TEAMSTERS
Arbitrator Rules Parking Employer Created ‘Sham’ Company to Avoid Paying Union Local 727 ...An arbitrator has ordered PAS, LLC to pay Teamsters Local 727 more than $225,000 in back dues, penalties and late fees after the Chicago parking employer created a “sham” company to avoid its financial obligations to the union. In July 2013, VPS of Illinois closed its business without paying thousands of dollars owed to the union...
NY-NJ port authority revises truck-replacement plan JOC ...Environmental groups have insisted that older trucks need to be phased out to reduce unhealthy emissions. Allied with the environmentalists is the Teamsters union, which has tried for years to organize port drivers. A likely side effect of banning older trucks would be to encourage a shift from owner-operators to company employees who would be eligible to unionize...
Teamsters invited to pension session Press Gazette ...The Wisconsin Committees to Protect Pensions will hold an informational meeting for active and retired Teamsters. Dobbs will talk about new developments in the effort to stop the cuts from taking effect this summer, legislative proposals introduced in Congress to try to stop the cuts and other information for Teamsters and retirees who want to take action to oppose the proposed cuts...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Colombian Unions to Protest Paltry Minimum Wage Increase TeleSUR ...Labor leaders in Colombia say the Constitutional Court has previously ruled that wage increase cannot fall below the rate of inflation. Fabio Arias, secretary-general of Colombia's United Workers Trade Union Federation, said Wednesday that his organization will submit a formal complaint before the country's Council of State over a decree raising the minimum wage by only 7 percent...
Delhi's sanitation workers to go on indefinite strike from January 27 Economic Times ...Scores of municipal sanitation workers on Wednesday decided to go on an indefinite strike from January 27 claiming the civic bodies' failure in meeting their demands, including regularization of salary. The workers have been sitting on a relay hunger strike for the past month at the Jantar Mantar under various unions...
Ontario prepares for looming strike by correctional workers Globe and Mail ...This week across Ontario, however, the sudden appearance of construction crews outside jails has prompted weary acceptance that a looming strike could be long and, according to the correctional union, dangerous for the managers forced to operate the institutions. By Thursday, there was ample evidence that the province was preparing for protracted labour action...
Hundreds of advocacy groups ask Congress to block Obama’s Pacific Rim trade pact Washington Post ...A coalition of more than 1,500 interest groups is sending a letter to Congress on Thursday demanding that lawmakers block the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the 12-nation Pacific Rim trade pact championed by the Obama administration. Labor unions, environmental groups, consumer advocates and faith groups are among the 1,525 organizations...
Pacific Trade Deal Foes Say Keystone Case Shows Pact's Risk Bloomberg ...A legal dispute over the Keystone XL oil pipeline is giving opponents of a Pacific trade agreement a fresh argument in their effort to get Congress to kill the pact. They say the case announced Wednesday, in which TransCanada Corp. is seeking arbitration to recover $15 billion tied to the Obama administration’s rejection of Keystone, shows how foreign companies could use provisions of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement to challenge U.S. policy on the environment and other matters...
World Bank: TPP Trade Deal to Benefit Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia Most by 2030 Sputnik News ...The US-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade deal is set to provide economic impetus predominantly to Vietnam, Japan and Malaysia among other parties to the agreement by 2030, a Global Economic Prospects report showed...
India set to push for liberalisation of services trade at WTO Geneva talks Economic Times ...Reinstating its stand of continuing with the Doha Development Agenda, India will push for liberalising services trade at the World Trade Organization talks in Geneva. 23 countries of the WTO are separately negotiating the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), which aims at opening up markets and improving rules in areas such as licensing, financial services, telecom, ecommerce, maritime transport and professionals moving abroad temporarily to provide services...
U.S. Says `Tremendous Progress' Made on South Africa Trade Talks Bloomberg ...South Africa and the U.S. made “tremendous progress” on talks to resolve a trade dispute between the two nations, U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Patrick Gaspard said. South Africa has been under pressure to reach agreement with the U.S. to open its market to American chicken and beef products in order to retain preferential trade benefits...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Martinez revives right-to-work debate in New Mexico Las Cruces Sun-News ...Republican Gov. Susana Martinez is reviving the right-to-work debate in New Mexico, saying she’ll include the issue on the agenda for the upcoming legislative session. She made the announcement Thursday during a panel discussion before a crowded room of business leaders...
Minimum wage boost hangs over California budget negotiations SacBee ...They haven’t yet acquired enough signatures to go before voters, but ballot initiatives to bump California’s minimum wage to $15 figured into early discussions of the state budget proposal unveiled Thursday. Organized labor groups across the country have focused their energy on the push for a $15 wage...
Cuomo eyeing plan to give New Yorkers 12 weeks paid family leave NY Post ...Gov. Cuomo is mulling a plan to provide up to 12 weeks of paid family leave to New Yorkers in the coming year after Mayor de Blasio allowed city workers to receive the benefit in 2014. Gubernatorial aides met with advocates Dec. 29 in Manhattan to talk providing paid time off for employees with a new child, an injury or a sick family member...
Paid Family Leave Gets More Attention, but Workers Still Struggle New York Times ...This year is shaping up to be a big one for paid family leave. On Thursday, the Independent Democratic Conference, a breakaway group of New York state senators, plans to introduce 12 weeks of paid leave as part of its legislative agenda; Gov. Andrew Cuomo is reportedly considering similar legislation...
Virginia to use new congressional map this year, benefiting Democrats Daily Kos ...In yet another victory for Democrats, the federal court hearing a lawsuit challenging the state's congressional lines just ruled that elections this year must go forward under a new map proposed by a court-appointed expert, one that all but guarantees that GOP Rep. Randy Forbes' 4th District will turn solidly blue...
Democrats call for redistricting reform AJC ...Three Democratic lawmakers are pushing to create an independent commission to redraw political lines in the future. Sen. Elena Parent (D – Atlanta), Rep. Pat Gardner (D – Atlanta) and Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D – Decatur) said the legislation would be a fairer way to redraw current legislative and congressional district lines in coming years...
"Gov. Snyder Should Be Arrested": Flint Residents Demand Justice over Water Poisoning Democracy Now ...Protests are growing in Flint, Michigan, over the state’s cover-up of the ongoing water contamination crisis. Filmmaker Michael Moore is asking fans to sign a petition on his website calling for the immediate resignation of Governor Rick Snyder. In an open letter to the governor, he writes: "[Y]ou have effectively poisoned, not just some, but apparently ALL of the children in my hometown of Flint"...
U.S. LABOR
One Step Closer To Collective Bargaining, Some Temp Workers Unionize NPR ...Advocates for temporary workers are celebrating a decision by the National Labor Relations Board to broaden the definition of joint employers — a move that could bring many temp workers closer to collective bargaining. One of the first to join a union following the new rule is a group of Guatemalans in New Bedford, Mass...
Strong Job Growth In 2015 Still Couldn’t Give Workers A Raise Think Progress ...The economy added 292,000 jobs in December while the unemployment rate stayed at 5 percent, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Analysts had expected 200,000 jobs to be added. However, gains in wages were weak. Hourly earnings fell 1 cent in December after a 5-cent increase in November, and average hourly earnings have risen just 2.5 percent over the last year...
Company must pay after making workers clock out for bathroom breaks KCCI ...A Pennsylvania company that publishes business newsletters will pay about $1.75 million to thousands of employees who had to clock out while going on short breaks, including for the bathroom. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that a federal judge has given the U.S. Department of Labor and the Malvern-based company, American Future Systems Inc., until Thursday to submit proposals on managing payment...
Rauner implements merit pay for some workers; AFSCME opposed NW Herald ...Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration is starting a new compensation system for some state workers that includes merit pay and bonuses for saving taxpayers money, a plan the former businessman says will make government more efficient. It's the latest sticking point in long-running negotiations between Rauner's office and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents about 36,000 state employees...
When companies hire temp workers by race, black applicants lose out Reveal News ...When its clients wanted to hire temp workers based on race, sex or age, Automation was happy to oblige, according to dozens of former employees. Often, the practice was blatant. A manager at a Georgia manufacturing plant asked Christie Ragland not to send him “any black thugs,” she said...
This Supreme Court Case Could Make All Public Unions ‘Right to Work’ The Nation ...O n January 11, the Supreme Court will hear argument on Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a full-bore attack on public-sector unions. The lead Friedrichs plaintiffs, a group of fiercely anti-union California public-school teachers, seek to reverse Abood v. Detroit Board of Education (1977) on First Amendment grounds. Abood has provided the bedrock constitutional analysis and recommended administrative structure for public-sector unionism...
Can Millennials Save Organized Labor? Labor 411 ...A new Pew survey reveals how Millennials, the oft-hyped demographic, view key social institutions. It turns out that Millennials have a more positive view of many major social institutions than their elders and that one of the most notable examples is organized labor. Labor unions are viewed more positively today than they were five years ago by all age groups, but the uptick in opinion is especially notable among those born after 1980...
Why Do Americans Work So Much? The Atlantic ...In a new paper, Friedman tries to figure out why increased productivity has not translated into increased leisure time. American inequality means that the gains of increasing productivity are not widely shared. In other words, most Americans are too poor to work less...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
A Rush of Central Americans Compounds Obama’s Immigration Task NY Times ...When mothers and children streamed across the Texas border in 2014, the Obama administration devised a strategy to manage the influx, putting them in detention centers to convince others that illegal crossers would be caught and sent back. But that strategy is now under intense legal and political attack, leaving the administration with limited options...
Bernie Sanders Demands President Obama End ‘Inhumane’ Roundups Of Immigrant Families Think Progress ...Vermont Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders wrote to the White House on Thursday, demanding an end to the stepped up immigration raids and deportations of Central Americans that the Obama Administration announced just before Christmas. Just after the new year, more than 100 people were arrested in Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas, including many women and children...
Sen. Elizabeth Warren Cheers Bernie's Fight to "Hold Big Banks Accountable" Common Dreams ...Sen. Bernie Sanders got a shout-out from big bank critic Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday a day after the presidential hopeful gave a policy speech laying out his tough on Wall Street stance. During his speech in New York on Wednesday, Sanders said, "Wall Street and corporate greed is destroying the fabric of our nation." He also vowed to break up too-big-to- fail banks...
Making the World Safe for Predatory Capitalism CounterPunch ...Steve Jobs used old-fashioned anti-raiding agreements to keep competitors from enticing away his workers. Gates and Google have both engaged in anti-competitive practices that likely would have brought antitrust enforcement in prior decades. And Amazon has prospered not only because of low prices and good service, but also by being exempted from the requirement to collect the same sales tax as its brick-and-mortar competitors...
Oregon Sheriff Meets Ammon Bundy, Greets Him With Handshake Not Handcuffs Think Progress ...The treatment of armed militants conducting an illegal occupation in Oregon differs greatly from the response to overwhelmingly peaceful demonstrations by unarmed individuals protesting police misconduct. In Ferguson, for example, protesters were met by police with military-style equipment, full riot gear, and tear gas...
Showing posts with label temp workers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label temp workers. Show all posts
Friday, January 8, 2016
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
NLRB win for Teamsters is a victory for millions
The Teamsters were at the forefront of a significant victory for workers last week. And the decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) could provide a voice for millions of additional Americans.
As part of the NLRB's "joint employer" ruling, employers that rely on temporary or contracted workers can now be held accountable for the actions of the firms they use to oversee workers.The ruling will have a significant impact on how franchisers like McDonald's and other mostly low-income employers do business.
