Teamsters
Brockton Custodians Ratify First Teamsters Contract Teamster.org ...By a vote of 90-6, custodians, craftsmen and outside ground crews in the Brockton township public school system have voted to ratify their first-ever collective bargaining agreement with Teamsters Local 653 in South Easton, Mass. This continues the tradition of strong contracts and benefits that has been a hallmark of Local 653’s representation of its members...
Labor Unrest At California Ports Continue As More Subcontracted Workers Go On Strike In These Times ...The nation’s largest port—spread across parts of both Los Angeles and Long Beach, CA—is a strangely varied workplace. And after years of tenacious effort, workers throughout the port may soon share one important tool their predecessors once had: a union and, therefore, a better job...
Drivers Who Shuttle Genentech Workers Will Get Wage Increase San Francisco Chronicle ...Shuttle drivers who transport Genentech employees received a wage increase Thursday as negotiations continue between their employer, Compass Transportation, and the Teamsters...
Teachers, Drivers Team Up Against Violence From Students WHAS ...For the first time the Jefferson County Teachers Association and the union for the bus drivers, are teaming up and fighting back...
Truck Driver Run Over By Own Trailer At Port Of Long Beach Last Week, Police Say Long Beach Post ...A truck driver was fatally struck by his own vehicle last week at the Port of Long Beach (POLB) when he attempted to unlatch a trailer from his tractor, which was not adequately parked, authorities said. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters held a press conference yesterday demanding more information from port. Details regarding the fatality were released by the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) today...
Union Questions Plan To Shift City Workers To GSD Chicago Tribune ...On Monday, Paul Berkowitz, an attorney for Teamsters Local 142, in Gary, sought clarification from the GSD commissioners. He said 37 Teamsters received a letter from the city's human resources department stating they would be transferred to the GSD by Dec. 4. He said 14 members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) would also shift to GSD...
Global Labor & Trade
Car Industry 'Buried Report Revealing U.S. Car Safety Flaws Over Fears For TTIP Deal' The Independent ...The motor industry has been accused of withholding a report that reveals US cars are substantially less safe than European vehicles - for fear that the findings would hamper the drive to harmonise safety standards as part of the controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal...
Japan TPP Chief Negotiator: Broad Agreement Is Within Reach: Jiji Reuters ...Japan's chief negotiator for the 12-nation pan-Pacific trade talks said on Friday a broad agreement of the ambitious trade pact was within reach, Jiji news agency reported...
State & Living Wage Battles
The Great Divide In Workplace Benefits New York Times ...For a small, lucky set of parents, the work-family juggle is relatively easy. Their employers give them paid leave; nannies to accompany them on business trips; flexible hours; child and elder care; and even on-site haircuts and nap rooms. For the rest of American workers, life tends to be much more difficult...
Fairness For Franchise Businesses And Workers New York Times ...In California today, nearly 83,000 fast-food restaurants, convenience stores and other franchise businesses generate $94 billion in annual revenue and employ almost one million people. In California, and in the rest of the nation, however, developments in franchise law in recent decades have increasingly reduced the power of franchisees in dealings with their corporate parents. The result has been lower franchisee profits and lower worker pay, while corporate profits and executive compensation soar...
Council Will Consider $15 Minimum Wage For Santa Monica Santa Monica Lookout ...Santa Monica’s lowest wage earners could soon get a raise. The City Council on Tuesday will consider a gradual minimum wage hike that calls for it to reach $15 in 2020...
U.S. Labor
Troubling Signs Emerge In UAW-FCA Contract Voting Detroit Free Press ...Signs began to emerge late Thursday that a proposed contract between the UAW and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is in early trouble as large UAW locals in Sterling Heights, Center Line and Kokomo, Ind. voted against the new four-year deal...
I'm Making Only $2.64 An Hour Working As An Uber Driver AlterNet ...Twenty-six-year-old Takele Gobena is part of the “on-demand” economy, working full-time as a driver for Uber and part time for Lyft. The Ethiopian immigrant quit his job at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and purchased a new car to drive for the ride-hailing firms, believing it would make him a better provider for his one-year-old daughter. Instead, Gobena now finds himself in debt and, after expenses, making well below minimum wage. But because Uber and Lyft drivers are classified as independent contractors, Gobena is not protected by minimum wage laws...
Social Justice & Other News
We Need To Protect And Preserve Public Housing In New York City New York Amsterdam News ...May 19, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his 10-year plan to eliminate NYCHA’s operating deficit to prevent the downfall of a program that houses over 600,000 and employs over 11,000 New Yorkers. In fact, 1 out of every 8 New Yorkers lives in NYCHA housing...
John Boehner To Resign From Congress At End Of October Huffington Post ...House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will resign from Congress at the end of October, his office announced Friday...
Pope Francis’ Challenge To America New York Times ...In an address of memorable passion and nuance, Francis focused widely on the divisive immigration issues at home and abroad, the economic divide driving poverty, the threat to the environment, the “brutal atrocities” and “simplistic reductionism” of the world’s continuing conflicts, and the need, above all, for “courageous actions and strategies” rather than “facile proposals” from leaders responsible for solutions...
Pope To U.N.: Economics, Climate Change, And War Are All Connected Think Progress ...Pope Francis spoke before the United Nations General Assembly Friday morning, articulating an urgent — but intentionally nuanced — call to address the world’s many interconnected problems, especially economic inequality, climate change, and war...
China Says It Will Start The World's Biggest Carbon Market By 2017 Mother Jones ...On Friday, Chinese president Xi Jinping will announce that China will start the world's largest carbon trading system by 2017, according to a statement released Thursday night by the White House...
Astounding Drug Prices Show How U.S. Government Is In Cahoots With Big Pharma AlterNet ...While Shkreli’s move may have been extremely ostentatious, and drawn the public’s attention, the issue of overpriced drugs in America is one that is not confined to Shkreli and Turing Pharmaceuticals...
How Many Deaths Did Volkswagen's Pollution Scandal Cause? Vox ...Using these figures, the extra pollution from Volkswagen's US cars can be expected to lead to an additional 5 to 27 premature deaths per year. If we extrapolated worldwide to all 11 million vehicles, that would come to somewhere between 74 and 404 premature deaths each year...
Showing posts with label Pope Francis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pope Francis. Show all posts
Friday, September 25, 2015
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Today's Teamster News 09.23.15
Teamsters
Hoffa: Vocational Training Makes for Better Paid, Better Prepared Workers Huffington Post ...America needs a 21st century workforce to better compete in the global economy. And the Teamsters are doing their part to make sure workers have the training they require so they can join the workforce of the future. Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded the union a five-year, $4.6 million grant to establish apprenticeship programs in the trucking industry...
Leaders of Carhaul Local Unions Endorse Tentative Agreement Teamster.org ...Today, leaders from local unions that represent carhaul members endorsed the tentative national carhaul agreement, paving the way for members to vote on the proposal later this month. “Today’s vote shows that local union leaders throughout the United States agree with the Negotiating Committee that this tentative agreement addresses our members’ top concerns and protects their benefits while providing real job security,” said Kevin Moore, Director of the Teamsters Carhaul Division...
Teamsters, Coalition Tell Whole Foods: Black Lives Matter Teamster.org ...This past weekend, protesters from the Teamsters and the Sierra Club group Sierra Rise educated attendees of the annual Natural Products Expo East convention about Whole Food’s exploitation of prison labor for profit. “Although Whole Foods caters to the ‘socially conscious’ consumer, it relies on exploited prison labor to make a profit,” said Steve Vairma, Director of the Teamsters Warehouse Division...
