Teamsters take a stand for fair pay, organizing workers

Local 439 members in Stockton, Calif. leaflet at Fed Ex Freight.

The Teamsters joined with thousands of truck drivers, valet attendants and low-wage workers across the country today in a day of action to raise awareness about the sorry state of wages and benefits for millions of everyday Americans on the job.

FedEx Freight employees, port truck drivers and fast food workers held protests from coast-to-coast. They are joined by Teamster valet attendants at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, who are rallying tonight, and federal contract service workers in the nation’s capital on strike to call out employers who won’t pay fair wages and tamp down on workers organizing.

From Baltimore to Seattle, Teamsters stood outside more than 300 FedEx Freight terminals educating workers about the company's spending of $5.2 million over the past three years to cover the personal taxes of top executives as well hundreds of thousands of dollars to wage anti-worker campaigns. Meanwhile, workers there continue to have access to poor and expensive health benefits.

Teamster organizers said enough is enough:

FedEx Freight workers across the country have been building their power with the Teamsters' help for many months. Workers have committed to fighting for the long-haul to attain their true goal of a collective bargaining agreement with their employer. FedEx Freight workers want a voice and they want it in writing. Workers are overcoming their fear and the companies constant assault on organized labor. 

This workforce has built a very large core of committed individuals and continue to grow their pro-contract, pro-union, pro-Teamster ranks daily. They all understand that this is a marathon and not a sprint and are working diligently with their goal of memorializing their working lives in a written agreement with FedEx Freight!

Local 355 Teamsters gather in Baltimore.

Those efforts were repeated elsewhere. Port truck drivers and their Teamster supporters turned out in Los Angeles, New Jersey and Savannah, Ga. to raise awareness about wage theft and misclassification. These workers have been fighting to be recognized as full-time employees rather than contract workers.

The Teamsters have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in recent years with FedEx Freight workers and port truck drivers in an attempt to expand their voice in the workplace. That effort extends to valet attendants at several Las Vegas hotels as well as other disenfranchised workers across the nation.

The Labor Department’s own statistics prove why joining a union is important. The median union worker earns more than $200 a week more than a non-union one. That’s why the Teamsters have stressed the importance of labor membership in our recent “Let’s Get America Working!” campaign.

Teamster Strong, America Stronger!

Hoffa joins port truck drivers on SoCal picket line

Teamsters General President Hoffa speaks during press conference.

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa joined scores of striking port truck drivers at the Port of Long Beach in California today in calling out the labor practices of two trucking companies that continue to cheat workers of fair pay and treatment.

Hoffa walked the picket line during the second day of an unfair labor practice walkout against Pacific 9 Transportation and XPO Logistics, which have continually engaged in misclassification, retaliation, harassment and intimidation against their workers for having filed wage theft claims with the California Labor Commissioner's Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

Hoffa said:

We have already organized hundreds of port drivers. We have a lot of work to do. Yesterday I sat down with 40 drivers – and they told me how there is no dignity, favoritism, no seniority, and that it has got to end. Most of America doesn’t understand what independent contractors are. Wage theft ends here today.

Workers walk the picket line at the Port of Long Beach.

Port truck drivers in Southern California and other locations such as Savannah, Ga. are on the front lines of the fight to end misclassification. While these drivers haul the nation's largest retailers' cargo so those companies can profit, the men and women who transport these containers off the docks to nearby rail yards, distribution centers and warehouses are denied employee rights. That's why the Teamsters has and will continue to stand at their side.

After all, misclassification doesn't just hurt the workers and their families, it effects all Americans through pervasive and wide scale tax fraud that robs schools, roads and public safety services of billions in essential resources.

The plight of port truck drivers is being heard, however. Earlier this month, Local 848 member Alex Paz attended a White House forum and spoke out against wage theft. He told attendees how before he was hired as a full-time worker, he often didn't earn enough to support his family.

Talking wage theft at the White House

Alex Paz

Port truck driver Alex Paz had a story to tell yesterday at the White House. And it's one no hard-working American should have to experience:

I talked about what it is like to be a misclassified driver, what it is like to go home without a paycheck. What it's like to be charged by a company to rent your truck, for registration, parking, tires, insurance. And what it's like to go home with a negative paycheck and tell your wife, 'I don't have any money to sustain the family.'

Paz, a member of Local 848, took part in a panel on organizing during the White House Summit on Worker Voice. He said he and other participants were encouraged that President Obama and administration members issued their support for unions during the event.

But there is a lot of hard work that goes into increasing union membership. Paz said he got involved with the port campaign in June 2013, and since then has seen a dramatic improvement in conditions at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. That said, wage theft and unfair treatment remains a reality for all too many port truck drivers not only in Southern California where Paz resides, but across the country as well.

Nick Weiner, port campaign director for the Teamsters, said it is time more companies recognize the tide is turning against them:

Alex's opportunity to speak at the White House yesterday is an indication of the incredible progress and transformation we've been able to achieve collective as drivers over the last couple of years and accomplish the impossible. No one believed that trucking companies at the port would acknowledge that their drivers are employees. But today their are 500 Teamster port drives at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. 

Teamster port truck driver to speak at White House summit

Driver Alex Paz will be at the White House Wednesday.

Alex Paz, a Local 848 member, will be a panelist at the first-ever “White House Summit on Worker Voice” tomorrow in Washington. As a nonunion port truck driver, Paz was misclassified for years as an independent contractor but fought for, and won, the right to be recognized as an employee.

The professional driver, a husband and father to two young children, now works for Eco Flow Transportation and is in the process of negotiating his first union contract with the company and committee of co-workers.

Paz, who is based in Los Angeles, was selected among nominees from around the country to lend his voice to the summit. The event will focus on how workers can make their voices heard in the workplace, and energize a new generation of Americans to come together and recognize the potential power of their voice at work.

At the summit, Paz will be joined by Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa and International Vice President Rome Aloise, along with union leaders, workers and employers from around the country.

President Obama will deliver opening remarks and take part in a town hall at the summit.

The summit will be livestreamed starting at 10:30 a.m. EDT here: www.whitehouse.gov/live.

Stay tuned to this blog for an interview with Paz and more on the White House Summit on Worker Voice.

Today's Teamster News 09.25.15

Teamsters
Brockton Custodians Ratify First Teamsters Contract  Teamster.org   ...By a vote of 90-6, custodians, craftsmen and outside ground crews in the Brockton township public school system have voted to ratify their first-ever collective bargaining agreement with Teamsters Local 653 in South Easton, Mass. This continues the tradition of strong contracts and benefits that has been a hallmark of Local 653’s representation of its members...
Labor Unrest At California Ports Continue As More Subcontracted Workers Go On Strike  In These Times   ...The nation’s largest port—spread across parts of both Los Angeles and Long Beach, CA—is a strangely varied workplace. And after years of tenacious effort, workers throughout the port may soon share one important tool their predecessors once had: a union and, therefore, a better job...
Drivers Who Shuttle Genentech Workers Will Get Wage Increase  San Francisco Chronicle   ...Shuttle drivers who transport Genentech employees received a wage increase Thursday as negotiations continue between their employer, Compass Transportation, and the Teamsters...
Teachers, Drivers Team Up Against Violence From Students  WHAS   ...For the first time the Jefferson County Teachers Association and the union for the bus drivers, are teaming up and fighting back...
Truck Driver Run Over By Own Trailer At Port Of Long Beach Last Week, Police Say  Long Beach Post   ...A truck driver was fatally struck by his own vehicle last week at the Port of Long Beach (POLB) when he attempted to unlatch a trailer from his tractor, which was not adequately parked, authorities said. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters held a press conference yesterday demanding more information from port. Details regarding the fatality were released by the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) today...
Union Questions Plan To Shift City Workers To GSD  Chicago Tribune   ...On Monday, Paul Berkowitz, an attorney for Teamsters Local 142, in Gary, sought clarification from the GSD commissioners. He said 37 Teamsters received a letter from the city's human resources department stating they would be transferred to the GSD by Dec. 4. He said 14 members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) would also shift to GSD...

