Teamsters
Teamsters Women's Conference Kicks off in Boston Teamster.org ...More than a thousand Teamsters gathered in Boston Thursday to kick off the 2015 Teamsters Women’s Conference. The annual event, now in its 15th year, welcomed Teamsters from throughout North America for an exciting three days of solidarity and strength. “This conference gets bigger and better every year. This is about coming together, seeing each other and sisterhood,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President...
Teamsters Applaud National Labor Relations Board on Joint Employer Ruling Teamster.org ...The Teamsters Union today applauded the National Labor Relations Board on its “joint employer” ruling in the case of Browning-Ferris Industries, Inc., as an additional step to protect and provide a voice to millions of American workers by holding employers that rely on temporary or contracted workers accountable...
How 2 Phoenix companies are at the center of NLRB decision on temp agencies, franchises Business Journal ...The NLRB decision is based on a case involving Phoenix-based Leadpoint Business Services, its staffing of 150 to 200 workers to Browning Ferris Industries recycling plant in Milpitas, California, and International Brotherhood of Teamsters efforts to unionize there.
Browning Ferris is owned by Phoenix-based Republic Services...
Teamsters Local 104's Sun Tran Workers Hold Strong On Picket Lines Teamster.org ...Teamsters Local Union 104’s Unfair Labor Practice strike against Sun Tran has now begun its fourth week with no end in sight. Day twenty two begins the same as the previous twenty one days with the striking employees and their supporters continuing to walk the picket lines at the Ronstadt Transit Center in downtown Tucson, as well as the north and south facilities...
Still no solution between Sun Tran and Teamsters 104 Tucson News ...As the union worker strike against Sun Tran moves into its fourth week, both sides are still far apart in finding a solution. The union said this is an insult. "I'm offended they came back with a regressive offer which is bargaining in bad faith," said Teamsters Spokesman Andrew Marshall. "I mean how do you expect us to do anything but reject it"...
Tech shuttle Bauer’s Intelligent Transportation accused of forming "sham" union Business Journal ...Local tech shuttle company Bauer’s Intelligent Transportation is being accused by the National Labor Relations Board of creating a fake union in order to avoid a Teamster effort to organize its workforce, reports the San Francisco Examiner. Bauer’s is well known for its commuter shuttles used by marquee-name Bay Area tech companies like Cisco Systems...
Skyway Negotiations at Standstill; Toll Collectors Prepare for Strike Beginning Labor Day Weekend Local 727 ...Chicago Skyway toll collectors may be forced to strike because Skyway Concession Company has ground contract negotiations to a halt. The current three-year contract was set to expire July 3, but Teamsters Local 727 agreed on a two-month extension. The final negotiation meeting is scheduled for Aug. 31 — the day the contract extension expires. The members are scheduled to take a vote on Sept. 2...
Truckin’ on The Economist ...Mr McGregor reportedly earned $500,000 (not including bonuses or sponsorships) for a recent bout. But most UFC fighters make decidedly less. The median pay per fight is $24,500, and most pugilists get in the ring only a couple of times a year. Some fighters think the muscle of a union might help them get better pay and more say. Earlier this month, the Teamsters, along with a local culinary union, announced that they intended to help fighters organise...
Global Labor & Trade
TTIP deal: Business lobbyists dominate talks at expense of trade unions and NGOs Belfast Telegraph ...The world’s biggest companies in finance, technology, pharma, tobacco and telecoms are dominating discussions with the EU executive body’s trade department responsible for the proposed EU-US free trade treaty, which could become the biggest such deal ever made. Between January 2012 and February 2014, as TTIP discussions began, the Commission’s trade department (DG Trade) had 597 behind-closed-door meetings with lobbyists to discuss the negotiations...
Will China’s currency devaluation complicate the Trans-Pacific Partnership? Lexology ...As trade ministers from 12 Pacific Rim countries continue to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal, China’s recent currency devaluation has sparked a debate over the inclusion of currency manipulation controls in global trade agreements. China is not currently part of the TPP, however, the agreement includes a mechanism for allowing other countries, including China, to join the agreement in the future...
TISA and Tech's Double Standards On Secret Government Internet Deals EFF.org ...The stash of previously-secret correspondence about the Trade In Services Agreement (TISA) that EFF obtained and published this week speaks volumes about the extent to which technology companies such as IBM and Google, and trade lobby groups such as the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and Internet Digital Economy Alliance (IDEA), have bought into the dangerous idea that trade agreements should be used to govern the Internet...
The TPP Must Not Undermine North America’s Dairy Sector (opinion) CitizensTrade.org ...As international trade negotiators continue attempting to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), farm, labor and consumer groups from throughout the Pacific Rim are demanding that they not interfere with nations’ sovereign right and responsibility to protect family farmers, processing workers and domestic food supplies – including North America’s dairy sector...
Guatemala President Faces Arrest as Business Interests and U.S. Scramble to Contain Uprising Democracy Now ...In Guatemala, a judge has ordered that former Vice President Roxana Baldetti must remain in prison while her corruption trial takes place. The ruling comes on the heels of the Guatemalan Supreme Court’s decision Tuesday to lift the immunity from prosecution for President Otto Pérez Molina, clearing the way for his impeachment. The court passed the impeachment recommendation along to Congress. A general strike has been called in Guatemala for today...
200 Migrants Feared Dead as Europe’s Refugee Death Toll Creeps Towards 2,500 This Year Slate ...In the latest of what seems to be an accelerating series of now-hourly tragedies, hundreds are feared dead after two small boats carrying up to 500 migrants capsized en route to Italy from Libya. The migrant crisis on Europe's shores continues to spiral as the death toll approaches 2,500 this year...
Is austerity saving or sinking Brazil's troubled economy? BBC ...Brazil's Finance Minister Joaquim Levy has been on a drive to fix Brazil's troubled economy through austerity measures. That means spending less on unemployment benefits. Most workers now need to have been employed for a full year to receive government aid. President Rousseff might have thought she could cut spending without damaging the economy. But, as one Brazilian saying goes, the cure is now at risk of "killing the patient"...
State & Living Wage Battles
Governors Have Collected Millions In Presidential Campaign Contributions From State Contractors Think Progress ...New Jersey law currently prevents state contractors from giving more than $300 to statewide candidates’ campaigns. But that hasn’t stopped New Jersey contractors from donating more than $500,000 in total to the super PAC supporting Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) presidential campaign...
Focus on 'right to work' gets more intense as legislators consider override attempt St. Louis Public Radio ...After a brief hiatus, both sides in the battle over “right to work” are back with a vengeance as they gear up for the Missouri General Assembly’s veto session in just over two weeks. The dueling campaigns may be aimed, in part, at influencing Missouri House Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Cape Girardeau. A spokesman said the speaker has yet to decide whether to bring up the “right to work” bill, which was vetoed by Gov. Jay Nixon earlier this summer...
