TEAMSTERS
Teamsters Ratify National Agreement With First Student Teamster.org ...After several months of negotiations and a month-long balloting process, the Teamsters have ratified the second national agreement with the largest private provider of school bus transportation in North America, First Student, Inc. The agreement, ratified by 89 percent of the votes cast, improves working conditions and on-the-job protections for more than 20,000 Teamsters who work at First Student nationwide...
BLET members ratify new contract with CP Rail-U.S. (Soo Line) BLET ...Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with the Canadian Pacific-U.S. Railway (Soo Line) on October 9, 2015. The 5-year deal governs rates of pay, work rules and health and welfare benefits for nearly 400 locomotive engineers...
Teamsters OK to proceed with action to force arbitration with Rush Medical Center for newly unionized patient care techs Cook County Record ...On Oct. 19, U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall denied Rush’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Local 743 International Brotherhood of Teamsters in its dispute with the hospital over whether wages, hours and other employment conditions for Rush’s patient care technicians (PCTs) should be decided in arbitration under a longstanding collective bargaining agreement between the hospital and its other unionized workers...
20 salad workers hospitalized in chemical spill The Californian ...A toxic stew of chemicals spilled at a Taylor Farms processing plant last week, sending 20 workers to the hospital with symptoms ranging from nosebleeds to vomiting and fainting. Doug Bloch of Teamsters Council 7 says all of the workers returned to work the following day, except for one pregnant woman, who took unpaid leave. “It’s déjà vu,” said Bloch of the latest incident...
Still No Contract for EVSC, Teamsters TriState Homepage ...EVSC and Teamsters haven't met to negotiate a new contract in more than a month. Both sides say they're willing to resolve their issues, but can't say when it will happen. EVSC superintendent Dr. David Smith says the board is prepared to sign contracts. Officials with Teamsters Local 215 say they want the same, but they're not going away until they get a fair deal...
Coca-Cola Forklift Operator Receives $5,000 in Back Pay Local 727 ...A Teamsters Local 727-represented member at Coca-Cola Niles received more than $5,000 in back pay after he was wrongfully denied workers’ compensation. Arel Cervantes, a third-shift forklift operator, requested light duty following an injury, but the company unjustly refused his request and he was forced to continue doing his normal duties. The union filed a grievance and worked swiftly to resolve the issue...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Workers Covered By Union Contracts Dropped Worldwide After Financial Crisis: International Labor Organization IBTimes ...The share of workers covered by union contracts has fallen worldwide since the Great Recession. Across a sample of 48 nations -- including the United States and countries in Europe, South America and Asia -- collective bargaining coverage dropped 4.6 percent from 2008 to 2013, according to research from the International Labor Organization (ILO), a United Nations agency that sets and monitors global labor standards...
Pharma flap imperils president’s trade deal The Hill ...The most important trade deal of Barack Obama’s presidency could hinge on a single provision that’s reigniting a years-old debate on monopoly rights for drugmakers. The exact details of the pharmaceutical provision, which involves a class of drugs called biologics, won’t be made public until later this month. Still, it’s already threatening to drag out — and possibly derail — the approval process for a deal reached by a dozen nations...
Commerce Secretary Pritzker touts Trans-Pacific Partnership for Oregon OregonLive ...The Obama administration brought its argument for the Trans-Pacific Partnership to Oregon on Tuesday, and not for the first time. In May, it was President Obama's visit to Nike to deliver a forceful argument for TPP, which was approved last month by the United States and 11 other countries. On Tuesday, Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker participated in a conference call with reporters to stump for the pact...
EU to offer new TTIP proposals in Miami Politico ...In a sign that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks will make progress in Miami this week, the European Union will propose a labor and environment chapter and product-specific rules of origin for most industrial sectors, EU trade officials said ahead of the round. But don’t expect the focus of the negotiations to shift very far from discussions over goods market access...
EU Trade Deals with US and Canada Blasted as 'Attacking Public Services' Common Dreams ...As EU and U.S. negotiators start the 11th round of TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks in Miami on Monday, a European watchdog group is sounding the alarm over the negative impacts such "trade" deals could have on citizens' rights to basic services like water, energy, education, and healthcare...
Spain eases spending constraints as 'reward' following years of austerity The Local ...Spain's lower house has approved a 2016 budget designed to ease some spending restrictions after years of austerity, ahead of legislative elections due on December 20th. The budget passed on Tuesday provides for increases of 9.3 percent for education, 3.6 percent for health and 7.6 percent for culture, as well as a rise of 0.25 percent in state pensions and a one-percent boost in pay for civil servants...
Madrid metro workers call strikes during rush hours on Thursday The Local ...Madrid’s metro could grind to a halt on Thursday as workers have called several hours of strikes during the busiest hours of the day. Three workers unions called the strikes in protest at the "lack of personnel" and the "pitiful" service offered by the capital’s transport service with complaints including long waiting times and overcrowded carriages...
‘I Was a Garment Worker and I Know Exploitation’ Solidarity Center ...The “Made in Jordan” label is familiar to U.S. consumers shopping for shirts, jeans and other clothes. Mervat Jumhawi, a Jordanian union organizer, is actively ensuring the largely migrant workforce that cuts and sews these garments does so in safe conditions, receives fair wages and is treated with respect on the job. “I was a garment worker and I know what exploitation is, I knows what that means,” says Jumhawi...
Mexican Farmers Accuse Mining Companies of Shady Tactics in Chiapas Truthout ...Mexico's government gave the green light for titanium mining to occur below 500 of the 530 hectares that make up the Los Cacaos community. Villatoro and his neighbors in Los Cacaos express acute fears about the potential environmental effects. He believes that local leaders "were tricked into signing off on the exploration process" by the mining company...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Scott Walker Is Ready To Turn Back The Clock On Ethics And Campaign Finance In Wisconsin Think Progress ...“This is the week from hell.” “It’s a complete nightmare.” “It’s ugly. It’s not a pretty picture.” That’s how government watchdogs described to ThinkProgress the series of votes the Wisconsin state legislature has lined up this week on bills designed to deregulate state campaign finance law, dissolve the state ethics and elections board, and take away a key tool prosecutors use to investigate political crimes...
Pa. Bill Would Limit Prevailing Wage Rule For Some Roadwork Law360 ...A Pennsylvania state lawmaker introduced a bill on Monday that would exempt workers on road maintenance projects from prevailing wage requirements. While certain maintenance projects are already exempt from the state’s prevailing wage requirements, the measure introduced by Rep. Cris Dush, R-Indiana, would expand the exemptions to include work performed on dirt, gravel, and low-volume road maintenance projects...
Half of food workers go to work sick because they have to, survey finds KPCC ...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. An additional 38 percent said they go to work sick "sometimes." Four states — California, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Oregon — have passed legislation to provide paid sick leave, in addition to a number of cities across the country...
Congratulations Tennessee: You’ve Got the Most Regressive Tax System in America The Atlantic ...According to a study by economists at the Federal Reserve, Tennessee, Mississippi, and West Virginia have structured their tax codes so that middle and lower-income families pay a bigger share of their incomes than wealthy families do. Many economists, including Thomas Piketty, believe that such systems can make inequality worse. Tennessee has taken this strategy the furthest: The state has the most regressive tax system in the country, according to the study...
Will Colorado Become the First State to Implement Single-Payer Health Care? Truthout ...The fight for a statewide single-payer health-care system has shifted from the Green Mountains to the Rocky Mountains: Colorado citizens are about to put single-payer up for a statewide ballot referendum in the 2016 election. If voters approve, the state constitution will be amended to create a statewide, publicly financed, universal system for the first time in US history...
Minneapolis leaders rally support for Seattle's minimum wage champion Star Tribune ...Two Minneapolis City Council members and a long list of local labor organizers are throwing their support behind a candidate running for city office -- in Seattle. Council Members Alondra Cano and Cam Gordon are among the co-hosts of a fundraiser supporting Kshama Sawant, a current member of the Seattle City Council who led the successful effort to raise that city's minimum wage...
U.S. LABOR
Signs of support for UAW-FCA contract voting Detroit Free Press ...Substantial dissatisfactoin among UAW remains to the proposed agreement with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles but workers and other sources say the intensity of opposition is subsiding. The yes votes by the two workers are in line with what others have been telling the Free Press in recent days — while there are still vocal opponents, many who rejected the first contract are prepared to accept this one...
CSU faculty to vote on major strike over contract KCRA ...Faculty members at the California State University's 23 campuses started voting Monday on whether to permit their labor union to call a strike over stalled salary negotiations. The strike authorization vote being held online and in person is at least the fourth that the California Faculty Association has held in eight years. Balloting is scheduled to run through Oct. 28...
NLRB delivers response to FedEx challenge of 'micro union' test Reuters ...The National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday defended its standard for approving the formation of so-called micro unions made up of distinct groups of employees from a challenge by FedEx Freight Inc, which says the board violated federal law in unilaterally creating new policy. In a brief submitted to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the NLRB said its 2011 decision in Specialty Healthcare, merely clarified existing law...
Verizon Makes Over $1 Billion In Profits Per Month And Demands Concessions From Workers NH Labor News ...In response to today’s Verizon earnings report, the Communications Workers of America, which along with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, represents 39,000 Verizon workers, issued the following statement: "Yet again, Verizon’s quarterly report shows the strength of the company’s bottom line. But despite another almost $1.5 billion dollars a month in profits, the company turns its back on its workers"...
Is Nevada’s Labor Movement Ready to Forgive Democrats? National Journal ...Last year, as the Republican wave crested across the country, labor organizers seeking to rally union members in Nevada foresaw a rout. The evidence was in their door-to-door efforts to excite the faithful: Some workers slammed their doors. Others tore up campaign literature and threw it in the organizers’ faces. Still others simply asked, “Why?” It was a stark display of a dispirited movement that has been the backbone of the Democratic Party in this swing state for decades...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
San Francisco Votes to Keep Shielding Immigrants From Deportation Officials New York Times ...The Board of Supervisors upheld San Francisco’s status as a sanctuary for immigrants on Tuesday, unanimously passing a resolution that called on local law enforcement not to notify the federal authorities when unauthorized immigrants are released from custody. The city had been under pressure from critics of its policies on immigrants...
Google Tests Drone Delivery As Feds Move For More Regulation Think Progress ...Google was spotted conducting more delivery drone tests Monday in an effort to beat competitor Amazon. But regulators are close behind, moving to require drone operators to register unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) with the Department of Transportation much like drivers do with their cars. The Federal Aviation Administration has been working on guidelines for commercial use...
Rural Alabama Judge Gives Penniless Defendants the Option to Give Blood or Go to Jail Slate ...A rural Alabama judge is facing criticism, and an ethics complaint, for telling a courtroom full of defendants, many indigent, that if they could not pay their fines or court fees, they could donate blood. Otherwise they would be sent to jail. The Southern Poverty Law Center released a recording of Perry County Circuit Judge Marvin Wiggins spelling out his policy to his courtroom last month...
Showing posts with label First Student. Show all posts
Showing posts with label First Student. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Today's Teamster News 03.05.15
Teamsters
Teamsters and Labor Allies Urge Congress to Oppose Fast Track teamster.org …Teamsters from around the country joined their union brothers and sisters on Capitol Hill today to meet with members of Congress to discuss their continued opposition to fast-track trade promotion authority, which would have a damaging impact on American workers...
First Student, Teamsters Strike Summer Pay Deal Savannah Morning News ...Negotiations between Savannah-Chatham Public Schools transportation provider First Student and Teamsters Local 728 have resulted in a summer pay contract for about 500 bus drivers, monitors and technicians...
Apple To Make Many Security Guards Full-Time Employees San Jose Mercury News ...Under a contract approved last month, Facebook drivers working full-time will receive about $33,000 more in wages and benefits than they received before, the Teamsters said...
Lawmakers resume debate over Sunday growler sales MPR News …Edward Reynoso, the legislative director for Teamsters Union Joint Council 32, said changing the law to allow growlers to be sold on Sundays could reopen the labor contracts for 850 of his members who work in the liquor industry...
CN Rail reaches collective deal with Teamsters plans to buy back shares via private agreement MENAFN …Canadian National Railway Co. (TSE:CNR) the country's largest railroad and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference union have renewed their collective agreement...
Stericycle Inc. and Teamsters reach a collective agreement Canada NewsWire …Stericycle Inc. is a trucking company offering waste disposal services and product destruction, including medical and pharmaceutical waste disposal. The collective agreement covering approximately 114 employees working in Brampton and Scarborough, Ontario, expired on December 31, 2014...
Trade
Fate of Obama’s Trade Agenda May Rest on Oregon Senator New York Times …From his position in the driver’s seat, Mr. Wyden is putting demands on the fast-track bill that Republicans are not sure they can accept — most important, a shut-off valve that Congress could turn if the details of the Pacific or European accords did not live up to their promise...
