Sysco fired 18 workers for organizing a union. Demand justice!

There's been an outpouring of support for Sysco workers who were fired for supporting successful union drives in Atlanta and Olathe, Kan. Thousands of people emailed Sysco CEO William J. Delaney III demanding he reinstate the workers who were fired unjustly.

You can help. Go to http://ibt.io/sysco to join in the fight for justice.

Bruce Her, pictured above, was one of the 15 who lost his job in Atlanta during the campaign to join Teamsters Local 528. Three more Sysco workers were terminated in Kansas for the same reason.

The Protecting Sysco & US Foods Workers Facebook page tells us that isn't all Sysco did:

Teamsters Local 528 has filed numerous charges against the company for direct dealing with employees, making unilateral changes to things such as work rules, discipline standards and scheduling, conducting surveillance and threatening employees.

Sysco also fired Jason Coder, father of three, for supporting
the Teamsters organizing drive in Kansas.

Sysco’s anti-union antagonism is continuing as workers in the two facilities try to bargain first contracts after winning their Teamster representation elections.

Nearly 8,000 Teamsters helped build Sysco into the leading high-volume foodservice provider in the United States. They have pledged to pursue relentlessly justice for the workers targeted for their union activity.

Shuandrez Fitzgerald, father of twins,
was fired by Sysco for helping to
organize the Atlanta facility.

You can help by calling on Delaney to immediately reinstate the terminated workers and to bargain in good faith for fair contracts. Go to this link http://ibt.io/sysco to send an email to Delaney demanding justice and an end to union busting.

Walmart mismanagement: Does it sound like a place where you work?

Walmart has an outsize impact on the U.S. economy as it depresses wages, increases the trade gap with China and destroys locally-owned competitors. The way it treats its workers may have also spread.

Consider this story from the peerless Hamilton Nolan at Gawker. Nolan received a memo from an Oklahoma Walmart manager who described how the company pitted him against low-income employees.

Here are some of the lowlights:

• Store managers can double their pay if they keep payroll costs down. "Which means gradually forcing the long time employees out. And replacing them with temporary workers, who are not eligible for healthcare, time off, or even a discount card. Most of these people start off at $7.90 an hour and are already on public assistance. That ends up backfiring because the new hires most of them end up quitting within a month."
• Plenty of labor law violations. "I've had to cut many of my Cashiers hours and as a result less registers have been open which means longer lines. We've even had to make many cashiers not take their 15 minute break. I've also had to work 60 hour weeks while not receiving any overtime pay."
• Wage theft by failing to pay overtime. "I ended up working 65 hour weeks (which has been hard on my family) doing tasks such as stocking shelves, running a register, while also being responsible for electronics." Walmart did not pay overtime.
• Ripping off the customer: A reader commented: Walmart forces managers to do all sorts of questionable things to insure their bonus. One example that is rarely mentioned is the practice of 'pricing mistakes'. Walmart is fond of making items ring up at a higher rate than the displayed signage. They typically do this for popular items and by a small amount. This is done at the store level so that there is not a systematic parity. This is also a violation of the law in most states. To be clear, Walmart doesn't just let this happen. They actively request it(or at least have in the past).

Does this sound like someplace you work?

Shed no tears for McKesson CEO Hammergren and his $61.1M salary

John Hammergren, the $114M man

'Millions by millions, CEO pay goes up,' blared a recent USA Today headline, and you knew who would be mentioned in the story: McKesson CEO (and union buster) John Hammergren.

Hammergren was given a jaw-dropping pay package last year, despite racking up nearly $1 billion in fines for price fixing and ripping off customers. At the time it was reported to be $51.7 million, with a pension of $159 million. Indignant shareholders objected, and Hammergren agreed to take a cut to $114 million.

Hammergren is still making so much money the company pays him an extra $17,000 for someone to count it all.

Meanwhile, workers at McKesson's Lakeland, Fla., warehouse don't earn enough to afford health care. They voted to join the Teamsters, but the company is threatening and harassing them in a by-the-book union-busting campaign.

USA Today rightly skewered CEOs who loot the companies they claw their way to the top of. Median pay for CEOs rose 13 percent to $10.5 million last year. Fifteen top executives took home more than $100 million.

No one should shed tears for Hammergren giving up $45 million in pension benefits. McKesson, a pharmaceutical products distributor, valued his 2013 compensation at $27.5 million and said he gained another $34.2 million from vested shares and exercising stock options.

That's $61.1  million. And no, we're not crying for John Hammergren.

Today's Teamster News 01.23.14

Midwest Foods Warehouse Workers Choose Teamsters  teamstersjc25.com   ...Thirty distribution employees and drivers at Midwest Foods overwhelmingly voted to join Teamsters Local 703, which negotiated a strong, new five-year contract for their newest members... 
N.Y. Teamsters Join Anti-Fast Track Fight  teamster.org   ...The Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 553 in New York City, spoke out Tuesday against legislation that would force a quick up-or-down vote on bum trade deals like the TPP...
Unions coalesce against ‘paycheck protection’ legislation  Pennsylvania Independent   ...Unions across Pennsylvania are fighting a proposal that would end the practice of automatically deducting dues from public workers’ paychecks. The plan squelches the voice of organized labor, the labor groups say...
Thievery: How Congress Keeps Stealing From Our Retirement Benefits and Social Safety Net   AlterNet...Military pensions, unemployment, disability and Social Security are all targets...
Labor, business interests debate Missouri 'right to work' legislation  Colombia Missourian   ...Labor and business representatives turned out in large numbers Tuesday morning in the second public hearing for House Bills 1053 and 1143, popularly known as the "right to work" bills...
No, It’s About Profits, Not “Free Speech”  NH Labor News   ...Don’t be fooled. Tueday's Supreme Court hearing in Harris v. Quinn was about corporate profits – the cold, hard cash that employers can save when they break their workers’ union...
BP Employees, Outraged by Lack of Compensation, Warn Oil Spill Victims  Truthout   ...Long-term employees accuse oil giant BP of greed, exploitation and lying about their pensions...
Public Employees Are Transforming the Workplace  Jobs With Justice   ...As the 2014 state legislative sessions commence, an increasing number of elected officials have declared open season on public employees and their unions. Yet examples abound of productive labor-management relations in the public sector—even in the wake of government agencies reeling from the Great Recession...
NSA sets dangerous global trend for surveillance  The Raw Story   ...The U.S. is setting a dangerous example for the world with its sweeping surveillance programmes, giving governments an excuse for mass censorship of online communications, Human Rights Watch said in its annual report Tuesday...
Housing costs are killing the American Dream  Moyers & Company   ...Historically, economic and geographic mobility have been intertwined. Studies have shown that the number one reason that people pick up and move to another community is for work:. But something has happened. In the 1980s, we began to stay put...
West Virginia Governor On Safety Of Water Supply: ‘It’s Your Decision… I’m Not A Scientist’   ThinkProgress   ...Amid growing concern over whether or not West Virginia's water is actually safe, the state's governor said it was up to residents to decide whether they use it...
Company that contaminated WV water supply reaches bankruptcy deal, bemoans 'perception' problem
DailyKos   ...The spill is causing the spiller a "perception" problem...
The Myth of the Absent Black Father  ThinkProgress   ...CDC research dispels prevailing assumptions about black fathers, they're more involved with their children's lives than previously thought...
New study reveals major gaps in FDA’s ‘regulatory flexibility’  The Raw Story   ...Consumers may expect that medical treatments approved for the US market are safe and thoroughly tested, but a study out Tuesday said that is not always the case...
Ownership of WaPo by CIA Contractor Puts U.S. Journalism in Dangerous Terrain  The Real News   ...Norman Solomon: There is a major conflict of interest in the ownership of The Washington Post by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who holds a $600 million contract with the CIA...
Senator Warren: Let students refinance their loans  Associated Press   ...U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is planning to file a bill to let students refinance their old loans at a new lower rate...
Slumping Intel to cut more than 5,000 jobs in 2014  Associated Press   ...Intel plans to trim more than 5,000 jobs from its workforce this year in an effort to boost its earnings amid waning demand for its personal computer chips...
Texas Instruments cutting 1,100 jobs; 4Q profit up  Seattle Post-Intelligencer ...Chipmaker Texas Instruments Inc. said Tuesday that it will cut 1,100 jobs worldwide, about 3 percent of its workforce, to trim costs and will reduce its investments in certain markets...

