Teamsters
Hoffa Calls on House to Vote Down Flawed Trade Adjustment Assistance Bill Teamster.org ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa challenged House representatives to vote down a severely flawed Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) bill in a letter delivered this morning. Hoffa questioned the lack of funding and protection for public service workers in the TAA bill...
Teamsters Corrections Employees Picket, Protest Threat Of Washington State Government Shutdown Teamster.org ...Teamster corrections employees picketed at the Monroe Correctional Complex in Monroe and the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla on Thursday to demand that the legislature pass a budget that funds their contract and prevents a costly government shutdown. Picketers at both facilities held signs that read: DOC Corrections Employees – Keeping our Communities Safe – and they urged the public to support them...
Teamsters get back into Convention Center Philly.com ...In yet another complicated twist to the Pennsylvania Convention Center saga, members of the Teamsters local that had lost the right to work in the building are back in the building working. In May 2014, two of the six unions that worked in the building setting up trade shows lost jurisdiction when their leaders failed to sign a new customer satisfaction agreement by a management-imposed deadline.
Global Labor & Trade
Obama’s Trade Bills Face Tough Battle Against House Democrats New York Times ...President Obama’s ambitious push to expand his trade negotiating powers faces a final congressional showdown on Friday, but lawmakers in his own party — pressed hard by organized labor, environmental groups and liberal activists — are threatening to bring down the entire package of trade bills...
Could liberals bring down Obama’s big trade agenda? Washington Post ...President Obama’s trade agenda is really hanging in the balance right now, as the bill giving him Fast Track authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal appears balanced on the edge of a knife in the House of Representatives...
Backlash Against TPP Grows as Leaked Text Reveals Increased Corporate Control of Public Health Democracy Now ...As the Obama administration praises the benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), backlash continues to grow against the deal. WikiLeaks has just published another section of the secret text — this one about public healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry. Newly revealed details of the draft show the TPP would give major pharmaceutical companies more power...
Trade Bill in Jeopardy as Democrats Hold Back National Journal ...The fate of President Obama's fast-track trade bill remained uncertain Thursday afternoon even after clearing a key hurdle, as Democrats expressed growing concern with the slice of the package that helps train workers who lose their jobs as a result of a future trade deal. The Trade Adjustment Assistance bill—a key provision for Democrats—is vital to passing Trade Promotion Authority, legislation that gives Congress and up-or-down vote on trade deals negotiated by the president...
Republicans Tie Their Favorite Causes to the Trade Agreement New York Times ...For Representative F. James Sensenbrenner, Republican of Wisconsin, there is language promising that no trade deals can compel the United States to address climate change. For anti-immigrant firebrand Steve King, Republican of Iowa, another provision would prohibit future trade deals from loosening immigration laws or expanding visa access...
Why the Founding Fathers Would Oppose Fast Track Eyes on Trade ...Morrison warns in a letter to Congress that the TPP’s proposed expansion of a controversial parallel legal system for foreign corporations, known as “investor-state dispute settlement” (ISDS), “improperly removes a core judicial function from the federal courts and therefore violates Article III of the Constitution.” TPP’s expansion of ISDS would newly empower thousands of foreign corporations to bypass the entire U.S. legal system...
Obama’s trade deal is a Trojan horse (opinion) MSNBC ...President Barack Obama has ditched his renowned cool to go on the warpath against Democratic senators, small business leaders, American unions, and faith, environmental and health organizations that oppose the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement he wants to enact. Improbably, Obama is united with the Wall Street titans, big business interests and Republican congressional leaders who tried to keep him out of office to revive a Nixon-era procedure called “fast track” that could railroad the TPP through Congress...
Child Labor Stems from Lack of Good Jobs for Adults Solidarity Center ...Some 168 million children remain trapped in child labor—11 percent of the world’s child population—even as 200 million youth in 2012 were working but earning less than $2 per day, according to an International Labor Organization (ILO) report released this week. “Both child labor and the youth decent work deficit are symptomatic of the general lack of sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the global economy and in developing economies in particular,” according to the report.
State & Living Wage Battles
Virginia Democrats sue over voter ID law Associated Press ...Virginia Democrats are trying to strike down the state’s voter ID law, joining efforts in two other swing states to challenge voting laws ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The Democratic Party of Virginia said it filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against the State Board of Elections seeking to undo the state’s voter photo ID provision...
There Is No Budget Surplus in Wisconsin PR Watch ...Walker does not have a surplus. He has a $2.2 billion deficit and a big problem. With his budget committee now caught up in a hot debate over how to fund the Bucks’ new arena and bankroll new road-building, Joint Finance is stuck, with no new meetings scheduled. The standoff could delay Walker’s much-anticipated announcement as a candidate for president...
“Something is rotten in Michigan”: Poisoned water supplies, dissolved school districts and a massive unraveling of American democracy Salon ...If you’re thinking, “Who cares?” since what happens in Michigan stays in Michigan, think again. The state’s aggressive balance-the-books style of governance has already spread beyond its borders. In January, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie appointed bankruptcy lawyer and former Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr to be a “legal adviser” to Atlantic City...
The Koch Brothers Usually Have Scott Walker's Back. Not This Time. Mother Jones ...The Koch brothers and their political machine have long been key allies of Wisconsin governor and presumptive 2016 hopeful Scott Walker. With the GOP presidential field getting more crowded by the day and political observers wondering who will win the Koch Primary—and the financial backing of these billionaires and their donor network—Walker has sparked a controversy in his home state in which and he and Team Koch are on opposite sides...
