Today's Teamster News 06.24.15

Teamsters
Hoffa Statement on Senate Fast Track Cloture Vote  Teamster.org  ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa in response to the Senate’s decision to invoke cloture and cut off debate on the fast track trade bill currently being considered by the chamber: “The process surrounding fast track has been convoluted and confusing. And today, too many senators decided to trust big business and the House instead of standing up for American workers"...
Teamsters Join Sen. Blumenthal, Highway Safety Advocates, Families of Victims in Fight Against Truck Safety Rollbacks  Teamster.org  ...The Teamsters Union stood with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), representatives for highway safety advocates and law enforcement and families of highway accident victims to denounce a series of dangerous provisions that would threaten the safety of the driving public. This week, the Senate will follow the House and mark up the FY 2016 transportation appropriations bill...
McDonald's Accused Of Hanging California Produce Workers Out To Dry  Huffington Post  ...After impounding the ballots for more than a year, federal officials last week tallied the votes in an acrimonious union election at Taylor Farms Pacific, a California vegetable producer that supplies garnishes to major fast-food companies. After launching the union campaign in the fall of 2013, the Teamsters accused Taylor Farms supervisors of intimidating workers and interfering with organizing efforts, as Capital & Main reported last year...
New Report: U.S. Recycling Workers Exposed to Safety Hazards and High Injury Rates  Teamster.org  ... A new study, released Tuesday, June 23 by environmental, occupational safety, and community benefits experts in collaboration with researchers at the University of Illinois School of Public Health, finds that recycling work is unnecessarily hazardous to workers’ health and safety. The report notes that unionized workers, with negotiated contracts in place enjoy more effective enforcement of legally mandated health and safety protections and also have the ability to bargain for additional safeguards to improve working conditions...

Global Labor & Trade
Trade Accord, Once Blocked, Nears Passage  New York Times  ... President Obama’s ambitious trade push is back on track, after several near-death moments, in large measure because top Republicans stood by him. The Senate on Tuesday narrowly voted to end debate on legislation granting Mr. Obama enhanced negotiating powers to complete a major Pacific trade accord, virtually assuring final passage Wednesday of Mr. Obama’s top legislative priority in his final years in office...
Senate pushes Obama's Pacific Rim trade pact forward  Reuters  ...President Barack Obama's call for "fast-track" trade negotiating authority to help him strike a Pacific Rim deal cleared a key hurdle in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, paving the way for a final vote on the legislation on Wednesday. On Wednesday, the Senate was likely to vote to grant Obama the power to speed trade deals through Congress, including his Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). If that happens, the fast-track measure would then go to the White House for Obama's signature...
Sanders and Warren stand tall on trade  The Hill  ...The U.S. Senate today passed the fast-track trade bill and sent it to President Obama for his signature. Those who believe in fighting for working men and women should give a standing ovation to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who waged what The Hill correctly called in a news story her "last stand on trade" — until the next fight begins tomorrow...
'A Great Day for Corporate America': US Senate Passes Fast Track  Common Dreams  ...In a win for multinational corporations and the global one percent, the U.S. Senate on Tuesday narrowly advanced Fast Track, or Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) —ensuring for all practical purposes the continued rubber-stamping of clandestine trade agreements like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)...
Is the Trans-Pacific Partnership Unconstitutional?  The Atlantic  ...Despite the fairness of our court system, the U.S. government has consented in prior trade agreements, and in a leaked version of the still-secret TPP, to allow foreign investors to bypass our courts and instead move to “investor-state” arbitration. Thus, challenges based upon TPP to our duly enacted laws and other regulatory actions would be decided by three individuals who are not government officials and need not be American citizens...

Killing a Nation With Euphemisms: TPP-Eats-Medicare Edition  Truthout  ...If you lose your job to the TPP, you will get insufficient "assistance," followed by less-funded Medicare support. If you don't lose your job, you'll still be dealing with the smoking hole in Medicare funding made by the trade bill that caused your neighbor to lose her house after she lost her job...
Norway Oil-Rig Unions in Last-Chance Talks to Avoid Strike  Bloomberg  ...Norwegian oil-rig unions and employers started government-backed mediation on Wednesday in a final bid to avoid a strike that could shut down two North Sea oil fields. Talks started at 10 a.m. Oslo time, said Benedikte Naess, spokeswoman for the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association, which is representing employers. If the parties fail to reach a deal by midnight, 189 workers will go on strike...
Cabin crew give Lufthansa deadline to avoid strike  Reuters  ...German airline Lufthansa faces a June 30 deadline to make concessions to cabin crew over pay and pensions or suffer further strikes that would compound the effects of a costly dispute with its pilots. The UFO flight attendants' union said on Monday its members would strike on July 1 if an agreement was not reached with Lufthansa by then...
Embattled Alexis Tsipras faces domestic revolt over plans to implement 'harsh' austerity blitz  The Telegraph  ...Embattled Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras is facing a revolt within his radical Left party over austerity measures the country must approve to secure its future in the euro. Following a late-night emergency summit in Brussels on Monday, Athens laid out plans to carry out a series of economic reforms worth €8bn over the next two years...
The U.N. Investigated An Airline Accused Of Banning Employees From Getting Married. Here’s What They Found.  Think Progress  ...Qatar Airways has denied widespread accusations that it bans employees from getting married and that it doesn’t always summarily fire pregnant workers. But the International Labour Organisation (ILO) says otherwise. After a yearlong investigation into complaints made by the International Trade Union Confederation and the International Transport Workers’ Federation, it decided that parts of the airlines’ policies do in fact require workers to notify the company when they become pregnant and that doing so often ends up in those workers getting terminated...

State & Living Wage Battles
Congressional Democrats to Introduce Ambitious New Bill to Restore the Voting Rights Act  The Nation  ...Two years ago, on June 25, 2013, in Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court invalidated the centerpiece of the Voting Rights Act. Tomorrow, congressional Democrats will introduce an ambitious new bill that would restore the important voting-rights protections. The Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015 would compel states with a well-documented history of recent voting discrimination to clear future voting changes with the federal government, require federal approval for voter ID laws...
Chicago Activists Say City's $10 Minimum Wage Is Not Enough, Decry Rauner Cuts  Progress Illinois  ...While Chicago's minimum wage is set to increase to $10 per hour in two weeks, a group of community activists gathered Tuesday morning in the Loop to say the raise is not enough. Highlighting the plight of "chronically underpaid and undervalued" home and child care workers, Kelly-Rushton was one of roughly two-dozen people to call for a statewide $15 minimum wage--a yearly salary of about $31,000--during the demonstration at Daley Plaza downtown...
Bobby Jindal Is Running For President. Here Is How He Ran Louisiana. Think Progress  ...Since Gov. Jindal took office in 2008, Louisiana has earned some dubious honors. The state has the largest gender pay gap in the country, with women making 66 cents for every dollar a man earns. A study by the Violence Policy Center published in late January found the state also has the second-highest rate of gun deaths in the nation, and the state’s rate of incarceration currently leads the U.S. — and thus, the world...
Governor marks Rhode Island's minimum wage increase  ABC  ...Gov. Gina Raimondo has marked the passage of legislation to raise Rhode Island's minimum wage with a ceremonial bill signing. The governor was joined by state lawmakers Monday to mark the occasion. Raimondo says she's proud to raise the state's hourly rate from $9 to $9.60 starting Jan. 1...
Kate Brown signs bill making it easier for parents to opt students out of state tests -- but says they shouldn't  Oregon Live  ...Gov. Kate Brown announced Tuesday that on Monday she signed a bill making it easier for parents to opt their children out of taking state standardized tests. But she said educators and state officials should convince parents not to do so. House Bill 2655, which was strongly backed by the Oregon Education Association, prioritizes the rights of parents to exempt their children from that one aspect of public schooling...
Ikea Will Raise U.S. Minimum Wage to $11.87 to Retain Workforce  Bloomberg  ...Ikea Group, the world’s largest furniture retailer, will raise the hourly minimum wage it pays workers in the U.S. by 10 percent to $11.87, seeking to keep employees from moving to other merchants that have boosted pay recently. The increase, which takes effect Jan. 1, follows a 17 percent boost to $10.76 an hour this year...
Montgomery Co. Council approves paid sick leave  WUSA  ...Tuesday, Montgomery County council members voted unanimously (9-0) in favor of a bill that requires employers to give full-time employees seven paid sick days. The Earned Sick and Safe Leave Bill requires employers to provide a minimum of one-hour paid time off for every 30 hours worked. Employers with fewer than five workers would have to offer seven sick days. Of those, four days would be paid and three days would be unpaid...

