Battle against TPP heads to Atlanta

Trade officials involved in the negotiations of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) may believe they are nearing the end of the process with meetings in Atlanta this week. But the Teamsters and other fair trade allies aren't going down without a fight.

Beginning tomorrow, unions members, environmentalists, health care advocates and others will take to streets of the Peach City as well as to the Internet to stress why this Pacific Rim trade agreement is bad. The pact, still largely a secret to the public, will result in thousands of U.S. jobs being shipped overseas, falling wages and unsafe food and products being shipped to our shores. It could also raise drug prices while hurting the environment.

Dissent remains rampant in this country and around the globe. This morning, for example, six House Democrats asked the U.S. State Department's inspector general to look into what led to Malaysia's upgrade on the agency's human trafficking list. Many believe the improved rating allowed fast track to proceed through Congress in June, The Hill newspaper reported:

The lawmakers said that given the significance of the report in helping to fight global human trafficking, they want to know if there was any request by officials at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Commerce Department, or any other federal agency to influence or change Malaysia's standing in the latest report. 

They also want information about whether Malaysia’s promotion in status was “unduly influenced” by political considerations instead of unbiased expert analysis.

Meanwhile, Canadian dairy farmers brought their tractors and cows to Ottawa today to protest dairy concessions contained in the TPP.

As the Teamsters have said before, there are just no good reason for everyday Americans to support this agreement. 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.

There is something for everyone to lose if the TPP moves forward. The U.S. and participating nations should keep that in mind as they mull this deal. Can they in good conscience say it will benefit the citizens of the world?

The answer is no.

Walmart still has a ways to go to help workers

Walmart in recent months has being trying to improve its public image by talking about raising its wages and improving working conditions. But the world's largest retailer still has a long way to go to bring its workforce practices up to an acceptable level, as a recent report by the Food Chain Workers' Alliance shows.

President Hoffa rallied with Taylor Farms workers last year.

As it stands, Walmart workers and those in its food supply chain are forced to put up with a number
labor issues, including gender and racial discrimination, unfair treatment of immigrants, low pay and violations of workers' freedom of association. There have also been safety violations and worker fatalities, as the document notes.

The Teamsters are familiar with several of these situations. For instance, the union has and continues to fight the practices of salad producer Taylor Farms and organic food supplier United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI), for the treatment of workers and the environment.

In talking about California-based Taylor Farms, the document states:

Among the many labor rights issues at Taylor Farms, the company’s almost permanent use of temporary workers through the Abel Mendoza and Slingshot agencies is one that must be highlighted. Almost two-thirds of Taylor Farms’ Tracy workforce is staffed by one of these agencies. This staffing method allows Taylor Farms to avoid giving out full-time benefits to workers that have been there for years. Some of these “temporary” employees have been working at Taylor Farms for up to 14 years and most are paid only the minimum wage. On average, the workers in Tracy earn $3 per hour less than union workers in the same job classifications in Salinas.

Meanwhile, the paper also details UNFI's effort to crackdown on warehouse workers interested in joining the Teamsters, and how the federal government sided with the union:

On February 10, 2015, the federal government found that UNFI unlawfully refused to bargain with the Teamsters union at its Moreno Valley facility [in Southern California]. This conduct would be troubling by any employer, but “it is all the more so because UNFI has represented itself to the public as a company that operates according to principles of social responsibility…” Because of UNFI’s illegal scare tactics and refusal to recognize the union contract, UNFI warehouse workers in Moreno Valley still do not have protection and benefits from unionization and collective bargaining.

If Walmart is truly interested in doing the right thing and helping workers and the environment, it will use its market power to sway suppliers and distributors to allow workers to organize and raise their standards to benefit people all across the globe.

How one man forced a greedy corporation to do the right thing by leaking a memo

If you do something careless or stupid or illegal that costs other people money, you should reimburse them, right?

