Teamsters
Teamsters ratify four-year contract at AMR nwLaborPress.org …Members of Teamsters Portland Local 223 and Vancouver Local 58 ratified a new four-year collective bargaining agreement at American Medical Response (AMR). The 450-member bargaining unit provides ambulance service to Multnomah and Clackamas counties in Oregon, and Clark and Cowlitz counties in Washington...
Bus Drivers Ratify New Contract With First Student WTOC ...After several long months of negotiations, Savannah First Student employees represented by Teamsters have overwhelmingly ratified their new contract, 117 to four, according to a spokesperson from Teamsters 728...
Teamsters Want Mexican Trucking Row Revisited In TPP Law360 …The International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Monday publicly called on U.S. trade officials to use the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks to reopen deliberations on Mexico's cross-border trucking services, blasting the administration's move to open the border to Mexican truckers earlier this year...
Teamsters To Protest Republic Services Teamsters Local 728 ...On Wed., March 4 at 12 p.m., sanitation workers who work for Republic Services, Inc. [NYSE: RSG] will hold an informational picket to educate the public on the company's human rights violations. Workers at Republic allege that Republic has broken federal laws that protect workers' rights, by unilaterally changing pay and working conditions without negotiating with their union...
S.F. politician calls for labor peace at bus stops USA Today …With labor unions in negotiations with the transportation companies that ferry Silicon Valley tech workers, a San Francisco legislator is calling on the city to consider "labor harmony" when granting permits to corporate shuttles...
Coming detraction: Tax credit ax? Boston Herald …Sean O’Brien, president of Teamsters Local 25, drivers for the movie biz, [said] “Through the tax credit, we have created an industry where people can make a good living and provide for their families,” he said...
Miller, State Attorneys General Join FTC In Challenging Sysco-US Foods Merger Storm Lake Pilot Tribune ...Attorney General Tom Miller and a bipartisan group of state attorneys general today joined the Federal Trade Commission's administrative complaint challenging a proposed merger between food distribution giants Sysco and US Foods...
Canadian National Railway and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, representing rail traffic controllers, reach a collective agreement Yahoo! News ...The collective agreement covering about 185 rail traffic controllers expired on December 31, 2014...
Trade
Japanese official: Adding currency rules would kill Pacific trade pact Reuters …Any effort to add rules against currency cheating in a 12-nation Pacific trade pact would mean the end of negotiations, a senior Japanese negotiator said on Tuesday...
TPP Free Trade Agreement Would Increase Cost of Medicine In Mexico, Peru, Chile, And Other Countries Latin Times …TPP -- the Trans-PacificPartnership -- is making waves from Peru to Australia, concerning public health officials and consumer advocates. TPP, which would expand trade in 11 Pacific Rim countries, includes draft provisions for unprecedented expansion of pharmaceutical patent protection that could drive up the cost of medicine...
Let's Debate The Trans-Pacific Partnership -- History's Largest Trade Deal -- Before OKing It (opinion) Los Angeles Times ...If you haven't heard much about the TPP, that's part of the problem. It would be the largest trade deal in history — involving countries stretching from Chile to Japan, representing 792 million people and about 40% of the world economy. Yet it's been devised in secret, with a disproportionate amount of advice coming from corporations and Wall Street. This secrecy is the norm since NAFTA...
State Battles
Gov. Rauner asks community to back right to work in 'voter empowerment agenda' address Chicago Sun Times ...Rauner, who has in recent weeks focused on an agenda to allow “right to work” zones in targeted areas of the state, spent much of his address selling that point. It had one Illinois union saying Rauner held a “political obsession with crushing the unions that advocate for the middle class.”...
What a Right-to-Work Law Could Mean For Wisconsin Unions WUWM ...nion membership would likely fall in Wisconsin, if the state enacts such a measure It’s the trend, according to Cheryl Maranto. She’s a management professor at Marquette University. Maranto says union numbers tend to drop in right-to-work states, partly because many unions think it’s futile to expand into new workplaces there...
Minnesota Jobs Committee chair working to bring businesses from Wisconsin to Minnesota State Representative Pat Garofalo ...In light of legislation passed by the Wisconsin State Senate and being debated in the Wisconsin State Assembly that would make Wisconsin a "Right To Work" state, Job Growth and Energy Affordability Committee Chairman Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, has extended an invitation to two Wisconsin businesses offering assistance relocating their headquarters to Minnesota...
Right To Work For Less: Gov. Scott Walker Wants To Lower Worker Pay In Wisconsin (opinion) Washington Post ...Look, there are no perfect institutions in America, and unions are no exception. But they exist for a critically important reason: to balance out the inherent power of employers over workers and, thus, to enforce a more equitable distribution of the fruits of growth. In this regard, it is not a coincidence that as unions have diminished in numbers and power, the earnings of the middle class have stagnated...
Bill restricting union dues collection fails but not dead yet in Pa. Senate PennLive ...An attempt to pass a controversial amendment to a bill that would restrict union dues collection from state and school employees' paychecks narrowly failed in the state Senate on Monday. But most likely, we haven't seen the last of this amendment to this so-called paycheck protection bill...
Common Construction Repeal May Require Further Study Indiana Public Media ...The Indiana House easily approved legislation repealing the state’s common construction wage, and the bill’s support in the Senate looks strong. That means pushing the issue to summer study committee could be opponents’ best hope...
Bill Would Reestablish N.H. Minimum Wage, Raise It To $10 An Hour By 2018 NHPR ...Under the bill backed by seven Democratic state Senators, the increased minimum wage would take effect at the beginning of 2016. The bill calls for further increases to $9 an hour in 2017 and $10 an hour in 2018...
