Today's Teamster News 01.06.16

TEAMSTERS

Hoffa: Congress must act to avert pension crisis  The Detroit News  ...Opposition is growing in Michigan and across the Midwest against a devastating pension cut proposal put forward by the Central States Pension Fund that would slash benefits by as much as 65 percent. Thousands of Teamsters are letting the federal government know they must reject the plan if they want retirees to be able to subsist on their own...
Treasury Department Announces January Public Sessions for Feedback on CSPF Rescue Plan Teamster.org  ... The Treasury Department announced the details today for two public sessions in January for Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund retirees and participants to offer feedback on the proposed rescue plan. The sessions will be hosted by Treasury appointee Kenneth R. Feinberg who is overseeing the rescue plan review process as outlined by the Kline-Miller Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014...
American Red Cross Workers Vote to Join Teamsters in Maine  Teamster.org  ...Workers at the American Red Cross’ Portland donation center have voted to join Teamsters Local 340. The blood donation center’s 57 employees will now form a bargaining unit that includes collections technicians, collections specialists and mobile unit assistants of various classifications. These employees are responsible for setting up and administering blood drives across the southern half of the state...
Local 710 to Fight Wrongful Terminations at Classic Party Rental  Local 710  ...Teamsters Local 710 met Friday, December 18 with Classic Party Rental to discuss the wrongful termination of 35 employees. Local 710 has filed a grievance to have those members reinstated. Classic Party required members to verify their employment eligibility but did not allow adequate time for them to do so. This resulted in the termination of nearly 30 percent of their workforce of 120 employees...

GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE

We'll strike until we are paid - Railway workers  Ghana Web  ...Striking railway workers have reiterated that they will not call off their industrial action until all their demands are addressed by government. The Railway Workers Union announced the withdrawal of passenger services from Accra to Tema and Accra to Nsawam in December following government’s failure to pay their three-month salary arrears...
Can Brazil’s Workers’ Party Survive?  The Nation  ... President Dilma Rousseff is facing an impeachment drive, a tanking economy—and grassroots party activists furious at her austerity policies and pro-corporate development strategy.  Re-elected as president on a socially progressive program in October 2014, she has implemented austerity policies that have stopped the economy in its tracks and reversed many of the employment and wage gains made under previous PT governments...
Covered Bridge Potato Chips workers stage strike in Canada  CBC  ...Unionized employees at Covered Bridge Potato Chips near Hartland have walked out and are now on strike to back demands for a first contract with the company. The 32 members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1288P have been in a legal strike position since June. About 16 union members are picketing outside the company's factory in Hartland...
GOP in no hurry to move Obama's TPP  The Hill  ...Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is brushing off calls from business groups for quick action on President Obama’s sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal. The National Association of Manufacturers and the Business Roundtable announced their support for the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) this week as part of what looks like a choreographed effort to raise pressure on Congress...
Surprise! Corporate America Is Throwing Down for the TPP  Common Dreams  ...American big business has now officially endorsed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), giving many all the proof they need that the 12-nation deal—poised to be the largest ever—is bad news for people and the planet. An association of Chief Executive Officers known as the Business Roundtable (BRT) announced its formal backing on Tuesday, indicating that it plans to use its muscle to press Congress to approve the deal this year...
How to Tell TPP Is a Bad Deal  (opinion) Huffington Post  ...TPP defines bad rules for globalization. It sets up skewed power relationships for dealing with climate change, inequality and many other important public policies. We have trade deals with Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru, where labor standards are at the level of life-and-death. Guatemala is arguably the most dangerous country in the world for labor leaders. Violence against workers in Colombia is still common...
McAuliffe announces port agreement with Cuba  Daily Progress  ...The Virginia Port Authority has struck a deal with its Cuban counterpart to explore commercial opportunities with the island nation, Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Tuesday. McAuliffe, in the middle of a three-day trade mission to Cuba, said the Virginia delegation signed a memorandum of understanding with the Cuban Port Authority, which recently completed the $1 billion Port of Mariel project, according to the governor's office... 

Greece's economic crisis goes on, like an odyssey without end  The Guardian  ...Like an odyssey without end, Greece’s great economic crisis goes on and the predicament of people such as Staikos is igniting new fears of social unrest. Ushering in the new year, prime minister Alexis Tsipras predicted that 2016 marked the beginning of the end, “a final exit from economic crisis”. With a financial lifeline sealed via an €86bn (£63bn) aid package from the International Monetary Fund, EU and the European Central Bank, the country could look ahead to radical change...
Happy 2016! These CEOs Have Already Banked An Average Worker's Salary  Common Dreams  ...By lunchtime Monday, Canada's top chief executives had already banked an average worker's annual salary. To put that another way, in 2014, the country's top-paid CEOs took home 184 times as much as the average Canadian worker, according to an annual report on publicly-traded companies released Monday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives...

STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES

California’s $15 Minimum Wage Initiative Is Likely Headed to Voters  RH Reality Check  ...A California initiative calling for a $15 minimum wage by 2021 is likely headed to state voters in November after gathering more than enough signatures to qualify. The voter measure would hike the statewide minimum wage by a dollar on January 1 of every year from 2017 to 2021. California’s statewide minimum wage stands at $10, making it one of the nation’s highest and second only the District of Columbia...
Minority Groups Knock Redistricting Ballot Measure  Colorado Public Radio  ...A proposed ballot measure that would change the way Colorado’s political maps are drawn is being criticized by some minority groups and lawmakers. Currently, the state Legislature determines Colorado's congressional districts after each census. The ballot measure would shift that responsibility to a 12-member independent commission...
Bevin's road fund cuts bemoaned in Louisville  Courier-Journal  ...Due to falling state gas tax revenues, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin issued an order Monday cutting the state Transportation Cabinet budget by $112.5 million. The order calls for more than half of the savings – $62 million – to be achieved by a reduction in state road aid to cities and counties...
Ethics, voter ID among measures to watch in Missouri session  KY3.com  ...Missouri lawmakers are set to discuss issues ranging from how to repair state roads and bridges to laws on abortion. The 2016 legislative session begins Wednesday. Legislative leaders have said tightening state laws on ethics will be a top priority. Proposals on the table include banning lobbyist gifts to lawmakers...  

Minimum Wage to Raise for All City Workers in 2018  NY1.com  ...Minimum wage for city workers is going up. Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to announce plans to raise the minimum wage for city workers to $15 an hour by 2018. Those who will see the increase include school crossing guards and teacher's aides. Not-for-profits with city contracts city will also have to pay their workers at least $15 an hour...
Group Seeking Comment From Workers, Employers On Paid Sick Leave  CBS  ...A group looking to study the impact of workplace regulations in Minneapolis is holding a series of community meetings this month to get ideas related to earned sick time and paid time off. The city of Minneapolis says its Workplace Partnership Group will hold six meetings in January, with each one focused on different groups...

U.S. LABOR

Phoenix Bus Drivers Will Strike, Union Leaders Say  New Times  ...About 650 bus drivers in Phoenix will go on strike tonight at midnight, according to local transportation union leaders. Bob Bean, president of the local Amalgamated Transit Union chapter says the strike, which will affect 75 percent of bus routes in Phoenix, comes after weeks of failed negotiations between ATU and Transdev...
Talks resume between ATI, union  Rep-Am  ...Allegheny Technologies Inc. and the United Steelworkers met this week, resuming talks for the first time since September over a labor dispute involving a four-month lockout of more than 2,200 union employees -- including 30 workers at a plant in Waterbury. The talks were held in the union's Pittsburgh headquarters with a federal mediator...

