Today's Teamster News 06.01.15

Teamsters
Strike at Del. soft drink distributor slows soda flow  Delaware Online  ...A nearly two-week strike by workers at a soft drink distribution center in New Castle shows no signs of ending soon, leaving some stores running low on certain brands of soda and bottled water. "The last offer the company put forward didn't have any of the changes the workers were looking for," said Joe Smith, president of Teamsters Local 326, which represents the striking workers...
Tracy Morgan Settles In Fatal Tractor-Trailer Crash As House Works To Make Highways More Dangerous  Think Progress  ...Whether its pay-per-mile, sleep rules, or the physical arrangement of a truck, the FMCSA’s job is to create a system that addresses those lowest common denominators — but the regulator won’t be free to do so if the current House transportation funding bill becomes law...

Global Labor & Trade
Obama's Trade Agenda Faces Tougher Odds Heading Into House  Associated Press  ...After several near death experiences in the Senate, the trade agenda that President Barack Obama is pushing as a second term capstone faces its biggest hurdle yet in the more polarized House. Anti-trade forces have struggled to ignite public outrage over Obama's bid to enact new free-trade agreements, but Democratic opposition in Congress remains widespread...
House trade vote will be tight, like in 2001  Politico  ...House Republicans hoped to avoid a replay of the gut-wrenchingly close vote on fast track trade legislation that took place in 2001, but stiff Democratic opposition makes it likely history will repeat itself. The bill is expected to hit the floor in coming weeks, but with a number of Democratic and Republican votes still up in the air, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy was non-committal on Friday about the exact timing...
Obama Seeks Rare Business Support  Wall Street Journal  ...President  Barack Obama, who frequently has tussled with corporate America, now is relying heavily on an array of large U.S. companies to help enact a major Pacific trade deal. From Hollywood studios to drug makers and manufacturers, such as  Caterpillar Inc.,  some major American companies are lending key support in the complicated push to negotiate the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership...

Obama’s Trade Deal Faces Bipartisan Peril in the House  New York Times  ...The bruising battle over President Obama’s push for the power to negotiate two potentially far-reaching trade pacts will shift this week to the House, where the White House faces entrenched opposition from Democrats and the stirring of rebellion from the Republicans’ right flank...
Arguments for TPP don’t make sense  (opinion) Boston Globe  ...It is absurd to imagine that TPP could wrest China — soon to be the world’s largest economy — from a preeminent role in Asia. The United States is far more likely to buttress its influence in Asia by leveraging rising Chinese prosperity and working with China than by ignoring it or attempting to bypass it...
Obama is no progressive: Why Teddy Roosevelt is grousing in his grave  (opinion) Salon  ...Given that reality, insisting that “TPP will end up being the most progressive trade agreement in our history” – in the most benevolent interpretation — is at best an attempt to engage in focus-grouped wordsmithing. Ultimately, Mr. Obama leaves no other conclusion than that at heart he is an unabashed corporatist, protecting the interests of large corporations...
The Limited ''Victory'' Won by Mexican Farm Workers  Truthout  ...The farm workers of the San Quintin Valley have gotten the federal government to commit to facilitating negotiations for a wage hike, the central demand of the more than 80,000 agricultural laborers in this region of Baja California. But Lucila Hermandez, a spokesperson for the movement, warns that the agreement is still not a clear victory...
Network Rail strike talks to go into fourth day  BBC  ...Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union members are set to hold a 24-hour strike from 17:00 BST on 4 June and a 48-hour strike from 17:00 BST on 9 June. On Thursday the union rejected a fresh pay offer by Network Rail. Both sides have been talking with conciliation service Acas since Friday...