War on Workers
NLRB Election Rules Near Test in Congress; Changes Said to ‘Streamline' Board Process Bloomberg BNA ...Congress is about to take up proposals to block the National Labor Relations Board from implementing changes in its representation case rules and procedures set to take effect April 14...
Being a poor corporate citizen is hurting McDonald’s Washington Post …McDonald’s, that once-great American symbol of ingenuity and ruthless efficiency, is having some major difficulties, as its plummeting profits and recent C-suite shake up can attest…
Accident In The Zoo Interchange: 33-Year-Old Construction Worker Killed; Investigation Underway WITI ...A construction worker was killed while working on the Zoo Interchange project near 91st Street in Milwaukee on Saturday morning, February 28th...
Worker Killed At Natchitoches Parish Paper Mill KSLA ...Natchitoches Parish authorities have confirmed with KSLA News 12 that a man was killed in a paper mill accident...
Miscellaneous
Maine Bill Takes On NSA Spying With Transpartisan Support Tenth Amendment Center ...A bill filed in the Maine Senate late last week represents a transpartisan effort taking on the surveillance state. The legislation would not only support efforts to turn off NSA’s water in states where a physical NSA facility is located, but would also have immediate practical effects on how surveillance is used in some situations...
Showing posts with label 728. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 728. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Today's Teamster News 10.19.14
Teamsters
Teamsters’ employees will not get raises Hernando Today ...Hernando County, which was poised to give salary increases to hundreds of employees — union members and others — instead will give them only to some non-union workers. The nonunion employees who will receive raises are those whose paychecks were deemed too low by consultants who looked at pay of government employees elsewhere…
First Student drivers vote to authorize strike Savannah Now ...First Student school bus drivers and mechanics voted to authorize a strike during a meeting of the Teamsters Union Local 728 on Saturday...
Trade
TPP Agreement Will 'Definitely' Raise Medicine Costs telesurtv.com ...The U.S. government has insisted you shouldn't read the leaked draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. Expect the cost of life saving drugs like cancer medicine to rise under the secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), a Malaysian legislator warned on Friday...
TPPA would criminalise journalism No Right Turn ...it also criminalises leaks which are detrimental to a party's international relations or international security. So, the US is trying to US the TPPA as a backdoor to silence WikiLeaks, the Snowden files, and the entire enterprise of journalistic criticism of power...
A Trade Storm Is Brewing Public Citizen ...Because Fast Track is so unpopular in the House, Speaker John Boehner has a devious plan to force the bill through Congress in the “lame duck” session after the November elections...
State Battles
The Court won’t interrupt Texas voter ID law Scotus Blog ...In a stinging defeat for the Obama administration and a number of civil rights groups in a major test case on voters’ rights, a divided Supreme Court told the state of Texas early Saturday morning that it may enforce its strict voter ID law for this year’s general election, with early voting starting next Monday...
About Those 8400 Jobs (opinion) Milwaukee Sentinel ...what really matters, is that Governor Walker promised us, that his 250,000 jobs pledge was his "floor not his ceiling". He came as close to reaching his jobs promise as the Bucks did in landing Lebron James!...
War on Workers
Two-Thirds Of America's Biggest Retailers Are Worried About Flat Wages Huffington Post ...Sixty-eight percent of the top 100 retail companies in the U.S. -- a group that includes, Walmart, Apple, McDonald's and J.C. Penney -- say the country's stagnant wages pose a major threat to their bottom lines, according to a new report by the Center For American Progress...
Ebola! Prevention and Responsibility In The Public Interest ...Why didn’t the National Institutes of Health (NIH) properly anticipate Ebola? It did, according to NIH director Dr. Francis Collins. “NIH has been working on Ebola vaccines since 2001,” he asserted, pointing to stagnant congressional funding for developing a vaccine and therapeutics. Dr. Collins said that with funding, “we probably would have had a vaccine in time…”
Unprecedented amount of 'dark money' fuels midterm races Los Angeles Times ..."Is that going to become the new normal, this kind of money focused on one candidate, and we don't know where it's coming from?"...
405 Reopened After Construction Workers Killed in DUI Crash KTLA ...Two construction workers were hit and killed by drunk drivers on the northbound 405 Freeway early Sunday morning.
Teamsters’ employees will not get raises Hernando Today ...Hernando County, which was poised to give salary increases to hundreds of employees — union members and others — instead will give them only to some non-union workers. The nonunion employees who will receive raises are those whose paychecks were deemed too low by consultants who looked at pay of government employees elsewhere…
First Student drivers vote to authorize strike Savannah Now ...First Student school bus drivers and mechanics voted to authorize a strike during a meeting of the Teamsters Union Local 728 on Saturday...
Trade
TPP Agreement Will 'Definitely' Raise Medicine Costs telesurtv.com ...The U.S. government has insisted you shouldn't read the leaked draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. Expect the cost of life saving drugs like cancer medicine to rise under the secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), a Malaysian legislator warned on Friday...
TPPA would criminalise journalism No Right Turn ...it also criminalises leaks which are detrimental to a party's international relations or international security. So, the US is trying to US the TPPA as a backdoor to silence WikiLeaks, the Snowden files, and the entire enterprise of journalistic criticism of power...
A Trade Storm Is Brewing Public Citizen ...Because Fast Track is so unpopular in the House, Speaker John Boehner has a devious plan to force the bill through Congress in the “lame duck” session after the November elections...
