Today's Teamster News 12.11.15

TEAMSTERS
Teamsters, Activists Deliver Thousands of Signed Petitions to UPS Calling for Withdrawal from ALEC  Teamster.org  ...Today, Teamsters Union representatives in Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, Ga. led delegations that included environmental and community activists that delivered thousands signed petitions to UPS offices in both cities. The 75,000 signed petitions collected call on the corporation to withdraw its membership in the controversial American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)...
Hoffa: Final Customs Bill Offers Little More to Make TPP Better for Workers  Teamster.org  ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa in response to the issuance of a House-Senate conference report on a customs reauthorization bill that does little to address the many shortfalls contained in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): “If leaders in Congress were trying to come up with a way to make trade fair for American workers and those around the globe, they failed miserably"...
Drivers at Transdev Vote to Join Teamsters Local 117  Local 117  ...Drivers, who are employed by Transdev, have voted to join Teamsters Local 117. The 260 workers came together seeking retirement security, affordable health care, fair and equal treatment, strong representation, and respect. “We’ve taken a very important step toward making our work environment better for the future,” said John Secord, a 4-year Transdev employee...

GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Paris Transport Workers Strike Amid Spike In Suspicious Package Claims  IBTimes  ...Less than a month since the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 and fueled international concerns over security, Paris transport workers are expressing their concerns for their own safety. Workers went on a 24-hour strike Thursday, saying security concerns have increased as a result of a high number of suspicious packages being reported on Paris public transportation, the Agence France-Presse reported. Passengers in Paris reported severely disrupted train traffic...
McConnell deals blow to Obama TPP hopes  The Hill  ...Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday crushed any hope that Congress could pass a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade agreement before the 2016 elections. McConnell, who has expressed concerns about the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and has yet to take a stance, said President Obama is risking defeat of his signature trade deal if he tries to push for passage before a lame-duck session next year...
Honduras and CAFTA Show Us One of the Key Reasons Why TPP Should Be Opposed  (opinion) AFLCIO  ...This week, the governments of Honduras and the United States signed an action plan to begin addressing the widespread failure to enforce labor laws in Honduras. While this is a small step in the right direction, the Honduran government has not fully considered or included workers' recommendations regarding this Monitoring and Action Plan. The Honduran government, employers and unions have reached consensus on some points...
Portugal's new anti-austerity government makes more spending cuts in battle to lower deficit  Star Tribune  ...Portugal's new anti-austerity Socialist government has hit a snag: it needs to introduce more cutbacks to keep its pledge of getting the budget deficit lower than 3 percent this year, as demanded by its eurozone partners and creditors. Finance Minister Mario Centeno said after a Cabinet meeting Thursday the government is imposing a freeze on non-urgent spending...
Tunisian Unions Receive Nobel Prize in Ceremony Today  Solidarity Center  ...,The Nobel Peace Prize was formally awarded today to the Tunisian “Quartet,” which includes the country’s labor movement for its role in brokering a peaceful path to democracy. At a ceremony in Oslo, Norway, Houcine Abassi, general secretary of the Tunisian General Labor Union (Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail, UGTT) said, “Tunisia is an exception so far in the Arab Spring countries, but this doesn’t mean that it may not be replicated in other countries”...
How Climate Change Will Transform Work  The Nation  ...The term “green economy” danced around the corridors at the Paris climate talks, evoking visions of electric cars and “clean tech.” But “decarbonization” is a messier story in the Global South. Workers in the rapidly warming “developing world” need more than wind turbines and highbrow organic farms; they need to build livelihoods that can mitigate ecological crisis—and leap ahead of the dominant fossil-fuel based economies, which historically have both controlled and stifled their development...

STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Connecticut Legislature Approves Budget Cuts  Wall Street Journal  ...Lawmakers in Connecticut on Tuesday approved a $350 million plan to address a shortfall in the state’s budget. The state Senate, controlled by Democrats, passed the bill 20-15. The House of Representatives, also controlled by Democrats, passed it 75-65. The plan cuts spending by $195.8 million and diverts $135.7 million from several specialized accounts, including the transportation fund...
Senate moves Pennsylvania budget fight into House's court  WTAE  ...The Pennsylvania Senate sprinted through hundreds of pages of just-unveiled budget legislation Thursday, handing it back to the House Republican majority and all but ensuring that a five-month stalemate that is crippling social services agencies would plow into next week. The Republican-controlled Senate adjourned Thursday night after a marathon week of passing major bills that authorize $30.8 billion in spending...
California pension overhaul advocates move forward after Kamala Harris issues analyses  Sac Bee  ...California moved one step closer to a public retirement fight after the state issued official summaries for two pension-change ballot proposals on Thursday – and for the first time neither labor unions nor the measures’ proponents griped that the language was politically slanted or inaccurate. “It’s not the most positive way to describe the initiative,” said Chuck Reed, the former San Jose mayor who is backing the proposal...