Today's Teamster News 10.23.13

Teamsters Union optimistic for deal with CN Railway this week  Reuters   ...The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference union is optimistic that talks with Canadian National Railway Co, Canada's largest rail operator, will produce a deal this week…
Hershey Medical Center, Teamsters Continue Talks  Lebanon Daily News ...Negotiators for the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Teamsters Local 776 were expected to sit down with a federal mediator to hammer out a new contract...
'Local Union Communications: The Social Art of Educating Members' TLA to be Held December 3-4  teamster.org   ...This two-day Teamsters Leadership Academy (TLA), hosted by Local 986 in Los Angeles, will explore effective ways Teamster affiliates can communicate with members through the use of social networking, flyers, newsletters, websites and media. Don’t forget to register for this program...
Grocery Workers Strike in Puget Sound Averted  Sky Valley Chronicle   ...The large grocery store workers strike that was headed to begin October 21, by some 21,000 union employees against four large grocery chains, was averted at the wire by a tentative agreement reached by the negotiating teams for both sides in the dispute...
Top Five Ways Lobbyists Will Win and We Will Lose If a Major Corporate Trade Deal Goes Through  Alternet   ...The next time you want to share a song or a recipe online, you’d have to ask yourself: Am I a criminal? Interested in writing some fan fiction based on your favourite detective series and sharing it online? Ask yourself that very same question. That’s how TPP provisions could characterize you based on what we know about its Intellectual Property chapter...
Billion Dollar Pay Check? 10 CEOs in America Break All Records for Executive Pay  Alternet   ... the top 10 CEOs in this year's poll took home over $4.7bn between them and for the first time ever none earned less than $100m. "I have never seen anything like that," said Greg Ruel, GMI's senior research consultant and author of the report. "Usually we have a few CEOs at the $100m-plus level but never the entire top 10..."
College campuses see rise in homeless students  USA Today   ...Though hard data are lacking, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid estimates that there are 58,000 homeless students on campuses nationwide...
Plutocrats at Work: How Big Philanthropy Undermines Democracy  Truthout   ...For a dozen years, big philanthropy has been funding a massive crusade to remake public education for low-income and minority children in the image of the private sector...
Tax breaks could ease pain of JPMorgan deal  Politico   ...JPMorgan Chase has struck a tentative deal with the Justice Department to pay a record $13 billion over dodgy mortgage products — but the biggest U.S. bank may be able to slash that bill by paying Uncle Sam less in taxes...
Following Nationwide Strikes, Bangladesh Garment Workers Win Minimum Wage Increase  The Real News   ...Garment workers in Bangladesh are poised to receive a 50 to 80 percent increase in the minimum wage following massive protests in September which closed more than 100 factories and caused a 20 percent decline in national production, according to a Reuters report citing the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association...
Limited service delays BART commuters as strike ends  Los Angeles Times   ...Despite having reached a deal Monday night to end a four-day Bay Area commuter-rail strike, staffing issues made for a rocky start for BART riders Tuesday morning...
Hatred of unions is misplaced, as they created the strong middle class (opinion) Canton Repository   ...I cannot understand why so many Americans have hatred for unions, which gave us a strong and vibrant middle class in the past...
Your prescription history is their business  Los Angeles Times   ...A secretive, for-profit service called ScriptCheck keeps track of all your prescriptions, even those you pay for with cash. Life insurers pay for the data...
More Americans pessimistic about economy after shutdown, poll shows  Los Angeles Times   ...Americans are more pessimistic about the state of the economy after the partial government shutdown and debt limit fight, according to poll results released Tuesday...
Feeding antibiotics to livestock is bad for humans, but Congress won’t stop it   Washington Post   ...The farm and pharmaceutical lobbies have blocked all meaningful efforts to reduce the use of antibiotics in raising livestock in America, a practice that contributes to a major public health risk, according to a study released Tuesday...
Ohio State University has invested millions with friend of Gov. John Kasich and Gordon Gee, but officials won't share details about the deal  Cleveland Plain Dealer   ... Ohio State University has invested tens of millions of dollars in a new, untested fund co-founded by a venture capitalist who enjoys close relationships with recently retired university president E. Gordon Gee and Gov. John Kasich. The deal was done behind closed doors, right around the time trustees changed OSU policy to allow top administrators more leeway over how to invest operating funds...
Court Holds Wisconsin Officials In Contempt For Enforcing Scott Walker’s Anti-Union Law  ThinkProgress   ...A Wisconsin judge who declared Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) union-busting law unconstitutional more than a year ago held the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission in contempt of court on Monday for continuing to enforce that law against school and municipal workers...
Capitol Hill Needs to Save the Middle Class (opinion)  teamster.org   ...America’s ever-shrinking middle class is not only feeling pain in their wallet from lower take-home pay. Many are also witnessing a change in the places they live and the schools their children attend that could alter the fabric of our society for years to come...

