TEAMSTERS
Union Resubmits Proposals, Seeks Strong Comprehensive Agreement With Great Lakes Coca-Cola Local 727 ...Bargaining continued for a third day on Monday, November 2, as the Teamsters Local 727 Bargaining Committee resubmitted its non-economic proposals to Great Lake Coca-Cola Distribution management. Although GLCCD representatives have not yet offered any substantive movement on initial proposals, the union is making significant organizational progress throughout negotiations...
Drivers at three Port of Long Beach, Los Angeles carriers end strike Landline ...A strike by port drivers working for three port motor carriers at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has ended. Labor organizers, however, say a dispute over the classification of drivers as independent contractors rolls on. A five-day driver strike and picket at XPO Logistics, Intermodal Bridge Transport and Gold Pint Transportation ended late last week according to Justice for Port Drivers organization, which is backed by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Indian capital a mess as sanitation workers strike USA Today ...Delhi is a mess, and a worse one than usual. Since late last month sanitation workers here have been on strike, refusing to pick up garbage and even dumping piles of trash in the streets. Sanitation workers have one key demand: their salaries...
Petrobras Oil Output Cut as Workers Protest Austerity Bloomberg ...Petroleo Brasileiro SA said its oil and natural-gas production has been cut because of a strike by workers protesting job losses, spending reductions and asset sales at Brazil’s state-controlled producer. The biggest output cuts came on Monday, the second day of the strike, when production fell 273,000 barrels a day...
Policy fights await release of trade deal The Hill ...The Obama administration is preparing to release the text of the sweeping Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, setting the stage for a host of policy fights that could threaten congressional approval of the president’s prized trade deal. Obama has little margin for error as his administration and supporters of the deal press lawmakers to back a 12-nation pact...
TPPA deal will be made public in 2 weeks, says minister Malaysian Insider ...The contents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) will be made public in two weeks' time, Second International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan said. He said as the government had concluded the TPP with the parties involved, the next step is to present the details to the people. It will then be brought before a special parliamentary session in January next year for debate and a vote by the 222 lawmakers...
Text Still Secret One Month After TPP Deal (opinion) Huffington Post ...Negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12 nation agreement seven years in the making, were finally concluded a month ago. Yet the Obama administration still has not released the text of the agreement. Not even to Congress, much less the public. But this has not stopped the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the office responsible for the negotiations, from making outlandish claims about how great the TPP is...
Political Expert Calls US-Initiated Trans-Pacific Partnership ‘Nonsense’ Sputnik ...The US invited Russia and China to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). According to political expert Alexei Skopin, the United States pursues its own goals creating such partnerships and does not always declare them openly. The Agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which includes 12 countries so far, was reached on October 5 and is designed to create a free trade area (FTA) in the Asia-Pacific region...
An Urgent Warning Of What TTIP Has In Store Morning Star ...Canada is the most sued country in the “developed” world, and that should sound alarm bells in Britain. Several weeks ago hundreds of thousands of people across Europe and Britain marched to protest against the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a massive planned new trade deal between Europe and the US...
Canada presses pause on austerity after Justin Trudeau’s election win The Guardian ...While Canada is hitting the pause button on austerity, the UK chancellor, is on fast-forward. George Osborne’s 2015 spending review will see a further £20bn cut from public spending to achieve balance by 2019, a move which follows a halving of the deficit over the course of the last parliament...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Kentucky elects right-to-work governor Politico ...Tea Party Republican Matt Bevin beat Democrat Jack Conway for Kentucky’s governorship Tuesday night, an upset victory in one of the last strongholds for Democrats in the right-to-work South. Activists on both side of the right-to-work debate led aggressive outreach in the run-up to the election, and this loss surely stings for the AFL-CIO and its affiliate Working America...
GOP candidates for governor talk right-to-work, rural issues in first forum Columbia Missourian ...It didn't take Republican gubernatorial candidates long to hit their party's bread and butter Tuesday night. A full choir of supporters and GOP lawmakers at Missouri Farm Bureau headquarters applauded promises to ban mandatory union fees with a right-to-work law and resist Medicaid expansion...
Thanks To Virginia Reforms, These People Are Voting For The First Time In Decades Think Progress ...Before McAuliffe’s reforms, felons in Virginia had a particularly hard time becoming full citizens after their convictions. In most states, voting rights are automatically restored once a felon is released from prison. But in Virginia, felons were required to first get off parole or probation, then file a voting rights restoration application with the governor’s office, a process that was supposed to take 45 to 60 days but often took much longer...
Leading Fight Against Money in Politics, Maine Voters Back Clean Elections Common Dreams ...Maine voters on Tuesday reaffirmed their desire to keep the influence of big money out of politics by passing the Clean Elections Initiative, a move that campaigners say serves as a "flare to a nation" desperate to "reclaim control of our democracy" in the wake of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision. According to the Bangor Daily News, the Initiative passed 55 to 45 percent...
Scandal, Explicit Emails, Behind The Most Expensive Supreme Court Race In American History Think Progress ...$15,850,297. That’s how much candidates and interested groups have spent to influence the race for three seats on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, according to Justice At Stake, a watchdog group which tracks state judicial races. And that number is only likely to grow as it is based on records that have already been filed in this election...
SEIU starts competing effort to put minimum wage on California ballot SacBee ...California’s largest labor union on Tuesday unveiled its own bid to increase the statewide minimum wage, setting up dueling pay measures aimed for next year’s ballot amid persistent concerns over income inequality. The proposed initiative, supported by the Service Employees International Union’s state council, would boost the base wage to $15 per hour by 2020...
Portland, Maine, Rejects $15 Minimum Wage Huffington Post ...In a rare setback for living wage activists, voters in Portland, Maine, shot down a $15 minimum wage proposal on Tuesday, voting against a ballot measure that would have doubled the wage floor in just four years. Under the proposal, all employers with 500 or more workers would have had to pay at least $15 per hour by 2017...
The Puerto Rican Debt Crisis: Tax Breaks Offered to Rich While Austerity Measures Imposed on Poor Democracy Now ...The Obama administration recently warned Puerto Rico faces a humanitarian crisis unless Congress takes steps to address its crushing debt. The White House wants lawmakers to approve bankruptcy protection for the U.S. territory, expand Medicaid and impose a control board to oversee Puerto Rico’s finances...
U.S. LABOR
NLRB hearing to delay UAW election at Chattanooga's VW plant Times Free Press ...A union election planned for later this week at Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant is expected to be delayed due to a hearing over whether the 164 maintenance workers slated to vote are too small of a unit. Attorneys for VW and the United Auto Workers argued today at a National Labor Relations Board hearing in Chattanooga that will continue into Wednesday...
Slight majority support GM-UAW deal so far The Detroit News ...With about one-third of ballots cast, voting on General Motors Co.’s tentative agreement with the UAW is close, with a slight majority of workers supporting the deal. Voting results at some larger facilities have been tight and roughly two-thirds of the 52,600 hourly workers have not had the opportunity to vote yet. The union is expected to release final results as early as this weekend...
USW files additional unfair labor charges against ATI Business Times ...The United Steelworkers have filed a total of 18 unfair labor practice charges against Allegheny Technologies Inc., the union said in an update to its members Monday. The pending charges cover ATI's decision to lock out more than 2,000 union employees in August as well as the company's conduct at the bargaining table, according to the union...
The Uphill Battle For Strippers’ Rights Think Progress ...Some dancers flock to the industry in part because of perceived scheduling flexibility, but they often end up just as binding as many other jobs. Most clubs require a dancer to come in a minimum number of days a week and assign them to either a day or night shift. Some also tell dancers what time to show up – even charging them a fine if they’re late...
Wages for top earners soared in 2014: Fly top 0.1 percent, fly EPI ...After dipping slightly in 2013, annual earnings of the top 1.0 percent of wages earners grew 4.9 percent in 2014, and the top 0.1 percent’s earnings grew 8.9 percent, according to our analysis of the latest Social Security Administration wage data. This analysis provides the first look at the likely trend of the household incomes of the top 1.0 percent...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
How Bathroom Fears Conquered Transgender Rights in Houston The Atlantic ...After a hard-fought campaign that drew national attention from Hollywood celebrities and presidential. candidates, voters rejected the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, or Proposition 1, handing a victory to conservative critics who argued that its expansive protections for transgender people could endanger women and children...
Republicans Demonize Disabled Social Security Recipients in Latest Budget Alternet ...Having failed in numerous frontal assaults on Social Security, the Republican congressional leadership several years ago adopted a new strategy for dismantling the program: attack and demonize Disability Insurance, which they consider to be its soft underbelly. With last week’s passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, they drew blood...
New Study Shows Antarctic Melting Approaching 'Unstoppable' Tipping Point Common Dreams ...A new study published Monday warns that "unstoppable" melting in West Antarctica could make a three-meter increase in sea level "unavoidable." According to researchers at Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the vulnerable Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica "has most likely been destabilized." They point to recent studies indicating that this area of the ice continent is "the first element in the climate system about to tip"...
How GOP & HMOs Undercut Obamacare's Nonprofit Option, Leaving 500K Uninsured Democracy Now ...As the Obamacare open enrollment period begins, it’s the end for many healthcare co-ops, leaving hundreds of thousands of people scrambling to find coverage. The co-ops were founded to offer a cheaper alternative on insurance exchanges after Democrats stopped demanding a public option. But since going live three years ago, the co-ops have faced major cutbacks from the Republican-controlled Congress...
Showing posts with label voting rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label voting rights. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Monday, August 10, 2015
Court ruling on Texas voter suppression is a positive step
Texas lawmakers tried to silence the voices of thousands of their residents at the voting booth. They've created rules that disproportionately impeded minorities, poor, elderly and young people. But last week a federal appeals court let the state know its voter suppression efforts went too far.
The Lone Star State jumped quickly to alter its rules after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in 2013 that curtailed enforcement of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Even though experts have repeatedly stated that illegal voting is an insignificant issue trumped up by elected officials with their own political agendas, the Texas Legislature decided to disenfranchise some 600,000 people in the state anyway.
As The New York Times explained:
The Texas ruling is a step in the right direction, but is still far from settled given that a lower court judge will be tasked with deciding whether the state "acted with discriminatory purpose." What is truly required is a process that allows all qualified voters to go to the polls and carry out their constitutional rights, instead of letting lawmakers try to monkey wrench the proceedings.
This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. Our elected officials shouldn't be making a mockery of it.
The Lone Star State jumped quickly to alter its rules after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in 2013 that curtailed enforcement of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Even though experts have repeatedly stated that illegal voting is an insignificant issue trumped up by elected officials with their own political agendas, the Texas Legislature decided to disenfranchise some 600,000 people in the state anyway.As The New York Times explained:
The case is one of a few across the country that are being closely watched in legal circles after a 2013 Supreme Court decision that blocked the voting act’s most potent enforcement tool, federal oversight of election laws in numerous states, including Texas, with histories of racial discrimination.
While the federal act still bans laws that suppress minority voting, it has been uncertain exactly what kinds of measures cross the legal line since that Supreme Court ruling.
The Texas ID law is one of the strictest of its kind in the country. It requires voters to bring a government-issued photo ID to the polls. Accepted forms of identification include a driver’s license, a United States passport, a concealed-handgun license and an election identification certificate issued by the State Department of Public Safety.
Another case is currently being heard in federal court in North Carolina, where state lawmakers also instituted draconian voting requirements against their own residents. Plaintiffs in North Carolina NAACP v. McCrory are rightfully questioning the trimming or eliminating measures that had been adopted over the previous 15 years in an effort to help boost electoral participation by minority and younger voters in North Carolina.
The Texas ruling is a step in the right direction, but is still far from settled given that a lower court judge will be tasked with deciding whether the state "acted with discriminatory purpose." What is truly required is a process that allows all qualified voters to go to the polls and carry out their constitutional rights, instead of letting lawmakers try to monkey wrench the proceedings.
This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. Our elected officials shouldn't be making a mockery of it.
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Today's Teamster News 08.05.15
Teamsters
Teamsters and Coalition of Unions Reach Tentative Agreement with American Red Cross Teamster.org ...After several months of serious negotiations, the Teamsters, as part of a union coalition, have come to a tentative agreement for members working at American Red Cross. The agreement, once voted on by the membership, will impact more than 1,100 Teamsters at 18 different local unions...
Sun Tran riders warned to prepare for driver strike Arizona Daily Star ...While union contract negotiations are underway, Sun Tran officials and union leaders warned bus riders to prepare for the possibility of a strike. Professional Transit Management of Tucson and Teamsters Local 104 have been in talks since June 17, and last week agreed to a five-day contract extension that expires at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday...