U.S. Labor
Marathon Galveston Bay workers OK contract, end five-month strike  Business Insider  ...Striking workers from Marathon Petroleum Corp's Galveston Bay Refinery ratified a new contract on Tuesday, ending a five-month strike, said local union officials. About 90 percent of the more than 1,000 workers cast secret ballots at their local union hall in Texas City, Texas, within sight of the 451,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery on Monday and Tuesday to end the work stoppage that began on Feb. 1...
‘Marriage Boot Camp’ Strike Over; IATSE And Producers Reach Deal  Deadline  ...Members of the postproduction crew on WE tv’s Marriage Boot Camp went on strike today to win an IATSE contract. After less than 12 hours, they have a deal, and everyone’s going back to work. IATSE reps and Marriage Boot Camp producers at Thinkfactory have agreed that their postproduction and production staff now will be unionized...
UAW, GM to open bargaining July 13, FCA the next day  Detroit Free Press  ...Negotiations between the UAW and the Detroit 3 automakers open July 13 amid the industry's most financially healthy period in more than a decade, especially in North America. The talks begin with ceremonial handshakes July 13 for General Motors; July 14, Fiat Chrysler; and July 23, Ford...
Boeing sued over 'toxic' plane cabin air  The Hill  ...A group of flight attendants are suing airplane manufacturer Boeing for allegedly exposing them to "toxic" air inside its planes, the Chicago Tribune reports. The flight attendants, who worked for Alaska Airlines, are alleging that Boeing knowingly exposed passengers and flight crews to toxic air that was sucked into its planes through the engine by the system that is used to maintain cabin pressure during flights, according to the report...
GE, unions reach labor agreement  Louisville Business First  ...Fairfield, Conn.-based General Electric Co., has reached tentative agreements on new labor contracts with national leaders of its two largest unions: the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers-Communications Workers of America and the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. Workers at the company's GE Appliances division, which is based in Louisville, are represented by the IEU-CWA. The company has about 6,230 workers in Louisville...
Workers at Berkshires mental health, addiction center vote for strike  Mass Live  ...Workers at the Brien Center, a Berkshires-based mental health and addiction treatment agency, are set to strike unless a contract agreement is reached in the next two weeks. Clinicians and care staff represented by SEIU Local 509 voted to authorize the strike to protest what they describe as near-poverty wages and unproductive negotiations with the center, according to a union press release...

Miscellaneous
National Movement to Lower Flag of Racial Hatred, 150 Years Overdue  Common Dreams  ...One hundred and fifteen years after the end of the American Civil War and despite decades of calls for its retirement, the Confederate Flag—the emblem of the Old South and its racist legacy—may finally be coming down. In South Carolina on Tuesday, lawmakers voted to take up legislation to remove the flag from statehouse grounds, one day after Republican Governor Nikki Haley made similar remarks...
Public Spending on Infrastructure Construction Sinking to Great Recession Levels  We Party Patriots  ...New numbers from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis show the extent to which government has failed to adequately fund infrastructure construction and the effect this has had on the overall economy.  The new statistics show that total public construction spending is nearing Great Recession lows at a time when the American Society of Civil Engineers grades America’s infrastructure as a D+...
"Perpetrator Has Been Arrested, But Killer is Still at Large": Calls Rise to Remove Confederate Flag  Democracy Now  ...Calls are growing in South Carolina to remove the Confederate battle flag at the state Capitol after last week’s mass shooting of nine African-American worshipers at the historic Emanuel AME Church. The flag has been the source of controversy for decades in South Carolina, but a growing number of politicians, including South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, are calling for its removal...
After 13 Years of Hell, Human Held Without Charges Has One Question for US  Common Dreams  ...Moath al-Alwi, who has been a prisoner of the U.S. government and detained at the offshore prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since 2002 without ever being charged with a crime or afforded a trial, has a simple yet urgent question for the American people and the U.S. government: Why am I still here?...

Today's Teamster News 06.10.15

Teamsters
Teamsters Rally at Republic Airways Shareholders Meeting  Teamster.org  ...Today, Republic Airways pilots and their families rallied outside the company's annual shareholders meeting in Indianapolis. The pilots, members of Teamsters Local 357, are calling on shareholders to pressure Republic CEO Bryan Bedford to quickly reach an agreement that includes fair pay and benefits and reflects changes that have occurred in the airline industry since the last contract was signed in 2003...
Trade Adjustment Assistance Bill Fails Public Sector Workers, Raids Medicare  Teamster.org  ...In a letter sent to House representatives today, the Teamsters joined eight other labor unions in expressing their opposition to a bill that would renew Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) without protecting millions of public sector workers while raiding Medicare for funding. Public sector workers, who were included under the 2009 TAA renewal, will be left vulnerable if any future trade agreements lead to the offshoring of their jobs...
Hoffa: Overworking truckers is dangerous  Detroit News  ...Highways across Michigan and the U.S. have become increasingly dangerous for motorists. And that will only get worse if Congress approves a transportation spending bill that effectively keeps the suspension of rules in place that allow truck drivers to work longer hours, that permits larger double-trailers and that prevents the U.S. Department of Transportation from raising minimum insurance standards that have been frozen in place for the last three decades...
The Plan to Cut Truck Traffic By Changing How Trash Haulers Do Business  StreetsBlog  ...In the past five years, at least six New Yorkers have been killed, and many others injured, by truck drivers working for private trash haulers. Labor and environmental advocates have a plan they say will reduce these deaths by cutting down on inefficiencies in private trucking routes. “No driver out there wants to break the law,” said Plinio Cruz, who has worked as a trash hauler for 10 years and is an organizer with Teamsters Joint Council 16...
Teamsters And GardaWorld Cash Services Tentative Agreement Ratified   Teamsters Local 362  ...On June 4 a new collective agreement was ratified for GardaWorld Cash Services workers affiliated with the Teamsters Union. Ballots indicated that 93.5 percent of workers voted in favour of the new proposal. Over 450 workers are represented at GardaWorld Cash Services across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba...
Union Protects Andrew Distribution Members' Benefits, Working Conditions  Teamsters Local 727  ...Teamsters Local 727 secured a two-year contract extension for Andrew Distribution drivers and clerical workers. The agreement includes annual bonuses and employer-paid benefit increases for Local 727 Health & Welfare and Legal & Educational Assistance Benefits while protecting all other current working conditions and job security clauses. Members ratified the agreement, which expires May 1, 2017...
Republic Airways teamsters rally for new contracts  WISHTV  ...Republic Airways pilots and their families rallied outside the company’s shareholders meeting in Indianapolis on Tuesday. The slow progress of contract negotiations between employees and one airline has caused several to voice their frustrations. Members of the Teamsters local 357 and employees of Republic Airways attended the rally...