Today's Teamster News 10.19.13

Teamsters Stop FMCSA Attack on Truck Drivers  teamster.org   ...The Teamsters Union helped score a victory for truck drivers this week when H.R. 3095 was signed into law compelling the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to follow the formal rulemaking process to set strict guidelines for when they can require screening, testing and treatment for sleep apnea...
Star-Ledger unions ratify new 4-year contracts, agree to buyouts   Star-Ledger   ...After months of negotiations under the cloud of a threatened shutdown of the state’s largest newspaper, the Star-Ledger’s production unions, including the Teamsters Union, have ratified new four-year contracts, agreeing to buyout packages for at least 55 workers...
Since End of U.S. Recession, More Seniors in Workforce  Gallup   ... There has been a three-point increase since 2010 in the percentage of Americans aged 65 and older who are in the workforce -- employed full time through an employer, self-employed, working part time, or unemployed but actively searching for work. At the same time, there has been a two-point decrease in the percentage of Americans aged 18 to 29 who are in the workforce...
Millennials still lag in forming their own households  Pew Research   ... most Millennials (adults ages 18 to 32) are still not setting out on their own. As of March 2013, only about one-in-three Millennials (34%) headed up their own household...
Is The Debt Still Worth The Degree?  zero hedge   ...The price of a college education has increased 1,000% or more over the past 3 decades...
You Thought the Government Shutdown Was Over. You Were Wrong. New Republic ...It was an awful time. Federal employees had to take unpaid furlough days. Beneficiaries were thrown off of federal programs. Courthouses had to be sold. Federal agencies like the FBI, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health strained to meet commitments, leading to more crime, more outbreaks of disease and less basic research, among other horrors. This may sound like a description of the recent government shutdown, which ended October 16. But this describes the fallout from sequestration...
Pro-Coal Kids' Pages Pulled from Government Site as Public Pressure Increases Alternet ...The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity has removed coal-related educational sections from its website, less than two weeks after the launch of a grassroots campaign demanding that the pages be taken down...
Food Stamp Outage Highlights Problems With Privatization of Public Services  Truthout   ...Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), a subsidiary of Xerox since 2000 that specializes in privatizing government administrative services for the most economically vulnerable Americans, has taken heat in the past for siphoning excessive fees from welfare recipients, mismanaging Medicaid payment systems, and failing to complete multimillion dollar contracts for public agencies...
"Fix the Debt's" "Fix the Debt Q&A" needs to be fixed (hilarious)  Storify   ..."Fix the Debt" decided to have a Twitter Q&A about fixing the debt. I'm not sure it went the way they wanted...
How Mexico is upending the U.S. auto industry  Washington Post ...More U.S. automakers have been shifting their plants south of the border, attracted by Mexico's lower wages and dense industrial clusters…
States Clamping Down on Workers Mislabeled as Contractors  Bloomberg News   ...When construction slowed during the recession, some companies hired workers and wrongly designated them as independent contractors to avoid paying insurance, taxes, fair wages and overtime...
Scott Walker Steers State Funds to Union Busters  PolicyMic   ...Scott Walker (R-Wisc.) made headlines in 2011 with his plans to bust public sector unions and strip unions of their collective bargaining powers, which led to mass protests in the Madison Capitol building. Now he is back with his latest contribution to increasing jobs in Wisconsin: making them up and steering them to his supporters...
Moral Monday Leader Comes To Boone Oct. 28  High Country Press   ...Moral Monday leader Rev. William Barber II will address “The Necessity of a Moral Movement in North Carolina and the Nation” on Monday, Oct. 28...
BART strike: About 400,000 S.F.-area commuters to be affected  Los Angeles Times   ...Bay Area residents were without commuter rail service and facing a morning of frustration Friday as BART workers went on strike after a week of marathon negotiation collapsed overnight...
Michigan Walmart worker says he was fired for helping assaulted woman  Associated Press ...A Michigan man says he was fired from his job at Walmart after he tried to help a woman being assaulted in the parking lot of one of the retail giant's stores and ended up fighting with her attacker...
Wal-Mart workers on strike, defying firings  The Salon   ...In protest of paltry hours and defiance of firings, over 80 Wal-Mart workers in Hialeah, Florida walk off the job...
The U.S. Blows Everyone Else Out Of The Water In 1 Key Way  Huffington Post   ...That one way? We're really, really good at creating really, really rich people -- like, $50 million-plus rich. Just ignore the fact that our 400 wealthiest people are worth more than the entire bottom half of the country combined. Look at the chart…
Krugman on GOP’s “top-down class warfare”  The Salon   ...The New York Times columnist explains how the GOP policies have stalled a true economic recovery...
McDonald's Has Their Hands in All of Our Pockets  AlterNet   ...Do you want to pay for billion dollar companies to make more money? Of course not, but in recent studies, we learned that we are, in fact, playing billions of dollar to support low-wage fast food workers for America's top seven restaurant chains...
Euro Capitals Tighten Fiscal Leash as EU Polices Cuts  Bloomberg News   ...Even with the 17-nation euro area projecting economic expansion next year, policy makers are keeping a fiscal leash on growth by maintaining austerity policies to save the euro...

