TEAMSTERS
Clark County School District Workers Vote to Join Teamsters Teamster.org ...Clark County School District (CCSD) support workers have voted overwhelmingly to join the Teamsters Union, the Employee-Management Relations Board (EMRB) announced today. There are more than 11,000 support workers in the bargaining unit. The vote for Teamsters Local 14 was a decisive win over the current bargaining representative at CCSD, with nearly 82 percent of workers voting to join the Teamsters...
CCSD support staff ousts ESEA in favor of Teamsters union Review-Journal ...A decade-long fight to unseat the labor union that represents more than 11,000 bus drivers, custodians and support staff who work for the Clark County School District culminated Saturday in a landslide vote for Teamsters Local 14. Claiming 81 percent of 5, 339 ballots cast in a runoff election, Teamsters leaders and supporters credited their victory to a change in rules that govern union elections...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
U.S. car makers count among Pacific trade pact skeptics Yahoo ...U.S. auto makers are unlikely to win a much bigger share of the Japanese vehicle market despite a bid to break down trade barriers under a new Pacific trade pact, highlighting the difficulties ahead in winning votes for the deal through Congress. Car makers joined the tobacco industry, pharmaceutical companies and financial services in expressing reservations about parts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership...
Vietnam Sees Record-High Foreign Investment on TPP, Eased Rules Bloomberg ...Vietnam expects disbursed foreign direct investment to reach a record high this year after the government eased business regulations, luring investors seeking to benefit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. The surge in the Southeast Asian country’s foreign investments comes as neighboring countries such as the Philippines report declines, reflecting overseas investors’ increasing attraction to Vietnam...
Drug prices expected to rise as result of TPP deal Globe and Mail ...The intellectual-property provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement will drive up global drug prices and make it harder to treat diseases in developing countries, Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) says. A month after the final text of the TPP was released, the medical humanitarian organization has completed its analysis of the portions of the massive trade pact that will affect drug costs...
How the TPP Fulfills Big Ag's Wish List Alternet ...An initial review reveals that the agreement compromises food safety and public health, notably through measures pertaining to U.S. border inspection of food imports. The agreement limits food import inspections “to what is reasonable and necessary,” and—perhaps most alarming—requires border inspectors to notify food importers if a negative food safety check is issued so they can challenge the port inspection findings...
U.S. trade deficit rises 3.4% in October to $43.9 billion LA Times ...The U.S. trade deficit widened in October, the Commerce Department said Friday, as exports of U.S. goods fell to the lowest level in more than four years, a reflection of the impact of a weak global economy and stronger dollar. The trade deficit, the difference between exports and imports, widened 3.4% in October to $43.9 billion, compared to a revised $42.5 billion deficit in September...
Greek parliament narrowly approves 2016 austerity budget Euronews ...The Greek parliament has narrowly approved a 2016 budget which includes sharp cuts in spending and some tax increases. The measures were conditions set by the country’s international lenders when Athens signed up to a third rescue package from euro zone governments in August worth up to 84 billion euros. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said it was difficult for a government that wants to promote social justice...
To Lift Quality of Life and Economy, Finland Champions Universal Basic Income Common Dreams ...As a way to improve living standards and boosts its economy, the nation of Finland is moving closer towards offering all of its adult citizens a basic permanent income of approximately 800 euros per month. The monthly allotment would replace other existing social benefits, but is an idea long advocated for by progressive-minded social scientists and economists as a solution—counter-intuitive as it may first appear at first—that actually decreases government expenditures...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Pre-filed bill targets prevailing wage in disaster areas Missouri Times ...One of the shorter pre-filed bills submitted so far calls for a prohibition on prevailing hourly wage to be paid for a tax credit funded project in a disaster area. Rep. Bill White, R-Joplin, filed HB 1406, which “prohibits the Missouri Housing Development Commission from requiring a prevailing hourly wage to be paid to a contractor on a project for a housing tax credit if it is in a Governor-declared disaster area”...
Rauner: Right to work off the table “for now” Capitol Fax ...Gov. Rauner has long said he is not pushing a “right-to-work” agenda for Illinois, but when speaking to a friendly crowd Friday at the Illinois Manufacturers Association’s annual luncheon, Rauner said the idea was only off the table “for now.” “Our labor regulations, while all the states around us have gone right-to-work, that’s killing a lot of employers,” Rauner said. “I’ve taken that off the table, for now anyway, in the spirit of trying to get a deal”...
Oregon union fight heats up Statesman Journal ...The Northwest Accountability Project has filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service asking to have the Freedom Foundation's tax-exempt charity status revoked. The complaint is intensifying the battle over public unions in Oregon and Washington, and was co-signed by 18 organizations including labor unions and left-leaning activist groups. The Northwest Accountability Project is working to counter the Freedom Foundation's campaign to have home-care workers opt out of paying union dues...
Right to Work is DOA in Ohio for fear of a Senate Bill 5 reprise (opinion) Cleveland.com ...Bystanders can unbunch their Dockers: Right to Work isn't going anywhere in Ohio anytime soon, if ever, because the last thing key Republicans want is another Senate Bill 5. True, an Ohio House committee gave a proposed Right to Work (for Less) plan, House Bill 377, a hearing last week. House rules require every House bill to get at least one hearing...
When It Comes to Female Apprenticeship Numbers, Oregon is Blowing Other States Away We Party Patriots ...In Oregon, outreach efforts to ensure women have apprenticeship opportunities were rewarded at a ceremony earlier this month, during which elected officials and union leaders touted the state’s leadership and celebrated the receipt of a $3 million federal grant to develop such programs. According to the numbers, Oregon has more than double the number of women in apprenticeships (6.9 percent) than the national average (3.2 percent)...
Paul Ryan Just Accidentally Made a Great Case for Raising the Minimum Wage The Nation ... While Ryan pushed many of his favorite myths about the safety net, he also inadvertently made one of the strongest cases to date for raising the minimum wage and investing in policies to help people balance work and caregiving. Indeed, in his grand finale, Ryan called on Congress to: “Push wages up. Push the cost of living down. Get people off the sidelines. I could think of no better way to restore confidence in the American economy”...
U.S. LABOR
UAW wins historic victory in U.S. South with vote at VW plant Reuters ...The United Auto Workers union won its first organizing vote at a foreign-owned auto assembly plant in the U.S. South on Friday, in a groundbreaking victory after decades of failed attempts. About 71 percent of skilled trades workers who cast ballots at Volkswagen AG's factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee voted to join the UAW, according to the company and the union. The skilled trades workers account for about 11 percent of the 1,450 hourly employees at the plant...
Communications Workers of America Ratify Agreements Covering AT&T Southeast Wireline Employees Fierce Telecom ...AT&T today announced that employees represented by the Communications Workers of America have voted to ratify a four-year contract with AT&T Southeast wireline operations. Employees also voted to ratify tentative agreements on two southeast regional contracts covering AT&T Billing Southeast and Southeast Utility Operations. The contracts cover about 24,000 employees in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee...
Nexteer UAW workers reject proposed contract by a landslide MLive ...Nexteer Automotive workers represented by UAW Local 699 rejected a proposed contract in a landslide vote, according to the group. UAW Local 699 on Monday, Dec. 7 posted the tentative results of the vote on its Facebook page. The outcome was 399 "no" votes to 8 "yes" votes for trade workers, and 2,704 "no" votes to 72 "yes" votes for production workers...
The single ugliest myth the rich perpetuate about the poor Salon ...Many wealthy white conservative males believe they deserve their good fortunes, and that the poor are taking handouts. But on average little of the money of the wealthiest Americans is spent on productive job-creating ventures. Based on the evidence, the very people demeaned by the rich as ‘lazy’ are generally the hardest workers. 73 percent of public support recipients are members of working families...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Activists Stage Paris Sit-In To Protest Role of Corporate Polluters in Climate Talks Democracy Now ...Despite restrictions on protests following the November 13 attacks that killed 130 people, activists attempted to stage a mass sit-in at the Grand Palais in Paris today to protest corporate sponsors pushing for so-called "solutions" to climate change that include genetically modified foods, privatized water and biofuels...
Chicago Cover-Up Deepens as 80 Minutes of Footage Confirmed Missing Common Dreams ...Chicago's cover-up scandal is deepening after city officials were forced to release additional surveillance footage of the deadly shooting of 17-year-old African American Laquan McDonald by a white officer—and it showed an unexplained 80-minute gap covering the time the teenager was killed...
Hunger-Striking Asylum Seekers Bring Their Case to Clinton’s Front Door The Nation ...Immigration activists brought the current fight over immigrant detention to Hillary Clinton’s doorstep Thursday. Two dozen activists protested outside Clinton’s Brooklyn headquarters to push the Democratic presidential front-runner and Bernie Sanders to respond to #Freedomgiving—the name activists gave to a week-long hunger strike that began the day before Thanksgiving...
Showing posts with label trade deficit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trade deficit. Show all posts
Monday, December 7, 2015
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Trade deficits, job losses are more reasons to fear TPP
Bad trades deals have a real cost to regular Americans. And a new Economic Policy Institute (EPI) analysis makes it clear what that is -- jobs.
The huge U.S. trade deficit, especially in manufactured goods, led to the loss of all 5 million U.S. factory jobs that have disappeared since 2000, EPI stated. Analyst Robert Scott’s issue paper adds productivity gains in factories were responsible for virtually none of the losses, counter to many prevailing
economists’ claims.
U.S. factories lost just over 5 million jobs since 2000, when factories employed upwards of 18 million people. They fell to 11.5 million during the Great Recession, and recovered 800,000 jobs since. But productivity rose at least 3.7 percent yearly through 2007, and 1.7 percent since then. The reason for so small a factory recovery is the trade deficit, Scott says.
The leading cause of growing U.S. trade deficits is currency manipulation, which distorts trade flows by artificially lowering the cost of imports and raising the cost of exports. More than 20 countries, led by China, have been spending about $1 trillion per year buying foreign assets to artificially suppress the value of their currencies. Ending currency manipulation can create between 2.3 million and 5.8 million jobs for working Americans, and about 40 percent of those jobs -- between 891,500 and 2.3 million -- would be in manufacturing.
As the analysis explains:
The huge U.S. trade deficit, especially in manufactured goods, led to the loss of all 5 million U.S. factory jobs that have disappeared since 2000, EPI stated. Analyst Robert Scott’s issue paper adds productivity gains in factories were responsible for virtually none of the losses, counter to many prevailing economists’ claims.
U.S. factories lost just over 5 million jobs since 2000, when factories employed upwards of 18 million people. They fell to 11.5 million during the Great Recession, and recovered 800,000 jobs since. But productivity rose at least 3.7 percent yearly through 2007, and 1.7 percent since then. The reason for so small a factory recovery is the trade deficit, Scott says.
The leading cause of growing U.S. trade deficits is currency manipulation, which distorts trade flows by artificially lowering the cost of imports and raising the cost of exports. More than 20 countries, led by China, have been spending about $1 trillion per year buying foreign assets to artificially suppress the value of their currencies. Ending currency manipulation can create between 2.3 million and 5.8 million jobs for working Americans, and about 40 percent of those jobs -- between 891,500 and 2.3 million -- would be in manufacturing.
As the analysis explains:
A rising trade deficit indicates that U.S. manufacturers are losing business to manufacturing industries in other countries like China and Japan, who manipulate their currency to make their goods cheaper and therefore more appealing to consumers in the United States and elsewhere. This leads to reduced demand for goods produced by U.S. manufacturers, both at home and abroad.Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa went further into the potential damages currency manipulation could wrought on American workers in a piece he authored this week. With the Trans-Pacific Partnership still looming, concerns about future job lost maybe even more important than those from the past.
- Press Associates, Inc. contributed to this report.
Friday, August 7, 2015
Today's Teamster News 08.07.15
Teamsters
Houston Waste Workers Vote Overwhelmingly to Ratify First Contract Teamster.org ...Workers at WCA Waste Corporation of America in Houston, who voted to join the Teamsters in November, have ratified a first contract that improves wages and health care, among other gains. The workers are the only private waste company employees in Texas who have a union contract. “The organizing win, and now this first contract, represent huge victories for these employees,” said Robert Mele, President of Teamsters Local 988 in Houston....
Teamsters and UNITE HERE Announce Initiative to Organize UFC Fighters PR Newswire ...Today, two of the largest unions in the "fight capital" of the world launched an initiative to organize MMA fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC), the largest promoter of professional MMA events. "We have been surprised to learn how poorly these professional fighters are treated in the UFC. We want to help them to improve conditions for themselves and raise standards for the sport," said Chris Griswold, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 986...
Teamsters 272 Speaks Out After Garage Attendant Member is Mistreated by Customer Labor Press ...Maximo is a Midtown parking attendant, and member of Teamsters Local 272, who received some unexpected attention after a video featuring him went viral recently. A customer, unhappy with the amount she owed for parking, berated Maximo with an anti-immigrant tirade. She called him “garbage” and an “idiot,” repeatedly telling him “learn how to speak English.” Local 272 Secretary-Treasurer and Business Manager Matthew Bruccoleri has a message for customers who vent their frustrations at ordinary workers...
Unionized Tucson bus workers strike after rejecting contract AZ Central ...Unionized drivers and mechanics at Tucson’s bus system went on strike early Thursday after rejecting a labor contract, a company official said. The strike against Sun Tran began at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, a spokeswoman said. The strike came after a contract extension expired at midnight. That extension had been agreed to after Teamsters Local 104’s members last week rejected an offer...
Unions gunning for MMA fighters Review Journal ...Ultimate Fighting Championship star Ronda Rousey as a Teamster? UFC's Las Vegas nemesis, Culinary Workers Union Local 226, is joining Teamsters Local 986 of South El Monte, Calif. for an "initiative" Thursday to organize UFC's 574 MMA fighters. It's the latest jab at UFC by the culinary union, which wants to bring workers at Las Vegas-based Station Casinos into Local 226. Teamsters Local 986 and Culinary Local 226 have several joint organizing projects in Las Vegas, including the Station Casinos organizing campaign...
