TEAMSTERS
Chicago Teamsters Strike Coca-Cola Refreshments Over Unfair Labor Practices Teamster.org ...More than 300 Teamsters Local 727 members are initiating an unfair labor practice strike against Coca-Cola Refreshments at 5 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 3, after the beverage industry behemoth intimidated workers and engaged in bad faith bargaining during negotiations for a new contract.
Local 727 represents 319 production and warehouse workers and transport drivers at Coca-Cola Refreshments facilities in Niles and Alsip, Ill...
Coca-Cola workers strike Thursday morning Chicago Tribune ...Coca-Cola workers at two Chicago-area production plants went on strike Thursday morning to protest unfair labor practices including delay tactics and intimidation. Teamsters Local 727 had agreed to Coca-Cola's request for a single-day strike delay to continue negotiations after the workers' three-year contract expired at midnight Tuesday. But when the parties returned to the bargaining table Wednesday, Coca-Cola officials "re-presented the same unfair, unreasonable, harsh proposals"...
Teamsters International Approves Strike Benefits for Coca-Cola Workers Teamster.org ...The General Executive Board of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters today approved strike assistance benefits for more than 300 Chicago-area workers who could initiate an unfair labor practice strike at any time against Coca-Cola Refreshments. The union’s bargaining committee and company managers met 12 times since Oct. 28 to try to reach an agreement...
Congressional Deal on Transportation Bill is a Win for Infrastructure, Motorist Safety Teamster.org ...The Teamsters today are lauding a new five-year, $305 billion transportation infrastructure bill set to be considered soon by Congress that would help rebuild America’s highway and rail networks after years of short-term fixes that hampered long-term planning and improvements...
Hoffa: House-Passed Customs Bill Does Nothing to Improve TPP for U.S. Workers Teamster.org ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa in response to the House passing a customs reauthorization bill today that does little to address the many shortfalls contained in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): “While some have suggested that the passage of customer reauthorization legislation would include language that would make the TPP more palatable, the deal leaves the same sour taste in the mouths of everyday Americans"...
DoubleTree Arlington Heights Housekeepers Ratify First Union Contract Local 727 ...Thirty housekeepers at DoubleTree Arlington Heights ratified their first union contract just a few weeks after shuttle bus drivers at the hotel did the same. Both bargaining units voted to join Teamsters Local 727 late last year. “The union fought to secure solid agreements for our new members with provisions that truly demonstrate the value of a Teamster contract,” said John Coli Jr., President of Teamsters Local 727...
Teamsters strike Oregon City-based beer distributor NW Labor Press ...About 80 members of Teamsters Local 162 went on strike Nov. 17 at General Distributors, Inc. (GDI), of Oregon City —truck drivers, warehouse workers, and sales employees. GDI distributes Miller-Coors beers and dozens of craft beers, wines and ciders in 11 Oregon counties, from Salem to Hood River. Local 162 says the profitable company is seeking $1.5 million a year in concessions...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
What Do Burmese Workers Want? Huffington Post ...In meetings with more than 100 rank-and-file workers and union leaders from Burma's factories and fields the week after that country's momentous elections, the mood was one of wary optimism. It was clear that labor voted overwhelmingly for the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the leadership of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. They did so as companies around Yangon and in the growing industrial zones of Bago, two hours to the north, had become increasingly belligerent toward workers, particularly those attempting to organize...
Customs bill is coming to town Politico ...The last outstanding piece of legislation from President Barack Obama’s big trade push earlier this year could soon be on its way to his desk. The House on Tuesday approved, by a 252-170 vote, a motion to go to conference on customs reauthorization. The bill promises to beef up the enforcement of trade laws...
TPP Dooms World to Climate Crisis, Says Report TeleSUR ...The controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership, fully drafted and pending final approval, would not only ignore climate change but would also actively fuel worsening environmental crises, according to a new report released by Sierra Club Wednesday. As world leaders mull over a climate deal at COP21 in Paris, the report, “A Dirty Deal: How the TPP Threatens the Climate,” slams the TPP for strengthening corporate power...
Environmental Group Assails 'Polluter-Friendly' Obama Trade Deal Huffington Post ...The Sierra Club on Wednesday released a report on the final text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, concluding that the landmark trade deal would be a significant setback in efforts to combat climate change and protect the environment. "In its more than 6,000 pages of binding rules, the deal fails to even mention the words 'climate change,'" the report reads...
More strikes, cost hikes likely with TPP, study indicates Malay Mail ...Malaysian employers may face more industrial action by employees along with higher business costs if the country signs the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), consultants PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) said in its cost-benefit analysis released today. PwC said Putrajaya would have to amend its labour laws and regulations to fulfil its obligations under the agreement...
Greeks Strike to Protest Latest Austerity Measures New York Times ...Workers across Greece walked off their jobs on Thursday, heeding a call by labor unions to join the second general strike in three weeks to protest a new round of austerity measures. The 24-hour walkout shut down public services, disrupted public transportation, left ferries moored in ports, closed schools and forced hospitals to function with reduced staffs...
Norway Ratification Boosts Fight against Modern Slavery Solidarity Center ...On November 18, 2015, Norway ratified the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Forced Labor Protocol, which strengthens and updates the 1930 Forced Labor Convention (Convention 29) by adding new measures to prevent, protect and compensate those affected. According to ILO data, some 21 million people globally are victims of forced labor, generating approximately $150 billion each year. However, the hidden nature of this and other forms of extreme labor exploitation mean the true figures could be much higher...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Labor unions crowd hearing to oppose Ohio right-to-work bill Columbus Dispatch ...Bringing back memories of the 2011 fight over Senate Bill 5 — the bill that targeted public-employees unions and was overturned by voters — more than 100 union supporters packed hearing rooms and a Statehouse hallway on Tuesday as a House committee heard a bill that would ban private employee unions from requiring that workers pay dues commonly known as “fair share” fees...
Alabama’s Controversial Voter-ID Law Is Challenged In Court The Nation ... Today civil-rights groups—led by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund on behalf of the Alabama NAACP—filed suit against the state’s voter-ID law, arguing that it violates Section 2 of the VRA. The complaint alleges that the law will disenfranchise 280,000 registered voters without government-issued ID but there has been only 1 case of voter impersonation in Alabama out of 22.4 million votes cast since 2000 to justify the measure...
Tennessee DOL Announces 2016 Highway Prevailing Wage Rates Chattanoogan ...Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development announced Tuesday the 2016 Highway Prevailing Wage Rates. There was an increase in wage rates for 14 classifications, a decrease in nine classifications, and the wage rates for two classifications remained unchanged since 2015. The wage rate for one classification – Mechanic (Class II) Light Duty – increased more than a dollar...
Pro-Democracy Group Warns of Secret Right-Wing Push to Rewrite Constitution Common Dreams ...A "dangerous proposal" is bubbling up in state legislatures throughout the country. The threat comes in the form of a constitutional convention, assembled under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, one of several mechanisms that enables future amendments. Article V requires Congress to call such a gathering once 34 state legislatures submit petitions to do so. Pro-corporate, right-wing lobby groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and Citizens for Self-Governance are pushing for such a convention...
$15-an-hour minimum wage eludes Mass. cities Boston Globe ...Just a few years ago, the notion of a $15 minimum hourly wage was widely dismissed as unrealistic. But over the past 18 months, the threshold has gained impressive traction around the country, with citywide ordinances enacted in Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Francisco, and other proposals pending in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. So why hasn’t the issue caught fire in Boston and other liberal-leaning Massachusetts communities?...
Making Change at Walmart Launches National “Are You With Us” Campaign UFCW ...Making Change at Walmart’s national “Are You With Us?” tour will include rallies at Walmart stores and other retail locations in cities in all 50 states across the country in the coming weeks. The kick-off is in Quincy, Mass., on Wednesday, Dec. 2. The tour and campaign are meant to showcase and highlight the negative impact that the country’s largest employer has on all American retail workers, which includes paying employees poverty-level wages...
U.S. LABOR
Huffington Post Workers Vote to Join Union, Continuing Trend in New Media Advertising Age ...The Huffington Post has joined the unionization wave that has been rolling through digital media since the spring. On Tuesday, the editorial staff of the New York City-based web news giant formally asked management to recognize the Writers Guild of America, East, as its collective-bargaining representative...
UAW betting on big, symbolic win in Volkswagen vote Detroit Free Press ...The UAW will know by the end of the week if its decision to take a second shot at organizing workers at Volkswagen's plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., will pay off with a high-profile victory and deliver its first clear-cut win at an automotive assembly plant in the South. Over the next two days about 160 of Volkswagen's skilled trades workers will vote on whether they want the UAW to be their exclusive bargaining agent...
SEIU ratifies new contract Lansing State Journal ...A second state employee union has approved a new contract with Gov. Rick Snyder's administration, the union announced Wednesday. The three bargaining units of the Service Employees International Union Local 517M each approved their contracts with about 90% supporting, the union announced in a press release...
ATI lockout drags into Christmas holiday season WTAE ...Allegheny Technologies locked out its employees Aug. 15, and labor negotiations continue to drag on. Members of United Steelworkers 1196 are on the picket lines as the holiday season begins. Their unemployment benefits expire in March. "This company was built by immigrants and labor, and to be treated like this is very devastating as an employee," union president Fran Arabia said...
Toledo Mobis workers take strike authorization vote 13ABC ...Employees at a Fiat Chrysler supplier are taking a strike vote right now. Mobis workers help build the Jeep Wrangler at the Toledo Assembly Complex. The workers started voting at 11 Wednesday morning and voting continues until 7 Wednesday night. According to union leaders, Mobis has more than 500 employees here in Toledo.
What they do is critical to the assembly of the iconic Jeep Wrangler...
