S. antitrust regulators to approve the deal...
State Says Bridgeton Landfill Owner Must Do More To Contain Fire's Spread St. Louis Public Radio ...Republic Services has confirmed that it agreed on Thursday, in writing, to comply with all of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' requirements ― although the company remains committed to its position that the additional measures are not needed...
First Student Teamsters in Georgia to Take Strike Vote teamster.org ... Employees of First Student, who provide school bus service to Chatham County schools, Georgia will vote Saturday to authorize their union to call a strike over unfair labor practices and the Company’s refusal to meet their demands regarding income security over the summer months...
Teamster Taxi Drivers Protest at Union Station in D.C. teamster.org ...Taxi drivers, represented by the Teamster-affiliated Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association, held a protest today outside Union Station in Washington, D.C. to send a strong message to the City Council that drivers demand fairness now...
Business Briefs St. Cloud Times ...The Minnesota Public Transportation Association named Metro Bus driver Jerry Gillman as Minnesota Bus Operator of the Year… He also serves as a driver instructor and Teamsters Local 638 union steward representing Dial-a-Ride bus operators and dispatchers…
Trade
Leaked TPP Chapter Exposes Sweet Deals for Big Pharma and US Bully Tactics RINF ...WikiLeaks on Thursday released a second updated version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Intellectual Property Rights chapter, charging that it will hinder affordable access to medicines globally, increase online surveillance, and impinge on civil liberties while benefiting Big Pharma and other corporate interests...
The TTIP: A Brief History Of An Agenda For Corporate Plunder CounterCurrents.org ...The public is not allowed to know the positions held by the EU (unlike business interests) in these talks, who is being given access to whom and who is lobbying for what on whose behalf...
State Battles
U.S. Census Migration Report: WI Lost Nearly 2K Residents to MN in Past Year Uppity Wisconsin ...9,352 more people moved out of Wisconsin than moved into Wisconsin and a large share of those leaving-- 1,972 to be exact-- are going to our next door neighbor, Minnesota...
Tax returns show Chris Christie and his wife made $698,838 last year, paid $193,510 in taxes Star-Tribune ...Christie's wife, Mary Pat … works part-time on Wall Street and earned $475,854 for her job as a director at Angelo, Gordon & Co. and $34,698 from Cantor Fitzgerald...
War on Workers
FedEx Ground Says Its Drivers Aren't Employees. The Courts Will Decide Bloomberg Businessweek ...several recent court decisions have rejected FedEx Ground’s arguments that the drivers are contractors, which could stem a broader trend of U.S. companies treating more workers as contractors instead of employees...
Walmart Workers Arrested In New York And Washington Protesting For $15 Minimum Wage UPI ...At least 42 Walmart workers and labor rights activists were arrested Thursday while marching for $15 per hour minimum wage outside of heiress Alice Walton's New York City apartment and in front of the Walton Family Foundation's Washington headquarters...
Construction worker involved in flood repair killed by semi on Lefthand Canyon Drive Daily Camera ...Federal workplace safety investigators are conducting an investigation into the death Friday of a road construction worker who was killed on Lefthand Canyon Drive when a truck involved in flood repair backed over him...
Private donors, including Target and IBM, supply spy gear to cops Pro Publica ...police foundations operate with little transparency or oversight and can be a way for wealthy donors and corporations to influence law enforcement agencies' priorities...
Miscellaneous
Hawk Attacks Man's Quadcopter Drone NBC News ...A hawk attacks a man's quadcopter while he was attempting to film the fall foliage in Cambridge, Massachusetts...
Frontier Airlines President Says Nurse On Flights May Have Been At More Advanced Stage Of Ebola Than Thought Associated Press ...The president of (Teamster-represented) Frontier Airlines says a nurse who was on flights between Dallas and Cleveland and who later tested positive for Ebola may have been at a more advanced stage of the illness than previously thought...
Aramark Workers Negotiate New Contract Chicago Maroon ...The contract was negotiated by Debra Simmons-Peterson, the president of Teamsters Local 743, who represents the dining hall and academic café employees.... “Health insurance is more affordable for members and is now provided through [Teamsters Local’s] health and welfare plan, which includes short term disability and dental insurance,” Catharine Schutzius, a business agent for Teamsters Local 743, said...