EVSC Board, Teamsters still working toward five collective bargaining agreements Courier & Press ...While there is still no collective bargaining agreement between the Evansville Vanderburgh School Board and Teamsters Local 215, contract proposals have been exchanged and both groups said dialogue is ongoing. Since April, the EVSC and Local 215 negotiating teams have met sporadically to negotiate new contracts...
Global Labor & Trade
Steel producers urge TPP negotiators to maintain regional content rules for autos Canadian Manufacturing ...The trade associations representing steel producers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico are urging Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiators to put the brakes on any deal that weakens “rules of origin,” also known as regional content rules, for the auto sector. The organizations sent a joint letter to their respective government trade agencies expressing concern that changes to current rules would “adversely impact the steel industry”...
U.S. dairy exporter pushes for TPP deal acceptable to Congress Japan Times ...Japan and other nations need to open their dairy markets further to hammer out a Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal that is acceptable to Congress, Tom Suber, president of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, suggested. Noting that “there are not so many (unresolved issues),” Suber expressed his belief that it is possible for the 12 nations involved in the talks to reach a broad agreement...
U.S. trade chief mum over next TPP talks Japan Today ...U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman kept the public guessing on Tuesday about the date of the next meeting on a broad Pacific free trade pact with his counterparts from 11 other countries. There have been reports that ministers negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership initiative will resume talks possibly on Sept. 30 in Atlanta, but Froman declined to comment on the time frame...
Rallies for a fair TPP UNIFOR ...Simultaneous rallies will be held Wednesday evening outside the campaign and constituency offices of several Conservative candidates in the federal election, calling on the Harper Government to stand up for Canadian jobs in the Trans Pacific Partnership trade talks. "The Harper government has shown that it is willing to sacrifice good auto jobs to get a trade deal," Unifor National President Jerry Dias said...
Do U.S. Workers Really Have to Rely on Canadian and Mexican Negotiators to Look Out for Our Jobs? AFL-CIO ...When the TPP’s backers say “this time it’s different,” it is hard to prove them wrong—given the secrecy of the negotiations. But it seems like every trade agreement the U.S. trade representative negotiates gets sold to unsuspecting Americans as the “best ever,” and the TPP is no different. This time, negotiators from Canada and Mexico have called foul while there is still time to act—and we’re lucky they did...
MEPs react to new TTIP court proposals BBC ...MEPs have given a mixed reaction to new proposals to solve trade disputes between companies and governments in the TTIP EU-US trade deal. Many MEPs on the International Trade Committee said they welcomed plans announced last week by the European Commission for a new investment court system to resolve disputes...
Hyundai Motor Workers Strike at All Three Domestic Plants Wall Street Journal ...More than three-quarters of the workforce of Hyundai Motor Co. walked off the job on Wednesday, disrupting output at South Korea’s largest auto maker for a fourth straight year. Workers at all of the auto maker’s three domestic plants began an eight-hour strike early Wednesday morning after weeks of talks with management on wages and benefits broke down...
Greece's Cruel October: Clock Ticks To Implement New Austerity Reforms Huffington Post ...The financial team of the new Greek government will have to race against the clock this month to prepare a timetable for implementing the austerity reforms agreed to by the previous government. Greek leaders committed to a series of austerity measures in a controversial bailout deal with international creditors this summer...
State & Living Wage Battles
California Clamps Down on Secretive Political Donations Mother Jones ...California regulators took another step last week to crack down on secretive money in state elections. And for that, we have the Koch brothers to thank. On Thursday, state regulators added another layer of security, closing a loophole that might have allowed out-of-state groups and donors to secretly buy influence in California elections...
Cuomo builds on minimum wage campaign NCPR ...The push to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour is getting some help from union-financed advertising, but it still has its opponents. Governor Cuomo has been pushing the proposal to phase-in the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2018 in the New York City region and 2021 upstate. The governor already took executive action to increase the higher minimum wage for fast food workers...
Federal Service Workers Strike to Send a Message to Pope Francis The Nation .... As Pope Francis arrived in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, one thousand federal service workers—including many at the US Capitol, where the pope will speak later in the week—went on strike to protest poverty wages, poor working conditions, and the lack of a union. The federal government is the largest low-wage employer in the country...
Campaign for a "Worker Bill of Rights" Puts ALEC in Spokane's Crosshairs Truthout ...On November 5, 2015, voters in Spokane, Washington, will decide whether or not they are willing to act on their collective frustration by enacting what community activists have termed a "Worker Bill of Rights" via a ballot initiative called Proposition 1. The initiative seeks to secure the "right to a family wage when employed by a large employer"...
Backers of $15 minimum wage ballot measure start gathering signatures Oregon Live ...The backers of a measure to raise Oregon's minimum wage to $15 are starting to gather signatures for the 2016 ballot. Oregonians for 15 plan to hold kickoff events in more than 20 cities Saturday to recruit and train volunteer signature gatherers...
The fight over prevailing wage isn't a classic 'right vs. left' battle Michigan Radio ...Governor Rick Snyder is dead set against repealing the prevailing wage requirement, and has indicated that he’ll veto any bill that does so, if he gets the chance. Many other Republicans more conservative also support prevailing wage, including Rick Santorum and Paul Ryan, the last Republican vice-presidential nominee. You might think major contractors like Barton Malow would want to get rid of prevailing wage, but you’d be wrong...
U.S. Labor
Top unions put brakes on Clinton endorsement Politico ...Two major unions have decided to delay endorsements in the presidential race -- a move labor insiders attribute in part to the uncertainty Vice President Joe Biden’s potential run has inserted into the Democratic primary. The decisions are a setback for Hillary Clinton, who has been courting the labor giants in the hopes of an early lock down of two powerhouse unions that can organize millions of members and resources on the ground...
Pottstown Memorial Medical Center workers authorize 1-day strike WFMZ ...Nearly 300 unionized health care workers at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center are planning to walk off the job for one day next month. Members of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania have voted to hold a one-day strike in mid-October, union officials said Tuesday. The exact date has not yet been announced...
UFCW 8-Golden State Reaches Tentative Contract Agreements with Safeway Business Wire ...UFCW 8-Golden State announced today they have reached tentative contract agreements with the Safeway supermarket chain in Northern and Central California. The four-year agreement with Safeway protects and enhances the wages, benefits and workplace standards enjoyed by approximately 9,000 workers at 130 Safeway stores, as well as retirees...
Mopar workers to get different pay in UAW-FCA deal Detroit Free Press ...Entry level Mopar workers and axle operators would be under a different wage in new UAW contract than other entry level workers, the Free Press has learned. The tentative agreement between the UAW and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles creates two new wage ranges for entry-level employees that don't work on assembly lines...
Scott Walker’s Campaign Failed Because Voters Actually Don’t Want a Union Buster-in-Chief In These Times ...In deep red, right-to-work Texas, support for union busting was so low that Republican legislators failed to muster sufficient votes to ban payroll deductions for public sector union dues—something Walker had crowed about accomplishing in Wisconsin. The Economic Policy Institute found that 58% of workers would like to be union members instead of the meager 11% we have now as a result of decades of union busting...
Social Justice & Other News
You've heard the GOP rhetoric on immigration. Here are the facts. LA Times ...O all the issues that have bubbled up on the campaign trail so far, nothing has inspired absurdity quite like immigration. Donald Trump isn't the only Republican candidate to have made outlandish comments: Chris Christie has called for FedEx-like tracking of foreigners , and Carly Fiorina has endorsed a crackdown on Chinese birth tourism...
