TEAMSTERS
Teamsters file labor charges against New England trucking firm JOC.com ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters union filed unfair labor practices charges against a Massachusetts-based trucking company that shut down Dec. 21, laying off 75 employees, including 40 truck drivers. Teamsters Local 42 in Lynn, Massachusetts filed charges against Crystal Motor Express with the National Labor Relations Board, a spokesperson for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in Washington said...
Teamsters allege tech shuttle company ‘bullied’ drivers SF Examiner ...The Teamsters have filed a complaint alleging Bauer’s bullied its workers into voting down forming a union, which the National Labor Relations Board will address in an upcoming hearing on Feb. 1. Bauer’s is one major provider of so-called “tech shuttles” that ferry tech industry workers in their San Francisco-to-Silicon Valley commute. Teamsters successfully unionized two other providers of tech shuttles...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Rotterdam port workers strike over job losses Dutch News ...Port workers at Rotterdam’s container terminal were set to begin a 24-hour strike on Thursday afternoon and five other day-long strikes are being planned, news agency ANP reports. The unions want port companies to rule out making compulsory redundancies, despite overcapacity and growing automation in the sector...
TPP Countries to Sign Trade Pact in New Zealand Feb. 4 BNA ...The 12 nations party to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will formally sign the agreement on Feb. 4 in New Zealand. Andres Rebolledo, director general of Chile's General International Economic Relations Bureau (DIRECON), confirmed the Feb. 4 date in a meeting yesterday with the country's National Human Rights Institute to discuss how the agreement would affect human rights issues in Chile...
Sen. Sherrod Brown warns against TPP threat to hurt auto industry WFMJ ...With the increase in car sales, Senator Sherrod Brown warns against Trans-Pacific Partnership threat to turn its back on auto industry recovery and hurt auto jobs. U.S. car sales hit a record high in 2015. “To continue that progress and protect jobs, we must ensure a level playing field for America's auto suppliers, but TPP and it's weak auto provisions stand to roll back recovery and cost Ohio jobs,” said Brown...
US Chamber announces support for TPP The Hill ...The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is throwing its weight behind President Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement between the United States and 11 other nations. But the Chamber's endorsement comes with conditions.
The business group wants the Obama administration to work with them and Congress to address concerns about the completed deal that range from intellectual property to financial services...
Business groups united on TPP Politico ...The administration leveled up this week by officially scoring the endorsements of all the major trade associations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. But while the business groups said they would fight for the deal in Congress, the direct message in each of the statements of support this week is to the administration, not lawmakers...
The TPP Train Could Still Get Derailed Foreign Policy ...Trade agreements only mean something in the United States if Congress passes implementing legislation. And that means grappling with domestic trade politics, which have become increasingly contentious. Trade votes, if they pass at all, frequently move with hardly a vote to spare...
Turkey Seeks Inclusion in US-EU TTIP Free Trade Deal - Turkish Deputy PM Sputnik News ...Turkey hopes to renegotiate its current trade agreements with the European Union, so it can be included in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) free trade deal between the United States and EU, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said. The TTIP free trade agreement would reduce barriers to trade in goods and services between Europe and its largest export market, the United States...
TPP, Public Comment Period Open! Huffington Post ...Activists from all sectors converged and spoke with a loud voice against this dangerous "trade" deal. This is important to Americans on both sides of the political aisle as well as anyone concerned with job security, the environment, social justice, or public health. Now the public has an opportunity to weigh-in before it is voted on...
Bleak Prospects for Latin America Under Trans-Pacific Partnership Truthout ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership, agreed to on October 5, 2015 by the twelve participating countries, is likely to prove disastrous for the Latin American states - Chile, Mexico, and Perú - that have joined the pact up to now. Multinational economic interests based in the United States have exerted extraordinary influence over the accord, inserting language that will arguably serve to damage Latin American interests...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Wisconsin Loses 10,000 More Jobs After Passing Right To Work NH Labor News ...Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is in deep trouble as his state is losing jobs at record rates. Last year Walker promised that if the they passed Right To Work they would create tens of thousands of new jobs, once again proving that Right to Work is not a job creator. Gov. Walker’s administration quietly acknowledged over the busy holiday season that Wisconsin surpassed 10,000 layoffs last year as a result of plant closings and economic challenges...
Republican Senate Majority’s Priorities: Education Reform, Right-to-Work and More WFPL ...The priority bills of the Kentucky state Senate’s Republican majority include several familiar policies: right-to-work, repealing the prevailing wage and enacting medical review panels. Senate Republican leaders announced on Wednesday the bills they’ll focus on passing during the 2016 legislative session, which began Tuesday...
NC voter ID trial set for Jan. 25 News & Observer ...The federal judge who will preside over the trial about North Carolina’s voter ID law told attorneys in an order this week to be ready to make their arguments on Jan. 25. In a status report filed two days before the end of the year, the NAACP and others challenging the law continue to argue that much confusion remains about what voters will need in order to cast ballots...
Michigan Governor Declares State of Emergency Due to Flint's Lead Poisoned Water Crisis Jezebel ...In Michigan, Governor Rick Snyder has declared a state of emergency regarding the water crisis in Flint, Michigan where, due to deliberately careless resource management, the number of kids with dangerous levels of lead in their blood doubled in 2015. Sender’s announcement follows Flint Mayor Karen Weaver’s state of emergency declaration: she called the lead poisoning crisis a “manmade disaster” in December...
Voter Suppression Battles To Watch In 2016 Think Progress ...As of this month, a total of 36 states have passed laws requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls, and 33 of those states will enforce their laws in 2016. A number of the state’s provisions are being challenged in court, and litigation in Texas and North Carolina could determine the courts’ ability to apply the VRA after its vital provisions were gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013...
This Is What $15 an Hour Looks Like The Nation ... The movement for a $15 minimum wage began three years earlier, on a chilly fall morning in 2012, when 200 fast-food workers walked off the job in New York City. Their demand was audacious: $15 an hour was more than twice what many of them earned. But more strikes and protests followed, with the movement spreading quickly, driven by workers...
Gazette editorial: ‘Right to work’ dangerous for WV Gazette Mail ...“Right to work” sounds so appealing, doesn’t it, with the vague suggestion that if West Virginia could just get some oppressor’s boot out of its back, its people would be free to prosper? It might be good marketing by out-of-state political interests, but it’s not good policy. The AFL-CIO is right to point out that states that enacted “right to work” laws have suffered...
U.S. LABOR
Phoenix bus contract negotiations continue, strike averted for now AZ Central ...Negotiations to avoid a bus strike by hundreds of drivers along dozens of Phoenix routes will continue Wednesday, with service operating normally for now. Officials from Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1433 and transit company Transdev, which operates 34 routes for the city of Phoenix, did not reach a contract agreement Tuesday...
Union: Dematic’s potential move to Mexico ‘a slap in the face’ WoodTV ...Around 300 people could lose their jobs if Dematic moves forward with plans to relocate its manufacturing plant in Grand Rapids to Mexico. UAW Local 1485 President Scott Wahlfeld said employees were informed Wednesday morning by company leaders about the potential move. Wahlfeld said Dematic will consider finalizing the decision on Feb. 8...
Taxi drivers oppose MSP airport proposal on Uber, Lyft: What's at stake MPR News ...Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is weighing new rules that could better accommodate ride-sharing services like Lyft and Uber. But more than 200 cab drivers showed up at a Metropolitan Airports Commission meeting Monday night in Bloomington to voice their opposition to the plan. They said ride-sharing through smartphone apps like Lyft and Uber would have an unfair advantage...
The Rescue of 17 Workers Trapped in a Salt Mine in Upstate New York The Atlantic ...The miners became stuck 900 feet underground while descending in the elevator to the floor of the mine to begin their shift at around 10 p.m. Wednesday. Emergency officials from Tompkins County were able to communicate with the trapped miners, the county said, and send them blankets and other supplies for the night. The mine, which is north of Ithaca, New York, has been in operation since 1922...
Working conditions at T-Mobile under scrutiny Bangor Daily News ...The German company’s biggest subsidiary has enjoyed two years of rapid expansion in a fiercely competitive U.S. market that has seen it overtake its closest rival Sprint in terms of subscribers. But it has been accused by its main labor union, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), of flouting employees’ rights and was last year found to have engaged in illegal work practices...
NLRB Cites Ingredion for Federal Law Violations at CR Plant KCRG ...The National labor Relations Board has found “sufficient evidence” to issue a complaint against Ingredion Inc., owner of Penford Products in Cedar Rapids, alleging violations of federal law in its contract negotiations with the union at the plant. The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) Local 100G filed a complaint with the NLRB alleging multiple violations of the National Labor Relations Act...
Chicago Teachers Union Joins Demand for Rahm Emanuel, Anita Alvarez To Resign In These Times ...The Chicago Teachers Union's House of Delegates, the union's member-led governing body, voted tonight to demand the resignations of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and State's Attorney Anita Alvarez in the wake of the Laquan McDonald scandal, which has roiled the city for nearly two months and led to the resignations of multiple city officials, including Chicago police superintendent Garry McCarthy...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Democrats lash out at Obama over immigration raids Politico ...Democrats and immigrant-rights groups have turned against the Obama administration in an uproar over recent deportation raids, likening the president to bombastic GOP front-runner Donald Trump and warning him that the controversial strategy will tarnish his legacy on immigration...
Psst: Illegal Immigration Is Actually Declining Time ...With Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz coming out with new ads this week featuring droves of people streaming over the U.S. border, you would be forgiven for thinking that illegal immigration is on the rise. But it isn’t. In fact, the number of immigrants crossing illegally into the U.S. has actually declined over the last nine years...
Executive Action: Bush Opened Guantánamo Without Congress, So Why Can't Obama Close It? Democracy Now ...As President Obama takes executive action on gun control without going through Congress, could closing Guantánamo be next? In January 2009, Obama ordered the closure of the Guantánamo Bay military prison in one of his first executive actions. Seven years later, 107 prisoners are still there...
Sanders Promises to Break Up Big Banks, Tax Speculation, and Establish Postal Banking The Nation ...Speaking just a few dozen blocks from Wall Street Wednesday, Bernie Sanders announced that, with regard to so-called “too-big-to-fail” banks, he would “break them up.” “If a bank is too big to fail, it is too big to exist,” announced the senator from Vermont, as he brought his presidential campaign to New York City’s Town Hall...
Ben Carson’s Flat Tax Would Only Benefit The Rich Think Progress ...On Monday, Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson released his tax plan, the center of which is a flat tax of 14.9 percent. On a static basis — that is, without any assumptions baked in about how the plan might change economic growth or other factors — the Tax Foundation found that only the richest 10 percent would see a benefit. Everyone else would actually see their tax burdens increase...
State Trooper Who Arrested Sandra Bland Indicted on Perjury Charge Common Dreams ...Brian T. Encinia, the Texas State Trooper who made the initial and violent arrest of Sandra Bland during a routine traffic stop just days before she was found dead in a jail cell last summer, was indicted on charges of perjury by state prosecutors on Wednesday for making false statements regarding his behavior during the incident...
Showing posts with label tech drivers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tech drivers. Show all posts
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Today's Teamster News 12.08.15
TEAMSTERS
More Facebook Drivers Join Teamsters, Ratify Strong Agreement Teamster.org ...Shuttle drivers who transport Facebook employees to and from work have joined Teamsters Local 853 in San Leandro, Calif., and ratified a strong agreement providing for significant wages, benefit improvements and gains mirroring or exceeding the Facebook/Loop Transportation contract already in place. These drivers with WeDriveU, Inc., will supplement the drivers who work for Facebook contractor Loop Transportation...
More Facebook shuttle drivers join Teamsters, get new contract USA Today ...The seven drivers with WeDriveU, Inc., a corporate transportation provider based in Burlingame, Calif., shuttle Facebook employees to and from work. They will supplement the 90 or so drivers working for Loop Transportation, which has a contract with Facebook. Back in February, those drivers approved a contract negotiated between Loop and Teamsters Local 853 of San Leandro, Calif...
It's Time to Take a Stand for Workers on TPP Huffington Post ...We serve as representatives of American organized workers on the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN) and together have stated that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a bum deal we cannot support. By registering our dissent to the ACTPN report that endorses the agreement, the Teamsters, the United Steelworkers and the United Auto Workers are letting Congress and the public know this deal fails everyday Americans...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Trans-Pacific Partnership: Industry Discord Threatens Quick Approval Of TPP Trade Agreement IBTimes ...Six years of negotiations on a massive free-trade agreement among Asia-Pacific nations have produced an accord that’s generating lukewarm support from corporate America. Skepticism from industries as diverse as pharmaceuticals and financial services is now dimming the prospects for approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership before U.S. President Barack Obama leaves office...
WTO Orders Sanctions Unless US Cuts Consumer Labels, Disproving Obama TPP Claims Huffington Post ...Yesterday's World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling against the country-of-origin meat labels (COOL) that Americans rely on to make informed choices about their food provides a glaring example of how trade agreements can undermine U.S. public interest policies. The ruling is a nightmare for the Obama administration's uphill battle to build support for the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) is Part of Obama’s “Pivot to Asia” Global Research ...The TPPA aims to enforce a common regulatory framework structured around the norms of American trade policies that govern rules for tariffs and trade disputes, patents and intellectual property, foreign investment, and other areas. Despite a level of secrecy that barred even elected public representatives of participating countries from access to the deal’s draft, advisors from major multinational corporations played a consistent, key role in forming the deal’s proposed measures...
Scottish Cabinet to Be Handed Petition to Block TTIP Trade Deal With US Sputnik News ...A petition calling on the SNP-controlled Scottish government to oppose a controversial EU-US trade deal is due to go before the Cabinet on Tuesday, according to the anti-TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) grassroots movement. The TTIP trade deal has faced sharp criticism from activists and policymakers...
There is no EU solution to climate change as long as TTIP exists (opinion) Independent ...The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) now being negotiated between the EU and the USA exemplifies the contradiction between Europe’s rhetoric on free trade and climate change. The European Commission has admitted that TTIP represents a danger to biodiversity, natural resources and the environment...
IBEW and Ontario Northland reach deal Canadian Press ... A five-year agreement has been reached between the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Ontario Northland president Corina Moore says the company is pleased that an agreement has been reached with the union, which "has shown tremendous leadership and commitment to the company"...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
3 minimum wages in Oregon? Lawmaker's proposal would do just that Oregon Live ...Hoping to avoid a ballot fight in 2016, a Democratic state senator is crafting a proposal for three minimum wages in Oregon. A draft bill by Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, would divide the state into three regions — Portland, the Willamette Valley and everywhere else — with different minimums for each. The Portland metro area, including Washington and Clackamas counties, would have the highest...
Lincolnshire considers going 'right to work' in village limits Chicago Tribune ...The Lincolnshire Village Board might soon give unionized employees who work at private companies inside village boundaries the choice of whether or not to pay union dues. And a variety of interests from outside their boundaries might gather in Village Hall, either to support or protest the move...
Right-to-Work vote could cause lingering tension in Missouri Senate in 2016 Missourinet ...The 2016 legislative session could be tense at times in the Senate from the aftermath of Republicans forcing a vote on a right to work bill. The proposal would have prevented workers from having to pay union dues as a requirement for employment. Democrat Leader Joe Keaveny said some Democrats are still upset with Republicans. "I’ve got some that are still pretty energized and I’ve got some that would like to move on. I would like to see us work our way through this,” said Keaveny...
Civil Rights Commission Committee To Hold Hearing On Kansas Voter ID Law KCUR ...The Kansas voter ID law will be the subject of a U.S. Civil Rights Commission committee hearing next month. The Kansas voter ID law is one of most restrictive in the country. Pushed by Secretary of State Kris Kobach, it demands voters not only have photo ID but they prove they are American citizens...
