Teamsters
Teamsters Women’s Conference Inspires Teamster.org ...The 2015 Teamsters Women’s Conference took place in Boston Friday, the second day of the annual event. Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall addressed more than one thousand Teamster women who have gathered for three days of education, inspiration and sisterhood. View photos from Day 2 of the event here. “Teamster women are dedicated members and leaders. You’re motivated and you know how to get things done. You play such an incredibly important role,” Hall said...
Vistar Drivers and Warehouse Workers Join Teamsters Local 630 Teamster.org ...California warehouse workers and drivers at Vistar, a Performance Food Group (PFG) company, have voted 70 percent in favor of joining Teamsters Local 630 in Los Angeles, Calif. There are 71 workers in the bargaining unit and all but one participated in the Aug. 27 election. The workers at Vistar decided to organize to address the lack of respect, low wages and inadequate health benefits at the company...
Waste Workers in California Join Teamsters Local 137 Teamster.org ...Today, drivers at Waste Management, Inc. in Redding, California voted by a 2-1 margin to join Teamsters Local 137. The workers approached the local union in mid-July about joining the union, and Local 137 filed for an election on August 3, 2015. The vote today was 16-8. There are 36 drivers in the bargaining unit...
Local 727 Wins Fight for Osco Pharmacist’s Reinstatement Local 727 ...An arbitrator ruled that the company wrongfully terminated Teamsters Local 727 Osco pharmacist member Wanda Froehlich last year and that the company must reinstate her with over a year’s worth of full back pay and benefits. Froehlich, a 20-year Osco employee, was unjustly terminated June 6, 2014. Management fired her without notice of the charges...
Labor sees organizing boon from U.S. ruling St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...Rome Aloise, president of the Teamsters in Northern California, said the Browning-Ferris ruling means Google will now have to be part of the discussions about working conditions with the union and the contractor. It was a local branch of the Teamsters that originally brought the complaint about a union election at the Browning-Ferris recycling plant...
Global Labor & Trade
Big Sugar’s Fight to Keep U.S. Import Limits Delaying Trade Deal Washington Post ...A sweet deal for American sugar farmers is compounding delays in a proposed trade agreement affecting 40 percent of the world’s economy. The commodity has become a sticky subject in talks over the Trans-Pacific Partnership. TPP, as it’s known, would link a dozen countries and, its proponents say, make it easier for U.S. companies to sell goods around the world. But the trade deal may also weaken protections for the sugar industry...
Amari says TPP may be halted if no deal is reached before Canada election in October Japan Times ...Negotiations for a multilateral Pacific Rim free trade agreement may be halted if the 12 participating countries cannot strike a broad deal before a general election in Canada in October, Japanese Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Akira Amari said Friday. “After election campaigning starts in Canada, it will be difficult” to continue negotiations, Amari said in an interview...
Mixed Views on Finalizing the Trans Pacific Partnership WNAX ...U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman expressed optimism recently that negotiators are close to wrapping up a final Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement. Iowa Farm Bureau President Craig Hill says he’s glad the trade leader is positive about progress, but thinks it may be tough to achieve yet this year. Hill says if the Trans Pacific Partnership runs into 2016, it could get muddled up in Presidential politics...
Disposable People: Obama, the TPP, and the Betrayal of Human Rights (opinion) San Diego Free Press ...By ignoring modern day slavery to advance the TPP, Obama has given the lie to the rhetoric of TPP advocates with all their bluster about how this trade deal was somehow about a more progressive world order with regard to labor and human rights. "The administration’s alleged willingness to turn a blind eye to trafficking abuses in Malaysia in order to get the TPP done also does not bode well for the hope of any enforcement of labor and environmental provisions were the TPP actually enacted"...
80,000 in Ireland Protest 'Austerity' Water Bills TeleSUR ...More than 80,000 Irish protested in Dublin Saturday against the planned introduction of municipal water charges. The massive crowd flooded the Irish capital, with some protesters carrying placards reading, “Scrap fraud water charges or collapse next election.” The march was the fifth major protest against water charges in the past 12 months, organized by the umbrella group of social movements and unions...
Unraveling Why So Many Firefighters Perished in the Tianjin Blast Slate ...That so many firefighters would die in the line of duty struck a painful chord in Tianjin and spurred a heart-wrenching search for answers. Government officials and the public are now pushing to find out exactly what happened that night and why. Within days of the blaze, the search for answers started shedding light on a murky business world tied to the trading, transporting, and storing of hazardous chemicals in China...
State & Living Wage Battles
Veto session may feature right to work News-Press Now ...Local lawmakers are preparing for a September veto session at the Missouri Capitol, where the contentious right-to-work issue may resurface on their desks. The Missouri General Assembly’s annual session, to consider bills vetoed by Gov. Jay Nixon, is set to commence Sept. 16 in Jefferson City...
N.J. Senate prez pushing for paid sick leave law, taxing hospitals NJ.com ...State Senate President Stephen Sweeney says he remains committed to passing legislation that would require businesses to provide paid sick days and for nonprofit hospitals to pay property taxes. But he doesn't see either issue gaining momentum until after the Assembly elections in November...
Texas Asks Full Appeals Court to Hear Voter ID Case Texas Tribune ...Continuing to protect a voter identification law that courts say discriminates against Hispanics and African Americans, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has asked a full federal appeals court to hear his arguments about why the state’s requirements at the polls do not violate the Voting Rights Act. In a series of filings Friday, the Republican asked the full U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to hear the case...
Is It Game Over for One of America's Most Fanatic Tea Party Governors? Alternet ...Maine’s angriest white guy, Tea Party Republican Gov. Paul LePage, may have finally crossed a legal line when he told a charter school to withdraw a job offer to a top Democratic political opponent or else lose a $530,000 state subsidy. That led the legislature’s Government Oversight Committee this summer to unanimously call for an investigation into whether LePage illegally abused his office’s authority...
Emergency rule filed related to prevailing wage changes Metro News ...WorkForce West Virginia filed an emergency rule Friday related to changes made in the prevailing wage statute. The rule filed defines the regions of the state to be used in the calculation of prevailing wage, as well as a procedure for those wishing to object to the calculation formula...
Walmart Cuts Workers’ Hours After Raising Its Minimum Wage Earlier This Year Think Progress ...After raising the minimum wage for its lowest compensated workers, Walmart is now cutting some workers’ hours to try to trim costs. Store managers were recently told to cut back on hours to reduce costs, which has led to them eliminating hours from the schedule, telling workers to leave their shifts before they end, or having employees take longer lunches, Bloomberg News reports...
U.S. Labor
NLRB Decision Could Mean Excellent News for Fast Food and Other Low-Wage Workers In These Times ...In a decision that could greatly improve prospects for workers to form unions in a fast-growing and largely low-wage swath of the U.S. workforce, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) redefined yesterday the standards for determining when more than one firm will be considered “joint employers” of a group of workers. The new standard is largely a return to a broader, more inclusive definition used before the Reagan-era NLRB tightened the rules...
The Pacific Coast Farm-Worker Rebellion The Nation ....While the most dramatic protest this year has taken place in Baja California, the same anger is building among indigenous farm workers all along the Pacific Coast, from San QuintÃn in Mexico to Burlington, an hour south of the US border with Canada. Two years ago Triqui and Mixtec workers struck strawberry fields in Skagit County in Washington State. Two years before that, Triqui workers picking peas in the Salinas Valley rebelled against an inhuman work quota, and immigration raids...
Autoworkers Union Passes Strike Authorization Measure 24/7 Wall St ...In a procedural vote completed last week, workers at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. voted heavily in favor of going on strike against the company if the United Autoworkers Union (UAW) determines that Chrysler has not bargained in good faith. Chrysler and the UAW kicked off new contract negotiations in July, and the union has also started negotiations with Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co...
Pittsburgh Company Looks for Scabs to Work 84 Hours a Week During Steelworker Lockout Alternet ...In Pittsburgh, the firm Allegheny Technologies has been involved in a labor dispute with United Steelworkers that has let to 2,000 members being locked out over the course of this month. As Sean Kitchen discovered, the company Storm Engineering, which finds scab workers to break strikes, has placed an ad on Craigslist looking for workers to work 84-hour-week during the lockout...