Prevailing wage still in Rauner’s crosshairs (opinion) Pekin Daily Times ...Before Gov. Bruce Rauner compromises on a state budget, he’s demanding lawmakers agree to his “Turnaround Agenda,” a misnamed list of changes ranging from limiting settlements judges and juries can award in lawsuits to restricting workers compensation protections. In the mix is his bid to abolish prevailing-wage laws...
Bill to raise California minimum wage stalls in Assembly SacBee ...A controversial measure to raise California’s minimum wage to $13 per hour over the next two years was held Thursday in a key financial committee, but the proposal may continue forward next session. Despite last-minute amendments put forth by author Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, to delay the increase by another year, Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee, suggested he would look for other changes to advance Senate Bill 3 next year...
This State Just Became The First In The Nation To End Chronic Veteran Homelessness Think Progress ...On Thursday, the federal government announced that Connecticut is the first state in the country to end chronic homelessness among veterans. That means the state has found permanent housing for all veterans who have been homeless for at least one year or four times in the past three years, or has an immediate path to housing in place for them...
U.S. Labor
In landmark case, labor board will let more workers bargain with their employer’s employer Washington Post ...A federal labor board voted Thursday to redefine the employee-employer relationship granting new bargaining powers to workers caught up in an economy increasingly reliant on subcontractors, franchisees and temporary staffing agencies. The decision by the National Labor Relations Board could upend the traditional arms-length relationship that has prevailed between corporate titans such as McDonald’s and its neighborhood fast-food franchises...
The Labor Ruling McDonald's Has Been Dreading Just Became A Reality Huffington Post ...McDonald's, Burger King and every other company that relies on a franchise business model just suffered the legal setback they've been fearing for years. The National Labor Relations Board ruled on Thursday that Browning Ferris Industries, a waste management company, qualifies as a "joint employer" alongside one of its subcontractors...
IKEA Says They’re “Socially Responsible.” So Why Are Workers Accusing Them of Union-Busting? In These Times ...With a potential strike deadline looming at one its largest U.S. warehouses, Sweden-based home furnishings retailer IKEA is facing renewed skepticism over its self-proclaimed commitment to fair labor policies, both in the United States and elsewhere. The deadline has immediate impact for about 450 unionized warehouse workers in Perryville, Maryland, many of whom find themselves puzzled at what they say is IKEA’s refusal to negotiate seriously over a new contract...
KapStone workers on strike TDN.com ...After 15 months of failed contract negotiations, KapStone millworkers officially went on strike early Thursday morning. The strike began at 3 a.m. Thursday after the union gave the company a three-hour notice at midnight. Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers Local 153 officials said the length of the strike is open-ended...
USW plans another rally as contract deadline nears NWI Times ...The United Steelworkers union is planning another big rally at AcelorMittal Burns Harbor on Sept. 1, when the current three-year contracts with ArcelorMittal and U.S. Steel expire. If no new contracts are reached by Sept. 1, the USW could go on strike, work without a contract, or agree to extend the current contract and continue to work while a new contract is negotiated by the company...
SEIU home-care workers sign 'historic' contract Statesman Journal ...The Service Employees Union International Local 503, which represents 24,000 Oregon home-care workers, has signed a contract with the state they're calling historic. The contract paves the way for a $15 an hour wage for home-care workers by 2017, among other provisions. "Our workers, personal support and home care, really need to have a living wage," said Eileen Ordway, a home-care worker and member of the SEIU's bargaining team...
Behind the Business Attire, Many Bank Workers Earn Poverty Wages In These Times ...The collared shirts and pressed slacks may be hiding the reality: a significant portion of customer service workers in the retail banking industry make salaries low enough to make public assistance necessary. The Committee for Better Banks (CBB), a Communications Workers of America (CWA)-affiliated community and labor coalition, was created in 2013 to put an end to that...
Home Care Workers' Inclusion in Basic Labor Protections Is Just the Beginning Truthout ...Today, workers in the fastest growing workforce in the country - home care - have to live on poverty wages, struggling to pay for the gas that will get them to the seniors they assist each day. In many ways, the workers who provide those services have not changed; they are still largely women, with women of color and especially Black women providing a disproportionate amount of the care for all in the nation...
Social Justice & Other News
Detention Program Allegedly Barred Lawyers From Visiting Their Immigrant Clients Think Progress ...Advocates from an immigration detention visitation group say they have been barred from visiting potential clients in California and Alabama just a few weeks after they filed a complaint alleging abusive conditions at one detention facility. Shutting attorneys out of detention centers has been on the rise across the country...
After Hurricane Katrina, Poor Black Women Were Largely Ignored, Study Says Mother Jones ...Ten years after Hurricane Katrina displaced 40,000 people in New Orleans, opinions about the recovery can be traced along racial lines. A pair of new studies underscores that African American women, particularly those who lived in public housing, faced some of the biggest hurdles after the storm. Nearly four in five white residents in New Orleans say their state has "mostly recovered," while nearly three in five African American residents say it has not...
How Hedge Funds Are Exploiting Baltimore’s Poorest Residents Think Progress ...The death of Freddie Gray in police custody in Baltimore and the ensuing protests brought the nation’s attention to the economic devastation that continues to grip the city. Now, new data shows powerful hedge funds are profiting off of struggling families in Baltimore by buying up debts as small as $250, charging high interest rates, and taking their homes when they fail to pay...
Showing posts with label UFC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UFC. Show all posts
Friday, August 28, 2015
Monday, August 10, 2015
Today's Teamster News 08.10.15
Teamsters
Picketers At Calgary BURNCO Location Protest Employee Lockout Global News ...The lockout affects members of Teamsters Union Local 362, which covers employees at plants in Airdrie, Springbank and Okotoks.The union says the biggest sticking point with the negotiations is seniority, which employees don’t want to give up...
Sun Tran Strike: Day 5 Arizona Daily Star ...Teamsters want a pay raise and improved workplace safety conditions. Sun Tran says its offer “amounts to an increase of $2.7 million over the recommended three-year contract, while the offer issued by Teamsters Local Union 104 amounts to a $20.3 million increase.” Sun Tran also says it’s working with the union to address assaults on drivers and a mold issue in a maintenance building...
Teamster: Even The Top Guys In UFC Are Underpaid SB Nation ...While Thursday's announced garnered plenty of attention, details were still a little vague. To get a better idea of what exactly the Teamsters and UNITE HERE were trying to accomplish I spoke last Friday with Chris Griswold, Secretary-Treasurer of the Teamsters, Local 986...
Global Labor & Trade
Child Labor On The Rise In West Africa As Demand For Cocoa Grows Wall Street Journal ...Despite nearly 14 years of government and industry efforts aimed at combatting child labor in cocoa production, 21% more children are illegally laboring on cocoa farms in Ghana and Ivory Coast than five years ago, according to a Tulane University study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Labor...
How El Salvador’s Supreme Court Is Undermining Democracy—With Washington’s Help The Nation ...In fact, plans to undermine leftist governance in El Salvador go back years before the election of Sánchez Cerén, the first guerrilla leader of the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) party to become president of El Salvador. The strategy centers on the country’s Supreme Court—and the US government has been in on it from the beginning...