Global Labor & Trade
GOP aiming for Friday trade vote, but snag remains  Politico  ...House leaders, confident but not yet certain they have the support to pass sweeping trade legislation, are aiming to bring the package to a floor vote by the end of this week — even as they rush to resolve a last-minute hangup over how to pay for aid to displaced workers. The vote to grant President Barack Obama fast-track authority to negotiate a massive Pacific Rim trade deal will be extremely tight...
Survey: Obama's Trade Proposal a Tough Sell for Most Americans  NBC  ...Despite a heavy push by President Barack Obama for a sweeping multinational trade deal, a majority of Americans echo the concerns of labor unions and a number of Democratic members of Congress that the trade accord will negatively impact U.S. workers and companies. Two-thirds of Americans say protecting American industries and jobs by limiting imports is more important than allowing free trade...
Unions, Seniors Groups Urge Congress Not To Cut Medicare To Fund Trade Assistance  Huff Post  ...An already difficult road for the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the House of Representatives got bumpier on Monday, as controversial Medicare cuts were brought into the mix. Labor unions and senior citizens' groups are launching efforts to lobby House members against a bill that includes $700 million in proposed cuts to Medicare reimbursements for doctors and hospitals. The cuts would be used to fund a $2.5 billion extension of Trade Adjustment Assistance funding...
U.S. Shifts Stance on Drug Pricing in Pacific Trade Pact Talks, Document Reveals  New York Times  ...Facing resistance from its Pacific trading partners, the Obama administration is no longer demanding protection for pharmaceutical prices under the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, according to a newly leaked “transparency” annex of the proposed trade accord. But American negotiators are still pressing participating governments to open up the process that sets reimbursement rates for drugs and medical devices...
House Expected to Vote Wednesday to Repeal Country-of-Origin Meat Labels Due to a Trade Agreement Provision That Is Replicated in the TPP  Public Citizen  ...The threat to consumer laws posed by the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal will be on full display Wednesday when the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to pass legislation to repeal the U.S. policy requiring country-of-origin labels on meat sold here. This law is just the latest in a string of U.S. policies that have been repealed or weakened to comply with provisions in previous trade agreements that also are included in the current draft of the TPP deal...
Meet RCEP, a Trade Agreement in Asia That's Even Worse Than TPP or ACTA  EFF  ...If we described TISA as a treaty you've never heard of, RCEP has been even more obscure. RCEP can be compared with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), except that rather than being driven by the United States, it is being driven by the ten-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), with the addition of their trading partners from the broader Asia-Pacific region including most notably India and China, who are absent from the TPP pact...
New EIA Report Details Trade Deal Failure to Support the Environment  Huff Post  ...On June 4, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) published a new briefing paper that demonstrates how free trade agreements fail to lift up environmental standards. Their report, focused on the failure to enforce environmental obligations in the U.S.-Peru trade pact, is particularly timely given that proponents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal have claimed that its still-secret environment chapter will lift up environmental safeguards...
Supporting NAFTA Was the Kiss of Death for Democrats --Why Dems Should Think Twice About Voting for TPP  Alternet  ...t’s serious flashback time for those involved in the 1993 debate over the North America Free Trade Agreement. With the “fast track” trade vote expected as early as this Thursday, a Democratic president is once again twisting arms and dangling rewards in a desperate effort to muster votes for a corporate-driven trade deal...
Argentina strike: Transport hit by second major walkout  BBC News  ...A major transport strike in Argentina has brought parts of the country to a standstill as unions protest against high taxes and inflation. The 24-hour walkout - the second in three months - affects bus, train, plane and underground services. Swathes of the capital Buenos Aires ground to a halt after people were unable to reach their jobs...
Cambodia’s Draft Union Law ‘A Major Step Backward’  Solidarity Center  ...Cambodia’s draft trade union law would violate the right to organize and be a major step backward for workers, Human Rights Watch said yesterday in a letter to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. The Cambodian government has told the media that the trade union law will be enacted in 2015, but has not made a draft public nor provided opportunities for feedback from workers, unions or the public...

State & Living Wage Battles
State Officials Deciding How Voter ID Law Will Work At Polls  WFMY  ...The State Board of Elections held a public hearing in Winston-Salem Tuesday night to get feedback from voters about how the voter ID law should work at the polls. The board of elections has a proposed list of rules that voters got to comment on during the two-hour hearing. "Voting is fundamental, it's extremely important. We take it very seriously, it's what we do every day. It doesn't surprise us that folks have feelings that run deep on these issues"...
The real story behind Scott Walker’s war on higher education  Salon  ...On its face, today’s Wisconsin story appears to be about budgets and entitlement. Citing the need to save money, the Joint Finance Committee of the Wisconsin Legislature at the end of May voted 12-4 to cut $250 million from the university’s budget and eliminate tenure from state law, enabling the governor-appointed Board of Regents to fire professors whenever they declared it time to “redirect” a program...
The People Who Clean Our Homes And Care For Our Children Just Won Big  Think Progress  ...Last week, domestic workers — those who care for children and clean inside people’s homes — won two surprise victories securing more rights in Connecticut and Oregon. Oregon has considered a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights for many years, but then last week it gained traction. Connecticut’s bill is a good deal narrower...
County Board passes resolution opposing 'right to work'  Web Times  ...The La Salle County Board overwhelmingly expressed its opposition to "right to work" laws by passing a resolution with a 23 to 2 vote. Before the meeting, a crowd gathered outside of the Ottawa Knights of Columbus in support of the resolution...
Walmart Raised Wages In April. It’s Already Seeing The Benefits.  Think Progress  ...After it raised wages for employees in April, Walmart said on Friday that it’s already seen lower turnover and an increase in job applicants. “Our job applications are going up and we are seeing some relief in turnover,” CEO Doug McMillon said at a media briefing after its annual shareholders meeting. The company’s performance has been suffering recently thanks to understaffed stores, among other things...
LA City Council Expected To Give Final Vote On Minimum Wage Ordinance  CBS  ...Members of the Los Angeles City Council are expected to make a final vote Wednesday on an ordinance that would raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour over the next five years. If the ordinance receives unanimous approval, wage increases will take place on the first of July each year...

U.S. Labor
Applebee’s Is Trying To Limit Workers’ Ability to Sue the Company When Their Wages Are Stolen  In These Times  ...Workers in the restaurant industry are routinely the victims of wage theft. For workers without a union, suing the company is one of the few ways to recover those wages. But a legal fight led by the restaurant chain Applebee’s against the National Labor Relations Board is aiming to further limit workers’ ability to sue the company over disputes on the job...
Chipotle is Giving Their Hourly Employees Paid Sick Leave, Vacation Time, and a College Reimbursement  Alternet  ...In addition to sick leave and vacation, workers will also be eligible for tuition reimbursements. A spokeswoman for the company announced that Chipotle will reimburse 90% of tuition and fees up to the IRS's $5,250 per calendar year limit. These benefits will be offered to all hourly employees after one year of work and to managers and salaried employees without any wait...
Striking Texas refinery workers say reach tentative pact with Marathon  KFGO  ...Negotiators for Marathon Petroleum Corp and union workers at the company’s Galveston Bay, Texas, refinery reached a tentative agreement on Monday for a four-year contract, pointing to the end of a walkout that has lasted four months, said local union officials. Before strikers can leave their picket lines outside the 451,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Texas City, Texas, United Steelworkers union (USW) Local 13-1 and Marathon will have to complete a return-to-work agreement and union members will have to vote on the contract...
SEIU Local 668 ratifies one-year contract benefiting thousands of workers in Northeastern Pennsylvania  Times Leader  ...Pennsylvania’s second-largest Service Employees International Union on Monday ratified a one-year contract covering nearly 2,000 workers in five local counties. Approved by a “significant margin,” the contract agreed to by SEIU Local 668 guarantees a freeze on health care benefits, a 2.25 percent step increase, and preservation of future bargaining rights, according to union president Tom Herman...
AFSCME members rally as contract with state nears expiration   State Journal-Register  ...In advance of the deadline, the union has planned more than 100 public events across the state this week to raise awareness about services provided by state employees and to urge support for a new contract. According to an AFSCME bargaining bulletin obtained by The State Journal-Register in May, Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration is seeking "deep cuts to health insurance benefits" that the union said could drive up employee costs by more than 500 percent...