‘Right to work’ a tired, failed proposal  (opinion) Cincinnati.com  ...Here in Ohio, a broad coalition of working people is mobilizing against yet another attack on collective bargaining. Even though “right to work” has failed repeatedly in the past, Rep. Tom Brinkman, R-Mount Lookout, is pushing a new bill in the statehouse. It’s an effort to keep middle-class Ohioans from speaking up together for wages and benefits that can sustain our families...

Tucson talks of requiring paid sick leave from employers  Arizona Daily Star  ...The City Council is studying a proposal to require all Tucson employers to give earned sick days to employees, but the issue got off to a shaky start. Councilwoman Regina Romero proposed a city ordinance Tuesday making sick time mandatory as part of a “working family agenda,” but the discussion got heated and turned to whether the city can spend time on social justice issues while it’s trying to get its own fiscal house in order...

U.S. LABOR
Uber drivers get big boost in lawsuit against company  SF Chronicle  ...In a major setback for Uber, a federal judge on Wednesday dramatically expanded the scope — both in potential financial damages and in the number of people affected — of a class-action lawsuit by California drivers seeking to be reclassified as employees. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen ruled that even drivers who accepted mandatory arbitration in their Uber contract should be included in the case...
Negotiations Resume Between Kohler Company, Striking Workers  CBS  ...Negotiations resumed between Kohler company and union officials on Thursday, according to UAW Local 833 members. The 2,000 striking employees got their final paycheck at the end of last week from the company. Some will also have their vacation time paid out, members said...
Suburban office janitors rally for $15 wage as contract expiration looms  Business Journal  ...Dozens of janitors who staff more than 150 suburban Philadelphia office buildings called for a wage that would give their children a Christmas they deserve in a demonstration Thursday outside Vanguard's Malvern offices. Members of the 32BJ Service Employees International Union want the owners of the approximately 170 properties in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties to agree to raise their wage...
D.C. Streetcar Management Found Guilty of Threatening Workers  DC Labor  ...As news surfaced that the beleaguered DC Streetcar will not be ready this year and an exposé showed that the project has drained more than $200 million in taxpayer funds, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that the private DDOT contractor charged with operating the streetcar engaged in illegal anti-union activity, including threatening workers who wanted to join a union. The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) says the decision is a legal victory...
The Tipping Point: Most Americans No Longer Are Middle Class  NPR  ...Americans have long lived in a nation made up primarily of middle-class families, neither rich nor poor, but comfortable enough. This year, that changed, according to the Pew Research Center. A just-released analysis of government data shows that as of 2015, middle-income households have become the minority...
Proposed House and Senate Bills Would Roll Back New Worker Protections in Guestworker Program  In These Times  ..After years of legal battles, the H-2B guestworker program finally acquired official rules in April. For the first time, workers in the program were guaranteed basic protections like minimum hours and local average wages. But now those rules are being challenged in several Congressional bills. The proposed bills could dramatically alter the program, cutting protections for U.S. and foreign workers alike...

UC Berkeley Workers, Students Say University’s Subcontracted Campus Jobs Mean Poverty Wages  In These Times  ...Twenty-two student protesters were arrested on December 3 after staging a two-hour occupation of the central administration offices at the University of California, Berkeley. The protesters stormed California Hall, where school head Chancellor Nicholas Dirks is headquartered, and sat down in the office lobby demanding living wages and benefits for workers employed by private contractors on campus...

After Laquan McDonald’s Shooting, Chicago Targets Police Contract Protections  Mother Jones  ...The Fraternal Order of Police contract with the city shapes how Chicago handles police misconduct allegations, disciplines rank-and-file officers, as well as when the city pays legal costs for police officers accused of wrongdoing. While activists have long called for changes to the contract, many people in local government have not been eager to take on that fight—until now...

SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Report Shows How Charter Schools Are in Business of 'Privatization and Profiteering'  Common Dreams  ...The explosion of charter schools in the U.S. is allowing individuals, corporations, and organizations to use public funds to secure their own financial gain and private profit—often at the expense of the common interest they claim to serve, a new policy brief from the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado-Boulder finds...
Immigration official: Etowah immigration detainee hunger strike over  AL.com  ...A hunger strike by immigration detainees at the Etowah County Detention Center that began the day before Thanksgiving has ended, immigration officials say. Bryan Cox, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said eight detainees ate the evening meal Wednesday and "voluntarily ended their strike." "As of today the Etowah hunger strike is over," Cox said Wednesday...
Climate Apartheid: Greenpeace Chief Says Poorest Suffer Brunt of Rich Nations' Emissions  Democracy Now  ...Representatives from nearly 200 nations are in the final stretch of negotiations at the U.N. climate summit in Paris. The text has nearly 100 outstanding points of disagreement that still need to be resolved. One of the most contentious issues is the role that wealthy and more advanced developing countries should play in helping vulnerable nations cope with the impacts of climate change...
Poll: Majority of Americans oppose Trump's Muslim ban plan  Daily Kos  ...Poll: Majority of Americans oppose Trump's Muslim ban plan. There are sharp differences by political party. Just over half of Republicans responding -- 54 percent -- support such a ban, while most Democrats and independents do not...
Hundreds of U.S. Groups Join Forces to Stand Against 'Dangerous Tide of Hatred, Violence'  Common Dreams  ...It is incumbent on every public figure, elected politician, and media outlet to stand up against the "dangerous tide of hatred, violence, and suspicion" taking hold in the United States, over 700 prominent organizations and people declared in a full-page ad in Thursday's New York Times. Signatories warn that, in particular, violence is aimed at "Arab and Muslim Americans, women and the places we seek health care, Black people, immigrants and refugees...
A Guilty Verdict for Daniel Holtzclaw  The Atlantic  ...An Oklahoma County jury handed down a series of guilty verdicts on Thursday night in the trial of former Oklahoma City Police Department officer Daniel Holtzclaw, who allegedly raped and sexually assaulted at least 13 black women in the neighborhood he patrolled. Holtzclaw, who turned 29 years old on Thursday, faced 36 charges in total...

Today's Teamster News 10.07.15

TEAMSTERS
Teamsters At Sysco Back in Negotiations Today After Unanimous Strike Vote   Local 117  ...Teamster warehouse workers and drivers who are employed at the major food service conglomerate Sysco have voted unanimously to authorize a strike. Union members voted 150-0 in favor of authorizing a strike after the Company allegedly committed a series of Unfair Labor Practices. The National Labor Relations Board is investigating Sysco for charges of bad-faith bargaining, unilateral changes in working conditions, and worker intimidation...
LA-based port truck driver to join President Obama at White House Summit on Worker Voice  AJOT  ...On Wed., October 7, a port truck driver who was misclassified for years as an “independent contractor” but fought for – and won – the right to be classified as an employee and is now a member of Teamsters Local 848, will be a panelist at the first ever “White House Summit on Worker Voice.” The professional driver, a husband and father to two young children, who was fired for filing a claim for Wage Theft with the California Labor Commissioner, now works for Eco Flow Transportation...
County to consider contract that includes raise for jail staff  Merced Sun Star  ...A group of Merced County jail and detention center employees would see their first pay raise in six years under an agreement to be considered Tuesday by the Merced County Board of Supervisors. The county has been in negotiations since May with Unit 12 of Teamsters Local Union 856, which represents more than a dozen unarmed and nonsworn employees of jails and juvenile detention centers...
A Strike May Park San Francisco's Tech Buses  Gizmodo  ...San Francisco’s tech workers may be looking for a new ride to work if their shuttle bus drivers go on strike over contract negotiations. At a meeting yesterday in San Leandro, leaders of the Teamsters Local 853 advised members to be prepared for a strike if there’s no progress on the contract proposal that the union approved and sent to Compass Transportation back in August. The proposal would increase pay and improve benefits for drivers...

GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Obama’s trade deal faces stiff headwinds  The Hill  ...The White House’s announcement Monday of an international trade deal covering 40 percent of the world’s economy sets the stage for a bruising, months-long congressional battle that is already spilling into the 2016 presidential race. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), an agreement between the U.S. and 11 other nations from Asia to Latin America, faces stiff headwinds in both parties...
Vilsack: TPP text available in next 30 days  Capital Press  ...U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership will be made available in the next 30 days. Farmers and members of Congress will be able to read the final text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the next 30 days, the head of the USDA says. Lawyers are “scrubbing the text” of the trade deal between the United States and 11 other countries, making sure it is accurate...
China Responds Cautiously To TPP Deal, Which Analysts Say Will Bring Pressure For Faster Reforms  IBTimes  ...China has reacted cautiously to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (TPP), which U.S. President Barack Obama said explicitly was designed to prevent “countries like China” from writing "the rules of the global economy." China’s Ministry of Commerce said it took an “open-minded attitude” to the deal, though Chinese analysts said it would increase pressure on Beijing to introduce further economic reforms...
The Meat Industry Is Licking Its Chops Over Obama's Massive Trade Deal  Mother Jones  ...The US meat industry scored a big victory this week when world leaders hammered out an agreement that would reduce trade barriers across the Pacific: from the United Sates, Canada, Mexico, Peru, and Chile on this side to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, and Singapore on the other. So how would the TPP affect Big Meat in the United States? The industry is currently facing stagnant domestic demand for its product as Americans eat less meat. The TPP would open markets...
Breast Cancer Patient Arrested for Protesting TPP: "This is Price Gouging at the Cost of Lives"  Democracy Now  ...The United States and drug companies had pressed for longer monopolies on new biotech drugs, while multiple countries opposed the push, saying it could deny life-saving medicines to patients who cannot afford high prices. The compromise reportedly includes monopolies of between five and eight years. Last week in Atlanta, Zahara Heckscher, a cancer patient, disrupted TPP negotiations and was arrested...
The Trans-Pacific Pact Would Kill Jobs and Consumer Protection  (opinion) New York Times  ...The TPP includes investor protections also found in NAFTA that incentivize American job offshoring by eliminating risks otherwise associated with producing in low-wage countries. It would drive down our wages by putting Americans in competition with Vietnamese workers who make less than 65 cents per hour...
Three million #noTTIP signatures delivered to EU Commission in London  The Economic Voice  ...Over three million signatures from across Europe calling for TTIP to be scrapped were submitted to representatives of the European Commission in London at 11.30 am this morning, in the shadow of a 6 metre high inflatable TTIP Trojan Horse. The Trojan Horse symbolised that while TTIP is presented as a 'trade deal,' critics argue that it actually constitutes an unprecedented corporate power grab...
IMF warns of stagnation threat to G7 economies  The Guardian  ...The International Monetary Fund is warning that the weak recovery in the west risks turning into near stagnation after cutting its global economic growth forecast for the fourth successive year. In its half-yearly update on the health of the world economy, the Washington-based fund predicted expansion of 3.1% in 2015, 0.2 points lower than it was expecting three months ago...
Tens of thousands protest government free-market measures for biggest demo in a year  US News & World Report  ...Tens of thousands of workers are demonstrating through Brussels to protest the free-market regulations and austerity measures that the center-right government has been pushing through during its first year in office. Belgium's three main unions joined hands Wednesday behind a common platform arguing that the government of Prime Minister Charles Michel is promoting big companies at the expense of the workforce...
IndustriALL Union files ILO complaint against Thailand  Reuters  ...IndustriALL, a global labor union with 50 million members, has filed a complaint against Thailand at the International Labour Organization in Geneva, the union said on Wednesday. The complaint, sent to the ILO's committee on freedom of association, details 18 cases of worker and labor abuses, IndustriALL said in a statement...
Cambodian Garment Workers Rally for Minimum Wage Raise  Solidarity Center  ...Some 21,000 garment workers from six unions at more than 60 factories across Cambodia dedicated their 30-minute lunch breaks to rallies calling for a higher minimum wage. The monthly minimum wage for garment and footwear workers is $128. Last year, Cambodia’s garment exports totaled $5.7 billion...

STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
W.Va. Gov. Tomblin Announces $100 Million Statewide Budget Cut  WSAZ  ...West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin on Monday announced a plan to save the state nearly $100 million. Tomblin said it is needed to curb the loss from declining coal and natural gas revenue. The governor said most state agency spending will be cut by 4 percent. Tomblin said the fiscal year deficit currently exceeds more than $250 million...
Gov. Brown signs bill aimed at eliminating gender wage gap  LA Times  ...California took a major step Tuesday toward closing the lingering wage gap between men and women, as Gov. Jerry Brown signed one of the toughest pay equity laws in the nation. Women in California who work full time are paid substantially less — a median 84 cents for every dollar — than men, according to a U.S Census Bureau report this year...
California minimum wage measure seeks to tap into income inequality worries  SacBee  ...Proponents of a statewide ballot measure to raise California’s minimum wage signaled Tuesday that their effort will seize on unrest over income distribution and frame the wage debate as one of fairness. In the first major event in support of the proposed initiative, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said they would lead the union-funded endeavor to hike the state’s base wage to $11...
Little Rock Workers Convene City's First Wage Board  NPR  ...As part of a national movement to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, some Little Rock workers plan to convene the city’s first wage board Tuesday. Little Rock’s four-member board is made up of Democratic State Representatives Charles Blake and Vivian Flowers, the chair of Arkansas Community Organizations Donna Massey, and Revered Stephen Copley, who led the recent voter-approved effort to gradually raise the minimum wage in Arkansas to $8.50 by 2017...