Koch-Funded Special Interest Groups and Utilities Bankrolling ALEC Meeting Truthout ...Koch-funded groups and utilities are bankrolling ALEC's closed-door winter meeting and parties for state legislators that are underway in Scottsdale, Arizona, at a luxury resort and spa. The three-day gathering is bringing together lobbyists and legislators to plan their 2016 bill agenda for the upcoming legislative session....
U.S. LABOR
UAW workers picketing outside Nexteer Automotive as strike begins MLive ...Workers represented by the UAW at Nexteer Automotive walked off their jobs at midnight Tuesday, Dec. 8, after the union failed to reach a new contract agreement with the company. Some of those workers appeared minutes later outside the gates of the sprawling manufacturing complex...
Unions For Workers At Detroit Casinos Reach Tentative Deal CBS ...Unions representing workers at Detroit’s three casinos have reached a tentative contract agreement that would cover about 7,000 workers. The Detroit Free Press reports the Detroit Casino Council, a consortium of four unions, reached the deal Sunday with Greektown Casino, MGM Grand Detroit and MotorCity Casino...
Trump Las Vegas Workers Vote For UNITE HERE Union NH Labor News ...After two days of voting in a National Labor Relations Board election, a majority of workers at the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas have voted “YES” to be represented by the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and the Bartenders Union Local 165 of UNITE HERE. Over 500 employees of the hotel are in the union’s bargaining units and were eligible to vote. Trump Las Vegas workers voted in the NLRB election on December 4 and 5 at their hotel...
UFCW Local 7 Grocery Workers Overwhelmingly Approve New Contracts UFCW ...Following three months of intense and challenging negotiations, members of UFCW Local 7 who work at King Soopers, Safeway and Albertsons stores in Denver, Colo., voted overwhelmingly to approve their new collective bargaining agreements. The new 40 month contracts are some of the best in the country...
Teacher contract dispute deepens, tests state law before union strike vote Chicago Tribune ...The school board has rejected the Chicago Teachers Union's demand to move contract talks to a final stage, setting up a new fight as teachers prepare to vote later this week on whether to authorize their leaders to call a strike. The union filed an unfair labor practice on Monday with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, demanding talks proceed to a fact-finding phase...
Day-Care Costs Can Drive a Family Into Poverty Before a Child Reaches Kindergarten The Nation ...The cost of daycare can drive a family into poverty before a child reaches kindergarten, but it’s also likely to impoverish her teacher first. While preschool programs are expanding nationwide, somehow, they cost parents everything while paying teachers nothing simultaneously. And childcare providers are so underfunded overall that the system leaves both teachers and families impoverished...
New report finds Americans lack economic mobility, opportunity PBS ...A report on poverty published on Thursday found a striking lack of economic mobility in America, that 43 percent of Americans born into families in the bottom fifth of the economic ladder are stuck there as adults, while 40 percent born in the top fifth stay there. The data was part of Opportunity, Responsibility and Security: A Consensus Plan for Reducing Poverty and Restoring the American Dream...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Railroads Beat Back New Safety Rules After Derailments ABC ...A pair of train derailments in 2012 that killed two people in Maryland and triggered a fiery explosion in Ohio exposed a little-known and unsettling truth about railroads in the U.S. and Canada: No rules govern when rail becomes too worn down to be used for hauling hazardous chemicals, thousands of tons of freight or myriad other products on almost 170,000 miles of track...
Climate Inaction Risks Warming Far Beyond 2°C Threshold: Exxon (Yes, Exxon) Common Dreams ..Blink and you'll miss it, but one line in a recent Washington Post interview on climate change with experts from fossil fuel giant ExxonMobil offhandedly suggests a nightmarish, desperate future if global leaders don't act fast—one that centers around a possible average temperature rise of up to 7 or more degrees Celsius. "With no government action, Exxon experts told us during a visit to The Post last week, average temperatures are likely to rise by a catastrophic 5 degrees Celsius...
Trump New Low: Ban All Muslim Immigration to U.S. Daily Beast ...After weeks of ramping up rhetoric against worshippers of Islam, the Republican presidential frontrunner says they have a ‘great hatred towards Americans.’ Donald Trump said Monday as president he would halt all Muslim immigration to the United States. His xenophobic rhetoric has intensified in the last week...
'No human being is illegal': linguists argue against mislabeling of immigrants The Guardian ...Santa Ana is among many linguists who argue that the phrase “illegal immigrants” is neither “accurate nor neutral”. Other law-breakers are not referred to as illegal, making immigrants an outlier in the naming system, he said...
Trump and the “Low-Skilled” Labor Myth (opinion) New Republic ...In an otherwise sensible column about the limitations and possible consequences of dubbing Donald Trump a fascist, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat suggests that one of “the legitimate reasons” Trump’s campaign has endured so long is that conservative voters share a “reasonable skepticism about the bipartisan consensus favoring ever more mass low-skilled immigration”...
Chicago on the Brink After Release of New Police Killing Video Common Dreams ...Outraged citizens of Chicago say they are taking to the streets Monday night after the Cook County State's Attorney on Monday announced there will be no charges filed against the police officer who fatally shot Ronald Johnson III, a black man, last year—a decision that was prompted by what Johnson's family attorney described as "a whitewash, a cover-up"...
More Facebook Drivers Join Teamsters, Ratify Strong Agreement Teamster.org ...Shuttle drivers who transport Facebook employees to and from work have joined Teamsters Local 853 in San Leandro, Calif., and ratified a strong agreement providing for significant wages, benefit improvements and gains mirroring or exceeding the Facebook/Loop Transportation contract already in place. These drivers with WeDriveU, Inc., will supplement the drivers who work for Facebook contractor Loop Transportation...
More Facebook shuttle drivers join Teamsters, get new contract USA Today ...The seven drivers with WeDriveU, Inc., a corporate transportation provider based in Burlingame, Calif., shuttle Facebook employees to and from work. They will supplement the 90 or so drivers working for Loop Transportation, which has a contract with Facebook. Back in February, those drivers approved a contract negotiated between Loop and Teamsters Local 853 of San Leandro, Calif...
It's Time to Take a Stand for Workers on TPP Huffington Post ...We serve as representatives of American organized workers on the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN) and together have stated that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a bum deal we cannot support. By registering our dissent to the ACTPN report that endorses the agreement, the Teamsters, the United Steelworkers and the United Auto Workers are letting Congress and the public know this deal fails everyday Americans...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Trans-Pacific Partnership: Industry Discord Threatens Quick Approval Of TPP Trade Agreement IBTimes ...Six years of negotiations on a massive free-trade agreement among Asia-Pacific nations have produced an accord that’s generating lukewarm support from corporate America. Skepticism from industries as diverse as pharmaceuticals and financial services is now dimming the prospects for approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership before U.S. President Barack Obama leaves office...
WTO Orders Sanctions Unless US Cuts Consumer Labels, Disproving Obama TPP Claims Huffington Post ...Yesterday's World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling against the country-of-origin meat labels (COOL) that Americans rely on to make informed choices about their food provides a glaring example of how trade agreements can undermine U.S. public interest policies. The ruling is a nightmare for the Obama administration's uphill battle to build support for the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) is Part of Obama’s “Pivot to Asia” Global Research ...The TPPA aims to enforce a common regulatory framework structured around the norms of American trade policies that govern rules for tariffs and trade disputes, patents and intellectual property, foreign investment, and other areas. Despite a level of secrecy that barred even elected public representatives of participating countries from access to the deal’s draft, advisors from major multinational corporations played a consistent, key role in forming the deal’s proposed measures...
Scottish Cabinet to Be Handed Petition to Block TTIP Trade Deal With US Sputnik News ...A petition calling on the SNP-controlled Scottish government to oppose a controversial EU-US trade deal is due to go before the Cabinet on Tuesday, according to the anti-TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) grassroots movement. The TTIP trade deal has faced sharp criticism from activists and policymakers...
There is no EU solution to climate change as long as TTIP exists (opinion) Independent ...The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) now being negotiated between the EU and the USA exemplifies the contradiction between Europe’s rhetoric on free trade and climate change. The European Commission has admitted that TTIP represents a danger to biodiversity, natural resources and the environment...
IBEW and Ontario Northland reach deal Canadian Press ... A five-year agreement has been reached between the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Ontario Northland president Corina Moore says the company is pleased that an agreement has been reached with the union, which "has shown tremendous leadership and commitment to the company"...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
3 minimum wages in Oregon? Lawmaker's proposal would do just that Oregon Live ...Hoping to avoid a ballot fight in 2016, a Democratic state senator is crafting a proposal for three minimum wages in Oregon. A draft bill by Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, would divide the state into three regions — Portland, the Willamette Valley and everywhere else — with different minimums for each. The Portland metro area, including Washington and Clackamas counties, would have the highest...
Lincolnshire considers going 'right to work' in village limits Chicago Tribune ...The Lincolnshire Village Board might soon give unionized employees who work at private companies inside village boundaries the choice of whether or not to pay union dues. And a variety of interests from outside their boundaries might gather in Village Hall, either to support or protest the move...
Right-to-Work vote could cause lingering tension in Missouri Senate in 2016 Missourinet ...The 2016 legislative session could be tense at times in the Senate from the aftermath of Republicans forcing a vote on a right to work bill. The proposal would have prevented workers from having to pay union dues as a requirement for employment. Democrat Leader Joe Keaveny said some Democrats are still upset with Republicans. "I’ve got some that are still pretty energized and I’ve got some that would like to move on. I would like to see us work our way through this,” said Keaveny...
Civil Rights Commission Committee To Hold Hearing On Kansas Voter ID Law KCUR ...The Kansas voter ID law will be the subject of a U.S. Civil Rights Commission committee hearing next month. The Kansas voter ID law is one of most restrictive in the country. Pushed by Secretary of State Kris Kobach, it demands voters not only have photo ID but they prove they are American citizens...
Koch-Funded Special Interest Groups and Utilities Bankrolling ALEC Meeting Truthout ...Koch-funded groups and utilities are bankrolling ALEC's closed-door winter meeting and parties for state legislators that are underway in Scottsdale, Arizona, at a luxury resort and spa. The three-day gathering is bringing together lobbyists and legislators to plan their 2016 bill agenda for the upcoming legislative session....
U.S. LABOR
UAW workers picketing outside Nexteer Automotive as strike begins MLive ...Workers represented by the UAW at Nexteer Automotive walked off their jobs at midnight Tuesday, Dec. 8, after the union failed to reach a new contract agreement with the company. Some of those workers appeared minutes later outside the gates of the sprawling manufacturing complex...
Unions For Workers At Detroit Casinos Reach Tentative Deal CBS ...Unions representing workers at Detroit’s three casinos have reached a tentative contract agreement that would cover about 7,000 workers. The Detroit Free Press reports the Detroit Casino Council, a consortium of four unions, reached the deal Sunday with Greektown Casino, MGM Grand Detroit and MotorCity Casino...
Trump Las Vegas Workers Vote For UNITE HERE Union NH Labor News ...After two days of voting in a National Labor Relations Board election, a majority of workers at the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas have voted “YES” to be represented by the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and the Bartenders Union Local 165 of UNITE HERE. Over 500 employees of the hotel are in the union’s bargaining units and were eligible to vote. Trump Las Vegas workers voted in the NLRB election on December 4 and 5 at their hotel...
UFCW Local 7 Grocery Workers Overwhelmingly Approve New Contracts UFCW ...Following three months of intense and challenging negotiations, members of UFCW Local 7 who work at King Soopers, Safeway and Albertsons stores in Denver, Colo., voted overwhelmingly to approve their new collective bargaining agreements. The new 40 month contracts are some of the best in the country...
Teacher contract dispute deepens, tests state law before union strike vote Chicago Tribune ...The school board has rejected the Chicago Teachers Union's demand to move contract talks to a final stage, setting up a new fight as teachers prepare to vote later this week on whether to authorize their leaders to call a strike. The union filed an unfair labor practice on Monday with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, demanding talks proceed to a fact-finding phase...
Day-Care Costs Can Drive a Family Into Poverty Before a Child Reaches Kindergarten The Nation ...The cost of daycare can drive a family into poverty before a child reaches kindergarten, but it’s also likely to impoverish her teacher first. While preschool programs are expanding nationwide, somehow, they cost parents everything while paying teachers nothing simultaneously. And childcare providers are so underfunded overall that the system leaves both teachers and families impoverished...
New report finds Americans lack economic mobility, opportunity PBS ...A report on poverty published on Thursday found a striking lack of economic mobility in America, that 43 percent of Americans born into families in the bottom fifth of the economic ladder are stuck there as adults, while 40 percent born in the top fifth stay there. The data was part of Opportunity, Responsibility and Security: A Consensus Plan for Reducing Poverty and Restoring the American Dream...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Railroads Beat Back New Safety Rules After Derailments ABC ...A pair of train derailments in 2012 that killed two people in Maryland and triggered a fiery explosion in Ohio exposed a little-known and unsettling truth about railroads in the U.S. and Canada: No rules govern when rail becomes too worn down to be used for hauling hazardous chemicals, thousands of tons of freight or myriad other products on almost 170,000 miles of track...
Climate Inaction Risks Warming Far Beyond 2°C Threshold: Exxon (Yes, Exxon) Common Dreams ..Blink and you'll miss it, but one line in a recent Washington Post interview on climate change with experts from fossil fuel giant ExxonMobil offhandedly suggests a nightmarish, desperate future if global leaders don't act fast—one that centers around a possible average temperature rise of up to 7 or more degrees Celsius. "With no government action, Exxon experts told us during a visit to The Post last week, average temperatures are likely to rise by a catastrophic 5 degrees Celsius...
Trump New Low: Ban All Muslim Immigration to U.S. Daily Beast ...After weeks of ramping up rhetoric against worshippers of Islam, the Republican presidential frontrunner says they have a ‘great hatred towards Americans.’ Donald Trump said Monday as president he would halt all Muslim immigration to the United States. His xenophobic rhetoric has intensified in the last week...
'No human being is illegal': linguists argue against mislabeling of immigrants The Guardian ...Santa Ana is among many linguists who argue that the phrase “illegal immigrants” is neither “accurate nor neutral”. Other law-breakers are not referred to as illegal, making immigrants an outlier in the naming system, he said...
Trump and the “Low-Skilled” Labor Myth (opinion) New Republic ...In an otherwise sensible column about the limitations and possible consequences of dubbing Donald Trump a fascist, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat suggests that one of “the legitimate reasons” Trump’s campaign has endured so long is that conservative voters share a “reasonable skepticism about the bipartisan consensus favoring ever more mass low-skilled immigration”...
Chicago on the Brink After Release of New Police Killing Video Common Dreams ...Outraged citizens of Chicago say they are taking to the streets Monday night after the Cook County State's Attorney on Monday announced there will be no charges filed against the police officer who fatally shot Ronald Johnson III, a black man, last year—a decision that was prompted by what Johnson's family attorney described as "a whitewash, a cover-up"...
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Today's Teamster News 11.24.15
TEAMSTERS
Shuttle Bus Drivers For Apple, Ebay, Yahoo, Silicon Valley Giants Approve Labor Contract, Winning Pay Raises And Benefits IBTimes ...Shuttle bus drivers for some of the biggest companies in Silicon Valley have scored a boost in working standards. Nearly 100 workers at Compass Transportation, a firm that provides bus service for companies like Apple, eBay and Yahoo, approved a labor agreement Sunday that includes significant pay raises and new benefits. It comes months after the drivers voted to join the Teamsters union...
