Seattle lawmakers side with Uber, taxi drivers

The Seattle City Council took the first swing at the nation's ballooning freelance "gig" economy, approving a measure that would give app-based drivers and others in the jurisdiction the ability to collectively bargain over their wages and working conditions.

Drivers stood up and were counted in Seattle fight.

Under the proposal, drivers would have the ability to come together to choose a nonprofit organization to represent them. Once authorized, the organization could engage in collective bargaining on the drivers’ behalf. The new law would apply to all taxi drivers, for-hire drivers and drivers for app-based dispatch companies, such as Uber and Lyft.

Drivers and community supporters celebrated the bill’s passage, calling it a turning point toward greater protections for workers in a changing economic landscape. Peter Kuel, an Uber driver and member of the leadership council of the App-Based Drivers Association, said:

Since I started driving for Uber, Uber has cut our pay without notice, terminated drivers without giving a reason and blocked our efforts to improve our working conditions. We’re looking for fairness and the ability to earn a living wage. 

Seattle app-based drivers as well as traditional taxi drivers are already aligned with Teamsters Local 117.Taxi drivers formed the Western Washington Taxicab Operators Association in 2012. In 2013, drivers for app-based dispatch companies formed the App-Based Drivers Association.

Because of their disputed status as independent contractors, however, for-hire drivers don't have the ability to unionize through a traditional National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election process, and they aren't covered under Seattle's wage theft, sick leave or new $15 an hour minimum wage law.

John Scearcy, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 117, is hopeful the legislation -- if signed by the mayor -- will go a long way towards making things more fair:

All workers, no matter where they work or the nature of their work, deserve the opportunity to have a voice. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights identifies the right of workers to bargain collectively as a fundamental human right. Now these workers have that right.

Figuring out the future of organizing as the gig economy continues to grow in the U.S. is a major challenge for workers. The Teamsters' victory earlier this year in the "Browning-Ferris" case decided by the NLRB was seen by many as an opportunity to expand union representation among millions of workers nationwide who previously were misclassified as independent contractors.

Legal challenges to the NLRB ruling have already been filed and are expected if the Seattle measure becomes law. But these rulings are just more proof that when workers are Teamster Strong, America is Stronger!

Today's Teamster News 11.17.15

TEAMSTERS
EVSC ratifies agreement with Teamsters  14 News  ...The EVSC school board ratified its agreement with Teamsters Local 215 on Monday. EVSC union members have been working under a tentative agreement with the school corporation. The contracts are for non-teaching positions, like custodians and other support staff. The board president calls it "a fair agreement"...
Uber Drivers, Taxis to Rally at Seattle City Hall  Local 117  ...Drivers will rally at City Hall on Wednesday, November 18 at 11 A.M. to highlight unfair working conditions in Seattle’s for-hire transportation industry and to demand fair pay, a level playing field, dignity, and respect. At the event, drivers will address a variety of issues such as public safety, driver safety, insurance regulations, deactivation, and low pay...
Teamster vote Nov. 23-24 at Threshold Enterprises  Santa Cruz Sentinel  ...Elena Cruz, 46, said she gets up at 3:30 a.m. so she can drive from her home in Castroville to Santa Cruz to start her 5 a.m. shift at Threshold Enterprises. She works in shipping and packaging for the privately held nutritional supplement-maker. She came to the Sentinel with two co-workers to explain why they support the union, which is negotiating a new contract to replace one for 600 workers that expired Sept. 16 and facing a decertification election on Nov. 23 and 24...

GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Obama’s trade deal is in trouble  The Hill  ...President Obama’s trade deal with 11 other Pacific Rim countries is in deep trouble with Congress. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) haven’t decided whether they’re going to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — even after they helped the president win fast-track authority in a bruising interparty fight that was meant to ease its passage...
Anti-TPP Protesters in Washington, DC Call on Congress to Reject TPP Trade Deal  Sputnik News  ...The US Congress must not approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement and should start new trade talks on a deal that would raise working, environmental and human rights standards, US advocacy group PopularResistance.org Co-Director Margaret Flowers told Sputnik....
Putin questions U.S.-led TPP trade pact arrangements  Japan Times  ...Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized on Tuesday the way the U.S.-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal is being arranged, saying the “clandestine talks” do not promote stability in the Asia-Pacific region. His comments were published on the Kremlin website just before this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum...
The TPP's Children's Table: Labor Rights and Currency   Truthout  ...The TPP has two classes of issues. On the one hand, there are the issues that really matter to the drafters of the deal. These are issues like protection of patents and copyrights and other forms of investment. That is the story of the adult table. The children's table is for issues that are of concern to labor rights, human rights and environmental rights activists...
More labour strikes in South African fruit industry  Fresh Plaza  ...More than 1500 workers, all members of FAWU employed by the Du Toit Agri Pty Ltd Group in Ceres, Prince Alfred Hamlet and Humansdorp in the Eastern Cape went on a strike Thursday, 12 November in demand of a wage increase and better working conditions. The company is said to be the leading packing and exporter of fruit and vegetables in the country. Last week a strike involving 2,000 banana workers at organic producer Umbhaba Banana Estates Farms, took place...
How the Paris Attacks Are Changing the EU’s Debate on Refugees  The Atlantic  ...The revelation that one of the suicide bombers who carried out Friday’s attacks on Paris entered Europe last month through the Greek island of Leros has complicated the increasingly fragile European plan to handle an historic migrant and refugee crisis. More than 700,000 people have entered Europe this year from the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere...

STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Lawmakers feel new influence to raise the minimum wage  Statesman Journal  ...Oregon lawmakers are under renewed pressure to raise the state's $9.25 minimum wage. If lawmakers won't, several coalition groups have said, the issue will be decided by Oregon voters on the 2016 ballot. Monday afternoon, protesters at the Senate Interim Committee On Workforce and General Government broke into chants of "Fifteen now" and "Black lives matter"...
Voter photo ID, ethics reform among top priorities for Missouri Senate Republicans  Missourinet  ...State Senate Republicans have caucused and the filing of bills will begin December 1. The man who can decide what does and doesn’t reach the Senate floor in the 2016 session said he can’t rank legislative priorities, but Mike Kehoe (R-Jefferson City) told Missourinet there are some issues that stand out. Voter photo ID will be proposed again...
Legislation cut California’s workers’ compensation medical costs  SacBee  ...Three years ago, Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature enacted a major overhaul of the system that compensates workers for job-related injuries and illnesses. Senate Bill 863, backed by employers and labor unions, affected many specific aspects of the system but was aimed largely at reducing medical costs and redirecting savings into cash benefit increases for disabled workers...
'Poverty Pay' Leads Walmart Employees to Skip Lunch or Steal it From Co-Workers  Alternet  ...Walmart employees are so poor that they are skipping lunch, sharing it or, in some cases, stealing it from their coworkers, some of the company’s workers claimed on Thursday while announcing a fast in protest of the company’s wages. Starting Friday morning, over 100 Walmart associates who are members of Our Walmart, a workers organization, and about a 1,000 supporters will begin a fast to shine light on what they describe as Walmart’s “poverty pay”...