Global Labor & Trade
Car Industry 'Buried Report Revealing U.S. Car Safety Flaws Over Fears For TTIP Deal'  The Independent   ...The motor industry has been accused of withholding a report that reveals US cars are substantially less safe than European vehicles - for fear that the findings would hamper the drive to harmonise safety standards as part of the controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal...
Japan TPP Chief Negotiator: Broad Agreement Is Within Reach: Jiji  Reuters   ...Japan's chief negotiator for the 12-nation pan-Pacific trade talks said on Friday a broad agreement of the ambitious trade pact was within reach, Jiji news agency reported...

State & Living Wage Battles
The Great Divide In Workplace Benefits  New York Times   ...For a small, lucky set of parents, the work-family juggle is relatively easy. Their employers give them paid leave; nannies to accompany them on business trips; flexible hours; child and elder care; and even on-site haircuts and nap rooms. For the rest of American workers, life tends to be much more difficult...
Fairness For Franchise Businesses And Workers  New York Times   ...In California today, nearly 83,000 fast-food restaurants, convenience stores and other franchise businesses generate $94 billion in annual revenue and employ almost one million people. In California, and in the rest of the nation, however, developments in franchise law in recent decades have increasingly reduced the power of franchisees in dealings with their corporate parents. The result has been lower franchisee profits and lower worker pay, while corporate profits and executive compensation soar...
Council Will Consider $15 Minimum Wage For Santa Monica  Santa Monica Lookout   ...Santa Monica’s lowest wage earners could soon get a raise. The City Council on Tuesday will consider a gradual minimum wage hike that calls for it to reach $15 in 2020...

U.S. Labor
Troubling Signs Emerge In UAW-FCA Contract Voting  Detroit Free Press   ...Signs began to emerge late Thursday that a proposed contract between the UAW and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is in early trouble as large UAW locals in Sterling Heights, Center Line and Kokomo, Ind. voted against the new four-year deal...
I'm Making Only $2.64 An Hour Working As An Uber Driver   AlterNet   ...Twenty-six-year-old Takele Gobena is part of the “on-demand” economy, working full-time as a driver for Uber and part time for Lyft. The Ethiopian immigrant quit his job at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and purchased a new car to drive for the ride-hailing firms, believing it would make him a better provider for his one-year-old daughter. Instead, Gobena now finds himself in debt and, after expenses, making well below minimum wage. But because Uber and Lyft drivers are classified as independent contractors, Gobena is not protected by minimum wage laws...

Social Justice & Other News
We Need To Protect And Preserve Public Housing In New York City  New York Amsterdam News   ...May 19, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his 10-year plan to eliminate NYCHA’s operating deficit to prevent the downfall of a program that houses over 600,000 and employs over 11,000 New Yorkers. In fact, 1 out of every 8 New Yorkers lives in NYCHA housing...
John Boehner To Resign From Congress At End Of October  Huffington Post   ...House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will resign from Congress at the end of October, his office announced Friday...
Pope Francis’ Challenge To America  New York Times   ...In an address of memorable passion and nuance, Francis focused widely on the divisive immigration issues at home and abroad, the economic divide driving poverty, the threat to the environment, the “brutal atrocities” and “simplistic reductionism” of the world’s continuing conflicts, and the need, above all, for “courageous actions and strategies” rather than “facile proposals” from leaders responsible for solutions...
Pope To U.N.: Economics, Climate Change, And War Are All Connected  Think Progress   ...Pope Francis spoke before the United Nations General Assembly Friday morning, articulating an urgent — but intentionally nuanced — call to address the world’s many interconnected problems, especially economic inequality, climate change, and war...
China Says It Will Start The World's Biggest Carbon Market By 2017  Mother Jones   ...On Friday, Chinese president Xi Jinping will announce that China will start the world's largest carbon trading system by 2017, according to a statement released Thursday night by the White House...
Astounding Drug Prices Show How U.S. Government Is In Cahoots With Big Pharma  AlterNet   ...While Shkreli’s move may have been extremely ostentatious, and drawn the public’s attention, the issue of overpriced drugs in America is one that is not confined to Shkreli and Turing Pharmaceuticals...
How Many Deaths Did Volkswagen's Pollution Scandal Cause?   Vox   ...Using these figures, the extra pollution from Volkswagen's US cars can be expected to lead to an additional 5 to 27 premature deaths per year. If we extrapolated worldwide to all 11 million vehicles, that would come to somewhere between 74 and 404 premature deaths each year...

New bill would stand up for workers against misclassification

The issue of misclassification, in which workers are treated as independent contractors by their employers even though they have no independence when it comes to their work, is gaining more attention.

For years, the Teamsters have stood with port truck drivers in Southern California, Georgia and elsewhere who have been repeatedly shortchanged on wages, fair labor standards, health and safety protections and unemployment and workers' compensation benefits. But now policymakers are beginning to take notice as well.

First, the Department of Labor earlier this month issued an interpretation calling misclassification one of the most serious problems confronting workers on the job. And this afternoon, several members of Congress rolled out legislation that would prohibit the practice as a way for companies to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.

Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), a chief sponsor of the bill in the House, said it is in the best interest of workers and businesses to address this issue:

Misclassification cheats hard-working Americans out of federally guaranteed labor rights and benefits, such as overtime pay, minimum wage, and family and medical leave. Misclassification cheats law-abiding businesses out of a level playing field. Misclassification cheats the American economy out of billions of dollars in tax revenues, putting a strain on already stressed programs like Medicare and Social Security.

The measure, "The Payroll Fraud Prevention Act," requires all workers to be accurately classified as employees or non-employees, and mandates that workers be given a written notice of their classification. It also creates a presumption that when a employer fails to address the issue, the worker is considered an employee.

In addition, the bill would make it a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act to "discharge or discriminate" against a worker for questioning their classification. Employers could face fines of up to $5,000 for each willful violation.

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), a sponsor of companion legislation in the Senate, said lawmakers need to stand up to these corporate lawbreakers:

We owe workers a fair shot at good jobs where they can receive basic workplace protections. Too many workers are classified as independent contractors when it's clear that they are employees. This legislation is a common-sense fix that will ensure workers in Pennsylvania and throughout the nation are treated fairly.

It's time for the majority of Congress to represent the interests of workers as vigorously as they do for big business.

