Teamsters
Teamsters and Coalition of Unions Reach Tentative Agreement with American Red Cross Teamster.org ...After several months of serious negotiations, the Teamsters, as part of a union coalition, have come to a tentative agreement for members working at American Red Cross. The agreement, once voted on by the membership, will impact more than 1,100 Teamsters at 18 different local unions...
Sun Tran riders warned to prepare for driver strike Arizona Daily Star ...While union contract negotiations are underway, Sun Tran officials and union leaders warned bus riders to prepare for the possibility of a strike. Professional Transit Management of Tucson and Teamsters Local 104 have been in talks since June 17, and last week agreed to a five-day contract extension that expires at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday...
Plaque marks site where Minneapolis cops fired on striking workers People's World ...One day shy of the 81st anniversary, 200-plus people gathered in the warehouse district in downtown Minneapolis on July 19 to unveil a plaque marking the spot where city police opened fire July 20, 1934, on unarmed striking members and supporters of Teamsters Local 574...
Global Labor & Trade
Canada, Mexico drawn into deal-breaking auto talks in Trans-Pacific negotiations Globe and Mail ...Canada and Mexico are joining forces to try to break a major logjam over Japanese autos at the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks, working to come up with a solution that preserves their respective vehicle assemblers and parts makers should a deal open North America to greater Asian imports. Ottawa and Mexico City have been drawn deeply into a contentious issue at the Pacific Rim talks that held up a deal in Hawaii last week...
Kerry Hails Progress Toward Trans-Pacific Trade Pact, Despite Delays New York Times ...Days after negotiators failed to wrap up an Asia trade agreement, Secretary of State John Kerry expressed confidence on Tuesday that the pact would be completed, calling it vital for the economic well-being of the region. “We made progress, good progress, in our negotiations toward one of the most significant trade agreements in history, the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” Mr. Kerry said...
Trans-Pacific Partnership talks stall NW Labor Press ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)— a proposed 12-nation NAFTA-style deal — is on ice. The corporate-led agreement is a top priority for the Obama Administration, and it was supposed to be finalized at a July 28-31 summit of trade ministers in Maui. Instead, the summit ended July 31 without a deal, and without any further dates set for negotiation. The talks have been conducted entirely in secret, and even the U.S. proposals are classified...
Australia wants exposure to future U.S. sugar demand in trade pact Reuters ...Australia is seeking a guaranteed slice of any growth in demand in the U.S. sugar market in talks with Washington on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, a source with knowledge of the Australian position said. Australia, the world's third-largest exporter of raw sugar, has rejected a U.S. offer to permit 152,000 tonnes of imports per year, or 62,000 tonnes more than typical annual sales, according to data from Australia's commodity forecaster...
TTIP: what does the transatlantic trade deal mean for renewable energy? The Guardian ...In July the transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP) came a step closer to reality. Formal talks have been ongoing for two years, but trying to create the world’s biggest free trade zone is no mean feat. Essentially, if passed, the EU and US will be able to trade without each other’s pesky tariffs or regulations getting in the way. Currently, the only energy sources traded in significant amounts between the EU and the US are refined petroleum products and solid fuels – but TTIP could allow Europe to gain access to US crude oil and natural gas resources...
Greece needs wide debt relief to avoid permanent depression, thinktank warns The Guardian ...Greece’s economy will suffer fresh damage from the austerity measures demanded by its creditors and will remain stuck in permanent depression unless it receives substantial debt relief, one of the UK’s leading thinktanks has warned. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research said the increases in VAT reluctantly accepted by the Syriza-led coalition in Athens in exchange for a new bail out will result in a 1% fall in national output in 2016...
London Underground workers strike over 24 hour tube, ‘gaping holes in staffing’ RT ...stations expected to close, as workers reject Transport for London’s (TFL) pay offer for the proposed 24 hour tube service. Attacking the night tube project, Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union general secretary Mick Cash said: “Londoners need to be aware that the night tube was rushed and botched from the off”...
State & Living Wage Battles
Kansas Moves to Implement $25 ATM Withdrawal Limit for Welfare Recipients McClatchy ...Kansas plans to keep a controversial $25 limit on ATM withdrawals by welfare recipients, despite the possibility that the restriction might violate federal law. Despite legislation passed earlier this year to raise the limit, or do away with it entirely, a newly revised version of Kansas' welfare plan does not permit withdrawals of more than $25 per transaction per day...
The Bank Employees Who Make Less Than $15 An Hour Think Progress ...Tthe majority of people who work for banks in fact make far less. The most common occupation is bank teller, and nearly three-quarters of them make less than $15 an hour, according to an analysis from the National Employment Law Project (NELP) provided exclusively to ThinkProgress. Nearly a half million people work as bank tellers. Their median hourly wage is just $12.44, and 74.1 percent make less than $15...
Puerto Rico Crisis Goes From Bad to Worse Mother Jones ...Puerto Rico's economic crisis has only gotten worse in the month since Gov. Alejandro García Padilla told the New York Times the island's $72 billion in debts was "not payable." Earlier this week, the island missed a key bond payment, making history and setting the stage for a bruising and protracted battle with creditors. There are many reasons Puerto Rico finds itself in this quandary, including its murky political status, and the situation seems to be deteriorating as time goes on...
Local right-to-work laws challenged in federal court WKYT ...The national battle over compulsory labor union dues landed in a Kentucky federal courthouse on Tuesday as a handful of unions tried to convince a judge to throw out a series of local laws designed to end closed shops. States have had the ability to outlaw mandatory union dues as a condition of employment for decades. But the question of whether local governments can do the same has not been fully decided...
The 7 most dangerous myths about a $15 minimum wage Salon ...What was once a fringe movement led largely by far left liberals has become a major media story and trending topic on Twitter: Workers, politicians, and even business owners are fighting for a higher minimum wage. And despite these successes, myths about what increased wages mean for America’s economy and workers continue to prevail, making the rounds in Facebook memes and even real news reports...
O’Malley Endorses a Constitutional Amendment Protecting the Right to Vote The Nation ...Five decades after the great advances of 1964 and 1965, the Voting Rights Act has been assaulted by Republican governor and legislators and the right-wing majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, forcing activists to launch new campaigns to renew its core provisions. On Tuesday, the right-to-vote amendment proposal gained the enthusiastic support of a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley...
What’s The Matter With Kansas? They’re Losing All Their Teachers Think Progress ...Kansas embarked on an experiment with radical right-wing policies since Governor Sam Brownback (R) was elected in 2010, and it failed miserably. The centerpiece of the project, led by Governor Sam Brownback, was huge tax cuts, largely for wealthy individuals and businesses, based on the Republican orthodoxy that tax cuts create jobs. Now, a teacher shortage appears to be the latest consequence of Kansas’ abject failure to manage its economy...
Challenges expected to paid sick leave law Post-Gazette ...Brushing aside concerns about the speed of the legislation and the limits of its own authority, Pittsburgh City Council overwhelmingly approved a law Monday that will require all employers within the city borders to provide paid sick leave, part of a nationwide push to extend the benefit to millions who lack it. Council members and supporters, including Pittsburgh United, a coalition of unions, community organizations and advocacy groups, heralded the law as a just, common-sense measure...
U.S. Labor
NLRB Finds Retaliation After Capitol Food Worker Strike Roll Call ...The National Labor Relations Board has found that the Capitol’s food-service vendor likely violated labor laws when supervisors retaliated against workers who went on strike. In two separate cases, the NLRB found merit in allegations of retaliation, which included charges of interrogation and coercive statements. Workers in the Capitol Visitor Center and the Dirksen Senate Office Building filed unfair labor practice charges against Restaurant Associates in April and May, respectively, following an April 22 strike for higher wages and union representation...
Nurses protest at St. Petersburg General Hospital, claiming staffing shortages Tampa Bay ...Dozens of nurses formed a picket line outside St. Petersburg General Hospital late Monday to protest insufficient staffing levels and "dismal" wages. The nurses, affiliated with the labor union National Nurses United, allege hospital administrators have routinely ignored the staffing plan meant to ensure high-quality patient care...
Strike Over! IATSE Wins ‘Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge’ Contract Deadline ...A week and a half after the picket lines went up at the offices of 51 Minds Entertainment, the union and the production company for Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge have reached a deal. Agreed to late last night, the IATSE contract sees the post-crew back at work today with enshrined health and pension benefits...
Board rules Teach for America members in Detroit can be in teachers unions MLive ...The National Labor Relations Board ruled Friday that Teach for America teachers in a Detroit charter school have the right to be a part of a union. According to a statement from the Michigan Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff, the NLRB said Friday 14 Teach for America corps members should have been able to vote in an election last spring...
Clark County, SEIU trade final jabs Review Journal ...At one point, Clark County's attorney asked the union president if his organization's bargaining position was "greedy." In another instance, the union's attorney accused the county of "arrogance." Those jabs and others are laid bare in a lengthy transcript of the arbitration proceedings between the county and its largest union, the Service Employees International Union Local 1107. The two-day July hearing was the culmination of a two-year stretch of stalled contract negotiations between the two that started in 2013...
Netflix Now Giving Employees 'Unlimited' Maternity, Paternity Leave Huffington Post ...Netflix on Tuesday announced that it would offer something completely unheard of in the corporate world: unlimited parental leave for the first year of a child's life. "We want employees to have the flexibility and confidence to balance the needs of their growing families without worrying about work or finances. Parents can return part-time, full-time, or return and then go back out as needed," said Tawni Cranz, Netflix’s Chief Talent Officer in a statement...
Janus Youth Programs employees vote to join AFSCME NW Labor Press ...esidential treatment employees at Janus Youth Programs in Portland voted 26-12 to join Oregon AFSCME. There are 49 employees in the bargaining unit. They will join Local 1790, newly established for Basic Rights Oregon employees. Janus Youth is a private non-profit that operates around Portland. The clients range from age 13 to 21, with those 18 and older housed separately from the younger kids...
A remarkable look at the gap between black and white unemployment Washington Post ...Valerie Wilson at the Economic Policy Institute breaks out data on unemployment by race and state and quarter, allowing for a more refined look at this racial split on jobs. "Nationally" in the second quarter, she writes, "African Americans had the highest unemployment rate, at 9.5 percent, followed by Latinos (6.6 percent), whites (4.6 percent), and Asians (3.8 percent)." What's more, she notes, the state with the lowest black unemployment, Tennessee, had the same unemployment rate for blacks as the white unemployment rate in the state with the highest white unemployment...
The Persistent Stereotype About Latino Workers That Won’t Die Think Progress ...During a live taping of The View on Tuesday, guest co-host Kelly Osbourne sparked some outrage among viewers when she stereotyped Latinos as toilet cleaners as a way to rebuke 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The stereotype is rooted in some reality: Latinos do disproportionately work in the agriculture and service industry. The issue with fixating on the stereotype of Latinos who hold low-wage jobs isn’t that it’s demeaning work, but that it’s demeaning pay for the amount of physical labor involved...
Social Justice & Other News
Despite Epic Crash of World Economy, White Collar Prosecutions at 20-Year Low Common Dreams ...Despite lofty rhetoric from politicians who vowed in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to hold Wall Street accountable, U.S. Justice Department statistics show a "long-term collapse" of federal white collar crime prosecutions, which are down to their lowest level in 20 years, according to a new report from Syracuse University. The analysis of thousands of records by the university's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) shows a more than 36 percent decline...
