Congressional GOP takes aim at NLRB reforms that speed union elections

The Republican-dominated Congress is set to overturn a new National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rule to make it harder for employers to thwart union elections.

On March 4, the Senate voted 53-46 along party lines on a resolution to kill the new NLRB rule. The House of Representatives will likely do the same before it takes effect on April 14, 2015.

The NLRB rule requires employers to share email addresses and phone numbers with a union seeking an election and ends the 25-day delay between the time employees file an election petition and the election itself.

The Teamsters strongly support the changes because they will make elections fairer. In a formal statement to the NLRB, Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa called the current election rules "unfair, confusing, outdated and susceptible to abuse by unscrupulous employers seeking to prevent their workers from exercising their right to organize by obstructing and delaying the process."

President Obama has not said he will veto the resolution. The White House, however, stated its strong opposition to an attempt in 2012 to overturn the rule, saying the NLRB had adopted "commonsense measures."

According to Blooomberg BNA,

The White House said that if the 2012 measure reached the president's desk, “senior advisers” would have recommended that he veto it.

Ross Eisenbrey, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, attended a House committee hearing on the issue. He reported that a nurse was the only person allowed to testify in favor of the new rule. Wrote Eisenbrey:

Brenda Crawford, the registered nurse who testified, said her employer bombarded employees with e-mails and texts in the weeks before the election, in addition to daily anti-union messages at work, including captive audience meetings where nurses were called away from patient care to hear anti-union harangues. When she tried to put out union literature in the employee break room, it was removed. She testified that the company’s ability to campaign throughout the workday, and electronically when the workday ended, overwhelmed the nurses and their union, who had no way to respond.

Eisenbrey reported that Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., defended the NLRB rules during the hearing:

... delay in holding elections is associated with increases in unfair labor practices, which can be vicious and intimidating, and for which there is no effective remedy under the law—no fines or penalties, no criminal prosecution, just partial back pay for employees who endure years of litigation to get their jobs back after being fired.

The Senate resolution says:

Congress disapproves the rule submitted by the National Labor Relations Board relating to representation case procedures (published at 79 Fed. Reg. 74308 (December 15, 2014)), and such rule shall have no force or effect.

NLRB election changes help workers

Reforms made to the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB's) union election rules last April are paying dividends for workers seeking to organize around the country, according to a new report.

According to statistics compiled by Bloomberg BNA, during the first four months following when the NLRB instituted the changes, the agency fit 31 more resolved elections in compared to the same period in 2014. And all of those additional elections ended in a victory for the union.

What's more, the median length of time it took a union's representation petition to reach the election stage fell from 38 days in May-August 2014 to 24 days during the same four months last year.
As a BNA Bloomberg blog stated:

This is significant, the report says, because quicker elections have favored labor over management for many years. Calendar years 2014 and 2015 were no exceptions: Elections that were resolved within 24 days went the union’s way 88 percent of the time in 2014, and 75 percent of the time in 2015. But because about half of the elections in the 2015 sample clocked in at 24 days or less, this translated to 140 union wins—compared with only 21 union wins in 2014.

The Teamsters are strong advocates of the rule change. Back in August 2011, General President Jim Hoffa filed comments saying the changes would streamline the process and make election rules more fair for workers looking to organize.

But not surprisingly, there have been plenty of opponents who have been looking to rein in the NLRB's action. Republicans in Congress took aim at trying to stop the implementation of the changes last year but failed.

But overturning the rule changes through the courts remains a possibility. The Fifth Circuit U.S. Appeals Court in New Orleans is due to hear the case Feb. 29, and if they side with the plaintiff, it could invalidate the results of all those elections.

A skirmish against the NLRB in the War on Workers

The NLRB's reform of organizing elections that took effect on April 30 has been attacked by Wall Street billionaires, corporate CEOs and their political puppets for months. Yesterday the union-busters got their way -- for now. According to the Associated Press,

A federal judge on Monday struck down new regulations governing union elections, saying the National Labor Relations Board did not follow proper voting procedures when it approved the rules last year. 

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said the board never had a quorum when it voted on the rules that speed up the pace of union representation elections. He did not address the merits of the rules and said the NLRB could simply take a new vote to approve them.

Just as a reminder, the new rules streamline the election process and prevent expensive legal wrangles. It isn't clear what happens next. The NLRB says it's reviewing its options.

Here's what Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said:

This decision is deeply troubling – it condones and encourages the kind of political gamesmanship at the NLRB that has undermined the rights of all American workers.  Member Hayes’s failure to cast a vote on the final rule was perhaps a neglect of his duties, but did not undermine the legitimacy of the Board’s actions.  The Board had a quorum, and they acted appropriately. 

Unfortunately, this decision has far-reaching consequences, as it seems to suggest that an individual Board member should have veto power over any NLRB decision.  That is certainly contrary to the law, and sets a dangerous precedent for future partisan efforts to undermine the Board and the workers it protects.  I am confident that when the courts reconsider this issue they will correct this error, and that the merits of the rule – which were not reached in this case, but recently upheld by a bipartisan vote of the Senate – will also be affirmed.

And here's the AFL-CIO's take on it, by way of general counsel Lynn Rhinehart:

We think the judge’s ruling is flat-out wrong.  Brian Hayes was a sitting, working, paid member of the NLRB when the rule was adopted, and remains so today.  He had made his opposition to the election rules widely known, and, in fact, two weeks ago he published his dissent on the rules.  The judge’s ruling, while in our view incorrect, is solely based on technical issues that speak to the procedure of the Board and not the rule itself.  The rules are much needed to update and streamline the election process, and we hope this procedural roadblock does not unduly delay their implementation.

Small business owner to GOP: You don't know what I need

It's a good thing Congressional Republicans are so focused on dismantling the National Labor Relations Board. That's obviously the best possible way to create desperately needed jobs in this country.

Yes, we're being sarcastic. And a small business owner, Willie West, agrees with us. He posted an opinion piece in The Hill today that deserves reading:
West writes:

As a small business owner, I have an odd experience nearly every time I open a newspaper. Day after day, pundits and politicians — most of whom have no actual experience running a business — rattle off talking points on what I supposedly need. It’s strange. Even though I’ve never hired a K Street consultant, there’s an army of them ready to speak for me. The free public relations service would be nice, but unfortunately the Wall Street rhetoric doesn’t match Main Street’s reality.

Their latest claim is that small business owners such as myself vehemently oppose the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Since the 1930s, the NLRB has been charged with regulating union elections and protecting workers’ rights against violations by both employers and unions. Rep. John Kline of Minnesota is the latest in a string of lawmakers to introduce legislation that would limit, weaken, or dismantle the NLRB altogether. Earlier this month, lawyers and anti-union spokesmen railed against the NLRB in Congressional hearings, claiming this small agency is killing small businesses and, to use Rep. Kline’s phrase, “wreaking havoc” on the economy.

That simply isn’t true.

Reviewing the NLRB’s decisions this summer, I fail to see a single action that will negatively impact my business. I have strained to see how informing workers of their right to form a union or modernizing the outdated union election process will hurt my business. The connection simply isn’t there. These seemingly minor changes certainly do not create uncertainty for me and they will not affect my ability to create jobs. In fact, if the NLRB standardizes the election process, it seems to me that this will reduce uncertainty and turmoil in the workplace — especially for small businesses.

So here’s what a real small businessman says he needs to succeed: talented and committed workers with a voice on the job.
I run a sheet metal company in Sterling, Va., where we fabricate and install sheet metal duct work for ventilation, air conditioning, and heating systems. My workers are an integral part of my business and an important asset to its success. They are my business partners, not a line item on my accounting forms.

My employees are members of the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association Local Union 100 and collective bargaining helps us work together. Despite what you’ve heard, I’m not experiencing any undue burdens because of my union workforce.

Quite the opposite—when I hire a union member, I know I’m getting a qualified, well-trained worker who has undergone rigorous and thorough skills training. Their union provides an educational infrastructure that frankly, as a small business owner, I could not offer on my own. Having these skilled workers means my workplace is safer, which lowers costs, makes my business more efficient, and helps raise profits.

According to groups like the U.S.Chamber of Commerce – who, by the way, have never done a thing to help my business grow – the only way I can succeed is to mimic overseas employers with bottom of the barrel labor practices. Only unskilled workers with no voice will allow my business to thrive, they say.

Read the whole thing here.