Square D Workers Intimidated Into Contract, Union Leader Says Lincoln Journal Star ...A tentative settlement reached early Thursday could end strikes almost two weeks old at two of Schneider's six U.S. factories in Peru, Indiana, and Oxford, Ohio. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, IBEW and International Association of Machinists all represent some of the workers for Schneider...
Golden Gate Bridge Workers Unions, District Reach Tentative Contract Agreement San Francisco Examiner ...The tentative agreement - for which details remain confidential pending votes from all 13 bridge worker unions and the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District - came after both sides met for the first time since Teamsters Locals 856 and 665 announced Oct. 9 a planned bus strike. District spokesman Priya Clemens did reveal that "healthcare is an area where a compromise was reached."...
Sysco Looks To Divestitures To Nail Down US Foods Deal Reuters ...Food distributor Sysco Corp., fighting to complete a merger with U.S. Foods Inc , is attempting to craft a package of potential asset sales weighty enough to convince U.S. antitrust regulators to approve the deal...
State Says Bridgeton Landfill Owner Must Do More To Contain Fire's Spread St. Louis Public Radio ...Republic Services has confirmed that it agreed on Thursday, in writing, to comply with all of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' requirements ― although the company remains committed to its position that the additional measures are not needed...
First Student Teamsters in Georgia to Take Strike Vote teamster.org ... Employees of First Student, who provide school bus service to Chatham County schools, Georgia will vote Saturday to authorize their union to call a strike over unfair labor practices and the Company’s refusal to meet their demands regarding income security over the summer months...
Teamster Taxi Drivers Protest at Union Station in D.C. teamster.org ...Taxi drivers, represented by the Teamster-affiliated Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association, held a protest today outside Union Station in Washington, D.C. to send a strong message to the City Council that drivers demand fairness now...
Business Briefs St. Cloud Times ...The Minnesota Public Transportation Association named Metro Bus driver Jerry Gillman as Minnesota Bus Operator of the Year… He also serves as a driver instructor and Teamsters Local 638 union steward representing Dial-a-Ride bus operators and dispatchers…
Trade
Leaked TPP Chapter Exposes Sweet Deals for Big Pharma and US Bully Tactics RINF ...WikiLeaks on Thursday released a second updated version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Intellectual Property Rights chapter, charging that it will hinder affordable access to medicines globally, increase online surveillance, and impinge on civil liberties while benefiting Big Pharma and other corporate interests...
The TTIP: A Brief History Of An Agenda For Corporate Plunder CounterCurrents.org ...The public is not allowed to know the positions held by the EU (unlike business interests) in these talks, who is being given access to whom and who is lobbying for what on whose behalf...
State Battles
U.S. Census Migration Report: WI Lost Nearly 2K Residents to MN in Past Year Uppity Wisconsin ...9,352 more people moved out of Wisconsin than moved into Wisconsin and a large share of those leaving-- 1,972 to be exact-- are going to our next door neighbor, Minnesota...
Tax returns show Chris Christie and his wife made $698,838 last year, paid $193,510 in taxes Star-Tribune ...Christie's wife, Mary Pat … works part-time on Wall Street and earned $475,854 for her job as a director at Angelo, Gordon & Co. and $34,698 from Cantor Fitzgerald...
War on Workers
FedEx Ground Says Its Drivers Aren't Employees. The Courts Will Decide Bloomberg Businessweek ...several recent court decisions have rejected FedEx Ground’s arguments that the drivers are contractors, which could stem a broader trend of U.S. companies treating more workers as contractors instead of employees...
Walmart Workers Arrested In New York And Washington Protesting For $15 Minimum Wage UPI ...At least 42 Walmart workers and labor rights activists were arrested Thursday while marching for $15 per hour minimum wage outside of heiress Alice Walton's New York City apartment and in front of the Walton Family Foundation's Washington headquarters...
Construction worker involved in flood repair killed by semi on Lefthand Canyon Drive Daily Camera ...Federal workplace safety investigators are conducting an investigation into the death Friday of a road construction worker who was killed on Lefthand Canyon Drive when a truck involved in flood repair backed over him...
Private donors, including Target and IBM, supply spy gear to cops Pro Publica ...police foundations operate with little transparency or oversight and can be a way for wealthy donors and corporations to influence law enforcement agencies' priorities...