A Judge’s Rebuke of Immigration Detention (opinion) New York Times ...Children do not belong in prison. The mass detention of families offends American values, a lesson this country learned long ago at Manzanar, Tule Lake, Heart Mountain and the other Japanese-American internment camps of World War II. Learned, but apparently forgotten by the Obama administration, which has just been ordered by a federal judge to release several hundred women and children locked up in its immigration detention centers in southern Texas...
Black and White: Survey Reveals Huge Disparities in Assessing Police Violence Common Dreams ...Just days ahead of the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown's killing by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri—a death which propelled the national Black Lives Matter movement and a national conversation about racialized police violence to the forefront—a new poll released Wednesday reveals just how different the perceptions and experiences regarding law enforcement in the United States remain for black community members compared to their white counterparts...
Showing posts with label minneapolis 1934. Show all posts
Showing posts with label minneapolis 1934. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Monday, July 20, 2015
Today's Teamster News 07.20.15
Teamsters
Drivers at Lumber Company Near Philadelphia Join Teamsters Local 107 Teamster.org ...On Friday, July 17, drivers at Lumbermen Associates in Bristol, Pennsylvania voted 9-0 to join Local 107. The employees drive flatbed trucks and deliver and pick up lumber at and to various locations. There are 10 drivers in the bargaining unit. “The unanimous vote clearly shows that these drivers are seeking a safe workplace and fairness on the job,” said Bill Hamilton, President of Local 107...
High Tech and New Media: Organized Labor’s New Frontier National Law Review ...One of Silicon Valley Rising’s first successes came earlier this year, when it was certified as the bargaining representative of the company that Facebook relies upon to provide shuttle bus services between its various facilities at its headquarters. Soon after it won a representation election, Teamsters Local 853 negotiated a first contract with Loop Transportation that significantly increased wages and benefits and changed work rules...
Minneapolis commemoration of 1934 Teamsters strike Fight Back News ...About 200 people gathered in the Warehouse District here, July 18, to install a plaque commemorating the 1934 Teamsters strike. The epic strike was one of the pivotal events of the 1930s that ushered in a huge upsurge in the labor movement. Speaking on behalf of the Remember 1934 Committee, Bob Kolstad, of Teamster Local 320 stated, “This is an important day. We believe that the plaque we are unveiling here today is the first public monument to the labor movement in the city of Minneapolis"...
Kalama police officers, Teamsters get raises TDN.com ...Kalama police officers and members of the Teamsters union are both getting raises for the next three years under new contracts with the city signed this month. The Teamsters Local No. 58 represents about a dozen employees on the public works crew and in the city’s finance department. The police guild represents four officers...
Global Labor & Trade
Congress Suggests Obama Will Ignore Slavery To Secure Trade Deal Huffington Post ...Lawmakers across Capitol Hill raised questions Thursday about whether President Barack Obama's administration is willing to look the other way on some of the worst human trafficking violations in the world in order to win his trade deal. The doubts concern reports that the State Department is about to upgrade Malaysia in its annual Trafficking In Persons report from Tier 3, the worst ranking, to Tier 2...
House Dems: White House pushing Big Pharma agenda in trade deal The Hill ...A pair of House Democrats are attacking the Obama administration for secretly shaping a trade deal that they say boosts profits for American pharmaceutical giants at the expense of patients worldwide. Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) argued Friday that the U.S. is the only country pushing the “Big Pharma” agenda in the ongoing talks for the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal...
Agricultural implications just the tip of the TPP iceberg The Hill Times ...The Trans Pacific Partnership, a proposed trade agreement that encompasses nearly 40 per cent of world GDP, heads to Hawaii later this month for ministerial-level negotiations. According to media reports, this may be the final round of talks, with countries expected to address the remaining contentious issues. Canadian coverage of the TPP has centered primarily on U.S. demands for changes to longstanding agricultural market safeguards...
Scottish MEP: TTIP deal may not complete during current European Parliament Herald Scotland ...Scotland's senior politician in Europe David Martin MEP has cast doubt on completion of a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal in the lifetime of the current European Parliament or the Obama administration. His remarks are also likely to be influential because of his 30 years experience in the parliament, and because he himself is an outspoken supporter of the controversial US-EU TTIP deal...
Dingell pushes back on trade deal Michigan Radio ...U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell won't support a free-trade deal she says will harm the auto industry and Michigan's economy. She's criticizing the Obama administration's Trans-Pacific Partnership on the basis that it doesn't address currency manipulation that keeps foreign currencies artificially low compared to the U.S. dollar...
Greek banks reopen but cash limits remain and taxes soar Boston Herald ...Greek banks opened their doors Monday for the first time in over three weeks, a move the government hopes will help the economy get back to normal following a period dominated by fears over the country's future in the euro. Strict controls on the amounts individuals can withdraw remain, however, and new austerity taxes demanded by the country's European creditors came into effect, making most everyday items more expensive — from coffee to taxis...
Cabbies Are Driving the Opposition to China’s Ridesharing Revolution The Nation ...Hundreds of cab drivers have gone on strike in cities across China to protest the invasion of a new rival: a rash of ride-sharing companies rapidly flooding the streets with slick marketing and nimble digital platforms. Angry drivers are pushing back with clever protest hacks...
State & Living Wage Battles
In Maine, a Minimum Wage Law With a Surprise Inside Bloomberg ...On July 6, the City Council of Portland, Maine, voted 6 to 3 to establish a local minimum wage of $10.10, a $2.60 increase over the statewide minimum. The next day, the mayor and several council members said they’d made a mistake. The law, which they thought would let restaurants and other businesses keep paying tipped employees $3.75 an hour, actually gave such workers a giant raise—to $6.35 an hour...
New California law recognizes pro cheerleaders as employees ESPN ...Gov. Jerry Brown has approved legislation recognizing California's professional cheerleaders as employees who are entitled to minimum wage and overtime. Brown announced Wednesday that he signed AB202, requiring that sports teams employ cheerleaders as workers instead of contractors. It provides them with sick leave and overtime pay, as well as other labor protections available to team staff...
Taxpayers covered $340,000 for security during right-to-work debates Journal-Sentinel ...State taxpayers paid more than $340,000 to provide extra security at the Capitol this year during the debate over legislation known as the right-to-work law, which bans labor contracts that include mandatory union fees. The costs added up even though labor demonstrations against that measure never reached the massive size and fever pitch of the 2011 protests over Act 10, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's repeal of most collective bargaining for most public workers...
Michigan Ditches For-Profit Prison Food Provider, But Not Because It Fed Inmates Rat-Eaten Trash Think Progress ...After the company repeatedly fed inmates out of trash cans, struggled with maggot problems in its kitchens, encouraged prisoners to serve each other meat that had been unrefrigerated for days, and hired workers who consorted with inmates, Aramark Correctional Services is finally losing its contract with the state of Michigan’s prison system...
N.Y. Panel Is Set to Propose $15 Fast-Food Wage Wall Street Journal ...New York state’s fast-food wage board on Wednesday is expected to recommend raising the fast-food minimum wage to $15 an hour, and the state’s labor commissioner is expected to approve that recommendation, according to a person familiar with the board’s plans. The move is fairly unusual: While other cities have raised the minimum wage to $15, it is uncommon for a state to do so for only one industry...
Voting rights trial continues in Winston-Salem Progressive Pulse ...Attorneys and parties in the voting rights trial return to federal court in Winston-Salem this morning to continue presenting testimony and other evidence to U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder. During week one of what’s expected to be a multi-week trial, attorneys for the parties challenging the sweeping voting restrictions adopted in 2013 unfolded their case with personal stories from voters...
Five Things to Know About the Scott Walker John Doe Ruling Truthout ....The Wisconsin Supreme Court has single-handedly rewritten the state's limits on money in politics, rendering the state's disclosure laws and contribution limits meaningless, and opening the door to unlimited funds directly from corporations and foreign firms. In a 4-2 decision that broke along ideological lines, the Court's conservative majority ended the John Doe probe into whether Governor Scott Walker illegally coordinated with supposedly "independent" dark money groups...
New Mexico City Finds A Home For All Its Homeless Veterans Think Progress ...When Mayor Ken Miyagishima (D) directed municipal resources towards providing housing for the city’s homeless population, earmarking tens of thousands of dollars for a local homeless nonprofit Community of Hope, the number of veterans living on the streets began to come down dramatically.
This week, the mayor announced that the city had achieved its goal of ending veterans’ homelessness...
U.S. Labor
Contract talks begin for Detroit automakers, UAW MLive ...It's been a cool summer in Michigan, but the temperature will be rising in the negotiating rooms as the United Auto Workers union and the Detroit Three automakers hammer out new contracts. Talks kicked off last week at General Motors Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. They will begin at Ford Motor Co. later this month. The current contracts, covering about 139,000 UAW members, expire on Sept. 14...
CWA, IBEW local unions say they are conducting a strike authorization vote with Verizon Fierce Telecom ...As Verizon and wireline workers represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) continue their labor negotiations, local members said they are in the process of conducting a strike authorization vote. CWA said in a regional bargaining report that it wants to send Verizon a "strong message that we will do whatever it takes to achieve a fair and just contract"...
Women’s college agrees to let adjunct faculty unionize after giving up NLRB fight The College Fix ...Rather than keep fighting adjunct faculty who want to unionize, Barnard College is giving up. The Columbia Spectator reports that the women’s college, affiliated with Columbia University, spent 13 hours in negotiation with Barnard Contingent Faculty-UAW rather than present its closing arguments at the eighth and final National Labor Relations Board hearing Thursday...
GOP funding bill would force the NLRB to lay off one-third of its staff People's World ...The Obama administration is blasting a Republican-authored money bill for the National Labor Relations Board, the Labor Department and other agencies, saying the cuts would force the NLRB to lay off one-third of its staff...
Mendocino County, SEIU 1021 reach tentative agreement Daily Journal ...Mendocino County workers represented by Service Employees’ International Union Local 1021 could soon see a reinstatement in pay which was cut by 10 percent in 2011. The county Executive Office reported late Friday afternoon it had reached a tentative agreement with the union after a three-day negotiating period. The agreement is for two years, and employees will see a 3 percent salary reinstatement in the first year...
New York City airport employees will vote Monday to set a time for a labor strike Sputnik ...New York City airport employees will vote Monday to set a time for a labor strike demanding higher wages and benefits, local media reported, citing the labor union. Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is expected to announce the strike date on Tuesday following the vote, NBC New York reported Sunday...
The ‘Nightmarish’ Boston Hotel Where Workers Have To Deal with Vomit, Blood-Soaked Carpets, Needles In These Times ...On June 25, workers at Boston’s Wyndham Beacon Hill took to the streets to protest unsafe working conditions, the culmination of an escalating fight over biohazards at the hotel. The alleged ongoing problem and lack of response from hotel management led the non-union workers to begin organizing around the issue in 2014, reaching out to UNITE HERE Local 26, which represents hotel and other service workers, for assistance...
Class Action Lawsuit Advances, Claiming Abercrombie Employees Were Forced To Buy Abercrombie Clothes Think Progress ...On Thursday, a California federal judge certified a class action lawsuit for about 62,000 Abercrombie & Fitch employees who claim that they were illegally required to buy the company’s clothing for work. Abercrombie’s “Look Policy” requires workers on the floor to wear “clothes, accessories and footwear that are similar in style and fit to the brand, and that are consistent with the current fashion season and colors” but that aren’t “clearly that of a competitor”...
Miscellaneous
Disrupting Speeches, Protesters Challenge Sanders and O'Malley: Say 'Black Lives Matter!' Common Dreams ...Demanding that pervasive racial injustice and police brutality against people of color be addressed on the campaign trail, protesters with the Black Lives Matter movement interrupted speeches by Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley Saturday evening. Cutting off O'Malley's prepared remarks during the annual Netroots Nation convention in Phoenix, Arizona, activist Patrisse Cullors described the urgency driving the protest...