White House counts on Sen. Wyden to deliver on a trade deal Washington Post …Obama was calling to thank Wyden for his support of the president’s sweeping trade agenda which, in a reflection of the topsy-turvy politics of the issue, has drawn support from Republican leaders and staunch objections from many Democrats...
Japan, U.S. resume TPP talks but pact’s future very much in doubt Japan Times …Japanese and U.S. officials resumed talks Thursday in Tokyo on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, but the outcome of the negotiations remains unclear with political difficulties mounting for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and indications of growing opposition to the deal in the U.S…
Business Rallies Against Secretive TPP Trade Talks (opinion) Macro Business ...It is also lamentable that the TPP negotiations have been opened to some large corporations, which are free to lobby for their interests, but barred to individuals and industry groups. This all but ensures that the final deal will not be in the public’s best interests...
State Battles
Assembly debates right-to-work bill today Associated Press …With Wisconsin positioned to become the third Midwestern state in as many years to enact a right-to-work law, the Assembly begins debate Thursday on a plan Republican Gov. Scott Walker has promised to quickly sign and Democrats lack the votes to stop...
Assembly Plans 24-Hour Right-To-Work Debate Green Bay Press Gazette ...The Wisconsin state Assembly plans to start debate of the right-to-work bill at 9 a.m. Thursday and end no later than 9 a.m. Friday...
Boost In Minimum Wage To $12 Wins Backing In State House Seattle Times ...The Washington state House voted along party lines Tuesday to raise the state’s minimum wage — already the nation’s highest — to $12 an hour over the next four years...
Missouri House Passes Voter ID Bills Northwest Missourian ...The bill says approved forms of identification would include a current Missouri driver’s license or a current Missouri non-driver’s license, a document issued by the United States of the State of Missouri containing the person’s name and photograph or any armed services identification containing a photograph that is not expired...
Oakland New Minimum Wage Law Now In Effect Contra Costa Times ...The law raises the minimum hourly wage from $9 as set by the state to $12.25. Workers also are now entitled to paid sick days under the law that was approved by 82 percent of voters last November...
Governor Wants $10.50 Minimum Wage For NYS WKBW ...$10.50 - that's what Governor Andrew Cuomo wants to make the minimum wage in New York State. The Governor made the announcement Tuesday at the Boys & Girls Club on Bailey Avenue alongside Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown...
Thousands expected at Capitol for Saturday labor rally West Virginia Gazette …The “Mountaineers Workers Rising Rally” will protest “legislative attacks on our working families,” according to a news release from the state AFL-CIO. The leaders of the national AFL-CIO, the United Mine Workers of America, the Teamsters, both national teachers unions, the United Utility Workers Union and United Steelworkers are all scheduled to speak...
War on Workers
Injured Workers Suffer As 'Reforms' Limit Workers' Compensation Benefits NPR ...Until recently, America's workers could rely on a compact struck at the dawn of the Industrial Age: They'd give up their right to sue. In exchange, if they were injured on the job, their employers would pay their medical bills and enough of their wages to help them get by while they recovered. No longer...
American Airlines Mechanic Killed In Accident At Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport KXAS ...A mechanic who had worked for American Airlines for 30 years died Monday after falling from a jet bridge at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
Family of Oregon Worker Killed in Blender Sues Meat Distributor Insurance Journal …The Oregonian reported that the lawsuit filed last week in Clackamas County Circuit Court accused Interstate Meat Distributors of failing to follow safety procedures...
First Student, Teamsters Strike Summer Pay Deal Savannah Morning News ...Negotiations between Savannah-Chatham Public Schools transportation provider First Student and Teamsters Local 728 have resulted in a summer pay contract for about 500 bus drivers, monitors and technicians...
Apple To Make Many Security Guards Full-Time Employees San Jose Mercury News ...Under a contract approved last month, Facebook drivers working full-time will receive about $33,000 more in wages and benefits than they received before, the Teamsters said...
Lawmakers resume debate over Sunday growler sales MPR News …Edward Reynoso, the legislative director for Teamsters Union Joint Council 32, said changing the law to allow growlers to be sold on Sundays could reopen the labor contracts for 850 of his members who work in the liquor industry...
CN Rail reaches collective deal with Teamsters plans to buy back shares via private agreement MENAFN …Canadian National Railway Co. (TSE:CNR) the country's largest railroad and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference union have renewed their collective agreement...
Stericycle Inc. and Teamsters reach a collective agreement Canada NewsWire …Stericycle Inc. is a trucking company offering waste disposal services and product destruction, including medical and pharmaceutical waste disposal. The collective agreement covering approximately 114 employees working in Brampton and Scarborough, Ontario, expired on December 31, 2014...
Trade
Fate of Obama’s Trade Agenda May Rest on Oregon Senator New York Times …From his position in the driver’s seat, Mr. Wyden is putting demands on the fast-track bill that Republicans are not sure they can accept — most important, a shut-off valve that Congress could turn if the details of the Pacific or European accords did not live up to their promise...
White House counts on Sen. Wyden to deliver on a trade deal Washington Post …Obama was calling to thank Wyden for his support of the president’s sweeping trade agenda which, in a reflection of the topsy-turvy politics of the issue, has drawn support from Republican leaders and staunch objections from many Democrats...
Japan, U.S. resume TPP talks but pact’s future very much in doubt Japan Times …Japanese and U.S. officials resumed talks Thursday in Tokyo on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, but the outcome of the negotiations remains unclear with political difficulties mounting for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and indications of growing opposition to the deal in the U.S…
Business Rallies Against Secretive TPP Trade Talks (opinion) Macro Business ...It is also lamentable that the TPP negotiations have been opened to some large corporations, which are free to lobby for their interests, but barred to individuals and industry groups. This all but ensures that the final deal will not be in the public’s best interests...
State Battles
Assembly debates right-to-work bill today Associated Press …With Wisconsin positioned to become the third Midwestern state in as many years to enact a right-to-work law, the Assembly begins debate Thursday on a plan Republican Gov. Scott Walker has promised to quickly sign and Democrats lack the votes to stop...
Assembly Plans 24-Hour Right-To-Work Debate Green Bay Press Gazette ...The Wisconsin state Assembly plans to start debate of the right-to-work bill at 9 a.m. Thursday and end no later than 9 a.m. Friday...
Boost In Minimum Wage To $12 Wins Backing In State House Seattle Times ...The Washington state House voted along party lines Tuesday to raise the state’s minimum wage — already the nation’s highest — to $12 an hour over the next four years...
Missouri House Passes Voter ID Bills Northwest Missourian ...The bill says approved forms of identification would include a current Missouri driver’s license or a current Missouri non-driver’s license, a document issued by the United States of the State of Missouri containing the person’s name and photograph or any armed services identification containing a photograph that is not expired...
Oakland New Minimum Wage Law Now In Effect Contra Costa Times ...The law raises the minimum hourly wage from $9 as set by the state to $12.25. Workers also are now entitled to paid sick days under the law that was approved by 82 percent of voters last November...
Governor Wants $10.50 Minimum Wage For NYS WKBW ...$10.50 - that's what Governor Andrew Cuomo wants to make the minimum wage in New York State. The Governor made the announcement Tuesday at the Boys & Girls Club on Bailey Avenue alongside Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown...
Thousands expected at Capitol for Saturday labor rally West Virginia Gazette …The “Mountaineers Workers Rising Rally” will protest “legislative attacks on our working families,” according to a news release from the state AFL-CIO. The leaders of the national AFL-CIO, the United Mine Workers of America, the Teamsters, both national teachers unions, the United Utility Workers Union and United Steelworkers are all scheduled to speak...
War on Workers
Injured Workers Suffer As 'Reforms' Limit Workers' Compensation Benefits NPR ...Until recently, America's workers could rely on a compact struck at the dawn of the Industrial Age: They'd give up their right to sue. In exchange, if they were injured on the job, their employers would pay their medical bills and enough of their wages to help them get by while they recovered. No longer...
American Airlines Mechanic Killed In Accident At Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport KXAS ...A mechanic who had worked for American Airlines for 30 years died Monday after falling from a jet bridge at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
Family of Oregon Worker Killed in Blender Sues Meat Distributor Insurance Journal …The Oregonian reported that the lawsuit filed last week in Clackamas County Circuit Court accused Interstate Meat Distributors of failing to follow safety procedures...
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Today's Teamster News 03.04.15
Teamsters
Teamsters ratify four-year contract at AMR nwLaborPress.org …Members of Teamsters Portland Local 223 and Vancouver Local 58 ratified a new four-year collective bargaining agreement at American Medical Response (AMR). The 450-member bargaining unit provides ambulance service to Multnomah and Clackamas counties in Oregon, and Clark and Cowlitz counties in Washington...
Bus Drivers Ratify New Contract With First Student WTOC ...After several long months of negotiations, Savannah First Student employees represented by Teamsters have overwhelmingly ratified their new contract, 117 to four, according to a spokesperson from Teamsters 728...
Teamsters Want Mexican Trucking Row Revisited In TPP Law360 …The International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Monday publicly called on U.S. trade officials to use the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks to reopen deliberations on Mexico's cross-border trucking services, blasting the administration's move to open the border to Mexican truckers earlier this year...
Teamsters To Protest Republic Services Teamsters Local 728 ...On Wed., March 4 at 12 p.m., sanitation workers who work for Republic Services, Inc. [NYSE: RSG] will hold an informational picket to educate the public on the company's human rights violations. Workers at Republic allege that Republic has broken federal laws that protect workers' rights, by unilaterally changing pay and working conditions without negotiating with their union...
S.F. politician calls for labor peace at bus stops USA Today …With labor unions in negotiations with the transportation companies that ferry Silicon Valley tech workers, a San Francisco legislator is calling on the city to consider "labor harmony" when granting permits to corporate shuttles...
Coming detraction: Tax credit ax? Boston Herald …Sean O’Brien, president of Teamsters Local 25, drivers for the movie biz, [said] “Through the tax credit, we have created an industry where people can make a good living and provide for their families,” he said...
Miller, State Attorneys General Join FTC In Challenging Sysco-US Foods Merger Storm Lake Pilot Tribune ...Attorney General Tom Miller and a bipartisan group of state attorneys general today joined the Federal Trade Commission's administrative complaint challenging a proposed merger between food distribution giants Sysco and US Foods...
Canadian National Railway and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, representing rail traffic controllers, reach a collective agreement Yahoo! News ...The collective agreement covering about 185 rail traffic controllers expired on December 31, 2014...
Trade
Japanese official: Adding currency rules would kill Pacific trade pact Reuters …Any effort to add rules against currency cheating in a 12-nation Pacific trade pact would mean the end of negotiations, a senior Japanese negotiator said on Tuesday...
TPP Free Trade Agreement Would Increase Cost of Medicine In Mexico, Peru, Chile, And Other Countries Latin Times …TPP -- the Trans-PacificPartnership -- is making waves from Peru to Australia, concerning public health officials and consumer advocates. TPP, which would expand trade in 11 Pacific Rim countries, includes draft provisions for unprecedented expansion of pharmaceutical patent protection that could drive up the cost of medicine...
Let's Debate The Trans-Pacific Partnership -- History's Largest Trade Deal -- Before OKing It (opinion) Los Angeles Times ...If you haven't heard much about the TPP, that's part of the problem. It would be the largest trade deal in history — involving countries stretching from Chile to Japan, representing 792 million people and about 40% of the world economy. Yet it's been devised in secret, with a disproportionate amount of advice coming from corporations and Wall Street. This secrecy is the norm since NAFTA...
State Battles
Gov. Rauner asks community to back right to work in 'voter empowerment agenda' address Chicago Sun Times ...Rauner, who has in recent weeks focused on an agenda to allow “right to work” zones in targeted areas of the state, spent much of his address selling that point. It had one Illinois union saying Rauner held a “political obsession with crushing the unions that advocate for the middle class.”...
What a Right-to-Work Law Could Mean For Wisconsin Unions WUWM ...nion membership would likely fall in Wisconsin, if the state enacts such a measure It’s the trend, according to Cheryl Maranto. She’s a management professor at Marquette University. Maranto says union numbers tend to drop in right-to-work states, partly because many unions think it’s futile to expand into new workplaces there...
Minnesota Jobs Committee chair working to bring businesses from Wisconsin to Minnesota State Representative Pat Garofalo ...In light of legislation passed by the Wisconsin State Senate and being debated in the Wisconsin State Assembly that would make Wisconsin a "Right To Work" state, Job Growth and Energy Affordability Committee Chairman Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, has extended an invitation to two Wisconsin businesses offering assistance relocating their headquarters to Minnesota...
Right To Work For Less: Gov. Scott Walker Wants To Lower Worker Pay In Wisconsin (opinion) Washington Post ...Look, there are no perfect institutions in America, and unions are no exception. But they exist for a critically important reason: to balance out the inherent power of employers over workers and, thus, to enforce a more equitable distribution of the fruits of growth. In this regard, it is not a coincidence that as unions have diminished in numbers and power, the earnings of the middle class have stagnated...
