Today's Teamster News 02.21.15

Teamsters
Swissport Canada And Teamsters Reach Collective Agreement  AviationPros   ...Today, the Honourable Dr. K. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women, congratulated Swissport Canada Handling Inc. and the Canada Council of Teamsters on the renewal of their collective agreement. The agreement covers the Swissport Canada Handling Inc. unit, who work at Dorval and Mirabel airports in Montreal...
Rail Strike Ends With Binding Arbitration  Free Press   ...The rails were only empty for a day at Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) as the company and its union put a halt to the 24-hour strike after agreeing to binding arbitration, mere hours before back-to-work legislation could be put into place...
Legislature Ratifies Agreement In Unanimous Vote  Daily Mail   ...After months of deliberation, an agreement was reached between Greene County and Greene County Public Employees, Teamsters Local 294 affiliated with International Brotherhood of Teamsters...
FTC Files Lawsuit Challenging Sysco-US Foods Merger  Wall Street Journal   ...A divided Federal Trade Commission sued Thursday to block Sysco Corp. ’s acquisition of rival US Foods Inc., a long-awaited move that sets the stage for a major court battle over a plan to combine the nation’s two largest food distributors...
Trade
Obama begins sales pitch on trade to wary United States public   Reuters   ...President Barack Obama on Saturday began a broad sales pitch to the US public about the merits of free trade deals, an area in which he faces stiff resistance from many in his own Democratic party...
Sally Hempy: Stop this TPP deal (LTE)  Daily Camera   …The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is similar to NAFTA and a dozen other so called free-trade deals that have turned out poorly for America but very well for transnational corporations...
State Battles
Wisconsin Senate To Vote Next Week On Right-To-Work Bill  La Crosse Tribune   ...The Wisconsin Legislature will take up a right-to-work bill next week in a surprise move that runs contrary to the wishes of likely 2016 presidential candidate Gov. Scott Walker who had urged lawmakers to delay any debate until later in the year...
Scott Walker says he'll sign fast-tracked right-to-work bill  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   …After saying in his re-election bid that he wouldn't push so-called right-to-work legislation, Gov. Scott Walker committed Friday to signing it, acting after GOP leaders fast-tracked the proposal for a Senate vote next week...
Cole Says He Won’t Push Right To Work If House Doesn’t Have Time  West Virginia Metro News   ...It’s possible the issue won’t make it through this legislative session. State Senate President Bill Cole (R-Mercer) said Thursday on MetroNews Talkline he wants the Senate to take up Right To Work, but they’re not going to do it if the House doesn’t have time to address it before the end of the regular session...
U. Of I., Other Universities Brace For Rauner Funding Cuts  Chicago Tribune   ...Gov. Bruce Rauner drew big applause three weeks ago when he rolled out his vision of making the University of Illinois the best college in the country, but those cheers turned to jeers the other day when he proposed cutting public university spending by nearly $400 million...
War on Workers
Trucks Bound For Mexico Choke Traffic Flow  Brownsville Herald   ...One trucker, standing on a fellow trucker’s ride stopped in the middle of International Boulevard, said most of the Mexico-bound semis were coming from the Port of Brownsville...
Shipping lines and dockworkers reach deal; port shutdown averted  Los Angeles Times   …Shipping companies and dockworkers reached a tentative deal late Friday on a new labor contract, avoiding a shutdown of 29 ports that would have choked off trade through the West Coast...
Awarded Stolen Wages, Workers Struggle to Collect  New York Times   …Mr. Lino, like Ms. Jimenez, Mr. Cao and their several dozen co-workers, has not collected anything close to the money that various agencies, boards and courts have found was due him. State and federal laws intended to protect people from being cheated out of their earnings often yield only pieces of paper declaring what they are owed, not actual cash...
The Death of American Unions Is Killing American Marriage  New Republic   … Poverty itself, it seems, is the chief agent of marital decline among the poor. This is especially true of falling wages among working class men, who have borne the brunt of the right-wing war on labor unions…] [M]en in the bottom quartile of earnings have had a wage cut of 60 percent, and a contemporaneous drop in marriage rates to about 50 percent, from 86 percent…
Cranking Up For 2016 (opinion)  New York Times   ...Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, is said to be a rising contender for the Republican presidential nomination. So, on Wednesday, he did what, these days, any ambitious Republican must, and pledged allegiance to charlatans and cranks...Obama begins sales pitch on trade to wary United States public...
Worker killed in Madison construction site accident  Associated Press   …Officials say the worker was injured when the masonry at the site collapsed just after 7:30 a.m. Friday. Fire Department spokeswoman Lori Wirth said the man had been working near a stairwell at the rear of the building...

Today's Teamster News 02.17.15

Teamsters
CP Rail, Teamsters union agree to arbitration  CBC News   …Labour Minister Kellie Leitch says the government is withdrawing its back-to-work legislation now that Canadian Pacific Railway and the Teamsters union have agreed to arbitration...
Labor Supports a Fair Trash Plan (opinion)   Gotham Gazette   …Forcing a few neighborhoods to take almost all of the city's trash is just plain wrong…
Freight railroads watched Canadian Pacific strike closely  Associated Press   …Railroad officials say the brief strike by roughly 3,300 Canadian Pacific workers didn’t have a significant impact on U.S. rail traffic. The strike by members of the Teamsters union that began eary Sunday was closely monitored by other railroads…
British Members Of Parliament Join Teamster School Bus Workers At Community Forum  teamster.org   …Teamster school bus drivers and monitors were joined by members of the British Parliament, parents, community, political and faith leaders, as well as representatives from Teamsters Local 509 at tonight’s Community Forum on School Bus Transportation, hosted by S.C. state representatives Wendell Gilliard and David Mack...
Trade
Currency Battle Is Tethered to Obama Trade Agenda  New York Times   …a growing bipartisan majority in Congress is coalescing around a demand that could derail President Obama’s ambitious trade agenda before it really gets moving: include a robust attack on international currency manipulation or no deal...
As free trade pacts expand, U.S. trade deficit soars. Why add one more?  Reuters   …Since the pacts were implemented, U.S. trade deficits, which drag down economic growth, have soared more than 430 percent with our free-trade partners. In the same period, they’ve declined 11 percent with countries that are not free-trade partners. Since fast-track trade authority was used to pass NAFTA and the U.S. entrance into the World Trade Organization, the overall annual U.S. trade deficit in goods has more than quadrupled, from $218 billion to $912 billion…
State Battles
Hundreds attend rally against prevailing wage, right-to-work bills  Charlestown Gazette   …Union workers and supporters showed up in force at the state Capitol for a rally Monday afternoon. The rally, called by Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall, was to protest several bills in the Legislature, including those to make West Virginia a “right to work” state and to cut the state’s prevailing wage…
5 Of The Biggest Right-To-Work Battles  Daily Caller   …Lawmakers in several states are considering their own right-to-work legislation, but opponents warn such proposals will hurt the middle class…
Construction company voices concerns over plans to scrap common wage law  WTHR.com   …The construction industry is abuzz after House Speaker Brian Bosma revealed the Indiana GOP plans to scrap the the state's 80-year-old common wage law for construction workers. It could mean a loss of higher wages for union and non-union workers alike...
War on Workers
Fires from W. Va. derailment could burn 2-3 days  CBS News   …A train carrying more than 100 tankers of crude oil derailed during a snowstorm in southern West Virginia on Monday, sending at least one tanker into a river, igniting at least 14 in all and sending a fireball hundreds of feet into the sky, officials and residents said…
Labor secretary to help reach West Coast port deal  Reuters   …Labor Secretary Tom Perez will travel to California to help broker an agreement between shipping companies and dockworkers in a dispute that has led to a partial shutdown of ports along the U.S. West Coast...
Construction worker killed after falling into sand silo  Atlanta Business Chronicle   …A construction worker was killed after falling into a sand silo at Thomas Concrete Co. on Canton Road in Marietta. Two subcontractors from Texas were cleaning the inside of a silo when one worker fell in...
EMS workers killed in line of duty remembered 2 years after crash  FOX 59   …A vigil was held Monday morning at 3 a.m. to honor two Indianapolis Emergency Medical Service workers who lost their lives in a tragic accident on Feb. 16, 2013...
Miscellaneous 
Economists Say Millennials Should Consider Careers In Trades  National Public Radio   …millions of good-paying jobs are opening up in the trades. And some pay better than what the average college graduate makes...
Are Submarines About to Become Obsolete?  National Interest   … If advances in big data and new detection methods fuse with the anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) ambitions of nations like China and Russia, naval planners around the world might have to go back to the drawing board...

