TEAMSTERS
Teamsters Applaud Supreme Court's Refusal to Hear Amerijet Lawsuit Teamster.org ...Teamsters Airline Division Director Capt. David Bourne in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of a petition this week by Amerijet International Inc.: “It comes as no surprise that the Supreme Court would refuse to hear this case, and in doing so, uphold the Eleventh Circuit Court’s reasoning that this lawsuit is without merit. The lawsuit by Amerijet is unnecessary and a blatant abuse of the legal process in an effort to circumvent the legally established standards of labor law”...
Judge: Con-way Violated Rights of Workers in Los Angeles Teamster.org ...Con-way Freight, Inc. violated the rights of workers who were trying to form their union with the Teamsters and must re-hire two workers it unlawfully fired during the organizing campaign, among other remedies, an administrative law judge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled. The workers at Con-way’s Los Angeles terminal were trying to join Local 63. The company must cease its illegal activities, reinstate the two fired workers and pay them back wages and benefits, and take other steps...
Pettiness Reaches New Heights At Résidences Soleil Teamsters Canada ...Unhappy with being forced to pay half of its workers’ life insurance premiums, Résidences Soleil owner Eddy Savoie is taking it out on his workers by making them pay… for their coffee! This bizarre story began in October 2012 when the management of Résidences Soleil decided to do away with its long-standing practice of paying 50% of its employees’ life insurance premiums. Teamsters Local Union 106 filed grievances to protest against this arbitrary decision...
Concord city employees to strike Wednesday Contra Costa Times ...Barring a last minute deal, the city's largest employee union will strike Wednesday to protest alleged unfair labor practices in the public works department. Teamsters Local 856 represents 137 employees, including administrative, clerical and maintenance staffers. The union also represents police dispatchers, but they will report to work Wednesday...
San Francisco tech shuttles get long-term approval USA Today ...San Francisco’s tech shuttles that service Facebook, Google and other companies have gained a permanent place in the city’s transportation system. The Teamsters have been involved in helping to organize shuttle drivers and other workers at Silicon Valley tech giants including Apple, eBay, Facebook and Yahoo. “We are pleased with this ruling, which protects daily public transit riders and the shuttle drivers who deserve to be treated properly and with dignity,” said Rome Aloise...
21 Organizations Fighting for Labor Rights in the Food System Huffington Post ...In Tracy, California, Teamsters members are fighting poverty wages and severe violations of basic rights at Taylor Farms. And more than 11,000 Teamsters workers have united to defeat a mega-merger of U.S. Foods and Sysco, which would have jeopardized thousands of broadline food service and transportation jobs...
Local 727 Beverage Members Stand Together for Strong Contracts in Niles, Alsip Local 727 ...Teamsters Local 727 members at Coca-Cola Refreshments and Reyes/Great Lakes Coca-Cola Distribution wore their unity loud and proud on Tuesday, November 17, as negotiations continued for new contracts with both companies. Hundreds of members sported red Teamster T-shirts as they started their shifts in beverage production and warehouse facilities in Chicago, Niles and Alsip, Ill. Local 727 also brought food and refreshments to members in Niles and Alsip, rallying together in support of new agreements...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Petrobras holdout strikers to vote on new deal Thursday Reuters ...A union representing workers in the Brazil's top oil region will vote on Thursday on a contract offer from state-run oil company Petrobras on Thursday or continue a strike, the most disruptive in 20 years, the union said Wednesday. The union, Sindipetro Norte Fluminense, called the vote after Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is known, agreed to discuss its demand that members receive back pay for all the days they were on strike...
Prospects dim for 2016 Pacific Rim trade vote in US Congress Reuters ...A 12-nation Pacific Rim free-trade deal, facing stiff opposition from many Democrats and unexpected resistance from Republicans, is unlikely to be voted on by the U.S. Congress before President Barack Obama leaves office, according to some Republican lawmakers and aides. A veteran Senate Republican aide, who asked not to be identified, said Republican leaders intend to shelve the deal until after the November 2016 presidential election...
House Democrats call TPP 'too big' to pass Congress The Hill ...A half dozen House Democrats asserted on Wednesday that opposition is growing for a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade agreement as the White House ramps up efforts to build support for the deal. The six Democrats — Reps. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), Louise Slaughter (N.Y.), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), Nydia Velázquez (N.Y.), Mark Pocan (Wis.) and Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) — said the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal is “too big” to pass Congress and must be scrapped...
Pacific Rim trade pact praised, panned as proposed deal faces uphill battle in to Congress AP ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal between the U.S. and 11 other Pacific nations is drawing potential new members from Asia and criticism from those excluded, as it heads for a tough ride in the U.S. Congress. Leaders of the trade grouping that spans the Pacific Rim met alongside a regional economic summit on Wednesday in the Philippines and President Barack Obama urged them to ratify the deal "as quickly as possible"...
Obama expects TPP approval from Canada after first meeting with Trudeau Globe and Mail ...Barack Obama said he expects Canada will sign on to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The President of the United States made the comment following his first formal meeting with new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The Liberal government has officially been non-committal on the deal...
APEC Protesters Defy Water Cannons as TPP Signing Announced TeleSUR ...While APEC condemned “terrorism” and called for an international security response in the summit's last day, protesters continued to slam free trade. Philippine police pushed back crowds with water canons in Manila on Thursday as demonstrators protested the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, soon after member states agreed that the the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement would be signed on Feb. 4, 2016...
UK PM to Get $15 Mln Private Jet Ahead of Public Austerity Cuts Sputnik News ...David Cameron will be given his own version of the US President's Air Force One. This is despite the government's commitments to cutting billions of pounds of public spending. A Royal Air Force Voyager A330 is to be re-fitted at the taxpayers' expense, in order to provide private transportation for Mr Cameron, senior ministers, and possibly members of the royal family...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
77 California cities on ‘economically challenged’ list SacBee ...Nearly a third of Californians live in 77 “economically challenged” cities – including Los Angeles – with high levels of poverty, and low levels of income and employment, a new study declares. Moreover, says the report from the National Resource Network, California’s distressed cities are more than a quarter of the 297 U.S. cities over 40,000 population that fall into that category...
New York Cities to Raise Minimum Wage for City Workers Wall Street Journal ...Buffalo and Rochester are moving to raise the minimum wage of municipal employees to $15 an hour as part of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s push to raise the wage floor for all workers. The Democratic governor joined the mayors of both cities for their announcements on Wednesday...
Gov. Cuomo: State should enact $2B tax cut if minimum wage is raised to $15/hour Daily News ...Gov. Cuomo suggested Wednesday that the state enact a $2 billion tax cut if the Legislature approves his plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. At an event in Buffalo, Cuomo accused businesses of “stealing from taxpayers” by paying workers low wages knowing those same employees can also qualify for state welfare assistance. The governor called the situation a “scam” and “the mother of all loopholes”...
Democrats attack Rep. Bishop on union wage votes The Detroit News ...The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is running drive-time radio ads this week linking U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop’s votes on prevailing wage bill provisions with campaign donations from the powerful DeVos family of Grand Rapids. The ads, on the air in Metro Detroit and Lansing, charge that the Rochester Republican “wants to gut prevailing wage laws that make sure construction workers get paid a fair local wage”...
U.S. LABOR
Airport workers at 7 U.S. hubs to strike Wednesday night Washington Post ...Airport workers at seven of the busiest U.S. airports are going on strike Wednesday night to protest what they say are poor working conditions and retaliation for unionizing. More than 2,000 workers, including cleaners, wheelchair attendants, and baggage handlers plan to strike at Fort Lauderdale, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago O’Hare, Newark Liberty and New York’s Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, the Service Employees International Union said...
SEIU, Local 1021 returns to work as negotiators meet with county, mediator The Reporter ...Following a two-day strike action Wednesday, members of Service Employees International Union, Local 1021 voted to take a breather today as union negotiators meet with Solano County negotiators and a mediator. John Stead-Mendez, SEIU executive director, explained that the membership wanted the bargaining team to focus on negotiations and not worry about the striking workers...
Ford's UAW agreement in jeopardy after defeats at big plants Crain's ... Leaders of the United Auto Workers union scrambled Wednesday to salvage a proposed labor agreement with Ford, warning rank-and-file members that a rejection of the deal could jeopardize investments that would sustain U.S. factory jobs. With three-fourths of the national Ford union voted counted, 52 percent have rejected the proposed contract, Jimmy Settles, head of the UAW's Ford Department, said at UAW Local 600 in Dearborn, Michigan...
UAW Taking 'Micro' Approach to Unionizing Volkswagen Plant ABC ...The United Auto Workers union is back with a more concentrated approach after suffering a bitter loss in its efforts to gain collective-bargaining rights for all blue-collar workers at Volkswagen's plant in Tennessee. The National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday granted a petition by a small group of skilled-trades workers to hold a vote on being represented by the UAW for collective bargaining purposes...
Rauner Strikes Contract Deals With Unions, Takes Aim At AFSCME Progress Illinois ...The state of Illinois and a number of labor unions have reached four-year contract agreements, the Rauner administration said Wednesday. In announcing the new agreements, the Rauner administration used the opportunity to take aim at AFSCME Council 31. The union and the administration have yet to reach a new contract agreement...
Remembering the Life and Music of Labor Agitator Joe Hill, Who Was Executed 100 Years Ago Today In These Times ...Joe Hill saw his music as a weapon in the class war, composing songs to be sung on soapboxes, picket lines or in jail. And 100 years ago today, the forces of capital and the state of Utah executed him. Born Joel Hagglund in Sweden, Hill immigrated to the United States in 1902. Hill became politicized, eventually joining the Industrial Workers of the World...
Money and clout on the line for teachers union in 2016 CAL Matters ...The California Teachers Association, one of Sacramento’s most powerful interests, is heading into an extraordinary year with decisions on the ballot, in the Capitol and in the courts holding the potential to impact its clout for many years to come. Billions of dollars for schools will likely be at stake on the 2016 ballot as well as pivotal campaigns for state Legislature and a question about union pensions...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
The Koch intelligence agency Politico ...The political network helmed by Charles and David Koch has quietly built a secretive operation that conducts surveillance and intelligence gathering on its liberal opponents, viewing it as a key strategic tool in its efforts to reshape American public life.
The operation, which is little-known even within the Koch network, gathers what Koch insiders refer to as “competitive intelligence” that is used to try to thwart liberal groups and activists...
Elizabeth Warren Blasts Tax Plan as 'Giant Wet Kiss' to Corporate America Common Dreams ...Denouncing a "rigged" system that favors corporations over middle-class Americans, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said in a "must-watch" speech on Wednesday that any reform of the U.S. corporate tax code must force big businesses to "substantially increase" the amount of federal tax they pay. Warren's address at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. "staked out the left-wing position on corporate tax reform," Politico said...
Growing Number of Voters Have Families Impacted by Immigration Policy NBC ...For a significant number of potential 2016 voters, immigration policies are not an abstraction but have a direct impact for their loved ones. As many as 1.5 million U. S. citizen relatives of immigrants awaiting deportation relief under the president's stalled executive action program will be eligible to vote for president next year...
Hysterical Corporate Media Fueling War Fervor, Xenophobia in 24/7 Cycle Common Dreams ...Just as they did in the wake of 9/11, corporate media outlets—led by cable news networks—are spreading hysteria, fueling anti-immigrant sentiment, and beating the drum for war by providing "context-free coverage of terror," as one analyst put it this week. The 24/7 coverage of Friday's attacks in Paris and their aftermath, marked by speculation and sensationalism, is only helping the media conglomerates...
In Minneapolis, Local Black Lives Matter Activists Draw on a Growing National Network Truth Out ...Like many groups, BLM Minneapolis emerged as the wider movement for black lives exploded into headlines last year. The last few months, the group has been working to further involve community members in their strategizing and decision-making processes, as well as create opportunities to mobilize more broadly around the forces impacting black, Latino and indigenous city residents...
With Demands for Racial Justice, Student 'BlackOut' Actions Sweep US Common Dreams ...Students at colleges and universities from coast to coast walked out of class, held rallies and teach-ins, and protested on Wednesday as part of a coordinated national day of action demanding racial justice both on- and off-campus. The actions were both inspired by and in solidarity with recent protests at the University of Missouri and other institutions...
Showing posts with label airline pilots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label airline pilots. Show all posts
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Today's Teamster News 08.19.15
Teamsters
Teamsters Call On SFMTA To Adopt Labor Harmony Resolution Teamster.org ...Teamsters and drivers for Bauer’s Intelligent Transportation held an action next to the Mission Street BART station last week, urging SFMTA pass the labor harmony resolution that was unanimously adopted by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in March...
Salary Hike For Montco Correctional Officers The Intelligencer ...The county’s correctional officers in December 2013 voted to be represented by a union. The vote was 120-82 in favor of representation by Teamsters Local Union 384 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters...
Flexjet Pilots Win Jobs Back, Made Whole for Company's Labor Law Violations Teamster.org ...In a decision by distinguished arbitrator Joshua Javits, three pilots with Flexjet, LLC, have been reinstated to their positions with the carrier and made whole for their terminations. The arbitrator found the terminations were without cause and that the pilots’ terminations resulted from retaliation for protected union activity in violation of federal labor law...
Global Labor & Trade
Turkey In Political Crisis As Violence Spirals Huffington Post ...Gunmen opened fire on Turkish police outside an Istanbul palace and eight soldiers were killed in a bomb attack in the southeast on Wednesday, heightening a sense of crisis as the country's political leaders struggle to form a new government...
German Parliament Overwhelmingly Approves Greek Bailout Huffington Post ...Germany's parliament overwhelmingly approved a third bailout for Greece on Wednesday, removing a key hurdle to providing new loans to the country and keeping it from defaulting on its debts in as little as 24 hours...
EC's Transparency Spin Falls Flat As TTIP Made Even More Secretive Huffington Post ...The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is the biggest trade deal ever negotiated. Yet all British MPs know about it is what little the European Commission (EC) decides to tell them -- and that's about to become a lot less. Last week German website Correct!v revealed that one of the only sources of information for what happens in secret TTIP negotiations will end...
