America needs a long-term infrastructure solution

Congress has a work completion problem. The latest example came yesterday when the House approved a two-month extension of the Highway Trust Fund, which makes dollars available for transportation projects and maintenance. And the Senate is likely to follow suit by the end of the week.

More road construction would put Americans to work.

Stymied by gridlock, Capitol Hill lawmakers are ignoring the huge problems of U.S. infrastructure investment. Trillions are needed to improve roads, bridges, rail, mass transit, airports and ports in this country, but elected officials continually punt on the problem. Time is running short, however, as the Teamsters and others have repeatedly said.

The White House, frustrated by inaction, used yesterday's House action to call Congress on the mat. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx noted in a blog that Tuesday's vote was the 33rd short-term funding measure in the last six years. He said the nation is suffering because of it:

On the surface, funding transportation drop-by-drop might not seem like such a big problem. But it is, and the facts are unassailable. This era of short-term patches and chronic federal underinvestment has crippled America’s ability to build the transportation system we need.

Both parties admit there has been a policy failure. But as an article in The Atlantic points out, the problem comes down to how to pay for such investment going forward:

The most popular alternative at the moment is to use revenue generated by taxing repatriated earnings that U.S. companies now keep overseas. But there is disagreement over the details of that proposal, and Republicans believe it would only work if included in a broader tax-reform plan—an even heavier political lift. In fact, the reason Congress is reauthorizing the Highway Trust Fund for just two months is because lawmakers couldn’t agree on how to fund it for the remainder of the year, let alone for the rest of the decade. It has enough money to last through July, and Republicans are reluctant to simply transfer more money from the Treasury’s general fund, as they have done in the past. As a result, Congress probably will have to pass yet another extension this summer, which would be the third in the last year. A highway bill lasting for more than two years hasn’t passed on Capitol Hill in a decade. 

The stopgap funding is bad, advocates say, because the biggest infrastructure projects can takes years of planning, and states won’t start them without knowing how much money they’ll get from the federal government. Industry officials estimate that $2 billion in projects have already been pulled back so far this year because of the inaction in Washington. 

All of this is frankly unacceptable. Now should be the time to build, repair and maintain America! But many on Capitol Hill seems more than happy to ignore our infrastructure woes. That decision not only hurts those who commute to work and earn a living on the road, it also prevents putting people to work earning good middle-class wages in transportation construction.

Lawmakers must do a better job here. They were elected to get things done, but instead offer only platitudes on why they're not. Investing in infrastructure would help businesses and workers alike, and would boost the economy.

Come on, Congress! Let's get America working!

Today's Teamster News 05.20.15

Teamsters
L.A. Board of Supervisors Taking Closer Look at Port Drivers' Plight  Eagle Rock Patch  ...The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted May 20 to take a closer look at allegations of “wage theft” by truck drivers serving the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. A representative for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said drivers were frequently issued “negative paychecks” because companies illegally charge for fuel, truck leases, repairs and insurance, calling the drayage companies “sweatshops on wheels”...
De Blasio Cuts Contract Deal With NYCHA Teamsters Union for Raises, Cost Cuts  New York Observer  ...Mr. de Blasio and Gregory Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, announced a preliminary deal—pending a union vote—that would grant 5,500 workers their first new contract since 2008 and 10 percent in retroactive and prospective raise over the next seven and a half years...

