Low-wage federal contract workers on strike storm Capitol Hill

Low-wage workers above and below marched on the Capitol yesterday.

Up to a thousand low-wage contract workers in Washington, D.C. took part in a one-day strike Wednesday for living wages and a union. The workers, organized by Good Jobs Nation, are janitors, cafeteria workers and others who make up the subcontracted workforce in federal buildings.

The colorful and boisterous throng of workers chanted "hey hey, ho ho -- $10.10 is way too low" as drums and blaring trumpets led the march line passed Senate offices and to the grounds of the Capitol.

Good Jobs Nation is part of the growing movement calling for "$15 and a union" for low-wage workers. In particular, contract workers point out that the federal government produces more low-wage, poverty-level jobs than Walmart and McDonald's combined. They are taking action to demand a $15 wage and an executive order from President Obama allowing them to unionize.

Sonia Chavez spoke to the crowd at a press conference in front of the Capitol at the end of the march:

My husband and I are federal contract workers who clean the office of the U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. The Secretary of Education likes to speak about a “Race to the Top” on education. But the truth is we also need a “Race to the Top” on wages.

Sonia and her husband are only paid $9.50 an hour. They clean the offices of the most powerful government in the world -- yet they are victims of wage theft and are owed $40,000 in back pay.

Last year, workers' actions led to Obama signing an executive order raising the minimum wage for federal contract workers to $10.10 -- a still-paltry wage for families living in a region where the cost of living continues to skyrocket. Organizers of yesterday's strike actions say the president should sign an executive order mandating federal agencies to give contract-bidding preference to employers that pay a $15 minimum wage to their workers.

With candidates gearing up for the 2016 presidential election, workers are calling for a president who will support them with a living wage. They chanted "If you want the people's vote -- $15 and a union" during the march.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has hinted at running, joined workers at the press conference:

American workers deserve a decent wage. The middle class is disappearing. We have millions of working people living in poverty and 99 percent of all new income is going to the top one percent. That is not what America is supposed to be about. If you work 40 hours a week, you should make enough to take care of your kids and your family.  

What we’re saying today is pretty simple. The taxpayers of this country want to make sure that when government contracts are made those employers who get those contracts pay employees a living wage, that they allow their workers to form a union, that they provide good benefits to their workers.

Other leaders stood with workers at yesterday's action including Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), faith leaders and other supporters.

Sanders halts consideration of fast track bill

Teamsters participated in a fast track protest on Capitol Hill this morning.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today shut down a Senate Finance Committee mark up of fast track trade promotion legislation when he used an obscure Senate scheduling rule to temporarily halt consideration of the bill.

In a statement, the pro-union, pro-worker lawmaker said it was imperative to slow the process down instead of jamming it through Congress as quickly as possible:

This job-killing trade deal has been negotiated in secret. It was drafted with input by special interests and corporate lobbyists but not from the elected representatives of the American people. Instead of rubber stamping the agreement, Congress and the public deserve a fair chance to learn what’s in the proposal

Even before Sanders took his deliberate stand to postpone consideration of the measure, protesters were on hand to make their voices heard. Fair trade backers spoke out in the hearing room. And outside the Dirksen Senate Office Building, the Teamsters joined other anti-fast track demonstrators in letting the public know that the trade vehicle would allow secret deals to sail through Congress with little oversight and result in lost jobs. Some were dressed as the "TPP Express," simulating a trade train that would bring corporate injustice and sweatshop conditions to the nations involved in the Pacific Rim trade deal.

The hearing resumed late this afternoon. In opening statements, many lawmakers made clear they were choosing to ignore the history of lost U.S. jobs caused by so-called "free" trade deals and would vote to approve fast track. The debate will move to the House side tomorrow, where the Ways and Means Committee will consider the legislation.

Abridged funding for infrastructure upgrades hurts all of us

Our nation's infrastructure is rickety, outdated and desperately needs upgrades. America's roads are in dire need of repair, costing the economy over $100 billion annually in lost fuel and time. The country's railroads are laughably obsolete and plans to upgrade them are pigeon-holed in a bureaucratic nightmare. Worst of all, the levees that surround our most vulnerable coastal regions are so decrepit that even the worst storm they've seen in 400 years should be viewed as better than a worst-case scenario, because the levees were weak enough to allow more damage. Why is this situation so severe?

The I-35 Bridge in Minneapolis after its sudden collapse in 2007.