South Sudanese President’s Chilling Threat Against The Lives Of Journalists Think Progress ...The pressure to sign a civil-war ending peace agreement may be getting to South Sudanese President Salva Kiir. On Sunday, the embattled leader threatened to kill journalists reporting “against the country.”...
State & Living Wage Battles
Ohio Lawmaker: Now Is Time For Right To Work Cincinnati.com ...The proposal, which is being drafted, would prohibit mandatory union membership at workplaces. The change would give employees the choice to opt out of unions and their dues, said Brinkman, R-Mount Lookout. Twenty-five states have right-to-work laws, including recently passed proposals in Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana...
Obama's Paid-Leave Policies Make Progress In Cities USA Today ...In his State of the Union Address in January, President Obama said he would go around Congress if necessary and push states to adopt paid-leave laws. Eight months later, only one state — Oregon — has passed such a law. But 17 cities have...
Compromise On Raising Bangor Minimum Wage Fails, Talks To Continue Bangor Daily News ...The City Council’s Business and Economic Development Committee failed Tuesday to move forward a proposed compromise on a local minimum-wage increase...
U.S. Labor
Transportation Secretary And New Jersey Officials Meet To Discuss Hudson River Rail Tunnels New York Times ...After Mr. Foxx met with Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and the state’s two Democratic senators, Cory A. Booker and Robert Menendez, the officials signaled a new level of cooperation on the project. The four released a joint statement calling the meeting “substantive and productive,” and indicated that they would work to obtain “a substantial federal grant contribution” and other funding options for the plan, known as the Gateway Project...
One-Quarter Of Mothers Return To Work Less Than 2 Weeks After Giving Birth, Report Finds Huffington Post ...The researchers looked at a survey of 2,852 workers who took leave in 2012, honing in on the 93 women who took time off to care for a new baby. Of those women, nearly 12 percent took a week or less; another 11 percent took between one and two weeks off, according to the analysis. Among college graduates, longer leaves ruled the day: Eighty percent of the women who took at least six weeks leave had a degree. Only 54 percent of women without a degree were able to do so...
Amazon's Brutal Workplace Is An Indicator Of An Inhumane Economy Los Angeles Times ...What, ultimately, is the point of all this high-intensity labor, 16 hours a day most days of the year? If it is to make men such as Bezos extremely rich, it has done that, but what is in it for the workers who devote their lives to his vision for two or three years and then wearily stumble away from the company? Have they built something important and soul-enriching? Or did they just shave some minutes off the time it takes to fill the shopping carts of impatient, lazy consumers? Shouldn’t there be a little more to life than that?...
A Simple Practice Can Transform The Lives Of First Responders Huffington Post ...Firefighters are known for their physical strength and bravery, but they also face an immense amount of emotional stress and pressure. And just as first responders train for fitness, so too should they work on sharpening and preparing their minds, according to neuroscientist Amishi Jha...
Social Justice & Other News
As Immigration Judges' Working Conditions Worsen, More May Choose Retirement Los Angeles Times ...“I just really didn't like telling these young kids they had to go back to this situation. It really was very stressful for me and distressing,” she said. “I started out my career representing people with asylum claims, and a lot of those were Central American. I didn't want to sign my name on something and send someone back somewhere where they could potentially lose their life.”...
Americans Back Federal Funds To Planned Parenthood For Health Services, Poll Shows Huffington Post ...Support for federal funding of Planned Parenthood itself to provide those women's health services was even stronger, according to the Reuters/Ipsos released on Wednesday...
These Former Debt Collectors Decided To Ditch The Industry, Buy Up Medical Debt And Forgive It Truthout ...When Paola Gonzalez received a phone call from RIP Medical Debt, she was certain what she heard was a mistake. A prank, maybe. The caller said a $950 hospital bill had been paid for in full: It would not affect her credit and she wouldn't have to worry about it again. "They wanted to pay a bill for me," she said. "I was just speechless."...
How Black Lives Matter Moved From A Hashtag To A Real Political Force Washington Post ...Black Lives Matter has evolved well beyond a hashtag attached to sometimes-smart and often-snarky posts about policing, jailing and racial disparities in the United States. Black Lives Matter, it would seem, has evolved into a social movement with political aims, policy demands and a disparate set of individuals motivated to push those issues into the 2016 campaign...
Confederate Flag Controversy: More US Schools Consider Bans On Display Of Southern Symbol As Charleston Unveils New Policy International Business Times ...Weeks after a white gunman opened fire in a historic black church in South Carolina, the Charleston County School District this week updated its code of conduct for the 2015-2016 school year, which began Monday, to include a ban on the Confederate flag. The policy prohibits students from wearing clothing, jewelry or other apparel featuring images of the rebel banner...
Science Isn’t Broken FiveThirtyEight ...If we’re going to rely on science as a means for reaching the truth — and it’s still the best tool we have — it’s important that we understand and respect just how difficult it is to get a rigorous result. I could pontificate about all the reasons why science is arduous, but instead I’m going to let you experience one of them for yourself. Welcome to the wild world of p-hacking...
Teamsters Call On SFMTA To Adopt Labor Harmony Resolution Teamster.org ...Teamsters and drivers for Bauer’s Intelligent Transportation held an action next to the Mission Street BART station last week, urging SFMTA pass the labor harmony resolution that was unanimously adopted by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in March...
Salary Hike For Montco Correctional Officers The Intelligencer ...The county’s correctional officers in December 2013 voted to be represented by a union. The vote was 120-82 in favor of representation by Teamsters Local Union 384 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters...
Flexjet Pilots Win Jobs Back, Made Whole for Company's Labor Law Violations Teamster.org ...In a decision by distinguished arbitrator Joshua Javits, three pilots with Flexjet, LLC, have been reinstated to their positions with the carrier and made whole for their terminations. The arbitrator found the terminations were without cause and that the pilots’ terminations resulted from retaliation for protected union activity in violation of federal labor law...
Global Labor & Trade
Turkey In Political Crisis As Violence Spirals Huffington Post ...Gunmen opened fire on Turkish police outside an Istanbul palace and eight soldiers were killed in a bomb attack in the southeast on Wednesday, heightening a sense of crisis as the country's political leaders struggle to form a new government...
German Parliament Overwhelmingly Approves Greek Bailout Huffington Post ...Germany's parliament overwhelmingly approved a third bailout for Greece on Wednesday, removing a key hurdle to providing new loans to the country and keeping it from defaulting on its debts in as little as 24 hours...
EC's Transparency Spin Falls Flat As TTIP Made Even More Secretive Huffington Post ...The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is the biggest trade deal ever negotiated. Yet all British MPs know about it is what little the European Commission (EC) decides to tell them -- and that's about to become a lot less. Last week German website Correct!v revealed that one of the only sources of information for what happens in secret TTIP negotiations will end...
South Sudanese President’s Chilling Threat Against The Lives Of Journalists Think Progress ...The pressure to sign a civil-war ending peace agreement may be getting to South Sudanese President Salva Kiir. On Sunday, the embattled leader threatened to kill journalists reporting “against the country.”...
State & Living Wage Battles
Ohio Lawmaker: Now Is Time For Right To Work Cincinnati.com ...The proposal, which is being drafted, would prohibit mandatory union membership at workplaces. The change would give employees the choice to opt out of unions and their dues, said Brinkman, R-Mount Lookout. Twenty-five states have right-to-work laws, including recently passed proposals in Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana...
Obama's Paid-Leave Policies Make Progress In Cities USA Today ...In his State of the Union Address in January, President Obama said he would go around Congress if necessary and push states to adopt paid-leave laws. Eight months later, only one state — Oregon — has passed such a law. But 17 cities have...
Compromise On Raising Bangor Minimum Wage Fails, Talks To Continue Bangor Daily News ...The City Council’s Business and Economic Development Committee failed Tuesday to move forward a proposed compromise on a local minimum-wage increase...
U.S. Labor
Transportation Secretary And New Jersey Officials Meet To Discuss Hudson River Rail Tunnels New York Times ...After Mr. Foxx met with Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and the state’s two Democratic senators, Cory A. Booker and Robert Menendez, the officials signaled a new level of cooperation on the project. The four released a joint statement calling the meeting “substantive and productive,” and indicated that they would work to obtain “a substantial federal grant contribution” and other funding options for the plan, known as the Gateway Project...
One-Quarter Of Mothers Return To Work Less Than 2 Weeks After Giving Birth, Report Finds Huffington Post ...The researchers looked at a survey of 2,852 workers who took leave in 2012, honing in on the 93 women who took time off to care for a new baby. Of those women, nearly 12 percent took a week or less; another 11 percent took between one and two weeks off, according to the analysis. Among college graduates, longer leaves ruled the day: Eighty percent of the women who took at least six weeks leave had a degree. Only 54 percent of women without a degree were able to do so...
Amazon's Brutal Workplace Is An Indicator Of An Inhumane Economy Los Angeles Times ...What, ultimately, is the point of all this high-intensity labor, 16 hours a day most days of the year? If it is to make men such as Bezos extremely rich, it has done that, but what is in it for the workers who devote their lives to his vision for two or three years and then wearily stumble away from the company? Have they built something important and soul-enriching? Or did they just shave some minutes off the time it takes to fill the shopping carts of impatient, lazy consumers? Shouldn’t there be a little more to life than that?...
A Simple Practice Can Transform The Lives Of First Responders Huffington Post ...Firefighters are known for their physical strength and bravery, but they also face an immense amount of emotional stress and pressure. And just as first responders train for fitness, so too should they work on sharpening and preparing their minds, according to neuroscientist Amishi Jha...
Social Justice & Other News
As Immigration Judges' Working Conditions Worsen, More May Choose Retirement Los Angeles Times ...“I just really didn't like telling these young kids they had to go back to this situation. It really was very stressful for me and distressing,” she said. “I started out my career representing people with asylum claims, and a lot of those were Central American. I didn't want to sign my name on something and send someone back somewhere where they could potentially lose their life.”...
Americans Back Federal Funds To Planned Parenthood For Health Services, Poll Shows Huffington Post ...Support for federal funding of Planned Parenthood itself to provide those women's health services was even stronger, according to the Reuters/Ipsos released on Wednesday...
These Former Debt Collectors Decided To Ditch The Industry, Buy Up Medical Debt And Forgive It Truthout ...When Paola Gonzalez received a phone call from RIP Medical Debt, she was certain what she heard was a mistake. A prank, maybe. The caller said a $950 hospital bill had been paid for in full: It would not affect her credit and she wouldn't have to worry about it again. "They wanted to pay a bill for me," she said. "I was just speechless."...
How Black Lives Matter Moved From A Hashtag To A Real Political Force Washington Post ...Black Lives Matter has evolved well beyond a hashtag attached to sometimes-smart and often-snarky posts about policing, jailing and racial disparities in the United States. Black Lives Matter, it would seem, has evolved into a social movement with political aims, policy demands and a disparate set of individuals motivated to push those issues into the 2016 campaign...
Confederate Flag Controversy: More US Schools Consider Bans On Display Of Southern Symbol As Charleston Unveils New Policy International Business Times ...Weeks after a white gunman opened fire in a historic black church in South Carolina, the Charleston County School District this week updated its code of conduct for the 2015-2016 school year, which began Monday, to include a ban on the Confederate flag. The policy prohibits students from wearing clothing, jewelry or other apparel featuring images of the rebel banner...
Science Isn’t Broken FiveThirtyEight ...If we’re going to rely on science as a means for reaching the truth — and it’s still the best tool we have — it’s important that we understand and respect just how difficult it is to get a rigorous result. I could pontificate about all the reasons why science is arduous, but instead I’m going to let you experience one of them for yourself. Welcome to the wild world of p-hacking...
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Today's Teamster News 07.07.15
Teamsters
EVSC, Teamsters Butt Heads Again TriState Homepage ...Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation and Teamsters Local 215 together again in the same room – but still unable to agree.
The sticking points in negotiations aren't getting any grease. Union dues and third-party arbitration for employee grievances remain a focal point that neither side is willing to give up. Paul Green, speaking on behalf of Teamsers, begged the EVSC to get back to the table. “It's tearing this community apart.” Teamsters President, Chuck Whobrey wants to meet again for more negotiations...
American Friends of Yitzhak Rabin to Honor Randy Cammack, President, Teamsters Joint Council 42, and Ken Howard, President, SAG-AFTRA BusinessWire ...American Friends of Yitzhak Rabin (AFYR) announced today that they will honor Randy Cammack, President of Teamsters Joint Council 42, with the 2015 Yitzhak Rabin Leadership and Public Service Award at a gala dinner at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles on July 9, 2015. AFYR will also recognize Ken Howard, President, SAG-AFTRA, with the 2015 Yitzhak Rabin Legacy Award...
This Airline’s Scheduling System Is Making Its Pilots Exhausted The Nation ...Like many Allegiant passengers, pilots have voiced major frustrations with Allegiant’s flight schedules, arguing that the company has instituted a new scheduling system called “Preferential Bidding,” which they say makes pilots’ schedules more precarious and undermines the industry-wide standard of seniority-based scheduling...
Global Labor & Trade
Mexico sees TPP deal in July Herald Sun ...Mexico is confident that an agreement on a major free-trade pact spanning the Pacific Ocean can be reached in late July in what would be a milestone with the potential to reshape economic ties between Asia and the Americas, a top government official has said. "Around 10 per cent of issues are still to be agreed, but I hope we can seal an agreement in a final round of negotiations at the end of the month," economy minister Ildefonso Guajardo said in an interview...
Trans-Pacific Partnership building momentum for deal this summer Globe and Mail ...Canada and the 11 other countries taking part in Pacific Rim trade talks will push for a deal at a meeting of ministers expected to take place in late July or early August, sources say. It is a sign of the increasing momentum of the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks and sets the stage for Ottawa to make what are expected to be controversial concessions in the weeks before a federal election campaign begins...