Global Labor & Trade
Rising skepticism among Democrats about Obama’s big trade deal  Washington Post  ...After meeting with Froman, Levin says he is not reassured. While Members of Congress have had access to much of the TPP, Levin says they have not yet been shown the portions fortifying labor standards. Levin’s primary concern is whether they will meaningfully hew to International Labor Standards on freedom of association, collective bargaining, protections against child labor, and other safeguards for workers, particularly when it comes to Vietnam and Mexico, a concern that is now being raised by Elizabeth Warren...
U.S. lawmakers compromise on 'poison-pill' Pacific trade rules  Reuters  ...U.S. lawmakers reached a compromise on Tuesday on rules that threatened to derail a proposed Pacific trade partnership by agreeing to soften tough provisions against human trafficking. An amendment to legislation allowing trade deals a rapid run through Congress had been dubbed a "poison pill" for the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership...
McConnell moves to end debate on trade bill  The Hill  ...Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) moved to end debate on "fast-track" trade legislation, after Democrats objected to allowing additional amendment votes. McConnell said he hopes Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) will continue to try to find a way forward on amendments to the legislation, after talks appeared to hit a hurdle Tuesday...
Clinton finds problems with Obama TPP trade proposal  CNN  ...Hillary Clinton took aim Tuesday at two core components of a massive free trade pact that President Barack Obama is negotiating — signaling some agreement with the deal's liberal critics. The Democratic front-runner in the 2016 presidential race said she wants to see rules included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership that would penalize countries for driving down the value of their currencies...
Broad Coalition Rallies to Defeat Obama on Trade Deal  Bloomberg  ...Unions remain a backbone of the opposition to the TPP. The United Steelworkers and United Auto Workers unions are among those who've organized plant demonstrations, and the UAW is mobilizing retired auto workers. The AFL-CIO has been leafletting, including in the states and districts of lawmakers like those of Senator Ron Wyden, the chief Democratic negotiator on trade...
Barack Obama’s shocking TPP paradox: Why the gargantuan trade deal undermines everything he says he cares about  (opinion) Salon  ...After four decades of intense globalization, the results are in: America used to make things, often in unionized and well-paid sectors, but cheap labor abroad — accessed by corporations when free trade agreements hammer down tariff barriers — have steered the U.S. toward a low-wage, non-unionized service economy. And yet the president, so readily vocal about the phenomenon, has made advocacy for a trade deal that challenges American jobs with dirt-cheap labor in Vietnam, Indonesia, and elsewhere his job lately...
Why Fast Track Is a Dangerous Gift to Corporate Lobbies  (opinion) Huff Post  ...including Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in the two draft treaties. ISDS is a dangerous policy that undermines the case for TPP and TTIP. The ISDS framework is an unjustified grant of exceptional power to multinational companies above and beyond the legal system in which the companies operate...
ILO: Precarious Work Rises, Incomes Fall around the World  Solidarity Center  ...More than 60 percent of workers worldwide, predominantly women, are in temporary, part-time or short-term jobs in which wages are falling, a growing trend that is fueling global income inequality and poverty, according to an International Labor Organization (ILO) report released today. Although the incomes of permanent workers are relatively stable, the percentage of such workers is declining globally...
Ford halts production in Turkey due to Renault, Fiat labor strikes  BGN News  ...Laborers have been on strike in Fiat and Renault factories in Bursa province since last week over employment conditions. Protests began on late Thursday at Turkey's largest car factory, run by Oyak Renault, a joint venture between the French automaker and the Turkish army pension fund Oyak, in the northwest city of Bursa...

France teachers strike over government reforms  BBC   ...Teachers across France are going on strike against government reforms to the education system. Trade unions representing 80% of teachers at French middle schools are leading the action against the plans...

State & Living Wage Battles
Will Mo. Lawmakers Attempt Right to Work Override?  Ozarks First  ...Gov. Jay Nixon has vowed to veto Right to Work legislation, telling KOLR 10 he thinks it's an "attack" on working people, while backers in the legislature are finding out whether enough support exists to override the governor's impending decision. About 25 other states have Right to Work laws. The issue has been talked about in Missouri for decades, but this legislative session was the first to put it on the governor's desk...
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has 'serious problems' with prevailing wage repeal bills  MLive ...Republican Gov. Rick Snyder said Tuesday he has "serious problems" with prevailing wage repeal bills approved last week by the GOP-led Michigan Senate. Michigan law currently requires contractors to provide union wages and benefits on government-funded construction projects...
Thousands of Fast Food Workers to Protest McDonald’s Shareholder Meeting Today  In These Times  ...When McDonald’s stockholders meet on the leafy corporate campus in suburban Chicago today and tomorrow, thousands of protestors will be ready to greet them, according to organizers of the fast-growing Fight for $15 movement. Last year, in the first such confrontation, a few hundred people marched on and then blocked roads leading on to the company property before police arrested them...
Los Angeles Becomes The Largest City With a $15 Minimum Wage  Think Progress  ...On Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council voted to draft legislation that would set the city’s minimum wage at $15 per hour by 2020 for businesses with more than 25 employees and by 2021 for smaller ones.
The council voted in favor of the move 14 to 1. The legislation will set the wage to $10.50 an hour for large businesses next year before gradually rising to $15...
McDonald's employees are swarming headquarters to protest low wages during the company's annual meeting   Business Insider  ...Thousands of McDonald's workers seeking a minimum wage of $15 per hour and the right to unionize are expected to swarm the fast-food giant's headquarters for two days of protests that will coincide with the fast-food chain's annual meeting on Thursday. Protests by low-wage fast-food and retail workers have helped fuel a national debate about pay levels...