Miscellaneous
Hawk Attacks Man's Quadcopter Drone NBC News ...A hawk attacks a man's quadcopter while he was attempting to film the fall foliage in Cambridge, Massachusetts...
Friday, March 7, 2014
Another Teamster organizing victory in California!
According to a press release from Local 856, the workers voted to join the Teamsters after months of stalled negotiations over issues such as soaring health care costs and overdue pay increases.
Noven Feria, a lead custodian, explained why he and his coworkers chose the Teamsters:
We drive children to school, prepare their meals, and make sure they have a clean, safe environment in which to learn. We deserve to be able to take care of our families too and not have to choose between food and healthcare.Peter Finn, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 856, added,
The District’s decision to freeze healthcare costs at 2010 levels has had an alarming impact on these workers – many have had to choose between buying groceries and having healthcare.
It’s time for Mount Diablo to take care of the workers who take care of our children. We are committed and prepared to do whatever it takes to demand fairness at the bargaining table.
 |
| Mount Diablo workers organizing committee |
Welcome to the Teamsters!
Friday, February 22, 2013
Today's Teamster News 02.22.13
Koch World reboots Politico ...Americans for Prosperity, the Kochs’ main political outlet, parted ways with its chief operating officer, most of its 100-plus employee field staff and several fundraisers. Generation Opportunity, a Koch-backed youth mobilization effort, recently replaced its president...
Blanche Lincoln, Former Arkansas Senator, Hired By Walmart: Report Huffington Post ...Former Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) has been hired by Walmart as an outside consultant, according to Politico Influence. The senator, who is billed as a "special policy advisor" with Alston & Bird, is now free to lobby the Senate, having left the upper chamber two years ago...
Previously Owned U.S. Home Sales Climb to 4.92 Million Bloomberg ...Improving home sales combined with dwindling inventory spurred the biggest advance in property values since 2005, helping mend household finances. The gain in housing, the industry that was at the center of the financial crisis, may help consumers overcome an increase in the payroll tax and rising gasoline prices that pose a risk to spending...
Millennials reducing debt at fast pace, study says Los Angeles Times ...The millennial generation is aggressively whittling down its debt, as young people forgo homes and cars, according to a new study...
Blanche Lincoln, Former Arkansas Senator, Hired By Walmart: Report Huffington Post ...Former Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) has been hired by Walmart as an outside consultant, according to Politico Influence. The senator, who is billed as a "special policy advisor" with Alston & Bird, is now free to lobby the Senate, having left the upper chamber two years ago...
Previously Owned U.S. Home Sales Climb to 4.92 Million Bloomberg ...Improving home sales combined with dwindling inventory spurred the biggest advance in property values since 2005, helping mend household finances. The gain in housing, the industry that was at the center of the financial crisis, may help consumers overcome an increase in the payroll tax and rising gasoline prices that pose a risk to spending...
Millennials reducing debt at fast pace, study says Los Angeles Times ...The millennial generation is aggressively whittling down its debt, as young people forgo homes and cars, according to a new study...
Obama to Press Japan's Abe on U.S. Automakers Bloomberg ...President Barack Obama won’t back off demands that Japan ease barriers for U.S. automakers before joining negotiations for a regional Pacific trade agreement when he meets today with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe...
Protesters halt eviction of 85-year-old UPI ...Some 200 protesters gathered to prevent the eviction of an 85-year-old Spanish woman from her home after she fell behind on rent by one month...
Protesters halt eviction of 85-year-old UPI ...Some 200 protesters gathered to prevent the eviction of an 85-year-old Spanish woman from her home after she fell behind on rent by one month...
Union contract talks begin after Washtenaw County formally condemns right to work Ann Arbor.com ...the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution instructing administrators to promptly begin union contract negotiations ahead of schedule in an effort to avoid the immediate effects of a new right-to-work law in Michigan...
Mo. House Dem proposes ban on anti-union measures Associated Press ... A Missouri House Democrat's plan would send colleagues to prison for proposing legislation limiting collective bargaining rights. Representative Jeff Roorda, of Barnhart, introduced the bill Friday in response to a Republican House member's proposal to jail lawmakers for introducing gun control measures...
Labor lawyers try to rip apart mayor's proposal to rein in unions Anchorage Daily News ...The proposal takes power from the unions to strike or arbitrate disputes with the city, making the Assembly the final decision-maker. It also sets up " managed competition," in which city employees would bid against private contractors for work. And it limits raises to a five-year-average of the consumer price index...
