1934 Teamsters strike memorialized in Minneapolis

Mildred Johnson, wife of striker Chester Johnson, stands with new marker.

The first marker to commemorate the 1934 Minneapolis Teamsters Strike, one of the great watershed moments in the history of the American labor movement, was installed in Minneapolis’ Warehouse District (formerly known as the “Market District”) on Saturday.

Speaking on behalf of the Remember 1934 Committee, Local 320 member Bob Kolstad addressed the large crowd gathered outside the iconic 1913 Sherwin-Williams Paint Co. building for the plaque’s unveiling ceremony. It's the same site where striking Teamster Henry Ness was shot and killed by Minneapolis police for protesting the city’s anti-union policies.

Kolstad said:

This is an important day. We believe that the plaque we are unveiling here today is the first public monument to the labor movement in the city of Minneapolis. It was here on the 20th of July, 1934 that the Minneapolis Police Department ambushed members of Teamsters Local 574 and their supporters, shooting 67 of them mostly in the back. Two of them died. They were murdered.

Tom Keegel, IBT secretary-treasurer emeritus, addresses crowd.

Dozens of descendants of the 1934 assembled in front of the speaker’s platform to pay their respects, including speakers John Hanson (son of 1934 striker John Hanson), Cherrene Horazuk (granddaughter of 1934 striker Harry Horazuk) and Linda Leighton (granddaughter of strike leader Vincent Dunne).

Horazuk, who currently serves as president of AFSCME Local 3800 in Minneapolis, said the labor movement should not rely on the good will of politicians or favorable court rulings to succeed.

We know that being in a union gives us a voice, more power and better wages. We know that when the working class stands up and fights back, we will win.

The ceremony also included remarks from former General Secretary-Treasurer Tom Keegel, who later joined granddaughter Haylee Hilton, a staffer at Local 120, for an interview on a local television show where they discussed the strike and the significance of the new marker commemorating the events that made Minneapolis a union town.

Thanks to Workday Minnesota for the photos!

Local 120 use food pantry as way to give back to the community

Just some of the Local 120 volunteers at the Minnesota Teamster Food Shelf.

[Thanks to our friends at Local 120 for the submission!]

When entering the Minnesota Teamsters Food Shelf, located in the Joint Council 32 building in Minneapolis, the first thing one sees are the smiling faces of the dedicated Teamster members collecting and handing out food.

The Minnesota Teamsters Food Shelf has stood for decades -- a testament to the rich history the Teamsters members have when it comes to giving back to the community. For over 100 years, the Teamsters have served the communities they live and thrive in through various ways -- whether it be through helping to develop a portable iron lung for polio victims, delivering the polio vaccine to towns in four days versus the six to eight weeks that were projected, or to act as first responders in every major U.S. crisis from L.A. earthquakes to 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina.

Members of Local 120 have worked to maintain and grow that legacy. Through grievance settlements, our members at Supervalu have donated 22 pallets of food -- so much food, in fact, that the food shelf cannot hold it all.

The Local 120 semi truck has become a regular presence outside of the food shelf as it continues to deliver the pallets as space opens up. As the 120 truck rounds the corner to the Joint Council building, a routine begins to form. The shining maroon doors fly open and the forklift brings the cases of food into the parking garage where it is unloaded and stacked. Since many of the volunteers at the food shelf are retirees, there’s never a shortage of wisdom, humor, and thrilling stories of the Teamster past, and there’s definitely not a shortage in dedication for both the Teamsters and the community.

Joe Kabicinski

One retiree in particular, Joe Kabicinski, has proven above and beyond that passion for the community and for the Teamsters never fades. In all of his 33 years as a road driver for Werner Continental, Kabicinski never once got a speeding ticket or had an accident. In fact, he was awarded a grandfather clock for 30 years of safe driving. He took great care in his skill and it translated.

After retiring in January 1986, it did not take him long to jump back into gear. By that summer, he was working at the food shelf, which he eventually started to run in the 1990s. He is truly an inspiration to any that cross his path. When asked, nearly 30 years since he began to work at the food shelf why he continues to devote himself to the community, he said: “I like the people. I work with a nice bunch of people and I enjoy helping the people who come in.”

