TPP is a big, bad deal for workers

Rep. Marcy Kaptur called out TPP as bad for workers this morning.

Several House members gathered on Capitol Hill this morning to let the public know seeing isn't believing when it comes to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Lawmakers rolled out a copy for the 12-nation Pacific Rim trade deal on a dolly -- all 5,600 pages of it -- and said it will take more than 90 days for lawmakers to fully dissect and digest the agreement. But they added what they've read thus far is worse than they imagined.

When it comes to American jobs, trade deficits, expanded rights for foreign investors and food safety, the TPP is a loser for everyday Americans, elected officials stated. It's time for the U.S. to learn from past history on trade deals, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) said:

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is more of the great sucking sound of jobs out of this country. Not a single one has resulted in a trade balance...We are going to lose even more jobs. TPP is just more of the same.

House members said bipartisan opposition to the deal is growing on Capitol Hill. Now that the document is public, lawmakers can delve into it to get the details of the pact. And many are not liking what they read.

The TPP document in all its largeness.

For example, the agreement will allow members to challenge food safety checks made when goods are imported into the U.S. Given the concerns many have raised about seafood brought in from Vietnam and Malaysia, for example, that is not good news for consumers.

TPP also does nothing to curtail currency manipulation, which would lead to even larger U.S. trade deficits with member countries. And investor-state dispute resolution language actually gives investors a great ability to sue these Pacific Rim countries to have their laws overturned.

As Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said, TPP is "too big to pass," given that only five chapters of the agreement even deal with trade. It's just another attempted corporate takeover sanctioned by member governments.

That's why Congress needs to say no to the TPP.

New TPP deal meets resistance from all sides

Georgia Teamsters joined in protest of TPP in Atlanta last week.

Trade officials with the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim nations signed off on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) today, starting the clock on a months-long debate of the deal that could lead to thousands of lost American jobs and lower wages for many more.

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa noted that everyday workers gain nothing from the TPP -- not new jobs, not higher wages or even better products imported into the U.S. Instead, the pact is all for the good of big business:

The Teamsters and many, many others just don't see any value in what TPP brings to this country. First and foremost is the deal won't create any new jobs here. That is significant and can't be pushed aside by proponents. After all, TPP backers like to insist it will result in new work for Americans, although they can never quite explain how. There's a reason why their responses are so vague.

But disagreement over the deal stretches much further than just the Teamsters and other unions. Indeed, politicians on all side of the political spectrum voiced their displeasure with the deal soon after it was announced this morning.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a leading presidential candidate, said:

Wall Street and other big corporations have won again. It is time for the rest of us to stop letting multi-national corporations rig the system to pad their profits at our expense.

But more surprising was the statement of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a proponent of the agreement, who argues it isn't up to snuff:

Closing a deal is an achievement for our nation only if it works for the American people and can pass Congress by meeting the high-standard objectives laid out in bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority. While the details are still emerging, unfortunately I am afraid this deal appears to fall woefully short.

And maybe the most enlightening is the comments made by Ziad Ojakli, Ford Motor Company's Group Vice President for Government and Community Relations, who notes the deal doesn't address currency manipulation concerns that would drive up U.S. trade deficits:

To ensure the future competitiveness of American manufacturing, we recommend Congress not approve TPP in its current form, and ask the Administration to renegotiate TPP and incorporate strong and enforceable currency rules. This step is critical to achieving free trade in the 21st century.

Add that up, and you've got a lot of unhappy people representing different parts of the public and private sectors. In short, this is a bad deal that doesn’t deserve the stamp of approval from Congress. As the Teamsters have stressed as part of our new Let’s Get America Working campaign, businesses need to invest at home, not abroad. And elected officials need to remember who they serve. Corporations aren't people too.

Today's Teamster News 09.28.15

Teamsters
Waste Workers at Five Locations Join Teamsters Across the Country  Teamsters.org  ...More than 200 waste workers at five locations, in California, Washington state, Oregon and Ohio, recently took action to become Teamsters. The workers are employed at the two largest waste companies, Waste Management and Republic Services, and at Recology. “Waste workers across the country are seeking protections on the job and the workers at Waste Management, Republic Services and at Recology have taken the bold step by forming their union," said Ron Herrera, Director of the Teamsters Solid Waste, Recycling and Related Industries Division...
Tri-City Goodwill votes to join Teamsters  Tri-City Herald  ...The two dozen employees at seven Goodwill Industries of the Columbia stores in the Tri-Cities, Walla Walla and Wenatchee are joining Teamsters Local 839 after a vote last week. In a news release, the union said employees spoke out against low wages, substandard benefits and unsafe working conditions. Workers approached the Teamsters about representing them, said Russell Shjerven, secretary-treasurer for the union...
'Firm' school bus strike deadline to be set this week, union says  Newsday  ...A labor dispute between a private school bus firm and its workers over pay, working conditions and benefits remains unresolved, leaving open the possibility of a strike for about 35 districts in Nassau and Suffolk. The conflict is between Ronkonkoma-based Baumann and Sons Buses Inc. and Teamsters Local 1205. If the union strikes, it could affect 15,000 students. The contract expired June 30...
Bus drivers transporting eBay workers will get pay raise  SF Gate  ...Bus drivers who transport eBay employees are getting a huge wage increase as part of the company’s deal with vendor Compass Transportation. EBay said drivers of large shuttles will now make $26.40 per hour and drivers of smaller vans will make $23.10 per hour. The drivers’ previous wage was between $17 and $20 per hour. Compass continues to negotiate a contract with the drivers, organized by the Teamsters...
Hoffa Backs Bipartisan House Push To Address Currency Manipulation  Teamster.org  ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa in response to a letter signed today by 158 House members, both Republican and Democrat, calling on the White House to include enforceable provisions against currency manipulation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): "At a time when partisan gridlock has largely shut down Capitol Hill, it is telling to see all these lawmakers come together to raise serious questions about how currency manipulation negatively affects U.S. trade"...

