TEAMSTERS
San Bernardino County Public Employees Ratify Teamster Contract Teamster.org ...San Bernardino County employees, who are members of Teamsters Local 1932, ratified their first collective bargaining agreement yesterday. The agreement, ratified by over 80 percent of the votes cast, supported improvements in wages and benefits for the 11,000 workers who provide critical services to the residents of California’s largest county. “This is another big win for working families in Southern California,” said Randy Cammack, President of Teamsters Joint Council 42...
American Airlines Workers with Teamsters, CWA Ratify Groundbreaking Agreement Teamster.org ...Passenger service workers with American Airlines, who are members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) and Communications Workers of America (CWA) Association, have voted to ratify a groundbreaking five-year agreement.The contract covering nearly 15,000 workers provides for initial average wage increases of 30 percent and improved benefits, among a number of other industry-leading gains...
American Air reservations agents approve contract with pay raises USA Today ...American Airlines reservations agents have voted to ratify a 5-year contract that gives pay raises to about 14,500 airline employees. The Communications Workers of America and the Teamsters said Monday that about 9,500 workers voted, with 73% voting to ratify the contract. According to the unions, workers will get immediate raises averaging 30%, putting them above pay levels for comparable workers at Delta Air Lines...
First Transit Agrees to Meet Again After Paratransit Drivers Unanimously Reject Contract Offer Local 727 ...First Transit management has agreed to meet again with the Teamsters Local 727 Bargaining Committee after drivers at the DuPage paratransit facility unanimously rejected the company’s unreasonable last, best and final contract offer on Nov. 24. The offer included meager wages and benefits far below the industry standards. “Over and over, we told the company that this offer was unacceptable and that they needed to do better, but they refused to listen,” said John Coli Jr., President of Local 727...
Coca-Cola Teamsters Demand Respect as Final Day of New Contract Negotiations Begins Local 727 ...The Teamsters Local 727 Bargaining Committee and Coca-Cola Refreshments met for more than 14 hours on Nov. 30 to try to come to terms on a new contract. After bargaining late into the night and early morning hours, both sides have returned to the table on Tuesday, Dec. 1 for what is expected to be another marathon session of negotiations. Coca-Cola Teamsters overwhelmingly voted on Sunday to authorize an unfair labor practice strike...
Teamsters oppose longer tractor-trailers on roadways Tire Business ...The U.S. Senate on Nov. 18 removed language from a spending bill that would force states to allow an increase in the length of tractor trailers. Previously, the Senate had instructed the chamber’s negotiators on the long-term highway bill to oppose any federal mandate that would require states to accept twin 33-foot trailers on their roadways, according to the Teamsters, which noted that the trailers are currently outlawed in 39 states — with UPS and Fed Ex among companies pushing the policy change...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
In South Korea, a Dictator’s Daughter Cracks Down on Labor The Nation ...Following in the footsteps of her dictator father, South Korea’s President, Park Geun-hye, is cracking down on labor and citizens groups opposed to the increasingly authoritarian policies of her ruling “New Frontier” party known as Saenuri. The situation could reach a critical point this weekend, when tens of thousands of workers organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) join forces with farmers, students, and other civic organizations...
At Paris climate summit, environmentalists lobby against Trans-Pacific trade deal Washington Post ...Environmental activists are traveling to Paris this week, using the global climate conference as a platform to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade deal they say undermines the summit’s goals. Representatives and lobbyists for the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade plan to meet with delegates and host strategy sessions and other public events at the Paris conference to voice their opposition to the trade deal...
On World AIDS Day, Here Are 12 Reasons TPP Is Bad for People with AIDS AFLCIO ...December 1 is World AIDS Day, a day described as "an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died." The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a complex trade deal that we're still trying to figure out all the ramifications of. Here are 12 ways TPP could be bad for people with AIDS...
The TPP State of Play: How We Defeat the Largest Trade Deal in History EFF ...The official release of the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on November 5 not only confirmed our fears about how it would threaten our rights online and over our digital devices, but also kicked off a 90-day countdown to President Obama signing the deal. A few days later, the White House formally requested the International Trade Commission (ITC) to begin its study of the impacts of the TPP on the U.S. economy...