U.S. trade deficit widens; weakness abroad fuels export drop Reuters ...The U.S. trade deficit widened in May, fueled by a drop in exports that could heighten concerns over weak overseas demand and a strong U.S. dollar. The Commerce Department reported on Tuesday that the trade gap grew $1.2 billion to $41.9 billion. That was less than the $42.6 billion deficit expected by analysts and suggests Wall Street economists may slightly raise their forecasts for economic growth in the second quarter...
Labor Lost the Fight Over Fast Track. But the Fact That Unions Oppose the TPP at All Is a Big Deal. In These Times ...Organized labor’s recent “victory” over President Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade initiative, was short-lived, as “fast track” was passed by Congress shortly after it had been denied him earlier in the month. But labor’s strong opposition to the deal is worth examining a bit more closely. That the TPP could so easily be linked by its critics to the job-killing, wage-reducing interests of the “one percent” reflects deep and changing understandings of how the global economy works...
Greece Is Just The Beginning Of The Great Austerity Backlash Huffington Post ...The global politics of austerity seeped into the press room of the White House on Monday, the day after the Greeks voted overwhelmingly to reject a harsh bailout deal with Europe. Now that the planet’s economies have essentially become one, and the world’s top dozen banks control $30 trillion in assets, the callous demands of a new and even larger “money power” is starting to spark a worldwide backlash...
The economic spasm that could overshadow Greece CBS ...While much of the financial community's attention is riveted on Greece's debt crisis, another economic drama is playing out in China that could have a far great impact on the global economy. China's stock markets have been falling rapidly for nearly a month, and by last week had dropped about 30 percent...
Bernie Sanders Backs Greek Rejection Of Austerity Measures Huffington Post ...Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) voiced his support for Greece’s decision to reject a bailout deal that would have come with more austerity measures for the country. “I applaud the people of Greece for saying ‘no’ to more austerity for the poor, the children, the sick and the elderly,” Sanders said in a statement Sunday...
Rights for Kuwait Domestic Workers: ‘Cautiously Good Step’ Solidarity Center ...There is some good news for domestic workers in Kuwait: The National Assembly adopted a new law in June that will grant them unprecedented legal rights. The law applies to family maids, baby sitters, cooks and drivers. More than 660,000 domestic workers are currently employed in Kuwait, most of them migrant workers from Asia and Africa. Human Rights Watch researcher Rothna Begum says this is a “major step forward” for Kuwait...
Colombia’s Fensuagro Union is Revolutionary, Persecuted, and Undaunted Counterpunch ...Fensuagro, the largest agricultural workers union in Colombia, held its 11th National Congress on June 5 – 8 in Bogota. The theme there was: “We advance for peace, rural peoples’ rights, and food sovereignty.” Fensuagro – the full name is the United Agricultural Trade Union Federation – reelected Húbert Ballesteros as vice president and member of its board of directors. Ballesteros, however, is a political prisoner...
State & Living Wage Battles
Scott Walker Tries To Use A Back Door To Get Rid Of Wisconsin’s Living Wage Law Think Progress ...After months of uproar over provisions to slash hundreds of millions of dollars from state universities and strip the values of “truth” and “service” from their mission, lawmakers in Madison missed their July 1 deadline to pass the budget. The change to the wage law comes just as low-income workers in the state are suing Governor Walker for refusing to consider their complaint that the current state minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is not a living wage...
Puerto Ricans have a message for the US: 'Give us the tools to help ourselves' The Guardian ...Since the April day in 1899 when Americans formally took over the island, Puerto Ricans have felt uneasy about their status within the United States. And as the island faces a debt crisis that has cratered its economy and sent its leaders to Washington to plead for more sovereign powers, the issue has taken on a new urgency...
Kinder calls for public debates over right-to-work proposal St. Louis Public Radio ...Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder is proposing that Gov. Jay Nixon and state Attorney General Chris Koster engage in public debates with him in the coming weeks over the issue of right to work. Nixon recently vetoed a right-to-work bill, which would bar employers and unions from requiring all workers to pay dues if a majority voted to join a union...
GOP Senators to make run at repealing prevailing wage law Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel ...Republicans who control the state Senate plan to insert a provision into the state budget Tuesday that will repeal the prevailing wage law for local governments. The law sets the minimum salaries for construction workers when they build roads, schools and other publicly funded projects...
Group backing repeal of Michigan's prevailing wage raises $1 million for ballot campaign Crain's Detroit ...A group leading a petition drive to repeal Michigan’s prevailing wage law has raised more than $1 million for the effort, campaign finance records show. Protecting Michigan Taxpayers spent close to $342,000 from April 21 to June 29, according to a campaign finance statement it filed Monday with the Michigan secretary of state. The group’s biggest backer, the Michigan Freedom Fund — an organization with ties to the DeVos family — gave $372,200 in direct and in-kind contributions...
Kansas isn’t joining 14 states poised to raise minimum wage The Wichita Eagle ...Fourteen states and the District of Columbia will see their minimum wage increase this summer or next year, according to a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Kansas won’t be joining them. The minimum wage in Kansas is $7.25 per hour – the same as the federal minimum wage – and attempts to increase it this year gained little traction in the Republican-dominated Legislature...
Portland City Council votes to raise minimum wage to $10.10 an hour Portland Press Herald ...The Portland City Council voted 6-3 Monday night to create a city minimum wage of $10.10 an hour on Jan. 1, increase it a year later, and tie future minimum wages to inflation. After a debate that lasted nearly two hours and drew pleas from advocates and opponents, the council passed a plan first put forth by Mayor Michael Brennan...
U.S. Labor
Staples Deal With USPS Is Illegal: NLRB 24/7 ...The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed a complaint against the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) related to the housing of contract postal units in Staples Inc. stores. The NLRB has determined that the USPS violated the law when it opened its first postal counter in a Staples store in late 2013. The contract between the USPS and the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) states that USPS management must bargain with the union before entering a deal like the one with Staples...
EVSC, Teamsters Butt Heads Again TriState Homepage ...Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation and Teamsters Local 215 together again in the same room – but still unable to agree.
The sticking points in negotiations aren't getting any grease. Union dues and third-party arbitration for employee grievances remain a focal point that neither side is willing to give up. Paul Green, speaking on behalf of Teamsers, begged the EVSC to get back to the table. “It's tearing this community apart.” Teamsters President, Chuck Whobrey wants to meet again for more negotiations...
American Friends of Yitzhak Rabin to Honor Randy Cammack, President, Teamsters Joint Council 42, and Ken Howard, President, SAG-AFTRA BusinessWire ...American Friends of Yitzhak Rabin (AFYR) announced today that they will honor Randy Cammack, President of Teamsters Joint Council 42, with the 2015 Yitzhak Rabin Leadership and Public Service Award at a gala dinner at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles on July 9, 2015. AFYR will also recognize Ken Howard, President, SAG-AFTRA, with the 2015 Yitzhak Rabin Legacy Award...
This Airline’s Scheduling System Is Making Its Pilots Exhausted The Nation ...Like many Allegiant passengers, pilots have voiced major frustrations with Allegiant’s flight schedules, arguing that the company has instituted a new scheduling system called “Preferential Bidding,” which they say makes pilots’ schedules more precarious and undermines the industry-wide standard of seniority-based scheduling...
Global Labor & Trade
Mexico sees TPP deal in July Herald Sun ...Mexico is confident that an agreement on a major free-trade pact spanning the Pacific Ocean can be reached in late July in what would be a milestone with the potential to reshape economic ties between Asia and the Americas, a top government official has said. "Around 10 per cent of issues are still to be agreed, but I hope we can seal an agreement in a final round of negotiations at the end of the month," economy minister Ildefonso Guajardo said in an interview...
Trans-Pacific Partnership building momentum for deal this summer Globe and Mail ...Canada and the 11 other countries taking part in Pacific Rim trade talks will push for a deal at a meeting of ministers expected to take place in late July or early August, sources say. It is a sign of the increasing momentum of the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks and sets the stage for Ottawa to make what are expected to be controversial concessions in the weeks before a federal election campaign begins...
U.S. trade deficit widens; weakness abroad fuels export drop Reuters ...The U.S. trade deficit widened in May, fueled by a drop in exports that could heighten concerns over weak overseas demand and a strong U.S. dollar. The Commerce Department reported on Tuesday that the trade gap grew $1.2 billion to $41.9 billion. That was less than the $42.6 billion deficit expected by analysts and suggests Wall Street economists may slightly raise their forecasts for economic growth in the second quarter...
Labor Lost the Fight Over Fast Track. But the Fact That Unions Oppose the TPP at All Is a Big Deal. In These Times ...Organized labor’s recent “victory” over President Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade initiative, was short-lived, as “fast track” was passed by Congress shortly after it had been denied him earlier in the month. But labor’s strong opposition to the deal is worth examining a bit more closely. That the TPP could so easily be linked by its critics to the job-killing, wage-reducing interests of the “one percent” reflects deep and changing understandings of how the global economy works...
Greece Is Just The Beginning Of The Great Austerity Backlash Huffington Post ...The global politics of austerity seeped into the press room of the White House on Monday, the day after the Greeks voted overwhelmingly to reject a harsh bailout deal with Europe. Now that the planet’s economies have essentially become one, and the world’s top dozen banks control $30 trillion in assets, the callous demands of a new and even larger “money power” is starting to spark a worldwide backlash...
The economic spasm that could overshadow Greece CBS ...While much of the financial community's attention is riveted on Greece's debt crisis, another economic drama is playing out in China that could have a far great impact on the global economy. China's stock markets have been falling rapidly for nearly a month, and by last week had dropped about 30 percent...
Bernie Sanders Backs Greek Rejection Of Austerity Measures Huffington Post ...Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) voiced his support for Greece’s decision to reject a bailout deal that would have come with more austerity measures for the country. “I applaud the people of Greece for saying ‘no’ to more austerity for the poor, the children, the sick and the elderly,” Sanders said in a statement Sunday...
Rights for Kuwait Domestic Workers: ‘Cautiously Good Step’ Solidarity Center ...There is some good news for domestic workers in Kuwait: The National Assembly adopted a new law in June that will grant them unprecedented legal rights. The law applies to family maids, baby sitters, cooks and drivers. More than 660,000 domestic workers are currently employed in Kuwait, most of them migrant workers from Asia and Africa. Human Rights Watch researcher Rothna Begum says this is a “major step forward” for Kuwait...
Colombia’s Fensuagro Union is Revolutionary, Persecuted, and Undaunted Counterpunch ...Fensuagro, the largest agricultural workers union in Colombia, held its 11th National Congress on June 5 – 8 in Bogota. The theme there was: “We advance for peace, rural peoples’ rights, and food sovereignty.” Fensuagro – the full name is the United Agricultural Trade Union Federation – reelected Húbert Ballesteros as vice president and member of its board of directors. Ballesteros, however, is a political prisoner...
State & Living Wage Battles
Scott Walker Tries To Use A Back Door To Get Rid Of Wisconsin’s Living Wage Law Think Progress ...After months of uproar over provisions to slash hundreds of millions of dollars from state universities and strip the values of “truth” and “service” from their mission, lawmakers in Madison missed their July 1 deadline to pass the budget. The change to the wage law comes just as low-income workers in the state are suing Governor Walker for refusing to consider their complaint that the current state minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is not a living wage...
Puerto Ricans have a message for the US: 'Give us the tools to help ourselves' The Guardian ...Since the April day in 1899 when Americans formally took over the island, Puerto Ricans have felt uneasy about their status within the United States. And as the island faces a debt crisis that has cratered its economy and sent its leaders to Washington to plead for more sovereign powers, the issue has taken on a new urgency...
Kinder calls for public debates over right-to-work proposal St. Louis Public Radio ...Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder is proposing that Gov. Jay Nixon and state Attorney General Chris Koster engage in public debates with him in the coming weeks over the issue of right to work. Nixon recently vetoed a right-to-work bill, which would bar employers and unions from requiring all workers to pay dues if a majority voted to join a union...
GOP Senators to make run at repealing prevailing wage law Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel ...Republicans who control the state Senate plan to insert a provision into the state budget Tuesday that will repeal the prevailing wage law for local governments. The law sets the minimum salaries for construction workers when they build roads, schools and other publicly funded projects...
Group backing repeal of Michigan's prevailing wage raises $1 million for ballot campaign Crain's Detroit ...A group leading a petition drive to repeal Michigan’s prevailing wage law has raised more than $1 million for the effort, campaign finance records show. Protecting Michigan Taxpayers spent close to $342,000 from April 21 to June 29, according to a campaign finance statement it filed Monday with the Michigan secretary of state. The group’s biggest backer, the Michigan Freedom Fund — an organization with ties to the DeVos family — gave $372,200 in direct and in-kind contributions...
Kansas isn’t joining 14 states poised to raise minimum wage The Wichita Eagle ...Fourteen states and the District of Columbia will see their minimum wage increase this summer or next year, according to a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Kansas won’t be joining them. The minimum wage in Kansas is $7.25 per hour – the same as the federal minimum wage – and attempts to increase it this year gained little traction in the Republican-dominated Legislature...
Portland City Council votes to raise minimum wage to $10.10 an hour Portland Press Herald ...The Portland City Council voted 6-3 Monday night to create a city minimum wage of $10.10 an hour on Jan. 1, increase it a year later, and tie future minimum wages to inflation. After a debate that lasted nearly two hours and drew pleas from advocates and opponents, the council passed a plan first put forth by Mayor Michael Brennan...
U.S. Labor
Staples Deal With USPS Is Illegal: NLRB 24/7 ...The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed a complaint against the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) related to the housing of contract postal units in Staples Inc. stores. The NLRB has determined that the USPS violated the law when it opened its first postal counter in a Staples store in late 2013. The contract between the USPS and the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) states that USPS management must bargain with the union before entering a deal like the one with Staples...