Plaque marks site where Minneapolis cops fired on striking workers People's World ...One day shy of the 81st anniversary, 200-plus people gathered in the warehouse district in downtown Minneapolis on July 19 to unveil a plaque marking the spot where city police opened fire July 20, 1934, on unarmed striking members and supporters of Teamsters Local 574...
Global Labor & Trade
Canada, Mexico drawn into deal-breaking auto talks in Trans-Pacific negotiations Globe and Mail ...Canada and Mexico are joining forces to try to break a major logjam over Japanese autos at the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks, working to come up with a solution that preserves their respective vehicle assemblers and parts makers should a deal open North America to greater Asian imports. Ottawa and Mexico City have been drawn deeply into a contentious issue at the Pacific Rim talks that held up a deal in Hawaii last week...
Kerry Hails Progress Toward Trans-Pacific Trade Pact, Despite Delays New York Times ...Days after negotiators failed to wrap up an Asia trade agreement, Secretary of State John Kerry expressed confidence on Tuesday that the pact would be completed, calling it vital for the economic well-being of the region. “We made progress, good progress, in our negotiations toward one of the most significant trade agreements in history, the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” Mr. Kerry said...
Trans-Pacific Partnership talks stall NW Labor Press ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)— a proposed 12-nation NAFTA-style deal — is on ice. The corporate-led agreement is a top priority for the Obama Administration, and it was supposed to be finalized at a July 28-31 summit of trade ministers in Maui. Instead, the summit ended July 31 without a deal, and without any further dates set for negotiation. The talks have been conducted entirely in secret, and even the U.S. proposals are classified...
Australia wants exposure to future U.S. sugar demand in trade pact Reuters ...Australia is seeking a guaranteed slice of any growth in demand in the U.S. sugar market in talks with Washington on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, a source with knowledge of the Australian position said. Australia, the world's third-largest exporter of raw sugar, has rejected a U.S. offer to permit 152,000 tonnes of imports per year, or 62,000 tonnes more than typical annual sales, according to data from Australia's commodity forecaster...
TTIP: what does the transatlantic trade deal mean for renewable energy? The Guardian ...In July the transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP) came a step closer to reality. Formal talks have been ongoing for two years, but trying to create the world’s biggest free trade zone is no mean feat. Essentially, if passed, the EU and US will be able to trade without each other’s pesky tariffs or regulations getting in the way. Currently, the only energy sources traded in significant amounts between the EU and the US are refined petroleum products and solid fuels – but TTIP could allow Europe to gain access to US crude oil and natural gas resources...
Greece needs wide debt relief to avoid permanent depression, thinktank warns The Guardian ...Greece’s economy will suffer fresh damage from the austerity measures demanded by its creditors and will remain stuck in permanent depression unless it receives substantial debt relief, one of the UK’s leading thinktanks has warned. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research said the increases in VAT reluctantly accepted by the Syriza-led coalition in Athens in exchange for a new bail out will result in a 1% fall in national output in 2016...
London Underground workers strike over 24 hour tube, ‘gaping holes in staffing’ RT ...stations expected to close, as workers reject Transport for London’s (TFL) pay offer for the proposed 24 hour tube service. Attacking the night tube project, Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union general secretary Mick Cash said: “Londoners need to be aware that the night tube was rushed and botched from the off”...
State & Living Wage Battles
Kansas Moves to Implement $25 ATM Withdrawal Limit for Welfare Recipients McClatchy ...Kansas plans to keep a controversial $25 limit on ATM withdrawals by welfare recipients, despite the possibility that the restriction might violate federal law. Despite legislation passed earlier this year to raise the limit, or do away with it entirely, a newly revised version of Kansas' welfare plan does not permit withdrawals of more than $25 per transaction per day...
The Bank Employees Who Make Less Than $15 An Hour Think Progress ...Tthe majority of people who work for banks in fact make far less. The most common occupation is bank teller, and nearly three-quarters of them make less than $15 an hour, according to an analysis from the National Employment Law Project (NELP) provided exclusively to ThinkProgress. Nearly a half million people work as bank tellers. Their median hourly wage is just $12.44, and 74.1 percent make less than $15...
Puerto Rico Crisis Goes From Bad to Worse Mother Jones ...Puerto Rico's economic crisis has only gotten worse in the month since Gov. Alejandro García Padilla told the New York Times the island's $72 billion in debts was "not payable." Earlier this week, the island missed a key bond payment, making history and setting the stage for a bruising and protracted battle with creditors. There are many reasons Puerto Rico finds itself in this quandary, including its murky political status, and the situation seems to be deteriorating as time goes on...
Local right-to-work laws challenged in federal court WKYT ...The national battle over compulsory labor union dues landed in a Kentucky federal courthouse on Tuesday as a handful of unions tried to convince a judge to throw out a series of local laws designed to end closed shops. States have had the ability to outlaw mandatory union dues as a condition of employment for decades. But the question of whether local governments can do the same has not been fully decided...
The 7 most dangerous myths about a $15 minimum wage Salon ...What was once a fringe movement led largely by far left liberals has become a major media story and trending topic on Twitter: Workers, politicians, and even business owners are fighting for a higher minimum wage. And despite these successes, myths about what increased wages mean for America’s economy and workers continue to prevail, making the rounds in Facebook memes and even real news reports...
O’Malley Endorses a Constitutional Amendment Protecting the Right to Vote The Nation ...Five decades after the great advances of 1964 and 1965, the Voting Rights Act has been assaulted by Republican governor and legislators and the right-wing majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, forcing activists to launch new campaigns to renew its core provisions. On Tuesday, the right-to-vote amendment proposal gained the enthusiastic support of a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley...
What’s The Matter With Kansas? They’re Losing All Their Teachers Think Progress ...Kansas embarked on an experiment with radical right-wing policies since Governor Sam Brownback (R) was elected in 2010, and it failed miserably. The centerpiece of the project, led by Governor Sam Brownback, was huge tax cuts, largely for wealthy individuals and businesses, based on the Republican orthodoxy that tax cuts create jobs. Now, a teacher shortage appears to be the latest consequence of Kansas’ abject failure to manage its economy...
Challenges expected to paid sick leave law Post-Gazette ...Brushing aside concerns about the speed of the legislation and the limits of its own authority, Pittsburgh City Council overwhelmingly approved a law Monday that will require all employers within the city borders to provide paid sick leave, part of a nationwide push to extend the benefit to millions who lack it. Council members and supporters, including Pittsburgh United, a coalition of unions, community organizations and advocacy groups, heralded the law as a just, common-sense measure...
U.S. Labor
NLRB Finds Retaliation After Capitol Food Worker Strike Roll Call ...The National Labor Relations Board has found that the Capitol’s food-service vendor likely violated labor laws when supervisors retaliated against workers who went on strike. In two separate cases, the NLRB found merit in allegations of retaliation, which included charges of interrogation and coercive statements. Workers in the Capitol Visitor Center and the Dirksen Senate Office Building filed unfair labor practice charges against Restaurant Associates in April and May, respectively, following an April 22 strike for higher wages and union representation...
Nurses protest at St. Petersburg General Hospital, claiming staffing shortages Tampa Bay ...Dozens of nurses formed a picket line outside St. Petersburg General Hospital late Monday to protest insufficient staffing levels and "dismal" wages. The nurses, affiliated with the labor union National Nurses United, allege hospital administrators have routinely ignored the staffing plan meant to ensure high-quality patient care...
Strike Over! IATSE Wins ‘Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge’ Contract Deadline ...A week and a half after the picket lines went up at the offices of 51 Minds Entertainment, the union and the production company for Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge have reached a deal. Agreed to late last night, the IATSE contract sees the post-crew back at work today with enshrined health and pension benefits...
Board rules Teach for America members in Detroit can be in teachers unions MLive ...The National Labor Relations Board ruled Friday that Teach for America teachers in a Detroit charter school have the right to be a part of a union. According to a statement from the Michigan Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff, the NLRB said Friday 14 Teach for America corps members should have been able to vote in an election last spring...
Clark County, SEIU trade final jabs Review Journal ...At one point, Clark County's attorney asked the union president if his organization's bargaining position was "greedy." In another instance, the union's attorney accused the county of "arrogance." Those jabs and others are laid bare in a lengthy transcript of the arbitration proceedings between the county and its largest union, the Service Employees International Union Local 1107. The two-day July hearing was the culmination of a two-year stretch of stalled contract negotiations between the two that started in 2013...
Netflix Now Giving Employees 'Unlimited' Maternity, Paternity Leave Huffington Post ...Netflix on Tuesday announced that it would offer something completely unheard of in the corporate world: unlimited parental leave for the first year of a child's life. "We want employees to have the flexibility and confidence to balance the needs of their growing families without worrying about work or finances. Parents can return part-time, full-time, or return and then go back out as needed," said Tawni Cranz, Netflix’s Chief Talent Officer in a statement...
Janus Youth Programs employees vote to join AFSCME NW Labor Press ...esidential treatment employees at Janus Youth Programs in Portland voted 26-12 to join Oregon AFSCME. There are 49 employees in the bargaining unit. They will join Local 1790, newly established for Basic Rights Oregon employees. Janus Youth is a private non-profit that operates around Portland. The clients range from age 13 to 21, with those 18 and older housed separately from the younger kids...
A remarkable look at the gap between black and white unemployment Washington Post ...Valerie Wilson at the Economic Policy Institute breaks out data on unemployment by race and state and quarter, allowing for a more refined look at this racial split on jobs. "Nationally" in the second quarter, she writes, "African Americans had the highest unemployment rate, at 9.5 percent, followed by Latinos (6.6 percent), whites (4.6 percent), and Asians (3.8 percent)." What's more, she notes, the state with the lowest black unemployment, Tennessee, had the same unemployment rate for blacks as the white unemployment rate in the state with the highest white unemployment...
The Persistent Stereotype About Latino Workers That Won’t Die Think Progress ...During a live taping of The View on Tuesday, guest co-host Kelly Osbourne sparked some outrage among viewers when she stereotyped Latinos as toilet cleaners as a way to rebuke 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The stereotype is rooted in some reality: Latinos do disproportionately work in the agriculture and service industry. The issue with fixating on the stereotype of Latinos who hold low-wage jobs isn’t that it’s demeaning work, but that it’s demeaning pay for the amount of physical labor involved...
Social Justice & Other News
Despite Epic Crash of World Economy, White Collar Prosecutions at 20-Year Low Common Dreams ...Despite lofty rhetoric from politicians who vowed in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to hold Wall Street accountable, U.S. Justice Department statistics show a "long-term collapse" of federal white collar crime prosecutions, which are down to their lowest level in 20 years, according to a new report from Syracuse University. The analysis of thousands of records by the university's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) shows a more than 36 percent decline...
A Judge’s Rebuke of Immigration Detention (opinion) New York Times ...Children do not belong in prison. The mass detention of families offends American values, a lesson this country learned long ago at Manzanar, Tule Lake, Heart Mountain and the other Japanese-American internment camps of World War II. Learned, but apparently forgotten by the Obama administration, which has just been ordered by a federal judge to release several hundred women and children locked up in its immigration detention centers in southern Texas...
Black and White: Survey Reveals Huge Disparities in Assessing Police Violence Common Dreams ...Just days ahead of the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown's killing by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri—a death which propelled the national Black Lives Matter movement and a national conversation about racialized police violence to the forefront—a new poll released Wednesday reveals just how different the perceptions and experiences regarding law enforcement in the United States remain for black community members compared to their white counterparts...
Teamsters and Coalition of Unions Reach Tentative Agreement with American Red Cross Teamster.org ...After several months of serious negotiations, the Teamsters, as part of a union coalition, have come to a tentative agreement for members working at American Red Cross. The agreement, once voted on by the membership, will impact more than 1,100 Teamsters at 18 different local unions...
Sun Tran riders warned to prepare for driver strike Arizona Daily Star ...While union contract negotiations are underway, Sun Tran officials and union leaders warned bus riders to prepare for the possibility of a strike. Professional Transit Management of Tucson and Teamsters Local 104 have been in talks since June 17, and last week agreed to a five-day contract extension that expires at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday...
Plaque marks site where Minneapolis cops fired on striking workers People's World ...One day shy of the 81st anniversary, 200-plus people gathered in the warehouse district in downtown Minneapolis on July 19 to unveil a plaque marking the spot where city police opened fire July 20, 1934, on unarmed striking members and supporters of Teamsters Local 574...