Bill restricting union dues collection fails but not dead yet in Pa. Senate PennLive ...An attempt to pass a controversial amendment to a bill that would restrict union dues collection from state and school employees' paychecks narrowly failed in the state Senate on Monday. But most likely, we haven't seen the last of this amendment to this so-called paycheck protection bill...
Common Construction Repeal May Require Further Study Indiana Public Media ...The Indiana House easily approved legislation repealing the state’s common construction wage, and the bill’s support in the Senate looks strong. That means pushing the issue to summer study committee could be opponents’ best hope...
Bill Would Reestablish N.H. Minimum Wage, Raise It To $10 An Hour By 2018 NHPR ...Under the bill backed by seven Democratic state Senators, the increased minimum wage would take effect at the beginning of 2016. The bill calls for further increases to $9 an hour in 2017 and $10 an hour in 2018...
War on Workers
NLRB Election Rules Near Test in Congress; Changes Said to ‘Streamline' Board Process Bloomberg BNA ...Congress is about to take up proposals to block the National Labor Relations Board from implementing changes in its representation case rules and procedures set to take effect April 14...
Being a poor corporate citizen is hurting McDonald’s Washington Post …McDonald’s, that once-great American symbol of ingenuity and ruthless efficiency, is having some major difficulties, as its plummeting profits and recent C-suite shake up can attest…
Accident In The Zoo Interchange: 33-Year-Old Construction Worker Killed; Investigation Underway WITI ...A construction worker was killed while working on the Zoo Interchange project near 91st Street in Milwaukee on Saturday morning, February 28th...
Worker Killed At Natchitoches Parish Paper Mill KSLA ...Natchitoches Parish authorities have confirmed with KSLA News 12 that a man was killed in a paper mill accident...
Miscellaneous
Maine Bill Takes On NSA Spying With Transpartisan Support Tenth Amendment Center ...A bill filed in the Maine Senate late last week represents a transpartisan effort taking on the surveillance state. The legislation would not only support efforts to turn off NSA’s water in states where a physical NSA facility is located, but would also have immediate practical effects on how surveillance is used in some situations...
Teamsters ratify four-year contract at AMR nwLaborPress.org …Members of Teamsters Portland Local 223 and Vancouver Local 58 ratified a new four-year collective bargaining agreement at American Medical Response (AMR). The 450-member bargaining unit provides ambulance service to Multnomah and Clackamas counties in Oregon, and Clark and Cowlitz counties in Washington...
Bus Drivers Ratify New Contract With First Student WTOC ...After several long months of negotiations, Savannah First Student employees represented by Teamsters have overwhelmingly ratified their new contract, 117 to four, according to a spokesperson from Teamsters 728...
Teamsters Want Mexican Trucking Row Revisited In TPP Law360 …The International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Monday publicly called on U.S. trade officials to use the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks to reopen deliberations on Mexico's cross-border trucking services, blasting the administration's move to open the border to Mexican truckers earlier this year...
Teamsters To Protest Republic Services Teamsters Local 728 ...On Wed., March 4 at 12 p.m., sanitation workers who work for Republic Services, Inc. [NYSE: RSG] will hold an informational picket to educate the public on the company's human rights violations. Workers at Republic allege that Republic has broken federal laws that protect workers' rights, by unilaterally changing pay and working conditions without negotiating with their union...
S.F. politician calls for labor peace at bus stops USA Today …With labor unions in negotiations with the transportation companies that ferry Silicon Valley tech workers, a San Francisco legislator is calling on the city to consider "labor harmony" when granting permits to corporate shuttles...
Coming detraction: Tax credit ax? Boston Herald …Sean O’Brien, president of Teamsters Local 25, drivers for the movie biz, [said] “Through the tax credit, we have created an industry where people can make a good living and provide for their families,” he said...
Miller, State Attorneys General Join FTC In Challenging Sysco-US Foods Merger Storm Lake Pilot Tribune ...Attorney General Tom Miller and a bipartisan group of state attorneys general today joined the Federal Trade Commission's administrative complaint challenging a proposed merger between food distribution giants Sysco and US Foods...
Canadian National Railway and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, representing rail traffic controllers, reach a collective agreement Yahoo! News ...The collective agreement covering about 185 rail traffic controllers expired on December 31, 2014...
Trade
Japanese official: Adding currency rules would kill Pacific trade pact Reuters …Any effort to add rules against currency cheating in a 12-nation Pacific trade pact would mean the end of negotiations, a senior Japanese negotiator said on Tuesday...
TPP Free Trade Agreement Would Increase Cost of Medicine In Mexico, Peru, Chile, And Other Countries Latin Times …TPP -- the Trans-PacificPartnership -- is making waves from Peru to Australia, concerning public health officials and consumer advocates. TPP, which would expand trade in 11 Pacific Rim countries, includes draft provisions for unprecedented expansion of pharmaceutical patent protection that could drive up the cost of medicine...
Let's Debate The Trans-Pacific Partnership -- History's Largest Trade Deal -- Before OKing It (opinion) Los Angeles Times ...If you haven't heard much about the TPP, that's part of the problem. It would be the largest trade deal in history — involving countries stretching from Chile to Japan, representing 792 million people and about 40% of the world economy. Yet it's been devised in secret, with a disproportionate amount of advice coming from corporations and Wall Street. This secrecy is the norm since NAFTA...
State Battles
Gov. Rauner asks community to back right to work in 'voter empowerment agenda' address Chicago Sun Times ...Rauner, who has in recent weeks focused on an agenda to allow “right to work” zones in targeted areas of the state, spent much of his address selling that point. It had one Illinois union saying Rauner held a “political obsession with crushing the unions that advocate for the middle class.”...
What a Right-to-Work Law Could Mean For Wisconsin Unions WUWM ...nion membership would likely fall in Wisconsin, if the state enacts such a measure It’s the trend, according to Cheryl Maranto. She’s a management professor at Marquette University. Maranto says union numbers tend to drop in right-to-work states, partly because many unions think it’s futile to expand into new workplaces there...
Minnesota Jobs Committee chair working to bring businesses from Wisconsin to Minnesota State Representative Pat Garofalo ...In light of legislation passed by the Wisconsin State Senate and being debated in the Wisconsin State Assembly that would make Wisconsin a "Right To Work" state, Job Growth and Energy Affordability Committee Chairman Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, has extended an invitation to two Wisconsin businesses offering assistance relocating their headquarters to Minnesota...
Right To Work For Less: Gov. Scott Walker Wants To Lower Worker Pay In Wisconsin (opinion) Washington Post ...Look, there are no perfect institutions in America, and unions are no exception. But they exist for a critically important reason: to balance out the inherent power of employers over workers and, thus, to enforce a more equitable distribution of the fruits of growth. In this regard, it is not a coincidence that as unions have diminished in numbers and power, the earnings of the middle class have stagnated...
Bill restricting union dues collection fails but not dead yet in Pa. Senate PennLive ...An attempt to pass a controversial amendment to a bill that would restrict union dues collection from state and school employees' paychecks narrowly failed in the state Senate on Monday. But most likely, we haven't seen the last of this amendment to this so-called paycheck protection bill...
Common Construction Repeal May Require Further Study Indiana Public Media ...The Indiana House easily approved legislation repealing the state’s common construction wage, and the bill’s support in the Senate looks strong. That means pushing the issue to summer study committee could be opponents’ best hope...
Bill Would Reestablish N.H. Minimum Wage, Raise It To $10 An Hour By 2018 NHPR ...Under the bill backed by seven Democratic state Senators, the increased minimum wage would take effect at the beginning of 2016. The bill calls for further increases to $9 an hour in 2017 and $10 an hour in 2018...
War on Workers
NLRB Election Rules Near Test in Congress; Changes Said to ‘Streamline' Board Process Bloomberg BNA ...Congress is about to take up proposals to block the National Labor Relations Board from implementing changes in its representation case rules and procedures set to take effect April 14...
Being a poor corporate citizen is hurting McDonald’s Washington Post …McDonald’s, that once-great American symbol of ingenuity and ruthless efficiency, is having some major difficulties, as its plummeting profits and recent C-suite shake up can attest…
Accident In The Zoo Interchange: 33-Year-Old Construction Worker Killed; Investigation Underway WITI ...A construction worker was killed while working on the Zoo Interchange project near 91st Street in Milwaukee on Saturday morning, February 28th...
Worker Killed At Natchitoches Parish Paper Mill KSLA ...Natchitoches Parish authorities have confirmed with KSLA News 12 that a man was killed in a paper mill accident...
Miscellaneous
Maine Bill Takes On NSA Spying With Transpartisan Support Tenth Amendment Center ...A bill filed in the Maine Senate late last week represents a transpartisan effort taking on the surveillance state. The legislation would not only support efforts to turn off NSA’s water in states where a physical NSA facility is located, but would also have immediate practical effects on how surveillance is used in some situations...
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Today's Teamster News 02.19.15
Teamsters
Teamsters to help L.A., Long Beach truckers seek unemployment benefits if ports shut down Press-Telegram …The International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced a plan Wednesday to aid thousands of nonunion truckers who may lose out on pay if labor strife at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach results in a work stoppage at the harbor...
Truckers To Speak About Effects Of Potential Long Beach, Los Angeles Port Shutdown Long Beach Press Telegram ...Officials with the Teamsters Local 848 said in a statement that 10,000 truck drivers — who are not classified as employees, but independent contractors — would be idled without pay nor benefits if the port complex shutters...
Teamsters vote to authorize a strike at Rhode Island Hospital turnto10.com …Hundreds of teamsters who work at Rhode Island Hospital voted Wednesday to authorize a strike. The vote by Teamsters Local 251 gives Rhode Island Hospital 10 days warning…
Cass County Board: Contract settled with Teamsters union Brainerd Dispatch …Cass County Board approved a two-year contract Tuesday with Teamsters General Local Union 346 representing dispatch and records personnel in the sheriff's department...
CP, Teamsters Turn To Binding Arbitration To End Strike; CN, Teamsters Reach Tentative Pact Progressive Railroading ...Over the three-day holiday weekend, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) launched and ended a brief strike against Canadian Pacific, while CP reached a tentative labor agreement with Unifor and CN negotiated a tentative pact with the TCRC...
Queens Councilman Eric Ulrich Says No To NYC Horse-Carriage Ban New York Daily News ...Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Queens) has come off the fence on Mayor de Blasio's mission to get rid of the iconic conveyances, writing in his constituent newsletter that "after listening to all sides, and taking into account the views of my constituents, I have decided to oppose the ban." Ulrich says he "cannot, in good conscience, vote for any legislation that would deny hardworking people a chance to earn a decent living."...
Sysco Wants To Control More Than A Quarter Of Our Food Supply KCET ...They brought in a revenue of $44 billion in 2013. (To compare, McDonald's brought in $28 billion.) They're huge, in other words. And they don't want to stop there. They're trying to merge with their number one competitor, US Foods, which would make them even more dominant in the food industry...
Providence School Bus Strike Averted Providence Journal ...A potential strike by Providence school bus drivers on Monday has been averted. Patrick MacDonald, legislative director for Teamsters union Local 251, said First Student invoked a clause in its contract with the national Teamsters that calls for a 21-day cooling-off period...
Charleston County School Bus Drivers Raise Issues Of Bus Safety Charleston Post and Courier ...Bus driver Kathy Richardson said there are ongoing problems with buses with broken windows, broken heaters and mechanical issues....Richardson was among several bus drivers who spoke out Monday at a community forum sponsored by Rep. Wendell Gilliard and the Teamsters Local 509 of West Columbia. Many of the issues raised were regarding Durham School Services, which provides school bus transportation for Charleston County schools...
Rory D. Potter Asbury Park Press ...Rory was born in Pt Pleasant and was a lifelong resident. He was a Teamster Driver working out of Teamsters Local 469 as the Track Foreman at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, NJ. Rory loved his family and his friends and was a friend to anyone he met...
Trade
OR-Sen: DFA Goes After Ron Wyden (D) On The TPP Daily Kos …Oregon Senator Ron Wyden is reportedly working with Republicans like Paul Ryan and Orrin Hatch to pass the TPP. Their goal: to grease the wheels to get the TPP through Congress without proper review or a chance to make any changes to the deal itself...
US lawmakers tell Japan key deal on trade promotion authority likely this spring U.S. News … A delegation of U.S. lawmakers say a bipartisan congressional agreement on granting President Barack Obama trade promotion authority for a pan-Pacific trade deal is likely this spring...
Trade Group Accelerates Push for a ‘Fast Track’ Deal New York Times …The Trade Benefits America Coalition has started a digital advertising campaign that argues in favor of a more ambitious trade agenda and pushes for legislation granting President Obama “fast track” trade negotiating authority...
Trade deal would hurt Indiana (opinion) Indianapolis Star …If you think those manufacturing jobs were zapped by robots or simply the victims of a globalized world, I have some magic beans for sale. There's a big reason these jobs were lost, and it's called unfair trade policies...