Today's Teamster News 11.12.14

Teamsters
Drug Distributor Punishes Vets While Receiving Billions From VA  Huffington Post   ...McKesson is locked in a three-year battle with workers at its Lakeland, Fla. distribution center that voted in 2011 to join the Teamsters but still don't have a first contract...
Trade
Defending Foreign Corporations' Privileges Is Hard, Especially When Looking At The Facts  Public Citizen   ...it is no easy task to defend a system that empowers foreign corporations to bypass domestic courts and laws to demand taxpayer compensation for domestic policies that apply equally to their local competitors, but that they claim frustrate special privileges granted to them as foreign investors...
State Battles
Kansas revenues will fall $1 billion short of 2015 and 2016 expenses, fiscal experts say  Kansas City Star   ...The new figure raises the prospect of deep cuts in the state budget following controversial income tax cuts that Brownback vigorously defended during his re-election campaign against Democrat Paul Davis. Critics worry that schools, roads and social services will be among the areas cut in coming months...
Voter suppression laws are already deciding elections  Washington Post   ... it looks like the margin of victory in some of the most competitive races around the country was as big as the likely “margin of disenfranchisement,” as Weiser puts it. That is, more people were newly denied the right to vote than actually cast deciding ballots...
War on Workers
214,000 More Jobs Are Great. But Where Are the Raises?  Bloomberg   ...The U.S. economy added 214,000 jobs in October and the unemployment rate fell to a six-year low of 5.8 percent, but average earnings rose just 3 cents an hour...
Finding, and Battling, Hidden Costs of 401(k) Plans  New York Times   ...In many retirement plans, a significant amount of future retirees’ funds are devoured by fees. According to a 2012 study published by the progressive think tank Demos, high 401(k) fees can drain $155,000 from an average household over a lifetime...
Work Slowdown at Busiest U.S. Port Prompts Plea to Obama  Bloomberg   ...U.S. retailers appealed to President Barack Obama to intervene in contract negotiations between West Coast dockworkers and maritime companies after a work slowdown spread to the nation’s largest container hub ahead of the holiday shopping season...
Taj Mahal asks union to drop cost-savings appeal  Philadelphia Inquirer   ...Carl Icahn has jacked the interest rate up on the Trump loans from 6.2 percent to 12 percent, ripped $350 million out of this company in four years, and now he says workers can't have health care, pensions, paid breaks and many other things that other Atlantic City casino workers enjoy," union president Bob McDevitt said...
Missing Mexico students: Who is responsible?   AlJazeera   ...It's a case that has shocked a nation already hardened by gang violence and drug related crime - the disappearance of 43 students in Mexico, suspected of being abducted and murdered. The government, a mayor, police officers and gang members have all been implicated...
Construction worker dies 8 days after 30-foot fall  Associated Press   ...Officials say Moran took a 30-foot fall Nov. 3 at the former site of Del Castle-Legate Place. The once-palatial residence also was known as the Al Capone home...
Worker cleaning Ohio pond pulled from water, dies  Associated Press   ...a Michigan man in his 20s was using scuba equipment Tuesday to clean a 15-foot-deep pond at an office complex in New Albany, northeast of Columbus. When he didn't resurface when he was supposed to, a fellow worker called for help and said the man's tank had likely run out of oxygen...

Massachusetts, IKEA raise minimum wage

Federal contract employees walked off the job dressed as Rosie the Riveter.

Massachusetts and IKEA raised their minimum wages today, showing workers can win concessions when they stand together and fight.

The wage increases for the lowest paid workers follow a concerted series of walkouts and job actions over the past two years by workers at Walmart, warehouses, fast food restaurants, retail stores, ports, food processing companies and federal contractors. The Teamsters Union has strongly supported those actions, as locals directly support warehouse workers, port truck drivers and workers at Taylor Farms.

President Obama recently ordered the minimum wage for government-contract workers to $10.10. That isn't enough, they say. More than 100 hourly employees walked off the job even as Obama was speaking at a summit on working families on Monday:  The Washington Post reported,

“Nobody who cooks our troops’ meals or washes their dishes should have to live in poverty,” he said of workers in federal buildings, speaking Monday at the White House Summit on Working Families in D.C.. “That’s a disgrace.” 

But less than half a mile away, about 150 of those same hourly employees took a different stance. They had walked off their jobs in federal buildings earlier that morning, gathering outside the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in a protest aimed directly at the president... 

“The struggle is that we do not make enough money to be able to survive,” said Joanne Kenon, a greeter at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. “To live in D.C., it costs a lot.”

Raising the minimum wage isn't enough, though, if workers can't organize and negotiate with employers. And commercial activity will continue to stagnate so long as so much of the American workforce earns poverty wages.

In Massachusetts, according to Reuters,

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick on Thursday signed into law a measure raising the minimum wage to the highest of any U.S. state, $11 per hour, by 2017... 

"Raising the minimum wage brings a little relief to the working poor, many of whom do jobs we could not live without and who recycle money right back into the economy," Patrick said in a statement announcing the signing.  

The law will raise the state's minimum wage in stages from its current level of $8 per hour and follows similar moves by neighboring Connecticut and Vermont. 

Here's a report on IKEA's action, according to USA Today:

IKEA, the iconic home furnishings chain, plans to announce Thursday that it will raise its minimum wage by 17%, joining a growing national movement to boost the pay of low-wage workers. 

The Gap, whose stores include Gap and Old Navy, also has announced plans to increase its pay floor this year. 