Today's Teamster News 10.18.13

Chicago Teamsters Secure Five-Year Agreement for Nearly 700 Workers  teamster.org   ...For approximately 700 Chicago area valet drivers, Teamsters Local 727 has secured a new contract that includes union health care coverage for full-time workers at dozens of companies...
Suburban Chicago Printers Choose Teamster Power  teamster.org   ...Web press operators and full service print production workers in suburban Chicago overwhelmingly joined the Teamsters Union and ratified their first union contract last month...
Font ResizeAmerican Canyon, Teamsters reach employee contract deal  Vallejo Times-Herald   ...A long-awaited contract deal with the city's middle managers represented by Teamsters Local 315 has been approved that includes restoration of furlough days and a 1.5 percent raise over the next three years...
DeKalb County Opens Door to Teamsters Representing Sanitation Workers  WABE News   ...Starting next year, DeKalb County’s 450 sanitation workers will have a new route to air their grievances, and they will have a union with them...
Grocers, unions talk, prepare for possible strike  The Olympian   ...Talks resumed Wednesday between major Puget Sound area grocery chains and unions, including the Teamsters, that represent 21,000 of their workers...
Local Union Communications: The Social Art of Educating Members' TLA to be Held December 3-4 teamster.org   ...This two-day Teamsters Leadership Academy (TLA), hosted by Local 986 in Los Angeles, will explore effective ways Teamster affiliates can communicate with members through the use of social networking, fliers, newsletters, websites and media...
ILA Strike Continues at Baltimore  Journal of Commerce Online   ...A longshoremen’s strike that has idled the Port of Baltimore continued into its second day yesterday. The workers struck on Oct. 16 after rejecting a proposed contract with the Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore. The port’s other ILA locals refused to cross the picket lines...
Organized labor criticizes county for its union dealings  Chronicle-Telegram   ...Labor leaders criticized Ohio’s Lorain County leaders for how they deal with unions, including paying large sums to a law firm that specializes in union busting to handle the county's contract negotiations and human resource issues…
Corporations Now Using Foreign Tribunals to Attack Domestic Court Rulings  Public Citizen   ...This dangerous trend of private three-person tribunals assuming the authority to contravene domestic court decisions at the behest of multinational corporations should raise the ire of those who support the independence of courts, the sovereignty of nations, the rule of law, or even the core democratic notion that a system of legal decision-making should be accountable to those who will live with the decisions...
Reich: Their Real Goal: To Make Us All So Cynical About Government, We Give Up (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...Then they're free to take over everything...
Why Elizabeth Warren Is 'NOT Celebrating' The End Of The Government Shutdown  Huffington Post   ...Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) emailed supporters late Wednesday to say how glad she is that the government shutdown ended and the U.S. didn't default. But she made it clear she isn't celebrating...
Dying Middle-Class Neighborhoods Being Replaced By A Segregated Society  Huffington Post   ...The divide between rich and poor isn’t just growing in America’s bank accounts. It’s also splitting apart its neighborhoods, cutting the country in two, according to a new study...
Washington budget fight hurts auto sales  Muscatine Journal   ...Auto sales tailed off last week, and some dealers and experts are pointing the finger at bickering politicians in Washington. Collected data shows that sales fell in the second week of October as the partial shutdown of the government and the debate over the nation's borrowing dragged on...
Illinois Supreme Court to hear lawsuit on lawmaker pay  Associated Press   ...The Illinois Supreme Court has agreed to hear Gov. Pat Quinn's appeal of a ruling that his veto of money for lawmaker pay was unconstitutional. Quinn said the lawmakers didn't deserve to get paid until they address Illinois' nearly $100 billion pension crisis...
Michigan to withhold payment to Xerox over Bridge Card outage  Associated Press   ...Michigan will withhold money from Xerox Corp. because a technical problem crashed the state’s debit card-style food stamps program. People in 17 states from Alabama to California were unable to use their food stamp cards on Saturday morning…
Mortgage settlements helped few  New York Times   ...The $25 billion national mortgage settlement has fallen far short of the original predictions, and more people gave up their homes in short sales than received debt reduction that would have allowed them to stay in their homes...
Walmart-contracted warehouse fined for unsafe working conditions  San Bernardino County Sun   ...A warehouse contracted by Walmart to move suitcases has been fined by California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health for a number of unsafe and illegal working conditions...
U.K. joins currency manipulation probe  CNNMoney   ...A global crackdown into foreign exchange trading is gathering pace as U.K. regulators investigate possible misconduct by a number of firms in the $5.3 trillion foreign currency market...

Victory! Teamsters win new pro-worker laws in California

California Gov. Jerry Brown last week signed three bills that will strengthen the state’s labor laws by protecting workers from employer retaliation.

This is a huge win for Teamsters Joint Council 7, which led the legislative battle to get the laws passed. It’s also a big victory for workers like Marquez Brothers employees who have faced harsh retaliation since they voted to become Teamsters last year.

Doug Bloch, political director of Teamsters Joint Council 7, says the trio of laws are the strongest labor protections for immigrant workers in the country:

Under these laws, immigrant workers who speak up now have new legal protections... That's because these laws put civil and criminal penalties in place for employers who threaten workers with immigration enforcement.

The three laws -- AB 263, AB 524 and SB 666 -- prohibit immigration-related retaliation and clarify that threatening to expose workers’ immigration status is extortion.

Marquez Brothers is a perfect example of why these laws are necessary. The cheese company has been ruthlessly intimidating workers at its Hanford, Calif., plant since they joined Teamsters Local 517, refusing to bargain and launching a campaign to get the union decertified.

Brother Bloch explains:

Marquez Brothers is one of the largest distributors of dairy products serving the Latino community in North America. After their workers organized a union, the company responded by bringing in Littler Mendelson, a law firm that touts its ability to advise clients on "union avoidance" and "maintaining a union-free workplace." One strategy Littler excels in involves a classic union-busting strategy: delay and decertify.

Marquez Brothers used the [decertification] petition as a legal justification to withdraw union recognition from the workers. In the year since they first organized, Marquez workers have faced a constant campaign of harassment and intimidation. In March, workers traveled to Sacramento to testify at a legislative hearing on employer intimidation, only to be followed by company management and Littler attorneys. One of the workers was fired shortly after the hearing. She was one of twenty union supporters fired since they organized. Others have quit in the face of a constant barrage of harassment.

The state’s new laws put abusive companies like Marquez Brothers on notice, calling their behavior exactly what it is: criminal.

Teamsters at Marquez Brothers have organized a recertification campaign to beat back the company’s anti-union drive. They filed to recertify the union last month, but that election is on hold pending the reopening of the NLRB after the government shutdown.

Bloch says the legislative victory once again puts California on the cutting-edge of pro-labor reforms. And it also shows that when Teamsters mobilize, we win!

The lobby days and work that many Locals did with their legislators on the ground made a huge difference, along with the high visibility of the Teamsters in the Prop 32 fight last year and the DRIVE contributions we make. This is a real testament to all of our JC7 Locals and members who have stepped up in politics.

This victory wouldn’t have happened without the brave sacrifices made by Marquez Brothers workers who lost their jobs during the campaign. With their trips to the state capitol and talking to the press, they won strong support from state legislators and showed why these anti-retaliation laws needed to be passed.

When companies are able to bully workers on immigration issues in order to suppress their wages and working conditions, it drives down standards for all workers. So this is a big win for all California workers.

And in a time when we find ourselves fighting off anti-worker legislation in so many states, it’s refreshing to score a victory for worker-friendly laws.

Way to go, California Teamsters!