Global Labor & Trade
U.S., Pacific Partners Seek to Conclude Trade Pact in Atlanta  Wall Street Journal  ...Senior officials from the U.S., Japan, and 10 other countries around the Pacific will meet [this] week in Atlanta in another attempt to finish a wide-ranging trade agreement designed to lower border barriers and boost economic growth. The previous high-level negotiations, two months ago on Hawaii’s island of Maui, ended without a deal, with the talks souring over the dairy trade, automotive manufacturing and intellectual-property protection for drugs...
Presidential politics complicate trade talks  Politico  ...If negotiators had completed the pact two months ago in Maui as hoped, President Barack Obama could have submitted the legacy-burnishing deal to Congress as early as December, setting the stage for approval before Iowa and New Hampshire hold their presidential nomination contests in early February. Instead, the largest trade deal in history is facing the potential for increasing pushback from the left, with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton coming under intense pressure from progressives to reject the deal...
Pacific trade deal close, but doubts linger: Chile trade head  Reuters  ...The conditions are now present to finalize a Pacific trade deal, although talks would likely still go down to the wire, Chile's head of international trade told Reuters on Thursday. The United States has called negotiators from the 12 nations discussing the Trans-Pacific Partnership to a meeting in Atlanta [this] week in a bid to finish the pact that will cover 40 percent of the world economy...
Trans-Pacific Partnership could include big dairy concession  CBC  ...Canada is preparing to open the border to more American milk, without getting reciprocal access for Canadian dairy farmers in the United States, CBC News has learned. Trade Minister Ed Fast will leave the campaign trail to join his counterparts in Atlanta on Wednesday, intent on concluding the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks. Chief negotiators from the 12 Pacific Rim member countries meet starting Saturday...
Canada's auto sector 'nervous' about TPP talks  CTV News  ...As negotiations for a Trans-Pacific Partnership continue, the Conservative government is being accused of sending mixed messages on what the deal will mean for the auto sector. But speaking to CTV’s Question Period, Trade Minister Ed Fast assured a worried auto sector that the government is keeping its interests in mind at the TPP negotiating table.  In the past, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has said the auto sector may not "necessarily like everything" in the TPP deal...
Nearly 160 House lawmakers warn Obama on currency provision  The Hill  ... Bipartisan group of lawmakers is leading the call in the House for the Obama administration to include enforceable provisions against currency manipulation in a sweeping Asia-Pacific agreement. As talks continue heading into this weekend on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Dave Brat (R-Va.) warned in a call with reporters on Friday that the 12-nation pact faces failure in the House without provisions to crack down on currency manipulation...
Obama reaches out to Mexico, but not Canada, in push to wrap up TPP deal   Globe and Mail  ...U.S. President Barack Obama is reaching out to his Mexican counterpart, Enrique Pena Nieto, as Washington launches a charm offensive to close a massive Pacific Rim trade deal [this] week. There’s rising concern, meanwhile, in Canada’s 80,000-job auto-parts manufacturing sector that the Trans-Pacific Partnership could seriously harm the industry...
Bunnings workers continue to strike at stores across New Zealand  Stuff.co.nz  ...Bunnings workers continued striking at locations across New Zealand on Saturday with protests planned for 17 stores across the country. Organisers said their main gripe was the introduction of a new roster that would mean workers' shifts could be chopped and changed with just two weeks notice. First Union organiser Dave Cooney, on-site at the Manukau protest, said there had been great support from the public...
2 More Honduran Union Leaders Threatened, Harassed  Solidarity Center  ...Another union leader in Honduras has received death threats and a second union leader was arrested in the department of Colon during a peaceful rally protesting government corruption, according to the Honduras-based nonprofit ACI-Participa. Earlier this year, one Honduran union leader was murdered and another disappeared and is presumed dead. The latest incidents bring to nine the number of attacks on union leaders in 2015...

State & Living Wage Battles
Minimum wage will top list as Oregon lawmakers gather at Capitol this week  Oregon Live  ...Legislators will gather in Salem this week for the first time since the 2015 session ended, offering a preview of issues they may tackle in 2016. Topics at the top of the list? The state economy and the minimum wage.  Oregon Employment Department economists will brief lawmakers Monday on job growth and the minimum wage...
Florida lawmakers living on $17 a day this week to demonstrate minimum wage  Sun Sentinel  ...At  least 18 Florida lawmakers plan to live on a minimum wage this week to draw attention to efforts to increase the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour. Starting Monday, the lawmakers will live for five days on $17 per day. That figure represents what a minimum wage worker has after the costs of taxes, childcare and housing are deducted from an $8.05-an-hour paycheck...
Legal challenge to N.C.'s voter ID law to go forward next year  INDY  ...This week, a Superior Court judge denied North Carolina's motion to dismiss a pending voter ID lawsuit. State lawyers attempted to argue that the case—brought by plaintiffs that include the League of Women Voters of N.C. and the A. Philip Randolph Institute—should be dismissed after lawmakers approved an amendment to their mammoth voter law in May...
Construction workers fight to keep Prevailing Wage Law  WLNS  ...It’s a discussion that has been ongoing for months, deals with the state’s 50-year-old Prevailing Wage Law. On Monday Construction Association members will be holding an event to discuss why repealing the Prevailing Wage Law would be bad for the state. The current law requires workers on state financed construction projects to be paid prevailing union-scale wages...
Two halves of California have wide gap in health costs  SacBee  ...When it comes to health care costs, it’s clear: Where you live matters. And in California, the gap is especially sharp between the north and south. Take, for instance, common procedures like a cesarean section or a total knee replacement. The total average price tag for a typical C-section in the four-county Sacramento area is $28,828; in east Los Angeles County, it’s $17,567, according to a health care comparison tool unveiled last week...

U.S. Labor
Detroit workers deal another blow to FCA-UAW contract  Detroit Free Press  ...Workers at Fiat Chrysler's Jefferson North Assembly Plant have resoundingly rejected a four-year tentative agreement between the UAW and the automaker, further jeopardizing chances of approval nationwide. At UAW Local 7, whose workers make the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango at the Detroit assembly plant, 66% of the production workers who cast ballots voted against the contract and 77% of skilled trades workers voted against the deal...
Even the Wall Street Journal Smells a Rat in A&P Supermarkets Bankruptcy  In These Times  ...Workers at the bankrupt A&P grocery chain have been complaining for weeks that corporate executives have been looting the failing company, but nobody seemed to be paying much attention until Wall Street’s favorite newspaper came out with a story backing up the workers’ charges. Wall Street Journal reporter Peg Brickley uncovered part of the truth September 18, with a dispatch that revealed A&P “paid out $9.4 million in bonuses and other extra payments to insiders"...
Uber Is Using Fine Print To Control Its Drivers. But They Might Not Get Away With It.  Think Progress  ....Disgruntled Uber drivers are taking their beef with the taxi-killing startup to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in hopes of restoring hundreds of thousands of drivers’ ability to participate in suits against the company. The legal team who won class status for a lawsuit against Uber earlier this month are hoping that the NLRB will invalidate mandatory binding arbitration clauses in the company’s contracts...
ThinkProgress Staffers Unionize With Writers Guild  Huffington Post  ...The editorial staff of the progressive news site ThinkProgress has joined the Writers Guild of America, East, making it the latest in a string of Web-based publications to unionize. The union said in a statement late Wednesday that management at the site had chosen to voluntarily recognize the employees' decision, allowing them to forgo a secret-ballot election...
SEIU prepares for potential strike after Mercy Health Muskegon RN unit rejects contract with hospital  MLive  ...The state's largest healthcare union is preparing for a potential strike over a contract dispute affecting workers at a Mercy Health Muskegon nursing unit. SEIU Healthcare Michigan, which represents nurses, hospital staff, nursing home employees and homecare workers, said Friday that it plans to notify hospital system administrators of a pending strike vote. Marge Robinson, the organization's president, said the alert comes after RN workers at the Mercy Campus on Thursday overwhelmingly rejected a contract...
The Long, Strange Tale of a California Farm’s Attempts To Break Its Workers’ Union  In These Times  ...The strategy by one of the nation's largest growers to shed its obligation to sign a contract with the United Farm Workers was dealt a key setback last week. An administrative law judge not only threw out what union organizers say was one of the dirtiest decertification elections in recent labor history, but did so because California growers had given tens of thousands of dollars to set the union-busting scheme in motion...
Hundreds mark anniversary of farmworkers' labor movement  SCPR  ...Hundreds of people flocked to Delano over the weekend to mark the 50th anniversary of the Delano grape strike, when grape pickers on Sept. 8, 1965 walked out to protest years of substandard pay and poor working conditions. That walkout, led by Cesar Chavez, sparked an international boycott and eventually led to the creation of the United Farm Workers...