​The privately held Ikea plans to raise its average minimum wage from $9.17 an hour to $10.76 starting January 1. The increase will affect about half of the 11,000 employees at its 38 U.S. stores. 

"It's driven from our vision of wanting to create a better everyday life for our coworkers," acting IKEA President Rob Olson said in an interview.

IKEA still has much to answer for. The company has locked out 300 Teamsters in Richmond, Canada, for more than a year.

Today's Teamster News 03.12.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Back School Bus Drivers in Fight Against ‘Rampant’ Wage Theft  In These Times   ...More than 350 Baltimore-area bus drivers, who are members of Teamsters Local 570, are preparing to celebrate victory in a $1.25 million wage theft case against Durham School Services, an Illinois-based bus-contracting company with operations across much of the country...
Teamsters Stand Up for Port Truck Drivers at Skechers  teamster.org   ...Join port truck drivers who are standing up for their rights by signing this online petition. They were fired by Skechers' trucking contractor, Green Fleet Systems, after they exercised their rights on the job...
Illinois Teamsters Training Fund Certifies 1,300 Drivers in 2013  teamstersjc25.com   ...For the third consecutive year, more than 1,000 truck drivers, students and military veterans across Illinois completed safety and licensing training with Teamsters Joint Council 25...
Teamsters Taxi Association Turn Up the Heat in D.C. Politics   teamster.org   ...In an effort to gain more information to help us fight for D.C. taxi drivers’ interests, the Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association has sent a survey to D.C. mayoral candidates and to D.C. City Councilmembers. See the survey here...
UK Pension Funds Join With Teamsters Union In Submitting Resolution To National Express Annual General Meeting  teamster.org   ...The shareholder proposal calls for the Board to expand the role and responsibilities of its Safety and Environment Committee to provide quality oversight of the company's human capital management and to adopt a meaningful and enforceable workplace human rights policy...
Trade
NAFTA Report Warns Of Trade Deal Environmental Disasters  Huffington Post   ...A report aims to offer an object lesson to President Barack Obama: Free trade deals have high costs in unintended consequences for the environment, people's way of life, and local sovereignty...
Trans-Pacific Partnership Reveals Deadly Cost of American Patents  naked capitalism   ... a cancer specialist in New Zealand (one of the TPPA counties) warned that the TPPA would prolong the high cost of treating breast cancer because of new rules to protect biotechnology-based cancer drugs from competition from generics. And this will affect the lives of cancer patients...
Ford to Move Production of Large Trucks from Mexico to Ohio  Fox Business   ...The automaker said it will invest $168 million in the Cleveland-area facility, which currently makes Ford’s E-series vans. Ford expects the plant to begin production of the F-650 and        F-750 commercial trucks early next year before they go on sale in the spring of 2015...
Chinese components found in B-1 bombers and F-16 fighters  RT   ...A Pentagon investigation has found that despite prohibitions by federal law, multiple US aircraft and weaponry are housing Chinese parts and raw materials...
State Battles
Pennsylvania GOP aims to end legal exemptions for unions  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette   ..."It would criminalize members engaged in protected activity," he continued, "such as organizing drives and picket lines..."
How the GOP ambushed the VW union election  The Hill   ...One local group, Southern Momentum, played a critical role in this frenzy of anti-unionism. Southern Momentum claims to represent ordinary Volkswagen workers, but surprisingly for a grassroots organization, it engaged the services of Projections, Inc., one of the nation’s leading union avoidance firms...
Moral Mondays call for change  WBNG 12 Action News   ...Binghamton, NY community members are pushing for a state budget that works more for the middle class. Opposition to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget extended Monday from religious leaders and labor groups to parents and working families...
Vermont Governor Shumlin calls for wage increase  Associated Press   ...Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin called on lawmakers Monday to raise the state minimum wage but details about how it will be implemented have yet to be finalized. Shumlin is proposing an incremental increase to $10.10 by 2017...
Wisconsin big business interests back campaign finance bill  The Cap Times   ...A campaign finance bill that would ease a number of political contribution rules and expand the time period during which lobbyists can contribute to state campaigns is backed by two of the biggest special interest groups in Wisconsin...
FBI investigating Idaho prison run by Corrections Corporation of America VT Digger   ...The FBI is investigating Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) after its Idaho prison was so violent inmates dubbed it “Gladiator School,” according to a report by the Associated Press...
War on Workers
Obama Will Seek Broad Expansion of Overtime Pay  New York Times   ...On Thursday, the president will direct the Labor Department to revamp its regulations to require overtime pay for several million additional fast-food managers, loan officers, computer technicians and others whom many businesses currently classify as “executive or professional” employees to avoid paying them overtime...
Deal reached to protect retiree committee in Detroit bankruptcy case  The Detroit News   ...The city’s lawyers Tuesday announced they have reached a deal that will protect members of a retiree committee from lawsuits associated with Detroit’s bankruptcy case...
Port trucking almost at a halt behind Unifor pickets  Vancouver Sun   ...Trucking operations at Port Metro Vancouver container terminals ground to a near-halt Monday as about 300 unionized terminal truck drivers set up pickets to join more than 1,000 non-union drivers who withdrew their services more than a week ago...
5 reasons slaves still catch your seafood dinner  The Salon   ...The $7.3 billion seafood industry in Thailand still use slave labor. What's worse: America keeps giving it a pass...
Americans' Views on Quality Job Prospects Still Recovering  Gallup   ...Twenty-seven percent of Americans say it is now a good time to find a "quality job." This is up from the low levels between 2009 and 2012, but the last time Americans' optimism about job prospects reached 30% was January 2008...
Safety Flaws Found in New Inspections of Factories in Bangladesh  New York Times   ...A team plans to assess 1,500 garment factories by early September. Reports on the first 10 factories ... found that some factories lacked adequate fire doors, did not have required sprinkler systems and had dangerously high weight loads on several floors...

The Democrats Stand Up to the Kochs (Opinion)   New York Times   ...Democrats have for too long been passive in the face of the vast amounts of corporate money, most of it secret, that are being spent to evict them from office and dismantle their policies...           
Miscellaneous
ALEC Launches New Effort To Influence Local Government Policy  ThinkProgress ...The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an organization known for helping to advance corporate interests by writing and then pushing to pass conservative legislation at the state level, has created a new initiative. The new project “will offer corporate America a direct conduit into the policy making process of city councils and municipalities"...
Greek tax inspectors get anger management classes amid no ease in austerity measures  The Republic   ...Greek tax inspectors are being offered anger management classes after the government said they would have to continue enforcing a deeply unpopular emergency tax...