'Depressing' atmosphere envelops DuPont as layoffs begin  Delaware Online  ...A grim mood hung in the air Monday as DuPont Co. workers in Delaware learned whether their positions will be included in a massive round of layoffs that will eliminate 1,700 positions in the First State. Ron Ozer, an engineer at the DuPont Experimental Station near Alapocas, lost his job Monday after nearly 25 years with the company...
Utz workers sue Pa. snack company over pay  PennLive  ...The chips are down at Utz as the Hanover, Pa., company faces a federal lawsuit brought by three drivers who claim they are owed thousands in overtime pay, WITF is reporting. Right now, the suit is confined to three drivers from Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania who say they cart Utz snacks into stores and stock shelves for far longer than 40 hours a week -- but only receive their normal pay...
United Farm Worker pioneer Alfredo R. Vazquez’s life remembered  Fresno Bee  ...Civil rights activist and United Farm Workers Association pioneer Alfredo R. Vazquez, 98, died on Dec. 31, 2015. Vazquez often endured abuse and threats during farm labor strikes, marches, boycotts and fasts with civil activist, Cesar Chavez. Vazquez’s last words are reported to have been “I did what I came here to do,” according to his son, Miguel Vazquez...
Why Skills Are Not Enough to Land a Job  The Nation  ... in light of rising graduation rates in recent years, education experts—presumably those who previously worried about low high school completion rates—now worry this seemingly good news is actually meaningless because diplomas are losing their “value”...
Denying People A Job After They've Left Prison Is Unconstitutional, Court Rules  Huffington Post  ...A court in Pennsylvania on Wednesday struck down a state law that imposed a lifetime ban from employment on as many as 200,000 people with criminal records in the state. A unanimous seven-judge panel ruled that part of the state's Older Adult Protective Services Act was unconstitutional because it was too broad in delineating the types of past crimes that disqualified people from jobs that involve caring for the elderly and other kinds of long-term care...
The Labor Prospect: What to Watch in 2016  American Prospect  ...The year 2015 was widely regarded as a reinvigorating one for the labor movement, with federal administrative rulings and local minimum-wage ordinances breaking workers’ way. Last year, however, merely set the stage for a much more consequential 2016. This year could either go very badly or very well, depending on a whole host of labor prospects...

SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS

Uber fail: Why the start-up giant stumbled in Europe — and how it could happen in the U.S.  Salon  ...It’s hard to imagine Uber permanently giving up on Europe’s biggest economy, of course. But according to a report in The New York Times, Uber’s problem goes well beyond Germany’s borders. Deutschland is just one of many places where Uber’s struggling — and it’s almost always for the same reason...
Obama Said He Would Focus on Deporting Criminals. He’s Targeting Families Instead.  Slate  ...A nation-wide deportation campaign targeting families fleeing violence from Central America began this past weekend, sending immigrants from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala—and their governments—scrambling to prepare for more. This isn’t the first or the biggest ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, raid: George W. Bush’s administration is infamous for its raids on residential areas and workplaces...
"Every Time I Think About Those Kids It Gets Me Mad": Obama Tears Up as He Orders New Gun Control  Democracy Now  ...President Obama has laid out his plans to take executive action in an attempt to cut gun violence. Part of his plan will result in mandatory background checks for individuals purchasing firearms online or at gun shows. The administration is also calling for the hiring of 200 new federal agents to enforce the nation’s gun laws...
The Oregon Standoff, Black Lives Matter, and Criminal-Justice Reform  The Atlantic  ...The standoff in Oregon between armed militias and federal law-enforcement provides a great moment for reflecting on some of the lessons of Black Lives Matter and the criminal-justice-reform movement that grew over the last year. The antigovernment protesters took over the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in support of two ranchers convicted of committing arson on public lands and have vowed “to stay as long as it takes”...

How to Understand Donald Trump’s Sexist New Low  The Nation  ...Donald Trump, the man of the bottomless bottom, is making headlines for slurring Hillary Clinton as an “enabler” of her husband’s sexual misbehavior. Chris Matthews of MSNBC’s Hardball, who doesn’t shock easily, seemed staggered by it Monday night, insisting he’d never heard such a claim about Clinton before. “It’s beyond indecent,” he said...
Sanders Blasts Trump On Weird Climate Change Claim  Think Progress  ...On Monday night, the Democratic candidate blasted Trump’s claim that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. “What an insight. The entire scientific community has concluded that climate change is real and causing major problems, and Trump believes that it’s a hoax created by the Chinese. Surprised it wasn’t the Mexicans”...

Today's Teamster News 01.04.16

TEAMSTERS
Strike Ends as Chicago Teamsters Reach Tentative Agreement with Coca-Cola  Teamster.org  ...Teamsters Local 727 ended its unfair labor practice strike against Coca-Cola Refreshments late on Tuesday, Dec. 29, after reaching tentative agreement on a fair three-year contract for 319 production and warehouse workers. Upon ratification, the tentative agreement will transfer Local 727 members into a new health and welfare plan previously available to Coca-Cola management...
Teamsters reach tentative pact with Coca-Cola, end strike  Chicago Tribune  ...Coca-Cola workers who have been on strike for nearly a month are heading back to work after their union reached a tentative three-year contract with the company. Teamsters Local 727, which says it represents 319 production workers at Coca-Cola plants in Niles and Alsip, announced late Tuesday that the bargaining committee recommended ratification of what it called a "fair" contract offer by Coke...
Teamsters: Port Drivers Win Nearly $7 Million in Wages, End Misclassification  Teamster.org  ...On Dec. 14, the California Labor Commissioner determined that 38 drivers at leading port trucking company Pacific 9 Transportation, which hauls containers from the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach for some of America’s premiere brands – including Costco, Goodyear Tires, Ugg Boots, and Microsoft – are in fact employees, not independent contractors, and ordered Pac 9 to pay them nearly $6.9 million in stolen wages...
Port drivers win millions in back pay from trucking firm  LA Times  ...A port trucking firm in Carson has been ordered to turn over nearly $7 million in back pay to 38 drivers, the latest in a series of recent wins for port drivers and the Teamsters union that has been trying to organize them. The state Labor Commissioner's Office ruled this month that the drivers at Pacific 9 Transportation were improperly treated as independent contractors rather than as employees...
NYC horse carriage industry thanks supporters for help  Daily News  ...Horse carriages — which for the past two years have operated under a cloud of uncertainty — are starting 2016 on a positive note. The industry, which Mayor de Blasio threatened to ban on his first day in office, bought a full page ad in Friday’s Daily News thanking its supporters for helping them stay around for the past two years...
American Red Cross Workers Vote To Join Teamsters In Maine  PR Newswire  ...Workers at the American Red Cross' Portland donation center have voted to join Teamsters Local 340. The blood donation center's 57 employees will now form a bargaining unit that includes collections technicians, collections specialists and mobile unit assistants of various classifications. These employees are responsible for setting up and administering blood drives across the southern half of the state...
Beer hauler moves to bust Teamsters union  NW Labor Press  ...Teamsters Local 162 is facing what more and more looks like a union-busting effort by General Distributors Inc. When truck drivers, warehouse workers, and sales employees learned that the profitable company would seek $1.5 million a year in concessions from them in their next union contract, they voted 59 to 5 to strike, and about 80 members of Teamsters Local 162 walked off the job Nov. 17. In response, the company threatened to permanently replace them...

GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Zimbabwe: Public workers threaten strike over delayed pay  Africa Report  ...The year is opening on a tense note for the Zimbabwean government, as tens of thousands of public workers have threatened to go on strike over delayed salaries. Civil servants in the southern African nation are yet to be paid their December salaries, with the government promising to pay them by Tuesday, but this has not been enough to calm the restive workers...
Jerusalem sanitation workers strike after 170 fired  Times of Israel  ...Jerusalem sanitation workers went on strike Thursday, after the city sent termination letters to 170 employees in the department. The municipality also warned that the move was the first of many necessary cutbacks to come — with up to 2,000 more firings — if the Finance Ministry does not transfer to the city the funds needed to keep a balanced budget in 2016...
U.S. Election Debate Complicates Passage of Pacific Trade Pact  Wall Street Journal  ...An international trade agreement embraced by President Barack Obama and the Republican-controlled Congress is drawing fire from many presidential candidates, illustrating the populist shift of both parties in the age of Donald Trump. Contenders ranging from Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas have spoken out against the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership...
TPP nations arranging to sign free-trade deal in early February  Japan Times  ...Japan, the United States and 10 other nations that reached a broad agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade pact in October are arranging to sign the deal in early February, an official from one of the nations has said. Following the broad agreement after more than five years of negotiations, the 12 nations released the text of the landmark trade deal in November...
TPP trade deal pits Pittsburgh against Philadelphia  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  ...Pittsburgh manufactures the products. Philadelphia ships them around the world. One city stands to gain from expanding trade into the Pacific Rim while the other has much to lose, their mayors say. That’s why Philadelphia’s outgoing mayor, Michael Nutter, has been helping the White House stump for the Trans-Pacific Partnership while Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto stands opposed...
The Corporate-Friendly Trade Deals Threatening Ordinary People in 2016  Common Dreams  ...Corporate media failed to cover the dangers of business-friendly trade deals in 2015, despite growing grassroots opposition to such pacts—and increasing public awareness about their contents. Will 2016 be the year looming toxic trade policies catapult into the mainstream? Sierra Club trade representative Ilana Solomon hopes so...
Greece Not to Agree to Creditors Unreasonable Austerity Demands - Tsipras  Sputnik News  ...Athens will follow the memorandum signed with its international creditors, but will not agree to unreasonable austerity demands, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said, as quoted by the local media on Sunday. According to Tsipras, 2016 will be a pivotal year, after several years of crisis for the country. The Greek economy has been severely strained because of the country’s multibillion debt accumulated after the 2008 world economic crisis...

STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Minimum wage rises in 14 states and several cities  Al Jazeera  ...As the United States marks more than six years without an increase in the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, 14 states and several cities are moving forward with their own increases, with most having taken effect Jan. 1. California and Massachusetts are highest among the states, both increasing from $9 to $10 an hour, according to an analysis by the National Conference of State Legislatures...
American workers see progress on paid sick leave, no thanks to Congress  Daily Kos  ...Paid sick days have gained a lot of ground in the last few years, and continued to do so in 2015. Oregon became the fourth state to require paid sick leave for most workers, following Connecticut, California, and Massachusetts. The cities of Tacoma, Washington, and Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, also passed paid sick leave laws...
Missouri speaker sounds doubtful over 'right to work'  STL Today  ...When it comes to a GOP-led charge to make Missouri a “right to work” state, a top Republican is throwing cold water on one of the hot-button issues of the last legislative session. In an interview with the Post-Dispatch, House Speaker Todd Richardson sounded doubtful that right to work would be a top goal for Republicans when the House and Senate return Wednesday...
Wages in NH expected to increase in 2016  Union Leader  ...Wal-Mart, the state's largest retail employer, plans to raise wages for its 7,785 New Hampshire employees in 2016, in one of several signs that the year ahead could finally see meaningful improvement in earnings for hourly workers after years of wage stagnation...
Chris Christie Refuses To Help Unemployed New Jersey Residents Hold Onto Food Stamps  Think Progress  ...About 11,000 New Jersey residents are set to lose their food stamps after Gov. Chris Christie (R)’s administration said it won’t seek any waivers from the program’s work requirements. Since 2009, state governors have been encouraged to get waivers from the federal government for the requirement that able-bodied, childless adults work at least 20 hours a week to enroll in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)...
Judge's ruling a mixed bag for those challenging voter ID law  Journal Sentinel  ...A federal judge has thrown out portions of a challenge to Wisconsin's voting laws but is allowing a key part of the lawsuit to proceed that could allow more types of identification to be used under the voter ID law. In his ruling last month, U.S. District Judge James Peterson in Madison also found the liberal One Wisconsin Institute could pursue its argument that recent restrictions on early voting violate the U.S. Constitution...

U.S. LABOR
Tentative agreement prevents custodial workers strike  Bristol Press  ...Just one day before a strike could have begun, a bargaining committee representing more than 2,100 janitors in Hartford, New Haven and other Connecticut cities and towns reached a tentative agreement with the Hartford County Cleaning Contractors Association. The four-year contract agreed to Wednesday — subject to ratification — includes incremental wage increases...
Labor board hands Whole Foods workers a victory  CBS  ...Whole Foods Market (WFM) can no longer forbid its employees from taking photographs or recording conversations at work, according to a recent federal ruling. "Smartphone pics and videos in this day and age are particularly 'essential' to proving an employee's rights have been violated," said the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in a decision issued late last week...
150 Muslims Fired For Protesting Their Workplace’s Prayer Policies  Think Progress  ...About 150 Muslim workers at a meat processing plant have been fired for refusing to show up for work during an ongoing dispute over prayer accommodations. The controversy began on December 18, when 11 Somali Muslim workers at the Cargill Meat Solutions plant in Fort Morgan, Colorado requested to visit the building’s prayer room at the same time...
Ten of the Best Things That Happened to American Workers in 2015  Huffington Post  ...Historians may remember 2015 as the year of the minimum wage -- and for good reason. Twenty-one states and multiple cities raised the minimum wage in the past 12 months, scarcely two years after the "Fight for $15" was dismissed as a pipe dream by some observers. The past year also saw other major advances for working Americans...
The End Of Unions? Upcoming Supreme Court Case Could Overturn Power To Collect Fees  IBTimes  ...A Supreme Court case beginning Jan. 11 has union members wondering if a ruling could sound a death knell on labor organizations that have grown accustomed to heightened limitations and declining memberships in recent years. Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association will determine whether mandatory union dues violate workers' freedom of speech, and experts say a ruling could dictate the future of unions' ability to collect fees...
Workers' Comp Industrial Complex: The Middlemen Silencing Injured Workers  Truthout  ...Workers' comp is supposed to be simple. If you're injured on the job, your employer pays your medical bills and part of your wages while you recover. But over the past two decades, a cottage industry of middlemen has emerged, which some have dubbed the "workers' comp industrial complex." Even private equity firms have bought in, seeing profit opportunities in employers' and insurers' quest to contain spending...
Adjuncts at Loyola University Chicago Want a Union. Will the Jesuit University Respect Their Demands?  The Nation  ...Loyola University Chicago now faces the challenge of putting its Jesuit principles into practice as frustrated professors push for a union.  The administration argues a union would interfere with the university’s “mission.” But according to Loyola’s struggling non-tenured faculty members, their poverty wages and exhausting working conditions prove that it is the administration’s corporate greed that is flouting the Jesuit tradition of social justice...

SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Happy New Year. You’re Deported.  The Nation  ...This is how the Department of Homeland Security says happy holidays: The federal government will reportedly begin raids to deport families who’ve arrived in the country in the last two years, according to The Washington Post. The enforcement operation could begin in a matter of weeks, and was first reported on Christmas Eve. The raids would target hundreds of adults and children who have a standing order of deportation against them...
Hundreds Demand Prosecutor In Tamir Rice Case Resign  Think Progress  ...Protests continued on Friday following a grand jury’s recent decision not to indict the two white police officers who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice. More than 100 activists marched to the home of the prosecutor who handled Rice’s case, Timothy McGinty, on New Year’s Day and demanded his resignation. Chanting “New year, no more!”...
Media Coverage of Oregon Militia Standoff Raises Eyebrows — and Ire  Common Dreams  ...After members of a rightwing militia seized the headquarters of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon on Saturday afternoon, observers questioned the corporate media's treatment of the event, pointing to a double standard in coverage compared to other recent protests. Watchdog site Media Matters pointed out that while Fox's coverage of campus protests against racial discrimination was dismissive, its reporting "looked drastically different when those protesting have aligned with the network's conservative agenda"...
They’d be killed if they were black: The racial double standard at the heart of the new Bundy family standoff  Salon  ...At least 150 armed white men have seized control of a federal building outside of Burns, Oregon. The actions taken by Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, and their supporters in Oregon are the very definition of terrorism and armed insurrection. If Muslims took up arms, occupied a federal building, recorded martyrdom videos, and threatened to kill police and other authorities, they would be called “terrorists”...