State Battles
The Court won’t interrupt Texas voter ID law Scotus Blog ...In a stinging defeat for the Obama administration and a number of civil rights groups in a major test case on voters’ rights, a divided Supreme Court told the state of Texas early Saturday morning that it may enforce its strict voter ID law for this year’s general election, with early voting starting next Monday...
About Those 8400 Jobs (opinion) Milwaukee Sentinel ...what really matters, is that Governor Walker promised us, that his 250,000 jobs pledge was his "floor not his ceiling". He came as close to reaching his jobs promise as the Bucks did in landing Lebron James!...
War on Workers
Two-Thirds Of America's Biggest Retailers Are Worried About Flat Wages Huffington Post ...Sixty-eight percent of the top 100 retail companies in the U.S. -- a group that includes, Walmart, Apple, McDonald's and J.C. Penney -- say the country's stagnant wages pose a major threat to their bottom lines, according to a new report by the Center For American Progress...
Ebola! Prevention and Responsibility In The Public Interest ...Why didn’t the National Institutes of Health (NIH) properly anticipate Ebola? It did, according to NIH director Dr. Francis Collins. “NIH has been working on Ebola vaccines since 2001,” he asserted, pointing to stagnant congressional funding for developing a vaccine and therapeutics. Dr. Collins said that with funding, “we probably would have had a vaccine in time…”
Unprecedented amount of 'dark money' fuels midterm races Los Angeles Times ..."Is that going to become the new normal, this kind of money focused on one candidate, and we don't know where it's coming from?"...
405 Reopened After Construction Workers Killed in DUI Crash KTLA ...Two construction workers were hit and killed by drunk drivers on the northbound 405 Freeway early Sunday morning.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Georgia Teamsters fight against voter suppression
Georgia's secretary of state has a new way to enforce Jim Crow voting laws: He just doesn't process tens of thousands of voter registration forms. And then he tries to intimidate a nonpartisan group registering new Georgia voters.
At a press conference in Georgia's state capital yesterday, leaders of the New Georgia Project called on the secretary of state to put registrants on the voter rolls. Our brothers and sisters from Teamsters Local 728 were among the civil rights and religious leaders who attended the event.
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa, a strong opponent of voter suppression, issued a statement:
At a press conference in Georgia's state capital yesterday, leaders of the New Georgia Project called on the secretary of state to put registrants on the voter rolls. Our brothers and sisters from Teamsters Local 728 were among the civil rights and religious leaders who attended the event.
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa, a strong opponent of voter suppression, issued a statement:
We are supposed to be a nation of one person and one vote. But how can that be when citizens trying to exercise their right to vote are being disenfranchised? The state of Georgia is engaging in voter suppression, plain and simple. No matter one’s political affiliation, that is not right and cannot be tolerated. I call on Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp to do his job and process all valid applications so the people’s voice can be heard.The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported
The New Georgia Project brought bins holding copies of more than 51,000 unprocessed voter applications to the state Capitol on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014. Secretary of State Brian Kemp has put the group under investigation for alleged voter registration fraud, but group leaders said it was a “witch hunt” to intimidate their efforts...
With the state’s Oct. 6 registration deadline quickly approaching, state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta,and more than a dozen civil rights and religious leaders who support the New Georgia Project called on Kemp —the state’s top elections official — to focus on ensuring ballot access to thousands of new voters they and others have signed up this election year.
Speaking at the state Capitol ahead of the 3 p.m. special meeting of the Georgia Election Board, the leaders stood before 13 plastic bins filled with copies of applications they said have not been processed despite being turned in, in some cases, months ago.
“You don’t have to wear a hood or be a member of the Ku Klux Klan to be engaged in voter suppression,” said the Rev. Raphael Warnock, the pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. “Mr. Secretary of State, stop this dog and pony show, all these accusations and fear campaigning, and do the job you were [elected] to do.”
Monday, January 27, 2014
Teamsters echo Martin Luther King's call for change
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| Joint Council 28 Black Teamsters United at the MLK Day march in Seattle |
Dr. Martin Luther King is honored today for his leadership in the civil rights movement, but often overlooked was his fight for a fundamental change in America's economic system. In a 1967 speech at Riverside Baptist Church he said,
But one day, we must ask the question of whether an edifice which produces beggars must not be restructured and refurbished.Today it is increasingly obvious that our system is rigged for the wealthy and against everyone else. Unions are at the vanguard of the battle to restructure that edifice to benefit working men and women.
On Jan. 20, Teamsters all over the country echoed Dr. King's call for change. To give just two examples, Joint Council 28 Black Teamsters United marched, as they do every year, at the MLK Day rally and march in Seattle. And Teamsters from Local 728 marched in Atlanta's annual Martin Luther King Day parade.
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| Local 728 Teamsters march in Atlanta |
...the Trans-Pacific Partnership ... will destroy sovereignty, placing governments, even down to the local level, at the service of transnational corporations. Leaked Wikileaks documents from the TPP reveal that the US is the most extreme nation advocating for corporate power and neoliberal economies.
This week, the EU announced that it will delay negotiation of a key section, the Investor State Dispute Settlement, of the Atlantic version of the TPP known as TAFTA. They are concerned that giving corporations the power to sue governments for loss of expected profits will undermine their laws to protect the health of people and the planet and are seeking greater public input. Contrast that with a case that is going forward in Mora County, NM in which Shell Oil is suing a community over its fracking ban. If Shell is able to sue a community for loss of expected profits, that community would never be able to afford that and would have to change its law; and other communities will be afraid to enact laws in the public interest or to protect the planet.