Miscellaneous
Mortgage Lender CEO Will Pay $1 Million Out Of His Own Pocket To Resolve Charges He Bilked Clients  Think Progress  ...Despite saying he did nothing wrong, a mortgage lending executive has agreed to make a personal $1 million fine payment as part of a $20 million settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) over allegations that he paid his employees to bilk their clients. RPM Mortgage CEO Robert Hirt will pay a million-dollar penalty out of his own pocket, and another $1 million fine will come from the corporate treasury...
By the numbers: US police kill more in days than other countries do in years  The Guardian  ...Looking at our data for the US against admittedly less reliable information on police killings elsewhere paints a dramatic portrait, and one that resonates with protests that have gone global since a killing last year in Ferguson, Missouri: the US is not just some outlier in terms of police violence when compared with countries of similar economic and political standing...

Today's Teamster News 05.21.15

Teamsters
First Transit Drivers at Disney Choose Teamsters Union  Teamster.org  ...First Transit drivers who transport tourists and employees to and from Disneyland amusement parks in Anaheim, Calif., have voted to join Teamsters Local 952 in Orange, Calif., seeking respect, fair wages and better working conditions at the company. There are 127 workers in the bargaining unit...
Teamsters Local 986 Launches Strike at SLS Hotel and Casino  Teamster.org   ...Today, Teamsters Local 986 launched an unfair labor practice strike against the SLS Hotel and Casino for multiple violations aimed at preventing its valet parking attendants from exercising their federally protected right to form a union. Management has committed several unfair labor practices, including interrogation of workers who support the union, threatening to outsource their jobs, threatening to reduce their pay and benefits and other violations...
LA County Board of Supervisors Approves Motion Offering Assistance to Port Truck Drivers Filing Claims for Wage Theft  Long Beach Post  ...The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas on Tuesday to create a plan to implement five areas of action from the County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs Department (DCBA) that help employees, including Long Beach port truck drivers, filing claims for wage theft...

Global Labor & Trade
Human Trafficking Still Plagues Obama's Trade Ambitions  Huff Post  ...Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) on Tuesday threatened to do "everything possible to have a floor fight" if President Barack Obama undercuts pending trade legislation to combat human trafficking. "Human trafficking -- modern-day slavery -- is one of the great moral challenges of our time," Menendez said during a conference call with reporters...
John Kerry visits Boeing, defends controversial trade deal  Seattle Times  ...With Boeing’s 737 plant in Renton as a backdrop, Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday defended a Pacific Rim trade deal negotiated by the Obama administration against criticism from unions and prominent congressional Democrats. Jeff Johnson, president of the Washington State Labor Council, said Kerry and other TPP backers are misleading the public when they suggest the choice is between a secretly negotiated trade pact and no trade at all...
McConnell blames Dems for bottleneck on trade  The Hill  ...Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday placed the blame squarely on Democrats for the stalemate over amendments to a key trade bill. The Kentucky Republican said while he is continuing to try to allow for additional amendments to the fast-track legislation, Democrats are standing in the way...
Hundreds of Tech Companies to Congress: TPP and Fast Track Harms Digital Innovation and Users’ Rights  EFF.org   ...In a joint letter to Congress released today, more than 250 technology companies and user rights organizations say that the extreme level of secrecy surrounding trade negotiations have led to provisions in agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that threaten digital innovation, free speech, and access to knowledge online, and the letter calls on Congress to come out against the Fast Track...
The Trans Pacific Partnership is bad for seniors  (opinion) AZ Central  ...Pending House legislation would take $700 million from Medicare to pay for trade adjustment assistance, so it is not hard to connect the dots: Medicare would be cut in order to pay for the adverse conditions that workers face as a result of trade promotion authority. Medicare should not be used as a piggy bank every time the government needs funding for other purposes...
A trade deal at what cost?  (opinion) Washington Post  ...Perhaps those who’ve experienced such free-trade consequences as factory closings and lower-paying jobs are thinking about two entirely different sides — capital and labor. Trade promoters cite David Ricardo’s 200-year-old assessments of trade’s benefits to nations, but skeptics can mine a rich vein of mainstream economics that demonstrates how trade deals can, and frequently do, benefit major investors at workers’ expense...
Desperately seeking a new model for trade  (opinion) Aljazeera America  ...Will our trade policy help us fulfill our collective obligation to our kids? Will they have clean air to breathe and water to drink? Will they have access to quality education and health care? Will we keep our promise to them that if they work hard and play by the rules, they can build decent lives for themselves? The Hatch-Wyden-Ryan bill would set us on the wrong path on all those fronts and must be opposed. We need a new model for trade that doesn’t prioritize corporate profits over the health of our communities, the economic security of everyday Americans and the future of our kids...
After Striking and Occupying Their Factory, Chinese Bike Light Workers Face Firings and Arrests  In These Times  ...Workers who make bike lights at a factory in Shenzhen, China, have been on strike since April 30, demanding that the company pay up what it legally owes them. The strikers stayed overnight in the factory, stopping production and delivery for two weeks, until police came to evict them and arrest worker leaders on May 13...

State & Living Wage Battles
Ahead of Big Budget, “Right-to-Work” Votes, IL Gov Rauner Is Literally Paying Politicians Off  We Party Patriots  ...Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is once again making waves before making a difference, doling out $400,000 from his campaign fund to the state’s Republican lawmakers in advance of several key votes. Major budget and “turnaround agenda” decision are looming for the legislature. The unorthodox move shows that the multi-millionaire’s promise to “shake up Springfield” more closely resembles an attempt to shake down Illinois...
Arizona Will Boot Thousands From Welfare To Address $1 Billion Budget Hole  Think Progress  ...Arizona’s legislature has decided to try to plug a $1 billion budget deficit in part by kicking people off of welfare after just 12 months, the strictest time limit in the country. The change will mean that at least 1,600 families, including more than 2,700 children, will lose the benefit on July 1, 2016 and save the state at least $4 million...
Fitzgerald says prevailing wage repeal is unlikely but reform could come in budget  Star Tribune  ...Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Wednesday that he doesn't have the votes to repeal the state's prevailing wage law, but he hopes to reform the statutes through the state budget. The Juneau Republican told WTMJ-Radio that his caucus is "fractured" on the issue, with some saying a full repeal would disrupt the construction industry...
Nevada Republicans Say They Want More Latinos Voting. They’re Also Pushing Restrictive Voter ID.  Think Progress   ...Nevada will play a crucial role in the presidential primary next year, as the fourth state to nominate a candidate and the first heavily Latino state to vote. In an effort to win support of the growing minority, Republican lawmakers in the state are trying something new — expanding voting rights for minorities instead of restricting them. At the same time that they’re looking at making the election more inclusive, the GOP-controlled legislature is also trying to require voters to show identification at the polls...
Walmart’s Absurd Anti-Union Training Video Just Got Leaked  In These Times  ...On April 13, Walmart suddenly shut down five stores—two in Texas, one in California, one in Florida and one in Oklahoma—leaving 2,200 workers shocked and unemployed. According to Los Angeles Times reporter Michael Hiltzik, employees were told that the stores have “ongoing plumbing issues that require extensive repairs.” A recently leaked Walmart training video lends credence to the suspicion that plumbing was not the real issue...
McDonald's can't ignore worker protests before shareholder meeting  Daily Kos  ...McDonald's workers are once again rallying ahead of the company's shareholder meeting, boosting their call for $15 an hour pay and the right to join a union. There was no ignoring the protest Wednesday:
"McDonald's shut down a restaurant near its headquarters Wednesday after the area was swamped by hundreds of protesters"...
McDonald's workers descend on headquarters to protest 'poverty wages'  The Guardian  ...Thousands of McDonald’s employees and union activists descended on the company’s headquarters near Chicago on Thursday to hold the biggest ever protest against “poverty wages” paid to most of its 400,000 employees, as the company’s board gathered for its annual shareholder meeting. About 5,000 McDonald’s employees from across the US chanted: “We work, we sweat, put $15 in our cheque” as they marched towards the burger giant’s headquarters...

