Today's Teamster News 04.07.15

Teamsters
Strike delayed, Allegiant pilots union explains stance, next move  Tampa Bay Business Journal   ...Friday is the next milestone in the labor dispute between Allegiant Airlines and its pilots. That day brings to an end a temporary court injunction preventing the pilots from striking. The pilots are effectively threatening to strike to restore the conditions that existed before they decided to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in 2012...

Global Labor & Trade
Health experts worried as Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations conclude   Sydney Morning Herald  ...Eight health and community organisations have written to the Trade Minister Andrew Robb expressing "grave concerns" about the latest leaked draft of the nearly concluded Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement. The organisations released a health impact assessment which found that the the investor‐state dispute settlement clauses were a threat to public health and recommended that ISDS be excluded from the agreement altogether...
The global south has free trade to thank for its obesity and diabetes epidemic  The Guardian   ...You wouldn’t think that free-trade deals could lead to a diabetes and obesity epidemic, but they have. Today, many countries in the global south are seeing an explosion of these afflictions - all because their governments welcomed in transnational food companies looking for new “growth markets”...
Strikes Grow in China as Grassroots Labor Movement Takes Shape  Common Dreams   ...As the economic landscape in China continues to shift, an awakening working class is demanding fair treatment and higher wages—and the movement is picking up steam...

State & Living Wage Battles
Weeks After Rushing Right-To-Work, Wisconsin Republicans Prepare Their Next Attack On Labor  Think Progress   ...Rep. Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield) plans to tack his bill to repeal the state’s nearly century-old “prevailing wage” law for construction workers on local and state projects onto the massive state budget that must pass some time in the next few months...
Scott Walker Controls Wisconsin’s Executive and Legislative Branches. Now His Minions Are Gunning For the Judicial   The Nation   ...Walker’s allies are focused on securing control of the judicial branch of state government in Wisconsin. The Republican Party of Wisconsin and groups that have consistently backed Walker’s agenda are leading the charge to oust a state Supreme Court justice who has championed judicial independence and to change the way in which the high court is organized...
Our Corporate Saviors (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...Outfits like McDonalds decide to make a virtue of necessity and pat themselves on the back for paying a bit more. They hope that these gestures will take some of the wind out of organizing drives. But moves like these should teach the opposite lesson--namely, that pressure works...
Extreme ‘Religious Liberty’ Bill Could Make Louisiana The Next Indiana  Think Progress   ...Louisiana is the latest state considering adopting a religious freedom bill, after state Rep. Mike Johnson (R) introduced legislation Friday that could allow businesses to refuse service for same-sex weddings and deny benefits to employees in same-sex marriages...
How Elizabeth Warren Made Expanding Social Security Cool  Mother Jones   ...For years, Washington politicians and policymakers been talking about cutting Social Security benefits. The Beltway consensus, unduly shaped by deficit hawks and Wall Streeters, has been that the system is broken and must be pared back, and progressives who support Social Security have often had to play defense. But in late March, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the populist Democrat from Massachusetts, entered the fray—and challenged the prevailing view...

U.S. Labor
Automakers, labor union face a long, hot summer of contract talks  Fortune   ...Although the Detroit-based auto industry and the United Auto Workers union are still a few months away from serious negotiations, early signs aren’t favorable for a labor contract settled on mutually agreeable terms...
BP Whiting Refinery strike hits 2-month mark  Chicago Tribune   ...The union said it gave its last offer to BP on Thursday and has yet to hear from the company. Workers are standing by their union leaders, though some say it has been rough on them and their families financially...
EEOC: New York City owes underpaid minority female employees $246 million  NY Daily News  ...The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that New York City underpaid a thousand black and Hispanic female employees, a finding that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The Communications Workers of America lodged the complaint...

