UPS workers demand employer end ALEC membership

Joint Council 42 President Randy Cammack calls on UPS to leave ALEC.

UPS Teamsters have for years asked the package delivery giant to end it's affiliation with the virulently anti-union American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). And yesterday in San Diego, hundreds of them from throughout California came to a national meeting of the organization to have their voices heard.

Randy Cammack, President of Teamster Joint Council 42, which represents members throughout Southern California, spoke to the more than thousand people on hand and told them to send a message to the UPS representative inside:

There is a UPS representative inside attending the meeting as we rally out here. Let's make sure she can hear what we have to say -- UPS, get out of ALEC! UPS, get out of ALEC! UPS, get out of ALEC!

The Teamsters represent more than 250,000 members at UPS and UPS Freight. While more than 120 corporations and organizations have left ALEC due to their controversial positions, UPS remains an active member of ALEC despite the organization's anti-worker agenda that seeks to undermine and weaken worker positions. UPS might be obligated to encourage union involvement among its workforce, but uses part of its profits to push for so-called "right-to-work" laws in states around the nation.

ALEC has served as a legislative clearinghouse which authors model bills that are often brought to state capitals by lawmakers and introduced as-is. The group also acts to connect lawmakers with corporate big-wigs. It is funded, in part, by billionaire industrialists the Koch Brothers.

These legislative schmoozefests, for instance, have resulted in more and more states introducing preemption bills that stop localities from raising the minimum wage in their jurisdictions or offering paid sick leave. Big business relishes such laws. Workers pay the price for their greed.

Ken Hall, the Teamsters' General Secretary-Treasurer, said by remaining in ALEC, UPS sends the wrong message to its employees and people around the country:

Global corporations like Coca Cola, Apple, McDonald’s and even Walmart have decided that continuing a relationship with this toxic organization is too damaging to their brand. It begs the question of why UPS, the largest unionized company in America, continues to associate with ALEC. It’s time for UPS to do the right thing for its workers and cut ties with ALEC.

Today's Teamster News 07.07.15

Teamsters
EVSC, Teamsters Butt Heads Again   TriState Homepage  ...Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation and Teamsters Local 215 together again in the same room – but still unable to agree.
The sticking points in negotiations aren't getting any grease. Union dues and third-party arbitration for employee grievances remain a focal point that neither side is willing to give up. Paul Green, speaking on behalf of Teamsers, begged the EVSC to get back to the table. “It's tearing this community apart.” Teamsters President, Chuck Whobrey wants to meet again for more negotiations...
American Friends of Yitzhak Rabin to Honor Randy Cammack, President, Teamsters Joint Council 42, and Ken Howard, President, SAG-AFTRA   BusinessWire  ...American Friends of Yitzhak Rabin (AFYR) announced today that they will honor Randy Cammack, President of Teamsters Joint Council 42, with the 2015 Yitzhak Rabin Leadership and Public Service Award at a gala dinner at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles on July 9, 2015. AFYR will also recognize Ken Howard, President, SAG-AFTRA, with the 2015 Yitzhak Rabin Legacy Award...
This Airline’s Scheduling System Is Making Its Pilots Exhausted  The Nation   ...Like many Allegiant passengers, pilots have voiced major frustrations with Allegiant’s flight schedules, arguing that the company has instituted a new scheduling system called “Preferential Bidding,” which they say makes pilots’ schedules more precarious and undermines the industry-wide standard of seniority-based scheduling...