Breaking: NLRB proposes streamlining union elections

Today the National Labor Relations Board said it will again propose rules to streamline and speed elections for union representation.  

Let's hope it succeeds this time.

The NLRB says the proposal:

...presents a number of changes to the Board’s representation case procedures aimed at modernizing processes, enhancing transparency and eliminating unnecessary litigation and delay...

(Read the whole press release here.)

We all know the decked is stacked against unions today as never before. We all know that delaying elections is a standard union-busting ploy. A 2011 study by the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy Research found;

...nearly 50 percent of all serious allegations of union busting tactics -- both legal and illegal -- by employers happens after workers express initial interest in a union, but before an official petition has even been filed requesting a vote on union representation.

The Wall Street Journal predicts a fight from business:

The changes would delay employers' ability to complete legal challenges that can drag out the process of voting to unionize. Labor unions contend that would eliminate employer litigation used to stall the election process, but business groups say it would limit employers' ability to launch timely challenges and counter union-organizing campaigns. 

The proposal also would require employers to provide the union with email addresses of employees who would be eligible to vote and would allow for electronic filing of election materials—a hot-button issue that business representatives oppose.

Josh Eidelson at Salon reminds us what happened last time the NLRB proposed the same change:

Without assessing the merits of the Labor Board’s proposal, Judge James Boasberg ruled in 2012 that “the rule was adopted without the statutorily required quorum” of three members “present,” because GOP Member Brian Hayes “simply did not show up” for an electronic vote. 

The good news: There's a quorum this time, with the three Democratic members voting for it and the two Republicans voting against.

Cross your fingers.

 

 

Help support fairer union elections

The National Labor Relations Board is thinking of doing something nice for organized labor. They want to change the rules for elections to join a union.

The NLRB recently put out a proposal to make union elections a lot fairer. Their plan would save money and time and avoid long, lawyer-driven battles with employers.

This is a good thing. Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa strongly supports the proposal. He makes a good point:

If corporations can join together to hire lobbyists without being challenged by abusive lawsuits, then workers should also have that right.

You can help this effort by sending a letter to the NLRB supporting their proposal, you can send a letter to the NLRB supporting their proposal. It's easy, just click here.

Big news: NLRB proposes quicker elections

The National Labor Relations Board is proposing that unionization elections be speeded up.

Anti-worker extremists (e.g., the Governors Gone Wild, the Koch brothers, the DeVos family) will have conniptions.

The New York Times has the story:

In a move that will undoubtedly please labor unions, the National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday morning proposed new rules to speed up unionization elections, largely by streamlining various procedures.

The labor board wants to tighten up the process by ensuring that employers, employees and unions receive needed information sooner and by delaying litigation over many voter-eligibility issues until after workers vote on whether to unionize.

 Here's the NLRB's press release and fact sheet.

This is a real reversal of the lovely vote-suppression trend that's stinking up statehouses around the country. It makes it easier to vote and gives workers a fair chance to decide to join a union.

You'll hear the anti-worker extremists howl about how businesses can't afford unions in hard economic times like these (though they're making record profit). These are people who either don't know or choose to ignore the well-established historical fact that strong economies result from a strong middle class. And we all know where a strong middle class comes from.

The NLRB is proposing fairly modest changes that will clean up a system that's lousy with delays, bureaucracy and litigation.

There are 75 days to comment on the proposal. You'll need to get out your ink pens and tell the government that this is the greatest thing since sliced Deli Swirl Rye and Pumpernickel.

Today's Teamster News 12.21.14

Note to Readers: Today's Teamster News will be on hiatus until Jan. 1, 2015.
Teamsters
Teamsters donate food, toys to children’s home  Sunday Gazette Mail   ...Ken Hall, president of Local 175, based in South Charleston, said more than $20,000 worth of toys and food were delivered this year, beating last year’s record-setting $17,000. The local union has been raising money and making donations to the Child Center for the past 14 years...
Trade
Protesters surround EU buildings as anti-TTIP anger voiced in Brussels  Euronews   …A protest has shut down much of central Brussels. Its initial intent was to overshadow the last day of the EU’s summit in the Belgium capital, but the 28 member state meeting ended a day early. The protest went on regardless, as demonstrators took to the streets against a controversial EU trade deal known as TTIP being hashed out with the US...
To the Tea Party: Beware of "Free Trade"  Economy In Crisis   …Several national groups formed or led by establishment Republicans like Freedomworks, Tea Party Express, and Americans for Prosperity co-opted the Tea Party label for the purposes of advancing trans-national interests under the rubric of unlimited freedom of action for these same global entities...
State Battles
In a Break From Partisan Rancor, Ohio Moves to Make Elections More Competitive  New York Times   …in an era of hyperpartisan gerrymandering, which many blame for the polarization of state and national politics, Ohio took a step in the opposite direction last week. With the support of both parties, the Ohio House gave final approval Wednesday to a plan to draw voting districts for the General Assembly using a bipartisan process, intended to make elections more competitive...
War on Workers
NLRB changes could speed up worker decisions on unions Los Angeles Times ...It’s a relatively minor victory, given all the hurdles labor activists face in trying to organize workers, but a new ruling over access to workplace email systems should be heartening to those who support collective action by workers…
Employer Groups Express Disappointment With NLRB Final Rule on Union Elections  Bloomberg BNA   ...Following the release by the National Labor Relations Board of a final rule to streamline the resolution of union elections, many of the largest business organizations in the U.S. quickly expressed dissatisfaction with the divided board's action, and several said they will consider their options for challenging the final rule...
Close huge gap between CEO, worker pay (opinion)  Indianapolis Star   ...In the last 35 years, the pay for chief executives of the largest U.S. companies has increased over 900 percent, while the average worker compensation has increased just 10 percent...
Is It Bad Enough Yet?  New York Times (opinion)   …This is the United States, which, with the incoming Congress, might actually get worse. This in part explains why we’re seeing spontaneous protests nationwide, protests that, in their scale, racial diversity, anger and largely nonviolent nature, are unusual if not unique. I was in four cities recently — New York, Washington, Berkeley and Oakland — and there were actions every night in each of them. Meanwhile, workers walked off the job in 190 cities on Dec. 4...
5 Reasons for the Slow Recovery in Long-Term Unemployment  Wall Street Journal   ...Job openings are back to precession levels but long-term unemployment has yet to catch up. Almost 2% of the labor force have been out of work for 27 weeks or longer...
The Unfinished Civil War  Jacobin   …we can’t leave the South alone, even if we wanted to. And we shouldn’t want to, because there are actually enormous organizing possibilities in the region...
Families of workers killed in Dallas office tower speak out  KHOU   ..."They didn't have any oxygen, no training, no safety preparation, and no fire extinguisher," Garcia said...
Worker Killed in Explosion at Ammunition Factory  Aol Jobs   …Federal investigators are returning to the scene of a deadly explosion at an ammunition factory in Tennessee. One worker was killed and three others were injured in the blast...
FedEx truck crash sends packages spilling onto a Georgia highway  GOX News   …the truck driver says he was hauling two trailers Tuesday morning and lost control after the second one became loose. Cleanup was ongoing into the afternoon and some packages were destroyed...

Teamsters' winning percentage rises as union membership increases in 2013

This is what a Teamster organizing victory looks like. 

Teamsters organizers improved their winning percentage during the first half of this year, upping our wins to 97 from 92. Our win rate rose to 61.4 percent to 57.5 percent.

Just today, Teamsters announced an organizing victory in Easton, Mass., among school bus drivers for H&L Bloom.

"The Teamsters, year in and year out,  (are) the most active union on the organizing scene," reported Bloomberg BNA Employment and Labor blog.

Here's more good news: 65,185 workers were organized in NLRB elections in the first half of this year—more than were organized over the entire course of 2012. Many of those new members now belong to SEIU, after they organized 44,919 workers at Kaiser Permanente facilities in California.

Independent unions with bargaining units of fewer than  50 workers increased their win rate from 64.6 percent to 68 percent, according to the NLRB Election Statistics Report.

Way to go, brothers and sisters!

Union busting worse than we thought

Twenty years ago, 30 percent of employers threatened to shut down a plant if workers joined a union. Now it's 57 percent of all employers, according to a new study by the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy.

And, by the way, threatening to close a workplace is illegal.