U.S. Labor
UAW is best route to works council, union leader says  Nooga.com  ...The United Auto Workers released documents they say shows consensus among Volkswagen leaders that the best route to establishing a works council in Chattanooga is through their union. "It's well-established by Volkswagen's leadership at the Chattanooga plant and in Germany that a works council can only be realized in partnership with a union"...
Members of GTFF, UA, SEIU and SLAP hold unity rally outside Johnson Hall  Daily Emerald  ...Around 59 students, classified staff and faculty gathered in front of Johnson Hall from the Service Employees International Union, Graduate Teaching Fellowship Federation, United Academics and Student Action Labor Project participated in a rally to celebrate a year’s work of labor between the groups, and to look forward to the bargaining process to continue over the summer concerning raising the contracts of the SEIU and the UA...
Century Aluminum hiring temporary replacement workers for smelter: USW  Platts.com   ...Century Aluminum has bused in dozens of temporary replacement workers to its 244,000 mt/year Hawesville smelter in western Kentucky as a week-old lockout continued Wednesday with no end in sight, a spokesman for Local 9423 of the United Steelworkers union said...

Miscellaneous
World’s Largest Banks Admit to Massive Global Financial Crimes, But Escape Jail (Again)  Democracy Now  ...Five of the world’s top banks will pay over $5 billion in fines after pleading guilty to rigging the price of foreign currencies and interest rates. Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland pleaded guilty to conspiring to manipulate the price of U.S. dollars and euros exchanged in the $5 trillion FX spot market. UBS pleaded guilty for its role in manipulating the Libor benchmark interest rate. No individual bank employees were hit with criminal charges as part of the settlements...
How Defunding Derails Our Infrastructure  The Nation  ...It’s not just safety that’s being underfunded, and not just on rail lines. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the nation’s infrastructure a grade of D+ in 2013 and outlined the need for massive investment to bring things up to speed. Congress must recognize what New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, and Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, a Republican, recently noted: While US spending on infrastructure has collapsed to 1.7 percent of GDP, “the rest of the world races ahead"...
Robert Reich: It’s time to bust up the big banks  Salon   ..Antitrust law should be used the way it was against the big oil trusts and the telephone monopoly. The idea was to prevent too much economic and political power from concentrating in too few hands. And that’s precisely the problem with Wall Street. The only sure way to stop excessive risk-taking on Wall Street so you don’t risk losing your job or your savings or your home, is to put an end to the excessive economic and political power of Wall Street.

Senate fast track push doesn't stop criticism of trade

The Teamsters have made it clear they are against fast track.

The Senate will begin debate later today on a fast track trade bill that will serve as a vehicle to ram the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) through Congress. And despite the smiles and reassurances coming from supporters, new problems with the trade deal keep on popping up.

Take, for instance, the $700 million in Medicare cuts that were added to a package of trade bills bundled together to make fast track and the TPP seem more palatable. Those dollars cover trade adjustment assistance costs. GOP lawmakers insisted on the slashing of senior health care program to support workers who lose their jobs due to trade deals like the TPP, and some Democrats went along with it.

As the National Journal explained:

The Trade Adjustment Assistance reauthorization bill hasn't received as much attention as the fast-track trade authority bill, but Democrats see it as a priority: The program helps workers who have been put out of a job because of foreign trade with job-training and placement as well as health-insurance costs. The House and Senate are expected to move the bill in tandem with the fast-track trade measure, said an aide to Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, who hashed out the trade deal with Sen. Orrin Hatch and Rep. Paul Ryan, both Republicans. 

But ... senior and provider groups started criticizing the proposal. They're unhappy because about $700 million of the $2.9 billion cost would be offset by increasing the cuts to Medicare authorized by the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration in fiscal year 2024 by 0.25 percent, according to a Congressional Budget Office score of the House bill. 

"Apparently using Medicare as a piggy bank to pay for everything under the sun has become the new legislative norm for Congress," Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, said in a statement to National Journal. "Rather than balancing priorities or considering a penny of new revenue, congressional leaders are proposing to once again funnel Medicare resources into unrelated programs and fixes—this time it's the trade adjustment assistance program."

Why should retirees, who worked hard all their lives to earn Medicare, be forced to pick up the tab in exchange for a trade deal that will boost profits for big business? How is that at all justifiable?

Meanwhile, bipartisan opposition to both fast track and the TPP continues to grow. In the Oklahoma House, two Republicans have introduced a resolution calling on that state's congressional delegation to oppose TPP.  The lawmakers say they are troubled that the Pacific Rim trade pact has been negotiated in secret and would allow foreign companies to seek to overturn U.S. law in international tribunals.

And Democrats and union workers in California held a demonstration during the second day of the state Democratic Convention in Anaheim to criticize the TPP and how it would place U.S. workers behind corporations.

Opposition to fast track and the TPP isn't going anywhere. If fast track does make it through the Senate, a bipartisan collection of lawmakers in the House is waiting to challenge it and raise all of its warts for public consumption. This is not a time for the Teamsters and all fair trade supporters to be timid -- it is a time to be strong. The voice of workers is being heard!