"All You Americans Are Fired" Buzzfeed ...Last year, thousands of American companies won permission to bring a total of more than 150,000 people into the country as legal guest workers for unskilled jobs, under a federal program that grants them temporary work permits known as H-2 visas. Officially, the guest workers were invited here to fill positions no Americans want. Yet a BuzzFeed News investigation has found that many businesses go to extraordinary lengths to skirt the law, deliberately denying jobs to American workers...
How Debt Collectors Ruin Lives The Nation ... Under the settlement in Federal District Court, involving various companies colluding in a huge debt-collection scheme, about $59 million will be paid out to individual consumers in a class of roughly 350,000 New Yorkers. They match the profile of typical debt-racket victims: mainly the poor and people of color. Beyond the hefty award, the lawsuit has helped expose what advocates describe as a reign of financial terror...
Pittsburgh attorney says unionizing should be a civil right Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ...Pittsburghers know as well as anyone that labor unions are struggling. In 2014, federal statistics show, 11.1 percent of all workers were union members — roughly half the rate in 1983, when Pittsburgh’s unionized steelworkers were stepping out of the gate for the last time. If unions can reverse that decline, a 2012 book co-authored by Pittsburgher Moshe Marvit may be one reason why...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Married Couple Committed San Bernardino Massacre Before Being Killed by Police Slate ...What we know about Wednesday's massacre of at least 14 people at a social services center in San Bernardino, California, as of Thursday morning: Police believe the shooting was carried out by 28-year-old Syed Farook and 27-year-old Tashfeen Malik, who were married. Both were killed Wednesday in a shootout in San Bernardino after they were initially located in nearby Redlands...
Syed Farooq is an American: Let’s stop the Muslim vs. Christian debate and take a look at ourselves Salon ...Guessing the identity of shooters—black or white, Christian or Muslim, man or woman (though masculinity is almost guaranteed)—has become a vicious social media ritual. Too many people seem to believe we can discern motivation by ethnicity, or that ethnicity alone determines what type of terror can rightly be deemed terrorism...
E. coli outbreak prompts Taylor Farms recall Tracy Press ...Taylor Farms Pacific Inc. of Tracy has voluntarily recalled 71 products sold at 7-Eleven, Raley’s, Costco and 10 other stores because of the possibility of E. coli contamination. A news release from the United States Food and Drug Administration referred to testing done by the Montana Department of Health, which found the virulent bacteria in a celery-and-onion diced blend that was used in a Costco Rotisserie Chicken Salad linked to a multi-state outbreak...
The Welfare State: A Terrible Name for an Essential System The Atlantic ...Regardless of whether the gig economy is growing, now is as good a time as ever to discuss the need for “the welfare state”—a highly useful policy program that has been given an off-putting name. “Welfare” has two main meanings: general well-being, and, in some circles, government handouts...
8 ways the super rich make life miserable for the rest of us Salon ...The richest Americans increasingly are taking over the levers of power and shaping the political debate, despite opposing views held by a majority of Americans, a new and unprecedented academic study of the top 1 percent has confirmed. The super-rich are more politically active than average Americans, financing and contacting elected officials and knowing many on a first-name basis...
Twenty Billionaires Have More Wealth Than Half U.S. Households Huffington Post ...The very wealthiest 400 Americans command dizzying fortunes. Their combined net worth, as catalogued in the 2015 Forbes 400 list, is $2.34 trillion. You can't make this list unless you're worth a cool $1.7 billion. These 400 rich people -- including Bill Gates, Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey, and heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune -- have roughly as much wealth as the bottom 62 percent of the population, or over 190 million people added together, according to a new report...
Ray of hope for undocumented immigrants in sidelined debate on immigration PRI ...The Obama administration suffered a major setback last month in its effort to protect millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation. But a small victory from the Supreme Court this week has renewed hope for the program. An injunction blocking President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration was upheld in the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals...
If You Feel Like There Is A Mass Shooting Every Day, That’s Because There Basically Is Think Progress ...In 2015, the longest America has gone without a mass shooting happening somewhere was eight days. The country has gone three or more days without a mass shooting just 14 times so far this year. The 8-day streak in mid-April was the only time Americans passed a full week between mass shootings this year according to the site. In June, the United States literally failed to go more than a single day between mass shootings...
Showing posts with label walmart workers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label walmart workers. Show all posts
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Monday, November 30, 2015
Today's Teamster News 11.30.15
TEAMSTERS
Teamsters Local 727 Files Unfair Labor Practices Against Coca-Cola Refreshments Teamster.org ...Teamsters Local 727 filed numerous unfair labor practice charges today against Coca-Cola Refreshments, a subsidiary of Coca-Cola, that include bargaining in bad faith, intimidation of workers with baseball bats and unilaterally changing contract terms and working conditions. Local 727 represents more than 300 warehouse and production workers and transport drivers at Coca-Cola Refreshments facilities in Niles and Alsip, Ill...
An Uber union? Seattle could clear way for ride-app drivers Seattle Times ...Ajema contacted Uber staffers in Seattle suggesting the company meet with a committee of drivers to review changes, he said. For months, the effort went nowhere. “So I just Googled labor unions in Seattle,” Ajema said. The only response came from Teamsters Local 117, which had already helped set up a trade association for taxi drivers...
Strike at Distributor Slows Beer, Wine Deliveries KEZI ...A strike at a Portland-area beer and wine distributor has slowed deliveries just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. The Oregonian reports that about 80 workers represented by Teamsters Local 162 went on strike last week at General Distributors Inc. in Oregon City. Teamsters officials say the walkout began Tuesday. They say the company is demanding annual cuts that would average $19,000 per employee...
Transdev Drivers Are Standing Together to Form Their Union Local 117 ...About 275 drivers, employed at Transdev, are fighting to win their union and become members of Teamsters Local 117. These drivers perform essential services to our community by transporting elderly and disabled residents of King County to locations throughout our region. Many will be working over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend...
Teamsters to represent Site C camp attendants Alaska Highways ...The Teamsters union has won the right to represent attendants at the Site C work camp, against the wishes of the company hired to build it. On Nov. 2, the Labour Relations Board dismissed an objection by ATCO Two Rivers Camp Services calling the union’s application for certification “premature.” Close to two dozen workers servicing the temporary work camp at the dam site had been seeking representation...
Teamsters Local 362 Celebrates New Opportunities For Veterans In Alberta Teamsters 362 ...Just days before Remembrance Day, an announcement was made by the Alberta government that will have a positive impact for Canadian Armed Forces. Alberta transportation Minister Brian Mason announced that Alberta will now recognize the DND 404 military driver’s permit. Teamsters Canada has been a supporter of the initiative and were very happy with the announcement...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
How the TPP could impact regulation of everything from cars to medical devices Vox ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership, a mammoth deal the Obama administration finished negotiating last month, doesn't just deal with trade in physical goods. It also establishes a number of new rules governing how countries from Canada to Vietnam regulate the digital economy. Like most parts of the TPP, the new rules on electronic commerce largely reflect the priorities of US industry...
Five groups that could determine the fate of TPP The Hill ...Congressional passage of a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade agreement hinges on several key endorsements that will make or break the pact on Capitol Hill. Republican leaders, a tight coalition of Democrats and a diverse range of business groups — all of whom worked hard to pass trade promotion authority (TPA) this summer — are needed to push through the massive 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal...
Thailand says 'highly likely' it will seek TPP membership Reuters ...Thailand is "highly likely" to seek membership of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) but would first need to weigh up the impact of the free-trade accord on its export-led economy, a deputy prime minister said on Friday. The pact currently has 12 members and would slash tariffs in a bloc comprising countries from Canada, Australia and Japan to Mexico, Vietnam and Chile in a trade area of 800 million people worth about 40 percent of the global economy...
Once an Obama ally on trade deal, Utah’s Hatch may fight latest proposal SLTribune ...The Trade Promotion Authority passed Congress, but now with Hatch's help may actually doom the president's push for a transpacific-trade deal. The TPA allows Congress only an up or down vote on a trade deal without amendments, but it also mandates that the legislative body gets to review and suggest changes to the administration...
TTIP talks: EU alleged to have given ExxonMobil access to confidential strategies The Guardian ...The EU appears to have given the US oil company ExxonMobil access to confidential negotiating strategies considered too sensitive to be released to the European public during its negotiations with the US on the trade agreement TTIP, documents reveal. Officials also asked one oil refinery association for “concrete input” on the text of an energy chapter for the negotiations...
Thai traffickers exposed by campaign group investigating fishing industry Reuters ...A three-year investigation into slavery on Thailand's fishing boats has uncovered a well-oiled system of trafficking, abuse and exploitation in the southern port of Kantang, leading to eight arrests this month, a campaign group said on Monday. The owner of a fishing company, three enforcers and four boat captains were arrested on Nov. 7 after the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) handed police evidence against them...
Hundreds walk in Montreal austerity protest Global News ...They walked by the hundreds: students, teachers, healthcare workers, even politicians. “What they are saying to the government is stop lying about balancing the budget, there are other means of balancing the budget,” said Québec Solidaire deputy Amir Khadir. Saturday afternoon, protesters gathered in Jarry Park to make their message heard: no to austerity, yes to social justice...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Republicans look to shift federal road funds; opponents say it's attack on prevailing wage Star Tribune ...Republican legislators have created a bill that would shift federal road-building dollars from local work to state projects, a move that would exempt local projects from federal prevailing wage requirements. Sen. Duey Stroebel and Rep. Rob Brooks' bill would move $47 million in federal funding away from local projects and pour it into state projects such as freeway rehabilitation...
Kraus announces voter ID as a top priority Missouri Times ...Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lee’s Summit, plans to file a joint resolution and a bill regarding voter identification Tuesday when pre-filing begins for the upcoming legislative session. Kraus said passing the joint resolution and putting the issue to a vote of the people is a key step in preventing voter fraud in the state...