Vancouver city council considering officially opposing TPP deal Globe and Mail ...Vancouver city councilors, concerned about whether the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact will put the city at risk from lawsuits by global corporations, say they’ll decide next month whether to become the first Canadian city to officially oppose the deal. Councillors asked city staff on Tuesday to examine concerns that the TPP’s investor-state dispute settlement provision – also known as ISDS – will compromise the city’s authority...
Greece Media Workers Go on Anti-Austerity Strike – Trade Unions Sputnik News ...Greek journalists protest on Wednesday against austerity measures adopted by Athens, several trade unions announced in a joint statement. "Media workers, together with all the working people of the country, call for retaining social security (basic and supplementary pensions), social benefits, health care," the unions stated...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
New public-sector ‘right-to-work’ measure filed in Oregon NW Labor Press ...On Nov. 20, anti-union attorney Jill Gibson turned in the first batch of 1,432 signatures on a new Oregon ballot measure, aimed at November 2016, that would eliminate any requirement for public employees to pay union dues or “fair share” fees to cover the costs of union representation. Gibson submitted four other versions of the same measure in March, but withdrew them in April and October after she determined that the measures would do poorly among voters...
State Gives Back Government Money To Study Paid Leave, Says Leave Isn’t About Caregiving Think Progress ...In September, the federal Department of Labor announced that it had awarded $1.55 million in grant money to help states and cities research the need and design for potential paid family leave programs. Tennessee was one of the five lucky states to win money. But just two months later, the commission abruptly announced it was giving back the money it had itself applied for...
ALEC Invites Politicians to "Plan Your 2016 Agenda" at ALEC Confab in Scottsdale Truthout ...ALEC's Commerce, Insurance, and Economic Development Task Force has been the source of a slew of anti-worker bills including attacks on organized labor, attacks on higher wages, and efforts to limit benefits for workers. In Arizona, legislators will get an update on the success of these efforts to crush the only representative of working families in the workplace entitled: "From Right-to-Work to Paycheck Protection, An Update on State Labor Issues"...
Fight against Voter ID law continues Daily Tarheel ...To chants of “Sí, se puede,” people of different ages, races and genders held posters with phrases like “Vote Your Dreams, Not Your Fears” at an N.C. NAACP press conference Tuesday. The news conference marked exactly 60 years since Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus. The conference announced the new “It’s Our Time, It’s Our Vote” campaign, with one of its goals to push voter registration for 80 days until registration cutoff for the spring primary elections...
Judge dismisses attempt to raise state minimum wage Daily Cardinal ...A Dane County judge dismissed Tuesday a 2014 lawsuit against Gov. Scott Walker’s administration that attempted to raise the state’s minimum wage. The lawsuit, brought by liberal labor group Wisconsin Jobs Now, alleged the state was “failing to secure reasonable comfort, reasonable physical well-being, decency, and moral well being,” according to the original petition...
Scott Walker Boots 15,000 People Off Food Stamps In Three Months Think Progress ...In just three months, 15,000 people in Wisconsin have already lost food stamps thanks to Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) decision to enforce full work requirements for the program in Milwaukee despite economic conditions dire enough to trigger a federal reprieve. Walker’s administration made the policy change in April. The 15,000 bumped from the rolls from May to July is only half the number the state predicts will ultimately lose food stamps...
Ohio House Republicans to proceed carefully on 'right-to-work' bill Cleveland ...Ohio House Republicans say they expect a lengthy discussion on a so-called "right-to-work" bill, though they hesitate to say whether they will ultimately pass it. A number of Republican leaders say they personally support House Bill 377, which would prohibit private-sector labor union membership as a condition of employment...
Submitting to Wall Street Vultures, Puerto Rico Narrowly Avoids Massive Default Common Dreams ...Debt-choked Puerto Rico on Tuesday "narrowly avoided" economic default by scrounging together an 11th-hour payment toward its $354 million debt to Wall Street vulture funds, an unexpected move likely resulting from the island's submission to austerity cuts and other drastic government measures. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), speaking after a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday morning with Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla, said the commonwealth had "narrowly avoided a complete default"...