State & Living Wage Battles
Will Connecticut Go Robin Hood on Low-Wage Bosses?  The Nation  ...Call it a Robin Hood Tax for big-box stores: take from the rich to give to the poor, by forcing companies that pay unlivable wages to support the public benefits that impoverished workers need to survive. According to one economic assessment, the “true cost” of low-wage jobs in Connecticut amounts to some $486 million per year paid through various public welfare programs. So the logic goes, the most heavily state-subsidized companies should pay their fair share...
Texas Lawmakers Are Busy Making It Harder to Vote  Truthout  ...One measure (HB 1096) that would make it more difficult for voters to confirm their residency recently cleared the House. Another bill approved by the Senate (SB 1934) would eliminate nonexpiring photo identification cards for the state’s senior citizens. Because unexpired photo IDs or IDs that have been expired no more than 60 days are required to vote, this change would make it even harder for Texas seniors to get their ballots counted...
An American workplace war that's reached a tipping point  CNBC  ...With Wisconsin's adoption of so-called right-to-work legislation earlier this year, 25 states now prohibit mandatory union dues, and with legislation being pushed in several more states, the right-to-work movement is talking about a national "tipping point"...
Kansas Republicans Finally Consider Changing Course On Their ‘Tea Party Experiment’  Think Progress  ...Republicans in Kansas, facing a $400 million budget hole due to tax cuts pushed by Gov. Sam Brownback, are now finally considering raising taxes to compensate for the shortfall. Legislators are considering rolling back an exemption on nonwage income for small businesses they passed a few years ago and replacing it with a 1 percent tax credit...

U.S. Labor
If You’re In A Nail Salon In New York, You’ll Now See A Workers’ Bill Of Rights On The Wall  Think Progress  ...All nail salons in New York City will now be required to display a “manicurists’ bill of rights” that’s easily visible to both employees and customers — the latest attempt from city officials to crack down on the rampant labor abuses in the industry detailed in a recent New York Times investigation...
California Walmart Workers Go on Hunger Strike After Stores Closed in ‘Retaliation’ for Organizing  In These Times  ...With tents and sleeping bags in tow, workers set up camp outside a Los Angeles Walmart this week and held a one-day fast to protest the corporation’s retaliation against their organizing. Walmart recently closed five stores, including one in Pico Rivera, California, where workers were especially active in OUR Walmart, the Food and Commercial Workers-backed effort to boost standards at the retail giant...
NLRB Certifies USW Representation for Workers at Golden Dragon Copper  PR Newswire  ...The United Steelworkers (USW) today said that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has certified the union as the exclusive bargaining representative for production, maintenance and warehouse workers at Golden Dragon Copper. In a very close, secret ballot election conducted on Nov. 7, 2014, workers at Golden Dragon voted in favor of USW representation, even after outsiders, including Gov. Robert Bentley, campaigned against the union...
Elizabeth Warren Gets Job Security and the Uber-ization of the Economy Completely Wrong  Alternet  ...Her remarks in response to moderators talking about the rise of Uber-style contract-based part-time work were less inspiring. She dismissed these concerns as primarily about technology, not the nature of work, and then later failed to answer a question asking if Uber-style contract workers should be classified as full-time employees, which would give them greater rights...

Miscellaneous
Foreclosed nation: Wall Street, the dispossessed & the quality of American democracy  Salon  ...Why has the continued crisis of dispossession not been treated as a national emergency? Given the scale of the foreclosure crisis, the policy response has been muted. Congress and the Obama administration have repeatedly rejected demands for a national moratorium on mortgage foreclosures. Legislators in several states introduced foreclosure moratorium bills, but few states enacted them...
Emergency bridge repairs to snarl Virginia-to-D.C. traffic  Daily Kos  ...There are 61,000 structurally deficient bridges in the United States, but transportation is on the long list of things congressional Republicans refuse to invest in. A two-month bill extending the Highway Trust Fund recently passed, but two months of funding makes it more than a little difficult to do long-term planning and investment...

Teamsters congratulate OUR Walmart workers for fighting and winning

Teamsters welcome the news that Walmart workers who spoke out and took action won much-deserved pay hikes for 500,000 workers along with better hours.

Since the first Black Friday strike 2012, Teamsters stood side by side with members of OUR Walmart  Sometimes Teamsters and Walmart workers got arrested together.

Gilbert Castillo, business agent for Teamsters Local 396, arrested in LA in
solidarity with Walmart workers in 2012. 

@ChangeWalmart tweeted their thanks to the Teamsters:

#Walmart is feeling the pressure thx to allies like you, Jim Hoffa & @Teamsters. Thx for all you do as we keep it up for $15 and full time!

They've shown their appreciation in another way. In November, 50 Walmart workers walked picket lines with Teamsters and striking port drivers.  and Taylor Farms workers.

Walmart workers and Teamsters join port truck drivers in a strike last summer.