Global Labor & Trade
Mexico sees TPP deal in July  Herald Sun  ...Mexico is confident that an agreement on a major free-trade pact spanning the Pacific Ocean can be reached in late July in what would be a milestone with the potential to reshape economic ties between Asia and the Americas, a top government official has said. "Around 10 per cent of issues are still to be agreed, but I hope we can seal an agreement in a final round of negotiations at the end of the month," economy minister Ildefonso Guajardo said in an interview...
Trans-Pacific Partnership building momentum for deal this summer  Globe and Mail  ...Canada and the 11 other countries taking part in Pacific Rim trade talks will push for a deal at a meeting of ministers expected to take place in late July or early August, sources say. It is a sign of the increasing momentum of the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks and sets the stage for Ottawa to make what are expected to be controversial concessions in the weeks before a federal election campaign begins...
U.S. trade deficit widens; weakness abroad fuels export drop  Reuters  ...The U.S. trade deficit widened in May, fueled by a drop in exports that could heighten concerns over weak overseas demand and a strong U.S. dollar. The Commerce Department reported on Tuesday that the trade gap grew $1.2 billion to $41.9 billion. That was less than the $42.6 billion deficit expected by analysts and suggests Wall Street economists may slightly raise their forecasts for economic growth in the second quarter...
Labor Lost the Fight Over Fast Track. But the Fact That Unions Oppose the TPP at All Is a Big Deal.  In These Times  ...Organized labor’s recent “victory” over President Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade initiative, was short-lived, as “fast track” was passed by Congress shortly after it had been denied him earlier in the month. But labor’s strong opposition to the deal is worth examining a bit more closely. That the TPP could so easily be linked by its critics to the job-killing, wage-reducing interests of the “one percent” reflects deep and changing understandings of how the global economy works...
Greece Is Just The Beginning Of The Great Austerity Backlash  Huffington Post  ...The global politics of austerity seeped into the press room of the White House on Monday, the day after the Greeks voted overwhelmingly to reject a harsh bailout deal with Europe. Now that the planet’s economies have essentially become one, and the world’s top dozen banks control $30 trillion in assets, the callous demands of a new and even larger “money power” is starting to spark a worldwide backlash...
The economic spasm that could overshadow Greece  CBS  ...While much of the financial community's attention is riveted on Greece's debt crisis, another economic drama is playing out in China that could have a far great impact on the global economy. China's stock markets have been falling rapidly for nearly a month, and by last week had dropped about 30 percent...
Bernie Sanders Backs Greek Rejection Of Austerity Measures  Huffington Post  ...Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) voiced his support for Greece’s decision to reject a bailout deal that would have come with more austerity measures for the country. “I applaud the people of Greece for saying ‘no’ to more austerity for the poor, the children, the sick and the elderly,” Sanders said in a statement Sunday...
Rights for Kuwait Domestic Workers: ‘Cautiously Good Step’  Solidarity Center  ...There is some good news for domestic workers in Kuwait: The National Assembly adopted a new law in June that will grant them unprecedented legal rights. The law applies to family maids, baby sitters, cooks and drivers. More than 660,000 domestic workers are currently employed in Kuwait, most of them migrant workers from Asia and Africa. Human Rights Watch researcher Rothna Begum says this is a “major step forward” for Kuwait...
Colombia’s Fensuagro Union is Revolutionary, Persecuted, and Undaunted  Counterpunch  ...Fensuagro, the largest agricultural workers union in Colombia, held its 11th National Congress on June 5 – 8 in Bogota. The theme there was: “We advance for peace, rural peoples’ rights, and food sovereignty.” Fensuagro – the full name is the United Agricultural Trade Union Federation – reelected Húbert Ballesteros as vice president and member of its board of directors. Ballesteros, however, is a political prisoner...

State & Living Wage Battles
Scott Walker Tries To Use A Back Door To Get Rid Of Wisconsin’s Living Wage Law  Think Progress  ...After months of uproar over provisions to slash hundreds of millions of dollars from state universities and strip the values of “truth” and “service” from their mission, lawmakers in Madison missed their July 1 deadline to pass the budget. The change to the wage law comes just as low-income workers in the state are suing Governor Walker for refusing to consider their complaint that the current state minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is not a living wage...
Puerto Ricans have a message for the US: 'Give us the tools to help ourselves'  The Guardian  ...Since the April day in 1899 when Americans formally took over the island, Puerto Ricans have felt uneasy about their status within the United States. And as the island faces a debt crisis that has cratered its economy and sent its leaders to Washington to plead for more sovereign powers, the issue has taken on a new urgency...
Kinder calls for public debates over right-to-work proposal  St. Louis Public Radio  ...Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder is proposing that Gov. Jay Nixon and state Attorney General Chris Koster engage in public debates with him in the coming weeks over the issue of right to work. Nixon recently vetoed a right-to-work bill, which would bar employers and unions from requiring all workers to pay dues if a majority voted to join a union...
GOP Senators to make run at repealing prevailing wage law  Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel  ...Republicans who control the state Senate plan to insert a provision into the state budget Tuesday that will repeal the prevailing wage law for local governments. The law sets the minimum salaries for construction workers when they build roads, schools and other publicly funded projects...
Group backing repeal of Michigan's prevailing wage raises $1 million for ballot campaign  Crain's Detroit  ...A group leading a petition drive to repeal Michigan’s prevailing wage law has raised more than $1 million for the effort, campaign finance records show. Protecting Michigan Taxpayers spent close to $342,000 from April 21 to June 29, according to a campaign finance statement it filed Monday with the Michigan secretary of state. The group’s biggest backer, the Michigan Freedom Fund — an organization with ties to the DeVos family — gave $372,200 in direct and in-kind contributions...
Kansas isn’t joining 14 states poised to raise minimum wage  The Wichita Eagle  ...Fourteen states and the District of Columbia will see their minimum wage increase this summer or next year, according to a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Kansas won’t be joining them. The minimum wage in Kansas is $7.25 per hour – the same as the federal minimum wage – and attempts to increase it this year gained little traction in the Republican-dominated Legislature...
Portland City Council votes to raise minimum wage to $10.10 an hour   Portland Press Herald  ...The Portland City Council voted 6-3 Monday night to create a city minimum wage of $10.10 an hour on Jan. 1, increase it a year later, and tie future minimum wages to inflation. After a debate that lasted nearly two hours and drew pleas from advocates and opponents, the council passed a plan first put forth by Mayor Michael Brennan...