Today's Teamster News 10.02.15

TEAMSTERS
Teamsters And Coalition Of Unions Ratify Agreement At American Red Cross  Teamster.org  ...After several months of serious negotiations and a month-long balloting process, the Teamsters, as part of a union coalition, have ratified a new contract for members working at American Red Cross. The agreement will impact more than 1,300 Teamsters at 18 different local unions across the United States. The Teamsters are part of a coalition of unions that negotiated the contract...
National Mediation Board Determines Single Carrier Status for Flight Options, Flexjet  Teamster.org  ...The National Mediation Board (NMB) has determined single carrier status for Flight Options, LLC, and Flexjet, LLC, after the Teamsters Union asserted that the two fractional carriers constitute a single transportation system. In its Sept. 30 decision, the NMB determined that Flight Options and Flexjet, wholly owned subsidiaries of OneSky Flight, LLC, are operating as a single transportation system for representation purposes under the Railway Labor Act...
United Airlines Fails to Reach Agreement with Teamster Aviation Maintenance Technicians  Teamster.org  ...United Airlines’ labor woes continue as talks with International Brotherhood of Teamsters-represented aviation maintenance technicians and related workers stalled today. “Delta and American are setting the pace and United is dragging its feet,” said Clacy Griswold, lead negotiator for the Teamsters...
Threshold and Teamsters in Negotiations  Press Banner  ...According to Steven Lua, Member Specialist of Local 912, Threshold Enterprises, Ltd., headquartered in ScottsValley, has approximately 800 employees; 600 of whom are union members in their ScottsValley and Santa Cruz manufacturing, warehouse, packaging, and distribution centers. The union has been representing the employees, seventy percent of whom are women, for the last three years. This will be their second contract...
Still no contract agreement between EVSC, Teamsters  Courier & Press  ...As soon as a contract agreement with the Evansville Vanderburgh School Board seems to be in sight, Teamsters Local 215 President Chuck Whobrey said something happens to stop progress. Throughout the process, which started in April and has consisted of sporadic meetings to negotiate new contracts for five EVSC employee groups represented by the union, Whobrey said there has been a mixture of positive open dialogue and setbacks...

GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Negotiators signal that they’re close to final accord on Asia Pacific trade deal  Washington Post  ...U.S. negotiators on Thursday closed in on a final agreement on an expansive ­Asia-Pacific trade deal, but congressional leaders cautioned that the accord should not be rushed to completion over fears that a subpar deal could lose support among lawmakers. The Obama administration is hoping to cap a week of negotiations between the United States and 11 other nations with an announcement Friday...
Trade leaders demand White House ramp up talks on TPP  The Hill  ...Congressional trade leaders are demanding that the Obama administration immediately ramp up talks with lawmakers as negotiations on a massive Asia-Pacific agreement reach a critical stage. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), panel ranking member Sandy Levin (D-Mich.), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and the panel's top Democrat, Ron Wyden (Ore.), said "we expect you to intensify these consultations"...
As Secret Trade Talks Reveal Cracks, Demonstrators Aim Death Blows at TPP  Common  Dreams  ...As trade ministers from around the world continued meeting in Atlanta on Thursday for final-stretch negotiations on the corporate-friendly Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), civil society groups demonstrated on the streets in a final salvo against a deal they describe as "a wholesale auction of our rights, our freedoms, and our democracy to multinational corporations who put profits over people"...
House lawmakers express concern about TPP autos provision  The Hill  ...A bipartisan group of House lawmakers are worried that proposed rule of origin standards on autos in a Pacific trade deal will hurt the U.S. industry. Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) on Thursday led a bipartisan group 20 Democrats and one Republican — all who opposed fast-track authority for President Obama — calling on top U.S. trade officials to ensure that the United States doesn’t lower tariffs...
What’s still wrong with the TPP  (opinion) Politico  ...In theory, TPP could be a powerful lever to change this. The agreement includes enforceable worker rights and environmental standards that were first negotiated in an agreement on May 10th, 2007, by House Democrats. But the simple inclusion of this language, known as the May 10th Agreement, isn’t enough—the example of Mexico shows that countries must bring their laws and practices into compliance before Congress votes on TPP...
Latest TPP Biologics Proposal Is a Step in the Wrong Direction  (opinion) AARP  ...As negotiators meet on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Atlanta, AARP is again urging them to be mindful of the consumers who depend on prescription drugs to manage their health conditions. We continue to have serious concerns with the direction of the TPP negotiations on key issues that will have long-lasting effects on access to affordable prescriptions in the U.S. and around the world...
TTIP: France threatens to walk away from negotiations  The Independent  ...A French minister has said that France is considering walking away from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations. Matthias Fekl, France’s junior trade minister, told France’s Sud-Ouest paper on Monday that he was considering withdrawing France from the negotiations altogether because they are conducted in favour of American interests...
Swazi Trade Union Federation Sounds Alarm over Job Losses  Solidarity Center  ...Representatives of Swaziland’s trade union federation, TUCOSWA—who are in Washington, D.C., to receive a human rights award from the AFL-CIO in recognition of the courage and persistence of Swaziland’s workers in demanding their rights—say an alarming number of people are losing their jobs because of the country’s unwillingness to improve its poor human rights record...
Guatemalan Union Activist Murdered in Front of His Home  Solidarity Center  ...Mynor Rolando Ramos Castillo, a municipal worker in Jalapa, a city in southeast Guatemala, was shot and killed in front of his home over the weekend. His family detained the killer and turned him into the police. The killer confessed to accepting the hit for 1,500 quetzales (roughly $195). Ramos Castillo was a union activist with the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Municipalidad de Jalapa (SITRAMJ)...

STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Alabama Makes Photo IDs Mandatory for Voting, Then Shutters DMV Offices in Black Counties  Common Dreams  ...Some observers say that Alabama's move to close dozens of drivers license offices is a discriminatory move that could trigger a civil rights probe. Here's why: in 2011 lawmakers approved a voter ID law requiring a government-issued ID to vote, and the 31 offices the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency set for closing will take a disproportionate hit on counties that are majority African-American...
Voter ID case put on hold until after March elections  Daily Tar Heel  ...N.C. Superior Judge Michael Morgan placed a hold on the case against the North Carolina voter ID law last week until after the March primary elections. The case before Morgan dealt with whether a June amendment allowing for exceptions to the 2013 law made existing complaints moot; he issued a hold because the amendment was not enough to dismiss the case. The General Assembly passed the voter ID law in August 2013...
Armstead says prevailing wage repeal “very likely” in next year’s session  MetroNews  ...House of Delegates Speaker Tim Armstead said Thursday it’s “very likely” prevailing wage will be repealed during next year’s legislative session. Armstead (R-Kanawha), speaking on MetroNews “Talkline”, said the new wage that came out from WorkForce West Virginia Wednesday was flawed. The Republican-controlled House and Senate passed a bill earlier this year spelling out a new way to determine the prevailing wage...
Montana’s minimum wage to stay at $8.05  Great Fall Tribune  ...Montanans earning minimum wage will see the rate remain at $8.05. An estimated 5,500 workers, or approximately 1.2 percent of the workforce, receive minimum wage.   In 2014, the industry with the largest number of workers earning minimum wage was the accommodations and food industry, followed by the retail trade industry...
UC system minimum wage increases to $13 per hour  Contra Costa Times  ...The University of California's plan to raise the minimum wage for all workers systemwide took effect Thursday, the first of three incremental raises expected to bring wages to at least $15 an hour by 2017. The minimum wage rose to $13 an hour for all university employees hired to work 20 hours or more a week. It will be increased to $14 an hour on Oct. 1, 2016, and to $15 an hour on the same day in 2017...

The Political Power of Takin’ it to the States  The Nation  ... Progressives historically have not paid enough attention to the state-level governmentin’, and, as usual, Republicans control the majority of state assembly chambers—that’s more power at the state level, in fact, than they’ve enjoyed since the 1920s. Republicans hold both the governorship and a legislative majority in 23 states...

