Teamsters
First Transit Workers At Auburn University Choose Teamsters Local 612 Teamster.org ...Drivers and mechanics with First Transit in Auburn, Ala., have voted by an overwhelming 3-1 margin in favor of Teamsters representation. The 116 workers, who provide transportation services for students at Auburn University, chose to join Teamsters Local 612 in Birmingham, Ala., seeking respect, fair pay and improved working conditions...
New Contract For MBS International Airport Unionized Workers OK’d Midland Daily News ...The MBS Airport Commission recently approved a collective bargaining agreement that covers 20 unionized employees. Ratified by Teamsters Local 214, the two-year contract calls for a 1 percent pay increase for each year and a $600 lump sum payment.
Teamsters: Railroad Unions Advancing Two-Person Crew Legislation To Protect Safety Teamster.org ...Continuing a cooperative effort to promote safety in the railroad industry, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers International Association (SMART) have jointly announced that legislation requiring at least two crew members on all freight trains in the U.S. has been introduced in the 114th Congress...
1,800 CN Locomotive Engineers Represented By Teamsters Ratify 3-Year Contract Montreal Gazette ...Canadian National Railway says the 1,800 locomotive engineers represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference have ratified a new collective agreement with the company. The railway says the three-year agreement, retroactive to Jan. 1, provides both wage increases and benefit improvements...
Global Labor & Trade
Key Democrat says he’ll try to kill Obama-backed trade bill Market Watch ...A key House Democrat said Friday he’ll try to kill a bill that would give President Barack Obama “fast track” trade treaty authority, a measure strongly supported by the White House. “I’m out to defeat the Hatch-Wyden bill,” Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, told reporters...
Stopping Short of Rejection, Clinton Sets Conditions for a Trade Deal New York Times ...“Hillary Clinton believes that any new trade measure has to pass two tests,” her spokesman, Nick Merrill, said in a statement. “First, it should put us in a position to protect American workers, raise wages and create more good jobs at home. Second, it must also strengthen our national security. We should be willing to walk away from any outcome that falls short of these tests...
'Stop TTIP': Global Day of Action Draws Tens of Thousands Common Dreams ...Demonstrators marched around the globe Saturday to protest the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a 'free trade' agreement currently being negotiated between the European Union (EU) and the United States. Opponents fear that TTIP will erode food, labor and environmental standards particularly with regard to the EU's strict regulations on food additives, genetically modified crops and the use of pesticides...
The Trans Pacific Partnership won’t fix our China problem (opinion) The Hill ...The TPP will not effectively deal with the core reason China enjoyed a $342.6 billion goods trade surplus with the U.S. last year, or an accumulated goods trade surplus with our country of $3.1 trillion since it joined the WTO: China operates based on a state-capitalist, mercantilist model, under which international trade law doesn’t mean much...
Trade Talks in Tokyo Get Push From 'Fast-Track' Deal in US New York Times ...Top Japan and U.S. trade officials plan to meet this weekend, seeking to close gaps over autos and farm trade before Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits Washington later this month. The U.S. and Japan must agree on market-opening measures before the 12 countries involved can reach a long-delayed final accord on the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership, a Pacific Rim trade pact...
Bernie Sanders urges Hillary to fight trade deal The Hill ...Sanders said Clinton and every other 2016 presidential candidate should oppose the 12-nation Asia-Pacific pact that the Obama administration is negotiating. "My strong hope is that Secretary Clinton and all candidates — Republicans and Democrats — will make it clear that the Trans-Pacific Partnership should be rejected and that we must develop trade policies that benefit working families, not just Wall Street and multi-national corporations," Sanders said in a statement...
Durham teachers' strike seen as start of wave of labour unrest Toronto Star ...Durham public high school teachers hit the picket lines on Monday in a protest widely seen as the start of a wave of teacher unrest across the province, with six more boards targeted in the coming weeks and other unions growing increasingly frustrated at the bargaining table...
State & Living Wage Battles
Alabama Auto Parts Plant Slapped With Federal Restraining Order NBC News ...A federal judge in Alabama issued a temporary restraining order Thursday against auto parts manufacturer Lear Corp. after the Labor Department accused the company of illegally harassing its workers and obstructing a federal safety investigation...
Walker's Dark Money Allies Orchestrate Coup of the Courts PR Watch ...Two court cases next week--one being heard in open court, another being considered in silence behind closed doors--will decide the future of Wisconsin campaign finance law, the independence of the Wisconsin judiciary and will impact the future of presidential candidate Scott Walker...
The 'Inexcusable' Assault On Workers In Wisconsin (opinion) Huffington Post ...The right-to-work scam is not what we should aspire to in Wisconsin, or anywhere else. The labor movement has played a key role in helping working families enter the middle class and stay in the middle class. That's why the President encouraged Walker to offer workers "the tools they need to get ahead" rather than strip them of their hard-won rights...
Colorado Minimum-Wage Bill Dies Amid Protests Across Denver, Nation Denver Business Journal ...Minimum wage got a maximum amount of attention Wednesday in Denver, both inside and outside the Capitol. As protesters gathered on the Auraria Campus calling for a national hike in the minimum wage to $15 an hour, a state Senate committee killed a bill that would have allowed cities and counties to raise the floor wage level within their boundaries above the state’s minimum of $8.23 per hour...
L.A. restaurants push for tips to count toward minimum wage LA Times ...Labor activists warn that counting tips toward the citywide minimum wage would violate California law and leave those waiting tables, scrubbing cars or turning down hotel beds more vulnerable to being illegally underpaid. Most tipped workers have low incomes, they say, both inside and outside the restaurant world...
Getting Better Organized: San Francisco's Fight for $15 and a Union Truthout.org ...The demand for $15 an hour minimum wage is a good example of this progress. It is simple, clear, specific, easily understood and, very important, achievable. Though quite bold and in stark contrast to the cowardly timid proposals coming out of Washington politicians from both major parties, the slogan is still quite reasonable...
U.S. Labor
Alleging Labor Abuses, U.S. and Mexican Workers Call for Boycott of Driscoll’s Berries In These Times ...Driscoll’s may be the U.S.’s most recognizable brand name on strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and blackberry cartons. To keep its berries stocked far and wide, the company uses a vast supplier network stretching from Canada to Argentina. But some of those suppliers are coming under fire for allegedly abusing workers, in the U.S. and Mexico. One of Driscoll’s grower has spent weeks embroiled in a major farmworker protest, while a nearly two-year boycott against another grower recently intensified...
AFSCME union president urges members to stay strong The Day ...The U.S. Supreme Court will be hearing arguments soon in Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association, "a case that will determine, essentially, whether we continue to exist," Saunders said. The suit, brought on behalf of a group of 10 California teachers, claims a law that requires public employees to pay union dues as a condition of employment violates their employee rights. Should the teachers win, the country's public sector could become a "right to work" sector, undermining the power of the labor unions...
Two Years After West, Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion, Are Workers Any Safer? New Report Says No In These Times ...In a report released this week, the Center for Effective Government, a non-partisan government watchdog, examined emergency response planning and reporting on chemicals required of plants like West Fertilizer under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA)—enacted in response to the 1984 release of deadly methylisocyanate gas from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India that killed thousands and injured many more—and the Clean Air Act...
Miscellaneous
California drought spurs protest over 'unconscionable' bottled water business The Guardian ...Californians facing the prospect of endless drought, mandated cuts in water use and the browning of their summer lawns are mounting a revolt against the bottled water industry, following revelations that Nestlé and other big companies are taking advantage of poor government oversight to deplete mountain streams and watersheds at vast profit...
Fed Shies Away From June Rate Hike Wall Street Journal ...A patch of soft economic data has created uncertainty inside the Federal Reserve about when to start raising short-term interest rates, dimming the chances of a move as early as June...
Meaningful Financial Reform (opinion) Washington Post ...The objective can’t be questioned. The need for institutional reform is evident. Let’s break the pattern of resisting the need for administrative reform, consider the risks of repeating avoidable crises and demonstrate that this great democracy still has the capacity to act in the common interest...
Millions Spent Lobbying By Private Prison Corporations To Keep A Quota Of Arrested Immigrants, Report Says Think Progress ...Private prison corporations spent $11 million over six years to lobby Congress to keep immigrants in detention centers, a new report released Wednesday found. The Grassroots Leadership report, Payoff: How Congress Ensures Private Prison Profit with an Immigrant Detention Quota, found that lobbying efforts of the two largest private prison corporations have made them the main beneficiaries of aggressive immigration detention policies...
Showing posts with label rail conference. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rail conference. Show all posts
Monday, April 20, 2015
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Today's Teamster News 03.25.15
Teamsters
Ownership Fight At Heidelberg Distributing Could Affect Teamster Contracts WCPO ...Union workers are threatening a statewide strike at one of the largest beer and wine distributorships in the Midwest, citing stalled contract negotiations over better wages and health care...
State Education Association Replaces Leader Amid Turmoil Las Vegas Review Journal ...During the March 12 meeting, the Local Government Employee-Management Relations Board discussed holding a runoff election between ESEA and Teamsters Local 14 to decide who will represent district support staff at the bargaining table. That election could prove to be the downfall of ESEA, which has represented school district support staff for more than 40 years...
Labor Federation Re-Elects Top Officers To 3-Year Terms Buffalo News ...Richard Lipsitz Jr. of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters will continue to serve as president of the Western New York Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. His new term runs until March 2018; Lipsitz and the three other officers ran unopposed. The federation is an umbrella group that covers unions with about 125,000 dues-paying members, stretching as far east as Batavia and as far south as Jamestown...
ONTC And Union Reach Five-Year Deal North Bay Nugget ...This year the ONTC will be negotiating with the remaining four unions (Unifor, Teamsters-Rail, Teamsters-Motor Coach, and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers System). Eight collective agreements remain to be negotiated...
Union Drops Objection To Sunday Growler Sales KARE ...Ed Reynoso of the Teamsters Joint Council 32 told a Senate committee on Monday that "at this point" the union won't oppose a bill legalizing those growler sales on Sunday. It's a shift from last year when Teamsters' concerns about those sales affecting labor contracts helped derail the proposal...
City Council Candidates Stockpile Endorsements Philadelphia Tribune ...Teamsters Joint Council 53 recently endorsed at–large candidate Isaiah Thomas. “I am proud to have the support from Teamsters Joint Council 53,” Thomas said. “I have received endorsements from many members of the labor community and am excited that the Teamsters Union joins this extensive list. As the candidate who will work for Philadelphia, I understand the importance of strong labor support...
Teamsters Local 25 Will Honor David O. Russell Boston Globe ...Teamsters Local 25 will honor writer-director David O. Russell at its annual Light Up the Night Gala for Autism on Saturday. Russell has worked closely with Local 25 while filming the Massachusetts movies “The Fighter,” “American Hustle,” and “Joy,” which is now in production. He’ll be recognized for his work as an advocate for mental health issues...
Trade
Rep. Sander Levin, 83, may pose greatest obstacle to sweeping Asia trade pact Los Angeles Times ...If the president wants to push the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, through Congress this year, first he must win over Levin and other leading liberals, convincing them to ease their demands and give U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman a freer hand...
U.S. fast-track trade deal unlikely until next month: Senator Hatch Reuters ..."I will do my very best to come up with something between now and when we get back, but if he doesn't do it, that would be very unfortunate, but we are going to have to go ahead," Hatch said...
State Battles
ALEC, NFIB Push Prevailing Wage Repeal Center for Media and Democracy ...As unions and working people battle "right-to-work" legislation in several states, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and allies have opened another flank in their war on good jobs. Targeted this time are state prevailing wage laws, which require public construction projects to support local wage standards instead of undercutting them...
Changes to collective bargaining in Nevada? MyNews4 ...A hot topic is set to go before a committee of lawmakers on Wednesday. It’s a bill that would change collective bargaining involving public employee unions...