Global Labor & Trade
Canada, Mexico drawn into deal-breaking auto talks in Trans-Pacific negotiations Globe and Mail ...Canada and Mexico are joining forces to try to break a major logjam over Japanese autos at the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks, working to come up with a solution that preserves their respective vehicle assemblers and parts makers should a deal open North America to greater Asian imports. Ottawa and Mexico City have been drawn deeply into a contentious issue at the Pacific Rim talks that held up a deal in Hawaii last week...
Kerry Hails Progress Toward Trans-Pacific Trade Pact, Despite Delays New York Times ...Days after negotiators failed to wrap up an Asia trade agreement, Secretary of State John Kerry expressed confidence on Tuesday that the pact would be completed, calling it vital for the economic well-being of the region. “We made progress, good progress, in our negotiations toward one of the most significant trade agreements in history, the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” Mr. Kerry said...
Trans-Pacific Partnership talks stall NW Labor Press ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)— a proposed 12-nation NAFTA-style deal — is on ice. The corporate-led agreement is a top priority for the Obama Administration, and it was supposed to be finalized at a July 28-31 summit of trade ministers in Maui. Instead, the summit ended July 31 without a deal, and without any further dates set for negotiation. The talks have been conducted entirely in secret, and even the U.S. proposals are classified...
Australia wants exposure to future U.S. sugar demand in trade pact Reuters ...Australia is seeking a guaranteed slice of any growth in demand in the U.S. sugar market in talks with Washington on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, a source with knowledge of the Australian position said. Australia, the world's third-largest exporter of raw sugar, has rejected a U.S. offer to permit 152,000 tonnes of imports per year, or 62,000 tonnes more than typical annual sales, according to data from Australia's commodity forecaster...
TTIP: what does the transatlantic trade deal mean for renewable energy? The Guardian ...In July the transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP) came a step closer to reality. Formal talks have been ongoing for two years, but trying to create the world’s biggest free trade zone is no mean feat. Essentially, if passed, the EU and US will be able to trade without each other’s pesky tariffs or regulations getting in the way. Currently, the only energy sources traded in significant amounts between the EU and the US are refined petroleum products and solid fuels – but TTIP could allow Europe to gain access to US crude oil and natural gas resources...
Greece needs wide debt relief to avoid permanent depression, thinktank warns The Guardian ...Greece’s economy will suffer fresh damage from the austerity measures demanded by its creditors and will remain stuck in permanent depression unless it receives substantial debt relief, one of the UK’s leading thinktanks has warned. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research said the increases in VAT reluctantly accepted by the Syriza-led coalition in Athens in exchange for a new bail out will result in a 1% fall in national output in 2016...
London Underground workers strike over 24 hour tube, ‘gaping holes in staffing’ RT ...stations expected to close, as workers reject Transport for London’s (TFL) pay offer for the proposed 24 hour tube service. Attacking the night tube project, Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union general secretary Mick Cash said: “Londoners need to be aware that the night tube was rushed and botched from the off”...
State & Living Wage Battles
Kansas Moves to Implement $25 ATM Withdrawal Limit for Welfare Recipients McClatchy ...Kansas plans to keep a controversial $25 limit on ATM withdrawals by welfare recipients, despite the possibility that the restriction might violate federal law. Despite legislation passed earlier this year to raise the limit, or do away with it entirely, a newly revised version of Kansas' welfare plan does not permit withdrawals of more than $25 per transaction per day...
The Bank Employees Who Make Less Than $15 An Hour Think Progress ...Tthe majority of people who work for banks in fact make far less. The most common occupation is bank teller, and nearly three-quarters of them make less than $15 an hour, according to an analysis from the National Employment Law Project (NELP) provided exclusively to ThinkProgress. Nearly a half million people work as bank tellers. Their median hourly wage is just $12.44, and 74.1 percent make less than $15...
Puerto Rico Crisis Goes From Bad to Worse Mother Jones ...Puerto Rico's economic crisis has only gotten worse in the month since Gov. Alejandro García Padilla told the New York Times the island's $72 billion in debts was "not payable." Earlier this week, the island missed a key bond payment, making history and setting the stage for a bruising and protracted battle with creditors. There are many reasons Puerto Rico finds itself in this quandary, including its murky political status, and the situation seems to be deteriorating as time goes on...
Local right-to-work laws challenged in federal court WKYT ...The national battle over compulsory labor union dues landed in a Kentucky federal courthouse on Tuesday as a handful of unions tried to convince a judge to throw out a series of local laws designed to end closed shops. States have had the ability to outlaw mandatory union dues as a condition of employment for decades. But the question of whether local governments can do the same has not been fully decided...
The 7 most dangerous myths about a $15 minimum wage Salon ...What was once a fringe movement led largely by far left liberals has become a major media story and trending topic on Twitter: Workers, politicians, and even business owners are fighting for a higher minimum wage. And despite these successes, myths about what increased wages mean for America’s economy and workers continue to prevail, making the rounds in Facebook memes and even real news reports...
O’Malley Endorses a Constitutional Amendment Protecting the Right to Vote The Nation ...Five decades after the great advances of 1964 and 1965, the Voting Rights Act has been assaulted by Republican governor and legislators and the right-wing majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, forcing activists to launch new campaigns to renew its core provisions. On Tuesday, the right-to-vote amendment proposal gained the enthusiastic support of a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley...
What’s The Matter With Kansas? They’re Losing All Their Teachers Think Progress ...Kansas embarked on an experiment with radical right-wing policies since Governor Sam Brownback (R) was elected in 2010, and it failed miserably. The centerpiece of the project, led by Governor Sam Brownback, was huge tax cuts, largely for wealthy individuals and businesses, based on the Republican orthodoxy that tax cuts create jobs. Now, a teacher shortage appears to be the latest consequence of Kansas’ abject failure to manage its economy...
Challenges expected to paid sick leave law Post-Gazette ...Brushing aside concerns about the speed of the legislation and the limits of its own authority, Pittsburgh City Council overwhelmingly approved a law Monday that will require all employers within the city borders to provide paid sick leave, part of a nationwide push to extend the benefit to millions who lack it. Council members and supporters, including Pittsburgh United, a coalition of unions, community organizations and advocacy groups, heralded the law as a just, common-sense measure...
U.S. Labor
NLRB Finds Retaliation After Capitol Food Worker Strike Roll Call ...The National Labor Relations Board has found that the Capitol’s food-service vendor likely violated labor laws when supervisors retaliated against workers who went on strike. In two separate cases, the NLRB found merit in allegations of retaliation, which included charges of interrogation and coercive statements. Workers in the Capitol Visitor Center and the Dirksen Senate Office Building filed unfair labor practice charges against Restaurant Associates in April and May, respectively, following an April 22 strike for higher wages and union representation...
Nurses protest at St. Petersburg General Hospital, claiming staffing shortages Tampa Bay ...Dozens of nurses formed a picket line outside St. Petersburg General Hospital late Monday to protest insufficient staffing levels and "dismal" wages. The nurses, affiliated with the labor union National Nurses United, allege hospital administrators have routinely ignored the staffing plan meant to ensure high-quality patient care...
Strike Over! IATSE Wins ‘Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge’ Contract Deadline ...A week and a half after the picket lines went up at the offices of 51 Minds Entertainment, the union and the production company for Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge have reached a deal. Agreed to late last night, the IATSE contract sees the post-crew back at work today with enshrined health and pension benefits...
Board rules Teach for America members in Detroit can be in teachers unions MLive ...The National Labor Relations Board ruled Friday that Teach for America teachers in a Detroit charter school have the right to be a part of a union. According to a statement from the Michigan Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff, the NLRB said Friday 14 Teach for America corps members should have been able to vote in an election last spring...
Clark County, SEIU trade final jabs Review Journal ...At one point, Clark County's attorney asked the union president if his organization's bargaining position was "greedy." In another instance, the union's attorney accused the county of "arrogance." Those jabs and others are laid bare in a lengthy transcript of the arbitration proceedings between the county and its largest union, the Service Employees International Union Local 1107. The two-day July hearing was the culmination of a two-year stretch of stalled contract negotiations between the two that started in 2013...
Netflix Now Giving Employees 'Unlimited' Maternity, Paternity Leave Huffington Post ...Netflix on Tuesday announced that it would offer something completely unheard of in the corporate world: unlimited parental leave for the first year of a child's life. "We want employees to have the flexibility and confidence to balance the needs of their growing families without worrying about work or finances. Parents can return part-time, full-time, or return and then go back out as needed," said Tawni Cranz, Netflix’s Chief Talent Officer in a statement...
Janus Youth Programs employees vote to join AFSCME NW Labor Press ...esidential treatment employees at Janus Youth Programs in Portland voted 26-12 to join Oregon AFSCME. There are 49 employees in the bargaining unit. They will join Local 1790, newly established for Basic Rights Oregon employees. Janus Youth is a private non-profit that operates around Portland. The clients range from age 13 to 21, with those 18 and older housed separately from the younger kids...
A remarkable look at the gap between black and white unemployment Washington Post ...Valerie Wilson at the Economic Policy Institute breaks out data on unemployment by race and state and quarter, allowing for a more refined look at this racial split on jobs. "Nationally" in the second quarter, she writes, "African Americans had the highest unemployment rate, at 9.5 percent, followed by Latinos (6.6 percent), whites (4.6 percent), and Asians (3.8 percent)." What's more, she notes, the state with the lowest black unemployment, Tennessee, had the same unemployment rate for blacks as the white unemployment rate in the state with the highest white unemployment...
The Persistent Stereotype About Latino Workers That Won’t Die Think Progress ...During a live taping of The View on Tuesday, guest co-host Kelly Osbourne sparked some outrage among viewers when she stereotyped Latinos as toilet cleaners as a way to rebuke 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The stereotype is rooted in some reality: Latinos do disproportionately work in the agriculture and service industry. The issue with fixating on the stereotype of Latinos who hold low-wage jobs isn’t that it’s demeaning work, but that it’s demeaning pay for the amount of physical labor involved...
Social Justice & Other News
Despite Epic Crash of World Economy, White Collar Prosecutions at 20-Year Low Common Dreams ...Despite lofty rhetoric from politicians who vowed in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to hold Wall Street accountable, U.S. Justice Department statistics show a "long-term collapse" of federal white collar crime prosecutions, which are down to their lowest level in 20 years, according to a new report from Syracuse University. The analysis of thousands of records by the university's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) shows a more than 36 percent decline...
A Judge’s Rebuke of Immigration Detention (opinion) New York Times ...Children do not belong in prison. The mass detention of families offends American values, a lesson this country learned long ago at Manzanar, Tule Lake, Heart Mountain and the other Japanese-American internment camps of World War II. Learned, but apparently forgotten by the Obama administration, which has just been ordered by a federal judge to release several hundred women and children locked up in its immigration detention centers in southern Texas...
Black and White: Survey Reveals Huge Disparities in Assessing Police Violence Common Dreams ...Just days ahead of the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown's killing by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri—a death which propelled the national Black Lives Matter movement and a national conversation about racialized police violence to the forefront—a new poll released Wednesday reveals just how different the perceptions and experiences regarding law enforcement in the United States remain for black community members compared to their white counterparts...
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Today's Teamster News 08.04.15
Teamsters
Hoffa Statement on Failure of Trade Authorities to Reach an Agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership Teamster.org ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa in response to trade officials failing to finalize the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) during negotiations in Maui that ended late Friday. "Despite years of discussions about the TPP, there continues to be many fatal flaws that are rightfully giving many nations pause on whether to sign off on this faulty trade deal"...
Teamsters take on Silicon Valley CNBC ...In Silicon Valley, residents are used to seeing big buses rolling through the city transporting workers for tech companies. Now, those drivers want more money. On Saturday, bus drivers for Apple, Yahoo and eBay, among others, voted to ask for a new wage and benefits package. The 160 drivers are employed by a company called Compass Transportation. Back in February, the drivers voted for representation by Teamsters Local 853...
Bus drivers for Apple, Yahoo demand $27.50 an hour CNN ...Five months after unionizing, 75 bus drivers voted Saturday for a proposal that would increase their wages to $27.50 and provide them with new benefits. According to Rome Aloise, international vice president at Teamsters, the pay increase is significant bump from the $17 to $21 an hour they're currently making. "We agreed to be flexible on their client needs but inflexible on changing anything that was economic," said Aloise. "I think the negotiations went great ... It seems to be a very affordable contract [for] some of the richest companies in the world"...
Local 727 Members Helped Create ‘Wild Encounters’ Local 727 ...Teamsters Local 727 members played an important role in preparing for the July 1 grand opening of the new Hamill Family Wild Encounters exhibit at Brookfield Zoo. The $11 million, 2.3-acre exhibit, which occupies the space of the former Children’s Zoo, is aimed at fostering learning through up-close and hands-on interactions with animals. "Our members really do some incredible work," said John Coli Jr., President of Local 727...