Even though corporations are people, some of them get away with breaking the law or costing other people money. They destroy the environment and make other people pay for the cleanup, or they pay their workers so little they rely on taxpayer-funded government assistance.

Carl Pope, president of the Sierra Club, once forced a greedy corporation to do the right thing simply by exposing its plans to evade the law.

The Sierra Club, by the way, has for years fought with the Teamsters against opening the border to unsafe, polluting Mexican trucks.

Pope, writing in EcoWatch, points out that hikers in Sierra County, Calif., have to reimburse the county if they are evacuated by air for a medical emergency. That could cost more than $5,000. A climber air lifted from Yosemites cliffs can easily run $85,000. "But that’s fair—we ought to pay for the costs we create," he wrote.

So how much did the Occupational Safety and Health Administration fine Freedom Industries, the company whose sloppy handling of the toxic chemical MCHM caused 10,000 gallons to spill into the Elk River, poisoning the water supply of hundreds of thousands of Charleston, West Virginia residents? Pathetically, a measly $11,000, less than the cost of a single burst appendix helicopter ambulanced in Sierra County. This when 300,000 people had to find alternative water supplies for ten days.

BP is no different. Nor are the banks, or pharmaceutical companies or automakers. The law sets penalties so low that the corporations shrug them off as the cost of doing business.

Pope explained how it was done in one case. Early in his career, he was slipped a memo about an oil company that had a natural gas field partly in federal waters and therefore subject to federal price controls:

The memo boasted a complex decision tree complete with % estimates of how likely the feds were to discover the liability on their own, what the oil company’s chances of winning in court were (less than half) and finally what were the odds of jail terms for company employees. Each of these had a dollar value attached, and the final conclusion was—don’t report. I shared the leaked document with federal energy regulators. The oil company observed the price controls. 

If only more stories about corporate greed had happy endings like that.