Pension reporting bill clears Florida House committee The News Service of Florida ...A bill that would change the reporting requirements for the financial position of local pensions has drawn together an unlikely pair of allies: the Florida League of Cities and unions, who oppose the measure for their own reasons...
House committee votes to ban 'living wage' local ordinances Tampa Bay Times ...Miami-Dade and Broward counties would have their decades-old living wage ordinances repealed and local governments would be banned from enacting similar employment benefits under a bill passed Wednesday by a House committee...
Indiana Teachers: "We're Under Attack" From Lawmakers In Indianapolis Tristatehomepage.com ...Tuesday, the House Education Committee voted 7 to 3 to advance legislation barring schools from deducting union dues from a teacher's paycheck...
Kansas Creating Bill To End Civil Service Protections Huffington Post ...The state House Appropriations Committee is completing a draft of legislation that would allow for more jobs in state government to be taken out of the state's civil service system and made "at-will" employees...
Teamsters Drop Lawsuit Against Town of Atherton Menlo Park-Atherton Patch ...In a prepared statement Thursday, Local 856 Vice President Peter Finn defended the union’s original intention to prevent the layoffs and outsourcing, but said that the decision to dismiss the lawsuit arose after all of the union workers involved decided to pursue employment elsewhere...
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Today's Teamster News 02.03.11
The Ruinous Fiscal Impact of Big Banks New York Times ...Public deficits and debt relative to gross domestic product have ballooned in the last three years for one simple reason – the big banks at the heart of our financial system blew themselves up...
Energy Firms Aided by U.S. Find Backers New York Times ...In late 2009, the federal government gave $151 million in grants to advance 37 clean energy ideas deemed too radical or too preliminary to attract much private financing...
Foreclosed Homeowners Go to Court on Their Own New York Times ...Now many defaults are prompted by stretches of unemployment...
Teamsters president Hoffa to kick off campaign at new United IBT ...Hoffa will join union members at Continental Airlines to help kick off a campaign to organize fleet service workers and ramp workers at the newly merged Continental/United...
USA 3000 Pilots Withdraw from Voluntary ASAP PRNewswire ...pilots, represented by the Airline Professionals Association (APA) Teamsters Local 1224 announced their decision to withdraw from the voluntary Aviation Safety Action Program...
Probation employees, county at impasse (Local 856) The Ukiah Daily Journal ...County negotiators declared an impasse with the union that represents its probation officers and juvenile justice counselors...
Corrections officer says colleague's murder is no surprise (Local 117) MyNorthwest.com ...At Governor Gregoire's request, outside eyes will scrutinize our state's prison system following the brutal killing of a guard in Monroe...
Unions launch media ad blitz to protest cuts The Times Herald-Record ...The Sullivan County PBA ran a "report card" in Tuesday's Sullivan County Democrat showing each legislator's picture next to boxes marked "no" and "yes"...
UPS Eyes More Success GPB ...Atlanta-based shipping giant United Parcel Service says it plans to turn last year’s success into record earnings per share in 2011...
UPS Capital Opens Colombia, Peru Offices Global Atlanta ...UPS Capital, which provides loans to help companies finance global trade and factory expansions, has opened offices in Bogota, Colombia, and Lima, Peru...
Snow slowing shipping via UPS and FedEx cfnews13.com ...UPS and FedEx both rely heavily on airplanes to move their packages...
China's railways lead the world in speed, size, but services lag far behind CP ...the world's biggest annual migration involving 230 million people... highlights the wide gap between showcase Chinese infrastructure and the often abysmal services available to the public...
Unions expect Florida governor to get his way on pensions Sun-Sentinel ...Police officers, teachers and government workers across Florida had harsh words Wednesday for Gov. Rick Scott's plan to have public employees contribute toward their pensions...
Calif. lawmakers promote clean energy standards San Francisco Chronicle ...The California Legislature's Democratic leaders on Wednesday unveiled a package of proposed laws they said will position the state as the national leader in developing clean energy alternatives and green jobs...
Questions Arise About Study Used to Justify 24 Hour Restart Change truckinginfo.com ...American Trucking Associations ... plans to take issue with the agency's use of these studies...