The study is especially timely as the National Labor Relations Board is proposing that the election process be reformed to limit employer ability to attack union organizers. As The Huffington Post reports,

The report comes a week after the National Labor Relation Board proposed new rules that if adopted, could make the road to unionization easier by streamlining the election process and -- most critically -- shortening the length of time between organizers gathering a sufficient number of signatures from workers and a union vote.
Typically, elections take place within two months after a petition is filed. The new rules would shorten that time period, though it's unclear by how much. Labor advocates say that almost any compression of the time period would be a good thing: For employees seeking to join a union, each day that passes is another opportunity for the employer to engage in crushing -- and often successful -- anti-union strategies.

The same anti-worker corporations that attack workers' right to organize (and that rip off the taxpayers) are also prodding Republican candidates to attack the NLRB. According to The Hill,

A pro-business group asked Republican presidential candidates to make attacks on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) a centerpiece of their campaigns.

The Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI) is pressing the GOP presidential contenders to take a more active role in opposing the NLRB, which stoked conservatives' ire by filing suit in an attempt to block Boeing from relocating a plant to South Carolina because of the state's right to work laws.

"Business owners and workers around the nation call on you to make opposing the NLRB’s job-killing actions a centerpiece of your campaign," wrote Fred Wszolek of WFI in a letter to the campaigns' managers, and to President Obama. "You can stand up for business owners, workers, job creation and the rule of law by doing so."

Very, very nice.

Today's Teamster News 01.14.16

TEAMSTERS
Teamsters, West Virginia Workers Stand Strong Against Right to Work  Teamster.org  ...Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall joined hundreds of labor union and community members at the State Capitol today to voice their opposition to right-to-work legislation introduced today in West Virginia. Delegates are expected to move forward on the measure as early as tomorrow...
NLRB Joint-Employer Rule Likely Headed For Appellate Review  Law360  ...The National Labor Relations Board’s new joint-employer standard is likely headed to an appeals court, after the board's ruling on Tuesday that Browning-Ferris and staffing agency Leadpoint, the parties in the case central to the new standard, unlawfully refused to bargain with the Teamsters. The ruling came four months after the NLRB adopted a looser joint-employer test...
Federal Appellate Court Enforces NLRB Ruling Against Chicago Parking Valet  Local 727  ...A federal appellate court judge has enforced a decision and order issued last year by the National Labor Relations Board against Chicago Parking Valet in which the NLRB found the company had engaged in unfair labor practices. Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the NLRB’s decision and once again ordered the company to desist its unfair labor practices...
Teamsters Local 1932 hires new general manager  Examiner ...On Tuesday night at the regular meeting of the San Bernardino Public Employees Association/ Teamsters Local 1932 Board of Directors, General Manager Deidre Rodriguez stepped down. The board voted to hire Randy Korgan as the new manager in her place. Korgan most recently served as Teamsters Joint Council 42 Organizing Director...
Teamsters Members Win Over $70,000 in Overtime Back Pay  Local 2010  ...Christmas came for early for some members of Teamsters Local 2010 working in the UCSD Eye Institute. On December 22, 2015, 19 workers were awarded checks ranging from $126 to $5,074 for back pay owed for unpaid overtime. “If it wasn’t for the Teamsters we would have never gotten paid,” Leslie Medina said.  “With your help, we got what was owed us"...
Treasury Department Announces Additional January Public Sessions for Feedback on CSPF Rescue Plan  Teamster.org  ...The Treasury Department announced the details today for two additional public sessions in January for Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund retirees and participants to offer feedback on the proposed rescue plan. The sessions will be hosted by Treasury appointee Kenneth R. Feinberg...
Large pension cuts topic of Teamsters meeting Thursday  Kansas City Star  ...Kansas City area retired Teamsters will meet Thursday in another effort to head off large cuts to their pension checks set to hit next summer. The Missouri-Kansas City Committee to Protect Our Pensions is holding the afternoon session to educate and mobilize beneficiaries of the Central States Pension Fund. Thursday’s meeting includes an address by Jim Kabell, president of the Missouri-Kansas-Nebraska Conference of Teamsters...

GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
DuluxGroup workers in Australia strike amid looming job cuts  Sydney Morning Herald   ...More than 100 staff at DuluxGroup have been barricaded from the paint maker's Brisbane factory after they voted to go on strike following the company's refusal to remove a cap on redundancy entitlements.
Dulux - which has branded the strike as "opportunistic" -  has installed temporary fencing on council land near the factory at Rocklea...
In Name of Patient Safety and Future of National Healthcare, UK Doctors Strike  Common Dreams  ...Tens of thousands of junior doctors across the United Kingdom joined in strikes and pickets on Tuesday, protesting what they describe as "a fundamental breakdown in trust...for which the government is directly responsible." The strike stems from a dispute over pay and working conditions, weekend shifts in particular...
Toronto's outside workers union announces strike mandate  Toronto Sun  ...Toronto's outside civic workers have voted to strike if negotiations with the city fail, the union announced late Wednesday. CUPE Local 416, representing 6,000 employees including garbage collectors, sought the strike mandate after the city applied for a provincial conciliator late last month...
Canada won't commit yet to Feb. 4 TPP signing  CBC  ...Canada's international trade minister says her government hasn't decided whether it will participate in an expected signing ceremony for the Trans-Pacific Partnership in Auckland, New Zealand early next month. "We are aware that some of the countries are talking about a signing in New Zealand. Canada hasn't yet taken a decision," Chrystia Freeland told reporters in Vancouver Tuesday...
Trans-Pacific Partnership: Obama's man appeals to Turnbull for help  Sydney Morning Herald  ...The US Ambassador to Australia says he wants Malcolm Turnbull to argue the case for the Trans-Pacific Partnership when he visits Washington next week, where members of Congress are undecided about how to vote. On Wednesday, President Barack Obama used his last State of the Union address to appeal to Congress to approve the 12-nation mega trade deal...
Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia might join TPP, says Miti  The Star  ...Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia have actually expressed interest to be part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), said the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti). Miti said this in its written response to issues raised by Dr Jomo Kwame Sundaram recently that countries such as Thailand and the Philippines had opted to distance themselves from this treaty...
Guest of Rep. Peter DeFazio at State of the Union has seen effect of trade agreements firsthand  Register-Guard  ...DeFazio places the blame for Phillips’ troubles squarely on the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, which he and other critics say rewarded American companies that moved jobs overseas. NAFTA supporters say the tariff-cutting, investment-encouraging deal has helped boost the economies of the three signatories — the United States, Canada and Mexico. DeFazio has been a long-standing critic, however...

STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Right to work one of 1st bills out of gate; opposition organized  Metro News  ...Republican legislative leaders are making right to work legislation a top priority for the 2016 Regular Legislative Session. The first bill introduced in the state Senate on Wednesday was the one written to make West Virginia a right to work state. Opponents of the legislation in West Virginia called right to work “destructive” legislation that, in their views, would clear the way for lower wages and the weakening of work protections...
Minimum wage question headed toward 2016 ballot in Maine  Maine Sun Journal  ...Leaders of a statewide referendum campaign to incrementally boost Maine's minimum wage from $7.50 an hour to $12 an hour by 2025 said Wednesday they would deliver more than 80,000 petition signatures to the secretary of state's office Thursday. The campaign, Mainers for Fair Wages, needed just over 61,000 signatures from Maine voters to put the question on the ballot in 2016...
Supporters of redistricting amendment nearing signature goal  The Southern  ...Changing the way Illinois’ legislative districts are drawn is one of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s priorities, and he may get some help this year from outside the General Assembly. Despite the Republican governor’s stance on the issue and his ongoing stalemate with legislative Democrats, putting the once-a-decade redistricting process in the hands of an independent commission has widespread bipartisan support...
Workers In Right To Work States Are Less Likely To Have Access To Retirement Plans  NH Labor News  ...Wide differences in access to and participation in employer-based retirement plans exist across states, with variations by employer size and industry type as well as by workers’ income, age, education, race and ethnicity, according to a report released today by The Pew Charitable Trusts. The report, Who’s In, Who’s Out: A Look at Access to Employer-Based Retirement Plans and Participation in the States, examines the rates of access to and participation in plans in all 50 states...
New York Governor Calls For Paid Family Leave With Moving Story About Caring For His Late Father  Think Progress  ...In his State of the State address on Wednesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) called for the passage of legislation that would ensure that state residents can take 12 weeks of paid family leave for a new child or a serious illness. Toward the end of his speech, he shared the story of caring for his late father, former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, at the end of his life last year...
What's next for new Jersey paid sick leave bill?  NorthJersey.com  ...The failure to advance a sick leave bill feared by business leaders but once touted by state New Jersey Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto as a top legislative priority has left both sides wondering what comes next. The bill, which would have required employers to give their workers paid sick leave, was never even posted for a vote...
NAACP: Postpone NC voter ID trial until after primaries  Journal Now  ...The N.C. NAACP is asking a federal judge to postpone a trial on the state’s photo ID requirement until after the March 15 primary, according to court documents filed Tuesday. The trial is set to start Jan. 25 in U.S. District Court in Winston-Salem. The state NAACP, the U.S. Department of Justice and others sued North Carolina and Gov. Pat McCrory in 2013 after state Republican legislators passed a controversial sweeping elections law known as the Voter Information Verification Act...
Study: Minimum Wage Hikes Don't Hurt the Restaurant Industry  Eater  ...When restaurants raise prices to offset moderate increases to the minimum wage, the industry as a whole is not adversely affected. Like, at all. This is the conclusion of a study (see below) released last month by the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration entitled "Have Minimum Wage Increases Hurt the Restaurant Industry? The Evidence Says No!"...
DC Council to consider bills on low-wage worker schedules  WJLA  ...The D.C. Council is considering two bills that are meant to provide low-wage workers with more predictable work hours. One bill would require the retail and food-service industries in the District of Columbia to provide their employees with written schedules at least 21 days in advance. The other would require janitors and maintenance workers in large office buildings to be given at least 30 hours of work per week...

