TPP wipes out in Hawaii, and why it's good for workers

It seems the Teamsters and fellow fair-trade allies aren't the only ones who have problems with Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Several of the 12 nations currently negotiating the pact are raising concerns as well.

The U.S., Canada, Japan and Mexico are among the nations who still have major problems with the deal. Dairy, auto trade and medicines are some of the outstanding issues, the article stated. And now the future of the deal is in doubt, The New York Times reported:

[T]he failure to complete the deal — eight years in the making — means the next round of negotiations will push the United States ratification fight into 2016, a presidential election year. Most Republican candidates are very likely to back it, but a final agreement would force the Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton to declare her position, which she has avoided.

This agreement is not a good deal for this country, Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said today. He noted that some 30,000 good-paying Teamster dairy jobs could be jeopardized, while in return store shelves in this country will be littered with cheap products and unsafe food. There are real moral implications if the deal is approved, he stated:

The Teamsters and other fair trade advocates have taken a staunch stand against the TPP because of how this far-reaching proposal will affect workers across the globe. It will result in thousands of U.S. jobs being shipped overseas, and does not adequately address forced labor and human rights violations that continue to be an issue in nations like Malaysia and Vietnam.

Those worries are still very real. That’s why even if this Pacific Rim trade pact is eventually approved, Congress must do the right thing and reject it.

The TPP also would do nothing to halt the practice of currency manipulation, which drives up the cost of American products abroad and drives down the price for foreign goods sold here. The practice has taken a toll on the U.S. automobile industry, stifling sales of American vehicles overseas. Yet the agreement does nothing to stop it.

It's time the productivity of American workers showed up in their paychecks, and that means no more unfair trade deals. Now Congress needs to ensure that happens.

Today's Teamster News 07.21.15

Teamsters
Port truck drivers to wage 6th strike beginning Tuesday  Press-Telegram  ...Port truck drivers at a Carson-based company announced Monday they will again walk off the job to protest what they describe as wage theft and unfair working conditions. Drivers with Pacific 9 Transportation will begin pickets at 6 a.m. Tuesday at the company’s yard in Carson, then spread to marine terminals at the Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles, according to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which is trying to win unionization for the drivers...
Teamsters Deliver Results for Annual Food Drive  Teamster.org  ...This year’s sixth annual “Feed the County” campaign in Aroostook County, Maine, once again garnered a successful result thanks to efforts by Teamsters Local 340 in South Portland, Maine. At Saturday’s “Potato Blossom Parade” in Fort Fairfield, Maine, the Teamsters collected 10,000 pounds of food. They also raised $6,000 in monetary donations. This allows Catholic Charities to obtain 54,000 pounds of food...
Minneapolis Teamsters Commemorate '34 Teamsters Strikes  (video)  Teamster.org  ...Former General Secretary-Treasurer Tom Keegel joined Local 120 staffer (and granddaughter) Haylee Hilton to discuss the significance of the first marker to commemorate the historic 1934 Minneapolis Teamsters strikes. The marker was unveiled during a June 18 ceremony in the city's Warehouse District...
Negotiations remain at standstill between EVSC Board and Teamsters  Courier & Press  ...Two weeks after the July 6 Evansville Vanderburgh School Board meeting, which was overflowing into the administration building’s lobby with Teamsters Local 215 members, collective bargaining sessions between the two groups remain at a standstill. Teamsters Local 215 President Chuck Whobrey said nothing new has happened since the last school board meeting...

Global Labor & Trade
House Democrats, Advocates Blast Trade Deal Protections For Drug Companies  Huffington Post  ...House Democrats and health care advocates blasted drug patent provisions in a current draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement on Friday, criticizing the Obama administration for advancing policies that could drive up drug global drug costs. Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), together with health advocates and a representative of the generic drug maker Mylan, called on the Obama administration to change aspects of the 12-nation Pacific Rim trade pact...
EU TTIP chief negotiator: ISDS proposal being finalized  Politico  ...The European Union will soon give the United States a formal proposal for revamping an investment dispute settlement mechanism that has raised concerns in Europe over the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership pact. “We would be aiming to put forward a proposal to the United States that is different from the existing ISDS [investor-state dispute settlement] regime,” Ignacio Garcia Bercero, the EU chief TTIP negotiator, told reporters...
House Dems: Financial safeguards needed in trade deal  The Hill  ...Four House Democrats on Monday urged the Obama administration to ensure that a pending Asia-Pacific trade deal includes strong capital controls that would help minimize the damaging effects of financial crises. The lawmakers want the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to give governments more flexibility to protect the stability of their financial systems by stemming the flow of speculative capital...
Pacific Partnership needs reform before it will help workers: Richard Trumka  (opinion) USA Today  ...The debate over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has just begun and workers in dozens of industries from every sector are going to have plenty to say about it. The last six months mark a fundamental shift in how our nation approaches and evaluates international trade proposals. Since before the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), international trade has been treated as a "no-brainer," the sole purview of corporate and neo-liberal elites...
Greek banks reopen as citizens brace for new austerity measures  Christian Science Monitor  ...Orderly lines formed outside banks in Athens Monday morning as Greek banks reopened for the first time in three weeks. With the government contemplating withdrawing from the euro, faced with about €200 billion in debt, and the prospect of harsh austerity measures attached to any bailout from Europe – Greek banks had been shuttered for weeks to prevent the financial system from collapsing under a flood of withdrawals...
How Can Greece Break Out of the Austerity Trap?  The Nation  ...Greek banks have reopened this week, but Greece’s economy remains trapped in a tragic financial standoff—ironically, an economic war orchestrated by the monetary system originally designed to promote peaceful cooperation. So as the protests, financial panic, and political brinksmanship run their course, can anyone envision Greece actually rebuilding from this mess? ...
Bitterness remains as Crown Metal workers end 2-year strike  The Star  ...After a strike that spanned two bitter winters, the taste of victory is far from sweet for the workers of Crown Metal packaging. Employees narrowly voted Sunday night to ratify a new collective agreement with the Toronto-based beer can manufacturer, after one of province’s longest pickets in recent history...