Today's Teamster News 07.10.15

Teamsters
Local 330 PACE Bus Drivers Secure Strong Contracts  The Teamsters  ...Full- and part-time PACE River Division bus drivers represented by Teamsters Local 330 recently ratified separate collective bargaining agreements guaranteeing new raises and enhanced job security. The Teamsters voted overwhelmingly to approve new seven-year contracts, which provide fair and equitable wage increases...
Teamster Magazine: About, For and Printed By Teamsters  Teamster.org  ...Recently, the printing operation of the magazine was awarded to a company near Milwaukee, the Arandell Corporation. Arandell employs hundreds of employees at their facility, many of whom are members of the IBT’s Graphic Communications Conference Local 577m. Quality workmanship is what Arandell is known for and the Teamsters Union has already received compliments on the improvement...
New Contracts For Niles Police, Fire  Journal and Topics ...Niles village trustees approved five-year retroactive union contracts with patrolmen and firefighters Tuesday, July 2. Both groups have been working without contracts since 2012. The deals, both with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 700, expire in 2017...
Cranesville Truckers Picket In Scotia  Albany Times Union   ...Unionized truck drivers walked the picket line at Cranesville Ready Mix in Scotia Wednesday in a dispute over who would pay for health insurance in their new contract. Bill Latulipe, shop steward for Teamsters Local 294, which represents about 20 drivers at the plant and another in Albany, said the company "gave us a final offer," telling the union "to take it or leave it"...
Teamsters Local 357 Files Lawsuit Against Republic Airways  Teamster.org   ...Today, Teamsters Local 357 in Plainfield, Ind., filed a lawsuit against Republic Airways for unilaterally changing pilots’ working conditions regarding “open time” flying without first agreeing with the union about those changes. More than 2,200 Republic pilots are members of Local 357 and have been seeking a fair contract from the company since 2007...
Medford Mayoral Candidate Stephanie Muccini Burke Scores Two More Union Endorsements  Medford Transcript   ...“Teamsters Local No. 25 officers, agents and the entire membership is pleased to support your campaign for mayor of Medford with a donation from our DRIVE political action committee,” wrote President Sean O’Brien. “Teamsters Local Union No. 25 is an organization made up of 11,000 members from across Greater Boston including nearly 400 active and retired members that live in the city of Medford...
In Rare Step, Workers At California Group Home Unionize  ProPublica   ...Workers at a former orphanage in San Francisco that now functions as a large group home for troubled children have unionized -- a rare step by frontline employees who work at facilities that can be both demanding and dangerous...
Hoffa Statement On State Department's Upgrading Of Malaysia On Trafficking List  Teamster.org   ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa in response to reports that the State Department is about to upgrade the Malaysian government’s standing in its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report in an effort to smooth the approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): “For years, we have heard from TPP supporters that this 12-nation deal will improve labor conditions for workers around the world. Yet the public can now see there are no obstacles Pacific Rim trade supporters are unwilling to push aside in order to get this agreement done."...

Global Labor &Trade
Japan, U.S. resume working-level TPP talks  Japan News ... Japanese and U.S. government officials resumed their talks related to Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral free trade negotiations in Tokyo on Thursday, seeking breakthroughs on differences over “sensitive” rice and auto parts trade. Tokyo and Washington will hold the working-level talks through Friday, ahead of the upcoming ministerial meeting of the 12 TPP-negotiating countries...
Obama To Upgrade Malaysia On Human Rights Despite Mass Graves  Huffington Post  ...The Obama administration will remove Malaysia from its official list of the world's worst human trafficking offenders, according to Reuters, a move human rights advocates fear will damage U.S. credibility. The maneuver would allow the administration to continue negotiating a controversial trade agreement with Malaysia and 10 other Pacific nations...
Are Human Rights Violations Already Being Trumped By Corporate Trade Deal?  Common Dreams  ...The Obama administration is reportedly poised to upgrade the ranking it gives Malaysia on its efforts to stamp out human trafficking.  The move is being criticized as an affront to human rights that could help move forward a pending controversial trade deal. The State Department gives the ranking it its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report...
Radical austerity’s brutal lies: How Krugman and Chomsky saw through dehumanizing neoliberal spin  (opinion) Salon  ...The referendum in Greece refuting the European Union’s unbending insistence on radical austerity as the medicine Greeks must continue to swallow is simply not to be missed for its multiple layers of significance. To put the core take-home first, we are all Greeks as they stand against the neoliberal orthodoxy. Their battle is perfectly of a piece with one that needs to be called by its name and waged in our great country...
Sharing the Voices of Marginalized People in Pakistan  Solidarity Center  ...“Our problem is that since we are the residents of [the] riverside and known as ‘Boat People,’ our children are suffering,” says a man who lives along the Indus River in Pakistan. The residents of his community make baskets and sell fish, and transport people along the river with boats they spend months making by hand. Some say “these sailors are self-dependent, they are not a burden on the Pakistan economy,” explains politician Zartaj Gul. But in reality, she says, “we have cornered them and made them the untouchables of Pakistan"...
Possible Greece Bailout Deal Emerges As Pro-European Greeks Rally In Athens  Vice   ...The proposals are currently being evaluated by the European Commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund. On Friday morning, French President Francois Hollande described them as "serious and credible," but stressed that nothing was final...

State & Living Wage Battles
The Struggle For Fairness For Transgender Workers  New York Times   ...Americans’ understanding of transgender people has been shaped recently by the riveting, glamorous lives of the former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner and the actress Laverne Cox. The two, though, are far from representative of an economically disadvantaged community that continues to face pervasive employment discrimination, partly as a result of lagging legal protections...
NLRB Backs Off -- For Now -- From Undermining State Right-To-Work Laws  Business Journals   ...The NLRB suspended a request for briefs on whether it should allow unions to collect fees in right-to-work states from non-union workers who are represented by unions in grievance procedures. That’s because the case that prompted this request has been settled...
Chris Christie Looks Likely To Veto New Jersey Voting Reforms  Huffington Post   ...The Democracy Act was passed out of the state Senate on June 29 and sent to Christie's desk. The bill would introduce online voter registration, establish in-person early voting, require that election materials be available in more languages, allow pre-registration for 17-year-olds and enact automatic voter registration when voters apply for driver's licenses. It would also require the governor to appoint temporary U.S. senators from the same party as outgoing senators...
Slay Proposes Compromise Setting City Minimum Wage At $11 Per Hour By 2020  St. Louis Post Dispatch   ...Mayor Francis Slay is proposing a compromise bill setting a city minimum wage of $11-an-hour by 2020. Slay and Alderman Shane Cohn had originally proposed instituting a $15-an-hour minimum wage within the same time frame, but the bill was met with opposition and a series of delays...
Florida Court Finds Politics Determined District Lines  New York Times   ...The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday rejected political gerrymandering by state legislators and ordered eight congressional districts redrawn within 100 days, a decision likely to complicate preparations for next year’s elections...

U.S. Labor
The Real Problem With Jeb Bush’s Claim That People Need To Work Longer Hours  Think Progress  ...Bush claimed that if workers were able to get scheduled for more hours, they would “through their productivity gain more income for their families.” Obviously more hours would equal a larger paycheck. But Bush’s suggestion that being more productive will produce individual prosperity for American workers in the 21st century is flat wrong...

