Workers seeking respect should look to unions

Despite the picture being painted by some leaders engaged in political posturing, the vast majority of adults are working to earn a living. But it is employers who don't seem to value much of what everyday Americans do on the job.

As an excellent piece in The New York Times today highlights, society is quick to judge people on the work they do and categorize them and their salaries. Often, whether one uses their mind to complete their duties is the deciding factor. And if it is determined that a job is unskilled or low-skilled, any respect or dignity for that worker is thrown out the window:

The labels “low-skilled” or “unskilled” workers — the largest demographic being adult women and minorities — often inaccurately describe an individual’s abilities, but play a powerful role in determining their opportunity. The consequences are not only severe, but incredibly disempowering: poverty-level wages, erratic schedules, the absence of retirement planning, health benefits, paid sick or family leave and the constant threat of being replaced. 

Instead of improved job quality, the rewards for task-oriented workers are pats on the back and the constant encouragement to aspire for something better.

Of course, there are some who value these employees' contributions. The Teamsters and other unions stand up for workers like this everyday because they know these people are the backbone of the U.S. economy. Better pay, benefits and working conditions reward hard-working union workers by allowing them to provide for their families.

That idea isn't popular with corporate America. Some businesses, for instance, are fighting to overturn a National Labor Relations Board ruling in a case brought by Bay Area Teamsters that ruled parent companies can be held responsible for the treatment of temporary or contractor workers at their facilities.

But the benefits of union membership are well-known. The U.S. Labor Department’s own statistics show the median union worker earns more than $200 a week more than the median non-union worker. That’s an extra $10,000 a year that goes into the pockets of union workers. These jobs also offer health benefits and retirement security.

The jobs being done by those at the lower end of the income scale should be valued. By joining a union, workers can help themselves earn the respect and fair pay they're entitled to receive.

VIDEO: Inside unionizing Silicon Valley

The Teamsters' efforts to organize low-wage workers in the Silicon Valley at places such as Facebook and Google are getting the attention of the national media at a time when income inequality is a top concern of Americans.

This MSNBC video discusses the work of the Teamsters and other unions to organize and the growing appeal of unions nationwide. Workers are organizing because they are tired of getting the short end of the stick while companies rake in huge profits!

Support is growing for unions across the country because everyday Americans realize they are stronger when they organize together than when they stand alone. Teamster Strong makes America Stronger!

Today's Teamster News 04.02.15

Trade
Australia should fix trade deal investor protection  Financial review   ...Two weeks ago an international arbitration panel awarded a US company compensation for the way its quarry project in Canada was "unfairly" rejected on environmental and planning grounds...  
In Press Call, Progressives Announce Anti-Fast Track Activities Nationwide  Public Citizen   ...Hundreds of progressive organizations are engaged nationwide in two action-packed weeks of rallies, press events, briefings, bird-dogging events, phone banks,canvasses and more to build opposition against Fast Tracking the Trans-Pacific Partnership...
Blame Bad Trade For Hurting America's Steel Industry  Alternet   ...Sucker punched by massive, illegally subsidized imports, American steel producers laid off thousands of workers in bedrock communities from Ohio and Illinois to Texas and Alabama. That’s in just the past three months...
ISDS A Bigger Threat Than ISIS (opinion)  Wanganui Chronicle   ...The Investor-State Dispute Settlement. ISDS is a means whereby investors (read corporations) may sue a government for lost corporate profits due to regulatory barriers of the defendant country. Regulatory barriers like environmental protections, health and safety rules, generic pharmaceuticals. ISDS is part of the invasive TPPA (TransPacific Partnership Agreement), a trade agreement written to benefit multinational corporations....
Cambodian Child Labor Laws Flouted With Fake IDs  The Guardian   ...“For many children in Cambodia, the child protection situation is dire,” says Unicef’s chief of communication...
State Battles
Seattle Minimum Wage Up To $11 For Most Wednesday  KING   ...Seattle's minimum wage is increasing to $11 for most businesses on Wednesday. It's the start of a phased increase to $15 per hour over the next several years...
City Council Pushes To Raise Minimum Wage  WDAF   ...The Kansas City council will consider an ordinance to raise minimum wage within the city to $15 an hour. Mayor Sly James talked about the ordinance during his state of the city address. The ordinance would begin raising the minimum wage within the city to $10 by September and then up to $15 by 2021...
Perez And Garcetti Take Aim At Wage Theft, Minimum Wage  Los Angeles Times   ...On Tuesday, Los Angeles County supervisors voted 5 to 0 to study the possible effects of boosting wage floors at the county level. City leaders in Los Angeles are considering an increase in the minimum wage to $13.25 or $15.25 an hour from the state minimum of $9 an hour...
Oil Trains To Pay More In State Fees  Albany Times Union   ...The state will collect millions of dollars more from companies that ship oil from the Midwest in massive trains that pass through the Capital Region and other parts of the state under language contained in the state budget hammered out by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers...
BNSF Implements New Safety Rules For Oil Trains  Flathead Beacon   ...In an effort to safely move massive oil trains from North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields, BNSF Railway has told shippers that it is implementing its own rules to try and prevent explosive derailments and accidental spills...
War on Workers
Student Debt Strikers Grow in Number and in Power  truthout   ...Just over a month ago, Waging Nonviolence reported that 15 former students of Corinthian Colleges — the beleaguered, notorious for-profit higher education system — were going on strike; not from their jobs, or from class, but from their debt. Today, there are over 100 debt strikers...
McDonald’s to Raise Pay at Outlets It Operates  New York Times   ...McDonald's announced on Wednesday that it would raise wages and offer new benefits to 90,000 employees in he 1,500 outlets in the United States that it owns and operates, responding to competitive pressure from a tighter job market and to labor campaigns drawing public attention to its pay policies...
Republicans Take Aim At Union ‘Official Time’ For Federal Employees  Washington Post   ...House and Senate Republicans have introduced bills to bar federal employees from performing union work on the government’s dime, a practice that has been allowed since 1978 under the Civil Service Reform Act...
Worker Killed In Fall At Site  New Braunfels Herald Zeitung   ...A San Antonio construction worker died as a result of an accident he had while working Tuesday in New Braunfels, a New Braunfels Police Department spokesman said. Authorities said Victor Echartea-Medina, 41, fell from about four stories up before being rushed in an ambulance to Resolute Health Hospital in town. The man died from his injuries...
Miscellaneous
DOJ Inspector General: ATF, FBI's Drones Worthless, Expensive And Completely Mismanaged  Techdirt   ...$3 million spent on drones, with only half currently considered "operational." In eight years (2006-2014), the drones have only been deployed to assist in 13 investigations, with nine of those occurring in the last four years. This may be good news for those concerned about extensive domestic surveillance, but it's not good news for those interested in how their tax dollars are being spent...