California Cities Build Momentum on Minimum Wage Boosts KQED ...In the last three years, 15 of the 30 cities and counties nationwide that have voted to increase the minimum wage have been in California, according to the UC Berkeley Labor Center. “California is a state that has made it very clear to cities and counties that they have the authority to pass a higher minimum wage,” said Laura Huizar, staff attorney for the National Employment Law Project...
Walmart Threatens City Council For Considering Minimum Wage Increase Think Progress ...A California city is experiencing a tactic Walmart has become known for: threats over a minimum wage hike. The city of Desert Hot Springs, California is considering a minimum wage increase to boost residents’ incomes and therefore help attract more retailers. But the proposal has drawn the protests of the country’s largest retailer, Walmart...
U.S. LABOR
UAW circulates 'scab' list in Kohler strike Sheboygan Press ...United Auto Workers Local 833 leaders have begun circulating a list of union members who have crossed picket lines in the now 2-week-old Kohler Co. strike, though they insist the individuals will be left alone. The list, which was obtained by the Sheboygan Press and verified by UAW Local 833 leaders, includes 13 circled names with the heading, “No longer our union brothers or sisters.” It goes on to state, “A scab is a scab”...
NLRB could impound VW ballots after Chattanooga union vote Times Free Press ...The National Labor Relations Board could impound ballots cast Thursday and Friday after the union election at Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant pending a review of an appeal by the automaker. Jessica Kahanek, an NLRB spokeswoman, said Tuesday she couldn't say for sure that will be the case after the VW election in which 164 maintenance workers will vote on whether they want the United Auto Workers to represent them for collective bargaining purposes...
Cool Job: For IBEW official, Circle of Lights is a labor of love IndyStar ...Around Thanksgiving, many Central Indiana families look forward to another beloved local holiday tradition when the Circle of Lights, presented by the Contractors of Quality Connection and Electrical Workers of IBEW No. 481, illuminates Monument Circle. Steve Menser, the business manager/financial secretary of the union local, has assisted with installing the Circle of Lights decorations for the past 26 years...
Dead, White, and Blue: The Great Die-Off of America's Blue Collar Whites Alternet ...While the lifespan of affluent whites continues to lengthen, the lifespan of poor whites has been shrinking. As a result, in just the last four years, the gap between poor white men and wealthier ones has widened by up to four years. The New York Times summed up the Deaton and Case study with this headline: “Income Gap, Meet the Longevity Gap”...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Congress reaches deal on 5-year highway bill Politico ...Lawmakers are on track to clear a massive transportation infrastructure bill as soon as this week, a legislative coup a decade in the making that will give new House Speaker Paul Ryan something to crow about. Negotiators from both chambers of Congress tasked with hashing out a final deal are set to announce an agreement Tuesday afternoon after a majority of conferees signed off on the package...
Supreme Court timetable gives President Obama an opening on immigration USA Today ...The Supreme Court moved President Obama a step closer Tuesday to getting a final verdict before leaving office on his plan to protect more than 4 million undocumented immigrants from threatened deportation. The justices turned down Texas' request for an additional month to respond to the Justice Department's request for a high court hearing, leaving open the chance for a spring showdown over the controversial executive action...
The Deadliest County for Police Killings in America The Atlantic ...While attempting to track every police killing in the United States during 2015, journalists at The Guardian discovered that cops in Kern County aren’t just the deadliest force in the state relative to the population, they are the deadliest in the nation. “In all, 13 people have been killed so far this year by law enforcement officers in Kern County, which has a population of just under 875,000”...
Police Officer Who Killed Tamir Rice Says He Shouted Warnings Before Shooting Slate ...The police officer who shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland just over a year ago said he “continuously” shouted “show me your hands” in the moments before he decided to fire at Rice. Security footage of the park where Rice was shot on Nov. 22, 2014, showed that Officer Timothy Loehmann opened fire about 1.7 seconds after jumping out of the police cruise...
Showing posts with label First Transit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label First Transit. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Today's Teamster News 05.21.15
Teamsters
First Transit Drivers at Disney Choose Teamsters Union Teamster.org ...First Transit drivers who transport tourists and employees to and from Disneyland amusement parks in Anaheim, Calif., have voted to join Teamsters Local 952 in Orange, Calif., seeking respect, fair wages and better working conditions at the company. There are 127 workers in the bargaining unit...
