Today's Teamster News 01.12.16

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

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

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

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

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

Today's Teamster News 12.22.15

OUR LAST NEWS ROUND-UP OF THE YEAR

TEAMSTERS
How did two leaders with Teamsters union shape St. Louis with the ‘total persons’ movement?  St. Louis Public Radio  ...In the 1950s and ‘60s, two labor leaders were influential in St. Louis through their involvement with a new kind of ideology: the “total persons” movement. Both were involved with Teamsters Local 688, forming a political alliance that would shape public services, civil rights and economic justice in the region. Their names were Harold Gibbons and Ernest Calloway...
Right-to-Work in West Virginia Could be Political War of Words  WOWK  ...In three weeks, the state legislature will begin considering a bill that could affect thousands of workers in the Mountain State. Senator Cole (R-WV) says his goal is, "Making West Virginia a place where businesses want to locate." Ken Hall of the Teamsters said, "It's all about driving the wages down. I guess they could create a lot of jobs, if they get the wage rates down to a dollar an hour"...
Is D.C.’s Taxicab Complaints System Improving?  City Paper  ...Royale Simms, the local management chief of the Teamsters-affiliated D.C. Taxi Operators Association, says the real problem that the commission needs to address is a lack of front-end training for taxi drivers. One area to start with is the test for obtaining a taxi license: Simms says potential drivers have three chances to take the test, and the questions are repeated in the same order each time. “So you can learn A, B, C, and pass”...

GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Strikes at Amazon German warehouses up to Christmas  Reuters  ...Workers at German warehouses of U.S. online retailer Amazon.com Inc were called out on a new strike by labor union Verdi on Monday as part of a long-running dispute over pay and conditions. Verdi said in a statement that workers at six of the nine Amazon warehouses were joining the strike, which will run until Dec. 24 at four of the centers and for shorter periods at the others...
New Zealand logistics workers strike to disrupt Nike supply chain  Scoop  ...Approximately 20 workers from Toll Logistics’ Nike distribution centre in Auckland are commencing strike action today. The workers are striking over poor pay and to protest the company’s excessive use of labour hire employees. The company uses approximately 70 labour hire employees who receive minimum wages and no secure hours, said FIRST Union organiser Jared Abbott...
Mexican Border Workers Make A Push To Unionize  NPR  ...Delgado is among some 70 former workers who've set up a protest camp outside Lemark, located just 10 miles south of the Texas border. They claim they were fired soon after demanding higher pay. They say they're tired of struggling to provide for their families on a salary that, according to government figures, puts them below the poverty line...
‘When We Made Mistakes in Our Sewing, They Slapped Us’  The Nation  ... Over two years after one of the worst industrial accidents in recent memory, Bangladesh’s garment workers are “safer” now—or so they’ve been told. So why do they still go to work afraid?  Two years after labor and industry groups brokered a hard-won pact to improve factory safety, the Bangladesh Accord, most of the industry appears to be failing basic safety benchmarks....
Japan more than quadruples TPP economic boost estimate: Nikkei  Reuters  ...Japan's government has estimated the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will boost the economy by 14 trillion yen ($115.5 billion) or about 3 percentage points, over four times more than its initial calculation, the Nikkei business daily said on Tuesday. In March 2013, the Cabinet Office said joining the TPP would boost gross domestic product by 3.2 trillion yen or 0.66 percentage point based on the assumption that all tariffs would be scrapped immediately after enactment...
Spanish Election Marks Another Rejection of Austerity  New York Times  ...European leaders and economists are still locked in a heated debate about whether austerity policies have done more to help or hurt people in the region, particularly in Europe’s heavily indebted south. But as the election Sunday in Spain showed, voters seem to have made up their minds...
Hedge Funds vs. Greece: Lobbyists Want "Cheap Ticket" to Speculation  Truthout  ....This summer, Greece's financial authorities fined 20 hedge funds for speculating against the Greek economy. Now, the main global lobby group for hedge funds is trying to tweak the EU's rules so they can have a free play in the future. Global hedge funds attacked Greek banks in the early part of 2015. These were the months when the Greek economy was particularly fragile...
County commissioners oppose TPP agreement  Hibbing Daily Tribune  ...St. Louis County commissioners on Tuesday solidified their opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement. Commissioner Tom Rukavina of Pike Township brought the resolution forward after State Rep. Jason Metsa addressed the board earlier in the year on the TPP’s affect on local business and industry, which was unanimously approved...

STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Prevailing wage repeal may take longer to affect NWI   NWITimes  ...The 80-year-old system, which the Indiana General Assembly repealed this year, had been in place to ensure construction wages were in line with the local market, said Dewey Pearman, executive director of Construction Advancement Foundation. It also kept governments from having the power to inflate or depress the wages, he said. Common or prevailing construction wages went away July 1, and it's expected to have a big impact on Northwest Indiana...
Senate Leader: Mo. Right-to-Work Needs More Support in House  Ozarks First  ...Right-to-work is going to need more backing in the state House for it to receive time in the state Senate in 2016, according to the latter chamber’s leader. After leading an effort to bring that issue to a vote last session, Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard (R-Joplin) says it isn’t likely to have the support it needs in the House for the Senate to consider it...
Scott Walker Corruption Case Threatens to Implicate Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices  Mother Jones  ... For three years, prosecutors in Wisconsin tried to investigate what they believed was illegal campaign coordination between Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and conservative outside groups. The investigation has become a political flash point in the state: Walker and conservatives claim it is a witch hunt led by liberal prosecutors, while liberals believe it is about the power of dark money in Wisconsin politics...
Democrats' effort to change N.J. redistricting pushes on despite Republican outcry  NJ.com  ...Democratic state lawmakers on Monday continued to move forward with a proposal aiming to overhaul the way New Jersey redraws its legislative districts despite an ongoing outcry from Republicans. The state redraws the districts every decade and won't do so again until 2021. But this resolution would put a question on next November's ballot asking voters whether to amend the New Jersey constitution to approve a number of changes to the process...
Business leaders propose alternatives to Long Beach’s minimum wage push  Press Telegram  ...The question of whether Long Beach employers will be required to pay a higher minimum wage is on pace to be answered in early 2016, and policymakers have competing studies offering labor’s and business group’s perspectives on the issue. Pro-labor and pro-business groups have released their own reports intended to bolster their sides’ arguments in favor of a $15 minimum or a compromise position backed by local business that would raise the minimum wage to $12.50...
Health service professionals seek minimum wage increase  WPTZ  ...Lori Lobdell has been working at the Advocacy and Resource Center for over 20 years and describes the work they do as amazing. She feels they should get more money. That's why she supporting a bill in the state Senate asking Gov. Andrew Cuomo to raise the starting salary of human services workers to $15 an hour...

U.S. LABOR
UAW Brings Charges Against Volkswagen for Refusal to Bargain  ABC  ...The United Auto Workers is bringing charges against Volkswagen for refusing to bargain with a group of skilled workers who won a union vote at the German automaker's lone U.S. plant in Tennessee earlier this month. The UAW's Local 42 says in a filing with the National Labor Relations Board that a Volkswagen representative on Monday declined to recognize or bargain with the union...
How Kohler employees' united front won new contract and 'livable wages'  The Guardian  ...Before the strike began on 15 November, Kohler, with 48 factories and 30,000 employees worldwide, threatened to move many of the production jobs from its headquarters city here, 57 miles north of Milwaukee, if it were forced to end its two-tier contract. Before walking out, the workers voted overwhelmingly – by a 94% majority – to authorize a strike...
Southwest Airlines suspends 100 ramp workers, alleges illegal sickout  Star Telegram  ...About 100 Southwest Airlines ramp workers are not feeling the love from their employer this holiday season after they were suspended without pay through January. The Transport Workers Union, which represents over 11,000 ground workers and baggage handlers, said the suspensions are in retaliation for some workers using the time off to attend a “strike preparedness” meeting held by the union...
SEIU puts $3M into ballot fight with California hospitals  Business Journal  ...Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West says it still has an agreement with the California Hospital Association to work on issues like Medi-Cal financing. “We are just preparing for all potential situations,” spokesman Sean Wherley said in an email. One of those options apparently includes moving ahead with a proposed November ballot initiative that would limit CEO pay, regulate charity care and cap hospital prices...
Why The Fed's Rate Hike Will Hit Black Workers Harder Than Whites  Huffington Post  ...The Federal Reserve’s decision to raise its benchmark interest rate on Wednesday is bad news for black workers. The move is expected to put downward pressure on job creation by raising borrowing costs throughout the economy. While the rate hike is a modest measure on its own, it sets the stage for a series of additional developments that stand to have a much bigger contractionary effect on the economy...
When the Workers Become the Owners: Taking the Co-op Movement to the Next Level  Truthout  ...There's a revolution taking place in the US workforce - but you may not have heard about it. Around the country, workers are starting businesses that they democratically control and that financially benefit them. These businesses, called worker cooperatives, are owned and governed by the employees. Every worker is a member of the co-op, which gives them one share and one vote in the company's operations...

SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
The U.S. Food System Has a Race Problem, and the Farm Bill Is the Cause — and Possible Solution  Alternet  ...The 10 largest mega-corporations generate $450 million annually in food sales. These companies’ CEOs earn, on average, 12 times what their workers make.  A new report out of the University of California, Berkeley, draws a direct line from these and other disparities to the the Farm Bill, the hulking, billion-dollar omnibus federal legislation...
‘Schlonged’: Trump’s Astonishingly Sexist Attack On Hillary  Think Progress   ...Republican frontrunner Donald Trump used a campaign stop in Michigan on Monday to make astonishingly sexist attacks against Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. At one point, Trump told the Grand Rapids crowd that Clinton got “schlonged” by President Obama during their 2008 Democratic primary race. “Schlong” is a well-known reference to a man’s genitals. There are no alternative definitions for the word, according to Merriam-Webster...
Is Trump Channeling Working-Class Anger or Simple Racism?  (opinion) Slate  ...Trump is channeling class anger into prejudice, and exploiting the result. And Sanders isn’t the only person who thinks this. In an interview with NPR’s Steve Inskeep, President Obama offered similar sentiments. “[P]articularly blue-collar men have had a lot of trouble in this new economy, where they are no longer getting the same bargain that they got when they were going to a factory and able to support their families on a single paycheck,” said Obama...
'Outrageous and Totalitarian': Mall of America Sues to Block Black Lives Matter Protest  Common Dreams  ...Black Lives Matter organizers say they have no plans to back down from a racial justice protest planned for Wednesday. The suit requires that organizers "immediately" post messages on social media and send out a mass text message announcing that the December 23rd event—intended to focus on the November police killing of 24-year-old Minneapolis black man Jamar Clark—is cancelled...
Baltimore Officer’s Rescheduled Freddie Gray Trial Complicates Prosecution of Other Cops  Slate  ...The judge in the first trial of a Baltimore police officer for the death of Freddie Gray ordered a new trial date Monday, after the initial trial of officer William Porter resulted in a hung jury last week. Prosecutors hopes for a sting of convictions was complicated by the jury’s inability to reach a consensus verdict on Porter, who faces charges of manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment, and misconduct in office...

