TEAMSTERS
Teamsters: Highway Safety Should Come Before Higher Trucking Industry Profits Teamster.org ...Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa today joined a bipartisan collection of lawmakers and truck safety advocates at a Capitol Hill press conference to denounce efforts to extend the length of tractor trailers nationwide, saying the move jeopardizes highway safety. Allowing trucks to pull 33-foot trailers would add an additional 10 feet to the length of existing double trailers...
Teamsters join chorus of opposition to proposition to allow 33-foot doubles CCJ ...The Teamsters Union voiced its opposition Wednesday, Oct. 21, to increasing the allowed length of tractor-trailers, saying simply that bigger trucks would make U.S. highways less safe. Specifically, the Teamsters announced their opposition to upping the maximum twin-trailer length to 33-feet from the current 28-foot maximum...
Longer Tractor-Trailers Are A Safety Hazard, Teamsters Say Law360 ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters opposes a proposal that would raise the nationwide cap on the length of double tractor-trailers, saying Wednesday that the proposal endangers truck drivers and other highway motorists. Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa appeared at a news conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday with a bipartisan group of lawmakers, seeking to derail legislation that would mandate that states allow 33-foot double trailers...
Teamsters Ratify New Contract at Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons Teamster.org ...The Teamsters Union announced today that a majority of its members working as drivers, warehouse workers and in dairy and manufacturing at grocery companies Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons in Southern California have ratified a new five-year agreement. The new agreement raises work standards and compensation for the more than 2,000 employees represented by the Teamsters...
Proposed SFMTA restrictions to enhance commuter program SF Examiner ...An 18-month commuter shuttle pilot program in San Francisco is set to expire on Jan. 31 but an ongoing program has been proposed by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Rome Aloise, president of Teamsters Joint Council 7, which represents some Bay Area shuttle bus drivers and is seeking to represent others, said he is “pleased to see the SFMTA designing a program that recognizes the efforts of these shuttle bus drivers to organize for better wages and working conditions with our union”...
Teamsters Vow To Stand With UPS Pilots On Picket Lines If The Independent Pilots Association Strikes United Parcel Service PR Newswire ...In an unqualified show of support, James Hoffa, General President and Ken Hall, General Secretary-Treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, pledged to the Independent Pilots Association that "if a strike is necessary, we will not cross your lines, but will stand with you on them." This commitment from Hoffa and Hall came in a letter to IPA President, Captain Robert Travis...
Labor, pension managers square off over benefits The Hill ...The Department of the Treasury is facing mounting pressure over a proposal to cut retirement benefits for hundreds of thousands of union workers. Hurtling toward insolvency, the Central States Pension Fund is looking to slash benefits by an average of one-third in order to prevent the program from running out of money in the coming years. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, whose members make up the largest chunk of Central States’ more than 400,000 participants, is fighting the benefit reductions...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Transatlantic trade talks underway in Miami Miami Herald ...U.S. and European Union officials are in Miami this week for the 11th round of negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, a proposed U.S.-EU agreement that would govern about one-third of the goods and services traded in the world. This round of TTIP negotiations, which are being held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Miami, began Monday and concludes Friday...
Obama woos TPA Dems on TPP Politico ...President Barack Obama turned on the charm Wednesday night to build support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, telling about 35 House and Senate Democrats who stood with him on trade promotion authority they're going to like what's in the pact when it comes to issues like labor, tobacco, the environment and investor-state dispute settlement...
Obama Does Damage Control After Hillary Defects on TPP US News ...President Barack Obama was scheduled to meet with congressional Democrats at the White House on Wednesday evening in an effort to convince them to rescue his landmark Pacific Rim trade pact as it faces increasingly long odds. Obama is expected to send formal notification to Congress as soon as this week that he intends to sign the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, a deal eight years in the making that would establish trade rules among countries that comprise 40 percent of the global economy...
TTIP Trade Talks Continue Under Veil of Secrecy in Miami - Official Sputnik News ...Chief negotiators of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement persisted to show contempt for transparency in Miami this week by failing to provide any meaningful details to the deal’s most critical stakeholders, a trade official from America’s largest labor union told Sputnik. On Monday, the week-long eleventh round of TTIP talks got underway in Miami...
Labor Voices: Trade deal will hurt auto industry, jobs (opinion) The Detroit News ...The last thing Michigan needs is another bad trade deal. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what the recently-announced Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) represents. This new trade agreement will be up for debate in Congress soon, and it’s a perfect example of what not to do when it comes to crafting trade policies that are good for Michigan families, and our auto industry...
Debt inspectors review Greek bailout progress Business Insider ...Greece's left-wing government said Wednesday it was in a "tough battle" with its bailout creditors over their demand to reduce protections for distressed mortgage holders. Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos and several other Cabinet members met with representatives of the European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Stability Mechanism. They discussed the spending cuts, tax hikes and economic reforms that Greece has passed...
Greek ports face two days of stoppages from towage union strike JOC ...Two days of strike action by towage workers will bring ship movements in Greek ports to a standstill Thursday and Friday, Inchcape Shipping Services has warned. The maritime and cargo services company said in an advisory to customers that work stoppages announced by the Crew Union of Towage Companies in Greece would affect vessel movements at all Greek ports and terminals...
Canada and the Anti-Austerity Movement The New Yorker ...From a global economic perspective, much of the interest in Trudeau’s success lies in his rejection of Harper’s balanced-budgets pitch, and his promotion of an economic plan that would have the federal government borrow money at low interest rates and invest it in infrastructure. While the absolute numbers in Trudeau’s proposal appear to be small they would virtually double infrastructure spending over the next decade...
South African students, police clash as protests against fee hikes grow CNN ...Throngs of students stormed the South African parliament in Cape Town and trapped lawmakers inside to protest fee increases set to take effect next year. University of Cape Town youth groups rallied students for Wednesday's protest, which started on campus and snaked toward parliament, about a mile away. Police at the scene "started throwing grenades and firing tear gas"...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Welcome to the Wholly Owned Koch Subsidiary Formerly Known as Wisconsin Huffington Post ...Starting today, three bills are being rammed through the Wisconsin legislature that will put the final nails in the coffin of our state's long history of clean elections and accountable governance. The same group of GOP leaders who attempted to gut the state's open records law over the 4th of July weekend are now calling for secrecy in campaign spending and for dismantling the two major avenues for investigating political corruption...
Supporters Predict Right-To-Work Swell If Court Rules In Hardin County’s Favor WFPL ...A ruling is imminent in a federal lawsuit that will determine whether Kentucky counties are allowed to pass local right-to-work laws. Right-to-work supporters say scores of counties in Kentucky and across the country are poised to pass local right-to-work laws if Hardin County’s law is upheld. Jim Waters, president of the conservative think tank Bluegrass Institute, said 50 counties have requested a copy of a model right-to-work law...
Alabama Addresses Voter Suppression Accusations By Keeping Rural DMVs Open One Day A Month Think Progress ...After national outcry from civil groups and politicians, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley announced he is somewhat reversing his decision to shut down 31 DMV offices in rural, majority-black counties across his state. Under the new plan, the offices will remain open just one day a month, beginning this November. Critics of the closures, including Selma, Alabama native Rep. Terri Sewell (D), say it’s not enough...
Minimum Wage Fight Just Got a Powerful New Ally Alternet ...The nationwide effort for a $15 minimum wage has made significant gains in the past year, with victories in major cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, and, partially, New York state. But, for much of the country, the idea of a $15 minimum wage remains elusive. One large California-based service union aims to change this by launching a fund to campaign for higher minimum wage ballot measures in several states...
Garcetti is reluctant to back bid for a statewide $15 an hour minimum wage LA Times ...After Los Angeles passed legislation this summer that will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour, Mayor Eric Garcetti positioned himself as a leading advocate for higher pay for the working poor, in Southern California and beyond. But in the latest and most active front in the fight to raise pay for low-wage workers, those watching for Garcetti to get involved may have to be patient...
U.S. LABOR
Done deal: UAW confirms ratification of FCA contract Detroit Free Press ...The UAW said today its members overwhelmingly ratified a new four-year agreement with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, giving the union its first new contract with the Detroit Three since formal negotiations began in July. The overwhelming support -- 77% voted yes -- comes almost six weeks after the old contract was set to expire...
NLRB Returns to Grad Student Unions Inside Higher Ed ...The National Labor Relations Board -- voting 3 to 1 -- agreed Wednesday to reconsider whether graduate teaching assistants at private universities are entitled to collective bargaining. The board accepted a case involving a bid by the United Auto Workers at the New School to unionize...
EPA chief, farmworkers praise new pesticide rules ModBee ...The chief of the Environmental Protection Agency visited a Stockton-area farm Tuesday to celebrate new federal rules for protecting workers from pesticides. Administrator Gina McCarthy, joined by United Farm Workers President Arturo Rodriguez, said the changes could reduce the 3,000-plus cases of pesticide exposure each year. The rules, enacted last month, are similar to what California already required...
81% in favor: Transit union members approve three-year contract Fox6 ...Leaders of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 say members on Wednesday, October 21st voted to approve a three-year contract agreement with Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS). According to union leaders, transit workers voted 81% in favor of the contract agreement...
Bank's Severance Deal Requires IT Workers to Be on Call for Two Years — Without Pay Alternet ...A severance deal that SunTrust Banks has reportedly provided to as many as 100 laid off technology workers would require the employees to continue providing assistance to the company for a period of two years without additional compensation. Computerworld reported this week that a number of employees who had received layoff notices from the Atlanta-based company provided a copy of the severance deal, “which gives the bank a way to tap their expertise long after their departure”...
Paul Ryan Wants To Preserve His Work/Family Balance While Making It Harder For Poor Parents Think Progress ...After Republicans in the House have spent weeks scrambling to find a new speaker to unite behind, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is finally saying he might run, but under a number of conditions. One of those conditions is that the time he currently spends with his wife and children be preserved even if he assumes a more demanding job. But while Ryan seeks to preserve his own balance between his work and his family, he’s pushed policies that would make doing so more difficult for others, particularly poor parents...
Survey: Half Of Food Workers Go To Work Sick Because They Have To NPR ...Flu season is here. And when the flu strikes, the luckier victims may call in sick without getting punished or losing pay. But many American workers, including those who handle our food, aren't so fortunate. Fifty-one percent of food workers — who do everything from grow and process food to cook and serve it — said they "always" or "frequently" go to work when they're sick, according to the results of a survey released Monday...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
How Immigration Detention Centers Retraumatize Women And Children Fleeing From Violence Think Progress ...Yanira, a 41-year-old Guatemalan national, left her home country with her three children because their lives were in danger from gang violence. She and her family arrived in Texas in February — but they were soon put in an immigration detention center. Yanira’s experience mirrors what many Central American mothers and children go through as they attempt to make the journey to this country, according to a new report...