Why Scott Walker is Even More of a Menace Than He Seems Counterpunch ...Having gutted public sector unions in Wisconsin, attacking organized labor in one of its proudest strongholds, Governor Scott Walker now has his sights set on another of his state’s glories, the University of Wisconsin. His target is the entire university and college system, but what sets him off most is Wisconsin’s “flagship” campus in Madison...
Emanuel to rely on worker complaints to enforce higher minimum wage Chicago Tribune ...en the minimum wage in Chicago increases to $10 an hour July 1, Mayor Rahm Emanuel will rely mainly on workers filing complaints against their bosses to make sure thousands of businesses big and small comply with the new standards. Emanuel was out Wednesday reminding people about the $1.75-an-hour wage hike, casting the bump in pay for about 200,000 workers in human terms for struggling families...
Chris Christie Suggests College Students Should Sell Themselves To Investors To Pay Tuition Think Progress ...Christie also mentioned income share agreements, which allow students to essentially issue stock in themselves. It allows people to invest in college students, or to “own human capital contracts,” which means that an investor could pay a portion of the student’s tuition to attend college in exchange for that student giving the investor a certain percentage of their income for so many years...
U.S. Labor
USW Ratifies New Contract at Hawesville, Kentucky Smelter MarketWatch ...Century Aluminum of Kentucky General Partnership (the "Company"), a subsidiary of Century Aluminum Company, announced today that a new, five-year collective bargaining agreement was ratified by the United Steelworkers Local 9423 on June 11, 2015 for the Company's Hawesville, Kentucky smelter. The new contract is effective today through April 1, 2020...
Hayward, SEIU Local 1021 reach tentative contract agreement Contra Costa Times ...The city reached a tentative contract agreement with the union representing its clerical and maintenance, ending a lengthy labor dispute. The agreement with SEIU Local 1021 was announced Thursday following a 12-hour negotiating session Wednesday. Details of the agreement were not available pending a vote by union members...
Better Enforcement of Farmworker Heat Rules as UFW and Brown Administration Settle Lawsuit Huffington Post ...Timelier, more effective, and more consistent inspections of farm and other outdoor worksites under California's recently improved heat-illness-prevention regulations will follow the settlement of two lawsuits between the Jerry Brown administration's work-safety agency and farmworkers partnering with the United Farm Workers (UFW)...
AFSCME members continue to voice displeasure with contract negotiations at rally State Journal-Register ...Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees continued their string of protests against Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday at the Old State Capitol. An AFSCME bulletin obtained by The State Journal-Register in May states the governor wants a salary freeze, reduced vacation time and cuts to health insurance...
New DC JWJ Report Reveals Unfair Scheduling Practices in DC DC Jobs with Justice ...In line with previous research, it finds that “just in time” approaches to scheduling negatively impact many D.C. employees’ lives, often resulting in erratic and unpredictable hours for the women and men who serve our food, stock our shelves and sweep our floors. Employees are granted too few hours on too short notice, resulting in unpredictable incomes and work schedules that make it hard to budget, arrange childcare, continue with education or hold down a second job to try to make ends meet...
National labor board says tribal sovereignty trumps NLRB protection in Chickasaw casino case Tulsa World ...Tribal sovereignty trumps federal protection by a national labor board in a case of union-organizing complaints at the state’s largest casino, the board found this month.
The June 4 opinion by the National Labor Relations Board contradicts a recent appeals court decision regarding a similar dispute with another tribe and its casino...
Miscellaneous
Iceland Jailed Bankers and Rejected Austerity—and It’s Been a Success TruthDig ...When the global economic crisis hit in 2008, Iceland suffered terribly—perhaps more than any other country. Now, less than a decade later, the nation’s economy is booming. That’s because it took a different approach. Instead of imposing devastating austerity measures and bailing out its banks, Iceland let its banks go bust and focused on social welfare policies...
Big Pharma's Hidden Hand In Rise of Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs Common Dreams ...From the World Health Organization to the National Academy of Sciences, scientists are warning that rising antibiotic resistance poses a public health threat across the world. Now, a new report from consumer advocacy group Sum Of Us examines an often-overlooked factor behind this crisis: the complicity of pharmaceutical giants in the dangerous dumping of drug waste throughout the supply chain...
Showing posts with label TAA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TAA. Show all posts
Friday, June 12, 2015
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Today's Teamster News 06.11.15
Teamsters
Hoffa: TAA Will Offer Little Help to Workers Hit Hard by Trade Huffington Post ...For years, the Teamsters have been strong supporters of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) legislative efforts that have offered support to thousands of workers who have lost their jobs due to bad trade deals. But not this time. As lawmakers get ready to consider TAA legislation in the House in an effort to sweeten the pot and encourage the passage of the fast track trade bill, they too should reconsider their support of the measure...
United Airlines Maintenance Workers Warn Shareholders of Problems at Airline Teamster.org ...United Airlines aviation maintenance technicians and related support personnel rallied outside the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Chicago today to warn investors and customers of problems at the airline. More than 9,000 Teamster aviation maintenance workers are seeking a fair collective bargaining agreement...
Clark County School District Employees To Vote For Teamster Representation Teamster.org ...Today, in a major victory for support staff workers at the Clark County School District (CCSD) in southern Nevada, the Employee-Management Relations Board (EMRB) announced a union election to be held November. The ballots will be mailed on November 2 and counted on December 5 in a simple-majority vote for Teamster representation at the nation’s fifth largest school district...