Miscellaneous
Organizing for Affordable Housing in the South  Truthout  ...Stagnant wages, ballooning rental costs and the shrinking supply of affordable housing are heaping an ever-growing burden on low-income families. "Out of Reach," a new study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, found minimum-wage workers can no longer afford an average one-bedroom apartment in any state in America. Since 2009, the federal baseline wage has remained stagnant, but rents have jumped 15.2 percent...
Are Uber And Lyft Driving Recalled Cars?  American Prospect   ...It turns out that despite Uber and Lyft’s public rhetoric about safety, consumers that use these services may be riding in vehicles with unfixed safety recalls. Neither company requires its drivers to repair recalled cars; in fact, the mandatory safety inspections do not even involve checking to see if a car has been recalled...
The Arne Duncan Era Has Not Been Good For Students  Common Dreams   ...When Obama was elected, many educators and parents thought that Obama would bring a new vision of the federal role in education, one that freed schools from the test-and-punish mindset of George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind. But Arne Duncan and Barack Obama had a vision no different from George W. Bush and doubled down on the importance of testing...
Feds: Hackers Stole Data Of 21.5 Million People  Politico   ...Hackers stole sensitive information on 21.5 million people in a recently disclosed cyber-attack that breached the federal government’s database of security background checks, the Office of Personnel Management disclosed Thursday...
George W. Bush Charged $100K For Speech At Wounded Veterans Event  The Hill   ...Former President George W. Bush billed a charity for wounded military veterans $100,000 in speaking fees three years ago, a new report says...
Marking Historic Moment, South Carolina Removes Confederate Flag  NPR   ...During an emotional ceremony and amid popular cheers, the Confederate battle flag was brought down from a 30-foot flagpole that sits on the grounds of the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C. The historic ceremony marked the end of an era and was conducted by South Carolina state troopers, who marched in formation in front of a cheering crowd of hundreds...
New York City To Relax Bail Requirements For Low-Level Offenders  New York Times   ...New York City officials announced a plan on Wednesday to change bail requirements for some low-level offenders in an effort to keep thousands of people accused of nonviolent crimes and misdemeanors out of the troubled Rikers Island jail complex...

Todays Teamster News 07.06.15

Teamsters
Trucking Companies Try New Approach at Congested California Ports  Wall Street Journal  ...The Southern California ports are serving as a “test bed for the transformation of the industry,” said Jonathan Rosenthal, co-managing partner of Saybrook Capital. He said he’d like to employ 1,000 drivers in the next few years. The new companies have the Teamsters’ backing. In addition to Eco Flow, the union pointed to Toll Group, Sea-Logix LLC, Shippers Transport Express and Green Fleet Systems as companies that employ their drivers...
EVSC Board to discuss Teamster representation at Monday meeting  Courier & Press  ...Lacking an agreement with Teamsters Local 215, the Evansville Vanderburgh School Board plans to discuss next steps at a regular meeting on Monday. EVSC Board President Mike Duckworth said the seven-member board will meet in executive session at 3:30 p.m. Monday. Local 215 President Chuck Whobrey and union members plan to be at Monday night’s 5:30 p.m. meeting...

Global Labor & Trade
Greece stands defiant as no vote rails against wrenching austerity  The Guardian   ...Democracy in Greece spoke on Sunday and the response was a resounding “no” to demands for more of the excoriating austerity that over five long years has been the price of keeping Europe’s weakest economy afloat. 61% of voters rejected the terms of further financial assistance set by creditors at the European Union and International Monetary Fund...
6 chapters of TPP pact still unresolved  Japan News  ...Of the 31 chapters of a proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact, six are expected to require “political settlement” at a ministerial meeting, according to Japanese government sources. The six include chapters on protection of intellectual property rights, treatment of state-owned enterprises and investment rules...
TISA Leaks Part Deux: More Evidence of Concerted Attack on Democracy  Common Dreams  ...One day after it leaked a trove of documents related to the massive, pro-corporate Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), WikiLeaks on Thursday published another four chapters of the proposed 52-nation trade deal. Thursday's batch of texts reveals "a concerted attempt to place restrictions on the ability of participating governments to regulate services sectors, even where regulations are necessary to protect the privacy of domestic populations"...
What is TTIP? The controversial trade deal proposal explained  The Guardian  ...If you are not yet familiar with the acronym TTIP it is likely you soon will be. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is a proposed trade agreement and the subject of an ongoing series of negotiations between the EU and US aimed at creating the world’s biggest free trade zone spanning the north Atlantic. Food safety has become a major stumbling block. The talks have been conducted largely in secret...
Japan, U.S. to resume TPP talks on July 9  Japan News   ...Japan and the United States will resume bilateral working-level talks related to Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral free trade negotiations on July 9, the Japanese government said Thursday. The talks, to be held in Tokyo, are slated to last for two days. The two countries aim to find a common ground on contentious issues such as Japan’s import quota for U.S. rice and automobile trade...
Air Force One Serves as Reward for Obama Trade Allies  Bloomberg  ...Are you a congressional Democrat who bucked organized labor and the progressive base of your party to support President Barack Obama’s trade agenda? Then the White House may have a gift for you: Air Force One touching down in your hometown, where the president will hold a large rally and praise you for your hard work...
You Are What Washington, D.C., Wants You to Eat  TakePart.com  ... To the United States’ free-trade partners, buy-local initiatives can be perceived as barriers to trade. If TPP participants choose to challenge these rules, efforts to connect farmers, eaters, and decision makers could be made obsolete. While the TPP eliminates obstacles to trade for multinational corporations, it may well destabilize burgeoning efforts to foster an environmentally sound food system in the United States...
"Democracy Cannot Be Blackmailed": Greek Voters Overwhelmingly Reject Creditors’ Austerity Demand  Democracy Now  ...In voting against austerity, Greek voters have rejected measures that helped cripple the economy, but also turned down a financial lifeline for its struggling banks. The banks will remain closed today as the European Central Bank meets to consider new emergency loans. Tsipras says he will seek a new round of talks with creditors...
Asia markets sink after Greece votes 'No' to austerity  Business Insider  ...Asian stocks mostly fell Monday after Greek voters rejected more austerity demands from creditors, fuelling fears the country will crash out of the eurozone, but the euro recovered from initial losses as dealers wait for European leaders' next move. Analysts warned the decision had likely put Athens on course to exit the eurozone...
What is really at stake in the Greek crisis  (opinion) IUF.org  ...A spectre is haunting Europe - the spectre of a democratic alternative to austerity. The Syriza government of Greece incarnates that alternative, which is why the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) have allied with the IMF to exorcise the challenge it represents. With few exceptions, political parties of every persuasion have tacitly or actively supported the anti-Syriza coalition...
Bangladesh Women Workers Increasingly Empowered  Solidarity Center  ...Women garment workers primarily fuel Bangladesh’s $24 billion a year garment industry, yet women are “still viewed as basically cheap labor,” says Lily Gomes, Solidarity Center senior program officer for Bangladesh. “There is a strong need for functioning factory-level unions led by women,” says Gomes, who is leading efforts to help empower women workers to take on leadership roles at factories and in unions throughout Bangladesh...