Today's Teamster News 01.31.14

Hoffa Praises Bill to Discourage Excessive CEO Pay  teamster.org   ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa praised U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, for introducing a bill to end a taxpayer subsidy for excessive CEO pay...
Teamsters Win First Contract at Kennedy Space Center  teamster.org   ...Badging clerks at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center ratified their first union contract on Tuesday as members of Teamsters Local 769. The new pact secures wage increases, improved vacation benefits and protection of full-time jobs in the 10-member bargaining unit...
Teamsters, Fast Track opponents making an impact. You can too.  TeamsterNation   ...Members of Congress are starting to listen to the thousands of Teamsters who are calling, emailing, rallying and telling them face-to-face: Vote NO on Fast Track...
Applications are now being accepted for the JRHMSF  teamster.org   ...The 2014-2015 scholarship for high school seniors has an application deadline of March 31, 2014. Visit the James R. Hoffa Scholarship Fund Information Center for eligibility requirements and application procedures...
Lunches seized from kids in debt at Salt Lake City elementary  The Salt Lake Tribune   ...Up to 40 kids at Uintah Elementary in Salt Lake City picked up their lunches Tuesday, then watched as the meals were taken and thrown away because of outstanding balances on their accounts — a move that shocked and angered parents...
The Danish Government Nearly Collapsed Today Over A Deal With Goldman Sachs  Business Insider   ...Denmark's government is in turmoil after the Socialist People's Party (SF) quit the ruling coalition over a deal with Goldman Sachs, Lars Eriksen of the Guardian reports. The deal involves Goldman purchasing a 19% stake in state-owned utility Dong Energy for $1.5 billion. Denmark’s shareholding would fall to about 60%...
Coal Markets Hit Hard as Emerging Economies Begin to Wobble  Oil Price   ...Slowing growth in developing countries has started to affect the commodities market, especially for coal, as orders are slashed and prices have fallen as much as 10 percent in a month...
Spy Agencies Work On Psychologically Profiling Everyone  Washington's Blog   ...Newly-released documents from Edward Snowden show that the NSA and other spy agencies are tracking people’s psychological and lifestyle traits such as sexual preference, extroversion-versus-introversion, and whether people are leaders or followers...
Beer buzz? FAA grounds plan to deliver 12-packs by drone  Minneapolis Star Tribune   ...The idea seemed ingenious: Delivering 12-packs of beer to the cold, windswept surfaces of popular ice fishing lakes — using a drone...
Lawsuit: KBR transported soldiers' ice in unsanitized morgue trailers  Military Times   ...The Justice Department is suing KBR and two foreign companies for allegedly defrauding the Army. The most shocking accusation: Workers used “refrigerated trailers to transport ice for consumption by the troops that had previously been used as temporary morgues without first sanitizing them.”...
Wall Street’s New Housing Bonanza  New York Times   ... Investment bankers and lawyers are now lining up to finance investors, from big private equity firms to plumbers and dentists moonlighting as landlords, who are buying up foreclosed houses and renting them out...
U.S. West Coast Labor Tensions Push Shippers to Look at Alternative Routes  Journal of Commerce ...Li & Fung Logistics is preparing alternatives to shipping through U.S. West Coast ports, as the global sourcing giant expects some type of International Longshore and Warehouse Union disruption tied to the negotiations for a contract to replace the current one that expires June 30...
States Have Lost $1.76 Billion After Long-Term Unemployment Benefits Lapsed  ThinkProgress   ...State economies have lost $1.76 billion after Congress let the benefits program for the long-term unemployed lapse at the end of last year, according to a calculation from the Democratic Policy & Communications Center...
Citigroup to limit work hours, force bankers to use vacation time  Bloomberg News   ...Citigroup Inc. will require junior bankers to take Saturdays off and use all of their vacation time each year as the firm joins an industry effort to improve working conditions...
State Moves To Make Sure Workers Don’t Lose Pay If They Get The Flu  ThinkProgress   ...On Wednesday, the Washington State House passed a bill that would guarantee workers paid time off for an illness or to care for a sick family member...
U.S. has launched criminal probe into Target cyberattack  Los Angeles Times   ...The Justice Department said Wednesday that it has launched a criminal investigation into the recent cybertheft of more than 110 million Target customers' personal data...
Union Members Overwhelmingly Vote to Ratify Caesars Entertainment Contract  unitehere.org   Members of the Culinary and Bartenders Unions voted yesterday to ratify a new five-year agreement with Caesars Entertainment. The contract covers 13,000 workers in Las Vegas...

Today's Teamster News 11.16.13

Supervisors reach agreement with Teamsters  Herald-Standard   ... Supervisors say they "dodged the bullet" regarding a grievance filed with the US. Dept. of Labor and Industry by the Teamsters on behalf of a township employee...
Raritan Township workers get four-year Teamsters contract  Hunterdon County Democrat   ...A four-year contract has been approved for the township’s 18 employees represented by the Teamsters Union. It covers 2012 through 2015...
Caught On Video: DC Taxi Commission Discriminates Against Foreign Speakers at Public Meeting AlterNet   ...Washington D.C. taxi drivers recently joined the Teamsters Union, and judging by this video released by the union, they’ll need all the help they can get considering the questionable practices of the city’s Taxicab Commission...
International Unions To Organize Support For Locked Out Ikea Workers  Left Labor Reporter   ...After conducting a fact finding inquiry, a panel of international trade union representatives said that they would return home and organize support for more than 300 IKEA Teamster workers in Richmond, B.C. locked out since May...
12-year-old children are working — and dying — on America’s farms  Salon   ...the Labor Department’s 2011 attempt to update child labor laws … fell through in the face of pressure from the Farm Bureau and other agricultural lobbies … Since the proposals were scrapped … four farmworkers under the age of 16 died, and 16 others were injured, doing jobs that would have been off-limits…
Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement  The New Yorker   ...In every state in the country, there is at least one ostensibly independent “free-market” think tank that is part of something called the State Policy Network— there are sixty-four in all, ranging from the Pelican Institute, in Louisiana, to the Freedom Foundation, in Washington State. ... the think tanks are less free actors than a coördinated collection of corporate front groups—branch stores, so to speak—funded and steered by cash from undisclosed conservative and corporate players...
Ted Cruz and Koch Brothers embroiled in shadowy Tea Party scheme  Salon   ...Meet the right-wing group masquerading as a mainstream nonprofit -- but pushing extremist laws across the country...
Walmart Worker Strikes Reach Chicago  The Huffington Post   ...Walmart workers from three separate stores in the Chicago area went on strike Wednesday. The walkouts are the latest in a series of worker demonstrations in protest of what associates describe as the retailer's low wages, unpredictable hours and unjust retaliation against workers...
Next wave of Walmart, low-wage strikes is here  TeamsterNation   ...Another massive wave of low-wage worker strikes may be upon us as labor unrest is rising at the Port of Los Angeles and Walmart workers walked off the job in three cities over the past 10 days...
Colombian union activist murdered; Colombia still not safe for union members  Left Labor Reporter   ...A 25-year employee at the Nestle food processing plant in Bugalagrande and a member of SINALTRAINAL, the Colombian food workers union, was gunned down on November 9 after receiving a death threat from a group described as “a violent drug-running and crime syndicate formed several years ago from disbanded right-wing paramilitary groups.”...
Secret Trade Treaty Exposed  Economic Populist   ...Thank you WikiLeaks and we hope they obtain more parts of trade treaties being crafted in secret by large multinational corporations in future...
151 House Democrats, Bloc of GOP Announce Opposition to ‘Fast Track’ Trade Authority  Public Citizen   ...A letter sent today to President Barack Obama opposing Fast Track authority, signed by 151 House Democrats, signals the end of a controversial Nixon-era procedure used to railroad contentious trade pacts through Congress. Obama has asked Congress to delegate to him its constitutional trade authority via Fast Track for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and other pacts...
Falling Exports under Korea FTA Likely to Bolster Fast Track Opposition  Public Citizen   ...This week's government release of trade data highlights a stunning decline in U.S. exports to Korea, a rise in imports, and a ballooning of the U.S. trade deficit under the Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA)...
Secrecy, Spying Shouldn’t Be Associated With TPP  teamster.org   ...There is no shortage of good reasons to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
The 10 Giant Corporations That Have Taken Over Much of Our Economy  AlterNet   ...There was a time when there was competition in the American marketplace, when one corporation didn't own 200 other companies -- that time is long gone...
JPMorgan Paid Daughter Of Ex-Chinese Prime Minister $75,000 A Month  New York Times
To promote its standing in China, JPMorgan Chase turned to a seemingly obscure consulting firm run by a 32-year-old executive named Lily Chang...
Unemployment in Greece remains over 27%  EnetEnglish   ...A total of 6,557 people joined the dole queues in June, bringing the total number out of work to 1,365,406...
U.S. Postal Service reports $5-billion yearly loss  Los Angeles Times   ...The beleaguered U.S. Postal Service on Friday reported a $5-billion loss in the last fiscal year and again urged Congress to take legislative action that would help the agency shore up its finances...
Walker Donations Undergo Sex Change  Wisconsin Democracy Campaign   ...Governor Scott Walker recently amended his campaign finance report for the first six months of 2013 to lower contributions made by some of his high-end donors in order to protect them from being found in violation of campaign finance law...
A Rare Win for Labor’s Rank and File  Counterpunch   ...Machinists at Boeing resoundingly voted down mid-contract concessions yesterday and then booed the union leaders who had pushed the proposal on a shocked membership...
Unionized state employees protest proposed labor contract as negotiations go to impasse panel  Michigan Live   ...Dozens of state workers held a rally on Wednesday morning, demanding a fair contract as an impasse panel began hearings on disagreements over wages and benefits...
Port of Oakland wants court to stop truckers protesting over pay, CARB  Land Line   ...The Port of Oakland wants a restraining order against truckers who have organized protests there to stay in place...