Today's Teamster News 10.14.13

Negotiations between Teamsters and CN derail  Teamsters Canada   ...The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents some 3,300 conductors, trainmen, yardmen and traffic coordinators at Canadian National (CN), are gearing up for a fight with the railway company...
Report outlines how Nissan in Canton, Miss., is violating international human rights standards of workers who want to organize and bargain collectively  Do Better Nissan   ...in the Canton plant, according to the report, Nissan has launched a campaign of fear and intimidation to nullify these rights...
Federal Workers Stretch Last Paycheck Until Shutdown Ends  Bloomberg   ...The average federal employee earned an annual salary of $76,353 in 2012, and the lost income is exerting a drag on the economy as well as forcing employees who live paycheck-to-paycheck to figure out how to cover their bills until the shutdown ends...
The world's wealthy: where on earth are the richest 1%?  The Guardian   ...Amid a record high for average global wealth its figures reveal striking inequalities – such as 35% of Russia's riches in the hands of 110 people...
Don't Count on a 1.5% Social Security Increase, the Figures Have not Been Released Yet  Economic Populist   ...The problem with this headline announcement by the press is the social security cost of living increase has not been announced yet and is highly dependent on government inflation statistics for September...
The Tragedy of Greece as a Case Study of Neo-Imperial Pillage and the Demise of Social Europe  Truthout   ...A public debt crisis has been used as an opportunity to dismantle a rudimentary social state, to sell off profitable public enterprises and state assets at bargain prices, to deprive labor of even its most basic rights after decades of hard-fought struggles against capital, and to substantially reduce wages, salaries and pensions, creating a de facto banana republic...
The End of the Nation-State? (opinion)  New York Times   ... though most of us might not realize it, “nonstate world” describes much of how global society already operates. This isn’t to say that states have disappeared, or will. But they are becoming just one form of governance among many...
Breaking: Judge Posner Admits He Was Wrong in Crawford Voter ID Case  Election Law Blog   ..."we…. weren’t really given strong indications that requiring additional voter identification would actually disfranchise people entitled to vote..."
Why CEO Pay Will Keep Rising to Even More Insanely Unjustified Levels While Ordinary Workers Get Squeezed  naked capitalism   ...Even casual scrutiny will tell you that the current ridiculous levels of CEO pay bear no relationship to anything other than their highly developed rent extraction skills...

Workers getting paid like its 1989

Employment might be up slightly, but salaries aren’t. Despite more people going back to work, American families are continuing to struggle and, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report, are now making less than they did in 1989 when adjusted for inflation.

As Neil Irwin of The Washington Post pointed out, 24 years ago the median U.S. household made $51,681 in current dollars, compared to $51,017 in 2012. So despite employment gains, the situation remains dire. And the drop in salary can’t just be blamed on the last recession, he said:

This isn’t a lost decade for economic gains for Americans. It is a lost generation.

Why has that happened? Well one would have to be blind not to see that a drop in union membership has had a major impact. In 1983, 20.1 percent of workers belonged to union. That number fell to 11.3 percent last year. Union jobs bring higher salaries. It’s not hard to understand.

Of course, the desire to pay lower wages is why groups such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and their corporate buddies have pushed for the implementation of no-rights-at-work laws in many states across the country. They know a good deal (for them) when they see it. So they wine-and-dine state lawmakers and spend millions to pass laws that hinder worker’s organizing efforts.

Another big reason is the enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement and other so-called “free” trade deals. While American workers were promised more jobs and improved wages, they didn’t get either. All the benefits went to big business.

The result is while corporate profits continue to soar, nothing is trickling down to average workers. Three years into an economic recovery, they haven’t recovered a thing.  Former Obama administration economist Jared Bernstein said:

Yes, the economy has expanded over these past few years, but to use a seasonal analogy, today’s report is yet another piece of evidence that this growth has once again done an end run around middle and lower income households on the way to the top of the scale.

So where do workers go from here? Just follow what thousands of them have been doing in recent months at America’s ports, fast food chains and big-box retailers. They are saying enough is enough and walking off the job. They are taking a stand for fair wages, better working conditions and the right to organize.

That’s the path for a good job and more money in their pocket.

Port drivers rise up against employer abuse, plan protest

Port driver Jose Luis Alvarado invites
you to a rally to demand respect on Tuesday.

Truck drivers at the Port of L.A. are holding a large rally on Tuesday to demand respect from their abusive employer, Green Fleet Systems. One of the drivers, Jose Luis Alvarado, invites you to attend:

My name is Jose Luis Alvarado. I am a port truck driver working at Green Fleet Systems. I have been a port truck driver for 13 years serving the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Although the work that is done by me and my coworkers is vital to the American economy, our work often goes unnoticed. Besides the times we might be driving next to you on the freeway, we are mostly invisible. On a daily basis, people buy TVs, toys, and clothes that we haul to warehouses and distribution centers for you and your family. 

Almost no one is aware of the working conditions that we face on a day-to-day basis and how this affects us and our families. We work long hours for little pay. At the end of the day, it’s hard to make ends meet. As the father of 3 children, I am often stressed about being able to pay my bills and provide my children with the opportunities that I never had in Guatemala. Green Fleet Systems offers us a company medical insurance plan, but in order to get coverage for me and my family, I would have to pay $100 a week. There is no way that I can afford it. 

At work, my coworkers and I face constant disrespect from management. We are insulted and screamed at for any small mistake that is committed. No one deserves to be treated this way. We have earned the same rights and treatment that every hardworking American deserves. 

It is because of the harassment that we are facing as we try to form a union that we are taking action to demand justice at Green Fleet Systems. We demand that Green Fleet Systems management stop retaliating against us as we organize to form our union. We say stop the intimidation! Stop the union busting!

The rally will be held on Tuesday at 3:30 pm in Carson, Calif., at Green Fleet Systems warehouse, 20500 S. Alameda St.  Read more here.

Teamsters to protest against McKesson worker retaliation

McKesson Corporation will face a large Teamster protest tomorrow outside its shareholder meeting in San Francisco tomorrow because it abuses workers at its distribution facility in Lakeland, Fla. Though McKesson employees voted for Teamster representation more than a year ago, the company still will not agree to a first contract that provides decent wages and affordable health care.

McKesson, the largest pharmaceutical distributor in North America is retaliating against its Lakeland employees,. The company hired a union-busting law firm and has threatened and intimidated the workers rather than agree to wages they can live on.

The San Francisco-based pharmaceutical distributor is a poster child for corporate greed and corruption.
Accused of stealing from taxpayers and payors by fixing drug prices, it had to pay nearly $1 billion in legal settlements. Then the board allowed CEO John Hammergren to loot the company of roughly $50 million a year, with a pension estimated at $159 billion.