U.S. LABOR
ArcelorMittal could idle some lines at Indiana Harbor  NWI Times  ...ArcelorMittal, one of Northwest Indiana's largest employers, may want to idle more operations at its steelmaking operations at Indiana Harbor in East Chicago. ArcelorMittal is currently discussing operations in East Chicago with the United Steelworkers union, as the two sides try to reach a new three-year labor pact...
Labor talks between Sonoma County, SEIU heading toward impasse  Press Democrat  ...Labor negotiations between Sonoma County and its largest union — representing more than half of the county’s 4,100 public employees — are nearing a stalemate that could drag out contract talks for months. The county has initiated impasse proceedings with the Service Employees International Union Local 1021, which staged a three-day strike in November that disrupted some county services...
Sweet'N Low Workers Rally Outside Fort Greene Packing Plant to Save Jobs  DNA Info  ...Workers are saying “hell no” to Sweet’N Low manufacturer Cumberland Packing after the company announced last week it would end production at its Fort Greene plant. “We’re outraged, to say the least,” said UFCW Local 2013 President Louis Mark Carotenuto. Carotenuto said the workers, who have been called part of the Cumberland family, have since received little information about what’s going to happen to their jobs...
Mega-fleet XPO the latest to be hit with misclassification suit from port drivers  CCJ  ...Truck operators for three drayage carriers owned by carrier conglomerate XPO Logistics have filed a class action lawsuit seeking payment over alleged misclassification as contractors instead of employees, which led to lower wages and denial of state mandated breaks, plaintiffs claim...
Will St. Paul, Minnesota Teachers Soon Be Out on Strike?  In These Times  ...St. Paul teachers union organizer Patrick Burke says that the union has been practicing proactive behavior prevention strategies for a while now, with virtually no support from the district. The latest round of shocking school-based incidents, then, stand as more of a final straw than first steps on the road to a walk out. The union and district began contract negotiations in May of 2015, and Burke says the St. Paul Federation of Teachers put 25 proposals on the table...
UFW informs workers of undocumented rights in wake of ICE raids  Turnto23  ...One by one members of the UFW foundation approached people in Lamont passing out red cards that have the Fourth and Fifth Amendment on them in Spanish. The two amendments give workers constitutional protection from unlawful searches and the right to remain silent. On the other side of the card there are three statements that the UFW says the workers can say to the ICE agent...
Bar Associations Are Much More Like Unions Than Friedrichs’ Attorney Acknowledged  OnLabor  ...If the Supreme Court overturns Abood, it is not clear how States could continue to require lawyers to pay dues to State Bars.  Clearly much of what State bars do to regulate the legal profession involves questions of public policy.  And just as some teachers may disagree with the union’s position on teacher tenure or class size, some lawyers disagree with the bar association’s position on multi-jurisdictional practice or referral fees...

SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Myth of the middle class: Most Americans don’t even have $1,000 in savings  Salon  ...What exactly is the middle class? A new study suggests that the U.S. hardly even has one. More than half of Americans — 56 percent, to be exact — have less than $1,000 combined in their checking and savings accounts, according to a recent survey, Forbes reported...
Obama’s Immigration Raids Are Turning Latino Communities Into Ghost Towns  Think Progress  ...Even though the raids have so far been concentrated in Texas, North Carolina, and Georgia, there has been a ripple effect across the country. Latino immigrants in other states — afraid of becoming the next individuals arrested in what they perceive to be random targetings — are resorting to hiding in their homes, keeping their children home from school, and calling on legal residents to do their grocery shopping for them...
The influence of special interests extends to local editorial pages  Sunlight Foundation  ...The editorial pages of local newspapers still remain a key gathering place for debates about local and regional matters of importance. It is also a place where industries and individuals alike seek to influence policymakers at the local level. Alaska Dispatch News columnist Dermot Cole recently took this tactic to task after an op-ed on the seemingly obscure topic of occupational licensing was placed in the Dispatch News by Mark Holden, a senior vice president at Koch Industries...
Koch Daddy and the Nazis, a Revealing History from Jane Mayer  PR Watch  ...Mayer uncovers new information about how Fred Koch joined forces with a genuine Nazi sympathizer from the U.S. to build a refinery personally approved by Adolf Hitler himself, one of the three largest refineries in the Third Reich, which was used to create fuels for Hitler's deadly attacks on peaceful nations. While Mayer does not call Fred Koch a "Nazi sympathizer" himself, readers may disagree when reading Fred Koch's public praise for Germany under Hitler, as well as the other Axis powers, Japan and Italy...

Clinton, Sanders and O'Malley Address Police Violence and White Privilege at Brown and Black Forum  Truthout  ...Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley fielded pointed questions about police violence, racial justice, reparations, white privilege and deportations at the Iowa Brown & Black Forum on Monday night. The Iowa Brown & Black Forum has been bringing presidential candidates to one of the whitest states in the country in order for them to speak on issues of diversity since 1984...

Today's Teamster News 01.05.16

TEAMSTERS
Teamsters Call On Solutions One Industries To Recognize Union, Honor Contract  Teamster.org  ...Teamsters that provide logistical and warehousing support for the men and women who serve at the Fort Irwin National Training Center are fighting an effort by One Solutions Industries to deny the wages and benefits guaranteed to the workers under their collective bargaining agreement. Solutions One Industries (SOI) was awarded the federal contract that covers the 23 members of Teamsters Local 166 on Nov. 1, 2015...
Cargill: Tried to resolve issues before firing Colorado Muslim workers  Denver Post  ...About 190 workers, mostly Somali, were let go after they left the meatpacking line to protest changes to prayer policy. The workers earn $14 per hour and up and are represented by a union, Teamsters Local 455. More than 2,000 people are employed at the plant...

GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Strike deadline set in Ontario corrections talks  Canadian Labour Reporter  ...Ontario correctional workers will be in a legal strike or lockout position on Jan. 10. The Ontario Ministry of Labour issued a “no board” report on Dec. 24, 2015, with respect to negotiations between the provincial government and Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) members in the Correctional Bargaining Unit of the Ontario Public Service...
With European trade deal unfinished, Obama to head to Germany in the spring  Washington Post  ...President Obama will head to Hannover, Germany in late April to attend a trade fair, the White House announced Wednesday, part of the administration's push to secure a European trade deal before he leaves office.  Administration officials are hoping to make progress on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), negotiations between the United States and the European Union that have taken a back seat to the recently-forged Trans Pacific Partnership...
Business leaders announce support for TPP  The Hill  ..A group of the nation's chief executives is endorsing a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade agreement, calling on Congress to pass the pact this year. The Business Roundtable announced support Tuesday for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) saying it is a “significant” agreement that will open foreign markets and create U.S. jobs. BRT is the second major business group this week to announce support for the 12-nation TPP deal...
The five biggest lobbying fights to watch in 2016  Washington Post  ...1. Trans-Pacific Partnership: TPP, the sweeping trade deal reached in October between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations, is expected to be hotly contested, both from members of Congress and from a wide swath of interest groups. It will be the biggest showdown among lawmakers, interest groups and the White House in 2016...
Chile will sign the TPP in February  Fresh Plaza  ...The Chilean government announced that it would sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) in February in New Zealand. For this purpose, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Heraldo Munoz, will travel to New Zealand to complete the processing of an arrangement that involves 12 countries, including the United States, Japan, Mexico, Canada, and Peru...

STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Dems say paid sick leave bill a priority  WCAX  ...Vermont lawmakers will return to Montpelier Tuesday. With a budget to balance, a revenue bill to compose and potentially marijuana legalization to debate, their schedule is full. Democrats also have their sights set on changing the way some companies do business. The two political parties differ wildly over whether mandating that employers offer paid sick leave is a good idea...
Cuomo Lifts Minimum Wage for Workers at New York Universities  New York Times  ...Continuing a push for the payment of higher wages for public-sector jobs, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York announced a plan on Monday to raise the minimum wage for state university workers to $15. Mr. Cuomo’s action was the latest to address what he sees as subpar wages: He used a state wage board to increase hourly pay to $15 for fast-food workers last summer and unveiled a similar plan for an estimated 10,000 state workers in November...
16 Michigan political issues to watch in 2016  MLive  ...There is a legislative appetite to repeal prevailing wage in the state which provides union-scale wages on publicly funded construction projects. But Gov. Rick Snyder has telegraphed that it's not a priority of his. The ballot proposal could essentially circumvent the governor, repealing prevailing wage by getting 252,523 signatures and submitting it to the legislature...
N.H.'s Voter ID Law Remains Big Unknown for Presidential Primary Day  NHPR  ...New Hampshire’s primary is just five weeks away, and state election officials are anticipating record turnout. There’s something else on their minds too—this will be the first presidential primary with the state’s new voter ID law in place.  The law, which passed three and a half years ago, was part of a wave of stricter voter laws pushed by Republicans across the country...
Right-to-work law would hurt workers, weaken labor unions in West Virginia  (opinion) Herald Dispatch  ...One piece of legislation likely to be considered in West Virginia in 2016 is misleadingly called "right to work," or RTW. It really has nothing to do with that right but a lot to do with targeting all working families. It's more like "right to work for less." According to current law, if most eligible workers in a private-sector job vote to join a union in a National Labor Relations Board election, all belong...

U.S. LABOR
Volkswagen appeals UAW election at Chattanooga plant  Times Free Press  ...In the latest salvo between Volkswagen and the United Auto Workers, VW has asked in an appeal of the union election at its Chattanooga plant this month that regulators scrap key cases on which the UAW based much of its legal footing. Lawyers for VW said the Specialty Healthcare legal cases on which the UAW depended to organize a small group of workers should be abandoned...
UAW receives notice of 936 layoffs at Freightliner plant  WSOCTV  ...A representative of the United Auto Workers Union told channel 9 on Monday that the union received a notice that 936 people will be laid off from the Cleveland Freightliner plant in Rowan County. The representative said the UAW received a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice dated Dec. 31. The last day of work will be Friday...
Richmond Baking Company workers strike  Pal-Item  ...The company was notified Sunday by the Bakery Workers Union that employees would begin a strike at 2 p.m. Monday, and they did just that. Workers held signs saying "On strike unfair contract," "We have pride too," "More work? Less pay? No way," "Work up; family and pay down," "United We Stand Local 1," "Fair work fair pay" and "Honk 2 Help"...
Mediation begins in Valley bus union-operator negotiations  KTAR  ...Mediation begins Monday between the union representing bus drivers in the metro Phoenix area and the company that operates them. There is a new middle man in the fight between Transdev and the Amalgamated Transit Union. Former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor has been hired to help the two parties settle a collective bargaining agreement in hopes of avoiding a bus driver strike...
Analysis of NLRB Elections Shows Quicker Elections, More Union Wins  BNA  ...Since the National Labor Relations Board’s controversial amendments to its representation election rules took effect last April, supporters and opponents alike have asked two questions: Have the new rules served to speed up the election process? And, if so, has this pickup in tempo favored unions more than employers? Bloomberg BNA has released a report, Election Speed and the NLRB: How Unions Fare in the Representation Process, which suggests that the answer to both questions is yes...
The middle class is just this screwed: Janet Yellen declares victory while workers drown  Salon  ...Earlier this month when Fed chair Janet Yellen offered her rationale for raising interest rates, it was sadly reminiscent of President George W. Bush’s infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech, given on the USS Abraham Lincoln when he declared that major combat operations in Iraq were over in 2003. Between 2010 and 2014 poverty increased in one third of America’s 3,000 counties...
Who’s Fighting the Mental-Health Crisis on Campus? Unions.  The Nation  .... Though Yale’s Mental Health Services system is supposed to provide general psychiatric care for all students and employees, Yale’s Graduate Employee Student Organization (GESO) - the UNITE HERE!–affiliated labor group that Yale graduate employees have been trying to turn into an official union for over a decade - argues that services on campus are deeply inadequate and fraught with bureaucratic barriers...
Women Can’t Expect Equality In The Boardroom Until At Least 2065  Think Progress  ...The share of women on corporate board seats among hundreds of the country’s biggest corporations has doubled over the last 17 years. But even if the rate of change significantly increased, it will take decades until women reach equality. In 2014, women made up about 16 percent of board seats among companies in the S&P 1500 index...

SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
'Don't open the door,' immigrants are warned as family deportation roundup continues  LA Times  ...More than a hundred immigrants, mostly Central American families, were detained in a handful of states through the weekend in a federal effort to deport those who recently entered the country and stayed illegally, according to officials and advocates. As part of the operation, 121 people were taken into custody -- primarily in Georgia, North Carolina and Texas -- and are being processed for deportation...
Robert Reich: The Economy in 2016: On the Edge of Recession  Common Dreams  ...Economic forecasters exist to make astrologers look good, but I’ll hazard a guess. I expect the U.S. economy to sputter in 2016. That’s because the economy faces a deep structural problem: not enough demand for all the goods and services it’s capable of producing. American consumers account for almost 70 percent of economic activity, but they won’t have enough purchasing power in 2016 to keep the economy going on more than two cylinders. Blame widening inequality..
5 Things You Need to Know About Oregon’s Militia Movement  U.S. Uncut  ...The ‘Patriot’ movement is a child of the White Power movement. Many of the tactics and talking points being used were popularized in the 1970s by the white supremacist group Posse Comitatus. This group promoted the “Christian Patriot” movement, advocated the formation of “Citizens Militias,” helped forge an idiosyncratic reading of the Constitution...
Here’s What Happened When Black People Tried Armed Occupation  Think Progress  ...30 years ago, a similar standoff between police and a black anti-government group in Philadelphia played out very differently. Armed members of a fringe liberation group called MOVE were bombed and burned alive for directing their weapons at police. The bombing highlighted the stark contrast in the way cops treat black and white radicals...
How the Leader of the Oregon Armed Protest Benefited From a Federal Loan Program  Mother Jones  ...As one of the leaders of a band of armed, anti-government activists who have taken over a Fish and Wildlife Service building in Oregon, Ammon Bundy has denounced the "tyranny" of the federal government. But not long ago, Ammon Bundy sought out help from the government he now decries and received a federal small-business loan guarantee...
The Melting Arctic's Dramatic Impact on Global Weather Patterns  Truthout  ...Arctic sea ice is melting at a record pace - and every summer looks grimmer. This past summer saw the ice pack at its fourth-lowest level on record, and the overall trend in recent decades suggests this will only continue. "Using satellites, scientists have found that the area of sea ice coverage each September has declined by more than 40 percent since the late 1970s, a trend that has accelerated since 2007"...

Hoffa praises NLRB for restoring basic democratic rights for workers

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa (our boss) had some things to say about the NLRB's proposed rule today.

The federal government has let big corporations abuse the legal system for too many years. Irresponsible corporations often delay organizing votes and retaliate against employees who want to form a union.

In our experience, more than a third of employers fire workers who want to unionize. That’s why America has lost 10 percent of its middle-class jobs since 2000. This rule gives workers a reasonable chance to join together to restore fairness and balance.

If corporations can join together to hire lobbyists without being challenged by abusive lawsuits, then workers should also have that right.

Read the whole thing here.

Faith leaders also weighed in. Here's Kim Bobo, executive director of Interfaith Worker Justice:

Without this step forward, anti-union employers have too much power to intimidate workers and stop them from expressing their voice on the job.

