Today's Teamster News 06.21.14

Teamster News
Safety Report On Tracy Morgan Crash Raises New Questions  MSN   ..."The NTSB's preliminary findings in this case clearly show that truck drivers are pushing beyond the limits of the current hours of service rules," Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa said....
Commissioners Approve Employee Communications Consultants In Wake Of Union Petition  The Sentinel   ...The Cumberland County commissioners voted 2-1 Thursday afternoon to approve a contract addendum allowing labor council Campbell, Durrant, Beatty, Palombo & Miller to engage consultants for communications with employees...
Labor Relations Board Judge To Hear Claims Against Rancho Dominguez Trucking Firm  Long Beach Press-Telegram   ...A National Labor Relations Board judge in August will hear allegations by Los Angeles and Long Beach port truck drivers and their supporters that a Rancho Dominguez trucking firm committed more than 50 labor law violations...
Temporary Workers, Paid Sick Days, Back Wages Lead California Labor Priorities  Sacramento Bee   ...Paid sick days. Tougher penalties for employers who withhold back wages. More liability for corporations that use subcontractors. The priority list of organized labor, a formidable force in the Legislature, begins with these three items...
Teamsters: NLRB Complaint Issued Against Green Fleet Systems  teamster.org   ...In a tremendous victory for Los Angeles/Long Beach port truck drivers who have gone on three “Unfair Labor Practice” strikes in the last eleven months, Region 21 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a consolidated complaint alleging a myriad of over 50 egregious labor law violations against one of the larger drayage companies, Green Fleet Systems (GFS) (the company also has operations at the Port of Savannah, Georgia)...
Kraft Foods workers in Avon ratify new contract  Democrat & Chronicle   ...After nearly 13 months of negotiations, members of Teamsters Local 118 have ratified a new four-year contract with Kraft Foods...
Vermont Bus Maintenance Workers Ratify Teamster Contract  teamster.org   ...Maintenance workers in Vermont's Chittenden County bus system have ratified a new contract with Teamsters Local 597...
Trade
Pocan calls for end to Brunei negotiations over new anti-LGBT laws  Gay Politics   ...U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, along with over 100 other House members, called on Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman to stop any further negotiations with the government of on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement until Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah revokes a newly adopted penal code that is in gross violation of human rights...
Dear Defense Contractor CEOs: Why Is the Pentagon Buying Weapons With Chinese Parts Instead of US Parts?  truthout   ...At least 80 of our nation's primary weapon systems wouldn't work at all without Chinese-sourced rare earth materials...
State Battles
Wisconsin Employment Flatlines  Econbrowser   ...State-level employment figures released this morning by the BLS indicate indicate that as US (and regional peer Minnesota) employment powers along, Wisconsin lags. As does Kansas. Hence, the negative correlation between the ALEC-Laffer economic outlook index and actual economic activity persists...
4 Key Takeaways About Scott Walker's Alleged "Criminal Scheme"  Mother Jones   ...Prosecutors are probing whether Walker and two of his aides illegally coordinated with outside groups—including the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity—to fend off a wave of recall elections in 2011 and 2012...
It's Official. Big Food Sues Vermont  truthout   ...Monsanto and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) filed a lawsuit in federal the U.S. District Court, State of Vermont, to overturn Vermont’s recently passed GMO labeling law...
Audit finds 'intentional misuse' of funds by Elevate Ventures  Indianapolis Business Journal   ...The Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Treasury Department says Elevate Ventures “intentionally misused” almost $500,000 in taxpayer funds when the state contractor invested in a company run by its board chairman...
SEC Charges Private Equity Firm With Pay-to-Play Violations Involving Political Campaign Contributions in Pennsylvania  SEC   ...The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Philadelphia-area private equity firm with violating “pay-to-play” rules by continuing to receive advisory fees from the city and state pension funds following campaign contributions made by an associate in 2011 to the governor of Pennsylvania and a candidate for mayor of Philadelphia...
Keurig and Coca-Cola Brew Jobs in Georgia  manufacture this   ...The two beverage companies will create 550 new jobs in Douglasville, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta) and invest $337 million into the facility in the next five years. The new manufacturing center will produce pods for the company’s new Keurig Cold Platform...
War On Workers
Supreme Court Gives Public Workers 1st Amendment Shield  Los Angeles Times   ...The Supreme Court shielded public employees from being fired or disciplined if they testify in court against their superiors, ruling Thursday that the 1st Amendment protects citizens who are called upon to tell the truth...
Local cops can track your phone, and the government doesn’t want you to know how  Columbia Journalism Review   ...Police departments around the country increasingly are using sophisticated technology to surveil American citizens by monitoring cellphone data, in many cases carefully hiding those activities from the public and the press...
Miscellaneous
The Dead-End Of Financialization: Innovation Is Slumping For A Reason  David Stockman's Contra Corner   ...monetary policy is not neutral as proclaimed, but rather ... there are innumerable and immeasurable changes due to persistent monetary intrusions that depress economic potential ... The fullest expression of that is the complete infiltration of “easy money” as an expectation – it erodes everything from what we expect from stocks (doubling your money every year is normal!) to actual work ethic (“put your money to work”) to resource allocation (day traders and house flippers, not to mention Wall Street mathematicians and lawyers, rather than industrial entrepreneurs)...