State & Living Wage Battles
No major state contracts expected during prevailing wage limbo  Charleston Daily Mail  ...State officials don’t expect any major building contracts to go out for bid in the next few months while WorkForce West Virginia recalculates the state’s prevailing wage, but that doesn’t mean they’re willing to say the contracting process will be free from complications. West Virginia’s prevailing wage, which expired Wednesday after WorkForce West Virginia failed to deliver a recalculated wage scale by the Legislature-imposed deadline of June 30, is used to determine the minimum hourly rate of pay for construction workers...
Hiking the minimum wage: What would it mean for Nevada?  Las Vegas Sun   ...Los Angeles’ increase, which won’t be fully instituted until 2020, is the latest in a trend of minimum wage increases across the nation. Now, some are wondering: Is Nevada next? The minimum wage here is $8.25 an hour for employees who aren’t offered employer-sponsored health insurance and $7.25 for those who are. This year’s legislative session saw various pushes to change the state minimum wage...
Not so fast on a dismissal of the state voter ID case, law’s challengers say  NC Policy Watch  ...The parties challenging the voter ID provisions of the state’s 2013 election law changes in state court have asked the judge to put the case on hold until after the 2016 presidential primary, saying that only then will the merits of the recently adopted “reasonable impediment” process for voters lacking a photo ID be established. The request comes in response to the state’s motion to dismiss the case in light of those new provisions which they say moot the case...
Pittsburgh council to introduce paid sick-leave legislation  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  ...Pittsburgh Councilman Corey O’Connor is scheduled to introduce an ordinance Tuesday that would require Pittsburgh employers to offer paid sick leave, thrusting the city into a statewide and national debate on the millions of workers across the country who don’t have access to the benefit...
No consensus emerging in KC minimum wage fight  Kansas City Star  ...Six weeks ago, the Kansas City Council put off a decision on a minimum wage increase in hopes of finding middle ground between $15-per-hour advocates and business groups adamantly opposed to that idea. Now, as the council’s self-imposed July 16 deadline for a vote looms, a solution remains elusive...

Fast Food CEO Blames Low-Wage Workers for Poverty  The Nation   ...In a recent op-ed, Puzder made the specious claim that the social safety net “can lock [people] into poverty.” What Puzder forgets to point out is that it is poverty wages—poverty wages paid by institutions like Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. to many of their 20,000-plus employees— that force families to turn to nutrition and housing assistance, and other government-supplemented work supports, just to get by...

U.S. Labor
Salon Media’s Editorial Staff To Unionize with the Writers Guild of America, East  WGAEast.org  ...The editorial staff at Salon Media, Inc., the pioneering digital media outlet founded in 1995, today issued the following letter announcing plans to unionize with the Writers Guild of America, East, AFL-CIO (WGAE): "We, the editorial staffers at Salon Media, Inc. have decided to organize. Every single one of the editorial employees at Salon supports unionizing with the Writers Guild of America, East, and today we’re asking the management of Salon to recognize our union"...
3-day Milwaukee County bus drivers' strike ends with no deal on key sticking points of dispute  Star Tribune  ...Milwaukee County bus drivers have returned to work after a three-day strike over staffing and wages, despite a lack of a new contract. Union leaders say the strike ended as planned at 3 a.m. Saturday despite a few remaining issues preventing an agreement on a new deal. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 President James Macon says the biggest sticking point is the county's plan to hire more part-time drivers, with fewer benefits than full-time drivers...
The New Overtime Rules Are a Big Deal. Here’s Why   The Nation   ...Millions of Americans just got a little more reason to look forward to staying late at work. The Obama administration has revised the national overtime rules to entitle nearly 5 million workers to the right to earn 50 percent more than the base wage for each hour worked in addition to the standard 40-hour week. The proposed rule, announced this week by the Department of Labor, would raise the threshold at which certain professionals qualify for overtime coverage under the Fair Labor Standards Act...
The SEIU’s Odd Recipe for Unionizing Fast Food  Bloomberg  ...The Service Employees International Union, one of the nation’s largest labor groups, is battling to organize America’s fast-food workers. Since 2012 the union has spent more than $25 million on a campaign that’s included backing lawsuits over alleged unpaid wages and racially motivated firings, promoting legislation to change the franchise system, and occasionally mounting attention-grabbing strikes...
GOP seeks to block new NLRB rules through funding  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  ...Republicans aren’t letting a presidential veto stop them from trying to block rules that would make it easier and faster for unions to organize. Stymied by the president’s March veto of their resolution against the policy change, Republicans now are using the budget process to block the rules...

Miscellaneous
Midair Collusion: Feds Probe Possible Conspiracy In U.S. Airline Industry  Think Progress  ...The Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating major American air carriers over fears that Delta, American, United, and Southwest are conspiring together to restrict competition at travelers’ expense. Antitrust investigators have asked the four airlines to turn over all communications relating to passenger capacity on their planes over the past five years, including internal discussions, anything they’ve sent to or received from their competitors...
How Donald Trump Changed the GOP Debate on Immigration  The American Prospect  ...While his comments about the entirely fictional Mexican immigrant crime wave may have cost him many of the media and endorsement deals that sustain his fame (NBC, Univision, Macy's, Serta, and NASCAR have all cut their ties with him), it sure looks like Trump's particular brand of vulgar straight talk has vaulted him to the top tier of Republican candidates...
Economists say unemployment rate not as good as it sounds  WWLP  ...If you look at like the unemployment rate the job market seems to be improving across the United States. The unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been since 2008, but the numbers aren’t as good as many economists had hoped. This past month, the unemployment rate fell more than 5%, adding 200,000 jobs to the economy. However, after a brutal winter, economists were expecting those numbers to be much higher...

Report: Misclassification is a significant problem for workers

Employee misclassification is not a well-known issue for most people. But with millions of workers teetering on the edge of the U.S. economy, that is changing. And luckily, the Teamsters and other groups are here taking a stand to end the practice also known as wage theft.

A recent Economic Policy Institute report sums up the full size of the problem. Upwards of 20 percent of employers misclassify at least one worker as an independent contractor. Many of these workers are in the trucking and construction industries, but the problem is growing in other sectors as well. While the employer saves on paying taxes and social security as well by not providing health insurance for such workers, the public is left on the hook to support these people if they are injured on the job.

Francoise Carre, the document's author and the research director for the Center for Social Policy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, said unscrupulous employers engage in misclassification to avoid employment-related obligations:

Misclassification is one way in which employers deprive workers of the ability to bargain over wages and working conditions. It is a troubling and understudied trend and seems to be on the rise. The growth of the "sharing economy," which mostly treats on-demand workers as self-employed, further highlights the need for clarity on employee status.

In recent years, the Teamsters have been actively involved in fighting such issues, both for port truck drivers at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as well as with food processors working at places such as Taylor Farms in California's Central Valley. And the union is winning.

Meanwhile, states are beginning to catch onto the scam. The GOP-controlled Georgia Legislature, for instance, is investigating whether companies in that state deliberately misclassify employees as part time or contractors in order to avoid paying minimum wage or payroll taxes.