Elizabeth Warren Challenges Presidential Candidates to Stop Revolving Door Between Wall St. and Government Atlernet ...Elizabeth Warren has drawn a line in 2016’s presidential election sands. Speaking at the Netroots Nation conference in Phoenix on Friday, she challenged the presidential candidates to stand behind legislation introduced this week that would vastly slow down the revolving door between Wall Street’s financial firms and working for the government—where high-level private sector employees end up making government decisions that favor their past employers over the public...
Cuba raises flag in Washington as embassy reopens after half a century The Guardian ...Diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba have been officially restored, with Cuba’s foreign minister taking the hugely symbolic step of raising his country’s flag at a newly designated embassy in Washington later on Monday. Bruno Rodríguez, visiting the US capital for the first time in his life, conducted the ceremony at the mansion which has not functioned as an embassy for more than 50 years...
L.A. County considers new immigration program for jails in light of S.F. slaying LA Times ...In Los Angeles and across the country, local authorities are deciding to what degree they should participate in ICE's new Priority Enforcement Program. Under the program, ICE asks jails to notify federal agents when inmates flagged for potential deportation are being released, and in some cases asks jails to hold such inmates so federal agents can pick them up...
Mom Gets Arrested For ‘Abandoning’ Kids In Nearby Food Court While At Job Interview Think Progress ...A single mom was arrested at the Memorial City Mall in Houston, Texas, for allegedly “abandoning” her two and six-year-old children who were waiting for her 30 feet away. Laura Browder had just moved to Houston from Chicago and was called in for a last-minute interview for a job, according to KHOU. Because she was new in town, she didn’t have anyone to watch her children...
FBI Joins Investigation Into 'Unfathomable' Death of Sandra Bland Common Dreams ...The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Friday announced it was joining the probe into the disturbing death of Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old black woman who died in police custody in Texas on Monday. An investigation was launched on Wednesday by the Texas Rangers, a branch of the state's Department of Public Safety, after a campaign spread demanding answers about the young woman's death under the hashtag #WhatHappenedToSandraBland...
Drivers at Lumber Company Near Philadelphia Join Teamsters Local 107 Teamster.org ...On Friday, July 17, drivers at Lumbermen Associates in Bristol, Pennsylvania voted 9-0 to join Local 107. The employees drive flatbed trucks and deliver and pick up lumber at and to various locations. There are 10 drivers in the bargaining unit. “The unanimous vote clearly shows that these drivers are seeking a safe workplace and fairness on the job,” said Bill Hamilton, President of Local 107...
High Tech and New Media: Organized Labor’s New Frontier National Law Review ...One of Silicon Valley Rising’s first successes came earlier this year, when it was certified as the bargaining representative of the company that Facebook relies upon to provide shuttle bus services between its various facilities at its headquarters. Soon after it won a representation election, Teamsters Local 853 negotiated a first contract with Loop Transportation that significantly increased wages and benefits and changed work rules...
Minneapolis commemoration of 1934 Teamsters strike Fight Back News ...About 200 people gathered in the Warehouse District here, July 18, to install a plaque commemorating the 1934 Teamsters strike. The epic strike was one of the pivotal events of the 1930s that ushered in a huge upsurge in the labor movement. Speaking on behalf of the Remember 1934 Committee, Bob Kolstad, of Teamster Local 320 stated, “This is an important day. We believe that the plaque we are unveiling here today is the first public monument to the labor movement in the city of Minneapolis"...
Kalama police officers, Teamsters get raises TDN.com ...Kalama police officers and members of the Teamsters union are both getting raises for the next three years under new contracts with the city signed this month. The Teamsters Local No. 58 represents about a dozen employees on the public works crew and in the city’s finance department. The police guild represents four officers...
Global Labor & Trade
Congress Suggests Obama Will Ignore Slavery To Secure Trade Deal Huffington Post ...Lawmakers across Capitol Hill raised questions Thursday about whether President Barack Obama's administration is willing to look the other way on some of the worst human trafficking violations in the world in order to win his trade deal. The doubts concern reports that the State Department is about to upgrade Malaysia in its annual Trafficking In Persons report from Tier 3, the worst ranking, to Tier 2...
House Dems: White House pushing Big Pharma agenda in trade deal The Hill ...A pair of House Democrats are attacking the Obama administration for secretly shaping a trade deal that they say boosts profits for American pharmaceutical giants at the expense of patients worldwide. Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) argued Friday that the U.S. is the only country pushing the “Big Pharma” agenda in the ongoing talks for the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal...
Agricultural implications just the tip of the TPP iceberg The Hill Times ...The Trans Pacific Partnership, a proposed trade agreement that encompasses nearly 40 per cent of world GDP, heads to Hawaii later this month for ministerial-level negotiations. According to media reports, this may be the final round of talks, with countries expected to address the remaining contentious issues. Canadian coverage of the TPP has centered primarily on U.S. demands for changes to longstanding agricultural market safeguards...
Scottish MEP: TTIP deal may not complete during current European Parliament Herald Scotland ...Scotland's senior politician in Europe David Martin MEP has cast doubt on completion of a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal in the lifetime of the current European Parliament or the Obama administration. His remarks are also likely to be influential because of his 30 years experience in the parliament, and because he himself is an outspoken supporter of the controversial US-EU TTIP deal...
Dingell pushes back on trade deal Michigan Radio ...U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell won't support a free-trade deal she says will harm the auto industry and Michigan's economy. She's criticizing the Obama administration's Trans-Pacific Partnership on the basis that it doesn't address currency manipulation that keeps foreign currencies artificially low compared to the U.S. dollar...
Greek banks reopen but cash limits remain and taxes soar Boston Herald ...Greek banks opened their doors Monday for the first time in over three weeks, a move the government hopes will help the economy get back to normal following a period dominated by fears over the country's future in the euro. Strict controls on the amounts individuals can withdraw remain, however, and new austerity taxes demanded by the country's European creditors came into effect, making most everyday items more expensive — from coffee to taxis...
Cabbies Are Driving the Opposition to China’s Ridesharing Revolution The Nation ...Hundreds of cab drivers have gone on strike in cities across China to protest the invasion of a new rival: a rash of ride-sharing companies rapidly flooding the streets with slick marketing and nimble digital platforms. Angry drivers are pushing back with clever protest hacks...
State & Living Wage Battles
In Maine, a Minimum Wage Law With a Surprise Inside Bloomberg ...On July 6, the City Council of Portland, Maine, voted 6 to 3 to establish a local minimum wage of $10.10, a $2.60 increase over the statewide minimum. The next day, the mayor and several council members said they’d made a mistake. The law, which they thought would let restaurants and other businesses keep paying tipped employees $3.75 an hour, actually gave such workers a giant raise—to $6.35 an hour...
New California law recognizes pro cheerleaders as employees ESPN ...Gov. Jerry Brown has approved legislation recognizing California's professional cheerleaders as employees who are entitled to minimum wage and overtime. Brown announced Wednesday that he signed AB202, requiring that sports teams employ cheerleaders as workers instead of contractors. It provides them with sick leave and overtime pay, as well as other labor protections available to team staff...
Taxpayers covered $340,000 for security during right-to-work debates Journal-Sentinel ...State taxpayers paid more than $340,000 to provide extra security at the Capitol this year during the debate over legislation known as the right-to-work law, which bans labor contracts that include mandatory union fees. The costs added up even though labor demonstrations against that measure never reached the massive size and fever pitch of the 2011 protests over Act 10, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's repeal of most collective bargaining for most public workers...
Michigan Ditches For-Profit Prison Food Provider, But Not Because It Fed Inmates Rat-Eaten Trash Think Progress ...After the company repeatedly fed inmates out of trash cans, struggled with maggot problems in its kitchens, encouraged prisoners to serve each other meat that had been unrefrigerated for days, and hired workers who consorted with inmates, Aramark Correctional Services is finally losing its contract with the state of Michigan’s prison system...
N.Y. Panel Is Set to Propose $15 Fast-Food Wage Wall Street Journal ...New York state’s fast-food wage board on Wednesday is expected to recommend raising the fast-food minimum wage to $15 an hour, and the state’s labor commissioner is expected to approve that recommendation, according to a person familiar with the board’s plans. The move is fairly unusual: While other cities have raised the minimum wage to $15, it is uncommon for a state to do so for only one industry...
Voting rights trial continues in Winston-Salem Progressive Pulse ...Attorneys and parties in the voting rights trial return to federal court in Winston-Salem this morning to continue presenting testimony and other evidence to U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder. During week one of what’s expected to be a multi-week trial, attorneys for the parties challenging the sweeping voting restrictions adopted in 2013 unfolded their case with personal stories from voters...
Five Things to Know About the Scott Walker John Doe Ruling Truthout ....The Wisconsin Supreme Court has single-handedly rewritten the state's limits on money in politics, rendering the state's disclosure laws and contribution limits meaningless, and opening the door to unlimited funds directly from corporations and foreign firms. In a 4-2 decision that broke along ideological lines, the Court's conservative majority ended the John Doe probe into whether Governor Scott Walker illegally coordinated with supposedly "independent" dark money groups...
New Mexico City Finds A Home For All Its Homeless Veterans Think Progress ...When Mayor Ken Miyagishima (D) directed municipal resources towards providing housing for the city’s homeless population, earmarking tens of thousands of dollars for a local homeless nonprofit Community of Hope, the number of veterans living on the streets began to come down dramatically.
This week, the mayor announced that the city had achieved its goal of ending veterans’ homelessness...
U.S. Labor
Contract talks begin for Detroit automakers, UAW MLive ...It's been a cool summer in Michigan, but the temperature will be rising in the negotiating rooms as the United Auto Workers union and the Detroit Three automakers hammer out new contracts. Talks kicked off last week at General Motors Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. They will begin at Ford Motor Co. later this month. The current contracts, covering about 139,000 UAW members, expire on Sept. 14...
CWA, IBEW local unions say they are conducting a strike authorization vote with Verizon Fierce Telecom ...As Verizon and wireline workers represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) continue their labor negotiations, local members said they are in the process of conducting a strike authorization vote. CWA said in a regional bargaining report that it wants to send Verizon a "strong message that we will do whatever it takes to achieve a fair and just contract"...
Women’s college agrees to let adjunct faculty unionize after giving up NLRB fight The College Fix ...Rather than keep fighting adjunct faculty who want to unionize, Barnard College is giving up. The Columbia Spectator reports that the women’s college, affiliated with Columbia University, spent 13 hours in negotiation with Barnard Contingent Faculty-UAW rather than present its closing arguments at the eighth and final National Labor Relations Board hearing Thursday...
GOP funding bill would force the NLRB to lay off one-third of its staff People's World ...The Obama administration is blasting a Republican-authored money bill for the National Labor Relations Board, the Labor Department and other agencies, saying the cuts would force the NLRB to lay off one-third of its staff...
Mendocino County, SEIU 1021 reach tentative agreement Daily Journal ...Mendocino County workers represented by Service Employees’ International Union Local 1021 could soon see a reinstatement in pay which was cut by 10 percent in 2011. The county Executive Office reported late Friday afternoon it had reached a tentative agreement with the union after a three-day negotiating period. The agreement is for two years, and employees will see a 3 percent salary reinstatement in the first year...
New York City airport employees will vote Monday to set a time for a labor strike Sputnik ...New York City airport employees will vote Monday to set a time for a labor strike demanding higher wages and benefits, local media reported, citing the labor union. Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is expected to announce the strike date on Tuesday following the vote, NBC New York reported Sunday...