Tomorrow, McKesson will also face an investor backlash inside the shareholder meeting over the company’s excessive executive pay practices and poor corporate governance. The Change to Win Investment Group has called for a vote against Hammergren – as well as two other board members – because of the company’s pay practices and financial and reputational risks arising from widespread price fixing allegations.

Rome Aloise, Teamsters international vice president and president of Teamsters Joint Council 7, said it's no wonder health care costs are rising.

Teamsters won’t stand by while McKesson fleeces workers, investors and the American public.

Stay tuned.

Today's Teamster News 05.28.13

Cambodia: Protest at Factory for Nike  Reuters   ...At least 23 workers were hurt in Cambodia on Monday after the police clashed with workers protesting wages at a factory that makes clothing for Nike, a union representative said...
Fashion retailer issues recall after finding radioactive material in belts  The Verge   ..."the incident is quite a common occurrence. India and the far east are large consumers of scrap metal," and during the refining process "radioactive sources are sometimes accidentally melted at the same time."...
Groups Targeted by I.R.S. Tested Rules on Politics  New York Times   ...a close examination of these groups and others reveals an array of election activities that tax experts and former I.R.S. officials said would provide a legitimate basis for flagging them for closer review...
Canadian Federal Court confirms the country’s 2011 election was Fraudulent  The European Union Times   ...The court emphasized in a Thursday ruling that it has found in no uncertain terms that widespread election fraud took place during the vote...
 On Victory Drive, Soldiers Defeated by Debt  ProPublica   ...Seven years after Congress banned payday-loan companies from charging exorbitant interest rates to service members, many of the nation's military bases are surrounded by storefront lenders who charge high annual percentage rates, sometimes exceeding 400 percent...
Another Day, Another Walmart Class Action Employee Lawsuit  About.com   ...This month, Walmart (WMT) found itself on the defending end of another massive employee class action suit in California when a California judge certified a class of 10,000 employees who think Walmart broke the law when it refused to provide suitable seating for its cashiers who requested it...
Public Unions Need to Stop Poisonous Koch Brothers From Buying Tribune Papers  AlterNet   ...They are considering buying the Tribune papers, which comprise eight major publications, including the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune. This would allow the Kochs to spread their right-wing nuttery even more effectively than they do now. But public unions could put a stop to this...
SC Boeing exec sends workers anti-union e-mail  Associated Press   ...The general manager of Boeing’s new plant in South Carolina has sent out an e-mail telling his workers that Boeing wants to keep the plant union free...
Rick Perry Vetoes GOP-Backed Disclosure Bill  Huffington Post   ...Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) vetoed a Republican bill Saturday that would have required nonprofits that engage in politics to disclose their donors...
Union-backed pension plan saves more than thought, Democrats say  Gatehouse News Service   ...A union-backed pension reform plan will cut the state of Illinois’pension debt by more than $9 billion, Senate Democrats said...
Texas prohibits nearly 70 percent of its counties from having a fire code  Dallas Morning News   ...Despite the lessons from the West Fertilizer Co. fire and explosions about the value of fire prevention, site security and safe storage of dangerous goods, Texas prohibits nearly 70 percent of its counties from having a fire code...
Texas State Legislature approves drug tests for unemployment benefits  Daily Caller   ...The Texas State Legislature approved a bill that would require workers who lose their job to pass a drug screening in order to receive unemployment benefits Saturday, according to news reports...
The latest WEDC revelations help explain Wisconsin's poor performance  The Isthmus   ...How much evidence do we need that Gov. Scott Walker's pro-corporate, anti-government rhetoric adds up to a whole lot of freebies for his cronies and absolutely nothing in terms of actually creating jobs?...
Montana using mortgage settlement funds to battle foreclosure  Independent Record   ...When Montana received nearly $6 million from a $25 billion national settlement with the nation’s five largest banks — a result of their shady mortgage practices — the state tucked away its share of the funding to help homeowners address the threat of foreclosure...
Privatization review bill shelved by Louisiana Senate committee  Times-Picayune   ...A bill requiring a more thorough review of privatization plans was shot down by a Louisiana Senate committee Monday. The measure, opposed by Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration, had already received unanimous approval of the state House...

Margaret Thatcher, Pawn of the Banksters, Scott Walker's role model

It figures that Wisconsin Job-killer Gov. Scott Walker would lament the death of Margaret Thatcher. She was a job-killing, privatizing, union-busting machine and she made most Britons poorer and politically weaker. In the end, only the banksters and bililonaires benefited from her leadership.

That appears to be Scott Walker's dream.

The Cap Times reports:

After expressing sadness Monday on Facebook over Thatcher’s passing, Walker added a quote from the Iron Lady that fits with the image he has sought to establish throughout his divisive governorship: 

"I am not a consensus politician. I'm a conviction politician."

What crap. Walker is as much a hapless pawn of Wall Street and the Koch brothers as Thatcher was of the UK's own banksters.

Michael Hudson, an economics professor, explains that London banksters viewed her as a puppet doing their bidding:

Privatization’s ultimate beneficiary was the City of London, the square mile of financial institutions that obtained the quickest benefits and turned the program into something rather unanticipated by Mrs. Thatcher and Mr. (Nigel) Lawson (chancellor of the Exchequer). The rentiers for their part seem to have perceived the Thatchers and (Milton) Friedmans as pawns, an advance infantry of promoters wrapping austerity economics in populist garb – policies that otherwise would have been difficult (if not impossible) to sell to voters.

Hudson and Jeffrey Sommers describe Thatcher's impact on the U.K.'s 99 percent in Counterpunch:

When Mrs. Thatcher took power, 1 in 7 of the England’s children lived in poverty. By the end of her reforms that number had risen to 1 in 3. She polarized the country in a ‘divide and conquer’ strategy that foreshadowed that of Ronald Reagan and more recent American politicians such as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. The effect of her policy was to foreclose on the economic mobility into the middle class.

They call her The Queen Mother of Financial Austerity and Financialization.

Hudson recounted how she privatized and carved up  Britain's infrastructure into a series of monopolies in naked capitalism, which we will summarize here.

...Many services were cut back, especially on the least utilized transport routes. The largest privatized bus company was charged with cut-throat monopoly practices. The water system broke down, while consumer charges leapt. Electricity prices were shifted against residential consumers in favor of large industrial users. Economic inequality widened as the industrial labor force shrunk by two million from 1979 to 1997, while wages stagnated in the face of soaring profits for the privatized companies. The tax cuts financed by their selloff turned out to benefit mainly the rich.