U.S. Labor
Staples Deal With USPS Is Illegal: NLRB  24/7   ...The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed a complaint against the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) related to the housing of contract postal units in Staples Inc. stores. The NLRB has determined that the USPS violated the law when it opened its first postal counter in a Staples store in late 2013. The contract between the USPS and the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) states that USPS management must bargain with the union before entering a deal like the one with Staples...

A Worker’s Take on the New Overtime Proposal  The Nation  ...As a manager for a national auto supply chain, Lora McCrary puts in between 50 and 70 hours a week remodeling stores across the country. But because she’s a salaried employee, she’s ineligible to earn overtime pay. The long hours and the weeks spent on the road and living out of hotels have taken a toll on her emotionally and physically...
UFCW local sets meeting to discuss A&P future  Supermarket News   ...Uncertainty over the future of A&P has prompted several locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union to call member meetings to discuss the chain’s financial situation, including one scheduled for Wednesday by UFCW Local 1776 in Philadelphia...
Transit union leaders hope to resume negotiations toward contract agreement soon  Fox6 News  ...Leaders of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 held a news conference early Monday morning, July 6th at 1:00 a.m. Union leaders said they will not strike on Monday, and said they’d like to resume negotiations in an effort to come to a deal on a new contract. During their news conference, union leaders said they want a deal convenient for both sides...
How Politics Gutted Workplace Safety  Slate  ...OSHA has issued only 36 health standards and relies on mostly outdated exposure limits for the 470 substances it regulates; many more substances go unregulated. It rarely uses the general duty clause to cite alleged health violations, having concluded that the burden of proof is too steep. Hindered by court decisions, the White House, an often-hostile Congress, a weak underlying statute, and—some say —its own timidity, the agency is still searching for ways to protect workers from fumes, vapors, dusts, fibers, and liquids that can kill or incapacitate them...
Unions Must Act Now to Survive Supreme Court Deathblow  Counterpunch   ...Unions have a decision to make: organize or die. It’s that simple. These are the only two options now that the Supreme Court announced it would hear the case “Friedrichs v. California Teacher Association.” The court intends to take aim at the head of organized labor by ruling against the California Teachers Association, and in the process fundamentally change labor law in a way that would cripple public sector unions, the last bastion of significant social power in the U.S. labor movement...

Miscellaneous
Fatal shooting sparks national immigration debate  MSNBC  ...The fallout from a seemingly random fatal shooting at a crowded tourist spot in San Francisco last week has ignited a national debate over the city’s decades-old tradition of offering safe haven to undocumented immigrants. Now used as fodder in political rallying cries on immigration, the shooting mounts pressure on these so-called “sanctuary cities” – municipalities that have openly defied federal immigration policies and taken a more welcoming tact toward undocumented immigrants...
Corporate Capitalism Is the Foundation of Police Brutality and the Prison State  (opinion) Alternet  ...We discuss issues of race while ignoring the economic, bureaucratic and political systems of exploitation—all of it legal and built into the ruling apparatus—that are the true engines of racism and white supremacy. No discussion of race is possible without a discussion of capitalism and class. And until that discussion takes place, despite all the proposed reforms to the criminal justice system, the state will continue to murder and imprison poor people of color with impunity...
What Donald Trump Doesn't Understand About Immigrants and Crime  (opinion) The Atlantic  ...If Donald Trump were right, policing and immigration reform would be easy. We’d just round up all the immigrants, ship them away, and crime would disappear. But most immigrants, like most native-born Americans, are simply hardworking people trying to feed their families and help their kids succeed. Targeting them won’t end crime, but it will increase their alienation, making effective crime prevention and policing more difficult... 

Victory! 13,500 San Bernardino public employees vote to become Teamsters

A huge group of county public employees in California have voted to affiliate with the Teamsters, bringing more than 13,500 new members into the union! San Bernardino County employees are seeking a more secure future and stronger bargaining power as members of the newly-formed Teamsters Local 1932.

From the Teamsters press release:

The workers have voted over the past several weeks and ballots were counted today. About ... percent voted in favor of Teamster representation. The workers had been represented by the San Bernardino Public Employees Association (SBPEA), but they reached out to the Teamsters seeking stronger representation.

San Bernardino public workers provide essential services in hospitals, public works and public health services departments, police departments, and many other positions.

Hoffa welcomed the San Bernardino members to the union:

The Teamsters have the resources, expertise and clout to negotiate the strongest contracts possible. This vote shows that San Bernardino County public employees understand this and want Teamster power at the bargaining table. We have been successful representing public employees across the country, including those employed in cities, towns, counties and public universities, such as the University of California system, Penn State and the University of Minnesota. We expect to be able to help the workers in San Bernardino as well.

Kathleen Brennan, a county Information Services Department employee, said she and her coworkers are happy to have Teamster power at their side:

We know about the Teamsters’ strong track record of winning improved wages, benefits and working conditions for public employees, so this is a great day for us. We look forward to having real Teamster power when it’s time to sit at the bargaining table.

The union has won wage and benefit increases for 14,000 Local 2010 members at the University of California. Teamsters also represent employees at police and fire departments throughout California, and teaching assistants in LA public schools.