Silicon Valley’s Bus Drivers Are Fighting Their Way Into The Region’s Uneven Economic Boom Think Progress ...Private bus routes that inspired rowdy protests around Silicon Valley in recent years will now deliver some shared prosperity in that booming but divided region. Drivers on the routes are seeing their wages and benefits increase dramatically thanks to unionization and contract negotiations. Drivers joined the Teamsters as protests and media scrutiny put pressure on tech firms and bus vendors alike over the past few years...
Coca-Cola Offers Insulting Economics Package, Ignores Vast Majority of Teamster Proposals Local 727 ...With only one more day of contract negotiations on the calendar, management for Coca-Cola returned to the bargaining table with Local 727 on Monday admitting they “didn’t know where to begin.” Cola-Cola management offered no explanation for what they’ve been doing with their time throughout the previous eight bargaining sessions. Instead, when negotiations came to a close on Nov. 23, the company ignored nearly all of the union’s outstanding proposals...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
New police raids, more arrests in attacks on Korean trade union rights IUF.org ...The increasingly authoritarian government of Korean President Park Geun-hye is stepping up its attacks on trade unions and their rights. Two-hundred police raided the office of the KCTU Korean Public Service and Transport Workers' Union (KPTU) on November 6, seizing documents of the union's Cargo Truckers Solidarity Division (KPTU-TruckSol), whose members transporting products for the food company Pulmone are fighting for union recognition and safe working conditions...
Indonesian workers strike against new pay regulations Bangkok Post ...Thousands of Indonesian workers rallied in several cities on Tuesday to demand the government repeal a new rule that they say limits pay increases. Labour unions say the rule only allows a maximum 10% increase per year in monthly salaries and puts them in a weak position in negotiations with employers...
Obama Talks TPP Abroad While Concerns Persist for Voters At Home, New Polling Shows American Manufacturing ...President Obama is attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit this week where 19 world leaders gather annually to discuss growth and trade. The hot topic at this year’s meeting: The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The president will be selling its benefits to his counterparts, but Americans back home are far from convinced...
China and U.S. Say They’ve Made Strides in Trade Talks New York Times ...In their first top-level trade talks since President Obama hosted China’s leader in September, the United States and China said on Monday that they had made progress on sticking points, including preventing the theft of trade secrets and opening the Chinese market more broadly to American multinationals...
TPP allows Internet censorship to favour big corporations, say Pakatan MPs Malaysian Insider ...The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) will protect the interests of big corporations more than the rights of Internet users, opening the door to wider censorship, Pakatan Harapan lawmakers said today. Internet service providers (ISP) would be given the role of "internet police" in the new trade pact when it comes to copyrighted content...
TPP: Massive giveaway to corporate interests (opinion) The Hill ...What does it take to bring Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump together? One terrible trade deal - the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The reasoning behind this diverse opposition is simple – the TPP is a massive giveaway to corporate special interests that will give hardworking Americans two things they can’t afford – lost jobs and lower wages...
Pacific Trade and Worker Rights (editorial) New York Times ...Obama administration officials say the T.P.P. goes further on labor standards than those earlier pacts. For example, the T.P.P.’s labor chapter requires all 12 countries to adopt minimum wage, working hour and occupational safety regulations. That is an improvement, but it could turn out to be mostly symbolic because the agreement does not specify how countries should set minimum wages. Nor does it establish any minimum standard for safety regulations...
Five years into austerity, Britain prepares for more cuts Reuters ...After laying off nearly half its staff over the last five years, scaling back street cleaning and relying on volunteers to work at some of its libraries, the London borough of Lewisham is getting ready for what could be much more painful spending cuts. Officials in Lewisham's town hall, like those across the country, know they will have to shoulder much of Chancellor George Osborne's renewed push to fix Britain's budget...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Constitutional amendment for higher minimum wage sought Review Journal ...Backers of raising Nevada's minimum wage filed a proposed constitutional amendment Monday that would abolish the state's existing two-tiered system and gradually increase the rate to $13 an hour. The initiative filed with the secretary of state's office by the Committee to Raise the Minimum Wage in Nevada would set a rate of $9.25 an hour beginning in late 2018...
Thanksgiving Is Almost Here, and Over a Million New Yorkers Might Go Hungry The Nation ...This Thanksgiving, New Yorkers will be asked to “Remember the Needy.” But for millions of households, that starts with thinking about themselves. The latest statistics on hunger in the city tells the proverbial Tale of Two Cities as a Tale of Two Pantries. New York’s abysmal wealth gap is evident in many indicators: unemployment rates, rent hikes, surveys showing heavy economic anxiety...
Right-to-Work Whack-a-Mole American Prospect ...Right-to-work legislation continues to bubble up in states that have been successful in staving off such laws. Call it a never-ending game of right-to-work whack-a-mole. Last week, West Virginia Senate President Bill Cole called for lawmakers to pass right-to-work legislation in what he—and conservatives invariably—characterize as an attempt to attract businesses to the economically downtrodden region...
Who Turned My Blue State Red? (opinion) New York Times ...In eastern Kentucky and other former Democratic bastions that have swung Republican in the past several decades, the people who most rely on the safety-net programs secured by Democrats are, by and large, not voting against their own interests by electing Republicans. Rather, they are not voting, period. They have, as voting data, surveys and my own reporting suggest, become profoundly disconnected from the political process...
Pittsburgh paid sick leave law effective date delayed Lexology ...While the City of Pittsburgh previously announced that its Paid Sick Days Act (“PSDA”) would become effective on January 11, 2016, a Court order, as part of a lawsuit against the City challenging the validity of the PSDA, has extended this date by 60 days, to March 11, 2016. The one-page order from the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas broadly covers “implementation, application and enforcement” of the PSDA...
U.S. LABOR
SEIU-UHW Revives Ballot Measure To Cap Hospital Executives' Pay California Healthline ...On Friday, Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West revived a ballot measure that would cap hospital executives' pay after dropping a similar initiative 18 months ago, the Sacramento Business Journal reports. In November 2013, SEIU-UHW filed two proposed ballot initiatives with the state Attorney General's Office...
A holiday boost for UAW workers The Detroit News ...An estimated 142,000 American autoworkers, including 60,000 in Michigan, will receive retroactive pay and $3,000-$10,000 signing bonuses before Christmas, following contract ratifications between Detroit’s Big Three and the United Auto Workers. Collectively, contract bonuses from General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV are estimated to put more than $400 million, before taxes, into the pockets of hourly union members...
Disney workers mount H-1B challenge Politico ...Disney caught some bad press in June after the New York Times and other outlets reported that the company planned to lay off about 250 workers and replace them with guest workers. Now those workers are filing complaints against Disney. At least 23 of them petitioned the EEOC to hear their case...
Wage Gap Between Men and Women Closing For Wrong Reason: Male Wages Are Falling Alternet ...The wage gap between men and women is finally starting to close—but only because male wages are falling, according to a new briefing paper released Tuesday by the Economic Policy Institute. “No one in this country should work full-time and live in poverty,” said Massachsetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren at a Capitol Hill press conference to release the report...
The faces of the new food revolution Al Jazeera ...The “food movement” is complex and often misunderstood. Read snarky Slate articles and you might be led to believe the movement is a white, elitist phenomenon whose poster child is a Lululemon-wearing, latte-sipping Whole Foods shopper and whose de facto guru is Michael Pollan. In other words: out of touch with working Americans. But the people on the frontlines of the struggle to make healthy, sustainable, local food accessible to all Americans defy this stereotype...
How Delusional Nostalgia Is Killing the White Working Class Alternet ...A new poll from the Public Religion Research Institute finds there are a few things you can count on about those who believe America’s best days are behind us. They are overwhelmingly white, and if you dig a bit deeper and examine the socioeconomics, often working class. Despite all evidence to the contrary, they stubbornly believe white people are subject to the same levels of racism as black and other people of color. They think the U.S. was a better place in the 1950s, when Jim Crow was law, immigrants were overwhelmingly European, women knew their place, and gay people were essentially invisible...
SOCIAL JUSTICE &OTHER NEWS
In Biggest Tax Evasion Scheme of Its Kind, Big Pharma Becomes Behemoth Common Dreams ...Big Pharma just became Huge Pharma. Creating the world's largest drugmaker—and paving the way for higher pharmaceutical prices—Viagra-maker Pfizer Inc. and Allergan PLC, which manufactures Botox, said Monday that they would merge in a so-called inversion deal worth up to about $155 billion...
Texas wants immigration case delay that could push Supreme Court decision beyond Obama's term US News & World Report ...Texas asked the Supreme Court Monday for more time to answer the Obama administration's immigration appeal, a delay that probably would prevent the plan to shield millions of immigrants from deportation from taking effect during Barack Obama's presidency. The plan that Obama unveiled a year ago mainly affects people who are living in the country illegally, but who have children who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents...
'Now More Than Ever': In Paris and Beyond, Climate Movement Will Be Heard Common Dreams ...The march may be cancelled, security may be strengthened, but the global climate movement is vowing that its voice will still be heard as world leaders convene in Paris for international negotiations over the future of the planet. Citing security concerns in the wake of the attacks in Paris, the city's Prefecture of Police on Wednesday cancelled a massive climate justice march planned for November 29...
Black Lives Matter Protesters Shot in Minneapolis Slate ...Police in Minneapolis were looking for three white male suspects Tuesday morning after gunmen opened fire and injured five people at a Black Lives Matter protest around 10:45 p.m. on Monday night, reported the Star Tribune. The protests where the shooting took place have been going on for more than a week, with demonstrators calling for answers in the death of 24-year-old Jamar Clark, a black man who was shot in the head by a police officer. Witnesses said Clark was in handcuffs when he was shot...
Chicago officer who shot black teen 16 times to face murder charge, reports say The Guardian ...A charge of murder is expected to be filed against a white Chicago police officer accused of shooting a black teenager 16 times, just one day before a deadline by which a judge has ordered the city to release a squad-car video of the incident. Veteran officer Jason Van Dyke is expected to be indicted on Tuesday on a murder charge in the killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald...
Why Trump's Race-Baiting Works Slate ...Donald Trump has spent most of his campaign indulging and encouraging nativism and anti-immigrant sentiment. When it came to other racial and ethnic groups, however, Trump was silent, even telling crowds that he had a “great relationship with the blacks.” This past weekend, that changed. While Trump has been explicit with his nativist, and now racist, rhetoric, he’s not an innovator. If large numbers of Republicans are responsive to Trump’s vitriol, it’s because he echoes—in less coded terms—the discourse of much of right-wing media...
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Elected After Popular Uprising, Defends Local Control of Schools Democracy Now ...The education system of Newark, New Jersey has faced years of crisis, with high dropout rates, low-performing schools and a state takeover dating back two decades. In 2010, Republican Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, former Democratic Mayor Cory Booker of Newark and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg joined forces to revamp Newark schools. But despite trumpeting their plan as a model for national school reform, millions of dollars flowed not to schools but to outside consultants...
Shuttle Bus Drivers For Apple, Ebay, Yahoo, Silicon Valley Giants Approve Labor Contract, Winning Pay Raises And Benefits IBTimes ...Shuttle bus drivers for some of the biggest companies in Silicon Valley have scored a boost in working standards. Nearly 100 workers at Compass Transportation, a firm that provides bus service for companies like Apple, eBay and Yahoo, approved a labor agreement Sunday that includes significant pay raises and new benefits. It comes months after the drivers voted to join the Teamsters union...
Silicon Valley’s Bus Drivers Are Fighting Their Way Into The Region’s Uneven Economic Boom Think Progress ...Private bus routes that inspired rowdy protests around Silicon Valley in recent years will now deliver some shared prosperity in that booming but divided region. Drivers on the routes are seeing their wages and benefits increase dramatically thanks to unionization and contract negotiations. Drivers joined the Teamsters as protests and media scrutiny put pressure on tech firms and bus vendors alike over the past few years...
Coca-Cola Offers Insulting Economics Package, Ignores Vast Majority of Teamster Proposals Local 727 ...With only one more day of contract negotiations on the calendar, management for Coca-Cola returned to the bargaining table with Local 727 on Monday admitting they “didn’t know where to begin.” Cola-Cola management offered no explanation for what they’ve been doing with their time throughout the previous eight bargaining sessions. Instead, when negotiations came to a close on Nov. 23, the company ignored nearly all of the union’s outstanding proposals...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
New police raids, more arrests in attacks on Korean trade union rights IUF.org ...The increasingly authoritarian government of Korean President Park Geun-hye is stepping up its attacks on trade unions and their rights. Two-hundred police raided the office of the KCTU Korean Public Service and Transport Workers' Union (KPTU) on November 6, seizing documents of the union's Cargo Truckers Solidarity Division (KPTU-TruckSol), whose members transporting products for the food company Pulmone are fighting for union recognition and safe working conditions...
Indonesian workers strike against new pay regulations Bangkok Post ...Thousands of Indonesian workers rallied in several cities on Tuesday to demand the government repeal a new rule that they say limits pay increases. Labour unions say the rule only allows a maximum 10% increase per year in monthly salaries and puts them in a weak position in negotiations with employers...
Obama Talks TPP Abroad While Concerns Persist for Voters At Home, New Polling Shows American Manufacturing ...President Obama is attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit this week where 19 world leaders gather annually to discuss growth and trade. The hot topic at this year’s meeting: The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The president will be selling its benefits to his counterparts, but Americans back home are far from convinced...
China and U.S. Say They’ve Made Strides in Trade Talks New York Times ...In their first top-level trade talks since President Obama hosted China’s leader in September, the United States and China said on Monday that they had made progress on sticking points, including preventing the theft of trade secrets and opening the Chinese market more broadly to American multinationals...
TPP allows Internet censorship to favour big corporations, say Pakatan MPs Malaysian Insider ...The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) will protect the interests of big corporations more than the rights of Internet users, opening the door to wider censorship, Pakatan Harapan lawmakers said today. Internet service providers (ISP) would be given the role of "internet police" in the new trade pact when it comes to copyrighted content...
TPP: Massive giveaway to corporate interests (opinion) The Hill ...What does it take to bring Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump together? One terrible trade deal - the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The reasoning behind this diverse opposition is simple – the TPP is a massive giveaway to corporate special interests that will give hardworking Americans two things they can’t afford – lost jobs and lower wages...
Pacific Trade and Worker Rights (editorial) New York Times ...Obama administration officials say the T.P.P. goes further on labor standards than those earlier pacts. For example, the T.P.P.’s labor chapter requires all 12 countries to adopt minimum wage, working hour and occupational safety regulations. That is an improvement, but it could turn out to be mostly symbolic because the agreement does not specify how countries should set minimum wages. Nor does it establish any minimum standard for safety regulations...
Five years into austerity, Britain prepares for more cuts Reuters ...After laying off nearly half its staff over the last five years, scaling back street cleaning and relying on volunteers to work at some of its libraries, the London borough of Lewisham is getting ready for what could be much more painful spending cuts. Officials in Lewisham's town hall, like those across the country, know they will have to shoulder much of Chancellor George Osborne's renewed push to fix Britain's budget...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Constitutional amendment for higher minimum wage sought Review Journal ...Backers of raising Nevada's minimum wage filed a proposed constitutional amendment Monday that would abolish the state's existing two-tiered system and gradually increase the rate to $13 an hour. The initiative filed with the secretary of state's office by the Committee to Raise the Minimum Wage in Nevada would set a rate of $9.25 an hour beginning in late 2018...
Thanksgiving Is Almost Here, and Over a Million New Yorkers Might Go Hungry The Nation ...This Thanksgiving, New Yorkers will be asked to “Remember the Needy.” But for millions of households, that starts with thinking about themselves. The latest statistics on hunger in the city tells the proverbial Tale of Two Cities as a Tale of Two Pantries. New York’s abysmal wealth gap is evident in many indicators: unemployment rates, rent hikes, surveys showing heavy economic anxiety...