U.S. LABOR
General Motors and UAW Union Delay Ratifying New Contract  Fortune  ...Disagreement between production workers and skilled trades workers at General Motors plants has pushed back the formal ratification of the United Auto Workers’ four-year labor agreement with the car company. The so-called Big Three automakers—Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, GM, and Ford—have all entered negotiations with the UAW...
Ford UAW workers voting on new contract today  WDRB ...Ford's 9,000 UAW members in Louisville are voting on a new contract today. The new contract will set wages and working conditions for Ford workers, and includes a number of pay increases, including an $8,500 signing bonus for each UAW member. If passed, it also comes with more than a billion dollars in upgrades to Louisville's two Ford plants...
Metro, Transit Union At Odds Over Contract  WVXU  ...The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 627 is encouraging members to attend Tuesday morning's Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) board meeting to speak out about the current contract situation. In a letter, the president of the union representing Metro employees told members their health insurance rates will dramatically increase next month despite the lack of a new contract...

Union of Sonoma County government employees plans strike Tuesday  Press Democrat  ...The largest group of unionized Sonoma County government employees is set to go out on a one-day strike Tuesday, protesting what it contends is a stingy contract offer from the county, bad faith in negotiating at the bargaining table and other issues it says amount to unfair labor practices...
8 in 10 Hotel Workers Have Been Harassed at Work  The Nation  ...As part of UNITE HERE!’s Housekeeper’s Global Week of Action campaign, the hospitality workers of Long Beach, California, rallied on Thursday to push the City Council to adopt a set of labor standards that would limit their workloads and strengthen protection from assault...
Kohler workers reject offer, OK first union strike at company since 1983  Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel  ...Union workers went on strike at Kohler Co. on Sunday after overwhelmingly rejecting what the firm had called its "last, best and final offer." Ninety-four percent voted down the Kohler proposal, Tim Tayloe, president of UAW Local 833, told cheering workers after the ballots were tallied...

SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
For-profit educator to pay $95.5M over recruitment tactics  CBS News  ...Federal officials on Monday said they reached a $95.5 million settlement with the nation's second-largest for profit educator, accused of running a high-pressure boiler room where admissions personnel were paid based purely on the number of students they enrolled. The civil settlement with Education Management Corporation, the biggest yet involving false claims to the Department of Education, stems from a case first brought by whistleblowers...
The GOP’s devious Wall Street welfare plan: Why the future of the economy hangs in the balance  Salon  ...This is a consequential week for the future of financial regulation. Republicans have pulled out a successful playbook: stick as many riders onto two must-pass bills as possible, holding them hostage to conservative ideology. The bills include a long-term reauthorization of the Highway Trust Fund, which expires shortly, and a package of appropriations bills to keep the government funded...
Predictable and Deplorable: Over Half of US Governors Vow to Slam Door on Refugees  Common Dreams  ...In what appears to be a textbook case of xenophobia and political fearmongering in the wake of a tragedy, more than a dozen U.S. governors have declared their states off-limits to Syrian refugees in the days following Friday's terror attacks in Paris. In a statement Monday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the country's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization, decried the rolling announcements as "un-American"...
Here We Go Again? Muslim Americans Brace for a Backlash After Paris  The Nation  ...When news of the Paris attacks spread, Muslim, Arab, and South Asian activists in the United States began a process that has become all too familiar in the 14 years after 9/11. In the midst of expressing their grief, Muslim, Arab, and South Asian advocates are also placed in the position of having to monitor for a backlash against their own communities...
Number of people killed by US police in 2015 at 1,000 after Oakland shooting  The Guardian  ...The number of people killed by law enforcement in the US this year has reached 1,000 after officers in Oakland, California, shot dead a man who allegedly pointed a replica gun at them. Authorities said several officers opened fire on the man on Sunday evening when he walked toward them as they towed away cars that had been used to perform so-called “sideshow” stunts in east Oakland...

Today's Teamster News 10.29.15

TEAMSTERS
Port truck drivers and warehouse workers strike together for better wages and 'employee' status  KPCC  ...Truck drivers who haul cargo at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are on strike again this week - this time with some new comrades on their picket lines: warehouse workers. Workers from California Cartage, a warehouse at the Port of L.A., have joined striking truckers who drive for Pacific 9 Transportation and XPO Logistics, creating the potential for disruption at two key links in the cargo supply chain...
CA Port Driver Strike Lingers  Go By Trucks  ...Drayage drivers for two trucking companies at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have entered their 15th week of striking. The drivers, who are classified as independent contractors for XPO Logistics and Pacific 9 Transportation, are seeking employee status. Teamsters and the organization Justice for Port Truckers are backing the strike...
Teamsters at Sysco Ratify New 3-Year Contract  Local 117  ...In the end, solidarity won the day. On Saturday, October 24, Teamster drivers and warehouse workers, employed at Sysco, voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new three-year contract. In contract negotiations, Sysco was proposing a two-tier system which would have divided the group and rolled back industry standards with respect to wages, health and welfare and seniority. But Teamsters at Sysco would not be pushed around...
Union Begins Coca-Cola Negotiations, Trades Initial Contract Proposals  Local 727  ...The Teamsters Local 727 Coca-Cola Bargaining Committee met with Coca-Cola representatives on October 28 to kick off new contract negotiations. Both the union and management traded initial, non-economic contract proposals. Economic proposals for wages, pensions and health and welfare will be forthcoming. After several hours of deliberations following the exchange, both sides agreed to reconvene on Thursday...

GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Trans-Pacific Partnership Provision On Trade Disputes Draws Criticism  NPR  ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement the Obama administration is trying to sell to Congress includes a seemingly obscure and controversial provision. It's called the Investor-State Dispute Settlement, or ISDS among wonks. Under the system, cases are arbitrated by one of two bodies - the World Bank or a division of the United Nations. To date, the U.S. has been sued 17 times and won all its cases...
Froman tells UK: No to EU means no to trade deal  Politico  ...Michael Froman, U.S. trade representative, said the U.S. is “not particularly in the market for free trade agreements with individual countries.” The Obama administration has focused on wrapping up multilateral trade deals like TTIP (with the EU) and TPP (with Pacific partners). The Americans hope to finalize the deal with Europe before President Obama leaves office, an official said last week...
House uses rare procedure to revive Export-Import bank  USA Today  ...The House launched a rare effort Monday to circumvent Republican leadership in hopes of reviving the Export-Import Bank, which conservatives managed to choke off earlier this year. Business groups have pushed hard to renew the bank's charter. The bank provides loans and loan guarantees to allow foreign customers to buy U.S. goods and services...
Ontario mayors urge Trudeau to protect auto sector from TPP deal  Globe and Mail  ...Fresh discontent is surfacing over the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that Canada signed in the dying days of Stephen Harper’s government. Mayors representing 20 Ontario cities, from Oshawa to Windsor, with a significant number of auto-sector jobs on Wednesday called on Mr. Trudeau, the prime-minister-designate, to protect their industry from being sideswiped by the TPP...
Greece’s Bailout Deal with Europe Is Starting to Show Cracks  Foreign Policy  ...The European Union’s agreement to provide Greece with the 86 billion euros, or $95 billion, bailout that Athens needs to stay solvent is beginning to show signs of strain, with creditors threatening to delay an October payment as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras struggles to implement promised austerity reforms...
Austerity cuts are causing mental distress and are linked to rise in suicides, health professionals warn  Independent  ...In the UK, suicide rates rose in 2011 and 2012. Men especially seem to be at risk: the male suicide rate is the highest it's been since 2001 and, for men between the ages of 45 and 59, the highest since 1981. After five years of austerity, families, charities, mental health professionals, campaigners and researchers have been highlighting what they regard as the profound effects on mental health...

STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
McCrory signs controversial immigration bill  Winston-Salem Journal  ...North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed legislation Wednesday that targets “sanctuary cities” and immigrant identification, turning back pleas from advocates to veto a bill that they say harms immigrants and businesses that rely on immigrant labor. While protesters have been a constant presence at the Executive Mansion in Raleigh to urge McCrory to veto the measure, there were no protesters seen around the sheriff’s office...
Campaign to ditch workers' comp  Fort Stockton Pioneer  ...A series of new laws has cut workers’ compensation benefits, given employers and insurers more control over medical care, and made it more difficult for workers to qualify for coverage. But other than Texas and Oklahoma, no state has allowed companies to simply opt out. One Texas lawyer is helping companies opt out of workers’ compensation and write their own rules. What does it mean for injured workers?...
Can Fast-Food Work Ever Be A Decent Job? These Swedish McDonald's Workers Say Yes  Fast Coexist  ...What can a union do for low-wage workers? Comparing the lives of McDonald's workers in Chicago and Sweden shows the difference organizing can make. "Life is pretty hard right now," says KeJioun Johnson, a 20-year-old, part-time McDonald's cashier who lives with his single mom (a part-time bus driver) in government-subsidized housing...
Jersey City council expands paid sick leave law  NJ.com  ...Almost everyone working in Jersey City will be able to accrue paid sick leave, thanks to a measure adopted by the City Council tonight. The council in 2013 made the city the first in the state to mandate that most private employers provide their workers with paid sick leave. The council voted 7-1-1 to approve the measure (Ord. 15.145)...

U.S. LABOR
Michigan Transit Workers Fight To Prevent City Bus System From Eliminating Their Pensions  In These Times  ...For the drivers behind the wheel of this top-of-the-line fleet, not all is well: Grand Rapids bus drivers are without a signed union contract, because city officials want to cut their pension funds. One Rapid board member has called the current pension system a “terrible plan” and claims the board wants to “do better” for drivers, the board claims the pension fund is $2.6 million in the red. The drivers disagree...
UAW-GM workers set to vote on agreement with 'significant gains'  MLive  ...In a proposed agreement with General Motors, the UAW touts "significant gains" for workers, though only voting will tell if the rank-and-file agrees with this sentiment. In the proposed deal, workers would have traditional wages within eight years. It's similar to an agreement reached with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles...
In Historic Ruling, NLRB Says Tucson Taxi Drivers are Employees  Market Watch  ...In a groundbreaking ruling, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Tucson, Arizona, has determined that more than 200 taxi drivers employed by AAA Transportation/Yellow Cab are employees and are therefore eligible for union representation. The ruling is the first of its kind for taxi drivers...
When Bank Workers Occupy the Banks  The Nation  ....After about eight years of seeing Main Street households get owned by Big Finance, front-line bank workers are now trying to reclaim Wall Street, branch by branch. In Los Angeles, where communities are still reeling from the financial crisis, front-line bank employees, and activists last week occupied the lobbies of Wells Fargo and Bank of America and demanded fair terms for the customers and the workforce...
Workers Pay The Price For Amazon’s New One-Hour Delivery  Think Progress  ...Amazon’s one-hour delivery option launched in the Bay Area this week, but the workers behind the scenes of the “Prime Now” service say they’re paying a steep price to make the super-fast turnaround a reality.
Prime Now drivers are suing Amazon over pay that amounts to less than the California minimum wage. Drivers in the Los Angeles market make $11 an hour, but buy their own gas, insurance, and auto maintenance service...  
 
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Amid Flood of Dark Money, Groups Make Simple Request of FEC: 'Do Your Job'  Common Dreams  ...Decrying the unprecedented flow of so-called "dark money" into the U.S. political process, a coalition of civic and religious organizations, environmentalists, and academics on Tuesday submitted comments to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), calling on the agency to—put simply—do its job...
Criminalizing the Classroom: Inside the School-to-Prison Pipeline  Democracy Now  ...New York City has more than 5,000 police officers patrolling the city’s schools—that’s more than the combined number of school guidance counselors and social workers. Nationwide, more than 17,000 officers work in the school. What happens when students are arrested in the classroom?...
A GOP Debate Without a Winner—Or Much of a Point  The Nation  ...Donald Trump lost interest mid-way through the third Republican presidential debate. It’s a bad night for Trump when his most memorable line is a closing-statement claim of credit for negotiating a shorter debate: “I got it down to two hours so we can get the hell out of here.”  The billionaire contender’s disdain for the whole affair was appropriate after an empty night of whining about the media...
The Budget Deal Clears the House of Representatives  The Atlantic  ...The final major vote of John Boehner’s drama-filled tenure as House speaker turned out to have very little drama at all. A bipartisan majority in the House on Wednesday afternoon easily approved the two-year budget agreement that Boehner negotiated with fellow congressional leaders and the Obama administration. The vote was 266-167...
Immigrant Women Launch Indefinite Hunger Strike, Asking To Be Freed From Detention Center  Think Progress  ...Detained women seeking asylum or other forms of humanitarian relief began an indefinite hunger strike at an immigration detention center in Texas on Wednesday night, sending hand-written letters to the federal government calling for their release. At least 27 immigrant women refused dinner on Wednesday at the T. Don Hutto detention center...