Unions Win Round Over Rauner In Fee Lawsuit Chicago Tribune ...Unions sued this month to halt an executive order Rauner issued that stopped the "fair share" fees from being sent to them, asking a St. Clair County judge to free up the money while the legal process plays out. Rauner attempted to have the matter moved to a federal court, but U.S. District Judge Staci Yandle ruled that the suit deals with questions regarding Illinois law and should be debated in state court...
Colorado Lawmakers Begin Debate For A $12.50 Minimum Wage By 2020 Denver Post ...A Colorado House committee passed two bills Monday to potentially raise the minimum wage. The first would allow urban and resort communities to raise the local minimum wages, and the other would let voters in 2016 decide on a plan that could hike the state minimum wage to $12.50 an hour by 2020. Both passed on a 6-5 party-line vote with Democrats in support...
Supreme Court Lets Wisconsin’s Voter-ID Law Stand Washington Post ...The justices’ decision not to review a federal appeals court ruling that upheld the law was a victory for Gov. Scott Walker (R), who supported and signed the law, and perhaps for other states that have tightened voting procedures to require additional identification. More challenges to specific state laws are in the pipeline...
War on Workers
AP Investigation: Slavery taints global supply of seafood Associated Press ...Here, in the Indonesian island village of Benjina and the surrounding waters, hundreds of trapped men represent one of the most desperate links criss-crossing between companies and countries in the seafood industry. This intricate web of connections separates the fish we eat from the men who catch it, and obscures a brutal truth: Your seafood may come from slaves...
Scientists to Smithsonian: Cut ties with Koch brothers Washington Post ...Three dozen scientists sent an open letter to museums of natural history calling on them to cut ties with the Koch brothers and anyone else with connections to the fossil fuel industry...
Power from the People International Monetary Fund ...The decline in unionization in recent decades has fed the rise in incomes at the top...
Miscellaneous
RadioShack's Bankruptcy Could Give Your Customer Data to the Highest Bidder Bloomberg ...The phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and shopping habits of more than 100 million customers are part of RadioShack's bankruptcy auction...
Ownership Fight At Heidelberg Distributing Could Affect Teamster Contracts WCPO ...Union workers are threatening a statewide strike at one of the largest beer and wine distributorships in the Midwest, citing stalled contract negotiations over better wages and health care...
State Education Association Replaces Leader Amid Turmoil Las Vegas Review Journal ...During the March 12 meeting, the Local Government Employee-Management Relations Board discussed holding a runoff election between ESEA and Teamsters Local 14 to decide who will represent district support staff at the bargaining table. That election could prove to be the downfall of ESEA, which has represented school district support staff for more than 40 years...
Labor Federation Re-Elects Top Officers To 3-Year Terms Buffalo News ...Richard Lipsitz Jr. of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters will continue to serve as president of the Western New York Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. His new term runs until March 2018; Lipsitz and the three other officers ran unopposed. The federation is an umbrella group that covers unions with about 125,000 dues-paying members, stretching as far east as Batavia and as far south as Jamestown...
ONTC And Union Reach Five-Year Deal North Bay Nugget ...This year the ONTC will be negotiating with the remaining four unions (Unifor, Teamsters-Rail, Teamsters-Motor Coach, and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers System). Eight collective agreements remain to be negotiated...
Union Drops Objection To Sunday Growler Sales KARE ...Ed Reynoso of the Teamsters Joint Council 32 told a Senate committee on Monday that "at this point" the union won't oppose a bill legalizing those growler sales on Sunday. It's a shift from last year when Teamsters' concerns about those sales affecting labor contracts helped derail the proposal...
City Council Candidates Stockpile Endorsements Philadelphia Tribune ...Teamsters Joint Council 53 recently endorsed at–large candidate Isaiah Thomas. “I am proud to have the support from Teamsters Joint Council 53,” Thomas said. “I have received endorsements from many members of the labor community and am excited that the Teamsters Union joins this extensive list. As the candidate who will work for Philadelphia, I understand the importance of strong labor support...
Teamsters Local 25 Will Honor David O. Russell Boston Globe ...Teamsters Local 25 will honor writer-director David O. Russell at its annual Light Up the Night Gala for Autism on Saturday. Russell has worked closely with Local 25 while filming the Massachusetts movies “The Fighter,” “American Hustle,” and “Joy,” which is now in production. He’ll be recognized for his work as an advocate for mental health issues...
Trade
Rep. Sander Levin, 83, may pose greatest obstacle to sweeping Asia trade pact Los Angeles Times ...If the president wants to push the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, through Congress this year, first he must win over Levin and other leading liberals, convincing them to ease their demands and give U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman a freer hand...
U.S. fast-track trade deal unlikely until next month: Senator Hatch Reuters ..."I will do my very best to come up with something between now and when we get back, but if he doesn't do it, that would be very unfortunate, but we are going to have to go ahead," Hatch said...
State Battles
ALEC, NFIB Push Prevailing Wage Repeal Center for Media and Democracy ...As unions and working people battle "right-to-work" legislation in several states, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and allies have opened another flank in their war on good jobs. Targeted this time are state prevailing wage laws, which require public construction projects to support local wage standards instead of undercutting them...
Changes to collective bargaining in Nevada? MyNews4 ...A hot topic is set to go before a committee of lawmakers on Wednesday. It’s a bill that would change collective bargaining involving public employee unions...
Unions Win Round Over Rauner In Fee Lawsuit Chicago Tribune ...Unions sued this month to halt an executive order Rauner issued that stopped the "fair share" fees from being sent to them, asking a St. Clair County judge to free up the money while the legal process plays out. Rauner attempted to have the matter moved to a federal court, but U.S. District Judge Staci Yandle ruled that the suit deals with questions regarding Illinois law and should be debated in state court...
Colorado Lawmakers Begin Debate For A $12.50 Minimum Wage By 2020 Denver Post ...A Colorado House committee passed two bills Monday to potentially raise the minimum wage. The first would allow urban and resort communities to raise the local minimum wages, and the other would let voters in 2016 decide on a plan that could hike the state minimum wage to $12.50 an hour by 2020. Both passed on a 6-5 party-line vote with Democrats in support...
Supreme Court Lets Wisconsin’s Voter-ID Law Stand Washington Post ...The justices’ decision not to review a federal appeals court ruling that upheld the law was a victory for Gov. Scott Walker (R), who supported and signed the law, and perhaps for other states that have tightened voting procedures to require additional identification. More challenges to specific state laws are in the pipeline...
War on Workers
AP Investigation: Slavery taints global supply of seafood Associated Press ...Here, in the Indonesian island village of Benjina and the surrounding waters, hundreds of trapped men represent one of the most desperate links criss-crossing between companies and countries in the seafood industry. This intricate web of connections separates the fish we eat from the men who catch it, and obscures a brutal truth: Your seafood may come from slaves...
Scientists to Smithsonian: Cut ties with Koch brothers Washington Post ...Three dozen scientists sent an open letter to museums of natural history calling on them to cut ties with the Koch brothers and anyone else with connections to the fossil fuel industry...
Power from the People International Monetary Fund ...The decline in unionization in recent decades has fed the rise in incomes at the top...
Miscellaneous
RadioShack's Bankruptcy Could Give Your Customer Data to the Highest Bidder Bloomberg ...The phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and shopping habits of more than 100 million customers are part of RadioShack's bankruptcy auction...
Friday, March 6, 2015
Today's Teamster News 03.06.15
Teamsters
Teamsters at ProJo File Federal Complaint Against Newspaper’s Owner GateHouse GoLocalProv …The labor union representing Providence Journal employees who work as inserters for the paper have filed federal charges against new owner GateHouse Media. Business Agent Matthew Maini with the Teamsters Local 251, which represents the nearly 60 inserters in the Journal's production side, said that the charges were recently made with the federal government's National Labor Relations Board against the new owners…
Giant Eagle: Distribution center not staying in Austintown WKBN …As of Thursday, Giant Eagle is still planning to close its Tamarkin Distribution Center in Austintown, putting 200 jobs in jeopardy. Thursday, the Mahoning County Commissioners said they want Giant Eagle and the Teamsters union to hammer out a new agreement…
CP Rail will use management to maintain 100 per cent capacity in event of another strike: Harrison Calgary Herald …Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.’s practice of training managers to drive and load trains means the company will be able to operate without a hitch in the event of a future rail strike, said CEO Hunter Harrison on Wednesday...
Trade
Anti-Fast-Track Momentum Builds Huffington Post …Opponents of fast track and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are gaining momentum. In spite of a virtual media blackout, public awareness of the coming trade deal is increasing...
State Battles
Wisconsin close to becoming 25th right-to-work state Associated Press …With Wisconsin positioned to become the third Midwestern state in as many years to enact a right-to-work law, proponents are touting job growth in Indiana as reason for optimism while detractors say union membership slides in Michigan signal potential problems...
Effort to 'blast' right-to-work out of committee, onto Senate floor falls flat The Taos News …Republicans tried but failed Thursday to move the bill they call "right-to-work" straight to the full New Mexico Senate, saying they did not want it bottled up in committees controlled by Democrats...
War on Workers
BNSF oil train derails in rural Illinois; two cars aflame Reuters …A BNSF Railway [BNISF.UL] train loaded with crude oil derailed and caught fire on Thursday afternoon in a rural area south of Galena, Illinois, according to local officials and the company...
Energy Price Plunge Hits Jobs Boston Globe …Plunging oil prices have led to consumer friendly prices at the pump, but the trend is proving to be a double edged sword. Jobs in energy related fields are getting whacked..
Contractor cited after 31-year-old worker dies in cave-in in Birmingham al.com …If the general contractor who employed 31-year-old LeDonte McCruter had followed national labor rules, McCruter wouldn't have died in a cave-in in August, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission said Thursday...
Worker killed at Ace Pole recalled as ‘family’ The Blackshear Times …“They were loading logs into the kiln to be kiln-dried and the victim was somehow caught and crushed between some logs,” said Bennett...
Miscellaneous
Ringling Bros. Eliminating Elephant Acts Associated Press …Animal rights groups took credit for generating the public concern that forced the company to announce its pachyderm retirement plan on Thursday. But Ringling Bros.' owners described it as the bittersweet result of years of internal family discussions...
Teamsters at ProJo File Federal Complaint Against Newspaper’s Owner GateHouse GoLocalProv …The labor union representing Providence Journal employees who work as inserters for the paper have filed federal charges against new owner GateHouse Media. Business Agent Matthew Maini with the Teamsters Local 251, which represents the nearly 60 inserters in the Journal's production side, said that the charges were recently made with the federal government's National Labor Relations Board against the new owners…
Giant Eagle: Distribution center not staying in Austintown WKBN …As of Thursday, Giant Eagle is still planning to close its Tamarkin Distribution Center in Austintown, putting 200 jobs in jeopardy. Thursday, the Mahoning County Commissioners said they want Giant Eagle and the Teamsters union to hammer out a new agreement…
CP Rail will use management to maintain 100 per cent capacity in event of another strike: Harrison Calgary Herald …Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.’s practice of training managers to drive and load trains means the company will be able to operate without a hitch in the event of a future rail strike, said CEO Hunter Harrison on Wednesday...
Trade
Anti-Fast-Track Momentum Builds Huffington Post …Opponents of fast track and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are gaining momentum. In spite of a virtual media blackout, public awareness of the coming trade deal is increasing...
State Battles
Wisconsin close to becoming 25th right-to-work state Associated Press …With Wisconsin positioned to become the third Midwestern state in as many years to enact a right-to-work law, proponents are touting job growth in Indiana as reason for optimism while detractors say union membership slides in Michigan signal potential problems...
Effort to 'blast' right-to-work out of committee, onto Senate floor falls flat The Taos News …Republicans tried but failed Thursday to move the bill they call "right-to-work" straight to the full New Mexico Senate, saying they did not want it bottled up in committees controlled by Democrats...