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said:
The Teamsters have repeatedly fought against employers shifting responsibility of their workforce, whether through misclassification at companies like FedEx, at our nation's ports or through the use of staffing agencies in the food processing industry at companies like Taylor Farms.
It's time for corporations to realize that mistreatment in the workplace is not acceptable. The NLRB's decision will give more workers the ability to stand up for their rights and to be able to rely on unions to advocate for their jobs. That's real justice for everyday Americans.
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said:
This decision will make a tremendous difference for workers' rights on the job. Employers will no longer be able to shift responsibility for their workers and hide behind loopholes to prevent workers from organizing or engaging in collective bargaining. This is a victory for workers across America.The NLRB ruling resulted from a 2013 case brought by Local 350 in Daly City, Calif. against Browning-Ferris, a waste management company that is owned by Republic Services -- the second-largest waste services company in the U.S. The union maintained that Republic had control over wage and working conditions for its workers employed through Leadpoint Services, a staffing agency, and counted as a joint employer with that agency.
The Teamsters have repeatedly fought against employers shifting responsibility of their workforce, whether through misclassification at companies like FedEx, at our nation's ports or through the use of staffing agencies in the food processing industry at companies like Taylor Farms.
It's time for corporations to realize that mistreatment in the workplace is not acceptable. The NLRB's decision will give more workers the ability to stand up for their rights and to be able to rely on unions to advocate for their jobs. That's real justice for everyday Americans.
Friday, August 28, 2015
Today's Teamster News 08.28.15
Teamsters
Teamsters Women's Conference Kicks off in Boston Teamster.org ...More than a thousand Teamsters gathered in Boston Thursday to kick off the 2015 Teamsters Women’s Conference. The annual event, now in its 15th year, welcomed Teamsters from throughout North America for an exciting three days of solidarity and strength. “This conference gets bigger and better every year. This is about coming together, seeing each other and sisterhood,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President...
Teamsters Applaud National Labor Relations Board on Joint Employer Ruling Teamster.org ...The Teamsters Union today applauded the National Labor Relations Board on its “joint employer” ruling in the case of Browning-Ferris Industries, Inc., as an additional step to protect and provide a voice to millions of American workers by holding employers that rely on temporary or contracted workers accountable...
How 2 Phoenix companies are at the center of NLRB decision on temp agencies, franchises Business Journal ...The NLRB decision is based on a case involving Phoenix-based Leadpoint Business Services, its staffing of 150 to 200 workers to Browning Ferris Industries recycling plant in Milpitas, California, and International Brotherhood of Teamsters efforts to unionize there.
Browning Ferris is owned by Phoenix-based Republic Services...
Teamsters Local 104's Sun Tran Workers Hold Strong On Picket Lines Teamster.org ...Teamsters Local Union 104’s Unfair Labor Practice strike against Sun Tran has now begun its fourth week with no end in sight. Day twenty two begins the same as the previous twenty one days with the striking employees and their supporters continuing to walk the picket lines at the Ronstadt Transit Center in downtown Tucson, as well as the north and south facilities...
Still no solution between Sun Tran and Teamsters 104 Tucson News ...As the union worker strike against Sun Tran moves into its fourth week, both sides are still far apart in finding a solution. The union said this is an insult. "I'm offended they came back with a regressive offer which is bargaining in bad faith," said Teamsters Spokesman Andrew Marshall. "I mean how do you expect us to do anything but reject it"...
Tech shuttle Bauer’s Intelligent Transportation accused of forming "sham" union Business Journal ...Local tech shuttle company Bauer’s Intelligent Transportation is being accused by the National Labor Relations Board of creating a fake union in order to avoid a Teamster effort to organize its workforce, reports the San Francisco Examiner. Bauer’s is well known for its commuter shuttles used by marquee-name Bay Area tech companies like Cisco Systems...
Skyway Negotiations at Standstill; Toll Collectors Prepare for Strike Beginning Labor Day Weekend Local 727 ...Chicago Skyway toll collectors may be forced to strike because Skyway Concession Company has ground contract negotiations to a halt. The current three-year contract was set to expire July 3, but Teamsters Local 727 agreed on a two-month extension. The final negotiation meeting is scheduled for Aug. 31 — the day the contract extension expires. The members are scheduled to take a vote on Sept. 2...
Truckin’ on The Economist ...Mr McGregor reportedly earned $500,000 (not including bonuses or sponsorships) for a recent bout. But most UFC fighters make decidedly less. The median pay per fight is $24,500, and most pugilists get in the ring only a couple of times a year. Some fighters think the muscle of a union might help them get better pay and more say. Earlier this month, the Teamsters, along with a local culinary union, announced that they intended to help fighters organise...
Global Labor & Trade
TTIP deal: Business lobbyists dominate talks at expense of trade unions and NGOs Belfast Telegraph ...The world’s biggest companies in finance, technology, pharma, tobacco and telecoms are dominating discussions with the EU executive body’s trade department responsible for the proposed EU-US free trade treaty, which could become the biggest such deal ever made. Between January 2012 and February 2014, as TTIP discussions began, the Commission’s trade department (DG Trade) had 597 behind-closed-door meetings with lobbyists to discuss the negotiations...
Will China’s currency devaluation complicate the Trans-Pacific Partnership? Lexology ...As trade ministers from 12 Pacific Rim countries continue to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal, China’s recent currency devaluation has sparked a debate over the inclusion of currency manipulation controls in global trade agreements. China is not currently part of the TPP, however, the agreement includes a mechanism for allowing other countries, including China, to join the agreement in the future...
TISA and Tech's Double Standards On Secret Government Internet Deals EFF.org ...The stash of previously-secret correspondence about the Trade In Services Agreement (TISA) that EFF obtained and published this week speaks volumes about the extent to which technology companies such as IBM and Google, and trade lobby groups such as the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and Internet Digital Economy Alliance (IDEA), have bought into the dangerous idea that trade agreements should be used to govern the Internet...
The TPP Must Not Undermine North America’s Dairy Sector (opinion) CitizensTrade.org ...As international trade negotiators continue attempting to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), farm, labor and consumer groups from throughout the Pacific Rim are demanding that they not interfere with nations’ sovereign right and responsibility to protect family farmers, processing workers and domestic food supplies – including North America’s dairy sector...
Guatemala President Faces Arrest as Business Interests and U.S. Scramble to Contain Uprising Democracy Now ...In Guatemala, a judge has ordered that former Vice President Roxana Baldetti must remain in prison while her corruption trial takes place. The ruling comes on the heels of the Guatemalan Supreme Court’s decision Tuesday to lift the immunity from prosecution for President Otto Pérez Molina, clearing the way for his impeachment. The court passed the impeachment recommendation along to Congress. A general strike has been called in Guatemala for today...
200 Migrants Feared Dead as Europe’s Refugee Death Toll Creeps Towards 2,500 This Year Slate ...In the latest of what seems to be an accelerating series of now-hourly tragedies, hundreds are feared dead after two small boats carrying up to 500 migrants capsized en route to Italy from Libya. The migrant crisis on Europe's shores continues to spiral as the death toll approaches 2,500 this year...
Is austerity saving or sinking Brazil's troubled economy? BBC ...Brazil's Finance Minister Joaquim Levy has been on a drive to fix Brazil's troubled economy through austerity measures. That means spending less on unemployment benefits. Most workers now need to have been employed for a full year to receive government aid. President Rousseff might have thought she could cut spending without damaging the economy. But, as one Brazilian saying goes, the cure is now at risk of "killing the patient"...
State & Living Wage Battles
Governors Have Collected Millions In Presidential Campaign Contributions From State Contractors Think Progress ...New Jersey law currently prevents state contractors from giving more than $300 to statewide candidates’ campaigns. But that hasn’t stopped New Jersey contractors from donating more than $500,000 in total to the super PAC supporting Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) presidential campaign...
Focus on 'right to work' gets more intense as legislators consider override attempt St. Louis Public Radio ...After a brief hiatus, both sides in the battle over “right to work” are back with a vengeance as they gear up for the Missouri General Assembly’s veto session in just over two weeks. The dueling campaigns may be aimed, in part, at influencing Missouri House Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Cape Girardeau. A spokesman said the speaker has yet to decide whether to bring up the “right to work” bill, which was vetoed by Gov. Jay Nixon earlier this summer...
Prevailing wage still in Rauner’s crosshairs (opinion) Pekin Daily Times ...Before Gov. Bruce Rauner compromises on a state budget, he’s demanding lawmakers agree to his “Turnaround Agenda,” a misnamed list of changes ranging from limiting settlements judges and juries can award in lawsuits to restricting workers compensation protections. In the mix is his bid to abolish prevailing-wage laws...
Bill to raise California minimum wage stalls in Assembly SacBee ...A controversial measure to raise California’s minimum wage to $13 per hour over the next two years was held Thursday in a key financial committee, but the proposal may continue forward next session. Despite last-minute amendments put forth by author Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, to delay the increase by another year, Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee, suggested he would look for other changes to advance Senate Bill 3 next year...
This State Just Became The First In The Nation To End Chronic Veteran Homelessness Think Progress ...On Thursday, the federal government announced that Connecticut is the first state in the country to end chronic homelessness among veterans. That means the state has found permanent housing for all veterans who have been homeless for at least one year or four times in the past three years, or has an immediate path to housing in place for them...
U.S. Labor
In landmark case, labor board will let more workers bargain with their employer’s employer Washington Post ...A federal labor board voted Thursday to redefine the employee-employer relationship granting new bargaining powers to workers caught up in an economy increasingly reliant on subcontractors, franchisees and temporary staffing agencies. The decision by the National Labor Relations Board could upend the traditional arms-length relationship that has prevailed between corporate titans such as McDonald’s and its neighborhood fast-food franchises...
The Labor Ruling McDonald's Has Been Dreading Just Became A Reality Huffington Post ...McDonald's, Burger King and every other company that relies on a franchise business model just suffered the legal setback they've been fearing for years. The National Labor Relations Board ruled on Thursday that Browning Ferris Industries, a waste management company, qualifies as a "joint employer" alongside one of its subcontractors...
IKEA Says They’re “Socially Responsible.” So Why Are Workers Accusing Them of Union-Busting? In These Times ...With a potential strike deadline looming at one its largest U.S. warehouses, Sweden-based home furnishings retailer IKEA is facing renewed skepticism over its self-proclaimed commitment to fair labor policies, both in the United States and elsewhere. The deadline has immediate impact for about 450 unionized warehouse workers in Perryville, Maryland, many of whom find themselves puzzled at what they say is IKEA’s refusal to negotiate seriously over a new contract...
KapStone workers on strike TDN.com ...After 15 months of failed contract negotiations, KapStone millworkers officially went on strike early Thursday morning. The strike began at 3 a.m. Thursday after the union gave the company a three-hour notice at midnight. Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers Local 153 officials said the length of the strike is open-ended...
USW plans another rally as contract deadline nears NWI Times ...The United Steelworkers union is planning another big rally at AcelorMittal Burns Harbor on Sept. 1, when the current three-year contracts with ArcelorMittal and U.S. Steel expire. If no new contracts are reached by Sept. 1, the USW could go on strike, work without a contract, or agree to extend the current contract and continue to work while a new contract is negotiated by the company...
SEIU home-care workers sign 'historic' contract Statesman Journal ...The Service Employees Union International Local 503, which represents 24,000 Oregon home-care workers, has signed a contract with the state they're calling historic. The contract paves the way for a $15 an hour wage for home-care workers by 2017, among other provisions. "Our workers, personal support and home care, really need to have a living wage," said Eileen Ordway, a home-care worker and member of the SEIU's bargaining team...