Right-to-Work Whack-a-Mole American Prospect ...Right-to-work legislation continues to bubble up in states that have been successful in staving off such laws. Call it a never-ending game of right-to-work whack-a-mole. Last week, West Virginia Senate President Bill Cole called for lawmakers to pass right-to-work legislation in what he—and conservatives invariably—characterize as an attempt to attract businesses to the economically downtrodden region...
Who Turned My Blue State Red? (opinion) New York Times ...In eastern Kentucky and other former Democratic bastions that have swung Republican in the past several decades, the people who most rely on the safety-net programs secured by Democrats are, by and large, not voting against their own interests by electing Republicans. Rather, they are not voting, period. They have, as voting data, surveys and my own reporting suggest, become profoundly disconnected from the political process...
Pittsburgh paid sick leave law effective date delayed Lexology ...While the City of Pittsburgh previously announced that its Paid Sick Days Act (“PSDA”) would become effective on January 11, 2016, a Court order, as part of a lawsuit against the City challenging the validity of the PSDA, has extended this date by 60 days, to March 11, 2016. The one-page order from the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas broadly covers “implementation, application and enforcement” of the PSDA...
U.S. LABOR
SEIU-UHW Revives Ballot Measure To Cap Hospital Executives' Pay California Healthline ...On Friday, Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West revived a ballot measure that would cap hospital executives' pay after dropping a similar initiative 18 months ago, the Sacramento Business Journal reports. In November 2013, SEIU-UHW filed two proposed ballot initiatives with the state Attorney General's Office...
A holiday boost for UAW workers The Detroit News ...An estimated 142,000 American autoworkers, including 60,000 in Michigan, will receive retroactive pay and $3,000-$10,000 signing bonuses before Christmas, following contract ratifications between Detroit’s Big Three and the United Auto Workers. Collectively, contract bonuses from General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV are estimated to put more than $400 million, before taxes, into the pockets of hourly union members...
Disney workers mount H-1B challenge Politico ...Disney caught some bad press in June after the New York Times and other outlets reported that the company planned to lay off about 250 workers and replace them with guest workers. Now those workers are filing complaints against Disney. At least 23 of them petitioned the EEOC to hear their case...
Wage Gap Between Men and Women Closing For Wrong Reason: Male Wages Are Falling Alternet ...The wage gap between men and women is finally starting to close—but only because male wages are falling, according to a new briefing paper released Tuesday by the Economic Policy Institute. “No one in this country should work full-time and live in poverty,” said Massachsetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren at a Capitol Hill press conference to release the report...
The faces of the new food revolution Al Jazeera ...The “food movement” is complex and often misunderstood. Read snarky Slate articles and you might be led to believe the movement is a white, elitist phenomenon whose poster child is a Lululemon-wearing, latte-sipping Whole Foods shopper and whose de facto guru is Michael Pollan. In other words: out of touch with working Americans. But the people on the frontlines of the struggle to make healthy, sustainable, local food accessible to all Americans defy this stereotype...
How Delusional Nostalgia Is Killing the White Working Class Alternet ...A new poll from the Public Religion Research Institute finds there are a few things you can count on about those who believe America’s best days are behind us. They are overwhelmingly white, and if you dig a bit deeper and examine the socioeconomics, often working class. Despite all evidence to the contrary, they stubbornly believe white people are subject to the same levels of racism as black and other people of color. They think the U.S. was a better place in the 1950s, when Jim Crow was law, immigrants were overwhelmingly European, women knew their place, and gay people were essentially invisible...
SOCIAL JUSTICE &OTHER NEWS
In Biggest Tax Evasion Scheme of Its Kind, Big Pharma Becomes Behemoth Common Dreams ...Big Pharma just became Huge Pharma. Creating the world's largest drugmaker—and paving the way for higher pharmaceutical prices—Viagra-maker Pfizer Inc. and Allergan PLC, which manufactures Botox, said Monday that they would merge in a so-called inversion deal worth up to about $155 billion...
Texas wants immigration case delay that could push Supreme Court decision beyond Obama's term US News & World Report ...Texas asked the Supreme Court Monday for more time to answer the Obama administration's immigration appeal, a delay that probably would prevent the plan to shield millions of immigrants from deportation from taking effect during Barack Obama's presidency. The plan that Obama unveiled a year ago mainly affects people who are living in the country illegally, but who have children who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents...
'Now More Than Ever': In Paris and Beyond, Climate Movement Will Be Heard Common Dreams ...The march may be cancelled, security may be strengthened, but the global climate movement is vowing that its voice will still be heard as world leaders convene in Paris for international negotiations over the future of the planet. Citing security concerns in the wake of the attacks in Paris, the city's Prefecture of Police on Wednesday cancelled a massive climate justice march planned for November 29...
Black Lives Matter Protesters Shot in Minneapolis Slate ...Police in Minneapolis were looking for three white male suspects Tuesday morning after gunmen opened fire and injured five people at a Black Lives Matter protest around 10:45 p.m. on Monday night, reported the Star Tribune. The protests where the shooting took place have been going on for more than a week, with demonstrators calling for answers in the death of 24-year-old Jamar Clark, a black man who was shot in the head by a police officer. Witnesses said Clark was in handcuffs when he was shot...
Chicago officer who shot black teen 16 times to face murder charge, reports say The Guardian ...A charge of murder is expected to be filed against a white Chicago police officer accused of shooting a black teenager 16 times, just one day before a deadline by which a judge has ordered the city to release a squad-car video of the incident. Veteran officer Jason Van Dyke is expected to be indicted on Tuesday on a murder charge in the killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald...
Why Trump's Race-Baiting Works Slate ...Donald Trump has spent most of his campaign indulging and encouraging nativism and anti-immigrant sentiment. When it came to other racial and ethnic groups, however, Trump was silent, even telling crowds that he had a “great relationship with the blacks.” This past weekend, that changed. While Trump has been explicit with his nativist, and now racist, rhetoric, he’s not an innovator. If large numbers of Republicans are responsive to Trump’s vitriol, it’s because he echoes—in less coded terms—the discourse of much of right-wing media...
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Elected After Popular Uprising, Defends Local Control of Schools Democracy Now ...The education system of Newark, New Jersey has faced years of crisis, with high dropout rates, low-performing schools and a state takeover dating back two decades. In 2010, Republican Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, former Democratic Mayor Cory Booker of Newark and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg joined forces to revamp Newark schools. But despite trumpeting their plan as a model for national school reform, millions of dollars flowed not to schools but to outside consultants...
Monday, November 23, 2015
Today's Teamster News 11.23.15
TEAMSTERS
Teamster Silicon Valley Drivers Vote Overwhelmingly in Favor of Contract Teamster.org ...Shuttle drivers for seven major Silicon Valley companies voted by an overwhelming 95 percent today to approve a first contract that provides for industry-leading wages and benefits. The nearly 200 drivers, who are members of Teamsters Local 853 in San Leandro, Calif., work for Compass Transportation, contractor to Apple, eBay, PayPal, Yahoo, Evernote, Genentech and Amtrak...
Labor deal for more Silicon Valley tech shuttle drivers USA Today ...Shuttle drivers for Apple, Yahoo, eBay and several other Silicon Valley companies overwhelmingly voted Sunday to accept a contract that will increase wages and benefits and give them their first paid Thanksgiving holiday. The drivers for those companies, as well as Amtrak, Evernote, Genentech and Paypal, voted to unionize with Teamsters Local 853 in San Leandro, Calif., back in February...
Teamsters, Employer Group Reconvene for Carhaul Negotiations Teamster.org ...The Teamsters National Automobile Transporters Negotiating Committee (TNATINC) met this week with the National Automobile Transporters Labor Division to begin negotiating a revised national carhaul contract. This week’s negotiations come after carhaulers voted to reject the national agreement and two supplemental agreements earlier this year...
Local 727 Reaches Tentative Agreement on New 4-Year Reyes/Great Lakes Coca-Cola Contract Local 727 ...Teamsters Local 727 reached tentative agreement on a new four-year contract for 600 members at Reyes/Great Lakes Coca-Cola. Final negotiations stretched late into the night on Nov. 19 as the Bargaining Committee hammered out final details for strong wage increases, important benefits and fortified rights for drivers, bulk, merchandisers, laborers and all other Reyes Teamsters...
BMWED To Conduct Research On Occupational Risk Reduction Teamster.org ...The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes' (BMWED) President Freddie N. Simpson, with the full support of the BMWED National Division Officers, has approved a Brotherhood-wide research study to address the long-standing absence of high quality data reflecting the nature, frequency, severity and socio-economic consequences of occupational risk and its impact on BMWED members. BMWED members are a division of the Teamsters Rail Conference...
Teamsters Join with Business, Community to Host N.Y. Job Fair Teamster.org ...Sunset Park is home to some of the last sections of working waterfront in the city, and a job fair held Tuesday night aims to employ neighborhood residents in some of the good jobs on the waterfront. Manhattan Beer Distributors partnered with Teamsters Local 812, City Council Member Carlos Menchaca, and community organization UPROSE...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
The Maquiladora Workers of Juárez Find Their Voice The Nation ... After more than a decade of silence, maquiladora workers in Ciudad Juárez have found their voice. The city, just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, is now the center of a growing rebellion of laborers in the border factories. At the gates to four plants, including a huge 5,000-worker Foxconn complex, they have set up encampments, or plantons, demanding recognition of independent unions, and protesting firings and reprisals...
Lufthansa cabin crew to strike Thursday, Friday Globe and Mail ...Lufthansa cabin crew have been called to another round of strikes starting Thursday and Friday, the head of trade union UFO, Nicoley Baublies, told Reuters on Monday. The cabin crew union staged a week of strikes earlier this month, costing the company tens of millions of euros and forcing the cancellation of about 4,700 flights...
U.S. trade czar confident of 2016 Congress vote on TPP STL Today ...U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said on Thursday he expected Congress to vote on a 12-nation Pacific Rim free-trade deal early next year. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which aims to liberalize trade for 40 percent of the global economy, must be ratified by U.S. Congress but opposition from many Democrats and some Republicans could mean a vote is unlikely before President Barack Obama leaves office...
Obama promotes TPP, says it is 'more than just a trade pact' The Sun Daily ...United States President Barack Obama, in his strong bid to promote the TPP to Asean member countries, said it is more than just a trade pact as it will build cooperation among nations. Acknowledging that the debates on TPP in many countries and skepticism on previously failed trade deals, Obama admitted that TPP deal is a “tough sell”...
As Obama heads to Malaysia, human trafficking stance questioned Reuters ...U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Malaysia on Friday for a Southeast Asia leaders’ summit comes amid allegations by U.S. lawmakers and rights groups that his administration ignored Malaysia’s abuse of trafficking victims such as Baser to secure the country’s help sealing a high-profile trade deal and strengthen ties to offset China’s growing political clout...
EFF Joins Broad Coalition of Groups to Protest the TPP in Washington D.C. (opinion) EFF ...Contained within these 6,000-plus pages of the completed TPP text are a series of provisions that empower multinational corporations and private interest groups at the expense of the public interest. Civil society groups represent diverse concerns, so while we may disagree on our specific concerns about the TPP, we commonly recognize that this is a toxic, undemocratic deal that must be stopped at all costs...
Trade laws undo local progress on food systems (opinion) IATP.org ...Careful examination of the recently released text for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is already revealing new risks for our food system. Those findings also tell us what to watch out for in the other big pending trade deal—the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the European Union...
Greek economy stagnates under austerity and capital controls ABC ...This is the reality in Greece these days, as the latest austerity cuts a swathe through consumer spending and capital controls — measures to limit withdrawals from banks — stagnate the already downtrodden Greek economy. In what is now a damaging consumer cycle, the damaging of cuts to pensions means grandparents have less money in their wallets and no longer spend up as the dote on their grandchildren — sometimes with handcrafted shoes from France and Italy...
Bangladesh: ‘An Effective Union Can Ensure Fire Safety’ Solidarity Center ...Bilkish Begum says she and other workers at a garment factory in Bangladesh could not discuss implementing fire safety measures with their employer—even after the deadly blaze at Tazreen Fashions factory killed 112 workers three years ago next week. Only when they formed a union, which provides workers with protection against retaliation for seeking to improve their workplace conditions, could they take steps to help ensure their safety...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Louisiana votes for Medicaid expansion Daily Kos ...The monumental David Vitter loss in Louisiana Saturday promises to be a big win for Louisiana. While it was Vitter's past scandals that dominated the election, it's Democratic Governor-elect John Bel Edwards' main policy promise that's the big news, and likely means health care for some 242,000 Louisiana residents in the coming year...
Advocates Dispute Dire Predictions of $15 Minimum Wage Study Public News Service ...A report released this week by a business group predicting dire consequences if the minimum wage is raised to $15 an hour doesn't reflect reality, fair-wage advocates say. According to the report by the Long Island Association, more than 23,000 Long Island jobs would be lost. Advocates for raising the wage say businesses would benefit from the increased spending...
Exposing North Carolina's shell game of electoral apartheid Daily Kos ...This fall, Daily Kos community member Bill Busa exposed North Carolina's sneaky new voter suppression tool in which county boards of elections in the state closed almost one-third of the state’s early voting polling places in 2014, replacing them with polls at new locations. The result of moving those early voting locations: African American voters found themselves 350,000 miles farther away from their nearest early voting sites...
Strangers Raise Money For Walmart Worker Fired For Picking Up Cans Think Progress ...When a parking lot attendant dared to recycle trash he picked up outside an upstate New York Walmart, the store fired him. Now generous strangers are trying to help cushion his sudden fall. Thomas Smith, 52, had been earning $9 an hour at an upstate New York Walmart for less than three months when his manager terminated him over the cans...
California cities embracing higher minimum wage SGV Tribune ...Surrounded by city and union officials at a Labor Day rally in South Los Angeles last year, Mayor Eric Garcetti proposed raising the city’s minimum wage to $13.25 per hour by the end of the decade — a plan he said would significantly help low-income workers in Los Angeles while placing minimal burden on employers. Nine months later, Garcetti signed an ordinance that is more progressive than he proposed — a citywide wage hike to $15 an hour by 2021...
U.S. LABOR
UAW reaches end of winding road with Detroit automakers Detroit Free Press ...Detroit’s once-every-four-years ritual of UAW negotiations and ratification is finally over. The final two companies: General Motors and Ford, ratified their agreements late Friday after months of grueling talks. There are as many opinions about who won and who came up short as the 140,000 workers whose pay and benefits for the next four years were set in the contracts...
Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, The Case To Push Right To Work Nationally NH Labor News ...The Supreme Court is about to hear a case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association that could overturn a nearly forty-year decision that allows unions to negotiate “fair-share” fees for non-union members who benefit from the union’s contract. “We are disappointed that at a time when big corporations and the wealthy few are rewriting the rules in their favor, the Supreme Court has chosen to take a case that threatens the fundamental promise of America"...
CWA accuses Alcatel-Lucent of stealing Lucent retirees' health care funds Fierce Telecom ...The Communications Workers of America (CWA) union has filed a request with the U.S. District Court in New Jersey to get a temporary restraining order against Alcatel-Lucent over claims that the French company plans to use money for retirees' health care to cover its own pension funding obligations. Under the proposed plan, CWA said that Alcatel-Lucent will move 20,000 retirees and an additional $1.2 billion...
Verizon workers rally for contract Godanriver.com ...Verizon workers across the East Coast, including Danville, rallied over contract negotiations Thursday evening. A small group of regional workers gathered at the 141 Trade St. garage where most of the technicians that service Verizon lines in Danville base their operation. The previous contract expired on Aug. 1. Verizon employees have been working without a contract since then...