Social Justice & Other News
Outrage Follows Death of Young Black Man, Jailed for Stealing $5 of Snacks Common Dreams ...Heartbreak swelled on Friday afternoon after the news broke that a mentally ill black man from Virginia died in a jail cell on August 19 after spending four months behind bars for allegedly stealing a bottle of Mountain Dew, a Snickers bar, and a Zebra Cake worth a total of $5 from a 7-Eleven. Response on social media reflected growing public awareness—and outrage—about the overlapping scourges of institutionalized racism, a dysfunctional criminal justice system, and a troubling gap in mental health care...
Chris Christie Proposes Tracking Immigrants the Way FedEx Tracks Packages New York Times ...Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said on Saturday that if he were elected president he would combat illegal immigration by creating a system to track foreign visitors the way FedEx tracks packages. Mr. Christie, who is far back in the pack of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, said at a campaign event in New Hampshire that he would ask the chief executive of FedEx, Frederick W. Smith, to devise the tracking system...
Showing posts with label Waste Management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Waste Management. Show all posts
Monday, August 31, 2015
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Today's Teamster News 10.30.14
Teamster News
Teamsters: Port Trucking Industry Dealt Another Blow teamster.org ...This week, the first of the fired drivers, Yesenia Rivas, was awarded $9,000 in unemployment benefits by the California Employment Development Department (EDD) – benefits that are only available to “employees,” not “independent contractors.”...
Recycling Workers Continue Strike At Waste Management Bay Area Sites San Jose Mercury News ...Teamsters Joint Council President Rome Aloise characterized the ILWU's struggle against Waste Management as unrealistic and called the workers "pawns" of the union leadership. "The slogan and campaign that has been developed is based on a promise that cannot be met and is designed to create false hope for the workers," Aloise said...
Grimes Courts Labor Votes With Warren In Kentucky Fresno Bee ...Stephen Piercey, a 32-year-old UPS worker and a steward in the Teamsters union, said he supports Grimes because she opposes right to work legislation that would allow companies to hire nonunion workers, which he said would weaken the labor union's ability to bargain for its members...
Trade
Germany Turning Sour on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership naked capitalism ...Germans are particularly aware of the dangers of these foreign investor panels due to payments the German government has been forced to make. Vattenfal, a Swedish company, is a serial trade pact litigant against Germany. In 2011, Der Spiegel reported on how it was suing for expected €1 billion plus losses due to Germany’s program to phase out nuclear power...
Why Support The TPP When It Will Let Foreign Corporations Take Our Democracies To Court? The Guardian ...ISDS clauses enable foreign corporations to sue a host country for laws or policies, or even court decisions, they find inconvenient and objectionable. This has the effect of giving foreign investors more rights than local investors; more influence than local citizens...
Monsanto Agritech Lobbying For The TTIP: Britain Spearheads Campaign To Make European GMO Regulation Meaningless Center For Research On Globalization ...The TTIP aims to force Europe to drop its GMO regulatory standards. If this occurs, Claire Robinson argues that Europe will adopt the type of worthless product-based regulatory assessments that occurs in the US...
Report Links Brands To 'Slavery' In Indian Mills Women's Wear Daily ...A new report alleging “modern-day slavery” in five Indian textile mills prompted at least three of the Western retailers —H&M, Primark and C&A — linked to the factories on Tuesday to pledge to take either punitive or remedial action...
State Battles
Court Refuses To Intervene In Case of 40,000 Missing Voters In Georgia Think Progress ...On Tuesday, Judge Christopher Brasher of the Fulton County Superior Court denied a petition from civil rights advocates to force Georgia’s Secretary of State to process an estimated 40,000 voter registrations that have gone missing from the public database...
Scott Walker Runs Ad Supporting Equal Pay After Repealing Wisconsin's Equal Pay Law Huffington Post ...Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) released an ad on Tuesday in which his female lieutenant governor applauds his support for equal pay for women -- just two years after the governor signed a bill repealing the state's equal pay law...
War on Workers
Money Koch Bros. Stole from Tribes Could Swing Mid-Term Elections Indian Country Media Network ...The committee issued its report (Senate Report 101-216) in 1989: “Koch Oil, the largest purchaser of Indian oil in the country, was engaged in a widespread and sophisticated scheme to steal crude oil from Indians and others through fraudulent mismeasuring and misreporting.” The committee sent the report to the Justice Department and DOJ convened a grand jury to examine possible criminal charges, but no indictments had been returned before the group was disbanded in 1992...
Oil Train Protesters March On Downtown Spokane KXLY ..."Oil trains are dangerous," said King County Executive Dow Constantine, "they can leak, they can catch fire. There have been explosions that are tremendously dangerous to people and property. Second, they take up space that could be used by people here producing agricultural products, manufactured products being shipped from Montana, Idaho, Eastern Washington to the ports, and that capacity that we're losing is costing Washington State jobs."...
Nurse Kaci Hickox 'Will Go to Court' Over Maine Ebola Quarantine Rule ABC News ...Kaci Hickox, a nurse who treated Ebolapatients and threatened to sue New Jersey over being quarantined before she was discharged, today threatened to sue Maine if officials there do not lift a 21-day quarantine restriction...
Amtrak worker killed by train MidHudson News ...An Amtrak employee was struck and killed by one of the railroad’s trains while he was working on a section of the track late Wednesday morning...
Construction worker dies after he's struck by truck on Verrazano-Narrows Bridge Staten Island Advance ...Shell, who was employed by STV, a contractor working on the bridge, was working in a closed work zone in front of the Verrazano-Narrows administration building in Staten Island when he was struck by a truck delivering asphalt to the site...
Recovery efforts continue for contractor who died in trench collapse MyFOXDetroit.com ...Crews are continuing the efforts Thursday morning to recover the body of a construction worker killed in a trench collapse in Grosse Pointe Woods...
Dead babies near oil drilling sites raise questions for researchers Denver Post ...Part of the reluctance of residents around Vernal to ascribe any ill effects to energy-field pollution could be tied to the average $3,963 average monthly nonfarm wage in Uintah County — the highest in Utah...
Why Does the U.S. Senate Need a Petition Drive to Hold Hearings on the Secret Goldman Sachs’ Tapes Wall Street on Parade ...Senators Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown believe they may have a battle on their hands getting their colleagues on the Senate Banking Committee to agree to hold hearings on the now notorious tape recordings secretly made by former New York Fed bank examiner, Carmen Segarra, showing a cozy relationship between the regulator and Goldman Sachs...
Miscellaneous
Police: Woman Decapitated, Son Struck By Train In Murder-Suicide In Farmingdale CBS Local ...A woman was decapitated by her son in the middle of the street, he then killed himself by stepping in front of a Long Island Rail Road train in Farmingdale, police said Wednesday...
FBI demands new powers to hack into computers and carry out surveillance Guardian ...Agency requests rule change but civil liberties groups say ‘extremely invasive’ technique amounts to unconstitutional power grab...
UK Spies Get Bulk Access To NSA Data, Court Rules Fox News ...The British government's insistence that its spies don't use the vast espionage powers of the U.S. National Security Agency to sidestep U.K. restrictions on domestic eavesdropping was called into question by a court document published Wednesday...
Teamsters: Port Trucking Industry Dealt Another Blow teamster.org ...This week, the first of the fired drivers, Yesenia Rivas, was awarded $9,000 in unemployment benefits by the California Employment Development Department (EDD) – benefits that are only available to “employees,” not “independent contractors.”...
Recycling Workers Continue Strike At Waste Management Bay Area Sites San Jose Mercury News ...Teamsters Joint Council President Rome Aloise characterized the ILWU's struggle against Waste Management as unrealistic and called the workers "pawns" of the union leadership. "The slogan and campaign that has been developed is based on a promise that cannot be met and is designed to create false hope for the workers," Aloise said...
Grimes Courts Labor Votes With Warren In Kentucky Fresno Bee ...Stephen Piercey, a 32-year-old UPS worker and a steward in the Teamsters union, said he supports Grimes because she opposes right to work legislation that would allow companies to hire nonunion workers, which he said would weaken the labor union's ability to bargain for its members...
Trade
Germany Turning Sour on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership naked capitalism ...Germans are particularly aware of the dangers of these foreign investor panels due to payments the German government has been forced to make. Vattenfal, a Swedish company, is a serial trade pact litigant against Germany. In 2011, Der Spiegel reported on how it was suing for expected €1 billion plus losses due to Germany’s program to phase out nuclear power...
Why Support The TPP When It Will Let Foreign Corporations Take Our Democracies To Court? The Guardian ...ISDS clauses enable foreign corporations to sue a host country for laws or policies, or even court decisions, they find inconvenient and objectionable. This has the effect of giving foreign investors more rights than local investors; more influence than local citizens...