Raising Wages From the Bottom Up  American Prospect   ...The third way cities and states can build worker power is to stop the illegal practice of worker misclassification. Over the past several decades, many U.S. companies have relieved themselves of the obligation to provide their workers with benefits or pay them an adequate wage, through the expedient of declaring their workers not to be their employees.
Douglas County Fined For Violating Child Labor Laws  Grand Island Independent   ...A federal agency has fined Douglas County for violating child labor laws by letting four teenagers load a wood chipper last summer. The U.S. Department of Labor issued $3,100 in fines after discovering that four underage employees operated a wood chipper while temporarily working on a maintenance crew for the county engineer. Child labor laws allow only adults to do this...

Miscellaneous
Nestlé’s despicable water-crisis profiteering: How it’s making a killing — while California is dying of thirst   Salon   ...While California suffers through a historic 4-year drought, the corporate giant has made billions on bottled water. Nestlé has a 25-year contract with the Morongo Band of Cahuila Mission Indians to draw water from wells in Millard Canyon, in the desert city of Cabazon...
U.S. Spending Historic Amount Fighting Homelessness, And It's Working: Report  Huffington Post   ...Uncle Sam is prioritizing the fight against homelessness like he never has before. Federal funding for programs addressing homelessness is at its highest level ever, according to a report by the National Alliance to End Homelessness provided to The Huffington Post...
Is Your Favorite Baseball Team's Owner Still An Asshole?  Mother Jones   ...Chicago White Sox [owner] Jerry Reinsdorf made his fortune as a real estate developer who specialized in building tax shelters. One of the league's most anti-union owners, he was accused of colluding with fellow owners to drive down player salaries. He gives millions to charter schools, but takes even more out of the city's coffers thanks to a sweetheart deal that allows him to pay just 25 percent of the standard property tax rate for the United Center (home of the NBA's Chicago Bulls, which he also owns)...