War on Workers
BNSF oil train derails in rural Illinois; two cars aflame Reuters …A BNSF Railway [BNISF.UL] train loaded with crude oil derailed and caught fire on Thursday afternoon in a rural area south of Galena, Illinois, according to local officials and the company...
Energy Price Plunge Hits Jobs Boston Globe …Plunging oil prices have led to consumer friendly prices at the pump, but the trend is proving to be a double edged sword. Jobs in energy related fields are getting whacked..
Contractor cited after 31-year-old worker dies in cave-in in Birmingham al.com …If the general contractor who employed 31-year-old LeDonte McCruter had followed national labor rules, McCruter wouldn't have died in a cave-in in August, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission said Thursday...
Worker killed at Ace Pole recalled as ‘family’ The Blackshear Times …“They were loading logs into the kiln to be kiln-dried and the victim was somehow caught and crushed between some logs,” said Bennett...
Miscellaneous
Ringling Bros. Eliminating Elephant Acts Associated Press …Animal rights groups took credit for generating the public concern that forced the company to announce its pachyderm retirement plan on Thursday. But Ringling Bros.' owners described it as the bittersweet result of years of internal family discussions...
Monday, February 16, 2015
Today's Teamster News 02.16.15
Teamsters
Striking Teamsters picket CP Rail offices in Thunder Bay CBC News …Striking Canadian Pacific Railway employees braved the bitter cold in Thunder Bay Sunday to picket the CP offices on Syndicate Avenue in what is expected to be a short-lived labour action. The federal government is expected to introduce legislation on Monday to end the strike by more than 3,000 unionized CP workers…
Canadian Pacific Railway blasted for intimidating employees Spyghana …Dennis Pierce, National President of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and President of the Teamsters Rail Conference (U.S.), blasted Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) today for its growing culture of threats and intimidation toward its employees in the U.S. and Canada...
Teamsters: State Reps. To Host Community Forum On School Bus Transportation istockanalyst …On Monday, Feb. 16, at 3:30 p.m., State Reps. Wendell Gilliard, David Mack and Seth Whipper will be joined by Charleston NAACP President Dot Scott, Members of the British Parliament, Charleston school bus drivers, parents and concerned community members at a press conference and public forum on school bus transportation. The forum will cover the ongoing serious safety, service and working condition concerns with Durham School Services, the transportation contractor for Charleston City Schools...
Trade
Trading US Democracy for Corporate Profits with TPP Counterpunch …The key point to notice about TPP, as with earlier trade deals, is that it is being negotiated in secret. The reason for this is that there are so many outrages in it which undermine US sovereignty and democratic control, and so many things in the deal that benefit multinational corporations at the expense of the American worker and the broader American public that there would be almost universal outrage if they were known…
Opinion: Progressives and Tea Party find common ground as they oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership NJ.com ...So, you think the idea of progressives and the Tea Party working together or achieving a common purpose is some woolly-headed, academic fantasy without the proverbial snowball's chance -- that it cannot happen because the gulf separating these two factions is unbridgeable? Well, think again...
War on Workers
Tax Cuts Didn’t Lead to Faster Growth Economic Policy Institute …The figure below shows average top tax rates and average productivity growth (how much output is produced in the average hour of work in the economy) for two periods: 1948-1979 and 1979-2007. The earlier period saw significantly higher average top tax rates and significantly faster productivity growth...
Striking Teamsters picket CP Rail offices in Thunder Bay CBC News …Striking Canadian Pacific Railway employees braved the bitter cold in Thunder Bay Sunday to picket the CP offices on Syndicate Avenue in what is expected to be a short-lived labour action. The federal government is expected to introduce legislation on Monday to end the strike by more than 3,000 unionized CP workers…
Canadian Pacific Railway blasted for intimidating employees Spyghana …Dennis Pierce, National President of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and President of the Teamsters Rail Conference (U.S.), blasted Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) today for its growing culture of threats and intimidation toward its employees in the U.S. and Canada...
Teamsters: State Reps. To Host Community Forum On School Bus Transportation istockanalyst …On Monday, Feb. 16, at 3:30 p.m., State Reps. Wendell Gilliard, David Mack and Seth Whipper will be joined by Charleston NAACP President Dot Scott, Members of the British Parliament, Charleston school bus drivers, parents and concerned community members at a press conference and public forum on school bus transportation. The forum will cover the ongoing serious safety, service and working condition concerns with Durham School Services, the transportation contractor for Charleston City Schools...
Trade
Trading US Democracy for Corporate Profits with TPP Counterpunch …The key point to notice about TPP, as with earlier trade deals, is that it is being negotiated in secret. The reason for this is that there are so many outrages in it which undermine US sovereignty and democratic control, and so many things in the deal that benefit multinational corporations at the expense of the American worker and the broader American public that there would be almost universal outrage if they were known…
Opinion: Progressives and Tea Party find common ground as they oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership NJ.com ...So, you think the idea of progressives and the Tea Party working together or achieving a common purpose is some woolly-headed, academic fantasy without the proverbial snowball's chance -- that it cannot happen because the gulf separating these two factions is unbridgeable? Well, think again...
War on Workers
Tax Cuts Didn’t Lead to Faster Growth Economic Policy Institute …The figure below shows average top tax rates and average productivity growth (how much output is produced in the average hour of work in the economy) for two periods: 1948-1979 and 1979-2007. The earlier period saw significantly higher average top tax rates and significantly faster productivity growth...
Latino workers dying at higher rates in job accidents, report shows Reflejos …of the 4,405 U.S. workers killed on the job in 2013, 797 were Latinos. That equates to 3.8 of every 100,000 full-time Latino employees in the U.S. dying in workplace accidents during the year...
Miscellaneous
Feds unveil commercial drone rules The Hill …The Federal Aviation Administration is moving to allow commercial drones that weigh less than 55 pounds to be flown in the U.S. under new regulations that were released on Sunday morning...
The Richest Cities for Young People: 1980 vs. Today The Atlantic …Five of the ten richest cities for young Boomers have since seen median wages for young people fall by at least 15 percent...
Miscellaneous
Feds unveil commercial drone rules The Hill …The Federal Aviation Administration is moving to allow commercial drones that weigh less than 55 pounds to be flown in the U.S. under new regulations that were released on Sunday morning...
The Richest Cities for Young People: 1980 vs. Today The Atlantic …Five of the ten richest cities for young Boomers have since seen median wages for young people fall by at least 15 percent...
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Today's Teamster News 02.04.15
Teamsters
Clark County School District Workers Choose Teamsters Local 14 teamster.org …The support staff workers at the Clark County School District (CCSD) in southern Nevada voted to join the Teamsters Union today. CCSD workers voted 71 percent in favor of joining Teamsters Local 14 in Las Vegas...
California Truckers Win $2 Million In Wage Theft Suit Yahoo News ...Seven Los Angeles-area truckers have won a $2 million claim against an international shipping company accused of stealing their wages by improperly classifying them as independent contractors and charging them to lease its trucks to drive...
Sysco At Standstill With FTC Over U.S. Foods Buyout Wall Street Journal ...The stalemate comes despite Sysco’s proposed agreement announced Monday with rival Performance Food Group Co. to sell the company 11 U.S. Foods distribution centers with a combined $4.6 billion in annual revenue. That is more than double the $2 billion in revenue that Sysco originally planned to divest to win regulators’ blessing...
CP Rail Encourages Office Workers To Learn How To Drive Trains CBC News ...The Teamsters union said the railway may be making preparations in case of a work stoppage. "I have received several reports recently that CP Rail is phoning up retired railroad workers and asking them if they will come in to be replacement workers in the event of a strike or a lockout," Finnson said...
Robert P. Sullivan Sioux City Journal …Robert P. Sullivan, 91, of Sioux City died Monday, Feb. 2, 2015, at Countryside Retirement Center in Sioux City…He was employed as a truck driver by Sioux City Transportation for 25 years and retired in 1982. Bob was a member of the Teamsters Union and the Teamsters Retirement Group...
Trade
Japan, U.S. Resume Working-Level TPP Talks Japan Times ...Japan and the United States on Monday resumed working-level talks on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, aiming to resolve bilateral disagreements on the scope of tariff reduction on farm products and autos, informed sources said...
TPP and Provisions to Stop Currency Management: Not That Hard Economic Policy Institute …currency management is a key cause of persistent U.S. trade deficits, and it is widespread. Given that our trade deficit drags on demand growth, and given that generating sufficient demand to reach full employment is likely to be a key economic problem in coming years, this is an important issue to address. Further, given that U.S. tariffs are extremely low, it’s hard to think of any other issue besides currency management that could possibly matter more for trade flows, so excluding it from the TPP seems odd. And yet many TPP proponents are extremely reluctant to include binding tools to stop currency management in the treaty...
TISA: Leaked document uncovers secret discussions that undermine access to health care Third World Health Aid …A secret discussion note for the Trade in Service Agreement (TISA) – leaked today by Associated Whistle-Blowing Press- uncovers that negotiators discuss reforms to the national health care systems in favour of international trade and the commercialisation of health care. This proposal, made by Turkey, has been discussed by the member states of the EU during the TISA negotiations that took place in Geneva in September 2014...
State Battles
Unions crowd Capitol for Right-to-Work hearings Missouri Times …The same day that conservative mouthpiece Ed Martin announced he would not be returning as Chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, Martin’s own legacy lived on as several of his supporters held hearings on their bills to make Missouri the 25th “Right-to-Work” state...
Experts discuss right-to-work legislation [VIDEO] New Mexico Political Report … the Taft-Hartley Act already makes it illegal to force employees to join a worker’s union. What’s not illegal in New Mexico is deducting money from an employee’s paycheck for pay negotiations and health care. That practice is known as Fair Share, and union supporters say it’s necessary to keep unions financially solvent and that unions provide a service to all workers...
"Right to Work" legislation stirs up debate among lawmakers, local businesses WQOW.com …Republican lawmakers and Wisconsin businesses are clocked in for discussion on proposed legislation. "To be honest, we're a little concerned about the unintended consequences that of ‘Right to Work'. Initially, there's going to be a distraction instead of our people taking care of our clients," President of Market & Johnson Jerry Shea said. "They could potentially be focusing on the effects of this."…
Rauner's 'right-to-work' proposal stirs debate The Times ...Last week, Rauner took aim at unions by stating one of his top priorities is passing legislation to create "right-to-work zones." Rauner envisions these "zones" to be set up in economically depressed areas sanctioned by the state where local officials could decide whether union participation and fees would be voluntary for local workers…
Minimum Wage Bills Rejected In House Committee Albuquerque Journal ...A Republican-controlled House committee on Monday spiked Democrats’ proposals to raise New Mexico’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. It was a strong signal that Republicans and their allies in the business community aren’t open to an increase of that size. But with the 60-day session barely two weeks old, the issue is far from settled...
Wisconsin Union Membership Drop Among Highest For States Without Right-To-Work Law Cap Times ...Of 26 states that don't have a right-to-work law in place, Wisconsin had the third-highest percentage drop in union membership between 2010 and 2014...
Arguments Before the Michigan Supreme Court on Right-to-Work Law Beside the Point (opinion) Truthout ...Let's not pretend that the Michigan Supreme Court is deciding whether or not the right-to-work law applies to public employees. The court is deciding on what it means to say that American workers are free...
War on Workers
Opponents of mandatory union fees hope Supreme Court will side with them McClatchy …Her case could pose a major threat to public-sector unions whose clout grew in the 1970s after the Supreme Court upheld laws requiring all employees who benefit from collective bargaining to contribute to unions...
The Big Lie: 5.6% Unemployment Gallup … If you, a family member or anyone is unemployed and has subsequently given up on finding a job -- if you are so hopelessly out of work that you've stopped looking over the past four weeks -- the Department of Labor doesn't count you as unemployed...