Walker's claims of innocence in corruption case depend on Koch-linked judge

There's a teensy problem with Wisconsin job-killer
Gov. Scott Walker's claim that he isn't at the center of a criminal scheme because a federal judge said he isn't.

It was revealed yesterday that prosecutors are charging Walker with criminal conspiracy to break state campaign finance laws. Walker says federal Judge Rudolph Randa already exonerated him in a previous ruling.

Problem is Judge Randa is a Koch hack. He took things of value from the Koch brothers. And he didn't manage to stop the Walker prosecution.

Randa attended a number of all-expenses-paid junkets funded by Koch brothers' groups who oppose campaign finance laws. The Koch brothers poured money into the same pro-Walker groups at the heart of the criminal investigation.

And Judge Randa didn't just try to halt the criminal investigation into Walker's campaign. He originally ordered prosecutors to destroy their evidence. But according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "the appeals court found he couldn't issue such an irreversible order in the early stages of the case."

Plus, Randa's assistant is married to a Walker campaign attorney.

Walker is currently campaigning for re-election against Mary Burke. If corruption charges against Walker don't sink him, his destruction of Wisconsin's economy should.

Yesterday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wisconsin's economy created jobs at half the national rate. Ever since Walker took office, the state has lagged the nation and the Midwest in commercial activity.

Like a baby with a hammer, Scott Walker pursued anti-worker, pro-Koch brother policies that are destroying Wisconsin's middle class.

That's the real crime.

NLRB sides with Teamster-supported port drivers on union-busting charges

The federal government charged California-based Green Fleet Systems of breaking labor laws more than 50 times. The National Labor Relations Board announced yesterday the company fired drivers Mateo Mares and Amilcar Cardona for union activity, retaliating against pro-worker employees and planting an anti-union spy in its workforce.

That spy made death threats against pro-union workers and suggested ways for management to harass them.

Mares and Cardona are among six Green Fleet Systems drivers who filed claims with the California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement for wage theft totaling about $943,000.
The Teamsters Union is strongly supporting the port truck drivers at Green Fleet Systems who are trying to lift themselves out of poverty by forming a union. Teamsters are also supporting port truck drivers all up and down the East and West coasts.

The Los Angeles Times reported on the NLRB's charges:

The National Labor Relations Board lodged the complaint Wednesday against Green Fleet Systems, a firm that employs about 150 truck drivers who haul cargo containers to and from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

"I feel good about the complaint," said Mateo Mares, one of the two drivers terminated at Green Fleet. "We've been standing up for our rights for so long. Finally we are getting justice."...

The NLRB's extensive allegations indicate that the company set out to destroy the lawful union organizing effort of its drivers.  

Among other things, Green Fleet is accused of improperly putting workers' union activities under surveillance, coercing employees into signing anti-union petitions and trying to force drivers to withdraw wage claims filed with the state.

The Teamsters-backed Justice for LA/LB Port Drivers campaign called the charges 'a tremendous victory.' Eric Tate, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 848, said:

Green Fleet Systems has done everything they can to stop their drivers from having a voice on the job, but the drivers stayed strong knowing the law was on their side. This is a big moment for Green Fleet drivers who are a leading example to port truck drivers organizing across the country that when drivers stick together, they can defend their rights and win justice at the workplace.

 

Help Cory Booker fight entrenched anti-trucker interests on Capitol Hill (video)

The Senate bill that would have changed the 2013 federal hours-of-service rule to allow truckers to drive 82 hours a week was pulled from the Senate floor yesterday. That means the bill won't be voted on until and unless disagreements are resolved over procedural rules prevented the bill from moving forward for debate.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine quietly slipped an amendment onto a spending bill two days before a fatigued Walmart driver critically injured Tracy Morgan and killed a companion on the New Jersey Turnpike. New evidence suggests he was being pushed beyond the legal limits.

CCJ reports:

The annual Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill — which provides the Department of Transportation with its 2015 fiscal year funding — came to the Senate floor this week with an amendment that would have halted the requirement that a driver’s 34-hour restart include two consecutive 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. periods and the once-per-week limit on the restart, pending a study. That amendment — proposed by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) — was added by the Appropriations Committee earlier this month. 