U.S. LABOR
Al Jazeera America becomes the latest new media organization to unionize  The Guardian  ...Al Jazeera America’s digital newsroom became the latest new media organization to unionize on Tuesday. Staff voted in favour 32 to 5, the National Labor Relations Board declared after counting the ballots cast by eligible employees. Al Jazeera America is the latest of a number of newsrooms to unionize this year...
Pot growers at Maryland company get union representation  Business Journal  ...Bethesda Biomedical Inc., awaiting state approval for a license to grow marijuana and operate a medical marijuana dispensary, has reached an agreement with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 to represent its employees. The agreement covers wages, health care, a retirement pension and other benefits for Bethesda Biomedical’s future employees...
UAW threatens strike at Fiat Chrysler U.S. operations  Reuters  ...United Auto Workers members are planning to strike at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV U.S. plants as soon as Wednesday evening, the first work stoppage since 2007, threatening to bring manufacturing to a halt. A strike at its U.S. operations could cost the automaker $40 million a week in operating profit, said Sean McAlinden, chief economist with the Center for Automotive Research...
With Sanders at the Helm, Lawmakers Lobby for Labor  Common Dreams  ...With organized labor increasingly under attack in the U.S., a handful of lawmakers is pushing to make it easier for workers to join unions, allowing them to pool their collective power to bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) on Tuesday unveiled new legislation, dubbed the Workplace Democracy Act, which would expedite the process for forming labor unions and penalize companies that delay negotiations...
Neoliberalism is crushing your mailman: The myth of the postal service’s financial ruin  Salon  ...The truth is that almost all of the postal service’s losses can be traced back to a single change in the law made by the Republican Congress in 2006. That year, the Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA). Under the terms of PAEA, the USPS was forced to “prefund its future health care benefit payments to retirees for the next 75 years...
This Is What The World's Largest Companies Are Making Off Their Employees  Huffington Post  ...You’re going to want a raise after reading this. Marketing firm MVF Global has calculated the “true value” of employees around the world, and maybe not surprisingly there is a pretty large gap between what workers at the world’s largest companies are paid and what they're actually worth to the company...
The US Tells Other Countries to Respect Unions—Shouldn’t the US Do the Same?  The Nation  ... While the just-announced Trans-Pacific Partnership deal is flawed on many levels, it includes language that requires countries such as Vietnam to recognize and respect the right to form independent trade unions.  Yet, while the US government tells other countries to respect the right to organize unions and collectively bargain, those rights have been under assault here...

SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Immigrant Rights Groups Will Start Protesting Obama Again  Huffington Post  ...Several immigrant rights groups announced Tuesday that they will spend a week protesting the deportation and detention policies of President Barack Obama, timed to mark the one-year anniversary of his announcement of executive actions to expand deportation relief. Obama, who has presided over more deportations than any other president, has long faced protests from immigrant rights activists...
Freedom for 6,000 Federal Prisoners  The Atlantic  ...About 6,000 federal inmates whose long sentences were reduced last year will be released at the end of October, marking the start of the most substantial effort yet to reduce America’s gargantuan prison population. The U.S. Sentencing Commission, an independent judicial agency that oversees federal sentencing guidelines, first voted in April 2014 to reduce federal drug guideline sentences in an effort to curb prison overcrowding and excessive punishments...

Democracy vs. austerity: Greece draws the line against global loan sharks

Last week our brothers and sisters in Greece's trade unions hung a massive banner from the country's Finance Ministry building which read: "No to blackmail and austerity."

A few days later Greek society echoed that defiant sentiment with a resounding "No" vote against the latest round of cuts demanded by European and international creditors on a nation already collapsing under the weight of austerity.

Following Sunday's vote, Greece saw celebrations in the streets while observers wondered if the rejection of concessions to the "troika" institutions -- the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF -- signaled Greece's exit from the Eurozone (or "Grexit").

As Think Progress reported following Sunday's referendum vote,

Greeks overwhelmingly voted against a European deal to extend financing to the country’s banks that would have required more harsh austerity measures on the part of the government. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who came to power in large part on a promise to reject more austerity measures, had called the referendum to get more bargaining power in the dealmaking process. Greeks rejoiced at the news of the vote.

The country’s financial fate is far from certain, and the prospects of Greece coming to an agreement with European creditors may now be dimmer after the no vote. In the meantime, Greek banks remain closed, the economy is suffering from the financial chaos, and any new bailout agreement may now come with a higher price tag.

The historic vote against austerity is a vote against more budget cuts, privatization and high taxes on financially-strapped workers -- the same policies that have been strangling Greece's financial system. Now Prime Minister Tsipras, who supported the vote against more austerity, is scrambling to put together another bailout proposal.

Led by Germany (with its own history of failing to repay its debts), the assault on workers and the poor in Greece is both economic and political. When Greeks dared to elect the anti-austerity Syriza party to power -- after years of savage cuts imposed by bank-installed technocrats -- powerful creditors were determined to punish them.

Economist Paul Krugman explains:

The campaign of bullying -- the attempt to terrify Greeks by cutting off bank financing and threatening general chaos, all with the almost open goal of pushing the current leftist government out of office -- was a shameful moment in a Europe that claims to believe in democratic principles. It would have set a terrible precedent if that campaign had succeeded, even if the creditors were making sense. 

What’s more, they weren’t. The truth is that Europe’s self­-styled technocrats are like medieval doctors who insisted on bleeding their patients -- and when their treatment made the patients sicker, demanded even more bleeding. A “yes” vote in Greece would have condemned the country to years more of suffering under policies that haven’t worked and in fact, given the arithmetic, can’t work: austerity probably shrinks the economy faster than it reduces debt, so that all the suffering serves no purpose.