Today's Teamster News 11.22.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Win Midwest Seniority Case For Flight Attendants  teamster.org   ...The Teamsters Airline Division and Teamsters Local 135 prevailed in the Midwest Seniority Integration Arbitration on November 18, when labor arbitrator Homer C. La Rue found the Teamsters’ proposal to be the most “fair and equitable” method to integrate Republic and former Midwest flight attendants...
North Las Vegas Mayor, City Workers Come Together In Support Of Teamsters Local 14  teamster.org   ...Over 150 city workers gathered Thursday morning in front of City Hall to join Mayor John Lee in a show of support for Teamsters Local 14, recognizing the hard work and leadership the union played in averting the City of North Las Vegas from state takeover...
Teamsters Joint Council 16 Statement On Immigration Action  teamster.org   ...“Teamsters know that our diversity gives us strength. When our brothers and sisters demand justice and respect, we stand with them...
Labor Remains Strong In The Bay Area (opinion)  San Francisco Chronicle   ...Drivers are fed up with the long days behind the wheel and time spent waiting between runs. By a 43-to- 28 margin, they voted to go with the Teamsters. A contract comes next, and possible organizing drives for other tech bus drivers among the dozen or more companies that offer shuttle service...
Three Trucking Companies Picketed By Drivers Agree To Negotiate In Dispute At Los Angeles, Long Beach Ports  Daily Breeze   ...Three of five trucking companies targeted this week by picketing drivers serving the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports have agreed to discuss labor disagreements and to “resolve outstanding issues” with their drivers...
Bridgeton Landfill Odor Concerns Grow As Weather Turns Colder  St. Louis Post-Dispatch   ...A new report shows that odor filters installed by the landfill’s owner Republic Services over the summer were only partially effective at reducing the smells...
Sysco Set To Merge With Biggest Rival In Billion Dollar Deal  New York Post   ...Sysco, the country’s biggest food distributor, is closing in on a deal to win regulatory approval for its $3.5 billion acquisition/merger with closest rival US Foods, The Post has learned. The company is in advanced talks to sell some assets to Blackstone Group-owned Performance Food Group...
Trade
Activists Worldwide Rally Against the TPP  Public Citizen   ...The groups also launched an online campaign resulting in thousands of calls and hundreds of thousands of e-mails to Members of Congress urging them to vote “No” on Fast Track. Across the country, 20 rallies and town halls brought the anti-Fast Track message to lawmakers’ home districts...
State Battles
Right-To-Work Fades As A Top Priority For Some GOP Governors  Wall Street Journal   ...Both Wisconsin and Ohio have already had bruising fights over public sector unions. At the start of his first term, Mr. Walker pushed through a law ending most collective-bargaining rights for government employees in Wisconsin, eventually leading to his recall. Ohio lawmakers passed similar legislation, only to have it overturned in a statewide vote...
SF Taxi Drivers Promise A Repeat Of Airport Protest  San Francisco Chronicle   ...Taxi operators complain that the newcomers are barely regulated while the ride services argue that the cab industry was a monopoly in need of a shakeup...
Utah Considers Cutting Off Water To The NSA’s Monster Data Center  Wired   ...The legislation, proposed by Utah lawmaker Marc Roberts, is due to go to the floor of the Utah House of Representatives early next year, but it was debated in a Public Utilities and Technology Interim Committee meeting on Wednesday. The bill, H.B. 161, directs municipalities like Bluffdale to “refuse support to any federal agency which collects electronic data within this state.”...
War on Workers
Walmart Dodges Taxes While Its Employees Starve  Gawker   ...Two new reports today about Walmart, the world's top provider of crap. One points out that Walmart is a tax dodger; the other points out that Walmart worsens our national hunger crisis. A banner day for Walmart!...
Five Ugly Decades of Middle-Class Wages in America  Wolf Street   ...We thus get a hypothetical number for average weekly wages of this middle-class cohort, currently at $700 — well below its $827 peak back in the early 1970s...
Uber Slammed For Tracking Riders Without Permission  New York Post   ...Just when it seemed it couldn’t get any worse for Uber, the taxi-hail app finds itself in the middle of a spying scandal. Reports that Uber employees have tracked riders’ whereabouts without their permission — and for seemingly no good reason — has users rethinking their relationship with the $17 billion startup...
Worker killed in forklift accident  Brandon Sun   ...A 34-year-old Oakbank man died in an industrial accident Friday morning in the RM of Springfield just outside Winnipeg...
Another NY Dairy Farm Worker Dies; Voluntary Safety Enforcement Isn't Working (opinion)  Syracuse Post-Standard   ...On Nov. 9, a dairy farm worker was pulled into the auger of a grain silo and lost his life...His death is the most recent in a string of fatalities on dairy farms in New York state in less than two years...
Calgary construction worker killed after wall collapses on him  Journal of Commerce   ... a 60-year man was working with a demolition crew dismantling a brick building on 28th Street in northeast Calgary Thursday afternoon when a portion of the wall collapsed on top of him...

Teamster taxi drivers rally for fairness in Washington, DC

Teamster taxi drivers today in Washington, D.C.

Teamster taxi drivers in Washington, D.C., rallied today for a level playing field with private sedan companies like Uber X and Lyft.

More than 60 drivers, members of Teamsters Local 922, chanted outside a downtown building where several city council members were being interviewed by the news media.

Royale Simms, business agent for Local 922, said, “As we began to chant ‘What do we want? Justice!’, Councilmember Mary Cheh walked out of the Council Chambers and had to pass our action. The drivers’ message was heard loud and clear by the councilmembers.”

After a few minutes, the drivers were escorted from the Wilson Building by security, but their objective was met.

“The drivers were excited and the event has already led to phone calls from drivers wanting to be involved with our next action, which we will announce soon,” Simms said.
Not only are private sedan companies eating into regulated drivers' incomes, they are attacking their own workers.

WAMU reported,

The rise of the “ridesharing” service UberX is bleeding traditional taxicabs in Washington. 

Although precise District-wide data is not available, taxicab company managers and individual drivers said their business is down at least 20 percent — and in some cases much more.

According to Jacobin,

Uber drivers in LA, the largest ride-sharing market in the country, held dozens of protests over the summer to oppose rate cuts. Late last month, drivers working with Teamsters Local 986 launched the California App-based Drivers Association (CADA), a sort of Uber drivers union. Uber workers in Seattle have staged their own protests and have formed the Seattle Ride-Share Drivers Association. Just last week in New York City, drivers for the luxury UberBlack service threatened to strike and successfully reversed a company decision that would have forced them to pick up cheaper and less lucrative UberX rides. On Monday, drivers protested again. 

“We want the company to understand that we are not just ants,” Joseph DeWolf, a member of CADA’s leadership council, told me at the Teamsters Union hall in El Monte, California. “What we want is a living wage, an open channel of communication with the company, and basic respect.” DeWolf said CADA is signing up members, collecting dues, and plans to strike in LA if Uber refuses to come to the negotiating table.