The most important reason for this is the policy surrounding infrastructure dollars is significantly outdated. The gas tax, the primary financial mechanism for this, is just over 18 cents per gallon and has not been raised since 1993. Fuel efficiency in vehicles has been rapidly increasing, thus fewer coins are going into the Department of Transportation's coffers since we are using far less gas than a few decades prior. The fiscal elephant on the road won't get any smaller though: it is estimated that our infrastructure needs an investment of $3.6 trillion dollars by 2020.

Another roadblock to solutions lies in how transportation funding is implemented. Recently, Congress has taken up the disgusting practice of funding the very basic functions of government at the last possible minute. This also applies to transportation funding, which is absolutely crippling for any positive momentum in terms of infrastructure. Real infrastructure improvements rely on long-term planning, timelines that stretch over multiple years, rather than just lurch from month to month. Without stable funding, it is impossible to plan projects that are sorely needed.

Potholes on a road in New Orleans.

Investment in this area of our society is a wonderful idea. The return on investment is massive and it's easy to see why -- safer roads will lower insurance costs for drivers, putting more money in their pockets and the regional and national economies. Likewise for individuals in areas prone to severe storms or flooding, strong levees mean their home insurance will be much less expensive. Regional rail systems save folks money on their commute and drives up property values, increasing property tax intake for the municipality of residence. It creates scores of American jobs. The list of economic benefits goes on and on.

Unions like the Teamsters take a great deal of pride in our country. We're proud to build what makes America work and we would be thrilled to get more workers on the job making our infrastructure the best in the world. It's time for a bipartisan solution to do so.

Today's Teamster News 04.22.15

Teamsters
Teamsters Protest Sysco At IFDA Lobbying Meeting   Market Watch   ...Teamsters protested Sysco Corporation [NYSE: SYY] outside the International Foodservice Distributors Association's (IFDA) Washington Insight Conference on Capitol Hill today. Sysco is a member of the IFDA and is the largest foodservice distributor in America. "We are here today because of Sysco's pattern of threatening workers, food producers and even its competitors," said Steve Vairma, Director of the Teamsters Warehouse Division...
Teamsters Decry Sysco’s Bullying at Rally in Washington, D.C.   Teamster.org   ...More than 70 Teamsters took part in a raucous rally Tuesday, April 21 to blast Sysco’s bullying of workers, its labor law violations and other misdeeds. The Teamsters Union is calling out Sysco as a corporate bully during this week’s International Food Distributors Association meeting. That’s where Sysco, US Foods and other Teamster broadline foodservice employers are holding their annual “Washington Insight” conference...
Court Victory Vindicates BLET Position On Two-Person Train Crews   Teamster.org   ...In a major legal victory to protect two-person train crews, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled in favor of Brotherhood Locomotive Engineer and Trainmen’s (BLET) position that the Wheeling & Lake Erie’s (WLE) use of managers in place of Union conductors is a major dispute under the Railway Labor Act. The ruling, which occurred yesterday, vindicates BLET’s decision to strike over the issue more than 18 months ago...
Teamsters Applaud Report By Members Of Parliament On Conditions At National Express Group PLC  Teamster.org   ...A report released today by two Members of United Kingdom’s Parliament reveals serious labor rights violations at National Express Group PLC operations in the United States. The report’s recommendations support a Teamster-sponsored shareholder resolution that will be voted on at the company’s annual general meeting of shareholders on May 6 in London...