Today's Teamster News 02.26.15

Teamsters
Hoffa: Port Driver Efforts Show The Long, Hard Fight For Justice  Huffington Post   ...The port truck industry is highly fragmented, poorly organized and grossly inefficient. Deregulation has forced trucking companies to engage in cutthroat competition. Consequently, many are gearing up to fight the efforts of drivers and the Teamsters to organize and receive a fair wage. Luckily, more and more decision makers are beginning to side with workers...
Teamsters, Consumers And Community Protest Sprouts Farmers Market  teamster.org   ...“It’s time for UNFI to stop the bullying and stop the intimidation,” said Steve Vairma, Teamsters Warehouse Division Director. “Over the years UNFI has tried to undermine workers who have asserted their rights protected by United States law, even where the Teamsters have been certified as the workers’ union through federally supervised elections. UNFI wants to destroy its workers’ fundamental rights join together to improve their working conditions.”...
Trade
The Trans-Pacific Partnership clause everyone should oppose  Washington Post   …Agreeing to ISDS in this enormous new treaty would tilt the playing field in the United States further in favor of big multinational corporations. Worse, it would undermine U.S. sovereignty...
Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership Promises Echo Clinton's On NAFTA  Op-Ed News   …NAFTA -- the North American Free Trade Agreement -- was sold with promises of jobs and prosperity on all sides of the border. What really happened was that an increased trade deficit sucked demand and jobs out of the U.S. economy; workers lost bargaining power, resulting in pay and benefit cuts; and income inequality rose as corporations pocketed the wage differential. Now the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is being sold with literally the same promises…
Trade Crazy: The Push For Fast-Track Trade Authority (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...There are many issues in the TPP that our trading partners don't like. They don't like rules that will force them to pay more for drugs from Pfizer and Merck, nor do they like rules that will make them pay more money to Time Warner for Hollywood movies, or to Microsoft for software...
State Battles
Wisconsin Senate approves right-to-work bill  Chicago Tribune   …The Wisconsin state Senate narrowly passed a right-to-work bill Wednesday and sent it on to the Assembly, where the Republican majority is wider...
Koch-Funded Allies Descend on Wisconsin to Push Right to Work  Center for Media and Democracy   …It's a rare citizen who would rush to testify that the higher wages, benefits, and training that unions bring are a bad idea. Fortunately, the Wisconsin GOP had the full support of the Koch-funded "think tanks" that are a critical part of the right-wing infrastructure...
Registrations at Wisconsin Senate hearing overwhelmingly against right-to-work bill  Associated Press   …Opponents to right-to-work outnumbered supporters 70-to-1 at a Wisconsin state Senate public hearing that was cut short before Republicans voted to advance the bill...
Kenton County To Adopt "Right to Work" Ordinance  River City News   ...Kenton County will pass a so-called "Right to Work" ordinance at its next meeting after hearing a first reading on Tuesday night in Covington...
Missouri house passes two voter ID measures  CedarRepublican.com   …The Missouri House passed two measures Thursday, Feb. 19, which would make Missouri the 32nd state to require a government issued ID to vote...
Iowa Senate Approves $8.75 Minimum Wage Bill  Des Moines Register   ...Senate File 269 was approved 27-22 with no debate. All 26 Democrats voted for the bill. Only one Republican, Sen. Rick Bertrand of Sioux City, voted yes. Iowa's minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour. The bill would increase Iowa's minimum wage to $8 an hour on July 1, 2015, and to $8.75 an hour on July 1, 2016...
This Billionaire Governor Taxed The Rich And Increased The Minimum Wage -- Now, His State's Economy Is One Of The Best In The Country  Huffington Post   ...The reason Gov. Dayton was able to radically transform Minnesota's economy into one of the best in the nation is simple arithmetic. Raising taxes on those who can afford to pay more will turn a deficit into a surplus. Raising the minimum wage will increase the median income. And in a state where education is a budget priority and economic growth is one of the highest in the nation, it only makes sense that more businesses would stay. It's official -- trickle-down economics is bunk. Minnesota has proven it once and for all. If you believe otherwise, you are wrong...
War on Workers
T.J. Maxx to hike minimum wage for workers  CNN Monday  …The owner of T.J. Maxx, Marshall's and Home Goods is raising wages for its workers to at least $10 an hour by next year...
JPMorgan, Still On 2-Year Probation, Under Scrutiny in Gold Fixing Probe  Wall Street on Parade   …the U.S. Justice Department is investigating at least 10 of the biggest U.S. and foreign banks for potentially rigging the gold market and other precious metals markets. That investigation comes while ongoing investigations continue into the potential rigging by big banks of the setting of interest-rate benchmarks and foreign currency...
Student Debt Strikers Take On Corinthian College  Mathbabe   …Good for them. Corinthian College is a predatory and fraudulent company which was in the business of gaming the federal loan system while making false promises to its students. Those students are victims of fraud and should not be the ones paying back the government money for an education they never got. Instead, Corinthian should pay back the money...
Iron Worker At Barclays Center Crushed To Death By Steel Beams  New York Daily News   ...A 52-year-old iron worker constructing a green roof on the Barclays Center in Brooklyn was crushed to death by steel beams on Tuesday, police said. Hardhat Peter Zepf was helping to move the massive beams — called joists — from a truck onto a hoist when four of the parts fell on him near the Atlantic Ave. side of the arena around 1 p.m., witnesses said...
Miscellaneous
Janet Yellen Puts Fed On Path To Lift Rates  Wall Street Journal   ...If the economy continues to strengthen as the Fed anticipates and officials become more confident that low inflation will rise toward their 2% goal, she said, the central bank “will at some point begin considering an increase in the target range for the federal funds rate.”...

ALEC denies economic science as well as climate science.

Governors in Wisconsin and Kansas who followed ALEC's economic playbook to a T are now defending anemic job growth, large budget deficits and stalled or declining median income.

The architect of ALEConomics is Arthur Laffer, the man who invented 'trickle down' economics (which didn't work either).

Laffer claims to be an economist, but his clownish 'economic' analysis embarrasses the profession.  Even economists who agree with Arthur Laffer say he's a laughingstock.

Every year Arthur Laffer authors a study called 'Rich States, Poor States.'The Center for Media and Democracy calls it "a lobby scorecard ranking states on the adoption of extreme ALEC policies that have little or nothing to do with economic outcomes." 

The Koch brothers directly funded the 2014 report, released in April. They have for many years funded ALEC itself.

In 2014, Laffer ranked Kansas 15th and Wisconsin 17th in 'economic competitiveness.' Their governors, Sam Brownback and Scott Walker, followed his playbook. They cut taxes on the rich and raised them on working people.

Today, both states are creating fewer jobs than the national average. And both states face large and growing budget deficits.

Kansas

In Kansas, Sam Brownback directly followed Arthur Laffer's advice, cutting the income tax and creating huge tax loopholes for corporations. Here's what happened:

• Nonpartisan state budget analyses show Kansas faces $1.3 billion in deficits in the coming five years. 
• Kansas' bond rating has been downgraded by both Moody's and Standard and Poor's. 
• Kansas' economic growth lags the nation by about 3 percent.
• Kansas gained only 7,400 jobs in 2014, for a growth rate of .5 percent. Since Brownback took office in January 2011, the state's growth rate has been 3.7 percent. 
• Personal income growth stalled.

Laffer ranked Missouri behind Kansas (24th vs. 15th), probably because it did not cut its income tax as the Koch brothers wanted. Missouri added four times as many jobs as Kansas and grew twice as fast.