Companies that engage in misclassification are not paying their fair share. The Teamsters believe that workers should be treated fairly, that the letter and spirit of employment law should be upheld, and that deliberate violations of employment law should be punished to the fullest extent possible.

Live from the IBT -- Steve Earle!

Steve Earle performed at the IBT headquarters Monday night.

The Teamsters hosted a fundraiser Monday night to support the Plastic Pollution Coalition and the port truck drivers who are battling wage theft and unfair employment practices. The reception featured a live performance from Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Steve Earle – “the workers’ warrior.” 

Before the concert, Earle sat down with the Teamsters Communications Department for a far-ranging interview to discuss ports, plastic, Pete Seeger and more. Listen here.

At Unity, Teamsters look ahead to a bright future

Building Teamster Power at Unity Conference.

Some 1,600 Teamster brothers and sisters from across North America gathered together today as part of the 12th annual Unity Conference to share their success stories and speak truth to power about the increasingly perilous state of workers across the continent.

Rank-and-file union members joined with Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa as well as other Teamster leaders to let attendees know they all have a role in ensuring that Teamster Power will not flourish if they don't continue to contribute and speak out.

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa

Hoffa said there are political forces that are trying to hamper the power of the Teamsters and the labor movement, both in Congress and in state capitals across the country. But he said the union won't sit quietly by and let that happen:

These people are crazy. They want to roll the clock back to 1890. We need to make sure we stand together. They are not going to get rid of us.

One of those fights is against fast track trade authority, which would allow lousy trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to move forward. Hoffa said the government shouldn't sacrifice good U.S. jobs for even bigger corporate profits:

We are not sending any more jobs out of America. Leave the damn jobs at home!

Hoffa greeted new Teamsters likes the 13,500 San Bernardino County, Calif. public workers who joined the union earlier this year. And he also gave a shout out to more than 11,000 Clark County, Nev. school district employees who won a battle against the state that nearly ensures those same workers will be joining the Teamsters after a planned union election this fall.

Elena Rodriguez, a clerical worker at the school district, said she and her fellow workers will be empowered once they can join the union:

With the Teamsters, we will have real power. This time next year, we will be your brother and sisters.

Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall

Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall said the union is in excellent financial shape, which will enable it to seek out organizing opportunities and flex its muscle when necessary to get better contracts for its members:

We have the money and the resources to take on the fights. That's what we're supposed to be doing.

That said, it was clear there have been plenty of victories for the Teamsters in the past year. Whether it was Facebook contract bus drivers, workers at several hubs of Fed Ex Freight and Con-way, port truck drivers in Los Angeles and Long Beach or Selland car haul workers, the victories kept coming.

For many, the union plays an important role in their life. A waste worker at Universal Waste in Los Angeles who recently joined Local 396 talked about how his life has improved for himself and his family since becoming a member.

Meanwhile, Ricardo Ceja Morones, a driver with new drayage trucking firm Eco Flow Transportation that will hire all its Southern California drivers as employees, said he is already winning by having a more stable job:

The Teamster have taught us how to fight our fights. With the support of the Teamsters, we will earn a good  wage, good benefits, and respect on the job.

Clark County worker Elena Rodriguez

But there are still more battles to be won. A worker at salad processing giant Taylor Farms in California's Central Valley talked about the company's ongoing illegal attacks on their right to organize. And there are other such challenges that must be defeated.

Beyond all the important talk of organizing and politics, the Unity Conference also provides an opportunity for leaders and members to get back in touch with what it means to be a Teamster. Preach Haynes, a trustee for Local 41 in Kansas City, said:

When you talk about Unity, it means you've got come out of your comfort zone and be willing to help under any circumstances and lend your ear to your members because their concerns are your concerns.

Today's Teamster News 02.26.15

Teamsters
Hoffa: Port Driver Efforts Show The Long, Hard Fight For Justice  Huffington Post   ...The port truck industry is highly fragmented, poorly organized and grossly inefficient. Deregulation has forced trucking companies to engage in cutthroat competition. Consequently, many are gearing up to fight the efforts of drivers and the Teamsters to organize and receive a fair wage. Luckily, more and more decision makers are beginning to side with workers...
Teamsters, Consumers And Community Protest Sprouts Farmers Market  teamster.org   ...“It’s time for UNFI to stop the bullying and stop the intimidation,” said Steve Vairma, Teamsters Warehouse Division Director. “Over the years UNFI has tried to undermine workers who have asserted their rights protected by United States law, even where the Teamsters have been certified as the workers’ union through federally supervised elections. UNFI wants to destroy its workers’ fundamental rights join together to improve their working conditions.”...
Trade
The Trans-Pacific Partnership clause everyone should oppose  Washington Post   …Agreeing to ISDS in this enormous new treaty would tilt the playing field in the United States further in favor of big multinational corporations. Worse, it would undermine U.S. sovereignty...
Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership Promises Echo Clinton's On NAFTA  Op-Ed News   …NAFTA -- the North American Free Trade Agreement -- was sold with promises of jobs and prosperity on all sides of the border. What really happened was that an increased trade deficit sucked demand and jobs out of the U.S. economy; workers lost bargaining power, resulting in pay and benefit cuts; and income inequality rose as corporations pocketed the wage differential. Now the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is being sold with literally the same promises…
Trade Crazy: The Push For Fast-Track Trade Authority (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...There are many issues in the TPP that our trading partners don't like. They don't like rules that will force them to pay more for drugs from Pfizer and Merck, nor do they like rules that will make them pay more money to Time Warner for Hollywood movies, or to Microsoft for software...
State Battles
Wisconsin Senate approves right-to-work bill  Chicago Tribune   …The Wisconsin state Senate narrowly passed a right-to-work bill Wednesday and sent it on to the Assembly, where the Republican majority is wider...
Koch-Funded Allies Descend on Wisconsin to Push Right to Work  Center for Media and Democracy   …It's a rare citizen who would rush to testify that the higher wages, benefits, and training that unions bring are a bad idea. Fortunately, the Wisconsin GOP had the full support of the Koch-funded "think tanks" that are a critical part of the right-wing infrastructure...
Registrations at Wisconsin Senate hearing overwhelmingly against right-to-work bill  Associated Press   …Opponents to right-to-work outnumbered supporters 70-to-1 at a Wisconsin state Senate public hearing that was cut short before Republicans voted to advance the bill...
Kenton County To Adopt "Right to Work" Ordinance  River City News   ...Kenton County will pass a so-called "Right to Work" ordinance at its next meeting after hearing a first reading on Tuesday night in Covington...
Missouri house passes two voter ID measures  CedarRepublican.com   …The Missouri House passed two measures Thursday, Feb. 19, which would make Missouri the 32nd state to require a government issued ID to vote...
Iowa Senate Approves $8.75 Minimum Wage Bill  Des Moines Register   ...Senate File 269 was approved 27-22 with no debate. All 26 Democrats voted for the bill. Only one Republican, Sen. Rick Bertrand of Sioux City, voted yes. Iowa's minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour. The bill would increase Iowa's minimum wage to $8 an hour on July 1, 2015, and to $8.75 an hour on July 1, 2016...
This Billionaire Governor Taxed The Rich And Increased The Minimum Wage -- Now, His State's Economy Is One Of The Best In The Country  Huffington Post   ...The reason Gov. Dayton was able to radically transform Minnesota's economy into one of the best in the nation is simple arithmetic. Raising taxes on those who can afford to pay more will turn a deficit into a surplus. Raising the minimum wage will increase the median income. And in a state where education is a budget priority and economic growth is one of the highest in the nation, it only makes sense that more businesses would stay. It's official -- trickle-down economics is bunk. Minnesota has proven it once and for all. If you believe otherwise, you are wrong...
War on Workers
T.J. Maxx to hike minimum wage for workers  CNN Monday  …The owner of T.J. Maxx, Marshall's and Home Goods is raising wages for its workers to at least $10 an hour by next year...
JPMorgan, Still On 2-Year Probation, Under Scrutiny in Gold Fixing Probe  Wall Street on Parade   …the U.S. Justice Department is investigating at least 10 of the biggest U.S. and foreign banks for potentially rigging the gold market and other precious metals markets. That investigation comes while ongoing investigations continue into the potential rigging by big banks of the setting of interest-rate benchmarks and foreign currency...
Student Debt Strikers Take On Corinthian College  Mathbabe   …Good for them. Corinthian College is a predatory and fraudulent company which was in the business of gaming the federal loan system while making false promises to its students. Those students are victims of fraud and should not be the ones paying back the government money for an education they never got. Instead, Corinthian should pay back the money...
Iron Worker At Barclays Center Crushed To Death By Steel Beams  New York Daily News   ...A 52-year-old iron worker constructing a green roof on the Barclays Center in Brooklyn was crushed to death by steel beams on Tuesday, police said. Hardhat Peter Zepf was helping to move the massive beams — called joists — from a truck onto a hoist when four of the parts fell on him near the Atlantic Ave. side of the arena around 1 p.m., witnesses said...
Miscellaneous
Janet Yellen Puts Fed On Path To Lift Rates  Wall Street Journal   ...If the economy continues to strengthen as the Fed anticipates and officials become more confident that low inflation will rise toward their 2% goal, she said, the central bank “will at some point begin considering an increase in the target range for the federal funds rate.”...