A Worker’s Take on the New Overtime Proposal The Nation ...As a manager for a national auto supply chain, Lora McCrary puts in between 50 and 70 hours a week remodeling stores across the country. But because she’s a salaried employee, she’s ineligible to earn overtime pay. The long hours and the weeks spent on the road and living out of hotels have taken a toll on her emotionally and physically...
UFCW local sets meeting to discuss A&P future Supermarket News ...Uncertainty over the future of A&P has prompted several locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union to call member meetings to discuss the chain’s financial situation, including one scheduled for Wednesday by UFCW Local 1776 in Philadelphia...
Transit union leaders hope to resume negotiations toward contract agreement soon Fox6 News ...Leaders of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 held a news conference early Monday morning, July 6th at 1:00 a.m. Union leaders said they will not strike on Monday, and said they’d like to resume negotiations in an effort to come to a deal on a new contract. During their news conference, union leaders said they want a deal convenient for both sides...
How Politics Gutted Workplace Safety Slate ...OSHA has issued only 36 health standards and relies on mostly outdated exposure limits for the 470 substances it regulates; many more substances go unregulated. It rarely uses the general duty clause to cite alleged health violations, having concluded that the burden of proof is too steep. Hindered by court decisions, the White House, an often-hostile Congress, a weak underlying statute, and—some say —its own timidity, the agency is still searching for ways to protect workers from fumes, vapors, dusts, fibers, and liquids that can kill or incapacitate them...
Unions Must Act Now to Survive Supreme Court Deathblow Counterpunch ...Unions have a decision to make: organize or die. It’s that simple. These are the only two options now that the Supreme Court announced it would hear the case “Friedrichs v. California Teacher Association.” The court intends to take aim at the head of organized labor by ruling against the California Teachers Association, and in the process fundamentally change labor law in a way that would cripple public sector unions, the last bastion of significant social power in the U.S. labor movement...
Miscellaneous
Fatal shooting sparks national immigration debate MSNBC ...The fallout from a seemingly random fatal shooting at a crowded tourist spot in San Francisco last week has ignited a national debate over the city’s decades-old tradition of offering safe haven to undocumented immigrants. Now used as fodder in political rallying cries on immigration, the shooting mounts pressure on these so-called “sanctuary cities” – municipalities that have openly defied federal immigration policies and taken a more welcoming tact toward undocumented immigrants...
Corporate Capitalism Is the Foundation of Police Brutality and the Prison State (opinion) Alternet ...We discuss issues of race while ignoring the economic, bureaucratic and political systems of exploitation—all of it legal and built into the ruling apparatus—that are the true engines of racism and white supremacy. No discussion of race is possible without a discussion of capitalism and class. And until that discussion takes place, despite all the proposed reforms to the criminal justice system, the state will continue to murder and imprison poor people of color with impunity...
What Donald Trump Doesn't Understand About Immigrants and Crime (opinion) The Atlantic ...If Donald Trump were right, policing and immigration reform would be easy. We’d just round up all the immigrants, ship them away, and crime would disappear. But most immigrants, like most native-born Americans, are simply hardworking people trying to feed their families and help their kids succeed. Targeting them won’t end crime, but it will increase their alienation, making effective crime prevention and policing more difficult...
UFCW local sets meeting to discuss A&P future Supermarket News ...Uncertainty over the future of A&P has prompted several locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union to call member meetings to discuss the chain’s financial situation, including one scheduled for Wednesday by UFCW Local 1776 in Philadelphia...
Transit union leaders hope to resume negotiations toward contract agreement soon Fox6 News ...Leaders of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 held a news conference early Monday morning, July 6th at 1:00 a.m. Union leaders said they will not strike on Monday, and said they’d like to resume negotiations in an effort to come to a deal on a new contract. During their news conference, union leaders said they want a deal convenient for both sides...
How Politics Gutted Workplace Safety Slate ...OSHA has issued only 36 health standards and relies on mostly outdated exposure limits for the 470 substances it regulates; many more substances go unregulated. It rarely uses the general duty clause to cite alleged health violations, having concluded that the burden of proof is too steep. Hindered by court decisions, the White House, an often-hostile Congress, a weak underlying statute, and—some say —its own timidity, the agency is still searching for ways to protect workers from fumes, vapors, dusts, fibers, and liquids that can kill or incapacitate them...
Unions Must Act Now to Survive Supreme Court Deathblow Counterpunch ...Unions have a decision to make: organize or die. It’s that simple. These are the only two options now that the Supreme Court announced it would hear the case “Friedrichs v. California Teacher Association.” The court intends to take aim at the head of organized labor by ruling against the California Teachers Association, and in the process fundamentally change labor law in a way that would cripple public sector unions, the last bastion of significant social power in the U.S. labor movement...
Miscellaneous
Fatal shooting sparks national immigration debate MSNBC ...The fallout from a seemingly random fatal shooting at a crowded tourist spot in San Francisco last week has ignited a national debate over the city’s decades-old tradition of offering safe haven to undocumented immigrants. Now used as fodder in political rallying cries on immigration, the shooting mounts pressure on these so-called “sanctuary cities” – municipalities that have openly defied federal immigration policies and taken a more welcoming tact toward undocumented immigrants...
Corporate Capitalism Is the Foundation of Police Brutality and the Prison State (opinion) Alternet ...We discuss issues of race while ignoring the economic, bureaucratic and political systems of exploitation—all of it legal and built into the ruling apparatus—that are the true engines of racism and white supremacy. No discussion of race is possible without a discussion of capitalism and class. And until that discussion takes place, despite all the proposed reforms to the criminal justice system, the state will continue to murder and imprison poor people of color with impunity...
What Donald Trump Doesn't Understand About Immigrants and Crime (opinion) The Atlantic ...If Donald Trump were right, policing and immigration reform would be easy. We’d just round up all the immigrants, ship them away, and crime would disappear. But most immigrants, like most native-born Americans, are simply hardworking people trying to feed their families and help their kids succeed. Targeting them won’t end crime, but it will increase their alienation, making effective crime prevention and policing more difficult...
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Today's Teamster News 04.07.15
Teamsters
Strike delayed, Allegiant pilots union explains stance, next move Tampa Bay Business Journal ...Friday is the next milestone in the labor dispute between Allegiant Airlines and its pilots. That day brings to an end a temporary court injunction preventing the pilots from striking. The pilots are effectively threatening to strike to restore the conditions that existed before they decided to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in 2012...
Global Labor & Trade
Health experts worried as Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations conclude Sydney Morning Herald ...Eight health and community organisations have written to the Trade Minister Andrew Robb expressing "grave concerns" about the latest leaked draft of the nearly concluded Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement. The organisations released a health impact assessment which found that the the investor‐state dispute settlement clauses were a threat to public health and recommended that ISDS be excluded from the agreement altogether...
The global south has free trade to thank for its obesity and diabetes epidemic The Guardian ...You wouldn’t think that free-trade deals could lead to a diabetes and obesity epidemic, but they have. Today, many countries in the global south are seeing an explosion of these afflictions - all because their governments welcomed in transnational food companies looking for new “growth markets”...
Strikes Grow in China as Grassroots Labor Movement Takes Shape Common Dreams ...As the economic landscape in China continues to shift, an awakening working class is demanding fair treatment and higher wages—and the movement is picking up steam...
State & Living Wage Battles
Weeks After Rushing Right-To-Work, Wisconsin Republicans Prepare Their Next Attack On Labor Think Progress ...Rep. Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield) plans to tack his bill to repeal the state’s nearly century-old “prevailing wage” law for construction workers on local and state projects onto the massive state budget that must pass some time in the next few months...
Scott Walker Controls Wisconsin’s Executive and Legislative Branches. Now His Minions Are Gunning For the Judicial The Nation ...Walker’s allies are focused on securing control of the judicial branch of state government in Wisconsin. The Republican Party of Wisconsin and groups that have consistently backed Walker’s agenda are leading the charge to oust a state Supreme Court justice who has championed judicial independence and to change the way in which the high court is organized...
Our Corporate Saviors (opinion) Huffington Post ...Outfits like McDonalds decide to make a virtue of necessity and pat themselves on the back for paying a bit more. They hope that these gestures will take some of the wind out of organizing drives. But moves like these should teach the opposite lesson--namely, that pressure works...
Extreme ‘Religious Liberty’ Bill Could Make Louisiana The Next Indiana Think Progress ...Louisiana is the latest state considering adopting a religious freedom bill, after state Rep. Mike Johnson (R) introduced legislation Friday that could allow businesses to refuse service for same-sex weddings and deny benefits to employees in same-sex marriages...
How Elizabeth Warren Made Expanding Social Security Cool Mother Jones ...For years, Washington politicians and policymakers been talking about cutting Social Security benefits. The Beltway consensus, unduly shaped by deficit hawks and Wall Streeters, has been that the system is broken and must be pared back, and progressives who support Social Security have often had to play defense. But in late March, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the populist Democrat from Massachusetts, entered the fray—and challenged the prevailing view...
U.S. Labor
Automakers, labor union face a long, hot summer of contract talks Fortune ...Although the Detroit-based auto industry and the United Auto Workers union are still a few months away from serious negotiations, early signs aren’t favorable for a labor contract settled on mutually agreeable terms...
BP Whiting Refinery strike hits 2-month mark Chicago Tribune ...The union said it gave its last offer to BP on Thursday and has yet to hear from the company. Workers are standing by their union leaders, though some say it has been rough on them and their families financially...
EEOC: New York City owes underpaid minority female employees $246 million NY Daily News ...The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that New York City underpaid a thousand black and Hispanic female employees, a finding that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The Communications Workers of America lodged the complaint...
Miscellaneous
Nestlé’s despicable water-crisis profiteering: How it’s making a killing — while California is dying of thirst Salon ...While California suffers through a historic 4-year drought, the corporate giant has made billions on bottled water. Nestlé has a 25-year contract with the Morongo Band of Cahuila Mission Indians to draw water from wells in Millard Canyon, in the desert city of Cabazon...
U.S. Spending Historic Amount Fighting Homelessness, And It's Working: Report Huffington Post ...Uncle Sam is prioritizing the fight against homelessness like he never has before. Federal funding for programs addressing homelessness is at its highest level ever, according to a report by the National Alliance to End Homelessness provided to The Huffington Post...
Is Your Favorite Baseball Team's Owner Still An Asshole? Mother Jones ...Chicago White Sox [owner] Jerry Reinsdorf made his fortune as a real estate developer who specialized in building tax shelters. One of the league's most anti-union owners, he was accused of colluding with fellow owners to drive down player salaries. He gives millions to charter schools, but takes even more out of the city's coffers thanks to a sweetheart deal that allows him to pay just 25 percent of the standard property tax rate for the United Center (home of the NBA's Chicago Bulls, which he also owns)...
Strike delayed, Allegiant pilots union explains stance, next move Tampa Bay Business Journal ...Friday is the next milestone in the labor dispute between Allegiant Airlines and its pilots. That day brings to an end a temporary court injunction preventing the pilots from striking. The pilots are effectively threatening to strike to restore the conditions that existed before they decided to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in 2012...
Global Labor & Trade
Health experts worried as Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations conclude Sydney Morning Herald ...Eight health and community organisations have written to the Trade Minister Andrew Robb expressing "grave concerns" about the latest leaked draft of the nearly concluded Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement. The organisations released a health impact assessment which found that the the investor‐state dispute settlement clauses were a threat to public health and recommended that ISDS be excluded from the agreement altogether...
The global south has free trade to thank for its obesity and diabetes epidemic The Guardian ...You wouldn’t think that free-trade deals could lead to a diabetes and obesity epidemic, but they have. Today, many countries in the global south are seeing an explosion of these afflictions - all because their governments welcomed in transnational food companies looking for new “growth markets”...
Strikes Grow in China as Grassroots Labor Movement Takes Shape Common Dreams ...As the economic landscape in China continues to shift, an awakening working class is demanding fair treatment and higher wages—and the movement is picking up steam...
State & Living Wage Battles
Weeks After Rushing Right-To-Work, Wisconsin Republicans Prepare Their Next Attack On Labor Think Progress ...Rep. Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield) plans to tack his bill to repeal the state’s nearly century-old “prevailing wage” law for construction workers on local and state projects onto the massive state budget that must pass some time in the next few months...
Scott Walker Controls Wisconsin’s Executive and Legislative Branches. Now His Minions Are Gunning For the Judicial The Nation ...Walker’s allies are focused on securing control of the judicial branch of state government in Wisconsin. The Republican Party of Wisconsin and groups that have consistently backed Walker’s agenda are leading the charge to oust a state Supreme Court justice who has championed judicial independence and to change the way in which the high court is organized...
Our Corporate Saviors (opinion) Huffington Post ...Outfits like McDonalds decide to make a virtue of necessity and pat themselves on the back for paying a bit more. They hope that these gestures will take some of the wind out of organizing drives. But moves like these should teach the opposite lesson--namely, that pressure works...
Extreme ‘Religious Liberty’ Bill Could Make Louisiana The Next Indiana Think Progress ...Louisiana is the latest state considering adopting a religious freedom bill, after state Rep. Mike Johnson (R) introduced legislation Friday that could allow businesses to refuse service for same-sex weddings and deny benefits to employees in same-sex marriages...
How Elizabeth Warren Made Expanding Social Security Cool Mother Jones ...For years, Washington politicians and policymakers been talking about cutting Social Security benefits. The Beltway consensus, unduly shaped by deficit hawks and Wall Streeters, has been that the system is broken and must be pared back, and progressives who support Social Security have often had to play defense. But in late March, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the populist Democrat from Massachusetts, entered the fray—and challenged the prevailing view...
U.S. Labor
Automakers, labor union face a long, hot summer of contract talks Fortune ...Although the Detroit-based auto industry and the United Auto Workers union are still a few months away from serious negotiations, early signs aren’t favorable for a labor contract settled on mutually agreeable terms...
BP Whiting Refinery strike hits 2-month mark Chicago Tribune ...The union said it gave its last offer to BP on Thursday and has yet to hear from the company. Workers are standing by their union leaders, though some say it has been rough on them and their families financially...