U.S. LABOR
UAW rejects Fiat Chrysler contract; strikes loom  Reuters  ...Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's (FCAU.N) (FCHA.MI) U.S. workers soundly rejected a four-year contract the automaker had agreed with the UAW, the union said on Thursday, setting the stage for at least localized strikes against the automaker. The tentative agreement was voted down by 65 percent of the 40,000 unionized workers who work at the 37 plants of Fiat Chrysler, the smallest of the three major Detroit automakers...
No decision as UAW grapples with next steps  Detroit Free Press  ...No decisions were made on the next steps in UAW negotiations with Detroit automakers after a marathon session of the union leadership that stretched into the night Thursday. Union leadership representing 40,000 Fiat Chrysler Automobiles employees across the country spent about six hours painstakingly dissecting why a tentative agreement was rejected...
T-Mobile Workers Say the Company Has Repeatedly Engaged in Union-busting  In These Times  ...Last month, 20 Democratic lawmakers wrote a letter to T-Mobile’s parent company in Germany expressing their concern over the treatment of T-Mobile workers in the United States. At the forefront of the struggle is the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which has been fighting to organize employees since Deutsche Telekom bought the company in 2001...
USW contract with Cliffs extended through October  Duluth News Tribune  ...The United Steelworkers of America have agreed to keep working under their old contract with Cliffs Natural Resources, at least for another month. The USW bargaining committee said it negotiated a 30-day extension of its current agreement with Cliffs beginning Oct. 1, along with a rolling 168-hour extension if they go past those 30 days...
Job growth falls short of expectations in September; jobless rate unchanged  Washington Post  ...The U.S. job market slowed sharply in September, according to government data released Friday morning, raising new questions about the sturdiness of the country's economic expansion amid weaker growth across the globe. The Labor Department reported that the nation added just 142,000 jobs in September, well below analysts' expectations...
Do We Value Low-Skilled Work?  (opinion) New York Times  ...The labels “low-skilled” or “unskilled” workers — the largest demographic being adult women and minorities — often inaccurately describe an individual’s abilities, but play a powerful role in determining their opportunity. The consequences are not only severe, but incredibly disempowering: poverty-level wages, erratic schedules, the absence of retirement planning, health benefits, paid sick or family leave and the constant threat of being replaced...

SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
The Immigration Act That Inadvertently Changed America  The Atlantic  ...The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, whose 50th anniversary comes on October 3, officially committed the United States, for the first time, to accepting immigrants of all nationalities on a roughly equal basis. The law eliminated the use of national-origin quotas, under which the overwhelming majority of immigrant visas were set aside for people coming from northern and western Europe...
Oregon college shootings: witnesses recall horror as Obama calls for action  The Guardian  ...Harrowing details have begun to emerge after at least nine people were killed at an Oregon community college by a gunman who witnesses said had demanded to know students’ religion before shooting them. A visibly frustrated Barack Obama reacted to the 45th school shooting to take place in the US this year by telling Americans that “somehow this has become routine”...
Paul Krugman: Never forget what the GOP’s really about it — “top-down class warfare”  Salon  ...New York Times’ columnist Paul Krugman wrote on Friday that the current field of Republican candidates are presenting the nation with tax plans that present a wealth of alternatives, from “huge cuts on the wealthy while blowing up the deficit” to “huge cuts on the wealthy while blowing up the deficit.” He acknowledges that Donald Trump’s plan would blow “an even bigger hole in the budget than Jeb’s,” but the reality is that they are all offering variations on the same voodooistic theme — an economically indefensible desire to cut taxing on the rich...
Vatican Says Pope's Meeting With Kim Davis Was Not an Endorsement  Slate  ...The Vatican says that Pope Francis' Washington, D.C. meeting with Kentucky clerk Kim Davis should not be considered a specific endorsement of her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.  Francis' apparent support for Davis' behavior was a disappointment for those who appreciated the generally non-confrontational tone he has taken toward divisive culture-war issues...

Today's Teamster News 08.05.15

Teamsters
Teamsters and Coalition of Unions Reach Tentative Agreement with American Red Cross  Teamster.org  ...After several months of serious negotiations, the Teamsters, as part of a union coalition, have come to a tentative agreement for members working at American Red Cross. The agreement, once voted on by the membership, will impact more than 1,100 Teamsters at 18 different local unions...
Sun Tran riders warned to prepare for driver strike  Arizona Daily Star  ...While union contract negotiations are underway, Sun Tran officials and union leaders warned bus riders to prepare for the possibility of a strike. Professional Transit Management of Tucson and Teamsters Local 104 have been in talks since June 17, and last week agreed to a five-day contract extension that expires at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday...
Plaque marks site where Minneapolis cops fired on striking workers  People's World   ...One day shy of the 81st anniversary, 200-plus people gathered in the warehouse district in downtown Minneapolis on July 19 to unveil a plaque marking the spot where city police opened fire July 20, 1934, on unarmed striking members and supporters of Teamsters Local 574...

Global Labor & Trade
Canada, Mexico ‎drawn into deal-breaking auto talks in Trans-Pacific negotiations  Globe and Mail  ...Canada and Mexico are joining forces to try to break a major logjam over Japanese autos at the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks, working to come up with a solution that preserves their respective vehicle assemblers and parts makers should a deal open North America to greater Asian imports. Ottawa and Mexico City have been drawn deeply into a contentious issue at the Pacific Rim talks that held up a deal in Hawaii last week...
Kerry Hails Progress Toward Trans-Pacific Trade Pact, Despite Delays  New York Times  ...Days after negotiators failed to wrap up an Asia trade agreement, Secretary of State John Kerry expressed confidence on Tuesday that the pact would be completed, calling it vital for the economic well-being of the region. “We made progress, good progress, in our negotiations toward one of the most significant trade agreements in history, the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” Mr. Kerry said...
Trans-Pacific Partnership talks stall  NW Labor Press  ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)— a proposed 12-nation NAFTA-style deal — is on ice. The corporate-led agreement is a top priority for the Obama Administration, and it was supposed to be finalized at a July 28-31 summit of trade ministers in Maui. Instead, the summit ended July 31 without a deal, and without any further dates set for negotiation. The talks have been conducted entirely in secret, and even the U.S. proposals are classified...
Australia wants exposure to future U.S. sugar demand in trade pact  Reuters  ...Australia is seeking a guaranteed slice of any growth in demand in the U.S. sugar market in talks with Washington on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, a source with knowledge of the Australian position said. Australia, the world's third-largest exporter of raw sugar, has rejected a U.S. offer to permit 152,000 tonnes of imports per year, or 62,000 tonnes more than typical annual sales, according to data from Australia's commodity forecaster...
TTIP: what does the transatlantic trade deal mean for renewable energy?  The Guardian  ...In July the transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP) came a step closer to reality. Formal talks have been ongoing for two years, but trying to create the world’s biggest free trade zone is no mean feat. Essentially, if passed, the EU and US will be able to trade without each other’s pesky tariffs or regulations getting in the way. Currently, the only energy sources traded in significant amounts between the EU and the US are refined petroleum products and solid fuels – but TTIP could allow Europe to gain access to US crude oil and natural gas resources...
Greece needs wide debt relief to avoid permanent depression, thinktank warns  The Guardian  ...Greece’s economy will suffer fresh damage from the austerity measures demanded by its creditors and will remain stuck in permanent depression unless it receives substantial debt relief, one of the UK’s leading thinktanks has warned. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research said the increases in VAT reluctantly accepted by the Syriza-led coalition in Athens in exchange for a new bail out will result in a 1% fall in national output in 2016...
London Underground workers strike over 24 hour tube, ‘gaping holes in staffing’  RT  ...stations expected to close, as workers reject Transport for London’s (TFL) pay offer for the proposed 24 hour tube service. Attacking the night tube project, Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union general secretary Mick Cash said: “Londoners need to be aware that the night tube was rushed and botched from the off”...