U.S. Labor
Marathon Galveston Bay refinery workers vote to continue strike  Reuters  ...Hourly workers at Marathon Petroleum Corp's Galveston Bay, Texas, refinery voted on Monday to continue a strike, rejecting a contract proposal developed by a federal mediator aimed at ending a stoppage that has lasted three-and-a-half months. Officials of United Steelworkers union Local 13-1, which represents the strikers, said nearly 900 striking workers had voted and the proposal was overwhelmingly rejected...
Bid to unionize Detroit charter school system in limbo  Detroit News   ...An effort to unionize a local charter school system remained unresolved Friday with no official results from an election held a day earlier. "While there were 19 more no votes from those who did not want the union, Detroit 90/90 challenged the voting rights of Teachers for America teachers and long-term substitutes, claiming the teachers they hired to stand in front of students are not actually professionals," said Nate Walker, K-12 organizer and policy analyst with AFT Michigan...
NLRB blocks union election at Stetson Charter School  Philly.com   ...The National Labor Relations Board yesterday blocked a union vote set for later this week at John B. Stetson Charter School after the union behind the organizing efforts filed an unfair-labor-practice charge. The Alliance of Charter School Employees union claims that Stetson, which is managed by charter operator ASPIRA Inc. of Pennsylvania, has violated federal law...
County OKs AFSCME Contract; Salary Hikes Average 2.3%  Cape May County Herald  ...Cape May County government’s 686 members of local 3596 American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) have a new contract that will remain through Dec. 31, 2018. The former contract expired July 1, 2013. Negotiations had been ongoing since that time. The contract was unanimously approved by freeholders May 12 without comment...
Farm-labor case appears headed to Supreme Court  Ag Alert  ...A sweeping state appellate court decision, ruling part of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act unconstitutional, sets the stage for an eventual state Supreme Court decision on the act's mandatory mediation and conciliation provisions. the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the case, Gerawan Farming of Fresno, that it should have been given an opportunity to prove that the United Farm Workers union had "abandoned" Gerawan employees...

Miscellaneous
Why We Should Spend Billions More On Trains  Think Progress  ...In the same way that the U.S. subsidized cars, other countries are subsidizing trains. China is currently undertaking a huge public investment in rail. And while the system has experienced problems, ridership was nearly 900 million in 2014, compared to a paltry 30 million in the U.S. And the United Kingdom, with a far smaller area and population than the U.S., spends billions more than in public money to maintain its world-class system that regularly sees 1.2 billion passengers a year...
Progressive Groups Rally Behind Sanders' Plan to Tax 1% and Fund Higher Ed  Common Dreams  ...A broad coalition of nurses, students, religious and civil rights groups, environmentalists, labor and housing advocates on Tuesday praised Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-Vt.) plan to use a so-called Robin Hood tax on stock transactions to fund tuition at four-year public colleges and universities...

Magazine preview: Teamsters Professor Eric Arnesen

Teamsters Professor Eric Arnesen

In February, history professor Eric Arnesen officially became the first James R. Hoffa Teamsters Professor in Modern American Labor History at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

The introduction of a Teamsters Professor was a new experience for both Arnesen and the union, but the Teamsters have worked with Arnesen in his capacity as a history professor for years.

In the April/May issue of Teamster Magazine, you were introduced to Arnesen as the new Teamsters Professor, but you may have seen his book reviews and other writings in the magazine earlier.

As far back as 2005, the union has been quoting his work, which acknowledges the importance of labor unions in American history. He has reviewed books on the PATCO strike and farm labor for the union, and written about civil rights for the website.

In the next issue of Teamster Magazine, he has another book review.

Arnesen says of “Bending Toward Justice” in the June/July issue that the book:

... illustrates the tremendous courage and suffering that brought about that transformation. But is the voting rights victory secure? Since 2010, a growing number of conservative state legislatures have passed laws making voting more difficult, ostensibly to combat the (non-existent) problem of voter fraud. With voting rights again under attack, May’s timely book reminds us of just how crucial the 1965 Act was and how important it remains today.

Look for the full review toward the end of June in the next issue of Teamster Magazine.

Today's Teamster News 05.19.15

Teamsters
City Hall strikes contract deal with Teamsters Local 237  Capital New York  ...The de Blasio administration on Monday announced a tentative contract agreement with Teamsters Local 237, one of the only remaining municipal unions working under an expired contract. The agreement covering more than 5,500 New York City Housing Authority employees follows the pattern of wage increases every other civilian union has received during de Blasio's 17-month tenure...
BLET/SMART–TD statement on Positive Train Control, crew size following fatal Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia  BLE-T.org  ...Members of BLET’s Safety Task Force and SMART Transportation Division’s National Safety Team, in addition to representatives from the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division of the Teamsters Rail Conference (BMWED), are working with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to assist in the investigation of the catastrophic May 12 derailment of Amtrak Train 188...