Today's Teamster News 03.27.15

Teamsters
Teamsters At Northwest Steel And Pipe Vote Unanimously To Strike  teamster.org   ...Teamster warehouse workers, operators, and drivers at Northwest Steel and Pipe voted unanimously to strike last night. The strike vote took place Tuesday evening outside the company’s facility in Tacoma...
Teamsters Urge Support For Sen. Sanders' Pension Amendment  teamster.org   ...“Sen. Sanders is trying to do the right thing for retired Americans who receive benefits from a multiemployer pension plan like thousands of Teamsters do...
US Foods Volume Declines While Waiting For Merger With Sysco  Chicago Tribune   ...Sysco's attempt to buy US Foods for $3.5 billion was dealt a blow in February when the Federal Trade Commission, on a 3-2 vote, sought to block the deal along with 11 attorneys general. A district court hearing on the preliminary injunction is set to begin in Washington on May 5...
Students’ mosaic to Light up the Night at autism gala  Boston Herald   ...Longtime supporters of the Teamsters Local 25 
Autism Gala know to 
expect a dazzling piece of artwork at tomorrow’s Light up the Night party. And judging from the 
effort the autistic students in Chris Hall’s art class put into their 54,000-piece 
mosaic, they won’t be disappointed...
EXCLUSIVE: NYCHA quietly sold off supplies needed for repairs and cleanup  New York Daily News   ..."They'd say they didn't have material to clean with. It was a continuous complaining and concern. They didn't have mops. They didn't have buckets," said Greg Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, which represents 8,000 NYCHA workers. "Now to find out that the Housing Authority was sitting on all of these things? Some of my members didn't have uniforms. Come to find out they had uniforms. They were warehousing all this material."...
Teamsters, ITF Warn Of Possible Disruptions Of LAN Airline Flights  Aero News Network   ...A number of flights of South American LAN Airlines could be affected as the unions of LAN Airlines began a series of actions on Wednesday, March 25th in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Miami...
Trade
Despite Leak Of TPP Text, Obama Officials Say Trade Deal Will Not Let Companies Overturn US Laws  International Business Times   ...Less than three weeks after a classified draft of its proposed 12-nation trade pact included provisions that critics say empower foreign companies to overturn domestic regulations, the Obama administration explicitly declared that the deal would not permit such actions...
Germany’s SPD Won’t Back Down In US Trade Talks  The Nation   ...Germany’s economy minister has promised to block any clauses in a trade deal between the European Union and the United States that go against the ideals of his centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), including investor protection clauses wanted by the Americans...
State Battles
A Rare Victory for Black Voting Rights in the South  The Nation   ...Today the Court, in a 5-4 decision written by Justice Breyer, sided with the black plaintiffs and ordered a district court in Alabama to reexamine whether specific districts, like Ross’s, were improperly drawn with race as the predominant factor...
Indiana income growth slows  Indianapolis Star   ...The income Hoosiers received last year grew slightly slower than the national average, dropping the state from 38th to 39th in per capita income, according the Bureau of Economic Analysis...
Dayton Pushes For $10 Minimum Wage For Airport Workers  Minneapolis Star Tribune   ...“They deserve it, the airline industry can afford it, and one thing about raising the minimum wage at the airport is it’s not going to be a threat to move to South Dakota or China or somewhere else. It’s our airport, it’s a public facility and it ought to better reflect the values of the citizenry.”...
War on Workers
Yes, You Should Ask For A Raise (opinion)  U.S. News and World Report   ...In 2015, nearly 5 million American workers might get a pay raise. By joining together to ask for one. Through a union. Minimum wage hikes, overtime expansion, paid sick leave and other policy improvements are important to raise wages in America. But the best way for workers to get a raise is by asking for one with a collective voice. That’s what workers do – bargain together in unions to improve our lives...
Household Debt Is A National Crisis (opinion)  Truthout   ...Family debt is no personal failing — it's a national crisis. Even as unemployment declines, the debt crisis is holding back a full economic recovery and pushing more people into poverty...
Connecticut Farm Worker Dies After Corn Collapses On Him  New York Daily News   ...A Connecticut farm worker died Monday after a pile of milled corn collapsed and buried him, police said. Donald Merchant, 54, was using equipment to move corn from a large mound at the Square A Farm in Lebanon when some of it toppled onto him when he got off the vehicle...
North Carolina DOT Worker Dead In Accident In Wayne County  WTVD   ...State officials said a North Carolina Department of Transportation worker was killed in an accident on U.S. Highway 70 in Wayne County Monday. It happened just before 11 a.m. at Capps Bridge Road. The area is west of Goldsboro...
A Campaign Finance Idea Whose Time Has Come (opinion)  Washington Post   ...The bill — also known as the Government by the People Act  — would provide House candidates with a way to raise funds without auctioning off themselves to Wall Street and K Street. If candidates chose to limit contributions to their campaigns to no more than $1,000, every contribution they received of $150 or less from residents of their state would trigger a contribution of public funds at a 6-to-1 ratio: A $100 donation would yield $600 in public funds; a $150 donation, $900. To qualify for matching funds, candidates would also have to reject contributions from political action committees, unless those PACS also raised their money in contributions of $150 or less...
Miscellaneous

China gets slapped by the WTO on rare earth minerals, and the steelworkers are happy

Rare earth. 

The World Trade Organization cracked down on China's export restrictions on rare earth minerals,tungsten, and molybdenum. They are essential to making energy-efficient lighting, wind turbines, batteries and auto parts.

Our brothers and sisters at the United Steelworkers have lost jobs and wages because of China's trade policies on rare earth minerals.

Three hundred steelworkers lost their jobs when China forced the only U.S. rare earth mine and refinery to close in Mountain Pass, Calif. The mine has since reopened, but China has forced many other companies to leave the U.S. because of its rare earth policies. China's export quotas forced companies like General Motors to shut down a U.S. facility working on miniaturized magnets and move its entire staff to China.

Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers, issued a statement yesterday praising U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman for bringing the case against China to the WTO. He called it a big win and some consolation to the U.S. workers who lost their jobs because of China's predatory trade policies. But he said the journey to get fairer trade with China may never be over.