Behind the Business Attire, Many Bank Workers Earn Poverty Wages In These Times ...The collared shirts and pressed slacks may be hiding the reality: a significant portion of customer service workers in the retail banking industry make salaries low enough to make public assistance necessary. The Committee for Better Banks (CBB), a Communications Workers of America (CWA)-affiliated community and labor coalition, was created in 2013 to put an end to that...
Home Care Workers' Inclusion in Basic Labor Protections Is Just the Beginning Truthout ...Today, workers in the fastest growing workforce in the country - home care - have to live on poverty wages, struggling to pay for the gas that will get them to the seniors they assist each day. In many ways, the workers who provide those services have not changed; they are still largely women, with women of color and especially Black women providing a disproportionate amount of the care for all in the nation...
Social Justice & Other News
Detention Program Allegedly Barred Lawyers From Visiting Their Immigrant Clients Think Progress ...Advocates from an immigration detention visitation group say they have been barred from visiting potential clients in California and Alabama just a few weeks after they filed a complaint alleging abusive conditions at one detention facility. Shutting attorneys out of detention centers has been on the rise across the country...
After Hurricane Katrina, Poor Black Women Were Largely Ignored, Study Says Mother Jones ...Ten years after Hurricane Katrina displaced 40,000 people in New Orleans, opinions about the recovery can be traced along racial lines. A pair of new studies underscores that African American women, particularly those who lived in public housing, faced some of the biggest hurdles after the storm. Nearly four in five white residents in New Orleans say their state has "mostly recovered," while nearly three in five African American residents say it has not...
How Hedge Funds Are Exploiting Baltimore’s Poorest Residents Think Progress ...The death of Freddie Gray in police custody in Baltimore and the ensuing protests brought the nation’s attention to the economic devastation that continues to grip the city. Now, new data shows powerful hedge funds are profiting off of struggling families in Baltimore by buying up debts as small as $250, charging high interest rates, and taking their homes when they fail to pay...
Teamsters Women's Conference Kicks off in Boston Teamster.org ...More than a thousand Teamsters gathered in Boston Thursday to kick off the 2015 Teamsters Women’s Conference. The annual event, now in its 15th year, welcomed Teamsters from throughout North America for an exciting three days of solidarity and strength. “This conference gets bigger and better every year. This is about coming together, seeing each other and sisterhood,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President...
Teamsters Applaud National Labor Relations Board on Joint Employer Ruling Teamster.org ...The Teamsters Union today applauded the National Labor Relations Board on its “joint employer” ruling in the case of Browning-Ferris Industries, Inc., as an additional step to protect and provide a voice to millions of American workers by holding employers that rely on temporary or contracted workers accountable...
How 2 Phoenix companies are at the center of NLRB decision on temp agencies, franchises Business Journal ...The NLRB decision is based on a case involving Phoenix-based Leadpoint Business Services, its staffing of 150 to 200 workers to Browning Ferris Industries recycling plant in Milpitas, California, and International Brotherhood of Teamsters efforts to unionize there.
Browning Ferris is owned by Phoenix-based Republic Services...
Teamsters Local 104's Sun Tran Workers Hold Strong On Picket Lines Teamster.org ...Teamsters Local Union 104’s Unfair Labor Practice strike against Sun Tran has now begun its fourth week with no end in sight. Day twenty two begins the same as the previous twenty one days with the striking employees and their supporters continuing to walk the picket lines at the Ronstadt Transit Center in downtown Tucson, as well as the north and south facilities...
Still no solution between Sun Tran and Teamsters 104 Tucson News ...As the union worker strike against Sun Tran moves into its fourth week, both sides are still far apart in finding a solution. The union said this is an insult. "I'm offended they came back with a regressive offer which is bargaining in bad faith," said Teamsters Spokesman Andrew Marshall. "I mean how do you expect us to do anything but reject it"...
Tech shuttle Bauer’s Intelligent Transportation accused of forming "sham" union Business Journal ...Local tech shuttle company Bauer’s Intelligent Transportation is being accused by the National Labor Relations Board of creating a fake union in order to avoid a Teamster effort to organize its workforce, reports the San Francisco Examiner. Bauer’s is well known for its commuter shuttles used by marquee-name Bay Area tech companies like Cisco Systems...
Skyway Negotiations at Standstill; Toll Collectors Prepare for Strike Beginning Labor Day Weekend Local 727 ...Chicago Skyway toll collectors may be forced to strike because Skyway Concession Company has ground contract negotiations to a halt. The current three-year contract was set to expire July 3, but Teamsters Local 727 agreed on a two-month extension. The final negotiation meeting is scheduled for Aug. 31 — the day the contract extension expires. The members are scheduled to take a vote on Sept. 2...
Truckin’ on The Economist ...Mr McGregor reportedly earned $500,000 (not including bonuses or sponsorships) for a recent bout. But most UFC fighters make decidedly less. The median pay per fight is $24,500, and most pugilists get in the ring only a couple of times a year. Some fighters think the muscle of a union might help them get better pay and more say. Earlier this month, the Teamsters, along with a local culinary union, announced that they intended to help fighters organise...
Global Labor & Trade
TTIP deal: Business lobbyists dominate talks at expense of trade unions and NGOs Belfast Telegraph ...The world’s biggest companies in finance, technology, pharma, tobacco and telecoms are dominating discussions with the EU executive body’s trade department responsible for the proposed EU-US free trade treaty, which could become the biggest such deal ever made. Between January 2012 and February 2014, as TTIP discussions began, the Commission’s trade department (DG Trade) had 597 behind-closed-door meetings with lobbyists to discuss the negotiations...
Will China’s currency devaluation complicate the Trans-Pacific Partnership? Lexology ...As trade ministers from 12 Pacific Rim countries continue to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal, China’s recent currency devaluation has sparked a debate over the inclusion of currency manipulation controls in global trade agreements. China is not currently part of the TPP, however, the agreement includes a mechanism for allowing other countries, including China, to join the agreement in the future...
TISA and Tech's Double Standards On Secret Government Internet Deals EFF.org ...The stash of previously-secret correspondence about the Trade In Services Agreement (TISA) that EFF obtained and published this week speaks volumes about the extent to which technology companies such as IBM and Google, and trade lobby groups such as the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and Internet Digital Economy Alliance (IDEA), have bought into the dangerous idea that trade agreements should be used to govern the Internet...
The TPP Must Not Undermine North America’s Dairy Sector (opinion) CitizensTrade.org ...As international trade negotiators continue attempting to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), farm, labor and consumer groups from throughout the Pacific Rim are demanding that they not interfere with nations’ sovereign right and responsibility to protect family farmers, processing workers and domestic food supplies – including North America’s dairy sector...
Guatemala President Faces Arrest as Business Interests and U.S. Scramble to Contain Uprising Democracy Now ...In Guatemala, a judge has ordered that former Vice President Roxana Baldetti must remain in prison while her corruption trial takes place. The ruling comes on the heels of the Guatemalan Supreme Court’s decision Tuesday to lift the immunity from prosecution for President Otto Pérez Molina, clearing the way for his impeachment. The court passed the impeachment recommendation along to Congress. A general strike has been called in Guatemala for today...
200 Migrants Feared Dead as Europe’s Refugee Death Toll Creeps Towards 2,500 This Year Slate ...In the latest of what seems to be an accelerating series of now-hourly tragedies, hundreds are feared dead after two small boats carrying up to 500 migrants capsized en route to Italy from Libya. The migrant crisis on Europe's shores continues to spiral as the death toll approaches 2,500 this year...
Is austerity saving or sinking Brazil's troubled economy? BBC ...Brazil's Finance Minister Joaquim Levy has been on a drive to fix Brazil's troubled economy through austerity measures. That means spending less on unemployment benefits. Most workers now need to have been employed for a full year to receive government aid. President Rousseff might have thought she could cut spending without damaging the economy. But, as one Brazilian saying goes, the cure is now at risk of "killing the patient"...
State & Living Wage Battles
Governors Have Collected Millions In Presidential Campaign Contributions From State Contractors Think Progress ...New Jersey law currently prevents state contractors from giving more than $300 to statewide candidates’ campaigns. But that hasn’t stopped New Jersey contractors from donating more than $500,000 in total to the super PAC supporting Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) presidential campaign...
Focus on 'right to work' gets more intense as legislators consider override attempt St. Louis Public Radio ...After a brief hiatus, both sides in the battle over “right to work” are back with a vengeance as they gear up for the Missouri General Assembly’s veto session in just over two weeks. The dueling campaigns may be aimed, in part, at influencing Missouri House Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Cape Girardeau. A spokesman said the speaker has yet to decide whether to bring up the “right to work” bill, which was vetoed by Gov. Jay Nixon earlier this summer...
Prevailing wage still in Rauner’s crosshairs (opinion) Pekin Daily Times ...Before Gov. Bruce Rauner compromises on a state budget, he’s demanding lawmakers agree to his “Turnaround Agenda,” a misnamed list of changes ranging from limiting settlements judges and juries can award in lawsuits to restricting workers compensation protections. In the mix is his bid to abolish prevailing-wage laws...
Bill to raise California minimum wage stalls in Assembly SacBee ...A controversial measure to raise California’s minimum wage to $13 per hour over the next two years was held Thursday in a key financial committee, but the proposal may continue forward next session. Despite last-minute amendments put forth by author Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, to delay the increase by another year, Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee, suggested he would look for other changes to advance Senate Bill 3 next year...
This State Just Became The First In The Nation To End Chronic Veteran Homelessness Think Progress ...On Thursday, the federal government announced that Connecticut is the first state in the country to end chronic homelessness among veterans. That means the state has found permanent housing for all veterans who have been homeless for at least one year or four times in the past three years, or has an immediate path to housing in place for them...
U.S. Labor
In landmark case, labor board will let more workers bargain with their employer’s employer Washington Post ...A federal labor board voted Thursday to redefine the employee-employer relationship granting new bargaining powers to workers caught up in an economy increasingly reliant on subcontractors, franchisees and temporary staffing agencies. The decision by the National Labor Relations Board could upend the traditional arms-length relationship that has prevailed between corporate titans such as McDonald’s and its neighborhood fast-food franchises...
The Labor Ruling McDonald's Has Been Dreading Just Became A Reality Huffington Post ...McDonald's, Burger King and every other company that relies on a franchise business model just suffered the legal setback they've been fearing for years. The National Labor Relations Board ruled on Thursday that Browning Ferris Industries, a waste management company, qualifies as a "joint employer" alongside one of its subcontractors...
IKEA Says They’re “Socially Responsible.” So Why Are Workers Accusing Them of Union-Busting? In These Times ...With a potential strike deadline looming at one its largest U.S. warehouses, Sweden-based home furnishings retailer IKEA is facing renewed skepticism over its self-proclaimed commitment to fair labor policies, both in the United States and elsewhere. The deadline has immediate impact for about 450 unionized warehouse workers in Perryville, Maryland, many of whom find themselves puzzled at what they say is IKEA’s refusal to negotiate seriously over a new contract...
KapStone workers on strike TDN.com ...After 15 months of failed contract negotiations, KapStone millworkers officially went on strike early Thursday morning. The strike began at 3 a.m. Thursday after the union gave the company a three-hour notice at midnight. Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers Local 153 officials said the length of the strike is open-ended...
