Today's Teamster News 04.30.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Applaud School Board Decision To Investigate Durham School Services  Teamster.org   ...Teamsters applaud the Charleston County School Board members for their unanimous (9-0) vote Monday night to conduct an investigation into unsafe practices by Durham School Services, the school bus transportation contractor for Charleston County schools...
Teamsters Protest Republic Services' Toxic Landfills at Waste Expo  Teamster.org   ...Today, Teamsters and community members protested Republic Services, Inc. [NYSE: RSG] at WASTE EXPO 2014 at the Atlanta Convention Center...
Teamsters Lead Effort To Break CEO Moyes' Control at Swift  Teamster.org   ...ISS, the country’s largest proxy voting advisory firm, recommends that shareholders of Swift Transportation [NYSE: SWFT] vote ‘FOR’ Item #4 on the company’s proxy – a Teamster proposal that seeks to address the company’s dual class stock structure which currently provides CEO Jerry Moyes with majority voting control of the company despite owning a minority of the outstanding shares...
Teamsters Call for Improved Oversight at National Express  Teamster.org   ...As shareholders of National Express Group PLC, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters General Fund, along with three major United Kingdom-based pension funds, are calling for a vote FOR Resolution 22 at the Annual General Meeting on May 14 in Birmingham, England...
Most City Council Members Undecided About Carriage Horse Ban  New York Daily News   ...Both sides of the raging debate over horse carriages have their work cut out for them: a majority of the City Council is undecided about banning the rides, a Daily News poll shows...
OCTA Approves New Contracts With Coach Operators, Maintenance Workers  Orange County Breeze   ...The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) Board of Directors today approved three-year collective bargaining agreements with its coach operators and maintenance employees. Both of the contracts with Teamsters Local 952 run through 2016...
Trade
Western Mass. Residents Demonstrate In Opposition To Proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement Outside Rep. Richard Neal's Springfield Office  Mass Live   ...As President Barack Obama and his team left Springfield without a deal following negotiation work on terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, some in Western Massachusetts aren't shy about voicing their opposition to the new proposal...
The troops will finally wear American-made sneakers  manufacturethis   ...Late Friday afternoon, the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) received very exciting news from Rep. Michael Michaud regarding American-made shoes: the Department of Defense (DOD) will comply with the Berry Amendment to ensure that all service members purchase #MadeinUSA shoes with their footwear allowance...
State Battles
Wisconsin Voter ID Law Rejected By Federal Judge  Huffington Post   ...A federal judge in Milwaukee has struck down Wisconsin's voter identification law, saying it unfairly burdens poor and minority voters. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman issued his long awaited decision Tuesday. It invalidates Wisconsin's law...  
Louisiana About To Make It Illegal For Homeless People To Beg For Money  ThinkProgress   ...If you are poor, live in Louisiana, and have the audacity ask someone else for help, be prepared to spend up to six months in jail...
War On Workers
Trucking Used To Be A Ticket To The Middle Class. Now It's Just Another Low-Wage Job  Washington Post   ...It’s the skewed economics of Tigre’s trade that prompted port truckers to go on strike in Los Angeles on Monday as part of a union-backed campaign to regain some of the pay, benefits and respect they say they’ve lost after three decades of decline...
Woman Loses Her Home For Owing $6  ThinkProgress   ...Eileen Battisti owed $6.30 in interest on school district taxes. That was enough, a Pennsylvania court has ruled, for her to lose her house over...
Wall Street’s Pension Gamble  Moyers & Company   ...So what is happening to retirees’ money? ... more and more of it is going to pay the exorbitant fees charged by the Wall Street firms managing the pension money. “Fees have skyrocketed over 1,000 percent since 2000 and have almost doubled since (2008) from $217 million to $416 million...”
How Bank Watchdogs Killed Our Last Chance At Justice For Foreclosure Victims  Huffington Post   ...If the program hadn't been shut down, aggrieved homeowners could have received another $1.5 billion in cash, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office released Tuesday....
Bank of America Pleads “We’re Idiots, not Crooks!”  firedoglake   ...The acquisition of Merrill Lynch was in 2009, Bank of America only caught this mistake last week, and you’re happy they are handling it swiftly?...
What A Higher Minimum Wage Would Mean For Me  Detroit Free Press   ...I have worked as a tipped server for 15 years and, not counting tips, I still only make $2.65 an hour. I'm a divorced mother with three kids. I need to put food on the table...
U.S. Knew Sallie Mae Cheated Service Members On Student Loans, But Still Renewed Contract  Huffington Post   ...Federal investigators discovered evidence showing Sallie Mae cheated active duty service members on their federal student loans at least two months before the Department of Education told the company it planned to renew its lucrative contract to collect loan payments...
NFL Cheerleaders: We're Not Even Making Minimum Wage  CNN Money   ...Cheerleading isn't as glamorous as one might think. Several current and former cheerleaders are suing their NFL employers over pay. Three separate suits against the Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals describe contracts that don't guarantee the minimum wage and claim the cheerleaders are vastly underpaid...
Miscellaneous
Justices Back Rule Limiting Coal Pollution  New York Times   ...the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the smog from coal plants that drifts across state lines from 28 Midwestern and Appalachian states to the East Coast...