Global Labor & Trade
Negotiators hope to wrap up Trans-Pacific Partnership talks this month LA Times ...After a disappointing round of talks ended last week in Hawaii without resolution, negotiators of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership are hoping to meet later this month to try again to wrap up one of the world's biggest free-trade agreements. Between now and then, negotiators have their work cut out for them: They need to iron out tough issues on the length of drug patents, so-called rules of origin for autos and, perhaps most intractable of all, market access for dairy goods — something particularly important for California, America's biggest dairy-producing state...
Kerry confident of concluding TPP trade pact this year Reuters ...U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed confidence on Friday that an ambitious Pacific trade pact could be completed this year and said a recent nuclear deal with Iran proved hurdles in international agreements could be overcome. Kerry said many challenges remained in thrashing out a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), particularly on issues of autos and dairy, but the United States would do everything in its power to make it happen...
Trans-Pacific Partnership: Are Free Trade Agreements Like TPP Really A Tool For Fixing Labor Rights Abuses? International Business Times ...As President Barack Obama pushes to make the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact a capstone of his global trade legacy, he is promoting the deal at home as a way to counter China's commercial influence in the Asia-Pacific region while also holding trade partners to tighter human rights agreements than Chinese dealmakers would. But experts say the president is exaggerating the extent to which trade pacts can force countries to address labor issues and human rights concerns...
New TPP Leaks Reveal US 'Pandering to Big Drug Companies,' Threatening Innovators Common Dream ...New leaks of the negotiating text of the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement reveal that the Obama administration is pushing forth radical proposals that critics say will threaten to harm consumers and innovators while rewarding big drug companies and "extremist copyright" policies. Negotiators for the 12-nation trade pact failed last week to reach a final agreement at their meeting in Maui
Trade deficit widens 7% in June as imports jump USA Today ...The U.S. trade deficit increased in June as solid consumer spending pulled in more imports, while the strong dollar restrained exports. The Commerce Department said Wednesday the trade gap jumped 7% to $43.8 billion in June, up from $40.9 billion in May. Imports increased 1.2% to $232.4 billion, while exports edged lower to $188.6 billion from $188.7 billion...
Greece's tax revenues collapse as debt crisis continues The Guardian ...Fresh evidence of the dramatic impact of the Greek debt crisis on the health of the country’s finances has emerged, with official figures showing tax revenues collapsing. As talks continued over a proposed €86bn third bailout of the stricken state, the Greek treasury said tax revenues were 8.5% lower in the first six months of 2015 than the same period a year earlier. The bank shutdown that brought much economic activity to a halt began on 28 June...
How smuggled workers power 'Made in China' Reuters ...The smuggling of illegal workers from Vietnam across the 1,400-km (840-mile) border into China is growing. Labor brokers estimate that tens of thousands work at factories in the Pearl River Delta, which abuts Hong Kong. Workers from other Southeast Asian nations are joining them. Visits by Reuters to a half-dozen factory towns in southern China revealed the employment of illegal workers from Vietnam is widespread, and authorities often turn a blind eye to their presence...
Congressional cracks appear in Brazil austerity plan FT ...Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff faced a fresh setback to her efforts to restore the country’s sinking public finances on Thursday after a rebellious congress voted for wage rises for key civil servants. The move, which sent the real to a fresh 12-year low and local bond yields to a record high, came as Ms Rousseff’s approval ratings fell to their lowest level and two small parties defected from her ruling coalition, further threatening her hold over congress...
London Underground services resume after 24-hour Tube strike BBC News ...London Underground services have resumed after a 24-hour strike shut down the entire network. The industrial action by four unions began on Wednesday evening as part of a dispute over the Night Tube, which is due to start next month. The unions are unhappy at conditions offered to drivers who will be working on the new service...
State & Living Wage Battles
WorkForce Still Working to Recalculate Prevailing Wage WV Public ...he prevailing wage in West Virginia expired on July 1 of this year after a political battle between lawmakers and the executive branch, but WorkForce West Virginia says they’re still working to recalculate the wage. The prevailing wage is the hourly rate workers are paid on construction projects that are paid for with state dollars...
Report Finds Confusion Over Voter ID Law Kept People From The Polls, Too Houston Press ...The Texas Voter law, requiring voters to have a photo ID, may have kept some people from the polls in November 2014's general election—but mere confusion about the law may have kept away voters, too. According to a new report released by public policy researchers at Rice University's Baker Institute and the University of Houston's Hobby Center, 13 percent of a sample of 400 nonvoters in U.S. Congressional District 23 said in a survey that they did not vote in part because they did not possess the proper photo ID...
Could Scott Walker's Legal Victory Expand PAC Superpowers? Truthout ...A Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling on Gov. Scott Walker's campaign practices clears the way for state candidates to work more closely with legally independent political groups and their enormous war chests. The big unanswered question is how ripples from the case might spread beyond the state's borders. The ruling could spark attempts to overturn laws in other states that restrict such coordination...
Unintended Consequence of Wal-Mart’s Raise: Unhappy Workers Bloomberg ...When Wal-Mart Stores Inc. chief Doug McMillon announced plans to boost store workers’ minimum wage earlier this year, he said the move was intended to improve morale and retain employees. Yet for some of the hundreds of thousands of workers getting no raise, the policy is having the opposite effect. If Wal-Mart and other retailers don’t also adjust pay for veteran hourly workers, they could face rising dissent, said David Cooper, an economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute...
Dunkin Donut CEO Who Makes $4,887 an Hour Outraged at $15 Minimum Wage In These Times ...This week, the New York Wage Board recommended that the state's fast food workers should make $15 per hour, which has been the rallying cry for the labor movement across the country. The New York move was seen as a victory for workers in this industry, who are among the lowest-paid in the country. Within a day, corporate America was on the attack, to stop the spread of this burgeoning national movement...
Health care workers plead with Hillary Clinton for higher minimum wage CNN ...Hillary Clinton visited a technical college in Los Angeles on Thursday to hear the emotional stories, and needs, of home health-care workers represented by the Service Employees International Union. What she heard: Raise our wages. Throughout Clinton's appearance at the Los Angeles Trade Technical College, home health-care workers from across the country told Clinton what a pay bump would mean...
This bank just hiked its minimum wage to $15 CNN ...Amalgamated Bank announced Thursday that it will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour. The change will affect all employees, take effect immediately, and be retroactive to July 1. Amalgamated encouraged other financial institutions to "join the 'Fight for 15.'" "We're fortunate enough to be part of the wealthiest industry in America, so I'd hope others in the financial industry will follow," Amalgamated Bank CEO Keith Mestrich told CNNMoney...
U.S. Labor
Verizon Gets Upper Hand With Labor Unions in Wireless Shift Bloomberg ...Verizon Communications Inc., deadlocked in labor talks over pension benefits and health care that caused a strike in 2011, has gained bargaining power this time around after shedding operations that employ older unionized workers. The Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, representing about 39,000 Verizon employees, are in the weakest position they’ve ever been. That’s because the phone giant has refocused on wireless, where it sees more growth and employees are nonunionized...
UAW leader says union will 'negotiate smart' with Ford Detroit Free Press ...The UAW knows Ford is earning record profits in North America, but does not plan to use that as an opportunity to extract unreasonable raises in contract discussions this year. UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles said Thursday the union needs to remember that the companies that employ union members must be able to remain healthy for years to come...
Labor Dept. to unveil worker protection rule The Hill ...The Obama administration will unveil a long awaited proposal Thursday to lower workplace exposure to beryllium, a widely used metal that’s known to cause a deadly lung disease. The proposed rule would lower the Occupational Health and Safety Administration's (OSHA) current eight-hour permissible exposure limit for beryllium from 2.0 micrograms per cubic meter of air to 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter...
Amnesty International’s Long-Due Support for Sex Workers Rights The Nation ...Amnesty International, after two years of consultation with members and human rights advocates around the world, is meeting with the international board over the next few days in Dublin to “adopt a policy that seeks attainment of the highest possible protection of the human rights of sex workers.” The foundation of this proposal—that countries “review and repeal laws that make those who sell sex vulnerable to human rights violations”—has been mischaracterized as legalizing prostitution...
Unemployment Rate Steady As Economy Adds 215,000 Jobs NPR ...The U.S. economy added 215,000 jobs last month, just shy of the number forecast by economists. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.3 percent. Wages were up slightly and the number of long-term unemployed remained the same as June. The consensus forecast had been for 220,000 new jobs. The gains occurred in retail trade, health care, professional and technical services, and financial activities...
The Racial Gaps in America's Recovery The Atlantic ...According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s latest report, the unemployment rate in July was 5.3 percent, which is encouragingly low compared to the height of the recession, when it reached 10 percent. It’s also tantalizingly close to the 5.0 to 5.2 percent range that Federal Reserve policymakers say will signal the country’s return to full employment. What’s lost in that marquee number, though, is that this progress has been incredibly uneven, and minorities continue to struggle disproportionately...
Social Justice & Other News
First Republican Debate of 2016 Presidential Race Kicks Off on Fox News with Roger Ailes Favorites Democracy Now ...Ten leading Republican presidential candidates faced off in the first debate of the 2016 presidential election Thursday night. Fox News invited 10 candidates to take part: Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump and Scott Walker. Some analysts described the debate as the Roger Ailes primary since the head of Fox News had so much say into who participated in the prime-time event...
Immigration issues dominate opening GOP presidential debate MSNBC ...Immigration issues dominated the first Republican presidential debate of the season, pitting GOP candidates against one another in addressing the millions of undocumented immigrants with firm roots in the United States. Looming over the debate was real estate mogul and billionaire Donald Trump, who basked in his center podium placement on the debate stage, defying odds by leading national polls. Trump claimed credit for making immigration a major campaign issue...
"Oppressed People Are Everywhere": A Year After Ferguson, a Conversation With One of the Protests' Organizers Mother Jones ...In the year since the Ferguson protests, police treatment of African Americans has come under intense scrutiny. Numerous police killings of unarmed black men in New York, Baltimore, North Charleston, and elsewhere have drawn national attention. And across the country, activists and community leaders have demanded accountability from officers and reforms from lawmakers. These efforts already have had some results. Still, police are on track to kill more people this year than last year...
Jon Stewart’s Humble, Remarkable Farewell The Atlantic ...After nearly 17 years as the star, Jon Stewart tried his best to make his final night at The Daily Show about anyone but himself—and he almost succeeded. On Thursday, Stewart wheeled out a parade of current and former correspondents, aired taped goodbyes from longtime rivals, and paid tribute to the show’s behind-the-scenes crew with a lengthy, faux-single-shot segment...
Trump's Narcissism Obscures His Outrage The Atlantic ...Saying that Donald Trump performed poorly in last night’s debate is stating the obvious. By any sane standard he’s been performing poorly since he entered the race. Yet he’s leading in the polls. Still, last night Trump didn’t even do obnoxious well. The reason, I suspect, is that to debate effectively, even if you’re a goon, you must talk about something other than yourself...
Paul Krugman: Donald Trump’s “know-nothingism” makes one pine for a “return to normal GOP hypocrisy” Salon ...The New York Times’ Paul Krugman used his Friday column to analyze the appeal of the candidates who participated in last night’s GOP debate — in particular, he analyzed the way in which Donald Trump’s obvious absurdity calls attention to the fundamental unseriousness of the candidates with whom he shared the stage. The conventions of political reporting and commentary, Krugman argued, prevents people from saying “the obvious — namely, that one of our two major political parties has gone off the deep end”...
Rick Santorum Vows To Cut Back Every Anti-Poverty Program To End The Culture Of Handouts Think Progress ...At the early Republican debate on Thursday evening among the candidates who didn’t get a slot in primetime, the hosts and candidates took time to talk about their concern that the country has a culture of dependency thanks to anti-poverty programs. Santorum responded by describing his plan to engineer a manufacturing rebound and thus create more jobs through a flat tax. But then he brought up his plans for anti-poverty programs...
Houston Waste Workers Vote Overwhelmingly to Ratify First Contract Teamster.org ...Workers at WCA Waste Corporation of America in Houston, who voted to join the Teamsters in November, have ratified a first contract that improves wages and health care, among other gains. The workers are the only private waste company employees in Texas who have a union contract. “The organizing win, and now this first contract, represent huge victories for these employees,” said Robert Mele, President of Teamsters Local 988 in Houston....
Teamsters and UNITE HERE Announce Initiative to Organize UFC Fighters PR Newswire ...Today, two of the largest unions in the "fight capital" of the world launched an initiative to organize MMA fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC), the largest promoter of professional MMA events. "We have been surprised to learn how poorly these professional fighters are treated in the UFC. We want to help them to improve conditions for themselves and raise standards for the sport," said Chris Griswold, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 986...
Teamsters 272 Speaks Out After Garage Attendant Member is Mistreated by Customer Labor Press ...Maximo is a Midtown parking attendant, and member of Teamsters Local 272, who received some unexpected attention after a video featuring him went viral recently. A customer, unhappy with the amount she owed for parking, berated Maximo with an anti-immigrant tirade. She called him “garbage” and an “idiot,” repeatedly telling him “learn how to speak English.” Local 272 Secretary-Treasurer and Business Manager Matthew Bruccoleri has a message for customers who vent their frustrations at ordinary workers...
Unionized Tucson bus workers strike after rejecting contract AZ Central ...Unionized drivers and mechanics at Tucson’s bus system went on strike early Thursday after rejecting a labor contract, a company official said. The strike against Sun Tran began at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, a spokeswoman said. The strike came after a contract extension expired at midnight. That extension had been agreed to after Teamsters Local 104’s members last week rejected an offer...
Unions gunning for MMA fighters Review Journal ...Ultimate Fighting Championship star Ronda Rousey as a Teamster? UFC's Las Vegas nemesis, Culinary Workers Union Local 226, is joining Teamsters Local 986 of South El Monte, Calif. for an "initiative" Thursday to organize UFC's 574 MMA fighters. It's the latest jab at UFC by the culinary union, which wants to bring workers at Las Vegas-based Station Casinos into Local 226. Teamsters Local 986 and Culinary Local 226 have several joint organizing projects in Las Vegas, including the Station Casinos organizing campaign...