Greece And Creditors In Final Push For Bailout Huffington Post ...Greece and international creditors sought to put final touches on a multi-billion euro bailout accord on Monday to keep the country financially afloat and meet an important debt repayment to the European Central Bank within days...
State & Living Wage Battles
Washington State Poised To Become Leader In Oil Train Safety Ahead Of Massive Increase In Traffic Puget Sound Business Journal ...Washington state is quickly becoming a leader in crude oil train safety standards. That's good because the state is gearing up to become a high-traffic zone for the controversial trains...
Corps Of Engineers Should FUSRAP-Up West Lake's Toxic Waste St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...The best solution for cleaning up radioactive waste buried at the West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton is to give control of the site to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers...
California Effort To Issue Driver’s Licenses To Immigrants Receives Surge Of Applicants New York Times ...When Alberto Fraire drives past a police car these days, he no longer worries about steep fines, or perhaps being hauled to jail and tangling with the immigration system. When California began issuing driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants this year, he was one of the first in line...
Amid Push For Higher Minimum Wage, Concern Rising About Workers Cheated Out Of Proper Pay U.S. News & World Report ...As a campaign to raise the minimum wage as high as $15 has achieved victories in such places as Seattle, Los Angeles and New York, it has bumped up against a harsh reality: Plenty of scofflaw businesses don't pay the legal minimum now and probably won't pay the new, higher wages either...
Another Sign That Momentum Is Building On Paid Parental Leave In The U.S. Huffington Post ...In the latest sign that support for paid family leave is growing in the U.S., Adobe on Monday announced a big expansion of benefits, including up to half a year of paid time off for new mothers...
U.S. Labor
The Outrageous Ascent Of CEO Pay Huffington Post ...For the last thirty years almost all incentives operating on American corporations have resulted in lower pay for average workers and higher pay for CEOs and other top executives. Consider that in 1965, CEOs of America's largest corporations were paid, on average, 20 times the pay of average workers. Now, the ratio is over 300 to 1...
Sysco Profit Drops, Hurt By US Foods-Related Costs Wall Street Journal ...Sysco Corp. said profit in its latest quarter fell, as the company booked charges stemming from its abandoned plan to acquire rival US Foods Inc...
Twisting Words To Make ‘Sharing’ Apps Seem Selfless New York Times ...Of course, marketing by its very nature involves concocting the most appealing expressions to attract consumers. But start-ups that enable consumers to summon drivers, lunch deliveries or domestic help at the tap of an app have added incentives to portray themselves in feel-good terms. Government regulators, legislators and courts in the United States have started scrutinizing the app-mediated service sector with the idea of determining whether longstanding consumer protection and labor rules apply to these new delivery models...
AT&T, Union Continue Negotiations After Contracts Expire Bloomberg Business ...AT&T Inc. and the Communications Workers of America continued talks on new labor contracts as current agreements covering more than 24,000 employees in the southeast U.S. expired...
CTU President: Contract Talks Haven’t Broken Down WBBM ...Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis disagrees contract talks with school officials have reached the “acrimonious” stage. She says meetings with public school officials have been very cordial and teachers have even been willing to take a pay freeze...
Social Justice & Other News
Virginia Recalling Specialty License Plates With Confederate Flag NPR ...Virginia's Department of Motor Vehicles will begin recalling specialty license plates depicting the Confederate battle flag following a federal judge's decision last week to dissolve an injunction that barred officials from blocking such plates...
The Confederate Flag Just Came Down In ‘The Last Capitol Of The Confederacy’ Think Progress ...According to GoDanRiver.com, the Danville city council voted 7-2 last week to remove the Third National flag of the Confederacy from the lawn of the Sutherlin Mansion, a historic building which houses a museum paid for with public funds. The flag was erected in 1995 on the house’s lawn to commemorate its historical significance — namely, that it hosted the last official meeting of the Confederate presidential cabinet, making it the “Last Capitol of the Confederacy.”...
Congress’s Cybersecurity Plan Has Some Major Flaws Think Progress ...One complaint privacy advocates have is that CISA, as written, undercuts existing privacy laws that give citizens power to hold companies responsible for any digital recklessness...
Segregation 101 Huffington Post ...Surveys of black families have found that most would prefer to live in racially integrated neighborhoods. But black families face a variety of obstacles in finding houses to buy or apartments to rent in such areas. Moreover, racial segregation isn't simply a byproduct of the fact that blacks have, on average, lower incomes than whites. Even middle-class African-American families tend to live in racially segregated areas; they, too, face discrimination when looking for apartments to rent or houses to buy...
Fox News v. Donald Trump: It’s Hard To Destroy A Monster Of Your Own Creation Salon.com ...For years, Fox News provided Donald Trump a platform to talk about politics to an audience of conservative voters. The network’s employees constantly bombarded him with questions and encouragement regarding his presidential ambitions. When he finally did run, Fox promoted and defended his candidacy in the face of near universal criticism. His presence at Fox News’ debate helped make it the most-watched primary debate in history. And after all that, when he finally got up on stage, Fox News shivved him...
A Gaggle Of Future Governors Just Had A Great Time In Maui Huffington Post ...Last month, a group of state attorneys general flew to Maui for the annual meeting of the Conference of Western Attorneys General. For several days, the top law enforcement officers -- who are often referred to as "aspiring governors" because of their tendency to run for and win higher elected office -- attended panels and swapped legal expertise on issues facing their states. They also mixed with executives, lawyers and lobbyists at a Waldorf Astoria resort that boasts tropical gardens, a swim-up bar and a grand view of Wailea Beach...
Picketers At Calgary BURNCO Location Protest Employee Lockout Global News ...The lockout affects members of Teamsters Union Local 362, which covers employees at plants in Airdrie, Springbank and Okotoks.The union says the biggest sticking point with the negotiations is seniority, which employees don’t want to give up...
Sun Tran Strike: Day 5 Arizona Daily Star ...Teamsters want a pay raise and improved workplace safety conditions. Sun Tran says its offer “amounts to an increase of $2.7 million over the recommended three-year contract, while the offer issued by Teamsters Local Union 104 amounts to a $20.3 million increase.” Sun Tran also says it’s working with the union to address assaults on drivers and a mold issue in a maintenance building...
Teamster: Even The Top Guys In UFC Are Underpaid SB Nation ...While Thursday's announced garnered plenty of attention, details were still a little vague. To get a better idea of what exactly the Teamsters and UNITE HERE were trying to accomplish I spoke last Friday with Chris Griswold, Secretary-Treasurer of the Teamsters, Local 986...
Global Labor & Trade
Child Labor On The Rise In West Africa As Demand For Cocoa Grows Wall Street Journal ...Despite nearly 14 years of government and industry efforts aimed at combatting child labor in cocoa production, 21% more children are illegally laboring on cocoa farms in Ghana and Ivory Coast than five years ago, according to a Tulane University study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Labor...