Momentum is building to stop the TPP. Organizations from across the spectrum and across the continent are working together to stop the President from being given authority to Fast Track the TPP through Congress and to unite in a day of action. Visit StopFastTrack.org to join the Ten Days of Action to Stop Fast Track which culminates in a day of protest on January 31.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Iron Mountain workers defy threats, join Teamsters
The drivers voted today because they want a share in the billions of dollars of profit the company is making. One worker said they are choosing to go union because the company is making changes and all the workers see is more work, with new deadlines and quotes.
Teamsters Local 728 organizer Ben Speight tweeted:
...these brothers stood strong and united today! Proud to be a TEAMSTER!The new Iron Mountain Teamsters stood up to anti-union lectures, intimidation, threats and the firing of a pro-union worker. A worker recorded one anti-union lecture and shared it with Josh Eidelson at Salon.
One recording captures a manager telling an activist worker one-on-one, “There’s nothing I don’t know,” “There’s no secrets anymore,” and “I am upset with you personally” for pursuing unionization without telling him. The other captures the same manager telling a group of employees in an Oct. 24 meeting,"We have the right to educate you, and we’re gonna exercise that right.”...Workers told Eidelson the company's managers are constantly harassing them not to unionize.
Well, they did and we're proud to call them brother and sister. Welcome to the Teamsters!
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Another Teamster organizing victory in Georgia!
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| DeKalb County workers celebrate. |
Although the future Teamsters Local 728 members had the support of their company’s CEO and county commissioners, it took months to find a solution to the state’s No Rights at Work laws. State law does not give public sector workers the right to collectively bargain. Today, DeKalb County Commissioners unanimously passed an ordinance allowing county employees to organize.
Commissioners essentially voted to recognize the Teamsters as the workers' union representative. The ordinance takes effect Jan. 1.The 400 workers who have already signed membership applications will become members of Teamsters Local 728 that day.
Dejuan McDaniel, an organizing committee member and front-end loader driver for 13 years at DeKalb, is excited for the future.
We have been without a serious voice for so long. We had safety issues that have been unheard. We had pay issues, mistreatment of employees. It was long overdue.Eric Robertson, Teamsters Local 728 business agent, said they've been talking to the workers for more than seven years. "It's been a long time coming," he said.
The new ordinance will allow about 4,000 other DeKalb County workers to join unions.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Today's Teamster News 08.21.13
Republic Waste Workers from Local 728 Ratify First Contract IBT ...Waste workers employed by Republic Services near Atlanta have ratified their first contract, which boosts wages and on-the-job protections...
Teamster Contract With Kittitas County Ratified Daily Record ...Kittitas County commissioners recently ratified a new, four-year collective bargaining labor contract with Teamsters Local 760, which represents 28 county sheriff’s deputies...
Funeral Industry Giant SCI Locks Out Chicago Teamster Funeral Directors IBT ...Funeral industry giant Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI) has locked out 59 Chicago-area funeral directors and drivers represented by Teamsters Local 727, despite an unconditional offer from the union to return to work...
Contract negotiations with Teamsters back on at Sabreliner Republic Monitor ...Members of Teamsters Local 600 in Maryland Heights, Missouri, unanimously voted last Thursday to reject the “ last and final” contract terms. But less than 24 hours later, both parties agreed to re-enter negotiations and extend the union’s current contract until this Saturday...
Trucking strike ends for Fontana depot Press-Enterprise Drivers and dock workers at a Fontana trucking depot returned to work Monday following a three-day strike. The disputes between Teamsters Local 63 and company officials will be decided by an arbitrator later this week...
Teamster strikers at Gold Cross are attempting negotiations with management again Imperial Valley Press ...Teamsters at Gold Cross and their parent company, Schaefer Ambulance, are entering negotiations for the second time since the strike began for get better treatment for the employees, better working conditions, a pay increase, and no cuts to medical benefits...
Many Teamster strikers at Lake Transit return to picket line Lake County Record-Bee ...Paratransit Services employees, who are members of Teamsters Local 665, went back to the picket line after ending a three-week strike following the news that the majority of workers will likely not get their jobs back immediately...
Amtrak: Record-Breaking Ridership in July Amtrak ...Year-over-year ridership in July grew 4.8 percent to more than 2.9 million passengers, an all-time record for most passengers in one month. Northeast Corridor services, state-supported and other short-distance routes, and long-distance trains all showed gains for July...
Moly-Cop pushes CP Rail for service Daily News ...Moly-Cop’s Kamloops operation is demanding that rail service be returned to its plant six weeks after the Kelowna Pacific Railway shut down. The company contends to the Canadian Transportation Agency it has a right to service under the Fair Rail Freight Service Act — legislation that passed only last June...
Rail Traffic Picks Up Some Momentum Pragmatic Capitalism ...More decent news here in rail trends as we begin to see some signs of life in traffic. Intermodal jumped 6.1% year over year and total traffic was up 2.7%. Carloads were down marginally. This week’s reading brought the 12 week moving average in intermodal to 2.8% which is the highest reading since May...
‘Oligarchic tendencies’: Study finds only the wealthy get represented in the Senate Raw Story ...In all of the five Congresses examined, the voting records of Senators were consistently aligned with the opinions of their wealthiest constituents. The opinions of lower-class constituents, however, never appeared to influence the Senators’ voting behavior...
Koch-Funded Rand Paul Introduces National Anti-Union ‘Right To Work’ Bill To The Senate Progressive Change Campaign Committee ...Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) just introduced a federal so-called “right to work” law that would undermine labor organizing nationwide...
Fast Food Workers Plan Nationwide Walkout August 29 Business Review USA ...“If you work in a fast food or retail store anywhere in the country, we urge you to join our growing movement,” said Terrance Wise, a 34-year old father of three who earns $9.30 an hour after eight years at Burger King and $7.47 at Pizza Hut in Kansas City. “Get together with some or all of your co-workers and make plans to take to the streets on August 29...