The budget shortfall in Kansas is forcing cuts to public education and school closings. Voters are so angry they may just replace

Wisconsin
Scott Walker ran for governor of Wisconsin promising to create 250,000 new jobs. He won't come close. Since attacking public sector unions and giving tax breaks to corporations that outsource jobs,

Median income fell in Wisconsin by 1.2 percent since 2008;

Wisconsin is dead last in the Midwest in income growth, according to Politifact; 

Wisconsin faces a $471 million budget shortfall next year;

Wisconsin ranks 33rd in the nation in job creation and actually lost 4,300 jobs last month. 

Next door, Laffer ranked the high-tax, high-spending state of Minnesota 46th in the country, compared to 17th for Wisconsin. Minnesota is very similar to Wisconsin in size, population, climate and industry mix. Minnesota now has the highest percentage of adults in the labor force in the country. Tax collections exceeded expectations. Minnesota also outperforms Wisconsin in per capita income growth and job creation.

Just as ALEC denies climate science, it denies economic science. 

Teamsters Get Out the Vote in Wisconsin

Midterm elections matter more than ever, and Wisconsin Teamsters already have their boots on the ground getting out the vote. Above, Teamsters Local 200 Secretary-Treasurer Tom Millonzi, along with business agents Mike Gurich, Tom Benvenuto and Jeff Bandur, get out the vote for Sara Geenen for Wisconsin State Assembly this morning in the Milwaukee area.

Tomorrow is Wisconsin's primary election, and Wisconsin is a case study in why the upcoming general elections are so important. Voters are angry and discouraged and inclined to stay away from the polls, but that is exactly the wrong thing to do.

Voters were angry and discouraged in 2010, when Scott Walker and a majority of Republican lawmakers won in Wisconsin. The result was devastating to working families in Wisconsin.

Walker weakened workers' rights, lowered wages for public service workers, cut education spending, canceled a high-speed rail project and privatized Wisconsin's economic development agency. The result? Wisconsin has the worst performing economy in the region and one of the worst in the country.

Talking Points Memo recently noted:

Finally, no description of the failed experiments of conservative governors is complete without noting the sad record of Wisconsin’s Scott Walker, who went to great and campaign-finance-law-stretching lengths to gain and hold his office. He promised that his agenda would deliver economic growth and bountiful new jobs; the reality has fallen far short. As Marc Levine writes, not only have Walker’s policies not delivered the 250,000 jobs he claimed they would, they may have actually held back job growth in the state, as Wisconsin’s economy falls behind those of its neighbors.

The story was the same in other states where extremist, anti-worker candidates won office in 2010. Kansas, for example, is in serious trouble.

Kansas is now hundreds of millions of dollars short in revenue collection, its job growth has lagged the rest of the nation, and Moody's has cut the state's bond rating. ‘Governor Brownback came in here with an agenda to reduce the size of government, reduce taxes, and create a great economic boom,’ says University of Kansas professor Burdett Loomis. ‘Now there's been a dramatic decline in revenues, no great increase in economic activity, and we've got red ink until the cows come home.’ 

In Minnesota, Republicans trying to toss out progressive, Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton say they'll emulate Walker. Bad idea. According to The Cap Times, Minnesota's economy is leading the region and the nation:

• Minnesota leads the upper Midwest in job creation, with 8.8 percent growth since 2010. Kansas saw 6.6 percent growth during that period, while Wisconsin is tied with South Dakota at 6.3 percent.
• In 2013, Minnesotans earned about 106 percent of the national average income after taxes. Kansans earned almost the national average, at 99 percent, and Wisconsinites earned 97 percent.
• Looking at the period when the recession began, in December 2007, through June 2014, Minnesota was the only state where private-sector employment increased — albeit slightly, by 0.3 percent. It fell by 0.6 percent in Kansas and 2.2 percent in Wisconsin.

So get out there and vote!

Wisconsin, Kansas worse than rest of US in creating jobs

Kansas and Wisconsin show that an anti-union, low-tax, low-minimum wage business climate discourages new jobs.

That's according to the Econbrowser blog.

Econbrowser notes:

It’s interesting how “pro-business” policies do not appear to be conducive to rapid employment growth. 

Employment in Governor Walker’s Wisconsin, as in Governor Brownback’s Kansas, has lagged behind that of the United States (and behind that of Governor Dayton’s Minnesota and Governor Brown’s California).

ALEC will tell you that Kansas and Wisconsin are great for business because of the anti-union, low-tax climate. ALEC is wrong.

ALEC will also tell you Minnesota is bad for business because it's pro-union and has a high minimum wage. Wrong again. Minnesota is going better than the rest of the United States.

Just sayin'.

Scott Walker keeps on wrecking Wisconsin's economy

Ever since job-killer Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker began to cut the government budget and weaken unions, the state's economy has tanked.

Candidate Walker famously promised to create 250,000 jobs as governor and then set about destroying them.  He awarded state contracts to out-of-state companies, pulled the plug on a high-speed rail project, lowered state worker pay by taking away collective bargaining rights, made massive cuts to education and slashed taxes for business.

Chances of Walker creating 250,000 jobs are now slim and none, and Slim just left town.

The Econbrowser blog estimates Wisconsin would need to create 12,275 jobs per month for the next year to achieve Walker's goal. During Walker's administration, an average of 2,892 jobs were created every month.

Wisconsin lags the U.S. economy and all of its neighbors, as this chart shows:

The Minnesota example is especially compelling. Minnesota is similar to Wisconsin in size, population, climate and industry. But there's an important difference: Minnesota's government. A story in MinnPost late last year reported:

Along with California, Minnesota is the fifth fastest growing state economy, with private-sector job growth exceeding pre-recession levels. Forbes rates Minnesota as the eighth best state for business.... 