It's important to remember the economic crisis began in part with shady financial practices by financial giants like Goldman Sachs that allowed Greece to grow and conceal its debt. Over the years, previous governments in Athens have surrendered to international loan sharks, submitting to intense austerity measures that were supposed to pull Greece back from the brink of default and to a place of economic stability.

But, as has always been the case, austerity didn't break the cycle of debt -- it only accelerated it (something even the IMF admits). This should be no surprise for an institution with a long history of ensnaring impoverished countries of the Global South under mountains for odious debt, a recipe for privatizing their natural resources and selling them off the highest multinational bidder. In Greece, unemployment stands above 25 percent and more than 50 percent of Greek youths are jobless.

The solution, says Dean Baker, is simple -- stop the austerity:

The best solution would be a turn by the eurozone leadership away from austerity. Germany and other countries are not lending money to the Greeks to support their profligate lifestyles, they are lending money to Greece to allow the country to get through the austerity that its creditors have imposed on the country. If Greece's economy was allowed to grow, then it would not be facing a budget deficit.

As far as what Greece owes, the solution is simpler: forgive the debt. Just as Germany was allowed to write down its postwar debt, relief for Greece could similarly lead to restored economic growth.

All of this may seem a little distant to working families on this side of the Atlantic. But what happens in the eurozone will reverberate across the global economy. And it wasn't long ago when austerity was on the lips American lawmakers and business leaders as a "solution" to our economic crisis.

For the corporate class, the fallout from the 2008 financial meltdown in the U.S. was an opportunity to gut the public sector and shift the costs of the crisis onto the backs of working Americans. The government took on massive debts accumulated on Wall Street, which provided the perfect conditions of "disaster capitalism" to cut public spending. We are now living with the consequences of budget cuts at state and local levels nationwide -- targeting everything from workers' pensions to basic services (which have been increasingly privatized).

Events in Europe are a lesson on how deep austerity can cut before hitting a nerve of democratic revolt. We all must stand in solidarity with the popular movement against austerity in Greece.