USW plans another rally as contract deadline nears NWI Times ...The United Steelworkers union is planning another big rally at AcelorMittal Burns Harbor on Sept. 1, when the current three-year contracts with ArcelorMittal and U.S. Steel expire. If no new contracts are reached by Sept. 1, the USW could go on strike, work without a contract, or agree to extend the current contract and continue to work while a new contract is negotiated by the company...
SEIU home-care workers sign 'historic' contract Statesman Journal ...The Service Employees Union International Local 503, which represents 24,000 Oregon home-care workers, has signed a contract with the state they're calling historic. The contract paves the way for a $15 an hour wage for home-care workers by 2017, among other provisions. "Our workers, personal support and home care, really need to have a living wage," said Eileen Ordway, a home-care worker and member of the SEIU's bargaining team...
Behind the Business Attire, Many Bank Workers Earn Poverty Wages In These Times ...The collared shirts and pressed slacks may be hiding the reality: a significant portion of customer service workers in the retail banking industry make salaries low enough to make public assistance necessary. The Committee for Better Banks (CBB), a Communications Workers of America (CWA)-affiliated community and labor coalition, was created in 2013 to put an end to that...
Home Care Workers' Inclusion in Basic Labor Protections Is Just the Beginning Truthout ...Today, workers in the fastest growing workforce in the country - home care - have to live on poverty wages, struggling to pay for the gas that will get them to the seniors they assist each day. In many ways, the workers who provide those services have not changed; they are still largely women, with women of color and especially Black women providing a disproportionate amount of the care for all in the nation...
Social Justice & Other News
Detention Program Allegedly Barred Lawyers From Visiting Their Immigrant Clients Think Progress ...Advocates from an immigration detention visitation group say they have been barred from visiting potential clients in California and Alabama just a few weeks after they filed a complaint alleging abusive conditions at one detention facility. Shutting attorneys out of detention centers has been on the rise across the country...
After Hurricane Katrina, Poor Black Women Were Largely Ignored, Study Says Mother Jones ...Ten years after Hurricane Katrina displaced 40,000 people in New Orleans, opinions about the recovery can be traced along racial lines. A pair of new studies underscores that African American women, particularly those who lived in public housing, faced some of the biggest hurdles after the storm. Nearly four in five white residents in New Orleans say their state has "mostly recovered," while nearly three in five African American residents say it has not...
How Hedge Funds Are Exploiting Baltimore’s Poorest Residents Think Progress ...The death of Freddie Gray in police custody in Baltimore and the ensuing protests brought the nation’s attention to the economic devastation that continues to grip the city. Now, new data shows powerful hedge funds are profiting off of struggling families in Baltimore by buying up debts as small as $250, charging high interest rates, and taking their homes when they fail to pay...
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Misclassification is another corporate trick
Too many corporations are taking advantage of hardworking Americans who are trying to earn a living to support their families. Instead of bringing them on as full-time workers, these companies go on the cheap by hiring temporary or contract workers who don't have the same job protections or benefits. Meanwhile, the employer avoids paying some taxes and unemployment insurance.
Misclassification is getting worse nationwide, as we noted in another blog last week. A Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GALA) report released this week details another such example, U.S. recycling workers, who are often temp workers who have fewer workplace protections and are less likely to be informed of their legal right to a safe and healthy workplace.
As detailed in the document:
Luckily, there are some instances where misclassification is not allowed to run rampant. Fed Ex Ground, for instance, recently agreed to pay $228 million to about 2,300 drivers in California that the company improperly classified as independent contractors from 2000 to 2007. The settlement came after a federal appeals court in San Francisco last August determined the workers were employees under California law.
That determination and others like it are causing some employers to act. Instacart, an on-demand delivery service, announced this week that it will transition some 300 workers in Boston and Chicago from independent contractors to employees with benefits.
But that in and of itself won't change the dynamic that seems to be increasingly gripping our government. Our elected officials too often are doing the bidding of big business and instituting policies that are hurting workers. It happened with the fast track trade bill and it's happening with misclassification. They say these moves create jobs, but there is no evidence that it does. Instead, there are just bigger profits for corporations.
This is part of the reason that a presidential candidate like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is resonating with so many people. He makes it clear he won't turn his back on people, like many on Capitol Hill already have. Too many believe government is of and by corporations now. It should be of and by the people like our founders intended.
 |
| Some firms are using temp workers to sort recycling. |
As detailed in the document:
Reliance on temporary staffing agencies has allowed companies to distance themselves from responsibility for worker health and safety. Among employers who use temporary labor, failure to properly train and orient workers who are new to the job, or have been brought on as temporary labor, is a common practice and a serious concern. Research about work-related injuries for low-wage workers shows that workers who have received health and safety training are more likely to seek medical attention and to notify employers of injuries than workers who have not received health and safety training.Such practices are the latest example of corporate America trying to fleece the public. Following the same playbook it uses to jam lousy trade deals through Congress, big business insists it needs to change the rules so can remain in business. This at a time when companies are registering record profits.
Luckily, there are some instances where misclassification is not allowed to run rampant. Fed Ex Ground, for instance, recently agreed to pay $228 million to about 2,300 drivers in California that the company improperly classified as independent contractors from 2000 to 2007. The settlement came after a federal appeals court in San Francisco last August determined the workers were employees under California law.
That determination and others like it are causing some employers to act. Instacart, an on-demand delivery service, announced this week that it will transition some 300 workers in Boston and Chicago from independent contractors to employees with benefits.
But that in and of itself won't change the dynamic that seems to be increasingly gripping our government. Our elected officials too often are doing the bidding of big business and instituting policies that are hurting workers. It happened with the fast track trade bill and it's happening with misclassification. They say these moves create jobs, but there is no evidence that it does. Instead, there are just bigger profits for corporations.
This is part of the reason that a presidential candidate like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is resonating with so many people. He makes it clear he won't turn his back on people, like many on Capitol Hill already have. Too many believe government is of and by corporations now. It should be of and by the people like our founders intended.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Worker power wins in California
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| Teamstesrs and Taylor Farms workers in Sacramento |
The California Federation of Labor describes how important laws for workers were passed because of the work of Teamsters, IATSE, SAG-AFTRA, LIUNA, Taylor Farms workers, OUR Walmart and more.
In the Labor's Edge blog, we learn how entertainment workers helped to keep television and film jobs in California with a tax incentive for the industry. We learn how Taylor Farms workers helped protect temporary workers by winning passage of a law that holds employers liable for temporary workers. And we learn how OUR Walmart workers got three paid sick days for nearly every employee in California.
Here's Labor's Edge:
Throughout the year, workers and union members gathered, worked, petitioned, called, rallied, lobbied, testified, protested at the Capitol for pro-worker legislation. They engaged their coworkers in their fight for better jobs and a brighter future. They took days off work and risked their jobs to tell their stories and to push for greater worker protections.
Their activities culminated in a Mobilization Day in Sacramento where hundreds of union workers demonstrated their crafts through a make-up transformation, erection of a blue screen from the set of the TV hit Scandal and presentation of the crew, cast and talent of hit shows. Every dollar of a film tax incentive investment goes to support a union job – with the Teamsters, IATSE, SAG-AFTRA, IBEW, LIUNA, AFM, DGA. Their collective efforts produced success – the Governor signed AB 1839 (Gatto/Bocangera), creating a $330 million film tax incentive for five years, on September 18.Two-thirds of Taylor Farms workers have little or no protection from wage theft or dangerous working conditions because they work for staffing agencies.
All this will change because Governor Brown signed AB 1897 into law on September 28. This landmark bill will hold employers responsible for the wages, health and safety, and workers compensation for contracted employees doing their work while on their premises. This bill was enacted because of the courage, the power, the voice of workers at Taylor Farms. Over and over again, Taylor Farms workers and the Teamsters would descend on the Capitol, speak their truth, testify in committee, bird dog corporate lobbyists, claim valuable real estate at “The Gate” where lobbyists can meet with legislators off the floor. Taylor Farms workers and Teamsters would line up in the hallway and flush out the corporate lobbyists. And it all worked!And here's how OUR Walmart won three sick days for nearly all California workers:
Members of the OUR Walmart campaign worked the stores, talking to associates about what it would take to make their jobs at Walmart better jobs. Resoundingly, the lack of paid sick days, being forced to work when they or their family member is sick…or else face discipline and the threat of losing their jobs is what they heard as a top priority for Walmart associates. OUR Walmart members from throughout the state gathered at the state Capitol in the final weeks of the legislative session to fight for paid sick days. They spent time on the doors lobbying for three paid sick days and gathered at the Senators entrance to the Senate floor to engage in valuable face time with legislators. Their efforts produced success – Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 1522, creating three paid sick days for nearly all California workers on September 10.Great work everybody!
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Today's Teamster News 10.04.14
Teamster News
Passavant Workers Take Strike Vote New Castle News ...Members of Teamsters Local 538 voted Thursday to give a 10-day strike notice to Passavant Health and Retirement Center in Zelienople. Betty Fischer, Teamsters Local 538 secretary/treasurer, said the vote was “overwhelming.”...
Environmental Activist To Address Bridgeton Landfill Concerns St. Louis Public Radio ...Environmental activist Lois Gibbs will be in St. Louis this weekend for a “teach-in” to address problems at the adjoining Bridgeton and West Lake landfills, located in Bridgeton a few miles from Lambert Airport...
Rev. Brian Jordan Blesses Horses With Holy Water, Praises City's Carriage Industry New York Daily News ...The veteran clergyman, an ardent supporter of the industry, delivered some kind words for the carriage horse owners as well. “These horses are cared for like children,” said Jordan, wearing cargo shorts and running shoes beneath his robe.
Assembly's Gary Pretlow: Veterinarians Say Carriage Horses 'Healthy, Happy, Well-Fed' New York Daily News ...State Assemblyman Gary Pretlow says the city's horse carriage industry should live on -- doctor's orders. The Westchester County Democrat, who sponsored legislation this spring to save the jobs of the drivers, is upping the ante by sending the City Council and mayor's office a testimonial from the state Veterinary Medical Society in support of keeping the horses on the job...
35 Port Truck Drivers Fired After Strike AFL-CIO ...The drivers, supported by the Teamsters, are some of the lowest paid workers in our communities. Because of their misclassification as “independent contractors,” some even take home negative paychecks. The 35 port drivers were fired from Total Transportation Services (TTSI). They include Jose Rosales, a port driver for over 10 years, husband and father of three children...
Trade
TTIP - Four Letters That Spell Rising Poverty (opinion) Huffington Post ...Cheap labour may be good for investors and shareholders, but at the societal level at which governments operate, it creates a whole new set of problems...
Trade Deals Worsen Immigration Pressures (opinion) Baltimore Sun ...These trade agreements failed to achieve the promised increases in employment and wages and actually caused so much economic disruption and hardship in those countries that pressures for workers to emigrate actually increased instead of decreasing...
State Battles
New Temp Worker Bill Could Have Large Impact Monterey Herald ...A bill that used Taylor Farms as its rallying cry is likely to have a major affect across the state. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the "Temp Worker Protection Bill" on Sunday, which holds businesses liable when subcontractors violate wage or safety laws...
GOP Candidate Busted For Potential Voter Fraud! The Story Of Leslie Rutledge Salon.com ...Leslie Rutledge, the Republican candidate for Attorney General in Arkansas, has been discovered to have been registered to vote in multiple states in addition to Arkansas, and even voted by absentee ballot in Arkansas’ general election in November of 2008 –after she had registered to vote in Washington D.C. in July of the same year...