After Getting Shamed For 5000% Hike, ‘Most Hated Man In America’ Will Lower Drug Price Think Progress ...Martin Shkreli, the controversial pharmaceutical CEO and former hedge fund manager, announced that he would reduce the price of the drug Daraprim to “a point that is more affordable.” Shkreli has been the subject of unrelenting criticism since he implemented a 5000% increase in the price of the drug — from $13.50 per pill to $750 — which is used to treat severe infections in AIDS patients and infants...
Pope Francis calls for urgent action on climate change in White House speech The Guardian ...Pope Francis enlisted the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr to help bolster his call for urgent action on climate change on Wednesday in a welcoming ceremony at the White House that Barack Obama said would “shake our conscience from slumber”. In a surprise move, the pope made what amounted to a direct reference to Obama’s new emission regulations, which are deeply controversial among Republicans...
How Automatic Voter Registration Can Transform American Politics The Nation ... The US doesn’t have a voter turnout problem; we have a voter registration problem. Our turnout is abysmal because so many eligible voters are not even registered to vote. Automatic voter registration would change that. In March 2015, Oregon became the first state to automatically register anyone who requests a driver’s license or state ID from the DMV unless they opt out...
The Growing Fight Against The Resurgence Of Debtors’ Prisons Think Progress ...Earlier this month, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a federal lawsuit against Alexander City for operating what it calls “modern-day debtors prisons.” According to the lawsuit, anyone who goes to court and can’t pay the fines is brought to a back room, asked by police if they can pay or have someone immediately bring the money, and are arrested and jailed if they can’t pay, even if they have partial payment...
Nearly 4,000 People Fighting California's Fires Are Paid Just $1 an Hour Truthout ...Some 4,000 of the people working on fire crews in California are prison laborers. These incarcerated people are earning just $1.45 - $3.90 per day while training and $1 per hour while laboring on the fire's front lines beside their more well-compensated civilian counterparts...
Hoffa: Vocational Training Makes for Better Paid, Better Prepared Workers Huffington Post ...America needs a 21st century workforce to better compete in the global economy. And the Teamsters are doing their part to make sure workers have the training they require so they can join the workforce of the future. Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded the union a five-year, $4.6 million grant to establish apprenticeship programs in the trucking industry...
Leaders of Carhaul Local Unions Endorse Tentative Agreement Teamster.org ...Today, leaders from local unions that represent carhaul members endorsed the tentative national carhaul agreement, paving the way for members to vote on the proposal later this month. “Today’s vote shows that local union leaders throughout the United States agree with the Negotiating Committee that this tentative agreement addresses our members’ top concerns and protects their benefits while providing real job security,” said Kevin Moore, Director of the Teamsters Carhaul Division...
Teamsters, Coalition Tell Whole Foods: Black Lives Matter Teamster.org ...This past weekend, protesters from the Teamsters and the Sierra Club group Sierra Rise educated attendees of the annual Natural Products Expo East convention about Whole Food’s exploitation of prison labor for profit. “Although Whole Foods caters to the ‘socially conscious’ consumer, it relies on exploited prison labor to make a profit,” said Steve Vairma, Director of the Teamsters Warehouse Division...
EVSC Board, Teamsters still working toward five collective bargaining agreements Courier & Press ...While there is still no collective bargaining agreement between the Evansville Vanderburgh School Board and Teamsters Local 215, contract proposals have been exchanged and both groups said dialogue is ongoing. Since April, the EVSC and Local 215 negotiating teams have met sporadically to negotiate new contracts...
Global Labor & Trade
Steel producers urge TPP negotiators to maintain regional content rules for autos Canadian Manufacturing ...The trade associations representing steel producers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico are urging Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiators to put the brakes on any deal that weakens “rules of origin,” also known as regional content rules, for the auto sector. The organizations sent a joint letter to their respective government trade agencies expressing concern that changes to current rules would “adversely impact the steel industry”...
U.S. dairy exporter pushes for TPP deal acceptable to Congress Japan Times ...Japan and other nations need to open their dairy markets further to hammer out a Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal that is acceptable to Congress, Tom Suber, president of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, suggested. Noting that “there are not so many (unresolved issues),” Suber expressed his belief that it is possible for the 12 nations involved in the talks to reach a broad agreement...
U.S. trade chief mum over next TPP talks Japan Today ...U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman kept the public guessing on Tuesday about the date of the next meeting on a broad Pacific free trade pact with his counterparts from 11 other countries. There have been reports that ministers negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership initiative will resume talks possibly on Sept. 30 in Atlanta, but Froman declined to comment on the time frame...
Rallies for a fair TPP UNIFOR ...Simultaneous rallies will be held Wednesday evening outside the campaign and constituency offices of several Conservative candidates in the federal election, calling on the Harper Government to stand up for Canadian jobs in the Trans Pacific Partnership trade talks. "The Harper government has shown that it is willing to sacrifice good auto jobs to get a trade deal," Unifor National President Jerry Dias said...
Do U.S. Workers Really Have to Rely on Canadian and Mexican Negotiators to Look Out for Our Jobs? AFL-CIO ...When the TPP’s backers say “this time it’s different,” it is hard to prove them wrong—given the secrecy of the negotiations. But it seems like every trade agreement the U.S. trade representative negotiates gets sold to unsuspecting Americans as the “best ever,” and the TPP is no different. This time, negotiators from Canada and Mexico have called foul while there is still time to act—and we’re lucky they did...
MEPs react to new TTIP court proposals BBC ...MEPs have given a mixed reaction to new proposals to solve trade disputes between companies and governments in the TTIP EU-US trade deal. Many MEPs on the International Trade Committee said they welcomed plans announced last week by the European Commission for a new investment court system to resolve disputes...
Hyundai Motor Workers Strike at All Three Domestic Plants Wall Street Journal ...More than three-quarters of the workforce of Hyundai Motor Co. walked off the job on Wednesday, disrupting output at South Korea’s largest auto maker for a fourth straight year. Workers at all of the auto maker’s three domestic plants began an eight-hour strike early Wednesday morning after weeks of talks with management on wages and benefits broke down...
Greece's Cruel October: Clock Ticks To Implement New Austerity Reforms Huffington Post ...The financial team of the new Greek government will have to race against the clock this month to prepare a timetable for implementing the austerity reforms agreed to by the previous government. Greek leaders committed to a series of austerity measures in a controversial bailout deal with international creditors this summer...
California Clamps Down on Secretive Political Donations Mother Jones ...California regulators took another step last week to crack down on secretive money in state elections. And for that, we have the Koch brothers to thank. On Thursday, state regulators added another layer of security, closing a loophole that might have allowed out-of-state groups and donors to secretly buy influence in California elections...
Cuomo builds on minimum wage campaign NCPR ...The push to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour is getting some help from union-financed advertising, but it still has its opponents. Governor Cuomo has been pushing the proposal to phase-in the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2018 in the New York City region and 2021 upstate. The governor already took executive action to increase the higher minimum wage for fast food workers...
Federal Service Workers Strike to Send a Message to Pope Francis The Nation .... As Pope Francis arrived in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, one thousand federal service workers—including many at the US Capitol, where the pope will speak later in the week—went on strike to protest poverty wages, poor working conditions, and the lack of a union. The federal government is the largest low-wage employer in the country...