State & Living Wage Battles
Kansas Moves to Implement $25 ATM Withdrawal Limit for Welfare Recipients  McClatchy  ...Kansas plans to keep a controversial $25 limit on ATM withdrawals by welfare recipients, despite the possibility that the restriction might violate federal law. Despite legislation passed earlier this year to raise the limit, or do away with it entirely, a newly revised version of Kansas' welfare plan does not permit withdrawals of more than $25 per transaction per day...
The Bank Employees Who Make Less Than $15 An Hour  Think Progress  ...Tthe majority of people who work for banks in fact make far less. The most common occupation is bank teller, and nearly three-quarters of them make less than $15 an hour, according to an analysis from the National Employment Law Project (NELP) provided exclusively to ThinkProgress. Nearly a half million people work as bank tellers. Their median hourly wage is just $12.44, and 74.1 percent make less than $15...
Puerto Rico Crisis Goes From Bad to Worse  Mother Jones  ...Puerto Rico's economic crisis has only gotten worse in the month since Gov. Alejandro García Padilla told the New York Times the island's $72 billion in debts was "not payable." Earlier this week, the island missed a key bond payment, making history and setting the stage for a bruising and protracted battle with creditors. There are many reasons Puerto Rico finds itself in this quandary, including its murky political status, and the situation seems to be deteriorating as time goes on...
Local right-to-work laws challenged in federal court  WKYT  ...The national battle over compulsory labor union dues landed in a Kentucky federal courthouse on Tuesday as a handful of unions tried to convince a judge to throw out a series of local laws designed to end closed shops. States have had the ability to outlaw mandatory union dues as a condition of employment for decades. But the question of whether local governments can do the same has not been fully decided...
The 7 most dangerous myths about a $15 minimum wage  Salon  ...What was once a fringe movement led largely by far left liberals has become a major media story and trending topic on Twitter: Workers, politicians, and even business owners are fighting for a higher minimum wage. And despite these successes, myths about what increased wages mean for America’s economy and workers continue to prevail, making the rounds in Facebook memes and even real news reports...
O’Malley Endorses a Constitutional Amendment Protecting the Right to Vote  The Nation   ...Five decades after the great advances of 1964 and 1965, the Voting Rights Act has been assaulted by Republican governor and legislators and the right-wing majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, forcing activists to launch new campaigns to renew its core provisions. On Tuesday, the right-to-vote amendment proposal gained the enthusiastic support of a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley...
What’s The Matter With Kansas? They’re Losing All Their Teachers  Think Progress  ...Kansas embarked on an experiment with radical right-wing policies since Governor Sam Brownback (R) was elected in 2010, and it failed miserably. The centerpiece of the project, led by Governor Sam Brownback, was huge tax cuts, largely for wealthy individuals and businesses, based on the Republican orthodoxy that tax cuts create jobs. Now, a teacher shortage appears to be the latest consequence of Kansas’ abject failure to manage its economy...
Challenges expected to paid sick leave law  Post-Gazette  ...Brushing aside concerns about the speed of the legislation and the limits of its own authority, Pittsburgh City Council overwhelmingly approved a law Monday that will require all employers within the city borders to provide paid sick leave, part of a nationwide push to extend the benefit to millions who lack it. Council members and supporters, including Pittsburgh United, a coalition of unions, community organizations and advocacy groups, heralded the law as a just, common-sense measure...

U.S. Labor
NLRB Finds Retaliation After Capitol Food Worker Strike  Roll Call  ...The National Labor Relations Board has found that the Capitol’s food-service vendor likely violated labor laws when supervisors retaliated against workers who went on strike. In two separate cases, the NLRB found merit in allegations of retaliation, which included charges of interrogation and coercive statements. Workers in the Capitol Visitor Center and the Dirksen Senate Office Building filed unfair labor practice charges against Restaurant Associates in April and May, respectively, following an April 22 strike for higher wages and union representation...
Nurses protest at St. Petersburg General Hospital, claiming staffing shortages  Tampa Bay  ...Dozens of nurses formed a picket line outside St. Petersburg General Hospital late Monday to protest insufficient staffing levels and "dismal" wages. The nurses, affiliated with the labor union National Nurses United, allege hospital administrators have routinely ignored the staffing plan meant to ensure high-quality patient care...
Strike Over! IATSE Wins ‘Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge’ Contract  Deadline  ...A week and a half after the picket lines went up at the offices of 51 Minds Entertainment, the union and the production company for Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge have reached a deal. Agreed to late last night, the IATSE contract sees the post-crew back at work today with enshrined health and pension benefits...
Board rules Teach for America members in Detroit can be in teachers unions  MLive  ...The National Labor Relations Board ruled Friday that Teach for America teachers in a Detroit charter school have the right to be a part of a union. According to a statement from the Michigan Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff, the NLRB said Friday 14 Teach for America corps members should have been able to vote in an election last spring...
Clark County, SEIU trade final jabs  Review Journal  ...At one point, Clark County's attorney asked the union president if his organization's bargaining position was "greedy." In another instance, the union's attorney accused the county of "arrogance." Those jabs and others are laid bare in a lengthy transcript of the arbitration proceedings between the county and its largest union, the Service Employees International Union Local 1107. The two-day July hearing was the culmination of a two-year stretch of stalled contract negotiations between the two that started in 2013...
Netflix Now Giving Employees 'Unlimited' Maternity, Paternity Leave  Huffington Post  ...Netflix on Tuesday announced that it would offer something completely unheard of in the corporate world: unlimited parental leave for the first year of a child's life. "We want employees to have the flexibility and confidence to balance the needs of their growing families without worrying about work or finances. Parents can return part-time, full-time, or return and then go back out as needed," said Tawni Cranz, Netflix’s Chief Talent Officer in a statement...
Janus Youth Programs employees vote to join AFSCME  NW Labor Press  ...esidential treatment employees at Janus Youth Programs in Portland voted 26-12 to join Oregon AFSCME. There are 49 employees in the bargaining unit. They will join Local 1790, newly established for Basic Rights Oregon employees. Janus Youth is a private non-profit that operates around Portland. The clients range from age 13 to 21, with those 18 and older housed separately from the younger kids...
A remarkable look at the gap between black and white unemployment  Washington Post  ...Valerie Wilson at the Economic Policy Institute breaks out data on unemployment by race and state and quarter, allowing for a more refined look at this racial split on jobs. "Nationally" in the second quarter, she writes, "African Americans had the highest unemployment rate, at 9.5 percent, followed by Latinos (6.6 percent), whites (4.6 percent), and Asians (3.8 percent)." What's more, she notes, the state with the lowest black unemployment, Tennessee, had the same unemployment rate for blacks as the white unemployment rate in the state with the highest white unemployment...
The Persistent Stereotype About Latino Workers That Won’t Die  Think Progress  ...During a live taping of The View on Tuesday, guest co-host Kelly Osbourne sparked some outrage among viewers when she stereotyped Latinos as toilet cleaners as a way to rebuke 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The stereotype is rooted in some reality: Latinos do disproportionately work in the agriculture and service industry. The issue with fixating on the stereotype of Latinos who hold low-wage jobs isn’t that it’s demeaning work, but that it’s demeaning pay for the amount of physical labor involved...

Social Justice & Other News
Despite Epic Crash of World Economy, White Collar Prosecutions at 20-Year Low  Common Dreams  ...Despite lofty rhetoric from politicians who vowed in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to hold Wall Street accountable, U.S. Justice Department statistics show a "long-term collapse" of federal white collar crime prosecutions, which are down to their lowest level in 20 years, according to a new report from Syracuse University. The analysis of thousands of records by the university's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) shows a more than 36 percent decline...
A Judge’s Rebuke of Immigration Detention  (opinion) New York Times  ...Children do not belong in prison. The mass detention of families offends American values, a lesson this country learned long ago at Manzanar, Tule Lake, Heart Mountain and the other Japanese-American internment camps of World War II. Learned, but apparently forgotten by the Obama administration, which has just been ordered by a federal judge to release several hundred women and children locked up in its immigration detention centers in southern Texas...
Black and White: Survey Reveals Huge Disparities in Assessing Police Violence  Common Dreams  ...Just days ahead of the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown's killing by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri—a death which propelled the national Black Lives Matter movement and a national conversation about racialized police violence to the forefront—a new poll released Wednesday reveals just how different the perceptions and experiences regarding law enforcement in the United States remain for black community members compared to their white counterparts...