Unemployment rates rise in most US states in July Associated Press ...Unemployment rates rose in more than half of U.S. states in July and fewer states added jobs, echoing national data that show the job market may have lost some momentum...
Judge endorses use of fraud law against Bank of America Reuters ...A federal judge has endorsed a broad interpretation of a savings-and-loan era law that the Justice Department is trying to use in cases against Wall Street banks...
More students than ever rely on federal college aid Politico ...Students and families are more willing than ever to borrow to pay for college and increasingly reliant on federal grants and loans to help with tuition bills, statistics released yesterday from the U.S. Education Department show...
Trans-Pacific Partnership Will Remove What’s Left Of American Democracy firedoglake ...If TPP passes it will override American law. Again: we will not be able to pass laws that reign in the corporations. We will not be able to protect our jobs and wages because, as we have seen, companies can just close a factory and move your job to a country that pays very little, doesn’t protect the environment, and doesn’t let working people do anything about it...
Greece will need new bailout, says Germany's Schaeuble BBC News ...The country's economy has shrunk further than any other in Europe, with bailout money only released on condition that the government imposes cuts and implements restructuring...
First Maine Lobstering Union Meeting Held WFVX Bangor News ...Lobstering in Maine has had its fair share of ups and downs over the past year few years, but now with the 'Maine Lobstering Union' officially formed Sunday, lobstermen are hoping to see changes come to this booming business in the Pine Tree State...
Missouri Lt. Governor: ‘We’ll pass Right to Work in 2014;’ Ohioans prepare for legislative fallout Beverly Hills Courier ...As pro-union supporters in Ohio begin preparations for the upcoming legislative session, their attention will also be focused on Missouri after Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder told an Associated Press reporter that he believes Right to Work is heading to the ballot in an attempt to bypass the state’s anti-right to work governor...
“Indescribably insane”: A public school system from hell Salon ...Pennsylvania's right-wing governor drains public schools of basic funds -- and the sickening details will shock you...
Florida teachers still waiting for first raise in a long time Orlando Sentinel ...Teachers welcomed the news earlier this year when Florida Gov. Rick Scott called for $2,500 pay hikes and then kept up the raises-for-teachers drumbeat in the months that followed. But seven months after Scott made his teacher-raise announcement, no Central Florida public-school teacher has gotten the pay hike he touted...
California discourages needy from receiving food stamps Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ...For years, Texas was among a handful of states that required every resident seeking help with grocery bills to first be fingerprinted, an exercise typically associated with criminals. Texas remains one of the most effective states at keeping its poor out of the giant federal food stamp program. But it is not No. 1. That distinction belongs to California...
Democratic North Carolina State Senator Resigns From Office To Help People Get Voter ID PoliticusUSA ...Many Democrats talk about fighting back against voter suppression, but North Carolina state senator Ellie Kinnaird resigned from office today in order to work on a grassroots project to help people obtain voter IDs. Read her statement...
Bankruptcy Judge Should Respect Michigan’s Constitution Even If Michigan Governor Rick Snyder Doesn’t Economic Policy Institute ...By ignoring the state’s constitution and its protection for accrued public employee pensions, Snyder is undermining the rule of law and adopting the kind of “ends justify the means” reasoning that usually precedes violations of public trust...
Teamster Contract With Kittitas County Ratified Daily Record ...Kittitas County commissioners recently ratified a new, four-year collective bargaining labor contract with Teamsters Local 760, which represents 28 county sheriff’s deputies...
Funeral Industry Giant SCI Locks Out Chicago Teamster Funeral Directors IBT ...Funeral industry giant Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI) has locked out 59 Chicago-area funeral directors and drivers represented by Teamsters Local 727, despite an unconditional offer from the union to return to work...
Contract negotiations with Teamsters back on at Sabreliner Republic Monitor ...Members of Teamsters Local 600 in Maryland Heights, Missouri, unanimously voted last Thursday to reject the “ last and final” contract terms. But less than 24 hours later, both parties agreed to re-enter negotiations and extend the union’s current contract until this Saturday...
Trucking strike ends for Fontana depot Press-Enterprise Drivers and dock workers at a Fontana trucking depot returned to work Monday following a three-day strike. The disputes between Teamsters Local 63 and company officials will be decided by an arbitrator later this week...
Teamster strikers at Gold Cross are attempting negotiations with management again Imperial Valley Press ...Teamsters at Gold Cross and their parent company, Schaefer Ambulance, are entering negotiations for the second time since the strike began for get better treatment for the employees, better working conditions, a pay increase, and no cuts to medical benefits...
Many Teamster strikers at Lake Transit return to picket line Lake County Record-Bee ...Paratransit Services employees, who are members of Teamsters Local 665, went back to the picket line after ending a three-week strike following the news that the majority of workers will likely not get their jobs back immediately...
Amtrak: Record-Breaking Ridership in July Amtrak ...Year-over-year ridership in July grew 4.8 percent to more than 2.9 million passengers, an all-time record for most passengers in one month. Northeast Corridor services, state-supported and other short-distance routes, and long-distance trains all showed gains for July...
Moly-Cop pushes CP Rail for service Daily News ...Moly-Cop’s Kamloops operation is demanding that rail service be returned to its plant six weeks after the Kelowna Pacific Railway shut down. The company contends to the Canadian Transportation Agency it has a right to service under the Fair Rail Freight Service Act — legislation that passed only last June...