Freshman Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), however, had filed an amendment for consideration by the full Senate to strip the bill of the Collins amendment but keep the requirement for further study of the rule’s efficacy.

Booker said it was worth fighting the special interests who want to diminish highway safety in a speech yesterday on the Senate floor. "It is absolutely unacceptable to consider suspending these driver rules," Booker said. "This effort is an important one and I know it's an uphill fight. There are entrenched interests who tend to have a lot of influence on capitol hill, but this to me is one worth fighting."  

Please help Cory Booker in his uphill fight and urge your senators to support his amendment. Just click on this link.

Booker said 65 percent of truck drivers often feel drowsy while driving and 13 percent admitted they'd fallen asleep while driving. "Fatigue is an issue," he said. "Fatal accidents are common on our highways."

Here's what truck drivers say and their families say:

Jana Yancey Emory Oh man, my husband is a driver, and even with the current limits, he's totally sleep-deprived and always exhausted! When will government officials realize they are working for the PEOPLE, not the corporate bottom line?!? Is it going to take a full-on revolution????? 

David Smith Not only is the 82hr just crazy but something needs to be done with the 14hr day as well. It's just asking too much  

Tony Jimenez Don't increase their hours increase they're pay so the won't be a shortage of drivers

Please take a few moments and tell your senators to support Cory Booker at this link: http://ibt.io/HOS.

 

Today's Teamster News 06.20.14

Teamster News
Federal board accuses port trucking firm of labor law violations  Los Angeles Times   ...The federal government has accused a trucking company in Carson of more than 50 labor law violations, including firing drivers for union activity, retaliating against pro-labor employees and planting an anti-union operative amid its workforce...
Teamsters, Carpenters Protest Over Lost Work But Convention Center Is Not Budging  NewsWorks   ...About 100 union carpenters and Teamsters rallied outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center Wednesday in the first official protest since a labor dispute last month with center management...
Vermont Maintenance Workers Settle On New Contract  San Francisco Chronicle   ...Transportation maintenance workers in Vermont's Chittenden County have signed a new three-year-contract that takes effect July 1. Union officials for Teamsters Local 597 say the new contract — signed Thursday — includes wage increases averaging two percent a year and access to promotions through professional certification programs...
Toronto Shooting: The Teamsters Want to Meet with Minister Blainey  Teamsters Canada   ...A member of Teamsters Local Union 419 is in critical condition following a shooting that occurred last night in Toronto. The victim who works for Garda World Cash Services was in an ambush situation with 3 individuals…."This is not the first time a shooting occurs in the Toronto area or elsewhere in the country for that matter in the past few months," points out Jim Chalmers, director of the Teamsters Canada Armoured Car Division...
Trade
Capitol Hill looks hard at dog treats and processed Chicken from China  manufacture this   ...1,000 dogs have died, 10 percent of America’s pig population is gone, 5,600 more pets are sick, and three people are ill. And poor safety measures in China may be the cause...
Retirees Gather, Organize For Social Justice  People's World   ...Retired activists discussed how to stop efforts to cut Medicare and Social Security, raise the minimum wage, and fight back against destructive trade deals like the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership...
State Battles
John Doe prosecutors allege Scott Walker at center of 'criminal scheme'  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...Prosecutors allege Gov. Scott Walker was at the center of an effort to illegally coordinate fundraising ... to help his campaign and those of Republican state senators facing recall elections during 2011 and 2012, according to documents unsealed Thursday...
Exclusive: Prosecutor Is Closing in on Gov. Christie  Esquire   ...(U.S. Attorney Paul) Fishman’s challenge is to nail down specific criminal charges on several fronts -- the diversion of Port Authority money to fund New Jersey road and bridge projects; the four-day rush-hour closures of George Washington Bridge lanes in Ft. Lee; and a web of real-estate deals spun by David Samson, long a Christie crony, when he chaired the PA’s Board of Commissioners as Christie’s appointee...
Meet The Hotel Workers Going On Hunger Strike For A $15 Minimum Wage  Think Progress   ...In Providence, Rhode Island, three hotel workers and a city councilwoman started a week-long hunger strike on Monday, protesting a state bill that would block their efforts to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour...
War On Workers
Being Out of Work Longer Makes Finding Work Much Harder  Wall Street Journal   ...Recent research suggests this discouraging silence may have more to do with the time spent out of the work force than with the job seeker’s skills, education or age...
IRS Chief Promises Stricter Rules For 'Dark Money' Non-Profit Groups  Philadelphia Inquirer   ...The Internal Revenue Service will propose new and specific rules defining how much money “social welfare” nonprofits may spend on political campaigns...
GE Capital Pays Up For Denying Spanish Speakers Access To Credit Card Repayment Program  Huffington Post   ...Synchrony Bank, formerly known as GE Capital, has reached an agreement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Justice Department over allegations that it denied access to credit card debt-repayment programs to qualified customers just because they preferred to communicate in Spanish or had a mailing address in Puerto Rico...
Miscellaneous
What Green Revolution? Coal Use Highest In 44 Years  Oil Price   ...In 2013, enough coal was burned to meet 30.1 percent of the world’s energy demands -- its highest share since 1970, according to new data from BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy...