Monsanto Agritech Lobbying For The TTIP: Britain Spearheads Campaign To Make European GMO Regulation Meaningless Center For Research On Globalization ...The TTIP aims to force Europe to drop its GMO regulatory standards. If this occurs, Claire Robinson argues that Europe will adopt the type of worthless product-based regulatory assessments that occurs in the US...
Report Links Brands To 'Slavery' In Indian Mills Women's Wear Daily ...A new report alleging “modern-day slavery” in five Indian textile mills prompted at least three of the Western retailers —H&M, Primark and C&A — linked to the factories on Tuesday to pledge to take either punitive or remedial action...
State Battles
Court Refuses To Intervene In Case of 40,000 Missing Voters In Georgia Think Progress ...On Tuesday, Judge Christopher Brasher of the Fulton County Superior Court denied a petition from civil rights advocates to force Georgia’s Secretary of State to process an estimated 40,000 voter registrations that have gone missing from the public database...
Scott Walker Runs Ad Supporting Equal Pay After Repealing Wisconsin's Equal Pay Law Huffington Post ...Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) released an ad on Tuesday in which his female lieutenant governor applauds his support for equal pay for women -- just two years after the governor signed a bill repealing the state's equal pay law...
War on Workers
Money Koch Bros. Stole from Tribes Could Swing Mid-Term Elections Indian Country Media Network ...The committee issued its report (Senate Report 101-216) in 1989: “Koch Oil, the largest purchaser of Indian oil in the country, was engaged in a widespread and sophisticated scheme to steal crude oil from Indians and others through fraudulent mismeasuring and misreporting.” The committee sent the report to the Justice Department and DOJ convened a grand jury to examine possible criminal charges, but no indictments had been returned before the group was disbanded in 1992...
Oil Train Protesters March On Downtown Spokane KXLY ..."Oil trains are dangerous," said King County Executive Dow Constantine, "they can leak, they can catch fire. There have been explosions that are tremendously dangerous to people and property. Second, they take up space that could be used by people here producing agricultural products, manufactured products being shipped from Montana, Idaho, Eastern Washington to the ports, and that capacity that we're losing is costing Washington State jobs."...
Nurse Kaci Hickox 'Will Go to Court' Over Maine Ebola Quarantine Rule ABC News ...Kaci Hickox, a nurse who treated Ebolapatients and threatened to sue New Jersey over being quarantined before she was discharged, today threatened to sue Maine if officials there do not lift a 21-day quarantine restriction...
Amtrak worker killed by train MidHudson News ...An Amtrak employee was struck and killed by one of the railroad’s trains while he was working on a section of the track late Wednesday morning...
Construction worker dies after he's struck by truck on Verrazano-Narrows Bridge Staten Island Advance ...Shell, who was employed by STV, a contractor working on the bridge, was working in a closed work zone in front of the Verrazano-Narrows administration building in Staten Island when he was struck by a truck delivering asphalt to the site...
Recovery efforts continue for contractor who died in trench collapse MyFOXDetroit.com ...Crews are continuing the efforts Thursday morning to recover the body of a construction worker killed in a trench collapse in Grosse Pointe Woods...
Dead babies near oil drilling sites raise questions for researchers Denver Post ...Part of the reluctance of residents around Vernal to ascribe any ill effects to energy-field pollution could be tied to the average $3,963 average monthly nonfarm wage in Uintah County — the highest in Utah...
Why Does the U.S. Senate Need a Petition Drive to Hold Hearings on the Secret Goldman Sachs’ Tapes Wall Street on Parade ...Senators Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown believe they may have a battle on their hands getting their colleagues on the Senate Banking Committee to agree to hold hearings on the now notorious tape recordings secretly made by former New York Fed bank examiner, Carmen Segarra, showing a cozy relationship between the regulator and Goldman Sachs...
Miscellaneous
Police: Woman Decapitated, Son Struck By Train In Murder-Suicide In Farmingdale CBS Local ...A woman was decapitated by her son in the middle of the street, he then killed himself by stepping in front of a Long Island Rail Road train in Farmingdale, police said Wednesday...
FBI demands new powers to hack into computers and carry out surveillance Guardian ...Agency requests rule change but civil liberties groups say ‘extremely invasive’ technique amounts to unconstitutional power grab...
UK Spies Get Bulk Access To NSA Data, Court Rules Fox News ...The British government's insistence that its spies don't use the vast espionage powers of the U.S. National Security Agency to sidestep U.K. restrictions on domestic eavesdropping was called into question by a court document published Wednesday...
Friday, November 22, 2013
Today's Teamster News 11.22.13
Teamsters Joint Council 42 and Local 911 Endorse Lee Rogers for Congress Inland Empire ...Dr. Lee Rogers, candidate for Congress in California’s 25th District, announced today that he has picked up the endorsements of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 911 and their umbrella organization, Joint Council 42. Rogers, a podiatrist, is a member of the Teamsters Union...
Use Teamster-Made Ingredients for Thanksgiving teamster.org ...For your Thanksgiving recipes, use Teamster-made ingredients and support your brothers and sisters at these companies...
Waste Workers Near San Diego Ratify First Teamster Contract teamster.org ...Drivers and mechanics at Waste Management in Carlsbad, California, who voted to join Teamsters Local 683 in San Diego, have ratified their first contract...
New contract gives wage increases for dining workers The Daily Pennsylvanian ...Penn dining workers have finished negotiations with Bon Appetit, which will increase their wages and provide a healthcare package. Negotiations began in September, after the workers joined Teamsters Local 929...
Massena, highway department union reach four-year deal North Country Now ...The Town Council in Messena, New York, unanimously agreed to a four-year contract with the Teamsters Local 687 to cover the town Highway Department’s eight employees on Wednesday night...
Hoffa to Corporate America: 'Have You No Sense of Decency?' Huffington Post ...the average American family pays $6,000 a year to cover government tax breaks for big business....
Senator Sounds The Alarm On Social Security teamster.org ...The median retirement savings of U.S. workers near retirement age is only $12,000....
Walmart Workers Strike At Seven Stores In Dallas ThinkProgress ...Walmart workers called out or walked off the job at seven stores in Dallas, according to OUR Walmart activists, the group that has been organizing strikes and protests against the company...
Wal-Mart labor group promises 1,500 Black Friday protests next week Salon ...Amid scrutiny of Wal-Mart taking up employee-to-employee charity, strike wave continues against retail giant...
The Middle Class Is Disappearing Despite The Economic Recovery ThinkProgress ...There were nearly 700,000 fewer middle-income households since the began than during the economic crisis, according to new Census Bureau data...
The U.S. ranks 26th for life expectancy, right behind Slovenia Washington Post ...Back in the 1970s, Americans typically lived longer than residents of other countries. Not anymore, according to a new report...
‘I Watched My Patients Die of Treatable Diseases Because They Were Poor’ AlterNet ...A Galveston medical student describes life and death in the non-existent Texas safety net...
Tea party groups can't shield donors, FEC rules Politico ...The panel voted 3-2 against a proposal that would have allowed the Tea Party Leadership Fund to shield the names and information of their donors from public scrutiny...
What will happen to truck drivers when self-driving vehicles take over? Washington Post ...Google's test vehicles for its self-driving technology are a Lexus and a Prius. That suggests that Google sees self-driving as a technology for passenger cars. But self-driving technology will almost certainly affect industry and commerce first...
5 Signs the Rich Have Way Too Much Money AlterNet ...You can get a $5,000 hamburger for lunch. The Fleur de Lys restaurant in Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay offers the "Fleurburger 5000" for $5,000...
Cash America fined over claims of robo-signing, gouging military families Washington Post ...The $19 million settlement is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s first with a payday lender...
UPS increasing rates by 4.9% in 2014 Associated Press ...The shipping company said that the number is an average of its UPS Ground, Air and International, and Air Freight rate increases for the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico...
Spanish court sentences 'Robin Hood' mayor Associated Press ...A Spanish court has sentenced a town mayor and four others to seven months in prison for occupying unused military land they wanted to be loaned to farmers hard hit by the economic crisis...
NY Signs DOL Deal to Tackle Misclassification; Payroll Fraud Protection Act of 2013 Introduced The We Party ...The state of New York has signed into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division in an attempt to stop the misclassification of employees as independent contractors. New York is the 15th state to sign such an agreement...