Emily Wells is a leader of OUR Walmart, the organization of Walmart workers that has been fighting for better wages and hours at the retailer. She is a soon-to-be-mom paid $9.50 an hour and scheduled for only about 26 hours per week. She said the victory shows the power of solidarity:

We are so proud that by standing together we won raises for 500,000 Walmart workers, whose families desperately need better pay and regular hours from the company we make billions for. We know that this wouldn't have happened without our work to stand together with hundreds of thousands of supporters to change the country's largest employer.

Taxpayers win, too, according to a congressional report. A typical Walmart supercenter requires taxpayers to cough up $900,000 annually to help pay for food stamps, heating aid, Medicaid and other government assistance.

Lori and Mark McCulloch, a Teamster couple, support Walmart workers. 

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa praised Walmart's announcement that it is raising workers' wages, but cautioned the devil is in the details.

“More Walmart workers are reporting they aren’t getting the hours they need," Hoffa said. "Does today’s announcement mean they will?" Hoffa said he is also concerned that Walmart didn’t say anything about the illegal firings of workers who spoke out for better jobs.

"Walmart needs to reinstate all workers who have been fired," Hoffa said.

OUR Walmart's Wells agrees:

Especially without a guarantee of getting regular hours, this announcement still falls short of what American workers need to support our families. With $16 billion in profits and $150 billion in wealth for the owners, Walmart can afford to provide the good jobs that Americans need – and that means $15 an hour, full-time, consistent hours and respect for our hard work.

Teamsters Local 117 members standing with
OUR Walmart in 2013.

Walmart workers to strike in 15 cities tomorrow

Tomorrow is shaping up to be another big day of action among low-wage workers as Walmart employees prepare to mount widespread protests and walkouts. OUR Walmart organizers are hoping the day of action will be the biggest since last year's Black Friday strike.

Josh Eidelson at The Nation reports:

This week’s rallies follow an August 22 civil disobedience action at which the campaign announced a Labor Day deadline for Walmart to raise its wages to at least $25,000 per year, and reverse the terminations of twenty workers who participated in a June strike.

Thursday’s actions will include a march through downtown Los Angeles to the site of a proposed Walmart in Chinatown, and a demonstration in Washington, DC, where all sides are awaiting word on whether Mayor Vince Gray will veto a bill (passed by City Council in July but formally sent to his desk last Friday) that would require “large retailers” like Walmart to pay employees at least $12.50 in total hourly compensation. Thursday actions are also planned for cities in the East, West, South and Midwest: Baton Rouge, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Orlando, Sacramento, San Francisco and Seattle.

Walmart protests tomorrow follow strikes last week involving low-wage workers in the port trucking and fast-food industries. Walmart workers are fighting back against management retaliation against OUR Walmart supporters, and they are part of a growing movement to raise wages and standards for America's growing population that is trying to survive on poverty wages.

Eidelson adds:

Thursday’s rallies will have the largest total turnout by Walmart employees, and the biggest overall number of participants, of any Walmart mobilization since the one-day November 23 strike last year, in which organizers say 400-some workers walked off the job and thousands of supporters turned out to support them. Since then, organizers say hundreds of workers took part in collective confrontations with local management over scheduling on April 24, and over a hundred participated in the longer June work stoppage, which included a week of protests in and around Walmart’s Arkansas hometown. 

The OUR Walmart campaign has asked the National Labor Relations Board, whose pace and penalties labor has long charged are insufficient for protecting workers, to seek an injunction to more quickly address Walmart’s recent alleged retaliation.

Last week, port truck drivers staged a historic one-day strike in their drive to become Teamsters and raise standards at the Port of Los Angeles.

While corporations in retail and other low-paying industries are rolling in record profits, low-wage workers represent the fastest-growing segment of American workers and the country's expanding income gap.

Making Change at Walmart wrote in a statement yesterday:

Economists, labor market experts and others have been increasingly voicing concern about the growing income inequality and its impact on the economy. Walmart, the largest company on the Fortune 500 list, made $16 billion in profit last year, and the majority of owners of the company, the Waltons, have the combined wealth of nearly half of American families. Meanwhile, many Walmart workers continue to earn on average poverty wages of $8.81 an hour.

Rather than providing good jobs that American workers need and deserve, Walmart is trying to silence workers who are standing up with their co-workers to live better and spending its time and money trying to deny workers a decent day’s pay.