The ‘Nightmarish’ Boston Hotel Where Workers Have To Deal with Vomit, Blood-Soaked Carpets, Needles In These Times ...On June 25, workers at Boston’s Wyndham Beacon Hill took to the streets to protest unsafe working conditions, the culmination of an escalating fight over biohazards at the hotel. The alleged ongoing problem and lack of response from hotel management led the non-union workers to begin organizing around the issue in 2014, reaching out to UNITE HERE Local 26, which represents hotel and other service workers, for assistance...
Class Action Lawsuit Advances, Claiming Abercrombie Employees Were Forced To Buy Abercrombie Clothes Think Progress ...On Thursday, a California federal judge certified a class action lawsuit for about 62,000 Abercrombie & Fitch employees who claim that they were illegally required to buy the company’s clothing for work. Abercrombie’s “Look Policy” requires workers on the floor to wear “clothes, accessories and footwear that are similar in style and fit to the brand, and that are consistent with the current fashion season and colors” but that aren’t “clearly that of a competitor”...
Miscellaneous
Disrupting Speeches, Protesters Challenge Sanders and O'Malley: Say 'Black Lives Matter!' Common Dreams ...Demanding that pervasive racial injustice and police brutality against people of color be addressed on the campaign trail, protesters with the Black Lives Matter movement interrupted speeches by Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley Saturday evening. Cutting off O'Malley's prepared remarks during the annual Netroots Nation convention in Phoenix, Arizona, activist Patrisse Cullors described the urgency driving the protest...
Elizabeth Warren Challenges Presidential Candidates to Stop Revolving Door Between Wall St. and Government Atlernet ...Elizabeth Warren has drawn a line in 2016’s presidential election sands. Speaking at the Netroots Nation conference in Phoenix on Friday, she challenged the presidential candidates to stand behind legislation introduced this week that would vastly slow down the revolving door between Wall Street’s financial firms and working for the government—where high-level private sector employees end up making government decisions that favor their past employers over the public...
Cuba raises flag in Washington as embassy reopens after half a century The Guardian ...Diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba have been officially restored, with Cuba’s foreign minister taking the hugely symbolic step of raising his country’s flag at a newly designated embassy in Washington later on Monday. Bruno Rodríguez, visiting the US capital for the first time in his life, conducted the ceremony at the mansion which has not functioned as an embassy for more than 50 years...
L.A. County considers new immigration program for jails in light of S.F. slaying LA Times ...In Los Angeles and across the country, local authorities are deciding to what degree they should participate in ICE's new Priority Enforcement Program. Under the program, ICE asks jails to notify federal agents when inmates flagged for potential deportation are being released, and in some cases asks jails to hold such inmates so federal agents can pick them up...
Mom Gets Arrested For ‘Abandoning’ Kids In Nearby Food Court While At Job Interview Think Progress ...A single mom was arrested at the Memorial City Mall in Houston, Texas, for allegedly “abandoning” her two and six-year-old children who were waiting for her 30 feet away. Laura Browder had just moved to Houston from Chicago and was called in for a last-minute interview for a job, according to KHOU. Because she was new in town, she didn’t have anyone to watch her children...
FBI Joins Investigation Into 'Unfathomable' Death of Sandra Bland Common Dreams ...The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Friday announced it was joining the probe into the disturbing death of Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old black woman who died in police custody in Texas on Monday. An investigation was launched on Wednesday by the Texas Rangers, a branch of the state's Department of Public Safety, after a campaign spread demanding answers about the young woman's death under the hashtag #WhatHappenedToSandraBland...
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Today's Teamster News 07.09.15
Teamsters
Eco Flow Port Drivers Vote To Join Teamsters Teamsters.org ...Late on July 8, 2015, port truck drivers from Eco Flow Transportation, LLC, voted unanimously and selected Teamsters Local 848 as their exclusive bargaining agent in an election conducted by Region 21 of the National Labor Relations Board. Pursuant to an agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Eco Flow agreed to remain neutral with respect to the drivers’ efforts to form a union...
Teamsters Local 340 Members Protest At City Council Teamster.org ...Local 340 members were out in force last night at the Biddeford, Maine, city council meeting to demand action on new contracts. The city leaders have stalled negotiating on new contracts which cover 60 police officers and 50 public works employees which the local union has tried to negotiate for the past six months.
“The city is not negotiating in good faith…we have tried to meet them half way,” said Ray Cote, business agent with Local 340...
Danafilms workers vote to join Teamsters Telegram ...Production employees of RKW Danafilms Inc. have voted to organize under Teamsters Local 170, the union reported this week. Workers at the plastic film manufacturer voted in April, but their ballots were impounded while the Teamsters pursued unfair labor practice charges against the company. The Teamsters reported that when ballots were finally counted June 29, the final vote was 23-13 to unionize...
Marker honoring fallen Minneapolis Teamsters to be dedicated July 18 Union Advocate ...After a lengthy fundraising campaign, the Remember 1934 Committee will unveil a permanent plaque July 18 in the Warehouse District of downtown Minneapolis commemorating the historic Teamsters strikes that echoed across the U.S. – and made Minneapolis a union town...
Teamsters go on strike at Cranesville Block Company Daily Gazette ...Cement truck drivers at the Cranesville Block Co. plant in Glenville and Albany went on strike Wednesday. Among their demands are a reduction in what they pay toward company-provided health care and changes to the company’s pension program...
Global Labor & Trade
European Parliament backs key TTIP compromise Politico ...After months of fighting, the European Parliament voted to back a compromise on the most controversial piece in Europe’s evolving free trade pact with the U.S., while also giving its blessing to the future of the talks. The Parliament on Wednesday voted, 447-229, to green-light a proposal to revamp a disputed investor court...
Eco Flow Port Drivers Vote To Join Teamsters Teamsters.org ...Late on July 8, 2015, port truck drivers from Eco Flow Transportation, LLC, voted unanimously and selected Teamsters Local 848 as their exclusive bargaining agent in an election conducted by Region 21 of the National Labor Relations Board. Pursuant to an agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Eco Flow agreed to remain neutral with respect to the drivers’ efforts to form a union...
Teamsters Local 340 Members Protest At City Council Teamster.org ...Local 340 members were out in force last night at the Biddeford, Maine, city council meeting to demand action on new contracts. The city leaders have stalled negotiating on new contracts which cover 60 police officers and 50 public works employees which the local union has tried to negotiate for the past six months.
“The city is not negotiating in good faith…we have tried to meet them half way,” said Ray Cote, business agent with Local 340...
Danafilms workers vote to join Teamsters Telegram ...Production employees of RKW Danafilms Inc. have voted to organize under Teamsters Local 170, the union reported this week. Workers at the plastic film manufacturer voted in April, but their ballots were impounded while the Teamsters pursued unfair labor practice charges against the company. The Teamsters reported that when ballots were finally counted June 29, the final vote was 23-13 to unionize...
Marker honoring fallen Minneapolis Teamsters to be dedicated July 18 Union Advocate ...After a lengthy fundraising campaign, the Remember 1934 Committee will unveil a permanent plaque July 18 in the Warehouse District of downtown Minneapolis commemorating the historic Teamsters strikes that echoed across the U.S. – and made Minneapolis a union town...
Teamsters go on strike at Cranesville Block Company Daily Gazette ...Cement truck drivers at the Cranesville Block Co. plant in Glenville and Albany went on strike Wednesday. Among their demands are a reduction in what they pay toward company-provided health care and changes to the company’s pension program...
Global Labor & Trade
European Parliament backs key TTIP compromise Politico ...After months of fighting, the European Parliament voted to back a compromise on the most controversial piece in Europe’s evolving free trade pact with the U.S., while also giving its blessing to the future of the talks. The Parliament on Wednesday voted, 447-229, to green-light a proposal to revamp a disputed investor court...
Trans-Pacific Partnership’s Potential Impact Weighed in Asia and U.S. New York Times ...Banks from rich countries like the United States and Japan would have the right to be treated more like local banks in less affluent countries, including Peru, Malaysia and Vietnam. Japan would be required to let in more American farm goods. Makers of pharmaceuticals would have an extra tool to protect their patents abroad, limiting competition from less expensive generic drugs. Auto parts would move more smoothly around the Pacific, with fewer taxes...
Japan, U.S. resume talks ahead of TPP ministerial session in late July The Mainici ...Japan and the United States resumed bilateral talks for a Pacific free trade agreement Thursday ahead of a crucial ministerial meeting of all 12 negotiating countries in late July at which they will seek to reach a broad agreement. The working-level talks "will be the last negotiations before the ministerial meeting"...
Menendez worried Obama will upgrade Malaysia in trafficking report The Hill ...Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) expressed concern Wednesday night that Malaysia may get an upgrade from the Obama administration in its human-trafficking status in order to remove a potential hurdle to completing negotiations on a vast Pacific Rim trade agreement. The State Department is expected to bump up Malaysia to tier 2 from the lowest level in its Trafficking in Persons report that is expected to be released next week...
U.S. upgrades Malaysia in annual human trafficking report Daily Mail ...The United States is upgrading Malaysia from the lowest tier on its list of worst human trafficking centers, U.S. sources said on Wednesday, a move that could smooth the way for an ambitious U.S.-led free-trade deal with the Southeast Asian nation and 11 other countries. The upgrade to so-called "Tier 2 Watch List" status removes a potential barrier to President Barack Obama's signature global trade deal...
Greece PM Tsipras tells EU parliament: Greece has been failed austerity lab experiment Reuters ...Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras pleaded in the European Parliament on Wednesday for a fair deal to keep his country in the euro zone, acknowledging Greece's own responsibility for its plight, after EU leaders gave him five days to come up with reforms. With its banks closed, cash withdrawals rationed and the economy in freefall, Greece has never been closer to a total state bankruptcy...
London commuters battle to get home as tube strike begins The Guardian ...London commuters were starting to battle major transport problems as the most widespread tube strike in decades started on Wednesday evening. The strike action by four unions representing almost 20,000 staff, including train drivers, is the result of a continuing dispute over pay and rosters for the all-night tube services planned to start at weekends in September...
Labour Ministry intervenes to stop maritime workers strike News24 Nigeria ...The Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, has formally intervened in the strike threat by Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) against the Nigeria Ports Authority over the demand for non-payment of wage arrears to tally clerks and on-board security gangway men. Samuel Olowookere, Deputy Director of Press in the ministry, the intervention is in line with section 4 and 5 of Trade Dispute Act...
State & Living Wage Battles
Labor Battles Heat Up In State Legislatures Huffington Post ...The battles this year over the legislation — perceived as free-market initiatives by proponents and anti-union by foes — reflect the tremendous power that Republicans have gained in state capitols following November’s elections and the declining political clout of organized labor in many states...
What Is Scott Walker Trying to Hide? The Nation ...The governor—who former White House counsel John Dean refers to as “more Nixonian than Nixon”—has never been much for transparency. But a botched attempt by his legislative allies to gut the state’s open-records law has blown up on Walker in a big way...
Prevailing Wage Law fight heats up WLNS ...It is a law that has been around for 50 years and the fight to change it is picking up steam. Opponents have raised $1 million to their petition drive; the Prevailing Wage Law. Currently the law reads state funded construction projects must pay workers wage scales that are similar to local union groups...
Wisconsin lawmakers pass state budget, partial repeal of prevailing wage law Business Insider ...Wisconsin lawmakers approved early on Thursday a $73 billion state budget that partly repeals the state's prevailing wage law, one of several contentious measures that delayed the two-year spending plan for five weeks. The state Assembly voted 52-46 on the measure, a day after the state Senate approved the spending package...