In memory of our fallen brother, Gilberto Soto

Gilberto Soto and Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa.

Teamster Gilberto Soto, the former president of Teamsters Local 11, stepped out of the house during a visit to his mother and was instantly assassinated by a trio of hitmen who were never caught. It is no coincidence that he was in the middle of an intense organizing campaign,

He died in 2004.

Not 1904 or 1934, he was murdered in 2004. This isn't ancient history.

Soto's death wasn't the result of a robbery and he wasn't some random target. He was organizing an international campaign uniting port workers across the Americas when he was shot in the back the day before his 50th birthday.

Gilberto was a good, hardworking man who believed strongly in the power of solidarity. The American Prospect tells us about his life:

When Soto arrived in the United States in 1975, he got work as a garbage collector, a waiter, a cook, and a factory worker -- nothing like his career as a bank teller in El Salvador. Finally he landed a job in a factory in which the Teamsters had a contract. He became a shop steward and then president of Local 11; he was the first Latino to head a Teamster local in New Jersey. He put himself through community college, earned a bachelor's degree, and finally became a Teamsters organizer. Soto worked with port drivers around the country as they began to organize a national network, despite enormous legal obstacles.

Gilberto Soto died because he believed workers should have the chance to be paid fairly for a day's work. He's yet another casualty of the war on workers. We want to dedicate this day, the anniversary of his death, to his memory and the memory of others who died in the pursuit of justice for workers.

Oakland gives sweetheart deal to anti-worker creep

Take a look at this: A Teamster-hating, worker-screwing California business owner, who swindled port truck drivers out of nearly $1 million, is getting a $1.5 million handout from the city of Oakland. And to top it off, the city doesn’t have the money to cover the deal with the influence-wielding contractor -- Bill Aboudi.

Aboudi, who an Alameda County Superior Court judge determined in June had stolen $965,000 in wages from 73 current and former employees, just doesn’t like to follow the rules. And in addition to screwing his workers, his company, Oakland Maritime Support Services, has also been discharging storm water pollution into the San Francisco Bay in violation of state and federal environmental laws, court documents show.

That, however, seems of little concern to Oakland officials, who gave him the money to offset his move from a former Army base being redeveloped by the city. By the way, did we mention Aboudi has also repeatedly missed rent payments in excess of $235,000 and that his business has been effectively exempted from having to pay parking taxes?

Doug Bloch of Teamsters Joint Council 7 said he is befuddled by the turn of events:

I’m speechless. It’s a gift of public funds.

What’s really going on here? The East Bay Express explains:

So why has the city been assisting a contractor who fails to pay his workers and has polluted the environment? And why does it continue to do financial favors for him? Aboudi has strong defenders on the city council: namely, Councilmembers Larry Reid, Desley Brooks, and Rebecca Kaplan.

Aboudi also has exploited citizen fears of trucks parking in West Oakland neighborhoods by telling folks that if the city does not provide him with another truck-parking location, then truckers will park their big rigs in front of people's homes — even though such long-term parking is illegal. And Aboudi's threats are hollow because the port also operates a thirty-acre truck-parking facility, and thus provides plenty of truck parking in the area.

Port officials also have been less accommodating toward Aboudi than the city has. The port balked at agreeing to a multi-year lease with the city because of Aboudi's many legal troubles and the $1 million court judgment against him. As a result, city officials ordered the Army Base development team, led by Oakland developer Phil Tagami, to move part of its construction-staging area to the port property so that Aboudi could move his business onto the land that Tagami's team had planned to use.

See the switch-a-roo they pulled?

But there’s a snag. The switch will cost an extra $1.465 million, Tagami said late last week, because the port property has to be readied for use as a construction-staging site. That's $1.465 million that the city doesn't have -- and wouldn't otherwise have to spend were the city weren’t making accommodations for Aboudi. "The city wrote a letter accepting responsibility," Tagami said of the extra costs, "but doesn't have the money to pay for it."

So to recap, powerful city contractor with lots of connections is getting something for nothing while he screws drivers who work for him, taxpayers and the environment. Got it!

Port drivers doing worse now than during 1963 March on Washington

LA port workers, still seeking justice

Next week is the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Marchers, including Teamsters from across the country, gathered in Washington, D.C., to demand good jobs for all people. This series focuses on how well (or not) our society has met the 50-year-old demands of the marchers. Yesterday’s piece discussed the marchers’ demand to raise the minimum wage.