State & Living Wage Battles
Bills seek more stable hours for low-paid workers  Boston Globe  ...Unpredictable scheduling is on the rise across the country as the part-time and around-the-clock labor force expands, and there is a growing movement to give employees, most of them low-wage, more control over when they work. A federal bill reintroduced last week and cosponsored by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, as well as bills in 10 states, including Massachusetts, would require employers to stabilize schedules...
Members Of Congress Introduce Largest Minimum Wage Hike Yet  Think Progress  ...On Wednesday, members of Congress will introduce a national increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) along with Democratic Reps. Keith Ellison (MN), Raúl Grijalva (AZ), and other members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus will release details of the legislation after a morning event that day. A $15 minimum wage hike marks a significant increase from past Democratic bills to raise it...
Sanders to push $15 minimum wage bill  The Hill  ...Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is pushing new legislation to raise the minimum wage for all workers to $15 an hour. The Democratic presidential candidate, who has made addressing income inequality a centerpiece of his campaign, will introduce the minimum wage bill Wednesday. Sanders has long called for a $15 minimum wage, but this is the first bill he is introducing to do so...
Wisconsin dairy farmers push for immigration reform  Journal Sentinel  ...Wisconsin dairy farmers are pushing for immigration reform, saying they need a federal labor policy that guarantees they will have enough employees to maintain and expand their businesses. By some estimates, nearly half or more of the hired help on U.S. dairy farms is immigrant labor — with a large percentage of those workers being undocumented. Without the foreign help, some farmers say, they would be forced to quit milking cows...
Florida Legislature to redraw congressional lines in August  Associated Press  ...Florida's Republican-controlled Legislature, dealing with the fallout of a sharply critical decision by the state's highest court, will hold a nearly two-week special session in August to draw up new congressional districts. House Speaker Steve Crisafulli and Senate President Andy Gardiner finally announced Monday that they were summoning legislators back to town to respond to the court. In an extraordinary ruling earlier this month, the Florida Supreme Court gave lawmakers just 100 days to draw up the new map...
How Hedge and Vulture Funds Have Exploited Puerto Rico’s Debt Crisis  The Nation  ...over the past few years there’s been a growing presence of hedge funds, which avoid regulatory oversight and are solely interested in profit, regardless of how a national—or in the case of Puerto Rico, territorial—economy performs. Vulture funds, their more extreme counterparts, specifically target debt that is distressed or in danger of default in troubled economies, hoping to cash in on settlements after buying the debt for pennies on the dollar...
L.A. County supervisors set to vote on minimum wage increase  LA Times  ...Los Angeles County supervisors are expected to vote Tuesday to boost the minimum wage in county-controlled unincorporated areas from $9 to $15 over the next few years, following the lead of the city of Los Angeles. The anticipated vote could put the greater Los Angeles area on track to a $15-an-hour regional wage -- or could result in a patchwork system in which some of the 87 smaller independent cities in the county move to a higher wage and others hold out...

U.S. Labor
N.M. Field and Dairy Laborers Win Right To Workers’ Comp—Court Calls Exemption ‘Absurd’  In These Times   ...The New Mexico Court of Appeals ruled in June that excluding field and ranch workers from workers’ comp protection is unconstitutional. It was the second victory for New Mexico’s farmworkers in less than a year—and that’s big news in a low-wage sector made up primarily of immigrant workers, where victories tend to be few and far between. The first victory came last August when farmworkers finally started getting paid the correct minimum wage...
NLRB: Wilkes-Barre General Hospital violated federal law by withholding nurses’ longevity pay  Times Leader  ...The National Labor Relations Board has upheld a ruling that Wilkes-Barre General Hospital violated federal labor law when it withheld longevity-based pay from nurses last year. In an order dated July 14, the NLRB upheld the decision of Administrative Law Judge Susan A. Flynn, who ruled in September that the hospital violated the National Labor Relations Act when it failed to pay longevity-based wage increases to nurses after their union contract expired...
Unions’ New Target For Improving T-Mobile: The German Government  Buzzfeed  ...Telecommunications workers in America and Europe are petitioning the German Bundestag, or parliament, to take responsibility for labor conditions at U.S.-based T-Mobile. The German government owns a 31.7% share in Deutsche Telekom, the primary parent company of T-Mobile. This is enough, workers at Germany’s ver.di union and the U.S. Communications Workers of America argue, to mean the government should use its shareholder power to pressure Deutsche Telekom into enforcing international labor standards at its subsidiary...
The UAW and two tier employment  Michigan Radio  ...The UAW thinks their membership has sacrificed enough. Most of their higher-paid longtime, or “legacy,” workers make $28.50 an hour. But they haven’t had a raise in eight years, which, in reality, means they’ve had a pay cut. And the newer, Tier II workers can make a maximum of $19.28 an hour, which means that some workers are making more than $300 dollars a week less than another guy next to them who is doing the same job...

Miscellaneous
Smashing All Previous Records, 2015 on Track to Be Hottest Year Yet  Common Dreams  ...The planet Earth, with mankind's help, is leap-frogging into sweltering new territory. With the monthly update from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) out Monday, three of the world's official climate reporting agencies agree that June 2015 was the hottest on record, and that this year is shaping up to be the hottest year yet. Scientists attribute this heat to human-induced global warming coupled with a particularly potent El Niño event...
Hillary Clinton—'Black lives matter. Everyone in this country should stand firmly behind that.'  Daily Kos  ...Although there is a tremendous amount of debate happening in the world of progressive activists about the #BlackLivesMatter protests at the conference over the weekend, there can be no denying they have elevated this debate to an unprecedented level. Their tenacious, relentless protesting means that real criminal justice reform will be a topic that no presidential candidate will be able to skirt if he or she wants to have any serious chance for the nomination or the White House...
Sandra Bland and the Long History of Racism in Waller County, Texas  The Atlantic  ...Waller County, Texas, has had a complicated racial history since the days when it was a part of Mexico. The messy, confusing double legacy of that history has persisted to the present, most recently embodied in the death of Sandra Bland in a Waller County jail cell. Bland, a 28-year-old from Chicago, was on a road trip to start a new job at her alma mater, historically black Prairie View A&M University, when she was pulled over by a state trooper for failing to signal a turn...
Red States 'Feel The Bern' as Populist Message Resonates  Common Dreams  ...On his latest round of campaign rallies this weekend, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) drew three more huge crowds in support of his populist message. And while this has become a common occurrence these days for the senator, who is running for president in the 2016 election as a Democrat, the most recent turnouts are particularly significant because he is on a red-state swing...