How El Salvador’s Supreme Court Is Undermining Democracy—With Washington’s Help The Nation ...In fact, plans to undermine leftist governance in El Salvador go back years before the election of Sánchez Cerén, the first guerrilla leader of the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) party to become president of El Salvador. The strategy centers on the country’s Supreme Court—and the US government has been in on it from the beginning...
Greece And Creditors In Final Push For Bailout Huffington Post ...Greece and international creditors sought to put final touches on a multi-billion euro bailout accord on Monday to keep the country financially afloat and meet an important debt repayment to the European Central Bank within days...
State & Living Wage Battles
Washington State Poised To Become Leader In Oil Train Safety Ahead Of Massive Increase In Traffic Puget Sound Business Journal ...Washington state is quickly becoming a leader in crude oil train safety standards. That's good because the state is gearing up to become a high-traffic zone for the controversial trains...
Corps Of Engineers Should FUSRAP-Up West Lake's Toxic Waste St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...The best solution for cleaning up radioactive waste buried at the West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton is to give control of the site to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers...
California Effort To Issue Driver’s Licenses To Immigrants Receives Surge Of Applicants New York Times ...When Alberto Fraire drives past a police car these days, he no longer worries about steep fines, or perhaps being hauled to jail and tangling with the immigration system. When California began issuing driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants this year, he was one of the first in line...
Amid Push For Higher Minimum Wage, Concern Rising About Workers Cheated Out Of Proper Pay U.S. News & World Report ...As a campaign to raise the minimum wage as high as $15 has achieved victories in such places as Seattle, Los Angeles and New York, it has bumped up against a harsh reality: Plenty of scofflaw businesses don't pay the legal minimum now and probably won't pay the new, higher wages either...
Another Sign That Momentum Is Building On Paid Parental Leave In The U.S. Huffington Post ...In the latest sign that support for paid family leave is growing in the U.S., Adobe on Monday announced a big expansion of benefits, including up to half a year of paid time off for new mothers...
U.S. Labor
The Outrageous Ascent Of CEO Pay Huffington Post ...For the last thirty years almost all incentives operating on American corporations have resulted in lower pay for average workers and higher pay for CEOs and other top executives. Consider that in 1965, CEOs of America's largest corporations were paid, on average, 20 times the pay of average workers. Now, the ratio is over 300 to 1...
Sysco Profit Drops, Hurt By US Foods-Related Costs Wall Street Journal ...Sysco Corp. said profit in its latest quarter fell, as the company booked charges stemming from its abandoned plan to acquire rival US Foods Inc...
Twisting Words To Make ‘Sharing’ Apps Seem Selfless New York Times ...Of course, marketing by its very nature involves concocting the most appealing expressions to attract consumers. But start-ups that enable consumers to summon drivers, lunch deliveries or domestic help at the tap of an app have added incentives to portray themselves in feel-good terms. Government regulators, legislators and courts in the United States have started scrutinizing the app-mediated service sector with the idea of determining whether longstanding consumer protection and labor rules apply to these new delivery models...
AT&T, Union Continue Negotiations After Contracts Expire Bloomberg Business ...AT&T Inc. and the Communications Workers of America continued talks on new labor contracts as current agreements covering more than 24,000 employees in the southeast U.S. expired...
CTU President: Contract Talks Haven’t Broken Down WBBM ...Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis disagrees contract talks with school officials have reached the “acrimonious” stage. She says meetings with public school officials have been very cordial and teachers have even been willing to take a pay freeze...
Social Justice & Other News
Virginia Recalling Specialty License Plates With Confederate Flag NPR ...Virginia's Department of Motor Vehicles will begin recalling specialty license plates depicting the Confederate battle flag following a federal judge's decision last week to dissolve an injunction that barred officials from blocking such plates...
The Confederate Flag Just Came Down In ‘The Last Capitol Of The Confederacy’ Think Progress ...According to GoDanRiver.com, the Danville city council voted 7-2 last week to remove the Third National flag of the Confederacy from the lawn of the Sutherlin Mansion, a historic building which houses a museum paid for with public funds. The flag was erected in 1995 on the house’s lawn to commemorate its historical significance — namely, that it hosted the last official meeting of the Confederate presidential cabinet, making it the “Last Capitol of the Confederacy.”...
Congress’s Cybersecurity Plan Has Some Major Flaws Think Progress ...One complaint privacy advocates have is that CISA, as written, undercuts existing privacy laws that give citizens power to hold companies responsible for any digital recklessness...
Segregation 101 Huffington Post ...Surveys of black families have found that most would prefer to live in racially integrated neighborhoods. But black families face a variety of obstacles in finding houses to buy or apartments to rent in such areas. Moreover, racial segregation isn't simply a byproduct of the fact that blacks have, on average, lower incomes than whites. Even middle-class African-American families tend to live in racially segregated areas; they, too, face discrimination when looking for apartments to rent or houses to buy...
Fox News v. Donald Trump: It’s Hard To Destroy A Monster Of Your Own Creation Salon.com ...For years, Fox News provided Donald Trump a platform to talk about politics to an audience of conservative voters. The network’s employees constantly bombarded him with questions and encouragement regarding his presidential ambitions. When he finally did run, Fox promoted and defended his candidacy in the face of near universal criticism. His presence at Fox News’ debate helped make it the most-watched primary debate in history. And after all that, when he finally got up on stage, Fox News shivved him...
A Gaggle Of Future Governors Just Had A Great Time In Maui Huffington Post ...Last month, a group of state attorneys general flew to Maui for the annual meeting of the Conference of Western Attorneys General. For several days, the top law enforcement officers -- who are often referred to as "aspiring governors" because of their tendency to run for and win higher elected office -- attended panels and swapped legal expertise on issues facing their states. They also mixed with executives, lawyers and lobbyists at a Waldorf Astoria resort that boasts tropical gardens, a swim-up bar and a grand view of Wailea Beach...
Friday, August 7, 2015
Today's Teamster News 08.07.15
Teamsters
Houston Waste Workers Vote Overwhelmingly to Ratify First Contract Teamster.org ...Workers at WCA Waste Corporation of America in Houston, who voted to join the Teamsters in November, have ratified a first contract that improves wages and health care, among other gains. The workers are the only private waste company employees in Texas who have a union contract. “The organizing win, and now this first contract, represent huge victories for these employees,” said Robert Mele, President of Teamsters Local 988 in Houston....
Teamsters and UNITE HERE Announce Initiative to Organize UFC Fighters PR Newswire ...Today, two of the largest unions in the "fight capital" of the world launched an initiative to organize MMA fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC), the largest promoter of professional MMA events. "We have been surprised to learn how poorly these professional fighters are treated in the UFC. We want to help them to improve conditions for themselves and raise standards for the sport," said Chris Griswold, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 986...