Walmart Workers Strike, Protest Company Heiress On Black Friday Think Progress ...Walmart workers and their supporters are protesting at a dozen stores around the United States on Black Friday as part of an ongoing campaign for union recognition and a $15 hourly wage. The protests are scaled down from previous years’ Black Friday activism, when striking workers and solidarity protesters staged larger rallies and a longer list of locations...
How Walmart Keeps an Eye on Its Massive Workforce Bloomberg ...OUR Walmart, a group of employees backed and funded by a union, was asking for more full-time jobs with higher wages and predictable schedules. Walmart considered the group enough of a threat that it hired an intelligence-gathering service from Lockheed Martin, contacted the FBI, staffed up its labor hotline, ranked stores by labor activity, and kept eyes on employees (and activists) prominent in the group...
U.S. LABOR
CUNY Faculty Authorizes a Strike Vote The Nation ... The Professional Staff Congress—the labor union that represents more than 25,000 faculty and staff across the City University of New York’s 24 campuses—has had a busy November. In the course of three weeks, the union has organized a coordinated act of civil disobedience, taken the first step towards calling for a strike, and helped deliver more than 40,000 postcards to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office...
How Higher Wages For U.S. Autoworkers Could Help You Get a Raise, Too Bloomberg ...Cars are flying off U.S. dealer lots at the fastest pace since 2005, and after a decade of flat wages, the workers who make them are getting a raise, too. If such gains precede broader pay bumps in the labor market, Federal Reserve policy makers could have more evidence that the wage pressure they so desperately want to see is starting to build...
Ford Says UAW Contract Lifts U.S. Labor Costs Less Than 1.5% Bloomberg ...Ford Motor Co. said its new four-year contract with the United Auto Workers will increase its U.S. labor costs by less than 1.5 percent annually by letting the company hire more low-cost workers and move production to factories in other countries. The contract will raise Ford’s hourly labor rate, including wages and benefits, to $60 from $57...
Hillary Clinton Nabs Another Big Endorsement Huffington Post ...Hillary Clinton just locked down another endorsement from a major labor union as she seeks the Democratic nomination for president, solidifying her hold on organized labor's backing in the primary. The Laborers' International Union of North America, or LIUNA, announced Tuesday that it would be throwing its weight behind the front-runner...
Tampa assisted living facility pays $287K in back wages Business Journal ...A federal probe has found that workers at La Bella Vida Assisted Living Facility Inc. in Tampa weren't living a beautiful life, at least not when it came to their paychecks. The facility is paying $287,087 in back wages and damages to 20 workers, after a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found that La Bella Vida violated overtime, minimum wage and record-keeping provisions...
Making Employees Work On Thanksgiving Doesn’t Pay Off For Retailers Think Progress ...Eleven brands opened their doors on Thanksgiving Day this year, requiring millions of employees to report to work on the national holiday. Many businesses believe that opening on Thanksgiving will boost overall holiday sales by getting shoppers in ahead of the official start to Black Friday. But this year’s sales data show it was mostly a dud...
The middle-class economic squeeze is not about rising federal taxes EPI ...Policymakers and candidates for office have reacted to rising inequality and near-stagnant wages in recent decades by promising to either cut or hold the line on federal taxes for “middle-class” families. However, the rise in inequality and the near-stagnation of hourly wages for most American workers has not been driven by rising federal taxes. In fact, federal tax rates have steadily fallen...
Inside the Southern California factory that makes the Donald Trump hats LA Times ...Look around the factory floor where these hats are being made by the thousands, and you’ll find faces that don’t seem to fit into Trump’s America. Yolanda Melendrez is one of them. Melendrez, an immigrant from Mexico who was brought to the United States by her parents when she was a baby, has worked at the Carson-based Cali-Fame headwear company since 1991...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Taylor Farms recalls Costco salad linked to E. coli The Californian ...Federal officials say a vegetable mix has been recalled after it was believed to be the source of E.coli in Costco chicken salad that has been linked to an outbreak that has sickened 19 people in seven states. Taylor Farms Pacific Inc. of Tracy, has recalled a mix of diced celery and onion used in Costco chicken salad...
3 Dead; 9 Wounded at Planned Parenthood in Colorado Common Dreams ...Robert Lewis Dear, a 57-year-old from North Carolina, has been named as the gunman behind a massacre at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic in which three people died and nine were injured. In a statement Friday night, Planned Parenthood said: "We share the concerns of many Americans that extremists are creating a poisonous environment"...
Paris Protests Turn Violent as Hundreds of Thousands Rally for Climate Worldwide Slate ...Hundreds of thousands of people around the world got together for rallies and demonstrations on Sunday to demand action on climate change from global leaders who are gathering in Paris for a major summit on the issue. In Paris itself, things got off to a violent start as police fired tear gas at protesters and 208 people were detained after clashing with riot police...
Paris Climate Deal Must Not Ignore Billions of World's Poorest: Oxfam Common Dreams ..."World leaders need to step up," the head of Oxfam declared Wednesday, calling for an ambitious global fund to address a key paradox of climate change in which the poorest people on Earth suffer most from a crisis they did little to cause. The international aid agency is calling on rich countries to do their part by committing to deeper emissions cuts and higher climate finance...
Krugman: How to Stop the Affluent from Trampling on the Poor as They Move Back to Big Cities Alternet ..."Urban America reached an inflection point around 15 years ago," he writes. "After decades of decline, central cities began getting richer, more educated, and, yes, whiter. Today our urban cores are providing ever more amenities, but largely to a very affluent minority." There are a couple of drivers for this phenomenon, Krugman figures...
Teamsters Local 727 Files Unfair Labor Practices Against Coca-Cola Refreshments Teamster.org ...Teamsters Local 727 filed numerous unfair labor practice charges today against Coca-Cola Refreshments, a subsidiary of Coca-Cola, that include bargaining in bad faith, intimidation of workers with baseball bats and unilaterally changing contract terms and working conditions. Local 727 represents more than 300 warehouse and production workers and transport drivers at Coca-Cola Refreshments facilities in Niles and Alsip, Ill...
An Uber union? Seattle could clear way for ride-app drivers Seattle Times ...Ajema contacted Uber staffers in Seattle suggesting the company meet with a committee of drivers to review changes, he said. For months, the effort went nowhere. “So I just Googled labor unions in Seattle,” Ajema said. The only response came from Teamsters Local 117, which had already helped set up a trade association for taxi drivers...
Strike at Distributor Slows Beer, Wine Deliveries KEZI ...A strike at a Portland-area beer and wine distributor has slowed deliveries just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. The Oregonian reports that about 80 workers represented by Teamsters Local 162 went on strike last week at General Distributors Inc. in Oregon City. Teamsters officials say the walkout began Tuesday. They say the company is demanding annual cuts that would average $19,000 per employee...
Transdev Drivers Are Standing Together to Form Their Union Local 117 ...About 275 drivers, employed at Transdev, are fighting to win their union and become members of Teamsters Local 117. These drivers perform essential services to our community by transporting elderly and disabled residents of King County to locations throughout our region. Many will be working over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend...
Teamsters to represent Site C camp attendants Alaska Highways ...The Teamsters union has won the right to represent attendants at the Site C work camp, against the wishes of the company hired to build it. On Nov. 2, the Labour Relations Board dismissed an objection by ATCO Two Rivers Camp Services calling the union’s application for certification “premature.” Close to two dozen workers servicing the temporary work camp at the dam site had been seeking representation...
Teamsters Local 362 Celebrates New Opportunities For Veterans In Alberta Teamsters 362 ...Just days before Remembrance Day, an announcement was made by the Alberta government that will have a positive impact for Canadian Armed Forces. Alberta transportation Minister Brian Mason announced that Alberta will now recognize the DND 404 military driver’s permit. Teamsters Canada has been a supporter of the initiative and were very happy with the announcement...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
How the TPP could impact regulation of everything from cars to medical devices Vox ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership, a mammoth deal the Obama administration finished negotiating last month, doesn't just deal with trade in physical goods. It also establishes a number of new rules governing how countries from Canada to Vietnam regulate the digital economy. Like most parts of the TPP, the new rules on electronic commerce largely reflect the priorities of US industry...
Five groups that could determine the fate of TPP The Hill ...Congressional passage of a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade agreement hinges on several key endorsements that will make or break the pact on Capitol Hill. Republican leaders, a tight coalition of Democrats and a diverse range of business groups — all of whom worked hard to pass trade promotion authority (TPA) this summer — are needed to push through the massive 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal...
Thailand says 'highly likely' it will seek TPP membership Reuters ...Thailand is "highly likely" to seek membership of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) but would first need to weigh up the impact of the free-trade accord on its export-led economy, a deputy prime minister said on Friday. The pact currently has 12 members and would slash tariffs in a bloc comprising countries from Canada, Australia and Japan to Mexico, Vietnam and Chile in a trade area of 800 million people worth about 40 percent of the global economy...
Once an Obama ally on trade deal, Utah’s Hatch may fight latest proposal SLTribune ...The Trade Promotion Authority passed Congress, but now with Hatch's help may actually doom the president's push for a transpacific-trade deal. The TPA allows Congress only an up or down vote on a trade deal without amendments, but it also mandates that the legislative body gets to review and suggest changes to the administration...
TTIP talks: EU alleged to have given ExxonMobil access to confidential strategies The Guardian ...The EU appears to have given the US oil company ExxonMobil access to confidential negotiating strategies considered too sensitive to be released to the European public during its negotiations with the US on the trade agreement TTIP, documents reveal. Officials also asked one oil refinery association for “concrete input” on the text of an energy chapter for the negotiations...