Campaign for a "Worker Bill of Rights" Puts ALEC in Spokane's Crosshairs Truthout ...On November 5, 2015, voters in Spokane, Washington, will decide whether or not they are willing to act on their collective frustration by enacting what community activists have termed a "Worker Bill of Rights" via a ballot initiative called Proposition 1. The initiative seeks to secure the "right to a family wage when employed by a large employer"...
Backers of $15 minimum wage ballot measure start gathering signatures Oregon Live ...The backers of a measure to raise Oregon's minimum wage to $15 are starting to gather signatures for the 2016 ballot. Oregonians for 15 plan to hold kickoff events in more than 20 cities Saturday to recruit and train volunteer signature gatherers...
The fight over prevailing wage isn't a classic 'right vs. left' battle Michigan Radio ...Governor Rick Snyder is dead set against repealing the prevailing wage requirement, and has indicated that he’ll veto any bill that does so, if he gets the chance. Many other Republicans more conservative also support prevailing wage, including Rick Santorum and Paul Ryan, the last Republican vice-presidential nominee. You might think major contractors like Barton Malow would want to get rid of prevailing wage, but you’d be wrong...
U.S. Labor
Top unions put brakes on Clinton endorsement Politico ...Two major unions have decided to delay endorsements in the presidential race -- a move labor insiders attribute in part to the uncertainty Vice President Joe Biden’s potential run has inserted into the Democratic primary. The decisions are a setback for Hillary Clinton, who has been courting the labor giants in the hopes of an early lock down of two powerhouse unions that can organize millions of members and resources on the ground...
Pottstown Memorial Medical Center workers authorize 1-day strike WFMZ ...Nearly 300 unionized health care workers at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center are planning to walk off the job for one day next month. Members of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania have voted to hold a one-day strike in mid-October, union officials said Tuesday. The exact date has not yet been announced...
UFCW 8-Golden State Reaches Tentative Contract Agreements with Safeway Business Wire ...UFCW 8-Golden State announced today they have reached tentative contract agreements with the Safeway supermarket chain in Northern and Central California. The four-year agreement with Safeway protects and enhances the wages, benefits and workplace standards enjoyed by approximately 9,000 workers at 130 Safeway stores, as well as retirees...
Mopar workers to get different pay in UAW-FCA deal Detroit Free Press ...Entry level Mopar workers and axle operators would be under a different wage in new UAW contract than other entry level workers, the Free Press has learned. The tentative agreement between the UAW and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles creates two new wage ranges for entry-level employees that don't work on assembly lines...
Scott Walker’s Campaign Failed Because Voters Actually Don’t Want a Union Buster-in-Chief In These Times ...In deep red, right-to-work Texas, support for union busting was so low that Republican legislators failed to muster sufficient votes to ban payroll deductions for public sector union dues—something Walker had crowed about accomplishing in Wisconsin. The Economic Policy Institute found that 58% of workers would like to be union members instead of the meager 11% we have now as a result of decades of union busting...
Social Justice & Other News
You've heard the GOP rhetoric on immigration. Here are the facts. LA Times ...O all the issues that have bubbled up on the campaign trail so far, nothing has inspired absurdity quite like immigration. Donald Trump isn't the only Republican candidate to have made outlandish comments: Chris Christie has called for FedEx-like tracking of foreigners , and Carly Fiorina has endorsed a crackdown on Chinese birth tourism...
After Getting Shamed For 5000% Hike, ‘Most Hated Man In America’ Will Lower Drug Price Think Progress ...Martin Shkreli, the controversial pharmaceutical CEO and former hedge fund manager, announced that he would reduce the price of the drug Daraprim to “a point that is more affordable.” Shkreli has been the subject of unrelenting criticism since he implemented a 5000% increase in the price of the drug — from $13.50 per pill to $750 — which is used to treat severe infections in AIDS patients and infants...
Pope Francis calls for urgent action on climate change in White House speech The Guardian ...Pope Francis enlisted the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr to help bolster his call for urgent action on climate change on Wednesday in a welcoming ceremony at the White House that Barack Obama said would “shake our conscience from slumber”. In a surprise move, the pope made what amounted to a direct reference to Obama’s new emission regulations, which are deeply controversial among Republicans...
How Automatic Voter Registration Can Transform American Politics The Nation ... The US doesn’t have a voter turnout problem; we have a voter registration problem. Our turnout is abysmal because so many eligible voters are not even registered to vote. Automatic voter registration would change that. In March 2015, Oregon became the first state to automatically register anyone who requests a driver’s license or state ID from the DMV unless they opt out...
The Growing Fight Against The Resurgence Of Debtors’ Prisons Think Progress ...Earlier this month, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a federal lawsuit against Alexander City for operating what it calls “modern-day debtors prisons.” According to the lawsuit, anyone who goes to court and can’t pay the fines is brought to a back room, asked by police if they can pay or have someone immediately bring the money, and are arrested and jailed if they can’t pay, even if they have partial payment...
Nearly 4,000 People Fighting California's Fires Are Paid Just $1 an Hour Truthout ...Some 4,000 of the people working on fire crews in California are prison laborers. These incarcerated people are earning just $1.45 - $3.90 per day while training and $1 per hour while laboring on the fire's front lines beside their more well-compensated civilian counterparts...
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Today's Teamster News 09.22.15
Teamsters
Teamsters-Sun Tran contract details not made public Arizona Daily Star ...The public hasn’t been clued in to the details of an agreement that ended a 42-day transit strike in Tucson. Teamsters Local 104 and Sun Tran management firm Professional Transit Management signed a two-year contract, good until June 30, 2017. Because the city is not a party to the labor agreement, the Tucson City Council does not have to approve the contract, said City Attorney Mike Rankin...
Teamsters at Sysco Vote 150-0 to Authorize a Strike Local 117 ...“Record attendance,” said Local 117 Secretary-Treasurer John Scearcy, to resounding applause. “This is serious. The company is coming after us, but we will be ready.” The Union hall was packed with Teamsters on Saturday who work at the massive food service conglomerate, Sysco. The bargaining team called the group to the hall for Saturday’s meeting and, in an incredible display of solidarity, members voted 150-0 to authorize a strike...
Republic Airways Aims To Duck Teamsters' Pay Subsidy Spat Law360 ...Republic Airways Holdings Inc. asked an Indiana federal judge Monday to stay any additional discovery as the court mulls whether to dismiss a lawsuit lobbed by the local Teamsters alleging the airline subsidized premium and bonus pay to pilots to undercut the union's ability to bargain collectively...
Global Labor & Trade
America's Collapsing Trade Initiatives Huffington Post ...Chinese president Xi Jinping will be in Washington this week on an official state visit. President Obama had hoped to impress Xi with an all but sealed trade deal with major Pacific nations called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to demonstrate that America is still a force to be reckoned with in China's backyard. But Obama's trade policy is in tatters...
TPP could have 'catastrophic effects' on Canada's economy: Unifor president CTVNews ...The president of Canada's largest private sector union says the Trans-Pacific Partnership could have "catastrophic effects" on the nation's economy. Unifor president Jerry Dias was responding to comments made by Conservative Leader Stephen Harper at the Globe and Mail debate on the economy Thursday. In the final segment of the debate, Harper said that Canada is entering the "final stages" of the 12-country trade negotiations...
26,000 Canadian jobs at risk as TPP auto talks resume, Unifor says Canada Manufacturing ...As Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiators from Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Japan meet to discuss the automotive-related features of the massive trade agreement, Unifor is calling on the Canadian contingent to “stand firm” on regional content rules for auto products and other sector-related provisions...