Today's Teamster News 02.19.15

Teamsters
Teamsters to help L.A., Long Beach truckers seek unemployment benefits if ports shut down  Press-Telegram   …The International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced a plan Wednesday to aid thousands of nonunion truckers who may lose out on pay if labor strife at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach results in a work stoppage at the harbor...
Truckers To Speak About Effects Of Potential Long Beach, Los Angeles Port Shutdown  Long Beach Press Telegram   ...Officials with the Teamsters Local 848 said in a statement that 10,000 truck drivers — who are not classified as employees, but independent contractors — would be idled without pay nor benefits if the port complex shutters...
Teamsters vote to authorize a strike at Rhode Island Hospital  turnto10.com   …Hundreds of teamsters who work at Rhode Island Hospital voted Wednesday to authorize a strike. The vote by Teamsters Local 251 gives Rhode Island Hospital 10 days warning…
Cass County Board: Contract settled with Teamsters union  Brainerd Dispatch   …Cass County Board approved a two-year contract Tuesday with Teamsters General Local Union 346 representing dispatch and records personnel in the sheriff's department...
CP, Teamsters Turn To Binding Arbitration To End Strike; CN, Teamsters Reach Tentative Pact  Progressive Railroading   ...Over the three-day holiday weekend, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) launched and ended a brief strike against Canadian Pacific, while CP reached a tentative labor agreement with Unifor and CN negotiated a tentative pact with the TCRC...
Queens Councilman Eric Ulrich Says No To NYC Horse-Carriage Ban  New York Daily News   ...Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Queens) has come off the fence on Mayor de Blasio's mission to get rid of the iconic conveyances, writing in his constituent newsletter that "after listening to all sides, and taking into account the views of my constituents, I have decided to oppose the ban." Ulrich says he "cannot, in good conscience, vote for any legislation that would deny hardworking people a chance to earn a decent living."...
Sysco Wants To Control More Than A Quarter Of Our Food Supply  KCET   ...They brought in a revenue of $44 billion in 2013. (To compare, McDonald's brought in $28 billion.) They're huge, in other words. And they don't want to stop there. They're trying to merge with their number one competitor, US Foods, which would make them even more dominant in the food industry...
Providence School Bus Strike Averted  Providence Journal   ...A potential strike by Providence school bus drivers on Monday has been averted. Patrick MacDonald, legislative director for Teamsters union Local 251, said First Student invoked a clause in its contract with the national Teamsters that calls for a 21-day cooling-off period...
Charleston County School Bus Drivers Raise Issues Of Bus Safety  Charleston Post and Courier   ...Bus driver Kathy Richardson said there are ongoing problems with buses with broken windows, broken heaters and mechanical issues....Richardson was among several bus drivers who spoke out Monday at a community forum sponsored by Rep. Wendell Gilliard and the Teamsters Local 509 of West Columbia. Many of the issues raised were regarding Durham School Services, which provides school bus transportation for Charleston County schools...
Rory D. Potter  Asbury Park Press   ...Rory was born in Pt Pleasant and was a lifelong resident. He was a Teamster Driver working out of Teamsters Local 469 as the Track Foreman at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, NJ. Rory loved his family and his friends and was a friend to anyone he met...
Trade
OR-Sen: DFA Goes After Ron Wyden (D) On The TPP  Daily Kos   …Oregon Senator Ron Wyden is reportedly working with Republicans like Paul Ryan and Orrin Hatch to pass the TPP. Their goal: to grease the wheels to get the TPP through Congress without proper review or a chance to make any changes to the deal itself...
US lawmakers tell Japan key deal on trade promotion authority likely this spring  U.S. News   … A delegation of U.S. lawmakers say a bipartisan congressional agreement on granting President Barack Obama trade promotion authority for a pan-Pacific trade deal is likely this spring...
Trade Group Accelerates Push for a ‘Fast Track’ Deal  New York Times   …The Trade Benefits America Coalition has started a digital advertising campaign that argues in favor of a more ambitious trade agenda and pushes for legislation granting President Obama “fast track” trade negotiating authority...
Trade deal would hurt Indiana (opinion)  Indianapolis Star   …If you think those manufacturing jobs were zapped by robots or simply the victims of a globalized world, I have some magic beans for sale. There's a big reason these jobs were lost, and it's called unfair trade policies...
Press Release: Interfaith Coalition Sends Letter to All Members of Congress Opposing Trade Injustice / Fast Track  Network Lobby   …Major religious groups including Quaker, Jewish, Protestant and Catholic organizations, Catholic sisters, and clergy, today sent a letter to all Members of Congress to express strong opposition to fast track trade promotion authority for trade agreements being negotiated…
State Battles
Missouri Senate leader on the fence about 'right to work'  St. Louis Public Radio   ...Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, says he has yet to take a position on the “right-to-work’’ bill that is headed to his chamber after passing the House last week...
Senate Dems unveil jobs package; vow to block right-to-work legislation  Albuquerque Journal   …With the New Mexico House poised to act soon on a high-profile right-to-work bill, Senate Democrats said today the measure could be in for a crash landing if it reaches their chamber...
Koch brothers' group allowed to keep California donors' names secret  Bloomberg News   …A Koch brothers advocacy group can keep its donor list secret for now, with a federal judge ruling that revealing the identities would chill free speech. The ruling comes as billionaires Charles and David Koch seek to raise almost $1 billion in the run-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election…
War on Workers
US ports shutdown: millions of dollars in lost exports as labor secretary flies in  The Guardian   ...Tom Perez heads to San Francisco to meet with shipping companies and dock workers to help settle dispute that has led to a partial shutdown of ports...
Safety tops strike demands for oil workers at BP refinery  People's World   …With the 1,100 members at the Whiting refinery and 340 at Toledo's, the total number of striking workers rose to more than 4,900, who process 13 percent of the country's oil. A full strike could stop 64 percent of oil production. The workers' demands center on health and safety issues, contracting jobs out to non-union workers and health care…
The Cost of a Decline in Unions  New York Times   … A study in the American Sociological Review, using the broadest methodology, estimates that the decline of unions may account for one-third of the rise of inequality among men...
Did the GOP Just Give Away $130 Billion of Public Property?  The Nation   …In December, two Republican senators, John McCain and Jeff Flake, pushed Congress and the president into giving away what could amount to over $130 billion in public property. That’s enough to provide every single unemployed American a minimum-wage job for an entire year. That’s enough to pay for a year of tuition at a public institution for every college student in the US…
Construction Worker Killed In Portland  KOIN   ...Shortly after 5:30 p.m., an Axis Crane contractor died after a steel high beam collapsed and fell onto the cab of a piece of equipment being used in Portland, officials said...
Illinois Worker Dies Cleaning Rail Car  Law Firm News   … An industrial cleaning company has been fined after a worker collapsed while working to clean a rail car and later died due to the untreated cardiac arrhythmia he suffered...
Miscellaneous
NSA Has Ability To Hide Spying Software Deep Within Hard Drives: Cyber Researchers  Huffington Post   ...The U.S. National Security Agency has figured out how to hide spying software deep within hard drives made by Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba and other top manufacturers, giving the agency the means to eavesdrop on the majority of the world's computers, according to cyber researchers and former operatives...