Teamsters 272 Speaks Out After Garage Attendant Member is Mistreated by Customer Labor Press ...Maximo is a Midtown parking attendant, and member of Teamsters Local 272, who received some unexpected attention after a video featuring him went viral recently. A customer, unhappy with the amount she owed for parking, berated Maximo with an anti-immigrant tirade. She called him “garbage” and an “idiot,” repeatedly telling him “learn how to speak English.” Local 272 Secretary-Treasurer and Business Manager Matthew Bruccoleri has a message for customers who vent their frustrations at ordinary workers...
Unionized Tucson bus workers strike after rejecting contract AZ Central ...Unionized drivers and mechanics at Tucson’s bus system went on strike early Thursday after rejecting a labor contract, a company official said. The strike against Sun Tran began at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, a spokeswoman said. The strike came after a contract extension expired at midnight. That extension had been agreed to after Teamsters Local 104’s members last week rejected an offer...
Unions gunning for MMA fighters Review Journal ...Ultimate Fighting Championship star Ronda Rousey as a Teamster? UFC's Las Vegas nemesis, Culinary Workers Union Local 226, is joining Teamsters Local 986 of South El Monte, Calif. for an "initiative" Thursday to organize UFC's 574 MMA fighters. It's the latest jab at UFC by the culinary union, which wants to bring workers at Las Vegas-based Station Casinos into Local 226. Teamsters Local 986 and Culinary Local 226 have several joint organizing projects in Las Vegas, including the Station Casinos organizing campaign...
Global Labor & Trade
Negotiators hope to wrap up Trans-Pacific Partnership talks this month LA Times ...After a disappointing round of talks ended last week in Hawaii without resolution, negotiators of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership are hoping to meet later this month to try again to wrap up one of the world's biggest free-trade agreements. Between now and then, negotiators have their work cut out for them: They need to iron out tough issues on the length of drug patents, so-called rules of origin for autos and, perhaps most intractable of all, market access for dairy goods — something particularly important for California, America's biggest dairy-producing state...
Kerry confident of concluding TPP trade pact this year Reuters ...U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed confidence on Friday that an ambitious Pacific trade pact could be completed this year and said a recent nuclear deal with Iran proved hurdles in international agreements could be overcome. Kerry said many challenges remained in thrashing out a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), particularly on issues of autos and dairy, but the United States would do everything in its power to make it happen...
Trans-Pacific Partnership: Are Free Trade Agreements Like TPP Really A Tool For Fixing Labor Rights Abuses? International Business Times ...As President Barack Obama pushes to make the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact a capstone of his global trade legacy, he is promoting the deal at home as a way to counter China's commercial influence in the Asia-Pacific region while also holding trade partners to tighter human rights agreements than Chinese dealmakers would. But experts say the president is exaggerating the extent to which trade pacts can force countries to address labor issues and human rights concerns...
New TPP Leaks Reveal US 'Pandering to Big Drug Companies,' Threatening Innovators Common Dream ...New leaks of the negotiating text of the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement reveal that the Obama administration is pushing forth radical proposals that critics say will threaten to harm consumers and innovators while rewarding big drug companies and "extremist copyright" policies. Negotiators for the 12-nation trade pact failed last week to reach a final agreement at their meeting in Maui
Trade deficit widens 7% in June as imports jump USA Today ...The U.S. trade deficit increased in June as solid consumer spending pulled in more imports, while the strong dollar restrained exports. The Commerce Department said Wednesday the trade gap jumped 7% to $43.8 billion in June, up from $40.9 billion in May. Imports increased 1.2% to $232.4 billion, while exports edged lower to $188.6 billion from $188.7 billion...
Greece's tax revenues collapse as debt crisis continues The Guardian ...Fresh evidence of the dramatic impact of the Greek debt crisis on the health of the country’s finances has emerged, with official figures showing tax revenues collapsing. As talks continued over a proposed €86bn third bailout of the stricken state, the Greek treasury said tax revenues were 8.5% lower in the first six months of 2015 than the same period a year earlier. The bank shutdown that brought much economic activity to a halt began on 28 June...
How smuggled workers power 'Made in China' Reuters ...The smuggling of illegal workers from Vietnam across the 1,400-km (840-mile) border into China is growing. Labor brokers estimate that tens of thousands work at factories in the Pearl River Delta, which abuts Hong Kong. Workers from other Southeast Asian nations are joining them. Visits by Reuters to a half-dozen factory towns in southern China revealed the employment of illegal workers from Vietnam is widespread, and authorities often turn a blind eye to their presence...
Congressional cracks appear in Brazil austerity plan FT ...Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff faced a fresh setback to her efforts to restore the country’s sinking public finances on Thursday after a rebellious congress voted for wage rises for key civil servants. The move, which sent the real to a fresh 12-year low and local bond yields to a record high, came as Ms Rousseff’s approval ratings fell to their lowest level and two small parties defected from her ruling coalition, further threatening her hold over congress...
London Underground services resume after 24-hour Tube strike BBC News ...London Underground services have resumed after a 24-hour strike shut down the entire network. The industrial action by four unions began on Wednesday evening as part of a dispute over the Night Tube, which is due to start next month. The unions are unhappy at conditions offered to drivers who will be working on the new service...
State & Living Wage Battles
WorkForce Still Working to Recalculate Prevailing Wage WV Public ...he prevailing wage in West Virginia expired on July 1 of this year after a political battle between lawmakers and the executive branch, but WorkForce West Virginia says they’re still working to recalculate the wage. The prevailing wage is the hourly rate workers are paid on construction projects that are paid for with state dollars...
Report Finds Confusion Over Voter ID Law Kept People From The Polls, Too Houston Press ...The Texas Voter law, requiring voters to have a photo ID, may have kept some people from the polls in November 2014's general election—but mere confusion about the law may have kept away voters, too. According to a new report released by public policy researchers at Rice University's Baker Institute and the University of Houston's Hobby Center, 13 percent of a sample of 400 nonvoters in U.S. Congressional District 23 said in a survey that they did not vote in part because they did not possess the proper photo ID...
Could Scott Walker's Legal Victory Expand PAC Superpowers? Truthout ...A Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling on Gov. Scott Walker's campaign practices clears the way for state candidates to work more closely with legally independent political groups and their enormous war chests. The big unanswered question is how ripples from the case might spread beyond the state's borders. The ruling could spark attempts to overturn laws in other states that restrict such coordination...
Unintended Consequence of Wal-Mart’s Raise: Unhappy Workers Bloomberg ...When Wal-Mart Stores Inc. chief Doug McMillon announced plans to boost store workers’ minimum wage earlier this year, he said the move was intended to improve morale and retain employees. Yet for some of the hundreds of thousands of workers getting no raise, the policy is having the opposite effect. If Wal-Mart and other retailers don’t also adjust pay for veteran hourly workers, they could face rising dissent, said David Cooper, an economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute...