Worker Wins, brought to you by your local labor union

Workers everywhere are standing up, speaking out and fighting for better wages and working conditions. In the past month alone, workers scored a number of community and organizing victories.

Our brothers and sisters at the AFL-CIO are now spreading the good news with 'Worker Wins' updates. They shared some good Teamster news. For example,

Facebook Bus Drivers Organize in San Francisco: Over eighty bus drivers employed by Facebook voted to organize as part of a growing effort in Silicon Valley’s tech sector to win better wages and benefits for low wage workers.

And this:

Boston Parking Attendants Look to Expand Organizing Efforts: Parking attendants in Boston are working to organize approximately 1,600 workers in the Boston area in an attempt to improve working conditions and substandard pay. Parking workers have won contracts with five parking companies in the Boston area over the last two years, and aim to organize at least three additional companies in the area.

Here are a few other recent Teamster wins:

Teamsters Win 3rd FedEx Freight Election “Like the drivers in Philadelphia and in South Brunswick, N.J., who voted to join the Teamsters, the workers in Charlotte want to be treated fairly and they want to have consistent, fair work rules,” said Steve Bess, President of Teamsters Local 71 in Charlotte.   

Teamsters At Las Vegas Hotel Ratify First Contract  The workers ratified their five-year contract by a vote of 23 to 3 on December 8, 2014. The group includes warehouse workers, groundskeepers and valets. The Cromwell, the only boutique hotel on the Strip, was built as the Barbary Coast Hotel & Casino and was later know as Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall and Saloon.

Franklin Park Public Works Employees Ratify First Teamsters Contract  Public works employees in the Village of Franklin Park, Ill., ratified their first Teamsters contract after unanimously voting to join the Teamsters. 

First Student School Bus Workers Vote To Join Teamsters Local 653 School bus workers at the Abington, Mass., First Student yard have voted overwhelmingly, 38-8, in favor of representation by Teamsters Local 653 in South Easton, Mass. The group of 60 drivers and monitors transport children in the Rockland, Holbrook and Weymouth school districts.

Then of course these:

Walmart Workers Stage Nationwide Black Friday Protests: Walmart workers were joined by unions and community allies in staging approximately 1,600 protests against the corporation’s low wages and hostile work environments on Black Friday. This is the third year in a row that workers have staged Black Friday protests, with this year’s being the biggest yet.
Workers Fight for $15: Workers in a diverse set of sectors, from airline workers to retail employees, joined fast food workers in a nationwide strike across 190 cities. Workers spoke out for a $15 minimum wage and the right to organize for better working conditions and workplace fairness.
Boston Bike Share Workers Vote to Unionize: Employees of Hubway, a Boston-based bike share company, voted overwhelmingly to join Transport Workers Union Local 100. The workers, including mechanics, technicians, and dispatchers, are part of a national campaign to organize bike share workers.

UAW certified to represent VW workers in Tennessee An accounting firm has certified that the UAW represents more than 45% of Volkswagen workers, giving the union the ability to meet with the automaker's management on a regular basis. 

Pretty good looking list, eh?