The U.S. Is Beaten By 27 Other Countries When It Comes To Women’s Equality Think Progress ...While the world has made progress closing the gap between women and men in health, education, economic participation, and political empowerment over the last decade, the United States is not keeping up. The World Economic Forum (WEF) just released its 2015 Global Gender Gap report, which showed that the gap has dropped by 4 percent in the last ten years...
Heat kills California farmworkers, but the state won't always admit it Daily Kos ...Agricultural workers have fewer job protections than most other workers even as they do physically grueling labor for low pay. It’s a vicious circle—most of the people who work in the fields come from vulnerable groups, and the low wages and lack of protections keep them vulnerable. California’s heat is one significant source of illness and even death for farmworkers. But you might not know that from the state’s official statistics...
When Temp Workers Die While Being Taken to the Job, Who’s Responsible? In These Times ...Since the Great Recession, the temporary staffing industry has boomed, and temp employment has accounted for significant portions of rebounding job growth. Temps—who are employed by agencies and whose labor is simply rented out by third-party businesses—have become seen as some of America’s most vulnerable workers. Labor advocates say that, in treating workers as replaceable units of labor, the temp industry can overlook workers’ most basic human needs...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
As Many Americans Have Criminal Records as College Diplomas Truthout ...The number of Americans with a criminal history has risen sharply over the past three decades. Today, nearly one-third of the adult working age population has a criminal record. In fact, so many Americans have a criminal record that counting them all is nearly impossible...
How Prison Reform Could Turn the Prison-Industrial Complex Into the Treatment-Industrial Complex The Nation ... many of the dollars expected to be “saved” from shuttering prisons may simply be funneled into privatized “alternatives to incarceration” like parole programs and halfway houses. These operations are often run by the household names of the prison business—they’re simply moving from behind bars to the so-called “treatment-industrial complex”...
Wall Street's Reprieve Expires The Atlantic ...Financial-regulation legislation—or efforts to stop it—ranks among the trickiest political knots that the White House and Congress have to unravel if they want to keep with their October budget compromise and fund the government. Democrats and Republicans in Congress—though not in the country at large—still line up on opposite sides of the fence...
Trump Supporters Punch, Kick Black Lives Matter Protester at Rally Slate ...Several people taking part in a rally for Donald Trump in Birmingham, Alabama pushed down, kicked, and punched a black protester. At least six Trump supporters shoved and tackled the protester, while one man punched the demonstrator and a woman kicked him while he was on the ground, according to CNN. One even attempted to choke the protester...
France Asks UN to Back 'Merciless' Military Response to Paris Attacks Common Dreams ...Just days after French President François Hollande vowed a "merciless" response to the Paris attacks, his government on Thursday submitted a resolution for the United Nations Security Council to "take all necessary measures" against ISIS. The French proposal, which could face a vote as early as Friday, competes with a separate one re-submitted by Russia this week...
Teamster Silicon Valley Drivers Vote Overwhelmingly in Favor of Contract Teamster.org ...Shuttle drivers for seven major Silicon Valley companies voted by an overwhelming 95 percent today to approve a first contract that provides for industry-leading wages and benefits. The nearly 200 drivers, who are members of Teamsters Local 853 in San Leandro, Calif., work for Compass Transportation, contractor to Apple, eBay, PayPal, Yahoo, Evernote, Genentech and Amtrak...
Labor deal for more Silicon Valley tech shuttle drivers USA Today ...Shuttle drivers for Apple, Yahoo, eBay and several other Silicon Valley companies overwhelmingly voted Sunday to accept a contract that will increase wages and benefits and give them their first paid Thanksgiving holiday. The drivers for those companies, as well as Amtrak, Evernote, Genentech and Paypal, voted to unionize with Teamsters Local 853 in San Leandro, Calif., back in February...
Teamsters, Employer Group Reconvene for Carhaul Negotiations Teamster.org ...The Teamsters National Automobile Transporters Negotiating Committee (TNATINC) met this week with the National Automobile Transporters Labor Division to begin negotiating a revised national carhaul contract. This week’s negotiations come after carhaulers voted to reject the national agreement and two supplemental agreements earlier this year...
Local 727 Reaches Tentative Agreement on New 4-Year Reyes/Great Lakes Coca-Cola Contract Local 727 ...Teamsters Local 727 reached tentative agreement on a new four-year contract for 600 members at Reyes/Great Lakes Coca-Cola. Final negotiations stretched late into the night on Nov. 19 as the Bargaining Committee hammered out final details for strong wage increases, important benefits and fortified rights for drivers, bulk, merchandisers, laborers and all other Reyes Teamsters...
BMWED To Conduct Research On Occupational Risk Reduction Teamster.org ...The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes' (BMWED) President Freddie N. Simpson, with the full support of the BMWED National Division Officers, has approved a Brotherhood-wide research study to address the long-standing absence of high quality data reflecting the nature, frequency, severity and socio-economic consequences of occupational risk and its impact on BMWED members. BMWED members are a division of the Teamsters Rail Conference...
Teamsters Join with Business, Community to Host N.Y. Job Fair Teamster.org ...Sunset Park is home to some of the last sections of working waterfront in the city, and a job fair held Tuesday night aims to employ neighborhood residents in some of the good jobs on the waterfront. Manhattan Beer Distributors partnered with Teamsters Local 812, City Council Member Carlos Menchaca, and community organization UPROSE...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
The Maquiladora Workers of Juárez Find Their Voice The Nation ... After more than a decade of silence, maquiladora workers in Ciudad Juárez have found their voice. The city, just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, is now the center of a growing rebellion of laborers in the border factories. At the gates to four plants, including a huge 5,000-worker Foxconn complex, they have set up encampments, or plantons, demanding recognition of independent unions, and protesting firings and reprisals...
Lufthansa cabin crew to strike Thursday, Friday Globe and Mail ...Lufthansa cabin crew have been called to another round of strikes starting Thursday and Friday, the head of trade union UFO, Nicoley Baublies, told Reuters on Monday. The cabin crew union staged a week of strikes earlier this month, costing the company tens of millions of euros and forcing the cancellation of about 4,700 flights...
U.S. trade czar confident of 2016 Congress vote on TPP STL Today ...U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said on Thursday he expected Congress to vote on a 12-nation Pacific Rim free-trade deal early next year. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which aims to liberalize trade for 40 percent of the global economy, must be ratified by U.S. Congress but opposition from many Democrats and some Republicans could mean a vote is unlikely before President Barack Obama leaves office...
Obama promotes TPP, says it is 'more than just a trade pact' The Sun Daily ...United States President Barack Obama, in his strong bid to promote the TPP to Asean member countries, said it is more than just a trade pact as it will build cooperation among nations. Acknowledging that the debates on TPP in many countries and skepticism on previously failed trade deals, Obama admitted that TPP deal is a “tough sell”...
As Obama heads to Malaysia, human trafficking stance questioned Reuters ...U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Malaysia on Friday for a Southeast Asia leaders’ summit comes amid allegations by U.S. lawmakers and rights groups that his administration ignored Malaysia’s abuse of trafficking victims such as Baser to secure the country’s help sealing a high-profile trade deal and strengthen ties to offset China’s growing political clout...
EFF Joins Broad Coalition of Groups to Protest the TPP in Washington D.C. (opinion) EFF ...Contained within these 6,000-plus pages of the completed TPP text are a series of provisions that empower multinational corporations and private interest groups at the expense of the public interest. Civil society groups represent diverse concerns, so while we may disagree on our specific concerns about the TPP, we commonly recognize that this is a toxic, undemocratic deal that must be stopped at all costs...
Trade laws undo local progress on food systems (opinion) IATP.org ...Careful examination of the recently released text for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is already revealing new risks for our food system. Those findings also tell us what to watch out for in the other big pending trade deal—the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the European Union...
Greek economy stagnates under austerity and capital controls ABC ...This is the reality in Greece these days, as the latest austerity cuts a swathe through consumer spending and capital controls — measures to limit withdrawals from banks — stagnate the already downtrodden Greek economy. In what is now a damaging consumer cycle, the damaging of cuts to pensions means grandparents have less money in their wallets and no longer spend up as the dote on their grandchildren — sometimes with handcrafted shoes from France and Italy...
Bangladesh: ‘An Effective Union Can Ensure Fire Safety’ Solidarity Center ...Bilkish Begum says she and other workers at a garment factory in Bangladesh could not discuss implementing fire safety measures with their employer—even after the deadly blaze at Tazreen Fashions factory killed 112 workers three years ago next week. Only when they formed a union, which provides workers with protection against retaliation for seeking to improve their workplace conditions, could they take steps to help ensure their safety...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Louisiana votes for Medicaid expansion Daily Kos ...The monumental David Vitter loss in Louisiana Saturday promises to be a big win for Louisiana. While it was Vitter's past scandals that dominated the election, it's Democratic Governor-elect John Bel Edwards' main policy promise that's the big news, and likely means health care for some 242,000 Louisiana residents in the coming year...
Advocates Dispute Dire Predictions of $15 Minimum Wage Study Public News Service ...A report released this week by a business group predicting dire consequences if the minimum wage is raised to $15 an hour doesn't reflect reality, fair-wage advocates say. According to the report by the Long Island Association, more than 23,000 Long Island jobs would be lost. Advocates for raising the wage say businesses would benefit from the increased spending...
Exposing North Carolina's shell game of electoral apartheid Daily Kos ...This fall, Daily Kos community member Bill Busa exposed North Carolina's sneaky new voter suppression tool in which county boards of elections in the state closed almost one-third of the state’s early voting polling places in 2014, replacing them with polls at new locations. The result of moving those early voting locations: African American voters found themselves 350,000 miles farther away from their nearest early voting sites...
Strangers Raise Money For Walmart Worker Fired For Picking Up Cans Think Progress ...When a parking lot attendant dared to recycle trash he picked up outside an upstate New York Walmart, the store fired him. Now generous strangers are trying to help cushion his sudden fall. Thomas Smith, 52, had been earning $9 an hour at an upstate New York Walmart for less than three months when his manager terminated him over the cans...
California cities embracing higher minimum wage SGV Tribune ...Surrounded by city and union officials at a Labor Day rally in South Los Angeles last year, Mayor Eric Garcetti proposed raising the city’s minimum wage to $13.25 per hour by the end of the decade — a plan he said would significantly help low-income workers in Los Angeles while placing minimal burden on employers. Nine months later, Garcetti signed an ordinance that is more progressive than he proposed — a citywide wage hike to $15 an hour by 2021...
U.S. LABOR
UAW reaches end of winding road with Detroit automakers Detroit Free Press ...Detroit’s once-every-four-years ritual of UAW negotiations and ratification is finally over. The final two companies: General Motors and Ford, ratified their agreements late Friday after months of grueling talks. There are as many opinions about who won and who came up short as the 140,000 workers whose pay and benefits for the next four years were set in the contracts...
Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, The Case To Push Right To Work Nationally NH Labor News ...The Supreme Court is about to hear a case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association that could overturn a nearly forty-year decision that allows unions to negotiate “fair-share” fees for non-union members who benefit from the union’s contract. “We are disappointed that at a time when big corporations and the wealthy few are rewriting the rules in their favor, the Supreme Court has chosen to take a case that threatens the fundamental promise of America"...
CWA accuses Alcatel-Lucent of stealing Lucent retirees' health care funds Fierce Telecom ...The Communications Workers of America (CWA) union has filed a request with the U.S. District Court in New Jersey to get a temporary restraining order against Alcatel-Lucent over claims that the French company plans to use money for retirees' health care to cover its own pension funding obligations. Under the proposed plan, CWA said that Alcatel-Lucent will move 20,000 retirees and an additional $1.2 billion...
Verizon workers rally for contract Godanriver.com ...Verizon workers across the East Coast, including Danville, rallied over contract negotiations Thursday evening. A small group of regional workers gathered at the 141 Trade St. garage where most of the technicians that service Verizon lines in Danville base their operation. The previous contract expired on Aug. 1. Verizon employees have been working without a contract since then...
The U.S. Is Beaten By 27 Other Countries When It Comes To Women’s Equality Think Progress ...While the world has made progress closing the gap between women and men in health, education, economic participation, and political empowerment over the last decade, the United States is not keeping up. The World Economic Forum (WEF) just released its 2015 Global Gender Gap report, which showed that the gap has dropped by 4 percent in the last ten years...
Heat kills California farmworkers, but the state won't always admit it Daily Kos ...Agricultural workers have fewer job protections than most other workers even as they do physically grueling labor for low pay. It’s a vicious circle—most of the people who work in the fields come from vulnerable groups, and the low wages and lack of protections keep them vulnerable. California’s heat is one significant source of illness and even death for farmworkers. But you might not know that from the state’s official statistics...
When Temp Workers Die While Being Taken to the Job, Who’s Responsible? In These Times ...Since the Great Recession, the temporary staffing industry has boomed, and temp employment has accounted for significant portions of rebounding job growth. Temps—who are employed by agencies and whose labor is simply rented out by third-party businesses—have become seen as some of America’s most vulnerable workers. Labor advocates say that, in treating workers as replaceable units of labor, the temp industry can overlook workers’ most basic human needs...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
As Many Americans Have Criminal Records as College Diplomas Truthout ...The number of Americans with a criminal history has risen sharply over the past three decades. Today, nearly one-third of the adult working age population has a criminal record. In fact, so many Americans have a criminal record that counting them all is nearly impossible...
How Prison Reform Could Turn the Prison-Industrial Complex Into the Treatment-Industrial Complex The Nation ... many of the dollars expected to be “saved” from shuttering prisons may simply be funneled into privatized “alternatives to incarceration” like parole programs and halfway houses. These operations are often run by the household names of the prison business—they’re simply moving from behind bars to the so-called “treatment-industrial complex”...
Wall Street's Reprieve Expires The Atlantic ...Financial-regulation legislation—or efforts to stop it—ranks among the trickiest political knots that the White House and Congress have to unravel if they want to keep with their October budget compromise and fund the government. Democrats and Republicans in Congress—though not in the country at large—still line up on opposite sides of the fence...
Trump Supporters Punch, Kick Black Lives Matter Protester at Rally Slate ...Several people taking part in a rally for Donald Trump in Birmingham, Alabama pushed down, kicked, and punched a black protester. At least six Trump supporters shoved and tackled the protester, while one man punched the demonstrator and a woman kicked him while he was on the ground, according to CNN. One even attempted to choke the protester...
France Asks UN to Back 'Merciless' Military Response to Paris Attacks Common Dreams ...Just days after French President François Hollande vowed a "merciless" response to the Paris attacks, his government on Thursday submitted a resolution for the United Nations Security Council to "take all necessary measures" against ISIS. The French proposal, which could face a vote as early as Friday, competes with a separate one re-submitted by Russia this week...
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Today's Teamster News 11.19.15
TEAMSTERS
Teamsters Applaud Supreme Court's Refusal to Hear Amerijet Lawsuit Teamster.org ...Teamsters Airline Division Director Capt. David Bourne in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of a petition this week by Amerijet International Inc.: “It comes as no surprise that the Supreme Court would refuse to hear this case, and in doing so, uphold the Eleventh Circuit Court’s reasoning that this lawsuit is without merit. The lawsuit by Amerijet is unnecessary and a blatant abuse of the legal process in an effort to circumvent the legally established standards of labor law”...
Judge: Con-way Violated Rights of Workers in Los Angeles Teamster.org ...Con-way Freight, Inc. violated the rights of workers who were trying to form their union with the Teamsters and must re-hire two workers it unlawfully fired during the organizing campaign, among other remedies, an administrative law judge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled. The workers at Con-way’s Los Angeles terminal were trying to join Local 63. The company must cease its illegal activities, reinstate the two fired workers and pay them back wages and benefits, and take other steps...