Ashley Furniture faces $1.76M in fines after OSHA finds more than 1,000 worker injuries at Wisconsin site in past 36 months U.S. Department of Labor … In a three-and-a-half year period, 4,500 employees at Ashley Furniture Industries Inc., in Arcadia, experienced more than 1,000 work-related injuries. One worker became another terrible statistic when he lost three fingers in July 2014 while operating a dangerous woodworking machine without required safety mechanisms in place. Of the injuries recorded, more than 100 were caused by similar machinery...
Labor charges filed at Taj Mahal casino; Revel in turmoil Associated Press …Fights over the fates of two bankrupt Atlantic City casinos heated up Tuesday as the main casino workers’ union filed 27 charges of unfair labor practice against the Trump Taj Mahal’s owner and Revel urged a judge not to delay its sale any further...
Worker Killed When Air Tank Explodes Chicago Tribune ...The accident happened around 9:30 p.m. Monday at the Maac Machinery company at 590 Tower Blvd. in the west suburb, according to the Carol Stream Fire Department...
Worker Crushed By Large Trailer At Local Facility Dies KWTX.com …A worker died Tuesday after he was crushed by a large trailer while performing maintenance on a vehicle at an energy services company facility outside of Hillsboro...
Miscellaneous
Inflation Well Short Of Fed’s 2% Target Wall Street Journal ...The price index for personal consumption expenditures was up 0.7% in December from a year earlier, the Commerce Department said Monday. That was the smallest 12-month gain for consumer prices since October 2009, and it marks the 32nd consecutive month below the Fed’s 2% inflation target...
U.S. Consumers In Rainy-Day Mode Wall Street Journal ...Personal spending, which measures outlays for everything from hardware to health care, decreased a seasonally adjusted 0.3% from the prior month, the Commerce Department said Monday, the first such fall since January and the biggest decline in more than five years. But Americans’ savings rate rose to 4.9% in December from 4.3% the prior month as Americans set aside an additional $75 billion for a rainy day...
Clark County School District Workers Choose Teamsters Local 14 teamster.org …The support staff workers at the Clark County School District (CCSD) in southern Nevada voted to join the Teamsters Union today. CCSD workers voted 71 percent in favor of joining Teamsters Local 14 in Las Vegas...
California Truckers Win $2 Million In Wage Theft Suit Yahoo News ...Seven Los Angeles-area truckers have won a $2 million claim against an international shipping company accused of stealing their wages by improperly classifying them as independent contractors and charging them to lease its trucks to drive...
Sysco At Standstill With FTC Over U.S. Foods Buyout Wall Street Journal ...The stalemate comes despite Sysco’s proposed agreement announced Monday with rival Performance Food Group Co. to sell the company 11 U.S. Foods distribution centers with a combined $4.6 billion in annual revenue. That is more than double the $2 billion in revenue that Sysco originally planned to divest to win regulators’ blessing...
CP Rail Encourages Office Workers To Learn How To Drive Trains CBC News ...The Teamsters union said the railway may be making preparations in case of a work stoppage. "I have received several reports recently that CP Rail is phoning up retired railroad workers and asking them if they will come in to be replacement workers in the event of a strike or a lockout," Finnson said...
Robert P. Sullivan Sioux City Journal …Robert P. Sullivan, 91, of Sioux City died Monday, Feb. 2, 2015, at Countryside Retirement Center in Sioux City…He was employed as a truck driver by Sioux City Transportation for 25 years and retired in 1982. Bob was a member of the Teamsters Union and the Teamsters Retirement Group...
Trade
Japan, U.S. Resume Working-Level TPP Talks Japan Times ...Japan and the United States on Monday resumed working-level talks on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, aiming to resolve bilateral disagreements on the scope of tariff reduction on farm products and autos, informed sources said...
TPP and Provisions to Stop Currency Management: Not That Hard Economic Policy Institute …currency management is a key cause of persistent U.S. trade deficits, and it is widespread. Given that our trade deficit drags on demand growth, and given that generating sufficient demand to reach full employment is likely to be a key economic problem in coming years, this is an important issue to address. Further, given that U.S. tariffs are extremely low, it’s hard to think of any other issue besides currency management that could possibly matter more for trade flows, so excluding it from the TPP seems odd. And yet many TPP proponents are extremely reluctant to include binding tools to stop currency management in the treaty...
TISA: Leaked document uncovers secret discussions that undermine access to health care Third World Health Aid …A secret discussion note for the Trade in Service Agreement (TISA) – leaked today by Associated Whistle-Blowing Press- uncovers that negotiators discuss reforms to the national health care systems in favour of international trade and the commercialisation of health care. This proposal, made by Turkey, has been discussed by the member states of the EU during the TISA negotiations that took place in Geneva in September 2014...
State Battles
Unions crowd Capitol for Right-to-Work hearings Missouri Times …The same day that conservative mouthpiece Ed Martin announced he would not be returning as Chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, Martin’s own legacy lived on as several of his supporters held hearings on their bills to make Missouri the 25th “Right-to-Work” state...
Experts discuss right-to-work legislation [VIDEO] New Mexico Political Report … the Taft-Hartley Act already makes it illegal to force employees to join a worker’s union. What’s not illegal in New Mexico is deducting money from an employee’s paycheck for pay negotiations and health care. That practice is known as Fair Share, and union supporters say it’s necessary to keep unions financially solvent and that unions provide a service to all workers...
"Right to Work" legislation stirs up debate among lawmakers, local businesses WQOW.com …Republican lawmakers and Wisconsin businesses are clocked in for discussion on proposed legislation. "To be honest, we're a little concerned about the unintended consequences that of ‘Right to Work'. Initially, there's going to be a distraction instead of our people taking care of our clients," President of Market & Johnson Jerry Shea said. "They could potentially be focusing on the effects of this."…
Rauner's 'right-to-work' proposal stirs debate The Times ...Last week, Rauner took aim at unions by stating one of his top priorities is passing legislation to create "right-to-work zones." Rauner envisions these "zones" to be set up in economically depressed areas sanctioned by the state where local officials could decide whether union participation and fees would be voluntary for local workers…
Minimum Wage Bills Rejected In House Committee Albuquerque Journal ...A Republican-controlled House committee on Monday spiked Democrats’ proposals to raise New Mexico’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. It was a strong signal that Republicans and their allies in the business community aren’t open to an increase of that size. But with the 60-day session barely two weeks old, the issue is far from settled...
Wisconsin Union Membership Drop Among Highest For States Without Right-To-Work Law Cap Times ...Of 26 states that don't have a right-to-work law in place, Wisconsin had the third-highest percentage drop in union membership between 2010 and 2014...
Arguments Before the Michigan Supreme Court on Right-to-Work Law Beside the Point (opinion) Truthout ...Let's not pretend that the Michigan Supreme Court is deciding whether or not the right-to-work law applies to public employees. The court is deciding on what it means to say that American workers are free...
War on Workers
Opponents of mandatory union fees hope Supreme Court will side with them McClatchy …Her case could pose a major threat to public-sector unions whose clout grew in the 1970s after the Supreme Court upheld laws requiring all employees who benefit from collective bargaining to contribute to unions...
The Big Lie: 5.6% Unemployment Gallup … If you, a family member or anyone is unemployed and has subsequently given up on finding a job -- if you are so hopelessly out of work that you've stopped looking over the past four weeks -- the Department of Labor doesn't count you as unemployed...
Ashley Furniture faces $1.76M in fines after OSHA finds more than 1,000 worker injuries at Wisconsin site in past 36 months U.S. Department of Labor … In a three-and-a-half year period, 4,500 employees at Ashley Furniture Industries Inc., in Arcadia, experienced more than 1,000 work-related injuries. One worker became another terrible statistic when he lost three fingers in July 2014 while operating a dangerous woodworking machine without required safety mechanisms in place. Of the injuries recorded, more than 100 were caused by similar machinery...
Labor charges filed at Taj Mahal casino; Revel in turmoil Associated Press …Fights over the fates of two bankrupt Atlantic City casinos heated up Tuesday as the main casino workers’ union filed 27 charges of unfair labor practice against the Trump Taj Mahal’s owner and Revel urged a judge not to delay its sale any further...
Worker Killed When Air Tank Explodes Chicago Tribune ...The accident happened around 9:30 p.m. Monday at the Maac Machinery company at 590 Tower Blvd. in the west suburb, according to the Carol Stream Fire Department...
Worker Crushed By Large Trailer At Local Facility Dies KWTX.com …A worker died Tuesday after he was crushed by a large trailer while performing maintenance on a vehicle at an energy services company facility outside of Hillsboro...
Miscellaneous
Inflation Well Short Of Fed’s 2% Target Wall Street Journal ...The price index for personal consumption expenditures was up 0.7% in December from a year earlier, the Commerce Department said Monday. That was the smallest 12-month gain for consumer prices since October 2009, and it marks the 32nd consecutive month below the Fed’s 2% inflation target...
U.S. Consumers In Rainy-Day Mode Wall Street Journal ...Personal spending, which measures outlays for everything from hardware to health care, decreased a seasonally adjusted 0.3% from the prior month, the Commerce Department said Monday, the first such fall since January and the biggest decline in more than five years. But Americans’ savings rate rose to 4.9% in December from 4.3% the prior month as Americans set aside an additional $75 billion for a rainy day...
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Today's Teamster News 12.20.14
Teamster News
Anne Arundel County Fire Department Battalion Chiefs Choose Teamsters teamster.org ...–Anne Arundel County Fire Department battalion chiefs have voted unanimously to join Teamsters Local 355 in Baltimore...
Negotiations At VIA Rail: The Teamsters Union And The Employer Have Requested A Conciliator CNW News ...The bargaining process between the 350 Locomotive Engineers at VIA Rail represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) and the rail carrier, are at a point that both parties agree that third party assistance would be beneficial...
CN reaches tentative labour agreement with Teamsters union representing locomotive engineers and conductors on Northern Quebec Internal Short Line Yahoo Finance ...The four-year agreement would provide wage increases and benefit improvements to 93 employees. Details of the agreement are being withheld pending ratification by the affected TCRC members. The union is expected to announce the results of the ratification vote by the end of February 2015...
Council Asks EPA For Bridgeton Landfill Contaminant Studies KMOX ...The St. Louis County Council has unanimously passed a resolution that pushes the Environmental Protection Agency to release studies on groundwater contamination at the Bridgeton Landfill...
Trade
Elizabeth Warren: Obama Trade Deal Could Undermine Wall Street Reform Huffington Post ..."With millions of families still struggling to recover from the last financial crisis and the Great Recession that followed, we cannot afford a trade deal that undermines the government's ability to protect the American economy."...
The consequences of a crumbling TTIP (opinion) Euractiv …A growing number of Europeans see TTIP as selling out Europe's social and environmental standards. Perhaps the EU and the US should have never undertaken this mammoth project...
State Battles
Warren County Passes Local Right-To-Work Law ...The General Motors plant in Warren County is a closed shop, meaning its 888 employees must pay union dues in order to work there. But the Warren County Fiscal Court passed a local law Friday banning that practice in the future, defying the state's Democratic attorney general and taking the first step toward trying to overturn a 49-year-old state decision...
Minimum Wage On Agenda At Legislature Albuquerque Journal ...Two bills have been pre-filed this week by Democratic lawmakers, both seeking a hike in the state’s current $7.50-per-hour minimum wage – one of them to $8.30 an hour and the other to $10.10....
Minimum Wage In Louisville Upped To $9 Louisville Courier Journal ...The Metro Council and Mayor Greg Fischer, who were at odds over increasing the minimum wage, reached an agreement Thursday night with the council voting to increase the minimum wage in Jefferson County to $9 an hour gradually over three years...
Ohio's Minimum Wage Increase Expected To Boost Economy By $40 Million Cleveland Plain Dealer ...As the calendar flips to 2015, Ohio's minimum wage will increase by 15 cents to $8.10 per hour, benefiting an estimated 313,000 low-wage workers in the state, according to a release from the National Employment Law Project, a non-partisan, nonprofit organization that advocates on issues affecting low-wage and unemployed workers. In addition, the minimum wage for tipped workers in Ohio will rise by 7 cents to $4.05 per hour...