Press Release: Interfaith Coalition Sends Letter to All Members of Congress Opposing Trade Injustice / Fast Track Network Lobby …Major religious groups including Quaker, Jewish, Protestant and Catholic organizations, Catholic sisters, and clergy, today sent a letter to all Members of Congress to express strong opposition to fast track trade promotion authority for trade agreements being negotiated…
State Battles
Missouri Senate leader on the fence about 'right to work' St. Louis Public Radio ...Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, says he has yet to take a position on the “right-to-work’’ bill that is headed to his chamber after passing the House last week...
Senate Dems unveil jobs package; vow to block right-to-work legislation Albuquerque Journal …With the New Mexico House poised to act soon on a high-profile right-to-work bill, Senate Democrats said today the measure could be in for a crash landing if it reaches their chamber...
Koch brothers' group allowed to keep California donors' names secret Bloomberg News …A Koch brothers advocacy group can keep its donor list secret for now, with a federal judge ruling that revealing the identities would chill free speech. The ruling comes as billionaires Charles and David Koch seek to raise almost $1 billion in the run-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election…
War on Workers
US ports shutdown: millions of dollars in lost exports as labor secretary flies in The Guardian ...Tom Perez heads to San Francisco to meet with shipping companies and dock workers to help settle dispute that has led to a partial shutdown of ports...
Safety tops strike demands for oil workers at BP refinery People's World …With the 1,100 members at the Whiting refinery and 340 at Toledo's, the total number of striking workers rose to more than 4,900, who process 13 percent of the country's oil. A full strike could stop 64 percent of oil production. The workers' demands center on health and safety issues, contracting jobs out to non-union workers and health care…
The Cost of a Decline in Unions New York Times … A study in the American Sociological Review, using the broadest methodology, estimates that the decline of unions may account for one-third of the rise of inequality among men...
Did the GOP Just Give Away $130 Billion of Public Property? The Nation …In December, two Republican senators, John McCain and Jeff Flake, pushed Congress and the president into giving away what could amount to over $130 billion in public property. That’s enough to provide every single unemployed American a minimum-wage job for an entire year. That’s enough to pay for a year of tuition at a public institution for every college student in the US…
Construction Worker Killed In Portland KOIN ...Shortly after 5:30 p.m., an Axis Crane contractor died after a steel high beam collapsed and fell onto the cab of a piece of equipment being used in Portland, officials said...
Illinois Worker Dies Cleaning Rail Car Law Firm News … An industrial cleaning company has been fined after a worker collapsed while working to clean a rail car and later died due to the untreated cardiac arrhythmia he suffered...
Miscellaneous
NSA Has Ability To Hide Spying Software Deep Within Hard Drives: Cyber Researchers Huffington Post ...The U.S. National Security Agency has figured out how to hide spying software deep within hard drives made by Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba and other top manufacturers, giving the agency the means to eavesdrop on the majority of the world's computers, according to cyber researchers and former operatives...
Teamsters to help L.A., Long Beach truckers seek unemployment benefits if ports shut down Press-Telegram …The International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced a plan Wednesday to aid thousands of nonunion truckers who may lose out on pay if labor strife at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach results in a work stoppage at the harbor...
Truckers To Speak About Effects Of Potential Long Beach, Los Angeles Port Shutdown Long Beach Press Telegram ...Officials with the Teamsters Local 848 said in a statement that 10,000 truck drivers — who are not classified as employees, but independent contractors — would be idled without pay nor benefits if the port complex shutters...
Teamsters vote to authorize a strike at Rhode Island Hospital turnto10.com …Hundreds of teamsters who work at Rhode Island Hospital voted Wednesday to authorize a strike. The vote by Teamsters Local 251 gives Rhode Island Hospital 10 days warning…
Cass County Board: Contract settled with Teamsters union Brainerd Dispatch …Cass County Board approved a two-year contract Tuesday with Teamsters General Local Union 346 representing dispatch and records personnel in the sheriff's department...
CP, Teamsters Turn To Binding Arbitration To End Strike; CN, Teamsters Reach Tentative Pact Progressive Railroading ...Over the three-day holiday weekend, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) launched and ended a brief strike against Canadian Pacific, while CP reached a tentative labor agreement with Unifor and CN negotiated a tentative pact with the TCRC...
Queens Councilman Eric Ulrich Says No To NYC Horse-Carriage Ban New York Daily News ...Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Queens) has come off the fence on Mayor de Blasio's mission to get rid of the iconic conveyances, writing in his constituent newsletter that "after listening to all sides, and taking into account the views of my constituents, I have decided to oppose the ban." Ulrich says he "cannot, in good conscience, vote for any legislation that would deny hardworking people a chance to earn a decent living."...
Sysco Wants To Control More Than A Quarter Of Our Food Supply KCET ...They brought in a revenue of $44 billion in 2013. (To compare, McDonald's brought in $28 billion.) They're huge, in other words. And they don't want to stop there. They're trying to merge with their number one competitor, US Foods, which would make them even more dominant in the food industry...
Providence School Bus Strike Averted Providence Journal ...A potential strike by Providence school bus drivers on Monday has been averted. Patrick MacDonald, legislative director for Teamsters union Local 251, said First Student invoked a clause in its contract with the national Teamsters that calls for a 21-day cooling-off period...
Charleston County School Bus Drivers Raise Issues Of Bus Safety Charleston Post and Courier ...Bus driver Kathy Richardson said there are ongoing problems with buses with broken windows, broken heaters and mechanical issues....Richardson was among several bus drivers who spoke out Monday at a community forum sponsored by Rep. Wendell Gilliard and the Teamsters Local 509 of West Columbia. Many of the issues raised were regarding Durham School Services, which provides school bus transportation for Charleston County schools...
Rory D. Potter Asbury Park Press ...Rory was born in Pt Pleasant and was a lifelong resident. He was a Teamster Driver working out of Teamsters Local 469 as the Track Foreman at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, NJ. Rory loved his family and his friends and was a friend to anyone he met...
Trade
OR-Sen: DFA Goes After Ron Wyden (D) On The TPP Daily Kos …Oregon Senator Ron Wyden is reportedly working with Republicans like Paul Ryan and Orrin Hatch to pass the TPP. Their goal: to grease the wheels to get the TPP through Congress without proper review or a chance to make any changes to the deal itself...
US lawmakers tell Japan key deal on trade promotion authority likely this spring U.S. News … A delegation of U.S. lawmakers say a bipartisan congressional agreement on granting President Barack Obama trade promotion authority for a pan-Pacific trade deal is likely this spring...
Trade Group Accelerates Push for a ‘Fast Track’ Deal New York Times …The Trade Benefits America Coalition has started a digital advertising campaign that argues in favor of a more ambitious trade agenda and pushes for legislation granting President Obama “fast track” trade negotiating authority...
Trade deal would hurt Indiana (opinion) Indianapolis Star …If you think those manufacturing jobs were zapped by robots or simply the victims of a globalized world, I have some magic beans for sale. There's a big reason these jobs were lost, and it's called unfair trade policies...
Press Release: Interfaith Coalition Sends Letter to All Members of Congress Opposing Trade Injustice / Fast Track Network Lobby …Major religious groups including Quaker, Jewish, Protestant and Catholic organizations, Catholic sisters, and clergy, today sent a letter to all Members of Congress to express strong opposition to fast track trade promotion authority for trade agreements being negotiated…
State Battles
Missouri Senate leader on the fence about 'right to work' St. Louis Public Radio ...Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, says he has yet to take a position on the “right-to-work’’ bill that is headed to his chamber after passing the House last week...
Senate Dems unveil jobs package; vow to block right-to-work legislation Albuquerque Journal …With the New Mexico House poised to act soon on a high-profile right-to-work bill, Senate Democrats said today the measure could be in for a crash landing if it reaches their chamber...
Koch brothers' group allowed to keep California donors' names secret Bloomberg News …A Koch brothers advocacy group can keep its donor list secret for now, with a federal judge ruling that revealing the identities would chill free speech. The ruling comes as billionaires Charles and David Koch seek to raise almost $1 billion in the run-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election…
War on Workers
US ports shutdown: millions of dollars in lost exports as labor secretary flies in The Guardian ...Tom Perez heads to San Francisco to meet with shipping companies and dock workers to help settle dispute that has led to a partial shutdown of ports...
Safety tops strike demands for oil workers at BP refinery People's World …With the 1,100 members at the Whiting refinery and 340 at Toledo's, the total number of striking workers rose to more than 4,900, who process 13 percent of the country's oil. A full strike could stop 64 percent of oil production. The workers' demands center on health and safety issues, contracting jobs out to non-union workers and health care…
The Cost of a Decline in Unions New York Times … A study in the American Sociological Review, using the broadest methodology, estimates that the decline of unions may account for one-third of the rise of inequality among men...
Did the GOP Just Give Away $130 Billion of Public Property? The Nation …In December, two Republican senators, John McCain and Jeff Flake, pushed Congress and the president into giving away what could amount to over $130 billion in public property. That’s enough to provide every single unemployed American a minimum-wage job for an entire year. That’s enough to pay for a year of tuition at a public institution for every college student in the US…
Construction Worker Killed In Portland KOIN ...Shortly after 5:30 p.m., an Axis Crane contractor died after a steel high beam collapsed and fell onto the cab of a piece of equipment being used in Portland, officials said...
Illinois Worker Dies Cleaning Rail Car Law Firm News … An industrial cleaning company has been fined after a worker collapsed while working to clean a rail car and later died due to the untreated cardiac arrhythmia he suffered...
Miscellaneous
NSA Has Ability To Hide Spying Software Deep Within Hard Drives: Cyber Researchers Huffington Post ...The U.S. National Security Agency has figured out how to hide spying software deep within hard drives made by Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba and other top manufacturers, giving the agency the means to eavesdrop on the majority of the world's computers, according to cyber researchers and former operatives...
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Today's Teamster News 01.07.15
Teamsters
Agreement between Los Angeles, Long Beach port truck drivers, Carson firm allows Teamsters to enter negotiations San Jose Mercury News ...Drivers with Carson-based Shippers Transport Express, a wholly owned subsidiary of SSA Marine, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and their supporters plan to host a press conference in Wilmington on Friday to validate their union authorization cards, opening the door for the Teamsters to begin negotiating a contract, according to Justice for Port Drivers and the Teamsters...
Teamsters Local 728 Reaches Tentative Agreement With First Student WTOC ...A representative with Teamsters Local 728 Union has told WTOC it has reached a tentative agreement with First Student after months of negotiations...
Trade
Why The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Is A Pending Disaster Huffington Post ...Republicans who now run Congress say they want to cooperate with President Obama, and point to the administration's Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, as the model. The only problem is the TPP would be a disaster...
Stopping the Biggest Corporate Power Grab in Years Foreign Policy in Focus ...How fighting back against one arcane, Nixon-era trade negotiating procedure could put a stop to a global corporate coup...
Austerity Killing You? How About A Trade Deal? Huffington Post ...It is a mark of the delusion of Europe's leaders that the EU is putting its chips on a trade deal with the U.S. -- the so-called Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. TTIP is not really a trade deal at all but a series of measures intended to promote further deregulation of economic, financial, health, labor, safety, privacy, and environmental protections on both sides of the Atlantic. TTIP was designed by corporations to weaken labor and government -- and would do just about nothing to get Europe out of its austerity trap...
State Battles
Republicans Prefile Right-To-Work Legislation In NM House Albuquerque Business First ...Three members of the Republican-controlled state House announced Monday they prefiled legislation that would prohibit automatic union membership in New Mexico and give workers the right to join or financially contribute to a union — or not...
Butler County Discusses Right-To-Work Ordinance Bowling Green Daily News ...Butler County Judge-Executive David Fields said he expects the Fiscal Court to take a vote on a right-to-work ordinance, but that vote might not come until February...
Fischer Signs $9 Minimum Wage Ordinance Louisville Courier Journal ...Mayor Greg Fischer signed the ordinance increasing the minimum wage to $9 an hour in Jefferson County on Friday. The law increases the wage to $7.75 by July 1, to $8.25 by July 2016 and $9 by July 2017, and ties future increases to the Department of Labor's Consumer Price Index for urban cities in the region...
New IRS Rules On Dark Money Likely Won’t Be Ready Before 2016 Election ProPublica ...The Internal Revenue Service says it won't come out with new proposed rules for so-called dark money groups until late spring at the earliest, increasing the likelihood that no changes will take effect before the 2016 elections...
War on Workers
New GOP Congress Fires Shot At Social Security On Day One Talking Points Memo ...The largely overlooked change puts a new restriction on the routine transfer of tax revenues between the traditional Social Security retirement trust fund and the Social Security disability program. ...experts say it would likely mean any reallocation would have to be balanced by new revenues or benefit cuts...
House Republicans Change Rules on Calculating Economic Impact of Bills New York Times ...The change on “dynamic scoring” — ardently sought since the 1990s by Republicans — could ease passage of major tax cuts by showing that their impact on economic growth would substantially reduce their cost to the Treasury. The move is widely seen as a way for Republican leaders to set ground rules for an ambitious overhaul of the entire United States tax code...