Pettiness Reaches New Heights At Résidences Soleil Teamsters Canada ...Unhappy with being forced to pay half of its workers’ life insurance premiums, Résidences Soleil owner Eddy Savoie is taking it out on his workers by making them pay… for their coffee! This bizarre story began in October 2012 when the management of Résidences Soleil decided to do away with its long-standing practice of paying 50% of its employees’ life insurance premiums. Teamsters Local Union 106 filed grievances to protest against this arbitrary decision...
Concord city employees to strike Wednesday Contra Costa Times ...Barring a last minute deal, the city's largest employee union will strike Wednesday to protest alleged unfair labor practices in the public works department. Teamsters Local 856 represents 137 employees, including administrative, clerical and maintenance staffers. The union also represents police dispatchers, but they will report to work Wednesday...
San Francisco tech shuttles get long-term approval USA Today ...San Francisco’s tech shuttles that service Facebook, Google and other companies have gained a permanent place in the city’s transportation system. The Teamsters have been involved in helping to organize shuttle drivers and other workers at Silicon Valley tech giants including Apple, eBay, Facebook and Yahoo. “We are pleased with this ruling, which protects daily public transit riders and the shuttle drivers who deserve to be treated properly and with dignity,” said Rome Aloise...
21 Organizations Fighting for Labor Rights in the Food System Huffington Post ...In Tracy, California, Teamsters members are fighting poverty wages and severe violations of basic rights at Taylor Farms. And more than 11,000 Teamsters workers have united to defeat a mega-merger of U.S. Foods and Sysco, which would have jeopardized thousands of broadline food service and transportation jobs...
Local 727 Beverage Members Stand Together for Strong Contracts in Niles, Alsip Local 727 ...Teamsters Local 727 members at Coca-Cola Refreshments and Reyes/Great Lakes Coca-Cola Distribution wore their unity loud and proud on Tuesday, November 17, as negotiations continued for new contracts with both companies. Hundreds of members sported red Teamster T-shirts as they started their shifts in beverage production and warehouse facilities in Chicago, Niles and Alsip, Ill. Local 727 also brought food and refreshments to members in Niles and Alsip, rallying together in support of new agreements...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Petrobras holdout strikers to vote on new deal Thursday Reuters ...A union representing workers in the Brazil's top oil region will vote on Thursday on a contract offer from state-run oil company Petrobras on Thursday or continue a strike, the most disruptive in 20 years, the union said Wednesday. The union, Sindipetro Norte Fluminense, called the vote after Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is known, agreed to discuss its demand that members receive back pay for all the days they were on strike...
Prospects dim for 2016 Pacific Rim trade vote in US Congress Reuters ...A 12-nation Pacific Rim free-trade deal, facing stiff opposition from many Democrats and unexpected resistance from Republicans, is unlikely to be voted on by the U.S. Congress before President Barack Obama leaves office, according to some Republican lawmakers and aides. A veteran Senate Republican aide, who asked not to be identified, said Republican leaders intend to shelve the deal until after the November 2016 presidential election...
House Democrats call TPP 'too big' to pass Congress The Hill ...A half dozen House Democrats asserted on Wednesday that opposition is growing for a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade agreement as the White House ramps up efforts to build support for the deal. The six Democrats — Reps. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), Louise Slaughter (N.Y.), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), Nydia Velázquez (N.Y.), Mark Pocan (Wis.) and Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) — said the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal is “too big” to pass Congress and must be scrapped...
Pacific Rim trade pact praised, panned as proposed deal faces uphill battle in to Congress AP ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal between the U.S. and 11 other Pacific nations is drawing potential new members from Asia and criticism from those excluded, as it heads for a tough ride in the U.S. Congress. Leaders of the trade grouping that spans the Pacific Rim met alongside a regional economic summit on Wednesday in the Philippines and President Barack Obama urged them to ratify the deal "as quickly as possible"...
Obama expects TPP approval from Canada after first meeting with Trudeau Globe and Mail ...Barack Obama said he expects Canada will sign on to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The President of the United States made the comment following his first formal meeting with new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The Liberal government has officially been non-committal on the deal...
APEC Protesters Defy Water Cannons as TPP Signing Announced TeleSUR ...While APEC condemned “terrorism” and called for an international security response in the summit's last day, protesters continued to slam free trade. Philippine police pushed back crowds with water canons in Manila on Thursday as demonstrators protested the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, soon after member states agreed that the the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement would be signed on Feb. 4, 2016...
UK PM to Get $15 Mln Private Jet Ahead of Public Austerity Cuts Sputnik News ...David Cameron will be given his own version of the US President's Air Force One. This is despite the government's commitments to cutting billions of pounds of public spending. A Royal Air Force Voyager A330 is to be re-fitted at the taxpayers' expense, in order to provide private transportation for Mr Cameron, senior ministers, and possibly members of the royal family...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
77 California cities on ‘economically challenged’ list SacBee ...Nearly a third of Californians live in 77 “economically challenged” cities – including Los Angeles – with high levels of poverty, and low levels of income and employment, a new study declares. Moreover, says the report from the National Resource Network, California’s distressed cities are more than a quarter of the 297 U.S. cities over 40,000 population that fall into that category...
New York Cities to Raise Minimum Wage for City Workers Wall Street Journal ...Buffalo and Rochester are moving to raise the minimum wage of municipal employees to $15 an hour as part of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s push to raise the wage floor for all workers. The Democratic governor joined the mayors of both cities for their announcements on Wednesday...
Gov. Cuomo: State should enact $2B tax cut if minimum wage is raised to $15/hour Daily News ...Gov. Cuomo suggested Wednesday that the state enact a $2 billion tax cut if the Legislature approves his plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. At an event in Buffalo, Cuomo accused businesses of “stealing from taxpayers” by paying workers low wages knowing those same employees can also qualify for state welfare assistance. The governor called the situation a “scam” and “the mother of all loopholes”...
Democrats attack Rep. Bishop on union wage votes The Detroit News ...The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is running drive-time radio ads this week linking U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop’s votes on prevailing wage bill provisions with campaign donations from the powerful DeVos family of Grand Rapids. The ads, on the air in Metro Detroit and Lansing, charge that the Rochester Republican “wants to gut prevailing wage laws that make sure construction workers get paid a fair local wage”...
U.S. LABOR
Airport workers at 7 U.S. hubs to strike Wednesday night Washington Post ...Airport workers at seven of the busiest U.S. airports are going on strike Wednesday night to protest what they say are poor working conditions and retaliation for unionizing. More than 2,000 workers, including cleaners, wheelchair attendants, and baggage handlers plan to strike at Fort Lauderdale, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago O’Hare, Newark Liberty and New York’s Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, the Service Employees International Union said...
SEIU, Local 1021 returns to work as negotiators meet with county, mediator The Reporter ...Following a two-day strike action Wednesday, members of Service Employees International Union, Local 1021 voted to take a breather today as union negotiators meet with Solano County negotiators and a mediator. John Stead-Mendez, SEIU executive director, explained that the membership wanted the bargaining team to focus on negotiations and not worry about the striking workers...
Ford's UAW agreement in jeopardy after defeats at big plants Crain's ... Leaders of the United Auto Workers union scrambled Wednesday to salvage a proposed labor agreement with Ford, warning rank-and-file members that a rejection of the deal could jeopardize investments that would sustain U.S. factory jobs. With three-fourths of the national Ford union voted counted, 52 percent have rejected the proposed contract, Jimmy Settles, head of the UAW's Ford Department, said at UAW Local 600 in Dearborn, Michigan...
UAW Taking 'Micro' Approach to Unionizing Volkswagen Plant ABC ...The United Auto Workers union is back with a more concentrated approach after suffering a bitter loss in its efforts to gain collective-bargaining rights for all blue-collar workers at Volkswagen's plant in Tennessee. The National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday granted a petition by a small group of skilled-trades workers to hold a vote on being represented by the UAW for collective bargaining purposes...
Rauner Strikes Contract Deals With Unions, Takes Aim At AFSCME Progress Illinois ...The state of Illinois and a number of labor unions have reached four-year contract agreements, the Rauner administration said Wednesday. In announcing the new agreements, the Rauner administration used the opportunity to take aim at AFSCME Council 31. The union and the administration have yet to reach a new contract agreement...
Remembering the Life and Music of Labor Agitator Joe Hill, Who Was Executed 100 Years Ago Today In These Times ...Joe Hill saw his music as a weapon in the class war, composing songs to be sung on soapboxes, picket lines or in jail. And 100 years ago today, the forces of capital and the state of Utah executed him. Born Joel Hagglund in Sweden, Hill immigrated to the United States in 1902. Hill became politicized, eventually joining the Industrial Workers of the World...
Money and clout on the line for teachers union in 2016 CAL Matters ...The California Teachers Association, one of Sacramento’s most powerful interests, is heading into an extraordinary year with decisions on the ballot, in the Capitol and in the courts holding the potential to impact its clout for many years to come. Billions of dollars for schools will likely be at stake on the 2016 ballot as well as pivotal campaigns for state Legislature and a question about union pensions...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
The Koch intelligence agency Politico ...The political network helmed by Charles and David Koch has quietly built a secretive operation that conducts surveillance and intelligence gathering on its liberal opponents, viewing it as a key strategic tool in its efforts to reshape American public life.
The operation, which is little-known even within the Koch network, gathers what Koch insiders refer to as “competitive intelligence” that is used to try to thwart liberal groups and activists...
Elizabeth Warren Blasts Tax Plan as 'Giant Wet Kiss' to Corporate America Common Dreams ...Denouncing a "rigged" system that favors corporations over middle-class Americans, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said in a "must-watch" speech on Wednesday that any reform of the U.S. corporate tax code must force big businesses to "substantially increase" the amount of federal tax they pay. Warren's address at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. "staked out the left-wing position on corporate tax reform," Politico said...
Growing Number of Voters Have Families Impacted by Immigration Policy NBC ...For a significant number of potential 2016 voters, immigration policies are not an abstraction but have a direct impact for their loved ones. As many as 1.5 million U. S. citizen relatives of immigrants awaiting deportation relief under the president's stalled executive action program will be eligible to vote for president next year...
Hysterical Corporate Media Fueling War Fervor, Xenophobia in 24/7 Cycle Common Dreams ...Just as they did in the wake of 9/11, corporate media outlets—led by cable news networks—are spreading hysteria, fueling anti-immigrant sentiment, and beating the drum for war by providing "context-free coverage of terror," as one analyst put it this week. The 24/7 coverage of Friday's attacks in Paris and their aftermath, marked by speculation and sensationalism, is only helping the media conglomerates...
In Minneapolis, Local Black Lives Matter Activists Draw on a Growing National Network Truth Out ...Like many groups, BLM Minneapolis emerged as the wider movement for black lives exploded into headlines last year. The last few months, the group has been working to further involve community members in their strategizing and decision-making processes, as well as create opportunities to mobilize more broadly around the forces impacting black, Latino and indigenous city residents...
With Demands for Racial Justice, Student 'BlackOut' Actions Sweep US Common Dreams ...Students at colleges and universities from coast to coast walked out of class, held rallies and teach-ins, and protested on Wednesday as part of a coordinated national day of action demanding racial justice both on- and off-campus. The actions were both inspired by and in solidarity with recent protests at the University of Missouri and other institutions...
Teamsters Applaud Supreme Court's Refusal to Hear Amerijet Lawsuit Teamster.org ...Teamsters Airline Division Director Capt. David Bourne in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of a petition this week by Amerijet International Inc.: “It comes as no surprise that the Supreme Court would refuse to hear this case, and in doing so, uphold the Eleventh Circuit Court’s reasoning that this lawsuit is without merit. The lawsuit by Amerijet is unnecessary and a blatant abuse of the legal process in an effort to circumvent the legally established standards of labor law”...
Judge: Con-way Violated Rights of Workers in Los Angeles Teamster.org ...Con-way Freight, Inc. violated the rights of workers who were trying to form their union with the Teamsters and must re-hire two workers it unlawfully fired during the organizing campaign, among other remedies, an administrative law judge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled. The workers at Con-way’s Los Angeles terminal were trying to join Local 63. The company must cease its illegal activities, reinstate the two fired workers and pay them back wages and benefits, and take other steps...
Pettiness Reaches New Heights At Résidences Soleil Teamsters Canada ...Unhappy with being forced to pay half of its workers’ life insurance premiums, Résidences Soleil owner Eddy Savoie is taking it out on his workers by making them pay… for their coffee! This bizarre story began in October 2012 when the management of Résidences Soleil decided to do away with its long-standing practice of paying 50% of its employees’ life insurance premiums. Teamsters Local Union 106 filed grievances to protest against this arbitrary decision...
Concord city employees to strike Wednesday Contra Costa Times ...Barring a last minute deal, the city's largest employee union will strike Wednesday to protest alleged unfair labor practices in the public works department. Teamsters Local 856 represents 137 employees, including administrative, clerical and maintenance staffers. The union also represents police dispatchers, but they will report to work Wednesday...
San Francisco tech shuttles get long-term approval USA Today ...San Francisco’s tech shuttles that service Facebook, Google and other companies have gained a permanent place in the city’s transportation system. The Teamsters have been involved in helping to organize shuttle drivers and other workers at Silicon Valley tech giants including Apple, eBay, Facebook and Yahoo. “We are pleased with this ruling, which protects daily public transit riders and the shuttle drivers who deserve to be treated properly and with dignity,” said Rome Aloise...
21 Organizations Fighting for Labor Rights in the Food System Huffington Post ...In Tracy, California, Teamsters members are fighting poverty wages and severe violations of basic rights at Taylor Farms. And more than 11,000 Teamsters workers have united to defeat a mega-merger of U.S. Foods and Sysco, which would have jeopardized thousands of broadline food service and transportation jobs...
Local 727 Beverage Members Stand Together for Strong Contracts in Niles, Alsip Local 727 ...Teamsters Local 727 members at Coca-Cola Refreshments and Reyes/Great Lakes Coca-Cola Distribution wore their unity loud and proud on Tuesday, November 17, as negotiations continued for new contracts with both companies. Hundreds of members sported red Teamster T-shirts as they started their shifts in beverage production and warehouse facilities in Chicago, Niles and Alsip, Ill. Local 727 also brought food and refreshments to members in Niles and Alsip, rallying together in support of new agreements...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Petrobras holdout strikers to vote on new deal Thursday Reuters ...A union representing workers in the Brazil's top oil region will vote on Thursday on a contract offer from state-run oil company Petrobras on Thursday or continue a strike, the most disruptive in 20 years, the union said Wednesday. The union, Sindipetro Norte Fluminense, called the vote after Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is known, agreed to discuss its demand that members receive back pay for all the days they were on strike...
Prospects dim for 2016 Pacific Rim trade vote in US Congress Reuters ...A 12-nation Pacific Rim free-trade deal, facing stiff opposition from many Democrats and unexpected resistance from Republicans, is unlikely to be voted on by the U.S. Congress before President Barack Obama leaves office, according to some Republican lawmakers and aides. A veteran Senate Republican aide, who asked not to be identified, said Republican leaders intend to shelve the deal until after the November 2016 presidential election...
House Democrats call TPP 'too big' to pass Congress The Hill ...A half dozen House Democrats asserted on Wednesday that opposition is growing for a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade agreement as the White House ramps up efforts to build support for the deal. The six Democrats — Reps. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), Louise Slaughter (N.Y.), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), Nydia Velázquez (N.Y.), Mark Pocan (Wis.) and Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) — said the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal is “too big” to pass Congress and must be scrapped...
Pacific Rim trade pact praised, panned as proposed deal faces uphill battle in to Congress AP ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal between the U.S. and 11 other Pacific nations is drawing potential new members from Asia and criticism from those excluded, as it heads for a tough ride in the U.S. Congress. Leaders of the trade grouping that spans the Pacific Rim met alongside a regional economic summit on Wednesday in the Philippines and President Barack Obama urged them to ratify the deal "as quickly as possible"...