Global Labor & Trade
Business, Labor Back In Trenches On Trade  The Hill   ...Trumka and Donohue will meet Tuesday at the Senate Finance Committee to discuss Obama’s push for “fast-track” trade promotion authority (TPA) at a crucial moment in the all-out battle for votes on legislation now before Congress. The bill would limit Congress to an up-or-down vote on major trade deals — including the sweeping 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership — being negotiated by the Obama administration...
Some Senate Democrats Look Ready to Buck Harry Reid on Trade   National Journal  ... Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's statement Tuesday that he is a "hell no" on legislation that would give the White House more leverage to negotiate trade deals is reflective of many Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee. But while it is likely that most of the committee's 12 Democrats will still be opposed to a new trade authority, there are signs that just enough Democrats might be open to the bill...
Low Wages, Trade Deals Luring Auto Plants and Jobs to Mexico   New York Times  ...Mexico has become the most attractive place in North America to build new automobile factories, a shift that has siphoned jobs from the U.S. and Canada, yet helped keep car and truck prices in check for consumers. Audi also sells the Q5 in the U.S., where tariffs on cars built in Mexico were dropped under the North American Free Trade Agreement...
San Francisco Opposes TPP Fast Track in New Resolution   EFF.org   ...The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has unanimously voted in favor of a resolution today urging the district's congressional representatives to oppose Fast Track legislation for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. Supervisor John Avalos put forth the resolution, which expresses concerns about the secret trade agreement's provisions...
Why the Pittsburgh City Council may speak out against a Trans-Pacific trade deal  Pittsburgh Business Times  ...Pittsburgh elected officials are warning "fast track approval" of the Trans-Pacific Partnership may harm Pittsburgh's economy. On Tuesday, District 4 City Councilwoman NataliaRudiak introduced a Will of Council asking President Barack Obama to pursue a more fully transparent and inclusive legislative process surrounding TPP, which is being negotiated behind closed doors with the U.S. and 11 Pacific Rim nations...
Rana Plaza 2 Years Later: Garment Workers Under Seige  Solidarity Center  ...In the initial months after the Rana Plaza collapse on April 24, 2013, a preventable catastrophe that killed more than 1,130 Bangladesh garment workers and injured thousands more, global outrage spurred much-needed changes. "After the Rana Plaza and Tazreen disasters, it had become easier to form unions," says Aleya Akter, president of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF). But since November 2014, the government is more frequently rejecting registrations...
A Look At The Fast-Track Bill Shows It's The Wrong Thing To Do (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...We don't yet know what is in the TPP, because it is still secret and will remain so until shortly before the fast-track process requires Congress to vote. The president says to trust him, telling us that it will be great and "progressive" and create lots of jobs and expand the economy. Great. But the history on our trade deals -- especially those passed using fast track -- has been very bad...
Fast Tracking Democracy to Hell: Why the Trans-Pacific Partnership Is a Rotten Deal  (opinion) Alternet   ...Concealing potentially job-killing trade schemes from the American public thwarts democracy. Rushing unpopular legislation through Congress before American citizens have an opportunity to review it and tell their elected representatives how they feel about it obstructs democracy. No trade treaty, no matter how great free traders cross-their-hearts-and-hope-to-die it will be, is worth damning Americans’ cherished democracy...
Exporting Jobs, Importing Inequality (opinion)  U.S. News & World Report   ...America’s middle class is being ripped apart by failed trade policy. Look at what was once the proud heartland of our country’s manufacturing sector, and you’ll see the aftermath of terrible trade deals: lost jobs, stagnant wages, shuttered factories and devastated communities. It’s a tragedy, and after 20 years of a broken system, it’s time we tried something new...

State & Living Wage Battles
Supreme Court Revives Challenge To North Carolina Redistricting  Wall Street Journal   ...The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday revived a challenge to North Carolina’s election map, which civil rights groups complain illegally concentrates black voters in a handful of districts...
County Board Supports Right to Work Initiative  XFM  ...The Effingham County Board Monday voted 7-2 to endorse The Turnaround Agenda promoted by Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, including a provision to create Right to Work zones. One of the largest crowds ever seen at a County Board was on hand for the vote, made up primarily of union workers, although there was a contingent of supporters of the initiative...
Birmingham City Council endorses campaign to increase minimum wage as legislators move to restrict local authority to do so   AL.com  ...The council this afternoon unanimously passed a resolution asking the Legislature to increase the state minimum wage to $10 an hour. The nonbinding resolution comes at the same time the state House of Representatives consider a bill to restrict the ability of local governments to set their own minimum wage rules...
LePage Seeks To Quash Local Efforts To Raise Minimum Wage  Bangor Daily News   ...Gov. Paul LePage is promoting a bill to thwart municipal officials in two of Maine’s largest communities from raising the minimum wage for employers within their city limits...
Obama aide takes Philly's side in sick-leave fight  Philly.com  ...Philadelphia's law, which requires businesses with 10 or more employees to provide at least an hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked, takes effect next month. Last week the Republican-dominated state Senate passed legislation that would effectively preempt local governments from having mandatory sick-leave laws...