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 11.23.14

Teamsters
Teamsters: Port Truck Drivers At Pacer Cartage, Harbor Rail Transport Return To Work  teamster.org   ...On Friday, port truck drivers from the Pacer Cartage and Harbor Rail Transport in Long Beach, Calif., who had struck to protest wage theft caused by their misclassificaton as "independent contractors", took down their picket lines and made an unconditional offer to return to work after both companies pledged to continue talks...
Trade
Trading Up?  Politico   ...A separate Pew Research poll found that similar shares of both Republicans and Democrats are more or less in agreement that trade destroys jobs (54 percent in the GOP say so, and 50 percent of Democrats) and lowers wages (44 percent in the GOP and 49 percent of Democrats). Moreover, one of the TPP’s main goals is to spur foreign investment. On that score, Republicans are more wary than Democrats: 75 percent in the GOP think foreign companies buying U.S. companies is bad for the country, compared with 66 percent of Democrats...
Mládek: TTIP could become US election football  Prague Post   ...The talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), an extensive agreement between the European Union and the United States, should be completed by the end of next year, Czech Industry and Trade Minister Jan Mládek said. Then the complicated talks might fall victim to the campaign ahead of the presidential election in the United States...
State Battles
A Dozen Greedy, Inhumane and Cruel Policies That Top Corporate Lobbyists Will Push In 2015  Center for Media and Democracy   ...ALEC seeks to kill minimum wage increases, ban union organizing, deprive poor people of Medicaid-delivered health care, block shareholder advocacy, stop e-cigarette regulations, sabotage new rules for ride-share companies, lower medical training standards for dental assistants, and more, according to a legislative blueprint that will be discussed at an upcoming States & Nation Policy Summit in Washington, DC....
War on Workers
Amazing Black Friday Deals, Brought to You by the American Taxpayer  Economic Policy Institute   ...Nearly one in three retail workers or their families (31.5 percent) receives support from at least one means-tested public assistance program—such as food stamps (SNAP), the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), or Medicaid4—compared with less than one in four (22.2 percent) workers or their families in all other industries. Public assistance to families of workers in retail can be conservatively estimated to top $13.4 billion each year...
...
Wal-Mart workers plan Black Friday protests for higher pay  Los Angeles Times   ...Organizers say rallies and marches will occur at 1,600 Wal-Mart locations on the day after Thanksgiving in what they say will be the largest protests ever against the nation's biggest retailer...
Malled: The Hollowing Out of an American Institution. 'We Surrender'  Bloomberg   ...Steeplegate is one of about 300 U.S. malls facing a choice between re-invention and oblivion. Most are middle-market shopping centers being squeezed between big-box chains catering to low-income Americans and luxury malls lavishing white-glove service on One Percenters...
Yes, bankers lie more than the rest of us. Wall Street reforms aren’t likely to change that culture.  Washington Post   ... the group who were primed to think of themselves as bankers tended to lie significantly more — they misrepresented their results about 16 percent of the time and more than a quarter of the “bankers” group cheated...
Teeth and Bones: Mass Abduction Reveals a Decaying Mexican State  der Spiegel   ...More than 100,000 people have been killed in the ongoing drug war since 2006 with upwards of 25,000 more listed as missing. The bloodletting, the mass graves, the beheadings and the arrests of drug bosses have become so normal that they hardly manage to make it onto the front pages anymore...

Video: Federal contract workers rally at the 'Capitol of Inequality'

The workers' movement to raise their wages, fix their schedules and their workplaces and to escape retaliation just keeps getting broader.

We received this in our in-box today from our allies at Good Jobs Nation:

Last week, America’s progressive leadership released a new economic executive action platform – More than the Minimum – to call on the President to award lucrative contracts to companies that pay living wages, offer good benefits and respect workers' rights. 

To drive the point home, hundreds of federal contract workers from the U.S. Capitol and other federal sites went on strike chanting “Mr. President, it’s been tough, $10.10 is not enough!”

Today, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. George Miller held a Capitol Hill briefing on workers' erratic schedules that deprive them of time with family or predictable earnings.

Peter Schroeder at The Hill reports,

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and a host of left-leaning groups are setting their sights on Wal-Mart as they push for improved treatment of workers. 

Warren joined with Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), labor advocates, and employees of the retail chain to criticize its wage and scheduling policies, and push for Congress to force changes to better accommodate workers. 

“It is good to hear workers’ voices in the halls of Congress,” said Warren. “No one in this country should work full-time and still live in poverty, and that’s what raising the minimum wage is all about.” 

Miller said companies “conspired” to keep workers down, and it was up to policymakers to improve worker conditions. 

“This is about the simple dignity of the people that you’ve hired to work,” he said. “We have to override what the policies are in a place like Wal-Mart.” 

Teamsters are supporting actions taken by low-wage workers, even as Walmart and fast food workers support Teamster organizing efforts at ports and food processing companies. Walmart workers spoke out in support of the port drivers striking in Los Angeles. California's politicial leaders were recently briefed by a McDonald's worker, a UFCW Safeway member along with Teamsters and Taylor Farms workers.

Strike season continues today with LA port strike spreading to three more companies

The LA port truck driver strike that began last week spread to three more drayage companies today. The job action continues the latest season of low-wage worker strikes expected to come to a head with the largest Black Friday protest by Walmart workers on Nov. 28.

Teamsters and Walmart workers came to the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach on Thursday to support the drivers striking against Total Transportation Services (TTSI) and Pacific 9 Transportation (Pac 9).

As the striking port truck drivers picketed on the West Coast, low-wage federal contract workers walked off the job in Washington, D.C. Nearby the port, Walmart strikers staged their first-ever sit-down strike and then joined the striking truck drivers at the port.

Today, Andrew Khouri at the Los Angeles Times reported,

Port truck driver strike at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach grew Monday, as protest organizers targeted three more companies that they accuse of wage theft. 

Drivers from QTS Inc., LACA Express and WinWin Logistics Inc. joined an ongoing strike Monday morning, said Barb Maynard, a spokeswoman for the Teamsters Union, which is backing the drivers... 

As in prior job actions against other firms, drivers say they are improperly classified as independent contractors, leaving them with fewer workplace protections and lower pay than if they were company employees.

The Justice for Port Drivers campaign explained the reason for the strikes in a statement:

Drivers are striking to end misclassification as “independent contractors,” a scam that has led to massive wage theft and denied drivers basic workplace protections such as safety and health regulations, disability insurance, workers compensation, and unemployment insurance.  

“We are sick of this misclassification scam,” declared striking port driver Ricardo Ceja, a misclassified “independent contractor” from LACA Express. “We are coming out of the shadows to demand our rights as company employees to provide a better future for our families.” 

On Friday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti facilitated talks among the drivers at TTSI and Pac 9, and the drivers agreed to take down their picket lines. Garcetti had already negotiated a cooling-off period with Green Fleet Systems, and so drivers did not strike that company on Thursday.