Obama expects TPP approval from Canada after first meeting with Trudeau Globe and Mail ...Barack Obama said he expects Canada will sign on to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The President of the United States made the comment following his first formal meeting with new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The Liberal government has officially been non-committal on the deal...
APEC Protesters Defy Water Cannons as TPP Signing Announced TeleSUR ...While APEC condemned “terrorism” and called for an international security response in the summit's last day, protesters continued to slam free trade. Philippine police pushed back crowds with water canons in Manila on Thursday as demonstrators protested the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, soon after member states agreed that the the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement would be signed on Feb. 4, 2016...
UK PM to Get $15 Mln Private Jet Ahead of Public Austerity Cuts Sputnik News ...David Cameron will be given his own version of the US President's Air Force One. This is despite the government's commitments to cutting billions of pounds of public spending. A Royal Air Force Voyager A330 is to be re-fitted at the taxpayers' expense, in order to provide private transportation for Mr Cameron, senior ministers, and possibly members of the royal family...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
77 California cities on ‘economically challenged’ list SacBee ...Nearly a third of Californians live in 77 “economically challenged” cities – including Los Angeles – with high levels of poverty, and low levels of income and employment, a new study declares. Moreover, says the report from the National Resource Network, California’s distressed cities are more than a quarter of the 297 U.S. cities over 40,000 population that fall into that category...
New York Cities to Raise Minimum Wage for City Workers Wall Street Journal ...Buffalo and Rochester are moving to raise the minimum wage of municipal employees to $15 an hour as part of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s push to raise the wage floor for all workers. The Democratic governor joined the mayors of both cities for their announcements on Wednesday...
Gov. Cuomo: State should enact $2B tax cut if minimum wage is raised to $15/hour Daily News ...Gov. Cuomo suggested Wednesday that the state enact a $2 billion tax cut if the Legislature approves his plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. At an event in Buffalo, Cuomo accused businesses of “stealing from taxpayers” by paying workers low wages knowing those same employees can also qualify for state welfare assistance. The governor called the situation a “scam” and “the mother of all loopholes”...
Democrats attack Rep. Bishop on union wage votes The Detroit News ...The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is running drive-time radio ads this week linking U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop’s votes on prevailing wage bill provisions with campaign donations from the powerful DeVos family of Grand Rapids. The ads, on the air in Metro Detroit and Lansing, charge that the Rochester Republican “wants to gut prevailing wage laws that make sure construction workers get paid a fair local wage”...
U.S. LABOR
Airport workers at 7 U.S. hubs to strike Wednesday night Washington Post ...Airport workers at seven of the busiest U.S. airports are going on strike Wednesday night to protest what they say are poor working conditions and retaliation for unionizing. More than 2,000 workers, including cleaners, wheelchair attendants, and baggage handlers plan to strike at Fort Lauderdale, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago O’Hare, Newark Liberty and New York’s Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, the Service Employees International Union said...
SEIU, Local 1021 returns to work as negotiators meet with county, mediator The Reporter ...Following a two-day strike action Wednesday, members of Service Employees International Union, Local 1021 voted to take a breather today as union negotiators meet with Solano County negotiators and a mediator. John Stead-Mendez, SEIU executive director, explained that the membership wanted the bargaining team to focus on negotiations and not worry about the striking workers...
Ford's UAW agreement in jeopardy after defeats at big plants Crain's ... Leaders of the United Auto Workers union scrambled Wednesday to salvage a proposed labor agreement with Ford, warning rank-and-file members that a rejection of the deal could jeopardize investments that would sustain U.S. factory jobs. With three-fourths of the national Ford union voted counted, 52 percent have rejected the proposed contract, Jimmy Settles, head of the UAW's Ford Department, said at UAW Local 600 in Dearborn, Michigan...
UAW Taking 'Micro' Approach to Unionizing Volkswagen Plant ABC ...The United Auto Workers union is back with a more concentrated approach after suffering a bitter loss in its efforts to gain collective-bargaining rights for all blue-collar workers at Volkswagen's plant in Tennessee. The National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday granted a petition by a small group of skilled-trades workers to hold a vote on being represented by the UAW for collective bargaining purposes...
Rauner Strikes Contract Deals With Unions, Takes Aim At AFSCME Progress Illinois ...The state of Illinois and a number of labor unions have reached four-year contract agreements, the Rauner administration said Wednesday. In announcing the new agreements, the Rauner administration used the opportunity to take aim at AFSCME Council 31. The union and the administration have yet to reach a new contract agreement...
Remembering the Life and Music of Labor Agitator Joe Hill, Who Was Executed 100 Years Ago Today In These Times ...Joe Hill saw his music as a weapon in the class war, composing songs to be sung on soapboxes, picket lines or in jail. And 100 years ago today, the forces of capital and the state of Utah executed him. Born Joel Hagglund in Sweden, Hill immigrated to the United States in 1902. Hill became politicized, eventually joining the Industrial Workers of the World...
Money and clout on the line for teachers union in 2016 CAL Matters ...The California Teachers Association, one of Sacramento’s most powerful interests, is heading into an extraordinary year with decisions on the ballot, in the Capitol and in the courts holding the potential to impact its clout for many years to come. Billions of dollars for schools will likely be at stake on the 2016 ballot as well as pivotal campaigns for state Legislature and a question about union pensions...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
The Koch intelligence agency Politico ...The political network helmed by Charles and David Koch has quietly built a secretive operation that conducts surveillance and intelligence gathering on its liberal opponents, viewing it as a key strategic tool in its efforts to reshape American public life.
The operation, which is little-known even within the Koch network, gathers what Koch insiders refer to as “competitive intelligence” that is used to try to thwart liberal groups and activists...
Elizabeth Warren Blasts Tax Plan as 'Giant Wet Kiss' to Corporate America Common Dreams ...Denouncing a "rigged" system that favors corporations over middle-class Americans, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said in a "must-watch" speech on Wednesday that any reform of the U.S. corporate tax code must force big businesses to "substantially increase" the amount of federal tax they pay. Warren's address at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. "staked out the left-wing position on corporate tax reform," Politico said...
Growing Number of Voters Have Families Impacted by Immigration Policy NBC ...For a significant number of potential 2016 voters, immigration policies are not an abstraction but have a direct impact for their loved ones. As many as 1.5 million U. S. citizen relatives of immigrants awaiting deportation relief under the president's stalled executive action program will be eligible to vote for president next year...
Hysterical Corporate Media Fueling War Fervor, Xenophobia in 24/7 Cycle Common Dreams ...Just as they did in the wake of 9/11, corporate media outlets—led by cable news networks—are spreading hysteria, fueling anti-immigrant sentiment, and beating the drum for war by providing "context-free coverage of terror," as one analyst put it this week. The 24/7 coverage of Friday's attacks in Paris and their aftermath, marked by speculation and sensationalism, is only helping the media conglomerates...
In Minneapolis, Local Black Lives Matter Activists Draw on a Growing National Network Truth Out ...Like many groups, BLM Minneapolis emerged as the wider movement for black lives exploded into headlines last year. The last few months, the group has been working to further involve community members in their strategizing and decision-making processes, as well as create opportunities to mobilize more broadly around the forces impacting black, Latino and indigenous city residents...
With Demands for Racial Justice, Student 'BlackOut' Actions Sweep US Common Dreams ...Students at colleges and universities from coast to coast walked out of class, held rallies and teach-ins, and protested on Wednesday as part of a coordinated national day of action demanding racial justice both on- and off-campus. The actions were both inspired by and in solidarity with recent protests at the University of Missouri and other institutions...
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Today's Teamster News 10.22.15
TEAMSTERS
Teamsters: Highway Safety Should Come Before Higher Trucking Industry Profits Teamster.org ...Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa today joined a bipartisan collection of lawmakers and truck safety advocates at a Capitol Hill press conference to denounce efforts to extend the length of tractor trailers nationwide, saying the move jeopardizes highway safety. Allowing trucks to pull 33-foot trailers would add an additional 10 feet to the length of existing double trailers...
Teamsters join chorus of opposition to proposition to allow 33-foot doubles CCJ ...The Teamsters Union voiced its opposition Wednesday, Oct. 21, to increasing the allowed length of tractor-trailers, saying simply that bigger trucks would make U.S. highways less safe. Specifically, the Teamsters announced their opposition to upping the maximum twin-trailer length to 33-feet from the current 28-foot maximum...
Longer Tractor-Trailers Are A Safety Hazard, Teamsters Say Law360 ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters opposes a proposal that would raise the nationwide cap on the length of double tractor-trailers, saying Wednesday that the proposal endangers truck drivers and other highway motorists. Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa appeared at a news conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday with a bipartisan group of lawmakers, seeking to derail legislation that would mandate that states allow 33-foot double trailers...
Teamsters Ratify New Contract at Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons Teamster.org ...The Teamsters Union announced today that a majority of its members working as drivers, warehouse workers and in dairy and manufacturing at grocery companies Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons in Southern California have ratified a new five-year agreement. The new agreement raises work standards and compensation for the more than 2,000 employees represented by the Teamsters...
Proposed SFMTA restrictions to enhance commuter program SF Examiner ...An 18-month commuter shuttle pilot program in San Francisco is set to expire on Jan. 31 but an ongoing program has been proposed by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Rome Aloise, president of Teamsters Joint Council 7, which represents some Bay Area shuttle bus drivers and is seeking to represent others, said he is “pleased to see the SFMTA designing a program that recognizes the efforts of these shuttle bus drivers to organize for better wages and working conditions with our union”...
Teamsters Vow To Stand With UPS Pilots On Picket Lines If The Independent Pilots Association Strikes United Parcel Service PR Newswire ...In an unqualified show of support, James Hoffa, General President and Ken Hall, General Secretary-Treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, pledged to the Independent Pilots Association that "if a strike is necessary, we will not cross your lines, but will stand with you on them." This commitment from Hoffa and Hall came in a letter to IPA President, Captain Robert Travis...
Labor, pension managers square off over benefits The Hill ...The Department of the Treasury is facing mounting pressure over a proposal to cut retirement benefits for hundreds of thousands of union workers. Hurtling toward insolvency, the Central States Pension Fund is looking to slash benefits by an average of one-third in order to prevent the program from running out of money in the coming years. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, whose members make up the largest chunk of Central States’ more than 400,000 participants, is fighting the benefit reductions...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Transatlantic trade talks underway in Miami Miami Herald ...U.S. and European Union officials are in Miami this week for the 11th round of negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, a proposed U.S.-EU agreement that would govern about one-third of the goods and services traded in the world. This round of TTIP negotiations, which are being held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Miami, began Monday and concludes Friday...
Obama woos TPA Dems on TPP Politico ...President Barack Obama turned on the charm Wednesday night to build support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, telling about 35 House and Senate Democrats who stood with him on trade promotion authority they're going to like what's in the pact when it comes to issues like labor, tobacco, the environment and investor-state dispute settlement...
Obama Does Damage Control After Hillary Defects on TPP US News ...President Barack Obama was scheduled to meet with congressional Democrats at the White House on Wednesday evening in an effort to convince them to rescue his landmark Pacific Rim trade pact as it faces increasingly long odds. Obama is expected to send formal notification to Congress as soon as this week that he intends to sign the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, a deal eight years in the making that would establish trade rules among countries that comprise 40 percent of the global economy...
TTIP Trade Talks Continue Under Veil of Secrecy in Miami - Official Sputnik News ...Chief negotiators of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement persisted to show contempt for transparency in Miami this week by failing to provide any meaningful details to the deal’s most critical stakeholders, a trade official from America’s largest labor union told Sputnik. On Monday, the week-long eleventh round of TTIP talks got underway in Miami...
Labor Voices: Trade deal will hurt auto industry, jobs (opinion) The Detroit News ...The last thing Michigan needs is another bad trade deal. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what the recently-announced Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) represents. This new trade agreement will be up for debate in Congress soon, and it’s a perfect example of what not to do when it comes to crafting trade policies that are good for Michigan families, and our auto industry...
Debt inspectors review Greek bailout progress Business Insider ...Greece's left-wing government said Wednesday it was in a "tough battle" with its bailout creditors over their demand to reduce protections for distressed mortgage holders. Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos and several other Cabinet members met with representatives of the European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Stability Mechanism. They discussed the spending cuts, tax hikes and economic reforms that Greece has passed...
Greek ports face two days of stoppages from towage union strike JOC ...Two days of strike action by towage workers will bring ship movements in Greek ports to a standstill Thursday and Friday, Inchcape Shipping Services has warned. The maritime and cargo services company said in an advisory to customers that work stoppages announced by the Crew Union of Towage Companies in Greece would affect vessel movements at all Greek ports and terminals...
Canada and the Anti-Austerity Movement The New Yorker ...From a global economic perspective, much of the interest in Trudeau’s success lies in his rejection of Harper’s balanced-budgets pitch, and his promotion of an economic plan that would have the federal government borrow money at low interest rates and invest it in infrastructure. While the absolute numbers in Trudeau’s proposal appear to be small they would virtually double infrastructure spending over the next decade...
South African students, police clash as protests against fee hikes grow CNN ...Throngs of students stormed the South African parliament in Cape Town and trapped lawmakers inside to protest fee increases set to take effect next year. University of Cape Town youth groups rallied students for Wednesday's protest, which started on campus and snaked toward parliament, about a mile away. Police at the scene "started throwing grenades and firing tear gas"...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Welcome to the Wholly Owned Koch Subsidiary Formerly Known as Wisconsin Huffington Post ...Starting today, three bills are being rammed through the Wisconsin legislature that will put the final nails in the coffin of our state's long history of clean elections and accountable governance. The same group of GOP leaders who attempted to gut the state's open records law over the 4th of July weekend are now calling for secrecy in campaign spending and for dismantling the two major avenues for investigating political corruption...
Supporters Predict Right-To-Work Swell If Court Rules In Hardin County’s Favor WFPL ...A ruling is imminent in a federal lawsuit that will determine whether Kentucky counties are allowed to pass local right-to-work laws. Right-to-work supporters say scores of counties in Kentucky and across the country are poised to pass local right-to-work laws if Hardin County’s law is upheld. Jim Waters, president of the conservative think tank Bluegrass Institute, said 50 counties have requested a copy of a model right-to-work law...
Alabama Addresses Voter Suppression Accusations By Keeping Rural DMVs Open One Day A Month Think Progress ...After national outcry from civil groups and politicians, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley announced he is somewhat reversing his decision to shut down 31 DMV offices in rural, majority-black counties across his state. Under the new plan, the offices will remain open just one day a month, beginning this November. Critics of the closures, including Selma, Alabama native Rep. Terri Sewell (D), say it’s not enough...
Minimum Wage Fight Just Got a Powerful New Ally Alternet ...The nationwide effort for a $15 minimum wage has made significant gains in the past year, with victories in major cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, and, partially, New York state. But, for much of the country, the idea of a $15 minimum wage remains elusive. One large California-based service union aims to change this by launching a fund to campaign for higher minimum wage ballot measures in several states...
Garcetti is reluctant to back bid for a statewide $15 an hour minimum wage LA Times ...After Los Angeles passed legislation this summer that will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour, Mayor Eric Garcetti positioned himself as a leading advocate for higher pay for the working poor, in Southern California and beyond. But in the latest and most active front in the fight to raise pay for low-wage workers, those watching for Garcetti to get involved may have to be patient...
U.S. LABOR
Done deal: UAW confirms ratification of FCA contract Detroit Free Press ...The UAW said today its members overwhelmingly ratified a new four-year agreement with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, giving the union its first new contract with the Detroit Three since formal negotiations began in July. The overwhelming support -- 77% voted yes -- comes almost six weeks after the old contract was set to expire...