Global Labor & Trade
Election Cycles Cloud Future of Trade Talks Wall Street Journal ...The U.S. and 11 other Pacific nations trying to hammer out a sweeping trade agreement notched progress in high-level talks in Hawaii but now face a renewed mix of thorny issues complicated by election seasons in the U.S. and Canada. A snowballing dairy fight threatened to derail the deal last week as top ministers also grappled with an economically larger issue on how automobiles can be produced and traded...
Trans-Pacific Partnership Session Ends With Heels Dug In New York Times ...Tokyo was ready to extend major concessions on American truck tariffs but was blocked by Mexico, which wanted less competition for its own trucks in the United States market. Canada held firm on protecting its politically sensitive dairy market ahead of elections in October, but for New Zealand, a tiny country with huge dairy exports, that was unacceptable...
Pro-trade lawmakers push for continued effort after setback in talks The Hill ...Pro-trade lawmakers and the business community are urging the Obama administration to keep pushing, after negotiators failed to finalize a massive 12-nation trade pact Friday. A group meeting for negotiations for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) came to a standstill Friday, as the partner nations were unable to finalize the terms of the deal. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said “significant progress” had been made, but all parties left the Hawaii meeting empty-handed...
Hoffa Statement on Failure of Trade Authorities to Reach an Agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership Teamster.org ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa in response to trade officials failing to finalize the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) during negotiations in Maui that ended late Friday. "Despite years of discussions about the TPP, there continues to be many fatal flaws that are rightfully giving many nations pause on whether to sign off on this faulty trade deal"...
Teamsters take on Silicon Valley CNBC ...In Silicon Valley, residents are used to seeing big buses rolling through the city transporting workers for tech companies. Now, those drivers want more money. On Saturday, bus drivers for Apple, Yahoo and eBay, among others, voted to ask for a new wage and benefits package. The 160 drivers are employed by a company called Compass Transportation. Back in February, the drivers voted for representation by Teamsters Local 853...
Bus drivers for Apple, Yahoo demand $27.50 an hour CNN ...Five months after unionizing, 75 bus drivers voted Saturday for a proposal that would increase their wages to $27.50 and provide them with new benefits. According to Rome Aloise, international vice president at Teamsters, the pay increase is significant bump from the $17 to $21 an hour they're currently making. "We agreed to be flexible on their client needs but inflexible on changing anything that was economic," said Aloise. "I think the negotiations went great ... It seems to be a very affordable contract [for] some of the richest companies in the world"...
Local 727 Members Helped Create ‘Wild Encounters’ Local 727 ...Teamsters Local 727 members played an important role in preparing for the July 1 grand opening of the new Hamill Family Wild Encounters exhibit at Brookfield Zoo. The $11 million, 2.3-acre exhibit, which occupies the space of the former Children’s Zoo, is aimed at fostering learning through up-close and hands-on interactions with animals. "Our members really do some incredible work," said John Coli Jr., President of Local 727...
Global Labor & Trade
Election Cycles Cloud Future of Trade Talks Wall Street Journal ...The U.S. and 11 other Pacific nations trying to hammer out a sweeping trade agreement notched progress in high-level talks in Hawaii but now face a renewed mix of thorny issues complicated by election seasons in the U.S. and Canada. A snowballing dairy fight threatened to derail the deal last week as top ministers also grappled with an economically larger issue on how automobiles can be produced and traded...
Trans-Pacific Partnership Session Ends With Heels Dug In New York Times ...Tokyo was ready to extend major concessions on American truck tariffs but was blocked by Mexico, which wanted less competition for its own trucks in the United States market. Canada held firm on protecting its politically sensitive dairy market ahead of elections in October, but for New Zealand, a tiny country with huge dairy exports, that was unacceptable...
Pro-trade lawmakers push for continued effort after setback in talks The Hill ...Pro-trade lawmakers and the business community are urging the Obama administration to keep pushing, after negotiators failed to finalize a massive 12-nation trade pact Friday. A group meeting for negotiations for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) came to a standstill Friday, as the partner nations were unable to finalize the terms of the deal. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said “significant progress” had been made, but all parties left the Hawaii meeting empty-handed...
State Department watered down human trafficking report Reuters ...Human rights experts at the State Department concluded that trafficking conditions hadn’t improved in Malaysia and Cuba. And in China, they found, things had grown worse. The State Department’s senior political staff saw it differently — and they prevailed. A Reuters examination, based on interviews with more than a dozen sources in Washington and foreign capitals, shows that the government office set up to independently grade global efforts to fight human trafficking was repeatedly overruled by senior American diplomats...
Corporate Tribunals Pose Biggest Hurdle to Europe's Vote on Transatlantic Trade Pact Truthout ...July marked the second anniversary of negotiations between the US and European Union over the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), but for the millions of European citizens opposed to the trade deal it was not a month to celebrate. One of the main points of contention remains the debate about whether to include investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS) in the trade pact...
Did Obama’s Trade Agenda Just Quietly Run Out of Time? Foreign Policy ...It was just weeks ago that the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) passed after a perilous journey through the U.S. Congress. The episode prompted numerous reminders of just what was at stake: the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and U.S. standing in the Asia-Pacific. When TPA passed, that agenda remained alive. But did it escape the jaws of Congress only to quietly miss its window?...
UK asks austerity-weary workers to suggest new budget cuts CNN ...Imagine your pay has been frozen for years and thousands of colleagues have been let go. Then your boss asks you for ideas on how to save even more money. That's exactly what the British government is doing to millions of workers in healthcare, education and administration. Finance minister George Osborne tweeted that he has emailed every public sector employee to "ask for their views on how we can continue to do more with less"...
First Great Western rail workers to strike over August bank holiday weekend The Guardian ...Rail workers with First Great Western have announced they are to stage a series of strikes – including over the August bank holiday weekend – as a long-running row rumbles on over the introduction of new trains. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, including drivers and guards, will walk out for 24 hours on 23 August and for 72 hours from 29 August, with other members who work on maintenance striking on 29 and 31 August...
Japan's "Sacred" Rice Farmers Brace for Pacific Trade Deal's Death Sentence Truthout ...In small wet rice fields, or suiden, across Japan, farmers don rubber boots to slosh through the fields and check their plantings. Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in tropical Hawaii, negotiators are in the final stages of talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement that farmers fear will disrupt the rhythm of their even-metered life. Rice is one of the five sacred areas of Japanese agriculture...
New Greek Bailout Increases the Possibility of Grexit Counterpunch ...It is now clear that the European authorities do not intend to let the Greek economy recover any time in the foreseeable future. The primary surpluses that the government has been forced to agree to—2, 3, and 3.5 percent of GDP for the three years of the deal, 2016 through 2018—will not allow Greece to escape its depression, which is now in its sixth year. Even if they miss these targets, which is likely, just trying to do what they have committed to will keep the economy from recovering...
State & Living Wage Battles
California minimum wage initiative cleared for signatures KPCC ...A union-backed proposal to raise California's minimum wage to $15 an hour was cleared Monday to begin collecting signatures for a ballot initiative next year as local efforts continue nationwide to boost the minimum wage to better reflect the cost of living. The proposal by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West would increase California's minimum wage by $1 an hour annually until it reaches $15...
NC House proposes spending $4.1B to improve infrastructure WRAL ...House leaders have raised the ante on both their Senate counterparts and Gov. Pat McCrory, proposing a $4.155 billion program aimed at rebuilding roads and rehabbing and expanding aging infrastructure. "We believe this proposal puts forward a great plan that both the Senate and the governor can pivot to and come together around," said Dean Arp, R-Union, who was put forward by House Republicans as lead author of the plan...
A Rare Red-State Accord for More Voter Access The Atlantic ...Last week, the coalition and Oklahoma’s election board announced an agreement in which the state committed to asking any person who interacts with welfare agencies whether they want to register to vote and then to helping them through the process. That includes assistance with helping them vote online. The state also agreed to establish a new website with information about the National Voter Registration Act...
Unions, policy analysts decry prevailing wage repeal Pekin Daily Times ...Now more than one month past the July 1 deadline for a comprehensive state budget, Illinois Senate President John Cullerton said he’d be willing to compromise on, among other things, prevailing wage laws to deliver a long-awaited agreement. Speaking to the Chicago Tribune last week, Cullerton listed prevailing wage laws, which require that construction workers on state-funded construction projects be paid a wage comparable to a set county average, as one of the first budget items he’d concede to Gov. Bruce Rauner...
Labor Organizes Against Right-To-Work In Governor’s Race WKU ...Supporters of right-to-work laws have had a hard time passing legislation in Kentucky through the Democrat-controlled House and governor’s office. But if Republican candidate for governor Matt Bevin is elected, the House’s slim eight-person majority would be the only thing standing in the way of the legislation, which would forbid unions from demanding dues from its members as a condition of employment...
Puerto Rico triggers historic default as austerity spiral deepens Telegraph ...Puerto Rico has triggered the biggest municipal default in US history, risking years of bitter legal warfare with creditors and an austerity "death spiral" with echoes of Greece. The island Commonwealth finally ran out of money on Monday after a desperate effort to stay afloat, and missed a final deadline for a $58m payment - handing over just $628,000...
Long Beach Council to consider minimum wage study Press-Telegram ...It looks like Long Beach will be the next city to consider a proposal to raise the minimum wage. Long Beach Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal’s office released a statement Monday in which she and three other City Council members call for a study to examine the possible effects of a city law mandating wage increases. Lowenthal and other council members supporting the idea also want to look at how fee reductions or business incentives could be matched to a wage increase...
New Affordable Housing Rule Would Make Developers In New York Give Back To Communities They Build In Think Progress ...Real estate developers won’t be able to continue ignoring the needs of New York City’s working class tenants for much longer, if a new proposal unveiled Friday by Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) is approved. The policy goes further than other affordable housing rules in the city, setting requirements developers must follow rather than creating options they can choose to pursue. “This affordable housing will be mandatory and it will be permanent,” de Blasio told ThinkProgress in a statement...
Washington has failed to enforce labor rights. Can cities step in? (opinion) Aljazeera ...In the past year Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland and Seattle have all scheduled minimum wage increases. At least 18 cities and four states now have passed paid sick leave laws. San Francisco also passed the Retail Workers’ Bill of Rights, which will guarantee employees fair notice of their schedules for shifts. All these measures create important improvements for working families. But how can these newly won rights be protected? The federal government is unlikely to help...
U.S. Labor
Verizon Workers Prepare for a Strike Over Job and Benefit Cuts In These Times ...Verizon wants to drive down costs, shrink its union workforce even further, and get out of the landline business. But in negotiations this summer it’s coming head-to-head with its unions, who want to protect gains won through decades of struggle. The Communications Workers of America (CWA) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) began bargaining a new contract in June for 38,000 telecom workers in the Northeast from Maine to Virginia...
Iron workers strike for higher wages, health benefits The Tennessean ...A group of iron workers has left work sites of the Westin Hotel and other construction projects to protest for higher wages, health benefits and better work conditions. The eight Manchester, Tenn.-based rodbusters began the strike almost six weeks ago, asking for wages to be increased to the national average...
No decision yet but UAW not ruling out new election to organize Chattanooga VW plant employees Times Free Press ...The United Auto Workers local in Chattanooga isn't ruling out another election to organize Volkswagen plant employees, but it hasn't decided on a new vote as a Facebook post claims. "There are multiple paths toward collective bargaining," said Mike Cantrell, president of Local 42, in a statement on Monday. "All options have been and remain on the table"...
U.S. wage and benefit growth at slowest pace in 33 years MLive ...Wages and benefits for American workers grew in the spring at the slowest pace in 33 years, stark evidence that stronger hiring is not lifting paychecks much for most Americans. The slowdown also likely reflects a sharp drop-off in bonus and incentive pay for some workers. The employment cost index rose just 0.2 percent in the April-June quarter after a 0.7 increase in the first quarter, the Labor Department said Friday...
After Years Of Cuts, Cities And States Are Hiring Again Huffington Post ...Public employment, long seen as a secure job with good benefits, took a series of hits during the recession, with state and local governments implementing hiring freezes and layoffs. But job-seekers can take solace: Many states and localities are now hiring, buoyed by an improving economy and better-than-expected revenue...
Duquesne’s NLRB Filing Reads as a Brazen Threat To Adjunct Union Organizers In These Times ...In Pittsburgh, in a case that some have suspected is destined for the Supreme Court, Duquesne University has pushed the boundaries of employer intimidation. On April 29, adjunct professors Clint Benjamin and Adam Davis testified under oath at a hearing at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The topic was Duquesne University’s unwillingness to recognize the union that their colleagues overwhelmingly voted for three years ago. After the hearing, the regional director of the NLRB held that Duquesne had to negotiate with the union...