Today's Teamster News 08.30.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Warn Of Anti-Trust Obstacles To Sysco-US Foods Merger  IBT   ...The union hosted today’s call to educate investors, analysts and members of the press about the potential imbalance the merger would create within the food service industry - an imbalance that could have widespread, negative effects on customers, providers and consumers and workers across the country...
Sysco-US Foods Merger Under Fire From Teamsters  The Street   ...A major union representing workers at Sysco Corp. (SYY_) and US Foods  said Thursday the merger partners have underestimated the market share the combined company would have if their $8.2 billion combination is cleared by the Federal Trade Commission...
Uber Drivers Team Up With Teamsters Union  LA Weekly   ...A group of Los Angeles–area Uber drivers has teamed up with Teamsters Local 986. The affiliation doesn't mean the drivers are unionizing. At this point, they couldn't do so if they wanted to because they are not technically employees. But Joseph DeWolf Sandoval, a member of the California App-Based Drivers’ Association (CADA) leadership counsel, says that could change if future court challenges are successful...
Taylor Farms 'Poster Child' Bill Passes Senate  Monterey Herald   ...The bill's author, Assemblyman Roger Hernandez, D-West Covina, and the Teamsters union used Taylor Farms repeatedly to gather support. Part of their argument was that temporary workers at the company's Tracy processing facilities are kept in that status for years without benefits or job security...
Groups Vote To Remain With Teamsters Union  WTVW   ...Two members of Teamsters Local 215 vote to remain members. The Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation reports school secretaries and bus drivers voted not to disband from the Teamsters and work on a new contract individually...
Drivers At Carl's Jr. Contractor MBM Corporation Win Teamster Representation  Marketwatch   ...The National Labor Relations Board recently announced the certification of Teamsters Local 63 as the bargaining representative for 72 drivers at MBM Corporation in Ontario, Calif...
Trade
Imminent Terrorist Attack Warning By Feds on US Border  Judicial Watch   ...Islamic terrorist groups are operating in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez and planning to attack the United States with car bombs or other vehicle born improvised explosive devices (VBIED)...
Supplier For Samsung And Lenovo Accused Of Using Child Labor  New York Times   ...China Labor Watch said it had found more than 10 children working at the factory of a China-based supplier for the technology giants Samsung Electronics and the Lenovo Group in an investigation in July and August...
State Battles
Disappointing Jobs Report For Wisconsin In The 12-month Period Ending In March  Cap Times   ..."Wisconsin turned in another subpar job creation report Thursday with news that it gained 28,653 private-sector jobs in the 12 months from March 2013 to March 2014, according to data released late Thursday by the state Department of Workforce Development...
Wisconsin Forecasted to Lag Further Behind Minnesota  Econbrowser   ...the cumulative growth gap between Minnesota and Wisconsin (relative to 2011M01) is forecasted to grow — rather than shrink — over the next six months...
Legislature Approves New Insurance Requirements For Uber, Lyft, Sidecar  San Jose Mercury News   ...From the moment a driver turns on the company's smartphone app, the company will have to provide insurance amounting to $50,000 in liability coverage for death or injury to a single person; $100,000 in coverage for all damages in a single accident; and $30,000 for property damage, with excess coverage of $200,000. The company must then provide $1 million in coverage once the driver is matched with a passenger...
Top Official For GOP Governors Praised Their Strong Partnership With Koch Network  Huffington Post   ...One of the top officials responsible for electing Republican governors this November lauded the partnership between his organization and a leading arm of the Koch brothers' political network during a mid-summer conference...
Confusion Over Voter ID Law In Kansas Continues  KWCH   ...Gray says confusion over the state's Voter ID Law and problems with the DMV not accepting her paperwork kept her at home during the August primaries...
War On Workers
Public Higher Education: Another Casualty of the Great Recession  Washington Monthly   ...at some point in the last six years, 41 state legislatures in the United States slashed funding for their public universities and colleges...Only 14 states have re-invested in higher education at levels equal to or above their pre-recession levels. Last year, 20 states actually cut more funding from their public universities and colleges...

Divisions Grow as a Downturn Rocks Europe  New York Times   ...Six years after being struck by economic crisis, Europe is facing a fresh downturn, with few new ideas on the table for reigniting growth and deepening political divisions over the austerity policies that many blame for worsening the malaise...

Miscellaneous
'Google-Like' Search Engine Puts NSA Snooping Back In The Spotlight  Fox News   ...The National Security Agency’s surveillance machinery is again in the spotlight after a media report claimed that it is secretly providing data to almost two dozen U.S. government agencies via a powerful “Google-like” search engine...
Evidence Grows That Online Social Networks Have Insidious Negative Effects  MIT Technology Review   ...A study of 50,000 people in Italy concludes that online social networks have a significant negative impact on individual welfare...

Today's Teamster News 08.29.14

Teamster News
MV Transportation Drivers Unanimously Choose Teamsters Union  IBT   ...MV Transportation drivers have voted unanimously, 67-0, to join Teamsters Local 890 in Salinas, Calif., to improve their working conditions. The 91 drivers provide adult paratransit services, shuttle and tourist trolley routes in Salinas and Monterey...
Calif. Senate Approves Bill To Protect Temporary Workers   IBT   ...The California Senate approved AB 1897 Wednesday evening. The bill will hold companies accountable for serious violations of the rights of workers on their premises that are committed by their own labor suppliers...
Uber Drivers In Southern California Form Association With Teamsters Local 986  IBT   ...The California App-Based Drivers’ Association (CADA) met in El Monte, California on Tuesday, to formalize its affiliation with Teamsters Local 986...
How One Union Is Playing For Both Sides In The Battle Between Uber And Taxis  BuzzFeed   ...As the bitter divide between ride-sharing and taxi companies continues to grow, one union is trying to unite all the drivers, no matter who they work for...
Trade
TTIP Will Sacrifice Food Safety For Faster Trade, Warn NGOs  EurActiv   ...The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will irreversibly put EU consumers and animals at risk, the European Commission will be warned today...
Kristen Marshall: Reject the TPP  (opinion)   DailyCamera   ...“Why are we relying on WikiLeaks for information about TPP?”; and “What about Congress?”...
State Battles
Ballot Initiatives Become Pricey Playgrounds Of Parties And Corporations  Washington Post   ...For the first time in history, spending on the approximately 125 ballot questions facing voters in 41 states is likely to top $1 billion in campaign spending this year — and perhaps much more: Oil and gas companies in Alaska spent more than $170 for every vote they won in a successful campaign to reject higher taxes earlier this month...
The End Of The Scott Walker Experiment?  Slate   ...the biggest national test taking place in Wisconsin is a test of the Walker Hypothesis, which held that a politician who enacted conservative policies and didn’t shrink from the resulting controversy would be rewarded by a wide range of voters—conservatives, but also swing voters. ... With each new poll showing a close race, that hypothesis grows weaker...
DOR: Fiscal year revenue comes in $281.2 million below projections  WisPolitics Budget Blog   ...The largest shortfall came in income taxes, where the state collected $178.7 million less than expected. Corporate tax collections were also significantly lower, coming in $97.7 million behind projections...
War On Workers
You're Losing $18,000 A Year Because Of Income Inequality  Huffington Post   ..."Stagnant growth at the middle is just the flip side of fast growth at the top," Elise Gould, the author of the paper and EPI’s director of health policy research, told The Huffington Post...
When Do We Start Calling This “The Greater Depression”?  Washington Center for Equitable Growth   ...Between the start of 2005 and the end of 2007 U.S. real GDP grew at 3.1%/year. The recession trough in 2009 saw the U.S. real GDP level 11% lower than the 2005-2007 trend. Today it stands 16% below...
Most Americans Think The Economy Is Permanently Damaged  Huffington Post   ..."Looking at the aftermath of the recession, it is clear that the American landscape has been significantly rearranged," Rutgers professor Cliff Zukin said in a press release. "With the passage of time, the public has become convinced that they are at a new normal of a lower, poorer quality of life."...
For Every Education Level, Real Wages Have Gone Down So Far This Year  Bloomberg Businessweek   ...From the first half of 2007 to the first half of this year, real wages declined 4.9 percent for workers with a high school degree and 2.5 percent for workers with a college degree. Workers with advanced degrees registered an increase of only 0.2 percent over those seven years...
In Corporations, It’s Owner-Take-All (opinion)  Washington Post   ...Lazonick looked at the 449 companies listed every year on the S&P 500 from 2003 to 2012. ... That’s a total of 91 percent of their profits that America’s leading corporations targeted to their shareholders, leaving a scant 9 percent for investments, research and development, expansions, cash reserves or, God forbid, raises...
Sheriff releases name of Kalispell Walmart worker killed in fall  Missoulian   ...Larry Wurtz has been identified as the Kalispell Walmart employee who died after falling from a movable staircase in a back room of the store last week...
Worker hit and killed by SF city truck in the Bayview  SF Gate   ...A San Francisco Department of Public Works garbage truck struck and killed a crew member Thursday morning, city officials said...
Miscellaneous
Boomer Wealth Dented by Mortgages Poses U.S. Risk  Bloomberg   ...The share of Americans 65 and older with mortgage debt rose to 30 percent in 2011 from 22 percent in 2001, according to a May analysis by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau based on the latest available figures...