Thai traffickers exposed by campaign group investigating fishing industry Reuters ...A three-year investigation into slavery on Thailand's fishing boats has uncovered a well-oiled system of trafficking, abuse and exploitation in the southern port of Kantang, leading to eight arrests this month, a campaign group said on Monday. The owner of a fishing company, three enforcers and four boat captains were arrested on Nov. 7 after the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) handed police evidence against them...
Hundreds walk in Montreal austerity protest Global News ...They walked by the hundreds: students, teachers, healthcare workers, even politicians. “What they are saying to the government is stop lying about balancing the budget, there are other means of balancing the budget,” said Québec Solidaire deputy Amir Khadir. Saturday afternoon, protesters gathered in Jarry Park to make their message heard: no to austerity, yes to social justice...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Republicans look to shift federal road funds; opponents say it's attack on prevailing wage Star Tribune ...Republican legislators have created a bill that would shift federal road-building dollars from local work to state projects, a move that would exempt local projects from federal prevailing wage requirements. Sen. Duey Stroebel and Rep. Rob Brooks' bill would move $47 million in federal funding away from local projects and pour it into state projects such as freeway rehabilitation...
Kraus announces voter ID as a top priority Missouri Times ...Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lee’s Summit, plans to file a joint resolution and a bill regarding voter identification Tuesday when pre-filing begins for the upcoming legislative session. Kraus said passing the joint resolution and putting the issue to a vote of the people is a key step in preventing voter fraud in the state...
Walmart Workers Strike, Protest Company Heiress On Black Friday Think Progress ...Walmart workers and their supporters are protesting at a dozen stores around the United States on Black Friday as part of an ongoing campaign for union recognition and a $15 hourly wage. The protests are scaled down from previous years’ Black Friday activism, when striking workers and solidarity protesters staged larger rallies and a longer list of locations...
How Walmart Keeps an Eye on Its Massive Workforce Bloomberg ...OUR Walmart, a group of employees backed and funded by a union, was asking for more full-time jobs with higher wages and predictable schedules. Walmart considered the group enough of a threat that it hired an intelligence-gathering service from Lockheed Martin, contacted the FBI, staffed up its labor hotline, ranked stores by labor activity, and kept eyes on employees (and activists) prominent in the group...
U.S. LABOR
CUNY Faculty Authorizes a Strike Vote The Nation ... The Professional Staff Congress—the labor union that represents more than 25,000 faculty and staff across the City University of New York’s 24 campuses—has had a busy November. In the course of three weeks, the union has organized a coordinated act of civil disobedience, taken the first step towards calling for a strike, and helped deliver more than 40,000 postcards to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office...
How Higher Wages For U.S. Autoworkers Could Help You Get a Raise, Too Bloomberg ...Cars are flying off U.S. dealer lots at the fastest pace since 2005, and after a decade of flat wages, the workers who make them are getting a raise, too. If such gains precede broader pay bumps in the labor market, Federal Reserve policy makers could have more evidence that the wage pressure they so desperately want to see is starting to build...
Ford Says UAW Contract Lifts U.S. Labor Costs Less Than 1.5% Bloomberg ...Ford Motor Co. said its new four-year contract with the United Auto Workers will increase its U.S. labor costs by less than 1.5 percent annually by letting the company hire more low-cost workers and move production to factories in other countries. The contract will raise Ford’s hourly labor rate, including wages and benefits, to $60 from $57...
Hillary Clinton Nabs Another Big Endorsement Huffington Post ...Hillary Clinton just locked down another endorsement from a major labor union as she seeks the Democratic nomination for president, solidifying her hold on organized labor's backing in the primary. The Laborers' International Union of North America, or LIUNA, announced Tuesday that it would be throwing its weight behind the front-runner...
Tampa assisted living facility pays $287K in back wages Business Journal ...A federal probe has found that workers at La Bella Vida Assisted Living Facility Inc. in Tampa weren't living a beautiful life, at least not when it came to their paychecks. The facility is paying $287,087 in back wages and damages to 20 workers, after a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found that La Bella Vida violated overtime, minimum wage and record-keeping provisions...
Making Employees Work On Thanksgiving Doesn’t Pay Off For Retailers Think Progress ...Eleven brands opened their doors on Thanksgiving Day this year, requiring millions of employees to report to work on the national holiday. Many businesses believe that opening on Thanksgiving will boost overall holiday sales by getting shoppers in ahead of the official start to Black Friday. But this year’s sales data show it was mostly a dud...
The middle-class economic squeeze is not about rising federal taxes EPI ...Policymakers and candidates for office have reacted to rising inequality and near-stagnant wages in recent decades by promising to either cut or hold the line on federal taxes for “middle-class” families. However, the rise in inequality and the near-stagnation of hourly wages for most American workers has not been driven by rising federal taxes. In fact, federal tax rates have steadily fallen...
Inside the Southern California factory that makes the Donald Trump hats LA Times ...Look around the factory floor where these hats are being made by the thousands, and you’ll find faces that don’t seem to fit into Trump’s America. Yolanda Melendrez is one of them. Melendrez, an immigrant from Mexico who was brought to the United States by her parents when she was a baby, has worked at the Carson-based Cali-Fame headwear company since 1991...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Taylor Farms recalls Costco salad linked to E. coli The Californian ...Federal officials say a vegetable mix has been recalled after it was believed to be the source of E.coli in Costco chicken salad that has been linked to an outbreak that has sickened 19 people in seven states. Taylor Farms Pacific Inc. of Tracy, has recalled a mix of diced celery and onion used in Costco chicken salad...
3 Dead; 9 Wounded at Planned Parenthood in Colorado Common Dreams ...Robert Lewis Dear, a 57-year-old from North Carolina, has been named as the gunman behind a massacre at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic in which three people died and nine were injured. In a statement Friday night, Planned Parenthood said: "We share the concerns of many Americans that extremists are creating a poisonous environment"...
Paris Protests Turn Violent as Hundreds of Thousands Rally for Climate Worldwide Slate ...Hundreds of thousands of people around the world got together for rallies and demonstrations on Sunday to demand action on climate change from global leaders who are gathering in Paris for a major summit on the issue. In Paris itself, things got off to a violent start as police fired tear gas at protesters and 208 people were detained after clashing with riot police...
Paris Climate Deal Must Not Ignore Billions of World's Poorest: Oxfam Common Dreams ..."World leaders need to step up," the head of Oxfam declared Wednesday, calling for an ambitious global fund to address a key paradox of climate change in which the poorest people on Earth suffer most from a crisis they did little to cause. The international aid agency is calling on rich countries to do their part by committing to deeper emissions cuts and higher climate finance...
Krugman: How to Stop the Affluent from Trampling on the Poor as They Move Back to Big Cities Alternet ..."Urban America reached an inflection point around 15 years ago," he writes. "After decades of decline, central cities began getting richer, more educated, and, yes, whiter. Today our urban cores are providing ever more amenities, but largely to a very affluent minority." There are a couple of drivers for this phenomenon, Krugman figures...
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Today's Teamster News 11.17.15
TEAMSTERS
EVSC ratifies agreement with Teamsters 14 News ...The EVSC school board ratified its agreement with Teamsters Local 215 on Monday. EVSC union members have been working under a tentative agreement with the school corporation. The contracts are for non-teaching positions, like custodians and other support staff. The board president calls it "a fair agreement"...
Uber Drivers, Taxis to Rally at Seattle City Hall Local 117 ...Drivers will rally at City Hall on Wednesday, November 18 at 11 A.M. to highlight unfair working conditions in Seattle’s for-hire transportation industry and to demand fair pay, a level playing field, dignity, and respect. At the event, drivers will address a variety of issues such as public safety, driver safety, insurance regulations, deactivation, and low pay...
Teamster vote Nov. 23-24 at Threshold Enterprises Santa Cruz Sentinel ...Elena Cruz, 46, said she gets up at 3:30 a.m. so she can drive from her home in Castroville to Santa Cruz to start her 5 a.m. shift at Threshold Enterprises. She works in shipping and packaging for the privately held nutritional supplement-maker. She came to the Sentinel with two co-workers to explain why they support the union, which is negotiating a new contract to replace one for 600 workers that expired Sept. 16 and facing a decertification election on Nov. 23 and 24...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Obama’s trade deal is in trouble The Hill ...President Obama’s trade deal with 11 other Pacific Rim countries is in deep trouble with Congress. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) haven’t decided whether they’re going to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — even after they helped the president win fast-track authority in a bruising interparty fight that was meant to ease its passage...
Anti-TPP Protesters in Washington, DC Call on Congress to Reject TPP Trade Deal Sputnik News ...The US Congress must not approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement and should start new trade talks on a deal that would raise working, environmental and human rights standards, US advocacy group PopularResistance.org Co-Director Margaret Flowers told Sputnik....
Putin questions U.S.-led TPP trade pact arrangements Japan Times ...Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized on Tuesday the way the U.S.-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal is being arranged, saying the “clandestine talks” do not promote stability in the Asia-Pacific region. His comments were published on the Kremlin website just before this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum...
The TPP's Children's Table: Labor Rights and Currency Truthout ...The TPP has two classes of issues. On the one hand, there are the issues that really matter to the drafters of the deal. These are issues like protection of patents and copyrights and other forms of investment. That is the story of the adult table. The children's table is for issues that are of concern to labor rights, human rights and environmental rights activists...
More labour strikes in South African fruit industry Fresh Plaza ...More than 1500 workers, all members of FAWU employed by the Du Toit Agri Pty Ltd Group in Ceres, Prince Alfred Hamlet and Humansdorp in the Eastern Cape went on a strike Thursday, 12 November in demand of a wage increase and better working conditions. The company is said to be the leading packing and exporter of fruit and vegetables in the country. Last week a strike involving 2,000 banana workers at organic producer Umbhaba Banana Estates Farms, took place...