Rail Traffic Picks Up Some Momentum Pragmatic Capitalism ...More decent news here in rail trends as we begin to see some signs of life in traffic. Intermodal jumped 6.1% year over year and total traffic was up 2.7%. Carloads were down marginally. This week’s reading brought the 12 week moving average in intermodal to 2.8% which is the highest reading since May...
‘Oligarchic tendencies’: Study finds only the wealthy get represented in the Senate Raw Story ...In all of the five Congresses examined, the voting records of Senators were consistently aligned with the opinions of their wealthiest constituents. The opinions of lower-class constituents, however, never appeared to influence the Senators’ voting behavior...
Koch-Funded Rand Paul Introduces National Anti-Union ‘Right To Work’ Bill To The Senate Progressive Change Campaign Committee ...Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) just introduced a federal so-called “right to work” law that would undermine labor organizing nationwide...
Fast Food Workers Plan Nationwide Walkout August 29 Business Review USA ...“If you work in a fast food or retail store anywhere in the country, we urge you to join our growing movement,” said Terrance Wise, a 34-year old father of three who earns $9.30 an hour after eight years at Burger King and $7.47 at Pizza Hut in Kansas City. “Get together with some or all of your co-workers and make plans to take to the streets on August 29...
Unemployment rates rise in most US states in July Associated Press ...Unemployment rates rose in more than half of U.S. states in July and fewer states added jobs, echoing national data that show the job market may have lost some momentum...
Judge endorses use of fraud law against Bank of America Reuters ...A federal judge has endorsed a broad interpretation of a savings-and-loan era law that the Justice Department is trying to use in cases against Wall Street banks...
More students than ever rely on federal college aid Politico ...Students and families are more willing than ever to borrow to pay for college and increasingly reliant on federal grants and loans to help with tuition bills, statistics released yesterday from the U.S. Education Department show...
Trans-Pacific Partnership Will Remove What’s Left Of American Democracy firedoglake ...If TPP passes it will override American law. Again: we will not be able to pass laws that reign in the corporations. We will not be able to protect our jobs and wages because, as we have seen, companies can just close a factory and move your job to a country that pays very little, doesn’t protect the environment, and doesn’t let working people do anything about it...
Greece will need new bailout, says Germany's Schaeuble BBC News ...The country's economy has shrunk further than any other in Europe, with bailout money only released on condition that the government imposes cuts and implements restructuring...
First Maine Lobstering Union Meeting Held WFVX Bangor News ...Lobstering in Maine has had its fair share of ups and downs over the past year few years, but now with the 'Maine Lobstering Union' officially formed Sunday, lobstermen are hoping to see changes come to this booming business in the Pine Tree State...
Missouri Lt. Governor: ‘We’ll pass Right to Work in 2014;’ Ohioans prepare for legislative fallout Beverly Hills Courier ...As pro-union supporters in Ohio begin preparations for the upcoming legislative session, their attention will also be focused on Missouri after Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder told an Associated Press reporter that he believes Right to Work is heading to the ballot in an attempt to bypass the state’s anti-right to work governor...
“Indescribably insane”: A public school system from hell Salon ...Pennsylvania's right-wing governor drains public schools of basic funds -- and the sickening details will shock you...
Florida teachers still waiting for first raise in a long time Orlando Sentinel ...Teachers welcomed the news earlier this year when Florida Gov. Rick Scott called for $2,500 pay hikes and then kept up the raises-for-teachers drumbeat in the months that followed. But seven months after Scott made his teacher-raise announcement, no Central Florida public-school teacher has gotten the pay hike he touted...
California discourages needy from receiving food stamps Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ...For years, Texas was among a handful of states that required every resident seeking help with grocery bills to first be fingerprinted, an exercise typically associated with criminals. Texas remains one of the most effective states at keeping its poor out of the giant federal food stamp program. But it is not No. 1. That distinction belongs to California...
Democratic North Carolina State Senator Resigns From Office To Help People Get Voter ID PoliticusUSA ...Many Democrats talk about fighting back against voter suppression, but North Carolina state senator Ellie Kinnaird resigned from office today in order to work on a grassroots project to help people obtain voter IDs. Read her statement...
Bankruptcy Judge Should Respect Michigan’s Constitution Even If Michigan Governor Rick Snyder Doesn’t Economic Policy Institute ...By ignoring the state’s constitution and its protection for accrued public employee pensions, Snyder is undermining the rule of law and adopting the kind of “ends justify the means” reasoning that usually precedes violations of public trust...
Monday, June 3, 2013
Today's Teamster News, 06.03.13
Obama’s Covert Trade Deal (opinion) New York Times ...THE Obama administration has often stated its commitment to open government. So why is it keeping such tight wraps on the contents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the most significant international commercial agreement since the creation of the World Trade Organization in 1995?...
China Is Reaping Biggest Benefits of Iraq Oil Boom New York Times ... “The Chinese had nothing to do with the war, but from an economic standpoint they are benefiting from it, and our Fifth Fleet and air forces are helping to assure their supply.”...
Virginians uneasy over Chinese purchase of Smithfield Reuters ...Smithfield Foods has received a $4.7 billion buyout offer from a Chinese food company. News that an agreement had been reached and was awaiting U.S. government approval sent a shiver through the community, where it is the largest employer with a payroll of nearly 4,000 people...
NM High Court Says State Violated Union Contracts Santa Fe Reporter ... In a victory for two state public employee unions, the New Mexico Supreme Court yesterday ruled that the State Personnel Office violated a 2007 collective bargaining agreement involving thousands of state employees...
TSA chief defends allowing knives on planes LA Times …Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole has delayed a plan to let passengers carry small pocketknives on planes for the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. But it is clear from a recent speech he gave that he still supports allowing knives on planes...