Today's Teamster News 04.29.14

Teamster News
Truckers Plan 2-Day Strike At LA, Long Beach Ports  CBS News   ...Truck drivers who haul cargo in and out of the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach planned to go on a two-day strike beginning Monday that they said was not directed at the busy ports themselves but at the companies that employ drivers...
Latest Strike By The Truckers At The Port Could Be More Disruptive  KPCC   ...Some truck drivers for companies that move cargo in and out of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are beginning a two-day strike Monday morning...
In holding pattern for Teamsters' job action in Abbotsford  BC Local News   ...Strike action by Teamsters Local 31 could begin as early as this afternoon, although school district superintendent Kevin Godden said the local hasn't provided any details about "the nature, location or specific time."...
Cerberus Loots Bankrupt Airlines Health Care Account  Huffington Post   ...Private equity firm Cerberus Business Finance, LLC is looting a bankrupt airline that for 66 years ferried troops and equipment to war zones in the Middle East and Southeast Asia...
Trade
Anti-TPP Activists Protest Obama Speech in Malaysia  Democracy Now   ... On Sunday, Obama faced protest at a public event in Malaysia over the Trans-Pacific Partnership...
Obama Fails To Seal Trans-Pacific Partnership Deal  Daily Star   ...No deal. That best sums up United States President Barack Obama's stops in Japan and Malaysia, where bilateral Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations failed to end in an agreement...
Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Pact Must Be Rejected By U.S. (LTE)  Arizona Daily Star   ...Byron Schlomach's article, "Arizona's future depends on international trade," April 21, implies that all international trade agreements are good for Arizona and the United States. Some are good and some are not so good. The Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade agreement, or TPP, is one of those not good for the state or nation...
State Battles
Missouri House Republican Leaders Continue To Push For 'Right-To-Work' Bill  Lake Expo   ...The prospect of a second vote on "right to work" remain uncertain, but state House Republican leaders said they will continue to work on trying to gather enough votes to advance the measure...
War on Workers
Survey Details Struggles Of Syracuse's Low-Wage Workers  Syracuse Post-Standard   ...Low-wage workers in the Syracuse area struggle with conditions that can cause health problems and make it hard to climb the economic ladder, according to a new survey...
One Year After Rana Plaza  New York Times   ...A horrendous building collapse last April in Bangladesh killed more than 1,100 garment workers. Labor groups, Western clothing companies, the Bangladeshi government and others have made progress towards preventing similar tragedies, but more needs to be done...
Restaurant Workers: 'Stop Wage Theft'  Workers World   ...In a powerful demonstration of support, dozens of people marched into Liberato restaurant in the Bronx, demanding better wages and working conditions for the workers on April 19...
Miscellaneous
Student Debt "Celebrated" Outside The Dept. of Education  Open Media Boston   ...The campaign for a debt-free future hit out at growing levels of student-debt in a rally outside the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) in Boston on Friday...