War on Workers
Obama labor board comes down hard on McDonald’s Politico …In a significant victory for fast-food demonstrators, the Obama administration filed 13 legal complaints on Friday against McDonald’s USA, LLC, alleging 78 instances in which it violated federal labor law by punishing workers for taking part in fast food protests...
When the Well Educated Middle Class Joins the Working Poor BillMoyers.com ...Today, around three-quarters of all US college professors are classified as “contingent faculty” — those who aren’t on a tenure track — and about half are technically “part-time,” even though many of them teach a full-time load of classes. They may be highly educated professionals, but most adjuncts struggle to make ends meet with low pay, limited benefits and zero job security...
Yard Worker Killed Trade Winds ...The worker was on a ladder about 30 feet above the deck at the time. He lost his balance and fell, striking his head on a beam...
Employee Dies While Working At Dayton Sand And Gravel Portland Press Herald ...Goodwin Mills Fire Chief Roger Hooper said Libby was climbing down a ladder attached to a bucket truck when he went into cardiac arrest and fell....The death is the second at the business in two yearsl...
Construction Worker Dies In Emerson NorthJersey.com ...A construction worker was killed Thursday afternoon when he was working near a backhoe and was hit in the head by the machine’s rear bucket, authorities said...
Miscellaneous
Anne Arundel County Fire Department Battalion Chiefs Choose Teamsters teamster.org ...–Anne Arundel County Fire Department battalion chiefs have voted unanimously to join Teamsters Local 355 in Baltimore...
Negotiations At VIA Rail: The Teamsters Union And The Employer Have Requested A Conciliator CNW News ...The bargaining process between the 350 Locomotive Engineers at VIA Rail represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) and the rail carrier, are at a point that both parties agree that third party assistance would be beneficial...
CN reaches tentative labour agreement with Teamsters union representing locomotive engineers and conductors on Northern Quebec Internal Short Line Yahoo Finance ...The four-year agreement would provide wage increases and benefit improvements to 93 employees. Details of the agreement are being withheld pending ratification by the affected TCRC members. The union is expected to announce the results of the ratification vote by the end of February 2015...
Council Asks EPA For Bridgeton Landfill Contaminant Studies KMOX ...The St. Louis County Council has unanimously passed a resolution that pushes the Environmental Protection Agency to release studies on groundwater contamination at the Bridgeton Landfill...
Trade
Elizabeth Warren: Obama Trade Deal Could Undermine Wall Street Reform Huffington Post ..."With millions of families still struggling to recover from the last financial crisis and the Great Recession that followed, we cannot afford a trade deal that undermines the government's ability to protect the American economy."...
The consequences of a crumbling TTIP (opinion) Euractiv …A growing number of Europeans see TTIP as selling out Europe's social and environmental standards. Perhaps the EU and the US should have never undertaken this mammoth project...
State Battles
Warren County Passes Local Right-To-Work Law ...The General Motors plant in Warren County is a closed shop, meaning its 888 employees must pay union dues in order to work there. But the Warren County Fiscal Court passed a local law Friday banning that practice in the future, defying the state's Democratic attorney general and taking the first step toward trying to overturn a 49-year-old state decision...
Minimum Wage On Agenda At Legislature Albuquerque Journal ...Two bills have been pre-filed this week by Democratic lawmakers, both seeking a hike in the state’s current $7.50-per-hour minimum wage – one of them to $8.30 an hour and the other to $10.10....
Minimum Wage In Louisville Upped To $9 Louisville Courier Journal ...The Metro Council and Mayor Greg Fischer, who were at odds over increasing the minimum wage, reached an agreement Thursday night with the council voting to increase the minimum wage in Jefferson County to $9 an hour gradually over three years...
Ohio's Minimum Wage Increase Expected To Boost Economy By $40 Million Cleveland Plain Dealer ...As the calendar flips to 2015, Ohio's minimum wage will increase by 15 cents to $8.10 per hour, benefiting an estimated 313,000 low-wage workers in the state, according to a release from the National Employment Law Project, a non-partisan, nonprofit organization that advocates on issues affecting low-wage and unemployed workers. In addition, the minimum wage for tipped workers in Ohio will rise by 7 cents to $4.05 per hour...
War on Workers
Obama labor board comes down hard on McDonald’s Politico …In a significant victory for fast-food demonstrators, the Obama administration filed 13 legal complaints on Friday against McDonald’s USA, LLC, alleging 78 instances in which it violated federal labor law by punishing workers for taking part in fast food protests...
When the Well Educated Middle Class Joins the Working Poor BillMoyers.com ...Today, around three-quarters of all US college professors are classified as “contingent faculty” — those who aren’t on a tenure track — and about half are technically “part-time,” even though many of them teach a full-time load of classes. They may be highly educated professionals, but most adjuncts struggle to make ends meet with low pay, limited benefits and zero job security...
Yard Worker Killed Trade Winds ...The worker was on a ladder about 30 feet above the deck at the time. He lost his balance and fell, striking his head on a beam...
Employee Dies While Working At Dayton Sand And Gravel Portland Press Herald ...Goodwin Mills Fire Chief Roger Hooper said Libby was climbing down a ladder attached to a bucket truck when he went into cardiac arrest and fell....The death is the second at the business in two yearsl...
Construction Worker Dies In Emerson NorthJersey.com ...A construction worker was killed Thursday afternoon when he was working near a backhoe and was hit in the head by the machine’s rear bucket, authorities said...
Miscellaneous
Friday, November 7, 2014
Today's Teamster News 11.07.14
Teamster News
Election Count Ensures Teamster Victory At UNFI Distribution Center teamster.org ...More than a year ago, truck drivers at United Natural Foods, Inc.’s (UNFI) distribution center voted in a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election for representation by Teamsters Local 63 in Covina, Calif. The votes in that election were not counted – until now. On Nov. 4, the drivers’ votes were finally tallied after an NLRB panel mandated that the ballots be counted. The drivers voted to be represented by the Teamsters...
Teamsters help deliver 664,000 signatures opposing Fast Track to key lawmaker on trade TeamsterNation ...Teamsters and allies carried 644,000 signatures opposing Fast Track legislation to Sen. Ron Wyden's office today. Wyden, as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, plays a key role in moving trade deals like TPP and TTIP through Congress...
CN: a new conflict management mechanism is put to the test Digital Journal ...Teamsters are setting up an innovative mechanism for conflict management, in order to avoid strikes and lockouts at CN...
Trade
Republican Control Of Congress Does Not Mean TPP Is A Done Deal Japan Times ...“The election results mean that the Obama administration will not be able to step back its position regarding Japan and agriculture in TPP even if it were so inclined, as the demand for tariff zeroing on all commodities comes from the Republicans. Also, the prospect that fast-track will be passed during Obama’s last two years is further reduced by Republican control of the Senate,” Wallach said....
State Battles
Massachusetts Voters Approve Paid Sick Leave Measure Huffington Post ...Massachusetts on Tuesday became the third state in the nation to guarantee paid sick days for workers, with voters decisively approving a sick-leave ballot initiative, 60 percent to 40 percent...
Anchorage Voters Favor Unions In Repealing Mayor Sullivan's Labor Law Rewrite Alaska Dispatch News ...Anchorage voters soundly rejected Ballot Measure 1 in Tuesday’s election, in effect repealing the Sullivan administration’s rewrite of city labor law and handing a triumph to labor unions that have spent nearly two years bitterly fighting the measure...
Anti-Chevron candidates sweep to victory in Richmond races Contra Costa Times ...In a race that received national attention thanks to big money from Chevron, a slate of candidates on shoestring budgets swept their oil titan-backed opponents on Tuesday night in a resounding political defeat for the company and its campaign tactics...
A Big Night For Minimum Wage Increases FiveThirtyEight ...Tuesday night turned out to be a good night for Republicans. But it was also a good night for the minimum wage. Voters in five states endorsed minimum wage increases Tuesday. Significantly, minimum wage initiatives carried the day even in states where Republicans won statewide offices...
San Francisco Votes In $15 Minimum Wage CNN Money ...San Francisco on Tuesday became the second U.S. city to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour. Voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure to gradually raise the city's minimum wage from $10.74 currently. It passed with 77% of the vote, according to initial results reported by local authorities...
Since Texas Implemented Voter ID, The Number Of Provisional Ballots Doubled Think Progress ...Across the enormous state of Texas on Tuesday, voters encountered a wide range of problems at the polls—some stemming from the last-minute implementation of a strict voter ID law, and some based more on misinformation, intimidation and confusion...
Indiana Supreme Court upholds state's right-to-work law TheIndyChannel.com ...Indiana’s Supreme Court says the state’s right-to-work law does not violate the state constitution...
War on Workers
Labor Productivity Increases 2.0% for Q3 Economic Populist ...Overall labor is still getting squeezed for more efficiency and wages are still repressed. The mediocre Q3 productivity results also imply corporations can rake in the profits and not raise prices...
Uber’s Problems Keep Piling Up Boston.com ...Surge pricing, litigation, and subprime loans…oh my, Uber! Between a lawsuit over its labor practices, extremely expensive fares during Halloween, and now a controversy over its financing program, it seems like Uber can’t shift itself out of its troubled gear...
Tobacco Giant’s Move Could Reduce Child Labor Human Rights Watch ...The tobacco giant Philip Morris International has adopted a change in policy that could protect many child workers from danger on tobacco farms in the United States...
Westchester Construction Worker Dies After Elevator Shaft Fall: Police NBC New York ...he was putting away his tools when he broke through a screen covering the shaft...
Worker who died in Causeway accident had worked for company only a short time NOLA.com ...A man who died Monday when his construction vehicle was knocked off the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway had worked for Traffic Solutions Inc. only a short time, the owner said Tuesday (Nov. 4). Edward Burton, 57, of New Orleans, died after the truck he was driving slowly as part of a construction crew on the bridge was struck by a garbage truck...
Miscellaneous
Former NSA Lawyer Says BlackBerry Declined Because Encryption Isn’t A Good Business Model Slate ...On Tuesday at Web Summit in Dublin, former NSA General Counsel Stewart Baker said that expanded encryption efforts by tech companies like Apple and Google do more to harm U.S. intelligence than they do to defend against wrongful and excessive surveillance worldwide...
Uncle Sam's Databases Of Suspicion Huffington Post ...We do know that the nation’s domestic-intelligence network is massive, including at least 59 federal agencies, over 300 Defense Department units, and approximately 78 state-based fusion centers, as well as the multitude of law enforcement agencies they serve. We also know that local law enforcement agencies have themselves raised concerns about the system’s lack of privacy protections...
Election Count Ensures Teamster Victory At UNFI Distribution Center teamster.org ...More than a year ago, truck drivers at United Natural Foods, Inc.’s (UNFI) distribution center voted in a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election for representation by Teamsters Local 63 in Covina, Calif. The votes in that election were not counted – until now. On Nov. 4, the drivers’ votes were finally tallied after an NLRB panel mandated that the ballots be counted. The drivers voted to be represented by the Teamsters...
Teamsters help deliver 664,000 signatures opposing Fast Track to key lawmaker on trade TeamsterNation ...Teamsters and allies carried 644,000 signatures opposing Fast Track legislation to Sen. Ron Wyden's office today. Wyden, as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, plays a key role in moving trade deals like TPP and TTIP through Congress...
CN: a new conflict management mechanism is put to the test Digital Journal ...Teamsters are setting up an innovative mechanism for conflict management, in order to avoid strikes and lockouts at CN...
Trade
Republican Control Of Congress Does Not Mean TPP Is A Done Deal Japan Times ...“The election results mean that the Obama administration will not be able to step back its position regarding Japan and agriculture in TPP even if it were so inclined, as the demand for tariff zeroing on all commodities comes from the Republicans. Also, the prospect that fast-track will be passed during Obama’s last two years is further reduced by Republican control of the Senate,” Wallach said....