California Looks To Close A Loophole That Will Hit Corporations Where It Hurts, Their Profits NH Labor News ...California legislators introduced a bill that would fine an employer up to $6000 per full-time employee who ends up on Medi-Cal...
Chicago Closes 50 Public Schools, Spends $100 Million in Taxpayer Funds on Private College Stadium The Real News ...critics note that Chicago is simultaneously transferring hundreds of millions in tax dollars meant for public education to the private sector, including $100 million for De Paul University, a private institution, to build a new sports stadium...
An illustrated history of payday lending in Ohio Plain Dealer ...How did payday lenders get into Ohio? And why won't they leave, even though Ohio voters asked nicely? This illustrated history will give you the highlights of how an industry whose product is designed to push customers into repeat, high-cost borrowing has managed to dig in and thrive, despite numerous attempts by state or federal governments to rein it in...
Maine House OKs "E-Fairness' bill Associated Press ...A bill that would close a tax loophole used by large online retailers faces only a final Senate vote after being overwhelmingly approved by the Maine House. It would close a loophole that allows large online retailers that use affiliates to avoid paying sales tax...
Michigan bill could cut foreclosure redemption period Associated Press ...Michigan lawmakers are considering changes to the state's foreclosure law, including a measure that would significantly shorten the period homeowners have to sell or save their foreclosed property...
Vermont passes law on unclaimed life insurance Associated Press…Retired bus driver Rodger Brassard says he didn’t know he had more than $5,000 coming from his late mother’s life insurance policy, but found plenty of uses for the money. Brassard, 67, of Burlington, was one of the beneficiaries of an audit of insurance companies done by a Connecticut company at the request of several states...
Port of Savannah truck drivers fight for fair working conditions WTOC News ...Truck drivers gathered together Saturday to show their struggle to the Savannah community. Port of Savannah drivers and their families fought for fair working conditions during a community driver forum held at Savannah's Coastal Georgia Center...
Union rejects Marquez contract offer Hanford (Calif.) Sentinel ...Locked in a battle with Hanford cheese plant Marquez Brothers International, Teamsters Local Union 517 officials said Friday that employees overwhelmingly rejected the company’s latest contract offer...
China Is Reaping Biggest Benefits of Iraq Oil Boom New York Times ... “The Chinese had nothing to do with the war, but from an economic standpoint they are benefiting from it, and our Fifth Fleet and air forces are helping to assure their supply.”...
Virginians uneasy over Chinese purchase of Smithfield Reuters ...Smithfield Foods has received a $4.7 billion buyout offer from a Chinese food company. News that an agreement had been reached and was awaiting U.S. government approval sent a shiver through the community, where it is the largest employer with a payroll of nearly 4,000 people...
NM High Court Says State Violated Union Contracts Santa Fe Reporter ... In a victory for two state public employee unions, the New Mexico Supreme Court yesterday ruled that the State Personnel Office violated a 2007 collective bargaining agreement involving thousands of state employees...
TSA chief defends allowing knives on planes LA Times …Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole has delayed a plan to let passengers carry small pocketknives on planes for the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. But it is clear from a recent speech he gave that he still supports allowing knives on planes...
California Looks To Close A Loophole That Will Hit Corporations Where It Hurts, Their Profits NH Labor News ...California legislators introduced a bill that would fine an employer up to $6000 per full-time employee who ends up on Medi-Cal...
Chicago Closes 50 Public Schools, Spends $100 Million in Taxpayer Funds on Private College Stadium The Real News ...critics note that Chicago is simultaneously transferring hundreds of millions in tax dollars meant for public education to the private sector, including $100 million for De Paul University, a private institution, to build a new sports stadium...
An illustrated history of payday lending in Ohio Plain Dealer ...How did payday lenders get into Ohio? And why won't they leave, even though Ohio voters asked nicely? This illustrated history will give you the highlights of how an industry whose product is designed to push customers into repeat, high-cost borrowing has managed to dig in and thrive, despite numerous attempts by state or federal governments to rein it in...
Maine House OKs "E-Fairness' bill Associated Press ...A bill that would close a tax loophole used by large online retailers faces only a final Senate vote after being overwhelmingly approved by the Maine House. It would close a loophole that allows large online retailers that use affiliates to avoid paying sales tax...
Michigan bill could cut foreclosure redemption period Associated Press ...Michigan lawmakers are considering changes to the state's foreclosure law, including a measure that would significantly shorten the period homeowners have to sell or save their foreclosed property...
Vermont passes law on unclaimed life insurance Associated Press…Retired bus driver Rodger Brassard says he didn’t know he had more than $5,000 coming from his late mother’s life insurance policy, but found plenty of uses for the money. Brassard, 67, of Burlington, was one of the beneficiaries of an audit of insurance companies done by a Connecticut company at the request of several states...
Port of Savannah truck drivers fight for fair working conditions WTOC News ...Truck drivers gathered together Saturday to show their struggle to the Savannah community. Port of Savannah drivers and their families fought for fair working conditions during a community driver forum held at Savannah's Coastal Georgia Center...
Union rejects Marquez contract offer Hanford (Calif.) Sentinel ...Locked in a battle with Hanford cheese plant Marquez Brothers International, Teamsters Local Union 517 officials said Friday that employees overwhelmingly rejected the company’s latest contract offer...
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Today's Teamster News 06.01.13
US Lawmakers Press Obama to Include Currency in Pacific Trade Deal Reuters ...Nearly 200 U.S. lawmakers have signed a letter urging President Barack Obama to insist on new rules against currency manipulation in a proposed trade agreement with Japan and 10 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region...