Global Labor & Trade
Congress plots to pay for a trade deal by raiding Medicare  Los Angeles Times  ...The plan on Capitol Hill is to move the Trade Assistance Program expansion in tandem with fast-track approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, possibly as early as this week. Congressional Democrats demanded the expansion of the Trade Assistance Program, Congressional Republicans apparently found the money in Medicare, and the Obama White House, which should be howling in protest, has remained silent...
Warren Expands Criticism of Obama’s Trade Agenda to Labor Rights  Bloomberg   ...Senator Elizabeth Warren expanded her criticism of President Barack Obama’s trade agenda, arguing on Monday that the U.S. has consistently failed to enforce rules promoting labor rights abroad. Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, released a staff memo outlining “decades of failure” by U.S. administrations to ensure that American trading partners live up to promises in free-trade agreements...
McConnell: Senate to finish trade this week  The Hill  ...Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned senators on Monday that they will finish "fast track" trade legislation this week. McConnell wants to pass the "fast-track" bill, which would allow the president to get his trade deals passed through Congress by a simple majority vote, before senators leave at the end of the week for the Memorial Day recess...
GOP: Business lobby blowing it on trade  Politico  ...Top House Republicans believe the business community is blowing its chance to clinch a trade deal. Unlike unions, they say, Big Business advocates aren’t flooding Capitol phone lines. They’re not winning over skeptical Republicans. And they haven’t made much headway with business-friendly Democrats who are considering voting for the package, either...
Republicans claim enough votes to pass fast-track trade bill   Reuters  ...Top Republicans predicted on Sunday that both chambers of Congress would muster the votes to pass the "fast-track" authority sought by President Barack Obama to negotiate major trade deals, despite opposition from Obama's fellow Democrats. "Yes, we’ll pass it. We'll pass it later this week," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said in an interview with ABC...
Perils of Globalization When Factories Close and Towns Struggle  New York Times  ...The benefits are not distributed evenly. Trade increases overall prosperity by eliminating less productive jobs. In theory, the workers find new jobs. In practice, studies by Mr. Hanson and other economists show that in cities like Galesburg, global competition is increasing unemployment and reducing wages. Josh Bivens, an economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute, estimates that increased globalization, aided by a strong dollar that led to a persistent trade deficit, reduced the annual earnings of the roughly 70 percent of American workers...
German train drivers to strike again  BBC  ...Drivers for Germany's Deutsche Bahn have declared a fresh strike, marking the ninth walkout in just 11 months. GDL union leader Claus Weselsky gave no end date for the strike, but said it would "last a little longer" than the previous five-day stoppage.
GDL wants a 5% pay rise for 20,000 drivers and a shorter working week...
Guatemalan Domestic Workers Reveal a Dirty Business  Truthout  ...186,000 domestic workers are in Guatemala and more than 50 percent have emigrated to Guatemala City from impoverished rural areas. [Some] work up to 14 hours a day and are usually paid $150 a month, half of the national minimum monthly wage, which is currently $304.68. What makes Castellanos unique is her determination to fight for better working conditions in Guatemala, where labor unionism is weak after the repression of workers' movements under the country's recent history of military dictatorships...
Bolivian army step in as bakers go on strike  BBC   ...Bolivian soldiers have begun producing tens of thousands of bread rolls because of a bakers strike. The government called in the troops when there were reports of shortages in several neighbourhoods. Bolivian bakers went on a 48-hour strike in protest against a government decision to scrap subsidies for wheat flour...

State & Living Wage Battles
Kansas’ Governor Destroyed The State Budget With Massive Tax Cuts And Now Kansans Are Paying The Price  Think Progress  ...On one side, die-hard conservatives in the legislature are resisting efforts to unwind a key piece of Gov. Sam Brownback’s (R) signature tax cuts. On the other, a bipartisan group of lawmakers are saying it’s time to admit the governor’s approach is unworkable. While they quarrel, Kansas faces a two-year deficit projected to be well over a billion dollars – a piddling amount in Congress, but equal to nearly 17 percent of the state’s $6 billion annual spending...
Speaker: Missouri 'Right To Work' Veto Override Uncertain  Ozarks First  ...Governor Jay Nixon (D) says he will veto that bill, but House Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) says it's too early to be thinking about whether supporters in the legislature can muster the votes to overturn him. "We'll talk with our members and see if there's a will to override and obviously see if there is not a will to override," said Richardson...
Amid Protest Plans, McDonald's to Ban Media from Shareholder Meeting  Common Dreams  ...With thousands of workers planning to descend on McDonald's annual shareholder meeting on May 21 to demand higher wages and fairer treatment, the fast food giant has announced it will ban all media from the corporate event—a move that union leaders called "extremely shocking and troubling"...
Bosses Are Turning Poverty-Wage Workers Into ‘Managers’—and Barring Them From Overtime in the Process  The Nation  ...Welcome to the promotion from hell: Federal law says time-and-a-half is for ordinary laborers, and management is exempt from overtime provisions. So congratulations, as a shop “manager,” you no longer qualify for overtime—but still end up doing basically the same work for less. In the precarious low-wage economy, advocates say employers are hyper-exploiting the system to skirt fair labor laws...
SEIU seeks federal investigation of franchise industry  Chicago Tribune  ...The Service Employees International Union on Monday said it has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the franchise industry, seeking information on how some of the world's biggest franchise operators, including McDonald's, set the terms of their business models. The union, which has been pushing to boost the pay of low-wage fast-food workers, said the current structure gives too much power to franchisers...
Prevailing wage, local hiring mandates sidelined at Milwaukee County for more discussion  Milwaukee Business Journal   ...A proposal to enact local hiring and wage requirements on projects that receive Milwaukee County subsidies was sidelined Monday to create more time for discussion and potential revisions. The proposal builds off earlier “community benefits” laws, including one affecting Milwaukee County’s land in the Park East corridor...
City Council To Consider $15 Minimum Wage Increase Proposal  CBS Los Angeles  ...The City Council will consider a proposal Tuesday to increase Los Angeles’s minimum wage to $15 an hour over the next five years. The council, which will meet at 10 a.m., was expected to discuss the proposal that was unanimously approved on May 13 by its Economic Development Committee...