Today, this WinWin Logistics truck was turned back at the LBCT terminal.

Here's more good news: The striking port drivers are not only getting support from Garcetti, but from LBCT, Maersk, APL and Yusen terminals. A delegation of community, faith and Teamster leaders will hold a news conference this afternoon to show their support. 

Solidarity!

Walmart sit-down strike follows strikes today by port truck drivers and federal contract workers

Walmart sit-down strikers today.

Walmart workers in a Crenshaw, Calif., store sat down on the job today, even as striking port truck drivers picketed marine terminals and trucking yards at the Port of L.A. and hundreds of federal government contractors marched off the job and onto a Capitol Hill rally.

Strike fever is spreading among low-wage workers fed-up with poverty, wage theft and retaliation for trying to form a union. The tactic of short, sudden strikes started in New York City several years ago has spread throughout the nation.

The Walmart sit-in is the day's most recent development. The Crenshaw store workers chanted, "Stand up, live better. Sit down, live better!" It is the first sit-down strike in Walmart history. Watch a livestream of the Walmart action here.

Making Change at Walmart tells us:

OUR Walmart members, some of whom were part of the first Walmart strike in October 2012, have just sat down near registers and next to racks of a Walmart store in Crenshaw. The group of striking workers, from stores throughout California, has placed tape over their mouths signifying the company’s illegal efforts to silence workers who are calling for better jobs. Even as the mega-retailer brings in $16 billion in annual profits and Walmart’s owners build on their $150 billion in wealth, the majority of Walmart workers are paid less than $25,000 a year...

To date, workers at more than 2,100 Walmart stores nationwide have signed a petition calling on Walmart and the Waltons to publicly commit to paying $15 an hour and providing consistent, full-time hours. After taking the petition to members of the Walton family, supporters committed to returning to stores on Black Friday if jobs aren’t improved by then.

Striking federal contract workers.

In Washington, D.C., the 10th daylong strike was the largest ever by federal contract workers who toil in government buildings. Hundreds marched up Capitol Hill and held a spirited rally in front of the U.S. Capitol. They carried signs that read, "To Survive, Workers Need $15 and  Union." They rallied in front of the Capitol, led by U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, Rep. Judy Chu and Rep. Keith Ellison. Their message: "We are here to call on the President to do #MoreThanMin & help workers live the American Dream." Said Ellison, "We know some contractors are good and some are bad. The federal government needs to stop working with the bad ones."

The Teamster-supported port drivers strike.

In Los Angeles, port truck drivers were striking for the fifth time in a year and a half. The drivers walked off the job at Total Transportation Services (TTSI) and Pacific 9 Transportation (Pac 9).  Drivers at Green Fleet Systems (GFS) agreed to remain in the “cooling off” status because of ongoing talks with the company owners.

A court recently ordered two port drivers to return to work at Green Fleet Systems as employees after they were fired for challenging their misclassification as independent contractors. But since the last strike in July, 35 drivers were fired for refusing to withdraw their wage and hour claims. Drivers have experienced a dramatic increase in wage theft, leaving some drivers owing the company for driving for them.

The port strikes are expected to continue.

Federal contract workers kick off another strike season today on Capitol Hill

Striking federal contract workers

Federal contract workers walked off their jobs today demanding a $15-an-hour minimum wage and the right to join a union.

The action signaled the beginning of another season of strikes by low-wage workers in the fast food, retail, warehousing and port trucking industries. Protests are expected for Black Friday at Walmart, while port truck drivers are walking off the job at the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach today.

The low-wage worker movement is coalescing as Walmart workers and Teamsters joined striking federal contract workers in today's action. 

Marching up Capitol Hill today.

Hundreds of low-wage workers employed by government contractors marched up Capitol Hill this morning, carrying signs that read, "To Survive, Workers Need $15 and  Union." They rallied in front of the Capitol, led by U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, Rep. Judy Chu and Rep. Keith Ellison. Their message: "We are here to call on the President to do #MoreThanMin & help workers live the American Dream." Said Ellison, "We know some contractors are good and some are bad. The federal government needs to stop working with the bad ones."

This is the 10th and largest of the government contractor employee strikes. Ned Resnikoff at AlJazeera America reported, 

Since Good Jobs Nation’s first strike a year and a half ago, the campaign has won a handful of key victories. First, President Barack Obama signed an executive order in February that requires all federal contractors pay their employees a minimum wage of $10.10 per hour. Obama followed up with executive orders banning LGBT discrimination at federally contracted workplaces and tightening labor law compliance requirements for businesses seeking federal contracts. The $10.10 executive order was particularly significant: It met the first major demand issued by the Good Jobs Nation campaign.

One of today's strikers is featured on a Credo petition asking President Obama to do more than the minimum and use a stroke of the pen for $15 and a union. Here is his message:

Today, my coworkers and I walked off the job at the U.S. Capitol to highlight the plight of low-wage workers under federal contracts. We were joined by low-wage federal contract workers from other federal buildings in the D.C. area, representing 2 million working across the nation.

I work at the Capitol Visitor's Center making $12.46 an hour. My coworkers and I are the ones who labor invisibly in the basement of this great landmark. We welcome the tourists, serve them food, clean the tables and empty the trash bins. 

Because I make so little, I qualify for government food stamps. Even though I was hired as a full-time worker, my hours were cut without warning. I don’t get any sort of benefits such as health care insurance or retirement savings from my employer. I'm fifty years old and I won't be able to retire, because I can't save money when I'm struggling to afford basic needs like paying rent and putting food on the table. 