Today's Teamster News 03.18.15

Teamsters
NEW: Teamsters Organize Workers at Daniele Foods in RI  GoLocalProv   ...The Teamsters Local 251 have announced that they have organized the shipping and receiving departments, as well as drivers, at Daniel Foods in Pascoag, RI...  
Trade
House Republican Bloc Poses a Threat to Pacific Trade Deal  Wall Street Journal   ...A diverse bloc of House Republicans is threatening to join Democrats in opposition to the White House’s trade push, imperiling an effort long seen as one of the few prospects this year for bipartisan cooperation...
Lawmakers Say TPP Meetings Classified To Keep Americans in the Dark  eNewsParkForest   ...Lawmakers in Congress who remain wary of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement are raising further objections this week to the degree of secrecy surrounding briefings on the deal, with some arguing that the main reason at least one meeting has been registered "classified" is to help keep the American public ignorant about giveaways to corporate interests and its long-term implications...
Obama trade agenda becomes problem for Hillary Clinton  The Hill   ...President Obama's pro-trade agenda is a problem for Hillary Clinton, who is under pressure from liberals to oppose her former boss’s push for fast-track authority as she prepares to run for the White House...
Rep. Tim Ryan hopes President Obama sees trade agreement consequences during Cleveland visit  Cleveland.com   ... Rep. Tim Ryan hopes President Barack Obama takes a good look around Northeast Ohio on Wednesday as visits Cleveland to deliver a speech to the City Club on middle-class economics. Ryan believes such an examination would show Obama that trade agreements harmed the region's economy...
TPP Is Only Secret From You – But Trust Us, It’s Good For You  Campaign for America's Future   ...“We have to see TPP. It may not be the final agreement, but we have to see what it is,” Pelosi told reporters after the first of several House Democratic Caucus meetings to dig into details about the proposed pact with Japan and 10 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region...
Intellectual Property Issues Hinder TPP Talks In Hawaii  Japan News   ...Chief negotiators from Japan, the United States and 10 other countries in Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral free trade talks failed to iron out differences in their one-week meeting that ended Sunday...
State Battles
'Right to work' means right to leave Wisconsin  KY3   ...The owner of a Wisconsin construction company is taking his business to Minnesota because of the passage of ‘right-to-work’ legislation in Wisconsin. His company employs 200 union workers...
Oregon is first state to adopt automatic voter registration  Associated Press   ...Seventeen years after Oregon decided to become the first state to hold all elections with mail-in ballots, it took another pioneering step on Monday to broaden participation by automatically registering people to vote...
Tampa Bay Democrats ramping up wage-theft laws  Tampa Bay Times   ...Local Tampa Bay Democrats, supported by unions, are pushing ordinances to intervene when employees say an employer has shorted their pay. The proposals are the exact kind of local "wage theft" ordinances that Republicans and retail groups have sought unsuccessfully to outlaw in Tallahassee saying they place an unfair burden on business...
Legislation Would Require Private Student Loans Be Forgiven If Borrower Dies  Consumerist   ...New York Senator Chuck Schumer announced today that he would push for legislation – called “Andrew’s Law” – that would require private student loan companies to forgive outstanding debt if a borrower dies...
War on Workers
Obama Likely To Veto Resolution To Overturn NLRB Rule  Wall Street Journal   ...If Mr. Obama were to veto the resolution, there wouldn’t be enough votes in the Senate to override his opposition, said a Democratic aide. Senate Republicans control 54 of the chamber’s seats, short of the 67 needed to override a veto...
Fixed Fortunes: Biggest corporate political interests spend billions, get trillions  Sunlight Foundation   ...Between 2007 and 2012, 200 of America’s most politically active corporations spent a combined $5.8 billion on federal lobbying and campaign contributions. A year-long analysis by the Sunlight Foundation suggests, however, that what they gave pales compared to what those same corporations got: $4.4 trillion in federal business and support...
Middle-Class Betrayal? Why Working Hard Is No Longer Enough in America  NBC News   ...even with more education, working 18-to-34 year old adults are earning less than they did 15 years ago...
Worker Killed At Plastics Plant In Cartersville  Atlanta Journal Constitution   ...A 40-year-old man was cleaning a plastics mixing machine at Syncot Plastics on South Erwin Street around 7 a.m. when he got caught in a roller bar and was dragged through the machine, said Cartersville police spokesman Maj. Mark Camp...
Va. Mine Worker Killed By Falling Rock  Richmond Times Dispatch   ...Alpha Natural Resources Inc. says a worker at one of its affiliate mines in southwest Virginia has died after being struck by falling rock. According to the Bristol, Virginia-based company, the incident occurred Monday morning at Deep Mine 41 near McClure. The mine is run by Paramont Coal Co...
Miscellaneous
U.S. Oil Prices Fall To Six-Year Low  New York Times   ...Oil prices fell to six-year lows on Monday in the face of concerns that a glut in the United States was outpacing already-brimming storage facilities. Additionally, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries published a report suggesting that the cartel remained reluctant to intervene to prop up prices...
Drop In Manufacturing Takes Shine Off Small Gain In Industrial Production  Wall Street Journal   ...Industrial production, which measures the output of manufacturers, utilities and mines, rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1% from the prior month, the Federal Reserve said Monday. Utility output surged during unusually cold weather, but factory and mining production declined, reflecting weaker demand and cuts in the oil and gas sector...
Texas Bill Would Turn Off Power To Massive NSA Surveillance Facility  Tenth Amendment Center   ...Rep. Jonathan Stickland (R) introduced House Bill 3916 (HB3916) on March 13. The legislation would prohibit any political subdivision in Texas from providing water or electricity to any federal agency “involved in the routine surveillance or collection and storage of bulk telephone or e-mail records or related metadata concerning any citizen of the United States and that claims the legal authority to collect and store the bulk telephone or e-mail records or metadata concerning any citizen of the United States without the citizen’s consent or a search warrant that describes the person, place, or thing to be searched or seized.”...