Today's Teamster News 05.29.15

Teamsters
Red Cross workers vote to join Teamsters local in Wichita  Wichita Eagle  ...The Teamsters union said a group of American Red Cross workers who collect blood for the organization in Kansas have voted to join Teamsters Local 795 in Wichita. According to a Teamsters news release, the Wichita bargaining unit will represent 91 workers. The workers voted 64-13 to join the Teamsters, the release said...
Port Truckers Revive Drive for Employee Status  Wall Street Journal  ...Backed by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, port truckers have been filing formal complaints against their employers for years, arguing that they’ve been classified illegally as independent contractors. Alex Paz, a drayage driver in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area who participated in protests earlier this year, said vehicle payments and maintenance often are deducted from drivers’ paychecks, which he believes is unfair...

Global Labor & Trade
New Polls Spotlight Damage of Past Trade Deals, Reveal Opposition to TPP Content  Public Citizen  ...You may have seen the headlines about today’s Reuters/Ipsos poll and yesterday’s Pew poll, touted as showing public support for trade deals. A close look at the polls  reveals that they did not even ask about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Fast Track, the Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA), or any other element of the controversial current trade policy agenda. The U.S. public likes the general notion of trade but opposes the documented results of past trade deals...
Top Dem: Trade deal could restrict access to cheaper medicines  The Hill  ...Rep. Sandy Levin (Mich.), the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, says a new trade deal could be a “major step backwards” on access to affordable medicines. In an op-ed Thursday, Levin raised concerns that the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, which the U.S. is negotiating, will curtail access to generic drugs...
Just in time for House trade debate, opponents find new ammunition  McClatchy  ...The global trade body (World Trade Organization) in Geneva set off a scramble on Capitol Hill last week when it sided with Canada and Mexico in a dispute over the U.S. country-of-origin meat-labeling law, saying it put foreign competitors at a disadvantage.
Obama Trade Bill Seen Gaining Enough Support for Final Passage  Bloomberg  ...Passage of the measure in the Senate last week -- after a brief rebellion by Democrats -- has proven to uncommitted House members that the legislation will come up for a vote. Lawmakers will have to choose between the business lobby, which backs the bill, and labor, environmental and other groups that bitterly oppose it...
AFL-CIO leader warns labor could sit out 2016 fight over trade  The Hill  ...AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka warned Hillary Clinton that his powerful labor union coalition might not endorse her presidential campaign if she comes out in support of the controversial trade deal making its way through Congress. Trumka first said in an interview with USA Today that it would cost Clinton the enthusiasm of organized labor if she backed the Trans-Pacific Partnership...
Is US Trade Rep a Wall Street Crony? Groups Demand Transparency.  Common Dreams  ...Noting deep ties between the country's top trade negotiator and Wall Street banks, ten groups representing millions of Americans are calling on the White House to make public all communications between U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and the massive financial institutions that stand to benefit from proposed trade deals...
Nigeria Petrol Strike Hits Country  BBC  ...Nigeria, Africa's largest economy, is hit with a strike by petroleum companies. Shops are forced to close their doors as delivering goods becomes impossible, and factories across the country shut down production...

State & Living Wage Battles
Michigan May Add Another Hurdle To Getting Welfare  Think Progress  ...Experts say tying welfare benefits to school attendance isn’t the best way to encourage kids to stay in school. Researchers agree that the problem is more of an economic one than a matter of insufficient financial rewards or punishments for parents whose children are frequently absent...
Right-to-work loses in Illinois house, heads for Missouri veto  People's World  ...In a huge rebuke to right-wing GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner's anti-worker agenda, the Democratic-run Illinois House voted his so-called right-to-work bill down, 72-0. While 37 state House Republicans, following Rauner's orders, voted present, another four didn't vote at all. One, Raymond Poe, joined the Democrats in opposing RTW...
Walker says he would be 'pleased' if prevailing wage repeal part of state budget  Star Tribune  ...Gov. Scott Walker says he would be "pleased" if a repeal of Wisconsin's prevailing wage law were a part of the state budget, but he'd also be satisfied with significant changes to the requirement setting construction wages for public works jobs. Walker reiterated his support Thursday for a full repeal, saying he believes that makes sense and is what he prefers...
Irvine bucks the trend as council votes to repeal living wage law  LA Times  ...As cities across the country are warming to the idea of increasing the minimum wage, Irvine is headed in the opposite direction. City Council members voted Tuesday to repeal the 2007 ordinance. A second council vote is needed to finalize repeal of the living wage law. The council meets again next month...
House Leaders: Bill Expanding Worker's Compensation Needs Further Study  Hartford Courant   ...A bill that would significantly expand the workers compensation system for police and firefighters is unlikely to come up for a vote in the House of Representatives this year. House Speaker Brendan Sharkey and Minority leader Themis Klarides both said Wednesday that further study is needed before the legislation is ready for a vote...

U.S. Labor
AFSCME pushing bill to prevent state workers from going on strike, being locked out  State Journal-Register  ...The state's largest public employee union is pushing a bill that would prevent state workers from striking or being locked out in the event talks on a new labor contract stall. Instead, the labor dispute would be handed over to an arbitrator to resolve through binding arbitration...
How We're Voting on the Union, and Why  Gawker  ...Yesterday, Gawker Media announced that we will be holding an election next week to vote on whether our editorial staffers want to form a union. The vote next week is to decide whether we want to agree to collectively bargain as a group, and join the Writers Guild of America, East...
No agreement reached between BP and USW at Oregon refinery  NBC  ...According to a spokesman for BP, the United Steelworkers Union and BP have not reached an agreement. Scott Dean, BP spokesman, says a new collective bargaining agreement has not been reached for employees working at the BP-Husky Toledo Refinery. Even though local issues are not resolved, the union wants to call off the strike and return its members to work...
Union Demands That The Streetcar Open And Fired Workers Be Rehired  DCist  ...The ATU has filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, but it could be weeks or months before it gets resolved. In the meantime, a handful of union members and supporters took to the corner of H and 14th streets NE last Friday to show support for the fired workers and pressure the city to finally open the project. "[The streetcar] needs to become the job creator they said it would be"...

Miscellaneous
Detroit Shuts Off Water For 1,000 Poor Residents Despite City Council’s Call To Stop  Think Progress  ...The Detroit Water and Sewage Department began shutting off water to about 1,000 delinquent accounts on Tuesday, against the wishes of the city council. The department would not make the exact number of households affected available. It distributed about 3,000 door hangers earlier in the month warning residents...
US economy shrinks 0.7% in first quarter as strong dollar eats into growth  The Guardian  ...A harsh winter, a strong dollar and falling oil prices took their toll on the US economy in the first quarter, the Commerce Department revealed on Friday. The quarterly economic decline is the first since the economy shrank by an even sharper 2.1% annual rate in the first quarter of 2014. A bleak winter also contributed to that decline as consumers stayed home and some businesses closed...
Extreme Wealth And Absolute Squalor: Homelessness In Silicon Valley  Think Progress  ...In Silicon Valley, abundant wealth commonly lives alongside absolute squalor. The same county that houses Yahoo!, Google, and scores of other digital money mines is mired in a costly ongoing failure to address rampant homelessness. “The dichotomy here is just astonishing,” Destination: Home executive director Jennifer Loving told ThinkProgress...

Today's Teamster News 05.28.15

Teamsters
American Red Cross Workers Choose Teamsters Union  Teamster.org  ...American Red Cross workers who collect blood throughout the state of Kansas have voted overwhelmingly, 64-13, to join Teamsters Local 795 in Wichita, Kan. There are 91 workers in the bargaining unit.
Stephanie Daniels, a three-year Collection Technician II at Red Cross, helped lead organizing efforts...
Edgewood Center Employees Vote to Become Teamsters  Teamster.org  ...After a hard-fought 11-month campaign, direct care staff at Edgewood Center for Children and Families in San Francisco finally got the news they’ve been waiting for — they are officially Teamsters. “It feels so incredible to finally be able to call ourselves Teamsters,” said Residential Counselor Ashley Nims...
A Foolish Attempt to Weaken Truck Safety  New York Times  ...Public interest groups such as Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety; the Teamsters, which represents truck drivers; and the Obama administration have objected to the trucking provisions in the House bill. And with good reason. In 2013, the latest year for which data is available, 3,964 people died in accidents involving large trucks...