Said Gerard,

Ambassador Froman, the General Counsel and everyone else at USTR who has been involved in this case from the start have our thanks. They’ve been diligent, aggressive and effective in the fight against these and so many other Chinese unfair trade barriers. It’s an endless fight... 

This is the second time that China has been found guilty with its imposition of export restraints. Today, China applies export restraints on 346 items.   But, restraints on only 103 of these products were permitted by the terms of China’s accession agreement.  U.S. negotiators never should have sanctioned Chinese protectionism in this area, or many others...

Chinese leaders and Chinese companies game the system.    China knows that it often takes years to bring them to the WTO and work through the cumbersome process.   During that time, they continue to reap the benefits of their illegal acts.   The rule of law is simply not respected by China’s leaders.   That’s true for human rights, religious freedom, intellectual property protection, commercial law and all across the board. 

Enforcement is the key to ensuring that the benefits of trade actually reach American workers.   But, that usually means we have been hurt.  To prevent it from the start, the most important step is to require that we only engage in trade negotiations with countries that respect the rule of law and that the agreements themselves actually contain rules that will advance American interests.   Existing trade agreements and those being negotiated fail to measure up to these requirements.

Today's Teamster News 07.28.14

Trade
Report: Germany To Reject EU-Canada Trade Deal  Globe and Mail   ...Germany is to reject a multi-billion free trade deal between the European Union and Canada which is widely seen as a template for a bigger agreement with the United States, a leading German paper reported on Saturday. Citing diplomats in Brussels, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung said Berlin objects to clauses outlining the legal protection offered to firms investing in the 28-member bloc. Critics say they could allow investors to stop or reverse laws...
Apocalypse Preview: Chinese River Turns Blood-Red  zero hedge   ...An inner city waterway in the eastern city of Wenzhou was found to have been inundated by an influx of blood-red water this morning...
The Factory in the China Food Scandal Is Foreign-Owned. That Could Have Made It a Target  Time   ...An undercover investigation by a Chinese TV station, which aired on Sunday, claimed that a factory in Shanghai owned by Illinois-based OSI Group was shipping the fast-food giants expired meat. Later, coffee-shop chain Starbucks in China and McDonald’s outlets in Japan got dragged into the mess, as they, too, had meat from the suspect factory in their products...
State Battles
Ohio Has Lost 25,000 Local Government Jobs Under John Kasich  Plunderbund   ...Ohio has seen “nearly 25,000 jobs lost in local government” since John Kasich has been governor of Ohio.  And “median incomes in Ohio have fallen about $7,000 over the past decade...”
City seeks $2M from unions  Racine Journal Times   ...Looking for help to close a projected a $4.6 million deficit next year, administration officials at City Hall are seeking $2 million in concessions from police and fire unions...
War on Workers
Steel jobs have plummeted by a third since 2000  NWI Times   ...Northwest Indiana's steel industry, which once drew immigrants from the world over and put bread on many tables for generations, has lost a third of its jobs since 2000...
Corporate Artful Dodgers (opinion)  New York Times   ...The federal government still gets a tenth of its revenue from corporate profits taxation. But it used to get a lot more — a third of revenue came from profits taxes in the early 1950s, a quarter or more well into the 1960s...
World of Resistance Report: IMF, World Bank, Giant Consultants Admit the Storm is Coming  truthout   ...three issues are prevalent in terms of assessing the fears and threats facing the global elite: 1) growing inequality, 2) decline of public trust in institutions of all kinds, and 3) the resulting social unrest...
Financial Predators Move On From Foreclosure Rescue, Enter Student Debt, Military Lending Spaces  naked capitalism   ... These scams are basically all the same: empty promises about obtaining a modification in exchange for up-front cash, with all the promises broken down the road. In this case, the offending parties happen to be law firms, who made the impression on the victims that they would provide legal representation in securing a modification...
Mike Mathieu: Big Data is Watching You  Next New Deal   ...In a darker turn, we begin to see a loss of human freedoms as behavior is increasingly predicted, tracked, and incentivized according to data models...
NSA Helps Crush Dissent at Home and Abroad  Washington Blog   ...The National Security Agency last year significantly expanded its cooperative relationship with the Saudi Ministry of Interior, one of the world’s most repressive and abusive government agencies. An April 2013 top secret memo provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden details the agency’s plans “to provide direct analytic and technical support” to the Saudis on “internal security” matters...
Auto shop worker killed when car falls on him  WIVB   ...The accident happened Friday afternoon at Yuya Complete Auto Repair on Skillen Street in Buffalo...
Miscellaneous
Outside money drives a deluge of political ads  New York Times   ... An explosion of spending on political advertising on television — set to break $2 billion in congressional races, with overall spots up nearly 70 percent since the 2010 midterm election — is accelerating the rise of moneyed interests and wresting control from the candidates’ own efforts to reach voters...  