Social Justice & Other News
When America Was 'Great,' Taxes Were High, Unions Were Strong, and Government Was Big  The Atlantic  ...Trump’s supporters might not appreciate what an economic return to the ’50s—even a ’50s lacking overt discrimination against women and political, racial, and sexual minorities—would entail. The ’50 were, as Stiglitz puts it, “a time of war-induced solidarity when the government kept the playing field level.” In other words, they were a time of Big Government. And Big Labor: As Alternet reports, “By 1953, more than one out of three American workers were members of private sector unions. That means there was a union member in nearly every family”...
Asians to surpass Hispanics as largest group of US immigrants by 2065: study  The Guardian  ...In a major shift in immigration patterns, Asians will surge past Hispanics to become the largest group of immigrants heading to the US by 2065, according to estimates in a new study. An increase in Asian and Hispanic immigration also will drive US population growth, with foreign-born residents expected to make up 18% of the country’s projected 441 million people in 50 years, the Pew Research Center said...
Elizabeth Warren Delivers Stirring Defense Of ‘Black Lives Matter’  Think Progress  ...Senator Elizabeth Warren offered a full-throated endorsement of the Black Lives Matter movement at a speech today at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute. Warren called the activists protesting police brutality around the country the “new generation of civil rights leaders.” She painted them as a direct extension of civil rights heros like Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis. She dismissed critics who claim Black Lives Matter activists are responsible for instigating violence...
Shell Just Scrapped Its Arctic Drilling Plans for "the Forseeable Future"  Mother Jones  ...After years of botched attempts, mountains of red tape, billions of dollars, and countless face-offs with protestors, Royal Dutch Shell announced today that it is pulling the plug on all oil and gas exploration in the Arctic ocean "for the forseeable future." From the press release: "Shell has found indications of oil and gas in the Burger J well, but these are not sufficient to warrant further exploration"...

Trade deficits, job losses are more reasons to fear TPP

Bad trades deals have a real cost to regular Americans. And a new Economic Policy Institute (EPI) analysis makes it clear what that is -- jobs.

The huge U.S. trade deficit, especially in manufactured goods, led to the loss of all 5 million U.S. factory jobs that have disappeared since 2000, EPI stated. Analyst Robert Scott’s issue paper adds productivity gains in factories were responsible for virtually none of the losses, counter to many prevailing
economists’ claims.

U.S. factories lost just over 5 million jobs since 2000, when factories employed upwards of 18 million people. They fell to 11.5 million during the Great Recession, and recovered 800,000 jobs since. But productivity rose at least 3.7 percent yearly through 2007, and 1.7 percent since then. The reason for so small a factory recovery is the trade deficit, Scott says.

The leading cause of growing U.S. trade deficits is currency manipulation, which distorts trade flows by artificially lowering the cost of imports and raising the cost of exports. More than 20 countries, led by China, have been spending about $1 trillion per year buying foreign assets to artificially suppress the value of their currencies. Ending currency manipulation can create between 2.3 million and 5.8 million jobs for working Americans, and about 40 percent of those jobs -- between 891,500 and 2.3 million -- would be in manufacturing.

As the analysis explains:

A rising trade deficit indicates that U.S. manufacturers are losing business to manufacturing industries in other countries like China and Japan, who manipulate their currency to make their goods cheaper and therefore more appealing to consumers in the United States and elsewhere. This leads to reduced demand for goods produced by U.S. manufacturers, both at home and abroad.

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa went further into the potential damages currency manipulation could wrought on American workers in a piece he authored this week. With the Trans-Pacific Partnership still looming, concerns about future job lost maybe even more important than those from the past.

• Press Associates, Inc. contributed to this report.

Today's Teamster News 08.18.15

Teamsters
Hoffa: China's Currency Manipulation Should Serve As A Warning About TPP  Huffington Post   ...Currency manipulation has long been a drag on the U.S. economy and our jobs. But China's decision last week to devalue the Yuan shows the kind of damage such tinkering can bring to America. And it's why Congress cannot approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) until something is done about it...
Sun Tran Bus Strike Enters 12th Day, No End In Sight  KTTU   ...The Sun Tran union worker strike is now in its twelfth day, and any hopes of returning to the bargaining table are fading fast. Each side is claiming it wants to negotiate, but that the other will not. A federal mediator is involved, but as of Monday, there were no talks scheduled...

Global Labor & Trade
Greece Needs Further Debt Relief After Third Bailout Deal In Five Years, Says IMF Chief  The Guardian   ...Greece needs more significant debt relief from its creditors, the head of the International Monetary Fund said, after the bankrupt country accepted tough conditions to secure its third bailout deal in five years...
Déjà Vu: Germany Tightens Its Economic Power Over Europe  Truthout   ...Germany pushed hardest for the harshest Greek austerity. That too was a maneuver for domestic political advantage. Merkel loudly depicted herself as protecting Germans from higher taxes (to pay Germany's share of any future institutions' bailouts of European countries like Greece that did not repay their debts). Merkel and her finance chief rigidly refused to relieve Greece of its debts (even though the IMF and countless experts said openly that Greece's debts were simply "unsustainable" and could never be paid). Merkel's refusal meant that Greeks' tax payments would go not for roads, schools and hospitals, nor to rebuild a crisis-shattered economy, nor to pay and pension Greek public workers. Greeks' taxes must instead be used to service Greece's debts to the institutions for limitless years into the future...
China Turned To Risky Devaluation As Export Machine Stalled  New York Times   ...When Prime Minister Li Keqiang convened the Chinese cabinet last month, the troubled economy was the main topic on the agenda. The stock market had stumbled after a yearlong boom. Money was flooding out of the country. Most ominously, China’s export machine had stalled, prompting labor strikes...