Atlanta Stagehands Fight ‘Labor Pimps’ Pushing Temp Work, Low Wages In These Times ...while those performances net entertainers and concert venues massive amounts of money, the backstage workers like the ones who made Beyoncé’s live performance July 15 in Atlanta possible can’t say the same. Those employees are now attempting to organize a union, hoping to reverse the trend of eroded wages and benefits for the stagehands and others who make these performances so profitable...
Business Groups File Lawsuit To Block NLRB’s Union-Organizing Rule Wall Street Journal ...Several business trade groups filed a lawsuit Monday to block the National Labor Relations Board’s new rule that would speed union-organizing elections, alleging the board overstepped its authority...
Oil plummets, but don't expect lower fares soon Sydney Morning Herald ...Oil prices may have plunged to near six-year lows, but travellers are unlikely to see Qantas or Virgin Australia rush to slash fares any time soon – or lower their much maligned fuel surcharges on international flights...
In the US, one lesson from oil prices: rich people win, again Guardian ...The most visible economic impact is in gasoline prices, with regular pump prices down about 70 cents a gallon from year ago levels, according to AAA. Consumers across the board benefit from this by having a little more disposable income, but Harris said the impact on households is uneven. Rich people win, again. About 56% of the expense savings goes to households in the top two-fifths of the income distribution versus only 24% to families in the bottom two-fifths…
Mercedes-Benz says will move U.S. headquarters to Atlanta Reuters ...Mercedes-Benz will move its U.S. headquarters to Atlanta from northern New Jersey, affecting about 1,000 employees, the company said on Tuesday. The Daimler AG unit is moving to cut costs...
Worker Killed in Mill Accident North Coast Journal ...A 64-year-old contract worker was killed this morning when his boom lift apparently came into contact with a high voltage line at an Arcata mill...
Miscellaneous
Why Uber Will—And Should—Be Regulated Slate ...Nothing is new under the sun, and that includes the Uber controversy. Price regulation of taxis was thrown into disarray in the 1920s when mass production drove down the cost of cars. When that happened, anyone, including part-timers, could pick up a passenger for a high fare during times of peak demand, depriving the taxis of fares from low-cost trips that they needed to survive and reintroducing price confusion. Governments invented the medallion system to block the part-timers from unraveling the market by siphoning off the lowest-cost fares...
Agreement between Los Angeles, Long Beach port truck drivers, Carson firm allows Teamsters to enter negotiations San Jose Mercury News ...Drivers with Carson-based Shippers Transport Express, a wholly owned subsidiary of SSA Marine, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and their supporters plan to host a press conference in Wilmington on Friday to validate their union authorization cards, opening the door for the Teamsters to begin negotiating a contract, according to Justice for Port Drivers and the Teamsters...
Teamsters Local 728 Reaches Tentative Agreement With First Student WTOC ...A representative with Teamsters Local 728 Union has told WTOC it has reached a tentative agreement with First Student after months of negotiations...
Trade
Why The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Is A Pending Disaster Huffington Post ...Republicans who now run Congress say they want to cooperate with President Obama, and point to the administration's Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, as the model. The only problem is the TPP would be a disaster...
Stopping the Biggest Corporate Power Grab in Years Foreign Policy in Focus ...How fighting back against one arcane, Nixon-era trade negotiating procedure could put a stop to a global corporate coup...
Austerity Killing You? How About A Trade Deal? Huffington Post ...It is a mark of the delusion of Europe's leaders that the EU is putting its chips on a trade deal with the U.S. -- the so-called Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. TTIP is not really a trade deal at all but a series of measures intended to promote further deregulation of economic, financial, health, labor, safety, privacy, and environmental protections on both sides of the Atlantic. TTIP was designed by corporations to weaken labor and government -- and would do just about nothing to get Europe out of its austerity trap...
State Battles
Republicans Prefile Right-To-Work Legislation In NM House Albuquerque Business First ...Three members of the Republican-controlled state House announced Monday they prefiled legislation that would prohibit automatic union membership in New Mexico and give workers the right to join or financially contribute to a union — or not...
Butler County Discusses Right-To-Work Ordinance Bowling Green Daily News ...Butler County Judge-Executive David Fields said he expects the Fiscal Court to take a vote on a right-to-work ordinance, but that vote might not come until February...
Fischer Signs $9 Minimum Wage Ordinance Louisville Courier Journal ...Mayor Greg Fischer signed the ordinance increasing the minimum wage to $9 an hour in Jefferson County on Friday. The law increases the wage to $7.75 by July 1, to $8.25 by July 2016 and $9 by July 2017, and ties future increases to the Department of Labor's Consumer Price Index for urban cities in the region...
New IRS Rules On Dark Money Likely Won’t Be Ready Before 2016 Election ProPublica ...The Internal Revenue Service says it won't come out with new proposed rules for so-called dark money groups until late spring at the earliest, increasing the likelihood that no changes will take effect before the 2016 elections...
War on Workers
New GOP Congress Fires Shot At Social Security On Day One Talking Points Memo ...The largely overlooked change puts a new restriction on the routine transfer of tax revenues between the traditional Social Security retirement trust fund and the Social Security disability program. ...experts say it would likely mean any reallocation would have to be balanced by new revenues or benefit cuts...
House Republicans Change Rules on Calculating Economic Impact of Bills New York Times ...The change on “dynamic scoring” — ardently sought since the 1990s by Republicans — could ease passage of major tax cuts by showing that their impact on economic growth would substantially reduce their cost to the Treasury. The move is widely seen as a way for Republican leaders to set ground rules for an ambitious overhaul of the entire United States tax code...
Atlanta Stagehands Fight ‘Labor Pimps’ Pushing Temp Work, Low Wages In These Times ...while those performances net entertainers and concert venues massive amounts of money, the backstage workers like the ones who made Beyoncé’s live performance July 15 in Atlanta possible can’t say the same. Those employees are now attempting to organize a union, hoping to reverse the trend of eroded wages and benefits for the stagehands and others who make these performances so profitable...
Business Groups File Lawsuit To Block NLRB’s Union-Organizing Rule Wall Street Journal ...Several business trade groups filed a lawsuit Monday to block the National Labor Relations Board’s new rule that would speed union-organizing elections, alleging the board overstepped its authority...
Oil plummets, but don't expect lower fares soon Sydney Morning Herald ...Oil prices may have plunged to near six-year lows, but travellers are unlikely to see Qantas or Virgin Australia rush to slash fares any time soon – or lower their much maligned fuel surcharges on international flights...
In the US, one lesson from oil prices: rich people win, again Guardian ...The most visible economic impact is in gasoline prices, with regular pump prices down about 70 cents a gallon from year ago levels, according to AAA. Consumers across the board benefit from this by having a little more disposable income, but Harris said the impact on households is uneven. Rich people win, again. About 56% of the expense savings goes to households in the top two-fifths of the income distribution versus only 24% to families in the bottom two-fifths…
Mercedes-Benz says will move U.S. headquarters to Atlanta Reuters ...Mercedes-Benz will move its U.S. headquarters to Atlanta from northern New Jersey, affecting about 1,000 employees, the company said on Tuesday. The Daimler AG unit is moving to cut costs...
Worker Killed in Mill Accident North Coast Journal ...A 64-year-old contract worker was killed this morning when his boom lift apparently came into contact with a high voltage line at an Arcata mill...
Miscellaneous
Why Uber Will—And Should—Be Regulated Slate ...Nothing is new under the sun, and that includes the Uber controversy. Price regulation of taxis was thrown into disarray in the 1920s when mass production drove down the cost of cars. When that happened, anyone, including part-timers, could pick up a passenger for a high fare during times of peak demand, depriving the taxis of fares from low-cost trips that they needed to survive and reintroducing price confusion. Governments invented the medallion system to block the part-timers from unraveling the market by siphoning off the lowest-cost fares...
Friday, December 5, 2014
Today's Teamster News 12.05.14
Teamster News
First Student School Bus Workers Vote To Join Teamsters Local 653 teamster.org ...School bus workers at the Abington, Mass., First Student yard have voted overwhelmingly, 38-8, in favor of representation by Teamsters Local 653 in South Easton, Mass. The group of 60 drivers and monitors transport children in the Rockland, Holbrook and Weymouth school districts...
New Yorkers Swamp City Council Members With Phone Calls, Opposing Bill de Blasio’s Ban On Horse Carriages New York Daily News ...Angered by Mayor de Blasio’s drive to ban horse-drawn carriages, New Yorkers fought back Tuesday with their fingertips — swamping City Council members with phone calls urging them to oppose the mayor’s plan...
LA schools reach tentative agreement with supervisor staff union; teacher negotiations ongoing Associated Press ...LAUSD and Teamsters Local 572 announced agreements on job protections, food service practices and payment cycles Wednesday. The two sides had previously reached an agreement on salary...
Union workers turn the heat up in fight over oil terminal in the Bronx New York Daily News ...Dozens of union workers at a Bronx heating oil supply facility braved freezing rain Wednesday to fight for their jobs and protest the transfer of their facility...
College Scholarships Available To Sons and Daughters of Teamster Members teamster.org ...College scholarships, ranging in award amount between $1,000 and $10,000, are available to the sons, daughters or financially-dependent grandchildren of Teamster members through the James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Fund...
Trade
Obama Claims that Economic Reality Will Make It Hard to Get Political Support for His Trade Deals Center for Economic Policy and Research ... It's not clear why President Obama would be surprised that most of the public opposes trade deals that are likely to redistribute more income upward...
US To Determine Whether Child Labour Is Used In Indian Carpets Economic Times ...The US has proposed to determine whether Indian carpets are produced by forced or indentured child labour, even as it added cotton and sugarcane to the already existing child labour produced list from India...
State Battles
Wisconsin Senate to quickly take up right-to-work legislation Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...Nearly four years after mostly eliminating collective bargaining for public workers, Republicans are considering putting limits on most private-sector unions while giving an unprecedented exemption to the labor groups that support them politically...
After Republican Wins, Right To Work Bills On The Agenda Washington Post ...Republicans in at least five states — Wisconsin, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Ohio and Missouri — have introduced or plan to introduce versions of the law in legislative sessions that will begin in January. Legislators in Colorado, Kentucky, Montana and Pennsylvania are all likely to push similar laws, though union-friendly Democratic governors in each state will act as firewalls...
War on Workers
Minimum wage fight hits the streets of nearly 200 U.S. cities Reuters ...Thousands of U.S. fast-food workers and supporters marched in nearly 200 cities around the United States on Thursday including Chicago and Boston to advocate for a $15 minimum wage and other labor rights...
JPMorgan Rushed to Hire Trader Who Suggested on His Resume That He Knew How to Game Electric Markets Wall Street on Parade ...“There’s two things that I find incredible about this. First, that anyone would advertise in a resume that they know about a flaw in the system — signaling that they’re ready and willing to exploit that flaw. And, second, that somebody would hire the person sending that signal.”...
The Incredible Shrinking Incomes Of Young Americans The Atlantic ...In retail, wholesale, leisure, and hospitality—which together employ more than one quarter of this age group—real wages have fallen more than 10 percent since 2007...
Which U.S. Cities Have the Biggest Income Gaps? Wall Street Journal ...Fairfield County had the widest inequality of any U.S. metro area in 2009-13, according to newly released Census data...
Unsteady Incomes Keep Millions Behind On Bills New York Times ...A more recent national survey by the Federal Reserve, based on 2013 data, suggests the problem has not only persisted as the economy recovers but may even have worsened. More than 30 percent of Americans reported spikes and dips in their incomes. Among that group, 42 percent cited an irregular work schedule; an additional 27 percent blamed a span of joblessness or seasonal work...
Ohio Power Prices Could Spike With U.S. Plan To Cut Power Plant CO2 Emissions Cleveland Plain Dealer ...The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio filed a 67-page analysis with the U.S. EPA arguing the federal proposal would spike power prices, hurt industry and destabilize the regional high-voltage grid...
Oil Trains Hide In Plain Sight Wall Street Journal ...Finding the locations of oil-filled trains remains difficult, even in states that don’t consider the information top secret. There are no federal or state rules requiring public notice despite several fiery accidents involving oil trains, including one in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, that killed 47 people...
Miscellaneous
The NSA Listened In On Trade Group Talks To Stay Ahead Of Phone Encryption The Verge ...By monitoring any new encryption proposals before they were made public, the agency was able to get a head start on finding ways to break the new systems...
First Student School Bus Workers Vote To Join Teamsters Local 653 teamster.org ...School bus workers at the Abington, Mass., First Student yard have voted overwhelmingly, 38-8, in favor of representation by Teamsters Local 653 in South Easton, Mass. The group of 60 drivers and monitors transport children in the Rockland, Holbrook and Weymouth school districts...