U.S. Labor
Contract ending for NC postal workers  The Charlotte Post  ...North Carolina postal workers have more on their minds this morning than the heavy load of Monday mail. The American Postal Workers Union contract is set to expire on Wednesday. Postal worker Deborah Smith says it's a tough time for postal employees...
GOP lawmaker proposes defunding NLRB  The Hill ...Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.) has introduced legislation to do away with funding for the National Labor Relations Board. Salmon claimed the NLRB, which was created in 1935 to conduct labor elections and manage labor policy, is biased toward labor unions. The Arizona Republican argued that the Justice Department could instead be solely tasked with enforcing labor laws...
UAW seeks to grow skilled trades apprentice programs  Detroit News  ...Ford, General Motors Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles run jointly administered apprentice programs with the UAW. The union hopes to expand the programs, which were dormant for several years leading up to and immediately following the economic downturn. Securing and growing the programs, as well as skilled trades positions that have shrunk following the recession, will be part of upcoming contract negotiations...
UFW set to protest at Mesa Verde Immigration Detention Center  ABC Bakersfield  ...Members of the local United Farm Workers will be protesting at the new Mesa Verde Immigration Detention Center in Bakersfield as part of a national push calling for immigration reform. The detention center houses close to 200 foreign nationals who are either waiting for deportation or are appealing the process...

Miscellaneous
Ignoring Businesses, Baltimore Shuts Off Water to 1,600 Homes  Common Dreams  ...However, community advocates say that in a city with skyrocketing unemployment and poverty, the rising cost of water and sewage is unaffordable to a large sector of the population. Further, in Detroit, where the local government has cut off water to over 17,000 residential households, the policy has been widely criticized by the United Nations as well as other watchdog groups as a violation of the human right to water...

Senate fast track push doesn't stop criticism of trade

The Teamsters have made it clear they are against fast track.

The Senate will begin debate later today on a fast track trade bill that will serve as a vehicle to ram the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) through Congress. And despite the smiles and reassurances coming from supporters, new problems with the trade deal keep on popping up.

Take, for instance, the $700 million in Medicare cuts that were added to a package of trade bills bundled together to make fast track and the TPP seem more palatable. Those dollars cover trade adjustment assistance costs. GOP lawmakers insisted on the slashing of senior health care program to support workers who lose their jobs due to trade deals like the TPP, and some Democrats went along with it.

As the National Journal explained:

The Trade Adjustment Assistance reauthorization bill hasn't received as much attention as the fast-track trade authority bill, but Democrats see it as a priority: The program helps workers who have been put out of a job because of foreign trade with job-training and placement as well as health-insurance costs. The House and Senate are expected to move the bill in tandem with the fast-track trade measure, said an aide to Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, who hashed out the trade deal with Sen. Orrin Hatch and Rep. Paul Ryan, both Republicans. 

But ... senior and provider groups started criticizing the proposal. They're unhappy because about $700 million of the $2.9 billion cost would be offset by increasing the cuts to Medicare authorized by the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration in fiscal year 2024 by 0.25 percent, according to a Congressional Budget Office score of the House bill. 

"Apparently using Medicare as a piggy bank to pay for everything under the sun has become the new legislative norm for Congress," Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, said in a statement to National Journal. "Rather than balancing priorities or considering a penny of new revenue, congressional leaders are proposing to once again funnel Medicare resources into unrelated programs and fixes—this time it's the trade adjustment assistance program."

Why should retirees, who worked hard all their lives to earn Medicare, be forced to pick up the tab in exchange for a trade deal that will boost profits for big business? How is that at all justifiable?

Meanwhile, bipartisan opposition to both fast track and the TPP continues to grow. In the Oklahoma House, two Republicans have introduced a resolution calling on that state's congressional delegation to oppose TPP.  The lawmakers say they are troubled that the Pacific Rim trade pact has been negotiated in secret and would allow foreign companies to seek to overturn U.S. law in international tribunals.