TPP nations to tackle sticking points at month's end Asian Review ...Trade ministers from the 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership countries will meet from Sept. 30 to hammer out disagreements left unresolved after previous talks, aiming for a broad agreement before the political climate shifts. Two to three days of talks will be held in the U.S. city of Atlanta. Free trade rules for most of the 31 areas covered by the TPP were settled at the last round of talks in July...
Two Indigenous Solar Engineers Changed Their Village in Chile Truthout ...Liliana and Luisa Terán, two indigenous women from northern Chile who travelled to India for training in installing solar panels, have not only changed their own future but that of Caspana, their remote village nestled in a stunning valley in the Atacama desert. These soft-spoken indigenous women with skin weathered from the desert sun and a life of sacrifice are in charge of giving Caspana at least part of the energy autonomy that the village needs in order to survive...
Greece braces for more austerity as Tsipras sworn in as prime minister TribLive ...Weary Greece braced for more painful austerity Monday as Alexis Tsipras was sworn in as prime minister with a mandate to drive through unpopular reforms agreed with the nation's international creditors.
As a downpour swept Athens, The 41-year-old left-wing leader took his second oath of office in eight months...
Hyundai, Kia Workers Set to Stage Partial Strikes WardsAuto ...The Hyundai branch of the Korean Metal Workers Union will hold partial strikes this week after the automaker made a wage offer equal to roughly half of what the union had sought. Talks broke down ahead of the customary deadline for reaching a contract agreement before the country’s Chuseok Thanksgiving holiday...
Teamsters-Sun Tran contract details not made public Arizona Daily Star ...The public hasn’t been clued in to the details of an agreement that ended a 42-day transit strike in Tucson. Teamsters Local 104 and Sun Tran management firm Professional Transit Management signed a two-year contract, good until June 30, 2017. Because the city is not a party to the labor agreement, the Tucson City Council does not have to approve the contract, said City Attorney Mike Rankin...
Teamsters at Sysco Vote 150-0 to Authorize a Strike Local 117 ...“Record attendance,” said Local 117 Secretary-Treasurer John Scearcy, to resounding applause. “This is serious. The company is coming after us, but we will be ready.” The Union hall was packed with Teamsters on Saturday who work at the massive food service conglomerate, Sysco. The bargaining team called the group to the hall for Saturday’s meeting and, in an incredible display of solidarity, members voted 150-0 to authorize a strike...
Republic Airways Aims To Duck Teamsters' Pay Subsidy Spat Law360 ...Republic Airways Holdings Inc. asked an Indiana federal judge Monday to stay any additional discovery as the court mulls whether to dismiss a lawsuit lobbed by the local Teamsters alleging the airline subsidized premium and bonus pay to pilots to undercut the union's ability to bargain collectively...
Global Labor & Trade
America's Collapsing Trade Initiatives Huffington Post ...Chinese president Xi Jinping will be in Washington this week on an official state visit. President Obama had hoped to impress Xi with an all but sealed trade deal with major Pacific nations called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to demonstrate that America is still a force to be reckoned with in China's backyard. But Obama's trade policy is in tatters...
TPP could have 'catastrophic effects' on Canada's economy: Unifor president CTVNews ...The president of Canada's largest private sector union says the Trans-Pacific Partnership could have "catastrophic effects" on the nation's economy. Unifor president Jerry Dias was responding to comments made by Conservative Leader Stephen Harper at the Globe and Mail debate on the economy Thursday. In the final segment of the debate, Harper said that Canada is entering the "final stages" of the 12-country trade negotiations...
26,000 Canadian jobs at risk as TPP auto talks resume, Unifor says Canada Manufacturing ...As Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiators from Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Japan meet to discuss the automotive-related features of the massive trade agreement, Unifor is calling on the Canadian contingent to “stand firm” on regional content rules for auto products and other sector-related provisions...
TPP nations to tackle sticking points at month's end Asian Review ...Trade ministers from the 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership countries will meet from Sept. 30 to hammer out disagreements left unresolved after previous talks, aiming for a broad agreement before the political climate shifts. Two to three days of talks will be held in the U.S. city of Atlanta. Free trade rules for most of the 31 areas covered by the TPP were settled at the last round of talks in July...
Two Indigenous Solar Engineers Changed Their Village in Chile Truthout ...Liliana and Luisa Terán, two indigenous women from northern Chile who travelled to India for training in installing solar panels, have not only changed their own future but that of Caspana, their remote village nestled in a stunning valley in the Atacama desert. These soft-spoken indigenous women with skin weathered from the desert sun and a life of sacrifice are in charge of giving Caspana at least part of the energy autonomy that the village needs in order to survive...
Greece braces for more austerity as Tsipras sworn in as prime minister TribLive ...Weary Greece braced for more painful austerity Monday as Alexis Tsipras was sworn in as prime minister with a mandate to drive through unpopular reforms agreed with the nation's international creditors.
As a downpour swept Athens, The 41-year-old left-wing leader took his second oath of office in eight months...
Hyundai, Kia Workers Set to Stage Partial Strikes WardsAuto ...The Hyundai branch of the Korean Metal Workers Union will hold partial strikes this week after the automaker made a wage offer equal to roughly half of what the union had sought. Talks broke down ahead of the customary deadline for reaching a contract agreement before the country’s Chuseok Thanksgiving holiday...
Strike delays hit Australian airports following border force worker strike China Post ...Travelers using Australia's international airports faced delays Monday and were warned of more to come as immigration and border force workers went on strike over pay and conditions. "These workers are angry, they're under pressure, they face major cuts to their take-home pay and workplace rights and government simply hasn't listened," said Nadine Flood, secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) representing workers...
State & Living Wage Battles
Capitol Workers to Strike Ahead of Papal Visit Roll Call ...A few hours before Pope Francis arrives in the District of Columbia for the first leg of his U.S. visit, Capitol food service and other government contract workers will walk off their jobs. The workers will strike Tuesday to renew their call for a $15-an-hour wage and the right to unionize. They plan to proceed to the Capitol and convene across from the East Front with religious leaders and presidential hopeful Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., to pray for lawmakers to heed the pope’s message about economic inequality...
Bernie Sanders Minimum Wage Strike: Pope Visit Encourages Federal Workers To Protest, Presidential Candidate To Join International Business Times ...Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is expected to throw his weight behind a labor strike of federal minimum wage workers Tuesday ahead of Pope Francis' visit later that day in Washington. The group organizing the strike, Good Jobs Nation, will receive the support of a rising populist power in the Democratic field as they call on U.S. President Barack Obama to issue an executive order increasing the minimum wage of federal workers to $15 an hour...
20 Republicans may face retaliation for Missouri right-to-work vote STL Today ...their votes weren’t enough to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto during the Legislature’s annual veto session Wednesday. The bill died in the House with a vote of 96-63, 13 votes short of the 109 needed to override. Twenty Republicans voted against right to work. Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, who is running for governor in 2016, called them out on it after veto session...
Voter ID Law in Limbo as Thousands Register KTRH ...Tuesday is "National Voter Registration Day," but those signing up in Texas could see major changes to the state's voter ID law ahead of next year's presidential primary. “The legislature has added the concealed weapons identification card as a form of valid photo ID, and there are number of valid government issued IDs with a photograph on them,” says Tom Berg at the League of Women Voters of the Houston Area...