The lion’s share of Minnesota’s new tax revenue was sunk into human capital. While the state’s Constitution required that half of the new revenue balance the budget in 2013, Mr. Dayton invested 71 percent of the remaining funds in K-12 schools and higher education as well as a pair of firsts: all-day kindergarten and wider access to early childhood education. Minnesota was one of the few states that raised education spending under the cloud of the Great Recession. 

Walker will continue to cook the state's books and rely on clownish economists from ALEC to whitewash his dismal jobs record. Let's hope Wisconsin's voters aren't fooled.

Today's Teamster News 08.14.13

Teamsters, St. James heading to mediation  Billings Gazette   ...The Teamsters Union and St. James Healthcare will start labor contract mediation on Aug. 20. Members of the union, one of three at the hospital, have been working without a contract for over a year, according to Dan Doogan, secretary-treasurer for the Teamsters regional district...
37.5-hour work week proposed for union members  Times Leader   ...With six union contracts expiring at the end of the year, Luzerne County Council members in Pennsylvania are trying to set pay and benefit goals they want negotiated into new collective bargaining agreements for workers, including members represented by Teamsters Local 401...
Justice Dept, states challenge proposed airline merger between US Airways, American  Associated Press   ...The federal government is challenging the proposed merger of US Airways and American Airlines, a deal between two of the largest airlines that it says would result in “substantial harm to consumers” in the form of higher fares and fees...
Police arrest 20 protesters at Wisconsin Capitol  WBAY   ...Police have arrested more protesters in the Wisconsin Capitol rotunda. Protesters have been showing up in the rotunda almost every noon hour for more than two years to sing songs against Republican Governor Scott Walker...
At March on Washington, organized labor gave MLK a hand  The Republic   ...Fifty years ago this month, Hank Lacayo, an up-and-coming labor leader in Southern California, received a call instructing him to come to Washington, D.C. Something big was in the works. The phone call was placed at the direction of Walter Reuther, the legendary national president of the UAW. The big thing on the horizon was a planned March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom planned Aug. 28...
Inequality is hindering economic growth  Baltimore Sun   ...Our economy has grown at roughly the same rate as other advanced industrial economies. But unlike other countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, our growth has overwhelmingly benefited the well off...
Higher wages won’t increase unemployment!  Salon   ...Conservatives on the right contend that higher salaries mean fewer jobs. A wealth of research suggests otherwise...
5 Reasons Congress Should Be Deeply Ashamed About Jobs  AlterNet   ...Congress has not only made the job search more difficult for average Americans, but has also impeded the process...
New Jersey Republicans Nominate Koch Brothers Operative For Senate  Think Progress   ...The New Jersey Republicans voted Tuesday — in a low-turnout primary — to nominate Steve Lonegan for the remainder of the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s (D) term. Lonegan, the former New Jersey head for the Koch Brothers’ Americans for Prosperity, will face Newark Mayor Corey Booker (D) in an October 16 special election...
U.S. automakers praise G-20 for opposing currency manipulation  Detroit News   ...U.S. automakers on Sunday praised a group of 20 major nations for recognizing the harm caused to the global trading system by countries like Japan, who are manipulating their currencies to gain a competitive advantage for their exporters...
Two Minnesota public employee unions ratify new contracts   Star Tribune   ...About 32,000 unionized state employees have ratified contracts that call for pay hikes of 3 percent per year, the biggest increases they’ve received since the national economy nosedived in 2007-08...
Minimum wage in CT will increase to $9 an hour  The Shelton Herald   ...The minimum wage in Connecticut will increase by 75 cents during the next year and a half. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed legislation that hikes the minimum wage in two stages — from the current $8.25 an hour to $8.70 on Jan. 1, 2014, and then to $9 on Jan. 1, 2015...
BART, unions resume talks as senators add pressure  Associated Press   ...Bay Area Rapid Transit's management and employee unions resumed contract negotiations Thursday as California's two senators urged the parties resolve the labor dispute and head off a crippling transit strike...
Hillary Clinton: NC Voter ID Bill 'Reads Like The Greatest Hits Of Voter Suppression' (Video) Huffington Post   ...Hillary Clinton denounced recent voter identification legislation in a speech at the American Bar Association's annual conference on Monday.  Clinton criticized the Supreme Court decision that she believes "stripped out the pre-clearance formula that made [the Voting Rights Act] so effective..."
'Disney Princesses For Equal Pay' Is Brilliant, Hilarious And Informative   Huffington Post   ...All women want equal pay -- even Disney princesses. Jenny Joslin and Annette Mia Flores of the production company Texpats came up with a hilarious and creative way to raise awareness about the wage gap. Because who doesn't like Disney?...
State must pay $500,000 to end court fight over overtime pay for prison guards  Patriot News   ...A federal judge has approved a settlement requiring the state to pay $500,000 to end a class-action lawsuit filed by 247 Pennsylvania state prison corrections officers who claimed they were illegally denied overtime pay...
Billions in federal transportation funds riding on California's new pension law  Sacramento Bee   ...Less than a year after California lawmakers mandated sweeping changes for state and local government pensions, federal officials are poised to cut off billions of dollars in transportation funding because of the new laws. The Teamsters and two other unions have backed a measure that would exclude 20,000 mass transit workers statewide from the pension-change law...

Third World state: Wisconsin

(NOTE: The following is a cross post from Brian's Blog, written by Brian Aldes, secretary-treasurer of Teamster Local 320 in Minnesota)

In the past few weeks some alarming news has developed within Wisconsin. It appears that Governor Scott Walker, famous for busting public employee unions, now wants to go after police and firefighter unions. In 2011 Walker pushed for and signed “ACT 10” making it impossible for public sector unions to negotiate over issues such as working conditions, overtime, health insurance, sick leave and vacation. Moreover unions can now only seek raises that are no greater than the rate of inflation as determined by the employer!