Teamsters Local 986 Launches Strike at SLS Hotel and Casino Teamster.org ...Today, Teamsters Local 986 launched an unfair labor practice strike against the SLS Hotel and Casino for multiple violations aimed at preventing its valet parking attendants from exercising their federally protected right to form a union. Management has committed several unfair labor practices, including interrogation of workers who support the union, threatening to outsource their jobs, threatening to reduce their pay and benefits and other violations...
LA County Board of Supervisors Approves Motion Offering Assistance to Port Truck Drivers Filing Claims for Wage Theft Long Beach Post ...The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas on Tuesday to create a plan to implement five areas of action from the County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs Department (DCBA) that help employees, including Long Beach port truck drivers, filing claims for wage theft...
Global Labor & Trade
Human Trafficking Still Plagues Obama's Trade Ambitions Huff Post ...Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) on Tuesday threatened to do "everything possible to have a floor fight" if President Barack Obama undercuts pending trade legislation to combat human trafficking. "Human trafficking -- modern-day slavery -- is one of the great moral challenges of our time," Menendez said during a conference call with reporters...
John Kerry visits Boeing, defends controversial trade deal Seattle Times ...With Boeing’s 737 plant in Renton as a backdrop, Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday defended a Pacific Rim trade deal negotiated by the Obama administration against criticism from unions and prominent congressional Democrats. Jeff Johnson, president of the Washington State Labor Council, said Kerry and other TPP backers are misleading the public when they suggest the choice is between a secretly negotiated trade pact and no trade at all...
McConnell blames Dems for bottleneck on trade The Hill ...Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday placed the blame squarely on Democrats for the stalemate over amendments to a key trade bill. The Kentucky Republican said while he is continuing to try to allow for additional amendments to the fast-track legislation, Democrats are standing in the way...
Hundreds of Tech Companies to Congress: TPP and Fast Track Harms Digital Innovation and Users’ Rights EFF.org ...In a joint letter to Congress released today, more than 250 technology companies and user rights organizations say that the extreme level of secrecy surrounding trade negotiations have led to provisions in agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that threaten digital innovation, free speech, and access to knowledge online, and the letter calls on Congress to come out against the Fast Track...
The Trans Pacific Partnership is bad for seniors (opinion) AZ Central ...Pending House legislation would take $700 million from Medicare to pay for trade adjustment assistance, so it is not hard to connect the dots: Medicare would be cut in order to pay for the adverse conditions that workers face as a result of trade promotion authority. Medicare should not be used as a piggy bank every time the government needs funding for other purposes...
A trade deal at what cost? (opinion) Washington Post ...Perhaps those who’ve experienced such free-trade consequences as factory closings and lower-paying jobs are thinking about two entirely different sides — capital and labor. Trade promoters cite David Ricardo’s 200-year-old assessments of trade’s benefits to nations, but skeptics can mine a rich vein of mainstream economics that demonstrates how trade deals can, and frequently do, benefit major investors at workers’ expense...
Desperately seeking a new model for trade (opinion) Aljazeera America ...Will our trade policy help us fulfill our collective obligation to our kids? Will they have clean air to breathe and water to drink? Will they have access to quality education and health care? Will we keep our promise to them that if they work hard and play by the rules, they can build decent lives for themselves? The Hatch-Wyden-Ryan bill would set us on the wrong path on all those fronts and must be opposed. We need a new model for trade that doesn’t prioritize corporate profits over the health of our communities, the economic security of everyday Americans and the future of our kids...
After Striking and Occupying Their Factory, Chinese Bike Light Workers Face Firings and Arrests In These Times ...Workers who make bike lights at a factory in Shenzhen, China, have been on strike since April 30, demanding that the company pay up what it legally owes them. The strikers stayed overnight in the factory, stopping production and delivery for two weeks, until police came to evict them and arrest worker leaders on May 13...
State & Living Wage Battles
Ahead of Big Budget, “Right-to-Work” Votes, IL Gov Rauner Is Literally Paying Politicians Off We Party Patriots ...Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is once again making waves before making a difference, doling out $400,000 from his campaign fund to the state’s Republican lawmakers in advance of several key votes. Major budget and “turnaround agenda” decision are looming for the legislature. The unorthodox move shows that the multi-millionaire’s promise to “shake up Springfield” more closely resembles an attempt to shake down Illinois...