NY gov's call for $15 minimum wage faces major challenges The Chronicle ...New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's pledge this week to push for a state minimum wage of $15 an hour for all workers already faces substantial opposition and skepticism. Cuomo made the pledge Sept. 10 at a labor rally with Vice President Joe Biden following Cuomo administration approval of a phased-in $15 minimum for workers at chain fast-food restaurants...
U.S. Labor
UAW leaders take Fiat Chrysler contract to membership The Detroit News ...United Auto Workers leadership is attempting to address questions and concerns of 40,000 union members with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV before they vote on a tentative four-year deal in the coming week. Leaders, including UAW Vice President Norwood Jewell, started meeting with local chapters over the weekend to discuss the proposed contract, as local chapters schedule informational meetings...
Registered nurses ratify labor pact at HCA-affiliated Research Medical Center Kansas City Star ...Registered nurses at HCA-affiliated Research Medical Center in Kansas City have ratified a new labor agreement that includes pay raises and changes in working conditions. Voting was scheduled to run through 12:30 a.m. Tuesday at Menorah Medical Center in Overland Park, which is among 17 hospitals covered by the tentative agreement negotiated by the National Nurses Organizing Committee of National Nurses United...
USW union asking members how to proceed NWI Times ...United Steelworkers meetings have been taking place in Burns Harbor, Gary and all across the country as the union looks at what to do next in negotiations with U.S. Steel. "Members of our USW bargaining committee have been holding meetings with our brothers and sisters at U.S. Steel locations around the country, reviewing the company's and the union's most recent contract proposals, discussing the status of negotiations and getting feedback from members about what our next steps should be," the union said in a recent update to members...
State & Living Wage Battles
Capitol Workers to Strike Ahead of Papal Visit Roll Call ...A few hours before Pope Francis arrives in the District of Columbia for the first leg of his U.S. visit, Capitol food service and other government contract workers will walk off their jobs. The workers will strike Tuesday to renew their call for a $15-an-hour wage and the right to unionize. They plan to proceed to the Capitol and convene across from the East Front with religious leaders and presidential hopeful Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., to pray for lawmakers to heed the pope’s message about economic inequality...
Bernie Sanders Minimum Wage Strike: Pope Visit Encourages Federal Workers To Protest, Presidential Candidate To Join International Business Times ...Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is expected to throw his weight behind a labor strike of federal minimum wage workers Tuesday ahead of Pope Francis' visit later that day in Washington. The group organizing the strike, Good Jobs Nation, will receive the support of a rising populist power in the Democratic field as they call on U.S. President Barack Obama to issue an executive order increasing the minimum wage of federal workers to $15 an hour...
20 Republicans may face retaliation for Missouri right-to-work vote STL Today ...their votes weren’t enough to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto during the Legislature’s annual veto session Wednesday. The bill died in the House with a vote of 96-63, 13 votes short of the 109 needed to override. Twenty Republicans voted against right to work. Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, who is running for governor in 2016, called them out on it after veto session...
Voter ID Law in Limbo as Thousands Register KTRH ...Tuesday is "National Voter Registration Day," but those signing up in Texas could see major changes to the state's voter ID law ahead of next year's presidential primary. “The legislature has added the concealed weapons identification card as a form of valid photo ID, and there are number of valid government issued IDs with a photograph on them,” says Tom Berg at the League of Women Voters of the Houston Area...
NY gov's call for $15 minimum wage faces major challenges The Chronicle ...New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's pledge this week to push for a state minimum wage of $15 an hour for all workers already faces substantial opposition and skepticism. Cuomo made the pledge Sept. 10 at a labor rally with Vice President Joe Biden following Cuomo administration approval of a phased-in $15 minimum for workers at chain fast-food restaurants...
U.S. Labor
UAW leaders take Fiat Chrysler contract to membership The Detroit News ...United Auto Workers leadership is attempting to address questions and concerns of 40,000 union members with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV before they vote on a tentative four-year deal in the coming week. Leaders, including UAW Vice President Norwood Jewell, started meeting with local chapters over the weekend to discuss the proposed contract, as local chapters schedule informational meetings...
Registered nurses ratify labor pact at HCA-affiliated Research Medical Center Kansas City Star ...Registered nurses at HCA-affiliated Research Medical Center in Kansas City have ratified a new labor agreement that includes pay raises and changes in working conditions. Voting was scheduled to run through 12:30 a.m. Tuesday at Menorah Medical Center in Overland Park, which is among 17 hospitals covered by the tentative agreement negotiated by the National Nurses Organizing Committee of National Nurses United...
USW union asking members how to proceed NWI Times ...United Steelworkers meetings have been taking place in Burns Harbor, Gary and all across the country as the union looks at what to do next in negotiations with U.S. Steel. "Members of our USW bargaining committee have been holding meetings with our brothers and sisters at U.S. Steel locations around the country, reviewing the company's and the union's most recent contract proposals, discussing the status of negotiations and getting feedback from members about what our next steps should be," the union said in a recent update to members...
The Historical Roots of American Domestic Worker Organizing Run Deep In These Times ...Domestic workers and their advocates have been making an increasing number of headlines since 2010, when New York became the first state to pass a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. Guaranteeing overtime and time off, such legislation has spread to four other states and is being fought for in many more. But organizing around domestic work has been ongoing since at least the 1930s, an often forgotten corner of the labor movement...
Social Justice & Other News
Scott Walker Drops Out Of 2016 Presidential Race Huffington Post ...Once considered a favorite for the Republican presidential nomination, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announced Monday that he is dropping out of the race, amid sinking poll numbers and fundraising concerns. "I suspend my campaign immediately," he said at a press conference in Madison, Wisconsin. Walker implored other candidates to consider exiting the race as well, in order to winnow the field...
Pope Francis’s Philadelphia prison visit highlights crisis in US justice system The Guardian ...Behind barbed wire and under guard towers on the edge of north-east Philadelphia, Pope Francis will meet more than 100 men and women from a dangerously overcrowded prison population drawn largely from the poor, civil rights advocates say. The facility presents an extreme microcosm of two of the most pressing national prison problems: pretrial detention and overcrowding...
Americans Are Paying Way Too Much On Rent, And It’s Only Going To Get Worse Think Progress ...More than a quarter of renters in the United States have to put half of their income toward paying rent. But that’s not the bad news. The bad news is that things are almost certainly going to get worse. About half of all renters are paying more than the recommended 30 percent of income toward rent. Those rates are roughly double what they were in 1960...
US immigration back to pre–Great Recession levels, with Asians leading Aljazeera ...Immigration rates to the U.S. have rebounded to their pre-recession levels and the country’s percentage of foreign-born now is at its highest in more than a century, when boatloads of eastern and southern Europeans arrived at Ellis Island. But the face of immigration is dramatically different than it was just a decade ago, when the bulk of the influx came from Mexico and Central America. Asians now far outnumber the number of immigrants from Latin America...
Rights Campaigners Form Human Blockade to Stop Deportations Common Dreams ...Highlighting what they say is a "global human rights issue," dozens of rights campaigners on Monday morning locked themselves together and formed a human chain to block buses at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Takoma, Washington from carrying out deportations of suspected undocumented people...
Martin Shkreli on his “altruistic” motives: “I’m a capitalist — I want to create a big drug company” Salon ...On “CBS This Morning,” embattled Turing Pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli continued to defend his company’s decision to hike the price of Daraprim by 5,455 percent, claiming that “there are a lot of altruistic properties” to raising the cost. He denied that the increased cost was “drastic.” This new “reasonable profit” is being made at the expense of immunocompromised patients, such as pregnant women and babies, as well as those with AIDS or who are undergoing radiation therapy...