Teamsters Kick Off Carhaul Negotiations in Chicago Teamster.org ...Six days after the Teamsters exchanged contract proposals with the carhaul employer group, the union kicked off negotiations in Chicago today for a new national contract covering almost 6,000 employees. “Today is the start of a long process to negotiate a strong contract for our carhaul members, and we will not stop until we address our members’ concerns at the bargaining table,” said Kevin Moore, Director of the Teamsters Carhaul Division...
Hoffa: Safety Of Motorists Could Be Jeopardized By Transportation Bill Teamster.org ...Highways across Michigan and the U.S. have become increasingly dangerous for motorists. And that will only get worse if Congress approves a transportation spending bill that effectively keeps the suspension of rules in place that allow truck drivers to work longer hours, that permits larger double-trailers and that prevents the U.S. Department of Transportation from raising minimum insurance standards that have been frozen in place for the last three decades...
United Airlines employees protest at annual meeting Chicago Tribune ...Frustration among United Airlines' 9,000 unionized maintenance technicians, some of whom demonstrated outside the carrier's headquarters in Chicago on Wednesday, spilled over to the corporate annual meeting inside. United and the workers, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, have been working on a joint contract since January 2013 that covers workers of United and Continental, which merged in 2010. Mediated talks are scheduled to continue next week in Las Vegas...
D.C. area Teamsters endorse Donna Edwards for Senate Washington Post ...Rep. Donna F. Edwards (D-Md.) has won support from the Washington area Teamsters for her Maryland Senate campaign, two months after her primary rival U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) scored the first union endorsement in the contest. The Teamsters Local #639, which represents about 8,500 workers in Maryland, Virginia and the District and is largest in the region, announced their decision Wednesday...
Global Labor & Trade
House GOP prepares for close 'fast track' vote USA Today ...Seeing momentum for passage, House Republicans are aiming to move forward Friday with an anticipated close vote to renew trade promotion authority. The "fast track" trade bill is a top priority for Republicans and President Obama, but overwhelming opposition from the majority of congressional Democrats has pro-trade lawmakers anticipating a tight vote...
John Boehner set to move ahead on trade Politico ...Speaker John Boehner plans to bring a package of trade bills to the House floor Friday, despite lingering disagreements with Democrats. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), wading into the fast-track trade fight for the first time publicly, spent all week pressing Boehner to change the package, which passed the Senate last month...
Labor chief rebukes Obama in letter The Hill ...AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka this week sent President Obama a five-page letter slamming his push for fast-track trade authority, arguing labor unions have been treated unfairly throughout the process. Trumka railed against Obama in the letter, which was sent on Monday, asserting that he has “repeatedly isolated and marginalized labor and unions as the only opponents of fast track” and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
Hoffa: TAA Will Offer Little Help to Workers Hit Hard by Trade Huffington Post ...For years, the Teamsters have been strong supporters of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) legislative efforts that have offered support to thousands of workers who have lost their jobs due to bad trade deals. But not this time. As lawmakers get ready to consider TAA legislation in the House in an effort to sweeten the pot and encourage the passage of the fast track trade bill, they too should reconsider their support of the measure...
United Airlines Maintenance Workers Warn Shareholders of Problems at Airline Teamster.org ...United Airlines aviation maintenance technicians and related support personnel rallied outside the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Chicago today to warn investors and customers of problems at the airline. More than 9,000 Teamster aviation maintenance workers are seeking a fair collective bargaining agreement...
Clark County School District Employees To Vote For Teamster Representation Teamster.org ...Today, in a major victory for support staff workers at the Clark County School District (CCSD) in southern Nevada, the Employee-Management Relations Board (EMRB) announced a union election to be held November. The ballots will be mailed on November 2 and counted on December 5 in a simple-majority vote for Teamster representation at the nation’s fifth largest school district...
Teamsters Kick Off Carhaul Negotiations in Chicago Teamster.org ...Six days after the Teamsters exchanged contract proposals with the carhaul employer group, the union kicked off negotiations in Chicago today for a new national contract covering almost 6,000 employees. “Today is the start of a long process to negotiate a strong contract for our carhaul members, and we will not stop until we address our members’ concerns at the bargaining table,” said Kevin Moore, Director of the Teamsters Carhaul Division...
Hoffa: Safety Of Motorists Could Be Jeopardized By Transportation Bill Teamster.org ...Highways across Michigan and the U.S. have become increasingly dangerous for motorists. And that will only get worse if Congress approves a transportation spending bill that effectively keeps the suspension of rules in place that allow truck drivers to work longer hours, that permits larger double-trailers and that prevents the U.S. Department of Transportation from raising minimum insurance standards that have been frozen in place for the last three decades...
United Airlines employees protest at annual meeting Chicago Tribune ...Frustration among United Airlines' 9,000 unionized maintenance technicians, some of whom demonstrated outside the carrier's headquarters in Chicago on Wednesday, spilled over to the corporate annual meeting inside. United and the workers, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, have been working on a joint contract since January 2013 that covers workers of United and Continental, which merged in 2010. Mediated talks are scheduled to continue next week in Las Vegas...
D.C. area Teamsters endorse Donna Edwards for Senate Washington Post ...Rep. Donna F. Edwards (D-Md.) has won support from the Washington area Teamsters for her Maryland Senate campaign, two months after her primary rival U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) scored the first union endorsement in the contest. The Teamsters Local #639, which represents about 8,500 workers in Maryland, Virginia and the District and is largest in the region, announced their decision Wednesday...
Global Labor & Trade
House GOP prepares for close 'fast track' vote USA Today ...Seeing momentum for passage, House Republicans are aiming to move forward Friday with an anticipated close vote to renew trade promotion authority. The "fast track" trade bill is a top priority for Republicans and President Obama, but overwhelming opposition from the majority of congressional Democrats has pro-trade lawmakers anticipating a tight vote...