A half-million people came to the 1963 March on Washington with a list of demands. One of those demands was “a broadened Fair Labor Standards Act to include all areas of employment which are presently excluded.” Since then, expanded federal employment regulations have improved the standard of living for some groups of workers, while deregulation in 1980 has hit port workers hard.

The Fair Labor Standards Act, originally passed in 1938, establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, and child labor regulations for workers in America.

In 1963 as well as today, some categories of workers are exempted from minimum wage laws and overtime, which has a dramatic impact on low-income families.

Domestic workers, a significant number of whom were African-American women, were often exploited because they were not guaranteed minimum wage or overtime pay.

Farm workers, government employees and workers at small retail stores were also exempt from the law.

Today all of these workers are subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act regulations -- an important achievement of the Civil Rights movement. However, many other groups of workers are still not covered. Many workers in computers services and transportation industries are exempt from overtime regulations. Tipped employees do get overtime protection, but have a reduced federal minimum wage that has not been adjusted for inflation in more than 20 years. The actual real wage of $2.13 per hour workers get from their employers has almost halved.

In 1963, most of the port truckers were members of the Teamsters. Their wages and benefits were comparable to those of autoworkers, steelworkers and over-the-road drivers. That's because trucking companies had to get a license from the Interstate Commerce Commission to haul freight. The ICC limited the number of trucks to keep the industry stable, which gave companies steady profits and their workers with decent wages and benefits. Then in 1980, port trucking was deregulated.

A 2009 Demos study reported:

New companies entered the industry, hiring their drivers non-union. Established companies faltered. Some went non-union; others went out of business. The firms that triumphed adopted a new business model. They sold all or most of their trucks to the drivers, then contracted with them on a per-load basis. The emerging independent contracting model meant trucking companies had few fixed costs, had no responsibility for workers’ compensation, social security, and unemployment insurance taxes, and were able to obtain drivers’ services without paying for health care costs or pension plans...

In many, many cases these "contracted" workers are actually employees who were misclassified as independent contractors. Although drivers require great skill to transport goods from the docks to warehouses, most drivers live in poverty and work on average over 60 hours a week in terrible working conditions. Since independent contractors are not technically employees, companies have no incentive to reduce the amount of hours they work -- or even improve safety standards for the people who work for them, as workers are often required to supply their own trucks.

This abuse has become so rampant that the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor have joined forces with 14 states to stamp out employer abuse through the Misclassification Initiative. Through this project, millions of dollars in back wages have been reclaimed for workers.

The nation's most active port is at Los Angeles/Long Beach. On Tuesday, port workers will hold a rally for justice, almost 50 years to the day after the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Justice. Find out more about the rally here.

Judge says greedy Oakland hustler owes workers $1M

A greedy, Teamster-hating hustler cheated port drivers out of nearly $1 million in wages, and now a judge is making him pay it back.

We've told you about this guy, Bill Aboudi. He hates unions and he especially hates the Teamsters. He has threatened to blow up Teamster leaders. He has commented in news stories about "pathetic" Teamster organizers. He has posted tweets calling Teamsters "union-busters." He has opposed every effort California Teamsters have made to improve the lives of the port workers, whether by organizing the port drivers or bringing good union jobs to the Oakland Army Base.

Now an Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled Abboudi stole  $965,000 in wages from 73 current and former employees. The judge also noted that his managers wouldn't let the drivers take bathroom breaks, telling them to urinate in bottles. Female drivers were told to use a funnel or a bucket.

Aboudi may never pay his workers. But the judge's ruling may force the Oakland City Council to drop the protection it has been offering Aboudi for nearly a decade.

East Bay Express tells us:

The judge's May 21 ruling comes at a time when the Oakland City Council has been working behind the scenes to help Aboudi, who also runs the companies AB Trucking, Oakland Port Services Corporation, and Oakland Maritime Support Services. Aboudi has been complaining publicly about not being able to strike a deal to move his truck-parking operation onto port property while the city redevelops its half of the former Oakland Army Base. So the council ordered city staffers to intervene on Aboudi's behalf, and they are currently hammering out a deal for the city to lease space from the port and then sublease it to Aboudi. 

The council's actions on behalf of Aboudi also come despite the fact that there is strong evidence his truck-parking facility in West Oakland routinely violated federal pollution laws, and public records show that he has repeatedly fallen behind on his rent payments to the city — to the tune of several hundreds of thousands of dollars (see "City Contractor Faces Labor and Environmental Charges," 3/6). 

In an interview, Councilwoman Libby Schaaf said the judge's decision might prompt the council to rethink its favorable attitude toward Aboudi. "We value workers' rights; so this judgment is disturbing," she said. "I'm sure it is something we will talk about."

Aboudi blamed the Teamsters for his legal problems. He probably should. We've brought another lawsuit against him, along with environmental groups, claiming he let polluted stormwater flow into the bay for years. East Bay Express notes he can't pay his lawyers and he probably can't pay his fines. And, sadly, he probably can't pay the drivers he cheated, either.

Today's Teamster News 05.06.13

The Rich Have Gained $5.6 Trillion in the 'Recovery,' While the Rest of Us Have Lost $669 Billion AlterNet   ...Oh, are we getting ripped off. And now we've got the data to prove it. From 2009 to 2011, the richest 8 million families (the top 7%) on average saw their wealth rise from $1.7 million to $2.5 million each. Meanwhile the rest of us--the bottom 93% --suffered an average decline of $6,000 each...
When Your Boss Steals Your Wages: The Invisible Epidemic That’s Sweeping America AlterNet   ...Wage theft is fast becoming a top trend of the 21st-century labor market...
Bangladesh building collapse: death toll over 650 News Limited    ...The death toll from Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster has surpassed 650 after dozens more bodies were pulled from the wreckage of a building housing garment factories...
The Walt Disney Company pulls out of Bangladesh: Will that make workers safer?  Christian Science Monitor   ...The Walt Disney Co. is pulling out of Bangladesh and other developing countries, in part because of fatal accidents in factories that produced branded merchandise for Western firms. Announcement of the move follows last week’s tragedy that may be the worst such accident in world history...
Court not ready to give right-to-work opinion  Traverse City Record-Eagle   ...The Michigan Supreme Court is in no hurry to give an opinion on the legality of the state’s right-to-work law. In fact, the court still hasn’t decided whether to even grant Gov. Rick Snyder’s request...
Ohio 'right to work' fight likely to resurface in state legislature  Plain Dealer   ...Ohio's latest "right to work" effort seems dead on arrival, but don't bet against the issue coming back to life...
Montana Democratic women consider running for U.S. Senate  Missoulian   ...Several Democratic women are among those looking at the 2014 U.S. Senate race in Montana, one of about two dozen states where a woman has never been elected to the Senate...
CDC reports rise in autism, California social security benefits may help   Digital Journal   ...The CDC estimates 1 in 88 children are diagnosed with autism before reaching the age of eight. The disorder can be financially devastating, but social security benefits may help cover the cost of treatment and intervention...
Union Launches Major Ad Campaign Against Liquor Privatization  CBS KDKA-TV   ...So far it’s been mostly Governor Corbett and his allies arguing for privatization of the liquor system. But another side is about to be heard...
Teamsters, ABF Reach Tentative Contract Agreement  IBT   ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters and ABF reached a tentative contract agreement, Gordon Sweeton, Co-Chairman of the Teamsters National ABF Negotiating Committee, announced Friday...
IBT To Conduct Crane Operations Courses in St. Louis  IBT    ...The IBT Safety and Health Department will be conducting the following classes on Crane Operations at Teamsters Local 682 in St. Louis...
Alpha School Bus Workers Ratify Contract  IBT   ...School bus drivers and monitors with Alpha School Bus in Crestwood, Ill., have ratified their first three-year agreement by a nearly unanimous vote...
Illinois Governor Honors BLET Anniversary  BLET   ...California, Massachusetts, and Ohio and two cities (Detroit and Marshall, Mich.) recognize North America’s oldest railroad labor union...
Employees of Durham Bus Services Fight For Respect and Union Rights  RadioLabour   ...Employees of Durham Bus Services in the US have been trying to join the Teamsters union. But the company, owned by National Express in the UK, is actively resisting their right to join a union. A RadioLabour interview with Louis Malizia, the Assistant Director of the Capital Strategies Department of the Teamsters...
Teamsters persist in drive to unionize truckers at L.A. and Long Beach ports  Daily Breeze   ... For decades, the docks at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have been organized labor strongholds, dominated by the powerful International Longshore and Warehouse Union. But other workers handling imports and exports have mostly been left out. But that may be changing...