MO Sec. of State approves voter ID amendment KHQA ...The Missouri Secretary of State approved for circulation the photo voter ID constitutional amendment on Tuesday. The amendment was filed by Jay Ashcroft on May 21, 2015. Ashcroft issued the following statement following the announcement: "Requiring a photo ID to vote is a common sense way to protect our elections from fraud"...
About 2,000 expected for voter ID protest on Monday Winston-Salem Journal ...Winston-Salem police officers have been assigned to protect the nearly 2,000 participants expected for the N.C. NAACP’s downtown march and rally Monday, authorities said Wednesday. Monday is scheduled to be the first day of a trial in U.S. District Court in Winston-Salem on the constitutionality of the state’s voter ID law...
Japan, U.S. resume talks ahead of TPP ministerial session in late July The Mainici ...Japan and the United States resumed bilateral talks for a Pacific free trade agreement Thursday ahead of a crucial ministerial meeting of all 12 negotiating countries in late July at which they will seek to reach a broad agreement. The working-level talks "will be the last negotiations before the ministerial meeting"...
Menendez worried Obama will upgrade Malaysia in trafficking report The Hill ...Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) expressed concern Wednesday night that Malaysia may get an upgrade from the Obama administration in its human-trafficking status in order to remove a potential hurdle to completing negotiations on a vast Pacific Rim trade agreement. The State Department is expected to bump up Malaysia to tier 2 from the lowest level in its Trafficking in Persons report that is expected to be released next week...
U.S. upgrades Malaysia in annual human trafficking report Daily Mail ...The United States is upgrading Malaysia from the lowest tier on its list of worst human trafficking centers, U.S. sources said on Wednesday, a move that could smooth the way for an ambitious U.S.-led free-trade deal with the Southeast Asian nation and 11 other countries. The upgrade to so-called "Tier 2 Watch List" status removes a potential barrier to President Barack Obama's signature global trade deal...
Greece PM Tsipras tells EU parliament: Greece has been failed austerity lab experiment Reuters ...Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras pleaded in the European Parliament on Wednesday for a fair deal to keep his country in the euro zone, acknowledging Greece's own responsibility for its plight, after EU leaders gave him five days to come up with reforms. With its banks closed, cash withdrawals rationed and the economy in freefall, Greece has never been closer to a total state bankruptcy...
London commuters battle to get home as tube strike begins The Guardian ...London commuters were starting to battle major transport problems as the most widespread tube strike in decades started on Wednesday evening. The strike action by four unions representing almost 20,000 staff, including train drivers, is the result of a continuing dispute over pay and rosters for the all-night tube services planned to start at weekends in September...
Labour Ministry intervenes to stop maritime workers strike News24 Nigeria ...The Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, has formally intervened in the strike threat by Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) against the Nigeria Ports Authority over the demand for non-payment of wage arrears to tally clerks and on-board security gangway men. Samuel Olowookere, Deputy Director of Press in the ministry, the intervention is in line with section 4 and 5 of Trade Dispute Act...
State & Living Wage Battles
Labor Battles Heat Up In State Legislatures Huffington Post ...The battles this year over the legislation — perceived as free-market initiatives by proponents and anti-union by foes — reflect the tremendous power that Republicans have gained in state capitols following November’s elections and the declining political clout of organized labor in many states...
What Is Scott Walker Trying to Hide? The Nation ...The governor—who former White House counsel John Dean refers to as “more Nixonian than Nixon”—has never been much for transparency. But a botched attempt by his legislative allies to gut the state’s open-records law has blown up on Walker in a big way...
Prevailing Wage Law fight heats up WLNS ...It is a law that has been around for 50 years and the fight to change it is picking up steam. Opponents have raised $1 million to their petition drive; the Prevailing Wage Law. Currently the law reads state funded construction projects must pay workers wage scales that are similar to local union groups...
Wisconsin lawmakers pass state budget, partial repeal of prevailing wage law Business Insider ...Wisconsin lawmakers approved early on Thursday a $73 billion state budget that partly repeals the state's prevailing wage law, one of several contentious measures that delayed the two-year spending plan for five weeks. The state Assembly voted 52-46 on the measure, a day after the state Senate approved the spending package...
MO Sec. of State approves voter ID amendment KHQA ...The Missouri Secretary of State approved for circulation the photo voter ID constitutional amendment on Tuesday. The amendment was filed by Jay Ashcroft on May 21, 2015. Ashcroft issued the following statement following the announcement: "Requiring a photo ID to vote is a common sense way to protect our elections from fraud"...
About 2,000 expected for voter ID protest on Monday Winston-Salem Journal ...Winston-Salem police officers have been assigned to protect the nearly 2,000 participants expected for the N.C. NAACP’s downtown march and rally Monday, authorities said Wednesday. Monday is scheduled to be the first day of a trial in U.S. District Court in Winston-Salem on the constitutionality of the state’s voter ID law...
The Roots of Puerto Rico’s Debt Crisis—and Why Austerity Will Not Solve It The Nation ...What Puerto Rico has in common with Greece is that it is a peripheral economy that has been invaded by hedge funds and pushed, by speculation and ballooning debt-service payments, to its limits. But since Puerto Rico’s banks are tied to the US Federal Reserve and not its own government, there is no bank panic. What it has in common with Detroit is a history of inefficient administrations...
U.S. Labor
Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits climb to 297,000 Dallas Morning News ...he number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level since late February. But the increase likely reflected temporary auto plant shutdowns rather than any underlying labor market weakness. The number of people filing applications for unemployment benefits rose by 15,000 to 297,000...
Verizon preps for a strike as labor talks continue RCR Wireless News ...Amid labor negotiations with some 45,000 union employees, Verizon is prepping for a potential work stoppage by training more than 15,000 non-union employees to take over in the event of a strike. Verizon is working on a three-year contract with representatives from the Communication Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers...
The UAW gears up for a labor talks showdown CBS ...The day before hundreds of United Auto Workers delegates gathered to set strategy for contract talks with the Detroit Three, General Motors (GM) sent them a not-so-subtle message. GM announced a $350 million investment in a Mexican factory to build the Chevrolet Cruze compact car, currently built for all of North America at a sprawling plant in Lordstown, Ohio, east of Cleveland...
State reaches tentative deal with AFSCME East Oregonian ...The state has reached a tentative two-year agreement with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the union that represents the second-largest group of state workers. The agreement was reached late Tuesday after a 14-hour bargaining session...
“It’s not a good record”: When it comes to worker safety, Obama is a lot like Bush Salon ...Not only are many of the laws already on the books to protect workers desperately in need of updating, but the government resources devoted to protecting workers are woefully insufficient. The result? Some tens of thousands of human beings, every year, suffer due to health hazards that could be addressed with relative ease...
If You Could Decrease a Workplace’s Injury Rate by 65 Percent, Would You? The Nation ...Registered nurses face more than 50 percent the rate of musculoskeletal injury of the general workforce; nursing assistants more than six times the rate. Registered nurses face more than 50 percent the rate of musculoskeletal injury of the general workforce; nursing assistants more than six times the rate...
Miscellaneous
Report: Immigrants commit fewer crimes than native born Monterey Herald ...t a time when the century-long American debate on whether immigrants commit more crimes than native-born residents is raging again, a new report concludes exactly the opposite. The debate, which has always been present when immigration increases, is being renewed by the killing of a young woman in San Francisco by a Mexican national who entered the country illegally several times...
The NYSE Shutdown Isn’t Just A Glitch, It’s A Glimpse Into Our Chaotic Future Think Progress ...The digital sky is officially falling as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) suddenly shut down all trading activity Wednesday, raising speculation of a major technical glitch or a malicious cyberattack. The exchange is experiencing an unexplained “critical issue,” according to alerts on the NYSE website, and stocks are tumbling fast. The NYSE hasn’t provided any additional information regarding the cause of the unexpected trading suspension...
The Confederate Flag Will Be Removed The Atlantic ...After more than six decades flying at the statehouse—first atop it, then nearby—the Confederate battle flag will soon come down for the final time in Columbia. The state House of Representatives voted 94-20 on Thursday to remove the flag, following a 36-3 vote in the Senate on Tuesday. Many people deserve credit for the flag coming down, from the thousands who marched in Charleston to Bree Newsome, who took matters into her own hands...
Obama Administration Takes On Segregation And Racist Housing Schemes Think Progress ...Cities and counties that want federal grants for development projects will have to start taking segregation much more seriously under a set of rules to be announced Wednesday by Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julian Castro. The new system will require cities to report regularly and in far greater detail on segregation in their communities, making it harder for towns to quietly maintain existing racial inequities in development...
U.S. Labor
Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits climb to 297,000 Dallas Morning News ...he number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level since late February. But the increase likely reflected temporary auto plant shutdowns rather than any underlying labor market weakness. The number of people filing applications for unemployment benefits rose by 15,000 to 297,000...
Verizon preps for a strike as labor talks continue RCR Wireless News ...Amid labor negotiations with some 45,000 union employees, Verizon is prepping for a potential work stoppage by training more than 15,000 non-union employees to take over in the event of a strike. Verizon is working on a three-year contract with representatives from the Communication Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers...
The UAW gears up for a labor talks showdown CBS ...The day before hundreds of United Auto Workers delegates gathered to set strategy for contract talks with the Detroit Three, General Motors (GM) sent them a not-so-subtle message. GM announced a $350 million investment in a Mexican factory to build the Chevrolet Cruze compact car, currently built for all of North America at a sprawling plant in Lordstown, Ohio, east of Cleveland...
State reaches tentative deal with AFSCME East Oregonian ...The state has reached a tentative two-year agreement with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the union that represents the second-largest group of state workers. The agreement was reached late Tuesday after a 14-hour bargaining session...
“It’s not a good record”: When it comes to worker safety, Obama is a lot like Bush Salon ...Not only are many of the laws already on the books to protect workers desperately in need of updating, but the government resources devoted to protecting workers are woefully insufficient. The result? Some tens of thousands of human beings, every year, suffer due to health hazards that could be addressed with relative ease...
If You Could Decrease a Workplace’s Injury Rate by 65 Percent, Would You? The Nation ...Registered nurses face more than 50 percent the rate of musculoskeletal injury of the general workforce; nursing assistants more than six times the rate. Registered nurses face more than 50 percent the rate of musculoskeletal injury of the general workforce; nursing assistants more than six times the rate...
Miscellaneous
Report: Immigrants commit fewer crimes than native born Monterey Herald ...t a time when the century-long American debate on whether immigrants commit more crimes than native-born residents is raging again, a new report concludes exactly the opposite. The debate, which has always been present when immigration increases, is being renewed by the killing of a young woman in San Francisco by a Mexican national who entered the country illegally several times...
The NYSE Shutdown Isn’t Just A Glitch, It’s A Glimpse Into Our Chaotic Future Think Progress ...The digital sky is officially falling as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) suddenly shut down all trading activity Wednesday, raising speculation of a major technical glitch or a malicious cyberattack. The exchange is experiencing an unexplained “critical issue,” according to alerts on the NYSE website, and stocks are tumbling fast. The NYSE hasn’t provided any additional information regarding the cause of the unexpected trading suspension...
The Confederate Flag Will Be Removed The Atlantic ...After more than six decades flying at the statehouse—first atop it, then nearby—the Confederate battle flag will soon come down for the final time in Columbia. The state House of Representatives voted 94-20 on Thursday to remove the flag, following a 36-3 vote in the Senate on Tuesday. Many people deserve credit for the flag coming down, from the thousands who marched in Charleston to Bree Newsome, who took matters into her own hands...
