Today's Teamster News 03.27.14

Teamster News
Special City Council Meeting to Address Teamsters Strike Against CCTA  Burlington Free Press   ...One of the two items on the agenda of a Burlington City Council meeting that starts 5 pm Wednesday will be an update on the Teamster drivers' strike from Chittenden County Transportation Authority representatives...
Teamster Drivers Strike  at CCTA Enters Week 2  WCAX   ...It's week two of the Teamsters bus drivers' strike, and riders are still struggling to get around. With no apparent end in sight, some families that rely on public transportation say they fear the worst...
Huge Teamster turnout at pro-worker, anti-RTW4Less rally in Missouri  TeamsterNation   ...A large contingent of Teamsters joined well over 3,000 workers in Jefferson City today to rally against right-to-work and paycheck deception bills before the Missouri Legislature...
The death of an employer scam  American Prospect   ...The decisions of the NLRB and the California Labor Commissioner signal that the days of industry-wide misclassification—at least, for port truckers—may be numbered...

Trade
China loses trade dispute over rare earth exports  Reuters   …China has lost a dispute at the World Trade Organization over limits on rare earth and metals exports, handing Europe and the United States a victory over what they see as Beijing's unfair trade practices...
U.S. Steelmakers Push for Duties on Korean Rivals  Wall Street Journal   ...Struggling U.S. steelmakers want Washington to punish their South Korean competitors for selling lucrative steel products to the U.S. oil and gas industry at prices the U.S. suppliers say are unfair...
State Battles
Union groups rally against ‘right to work’ legislation at Missouri Capitol  St. Louis Post Dispatch   ...Gov. Jay Nixon told the crowd he would not hesitate to veto anti-worker legislation as he has in the past. Currently, the Missouri House is considering a measure to put right to work on the August ballot, bypassing the governor...
Pa. still facing an uphill battle to privatize liquor sales  Express-Times   ...The road to liquor privatization in Pennsylvania is defined by detour, and this year is no exception. As an election season begins to heat up, the Legislature is entertaining multiple reform efforts...
Wisconsin's personal income rebounded more slowly than U.S. average  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...After American wages plunged in the darkest days of the last recession, Wisconsin's personal net earnings have rebounded — but at an average annual rate that lags that of the nation and most of its Great Lakes peers, according to the latest government estimates released Tuesday...
Iowa lawmakers consider tax credit for student debt  Quad-City Times   ...Iowa residents could receive a state tax credit for student loans if they earned a degree from a regent institution, community college or nonprofit university in Iowa under legislation considered by a three-member House panel Tuesday...
War on Workers
Northwestern players get union vote  MSNBC   ...In a potentially game-changing moment for college athletics, the Chicago district of the National Labor Relations Board ruled on Wednesday that Northwestern football players qualify as employees of the university and can unionize...
Teachers stage one-day strike in England and Wales  The Guardian   ...Thousands of schools across England and Wales will face disruption and closures today as teachers stage a one-day national walkout over pay and conditions...
Fast Food Managers Prefer 'Stature' To Overtime Pay, Wealthy CEO Says  Huffington Post   ...Fast food CEO Andy Puzder took to the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal Tuesday to rip into a White House proposal to raise the wages of low-paid managers who work unpaid overtime hours...
Almagamated Transit Union says overtime exemptions create 'Sweatshops on Wheels'  Examiner   ...Union says that bus drivers have become the scapegoats for accidents caused by workers who are forced to work more than 15 hour days just to make ends meet…
Koch Brothers Invade Tiny Iron County, Wisconsin  The Daily Beast   ...A mining town of 6,000 people isn’t too small for billionaires to mess with to get their way. Inside the race bringing in big money...
Global Horizons Found Liable For Thai Worker Abuse  Associated Press   ...A federal judge has found a California-based labor contractor liable for discrimination and abuse of hundreds of Thai workers at Hawaii farms...
Miscellaneous
Housing WatchdogSlams Massive Property Inspection Industry  Huffington Post   ...The inspectors who decide whether homes have been abandoned and are ready for foreclosure are doing such a terrible job that the whole system requires a major overhaul, and maybe should be scrapped altogether, a government watchdog warned on Tuesday...

 

Another Apple factory in China exposed for worker abuse

New abuses by an Apple Chinese supplier are coming to light by a group called Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM). SACOM first exposed how Apple's contractor Foxconn forced hundreds of thousands of employees to labor under grueling conditions, causing a wave of suicides.

Ross Eisenbery at the Economic Policy Institute tells us:

SACOM has regularly revealed Apple’s failure to abide by its so-called code of conduct, and along with another watchdog group, China Labor Watch, has monitored Apple’s failure to live up to its announced intention to clean up sweatshop conditions at its factories in China and to stop the use of indentured student labor. 

In April, China Labor Watch reported that two more Apple/Foxconn workers had committed suicide by jumping from buildings to their death. China Labor Watch also found labor law violations at ten other Apple suppliers, including Pegatron.

SACOM's most recent investigation reveals horrific labor conditions inside Biel Crystal in Huizhou, Guangdong. The factory produces the touch screens and camera glass covers that go into Iphones. Here's what SACOM found:

• Excessive working hours: Workers are forced to sign an “application for voluntary overtime”. They have to work 11 hours a day and seven days a week during the peak production time; and they have only a 24-hour break at the end of each month for shift change;
• Numerous suicides in the factory: At least five incidences of suicide have taken place in the factory since 2011;
• Blank work contract: Workers are asked to sign a blank work contract, and they have to turn in their copy when they resign. This makes workers unable to prove their working relation with the factory;
• Serious work injuries: Work injuries are common in the factory, and injured workers cannot get reasonable compensation as entitled by the Law;
• Irregular pay day: The factory changes the pay day at will and does not follow clauses and conditions of the work contract;
• Military-style management: The punitive system is unfair and there is massive use of security to control workers’ activities.