Today's Teamster News 07.23.14

Teamster News
Protecting Two-Person Crew Is Still Our Goal  BLET   ...We will continue to work with the National Representatives of SMART’s Transportation Division wherever and whenever in an effort to preserve and protect two-person crews...
Chicago Teamsters Will March to Department of Human Rights on July 28  teamster.org   ...A Chicago sink manufacturer that’s restricting employees’ time in the bathroom is now refusing to negotiate with unionized workers until they keep quiet about the discriminatory policy...
Seattle Teamsters Ratify Contracts With Three Major Grocers  IBT   ...Hundreds of Teamsters at three grocery warehouses – Safeway, SuperValu, and Unified Grocers – voted overwhelmingly to ratify their contracts over the weekend. The agreements contain annual wage increases and protections against subcontracting and the rising cost of health care...
GET Board To Vote On Proposal From Striking Union  Bakersfield Californian   ...he proposal was put forward by union negotiators during a Friday morning bargaining session between GET and Visalia-based Teamsters Local 517, which represents more than 250 striking GET bus drivers and mechanics...
Chesco Human Services Employees Ratify Contract  The Mercury   ...Unionized employees of the Chester County Department of Human Services have ratified a new contract that will guarantee them annual raises of about 9.25 percent over the next three years combined, according to those involved with negotiations. The contract comes about 15 months after the employees, who serve county residents needing social services, voted to be represented by Teamsters Local 384 ...
Trade
Administration Flooded with 26,000 Comments Opposing Proposal to Disguise Offshoring of U.S. Manufacturing  Public Citizen   ...More than 26,000 people nationwide have submitted comments opposing Obama administration proposals that would severely distort U.S. job and trade data by reclassifying U.S. corporations that offshore American jobs as “factoryless goods” manufacturers...
A quarter of McDonald’s restaurants in China may have been serving expired meat  Washington Post   ...  The supplier, Shanghai-based Husi Food Co Ltd, was forced to shut down after local television station Dragon TV (link in Chinese) ran footage of the company's factory workers picking hamburger patties and meat from off the factory floor and throwing them directly into meat mixers, and using bare hands to handle poultry and beef on the assembly line. The footage also showed sewage and trash spread on the floor of the processing plant; in addition, expired meat, which was described as “stinky” by workers themselves, was either concealed by mixing it together with non-expired meat, or simply altering its expiration date...
State Battles
Taxi Group Unveils Plan To Boost Fares, Fees To Help Drivers' Plight  Chicago Sun-Times   ...Mileage and waiting times that drive up Chicago taxicab fares would rise by 25 percent under a 10-point plan proposed Monday to put more money into the pockets of struggling cabbies...
Poor Job Growth Still Afflicts Kansas Despite Sam Brownback's Tax Cuts  Kansas City Star   ...Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and his advisers want to create an alternate reality when it comes to job growth in the state. They keep throwing out misleading numbers to the public while trying to cloud Kansas’ mediocre jobs picture...
War On Workers
BNSF Moves Toward Allowing Trains With Only One Engineer  Omaha World-Herald   ...BNSF Railway said Monday it has reached a tentative agreement with its largest labor union to permit single engineers to drive trains equipped with a pending new safety system mandated by Congress...
City of Austin worker killed in southeast Travis County crash  KXAN   ...A City of Austin worker was killed following a crash involving an 18-wheeler and a pickup truck on FM 973 just north of Highway 71...
Construction Worker Killed In 50-Foot Fall From Ladder  Q13Fox   ...A construction worker was found dead Monday at Bellevue College after what appeared to be a fall from a ladder around 50 feet above the ground, police said...
Miscellaneous
Imposter Uber Driver Reported In Virginia Highland Area  NBC News   ...She said when they arrived at her location she could see her friends standing on the sidewalk directly across the street, but the driver refused to let her get out and he quickly drove to another secluded location. She stated he demanded all of her money...
Workers At A Subway Sandwich Shop Vote To Unionize  Huffington Post   ...A group of Subway sandwich makers just proved that it isn't impossible for fast food workers to unionize. Workers at a Subway location in Bloomsbury, N.J., on Friday voted in favor of joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The 13 workers are employed by the Tennessee-based travel center company Pilot Flying J, but they all work inside the company's Subway franchise at the rest stop...

Today's Teamster News 06.14.14

Teamster News
SEPTA Commuter Rail Union on Strike  NBC10   ...Four hundred workers at the Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority's regional rail system (including Teamsters BLET and IBEW members) went on strike Saturday morning, shutting down 13 train lines that carry commuters to the suburbs and Philadelphia International Airport...
Town Of Clinton Approves 2 Percent Raises For Police, Public Works Unions  NJ.com   ...Elected officials approved this week contracts with the town's public works and police unions, giving members of each 2 percent raises. The new PBA contract calls for that raise each of four years and is retroactive to Jan. 1. The Teamsters contract does the same, but is in effect for five years...
De Blasio’s Approval Rating Improves, Poll Finds  New York Times   ...His plan to terminate the carriage-horse industry in Central Park remains broadly unpopular, with two-thirds of voters saying he should allow the horses to stay, an opinion that cut across gender, racial and political lines...
Trade
What Do You Think About Trade? The WTO Wants to Hear from You  AFL-CIO Now   ...The World Trade Organization (WTO) is conducting a “public forum”—a short poll with leading questions about what people think about trade and how it affects their lives. While it’s sad that this is what passes for public involvement in trade policy, it is important to let the WTO, a powerful international institution, know what you think...
Council Calls on Japan to Alter Position on Trans Pacific Partnership  ThePigSite   ...The National Pork Producers Council says, unless Japan significantly alters its demands, US agriculture will not be in a position to support the Trans Pacific Partnership, Bruce Cochrane writes...
How Big Pharma (and others) began lobbying on the Trans-Pacific Partnership before you ever heard of it  Sunlight Foundation   ...In 2009 ... 28 organizations filed 59 lobbying reports mentioning the (TPP, the) then far-off trade agreement. Almost half of those organizations were pharmaceutical companies or associations...
State Battles
Fighting To Increase The Minimum Wage To $15 Per Hour, Wage Action Protest Held In Worcester  MassLive   ...Chanting rhymes the likes of, "Low pay is not okay!" a few dozen advocates for increasing the minimum wage gathered in front of the Tobias Boland Way Walmart for one hour Thursday night in hopes of bringing attention to the issue...
North Carolina is still suing Facebook, wants to pass law banning public from knowing what else it’s doing  Pando   ...legislators in North Carolina — whose $86 billion public pension fund is the 7th largest in America – are proposing to statutorily bar the public from seeing details of the state’s Wall Street transactions for at least a decade. That time frame is significant: according to experts, it would conceal the terms of the investment agreements for longer than the statute of limitations of various securities laws...
AFSCME Helping Chicago Cab Drivers Push For Greater Voice  Chicago Tribune   ...The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union is joining up with Chicago cab drivers to try to help give cabbies a stronger voice in negotiating with Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration to raise fares, lower costs and push for greater regulation of the nascent ride-share industry...
Map: How A $10.10 Minimum Wage Could Affect Workers In Every Congressional District  Washington Post   ...Raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 would have widely varied impact on the nation’s congressional districts, according to a new report. There is a more than fourfold gap between districts where the impact would be largest and smallest...
War On Workers
Federal regulators cite contractors after worker's death in Amazon warehouse  Fortune   ...Federal regulators have cited five companies for “serious” labor violations after a temp worker died at an Amazon warehouse in New Jersey six months ago, according to a statement released on Friday...
Remember the Problems With Mortgage Defaults? They’re Coming Back With Student Loans  New York Times   ...“robo-signing” is making a comeback, this time in student loans. Robo-signing refers to a practice in which bank employees signed blizzards of documents selling mortgages to another investor without properly verifying who actually owned them...
What If Your Ability To Stay In This Country Depended On Your Employer?  The Nation   ...Every year, US companies invite thousands of special guests from abroad into the labor market, and they arrive clutching visas that will provide them short-term jobs in food processing, farmwork and other seasonal sectors...
HowardCenter Workers Speak About Wages, Work Conditions  Burlington Free Press   ...Allison Segar has worked at the HowardCenter for 16 years, and said she is paid less now than she was 17 years ago when she immigrated to America from England...