Randy Cammack, President of Joint Council 42, said the Teamsters look forward to representing its new members in San Bernardino:

The San Bernardino public employees reached out to us and we are excited to stand shoulder to shoulder with these dedicated public servants in negotiating strong Teamster contracts.

We are thrilled to welcome San Bernardino workers into the Teamster family!

Today's Teamster News 03.11.15

Teamsters
Teamsters Take Action To Protect Highway Safety, Stop Mexican Trucks  MarketWatch   ...Today, the Teamsters Union filed a legal challenge to the Department of Transportation's (DOT) recent decision to open the border to Mexican trucks. The union was joined by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety and the Truck Safety Coalition...
Teamsters, Organic Consumers Protest UNFI and Whole Foods at Natural Products Expo West Financial Content   ...Teamsters and organic food advocates educated attendees of the annual Natural Products Expo West conference this weekend about conference sponsor UNFI (NYSE: UNFI) and its abusive and unsustainable behavior toward its workers...
The New Silicon Valley Movement That Is Taking on the Tech Giants  The Nation   ... Less well known is that the drivers who shuttle tech workers to and fro are going union. Last fall, the drivers at Loop Transportation who drive for Facebook voted to join the Teamsters. Before, their wages averaged $17.93 an hour, and some paid $1200 a month for family health insurance. Under their new contract, wages increased by an average of $5.73 an hour and healthcare is entirely covered by the employer...
Thorpe reaches agreement with Teamsters union  Times News   ...A tentative agreement has been reached between Jim Thorpe School District and Teamsters Local 773. Members of the school board voted 7-1 in favor of accepting the tentative agreement, which covers custodial personnel and some of the district's cafeteria staff...
Trade
TPP Chief Negotiators Resume Talks In Hawaii  Japan Times   ...Chief negotiators from countries involved in a Pacific Rim free trade initiative resumed talks Monday in Hawaii, as the 12 negotiating members attempt to reach a deal by the end of spring...
New Zealand Targets Trade Partners, Hacks Computers in Spy Operations  The Intercept   ...New Zealand is conducting covert surveillance operations against some of its strongest trading partners and has obtained sophisticated malware to infect targeted computers and steal data, newly released documents reveal...
British MPs Say US-EU Free Trade Deal Must Not Leave Govts At Multinationals’ Mercy  RT News   ...British MPs are protesting the US-EU TTIP free trade deal that could enable multinational corporations to sue governments if newly introduced rules harm their businesses, thus weakening essential European health and food regulations...
State Battles
Missouri Senate panel considers right-to-work measure  St. Louis Post-Dispatch   ...Some St. Louis area business executives are breaking ranks with the state's largest business organizations and speaking out against a Missouri bill that would bar mandatory union fees...
Proposal Would Scrap Prevailing Wage Law  Journal Times   ...Before the city even goes out to bid on a project, the wages it must pay workers for most projects are predetermined by the state. Those wages, known as prevailing wages, are in the range of about $35 to $60 per hour for most skilled workers. Under a proposed bill co-sponsored by state Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, and Rep. Thomas Weatherston, R-Caledonia, the prevailing wage law setting those wages would be eliminated...
It's Not Just Right-To-Work: Bills Targeting Unions Multiply  Raleigh News and Observer   ...Republican lawmakers in statehouses nationwide are working to weaken organized labor, sometimes with efforts that directly shrink union membership. Walker's signing of right-to-work legislation in Wisconsin on Monday puts his defiance of organized labor even more at the center of his nascent presidential campaign. And the inability of unions to exact a price for the first round of legislation targeting them in 2011 is encouraging even more proposals to limit their power...
The Right-To-Work Fight You Aren't Hearing About  National Journal   ...there's also a high stakes showdown underway in New Mexico. Late last month, the state's House of Representatives passed a right-to-work bill, setting up a face-off with the Senate, which could raise the profile of Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, positioning her as a Walker-esque rising star for the GOP who is unafraid of challenging big labor...
War on Workers
Falling Behind On Your Student Loan Debt Will Get You Fired  Main St.   ...New research from Jobs With Justice has uncovered laws in at least 22 states that punish borrowers who fall too far behind by revoking their professional license; that's particularly grave given that some 30% of workers require professional licensure to do their job. It’s a novel approach to helping people get out of debt by taking away their ability to earn a living...
Recession’s Impact Lingers For Many States  Wall Street Journal   ...Government revenues have been slow to recover across the country as sales-tax collections fall prey to many of the same forces buffeting the broader economic expansion, from cautious consumers who have seen scant growth in wages to a downturn in home construction that has sapped sales of building materials and furnishings. At the same time, states are facing down a decades-long shift in the economy to services from goods, leaving them to collect taxes on a shrinking number of purchases...
Justices side with Labor Department in overtime pay dispute  Associated Press   ...The U.S. Supreme Court has sided with the Obama administration in upholding a rule making mortgage brokers eligible for overtime pay under federal labor law...
Ohio Man Killed, 2 Other Workers Hurt In W.Va. Mine Accident  WTNH   ...State officials are investigating a coal mine accident in Marshall County that killed one worker and injured two others. In a statement to media outlets, Murray Energy identified the miner who was killed as John M. “Mike” Garloch of Neffs, Ohio. The company says Garloch was a management employee. The injured miners haven’t been identified...
Worker Killed When Truck Rolls Down Embankment In Burbank  MyNewsLA   ...The driver of a rock mover truck was killed Monday when the vehicle rolled down an 80-foot embankment in Burbank’s landfill. Road Builders Inc., a private contractor, was performing roadway services about 2:45 p.m. when the accident occurred, according to Officer Cindy Guillen of the Burbank Police Department...
Miscellaneous
Don’t Kill Keystone XL. Regulate It. (opinion)  New York Times   ...Pipelines are the safest way to move oil. They’re an order of magnitude more reliable than trains, and trains are an order of magnitude more reliable than trucks. So the banners that say “If you build it, it will leak” should also be followed by “But if you don’t build it, you’ll have a lot more leaks.”...
Southbound I-95 Reopens Outside DC After Tanker Overturns  Associated Press   ...Two of Interstate 95's 4 southbound lanes just north of the Capital Beltway in Maryland have reopened after officials say a tanker truck overturned, spilling about 400 gallons of bio-diesel fuel...