'New Era of American Prosperity': Sanders Calls for Free Higher Ed for All Common Dreams ..."It is time to build on the progressive movement of the past and make public colleges and universities tuition-free in the United States," presidential candidate Bernie Sanders wrote in an op-ed on Thursday. In his call to make higher education free for all, Sen. Sanders (I-Vt.), noted that public colleges and universities are tuition-free in countries including Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Mexico...
Who's Burning Black Churches in St. Louis? The Atlantic ...For the second time in six months, black churches are burning. There have been six fires since October 8, all within a few miles of each other around St. Louis. Five have been at predominantly black churches, while the sixth was at a mixed church. The situation is not unlike the arsons that followed the massacre at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston this summer. As The Atlantic pointed out at the time, there’s a long history of terrorism against black churches in America...
Republicans Want to Hold the Debt Ceiling Hostage Without Looking Completely Insane. Good Luck With That. Slate ...The U.S. government is set to hit its borrowing limit in about two weeks, and hard-line conservatives in Congress have yet again decided that they would like to threaten a catastrophic national default by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. The first time the GOP tried this kamikaze tactic in 2011, it worked fairly well, as the White House eventually agreed to major spending cuts to avoid a crisis. But when the party tried in 2013, the effort ended in acrimonious failure...
Showing posts with label Albertsons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Albertsons. Show all posts
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Today's Teamster News 10.15.15
TEAMSTERS
Teamsters to vote on contract with SoCal supermarket chains JOC ...Employees at three major West Coast grocery chains will vote this weekend on a tentative contract between their employers and the Teamsters union. The tentative agreement covers more than 8,000 truck drivers and warehouse, dairy and manufacturing workers employed by Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons in Southern California. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the grocery companies reached a tentative pact after three months of negotiations...
Teamsters picket at Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas Review Journal ...Members of the Teamsters Local 986 picketed Wednesday in front of the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, saying that valet parking attendants at the hotel-casino have been working without a contract since voting to form a union in 2009. A union spokesman said more than a dozen Hard Rock valet workers would be covered by the contract. The pickets included Teamsters members from other resorts...
Teamsters local pickets Cranston City Hall in contract negotiation issue Providence Journal ...Mayor Allan Fung and Teamsters Local 251, which represents some of the city's full-time workers, came head-to-head over contract negotiations on Wednesday as about 30 people picketed in front of City Hall. The Teamsters’ contract expired June 30, and the city and union began negotiating for a new contract on June 2...
Teamsters Urge Safeway to Keep Good Jobs at Maryland Distribution Facilities DC Labor ...Teamsters are calling for Safeway to keep good jobs in Maryland, after the company unexpectedly issued a notice that it plans to start closing its Upper Marlboro and Landover, MD, grocery distribution facilities 19 days before Christmas, resulting in the layoff of more than 700 workers. The warehouse workers, members of Teamsters Locals 730 and 639, based in Washington, D.C., received a 60-day layoff notice from C&S Wholesale Grocers, which operates the Safeway-owned facilities...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Former US officials urge Congress to pass TPP The Hill ...More than two dozen former top U.S. officials are urging Congress to support a sweeping Pacific trade agreement that could get a vote sometime early next year. The group of 26 former Asia-focused trade, economic, diplomatic, security and intelligence officials sent a letter on Wednesday to House and Senate leadership. But the expansive agreement, completed last week in Atlanta after five years of talks, faces stiff headwinds from congressional lawmakers in both parties...
Don't Hold Your Breath for Cheap Steaks: Here's the TPP Timeline Bloomberg ...businesses seeking to take advantage of the deal -- which could have benefits and fallout for automakers, cattle and dairy farmers and drug manufacturers -- will have to wait for months and possibly even years before they will see its effects. The deal must be ratified by all 12 nations, and in many, that will be a multi-step process...
Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown Slams Obama-Backed TPP As 'Massive Sellout of American Workers' IBTimes ...Democratic senators have typically used deferential language when discussing Obama administration initiatives, even ones they don't support. In that, they have emulated Ronald Reagan's (possibly apocryphal) "Eleventh Commandment" about not publicly attacking members of your own party. But that may be changing with the president's push for a 12-nation trade agreement, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership...
Clinton says Pacific trade deal falls short on addressing currency manipulation Reuters ...U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday she does not support the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal because it does not adequately address currency manipulation. Clinton, who announced her opposition to the deal last week, said at a campaign event on Wednesday that she had hoped the agreement would have "enforceable provisions" related to currency manipulation...
RCEP: The next trade deal you need to know about CNBC ...The conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement last week could speed up talks on its lesser-known Asia-wide equivalent, trade analysts say. Negotiators working on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are currently in the middle of a week-long meeting. The RCEP was conceived in 2013 and is being negotiated between the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus regional trading partners including Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea...
EU Concerned TTIP Deal to Lower Labor, Eco Standards - Ex-UN Advisor Sputnik ...The TTIP agreement seeks to liberalize trade between the United States and Europe and create the world's largest trade zone, encompassing more than 60 percent of global production. "Many Europeans, including policymakers, fear labor standards will be undermined, not raised by the [TTIP] trade agreement," Aaronson, who is also a professor at the George Washington University Elliot School of International Affairs, said...
Public transport workers strike in Amsterdam and Utrecht Dutch News ...Commuters in Amsterdam and Utrecht face chaos on Thursday morning because of a strike by transport workers. The strike has been called by the FNV transport union to protest at the pay deal for civil servants agreed between three other unions and employers this summer. Qbuzz had gone to court in an effort to have the strike declared illegal...
Half of world's wealth now in hands of 1% of population – report The Guardian ...Global inequality is growing, with half the world’s wealth now in the hands of just 1% of the population, according to a new report. The middle classes have been squeezed at the expense of the very rich, according to research by Credit Suisse. Tidjane Thiam, the chief executive of Credit Suisse, said: “Middle class wealth has grown at a slower pace than wealth at the top end. This has reversed the pre-crisis trend"...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Low-wage workers rally, march in push for $15 hourly minimum Boston Globe ...Low-wage workers filled the hallways at the [Massachusetts] State House Tuesday as legislators considered a number of bills that would have a major impact on their jobs, from giving hourly employees more predictable schedules to raising the minimum wage at fast-food chains and big-box retailers to $15 an hour...
Group launches hunger strike in Charlotte over immigration legislation Charlotte Observer ...A group of people demanding that Gov. Pat McCrory veto a bill that cracks down on undocumented immigrants in the state is continuing a hunger strike Thursday outside the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center. They began Wednesday afternoon, and participants said they intend to go without food until Friday afternoon. They are demanding that McCrory veto HB 318...
Kansas Voter ID Law Sets Off a New Battle Over Registration New York Times ...This month, under a rule adopted by the Kansas secretary of state’s office, county election officials throughout the state began to cull names from the voters list, removing people who had been on it at least 90 days. Those removed from the list must start the registration process over in order to vote. The move has touched off a new battle over voter registration, pitting the Republican secretary of state, Kris W. Kobach, an ardent supporter of strict voting rules, against Democrats and advocates of voting rights...
Marco Rubio knows you can't live on minimum wage, but he wouldn't raise it Daily Kos ...Rubio thinks it would be awfully nice if businesses would pay wages people could live on, but the policies he's interested in are about making things easier for businesses, not workers. And maybe eventually the policy giveaways to business will trickle down to workers in the form of higher wages. Rubio has "full confidence," in fact, even though he is fully aware that it's not happening now...
It’s Science: Raising Minimum Wage Would Make America a Happier Place The Nation ... Smith is the author of an academic cri de cœur, published in the September 2015 issue of American Psychologist, in which she calls on the psychological profession to take a strong stance in support of raising the minimum wage. [She] asks her colleagues to consider the “mountain of evidence that supports the damaging impact of poverty upon the psychological, social and physical well-being of adults, children and communities”...
Comment sought on new sick leave law rules Statesman Journal ...The Bureau of Labor and Industries is seeking comment on implementing Oregon's new paid sick leave law. A series of public rulemaking hearings will be held in Eugene, Bend and Portland this month. Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian said the new law is an important step forward for workplaces. "We want to hear from the public so that our agency can make the new protections work for employees and businesses alike," he said...
Missouri: Judge Strikes Down Law Increasing St. Louis’s Minimum Wage Associated Press ...A state judge has struck down a St. Louis ordinance that sought to raise the city’s minimum wage. Judge Steven Ohmer of St. Louis Circuit Court declared the ordinance invalid and barred the city from enforcing it. His ruling Wednesday came a day before a 60-cent increase was to set the city’s minimum wage at $8.25 an hour...
U.S. LABOR
Thousands of City Janitors Authorize Strike Biz Philly ...The union representing 2,800 janitors who clean 168 Center City office buildings — including the Comcast Center and Cira Centre — has voted to authorize a strike amidst negotiations for a new contract. The 32BJ SEIU union has been negotiating with Building Owners Labor Relations Inc. since September 3 but failed to come to an agreement. Negotiations are ongoing, but the union now has the ability to strike if no deal is reached before the Thursday deadline...
UAW ratifies contract with MMNA Pantagraph ... United Auto Workers Local 2488, representing about 950 workers at the Mitsubishi auto plant, has overwhelmingly ratified a new contract with company. An "official notice" on the UAW's Facebook page Thursday morning states the vote was 697 in favor of the agreement and 103 voting "no"...
Inside Corporate America’s Campaign to Ditch Workers’ Comp ProPublica ...Standing before a giant map in his Dallas office, Bill Minick doesn’t seem like anyone’s idea of a bomb thrower. But backed by some of the biggest names in corporate America, this mild-mannered son of an evangelist is plotting a revolution in how companies take care of injured workers. His idea: Let them opt out of state workers’ compensation laws — and write their own rules...CSU Faculty Fight to Stop ‘University Professor’ From Becoming the New McJob In These Times ...Faculty across the 23 campuses of the California State University (CSU) system will be voting on strike authorization October 19-28. Should the 23,000 workers, mostly instructional employees, organized as the California Faculty Association (CFA) vote in favor of authorization, CFA leaders will be able to call a work stoppage if they cannot reach a settlement with the CSU system’s overseers, the Board of Trustees, over salary negotiations...
Hard Times For Seniors: No Cost of Living Increase for Social Security for 2016 Alternet ...On October 15, the Social Security Administration will announce some news that will be distressing to more than one in four households: there will be no Social Security cost of living adjustment ("COLA") for 2016. This is no small matter. The purpose of the annual adjustments is to ensure that Social Security's benefits don't lose value over time...