Christie defends Koch Brothers, calls questions about anonymous donors 'silliness' in Arizona NJ.com ...Questioning the lack of transparency about who has been funneling millions of dollars in negative campaign ads into the Arizona governor's race is "silliness" and "sophistry," Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday night while stumping for Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Ducey...
Early voting hours unlikely to change before Election Day cleveland.com ... the statewide early, in-person voting hours set Monday by Secretary of State Jon Husted will hold throughout Election Day on Nov. 4. That schedule includes early, in-person voting on the two Saturdays prior to Election Day, Sunday before Election Day and Monday before Election Day...
Michigan Legislature Approves Anti-Human Trafficking Bills Associated Press ...The bills now headed to Gov. Rick Snyder would let victims clear their criminal records. Minors under age 18 suspected of prostitution would be presumed to be trafficking victims, and “Johns” soliciting sex from minors would face stiffer criminal penalties...
Club for Growth won't disclose source of money for local ad buy Columbia Daily Tribune ...the Tribune reported Thursday that the ads were purchased with funds from the Missouri Club for Growth PAC, a political fund that has received $3.6 million, more than 99 percent of its funding in the past three years, from wealthy conservative activist Rex Sinquefield...
U.S. Supreme Court is asked to block Wisconsin's voter ID law Associated Press ...Opponents of Wisconsin's photo ID requirement for voters took their case to the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday, seeking an emergency halt to the state's implementation of the law before the fast approaching Nov. 4 election...
Group sues state over campaign coordination Associated Press ...A conservative group and ally of Gov. Scott Walker filed a federal lawsuit Thursday asking that a Wisconsin law limiting coordination between third-party organizations and political candidates be declared unconstitutional...
War On Workers
The Missing Trio in Today's Jobs Report Bloomberg ...At 3 million, the number of long-term unemployed hardly budged. Youth unemployment rose somewhat to 20 percent, giving up half the gains of the prior month. And joblessness among those lacking a college education is still too high...
‘We Can’t Haul’: Rebounding Economy Reveals Shortage Of Truck Drivers Bangor Daily News ...In 1980, Vieth said, the average trucker earned four times the wage of a food service worker. But the $40,940 the average truck driver makes today is just 1.8 times that of food service workers...
Labor Participation Rate Drops To 36 Year Low; Record 92.6 Million Americans Not In Labor Force zero hedge ...while according to the Household Survey, 232,000 people found jobs, what is more disturbing is that the people not in the labor force, rose to a new record high, increasing by 315,000 to 92.6 million!...
Hackers’ Attack Cracked 10 Companies in Major Assault New York Times ...The breadth of the attacks — and the lack of clarity about whether it was an effort to steal from accounts or to demonstrate that the hackers could penetrate even the best-protected American financial institutions — has left Washington intelligence officials and policy makers far more concerned than they have let on publicly...
Huh? Walmart Foundation Battles Hunger As Walmart Workers Turn to Food Stamps Inside Philanthropy ...Last month, the foundation launched a new campaign, "Fight Hunger, Spark Change," that asks people to vote for which local food banks it should donate funds to. All this is ironic to say the least, given the food security challenges of Walmart's own huge labor force, many of whom don't earn much more than the minimum wage...
EXCLUSIVE AUDIO: How the Koch Brothers Are Molding the Next Scott Walkers The Nation ...Walker has, since his 2010 gubernatorial run, been a top recipient of campaign contributions from the Kochs, and a beneficiary of the “independent” campaigns of Koch-fueled groups such as Americans for Prosperity...
Koch-backed group plans direct attacks in Senate races USA Today ...Americans for Prosperity's decision to move to pointed attacks is significant because it shifts the group into more direct political activity — something tax-exempt organizations are required to limit. It also means the group must disclose its election-related activity — though not its donors — to federal regulators...
Worker Dies Valdosta Today ...Officials say that 61-year old Isabel Gomez died after a piece of heavy equipment fell and crushed him. Sheriff Andy Hester of Turner County reports that Gomez and his brother were working on a fork lift...
Worker dies after truck with gravel tips over WOKV ...the man was unloading gravel from a truck which had an apparatus raised up. That caused the truck to get unsteady and ultimately tip on to the man who was crouched next to it working...
High-Speed Trader Accused Of Commodity Market ‘Spoofing’ Bloomberg News ...A high-frequency trader was indicted for “spoofing” -- placing and immediate canceling orders as a way to manipulate commodities markets -- in what the U.S. Justice Department says is the first criminal case of its kind...
Man Shoots Down Drone, Lawyers Scratch Their Heads Popular Science ...A man in New Jersey fired a shotgun at his neighbor's drone, and as the quadcopter crashed to the ground, the incident raised new legal challenges about when and if it’s okay to shoot a robot...
Miscellaneous
Passavant Workers Take Strike Vote New Castle News ...Members of Teamsters Local 538 voted Thursday to give a 10-day strike notice to Passavant Health and Retirement Center in Zelienople. Betty Fischer, Teamsters Local 538 secretary/treasurer, said the vote was “overwhelming.”...
Environmental Activist To Address Bridgeton Landfill Concerns St. Louis Public Radio ...Environmental activist Lois Gibbs will be in St. Louis this weekend for a “teach-in” to address problems at the adjoining Bridgeton and West Lake landfills, located in Bridgeton a few miles from Lambert Airport...
Rev. Brian Jordan Blesses Horses With Holy Water, Praises City's Carriage Industry New York Daily News ...The veteran clergyman, an ardent supporter of the industry, delivered some kind words for the carriage horse owners as well. “These horses are cared for like children,” said Jordan, wearing cargo shorts and running shoes beneath his robe.
Assembly's Gary Pretlow: Veterinarians Say Carriage Horses 'Healthy, Happy, Well-Fed' New York Daily News ...State Assemblyman Gary Pretlow says the city's horse carriage industry should live on -- doctor's orders. The Westchester County Democrat, who sponsored legislation this spring to save the jobs of the drivers, is upping the ante by sending the City Council and mayor's office a testimonial from the state Veterinary Medical Society in support of keeping the horses on the job...
35 Port Truck Drivers Fired After Strike AFL-CIO ...The drivers, supported by the Teamsters, are some of the lowest paid workers in our communities. Because of their misclassification as “independent contractors,” some even take home negative paychecks. The 35 port drivers were fired from Total Transportation Services (TTSI). They include Jose Rosales, a port driver for over 10 years, husband and father of three children...
Trade
TTIP - Four Letters That Spell Rising Poverty (opinion) Huffington Post ...Cheap labour may be good for investors and shareholders, but at the societal level at which governments operate, it creates a whole new set of problems...
Trade Deals Worsen Immigration Pressures (opinion) Baltimore Sun ...These trade agreements failed to achieve the promised increases in employment and wages and actually caused so much economic disruption and hardship in those countries that pressures for workers to emigrate actually increased instead of decreasing...
State Battles
New Temp Worker Bill Could Have Large Impact Monterey Herald ...A bill that used Taylor Farms as its rallying cry is likely to have a major affect across the state. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the "Temp Worker Protection Bill" on Sunday, which holds businesses liable when subcontractors violate wage or safety laws...
GOP Candidate Busted For Potential Voter Fraud! The Story Of Leslie Rutledge Salon.com ...Leslie Rutledge, the Republican candidate for Attorney General in Arkansas, has been discovered to have been registered to vote in multiple states in addition to Arkansas, and even voted by absentee ballot in Arkansas’ general election in November of 2008 –after she had registered to vote in Washington D.C. in July of the same year...
Christie defends Koch Brothers, calls questions about anonymous donors 'silliness' in Arizona NJ.com ...Questioning the lack of transparency about who has been funneling millions of dollars in negative campaign ads into the Arizona governor's race is "silliness" and "sophistry," Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday night while stumping for Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Ducey...
Early voting hours unlikely to change before Election Day cleveland.com ... the statewide early, in-person voting hours set Monday by Secretary of State Jon Husted will hold throughout Election Day on Nov. 4. That schedule includes early, in-person voting on the two Saturdays prior to Election Day, Sunday before Election Day and Monday before Election Day...
Michigan Legislature Approves Anti-Human Trafficking Bills Associated Press ...The bills now headed to Gov. Rick Snyder would let victims clear their criminal records. Minors under age 18 suspected of prostitution would be presumed to be trafficking victims, and “Johns” soliciting sex from minors would face stiffer criminal penalties...
Club for Growth won't disclose source of money for local ad buy Columbia Daily Tribune ...the Tribune reported Thursday that the ads were purchased with funds from the Missouri Club for Growth PAC, a political fund that has received $3.6 million, more than 99 percent of its funding in the past three years, from wealthy conservative activist Rex Sinquefield...
U.S. Supreme Court is asked to block Wisconsin's voter ID law Associated Press ...Opponents of Wisconsin's photo ID requirement for voters took their case to the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday, seeking an emergency halt to the state's implementation of the law before the fast approaching Nov. 4 election...
Group sues state over campaign coordination Associated Press ...A conservative group and ally of Gov. Scott Walker filed a federal lawsuit Thursday asking that a Wisconsin law limiting coordination between third-party organizations and political candidates be declared unconstitutional...
War On Workers
The Missing Trio in Today's Jobs Report Bloomberg ...At 3 million, the number of long-term unemployed hardly budged. Youth unemployment rose somewhat to 20 percent, giving up half the gains of the prior month. And joblessness among those lacking a college education is still too high...
‘We Can’t Haul’: Rebounding Economy Reveals Shortage Of Truck Drivers Bangor Daily News ...In 1980, Vieth said, the average trucker earned four times the wage of a food service worker. But the $40,940 the average truck driver makes today is just 1.8 times that of food service workers...
Labor Participation Rate Drops To 36 Year Low; Record 92.6 Million Americans Not In Labor Force zero hedge ...while according to the Household Survey, 232,000 people found jobs, what is more disturbing is that the people not in the labor force, rose to a new record high, increasing by 315,000 to 92.6 million!...
Hackers’ Attack Cracked 10 Companies in Major Assault New York Times ...The breadth of the attacks — and the lack of clarity about whether it was an effort to steal from accounts or to demonstrate that the hackers could penetrate even the best-protected American financial institutions — has left Washington intelligence officials and policy makers far more concerned than they have let on publicly...
Huh? Walmart Foundation Battles Hunger As Walmart Workers Turn to Food Stamps Inside Philanthropy ...Last month, the foundation launched a new campaign, "Fight Hunger, Spark Change," that asks people to vote for which local food banks it should donate funds to. All this is ironic to say the least, given the food security challenges of Walmart's own huge labor force, many of whom don't earn much more than the minimum wage...
EXCLUSIVE AUDIO: How the Koch Brothers Are Molding the Next Scott Walkers The Nation ...Walker has, since his 2010 gubernatorial run, been a top recipient of campaign contributions from the Kochs, and a beneficiary of the “independent” campaigns of Koch-fueled groups such as Americans for Prosperity...
Koch-backed group plans direct attacks in Senate races USA Today ...Americans for Prosperity's decision to move to pointed attacks is significant because it shifts the group into more direct political activity — something tax-exempt organizations are required to limit. It also means the group must disclose its election-related activity — though not its donors — to federal regulators...
Worker Dies Valdosta Today ...Officials say that 61-year old Isabel Gomez died after a piece of heavy equipment fell and crushed him. Sheriff Andy Hester of Turner County reports that Gomez and his brother were working on a fork lift...
Worker dies after truck with gravel tips over WOKV ...the man was unloading gravel from a truck which had an apparatus raised up. That caused the truck to get unsteady and ultimately tip on to the man who was crouched next to it working...