New Yorkers Swamp City Council Members With Phone Calls, Opposing Bill de Blasio’s Ban On Horse Carriages New York Daily News ...Angered by Mayor de Blasio’s drive to ban horse-drawn carriages, New Yorkers fought back Tuesday with their fingertips — swamping City Council members with phone calls urging them to oppose the mayor’s plan...
LA schools reach tentative agreement with supervisor staff union; teacher negotiations ongoing Associated Press ...LAUSD and Teamsters Local 572 announced agreements on job protections, food service practices and payment cycles Wednesday. The two sides had previously reached an agreement on salary...
Union workers turn the heat up in fight over oil terminal in the Bronx New York Daily News ...Dozens of union workers at a Bronx heating oil supply facility braved freezing rain Wednesday to fight for their jobs and protest the transfer of their facility...
College Scholarships Available To Sons and Daughters of Teamster Members teamster.org ...College scholarships, ranging in award amount between $1,000 and $10,000, are available to the sons, daughters or financially-dependent grandchildren of Teamster members through the James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Fund...
Trade
Obama Claims that Economic Reality Will Make It Hard to Get Political Support for His Trade Deals Center for Economic Policy and Research ... It's not clear why President Obama would be surprised that most of the public opposes trade deals that are likely to redistribute more income upward...
US To Determine Whether Child Labour Is Used In Indian Carpets Economic Times ...The US has proposed to determine whether Indian carpets are produced by forced or indentured child labour, even as it added cotton and sugarcane to the already existing child labour produced list from India...
State Battles
Wisconsin Senate to quickly take up right-to-work legislation Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...Nearly four years after mostly eliminating collective bargaining for public workers, Republicans are considering putting limits on most private-sector unions while giving an unprecedented exemption to the labor groups that support them politically...
After Republican Wins, Right To Work Bills On The Agenda Washington Post ...Republicans in at least five states — Wisconsin, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Ohio and Missouri — have introduced or plan to introduce versions of the law in legislative sessions that will begin in January. Legislators in Colorado, Kentucky, Montana and Pennsylvania are all likely to push similar laws, though union-friendly Democratic governors in each state will act as firewalls...
War on Workers
Minimum wage fight hits the streets of nearly 200 U.S. cities Reuters ...Thousands of U.S. fast-food workers and supporters marched in nearly 200 cities around the United States on Thursday including Chicago and Boston to advocate for a $15 minimum wage and other labor rights...
JPMorgan Rushed to Hire Trader Who Suggested on His Resume That He Knew How to Game Electric Markets Wall Street on Parade ...“There’s two things that I find incredible about this. First, that anyone would advertise in a resume that they know about a flaw in the system — signaling that they’re ready and willing to exploit that flaw. And, second, that somebody would hire the person sending that signal.”...
The Incredible Shrinking Incomes Of Young Americans The Atlantic ...In retail, wholesale, leisure, and hospitality—which together employ more than one quarter of this age group—real wages have fallen more than 10 percent since 2007...
Which U.S. Cities Have the Biggest Income Gaps? Wall Street Journal ...Fairfield County had the widest inequality of any U.S. metro area in 2009-13, according to newly released Census data...
Unsteady Incomes Keep Millions Behind On Bills New York Times ...A more recent national survey by the Federal Reserve, based on 2013 data, suggests the problem has not only persisted as the economy recovers but may even have worsened. More than 30 percent of Americans reported spikes and dips in their incomes. Among that group, 42 percent cited an irregular work schedule; an additional 27 percent blamed a span of joblessness or seasonal work...
Ohio Power Prices Could Spike With U.S. Plan To Cut Power Plant CO2 Emissions Cleveland Plain Dealer ...The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio filed a 67-page analysis with the U.S. EPA arguing the federal proposal would spike power prices, hurt industry and destabilize the regional high-voltage grid...
Oil Trains Hide In Plain Sight Wall Street Journal ...Finding the locations of oil-filled trains remains difficult, even in states that don’t consider the information top secret. There are no federal or state rules requiring public notice despite several fiery accidents involving oil trains, including one in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, that killed 47 people...
Miscellaneous
The NSA Listened In On Trade Group Talks To Stay Ahead Of Phone Encryption The Verge ...By monitoring any new encryption proposals before they were made public, the agency was able to get a head start on finding ways to break the new systems...
Friday, November 14, 2014
Today's Teamster News 11.14.14
Teamster News
Teamsters Strike, Allege Wage Theft Los Angeles Business Journal ...Truck drivers who work at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach walked off the job Thursday to protest two trucking firms they accuse of wage theft, according to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which organized the action...
L.A. truck drivers strike as tension mounts at ports Los Angeles Times ...Some truck drivers who work at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach walked off the job Thursday, organizers said, in a protest against two trucking firms they accuse of wage theft...
Walmart sit-down strike follows strikes today by port truck drivers and federal contract workers TeamsterNation ...Walmart workers in a Crenshaw, Calif., store sat down on the job today, even as striking port truck drivers picketed marine terminals and trucking yards at the Port of L.A. and hundreds of federal government contractors marched off the job and onto a Capitol Hill rally...
Teamsters Local 402 Organizes Ready-Mix Drivers teamster.org ...Ready-Mix drivers in Huntsville, Ala., recently voted to be represented by Teamsters Local 402. They are fighting for improved wages and fair treatment on the job...
Teamsters Stand with Students to Stop the Tuition Hikes Teamsters Local 2010 ...Teamsters Local 2010 therefore demands the UC Board of Regents reject the proposed tuition increases and approach both the workers and students to discuss better solutions...
Bus Driver Summer Pay Bargaining Progressing; Other Issues Remain Savannah Morning News ...First Student school transportation provider and Teamsters Union Local 728 are nearing an agreement about year-round pay after three days of bargaining, but continue to disagree on contract and financial issues...
Concord Settles Contract With Employee Union Contra Costa Times ...The city has struck a deal with its largest employee union -- thus averting a threatened strike that could have crippled daily operations. Teamsters Local 856 represents 141 employees -- including administrative clerks, police dispatchers and maintenance workers -- who have been working without a contract since the end of June, despite ongoing negotiations...
William Bounds Jr. Champaign News-Gazette ...Bill continued his career with the Teamsters Union Local 26 in Danville as a business agent. He later was elected president of Local 26 and held that position for 30 years. Bill was also the president of the Teamsters Joint Council 65 located in Springfield for approximately 18 years, overseeing parts of four states and 30,000 members...
Trade
Flaws in granting Mr. Obama fast-track authority (opinion) Washington Post ...Many Republicans, especially in the House, where the real trade action is, question the constitutionality of fast-track trade authority and the wisdom of giving the president even freer rein...
Never Mind ISIS, It’s ISDS That’s The Real Threat The Nation ...mining corporations have taken El Salvador to court for trying to limit their right to open-pit mine the country and pollute its rivers and El Lilly has sued Canada, complaining that its patent laws have hindered profits it could make on an ADD drug...
State Battles
Right-To-Work Legislation Likely To Be On Agenda Albuquerque Journal ...debate is already building over the long-stymied idea of making New Mexico a “right-to-work” state. After seizing control of the state House of Representatives for the first time in 60 years, Republican lawmakers have signaled the legislation will be on the table for the coming session...
Texas GOP’s Voter ID Ploy “Worked”: Turnout Way Down, Provisional Ballots Way Up Salon.com ...Despite a larger population and a contested race for an open gubernatorial seat, turnout in the state of Texas was reportedly down this year... [suggesting] the Texas GOP’s strategy of suppressing the vote this year with polling place Photo ID restrictions seems to have worked...
Emergency Manager Recommended For Atlantic City Press Of Atlantic City ...An emergency manager to oversee the city’s troubled finances and the creation of a new public-private development corporation are part of a package of reforms Gov. Chris Christie will consider to revitalize the struggling resort town...
War on Workers
Walmart Workers Stage First-Ever Sit-In Strike ThinkProgress ...Workers at a Los Angeles Walmart began the first sit-down strike in the company’s history at around 2 p.m. on Thursday. The strike is to protest their low wages and a culture of retaliation at the company...
23 Arrested During Pico Rivera Walmart Protest Associated Press ...Authorities say 23 men and women were arrested Thursday after they blocked traffic at a Pico Rivera intersection during a protest that began with a sit-down strike inside the local Walmart...
U.S. Capitol workers, others strike for higher pay, union Reuters ...Hundreds of striking federal contract workers, including for the first time some from the U.S. Capitol, rallied on Thursday to urge President Barack Obama to boost pay and spur unionization...
Longtime Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship indicted Charleston Gazette ...Don Blankenship, the longtime chief executive officer of Massey Energy, was indicted Thursday on charges that he orchestrated the routine violation of key federal mine safety rules at the company’s Upper Big Branch Mine prior to an April 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners...
Halliburton worker killed in Colorado fracking accident Reuters ...An accident at a fracking site in Colorado killed one Halliburton Co worker and seriously injured two on Thursday as they tried to thaw a high-pressure water line that had frozen in record-breaking cold conditions, the company said...
Worker killed when pedestrian bridge collapses Associated Press ...Officials say one worker was killed and four others were hurt when a pedestrian bridge under construction collapsed at a community college in North Carolina...
Worker dies as wall collapses at Avon Lake construction site cleveland.com ...A construction worker died Thursday afternoon after a wall of a house collapsed on him...
Only 1 State's College Students Graduate With Less Than $20K Of Debt, Report Finds Huffington Post ...For the class of 2013, seven out of 10 college students nationwide carried some form of education debt when they graduated, ... The average graduate was $28,400 in the red, the report says. In six states, students graduated with an average of more than $30,000 in education debt, and only New Mexico grads came in below the $20K mark, with an average of $18,656 in school debt...
Miscellaneous
Keystone On The Move In Congress Politico ...In the House, Republicans quickly announced a vote as early as Thursday on a version of Landrieu’s Keystone bill with Cassidy’s name on it. When Landrieu did not object to a Republican request that Cassidy’s House bill be the measure ultimately sent to Obama — not her own — the Senate agreed to a Tuesday vote on the $8 billion pipeline...
Teamsters Strike, Allege Wage Theft Los Angeles Business Journal ...Truck drivers who work at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach walked off the job Thursday to protest two trucking firms they accuse of wage theft, according to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which organized the action...
L.A. truck drivers strike as tension mounts at ports Los Angeles Times ...Some truck drivers who work at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach walked off the job Thursday, organizers said, in a protest against two trucking firms they accuse of wage theft...
Walmart sit-down strike follows strikes today by port truck drivers and federal contract workers TeamsterNation ...Walmart workers in a Crenshaw, Calif., store sat down on the job today, even as striking port truck drivers picketed marine terminals and trucking yards at the Port of L.A. and hundreds of federal government contractors marched off the job and onto a Capitol Hill rally...
Teamsters Local 402 Organizes Ready-Mix Drivers teamster.org ...Ready-Mix drivers in Huntsville, Ala., recently voted to be represented by Teamsters Local 402. They are fighting for improved wages and fair treatment on the job...
Teamsters Stand with Students to Stop the Tuition Hikes Teamsters Local 2010 ...Teamsters Local 2010 therefore demands the UC Board of Regents reject the proposed tuition increases and approach both the workers and students to discuss better solutions...
Bus Driver Summer Pay Bargaining Progressing; Other Issues Remain Savannah Morning News ...First Student school transportation provider and Teamsters Union Local 728 are nearing an agreement about year-round pay after three days of bargaining, but continue to disagree on contract and financial issues...
Concord Settles Contract With Employee Union Contra Costa Times ...The city has struck a deal with its largest employee union -- thus averting a threatened strike that could have crippled daily operations. Teamsters Local 856 represents 141 employees -- including administrative clerks, police dispatchers and maintenance workers -- who have been working without a contract since the end of June, despite ongoing negotiations...
William Bounds Jr. Champaign News-Gazette ...Bill continued his career with the Teamsters Union Local 26 in Danville as a business agent. He later was elected president of Local 26 and held that position for 30 years. Bill was also the president of the Teamsters Joint Council 65 located in Springfield for approximately 18 years, overseeing parts of four states and 30,000 members...
Trade
Flaws in granting Mr. Obama fast-track authority (opinion) Washington Post ...Many Republicans, especially in the House, where the real trade action is, question the constitutionality of fast-track trade authority and the wisdom of giving the president even freer rein...
Never Mind ISIS, It’s ISDS That’s The Real Threat The Nation ...mining corporations have taken El Salvador to court for trying to limit their right to open-pit mine the country and pollute its rivers and El Lilly has sued Canada, complaining that its patent laws have hindered profits it could make on an ADD drug...
State Battles
Right-To-Work Legislation Likely To Be On Agenda Albuquerque Journal ...debate is already building over the long-stymied idea of making New Mexico a “right-to-work” state. After seizing control of the state House of Representatives for the first time in 60 years, Republican lawmakers have signaled the legislation will be on the table for the coming session...
Texas GOP’s Voter ID Ploy “Worked”: Turnout Way Down, Provisional Ballots Way Up Salon.com ...Despite a larger population and a contested race for an open gubernatorial seat, turnout in the state of Texas was reportedly down this year... [suggesting] the Texas GOP’s strategy of suppressing the vote this year with polling place Photo ID restrictions seems to have worked...