The Neverending Workday The Atlantic ...Work cultures of long hours reflect a notion of professionalism based on athleticism, in which one’s pace and accomplishments exist to be bested. Like a marathon, the never-ending office day tests psychological will and bodily capacity in equal measure. But even casual runners know the value of a good night’s sleep. Without adequate rest the body just isn’t up to the challenge...
Chicago Workers Thrive Three Years After Taking Over a Window Factory Truthout ...In 2008, Republic's owners closed the factory and laid off the work force without the required 60-days notice. Workers occupied the factory and refused to leave the premises until they were paid what they were owed. The story went nationwide. The New Era Windows and Doors Cooperative has been in operation since 2013. It hasn't been easy, but the worker-owners have learned together how to operate their own business...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Immigration creates its own wall inside GOP field CNBC ...immigration has divided conservative activists from business-oriented Republicans and the fast-growing Hispanic constituency the GOP needs more votes from to win presidential elections. But Donald Trump widened that divide — and began his rise to the top of Republican polls with hot rhetoric in his presidential announcement speech about who was crossing America's Southern border...
The Democratic Presidential Candidates Declared War on Unfettered Capitalism (opinion) Slate ...Tuesday night’s Democratic presidential debate revealed much more than the state of the horse race. It didn’t just pit Hillary Clinton against Sen. Bernie Sanders, or affect Vice President Joe Biden’s decision about running, or introduce the other candidates. It framed the whole election. Democrats are putting together a case for jerking the leash on capitalism. It’s moral, pragmatic, and smart. It fits the spirit of the times. Republicans had better come up with an answer...
People's Climate Returns as Communities Converge for Actions Nationwide Common Dreams ...Climate justice activists and community members are coming together throughout the country on Wednesday to demand urgent action from world leaders on the environment, workers rights, social justice, and other issues ahead of next month's United Nations COP21 talks in Paris. Actions are expected in more than 175 communities across 40 states as part of the National Day of Action on Climate, calling for an end to fossil fuels and investment in sustainable energy...
Eric Garner and Tamir Rice among those missing from FBI record of police killings The Guardian ...Killings by police that unleashed a new protest movement around the US in 2014, including those of Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and John Crawford, are missing from the federal government’s official record of homicides by officers because most departments refuse to submit data. Only 224 of 18,000 law enforcement agencies around the US reported a fatal shooting by their officers to the FBI last year...
Teamsters to vote on contract with SoCal supermarket chains JOC ...Employees at three major West Coast grocery chains will vote this weekend on a tentative contract between their employers and the Teamsters union. The tentative agreement covers more than 8,000 truck drivers and warehouse, dairy and manufacturing workers employed by Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons in Southern California. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the grocery companies reached a tentative pact after three months of negotiations...
Teamsters picket at Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas Review Journal ...Members of the Teamsters Local 986 picketed Wednesday in front of the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, saying that valet parking attendants at the hotel-casino have been working without a contract since voting to form a union in 2009. A union spokesman said more than a dozen Hard Rock valet workers would be covered by the contract. The pickets included Teamsters members from other resorts...
Teamsters local pickets Cranston City Hall in contract negotiation issue Providence Journal ...Mayor Allan Fung and Teamsters Local 251, which represents some of the city's full-time workers, came head-to-head over contract negotiations on Wednesday as about 30 people picketed in front of City Hall. The Teamsters’ contract expired June 30, and the city and union began negotiating for a new contract on June 2...
Teamsters Urge Safeway to Keep Good Jobs at Maryland Distribution Facilities DC Labor ...Teamsters are calling for Safeway to keep good jobs in Maryland, after the company unexpectedly issued a notice that it plans to start closing its Upper Marlboro and Landover, MD, grocery distribution facilities 19 days before Christmas, resulting in the layoff of more than 700 workers. The warehouse workers, members of Teamsters Locals 730 and 639, based in Washington, D.C., received a 60-day layoff notice from C&S Wholesale Grocers, which operates the Safeway-owned facilities...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Former US officials urge Congress to pass TPP The Hill ...More than two dozen former top U.S. officials are urging Congress to support a sweeping Pacific trade agreement that could get a vote sometime early next year. The group of 26 former Asia-focused trade, economic, diplomatic, security and intelligence officials sent a letter on Wednesday to House and Senate leadership. But the expansive agreement, completed last week in Atlanta after five years of talks, faces stiff headwinds from congressional lawmakers in both parties...
Don't Hold Your Breath for Cheap Steaks: Here's the TPP Timeline Bloomberg ...businesses seeking to take advantage of the deal -- which could have benefits and fallout for automakers, cattle and dairy farmers and drug manufacturers -- will have to wait for months and possibly even years before they will see its effects. The deal must be ratified by all 12 nations, and in many, that will be a multi-step process...
Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown Slams Obama-Backed TPP As 'Massive Sellout of American Workers' IBTimes ...Democratic senators have typically used deferential language when discussing Obama administration initiatives, even ones they don't support. In that, they have emulated Ronald Reagan's (possibly apocryphal) "Eleventh Commandment" about not publicly attacking members of your own party. But that may be changing with the president's push for a 12-nation trade agreement, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership...
Clinton says Pacific trade deal falls short on addressing currency manipulation Reuters ...U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday she does not support the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal because it does not adequately address currency manipulation. Clinton, who announced her opposition to the deal last week, said at a campaign event on Wednesday that she had hoped the agreement would have "enforceable provisions" related to currency manipulation...
RCEP: The next trade deal you need to know about CNBC ...The conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement last week could speed up talks on its lesser-known Asia-wide equivalent, trade analysts say. Negotiators working on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are currently in the middle of a week-long meeting. The RCEP was conceived in 2013 and is being negotiated between the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus regional trading partners including Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea...
EU Concerned TTIP Deal to Lower Labor, Eco Standards - Ex-UN Advisor Sputnik ...The TTIP agreement seeks to liberalize trade between the United States and Europe and create the world's largest trade zone, encompassing more than 60 percent of global production. "Many Europeans, including policymakers, fear labor standards will be undermined, not raised by the [TTIP] trade agreement," Aaronson, who is also a professor at the George Washington University Elliot School of International Affairs, said...
Public transport workers strike in Amsterdam and Utrecht Dutch News ...Commuters in Amsterdam and Utrecht face chaos on Thursday morning because of a strike by transport workers. The strike has been called by the FNV transport union to protest at the pay deal for civil servants agreed between three other unions and employers this summer. Qbuzz had gone to court in an effort to have the strike declared illegal...
Half of world's wealth now in hands of 1% of population – report The Guardian ...Global inequality is growing, with half the world’s wealth now in the hands of just 1% of the population, according to a new report. The middle classes have been squeezed at the expense of the very rich, according to research by Credit Suisse. Tidjane Thiam, the chief executive of Credit Suisse, said: “Middle class wealth has grown at a slower pace than wealth at the top end. This has reversed the pre-crisis trend"...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Low-wage workers rally, march in push for $15 hourly minimum Boston Globe ...Low-wage workers filled the hallways at the [Massachusetts] State House Tuesday as legislators considered a number of bills that would have a major impact on their jobs, from giving hourly employees more predictable schedules to raising the minimum wage at fast-food chains and big-box retailers to $15 an hour...
Group launches hunger strike in Charlotte over immigration legislation Charlotte Observer ...A group of people demanding that Gov. Pat McCrory veto a bill that cracks down on undocumented immigrants in the state is continuing a hunger strike Thursday outside the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center. They began Wednesday afternoon, and participants said they intend to go without food until Friday afternoon. They are demanding that McCrory veto HB 318...
Kansas Voter ID Law Sets Off a New Battle Over Registration New York Times ...This month, under a rule adopted by the Kansas secretary of state’s office, county election officials throughout the state began to cull names from the voters list, removing people who had been on it at least 90 days. Those removed from the list must start the registration process over in order to vote. The move has touched off a new battle over voter registration, pitting the Republican secretary of state, Kris W. Kobach, an ardent supporter of strict voting rules, against Democrats and advocates of voting rights...
Marco Rubio knows you can't live on minimum wage, but he wouldn't raise it Daily Kos ...Rubio thinks it would be awfully nice if businesses would pay wages people could live on, but the policies he's interested in are about making things easier for businesses, not workers. And maybe eventually the policy giveaways to business will trickle down to workers in the form of higher wages. Rubio has "full confidence," in fact, even though he is fully aware that it's not happening now...
It’s Science: Raising Minimum Wage Would Make America a Happier Place The Nation ... Smith is the author of an academic cri de cœur, published in the September 2015 issue of American Psychologist, in which she calls on the psychological profession to take a strong stance in support of raising the minimum wage. [She] asks her colleagues to consider the “mountain of evidence that supports the damaging impact of poverty upon the psychological, social and physical well-being of adults, children and communities”...
Comment sought on new sick leave law rules Statesman Journal ...The Bureau of Labor and Industries is seeking comment on implementing Oregon's new paid sick leave law. A series of public rulemaking hearings will be held in Eugene, Bend and Portland this month. Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian said the new law is an important step forward for workplaces. "We want to hear from the public so that our agency can make the new protections work for employees and businesses alike," he said...
Missouri: Judge Strikes Down Law Increasing St. Louis’s Minimum Wage Associated Press ...A state judge has struck down a St. Louis ordinance that sought to raise the city’s minimum wage. Judge Steven Ohmer of St. Louis Circuit Court declared the ordinance invalid and barred the city from enforcing it. His ruling Wednesday came a day before a 60-cent increase was to set the city’s minimum wage at $8.25 an hour...
U.S. LABOR
Thousands of City Janitors Authorize Strike Biz Philly ...The union representing 2,800 janitors who clean 168 Center City office buildings — including the Comcast Center and Cira Centre — has voted to authorize a strike amidst negotiations for a new contract. The 32BJ SEIU union has been negotiating with Building Owners Labor Relations Inc. since September 3 but failed to come to an agreement. Negotiations are ongoing, but the union now has the ability to strike if no deal is reached before the Thursday deadline...
UAW ratifies contract with MMNA Pantagraph ... United Auto Workers Local 2488, representing about 950 workers at the Mitsubishi auto plant, has overwhelmingly ratified a new contract with company. An "official notice" on the UAW's Facebook page Thursday morning states the vote was 697 in favor of the agreement and 103 voting "no"...
