Today's Teamster News 02.23.14

Teamster News
Horse and Carriage Controversy Threatens Small Carriage Owners  Small Business Trends   ...for the moment, city council seems to have stopped the mayor in his tracks and the issue has yet to even make it to the council’s agenda...
Mayor de Blasio Says He'll Visit NYC Stables Before Banning Horse Carriages  New York Daily News   ...Facing criticism for not visiting stables before banning the horse and carriage industry, Mayor de Blasio Thursday promised to go and see the animals in their home environment - but insisted it wouldn’t change his mind...
Georgia: Government Not by the People or for the People  AFL-CIO   ...The Georgia House Committee on Industry and Labor voted on a straight party line to move forward a bill that would make contract employees of private companies that work with schools ineligible for unemployment benefits...
State Battles
Scott Walker urged county staff, campaign aides to promote him online  Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel   ... In the heat of the 2010 governor's race, Scott Walker urged both county employees and campaign aides to go to news websites and post comments promoting him and his record, newly unsealed documents show. It was just such anonymous posts by a county worker on campaign issues that prompted prosecutors to expand a secret "John Doe" investigation — launched to probe into missing money in a veterans fund — to also examine whether taxpayer dollars were being used illegally to finance political operations...
Wis. Assembly ends government minimum wage  WMTV   ...Assembly Republicans have approved a bill ending minimum wage mandates for local government workers and contractors in Madison and Milwaukee...
Delaware considers banning the box  Newsworks   ...Delaware is considering a statewide "ban the box" bill that would remove the criminal history check-off box from state, county and city jobs, among other public agencies...
Ga. Senate OKs bill to privatize some state child welfare services; bill now heads to House  Associated Press   ...Democrats opposed the bill, arguing the reforms wouldn't address the underlying issues in those deaths, or improve the system...
Idaho gov orders police to investigate CCA prison  Associated Press   ...Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter has ordered the state police to conduct a criminal investigation of understaffing and falsified documents at a private prison operated by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA)...
Legislative Update 2.21.14  Indiana AFL-CIO   ...House Bill 1126 was amended significantly on Wednesday. As amended the legislation no longer allows employers to charge employees for “use” of equipment. The bill now only allows employers the ability to garnish up to $2,500 per year from an employee’s paycheck for the “purchase” of equipment or uniforms. Measures were also adopted to limit the amount of wages that could be deducted per pay check; cap the interest rate employers can charge employees who purchase uniforms or equipment through the company; ban employers from requiring prospective employees to pay for training as a condition of employment and; restores some protections against wage theft...
Speak Up For Free Speech  Michigan AFL-CIO   ...The Michigan House of Representatives are taking up House Bill 4643 that creates civil fines of up to $10,000 per day for picketing...Labor Labor unions push back against Right to Work efforts in Missouri, Pennsylvania  Beverly Hills Courier   ...The efforts are from Republicans and, as they have in the past, they are ramping up the rhetoric while promoting new rounds of Right to Work bills, commonly referred to as “Paycheck Protection” legislation in those respective states...
Fighting wage theft is pro-business  Washington State Legislative Update   ...the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives has passed four bills designed to discourage wage theft, level the playing field for honest employers, and recover state revenue lost due to the deliberate misclassification of workers as independent contractors...
Trade
Fast-track foes say they’re winning  Politico Pro   ...The anti-fast-track coalition includes many labor, environmental and consumer groups that are veterans of trade battles over the last 20 years...
Administration Desperate to Announce Deal at TPP Ministerial, But What Is a Real Deal?  Public Citizen   ...“There is a sense that whether or not any real deal is finalized, there may be an announcement of one, if only to portray the talks as not unraveling despite growing opposition to the TPP in some of the countries involved,”...
Zombies’ protest against TPPA  The Malaysian Insider   ...A group of “zombies” attracted the attention of passers-by outside a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur where they gathered today to protest against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) that Putrajaya is keen to sign...
The War on Workers
Change the Rules on Secret Money (opinion)  New York Times   ...Secret money has become the scourge of the political system and needs to be eliminated regardless of the inconvenience to nonprofit groups, whatever their ideology. Republicans have blocked Congress from dealing with the problem, so now it is up to the I.R.S. to do its job...
The Increasingly Unequal States of America  Economic Policy Institute   ...In four states (Nevada, Wyoming, Michigan, and Alaska), only the top 1 percent experienced rising incomes between 1979 and 2007, and the average income of the bottom 99 percent fell...
When Millennials Can't Move Out of Their Parents' Basements the Entire Economy Suffers  New Republic   ...The recent explosion in student debt—now held by one in five U.S. households—coincided with the Great Recession’s awful job market. Millennials have come of age amid stagnant wages, high unemployment, a lack of quality jobs (44 percent of recent graduates work in positions that don’t require a college degree), and, for those fortunate enough to attend college, an average of nearly $30,000 in debt...
Banks Fight Revised U.S. Plan to Monitor Checking Overdraft Fees  Bloomberg   ...U.S. banks are seeking to shield from scrutiny the $30 billion they collect annually in checking-account fees, saying a proposed requirement for periodic reports is unacceptable even if it exempts small institutions...