Police and firefighter unions were exempted from most aspects of ACT 10; however, many law enforcement and firefighter units lost their right over the past two years to bargain over health insurance and other health care related issues. Just last week, Walker has signaled his intent to place Wisconsin police and firefighter units under the full application of ACT 10.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Walker said the following:

"I think now for those areas, having seen that the world didn't come to an end for all the municipal employees and county employees, there might be a greater opening going forward because they'd say, 'Hey things worked out'" [...] 

Pardon my bluntness, but things did not work out for Wisconsin public employees under ACT 10 and Walker has proven himself not only to be a union-buster, but a bold-faced liar!

In last week’s article for Salon “New labor movement emerges in Scott Walker’s Wisconsin,” Marty Beil, the director of the Wisconsin State Employees Union, said things have not worked out for the majority of state workers. He says, “work sites have become hell holes. Every day there’s a new set of rules that people have to understand. Act 10 prohibits union members from bargaining or filing grievances over day-to-day working conditions: shop-floor rules, scheduling, performance evaluations or even discrimination. Workers have responded with petitions of no confidence against their supervisors, confrontational appearances at administrative offices, and more” [...]

Meanwhile in Minnesota the top three candidates vying to unseat Governor Mark Dayton, Republican Sen. Dave Thompson, Rep. Kurt Zellers and businessman Scott Honour, have all advocated for policies similar to ACT 10. Sen. Thompson told MPR that he is willing to revisit the contentious right-to-work FOR LESS (emphasis added) issue that put him at odds with Minnesota’s labor unions and triggered loud protests in 2012.

Teamsters Local 320 stands in solidarity with its Union Brothers and Sisters of Wisconsin against Gov. Walker’s oppression. We also ask Minnesota Teamsters to remain vigilant against Walker clones here at home.

The truth about public pensions

Pensions, which are so essential to retirement security, are being attacked as the cause of state and municipal budget shortfalls. These attacks come from radicals who want to dismantle public institutions, like pensions, that don't benefit greedy billionaires. Don't listen to them.

Listen, instead, to economist Dean Baker recently called out the Washington Post for making the nonsensical claim that state and local pensions have unfunded liabilities of $3.8 trillion. Baker notes the funds are basically okay: 

...the $3.8 trillion figure was an estimate of total liabilities, not unfunded liabilities. Since the pensions have $2.8 trillion in assets, their unfunded liabilities are just $1 trillion. Or, to put this in terms that may be understandable to Post readers, the unfunded liabilities are 0.22 percent of projected GDP over the next 30 years. And, as I noted in my earlier post, most state and local governments are already funding at levels that are consistent with making up this shortfall so there will no required tax increases or spending cuts to meet these future obligations.

It shouldn't be a surprise, then, when Brother Brian Aldes, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 320 in Minneapolis, brings us some good news about Minnesota public employee pensions. Cross-posting from Brian's Blog.

Today there is a lot of news surrounding pensions for public employees. If you’ve heard the bad news coming out of Detroit you might have retirement on the mind. There’s certainly bad news in Detroit for city workers and retirees, but I'm happy to report there’s also some great stuff in the news today for Minnesota. 

The latest report on Minnesota public employee pensions have all three funds (MSRS, PERA and the Teachers’ Fund) with an investment return of 14.2 percent for the fiscal year that just ended, and it was much higher than expected. 

According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press: 

"The investment return is crucial for the pensions because, historically, investment gains have accounted for about 70 percent of their revenues, helping reduce taxpayer costs. Returns have been rocky in recent years, although the average over the past decade has been 10 percent [investment return]." 

What this year's strong investment return demonstrates is the improved funding ratios and how the total unfunded liability for all three plans is expected to drop. This is positive news and Senator Sandra Papas (DFL-St. Paul) who chairs the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement (LCPR) told the Pioneer Press that she is “cautiously optimistic” about the funds’ future. 

Meanwhile in Detroit a judge ruled that Michigan Governor Snyder’s action to place Detroit in bankruptcy had violated the state’s Constitution because the move could cut the pension benefits of retired public employees. The judge said pensions were protected under state law, and issued an order that the bankruptcy filing be withdrawn. Gov. Snyder is challenging the judge’s order in the state’s Court of Appeals. If the bankruptcy is allowed to continue it will enable a bankruptcy judge to impose further city-wide budget cuts, void any and all union contracts, and target the pensions owed to 21,000 city retirees and 9,000 active workers. 

What is happening in Detroit is simply a tragedy, but for public employees in Minnesota things are looking up, and for that I am grateful!