Today's Teamster News 05.26.15

Teamsters
Teamsters Local 986, Valet Workers Temporarily End Strike at SLS Hotel  Teamster.org  ...Today, valet parking attendants at SLS Hotel and Casino, along with Teamsters Local 986, are temporarily ending the unfair labor practice strike launched Wednesday at SLS Hotel and Casino. The strike could resume at any moment should SLS management continue to disregard the National Labor Relations Act and refuse to allow its 50 valet parking attendants to exercise their federally protected rights...
Teamster Taxi Drivers File Lawsuit Against D.C. Over Legislation Favoring Ride Services  Teamster.org  ...Today, D.C. taxi drivers and their Washington, D.C. Metro Area Taxi Operators Association filed a class action lawsuit against the District of Columbia over an unfair, two-tiered system that gives a competitive advantage to ride services like Uber, Lyft and Sidecar over taxi operators...
Hoffa Statement on Senate Fast Track Vote  Teamster.org  ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa in response to the Senate’s approval of a fast track bill today that will make it easier for bad trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to move through Congress: “The Teamsters are taking a stand against fast track because it’s right for U.S. workers and right for this country. That doesn’t change because of this disappointing outcome in the Senate"...
Teamsters: Any Delay in Infrastructure Funding Costs Jobs, Economic Opportunities  Teamster.org  ...Today, the Senate followed the House, and approved a two-month extension of the Highway Trust Fund, yet again choosing to delay finding a long-term solution on how to fund the repair and maintenance of our aging infrastructure. This marks the thirty-third short-term funding measure passed by Congress in six years and the third in the last year alone...
A Memorial Day Message From Jim Hoffa  Teamster.org  ...For more than a century, the Teamsters have seen some of our union brothers and sisters go off to war and not come home. We also know that many of our members have lost family and friends in such conflicts as well. The Teamsters are humbled by the sacrifice made by all these soldiers, and we wish those affected by their loss comfort and peace...
Teamsters, Basic Crafts Unions Reach Deal With Producers  Variety  ...Hollywood Teamsters and four other Basic Crafts Unions have reached a tentative agreement with producers on a three-year successor deal to the master contract. The new deal — which covers about 5,000 below-the-line employees — was concluded Thursday after four days weeks of negotiations between the unions and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers...

Global Labor & Trade
U.S. Fast-Track Vote Bolsters Talks on Pacific Trade Pact  Wall Street Journal  ...The U.S. Senate’s passage of fast-track legislation has injected fresh momentum into talks on a landmark Pacific trade deal, with negotiators saying they are in the final stages of discussions after more than five years of wrangling. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said he feels good about progress on the deal...
‘Fast track’ trade fight advances  Politico  ...The US Senate on Friday approved a “fast track” trade promotion authority bill that will help President Barack Obama conclude a massive agreement with the Asia-Pacific and with European Union. The 62-37 vote followed two weeks of debate on the measure, which would allow the White House to submit trade agreements to Congress for straight up-or-down votes without any amendments...
No Pacific trade deal meeting until U.S. fast-track passes - Chile  Reuters  ...States hoping to set up a free trade zone across the Pacific can not hold a key meeting until both houses of the U.S. Congress pass legislation speeding the passage of the deal, a Chilean minister said, underscoring another major hurdle for the pact. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which would cover about 40 percent of the world's economies from Japan to Chile, is nearing completion after more than five years of often heated negotiations...
Trans-Pacific Partnership Talks in ‘Last Stage’  Wall Street Journal  ...Chile says negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal are at the final stage, and the passage of a major legislation in the U.S. Friday moves negotiators a step closer to holding concluding meetings. “We are in the last stage of TPP negotiations,” Chile’s Deputy Trade Minister Andres Rebolledo, who is representing Chile in negotiations for the trade pact, told The Wall Street Journal...
The TPP Is Corporate America's 'Precious,' but the House Is Mount Doom  Huff Post  ...For all the unexpected drama of the U.S. Senate, though, the real threat to fast track and the TPP has always been in the very heart of Republican political power: the House. Although corporate Republicans like House Speaker John Boehner are eager to pass fast track, tea party insurgents are suspicious of handing President Obama the power to negotiate trade agreements in secret...
Unions plan nationwide trade protests  Politico  ...Unions are keeping their fight against a trade bill alive. The AFL-CIO and its allies are organizing dozens of events over the Memorial Day recess to keep the pressure on House Democrats and Republicans as the chamber nears consideration of “fast-track” trade legislation...
Farmers Fight Real Estate Developers for Kenya's Most Prized Asset: Land  Truthout  ...In the early 20th century, this region was the site of territorial clashes between the British imperial army and native Kikuyu warriors. Today, the colonial threat has been replaced by a different challenge: real estate developers. Ramadhan Njoroge told IPS that his community’s worst fears came to life this past January, when several smallholder families “awoke to find markers demarcating land that we had neither sold nor had intentions to sell”...