Since June, Walmart has illegally disciplined nearly 80 workers, including firing 20 worker-leaders. More than 100 Unfair Labor Practice charges have been filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Walmart. 

Not only do Walmart and other low-wage workers represent a growing part of the labor force, they represent a huge upsurge of collective action against corporate greed and the fight to save the middle class.

Teamsters and supporters everywhere are encouraged to stand in solidarity with Walmart workers tomorrow. Visit the Corporate Action Network website to find a protest in your area.

SOLIDARITY!

D.C. Council backs higher minimum wage for Walmart, big box stores

The Washington, D.C., City Council took an important step to ensure large retailers like Walmart pay a fair wage. The Council tentatively approved a bill yesterday requiring such companies to pay their employees at least $12.50 an hour.

By an 8-to-5 vote, the council backed a measure that would raise the minimum wage for those who work at big box retailers by $4.25 an hour. Workers qualify if they are employed at non-union shops that are at least 75,000 square feet and whose parent companies gross above $1 billion annually. Lawmakers are expected to take a final vote on the legislation next month.

Three Walmart stores are currently being built in the nation's capital, and two are expected to open this year. Other D.C. retailers that could be affected include Target and Home Depot.

One of the bill's sponsors, Council member Vincent Orange said it is time for workers' interests to be supported in the city.

For once in your life, stop worrying about business, because business is going to take care of itself.

Other people took to Twitter to express their support of the legislation. Sam Jewler tweeted the measure could have the effect of increasing salaries across the city.

This bill says lets have the biggest market actors pull wages UP instead of DOWN. Very simple idea, benefits all.

The vote is a victory for workers who have stood up to the nation's largest retailer as part of the Our Walmart campaign. Scores of workers have periodically gone on strike in recent months across the country to protest low pay and benefits at the retail chain. That effort is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

The Teamsters are supporting Walmart workers in their quest for better treatment. Teamsters around the country joined actions at local Walmart stores on June 7, the day of the chain's annual meeting. Rallies were held at dozens of Walmart stores around the U.S. that day.

Wal-Mart resistance to escalate next week

Planned bus routes to Bentonville next week.

Next week Wal-Mart workers will turn up the volume a notch in their campaign to be treated decently by the retail giant. Echoing the freedom riders of the Civil Rights movement, they will ride in caravans of buses to the company's June 7 annual meeting in Bentonville, Ark.

The buses will be leaving from all over the U.S., including Southern California, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. They'll pick up Wal-Mart associates along the way. They're hoping for support from union members and other allies at their stops.

Josh Eidelson at The Nation reported earlier this month:

Several days before the shareholder gathering, caravans will leave from several cities around the country, stopping along the way to pick up workers and supporters, and to meet with community activists. OUR Walmart’s plans for the next month also include confrontations between Walmart employees and members of the company’s board of directors.

They decided on the Ride for Respect during a five-day planning session at the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, Ala.

Los Angeles Wal-Mart worker Tsehai Almaz told The Nation that she and her colleagues feel they're facing many of the same issues as the 1961 freedom riders:

I feel like we’re facing many of the same issues, even though it’s not necessarily about race—this time it’s about respect. And being able to feed our families, and having good working conditions...

It’s time for this generation basically to accept the baton and continue the movement. Because it didn’t end in the ’60’s. That just started the movement—it’s continuing with how Walmart is treating its associates.

The workers want full-time jobs, living wages, affordable health care and better working conditions. Wal-Mart pays its workers an average of $8.81 an hour, forcing many of them onto food stamps and Medicaid.

Preparations for the Ride for Respect can be found on OUR Walmart's Facebook page.

Across the country we're getting ready for the Ride for Respect! We'll be talking to Associates across the country and bringing our message of change to Bentonville for the Annual Meeting. Thanks to OUR Walmart So Cal for sharing this image. Like if you support and go to this link to sign up!

OUR Walmart is asking workers to sign the Bentonville Strike Pledge here. It says, in part,

I WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED by Walmart’s threats and retaliation against Associates who speak out for better pay, more hours and respect at work. I’m ready to put an end to Walmart’s unfair labor practices.

The Teamsters are supporting OUR Walmart through the Change to Win federation. Teamsters are encouraged to show support for the Ride for Respect.