Today's Teamster News 02.01.15

Teamsters
‘Right to work’ fight coming to Capitol  Charleston Gazette-Mail   …en Hall, president of Teamsters Local 175 based in South Charleston, said, “This doesn’t make any sense. It is a very divisive issue that is not going to create a single job. When companies are discussing whether to locate in West Virginia, the right to work issue is one of their lesser concerns. There are many, many issues they look at before that...”
Trade
Don't Trade Away Our Health (opinion)  Don't Trade Away Our Health   …A secretive group met behind closed doors in New York this week. What they decided may lead to higher drug prices for you and hundreds of millions around the world.,,
State Battles
Right-to-work clears first hurdle  Albuquerque Journal     ...A bill that would make New Mexico the nation’s 25th state with a right-to-work law cleared its first House hurdle Thursday, despite opposition from labor union leaders and members who vowed to keep fighting the high-profile measure...
Governor to find out if Illinois is ready for 'right to work'  Crain's Chicago Business   …Imagine the uproar if a governor proposed a law allowing local governments to tell their residents that paying monthly cable television bills now is purely optional.,,But that's pretty much what Gov. Bruce Rauner is proposing for labor unions...
Right-to-work: smokescreen for corporate interests (opinion)  People's World   …RTW is nothing more than a smoke screen for big business, anti-worker interests fixated on maximizing profits. They want to lower wages and cut benefits by weakening unions. It's as simple as that...
War on Workers
The Super Wealthy See Pitchforks and Guillotines in Their Future  naked capitalism   …The super wealthy know that the governance structures around them are breaking down, but rather than take measures to shore them up, they are be retreating into concrete bunkers…
Protect and Strengthen Medicare and Medicaid Programs for Another 50 Years  Moyers & Company   … access to health care is continually threatened by program cuts, and millions of beneficiaries have trouble accessing the care they are entitled to because the programs don’t always work as well as they could...
Two Judges Who Get It About Banks  New York Times   …On Monday, a judge in a state court in Missouri ordered Wells to pay over $3 million in punitive damages and other costs for abusing a borrower. Then, on Thursday, a judge in Federal Bankruptcy Court in suburban New York ruled on behalf of another borrower, concluding that there was substantial evidence Wells Fargo forged documents when it foreclosed on a property...
Miscellaneous
Union Benefits: $207 More Dollars a Week  AFSCME   …That’s $10,000 more each year, according to the latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. No wonder studies show union members are happier...

Beware of cuts to Social Security, Medicare

Another attack on working- and middle-class Americans is coming, it's coming soon and it's coming from Congress. 

More talks will take place 12 weeks from now, and they'll likely end in an agreement to cut Social Security, the most effective program ever to keep seniors out of poverty. The cuts will be swaddled in jargon -- "chained CPI" -- but don't be fooled. It's a cut. 

And they'll likely cut Medicare, too, the most popular and cost-effective health insurance program in the country.

As Richard Eskow put it in a recent Huffington Post:

In twelve weeks or so our new system of government-by-crisis will resume its regularly scheduled programming: more threats, more confrontations, and even more extreme rhetoric. 

There are only a few ways this could play out, and most of them involve cuts to Medicare and Social Security. The ones which don't probably involve either A) catastrophic gridlock or B) a mobilized citizenry. The reason you should be concerned is that Democrats as well as Republicans are starting to talk like the Fix the Debt loonies, greedy billionaires willing to destroy the middle class in order to get more tax cuts for themselves. Democrats who've indicated support for cuts to  include President Obama, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Our allies at Social Security Works have a petition (the video above is theirs too) you should sign if you don't want Congress to cut Social Security and Medicare. Click here to sign it.

Today's Teamster News 06.05.13

Low-wage workers seek Obama’s help  Washington Post   ...This week the Obama administration plans to ask Congress to amend the law so the government will not have to reimburse companies almost $1 million for the salaries of individual executives who work on government projects...
The Latest Report On Medicare Shows The Program Is Getting Stronger  ThinkProgress   ...The Medicare Trustees had great news for American seniors on Friday: the program’s solvency has been extended for two full years past what the trustees predicted in 2012...
IMF says US cutting spending too much too fast  Associated Press   ...The International Monetary Fund chief criticized the U.S. on Tuesday for cutting back government spending too much too fast, saying it was taking a toll on growth in one of the world's main economic engines...
US proposes labeling some banks threats  Associated Press   ...Federal regulators have proposed that a group of firms that aren't banks be deemed potential threats to the financial system that need stricter government oversight. Big insurers American International Group Inc. and Prudential Financial Inc., and General Electric Co.'s finance arm GE Capital...
Protesters Hit Bentonville Ahead of Wal-Mart's Annual Meeting  Arkansas Business   ...The national organization "Our Walmart" staged its rally today in Bentonville. Reps tell us one of their goals is to encourage the world's largest retailer to raise minimum salaries for associates...
Locked doors a sign of China work-safety failings  Associated Press   ...A fire breaks out in a Chinese factory, and panicked workers discover one exit after another is locked. That describes not only the poultry plant fire that killed 119 people Monday, but a toy-factory blaze that left 87 workers dead 20 years earlier...
'Chained CPI' hurts senior citizens (opinion)  Journal News   ...Here we go again! We’re going to balance the budget on the backs of senior citizens who had little to do with the present national debt, while corporate America enjoys massive subsidies and tax loopholes...
Elizabeth Warren Calls for Grassroots Movement on Student Loan Debt  Mother Jones   ...Over the past decade, student loan debt has nearly quadrupled, and now stands close to $1 trillion. On July 1, rates for federal need-based student loans are set to double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. The deadline has lawmakers scrambling for a fix...
Union backers protest Ohio right-to-work bill  NewsNet5   ...Hundreds showed up Tuesday at the Ohio Statehouse, where the first -- and probably the last -- hearing was being held on right-to-work legislation proposed by Republican state Reps. Kristina Roegner and Ron Maag...
Protesters Crowd Legislature For Fifth 'Moral Monday'  WUNC 91.5 ...151 people were arrested at the General Assembly Monday night. It was the fifth “Moral Monday” demonstration at the legislature, and it was the largest yet...
Foreclosed NH homeowners to get settlement checks  Associated Press   ...More than 4,000 New Hampshire residents who lost their homes to foreclosure will receive checks this month as part of the $26 billion national mortgage settlement involving five of the nation’s largest lenders...
Enterprise zones under fire in Sacramento  KGO-TV   ...The financial perk designed to attract businesses to troubled neighborhoods is under fire in Sacramento. Under this program, even strip clubs qualify for tax breaks for hiring in economically depressed areas. As much as $37,400 per employee can be claimed even though many jobs are barely above minimum wage...
Cd'A board supports anti-union resolution  Coeur d'Alene Press ...School trustees in Coeur d'Alene on Monday voted unanimously to, as a board, support the Idaho School Boards Association's efforts to lobby state lawmakers for legislation that would tighten Idaho's right to work statute in the state's schools...
Connecticut Truck Safety Crackdown Underway  WTIC News Talk 1080   ...Once again, Connecticut’s Department of Motor Vehicles is conducting a three-day truck safety enforcement campaign...
This Is What Killing Democracy Looks Like: Ryan Wherley on WI AB225  Monologues of Dissent   ...The bill introduced by Jeff Stone is straight out of the ALEC playbook and an all-out, full-frontal assault on democracy...
Unionized liquor store clerks cheer Ferlo opposition to Corbett privatization plan  Pittsburgh Tribune-Review   ...To cheers of union workers in the crowd, Democratic Sen. Jim Ferlo on Tuesday delivered a tongue-lashing to the Corbett administration for pushing liquor privatization...

Tell the White House NOW: No cuts to Social Security

The White House leaked to the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times yesterday that President Obama is considering Social Security and Medicare cuts in his budget.

Tell him "Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do it today.

Susie Madrak at Crooks & Liars tells us why it's important to pile on as quickly as possible:

There's a reason they let this story out on Good Friday, they're counting on you not noticing or being too busy to do anything about it. 

The White House phone number is 202-456-1414, the comments line is 202-456-1111 (get ready to hold). Or you can email the White House here. Or here.

Just do it.