Today's Teamster News 02.09.13

Oil Exports Trim U.S. Deficit as Fuel Gap Shrinks: Economy Bloomberg ...Record petroleum exports helped shrink the U.S. trade deficit in December to the smallest in almost three years as America moved closer to energy self- sufficiency, a goal the nation has been pursuing since the 1973 Arab oil embargo...
USW Statement on Record U.S. Trade Deficit with China  United Steelworkers   ...The U.S. trade deficit in goods with the world was $735.7 billion last year, a minor decrease of less than 1/100th of a percent, but our trade deficit with China reached an historic high of $315 billion. “What we need are fundamental changes in trade policy to alter the destructive path we’re on...
U.K. Lesson: Austerity Leads to More Debt  (Opinion)  The New Yorker   ...U.S. fiscal policy is heading in the wrong direction, toward the economics of austerity. If you want to know where this path can lead, look across the Atlantic to poor old Blighty...
EU leaders agree to push for U.S. trade deal  Reuters   ...European leaders agreed on Friday to push for a free-trade pact with the United States, putting the onus on the White House to decide whether to try for a deal that would encompass half the world's economic output...
Storm hits US north-east  The Guardian   ...A blizzard that forecasters predicted would dump up to two feet of snow onto the north-east United States prompted five governors to declare states of emergency on Friday. Airlines cancelled flights, public transit systems were shut down and people were urged to stay indoors...
Workers strike at Colombia's top coal exporter  Reuters   ...Workers at Colombia's largest coal exporting company Cerrejon began a strike on Thursday, the first in more than two decades, after the two sides failed to reach an agreement during last-minute talks on wages and benefits...
Proposal to change Florida state pensions to 401(k) plan moves forward  Tampa Bay Times   ...A bill placing all new state employees in a 401(k)-style retirement plan passed a House subcommittee on a party-line vote Thursday, setting up a major showdown between legislative Republicans and public workers' unions...
Snyder: Not interested in repealing prevailing wage  Associated Press   ...The Republican governor told reporters Wednesday that trying to repeal prevailing wages is a "very divisive" issue...
Minnesota Senate approves raise for state employees  Pioneer Press   ...More than 35,000 Minnesota state employees are a step closer to receiving a 2 percent across-the-board pay raise retroactive to Jan. 2...
Born in the U.S.A: Right-to-work wrong for workers (Opinion)  Murray State News   ...Right-to-work isn’t about giving anyone a job. These laws simply mean that a citizen of a right-to-work state is entitled to all of the benefits of being in a union without having to pay any union dues...
Ohio Governor’s Tax Plan Would Cut Taxes For Wealthy, Raise Them On The Poor  Think Progress   ...Kasich’s plan would raise taxes on the poorest 60 percent of the state’s residents by as much as $77. The top 1 percent, though, would see an average tax cut of $10,369...
Kasich plans to privatize food service at prisons  The Columbus Dispatch   ...A request for proposals will go out today for a privatized joint food-service contract for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and the Department of Youth Services...Up to 456 state jobs could be lost...
Bill to eliminate 'Prevailing Wage Law' dies in committee  KATV.com   ...The 'Prevailing Wage Law' in Arkansas sets the rate construction workers will be paid for public projects. Neighboring states like Louisiana and Mississippi have done away with comparable laws, and some argued Arkansas should do the same to save local government money...
US Airways Pilots Approve Merger Contract in Win for Union President  Forbes   ...US Airways pilots have overwhelmingly backed a memorandum of understanding that stipulates temporary contract provisions if an expected merger with bankrupt American Airlines takes place...
YRC trucking operations profitable in 2012, a first in six years  Kansas City Star   ...The recovery remains incomplete as YRC’s trucking operating income couldn’t cover all the interest payments on the company’s debts. YRC on Friday reported a net loss for the year. But management hailed the milestone in its hauling business while promising further improvements ahead...
Ports face labor discord  Los Angeles Times   ...Members of a small clerks union have voted down a proposed contract, which raises the prospect of restarting the strike that paralyzed the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach for eight days late last year...

Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2013/02/08/2372665/durham-progress-made-with-union.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2013/02/08/2372665/durham-progress-made-with-union.html#storylink=cpy

Woot! Honeywell Teamsters save jobs, approve 7.5% wage hike

Minneapolis Teamsters negotiated a 7.5 percent pay hike and saved 135 jobs at Honeywell International after a difficult round of bargaining.

On February 2, our brothers and sisters at Honeywell voted on a four-year contract that includes a 7.5 percent wage increase over the term of the agreement and a $5.50 pension increase. The new contract, which was ratified by 61 percent of the bargaining unit, affects 1,050 Honeywell workers who are members of Teamsters Local 1145.

Joseph Witzmann, secretary-treasurer of Local 1145, said:

This was a tough round of negotiations. The company proposed cutting 135 jobs, which we were able to save in negotiations. The new agreement represents improvements in wages, pensions and shift differentials.

The contract also requires the company to pay out up to 160 hours of unused vacation time, reimbursements that it had originally insisted it would hold until workers’ retirement.

Witzmann said it was the best agreement they could hope for:

Negotiations took place over four weeks and we bargained to the very last deadline in order to win the best contract for the hardworking Teamsters that have made Honeywell the successful company that it is.

Local 1145 President Nancy Sims said the International provided invaluable support and credited Joint Council 32 for helping during negotiations:

Given the difficult economic times we’re in, we are happy with the improvements we were able to negotiate in this new contract.

I thank International Trustee Joe Dwyer, the Strategic Research Department and Economics and Contracts for their support in this effort.

Walker foolishly dumps on Minn. guv

Oh, this is rich. Wisconsin Job-killer  Gov. Scott Walker dumped on Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton after he proposed a tax increase -- including a higher tax rate for rich people. 

The Econbrowser blog picked up the story about Walker's tweet in response to Dayton's proposal:

In '11, IL raised taxes on income by 66% & businesses by 46%. Now MN Gov is proposing a $2 bil tax increase. WI is Open for Business.

Econbrowser then looked at Wisconsin's economic performance compared to Minnesota's:

We can examine the relative performance of Minnesota and Wisconsin under the differing taxation and spending regimes by reference to the Philadelphia Fed’s coincident indices. 

See the chart above. It shows Wisconsin has been sucking wind under Walker.

Perhaps he should have kept his finger off the "Tweet" button.

An epidemic of lockouts in Minn. caused by union-busting law firm

It takes just one well-compensated law firm to spread plenty of misery in Minnesota. The Minneapolis law firm of Felhaber, Larson, Fenlon and Vogt appears to be responsible for three -- count 'em three -- lockouts in the Gopher State right now.

Minnesota Orchestra and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra musicians were locked out in the fall. And in the Red River Valley, 1,300 skilled workers have been locked out for 17 months by American Crystal Sugar.

Shar Knutson, president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, righteously points out the lockouts hurt workers, employers and communities.

Writing in the Grand Forks Herald, she notes:

The only ones who seem to be benefitting are the employers’ lawyers. 