Today's Teamster News 01.30.14

Teamsters Speak Out at Lobby Day in Olympia  teamster.org   ...Correctional employees teamed up with taxi cab operators, warehouse workers, nurses, cooks and county and city employees for dozens of meetings with legislators...
Whitney Foods Workers Join Teamsters Local 703  teamster.org   ...Chicago distribution workers with Whitney Foods are now members of Teamsters Local 703 after the company voluntarily recognized its employees’ right to join the union last fall...
Collective Bargaining: How to Negotiate Strong Teamster Contracts  teamster.org   ...The IBT Training and Development Department is conducting a Teamsters Leadership Academy on collective bargaining, March 11-14, 2014...
Allegiant Air Pilots to Meet with Investors, Analysts to Discuss Operating, Safety Concerns  teamster.org   "...the major service disruptions over the last several months, ranging from multiple fleet shutdowns, chronic staffing and equipment shortages, significant ramp-up in 3rd party contracting for scheduled flights and sub-servicing and the shutdown of the company’s training department, all flow from the short-sighted decisions being made at the top.”...
New poll shows voters overwhelmingly oppose Fast Track  TeamsterNation   ...Voters by a 2-to-1 margin oppose Fast Track authority to pass trade deals, according to a new poll by Hart Research released today...
Reid Deals Body Blow to Obama on Trade  Wall Street Journal   ...Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid broke publicly with the White House Wednesday on trade policy, instantly imperiling two major international trade deals...
Even Companies Need to Know More about Fast Track, TPP  teamster.org   ...Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) raised the issue of trade provisions that would allow foreign companies to sue governments before international tribunals
Fight back against currency manipulation   McClatchy   ...we need to increase sales of goods and services made in the United States, which means expanding exports, reducing imports and shrinking our trade deficit. Currency manipulation, by about 20 countries (mostly in Asia), is the single most important cause of our trade deficit...
Asian Shares Slump After Fed Action  Wall Street Journal   ...Market turmoil returned to Asia Thursday, with Japanese stocks at one point slumping more than 3%, after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would scale back further on its stimulus measures...
Is A New Economic Crisis At Hand?  TripleCrisis   ...AT the end of last week, several developing countries saw sharp falls in their currency as well as stock market values, prompting the question of whether it is the start of a wider economic crisis. The sell-off in emerging economies also spilled over to the American and European stock markets, thus causing global turmoil...
K Street's Fortunes Decline for Third Year  OpenSecrets   ...For the third straight year, spending on K Street is down, with only a handful of industries spending more on lobbying in 2013 than they did in 2012...
Fortune 50 CEO pay vs. our salaries  CNN Money   ...With a staggering total compensation package of $378 million for 2011, Apple's Tim Cook takes the cake for the highest Fortune 50 CEO-to-typical-worker pay ratio. Indeed, it takes 6,258 typical Apple worker salaries to match Cook's total pay...
The Stealth Privatization of Pennsylvania's Bridges  TruthOut   ...Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett's administration has decided to sign a 40-year contract to privatize the state's crumbling bridges, but there has been little to no media coverage of the deal and what it will mean for two generations of Pennsylvanians...
Fun With Scary Pension Numbers in Chicago  Center for Economic Policy and Research   ...The Chicago Tribune headlined a news story: "Chicago pension tab: $18,596 for every man, woman, child." That's pretty scary. Fortunately my Chicago public school teachers taught me about fractions and denominators. That is what is missing here. The key point is that Chicago does not have to pay this money tomorrow or even over the next year. This is a liability over the next 30 years...

How about restoring taxpayer control over public assets?

Bad things happen when government let corporations loot public assets, our friends at the Center for Media and Democracy remind us. (They're the wonderful folks who brought us AlecExposed.org.)

Brendan Fischer at CMD tells us two sordid tales of privatization gone awry.

• In Chicago, a Morgan Stanley-backed company took control of 36,000 public parking meters with a 75-year contract -- and as a result, parking fees have exploded, meters run until 10pm, and taxpayers must reimburse the company for lost meter profits when they want to hold a parade or street fair. The plan was quickly pushed through the City Council and passed with no public input or debate.
• In South Carolina, after the state outsourced its water system, the for-profit corporation failed to pay state employee payroll taxes, lost track of tens of thousands of dollars, and lost millions of gallons of water. But the private company refused to come clean about what happened and comply with the public records law's transparency requirements, despite being funded by public dollars.