State Battles
Massachusetts Voters Approve Paid Sick Leave Measure Huffington Post ...Massachusetts on Tuesday became the third state in the nation to guarantee paid sick days for workers, with voters decisively approving a sick-leave ballot initiative, 60 percent to 40 percent...
Anchorage Voters Favor Unions In Repealing Mayor Sullivan's Labor Law Rewrite Alaska Dispatch News ...Anchorage voters soundly rejected Ballot Measure 1 in Tuesday’s election, in effect repealing the Sullivan administration’s rewrite of city labor law and handing a triumph to labor unions that have spent nearly two years bitterly fighting the measure...
Anti-Chevron candidates sweep to victory in Richmond races Contra Costa Times ...In a race that received national attention thanks to big money from Chevron, a slate of candidates on shoestring budgets swept their oil titan-backed opponents on Tuesday night in a resounding political defeat for the company and its campaign tactics...
A Big Night For Minimum Wage Increases FiveThirtyEight ...Tuesday night turned out to be a good night for Republicans. But it was also a good night for the minimum wage. Voters in five states endorsed minimum wage increases Tuesday. Significantly, minimum wage initiatives carried the day even in states where Republicans won statewide offices...
San Francisco Votes In $15 Minimum Wage CNN Money ...San Francisco on Tuesday became the second U.S. city to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour. Voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure to gradually raise the city's minimum wage from $10.74 currently. It passed with 77% of the vote, according to initial results reported by local authorities...
Since Texas Implemented Voter ID, The Number Of Provisional Ballots Doubled Think Progress ...Across the enormous state of Texas on Tuesday, voters encountered a wide range of problems at the polls—some stemming from the last-minute implementation of a strict voter ID law, and some based more on misinformation, intimidation and confusion...
Indiana Supreme Court upholds state's right-to-work law TheIndyChannel.com ...Indiana’s Supreme Court says the state’s right-to-work law does not violate the state constitution...
War on Workers
Labor Productivity Increases 2.0% for Q3 Economic Populist ...Overall labor is still getting squeezed for more efficiency and wages are still repressed. The mediocre Q3 productivity results also imply corporations can rake in the profits and not raise prices...
Uber’s Problems Keep Piling Up Boston.com ...Surge pricing, litigation, and subprime loans…oh my, Uber! Between a lawsuit over its labor practices, extremely expensive fares during Halloween, and now a controversy over its financing program, it seems like Uber can’t shift itself out of its troubled gear...
Tobacco Giant’s Move Could Reduce Child Labor Human Rights Watch ...The tobacco giant Philip Morris International has adopted a change in policy that could protect many child workers from danger on tobacco farms in the United States...
Westchester Construction Worker Dies After Elevator Shaft Fall: Police NBC New York ...he was putting away his tools when he broke through a screen covering the shaft...
Worker who died in Causeway accident had worked for company only a short time NOLA.com ...A man who died Monday when his construction vehicle was knocked off the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway had worked for Traffic Solutions Inc. only a short time, the owner said Tuesday (Nov. 4). Edward Burton, 57, of New Orleans, died after the truck he was driving slowly as part of a construction crew on the bridge was struck by a garbage truck...
Miscellaneous
Former NSA Lawyer Says BlackBerry Declined Because Encryption Isn’t A Good Business Model Slate ...On Tuesday at Web Summit in Dublin, former NSA General Counsel Stewart Baker said that expanded encryption efforts by tech companies like Apple and Google do more to harm U.S. intelligence than they do to defend against wrongful and excessive surveillance worldwide...
Uncle Sam's Databases Of Suspicion Huffington Post ...We do know that the nation’s domestic-intelligence network is massive, including at least 59 federal agencies, over 300 Defense Department units, and approximately 78 state-based fusion centers, as well as the multitude of law enforcement agencies they serve. We also know that local law enforcement agencies have themselves raised concerns about the system’s lack of privacy protections...
Friday, October 3, 2014
Teamsters on a roll with organizing, government victories
But that's only part of the story. Just this week, 29 First Student school bus drivers and monitors in Adrian, Mich., voted to join Teamsters Local 1038 in Detroit. It was the second group of First Student workers that organized with Local 1038 in less than a year.
And today the Teamsters announced 30 customer service representatives with Archway Marketing Services in Romulus, Mich., voted to join Teamsters Local 1038 in Detroit.
The Teamsters rail conference is also growing, with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen adding 6 percent more members since January 2011. In the words of President Dennis R. Pierce during the recent opening session of the BLET's Third National Convention.
We are a much stronger brotherhood today than we were four years ago...we have added over 1,800 dues paying members — which represents a 6 percent increase — and the number of dues paying members has increased in 32 of the past 45 months.In another big Teamster victory this week, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that will help end the abuse of temporary workers -- like those at Taylor Farms who want to become Teamsters.
On Sunday night, Brown signed AB1897, which will hold employers responsible when their subcontracted temp agencies endanger or underpay workers.
California Teamsters, along with Taylor Farms workers, pushed hard for the bill.
Teamsters also supported the Good Jobs Nation campaign, which sought to raise wages and gain union representation for federal contract workers. After a series of well-publicized one-day strikes by contractor employees in the nation's capital, President Obama ordered the minimum wage raised for them to $10.10. Yesterday the U.S. Department of Labor announced a regulation that will give 200,000 federal contract employees a raise to $10.10 from $7.25.
Look for more Teamster victories in the coming weeks!
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Today's Teamster News 08.02.14
Teamster News
Workers: AGY Union Approves Contract Aiken Standard ...Employees of Aiken's AGY plant are expected to return to work on Monday, after the plant's labor union voted on Thursday to approve a new labor contract...
4 More LAUSD Bargaining Units Ratify Contracts, Secure Salary Raises CBS News ...Four Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) bargaining units have ratified their contracts, providing salary raises to employees for the first time in several years...
Rail Traffic Controllers And Canadian Pacific Reach Tentative Agreement Wall Street Journal ...Canadian Pacific and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Rail Canada Traffic Controllers announced today that they have reached a tentative six-year labour agreement covering approximately 135 employees rail traffic controllers in Canada...
Teamsters contract extended, school buses will run as planned Memphis Commercial Appeal ...Durham School Services and the Teamsters school bus drivers agreed late Friday to a 30-day extension of its current contract while negotiations continue, said Teamsters business agent Edward Houston...
Teamsters 'outraged' about BlueCross BlueShield urgent care decision insurancenewsnet.com ..."The Local Union is constantly receiving calls from members on this chaotic BCBS decision and the members are outraged," wrote James Todd, a business agent for the Teamsters Local Union in West Columbia. "Particularly, our UPS members are mad as hell..."
Trade
Central America Crisis Belies CAFTA’s Empty Promises Public Citizen ...the 67 members of Congress’ Progressive Caucus ... included CAFTA in their recent summary of the root causes of the refugee crisis occurring along the U.S.-Mexico border: “free trade agreements, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) have led to the displacement of workers and subsequent migration from these countries...”
Changing Asia: China’s high-speed railway diplomacy The Strategist ...‘high-speed railway diplomacy’ … is used to describe the mechanisms by which China’s burgeoning capacities in high-speed railway (HSR) construction are being used in China’s international relations....
House Lawmakers Are Seeing The Light On ‘Buy American’ teamster.org ...Lawmakers signed onto two different letters this week that called on the Obama administration to protect the more than 80-year-old program from being phased out as a condition included in the Pacific Rim trade agreement...
State Battles
Some ALEC Funders Flee, but Koch, Big Tobacco, and PhRMA Remain Loyalists Center for Media and Democracy ...the petrochemical giant Koch Industries gave ALEC $504,700 between 1995 and 1998. This is in addition to nearly a million dollars that foundations controlled by the billionaire Koch brothers gave ALEC outright between 1998 and 2012, and a nearly $500,000 loan that the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation gave ALEC in 1996...
Fresno Cabbies Want Uber, Lyft Rideshare Services Off The Road Fresno Bee ...Fresno cabbies are asking City Hall to get on-demand ridesharing companies Uber and Lyft off the city's roads...
Only Case Of Voter Fraud Cited In Wisconsin Voter ID Ruling Involved A Scott Walker Fan Huffington Post ...The only example of voter fraud that the Wisconsin Supreme Court cited Thursday when it upheld a state voter ID law signed by Gov. Scott Walker (R) was allegedly committed by a Walker supporter....
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder To Gov. Rick Scott: We're Watching You Tampa Bay Times ...U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder sent a scathing letter to Gov. Rick Scott over voting changes in Florida and issued a warning that the Justice Department is "carefully monitoring" the state...
After Gov. Rick Scott’s Secret Trip To King Ranch, He Tapped A Ranch Executive For State Regulatory Board Miami Herald ...A month after Gov. Rick Scott took a secret hunting trip to the King Ranch in Texas last year ... Scott picked a corporate executive named Mitchel A. “Mitch” Hutchcraft...
War On Workers
Driverless Cars on UK Public Streets Starting January; Transforming Personal Mobility; Taxi and Truck-Drivers Targeted Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis ...Google's cars come equipped with elaborate sensors that can see 600 feet in every direction, are fully electric, and have a range of about 100 miles, perfect for city use, especially driverless taxi cabs. Google plans for 2017 operation...
The ‘meh’ economy: What it means for 2014 Politico Pro ...Over the past two years, per-capita income adjusted for inflation has risen just 1.16 percent, down from 2.54 percent in the first two years of the recovery. Average hourly earnings rose just 1 cent to $24.45 in the latest jobs report...
Drunk Driver Kills Construction Worker, FHP Says Sarasota Herald-Tribune ...One construction worker was killed and another seriously injured Wednesday night when a drunk driver ran into them with his sedan, the Florida Highway Patrol reports...
Miscellaneous
The Other Aging of America: The Increasing Dominance of Older Firms Brookings ...The share of firms aged 16 years or more was 23 percent in 1992, but leaped to 34 percent by 2011—an increase of 50 percent in two decades. The share of private-sector workers employed in these mature firms increased from 60 percent to 72 percent during the same period...
BitTorrent Unveils NSA-Proof Online Calling And Messaging Software Los Angeles Times ...BitTorrent Inc., the San Francisco company behind the most popular technology for sharing files online, is branching out into a new arena: snoop-proof calling and texting...
Workers: AGY Union Approves Contract Aiken Standard ...Employees of Aiken's AGY plant are expected to return to work on Monday, after the plant's labor union voted on Thursday to approve a new labor contract...
4 More LAUSD Bargaining Units Ratify Contracts, Secure Salary Raises CBS News ...Four Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) bargaining units have ratified their contracts, providing salary raises to employees for the first time in several years...
Rail Traffic Controllers And Canadian Pacific Reach Tentative Agreement Wall Street Journal ...Canadian Pacific and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Rail Canada Traffic Controllers announced today that they have reached a tentative six-year labour agreement covering approximately 135 employees rail traffic controllers in Canada...
Teamsters contract extended, school buses will run as planned Memphis Commercial Appeal ...Durham School Services and the Teamsters school bus drivers agreed late Friday to a 30-day extension of its current contract while negotiations continue, said Teamsters business agent Edward Houston...
Teamsters 'outraged' about BlueCross BlueShield urgent care decision insurancenewsnet.com ..."The Local Union is constantly receiving calls from members on this chaotic BCBS decision and the members are outraged," wrote James Todd, a business agent for the Teamsters Local Union in West Columbia. "Particularly, our UPS members are mad as hell..."
Trade
Central America Crisis Belies CAFTA’s Empty Promises Public Citizen ...the 67 members of Congress’ Progressive Caucus ... included CAFTA in their recent summary of the root causes of the refugee crisis occurring along the U.S.-Mexico border: “free trade agreements, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) have led to the displacement of workers and subsequent migration from these countries...”
Changing Asia: China’s high-speed railway diplomacy The Strategist ...‘high-speed railway diplomacy’ … is used to describe the mechanisms by which China’s burgeoning capacities in high-speed railway (HSR) construction are being used in China’s international relations....