State & Living Wage Battles
Poll: Americans' View Of Labor Unions Improving  Politico   ...Approval of unions jumped to 58 percent this year, an increase of five percentage points from 2014, though still well below the 75 percent organized labor enjoyed in the early 1950s but greater than the 48 percent who approved in 2009 in the grips of the recession...
The Problem With House Prices  New York Times   ...One solution for many troubled borrowers would be to modify their loan terms. But as Gretchen Morgenson of The Times reported recently, banks are still unwilling to modify loans, despite rules imposed by regulators and legal settlements after the bust that were supposed to make it easier and fairer for borrowers to obtain relief...
Northwestern Football Players Won't Be Getting Their Union For Now  Huffington Post   ...The National Labor Relations Board announced Monday that it would not wade into the case of Northwestern football players who were seeking to unionize, meaning college football will remain union-free, at least for the time being...
City Council To Consider Establishing $10.10 Minimum Wage In Birmingham  AL.com   ...The Birmingham City Council is set to consider the establishment of a $10.10 minimum wage in the city. The council could vote on an ordinance as soon as Tuesday...
Gov. Brown Signs Job Protections For Grocery Workers  Los Angeles Times   ...Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday signed 14 bills, including a measure that requires that large grocery stores keep their workers for at least 90 days after a change in store ownership...
Why Amazon May Take a Page From Walmart’s Labor Playbook  New York Times   ...As Walmart, based in Bentonville, Ark., has expanded, it has faced growing legal fire and public scrutiny over the treatment of its 1.3 million workers. Since 2000, the company, the nation’s largest private employer, has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in fines over employees forced to work off the clock or denied breaks...
Competing Referendums Put Brakes On KC Minimum Wage Increase  Kansas City Business Journal   ...It seems that the minimum wage will not be changed in Kansas City until November, at the earliest. Even then, its unclear whether the city can compel businesses to actually pay a higher wage...

U.S. Labor
Build A New Hudson River Tunnel  New York Times   ...The only long-term solution is the construction of a new tunnel complex, as proposed by Amtrak in its Gateway Program. Without a new tunnel and new rail tracks, a massive storm or some other disaster could sever a critical link in the Northeast rail corridor that serves more than 750,000 people a day on 2,000 intercity and commuter trains. For commuters and rail passengers crossing the Hudson River who are already complaining about delays, it can only get worse...
The Amazon Economy  Huffington Post   ...Unions, protection against arbitrary firing and abusive workplaces, and social protections like guaranteed health care and higher education were all ways of institutionalizing the goal of security and dealing ever more people into it. Amazon's attitude is exactly the opposite: security is the enemy. Equated with slacking, it is hunted down mercilessly wherever it appears. This agenda is a revealing caricature of the unquestioned common sense of today's economics profession and managerial elite. They, too, tend to see security as the problem, not the goal...
Old Models Don't Fit The New Economy  New York Times   ...When presidential candidates in the United States talk about the economy, they speak in terms that have the reassuring familiarity of an old shoe. Candidates on the left decry corrupt banks and waning unions and a government safety net with too many holes. Candidates on the right rail against excessive regulations and taxation. Many arguments could have just as easily been uttered, unadapted, in 1975...

Social Justice & Other News
Racial Wealth Gap Persists Despite Degree, Study Says  New York Times   ...Even with tuition shooting up, the payoff from a college degree remains strong, lifting lifelong earnings and protecting many graduates like a Teflon coating against the worst effects of economic downturns. But a new study has found that for black and Hispanic college graduates, that shield is severely cracked, failing to protect them from both short-term crises and longstanding challenges...
Citizens Bank Shortchanged Depositors  New York Times   ...When depositing checks at the bank, there is always a chance for error. The bank’s scanner might misread the checks or the deposit slip. Or the total on a deposit slip might not match the actual deposit. But you usually rest assured that the bank will correct the mistake and notify you of the difference. Not at Citizens Bank. For years, it turns out, Citizens often kept the difference, up to $50. Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other federal bank regulators ordered Citizens, which operates in New York and 10 other states, to refund at least $14 million to customers and pay $20.5 million in penalties for unfair and deceptive banking...
The Plight Of Refugees, The Shame Of The World  New York Times   ...The world is facing the biggest refugee crisis since World War II, a staggering 60 million people displaced from their homes, four million from Syria alone. World leaders have abdicated their responsibility for this unlucky population, around half of whom are children...
Puerto Rico Crisis: It's Not About The Debt, It's About the Politics  Huffington Post   ...It is notable, then, that throughout the public discussion and debate over the past several months about the insolvency of Puerto Rico, there has been little or no discussion of the ultimate responsibility of Congress for events that have transpired. Congress has never been shy about exercising its oversight powers in areas that offer political opportunity -- Benghazi and the IRS are recent examples -- and is often swift to demand full accountability and point the finger of blame at others for any manner of controversy or scandal that might come up, but with respect to the territories, where the responsibility of Congress is clear, we have heard a deafening silence...
First-Ever Women To Graduate From Ranger School  Politico   ...Making military history, two female soldiers will become the first women to ever graduate from the Army’s notoriously tough 61-day Ranger School training program on Friday, Army officials have announced...
CFPB Probes Education Department Loan Contractors Over Potentially Faulty Practices  Huffington Post   ...The federal consumer bureau on Monday launched an industry-wide investigation to determine why borrowers with federal student loans are being kicked out of generous programs that keep their payments affordable...

Human rights before huge profits from TPP

Putting people before the powerful. It's a statement the Teamsters firmly believe in, and one that U.S. democracy supports by having a one-person, one-vote system in place. But a report released today by the State Department raises some concerns about whether American policy is following the same path.

Workers shouldn't have to pay for TPP corporate profits.

As part of the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) document, the U.S. upgraded the standing of Malaysia despite concerns raised by human rights activists here and abroad about the nation's forced labor practices. Its new ranking would allow it to participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is currently being discussed in Hawaii.

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said the welfare of workers must be considered before any trade agreement:

While negotiators are trying to finish up discussions on the TPP this week, America should not lose focus on what is truly important. Malaysia must come into compliance with international labor standards that ban forced labor before it is allowed to participate in this Pacific Rim trade agreement. Our standing in the world demands the U.S. to take such a position for those being exploited around the world.

This is just the latest, of course, in a litany of potential problems involving the 12-nation Pacific Rim trade deal. This agreement will ship thousands of jobs overseas, weaken labor standards (as the Malaysia action shows), and allow unsafe food and products to flood American shores. It will also balloon the U.S. trade deficit by doing nothing to curtail currency manipulation by other countries, which will lower the price of imported goods into the U.S. while raising the price of products we export.

There are many hurdles that still need to be worked out as part of TPP. Nations have a litany of concerns, as Politico points out, that trade leaders need to solve going forward:

Canada wants to protect its dairy and poultry producers and Japan, its rice farmers. American drug companies want other countries to adopt strong U.S. protections on a blockbuster new class of medicines called biologics, and U.S. automakers oppose giving Japan more market access. Canada and Malaysia are particular concerns because of difficult domestic politics that could make it more difficult for them to close in Maui, even if other countries are ready.