How the Paris Attacks Are Changing the EU’s Debate on Refugees The Atlantic ...The revelation that one of the suicide bombers who carried out Friday’s attacks on Paris entered Europe last month through the Greek island of Leros has complicated the increasingly fragile European plan to handle an historic migrant and refugee crisis. More than 700,000 people have entered Europe this year from the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Lawmakers feel new influence to raise the minimum wage Statesman Journal ...Oregon lawmakers are under renewed pressure to raise the state's $9.25 minimum wage. If lawmakers won't, several coalition groups have said, the issue will be decided by Oregon voters on the 2016 ballot. Monday afternoon, protesters at the Senate Interim Committee On Workforce and General Government broke into chants of "Fifteen now" and "Black lives matter"...
Voter photo ID, ethics reform among top priorities for Missouri Senate Republicans Missourinet ...State Senate Republicans have caucused and the filing of bills will begin December 1. The man who can decide what does and doesn’t reach the Senate floor in the 2016 session said he can’t rank legislative priorities, but Mike Kehoe (R-Jefferson City) told Missourinet there are some issues that stand out. Voter photo ID will be proposed again...
Legislation cut California’s workers’ compensation medical costs SacBee ...Three years ago, Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature enacted a major overhaul of the system that compensates workers for job-related injuries and illnesses. Senate Bill 863, backed by employers and labor unions, affected many specific aspects of the system but was aimed largely at reducing medical costs and redirecting savings into cash benefit increases for disabled workers...
'Poverty Pay' Leads Walmart Employees to Skip Lunch or Steal it From Co-Workers Alternet ...Walmart employees are so poor that they are skipping lunch, sharing it or, in some cases, stealing it from their coworkers, some of the company’s workers claimed on Thursday while announcing a fast in protest of the company’s wages. Starting Friday morning, over 100 Walmart associates who are members of Our Walmart, a workers organization, and about a 1,000 supporters will begin a fast to shine light on what they describe as Walmart’s “poverty pay”...
U.S. LABOR
General Motors and UAW Union Delay Ratifying New Contract Fortune ...Disagreement between production workers and skilled trades workers at General Motors plants has pushed back the formal ratification of the United Auto Workers’ four-year labor agreement with the car company. The so-called Big Three automakers—Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, GM, and Ford—have all entered negotiations with the UAW...
Ford UAW workers voting on new contract today WDRB ...Ford's 9,000 UAW members in Louisville are voting on a new contract today. The new contract will set wages and working conditions for Ford workers, and includes a number of pay increases, including an $8,500 signing bonus for each UAW member. If passed, it also comes with more than a billion dollars in upgrades to Louisville's two Ford plants...
Metro, Transit Union At Odds Over Contract WVXU ...The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 627 is encouraging members to attend Tuesday morning's Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) board meeting to speak out about the current contract situation. In a letter, the president of the union representing Metro employees told members their health insurance rates will dramatically increase next month despite the lack of a new contract...
EVSC ratifies agreement with Teamsters 14 News ...The EVSC school board ratified its agreement with Teamsters Local 215 on Monday. EVSC union members have been working under a tentative agreement with the school corporation. The contracts are for non-teaching positions, like custodians and other support staff. The board president calls it "a fair agreement"...
Uber Drivers, Taxis to Rally at Seattle City Hall Local 117 ...Drivers will rally at City Hall on Wednesday, November 18 at 11 A.M. to highlight unfair working conditions in Seattle’s for-hire transportation industry and to demand fair pay, a level playing field, dignity, and respect. At the event, drivers will address a variety of issues such as public safety, driver safety, insurance regulations, deactivation, and low pay...
Teamster vote Nov. 23-24 at Threshold Enterprises Santa Cruz Sentinel ...Elena Cruz, 46, said she gets up at 3:30 a.m. so she can drive from her home in Castroville to Santa Cruz to start her 5 a.m. shift at Threshold Enterprises. She works in shipping and packaging for the privately held nutritional supplement-maker. She came to the Sentinel with two co-workers to explain why they support the union, which is negotiating a new contract to replace one for 600 workers that expired Sept. 16 and facing a decertification election on Nov. 23 and 24...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Obama’s trade deal is in trouble The Hill ...President Obama’s trade deal with 11 other Pacific Rim countries is in deep trouble with Congress. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) haven’t decided whether they’re going to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — even after they helped the president win fast-track authority in a bruising interparty fight that was meant to ease its passage...
Anti-TPP Protesters in Washington, DC Call on Congress to Reject TPP Trade Deal Sputnik News ...The US Congress must not approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement and should start new trade talks on a deal that would raise working, environmental and human rights standards, US advocacy group PopularResistance.org Co-Director Margaret Flowers told Sputnik....
Putin questions U.S.-led TPP trade pact arrangements Japan Times ...Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized on Tuesday the way the U.S.-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal is being arranged, saying the “clandestine talks” do not promote stability in the Asia-Pacific region. His comments were published on the Kremlin website just before this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum...
The TPP's Children's Table: Labor Rights and Currency Truthout ...The TPP has two classes of issues. On the one hand, there are the issues that really matter to the drafters of the deal. These are issues like protection of patents and copyrights and other forms of investment. That is the story of the adult table. The children's table is for issues that are of concern to labor rights, human rights and environmental rights activists...
More labour strikes in South African fruit industry Fresh Plaza ...More than 1500 workers, all members of FAWU employed by the Du Toit Agri Pty Ltd Group in Ceres, Prince Alfred Hamlet and Humansdorp in the Eastern Cape went on a strike Thursday, 12 November in demand of a wage increase and better working conditions. The company is said to be the leading packing and exporter of fruit and vegetables in the country. Last week a strike involving 2,000 banana workers at organic producer Umbhaba Banana Estates Farms, took place...
How the Paris Attacks Are Changing the EU’s Debate on Refugees The Atlantic ...The revelation that one of the suicide bombers who carried out Friday’s attacks on Paris entered Europe last month through the Greek island of Leros has complicated the increasingly fragile European plan to handle an historic migrant and refugee crisis. More than 700,000 people have entered Europe this year from the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Lawmakers feel new influence to raise the minimum wage Statesman Journal ...Oregon lawmakers are under renewed pressure to raise the state's $9.25 minimum wage. If lawmakers won't, several coalition groups have said, the issue will be decided by Oregon voters on the 2016 ballot. Monday afternoon, protesters at the Senate Interim Committee On Workforce and General Government broke into chants of "Fifteen now" and "Black lives matter"...
Voter photo ID, ethics reform among top priorities for Missouri Senate Republicans Missourinet ...State Senate Republicans have caucused and the filing of bills will begin December 1. The man who can decide what does and doesn’t reach the Senate floor in the 2016 session said he can’t rank legislative priorities, but Mike Kehoe (R-Jefferson City) told Missourinet there are some issues that stand out. Voter photo ID will be proposed again...
Legislation cut California’s workers’ compensation medical costs SacBee ...Three years ago, Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature enacted a major overhaul of the system that compensates workers for job-related injuries and illnesses. Senate Bill 863, backed by employers and labor unions, affected many specific aspects of the system but was aimed largely at reducing medical costs and redirecting savings into cash benefit increases for disabled workers...
'Poverty Pay' Leads Walmart Employees to Skip Lunch or Steal it From Co-Workers Alternet ...Walmart employees are so poor that they are skipping lunch, sharing it or, in some cases, stealing it from their coworkers, some of the company’s workers claimed on Thursday while announcing a fast in protest of the company’s wages. Starting Friday morning, over 100 Walmart associates who are members of Our Walmart, a workers organization, and about a 1,000 supporters will begin a fast to shine light on what they describe as Walmart’s “poverty pay”...
U.S. LABOR
General Motors and UAW Union Delay Ratifying New Contract Fortune ...Disagreement between production workers and skilled trades workers at General Motors plants has pushed back the formal ratification of the United Auto Workers’ four-year labor agreement with the car company. The so-called Big Three automakers—Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, GM, and Ford—have all entered negotiations with the UAW...
Ford UAW workers voting on new contract today WDRB ...Ford's 9,000 UAW members in Louisville are voting on a new contract today. The new contract will set wages and working conditions for Ford workers, and includes a number of pay increases, including an $8,500 signing bonus for each UAW member. If passed, it also comes with more than a billion dollars in upgrades to Louisville's two Ford plants...
Metro, Transit Union At Odds Over Contract WVXU ...The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 627 is encouraging members to attend Tuesday morning's Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) board meeting to speak out about the current contract situation. In a letter, the president of the union representing Metro employees told members their health insurance rates will dramatically increase next month despite the lack of a new contract...
Union of Sonoma County government employees plans strike Tuesday Press Democrat ...The largest group of unionized Sonoma County government employees is set to go out on a one-day strike Tuesday, protesting what it contends is a stingy contract offer from the county, bad faith in negotiating at the bargaining table and other issues it says amount to unfair labor practices...
8 in 10 Hotel Workers Have Been Harassed at Work The Nation ...As part of UNITE HERE!’s Housekeeper’s Global Week of Action campaign, the hospitality workers of Long Beach, California, rallied on Thursday to push the City Council to adopt a set of labor standards that would limit their workloads and strengthen protection from assault...
Kohler workers reject offer, OK first union strike at company since 1983 Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel ...Union workers went on strike at Kohler Co. on Sunday after overwhelmingly rejecting what the firm had called its "last, best and final offer." Ninety-four percent voted down the Kohler proposal, Tim Tayloe, president of UAW Local 833, told cheering workers after the ballots were tallied...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
For-profit educator to pay $95.5M over recruitment tactics CBS News ...Federal officials on Monday said they reached a $95.5 million settlement with the nation's second-largest for profit educator, accused of running a high-pressure boiler room where admissions personnel were paid based purely on the number of students they enrolled. The civil settlement with Education Management Corporation, the biggest yet involving false claims to the Department of Education, stems from a case first brought by whistleblowers...