Today's Teamster News 02.13.15

Teamsters
Cross-Border Trucking Program Moving Forward  Texas Tribune   ...After two decades of political posturing, a cross-border trucking program will soon be ready to roll, opening up an avenue to expand trade between Texas and Mexico....
Teamsters Approve New Contracts at MillerCoors Breweries In N.C. And Texas  teamster.org   …Teamsters at MillerCoors breweries in Eden, N.C., and Fort Worth, Texas, have ratified new, three-year contracts. The agreements cover more than 900 employees at the two breweries and provide lifetime retiree health care benefits. Members of Local 391 and 997 at each location voted Saturday to ratify the contracts by 88 percent...
Teamster Unity Versus Heidelberg Family Feud  teamster.org   ... In a dramatic show of unity in the face of unreasonable demands on Heidelberg Distributing’s unionized workforce, Teamsters who represent approximately 500 workers at six of Heidelberg’s family-owned distributorships of beer, wine and spirits in Ohio declared their solidarity by marching together into negotiations with Teamsters Local 284 in Columbus for contract talks yesterday. Employees there voted to join the Teamsters two years ago, but are still without a contract...
Clark County School District Employees Win New Teamster Election  teamster.org   ...Today, in a major victory for workers, the Employee-Management Relations Board (EMRB) acknowledged that the supermajority election rule for Clark County School District (CCSD) support staff was not in the best interest of the employees and has ordered a new election take place requiring simple majority...
Hoffa To President Obama: Sign The Keystone Pipeline Act  teamster.org   ...With the passage of the Keystone Pipeline Act by the House of Representatives today, Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa is urging President Obama to sign the legislation when it reaches his desk...
GW Professor Becomes Inaugural James R. Hoffa Teamsters Professor In Modern American Labor History  Newswise   ...Eric Arnesen, a specialist in the history of race, labor, politics and civil rights was officially installed yesterday as the George Washington University’s James R. Hoffa Teamsters Professor in Modern American Labor History...
York County Prison Counselors Get New Contract  York Dispatch   ...The county and Teamsters Local 776, which represents the workers, couldn't reach a deal and were slated to go to arbitration, when the two sides revisited the contract and were able to reach an agreement...
Sysco Meets With FTC Commissioners In Effort To Allay Antitrust Concerns  Wall Street Journal   ...Sysco Corp. met with the five commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission in a last-ditch attempt to avert a possible antitrust lawsuit to block the food distributor’s planned $3.5 billion purchase of rival US Foods Inc...
Trade
Council Member Helen Rosenthal calls for NYC to be a "TPP-Free Zone"  Helen Rosenthal   ...On Thursday Council Member Helen Rosenthal introduced a new resolution that opposes the President’s “fast-track” authority over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and declares New York City a “TPP-Free Zone.”...
Liberal Democrats align with Tea Party against Obama’s trade agenda  Daily Times   ...A coalition of liberal Democrats and Tea Party Republicans is fighting against US President Barack Obama’s 
ambitious trade agenda that he hopes to secure before he leaves office...
The ‘Movement of Movements’ against Fast Tracking the TPP has the power to win  Daily Kos   …Since the President’s State of the Union message where he announced his plan to push corporate trade agreements and seek Fast Track trade promotion authority, the movement against Fast Track, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and globalized trade has grown. Instead of the bump in support that Obama expected after the State of the Union, opposition has increased inside Congress and in the grass roots...
Leaked : TTIP negotiations to constrain regulations that protect public interest  unbalanced evolution   …According to the proposal, as soon as a new regulation is in the pipeline, businesses should be informed through an annual report, and be involved. This is now called 'early information on planned acts', until recently called 'early warning'….This means businesses, for instance, at an early stage, can try to block rules intended to prevent the food industry from marketing foodstuffs with toxic substances, laws trying to keep energy companies from destroying the climate, or regulations to combat pollution and protect consumers.”...
A corporate coup d’etat Illinois Times   ...You haven’t heard of the TPP? Dubbed “a corporate coup d’etat” by Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, it’s a grandiose grab for power masked as a trade deal allowing an unprecedented level of global corporate rule over Americans. One reason we commoners don’t know about it is that the corporate and governmental elites of the 12 nations that have been negotiating this momentous deal in strict secrecy not only are keeping us in the dark, but also Congress. Another reason, however, is that the mass media has been shockingly silent, apparently even incurious, about what clearly is a huge story with historic consequences...
State Battles
Missouri House Approves Right-To-Work Bill, But Margin Not Veto-Proof  St. Louis Public Radio   ...For the first time ever, the Missouri House has approved a right-to-work bill that curbs union rights. But the House’s 92-66 vote Wednesday afternoon was far short of the number – 109 -- needed to withstand a likely veto by Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat with close union ties...
‘Paycheck Protection’ Bill Aims At Unions  Lee's Summit Journal   ...A [Missouri] House committee on Monday signed off on legislation supporters have christened “paycheck protection” — and detractors call “paycheck deception” — that would require public employees to give permission before union dues are taken from their paychecks...
Beer Battle Brewing In Frankfort Spills Into Commercials  WHAS   ...A-B InBev has stressed that House Bill 168 is backed by rival distributorships that want to take over businesses it would be forced to sell. The Belgium-based company has the backing of the Teamsters Union. About 200 Teamsters work at the Louisville facility...
House panel shoots down two Senate bills opposed by Kentucky unions  Herald-Leader   ... Union workers flooded the state Capitol on Thursday to express their disdain for bills that would allow people to work for unionized employers without joining the union and repeal the prevailing-wage requirement for school construction projects. They liked what they heard in the House Labor and Industry Committee. The panel overwhelmingly voted down Senate Bill 1, the so-called right-to-work bill sponsored by Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, and SB 9, the prevailing-wage measure sponsored by Sen. Wil Schroder, R-Campbell County...
More Kentucky Counties Getting Behind the Right-to-Work Movement  WKU   ...Butler County is joining the growing list of Kentucky counties passing or considering right-to-work laws. ..
Right-Wing Media Discover A Lawless Executive Order They Support -- It's Anti-Union, Of Course  Media Matters for America   ...Right-wing media are celebrating Gov. Bruce Rauner's (R-IL) executive order blocking public-sector unions from collecting "fair share" fees from the state employees they represent, even though there is no precedent for such a move... 
Education Is Newest Target Of Kansas Budget Cuts  New York Times   ...The cuts come amid a larger budget picture in which the governor has been forced to fill a $344 million budget gap for the fiscal year ending in June; a shortfall of nearly $600 million has been forecast for the fiscal year starting July 1....
States Dangle Water To Tempt California Dairy Farmers  NBC News   ...Mark Watte, a diversified row crop and dairy farmer in Tulare, said he's considered moving his 1,000-cow operation out of California due to water shortages and burdensome regulations, but his family obligations keep him here...
War on Workers
Are You Being Served - By A Drone  Bloomberg News   ...Timbre introduced tablets at its restaurants more than three years ago to enable customers to place orders faster; it resulted in a 25 percent increase in productivity, Chia said. It now plans to equip its five venues with eight drones each, four at the bar and four for the kitchen. After diners place their orders on the tablets, the drones will pick up the food and drinks from the kitchen or bar and deliver them to a service area, from where the staff will take them to the tables, he said. They will also be loaded with empties to take back to the kitchen...
OUTRAGE! Indiana Wants Workers To Repay Unemployment Cash Received Because State Messed Up!  Praise Indy   ...During the summer months school bus drivers, Head Start workers and others who work most of the year, but have a hiatus during the summer, used to be able to file for unemployment benefits.  But the Legislature changed the law prohibiting it.  But it seems none told employees at state unemployment offices who approved the benefits when workers applied.  Now, after catching their mistake, the state wants the workers to payback the cash, even though it was the state that screwed up...
Oil Workers Are Striking Because They're Underpaid and Overworked—and It's Killing Them  New Republic   ...The union accuses oil companies like Shell and BP of keeping operations too lean while oil prices are low, hiring inexperienced non-union operators, and overworking staff. "We're concerned about the excessive overtime," said Lynne Hancock, a spokesperson for United Steelworkers. "In a lot of locations the workers have mandatory overtime. And when people are working non-stop, they get tired and fatigued. And when you are fatigued, you have a tendency to make some mistakes...
Study says 401(k)-style public pensions cost more than traditional plans  Reuters   ...Public worker unions and others who back traditional pensions over 401(k)-style plans got ammunition on Tuesday from a new study that shows U.S. state governments that made the switch did not achieve the predicted savings but rather lost money...
South Texas oil worker dies, fell from rig  Associated Press   …An oil field worker in South Texas has died after falling while near the top of a 50-foot rig...
Miscellaneous
Goldman: Here's Why Oil Crashed—and Why Lower Prices Are Here to Stay  Bloomberg News   ...The big take-away: “[T]he decline in oil has been driven by an oversupplied global oil market,” wrote Goldman economist Sven Jari Stehn. As a result, “the new equilibrium price of oil will likely be much lower than over the past decade.”... 