At the end of the day, the Teamsters' concerns about Malaysia and trade are the same -- people need to count more than corporations. Elected officials need to remember that too.

The war against bad trade deals continues

The Teamsters joined fair trade advocates earlier this month in protesting TPP.

The Senate is on the verge of giving final approval later today to fast track legislation that will allow lousy trade deals like the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to speed through Congress with little debate and no chance to amend them. Sadly, a majority of lawmakers will choose to side with the powerful over the people.

It is discouraging to lose this battle. More than 57,000 contacts with lawmakers were made through the Teamsters' phone and e-mail tools in recent weeks to tell them to stick up for American workers. But it wasn't enough. As Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said:

History shows it makes no sense to give a quick up-or-down vote to bad trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership that will only ship jobs overseas and lower wages in the U.S. Yet again, workers have been tossed aside by some lawmakers who are more interested in pleasing their corporate cronies than doing what’s best for their constituents.

But the trade war isn't over. Not by a long shot. The fast track fight has been a galvanizing battle in the effort to build a fair trade movement for the 21st century that protects American jobs and the environment. The momentum is on the side of the hundreds of thousands of people who are now engaged in this effort, organized in the states and intent to fight for their rights.

The battle now turns to the TPP. Americans have not yet seen the text of this lengthy and complex agreement and even elected officials have limited access to the document. How can Congress approve such a trade deal when it doesn’t know everything that is in it?

What the public does know, however, isn’t good. Several TPP chapters have been unveiled by WikiLeaks, and they show the 12-nation Pacific Rim trade deal would result in lost American jobs, bigger U.S. trade deficits due to the currency manipulation practices of other countries and even the possibility that this country’s laws could be challenged by foreign corporations and overturned by an international tribunal.

That’s why the Teamsters and other advocates plan on keeping up the pressure to build real and enforceable labor and environmental standards. A process also needs to be established that includes and informs the public, rather than keeping people on the outside of the negotiating process.

TPP backers have made big promises about how the trade deal will change the lives of Americans for the better, even though The Washington Post found it won’t create any new U.S. jobs. Now they have to make good on those promises. American workers need to get something from these agreements. The corporate class insists they will. The Teamsters and those standing up for workers will hold them accountable for their promises.

Fast track's finale could be upon us; make your voice heard!

Confused about where things stand with fast track? You're not alone.

Legislation that began in the Senate and failed its first procedural hurdle made it out of the chamber last month. However, once in the House, fast track failed on its first vote. That is, until its corporate crony supporters rejiggered the rules so they could bring back a different version of fast track that passed the House last week.

So now, the Senate needs to vote on fast track again because the House-approved bill is different from the one the Senate initially passed. The first, and likely most important, vote will probably happen tomorrow.

Fast track foes spoke out against the bill earlier this month.

This legislation's path is convoluted, and that's what its supporters want. But the primary message is not. Fast track will result in thousands of U.S. jobs being shipped overseas, and will lead to a reduction in pay for many of the American jobs that remain in this country. It will allow unsafe food and products to flow freely onto this nation's shores. It won't do anything to stop other countries from manipulating their currency to make their products cheap in the U.S. and ours more expensive overseas. And it will allow foreign corporations to sue America to overturn our democratic laws.

Frankly, it's hard to imagine how the process has gotten to this point. Fast track will allow trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership to be rushed through Congress with little debate and no chance to be amended. That takes the power away from lawmakers. They are left to only rubber stamp trade pacts.

Senators who support fair trade and workers really only have one choice at this point -- vote NO on fast track. But they need to hear from their constituents.

The fight for hardworking Americans could end tomorrow if lawmakers decide to turn away from the people and endorse the views of the powerful. Don't let that happen.

The fast track fight continues!

The Senate earlier today voted to limit debate of fast track legislation and to proceed to a final vote as early as tomorrow. Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said the decision hurts workers, but is not the end of the story on this issue:

For years, the Teamsters and our fair trade allies have stood up for workers and all Americans by fighting to stop fast track. Unfortunately, too many lawmakers in the Senate today decided to side with the big business agenda instead. 

Despite this legislative setback, however, the war is far from over. We will continue this battle in the House of Representatives, where we know opposition to fast track is strong. A bipartisan collection of lawmakers in the House understand it makes no sense to give a quick up-or-down vote to bad trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that will only ship jobs overseas and lower wages in the U.S. 

Fast track is a vehicle that will speed a race to the bottom for our nation’s economy. It will allow currency manipulation to flourish under the TPP and could leave U.S. taxpayers on the hook to cover the costs of foreign corporations who sue our government seeking compensation for laws they don’t like. 

The future of America and for hardworking Americans isn’t better with fast track. And that should be the most important consideration.

As the Senate moves forward with debating fast track, it is scheduled to discuss currency manipulation and corporations filing suit against governments, known as investor-state dispute resolution. There is no reason lawmakers should be jeopardizing this nation's economic health by opposing both measures!

But regardless of the final outcome in the Senate, the Teamsters and their fair trade allies are not giving up. As Congress heads home for Memorial Day, the Teamsters will continue with efforts to educate Democrats and Republicans in the House about how fast track is the wrong track for America. And they will meet with members in their district offices and let them know they are jeopardizing the livelihoods of their constituents if they approve this measure.

This is not about being against trade. It is about sticking up for what America is supposed to stand for – a place where an honest worker can earn an honest wage that supports a family. Lawmakers shouldn’t be turning their back on those they are supposed to represent!

Today's Teamster News 05.20.15

Teamsters
L.A. Board of Supervisors Taking Closer Look at Port Drivers' Plight  Eagle Rock Patch  ...The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted May 20 to take a closer look at allegations of “wage theft” by truck drivers serving the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. A representative for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said drivers were frequently issued “negative paychecks” because companies illegally charge for fuel, truck leases, repairs and insurance, calling the drayage companies “sweatshops on wheels”...
De Blasio Cuts Contract Deal With NYCHA Teamsters Union for Raises, Cost Cuts  New York Observer  ...Mr. de Blasio and Gregory Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, announced a preliminary deal—pending a union vote—that would grant 5,500 workers their first new contract since 2008 and 10 percent in retroactive and prospective raise over the next seven and a half years...