Today's Teamster News 04.23.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Urge Buffalo Common Council To Keep Rural Metro Contract  The Buffalo News   ...The unionized workforce of Buffalo's exclusive ambulance provider came to city hall today to urge the common council not to change providers...
Trade
Obama Faces Headwinds On Trans-Pacific Partnership In East Asia Trip  South China Morning Post   ...As US President Barack Obama embarks on a four-nation Asian tour, his effort to push the economic side of the US "rebalancing" towards the Asia-Pacific faces hurdles...
Abe-Obama Deal On TPP Unlikely  The Japan Times   ...Japan and the United States are not expected to announce a broad bilateral agreement for a Pacific trade pact when their leaders meet Thursday in Tokyo, as they remain considerably apart over the issue of market access for agricultural products and automobiles...
State Battles
Missouri Considers Right-To-Work Law  The Patriot Post   ...Following on the heels of some of its Midwest regional neighbors, Missouri's legislature is considering right-to-work legislation. With a heavily Republican legislature it seemed like passage would be a slam dunk. But that hasn't turned out to be the case...
Ohio Labor Supporters Gain Valuable Lesson From Missouri Right To Work Fight  PR News Channel   ...In Ohio, union supporters have so far kept the legislature off the ballot and are working tirelessly to ensure Right to Work doesn’t gain a foothold in their state....
War on Workers
The American Middle Class Is No Longer the World’s Richest  New York Times   ...After-tax middle-class incomes in Canada — substantially behind in 2000 — now appear to be higher than in the United States. The poor in much of Europe earn more than poor Americans...
Moving in with parents becomes more common for the middle-aged  Los Angeles Times   ...For seven years through 2012, the number of Californians aged 50 to 64 who live in their parents' homes swelled 67.6% to about 194,000, according to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the Insight Center for Community Economic Development. The jump is almost exclusively the result of financial hardship caused by the recession...
Cabdrivers Seek To Unionize To Push Case For Fair Hike  Chicago Sun Times   ...Tired of waiting nine years for a fair increase and being pushed around as independent contractors, Chicago cab drivers are trying a different tack to press their case for a "living wage"...
White House approves stricter coal dust rule  The Hill   ...The rule was proposed in 2010 by the Mine Health and Safety Administration in an attempt to reduce black lung disease, a deadly condition that kills hundreds of miners each year and is caused by coal dust...
Sherpas Move to Shut Everest in Labor Fight  New York Times   ...The avalanche that killed at least 13 Sherpas last Friday has prompted an extraordinary labor dispute, as Mount Everest’s quiet workhorses took steps on Tuesday to shut down the mountain for the season, demanding that the government share proceeds from what has become a multimillion-dollar business...
Miscellaneous
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Michigan Affirmative Action Ban  Think Progress   ...The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Michigan's ban on affirmative action in higher education Tuesday morning, in the latest ruling to effectively weaken affirmative action without killing it...

Teamsters mobilizing for August 10-11 Philly rally

Pennsylvania Teamsters will join thousands of workers and labor advocates as they converge on Philadelphia next month for the “Workers Stand for America” mobilization. And at least two tractor-trailers from Locals 107 and 776 will be on hand to demonstrate Teamster power at the demonstrations.

The rallies, which we blogged about yesterday, will bring tens of thousands of workers from around the country together to demand a Second Bill of Rights for workers in America. Included among these rights are the right to full employment, a living wage and a voice at work.

There will be two protests as part of the Workers Stand for America action. A rally on Friday August 10 will feature speakers from the Philadelphia AFL-CIO and Building Trades and John Dougherty from IBEW 89. A reception will be held at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel later in the evening. The main rally kicks off at 11 am on Saturday August 11 and will take place at Eakins Oval by the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Teamster locals in Pennsylvania, along with Joint Council 53 and the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters, are encouraging members to participate in this historic mobilization to push back against corporate greed and win economic justice for workers.

As the war on workers continues to undermine the livelihoods of middle class families around the country, a demonstration like this couldn’t be more urgent.

We've got to stand and fight. Otherwise, corporate America and their politician servants will not end the war on workers.

Click here to sign the Second Bill of Rights. And for more information on the Workers Stand for America action, contact Teamsters Joint Council 53 at teamstersc53@yahoo.com or the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters at pateamsters@verizon.net

Let’s bring Teamster Power to the streets of Philly!

-- Union Thug

The Teamsters are in the building

It’s hard to get noticed in Las Vegas, but several thousand Teamsters, their families and guests are managing to do it. Proud Teamsters in their Teamster gear paraded through hotels, met in conference rooms and rehearsed their appearances on the grand and glitzy stage. Outside the Paris Hotel, tourists took photos of Teamsters posing in front of the gleaming red-white-and-blue Teamster semi-tractor trailer from Joint Council 42.

Teamsters from all over the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico are gathering today for the first time in five years. Day One’s agenda of the 28th annual IBT convention is focusing on the War on Workers, combining solemnity with fervor, formality with music, world-renowned celebrities and rank-and-file Teamsters.

General-Secretary Treasurer Tom Keegel -- aptly introduced as "a Teamster's Teamster" -- said the war on workers is going full blast. Keegel set the tone with his vow:

There’s no way they’re going to bust us or take us down because it ain’t gonna happen.

The morning began with a rock ‘em, sock’em, opening: an ear-splitting drum tattoo, a throng of protesters waving “Stop the War on Workers signs, "We Won't Get Fooled Again," and yes, a dozen Harleys roaring through the enormous hall.  

Teamsters quickly dispatched committee business – appointments, reports and resolutions.

And then the first resolution: Vision, Solidarity, Action.  Teamsters resolved to fight the war on workers. We'll have that for you soon.