The GOP’s devious Wall Street welfare plan: Why the future of the economy hangs in the balance Salon ...This is a consequential week for the future of financial regulation. Republicans have pulled out a successful playbook: stick as many riders onto two must-pass bills as possible, holding them hostage to conservative ideology. The bills include a long-term reauthorization of the Highway Trust Fund, which expires shortly, and a package of appropriations bills to keep the government funded...
Predictable and Deplorable: Over Half of US Governors Vow to Slam Door on Refugees Common Dreams ...In what appears to be a textbook case of xenophobia and political fearmongering in the wake of a tragedy, more than a dozen U.S. governors have declared their states off-limits to Syrian refugees in the days following Friday's terror attacks in Paris. In a statement Monday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the country's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization, decried the rolling announcements as "un-American"...
Here We Go Again? Muslim Americans Brace for a Backlash After Paris The Nation ...When news of the Paris attacks spread, Muslim, Arab, and South Asian activists in the United States began a process that has become all too familiar in the 14 years after 9/11. In the midst of expressing their grief, Muslim, Arab, and South Asian advocates are also placed in the position of having to monitor for a backlash against their own communities...
Number of people killed by US police in 2015 at 1,000 after Oakland shooting The Guardian ...The number of people killed by law enforcement in the US this year has reached 1,000 after officers in Oakland, California, shot dead a man who allegedly pointed a replica gun at them. Authorities said several officers opened fire on the man on Sunday evening when he walked toward them as they towed away cars that had been used to perform so-called “sideshow” stunts in east Oakland...
8 in 10 Hotel Workers Have Been Harassed at Work The Nation ...As part of UNITE HERE!’s Housekeeper’s Global Week of Action campaign, the hospitality workers of Long Beach, California, rallied on Thursday to push the City Council to adopt a set of labor standards that would limit their workloads and strengthen protection from assault...
Kohler workers reject offer, OK first union strike at company since 1983 Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel ...Union workers went on strike at Kohler Co. on Sunday after overwhelmingly rejecting what the firm had called its "last, best and final offer." Ninety-four percent voted down the Kohler proposal, Tim Tayloe, president of UAW Local 833, told cheering workers after the ballots were tallied...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
For-profit educator to pay $95.5M over recruitment tactics CBS News ...Federal officials on Monday said they reached a $95.5 million settlement with the nation's second-largest for profit educator, accused of running a high-pressure boiler room where admissions personnel were paid based purely on the number of students they enrolled. The civil settlement with Education Management Corporation, the biggest yet involving false claims to the Department of Education, stems from a case first brought by whistleblowers...
The GOP’s devious Wall Street welfare plan: Why the future of the economy hangs in the balance Salon ...This is a consequential week for the future of financial regulation. Republicans have pulled out a successful playbook: stick as many riders onto two must-pass bills as possible, holding them hostage to conservative ideology. The bills include a long-term reauthorization of the Highway Trust Fund, which expires shortly, and a package of appropriations bills to keep the government funded...
Predictable and Deplorable: Over Half of US Governors Vow to Slam Door on Refugees Common Dreams ...In what appears to be a textbook case of xenophobia and political fearmongering in the wake of a tragedy, more than a dozen U.S. governors have declared their states off-limits to Syrian refugees in the days following Friday's terror attacks in Paris. In a statement Monday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the country's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization, decried the rolling announcements as "un-American"...
Here We Go Again? Muslim Americans Brace for a Backlash After Paris The Nation ...When news of the Paris attacks spread, Muslim, Arab, and South Asian activists in the United States began a process that has become all too familiar in the 14 years after 9/11. In the midst of expressing their grief, Muslim, Arab, and South Asian advocates are also placed in the position of having to monitor for a backlash against their own communities...
Number of people killed by US police in 2015 at 1,000 after Oakland shooting The Guardian ...The number of people killed by law enforcement in the US this year has reached 1,000 after officers in Oakland, California, shot dead a man who allegedly pointed a replica gun at them. Authorities said several officers opened fire on the man on Sunday evening when he walked toward them as they towed away cars that had been used to perform so-called “sideshow” stunts in east Oakland...
Friday, November 13, 2015
Today's Teamster News 11.13.15
TEAMSTERS
Linde Gas Workers in Texas Join Teamsters Local 745 Teamster.org ...On November 4, 2015, workers at Linde Gas in Farmers Branch, Texas voted to join Teamsters Local 745 in Dallas. The drivers and warehouse workers voted 11 to 6 to become Teamsters. There are 17 workers in the bargaining unit. Linde manufactures and supplies industrial, specialty and medical gases and related equipment...
Protecting truckers’ rest breaks makes highways safer: James P. Hoffa LA Daily News ...Driving a truck can be an arduous job. The hours are long and road congestion and bad weather can make travel grueling. Thankfully, the state of California recognized this long ago and enacted meal and rest break rules that help keep truckers alert behind the wheel. The provisions are not burdensome. In fact, they apply to most of the state’s workforce...
Chicago TV Series Keep Teamsters Working Year-Round Local 727 ...Teamsters Local 727 members are having their busiest television season ever with four network shows filming concurrently in Chicago. More than 100 Teamsters are hard at work on Fox’s ratings juggernaut “Empire” and the NBC franchise of “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago PD” and “Chicago Med” — both on set at Cinespace Chicago Film Studios and on location throughout the city...
EVSC/Teamsters Contracts Ratified TriState Homepage ...Contracts between the EVSC an a local union that have been in the works since June are one step closer to approval. Teamsters Local 215 President Chuck Whobrey says all five employee contracts have been ratified. EVSC School Board President Mike Duckworth tells Eyewitness News the board will choose to accept or decline the approved proposals at their next meeting...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Greece paralyzed by austerity strikes DW.com ...A massive general strike brought Greece to a standstill on Thursday, as tens of thousands of people protested spending cuts pushed through by the country's leftist government in exchange for European bailout money. Feeling betrayed by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who was elected on an anti-austerity ticket, Greek unions launched a 24-hour strike...
Obama Faces a Tough Road with TPP Trade Deal Fortune ...In an election year, the knives are out for Obama’s signature trade pact. The mammoth Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal is by far the biggest thing left on President Barack Obama’s legislative agenda. But Obama has Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, labor unions, and even the tobacco industry standing in his way...
White House to work with Congress on TPP vote timing Reuters ...The Obama administration will work with Congress on the best time to bring a 12-nation Pacific trade pact before lawmakers for a vote, the top U.S. trade official said on Thursday. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said the administration, which gave 90 days notice last week of its intent to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), was doing everything within its power to move the deal along...
Obama Enlists Former Diplomats Albright, Baker in TPP Push Bloomberg ...President Barack Obama, hoping to kick off a new phase of selling the Trans-Pacific Partnership at home while enhancing its prospects overseas, has enlisted some of the nation’s top current and former diplomatic and national security officials to give testimonials. Obama is meeting Friday at the White House with a group that includes Madeleine Albright...
WHO chief raises ‘serious concerns’ over TPP impact on vital drug prices RT ...The head of the World Health Organization has voiced concern over the impact the newly formed 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership will have on vital drug prices, as it could limit the availability of cheaper generic medicines in favour of patent holders...
"A Very Big Mistake": Joseph Stiglitz Slams Obama for Pushing the TPP Democracy Now ...As Congress debates the Trans-Pacific Partnership, we speak to Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz about the trade deal. "The irony is that the president came out and said, 'This is about who makes the trade rules—China or the United States?'" Stiglitz said. "But I think the big issue is, this is about who makes the rules of trade—the American people, our democratic process, or the corporations?"...
Germany Protests to United States Over Secrecy in Huge TTIP Trade Deal Sputnik News ...The German Government has filed an official note of protest to the US over the lack of access that its country's lawmakers have to documents associated with the controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. The controversial TTIP agreement, under negotiation between the European Union (EU) and the United States could lead to the world's largest free-trade area...
United Steel Workers in Liberia to Support Firestone Workers Ahead of New CBA Bush Chicken ...A two-man delegation from the United Steel Workers, a North American workers union, is in the country to visit the Firestone Agricultural Workers Union of Liberia, FAWUL. USW International Vice President Fred Raymond and Director for Strategic Campaigns Mark Zalinski told The Bush Chicken that they were here to strengthen the partnership with FAWUL and assist in negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with Firestone...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
New California Law Gives Farmworkers Right To Back Pay KCPR ...The law says workers who weren’t paid accurately from July 2012 to December 2015 have the right to back pay for rest periods and unproductive time. This includes time for training, traveling, and moving from and to fields. The United Farm Workers union is currently reaching out to farm laborers to let them know about the law before it goes into effect January 1st...
Scott Walker's Legacy of Double-Dealing for Friends and Donors Revealed in New John Doe Emails PR Watch ...In 2011, prosecutors in the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office suspected that Scott Walker committed felony misconduct while serving as Milwaukee County Executive due to his direct involvement in a multi-million dollar lease renewal for county offices at a privately held building called the Reuss Federal Plaza. Newly-released emails, made public as part of a federal lawsuit, reveal crucial details about these bid-rigging allegations...
Walmart Workers Escalate Thanksgiving Wage Protests With Weeks Of Fasting Think Progress ...Tired of being left to rely on the charity of others to feed their families, Walmart workers around the country are launching two weeks of fasting in the run-up to Thanksgiving to demand livable wages and full-time schedules. “I’ve had to forgo meals so my boys would have enough to eat,” Walmart associate Jasmine Dixon said Thursday...
L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl backs statewide minimum wage measure LA Times ...The elected official who led Los Angeles County's adoption of a $15 minimum wage has endorsed one of two proposed 2016 ballot initiatives that would extend the same base pay rate statewide. L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl on Thursday threw her support behind the so-called Fair Wage Act...