As a father, I want to help my kid out, because college tuition is expensive. My ex-wife and I are trying to help our daughter graduate from college, but I’m afraid the tuition checks will bounce. 

We are grateful to President Obama for signing executive orders to raise the minimum wage and stop wage theft on federal contracts. But workers like me need more than the minimum to survive.

You can sign the petition here.

Today's rally in front of the U.S. Capitol

Follow the action on Twitter @GoodJobsNation & #MoreThanMin.

Victory for 2 misclassified port drivers who return to work as employees!

A court ordered two fired port drivers to return to work today at Green Fleet Systems in Carson, Calif. The drivers, fired for challenging their misclassification as independent contractors, returned to work as employees.

A federal judge had issued a temporary injunction returning Mateo Mares and Amilcar Cardona to work. The company tried to stop the injunction, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the company's request.

Mares and Cardona were fired because they challenged their misclassification, filed claims for stolen wages with the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) and publicly supported the Teamsters union.

Port drivers celebrate return of Mateo Mares and Amilcar Cardona this morning.

The Teamsters are supporting port drivers throughout the United States in their quest to increase their wages, improve their working conditions and raise their standard of living. Like low-wage workers in the retail and fast food industries, port drivers are resorting to short, sudden strikes to win sympathy for their cause. “We are on the front lines of the fight,” Mares said.

Jim Hoffa, Teamsters general president, said in a statement,

America’s port drivers are the poster child for wage theft in America. Like millions of workers, drivers are treated like regular employees but illegally compensated as independent contractors. The Teamsters are committed to working with drivers and their allies to stop wage theft in the port trucking industry. Justice for port drivers means justice for all American workers.

Mares added:

This ruling is a great victory not just for me, Amilcar, and our families, but for all drivers at Green Fleet Systems who have been too fearful to openly support our effort to become Teamsters, and for misclassified workers across America. Although the fight was long, justice has finally been served. The law is on our side and we all have rights as employees to form our union.

Julie Gutman Dickinson, the attorney representing the drivers, said the court's decision sends a message to the trucking industry and to all employers who try to pass off regular employees as independent contractors. That message:

They are in fact employees that are entitled to choose union representation and cannot be fired for their union activities or for filing claims for wage theft. 

 Congratulations, brothers!

Today's Teamster News 09.05.14

Teamster News
'My Horse For A Kingdom:' Mayor de Blasio And The Tyranny Of Denial  Huffington Post   ...After 10 months of filming New York's Greatest Living Icons, the gentle carriage horses, those who love them... and those who hate them, I can say, without equivocation, there is no abuse, no cruelty of any kind, only love...and lots of carrots...
Public Works Employees in Florida Join Teamsters Local 385  teamster.org   ...Casselberry, Florida Public Works employees have unanimously voted to join Teamsters Local 385 in Orlando…. Thirty-one ballots were returned and the vote was 31-0 to join Local 385. There are 44 workers in the bargaining unit...
Trade
Trade deficit with China sets new record  Trade Reform   ...Our deficit with China — People’s Republic of China/Chinese Communist Party/People’s Liberation Army — is an all-time record...
State Battles
Indiana Supreme Court To Hear Right-To-Work Arguments Today  Indianapolis Star   ...The Indiana Supreme Court will hear oral arguments this morning on the state’s right-to-work law that brought thousands of union protesters to the Statehouse in 2012 when it was passed...
Minimum wage debate returns to Indianapolis  WISHTV.com   ...A nationwide push to raise the minimum wage returns to Indianapolis Thursday with more local protests. It’s a hot button issue from the nation’s capital to the fast food counter. Fast food workers have protested a handful of times over the last year...
Pension Tax Bites Michigan’s Snyder in Re-Election Bid  Bloomberg   ...Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s 2011 tax increase on retirement income from pensions is haunting the Republican as he runs for a second term in a graying state still recovering from the recession...
Tax The Big Businesses That Won’t Pay Connecticut Workers A Living Wage (opinion)  The CT Mirror   ...If companies with 500 or more employees decide they don’t want to pay a fair wage, then they must repay Connecticut taxpayers for supporting their corporate bottom line...
Alabama's Voter ID Law Blamed For At Least 282 Ballots Uncounted In Primary  Birmingham News   ...The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund is alleging that at least 282 ballots in the state's June 3 primary election were not counted due to Alabama's law requiring voters to show a valid photo identification card...
Husted’s suppression efforts have costs taxpayers over $400,000  Ohio Democratic Party   ...In 2013, the State of Ohio paid the Wiley Rein law firm $285,902.50 to unsuccessfully defend Jon Husted’s attempt to cut early voting in Ohio before the 2012 general election alone...
Bad Labor News for Wisconsin  Center for Media and Democracy   ... the state still falls 21,900 jobs short of where it was seven years ago--and about 58,000 jobs short of where it would be if it had kept pace with the national recovery rate...
Former Va. Gov. Bob McDonnell Found Guilty In Corruption Case  DCist   ...Former Va. Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen were found guilty today on several charges in the corruption case stemming from gifts, including an engraved Rolex and lavish vacations, and thousands of dollars in loans they accepted from a businessman in exchange for political favor...
War On Workers
Fast Food Strikes Hit 150 US Cities  MSNBC   ...Police arrested at least 19 people outside of a McDonald’s in New York City early Thursday morning as thousands of fast food workers across the country walked off the job...
Congresswoman Gwen Moore arrested during minimum wage protest  CBS News   ...U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore was arrested by West Milwaukee police during a minimum wage protest on Miller Park Way...
The United States Leads in Low-Wage Work and the Lowest Wages for Low-Wage Workers  Economic Policy Institute   ...the wages of low-wage workers (the 10th percentile of wage earners) declined by five percent over the 1979-2013 period, despite a generation of productivity gains (64.9 percent)...
Groups Accuse Apple Supplier in China of Labor Violations  New York Times   ...The employees are made to work excessive overtime and handle toxic chemicals without proper protective clothing, according to a report released Thursday by Green America, an environmental nonprofit group, and China Labor Watch, a workers’ rights group based in New York...
Voting Restrictions Are Key Variable In Midterm Elections  New York Times   ...Voting in midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress, ends this fall. But it starts in North Carolina this week...
Worker Killed on the Job: Four Wheeler Accident  News4JAX   ...A man was killed on the job after the four wheeler he was riding flipped and landed in a near by lake. The vehicle pinned the man beneath the water...
McMansions not only survive, they’re getting bigger  Washington Post   ...In 1973, the median newly-completed single-family house was 1,525 square feet; forty years later, in 2013, it was 2,384 square feet. That is a record high...
The Koch Brothers have funded 44,000 ads in the 2014 election  Washington Post   ...Americans for Prosperity alone has run more than 27,000 ads, which is significantly more than groups like American Crossroads/Crossroads GPS -- groups with close ties to former Bush White House political svengali Karl Rove...
Miscellaneous
Large US Tech Firms Plan 'Go Slow' Day In Protest Over Net Neutrality Rules  The Guardian   ...Some of the world’s largest tech firms are planning a “go slow” day next week in protest of proposals that could create fast lanes on the internet for some companies...