John Boehner set to move ahead on trade Politico ...Speaker John Boehner plans to bring a package of trade bills to the House floor Friday, despite lingering disagreements with Democrats. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), wading into the fast-track trade fight for the first time publicly, spent all week pressing Boehner to change the package, which passed the Senate last month...
Labor chief rebukes Obama in letter The Hill ...AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka this week sent President Obama a five-page letter slamming his push for fast-track trade authority, arguing labor unions have been treated unfairly throughout the process. Trumka railed against Obama in the letter, which was sent on Monday, asserting that he has “repeatedly isolated and marginalized labor and unions as the only opponents of fast track” and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
Paul Ryan Seeks to Bar Obama From Tweaking Immigration, Climate-Change Law Wall Street Journal ...Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) is seeking to prevent President Barack Obama from using trade agreements to make changes to U.S. laws on immigration and climate change, a move aimed at reassuring conservatives wary of voting to give Mr. Obama special trade authority...
House passes bill to repeal meat labeling rules The Hill ...The House passed legislation late Wednesday that would repeal country-of-origin labeling requirements for beef, pork and chicken products. Passage of the measure came easily on a vote of 300-131. The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled last month against the U.S. appeal to keep its existing country-of-origin labeling regulation for imported cuts of beef and pork...
Leaked trade deal terms prompt fears for Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme The Guardian ...The leak of new information on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) shows the mega-trade deal could provide more ways for multinational corporations to influence Australia’s control of its pharmaceutical regulations. Revealed via Wikileaks, the annexe on “transparency and procedural fairness for pharmaceutical products and medical devices” uncovered the draft agreements regarding medicines between the 12 TPPA member countries...
House passes bill to repeal meat labeling rules The Hill ...The House passed legislation late Wednesday that would repeal country-of-origin labeling requirements for beef, pork and chicken products. Passage of the measure came easily on a vote of 300-131. The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled last month against the U.S. appeal to keep its existing country-of-origin labeling regulation for imported cuts of beef and pork...
Leaked trade deal terms prompt fears for Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme The Guardian ...The leak of new information on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) shows the mega-trade deal could provide more ways for multinational corporations to influence Australia’s control of its pharmaceutical regulations. Revealed via Wikileaks, the annexe on “transparency and procedural fairness for pharmaceutical products and medical devices” uncovered the draft agreements regarding medicines between the 12 TPPA member countries...
Left wingers stage anti-austerity protest at Greek finance ministry, as bailout talks continue Associated Press ...Greek left-wing demonstrators are staging a sit-in at the finance ministry building in central Athens, in a protest against the radical, left-led government, which they accuse of planning new austerity measures. Thursday's protest came as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is engaged in a diplomatic offensive in Brussels to try to persuade European creditors to pay out the bailout loans the country needs to avoid default...
Jobsite Improvements Can’t Happen without Workers Solidarity Center ...The global economy generally is unregulated and the system encourages multinational corporations to operate or source from countries where wages are low, laws to protect human rights are few or unenforced and workers are impoverished and vulnerable, Shawna Bader-Blau, Solidarity Center executive director, said before the Canadian Parliament late yesterday...
State & Living Wage Battles
Scott Walker Congratulates Himself On His Education Record But Leaves Out Important Facts Think Progress ...In an op-ed for The Des Moines Register, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) talked up his record on education, saying that his decisions to get rid of teacher tenure and seniority and encourage the growth of more charter schools is responsible for better graduation rates and higher third grade reading scores. The data is skewed a little by the fact that the ACT test is largely taken in the Midwest and not on the east coast, and is required in certain states and not in others...
Kansas Waffles On Restriction That Would Only Let People Withdraw A Max Of $25 From Welfare Each Day Think Progress ...Though Kansas has been deadlocked over whether to raise taxes — something that should be unthinkable under its “tea party experiment” of baiting economic growth with lower taxes — it may be rolling back one particularly egregious aspect of restricting benefits on the poor...
California: Raise in Minimum Wage in Los Angeles Is to Be Signed Saturday New York Times ...Officials have given final approval to an ordinance that makes Los Angeles the largest city in the United States to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. The City Council on Wednesday voted 12 to 1 for the increase and forwarded it to Mayor Eric Garcetti. His office says he plans to sign it on Saturday...
Could West Virginia Lose Prevailing Wage? WDTV ...Prevailing wage has the potential to disappear temporality come next month. On Monday June 8th, a Republican-led committee voted to not extend the deadline to set a new prevailing wage in our state. The agency met a June 1st deadline to share it's method on how the wage would be reached, but If WorkForce West Virginia doesn’t submit more details on it's plans by July 1st, the state will no longer have a prevailing wage for the time being...
Walmart Violated Minimum Wage Laws, Federal Judge Rules Huffington Post ...Wal-Mart could be on the hook for more than $100 million in back pay after a federal judge ruled the company failed to pay California minimum wage to truck drivers for activities that included inspecting and washing their trucks, an attorney said Wednesday. The ruling came after the company argued that the drivers are paid for particular activities that include those tasks...
Council Rejects Prevailing Wage Ordinance Woodstock Independent ...The Woodstock City Council refused to pass a state-mandated prevailing wage ordinance at its June 2 meeting, a vote that will likely prove to be symbolic. The vote came after a presentation from Larson detailing the cost to municipalities of Illinois’ prevailing wage laws. Such laws, which exist at the federal level as well as in 32 states, dictate the hourly wage and benefits paid to many government-contracted laborers, workers and mechanics...