Dunkin Donut CEO Who Makes $4,887 an Hour Outraged at $15 Minimum Wage In These Times ...This week, the New York Wage Board recommended that the state's fast food workers should make $15 per hour, which has been the rallying cry for the labor movement across the country. The New York move was seen as a victory for workers in this industry, who are among the lowest-paid in the country. Within a day, corporate America was on the attack, to stop the spread of this burgeoning national movement...
Health care workers plead with Hillary Clinton for higher minimum wage CNN ...Hillary Clinton visited a technical college in Los Angeles on Thursday to hear the emotional stories, and needs, of home health-care workers represented by the Service Employees International Union. What she heard: Raise our wages. Throughout Clinton's appearance at the Los Angeles Trade Technical College, home health-care workers from across the country told Clinton what a pay bump would mean...
This bank just hiked its minimum wage to $15 CNN ...Amalgamated Bank announced Thursday that it will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour. The change will affect all employees, take effect immediately, and be retroactive to July 1. Amalgamated encouraged other financial institutions to "join the 'Fight for 15.'" "We're fortunate enough to be part of the wealthiest industry in America, so I'd hope others in the financial industry will follow," Amalgamated Bank CEO Keith Mestrich told CNNMoney...
U.S. Labor
Verizon Gets Upper Hand With Labor Unions in Wireless Shift Bloomberg ...Verizon Communications Inc., deadlocked in labor talks over pension benefits and health care that caused a strike in 2011, has gained bargaining power this time around after shedding operations that employ older unionized workers. The Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, representing about 39,000 Verizon employees, are in the weakest position they’ve ever been. That’s because the phone giant has refocused on wireless, where it sees more growth and employees are nonunionized...
UAW leader says union will 'negotiate smart' with Ford Detroit Free Press ...The UAW knows Ford is earning record profits in North America, but does not plan to use that as an opportunity to extract unreasonable raises in contract discussions this year. UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles said Thursday the union needs to remember that the companies that employ union members must be able to remain healthy for years to come...
Labor Dept. to unveil worker protection rule The Hill ...The Obama administration will unveil a long awaited proposal Thursday to lower workplace exposure to beryllium, a widely used metal that’s known to cause a deadly lung disease. The proposed rule would lower the Occupational Health and Safety Administration's (OSHA) current eight-hour permissible exposure limit for beryllium from 2.0 micrograms per cubic meter of air to 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter...
Amnesty International’s Long-Due Support for Sex Workers Rights The Nation ...Amnesty International, after two years of consultation with members and human rights advocates around the world, is meeting with the international board over the next few days in Dublin to “adopt a policy that seeks attainment of the highest possible protection of the human rights of sex workers.” The foundation of this proposal—that countries “review and repeal laws that make those who sell sex vulnerable to human rights violations”—has been mischaracterized as legalizing prostitution...
Unemployment Rate Steady As Economy Adds 215,000 Jobs NPR ...The U.S. economy added 215,000 jobs last month, just shy of the number forecast by economists. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.3 percent. Wages were up slightly and the number of long-term unemployed remained the same as June. The consensus forecast had been for 220,000 new jobs. The gains occurred in retail trade, health care, professional and technical services, and financial activities...
The Racial Gaps in America's Recovery The Atlantic ...According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s latest report, the unemployment rate in July was 5.3 percent, which is encouragingly low compared to the height of the recession, when it reached 10 percent. It’s also tantalizingly close to the 5.0 to 5.2 percent range that Federal Reserve policymakers say will signal the country’s return to full employment. What’s lost in that marquee number, though, is that this progress has been incredibly uneven, and minorities continue to struggle disproportionately...
Social Justice & Other News
First Republican Debate of 2016 Presidential Race Kicks Off on Fox News with Roger Ailes Favorites Democracy Now ...Ten leading Republican presidential candidates faced off in the first debate of the 2016 presidential election Thursday night. Fox News invited 10 candidates to take part: Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump and Scott Walker. Some analysts described the debate as the Roger Ailes primary since the head of Fox News had so much say into who participated in the prime-time event...
Immigration issues dominate opening GOP presidential debate MSNBC ...Immigration issues dominated the first Republican presidential debate of the season, pitting GOP candidates against one another in addressing the millions of undocumented immigrants with firm roots in the United States. Looming over the debate was real estate mogul and billionaire Donald Trump, who basked in his center podium placement on the debate stage, defying odds by leading national polls. Trump claimed credit for making immigration a major campaign issue...
"Oppressed People Are Everywhere": A Year After Ferguson, a Conversation With One of the Protests' Organizers Mother Jones ...In the year since the Ferguson protests, police treatment of African Americans has come under intense scrutiny. Numerous police killings of unarmed black men in New York, Baltimore, North Charleston, and elsewhere have drawn national attention. And across the country, activists and community leaders have demanded accountability from officers and reforms from lawmakers. These efforts already have had some results. Still, police are on track to kill more people this year than last year...
Jon Stewart’s Humble, Remarkable Farewell The Atlantic ...After nearly 17 years as the star, Jon Stewart tried his best to make his final night at The Daily Show about anyone but himself—and he almost succeeded. On Thursday, Stewart wheeled out a parade of current and former correspondents, aired taped goodbyes from longtime rivals, and paid tribute to the show’s behind-the-scenes crew with a lengthy, faux-single-shot segment...
Trump's Narcissism Obscures His Outrage The Atlantic ...Saying that Donald Trump performed poorly in last night’s debate is stating the obvious. By any sane standard he’s been performing poorly since he entered the race. Yet he’s leading in the polls. Still, last night Trump didn’t even do obnoxious well. The reason, I suspect, is that to debate effectively, even if you’re a goon, you must talk about something other than yourself...
Paul Krugman: Donald Trump’s “know-nothingism” makes one pine for a “return to normal GOP hypocrisy” Salon ...The New York Times’ Paul Krugman used his Friday column to analyze the appeal of the candidates who participated in last night’s GOP debate — in particular, he analyzed the way in which Donald Trump’s obvious absurdity calls attention to the fundamental unseriousness of the candidates with whom he shared the stage. The conventions of political reporting and commentary, Krugman argued, prevents people from saying “the obvious — namely, that one of our two major political parties has gone off the deep end”...
Rick Santorum Vows To Cut Back Every Anti-Poverty Program To End The Culture Of Handouts Think Progress ...At the early Republican debate on Thursday evening among the candidates who didn’t get a slot in primetime, the hosts and candidates took time to talk about their concern that the country has a culture of dependency thanks to anti-poverty programs. Santorum responded by describing his plan to engineer a manufacturing rebound and thus create more jobs through a flat tax. But then he brought up his plans for anti-poverty programs...
Houston Waste Workers Vote Overwhelmingly to Ratify First Contract Teamster.org ...Workers at WCA Waste Corporation of America in Houston, who voted to join the Teamsters in November, have ratified a first contract that improves wages and health care, among other gains. The workers are the only private waste company employees in Texas who have a union contract. “The organizing win, and now this first contract, represent huge victories for these employees,” said Robert Mele, President of Teamsters Local 988 in Houston....