Social Justice & Other News
Scott Walker Drops Out Of 2016 Presidential Race Huffington Post ...Once considered a favorite for the Republican presidential nomination, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announced Monday that he is dropping out of the race, amid sinking poll numbers and fundraising concerns. "I suspend my campaign immediately," he said at a press conference in Madison, Wisconsin. Walker implored other candidates to consider exiting the race as well, in order to winnow the field...
Pope Francis’s Philadelphia prison visit highlights crisis in US justice system The Guardian ...Behind barbed wire and under guard towers on the edge of north-east Philadelphia, Pope Francis will meet more than 100 men and women from a dangerously overcrowded prison population drawn largely from the poor, civil rights advocates say. The facility presents an extreme microcosm of two of the most pressing national prison problems: pretrial detention and overcrowding...
Americans Are Paying Way Too Much On Rent, And It’s Only Going To Get Worse Think Progress ...More than a quarter of renters in the United States have to put half of their income toward paying rent. But that’s not the bad news. The bad news is that things are almost certainly going to get worse. About half of all renters are paying more than the recommended 30 percent of income toward rent. Those rates are roughly double what they were in 1960...
US immigration back to pre–Great Recession levels, with Asians leading Aljazeera ...Immigration rates to the U.S. have rebounded to their pre-recession levels and the country’s percentage of foreign-born now is at its highest in more than a century, when boatloads of eastern and southern Europeans arrived at Ellis Island. But the face of immigration is dramatically different than it was just a decade ago, when the bulk of the influx came from Mexico and Central America. Asians now far outnumber the number of immigrants from Latin America...
Rights Campaigners Form Human Blockade to Stop Deportations Common Dreams ...Highlighting what they say is a "global human rights issue," dozens of rights campaigners on Monday morning locked themselves together and formed a human chain to block buses at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Takoma, Washington from carrying out deportations of suspected undocumented people...
Martin Shkreli on his “altruistic” motives: “I’m a capitalist — I want to create a big drug company” Salon ...On “CBS This Morning,” embattled Turing Pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli continued to defend his company’s decision to hike the price of Daraprim by 5,455 percent, claiming that “there are a lot of altruistic properties” to raising the cost. He denied that the increased cost was “drastic.” This new “reasonable profit” is being made at the expense of immunocompromised patients, such as pregnant women and babies, as well as those with AIDS or who are undergoing radiation therapy...
Monday, September 21, 2015
Pope's visit offers hope for workers
Pope Francis arrives in the United States tomorrow, and whether you are a member of the Catholic faith or not, there is reason to be excited. For more than maybe any other global leader, the pope is a friend of workers worldwide.
Since being selected as the leader of Roman Catholics in 2013, the pope has made it his mission to stand up for the downtrodden. He has been an outspoken advocate
for workers and unions and a vocal critic of the growing issue of income inequality.
In fact, earlier this year, Pope Francis called on world leaders to create new working opportunities for the people of the world:
Pope Francis, however, is not the only religious leader taking on big business. In fact, Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich last week challenged the policies of Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner when he spoke out against so-called right-to-work.
Speaking at the Plumbers Hall in Chicago last Thursday, Bishop Cupich said the labor movement is essential to balancing out power in the workplace:
Instituting such a program is going to take a lot of effort. That's why those advocating for workers are trying to appeal to the better angels in us all. The Teamsters welcome the efforts of Pope Francis, Bishop Cupich and all those in the faith community who see value in hardworking people all over the world. And we urge them to continue with the fight for justice.
Since being selected as the leader of Roman Catholics in 2013, the pope has made it his mission to stand up for the downtrodden. He has been an outspoken advocate
 |
| Low-wage workers protest in front of the Capitol in July. |
In fact, earlier this year, Pope Francis called on world leaders to create new working opportunities for the people of the world:
I wish to extend an invitation to everyone to greater solidarity and to encourage those in public office to spare no effort to give new impetus to employment. This means caring for the dignity of the person.
... Today many social, political and economic systems have chosen to exploit the human person ... not paying a just (wage), not offering work, focusing solely on the balance sheets, the company's balance sheets, only looking at how much I can profit. This goes against God!It is a message many are hopeful he will continue to address we he arrives in Washington, D.C. tomorrow afternoon and later speaks not only to President Obama, but before Congress as well. The pope will later head to Philadelphia and New York City.
Pope Francis, however, is not the only religious leader taking on big business. In fact, Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich last week challenged the policies of Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner when he spoke out against so-called right-to-work.
Speaking at the Plumbers Hall in Chicago last Thursday, Bishop Cupich said the labor movement is essential to balancing out power in the workplace:
Work and unions are important not simply for what a worker 'gets,' but how they enable aThe Teamsters could not agree more. That's why we released our new "Let's Get America Working" platform earlier this month, and it's why we've called on lawmakers, both Democrat and Republican, to work hard to implement it so workers can earn a fair wage and the economy can prosper.
worker to provide for a family and participate in the workplace and society. Unions are important not simply for helping workers get more, but helping workers be more, to have a voice, a place to make a contribution to the good of the whole enterprise, to fellow workers and the whole of society.
Instituting such a program is going to take a lot of effort. That's why those advocating for workers are trying to appeal to the better angels in us all. The Teamsters welcome the efforts of Pope Francis, Bishop Cupich and all those in the faith community who see value in hardworking people all over the world. And we urge them to continue with the fight for justice.
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Today's Teamster News 01.08.13
Teamster UPS Freight Local Union Leaders Recommend New Tentative Agreement teamster.org ...Teamster Local Union leaders representing UPS Freight workers across the country endorsed a new tentative national agreement that would provide for major economic improvements and protect work and jobs at a time when most LTL companies are cutting wages and benefits...
New Safety Recommendations for Maintenance of Way Rail Employees teamster.org ...The Fatality Analysis of Maintenance of Way Employees and Signalmen (FAMES) Committee has released a report on its analysis of “Fatal Accidents occurring under Train Approach Warning (Watchmen/Lookout Protection), and includes specific recommendations to improve safety...
Retirement Shouldn’t Be Sacrificed for Corporate Welfare teamster.org ...“The absolute last thing we should do … is allow [Social Security] to begin to be dismantled inch by inch.”...
Teamsters Continue to Stand in Solidarity with Korean Railway Workers teamster.org ...Teamsters are standing in solidarity with Korean workers as they prepare for general strikes on January 9 and 16...
Angry Workers Swarm Seoul’s Streets, Demand President Resign In These Times ...South Korea may best be known for slick electronics and saccharine pop tunes. Instead, the streets were filled with throngs of angry union workers, facing down riot police in a show of defiance against a government plan that they say would lead to layoffs and privatization...
Scalia’s golden chance to kill unions The Salon ...A "sweeping" ruling could force right to work on every U.S. public sector worker, Harvard's Ben Sachs warns...
Senate moves ahead with measure to extend long-term unemployment benefits Washington Post ...The Senate voted Tuesday to move ahead with a measure to extend long-term federal unemployment benefits to more than 1 million Americans for three months…
What happened to US life expectancy? Incidental Economist ...Possible causes of this departure from international norms were highlighted in a 2013 Institute of Medicine report and have been ascribed to many factors, only some of which are attributed to medical care financing or delivery. These include differences in cultural norms that affect healthy behaviors (gun ownership, unprotected sex, drug use, seat belts), obesity, and risk of trauma...