Emergency Manager Recommended For Atlantic City Press Of Atlantic City ...An emergency manager to oversee the city’s troubled finances and the creation of a new public-private development corporation are part of a package of reforms Gov. Chris Christie will consider to revitalize the struggling resort town...
War on Workers
Walmart Workers Stage First-Ever Sit-In Strike ThinkProgress ...Workers at a Los Angeles Walmart began the first sit-down strike in the company’s history at around 2 p.m. on Thursday. The strike is to protest their low wages and a culture of retaliation at the company...
23 Arrested During Pico Rivera Walmart Protest Associated Press ...Authorities say 23 men and women were arrested Thursday after they blocked traffic at a Pico Rivera intersection during a protest that began with a sit-down strike inside the local Walmart...
U.S. Capitol workers, others strike for higher pay, union Reuters ...Hundreds of striking federal contract workers, including for the first time some from the U.S. Capitol, rallied on Thursday to urge President Barack Obama to boost pay and spur unionization...
Longtime Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship indicted Charleston Gazette ...Don Blankenship, the longtime chief executive officer of Massey Energy, was indicted Thursday on charges that he orchestrated the routine violation of key federal mine safety rules at the company’s Upper Big Branch Mine prior to an April 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners...
Halliburton worker killed in Colorado fracking accident Reuters ...An accident at a fracking site in Colorado killed one Halliburton Co worker and seriously injured two on Thursday as they tried to thaw a high-pressure water line that had frozen in record-breaking cold conditions, the company said...
Worker killed when pedestrian bridge collapses Associated Press ...Officials say one worker was killed and four others were hurt when a pedestrian bridge under construction collapsed at a community college in North Carolina...
Worker dies as wall collapses at Avon Lake construction site cleveland.com ...A construction worker died Thursday afternoon after a wall of a house collapsed on him...
Only 1 State's College Students Graduate With Less Than $20K Of Debt, Report Finds Huffington Post ...For the class of 2013, seven out of 10 college students nationwide carried some form of education debt when they graduated, ... The average graduate was $28,400 in the red, the report says. In six states, students graduated with an average of more than $30,000 in education debt, and only New Mexico grads came in below the $20K mark, with an average of $18,656 in school debt...
Miscellaneous
Keystone On The Move In Congress Politico ...In the House, Republicans quickly announced a vote as early as Thursday on a version of Landrieu’s Keystone bill with Cassidy’s name on it. When Landrieu did not object to a Republican request that Cassidy’s House bill be the measure ultimately sent to Obama — not her own — the Senate agreed to a Tuesday vote on the $8 billion pipeline...
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Today's Teamster News 11.11.14
Teamster News
Teamsters To Cytec: Stop This Dangerous Lockout teamster.org ...Since August 24, Cytec has locked out more than 200 skilled local workers without pay after the workers protested Cytec’s plans to freeze their pensions, significantly increase their health care costs, and cut retiree health care for new hires. Cytec also stopped paying workers’ family health care premiums...
Teamsters Local 700 President Becky Strzechowski Comments On Sun-Times Ad teamster.org ..."What is unfortunate is that the Sheriff's Department fails to acknowledge
problems like understaffing, lack of training and lack of safety equipment for officers in the jail
unless they read an ad in the paper.”...
Teamster Locals Gather For 2014 Dairy Conference & Food Processing Division Seminar teamster.org ...Dozens of principal officers and business agents from Teamster locals around the country are meeting this week in San Diego for the annual conference and seminar of the Teamsters Dairy Conference and Food Processing Division...
NLRB Judge Orders McKesson To Reinstate Fired Teamster Employees teamster.org ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters applauds last week’s decision issued by National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Administrative Law Judge Keltner W. Locke ordering McKesson to immediately reinstate fired workers and to stop soliciting employees to decertify their union...
First Student Bus Service Breakthrough May Be Imminent Savannah Morning News ...Wednesday, Mayo told the school board he will be negotiating with the Teamsters this week and believes he has a plan that will resolve the threat of a strike...
Newly Unionized Lackawanna County Public Defenders Looking For First Contract Scranton Times Tribune ...The attorneys first became Teamsters in spring 2013, when nine of 10 assistant public defenders voted in favor of organizing, said Craig Pawlik, secretary/treasurer for Teamsters Local 229...
Port Of L.A. Truck Drivers Say They Are Ready To Strike Again CalNews ...Port truck drivers urged the Harbor Commission Friday to take steps against companies they allege have been misclassifying them as independent contractors, stealing wages and firing dozens of workers in retaliation, while the Port of Los Angeles’s top official promised solutions are on the way. Truck drivers told Harbor Commissioners they were ready to begin striking again, saying they have been retaliated against by their employers even after they stopped picketing this summer at the request of Mayor Eric Garcetti...
CN, Teamsters Rail Conference Continue To Negotiate New Locomotive Engineer Contract Progressive Railroading ...Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) negotiators are trying to establish a new negotiating process with CN officials that would prevent a work stoppage or service interruption if the parties fail to reach a new agreement, union leaders announced last week...
Trade
European Commission Served With Lawsuit Over TTIP And Ceta Negotiations International Business Times ...A group of anti-free trade groups have filed a lawsuit against the European Commission over its failure to publically review its policy over two wide-reaching trade deals...
Najib: TPP negotiations to enter final phase early next year The Rakyat Post ...Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak says that all 12 countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) have agreed for the final round of negotiations to be held early next year...
State Battles
UAW says recognition near at Tennessee VW plant Associated Press ...The United Auto Workers union is hailing a new Volkswagen policy as a vehicle to soon gain representation of workers at its first foreign auto plant in the South. Not so fast, says a group of workers who orchestrated a narrow defeat of the UAW...
Study: 37 percent of Hoosier families struggle to meet basic needs NWI Times ...Nearly 4 in 10 Hoosiers, including some 70,000 Lake County households and 17,000 in Porter County, are struggling to afford their basic needs due in large part to inadequate job earnings...
AOL Becomes Latest Tech Giant to Flee From ALEC National Journal ...The departure makes AOL the latest in a remarkable wave of tech giants to recently separate from the conservative nonprofit...
War on Workers
Food costs eating into consumers' saving at the pump as holidays near Reuters ...higher food costs are eating into or eclipsing savings from gasoline, and a $2 billion jump in spending could be a much smaller bump after food inflation is taken into account....
Forget the 1% The Economist ...The 16,000 families making up the richest 0.01%, with an average net worth of $371m, now control 11.2% of total wealth—back to the 1916 share, which is the highest on record...
As Coal Jobs Vanish, Laid-Off Workers Struggle To Find Comparable Wages Associated Press ...Thousands have lost their jobs in the coal industry, and free classes funded by federal money help only a fraction of them...
Younger Generation Faces A Savings Deficit Wall Street Journal ...Adults under age 35—the so-called millennial generation—currently have a savings rate of negative 2%, meaning they are burning through their assets or going into debt....
Protesters In Teaneck Call For Safer Rail Cars To Transport Oil NorthJersey.com ...Three dozen protesters rallied Sunday on a bridge over CSX rail tracks that carry an estimated 30 million gallons of highly explosive North Dakota crude oil each week through Bergen County towns, demanding an end to the use of rusted-out tanker cars and calling for full disclosure of the cargo and its risks...
New Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts memorial honors worker killed during construction Fox4KC ...Friends, family, and other union workers attended the memorial on behalf of Ryan Goodman, who passed away during the construction of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts five years ago...
Ebola and Inequality (opinion) Project Syndicate ...We do not turn to the private sector to control the spread of a disease like Ebola...
Miscellaneous
Union Membership: Very Sexy The Atlantic ...Who knew that a union card was a turn-on? Well, that might not be literally the case, but a new study finds that for men, union membership can boost their chances of getting hitched...
Teamsters To Cytec: Stop This Dangerous Lockout teamster.org ...Since August 24, Cytec has locked out more than 200 skilled local workers without pay after the workers protested Cytec’s plans to freeze their pensions, significantly increase their health care costs, and cut retiree health care for new hires. Cytec also stopped paying workers’ family health care premiums...
Teamsters Local 700 President Becky Strzechowski Comments On Sun-Times Ad teamster.org ..."What is unfortunate is that the Sheriff's Department fails to acknowledge
problems like understaffing, lack of training and lack of safety equipment for officers in the jail
unless they read an ad in the paper.”...
Teamster Locals Gather For 2014 Dairy Conference & Food Processing Division Seminar teamster.org ...Dozens of principal officers and business agents from Teamster locals around the country are meeting this week in San Diego for the annual conference and seminar of the Teamsters Dairy Conference and Food Processing Division...
NLRB Judge Orders McKesson To Reinstate Fired Teamster Employees teamster.org ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters applauds last week’s decision issued by National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Administrative Law Judge Keltner W. Locke ordering McKesson to immediately reinstate fired workers and to stop soliciting employees to decertify their union...
First Student Bus Service Breakthrough May Be Imminent Savannah Morning News ...Wednesday, Mayo told the school board he will be negotiating with the Teamsters this week and believes he has a plan that will resolve the threat of a strike...
Newly Unionized Lackawanna County Public Defenders Looking For First Contract Scranton Times Tribune ...The attorneys first became Teamsters in spring 2013, when nine of 10 assistant public defenders voted in favor of organizing, said Craig Pawlik, secretary/treasurer for Teamsters Local 229...
Port Of L.A. Truck Drivers Say They Are Ready To Strike Again CalNews ...Port truck drivers urged the Harbor Commission Friday to take steps against companies they allege have been misclassifying them as independent contractors, stealing wages and firing dozens of workers in retaliation, while the Port of Los Angeles’s top official promised solutions are on the way. Truck drivers told Harbor Commissioners they were ready to begin striking again, saying they have been retaliated against by their employers even after they stopped picketing this summer at the request of Mayor Eric Garcetti...
CN, Teamsters Rail Conference Continue To Negotiate New Locomotive Engineer Contract Progressive Railroading ...Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) negotiators are trying to establish a new negotiating process with CN officials that would prevent a work stoppage or service interruption if the parties fail to reach a new agreement, union leaders announced last week...
Trade
European Commission Served With Lawsuit Over TTIP And Ceta Negotiations International Business Times ...A group of anti-free trade groups have filed a lawsuit against the European Commission over its failure to publically review its policy over two wide-reaching trade deals...
Najib: TPP negotiations to enter final phase early next year The Rakyat Post ...Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak says that all 12 countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) have agreed for the final round of negotiations to be held early next year...
State Battles
UAW says recognition near at Tennessee VW plant Associated Press ...The United Auto Workers union is hailing a new Volkswagen policy as a vehicle to soon gain representation of workers at its first foreign auto plant in the South. Not so fast, says a group of workers who orchestrated a narrow defeat of the UAW...
Study: 37 percent of Hoosier families struggle to meet basic needs NWI Times ...Nearly 4 in 10 Hoosiers, including some 70,000 Lake County households and 17,000 in Porter County, are struggling to afford their basic needs due in large part to inadequate job earnings...
AOL Becomes Latest Tech Giant to Flee From ALEC National Journal ...The departure makes AOL the latest in a remarkable wave of tech giants to recently separate from the conservative nonprofit...
War on Workers
Food costs eating into consumers' saving at the pump as holidays near Reuters ...higher food costs are eating into or eclipsing savings from gasoline, and a $2 billion jump in spending could be a much smaller bump after food inflation is taken into account....
Forget the 1% The Economist ...The 16,000 families making up the richest 0.01%, with an average net worth of $371m, now control 11.2% of total wealth—back to the 1916 share, which is the highest on record...
As Coal Jobs Vanish, Laid-Off Workers Struggle To Find Comparable Wages Associated Press ...Thousands have lost their jobs in the coal industry, and free classes funded by federal money help only a fraction of them...
Younger Generation Faces A Savings Deficit Wall Street Journal ...Adults under age 35—the so-called millennial generation—currently have a savings rate of negative 2%, meaning they are burning through their assets or going into debt....
Protesters In Teaneck Call For Safer Rail Cars To Transport Oil NorthJersey.com ...Three dozen protesters rallied Sunday on a bridge over CSX rail tracks that carry an estimated 30 million gallons of highly explosive North Dakota crude oil each week through Bergen County towns, demanding an end to the use of rusted-out tanker cars and calling for full disclosure of the cargo and its risks...
New Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts memorial honors worker killed during construction Fox4KC ...Friends, family, and other union workers attended the memorial on behalf of Ryan Goodman, who passed away during the construction of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts five years ago...
Ebola and Inequality (opinion) Project Syndicate ...We do not turn to the private sector to control the spread of a disease like Ebola...
Miscellaneous
Union Membership: Very Sexy The Atlantic ...Who knew that a union card was a turn-on? Well, that might not be literally the case, but a new study finds that for men, union membership can boost their chances of getting hitched...