State & Living Wage Battles
Backers of bid to repeal prevailing wage law seek initial OK  WLNS  ...The group announced last week the submission of a citizens’ initiative to repeal Michigan’s law requiring workers on state-financed construction projects to be paid prevailing union-scale wages. If roughly 252,000 valid voter signatures are collected, the bill would go to the Legislature...
Voter photo ID initiative petition filed by Missouri Secretary of State candidate  Missourinet  ...A Republican candidate for Missouri Secretary of State has filed an initiative petition aimed at requiring voters in Missouri to show photo ID at the polls. Jay Ashcroft’s petition, if successful, would ask voters to change Missouri’s Constitution to allow photo ID to be required when voting...
How States Are Trying To Make Life Harder For The Poor  Think Progress  ...At the beginning of July, a new restriction will go into effect for recipients of welfare in Kansas that will only allow them to withdraw $25 in benefits a day. But it’s not the only state that has been looking for ways to make life harder on the poorest. Others have imposed drug tests and harsh limits without evidence that the policy changes would do much good...
Not Lovin' It: Thousands Storm McDonald's Head Quarters to Protest Low Wages  Truthout  ...In the largest protest of its kind, thousands of McDonald’s employees stormed the company’s headquarters on May 20 to demand that it stop spending millions manipulating stock prices, and start paying workers a living wage. McDonald’s cashiers and cooks came to the company’s shareholders meeting, at its corporate headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois. More than 100 were arrested for refusing to leave the property...
LA’s Minimum Wage Workers Just Won $15 an Hour—How Many Will Actually Be Paid That?  The Nation  ...Nearly half of Los Angeles just gave itself a raise. Following a wave of state and local minimum-wage bills and initiatives, Los Angeles became one of the largest cities to dramatically raise its hourly base pay. Still, with sky-high housing costs, Los Angeles will remain unaffordable for a large swath of low-income families, even on a steady job at $15 an hour...

U.S. Labor
If You Get Memorial Day Off, You’re Lucky  Think Progress  ...There is no law guaranteeing that workers get paid holidays in the United States. That makes it stand out from 13 developed peer countries that do require companies to offer at least some paid holidays, ranging from one day in France to 13 in Austria and Portugal. But in all other developed peers, workers can at least be assured that they will get paid vacation days that they could use to take a holiday if they wanted...
Tunkhannock teachers strike, promise unfair labor practice complaint  Times Leader  ...Tunkhannock Area School District teachers abruptly hit the picket lines Friday and their lead negotiator promised an unfair labor practice complaint will be filed following the school board’s rejection of a new contract Thursday. Walking the picket line outside the district administration building this morning, lead negotiator John Holland put the blame for the strike on the shoulders of School Board Member Kimberly Teeters...
Union representatives urge UC to support bill guaranteeing contractors, UC employees receive similar pay  Daily Californian  ...Union representatives called on the UC Board of Regents to support a bill that would ensure that workers employed by private university contractors are compensated comparably with university employees doing similar work. Advocates of Senate Bill 376 — including union AFSCME 3299 President Kathryn Lybarger and California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski — publicly asked UC President Janet Napolitano to support the measure...
Why don't poor people just get jobs? Because they already did.  Daily Kos  ...The contrast between hardworking Americans and shiftless, lazy, poor people is a favorite of Republicans as they try to cut safety net programs like food stamps or housing assistance. But—even if you believe that people who don't work should starve—it's a contrast based on a lie. In reality, a majority of people living in poverty who can work, do work...

Miscellaneous
America’s Housing Developers Are Almost Exclusively Building Luxury Units  Think Progress  ...America’s housing developers have been hard at work in the past three years. But their labor has only exacerbated the affordable housing crisis that afflicts most of the country’s population centers. Out of every five multifamily rentals built in the country’s biggest cities from 2012 to 2014, four were luxury apartments “that command rents in the top 20 percent of the market”... 
Bernie Sanders Takes It to Wall Street With Financial Transactions Tax  Truthout  ...Last week Bernie Sanders, the Senator from Vermont and only announced challenger to Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, took a strong stand for everyday people. He proposed a financial transactions tax (FTT), effectively a Wall Street sales tax, and to use the revenue to make public colleges tuition free. While making college affordable to low and middle income families is important, the proposal for an FTT is a real game changer...
America will die old and broke: The systematic right-wing plot to ransack the middle-class nest egg  Salon  ...Private pensions have indeed been systematically destroyed in recent decades, and replaced by “defined contribution” 401k plans. The conventional wisdom is that pensions are “too expensive,” but this is the heart of the lie. A great many private pensions were once over-funded, but a change in law allowed companies to “invest” the “excess” funding in other parts of their business...
Farmers Cut Back as Beleaguered California Hit by Water Loss  Common Dreams  ...A day before California accepted voluntary water cutbacks by farmers, vandals targeting an inflatable dam in Fremont sent 50 million gallons of water meant for the city's residents flowing into the San Francisco Bay. "This is a very significant loss of water under any circumstances, and more so in the drought conditions we are experiencing," Robert Shaver, the Alameda County water district general manager... 