Verizon wants to bust the union (opinion) Socialist Worker ...Despite $18 billion in profits over the last 18 months, despite the top five Verizon executives pulling in a combined total of $44.4 million last year, with CEO Lowell McAdam alone making $18.3 million, and despite Verizon being the 15th largest corporation in America in 2014, management still wants major concessions. CWA's website details Verizon's most retrogressive, egregious and insulting demands: "deep cuts to pension benefits, skyrocketing increases in medical costs and the complete elimination of job security"...
Social Justice & Other News
Alabama officer kept job after proposal to murder black man and hide evidence The Guardian ...A police officer in Alabama proposed murdering a black resident and creating bogus evidence to suggest the killing was in self-defence, the Guardian has learned. Officer Troy Middlebrooks kept his job and continues to patrol Alexander City after authorities there paid the man $35,000 to avoid being publicly sued over the incident...
Finally, One Banker Gets Sizable Jail Term. But Will Others Follow? Common Dreams ..."A message needs to be sent to the world of banking," said UK Judge Jeremy Cooke on Monday as he handed down a 14-year sentence to former Citibank and UBS trader Tom Hayes, convicted in a London court on eight counts of conspiring to manipulate a global benchmark interest rate known as LIBOR. While many of the world's leading banks have paid heavy financial penalties for tampering with the key benchmark, 35-year-old Hayes is the first individual to face a jury trial...
GOP debate preview targets immigration Aljazeera ...There was no Donald Trump but his top issue, illegal immigration, was a dominant theme for 14 Republican presidential candidates who faced off in New Hampshire on Monday night during a crowded and pointed preview of the 2016 primary season's first full-fledged debate. All but three of the 17 major Republican candidates for president participated in the Voters First Forum in what was essentially a rehearsal debate...
Global Glaciers Melting up to Three Times Rate of 20th Century Common Dreams ...The 21st century has already seen a record-smashing decline in the world's glaciers, which are melting at up to three times the rate of the 20th century and will continue to disappear even without further climate change, an alarming new study concludes. Entitled Historically Unprecedented Global Glacier Decline in the Early 21st Century, the research was published Monday in the Journal of Glaciology...
Robert Reich: America is revolting against its ruling class Salon ...“He can’t possibly win the nomination,” is the phrase heard most often when Washington insiders mention either Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders. Yet as enthusiasm for the bombastic billionaire and the socialist senior continues to build within each party, the political establishment is mystified. Political insiders don’t see that the biggest political phenomenon in America today is a revolt against the “ruling class” of insiders that have dominated Washington for more than three decades...
Corporate Tribunals Pose Biggest Hurdle to Europe's Vote on Transatlantic Trade Pact Truthout ...July marked the second anniversary of negotiations between the US and European Union over the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), but for the millions of European citizens opposed to the trade deal it was not a month to celebrate. One of the main points of contention remains the debate about whether to include investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS) in the trade pact...
Did Obama’s Trade Agenda Just Quietly Run Out of Time? Foreign Policy ...It was just weeks ago that the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) passed after a perilous journey through the U.S. Congress. The episode prompted numerous reminders of just what was at stake: the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and U.S. standing in the Asia-Pacific. When TPA passed, that agenda remained alive. But did it escape the jaws of Congress only to quietly miss its window?...
UK asks austerity-weary workers to suggest new budget cuts CNN ...Imagine your pay has been frozen for years and thousands of colleagues have been let go. Then your boss asks you for ideas on how to save even more money. That's exactly what the British government is doing to millions of workers in healthcare, education and administration. Finance minister George Osborne tweeted that he has emailed every public sector employee to "ask for their views on how we can continue to do more with less"...
First Great Western rail workers to strike over August bank holiday weekend The Guardian ...Rail workers with First Great Western have announced they are to stage a series of strikes – including over the August bank holiday weekend – as a long-running row rumbles on over the introduction of new trains. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, including drivers and guards, will walk out for 24 hours on 23 August and for 72 hours from 29 August, with other members who work on maintenance striking on 29 and 31 August...
Japan's "Sacred" Rice Farmers Brace for Pacific Trade Deal's Death Sentence Truthout ...In small wet rice fields, or suiden, across Japan, farmers don rubber boots to slosh through the fields and check their plantings. Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in tropical Hawaii, negotiators are in the final stages of talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement that farmers fear will disrupt the rhythm of their even-metered life. Rice is one of the five sacred areas of Japanese agriculture...
New Greek Bailout Increases the Possibility of Grexit Counterpunch ...It is now clear that the European authorities do not intend to let the Greek economy recover any time in the foreseeable future. The primary surpluses that the government has been forced to agree to—2, 3, and 3.5 percent of GDP for the three years of the deal, 2016 through 2018—will not allow Greece to escape its depression, which is now in its sixth year. Even if they miss these targets, which is likely, just trying to do what they have committed to will keep the economy from recovering...
State & Living Wage Battles
California minimum wage initiative cleared for signatures KPCC ...A union-backed proposal to raise California's minimum wage to $15 an hour was cleared Monday to begin collecting signatures for a ballot initiative next year as local efforts continue nationwide to boost the minimum wage to better reflect the cost of living. The proposal by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West would increase California's minimum wage by $1 an hour annually until it reaches $15...
NC House proposes spending $4.1B to improve infrastructure WRAL ...House leaders have raised the ante on both their Senate counterparts and Gov. Pat McCrory, proposing a $4.155 billion program aimed at rebuilding roads and rehabbing and expanding aging infrastructure. "We believe this proposal puts forward a great plan that both the Senate and the governor can pivot to and come together around," said Dean Arp, R-Union, who was put forward by House Republicans as lead author of the plan...
A Rare Red-State Accord for More Voter Access The Atlantic ...Last week, the coalition and Oklahoma’s election board announced an agreement in which the state committed to asking any person who interacts with welfare agencies whether they want to register to vote and then to helping them through the process. That includes assistance with helping them vote online. The state also agreed to establish a new website with information about the National Voter Registration Act...
Unions, policy analysts decry prevailing wage repeal Pekin Daily Times ...Now more than one month past the July 1 deadline for a comprehensive state budget, Illinois Senate President John Cullerton said he’d be willing to compromise on, among other things, prevailing wage laws to deliver a long-awaited agreement. Speaking to the Chicago Tribune last week, Cullerton listed prevailing wage laws, which require that construction workers on state-funded construction projects be paid a wage comparable to a set county average, as one of the first budget items he’d concede to Gov. Bruce Rauner...
Labor Organizes Against Right-To-Work In Governor’s Race WKU ...Supporters of right-to-work laws have had a hard time passing legislation in Kentucky through the Democrat-controlled House and governor’s office. But if Republican candidate for governor Matt Bevin is elected, the House’s slim eight-person majority would be the only thing standing in the way of the legislation, which would forbid unions from demanding dues from its members as a condition of employment...
Puerto Rico triggers historic default as austerity spiral deepens Telegraph ...Puerto Rico has triggered the biggest municipal default in US history, risking years of bitter legal warfare with creditors and an austerity "death spiral" with echoes of Greece. The island Commonwealth finally ran out of money on Monday after a desperate effort to stay afloat, and missed a final deadline for a $58m payment - handing over just $628,000...
Long Beach Council to consider minimum wage study Press-Telegram ...It looks like Long Beach will be the next city to consider a proposal to raise the minimum wage. Long Beach Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal’s office released a statement Monday in which she and three other City Council members call for a study to examine the possible effects of a city law mandating wage increases. Lowenthal and other council members supporting the idea also want to look at how fee reductions or business incentives could be matched to a wage increase...
New Affordable Housing Rule Would Make Developers In New York Give Back To Communities They Build In Think Progress ...Real estate developers won’t be able to continue ignoring the needs of New York City’s working class tenants for much longer, if a new proposal unveiled Friday by Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) is approved. The policy goes further than other affordable housing rules in the city, setting requirements developers must follow rather than creating options they can choose to pursue. “This affordable housing will be mandatory and it will be permanent,” de Blasio told ThinkProgress in a statement...
Washington has failed to enforce labor rights. Can cities step in? (opinion) Aljazeera ...In the past year Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland and Seattle have all scheduled minimum wage increases. At least 18 cities and four states now have passed paid sick leave laws. San Francisco also passed the Retail Workers’ Bill of Rights, which will guarantee employees fair notice of their schedules for shifts. All these measures create important improvements for working families. But how can these newly won rights be protected? The federal government is unlikely to help...
U.S. Labor
Verizon Workers Prepare for a Strike Over Job and Benefit Cuts In These Times ...Verizon wants to drive down costs, shrink its union workforce even further, and get out of the landline business. But in negotiations this summer it’s coming head-to-head with its unions, who want to protect gains won through decades of struggle. The Communications Workers of America (CWA) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) began bargaining a new contract in June for 38,000 telecom workers in the Northeast from Maine to Virginia...
Iron workers strike for higher wages, health benefits The Tennessean ...A group of iron workers has left work sites of the Westin Hotel and other construction projects to protest for higher wages, health benefits and better work conditions. The eight Manchester, Tenn.-based rodbusters began the strike almost six weeks ago, asking for wages to be increased to the national average...
No decision yet but UAW not ruling out new election to organize Chattanooga VW plant employees Times Free Press ...The United Auto Workers local in Chattanooga isn't ruling out another election to organize Volkswagen plant employees, but it hasn't decided on a new vote as a Facebook post claims. "There are multiple paths toward collective bargaining," said Mike Cantrell, president of Local 42, in a statement on Monday. "All options have been and remain on the table"...
U.S. wage and benefit growth at slowest pace in 33 years MLive ...Wages and benefits for American workers grew in the spring at the slowest pace in 33 years, stark evidence that stronger hiring is not lifting paychecks much for most Americans. The slowdown also likely reflects a sharp drop-off in bonus and incentive pay for some workers. The employment cost index rose just 0.2 percent in the April-June quarter after a 0.7 increase in the first quarter, the Labor Department said Friday...
After Years Of Cuts, Cities And States Are Hiring Again Huffington Post ...Public employment, long seen as a secure job with good benefits, took a series of hits during the recession, with state and local governments implementing hiring freezes and layoffs. But job-seekers can take solace: Many states and localities are now hiring, buoyed by an improving economy and better-than-expected revenue...
Duquesne’s NLRB Filing Reads as a Brazen Threat To Adjunct Union Organizers In These Times ...In Pittsburgh, in a case that some have suspected is destined for the Supreme Court, Duquesne University has pushed the boundaries of employer intimidation. On April 29, adjunct professors Clint Benjamin and Adam Davis testified under oath at a hearing at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The topic was Duquesne University’s unwillingness to recognize the union that their colleagues overwhelmingly voted for three years ago. After the hearing, the regional director of the NLRB held that Duquesne had to negotiate with the union...
Verizon wants to bust the union (opinion) Socialist Worker ...Despite $18 billion in profits over the last 18 months, despite the top five Verizon executives pulling in a combined total of $44.4 million last year, with CEO Lowell McAdam alone making $18.3 million, and despite Verizon being the 15th largest corporation in America in 2014, management still wants major concessions. CWA's website details Verizon's most retrogressive, egregious and insulting demands: "deep cuts to pension benefits, skyrocketing increases in medical costs and the complete elimination of job security"...
Social Justice & Other News
Alabama officer kept job after proposal to murder black man and hide evidence The Guardian ...A police officer in Alabama proposed murdering a black resident and creating bogus evidence to suggest the killing was in self-defence, the Guardian has learned. Officer Troy Middlebrooks kept his job and continues to patrol Alexander City after authorities there paid the man $35,000 to avoid being publicly sued over the incident...
Finally, One Banker Gets Sizable Jail Term. But Will Others Follow? Common Dreams ..."A message needs to be sent to the world of banking," said UK Judge Jeremy Cooke on Monday as he handed down a 14-year sentence to former Citibank and UBS trader Tom Hayes, convicted in a London court on eight counts of conspiring to manipulate a global benchmark interest rate known as LIBOR. While many of the world's leading banks have paid heavy financial penalties for tampering with the key benchmark, 35-year-old Hayes is the first individual to face a jury trial...
GOP debate preview targets immigration Aljazeera ...There was no Donald Trump but his top issue, illegal immigration, was a dominant theme for 14 Republican presidential candidates who faced off in New Hampshire on Monday night during a crowded and pointed preview of the 2016 primary season's first full-fledged debate. All but three of the 17 major Republican candidates for president participated in the Voters First Forum in what was essentially a rehearsal debate...