Targets seek stay of investigation into Scott Walker's recall campaign and other groups Wisconsin State Journal ...Three unnamed petitioners are asking that a judge be ordered to temporarily halt a secret investigation into campaign activity by Gov. Scott Walker’s recall campaign and more than two dozen conservative political groups...
Wisconsin Employment: October 2013 Econbrowser ...Two numbers to remember: 84 thousand and 107 thousand. The first number is the amount by which actual October employment lags Governor Walker's promised path; the second is the amount by which the Administration's own forecast for January 2015 lags Walker's promised 250,000 net new jobs figure...
Use Teamster-Made Ingredients for Thanksgiving teamster.org ...For your Thanksgiving recipes, use Teamster-made ingredients and support your brothers and sisters at these companies...
Waste Workers Near San Diego Ratify First Teamster Contract teamster.org ...Drivers and mechanics at Waste Management in Carlsbad, California, who voted to join Teamsters Local 683 in San Diego, have ratified their first contract...
New contract gives wage increases for dining workers The Daily Pennsylvanian ...Penn dining workers have finished negotiations with Bon Appetit, which will increase their wages and provide a healthcare package. Negotiations began in September, after the workers joined Teamsters Local 929...
Massena, highway department union reach four-year deal North Country Now ...The Town Council in Messena, New York, unanimously agreed to a four-year contract with the Teamsters Local 687 to cover the town Highway Department’s eight employees on Wednesday night...
Hoffa to Corporate America: 'Have You No Sense of Decency?' Huffington Post ...the average American family pays $6,000 a year to cover government tax breaks for big business....
Senator Sounds The Alarm On Social Security teamster.org ...The median retirement savings of U.S. workers near retirement age is only $12,000....
Walmart Workers Strike At Seven Stores In Dallas ThinkProgress ...Walmart workers called out or walked off the job at seven stores in Dallas, according to OUR Walmart activists, the group that has been organizing strikes and protests against the company...
Wal-Mart labor group promises 1,500 Black Friday protests next week Salon ...Amid scrutiny of Wal-Mart taking up employee-to-employee charity, strike wave continues against retail giant...
The Middle Class Is Disappearing Despite The Economic Recovery ThinkProgress ...There were nearly 700,000 fewer middle-income households since the began than during the economic crisis, according to new Census Bureau data...
The U.S. ranks 26th for life expectancy, right behind Slovenia Washington Post ...Back in the 1970s, Americans typically lived longer than residents of other countries. Not anymore, according to a new report...
‘I Watched My Patients Die of Treatable Diseases Because They Were Poor’ AlterNet ...A Galveston medical student describes life and death in the non-existent Texas safety net...
Tea party groups can't shield donors, FEC rules Politico ...The panel voted 3-2 against a proposal that would have allowed the Tea Party Leadership Fund to shield the names and information of their donors from public scrutiny...
What will happen to truck drivers when self-driving vehicles take over? Washington Post ...Google's test vehicles for its self-driving technology are a Lexus and a Prius. That suggests that Google sees self-driving as a technology for passenger cars. But self-driving technology will almost certainly affect industry and commerce first...
5 Signs the Rich Have Way Too Much Money AlterNet ...You can get a $5,000 hamburger for lunch. The Fleur de Lys restaurant in Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay offers the "Fleurburger 5000" for $5,000...
Cash America fined over claims of robo-signing, gouging military families Washington Post ...The $19 million settlement is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s first with a payday lender...
UPS increasing rates by 4.9% in 2014 Associated Press ...The shipping company said that the number is an average of its UPS Ground, Air and International, and Air Freight rate increases for the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico...
Spanish court sentences 'Robin Hood' mayor Associated Press ...A Spanish court has sentenced a town mayor and four others to seven months in prison for occupying unused military land they wanted to be loaned to farmers hard hit by the economic crisis...
NY Signs DOL Deal to Tackle Misclassification; Payroll Fraud Protection Act of 2013 Introduced The We Party ...The state of New York has signed into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division in an attempt to stop the misclassification of employees as independent contractors. New York is the 15th state to sign such an agreement...
Targets seek stay of investigation into Scott Walker's recall campaign and other groups Wisconsin State Journal ...Three unnamed petitioners are asking that a judge be ordered to temporarily halt a secret investigation into campaign activity by Gov. Scott Walker’s recall campaign and more than two dozen conservative political groups...
Wisconsin Employment: October 2013 Econbrowser ...Two numbers to remember: 84 thousand and 107 thousand. The first number is the amount by which actual October employment lags Governor Walker's promised path; the second is the amount by which the Administration's own forecast for January 2015 lags Walker's promised 250,000 net new jobs figure...
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Today's Teamster News 08.17.13
Waste Workers in California Vote to Become Teamsters IBT ...Drivers and mechanics at Waste Management in Carlsbad, California have voted overwhelmingly to join Local 683 in San Diego. There are approximately 80 workers in the bargaining unit...
Teamsters End Representational Campaign at American Airlines IBT ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters yesterday announced an end to the year-long campaign to represent aircraft mechanics and related personnel at American Airlines...
AMR-US Airways Merger Limbo Puts CEOs to Workers on Hold Bloomberg News ...About 1,000 white-collar employees with jobs on the block at US Airways Group Inc. (LCC) and American Airlines (AAMRQ) got a temporary reprieve when the U.S. government sued to block the carriers’ planned $14 billion merger...
Allied Selects Black Diamond/Spectrum As Winning Bidder; Teamsters, Others Object IBT ...On Thursday, August 15, Allied Systems completed two days of an auction for its assets at a law office in Wilmington, Delaware. The company (Allied) declared the winning bid to an acquisition company formed by Black Diamond/Spectrum, over a bid by Jack Cooper Transport, whose employees are represented by the Teamsters...
Striking Teamsters at Lake Transit vote to return to the job Lake County News ...A day after they failed to get intercession from the Lake Transit Authority Board in a labor dispute, striking transit workers voted to immediately return to work. The striking members of Teamsters Local 665 voted to return to work unconditionally in order to restore full service yesterday...
BLET to Conduct Advanced Local Chairman Workshop, October 20-26 BLET ...The BLET Education & Training Department, in conjunction with the BLET Arbitration Department, is proud to host an Advanced Local Chairman Workshop scheduled for October 20 through October 26, 2013...
McDonald's, Walmart Feel The Pinch As Low-Income Shoppers Struggle In The Slow Recovery Reuters ...From Wal-Mart Stores and Gap to Macy's and McDonald's, chains that cater to middle- and lower-income Americans, say they are feeling the pinch of an uneven economic recovery...
Mexico-L.A. drug ring hid meth, heroin in pipes on big rigs, feds say Los Angeles Times ...Federal prosecutors unveiled indictments Thursday against 57 members of an alleged drug trafficking ring that authorities said smuggled cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine from Mexico to Los Angeles, using hidden compartments and PVC piping that were further concealed in tractor trailer axles. Firearms have also been transported...
That awkward moment when an American-made beer company gives away a Made in China hat at a baseball game in the nation's capital manufacture this ...One has to wonder why a company that takes care to brand itself as Made-in-the-USA would sponsor Made-in-China souvenirs...
Unions sue to block SunRail contractor Orlando Sentinel ...Two unions filed a lawsuit Thursday objecting to the state's attempt to side-step an agreement from 2009 to use federally certified union workers in construction of the signal system that will guide trains on the $1.6 billion SunRail commuter line...
Mass. legislature tackles minimum wage issue Telegram & Gazette ...As many as half a million of the lowest paid workers in Massachusetts could be getting a raise next year if a proposal to increase the minimum wage as high as $10.50 an hour is approved by the Legislature — or by a 2014 statewide voter referendum being urged by unions, community organizations and individuals, and supported by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren...
North Carolina law takes war on voting rights to a new low Washington Post ...In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision, that gutted of the Voting Rights Act, it’s difficult to say which of the many recently passed voter-suppression bills constitutes the greatest threat to that most sacred of American freedoms: the right to vote...
Pennsylvania Voter ID Law Barred From Enforcement In November Election By Judge Huffington Post ...A state judge issued an order Friday that is expected to block enforcement of Pennsylvania's strict voter-identification law in the Nov. 5 general election...
NorCal mayor demands bank drop foreclosure lawsuit Associated Press ... Richmond plans to "seize" underwater loans from banks, reimburse them at market value, and then resell the cheaper loans to the original homeowner at current mortgage rates...