Today's Teamster News 06.03.14

Teamsters
Teamsters Mourn Passing Of Troy Stapleton  teamster.org   ...The Teamsters Union lost a true friend and brother in the labor movement with the passing of retired Local 100 president Troy Stapleton on May 29 after succumbing to injuries suffered in an automobile accident...
Accelerated-Vesting Bans Win Shareholder Votes  Agenda   ...In landmark votes, shareholders of Valero Energy and Gannett separately approved shareholder proposals that would ban accelerated vesting of performance-based executive equity awards if the companies change hands… The Gannett measure was sponsored by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters General Fund...
Teamsters in Windsor: A look at the 1910 federal census  The Coloradan   ...In 1904, the teamsters conducted a sympathy strike in support of 18,000 Chicago meat cutters. In 1905, they supported tailors in the well-known Montgomery Ward strike of the same city...
Trade
Whoa! U.S. House passes bill banning 'Buy American' waivers for TPP, TTIP  TeamsterNation   ...The U.S. House of Representatives voted last week to block talks for trade agreements that void Buy American rules...
53 Democratic lawmakers push U.S. to toughen up Trans-Pacific Partnership rules  Reuters   ...U.S. trade negotiators must insist on tough standards on human and workers’ rights in a Pacific trade deal spanning 12 countries, more than 150 Democratic lawmakers said in a letter to the Obama administration on Thursday...
5 takeaways from #SOSJobs Lone Star Rally  manufacture this   ...the Alliance for American Manufacturing 9AAM) joined citizens, workers, and state and federal legislators in Texas to rally in support of steel jobs at U.S. Steel’s Lone Star Tubular Operations facility. The products produced there –- called oil country tubular goods (OCTG) –- are used for energy exploration...But America’s domestic producers of OCTG are in danger of being swamped by illegal competition...
State Battles
Seattle OKs $15 minimum wage  Associated Press   ...The Seattle City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Monday that gradually increases the minimum wage in the city to $15, which would make it the highest in the nation...
War on Workers
'Walmart Moms' Target Annual Shareholder Meeting  Women's eNews   ...When Walmart, holds its annual shareholder meeting on June 6, many of its female workers are planning to crash the event at the mega retailer's Bentonville, Ark., headquarters...
Quelle Surprise, Labor Productivity is Up while Labor Wages are Still Down!  Angry Bear   ...Labor worked the exact same number of hours in 1998 as they did in 2013 or ~194 billion hours. While there was no growth in the number of hours worked, the Non-Institutional Civilian Population grew by 40 million people, and new businesses were created by the thousands which should have needed more Labor...
Study: Privacy is gone, but that’s OK because we get stuff for free  Pando   ...A new study out from Accenture debuting at the end of last week, surveying 2,012 adults between the ages of 20 and 40 from across the United States and the United Kingdom, found that in today’s digital world 80 percent of us don’t believe that total privacy exists anymore. Worse, however, is that we seem to be accepting of with this new reality...
Miscellaneous
Latest EPA rules signal a bleaker future for coal  Arizona Republic   ...The Environmental Protection Agency proposed new restrictions on power plants Monday to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a move that is likely to accelerate a shift away from coal...