Inside Corporate America’s Campaign to Ditch Workers’ Comp ProPublica ...Standing before a giant map in his Dallas office, Bill Minick doesn’t seem like anyone’s idea of a bomb thrower. But backed by some of the biggest names in corporate America, this mild-mannered son of an evangelist is plotting a revolution in how companies take care of injured workers. His idea: Let them opt out of state workers’ compensation laws — and write their own rules...CSU Faculty Fight to Stop ‘University Professor’ From Becoming the New McJob In These Times ...Faculty across the 23 campuses of the California State University (CSU) system will be voting on strike authorization October 19-28. Should the 23,000 workers, mostly instructional employees, organized as the California Faculty Association (CFA) vote in favor of authorization, CFA leaders will be able to call a work stoppage if they cannot reach a settlement with the CSU system’s overseers, the Board of Trustees, over salary negotiations...
Hard Times For Seniors: No Cost of Living Increase for Social Security for 2016 Alternet ...On October 15, the Social Security Administration will announce some news that will be distressing to more than one in four households: there will be no Social Security cost of living adjustment ("COLA") for 2016. This is no small matter. The purpose of the annual adjustments is to ensure that Social Security's benefits don't lose value over time...
The Neverending Workday The Atlantic ...Work cultures of long hours reflect a notion of professionalism based on athleticism, in which one’s pace and accomplishments exist to be bested. Like a marathon, the never-ending office day tests psychological will and bodily capacity in equal measure. But even casual runners know the value of a good night’s sleep. Without adequate rest the body just isn’t up to the challenge...
Chicago Workers Thrive Three Years After Taking Over a Window Factory Truthout ...In 2008, Republic's owners closed the factory and laid off the work force without the required 60-days notice. Workers occupied the factory and refused to leave the premises until they were paid what they were owed. The story went nationwide. The New Era Windows and Doors Cooperative has been in operation since 2013. It hasn't been easy, but the worker-owners have learned together how to operate their own business...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Immigration creates its own wall inside GOP field CNBC ...immigration has divided conservative activists from business-oriented Republicans and the fast-growing Hispanic constituency the GOP needs more votes from to win presidential elections. But Donald Trump widened that divide — and began his rise to the top of Republican polls with hot rhetoric in his presidential announcement speech about who was crossing America's Southern border...
The Democratic Presidential Candidates Declared War on Unfettered Capitalism (opinion) Slate ...Tuesday night’s Democratic presidential debate revealed much more than the state of the horse race. It didn’t just pit Hillary Clinton against Sen. Bernie Sanders, or affect Vice President Joe Biden’s decision about running, or introduce the other candidates. It framed the whole election. Democrats are putting together a case for jerking the leash on capitalism. It’s moral, pragmatic, and smart. It fits the spirit of the times. Republicans had better come up with an answer...
People's Climate Returns as Communities Converge for Actions Nationwide Common Dreams ...Climate justice activists and community members are coming together throughout the country on Wednesday to demand urgent action from world leaders on the environment, workers rights, social justice, and other issues ahead of next month's United Nations COP21 talks in Paris. Actions are expected in more than 175 communities across 40 states as part of the National Day of Action on Climate, calling for an end to fossil fuels and investment in sustainable energy...
Eric Garner and Tamir Rice among those missing from FBI record of police killings The Guardian ...Killings by police that unleashed a new protest movement around the US in 2014, including those of Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and John Crawford, are missing from the federal government’s official record of homicides by officers because most departments refuse to submit data. Only 224 of 18,000 law enforcement agencies around the US reported a fatal shooting by their officers to the FBI last year...
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Today's Teamsters News 10.14.15
TEAMSTERS
Hoffa: Central States Shouldn't Cut Pensions Teamster.org ...Michigan workers and retirees should be allowed to live comfortably in their golden years. But increasingly, nest eggs that everyday people contributed to are being threatened. And retirement security is being taken away. The latest example is the Central States Pension Fund which serves hundreds of thousands of Teamsters in the Midwest, including thousands of Michiganians. Trustees with the pension plan filed a petition with the U.S. Treasury Department late last month that would cut the pensions...
Teamsters to Albertsons' Miller: Delay warehouse closing Supermarket News ...Teamsters representing workers at the two Safeway distribution centers slated for closure have appealed to the company’s CEO for an extension. As reported in SN, the centers, operated by C&S Wholesale Grocers for Safeway, are scheduled to close Dec. 5, with work outsourced to other C&S facilities...
Some UberX drivers plan weekend protests San Francisco Chronicle ...Some disgruntled UberX drivers and ex-drivers plan to refrain from working this weekend, terming their action a strike — although technically only employees can stage a strike. Uber drivers are independent contractors, a point currently being litigated in court in California. “It’s time to stand up for Uber driver’s rights,” said organizer Abe Husein, who said he drove part-time for Uber for five months in Kansas City, Mo., until he was deactivated in August...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
The Trans-Pacific Partnership May be Dead on Arrival Huffington Post ...News that U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had joined the entire rest of the democratic field in opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership may well sound the death knell for the agreement. It also raises a few interesting possibilities about where things go next. First though, on Clinton's "come to Jesus" moment: yes, it's politics...
The Moral Case Against the TPP (opinion) The Nation ... The TPP must be stopped—not simply because it could put jobs on the line. It needs to be stopped because it rewrites all the rules in favor of big corporations, allowing them to circumvent regulations for the public good—even as its backers claim they’re doing the opposite. The pope knows it. Obama must know it. Even Hillary Clinton, if you can believe it, says she knows it now. And if the texts are ever released, we’ll know it for sure, too...
Malmström tries a new tack on TTIP Politico ...European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström on Wednesday unveiled a new strategy which she called a direct response to growing opposition to an EU-U.S. trade deal, promising more transparency, increased protection for consumers, and a reformed investor dispute court. “We’ve listened to the debate,” said Malmström...
Rising Rates of Male Suicide Across Eurozone Connected to Austerity Measures Newsweek ...New research suggests that men of all ages committed suicide in increasing numbers in the eurozone's poorest countries as a direct result of austerity measures brought in across Europe following the 2009 recession. A study published in Social Science and Medicine is the first to examine the direct impact of fiscal austerity on suicide rates in the group of countries most affected by the eurozone crisis...
Manifesto Offers Vision of 'Joyful' Europe to Supplant Austerity's Misery Common Dreams ...Calling for a "European Europe, which can fulfill its mission to bring peace, freedom, justice, and solidarity to the world," a group of German economists, academics, policy advisers, and Social Democrats has issued a 12-point manifesto that rejects austerity, German hegemony, and right-wing extremism within the EU...
The Secret Weapon for Cutting Costs at Chinese Factories? Interns The Nation ... Rural migrants have filled manufacturing labor demands, but conscripted interns now form a major surplus army of labor, enabling manufacturers to capture a vulnerable youth workforce that’s increasingly striving for a life beyond factory drudgery. Though less publicized than Asia’s notorious garment sweatshops, advocates say the exploitation of contingent student workers follows similar practices of predatory capitalism as “development”...
South Africa Workers agree to end coal strike BD Live ...Just more than a week of strike action in the coal sector came to an end on Tuesday after the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) agreed in principle to a three-year wage deal with producers. No agreement had yet been signed, but management would communicate with workers for a return to work, probably on Wednesday morning, NUM chief negotiator for the sector Peter Bailey said outside the Chamber of Mines head office in Johannesburg...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
To Fix National Poverty Crisis, Study Shows Even $15 Wage Won't Do the Job Common Dreams ...There are few states in the U.S. where a $15 hourly wage is enough for workers to make ends meet, and a true livable wage would amount to no less than $16.87 an hour, a new report published Tuesday has found. Even making $15 an hour, which is roughly double the current federal minimum wage, would force a single adult to cut back on essentials like food or medicine in 35 states and Washington, D.C., according to the report...
Despite Increases, Mass. Workers Argue Minimum Wage Still Not High Enough WBUR ...The $9 per hour wage Theresa Pennington earns working at a Dunkin’ Donuts in Lowell is not enough to be able to afford an apartment of her own. Instead, she said, she lives with friends, but that means she is not able to keep custody of her 5-year-old daughter. “The fast food industry is one of the fastest growing in America and more and more of the workers look like me,” Pennington said. “We are not teenagers looking for pocket change"...
Florida minimum wage debate still going on The Ledger ...Raising the minimum wage is a national and statewide discussion. This month, 18 Florida Democrats tried living on $17 a day for five days in an effort to bring attention to the possibility of increasing the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour, as called for in a bill co-sponsored by state Sen. Dwight Bullard and state Rep. Victor Torres Jr...
Minneapolis' largest businesses add to push against workplace changes Star Tribune ...On Tuesday, 80 members of the Minnesota Business Partnership — a group that includes the leaders of Target, U.S. Bancorp, Xcel Energy and Mayo Clinic, among other major employers — convened a phone-conference strategy session. The goal: Defeat a set of proposals to guarantee more predictable schedules and paid sick leave...
Fight for 15 Activists Spend Columbus Day Rallying Against “Racist” Donald Trump In These Times ...The Fight for 15-organized protest, coinciding with Columbus Day, saw demonstrators toting a Donald Trump piñata march to the billionaire mogul’s hotel with a mariachi band in tow. Featuring Trump’s signature combover and its mouth contorted into a trumpet player’s puckered embouchure, the GOP frontrunner’s papier mâché doppelganger was filled with the names of people who had signed onto a statement opposing his rhetoric and policies...
U.S. LABOR
Are those detested two-tiered UAW contracts finally on the way out? LA Times ...One artifact of the auto industry's near-death experience during the Great Recession is the two-tier contract, in which workers hired after a certain date are saddled with permanently lower wages and benefits than their older peers. The United Auto Workers are poised to reach an agreement with Fiat Chrysler that could spell the end to the gap...
Fiat Chrysler Said to Double Use of Temp Workers in UAW Contract Bloomberg ...Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV can double its use of lower-paid temporary staffers under a new labor agreement being voted on by the United Auto Workers union, said two people familiar with the matter. Savings from that concession helps offset big raises given to almost half of the company’s unionized U.S. hourly employees...
What Democrats Missed When They Debated Paid Family Leave Think Progress ...Paid family leave was a big topic of discussion at the first Democratic presidential debate on Tuesday evening. But while all the candidates who were asked about the issue support a mandated family leave policy, they failed to mention the vital need to make sure new fathers have access to and take paid time off when their children arrive...