Arizona Will Boot Thousands From Welfare To Address $1 Billion Budget Hole Think Progress ...Arizona’s legislature has decided to try to plug a $1 billion budget deficit in part by kicking people off of welfare after just 12 months, the strictest time limit in the country. The change will mean that at least 1,600 families, including more than 2,700 children, will lose the benefit on July 1, 2016 and save the state at least $4 million...
Fitzgerald says prevailing wage repeal is unlikely but reform could come in budget Star Tribune ...Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Wednesday that he doesn't have the votes to repeal the state's prevailing wage law, but he hopes to reform the statutes through the state budget. The Juneau Republican told WTMJ-Radio that his caucus is "fractured" on the issue, with some saying a full repeal would disrupt the construction industry...
Nevada Republicans Say They Want More Latinos Voting. They’re Also Pushing Restrictive Voter ID. Think Progress ...Nevada will play a crucial role in the presidential primary next year, as the fourth state to nominate a candidate and the first heavily Latino state to vote. In an effort to win support of the growing minority, Republican lawmakers in the state are trying something new — expanding voting rights for minorities instead of restricting them. At the same time that they’re looking at making the election more inclusive, the GOP-controlled legislature is also trying to require voters to show identification at the polls...
Walmart’s Absurd Anti-Union Training Video Just Got Leaked In These Times ...On April 13, Walmart suddenly shut down five stores—two in Texas, one in California, one in Florida and one in Oklahoma—leaving 2,200 workers shocked and unemployed. According to Los Angeles Times reporter Michael Hiltzik, employees were told that the stores have “ongoing plumbing issues that require extensive repairs.” A recently leaked Walmart training video lends credence to the suspicion that plumbing was not the real issue...
McDonald's can't ignore worker protests before shareholder meeting Daily Kos ...McDonald's workers are once again rallying ahead of the company's shareholder meeting, boosting their call for $15 an hour pay and the right to join a union. There was no ignoring the protest Wednesday:
"McDonald's shut down a restaurant near its headquarters Wednesday after the area was swamped by hundreds of protesters"...
McDonald's workers descend on headquarters to protest 'poverty wages' The Guardian ...Thousands of McDonald’s employees and union activists descended on the company’s headquarters near Chicago on Thursday to hold the biggest ever protest against “poverty wages” paid to most of its 400,000 employees, as the company’s board gathered for its annual shareholder meeting. About 5,000 McDonald’s employees from across the US chanted: “We work, we sweat, put $15 in our cheque” as they marched towards the burger giant’s headquarters...
U.S. Labor
UAW is best route to works council, union leader says Nooga.com ...The United Auto Workers released documents they say shows consensus among Volkswagen leaders that the best route to establishing a works council in Chattanooga is through their union. "It's well-established by Volkswagen's leadership at the Chattanooga plant and in Germany that a works council can only be realized in partnership with a union"...
Members of GTFF, UA, SEIU and SLAP hold unity rally outside Johnson Hall Daily Emerald ...Around 59 students, classified staff and faculty gathered in front of Johnson Hall from the Service Employees International Union, Graduate Teaching Fellowship Federation, United Academics and Student Action Labor Project participated in a rally to celebrate a year’s work of labor between the groups, and to look forward to the bargaining process to continue over the summer concerning raising the contracts of the SEIU and the UA...
Century Aluminum hiring temporary replacement workers for smelter: USW Platts.com ...Century Aluminum has bused in dozens of temporary replacement workers to its 244,000 mt/year Hawesville smelter in western Kentucky as a week-old lockout continued Wednesday with no end in sight, a spokesman for Local 9423 of the United Steelworkers union said...
Miscellaneous
World’s Largest Banks Admit to Massive Global Financial Crimes, But Escape Jail (Again) Democracy Now ...Five of the world’s top banks will pay over $5 billion in fines after pleading guilty to rigging the price of foreign currencies and interest rates. Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland pleaded guilty to conspiring to manipulate the price of U.S. dollars and euros exchanged in the $5 trillion FX spot market. UBS pleaded guilty for its role in manipulating the Libor benchmark interest rate. No individual bank employees were hit with criminal charges as part of the settlements...