Teamsters, organic consumers protest UNFI and Whole Foods at Natural Products Expo West

Sergio Acosta came to Expo West 2015 because
he was fired by UNFI for organizing a union.

UNFI, America’s largest organic and natural foods wholesaler, claims to be a values-driven corporation. Teamsters know otherwise. They came to a natural foods conference in Anaheim, Calif., to tell attendees about how UNFI bullies its workers.

Here's the story they told at the National Products Expo West: UNFI intimidated, fired and threatened immigrant workers trying to organize a union in Moreno Valley, Calif., breaking federal laws that protect workers' rights.  The corporation even made death threats against workers, according to a 2012 report by the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF). UNFI violated workers' rights in Auburn, Wash., when it threatened to replace them permanently, according to the ILRF.

Presently, UNFI still refuses to recognize the union formed by UNFI drivers in Moreno Valley. The Teamsters Union was federally certified last November as the drivers’ union after UNFI managed to delay the counting of the ballots for over a year.

In Anaheim, protesters also targeted Whole Foods because UNFI is its dominant supplier. “If values matter, like Whole Foods advertises, then it should live by them,” said Randy Korgan, Organizing Director for Teamsters Local 63 in Covina, Calif. Korgan explained,

Whenever a group of workers at a UNFI warehouse or truck yard attempts to form a union, UNFI management brutalizes them with a barrage of tactics based on contempt and fear, solely for the purpose of intimidating their own workers. 

Teamsters have a message for UNFI.

Sergio Acosta is a warehouse worker who was fired by UNFI when he tried to organize a union with his co-workers. He came to Expo West and talked to hundreds of people. Said Acosta:

Many people are showing their support here at Expo West. They agree that if Whole Foods and UNFI want to start living their professed values, UNFI needs to stop firing workers like me, stop the death threats against immigrant workers like they did in Moreno Valley and start recognizing the workers’ union.

This airplane banner flew over the Anaheim Convention Center.

Protesters handed out leaflets describing UNFI’s community and worker abuses. They held banners that read, “UNFI: Stop the Bullying” and “UNFI is Unsustainable.”

Unveiling a banner at Expo West.

Marc Moran, organizer at Teamsters Joint Council 42 in Pomona, Calif., said the workers' stories about UNFI's behavior sparked similar complaints from small retailers and organic foods producers. Said Moran in a statement released by the Teamsters,

We came to Natural Products Expo West to inform the businesses and organizations in this industry about UNFI’s unconscionable behavior. What’s amazing is how many buyers, restaurant owners and organic producers told us they also feel bullied by UNFI and Whole Foods’ abuse of dominant market power.

Small retailers and producers were unwilling to share their stories publicly for fear of retaliation from UNFI and Whole Foods.

Steve Vairma, Teamsters Warehouse Division Director, said it's time for UNFI to stop the bullying and intimidation. Said Vairma,

Over the years UNFI has tried to undermine workers who have asserted their rights protected by United States law, even where the Teamsters have been certified as the workers’ union through federally supervised elections. UNFI wants to destroy its workers’ fundamental rights to join together to improve their working conditions.