Teamsters organize Uber drivers in Seattle

Drivers for app-based ride services like Uber and UberX are organizing with Teamsters Local 117 in Seattle, which already represents taxi drivers.

The Seattle Times reports:

It’s been a tumultuous year for Seattle-area taxi drivers who’ve lost much of their business to increasingly popular phone-app ride services from companies such as Uber, Lyft and Sidecar. 

But it hasn’t been an easy ride for drivers of the app-based dispatch services either. 

That’s why about 200 of them gathered in Tukwila Sunday to formally coalesce as an association. The App-Based Drivers Association elected its first leadership council and established bylaws for about 500 drivers who expressed interest in joining. The association is made up of drivers for so-called rideshare services — legally referred to as Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) — and luxury ride services such as UberBLACK and UberSUV.

Local 117 explains:

Drivers want to bring transportation companies into compliance with municipal, county, and state regulations and laws. They want sufficient liability coverage to protect themselves and their customers, and they want companies to end the predatory practices of disconnecting drivers from their apps without cause and arbitrarily gouging drivers’ pay. 

Daniel Ajema, an Uber driver and one of the organizers of the association, called it 'a historic day.'

We set a framework for the future and for the workers who follow us. From now on, our dignity will be protected in the workplace. 

Another organizer and elected leader, added:

The association will give us a voice, more control over our working conditions, and an opportunity to be heard. Teamsters will help us with that.

Ride services like Uber are part of a new Internet-based employment trend, called 'insourcing.' They are individuals who contract with Internet-based companies like Uber and Taskrabbit to perform services, either at a rate set by the larger company or in a free-for-all bidding war.

Lydia Bowers at The Roosevelt Institute explains the pitfalls:

As contractors, these workers receive very little protection in terms of minimum wage laws or unions, let alone benefits or insurance for the work they do. And their ranks are growing fast. 

At Taskrabbit, members place bids to perform services like do laundry or paint an apartment.

Writes Bowers,

With little in the way of health insurance or other protections in work environments that are frequently dangerous ...  and a stream of work that is impossible to guarantee or even estimate, taskrabbits have it rough. Add that to the “lowest bidder almost always wins” formula for Taskrabbit services and the workers in this emerging industry face a bleak picture for economic stability...

The New York Times outlined the pitfalls of Uber:

Peter Ashlock drove a cab in San Francisco for 10 years in the 1970s and early ’80s, bringing home about $500 a week. For a few years, he even got health insurance. Two years ago he started driving for Uber. After gas and the company’s commission — usually 20 percent — he makes about $1,000 a week. Factor in inflation, and he has lost ground. 

“I have freedom and flexibility now,” said Mr. Ashlock, 65. “If I want to take a vacation I just take it. But there’s no union. There’s no community of drivers. And the only people getting rich are the investors and the executives.”

As for Seattle's Uber drivers -- Welcome to our great union!