U.S. Labor
With Thousands Marching in the Streets, Chicago Teachers Union Declares ‘This Means War!’ In These Times ...Cries of “this means war!” echoed throughout Chicago’s financial district this Tuesday as teachers demonstrated against the Board of Education ahead of union contract negotiations this summer. The rally, which began in front of Chicago’s James R. Thompson center, served as an unofficial kickoff for the CTU’s campaign to bargain a new contract with CPS’s Board of Education, which represents 400,000 students and the country’s third-largest school district. The current contract expires on June 30...
Now interns are unionizing, too Washington Post ...Of all workplace positions, perhaps none is quite so exploitable — at least stereotypically — as the intern. Sometimes paid, but often not, they're asked to perform duties nobody else wants to do in exchange for that essential first line on a resume indicating “experience.” Haley Quinn, a 20-year-old student at New York University, thought life could be a lot better for the nation’s youngest professionals. Last summer, while interning at the American Federation of Teachers in Washington, D.C., she did what seemed natural in that environment: Organizing her co-workers...
Agreement with Cal-OSHA gives UFW bigger role in heat protection enforcement Bakersfield Californian ...Cal-OSHA, the state’s workplace safety agency, has agreed to adjust its approach to heat-illness protections, including stepping up inspections during the warmest weather and targeting repeat offenders, under a lawsuit settlement announced Wednesday by the United Farm Workers labor union. The agreement gives the UFW a bigger role in reporting employers it suspects of violating existing rules, and calls on the union to do more to persuade field workers to cooperate with state inspectors...
Clark County stops pay increases for SEIU members Las Vegas Review-Journal ...Clark County management has informed its largest union that employees won’t receive salary or benefit increases anytime soon, citing a new state law and contending that the contract between the county and Service Employees International Union Local 1107 has expired. The freeze is expected to end in August or early September, when the county expects to have a new contract in place with the union...
Saline UAW workers avoid strike minutes before deadline Click On Detroit ...A Saline auto parts plant avoided a potential United Auto Workers strike. They reached a deal minutes before midnight with auto supplier Faurecia. The union had told its members to prepare for strike assignments at 5:30 a.m. Thursday. UAW Local 892 President Larry Robinson passed out a negotiations update Wednesday, which regarded the end of deadline extensions, concluding that, if there is no deal at midnight, "unless you hear otherwise, you should consider yourself on strike"...
USW to vote Thursday to end lockout at Century Aluminum's Hawesville smelter Platts ...Hundreds of union members would return to work Monday at Century Aluminum's 244,000 mt/year Hawesville smelter in Kentucky if the United Steelworkers union ratifies a tentative agreement with the Chicago-based company to end a monthlong lockout, a USW official said Wednesday. The five-year deal was hammered out Tuesday by negotiators with the assistance of a federal mediator...
Miscellaneous
'Infrastructure? Who Cares,' Says GOP-Led House as it Slashes Amtrak Budget Common Dreams ...The GOP-led U.S. House of Representatives late Tuesday voted to slash $242 million from the Amtrak budget. "Amtrak currently receives $1.3 billion from the government, most of which goes toward capital improvements and debt service," AP reports. "The GOP-drafted measure cuts $242 million from capital accounts but fully funds the $289 million request for operating losses"...
Here little lady, let me tell you how banking works: Jamie Dimon mansplains to Elizabeth Warren Salon ...Jamie Dimon, the billionaire CEO of JP Morgan Chase and face of Wall Street bankers, doesn’t think Senator Elizabeth Warren “fully understands the global banking system” but he’s reportedly offered to meet with her and explain a few things. Dimon told a group of bankers at a luncheon for The Executives’ Club of Chicago today that although he agrees with some of the concerns expressed by America’s most vocal critic of Wall Street, he just doesn’t think that Warren actually gets how the whole global banking thing works...
Police Kill Black Women Too—and We Don't Talk About It Enough Mother Jones ...During protests that shook Baltimore in April, Freddie Gray's name became a rallying cry in calls for criminal justice reform nationwide. But how many of us have heard of Rekia Boyd, the 22-year-old unarmed black woman who was fatally shot by a police detective in Chicago back in 2012? Just five days before demonstrations erupted for Gray in Maryland and then across the country, a judge acquitted the Chicago detective who killed Boyd, despite finding that he had acted in a manner that was "beyond reckless"...
Jobsite Improvements Can’t Happen without Workers Solidarity Center ...The global economy generally is unregulated and the system encourages multinational corporations to operate or source from countries where wages are low, laws to protect human rights are few or unenforced and workers are impoverished and vulnerable, Shawna Bader-Blau, Solidarity Center executive director, said before the Canadian Parliament late yesterday...
State & Living Wage Battles
Scott Walker Congratulates Himself On His Education Record But Leaves Out Important Facts Think Progress ...In an op-ed for The Des Moines Register, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) talked up his record on education, saying that his decisions to get rid of teacher tenure and seniority and encourage the growth of more charter schools is responsible for better graduation rates and higher third grade reading scores. The data is skewed a little by the fact that the ACT test is largely taken in the Midwest and not on the east coast, and is required in certain states and not in others...
Kansas Waffles On Restriction That Would Only Let People Withdraw A Max Of $25 From Welfare Each Day Think Progress ...Though Kansas has been deadlocked over whether to raise taxes — something that should be unthinkable under its “tea party experiment” of baiting economic growth with lower taxes — it may be rolling back one particularly egregious aspect of restricting benefits on the poor...
California: Raise in Minimum Wage in Los Angeles Is to Be Signed Saturday New York Times ...Officials have given final approval to an ordinance that makes Los Angeles the largest city in the United States to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. The City Council on Wednesday voted 12 to 1 for the increase and forwarded it to Mayor Eric Garcetti. His office says he plans to sign it on Saturday...