Obama Administration Takes On Segregation And Racist Housing Schemes Think Progress ...Cities and counties that want federal grants for development projects will have to start taking segregation much more seriously under a set of rules to be announced Wednesday by Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julian Castro. The new system will require cities to report regularly and in far greater detail on segregation in their communities, making it harder for towns to quietly maintain existing racial inequities in development...
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Today's Teamster News 07.08.15
Teamsters
Teamsters warn Frontier Airlines over stalled contract talks The Denver Post ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Airline Division has asked the National Mediation Board to arbitrate its ongoing contract dispute with Denver-based Frontier Airlines. And, if that doesn't work, Frontier's union-represented aircraft technicians, ground service technicians and tool-room attendants could exercise their right to strike — a move that essentially could cripple Frontier's operations...
Labor union brings back food drive to feed the hungry in Maine Bangor Daily News ...For several years before 2014, the Teamsters Local 340 labor union used the annual Maine Potato Blossom Festival as a vehicle to feed the hungry throughout Aroostook County. But the organization lost major donors in the last couple of years and wasn’t able to sponsor the drive last year. The organization is back this year with the food drive and a float in the Maine Potato Blossom parade...
Biddeford City Council meeting ends abruptly WMTV ...Disputes over contracts between Biddeford officials and three employee unions shut down the City Council meeting after just a few minutes Tuesday night. Tensions were already high when union members poured into council chambers. Members of Biddeford’s police, public works and firefighters’ unions said councilors were trying to avoid talking about the contracts. City officials said they plan to meet with the Teamsters Local 340 in mediation...
1934 Teamsters’ strike turned Minneapolis from ‘scab’ town to union supporter MinnPost ...“No trucks shall be moved! By nobody!” was the rallying cry of Minneapolis Teamsters Local 574 as they struck in the summer of 1934. Their demands were clear: a fair wage, union recognition, and the trucking firms’ recognition of inside workers as part of the union. Despite the violent reaction of the authorities, the 574 won on all these points...
Global Labor & Trade
TPP ministers to gather in Hawaii July 28-29 Japan Times ...Pacific Rim countries pursuing a free trade initiative are set to hold ministerial talks on July 28 and 29 in Hawaii to wind up their marathon negotiations, a source said Monday. The United States, Japan and 10 other countries came up with the plan as hopes for an early signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership...
Pacific Trade Deal Negotiators See a Wrap in Late July New York Times ...With a final accord in sight, the 12 nations negotiating a trans-Pacific trade agreement linking 40 percent of the global economy have set a last round of talks for late July on the remaining issues on the most ambitious trade deal in a generation...
TPP Still Has A Long Way To Go Forbes ...Congress’s having given President Obama fast-track authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership doesn’t assure that the agreement will enjoy smooth sailing the rest of the way. There are still any number of rocks in the water that could sink it. There are enough unresolved issues in the text to keep the negotiators at the table for a long time...
Obama working to make Vietnam an ally in dealing with China’s rise Washington Post ...Administration officials said Hanoi has been signaling interest in forging deeper economic and military ties with the United States, and Obama has extended a hand to Vietnam, which is among the 12 nations involved in an expansive Pacific Rim trade pact...
U.S. reports progress on human rights after Obama meeting with Vietnamese leader NOLA ...The United States and Vietnam Tuesday (July 7) committed in a joint statement to "support for the promotion and protection of human rights." On Monday, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., organized a letter from seven Republican senators [which] said that human rights should be a priority as the United States moves forward with negotiations for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement with Vietnam and other Pacific nations...
Canada Pledges Support for ‘Powerhouse’ Pacific Trade Pact Bloomberg ...The Canadian government is reiterating its support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, with Finance Minister Joe Oliver saying increased trade and investment will benefit the economy. Canada is under pressure to open up its dairy and poultry sectors, where production is controlled through quotas and imports are restricted with high tariffs. Dismantling that system, known as supply management, may become an issue in rural districts...
9 Ways the TPP Is Bad for Developing Countries Foreign Policy ...If enacted, the TPP could block these countries from successfully industrializing and joining the developed world. What would this mean in practice? Blocking industrialization would mean locking these countries into low-end agricultural and extractive industries, preventing tens of millions from accessing higher-paying jobs in the manufacturing and service sectors...
Britain slashes spending in new austerity drive Business Insider ...Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne unveiled fresh austerity measures Wednesday to slash the country's debt, evoking the plight of crisis-hit Greece in presenting the first purely Conservative budget for nearly 20 years. Osborne slashed welfare spending to honour campaign promises...
Greece Submits New Loan Request, as Tsipras Takes Defiant Stance New York Times ... Greece, running out of money and under a tight deadline from European leaders, on Wednesday requested a three-year loan from the eurozone’s bailout fund. But other than alluding to plans to begin overhauling its tax and pension systems next week, Greece did not detail what economic changes it would make in exchange for the loan...
State & Living Wage Battles
Prevailing Wage Repeal, Reform Stripped from WI Budget; Extraordinary Session Called to Address We Party Patriots ...Wisconsin Republicans have reached an agreement which will allow them to pass a budget for 2015-2017 after a week of contentious infighting over prevailing wage reforms and funding for a new Milwaukee Bucks arena. As part of the deal, Republicans agreed to eliminate these issues from the budget itself and instead take up an extraordinary session to tackle the outstanding questions...
Wisconsin's budget bill a Pandora's Box of attacks against workers Daily Kos ...Wisconsin's GOP lawmakers have packed a lot of punch into a provision in the state's budget bill, with most of it undercutting labor unions and workers along with reducing oversight of law enforcement. The measure, known as Motion 999, gained notoriety when one initiative that would have quashed the state's open record laws came to light. It was so deeply unpopular that lawmakers led by Gov. Scott Walker shelved it...
Wisconsin Is Trying to Take Away the Right to a Weekend Gawker ...In Wisconsin, Republicans led by Scott Walker has done an amazing job of destroying public unions and handing all power over the workplace back to business interests. Now, with little fanfare, they want to take away the right for workers to have a single day off. Wisconsin state legislators are preparing to vote on a budget. One additional measure is worth gaping at, perhaps above all others: section 56, which would take away workers’ right to a weekend—even a one day weekend...
Scott Walker's Office Was Part of a Sneaky Effort to Keep His Records Private Mother Jones ...Gov. Scott Walker's office has confirmed in a statement that it was involved with the measure to change Wisconsin's open-records law to block access to many currently available government documents. The statement was released after Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R) acknowledged that Walker's office took part in discussions to slip the changes into a last-minute budget bill...
Wisconsin Senate passes budget, votes to scale back prevailing wage law Chicago Sun-Times ...The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate passed the $73 billion state budget just before midnight Tuesday, sending it to the Assembly after voting to repeal a prevailing wage law for local government projects, a move Democrats called an affront to the middle class...
Sherrod Brown pushes for charter school accountability and transparency Daily Kos ...A lack of accountability and transparency are a key problem of charter schools in many states across the country, allowing them to made into centers of corporate profit above their mission as centers of education. That lack, and that profit drive, is what leads to abuses like charter schools that pay above-market rents to real estate companies connected to school executives. Sen. Sherrod Brown has a bill that would change that and other abuses...
Missouri voter ID measure from GOP candidate OK to circulate Springfield News-Leader ...A Republican candidate for Missouri secretary of state now can gather signatures for an initiative petition to allow lawmakers to require voter identification. Democratic Secretary of State Jason Kander on Tuesday announced the proposed constitutional amendment can begin circulating...
Martin O’Malley Has the Right Solution for Puerto Rico’s Debt Crisis The Nation ...Puerto Rico is not Greece. But the United States commonwealth is confronted with a debt crisis. It faces the threat of a brutal round of austerity cuts, which could make a bad circumstance dramatically worse. If ever there was a moment that called for enlightened leadership that recognizes both the economic and social challenges facing the Puerto Rico, this is it...
U.S. Labor
Hospital, nurses union reach tentative contract deal News OK ...Negotiators for Eastern Maine Medical Center and a union representing nurses at the hospital have reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract. The deal announced early Wednesday could avert a threatened two-day strike by the nurses next week. It must be ratified by the union membership and the hospital's board...
US: a look back at the UAW-Detroit three talks of 2011 InAutoNews ...The United Automotive Workers union is set to renegotiate the labor agreements for the represented workers at the three largest US automakers – General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler. The summer negotiations for the contracts for the upcoming four years are going to kick off next week...
Nurse ratio bill advances to D.C. Council's health committee Washington Business Journal ...A bill that would require minimum staffing for nurses in D.C. hospitals was approved by the D.C. Council's business committee Tuesday and will now advance to the health committee for consideration. National Nurses United, the nursing union representing many of the local nurses pushing for ratios, called the vote an "important step"...
Union Is the New Black: Labor Organizing in Orange Is the New Black, And What It Means For You Union Plus ...In its third season with Netflix, Orange Is the New Black has had a significant effect on America's consciousness regarding: race, women and incarceration, and transgender issues. This season highlighted many character backstories, but personally, the most interesting plot-line was that of the security guards and their efforts to organize a potential union...
Company Raises Its Minimum Wage To $15 So Employees Won’t ‘Worry About Making Ends Meet’ Think Progress ...Internet Truckstop Group, an Idaho-based company that owns a number of internet trucking logistic websites, is raising base pay for its employees to $15 an hour. The company has 250 full- and part-time employees, about 110 of whom will get a raise because of the increase. Most average $11 to $12 hours currently. CEO Scott Moscrip said the company, whose revenues have grown between 10 and 30 percent a year, was due for a pay increase...
Miscellaneous
After 6-Year Tenure Not Prosecuting Banks, Eric Holder Returns 'Home' to Defend Them Common Dreams ...Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's return this week to a high-level position at Covington & Burling, a corporate law firm that represents big banks, has some calling it a dramatic and troubling example of the Washington-to-Wall-Street revolving door. That's because Holder's six years of service under the administration of President Barack Obama were defined by his refusal to criminally prosecute any of the financial institutions...
Donald Trump’s Empire Was (Probably) Built On Immigrant Labor Think Progress ...As a real estate tycoon, Donald Trump built up and has given his name to clothing lines, hotels, resorts, golf courses, a winery, and apartment buildings. And for a man who has unapologetically characterized Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug dealers, and has said that infectious diseases are spilling across the border, Trump has decided to work in industries where it’s impossible to avoid the Latino immigrants he is maligning...
The End of Encryption? NSA & FBI Seek New Backdoors Against Advice from Leading Security Experts Democracy Now ...Encryption refers to the scrambling of communications so they cannot be read without the correct key or password. The FBI and GCHQ have said they need access to encrypted communications to track criminals and terrorists. Fourteen of the world’s pre-eminent cryptographers, computer scientists and security specialists have issued a paper arguing there is no way to allow the government such access without endangering all confidential data...
Waiting to Die in Prison—for Selling a Couple of Bags of Pot Mother Jones ...How many prisoners are serving life sentences for pot? At least 69, based on data collected by the American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations. But that figure probably is low, particularly if you count older inmates serving lengthy sentences who will likely die in prison. Federal judges have sentenced 54 people to life without parole for marijuana crimes since 1996...
Popular Protests Are Spreading Across Central America, and Washington Is Getting Nervous The Nation ...In both Guatemala and Honduras, credible accusations of corruption are spurring mass mobilization truly popular in their class composition. In response, Washington is reacting in its usual manner to such threats: more militarization...