Global Labor & Trade
Negotiators hope to wrap up Trans-Pacific Partnership talks this month LA Times ...After a disappointing round of talks ended last week in Hawaii without resolution, negotiators of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership are hoping to meet later this month to try again to wrap up one of the world's biggest free-trade agreements. Between now and then, negotiators have their work cut out for them: They need to iron out tough issues on the length of drug patents, so-called rules of origin for autos and, perhaps most intractable of all, market access for dairy goods — something particularly important for California, America's biggest dairy-producing state...
Kerry confident of concluding TPP trade pact this year Reuters ...U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed confidence on Friday that an ambitious Pacific trade pact could be completed this year and said a recent nuclear deal with Iran proved hurdles in international agreements could be overcome. Kerry said many challenges remained in thrashing out a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), particularly on issues of autos and dairy, but the United States would do everything in its power to make it happen...
Trans-Pacific Partnership: Are Free Trade Agreements Like TPP Really A Tool For Fixing Labor Rights Abuses? International Business Times ...As President Barack Obama pushes to make the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact a capstone of his global trade legacy, he is promoting the deal at home as a way to counter China's commercial influence in the Asia-Pacific region while also holding trade partners to tighter human rights agreements than Chinese dealmakers would. But experts say the president is exaggerating the extent to which trade pacts can force countries to address labor issues and human rights concerns...
New TPP Leaks Reveal US 'Pandering to Big Drug Companies,' Threatening Innovators Common Dream ...New leaks of the negotiating text of the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement reveal that the Obama administration is pushing forth radical proposals that critics say will threaten to harm consumers and innovators while rewarding big drug companies and "extremist copyright" policies. Negotiators for the 12-nation trade pact failed last week to reach a final agreement at their meeting in Maui
Trade deficit widens 7% in June as imports jump USA Today ...The U.S. trade deficit increased in June as solid consumer spending pulled in more imports, while the strong dollar restrained exports. The Commerce Department said Wednesday the trade gap jumped 7% to $43.8 billion in June, up from $40.9 billion in May. Imports increased 1.2% to $232.4 billion, while exports edged lower to $188.6 billion from $188.7 billion...
Greece's tax revenues collapse as debt crisis continues The Guardian ...Fresh evidence of the dramatic impact of the Greek debt crisis on the health of the country’s finances has emerged, with official figures showing tax revenues collapsing. As talks continued over a proposed €86bn third bailout of the stricken state, the Greek treasury said tax revenues were 8.5% lower in the first six months of 2015 than the same period a year earlier. The bank shutdown that brought much economic activity to a halt began on 28 June...
How smuggled workers power 'Made in China' Reuters ...The smuggling of illegal workers from Vietnam across the 1,400-km (840-mile) border into China is growing. Labor brokers estimate that tens of thousands work at factories in the Pearl River Delta, which abuts Hong Kong. Workers from other Southeast Asian nations are joining them. Visits by Reuters to a half-dozen factory towns in southern China revealed the employment of illegal workers from Vietnam is widespread, and authorities often turn a blind eye to their presence...
Congressional cracks appear in Brazil austerity plan FT ...Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff faced a fresh setback to her efforts to restore the country’s sinking public finances on Thursday after a rebellious congress voted for wage rises for key civil servants. The move, which sent the real to a fresh 12-year low and local bond yields to a record high, came as Ms Rousseff’s approval ratings fell to their lowest level and two small parties defected from her ruling coalition, further threatening her hold over congress...
London Underground services resume after 24-hour Tube strike BBC News ...London Underground services have resumed after a 24-hour strike shut down the entire network. The industrial action by four unions began on Wednesday evening as part of a dispute over the Night Tube, which is due to start next month. The unions are unhappy at conditions offered to drivers who will be working on the new service...
State & Living Wage Battles
WorkForce Still Working to Recalculate Prevailing Wage WV Public ...he prevailing wage in West Virginia expired on July 1 of this year after a political battle between lawmakers and the executive branch, but WorkForce West Virginia says they’re still working to recalculate the wage. The prevailing wage is the hourly rate workers are paid on construction projects that are paid for with state dollars...
Report Finds Confusion Over Voter ID Law Kept People From The Polls, Too Houston Press ...The Texas Voter law, requiring voters to have a photo ID, may have kept some people from the polls in November 2014's general election—but mere confusion about the law may have kept away voters, too. According to a new report released by public policy researchers at Rice University's Baker Institute and the University of Houston's Hobby Center, 13 percent of a sample of 400 nonvoters in U.S. Congressional District 23 said in a survey that they did not vote in part because they did not possess the proper photo ID...
Could Scott Walker's Legal Victory Expand PAC Superpowers? Truthout ...A Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling on Gov. Scott Walker's campaign practices clears the way for state candidates to work more closely with legally independent political groups and their enormous war chests. The big unanswered question is how ripples from the case might spread beyond the state's borders. The ruling could spark attempts to overturn laws in other states that restrict such coordination...
Unintended Consequence of Wal-Mart’s Raise: Unhappy Workers Bloomberg ...When Wal-Mart Stores Inc. chief Doug McMillon announced plans to boost store workers’ minimum wage earlier this year, he said the move was intended to improve morale and retain employees. Yet for some of the hundreds of thousands of workers getting no raise, the policy is having the opposite effect. If Wal-Mart and other retailers don’t also adjust pay for veteran hourly workers, they could face rising dissent, said David Cooper, an economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute...
Dunkin Donut CEO Who Makes $4,887 an Hour Outraged at $15 Minimum Wage In These Times ...This week, the New York Wage Board recommended that the state's fast food workers should make $15 per hour, which has been the rallying cry for the labor movement across the country. The New York move was seen as a victory for workers in this industry, who are among the lowest-paid in the country. Within a day, corporate America was on the attack, to stop the spread of this burgeoning national movement...
Health care workers plead with Hillary Clinton for higher minimum wage CNN ...Hillary Clinton visited a technical college in Los Angeles on Thursday to hear the emotional stories, and needs, of home health-care workers represented by the Service Employees International Union. What she heard: Raise our wages. Throughout Clinton's appearance at the Los Angeles Trade Technical College, home health-care workers from across the country told Clinton what a pay bump would mean...
This bank just hiked its minimum wage to $15 CNN ...Amalgamated Bank announced Thursday that it will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour. The change will affect all employees, take effect immediately, and be retroactive to July 1. Amalgamated encouraged other financial institutions to "join the 'Fight for 15.'" "We're fortunate enough to be part of the wealthiest industry in America, so I'd hope others in the financial industry will follow," Amalgamated Bank CEO Keith Mestrich told CNNMoney...
U.S. Labor
Verizon Gets Upper Hand With Labor Unions in Wireless Shift Bloomberg ...Verizon Communications Inc., deadlocked in labor talks over pension benefits and health care that caused a strike in 2011, has gained bargaining power this time around after shedding operations that employ older unionized workers. The Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, representing about 39,000 Verizon employees, are in the weakest position they’ve ever been. That’s because the phone giant has refocused on wireless, where it sees more growth and employees are nonunionized...
UAW leader says union will 'negotiate smart' with Ford Detroit Free Press ...The UAW knows Ford is earning record profits in North America, but does not plan to use that as an opportunity to extract unreasonable raises in contract discussions this year. UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles said Thursday the union needs to remember that the companies that employ union members must be able to remain healthy for years to come...
Labor Dept. to unveil worker protection rule The Hill ...The Obama administration will unveil a long awaited proposal Thursday to lower workplace exposure to beryllium, a widely used metal that’s known to cause a deadly lung disease. The proposed rule would lower the Occupational Health and Safety Administration's (OSHA) current eight-hour permissible exposure limit for beryllium from 2.0 micrograms per cubic meter of air to 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter...
Amnesty International’s Long-Due Support for Sex Workers Rights The Nation ...Amnesty International, after two years of consultation with members and human rights advocates around the world, is meeting with the international board over the next few days in Dublin to “adopt a policy that seeks attainment of the highest possible protection of the human rights of sex workers.” The foundation of this proposal—that countries “review and repeal laws that make those who sell sex vulnerable to human rights violations”—has been mischaracterized as legalizing prostitution...
Unemployment Rate Steady As Economy Adds 215,000 Jobs NPR ...The U.S. economy added 215,000 jobs last month, just shy of the number forecast by economists. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.3 percent. Wages were up slightly and the number of long-term unemployed remained the same as June. The consensus forecast had been for 220,000 new jobs. The gains occurred in retail trade, health care, professional and technical services, and financial activities...
The Racial Gaps in America's Recovery The Atlantic ...According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s latest report, the unemployment rate in July was 5.3 percent, which is encouragingly low compared to the height of the recession, when it reached 10 percent. It’s also tantalizingly close to the 5.0 to 5.2 percent range that Federal Reserve policymakers say will signal the country’s return to full employment. What’s lost in that marquee number, though, is that this progress has been incredibly uneven, and minorities continue to struggle disproportionately...
Social Justice & Other News
First Republican Debate of 2016 Presidential Race Kicks Off on Fox News with Roger Ailes Favorites Democracy Now ...Ten leading Republican presidential candidates faced off in the first debate of the 2016 presidential election Thursday night. Fox News invited 10 candidates to take part: Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump and Scott Walker. Some analysts described the debate as the Roger Ailes primary since the head of Fox News had so much say into who participated in the prime-time event...
Immigration issues dominate opening GOP presidential debate MSNBC ...Immigration issues dominated the first Republican presidential debate of the season, pitting GOP candidates against one another in addressing the millions of undocumented immigrants with firm roots in the United States. Looming over the debate was real estate mogul and billionaire Donald Trump, who basked in his center podium placement on the debate stage, defying odds by leading national polls. Trump claimed credit for making immigration a major campaign issue...
"Oppressed People Are Everywhere": A Year After Ferguson, a Conversation With One of the Protests' Organizers Mother Jones ...In the year since the Ferguson protests, police treatment of African Americans has come under intense scrutiny. Numerous police killings of unarmed black men in New York, Baltimore, North Charleston, and elsewhere have drawn national attention. And across the country, activists and community leaders have demanded accountability from officers and reforms from lawmakers. These efforts already have had some results. Still, police are on track to kill more people this year than last year...
Jon Stewart’s Humble, Remarkable Farewell The Atlantic ...After nearly 17 years as the star, Jon Stewart tried his best to make his final night at The Daily Show about anyone but himself—and he almost succeeded. On Thursday, Stewart wheeled out a parade of current and former correspondents, aired taped goodbyes from longtime rivals, and paid tribute to the show’s behind-the-scenes crew with a lengthy, faux-single-shot segment...
Trump's Narcissism Obscures His Outrage The Atlantic ...Saying that Donald Trump performed poorly in last night’s debate is stating the obvious. By any sane standard he’s been performing poorly since he entered the race. Yet he’s leading in the polls. Still, last night Trump didn’t even do obnoxious well. The reason, I suspect, is that to debate effectively, even if you’re a goon, you must talk about something other than yourself...
Paul Krugman: Donald Trump’s “know-nothingism” makes one pine for a “return to normal GOP hypocrisy” Salon ...The New York Times’ Paul Krugman used his Friday column to analyze the appeal of the candidates who participated in last night’s GOP debate — in particular, he analyzed the way in which Donald Trump’s obvious absurdity calls attention to the fundamental unseriousness of the candidates with whom he shared the stage. The conventions of political reporting and commentary, Krugman argued, prevents people from saying “the obvious — namely, that one of our two major political parties has gone off the deep end”...
Rick Santorum Vows To Cut Back Every Anti-Poverty Program To End The Culture Of Handouts Think Progress ...At the early Republican debate on Thursday evening among the candidates who didn’t get a slot in primetime, the hosts and candidates took time to talk about their concern that the country has a culture of dependency thanks to anti-poverty programs. Santorum responded by describing his plan to engineer a manufacturing rebound and thus create more jobs through a flat tax. But then he brought up his plans for anti-poverty programs...
Monday, July 27, 2015
Human rights before huge profits from TPP
Putting people before the powerful. It's a statement the Teamsters firmly believe in, and one that U.S. democracy supports by having a one-person, one-vote system in place. But a report released today by the State Department raises some concerns about whether American policy is following the same path.
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| Workers shouldn't have to pay for TPP corporate profits. |
As part of the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) document, the U.S. upgraded the standing of Malaysia despite concerns raised by human rights activists here and abroad about the nation's forced labor practices. Its new ranking would allow it to participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is currently being discussed in Hawaii.
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said the welfare of workers must be considered before any trade agreement:
While negotiators are trying to finish up discussions on the TPP this week, America should not lose focus on what is truly important. Malaysia must come into compliance with international labor standards that ban forced labor before it is allowed to participate in this Pacific Rim trade agreement. Our standing in the world demands the U.S. to take such a position for those being exploited around the world.
This is just the latest, of course, in a litany of potential problems involving the 12-nation Pacific Rim trade deal. This agreement will ship thousands of jobs overseas, weaken labor standards (as the Malaysia action shows), and allow unsafe food and products to flood American shores. It will also balloon the U.S. trade deficit by doing nothing to curtail currency manipulation by other countries, which will lower the price of imported goods into the U.S. while raising the price of products we export.
There are many hurdles that still need to be worked out as part of TPP. Nations have a litany of concerns, as Politico points out, that trade leaders need to solve going forward:
Canada wants to protect its dairy and poultry producers and Japan, its rice farmers. American drug companies want other countries to adopt strong U.S. protections on a blockbuster new class of medicines called biologics, and U.S. automakers oppose giving Japan more market access. Canada and Malaysia are particular concerns because of difficult domestic politics that could make it more difficult for them to close in Maui, even if other countries are ready.