High-Speed Trader Accused Of Commodity Market ‘Spoofing’ Bloomberg News ...A high-frequency trader was indicted for “spoofing” -- placing and immediate canceling orders as a way to manipulate commodities markets -- in what the U.S. Justice Department says is the first criminal case of its kind...
Man Shoots Down Drone, Lawyers Scratch Their Heads Popular Science ...A man in New Jersey fired a shotgun at his neighbor's drone, and as the quadcopter crashed to the ground, the incident raised new legal challenges about when and if it’s okay to shoot a robot...
Miscellaneous
Monday, September 1, 2014
Today's Teamster News 09.01.14
Trade
Stop conflating trade policies with trade itself (opinion) The Oregonian ...Trade clearly has benefits for Oregon's economy. The relevant question is whether individual trade agreements are helping or hurting. There is little debate that U.S. trade policy is worsening the country's job-displacing and wage-suppressing trade imbalance...
Trade treaties expose Australia to costly litigation, experts warn Sydney Morning Herald ...Australia risks getting swept up in a wave of litigation by foreign corporations wishing to sue over unfavourable domestic laws, experts warn, after the government rejected a bill to ban controversial trade agreements...
State Battles
Voter Suppression in Wisconsin Blogging Blue ...a town or municipal clerk now has the authority to stop dead in its tracks any voter registration drive that any organization or group of concerned citizens may want to mount in that jurisdiction...
War on Workers
A Look at Income Inequality, Hour by Hour Wall Street Journal ...Inflation has been low by most measures in recent years, but wage growth for the majority of workers has been even lower. That means even small amounts of inflation have been painful for vast swaths of the workforce...
The Changing Face of Temporary Employment New York Times ...The work of temping has changed vastly — today 42 percent of temporary workers labor in light industry or warehouses...
Labor Day stems from deadly labor strike, but few Americans know the history New York Daily News ...A labor movement in Chicago in 1894 left 30 Pullman workers dead, and later spurred Congress and President Grover Cleveland to pass a bill creating Labor Day. But the history of this holiday is rarely taught in schools, and there are few full-time labor journalists to write about working class communities...
Labor Today New York Times ...five years into an economic recovery that has been notable for resurging corporate profits, the number and quality of jobs are still lagging badly, as are wages and salaries...
Six reasons to kiss a union member Arizona Republic ...1. The 40-hour work week: Back in 1903 a labor organizer named Mary Harris "Mother" Jones led the "March of the Mill Children" over 100 miles from Philadelphia to President Theodore Roosevelt's Long Island summer home in Oyster Bay, New York, to publicize the terrible conditions of working children (unions ended child labor eventually, too) and to demand a 55-hour work week...
More Workers Are Claiming ‘Wage Theft’ New York Times ...Mr. Rangel stands to receive more than $20,000 in back pay as part of a recent $21 million legal settlement with Schneider, a national trucking company...
Low-paid Britain: 'People have had enough. It's soul destroying' The Guardian ...Yes, they have jobs … but the five people featured below are typical of millions who have no security, no holiday or sick pay, limited hours, and no dignity at work...
Woman Working Four Part-Time Jobs Dies in Car While Trying to Nap Gawker ...A 32-year-old woman was found dead inside her SUV in a convenience store parking lot, where she was trying to get some extra sleep between shifts at her four part-time jobs, the New Jersey Star-Ledger reports...
International Paper worker killed in accident identified WJCL ...A maintenance worker was killed Sunday afternoon at International Paper in Savannah. Firefighters and emergency crews responded to an industrial accident at the plant around 2:30 p.m. International Paper said Ricky Salter, 58, died in the paper roll handling area...
Popeye's night shift worker killed in Anne Arundel County Baktunire Syb ...An employee at a Popeye's Restaurant off Richie Highway in Brooklyn Park was found dead early Sunday with significant trauma to her upper body, Anne Arundel County police said...
Stop conflating trade policies with trade itself (opinion) The Oregonian ...Trade clearly has benefits for Oregon's economy. The relevant question is whether individual trade agreements are helping or hurting. There is little debate that U.S. trade policy is worsening the country's job-displacing and wage-suppressing trade imbalance...
Trade treaties expose Australia to costly litigation, experts warn Sydney Morning Herald ...Australia risks getting swept up in a wave of litigation by foreign corporations wishing to sue over unfavourable domestic laws, experts warn, after the government rejected a bill to ban controversial trade agreements...
State Battles
Voter Suppression in Wisconsin Blogging Blue ...a town or municipal clerk now has the authority to stop dead in its tracks any voter registration drive that any organization or group of concerned citizens may want to mount in that jurisdiction...
War on Workers
A Look at Income Inequality, Hour by Hour Wall Street Journal ...Inflation has been low by most measures in recent years, but wage growth for the majority of workers has been even lower. That means even small amounts of inflation have been painful for vast swaths of the workforce...
The Changing Face of Temporary Employment New York Times ...The work of temping has changed vastly — today 42 percent of temporary workers labor in light industry or warehouses...
Labor Day stems from deadly labor strike, but few Americans know the history New York Daily News ...A labor movement in Chicago in 1894 left 30 Pullman workers dead, and later spurred Congress and President Grover Cleveland to pass a bill creating Labor Day. But the history of this holiday is rarely taught in schools, and there are few full-time labor journalists to write about working class communities...
Labor Today New York Times ...five years into an economic recovery that has been notable for resurging corporate profits, the number and quality of jobs are still lagging badly, as are wages and salaries...
Six reasons to kiss a union member Arizona Republic ...1. The 40-hour work week: Back in 1903 a labor organizer named Mary Harris "Mother" Jones led the "March of the Mill Children" over 100 miles from Philadelphia to President Theodore Roosevelt's Long Island summer home in Oyster Bay, New York, to publicize the terrible conditions of working children (unions ended child labor eventually, too) and to demand a 55-hour work week...
More Workers Are Claiming ‘Wage Theft’ New York Times ...Mr. Rangel stands to receive more than $20,000 in back pay as part of a recent $21 million legal settlement with Schneider, a national trucking company...
Low-paid Britain: 'People have had enough. It's soul destroying' The Guardian ...Yes, they have jobs … but the five people featured below are typical of millions who have no security, no holiday or sick pay, limited hours, and no dignity at work...
Woman Working Four Part-Time Jobs Dies in Car While Trying to Nap Gawker ...A 32-year-old woman was found dead inside her SUV in a convenience store parking lot, where she was trying to get some extra sleep between shifts at her four part-time jobs, the New Jersey Star-Ledger reports...
International Paper worker killed in accident identified WJCL ...A maintenance worker was killed Sunday afternoon at International Paper in Savannah. Firefighters and emergency crews responded to an industrial accident at the plant around 2:30 p.m. International Paper said Ricky Salter, 58, died in the paper roll handling area...
Popeye's night shift worker killed in Anne Arundel County Baktunire Syb ...An employee at a Popeye's Restaurant off Richie Highway in Brooklyn Park was found dead early Sunday with significant trauma to her upper body, Anne Arundel County police said...
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Temp workers live more dangerously than the rest of us
The tragic death of a temp worker buried alive in sugar at CSC Sugar in Pennsylvania dramatizes how hard it is for federal officials to enforce workplace safety.
Pro Publica and Univision reported the company that employed Janio Salinas had deliberately removed a safety device that would have saved his life just 13 days before he died.
Unfortunately, the death of Janio Salinas was not an isolated incident. An average of 4,400 people are killed every year in the U.S. at work, including untrained workers who suffocate while cleaning chemical tanks, get caught in food grinders and tire shredders or suffer heat stroke after a long day in a warehouse, on a garbage truck or on a roof.
Many of the nation's 2.9 million temporary workers often do dangerous jobs with little or no training or safety equipment. Though OSHA is trying to step up enforcement of safety rules, its task is daunting. OSHA had warned CSC Sugar about safety violations, for example, before Salinas' death. After he died, the company replaced the safety device and OSHA fined it a mere $18,098.
Pro Publica and Univision reported the company that employed Janio Salinas had deliberately removed a safety device that would have saved his life just 13 days before he died.
Inside the sugar plant in Fairless Hills, Pa., nobody could find Janio Salinas, a 50-year-old temp worker from just over the New Jersey border.
Throughout the morning, Salinas and a handful of other workers had been bagging mounds of sugar for a company that supplies the makers of Snapple drinks and Ben & Jerry's ice cream. But sugar clumps kept clogging the massive hopper, forcing the workers to climb inside with shovels to help the granules flow out the funnel-like hole at the bottom.
Coming back from lunch that day in February 2013, one employee said he had seen Salinas digging in the sugar. But when he looked back, Salinas was gone. All that remained was a shovel buried up to its handle. Then, peering through a small gap in the bottom of the hopper, someone noticed what appeared to be blue jeans.
It was Salinas. He had been buried alive in sugar.The reason the safety device was removed: a manager thought it was slowing production
Unfortunately, the death of Janio Salinas was not an isolated incident. An average of 4,400 people are killed every year in the U.S. at work, including untrained workers who suffocate while cleaning chemical tanks, get caught in food grinders and tire shredders or suffer heat stroke after a long day in a warehouse, on a garbage truck or on a roof.
Many of the nation's 2.9 million temporary workers often do dangerous jobs with little or no training or safety equipment. Though OSHA is trying to step up enforcement of safety rules, its task is daunting. OSHA had warned CSC Sugar about safety violations, for example, before Salinas' death. After he died, the company replaced the safety device and OSHA fined it a mere $18,098.
Jean Kulp, director of OSHA's Allentown, Pa., office, told Univision that her agency doesn't have the ability to shut down businesses and has limited criminal enforcement provisions.
In CSC's case, even though it removed a safety device and had received previous warnings to train its temp workers, OSHA didn't find the company "willfully in violation," which would have triggered bigger fines, she said. Kulp said the violations that were found didn't show "total disregard" for OSHA standards.Temp workers are far more likely to die or be injured on the job than permanent employees, according to an analysis by Pro Publica. They are far more likely to find work in dangerous occupations like manufacturing and warehousing:
...in five states, representing more than a fifth of the U.S. population, temps face a significantly greater risk of getting injured on the job than permanent employees.
In California and Florida, two of the largest states, temps had about 50 percent greater risk of being injured on the job than non-temps. That risk was 36 percent higher in Massachusetts, 66 percent in Oregon and 72 percent in Minnesota.Protecting America's Workers Act has been introduced in Congress every year for the past 10, but has been pretty much forgotten otherwise. In California, Teamsters are working hard to pass a law that would make employers responsible for the temp workers they hire through agencies. The bill, AB 1897, would crack down on employers that steal wages and put their temp workers in harm's way.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Uber X gets a free ride while taxi drivers pay
They want the unfairness to end.
It did in Virginia. Recently, the Commonwealth of Virginia recently ordered a halt to ride-sharing services like Uber X and Lyft. According to WTOP,
The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles says that ride services Lyft and Uber are violating state law and must stop operating immediately...
The letters state that the department has levied penalties against both companies for operating without proper authority. For several months, the state notified both companies that they were not complying with Virginia law.Virginia's DMV also warned riders to ask about additional payments such as gratuities, fuel or mileage. So-called surge pricing can also run up the fare. A Los Angeles rider was charged a $357 fare late last year, and said the Better Business Bureau had fielded a number of similar issues.