California attorney general announces $750M refund from Canadian utility Powerex Sacramento Bee ... the Canadian utility was buying California electricity, shipping it to Canada and then exporting it back to the state at huge markups...
Judge: Special prosecutor will review Perry veto Associated Press ...A Texas judge said Thursday he plans to have a special prosecutor review allegations that Gov. Rick Perry abused the powers of his office and broke the law over a veto that cut funding for state public corruption investigators...
Teamsters End Representational Campaign at American Airlines IBT ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters yesterday announced an end to the year-long campaign to represent aircraft mechanics and related personnel at American Airlines...
AMR-US Airways Merger Limbo Puts CEOs to Workers on Hold Bloomberg News ...About 1,000 white-collar employees with jobs on the block at US Airways Group Inc. (LCC) and American Airlines (AAMRQ) got a temporary reprieve when the U.S. government sued to block the carriers’ planned $14 billion merger...
Allied Selects Black Diamond/Spectrum As Winning Bidder; Teamsters, Others Object IBT ...On Thursday, August 15, Allied Systems completed two days of an auction for its assets at a law office in Wilmington, Delaware. The company (Allied) declared the winning bid to an acquisition company formed by Black Diamond/Spectrum, over a bid by Jack Cooper Transport, whose employees are represented by the Teamsters...
Striking Teamsters at Lake Transit vote to return to the job Lake County News ...A day after they failed to get intercession from the Lake Transit Authority Board in a labor dispute, striking transit workers voted to immediately return to work. The striking members of Teamsters Local 665 voted to return to work unconditionally in order to restore full service yesterday...
BLET to Conduct Advanced Local Chairman Workshop, October 20-26 BLET ...The BLET Education & Training Department, in conjunction with the BLET Arbitration Department, is proud to host an Advanced Local Chairman Workshop scheduled for October 20 through October 26, 2013...
McDonald's, Walmart Feel The Pinch As Low-Income Shoppers Struggle In The Slow Recovery Reuters ...From Wal-Mart Stores and Gap to Macy's and McDonald's, chains that cater to middle- and lower-income Americans, say they are feeling the pinch of an uneven economic recovery...
Mexico-L.A. drug ring hid meth, heroin in pipes on big rigs, feds say Los Angeles Times ...Federal prosecutors unveiled indictments Thursday against 57 members of an alleged drug trafficking ring that authorities said smuggled cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine from Mexico to Los Angeles, using hidden compartments and PVC piping that were further concealed in tractor trailer axles. Firearms have also been transported...
That awkward moment when an American-made beer company gives away a Made in China hat at a baseball game in the nation's capital manufacture this ...One has to wonder why a company that takes care to brand itself as Made-in-the-USA would sponsor Made-in-China souvenirs...
Unions sue to block SunRail contractor Orlando Sentinel ...Two unions filed a lawsuit Thursday objecting to the state's attempt to side-step an agreement from 2009 to use federally certified union workers in construction of the signal system that will guide trains on the $1.6 billion SunRail commuter line...
Mass. legislature tackles minimum wage issue Telegram & Gazette ...As many as half a million of the lowest paid workers in Massachusetts could be getting a raise next year if a proposal to increase the minimum wage as high as $10.50 an hour is approved by the Legislature — or by a 2014 statewide voter referendum being urged by unions, community organizations and individuals, and supported by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren...
North Carolina law takes war on voting rights to a new low Washington Post ...In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision, that gutted of the Voting Rights Act, it’s difficult to say which of the many recently passed voter-suppression bills constitutes the greatest threat to that most sacred of American freedoms: the right to vote...
Pennsylvania Voter ID Law Barred From Enforcement In November Election By Judge Huffington Post ...A state judge issued an order Friday that is expected to block enforcement of Pennsylvania's strict voter-identification law in the Nov. 5 general election...
NorCal mayor demands bank drop foreclosure lawsuit Associated Press ... Richmond plans to "seize" underwater loans from banks, reimburse them at market value, and then resell the cheaper loans to the original homeowner at current mortgage rates...
California attorney general announces $750M refund from Canadian utility Powerex Sacramento Bee ... the Canadian utility was buying California electricity, shipping it to Canada and then exporting it back to the state at huge markups...
Judge: Special prosecutor will review Perry veto Associated Press ...A Texas judge said Thursday he plans to have a special prosecutor review allegations that Gov. Rick Perry abused the powers of his office and broke the law over a veto that cut funding for state public corruption investigators...
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Today's Teamster News 07.20.13
Teamster Waste Workers Near San Diego Ratify Solid First Contract IBT ...On July 13, workers at Waste Management in El Cajon, California, overwhelmingly ratified their first contract, which provides solid pay increases and excellent benefits. The contract will cover 190 workers who joined Local 683 in San Diego in March...
Court Denies SCI’s Attempt to Stop Teamsters Strike IBT ...Dignity Memorial’s attempt to silence the free speech of local picketers has been denied by the Circuit Court of Cook County...
Fremont City Council OKs pact with the Teamsters Union San Jose Mercury News ...Fremont City Council unanimously voted to approve an amended memorandum of understanding with Local 856 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters...
BLET Denounces One-Person Train Operations; Rail Companies Put Cost-Cutting Ahead of Public Safety IBT ...The following is the official statement from Dennis R. Pierce, National President of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen regarding the danger to public safety that one-train operations represent...
$12 Minimum Wage For Walmart Workers Would Cost The Average Shopper Just 46 Cents Per Trip Huffington Post ...Walmart last week decided not to build three stores in Washington D.C. after the passage of a D.C. Council bill, which demands big-box retailers pay their workers a "living wage" of $12.50. Such a wage, Walmart claimed, would drive up its famously-low prices...
DC councilmember to introduce minimum wage hike Associated Press ...D.C. councilmember Tommy Wells says he'll introduce a bill that would raise the minimum wage for all District of Columbia workers — not just those who work at Wal-Mart and other big-box retailers...
Middle class still left behind in U.S. economic recovery, data show Washington Post ...The economic recovery of summer 2013 is playing out in an all-too-familiar way for poor and middle-class Americans: Gas prices are up, growth is slowing, and there still aren’t nearly enough new jobs to employ the almost 12 million people seeking work...
Elizabeth Warren’s new fight: Why even the Tea Party backs it! Salon ...Banks that try to take private losses and pin them on taxpayers may have a new problem...
With Filibuster Deal, NLRB Could Soon Return To Full Force NPR News ...If the deal holds together and the new nominees are confirmed in the coming days, the NLRB will be fully staffed with five Senate-approved members for the first time in a decade...
Greece approves austerity measures to fire 25,000 public workers and secure bailout The Independent ...Greece plans to lay off 25,000 public sector workers, in a move which has sparked a new surge of anti-austerity protests outside parliament...
Michigan AG challenges judge's ruling that Detroit bankruptcy is unconstitutional Detroit Free Press ...An Ingham County judge says Thursday's historic Detroit bankruptcy filing violates the Michigan Constitution and state law and must be withdrawn...
WEDC offers taxpayer support for Walker campaign contributors (opinion) The Paper ...Fast-forward to Gov. Scott Walker's Wisconsin, where the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), staffed by the governor's cronies, has misplaced millions in tax dollars, blew off auditing compliance rules, and went on a spending spree for iTunes gift cards, football tickets and booze. And the consequences are nil...
Low-Wage Workers in D.C. Turn Pledge of Allegiance Into Protest Chant In These Times ...Courtney Shackleford, a 20-year-old college student working at a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream shop in the District of Columbia’s Union Station, walked off the job Thursday morning, along with roughly 70 other concession workers at the grand old railroad station...
World Trade Center owners’ bid to sue airlines for 9/11 attacks blocked New York Daily News ...The owners of the World Trade Center were blocked Thursday from filing a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against the two airlines whose hijacked planes brought down the twin towers...
Detroit union leaders call bankruptcy filing premature, say they were trying to negotiate Detroit Free Press ...Leaders of Detroit’s unions blasted emergency manager Kevyn Orr for the city’s bankruptcy filing, saying it was a premature move when they’d been trying to negotiate in good faith to help pull Detroit out of its staggering financial hole...
Bill would let Californians vote on Saturday Sacramento Bee ...For California voters, finding time to cast ballots on a Tuesday could become a thing of the past. A bill by state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, would give them a chance to vote on a Saturday in the month before an election...