Is Campaign Cash From Police Unions Watering Down Democrats' Reform Efforts? Truthout ...At every turn, police unions and law enforcement lobbying groups have staunchly opposed measures aimed at policing reform. They have been the first and loudest voices to defend the perpetrators of each new incident of police murder and brutality caught on camera - no matter how heinous. Most recently, in California, unions called on Gov. Jerry Brown to veto a recently passed bill that aims to curb racial profiling...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
The Immigration Issues That Democratic Presidential Candidates Should Tackle Think Progress ...On Tuesday night, when Democratic presidential candidates take the stage for their first debate, they likely won’t touch the topic of immigration in the same blistering way as their Republican opponents have. There probably won’t be mentions of undocumented immigrants as potential criminals, “anchor babies,” and poor English language speakers. Instead, Democratic candidates will likely call for legal status (or citizenship) for the country’s 11.3 million undocumented immigrants...
Bernie and Hillary Duel as Democrats Debate Common Dreams ...The debate featured memorable back-and-forths on key issues as the two current frontrunners, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, discussed such issues as the role that "casino capitalism" has played in wrecking the middle class, the importance of fighting climate change, the scourge of gun violence that grips the country, the failures of U.S. foreign policy in recent years, pervasive racial disparities throughout the criminal justice system, and others...
Why Debt-Free College Is A Big Issue for 2016 Democratic Candidates The Atlantic ...As Democratic presidential hopefuls assembled in Las Vegas Tuesday night for their first formal debate, one topic that has received little airtime during the Republican face-offs garnered far more attention: the high cost of attaining a college degree. Three of the five Democratic candidates have released detailed proposals that seek to reduce dramatically the amount of debt students might accrue on their way to a college degree...
Democrats express strong support for 'Black Lives Matter' movement Mashable ..."Black lives matter," Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said. "We need to combat institutional racism from top to bottom." Black lives matter activists have interrupted Sanders rallies several times during his campaign, and he has since broadened his frequent speeches on economic inequality to include talk of racial inequality...
Hoffa: Central States Shouldn't Cut Pensions Teamster.org ...Michigan workers and retirees should be allowed to live comfortably in their golden years. But increasingly, nest eggs that everyday people contributed to are being threatened. And retirement security is being taken away. The latest example is the Central States Pension Fund which serves hundreds of thousands of Teamsters in the Midwest, including thousands of Michiganians. Trustees with the pension plan filed a petition with the U.S. Treasury Department late last month that would cut the pensions...
Teamsters to Albertsons' Miller: Delay warehouse closing Supermarket News ...Teamsters representing workers at the two Safeway distribution centers slated for closure have appealed to the company’s CEO for an extension. As reported in SN, the centers, operated by C&S Wholesale Grocers for Safeway, are scheduled to close Dec. 5, with work outsourced to other C&S facilities...
Some UberX drivers plan weekend protests San Francisco Chronicle ...Some disgruntled UberX drivers and ex-drivers plan to refrain from working this weekend, terming their action a strike — although technically only employees can stage a strike. Uber drivers are independent contractors, a point currently being litigated in court in California. “It’s time to stand up for Uber driver’s rights,” said organizer Abe Husein, who said he drove part-time for Uber for five months in Kansas City, Mo., until he was deactivated in August...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
The Trans-Pacific Partnership May be Dead on Arrival Huffington Post ...News that U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had joined the entire rest of the democratic field in opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership may well sound the death knell for the agreement. It also raises a few interesting possibilities about where things go next. First though, on Clinton's "come to Jesus" moment: yes, it's politics...
The Moral Case Against the TPP (opinion) The Nation ... The TPP must be stopped—not simply because it could put jobs on the line. It needs to be stopped because it rewrites all the rules in favor of big corporations, allowing them to circumvent regulations for the public good—even as its backers claim they’re doing the opposite. The pope knows it. Obama must know it. Even Hillary Clinton, if you can believe it, says she knows it now. And if the texts are ever released, we’ll know it for sure, too...
Malmström tries a new tack on TTIP Politico ...European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström on Wednesday unveiled a new strategy which she called a direct response to growing opposition to an EU-U.S. trade deal, promising more transparency, increased protection for consumers, and a reformed investor dispute court. “We’ve listened to the debate,” said Malmström...
Rising Rates of Male Suicide Across Eurozone Connected to Austerity Measures Newsweek ...New research suggests that men of all ages committed suicide in increasing numbers in the eurozone's poorest countries as a direct result of austerity measures brought in across Europe following the 2009 recession. A study published in Social Science and Medicine is the first to examine the direct impact of fiscal austerity on suicide rates in the group of countries most affected by the eurozone crisis...
Manifesto Offers Vision of 'Joyful' Europe to Supplant Austerity's Misery Common Dreams ...Calling for a "European Europe, which can fulfill its mission to bring peace, freedom, justice, and solidarity to the world," a group of German economists, academics, policy advisers, and Social Democrats has issued a 12-point manifesto that rejects austerity, German hegemony, and right-wing extremism within the EU...
The Secret Weapon for Cutting Costs at Chinese Factories? Interns The Nation ... Rural migrants have filled manufacturing labor demands, but conscripted interns now form a major surplus army of labor, enabling manufacturers to capture a vulnerable youth workforce that’s increasingly striving for a life beyond factory drudgery. Though less publicized than Asia’s notorious garment sweatshops, advocates say the exploitation of contingent student workers follows similar practices of predatory capitalism as “development”...
South Africa Workers agree to end coal strike BD Live ...Just more than a week of strike action in the coal sector came to an end on Tuesday after the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) agreed in principle to a three-year wage deal with producers. No agreement had yet been signed, but management would communicate with workers for a return to work, probably on Wednesday morning, NUM chief negotiator for the sector Peter Bailey said outside the Chamber of Mines head office in Johannesburg...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
To Fix National Poverty Crisis, Study Shows Even $15 Wage Won't Do the Job Common Dreams ...There are few states in the U.S. where a $15 hourly wage is enough for workers to make ends meet, and a true livable wage would amount to no less than $16.87 an hour, a new report published Tuesday has found. Even making $15 an hour, which is roughly double the current federal minimum wage, would force a single adult to cut back on essentials like food or medicine in 35 states and Washington, D.C., according to the report...
Despite Increases, Mass. Workers Argue Minimum Wage Still Not High Enough WBUR ...The $9 per hour wage Theresa Pennington earns working at a Dunkin’ Donuts in Lowell is not enough to be able to afford an apartment of her own. Instead, she said, she lives with friends, but that means she is not able to keep custody of her 5-year-old daughter. “The fast food industry is one of the fastest growing in America and more and more of the workers look like me,” Pennington said. “We are not teenagers looking for pocket change"...
Florida minimum wage debate still going on The Ledger ...Raising the minimum wage is a national and statewide discussion. This month, 18 Florida Democrats tried living on $17 a day for five days in an effort to bring attention to the possibility of increasing the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour, as called for in a bill co-sponsored by state Sen. Dwight Bullard and state Rep. Victor Torres Jr...
Minneapolis' largest businesses add to push against workplace changes Star Tribune ...On Tuesday, 80 members of the Minnesota Business Partnership — a group that includes the leaders of Target, U.S. Bancorp, Xcel Energy and Mayo Clinic, among other major employers — convened a phone-conference strategy session. The goal: Defeat a set of proposals to guarantee more predictable schedules and paid sick leave...
Fight for 15 Activists Spend Columbus Day Rallying Against “Racist” Donald Trump In These Times ...The Fight for 15-organized protest, coinciding with Columbus Day, saw demonstrators toting a Donald Trump piñata march to the billionaire mogul’s hotel with a mariachi band in tow. Featuring Trump’s signature combover and its mouth contorted into a trumpet player’s puckered embouchure, the GOP frontrunner’s papier mâché doppelganger was filled with the names of people who had signed onto a statement opposing his rhetoric and policies...
U.S. LABOR
Are those detested two-tiered UAW contracts finally on the way out? LA Times ...One artifact of the auto industry's near-death experience during the Great Recession is the two-tier contract, in which workers hired after a certain date are saddled with permanently lower wages and benefits than their older peers. The United Auto Workers are poised to reach an agreement with Fiat Chrysler that could spell the end to the gap...
Fiat Chrysler Said to Double Use of Temp Workers in UAW Contract Bloomberg ...Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV can double its use of lower-paid temporary staffers under a new labor agreement being voted on by the United Auto Workers union, said two people familiar with the matter. Savings from that concession helps offset big raises given to almost half of the company’s unionized U.S. hourly employees...
What Democrats Missed When They Debated Paid Family Leave Think Progress ...Paid family leave was a big topic of discussion at the first Democratic presidential debate on Tuesday evening. But while all the candidates who were asked about the issue support a mandated family leave policy, they failed to mention the vital need to make sure new fathers have access to and take paid time off when their children arrive...
Is Campaign Cash From Police Unions Watering Down Democrats' Reform Efforts? Truthout ...At every turn, police unions and law enforcement lobbying groups have staunchly opposed measures aimed at policing reform. They have been the first and loudest voices to defend the perpetrators of each new incident of police murder and brutality caught on camera - no matter how heinous. Most recently, in California, unions called on Gov. Jerry Brown to veto a recently passed bill that aims to curb racial profiling...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
The Immigration Issues That Democratic Presidential Candidates Should Tackle Think Progress ...On Tuesday night, when Democratic presidential candidates take the stage for their first debate, they likely won’t touch the topic of immigration in the same blistering way as their Republican opponents have. There probably won’t be mentions of undocumented immigrants as potential criminals, “anchor babies,” and poor English language speakers. Instead, Democratic candidates will likely call for legal status (or citizenship) for the country’s 11.3 million undocumented immigrants...
Bernie and Hillary Duel as Democrats Debate Common Dreams ...The debate featured memorable back-and-forths on key issues as the two current frontrunners, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, discussed such issues as the role that "casino capitalism" has played in wrecking the middle class, the importance of fighting climate change, the scourge of gun violence that grips the country, the failures of U.S. foreign policy in recent years, pervasive racial disparities throughout the criminal justice system, and others...
Why Debt-Free College Is A Big Issue for 2016 Democratic Candidates The Atlantic ...As Democratic presidential hopefuls assembled in Las Vegas Tuesday night for their first formal debate, one topic that has received little airtime during the Republican face-offs garnered far more attention: the high cost of attaining a college degree. Three of the five Democratic candidates have released detailed proposals that seek to reduce dramatically the amount of debt students might accrue on their way to a college degree...
Democrats express strong support for 'Black Lives Matter' movement Mashable ..."Black lives matter," Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said. "We need to combat institutional racism from top to bottom." Black lives matter activists have interrupted Sanders rallies several times during his campaign, and he has since broadened his frequent speeches on economic inequality to include talk of racial inequality...
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Today's Teamster News 10.08.15
TEAMSTERS
Teamsters Reach Tentative Agreement With Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons Teamster.org ...The Teamsters Union announced today that it has reached a tentative agreement with grocery companies Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons that if passed, will cover more than 8,000 members across Southern California. The drivers, warehouse, dairy and manufacturing workers at the three companies will vote on the tentative agreement from Oct. 16-18...