Letter to My Elected Officials Regarding "Fast Track" on TPP (opinion) OpEd News ...The exclamation point on the demise of democracy in the once Superpower may well be the Trans Pacific Partnership, TPP, which has been devised by 600+ corporate attorneys, and will be monitored by the same, behind those closed doors that even YOU, our elected official, has been shut from knowing what is contained in the document, said to be some 26 Chapters with only three (3) having to do with "trade"...
Leaked Email Exposes Bank Of America's Social Media Spies Popular Resistance ...An email uncovered through a Washington state public records request has confirmed the existence of a Bank of America “social media trolling” spy team, used to carry out surveillance on multiple political groups...
JP Morgan Pulled $275 Million Of Its Own Money From Madoff Feeder Funds Months Before His Arrest Business Insider ...JP Morgan was aware of the Ponzi scheme before Madoff's arrest...
Boeing reports record orders and deliveries for 2013 BBC News ...Boeing reports record orders and deliveries last year, showing they can definitely pay their workers more...
The U.S. Government Uses Sweatshops, Too In These Times ...The collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex in Bangladesh last April exposed the cruel link between abusive Global South factories and the Western brands they supply. But while consumers may have been shocked to learn of the Gap or Benetton's latest designs strewn amid the wreckage of “death trap” factories, they might have missed that much of the clothing churned out by overseas sweatshops is custom-made for Uncle Sam...
America declared an ‘unconditional war on poverty’ 50 years ago, but you’d never know it The Guardian ...This 8 January marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson’s declaration of “unconditional war on poverty.” But a half century later, it’s time to re-examine the case Johnson made in 1964 for remedying poverty in America...
Workplace Deaths Among Miners Rose In 2013 ThinkProgress ...The number of deaths among miners caused by work-related accidents in 2013 increased to 42 last year, up from 36 in 2012, according to the latest Department of Labor (DOL) data...
Retirement Theft in 4 Despicable Steps AlterNet ...American workers are being cheated out of the retirement they've paid for all their lives...
Koch-backed political coalition, designed to shield donors, raised $400 million in 2012 Washington Post ...The political network spearheaded by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch has expanded into a far-reaching operation of unrivaled complexity, built around a maze of groups that cloaks its donors…
Here’s Why Some Of The World’s Billionaires Dislike Pope Francis carbonated.tv ...How long were the rich going to remain silent and let the Pope Francis attack capitalism and consumerism? Not long. Billionaire feathers have been ruffled and they are making it known...
Wisconsin Lawmaker Wants To Take Away Workers’ Weekends ThinkProgress ...Wisconsin state Sen. Glenn Grothman (R) is pushing to undo the state’s law that employers have to provide their employees with at least one day off a week, the Huffington Post reports...
Oklahoma labor commissioner opposes OSHA proposal Kansas City Star ...Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Mark Costello will testify against a proposed federal regulation made by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that Costello says is "fraught with peril."...
New Safety Recommendations for Maintenance of Way Rail Employees teamster.org ...The Fatality Analysis of Maintenance of Way Employees and Signalmen (FAMES) Committee has released a report on its analysis of “Fatal Accidents occurring under Train Approach Warning (Watchmen/Lookout Protection), and includes specific recommendations to improve safety...
Retirement Shouldn’t Be Sacrificed for Corporate Welfare teamster.org ...“The absolute last thing we should do … is allow [Social Security] to begin to be dismantled inch by inch.”...
Teamsters Continue to Stand in Solidarity with Korean Railway Workers teamster.org ...Teamsters are standing in solidarity with Korean workers as they prepare for general strikes on January 9 and 16...
Angry Workers Swarm Seoul’s Streets, Demand President Resign In These Times ...South Korea may best be known for slick electronics and saccharine pop tunes. Instead, the streets were filled with throngs of angry union workers, facing down riot police in a show of defiance against a government plan that they say would lead to layoffs and privatization...
Scalia’s golden chance to kill unions The Salon ...A "sweeping" ruling could force right to work on every U.S. public sector worker, Harvard's Ben Sachs warns...
Senate moves ahead with measure to extend long-term unemployment benefits Washington Post ...The Senate voted Tuesday to move ahead with a measure to extend long-term federal unemployment benefits to more than 1 million Americans for three months…
What happened to US life expectancy? Incidental Economist ...Possible causes of this departure from international norms were highlighted in a 2013 Institute of Medicine report and have been ascribed to many factors, only some of which are attributed to medical care financing or delivery. These include differences in cultural norms that affect healthy behaviors (gun ownership, unprotected sex, drug use, seat belts), obesity, and risk of trauma...
Letter to My Elected Officials Regarding "Fast Track" on TPP (opinion) OpEd News ...The exclamation point on the demise of democracy in the once Superpower may well be the Trans Pacific Partnership, TPP, which has been devised by 600+ corporate attorneys, and will be monitored by the same, behind those closed doors that even YOU, our elected official, has been shut from knowing what is contained in the document, said to be some 26 Chapters with only three (3) having to do with "trade"...
Leaked Email Exposes Bank Of America's Social Media Spies Popular Resistance ...An email uncovered through a Washington state public records request has confirmed the existence of a Bank of America “social media trolling” spy team, used to carry out surveillance on multiple political groups...
JP Morgan Pulled $275 Million Of Its Own Money From Madoff Feeder Funds Months Before His Arrest Business Insider ...JP Morgan was aware of the Ponzi scheme before Madoff's arrest...
Boeing reports record orders and deliveries for 2013 BBC News ...Boeing reports record orders and deliveries last year, showing they can definitely pay their workers more...
The U.S. Government Uses Sweatshops, Too In These Times ...The collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex in Bangladesh last April exposed the cruel link between abusive Global South factories and the Western brands they supply. But while consumers may have been shocked to learn of the Gap or Benetton's latest designs strewn amid the wreckage of “death trap” factories, they might have missed that much of the clothing churned out by overseas sweatshops is custom-made for Uncle Sam...
America declared an ‘unconditional war on poverty’ 50 years ago, but you’d never know it The Guardian ...This 8 January marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson’s declaration of “unconditional war on poverty.” But a half century later, it’s time to re-examine the case Johnson made in 1964 for remedying poverty in America...
Workplace Deaths Among Miners Rose In 2013 ThinkProgress ...The number of deaths among miners caused by work-related accidents in 2013 increased to 42 last year, up from 36 in 2012, according to the latest Department of Labor (DOL) data...
Retirement Theft in 4 Despicable Steps AlterNet ...American workers are being cheated out of the retirement they've paid for all their lives...
Koch-backed political coalition, designed to shield donors, raised $400 million in 2012 Washington Post ...The political network spearheaded by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch has expanded into a far-reaching operation of unrivaled complexity, built around a maze of groups that cloaks its donors…
Here’s Why Some Of The World’s Billionaires Dislike Pope Francis carbonated.tv ...How long were the rich going to remain silent and let the Pope Francis attack capitalism and consumerism? Not long. Billionaire feathers have been ruffled and they are making it known...
Wisconsin Lawmaker Wants To Take Away Workers’ Weekends ThinkProgress ...Wisconsin state Sen. Glenn Grothman (R) is pushing to undo the state’s law that employers have to provide their employees with at least one day off a week, the Huffington Post reports...
Oklahoma labor commissioner opposes OSHA proposal Kansas City Star ...Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Mark Costello will testify against a proposed federal regulation made by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that Costello says is "fraught with peril."...
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