Could West Virginia Lose Prevailing Wage? WDTV ...Prevailing wage has the potential to disappear temporality come next month. On Monday June 8th, a Republican-led committee voted to not extend the deadline to set a new prevailing wage in our state. The agency met a June 1st deadline to share it's method on how the wage would be reached, but If WorkForce West Virginia doesn’t submit more details on it's plans by July 1st, the state will no longer have a prevailing wage for the time being...
Walmart Violated Minimum Wage Laws, Federal Judge Rules Huffington Post ...Wal-Mart could be on the hook for more than $100 million in back pay after a federal judge ruled the company failed to pay California minimum wage to truck drivers for activities that included inspecting and washing their trucks, an attorney said Wednesday. The ruling came after the company argued that the drivers are paid for particular activities that include those tasks...
Council Rejects Prevailing Wage Ordinance Woodstock Independent ...The Woodstock City Council refused to pass a state-mandated prevailing wage ordinance at its June 2 meeting, a vote that will likely prove to be symbolic. The vote came after a presentation from Larson detailing the cost to municipalities of Illinois’ prevailing wage laws. Such laws, which exist at the federal level as well as in 32 states, dictate the hourly wage and benefits paid to many government-contracted laborers, workers and mechanics...
U.S. Labor
With Thousands Marching in the Streets, Chicago Teachers Union Declares ‘This Means War!’ In These Times ...Cries of “this means war!” echoed throughout Chicago’s financial district this Tuesday as teachers demonstrated against the Board of Education ahead of union contract negotiations this summer. The rally, which began in front of Chicago’s James R. Thompson center, served as an unofficial kickoff for the CTU’s campaign to bargain a new contract with CPS’s Board of Education, which represents 400,000 students and the country’s third-largest school district. The current contract expires on June 30...
Now interns are unionizing, too Washington Post ...Of all workplace positions, perhaps none is quite so exploitable — at least stereotypically — as the intern. Sometimes paid, but often not, they're asked to perform duties nobody else wants to do in exchange for that essential first line on a resume indicating “experience.” Haley Quinn, a 20-year-old student at New York University, thought life could be a lot better for the nation’s youngest professionals. Last summer, while interning at the American Federation of Teachers in Washington, D.C., she did what seemed natural in that environment: Organizing her co-workers...
Agreement with Cal-OSHA gives UFW bigger role in heat protection enforcement Bakersfield Californian ...Cal-OSHA, the state’s workplace safety agency, has agreed to adjust its approach to heat-illness protections, including stepping up inspections during the warmest weather and targeting repeat offenders, under a lawsuit settlement announced Wednesday by the United Farm Workers labor union. The agreement gives the UFW a bigger role in reporting employers it suspects of violating existing rules, and calls on the union to do more to persuade field workers to cooperate with state inspectors...
Clark County stops pay increases for SEIU members Las Vegas Review-Journal ...Clark County management has informed its largest union that employees won’t receive salary or benefit increases anytime soon, citing a new state law and contending that the contract between the county and Service Employees International Union Local 1107 has expired. The freeze is expected to end in August or early September, when the county expects to have a new contract in place with the union...
Saline UAW workers avoid strike minutes before deadline Click On Detroit ...A Saline auto parts plant avoided a potential United Auto Workers strike. They reached a deal minutes before midnight with auto supplier Faurecia. The union had told its members to prepare for strike assignments at 5:30 a.m. Thursday. UAW Local 892 President Larry Robinson passed out a negotiations update Wednesday, which regarded the end of deadline extensions, concluding that, if there is no deal at midnight, "unless you hear otherwise, you should consider yourself on strike"...
USW to vote Thursday to end lockout at Century Aluminum's Hawesville smelter Platts ...Hundreds of union members would return to work Monday at Century Aluminum's 244,000 mt/year Hawesville smelter in Kentucky if the United Steelworkers union ratifies a tentative agreement with the Chicago-based company to end a monthlong lockout, a USW official said Wednesday. The five-year deal was hammered out Tuesday by negotiators with the assistance of a federal mediator...
Miscellaneous
'Infrastructure? Who Cares,' Says GOP-Led House as it Slashes Amtrak Budget Common Dreams ...The GOP-led U.S. House of Representatives late Tuesday voted to slash $242 million from the Amtrak budget. "Amtrak currently receives $1.3 billion from the government, most of which goes toward capital improvements and debt service," AP reports. "The GOP-drafted measure cuts $242 million from capital accounts but fully funds the $289 million request for operating losses"...
Here little lady, let me tell you how banking works: Jamie Dimon mansplains to Elizabeth Warren Salon ...Jamie Dimon, the billionaire CEO of JP Morgan Chase and face of Wall Street bankers, doesn’t think Senator Elizabeth Warren “fully understands the global banking system” but he’s reportedly offered to meet with her and explain a few things. Dimon told a group of bankers at a luncheon for The Executives’ Club of Chicago today that although he agrees with some of the concerns expressed by America’s most vocal critic of Wall Street, he just doesn’t think that Warren actually gets how the whole global banking thing works...
Police Kill Black Women Too—and We Don't Talk About It Enough Mother Jones ...During protests that shook Baltimore in April, Freddie Gray's name became a rallying cry in calls for criminal justice reform nationwide. But how many of us have heard of Rekia Boyd, the 22-year-old unarmed black woman who was fatally shot by a police detective in Chicago back in 2012? Just five days before demonstrations erupted for Gray in Maryland and then across the country, a judge acquitted the Chicago detective who killed Boyd, despite finding that he had acted in a manner that was "beyond reckless"...