At the end of the day, the Teamsters' concerns about Malaysia and trade are the same -- people need to count more than corporations. Elected officials need to remember that too.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Today's Teamster News 07.07.15
Teamsters
EVSC, Teamsters Butt Heads Again TriState Homepage ...Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation and Teamsters Local 215 together again in the same room – but still unable to agree.
The sticking points in negotiations aren't getting any grease. Union dues and third-party arbitration for employee grievances remain a focal point that neither side is willing to give up. Paul Green, speaking on behalf of Teamsers, begged the EVSC to get back to the table. “It's tearing this community apart.” Teamsters President, Chuck Whobrey wants to meet again for more negotiations...
American Friends of Yitzhak Rabin to Honor Randy Cammack, President, Teamsters Joint Council 42, and Ken Howard, President, SAG-AFTRA BusinessWire ...American Friends of Yitzhak Rabin (AFYR) announced today that they will honor Randy Cammack, President of Teamsters Joint Council 42, with the 2015 Yitzhak Rabin Leadership and Public Service Award at a gala dinner at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles on July 9, 2015. AFYR will also recognize Ken Howard, President, SAG-AFTRA, with the 2015 Yitzhak Rabin Legacy Award...
This Airline’s Scheduling System Is Making Its Pilots Exhausted The Nation ...Like many Allegiant passengers, pilots have voiced major frustrations with Allegiant’s flight schedules, arguing that the company has instituted a new scheduling system called “Preferential Bidding,” which they say makes pilots’ schedules more precarious and undermines the industry-wide standard of seniority-based scheduling...
Global Labor & Trade
Mexico sees TPP deal in July Herald Sun ...Mexico is confident that an agreement on a major free-trade pact spanning the Pacific Ocean can be reached in late July in what would be a milestone with the potential to reshape economic ties between Asia and the Americas, a top government official has said. "Around 10 per cent of issues are still to be agreed, but I hope we can seal an agreement in a final round of negotiations at the end of the month," economy minister Ildefonso Guajardo said in an interview...
Trans-Pacific Partnership building momentum for deal this summer Globe and Mail ...Canada and the 11 other countries taking part in Pacific Rim trade talks will push for a deal at a meeting of ministers expected to take place in late July or early August, sources say. It is a sign of the increasing momentum of the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks and sets the stage for Ottawa to make what are expected to be controversial concessions in the weeks before a federal election campaign begins...
U.S. trade deficit widens; weakness abroad fuels export drop Reuters ...The U.S. trade deficit widened in May, fueled by a drop in exports that could heighten concerns over weak overseas demand and a strong U.S. dollar. The Commerce Department reported on Tuesday that the trade gap grew $1.2 billion to $41.9 billion. That was less than the $42.6 billion deficit expected by analysts and suggests Wall Street economists may slightly raise their forecasts for economic growth in the second quarter...
Labor Lost the Fight Over Fast Track. But the Fact That Unions Oppose the TPP at All Is a Big Deal. In These Times ...Organized labor’s recent “victory” over President Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade initiative, was short-lived, as “fast track” was passed by Congress shortly after it had been denied him earlier in the month. But labor’s strong opposition to the deal is worth examining a bit more closely. That the TPP could so easily be linked by its critics to the job-killing, wage-reducing interests of the “one percent” reflects deep and changing understandings of how the global economy works...
Greece Is Just The Beginning Of The Great Austerity Backlash Huffington Post ...The global politics of austerity seeped into the press room of the White House on Monday, the day after the Greeks voted overwhelmingly to reject a harsh bailout deal with Europe. Now that the planet’s economies have essentially become one, and the world’s top dozen banks control $30 trillion in assets, the callous demands of a new and even larger “money power” is starting to spark a worldwide backlash...
The economic spasm that could overshadow Greece CBS ...While much of the financial community's attention is riveted on Greece's debt crisis, another economic drama is playing out in China that could have a far great impact on the global economy. China's stock markets have been falling rapidly for nearly a month, and by last week had dropped about 30 percent...
Bernie Sanders Backs Greek Rejection Of Austerity Measures Huffington Post ...Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) voiced his support for Greece’s decision to reject a bailout deal that would have come with more austerity measures for the country. “I applaud the people of Greece for saying ‘no’ to more austerity for the poor, the children, the sick and the elderly,” Sanders said in a statement Sunday...
Rights for Kuwait Domestic Workers: ‘Cautiously Good Step’ Solidarity Center ...There is some good news for domestic workers in Kuwait: The National Assembly adopted a new law in June that will grant them unprecedented legal rights. The law applies to family maids, baby sitters, cooks and drivers. More than 660,000 domestic workers are currently employed in Kuwait, most of them migrant workers from Asia and Africa. Human Rights Watch researcher Rothna Begum says this is a “major step forward” for Kuwait...
Colombia’s Fensuagro Union is Revolutionary, Persecuted, and Undaunted Counterpunch ...Fensuagro, the largest agricultural workers union in Colombia, held its 11th National Congress on June 5 – 8 in Bogota. The theme there was: “We advance for peace, rural peoples’ rights, and food sovereignty.” Fensuagro – the full name is the United Agricultural Trade Union Federation – reelected Húbert Ballesteros as vice president and member of its board of directors. Ballesteros, however, is a political prisoner...
State & Living Wage Battles
Scott Walker Tries To Use A Back Door To Get Rid Of Wisconsin’s Living Wage Law Think Progress ...After months of uproar over provisions to slash hundreds of millions of dollars from state universities and strip the values of “truth” and “service” from their mission, lawmakers in Madison missed their July 1 deadline to pass the budget. The change to the wage law comes just as low-income workers in the state are suing Governor Walker for refusing to consider their complaint that the current state minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is not a living wage...
Puerto Ricans have a message for the US: 'Give us the tools to help ourselves' The Guardian ...Since the April day in 1899 when Americans formally took over the island, Puerto Ricans have felt uneasy about their status within the United States. And as the island faces a debt crisis that has cratered its economy and sent its leaders to Washington to plead for more sovereign powers, the issue has taken on a new urgency...
Kinder calls for public debates over right-to-work proposal St. Louis Public Radio ...Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder is proposing that Gov. Jay Nixon and state Attorney General Chris Koster engage in public debates with him in the coming weeks over the issue of right to work. Nixon recently vetoed a right-to-work bill, which would bar employers and unions from requiring all workers to pay dues if a majority voted to join a union...
GOP Senators to make run at repealing prevailing wage law Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel ...Republicans who control the state Senate plan to insert a provision into the state budget Tuesday that will repeal the prevailing wage law for local governments. The law sets the minimum salaries for construction workers when they build roads, schools and other publicly funded projects...
Group backing repeal of Michigan's prevailing wage raises $1 million for ballot campaign Crain's Detroit ...A group leading a petition drive to repeal Michigan’s prevailing wage law has raised more than $1 million for the effort, campaign finance records show. Protecting Michigan Taxpayers spent close to $342,000 from April 21 to June 29, according to a campaign finance statement it filed Monday with the Michigan secretary of state. The group’s biggest backer, the Michigan Freedom Fund — an organization with ties to the DeVos family — gave $372,200 in direct and in-kind contributions...
Kansas isn’t joining 14 states poised to raise minimum wage The Wichita Eagle ...Fourteen states and the District of Columbia will see their minimum wage increase this summer or next year, according to a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Kansas won’t be joining them. The minimum wage in Kansas is $7.25 per hour – the same as the federal minimum wage – and attempts to increase it this year gained little traction in the Republican-dominated Legislature...
Portland City Council votes to raise minimum wage to $10.10 an hour Portland Press Herald ...The Portland City Council voted 6-3 Monday night to create a city minimum wage of $10.10 an hour on Jan. 1, increase it a year later, and tie future minimum wages to inflation. After a debate that lasted nearly two hours and drew pleas from advocates and opponents, the council passed a plan first put forth by Mayor Michael Brennan...
U.S. Labor
Staples Deal With USPS Is Illegal: NLRB 24/7 ...The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed a complaint against the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) related to the housing of contract postal units in Staples Inc. stores. The NLRB has determined that the USPS violated the law when it opened its first postal counter in a Staples store in late 2013. The contract between the USPS and the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) states that USPS management must bargain with the union before entering a deal like the one with Staples...
EVSC, Teamsters Butt Heads Again TriState Homepage ...Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation and Teamsters Local 215 together again in the same room – but still unable to agree.
The sticking points in negotiations aren't getting any grease. Union dues and third-party arbitration for employee grievances remain a focal point that neither side is willing to give up. Paul Green, speaking on behalf of Teamsers, begged the EVSC to get back to the table. “It's tearing this community apart.” Teamsters President, Chuck Whobrey wants to meet again for more negotiations...
American Friends of Yitzhak Rabin to Honor Randy Cammack, President, Teamsters Joint Council 42, and Ken Howard, President, SAG-AFTRA BusinessWire ...American Friends of Yitzhak Rabin (AFYR) announced today that they will honor Randy Cammack, President of Teamsters Joint Council 42, with the 2015 Yitzhak Rabin Leadership and Public Service Award at a gala dinner at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles on July 9, 2015. AFYR will also recognize Ken Howard, President, SAG-AFTRA, with the 2015 Yitzhak Rabin Legacy Award...
This Airline’s Scheduling System Is Making Its Pilots Exhausted The Nation ...Like many Allegiant passengers, pilots have voiced major frustrations with Allegiant’s flight schedules, arguing that the company has instituted a new scheduling system called “Preferential Bidding,” which they say makes pilots’ schedules more precarious and undermines the industry-wide standard of seniority-based scheduling...
Global Labor & Trade
Mexico sees TPP deal in July Herald Sun ...Mexico is confident that an agreement on a major free-trade pact spanning the Pacific Ocean can be reached in late July in what would be a milestone with the potential to reshape economic ties between Asia and the Americas, a top government official has said. "Around 10 per cent of issues are still to be agreed, but I hope we can seal an agreement in a final round of negotiations at the end of the month," economy minister Ildefonso Guajardo said in an interview...
Trans-Pacific Partnership building momentum for deal this summer Globe and Mail ...Canada and the 11 other countries taking part in Pacific Rim trade talks will push for a deal at a meeting of ministers expected to take place in late July or early August, sources say. It is a sign of the increasing momentum of the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks and sets the stage for Ottawa to make what are expected to be controversial concessions in the weeks before a federal election campaign begins...
U.S. trade deficit widens; weakness abroad fuels export drop Reuters ...The U.S. trade deficit widened in May, fueled by a drop in exports that could heighten concerns over weak overseas demand and a strong U.S. dollar. The Commerce Department reported on Tuesday that the trade gap grew $1.2 billion to $41.9 billion. That was less than the $42.6 billion deficit expected by analysts and suggests Wall Street economists may slightly raise their forecasts for economic growth in the second quarter...
Labor Lost the Fight Over Fast Track. But the Fact That Unions Oppose the TPP at All Is a Big Deal. In These Times ...Organized labor’s recent “victory” over President Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade initiative, was short-lived, as “fast track” was passed by Congress shortly after it had been denied him earlier in the month. But labor’s strong opposition to the deal is worth examining a bit more closely. That the TPP could so easily be linked by its critics to the job-killing, wage-reducing interests of the “one percent” reflects deep and changing understandings of how the global economy works...
Greece Is Just The Beginning Of The Great Austerity Backlash Huffington Post ...The global politics of austerity seeped into the press room of the White House on Monday, the day after the Greeks voted overwhelmingly to reject a harsh bailout deal with Europe. Now that the planet’s economies have essentially become one, and the world’s top dozen banks control $30 trillion in assets, the callous demands of a new and even larger “money power” is starting to spark a worldwide backlash...
The economic spasm that could overshadow Greece CBS ...While much of the financial community's attention is riveted on Greece's debt crisis, another economic drama is playing out in China that could have a far great impact on the global economy. China's stock markets have been falling rapidly for nearly a month, and by last week had dropped about 30 percent...
Bernie Sanders Backs Greek Rejection Of Austerity Measures Huffington Post ...Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) voiced his support for Greece’s decision to reject a bailout deal that would have come with more austerity measures for the country. “I applaud the people of Greece for saying ‘no’ to more austerity for the poor, the children, the sick and the elderly,” Sanders said in a statement Sunday...
Rights for Kuwait Domestic Workers: ‘Cautiously Good Step’ Solidarity Center ...There is some good news for domestic workers in Kuwait: The National Assembly adopted a new law in June that will grant them unprecedented legal rights. The law applies to family maids, baby sitters, cooks and drivers. More than 660,000 domestic workers are currently employed in Kuwait, most of them migrant workers from Asia and Africa. Human Rights Watch researcher Rothna Begum says this is a “major step forward” for Kuwait...
Colombia’s Fensuagro Union is Revolutionary, Persecuted, and Undaunted Counterpunch ...Fensuagro, the largest agricultural workers union in Colombia, held its 11th National Congress on June 5 – 8 in Bogota. The theme there was: “We advance for peace, rural peoples’ rights, and food sovereignty.” Fensuagro – the full name is the United Agricultural Trade Union Federation – reelected Húbert Ballesteros as vice president and member of its board of directors. Ballesteros, however, is a political prisoner...
State & Living Wage Battles
Scott Walker Tries To Use A Back Door To Get Rid Of Wisconsin’s Living Wage Law Think Progress ...After months of uproar over provisions to slash hundreds of millions of dollars from state universities and strip the values of “truth” and “service” from their mission, lawmakers in Madison missed their July 1 deadline to pass the budget. The change to the wage law comes just as low-income workers in the state are suing Governor Walker for refusing to consider their complaint that the current state minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is not a living wage...
Puerto Ricans have a message for the US: 'Give us the tools to help ourselves' The Guardian ...Since the April day in 1899 when Americans formally took over the island, Puerto Ricans have felt uneasy about their status within the United States. And as the island faces a debt crisis that has cratered its economy and sent its leaders to Washington to plead for more sovereign powers, the issue has taken on a new urgency...