Good point. And she asks:

Are these attorneys giving their clients the best advice? Will these lockouts leave wounds that are too deep for time to ever heal? 

Good questions.

Scott Walker, You're fired

Job-killer Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker spends nearly all of his time siphoning money from his rich friends, servicing the Benedict Arnold Koch brothers and tellng lies about his record.

He has a huge amount of money to spend on propaganda, though, which will make it hard to boot him out of office on June 5.

The biggest thing he has going against him is the truth. Walker so far has killed 23,900 jobs and 9,485 businesses.

As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports,

"If you elect me as your next governor, I'll get government out of the way and lower the tax burden so Wisconsin business owners and factories can create 250,000 jobs and 10,000 businesses in our state by 2015," Walker said in a 2010 speech.
...
The score card: After one year of the Walker era, there were 9,485 fewer businesses than at the end of 2010, Gov. Jim Doyle's final year in office.

The good news: The labor uprising in Wisconsin is forcing anti-worker politicians in other states to chill out on the union attacks. Josh Eidelson writes in Salon that

...after a seemingly relentless national assault provoked dramatic pushback in Wisconsin and elsewhere, some Republicans are … relenting. 

Take Minnesota. ... In January 2011, just after they took office and just before an uprising erupted in neighboring Wisconsin, Minnesota Republicans introduced Right to Work – a bill to defund unions by banning contracts that require workers represented by them to pay for representation. ... 

But 16 months later, the Minnesota Legislature ended its session Thursday without a vote to put Right to Work to the voters. ... 

Minnesota AFL-CIO president Shar Knutson says that the year’s high-profile battles in other states had had “a large impact” in discouraging Minnesota Republicans.  “You’ve seen what’s happened in Wisconsin and Ohio,” says Knutson. “There’s a lot of money that goes in, a lot of volunteers, a lot of people out on the streets working hard. So yeah, I’d be nervous if I were them too.”

Anti-worker extremists backed off in other states, too. Writes Eidelson,

In February, the House Commerce and Energy Committee in deep-red South Dakota voted to kill a bill that would have banned collective bargaining for public workers... 

The presumptive GOP nominee for Washington state governor is also taking pains to send a “What, Me Walker?” message. Last month, in audio obtained by Politico, Attorney General Rob McKenna told a meeting of Puget Sound Carpenters ... I’m not Scott Walker....and ... 

the Michigan House’s leading right-to-work backer has held off on introducing a bill.

That doesn't mean organized labor isn't facing a crisis. Eidelson concludes:

If Walker ekes out a victory, it won’t represent a decisive mandate for legislative union-busting. But it will be enough to get some Republicans over their cold feet.

Wanna know what you can do to help defeat job-killer Scott Walker? Call your local and volunteer to help get out the vote on June 5.

MN bill would allow online driver's ed for home schoolers

A Minnesota lawmaker wants home-schooled kids to take driver's ed on-line. It's not that students should drive an actual, you know, vehicle to get their drivers' license -- the on-line learning is only for the written part of the course. It's that for-profit on-line education is draining tax dollars from public schools and weakening teachers unions.

You will not be surprised to learn ALEC is behind the push for on-line schooling.

As the MinnPost reported,

As far as political alliances go, the love affair between home-schoolers and for-profit online education companies would seem about as sweet as it gets. 

Since the goal of home schooling often is keeping kids out of public schools, the advent of the virtual school is a major boon. Sweeter still: When the cyber-academy is a charter school, with taxpayers picking up the tab for everything from hardware to curriculum.

Indeed, presidential also-ran Rick Santorum got into trouble several years ago when it was revealed that he had moved out of the state where a public school district paid a cyber charter $100,000 to home-school several of his children.

For the companies operating the schools, every new customer fattens the bottom line.

Both constituencies occupy a natural niche, then, in the far-right, pro-big-business American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which last year gave Minnesota high marks for its entry into online learning, but a mere C for its “burdensome” home-school oversight. (Yeah, like requiring actual teachers to teach courses.)

Corporations, foundations and think tanks pay thousands of dollars to join ALEC, which charges lawmakers — most of them Republicans — $50 a year to join. Legislators are treated to expenses-paid policy confabs at ritzy resort destinations where they are given model bills drafted by private-sector participants.

Education is one of the group’s largest playbooks. And some of its for-profit online members already enroll Minnesota students.

Chalk it up to another attack on working families.

Today's Teamster News 03.27.12

Iowans Win Victory Over Gov. Branstad’s Abuse of Power  AFSCME   ...A unanimous Iowa Supreme Court ruling declares that Gov. Terry Branstad ... cannot unilaterally shut down the unemployment offices...
Judge Sides with Maine Governor in Labor Mural Dispute  Maine Public Radio   ...U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock found that Gov. Paul LePage was within his rights to order the mural removed last year...
Minnesota’s War on Voting  The Nation   ... the legislature is bypassing the governor by approving a constitutional amendment for voter ID that will go on the November ballot... 11 percent of US citizens lack government-issued ID, including 18 percent of young voters and 25 percent of African-Americans...
Runaway Spending: Private Contractors Increase the Cost of School Transportation Services in Pennsylvania  Keystone Research   ...We estimate that if all districts switched to the self-supply of transportation services, total spending on student transportation services would fall by $78.3 million, with all of the cost savings accruing to the state...
Your morning jolt: ‘Right to quiet enjoyment’ bill passes House committee  Atlanta Journal Constitution   ...State Rep. Bill Hembree, chairman of the House Industrial Relations, confirmed that his committee this morning passed out SB 469, which would ban union pickets at private residents and require union members to confirm the dues check-off on their paychecks on an annual basis...
Wisconsin One Year Later  Economic Policy Institute   ...overall non-farm employment since Jan. 2011 has rebounded in the Midwestern states surrounding Wisconsin, with Michigan leading the region with Jan. 2012 employment 1.6 percent higher than in Jan. 2011. Wisconsin stands out in the region, lagging with employment significantly lower — by 0.5 percent — in Jan. 2012 than a year earlier...
Nazareth Area School District custodians union agrees to salary reduction to help balance budget proposal  The Express-Times   ...the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union, representing custodians and other maintenance personnel, has agreed to give back an undisclosed percentage of next school year's pay raise...