Today's Teamster News 03.02.13

Keystone XL pipeline would have little impact on climate change, State Department analysis says Washington Post   ...Canada’s oil sands will be developed even if President Obama denies a permit to the pipeline connecting the region to Gulf Coast refineries, the analysis said. Such a move also would not alter U.S. oil consumption, the report added...
Factory Expansion Spurs Growth as Budget Cuts Loom  Bloomberg   ...American factories expanded in February at the fastest pace in almost two years, spurred by a jump in orders that is helping propel an economy about to be tested by federal government cutbacks...
Personal Income Hammered - Drops -3.6% for January 2013  Economic Populist   ...Disposable income is worse.   DPI dropped -4.0%, even when adjusted for inflation....
Since 2011, 105 Wage Supression Bills Have Been Introduced In State Legislatures  ThinkProgress   ... lawmakers in 31 states have introduced 105 bills aimed at suppressing workers’ wages, with a little help from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the conservative group that provides model legislation on everything from union-busting to voter disenfranchisement:...
Looming federal spending cuts will hit hospitals where it hurts  McClatchy   ...More than 4,200 hospitals that are among the largest employers in their communities would lose nearly $3 billion under the Medicare cuts this year. That could trigger the loss of 73,000 hospital jobs nationwide...
Ahead of Singapore Round of TPP Negotiations, U.S. Public Opposition to Deal Grows  Public Citizen   ...With Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations slated to begin on March 4, opposition to the deal in the United States continues to mount. More than 300 groups signed on to a letter to Congress calling the lack of transparency in negotiations “inconsistent with democratic principles”...
Michigan governor clears way for state takeover of Detroit  Reuters   ...Friday's declaration by the Republican governor virtually assures that the state of Michigan will assume control of Detroit's books, and eventually decide whether the city should file the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history...
Taylor schools, union sued over contract that skirts right to work  Detroit News   ...The Mackinac Center for Public Policy filed a lawsuit Thursday on behalf of three Taylor teachers who object to a union security clause adopted by the school board and the Taylor Federation of Teachers...
At lager heads: Pa. beer distributors stoutly oppose Corbett privatization   newsworks.com   ...Any reservations beer distributors have about Pa. Gov. Tom Corbett's liquor privatization plan have brewed into outright opposition...
Nutter seeks high court's OK to impose his terms on city workers  philly.com   ...If Nutter succeeds, the case could change labor negotiations across Pennsylvania by significantly shifting power to mayors and governors...
Missouri House Votes To Exempt Schools From Prevailing Wage  KCUR.com   ...Democrats argued that waiving the prevailing wage requirement could lead to cut-rate contractors from other states taking jobs away from skilled workers in Missouri...
GOP lawmaker targets public employee unions with bills  Cronkite News   ...Two ... bills would restrict the ability of public employee union members to strike and to be paid for time spent on union activities. The other would require public employees represented by unions to sign off each year on having dues deducted from paychecks...
Alaska lawmakers raise labor cost concerns  Associated Press   ...Alaska legislative leaders are urging Gov. Sean Parnell to negotiate no raises in union labor contracts amid concerns about state budget costs...
Waste Management Workers In California Vote To Join Local 683 In San Diego  IBT   ...sanitation drivers, helpers, mechanics and yard crew from El Cajon‘s Waste Management facility overwhelmingly voted to join Teamsters, Local 683. The vote was 144 to 37 in favor of forming their union. There are 191 workers in the bargaining unit...
Teamsters Organizes Sleepy Hollow Employees  Tarrytown-SleepyHollow Patch   ...The new Teamsters span a broad array of workplaces and duties, from village hall clerks and other office staff to rec workers, crossing guard and the village’s parking-law enforcer...
Fairbanks school bus drivers vote to authorize strike  Daily News-Miner   ...Local school bus drivers overwhelmingly approved a strike vote on Thursday against First Student, but union officials say no work stoppage is imminent. Members of Teamsters Local 959 voted to strike after unsuccessful negotiations...
Cleveland city lawyers want to join Teamsters, citing years of low pay and job insecurity  The Plain Dealer  ...Civil attorneys in the city of Cleveland's law department have petitioned to join the Teamsters and become the first municipal law department in Ohio to unionize...
Negotiations for county workers hit seniority snag  Tampa Bay Times   ...Representing about 400 county employees, Teamsters Local 79 pushed hard Thursday to get the county administration to agree to use seniority as the main factor in filling county jobs...
Hoffa Calls On Congress To Act On Sequester  IBT  ...Hoffa on the failure of Congress to replace the sequester by today's deadline: "Austerity is destroying the economies of Europe and worsening the European debt crisis. Austerity will destroy America's economy and increase our deficit. Cutting government spending is exactly what Congress should not be doing during an economic slump...

Teamsters to take to the Hill for Jobs Not Cuts

The Teamsters Union, other labor unions, and progressive organizations will rally against cuts to vital programs -- Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid --  in Washington, D.C., tomorrow. Instead, millionaires and big corporations should be paying their fair share.

Ken Quinnell at the AFL-CIO Now blog reminds us today of the heavy toll corporate tax avoidance takes on public services:

A new report from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) reveals that state governments lost $39.8 billion in revenues because corporations and wealthy individuals are using offshore tax havens to avoid paying their statutory tax rates. We've seen the devastating effects that offshoring jobs have had on America's workers, and offshoring has long been talked about in terms of lost federal revenue, where $150 billion a year goes unpaid, but little focus has been given to state losses from the practice. Federal and state tax laws allow companies to claim that at least some portion of their profits were earned in other countries, particularly those whose tax rates are low or nonexistent. 

If you're in the Washington, D.C. area on Tuesday please come to Upper Senate Park (Constitution Ave. NW, between New Jersey Ave. NW and Delaware Ave. NE) at noon. You'll hear AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, AFSCME President Lee Saunders, AFGE President J. David Cox, and middle class workers who depend on the programs that may be on the chopping block.

Middle-aged job loss takes 3 years off your life

New revelations about Baby Boomers' financial problems show that it would be sheer insanity to cut Social Security and raise the Medicare eligibility age.

First, three out of five Baby Boomers are working longer than they want to because they can't afford to retire.

Things are even worse for Baby Boomers who lose their job as they approach retirement age. They'll also lose three years off their life.

The New York Times yesterday painted a bleak picture for aging workers since the last recession (and let's face it, the recession never ended for a lot of people):

These Americans in their 50s and early 60s — those near retirement age who do not yet have access to Medicare and Social Security — have lost the most earnings power of any age group, with their household incomes 10 percent below what they made when the recovery began three years ago, according to Sentier Research, a data analysis company. 

Their retirement savings and home values fell sharply at the worst possible time: just before they needed to cash out. They are supporting both aged parents and unemployed young-adult children, earning them the inauspicious nickname “Generation Squeeze.” 

New research suggests that they may die sooner, because their health, income security and mental well-being were battered by recession at a crucial time in their lives. A recent study by economists at Wellesley College found that people who lost their jobs in the few years before becoming eligible for Social Security lost up to three years from their life expectancy...

That study, released last fall, also shows

The longevity of workers who have already hit age 62, the minimum age for Social Security eligibility, are not affected, presumably because of the safety net that Social Security provides.

A more recent study by the Employee Benefits Research Institute shows 75 percent of retirees said they worked longer than they had to in order to keep their health benefits. And 25 percent of survey respondents said they'd retire early if they had access to health care.
A Conference Board report says the same thing, according to US News:

The share of American workers who plan to delay retirement has grown dramatically in just two years...

Survey respondents cited declines in home prices, job losses, and salary reductions all as factors in delaying retirement. Fully 62 percent of respondents last year said the loss of work or salary contributed to the delay, compared to 48 percent in 2010. Likewise, 62 percent cited a decline in housing values, up from 42 percent in 2010.

All of this is lousy news for young people entering the work force. The unemployment rate for Americans aged 18-29 was 13.1 percent during January, compared with an overall unemployment rate of 7.9 percent. Baby Boomers aren't getting out of the way for young people, and difficulty finding work now will mean weaker job prospects long into the future.

And then, of course, they'll have to delay retirement...