Today's Teamster News 10.10.14

Teamster News
Strike called on Golden Gate Bridge bus lines for Oct. 17  sfgate.com   ...Buses operated by the Golden Gate Transportation District will not be crossing the Bay Area’s most famous bridge next Friday as workers from the Teamsters Union Local 856 and 665, which represents dispatchers, supervisors and maintenance crews, announced a one-day strike...
Local 237, Ex-Council Speaker In Push to Pass Women’s Equality Act  The Chief   ...Citing a recent agreement to settle a gender-pay lawsuit brought by its members against the city as an example of an incremental victory for income equality between the sexes, Teamsters Local 237 President Gregory Floyd joined former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to gather political support for a long-stalled equal-rights bill...
Teamster Taxi Drivers Turn Out In Mass Again To Protest Unequal Treatment By D.C. City Council  IBT   ...Thousands of D.C. cab drivers affiliated with the Teamsters Union participated in a second “Fairness NOW!” caravan today throughout the city to demand equal regulatory treatment with private sedan services by the D.C. City Council...
County Rescinds Blood Draw Surcharge After Unions Object  Billings Gazette   ...A proposed surcharge on Yellowstone County employees who failed to participate in a health fair blood draw backfired this week after two unions objected. The county commissioners voted 3-0 on Tuesday to rescind the surcharge after the Teamsters and the Montana Public Employees Association both told the county the issue must be part of contract negotiations. The Teamsters Local 190 also filed a grievance...
Trade
Michael Perelman: Globalization, “Free Trade,” and Food as a Strategic Weapon  naked capitalilsm   ...much of the pressure to intensify globalization does not necessarily come from market successes, but often comes from disappointment in market outcomes. Dissatisfied that markets were not providing sufficient profits, powerful states adopted a strategy of pressuring their weaker counterparts to join in so called free trade deals...
TTIP's Threat To Democracy (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...TTIP marks the merging of the EU's common market with that of the United States, but without the social and political safeguards that at least theoretically exist in the EU. It is worth noting that little has been divulged in terms of the exact content and the extent of the risks to public services. But what we do know should be a matter of concern for everyone...
State Battles
Supreme Court blocks Wisconsin's voter ID law  USA Today   ...The Supreme Court on Thursday night blocked Wisconsin from implementing its new voter identification law on the eve of next month's elections. In a related action, a district court judge in Texas ruled that state's voter ID law is racially discriminatory and violates the Voting Rights Act. The state attorney general's office said it would appeal...
Parts Of North Carolina Law Limiting Vote Are Restored By Justices  New York Times   ...The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a brief, unsigned order reinstating provisions of a North Carolina voting law that bar same-day registration and counting votes cast in the wrong precinct. A federal appeals court had blocked the provisions, saying they disproportionately harmed black voters...
Even After Gov. Sam Brownback’s Tax Cuts, Jobs Aren’t Fleeing Missouri To Kansas In The KC Area (opinion)  ...The tax cuts have led to deeper losses in state revenue than predicted. They have not created a significant growth in jobs that could begin to replace money lost from the tax reductions. The state’s bond rating has been reduced...
War on Workers
New York Airport Workers Go On Strike Over Ebola  Gawker   ...LaGuardia Airport employees responsible for cleaning airplanes and bathrooms staged a walkout this week, saying they're not being adequately protected against the Ebola virus...
Slow Hiring Shows That The Job Market Isn’t Fully Healed  FiveThirtyEight   ...Companies are posting new jobs a lot faster than they’re filling them. Employers hired nearly 300,000 fewer workers in August than in July. This has been a persistent problem in the recovery: Job openings have more than doubled since the recession ended, but hiring is up by just 27 percent...
As Trains Move Oil Bonanza, Delays Mount For Other Goods And Passengers  New York Times   ...An energy boom that has created a sharp increase in rail freight traffic nationwide is causing major delays for Amtrak passenger trains and is holding up the transport of vital consumer and industrial goods, including chemicals, coal and hundreds of thousands of new American cars, rail officials and federal and state regulators say...
Worker Killed After Fall From Truck In Ogden  Fox29   ...A worker has died after falling from a bucket truck in Delaware County, authorities say...
Construction worker dies near Correctionville  Cherokee Chronicle Times   ... Authorities say a construction worker has died after he was pinned under a piece of equipment in northwest Iowa...
Miscellaneous
Here's How Much Business S&P 500 Companies Generate Outside Of The US  Business Insider   ..."Foreign sales accounted for 33% of aggregate revenue for the S&P 500 in 2013," Goldman Sachs' Amanda Sneider writes...