Today's Teamster News 02.11.15

Teamsters
Teamsters give CP Rail 72-hour strike notice  CBC News   …3,330 locomotive engineers and conductors could walk off the job this weekend…
Farmers, Gov’t Brace For Possible Railway Labour Problems  Regina Leader Post   ...The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents unionized locomotive engineers, conductors, trainmen and yardmen throughout Canada, says its members have voted by 93 per cent in favour of a strike if they can’t reach an agreement with the Canadian Pacific Railway...
Sysco-US Foods Merger Faces Skepticism, Doubts About Remedies  teamster.org   ...As Sysco attempts to overcome antitrust issues plaguing its proposed acquisition of US Foods, the transaction faces skepticism from elected officials, consumer advocates, food service establishments, workers and others. They warn there may be no adequate remedies to protect consumers in an industry that, in the words of lawmakers on the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, “touches every single American consumer who eats meals away from home.”...
Golan's Workers Win First Union Contract, End 6-Month Strike  Progress Illinois   ...Following a strike that lasted six months, unionized workers at Golan's Moving and Storage in Skokie are back on the job after winning their first labor contract with their employer. Prior to the strike, workers at the Skokie moving company, located at 3600 Jarvis Ave., were waiting for their first labor contract for months after having won union representation by Teamsters Local 705 back in December 2013...
Trade
U.S. Lawmakers Put Currency Cheating On Trade Agenda  Reuters   ...U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday unveiled bipartisan legislation to stop trading partners from manipulating exchange rates, and a senior Democrat vowed to keep pushing for rules against currency cheating in trade deals...
Corrected Trade Data Confirm Ballooning Trade Deficit Under Korea FTA and More Than Twice the Trade Deficit With NAFTA Partners  Public Citizen Global Trade Watch   ...The corrected data, which remove foreign-produced goods from the tally of U.S. exports, reveal that the U.S. goods trade deficit with NAFTA partners is actually more than twice as large as indicated in the raw data, topping 182 billion. And three years after passage of the U.S pact with Korea that served as the template for the TPP, the U.S. goods trade deficit with Korea has ballooned 72 percent, spelling the loss of more than 70,000 U.S. jobs...
Left and Right Align in Fighting Obama’s Trade Agenda  New York Times   ...About 150 of the House’s 188 Democrats have already signed on to letters opposing fast track, an ominous figure for the president, since Mr. Boehner said last Congress he would need as many as 50 Democratic votes...
Trade Must Not Trump Women's Human Rights (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...Women's rights groups, including the Feminist Majority Foundation, sent President Obama a letter last summer, requesting that the administration remove Brunei from TPP negotiations or suspend TPP talks until Brunei revokes its penal code...
State Battles
Missouri Republicans target public employee unions  Washington Post   ...A measure that would severely limit the power of some public employee unions is advancing through the Missouri state House, opening the latest front in the GOP’s nationwide fight to curb one of the Democratic Party’s wealthiest constituencies. A House committee approved so-called “paycheck protection” legislation Monday...
Nurses Condemn Illinois Governor’s Anti-Worker Executive Order  National Nurses United   ...“Nurses, emergency responders, child welfare advocates, and public servants who enforce public oversight and regulatory protections are among the many groups of workers threatened by the order,” said Martese Chism, a Chicago registered nurse and board member for National Nurses Organizing Committee-Illinois, an NNU affiliate...
Davis Introduces Bill Which Would Require At Least Two Man Train Crews  KCSR   ...District 43 State Senator Al Davis of Hyannis wants to keep the thought of one man crews in the past. Davis has introduced Legislative Bill Number 192 (Nebraska), which would require all train crews in the state to have at least two individuals...
War on Workers
IRS Issues John Doe Summons To FedEx, DHL, UPS, HSBC In Massive Offshore Account Hunt  Forbes   …A federal judge approved the IRS issuing summonses requiring FedEx, DHL, UPS, and a bevy of other handlers to produce information about U.S. taxpayers who used Sovereign Management & Legal Ltd. for offshore accounts and assets...
Investors Should Know Pay Gap Between C.E.O.s and Workers (opinion)  New York Times   ...It has been well documented that large pay gaps between chief executives and their workers severely weaken companies and put investments in those companies at risk. These gaps inhibit teamwork and lead to lower job satisfaction and morale, higher employee turnover, reduced productivity and inferior product quality...
Should you join a union? The research says yes.  Washington Post   ...unions serve as a bulwark against wage inequality — which now can be illustrated mostly in the negative. A 2011 study attributed a fifth to a third of increased income inequality among men to the decline in union representation between 1973 and 2007...
Investor: Peasants Will Be Out With Pitchforks if We Don't Start Sharing the Wealth  Bloomberg News   ...Society at large has to enjoy some of the largesse, or else the pitchforks come out...
Uber Drivers Are Scrambling To Make Ends Meet After Latest Fare Cuts  New York Observer   ...Uber slashed fares in Washington D.C. two weeks ago in another attempt to get their app onto every phone they can and edge out “Big Taxi.” ... A number of drivers we spoke to—some who we reached out to, some who got in touch with us after seeing our previous reporting—say that the fare cuts are scorched-earth warfare tactics that sacrifice great drivers on the altar of competition...
The Koch Brothers Raised $249 Million At Their Latest Donor Summit  Mother Jones   ...Donors at the Palm Springs confab pledged $249 million toward funding the Koch brothers' grand plan, according to two sources with knowledge of the fundraising haul. ...If the Koch network raises comparable sums at its remaining donor retreats between now and November 2016—it tends to hold two to three such gatherings a year—it will easily meet, if not surpass, its $889 million target...
Comcast worker killed in Glen Ridge accident recalled as accomplished fighter, dedicated father  NJ.com   ...A Comcast employee who was killed while working on a utility pole last week was an accomplished martial arts fighter and dedicated father to three sons....
Miscellaneous
Virginia Tech Undertakes Restart Study, Looking For 250 Driver Participants  The Trucker   ...The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute is looking for some 250 truck drivers to participate in the Congressionally-mandated study that could ultimately determine whether drivers have unlimited use of the 34-hour restart provision or whether they will only be allowed a restart only once every 168 hours and then must include two consecutive 1 a. m.-5 a.m. time periods. VTTI was awarded a $4 million contract by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to conduct the study...