Global Labor & Trade
Rising skepticism among Democrats about Obama’s big trade deal  Washington Post  ...After meeting with Froman, Levin says he is not reassured. While Members of Congress have had access to much of the TPP, Levin says they have not yet been shown the portions fortifying labor standards. Levin’s primary concern is whether they will meaningfully hew to International Labor Standards on freedom of association, collective bargaining, protections against child labor, and other safeguards for workers, particularly when it comes to Vietnam and Mexico, a concern that is now being raised by Elizabeth Warren...
U.S. lawmakers compromise on 'poison-pill' Pacific trade rules  Reuters  ...U.S. lawmakers reached a compromise on Tuesday on rules that threatened to derail a proposed Pacific trade partnership by agreeing to soften tough provisions against human trafficking. An amendment to legislation allowing trade deals a rapid run through Congress had been dubbed a "poison pill" for the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership...
McConnell moves to end debate on trade bill  The Hill  ...Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) moved to end debate on "fast-track" trade legislation, after Democrats objected to allowing additional amendment votes. McConnell said he hopes Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) will continue to try to find a way forward on amendments to the legislation, after talks appeared to hit a hurdle Tuesday...
Clinton finds problems with Obama TPP trade proposal  CNN  ...Hillary Clinton took aim Tuesday at two core components of a massive free trade pact that President Barack Obama is negotiating — signaling some agreement with the deal's liberal critics. The Democratic front-runner in the 2016 presidential race said she wants to see rules included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership that would penalize countries for driving down the value of their currencies...
Broad Coalition Rallies to Defeat Obama on Trade Deal  Bloomberg  ...Unions remain a backbone of the opposition to the TPP. The United Steelworkers and United Auto Workers unions are among those who've organized plant demonstrations, and the UAW is mobilizing retired auto workers. The AFL-CIO has been leafletting, including in the states and districts of lawmakers like those of Senator Ron Wyden, the chief Democratic negotiator on trade...
Barack Obama’s shocking TPP paradox: Why the gargantuan trade deal undermines everything he says he cares about  (opinion) Salon  ...After four decades of intense globalization, the results are in: America used to make things, often in unionized and well-paid sectors, but cheap labor abroad — accessed by corporations when free trade agreements hammer down tariff barriers — have steered the U.S. toward a low-wage, non-unionized service economy. And yet the president, so readily vocal about the phenomenon, has made advocacy for a trade deal that challenges American jobs with dirt-cheap labor in Vietnam, Indonesia, and elsewhere his job lately...
Why Fast Track Is a Dangerous Gift to Corporate Lobbies  (opinion) Huff Post  ...including Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in the two draft treaties. ISDS is a dangerous policy that undermines the case for TPP and TTIP. The ISDS framework is an unjustified grant of exceptional power to multinational companies above and beyond the legal system in which the companies operate...
ILO: Precarious Work Rises, Incomes Fall around the World  Solidarity Center  ...More than 60 percent of workers worldwide, predominantly women, are in temporary, part-time or short-term jobs in which wages are falling, a growing trend that is fueling global income inequality and poverty, according to an International Labor Organization (ILO) report released today. Although the incomes of permanent workers are relatively stable, the percentage of such workers is declining globally...
Ford halts production in Turkey due to Renault, Fiat labor strikes  BGN News  ...Laborers have been on strike in Fiat and Renault factories in Bursa province since last week over employment conditions. Protests began on late Thursday at Turkey's largest car factory, run by Oyak Renault, a joint venture between the French automaker and the Turkish army pension fund Oyak, in the northwest city of Bursa...

France teachers strike over government reforms  BBC   ...Teachers across France are going on strike against government reforms to the education system. Trade unions representing 80% of teachers at French middle schools are leading the action against the plans...

State & Living Wage Battles
Will Mo. Lawmakers Attempt Right to Work Override?  Ozarks First  ...Gov. Jay Nixon has vowed to veto Right to Work legislation, telling KOLR 10 he thinks it's an "attack" on working people, while backers in the legislature are finding out whether enough support exists to override the governor's impending decision. About 25 other states have Right to Work laws. The issue has been talked about in Missouri for decades, but this legislative session was the first to put it on the governor's desk...
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has 'serious problems' with prevailing wage repeal bills  MLive ...Republican Gov. Rick Snyder said Tuesday he has "serious problems" with prevailing wage repeal bills approved last week by the GOP-led Michigan Senate. Michigan law currently requires contractors to provide union wages and benefits on government-funded construction projects...
Thousands of Fast Food Workers to Protest McDonald’s Shareholder Meeting Today  In These Times  ...When McDonald’s stockholders meet on the leafy corporate campus in suburban Chicago today and tomorrow, thousands of protestors will be ready to greet them, according to organizers of the fast-growing Fight for $15 movement. Last year, in the first such confrontation, a few hundred people marched on and then blocked roads leading on to the company property before police arrested them...
Los Angeles Becomes The Largest City With a $15 Minimum Wage  Think Progress  ...On Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council voted to draft legislation that would set the city’s minimum wage at $15 per hour by 2020 for businesses with more than 25 employees and by 2021 for smaller ones.
The council voted in favor of the move 14 to 1. The legislation will set the wage to $10.50 an hour for large businesses next year before gradually rising to $15...
McDonald's employees are swarming headquarters to protest low wages during the company's annual meeting   Business Insider  ...Thousands of McDonald's workers seeking a minimum wage of $15 per hour and the right to unionize are expected to swarm the fast-food giant's headquarters for two days of protests that will coincide with the fast-food chain's annual meeting on Thursday. Protests by low-wage fast-food and retail workers have helped fuel a national debate about pay levels...

U.S. Labor
Marathon Galveston Bay refinery workers vote to continue strike  Reuters  ...Hourly workers at Marathon Petroleum Corp's Galveston Bay, Texas, refinery voted on Monday to continue a strike, rejecting a contract proposal developed by a federal mediator aimed at ending a stoppage that has lasted three-and-a-half months. Officials of United Steelworkers union Local 13-1, which represents the strikers, said nearly 900 striking workers had voted and the proposal was overwhelmingly rejected...
Bid to unionize Detroit charter school system in limbo  Detroit News   ...An effort to unionize a local charter school system remained unresolved Friday with no official results from an election held a day earlier. "While there were 19 more no votes from those who did not want the union, Detroit 90/90 challenged the voting rights of Teachers for America teachers and long-term substitutes, claiming the teachers they hired to stand in front of students are not actually professionals," said Nate Walker, K-12 organizer and policy analyst with AFT Michigan...
NLRB blocks union election at Stetson Charter School  Philly.com   ...The National Labor Relations Board yesterday blocked a union vote set for later this week at John B. Stetson Charter School after the union behind the organizing efforts filed an unfair-labor-practice charge. The Alliance of Charter School Employees union claims that Stetson, which is managed by charter operator ASPIRA Inc. of Pennsylvania, has violated federal law...
County OKs AFSCME Contract; Salary Hikes Average 2.3%  Cape May County Herald  ...Cape May County government’s 686 members of local 3596 American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) have a new contract that will remain through Dec. 31, 2018. The former contract expired July 1, 2013. Negotiations had been ongoing since that time. The contract was unanimously approved by freeholders May 12 without comment...
Farm-labor case appears headed to Supreme Court  Ag Alert  ...A sweeping state appellate court decision, ruling part of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act unconstitutional, sets the stage for an eventual state Supreme Court decision on the act's mandatory mediation and conciliation provisions. the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the case, Gerawan Farming of Fresno, that it should have been given an opportunity to prove that the United Farm Workers union had "abandoned" Gerawan employees...