Today's Teamster News 02.13.14

Teamsters
Washington Twp. cops might go union  Pittsburgh Tribune-Review   ...The Washington Township Police Department soon might become members of Teamsters Local 205, based in White Oak, Pennsylvania. The state's Labor Relations Board will schedule an election within the next month for township officers...
Union Negotiations Continue at Beverly's Armstrong Plant  12 WBOY News   ...Negotiations are still underway between Armstrong and the Teamsters to reach a new agreement at its plant in Randolph County, WV. The current contract expires Saturday...
Collective Bargaining: How to Negotiate Strong Teamster Contracts  teamster.org   ...The IBT Training and Development Department is conducting a Teamsters Leadership Academy (TLA) on collective bargaining, March 11-14. Get the details here...
Trade
Pelosi comes out against fast track bill  The Hill   ...Pelosi made clear on Wednesday night that she isn’t opposed to the concept of TPA, also known as fast-track authority, but she can’t support a bill introduced by Baucus, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Senate Finance Committee ranking member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)...
Hoffa: Voices Against Fast Track Are Growing Louder  teamster.org   ...Thousands of Teamsters have contacted Congress in recent weeks to let them know “fast track” trade authority is the wrong track for America. And the message is getting through...
Crowley Opposes Fast Track  New York Daily News   ...Rep. Joe Crowley’s far from shocking statement opposing the authority, which lets the president force trade bills, like a pending Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, to receive up or down votes in both congressional chambers...
State Battles
Tennessee Paper Pushes Koch-Connected Anti-Union Message Ahead Of UAW Vote  Media Matters   ...A misleading op-ed in Chattanooga's Times Free Press, co-written by a Koch and ALEC ally, falsely claimed creating a union in a local Volkswagen plant would negatively impact the state economy and plant relations, despite evidence to the contrary...
U.S. senator drops bombshell during VW plant union vote  Reuters   ...U.S. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said on Wednesday he has been "assured" that if workers at the Volkswagen AG plant in his hometown of Chattanooga reject United Auto Worker representation, the company will reward the plant with a new product to build. Corker's bombshell … runs counter to public statements by Volkswagen...
Tennessee Republicans Don't Believe in a Free Market  Center for Economic and Policy Research   ...these politicians believe they are better able to run a car company than the Volkswagen's managers. This is an interesting view coming from people who usually claim to be supporters of a free market and to believe that the government should not interfere in the running of a business...
Austerity in Maine has forced state troopers to go without heating and feed their families roadkill  Salon   ...Back in 2013, the lawmakers of the state of Maine decided to freeze state merit and longevity pay for its state troopers. According to a report in the Bangor Daily News, for at least some state troopers — and their families — the consequences have been dire...
Harsh words for CDOT at public meeting on 50-year U.S. 36 contract  Daily Camera   ...Colorado Department of Transportation officials took a verbal beating Wednesday night from a crowd of hundreds who blasted the agency for partnering with a private firm to maintain and operate U.S. 36 between Boulder and Denver for the next 50 years.
Assembly committee takes up bill tossing some "living wage" ordinances  WHBL   ...Wisconsin lawmakers were hearing testimony Wednesday on a bill to throw out local "living wage" ordinances...
Kentucky sinkhole opens up at Corvette museum, swallows vintage Corvettes dailykos   ...The museum issued a statement that said six of the damaged cars were owned by the museum and two — a 1993 ZR-1 Spyder and a 2009 ZR1 Blue Devil — were on loan from General Motors...
States, U.S. Forfeit Billions in Corporate Tax Revenue Annually  teamster.org   ...States could save more than $1 billion a year in tax revenue if they would make simple reforms that would crack down on shady corporate practices that funnel dollars away from their coffers. But only two states have put the brakes on such practices thus far...
How California’s Worsening Drought Could Make Your Grocery Bill Spike  ThinkProgress   ...If what the tree rings say is true, California hasn’t been this dry in more than 500 years. If what the leading climate scientists say is true, that dryness will only get worse in the coming years, which will adversely impact the agricultural industry...
This Is What It Looks Like When 100,000 Gallons Of Coal Waste Spill Into A West Virginia Stream  ThinkProgress   ...A pipe break at a Patriot Coal preparation site spewed more than 100,000 gallons of coal slurry into a waterway near Charleston, WV on Tuesday...
Pence wants state to replace some proposed local business tax cuts  Indianapolis Star   ...In the face of a growing outcry from mayors across the state, Gov. Mike Pence announced Tuesday that he supports replacing some of the revenue local governments would lose under proposals to cut Indiana's tax on business equipment...
The War on Workers
Lawsuit Calls Government’s Sweetheart Deal With JP Morgan ‘Unlawful’   ThinkProgress ...The Justice Department (DOJ) broke the law when it settled mortgage finance market fraud allegations against JP Morgan in a headline-grabbing legal settlement last year, according to a lawsuit filed Monday...
Former Enron Trader Funding PBS Series On Pensions  firedoglake   ... billionaire and Enron alum John Arnold has financed a new two-year news series entitled “Pension Peril.” A program that, not surprisingly, pushes an agenda that companies like Enron would love. The series, promoting cuts to public employee pensions, is airing on hundreds of PBS outlets all over the nation...
RealtyTrac: Monthly foreclosure filings reverse course, rise 8%  Housing Wire   ...Monthly foreclosure filings — including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — reversed course and increased 8% to 124,419 in January from December...
AT&T Mobility, CWA reach tentative agreement  Atlanta Journal-Constitution ...AT&T Mobility has reached a tentative agreement with the Communications Workers of America on a contract covering more than 11,500 employees in Georgia and other parts of the Southeast...
What the jobless do when the benefits end  Washington Post   ...Many facing the end of benefits will turn to Social Security. Others will cobble together what they can...
Bob Costas is right: Going to work sick is a terrible idea  Washington Post   ..."Presenteeism" is actually a vexing problem for employers that could, by some estimates cost them as much as $150 billion per year...