Today's Teamster News 02.10.15

Teamsters
Los Angeles, Long Beach port truckers at Carson firm OK first labor contract  Press-Telegram   …After three days of bargaining, Shippers Transport Express drivers voted Sunday on a one-year contract that increased hourly wages from $18 per hour to $21 per hour retroactive to Jan. 9 when drivers voted to unionize. The deal also offers full medical insurance with 100 percent of premiums paid by the employer. The drivers, who are represented by International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 848, will also receive paid leave, overtime after 40 hours a week, a process for filing grievances and resolving work conflict issues under their new contract, which spans from Jan. 9 to Dec. 31…
NYC Bill Banning Horse-Drawn Carriages, Film Could Have Ripple Effect In Charleston  Post and Courier   ...This summer, the debate over New York City’s horse-drawn carriage industry will heat up again as a proposed law, introduced by Mayor Bill De Blasio in December 2014, is brought to city council for a vote...
Trade
Tea party, Dems join forces to put Obama’s Asia trade deal in jeopardy Washington Times ...The trade agreement that is the linchpin of President Obama’s Asia policy is in jeopardy of breaking apart because of a lack of trust on Capitol Hill on both sides of the partisan aisle, with opposition mounting from tea party Republicans and rank-and-file Democrats who don’t have faith in the president’s ability to negotiate a good deal...
Central Banks Move To Drive Down Currencies, Yielding Domino Effect  Wall Street Journal   ...The central-bank stimulus spree of 2015 has the look of a global currency war. In quick succession, countries representing about a third of the world’s economic output—from the eurozone to China, Australia and Canada—have taken steps that have driven down the value of their currencies...
Trade Deal Health Concerns MJA InSight   ...“There must be a greater degree of transparency; we can’t simply accept assurances from the government that health won’t be compromised. The specifics really matter here”, Dr Parnis told MJA InSight...
French Senate Tells TTIP Negotiators To ‘Abolish’ ISDS  EurActiv   ... Critics say the clause would limit government's ability to regulate in the public interest while supporters claim it is necessary for companies to obtain redress, especially in countries with weak judicial systems, where TTIP would set a precedent...
State Battles
Rauner exec order takes aim at unions  Associated Press   …Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner struck a first official blow on Monday against the public sector labor unions he has frequently criticized by ordering an end to a requirement that workers pay dues even if they decide not to join a union...
Don’t Say He Didn’t Warn You: Ultra-Rich Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner Spells Out Anti-Union Agenda  In These Times   ...Now that Rauner has taken office, he is staying consistent in his attack on public workers but including more private sector workers as his target. His first “state of the state” address, delivered yesterday to a legislature with both houses controlled by Democrats, was strongly anti-union and catered to conservative business groups...
Missouri House Ready To Take On 'Right to Work' Measure  St. Louis Public Radio   ...With an even larger Republican majority, the Missouri House is expected this week to take up – and possibly approve – legislation aimed at making Missouri the 25th “right-to-work” state in the country by curbing union rights...
Paycheck bills heard in House committee  Missouri Times   ...“Paycheck deception bills are promoted by ALEC and the Koch brothers all over the country,” [Crystal] Parks said. “Some extreme and out-of-touch Missouri politicians are working with these billionaires and their front groups against Missouri families. These laws would unfairly single out folks like nurses and teachers and other public workers. We need our leaders to focus on creating jobs, not more attacks on workers.”...
John David: ‘Right to work’ unfair to workers, lead to lower pay The Charleston Gazette   ...It does not mean that every worker has the right to a job and to receive work at fair wages, reasonable hours, and under decent labor standards...
WV Republican Lawmakers Push Labor Bills Forward  WOWK   ...“We are going to drive down the wages for people in this state. And the state that has the lowest per capita income in the country? Their solution is to drive the wages down further,” said Senator Jeff Kessler, D- Marshall, the Senate Minority Leader...
Labor Issues Divide Legislature  Herald-Dispatch   ...The new Republican majority in the West Virginia Legislature has a strategy for state labor laws, and the beginning of what will likely be some of the most heated debates in the 2015 session are about to unfold, many lawmakers believe...
Kansas Gov. Brownback's Budget Hits Cherished Highway System  Huffington Post   ...Gov. Sam Brownback and the GOP-dominated Legislature this past week worked out plans for closing a $344 million deficit and allowing the state to pay its bills on time into the summer. The plans included cuts to predictable targets, such as education spending and public pension contributions, but also diverted money from highway projects, which are especially prized by the governor's rural supporters...
Missouri Lawmaker Proposes Banning Local Minimum Wages  KSPR   ...A Missouri Republican wants to ban local laws that raise the minimum wage, require employers to offer paid sick leave or other benefits or prohibit employers from asking about criminal convictions early in the job application process...
VA Lawmakers Defeat Bill To End Use Of Child Labor On Tobacco Farms  WVIR   ...A growing coalition is getting very vocal about the use of child workers on tobacco farms across Virginia. However, late Tuesday afternoon, a House committee defeated a bill to put limits on the practice...
War on Workers
5 Facts That Show Half of America Is Seriously Struggling  Alternet   ...Half of our nation, by all reasonable estimates of human need, is in poverty...
For SoCal aerospace workers, the end of an era — and a job  Los Angeles Times   ...If Boeing sticks to its plans, the last C-17 will be finished by late summer, and in a region that was once an aerospace giant, an era will come to an end...
City Worker Killed After Trench Collapses In Manhattan  KWCH   ...When emergency crews arrived, the first unit found the victim was buried up to his waist in dirt and mud. Fire crews were able to free the victim approximately 20 minutes later. He was transported to Mercy Regional where he was pronounced dead after succumbing from his injuries...
Mega-Dairies Overshadow Families (opinion)  Ag Week   ...Rural legislators should be focusing on legislation that helps all family farmers, not just the biggest of the big...
Miscellaneous

Today's Teamster News 01.23.15

Teamsters
Teamsters' Hoffa urges Congress to back Keystone bill  Fox News   …Teamsters boss James Hoffa, in an interview with Fox News, urged Congress to pass a bill approving the Keystone XL pipeline and claimed the push is "gaining momentum."...
Michigan Steelworkers Vote to Join Teamsters  teamster.org   …Workers at TCT Stainless Steel in Sterling Heights, Mich. recently voted to join Teamsters Local 283 in Wyandotte, Mich. There are 17 workers in the new bargaining unit and the vote count was 12-5 for Teamster representation…
Key West, Workers Union To Ratify Contract  Keynoter   ...The Key West City Commission will consider a new collective bargaining agreement with Teamsters Local 769 at the commission's meeting at Old City Hall Wednesday evening. The union, which represents about 200 city employees, includes administrative assistants, bus drivers and maintenance workers...
Trade
U.S. senator says wants to introduce fast-track trade bill by end January  Reuters   ...He said the aim was to move the bill out of the committee stage by the end of February, which could suggest a vote in March...
Trans Pacific Partnership: Obama Ready To Defy Democrats To Push Secretive Trade Deal  The Guardian   ...The TPP is one of the largest international trade agreements the US will sign, yet most of it is mired in secrecy. Congress won’t have access to the TPP before it is signed, and the terms won’t be publicly disclosed – ironic since the negotiations include 600 corporate advisers, including representatives of Halliburton and Caterpillar...
Will Democrats Spoil Obama's Trade Initiatives?  The Atlantic   …"We will do what we can in the Senate to defeat this unfortunate proposal," declared Bernie Sanders, the Vermont liberal who is considering a long-shot bid for the presidency. American workers, he said, should not "have to compete against people in Vietnam who have a minimum wage of 56 cents an hour."…
State Battles
Right To Work Pro, Con Marshal Forces  Albuquerque Journal   ...Union leaders Jon Hendry of the New Mexico Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, and Carter Bundy of the AFSCME say passing right-to-work legislation would bring low-wage jobs. They say it’s a political argument and that supporters are trying to undermine the ability of unions to represent workers at all levels...
Minimum wage hike for NM now has bipartisan support  Albuquerque Business First   …Nate Gentry (R-Albuquerque), who is the Majority Floor Leader of the New Mexico House of Representatives, said Republicans support raising the statewide minimum wage — just not to the same level as Democrats...
Bill Would Raise Montana's Minimum Wage To $10.10  Helena Independent Record   ...Minimum wage workers in Montana would receive about a 25 percent increase in hourly pay under legislation proposed in the Senate. Democratic Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy of Box Elder called Senate Bill 2 an economic development measure as he introduced it in the Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs Committee on Wednesday...
Newly-inaugurated Governor Tom Wolf pushes for increased minimum wage in PA  The Daily Pennsylvanian   …Wolf advocated for Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to increase from $7.25 an hour to $10 an hour. In addition, the minimum wage would be indexed to inflation...
Roads, Pensions, Oh My: Sam Brownback’s Kansas Endures Another Day Of Woeful Budget News (opinion)  Kansas City Star   ...Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget plan is just a few days old, but Kansas legislators on Tuesday already were hearing just how bad things could get in the next few years. In other words, it was just another normal day of money woes in the financially strapped Sunflower State...
Some N.D. Dairy Farmers Want To Follow S.D.'s Lead And Allow Corporate Operators Into State  Grand Forks Herald   ...Some producers say they would like to follow South Dakota’s lead to allow corporate farming in an effort to lure more dairy operators into the state...
S.C. Gov. Haley Lambastes Unions, Organizing Efforts At Boeing In State Address  Seattle Times   ...Gov. Nikki Haley used part of her State of the State address Wednesday to promote South Carolina’s anti-union reputation and try to kill efforts to unionize Boeing’s North Charleston plant...
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder: Repealing prevailing wage could hurt skilled trades  Michigan Live   …As for Republican legislative proposals to repeal prevailing wage, Snyder said repealing prevailing wage could have an adverse impact on the skilled trades...
War on Workers
Tracking Inequality in America  Wall Street Journal   …People in every age group under 65 have a net worth that’s significantly lower now than it was in 1989…. Households led by people age 35-44 saw the biggest drop, down 54%, with rising mortgage debt largely to blame. In 1989, these families had a median mortgage of $72,000 against a median home value of $145,000. By 2013, the home value for this age group was somewhat higher at $170,000, but the size of mortgages had nearly doubled to $140,000...
Unions Warn About One Man Per Train  North Platte Bulletin   ...Thanks to the joint opposition of the United Transportation Union and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (a labor negotiating committee) has dropped its insistence on single person crews in current bargaining...
Senate Democrats Stand Up For Speedier Union Elections  Huffington Post   …Democratic support in the upper chamber could be critical in avoiding a future budget bill rider that would block the reforms, should Republicans try to go that route...
Worker killed in accident at White Meadows Farms  Niagara This Week   …Niagara Regional Police media officer Const. Rich Gadreau said the investigation revealed a 36-year-old man was fatally injured when he was struck by a moving concrete block...
Mine worker killed in Missouri accident  KTVI   …The worker was reportedly removing loose rock when some loose material fell and struck the cab of his equipment...
Power Worker Killed By Tree On GA 400  WSB   ...Authorities tell Channel 2 Action News the tree fell on a Sawnee EMC employee along Georgia 400 on the south side of the county...
Miscellaneous
Keystone XL Pipeline Files For Eminent Domain In Nebraska  KNOP   ...This action was required within two years of TransCanada receiving its January 2013 approval in Nebraska. That time period expires on January 22, 2015. An agreement without Eminent Domain can still be reached if TransCanada and land owners can negotiate voluntary easement agreements...
The Only Problem With the Greatest Hoodie Ever Made  Slate   …American Giant designs and manufactures its clothes in the United States, yet the firm has found a way to keep its quality high and its prices comparable to those of other high-end retailers...