Global Labor & Trade
How The White House And Paul Ryan Are Making Sure Forced Labor Remains Part Of Their Trade Deal  Huff Post  ...The House of Representatives will quickly get down to unfinished business once it returns from the holiday recess: defending trading partners that engage in slavery. The House, according to sources familiar with trade deal negotiations, plans to strip Senate language from fast-track legislation that would ban countries that are the worst human-trafficking and forced-labor offenders from being part of big trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership...
Here’s how much corporations paid US senators to fast-track the TPP bill  The Guardian  ...Out of the total $1,148,971 given, an average of $17,676.48 was donated to each of the 65 “yea” votes. The average Republican member received $19,673.28 from corporate TPP supporters. The average Democrat received $9,689.23 from those same donors. The amounts given rise dramatically when looking at how much each senator running for re-election received...
State Department Officials Pass Through Revolving Door, Lobby for Passage of TPP  The Intercept  ...While Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is refusing to reveal her position on the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, other former State Department officials are actively supporting the agreement. They’re just not bothering to reveal their conflicts of interest...
Obama’s Asia trade deal faces mounting opposition in House  Washington Times  ...After a victory in the Senate, President Obama’s push for a huge free-trade deal with Asia faces a higher hurdle in the House, where an unusual coalition of conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats oppose granting him more executive power. While Republican lawmakers have been fighting Mr. Obama’s “power grab” for years, even some members of the president’s own party are now using the argument about executive overreaching to defy his request for special trade-promotion authority...
Why Is The U.S. Desperate To OK Slavery In Malaysia?  Huff Post  ...Observers are left with a deeper question: Why, in the year 2015, is the White House teaming up with Republican leaders essentially to defend the practice of slavery? Understanding this is key to understanding why President Barack Obama has been pushing so aggressively for a trade deal that so many of his allies insist will harm American workers...
Democrats recount labor's pressure tactics  Politico  ...The real fight over the trade agenda has always been in the House, and that’s where organized labor has been focusing for months. The aggressive effort has left even members who’ll be voting labor’s way bruised, and others who’ll be supporting President Barack Obama anxious enough that many won’t discuss their experiences publicly, instead dispatching staffers to speak on their behalf...
Secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership is more treaty than trade deal  (opinion) The Hill   ...The latest draft of the TPP comes out to around 1,000 pages, making public review a challenge even without the severe time constraints fast-track would impose. In reality the deal is more treaty than tariff reduction measure and should not even be eligible for fast-tracking. This deal needs to be fully reviewed as a treaty, debated and voted on by the U.S. Senate in full sunlight, with a two-thirds vote requirement to ratify...
Pro-TPP arguments show desperation   (opinion) Aljazeera America  ...In the last few weeks, TPP advocates have repeatedly tripped up, getting their facts wrong and their logic twisted. This hit parade of failed arguments should be sufficient to convince any fence sitters that this deal is not worth doing. After all, if you have a good product, you don’t have to make up nonsense to sell it...
Cameron Sets Up Battle With Labor Unions Over Strike Laws  Bloomberg  ...U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron set himself on a collision course with labor unions as his government announced legislation limiting the right to strike. Ballots for strike action will only be valid if more than half of eligible workers take part...

State & Living Wage Battles
New Jersey Workers Are Making Paid Sick Leave A Big Question For Christie On The Campaign Trail  Think Progress  ...Members of NJWF organized a protest outside a New York City fundraiser for the likely presidential contender’s super PAC, the latest in a series of demonstrations the group has held at Christie fundraisers in cities which already have paid sick leave legislation. “We need to pass a statewide bill that will cover the 1.2 million workers who regularly have to choose between their livelihood and their heath and the health of their family”...
Scott Walker Dumped as Chair of the Jobs Agency He Created  Truthout  ...Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker won his election in 2010 on a promise to create 250,000 new jobs. To lead the effort, Walker created his flagship Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) in 2011 and named himself Chairman. Now, as allegations of cronyism and corruption engulf WEDC, the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee has removed Walker...
Scott Walker is a giant fraud: Reagan worship, bizarre religious beliefs, and the real story of his long crusade for 2016  Salon  ...In 2011, Walker blamed teachers, snow-plow drivers and other public workers for the budgetary problems caused by the Great Recession, cutting their benefits to “repair” state finances. Four years later, Wisconsin has an almost identical budget deficit. His response to the current budget crisis is to force public schools and the University of Wisconsin system to shoulder the brunt of the cost...
Minimum wage hike to $9.60 gets R.I. Senate panel approval  Providence Journal  ...Rhode Island moved another step closer to a fourth increase in its minimum wage in four years Wednesday.
The Senate Labor Committee unanimously approved an amended bill that would raise the minimum wage from $9 an hour to $9.60 an hour on Jan. 1, 2016. There was no committee discussion...
Florida Senate offers Medicaid compromise, Rick Scott and the Kochs reject it  Daily Kos  ...Florida's Senate President Andy Gardner offered a compromise Tuesday to try to get the state's legislature out of a budget impasse. That impasse could be resolved, the Senate has maintained, by accepting Medicaid expansion under Obamacare. So, to try to get a recalcitrant House and Gov. Rick Scott to agree, Gardner modified the Senate proposal. That was quickly rejected by Scott and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli...
GOP lawmakers advance prevailing wage repeal  Journal-Sentinel  ...s Assembly Republicans moved a bill repealing Wisconsin's prevailing wage law out of committee Wednesday, Gov. Scott Walker made clear he supports ending or overhauling the 84-year-old policy that sets a minimum wage for construction workers building publicly funded projects...
Don’t Like Minimum Wage Increases? Be Mad at the Top Earners  TIME  ...Some argue that increasing the federal minimum wage would be bad for the economy, would cause layoffs, and would kill small businesses. These arguments have been disproven not only by time and experience, but also by longitudinal research studies, according to the Department of Labor...

U.S. Labor
UAW Rival at VW Represented by 'Union Avoidance' Expert  ABC News  ...The rival group to the United Auto Workers union at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee brands itself as local, independent and free of outside influence or political agenda. But the American Council of Employees won't divulge how it is funded, and the lawyer who recently filed the group's overdue disclosures with the U.S. Department of Labor touts his expertise in "union avoidance"...
10 reasons Wal-Mart is the worst company in America  Salon  ...The retail giant’s famous anti-union policies are nothing new and appear to be getting worse all the time. As further proof of this, a new Walmart training video leaked online has illustrated the specific propaganda the company feeds their employees to prevent them from organizing...
UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta's story to be featured at Smithsonian  Bakersfield Californian  ...The accolades keep coming for Bakersfield resident Dolores Huerta, a pillar of the agricultural labor movement of the 1960s ande '70s. She'll be featured starting this summer at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The story of the modern agricultural workers' movement and Huerta's colorful life are deeply intertwined...
Negotiations continue between UAW, Ford  Lima Ohio  ...nited Automobile Workers Local 1219 and Ford Motor Co. Lima Engine Plant are currently negotiating the next contract, though national discussions have not yet started. The first meeting between local UAW representatives and Ford was April 28, said Mike Felix, plant manager at the Lima Engine Plant...

Miscellaneous
Dems Back Debt-Free College as Issue Moves Into Election Spotlight  Common Dreams  ...Nine additional Democratic senators on Wednesday came out in support of a resolution calling for debt-free public college, bringing to 20 the total number of Senate Dems who support the measure, introduced only a month ago by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). The resolution calls on federal and state governments, along with higher education institutions, to work in concert to lower tuition costs, increase financial aid, and reduce the burden of existing student debt...
Given Rampant White-Collar Crime, FIFA Raid Raises Questions About DOJ Priorities  Common Dreams  ...While the early morning raid and arrest of several high-ranking officials with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) captivated the international news circuit Wednesday morning, many observers were left wondering: With so many corrupt bankers, politicians, and other one-percenters still free to walk the streets here in the United States, why has the U.S. Department of Justice set its sights on FIFA?...