Walmart’s Shocking Threats And Employee Bullying Detailed In 27-Page Report Opposing Views ...Walmart continually asks Americans to consider what’s more important: justice for its workers or low prices for its customers?...
Catalonia firefighters were starting fires rather than putting them out this week during a demonstration held in Barcelona Metro ...emergency workers clashed with riot police while protesting over austerity cuts in the recession hit Catalonian capital...
Judge: Coal company can drop retirement benefits for 13,000 workers, Underwood says MSNBC ...Bankrupt coal mining company Patriot Coal will be able to void its agreement with the United Mine Workers union (UMWA) and stop funding pensions for retired miners, thanks to a ruling from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Missouri...
Pension bill stuns counties, could force tax increases Tampa Bay Times ..."Is that money going to FRS to actually shore it up? Or is it a long-term strategy to pressure those of us at the local level to say we can't sustain these increases?"...
New Jersey Passes Misclassification Bill; Gov. Christie Could Veto Truckinginfo ...Though the Teamsters-backed employee misclassification bill was passed Thursday by the New Jersey State Senate, opponents say they will continue to work to make sure the measure does not actually become law...
Kasich frustrating safety unions Toledo Blade ...Gov. John Kasich and Republican lawmakers are pursuing tax cuts and banking huge surpluses, according to police and professional firefighters, at the expense of public safety...
UW education dean warns school boards that ALEC seeks to wipe them out The Cap Times ...The model legislation disseminated by the pro-free market American Legislative Exchange Council’s national network of corporate members and conservative legislators seeks to privatize education and erode the local control...
Appeals court upholds voter ID law WISN ...A Wisconsin law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls is constitutional, a state appeals court ruled Thursday...
How Enterprise Zones Are Killing the California Dream Truth-Out ...(Teamsters) John Thomas and Hans Burkhardt ... are now collecting unemployment, having lost their $22-an-hour jobs after their employers moved to take advantage of California’s enterprise zone plan…
Connecticut State House boosts minimum wage CT Post ...More than 106,000 of Connecticut's lowest-earning workers will see the current $8.25-per-hour minimum wage rise to $9 by January 2015...
Perry Vetoes "Buy American" Bill Approved 145-0 By Texas House Opposing Views ...Texas Gov. Rick Perry vetoed the “Buy American” bill, despite a unanimous bipartisan vote in the Texas House. The bill, which would have given preference to American-made goods...
Port Truck Drivers Take a Stand WTOC-TV ...WTOC-TV in Savannah, Ga., reports on port truck driver misclassification and how it impacts drivers and their families. Visit the Stand Up for Savannah! website for more information...
Teamsters Protect Nine-Hour Workday for CVS Pharmacists Teamsters Joint Council 25 ...CVS pharmacists ratified a new three-year contract yielding raises and improved working conditions after Teamsters Local 727 representatives fought to protect the nine-hour workday from the management that wanted 12-14 hour workdays...
The Union Edge Reports On Durham School Bus Campaign Union Edge ...Teamsters Local 570 and Durham School Services drivers in the Baltimore area are standing up for safe school buses, respect and an end to wage theft. Hear what they have to say on The Union Edge radio program...
Dairy Workers in Washington Win With Teamsters IBT ...A unit of 30 drivers at Estenson Logistics, who voted to be represented by the Teamsters Local 690 in Spokane in late 2011, recently ratified their first contract...
Walmart’s Shocking Threats And Employee Bullying Detailed In 27-Page Report Opposing Views ...Walmart continually asks Americans to consider what’s more important: justice for its workers or low prices for its customers?...
New Jersey Passes Misclassification Bill; Gov. Christie Could Veto Truckinginfo ...Though the Teamsters-backed employee misclassification bill was passed Thursday by the New Jersey State Senate, opponents say they will continue to work to make sure the measure does not actually become law...
Kasich frustrating safety unions Toledo Blade ...Gov. John Kasich and Republican lawmakers are pursuing tax cuts and banking huge surpluses, according to police and professional firefighters, at the expense of public safety...
How Enterprise Zones Are Killing the California Dream Truth-Out ...(Teamsters) John Thomas and Hans Burkhardt ... are now collecting unemployment, having lost their $22-an-hour jobs after their employers moved to take advantage of California’s enterprise zone plan…
Connecticut State House boosts minimum wage
Perry Vetoes "Buy American" Bill Approved 145-0 By Texas House Opposing Views ...Texas Gov. Rick Perry vetoed the “Buy American” bill, despite a unanimous bipartisan vote in the Texas House. The bill, which would have given preference to American-made goods...
Port Truck Drivers Take a Stand WTOC-TV ...WTOC-TV in Savannah, Ga., reports on port truck driver misclassification and how it impacts drivers and their families. Visit the Stand Up for Savannah! website for more information...
Teamsters Protect Nine-Hour Workday for CVS Pharmacists Teamsters Joint Council 25 ...CVS pharmacists ratified a new three-year contract yielding raises and improved working conditions after Teamsters Local 727 representatives fought to protect the nine-hour workday from the management that wanted 12-14 hour workdays...
The Union Edge Reports On Durham School Bus Campaign Union Edge ...Teamsters Local 570 and Durham School Services drivers in the Baltimore area are standing up for safe school buses, respect and an end to wage theft. Hear what they have to say on The Union Edge radio program...
Dairy Workers in Washington Win With Teamsters IBT ...A unit of 30 drivers at Estenson Logistics, who voted to be represented by the Teamsters Local 690 in Spokane in late 2011, recently ratified their first contract...
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