Today's Teamster News 12.02.14

Teamster News
The Teamsters of the 21st Century: How Uber, Lyft and Facebook Drivers Are Organizing  Fast Company   ... the Teamsters are taking a bold step into the new sharing economy by organizing Uber and Lyft drivers in Los Angeles and San Diego and attempting to represent drivers for Facebook and Cisco employee shuttles...
Mayor de Blasio Unveiling Bill to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages  New York Times   ...“This is awful news to give a working family just before the holidays,” George Miranda, president of the Teamsters local, wrote in a statement...
Half of City Council undecided on Bill de Blasio's carriage horse ban  New York Daily News   ...The mayor and animal-rights activists will be pitted against carriage drivers and labor unions in a potentially brutal, drawn-out showdown over the city's iconic horse-drawn carriage industry...
De Blasio administration drafts horse-carriage bill  New York Post   ...Nearly one year after taking office, Mayor Bill de Blasio is preparing to abolish horse-drawn carriages by producing a City Council bill that is expected to be introduced in December, according to two sources who have seen a copy of the draft legislation...
How To Help During The Holidays  Press-Enterprise   ...Donations from the Teamsters Joint Council 42, Teamsters Local Union 63, Metro Property Solutions in Corona, Westminster Memorial Park and Alta Dena made the giveaway possible...
Trade
U.S. Workers Should Not Be Pitted against Child Labor in Vietnam  Public Citizen Global Trade Watch   ...Today, the Department of Labor issued a report declaring Vietnam as one of just four countries in the world that uses both child labor and forced labor in the apparel sector...Under the TPP, U.S. businesses and workers would be forced to directly compete with Vietnamese firms on this uneven playing field...
U.S.-China Commission Describes The Multiple Tactics Of A Rogue Nation Whose Policies Have Destroyed The U.S. Economy, And The U.S. Federal Government's Failed Response  Manufacturing &Technology News   ...For the past decade, U.S. government officials have been pleading with China to shift its economy from investment in manufacturing capacity and exports to domestic consumption. It has asked that China stop manipulating the value of its currency. It has asked that it open its markets to U.S. service providers in health care and finance. Despite repeated promises from Chinese diplomats, it's not happening and doesn't look like it ever will...
Fifteen Years After 'Battle Of Seattle,' Labor Groups Raise Concerns About New Trade Deals  KPIU   ...Sunday marks the 15th anniversary of the World Trade Organization meeting that brought tens of thousands of protesters to Seattle. Now labor groups are once again sounding the alarm that new trade deals being negotiated may leave workers behind...
US Report shows zero Australian economic growth from TPP  Scoop   ...“Since we know this most favourable outcome is unlikely, the report begs the question of why the government is continuing with negotiations which will be of no overall economic benefit to Australia...”
Why Canada Shouldn't Open Up Its Dairy Market To New Zealand  Huffington Post   ...NZ has been described as the "Saudi Arabia of milk," a reference to its position as the world's leading dairy exporter. On the other hand, Canada operates under supply management, matching domestic demand with domestic supply through the application of quotas. About six percent of our dairy market is open to imports that are kept out beyond that point by high tariffs. The New Zealanders obviously want to change that for their own purposes...
Rep. Rangel, will you protect our jobs and community again? (opinion)  New York Amsterdam News   ...Fast-tracking the TPP would put our jobs up against those in coun- tries such as Vietnam, where work- ers make a shocking $2.23 a day. It would expand Big Pharma’s monopoly protections, trading away low-cost access to medicines. It would mean transnational corpo- rations could sue the U.S. and challenge nearly any law they claim cuts into their “future expected profits.” Laws protecting the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food on our dinner tables and our very health would be threatened...
State Battles
On First Day of Prefiling, Lant & Dugger Launch ALEC-Inspired Attacks On Workers And Voting Rights  Progress Missouri   ...Representative Bill Lant has already prefiled three bills attacking Missouri workers. HJR 2 and HB 47 are ALEC's so-called "right to work" proposal that has been repeatedly defeated in the legislature. HB 48 is an ALEC-inspired paycheck deception bill...
Group formed to push for Wisconsin ‘right to work’ law  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...Wisconsin Right to Work will seek changes in state law to prohibit businesses and unions from requiring workers to pay union dues as a condition of employment...
State union leader reacts to right-to-work proposal  WXOW.com   ...Right to Work is nothing more than an attempt by corporate special interests to drive down wages and erode the middle class...
War on Workers
Fast food workers plan nationwide strike for December 4  AlJazeera America   ...Fast food workers in at least 150 cities nationwide will walk off the job on Dec. 4, demanding an industry-wide base wage of $15 per hour and the right to form a union. Workers unanimously voted on the date for the new strike during a Nov. 25 conference call, held shortly before the second anniversary of the movement’s first strike...
Map Shows 100 Schools Along Crude Oil Train Tracks  Westchester County Business Journal   ...New maps from state environmental groups show there are more than 100 public and private K-12 schools within a mile of train lines used to transport crude oil through the region. Albany-based Healthy School Networks released the maps last month in partnership with a coalition of environmental and education activists...
New Report Suggests Wage Theft Of Airport Worker Salaries  New York Amsterdam News   ...According to a new 32BJ report titled, “Grounded Before Takeoff,” wage theft at New York area airports is just as bad as, or worse than, wage theft at other service agencies...
Construction worker killed after incident at BWI  WBAL-TV   ...The Maryland Transportation Authority Police are investigating an incident at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in which a construction worker was killed....
Bringing Up The Bodies: Mexico's Missing Students Draw Attention To 20,000 'Vanished' Others  The Guardian   ...In the days and weeks after the students went missing, investigators found a series of mass graves just a few miles from the poverty-stricken outskirts of Iguala...
Miscellaneous
Chinese investors sign up to fund I-95-Pa. Turnpike link  Philadelphia Inquirer   ...Chinese investors have begun signing up to spend $500,000 each to help pay for a long-awaited connection between the Pennsylvania Turnpike and I-95. In exchange, the investors hope to get permanent residency in the United States for themselves and their families...