Kinder calls for public debates over right-to-work proposal St. Louis Public Radio ...Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder is proposing that Gov. Jay Nixon and state Attorney General Chris Koster engage in public debates with him in the coming weeks over the issue of right to work. Nixon recently vetoed a right-to-work bill, which would bar employers and unions from requiring all workers to pay dues if a majority voted to join a union...
GOP Senators to make run at repealing prevailing wage law Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel ...Republicans who control the state Senate plan to insert a provision into the state budget Tuesday that will repeal the prevailing wage law for local governments. The law sets the minimum salaries for construction workers when they build roads, schools and other publicly funded projects...
Group backing repeal of Michigan's prevailing wage raises $1 million for ballot campaign Crain's Detroit ...A group leading a petition drive to repeal Michigan’s prevailing wage law has raised more than $1 million for the effort, campaign finance records show. Protecting Michigan Taxpayers spent close to $342,000 from April 21 to June 29, according to a campaign finance statement it filed Monday with the Michigan secretary of state. The group’s biggest backer, the Michigan Freedom Fund — an organization with ties to the DeVos family — gave $372,200 in direct and in-kind contributions...
Kansas isn’t joining 14 states poised to raise minimum wage The Wichita Eagle ...Fourteen states and the District of Columbia will see their minimum wage increase this summer or next year, according to a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Kansas won’t be joining them. The minimum wage in Kansas is $7.25 per hour – the same as the federal minimum wage – and attempts to increase it this year gained little traction in the Republican-dominated Legislature...
Portland City Council votes to raise minimum wage to $10.10 an hour Portland Press Herald ...The Portland City Council voted 6-3 Monday night to create a city minimum wage of $10.10 an hour on Jan. 1, increase it a year later, and tie future minimum wages to inflation. After a debate that lasted nearly two hours and drew pleas from advocates and opponents, the council passed a plan first put forth by Mayor Michael Brennan...
U.S. Labor
Staples Deal With USPS Is Illegal: NLRB 24/7 ...The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed a complaint against the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) related to the housing of contract postal units in Staples Inc. stores. The NLRB has determined that the USPS violated the law when it opened its first postal counter in a Staples store in late 2013. The contract between the USPS and the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) states that USPS management must bargain with the union before entering a deal like the one with Staples...
A Worker’s Take on the New Overtime Proposal The Nation ...As a manager for a national auto supply chain, Lora McCrary puts in between 50 and 70 hours a week remodeling stores across the country. But because she’s a salaried employee, she’s ineligible to earn overtime pay. The long hours and the weeks spent on the road and living out of hotels have taken a toll on her emotionally and physically...
UFCW local sets meeting to discuss A&P future Supermarket News ...Uncertainty over the future of A&P has prompted several locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union to call member meetings to discuss the chain’s financial situation, including one scheduled for Wednesday by UFCW Local 1776 in Philadelphia...
Transit union leaders hope to resume negotiations toward contract agreement soon Fox6 News ...Leaders of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 held a news conference early Monday morning, July 6th at 1:00 a.m. Union leaders said they will not strike on Monday, and said they’d like to resume negotiations in an effort to come to a deal on a new contract. During their news conference, union leaders said they want a deal convenient for both sides...
How Politics Gutted Workplace Safety Slate ...OSHA has issued only 36 health standards and relies on mostly outdated exposure limits for the 470 substances it regulates; many more substances go unregulated. It rarely uses the general duty clause to cite alleged health violations, having concluded that the burden of proof is too steep. Hindered by court decisions, the White House, an often-hostile Congress, a weak underlying statute, and—some say —its own timidity, the agency is still searching for ways to protect workers from fumes, vapors, dusts, fibers, and liquids that can kill or incapacitate them...
Unions Must Act Now to Survive Supreme Court Deathblow Counterpunch ...Unions have a decision to make: organize or die. It’s that simple. These are the only two options now that the Supreme Court announced it would hear the case “Friedrichs v. California Teacher Association.” The court intends to take aim at the head of organized labor by ruling against the California Teachers Association, and in the process fundamentally change labor law in a way that would cripple public sector unions, the last bastion of significant social power in the U.S. labor movement...
Miscellaneous
Fatal shooting sparks national immigration debate MSNBC ...The fallout from a seemingly random fatal shooting at a crowded tourist spot in San Francisco last week has ignited a national debate over the city’s decades-old tradition of offering safe haven to undocumented immigrants. Now used as fodder in political rallying cries on immigration, the shooting mounts pressure on these so-called “sanctuary cities” – municipalities that have openly defied federal immigration policies and taken a more welcoming tact toward undocumented immigrants...
Corporate Capitalism Is the Foundation of Police Brutality and the Prison State (opinion) Alternet ...We discuss issues of race while ignoring the economic, bureaucratic and political systems of exploitation—all of it legal and built into the ruling apparatus—that are the true engines of racism and white supremacy. No discussion of race is possible without a discussion of capitalism and class. And until that discussion takes place, despite all the proposed reforms to the criminal justice system, the state will continue to murder and imprison poor people of color with impunity...
What Donald Trump Doesn't Understand About Immigrants and Crime (opinion) The Atlantic ...If Donald Trump were right, policing and immigration reform would be easy. We’d just round up all the immigrants, ship them away, and crime would disappear. But most immigrants, like most native-born Americans, are simply hardworking people trying to feed their families and help their kids succeed. Targeting them won’t end crime, but it will increase their alienation, making effective crime prevention and policing more difficult...
UFCW local sets meeting to discuss A&P future Supermarket News ...Uncertainty over the future of A&P has prompted several locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union to call member meetings to discuss the chain’s financial situation, including one scheduled for Wednesday by UFCW Local 1776 in Philadelphia...
Transit union leaders hope to resume negotiations toward contract agreement soon Fox6 News ...Leaders of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 held a news conference early Monday morning, July 6th at 1:00 a.m. Union leaders said they will not strike on Monday, and said they’d like to resume negotiations in an effort to come to a deal on a new contract. During their news conference, union leaders said they want a deal convenient for both sides...
How Politics Gutted Workplace Safety Slate ...OSHA has issued only 36 health standards and relies on mostly outdated exposure limits for the 470 substances it regulates; many more substances go unregulated. It rarely uses the general duty clause to cite alleged health violations, having concluded that the burden of proof is too steep. Hindered by court decisions, the White House, an often-hostile Congress, a weak underlying statute, and—some say —its own timidity, the agency is still searching for ways to protect workers from fumes, vapors, dusts, fibers, and liquids that can kill or incapacitate them...
Unions Must Act Now to Survive Supreme Court Deathblow Counterpunch ...Unions have a decision to make: organize or die. It’s that simple. These are the only two options now that the Supreme Court announced it would hear the case “Friedrichs v. California Teacher Association.” The court intends to take aim at the head of organized labor by ruling against the California Teachers Association, and in the process fundamentally change labor law in a way that would cripple public sector unions, the last bastion of significant social power in the U.S. labor movement...
Miscellaneous
Fatal shooting sparks national immigration debate MSNBC ...The fallout from a seemingly random fatal shooting at a crowded tourist spot in San Francisco last week has ignited a national debate over the city’s decades-old tradition of offering safe haven to undocumented immigrants. Now used as fodder in political rallying cries on immigration, the shooting mounts pressure on these so-called “sanctuary cities” – municipalities that have openly defied federal immigration policies and taken a more welcoming tact toward undocumented immigrants...
Corporate Capitalism Is the Foundation of Police Brutality and the Prison State (opinion) Alternet ...We discuss issues of race while ignoring the economic, bureaucratic and political systems of exploitation—all of it legal and built into the ruling apparatus—that are the true engines of racism and white supremacy. No discussion of race is possible without a discussion of capitalism and class. And until that discussion takes place, despite all the proposed reforms to the criminal justice system, the state will continue to murder and imprison poor people of color with impunity...
What Donald Trump Doesn't Understand About Immigrants and Crime (opinion) The Atlantic ...If Donald Trump were right, policing and immigration reform would be easy. We’d just round up all the immigrants, ship them away, and crime would disappear. But most immigrants, like most native-born Americans, are simply hardworking people trying to feed their families and help their kids succeed. Targeting them won’t end crime, but it will increase their alienation, making effective crime prevention and policing more difficult...
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Today's Teamster News 06.04.15
Teamsters
Leaders of Carhaul Local Unions Approve Contract Proposals Teamster.org ...Leaders of local unions that represent Carhaul Teamsters overwhelmingly approved contract proposals today in Detroit that will be presented to the employer group on Thursday, June 4 as both sides prepare to negotiate a new National Master Automobile Transporters Agreement (NMATA). “Thanks to our members who filled out surveys and our local unions that sent in proposals, we were able to come up with a package of contract proposals that local unions approved today,” said Kevin Moore, Director of the Teamsters Carhaul Division...
EVSC and Teamsters clash on two points during collective bargaining Courier & Press ...Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. officials called an impromptu news conference late Wednesday afternoon to disclose two key concerns they have in current collective bargaining negotiations with Teamsters Local 215 representatives. EVSC School Board Negotiator Susan Traynor Chastain spoke on behalf of the board to discuss contract negotiations with the five EVSC employee groups represented by the Teamsters — bus drivers, secretaries, custodians, special education assistants and bus aides...
Global Labor & Trade
Progressives Mount Final Push Against Bill That 'Threatens Everything You Care About' Common Dreams ...With President Barack Obama "in overdrive" pushing his trade agenda and the House expected to take up so-called Fast Track authority "any day now," progressives are flooding Capitol Hill on Wednesday with phone calls and petitions expressing their opposition to corporate-friendly trade deals...
Barack Obama: China might join trade deal — eventually Politico ...China could eventually join the trade pact currently under negotiation with 12 Pacific Rim nations, President Barack Obama said Wednesday. A central part of Obama’s pitch for the trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership has been that it would prevent China from making the rules in the region...
In ‘Fast-Track’ Pitch, Obama Ready to Fight Unions in Democratic Primaries Roll Call ...President Barack Obama will protect pro-trade Democrats in party primaries against unions and others opposed to his “fast-track” trade agenda, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday. Earnest said the president is vowing to work hard to get Democrats on board, and that includes a vow to have their back politically...
Mayors leading Obama's charge on trade Politico ...President Barack Obama will have to hope America’s mayors are a little more convincing than he’s been. Faced with House Democrats who aren’t buying the administration’s efforts to draw a connection between global trade and local job growth, big-city mayors — most of them Democrats — are stepping up...
Trade deficit drops sharply to $40.9B in April USA Today ...The U.S. trade deficit declined sharply in April as exports posted a modest gain and imports fell, raising hopes that trade will not be as big a drag on economic growth in the current quarter. The April deficit dropped 19.2 percent to $40.9 billion...
WikiLeaks Strikes Again: Leaked TISA Docs Expose Corporate Plan For Reshaping Global Economy Common Dreams ...An enormous corporate-friendly treaty that many people haven't heard of was thrust into the public limelight Wednesday when famed publisher of government and corporate secrets, WikiLeaks, released 17 documents from closed-door negotiations between countries that together comprise two-thirds of the word's economy. Analysts warn that preliminary review shows that the pact, known as the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), is aimed at further privatizing and deregulating vital services...
The TPP Gang That Can’t Shoot Straight (opinion) Other Words ...As Congress gets ready to vote on whether to “fast-track” the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), its proponents are making weaker and more far-fetched arguments for the deal. And they keep getting their facts wrong and their logic twisted. This hit parade of failed arguments should convince any fence sitters that this is a bad deal...
Zimbabwe Economy in Crisis, Few Jobs, Workers Unpaid Solidarity Center ...Zimbabwe’s economy is in deep decline, making it harder for average Zimbabweans to work and live, and leaving them less and less confident in their future, according to Solidarity Center Regional Program Director for Africa Imani Countess, in testimony yesterday on Capitol Hill. “Most workers earn salaries far below the poverty level, and many workers—even in the formal sector—go for months without receiving their wages,” Countess said...
Greek unemployment rate stable at 25.6% MarketWatch ...About 1.2 million Greeks remain without a job, with the inactive population--those who aren't in employment or searching for a job, often because they have become discouraged--amounting to 3.4 million. Austerity measures imposed by creditors have allowed Greece to achieve a surplus in the primary budget, which excludes interest payments, but Athens underscores how much of a toll it has taken on economic growth and employment...
State & Living Wage Battles
Nixon expected to veto Missouri right-to-work measure KSPR ...Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon on Thursday is set to take action on the bill alongside United AutoWorkers members near Ford's Kansas City Assembly Plant. The measure would prohibit workplace contracts that require union fees to be collected from nonmembers. Nixon has criticized the bill, which he says could lead to lower wages. Other opponents have said it could undermine unions...
Proposed initiative petition would up state’s minimum wage Rolla Daily News ...Three initiative petitions to increase Missouri's minimum wage have been approved for circulation. Secretary of State Jason Kander on Tuesday announced supporters of all three now can begin collecting signatures. The petitions need to be signed by at least 5 percent of legal voters in six of the state's eight congressional districts to make it onto a ballot...
Public sounds off to election board over voter ID law WNCN ...The State Board of Elections is giving the public a chance to raise concerns about North Carolina's voter ID law. Officials held the first of nine public hearings Wednesday night to get input from residents. The public hearings are being used to see how residents would like to see this law implemented...
Illinois House to vote on changes to workers’ compensation KTRS ...Democratic Speaker Michael Madigan says the Illinois House will consider changes to the state’s workers’ compensation insurance system when it reconvenes Thursday. Madigan put out a release Wednesday noting overhauling workers’ compensation is one of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s top priorities...
In Houston, Clinton to Target Texas' Voter ID Law Texas Tribune ...Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will use a speech Thursday in Houston to call for expanded early voting across the country and criticize states like Texas for tightening election laws, according to her presidential campaign. Speaking at historically black Texas Southern University, the Democratic front-runner will propose a national requirement of at least 20 days of in-person early voting...
Walmart's latest raises show just how low its pay is Daily Kos ...You know you're a low-wage employer when you're bragging about raising base pay levels to $15 an hour ... for your managers. And not even all of them: Wal-Mart told The Associated Press late Monday that department managers of complex and service-oriented jobs in areas like produce, electronics and auto care, will start at $13 per hour...