Protect your skin while protecting American workers

Now that it's summertime, our friends at Labor 411 remind us to buy union-made sunscreen:

May 27 is National Sunscreen Day! Yes, summer has unofficially started and the sun worshippers will be back at the beach and taking full advantage of the warm weather. Don’t forget the Coppertone and Bain de Soleil! 

These union-made products not only protect your skin, but represent companies that protect a way of doing business that benefits the American middle-class worker. Both are made by members of the United Steelworkers and knowing that will make the kiss of the sun feel that much warmer.

Pa. needs you to keep it Made in America

Our brothers and sisters at the United Steelworkers are asking for our help.

According to the manufacture this blog, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Department of General Services Department (the purchasing department) has a list of steel products that supposedly aren't made in America. Those items are exempt from Pennsylvania's "Buy American" requirement.

The list is long. The steelworkers are asking if you know of products on the list that are actually made in America. If you do, follow the instructions here on how to comment to the state government and keep the product off the exempt list. You have until March 11.

Here's the list:

Exempt Machinery and Equipment Steel Products
Air Conditioning Units
Air Duct Housing w/Sample Tubes
Air Handling Units
Anchor Bolt
Audio RA Station
Annunciator Panel
Audio RA Station
AV Rack Kit
Back Box
Battery Cabinet
Blank Filler Plate for Fiber
Blank Metal Door
Blank Plate for Outer Door
Bottom Dead Front Panel
Bridge for Cameras
Butterfly Valves
Cabinet
Cardcage
CCTV Power Supply
Ceiling Flange
Central Control Unit
Centrifugal pumps
Channel Video
Circulating Pump
Closers
Color Monitor
Conduit Fittings
Control Module Plate
Control Panel
Control Valve
Data Converter Unit
Digital Record
Door Protection
Door Trim/Handles
Drinking Fountain
Drop-In Anchors
Dry Tape Transformer
Dual Interface Module
Duct Detector w/Relay
Duct Housing
Ductless Split System
DVR Rack
Electric Traction Elevators
Electric Water Cooler
Elevator Controller
Elevator Hoistway
Encl. for Annunciator
Enclosure
Exit Devices
Exp Cage
Fender Washer
Fire Alarm NAC Extender
Fire Alarm Peripherals
Fixed Door Station
Flat Washer
Flexible Drops
Frames
Full Blank Plate
Galvanized Carriage Bolts
Garage Door Tracking
Generator
Hand Dryer
Hanger Mounting Plates
Hangermates
Hangers Supports
Hex Nut
Horn/Strobe
Inner & Outer Door
Inner Door Blank Plate
Interface Module
Lag Bolts
Large Remote Cab
Lock Cylinders
Locknuts
Locksets
Low Temp. Detection Thermostats
Lubrication Unit
Machine Screws
Main Control Board
Metal Lockers
Manual Pull Station
Med. Enclosure
Middle Dead Front
Mini-Interface Module
Monitor Mount
Monitor Wall Brk
Mounting Plate
Network Fiber Switch
Overhead Door
Overhead Stops
Patient Wandering Alarm
Pipe Clamps
Pivots
Power Supply
Pull Station Box
RA Annunciator Pnl
Rack Mount Card Cage
Rack Mount Kit
Radiant Panels
Reader Interface
Relay Module
Remote Chiller
Round head machine screw
Sampling Tube
Security Panel
Security Unit
Security/CCTV Camera Housing
Self Turn Screw
Shower/eye washers
Signal Extender Module
Single Blank
Smoke Detector Wire
Speaker
Speaker/Strobe
Split HVAC System
Split Ring Hangers
Split Rings
Split System Air Conditioning
SSD-C Remote Display w/Control
SSD-C-REM Rem Display
Stainless Flat Bars
Stainless Steel Cable
Strobe
Submersible pump
Sump Pump
Surface Box
Surface Mount Speaker
Surface Station Box
Surge Arrester
Surge Protector
T8 Light Troffer
Tamper Proof Screws & Nuts
Threaded Rod Hanger
Tie Wire Anchor
Toggle Wing
Transformer
Turbine pumps
Uninterruptible Power Supply
VRV Fan Coils/Cond. Units
Wall Mtd. Fountain
Water Coolers
Water Heater
Weatherproof Back Box
Wing Toggle