Today's Teamster News 02.09.13

Oil Exports Trim U.S. Deficit as Fuel Gap Shrinks: Economy Bloomberg ...Record petroleum exports helped shrink the U.S. trade deficit in December to the smallest in almost three years as America moved closer to energy self- sufficiency, a goal the nation has been pursuing since the 1973 Arab oil embargo...
USW Statement on Record U.S. Trade Deficit with China  United Steelworkers   ...The U.S. trade deficit in goods with the world was $735.7 billion last year, a minor decrease of less than 1/100th of a percent, but our trade deficit with China reached an historic high of $315 billion. “What we need are fundamental changes in trade policy to alter the destructive path we’re on...
U.K. Lesson: Austerity Leads to More Debt  (Opinion)  The New Yorker   ...U.S. fiscal policy is heading in the wrong direction, toward the economics of austerity. If you want to know where this path can lead, look across the Atlantic to poor old Blighty...
EU leaders agree to push for U.S. trade deal  Reuters   ...European leaders agreed on Friday to push for a free-trade pact with the United States, putting the onus on the White House to decide whether to try for a deal that would encompass half the world's economic output...
Storm hits US north-east  The Guardian   ...A blizzard that forecasters predicted would dump up to two feet of snow onto the north-east United States prompted five governors to declare states of emergency on Friday. Airlines cancelled flights, public transit systems were shut down and people were urged to stay indoors...
Workers strike at Colombia's top coal exporter  Reuters   ...Workers at Colombia's largest coal exporting company Cerrejon began a strike on Thursday, the first in more than two decades, after the two sides failed to reach an agreement during last-minute talks on wages and benefits...
Proposal to change Florida state pensions to 401(k) plan moves forward  Tampa Bay Times   ...A bill placing all new state employees in a 401(k)-style retirement plan passed a House subcommittee on a party-line vote Thursday, setting up a major showdown between legislative Republicans and public workers' unions...
Snyder: Not interested in repealing prevailing wage  Associated Press   ...The Republican governor told reporters Wednesday that trying to repeal prevailing wages is a "very divisive" issue...
Minnesota Senate approves raise for state employees  Pioneer Press   ...More than 35,000 Minnesota state employees are a step closer to receiving a 2 percent across-the-board pay raise retroactive to Jan. 2...
Born in the U.S.A: Right-to-work wrong for workers (Opinion)  Murray State News   ...Right-to-work isn’t about giving anyone a job. These laws simply mean that a citizen of a right-to-work state is entitled to all of the benefits of being in a union without having to pay any union dues...
Ohio Governor’s Tax Plan Would Cut Taxes For Wealthy, Raise Them On The Poor  Think Progress   ...Kasich’s plan would raise taxes on the poorest 60 percent of the state’s residents by as much as $77. The top 1 percent, though, would see an average tax cut of $10,369...
Kasich plans to privatize food service at prisons  The Columbus Dispatch   ...A request for proposals will go out today for a privatized joint food-service contract for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and the Department of Youth Services...Up to 456 state jobs could be lost...
Bill to eliminate 'Prevailing Wage Law' dies in committee  KATV.com   ...The 'Prevailing Wage Law' in Arkansas sets the rate construction workers will be paid for public projects. Neighboring states like Louisiana and Mississippi have done away with comparable laws, and some argued Arkansas should do the same to save local government money...
US Airways Pilots Approve Merger Contract in Win for Union President  Forbes   ...US Airways pilots have overwhelmingly backed a memorandum of understanding that stipulates temporary contract provisions if an expected merger with bankrupt American Airlines takes place...
YRC trucking operations profitable in 2012, a first in six years  Kansas City Star   ...The recovery remains incomplete as YRC’s trucking operating income couldn’t cover all the interest payments on the company’s debts. YRC on Friday reported a net loss for the year. But management hailed the milestone in its hauling business while promising further improvements ahead...
Ports face labor discord  Los Angeles Times   ...Members of a small clerks union have voted down a proposed contract, which raises the prospect of restarting the strike that paralyzed the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach for eight days late last year...

Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2013/02/08/2372665/durham-progress-made-with-union.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2013/02/08/2372665/durham-progress-made-with-union.html#storylink=cpy

Longshoremen's strike postponed 30 days

An expected East Coast longshoremen's strike is postponed as management begins to bend, according to International Longshoremen's Association President Harold J. Daggett. He posted on the ILA's Facebook page,

I am pleased to announce that the ILA made major gains on the Container Royalty issue. Consequently, we agreed to extend the ILA Master Contract by 30 days, beyond the December 29th deadline.

The two sides are in federal mediation.

The International Business Times reports,

A major threat to the U.S. economy has been averted as the International Longshoremen's Assocation (ILA) and an alliance of shippers and port operators settled in principle the most contentious issue delaying a resolution of contract talks. ...Such a work stoppage would have shut 14 major ports from Massachusetts to Texas and hit retailers and manufacturers that depend on imports.

The newspaper explains container royalties this way:

Container royalty payments, which are made to ILA members and based on the weight of containers, aim to compensate workers whose labor becomes unnecessary because shippers use containers. Port operators and shipping companies want to cap the royalties at last year's levels to stay competitive. They believe the royalties have become a huge expense unrelated to their original purpose and amount to a bonus averaging $15,500 a year for East Coast workers already earning more than $50 an hour. The ILA says the payments are an important supplemental wage, not a bonus.