NLRB Returns to Grad Student Unions Inside Higher Ed ...The National Labor Relations Board -- voting 3 to 1 -- agreed Wednesday to reconsider whether graduate teaching assistants at private universities are entitled to collective bargaining. The board accepted a case involving a bid by the United Auto Workers at the New School to unionize...
EPA chief, farmworkers praise new pesticide rules ModBee ...The chief of the Environmental Protection Agency visited a Stockton-area farm Tuesday to celebrate new federal rules for protecting workers from pesticides. Administrator Gina McCarthy, joined by United Farm Workers President Arturo Rodriguez, said the changes could reduce the 3,000-plus cases of pesticide exposure each year. The rules, enacted last month, are similar to what California already required...
81% in favor: Transit union members approve three-year contract Fox6 ...Leaders of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 say members on Wednesday, October 21st voted to approve a three-year contract agreement with Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS). According to union leaders, transit workers voted 81% in favor of the contract agreement...
Bank's Severance Deal Requires IT Workers to Be on Call for Two Years — Without Pay Alternet ...A severance deal that SunTrust Banks has reportedly provided to as many as 100 laid off technology workers would require the employees to continue providing assistance to the company for a period of two years without additional compensation. Computerworld reported this week that a number of employees who had received layoff notices from the Atlanta-based company provided a copy of the severance deal, “which gives the bank a way to tap their expertise long after their departure”...
Paul Ryan Wants To Preserve His Work/Family Balance While Making It Harder For Poor Parents Think Progress ...After Republicans in the House have spent weeks scrambling to find a new speaker to unite behind, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is finally saying he might run, but under a number of conditions. One of those conditions is that the time he currently spends with his wife and children be preserved even if he assumes a more demanding job. But while Ryan seeks to preserve his own balance between his work and his family, he’s pushed policies that would make doing so more difficult for others, particularly poor parents...
Survey: Half Of Food Workers Go To Work Sick Because They Have To NPR ...Flu season is here. And when the flu strikes, the luckier victims may call in sick without getting punished or losing pay. But many American workers, including those who handle our food, aren't so fortunate. Fifty-one percent of food workers — who do everything from grow and process food to cook and serve it — said they "always" or "frequently" go to work when they're sick, according to the results of a survey released Monday...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
How Immigration Detention Centers Retraumatize Women And Children Fleeing From Violence Think Progress ...Yanira, a 41-year-old Guatemalan national, left her home country with her three children because their lives were in danger from gang violence. She and her family arrived in Texas in February — but they were soon put in an immigration detention center. Yanira’s experience mirrors what many Central American mothers and children go through as they attempt to make the journey to this country, according to a new report...
'New Era of American Prosperity': Sanders Calls for Free Higher Ed for All Common Dreams ..."It is time to build on the progressive movement of the past and make public colleges and universities tuition-free in the United States," presidential candidate Bernie Sanders wrote in an op-ed on Thursday. In his call to make higher education free for all, Sen. Sanders (I-Vt.), noted that public colleges and universities are tuition-free in countries including Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Mexico...
Who's Burning Black Churches in St. Louis? The Atlantic ...For the second time in six months, black churches are burning. There have been six fires since October 8, all within a few miles of each other around St. Louis. Five have been at predominantly black churches, while the sixth was at a mixed church. The situation is not unlike the arsons that followed the massacre at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston this summer. As The Atlantic pointed out at the time, there’s a long history of terrorism against black churches in America...
Republicans Want to Hold the Debt Ceiling Hostage Without Looking Completely Insane. Good Luck With That. Slate ...The U.S. government is set to hit its borrowing limit in about two weeks, and hard-line conservatives in Congress have yet again decided that they would like to threaten a catastrophic national default by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. The first time the GOP tried this kamikaze tactic in 2011, it worked fairly well, as the White House eventually agreed to major spending cuts to avoid a crisis. But when the party tried in 2013, the effort ended in acrimonious failure...
Teamsters: Highway Safety Should Come Before Higher Trucking Industry Profits Teamster.org ...Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa today joined a bipartisan collection of lawmakers and truck safety advocates at a Capitol Hill press conference to denounce efforts to extend the length of tractor trailers nationwide, saying the move jeopardizes highway safety. Allowing trucks to pull 33-foot trailers would add an additional 10 feet to the length of existing double trailers...
Teamsters join chorus of opposition to proposition to allow 33-foot doubles CCJ ...The Teamsters Union voiced its opposition Wednesday, Oct. 21, to increasing the allowed length of tractor-trailers, saying simply that bigger trucks would make U.S. highways less safe. Specifically, the Teamsters announced their opposition to upping the maximum twin-trailer length to 33-feet from the current 28-foot maximum...
Longer Tractor-Trailers Are A Safety Hazard, Teamsters Say Law360 ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters opposes a proposal that would raise the nationwide cap on the length of double tractor-trailers, saying Wednesday that the proposal endangers truck drivers and other highway motorists. Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa appeared at a news conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday with a bipartisan group of lawmakers, seeking to derail legislation that would mandate that states allow 33-foot double trailers...
Teamsters Ratify New Contract at Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons Teamster.org ...The Teamsters Union announced today that a majority of its members working as drivers, warehouse workers and in dairy and manufacturing at grocery companies Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons in Southern California have ratified a new five-year agreement. The new agreement raises work standards and compensation for the more than 2,000 employees represented by the Teamsters...
Proposed SFMTA restrictions to enhance commuter program SF Examiner ...An 18-month commuter shuttle pilot program in San Francisco is set to expire on Jan. 31 but an ongoing program has been proposed by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Rome Aloise, president of Teamsters Joint Council 7, which represents some Bay Area shuttle bus drivers and is seeking to represent others, said he is “pleased to see the SFMTA designing a program that recognizes the efforts of these shuttle bus drivers to organize for better wages and working conditions with our union”...
Teamsters Vow To Stand With UPS Pilots On Picket Lines If The Independent Pilots Association Strikes United Parcel Service PR Newswire ...In an unqualified show of support, James Hoffa, General President and Ken Hall, General Secretary-Treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, pledged to the Independent Pilots Association that "if a strike is necessary, we will not cross your lines, but will stand with you on them." This commitment from Hoffa and Hall came in a letter to IPA President, Captain Robert Travis...
Labor, pension managers square off over benefits The Hill ...The Department of the Treasury is facing mounting pressure over a proposal to cut retirement benefits for hundreds of thousands of union workers. Hurtling toward insolvency, the Central States Pension Fund is looking to slash benefits by an average of one-third in order to prevent the program from running out of money in the coming years. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, whose members make up the largest chunk of Central States’ more than 400,000 participants, is fighting the benefit reductions...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Transatlantic trade talks underway in Miami Miami Herald ...U.S. and European Union officials are in Miami this week for the 11th round of negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, a proposed U.S.-EU agreement that would govern about one-third of the goods and services traded in the world. This round of TTIP negotiations, which are being held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Miami, began Monday and concludes Friday...
Obama woos TPA Dems on TPP Politico ...President Barack Obama turned on the charm Wednesday night to build support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, telling about 35 House and Senate Democrats who stood with him on trade promotion authority they're going to like what's in the pact when it comes to issues like labor, tobacco, the environment and investor-state dispute settlement...
Obama Does Damage Control After Hillary Defects on TPP US News ...President Barack Obama was scheduled to meet with congressional Democrats at the White House on Wednesday evening in an effort to convince them to rescue his landmark Pacific Rim trade pact as it faces increasingly long odds. Obama is expected to send formal notification to Congress as soon as this week that he intends to sign the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, a deal eight years in the making that would establish trade rules among countries that comprise 40 percent of the global economy...
TTIP Trade Talks Continue Under Veil of Secrecy in Miami - Official Sputnik News ...Chief negotiators of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement persisted to show contempt for transparency in Miami this week by failing to provide any meaningful details to the deal’s most critical stakeholders, a trade official from America’s largest labor union told Sputnik. On Monday, the week-long eleventh round of TTIP talks got underway in Miami...
Labor Voices: Trade deal will hurt auto industry, jobs (opinion) The Detroit News ...The last thing Michigan needs is another bad trade deal. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what the recently-announced Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) represents. This new trade agreement will be up for debate in Congress soon, and it’s a perfect example of what not to do when it comes to crafting trade policies that are good for Michigan families, and our auto industry...
Debt inspectors review Greek bailout progress Business Insider ...Greece's left-wing government said Wednesday it was in a "tough battle" with its bailout creditors over their demand to reduce protections for distressed mortgage holders. Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos and several other Cabinet members met with representatives of the European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Stability Mechanism. They discussed the spending cuts, tax hikes and economic reforms that Greece has passed...
Greek ports face two days of stoppages from towage union strike JOC ...Two days of strike action by towage workers will bring ship movements in Greek ports to a standstill Thursday and Friday, Inchcape Shipping Services has warned. The maritime and cargo services company said in an advisory to customers that work stoppages announced by the Crew Union of Towage Companies in Greece would affect vessel movements at all Greek ports and terminals...
Canada and the Anti-Austerity Movement The New Yorker ...From a global economic perspective, much of the interest in Trudeau’s success lies in his rejection of Harper’s balanced-budgets pitch, and his promotion of an economic plan that would have the federal government borrow money at low interest rates and invest it in infrastructure. While the absolute numbers in Trudeau’s proposal appear to be small they would virtually double infrastructure spending over the next decade...
South African students, police clash as protests against fee hikes grow CNN ...Throngs of students stormed the South African parliament in Cape Town and trapped lawmakers inside to protest fee increases set to take effect next year. University of Cape Town youth groups rallied students for Wednesday's protest, which started on campus and snaked toward parliament, about a mile away. Police at the scene "started throwing grenades and firing tear gas"...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Welcome to the Wholly Owned Koch Subsidiary Formerly Known as Wisconsin Huffington Post ...Starting today, three bills are being rammed through the Wisconsin legislature that will put the final nails in the coffin of our state's long history of clean elections and accountable governance. The same group of GOP leaders who attempted to gut the state's open records law over the 4th of July weekend are now calling for secrecy in campaign spending and for dismantling the two major avenues for investigating political corruption...
Supporters Predict Right-To-Work Swell If Court Rules In Hardin County’s Favor WFPL ...A ruling is imminent in a federal lawsuit that will determine whether Kentucky counties are allowed to pass local right-to-work laws. Right-to-work supporters say scores of counties in Kentucky and across the country are poised to pass local right-to-work laws if Hardin County’s law is upheld. Jim Waters, president of the conservative think tank Bluegrass Institute, said 50 counties have requested a copy of a model right-to-work law...
Alabama Addresses Voter Suppression Accusations By Keeping Rural DMVs Open One Day A Month Think Progress ...After national outcry from civil groups and politicians, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley announced he is somewhat reversing his decision to shut down 31 DMV offices in rural, majority-black counties across his state. Under the new plan, the offices will remain open just one day a month, beginning this November. Critics of the closures, including Selma, Alabama native Rep. Terri Sewell (D), say it’s not enough...
Minimum Wage Fight Just Got a Powerful New Ally Alternet ...The nationwide effort for a $15 minimum wage has made significant gains in the past year, with victories in major cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, and, partially, New York state. But, for much of the country, the idea of a $15 minimum wage remains elusive. One large California-based service union aims to change this by launching a fund to campaign for higher minimum wage ballot measures in several states...
Garcetti is reluctant to back bid for a statewide $15 an hour minimum wage LA Times ...After Los Angeles passed legislation this summer that will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour, Mayor Eric Garcetti positioned himself as a leading advocate for higher pay for the working poor, in Southern California and beyond. But in the latest and most active front in the fight to raise pay for low-wage workers, those watching for Garcetti to get involved may have to be patient...
U.S. LABOR
Done deal: UAW confirms ratification of FCA contract Detroit Free Press ...The UAW said today its members overwhelmingly ratified a new four-year agreement with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, giving the union its first new contract with the Detroit Three since formal negotiations began in July. The overwhelming support -- 77% voted yes -- comes almost six weeks after the old contract was set to expire...
NLRB Returns to Grad Student Unions Inside Higher Ed ...The National Labor Relations Board -- voting 3 to 1 -- agreed Wednesday to reconsider whether graduate teaching assistants at private universities are entitled to collective bargaining. The board accepted a case involving a bid by the United Auto Workers at the New School to unionize...
EPA chief, farmworkers praise new pesticide rules ModBee ...The chief of the Environmental Protection Agency visited a Stockton-area farm Tuesday to celebrate new federal rules for protecting workers from pesticides. Administrator Gina McCarthy, joined by United Farm Workers President Arturo Rodriguez, said the changes could reduce the 3,000-plus cases of pesticide exposure each year. The rules, enacted last month, are similar to what California already required...
81% in favor: Transit union members approve three-year contract Fox6 ...Leaders of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 say members on Wednesday, October 21st voted to approve a three-year contract agreement with Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS). According to union leaders, transit workers voted 81% in favor of the contract agreement...
Bank's Severance Deal Requires IT Workers to Be on Call for Two Years — Without Pay Alternet ...A severance deal that SunTrust Banks has reportedly provided to as many as 100 laid off technology workers would require the employees to continue providing assistance to the company for a period of two years without additional compensation. Computerworld reported this week that a number of employees who had received layoff notices from the Atlanta-based company provided a copy of the severance deal, “which gives the bank a way to tap their expertise long after their departure”...
Paul Ryan Wants To Preserve His Work/Family Balance While Making It Harder For Poor Parents Think Progress ...After Republicans in the House have spent weeks scrambling to find a new speaker to unite behind, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is finally saying he might run, but under a number of conditions. One of those conditions is that the time he currently spends with his wife and children be preserved even if he assumes a more demanding job. But while Ryan seeks to preserve his own balance between his work and his family, he’s pushed policies that would make doing so more difficult for others, particularly poor parents...
Survey: Half Of Food Workers Go To Work Sick Because They Have To NPR ...Flu season is here. And when the flu strikes, the luckier victims may call in sick without getting punished or losing pay. But many American workers, including those who handle our food, aren't so fortunate. Fifty-one percent of food workers — who do everything from grow and process food to cook and serve it — said they "always" or "frequently" go to work when they're sick, according to the results of a survey released Monday...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
How Immigration Detention Centers Retraumatize Women And Children Fleeing From Violence Think Progress ...Yanira, a 41-year-old Guatemalan national, left her home country with her three children because their lives were in danger from gang violence. She and her family arrived in Texas in February — but they were soon put in an immigration detention center. Yanira’s experience mirrors what many Central American mothers and children go through as they attempt to make the journey to this country, according to a new report...
'New Era of American Prosperity': Sanders Calls for Free Higher Ed for All Common Dreams ..."It is time to build on the progressive movement of the past and make public colleges and universities tuition-free in the United States," presidential candidate Bernie Sanders wrote in an op-ed on Thursday. In his call to make higher education free for all, Sen. Sanders (I-Vt.), noted that public colleges and universities are tuition-free in countries including Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Mexico...
Who's Burning Black Churches in St. Louis? The Atlantic ...For the second time in six months, black churches are burning. There have been six fires since October 8, all within a few miles of each other around St. Louis. Five have been at predominantly black churches, while the sixth was at a mixed church. The situation is not unlike the arsons that followed the massacre at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston this summer. As The Atlantic pointed out at the time, there’s a long history of terrorism against black churches in America...
Republicans Want to Hold the Debt Ceiling Hostage Without Looking Completely Insane. Good Luck With That. Slate ...The U.S. government is set to hit its borrowing limit in about two weeks, and hard-line conservatives in Congress have yet again decided that they would like to threaten a catastrophic national default by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. The first time the GOP tried this kamikaze tactic in 2011, it worked fairly well, as the White House eventually agreed to major spending cuts to avoid a crisis. But when the party tried in 2013, the effort ended in acrimonious failure...
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