New Jersey Supreme Court Restricts Police Searches of Phone Data New York Times ...Staking out new ground in the noisy debate about technology and privacy in law enforcement, the New Jersey Supreme Court on Thursday ordered that the police will now have to get a search warrant before obtaining tracking information from cellphone providers...
Court Denies SCI’s Attempt to Stop Teamsters Strike IBT ...Dignity Memorial’s attempt to silence the free speech of local picketers has been denied by the Circuit Court of Cook County...
Fremont City Council OKs pact with the Teamsters Union San Jose Mercury News ...Fremont City Council unanimously voted to approve an amended memorandum of understanding with Local 856 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters...
BLET Denounces One-Person Train Operations; Rail Companies Put Cost-Cutting Ahead of Public Safety IBT ...The following is the official statement from Dennis R. Pierce, National President of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen regarding the danger to public safety that one-train operations represent...
$12 Minimum Wage For Walmart Workers Would Cost The Average Shopper Just 46 Cents Per Trip Huffington Post ...Walmart last week decided not to build three stores in Washington D.C. after the passage of a D.C. Council bill, which demands big-box retailers pay their workers a "living wage" of $12.50. Such a wage, Walmart claimed, would drive up its famously-low prices...
DC councilmember to introduce minimum wage hike Associated Press ...D.C. councilmember Tommy Wells says he'll introduce a bill that would raise the minimum wage for all District of Columbia workers — not just those who work at Wal-Mart and other big-box retailers...
Middle class still left behind in U.S. economic recovery, data show Washington Post ...The economic recovery of summer 2013 is playing out in an all-too-familiar way for poor and middle-class Americans: Gas prices are up, growth is slowing, and there still aren’t nearly enough new jobs to employ the almost 12 million people seeking work...
Elizabeth Warren’s new fight: Why even the Tea Party backs it! Salon ...Banks that try to take private losses and pin them on taxpayers may have a new problem...
With Filibuster Deal, NLRB Could Soon Return To Full Force NPR News ...If the deal holds together and the new nominees are confirmed in the coming days, the NLRB will be fully staffed with five Senate-approved members for the first time in a decade...
Greece approves austerity measures to fire 25,000 public workers and secure bailout The Independent ...Greece plans to lay off 25,000 public sector workers, in a move which has sparked a new surge of anti-austerity protests outside parliament...
Michigan AG challenges judge's ruling that Detroit bankruptcy is unconstitutional Detroit Free Press ...An Ingham County judge says Thursday's historic Detroit bankruptcy filing violates the Michigan Constitution and state law and must be withdrawn...
WEDC offers taxpayer support for Walker campaign contributors (opinion) The Paper ...Fast-forward to Gov. Scott Walker's Wisconsin, where the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), staffed by the governor's cronies, has misplaced millions in tax dollars, blew off auditing compliance rules, and went on a spending spree for iTunes gift cards, football tickets and booze. And the consequences are nil...
Low-Wage Workers in D.C. Turn Pledge of Allegiance Into Protest Chant In These Times ...Courtney Shackleford, a 20-year-old college student working at a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream shop in the District of Columbia’s Union Station, walked off the job Thursday morning, along with roughly 70 other concession workers at the grand old railroad station...
World Trade Center owners’ bid to sue airlines for 9/11 attacks blocked New York Daily News ...The owners of the World Trade Center were blocked Thursday from filing a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against the two airlines whose hijacked planes brought down the twin towers...
Detroit union leaders call bankruptcy filing premature, say they were trying to negotiate Detroit Free Press ...Leaders of Detroit’s unions blasted emergency manager Kevyn Orr for the city’s bankruptcy filing, saying it was a premature move when they’d been trying to negotiate in good faith to help pull Detroit out of its staggering financial hole...
Bill would let Californians vote on Saturday Sacramento Bee ...For California voters, finding time to cast ballots on a Tuesday could become a thing of the past. A bill by state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, would give them a chance to vote on a Saturday in the month before an election...
New Jersey Supreme Court Restricts Police Searches of Phone Data New York Times ...Staking out new ground in the noisy debate about technology and privacy in law enforcement, the New Jersey Supreme Court on Thursday ordered that the police will now have to get a search warrant before obtaining tracking information from cellphone providers...
Friday, July 19, 2013
Teamsters ratify first contract at Waste Management in Calif.
 |
| Teamsters at Local 683 celebrate their first contract. |
The Teamster drivers and mechanics will receive a $2.25 per hour wage increase over the life of the five-year contract. They also will join the Western Conference of Teamsters (WCT) Pension Plan, the largest collectively bargained pension plan in the United States. And they'll be members of a strong Teamster medical plan.
Here's another benefit of the contract: a solid grievance procedure that will protect workers from unfair disciplinary action. And still another: They'll work five days a week. Before winning their Teamster contract, they worked six days a week.
Todd Mendez, Local 683 secretary-treasurer, called it a strong first contract that addresses major issues. And he said,
We look forward to providing the workers with the excellent representation in the years to come.Bob Morales, director of the Teamsters Solid Waste, Recycling and Related Industries division, said Local 683 did a great job negotiating a strong first contract after winning the organizing campaign in March.
It shows that hard work pays off.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Today's Teamster News 03.02.13
Keystone XL pipeline would have little impact on climate change, State Department analysis says Washington Post ...Canada’s oil sands will be developed even if President Obama denies a permit to the pipeline connecting the region to Gulf Coast refineries, the analysis said. Such a move also would not alter U.S. oil consumption, the report added...
Factory Expansion Spurs Growth as Budget Cuts Loom Bloomberg ...American factories expanded in February at the fastest pace in almost two years, spurred by a jump in orders that is helping propel an economy about to be tested by federal government cutbacks...
Personal Income Hammered - Drops -3.6% for January 2013 Economic Populist ...Disposable income is worse. DPI dropped -4.0%, even when adjusted for inflation....
Since 2011, 105 Wage Supression Bills Have Been Introduced In State Legislatures ThinkProgress ... lawmakers in 31 states have introduced 105 bills aimed at suppressing workers’ wages, with a little help from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the conservative group that provides model legislation on everything from union-busting to voter disenfranchisement:...
Looming federal spending cuts will hit hospitals where it hurts McClatchy ...More than 4,200 hospitals that are among the largest employers in their communities would lose nearly $3 billion under the Medicare cuts this year. That could trigger the loss of 73,000 hospital jobs nationwide...
Ahead of Singapore Round of TPP Negotiations, U.S. Public Opposition to Deal Grows Public Citizen ...With Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations slated to begin on March 4, opposition to the deal in the United States continues to mount. More than 300 groups signed on to a letter to Congress calling the lack of transparency in negotiations “inconsistent with democratic principles”...
Michigan governor clears way for state takeover of Detroit Reuters ...Friday's declaration by the Republican governor virtually assures that the state of Michigan will assume control of Detroit's books, and eventually decide whether the city should file the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history...
Taylor schools, union sued over contract that skirts right to work Detroit News ...The Mackinac Center for Public Policy filed a lawsuit Thursday on behalf of three Taylor teachers who object to a union security clause adopted by the school board and the Taylor Federation of Teachers...
At lager heads: Pa. beer distributors stoutly oppose Corbett privatization newsworks.com ...Any reservations beer distributors have about Pa. Gov. Tom Corbett's liquor privatization plan have brewed into outright opposition...
Nutter seeks high court's OK to impose his terms on city workers philly.com ...If Nutter succeeds, the case could change labor negotiations across Pennsylvania by significantly shifting power to mayors and governors...
Missouri House Votes To Exempt Schools From Prevailing Wage KCUR.com ...Democrats argued that waiving the prevailing wage requirement could lead to cut-rate contractors from other states taking jobs away from skilled workers in Missouri...
GOP lawmaker targets public employee unions with bills Cronkite News ...Two ... bills would restrict the ability of public employee union members to strike and to be paid for time spent on union activities. The other would require public employees represented by unions to sign off each year on having dues deducted from paychecks...
Alaska lawmakers raise labor cost concerns Associated Press ...Alaska legislative leaders are urging Gov. Sean Parnell to negotiate no raises in union labor contracts amid concerns about state budget costs...
Waste Management Workers In California Vote To Join Local 683 In San Diego IBT ...sanitation drivers, helpers, mechanics and yard crew from El Cajon‘s Waste Management facility overwhelmingly voted to join Teamsters, Local 683. The vote was 144 to 37 in favor of forming their union. There are 191 workers in the bargaining unit...