Union Challenges Unjust Treatment of Paratransit Workers Local 727 ...In the last nine months alone, Teamsters Local 727 representatives have successfully fought for the reinstatement of a dozen paratransit workers who were wrongfully fired. The union also has filed about 75 grievances relating to issues with discipline, seniority, attendance and other contract violations committed by management at CDT, First Transit, MV Transportation and Ride Right locations...
An Uber Union? American Prospect ...If the National Labor Relations Act doesn’t cover independent contractors, could local governments still pass laws that would? It’s not without precedent: Some states have allowed farmworkers to join unions and O’Brien has been working with Teamsters Local 117 to find a concrete strategy for Seattle. While his bill focuses specifically on drivers, it may also set a precedent for workers' rights for other industries that rely on independent contract labor...
School board members: Teamsters negotiations need to be resolved soon Courier & Press ...At some point, there has to be an end. That's what Evansville Vanderburgh School Board Secretary Andy Guarino said about collective bargaining negotiations with Teamsters Local 215. Duckworth noted issues and concerns have been addressed on the other four employee group contracts but he said binding arbitration is preventing the two groups from an agreement. Teamsters Local 215 President Chuck Whobrey said that shouldn't be a sticking point...
Port Driver Heads to D.C. Go By Truck News ...A port truck driver who was fired over employee classification issues is taking the fight to the White House. Alex Paz served on a panel at a conference on workers’ rights yesterday, Oct. 7, 2015, in Washington, D.C.
Yesterday’s White House Summit on Worker Voice was the first event of its kind. It sought to “explore ways to ensure that middle class Americans are sharing in the benefits of the broad-based economic growth that they are helping to create”...
Joe Biden would be only Democratic candidate backing Asia trade deal if he runs for president Star Tribune ..."This is a game changer," Biden said earlier this year in Mexico, describing TPP as a "comprehensive, high-standard trade agreement" that would raise the bar for 21st century trade. Clinton and other Democrats are aggressively seeking union endorsements in the primary. Galen Munroe, a Teamsters spokesman, said opposition to TPP would be an important consideration...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Hillary Clinton Just Made Passage of the TPP Much More Difficult The Nation ... In a Wednesday afternoon interview with PBS, Hillary Clinton announced that she is opposed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that was finalized just two days earlier. “As of today, I am not in favor of what I have learned about it,” she told Judy Woodruff. “I don’t believe it is going to meet the high bar I have set”...
Tobacco ‘carve-out’ sparks bid to sink TPP The Hill ...Lawmakers from tobacco-producing states and business groups are aiming to torpedo a sweeping Asia-Pacific deal over a provision they believe will severely damage the U.S. industry. Delegates from North Carolina, where the majority of the nation’s tobacco is grown, says language unveiled this week in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) unfairly targets the Tar Heel State’s prized crop...
China and Europe may team up to snub TPP CNBC ...The world's largest trade deal in recent decades may wind up creating high school-esque cliques on the international stage. As the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) celebrates after sealing an agreement five years in the making, analysts are wondering whether the key losers from the deal, China and Europe, could join forces in retaliation...
How the Trans-Pacific Partnership Threatens America's Recent Manufacturing Resurgence The Atlantic ...Now that the U.S. and 11 Pacific Rim nations have agreed on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, those who follow manufacturing are looking with new scrutiny at the deal, which will now come before Congress. There’s been a resurgence of manufacturing in the U.S. after all, a movement called “onshoring.” The nitty-gritty details of the TPP are still not public, but it’s known that the agreement seeks to gradually reduce trade barriers such as tariffs among member countries...
Why the TPP Won’t Work for Workers The Nation ...Those who want evidence of the impact TPP may have on a huge chunk of the world’s workforce can look no further than how an existing free trade accord, based on the same model, is managing labor relations between Peru, a TPP signatory, and the United States. The US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement’s (PTPA) supposedly state-of-the-art labor grievance process is just starting to be tested in a landmark case...
TTIP: The Need For A New Trade Model Dedicated To Shared Prosperity (opinion) Social Europe ...Unions on both sides of the Atlantic are coming together to demand a new set of pro-worker objectives for the TTIP agreement. The AFL-CIO shares information, develops shared proposals and meets regularly with both partners’ negotiators to make clear that the status quo on trade is unacceptable. In 2014, the AFL-CIO and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) published a joint statement urging the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiators to adopt an “open, democratic and participatory” process...
Anti-austerity protests turn violent in Belgium The Independent ...Up to 100,000 people took to the streets on Wednesday in the Belgian capital Brussels, in order to protest against the austerity policies of right-wing Prime Minister Charles Michel. In violent clashes, the police deployed a water cannon against protestors outside Brussels Nord train station. The demonstration was part of a national day of protest against austerity policies and was organised by the Belgium’s three main trade unions...
New VW boss warns staff of ‘massive cutbacks’ after emissions scandal Al Jazeera ...New Volkswagen Chief Executive Matthias Müller warned staffers on Tuesday to brace for "massive cutbacks" in response to the diesel emissions scandal that has hammered the company's stock and reputation. Speaking to employees at VW headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, Müller, who replaced longtime CEO Martin Winterkorn late last month, said all the company's investment plans would be put under review and an existing cost-cutting program accelerated...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Tennessee’s First Year Of Drug Testing Welfare Applicants Didn’t Go Very Well Think Progress ...Tennessee’s first year of drug testing welfare recipients uncovered drug use by less than 0.2 percent of all applicants for the state’s public assistance system. The state implemented the testing regime in the summer of 2014, adding three questions about narcotics use to the application form for aid. Anyone who answers “yes” to any of the three drug questions must take a urine test or have their application thrown away immediately...
Can California Prevent Wage Discrimination Against Women? The Atlantic ...Despite, or perhaps because of, overwhelming congressional gridlock that has stymied federal legislation, states are taking their own steps toward addressing the gender wage gap. On Tuesday evening, California Governor Jerry Brown signed the California Fair Pay Act, which is being called the “strongest” state law to tackle the issue...
State wants federal judge to rule on Voter ID before March primaries Winston-Salem Journal ...State attorneys want a federal judge to dismiss the legal challenge to North Carolina’s voter-identification law before the March 2016 presidential primary, according to court documents filed Wednesday. And though the plaintiffs, including the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP, said they hoped to settle the matter before a trial, state attorneys said there’s no chance of that...
Alabama Puts Up More Hurdles for Voters (editorial) New York Times ...Barely one year after Alabama’s voter-ID law went into effect, officials are planning to close 31 driver’s license offices across the state, including those in every county in which blacks make up more than 75 percent of registered voters. It's ostensibly a cost-cutting effort, but couples with the voter-ID law, these closings will make it even more difficult for many of the state's most vulnerable voters to get one of the most common forms of identification now required to cast a vote...
It’s Getting Harder To Move Beyond A Minimum-Wage Job FiveThirtyEight ...Minimum-wage jobs are meant to be the first rung on a career ladder, a chance for entry-level workers to prove themselves before earning a promotion or moving on to other, better-paying jobs. But a growing number of Americans are getting stuck on that first rung for years, if they ever move up at all...
U.S. LABOR
Obama praises unions, workers' rights at White House Summit Reuters ...President Barack Obama called for higher blue-collar wages and benefits and promoted collective bargaining on Wednesday, courting workers' unions in a day-long event as his advancing Pacific Rim trade deal has left many labor groups disenchanted with the White House. In a speech to workers, union leaders, lawmakers and employers, Obama supported the defense of workers' rights and urged workers to band together in an increasingly technology-driven economy...
UAW reaches tentative deal with Fiat Chrysler to avoid strike Washington Post ...The United Auto Workers union narrowly avoided a strike against Fiat Chrysler of America early Thursday morning, announcing an agreement less than two days after threatening to pull as many as 40,000 workers off the job while contract negotiations soured. The union posted on Facebook just after midnight that that bargaining committee had "secured significant gains"...
Ford Motor Company Dodges The Impending Workers’ Strike After Reaching An Agreement With The Union Business Finance News ...Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) has avoided a workers’ strike at Ford’s Kansas City assembly plant, which produces its most profitable F-150 pickups along with the transit full size commercial vans. Approximately 7,500 people work at the Missouri Ford plant. According to Bloomberg, both parties reached on a tentative labor contract on Friday...
Companies agree to first union deal for Pittsburgh security guards Post-Gazette ...Capping what supporters have called the biggest labor organizing victory in Pittsburgh in a decade, a group of security companies have agreed to the first-ever contract covering hundreds of security guards who patrol dozens of large commercial buildings in the city. The local chapter of the property services labor union, known as 32BJ SEIU, began organizing security guards last fall by the hundreds...
Wave of Digital Media Organizing Continues as Al Jazeera America Goes Union In These Times ...The unionization of digital media continues—now at Al Jazeera America (AJAM), after the National Labor Relations Board confirmed this morning that the news publication’s digital workers voted 32-5 in favor of union representation under the NewsGuild of New York, an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America (CWA). AJAM digital workers had previously sought voluntary union recognition from employers on September 3...
Trevor Noah dissects the Uber economy: “You get into it for the 19-year-old who vomits in the back seat of your Camry” Salon ...Uber’s app-based taxi service might be available in 311 different cities and be estimated as a $50 billion company, but “The Daily Show’s” Trevor Noah and Jordan Klepper say there’s something disturbing about the new “gig economy.” The model of paying people for a brief service means fewer workers are salaried employees...
Senators Want To Clean Up After Supreme Court Decision That Exposed Older Workers To Discrimination Think Progress ...On Thursday, Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) will introduce the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act (POWADA), a bill aimed at reversing a 2009 Supreme Court decision that made it much harder for workers to prove they have been victims of age discrimination, a Congressional staffer told ThinkProgress...
How Bernie Sanders’ New Bill Would Help More Workers Unionize Think Porgress ...Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) unveiled a new bill this week that would make it easier for workers to form a union and negotiate a contract free from employer retaliation or foot-dragging. As he actively courts union endorsements of his presidential candidacy, Sanders’ latest move also draws a strong contrast with his Republican opponents in the presidential race, who have almost unanimously backed “right-to-work” laws that would weaken labor unions...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Not Just Consumer Fraud, VW Scandal Called 'Crime Against Climate' Common Dreams ...Joining the chorus of watchdogs who say Volkswagen (VW) must pay for its corporate crime, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) on Tuesday released an analysis charging that financial penalties for the company's environmental violations should be no less than $25.1 billion in the United States alone. While VW Chief Executive Matthias Müller stressed on Wednesday that "there were no deaths, and our cars were, and are safe," the evidence suggests otherwise...