Attempts To Limit Voting Rights Stunted As Efforts To Enhance Voting Access Prevail Huff Post ...A number of state legislatures are adjourning, and supporters of expanded access to the ballot box may be sighing in relief as they see some of the major efforts to restrict voting access were stymied during this legislative session. As the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University highlighted Wednesday, "For the third year in a row, bills to expand voters’ access to the ballot box outpace those to restrict voting, both in terms of introduction and enactment"...
Los Angeles City Council approves landmark minimum wage increase LA Times ...andmark ordinance boosting the minimum wage in Los Angeles won approval Wednesday from the City Council despite a variety of unresolved issues about how the law would work. The law, which would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020, affects hundreds of thousands of workers and makes Los Angeles the largest city in the country to mandate higher pay for workers at the bottom of the income ladder...
U.S. Labor
SEIU, County close the gap in latest labor deal Sun Gazette ...Tulare County Services Employees International Union (SEIU) are looking forward to a padded pocketbook in their new deal with the County pending ratification and acceptance. In previous years SEIU has attempted to gain back some of its pay held by the County as they struggled through the Great Recession. As recent as last year SEIU Chapter 251 fought for a 9% raise that they were not able to garner. However, now there appears to be a deal that satisfies both parties...
Northwestern University still awaiting ruling from National Labor Relations Board Chicago Business Journal ...A full 10 months after legal teams from Northwestern University and the College Athletes Players Association (CAPA) submitted their final filings to the full National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C., there's still no indication when the NLRB will issue a final ruling on whether Northwestern University's football team can unionize under the CAPA banner...
Talk of Philly newspaper strike, unionizing move at Gawker, big window onto media labor relations Poynter ...Union members in Philadelphia will vote Wednesday evening on whether to give leaders the right to call a walkout and potentially trigger an American labor relations rarity: a big city newspaper strike. And, by total coincidence, what could prove a notable if unrelated labor relations happening is playing out in New York: an attempt to unionize workers at Gawker Media...
Streetcar pact signed by SORTA, transit union Business Courier ...The union that represents Cincinnati transit workers has signed a deal with the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, clearing the way for its members to operate Cincinnati’s streetcar – if the City Council chooses to go that route...
US Unemployment Aid Applications Drop to 276,000 AP ...Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, a sign that job cuts remain low as employers are confident enough in the business outlook to hold onto their staffs. The Labor Department says applications for unemployment aid dropped 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 276,000. The four-week average, a less volatile figure, ticked up 2,750 to 274,750...
Miscellaneous
All This Economic Inequality Sucks, Say Most Americans Common Dreams ...The new poll, conducted jointly by the New York Times and CBS News, found that a "strong majority"—more than six out of 10 people across party lines—think the nation's "wealth should be more evenly divided" among its people and only slightly less (with Republican support falling off) think government policies should drive the effort to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor...
New US trucking technology mandate to contribute to higher rates JOC ...The U.S. federal government on Wednesday mandated that heavy trucks be equipped with electronic stability controls by Aug. 1, 2017, the latest in a series of actions taken by the federal government to improve safety that will ultimately contribute to higher truck rates. Once implemented, the National Highway Transit Safety Association said the controls could prevent 1,700 crashes annually...
After Ruling That McDonald’s Can’t Pay Workers In Bank Cards, The Bank Pays Up Think Progress ...Paying employees through prepaid debit cards that incur fees when workers try to withdraw their cash is illegal in Pennsylvania, a judge ruled Tuesday. The lawsuit targeting a McDonald’s franchisee in the eastern-central part of the state has already prompted a powerful Wall Street bank to voluntarily give money back...
Leaders of Carhaul Local Unions Approve Contract Proposals Teamster.org ...Leaders of local unions that represent Carhaul Teamsters overwhelmingly approved contract proposals today in Detroit that will be presented to the employer group on Thursday, June 4 as both sides prepare to negotiate a new National Master Automobile Transporters Agreement (NMATA). “Thanks to our members who filled out surveys and our local unions that sent in proposals, we were able to come up with a package of contract proposals that local unions approved today,” said Kevin Moore, Director of the Teamsters Carhaul Division...
EVSC and Teamsters clash on two points during collective bargaining Courier & Press ...Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. officials called an impromptu news conference late Wednesday afternoon to disclose two key concerns they have in current collective bargaining negotiations with Teamsters Local 215 representatives. EVSC School Board Negotiator Susan Traynor Chastain spoke on behalf of the board to discuss contract negotiations with the five EVSC employee groups represented by the Teamsters — bus drivers, secretaries, custodians, special education assistants and bus aides...
Global Labor & Trade
Progressives Mount Final Push Against Bill That 'Threatens Everything You Care About' Common Dreams ...With President Barack Obama "in overdrive" pushing his trade agenda and the House expected to take up so-called Fast Track authority "any day now," progressives are flooding Capitol Hill on Wednesday with phone calls and petitions expressing their opposition to corporate-friendly trade deals...
Barack Obama: China might join trade deal — eventually Politico ...China could eventually join the trade pact currently under negotiation with 12 Pacific Rim nations, President Barack Obama said Wednesday. A central part of Obama’s pitch for the trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership has been that it would prevent China from making the rules in the region...
In ‘Fast-Track’ Pitch, Obama Ready to Fight Unions in Democratic Primaries Roll Call ...President Barack Obama will protect pro-trade Democrats in party primaries against unions and others opposed to his “fast-track” trade agenda, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday. Earnest said the president is vowing to work hard to get Democrats on board, and that includes a vow to have their back politically...
Mayors leading Obama's charge on trade Politico ...President Barack Obama will have to hope America’s mayors are a little more convincing than he’s been. Faced with House Democrats who aren’t buying the administration’s efforts to draw a connection between global trade and local job growth, big-city mayors — most of them Democrats — are stepping up...
Trade deficit drops sharply to $40.9B in April USA Today ...The U.S. trade deficit declined sharply in April as exports posted a modest gain and imports fell, raising hopes that trade will not be as big a drag on economic growth in the current quarter. The April deficit dropped 19.2 percent to $40.9 billion...
WikiLeaks Strikes Again: Leaked TISA Docs Expose Corporate Plan For Reshaping Global Economy Common Dreams ...An enormous corporate-friendly treaty that many people haven't heard of was thrust into the public limelight Wednesday when famed publisher of government and corporate secrets, WikiLeaks, released 17 documents from closed-door negotiations between countries that together comprise two-thirds of the word's economy. Analysts warn that preliminary review shows that the pact, known as the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), is aimed at further privatizing and deregulating vital services...
The TPP Gang That Can’t Shoot Straight (opinion) Other Words ...As Congress gets ready to vote on whether to “fast-track” the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), its proponents are making weaker and more far-fetched arguments for the deal. And they keep getting their facts wrong and their logic twisted. This hit parade of failed arguments should convince any fence sitters that this is a bad deal...
Zimbabwe Economy in Crisis, Few Jobs, Workers Unpaid Solidarity Center ...Zimbabwe’s economy is in deep decline, making it harder for average Zimbabweans to work and live, and leaving them less and less confident in their future, according to Solidarity Center Regional Program Director for Africa Imani Countess, in testimony yesterday on Capitol Hill. “Most workers earn salaries far below the poverty level, and many workers—even in the formal sector—go for months without receiving their wages,” Countess said...
Greek unemployment rate stable at 25.6% MarketWatch ...About 1.2 million Greeks remain without a job, with the inactive population--those who aren't in employment or searching for a job, often because they have become discouraged--amounting to 3.4 million. Austerity measures imposed by creditors have allowed Greece to achieve a surplus in the primary budget, which excludes interest payments, but Athens underscores how much of a toll it has taken on economic growth and employment...
State & Living Wage Battles
Nixon expected to veto Missouri right-to-work measure KSPR ...Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon on Thursday is set to take action on the bill alongside United AutoWorkers members near Ford's Kansas City Assembly Plant. The measure would prohibit workplace contracts that require union fees to be collected from nonmembers. Nixon has criticized the bill, which he says could lead to lower wages. Other opponents have said it could undermine unions...
Proposed initiative petition would up state’s minimum wage Rolla Daily News ...Three initiative petitions to increase Missouri's minimum wage have been approved for circulation. Secretary of State Jason Kander on Tuesday announced supporters of all three now can begin collecting signatures. The petitions need to be signed by at least 5 percent of legal voters in six of the state's eight congressional districts to make it onto a ballot...
Public sounds off to election board over voter ID law WNCN ...The State Board of Elections is giving the public a chance to raise concerns about North Carolina's voter ID law. Officials held the first of nine public hearings Wednesday night to get input from residents. The public hearings are being used to see how residents would like to see this law implemented...
Illinois House to vote on changes to workers’ compensation KTRS ...Democratic Speaker Michael Madigan says the Illinois House will consider changes to the state’s workers’ compensation insurance system when it reconvenes Thursday. Madigan put out a release Wednesday noting overhauling workers’ compensation is one of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s top priorities...
In Houston, Clinton to Target Texas' Voter ID Law Texas Tribune ...Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will use a speech Thursday in Houston to call for expanded early voting across the country and criticize states like Texas for tightening election laws, according to her presidential campaign. Speaking at historically black Texas Southern University, the Democratic front-runner will propose a national requirement of at least 20 days of in-person early voting...
Walmart's latest raises show just how low its pay is Daily Kos ...You know you're a low-wage employer when you're bragging about raising base pay levels to $15 an hour ... for your managers. And not even all of them: Wal-Mart told The Associated Press late Monday that department managers of complex and service-oriented jobs in areas like produce, electronics and auto care, will start at $13 per hour...
Attempts To Limit Voting Rights Stunted As Efforts To Enhance Voting Access Prevail Huff Post ...A number of state legislatures are adjourning, and supporters of expanded access to the ballot box may be sighing in relief as they see some of the major efforts to restrict voting access were stymied during this legislative session. As the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University highlighted Wednesday, "For the third year in a row, bills to expand voters’ access to the ballot box outpace those to restrict voting, both in terms of introduction and enactment"...
Los Angeles City Council approves landmark minimum wage increase LA Times ...andmark ordinance boosting the minimum wage in Los Angeles won approval Wednesday from the City Council despite a variety of unresolved issues about how the law would work. The law, which would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020, affects hundreds of thousands of workers and makes Los Angeles the largest city in the country to mandate higher pay for workers at the bottom of the income ladder...
U.S. Labor
SEIU, County close the gap in latest labor deal Sun Gazette ...Tulare County Services Employees International Union (SEIU) are looking forward to a padded pocketbook in their new deal with the County pending ratification and acceptance. In previous years SEIU has attempted to gain back some of its pay held by the County as they struggled through the Great Recession. As recent as last year SEIU Chapter 251 fought for a 9% raise that they were not able to garner. However, now there appears to be a deal that satisfies both parties...
Northwestern University still awaiting ruling from National Labor Relations Board Chicago Business Journal ...A full 10 months after legal teams from Northwestern University and the College Athletes Players Association (CAPA) submitted their final filings to the full National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C., there's still no indication when the NLRB will issue a final ruling on whether Northwestern University's football team can unionize under the CAPA banner...
Talk of Philly newspaper strike, unionizing move at Gawker, big window onto media labor relations Poynter ...Union members in Philadelphia will vote Wednesday evening on whether to give leaders the right to call a walkout and potentially trigger an American labor relations rarity: a big city newspaper strike. And, by total coincidence, what could prove a notable if unrelated labor relations happening is playing out in New York: an attempt to unionize workers at Gawker Media...
Streetcar pact signed by SORTA, transit union Business Courier ...The union that represents Cincinnati transit workers has signed a deal with the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, clearing the way for its members to operate Cincinnati’s streetcar – if the City Council chooses to go that route...
US Unemployment Aid Applications Drop to 276,000 AP ...Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, a sign that job cuts remain low as employers are confident enough in the business outlook to hold onto their staffs. The Labor Department says applications for unemployment aid dropped 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 276,000. The four-week average, a less volatile figure, ticked up 2,750 to 274,750...
Miscellaneous
All This Economic Inequality Sucks, Say Most Americans Common Dreams ...The new poll, conducted jointly by the New York Times and CBS News, found that a "strong majority"—more than six out of 10 people across party lines—think the nation's "wealth should be more evenly divided" among its people and only slightly less (with Republican support falling off) think government policies should drive the effort to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor...
New US trucking technology mandate to contribute to higher rates JOC ...The U.S. federal government on Wednesday mandated that heavy trucks be equipped with electronic stability controls by Aug. 1, 2017, the latest in a series of actions taken by the federal government to improve safety that will ultimately contribute to higher truck rates. Once implemented, the National Highway Transit Safety Association said the controls could prevent 1,700 crashes annually...
After Ruling That McDonald’s Can’t Pay Workers In Bank Cards, The Bank Pays Up Think Progress ...Paying employees through prepaid debit cards that incur fees when workers try to withdraw their cash is illegal in Pennsylvania, a judge ruled Tuesday. The lawsuit targeting a McDonald’s franchisee in the eastern-central part of the state has already prompted a powerful Wall Street bank to voluntarily give money back...
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Today's Teamster News 05.13.15
Teamsters
Hoffa: What America needs from its trade pacts Detroit News ...The U.S. Senate has decided, for now, not to put the Trans-Pacific Partnership on the fast track. That's a good thing. This issue deserves a full debate. Fast track trade authority is would allow bad trade pacts like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to sail through Capitol Hill with little debate and no chance to be amended...
Teamsters Applaud Senate Defeat of Cloture for Fast Track Bill Teamster.org ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa on today’s defeat of a vote for cloture on the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill: “With today’s defeat in the Senate of a vote for cloture on fast track, members of Congress have signaled they will not relinquish their constitutional authority over trade agreements"...