House Lawmakers Are Seeing The Light On ‘Buy American’ teamster.org ...Lawmakers signed onto two different letters this week that called on the Obama administration to protect the more than 80-year-old program from being phased out as a condition included in the Pacific Rim trade agreement...
State Battles
Some ALEC Funders Flee, but Koch, Big Tobacco, and PhRMA Remain Loyalists Center for Media and Democracy ...the petrochemical giant Koch Industries gave ALEC $504,700 between 1995 and 1998. This is in addition to nearly a million dollars that foundations controlled by the billionaire Koch brothers gave ALEC outright between 1998 and 2012, and a nearly $500,000 loan that the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation gave ALEC in 1996...
Fresno Cabbies Want Uber, Lyft Rideshare Services Off The Road Fresno Bee ...Fresno cabbies are asking City Hall to get on-demand ridesharing companies Uber and Lyft off the city's roads...
Only Case Of Voter Fraud Cited In Wisconsin Voter ID Ruling Involved A Scott Walker Fan Huffington Post ...The only example of voter fraud that the Wisconsin Supreme Court cited Thursday when it upheld a state voter ID law signed by Gov. Scott Walker (R) was allegedly committed by a Walker supporter....
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder To Gov. Rick Scott: We're Watching You Tampa Bay Times ...U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder sent a scathing letter to Gov. Rick Scott over voting changes in Florida and issued a warning that the Justice Department is "carefully monitoring" the state...
After Gov. Rick Scott’s Secret Trip To King Ranch, He Tapped A Ranch Executive For State Regulatory Board Miami Herald ...A month after Gov. Rick Scott took a secret hunting trip to the King Ranch in Texas last year ... Scott picked a corporate executive named Mitchel A. “Mitch” Hutchcraft...
War On Workers
Driverless Cars on UK Public Streets Starting January; Transforming Personal Mobility; Taxi and Truck-Drivers Targeted Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis ...Google's cars come equipped with elaborate sensors that can see 600 feet in every direction, are fully electric, and have a range of about 100 miles, perfect for city use, especially driverless taxi cabs. Google plans for 2017 operation...
The ‘meh’ economy: What it means for 2014 Politico Pro ...Over the past two years, per-capita income adjusted for inflation has risen just 1.16 percent, down from 2.54 percent in the first two years of the recovery. Average hourly earnings rose just 1 cent to $24.45 in the latest jobs report...
Drunk Driver Kills Construction Worker, FHP Says Sarasota Herald-Tribune ...One construction worker was killed and another seriously injured Wednesday night when a drunk driver ran into them with his sedan, the Florida Highway Patrol reports...
Miscellaneous
The Other Aging of America: The Increasing Dominance of Older Firms Brookings ...The share of firms aged 16 years or more was 23 percent in 1992, but leaped to 34 percent by 2011—an increase of 50 percent in two decades. The share of private-sector workers employed in these mature firms increased from 60 percent to 72 percent during the same period...
BitTorrent Unveils NSA-Proof Online Calling And Messaging Software Los Angeles Times ...BitTorrent Inc., the San Francisco company behind the most popular technology for sharing files online, is branching out into a new arena: snoop-proof calling and texting...
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Today's Teamster News 06.24.14
Teamster News
Teamsters, Taylor Farms clash The Packer ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which hopes to represent Taylor Farms employees at two Tracy, Calif., facilities, claims many were denied benefits as a result of prolonged stays in temporary worker status...
With help from Teamsters, LA Uber drivers try to organize Southern California Public Radio ...Organizers are expecting up to 500 Uber drivers – supported by Teamsters Local 986 – to hold a demonstration Tuesday morning in front of the Uber offices in Santa Monica...
D.C. Taxicab Drivers Organize Against Ridesharing Services WAMU ...local labor groups are focusing on pressuring the D.C. Council to help cabbies stave off competition from the unregulated, on-demand “ridesharing” services UberX, Lyft, and Sidecar. The Teamsters Local 922 is planning to hold a cab driver rally Wednesday at Freedom Plaza in downtown Washington to call on District legislators to level a playing field where the city’s regulated taxi fleet currently feels at a disadvantage to the innovative newcomers...
Arbitration Ruling Renews CN, Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Agreement Progressive Railroading ...CN on Friday announced it will immediately begin to implement an arbitrator's decision that set the terms and conditions of a new three-year agreement with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference-Conductors, Trainpersons and Yardpersons (TCRC-CTY)...
Trade
Thanks to Wikileaks, public can debate alarming new trade deal Trade Reform ...The draft agreement Wikileaks released on June 19 is fresh, written in May. It is a model of secret law, blatant in its disregard for transparency, democratic process and history. Its opening page says the terms are to remain secret for five years after negotiations formally end or the proposed new rules take effect. Talks to refine that agreement were to resume Monday in Geneva...
LIVEBLOG: Minnesota State Reps Demand Washington Act On Unfair Steel Trade manufacture this ...Jason Metsa, Tom Anzelc and several others followed Governor Mark Dayton’s powerful demand for federal action on unfair trade in steel ... especially tubular products being produced in South Korea and dumped at below-market prices in the U.S. market...
State Battles
We have a proven formula for success’ (opinion) FortWayne.com ...I recently vetoed an ordinance passed by City Council that would end collective bargaining for non-public safety union employees...
Labor Law Repeal To Hit Assembly, Again, On Tuesday Anchorage Daily News ...The latest effort to defeat a controversial city labor law will hit the Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday night as members consider a complicated array of options from repealing the measure outright to replacing it with a watered-down version to leaving it as a referendum question on the state ballot in November's election...
The Supreme Court Ruled In Favor Of An Alabama Whistle Blower. What Does That Mean For Others Who Expose Corruption? Birmingham News ...Edward Lane was the director of a statewide program for Alabama's at-risk youth when he saw State Rep. Sue Schmitz was drawing pay, but doing no work, for the program. Lane fired Schmitz in 2006 and later testified at her public corruption trials regarding the "no-show" job....
Mayors Put Focus On How To Raise Wages For Lowest-Paid Workers In Cities New York Times ...Here at the annual meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors, which convened over the weekend, the subject of income inequality seemed to be on almost everyone’s lips, and mayors wondered aloud how best to use their powers to help the lowest-paid workers...
War On Workers
Starbucks baristudents should beware the green mermaid bearing gifts (opinion) Guardian ...For the first two years of their education, Starbucks students will qualify for a small scholarship from ASU, but the balance of their tuition payments will have to come from loans and students' own financial resources (aka their take-home pay as baristas)...
The CEO Aristocracy: Big Bucks For The Big Boss Washington Post ...Any CEO of a major company is virtually guaranteed to become a multimillionaire. In the Equilar survey, the median holding of company stock was $83 million. CEO compensation has vastly outstripped average wage gains...
Miscellaneous
Justices Uphold Emission Limits on Big Industry New York Times ...In a big win for environmentalists, the Supreme Court on Monday effectively endorsed the Obama administration’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from sources like power plants, even as it criticized what it called the administration’s overreaching...
Teamsters, Taylor Farms clash The Packer ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which hopes to represent Taylor Farms employees at two Tracy, Calif., facilities, claims many were denied benefits as a result of prolonged stays in temporary worker status...
With help from Teamsters, LA Uber drivers try to organize Southern California Public Radio ...Organizers are expecting up to 500 Uber drivers – supported by Teamsters Local 986 – to hold a demonstration Tuesday morning in front of the Uber offices in Santa Monica...
D.C. Taxicab Drivers Organize Against Ridesharing Services WAMU ...local labor groups are focusing on pressuring the D.C. Council to help cabbies stave off competition from the unregulated, on-demand “ridesharing” services UberX, Lyft, and Sidecar. The Teamsters Local 922 is planning to hold a cab driver rally Wednesday at Freedom Plaza in downtown Washington to call on District legislators to level a playing field where the city’s regulated taxi fleet currently feels at a disadvantage to the innovative newcomers...
Arbitration Ruling Renews CN, Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Agreement Progressive Railroading ...CN on Friday announced it will immediately begin to implement an arbitrator's decision that set the terms and conditions of a new three-year agreement with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference-Conductors, Trainpersons and Yardpersons (TCRC-CTY)...
Trade
Thanks to Wikileaks, public can debate alarming new trade deal Trade Reform ...The draft agreement Wikileaks released on June 19 is fresh, written in May. It is a model of secret law, blatant in its disregard for transparency, democratic process and history. Its opening page says the terms are to remain secret for five years after negotiations formally end or the proposed new rules take effect. Talks to refine that agreement were to resume Monday in Geneva...
LIVEBLOG: Minnesota State Reps Demand Washington Act On Unfair Steel Trade manufacture this ...Jason Metsa, Tom Anzelc and several others followed Governor Mark Dayton’s powerful demand for federal action on unfair trade in steel ... especially tubular products being produced in South Korea and dumped at below-market prices in the U.S. market...
State Battles
We have a proven formula for success’ (opinion) FortWayne.com ...I recently vetoed an ordinance passed by City Council that would end collective bargaining for non-public safety union employees...
Labor Law Repeal To Hit Assembly, Again, On Tuesday Anchorage Daily News ...The latest effort to defeat a controversial city labor law will hit the Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday night as members consider a complicated array of options from repealing the measure outright to replacing it with a watered-down version to leaving it as a referendum question on the state ballot in November's election...
The Supreme Court Ruled In Favor Of An Alabama Whistle Blower. What Does That Mean For Others Who Expose Corruption? Birmingham News ...Edward Lane was the director of a statewide program for Alabama's at-risk youth when he saw State Rep. Sue Schmitz was drawing pay, but doing no work, for the program. Lane fired Schmitz in 2006 and later testified at her public corruption trials regarding the "no-show" job....
Mayors Put Focus On How To Raise Wages For Lowest-Paid Workers In Cities New York Times ...Here at the annual meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors, which convened over the weekend, the subject of income inequality seemed to be on almost everyone’s lips, and mayors wondered aloud how best to use their powers to help the lowest-paid workers...
War On Workers
Starbucks baristudents should beware the green mermaid bearing gifts (opinion) Guardian ...For the first two years of their education, Starbucks students will qualify for a small scholarship from ASU, but the balance of their tuition payments will have to come from loans and students' own financial resources (aka their take-home pay as baristas)...
The CEO Aristocracy: Big Bucks For The Big Boss Washington Post ...Any CEO of a major company is virtually guaranteed to become a multimillionaire. In the Equilar survey, the median holding of company stock was $83 million. CEO compensation has vastly outstripped average wage gains...
Miscellaneous
Justices Uphold Emission Limits on Big Industry New York Times ...In a big win for environmentalists, the Supreme Court on Monday effectively endorsed the Obama administration’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from sources like power plants, even as it criticized what it called the administration’s overreaching...
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Note to Mitt: Coal's coming back as gas prices rise
The reason coal fell in the first place? It's the fracking, stupid.
Last week, CSX blamed low gas prices for the decline in coal, even as two Wall Street analysts recommended two coal companies as good buys because natural gas prices are now rising.
Mitt Romney, of course, blames President Obama. He's wrong.
Brother Dennis Pierce, national president for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, explains: George W. Bush unleashed a natural gas boom by relieving natural-gas corporations of their obligation to clean up Superfund sites. He also relieved them of the responsibility to tell people what's in the chemical mix they inject into the ground as part of their fracking operations.
When the increase in fracking flooded the market with natural gas, gas prices fell, and the profit-driven power companies converted operations to the cheaper product where they could. Shortly thereafter the gas industry, having set the hook, started cut down on drilling to drive the prices back up.Pierce has firsthand knowledge. He has a home that sits on the Barnett Shale in Northern Texas.
For two years, a natural gas "fracking" operation sat less than 1,500 yards from my neighborhood, on land supposedly set aside for a city park.Now that gas prices are going up, the drilling platform in his neighborhood is gone.