Teamsters warn Frontier Airlines over stalled contract talks The Denver Post ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Airline Division has asked the National Mediation Board to arbitrate its ongoing contract dispute with Denver-based Frontier Airlines. And, if that doesn't work, Frontier's union-represented aircraft technicians, ground service technicians and tool-room attendants could exercise their right to strike — a move that essentially could cripple Frontier's operations...
Labor union brings back food drive to feed the hungry in Maine Bangor Daily News ...For several years before 2014, the Teamsters Local 340 labor union used the annual Maine Potato Blossom Festival as a vehicle to feed the hungry throughout Aroostook County. But the organization lost major donors in the last couple of years and wasn’t able to sponsor the drive last year. The organization is back this year with the food drive and a float in the Maine Potato Blossom parade...
Biddeford City Council meeting ends abruptly WMTV ...Disputes over contracts between Biddeford officials and three employee unions shut down the City Council meeting after just a few minutes Tuesday night. Tensions were already high when union members poured into council chambers. Members of Biddeford’s police, public works and firefighters’ unions said councilors were trying to avoid talking about the contracts. City officials said they plan to meet with the Teamsters Local 340 in mediation...
1934 Teamsters’ strike turned Minneapolis from ‘scab’ town to union supporter MinnPost ...“No trucks shall be moved! By nobody!” was the rallying cry of Minneapolis Teamsters Local 574 as they struck in the summer of 1934. Their demands were clear: a fair wage, union recognition, and the trucking firms’ recognition of inside workers as part of the union. Despite the violent reaction of the authorities, the 574 won on all these points...
Global Labor & Trade
TPP ministers to gather in Hawaii July 28-29 Japan Times ...Pacific Rim countries pursuing a free trade initiative are set to hold ministerial talks on July 28 and 29 in Hawaii to wind up their marathon negotiations, a source said Monday. The United States, Japan and 10 other countries came up with the plan as hopes for an early signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership...
Pacific Trade Deal Negotiators See a Wrap in Late July New York Times ...With a final accord in sight, the 12 nations negotiating a trans-Pacific trade agreement linking 40 percent of the global economy have set a last round of talks for late July on the remaining issues on the most ambitious trade deal in a generation...
TPP Still Has A Long Way To Go Forbes ...Congress’s having given President Obama fast-track authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership doesn’t assure that the agreement will enjoy smooth sailing the rest of the way. There are still any number of rocks in the water that could sink it. There are enough unresolved issues in the text to keep the negotiators at the table for a long time...
Obama working to make Vietnam an ally in dealing with China’s rise Washington Post ...Administration officials said Hanoi has been signaling interest in forging deeper economic and military ties with the United States, and Obama has extended a hand to Vietnam, which is among the 12 nations involved in an expansive Pacific Rim trade pact...
U.S. reports progress on human rights after Obama meeting with Vietnamese leader NOLA ...The United States and Vietnam Tuesday (July 7) committed in a joint statement to "support for the promotion and protection of human rights." On Monday, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., organized a letter from seven Republican senators [which] said that human rights should be a priority as the United States moves forward with negotiations for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement with Vietnam and other Pacific nations...
Canada Pledges Support for ‘Powerhouse’ Pacific Trade Pact Bloomberg ...The Canadian government is reiterating its support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, with Finance Minister Joe Oliver saying increased trade and investment will benefit the economy. Canada is under pressure to open up its dairy and poultry sectors, where production is controlled through quotas and imports are restricted with high tariffs. Dismantling that system, known as supply management, may become an issue in rural districts...
9 Ways the TPP Is Bad for Developing Countries Foreign Policy ...If enacted, the TPP could block these countries from successfully industrializing and joining the developed world. What would this mean in practice? Blocking industrialization would mean locking these countries into low-end agricultural and extractive industries, preventing tens of millions from accessing higher-paying jobs in the manufacturing and service sectors...
Britain slashes spending in new austerity drive Business Insider ...Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne unveiled fresh austerity measures Wednesday to slash the country's debt, evoking the plight of crisis-hit Greece in presenting the first purely Conservative budget for nearly 20 years. Osborne slashed welfare spending to honour campaign promises...
Greece Submits New Loan Request, as Tsipras Takes Defiant Stance New York Times ... Greece, running out of money and under a tight deadline from European leaders, on Wednesday requested a three-year loan from the eurozone’s bailout fund. But other than alluding to plans to begin overhauling its tax and pension systems next week, Greece did not detail what economic changes it would make in exchange for the loan...
State & Living Wage Battles
Prevailing Wage Repeal, Reform Stripped from WI Budget; Extraordinary Session Called to Address We Party Patriots ...Wisconsin Republicans have reached an agreement which will allow them to pass a budget for 2015-2017 after a week of contentious infighting over prevailing wage reforms and funding for a new Milwaukee Bucks arena. As part of the deal, Republicans agreed to eliminate these issues from the budget itself and instead take up an extraordinary session to tackle the outstanding questions...
Wisconsin's budget bill a Pandora's Box of attacks against workers Daily Kos ...Wisconsin's GOP lawmakers have packed a lot of punch into a provision in the state's budget bill, with most of it undercutting labor unions and workers along with reducing oversight of law enforcement. The measure, known as Motion 999, gained notoriety when one initiative that would have quashed the state's open record laws came to light. It was so deeply unpopular that lawmakers led by Gov. Scott Walker shelved it...
Wisconsin Is Trying to Take Away the Right to a Weekend Gawker ...In Wisconsin, Republicans led by Scott Walker has done an amazing job of destroying public unions and handing all power over the workplace back to business interests. Now, with little fanfare, they want to take away the right for workers to have a single day off. Wisconsin state legislators are preparing to vote on a budget. One additional measure is worth gaping at, perhaps above all others: section 56, which would take away workers’ right to a weekend—even a one day weekend...
Scott Walker's Office Was Part of a Sneaky Effort to Keep His Records Private Mother Jones ...Gov. Scott Walker's office has confirmed in a statement that it was involved with the measure to change Wisconsin's open-records law to block access to many currently available government documents. The statement was released after Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R) acknowledged that Walker's office took part in discussions to slip the changes into a last-minute budget bill...
Wisconsin Senate passes budget, votes to scale back prevailing wage law Chicago Sun-Times ...The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate passed the $73 billion state budget just before midnight Tuesday, sending it to the Assembly after voting to repeal a prevailing wage law for local government projects, a move Democrats called an affront to the middle class...
Sherrod Brown pushes for charter school accountability and transparency Daily Kos ...A lack of accountability and transparency are a key problem of charter schools in many states across the country, allowing them to made into centers of corporate profit above their mission as centers of education. That lack, and that profit drive, is what leads to abuses like charter schools that pay above-market rents to real estate companies connected to school executives. Sen. Sherrod Brown has a bill that would change that and other abuses...
Missouri voter ID measure from GOP candidate OK to circulate Springfield News-Leader ...A Republican candidate for Missouri secretary of state now can gather signatures for an initiative petition to allow lawmakers to require voter identification. Democratic Secretary of State Jason Kander on Tuesday announced the proposed constitutional amendment can begin circulating...
Martin O’Malley Has the Right Solution for Puerto Rico’s Debt Crisis The Nation ...Puerto Rico is not Greece. But the United States commonwealth is confronted with a debt crisis. It faces the threat of a brutal round of austerity cuts, which could make a bad circumstance dramatically worse. If ever there was a moment that called for enlightened leadership that recognizes both the economic and social challenges facing the Puerto Rico, this is it...
U.S. Labor
Hospital, nurses union reach tentative contract deal News OK ...Negotiators for Eastern Maine Medical Center and a union representing nurses at the hospital have reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract. The deal announced early Wednesday could avert a threatened two-day strike by the nurses next week. It must be ratified by the union membership and the hospital's board...
US: a look back at the UAW-Detroit three talks of 2011 InAutoNews ...The United Automotive Workers union is set to renegotiate the labor agreements for the represented workers at the three largest US automakers – General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler. The summer negotiations for the contracts for the upcoming four years are going to kick off next week...
Nurse ratio bill advances to D.C. Council's health committee Washington Business Journal ...A bill that would require minimum staffing for nurses in D.C. hospitals was approved by the D.C. Council's business committee Tuesday and will now advance to the health committee for consideration. National Nurses United, the nursing union representing many of the local nurses pushing for ratios, called the vote an "important step"...
Union Is the New Black: Labor Organizing in Orange Is the New Black, And What It Means For You Union Plus ...In its third season with Netflix, Orange Is the New Black has had a significant effect on America's consciousness regarding: race, women and incarceration, and transgender issues. This season highlighted many character backstories, but personally, the most interesting plot-line was that of the security guards and their efforts to organize a potential union...
Company Raises Its Minimum Wage To $15 So Employees Won’t ‘Worry About Making Ends Meet’ Think Progress ...Internet Truckstop Group, an Idaho-based company that owns a number of internet trucking logistic websites, is raising base pay for its employees to $15 an hour. The company has 250 full- and part-time employees, about 110 of whom will get a raise because of the increase. Most average $11 to $12 hours currently. CEO Scott Moscrip said the company, whose revenues have grown between 10 and 30 percent a year, was due for a pay increase...
Miscellaneous
After 6-Year Tenure Not Prosecuting Banks, Eric Holder Returns 'Home' to Defend Them Common Dreams ...Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's return this week to a high-level position at Covington & Burling, a corporate law firm that represents big banks, has some calling it a dramatic and troubling example of the Washington-to-Wall-Street revolving door. That's because Holder's six years of service under the administration of President Barack Obama were defined by his refusal to criminally prosecute any of the financial institutions...
Donald Trump’s Empire Was (Probably) Built On Immigrant Labor Think Progress ...As a real estate tycoon, Donald Trump built up and has given his name to clothing lines, hotels, resorts, golf courses, a winery, and apartment buildings. And for a man who has unapologetically characterized Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug dealers, and has said that infectious diseases are spilling across the border, Trump has decided to work in industries where it’s impossible to avoid the Latino immigrants he is maligning...
The End of Encryption? NSA & FBI Seek New Backdoors Against Advice from Leading Security Experts Democracy Now ...Encryption refers to the scrambling of communications so they cannot be read without the correct key or password. The FBI and GCHQ have said they need access to encrypted communications to track criminals and terrorists. Fourteen of the world’s pre-eminent cryptographers, computer scientists and security specialists have issued a paper arguing there is no way to allow the government such access without endangering all confidential data...
Waiting to Die in Prison—for Selling a Couple of Bags of Pot Mother Jones ...How many prisoners are serving life sentences for pot? At least 69, based on data collected by the American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations. But that figure probably is low, particularly if you count older inmates serving lengthy sentences who will likely die in prison. Federal judges have sentenced 54 people to life without parole for marijuana crimes since 1996...
Popular Protests Are Spreading Across Central America, and Washington Is Getting Nervous The Nation ...In both Guatemala and Honduras, credible accusations of corruption are spurring mass mobilization truly popular in their class composition. In response, Washington is reacting in its usual manner to such threats: more militarization...
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Tom Keegel remembers the 1934 Teamsters strike
There's no one you'd rather hear to talk about the 1934 Teamsters' strike in Minneapolis than Tom Keegel, the former general secretary-treasury of the Teamsters.
Tens of thousands of working people participated in the strike, which began May 16, 1934 and lasted throughout the summer. The Teamsters' strike was one of the main catalysts for the rise of unions in the 1930s. (So were two other strikes, the 1934 West Coast Longshore Strike and the 1934 ToledoAuto-Lite Strike.)