Teamsters protest in Mo. Capitol against right to work Teamster Nation ...Another battle is raging in the state of Missouri against a right-to-work-for-less legislative attack on unions. And Teamsters are on the front line with other union members fighting for American workers. On Monday, workers and union leaders stormed the Missouri Capitol as state lawmakers heard testimony on the proposed bill to make the "Show-Me-State" the 26th "right to work" state in the country...
Global Labor & Trade
Senate Democrats Foil Obama on Asia Trade Deal New York Times ...Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked consideration of giving President Obama power to accelerate a broad trade accord with Asia, a rebuke that the president helped bring on himself. After more than six years battling Republicans on everything from his signature health care legislation to simply keeping the government open, Mr. Obama is at odds with his own party...
The March Trade Deficit and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Huff Post ...The jump in the March trade deficit, coupled with the weak job numbers for the last two months, should highlight the importance of including rules on currency in trade agreements. Such rules could ensure that the dollar does not remain over-valued and prevent the economy from reaching full employment...
Obama fails first test on trade Politico ...Tuesday was the first test vote on trade, and President Barack Obama failed. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declared the 52-45 vote “shocking,” labor and progressive groups declared victory, and the White House was left insisting that things really aren’t over yet for fast-track authority and the broader Trans-Pacific Partnership trade treaty that the administration is hoping would follow...
Why Doctors Without Borders Is Lobbying Against Obama’s Trade Deal National Journal ...The physicians group has quietly been opposing the emerging Trans-Pacific Partnership for a few years now, but its efforts are growing more public. It sent multiple letters to Obama in the past few months, as the congressional debate about giving the president fast-track authority has ramped up, warning about the implications for drug costs in other countries...
Jesse Jackson: Don't believe Obama on trade deal Chicago Sun Times ...The president argues the case for a level playing field, but his allies — the Republican majorities in Congress, the business lobby — keep the field slanted against working people. Our global policies aren’t the only reason for this, but they are one contributor to it. The cycle of drugs-in-jobs-out must end. We need to go another way. Fast track sends us the wrong way...
Labour begins indefinite strike in Bauchi Daily Post ...For the failure of the Bauchi State government to pay outstanding March and April salaries, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Trade Union Congress, TUC and the Joint Public Service Negotiation Council, JPSNC, in the state, have called their members out for an indefinite strike with effect from today, May 13...
Obama’s trade deal: Why he’s in danger of losing (opinion) Washinton Post ...The secrecy makes it appear Obama is hiding something. “If the president is so confident it’s a good deal, he should declassify the text and let people see it before asking Congress to tie its hands on fixing it,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told my colleague Greg Sargent. Instead of coming clean, Obama prefers to inform fellow Democrats that he’s the smartest guy in the room...
State & Living Wage Battles
Senate Passes ALEC 'Right to Work' Attacks - What's Next? Progress Missouri ...It’s been an ugly 24 hours in the Capitol. Tonight, despite strong bipartisan opposition in both the House and Senate, extremists in the Senate rammed through the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) so-called ‘right-to-work’ legislation. Despite all the arm-twisting, ALEC and the Koch Brothers still don’t have the votes to override a veto from Governor Jay Nixon...
Mo. Senate shuts down debate to pass "right-to-work" St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...Missouri Senate Republicans shut down debate Tuesday to pass a “right-to-work” measure after Democrats filibustered the bill for more than eight hours. In return, Senate Democrats plan to shut down everything else until the session ends at 6 p.m. Friday. The rare measure to shut down debate, known as the previous question, has been used in the Senate only 14 times since 1970...
Anti-union bill gains momentum in right-to-work Louisiana Associated Press ...An anti-union bill is stirring up what may be Louisiana's first real battle between business and labor unions in a generation. The measure is scheduled for a Tuesday debate before the full House. If approved, it would bar police, firefighters and teachers from having union dues automatically deducted from their pay...
Ohio Republicans push new voter ID bill MSNBC ...With 2016 approaching, Ohio Republicans are making a new push for a voter ID bill—setting the stage for another battle over voting in the nation’s most pivotal swing state. Legislation introduced last week by conservatives in the statehouse would require that voters show a driver’s license, passport or military ID...
Mich. Senate panel to debate repeal of prevailing wage laws Lansing State Journal ...The contentious issue of repealing Michigan’s prevailing wage laws will get a hearing Wednesday morning at the state Capitol. Gov. Rick Snyder said last week that he doesn’t support a repeal, but that isn’t stopping the Senate’s Michigan Competitiveness committee from taking up a package of three bills beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday...
N.J. unions protest cuts to pensions in big Statehouse rally NJ.com ...Workers clad in red, blue or green t-shirts carried signs imploring the governor to "fund the pension" and "obey the law." The pension law at the center of the fight requires the state to increase payments into the public employees pension fund, while also freezing cost-of-living adjustments, raising the retirement age and forcing workers to contribute more for their retirement...
A Game-Changing Moment for Fast-Food Workers Huff Post ...Two and half years ago, 200 fast-food workers went on strike in New York City demanding $15 an hour and union rights. Most people, including many in the labor movement, thought the cooks and cashiers from restaurants like McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's had no chance to win. But nine strikes later, and having sparked a global movement for higher pay, $15 doesn't seem so crazy anymore...
Chris Christie Wants To Expand Corporate Tax Breaks Without Any Proof That They Work Think Progress ...New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has approved $5.4 billion in corporate tax breaks since he took office in 2010. And on Monday, just before he called for cutting corporate tax rates across the country as part of a national economic policy plan, he vetoed a measure that would allow taxpayers to evaluate if the subsidies are actually working...
U.S. Labor
Union and Nonprofit Leaders: Labor Should Shift Its Focus to Organizing Black Workers In These Times ...Despite years of decline, the labor movement continues to provide economic stability in many black communities. Of all demographic groups, black workers have the highest union membership rates. These historic ties have led some to see black workers as a cornerstone to any effort to rebuild a movement in deep decline. And drawing from the national momentum of organizing around police reform, many black labor leaders today are leading the charge...
USW Accuses AP Green of Unfair Labor Practices, Unlawful Lockout at Ohio Refractory Plant PR Newswire ...The United Steelworkers (USW) today said that the union has filed unfair labor practices against AP Green Refractories, Inc. on behalf of more than 40 Local 2324-5 members who have been locked out of their jobs at the company's Oak Hill, Ohio production facility since April 15, 2015...
When Will We Stop Exploiting Home-Care Workers? Dame Magazine ...The work of the nation's 2 million home health-care aides and attendants has been in the public spotlight for a while now, first as those workers rose up and demanded that their labor be valued the same way as other work is, through access to the protections of labor law, and then as the victories they won have been dismantled in court bit by bit...
Miscellaneous
Amtrak Philadelphia train crash: mayor describes 'disastrous mess' The Guardian ...A crash investigation has begun into what caused an Amtrak train to derail in north Philadelphia, killing at least five people and leaving six others critically injured. A sixth person was declared dead by Herb Cushing, medical director of Temple University hospital in Philadelphia...
Amtrak Train Derails in Philadelphia, Killing at Least 6 and Injuring Dozens New York Times ... Emergency crews picked through the wreckage of a derailed Amtrak train Wednesday, looking for survivors and victims. The Northeast Corridor, which runs between Boston and Washington, is one of the railroad’s busiest and most profitable lines. But officials have long complained that the agency needs more subsidies from Congress to improve the railroad’s deteriorating infrastructure and replace aging equipment...
Wall Street greed refuses to die: How lobbyists & dark-money groups are exposing us to another disaster Salon ...After five years, the big banks are already hard at work trying to dismantle regulations that were put in place to prevent irresponsible banking and financial destruction. And “studies” like the one released by the American Action Forum, who for all we know is being funded by the big banks themselves, will help them achieve this goal. Who knows, maybe it will take another, even more disastrous economic collapse to really change the system...
Hoffa: What America needs from its trade pacts Detroit News ...The U.S. Senate has decided, for now, not to put the Trans-Pacific Partnership on the fast track. That's a good thing. This issue deserves a full debate. Fast track trade authority is would allow bad trade pacts like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to sail through Capitol Hill with little debate and no chance to be amended...
Teamsters Applaud Senate Defeat of Cloture for Fast Track Bill Teamster.org ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa on today’s defeat of a vote for cloture on the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill: “With today’s defeat in the Senate of a vote for cloture on fast track, members of Congress have signaled they will not relinquish their constitutional authority over trade agreements"...
Teamsters protest in Mo. Capitol against right to work Teamster Nation ...Another battle is raging in the state of Missouri against a right-to-work-for-less legislative attack on unions. And Teamsters are on the front line with other union members fighting for American workers. On Monday, workers and union leaders stormed the Missouri Capitol as state lawmakers heard testimony on the proposed bill to make the "Show-Me-State" the 26th "right to work" state in the country...
Global Labor & Trade
Senate Democrats Foil Obama on Asia Trade Deal New York Times ...Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked consideration of giving President Obama power to accelerate a broad trade accord with Asia, a rebuke that the president helped bring on himself. After more than six years battling Republicans on everything from his signature health care legislation to simply keeping the government open, Mr. Obama is at odds with his own party...
The March Trade Deficit and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Huff Post ...The jump in the March trade deficit, coupled with the weak job numbers for the last two months, should highlight the importance of including rules on currency in trade agreements. Such rules could ensure that the dollar does not remain over-valued and prevent the economy from reaching full employment...
Obama fails first test on trade Politico ...Tuesday was the first test vote on trade, and President Barack Obama failed. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declared the 52-45 vote “shocking,” labor and progressive groups declared victory, and the White House was left insisting that things really aren’t over yet for fast-track authority and the broader Trans-Pacific Partnership trade treaty that the administration is hoping would follow...
Why Doctors Without Borders Is Lobbying Against Obama’s Trade Deal National Journal ...The physicians group has quietly been opposing the emerging Trans-Pacific Partnership for a few years now, but its efforts are growing more public. It sent multiple letters to Obama in the past few months, as the congressional debate about giving the president fast-track authority has ramped up, warning about the implications for drug costs in other countries...
Jesse Jackson: Don't believe Obama on trade deal Chicago Sun Times ...The president argues the case for a level playing field, but his allies — the Republican majorities in Congress, the business lobby — keep the field slanted against working people. Our global policies aren’t the only reason for this, but they are one contributor to it. The cycle of drugs-in-jobs-out must end. We need to go another way. Fast track sends us the wrong way...
Labour begins indefinite strike in Bauchi Daily Post ...For the failure of the Bauchi State government to pay outstanding March and April salaries, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Trade Union Congress, TUC and the Joint Public Service Negotiation Council, JPSNC, in the state, have called their members out for an indefinite strike with effect from today, May 13...
Obama’s trade deal: Why he’s in danger of losing (opinion) Washinton Post ...The secrecy makes it appear Obama is hiding something. “If the president is so confident it’s a good deal, he should declassify the text and let people see it before asking Congress to tie its hands on fixing it,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told my colleague Greg Sargent. Instead of coming clean, Obama prefers to inform fellow Democrats that he’s the smartest guy in the room...
State & Living Wage Battles
Senate Passes ALEC 'Right to Work' Attacks - What's Next? Progress Missouri ...It’s been an ugly 24 hours in the Capitol. Tonight, despite strong bipartisan opposition in both the House and Senate, extremists in the Senate rammed through the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) so-called ‘right-to-work’ legislation. Despite all the arm-twisting, ALEC and the Koch Brothers still don’t have the votes to override a veto from Governor Jay Nixon...
Mo. Senate shuts down debate to pass "right-to-work" St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...Missouri Senate Republicans shut down debate Tuesday to pass a “right-to-work” measure after Democrats filibustered the bill for more than eight hours. In return, Senate Democrats plan to shut down everything else until the session ends at 6 p.m. Friday. The rare measure to shut down debate, known as the previous question, has been used in the Senate only 14 times since 1970...
Anti-union bill gains momentum in right-to-work Louisiana Associated Press ...An anti-union bill is stirring up what may be Louisiana's first real battle between business and labor unions in a generation. The measure is scheduled for a Tuesday debate before the full House. If approved, it would bar police, firefighters and teachers from having union dues automatically deducted from their pay...
Ohio Republicans push new voter ID bill MSNBC ...With 2016 approaching, Ohio Republicans are making a new push for a voter ID bill—setting the stage for another battle over voting in the nation’s most pivotal swing state. Legislation introduced last week by conservatives in the statehouse would require that voters show a driver’s license, passport or military ID...
Mich. Senate panel to debate repeal of prevailing wage laws Lansing State Journal ...The contentious issue of repealing Michigan’s prevailing wage laws will get a hearing Wednesday morning at the state Capitol. Gov. Rick Snyder said last week that he doesn’t support a repeal, but that isn’t stopping the Senate’s Michigan Competitiveness committee from taking up a package of three bills beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday...
N.J. unions protest cuts to pensions in big Statehouse rally NJ.com ...Workers clad in red, blue or green t-shirts carried signs imploring the governor to "fund the pension" and "obey the law." The pension law at the center of the fight requires the state to increase payments into the public employees pension fund, while also freezing cost-of-living adjustments, raising the retirement age and forcing workers to contribute more for their retirement...
A Game-Changing Moment for Fast-Food Workers Huff Post ...Two and half years ago, 200 fast-food workers went on strike in New York City demanding $15 an hour and union rights. Most people, including many in the labor movement, thought the cooks and cashiers from restaurants like McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's had no chance to win. But nine strikes later, and having sparked a global movement for higher pay, $15 doesn't seem so crazy anymore...
Chris Christie Wants To Expand Corporate Tax Breaks Without Any Proof That They Work Think Progress ...New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has approved $5.4 billion in corporate tax breaks since he took office in 2010. And on Monday, just before he called for cutting corporate tax rates across the country as part of a national economic policy plan, he vetoed a measure that would allow taxpayers to evaluate if the subsidies are actually working...
U.S. Labor
Union and Nonprofit Leaders: Labor Should Shift Its Focus to Organizing Black Workers In These Times ...Despite years of decline, the labor movement continues to provide economic stability in many black communities. Of all demographic groups, black workers have the highest union membership rates. These historic ties have led some to see black workers as a cornerstone to any effort to rebuild a movement in deep decline. And drawing from the national momentum of organizing around police reform, many black labor leaders today are leading the charge...