To put it into railroad speak, the rumbling that our neighborhood endured sounded like an EMD SD-40 sitting in your front yard at throttle 6 night and day for months on end. That drilling site was one of thousands in the Barnett Shale, those in addition to the fracking sites in the Marcellus Shale in Western Pennsylvania and the Meade Peak and Green River Basin Shales in Wyoming.
But here's the important point: Mitt Romney is not the savior of coal. Watch this youtube video of Gov. Mitt Romney standing outside of coal-fired power plant, pointing his finger toward the plant, and saying "That plant kills people!"
Concludes Pierce:
Mitt Romney is a boss ... first, last and always. That's why every few days we see or read or hear about some company owner threatening his workforce with layoffs if President Obama is elected.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
BLET Teamsters rally for worker-friendly Rep. Barber
 |
| BLET National Division officers and Division 28 members in Tucson rally for President Obama and Congressman Barber. |
Our brothers and sisters in the Teamsters Rail Conference rallied Thursday in Tucson for U.S. Rep. Ron Barber. He's running for re-election to an open seat (because of redistricting) in Arizona.
During his 6 months in Congress, Ron Barber voted with the Teamsters 100 percent of the time. He voted to end the Bush tax cuts and for middle-class tax relief.
BLET President Dennis Pierce forwarded some pictures from Thursday's union meeting/rally. Brother Pierce writes:
During his 6 months in Congress, Ron Barber voted with the Teamsters 100 percent of the time. He voted to end the Bush tax cuts and for middle-class tax relief.
 |
| Teamsters Rail Conference and BLET President Dennis Pierce with U.S. Rep. Ron Barber |
Barber won a special election for his seat in Congress after Gabrielle Giffords resigned. She had been shot in a parking lot. Barber, her former aide, was also injured in the attack.
BLET President Dennis Pierce forwarded some pictures from Thursday's union meeting/rally. Brother Pierce writes:
We had around 80 members and spouses show up, and most of them were wearing our Proud to Be American, Proud to be Union tee shirts. One of the pics has all of them turning around to show the logo with a fist pump. Congressman Ron Barber, the Democrat currently in Gabby Giffords' old seat is up for election and he joined our meeting as well.The shirts, by the way, can be purchased for $10 from the BLET online store. Here's what they look like up close:
Friday, July 20, 2012
Today's Teamster News 07.20.12
GOP senators block top Obama jobs initiative CNN ...Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked the No.1 item on the president's congressional "to-do-list," refusing to allow a vote on a bill that would give tax breaks for companies that "insource" jobs to the U.S. from overseas while eliminating tax deductions for companies that move jobs abroad...
Study: Millions in voter ID nightmare Politico ...In the states with significant voter ID laws, more than 10 million eligible citizens live 10 or more miles from an office issuing the proper photo IDs and about half a million of those voters don’t have access to a vehicle, according to a study...
Wisconsin is still a leader…in job losses Badger Democracy ...Wisconsin (population 5.7 million) is number 4 in initial unemployment claims – behind New York (population 19.4 million), Michigan (population 9.8 million) , Ohio (population 11.5 million), and Pennsylvania (population 12.7 million) – all states with significantly larger populations...
Hostess hothouse New York Post ...The two sides are expected to meet in court today to show the judge they are making progress...
Teamsters plan fourth annual food drive to benefit County families Bangor Daily News ...Members of the South Portland-based Teamsters Local 340 are once again planning a statewide food drive to benefit Aroostook County families.,,
Canada's Raitt names arbitrator in CP Rail labour dispute Reuters ...Canadian Labour Minister Lisa Raitt named William Kaplan as the arbitrator in the dispute between the Canadian Pacific Railway and Teamsters Canada Rail Conference...
Study: Millions in voter ID nightmare Politico ...In the states with significant voter ID laws, more than 10 million eligible citizens live 10 or more miles from an office issuing the proper photo IDs and about half a million of those voters don’t have access to a vehicle, according to a study...
Wisconsin is still a leader…in job losses Badger Democracy ...Wisconsin (population 5.7 million) is number 4 in initial unemployment claims – behind New York (population 19.4 million), Michigan (population 9.8 million) , Ohio (population 11.5 million), and Pennsylvania (population 12.7 million) – all states with significantly larger populations...
Hostess hothouse New York Post ...The two sides are expected to meet in court today to show the judge they are making progress...
Teamsters plan fourth annual food drive to benefit County families Bangor Daily News ...Members of the South Portland-based Teamsters Local 340 are once again planning a statewide food drive to benefit Aroostook County families.,,
Canada's Raitt names arbitrator in CP Rail labour dispute Reuters ...Canadian Labour Minister Lisa Raitt named William Kaplan as the arbitrator in the dispute between the Canadian Pacific Railway and Teamsters Canada Rail Conference...
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Today's Teamster News 05.26.12
Québec's Student Strike Turning Into a Citizens' Revolt truthout ... On its 102nd day, the student movement is growing, as is the awareness of an ever more oppressive and corrupt government...
NO DISCLOSURE: WSJ, Fox Defended ALEC Without Noting News Corp. Is A Member Media Matters for America ...The editorial board of The Wall Street Journal and employees of Fox News have repeatedly shielded the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) from criticism without disclosing that parent company News Corp. is a member of that organization...
Senate Armed Services Committee Releases Report on Counterfeit Electronic Parts Trade Reform ...A Senate Armed Services Committee investigation discovered counterfeit electronic parts from China in the Air Force’s largest cargo plane, in assemblies intended for Special Operations helicopters, and in a Navy surveillance plane among 1,800 cases of bogus parts, a committee report released today shows...
Dispatches XXII: Wisconsin and US Employment Growth Compared Econbrowser ...Wisconsin employment is lagging far, far behind the smooth path implied by Governor Walker's 250,000 increase in private employment...
In recall battle, Wisconsin Gov. Scott says new figures showing job gains are "the final job numbers" Politifact ...We rate Walker’s statement False...
CP union members keep vision on track Northern Life ...Locomotive engineers and conductors from CP Rail, part of Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Local 308 in Sudbury, have been on the picket line since May 23, and they have no intention of leaving until their requests for maintaining 10-hour shifts and leaving pensions alone are heard...
NO DISCLOSURE: WSJ, Fox Defended ALEC Without Noting News Corp. Is A Member Media Matters for America ...The editorial board of The Wall Street Journal and employees of Fox News have repeatedly shielded the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) from criticism without disclosing that parent company News Corp. is a member of that organization...
Senate Armed Services Committee Releases Report on Counterfeit Electronic Parts Trade Reform ...A Senate Armed Services Committee investigation discovered counterfeit electronic parts from China in the Air Force’s largest cargo plane, in assemblies intended for Special Operations helicopters, and in a Navy surveillance plane among 1,800 cases of bogus parts, a committee report released today shows...
Dispatches XXII: Wisconsin and US Employment Growth Compared Econbrowser ...Wisconsin employment is lagging far, far behind the smooth path implied by Governor Walker's 250,000 increase in private employment...
In recall battle, Wisconsin Gov. Scott says new figures showing job gains are "the final job numbers" Politifact ...We rate Walker’s statement False...
CP union members keep vision on track Northern Life ...Locomotive engineers and conductors from CP Rail, part of Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Local 308 in Sudbury, have been on the picket line since May 23, and they have no intention of leaving until their requests for maintaining 10-hour shifts and leaving pensions alone are heard...
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Today's Teamster News 05.23.12
Trade Negotiators Trying to Limit “Buy American” Trade Reform ...U.S. Trade Negotiators are pushing for a provision in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement that would prevent the U.S. government from “Buying American” when spending taxpayer money...
China Mainlined Into U.S. Debt Economic Populist ...China can now bypass Wall Street when buying U.S. government debt and go straight to the U.S. Treasury, in what is the Treasury's first-ever direct relationship with a foreign government, according to documents viewed by Reuters...(and If China wants to deliberately undervalue its currency, well, let's just make it easier for them to do so...)
Massive Montreal rally marks 100 days of student protests The Globe and Mail ...Tens of thousands of people clogged Montreal’s city core in a festive, multi-headed march designed to make a mockery of a new provincial law that demands protest routes be approved in advance...
Obama spending binge never happened MarketWatch ...Although there was a big stimulus bill under Obama, federal spending is rising at the slowest pace since Dwight Eisenhower brought the Korean War to an end in the 1950s...
For the Billionaire who has everything: "I think I'll buy me a State!" Uppity Wisconsin ...A brief review of Governor Scott Walker's biggest donors reveals more than just Diane Hendricks (net worth $2.8 Billion) giving Walker a $500,000 retainer to deliver a “red state”. She is not the only billionaire to make a down payment on a “Red: right to work” Wisconsin...
Canadian Pacific Strike Starts, Snarling Rail Shipments Bloomberg BusinessWeek ...Teamsters union members walked off their jobs at Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP) today, disrupting cargo shipments and complicating operations for a company trying to replace its chief executive officer.,,
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Today's Teamster News 04.28.12
US economic growth slows to 2.2% rate, official figures show The Guardian ...The pace of recovery slowed in the US in the first three months of the year as government spending fell and a build-up in inventories eased...
Spanish economy in "huge crisis" after credit downgrade Reuters ...Unemployment shot up to 24 percent in the first quarter, one of the worst jobless figures in the developed world. Retail sales slumped for the twenty-first consecutive month as a recession cuts into consumer spending...
Report: American Corporations Are Adding More Jobs Overseas Than They Are At Home ThinkProgress ...Those companies, which include Wal-Mart Stores Inc., WMT +2.70% International Paper Co., Honeywell International Inc. and United Parcel Service Inc., boosted their employment at home by 3.1%, or 113,000 jobs, between 2009 and 2011, the same rate of increase as the nation’s other employers. But they also added more than 333,000 jobs in their far-flung—and faster-growing— foreign operations...
Young men in Mexico say the US no longer offers them a better future The Guardian ...Seismic shifts in immigration and demographics leave towns full of young men who once would have dreamed of the US...
Charity Status Of Conservative Group Challenged NPR ...The conservative group that has seen some corporate donors flee because of its involvement in pushing for voter ID and stand-your-ground gun laws, has new troubles. Common Cause has filed a complaint with the IRS that the American Legislative Exchange Council, known as ALEC, violated the limits of its charity tax status...
CP battles with teamsters on pension, demands retraction from Pershing Square Proactive Investors ...CP said that discussions with the TCRC regarding changes to the company’s legacy pension plan will continue under the supervision of the conciliator appointed by the Federal Minister of Labour...
Spanish economy in "huge crisis" after credit downgrade Reuters ...Unemployment shot up to 24 percent in the first quarter, one of the worst jobless figures in the developed world. Retail sales slumped for the twenty-first consecutive month as a recession cuts into consumer spending...
Report: American Corporations Are Adding More Jobs Overseas Than They Are At Home ThinkProgress ...Those companies, which include Wal-Mart Stores Inc., WMT +2.70% International Paper Co., Honeywell International Inc. and United Parcel Service Inc., boosted their employment at home by 3.1%, or 113,000 jobs, between 2009 and 2011, the same rate of increase as the nation’s other employers. But they also added more than 333,000 jobs in their far-flung—and faster-growing— foreign operations...
Young men in Mexico say the US no longer offers them a better future The Guardian ...Seismic shifts in immigration and demographics leave towns full of young men who once would have dreamed of the US...
Charity Status Of Conservative Group Challenged NPR ...The conservative group that has seen some corporate donors flee because of its involvement in pushing for voter ID and stand-your-ground gun laws, has new troubles. Common Cause has filed a complaint with the IRS that the American Legislative Exchange Council, known as ALEC, violated the limits of its charity tax status...
CP battles with teamsters on pension, demands retraction from Pershing Square Proactive Investors ...CP said that discussions with the TCRC regarding changes to the company’s legacy pension plan will continue under the supervision of the conciliator appointed by the Federal Minister of Labour...
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