FMCSA presses forward with EOBR mandate for all trucks Land Line Magazine ...All truckers subject to the hours-of-service regulations are targeted by a proposal by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to mandate electronic on-board recorders in all trucks...
Energy Firms Aided by U.S. Find Backers New York Times ...In late 2009, the federal government gave $151 million in grants to advance 37 clean energy ideas deemed too radical or too preliminary to attract much private financing...
Foreclosed Homeowners Go to Court on Their Own New York Times ...Now many defaults are prompted by stretches of unemployment...
Teamsters president Hoffa to kick off campaign at new United IBT ...Hoffa will join union members at Continental Airlines to help kick off a campaign to organize fleet service workers and ramp workers at the newly merged Continental/United...
USA 3000 Pilots Withdraw from Voluntary ASAP PRNewswire ...pilots, represented by the Airline Professionals Association (APA) Teamsters Local 1224 announced their decision to withdraw from the voluntary Aviation Safety Action Program...
Probation employees, county at impasse (Local 856) The Ukiah Daily Journal ...County negotiators declared an impasse with the union that represents its probation officers and juvenile justice counselors...
Corrections officer says colleague's murder is no surprise (Local 117) MyNorthwest.com ...At Governor Gregoire's request, outside eyes will scrutinize our state's prison system following the brutal killing of a guard in Monroe...
Unions launch media ad blitz to protest cuts The Times Herald-Record ...The Sullivan County PBA ran a "report card" in Tuesday's Sullivan County Democrat showing each legislator's picture next to boxes marked "no" and "yes"...
UPS Eyes More Success GPB ...Atlanta-based shipping giant United Parcel Service says it plans to turn last year’s success into record earnings per share in 2011...
UPS Capital Opens Colombia, Peru Offices Global Atlanta ...UPS Capital, which provides loans to help companies finance global trade and factory expansions, has opened offices in Bogota, Colombia, and Lima, Peru...
Snow slowing shipping via UPS and FedEx cfnews13.com ...UPS and FedEx both rely heavily on airplanes to move their packages...
China's railways lead the world in speed, size, but services lag far behind CP ...the world's biggest annual migration involving 230 million people... highlights the wide gap between showcase Chinese infrastructure and the often abysmal services available to the public...
Unions expect Florida governor to get his way on pensions Sun-Sentinel ...Police officers, teachers and government workers across Florida had harsh words Wednesday for Gov. Rick Scott's plan to have public employees contribute toward their pensions...
Calif. lawmakers promote clean energy standards San Francisco Chronicle ...The California Legislature's Democratic leaders on Wednesday unveiled a package of proposed laws they said will position the state as the national leader in developing clean energy alternatives and green jobs...
Questions Arise About Study Used to Justify 24 Hour Restart Change truckinginfo.com ...American Trucking Associations ... plans to take issue with the agency's use of these studies...
FMCSA presses forward with EOBR mandate for all trucks Land Line Magazine ...All truckers subject to the hours-of-service regulations are targeted by a proposal by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to mandate electronic on-board recorders in all trucks...
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Today's Teamster News 1.4.11
Truckers Launch Clean-Trucks Appeal Journal of Commerce ...The American Trucking Associations filed its opening brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, charging that the U.S. District Court in September erroneously upheld the concession requirements in the Port of Los Angeles' clean-truck plan...
Cuomo Cuts Own Pay 5%, Seeks State Wage Freeze in Face of $11 Billion Gap Bloomberg News ...Former Governor David Paterson said in October he would cut about 900 workers by year-end. Cuomo said Jan. 1 he would let that action go forward.
Drilling Is Stalled Even After Ban Is Lifted Wall Street Journal ...oil companies are still waiting for approval to drill the first new oil well (in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico)...
NTSB issues 'urgent' recommendations in wake of San Bruno explosion (Local 856) Los Angeles Times ...the seam-welded sections may not be as strong as the seamless pipe that was indicated in PG&E’s records...
Unions vow to fight Sullivan wage freezes (Local 445) ...Four Sullivan County unions representing some 900 employees vowed Monday to fight the county on a blanket wage and longevity freeze...
Teamsters stand up for General Logistics drivers (Local 374) WHBF-TV Quad Cities ...Eight specialized truck drivers for General Logistics didn't go to work on Monday...
There's One Huge State Budget Crisis That Everyone Is Refusing To Talk About Talking Points Memo ...(Texas) is a pro-business, lean-spending, no-union state...