The higher the CEO pay, the worse the CEO performance

Corporations that pay CEOs more than $20 million a year lose an average $1.4 billion annually, according to Michael Cooper, professor of finance at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business.

Vocativ reports the reason is that high CEO pay emboldens them in bad ways. "It can breed cocky executives who make poor business decisions, like over-investing in dodgy enterprises or agreeing to “value-destroying” mergers and acquisitions."

A good example is McKesson CEO John Hammergren. He received $51.7 million in 2013 after spending nearly $1 billion of the company's money on settling charges of cheating customers. McKesson is a Teamster employer accused of union-busting at its Lakeland, Fla., warehouse.

According to Vocativ,

A separate study found that as the clock begins to tick down on all those juicy incentives, CEO interest in the long-term performance of the company drops away. In the one-year period before stock options vest, CEOs tended to spend less on long-term investments and focus more on short-term gains, according to a report by professors at the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College and the London Business School. 

The same study found that R&D spending declined by $1 million a year in 2,000 companies where CEOs were one year away from their vesting dates.

The problem, of course, is only getting worse as CEO pay continues to rise. The Economic Policy Institute recently reported average CEO compensation was $15.2 million in 2013, up 2.8 percent since 2012 and 21.7 percent since 2010. EPI also found:

From 1978 to 2013, CEO compensation, inflation-adjusted, increased 937 percent, a rise more than double stock market growth and substantially greater than the painfully slow 10.2 percent growth in a typical worker’s compensation over the same period. 

The CEO-to-worker compensation ratio was 20-to-1 in 1965 and 29.9-to-1 in 1978, grew to 122.6-to-1 in 1995, peaked at 383.4-to-1 in 2000, and was 295.9-to-1 in 2013, far higher than it was in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s. 

If Facebook, which we exclude from our data due to its outlier high compensation numbers, were included in the sample, average CEO pay was $24.8 million in 2013, and the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio was 510.7-to-1.

Scott Walker accused of criminal conspiracy (and still kills jobs)

Prosecutors say Wisconsin job-killer Gov. Scott Walker was at the center of a criminal conspiracy to bypass state election laws, even as new jobs numbers released today show the state is 37th in job creation.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, under a headline that reads, "John Doe prosecutors allege Scott Walker at center of 'criminal scheme'," reports,

Prosecutors allege that Gov. Scott Walker was at the center of an effort to illegally coordinate fundraising ...  to help his campaign and those of Republican senators fend off recall elections during 2011 and '12, according to documents unsealed Thursday. 

In the documents, prosecutors lay out what they call a "criminal scheme" to bypass state election laws by Walker, his campaign and two top deputies — R.J. Johnson and Deborah Jordahl... 

The documents include an email in which Walker tells Karl Rove, former top adviser to President George W. Bush, that Johnson would lead the coordination campaign. Johnson is also chief adviser to Wisconsin Club for Growth.

The Club for Growth has deep ties to the Koch brothers. Club for Growth paid for radio ads supporting Walker's bill to strip collective bargaining rights from public service workers before lawmakers knew Walker was even filing the legislation.

Walker's scheme, allege prosecutors, "pervaded nearly every aspect of the campaign activities during the historic 2011 and 2012 Wisconsin Senate and Gubernatorial recall elections." Prosecutors said the Friends of Scott Walker committee and others "tacitly admitted to violating Wisconsin law."

Even the Koch-linked Club for Growth expressed concerns about the illegal campaign coordination. And Walker emailed Karl Rove bragging about it.

What's sad about all this is that Scott Walker has presided over one of the worst state economies in the country. Today, the Associated Press reported,

Wisconsin ranked 37th in private sector job creation last year, lagging behind the national average, based on the latest numbers released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Gov. Scott Walker has said voters should rely on the numbers, gathered from a survey of nearly every Wisconsin business, to measure how well he is doing on his signature 2010 campaign promise to add 250,000 private sector jobs in the state by the end of this year. 

In 2013, the state added 28,141 private sector jobs for a growth rate of 1.2 percent. The national average was 2.1 percent.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/06/19/6496110/wisconsin-37th-in-job-creation.html#storylink=cpy