Today's Teamster News 11.22.13

Teamsters Joint Council 42 and Local 911 Endorse Lee Rogers for Congress  Inland Empire   ...Dr. Lee Rogers, candidate for Congress in California’s 25th District, announced today that he has picked up the endorsements of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 911 and their umbrella organization, Joint Council 42. Rogers, a podiatrist, is a member of the Teamsters Union...
Use Teamster-Made Ingredients for Thanksgiving  teamster.org   ...For your Thanksgiving recipes, use Teamster-made ingredients and support your brothers and sisters at these companies...
Waste Workers Near San Diego Ratify First Teamster Contract  teamster.org   ...Drivers and mechanics at Waste Management in Carlsbad, California, who voted to join Teamsters Local 683 in San Diego, have ratified their first contract...
New contract gives wage increases for dining workers  The Daily Pennsylvanian   ...Penn dining workers have finished negotiations with Bon Appetit, which will increase their wages and provide a healthcare package. Negotiations began in September, after the workers joined Teamsters Local 929...
Massena, highway department union reach four-year deal  North Country Now   ...The Town Council in Messena, New York, unanimously agreed to a four-year contract with the Teamsters Local 687 to cover the town Highway Department’s eight employees on Wednesday night...
Hoffa to Corporate America: 'Have You No Sense of Decency?'  Huffington Post   ...the average American family pays $6,000 a year to cover government tax breaks for big business....
Senator Sounds The Alarm On Social Security   teamster.org   ...The median retirement savings of U.S. workers near retirement age is only $12,000....
Walmart Workers Strike At Seven Stores In Dallas  ThinkProgress   ...Walmart workers called out or walked off the job at seven stores in Dallas, according to OUR Walmart activists, the group that has been organizing strikes and protests against the company...
Wal-Mart labor group promises 1,500 Black Friday protests next week  Salon   ...Amid scrutiny of Wal-Mart taking up employee-to-employee charity, strike wave continues against retail giant...
The Middle Class Is Disappearing Despite The Economic Recovery  ThinkProgress   ...There were nearly 700,000 fewer middle-income households since the began than during the economic crisis, according to new Census Bureau data...
The U.S. ranks 26th for life expectancy, right behind Slovenia  Washington Post   ...Back in the 1970s, Americans typically lived longer than residents of other countries. Not anymore, according to a new report...
‘I Watched My Patients Die of Treatable Diseases Because They Were Poor’  AlterNet   ...A Galveston medical student describes life and death in the non-existent Texas safety net...
Tea party groups can't shield donors, FEC rules  Politico   ...The panel voted 3-2 against a proposal that would have allowed the Tea Party Leadership Fund to shield the names and information of their donors from public scrutiny...
What will happen to truck drivers when self-driving vehicles take over?  Washington Post   ...Google's test vehicles for its self-driving technology are a Lexus and a Prius. That suggests that Google sees self-driving as a technology for passenger cars. But self-driving technology will almost certainly affect industry and commerce first...
5 Signs the Rich Have Way Too Much Money  AlterNet   ...You can get a $5,000 hamburger for lunch. The Fleur de Lys restaurant in Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay offers the "Fleurburger 5000" for $5,000...
Cash America fined over claims of robo-signing, gouging military families  Washington Post   ...The $19 million settlement is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s first with a payday lender...
UPS increasing rates by 4.9% in 2014  Associated Press   ...The shipping company said that the number is an average of its UPS Ground, Air and International, and Air Freight rate increases for the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico...
Spanish court sentences 'Robin Hood' mayor  Associated Press   ...A Spanish court has sentenced a town mayor and four others to seven months in prison for occupying unused military land they wanted to be loaned to farmers hard hit by the economic crisis...
NY Signs DOL Deal to Tackle Misclassification; Payroll Fraud Protection Act of 2013 Introduced  The We Party   ...The state of New York has signed into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division in an attempt to stop the misclassification of employees as independent contractors. New York is the 15th state to sign such an agreement...
Targets seek stay of investigation into Scott Walker's recall campaign and other groups  Wisconsin State Journal   ...Three unnamed petitioners are asking that a judge be ordered to temporarily halt a secret investigation into campaign activity by Gov. Scott Walker’s recall campaign and more than two dozen conservative political groups...
Wisconsin Employment: October 2013  Econbrowser   ...Two numbers to remember: 84 thousand and 107 thousand. The first number is the amount by which actual October employment lags Governor Walker's promised path; the second is the amount by which the Administration's own forecast for January 2015 lags Walker's promised 250,000 net new jobs figure...