Teamsters and UNITE HERE Announce Initiative to Organize UFC Fighters PR Newswire ...Today, two of the largest unions in the "fight capital" of the world launched an initiative to organize MMA fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC), the largest promoter of professional MMA events. "We have been surprised to learn how poorly these professional fighters are treated in the UFC. We want to help them to improve conditions for themselves and raise standards for the sport," said Chris Griswold, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 986...
Teamsters 272 Speaks Out After Garage Attendant Member is Mistreated by Customer Labor Press ...Maximo is a Midtown parking attendant, and member of Teamsters Local 272, who received some unexpected attention after a video featuring him went viral recently. A customer, unhappy with the amount she owed for parking, berated Maximo with an anti-immigrant tirade. She called him “garbage” and an “idiot,” repeatedly telling him “learn how to speak English.” Local 272 Secretary-Treasurer and Business Manager Matthew Bruccoleri has a message for customers who vent their frustrations at ordinary workers...
Unionized Tucson bus workers strike after rejecting contract AZ Central ...Unionized drivers and mechanics at Tucson’s bus system went on strike early Thursday after rejecting a labor contract, a company official said. The strike against Sun Tran began at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, a spokeswoman said. The strike came after a contract extension expired at midnight. That extension had been agreed to after Teamsters Local 104’s members last week rejected an offer...
Unions gunning for MMA fighters Review Journal ...Ultimate Fighting Championship star Ronda Rousey as a Teamster? UFC's Las Vegas nemesis, Culinary Workers Union Local 226, is joining Teamsters Local 986 of South El Monte, Calif. for an "initiative" Thursday to organize UFC's 574 MMA fighters. It's the latest jab at UFC by the culinary union, which wants to bring workers at Las Vegas-based Station Casinos into Local 226. Teamsters Local 986 and Culinary Local 226 have several joint organizing projects in Las Vegas, including the Station Casinos organizing campaign...
Global Labor & Trade
Negotiators hope to wrap up Trans-Pacific Partnership talks this month LA Times ...After a disappointing round of talks ended last week in Hawaii without resolution, negotiators of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership are hoping to meet later this month to try again to wrap up one of the world's biggest free-trade agreements. Between now and then, negotiators have their work cut out for them: They need to iron out tough issues on the length of drug patents, so-called rules of origin for autos and, perhaps most intractable of all, market access for dairy goods — something particularly important for California, America's biggest dairy-producing state...
Kerry confident of concluding TPP trade pact this year Reuters ...U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed confidence on Friday that an ambitious Pacific trade pact could be completed this year and said a recent nuclear deal with Iran proved hurdles in international agreements could be overcome. Kerry said many challenges remained in thrashing out a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), particularly on issues of autos and dairy, but the United States would do everything in its power to make it happen...
Trans-Pacific Partnership: Are Free Trade Agreements Like TPP Really A Tool For Fixing Labor Rights Abuses? International Business Times ...As President Barack Obama pushes to make the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact a capstone of his global trade legacy, he is promoting the deal at home as a way to counter China's commercial influence in the Asia-Pacific region while also holding trade partners to tighter human rights agreements than Chinese dealmakers would. But experts say the president is exaggerating the extent to which trade pacts can force countries to address labor issues and human rights concerns...
New TPP Leaks Reveal US 'Pandering to Big Drug Companies,' Threatening Innovators Common Dream ...New leaks of the negotiating text of the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement reveal that the Obama administration is pushing forth radical proposals that critics say will threaten to harm consumers and innovators while rewarding big drug companies and "extremist copyright" policies. Negotiators for the 12-nation trade pact failed last week to reach a final agreement at their meeting in Maui
Trade deficit widens 7% in June as imports jump USA Today ...The U.S. trade deficit increased in June as solid consumer spending pulled in more imports, while the strong dollar restrained exports. The Commerce Department said Wednesday the trade gap jumped 7% to $43.8 billion in June, up from $40.9 billion in May. Imports increased 1.2% to $232.4 billion, while exports edged lower to $188.6 billion from $188.7 billion...
Greece's tax revenues collapse as debt crisis continues The Guardian ...Fresh evidence of the dramatic impact of the Greek debt crisis on the health of the country’s finances has emerged, with official figures showing tax revenues collapsing. As talks continued over a proposed €86bn third bailout of the stricken state, the Greek treasury said tax revenues were 8.5% lower in the first six months of 2015 than the same period a year earlier. The bank shutdown that brought much economic activity to a halt began on 28 June...
How smuggled workers power 'Made in China' Reuters ...The smuggling of illegal workers from Vietnam across the 1,400-km (840-mile) border into China is growing. Labor brokers estimate that tens of thousands work at factories in the Pearl River Delta, which abuts Hong Kong. Workers from other Southeast Asian nations are joining them. Visits by Reuters to a half-dozen factory towns in southern China revealed the employment of illegal workers from Vietnam is widespread, and authorities often turn a blind eye to their presence...
Congressional cracks appear in Brazil austerity plan FT ...Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff faced a fresh setback to her efforts to restore the country’s sinking public finances on Thursday after a rebellious congress voted for wage rises for key civil servants. The move, which sent the real to a fresh 12-year low and local bond yields to a record high, came as Ms Rousseff’s approval ratings fell to their lowest level and two small parties defected from her ruling coalition, further threatening her hold over congress...
London Underground services resume after 24-hour Tube strike BBC News ...London Underground services have resumed after a 24-hour strike shut down the entire network. The industrial action by four unions began on Wednesday evening as part of a dispute over the Night Tube, which is due to start next month. The unions are unhappy at conditions offered to drivers who will be working on the new service...
State & Living Wage Battles
WorkForce Still Working to Recalculate Prevailing Wage WV Public ...he prevailing wage in West Virginia expired on July 1 of this year after a political battle between lawmakers and the executive branch, but WorkForce West Virginia says they’re still working to recalculate the wage. The prevailing wage is the hourly rate workers are paid on construction projects that are paid for with state dollars...
Report Finds Confusion Over Voter ID Law Kept People From The Polls, Too Houston Press ...The Texas Voter law, requiring voters to have a photo ID, may have kept some people from the polls in November 2014's general election—but mere confusion about the law may have kept away voters, too. According to a new report released by public policy researchers at Rice University's Baker Institute and the University of Houston's Hobby Center, 13 percent of a sample of 400 nonvoters in U.S. Congressional District 23 said in a survey that they did not vote in part because they did not possess the proper photo ID...
Could Scott Walker's Legal Victory Expand PAC Superpowers? Truthout ...A Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling on Gov. Scott Walker's campaign practices clears the way for state candidates to work more closely with legally independent political groups and their enormous war chests. The big unanswered question is how ripples from the case might spread beyond the state's borders. The ruling could spark attempts to overturn laws in other states that restrict such coordination...