Today's Teamster News 05.17.14

Teamster News
Exclusive: City, Teamsters Entering Mediation  Pekin Daily Times   ...The City of Pekin and the Teamsters Local 627 have scheduled a mediation session for May 20 in an effort to settle some sticking points in the labor negotiations...
State, Community Leaders Hold Investigative Forum On Workers’ Rights Violations At Taylor Farms  teamster.org   ...Taylor Farms workers and Teamster members gathered with state and community leaders at a forum on Thursday evening to investigate workers’ rights violations at the company’s facilities in Tracy, Calif...
Teamsters Unite With U.K. Unions To Demand National Express End War On North American Workers  teamster.org   ...The Teamsters Wednesday took their battle for bus driver labor rights to National Express Group’s shareholders meeting in England, where the union was part of a larger labor delegation...
Local 330 Circuit Court Members Receive Big Economic Gains  Teamsters Local 330   ...Members of Teamsters Local 330 working for Illinois’ 16th Judicial Circuit Court have secured the highest wage increases of any organized public employees in Kane County...
Uber Drivers To Form Association After Arbitrary Shift Cuts  Seattle Times   ...Drivers for the ride services Uber and Uber X plan to form an association to protect their rights and improve safety as the City of Seattle negotiates with taxi and ride-service organizations over proposed new regulations...
Port Of Poulsbo Employees Move To Unionize  North Kitsap Herald   ...Employees of the Port of Poulsbo have begun the process of unionizing. The state's Public Employment Relations Commission received a representation petition on April 1 that was submitted by attorney Thomas Leahy of Seattle...
Clifton Steel Co. workers on strike to keep pension and benefits should company be sold  cleveland.com   ...At issue is the successor clause in the contract between the company, which treats steel for abrasion, impact and wear resistance, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 507...
Teamsters Rip Scott Brown For Preventing Vote On Keystone XL  Huffington Post   ...Scott Brown can't win for losing. After helping torpedo Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's (D-N.H.) energy efficiency legislation, he is now being hit by backers of Keystone XL, who saw her bill as the vehicle to get a vote on the controversial pipeline...
Trade
Police arrest 240 at Belgian anti free-trade protest  EU Business   ...Belgian police arrested some 240 people, including three Green politicians, during a protest Thursday against a massive EU-US free trade accord in central Brussels...
Second Anniversary of Colombia Pact Spotlights Administration's Failed Promise of Labor Rights Improvements, Now Recycled to Defend TPP Negotiations with Vietnam amid Worker Riots  Public Citizen   ...Today, as foreign-owned factories in Vietnam lie smoldering after protesting Vietnamese workers burnt them to the ground, Obama administration officials are in Vietnam negotiating a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact that would place U.S. workers in direct competition with their Vietnamese counterparts...
Will The Fight For Gay Rights Stop The Trans Pacific Partnership?  PQ Monthly   ...You may have heard that wealthy Hollywood types are boycotting the Beverly Hills Hotel (assuming you follow news about places only rich Hollywood types can afford to stay). This is because the hotel is owned by an investment firm that is owned by the Sultan of Brunei...
Congressman Enyart Demands Action To End Growing Steel Crisis at #SOSJobs Rally  manufacture this   ...Following more chants of “Got to do somethin’, stop that dumpin’,” Congressman William Enyart (D-IL)  took the stage at today's AAM-sponsored #SOSJobs Rally in Granite City, IL...
State Battles
Missouri lawmakers end session without RTW, Paycheck Deception on ballot  TeamsterNation   ...n a big victory for workers, the Missouri Legislature ended its session this evening without putting right-to-work or Paycheck Deception on the ballot...
Anti-Labor Bills Defeated in Missouri in 2014  The St. Louis Powercast   ...Though a number of bills that were not good for Missouri’s working families passed in this legislative session, the Missouri House adjourned without passing right-to-work and the Missouri Senate adjourned without passing paycheck deception!...
Show This To The Next Person Who Says High Minimum Wages Kill Jobs  Huffington Post   ...If you need more evidence that a higher minimum wage won't kill the economy, consider this: the city with one of the highest minimum wages in the country has faster job growth than any other big city over the past 10 years...
After Huge Tax Cuts For The Rich, Kansas' Economy Is Floundering  Think Progress   ...In a time of slack economic growth and high unemployment around the country, Kansas lawmakers thought they had the solution: massive tax cuts for the wealthy would lure economic activity and jump-start the state's economy...
War On Workers
Fast Food Workers Across The World Protest Pay  Time Magazine   ...Fast food workers demanding higher wages staged strikes in dozens of cities across as many as 30 countries Thursday, alongside 150 similar protests planned in the United States...
Soaring Earnings of Chipotle’s 2 Bosses Raise Investor Unease  New York Times   ...Chipotle paid its founder and co-chief executive, Steve Ells, $25.1 million in cash and stock last year. It paid Montgomery F. Moran, the company’s other co-chief executive, $24.4 million. ..
The State Of America's Deadly Jobs, In 9 Charts  Huffington Post   ...Earlier this week, an explosion at a coal mine in West Virginia killed two, a somber reminder that for too many people, going to work still means risking death. Workplace deaths have fallen dramatically since safety laws were implemented in the 1970s...
UK Survey Finds High Levels of Depression and Desperation Among the Young  naked capitalism   ...The report found 40% of jobless young people had faced symptoms of mental illness, including suicidal thoughts, feelings of self-loathing and panic attacks, as a direct result of unemployment...

Today's Teamster News 02.28.14

Teamster News
Teamsters not happy with inmates filling potholes  WFMJ.com   ...The Teamsters union, representing employees with the Mahoning County engineer's office, is considering filing a grievance after seeing inmates filling potholes...

Teamster School Bus News  teamster.org   ...Baltimore school bus workers win $1.25 million wage settlement; Teamsters Local 445 drivers and monitors in New York win fight for fair contract at Durham; what to do when your bus equipment is defective – all these stories and more are in the latest issue of the Drive Up Standards newsletter...
Nashville Chapter of TNBC Honors Leaders  teamster.org   ...The Nashville Middle TN Valley Chapter of the Teamsters National Black Caucus (TNBC) held its second annual awards banquet titled “Education and Accountability” on February 22, 2014 in Nashville...
Liam Neeson: NYC Mayor Is a Horse Nazi  TMZ   ...Liam Neeson is PISSED OFF at New York City's new mayor for trying to kill the Central Park horse industry...
Will Academy Award nominees speak up for the workers who make the Oscars?  Pando Daily   ...The Teamsters Local 743 in Chicago has been unable to reach an agreement with R.S. Owens & Company, the local awards shop that has exclusively manufactured the familiar gold statuettes for the last three decades...
D.C. Taxi Drivers' Voices Are Being Heard  teamster.org   ...Over the past few months, Washington, D.C. taxi drivers have joined together with the Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association, affiliated with Teamsters Local 922, for one strong voice...
Teamster Tells Lawmakers How TPP Will Damage Workers  teamster.org   ..."this is about American families and these trade deals have brutalized the American economy,” he said. “A trade agreement is not an agreement. It is a gun to the head of the American worker...”
BLET tells House: Don’t extend deadline for Positive Train Control  BLET News   ...BLET Vice President & National Legislative Representative John P. Tolman made a strong case for the timely implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) and other measures to boost rail safety and improve the quality of life for BLET members during testimony delivered at a House subcommittee hearing on February 26...
Trade
NPPC: Japan's Offer On TPP Unacceptable to U.S. Agriculture  National Hog Farmer   ...The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) says U.S. acceptance of the recent Japanese offer, made as part of the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade talks,  would be a radical departure from previous U.S. free trade agreements (FTAs) and could potentially set an unacceptable precedent for future trade deals...
Japanese activist: TPP will affect food security  FMT News   ...The TPP will not only widen the economic disparity between the rich and the poor, but also deny poor nations the power to secure food import, says a Japanese activist...
Ending currency manipulation would create jobs  ABC, Sioux Falls   ...Policy change could bring 20,000 jobs to South Dakota...
State Battles
Protestors gather as Republicans unveil Right to Work legislation  WAVE News   ...Protesters gathered in Frankfort on Thursday as Kentucky Republicans introduced right to work legislation, even though the legislation has dim chances of success this year...
Vermont Citizens Push to Form a State Bank, But Will Ratings Agencies Kill the Idea?  naked capitalism   ...The objective is not to set up a retail bank (say along the lines of a Post Office bank) but to save the fees that are now paid to large financial institutions and to fund public projects...
The War on Workers
Household wealth still down 14 percent since recession  EurekAlert   ...the mean net worth of American households in mid-2013 was still about 14 percent below the pre-recession peak in 2006. Their analysis suggested that middle-aged people took the biggest hit...
Wal-Mart Ad Celebrates American Workers With A Canadian Band's Song About A Guy Who Hates His Job  Business Insider   ...Wal-Mart has been running a high-profile advertising campaign to promote its recent pledge to purchase $250 billion of American-made products over the next 10 years...Rush was strange choice of soundtrack for an ad celebrating American manufacturing given that the band is not just Canadian, but famously Canadian...
Underemployment Piles On Problems For Low-Wage Workers  CBS   ...The state Labor Department says there are about 276,000 Pennsylvanians in the category “working part time for economic reasons.” They include 47,900 people who usually work full-time but are working part-time, and 228,000 people who usually work part-time but are working less than they normally would...
GOP blocks veterans bill  The Hill   ...Senate Republicans stopped Democrats from advancing a bill that would have expanded healthcare and education programs for veterans...
Miscellaneous
Federal Budget Deficit Falls to Smallest Level Since 2008  New York Times   ...Closing the books on a fiscal year in which the federal budget deficit fell more sharply than in any year since the end of World War II, the Treasury Department reported on Thursday that the deficit for 2013 dropped to $680 billion, from about $1.1 trillion the previous year...