Today's Teamster News 08.22.13

Teamsters Sue Florida Governor And State Agencies   IBT   ...Teamsters Local 2011, the bargaining agent for 19,000 officers employed by the Florida Department of Corrections, has filed a law suit in Leon County Circuit Court that seeks to stop the state from forfeiting time accrued by correctional officers for work performed on statutorily-established state holidays throughout the year...
Reinstated Teamster corrections officers will get back pay  The Daily Herald ...Teamsters Local 117 won $350,000 in back pay and benefits to three recently reinstated Washington State Reformatory corrections officers and a demoted sergeant who were unfairly disciplined after their coworker, Jayme Biendl, was killed by an inmate in 2011...
Teamsters, City of Kelso agree to new contract with raises  Longview Daily News   ...The city of Kelso and Teamsters Local 58 in Vancouver, Washington, have negotiated a contract that includes pay raises in each of the next three years for nine city library and clerical workers...
Sen. Clark to visit families  Daily Times Chronicle   ...Massachusetts State Sen. Katherine Clark, who has been endorsed by unions, including Teamsters Local 25, has had enough of a Congress that doesn't care about the issues affecting women and families. She is launching a kitchen table tour to talk to voters about the family issues and listen to their concerns...
Councilwoman Schipske Picks Up Endorsement From Teamsters   Everything Long Beach   ...The Teamsters Joint Council 42, representing over 200,000 workers, announced that it was throwing its support behind Gerrie Schipske, who is running for Mayor of Long Beach, Calif...
Organized Labor Throws Support behind March  Washington Informer   ...Bill Lucy wasn’t among the more than 250,000 people who took part in the 1963 March on Washington, but on the 50th anniversary of the seminal civil rights event, he said organized labor would be well represented...
Unions, public pension funds file formal objections to Detroit bankruptcy  MSNBC   ...Wall street and bondholders are on a collision course with unions and 21,000 retired pension holders in Detroit, most of them elderly. Yesterday the unions and two public pension funds filed formal objections to Detroit's bankruptcy filing ahead of a midnight deadline...
The Wisconsin Uprising Is Coming Back  Huffington Post   ...Erwin's strategies of chilling dissent aren't working, just as Walker's so-called "job creation" proposals are still falling short of the national average...
For retailers, low wages aren’t working out (opinion) Washington Post   ...This Wal-Mart low-prices, low-wages thing isn’t working out so well — even for Wal-Mart...
Walmart board chairman target of protests  The Californian   ...This weekend, former Walmart employees and supporters passed out flyers at the Salinas store in Salinas about Rob Walton, chairman of the board. “The Waltons are a very rich family and there is nothing wrong with that. But when … your employees have to look for a second job, because their pay rate is too low, that is injustice,” said Tony Barrera, a Salinas City Councilman...
Greece's Golden Dawn: A Wake-up Call for Europe  truthout   ...For the first time since WWII, many Greeks are faced with hunger, homelessness and a lack of basic health care...
Warren asks DOJ to explain 'timid' FHA settlement  The Hill   ...Warren wondered if a portion of a broad government settlement with mortgage servicers amounted to a drop in the bucket, and a sign of the government's "timid enforcement strategy" when it comes to chasing bad actors in the financial sector...
Port of Oakland Terminal Reopens After Trucker Protest  Transport Topics   ...The Port of Oakland, Calif., said Wednesday there are no protesters in the area and terminals are open, after protesting truck drivers had shut down a terminal Monday...
NSA Can Tap Three-Fourths Of Domestic U.S. Internet Traffic, Wall Street Journal Reports Huffington Post   ...The National Security Agency has developed surveillance programs that reach more Internet communications of Americans than have publicly been disclosed, according to current and formal officials cited in a Wall Street Journal article posted online Tuesday night...
The Business Community Finally Realizes Republicans Are Screwing Them Over PoliticusUSA   ...Guess who’s sorry they fell for the Koch brothers baloney? Oh, none other than the “U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business, and other business interests”. See, it turns out that what is good for the Koch brothers isn’t necessarily good for the rest of the business community, the country or Wall Street...
Welfare Can Pay More Than That Entry-Level Job   National Journal   ...Welfare programs pay more than minimum wage in 35 states. That's according to a new study released this week. Here is something to chew on: In 11 states, these programs pay more annually than the average teacher after his or her first year on the job...
The Three Factors That Put Lower-Income Americans At Greater Risk From Extreme Weather   Think Progress   ...As extreme weather batters communities across the country, a new report from the Center for American Progress details how these events disproportionately harm middle and lower-income Americans because they simply have fewer resources to prepare for and recover from such disasters...
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to address Alabama Republicans on Friday  Huntsville Times   ...Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who ignited a political firestorm when he moved to eliminate collective-bargaining rights for teachers and public employees, will the keynote speaker at the Alabama Republican Party's 2013 summer fundraising dinner...
Colorado Internet tax jumps hurdle  Associated Press   ...A federal appeals court has ruled Colorado's law requiring large online retailers to collect millions of dollars in state taxes on Internet sales is legal. The court ruled Tuesday a lower court overstepped its jurisdiction in tossing out the law last year...