Global Glaciers Melting up to Three Times Rate of 20th Century Common Dreams ...The 21st century has already seen a record-smashing decline in the world's glaciers, which are melting at up to three times the rate of the 20th century and will continue to disappear even without further climate change, an alarming new study concludes. Entitled Historically Unprecedented Global Glacier Decline in the Early 21st Century, the research was published Monday in the Journal of Glaciology...
Robert Reich: America is revolting against its ruling class Salon ...“He can’t possibly win the nomination,” is the phrase heard most often when Washington insiders mention either Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders. Yet as enthusiasm for the bombastic billionaire and the socialist senior continues to build within each party, the political establishment is mystified. Political insiders don’t see that the biggest political phenomenon in America today is a revolt against the “ruling class” of insiders that have dominated Washington for more than three decades...
Friday, March 20, 2015
Today's Teamster News 03.20.15
Teamsters
Teamsters Allege "Eavesdropping" At San Francisco Zoo, Management Says Technology Was Meant For Medical Emergencies KNTV ...The union representing scores of workers at the San Francisco Zoo says management is spying on employees' private conversations — but the zoo says its radio monitoring system was put in place for medical emergencies and denied the eavesdropping claims. Still, the executive director vowed to swiftly investigate the spying allegations...
CCSD Support Staff Union Leadership In Trouble After Challenge Las Vegas Review Journal ...A decade long fight between the two unions came to a head earlier this year when 71 percent of workers who voted in a special election backed the Teamsters. However, only 5,190 votes were cast, which was short of the supermajority the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled is needed for one union to oust another...
Transit, shuttle workers get new contract from COG Sharon Herald ...Mercer County Regional Council of Governments on Wednesday approved a contract with public transportation drivers, mechanics and washers that gives workers a pay hike but also institutes health-care co-pays and reduces some sick and holiday benefits...
Bremerton approves pay increase for Teamsters Kitsap Sun ... The City Council has approved a 2.5 percent bump in pay for its management and for city employees represented by the Teamsters union...
Shell oilsands workers to carry electronic trackers on the job CBC News ...The technology is becoming increasingly common in Alberta’s industrial north, said Wayne Garner, the vice president of General Teamsters Local Union No. 362. “It doesn’t really surprise me,” he said. “Electronic monitoring is nothing really new to us.”...
Trade
Hoffa Statement on USTR Trade Deficit Claims teamster.org ...“The U.S. Trade Representative has made recent statements claiming that the U.S. has a trade surplus with its free trade agreement partners. The problem is this simply is not true...
Five reasons to fret about Obama’s trade agenda Financial Times ...Pro-trade Democrats speak with awe of the pressure being applied by unions in their home districts...
EU Trade Commissioner Suggests Special Court For ISDS Cases Intellectual Property Watch ...Acknowledging that the vast majority of citizens rejected ISDS in a recent public consultation and that many members of the EU Parliament Trade Committee (INTA) object to ISDS – INTA Chair and TTIP Rapporteur Bernd Lange said there was just no need for the EU-US deal – Malmstroem offered several amendments to be considered. This includes: A permanent list of arbitrators chosen by governments should avoid conflicts of interest, jumping between ISDS and courts should be banned, and an appeal mechanism should be put in place...
State Battles
Right-To-Work Law Challenged In Dane County Court WDJT ...The controversial Right-to-work law has been challenged by state unions as unconstitutional and gets a hearing Thursday morning in Dane County Court. The suit was brought against the State of Wisconsin by workers represented by the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, Machinists Local 1061 and United Steelworkers District 2 on March 10th...
Report: Wisconsin Drops To 40th In Nation In Job Growth Wisconsin Public radio ...Wisconsin ranked 40th in the nation in private-sector job growth during the one-year period between September 2013 and September 2014, according to the latest detailed job numbers from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics...
Oldham Tables 'Right-To-Work' Law Louisville Courier Journal ...The decision to table the bill, which was approved by a 7-2 vote, was met by applause from a nearly full house of union supporters and those opposing the right-to-work measure. Magistrates Steve Greenwell and J.D. Sparks opposed the motion...
Boone Leaders Pass Right-To-Work Ordinance Cincinnati.com ...After Boone County Fiscal Court members unanimously approved a controversial right-to-work ordinance, members of the audience booed and yelled they were going to move to Kenton County, where a similar ordinance was recently tabled...
Delaware Bill Would Raise Minimum Wage To $10.25 News Journal ...Legislation to raise Delaware's minimum wage to $10.25 by June 2019, and index future wage hikes to cost-of-living increases, is expected to be introduced this week in Dover...
War on Workers
NLRB Stands by ‘Refined' Contractor Test; FedEx Home Fails in Bid for Reconsideration Bloomberg BNA ...The National Labor Relations Board March 16 declined to reconsider its September 2014 ruling that a group of Connecticut drivers are employees of FedEx Home Delivery under the National Labor Relations Act, not independent contractors outside the act's protection...
It’s illegal to prevent workers from talking about wages. T-Mobile did it anyway. Washington Post ...Last year, however, the NLRB’s general counsel consolidated complaints from four cities into one, putting 12 provisions of the handbook on trial. And on Wednesday, an administrative law judge issued her decision: In 10 of those provisions, T-Mobile’s employee handbook violates federal protections on workers’ right to organize...
Repair The Voting Rights Act (opinion) Washington Post ...The Voting Rights Act requires fixed attention, now, from lawmakers. For decades, the value of the act — all of it — has not been a partisan issue. It should not turn into one...
Miscellaneous
Fed Puts Interest-Rate Hikes In Play Wall Street Journal ...The Fed, in a statement Wednesday after its two-day meeting, dropped an assurance that it would remain “patient” before acting on rates. In the odd parlance of central bankers, the shift meant the Fed would consider raising short-term rates at its June 16-17 meeting...
Teamsters Allege "Eavesdropping" At San Francisco Zoo, Management Says Technology Was Meant For Medical Emergencies KNTV ...The union representing scores of workers at the San Francisco Zoo says management is spying on employees' private conversations — but the zoo says its radio monitoring system was put in place for medical emergencies and denied the eavesdropping claims. Still, the executive director vowed to swiftly investigate the spying allegations...
CCSD Support Staff Union Leadership In Trouble After Challenge Las Vegas Review Journal ...A decade long fight between the two unions came to a head earlier this year when 71 percent of workers who voted in a special election backed the Teamsters. However, only 5,190 votes were cast, which was short of the supermajority the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled is needed for one union to oust another...
Transit, shuttle workers get new contract from COG Sharon Herald ...Mercer County Regional Council of Governments on Wednesday approved a contract with public transportation drivers, mechanics and washers that gives workers a pay hike but also institutes health-care co-pays and reduces some sick and holiday benefits...
Bremerton approves pay increase for Teamsters Kitsap Sun ... The City Council has approved a 2.5 percent bump in pay for its management and for city employees represented by the Teamsters union...
Shell oilsands workers to carry electronic trackers on the job CBC News ...The technology is becoming increasingly common in Alberta’s industrial north, said Wayne Garner, the vice president of General Teamsters Local Union No. 362. “It doesn’t really surprise me,” he said. “Electronic monitoring is nothing really new to us.”...
Trade
Hoffa Statement on USTR Trade Deficit Claims teamster.org ...“The U.S. Trade Representative has made recent statements claiming that the U.S. has a trade surplus with its free trade agreement partners. The problem is this simply is not true...
Five reasons to fret about Obama’s trade agenda Financial Times ...Pro-trade Democrats speak with awe of the pressure being applied by unions in their home districts...
EU Trade Commissioner Suggests Special Court For ISDS Cases Intellectual Property Watch ...Acknowledging that the vast majority of citizens rejected ISDS in a recent public consultation and that many members of the EU Parliament Trade Committee (INTA) object to ISDS – INTA Chair and TTIP Rapporteur Bernd Lange said there was just no need for the EU-US deal – Malmstroem offered several amendments to be considered. This includes: A permanent list of arbitrators chosen by governments should avoid conflicts of interest, jumping between ISDS and courts should be banned, and an appeal mechanism should be put in place...
State Battles
Right-To-Work Law Challenged In Dane County Court WDJT ...The controversial Right-to-work law has been challenged by state unions as unconstitutional and gets a hearing Thursday morning in Dane County Court. The suit was brought against the State of Wisconsin by workers represented by the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, Machinists Local 1061 and United Steelworkers District 2 on March 10th...
Report: Wisconsin Drops To 40th In Nation In Job Growth Wisconsin Public radio ...Wisconsin ranked 40th in the nation in private-sector job growth during the one-year period between September 2013 and September 2014, according to the latest detailed job numbers from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics...
Oldham Tables 'Right-To-Work' Law Louisville Courier Journal ...The decision to table the bill, which was approved by a 7-2 vote, was met by applause from a nearly full house of union supporters and those opposing the right-to-work measure. Magistrates Steve Greenwell and J.D. Sparks opposed the motion...
Boone Leaders Pass Right-To-Work Ordinance Cincinnati.com ...After Boone County Fiscal Court members unanimously approved a controversial right-to-work ordinance, members of the audience booed and yelled they were going to move to Kenton County, where a similar ordinance was recently tabled...
Delaware Bill Would Raise Minimum Wage To $10.25 News Journal ...Legislation to raise Delaware's minimum wage to $10.25 by June 2019, and index future wage hikes to cost-of-living increases, is expected to be introduced this week in Dover...
War on Workers
NLRB Stands by ‘Refined' Contractor Test; FedEx Home Fails in Bid for Reconsideration Bloomberg BNA ...The National Labor Relations Board March 16 declined to reconsider its September 2014 ruling that a group of Connecticut drivers are employees of FedEx Home Delivery under the National Labor Relations Act, not independent contractors outside the act's protection...
It’s illegal to prevent workers from talking about wages. T-Mobile did it anyway. Washington Post ...Last year, however, the NLRB’s general counsel consolidated complaints from four cities into one, putting 12 provisions of the handbook on trial. And on Wednesday, an administrative law judge issued her decision: In 10 of those provisions, T-Mobile’s employee handbook violates federal protections on workers’ right to organize...
Repair The Voting Rights Act (opinion) Washington Post ...The Voting Rights Act requires fixed attention, now, from lawmakers. For decades, the value of the act — all of it — has not been a partisan issue. It should not turn into one...
Miscellaneous
Fed Puts Interest-Rate Hikes In Play Wall Street Journal ...The Fed, in a statement Wednesday after its two-day meeting, dropped an assurance that it would remain “patient” before acting on rates. In the odd parlance of central bankers, the shift meant the Fed would consider raising short-term rates at its June 16-17 meeting...
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Today's Teamster News 03.07.15
Teamsters
Pasco HR Director Resigns Amid Criticism From Unions, Sheriff The Tampa Tribune ...Members of the Teamsters Local 79 routinely post videos of union bargaining session on YouTube with headlines describing DeSimone as the “snippy county lawyer.”...
Wisconsin Right-To-Work Law Heads To Scott Walker's Desk Despite Union Fight The Guardian ...Thomas Millonzi, the head of a 4,700-member Teamsters local in Milwaukee, said he was already taking steps to discourage Teamsters from seizing on the new legislation to quit the union and stop paying union dues...
Ryder Drivers At Three Locations In California Join Teamsters Union teamster.org …Drivers with Ryder Integrated Logistics at three California locations have voted to join the Teamsters Union, gaining representation for 105 workers in one week...
Trade
Thank You, Congressmember Loebsack Blog for Iowa …The second is for his membership in the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC)….The CPC issued an alternative to the TPP Thursday that takes the negotiations back from corporations and puts it back into the hands of elected representatives...
State Battles
Senate Deadlocks On Right-To-Work Bill New Hampshire Union Leader ...New Hampshire is not likely to join the ranks of right-to-work states any time soon. After a short debate Thursday, the Senate deadlocked 12-12 on Senate Bill 107, which would have prohibited collective bargaining agreements from requiring employees to either join or contribute to a union...
Illinois: Unions Sue To Reinstate Dues New York Times ...Labor unions filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to invalidate Gov. Bruce Rauner’s executive order ending a requirement that state workers pay union dues even if they do not want to join a union. Twenty-seven unions sued the Republican governor, saying the order he issued last month violates collective bargaining agreements and state labor law and that Mr. Rauner exceeded his constitutional authority...
Push To Expand Paid-Leave Law In Connecticut Wall Street Journal ...On Thursday, the state Legislature’s labor and public-employees committee is holding a public hearing in Hartford on a new bill that would expand the law to include businesses with 10 or more workers. It would extend the number of paid days to seven a year. Manufacturing companies and certain nonprofit organizations, which are currently exempt, are included in this proposal...