And Democrats and union workers in California held a demonstration during the second day of the state Democratic Convention in Anaheim to criticize the TPP and how it would place U.S. workers behind corporations.

Opposition to fast track and the TPP isn't going anywhere. If fast track does make it through the Senate, a bipartisan collection of lawmakers in the House is waiting to challenge it and raise all of its warts for public consumption. This is not a time for the Teamsters and all fair trade supporters to be timid -- it is a time to be strong. The voice of workers is being heard!

Today's Teamster News 05.18.15

Teamsters
Los Angeles, Long Beach port truck drivers move nation’s goods  Press-Telegram   ...The port congestion has ramped up the Teamsters’ efforts to unionize drivers, leading to lawsuits over wage theft allegations and strikes at port terminals, rail yards and trucking companies. Julie Gutman Dickinson, an attorney representing the Teamsters [said] that the issue of misclassification existed long before the congestion issues arose. “It’s effectively wage theft,” she said. “It’s taking away money from hard-working drivers and putting it into the pockets of these companies. They are at the mercy of these companies”...

Global Labor & Trade
No love for Obama trade deal at California Democrats' protest  Los Angeles Times   ...Union workers gathered for a demonstration on the second day of the California Democratic Convention harshly criticized President Obama, giving voice to the grassroots angst that has turned much of the president's own party against him on a signature trade deal. powerful figures in the president's own party have undermined the pact, including firebrand Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is scheduled to address convention delegates Saturday morning...
Canadian MPs Join International Legislators to Oppose “Certification” in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, say it Endangers Country Sovereignty  Common Dreams  ...Today, in Canada, NDP trade critic Don Davies and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May joined in the debate by joining 40 parliamentarians from the other countries in writing a letter encouraging trade ministers to oppose the United States’ certification process. The certification process allows the United States to vet the other countries’ sovereign laws ensuring they “conform” with the trade agreement...
Labor activists let Castro know they’re not down with TPP  San Antonio Express-News  ...Friday afternoon, a group of eight labor activists from four organizations visited Castro’s downtown district office, holding signs that read, “Save Our Jobs! Don’t Fast Track the TPP!” One of the activists, Fuerza Unida co-founder Viola Casares, carried a pair of Levi’s jeans, a statement on the effects of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which she blames for Levi Strauss plant shutdowns in the United States...
Why Obama Is Wrong and Warren Is Right on Trade Bill Quarrel  (opinion) Bloomberg   ...In her quarrel with President Barack Obama over trade legislation, Elizabeth Warren has got the law on her side. The Massachusetts senator has warned fellow Democrats that a fast-track trade bill now in Congress could undo U.S. laws such as the Dodd-Frank banking regulations later. A number of constitutional scholars and other legal experts say she’s right...
The TPP: Why it Won’t Address Security Concerns with China (opinion) Renewing America  ...Proponents who argue that the TPP is vital to countering China’s ambitions are ignoring the fact that those countries aren’t rushing into China’s embrace. In fact, just the opposite is true. Several of the TPP participants are more interested in stronger alliances with the United States which aren’t dependent on preferential trade relations and new trade agreements...
Trade and Trust  (opinion) New York Times  ...We were assured that the dispute settlement procedure couldn’t be used to force changes in domestic laws; actually, it apparently could. We were told that TPP couldn’t be used to undermine financial reform; again, it appears that it could.
How important are these concerns? It’s hard to judge. But the administration is in effect saying trust us, then repeatedly bobbling questions about the deal in a way that undermines that very trust...
Thousands of Renault Workers Strike in Turkey  Industry Week   ...More than 2,500 workers in a factory run by French carmaker Renault in western Turkey have gone on strike over wages and benefits, the company said Friday. Workers stopped production overnight Thursday in the company's factory in the Bursa province, state-run Anatolia news agency said...
Officials Pledge Charges After Factory Fire Kills 72 Workers In The Philippines  Think Progress  ...Officials in the Philippines are pledging to file charges against the owners of a suburban Manila factory where at least 72 workers died in a Wednesday fire. The metal barriers that prevented them from escaping out second-story windows are only the most immediate example of the unsafe and exploitative working conditions that workers and officials say Kentex Manufacturing Corp. imposed at the plant...
Students Ask Why JanSport Parent Company Won’t Sign Bangladesh Worker Safety Agreement  In These Times  ...This past April marked the anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory collapse, a tragedy that called attention to the horrible labor conditions many Bangladeshi workers labor under. That disaster also led to new regulations, most notably the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a five-year legally binding agreement between brands, retailers and trade unions. One of the corporations that won’t sign is a company that many Americans are unfamiliar with: VF Corporation, a Greensboro, North Carolina-based clothing business that owns over 30 brands...