Unintended Consequence of Wal-Mart’s Raise: Unhappy Workers Bloomberg ...When Wal-Mart Stores Inc. chief Doug McMillon announced plans to boost store workers’ minimum wage earlier this year, he said the move was intended to improve morale and retain employees. Yet for some of the hundreds of thousands of workers getting no raise, the policy is having the opposite effect. If Wal-Mart and other retailers don’t also adjust pay for veteran hourly workers, they could face rising dissent, said David Cooper, an economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute...
Dunkin Donut CEO Who Makes $4,887 an Hour Outraged at $15 Minimum Wage In These Times ...This week, the New York Wage Board recommended that the state's fast food workers should make $15 per hour, which has been the rallying cry for the labor movement across the country. The New York move was seen as a victory for workers in this industry, who are among the lowest-paid in the country. Within a day, corporate America was on the attack, to stop the spread of this burgeoning national movement...
Health care workers plead with Hillary Clinton for higher minimum wage CNN ...Hillary Clinton visited a technical college in Los Angeles on Thursday to hear the emotional stories, and needs, of home health-care workers represented by the Service Employees International Union. What she heard: Raise our wages. Throughout Clinton's appearance at the Los Angeles Trade Technical College, home health-care workers from across the country told Clinton what a pay bump would mean...
This bank just hiked its minimum wage to $15 CNN ...Amalgamated Bank announced Thursday that it will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour. The change will affect all employees, take effect immediately, and be retroactive to July 1. Amalgamated encouraged other financial institutions to "join the 'Fight for 15.'" "We're fortunate enough to be part of the wealthiest industry in America, so I'd hope others in the financial industry will follow," Amalgamated Bank CEO Keith Mestrich told CNNMoney...
U.S. Labor
Verizon Gets Upper Hand With Labor Unions in Wireless Shift Bloomberg ...Verizon Communications Inc., deadlocked in labor talks over pension benefits and health care that caused a strike in 2011, has gained bargaining power this time around after shedding operations that employ older unionized workers. The Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, representing about 39,000 Verizon employees, are in the weakest position they’ve ever been. That’s because the phone giant has refocused on wireless, where it sees more growth and employees are nonunionized...
UAW leader says union will 'negotiate smart' with Ford Detroit Free Press ...The UAW knows Ford is earning record profits in North America, but does not plan to use that as an opportunity to extract unreasonable raises in contract discussions this year. UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles said Thursday the union needs to remember that the companies that employ union members must be able to remain healthy for years to come...
Labor Dept. to unveil worker protection rule The Hill ...The Obama administration will unveil a long awaited proposal Thursday to lower workplace exposure to beryllium, a widely used metal that’s known to cause a deadly lung disease. The proposed rule would lower the Occupational Health and Safety Administration's (OSHA) current eight-hour permissible exposure limit for beryllium from 2.0 micrograms per cubic meter of air to 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter...
Amnesty International’s Long-Due Support for Sex Workers Rights The Nation ...Amnesty International, after two years of consultation with members and human rights advocates around the world, is meeting with the international board over the next few days in Dublin to “adopt a policy that seeks attainment of the highest possible protection of the human rights of sex workers.” The foundation of this proposal—that countries “review and repeal laws that make those who sell sex vulnerable to human rights violations”—has been mischaracterized as legalizing prostitution...
Unemployment Rate Steady As Economy Adds 215,000 Jobs NPR ...The U.S. economy added 215,000 jobs last month, just shy of the number forecast by economists. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.3 percent. Wages were up slightly and the number of long-term unemployed remained the same as June. The consensus forecast had been for 220,000 new jobs. The gains occurred in retail trade, health care, professional and technical services, and financial activities...
The Racial Gaps in America's Recovery The Atlantic ...According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s latest report, the unemployment rate in July was 5.3 percent, which is encouragingly low compared to the height of the recession, when it reached 10 percent. It’s also tantalizingly close to the 5.0 to 5.2 percent range that Federal Reserve policymakers say will signal the country’s return to full employment. What’s lost in that marquee number, though, is that this progress has been incredibly uneven, and minorities continue to struggle disproportionately...
Social Justice & Other News
First Republican Debate of 2016 Presidential Race Kicks Off on Fox News with Roger Ailes Favorites Democracy Now ...Ten leading Republican presidential candidates faced off in the first debate of the 2016 presidential election Thursday night. Fox News invited 10 candidates to take part: Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump and Scott Walker. Some analysts described the debate as the Roger Ailes primary since the head of Fox News had so much say into who participated in the prime-time event...
Immigration issues dominate opening GOP presidential debate MSNBC ...Immigration issues dominated the first Republican presidential debate of the season, pitting GOP candidates against one another in addressing the millions of undocumented immigrants with firm roots in the United States. Looming over the debate was real estate mogul and billionaire Donald Trump, who basked in his center podium placement on the debate stage, defying odds by leading national polls. Trump claimed credit for making immigration a major campaign issue...
"Oppressed People Are Everywhere": A Year After Ferguson, a Conversation With One of the Protests' Organizers Mother Jones ...In the year since the Ferguson protests, police treatment of African Americans has come under intense scrutiny. Numerous police killings of unarmed black men in New York, Baltimore, North Charleston, and elsewhere have drawn national attention. And across the country, activists and community leaders have demanded accountability from officers and reforms from lawmakers. These efforts already have had some results. Still, police are on track to kill more people this year than last year...
Jon Stewart’s Humble, Remarkable Farewell The Atlantic ...After nearly 17 years as the star, Jon Stewart tried his best to make his final night at The Daily Show about anyone but himself—and he almost succeeded. On Thursday, Stewart wheeled out a parade of current and former correspondents, aired taped goodbyes from longtime rivals, and paid tribute to the show’s behind-the-scenes crew with a lengthy, faux-single-shot segment...
Trump's Narcissism Obscures His Outrage The Atlantic ...Saying that Donald Trump performed poorly in last night’s debate is stating the obvious. By any sane standard he’s been performing poorly since he entered the race. Yet he’s leading in the polls. Still, last night Trump didn’t even do obnoxious well. The reason, I suspect, is that to debate effectively, even if you’re a goon, you must talk about something other than yourself...
Paul Krugman: Donald Trump’s “know-nothingism” makes one pine for a “return to normal GOP hypocrisy” Salon ...The New York Times’ Paul Krugman used his Friday column to analyze the appeal of the candidates who participated in last night’s GOP debate — in particular, he analyzed the way in which Donald Trump’s obvious absurdity calls attention to the fundamental unseriousness of the candidates with whom he shared the stage. The conventions of political reporting and commentary, Krugman argued, prevents people from saying “the obvious — namely, that one of our two major political parties has gone off the deep end”...
Rick Santorum Vows To Cut Back Every Anti-Poverty Program To End The Culture Of Handouts Think Progress ...At the early Republican debate on Thursday evening among the candidates who didn’t get a slot in primetime, the hosts and candidates took time to talk about their concern that the country has a culture of dependency thanks to anti-poverty programs. Santorum responded by describing his plan to engineer a manufacturing rebound and thus create more jobs through a flat tax. But then he brought up his plans for anti-poverty programs...
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