Thousands of fast-food workers strike for right to join a union, higher wages

Times Square today

Fast food workers in about 150 cities went on strike today in their campaign to win union representation and higher wages. 

They are part of a growing wave of low-wage workers taking short, sudden strike actions at Walmart, seaports, federal contractors, retail stores and warehouses. Teamsters stand in solidarity with the workers, in particular port truck drivers who have struck employers at the Ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach. 

USA Today reported, 

Arrests that began early Thursday morning outside a landmark McDonald's in New York City spread later in the day to Detroit, Chicago and Las Vegas as thousands of emboldened fast-food workers coast to coast put down their burger flippers and picked up picket signs in a strike that included acts of civil disobedience as workers rally for $15 minimum wages. 

Strikers began to gather in more than 100 cities early Thursday, affecting major chains from McDonald's to Wendy's to Burger King. Shortly after 7 a.m. ET on Thursday, police arrested 19 workers who sat down in the street — and refused to move — outside the bustling McDonald's at New York's Times Square, reports the New York City Police Department. Up to several dozen striking fast-food workers were placed in handcuffs and arrested in Detroit, as well. 

For workers, it's about pushing the major fast-food companies to meet their demands for $15-an-hour minimum wages and and the right to form a union without retaliation. For the fast food giants, it's about trying to keep costs — including labor costs — under control in a highly competitive market.

Here are some tweets from the strikes:

@LeonedaInge Fast food workers shut down Morgan St. in dwtn Durham, NC - rallying for $15 /hr.  

ATLRaiseUp BREAKING: #Atlanta workers being arrested right now fighting for $15/hr & union. #StrikeFastFood 

@EconomicPolicy The U.S. leads in low-wage work and pays the lowest wages to low-wage workers. #strikefastfood http://on.epi.org/1CuDmDf  pic.twitter.com/yo9nh5cGzb 

@WiscJobsNow Congresswoman @RepGwenMoore arrested while standing with workers during Milwaukee's #StrikeFastFood! pic.twitter.com/6As95j3LBO 

Surely workers should have the right to organize.

Today's Teamster News 07.15.14

Teamster News
Avalon Teamsters stage 6-hour demonstration over wages, benefits  CantonRep.com   ...About 20 members of Teamsters Local 92 employed by Avalon Foodservice walked off the job for about six hours Monday in what a union official called a “pre-strike” demonstration over wages and health insurance...
A federal agency is about to answer the question: Who do you actually work for?  Washington Post   ...the NLRB has granted an appeal from the Teamsters, which attempted to hold an election for all employees of a recycling plant in Milpitas, Calif. -- not just the staffing agency that controls the bulk of the payroll -- after a regional panel found in favor of Browning-Ferris Industries...
Trade
Carmakers Are Central Voice in U.S.-Europe Trade Talks  New York Times   ...European and American automakers are some of the biggest corporate proponents of a new trans-Atlantic trade pact, even as some other industries oppose disrupting the status quo. Negotiations for that pact, which have struggled to gain momentum for more than a year, resumed Monday in Brussels...
Manufacturing groups press for broad tariff elimination  The Hill   ...More than a dozen manufacturing groups on Friday urged the Obama administration to press for the elimination of all tariffs as part of the Asia-Pacific trade deal negotiations...
What's next in the OCTG trade case?  manufacture this   ...It's not over yet. Those tariffs that Commerce announced? Now they go over to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), which will have to confirm them. That means the petitioners in the Commerce case (U.S. Steel and other domestic OCTG makers) will have to prove injury or the threat of injury to their industry...
State Battles
Prison food supplier has Michigan officials at wit's end  Detroit Free Press   ...Maggots in the kitchen and on the chow line. Workers caught smuggling contraband or engaging in sex acts with inmates. Food shortages and angry prisoners. Those are among the problems that have plagued Michigan prisons since December when the state — in a move aimed at saving more than $12 million a year — switched from using state workers to feed prisoners to a private contractor, Aramark Correctional Services of Philadelphia...
Kansas’ Ruinous Tax Cuts (opinion)  New York Times   ...The 2012 cuts were among the largest ever enacted by a state, reducing the top tax bracket by 25 percent and eliminating all taxes on business profits that are reported on individual income returns…Kansas, in fact, was one of only five states to lose employment over the last six months, while the rest of the country was improving. It has been below the national average in job gains for the three and half years Mr. Brownback has been in office. Average earnings in the state are down since 2012, and so is net growth in the number of registered businesses...
War On Workers
U.S. Drug Firms Seek Inversion Deals to Evade Taxes  New York Times   ...By buying a smaller overseas competitor and reincorporating abroad — a maneuver called inversion — health care companies are extricating themselves from the American tax regimen...
Workers Struggle In Hamptons Playground For Rich  USA Today   ...Southampton, with its privet hedges, pristine beaches and some estates costing tens of millions, also is where 40% of children get free or reduced school lunches, where a food pantry serves up to 400 clients a month and where some doctors and nurses share homes owned by the local hospital because they can't afford to buy or rent...
United Airlines Opens Door For Raises For Low-Wage Airport Workers  Newark Star-Ledger   ...With raises at stake for 3,700 low-paid cabin cleaners, baggage handlers and other airport workers in Newark, United Airlines acknowledged that its contractors are typically bound to follow local laws or rules governing the airports where they work...