State & Living Wage Battles
Illinois Republican Governor Gets ZERO Votes On His 'Right To Work' Bill  Alternet  ...Illinois governor, Bruce Rauner, watched his anti-union bill called, 'Right-To-Work,' die a swift, cruel death in the House, on Thursday, with zero votes. Natasha Korecki with Chicago Sun Times reports the the tally was 0 yes votes, 72 no votes, and 37 voting present - "offering a blistering rebuke" to Rauner’s agenda...
Missouri Governor confirms he will veto ‘right to work’  Missourinet   ...The bill called “right to work” by its supporters and “right to work for free” by opponents was the cause of much of the drama in the final week of the Missouri legislative session, and now Governor Jay Nixon confirms he won’t hesitate to use his veto pen on it. Senate Republicans forced a vote on the legislation and in response Democrats blocked debate the rest of the week... Sanders and Warren Sign Letter Urging Obama to Get Behind 'Fight for $15' Movement  Common Dreams   ...In a letter sent to the White House on Friday, Sen. Bernie Sanders joined Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other Senate Democrats in urging President Obama to escalate his support for struggling Americans and get behind the 'Fight for $15' movement, which has galvanized low-paid workers across the nation in a collective call for better treatment by employers, the right to unionize, and a living wage...
SEIU to ask FTC to probe alleged abusive practices by franchisors  Reuters  ...The Service Employees International Union, backer of a three-year campaign to improve the plight of low-wage retail and fast-food workers, on Monday said it would petition the Federal Trade Commission to investigate alleged abusive practices by major franchisors, including McDonald's Corp and 7-Eleven Inc...
The Slippery Math of Right-To-Work Advocates  (opinion) Newsweek   ...A bevy of “right-to-work” bills has been introduced in state legislatures across the United States this year. The legislation has generated intense debate and contention, making headlines across the country. What was most alarming about the parade of bills introduced this year, however, was how their proponents manipulated facts in order to propel them through state legislatures...

U.S. Labor
Postal workers union protests in Tampa  Tampa Tribune  ...Fifty or so members of the American Postal Workers Union fanned out at downtown intersections Thursday to demonstrate for better customer service and more job security just one week before their union contract is set to expire. The U.S. Postal Service has seen its ranks shrinking over the past decade, dropping from 850,000 employees to 450,000 , and it is scheduled to cut another 50,000 jobs by Oct. 1. APWU members staged the National Day of Action in 82 locations across the nation Thursday...
Security Officers Fight ‘Economic and Occupational Segregation’ in Silicon Valley  In These Times  ...On May 5, Silicon Valley security officers rallied outside the office of Broadcom, a wireless-component maker (which produces the WiFi chips in Apple iPhones), in hope of drumming up support for an organizing campaign at the company's security subcontractor, Universal Protection Service (UPS). They were joined by a high-profile supporter: Rev. Jesse Jackson...
USW Strike: Marathon Petroleum Corp Galveston Bay Refinery To Vote On Monday  Bidness Etc  ...The United Steelworkers (USW) strike at Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s refinery in Galveston Bay, Texas is likely to end soon as striking workers get ready to vote on a new contract next week. Officials of the labor union and company confirmed on Thursday voting will take place on Monday, after federal mediators helped hammer out the details of the newly-proposed contract...
Government Finds $60 Billion Company Responsible For Deaths Of Four Workers, Fines It $99,000  Think Progress  ...The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) blamed the chemical company DuPont for failing to maintain the safety of workers, a failure that it says led to the death of four workers in November. OSHA cited the company for 11 safety violates and fined it $99,000. The company has a market capitalization of $63.6 billion and made $34.7 billion in revenue last year...
City warns of transit delays on several routes as dispute with transit union continues   Winnepeg Free Press   ...The Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents 1,100 bus operators and 250 maintenance workers, has been without a contract since it expired on Jan. 17. Last month, the union rejected the city’s offer of settlement, placing them in a legal strike position. In the following week, the ATU instructed its members to refuse overtime as contract negotiations continue...

Miscellaneous
New Rules on Oil Trains Draw Flak From Firefighters, Too  Truthout  ...Lawmakers and environmental and industry groups criticized the federal government’s new safety measures for oil trains when they were announced earlier this month. Now another group has expressed disappointment in the new rules: Emergency responders. They’re among the first in danger when a fiery derailment happens...
Job Prospects Have Improved for Graduates, but the Class of 2015 Still Faces a Challenging Labor Market  EPI.org   ...Recent improvements in economic conditions have begun to finally translate into better job prospects for young graduates, but there is a long way to go before we return to the labor market health of the pre-recession period. Although the labor market is slowly recovering, unemployment remains elevated for both young high school and college graduates; underemployment rates for these groups are also unusually high...