Today's Teamster News 09.23.14

Teamster News
More Labor Problems at Buffett's NetJets  IBT   ...As contract talks drag on at Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK/B) NetJets, Inc., unionized pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and related employees, maintenance controllers, stock clerks and flight dispatchers are picketing at customer locations in California, New Jersey and the company's Columbus, Ohio corporate headquarters, according to the NetJets Union Coalition (NUC). NUC is a coalition between the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP), the pilots' union, and the Teamsters, which represents all of the other unionized NetJets employees...
Trade
TTIP: don’t mention the job losses  The Broker   ...The headline finding from the official assessment of TTIP is that there will be a loss of at least one million jobs in the EU and US as a direct result of the agreement’s coming into force...
State Battles
Moral Mondays battles low pay, injustice, racism and more  Indianapolis Star   ...About 200 people gathered at the Indiana Statehouse on Saturday to fight for better pay, affordable health care, equal justice and other causes...
Google: We’re parting with the climate change skeptics at ALEC  Washington Post   ...Google is going to stop funding a key conservative group because of its stance on climate change, executive chairman Eric Schmidt revealed Monday...
Declining median incomes becomes anti-Rick Scott talking point for Fla. Dems  St. Peters Blog   ...Average household incomes in South Florida are declining. A study released Thursday by the U.S. Census bureau shows median income in 2013 at $46,946 down from $48,275 in 2010...
Christie's Pension Overseer Invested New Jersey Money In Fund He Is Linked To Privately  International Business Times   ...Grady was pushing to invest New Jersey public money into the same Blackstone fund in which his own firm was investing -- without disclosing that fact to N.J. officials...
In Brownbackistan, Everything Is Awesome! And Don’t Let Any Liberal Tell You Different  Salon.com   ...You’ve got runaway incompetence in the state administration; heavy-handed partisanship, with conservative Republicans crushing moderate Republicans after the familiar pattern; corporate money—Koch Industries is based in Wichita—sloshing around like a vast underground aquifer. You’ve got privatization, deregulation, and an enthusiastic race to the bottom...
Nikki Haley Busted Inflating Job Numbers...Again  FitsNews   ...For a third time, a mainstream media outlet in the Palmetto State has caught S.C. Gov.Nikki Haley inflating her administration’s job numbers...
State Has No Budget For Voter ID, Agencies Say  Wisconsin State Journal   ...Three state agencies charged with implementing voter ID for the Nov. 4 election say they have no additional money set aside to help voters and state workers comply with the newly reinstated requirement...
War On Workers
Obama Administration Issues New Rules to Combat Tax Inversions  Wall Street Journal   ...The Treasury Department tightened tax rules Monday to deter U.S. companies from moving their legal headquarters to lower-tax countries, part of a White House effort to slow a wave of so-called corporate inversions that effectively reduce federal revenues...
Dangers Aside, Railways Reshape Crude Market  Wall Street Journal   ...But it has frightened communities across the country where first responders fear the fireballs that have erupted in the past year after some oil-train derailments. Federal regulators recently proposed new rules to require sturdier cars to carry oil, lower speed limits on some shipments and testing of the volatility of the crude transported by train...
OSHA Will Put Workplace Safety Data Online As 'Nudge' To Employers  Bloomberg Businessweek   ...Starting in January, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will require employers to notify the government within 24 hours every time someone loses an eye, suffers an amputation, or gets admitted to the hospital with an injury sustained at work. The agency estimates that tens of thousands of injuries go unreported...
D.C. Cab Companies Blame Steep Declines In Revenue On Ridesharing  WAMU   ...The rise of the “ridesharing” service UberX is bleeding traditional taxicabs in Washington. Although precise District-wide data is not available, taxicab company managers and individual drivers said their business is down at least 20 percent — and in some cases much more — because they cannot compete with the unregulated, low-price competition of UberX...
Oregon Residents Challenge the State "Right-to-Farm" Law  The Progressive   ...Such so-called "right-to-farm" laws insulate agricultural operations -- including large industrial livestock confinement operations and, in Oregon, private timber companies -- against lawsuits as long as they're following what is (or, in some cases, may become) a "generally accepted" farming or forest practice. These can include heavy aerial pesticide applications...
U.S. Home Sales Falter as Investors Pull Back  Wall Street Journal   ...The decline reflected fewer purchases by investors, who helped fuel the housing-market rebound. The share of overall sales that went to investors fell to 12% last month, the lowest level since late 2009. Investors accounted for as much as 23% of sales in early 2012 as they bought up properties, many in foreclosure, at bargain prices...
Lincoln County worker killed in dump truck wreck, fire  The Clarion-Ledger   ...A Lincoln County road crew member was killed in what appears to be a wreck in which his dump truck left the road, hit a tree and caught on fire, according to Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing...
Construction worker killed falling from building in Waterloo  CTV News   ...An 18-year-old man is dead after falling from a building at the Barrel Yards development in Waterloo...