U.S. Labor
America’s “Flexible” Economy Is Making Workers’ Lives Hell  Salon.com   ...Employers assign workers tentative shifts, and then notify them a half-hour or ten minutes before the shift is scheduled to begin whether they’re actually needed. Some even require workers to check in by phone, email, or text shortly before the shift starts. Just-in-time scheduling is another part of America’s new “flexible” economy – along with the move to independent contractors and the growing reliance on “share economy” businesses, like Uber...
Wal-Mart closures draw NLRB filing  Arkansas Online  ...A complaint by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, acting on behalf of OUR Walmart, is seeking reinstatement of employees to their former stores or transfer to other locations without loss of pay until repairs are complete. The filing alleges the closings were a result of labor protests...
AFSCME Protests IDOC Accusations  WSIU.org  ...Governor Bruce Rauner pledged his support for the Illinois Department of Corrections when he was elected. But, members of AFSCME say they are waiting to see that support materialize. Union members held an informational picket Monday outside the Vienna Correctional Center...
Memphis reaches agreement with a portion of AFSCME, avoids impasse  Commercial Appeal   ...City of Memphis officials reached a two-year agreement on Tuesday with the main bargaining unit of AFSCME, making it the only labor group negotiating with the city that will not go into impasse. The agreement keeps in place current contract language but allows for a “wage reopening” after one year, said union president Janice Chalmers...
At Home And Abroad, The Labor Movement Comes Roaring Back (opinion)  Moyers & Company   ...At a time when multi-national corporations are 50 of the world’s largest 100 economies, this movement has had to be both intensely local and expansively global. Less than three years ago, the grassroots campaign for a living wage began in scattered Thanksgiving protests by New York City fast food workers and Los Angeles Wal-Mart associates. This year’s protests are the largest and most global labor actions ever mounted...

Miscellaneous
It's Time to Invest in the United States' Rail System   (opinion)  Truthout.org  ...It's time to make infrastructure sexy again, and we can start by fixing the United States' rail systems. Believe it or not, there was a time in the US when riding a train was luxurious. There were classy dining cars, moonlit rides across the countryside...
The richest 0.01 percent of Americans gave 42 percent of political donations in 2012  Daily Kos   ...Forget the top one percent, the top 0.01 percent of Americans gave nearly 42 percent of all political donation dollars in the 2012 election cycle. Just over 30,000 individuals contributed nearly half of all money. It should come as no surprise that policymakers look after the ultra-wealthy instead of the rest of us...
Caterpillar’s CEO Just Got A Big Raise, And It Explains What’s Wrong With American Capitalism   Think Progress   ...Heavy machinery manufacturer Caterpillar gave its CEO a 14 percent raise last year, in a $17.1 million package of cash, stock, and other compensation that is hard to justify in light of the famed brand’s actual performance. Caterpillar is hardly unique in finding creative ways to justify paying CEOs. The rules for performance pay are broken across all industries...

Mile High aspirations -- three Local 17 members run for office

It's election time in Denver, and three Teamster brothers have thrown their hats into the ring. If you're a Denver member, make sure to cast your vote for our brothers by May 5!

Chris Nevitt, Denver City Auditor

Chris Nevitt, a five-year member of the Local 17, has served as city councilman for District 7 since 2007. He has been a proven advocate for his Teamster brothers and sisters. As city auditor, Nevitt will continue to fight to protect Denver's working families. Nevitt has received the endorsement of the former auditor.

Danny Lopez, Denver City Council, District 2

Danny Lopez knows the challenges working men and women in Denver fact each day. A 15-year member of Local 17, Lopez is an employee for the Department of Public Works. Lopez hopes to give a voice to the voiceless and return Denver back to its citizens.

Chris Wedor, Denver City Council, District 10

Chris Wedor works in the Denver Auditor's Office which means he has a broad view of the challenges of working with Denver's government. If elected, Brother Wedor will focus on improving the quality of life for his constituents, developing the community and improve education.

Today's Teamster News 04.21.15

Teamsters
Longtime Union Activist Rodney Smith Helps Organize Facebook Shuttle Drivers  Contra Costa Times   ...As a union organizer for Teamsters Local 853 based in San Leandro, Smith played a key role in winning the drivers their first union contract. In the process, the father of two helped pull off a precedent-setting vote that targets the growing income gap in Silicon Valley...
Pilots Fault Allegiant on Safety as Talks Stall  New York Times   ...But Allegiant’s scrappy success is now being questioned by its pilots, who say they are worried about repeated mechanical problems with the airline’s fleet of older planes, poor maintenance operations and a culture where profits come before safety. All the claims were reported by the pilots and compiled by the Teamsters Aviation Mechanics Coalition on behalf of the pilots’ union, the Airline Professionals Association Teamsters Local 1224...
PCC unions question change on carpenters, Teamsters   Philly.com  ...Marino wrote a letter saying he would dismiss complaints - primarily on technical grounds - by the Metropolitan Council of Regional Carpenters and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which said they had been improperly shut out of work last May at the Convention Center. On Thursday, Marino reversed course, saying he would hear arguments in the case...