Friday, October 3, 2014
Today's Teamster News 10.03.14
Teamster News
Allied Waste Workers Go Back To Work Daily Journal ...Terry Hancock, president of Teamsters Local 731, the union representing the 24 waste haulers and two mechanics that serve many communities within parts of Kankakee, Iroquois and Will counties, said a negotiating session has been set for Friday. Workers will continue to work under the four-year contract, which expired Jan. 31...
First Student School Bus Workers Choose Teamsters teamster.org ...First Student school bus drivers and monitors in Adrian, Mich., have voted to join Teamsters Local 1038 in Detroit. There are 29 drivers and monitors in the bargaining unit. “We want to be treated equally, and we would like to have some sick days. When we get sick, we don’t have any,” said Cindy Justice, an aide on a bus for children with special needs...
School safety agent struck by bosses: Teamsters New York Post ...A school safety agent was struck in the chest and her hand was crushed in a door while she was being grilled by her bosses, according to a labor grievance...
What It’s Like To Win A 19-Year Union Organizing Campaign In The South Washington Post ...A couple weeks ago, a group of 14,500 U.S. Airways and American Airlines customer service representatives, people who take reservations over the phone and work check-in counters and boarding gates voted to unionize with the Teamsters and the Communication Workers of America. The election was remarkable for a couple reasons: First, because of the margin of victory, with 86 percent voting yes on 77 percent turnout. And second, because it took place in the anti-union South, with most of the agents in Florida, Texas, North Carolina and Arizona...
Trade
Interview: TPP talks unlikely to conclude in 2014, says expert Xinhua ...The trade talks of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement are unlikely to conclude this year as the United States and Japan have differences on the market access of agricultural products, a U.S. expert said Thursday...
US NGOs Warn TTIP Could Weaken Chemical Oversight Chemical Watch ...In the US, critics of the negotiations say they are wary of how the TTIP agreement could hold back work to tighten regulation at the state level; which they say is important in the face of continuing weak federal legislation. In particular, they point to investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) measures they say would allow corporations to challenge, and potentially overturn, tighter state regulations...
State Battles
Corporate executives are purchasing our states — one governorship at a time Salon ...The Republican Governor’s Association has devised a layaway purchase plan allowing brand-name corporations to make secret donations of $100,000 or more a year to the RGA in support of the corporate-friendly agenda of various GOP governors. And a lot of execs have been buying...
Supreme Court to weigh Arizona redistricting challenge Reuters ...The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a challenge by Arizona's legislature to a voter-approved plan that stripped state lawmakers of their role in drawing congressional districts in an bid to remove partisan politics from the process...
One in five Wisconsin voters don't know they'll need photo ID to vote in November The Cap Times ...With the election about a month away, roughly one-fifth of Wisconsin voters are unaware that they will be required to show a photo ID at the polls on Nov. 4...
ACLU Asks Supreme Court To Block Wisconsin Voter ID Law Los Angeles Times ...Civil rights lawyers filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking to block Wisconsin from enforcing a strict voter ID law they say could prevent as many as 300,000 of the state’s registered voters from casting a ballot next month...
6 Ohio lawmakers defend ALEC in letter to Google cleveland.com ...Six Ohio lawmakers signed onto a letter admonishing Google for cutting financial support of conservative policy group ALEC and for accusing the organization of denying climate change...
Businessman Nik Patel Held Rick Scott Fundraiser At Home Orlando Sentinel ...Orlando hotelier Nik Patel, who was arrested Wednesday on fraud allegations, held a fundraiser for Gov. Rick Scott at his home in Windermere in April...
War On Workers
US Issues Final Minimum Wage Rule For Contractors ABC News ...Labor Secretary Thomas Perez issued a final rule on Wednesday raising the minimum wage for employees of federal contractors to $10.10 an hour. The action puts in force a step announced by President Barack Obama in February. The Labor Department said nearly 200,000 American workers will benefit from the new minimum, which takes effect Jan 1...
US: Tobacco Group Adopts Child Labor Protections Human Rights Watch ...The Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina, which represents more than 2,300 tobacco farmers in North Carolina and neighboring states, issued a policy on October 1, 2014 stating that it “does not condone the use of child labor.” The policy says that children under 16 should not be hired to work on tobacco farms, even with parental permission...
Job Woes Linger in 29 States as U.S. Recovers Unevenly Economy in Crisis ...Nevada, Arizona and Florida are among those furthest from their peak employment during the December 2007-June 2009 downturn. Those states, along with five others – Alabama, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and Ohio — remain more than 50,000 positions short of that level...
Why is our Infant Mortality so Bad? Economist's View ...That difference was almost entirely due to excess inequality in the US...
Hackers’ Attack on JPMorgan Chase Affects Millions New York Times ...A cyberattack this summer on JPMorgan Chase compromised the accounts of 76 million households and seven million small businesses, a tally that dwarfs previous estimates by the bank and puts the intrusion among the largest ever...
The Middle Class Is Poorer Today Than It Was In 1989 Washington Post ...the top 1 percent grabbed 95 percent of all the gains during the recovery's first three years. And that's not even the most depressing part. Even adjusted for household size, real median incomes haven't increased at all since 1999. That's right: the middle class hasn't gotten a raise in 15 years...
Rising Tides Lift All Yachts – Why the 1% Grabs all the Gains From Growth naked capitalism ...While our economy is often referred to as “market-driven”, it is actually driven by power. P. O. W. E. R...
Pro-Union Burger King Worker Disciplined For Poor Pickle Placement Huffington Post ...EYM King, which runs 22 Burger King restaurants in and around Detroit, broke labor law by threatening a worker for discussing protests while on the job; giving a disciplinary warning to a union sympathizer; and enforcing a "no solicitation" rule on its own employees. Most absurdly, the company was found to have illegally sent a pro-union worker home one day for allegedly failing to "put pickles on her sandwiches in perfect squares as she was supposed to do"...
Federal Appeals Court Rules Evidence from Warrantless GPS Tracking Does Not Have to Be Suppressed firedoglake ...In 2010, FBI agents attached a GPS tracking device to the car of Harry Katzin in order to track his movements because they suspected he was involved in the robberies of multiple Rite-Aid pharmacies. The agents did not seek a warrant from a judge...
Worker killed in south Ga. industrial accident WRCBtv.com ...a front-end loader crushed 61-year-old Isabel Gomez while he was working on a hydraulic system at an agricultural business Thursday morning...
Charter schools, civil rights and the theft of education funds The Hill ...the lax system of federal oversight of the rapidly expanding charter industry has led to the theft of more than $100 million due to fraud, mismanagement and outright theft...
Allied Waste Workers Go Back To Work Daily Journal ...Terry Hancock, president of Teamsters Local 731, the union representing the 24 waste haulers and two mechanics that serve many communities within parts of Kankakee, Iroquois and Will counties, said a negotiating session has been set for Friday. Workers will continue to work under the four-year contract, which expired Jan. 31...
First Student School Bus Workers Choose Teamsters teamster.org ...First Student school bus drivers and monitors in Adrian, Mich., have voted to join Teamsters Local 1038 in Detroit. There are 29 drivers and monitors in the bargaining unit. “We want to be treated equally, and we would like to have some sick days. When we get sick, we don’t have any,” said Cindy Justice, an aide on a bus for children with special needs...
School safety agent struck by bosses: Teamsters New York Post ...A school safety agent was struck in the chest and her hand was crushed in a door while she was being grilled by her bosses, according to a labor grievance...
What It’s Like To Win A 19-Year Union Organizing Campaign In The South Washington Post ...A couple weeks ago, a group of 14,500 U.S. Airways and American Airlines customer service representatives, people who take reservations over the phone and work check-in counters and boarding gates voted to unionize with the Teamsters and the Communication Workers of America. The election was remarkable for a couple reasons: First, because of the margin of victory, with 86 percent voting yes on 77 percent turnout. And second, because it took place in the anti-union South, with most of the agents in Florida, Texas, North Carolina and Arizona...
Trade
Interview: TPP talks unlikely to conclude in 2014, says expert Xinhua ...The trade talks of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement are unlikely to conclude this year as the United States and Japan have differences on the market access of agricultural products, a U.S. expert said Thursday...
US NGOs Warn TTIP Could Weaken Chemical Oversight Chemical Watch ...In the US, critics of the negotiations say they are wary of how the TTIP agreement could hold back work to tighten regulation at the state level; which they say is important in the face of continuing weak federal legislation. In particular, they point to investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) measures they say would allow corporations to challenge, and potentially overturn, tighter state regulations...
State Battles
Corporate executives are purchasing our states — one governorship at a time Salon ...The Republican Governor’s Association has devised a layaway purchase plan allowing brand-name corporations to make secret donations of $100,000 or more a year to the RGA in support of the corporate-friendly agenda of various GOP governors. And a lot of execs have been buying...
Supreme Court to weigh Arizona redistricting challenge Reuters ...The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a challenge by Arizona's legislature to a voter-approved plan that stripped state lawmakers of their role in drawing congressional districts in an bid to remove partisan politics from the process...
One in five Wisconsin voters don't know they'll need photo ID to vote in November The Cap Times ...With the election about a month away, roughly one-fifth of Wisconsin voters are unaware that they will be required to show a photo ID at the polls on Nov. 4...
ACLU Asks Supreme Court To Block Wisconsin Voter ID Law Los Angeles Times ...Civil rights lawyers filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking to block Wisconsin from enforcing a strict voter ID law they say could prevent as many as 300,000 of the state’s registered voters from casting a ballot next month...
6 Ohio lawmakers defend ALEC in letter to Google cleveland.com ...Six Ohio lawmakers signed onto a letter admonishing Google for cutting financial support of conservative policy group ALEC and for accusing the organization of denying climate change...
Businessman Nik Patel Held Rick Scott Fundraiser At Home Orlando Sentinel ...Orlando hotelier Nik Patel, who was arrested Wednesday on fraud allegations, held a fundraiser for Gov. Rick Scott at his home in Windermere in April...
War On Workers
US Issues Final Minimum Wage Rule For Contractors ABC News ...Labor Secretary Thomas Perez issued a final rule on Wednesday raising the minimum wage for employees of federal contractors to $10.10 an hour. The action puts in force a step announced by President Barack Obama in February. The Labor Department said nearly 200,000 American workers will benefit from the new minimum, which takes effect Jan 1...
US: Tobacco Group Adopts Child Labor Protections Human Rights Watch ...The Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina, which represents more than 2,300 tobacco farmers in North Carolina and neighboring states, issued a policy on October 1, 2014 stating that it “does not condone the use of child labor.” The policy says that children under 16 should not be hired to work on tobacco farms, even with parental permission...
Job Woes Linger in 29 States as U.S. Recovers Unevenly Economy in Crisis ...Nevada, Arizona and Florida are among those furthest from their peak employment during the December 2007-June 2009 downturn. Those states, along with five others – Alabama, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and Ohio — remain more than 50,000 positions short of that level...
Why is our Infant Mortality so Bad? Economist's View ...That difference was almost entirely due to excess inequality in the US...
Hackers’ Attack on JPMorgan Chase Affects Millions New York Times ...A cyberattack this summer on JPMorgan Chase compromised the accounts of 76 million households and seven million small businesses, a tally that dwarfs previous estimates by the bank and puts the intrusion among the largest ever...
The Middle Class Is Poorer Today Than It Was In 1989 Washington Post ...the top 1 percent grabbed 95 percent of all the gains during the recovery's first three years. And that's not even the most depressing part. Even adjusted for household size, real median incomes haven't increased at all since 1999. That's right: the middle class hasn't gotten a raise in 15 years...
Rising Tides Lift All Yachts – Why the 1% Grabs all the Gains From Growth naked capitalism ...While our economy is often referred to as “market-driven”, it is actually driven by power. P. O. W. E. R...
Pro-Union Burger King Worker Disciplined For Poor Pickle Placement Huffington Post ...EYM King, which runs 22 Burger King restaurants in and around Detroit, broke labor law by threatening a worker for discussing protests while on the job; giving a disciplinary warning to a union sympathizer; and enforcing a "no solicitation" rule on its own employees. Most absurdly, the company was found to have illegally sent a pro-union worker home one day for allegedly failing to "put pickles on her sandwiches in perfect squares as she was supposed to do"...
Federal Appeals Court Rules Evidence from Warrantless GPS Tracking Does Not Have to Be Suppressed firedoglake ...In 2010, FBI agents attached a GPS tracking device to the car of Harry Katzin in order to track his movements because they suspected he was involved in the robberies of multiple Rite-Aid pharmacies. The agents did not seek a warrant from a judge...
Worker killed in south Ga. industrial accident WRCBtv.com ...a front-end loader crushed 61-year-old Isabel Gomez while he was working on a hydraulic system at an agricultural business Thursday morning...
Charter schools, civil rights and the theft of education funds The Hill ...the lax system of federal oversight of the rapidly expanding charter industry has led to the theft of more than $100 million due to fraud, mismanagement and outright theft...
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