Today's Teamster News 02.14.15

Teamsters
Teamsters Celebrate, Remember James R. Hoffa  teamster.org   ...Each year in February, Teamsters take a moment to reflect upon and remember a leader who changed the course of history for working men and women in America. James R. Hoffa, born February 14, 1913, served as General President of the Teamsters Union from 1957 to 1971. In that time, he inspired thousands to stand up and let their voices be heard...
Nevada Board Gives Up Supermajority Rule For Switching Unions  Las Vegas Review Journal   ...The three-member Nevada Local Government Employee-Management Relations Board unanimously agreed to make the changes at a meeting Thursday after ruling on a recent vote by Clark County School District support staff to determine whether Teamsters Local 14 would supplant the Education Support Employees Association at the bargaining table...
Union: Heidelberg Dispute Is Trickling Down  Cincinnati Business Courier   ... the battle over ownership of one of the region's largest beer distributing companies is having an effect on employees, and many are working without a contract....
Return To Work: Golan's Workers Claim Win After Six-Month Strike  Chicago Tribune   ...More than six months after workers at Skokie's Golan's Moving & Storage went on strike to try to win their first union contract, they returned to their jobs this month, claiming victory after agreeing to a three-year pact with the company....
CP Rail Faces Two Strike Deadlines This Weekend  Toronto Star   ...The Teamsters represents 3,300 locomotive engineers and other train workers at CP Rail. The union says the company is either unwilling or unable to comply with agreements that require train crews to stop operating and obtain rest after 10 continuous hours of work...
What People Power Can Achieve: Take The LA Port Drivers  City Watch   ...With the support of LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, drivers from dozens of companies last year joined in unity (with Teamsters Local 848) to demand changes from drayage firms.  They met “to fight for justice.”...
FTC Delays Vote On $3.5B Food Merger After Sysco Meetings  New York Post   ...The Federal Trade Commission has blinked. The regulator was close Wednesday night to voting to block a $3.5 billion food industry merger — but postponed the decision after an intense day of meetings with Sysco, The Post has learned...
Sean Corr Will Race In The Lucas Oil 200 At Daytona Saturday To Support NYC's Horse-And-Carriage Industry  New York Daily News   ...One of the top contenders in this year’s Daytona Speedweek is running on Big Apple horse-and carriage power. Sean Corr, an up-and-coming race car driver from upstate New York, decked out his race car with a mural featuring a Central Park horse-carriage driver to show support for the embattled industry...
Labor Council Awards Honor Local Union Activists  Syracuse Post Standard   ...Unsung Hero Award: John Pekoff, Teamsters 317. Pekoff has helped with behind-the-scenes tasks like securing money for buses for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade, lining up food for events and offering up the local Teamster Hall for meetings, training and phone banks...
Trade
Democrat Says Obama Administration Dodging Request To Read Trade Deals Without Restrictions  Huffington Post   …A Democratic congressman has accused the Obama administration of dodging his request for "unimpeded" access to two controversial trade agreements -- reigniting a dispute over transparency as the president presses legislators for so-called "fast-track" authority, which would block members of Congress from offering amendments to either deal...
TPP free trade deal no closer to transparency  SBS   …Australia’s hand in what is potentially the world's largest free trade agreement remains hidden from the public...
State Battles
Right-to-work laws won't save Illinois  Chicago Tribune   … It's impossible to claim that RTW laws help state economies. RTW advocates such as Rauner simply haven't made their case. If these laws have any impact on a state's well-being, the evidence doesn't show it. Except for one thing: Invariably, wages are lower in RTW states…
Assembly Dems Propose Minimum Wage Boost To $10.10  Wisconsin Public Radio   ...Among the bills pushed by state Dems is one that would index the Homestead Tax Credit for low-income families to the rate of inflation and another that would restore cuts to the Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income workers. A third would enact a $10.10 minimum wage...
GOP Contender Walker Draws Wall Street Cash  Wall Street Journal   ...Wall Street is warming up to Wisconsin’s Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Several GOP fundraisers from the financial-services industry and other Manhattan business sectors are hosting donor events for Mr. Walker, a likely presidential candidate, when he visits New York next week...
War on Workers
West Coast Ports Will Take A Split 4-Day Weekend Off  Consumerist   …Today is a holiday according to the port workers’ contracts, and so is Monday. Instead of paying overtime for what shipping line representatives say is deliberately slowed-down work, they’re simply shutting everything down for those four days, as they did last weekend. The unions, meanwhile, claim that the owners are trying to force a lockout, and also making the backlog even worse as a negotiating tactic...
Experts: Unaffordable rents here to stay  Housing Wire   …Unaffordable rents are making it hard for people to save for down payments, and they aren’t likely to ease up for at least two years, according to the latest Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey…
Miscellaneous
Make It A Union-Made Valentine's Day  Union Plus   ...Did you know Necco Sweethearts, See's Candy, and some Hershey Kisses are just a few of the sweet treats made by your fellow union members?  Sweets for your Valentine can be even sweeter when they're union-made...