EEOC: New York City owes underpaid minority female employees $246 million NY Daily News ...The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that New York City underpaid a thousand black and Hispanic female employees, a finding that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The Communications Workers of America lodged the complaint...
Raising Wages From the Bottom Up American Prospect ...The third way cities and states can build worker power is to stop the illegal practice of worker misclassification. Over the past several decades, many U.S. companies have relieved themselves of the obligation to provide their workers with benefits or pay them an adequate wage, through the expedient of declaring their workers not to be their employees.
Douglas County Fined For Violating Child Labor Laws Grand Island Independent ...A federal agency has fined Douglas County for violating child labor laws by letting four teenagers load a wood chipper last summer. The U.S. Department of Labor issued $3,100 in fines after discovering that four underage employees operated a wood chipper while temporarily working on a maintenance crew for the county engineer. Child labor laws allow only adults to do this...
Douglas County Fined For Violating Child Labor Laws Grand Island Independent ...A federal agency has fined Douglas County for violating child labor laws by letting four teenagers load a wood chipper last summer. The U.S. Department of Labor issued $3,100 in fines after discovering that four underage employees operated a wood chipper while temporarily working on a maintenance crew for the county engineer. Child labor laws allow only adults to do this...
Miscellaneous
Nestlé’s despicable water-crisis profiteering: How it’s making a killing — while California is dying of thirst Salon ...While California suffers through a historic 4-year drought, the corporate giant has made billions on bottled water. Nestlé has a 25-year contract with the Morongo Band of Cahuila Mission Indians to draw water from wells in Millard Canyon, in the desert city of Cabazon...
U.S. Spending Historic Amount Fighting Homelessness, And It's Working: Report Huffington Post ...Uncle Sam is prioritizing the fight against homelessness like he never has before. Federal funding for programs addressing homelessness is at its highest level ever, according to a report by the National Alliance to End Homelessness provided to The Huffington Post...
Is Your Favorite Baseball Team's Owner Still An Asshole? Mother Jones ...Chicago White Sox [owner] Jerry Reinsdorf made his fortune as a real estate developer who specialized in building tax shelters. One of the league's most anti-union owners, he was accused of colluding with fellow owners to drive down player salaries. He gives millions to charter schools, but takes even more out of the city's coffers thanks to a sweetheart deal that allows him to pay just 25 percent of the standard property tax rate for the United Center (home of the NBA's Chicago Bulls, which he also owns)...
Monday, April 6, 2015
Today's Teamster News 04.06.15
Teamsters
Anti-Union Allegiant CEO Lives His Worst Dream: Teamster Pilots Forbes ...In January, pilots voted 465-8 to authorize a strike. Now, the union is moving on two fronts to use the threat of a strike to improve working conditions. Pilots were prepared to strike on April 2, but on April 1 a U.S. district court judge in Las Vegas issued a temporary restraining order. A hearing is scheduled for Friday, April 10...
Horse Carriage Foes Spend $14k on Subway Ads City & State ...Demos Demopoulos, executive officer of the Teamsters Local 553 union that represents about 120 horse carriage drivers, said his group is also lobbying the Council. Demopoulos claimed a majority is opposed to the bill and noted that polling has shown that public opinion is on the side of drivers...
Detroit residents unite to honor Viola Liuzzo USA Today ...The committee, supported by the Greening of Detroit, has received financial commitments totaling $300,000 from the UAW-Ford and the Teamsters, among others, and two fundraisers are planned for upcoming days. (Anthony Liuzzo Sr., who died in 1978, was a Teamsters official.)...
NYCHA worker may have been killed by faulty trash machine NY Daily News ...An investigation by Teamsters Local 237, which represents 8,000 NYCHA workers, has since found evidence that contradicts the NYPD theory and suggests maintenance failures may have contributed to Jackson’s death...
Global Labor & Trade
White House Says Enviros Love This Trade Pact, But Enviros Say Otherwise Huffington Post ...The Obama administration has angered a host of environmentalist organizations with an Internet campaign that suggests green groups broadly support the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership, which environmentalists have in fact been fighting for years...
The True Myths on the Trans-Pacific Partnership CEPR ...The proponents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are doing everything they can to try to push their case as they prepare for the fast-track vote before Congress this month. They begin by giving us three myths, all of which happen to be accurate depictions of reality...
Strikes proliferate in China as working class awakens Today Online ...More than three decades after Beijing began allowing market reforms, China’s 168 million migrant workers are discovering their labour rights through the spread of social media. They are on the forefront of a labour protest movement that is posing a growing and awkward problem for the ruling Communist Party...
State & Living Wage Battles
Right-to-work backers vow continued push Albuquerque Journal ...A high-profile push to approve a New Mexico right-to-work law stalled during the recent 60-day legislative session, but the issue appears likely to be back next year — both in the Roundhouse and on the 2016 campaign trail...
State Looking For National Role In Union-Backed Bill Hartford Courant ...Connecticut gained widespread attention in recent years as a national leader in Democratic circles by increasing the minimum wage and passing a first-in-the-nation statewide mandate for paid sick days for some service employees...
Nevada Senate approves minimum wage increase bill Las Vegas Review Journal ...A Republican-backed bill to overhaul Nevada’s overtime law and increase the minimum wage for some workers was approved Friday by the state Senate on a party-line vote, with Democrats calling the measure a “slap in the face” to the working poor...
U.S. Supreme Court Declines To Review North Carolina Voting Law Huffington Post ...The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review the legality of new Republican-backed voting restrictions in North Carolina that were part of a law opponents argued was aimed at making it harder for voters who tend to favor Democrats to cast ballots...
Kansas Will Limit Welfare Recipients To $25 A Day Think Progress ...During debate over the bill state Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau (D) pointed out that many recipients need to withdraw hundreds of dollars some days in order to be able to pay rent...
Fast Food Workers: Thanks for the Raise, McDonald’s, But We Said $15 an Hour, Not $10 In These Times ...The company, fighting to improve its battered image, may not have intended the move to be a joke. But in the end, many workers saw the welcome boost in pay and benefits as largely a fraud perpetrated on the public as well as on fast food workers...
This City Could Become The Next Detroit Think Progress ...Starting this week, 25,000 households in Baltimore will suddenly lose their access to water for owing bills of $250 or more, with very little notice given and no public hearings...
U.S. Labor
Be Nervous (But Not Panicked) About The March Jobs Report FiveThirtyEight ...Employers added 126,000 jobs last month, breaking a 12-month streak of growth over 200,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. The report was far weaker than most economists expected and represented the slowest pace of growth since the end of 2013. The government also revised down its estimate of January and February hiring by a combined 69,000 jobs...
Michigan Factory Owner Gives Out $6 Million In Thank-You Bonuses Huffington Post ...When J.C. Huizenga sold his namesake machinery manufacturing company, he wanted to share the spoils. The Huizenga Group chairman gave out nearly $6 million in bonuses to more than 575 workers in his two Michigan factories. It was his way of thanking the employees for helping grow the company, which now earns about $170 million in annual sales, according to CBS News...
Trade workers set to benefit from Gov. Jerry Brown's project list Los Angeles Times ...At his recent groundbreaking for the state's high-speed train, Gov. Jerry Brown paused while extolling the project to laud the union workers who will build it. "You've got to put something in the ground," Brown said, riffing on what drives economic growth. "You've got to get these building trades men and women doing stuff. That's what makes America — what makes the world — go 'round."...
Workers — not employers — are the real wage movers and shakers (opinion) Washington Post ...“We’re too big and complicated a system to do anything in reaction to a particular group or something happening,” Karen King, who has the wonderful title of “chief people officer” at McDonald’s, said Wednesday, explaining her company’s decision to raise wages for some of its employees. If you believe that, don’t go near anyone purporting to sell you a bridge, even if it comes with fries on the side...
Anti-Union Allegiant CEO Lives His Worst Dream: Teamster Pilots Forbes ...In January, pilots voted 465-8 to authorize a strike. Now, the union is moving on two fronts to use the threat of a strike to improve working conditions. Pilots were prepared to strike on April 2, but on April 1 a U.S. district court judge in Las Vegas issued a temporary restraining order. A hearing is scheduled for Friday, April 10...
Horse Carriage Foes Spend $14k on Subway Ads City & State ...Demos Demopoulos, executive officer of the Teamsters Local 553 union that represents about 120 horse carriage drivers, said his group is also lobbying the Council. Demopoulos claimed a majority is opposed to the bill and noted that polling has shown that public opinion is on the side of drivers...
Detroit residents unite to honor Viola Liuzzo USA Today ...The committee, supported by the Greening of Detroit, has received financial commitments totaling $300,000 from the UAW-Ford and the Teamsters, among others, and two fundraisers are planned for upcoming days. (Anthony Liuzzo Sr., who died in 1978, was a Teamsters official.)...
NYCHA worker may have been killed by faulty trash machine NY Daily News ...An investigation by Teamsters Local 237, which represents 8,000 NYCHA workers, has since found evidence that contradicts the NYPD theory and suggests maintenance failures may have contributed to Jackson’s death...
Global Labor & Trade
White House Says Enviros Love This Trade Pact, But Enviros Say Otherwise Huffington Post ...The Obama administration has angered a host of environmentalist organizations with an Internet campaign that suggests green groups broadly support the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership, which environmentalists have in fact been fighting for years...
The True Myths on the Trans-Pacific Partnership CEPR ...The proponents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are doing everything they can to try to push their case as they prepare for the fast-track vote before Congress this month. They begin by giving us three myths, all of which happen to be accurate depictions of reality...
Strikes proliferate in China as working class awakens Today Online ...More than three decades after Beijing began allowing market reforms, China’s 168 million migrant workers are discovering their labour rights through the spread of social media. They are on the forefront of a labour protest movement that is posing a growing and awkward problem for the ruling Communist Party...
State & Living Wage Battles
Right-to-work backers vow continued push Albuquerque Journal ...A high-profile push to approve a New Mexico right-to-work law stalled during the recent 60-day legislative session, but the issue appears likely to be back next year — both in the Roundhouse and on the 2016 campaign trail...
State Looking For National Role In Union-Backed Bill Hartford Courant ...Connecticut gained widespread attention in recent years as a national leader in Democratic circles by increasing the minimum wage and passing a first-in-the-nation statewide mandate for paid sick days for some service employees...
Nevada Senate approves minimum wage increase bill Las Vegas Review Journal ...A Republican-backed bill to overhaul Nevada’s overtime law and increase the minimum wage for some workers was approved Friday by the state Senate on a party-line vote, with Democrats calling the measure a “slap in the face” to the working poor...
U.S. Supreme Court Declines To Review North Carolina Voting Law Huffington Post ...The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review the legality of new Republican-backed voting restrictions in North Carolina that were part of a law opponents argued was aimed at making it harder for voters who tend to favor Democrats to cast ballots...
Kansas Will Limit Welfare Recipients To $25 A Day Think Progress ...During debate over the bill state Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau (D) pointed out that many recipients need to withdraw hundreds of dollars some days in order to be able to pay rent...
Fast Food Workers: Thanks for the Raise, McDonald’s, But We Said $15 an Hour, Not $10 In These Times ...The company, fighting to improve its battered image, may not have intended the move to be a joke. But in the end, many workers saw the welcome boost in pay and benefits as largely a fraud perpetrated on the public as well as on fast food workers...
This City Could Become The Next Detroit Think Progress ...Starting this week, 25,000 households in Baltimore will suddenly lose their access to water for owing bills of $250 or more, with very little notice given and no public hearings...
U.S. Labor
Be Nervous (But Not Panicked) About The March Jobs Report FiveThirtyEight ...Employers added 126,000 jobs last month, breaking a 12-month streak of growth over 200,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. The report was far weaker than most economists expected and represented the slowest pace of growth since the end of 2013. The government also revised down its estimate of January and February hiring by a combined 69,000 jobs...
Michigan Factory Owner Gives Out $6 Million In Thank-You Bonuses Huffington Post ...When J.C. Huizenga sold his namesake machinery manufacturing company, he wanted to share the spoils. The Huizenga Group chairman gave out nearly $6 million in bonuses to more than 575 workers in his two Michigan factories. It was his way of thanking the employees for helping grow the company, which now earns about $170 million in annual sales, according to CBS News...
Trade workers set to benefit from Gov. Jerry Brown's project list Los Angeles Times ...At his recent groundbreaking for the state's high-speed train, Gov. Jerry Brown paused while extolling the project to laud the union workers who will build it. "You've got to put something in the ground," Brown said, riffing on what drives economic growth. "You've got to get these building trades men and women doing stuff. That's what makes America — what makes the world — go 'round."...
Workers — not employers — are the real wage movers and shakers (opinion) Washington Post ...“We’re too big and complicated a system to do anything in reaction to a particular group or something happening,” Karen King, who has the wonderful title of “chief people officer” at McDonald’s, said Wednesday, explaining her company’s decision to raise wages for some of its employees. If you believe that, don’t go near anyone purporting to sell you a bridge, even if it comes with fries on the side...
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Today's Teamster News 04.01.15
Teamsters
Teamsters Applaud Veto Of Senate Joint Resolution To Overturn NLRB Election Modernization Rule teamster.org ...The Teamsters Union today applauded President Obama’s decision to veto a destructive resolution backed by Republicans in Congress that would overturn modest reforms issued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to help streamline and modernize representation case procedures...
Teamsters Local 853 Begins Negotiations for Tech Company Shuttle Drivers teamster.org ...Negotiations on a union contract for Silicon Valley tech company drivers will begin today. Representatives for the drivers’ union, Teamsters Local 853 in San Leandro, Calif., will meet with Transdev, which operates as Compass Transportation, and employs drivers at Apple, eBay, Yahoo, Zynga, Genentech, Amtrak and Evernote...
St. Vincent technicians seek to align with union Worcester Business Journal ...The employees have applied to the Boston bureau of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to join Teamsters Local 170 in Worcester...