SACOM demands Biel Crystal allow workers to form their own union, to enroll them in the social security system, to pay a living wage and to spell out clearly terms of employment before workers sign it.

SACOM also puts responsibility on Apple to pressure Biel Crystal to clean up its act.

Read the whole report here.

Today's Teamster News 07.31.13

Teamsters, Paratransit employees strike  Lake County Record-Bee ...The Teamsters and 35 employees of Lake County transit went on strike Monday after negotiations with Paratransit management failed to end in an agreement for a new contract...
UNITE HERE/Teamsters: Gate Gourmet faces labor trouble in North America   Enquirer Herald ...Facing crucial votes by workers in the US and Canada, Gate Gourmet, the world's largest independent airline caterer, finds itself headed toward two separate labor disputes that could impact the majority of its unionized North American workforce...
Teamsters, Long Beach Area Trucking Companies in Labor Struggle  Long Beach Business Journal   ...Having secured its first contract for truck drivers working at the Port of Los Angeles, local Teamster organizers are stepping up their efforts to secure contracts for drivers who work for or with other short-haul drayage companies at the twin ports...
Sign Up While There’s Still Time for the Teamster Women's Conference  IBT   ...Don’t forget to register for the Teamster Women’s Conference that will be held September 19-21, 2013 in The Big Easy. Join your Teamster Sisters and Brothers for this dynamic gathering of great speakers, educational workshops and networking. The hotel registration deadline is August 20...
Senate Confirms NLRB Nominees; Board at Full Strength  AFL-CIO Now   ...The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is now fully staffed and able to continue to function to protect workers’ rights after the U.S. Senate today confirmed five members...
More than 200 fast-food workers strike in St Louis, Kansas City  Associated Press   ...at least 150 workers walked off the job Tuesday at about 60 restaurants in the St. Louis area, including some in Illinois. She says at least 70 workers in the Kansas City area walked picket lines outside of dozens of restaurants...
Fourth round of arrests made at Wisconsin Capitol  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...Police made a new round of arrests Tuesday at the state Capitol, as opponents of Gov. Scott Walker resumed their singalong protest in the rotunda...
Bloomberg's ban on big sodas is unconstitutional: appeals court  Reuters   ...New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's controversial plan to keep large sugary drinks out of restaurants and other eateries was rejected by a state appeals court on Tuesday, which said he had overstepped his authority in trying to impose the ban...
Food Stamp Cuts Set To Kick In, Congress Not Paying Attention  Huffington Post   ... Regardless of whether Republicans succeed in cutting food stamps this year, the 22 million American households relying on the program will see their benefits drop in November...
Where Did The Good Jobs Go? Globalization, Free Trade And The Demise Of America’s Middle Class   MintPress News   ...U.S.-based multinational corporations decreased their number of U.S. workers by 3.3 million from 1989-2011. Helping to accelerate this shift has been the proliferation of trade pacts like NAFTA, which eliminated nearly 700,000 U.S. jobs since it was first enacted in 1994...
Massive damage but no deaths in blast at central Florida propane plant  CNN   ...Equipment failure and human error likely caused the propane tank cylinders to explode at a central Florida refilling plant late Monday. The blasts at the Blue Rhino plant in Tavares injured eight plant workers...
The Force Behind Bills To Lower Wages and Suppress Workers’ Rights?  In These Times  ...You Guessed It: ALEC. The right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has modeled legislation to strip workers of their rights nationwide...
Georgia AG sues over online payday loans from SD  The Daily Republic   ...State Attorney General Sam Olens has filed a lawsuit against two companies saying they’ve been using the Internet to provide illegal payday loans to Georgia consumers...
Minnesota's child-care union fight is heating up  StarTribune   ...Judge ruled lawsuits to halt unionization effort were premature. Now opposing camps will try to get their messages out to about 12,700 family child-care providers...
Apple Supplier Accused Of Labor Abuses By China Watchdog (VIDEO)  Associated Press   ...A labor rights group Monday accused a Chinese company that makes iPhones for Apple Inc. of abuses including withholding employees' pay and excessive working hours...
FedEx Reaches $21.5 Million Settlement in Overcharging Suit  Bloomberg News ...FedEx Corp. will pay $21.5 million to settle a lawsuit over claims that it overcharged customers by billing for deliveries to businesses and governments at higher residential rates...
Gov. Scott Walker wants to now limit bargaining powers for police and fire unions  Fox6 News   ...The Act 10 law currently limits most collective bargaining powers for most public employees, except for police and fire unions. Now, Gov. Scott Walker has suggested expanding Act 10 to include those unions...
The Outrageous Truth About A $12 Minimum Wage And Your Grocery Bill  NH Labor News   ...Opponents imagine that inflation will skyrocket; some have even claimed that ‘milk will be $10.00 a gallon’ if we raise the minimum wage. Oh, the hysteria. Milk is currently around $3.50 a gallon and that is up 25% from just ten years ago. Is that 25% due to rising wages? Sadly, no – wages in America have declined during that time. Let’s look at a few facts about minimum wage...