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Today's Teamster News 11.25.14
Teamster News
Roger Newell Remembered On WPFW Today AFL-CIO ...Gloria Minott will host a special hour-long show on longtime labor and community activist Roger Newell today starting at 11a on WPFW 89.3 FM, featuring remembrances by Roger’s friends and colleagues...
Engineer And Conductor Contract Talks Stall Between CP, Teamsters Progressive Railroading ...Negotiations have stalled between the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) and Canadian Pacific concerning a new agreement covering 3,800 locomotive engineers and conductors, TCRC officials announced late last week. The existing contract expires Dec. 31...
Mothers Outraged At EPA’s Response On West Lake Landfill St. Louis American ...EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks stated that either temporary or permanent relocation are “inconsistent with agency authority,” in a Nov. 14 letter to Lois Gibbs, who leads the Center for Health, Environment and Justice – a Washington-based environmental group...
JCPS, Teamsters rep address Valley 'bus fight' video WHAS-11 ...Jackey says that these incidents are not common but John Stovall the President of Teamsters (Local 783), the bus driver's union disagrees. He says that they have picked up over the past two years. According to Stovall, incidents of violence on buses got so bad at the end of last school year that off duty police officers were having to ride along.
Trade
Teamsters support new Trade Adjustment Assistance legislation TeamsterNation ...The Teamsters are supporting a bill to expand the safety net for workers who lose their jobs to foreign trade...
State Battles
More Corporations Distance Themselves from ALEC Common Cause ...Over the last few months major companies including Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Yelp, Yahoo, International Paper, Occidental Petroleum, News Corp, Overstock.com, SAP America, and AOL have all announced they have left or were leaving the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the secretive group that brings state politicians and corporate lobbyists behind closed doors to rewrite our laws. Common Cause is now able to confirm four other companies that have cut ties with ALEC...
Inslee Says State Will Act On Oil Trains The Olympian ...The number of oil trains running across Washington is unacceptable, and the Legislature will consider bills in the upcoming session that mandate advance notification of oil shipments by rail as well as more funding for railroad crossings and emergency response training, Gov. Jay Inslee said Friday...
ND Lawmakers Propose Changes In Voter ID Law Inforum ...The proposed legislation comes after reports of people being turned away from the polls on Election Day due to identification problems. This year marked the first major election since North Dakota passed a law in 2013 that removed the option to sign an affidavit, allowing voters who didn’t have proper ID to swear under penalty of law that they are eligible to vote...
War on Workers
Food Donation Bin Chained To Walmart Billionaire's Park Avenue Condo Gothamist ...Walmart employs 1.4 million Americans, and pays roughly 800,000 of them less than $25,000/year... To call attention to this cruel reality, a labor group chained a giant food bin to the awning of Alice Walton's $25 million Park Avenue condo...
Wage Theft Too Often Going Unpunished (opinion) New York Daily News ...“(Wage theft) has become a crime wave here in New York State,” said Joann Lum, executive director of the National Mobilization Against SweatShops....
Low Wages Keep Restaurant Workers In Cycle Of Poverty Asheville Citizen-Times ...nearly 17 percent of the country’s 10 million restaurant workers live below the poverty line, with 40 percent living below twice the poverty line...
Farmworkers Call On Wendy's To Pay More For Tomatoes And Boost Their Wages Huffington Post ...about 200 people marched in front of two Wendy's restaurants in Manhattan this past Saturday, demanding the company pay 1 cent more per pound of tomatoes in order to boost farmworkers’ wages...
Coal-Waste Power Plants Could Close If New EPA Rules Adopted Allentown Morning Call ...Oelbracht and 35 workers at the plant are threatened by extreme carbon-emission regulations proposed by EPA. The new regulations could force the closure of Westwood and 13 other plants like it in Pennsylvania, as well as five more in other states...
Miscellaneous
Budweiser Gives Clydesdales the Heave-Ho for the Holidays NBC News ...Budweiser is putting its Clydesdales out to pasture for the holidays. The country's No. 3 beer brand said the horses will not play a role in its traditional advertising for the season, although the company added later Monday that they will be featured in spots promoting responsible drinking...
Roger Newell Remembered On WPFW Today AFL-CIO ...Gloria Minott will host a special hour-long show on longtime labor and community activist Roger Newell today starting at 11a on WPFW 89.3 FM, featuring remembrances by Roger’s friends and colleagues...
Engineer And Conductor Contract Talks Stall Between CP, Teamsters Progressive Railroading ...Negotiations have stalled between the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) and Canadian Pacific concerning a new agreement covering 3,800 locomotive engineers and conductors, TCRC officials announced late last week. The existing contract expires Dec. 31...
Mothers Outraged At EPA’s Response On West Lake Landfill St. Louis American ...EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks stated that either temporary or permanent relocation are “inconsistent with agency authority,” in a Nov. 14 letter to Lois Gibbs, who leads the Center for Health, Environment and Justice – a Washington-based environmental group...
JCPS, Teamsters rep address Valley 'bus fight' video WHAS-11 ...Jackey says that these incidents are not common but John Stovall the President of Teamsters (Local 783), the bus driver's union disagrees. He says that they have picked up over the past two years. According to Stovall, incidents of violence on buses got so bad at the end of last school year that off duty police officers were having to ride along.
Trade
Teamsters support new Trade Adjustment Assistance legislation TeamsterNation ...The Teamsters are supporting a bill to expand the safety net for workers who lose their jobs to foreign trade...