Biggest Thunderclap ever for Jan. 30 Day of Action?

Here's where some of the Midwest action will be tomorrow.

Teamsters will be in the thick of tomorrow's actions against cuts to Social Security, Medicare and education. Many of our brothers and sisters are participating in the noon Thunderclap -- possibly the biggest ever. And they'll be mobilizing at congressional district offices and Social Security offices around the country. 

Ohio Teamsters, for example, will be taking direct action in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Toledo. You can find an action near you here.

The AFL-CIO tells us:.

Another showdown looms on the horizon in Washington as the Tea Party controlled GOP continues its reckless crusade to stonewall any reasonable legislation to fix the economy. It’s another manufactured crisis and Republicans are holding the U.S. economy hostage.
Middle class families are fighting back and telling Congress to:

• Oppose benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid
• Close loopholes for Wall Street and the richest 2% of Americans and cancel sequestration

On Wednesday, January 30, we are mobilizing at congressional district offices across the nation to keep the spotlight on representatives to remind them they work for US and not the richest 2%.

You may be wondering what a Thunderclap is ...  It’s a new website that allows people to pledge to Tweet or Facebook a message all at the same time on the same day in order to achieve the maximum effect. Think of this action as an online flash mob in support of a reasonable fiscal policy for the nation.

It's not to late to join. Click this link here. Then choose either “Support with Twitter” or “Support with Facebook”—or both! Then, add your name to the Thunderclap, and that’s it! On January 30, everyone that has signed up will automatically have the same message posted on their Facebook and Twitter accounts. The message includes a link to a petition demanding Congress make the right decisions during the ongoing fiscal debate in Washington.

And be sure to use the #jobsnotcuts hashtag.

Teamsters take action to preserve Social Security, Medicare and education

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters right now is sending out a Call to Action to our Teamster family. It says:

Extremist lawmakers on Capitol Hill are calling for cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and education as ways to reduce the national deficit. We need reasonable fiscal policy – not harmful cuts to the vital programs that we all pay into and rely on.  Reducing the deficit on the backs of the middle class is just plain wrong. What’s worse is that these cuts would be used to continue the tax breaks for the top 2% and big corporations. 

On January 30th, events will be held across the country to send Congress a clear message: No cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and education! Make the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share! To find an event in your area, please go to www.americawantstowork.org. We hope to see you out there!

Join the Thunderclap

Even if you can't join a direct action, you can send a loud message to Congress by joining our Thunderclap.

You’re probably wondering: What is a Thunderclap? It’s a new website that allows people to pledge to Tweet or Facebook a message all at the same time on the same day in order to achieve the maximum effect. Think of this action as an online flash mob in support of a reasonable fiscal policy for the nation. 

Click on this link and choose either “Support with Twitter” or “Support with Facebook”—or both! Then, add your name to the Thunderclap, and that’s it! On January 30th, everyone that has signed up will automatically have the same message posted on their Facebook and Twitter accounts. The message includes a link to a petition demanding Congress make the right decisions during the ongoing fiscal debate in Washington. 

With your help, on January 30th, thousands of people across the country will demand that big corporations and the richest 2% pay their fair share, and vital programs like Social Security, Medicare, and education will not be cut. 

This is what we're up against: ALEC, CEOs, phony tea parties

The broad, coordinated effort to plunder and silence working people is moving into full gear as Congress reconvenes and state legislatures get to work. Greedy, pampered CEOs are trying to take away our Social Security and Medicare in Congress. Billionaire-backed front groups are trying to take away our unions in the states.

The Center for Media and Democracy brings this alarming news about one billionaire-backed group, FreedomWorks:

The Tea Party-affiliated group FreedomWorks - the right-wing organization that helps connect "Tea Party" groups with talking points, rallies, and more - is gearing up to direct its sizeable war chest towards advancing anti-union initiatives in the states, supporting an agenda set by groups like David Koch's Americans for Prosperity and the Koch-funded American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). This strongly suggests that the battle for the future of private and public sector unions in America is beginning a new phase of combat. 

This month, FreedomWorks announced "an aggressive grassroots, state-based campaign" for 2013 to "push back against domineering unions," among other plans. 

Michigan's No Rights At Work law, for example, is copied from ALEC, the corporate dating service that links state lawmakers with deep-pocketed donors and special-interest lobbyists.

As we've reported, FreedomWorks is a spinoff of the Benedict Arnold Koch brothers group, Citizens for a Strong Economy. FreedomWorks' former chief, Dick Armey, was ousted recently and has since been telling the news media how FreedomWorks is funded by rich donors. It exists just to exploit its supporters, he said. To help raise money, FreedomWorks pays Glenn Beck $1 million. 

Here's where FreedomWorks will be attacking, according to CMD.

Since the election, FreedomWorks has promoted a petition to "support Michigan Governor Rick Snyder" in his anti-union push, published multiple blogs attacking unions, and released a study purporting to show the benefits of "paycheck protection" legislation to defund unions in Pennsylvania. 

In a January 6 message to the FreedomWorks email list, (CEO Matt) Kibbe announced a new "Save the States" campaign and linked to a website where users could rank the issues FreedomWorks has identified as priorities - like Right to Work, Paycheck Protection, "school choice" (which is presented as an anti-union initiative), and reforming the supposedly "extravagant" pensions promised to unionized public sector employees. 

Four out of the five issues in the FreedomWorks "Save the States" campaign are tied to weakening unions, either directly or indirectly.

Things aren't looking much better in Washington, where a group of extremist CEOs and billionaires are trying to take away the retirement and health care benefits we work all our lives for. They're most interested in preserving their lucrative government contracts, but they chose to give themselves the misleading name "Fix the Debt." Our brothers and sisters at the AFL-CIO tell us "Fix the Debt" now has reinforcements:

As if we didn't already have enough on our plates (having to fend off attacks from the "Fix the Debt" CEOs), now there's another group of CEOs, the Business Roundtable, telling us we need to "modernize," a.k.a. cut, Social Security and Medicare benefits by raising the eligibility ages and reducing cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). How helpful. 

Or as Richard Eskow points out at Campaign for America's Future:

...for the wealthy, pampered, and narcissistic CEOs of the Business Roundtable, sacrifice is always for someone else.

Eskow tears into the Business Roundtable like nobody's business, writing,

Rich CEOs have used every tax loophole in the book to add to their own wealth, have been bailed out directly or indirectly by the American taxpayer, and have rigged corporate governance so that they make far more than they’re worth. 

Now, to make sure the milk and honey keeps flowing their way, they want to cut Medicare and Social Security benefits for the beleaguered American majority. Sounds crazy, right? 

Meet the CEOs of the Business Roundtable.

Eskow turns the tables on pampered and narcissistic CEOs by pointing out THEY'RE the cause of any problem we might have with Social Security and Medicare:

Social Security’s in much better fiscal shape than most corporate benefit plans, and any long-term problems it may have are driven by a) greater wealth inequity than even the most conservative economists could have imagined in 1983; and b) massive unemployment brought on by Wall Street greed... 

As for Medicare, its cost problems are caused by for-profit health companies inflating medical costs. Think the Business Roundtable will mention that? Its members include the CEOs of Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Abbott Laboratories, the Tenet hospital system, Cardinal Health, ExpressScripts, CVS/Caremark and  WellPoint. 

Like hell it will. 

Our long-term deficits are driven by America’s runaway health care costs, which in turn are driven by our profit-driven system. It’s barely an exaggeration to say that if some of these companies and their competitors didn’t exist the Federal government might not have a deficit problem at all.

Read the whole thing here.