Washington, D.C., residents are being cheated by Uber X, Lyft and Sidecar, which avoid paying the taxes the regulated taxi drivers pay. Among the burdens taxi drivers do not share with Uber X, Lyft and Sidecar:
- DC taxi drivers pay $125 every year for a picture ID. Uber X, Lyft and Sidecar drivers do not
- DC taxi drivers are required to be fingerprinted. Uber X, Lyft and Sidecar drivers are not
- DC taxi drivers are required to have FBI background checks. Uber X, Lyft and Sidecar drivers are not.
- DC taxi drivers are required to have cars inspected every 6 months. Uber X, Lyft and Sidecar drivers do not
- DC taxi drivers are required to have commercial license plates. Uber X, Lyft and Sidecar drivers are not
- DC taxi drivers pay $.25 to the taxi commission for every ride. Uber X, Lyft and Sidecar drivers do not
- DC taxi drivers are held to higher safety standards than are Uber X, Lyft and Sidecar drivers
Last year, D.C. gave the unregulated ride-sharing services an extension to operate until regulations were put in place. The District failed to enact regulations and the extension ended. That means Uber X, Lyft and Sidcar are operating illegally.
The Teamsters have nothing against the drivers. Teamsters are organizing Uber drivers in Seattle and in Los Angeles -- just as they're organizing temp workers at Taylor Farms in California.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Today's Teamster News 06.14.14
Teamster News
SEPTA Commuter Rail Union on Strike NBC10 ...Four hundred workers at the Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority's regional rail system (including Teamsters BLET and IBEW members) went on strike Saturday morning, shutting down 13 train lines that carry commuters to the suburbs and Philadelphia International Airport...
Town Of Clinton Approves 2 Percent Raises For Police, Public Works Unions NJ.com ...Elected officials approved this week contracts with the town's public works and police unions, giving members of each 2 percent raises. The new PBA contract calls for that raise each of four years and is retroactive to Jan. 1. The Teamsters contract does the same, but is in effect for five years...
De Blasio’s Approval Rating Improves, Poll Finds New York Times ...His plan to terminate the carriage-horse industry in Central Park remains broadly unpopular, with two-thirds of voters saying he should allow the horses to stay, an opinion that cut across gender, racial and political lines...
Trade
What Do You Think About Trade? The WTO Wants to Hear from You AFL-CIO Now ...The World Trade Organization (WTO) is conducting a “public forum”—a short poll with leading questions about what people think about trade and how it affects their lives. While it’s sad that this is what passes for public involvement in trade policy, it is important to let the WTO, a powerful international institution, know what you think...
Council Calls on Japan to Alter Position on Trans Pacific Partnership ThePigSite ...The National Pork Producers Council says, unless Japan significantly alters its demands, US agriculture will not be in a position to support the Trans Pacific Partnership, Bruce Cochrane writes...
How Big Pharma (and others) began lobbying on the Trans-Pacific Partnership before you ever heard of it Sunlight Foundation ...In 2009 ... 28 organizations filed 59 lobbying reports mentioning the (TPP, the) then far-off trade agreement. Almost half of those organizations were pharmaceutical companies or associations...
State Battles
Fighting To Increase The Minimum Wage To $15 Per Hour, Wage Action Protest Held In Worcester MassLive ...Chanting rhymes the likes of, "Low pay is not okay!" a few dozen advocates for increasing the minimum wage gathered in front of the Tobias Boland Way Walmart for one hour Thursday night in hopes of bringing attention to the issue...
North Carolina is still suing Facebook, wants to pass law banning public from knowing what else it’s doing Pando ...legislators in North Carolina — whose $86 billion public pension fund is the 7th largest in America – are proposing to statutorily bar the public from seeing details of the state’s Wall Street transactions for at least a decade. That time frame is significant: according to experts, it would conceal the terms of the investment agreements for longer than the statute of limitations of various securities laws...
AFSCME Helping Chicago Cab Drivers Push For Greater Voice Chicago Tribune ...The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union is joining up with Chicago cab drivers to try to help give cabbies a stronger voice in negotiating with Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration to raise fares, lower costs and push for greater regulation of the nascent ride-share industry...
Map: How A $10.10 Minimum Wage Could Affect Workers In Every Congressional District Washington Post ...Raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 would have widely varied impact on the nation’s congressional districts, according to a new report. There is a more than fourfold gap between districts where the impact would be largest and smallest...
War On Workers
Federal regulators cite contractors after worker's death in Amazon warehouse Fortune ...Federal regulators have cited five companies for “serious” labor violations after a temp worker died at an Amazon warehouse in New Jersey six months ago, according to a statement released on Friday...
Remember the Problems With Mortgage Defaults? They’re Coming Back With Student Loans New York Times ...“robo-signing” is making a comeback, this time in student loans. Robo-signing refers to a practice in which bank employees signed blizzards of documents selling mortgages to another investor without properly verifying who actually owned them...
What If Your Ability To Stay In This Country Depended On Your Employer? The Nation ...Every year, US companies invite thousands of special guests from abroad into the labor market, and they arrive clutching visas that will provide them short-term jobs in food processing, farmwork and other seasonal sectors...
HowardCenter Workers Speak About Wages, Work Conditions Burlington Free Press ...Allison Segar has worked at the HowardCenter for 16 years, and said she is paid less now than she was 17 years ago when she immigrated to America from England...
SEPTA Commuter Rail Union on Strike NBC10 ...Four hundred workers at the Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority's regional rail system (including Teamsters BLET and IBEW members) went on strike Saturday morning, shutting down 13 train lines that carry commuters to the suburbs and Philadelphia International Airport...
Town Of Clinton Approves 2 Percent Raises For Police, Public Works Unions NJ.com ...Elected officials approved this week contracts with the town's public works and police unions, giving members of each 2 percent raises. The new PBA contract calls for that raise each of four years and is retroactive to Jan. 1. The Teamsters contract does the same, but is in effect for five years...
De Blasio’s Approval Rating Improves, Poll Finds New York Times ...His plan to terminate the carriage-horse industry in Central Park remains broadly unpopular, with two-thirds of voters saying he should allow the horses to stay, an opinion that cut across gender, racial and political lines...
Trade
What Do You Think About Trade? The WTO Wants to Hear from You AFL-CIO Now ...The World Trade Organization (WTO) is conducting a “public forum”—a short poll with leading questions about what people think about trade and how it affects their lives. While it’s sad that this is what passes for public involvement in trade policy, it is important to let the WTO, a powerful international institution, know what you think...
Council Calls on Japan to Alter Position on Trans Pacific Partnership ThePigSite ...The National Pork Producers Council says, unless Japan significantly alters its demands, US agriculture will not be in a position to support the Trans Pacific Partnership, Bruce Cochrane writes...
How Big Pharma (and others) began lobbying on the Trans-Pacific Partnership before you ever heard of it Sunlight Foundation ...In 2009 ... 28 organizations filed 59 lobbying reports mentioning the (TPP, the) then far-off trade agreement. Almost half of those organizations were pharmaceutical companies or associations...
State Battles
Fighting To Increase The Minimum Wage To $15 Per Hour, Wage Action Protest Held In Worcester MassLive ...Chanting rhymes the likes of, "Low pay is not okay!" a few dozen advocates for increasing the minimum wage gathered in front of the Tobias Boland Way Walmart for one hour Thursday night in hopes of bringing attention to the issue...
North Carolina is still suing Facebook, wants to pass law banning public from knowing what else it’s doing Pando ...legislators in North Carolina — whose $86 billion public pension fund is the 7th largest in America – are proposing to statutorily bar the public from seeing details of the state’s Wall Street transactions for at least a decade. That time frame is significant: according to experts, it would conceal the terms of the investment agreements for longer than the statute of limitations of various securities laws...
AFSCME Helping Chicago Cab Drivers Push For Greater Voice Chicago Tribune ...The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union is joining up with Chicago cab drivers to try to help give cabbies a stronger voice in negotiating with Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration to raise fares, lower costs and push for greater regulation of the nascent ride-share industry...
Map: How A $10.10 Minimum Wage Could Affect Workers In Every Congressional District Washington Post ...Raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 would have widely varied impact on the nation’s congressional districts, according to a new report. There is a more than fourfold gap between districts where the impact would be largest and smallest...
War On Workers
Federal regulators cite contractors after worker's death in Amazon warehouse Fortune ...Federal regulators have cited five companies for “serious” labor violations after a temp worker died at an Amazon warehouse in New Jersey six months ago, according to a statement released on Friday...
Remember the Problems With Mortgage Defaults? They’re Coming Back With Student Loans New York Times ...“robo-signing” is making a comeback, this time in student loans. Robo-signing refers to a practice in which bank employees signed blizzards of documents selling mortgages to another investor without properly verifying who actually owned them...
What If Your Ability To Stay In This Country Depended On Your Employer? The Nation ...Every year, US companies invite thousands of special guests from abroad into the labor market, and they arrive clutching visas that will provide them short-term jobs in food processing, farmwork and other seasonal sectors...
HowardCenter Workers Speak About Wages, Work Conditions Burlington Free Press ...Allison Segar has worked at the HowardCenter for 16 years, and said she is paid less now than she was 17 years ago when she immigrated to America from England...
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Today's Teamster News 05.11.14
Teamster News
Employees of local bus company seek to join union Bennington Banner ...Employees of the Green Mountain Express may soon become part of the Teamsters Union...
Trade
TPP Is Another Upward Transfer of Wealth naked capitalism ...As with NAFTA, the TPP will benefit U.S. companies relocating jobs to low-wage, high-repression nations...
U.S. steelmakers ‘under assault’ from dumped imports NWI Times ...Steel dumping poses a real threat to jobs in Northwest Indiana, and policy-makers in Washington need to take heed, industry officials said...
War on Workers
Is the true unemployment rate 23.2%? Trade Reform ...The SGS unemployment rate for April 2014, unfortunately still dependent on government data, is: 23.2% — this being more consistent with the experience of live citizens...
The Rise of the Gig Economy truthout ...Using the BLS definition, which includes independent contractors, temporary workers, on-call workers, and workers provided by contract firms, contingent workers made up over 11% of the labor force in 2005...
Now Trending: Whistleblowers in Low-Wage Jobs Turn to Social Media Jobs With Justice ...This recent step in the right direction comes after years of pressure from OUR Walmart, the association of current and former Walmart employees who have demanded more hours and stable work schedules from the retailer...
401(k)s are retirement robbery: How the Koch brothers, Wall Street and politicians conspire to drain Social Security Salon ... Thirty-five percent of total retirement contributions in the United States are made to Social Security, which puts them beyond the reach of the private market. The more that Social Security can be privatized, the more new profit opportunities the financial services industry will have...
The NSA’s Corporate Collaborators Counterpunch ...”There almost is no division between the private sector and the NSA, or the private sector and the Pentagon, when it comes to the American national security state. They really are essentially one...”
Getting past economic development subsidy hype Angry Bear ...The EU’s state aid rules guarantee transparency, restrict location subsidies to the poorest regions, and cap the amount of subsidy a project can receive based on two principles: 1) The richer the region, the lower the maximum subsidy allowed (with 0 as the maximum in many regions)...
Miscellaneous
Federal Data: Americans keeping vehicles longer since start of recession Washington Post ...the average age of household autos increased from 10.1 years about 11.3 years between 2007 and 2012, while the average household income rose from $63,091 per year to $65,596 during the same period...
Target’s CEO didn’t leave because of a cybersecurity breach Washington Post ... The business model isn't working anymore, and it's going to take a serious overhaul to bring up to speed, when competitors are already far ahead...