Thatcher transformed social organizations so they were managed for shareholders' gains, not for broader public purposes. And what a shock. All it did was make shareholders' rich. But that wasn't the way privatization was sold:

It was taken as a matter of faith that financial gains would be invested in upgrading the enterprises once they were privatized, installing new machinery and hiring more labor to provide better service while increasing output at falling prices. Workers were invited to think of themselves as finance-capitalists-in-miniature, earning dividends and capital gains by investing their savings in the shares in these companies.

That's how Thatcher managed to persuade people to support policies against their own self-interest. It sounds a lot like George W. Bush's "ownership society," doesn't it?

The idea of getting workers to think of themselves as property owners had long been voiced by Conservative politicians. It began with the idea of them owning their own homes, bought on mortgage. Mrs. Thatcher started the process with Council house sales. No less than £24 billion were sold off, larger than any single other public industry. But the privatization that really inaugurated “popular capitalism” was the sale of British Telephone in November 1984. The idea was nothing less than to win workers over to the cause of capitalism as an ideal, by turning them into stockholders in the economy’s commanding heights. This, she hoped, would shift their faith away from socialism in the future to capitalism in the present. “Privatization not only widens share ownership (desirable in itself),” claimed Lawson, “but increases employee share ownership, which previous privatizations show leads to further improved performance.” More politically to the point, giving property to citizens would create “a society with an inbuilt resistance to revolutionary change.”

Then there was the union busting. In 1990, Thatcher passed the U.K.'s equivalent of No Rights at Work. Two years earlier she passed an act that let union members opt out of strikes called without a ballot. Minimum wage laws were abolished for children and young adults under 21.

Hudson concluded that Thatcher had set in motion a vicious downward cycle:

The decline in union power enabled the privatized companies and others to downsize their labor force. Between 1979 and 1986, union membership fell by three million persons. Two million industrial workers were put out of work, including over a million miners.

So what's an appropriate way to honor her legacy? Politicususa tells us of a British film director who wants to privatize her funeral.

...film director Ken Loach thinks former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who died yesterday following a stroke, would have wanted it this way. “How should we honour her? Let’s privatise her funeral,” Loach said. “Put it out to competitive tender and accept the cheapest bid. It’s what she would have wanted.” 

Indeed.

"I Haven't Eaten for 3 Days in Solidarity": Stories from a Hunger Striker

Cross-posting from our brothers and sisters at UNITE HERE:

By Michelle Gutierrez

We are three days into a five-day hunger strike that was called to save the jobs of nine immigrant workers at the Hilton Mission Valley. I, along with six others, have refused to eat since Friday morning. The nine workers we are supporting are set to be fired on Monday April 8th and Tuesday April 9th because after they tried to organize a union, Evolution Hospitality decided to use E-Verify. This is a program that checks immigrants' documented status, a program that isn't even mandatory with the federal government.

The nine workers who will be fired are immigrant women who have worked at the Hilton Mission Valley between 2 and 18 years. They are mothers who play a vital role in supporting their families, even though they make as little as $8.50 an hour and are unable to afford the company's expensive family health insurance plan. I don't know how they do it. Somehow, these women have been raising their families on so little.

This has been difficult. One of the other hunger strikers was so ill that he was rushed to the hospital yesterday. My friends and family have asked me why I would do something as extreme as not eat for five days. Nonetheless, I am striking because I believe firing hard-working people who are simply asking for respect and some dignity is unacceptable. My sacrifice pales in comparison to the sacrifice that many immigrant workers make just to take care of their families. Because of our broken immigration system, many people are permanently separated from family members in their home countries, they live in constant fear of apprehension and deportation, and they work for employers who do not deem them worthy of a living wage.

I am also willing to stand up for these workers because I know what it's like to struggle and be denied value because of the work you do. My grandparents were farmworkers, my parents worked as farmworkers and later service sector workers, and I worked as a housekeeper for minimum wage while I made my way through college. Some of my earliest memories are of my mother trying to make a small piece of meat feed our whole family and of rolling pennies so that we could afford to buy each other presents for Christmas. Despite the fact that I admired my parents and grandparents for how hard they worked, for most of my childhood I also had to witness them do their best to make ends meet. In my family, it was a daily struggle. Just as the workers of the Hilton Mission Valley, we should not have had to struggle so much just for the chance at a decent life.

Heading into the fourth day of the hunger strike, I am feeling some uncertainty about the end results, but as I sit with the Hilton Mission Valley workers who are likely to be fired, I know that I'm not alone in this feeling. My hope is that we can start recognizing that all workers have dignity and that we give all people who do the work that runs our economy the means to a decent life.

Big trouble for Teamster-hating union buster in Oakland?

Bill Aboudi, a greedy California hustler who doesn't care about the port truckers he employs, could be in very hot water.  Evidence shows he broke labor and environmental laws, and he owes the City of Oakland $235,000 in back rent.

Aboudi hates unions and he especially hates the Teamsters. He has threatened to blow up Teamster leaders. He has commented on news items about "pathatic" Teamster organizers. He has posted tweets calling Teamsters "union-busters." Worst of all, he led the fight to keep port drivers in poverty.

Aboudi and the Teamsters tangled several years ago. California Teamsters and environmental groups urged the Port of Oakland to contract with large, unionized trucking companies instead of small independent operators who misclassify drivers. That way, the larger companies would have the clout to stop the shippers from forcing trucks to idle for hours at the port. Aboudi led the smaller truckers in a successful fight against the plan.

Revenge is a meal best eaten cold, however. East Bay Express reports he owes 73 employees nearly $1 million in back wages:

In a tentative ruling issued last fall, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman concluded that there was "substantial and persuasive evidence" that Aboudi's employees "were routinely and consistently precluded from taking meal periods and rest breaks." 

The judge also concluded that there was "persuasive" evidence that Aboudi "consistently failed to pay for all hours worked." According to calculations by the workers' attorneys — based on a formula that the judge ordered them to use — Aboudi owes the employees $964,557, along with more than $400,000 in court costs and attorney fees.

That's not all. Aboudi has a truck parking operation that sent polluted stormwater into San Francisco Bay for four years. A lawsuit joined by the Teamsters alleges he allowed oil, grease, rinse water, soap residue, engine coolant, solvents, volatile organic compounds and heavy metals associated with vehicle fluids to flow into the Bay.

On top of that, Aboudi rents the land for his truck-parking operation from the City of Oakland. He owes the city $236,489 in back rent, utilities, and late fees. He violated a city ordinance against living on city property by allowing a former employee to live in his tractor-trailer on the parking facility. (In other words, Aboudi's former employee was homeless, thanks no doubt to Aboudi's poverty wages.) And 52 of his 73 tenants had no business licenses and paid no taxes to the city.