Viral video: Fast food workers get tipped $100

Fast food workers make so little money that many of them depend on government assistance just to live. More than half, in fact, get help from Medicaid, food stamps, the Earned Income Tax Credit and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

CNN reported,

The National Employment Law Project said that the 10 largest fast food companies in the U.S. were responsible for more than half the total cost to taxpayers -- about $3.8 billion a year alone. The report calls out McDonald's (MCD), Yum! Brands (YUM), Subway, Burger King (BKW), Wendy's (WEN), Dunkin' Donuts (DNKN), Dairy Queen, Little Caesar's, Sonic (SONC) and Domino's (DPZ).
McDonald's itself is responsible for $1.2 billion of that cost each year, NELP said.

So here's a heartwarming video that's gone viral. It shows two guys who decided to take videos of themselves giving $100 tips to fast food workers. Their reactions tell you all you need to know about their wages.

One of the guys, Jesse Jhaj, told Business Insider he worked the graveyard shift for minimum wage at 7-11.

I've always wanted to highlight the working conditions — and personalities — of people working in similar jobs. 

The video was filmed in Los Angeles. The fast food workers initially refuse to accept the money. One starts crying, another asks for a hug and then turns around and gives some of the money to a homeless person.

Said Jhaj:

We handed out more than $1,000 total, and surprisingly, we actually got more tips refused than were accepted during all of our excursions. For many fast food chains, it's against policy to accept tips, and many of the workers were actually scared to take the money for fear of getting in trouble — misaligned incentives, if you ask me.

LA/LB port drivers escalate fight against wage theft, strike

LA/LB port drivers on their 4th strike 

Fed-up port drivers at the ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach walked off the job this morning to demand an end to wage theft and retaliation for trying to form a union. Ned Resnikoff at MSNBC reports:

California truck drivers at three major transportation companies went on strike Monday morning, demanding an end to purported labor law violations such as misclassification and intimidation. This is the fourth strike initiated by the drivers with the backing of the Teamsters union, but it’s the first without a definitive end date; whereas previous strikes have lasted between 24 and 48 hours, the drivers are now saying the won’t return to work until their demands are met. 

“We were fed up. It just got to the point where the drivers are done,” said Alex Paz, a former driver with TTSI, one of the three firms affected by the strikes. Paz, who was fired in late May, alleges that the firm retaliated against him after he spoke out regarding purported labor law violations. 

Over 120 drivers will be going on strike at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, two of the main supply arteries on the West Coast. Roughly 40% of all imports to the United States go through one of those two ports. The firms affected by the strike are responsible for shipping goods to major retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target.

Port drivers have been winning wage-theft complaints before the California labor commissioner. The Los Angeles Times reported on Friday that 40 drivers were misclassified as independent contractors and awarded $4.3 million in back pay and penalties.

Their employers are fighting back, according to a press statement by the Teamster-supported Justice for Port Drivers campaign:

In a desperate quest to maintain the status quo, company owners are firing, intimidating, and countersuing drivers; countersuing state agencies, filing appeals on trial court decisions; and filing to compel arbitration to stay government proceedings. These companies are continuing to retaliate against their employees for engaging in union and protected concerted activities. They are threatening and otherwise intimidating, restraining, and coercing employees in the exercise of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act.  

Port truck drivers work long hours hauling nearly $4 billion worth of cargo every day, yet often receive paychecks below the minimum wage.

The biggest creator of poverty jobs will surprise you

No one keeps more women in poverty than the federal government. Seven in 10 of the low-wage jobs created by the federal government through contracts, loans and leases are filled by women.

That's according to a new study by Demos, which concluded President Obama could put 21 million American workers and their families on a path to the middle class, if he issued an executive order that:

• Respects workers' right to bargain collectively;
• Offers living wages, decent benefits and fair work schedules;
• Limits executive compensation to 50 times the median workers' salary. 

Our friends at Good Jobs Nation tell us working women who serve meals and clean inside federal buildings said the President’s executive order raising their pay to $10.10 isn’t enough.

They said they need a voice on the job so they don’t need to keep striking to be heard.

“We need a living wage and benefits,”says Yesenia Vega, a worker at a McDonald’s restaurant located at the Pentagon. She and other workers are also seeking decent health insurance, vacation benefits and paid sick days. “We need a union to get these things,” she says. 