Today's Teamster News 11.13.13

D.C.Taxi Drivers File Lawsuit, Demand Apology  dclabor.org   ...The Teamster-affiliated Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association last week filed a lawsuit demanding that the District stop towing and impounding taxis and issuing fines to drivers who have been unable to install new dome lights or credit card machines...
Global Labour Leaders Vow Action In Richmond Ikea Fight  The Tyee   ...After listening to a wealth of emotional testimony from embittered IKEA employees during a hearing in Vancouver, international trade union representatives are pledging overseas action on behalf of the Richmond store workers, if the prolonged conflict continues...
Wal-Mart to give employees turkey dinner for working Thanksgiving, but analyst says company can afford to give raises  Raw Story   ...Wal-Mart is making some of its employees work on Thanksgiving, but the retailer is hoping to make up for intruding on the family holiday by feeding workers a traditional turkey dinner, giving them an extra day’s pay and offering them 25 percent off a future shipping trip...
Key union strategy goes before U.S. Supreme Court  Aljazeera America   ...Decision on "€œneutrality agreements" in the Mulhall case could set course for future labor organizing...
The Trans-Pacific Partnership: A Threat to Global Public Health  Huffington Post   ...Delivering yet another blow to this country's Democratic process, President Obama is expected to buck Congressional authority in order to push through a trade agreement with devastating consequences for millions of people...
EU consumer groups wary of trade deal with us  Associated Press   ...European consumer groups are worried about the effects of a proposed trade deal with the U.S., fearing a flood of risky or unsafe foodstuffs, medicines and other imports from America...
Workers hurt in Bangladesh protest  Associated Press   ...Riot police fired tear gas to battle thousands of garment workers who rampaged through two Bangladesh towns during a protest over wages that closed at least 200 factories and left dozens of people injured...
The 40-Year Slump  American Prospect   ...1974 would mark a fundamental breakpoint in American economic history. In the years since, the tide has continued to rise, but a growing number of boats have been chained to the bottom. Productivity has increased by 80 percent, but median compensation (that’s wages plus benefits) has risen by just 11 percent during that time...
The rise of paid friends: How wealthy New Yorkers are socializing with hired staff over 'real' companions – because they’re easier 'to control'  Daily Mail   ...‘Once you’ve had paid friends who don’t argue with you, it’s actually quite hard to go back to real friends...’
Central Banks Risk Asset Bubbles in Battle With Deflation Danger  Bloomberg   ...While declining costs for everything from gasoline to coffee can be good news for consumers, disinflation makes it harder for borrowers to pay off debts and businesses to boost profits...
Elizabeth Warren: 'Too Big To Fail' Is Worse Than Before Financial Crisis  Huffington Post   ...Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) warned in a speech Tuesday that the problem of banks considered "too big to fail" has only gotten worse since the 2008 financial crisis, potentially sowing the seeds of a future crisis...
Washington just awarded the largest state tax subsidy in U.S. history  Washington Post   ...With the stroke of a pen, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) on Monday signed into law the largest corporate tax break any state has ever given to a single company...
4 Creeping Ways Capitalism Is Killing Us  AlterNet   ...The profit motives of this system offer little incentive to feed the hungry, treat the sick, secure us in retirement or provide job opportunities...
Fed Official: Wall Street Still Thinks It Is Above The Law  ThinkProgress   ...As long as Wall Street banks believe they are above the law, it will be very difficult to prevent the financial industry from blowing up the world economy again, according to Federal Reserve Board of New York head William Dudley...
Wisconsin Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Collective Bargaining Law  New York Times   ...The  Wisconsin Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments on the constitutionality of a 2011 law that all but eliminated collective bargaining for most public employees...
Union rallies to protest right-to-work  The News Item   ...Taking a stand against a right-to-work law in Pennsylvania, more than 400 labor union representatives marched in Pottsville on Saturday and gave speeches outside the Schuylkill County Courthouse...
Giant and Safeway workers may consider labor contract Wednesday  Baltimore Sun   ...28,000 workers for Giant Food and Safeway supermarkets in the Baltimore-Washington area could vote on a new labor contract as early as Wednesday...

Today's Teamster News 11.07.13

D.C. Taxi Operators Sue to Stop Fines, Towings  teamster.org   ...The Teamster-affiliated Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the city’s more than 6,000 cab drivers, demanding that the District stop towing and impounding taxis and issuing fines to drivers who have been unable to install new dome lights or credit card machines...
Teamsters,Wegmans Meet With Federal Mediator  teamster.org   ...Teamsters Local 118 representatives and Wegmans resumed discussions Tuesday to resolve an ongoing contract dispute, this time joined by a mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS.) Previous efforts to engage FMCS were thwarted by a 16-day government shutdown...
eBay CEO Shares Lessons from His First Job as a Teamster  EcommerceBytes.com   ...eBay’s CEO John Donahoe talks about his job after high school working for his friend's father's beer distribution company as a Teamster, which taught him two great leadership lessons…
Planned layoffs jumped in October on drug, financial firm cutbacks  Los Angeles Times   ...Planned layoffs by U.S. employers jumped 13.5% last month, led by cutbacks at pharmaceutical and financial services firms, according to a report Wednesday...
Planned treaties cause pain for citizens; pleasure for corporations (opinion)  Lebanon Daily News   ...If you don't know what the TPP and the TTIP are, you can be forgiven. The governments and corporations involved don't want you to know because these international agreements they are negotiating are that good for them and that bad for you...
South Carolina Ports Launch Clean Trucks Program  Truckinginfo   ...The South Carolina Ports Authority has announced a new Clean Truck Certification Program to take effect on Jan. 1, 2014 that would require trucks serving the container terminals to have engines manufactured in 1994 or later...
One by One, States Are Pushing Bans on Sick Leave Legislation  Economic Policy Institute   ...Nearly 40 million Americans—almost 40 percent of the private-sector workforce—lack the right to even a single day of paid sick leave. These employees commonly go to work sick, or leave sick children home alone, out of fear of dismissal...
California Wal-Mart workers strike, following stunning Florida victory  The Salon   ...West Coast Wal-Mart workers walked off the job as the union-backed campaign says Florida strikers won major changes...
Next Time You're Tempted To Give A Bad Tip, Consider This  Huffington Post   ...The federal minimum wage for tipped workers is only $2.13 per hour...
The Biggest, Baddest Prison Profiteer of Them All  Huffington Post   ..."CCA" has become a dirty word. Because profiting off mass incarceration is a dirty business. When private prison company Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) squanders taxpayer money and runs facilities rife with human rights abuses, it's dragging its own name through the mud...
The super-rich no longer need a middle class  AlterNet   ...They now inhabit a privatized economy and have left us at the mercy of the market...
Inside the Psyche of the 1% -- Many Actually Believe Their Ideology of Greed Makes for a Better World  AlterNet   ...If the 1% are to develop the same level of understanding of others that the 99% has, they will need to walk in their shoes...
US Tax Policy In One Chart: Rising Individual Income Taxes; Falling Corporate Income Taxes  Zero Hedge   ...Because those record offshore (tax-haven arbitraged) corporate cash balances will not grow themselves, obviously...
Apple discloses government data requests -- what little it can  Los Angeles Times   ...The company released a report Tuesday that provided some general information about requests for information it receives from governments. But seeking full disclosure is an effort in futility...
Euro Crisis Takes Major Toll On Life Satisfaction  Reuters   ...Ordinary people's satisfaction with life has plunged in the euro zone countries worst hit by the financial crisis as faith in their governments' ability to ease the strain has shrunk according to a recent study...
Consumer watchdog targets debt collectors  Los Angeles Times...   The federal government's consumer financial watchdog plans to crack down on the nation's 4,500 debt collectors with new rules to rein in the companies' aggressive tactics...
It’s Time To Stop Starving U.S. Investment  teamster.org   ...An analysis of infrastructure spending by the Financial Times shows U.S. public investment is at its lowest level since World War II. Public sector investment is now just 3.6 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, and austerity is hurting everything from building roads to investing in science and education...