And Rev. Nelson Rivers III, pastor of Charity Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston, South Carolina:

Even in the 21st century, too many American workers face barriers to justice and dignity in the workplace. Overcoming these obstacles requires not only hard work and prayer, but also rules that allow workers to exercise their right to organize. The NLRB’s new ruling on union elections serves this noble purpose, and I commend it.

We'll be following this closely.

Durham bus company lawyer mocks workers at NLRB hearing

  
Bad enough that Durham School Services is trying to bust the Teamsters' organizing drive in California. Even worse that the company's condescending jerk of a lawyer insulted workers at an NLRB hearing in Washington.

Here's what happpened: The company wanted the National Labor Relations Board to rule that three California yards (Santa Ana, Irvine and Laguna Beach) should have separate union representation elections. That, of course, would make it harder to organize the workers.

Durham's human resources manager and McMahon Berger lawyer Jim Foster came to Washington late last month for an NLRB hearing on the issue. According to the schoolbusdriversunited.org website, Durham's HR manager was asked if there were certain hiring requirements for the company. Foster blurted out,

“You mean, other than being a breathing human being?”

The organizing committee of Durham workers has put out a brand new flier that describes Jim Foster's behavior and explains workers are united so they can get the respect they deserve. (As if that needs any explanation!) Says the organizing committee,

We go through licensing, training, fingerprinting and criminal background checks.We have extremely demanding jobs that require patience, knowledge, commitment and professionalism.

For the record, National Express Company, which owns Durham School Services claims it has

....a strong commitment to provide quality transportation, outstanding customer service, positive employee relations and the highest level of safety.

You mean, other than being totally hypocritical?

Today's Teamster News 09.29.15

Teamsters
Hoffa: Retirees, Workers Deserve to Receive Their Pensions  Huffington Post  ...The golden years of everyday Americans who worked hard for decades to put away money for retirement are increasingly being jeopardized by the nation's pension system. Earlier this month, several hundred Teamster members and retirees came to Washington to voice outrage over proposed rules governing pension cuts and support for legislation offered by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) that would bolster multi-employer plans...
Teamsters Local 357, Republic Airways Reach Tentative Agreement on New Contract  Teamster.org  ...Teamsters Local 357 and Republic Airways Holdings Inc. announced today that they have reached a consensual tentative agreement on the terms of a new three-year contract for the 2,100 Republic pilots represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. “This milestone is long overdue,” said Captain Jim Clark, Teamsters Local 357 president...
Teamsters-Sun Tran contract includes some 50% pay raises  Arizona Daily Star  ...A labor contract released Monday details pay raises of up to 50 percent for some Sun Tran workers. Teamsters Local 104 and Sun Tran management firm Professional Transit Management signed the two-year contract on Sept. 16, ending a 42-day bus strike in Tucson. Details of the contract were first made public Monday...
FedEx stockholders approve union-backed proposal  Commercial Appeal  ...FedEx stockholders on Monday approved a Teamsters-backed resolution that proposes an easier path for share owners to promote candidates for the board of directors. It was the only shareholder proposal adopted during the Memphis-based company's annual meeting, and the first such proposal to pass since 2010...
Browning-Ferris Joint-Employer Row Back At NLRB  Law360  ...The Teamsters on Friday filed an unfair labor charge against the successor company to Browning-Ferris Industries, bringing the parties at the center of the board’s decision changing the joint-employer standard head-to-head for another round after the company refused to bargain with the union. Workers at a recycling plant owned by Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc., now owned by Republic Services Inc., had voted to be represented by Teamsters Local 350...

Global Labor & Trade
Chief TPP negotiators race to wrap up broad trade deal  Japan Times  ...Chief negotiators from the United States, Japan and 10 other countries restarted talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership initiative Saturday, seeking to conclude years of negotiations before tight political schedules in some countries crimp the chances of making a quick deal. Ahead of a TPP ministerial meeting beginning Wednesday, the top working-level officials will try to reduce differences over thorny issues...
The unexpected upshot of John Boehner’s ouster: The Trans-Pacific Partnership is in danger  Salon  ...Even if negotiators work out a tentative agreement this week, the biggest announcement on TPP may have already happened. That would be last Friday’s resignation of House Speaker John Boehner. We don’t even know if the meetings in Atlanta can produce a deal, given all the deadlocks and unresolved provisions between the nations involved. But even if there’s a big announcement this week, the administration won’t have John Boehner in their corner...
TTIP negotiations not even half done  Politico  ...Negotiations on a massive EU-U.S. trade agreement are not even halfway complete, according to a new European Commission internal assessment, and the lack of progress is raising questions about Brussels’ hopes for concluding the agreement before the end of the Obama administration...
Conservatives line up support from auto-parts makers for TPP deal  Globe and Mail  ...The governing Conservatives have lined up enough support for a massive Pacific Rim trade agreement from big auto-parts makers to expose a split in the industry ahead of talks this week that may yield a 12-country deal. Talks between trade ministers resume shortly in Atlanta and one of the most contentious subjects is provisions agreed to by Japan and the United States that some warn could sideswipe some of the 80,000 auto-parts manufacturing jobs in Canada...
Good chance for conclusion of TPP: Mustapa  News Straits Times  ...There is a 50:50 chance for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations to be concluded in the US this Thursday, says International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. "It is 50:50 with a slight edge for conclusion," he told the Business Times before leaving for Atlanta this afternoon. The two-day ministerial round of talks opens tomorrow...
Japan considers making new offer on U.S. rice in Atlanta TPP talks  Japan Times  ... Japan is considering sweetening the pot for U.S. rice farmers in a bid to reach agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a source close to the matter said Monday. As talks resumed on Saturday between the United States, Japan and 10 other countries negotiating the bloc in Atlanta, Washington and Tokyo remained at odds...
Fiscal Austerity May Jeopardize Brazil's Poverty Alleviation Program  Truthout  ...Latin America's largest economy, Brazil, has succeeded in lifting 36 million people out of extreme poverty over the past 12 years. But it has still a long way to go towards promoting inclusive and sustainable growth. Financial crisis and fiscal austerity goals resulting in a cut to the 2015 budget of almost USD23 billion may imperil social achievements, according to experts...
UN Finally Puts Child Slavery on Development Agenda  Solidarity Center   ...Last week the United Nations passed its next set of commitments for development, the “Sustainable Development Goals,” for the coming 15 years and added important labor issues that its member states are obligated to prioritize. “This is significant,” said child labor crusader and Nobel Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi at the UN Summit, “because for the first time these goals include the issues of child slavery, labor and trafficking, and has brought forth the language to address them”...

State & Living Wage Battles
Immigration bill clears NC Senate  Charlotte Observer  ...The state Senate voted 28-17 to restrict forms of identification for non-citizens and ban counties and municipalities from having “sanctuary city” policies that limit enforcement of immigration laws. The bill was approved largely along party lines, with Sen. Josh Stein of Raleigh as the only Democrat voting yes...
Contractors Ask Legislature to Preserve Prevailing Wage  WDET  ...A group of construction contractors and trade unions is pushing back against an effort at the state Capitol to repeal prevailing wage requirements on many publicly funded projects. State and local prevailing wage rules require contractors to pay union-level wages on schools and other public building projects. A petition drive led by non-union builders has gathered signatures to put the question before the Legislature....
US politicians agree to delay minimum wage increase  Radio New Zealand  ...The United States House of Representatives has voted to delay until 2017 a 50 cent increase in the American Samoa minimum wage due to come into effect at the end of this month. The bill sponsored by American Samoa's congresswoman Aumua Amata now goes to the US Senate for consideration. If passed by the full Congress, the measure would still need to get to President Obama for approval...
Changes could be coming for Minneapolis workers  Kare11  ...The city of Minneapolis is looking to change how employers schedule and pay their workers. The "Working Families Agenda" has three key issues: fair scheduling, earned sick time and wage theft. "I'm here to continue to listen and that's what we're doing," said Elizabeth Glidden, city council vice president...
Support for fuel terminals is support for state’s workers (opinion) News Tribune ...The governor, the executives of King and Pierce County, the Seattle City Council, some members of the Tacoma City Council and others should seriously rethink their opposition to the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal in Bellingham and the Millennium Bulk Terminal and Vancouver Energy export terminals in Vancouver. While these export terminals provide construction and operational jobs, they are also important private investments in Washington’s trade infrastructure...