Miscellaneous
Why We Should Spend Billions More On Trains  Think Progress  ...In the same way that the U.S. subsidized cars, other countries are subsidizing trains. China is currently undertaking a huge public investment in rail. And while the system has experienced problems, ridership was nearly 900 million in 2014, compared to a paltry 30 million in the U.S. And the United Kingdom, with a far smaller area and population than the U.S., spends billions more than in public money to maintain its world-class system that regularly sees 1.2 billion passengers a year...
Progressive Groups Rally Behind Sanders' Plan to Tax 1% and Fund Higher Ed  Common Dreams  ...A broad coalition of nurses, students, religious and civil rights groups, environmentalists, labor and housing advocates on Tuesday praised Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-Vt.) plan to use a so-called Robin Hood tax on stock transactions to fund tuition at four-year public colleges and universities...

Fast track is going off track in the House

Teamsters express their distaste for fast track at a D.C. rally.

For weeks, supporters of fast track trade authority that would speed proposed deals like the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) through Congress have expressed confidence they have the support within the hallowed halls of Capitol Hill to get it approved.

The reality, however, is much different. Not only are Democrats overwhelmingly opposed to fast track, but a growing number of Republicans, especially in the House, are expressing doubts. And Politico reports it could end up sinking efforts to back a deal that would ship U.S. jobs overseas:

The House is currently dozens of votes short of being able to pass legislation that would allow President Barack Obama to send trade deals to Congress for fast approval, according to senior lawmakers and aides in both parties, imperiling a top White House priority for the president's final years in office.

At this point, upward of 75 House Republicans could vote against trade promotion authority if it comes up for a vote in the coming weeks, according to aides and lawmakers involved in the process. Some of the lawmakers fear job losses in their districts from free trade; others distrust Obama and oppose giving him more power.

It is now more apparent than ever there is bipartisan opposition to fast track, and members are not backing down. Lawmakers can see that the trade vehicle will stop them from making changes to TPP that would jeopardize American workers, lower their wages and bring unsafe food and products to U.S. shores. Then there's the fact that it does nothing to stop currency manipulation that hurts the sale of American goods or lawsuits by foreign corporations against this country. It's even making one 2016 presidential candidate rethink her support for the deal.

It's time for fast track backers to admit that the reason the legislation doesn't have support is because it isn't a very good.

House, Senate panels side with corporate cronies on fast track

The House Ways and Means Committee last night misguidingly followed the lead of its Senate counterparts by approving a fast track trade promotion authority (TPA) bill that will allow secret trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to be rammed through Congress.

Demonstrators protest fast track on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

Despite the objections raised by Rep.Sander Levin (D-Mich.) and others on the panel who noted the legislation is a continuation of bad U.S. trade policy over the past two decades, a majority decided to side with big business interests by rejecting amendments by Levin and others that would have beefed up worker protections in fast track.

Levin, the panel's top Democrat, told his fellow committee members:

The TPP negotiators today are not on the right track. In some vital areas, we don't know where the USTR is heading. In other areas, we don't like where they are going. It is simply incorrect to say this TPA puts Congress in the driver's seat. Instead, it puts us in the back seat.

Meanwhile, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) said it seemed fast track supporters were speeding forward with little concern about the possible consequences of the legislation. He said there is a real need for trade to benefit all Americans:

The question is not whether we should have more trade, but what the nature of that trade should be.

The House committee, like the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday night, rejected efforts that would have bolstered currency manipulation provisions so other countries can't rise up the costs of U.S. imports while lowering their export prices to Americans. They also pushed aside concerns about language that would allow foreign corporations to sue the U.S. government over laws on the books that they think hurt their company's business.

Both the House and Senate are expected to bring the fast track bill to the floor next month. It's now even more critical that Teamsters and other fair trade advocates let their lawmakers know that fast track is the wrong track for America.

Today's Teamster News 02.17.15

Teamsters
CP Rail, Teamsters union agree to arbitration  CBC News   …Labour Minister Kellie Leitch says the government is withdrawing its back-to-work legislation now that Canadian Pacific Railway and the Teamsters union have agreed to arbitration...
Labor Supports a Fair Trash Plan (opinion)   Gotham Gazette   …Forcing a few neighborhoods to take almost all of the city's trash is just plain wrong…
Freight railroads watched Canadian Pacific strike closely  Associated Press   …Railroad officials say the brief strike by roughly 3,300 Canadian Pacific workers didn’t have a significant impact on U.S. rail traffic. The strike by members of the Teamsters union that began eary Sunday was closely monitored by other railroads…
British Members Of Parliament Join Teamster School Bus Workers At Community Forum  teamster.org   …Teamster school bus drivers and monitors were joined by members of the British Parliament, parents, community, political and faith leaders, as well as representatives from Teamsters Local 509 at tonight’s Community Forum on School Bus Transportation, hosted by S.C. state representatives Wendell Gilliard and David Mack...
Trade
Currency Battle Is Tethered to Obama Trade Agenda  New York Times   …a growing bipartisan majority in Congress is coalescing around a demand that could derail President Obama’s ambitious trade agenda before it really gets moving: include a robust attack on international currency manipulation or no deal...
As free trade pacts expand, U.S. trade deficit soars. Why add one more?  Reuters   …Since the pacts were implemented, U.S. trade deficits, which drag down economic growth, have soared more than 430 percent with our free-trade partners. In the same period, they’ve declined 11 percent with countries that are not free-trade partners. Since fast-track trade authority was used to pass NAFTA and the U.S. entrance into the World Trade Organization, the overall annual U.S. trade deficit in goods has more than quadrupled, from $218 billion to $912 billion…
State Battles
Hundreds attend rally against prevailing wage, right-to-work bills  Charlestown Gazette   …Union workers and supporters showed up in force at the state Capitol for a rally Monday afternoon. The rally, called by Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall, was to protest several bills in the Legislature, including those to make West Virginia a “right to work” state and to cut the state’s prevailing wage…
5 Of The Biggest Right-To-Work Battles  Daily Caller   …Lawmakers in several states are considering their own right-to-work legislation, but opponents warn such proposals will hurt the middle class…
Construction company voices concerns over plans to scrap common wage law  WTHR.com   …The construction industry is abuzz after House Speaker Brian Bosma revealed the Indiana GOP plans to scrap the the state's 80-year-old common wage law for construction workers. It could mean a loss of higher wages for union and non-union workers alike...
War on Workers
Fires from W. Va. derailment could burn 2-3 days  CBS News   …A train carrying more than 100 tankers of crude oil derailed during a snowstorm in southern West Virginia on Monday, sending at least one tanker into a river, igniting at least 14 in all and sending a fireball hundreds of feet into the sky, officials and residents said…
Labor secretary to help reach West Coast port deal  Reuters   …Labor Secretary Tom Perez will travel to California to help broker an agreement between shipping companies and dockworkers in a dispute that has led to a partial shutdown of ports along the U.S. West Coast...
Construction worker killed after falling into sand silo  Atlanta Business Chronicle   …A construction worker was killed after falling into a sand silo at Thomas Concrete Co. on Canton Road in Marietta. Two subcontractors from Texas were cleaning the inside of a silo when one worker fell in...
EMS workers killed in line of duty remembered 2 years after crash  FOX 59   …A vigil was held Monday morning at 3 a.m. to honor two Indianapolis Emergency Medical Service workers who lost their lives in a tragic accident on Feb. 16, 2013...
Miscellaneous 
Economists Say Millennials Should Consider Careers In Trades  National Public Radio   …millions of good-paying jobs are opening up in the trades. And some pay better than what the average college graduate makes...
Are Submarines About to Become Obsolete?  National Interest   … If advances in big data and new detection methods fuse with the anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) ambitions of nations like China and Russia, naval planners around the world might have to go back to the drawing board...