In classic battle, minimum wage movement pits labor against business Open Secrets ..Fast food and other low-wage workers took to the streets of cities across the country this week to demand a minimum wage of $15, earning the support of liberal mayors, governors and even presidential candidates. In New York, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo stood with the “Fight for $15” crusade, announcing he would take executive action to establish a $15-per-hour floor for state employees...
Donald Trump wants the U.S. to 'compete with other countries' on minimum wage. But which countries? Daily Kos ...Donald Trump is not backing down from his assertion that "our wages are too high" during the most recent Republican presidential debate. Exactly which other countries does Trump think we need to compete with by keeping the minimum wage low? Because if you’re looking at other advanced countries, the United States lags behind Australia, Luxembourg, France, Belgium, Ireland, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Austria...
U.S. LABOR
Kaiser mental health workers to go on strike Monday Press Democrat ...The union representing Kaiser Permanente mental health care workers in Sonoma County said its members will go on strike Monday, walking off the job for the second time in 10 months. Unlike a January strike that lasted five days, next week’s National Union of Health Care Workers strike has no ending date...
UAW members voting on Ford contract that would bring $1.1B to Chicago area Chicago Tribune ...Union workers at Ford's Chicago Heights body panel plant began voting Thursday on a national labor deal that would see $1.1 billion invested in Ford's two Chicago-area plants. The deal — tentatively agreed to by national negotiators last week — would see $900 million invested and about 200 more workers hired at the Torrence Avenue assembly plant, where 4,100 United Auto Workers members are currently employed...
Access-a-Ride-workers threaten strike over labor conditions AM New York ...The transit union that represents many MTA workers threatened a strike Thursday at the Access-a-Ride call center. The company Global Contact Services has about 500 workers at the call center who set up Access-a-Ride trips, a service used by passengers who need wheelchair-accessible cars. Workers have made complaints to the MTA's board and Inspector General about their labor conditions...
How Apple And eBay Have Been Benefiting From Wage Theft Think Progress ...The Department of Labor (DOL) banned two Silicon Valley contracting firms used by Apple, eBay, and Cisco from hiring immigrant workers with high-skilled visas for underpaying employees nearly $1,000 a month. Sunnyvale, California-based contractors Orian Engineers and Scopus Consulting Group improperly classified immigrant employees with H-1B visas as entry level despite them having significant work experience or graduate-level degrees...
Postal Workers Endorse Austerity-Foe Bernie Sanders The Nation ... The APWU endorsement recalls the historic “reward our friends” calculus, as Sanders has for years been an ardent congressional advocate for postal workers and the United States Postal Service. Long before he considered presidential politics, the senator from Vermont was arguing against the austerity economics that seeks to balance the books by cutting public services...
US weekly jobless claims total 276,000 vs 270,000 estimate CNBC ...New U.S. applications for unemployment benefits last week held steady at levels consistent with sustained labor market strength that could encourage the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next month. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits were unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 276,000 for the week ended Nov. 7, the Labor Department said on Thursday...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Report: Neglected Railways Increase Risk of Exploding Oil "Bomb Trains" Truthout ...According to a new report out this week from Waterkeeper Alliance, ForestEthics and Riverkeeper, since 2008, oil train traffic has increased more than 5,000 percent along routes "leading from oil fields in central Canada, the Great Plains and the Rockies to refineries and crude oil hubs along our nation's coasts." The report describes the significant threat posed by explosive crude oil "bomb trains" traveling across aging and neglected US rail infrastructure...
Leading Powers to Double Renewable Energy Supply by 2030 Common Dreams ...Eight of the world’s leading economies will double their renewable energy supply by 2030 if they live up to their pledges to contribute to curbing global warming, which will be included in the new climate treaty. A study published this month by the World Resources Institute (WRI) analysed the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) of the 10 largest greenhouse gas emitters...
Students across U.S. march over debt, free public college Reuters ...Students held demonstrations on university campuses across the United States on Thursday to protest ballooning student loan debt for higher education and rally for tuition-free public colleges. The demonstrations, dubbed the Million Student March, were planned just two days after thousands of fast-food workers took to the streets in a nationwide day of action pushing for a $15-an-hour minimum wage and union rights for the industry...
In Nationwide Student Revolt over Campus Racism, NY's Ithaca College is Latest School to Erupt Democracy Now ...In a week that began with a victorious revolt by African-American students at the University of Missouri and brought solidarity rallies to campuses around the country, a similar protest has erupted at Ithaca College in upstate New York. On Wednesday, thousands of faculty, students and staff staged a walkout to call for the resignation of President Tom Rochon...
Yet Another Report Excuses Police in Tamir Rice's Death The Atlantic ...A report commissioned by the Cuyahoga County prosecutor has found that officers acted reasonably in the shooting of Tamir Rice, an unarmed 12-year-old boy whose death was captured on surveillance camera. The report is the third independent report Prosecutor Timothy McGinty has released. Activists and Rice’s relatives have charged that the reports are being released in an attempt to justify a decision not to charge Loehmann for Rice’s death...
Linde Gas Workers in Texas Join Teamsters Local 745 Teamster.org ...On November 4, 2015, workers at Linde Gas in Farmers Branch, Texas voted to join Teamsters Local 745 in Dallas. The drivers and warehouse workers voted 11 to 6 to become Teamsters. There are 17 workers in the bargaining unit. Linde manufactures and supplies industrial, specialty and medical gases and related equipment...
Protecting truckers’ rest breaks makes highways safer: James P. Hoffa LA Daily News ...Driving a truck can be an arduous job. The hours are long and road congestion and bad weather can make travel grueling. Thankfully, the state of California recognized this long ago and enacted meal and rest break rules that help keep truckers alert behind the wheel. The provisions are not burdensome. In fact, they apply to most of the state’s workforce...
Chicago TV Series Keep Teamsters Working Year-Round Local 727 ...Teamsters Local 727 members are having their busiest television season ever with four network shows filming concurrently in Chicago. More than 100 Teamsters are hard at work on Fox’s ratings juggernaut “Empire” and the NBC franchise of “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago PD” and “Chicago Med” — both on set at Cinespace Chicago Film Studios and on location throughout the city...
EVSC/Teamsters Contracts Ratified TriState Homepage ...Contracts between the EVSC an a local union that have been in the works since June are one step closer to approval. Teamsters Local 215 President Chuck Whobrey says all five employee contracts have been ratified. EVSC School Board President Mike Duckworth tells Eyewitness News the board will choose to accept or decline the approved proposals at their next meeting...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Greece paralyzed by austerity strikes DW.com ...A massive general strike brought Greece to a standstill on Thursday, as tens of thousands of people protested spending cuts pushed through by the country's leftist government in exchange for European bailout money. Feeling betrayed by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who was elected on an anti-austerity ticket, Greek unions launched a 24-hour strike...
Obama Faces a Tough Road with TPP Trade Deal Fortune ...In an election year, the knives are out for Obama’s signature trade pact. The mammoth Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal is by far the biggest thing left on President Barack Obama’s legislative agenda. But Obama has Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, labor unions, and even the tobacco industry standing in his way...
White House to work with Congress on TPP vote timing Reuters ...The Obama administration will work with Congress on the best time to bring a 12-nation Pacific trade pact before lawmakers for a vote, the top U.S. trade official said on Thursday. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said the administration, which gave 90 days notice last week of its intent to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), was doing everything within its power to move the deal along...
Obama Enlists Former Diplomats Albright, Baker in TPP Push Bloomberg ...President Barack Obama, hoping to kick off a new phase of selling the Trans-Pacific Partnership at home while enhancing its prospects overseas, has enlisted some of the nation’s top current and former diplomatic and national security officials to give testimonials. Obama is meeting Friday at the White House with a group that includes Madeleine Albright...
WHO chief raises ‘serious concerns’ over TPP impact on vital drug prices RT ...The head of the World Health Organization has voiced concern over the impact the newly formed 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership will have on vital drug prices, as it could limit the availability of cheaper generic medicines in favour of patent holders...
"A Very Big Mistake": Joseph Stiglitz Slams Obama for Pushing the TPP Democracy Now ...As Congress debates the Trans-Pacific Partnership, we speak to Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz about the trade deal. "The irony is that the president came out and said, 'This is about who makes the trade rules—China or the United States?'" Stiglitz said. "But I think the big issue is, this is about who makes the rules of trade—the American people, our democratic process, or the corporations?"...
Germany Protests to United States Over Secrecy in Huge TTIP Trade Deal Sputnik News ...The German Government has filed an official note of protest to the US over the lack of access that its country's lawmakers have to documents associated with the controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. The controversial TTIP agreement, under negotiation between the European Union (EU) and the United States could lead to the world's largest free-trade area...
United Steel Workers in Liberia to Support Firestone Workers Ahead of New CBA Bush Chicken ...A two-man delegation from the United Steel Workers, a North American workers union, is in the country to visit the Firestone Agricultural Workers Union of Liberia, FAWUL. USW International Vice President Fred Raymond and Director for Strategic Campaigns Mark Zalinski told The Bush Chicken that they were here to strengthen the partnership with FAWUL and assist in negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with Firestone...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
New California Law Gives Farmworkers Right To Back Pay KCPR ...The law says workers who weren’t paid accurately from July 2012 to December 2015 have the right to back pay for rest periods and unproductive time. This includes time for training, traveling, and moving from and to fields. The United Farm Workers union is currently reaching out to farm laborers to let them know about the law before it goes into effect January 1st...
Scott Walker's Legacy of Double-Dealing for Friends and Donors Revealed in New John Doe Emails PR Watch ...In 2011, prosecutors in the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office suspected that Scott Walker committed felony misconduct while serving as Milwaukee County Executive due to his direct involvement in a multi-million dollar lease renewal for county offices at a privately held building called the Reuss Federal Plaza. Newly-released emails, made public as part of a federal lawsuit, reveal crucial details about these bid-rigging allegations...