War on Workers
Senate Votes To Kill NLRB Rule That Speeded Votes On Union Representation Washington Post ...The Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday voted 53 to 46 to kill a National Labor Relations Board rule reducing the time between a union’s request for representation and a vote by workers on it. The legislation now goes to the House, where similar action is expected...
U.S. Airlines Reveal Evidence They Say Proves Gulf Carriers Get Unfair Subsidies Skift ...Delta Air Lines, American Airlines Group, and United Airlines released their much-anticipated report providing what they say is proof that the Gulf carriers have received $42 billion in “quantifiable subsidies” from their governments, enabling them to jumpstart their growth and distort the competitive marketplace...
Workplace Injuries Are Adding To Income Inequality: Labor Department Huffington Post ...According to the Labor Department, roughly 4 million serious injuries and illnesses are reported by employers each year, though the true tally is likely much higher. Workers who suffer a serious injury earn an estimated 15 percent less, or $31,000 on average, over the ensuing decade...
Strong Hiring Still Isn’t Bringing Pay Raises FiveThirtyEight ...wages are doing little more than keeping up with inflation. The average worker earned $24.78 an hour in February, just 2 percent more than a year earlier. That means most workers aren’t seeing much benefit from the rapidly improving job market...
Miscellaneous
On The Anniversary Of Selma, A Call To Action (opinion) Huffington Post ...It is time for us to continue in the footsteps of the great civil rights leaders that came before us. As a labor movement, we need to start pressuring Congress along with our allies to immediately pass a Voting Rights Act that will close all the loopholes that allow restrictive legislation to be possible...
Pasco HR Director Resigns Amid Criticism From Unions, Sheriff The Tampa Tribune ...Members of the Teamsters Local 79 routinely post videos of union bargaining session on YouTube with headlines describing DeSimone as the “snippy county lawyer.”...
Wisconsin Right-To-Work Law Heads To Scott Walker's Desk Despite Union Fight The Guardian ...Thomas Millonzi, the head of a 4,700-member Teamsters local in Milwaukee, said he was already taking steps to discourage Teamsters from seizing on the new legislation to quit the union and stop paying union dues...
Ryder Drivers At Three Locations In California Join Teamsters Union teamster.org …Drivers with Ryder Integrated Logistics at three California locations have voted to join the Teamsters Union, gaining representation for 105 workers in one week...
Trade
Thank You, Congressmember Loebsack Blog for Iowa …The second is for his membership in the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC)….The CPC issued an alternative to the TPP Thursday that takes the negotiations back from corporations and puts it back into the hands of elected representatives...
State Battles
Senate Deadlocks On Right-To-Work Bill New Hampshire Union Leader ...New Hampshire is not likely to join the ranks of right-to-work states any time soon. After a short debate Thursday, the Senate deadlocked 12-12 on Senate Bill 107, which would have prohibited collective bargaining agreements from requiring employees to either join or contribute to a union...
Illinois: Unions Sue To Reinstate Dues New York Times ...Labor unions filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to invalidate Gov. Bruce Rauner’s executive order ending a requirement that state workers pay union dues even if they do not want to join a union. Twenty-seven unions sued the Republican governor, saying the order he issued last month violates collective bargaining agreements and state labor law and that Mr. Rauner exceeded his constitutional authority...
Push To Expand Paid-Leave Law In Connecticut Wall Street Journal ...On Thursday, the state Legislature’s labor and public-employees committee is holding a public hearing in Hartford on a new bill that would expand the law to include businesses with 10 or more workers. It would extend the number of paid days to seven a year. Manufacturing companies and certain nonprofit organizations, which are currently exempt, are included in this proposal...
War on Workers
Senate Votes To Kill NLRB Rule That Speeded Votes On Union Representation Washington Post ...The Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday voted 53 to 46 to kill a National Labor Relations Board rule reducing the time between a union’s request for representation and a vote by workers on it. The legislation now goes to the House, where similar action is expected...
U.S. Airlines Reveal Evidence They Say Proves Gulf Carriers Get Unfair Subsidies Skift ...Delta Air Lines, American Airlines Group, and United Airlines released their much-anticipated report providing what they say is proof that the Gulf carriers have received $42 billion in “quantifiable subsidies” from their governments, enabling them to jumpstart their growth and distort the competitive marketplace...
Workplace Injuries Are Adding To Income Inequality: Labor Department Huffington Post ...According to the Labor Department, roughly 4 million serious injuries and illnesses are reported by employers each year, though the true tally is likely much higher. Workers who suffer a serious injury earn an estimated 15 percent less, or $31,000 on average, over the ensuing decade...
Strong Hiring Still Isn’t Bringing Pay Raises FiveThirtyEight ...wages are doing little more than keeping up with inflation. The average worker earned $24.78 an hour in February, just 2 percent more than a year earlier. That means most workers aren’t seeing much benefit from the rapidly improving job market...
Miscellaneous
On The Anniversary Of Selma, A Call To Action (opinion) Huffington Post ...It is time for us to continue in the footsteps of the great civil rights leaders that came before us. As a labor movement, we need to start pressuring Congress along with our allies to immediately pass a Voting Rights Act that will close all the loopholes that allow restrictive legislation to be possible...
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Today's Teamster News 03.26.14
Teamster News
Teamsters strike agreement with Calif. port carrier on drivers’ right to unionize Overdrive ...The National Labor Relations Board has negotiated a settlement between a California carrier and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to post notice about the right to unionize...
CN Rail, Teamsters to meet Wednesday in last push for contract Reuters ...Canadian National Railway Co and the Teamsters Union will meet in Montreal on Wednesday to make a final attempt at reaching a labor deal for some 3,000 contractors, yard workers and traffic coordinators...
Beaufort County Bus Driver Reports Buses Unfit For Children WSAV-TV ...Some school bus drivers will begin to wage battle in Charleston tonight, based on what they call hazardous driving conditions. The group Teamsters Local 509 says their next stop is Beaufort County...
Trade
Japan, U.S. to discuss TPP tariffs this week in Washington Global Post ...Japan and the United States will hold bilateral talks linked to a Pacific free trade deal later this week in Washington, focusing with how to deal with tariffs Tokyo seeks to retain on sensitive farm products...
Several tech companies urge careful review in public of details in proposed TPP deal Inside Counsel ...Some prominent tech companies have registered their opposition to the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that would govern in the Asia-Pacific region...
State Battles
Right to work bill on the Missouri House schedule Rolla Daily News ...Missouri House Republicans are vowing to consider one of their top priorities, legislation known as "right-to-work" when lawmakers return from their week long break...
Teamsters to rally Wednesday as vote expected on right-to-work-for-less in Missouri TeamsterNation ...Teamsters, union families and their supporters will hold a large (and we expect spirited) rally in Missouri's state capital tomorrow as Missouri lawmakers are expected to vote on a right-to-work-for-less bill...
'Moral Monday' protesters decry cuts to education, Medicaid Mooresville Tribune ...Monday’s event in Statesville was one in which organizers were granted a permit to gather on government property so there was virtually no risk of being arrested as more than a dozen speakers addressed the crowd over the course of about two hours, beginning at 5 p.m...
Michigan Democrats say Rick Snyder administration helped cousin Politico ...Michigan Democrats charge that officials in Republican Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration moved to protect the business interests of the governor’s cousin from a round of steep budget cuts shortly after Snyder took office in 2011. They say not only were the cuts ultimately nixed, but George Snyder's furniture business contract was increased that year...
Lawyer hired by North Carolina in spill probe once represented coal firm Associated Press ...The lawyer hired to represent North Carolina's environmental agency during a federal investigation into its regulation of Duke Energy's coal ash dumps once represented the utility company in a different criminal probe...
Teamsters strike agreement with Calif. port carrier on drivers’ right to unionize Overdrive ...The National Labor Relations Board has negotiated a settlement between a California carrier and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to post notice about the right to unionize...
CN Rail, Teamsters to meet Wednesday in last push for contract Reuters ...Canadian National Railway Co and the Teamsters Union will meet in Montreal on Wednesday to make a final attempt at reaching a labor deal for some 3,000 contractors, yard workers and traffic coordinators...
Beaufort County Bus Driver Reports Buses Unfit For Children WSAV-TV ...Some school bus drivers will begin to wage battle in Charleston tonight, based on what they call hazardous driving conditions. The group Teamsters Local 509 says their next stop is Beaufort County...
Trade
Japan, U.S. to discuss TPP tariffs this week in Washington Global Post ...Japan and the United States will hold bilateral talks linked to a Pacific free trade deal later this week in Washington, focusing with how to deal with tariffs Tokyo seeks to retain on sensitive farm products...
Several tech companies urge careful review in public of details in proposed TPP deal Inside Counsel ...Some prominent tech companies have registered their opposition to the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that would govern in the Asia-Pacific region...
State Battles
Right to work bill on the Missouri House schedule Rolla Daily News ...Missouri House Republicans are vowing to consider one of their top priorities, legislation known as "right-to-work" when lawmakers return from their week long break...
Teamsters to rally Wednesday as vote expected on right-to-work-for-less in Missouri TeamsterNation ...Teamsters, union families and their supporters will hold a large (and we expect spirited) rally in Missouri's state capital tomorrow as Missouri lawmakers are expected to vote on a right-to-work-for-less bill...
'Moral Monday' protesters decry cuts to education, Medicaid Mooresville Tribune ...Monday’s event in Statesville was one in which organizers were granted a permit to gather on government property so there was virtually no risk of being arrested as more than a dozen speakers addressed the crowd over the course of about two hours, beginning at 5 p.m...
Michigan Democrats say Rick Snyder administration helped cousin Politico ...Michigan Democrats charge that officials in Republican Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration moved to protect the business interests of the governor’s cousin from a round of steep budget cuts shortly after Snyder took office in 2011. They say not only were the cuts ultimately nixed, but George Snyder's furniture business contract was increased that year...
Lawyer hired by North Carolina in spill probe once represented coal firm Associated Press ...The lawyer hired to represent North Carolina's environmental agency during a federal investigation into its regulation of Duke Energy's coal ash dumps once represented the utility company in a different criminal probe...
States, D.C. are told to clean up voter rolls or be sued; Judicial Watch counters Obama The Washington Times ...Conservative public interest lawyers sent letters Monday giving the District of Columbia, Iowa and Colorado 90 days to prove they are taking steps to delete from their registration lists dead voters and former residents, or else face a lawsuit...
War on Workers
Unemployed, and heading toward foreclosure New York Times ...When Congress refusedto renew federal benefits for 1.7 million jobless Americans in December, they also cut a lifeline for homeowners who are now struggling to make their mortgage payments. About 54% of the long-term unemployed live in owner-occupied homes...
Goldman Sachs' Outrageous Scheme to Profit Off Jailed Young Offenders Alternet ... big banks have hauled in boatloads of money from their flawed, and even fraudulent, schemes directed at public funding needs, such as financial contraptions and deals involving complex derivatives and whatnot that were supposed to help governments pay for things like bridges and waterworks. ... cities and states frequently get hosed...
The Death of an Employer Scam The American Prospect ...One of the most pervasive scams that employers use to lower their workers’ wages is misclassification—that is, turning their workers into independent contractors or temps when they are actually employees...
Koch brothers attacks expanding Las Vegas Review-Journal …U.S. Sen. Harry Reid’s recent crusade against the oil billionaire Koch brothers is catching on in Washington, D.C. Now, the New York Times reports a top Democratic PAC is going to take aim at the brothers, too...
Overwhelming Evidence that Half of America is In or Near Poverty AlterNet ...And it's much worse for black families...
War on Workers
Unemployed, and heading toward foreclosure New York Times ...When Congress refusedto renew federal benefits for 1.7 million jobless Americans in December, they also cut a lifeline for homeowners who are now struggling to make their mortgage payments. About 54% of the long-term unemployed live in owner-occupied homes...
Goldman Sachs' Outrageous Scheme to Profit Off Jailed Young Offenders Alternet ... big banks have hauled in boatloads of money from their flawed, and even fraudulent, schemes directed at public funding needs, such as financial contraptions and deals involving complex derivatives and whatnot that were supposed to help governments pay for things like bridges and waterworks. ... cities and states frequently get hosed...
The Death of an Employer Scam The American Prospect ...One of the most pervasive scams that employers use to lower their workers’ wages is misclassification—that is, turning their workers into independent contractors or temps when they are actually employees...
Koch brothers attacks expanding Las Vegas Review-Journal …U.S. Sen. Harry Reid’s recent crusade against the oil billionaire Koch brothers is catching on in Washington, D.C. Now, the New York Times reports a top Democratic PAC is going to take aim at the brothers, too...