Woo-hoo! China loses trade spat over tire tariffs

A rare but sweet trade victory for American workers today: China lost its dispute with the U.S. over the 35 percent tariffs we slapped on their tires.

The steelworkers convinced President Obama to impose the tariffs on $1.8 bilion worth of tires in September 2009 because China was dumping tires in the U.S. China appealed the tariffs to the World Trade Organization, which rejected their argument.

According to Bloomberg News,

...the United Steelworkers union, which represents 15,000 employees at 13 tire plants in the U.S.... said Chinese tire exports to the U.S. tripled from 2001 to 2004 to 41 million and called for a cap on annual imports of 21 million. 

Bloomberg points out that China ran up a $201 billion trade surplus with us in the first nine months of 2010,  more than our deficit with the next seven-largest trading partners combined, according to the Commerce Department.

United Steelworker President Leo Gerard had this to say:

Since the tariffs have been in effect, U.S. domestic tire production has increased, tire producers have made new capital investments, and new jobs have been created for American tire workers.

The Economic Populist calls it "a huge deal,  a major victory because the WTO allowed tariffs as a trade remedy." He notes that Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME)  introduced an amendment to put tariffs on China for currency manipulation. The Alliance for American Manufacturing calls it "the single most important step Congress could take to create jobs."

Oh, and by the way, India makes crap too. Steel pipe from India is being dug up for the TransCanada Keystone pipeline because it's defective.

Today's news 09/09/10

Fed Report Finds Signs That Growth Is Slowing New York Times ...The United States economy showed “widespread signs” of slowing, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday...

Vote on Bid From Hertz for Rival Is Cleared New York Times ...A Delaware judge has denied an injunction sought by ... Dollar Thrifty ... investors hoping to block a ... shareholder vote on the company’s pending ... merger with Hertz.


Union Members to Palin: Where Do You Stand? Huffington Post ...If Gov. Palin expects to get union members to support her endorsed candidates ... we need to see the details.

U.S. Steelworkers to Demand Probe Into China's Green-Tech Aid Wall Street Journal ... The U.S. Steelworkers union plans to file a petition Thursday demanding a government investigation into China's policies to support its fast-growing green-technology sector.

Electrical company owner charged with stealing union workers' benefits pay The Times-Tribune ...The former president of one of the largest electrical contracting companies in Scranton was arrested Wednesday on charges he stole more than $100,000 from union workers' paychecks that they thought was funding their benefits package.

Make It In America

United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard argues that the federal government needs to spend money on manufacturing.

...After all the support America has given the financial sector – estimated to total more than $4 trillion – it’s time for Congress to invest in the productive sector, the one that creates jobs, real wealth and American power,

he writes in In These Times.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will soon pass “one bill after another” supporting American manufacturing. The House last week passed a bill to train people for jobs in emerging industries, which the Teamsters support. Another bill passed to ease American industries’ access to raw materials.

On Wednesday the House passed three more "Make it in America" bills.

Pelosi said in a statement:

With these measures, we are calling for a strategy to strengthen our manufacturing base and create jobs. We will help U.S. clean energy technology firms market and sell their products here and around the world – ensuring that American energy and know how power the 21st century. And we will take steps to reduce our trade deficit, strengthening our economy and our national security.

More are on the way. It's about time.