Walmart Workers Escalate Thanksgiving Wage Protests With Weeks Of Fasting Think Progress ...Tired of being left to rely on the charity of others to feed their families, Walmart workers around the country are launching two weeks of fasting in the run-up to Thanksgiving to demand livable wages and full-time schedules. “I’ve had to forgo meals so my boys would have enough to eat,” Walmart associate Jasmine Dixon said Thursday...
L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl backs statewide minimum wage measure LA Times ...The elected official who led Los Angeles County's adoption of a $15 minimum wage has endorsed one of two proposed 2016 ballot initiatives that would extend the same base pay rate statewide. L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl on Thursday threw her support behind the so-called Fair Wage Act...
In classic battle, minimum wage movement pits labor against business Open Secrets ..Fast food and other low-wage workers took to the streets of cities across the country this week to demand a minimum wage of $15, earning the support of liberal mayors, governors and even presidential candidates. In New York, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo stood with the “Fight for $15” crusade, announcing he would take executive action to establish a $15-per-hour floor for state employees...
Donald Trump wants the U.S. to 'compete with other countries' on minimum wage. But which countries? Daily Kos ...Donald Trump is not backing down from his assertion that "our wages are too high" during the most recent Republican presidential debate. Exactly which other countries does Trump think we need to compete with by keeping the minimum wage low? Because if you’re looking at other advanced countries, the United States lags behind Australia, Luxembourg, France, Belgium, Ireland, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Austria...
U.S. LABOR
Kaiser mental health workers to go on strike Monday Press Democrat ...The union representing Kaiser Permanente mental health care workers in Sonoma County said its members will go on strike Monday, walking off the job for the second time in 10 months. Unlike a January strike that lasted five days, next week’s National Union of Health Care Workers strike has no ending date...
UAW members voting on Ford contract that would bring $1.1B to Chicago area Chicago Tribune ...Union workers at Ford's Chicago Heights body panel plant began voting Thursday on a national labor deal that would see $1.1 billion invested in Ford's two Chicago-area plants. The deal — tentatively agreed to by national negotiators last week — would see $900 million invested and about 200 more workers hired at the Torrence Avenue assembly plant, where 4,100 United Auto Workers members are currently employed...
Access-a-Ride-workers threaten strike over labor conditions AM New York ...The transit union that represents many MTA workers threatened a strike Thursday at the Access-a-Ride call center. The company Global Contact Services has about 500 workers at the call center who set up Access-a-Ride trips, a service used by passengers who need wheelchair-accessible cars. Workers have made complaints to the MTA's board and Inspector General about their labor conditions...
How Apple And eBay Have Been Benefiting From Wage Theft Think Progress ...The Department of Labor (DOL) banned two Silicon Valley contracting firms used by Apple, eBay, and Cisco from hiring immigrant workers with high-skilled visas for underpaying employees nearly $1,000 a month. Sunnyvale, California-based contractors Orian Engineers and Scopus Consulting Group improperly classified immigrant employees with H-1B visas as entry level despite them having significant work experience or graduate-level degrees...
Postal Workers Endorse Austerity-Foe Bernie Sanders The Nation ... The APWU endorsement recalls the historic “reward our friends” calculus, as Sanders has for years been an ardent congressional advocate for postal workers and the United States Postal Service. Long before he considered presidential politics, the senator from Vermont was arguing against the austerity economics that seeks to balance the books by cutting public services...
US weekly jobless claims total 276,000 vs 270,000 estimate CNBC ...New U.S. applications for unemployment benefits last week held steady at levels consistent with sustained labor market strength that could encourage the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next month. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits were unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 276,000 for the week ended Nov. 7, the Labor Department said on Thursday...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Report: Neglected Railways Increase Risk of Exploding Oil "Bomb Trains" Truthout ...According to a new report out this week from Waterkeeper Alliance, ForestEthics and Riverkeeper, since 2008, oil train traffic has increased more than 5,000 percent along routes "leading from oil fields in central Canada, the Great Plains and the Rockies to refineries and crude oil hubs along our nation's coasts." The report describes the significant threat posed by explosive crude oil "bomb trains" traveling across aging and neglected US rail infrastructure...
Leading Powers to Double Renewable Energy Supply by 2030 Common Dreams ...Eight of the world’s leading economies will double their renewable energy supply by 2030 if they live up to their pledges to contribute to curbing global warming, which will be included in the new climate treaty. A study published this month by the World Resources Institute (WRI) analysed the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) of the 10 largest greenhouse gas emitters...
Students across U.S. march over debt, free public college Reuters ...Students held demonstrations on university campuses across the United States on Thursday to protest ballooning student loan debt for higher education and rally for tuition-free public colleges. The demonstrations, dubbed the Million Student March, were planned just two days after thousands of fast-food workers took to the streets in a nationwide day of action pushing for a $15-an-hour minimum wage and union rights for the industry...
In Nationwide Student Revolt over Campus Racism, NY's Ithaca College is Latest School to Erupt Democracy Now ...In a week that began with a victorious revolt by African-American students at the University of Missouri and brought solidarity rallies to campuses around the country, a similar protest has erupted at Ithaca College in upstate New York. On Wednesday, thousands of faculty, students and staff staged a walkout to call for the resignation of President Tom Rochon...
Yet Another Report Excuses Police in Tamir Rice's Death The Atlantic ...A report commissioned by the Cuyahoga County prosecutor has found that officers acted reasonably in the shooting of Tamir Rice, an unarmed 12-year-old boy whose death was captured on surveillance camera. The report is the third independent report Prosecutor Timothy McGinty has released. Activists and Rice’s relatives have charged that the reports are being released in an attempt to justify a decision not to charge Loehmann for Rice’s death...
Monday, December 1, 2014
Teamsters help Walmart workers reach goal of 1,600 Black Friday protests
Walmart workers appear to have met their goal of protests at 1,600 stores with help from Teamsters and other groups across the United States.
The Walmart workers' organization, OUR Walmart, reports 'the biggest, boldest and most exciting Black Friday ever!' Hundreds of Walmart workers went on strike and in Washington, D.C. and Southern California they held the first ever sit-down strikes in Walmart’s history. Their website, Blackfridayprotests.org, had a half-million visits, #WalmartStrikers trended on Twitter and received plenty of local and national news coverage.
Teamsters Local 340 Business Agent Business Agent Joe Piccone was among the two dozen people protesting Walmart's retaliation against its employees in Scarborough, Maine. WCHS6 reported they...
Local 817 Teamster Kenny McLeod Sr and IATSE member Dan Mahoney, above, supported Walmart workers in East Meadow, N.Y.
Above, Local 817 Teamsters Mike Devereaux and Teamster Local 814's John Becker show their support of fair wages for Walmart employees in North Bergen, N.J.
Brother Tony Vaccaro sent us the photo below and told us:
Dirk Rasmussen of Teamsters Local 639 protested outside of a Walmart in Washington, D.C. Dave Jamiesen interviewed him for The Huffington Post:
The Walmart workers' organization, OUR Walmart, reports 'the biggest, boldest and most exciting Black Friday ever!' Hundreds of Walmart workers went on strike and in Washington, D.C. and Southern California they held the first ever sit-down strikes in Walmart’s history. Their website, Blackfridayprotests.org, had a half-million visits, #WalmartStrikers trended on Twitter and received plenty of local and national news coverage.
Teamsters Local 340 Business Agent Business Agent Joe Piccone was among the two dozen people protesting Walmart's retaliation against its employees in Scarborough, Maine. WCHS6 reported they...
...marched through the Walmart parking lot in Scarborough and took their protest right outside Walmart's front doors. The group passed out flyers informing employees they had a right to form a union.
The rally was short lived because the police asked them to move their protest to the far side of the parking lot or be arrested for trespassing. Protesters complied, but said they won't stop fighting until Walmart starts paying a living wage, which economists say is $15 an hour. Employees are paid a little more than $8 an hour.
Minnesota Teamsters joined a large Walmart action in St. Paul. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported:
Instead of shopping for deals, 500 people descended on Wal-Mart and McDonald’s in St. Paul’s Midway shopping district on Black Friday to demand higher wages and sick leave for all employees.
Closely guarded by police on foot, bikes and in squad cars, protest leaders yelled into bullhorns “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!”
Participants waved large signs that said, “I stand with Wal-Mart strikers,” and “Pay your associates a living wage.”
Brother Tony Vaccaro sent us the photo below and told us:
Black Friday Protest at Walmart in Amherst (Buffalo) New York. The rally was organized by the Buffalo Coalition of Economic Justice who delivered a petition to the store manager following the rally.
Dozens of union leaders and community activists braved the mid 20's temperatures to send a message to the Corporate giant while local television and radio stations were present.
Dirk Rasmussen of Teamsters Local 639 protested outside of a Walmart in Washington, D.C. Dave Jamiesen interviewed him for The Huffington Post:
Dirk Rasmussen had Friday off and could have slept in if he wanted to. Instead, the Maryland resident and Teamster rose early and drove to downtown Washington, eager to join a post-Thanksgiving protest against Walmart.
"Our local [union] president encouraged us to take part," said Rasmussen, 58, who works in a lumber and building-supply warehouse. "I raised eight children on a Teamsters benefit package and Teamsters wage. I'm a firm believer in collective bargaining, and I'm very concerned about the security of this next generation."
Black Friday may be most famous for doorbuster shopping deals, but among progressives it's becoming a regular holiday for labor demonstrations. Friday marked the third consecutive year of scattered but highly visible protests against Walmart. Demonstrators, along with an unknown number of Walmart strikers, are calling for better pay and scheduling practices from the world's largest retailer.
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