But you all knew about disastrous highway privatization in Indiana, liquor privatization in Washington state and prison privatization in Texas (to name a few).

In The Public Interest -- an offshoot of AFSCME -- summarizes the pitfalls of privatization:

Outsourcing means taxpayers have very little say over how tax dollars are spent and no
say on actions taken by private companies that control our public services. Outsourcing
means taxpayers cannot vote out executives who make decisions that hurt public health
and safety. Outsourcing means taxpayers are contractually stuck with a monopoly run
by a single corporation – and those contracts often last decades. And outsourcing too

So often it's true.

often means a race to the bottom for the local economy, as wages and benefits fall while corporate profits rise.

Recently, In The Public Interest came up with a legislative agenda to empower taxpayers to take back the assets they own. The Taxpayer Empowerment Agenda includes some great ideas. Here are a few of our favorites:

• Regularly post online how much taxpayers are spending on private contracts and how many workers are employed by those contracts, just as government does. 
• Make sure every contract allows government to cancel the contract if the company doesn’t live up to its promises of quality and cost savings.
• Prohibit any company that has evaded taxes or broken the law from taking over public services. (YES!!!)
• Require companies that privatize public services to pay their employees a living wage and provide reasonable benefits.
• Ban contract language that guarantees company profits. 
• Ensure that public service workers have the opportunity to submit their own plan to save money and provide quality services.

Read more about it here.

Woo-hoo! Another Teamster organizing victory in WA!

Please give a warm welcome to our 30 new brothers and sisters who voted to join Local 690 in Spokane. They are dairy delivery drivers for Estension Logistics, which supplies Darigold products to area businesses, schools and big box stores such as Target.

Darigold had outsourced delivery to Estension, which immediately cut wages and benefits. Employees asked Local 690 for help.

Fred Makus, the son of a 35-year Teamster, said the officers of Local 690 jumped right in to help them:

I knew that we could have real benefits and a stable working environment.

Kaui Pilimia said the benefits they receive as Teamsters are the most important part of the contract:

Morale has improved here and the brotherhood at the company is stronger.

The drivers at Estenson join the approximately 400 other drivers from the grocery and food service industries across the region that are represented by Local 690.

Val Holstrom, secretary-treasurer, said the local has had dairy contracts since the 1920s.

We are proud to have the Estenson drivers in Local 690. They stood strong and supported each other and their bargaining committee for over a year to get a contract that guarantees security, dignity and respect in the workplace. I’d like to thank Joint Council 28 for their support and especially secretary-treasurer Tracy Thompson and the staff of Local 117 for their assistance in our efforts.

Welcome to our great union!

Today's Teamster News 05.21.13

Business groups step up push for fast-track authority The Hill   ...Business groups are stepping up their efforts in pushing for a renewal of fast-track authority to negotiate trade agreements. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable  ... teamed up on Monday to launch the Trade Benefits America Coalition...
Trans-Pacific Partnership deal unlikely this year  Stuff.co.nz   ...A heavyweight lineup of former United States trade representatives have delivered a gloomy prognosis on the likelihood of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal being wrapped up this year...
Foreclosure Fraud Failures Come To A Head In Justice Department Protest   ThinkProgress   ...Frustration with the failed execution of various weakly-constructed legal settlements stemming from widespread foreclosure fraud bubbled over today into a protest at Justice Department headquarters that culminated in homeowners being arrested...
White-collar workers are turning to labor unions  Los Angeles Times   ...The next wave of union protesters isn't blue collar. It's lawyers, paralegals, secretaries, helicopter pilots, judges, insurance agents and podiatrists...
Employee Abuse Runs Rampant In America  Economic Populist   ...The Workplace Bullying Institute documents just how widespread employee abuse is in America. ... the WBI site describes who gets targeted for workplace abuse.... The people most targeted are the ones most capable....
Billionaires Now Own American Politics  TomDispatch   ...Billionaires with an axe to grind, now is your time. Not since the days before a bumbling crew of would-be break-in artists set into motion the fabled Watergate scandal, leading to the first far-reaching restrictions on money in American politics, have you been so free to meddle...
Former Sen. Judd Gregg Named CEO Of Top Wall Street Lobbying Group  Huffington Post   ...As the onetime ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Gregg was a staunch defender of Wall Street and the financial sector throughout the 2008 financial crisis, helping to author the bill that bailed out the nation's largest banks. The finance, insurance and real estate sector was a top contributor to his campaigns...