Today's Teamster News 12.25.12

Bond Vigilantes and the Power of Three  (opinion) New York Times   ...even if for some reason the vigilantes did attack, it’s very hard to see how they could cause a recession in a country that retains its own currency and doesn’t have large amounts of debt denominated in foreign currency...
Dockworkers at Northwest ports reject pact offer  Reuters   ...Dockworkers at four U.S. Pacific Northwest ports moved closer to a possible labor clash with grain shippers on Monday, as parties in a larger, separate dispute at 15 East and Gulf coast ports agreed to mediation ahead of strike deadline set for December 30...
Mr. Incompetent, the Economy Wrecker Alan Greenspan, Was Central to the Formation of the Campaign to Fix the Debt  CEPR   ..."The Campaign to Fix the Debt started to come together at a salon dinner held in the backyard of Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, in the fall of 2011. An influential group of economic, political and business leaders — including the former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan and Mark Bertolini, the chief executive of the Aetna insurance company — huddled in a too-small tent in the pouring rain..."
Student food banks fight hunger on campus  Associated Press   ...The student-run Tiger Pantry is among a growing number of programs at university campuses. Organizers say it's both a response to a weak economy and a sign of the latest trend in student activism...
Economy Weighs on Shoppers in Final Holiday Dash to Mall  Bloomberg   ...Americans have become warier as Washington approaches the end of the year without an agreement to forestall higher taxes and automatic spending cuts -- the so-called fiscal cliff. Last month, retailers from Macy’s Inc. (M) to Target Corp. (TGT) posted same- store sales that trailed analysts’ estimates...

Longshoremen refuse to unload Wal-Mart cargo from Bangladesh

Well, they refused for about two hours in Charleston, S.C., today. The ship carried Wal-Mart-bound cargo from the Bangladesh factory that burned last month, killing 112 workers.

The Post and Courier reports,

Longshoremen refused to unload a ship on Thursday morning for more than an hour in a show of solidarity with workers in Bangladesh who labor in dangerous sweatshops for pennies an hour, a spokesman said. 

“It’s the cargo on the ship. We’ve got a concern about workers around the world,” said Leonard Riley of International Longshoreman’s Association 1422.

After the protest, the dock workers said they would return to their jobs and unload the Carolina Maersk...

The Examiner goes into a little more detail, reporting members of the group demonstrating against Wal-Mart included the South Carolina Workers' Rights Coalition, Petigru Free Speech Defense, Corporate Action Network and Occupy Charleston. The Examiner also reports:

The Tazreen Fashions factory in Bangladesh’s capital city of Dhaka, which makes many clothing items sold by the discount department store, caught fire on Nov. 24...

Upgrades in factory safety and fire prevention were requested last year, but a Wal-Mart representative blocked the proposal, say two Bangladeshi officials. 

Not only is this shipment of its products an insult to the workers who died in that fire, says the protest organizer, but it furthers damage to the American economy and employment, too. 

While Wal-Mart is the nation’s largest employer and clears over $15 billion in annual net profit, 80 percent of its workers qualify for food stamps due to low pay. 

The annual cost of government benefits to these workers, who are paid an average of only $8.81 an hour, comes to $2.66 billion, according to Good Jobs First. 

Wal-Mart’s use of foreign-made products is responsible for the loss of 196,000 American jobs, says the Economic Policy Institute, and the corporation is also responsible for 11 percent of the total trade deficit with China.

Misclassified port truck drivers are also a casualty of Wal-Mart's relentless drive to lower costs along the supply chain. The Teamsters have long sought to improve wages and working conditions for port drivers.

Today's Teamster New 12.01.12

Study: American Households Hit 43-Year Low In Net Worth  CBS News   ...The median net worth of American households has dropped to a 43-year low as the lower and middle classes appear poorer and less stable than they have been since 1969.The median net worth of American households has dropped to a 43-year low as the lower and middle classes appear poorer and less stable than they have been since 1969...
Small union is causing big problems for ports  Los Angeles Times   ...The small band of strikers that has effectively shut down the nation's busiest shipping complex forced two huge cargo ships to head for other ports Thursday and kept at least three others away, hobbling an economic powerhouse in Southern California.
Right-to-work struggle: GOP can't find consensus; unions get twitchy  MLive   ...Michigan Republicans are having a tough time finding consensus on whether to pursue a right-to-work law. And that’s why no action was taken on the touchy subject during the first week of the state Legislature’s year-end session...
Florida judge questions state prison privitzation plan  Associated Press   ...Circuit Judge John Cooper did not immediately rule but promised a quick decision after the second of two hearings in the case. The $58 million outsourcing plan is being challenged by two unions representing many of some 3,000 prison health care employees who stand to lose their jobs...
Walkergate: Four down, one to go, ? Pending  Cognitive Dissdence   ...buckle up your seatbelts and get a good grip on your popcorn. This ride ain't anywhere close to being over...
WEDC hires outside help after losing track of millions of dollars in loans  Wisconsin State Journal   ...The state's top jobs agency said Friday that it has hired a financial institution and an accounting company to review its financial practices after it failed to track loans totaling about $12 million....
Teamsters get representation approval  Merced Sun-Star   ...The Merced County Board of Supervisors has approved the registration of Teamsters Local No. 856 as an employee organization for the county's correctional officers and security system workers...

Toll to negotiate with Teamsters

Great video piece from Down Under about our battle to improve the lives of port truckers.

Today's Teamster News 03.10.12

The Bloom Comes Off the Unemployment Report Rose  Economic Populist   ...The real number of people wanting a job for February is 27.3 million. One needs to add up the official unemployed, people stuck in part-time who need full-time jobs, and all of those people not in the labor force, but who report they actually want a job, currently at 6.378 million.This gives an unemployment rate of 16.93%...
Walker sets up legal-defense fund  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ..."If you create a legal-defense fund, you are either being investigated, being charged with or have been convicted of a criminal violation of Chapter 11 or Chapter 12,"...
Selma march won't end in Montgomery; organizers plan to spread to other states, fight ID laws  Associated Press   ...Leaders of the march from Selma protesting voter ID laws that they claim suppress votes say they won't let their demonstration die in Montgomery — they're planning to go to other states...
Thousands march in support of port workers  Taranaki Daily News   ...Thousands of people are marching from Auckland's Waterfront in support of port workers who have been made redundant this week. A wide range of people have turned out for the march ... Today's turnout follows news that Australian port workers are showing their solidarity with their Kiwi counterparts by refusing to unload a ship handled by non-union workers in Auckland.
Icelandic Anger Brings Debt Forgiveness in Best Recovery Story  Bloomberg   ...Icelanders who pelted parliament with rocks in 2009 demanding their leaders and bankers answer for the country’s economic and financial collapse are reaping the benefits of their anger. Since the end of 2008, the island’s banks have forgiven loans equivalent to 13 percent of gross domestic product, easing the debt burdens of more than a quarter of the population...
Hostess Brands names CEO to work way out of bankruptcy  Reuters   ...Separately, Teamsters Union Vice President Ken Hall said they will continue to work with Hostess toward a resolution that will allow the company to emerge successfully from bankruptcy...