Aboudi claims drivers choose to become independent contractors because they love freedom. That's not what the port drivers say. According to the Teamsters Port Driver Organizing Resolution,

...port drivers, working in an extremely dangerous industry, are forced to toil in sweatshop working conditions for low wages and are denied benefits that most workers receive such as workers’ compensation, disability, Social Security, minimum wage, health and safety law protections.

Hoosiers, your state rep needs to hear from you now!

We just received this urgent message from our brothers and sisters at the Indiana AFL-CIO. You guessed it: Another anti-worker bill is being rammed through the Legislature:

Yesterday the House Education Committee amended House Bill 1334 to include language making it illegal for a school employer to honor an employee’s voluntary request to have their union dues deducted from his or her paycheck.   The bill does not impact the large number of other entities for which schools will remain able to deduct monies from paychecks – just labor unions.

This is about politics, not public policy.  The bill’s author admits that it’s not about costs and it’s clearly not about kids, or student performance.  It’s just another attack on workers’ and the unions that give them voice.  Only the Indiana Chamber of Commerce testified in support of the language regarding dues.  Many spoke in opposition.  It’s about politics, not public policy.

It has one purpose and one purpose only – to punish workers and weaken the unions that represent them.

Call your state representative right now at 1-800-382-9842 and tell him/her to oppose HB 1334.  (Click here to look up your Representative).  Tell them enough is enough.  Tell them it’s time to stop the attacks on workers.  Tell them it’s time to focus on the real problems facing our state.  Tell them it’s time to focus on the kids in our schools – and not the adults.  Tell them to oppose HB 1334.

When you hang up, send them an email too.  Make sure they hear you.  This bill is eligible for final passage in two days.  Act now! 

In Solidarity,
The Indiana AFL-CIO

An epidemic of lockouts in Minn. caused by union-busting law firm

It takes just one well-compensated law firm to spread plenty of misery in Minnesota. The Minneapolis law firm of Felhaber, Larson, Fenlon and Vogt appears to be responsible for three -- count 'em three -- lockouts in the Gopher State right now.

Minnesota Orchestra and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra musicians were locked out in the fall. And in the Red River Valley, 1,300 skilled workers have been locked out for 17 months by American Crystal Sugar.

Shar Knutson, president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, righteously points out the lockouts hurt workers, employers and communities.

Writing in the Grand Forks Herald, she notes:

The only ones who seem to be benefitting are the employers’ lawyers. 

Good point. And she asks:

Are these attorneys giving their clients the best advice? Will these lockouts leave wounds that are too deep for time to ever heal? 

Good questions.

Mich. union-busters go right into action

Teamsters protest Jackson Lewis last year.

The union-busting law firm Jackson Lewis started drummiing up business in Michigan less than a week after an anti-union law was railroaded through the lame-duck Legislature.

You may recall Jackson Lewis as the law firm that failed miserably in its attempt to help a German company destroy American jobs. Then it got busy trying to help the rich entitled jerks at Sotheby's destroy more American jobs. 

On Dec. 18, Jackson Lewis held a free Internet seminar on "Michigan’s New “Right to Work” Law – A Webinar Explaining How the Statute Affects Your Business."

If you want look into the heart of darkness, you can click here to view the webinar.

We actually had the stomach to watch it. We weren't surprised to hear the kind of union-baiting rhetoric that goes all the way back to the racist origins of the right-to-work movement.

Participants were told to train their supervisors in using the law to weaken unions -- or as they put it, "communicating pro-actively on the implications of the new law." You couldn't quite hear them salivating as they described the litigation they expect to result from the new statute. The seminar ended with a promise that they'd return soliciting more business:

...we will poll our offices in right-to-work states for additional insight. we will also have a program covering right-to-work developments.

There's one thing the Teamsters and Jackson Lewis lawyers can agree on: The new law will tear Michigan apart. Said one of three (we couldn't quite tell if it was Tom Barlow, Roderick Gillum or Maurice Jenkins):
(it) creates a very difficult situation where that partnership between management and unions has proven itself to be effective.

...to pressure to remain in the union or get out of the union: there's no q the sides on this issue are pretty strong in their beliefs. it's more philosophical...

One more thing: They were clearly uncertain how long the new RTW4Less laws will last as efforts are being made to reverse them. Said Barlow: 

...projecting the likelihood of success is pretty daunting.

The truth: Non-union workers WELCOMED to help with Sandy recovery

Those charming union-busters are at it again, smearing IBEW members with lies about Superstorm Sandy recovery to please their corporate paymasters.

The lies got halfway around the world before the truth had time to put its shoes on. What's most despicable is that an IBEW member from Canada died helping restore power after the storm. Another, from New Jersey, was injured. We doubt the union-busters and their propagandists were ever in harm's way during or after Superstorm Sandy.

Here's the truth, straight from the IBEW:

IBEW members and hundreds of other workers, union and nonunion, are pulling together to help the Northeast recover from the devastating effects of Superstorm Sandy...The recovery has been a massive effort that deserves praise, but instead, there have been erroneous reports that have cast the heroic efforts of IBEW members in a bad light. 

The lie? IBEW allegedly turned away nonunion workers from helping in the restoration work and allegedly tried to force them to join a union.

Sean Hannity actually played an audio clip on his radio show of union workers shouting at scabs during a 2011 Verizon strike. He claimed it as evidence that union workers were turning away non-union workers who came to restore power after Superstorm Sandy. The IBEW tells us:

The reports are absolutely false... 

No assistance was ever turned away by the IBEW or any of its employers. Reports that help was denied in New Jersey proved to be totally false, even being denied by those who allegedly were turned away.

WAAY-TV reported "Officials say local utility crews NOT ‘turned away’ in NY/NJ.” And Ray Hardin, general manager of Decatur Utilities, explained what really happened (It was Decatur Utilities' crews that ere allegedly turned away):

Hardin said his office received a 31-page document which implied a requirement of his employees to agree to union affiliation while working in New York and New Jersey.  Earlier, it was thought that document came from IBEW.  IBEW denied that, and Friday afternoon, Hardin clarified the paperwork came from Electric Cities of Alabama. 

ECA is a coalition of Alabama’s municipally owned electric utilities ... Hardin said the ECA sent the document to his offices for planning purposes.  The ECA said Decatur Utilities might encounter this, because New Jersey is a heavy union state. 

Decatur Utilities looked at the document, and Hardin said it indicated his workers would have to sign to become union members and pay union dues.  But again, that was not the case.

Our sympathies are with the family and friends of the IBEW member who lost his life in the Superstorm Sandy recovery effort.