Teamsters Organizes Sleepy Hollow Employees Tarrytown-SleepyHollow Patch ...The new Teamsters span a broad array of workplaces and duties, from village hall clerks and other office staff to rec workers, crossing guard and the village’s parking-law enforcer...
Fairbanks school bus drivers vote to authorize strike Daily News-Miner ...Local school bus drivers overwhelmingly approved a strike vote on Thursday against First Student, but union officials say no work stoppage is imminent. Members of Teamsters Local 959 voted to strike after unsuccessful negotiations...
Cleveland city lawyers want to join Teamsters, citing years of low pay and job insecurity The Plain Dealer ...Civil attorneys in the city of Cleveland's law department have petitioned to join the Teamsters and become the first municipal law department in Ohio to unionize...
Negotiations for county workers hit seniority snag Tampa Bay Times ...Representing about 400 county employees, Teamsters Local 79 pushed hard Thursday to get the county administration to agree to use seniority as the main factor in filling county jobs...
Hoffa Calls On Congress To Act On Sequester IBT ...Hoffa on the failure of Congress to replace the sequester by today's deadline: "Austerity is destroying the economies of Europe and worsening the European debt crisis. Austerity will destroy America's economy and increase our deficit. Cutting government spending is exactly what Congress should not be doing during an economic slump...
Factory Expansion Spurs Growth as Budget Cuts Loom Bloomberg ...American factories expanded in February at the fastest pace in almost two years, spurred by a jump in orders that is helping propel an economy about to be tested by federal government cutbacks...
Personal Income Hammered - Drops -3.6% for January 2013 Economic Populist ...Disposable income is worse. DPI dropped -4.0%, even when adjusted for inflation....
Since 2011, 105 Wage Supression Bills Have Been Introduced In State Legislatures ThinkProgress ... lawmakers in 31 states have introduced 105 bills aimed at suppressing workers’ wages, with a little help from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the conservative group that provides model legislation on everything from union-busting to voter disenfranchisement:...
Looming federal spending cuts will hit hospitals where it hurts McClatchy ...More than 4,200 hospitals that are among the largest employers in their communities would lose nearly $3 billion under the Medicare cuts this year. That could trigger the loss of 73,000 hospital jobs nationwide...
Ahead of Singapore Round of TPP Negotiations, U.S. Public Opposition to Deal Grows Public Citizen ...With Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations slated to begin on March 4, opposition to the deal in the United States continues to mount. More than 300 groups signed on to a letter to Congress calling the lack of transparency in negotiations “inconsistent with democratic principles”...
Michigan governor clears way for state takeover of Detroit Reuters ...Friday's declaration by the Republican governor virtually assures that the state of Michigan will assume control of Detroit's books, and eventually decide whether the city should file the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history...
Taylor schools, union sued over contract that skirts right to work Detroit News ...The Mackinac Center for Public Policy filed a lawsuit Thursday on behalf of three Taylor teachers who object to a union security clause adopted by the school board and the Taylor Federation of Teachers...
At lager heads: Pa. beer distributors stoutly oppose Corbett privatization newsworks.com ...Any reservations beer distributors have about Pa. Gov. Tom Corbett's liquor privatization plan have brewed into outright opposition...
Nutter seeks high court's OK to impose his terms on city workers philly.com ...If Nutter succeeds, the case could change labor negotiations across Pennsylvania by significantly shifting power to mayors and governors...
Missouri House Votes To Exempt Schools From Prevailing Wage KCUR.com ...Democrats argued that waiving the prevailing wage requirement could lead to cut-rate contractors from other states taking jobs away from skilled workers in Missouri...
GOP lawmaker targets public employee unions with bills Cronkite News ...Two ... bills would restrict the ability of public employee union members to strike and to be paid for time spent on union activities. The other would require public employees represented by unions to sign off each year on having dues deducted from paychecks...
Alaska lawmakers raise labor cost concerns Associated Press ...Alaska legislative leaders are urging Gov. Sean Parnell to negotiate no raises in union labor contracts amid concerns about state budget costs...
Waste Management Workers In California Vote To Join Local 683 In San Diego IBT ...sanitation drivers, helpers, mechanics and yard crew from El Cajon‘s Waste Management facility overwhelmingly voted to join Teamsters, Local 683. The vote was 144 to 37 in favor of forming their union. There are 191 workers in the bargaining unit...
Teamsters Organizes Sleepy Hollow Employees Tarrytown-SleepyHollow Patch ...The new Teamsters span a broad array of workplaces and duties, from village hall clerks and other office staff to rec workers, crossing guard and the village’s parking-law enforcer...
Fairbanks school bus drivers vote to authorize strike Daily News-Miner ...Local school bus drivers overwhelmingly approved a strike vote on Thursday against First Student, but union officials say no work stoppage is imminent. Members of Teamsters Local 959 voted to strike after unsuccessful negotiations...
Cleveland city lawyers want to join Teamsters, citing years of low pay and job insecurity The Plain Dealer ...Civil attorneys in the city of Cleveland's law department have petitioned to join the Teamsters and become the first municipal law department in Ohio to unionize...
Negotiations for county workers hit seniority snag Tampa Bay Times ...Representing about 400 county employees, Teamsters Local 79 pushed hard Thursday to get the county administration to agree to use seniority as the main factor in filling county jobs...
Hoffa Calls On Congress To Act On Sequester IBT ...Hoffa on the failure of Congress to replace the sequester by today's deadline: "Austerity is destroying the economies of Europe and worsening the European debt crisis. Austerity will destroy America's economy and increase our deficit. Cutting government spending is exactly what Congress should not be doing during an economic slump...
Saturday, July 28, 2012
No surprise here: Sanitation work can kill you
But it is. And they have.
The Seattle Times actually ran one of those "fact check" stories on Teamsters Local 117's ad that four Puget Sound sanitation workers were killed on the job since 2005. The local bought the ad to support striking recycle workers at Waste Management.
The newspaper found five workers had actually died. Here are the heartbreaking details:
The most recent was April 2011, when a 25-year-old woman was killed after recycling materials fell on top of her while she was clearing jammed plastics from a bailing machine at Smurfit-Stone Recycling and Waste Solutions in Renton.
In addition:
• A 32-year-old worker for Lakewood Refuse Service died in May 2009 after the recycling truck she was driving was struck head-on by an SUV in East Pierce County.CNN Money reported sanitation work is the eighth most dangerous job in the U.S. That's saying a mouthful, as 14 workers a day die in this country. CNN Money quoted our Teamster brother Harry Nespoli, who heads the sanitation workers' local in New York City:
• A Rabanco Recycling employee in Seattle was run over by a front-end loader in May 2005 as he was walking, counting bales of refuse.
• A 39-year-old man who worked for Waste Management for 18 years was killed in a forklift accident in Burlington, Skagit County, in December 2010. News reports said the accident occurred in an area where recyclable materials were loaded and unloaded.
• In July 2007, a 29-year-old recycling truck driver for Allied Waste was killed in Edmonds after his truck rolled over him, according to news reports.
Our guys start out in the morning with an empty truck and by the end of the day, it's full. All that time, you're in the street and you put your life on the line.Today is Day 4 of the Seattle Teamsters Waste Management strike. Find out how you can help here.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Today's Teamster News 07.27.12
Economy In U.S. Probably Expanded At Slowest Pace In A Year Bloomberg ...The U.S. economy probably expanded in the second quarter at the slowest pace in a year as a softening labor market caused Americans to cut back on spending, economists said before a report today...
Investigations reveal forced labor of immigrants but Congress won’t allow the Labor Department to combat it Economic Policy Institute ...The new rules would require employers to first recruit unemployed workers before turning to foreign workers, ensure that U.S. and foreign workers are not underpaid, and protect guest workers from becoming victims of forced labor and human trafficking, as well as from being retaliated against if they attempt to assert their labor and employment rights...
States that Follow ALEC's Recommendations Fare Worse Wisconsin Budget Project ...States with minimal public services, tax systems that favor the rich, and weak or non-existent unions fared worse economically during the recession compared to other states, according to a new report. States that followed recommendations made by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) were more likely to experience increased poverty rates and falling income...
Pennsylvania Governor Can’t Recall Requirements Of Voter ID Law He Signed TPMMuckraker ...Corbett was asked about a new report showing that 43 percent of Philadelphia voters lack a valid form of identification issued by the state...