USW Accuses AP Green of Unfair Labor Practices, Unlawful Lockout at Ohio Refractory Plant PR Newswire ...The United Steelworkers (USW) today said that the union has filed unfair labor practices against AP Green Refractories, Inc. on behalf of more than 40 Local 2324-5 members who have been locked out of their jobs at the company's Oak Hill, Ohio production facility since April 15, 2015...
When Will We Stop Exploiting Home-Care Workers? Dame Magazine ...The work of the nation's 2 million home health-care aides and attendants has been in the public spotlight for a while now, first as those workers rose up and demanded that their labor be valued the same way as other work is, through access to the protections of labor law, and then as the victories they won have been dismantled in court bit by bit...
Miscellaneous
Amtrak Philadelphia train crash: mayor describes 'disastrous mess' The Guardian ...A crash investigation has begun into what caused an Amtrak train to derail in north Philadelphia, killing at least five people and leaving six others critically injured. A sixth person was declared dead by Herb Cushing, medical director of Temple University hospital in Philadelphia...
Amtrak Train Derails in Philadelphia, Killing at Least 6 and Injuring Dozens New York Times ... Emergency crews picked through the wreckage of a derailed Amtrak train Wednesday, looking for survivors and victims. The Northeast Corridor, which runs between Boston and Washington, is one of the railroad’s busiest and most profitable lines. But officials have long complained that the agency needs more subsidies from Congress to improve the railroad’s deteriorating infrastructure and replace aging equipment...
Wall Street greed refuses to die: How lobbyists & dark-money groups are exposing us to another disaster Salon ...After five years, the big banks are already hard at work trying to dismantle regulations that were put in place to prevent irresponsible banking and financial destruction. And “studies” like the one released by the American Action Forum, who for all we know is being funded by the big banks themselves, will help them achieve this goal. Who knows, maybe it will take another, even more disastrous economic collapse to really change the system...
Friday, January 9, 2015
Today's Teamster News 01.09.15
Teamsters
Virginia Teamsters Strike At TW Perry Construction Supplier teamster.org ...Teamsters at TW Perry launched a strike early Tuesday morning against the local contractor supplier's bad faith bargaining. Frustration among workers, represented by Teamsters Local 639 in Washington, DC, has been building over several months...
New York's most famous rat Marketplace ...Both ugly and effective, Scabby makes regular appearances during labor disputes. He's even been taken to court, when an asbestos contractor argued that the rat qualified as "disruptive activity."...
Federal Data Shows Regional Broadliners’ Troubled Safety Record teamster.org ...Performance Food Group (PFG) drivers have the highest number of fitness and safety violations among the top 10 broadline foodservice industry players...As the Federal Trade Commission continues its antitrust review of Sysco’s proposed merger with US Foods, smaller regional competitors like PFG, Reinhart Foodservice and other distributors have been the focus of news reports as potential divestiture buyers...
Volusia County Declares 'Impasse' With Already-Woefully Underpaid Sheriff's Deputies Headline Surfer ...Bob Walker, business agent for Teamsters 385 out of Orlando knows the drill all too well and he thinks it stinks...
Trade
Democrats Step Up Efforts to Block Obama’s Trade Agenda New York Times ... President Obama is facing new opposition from fellow Democrats to one of his top priorities: winning the power to negotiate international trade agreements and speed them through Congress...
Dems rally opposition for fast-track trade The Hill ...A group of House Democrats is teaming up with labor, environmental and religious groups to rally against fast-track trade authority for President Obama...
Enormous, Humongous Trade Deficit Falls To Enormous, Humongous Level Economy in Crisis ...A trade deficit of $39 billion, while lower than it had been, is still an enormous, humongous amount drained from our economy in a single month. It demonstrates the extent to which our trade “partners” are not reciprocating and actually “trading” with us...
TTIP Papers Published As EU Ombudsman Demands More Transparency EurActiv ...It is the first time that the Commission has published the legal language and binding rules the EU is pushing for during free trade agreement negotiations. The TTIP talks have been dogged by accusations of secrecy and suspicions that big business is having too much influence on negotiations...
State Battles
Ohio labor supporters rally against post midterm elections Right to Work push Keep Ohio's Heritage ...With midterm elections solidifying GOP control in many of the nation’s Right to Work battleground states, labor supporters are gearing up for the inevitable: battles over Right to Work...
Right to work to be biggest battle in upcoming NM legislative session KOB4 ...Right to work - three little words we will be hearing over and over again during New Mexico's 60-day legislative session. It's a proposal to end compulsory union membership in the state. Business leaders fired the opening shots Wednesday in their campaign to get it into the law books – and it promises to be the mother of all battles this year...
Koster Asks Court To Force Bridgeton Landfill Owner To Collect More Data St. Louis Post Dispatch ...Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster is asking a St. Louis County Circuit Court judge to order the owner of the Bridgeton Landfill to immediately begin collecting data that could show whether an underground fire is nearing radioactive waste...
Paid Sick Days, More Workplace Benefits For D.C. Workers Roll Call ...Overall, workplace rights may be changing in the District of Columbia, but until Congress implements broader legislative changes, sick days, pregnancy accommodations and family leave won’t be a given for the rest of the country — even as they are for Hill staffers...
Bill Would Raise Kansas’ Minimum Wage $3 Kansas City Star ...A Wichita Democrat is sponsoring a bill that would raise the state’s minimum wage by $3 dollars by 2017. Rep. Jim Ward’s proposal would raise the wage by $1 – to $8.25 an hour– on July 1. The wage would then go up to $1 a year during the next two years...
Conservatives Have a New Plan for Busting America's Unions Vice ...After years of fighting organized labor in state houses and on Capitol Hill, conservatives opened up a fresh battleground in Kentucky last month, pushing a brand new crop of anti-union laws in counties across the state. Propped up by major conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the "right-to-work"ordinances—which weaken unions by allowing employees to opt out of paying dues—test the boundaries of US labor laws, putting the fate of union workers squarely in the hands of local, rather than state, governments...
War on Workers
EPA Delays Regulations On Cutting Carbon At Coal Power Plants Houston Chronicle ...A final rule was due by law on Jan. 8, a year after it was first proposed. But the Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday it would wait until midsummer, and issue the new power plant rules with a separate regulation aimed at cutting the pollution blamed for global warming from the existing coal-fired power fleet...
The GOP's Social Security Assault Has A Human Cost (opinion) Huffington Post ...perhaps in an attempt to add to the false hysteria over Social Security's finances, they're refusing to make this routine correction. If it stands, disability insurance benefits for 11 million people -- benefits that are meager in the best of times -- will be cut by 20 percent next year...
Most of America’s rich think the poor have it easy Washington Post ...the majority of the country's most financially secure citizens (54 percent at the very top, and 57 percent just below) believe the "poor have it easy because they can get government benefits without doing anything in return." America's least financially secure, meanwhile, vehemently disagree — nearly 70 percent say the poor have hard lives because the benefits "don't go far enough."...
A Ban On Child Labor In Tobacco Fields (opinion) New York Times ...some cigarette companies and growers have said they will voluntarily restrict child labor in tobacco fields. Though welcome, these steps should be reinforced by new federal rules. Children as young as 7 are working on tobacco farms in North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia...
Car Loans See Rise In Missed Payments Wall Street Journal ...Borrowers who took out auto loans over the past year are missing payments at the highest level since the recession, fueling concerns among regulators, analysts and some in the car industry that practices that helped boost 2014 light-vehicle sales to a near-decade high could backfire...
Worker Killed By Garbage Truck In Franklin Lakes, Police Seek Witnesses NJ.com ...A trash hauling company employee died after a garbage truck his co-worker was driving hit him in an apparent accident Wednesday, borough police said...
Miscellaneous
In Low Gasoline Prices, an Opening Emerges for Higher Taxes Wall Street Journal ...The sharp drop in gasoline prices over the past few months is providing a rare political opening for state and federal officials who want to raise gasoline taxes to repair highways and boost construction jobs...
Virginia Teamsters Strike At TW Perry Construction Supplier teamster.org ...Teamsters at TW Perry launched a strike early Tuesday morning against the local contractor supplier's bad faith bargaining. Frustration among workers, represented by Teamsters Local 639 in Washington, DC, has been building over several months...
New York's most famous rat Marketplace ...Both ugly and effective, Scabby makes regular appearances during labor disputes. He's even been taken to court, when an asbestos contractor argued that the rat qualified as "disruptive activity."...
Federal Data Shows Regional Broadliners’ Troubled Safety Record teamster.org ...Performance Food Group (PFG) drivers have the highest number of fitness and safety violations among the top 10 broadline foodservice industry players...As the Federal Trade Commission continues its antitrust review of Sysco’s proposed merger with US Foods, smaller regional competitors like PFG, Reinhart Foodservice and other distributors have been the focus of news reports as potential divestiture buyers...
Volusia County Declares 'Impasse' With Already-Woefully Underpaid Sheriff's Deputies Headline Surfer ...Bob Walker, business agent for Teamsters 385 out of Orlando knows the drill all too well and he thinks it stinks...
Trade
Democrats Step Up Efforts to Block Obama’s Trade Agenda New York Times ... President Obama is facing new opposition from fellow Democrats to one of his top priorities: winning the power to negotiate international trade agreements and speed them through Congress...
Dems rally opposition for fast-track trade The Hill ...A group of House Democrats is teaming up with labor, environmental and religious groups to rally against fast-track trade authority for President Obama...
Enormous, Humongous Trade Deficit Falls To Enormous, Humongous Level Economy in Crisis ...A trade deficit of $39 billion, while lower than it had been, is still an enormous, humongous amount drained from our economy in a single month. It demonstrates the extent to which our trade “partners” are not reciprocating and actually “trading” with us...
TTIP Papers Published As EU Ombudsman Demands More Transparency EurActiv ...It is the first time that the Commission has published the legal language and binding rules the EU is pushing for during free trade agreement negotiations. The TTIP talks have been dogged by accusations of secrecy and suspicions that big business is having too much influence on negotiations...
State Battles
Ohio labor supporters rally against post midterm elections Right to Work push Keep Ohio's Heritage ...With midterm elections solidifying GOP control in many of the nation’s Right to Work battleground states, labor supporters are gearing up for the inevitable: battles over Right to Work...
Right to work to be biggest battle in upcoming NM legislative session KOB4 ...Right to work - three little words we will be hearing over and over again during New Mexico's 60-day legislative session. It's a proposal to end compulsory union membership in the state. Business leaders fired the opening shots Wednesday in their campaign to get it into the law books – and it promises to be the mother of all battles this year...
Koster Asks Court To Force Bridgeton Landfill Owner To Collect More Data St. Louis Post Dispatch ...Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster is asking a St. Louis County Circuit Court judge to order the owner of the Bridgeton Landfill to immediately begin collecting data that could show whether an underground fire is nearing radioactive waste...
Paid Sick Days, More Workplace Benefits For D.C. Workers Roll Call ...Overall, workplace rights may be changing in the District of Columbia, but until Congress implements broader legislative changes, sick days, pregnancy accommodations and family leave won’t be a given for the rest of the country — even as they are for Hill staffers...
Bill Would Raise Kansas’ Minimum Wage $3 Kansas City Star ...A Wichita Democrat is sponsoring a bill that would raise the state’s minimum wage by $3 dollars by 2017. Rep. Jim Ward’s proposal would raise the wage by $1 – to $8.25 an hour– on July 1. The wage would then go up to $1 a year during the next two years...
Conservatives Have a New Plan for Busting America's Unions Vice ...After years of fighting organized labor in state houses and on Capitol Hill, conservatives opened up a fresh battleground in Kentucky last month, pushing a brand new crop of anti-union laws in counties across the state. Propped up by major conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the "right-to-work"ordinances—which weaken unions by allowing employees to opt out of paying dues—test the boundaries of US labor laws, putting the fate of union workers squarely in the hands of local, rather than state, governments...
War on Workers
EPA Delays Regulations On Cutting Carbon At Coal Power Plants Houston Chronicle ...A final rule was due by law on Jan. 8, a year after it was first proposed. But the Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday it would wait until midsummer, and issue the new power plant rules with a separate regulation aimed at cutting the pollution blamed for global warming from the existing coal-fired power fleet...
The GOP's Social Security Assault Has A Human Cost (opinion) Huffington Post ...perhaps in an attempt to add to the false hysteria over Social Security's finances, they're refusing to make this routine correction. If it stands, disability insurance benefits for 11 million people -- benefits that are meager in the best of times -- will be cut by 20 percent next year...
Most of America’s rich think the poor have it easy Washington Post ...the majority of the country's most financially secure citizens (54 percent at the very top, and 57 percent just below) believe the "poor have it easy because they can get government benefits without doing anything in return." America's least financially secure, meanwhile, vehemently disagree — nearly 70 percent say the poor have hard lives because the benefits "don't go far enough."...
A Ban On Child Labor In Tobacco Fields (opinion) New York Times ...some cigarette companies and growers have said they will voluntarily restrict child labor in tobacco fields. Though welcome, these steps should be reinforced by new federal rules. Children as young as 7 are working on tobacco farms in North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia...
Car Loans See Rise In Missed Payments Wall Street Journal ...Borrowers who took out auto loans over the past year are missing payments at the highest level since the recession, fueling concerns among regulators, analysts and some in the car industry that practices that helped boost 2014 light-vehicle sales to a near-decade high could backfire...
Worker Killed By Garbage Truck In Franklin Lakes, Police Seek Witnesses NJ.com ...A trash hauling company employee died after a garbage truck his co-worker was driving hit him in an apparent accident Wednesday, borough police said...
Miscellaneous
In Low Gasoline Prices, an Opening Emerges for Higher Taxes Wall Street Journal ...The sharp drop in gasoline prices over the past few months is providing a rare political opening for state and federal officials who want to raise gasoline taxes to repair highways and boost construction jobs...
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