Today in 1934: Minneapolis Teamsters Vote to Strike All Trucking Companies

It was springtime in Minneapolis during a year when the American labor movement was making itself known in radical fashion throughout the country. The year was 1934, a time when labor unrest was not simply defined by strikes and civil disobedience. Police batons were wielded at workers, live ammunition was fired, National Guard troops were deployed, blood was spilled and lives were lost.

And Teamsters were at the center of it all.

On May 15, 1934, the 6,000 members of Teamsters Local 574 in Minneapolis voted to strike all trucking employers, demanding recognition and wage increases. The vote signaled an escalation in what some remember as the "Teamster Rebellion," a wave of strikes that nearly shut down the city and put the still-young Teamsters Union at the forefront of organized labor.

The general truckers' strike vote on May 15 followed a Teamster strike in February that shut down almost all the coal yards. The demand for coal in the winter brought a quick end to the strike, securing a rise in membership for Local 574.

The militant organizing agenda of Local 574 was inspired largely by the leadership of the union such as Carl Skoglund. Having recruited others, including Farrell Dobbs and Grant and Miles Dunne, into a large organizing committee, the union sought to build on the momentum of the coal yard strike by preparing for a general strike.

In the wake of the Great Depression with unemployment still high, the challenge of using strikes was plain to see. That's why Local 574 partnered with Minneapolis unemployed organizations to win the support of jobless residents before the strike. It also teamed up with the Minnesota Farm-Labor Party.

The strike was launched on May 16. Teamsters who had pioneered the use of cruising picket squads in the coal yard strike employed them for the general strike, carrying pickets by truck to chase down and stop scab trucks from operating.

One hundred Teamsters formed the strike committee and the strike headquarters - a big garage equipped with a makeshift hospital and commissary - was itself a massive operation. Mothers, wives, daughters and sisters were essential to the efficiency of the strike. Local 574 organized a women's auxiliary to care for hungry and injured strikers - many of the women also joined Teamsters on the streets and joined the ambulatory pickets.

A major skirmish erupted between strikers and police on May 21 in the central market where all truck movement had come to a standstill. Six hundred picketers hidden in the nearby American Federation of Labor headquarters emerged and pushed back hundreds of cops and scabs deputized to help break the strike. The confrontation turned to hand-to-hand street fighting between the two sides with several cops hospitalized. In the end the picketers cleared police and scabs from the area and began directing traffic.

On May 25, a settlement was reached in which the companies agreed to recognize the union for drivers and warehouse workers. But in the ensuing weeks it became clear that employers had no intention of carrying out the agreement. So another strike was called in July. To beat back the employer-dominated media's demonization of Teamsters, the union started The Organizer, the first daily newspaper issued by a labor union. Trucking was shut down as well as other services as other unions joined the strike in solidarity with Teamsters. On July 20, also known as "Bloody Friday," police opened fire and killed two strikers, John Belor and Henry Ness. A hundred thousand attended Ness's funeral.

Several days later, the governor declared martial law and deployed National Guard troops who seized the strike headquarters and jailed union leaders. After they were released, Local 574 reached out to the Central Labor Union to expand the fight to a general worker strike. In the meantime, martial law took a toll on the strike's success as some scab trucks were able to move under military permit. But by the end of the summer, the union won its primary demands from Minneapolis employers through a federal mediator.

In his book, Teamster Rebellion, Dobbs explained how the desperate conditions of workers meant that militant action was the only solution for Teamsters in Minneapolis:

Wiseacres of the day spoke pontifically about the “passivity” of the working class, never understanding that the seeming docility of the workers at a given time is a relative thing. If workers are more or less holding their own in daily life and expecting that they can get ahead slowly, they won’t tend to radicalize. Things are different when they are losing ground and the future looks precarious to them. Then a change begins to occur in their attitude, which is not always immediately apparent. The tinder of discontent begins to pile up. Any spark can light it, and once lit, the fire can spread rapidly.

In Minneapolis the flames were bound to become widespread because it was not only the coal workers who were being driven toward action to correct an increasingly intolerable situation. Conditions were bad throughout the entire trucking industry. Wages were as low as ten dollars and rarely above eighteen dollars for a workweek ranging from fifty-four to ninety hours.

The Local 574 strike had defeated the city's powerful employer organization, the Citizens Alliance, and shifted industrial labor relations nationwide. It also set the stage for the unionization of thousands of over-the-road drivers throughout the Midwest. The backdrop to the Teamster strike was a nation generally electrified by labor militancy. The turbulent year of 1934 also saw two other major strikes, the 1934 West Coast Longshore Strike and the 1934 Toledo Auto-Lite Strike.

The 1934 Teamster strike in Minneapolis remains one of the most pivotal moments in the history of our Teamsters Union.

Check out videos that further tell the story of this historic Teamster event.