State Battles
More Corporations Distance Themselves from ALEC Common Cause ...Over the last few months major companies including Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Yelp, Yahoo, International Paper, Occidental Petroleum, News Corp, Overstock.com, SAP America, and AOL have all announced they have left or were leaving the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the secretive group that brings state politicians and corporate lobbyists behind closed doors to rewrite our laws. Common Cause is now able to confirm four other companies that have cut ties with ALEC...
Inslee Says State Will Act On Oil Trains The Olympian ...The number of oil trains running across Washington is unacceptable, and the Legislature will consider bills in the upcoming session that mandate advance notification of oil shipments by rail as well as more funding for railroad crossings and emergency response training, Gov. Jay Inslee said Friday...
ND Lawmakers Propose Changes In Voter ID Law Inforum ...The proposed legislation comes after reports of people being turned away from the polls on Election Day due to identification problems. This year marked the first major election since North Dakota passed a law in 2013 that removed the option to sign an affidavit, allowing voters who didn’t have proper ID to swear under penalty of law that they are eligible to vote...
War on Workers
Food Donation Bin Chained To Walmart Billionaire's Park Avenue Condo Gothamist ...Walmart employs 1.4 million Americans, and pays roughly 800,000 of them less than $25,000/year... To call attention to this cruel reality, a labor group chained a giant food bin to the awning of Alice Walton's $25 million Park Avenue condo...
Wage Theft Too Often Going Unpunished (opinion) New York Daily News ...“(Wage theft) has become a crime wave here in New York State,” said Joann Lum, executive director of the National Mobilization Against SweatShops....
Low Wages Keep Restaurant Workers In Cycle Of Poverty Asheville Citizen-Times ...nearly 17 percent of the country’s 10 million restaurant workers live below the poverty line, with 40 percent living below twice the poverty line...
Farmworkers Call On Wendy's To Pay More For Tomatoes And Boost Their Wages Huffington Post ...about 200 people marched in front of two Wendy's restaurants in Manhattan this past Saturday, demanding the company pay 1 cent more per pound of tomatoes in order to boost farmworkers’ wages...
Coal-Waste Power Plants Could Close If New EPA Rules Adopted Allentown Morning Call ...Oelbracht and 35 workers at the plant are threatened by extreme carbon-emission regulations proposed by EPA. The new regulations could force the closure of Westwood and 13 other plants like it in Pennsylvania, as well as five more in other states...
Miscellaneous
Budweiser Gives Clydesdales the Heave-Ho for the Holidays NBC News ...Budweiser is putting its Clydesdales out to pasture for the holidays. The country's No. 3 beer brand said the horses will not play a role in its traditional advertising for the season, although the company added later Monday that they will be featured in spots promoting responsible drinking...
Monday, November 24, 2014
Teamsters support new Trade Adjustment Assistance legislation
The Teamsters are supporting a bill to expand the safety net for workers who lose their jobs to foreign trade.
Today U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio introduced a bill to expand the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program so it will help all workers who lose jobs to trade with a foreign country. Some workers haven't gotten the assistance because they lost their job to a country with which the United States does not have a trade deal. Some haven't gotten help because they're service, rather than manufacturing workers.
Brown's bill would change all that. It would include service workers and workers who lose jobs to countries we don't have a trade agreement with.
The Teamsters represent about 230,000 workers in commercial services industries.
Since 1975, about 2 million workers have relied on TAA to make ends meet after they lost their jobs through no fault of their own. They've also gotten the training they need to find a new job.
Brown released the map below, which shows Ohio companies affected by foreign trade whose workers were certified for TAA benefits to help train for new jobs. In the past five years, more than 22,400 Ohio workers got help from TAA.
It would be nice if U.S. workers didn't need TAA. But if Congress decides to pass the latest giant job-killers -- TPP, TISA and TTIP -- they will.
Here are some of benefits of TAA in Sen. Brown's bill:
Today U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio introduced a bill to expand the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program so it will help all workers who lose jobs to trade with a foreign country. Some workers haven't gotten the assistance because they lost their job to a country with which the United States does not have a trade deal. Some haven't gotten help because they're service, rather than manufacturing workers.
Brown's bill would change all that. It would include service workers and workers who lose jobs to countries we don't have a trade agreement with.
The Teamsters represent about 230,000 workers in commercial services industries.
Since 1975, about 2 million workers have relied on TAA to make ends meet after they lost their jobs through no fault of their own. They've also gotten the training they need to find a new job.
Brown released the map below, which shows Ohio companies affected by foreign trade whose workers were certified for TAA benefits to help train for new jobs. In the past five years, more than 22,400 Ohio workers got help from TAA.
Here are some of benefits of TAA in Sen. Brown's bill:
- Workers receive continued unemployment benefits while they are in training.
- In some states, workers may apply for job search and relocation allowances.
- Workers who are at least 50 can get supplemental wages of up to $12,000 if their new job pays less than their old job.
- Provides a health care tax credit for workers who lose their health care when they lose their jobs.
Monday, February 14, 2011
VIDEO: Rock 'em, sock 'em speech from Sherrod Brown on help for NAFTA victims
The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program ended Saturday. That means 155,000 to 170,000 people who lost their jobs because of trade deals like NAFTA and CAFTA will also lose their benefits.
Congressional Republicans are holding up the extension of the program because they want the Obama administration to send three job-killing trade deals to Congress, and not just the job-killing trade deal for S. Korea. They hope Obama will back down and agree to also send deals with Colombia and Panama to Congress for a vote in exchange for extending the Trade Adjustment Assistance program.
Here's Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, denouncing Republicans for once again trying to screw working families.
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