Keegel is a third-generation Teamster who joined the union in 1959 after graduated from high school. And he will tell you, "I love this great union for everything it's done for me and for workers across this country."
The local he joined, Local 574, was the predecessor to his local, Local 544. Keegel got to know truckers who'd been part of the strike, and he got to meet Jimmy Hoffa just after joining. That, he said, set the direction in his life. He became recording secretary and business agent in 1977, secretary-treasurer, joint council president and on March 21, 1999 he took office as general-secretary treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, along with General President Jim Hoffa.
If you've never heard Tom Keegel speak, watch the video. He was speaking last weekend, at a celebration of the 80th anniversary of the 1934 Teamsters strike. "People were hungry and hard and looking for work," he said. He described how the Dunn brothers and Farrell Dobbs organized 10,000 workers.
"We need to commemorate them and honor them because they had the guts to stand up and take on the fight," Keegel said. Without them, workers wouldn't have health insurance, pensions, holidays or vacations.
"We should never ever take for granted the benefits we have under our Teamster contracts," he said. The anti-union businessmen who lost the strike -- called the Citizens Alliance -- are probably rolling over in their graves because Minneapolis is now one of the best union towns in the country.
As a young Teamster, his steward said to him:
Don't ever forget where you come from, don't ever forget where you're going and by God because you're a union member you got what you got and you need to do that for other people as well.There's one other thing Tom Keegel said at the end of his speech. If you've ever heard him, you know what it is.
Friday, July 18, 2014
Today's Teamster News 07.18.14
Teamster News
1934 Teamsters strike in Minneapolis remembered on 80th anniversary Minneapolis Star Tribune ...“This event hit national significance in terms of the American labor movement,” said David Riehle, an organizer for the Remember 1934 festivities and a former railroad engineer. “It really was one of the battles that ignited the struggle for unionization that unfolded throughout the ’30s....”
Teamsters On Set Of New Sci-Fi Netflix Series Being Filmed In Chicago teamster.org ..."Right out of the gate, our members know they’ll be working on 10 episodes of this new show..."
Teamster Drivers At GET Bus On Strike For Fair Contract teamster.org ...The local union has been negotiating a new contract with the employer since January. Union members are drivers, mechanics and support staff at the public transportation company...
Teamsters Local 337 Trash Transporters Ratify First Contract teamster.org ...“The contract addresses their concerns about fair wages, respect on the job and more affordable health insurance—they will be covered under the Michigan Conference of Teamsters health fund...”
Trade
#noTTIP: The Rising Global Movement against the US-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) Centre For Research On Globalization ...As the next round of negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) take place in Brussels this week, civil society groups are continuing to mobilise against this ongoing free trade agreement between the U.S. and EU that poses a threat to our public services, environment, food, privacy and democracy...
The deadline is Monday to stop government trade deception Trade Reform ...Under a proposed federal rule, an iPhone made in China and sold to Europe could be falsely considered an American export!...
LA area Port Traffic: Imports increasing Econbrowser ...Imports were up 13% year-over-year in June, exports were up 7% year-over-year. Imports were 4% below the all time high for June (set in June 2007), and it is possible that imports will be at a record high later this year...
Young Workers Deserve Opportunities, Not Exploitation New York Times ...Despite national and international laws, conventions and standards prohibiting child labor, businesses continue to stumble in their efforts to stop young workers from being exploited at manufacturing sites around the world...
State Battles
Progressive Groups Merge in Effort to Counter ALEC in State Capitols Wall Street Journal ...The Progressives States Network and the American Legislative and Issue Campaign Exchange – ALICE, compared to the conservative ALEC – are merging in order to push state-level progressive legislation...
Firefighters union seeks to stop Detroit restructuring over bargaining rights Detroit News ...The city’s last remaining major labor union that hasn’t reached a contract deal in bankruptcy was in court Wednesday arguing Detroit’s changes to pensions for the next decade violates its members’ collective bargaining rights...
GOP Governor Implements GOP Economics, Disaster Ensues Washington Post ...At a time when most states are seeing higher revenues as the country recovers economically, Kansas’ revenues have plummeted. The result has been cuts to schools, cuts to higher education, cuts to libraries, and cuts to local health centers. Kansas’ job growth and income growth are lagging the nation’s. In response to the fiscal difficulties, Moody’s recently lowered the state’s bond rating...
If Congress Won’t Raise the Minimum Wage, These Cities Will The Nation ...cities around the country have begun doing end-runs around the gridlock. San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Fe and Washington, DC, have all passed their own minimum-wage boosts, while Seattle set the record this spring with its $15 an hour minimum-wage hike. Now, San Diego has joined the effort, recently passing an ordinance to lift the city minimum to $11.50 an hour, and Los Angeles may be heading in that direction. Will more cities follow? ...
Proposal To Raise Minimum Wage Clears Initial Hurdle The Times Record ...A ballot proposal to raise the minimum wage in Arkansas has met the initial signature requirement, Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office said Wednesday...
San Francisco Task Force Says Licenses Of Wage Theft Violators Should Be Revoked Daily Labor Report ...San Francisco must increase staffing, improve interdepartmental coordination and enact an ordinance allowing permit suspension and revocation for employers found to have committed wage theft, a task force recommended to the city's board of supervisors July 10...
Eric Holder May Step Into Wisconsin's Voter ID Lawsuits Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel ...Gov. Scott Walker and Republicans in the Legislature approved a law in 2011 that required voters to show photo ID at the polls. Four lawsuits — two in federal court and two in state court — quickly followed...
War On Workers
Koch High: How The Koch Brothers Are Buying Their Way Into The Minds Of Public School Students Huffington Post ...With spending on public education under heavy assault -- in large part by Koch-funded organizations and politicians they support -- the nation's poorest school districts are in desperate need of resources, making the free Koch curriculum an attractive alternative to nothing...
Worker killed in construction accident at UofL WAVE3 News ...Warner was working on a dorm under construction at 2501 S. 4th Street. Carroll says it appears Warner had fallen...
Young adults drive record U.S. trend of multi-generational homes Reuters ...The number of Americans living in multi-generational households has doubled since 1980. The figure spiked during the 2007-2009 recession and has moved higher since then, the analysis by the Pew Research Center said...
Worker killed at Kings Mountain plant WCNC ...Officials are investigating a deadly accident at a printing plant...The Department of Labor says the worker died as a result of his skull being crushed...
Snowden: NSA employees routinely pass around intercepted nude photos ars technica ...Edward Snowden has revealed that he witnessed “numerous instances” of National Security Agency (NSA) employees passing around nude photos that were intercepted “in the course of their daily work.”...
1934 Teamsters strike in Minneapolis remembered on 80th anniversary Minneapolis Star Tribune ...“This event hit national significance in terms of the American labor movement,” said David Riehle, an organizer for the Remember 1934 festivities and a former railroad engineer. “It really was one of the battles that ignited the struggle for unionization that unfolded throughout the ’30s....”
Teamsters On Set Of New Sci-Fi Netflix Series Being Filmed In Chicago teamster.org ..."Right out of the gate, our members know they’ll be working on 10 episodes of this new show..."
Teamster Drivers At GET Bus On Strike For Fair Contract teamster.org ...The local union has been negotiating a new contract with the employer since January. Union members are drivers, mechanics and support staff at the public transportation company...
Teamsters Local 337 Trash Transporters Ratify First Contract teamster.org ...“The contract addresses their concerns about fair wages, respect on the job and more affordable health insurance—they will be covered under the Michigan Conference of Teamsters health fund...”
Trade
#noTTIP: The Rising Global Movement against the US-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) Centre For Research On Globalization ...As the next round of negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) take place in Brussels this week, civil society groups are continuing to mobilise against this ongoing free trade agreement between the U.S. and EU that poses a threat to our public services, environment, food, privacy and democracy...
The deadline is Monday to stop government trade deception Trade Reform ...Under a proposed federal rule, an iPhone made in China and sold to Europe could be falsely considered an American export!...
LA area Port Traffic: Imports increasing Econbrowser ...Imports were up 13% year-over-year in June, exports were up 7% year-over-year. Imports were 4% below the all time high for June (set in June 2007), and it is possible that imports will be at a record high later this year...
Young Workers Deserve Opportunities, Not Exploitation New York Times ...Despite national and international laws, conventions and standards prohibiting child labor, businesses continue to stumble in their efforts to stop young workers from being exploited at manufacturing sites around the world...
State Battles
Progressive Groups Merge in Effort to Counter ALEC in State Capitols Wall Street Journal ...The Progressives States Network and the American Legislative and Issue Campaign Exchange – ALICE, compared to the conservative ALEC – are merging in order to push state-level progressive legislation...
Firefighters union seeks to stop Detroit restructuring over bargaining rights Detroit News ...The city’s last remaining major labor union that hasn’t reached a contract deal in bankruptcy was in court Wednesday arguing Detroit’s changes to pensions for the next decade violates its members’ collective bargaining rights...
GOP Governor Implements GOP Economics, Disaster Ensues Washington Post ...At a time when most states are seeing higher revenues as the country recovers economically, Kansas’ revenues have plummeted. The result has been cuts to schools, cuts to higher education, cuts to libraries, and cuts to local health centers. Kansas’ job growth and income growth are lagging the nation’s. In response to the fiscal difficulties, Moody’s recently lowered the state’s bond rating...
If Congress Won’t Raise the Minimum Wage, These Cities Will The Nation ...cities around the country have begun doing end-runs around the gridlock. San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Fe and Washington, DC, have all passed their own minimum-wage boosts, while Seattle set the record this spring with its $15 an hour minimum-wage hike. Now, San Diego has joined the effort, recently passing an ordinance to lift the city minimum to $11.50 an hour, and Los Angeles may be heading in that direction. Will more cities follow? ...
Proposal To Raise Minimum Wage Clears Initial Hurdle The Times Record ...A ballot proposal to raise the minimum wage in Arkansas has met the initial signature requirement, Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office said Wednesday...
San Francisco Task Force Says Licenses Of Wage Theft Violators Should Be Revoked Daily Labor Report ...San Francisco must increase staffing, improve interdepartmental coordination and enact an ordinance allowing permit suspension and revocation for employers found to have committed wage theft, a task force recommended to the city's board of supervisors July 10...
Eric Holder May Step Into Wisconsin's Voter ID Lawsuits Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel ...Gov. Scott Walker and Republicans in the Legislature approved a law in 2011 that required voters to show photo ID at the polls. Four lawsuits — two in federal court and two in state court — quickly followed...
War On Workers
Koch High: How The Koch Brothers Are Buying Their Way Into The Minds Of Public School Students Huffington Post ...With spending on public education under heavy assault -- in large part by Koch-funded organizations and politicians they support -- the nation's poorest school districts are in desperate need of resources, making the free Koch curriculum an attractive alternative to nothing...
Worker killed in construction accident at UofL WAVE3 News ...Warner was working on a dorm under construction at 2501 S. 4th Street. Carroll says it appears Warner had fallen...
Young adults drive record U.S. trend of multi-generational homes Reuters ...The number of Americans living in multi-generational households has doubled since 1980. The figure spiked during the 2007-2009 recession and has moved higher since then, the analysis by the Pew Research Center said...
Worker killed at Kings Mountain plant WCNC ...Officials are investigating a deadly accident at a printing plant...The Department of Labor says the worker died as a result of his skull being crushed...
Snowden: NSA employees routinely pass around intercepted nude photos ars technica ...Edward Snowden has revealed that he witnessed “numerous instances” of National Security Agency (NSA) employees passing around nude photos that were intercepted “in the course of their daily work.”...
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