Open & Fair Skies Report: Reconsidering the U.S.-UAE Aviation Relationship teamster.org ... the Gulf carriers receive ‘stunning and unprecedented’ financial support from the UAE that dramatically upends the aviation marketplace. As more experts study this case and the evidence, we are encouraged that they are supporting our request for the U.S. government to open consultations with the UAE under the Open Skies agreement...
Local 399 Casting Director Profiled In New Yorker teamster.org ...Allison Jones, the casting director, was reading the scene with actors trying out for the Stewart role, who faced a decision: audition with a real banana, or just pretend to eat one? Jones works out of a bungalow in the quaint Larchmont neighborhood of Los Angeles. The rooms of the house are airy and filled with mementos of her thirty-year-long career in Hollywood: bobble-heads of characters from “The Office,” which Jones cast; a bulletin board collaged with head shots...
Travel Industry Leaders Urge Maryland Governor To Reject Burdensome Tax On Travel eTurboNews ...Concerned industry participants comprise major corporations, travel management companies, travel agencies, travel industry advocates, travel associations, travel consortia and organized labor. Signatories to the letter include ...the Teamsters National Airline Division...
Cesar Chavez Day March Shines Light On LA Produce Workers' Rights KABC ...Teamsters marching Tuesday are in support of unionization for workers at the L.A. Produce Market. They say there are 1,000-2,000 workers at the market who lack union representation...
Trade
Trans-Pacific Partnership Treaty Will Help Neither Workers Nor Consumers (opinion) Washington Post ...now a significant portion of our trade is intra-corporate trade, an exchange between one branch of a multinational and another. Multinationals have different interests than national companies. They profit even if U.S. workers suffer...
State Battles
Most Americans Want Their State To Make Voter Registration Easier Huffington Post ...A 54 percent majority of Americans say they'd favor an automatic registration law in their state, a new HuffPost/YouGov poll finds, while 55 percent favor allowing eligible citizens to register on the day of an election...
Colorado House Gives Initial OK To Pair Of Minimum-Wage Bills Denver Post .. the Colorado House gave initial approval Monday to two bills that could grant pay hikes to the state's lowest-wage earners. One bill would allow elected officials in cities and counties to set minimum wages apart from the state standard; the other would create a 2016 ballot measure to allow voters to decide on a formula to raise it from the current $8.23 an hour to $12.50 by 2020...
War on Workers
Cheap oil prices chop jobs by thousands USA Today ...Planned oil industry layoffs in the U.S. are approaching 100,000 in the past four months with more likely to come...
The Shrinking Middle Class, Mapped State by State The Pew Charitable Trusts .... A new Stateline analysis shows that in all 50 states, the percentage of “middle-class” households—those making between 67 percent and 200 percent of the state’s median income—shrunk between 2000 and 2013...
Even After Walmart Got Busted in Court for Stealing Workers' Wages, It's Trying Not to Pay Up Alternet ...Walmart employees have over $187 [million] in damages they can collect from a successful wage theft lawsuit, but the company is arguing that each victim should get their own lawyer...
‘Wealth creators’ are robbing our most productive people Guardian ...A report by the Resolution Foundation reveals that two-thirds of frontline care workers receive less than the living wage. Ten percent, like Carole, are illegally paid less than the minimum wage. This abuse is not confined to the UK: in the US, 27% of care workers who make home visits are paid less than the legal minimum...
Income Inequality: It’s Also Bad For Your Health New York Times ...the effect of inequality was statistically significant, equivalent to a difference of about 11 days of life between high- and low-inequality places. The differences were small, but for every increment that a community became more unequal, the proportion of residents dying before the age of 75 went up...
The Rise Of The Working Poor And The Non-Working Rich (opinion) Huffington Post ...While poverty declined in the early years of welfare reform when the economy boomed and jobs were plentiful, it began growing in 2000. By 2012 it exceeded its level in 1996, when welfare ended....
Losing A Job Is Always Terrible. For Workers Over 50, It’s Worse Washington Post ...although older people often found the working conditions at their new jobs were better than their old one, nearly half found that the new job paid less....
Contractor Killed In Industrial Accident At Marcus Hook Refinery Philadelphia Inquirer ...A contractor working at the former Sunoco refinery in Delaware County was killed Monday afternoon in an industrial accident, officials said...
Miscellaneous
Wintry Hit Seen In Soft Spending Wall Street Journal ...Consumer spending barely rose in February, increasing a seasonally adjusted 0.1% from the prior month after two consecutive declines, the Commerce Department said Monday. Spending on goods and services, when adjusted for inflation, actually declined slightly for the first time in 10 months...
Teamsters Applaud Veto Of Senate Joint Resolution To Overturn NLRB Election Modernization Rule teamster.org ...The Teamsters Union today applauded President Obama’s decision to veto a destructive resolution backed by Republicans in Congress that would overturn modest reforms issued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to help streamline and modernize representation case procedures...
Teamsters Local 853 Begins Negotiations for Tech Company Shuttle Drivers teamster.org ...Negotiations on a union contract for Silicon Valley tech company drivers will begin today. Representatives for the drivers’ union, Teamsters Local 853 in San Leandro, Calif., will meet with Transdev, which operates as Compass Transportation, and employs drivers at Apple, eBay, Yahoo, Zynga, Genentech, Amtrak and Evernote...
St. Vincent technicians seek to align with union Worcester Business Journal ...The employees have applied to the Boston bureau of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to join Teamsters Local 170 in Worcester...
Open & Fair Skies Report: Reconsidering the U.S.-UAE Aviation Relationship teamster.org ... the Gulf carriers receive ‘stunning and unprecedented’ financial support from the UAE that dramatically upends the aviation marketplace. As more experts study this case and the evidence, we are encouraged that they are supporting our request for the U.S. government to open consultations with the UAE under the Open Skies agreement...
Local 399 Casting Director Profiled In New Yorker teamster.org ...Allison Jones, the casting director, was reading the scene with actors trying out for the Stewart role, who faced a decision: audition with a real banana, or just pretend to eat one? Jones works out of a bungalow in the quaint Larchmont neighborhood of Los Angeles. The rooms of the house are airy and filled with mementos of her thirty-year-long career in Hollywood: bobble-heads of characters from “The Office,” which Jones cast; a bulletin board collaged with head shots...
Travel Industry Leaders Urge Maryland Governor To Reject Burdensome Tax On Travel eTurboNews ...Concerned industry participants comprise major corporations, travel management companies, travel agencies, travel industry advocates, travel associations, travel consortia and organized labor. Signatories to the letter include ...the Teamsters National Airline Division...
Cesar Chavez Day March Shines Light On LA Produce Workers' Rights KABC ...Teamsters marching Tuesday are in support of unionization for workers at the L.A. Produce Market. They say there are 1,000-2,000 workers at the market who lack union representation...
Trade
Trans-Pacific Partnership Treaty Will Help Neither Workers Nor Consumers (opinion) Washington Post ...now a significant portion of our trade is intra-corporate trade, an exchange between one branch of a multinational and another. Multinationals have different interests than national companies. They profit even if U.S. workers suffer...
State Battles
Most Americans Want Their State To Make Voter Registration Easier Huffington Post ...A 54 percent majority of Americans say they'd favor an automatic registration law in their state, a new HuffPost/YouGov poll finds, while 55 percent favor allowing eligible citizens to register on the day of an election...
Colorado House Gives Initial OK To Pair Of Minimum-Wage Bills Denver Post .. the Colorado House gave initial approval Monday to two bills that could grant pay hikes to the state's lowest-wage earners. One bill would allow elected officials in cities and counties to set minimum wages apart from the state standard; the other would create a 2016 ballot measure to allow voters to decide on a formula to raise it from the current $8.23 an hour to $12.50 by 2020...
War on Workers
Cheap oil prices chop jobs by thousands USA Today ...Planned oil industry layoffs in the U.S. are approaching 100,000 in the past four months with more likely to come...
The Shrinking Middle Class, Mapped State by State The Pew Charitable Trusts .... A new Stateline analysis shows that in all 50 states, the percentage of “middle-class” households—those making between 67 percent and 200 percent of the state’s median income—shrunk between 2000 and 2013...
Even After Walmart Got Busted in Court for Stealing Workers' Wages, It's Trying Not to Pay Up Alternet ...Walmart employees have over $187 [million] in damages they can collect from a successful wage theft lawsuit, but the company is arguing that each victim should get their own lawyer...
‘Wealth creators’ are robbing our most productive people Guardian ...A report by the Resolution Foundation reveals that two-thirds of frontline care workers receive less than the living wage. Ten percent, like Carole, are illegally paid less than the minimum wage. This abuse is not confined to the UK: in the US, 27% of care workers who make home visits are paid less than the legal minimum...
Income Inequality: It’s Also Bad For Your Health New York Times ...the effect of inequality was statistically significant, equivalent to a difference of about 11 days of life between high- and low-inequality places. The differences were small, but for every increment that a community became more unequal, the proportion of residents dying before the age of 75 went up...
The Rise Of The Working Poor And The Non-Working Rich (opinion) Huffington Post ...While poverty declined in the early years of welfare reform when the economy boomed and jobs were plentiful, it began growing in 2000. By 2012 it exceeded its level in 1996, when welfare ended....
Losing A Job Is Always Terrible. For Workers Over 50, It’s Worse Washington Post ...although older people often found the working conditions at their new jobs were better than their old one, nearly half found that the new job paid less....
Contractor Killed In Industrial Accident At Marcus Hook Refinery Philadelphia Inquirer ...A contractor working at the former Sunoco refinery in Delaware County was killed Monday afternoon in an industrial accident, officials said...
Miscellaneous
Wintry Hit Seen In Soft Spending Wall Street Journal ...Consumer spending barely rose in February, increasing a seasonally adjusted 0.1% from the prior month after two consecutive declines, the Commerce Department said Monday. Spending on goods and services, when adjusted for inflation, actually declined slightly for the first time in 10 months...
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Today's Teamster News 03.15.15
Teamsters
New JFK truck rules will drive job growth Crain's New York Business ...Not long ago, the Teamsters represented 5,000 air-freight drivers at JFK. Today, it's 1,200. And it's not just Teamsters. JFK supports more than 50,000 jobs in the city. An uncompetitive airport puts them at risk.
But a de Blasio administration regulation that took effect March 5 finally harmonized our trucking rules with the rest of the country, so industry-standard trucks can now pick up and drop off at JFK...
Trade
Do unions have the oomph to stop Obama's trade agenda? Politico ...“They certainly have gotten the attention of people who have relied on union support,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), who acknowledged that her fellow Democrats often take labor’s loyalty for granted...
TPP: Just don't do it The Ed Show ...Nike implores employees to support TPP, which would boost trade to Nike's Vietnam manufacturing ties. Ed Schultz, Rep. Jan Schakowsky and Charles Kernaghan discuss...
State Battles
Over 350 Workers Gather in New Hampshire to Call on Gov. Scott Walker to Apologize for Anti-Worker Agenda, Statements Granite State Progress ...Over 350 workers gathered outside of a NH GOP event in New Hampshire today to condemn Scott Walker’s anti-working family agenda and call for an apology following his recent CPAC comments equating working men and women with the terror group, ISIS...
War on Workers
A Lot Fewer Americans Get Unemployment Benefits Than You Think Huffington Post ... The share of unemployed Americans who receive unemployment insurance benefits has dwindled to its lowest point in decades, thanks in part to benefit cuts in Republican-led states...
By Saving Billions in Retiree Health and Pension Benefits, Auto Bailouts Were an Even Bigger Success Than Acknowledged Economic Policy Institute ...Thanks to the success of the federal bailouts, the company pension plans have all continued and paid all benefits earned by the retirees. And no pension liabilities have been transferred to the PBGC or the federal government...
Housemate Takes Blame for Shining Laser at Planes in Bronx New York Times ...After being charged this week with injuring several pilots by shining a laser beam at their plane, Frank J. Egan was held up as a pest, his arrest an example of pinpoint investigative work...
New JFK truck rules will drive job growth Crain's New York Business ...Not long ago, the Teamsters represented 5,000 air-freight drivers at JFK. Today, it's 1,200. And it's not just Teamsters. JFK supports more than 50,000 jobs in the city. An uncompetitive airport puts them at risk.
But a de Blasio administration regulation that took effect March 5 finally harmonized our trucking rules with the rest of the country, so industry-standard trucks can now pick up and drop off at JFK...
Trade
Do unions have the oomph to stop Obama's trade agenda? Politico ...“They certainly have gotten the attention of people who have relied on union support,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), who acknowledged that her fellow Democrats often take labor’s loyalty for granted...
TPP: Just don't do it The Ed Show ...Nike implores employees to support TPP, which would boost trade to Nike's Vietnam manufacturing ties. Ed Schultz, Rep. Jan Schakowsky and Charles Kernaghan discuss...
State Battles
Over 350 Workers Gather in New Hampshire to Call on Gov. Scott Walker to Apologize for Anti-Worker Agenda, Statements Granite State Progress ...Over 350 workers gathered outside of a NH GOP event in New Hampshire today to condemn Scott Walker’s anti-working family agenda and call for an apology following his recent CPAC comments equating working men and women with the terror group, ISIS...
War on Workers
A Lot Fewer Americans Get Unemployment Benefits Than You Think Huffington Post ... The share of unemployed Americans who receive unemployment insurance benefits has dwindled to its lowest point in decades, thanks in part to benefit cuts in Republican-led states...
By Saving Billions in Retiree Health and Pension Benefits, Auto Bailouts Were an Even Bigger Success Than Acknowledged Economic Policy Institute ...Thanks to the success of the federal bailouts, the company pension plans have all continued and paid all benefits earned by the retirees. And no pension liabilities have been transferred to the PBGC or the federal government...
Housemate Takes Blame for Shining Laser at Planes in Bronx New York Times ...After being charged this week with injuring several pilots by shining a laser beam at their plane, Frank J. Egan was held up as a pest, his arrest an example of pinpoint investigative work...