Global Labor & Trade
‘Fast Track’ Trade Bill Taps Tension In Ohio  Wall Street Journal   ...Rep. Tim Ryan doesn’t need to travel far from home to see the damage he ascribes to bad trade deals. “You can see how it’s hollowed out,” said the Democratic lawmaker, pointing to empty or underutilized steel plants on a recent tour of his district in northeast Ohio. “Global trade regimes aren’t fairly written if this is the end result.”...
Japan says trade talks with US are close to deal   The Hill   ...Abe said he and Obama must play a leadership role to wrap a deal and “ultimately, what needs to happen is for both countries to make a political decision” to tackle difficult remaining issues. A U.S.-Japan bilateral agreement is a major step toward completing the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
Progressive Coalition Tells Lawmakers: 'Don't Trade Away Our Future' with Fast Track  Common Dreams   ...With members of Congress set to debate Fast Track authority this week, hundreds of environmentalists, consumer advocates, nurses, labor leaders, and elected officials stood shoulder-to-shoulder at a Washington, D.C. rally on Monday, pleading with lawmakers: 'Don't Trade Away Our Future!'
AFL-CIO head Richard Trumka explains why labor unions hate Obama’s trade deal  Vox  ...The TPP has created some strange bedfellows: the Obama administration has found itself with many GOP allies in promoting the trade deal, while unions and liberals like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders staunchly oppose it. Vox spoke with Trumka recently about why he opposes the pact...
Don't Let TPP Gut State Laws  (opinion) Politico   ...State laws and regulators are increasingly important as gridlock in Washington makes broad federal action on important issues an increasingly rare event. From environmental protection to civil rights to the minimum wage, the action is at the state level. Ironically, one thing that may get done soon in Washington is a trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which has the potential to undermine a wide range of state and local laws...
Fast Tracking Democracy To Hell  (opinion) Huffington Post   ...The Congressional free traders want to Fast Track authorization of the TPP. Fast Track enables Congress to abdicate its constitutionally mandated duty to regulate international trade. Instead of scrutinizing, amending and improving proposed trade deals, lawmakers use Fast Track to gloss over the specifics and simply vote yea or nay on the entire package as presented...

State & Living Wage Battles
Workers Allege Walmart Closes Stores To Retaliate Against Strikes  Think Progress  ...Over the weekend, the AFL-CIO and United Food & Commercial Workers International Union filed an injunction on their behalf with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Walmart. “The Board should seek injunctive relief compelling Walmart to rehire every one of the 2200 Associates who have been terminated in all 5 stores,” it says...
David Koch on 2016 GOP Nominee: ‘It Should be Scott Walker.’ But...   The Nation   ...According to several reports from a New York State Republican Party fund-raising event on Monday, David Koch told the big donors: “We will support whoever the candidate is. But it should be Scott Walker.” That sounded like an endorsement. So did what Koch said outside the Manhattan event, at which Walker also spoke. Koch hailed the governor of Wisconsin “a tremendous candidate.”...
TWMP talks Right-to-Work, the budget, and 2016   The Missouri Times   ...Senate Pro Tem Tom Dempsey joined This Week In Missouri Politics to discuss the coming budget fight and his decision to put Right-to-Work legislation on the Senate calendar for debate...
Little Momentum for National Right-to-Work, Despite Support by White House Contestants  Bloomberg News   ...Despite the backing of at least two of the three current Republican presidential candidates and similar laws in place in half the states, right-to-work legislation remains highly unlikely to move at the federal level any time soon, lawmakers and other observers told Bloomberg BNA...
Not just fast food: Full-service restaurant chains pay poverty wages, too  Daily Kos   ...Fast food isn't the only part of the restaurant industry where workers are seriously underpaid. A recent report from the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United shows that many workers in full-service restaurants are also paid so little that they need and get nearly $9.5 billion in public assistance each year...
How a $15 Minimum Wage Helps All Workers   Counterpunch   ...Regardless of their reasoning, the anti-$15 workers are arguing against their own best interest, since a $15 minimum wage would benefit the overwhelming majority of people who make over $15 an hour. This is because a $15 minimum wage would transform the labor market in favor of all working people. Economists have even given a term for this phenomenon, called “compression,” which describes the effects of how rising lower wages puts pressure on employers to raise wages for higher paid workers...
New York City Just Outlawed Running Credit Checks on Job Applicants   The Nation   ...The legislation, which passed last Thursday following an extensive grassroots campaign by local and national labor and community groups, restricts a boss, prospective employer or agency from “us[ing] an individual’s consumer credit history in making employment decisions.”...