Today's Teamster News 03.06.14

Teamster News
PA Teamsters Stand Against Paycheck Deception Bill  teamster.org   ...Teamster members and leaders joined with York County legislators to denounce what has been termed the ‘Paycheck Deception Bill’ (House Bill 1507) at a press conference yesterday...
Teamsters: Workers, Not the Rich, Need a Hand Up  teamster.org  ...The growing disparity in incomes between the “haves” and the “have nots” is a real problem for America, and one that is being felt in many corners of this country...
Deadline Rapidly Approaches for JRH Scholarship Applications  teamster.org   ...March 31st is the deadline to apply for the James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship that's been set up to benefit children or financially dependent grandchildren of Teamsters. For more details and downloadable materials, click here...
Trade
Is Japan Playing Ball with the US on the TransPacific Partnership?  naked capitalism   ...expect to hear the Trade Representative’s office to bray that considerable progress was made on the TPP as a result of Obama’s visit. Remember, in negotiating, the impression that progress is being made is critical. But anyone who has been following this beat and isn’t in the can for the Administration is certain to tell you otherwise...
USDA Ignores Food Safety, Hell Bent on Importing Brazilian Beef  Trade Reform   ...Brazil is to the U.S. beef industry what China is to the steel industry (and many other industries)… they are the goliath.  They are really big.  They will flood our market with potentially contaminated meat...
US: Administration outlines international trade goals  just-style   ....The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has outlined the US President's international trade goals and policies for 2014 - which include completing TPP negotiations, continuing T-TIP talks and working on eliminating trade barriers...
Controversial anti-smuggling trade agreement between China and the United States renewed   Art Media Agency   ...A controversial anti-smuggling trade agreement established between China and the United States in 2009 has been renewed for five years...
State Battles
Highest Minimum-Wage State Washington Beats U.S. in Job Creation  Bloomberg News   ...When Washington residents voted in 1998 to raise the state’s minimum wage and link it to the cost of living, opponents warned the measure would be a job-killer. The prediction hasn’t been borne out. In the 15 years that followed, the state’s minimum wage climbed to the highest in the country while job growth continued above the national rate...
Indiana union petitions state Supreme Court to rule Right to Work unconstitutional  Beverly Hills Courier   ...As Right to Work battles continue to wage across the country, labor supporters in Indiana are looking at a decisive victory if the state Supreme Court rules in their favor...
State Supreme Court Moves to Consolidate Pension Law Challenges  NBC News   ...Four lawsuits from the Retired State Employee Association, the Illinois State Employee Association, the We Are One Illinois Coalition and a group of retired school teachers challenging the state's pension law reform will now be heard as one challenge, according to the ruling...|
What ALEC Has Planned For Ohio In 2014: Hurt School Districts And More Tax Cuts For The Wealthy  Plunderbund   ...Despite 40 years of empirical evidence showing that cutting taxes for those at the top does exactly nothing to help anybody else, and, in fact, has helped skyrocket wealth inequality to Gilded Age levels, this “tax reform” push is a top priority...
Federal investigators issue ‘scathing’ report on Indiana OSHA  Indianapolis Star   ...IOSHA failed to investigate an explosion at Indianapolis Power & Light in March 2013, even as the agency was negotiating a settlement with the utility company over an explosion seven months earlier that killed one worker and injured another...
War on Workers
Companies in U.S. Added Fewer Jobs Than Forecast in February  Bloomberg News   ...Companies added fewer workers than projected in February, a sign that U.S. employers were waiting for a pickup in demand before boosting headcount, a private report based on payrolls showed today...
A Depressingly Simple Explanation For The Weak Recovery  Business Insider   ...income gains have been mediocre for a broad swath of middle income households for some time, and borrowing temporarily masked the demand drag. In combination these factors have been a contributing factor to the slow recovery of U.S. consumption and economic growth...
Researchers Suggest Banks Might Be Rigging Gold Prices  truthout   ...the five banks that set the gold price have now been accused of price manipulation in a class-action lawsuit filed Monday in a U.S. federal court in New York...
Booming Business at Alabama Shipyard Fuels New Union Campaign  In These Times   ...Rapid business growth may be the key to finally unionizing shipbuilding workers in Mobile, Ala., where an Australia-based defense contractor has successfully fought union organizing for more than a decade...
More Than 2 Million Unemployed Workers Are Now Going Without Benefits  ThinkProgress   ...Congress is failing this 40-year nursing veteran (and 2 million others like her)...
New Democratic Strategy Goes After Koch Brothers  New York Times   ...On Thursday, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is starting a digital campaign that will use Internet ads and videos, as well as social media, to tie Republican Senate candidates to the policies and actions of the Koch brothers. Its slogan: “The G.O.P. is addicted to Koch” (pronounced coke)...
Imposing a Starvation Diet on Government Programs Needs to End (Opinion)  Huffington Post   ...As any dietician will attest, starving the body of vital nutrients in an effort to slim down is a recipe for failure. The same is true for federal government programs and services...
Miscellaneous   
Americans Shut Out of Home Market Threaten Recovery: Mortgages  Bloomberg   ...First-time homebuyers hurt by rising prices and tougher credit standards are disappearing from the market, slowing the pace of the three-year recovery. The decline of these buyers, many of whom are young and non-white, also threatens to widen the wealth gap between owners, who benefit from appreciation, and renters, said Thomas Lawler, a former Fannie Mae economist...
Bernanke’s $250,000 fee for speech puts him near top of food chain  Wall Street Journal   ...Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s reported $250,000 for a speech in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday puts him in rarefied air of public speakers, experts said. With one speech, Bernanke exceeded his $199,700 annual salary as Fed chairman in 2013...
The Inverse of Oversight: CIA Spies On Congress  The Intercept   ... the CIA’s inspector general has asked for a criminal investigation into CIA monitoring of computers used by Senate aides who were investigating the agency’s prominent role in the Bush-era torture of detainees...
Rolls-Royce investigated in US over bribery claims  The Telegraph   ...Rolls-Royce is being investigated by the US Department of Justice (DoJ), following allegations that its executives bribed officials in Indonesia, China and India in order to win lucrative contracts...
BP fails to get out of compensating oil spill victims  Salon   ...An appeals court shut down the company's efforts to avoid paying damages...
Frigid U.S. Weather Means Highest Power Prices Since ’08: Energy  Bloomberg News   ...Freezing temperatures gripping the eastern U.S. will result in the highest electricity prices in six years for consumers in Boston, Dallas and San Francisco...
Scary Emerging Scientific Consensus: There's No Such Thing as Safe Plastic  Democracy Now!   ...There is new research suggesting that even BPA-free plastics contain chemicals that can act like estrogen in the body and cause disease. And the plastics industry has a big propaganda denial campaign in the works....