Friday, January 30, 2015
Today's Teamster News 01.30.15
Teamsters
Allegiant Travel Reports Narrower Profits, Helped By Lower Fuel Costs Las Vegas Review Journal ...With the threat of a pilot strike looming on the horizon, Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel, parent company of Allegiant Air, on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter earnings that were spurred by lower fuel costs that have benefited all the nation’s airlines...
Local Union Reps Say Opt-Out Rates Low In 2014 Traverse City Record Eagle ...Bob Donick, an area business representative for Teamsters 214, said he hasn't seen the right-to-work law significantly affect the roughly 1,600 public employees he and Dave Meachum represent in northern Michigan...
Lifespan Workers To Picket Rhode Island Hospital GoLocalProv ...Nearly 2,500 Teamster employees are in negotiations at Rhode Island Hospital for a new contract. As part of the negotiations, Local 251 has been joined by community organizations to make proposals to protect and improve quality patient care...
Sysco’s $8.2B U.S. Foods Merger May Spoil: Source New York Post ...The Federal Trade Commission this week sent a subpoena to a third-party food distributor asking for more information, a source with direct knowledge of the situation said. Blackstone Group-owned Performance Food Group agreed in early December to buy assets from Sysco with roughly $5 billion in revenue, a source said, noting PFG did not get the subpoena...
Trade
Plane above N.J. skies tells Obama: Keep trade deal 'away from our medicines' Staten Island Advance ...Doctors Without Borders This week is sending a plane from Central Jersey Regional Airport in Hillsborough over the skies of New York and New Jersey to protest the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and under-negotiation regulatory and investment treaty. The plane is flying a banner that reads "Doctors to Obama: Keep #TPP Away From Our Medicines."...
Don’t Repeat America’s Mistakes On Trade Partnerships (opinion) ...The TPP would further weaken our manufacturing base and financial stability with damaging economic and national security implications. The administration is following a policy that has failed U.S. workers in the past and has not strengthened foreign policy. We must look not to promises, hopes or theories but to experience. We cannot make the same mistakes again...
India Child Labor: 200 Children Rescued In Hyderabad Raids International Business Times ...The children, as young as 6 years old, were from the states of Uttar Pradesh and Briar in northern India and were making bangles and leather products, according to NDTV. They were brought to Hyderabad after their captors paid their parents 20,000 rupees ($325.)...
State Battles
Right-to-work bill approved by 8-5 vote in House committee Associated Press ...The debate over whether to make New Mexico the nation’s 25th state with a right-to-work law got off to a rousing start today. After nearly five hours of debate, members of the House Business and Employment Committee voted 8-5 in favor of the legislation, which now advances to the House Judiciary Committee...
Leaked Emails: GOP leaders seek fake report to push right to work and ‘sugar daddy’ to fund it Progress Now NM ...A new review of secret campaign emails leaked from Susana Martinez’s campaign account by former staffers located emails between the Rio Grande Foundation and Republican operatives looking for a “sugar daddy” to pay for a fake report and new narrative designed to “win all close elections” against Democrats “dumb” enough to oppose it...
Republican Wisconsin Senate leader renews call for passing right-to-work bill Minneapolis Star Tribune ...Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald issued a statement Thursday saying debate of right-to-work needs to occur along with consideration of the state budget. Walker will release his budget plan on Tuesday...
Northrop Grumman Cuts Ties With ALEC National Journal ...Behemoth defense contractor Northrop Grumman is the latest blue-chip corporation to end its affiliation with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative group that has endured the departure of several prominent tech companies in recent months, National Journal has learned...
Labor debate floods Clark County Fiscal Court The Winchester Sun ...Talk of instituting right-to-work laws in Clark County drew supporters from both sides of the debate at the fiscal court's regular meeting Wednesday...
Voter ID bills are back St. Louis American ...“On the anniversary of the March on Selma, the fight for voter rights have been exposed and celebrated,” said state Rep. Stacey Newman (D-87). “But they’ve also taught us that this never ends.”
Ind. Gov. Mike Pence faces criticism over proposed state run news Web site WDRB ...Indiana Governor Mike Pence admits there's been some confusion about his planned state run news website.
He now says he will get rid of the site if it doesn't respect the role of a free and independent press...
Lobbyists See Brownback Budget Before Legislators Kansas City Business Journal ...Gov. Sam Brownback's budget director, Shawn Sullivan, used his personal Yahoo account to email the rough draft to Brownback's former chief of staff, David Kensinger, and his former campaign manager, Mark Dugan. Both are lobbyists...
Gov. Rick Scott Proposes Cutting 1,000 State Positions Tallahassee Democrat ...Gov. Rick Scott is recommending the elimination of more than 1,000 state-worker positions as part of his budget for the 2015-2016 fiscal year...
War on Workers
Gas blast at children's hospital in Mexico City leaves at least 2 dead; truck driver detained FOX News Latino ...A gas tank truck exploded outside a maternity and children's hospital in Mexico City on Thursday morning, leaving much of it in ruins. At least two people were killed and 56 injured, said Claudia Dominguez, spokeswoman for Mexico City's civil defense agency. Officials earlier had said at least four and as many as seven had been killed at the explosion site at the Maternity Hospital of Cuajimalpa...
Uber’s Business Model Could Change Your Work New York Times ...The larger worry about on-demand jobs is not about benefits, but about a lack of agency — a future in which computers, rather than humans, determine what you do, when and for how much. The rise of Uber-like jobs is the logical culmination of an economic and tech system that holds efficiency as its paramount virtue...
Work At Bridgeton Landfill Causing Strong Odors KSDK ...A foul smell is wafting across parts of north St. Louis County this weekend and it's coming from the smoldering Bridgeton Landfill...
Allegiant Travel Reports Narrower Profits, Helped By Lower Fuel Costs Las Vegas Review Journal ...With the threat of a pilot strike looming on the horizon, Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel, parent company of Allegiant Air, on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter earnings that were spurred by lower fuel costs that have benefited all the nation’s airlines...
Local Union Reps Say Opt-Out Rates Low In 2014 Traverse City Record Eagle ...Bob Donick, an area business representative for Teamsters 214, said he hasn't seen the right-to-work law significantly affect the roughly 1,600 public employees he and Dave Meachum represent in northern Michigan...
Lifespan Workers To Picket Rhode Island Hospital GoLocalProv ...Nearly 2,500 Teamster employees are in negotiations at Rhode Island Hospital for a new contract. As part of the negotiations, Local 251 has been joined by community organizations to make proposals to protect and improve quality patient care...
Sysco’s $8.2B U.S. Foods Merger May Spoil: Source New York Post ...The Federal Trade Commission this week sent a subpoena to a third-party food distributor asking for more information, a source with direct knowledge of the situation said. Blackstone Group-owned Performance Food Group agreed in early December to buy assets from Sysco with roughly $5 billion in revenue, a source said, noting PFG did not get the subpoena...
Trade
Plane above N.J. skies tells Obama: Keep trade deal 'away from our medicines' Staten Island Advance ...Doctors Without Borders This week is sending a plane from Central Jersey Regional Airport in Hillsborough over the skies of New York and New Jersey to protest the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and under-negotiation regulatory and investment treaty. The plane is flying a banner that reads "Doctors to Obama: Keep #TPP Away From Our Medicines."...
Don’t Repeat America’s Mistakes On Trade Partnerships (opinion) ...The TPP would further weaken our manufacturing base and financial stability with damaging economic and national security implications. The administration is following a policy that has failed U.S. workers in the past and has not strengthened foreign policy. We must look not to promises, hopes or theories but to experience. We cannot make the same mistakes again...
India Child Labor: 200 Children Rescued In Hyderabad Raids International Business Times ...The children, as young as 6 years old, were from the states of Uttar Pradesh and Briar in northern India and were making bangles and leather products, according to NDTV. They were brought to Hyderabad after their captors paid their parents 20,000 rupees ($325.)...
State Battles
Right-to-work bill approved by 8-5 vote in House committee Associated Press ...The debate over whether to make New Mexico the nation’s 25th state with a right-to-work law got off to a rousing start today. After nearly five hours of debate, members of the House Business and Employment Committee voted 8-5 in favor of the legislation, which now advances to the House Judiciary Committee...
Leaked Emails: GOP leaders seek fake report to push right to work and ‘sugar daddy’ to fund it Progress Now NM ...A new review of secret campaign emails leaked from Susana Martinez’s campaign account by former staffers located emails between the Rio Grande Foundation and Republican operatives looking for a “sugar daddy” to pay for a fake report and new narrative designed to “win all close elections” against Democrats “dumb” enough to oppose it...
Republican Wisconsin Senate leader renews call for passing right-to-work bill Minneapolis Star Tribune ...Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald issued a statement Thursday saying debate of right-to-work needs to occur along with consideration of the state budget. Walker will release his budget plan on Tuesday...
Northrop Grumman Cuts Ties With ALEC National Journal ...Behemoth defense contractor Northrop Grumman is the latest blue-chip corporation to end its affiliation with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative group that has endured the departure of several prominent tech companies in recent months, National Journal has learned...
Labor debate floods Clark County Fiscal Court The Winchester Sun ...Talk of instituting right-to-work laws in Clark County drew supporters from both sides of the debate at the fiscal court's regular meeting Wednesday...
Voter ID bills are back St. Louis American ...“On the anniversary of the March on Selma, the fight for voter rights have been exposed and celebrated,” said state Rep. Stacey Newman (D-87). “But they’ve also taught us that this never ends.”
Ind. Gov. Mike Pence faces criticism over proposed state run news Web site WDRB ...Indiana Governor Mike Pence admits there's been some confusion about his planned state run news website.
He now says he will get rid of the site if it doesn't respect the role of a free and independent press...
Lobbyists See Brownback Budget Before Legislators Kansas City Business Journal ...Gov. Sam Brownback's budget director, Shawn Sullivan, used his personal Yahoo account to email the rough draft to Brownback's former chief of staff, David Kensinger, and his former campaign manager, Mark Dugan. Both are lobbyists...
Gov. Rick Scott Proposes Cutting 1,000 State Positions Tallahassee Democrat ...Gov. Rick Scott is recommending the elimination of more than 1,000 state-worker positions as part of his budget for the 2015-2016 fiscal year...
War on Workers
Gas blast at children's hospital in Mexico City leaves at least 2 dead; truck driver detained FOX News Latino ...A gas tank truck exploded outside a maternity and children's hospital in Mexico City on Thursday morning, leaving much of it in ruins. At least two people were killed and 56 injured, said Claudia Dominguez, spokeswoman for Mexico City's civil defense agency. Officials earlier had said at least four and as many as seven had been killed at the explosion site at the Maternity Hospital of Cuajimalpa...
Uber’s Business Model Could Change Your Work New York Times ...The larger worry about on-demand jobs is not about benefits, but about a lack of agency — a future in which computers, rather than humans, determine what you do, when and for how much. The rise of Uber-like jobs is the logical culmination of an economic and tech system that holds efficiency as its paramount virtue...
Work At Bridgeton Landfill Causing Strong Odors KSDK ...A foul smell is wafting across parts of north St. Louis County this weekend and it's coming from the smoldering Bridgeton Landfill...
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Today's Teamster News 01.28.15
Teamsters
Robert Morales IBT ...We are saddened to report the death of Robert Morales, who passed away on January 26, 2015...
Credentialing Crunch American Legion ...Starting this winter, the Teamsters – with logistical support and backing from The American Legion – will begin offering civilian CDL training to enlisted military truck drivers. The training-to-placement program will set up shop on military bases and offer drivers the opportunity to earn their civilian CDLs before they are discharged...
Turbulance Ahead At Allegiant Air As Pilots Prepare For Strike Global Travel Industry News ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters will host a call to update Allegiant Travel Company investors, industry analysts, customers and press regarding the current status of contract negotiations for Allegiant Air pilots, their recent strike authorization vote and the union's request for a proffer of arbitration from the National Mediation Board...
Teamsters Protest Labatt Beer At NHL All-Star Game teamster.org ...At the National Hockey League’s All-Star Game on Sunday, Teamsters who work at Heidelberg Distributing provided information to fans about anti-worker behavior by the company, which distributes Labatt Beer products in Ohio...
Leaked Memo: YRC Seeks To Outsource Unprofitable Runs Kansas City Business Journal ...A Dec. 18, 2014, memo obtained by the Kansas City Business Journal, details a change-of-operations request to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters that would allow the company to increase its use of interline carriers — third-party transportation providers — in areas currently served by YRC Worldwide Inc. employees...
Trade
TTIP Is Sputtering, But Other 'Trade' Deals Threaten Our Sovereignty Ecologist ...So far the talks have achieved little in terms of reaching agreement for specific market sectors. And they are facing increasing scepticism because of TTIP's plans to deregulate goods and services like health through 'harmonisation' of EU and US standards - something that in practice usually means levelling down...
Anti-Trade Deal Protesters Hijack Senate TPP Hearing RT ...Protesters opposed to a major, multi-national trade deal being negotiated in secret by a dozen countries – including the United States – hijacked a US Senate hearing early Tuesday to speak out against the proposal. Capitol Police removed no fewer than three demonstrators Tuesday morning during testimony delivered before the Senate Committee on Finance by US Trade Representative Michael Froman concerning the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP...
State Battles
Ky. attorney talks right-to-work Politico ...The conservative push to pass right-to-work ordinances at the county level has as its ultimate aim passage of right-to-work at the state level, according to Warren County, Kentucky’s public attorney...
Union says it won’t stand by as GOP attacks collective bargaining Las Vegas Sun ...Republicans are attacking working families with their proposals to upend collective bargaining in Nevada, Danny Thompson, executive vice treasurer of the Nevada AFL-CIO, said at a press conference this morning...
War on Workers
Middle Class Shrinks Further As More Fall Out Instead Of Climbing Up New York Times ...In the late 1960s, more than half of the households in the United States were squarely in the middle, earning, in today’s dollars, $35,000 to $100,000 a year. Few people noticed or cared as the size of that group began to fall, because the shift was primarily caused by more Americans climbing the economic ladder into upper-income brackets. But since 2000, the middle-class share of households has continued to narrow, the main reason being that more people have fallen to the bottom...