Strained States Turning to Laws to Curb Labor Unions New York Times ...elected officials from Maine to Alabama, Ohio to Arizona, are pushing new legislation to limit the power of labor unions...
Cuomo Cuts Own Pay 5%, Seeks State Wage Freeze in Face of $11 Billion Gap Bloomberg News ...Former Governor David Paterson said in October he would cut about 900 workers by year-end. Cuomo said Jan. 1 he would let that action go forward.
Drilling Is Stalled Even After Ban Is Lifted Wall Street Journal ...oil companies are still waiting for approval to drill the first new oil well (in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico)...
NTSB issues 'urgent' recommendations in wake of San Bruno explosion (Local 856) Los Angeles Times ...the seam-welded sections may not be as strong as the seamless pipe that was indicated in PG&E’s records...
Unions vow to fight Sullivan wage freezes (Local 445) ...Four Sullivan County unions representing some 900 employees vowed Monday to fight the county on a blanket wage and longevity freeze...
Teamsters stand up for General Logistics drivers (Local 374) WHBF-TV Quad Cities ...Eight specialized truck drivers for General Logistics didn't go to work on Monday...
There's One Huge State Budget Crisis That Everyone Is Refusing To Talk About Talking Points Memo ...(Texas) is a pro-business, lean-spending, no-union state...
Strained States Turning to Laws to Curb Labor Unions New York Times ...elected officials from Maine to Alabama, Ohio to Arizona, are pushing new legislation to limit the power of labor unions...
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Today's Teamster News 12.28.10
DOT Proposes Changes in Truck Duty-Time Rules Journal of Commerce ...the long-anticipated proposal puts off a decision on whether to lower driving time from the current 11 hours down to 10...
FMCSA Proposes Seven Changes in Hours Rule Truckinginfo.com
YRC Names Former Embarq CEO General Counsel Journal of Commerce ...Gerke to head trucking giant’s legal team as it ‘finalizes’ recovery plan...
YRC Seeks More Time to Restructure Journal of Commerce ...YRC Worldwide is asking the Teamsters union and pension fund managers for more time to restructure the trucking company’s troubled balance sheet...
Port of Long Beach to Regulate Smaller Trucks Journal of Commerce ...Clean-truck program to expand to cover Class 7 trucks...
Wages, health insurance weigh heavily in City’s union negotiations (Local 238) Oelwein Daily Register ...Oelwein is currently working on union negotiations with all of the three unions...
San Bruno employees file lawsuit against city (Local 856) The Daily Journal ...A group of San Bruno employees is suing the city for imposing a pay decrease without consent...
NJ grocery distributor for A&P, Pathmark warns of 1100 layoffs (Local 863) Press Release Mag ...they were enraged when the company recently proposed lowering hourly wages to $6.40 with benefits, or $9.15 without benefits...
Sheriff's $600,000 carryover likely keeps '11 office budget safe Chillicothe Gazette ... the sheriff also is poised to begin contract negotiations with ... the Teamsters...
FMCSA Proposes Seven Changes in Hours Rule Truckinginfo.com
YRC Names Former Embarq CEO General Counsel Journal of Commerce ...Gerke to head trucking giant’s legal team as it ‘finalizes’ recovery plan...
YRC Seeks More Time to Restructure Journal of Commerce ...YRC Worldwide is asking the Teamsters union and pension fund managers for more time to restructure the trucking company’s troubled balance sheet...
Port of Long Beach to Regulate Smaller Trucks Journal of Commerce ...Clean-truck program to expand to cover Class 7 trucks...
Wages, health insurance weigh heavily in City’s union negotiations (Local 238) Oelwein Daily Register ...Oelwein is currently working on union negotiations with all of the three unions...
San Bruno employees file lawsuit against city (Local 856) The Daily Journal ...A group of San Bruno employees is suing the city for imposing a pay decrease without consent...
NJ grocery distributor for A&P, Pathmark warns of 1100 layoffs (Local 863) Press Release Mag ...they were enraged when the company recently proposed lowering hourly wages to $6.40 with benefits, or $9.15 without benefits...
Sheriff's $600,000 carryover likely keeps '11 office budget safe Chillicothe Gazette ... the sheriff also is poised to begin contract negotiations with ... the Teamsters...
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