Teamsters fight for freedom, fairness for DC taxi drivers

Teamsters are fighting for independent taxi drivers in Washington, D.C., to win their freedom from unfair and expensive new regulations by the city's taxi commission. 

Drivers are forced to buy unreliable equipment and new dome lights ... that aren't available. Then they get fined and towed for not following the new regulations! 

Today, the Teamster-affiliated Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association  filed a lawsuit against the city and taxi commission. The association asked for an injunction to stop the ticketing and the towing.

DCist reports:

Through a complaint and a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction filed today in D.C. Superior Court, the Association seeks to delay the implementation of modernization regulations, including credit card machines, claiming that some drivers have been placed on an "indefinite waiting list" to install dome lights. 

You can read the lawsuit here.

Teamsters Local 922 President Ferline Buie said in a statement:

The drivers are facing delays in getting the dome lights and the costs are soaring, but the city’s answer has been to tow and impound taxis, which is shattering families throughout the region by taking away their vehicles without due process ... We have demanded a meeting with Mayor Gray and demanded a moratorium on towing and fines, but the mayor has not acted. As a result, because of this economic emergency, we are seeking relief in the courts.

In the lawsuit, one driver described how his vehicle was impounded after he couldn't get an appointment to have a dome light installed by the November 1 deadline. Another driver made 10 trips in October to get a dome light, but was told there were none in stock.

1,000 DC taxi drivers join Teamsters

A thousand Washington, D.C., taxi drivers, angry about expensive and unfair regulation, are banding together with Teamsters Local 922 in a new way of organizing workers.

For their first formal meeting, the drivers crowded into the union hall on Tuesday and packed the parking lot, listening to the proceedings on a loudspeaker. Local reporters were keenly interested in the story. Reported dcist:

"We will win!" the crowd chanted after Ferline Buie, president of Teamsters Local 922, said that the union would help drivers win "fairness, justice, equality, dignity and respect" through their new association. 

"We're here to tell the D.C. Taxicab Commission that these regulations have been handled totally unfair," Buie said. "We need more time to deal with these new and costly regulations. We also want to make sure that the drivers aren't burdened ... with the costs of these new regulations."

The drivers are independent, so they can't join the Teamsters in the traditional way. What they can do -- and did -- is form a dues-paying association so together they can  oppose costly and unfair regulations from the local taxi commission. Washington state taxi drivers did the same thing last year. It's part of a national alt-labor movement that includes fast food workers, Walmart workers and farmworkers.

The Talking Union blog describes alt-labor as:

...forms of worker representation that don’t fit in the traditional union/collective bargaining mold. Perhaps best known are the “worker centers” found in many cities, often affiliated with Interfaith Worker Justice. These walk-in centers perform admirable work helping workers who lack union membership to seek justice when they have been cheated of wages or hurt on the job; many focus especially on the needs of immigrant workers. Other experiments are modeled after professional associations or advocacy groups.

Drivers have high hopes for their new association.

"We need a strong voice, and our association with Local 922 will give us that strong voice!" Mohamud Samantar, a driver for 10 years, told the crowd. "We need our rights and our association with Local 922 will give us our rights."

"We need all drivers to stand united to fight for our rights. When we are united, we will win our rights," said Stan Tapscott, a driver since 1962 and D.C. Taxicab Commission member.

Addis Gebreselassie, a driver for more than 12 years with Silver Cab, said he had a speech written down, but was opting to not read that speech. Instead, he delivered these three words from the podium: "No more disrespect." The crowd applauded and then began chanting "No more disrespect!"

To follow the Washington, D.C., taxi drivers fight, go to their website here.