U.S. Labor
Safety Regulations Issued For Trains Carrying Oil  New York Times   ...Responding to public pressure to act more quickly after a series of fiery train derailments involving oil shipments, the Transportation Department on Friday issued a series of emergency orders, including a 40-mile-an-hour speed limit for hazardous materials moving through urban areas. The emergency rules also require railroads to provide detailed information about a shipment within 90 minutes of any derailment...
Why Can't America Have Great Trains?  National Journal   ...Along with PBS and the United States Postal Service, Amtrak is perpetual fodder for libertarian think-tankers and Republican office-seekers on the prowl for government profligacy. Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush repeatedly tried to eliminate its subsidy, while Mitt Romney promised to do the same. Democrats, for their part, aren't interested in slaying Amtrak, but mostly you get the sense they just feel bad for it...
One-day teacher strikes planned this week  King5.com  ...Teachers in eight school districts, from Arlington to Blaine, announced one-day strikes this week to protest the lack of funding for public schools. They look at their act of civil disobedience as an opportunity to demand that lawmakers to fully fund public schools as mandated by a state supreme court decision, and reduce class size according to the voter approved Initiative 1351...
NLRB Upholds Howard University Docs' Union Vote  Union City   ...Resident physicians at Howard University Hospital and community leaders are calling on hospital officials to come to the table to negotiate a first contract with the residents’ union in the wake of a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling upholding the union election held earlier this year, in which a majority of the 263 Howard resident physicians voted in favor of representation...

Miscellaneous
Corporate Giants Often Get Huge Tax Breaks, While Poor, Undocumented Immigrants Have Paid Billions In State Taxes  New York Daily News   ...The truth is that for corporate giants like General Electric, Verizon, Citigroup, FedEx and others, the only certainty in terms of taxes is that they contribute as little to the country’s coffers as possible. Ironically, while many of these corporate behemoths pay zero taxes, the eternally vilified undocumented immigrants in New York paid $1.1 billion in state taxes in 2012...
Senate Races In 2016 Look Poised To Set Spending Records  Washington Post   ...Yes, the 2016 presidential race will be the most expensive in history. But the battle for control of the U.S. Senate in November 2016 also looks likely to smash spending records...
How Corporate Lobbyists Conquered American Democracy  The Atlantic   ...Today, the biggest companies have upwards of 100 lobbyists representing them, allowing them to be everywhere, all the time. For every dollar spent on lobbying by labor unions and public-interest groups together, large corporations and their associations now spend $34. Of the 100 organizations that spend the most on lobbying, 95 consistently represent business...

Slow down on fast track now!

Teamsters raised their opposition to fast track at a Capitol Hill rally last week.

Congress has had years to put together a fast-track bill. But now that one is here, pro-corporate lawmakers are moving as quickly as possible to get the measure through Capitol Hill.

With the House Ways & Means Committee as well as the Senate Finance Committee holding hearings on the legislation this week, it is clear many want to "fast track" fast track trade promotion authority. It doesn't seem to matter what's in the bill or what it will ultimately mean for tens of millions of working Americans.

If approved, this legislation is the vehicle that will ultimately be used to push the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) through Congress. You know, the TPP, that still largely secret (to most of us) trade deal that will ship jobs overseas, lower wages at home, and result in unsafe food and products being imported onto our store shelves.

Those on Capitol Hill shouldn't move with all deliberate speed just to ram a measure through before the public can see it. It should be vetted by the public as well as lawmakers. After all, if supporters truly believe fast track will enable good trade deals that will benefit this country, they shouldn't mind giving people a little extra time to figure out what it's all about.

But in a surprise to no one, that's not happening. Instead, supporters know that if they have any chance to get this through, it has to be done quickly. Despite the protestations of those who say the Congress needs to take more time to review the fast-track bill, corporate cronies are moving ahead.

It's not too late to let those on Capitol Hill know they should slow down on fast track. Reach out to your elected officials and tell them it's not acceptable to push through this legislation or lame trade deals like the TPP without adequate review. U.S. workers shouldn't have to pay the price for more big business profits.