The women fighting for a Good Jobs Nation sent a letter to President Obama and Labor Secretary Tom Perez calling for collective bargaining rights – and in just a few days, over 30,000 Americans signed a petition calling on the Administration to act. 

They'd like you to sign the petition urging President Obama to act. Click here to sign.

Nancy Duff Campbell, co-president of the National Women's Law Center, points out that women worked in factories and shipyards for defense contractors during World War II. They were abused and discriminated against, so they joined unions in record numbers and walked off the job:

Unions made a difference in the lives of women industrial workers back then, and they still matter for the women who dominate the low-wage service sector today, including low-wage federal contract workers.

Help empower the new Rosie the Riveter and sign the petition!

Today's Teamster News 06.16.14

Teamsters
With strike over, SEPTA riders exude relief  Philly.com   ...SEPTA's 13 Regional Rail lines returned to normal after the one-day strike by rail engineers and electrical workers, the first in 31 years. President Obama intervened Saturday, signing an executive order to appoint an emergency board to mediate the dispute between SEPTA and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen plus the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers...
Court blocks Teamsters’ bid to thwart company sale  Business Management Daily  ...A court has ruled that the Teamsters union can’t scuttle the sale of Will Poultry, a Buffalo food distributor. The company had been looking for a buyer for three years when it finally found one. The sale agreement called for terminating all employees and allowing the new owner to determine which ones it would bring back. The new owner would not be obligated to honor the existing collective bargaining agreement or recognize the Teamsters union, which represented workers...
Trade
Financial services off the table at next round of TTIP talks  EurActive.com   ... The inclusion or otherwise of financial services in the free trade agreement negotiations is a major point of disagreement between the US and the EU. While the EU insists financial services should be included in any deal, the US Treasury has argued firmly against working with the Europeans to regulate their financial sector...
State Battles
Trade groups sue VT over GMO labeling law  Burlington Free Press   ...Four national organizations whose members would be affected by Vermont's new labeling law for genetically engineered foods filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court challenging the measure's constitutionality...
North Carolina Treasurer, Accused of Malfeasance , Defends Secrecy of Private Equity Investments  naked capitalism   ...the current Treasurer, Janet Cowell, in her role as sole trustee for the state pension (is accused of) ... of supporting a “pay to play” system as well as failing to curb abuses and promoting a secrecy system essential to hiding them. He also estimates that her oversight failures have cost North Carolina $6.8 billion during her term in office...
War on Workers
This Is What Barely Making Ends Meet In America Sounds Like  Huffington Post   ...According to U.S. Census data, more than 7 percent of workers live below the federal poverty line, with many more above the cutoff but still struggling...
The Question on People Leaving the Labor Force is 41-Year-Olds, Not 61-Year-Olds  Center for Economic Policy and Research  ... the unemployment rate is considerably lower than would otherwise be the case because so many people have simply given up looking for work and are therefore not counted as being unemployed...
Amazon Is Planning A Way To Let You Hire Babysitters And Plumbers  Reuters   ...The move takes direct aim at consumer review sites Yelp Inc and Angie's List Inc as well as U.S. home improvement chains Home Depot Inc and Lowe's Companies Inc, which have both invested in ways to connect customers with local plumbers, painters and other service providers...
Miscellaneous
Starbucks to Provide Free College Education to Thousands of Workers  New York Times   ...Starbucks will provide a free online college education to thousands of its workers, without requiring that they remain with the company, through an unusual arrangement with Arizona State University...

Today's Teamster News 06.09.14

Teamsters
Teamsters Fear ABF Freight's Plans to Move  Arkansas Business   ...ArcBest Corp. of Fort Smith is leaning toward moving ABF Freight, its largest subsidiary, to Memphis, which would result in a major reduction of its operations in North Little Rock....
Trade
TPP would hurt farmers, America (opinion)  Springfield News-Leader   ...these trade deals take power away from local and state elected representatives and make us subject to a virtual undemocratic corporate, global constitution that could undermine the U.S. Constitution, state constitutions, federal and state laws and local control laws. Laws such as Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) would be in jeopardy — COOL is supported by the majority of farmers and consumers, but opposed by corporate agribusiness...
TTIP: EU Commissioner Defends Controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership  International Business Times   ...Politicians have also been labelled "undemocratic" for the perceived secrecy of negotiations. In May, a group of 120 European NGOs attacked TTIP's "lack of transparency and democratic procedures"...
War on Workers
Starting Out Behind  New York Times   ...The result has been an economy where young people starting out are at risk of prolonged underachievement...
Trafficked Teachers: Neoliberalism’s Latest Labor Source  In These Times   ...Between 2007 and 2009, 350 Filipino teachers arrived in Louisiana, excited for the opportunity to teach math and science in public schools throughout the state. They’d been recruited through a company called Universal Placement International Inc., which professes on its website to “successfully place teachers in different schools thru out [sic] the United States.” As a lawsuit later revealed, however, their journey through the American public school system was fraught with abuse...
The Great Deleveraging: Six and a Half Lost Years  New Yorker   ...The bad news is that for the American economy, whose leitmotif is expansion, to go for six and a half years without any net job growth is something we haven’t seen in eighty years. The only comparable period on record is the Great Depression...
Dark Money, Dirty War: The Corporate Crusade Against Low-Wage Workers  Portside   ...The U.S. Chamber is using its reports–plus attack ads, articles from right-wing think tanks such as the Manhattan Institute, and op-eds in major newspapers echoing similar refrains—to persuade the public and the government that all low-wage and immigrant worker organizing groups should be subjected to the same financial reporting and internal structuring requirements that unions face...