RTW4Less dying in MN

Minnesota Teamsters at the Capitol, fighting RTW4Less.

Cross your fingers, everybody. We may just be beating back RTW4less in Minnesota.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports,

The Minnesota House fell silent Thursday evening as an attempt to revive the proposed 'right to work' constitutional amendment fizzled.

And this:

House Majority Leader David Senjem, R-Rochester, has since said the bill does not appear to have enough Republican support to pass, and is stalled. Senate supporters are trying to again revive it.

From the tweetosphere:

@IBT_320: Fight against #rtw4less is front and center at @Teamstersjc32 we're making progress with Teamsters Truth Squad & we will not relent #mnleg

The always-entertaining Charles Pierce offers this commentary:

You want to see some first-class chickening out? You want to see a white feather the size of a California condor? You want further experimentation from today's Laboratories of Democracy? Well, check out what's going on in Minnesota. The Republican majority in both of the houses of the state legislature got all chuffed with their newfound power, and they were all, like, We can make you do anything you want, Minnesota. Why do you keep hitting yourself in the face, huh? Huh?

Then, of course, things got a little rough for the bullies in the neighboring states, what with John Kasich in Ohio getting roughed up at the ballot box, and Rick Snyder in Michigan getting slapped around by the courts, and goggle-eyed homunculus Scott Walker across the border in Wisconsin getting pummelled by most of the state all at once. Suddenly, thing started looking a little hairy for the local authoritarians. In Minnesota, they proposed an amendment to the state constitution that essentially make Minnesota a right-to-work state, just as Mitch (Presidential Kindling) Daniels pulled off in Indiana. Then they looked at some polls, and started getting some e-mails and, well, some serious rethinking — and scarpering, and buggering-off — seemed to be in order.

Great work, brothers and sisters!

Today's Teamster News 03.22.12

Trade Deals: Backdoor Financial Deregulation  Huffington Post   ... the financial provisions of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) operate as backdoor deregulation instruments....these so-called "trade deals" ...  have very little to do with trade per se. Rather, they mainly include new rights for corporations and new constraints on governments' non-trade regulatory policy space...
Wisconsin – A Lost Year  PolitiScoop   ...Bills such as the definition of a bicycle, sex ed and the defunding of planned parenthood were the “Laser Beam” focus of Scott Walker’s assault on the citizens of Wisconsin. The special jobs session did nothing to spur job creation in Wisconsin, but did have a polarizing effect on the state’s citizens and legislature...
Minnesota House Passes Voter Suppression Constitutional Amendment Proposal  Think Progress   ...The photo ID amendment proposal — which will likely suppress voter turnout among elderly, poor, and minority voters who may have more difficulty obtaining a valid ID — is now headed to the state senate where it is scheduled to be taken up by the rules committee on Wednesday...
Rail Conference Urges EPA to Reconsider Coal Regulations  Teamsters Rail Conference   ..."This rule has the potential to cost our membership a staggering number of jobs by significantly decreasing the amount of coal used in electricity generation," said Teamsters Rail Conference President Dennis R. Pierce...
Teamsters, Worker Justice Groups Protest Red Cross Greed  Local 507   ...Almost 200 blood collection workers and mobile unit assistants for the American Red Cross in Northern Ohio traveled by bus to Washington, D.C., today to the national headquarters of the American Red Cross to rally for respect and fair treatment...
Teamsters approve YRC unit’s move out of next-day delivery  Kansas City Star   ...“The change of operations was approved, and it should help YRC tremendously,” Sweeton wrote. “It should help the company grow and lead to more jobs, which will be good for our members.”...

Today's Teamster News 03.21.12

‘Right to Work’ Bills Face Uncertain Future in an Election Year  New York Times   ...After costly, bruising political showdowns with union forces last year in Wisconsin and Ohio, Republicans in some state legislatures are facing a tugging match within their party — between passionate conservative members like Mr. Thompson, a freshman who was among hundreds of legislators swept into statehouses in 2010 who want to push forward, and a more moderate bloc not sure it is wise to take on labor so directly now...
Job seekers getting asked for Facebook passwords  Indy Star   ...In their efforts to vet applicants, some companies and government agencies are going beyond merely glancing at a person's social networking profiles and instead asking to log in as the user to have a look around. "It's akin to requiring someone's house keys," said Orin Kerr, a George Washington University law professor and former federal prosecutor who calls it "an egregious privacy violation."...
Behind the brewing voter ID war  Washington Post   ...Democrats counter that fraud is used as an excuse to suppress turnout among elderly, poor and minority voters who may have more difficulty obtaining proper ID. (Evidence of widespread fraud is scant.)...
State plans emergency appeal after judge removes Flint emergency manager, restores mayor and city council  MLive   ...the state plans to file the appeal as soon as it receives the ruling, made today by Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, who said the state violated the law when the financial review team recommended Brown's appointment because it didn't meet before the public...
Occupy Atlanta   ...Under intense, bi-partisan pressure from Georgians across the state, members of the House Industrial Relations Committee decided to postpone today’s 2:00 p.m. vote on SB 469, the bill that seeks to criminalize peaceful protest and silence working families...
Teamsters Call for Independent Board Nominating Process to Address Governance Concerns and Restore Confidence  IBT   ...The board's inaction ensnared Sotheby's into the seemingly endless cycle of news coverage regarding the investigations of James Murdoch and News Corp. since July 2011...