Overwhelming Evidence that Half of America is In or Near Poverty AlterNet ...And it's much worse for black families...
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Federal judge on voter suppression: Oops, these ARE bad laws
Well that’s pretty obvious. But six years ago Posner didn’t think so. He wrote the majority opinion in a case defending voter suppression laws that use unattainable ID requirements to disenfranchise working-class voters. Posner’s arguments in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board unleashed a wave of strict voter suppression laws in states all over the country.
Now Posner, a Reagan appointee, says he was very wrong:
In a new book, “Reflections on Judging,” Judge Posner, a prolific author who also teaches at the University of Chicago Law School, said, “I plead guilty to having written the majority opinion” in the case. He noted that the Indiana law in the Crawford case is “a type of law now widely regarded as a means of voter suppression rather than of fraud prevention.”In an interview last week, Posner was asked more bluntly if he had gotten the ruling wrong:
“Yes. Absolutely.” Back in 2007, he said, “there hadn’t been that much activity in the way of voter identification,” and “we weren’t really given strong indications that requiring additional voter identification would actually disenfranchise people entitled to vote.”In other words, Posner said he didn’t realize how dangerous voter suppression laws could be. But plenty of other people did, including dissenting Judge Terrance Evans:
The dissent by Judge Evans, who died in 2011, began, “Let’s not beat around the bush: The Indiana voter photo ID law is a not-too-thinly-veiled attempt to discourage election-day turnout by certain folks believed to skew Democratic.”There were many others making the same point. John Nichols at The Nation writes:
Judge Posner should have paid closer attention to the detailed amicus brief filed in 2006 by the Brennan Center for Justice, which explained how the Indiana law threatened to “exclude many eligible voters from participating in our democratic process.”
Because voter ID requirements have been widely criticized as weighing more heavily of specific classes of voters—people of color, students, low-income voters, the elderly—legitimate concerns have been raised about equal protection and a host of other constitutional concerns.The Crawford case was a gift to Republican extremists and groups like ALEC that have been trying to block likely Democratic voters from the polls for years.
On the heels of the Supreme Court gutting key parts of the Voting Rights Act, extremist lawmakers have aggressively pushed voter suppression laws in states like Texas and North Carolina, citing the Crawford case to justify their schemes. While they claim the laws are aimed at stopping voter fraud, they can barely conceal their real agenda, which is to use poll-tax-like restrictions to rig elections they can’t actually win.
As Salon reports:
In Texas, according to the DoJ’s analysis of the state’s own data supplied to them, “Hispanic registered voters are more than twice as likely as non-Hispanic registered voters to lack such identification.” In South Carolina, where the DoJ blocked a similar law there last year under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, they found that — again, according to the state’s own data — “minority registered voters were nearly 20 percent more likely to lack DMV-issued ID than white registered voters, and thus to be effectively disenfranchised” by the state’s new Photo ID restriction law.Even though the judge who authored the Crawford decision has now changed his mind, anti-worker radicals who support voter suppression certainly haven’t changed theirs. So the fight for voting rights continues.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Today's Teamster News 10.03.13
NYC Teamsters begin campaign to create good commercial waste jobs TeamsterNation ...New York City Teamsters and their allies have high hopes for a campaign launched today to increase good jobs, recycling and justice in the commercial waste industry. New Yorkers are paying attention...
Teamsters at work after rejecting Wegmans contract Democrat and Chronicle ...Truck drivers, warehouse workers and other Wegmans Food Markets employees, who are members of Teamsters Local 118, were at work as scheduled Tuesday following a union vote Monday rejecting a company contract offer...
Northumberland County agrees to union raises News-Item ...Northumberland County commissioners approved Tuesday a collective bargaining agreement with court-appointed, non-professional employees that grants them at least a 3 percent raise next year. The workers are represented by Teamsters Local 764, based in Milton, Pennsylvania...
Rail Safety Report Shows Increase in Fatal Incidents in Fourth Quarter BMWED ...A comparison of roadway worker fatality data over a span of 21 years (1986–1994 and 1997– 2010) indicates that the highest number of roadway worker incidents occur in the 4th Quarter...
How Less Than 5% Of The US Population Caused The Government To Shut Down Business Insider ...it's just stunning that such few people — a group slightly larger than the population of Illinois — can hold that much power...
Union calls for fed workers to ‘fight back’ against shutdown Washington Post ...A labor leader representing federal employees is exhorting them to “take to the streets” to protest a partial government shutdown that began Tuesday...
Which lawmakers will refuse their pay during the shutdown? Washington Post ...Hundreds of thousands of rank-and-file federal employees were forced out of the office Tuesday morning because of the start of a government shutdown and won't be paid over the course of the impasse. As of noon Wednesday, here is the tally of lawmakers who have said that they plan to donate or refuse compensation earned over the course of the impasse...
Fixing exorbitant CEO pay: All is not lost Fortune ...Despite what has felt like relentless insanity, the prognosis for positive changes to executive pay looks better than it has for a decade...
NOT SHOCKED: Five States With the Worst Food Insecurity are “Right-to-Work” States We Party Patriots ...A recent USDA report provides details on our growing trend of food (in)security. In 7 million homes, a family member has skipped meals because money was tight. A look at the five states where food insecurity is a problem (North Carolina, Alabama, Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi) are also “Right-to-Work” states...
Independent Contractors – Keeping it Real Construction Citizen ...Real independent contractors are easy to identify. They are hired to perform a specific project, bring their own tools, have their own business cards, and send you an invoice when the work is done. If people are hired to perform ongoing work, told when to show up and what to do, those workers are not independent contractors...
The Cost of Crushing Dissent in New York City Wall Street on Parade ...Today, we have still not restored the Glass-Steagall Act, the largest Wall Street banks of 2008 are even larger and more dangerous today, and unprecedented levels of wealth and income inequality, enforced by the structure of Wall Street, is spreading economic misery to ever greater numbers of Americans...
GOP’s newest target: The postal service Salon ...The government itself wasn't enough. Led by Darrell Issa, they now want to go after your mail delivery...
Google Accused of Wiretapping in Gmail Scans New York Times ...Wiretapping is typically the stuff of spy dramas and shady criminal escapades. But now, web company giant Google must defend itself against accusations that it is illegally wiretapping in the course of gathering data about Internet users and showing them related ads...
Bill would require Michigan cities to buy American-made flags for veterans' grave sites Detroit Free Press ...A bill unanimously passed by the state Senate Wednesday would require Michigan cities to buy American-made flags and flag holders for veterans’ grave sites if those flags are competitively priced with foreign-made products...
New York to Sue Wells Fargo Over Mortgage Settlement New York Times ...Fielding complaints from borrowers struggling to save their homes, New York’s top prosecutor is preparing a lawsuit against Wells Fargo, accusing the bank, the nation’s largest home lender, of flouting the terms of a multibillion-dollar settlement aimed at stanching foreclosure abuses...
Poll: Majority in state support fully privatizing wine, spirit sales Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ...Millions of dollars in lobbying efforts by groups on all sides of the liquor privatization issue had little impact on the opinions of everyday Pennsylvanians, according to two groups that released a poll Tuesday...
An overdue trash overhaul (opinion) New York Daily News ...Cleaning up commercial collection would help Bloomberg burnish his environmental legacy...
NY Thruway Authority cuts more workers Times Union ...New York’s Thruway Authority last week quietly laid off about a half-dozen non-union employees. Saying it was a personnel matter, Thruway spokesman Dan Weiller declined to comment on the precise nature of the job cuts or the reason...
N.C. voting rights advocates applaud federal lawsuit USA TODAY ...Voting rights advocates applauded the U.S. Justice Department's move Monday to sue North Carolina for racial discrimination over its tough new voting rules while Republicans in the state called the allegation "baseless."...
Pennsylvania House nudged to implement online voter registration NewsWorks ...A bipartisan coalition is urging the state House to pass a proposal allowing online voter registration in Pennsylvania. The measure, which passed unanimously in the Senate earlier this year, is currently before a House committee...
Teamsters at work after rejecting Wegmans contract Democrat and Chronicle ...Truck drivers, warehouse workers and other Wegmans Food Markets employees, who are members of Teamsters Local 118, were at work as scheduled Tuesday following a union vote Monday rejecting a company contract offer...
Northumberland County agrees to union raises News-Item ...Northumberland County commissioners approved Tuesday a collective bargaining agreement with court-appointed, non-professional employees that grants them at least a 3 percent raise next year. The workers are represented by Teamsters Local 764, based in Milton, Pennsylvania...
Rail Safety Report Shows Increase in Fatal Incidents in Fourth Quarter BMWED ...A comparison of roadway worker fatality data over a span of 21 years (1986–1994 and 1997– 2010) indicates that the highest number of roadway worker incidents occur in the 4th Quarter...
How Less Than 5% Of The US Population Caused The Government To Shut Down Business Insider ...it's just stunning that such few people — a group slightly larger than the population of Illinois — can hold that much power...
Union calls for fed workers to ‘fight back’ against shutdown Washington Post ...A labor leader representing federal employees is exhorting them to “take to the streets” to protest a partial government shutdown that began Tuesday...
Which lawmakers will refuse their pay during the shutdown? Washington Post ...Hundreds of thousands of rank-and-file federal employees were forced out of the office Tuesday morning because of the start of a government shutdown and won't be paid over the course of the impasse. As of noon Wednesday, here is the tally of lawmakers who have said that they plan to donate or refuse compensation earned over the course of the impasse...
Fixing exorbitant CEO pay: All is not lost Fortune ...Despite what has felt like relentless insanity, the prognosis for positive changes to executive pay looks better than it has for a decade...
NOT SHOCKED: Five States With the Worst Food Insecurity are “Right-to-Work” States We Party Patriots ...A recent USDA report provides details on our growing trend of food (in)security. In 7 million homes, a family member has skipped meals because money was tight. A look at the five states where food insecurity is a problem (North Carolina, Alabama, Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi) are also “Right-to-Work” states...
Independent Contractors – Keeping it Real Construction Citizen ...Real independent contractors are easy to identify. They are hired to perform a specific project, bring their own tools, have their own business cards, and send you an invoice when the work is done. If people are hired to perform ongoing work, told when to show up and what to do, those workers are not independent contractors...
The Cost of Crushing Dissent in New York City Wall Street on Parade ...Today, we have still not restored the Glass-Steagall Act, the largest Wall Street banks of 2008 are even larger and more dangerous today, and unprecedented levels of wealth and income inequality, enforced by the structure of Wall Street, is spreading economic misery to ever greater numbers of Americans...
GOP’s newest target: The postal service Salon ...The government itself wasn't enough. Led by Darrell Issa, they now want to go after your mail delivery...
Google Accused of Wiretapping in Gmail Scans New York Times ...Wiretapping is typically the stuff of spy dramas and shady criminal escapades. But now, web company giant Google must defend itself against accusations that it is illegally wiretapping in the course of gathering data about Internet users and showing them related ads...
Bill would require Michigan cities to buy American-made flags for veterans' grave sites Detroit Free Press ...A bill unanimously passed by the state Senate Wednesday would require Michigan cities to buy American-made flags and flag holders for veterans’ grave sites if those flags are competitively priced with foreign-made products...
New York to Sue Wells Fargo Over Mortgage Settlement New York Times ...Fielding complaints from borrowers struggling to save their homes, New York’s top prosecutor is preparing a lawsuit against Wells Fargo, accusing the bank, the nation’s largest home lender, of flouting the terms of a multibillion-dollar settlement aimed at stanching foreclosure abuses...
Poll: Majority in state support fully privatizing wine, spirit sales Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ...Millions of dollars in lobbying efforts by groups on all sides of the liquor privatization issue had little impact on the opinions of everyday Pennsylvanians, according to two groups that released a poll Tuesday...
An overdue trash overhaul (opinion) New York Daily News ...Cleaning up commercial collection would help Bloomberg burnish his environmental legacy...
NY Thruway Authority cuts more workers Times Union ...New York’s Thruway Authority last week quietly laid off about a half-dozen non-union employees. Saying it was a personnel matter, Thruway spokesman Dan Weiller declined to comment on the precise nature of the job cuts or the reason...
N.C. voting rights advocates applaud federal lawsuit USA TODAY ...Voting rights advocates applauded the U.S. Justice Department's move Monday to sue North Carolina for racial discrimination over its tough new voting rules while Republicans in the state called the allegation "baseless."...
Pennsylvania House nudged to implement online voter registration NewsWorks ...A bipartisan coalition is urging the state House to pass a proposal allowing online voter registration in Pennsylvania. The measure, which passed unanimously in the Senate earlier this year, is currently before a House committee...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)