Woot! No final deal on TPP during Singapore round of talks

Teamster Dairy Workers

The corporate power grab known as the TPP remained out of negotiators' reach last night, as they failed to come to a final agreement during the latest round of talks in Singapore.

The Financial Times tells us:

Talks between 12 Pacific Rim countries to create a tariff-free trade zone spanning the US, key Asian states and Latin America ended on Tuesday without a deal after the two biggest powers – the US and Japan – could not agree on allowing easier access to each other’s markets.

This is very good news for those of us who oppose the job-killing, corporate-empowering, anti-worker, anti-environment, race-to-the-bottom deal. It's especially good news for the 40,000 dairy workers the Teamsters represent. That's because one of the countries involved in the deal is New Zealand, which wants access to the U.S. dairy market. Most of New Zealand's dairy products are made by one company -- Fonterra -- that was set up by the New Zealand government.

Teamster dairy workers are very, very worried that cheap imports from New Zealand will shrink the U.S. dairy industry and cost thousands of jobs. Meanwhile, two other countries involved in the TPP talks -- Canada and Japan -- have refused to open their markets to dairy imports from the U.S.

By the way, you wouldn't know this if you got your news from ABC World News (but you would know about Taco Bell's new breakfast menu).

Victory! Teamsters win new pro-worker laws in California

California Gov. Jerry Brown last week signed three bills that will strengthen the state’s labor laws by protecting workers from employer retaliation.

This is a huge win for Teamsters Joint Council 7, which led the legislative battle to get the laws passed. It’s also a big victory for workers like Marquez Brothers employees who have faced harsh retaliation since they voted to become Teamsters last year.

Doug Bloch, political director of Teamsters Joint Council 7, says the trio of laws are the strongest labor protections for immigrant workers in the country:

Under these laws, immigrant workers who speak up now have new legal protections... That's because these laws put civil and criminal penalties in place for employers who threaten workers with immigration enforcement.

The three laws -- AB 263, AB 524 and SB 666 -- prohibit immigration-related retaliation and clarify that threatening to expose workers’ immigration status is extortion.

Marquez Brothers is a perfect example of why these laws are necessary. The cheese company has been ruthlessly intimidating workers at its Hanford, Calif., plant since they joined Teamsters Local 517, refusing to bargain and launching a campaign to get the union decertified.

Brother Bloch explains:

Marquez Brothers is one of the largest distributors of dairy products serving the Latino community in North America. After their workers organized a union, the company responded by bringing in Littler Mendelson, a law firm that touts its ability to advise clients on "union avoidance" and "maintaining a union-free workplace." One strategy Littler excels in involves a classic union-busting strategy: delay and decertify.

Marquez Brothers used the [decertification] petition as a legal justification to withdraw union recognition from the workers. In the year since they first organized, Marquez workers have faced a constant campaign of harassment and intimidation. In March, workers traveled to Sacramento to testify at a legislative hearing on employer intimidation, only to be followed by company management and Littler attorneys. One of the workers was fired shortly after the hearing. She was one of twenty union supporters fired since they organized. Others have quit in the face of a constant barrage of harassment.

The state’s new laws put abusive companies like Marquez Brothers on notice, calling their behavior exactly what it is: criminal.

Teamsters at Marquez Brothers have organized a recertification campaign to beat back the company’s anti-union drive. They filed to recertify the union last month, but that election is on hold pending the reopening of the NLRB after the government shutdown.

Bloch says the legislative victory once again puts California on the cutting-edge of pro-labor reforms. And it also shows that when Teamsters mobilize, we win!

The lobby days and work that many Locals did with their legislators on the ground made a huge difference, along with the high visibility of the Teamsters in the Prop 32 fight last year and the DRIVE contributions we make. This is a real testament to all of our JC7 Locals and members who have stepped up in politics.

This victory wouldn’t have happened without the brave sacrifices made by Marquez Brothers workers who lost their jobs during the campaign. With their trips to the state capitol and talking to the press, they won strong support from state legislators and showed why these anti-retaliation laws needed to be passed.

When companies are able to bully workers on immigration issues in order to suppress their wages and working conditions, it drives down standards for all workers. So this is a big win for all California workers.

And in a time when we find ourselves fighting off anti-worker legislation in so many states, it’s refreshing to score a victory for worker-friendly laws.

Way to go, California Teamsters!