U.S. Labor
UAW gets yes vote at Warren Truck  Detroit Free Press  ...A majority of production workers at Warren Truck Assembly narrowly voted in favor of a proposed national agreement on Monday with Fiat Chrysler, giving the UAW its first glimmer of hope in recent days that it can convince a majority of workers to ratify the proposed contract. The UAW is scrambling to win support from about 40,000 Fiat Chrysler workers that it represents at 37 different UAW local units...
Al Jazeera America Will Not Recognize Union: NLRB Elections Underway  International Business Times  ...After several weeks, the management at Al Jazeera America (AJAM) has decided not to recognize the union drive announced by staffers on Sept. 3, putting into motion an election in which votes will be cast by employees and administered by the National Labor Relations Board, International Business Times has learned from a source with direct knowledge of the matter. Elections are happening Tuesday...
UFCW Local 5 still negotiating with Safeway  Supermarket News  ...United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 5, which represents 14,000 Safeway employees in parts of Northern California, is continuing to negotiate with the company nearly a year after the previous contract expired.
UFCW Local 8-Golden State announced a tentative agreement last week with 9,000 Safeway employees in Northern and Central California...
Marco Rubio's paid family leave plan would do little to expand paid family leave  Daily Kos  ...Four in five Americans thinks companies should be required to "offer paid leave to parents of new children and employees caring for sick family members." So trust a Republican to come up with a paid family leave policy that doesn't require anything and benefits business, not workers. Marco Rubio is the one Republican presidential candidate with any plan on this issue...
After Decades of Discrimination, Farm Workers Get Pesticide Protections  Common Dreams  ...Farm workers will now have sweeping new protections from pesticides under new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules announced Monday—safeguards which labor leaders say eluded farm workers for decades due to racial discrimination. The new rules [were] announced by EPA administrator Gina McCarthy, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, and United Farm Workers (UFW) president Arturo Rodriguez...
In America, the Poorer You Are, the Poorer Your Children Will Be  The Nation  ...When people talk about “balancing work and family,” they’re usually talking more about the workplace than what’s going on at home. Now we’re starting to get data on what the workaday life looks like from a kid’s eye view, and it doesn’t look good...

Social Justice & Other News
What John Boehner’s Surprise Resignation Means For Immigration Reform  Think Progress  ...House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is the favorite to succeed John Boehner (R-OH) after his surprise resignation as the House Speaker last week. The appointment of McCarthy, who represents a heavily Latino district, to preside over a more radically conservative Republican caucus could have implications for immigration reform...
Humane Criminal Justice Is Not Hopeless  Slate  ...Pope Francis concluded his historic first visit to the United States on Sunday, spending most of his final few hours with women and men imprisoned at Philadelphia’s Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility and putting an exclamation mark on a central theme of his visit: the need to infuse more dignity and hope into America’s criminal justice system...
US supreme court: conservatives set to retake reins after year of liberal wins  The Guardian  ...The supreme court returns on Monday for a new series of cases, and all indications point to equally dramatic plot twists involving race, class and murder. While 2014-15 will be remembered for surprise wins by the liberal wing of the court, particularly two blockbuster decisions endorsing gay marriage and Obamacare, legal experts expect this year will see a clutch of decisions that reassert the power of the conservative majority...
Trump’s Tax Plan Is A Big Giveaway To The Wealthiest  Think Progress  ...On Monday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will unveil a detailed tax reform plan — and he is already positioning it as a populist proposal. In a press alert about the plan, the campaign states, “Essentially, the plan is a major tax reduction for almost all citizens and corporations, in particular, those in the middle and lower income classes.” But the plan has a number of provisions that will overwhelmingly help the already well off...

Today's Teamster News 01.12.16

TEAMSTERS
D.C. Taxi Drivers Accuse Police Of Harassment In Barrage Of Tickets  WAMU  ...Officers in the Metropolitan Police Department’s Fifth District were responsible for writing 1,368 tickets to cabbies from Jan. through Oct. 2015, more than three times the 394 tickets written in the city’s other six police districts combined, according to data obtained by the Teamsters Union Local 922 and shared with WAMU 88.5. The Teamsters’ lawyers are defending the drivers in court, claiming many of the tickets are bogus...
Teamsters, Carhaul Employers to Resume Contract Negotiations  Teamster.org  ...The Teamsters National Automobile Transporters Industry Negotiating Committee (TNATINC) and carhaul employer representatives will reconvene this Wednesday, Jan. 13 and Thursday, Jan. 14 in Detroit to discuss and exchange proposals for a new national contract. In December, both sides made progress toward a new tentative agreement. While several of the outstanding contract issues have been largely resolved, both sides are still evaluating serious and difficult economic issues...
School district support staff union to challenge Teamsters election victory  Review Journal  ...A nearly 15-year fight to unseat the labor union that represents more than 11,000 bus drivers, custodians and other support staff who work for the Clark County School District again will head to court soon.
Thanks to a change in rules governing public-sector unions in Nevada, the Teamsters Local 14 claimed a landslide victory. But a lawyer for the Education Support Employees Association, which represents school support staff, promised to "promptly" challenge that in state court...
Minnesota Teamsters Endorse Angie Craig for 2nd Congressional District  Teamster.org  ...Today, Teamsters across Minnesota endorsed Angie Craig for Congress in the 2nd Congressional seat race set for this fall. “We are pleased to put our support behind Angie Craig who we know will be a strong advocate for working men and women across Minnesota and our country,” said Teamsters Joint Council 32 President Larry Yoswa...

GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Tensions rise as workers for Apple contractor in Indonesia plan strike  Jakarta Post  ...Authorities in Batam, Riau Islands, have called on thousands of workers from a major local company to drop plans to begin a three-week strike on Monday. Batam Free Trade Zone Management Agency public relations and promotions director Purnomo Andiantono said the concerns emerged after some 2,000 workers from PT Amtek Engineering Batam last week announced a plan to stage a collective strike...
UK Transport Union Announces Three 24-Hour Underground Strikes  Sputnik News  ...The United Kingdom's biggest Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union announced on Monday that London Underground staff were to stage three 24-hour strikes and a week of industrial action in two separate disputes over pay and night tube services. According to the RMT statement, Underground workers will strike for 24 hours on January 26, February 15 and February 17 over disputes about pay...
Tug boat workers' strike to disrupt shipping industry  Financial Review  ...Delays are expected to plague Australia's big east coast ports on Tuesday and Wednesday, with workers planning to walk off the job after an agreement could not be struck with tug boat engineers. The industrial action is protected and is over a new enterprise agreement between the Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers and operator Svitzer Australia...
Ontario correctional workers give up right to strike to reach deal  CBC  ...Ontario's correctional workers and the government have agreed to move to binding arbitration within the next 60 days — and to designate the province's nearly 6,000 jail guards, parole and probation officers as essential service workers. That means the union agreed to give up its right to strike, not just for this contract but for successive ones...
Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal to be signed in NZ  NZ Herald  ...The controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal will be signed into existence in New Zealand. Chile let the cat out of the bag early by announcing the signing last week, before officials were ready, leading to swift backpedaling from organisers. But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has just confirmed an event will be held in Auckland in early February...
DeLauro defies Obama on State of the Union issue  CT Mirror  ...Once again, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro is defying President Obama as he prepares to deliver his State of the Union address. Once again, the split is over trade. DeLauro, D-3rd District, is leading a fight against one of the things Obama wants to leave as part of his legacy – a Trans-Pacific Partnership with 11 other nations that ring the Pacific Ocean...
Trans-Pacific Partnership could be worth almost nothing to Australia  Mashable  ...Over the five years it was negotiated, the potential economic impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), set to become one of the biggest free trade deals of all time, has been condemned and praised with equal ferocity. Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb claimed the TPP would deliver "enormous benefits" to Australia. Now the World Bank has looked into the matter, and as it turns out, all that secrecy has added up to very little for Australia...
Tamil National Alliance backs austerity, pro-investor policies in Sri Lanka  WSWS.org  ...As the year began, the Tamil nationalist organizations in Sri Lanka escalated their support for austerity and the use of Sri Lankan workers as cheap labor for international capital. Mavai Senathirajah, a leading parliamentarian of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), told the media, “we are expecting several development projects and economic zones in the North-East”...
Greece Renews Challenge to Creditors’ Austerity Policies  Wall Street Journal  ...Greece’s left-led government renewed its challenge to its creditors’ austerity policies on Tuesday, vowing to resist further pension cuts while calling on Europe to let Greece meet budget targets mainly via economic growth, not belt-tightening. “The best way to fill this gap [in Greece’s budget] isn't by reducing, but by increasing the economy,” Labor Minister George Katrougalos said...
Haiti Earthquake Anniversary: Garment Workers Still Struggle to Survive  Solidarity Center  ...Six years after a major earthquake devastated the Haitian capital and its environs and the international community promised to “build back better,” Haitian workers say their daily lives are a struggle for survival, with their meager wages insufficient to cover basic expenses. In recent interviews, Haitian garment workers told the Solidarity Center that they are worse off today than before the quake...

STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
How Corporate Political Spending Will Stay Secret in Wisconsin  PR Watch  ...Wisconsin Republicans are insisting that they didn't intend to allow corporate political donations to remain secret under the recent overhaul of the state's campaign finance laws. But secrecy, in fact, has become the distinguishing characteristic of Wisconsin elections. And that is by design. Sweeping campaign finance changes signed into law by Governor Scott Walker last month allowed corporations to donate up to $12,000 directly to "segregated funds"...
State ballot measure filed to raise minimum wage to $13.50  Seattle Times  ...Supporters of raising Washington state’s minimum wage filed a ballot measure Monday that seeks to incrementally raise Washington’s minimum wage to $13.50 an hour over four years starting in 2017, as well as provide paid sick leave to employees without it. The initiative was announced at a news conference by a coalition of workers and union members...
Are Neighboring States Putting Pressure on N.H. Lawmakers to Boost Minimum Wage?  NHPR  ...The new legislative session kicked off last week, as lawmakers began the process of again sifting through the hundreds of new bills. Many of these proposals would affect New Hampshire’s business community, including raising the state’s minimum wage, an issue that hasn’t gone anywhere in the past...
House Committee Hears Voter ID Proposal Today  Ozarks First  ...Two voter photo ID proposals will be heard Tuesday by the Missouri House’s Elections committee. Representative Tony Dugger (R-Hartville) is proposing a constitutional amendment that would ask voters to approve requiring a photo ID at the polls. A companion bill sponsored by Representative Justin Alferman (R-Hermann) would create the structure for voter photo ID if the ballot issue passes...
Kasich: New mothers should work at home online, not get paid family leave  Daily Kos  ...Screw paid parental leave. Republican presidential candidate (yes, still) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich thinks new mothers and fathers should rely on their employers to “try to be creative” instead of being required to offer paid leave. And if the extent of their employers’ creativity is “come to work or you’re fired,” as it is for so many Americans, oh well...
Is Ohio headed for 'right-to-work' anyway?  Cincinnati.com  ...Remember that political grudge match called Senate Bill 5? A U.S. Supreme Court case on whether government workers must pay union dues against their wills could upend a key part of Ohioans' decisive vote against the anti-collective bargaining law. If the court rules against unions – and it's looking like it might – Ohio's public workers could become "right-to-work" overnight...
Michigan Knew Last Year That Flint’s Water Might Be Poisoned But Decided Not to Tell Anyone  Slate  ...Michigan governor Rick Snyder declared last week that the poisonously high levels of lead in drinking water in Flint, Michigan constitute a state of emergency. Reporting by Michigan Radio and research by the ACLU, though, alleges that the state government itself may have broken laws last year to cover up evidence of high lead levels that were turned up in tests it was supervising...

U.S. LABOR
UAW Donating Water To Flint Residents  WILX  ...Members of the United Auto Workers union are donating drinking water to Flint residents affected by the city's water crisis. The Flint Journal reported Saturday that bottled water would be brought to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan in a caravan of trucks. An emergency has been declared in Flint where water drawn from the Flint River leached lead from old plumbing for months...
USW: NLRB Issues Third Consolidated Complaint against Asarco  PR Newswire  ...The United Steelworkers (USW) today said that Region 28 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a third consolidated complaint against Asarco, LLC, which includes an allegation that the company unlawfully implemented portions of its so-called "last, best and final" contract proposal on Dec. 1, 2015, in the absence of a bargaining impasse...
National Labor Board takes McDonald’s to court  Al Jazeera  ...Current and former McDonald’s workers who accuse the fast-food giant of illegal union-busting will get their day in court on Monday, when an administrative law judge is expected to begin hearing arguments in a major unfair labor practice suit. The Obama administration's National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will represent the workers in a case that could have wide-ranging consequences for the McDonald’s franchising model...
Graduate Students at Private Universities Could Soon Have the Right to Unionize  The Nation  ... Late last year, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finally agreed to review the cases of Columbia University and New School graduate students who have been campaigning for years to form an official union on their campus. Their pending decision could overturn a precedent that has hamstrung labor organizing on private college and university campuses for over a decade...
Detroit Teachers Hold Sick-Out to Demand Fixes to School's "Abominable" Problems  Common Dreams  ...Detroit teachers on Monday organized a "sick-out" to call attention to the school district's "abominable" problems, including filthy buildings and overwhelmingly large class sizes, and called on officials to follow through on long-held promises to salvage the city's educational system. Ivy Bailey, interim president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT), said Monday, "The deplorable conditions in our schools have created a serious environmental and educational crisis"...
Why Transportation Workers Should Care About Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association  TTD.org  ...Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association (CTA) is an orchestrated, malicious attack on workers’ rights. This case isn’t just about teachers in California—it’s about weakening the rights of workers, specifically those employed in the public sector. The group behind the court case is the Center for Individual Rights, which has ties to greedy CEOs and wealthy special interests...
This is why you’re burning out: Science proves being on call is just as stressful as working  Salon  ...A recent study links extended work availability with decreased calmness, mood, and energy levels. By looking at industries from technical services to nursing, the study evaluated the effects of being on-call — that is, not at work, but being expected to remain available by phone for questions or customer requests...

SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Powerball’s $1.3 Billion Swindle Of Americans  Think Progress  ...In October, the consortium of states that runs Powerball approved a series of rule changes that made it much harder to win the jackpot. The purpose of this change was to increase the chances that there would be no grand prize winner for any given drawing. The purpose of creating massive jackpots is because they induce more people to play. The prospect of big payouts spark a flood of free media attention. For all the money Americans spend, they get very little in return — particularly the poorest...
Clinton calls for stopping immigration raids  USA Today  ...Hillary Clinton on Monday called on the Obama administration to end raids that target undocumented immigrants who recently arrived from Central America. Clinton, whose statement came during the Iowa Black and Brown forum, said that enforcement efforts should be "humane." "We have laws and we must be guided by those laws, but we shouldn't have armed federal officers showing up at peoples' homes, taking women and children out of their beds in the middle of the night"...
A Pill That Cures Hepatitis Costs Just $4, but If You Live in America It's $1,000  Alternet  ...Nearly one year after receiving FDA approval, on October 10, 2014, Gilead Sciences Inc. patented Harvoni, which is Solvaldi combined with one of these inhibitors. Global demand for Harvoni quickly skyrocketed as,according to the World Health Organization, there are currently 130-150 million people living with chronic hepatitis C, globally...
The defining American crisis our corporate media still can’t be bothered to cover  Salon  ...Of the five Republican debates and of the three Democratic debates, not one moderator has asked a question involving the words “poverty” or “poor.” In the GOP debates, the candidates only bring up the topic as a way to swipe President Obama, which is fair enough but is not a discussion of poverty much less a good-faith attempt to mitigate it. By comparison, the Democratic debate moderators brought up “ISIS” or “Terrorism” 21 times total in all three debates...
White Nationalist PAC Blankets Iowa With Robocalls For Trump  TPM  ...Some registered voters in Iowa received robocalls Saturday from a white nationalist super PAC that urged them to support Donald Trump in the 2016 election: “I urge you to vote for Donald Trump because he is the one candidate who points out that we should accept immigrants who are good for America. We don’t need Muslims. We need smart, well-educated white people who will assimilate to our culture"...
Historic Settlement over NYPD's Anti-Muslim Spying Imposes Oversight & Bars Ethnic-Based Targeting  Democracy Now  ...In a major legal victory, New York City will appoint an independent civilian monitor to oversee the New York Police Department’s counterterrorism activities. The announcement comes after two lawsuits challenged the NYPD’s programs of spying on Muslims and religious centers. The suits argued the NYPD violated the U.S. and New York state constitutions by singling out and stigmatizing entire communities based on their religion...