Proposal gives Scott Walker administration more power to sell state property  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...Gov. Scott Walker's administration would gain broad authority to sell state property - including prisons, highways, heating plants and university dormitories - under a plan legislators will take up Tuesday...Senator’s plan would make Washington a right-to-work state  Olympia Report   ...Sen. Michael Baumgartner (R-Spokane) on Wednesday announced a strategy  ... to make Washington a right-to-work state if worker’s compensation insurance rates continue to increase...
Pension vote puts some House Republicans in awkward position  Tampa Bay Times ...Florida House Republicans tried to close the state's pension system to new employees this year, saying it's a ticking time bomb that could cripple the state's budget for years to come. But many of those same GOP lawmakers are members of the state pension system themselves...
In Florida, Incentives Only the Beginning for Favored Companies  Florida Center for Investigative Reporting   ...Enterprise Florida is picking winners, and most small businesses cannot imagine being successful in securing these awards,” said Dan Krassner, executive director of the Tallahassee-based watchdog group Integrity Florida. “The whole incentives strategy needs further review to see if it is truly in the public interest.”...
State workers anxious as Illinois lawmakers debate pensions  Associated Press   ...An Illinois agency manager might have to delay retirement. A former university secretary wonders where she’ll have to cancel vacations. A state office assistant fears he won’t be able to afford the medical care his wife needs...
GUEST COMMENTARY: The hidden agenda in Jefferson City  Columbia Missourian   ...the real goal of Missouri's legislative leaders is to continue the shift of wealth and power upward to their friends at the American Legislative Exchange Council. Using ALEC's principles of free markets, limited government and federalism, Missouri's legislative leaders scored at the top of the list of states working to dismantle all public programs and services...
My Voice: No tax dollars for ALEC dues  Argus Leader   ...Do you want your tax dollars to support higher perks, out-of-state travel and membership dues for state legislators to a conservative organization funded by corporate special interests? That’s what is happening now in South Dakota under the leadership of Republican legislators...
ABF Local Leaders Unanimously Approve Tentative Agreement  IBT   ...Leaders from about 160 Teamster local unions that represent ABF members unanimously endorsed a tentative master agreement and supplements today that covers 7,500 workers. The vote to support the tentative agreement and supplements paves the way for a vote by the members...
Teamsters Help 'Stamp Out Hunger'  The Morning Call   ...On May 11, members of National Association of Letter Carriers Locals 389, 254 and 274; the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association; the AFL-CIO and Teamsters Local 778; AARP; the U.S. Postal Service ... collected, sorted and delivered food donated along postal routes, writes Ann B. McManus, director of the Second Harvest Food Bank, in her letter to the editor...

Bold Growth Plans at Hollywood Studios  New York Times   ...Film counts are down. Production is going elsewhere. And yet big Hollywood studios are planning to expand...

Republic strike spreads to Bill Gates' home state

Early morning solidarity in Washington.

Striking Teamsters at Republic/Allied Waste's landfill in Youngstown extended their picket lines to three more cities this morning in the home state of company owner Bill Gates. Local 377 traveled from Ohio to set up lines in Seattle, Lynnwood and Kent/SeaTac. They are holding strong.

Picket lines have been extended to Republic locations in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and California before reaching Western Washington early this morning. Lockouts and strikes forced by Republic have disrupted trash collection for hundreds of thousands of Americans over the past year and put communities at risk.

Strikes against Republic's unfair labor practices are continuing today in McDonough, Ga., and Memphis.

Gates' foundation is busy micromanaging the school budget of Lake County, Fla. Gates, however, is nowhere to be seen in the dispute between Teamsters and the company of which he is the biggest shareholder.

Teamster locals 38, 117, 174, and 763 represent over 200 Republic/Allied Waste employees throughout the Puget Sound region. In a remarkable (but typical) show of Teamster solidarity, they are honoring Local 377's picket lines.

Tracey Thompson, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 117 in Tukwila, Wash., said:

Bill Gates says he promotes global health, but he refuses to step in and stop Republic from violating workers’ rights and causing a public health crisis in cities across the country. 

According to today's press release,

Republic is taking up to $140 per month out of workers’ paychecks for health insurance “tobacco” or “spouse” surcharges, even if they don’t smoke or their spouses have no other insurance option. When notified of the errors that can total up to $1,700 per person per year, Republic refuses to return the money to them. Other workers have seen their paychecks shrink now that Republic’s lawyers are exploiting loopholes in the law to pay overtime at rates as low as $6 or $7 per hour.

Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa in 2012 sent Gates two letters requesting a meeting to discuss Republic’s repeated violations of workers’ rights and the company’s disregard for federal labor law. Gates did not respond to either request.