Today's Teamster News 02.12.15

Teamsters
Ken Hall: Right to work is wrong for West Virginia  Charleston Gazette   ...West Virginia citizens are correct to be skeptical of politicians proposing a right-to-work law...
Outcome of Teamsters’ bid to represent CCSD workers pending  Las Vegas Review-Journal   …Dozens of Clark County School District’s bus drivers, janitors, cooks and other support staff hoped to learn late Wednesday what union would be representing the 11,263 workers at the bargaining table. But that decision was postponed until Thursday morning when the Nevada Local Government Employee-Management Relations Board will rule on the validity of Teamsters Local 14’s bid to take over as the workers’ union...
San Bernardino County labor union to vote on joining Teamsters  The Sun   …San Bernardino County’s largest labor union announced Wednesday that its board will vote this month on whether to become a chartered, independent local of the Teamsters...
CP faces weekend strike deadline  The Sun   …Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. is bracing for a possible strike this weekend by the Teamsters union that threatens to damp profit at the country’s second-biggest carrier...
Study Finds UC Workers Are Underpaid  Daily Nexus   ...According to initial reports from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) released two weeks ago, sponsored by Teamsters Local 2010, a majority of University of California union workers receive wages less than the basic one-adult, one-child family’s yearly budget...
Hoffa: Walking Man’ Not Alone In His Struggles  Detroit News   ...Sometimes real life can seem like a movie. Such is the case with James Robertson, the 56-year-old Detroit man who walked 21 miles round trip to his factory job in Rochester Hills each day after his car died and his job moved further into the suburbs...
US Regulators Skeptical Of Huge Food Merger Ahead Of Vote  New York Post   ...Regulators are set to vote in the afternoon on the controversial $3.5 billion merger of the top two distributors of food to schools, restaurants and hospitals that critics charge will lead to higher foods costs across the country, The Post has learned...
Trade
NAFTA shadows Obama's efforts to seek clout for trade deals  Ledger-Enquirer   …A 21-year-old ghost haunts President Barack Obama and his allies as he presses Congress for enhanced powers to make trade deals with Japan and other nations. Obama says new trade deals will avoid the shortcomings of NAFTA, the 1994 North America Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada, which many Americans blame for big job losses, especially in manufacturing...
Currency Warriors Get Boost At G-20 Meeting  Wall Street Journal   ...The world’s top finance leaders on Tuesday in effect backed currency depreciation as a tool for promoting growth by signaling strong support for aggressive easy-money policies aimed at boosting the fragile global economy...
Agricultural Reforms in Japan Pave the Way for TPP  The Diplomat   ...Last October, Japan’s powerful farm lobby, the Japan Agriculture Cooperative (JA), still had the clout to stall Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) ministerial negotiations between Japan and the U.S. over tariffs on sensitive farm products. However, recent reforms tip the balance of power firmly in favor of the government, accelerating JA’s slow demise and paving the way for greater market liberalization and deregulation in Japanese agriculture...
State Battles
Missouri takes a step toward becoming ‘right-to-work’ state  Associated Press   …Missouri took a step toward joining 24 other states with right-to-work laws when its House voted Wednesday to bar the collection of fees from workers who choose not to join a union...
New Mexico House Judiciary Postpones Vote On 'Right-To-Work' Bill  Santa Fe Daily Times   ...Opponents and backers of a highly divisive "right-to-work" bill that would prohibit union membership as a condition for employment in New Mexico testified for five hours before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday evening. After hearing public comments on the legislation, the committee decided to hold off on a vote until Friday afternoon...
Butler County OKs Right-To-Work Ordinance  Bowling Green Daily News   ...Butler County Fiscal Court Monday approved the first reading of a right-to-work ordinance. The ordinance was approved with a vote of 4-1, Deputy Judge-Executive Kim West said. District 4 Magistrate David Whittinghill voted against the measure...
Special Election, Right-To-Work Discussed At Fiscal Court  Maysville Ledger Independent   ...During the meeting, Judge-Executive Larry Foxworthy told the court he would like to wait until the right-to-work law is sorted out in the court system before it is discussed any further in Fleming County...
Minimum Wage Bill Passes Ky. House  Louisville Courier Journal   ...A bill to raise Kentucky's minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2017 passed the House in a largely party-line vote on Tuesday, but the bill again faces an uphill battle in the Senate...
Compromise Crafted On Prevailing Wage  MetroNews   ...Under the compromise reached Wednesday, the task of determining the prevailing wage would be turned over to the state’s Workforce Development office, which would consult with economists at WVU and Marshall to determine the formula for what the pay should be. That formula would still need to be approved by the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Government and Finance...
War on Workers
Congress and President Obama Cannot Sit Idly By While Companies Use H-1B Guestworkers to Replace American Workers  Economic Policy Institute   …A recent investigation by Computerworld revealed that hundreds of information technology (IT) workers were laid off by Southern California Edison (SCE) and replaced with temporary foreign workers through the H-1B guestworker visa program, which allows employers to hire temporary foreign workers for up to six years if they have at least a college degree (most work in IT)…it doesn’t look like any action will be taken to reverse it…
Bernie Sanders: Keeping US From Becoming Oligarchy 'A Struggle We Must Win'  Common Dreams   ...senator says growing wealth gap, high poverty rates, health care crisis signs of country slipping into control of small billionaire class...
Judge Rules For NSA In Warrantless Search Case  Reuters   ...A U.S. judge on Tuesday ruled in favor of the National Security Agency in a lawsuit challenging the interception of Internet communications without a warrant, according to a court filing...
Justice Department Is Seeking Felony Pleas By Big Banks In Foreign Currency Inquiry  New York Times   ...The Justice Department is pushing some of the biggest banks on Wall Street — including, for the first time in decades, American institutions — to plead guilty to criminal charges that they manipulated the prices of foreign currencies...