This Map Reveals Just How Unequal The So-Called Recovery Is Huffington Post ...In 39 U.S. states, the top 1 percent of earners gobbled up at least half of all of the income gains between 2009 and 2012. And in 17 of those states, the top earners got every bit of the income growth in those years...
Wall Street's Threat To The American Middle Class (opinion) Huffington Post ...Presidential aspirants in both parties are talking about saving the middle class. But the middle class can't be saved unless Wall Street is tamed. The Street's excesses pose a continuing danger to average Americans. And its ongoing use of confidential corporate information is defrauding millions of middle-class investors. Yet most presidential aspirants don't want to talk about taming the Street because Wall Street is one of their largest sources of campaign money...
Miscellaneous
CBO: Deficit To Narrow, Then Widen In ’18 Wall Street Journal ...Existing budget restraints and stronger economic growth will chip away at the federal deficit into 2017 before the gap begins to widen again, the Congressional Budget Office said, providing ammunition for both parties ahead of the White House’s first budget proposal to the Republican-controlled Congress...
Robert Morales IBT ...We are saddened to report the death of Robert Morales, who passed away on January 26, 2015...
Credentialing Crunch American Legion ...Starting this winter, the Teamsters – with logistical support and backing from The American Legion – will begin offering civilian CDL training to enlisted military truck drivers. The training-to-placement program will set up shop on military bases and offer drivers the opportunity to earn their civilian CDLs before they are discharged...
Turbulance Ahead At Allegiant Air As Pilots Prepare For Strike Global Travel Industry News ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters will host a call to update Allegiant Travel Company investors, industry analysts, customers and press regarding the current status of contract negotiations for Allegiant Air pilots, their recent strike authorization vote and the union's request for a proffer of arbitration from the National Mediation Board...
Teamsters Protest Labatt Beer At NHL All-Star Game teamster.org ...At the National Hockey League’s All-Star Game on Sunday, Teamsters who work at Heidelberg Distributing provided information to fans about anti-worker behavior by the company, which distributes Labatt Beer products in Ohio...
Leaked Memo: YRC Seeks To Outsource Unprofitable Runs Kansas City Business Journal ...A Dec. 18, 2014, memo obtained by the Kansas City Business Journal, details a change-of-operations request to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters that would allow the company to increase its use of interline carriers — third-party transportation providers — in areas currently served by YRC Worldwide Inc. employees...
Trade
TTIP Is Sputtering, But Other 'Trade' Deals Threaten Our Sovereignty Ecologist ...So far the talks have achieved little in terms of reaching agreement for specific market sectors. And they are facing increasing scepticism because of TTIP's plans to deregulate goods and services like health through 'harmonisation' of EU and US standards - something that in practice usually means levelling down...
Anti-Trade Deal Protesters Hijack Senate TPP Hearing RT ...Protesters opposed to a major, multi-national trade deal being negotiated in secret by a dozen countries – including the United States – hijacked a US Senate hearing early Tuesday to speak out against the proposal. Capitol Police removed no fewer than three demonstrators Tuesday morning during testimony delivered before the Senate Committee on Finance by US Trade Representative Michael Froman concerning the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP...
State Battles
Ky. attorney talks right-to-work Politico ...The conservative push to pass right-to-work ordinances at the county level has as its ultimate aim passage of right-to-work at the state level, according to Warren County, Kentucky’s public attorney...
Union says it won’t stand by as GOP attacks collective bargaining Las Vegas Sun ...Republicans are attacking working families with their proposals to upend collective bargaining in Nevada, Danny Thompson, executive vice treasurer of the Nevada AFL-CIO, said at a press conference this morning...
War on Workers
Middle Class Shrinks Further As More Fall Out Instead Of Climbing Up New York Times ...In the late 1960s, more than half of the households in the United States were squarely in the middle, earning, in today’s dollars, $35,000 to $100,000 a year. Few people noticed or cared as the size of that group began to fall, because the shift was primarily caused by more Americans climbing the economic ladder into upper-income brackets. But since 2000, the middle-class share of households has continued to narrow, the main reason being that more people have fallen to the bottom...
This Map Reveals Just How Unequal The So-Called Recovery Is Huffington Post ...In 39 U.S. states, the top 1 percent of earners gobbled up at least half of all of the income gains between 2009 and 2012. And in 17 of those states, the top earners got every bit of the income growth in those years...
Wall Street's Threat To The American Middle Class (opinion) Huffington Post ...Presidential aspirants in both parties are talking about saving the middle class. But the middle class can't be saved unless Wall Street is tamed. The Street's excesses pose a continuing danger to average Americans. And its ongoing use of confidential corporate information is defrauding millions of middle-class investors. Yet most presidential aspirants don't want to talk about taming the Street because Wall Street is one of their largest sources of campaign money...
Miscellaneous
CBO: Deficit To Narrow, Then Widen In ’18 Wall Street Journal ...Existing budget restraints and stronger economic growth will chip away at the federal deficit into 2017 before the gap begins to widen again, the Congressional Budget Office said, providing ammunition for both parties ahead of the White House’s first budget proposal to the Republican-controlled Congress...
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Today's Teamster News 01.14.15
Teamsters
Shippers Transport Drivers Join Teamsters At SoCal Ports Truckinginfo ...Prior to the start of the year the drivers for Shippers Transport Express, a wholly owned subsidiary of SSA Marine, were classified an independent contracts. In November, all drivers were notified that the company was transitioning to an employee-based business model on Jan. 1, and were invited to apply for employee jobs. Eighty-eight out of 111 employee drivers signed union authorization cards, with the union now beginning the process of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with their employer...
Teamster Pilots With Allegiant Air Conduct Informational Pickets teamster.org ...Teamster pilots with Allegiant Air are conducting informational picketing today in an effort to bring awareness to their plight for investments into Allegiant Air’s operational systems, basic industry averages in salary and for other job protection measures that are standard in the airline industry...
Teamsters, city reach deal WGAL.com ...An agreement has been reached with public works employees and the city of York -- no furloughs in exchange for no pay raise...
Trade
Border Opens To Mexican Trucks San Diego Union Tribune ...The United States is preparing to open the border to Mexican long-haul truckers, allowing those who qualify for permits to make direct deliveries from Mexico to U.S. destinations — a measure stipulated more than two decades ago under the North American Free Trade Agreement...
TTIP: European commission faces huge scepticism towards free trade deal Guardian ...Officials are surprised after receiving 150,000 mainly negative responses to Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership...
State Battles
Michigan Justices To Weigh Right-To-Work Law Detroit News ...Michigan’s two-year-old right-to-work law will face the scrutiny of the Michigan Supreme Court during oral arguments Tuesday over a union lawsuit challenging whether the law applies to state workers...
Documents Show Notorious Union-Buster Backing Kentucky’s County Right-To-Work Laws In These Times ...Whereas a few months ago, there was a general understanding that the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act only permitted states and territories to pass these laws—which threaten unions’ solvency by allowing workers to receive the benefits of union representation without paying union dues—now five Kentucky counties are on track to pass local laws. And the coalition of conservative organizations promoting these questionable new measures has also morphed, as a new organization with hidden funding sources has formed to finance any possible litigation...
Democrats Propose Minimum Wage Increase, Mandatory Sick Leave For Coming Session The Oregonian ...Several bills — which include proposals to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and to require employers to offer paid sick leave — signal an effort by the Democratic majority to follow with a core set of changes in the coming session promised to voters before last fall's election...
War on Workers
Democrat seeks U.S. middle-class tax breaks at expense of wealthy Reuters ...A senior U.S. House Democrat on Monday unveiled a more aggressive agenda to boost workers' paychecks by shifting significant tax breaks from the wealthiest Americans to the middle class...
Wage Gains Tepid in 2014 Despite Best Year of Job Creation Since 1999 Wall Street Journal ...Hourly earnings fell by five cents last month from November to $24.57—marking the largest monthly decrease since at least 2006, the year the government began tracking wages for all private employees...
Senator Warren and America Win in a Skirmish in a Long Struggle Against Wall Street’s Coup naked capitalism ...Treasury does not “win” when we appoint such people – Wall Street wins...
Coming soon to a workplace near you: 'wellness or else' Reuters ...For some companies, however, just signing up for a wellness program isn't enough. They're linking financial incentives to specific goals such as losing weight, reducing cholesterol, or keeping blood glucose under control. The number of businesses imposing such outcomes-based wellness plans is expected to double this year to 46 percent, the survey found...
Worker Dies After Becoming Entangled In Machine KSAZ ...A 31-year-old worker was killed after he became entangled in a metal fabrication machine killed on Monday at an industrial plant...
Construction Worker Killed In Crane Accident KSDK ...A construction worker was killed in an industrial accident Monday after being crushed by a crane, said Edwardsville police...
Contract Worker Killed At Northeast Nevada Gold Mine Las Vegas Sun ...State and federal officials are investigating the death of a contract worker in an accident at an underground gold mine in northeast Nevada...
Miscellaneous
Senate Advances Bill To Approve Keystone Pipeline Despite Obama's Veto Threat Huffington Post ...The Senate voted 63-32 to clear a procedural hurdle and begin debate on the bill. Ten Democrats and one independent, Angus King (Maine), voted with every Republican to move the bill forward. Those Democrats included Sens. Michael Bennet (Colo.), Tom Carper (Del.), Bob Casey (Pa.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Jon Tester (Mont.), Tom Udall (N.M.) and Mark Warner (Va.). A final vote is expected later this week...
Shippers Transport Drivers Join Teamsters At SoCal Ports Truckinginfo ...Prior to the start of the year the drivers for Shippers Transport Express, a wholly owned subsidiary of SSA Marine, were classified an independent contracts. In November, all drivers were notified that the company was transitioning to an employee-based business model on Jan. 1, and were invited to apply for employee jobs. Eighty-eight out of 111 employee drivers signed union authorization cards, with the union now beginning the process of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with their employer...
Teamster Pilots With Allegiant Air Conduct Informational Pickets teamster.org ...Teamster pilots with Allegiant Air are conducting informational picketing today in an effort to bring awareness to their plight for investments into Allegiant Air’s operational systems, basic industry averages in salary and for other job protection measures that are standard in the airline industry...
Teamsters, city reach deal WGAL.com ...An agreement has been reached with public works employees and the city of York -- no furloughs in exchange for no pay raise...
Trade
Border Opens To Mexican Trucks San Diego Union Tribune ...The United States is preparing to open the border to Mexican long-haul truckers, allowing those who qualify for permits to make direct deliveries from Mexico to U.S. destinations — a measure stipulated more than two decades ago under the North American Free Trade Agreement...
TTIP: European commission faces huge scepticism towards free trade deal Guardian ...Officials are surprised after receiving 150,000 mainly negative responses to Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership...
State Battles
Michigan Justices To Weigh Right-To-Work Law Detroit News ...Michigan’s two-year-old right-to-work law will face the scrutiny of the Michigan Supreme Court during oral arguments Tuesday over a union lawsuit challenging whether the law applies to state workers...
Documents Show Notorious Union-Buster Backing Kentucky’s County Right-To-Work Laws In These Times ...Whereas a few months ago, there was a general understanding that the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act only permitted states and territories to pass these laws—which threaten unions’ solvency by allowing workers to receive the benefits of union representation without paying union dues—now five Kentucky counties are on track to pass local laws. And the coalition of conservative organizations promoting these questionable new measures has also morphed, as a new organization with hidden funding sources has formed to finance any possible litigation...
Democrats Propose Minimum Wage Increase, Mandatory Sick Leave For Coming Session The Oregonian ...Several bills — which include proposals to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and to require employers to offer paid sick leave — signal an effort by the Democratic majority to follow with a core set of changes in the coming session promised to voters before last fall's election...
War on Workers
Democrat seeks U.S. middle-class tax breaks at expense of wealthy Reuters ...A senior U.S. House Democrat on Monday unveiled a more aggressive agenda to boost workers' paychecks by shifting significant tax breaks from the wealthiest Americans to the middle class...
Wage Gains Tepid in 2014 Despite Best Year of Job Creation Since 1999 Wall Street Journal ...Hourly earnings fell by five cents last month from November to $24.57—marking the largest monthly decrease since at least 2006, the year the government began tracking wages for all private employees...
Senator Warren and America Win in a Skirmish in a Long Struggle Against Wall Street’s Coup naked capitalism ...Treasury does not “win” when we appoint such people – Wall Street wins...
Coming soon to a workplace near you: 'wellness or else' Reuters ...For some companies, however, just signing up for a wellness program isn't enough. They're linking financial incentives to specific goals such as losing weight, reducing cholesterol, or keeping blood glucose under control. The number of businesses imposing such outcomes-based wellness plans is expected to double this year to 46 percent, the survey found...
Worker Dies After Becoming Entangled In Machine KSAZ ...A 31-year-old worker was killed after he became entangled in a metal fabrication machine killed on Monday at an industrial plant...
Construction Worker Killed In Crane Accident KSDK ...A construction worker was killed in an industrial accident Monday after being crushed by a crane, said Edwardsville police...
Contract Worker Killed At Northeast Nevada Gold Mine Las Vegas Sun ...State and federal officials are investigating the death of a contract worker in an accident at an underground gold mine in northeast Nevada...
Miscellaneous
Senate Advances Bill To Approve Keystone Pipeline Despite Obama's Veto Threat Huffington Post ...The Senate voted 63-32 to clear a procedural hurdle and begin debate on the bill. Ten Democrats and one independent, Angus King (Maine), voted with every Republican to move the bill forward. Those Democrats included Sens. Michael Bennet (Colo.), Tom Carper (Del.), Bob Casey (Pa.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Jon Tester (Mont.), Tom Udall (N.M.) and Mark Warner (Va.). A final vote is expected later this week...
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