Clinton to Meet Friday with Black Lives Matter Activists NBC ...A Clinton campaign aide confirmed that the meeting will take place Friday in DC. McKesson and other activists have already met over the last few weeks with Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. They have been seeking meetings with all of the candidates of both parties to push their idea of police reforms that they have dubbed "Campaign Zero," the idea being to end police killings of civilians...
Teamsters Reach Tentative Agreement With Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons Teamster.org ...The Teamsters Union announced today that it has reached a tentative agreement with grocery companies Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons that if passed, will cover more than 8,000 members across Southern California. The drivers, warehouse, dairy and manufacturing workers at the three companies will vote on the tentative agreement from Oct. 16-18...
Union Challenges Unjust Treatment of Paratransit Workers Local 727 ...In the last nine months alone, Teamsters Local 727 representatives have successfully fought for the reinstatement of a dozen paratransit workers who were wrongfully fired. The union also has filed about 75 grievances relating to issues with discipline, seniority, attendance and other contract violations committed by management at CDT, First Transit, MV Transportation and Ride Right locations...
An Uber Union? American Prospect ...If the National Labor Relations Act doesn’t cover independent contractors, could local governments still pass laws that would? It’s not without precedent: Some states have allowed farmworkers to join unions and O’Brien has been working with Teamsters Local 117 to find a concrete strategy for Seattle. While his bill focuses specifically on drivers, it may also set a precedent for workers' rights for other industries that rely on independent contract labor...
School board members: Teamsters negotiations need to be resolved soon Courier & Press ...At some point, there has to be an end. That's what Evansville Vanderburgh School Board Secretary Andy Guarino said about collective bargaining negotiations with Teamsters Local 215. Duckworth noted issues and concerns have been addressed on the other four employee group contracts but he said binding arbitration is preventing the two groups from an agreement. Teamsters Local 215 President Chuck Whobrey said that shouldn't be a sticking point...
Port Driver Heads to D.C. Go By Truck News ...A port truck driver who was fired over employee classification issues is taking the fight to the White House. Alex Paz served on a panel at a conference on workers’ rights yesterday, Oct. 7, 2015, in Washington, D.C.
Yesterday’s White House Summit on Worker Voice was the first event of its kind. It sought to “explore ways to ensure that middle class Americans are sharing in the benefits of the broad-based economic growth that they are helping to create”...
Joe Biden would be only Democratic candidate backing Asia trade deal if he runs for president Star Tribune ..."This is a game changer," Biden said earlier this year in Mexico, describing TPP as a "comprehensive, high-standard trade agreement" that would raise the bar for 21st century trade. Clinton and other Democrats are aggressively seeking union endorsements in the primary. Galen Munroe, a Teamsters spokesman, said opposition to TPP would be an important consideration...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Hillary Clinton Just Made Passage of the TPP Much More Difficult The Nation ... In a Wednesday afternoon interview with PBS, Hillary Clinton announced that she is opposed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that was finalized just two days earlier. “As of today, I am not in favor of what I have learned about it,” she told Judy Woodruff. “I don’t believe it is going to meet the high bar I have set”...
Tobacco ‘carve-out’ sparks bid to sink TPP The Hill ...Lawmakers from tobacco-producing states and business groups are aiming to torpedo a sweeping Asia-Pacific deal over a provision they believe will severely damage the U.S. industry. Delegates from North Carolina, where the majority of the nation’s tobacco is grown, says language unveiled this week in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) unfairly targets the Tar Heel State’s prized crop...
China and Europe may team up to snub TPP CNBC ...The world's largest trade deal in recent decades may wind up creating high school-esque cliques on the international stage. As the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) celebrates after sealing an agreement five years in the making, analysts are wondering whether the key losers from the deal, China and Europe, could join forces in retaliation...
How the Trans-Pacific Partnership Threatens America's Recent Manufacturing Resurgence The Atlantic ...Now that the U.S. and 11 Pacific Rim nations have agreed on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, those who follow manufacturing are looking with new scrutiny at the deal, which will now come before Congress. There’s been a resurgence of manufacturing in the U.S. after all, a movement called “onshoring.” The nitty-gritty details of the TPP are still not public, but it’s known that the agreement seeks to gradually reduce trade barriers such as tariffs among member countries...
Why the TPP Won’t Work for Workers The Nation ...Those who want evidence of the impact TPP may have on a huge chunk of the world’s workforce can look no further than how an existing free trade accord, based on the same model, is managing labor relations between Peru, a TPP signatory, and the United States. The US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement’s (PTPA) supposedly state-of-the-art labor grievance process is just starting to be tested in a landmark case...
TTIP: The Need For A New Trade Model Dedicated To Shared Prosperity (opinion) Social Europe ...Unions on both sides of the Atlantic are coming together to demand a new set of pro-worker objectives for the TTIP agreement. The AFL-CIO shares information, develops shared proposals and meets regularly with both partners’ negotiators to make clear that the status quo on trade is unacceptable. In 2014, the AFL-CIO and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) published a joint statement urging the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiators to adopt an “open, democratic and participatory” process...
Anti-austerity protests turn violent in Belgium The Independent ...Up to 100,000 people took to the streets on Wednesday in the Belgian capital Brussels, in order to protest against the austerity policies of right-wing Prime Minister Charles Michel. In violent clashes, the police deployed a water cannon against protestors outside Brussels Nord train station. The demonstration was part of a national day of protest against austerity policies and was organised by the Belgium’s three main trade unions...
New VW boss warns staff of ‘massive cutbacks’ after emissions scandal Al Jazeera ...New Volkswagen Chief Executive Matthias Müller warned staffers on Tuesday to brace for "massive cutbacks" in response to the diesel emissions scandal that has hammered the company's stock and reputation. Speaking to employees at VW headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, Müller, who replaced longtime CEO Martin Winterkorn late last month, said all the company's investment plans would be put under review and an existing cost-cutting program accelerated...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Tennessee’s First Year Of Drug Testing Welfare Applicants Didn’t Go Very Well Think Progress ...Tennessee’s first year of drug testing welfare recipients uncovered drug use by less than 0.2 percent of all applicants for the state’s public assistance system. The state implemented the testing regime in the summer of 2014, adding three questions about narcotics use to the application form for aid. Anyone who answers “yes” to any of the three drug questions must take a urine test or have their application thrown away immediately...
Can California Prevent Wage Discrimination Against Women? The Atlantic ...Despite, or perhaps because of, overwhelming congressional gridlock that has stymied federal legislation, states are taking their own steps toward addressing the gender wage gap. On Tuesday evening, California Governor Jerry Brown signed the California Fair Pay Act, which is being called the “strongest” state law to tackle the issue...
State wants federal judge to rule on Voter ID before March primaries Winston-Salem Journal ...State attorneys want a federal judge to dismiss the legal challenge to North Carolina’s voter-identification law before the March 2016 presidential primary, according to court documents filed Wednesday. And though the plaintiffs, including the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP, said they hoped to settle the matter before a trial, state attorneys said there’s no chance of that...
Alabama Puts Up More Hurdles for Voters (editorial) New York Times ...Barely one year after Alabama’s voter-ID law went into effect, officials are planning to close 31 driver’s license offices across the state, including those in every county in which blacks make up more than 75 percent of registered voters. It's ostensibly a cost-cutting effort, but couples with the voter-ID law, these closings will make it even more difficult for many of the state's most vulnerable voters to get one of the most common forms of identification now required to cast a vote...
It’s Getting Harder To Move Beyond A Minimum-Wage Job FiveThirtyEight ...Minimum-wage jobs are meant to be the first rung on a career ladder, a chance for entry-level workers to prove themselves before earning a promotion or moving on to other, better-paying jobs. But a growing number of Americans are getting stuck on that first rung for years, if they ever move up at all...
U.S. LABOR
Obama praises unions, workers' rights at White House Summit Reuters ...President Barack Obama called for higher blue-collar wages and benefits and promoted collective bargaining on Wednesday, courting workers' unions in a day-long event as his advancing Pacific Rim trade deal has left many labor groups disenchanted with the White House. In a speech to workers, union leaders, lawmakers and employers, Obama supported the defense of workers' rights and urged workers to band together in an increasingly technology-driven economy...
UAW reaches tentative deal with Fiat Chrysler to avoid strike Washington Post ...The United Auto Workers union narrowly avoided a strike against Fiat Chrysler of America early Thursday morning, announcing an agreement less than two days after threatening to pull as many as 40,000 workers off the job while contract negotiations soured. The union posted on Facebook just after midnight that that bargaining committee had "secured significant gains"...
Ford Motor Company Dodges The Impending Workers’ Strike After Reaching An Agreement With The Union Business Finance News ...Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) has avoided a workers’ strike at Ford’s Kansas City assembly plant, which produces its most profitable F-150 pickups along with the transit full size commercial vans. Approximately 7,500 people work at the Missouri Ford plant. According to Bloomberg, both parties reached on a tentative labor contract on Friday...
Companies agree to first union deal for Pittsburgh security guards Post-Gazette ...Capping what supporters have called the biggest labor organizing victory in Pittsburgh in a decade, a group of security companies have agreed to the first-ever contract covering hundreds of security guards who patrol dozens of large commercial buildings in the city. The local chapter of the property services labor union, known as 32BJ SEIU, began organizing security guards last fall by the hundreds...
Wave of Digital Media Organizing Continues as Al Jazeera America Goes Union In These Times ...The unionization of digital media continues—now at Al Jazeera America (AJAM), after the National Labor Relations Board confirmed this morning that the news publication’s digital workers voted 32-5 in favor of union representation under the NewsGuild of New York, an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America (CWA). AJAM digital workers had previously sought voluntary union recognition from employers on September 3...
Trevor Noah dissects the Uber economy: “You get into it for the 19-year-old who vomits in the back seat of your Camry” Salon ...Uber’s app-based taxi service might be available in 311 different cities and be estimated as a $50 billion company, but “The Daily Show’s” Trevor Noah and Jordan Klepper say there’s something disturbing about the new “gig economy.” The model of paying people for a brief service means fewer workers are salaried employees...
Senators Want To Clean Up After Supreme Court Decision That Exposed Older Workers To Discrimination Think Progress ...On Thursday, Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) will introduce the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act (POWADA), a bill aimed at reversing a 2009 Supreme Court decision that made it much harder for workers to prove they have been victims of age discrimination, a Congressional staffer told ThinkProgress...