Employees of local bus company seek to join union Bennington Banner ...Employees of the Green Mountain Express may soon become part of the Teamsters Union...
Trade
TPP Is Another Upward Transfer of Wealth naked capitalism ...As with NAFTA, the TPP will benefit U.S. companies relocating jobs to low-wage, high-repression nations...
U.S. steelmakers ‘under assault’ from dumped imports NWI Times ...Steel dumping poses a real threat to jobs in Northwest Indiana, and policy-makers in Washington need to take heed, industry officials said...
War on Workers
Is the true unemployment rate 23.2%? Trade Reform ...The SGS unemployment rate for April 2014, unfortunately still dependent on government data, is: 23.2% — this being more consistent with the experience of live citizens...
The Rise of the Gig Economy truthout ...Using the BLS definition, which includes independent contractors, temporary workers, on-call workers, and workers provided by contract firms, contingent workers made up over 11% of the labor force in 2005...
Now Trending: Whistleblowers in Low-Wage Jobs Turn to Social Media Jobs With Justice ...This recent step in the right direction comes after years of pressure from OUR Walmart, the association of current and former Walmart employees who have demanded more hours and stable work schedules from the retailer...
401(k)s are retirement robbery: How the Koch brothers, Wall Street and politicians conspire to drain Social Security Salon ... Thirty-five percent of total retirement contributions in the United States are made to Social Security, which puts them beyond the reach of the private market. The more that Social Security can be privatized, the more new profit opportunities the financial services industry will have...
The NSA’s Corporate Collaborators Counterpunch ...”There almost is no division between the private sector and the NSA, or the private sector and the Pentagon, when it comes to the American national security state. They really are essentially one...”
Getting past economic development subsidy hype Angry Bear ...The EU’s state aid rules guarantee transparency, restrict location subsidies to the poorest regions, and cap the amount of subsidy a project can receive based on two principles: 1) The richer the region, the lower the maximum subsidy allowed (with 0 as the maximum in many regions)...
Miscellaneous
Federal Data: Americans keeping vehicles longer since start of recession Washington Post ...the average age of household autos increased from 10.1 years about 11.3 years between 2007 and 2012, while the average household income rose from $63,091 per year to $65,596 during the same period...
Target’s CEO didn’t leave because of a cybersecurity breach Washington Post ... The business model isn't working anymore, and it's going to take a serious overhaul to bring up to speed, when competitors are already far ahead...
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Today's Teamster News 05.10.14
Teamster News
Workplace peril: Irresponsible companies put workers at risk (opinion) San Jose Mercury News ..."I told my manager that a work assignment was really hurting my foot. The next day he called me to the office and told me that he didn't care about my foot, and if I couldn't work where I was placed, there's the door. He told me, 'To me, you are nothing. You don't even exist to the company.' " To curb these abuses, the California Labor Federation and the Teamsters are working with Assemblyman Roger Hernández on legislation, AB 1897, to hold companies accountable for abuses by the labor contractors they hire...
Convention Center remains closed to Teamsters, Carpenters Philly.com ...neither the Carpenters Local 8, viewed by management as the center's most difficult and disruptive union, nor the Teamsters Local 107 will be permitted to work at the center after their contracts expire at 11:59 p.m. Saturday...
Teamsters, beverage distributors reach contract agreements Saturday Gazette-Mail ...All three contracts include significant wage increases and protect members’ health and pension benefits, said Ken Hall, president of Teamsters Local 175, based in South Charleston, and general secretary-treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters...
Council Amends All-Star Game 'Clean Zone' Minneapolis Star-Tribune ...The City Council voted Friday to modify and clarify the intent of a previous resolution that created a "clean zone" during the Major League Baseball All-Star Game...
Trade
Trans-Pacific Trade Pact On The Slow Track Financial Post ...The Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations continue to move along, with Japan now intensively involved and the government of South Korea close to jumping in. With the collapse of the broader multilateral efforts in the World Trade Organization...
State Battles
State Supreme Court To Hear Right To Work Case In September Indiana Public Media ...State Attorney General Greg Zoeller last year appealed Lake County Judge John Sedia’s ruling that the law violates a provision of the Indiana Constitution that says no person’s services shall be demanded without just compensation...
John Doe investigation halted again after finding that appeal was 'frivolous' Wisconsin State Journal ...The John Doe investigation into possible illegal coordination between Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign and several conservative groups has once again been halted after a federal judge on Thursday dismissed as “frivolous” an interim appeal by the prosecutors in the case...
North Dakota Is The Deadliest State To Work In Mother Jones ...Fracking has done some incredible things for North Dakota. It has the fastest growing economy and lowest unemployment in the nation, and is second only to Texas in churning out oil. But with any gold rush, the boom comes with a human cost involved...
ALEC Struggles In Kansas City Center for Media and Democracy ...Amidst increasing public scrutiny of ALEC, the group has tried to sneak back into the shadows. ALEC's efforts to evade open records laws and to boot reporters from meetings have been well-documented, but at this meeting ALEC even tried to hide the name of its corporate meeting sponsors...
EXCLUSIVE: Christie officials gave millions in public funds to VC firm, despite “pay to play” rules Pando Daily ...Gov. Chris Christie’s administration awarded a public pension contract to a technology venture capital firm shortly after a partner at that same firm made a $10,000 contribution to the New Jersey Republican State Committee...
War On Workers
London black taxis plan congestion chaos to block Uber BBC News ...The Licensed Taxi Drivers Association complains that Uber's drivers are using a smartphone app to calculate fares despite it being illegal for private vehicles to be fitted with taximeters...
No Sign of Labor Shortages in Construction: There are Seven Unemployed Construction Workers for Every Job Opening Economic Policy Institute ...the real hourly wages of residential building workers are still 4.2% below 2009, a loss significantly deeper than that of the overall private sector workforce, whose wages are 0.9 percent below 2009...
Koch Brothers' Americans For Prosperity Plans $125 Million Spending Spree Politico ...The Koch brothers' main political arm plans to spend more than $125 million on an aggressive ground, air and data operation benefiting conservatives, according to a memo distributed to major donors and sources familiar with the group...
Death on the Job Report AFL-CIO ...Workplaces are much safer today than when the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act was passed in 1970, which promised workers in this country the right to a safe job. The job fatality rate has been cut by 81 percent; more than 492,000 workers lives have been saved...
Miscellaneous
Amazon expands Sunday delivery to 15 more cities USA Today ...Amazon.com's Sunday delivery program is now available in 15 additional cities, beyond the New York and Los Angeles metro areas where the program originally launched last November, the online retailer announced Thursday. Amazon Prime members who order an eligible item as late as Friday can receive the package — delivered by the U.S. Postal Service — as soon as Sunday, under the free two-day shipping benefit that comes with the $99 annual Prime membership...
FAA: U.S. Airliner Nearly Collided With Drone in March Wall Street Journal ...A U.S. airliner nearly collided with a drone over Florida earlier this year, a federal official said, a near miss that highlights risks posed by the proliferation of unmanned aircraft in U.S. skies...
Workplace peril: Irresponsible companies put workers at risk (opinion) San Jose Mercury News ..."I told my manager that a work assignment was really hurting my foot. The next day he called me to the office and told me that he didn't care about my foot, and if I couldn't work where I was placed, there's the door. He told me, 'To me, you are nothing. You don't even exist to the company.' " To curb these abuses, the California Labor Federation and the Teamsters are working with Assemblyman Roger Hernández on legislation, AB 1897, to hold companies accountable for abuses by the labor contractors they hire...
Convention Center remains closed to Teamsters, Carpenters Philly.com ...neither the Carpenters Local 8, viewed by management as the center's most difficult and disruptive union, nor the Teamsters Local 107 will be permitted to work at the center after their contracts expire at 11:59 p.m. Saturday...
Teamsters, beverage distributors reach contract agreements Saturday Gazette-Mail ...All three contracts include significant wage increases and protect members’ health and pension benefits, said Ken Hall, president of Teamsters Local 175, based in South Charleston, and general secretary-treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters...
Council Amends All-Star Game 'Clean Zone' Minneapolis Star-Tribune ...The City Council voted Friday to modify and clarify the intent of a previous resolution that created a "clean zone" during the Major League Baseball All-Star Game...
Trade
Trans-Pacific Trade Pact On The Slow Track Financial Post ...The Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations continue to move along, with Japan now intensively involved and the government of South Korea close to jumping in. With the collapse of the broader multilateral efforts in the World Trade Organization...
State Battles
State Supreme Court To Hear Right To Work Case In September Indiana Public Media ...State Attorney General Greg Zoeller last year appealed Lake County Judge John Sedia’s ruling that the law violates a provision of the Indiana Constitution that says no person’s services shall be demanded without just compensation...
John Doe investigation halted again after finding that appeal was 'frivolous' Wisconsin State Journal ...The John Doe investigation into possible illegal coordination between Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign and several conservative groups has once again been halted after a federal judge on Thursday dismissed as “frivolous” an interim appeal by the prosecutors in the case...
North Dakota Is The Deadliest State To Work In Mother Jones ...Fracking has done some incredible things for North Dakota. It has the fastest growing economy and lowest unemployment in the nation, and is second only to Texas in churning out oil. But with any gold rush, the boom comes with a human cost involved...
ALEC Struggles In Kansas City Center for Media and Democracy ...Amidst increasing public scrutiny of ALEC, the group has tried to sneak back into the shadows. ALEC's efforts to evade open records laws and to boot reporters from meetings have been well-documented, but at this meeting ALEC even tried to hide the name of its corporate meeting sponsors...
EXCLUSIVE: Christie officials gave millions in public funds to VC firm, despite “pay to play” rules Pando Daily ...Gov. Chris Christie’s administration awarded a public pension contract to a technology venture capital firm shortly after a partner at that same firm made a $10,000 contribution to the New Jersey Republican State Committee...
War On Workers
London black taxis plan congestion chaos to block Uber BBC News ...The Licensed Taxi Drivers Association complains that Uber's drivers are using a smartphone app to calculate fares despite it being illegal for private vehicles to be fitted with taximeters...
No Sign of Labor Shortages in Construction: There are Seven Unemployed Construction Workers for Every Job Opening Economic Policy Institute ...the real hourly wages of residential building workers are still 4.2% below 2009, a loss significantly deeper than that of the overall private sector workforce, whose wages are 0.9 percent below 2009...
Koch Brothers' Americans For Prosperity Plans $125 Million Spending Spree Politico ...The Koch brothers' main political arm plans to spend more than $125 million on an aggressive ground, air and data operation benefiting conservatives, according to a memo distributed to major donors and sources familiar with the group...
Death on the Job Report AFL-CIO ...Workplaces are much safer today than when the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act was passed in 1970, which promised workers in this country the right to a safe job. The job fatality rate has been cut by 81 percent; more than 492,000 workers lives have been saved...
Miscellaneous
Amazon expands Sunday delivery to 15 more cities USA Today ...Amazon.com's Sunday delivery program is now available in 15 additional cities, beyond the New York and Los Angeles metro areas where the program originally launched last November, the online retailer announced Thursday. Amazon Prime members who order an eligible item as late as Friday can receive the package — delivered by the U.S. Postal Service — as soon as Sunday, under the free two-day shipping benefit that comes with the $99 annual Prime membership...
FAA: U.S. Airliner Nearly Collided With Drone in March Wall Street Journal ...A U.S. airliner nearly collided with a drone over Florida earlier this year, a federal official said, a near miss that highlights risks posed by the proliferation of unmanned aircraft in U.S. skies...
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