Teamsters, Waste Management tussle over picket lines Seattle Times ...As garbage sat uncollected for a second day, Waste Management and its recycling and yard-waste drivers argued in competing news releases Thursday about whether picket lines would need to come down before labor negotiations could resume...
Con Ed and Union Reach Contract Agreement New York Times ...The settlement came as the two sides worried that severe weather was closing in on New York City and could leave large numbers of customers in the dark for the first time since the lockout began...
Investigations reveal forced labor of immigrants but Congress won’t allow the Labor Department to combat it Economic Policy Institute ...The new rules would require employers to first recruit unemployed workers before turning to foreign workers, ensure that U.S. and foreign workers are not underpaid, and protect guest workers from becoming victims of forced labor and human trafficking, as well as from being retaliated against if they attempt to assert their labor and employment rights...
States that Follow ALEC's Recommendations Fare Worse Wisconsin Budget Project ...States with minimal public services, tax systems that favor the rich, and weak or non-existent unions fared worse economically during the recession compared to other states, according to a new report. States that followed recommendations made by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) were more likely to experience increased poverty rates and falling income...
Pennsylvania Governor Can’t Recall Requirements Of Voter ID Law He Signed TPMMuckraker ...Corbett was asked about a new report showing that 43 percent of Philadelphia voters lack a valid form of identification issued by the state...
Teamsters, Waste Management tussle over picket lines Seattle Times ...As garbage sat uncollected for a second day, Waste Management and its recycling and yard-waste drivers argued in competing news releases Thursday about whether picket lines would need to come down before labor negotiations could resume...
Con Ed and Union Reach Contract Agreement New York Times ...The settlement came as the two sides worried that severe weather was closing in on New York City and could leave large numbers of customers in the dark for the first time since the lockout began...
Friday, June 15, 2012
Waste Management hires scabs, prepares to lock out Teamsters
Teamsters Local 117 tells us talks broke down between recycle drivers and the company, which refused to bargain in good faith. A mediator ended the talks after the company ignored the Teamsters' proposal.
Meanwhile, Waste Management flew in out-of state strikebreakers to prepare for a lockout. It has also hired scabs from Huffmaster, a company that specializes in lockouts and strikes.
Tracey Thompson, secretary-treasurer of Local 117, said yesterday:
Waste Management did not come prepared to bargain today. We came back to the table to avoid a public health crisis but it’s clear that Waste Management wants to provoke a labor dispute.
Waste Management is spending thousands of dollars on wages, plane tickets, rental cars, and hotel rooms for out-of-state strike breakers and security guards. That’s money that could be used to match proposals made by its major competitors.Local 117 says if the company locks out its workers, King County’s landfill system will be disrupted when trucks begin stacking up at county transfer stations.
A lockout would also put replacement drivers on the road who don't know the area. In 2007, when Waste Management locked out 500 sanitation workers in Oakland, Calif., garbage piled up in East Bay communities for nearly a month.
Said Thompson,
We want to keep bargaining to avoid a labor dispute. This community should not have to suffer because a $13 billion dollar company like Waste Management wants to turn a higher profit.Read more about the dispute here.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Today's Teamster News 01.28.11
St. Louis County Strike Averted. Here's What Really Happened. Local 320 ...A lot has been said in the press about the alleged walk out of workers in Virginia. It is unfortunate that County Administration jumped to this conclusion and spread this falsehood without checking the facts...
Goldman Sachs Got Billions From AIG For Its Own Account, Crisis Panel Finds Huffington Post ...The fact that a significant slice of the proceeds secured by Goldman through the AIG bailout landed in its own account--as opposed to those of its clients or business partners-- has not been previously disclosed...
YRC to cut 80 jobs in Akron Journal of Commerce ...The jobs affected are at the former Roadway headquarters on Gorge Boulevard. The work will be shifted to Buffalo, N.Y., and YRC's headquarters in Overland Park, Kan...
Weather Shield Contract (Local 662) WJFW ...The agreement keeps existing benefits with no across the board wage increase until the summer of 2012...
5 percent pay raise suggested for Polk officials Des Moines Register ...labor agreements ... are expected to result in roughly 1.5 percent pay increases for employees...
Some Sullivan workers to get layoff notices next week (Local 445) Times Herald-Record ...Legislators huddled for five hours Thursday to decide what positions to cut after labor unions refused to defer raises and longevity payments...
Study finds L.A.'s trash disposal system is wasteful and polluting Los Angeles Times ...A labor-backed advocacy group issued a study Wednesday that ... called for the adoption of a franchise process that could bolster recycling rates, provide green jobs and increase city revenue...
Teamsters Toledo Local votes to rejoin AFL-CIO (Local 20) Toledo Blade ...the first time the local union has been under the AFL-CIO’s broader labor umbrella since 1957...
Santa Barbara MTD, Teamsters Union to Enter Into Mediation Over Retirement Benefits (Local 186) Noozhawk ...The agency proposes, as a cost-saving measure, increasing the retirement age for employees to be eligible for full health benefits...
Crowell bill would make Missouri right-to-work state Southeast Missourian ...This legislative session, and for the past several years, Crowell has filed legislation that would prohibit union-only workplaces...
How The U.S. Chamber Of Commerce’s Egyptian Affiliate Went To Bat For The Egyptian Dictatorship ThinkProgress ...the U.S. Chamber of Commerce maintains a network of foreign affiliates known as Amchams, “which are foreign chambers of the Chamber composed of American and foreign companies...”
Brooksley Born of the FCIC: “We may well still be in a financial crisis” firedoglake "...We don’t know how solvent a number of institutions are...”
Goldman Sachs Got Billions From AIG For Its Own Account, Crisis Panel Finds Huffington Post ...The fact that a significant slice of the proceeds secured by Goldman through the AIG bailout landed in its own account--as opposed to those of its clients or business partners-- has not been previously disclosed...
YRC to cut 80 jobs in Akron Journal of Commerce ...The jobs affected are at the former Roadway headquarters on Gorge Boulevard. The work will be shifted to Buffalo, N.Y., and YRC's headquarters in Overland Park, Kan...
Weather Shield Contract (Local 662) WJFW ...The agreement keeps existing benefits with no across the board wage increase until the summer of 2012...
5 percent pay raise suggested for Polk officials Des Moines Register ...labor agreements ... are expected to result in roughly 1.5 percent pay increases for employees...
Some Sullivan workers to get layoff notices next week (Local 445) Times Herald-Record ...Legislators huddled for five hours Thursday to decide what positions to cut after labor unions refused to defer raises and longevity payments...
Study finds L.A.'s trash disposal system is wasteful and polluting Los Angeles Times ...A labor-backed advocacy group issued a study Wednesday that ... called for the adoption of a franchise process that could bolster recycling rates, provide green jobs and increase city revenue...
Teamsters Toledo Local votes to rejoin AFL-CIO (Local 20) Toledo Blade ...the first time the local union has been under the AFL-CIO’s broader labor umbrella since 1957...
Santa Barbara MTD, Teamsters Union to Enter Into Mediation Over Retirement Benefits (Local 186) Noozhawk ...The agency proposes, as a cost-saving measure, increasing the retirement age for employees to be eligible for full health benefits...
Crowell bill would make Missouri right-to-work state Southeast Missourian ...This legislative session, and for the past several years, Crowell has filed legislation that would prohibit union-only workplaces...
How The U.S. Chamber Of Commerce’s Egyptian Affiliate Went To Bat For The Egyptian Dictatorship ThinkProgress ...the U.S. Chamber of Commerce maintains a network of foreign affiliates known as Amchams, “which are foreign chambers of the Chamber composed of American and foreign companies...”
Brooksley Born of the FCIC: “We may well still be in a financial crisis” firedoglake "...We don’t know how solvent a number of institutions are...”
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Teamsters strike Waste Management in California
Local 350 in Daly City on strike to protest unfair labor practices; 500 Teamsters honoring the picket line.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Links 7/1/10
The Undeserving Unemployed New York Times
S.E.C. Tightens Rules on Public Pension Funds New York Times
Why Trash Deal Became a Gem Wall Street Journal
Jobless aid stalls in Senate; home buyers get more time Washington Post
South Korean Trade Deal Pits Obama Against Labor Base The Hill
S.E.C. Tightens Rules on Public Pension Funds New York Times
Why Trash Deal Became a Gem Wall Street Journal
Jobless aid stalls in Senate; home buyers get more time Washington Post
South Korean Trade Deal Pits Obama Against Labor Base The Hill
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