Today's Teamster News 09.14.13

First Student School Bus Workers Choose Teamsters  teamster.org   ...School bus drivers and monitors with First Student in Oak Park, Mich., have voted by an overwhelming 5-1 margin to join Teamsters Local 1038 in Detroit...
Dairy Workers in Georgia Join Local 528  teamster.org   ...On September 6, workers at Mayfield Dairy in Macon voted to become Teamsters by a nearly 3-1 margin. There are 32 transport drivers, route sales drivers and warehouse workers in the unit...
Sikorsky lays off 200 workers  Connecticut Post   ...Sikorsky Aircraft announced plans Thursday to cut its hourly workforce by 200 people, mostly here in Connecticut, in its second round of layoffs of that size this summer...
Allied Chooses Jack Cooper Bid  teamster.org   ...At the auction that concluded Thursday, September 12, Allied selected Jack Cooper Transport as the entity with the best and highest bid...
U.S. union UAW close to organizing at Volkswagen plant  Reuters   ...Volkswagen's factory at Chattanooga, Tennessee, is close to becoming the first U.S. car assembly plant run by a foreign company to have its workers officially represented by the United Auto Workers union, a German paper reported...
10 Reasons Millennials Are the Screwed Generation  AlterNet   ...Young people living in the United States have inherited a broken country. Here are the reasons…
Financial Crisis Cases Ending As SEC Struggles With Reputation  Fire Dog Lake   ...It has now been 5 years since Wall Street crashed the economy through its pump and dump mortgage derivative scheme. Few of the bad actors have been held accountable and none of the big ones... 
U.S. manufacturing rebirth fizzles as jobs still head overseas  Bloomberg News   ...Despite promises of a U.S. manufacturing resurgence, job gains in the field have stagnated as work continues to be sent to other countries...
The Pentagon Helped Pay for Gas on These Billionaires' Private Jets  Gawker   ...Guess who's been paying for jet fuel on behalf of a handful of billionaires? That's right—you...
Domestic Workers Bill of Rights passes Legislature  San Francisco Chronicle   ...Californians who hire a nanny, a cook, a maid or other domestic employees would be required to pay them overtime wages under a landmark bill that awaits Gov. Jerry Brown's signature...
USDA official defends pork inspection pilot program  Washington Post   ...A top food safety official at the USDA says that a pilot program for inspecting pork is working well, defending the experimental procedures being used in five hog plants around the country...
Federal judge rules Wisconsin's union reforms constitutional  Reuters   ...Wisconsin's controversial collective bargaining reforms do not violate the free speech and equal protection rights of public sector union workers, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday...
Union vows to fight Indiana right-to-work law on appeal  Associated Press   ...Indiana is appealing a ruling declaring the state’s right-to-work law unconstitutional, Attorney General Greg Zoeller said Thursday...
Louisiana Senator Wants to Shut Down Nation's Oil Supply Until Congress Funds Levee Project Mother Jones   ...Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said Wednesday that Louisiana ought to shut down all of the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico until the House of Representatives agrees to fund a much-needed levee project in her state designed to protect against Katrina-type storms...

TPP raises worries about race to the bottom for workers

There are lots of reasons for Americans to be wary of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Negotiations are being conducted in secret. The deal could also let big business make an end run around U.S. worker protections and environmental rules and threaten dairy farmers' livelihood.

But the potential trade pact is no prize for those living in developing nations either. While it could end up creating new employment opportunities, these are jobs no one should want. They will likely only go to the most desperate nations willing to accept the worst pay and conditions for their people, according to several guests appearing on the "Democracy Now" program today.

Celeste Drake, a trade policy specialist at the AFL-CIO, said the TPP does little to increase global trade opportunities. Instead all it does is allow corporations to further take advantage of workers:

Globalization ... has caused a race to the bottom where the world's biggest corporations really play a game of arbitrage, and they are pitting developing nations against one another to see who can provide the lowest wages, the weakest workers' rights regime, and the fewest unions. And the winner is really the loser because they have workers putting in a hard days work with their lives at risk, and definitely not raising their standards of living.

Jim Schultz, executive director of the Democracy Center, said the entire deal is a sham that further empowers big business:

What is at stake is democracy. If you are looking for the protection of your environment, watch out.

While the results are bad enough for the countries who land these poverty-level jobs, it does create a spill-over effect for workers in other nations, Drake said. It gives companies elsewhere leverage to negotiate deals that benefit their bottom lines at the expense of their employees.

And while TPP supporters tout the deal as one that could benefit U.S. trade, that means very little for average Americans, Drake added:

Our past trade agreements starting with NAFTA and going on down the line have basically been big packages that benefit the one percent and if anyone else benefits, its really is only by accident and not by design.

Check out the video below to get a fuller picture on why workers need to better understand the TPP.

Today's Teamster News 06.01.13

US Lawmakers Press Obama to Include Currency in Pacific Trade Deal  Reuters   ...Nearly 200 U.S. lawmakers have signed a letter urging President Barack Obama to insist on new rules against currency manipulation in a proposed trade agreement with Japan and 10 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region...
Walmart’s Shocking Threats And Employee Bullying Detailed In 27-Page Report  Opposing Views   ...Walmart continually asks Americans to consider what’s more important: justice for its workers or low prices for its customers?...
Catalonia firefighters were starting fires rather than putting them out this week during a demonstration held in Barcelona  Metro   ...emergency workers clashed with riot police while protesting over austerity cuts in the recession hit Catalonian capital...
Judge: Coal company can drop retirement benefits for 13,000 workers, Underwood says  MSNBC   ...Bankrupt coal mining company Patriot Coal will be able to void its agreement with the United Mine Workers union (UMWA) and stop funding pensions for retired miners, thanks to a ruling from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Missouri...
Pension bill stuns counties, could force tax increases  Tampa Bay Times   ..."Is that money going to FRS to actually shore it up? Or is it a long-term strategy to pressure those of us at the local level to say we can't sustain these increases?"...
New Jersey Passes Misclassification Bill; Gov. Christie Could Veto  Truckinginfo   ...Though the Teamsters-backed employee misclassification bill was passed Thursday by the New Jersey State Senate, opponents say they will continue to work to make sure the measure does not actually become law...
Kasich frustrating safety unions  Toledo Blade   ...Gov. John Kasich and Republican lawmakers are pursuing tax cuts and banking huge surpluses, according to police and professional firefighters, at the expense of public safety...
UW education dean warns school boards that ALEC seeks to wipe them out  The Cap Times   ...The model legislation disseminated by the pro-free market American Legislative Exchange Council’s national network of corporate members and conservative legislators seeks to privatize education and erode the local control...
Appeals court upholds voter ID law  WISN   ...A Wisconsin law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls is constitutional, a state appeals court ruled Thursday...
How Enterprise Zones Are Killing the California Dream  Truth-Out   ...(Teamsters) John Thomas and Hans Burkhardt  ... are now collecting unemployment, having lost their $22-an-hour jobs after their employers moved to take advantage of California’s enterprise zone plan…
Connecticut State House boosts minimum wage  CT Post   ...More than 106,000 of Connecticut's lowest-earning workers will see the current $8.25-per-hour minimum wage rise to $9 by January 2015...
Perry Vetoes "Buy American" Bill Approved 145-0 By Texas House  Opposing Views   ...Texas Gov. Rick Perry vetoed the “Buy American” bill, despite a unanimous bipartisan vote in the Texas House. The bill, which would have given preference to American-made goods...
Port Truck Drivers Take a Stand  WTOC-TV   ...WTOC-TV in Savannah, Ga., reports on port truck driver misclassification and how it impacts drivers and their families. Visit the Stand Up for Savannah! website for more information...
Teamsters Protect Nine-Hour Workday for CVS Pharmacists  Teamsters Joint Council 25   ...CVS pharmacists ratified a new three-year contract yielding raises and improved working conditions after Teamsters Local 727 representatives fought to protect the nine-hour workday from the management that wanted 12-14 hour workdays...
The Union Edge Reports On Durham School Bus Campaign  Union Edge   ...Teamsters Local 570 and Durham School Services drivers in the Baltimore area are standing up for safe school buses, respect and an end to wage theft. Hear what they have to say on The Union Edge radio program...
Dairy Workers in Washington Win With Teamsters  IBT   ...A unit of 30 drivers at Estenson Logistics, who voted to be represented by the Teamsters Local 690 in Spokane in late 2011, recently ratified their first contract...