How Bernie Sanders’ New Bill Would Help More Workers Unionize Think Porgress ...Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) unveiled a new bill this week that would make it easier for workers to form a union and negotiate a contract free from employer retaliation or foot-dragging. As he actively courts union endorsements of his presidential candidacy, Sanders’ latest move also draws a strong contrast with his Republican opponents in the presidential race, who have almost unanimously backed “right-to-work” laws that would weaken labor unions...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Not Just Consumer Fraud, VW Scandal Called 'Crime Against Climate' Common Dreams ...Joining the chorus of watchdogs who say Volkswagen (VW) must pay for its corporate crime, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) on Tuesday released an analysis charging that financial penalties for the company's environmental violations should be no less than $25.1 billion in the United States alone. While VW Chief Executive Matthias Müller stressed on Wednesday that "there were no deaths, and our cars were, and are safe," the evidence suggests otherwise...
Clinton to Meet Friday with Black Lives Matter Activists NBC ...A Clinton campaign aide confirmed that the meeting will take place Friday in DC. McKesson and other activists have already met over the last few weeks with Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. They have been seeking meetings with all of the candidates of both parties to push their idea of police reforms that they have dubbed "Campaign Zero," the idea being to end police killings of civilians...
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Today's Teamster News 07.09.13
Temporary jobs becoming a permanent fixture in US Associated Press ...companies are increasingly turning to temps and to a much larger universe of freelancers, contract workers and consultants. Combined, these workers number nearly 17 million people...
The State of the Unions American Prospect ...While 51 percent of all Americans have favorable views of unions, 61 percent of Americans under 30 hold that view...
European Trade Deal Could Undermine Important Regulations Here At Home ThinkProgress ...Forthcoming trade negotiations between the U.S. and the European Commission threaten to undermine environmental, workplace, and financial regulations, according to a July 8 letter from a slew of American and European public interest groups sent to President Barack Obama and his European counterparts...
Clothiers Act to Inspect Bangladeshi Factories New York Times ...A mostly European consortium of 70 retailers and apparel brands has agreed to inspect within nine months all Bangladeshi garment factories that supply the companies in the wake of 1,300 factory workers who have lost their lives since November…
40 still missing in deadly Canada rail crash, fire Associated Press ...About 40 people were still missing a day after a runaway train derailed in Quebec, igniting explosions and fires that destroyed a busy downtown district and killed five people...
Eight injured in West Virginia gas well explosion Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ...A natural gas well in West Virginia exploded early Sunday, injuring eight people. The well, about an hour southwest of Morgantown in New Milton, ignited about 4 a.m...
Civilians on unpaid leave in Pentagon austerity move Reuters ...Civilian defense workers across the United States began taking unpaid leave on Monday in a Pentagon-imposed austerity move expected to save $1.8 billion through September 30 by effectively cutting the pay of about 650,000 workers by nearly 20 percent...
Letter: Women Unite (opinion) Salt Lake City Tribune ...There has been a lot of talk recently about the minimum wage and the fact that 40 percent of heads of households are women. Some want to move the minimum wage to $15 an hour. There is a solution to this problem…
Feds: FedEx may face charges on illegal drug shipments Long Island Newsday ...Federal authorities are considering filing criminal charges against FedEx, which is under investigation for shipping powerful prescription pills for illegal online pharmacies -- including some packages sent to Long Island, according to federal law enforcement sources...
Pennsylvania 4th in U.S. for breaking hotel wage-and-hour laws Erie Times-News ...If you've stayed at the Heritage Hills Resort in York while touring Amish country, toasted newlyweds at the Avalon Hotel in Erie, or settled in for a weekend of pampering at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in the Laurel Highlands, chances are the person who made your bed, poured your champagne or washed your towels wasn't being paid minimum wage...
Iowa court to reconsider ruling on woman's firing Associated Press ...The Iowa Supreme Court will reconsider a controversial ruling in which the court said it was legal for a dentist to fire his assistant for being too attractive. A new decision could come as early as Friday...
OK Tax Commission asks state high court to overturn ruling that could cost state $450 million Tulsa World ...The state of Oklahoma stands to lose as much as $450 million if a Court of Civil Appeals ruling on how a capital-gains tax deduction is figured is allowed to stand…
NJ employers scaling back the most on health insurance contributions: ADP study Star-Ledger ...Large companies across the country have been scaling back on what they contribute to their workers’ health care plans, and the sharpest decline has been in New Jersey, according to new data from the ADP Research Institute...
Newborn died because of mother’s labor-intensive job during pregnancy: suit NY Daily News ...Reyna Garcia, of Atascadero, Calif., alleges that despite three doctor's notes showing she had a high-risk pregnancy, her employer, Albertsons, refused her requests for work that didn't involve heavy lifting. She gave birth to a baby girl in November who died 10 minutes after being born...
Union Secures First Contract For Marriott O'Hare Shuttle Drivers Teamsters Local 727 ...Shuttle bus drivers at Marriott Chicago O’Hare on June 21 ratified their first Teamster contract, which yields annual raises and job protections...
Finding the Perfect Spot to Shoot New York Times ...A member of the Teamsters Union and the Directors Guild of America, Kevin Breslin is a filmmaker and a location scout for commercials. Over 20 years, he has maneuvered crews through the city and arranged thousands of shoots, including the New York Lottery’s “If I Had a Million Dollars” and Verizon’s “Can You Hear Me Now?” spots. Read the interview...
Union says Florida is taking away workers’ holidays Pensacola News Journal ...The state of Florida is trying to illegally take away time off from corrections officers, according to a complaint filed Wednesday by the Teamsters Union...
CSA Training Offered at Local 541 IBT ...The Teamsters National Pipeline Training Fund will conduct training for drivers on Compliance, Safety and Accountability (CSA) on July 28, 2013 at 9:00 am at Local 541 in Kansas City. CSA is the new FMCSA’s regulation to reduce commercial motor vehicle (CMV) crashes...
TNBC Annual Conference Slated for August 14-18 TNBC ...The Teamsters National Black Caucus will hold its 38tth annual educational conference and banquet in Atlanta on August 14-18. Click here for hotel and conference information...
The State of the Unions American Prospect ...While 51 percent of all Americans have favorable views of unions, 61 percent of Americans under 30 hold that view...
European Trade Deal Could Undermine Important Regulations Here At Home ThinkProgress ...Forthcoming trade negotiations between the U.S. and the European Commission threaten to undermine environmental, workplace, and financial regulations, according to a July 8 letter from a slew of American and European public interest groups sent to President Barack Obama and his European counterparts...
Clothiers Act to Inspect Bangladeshi Factories New York Times ...A mostly European consortium of 70 retailers and apparel brands has agreed to inspect within nine months all Bangladeshi garment factories that supply the companies in the wake of 1,300 factory workers who have lost their lives since November…
40 still missing in deadly Canada rail crash, fire Associated Press ...About 40 people were still missing a day after a runaway train derailed in Quebec, igniting explosions and fires that destroyed a busy downtown district and killed five people...
Eight injured in West Virginia gas well explosion Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ...A natural gas well in West Virginia exploded early Sunday, injuring eight people. The well, about an hour southwest of Morgantown in New Milton, ignited about 4 a.m...
Civilians on unpaid leave in Pentagon austerity move Reuters ...Civilian defense workers across the United States began taking unpaid leave on Monday in a Pentagon-imposed austerity move expected to save $1.8 billion through September 30 by effectively cutting the pay of about 650,000 workers by nearly 20 percent...
Letter: Women Unite (opinion) Salt Lake City Tribune ...There has been a lot of talk recently about the minimum wage and the fact that 40 percent of heads of households are women. Some want to move the minimum wage to $15 an hour. There is a solution to this problem…
Feds: FedEx may face charges on illegal drug shipments Long Island Newsday ...Federal authorities are considering filing criminal charges against FedEx, which is under investigation for shipping powerful prescription pills for illegal online pharmacies -- including some packages sent to Long Island, according to federal law enforcement sources...
Pennsylvania 4th in U.S. for breaking hotel wage-and-hour laws Erie Times-News ...If you've stayed at the Heritage Hills Resort in York while touring Amish country, toasted newlyweds at the Avalon Hotel in Erie, or settled in for a weekend of pampering at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in the Laurel Highlands, chances are the person who made your bed, poured your champagne or washed your towels wasn't being paid minimum wage...
Iowa court to reconsider ruling on woman's firing Associated Press ...The Iowa Supreme Court will reconsider a controversial ruling in which the court said it was legal for a dentist to fire his assistant for being too attractive. A new decision could come as early as Friday...
OK Tax Commission asks state high court to overturn ruling that could cost state $450 million Tulsa World ...The state of Oklahoma stands to lose as much as $450 million if a Court of Civil Appeals ruling on how a capital-gains tax deduction is figured is allowed to stand…
NJ employers scaling back the most on health insurance contributions: ADP study Star-Ledger ...Large companies across the country have been scaling back on what they contribute to their workers’ health care plans, and the sharpest decline has been in New Jersey, according to new data from the ADP Research Institute...
Newborn died because of mother’s labor-intensive job during pregnancy: suit NY Daily News ...Reyna Garcia, of Atascadero, Calif., alleges that despite three doctor's notes showing she had a high-risk pregnancy, her employer, Albertsons, refused her requests for work that didn't involve heavy lifting. She gave birth to a baby girl in November who died 10 minutes after being born...
Union Secures First Contract For Marriott O'Hare Shuttle Drivers Teamsters Local 727 ...Shuttle bus drivers at Marriott Chicago O’Hare on June 21 ratified their first Teamster contract, which yields annual raises and job protections...
Finding the Perfect Spot to Shoot New York Times ...A member of the Teamsters Union and the Directors Guild of America, Kevin Breslin is a filmmaker and a location scout for commercials. Over 20 years, he has maneuvered crews through the city and arranged thousands of shoots, including the New York Lottery’s “If I Had a Million Dollars” and Verizon’s “Can You Hear Me Now?” spots. Read the interview...
Union says Florida is taking away workers’ holidays Pensacola News Journal ...The state of Florida is trying to illegally take away time off from corrections officers, according to a complaint filed Wednesday by the Teamsters Union...
CSA Training Offered at Local 541 IBT ...The Teamsters National Pipeline Training Fund will conduct training for drivers on Compliance, Safety and Accountability (CSA) on July 28, 2013 at 9:00 am at Local 541 in Kansas City. CSA is the new FMCSA’s regulation to reduce commercial motor vehicle (CMV) crashes...
TNBC Annual Conference Slated for August 14-18 TNBC ...The Teamsters National Black Caucus will hold its 38tth annual educational conference and banquet in Atlanta on August 14-18. Click here for hotel and conference information...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)