Today's Teamster News 03.07.13

McDonald's Franchises In Pennsylvania Accused Of Exploiting Student Guest Workers  Huffington Post   ...some students received as few as four hours of work a week, at the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. After "exorbitant" deductions for housing, those wages were pushed below the legal minimum, the group says, while the students lived "up to 8 students to a room" at a cost of $300 per person...
Fast Track Authority for Trans-Pacific Trade Deal Opposed  AgWeb   ...The groups are most concerned with unfettered access to U.S. markets by Fonterra, New Zealand’s large dairy company, which controls some 90% of that country’s milk supply. ..
Florida Gets Organized to Stop the TPP  Public Citizen   ...most ... had never heard of the TPP ... Many reacted with surprise and anger when they learned about the provisions the Obama administration is secretly negotiating that give more power to corporations...
The War On Entitlements (opinion)  New York Times   ...Simply by eliminating the payroll tax earnings cap — and thus ending this regressive exemption for the top 5.2 percent of earners — would, according to the Congressional Budget Office, solve the financial crisis facing the Social Security system...
Citizens in Europe are rejecting austerity policies as deeply misguided (opinion)  The Guardian   ...European leaders recognise that, without growth, debt burdens will continue to grow, and that austerity by itself is an anti-growth strategy...
FAA says 173 air traffic control towers will close on April 7  CNN   ...The federal government will close 173 air traffic control towers at small- and medium-size airports on April 7 because of forced spending cuts...
Rahall Promotes ‘Made In America’ Bill For Infrastructure Projects  Charleston Gazette  ...The “Invest in American Jobs Act of 2013″ will require the use of products stamped “Made in America” to build highways, bridges, public transit facilities, passenger rails and airports across the country. Labor unions and manufacturing companies are backing the new legislation...
Gov: 250K Jobs Will Be 'Tough To Get'  Wisconsin Public Radio   ...Governor Scott Walker may be acknowledging he won't make his goal of creating 250,000 jobs in his first term, but Walker says he should still “aim high.”...
Game show host Bob Barker opposes bill that targets whistleblower videos  Indianapolis Star   ...Bob Barker, the former host of the TV game show “The Price is Right,” is urging Indiana’s lawmakers to defeat a bill that makes it unlawful to take unauthorized video at farms and businesses....
Teamsters Union Faces Pension Decision  WYFX   ...Members of a local teamsters union who work for a major garbage collection service are faced with a tough decision on whether to continue dumping money into their current pension plan or start investing money into the company's 401(K)...

Today's Teamster News 09.08.12

White House to miss deadline for report on 'fiscal cliff' budget cuts  The Hill   ...Under the terms of the Sequestration Transparency Act signed in August, President Obama was to tell Congress by Friday how the administration plans to implement the $109 billion in automatic cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act...
U.S. Jobless Rate Drops for the Worst of All Reasons  Bloomberg   ... The share of working-age people who are either working or looking for work—known as the labor-force participation rate—fell to its lowest level since September 1981...
Unhappy Anniversary: Republicans Have Blocked The American Jobs Act For One Year  ThinkProgress   ...The plan included stimulus spending in the form of immediate infrastructure investments, tax credits for working Americans and employers to encourage consumer spending and job growth, and efforts to shore up state and local budgets to prevent further layoffs of teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public safety officials...
'Coal-Gate' Shines Spotlight on Danger to Public Lands  SustainableBusiness.com   ... Just a few months back environmental groups sent a letter to the US Bureau of Land Management requesting that they cease ‘auctioning’ public assets to a single bidder...
Hostess employees to vote on new contract  Journal Tribune   ...Hostess Brands CEO Greg Rayburn made a stop at the company’s Biddeford bakery Friday to take questions from and listen to the concerns of the approximately 410 employees who work there regarding a proposed five-year union contract...
Phillips 66 Bayway refinery workers to vote on contract Friday  Reuters   ...Members of the Teamsters Union at Phillips 66's 238,000 barrel-per-day Bayway refinery in Linden, New Jersey, will vote Friday on whether to ratify their latest labor contract, as recommended by the union's executive board...

Today's Teamster News 08.21.12

Judge throws out Palmer suit against Infosys  Computerworld   ...In his lawsuit, Palmer claimed he was harassed at work, sidelined and even received death threats for refusing to participate in an alleged Infosys scheme to use workers on business visitor, or B-1 visas, for tasks that required an H-1B work visa...
U.S. troops' kids early victims of Congress budget inaction  Reuters   ...The stressed school systems are one more instance of a country struggling to keep up with the needs of military families, worn down by a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan...
Romney Gains Huge Cash Advantage Over Obama  New York Times   ...Mr. Obama and the Democrats raised a combined $75 million during July, according to Federal Election Commission reports filed Monday, compared with $101 million for Mr. Romney and the Republicans. The Democrats had about $124 million in cash on hand, most of it in Mr. Obama’s campaign account, while the Republicans had $186 million...
Megadonors taint Florida politics, appointments  Orlando Sentinel   ...just Friday, we heard from a longtime GOP donor who said he was denied a seat on Orlando's airport board — simply because he wouldn't cough up $10,000. Florida is so flush with special-interest cash that our state is drowning in it...
Why Are Our Public Schools Up For Sale?  Alternet   ...While charter proponents claim that their schools are less bureaucratic, more efficient, and more effective, the evidence fails to back those claims...
Hammond begins contract negotiations  NWI Times   ...Contracts with the Hammond Police and Fire departments' unions and the Teamsters, who represent most of the city's public works employees, expire at the end of the year...