How Defunding Derails Our Infrastructure The Nation ...It’s not just safety that’s being underfunded, and not just on rail lines. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the nation’s infrastructure a grade of D+ in 2013 and outlined the need for massive investment to bring things up to speed. Congress must recognize what New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, and Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, a Republican, recently noted: While US spending on infrastructure has collapsed to 1.7 percent of GDP, “the rest of the world races ahead"...
Robert Reich: It’s time to bust up the big banks Salon ..Antitrust law should be used the way it was against the big oil trusts and the telephone monopoly. The idea was to prevent too much economic and political power from concentrating in too few hands. And that’s precisely the problem with Wall Street. The only sure way to stop excessive risk-taking on Wall Street so you don’t risk losing your job or your savings or your home, is to put an end to the excessive economic and political power of Wall Street.
First Transit Drivers at Disney Choose Teamsters Union Teamster.org ...First Transit drivers who transport tourists and employees to and from Disneyland amusement parks in Anaheim, Calif., have voted to join Teamsters Local 952 in Orange, Calif., seeking respect, fair wages and better working conditions at the company. There are 127 workers in the bargaining unit...
Teamsters Local 986 Launches Strike at SLS Hotel and Casino Teamster.org ...Today, Teamsters Local 986 launched an unfair labor practice strike against the SLS Hotel and Casino for multiple violations aimed at preventing its valet parking attendants from exercising their federally protected right to form a union. Management has committed several unfair labor practices, including interrogation of workers who support the union, threatening to outsource their jobs, threatening to reduce their pay and benefits and other violations...
LA County Board of Supervisors Approves Motion Offering Assistance to Port Truck Drivers Filing Claims for Wage Theft Long Beach Post ...The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas on Tuesday to create a plan to implement five areas of action from the County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs Department (DCBA) that help employees, including Long Beach port truck drivers, filing claims for wage theft...
Global Labor & Trade
Human Trafficking Still Plagues Obama's Trade Ambitions Huff Post ...Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) on Tuesday threatened to do "everything possible to have a floor fight" if President Barack Obama undercuts pending trade legislation to combat human trafficking. "Human trafficking -- modern-day slavery -- is one of the great moral challenges of our time," Menendez said during a conference call with reporters...
John Kerry visits Boeing, defends controversial trade deal Seattle Times ...With Boeing’s 737 plant in Renton as a backdrop, Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday defended a Pacific Rim trade deal negotiated by the Obama administration against criticism from unions and prominent congressional Democrats. Jeff Johnson, president of the Washington State Labor Council, said Kerry and other TPP backers are misleading the public when they suggest the choice is between a secretly negotiated trade pact and no trade at all...
McConnell blames Dems for bottleneck on trade The Hill ...Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday placed the blame squarely on Democrats for the stalemate over amendments to a key trade bill. The Kentucky Republican said while he is continuing to try to allow for additional amendments to the fast-track legislation, Democrats are standing in the way...
Hundreds of Tech Companies to Congress: TPP and Fast Track Harms Digital Innovation and Users’ Rights EFF.org ...In a joint letter to Congress released today, more than 250 technology companies and user rights organizations say that the extreme level of secrecy surrounding trade negotiations have led to provisions in agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that threaten digital innovation, free speech, and access to knowledge online, and the letter calls on Congress to come out against the Fast Track...
The Trans Pacific Partnership is bad for seniors (opinion) AZ Central ...Pending House legislation would take $700 million from Medicare to pay for trade adjustment assistance, so it is not hard to connect the dots: Medicare would be cut in order to pay for the adverse conditions that workers face as a result of trade promotion authority. Medicare should not be used as a piggy bank every time the government needs funding for other purposes...
A trade deal at what cost? (opinion) Washington Post ...Perhaps those who’ve experienced such free-trade consequences as factory closings and lower-paying jobs are thinking about two entirely different sides — capital and labor. Trade promoters cite David Ricardo’s 200-year-old assessments of trade’s benefits to nations, but skeptics can mine a rich vein of mainstream economics that demonstrates how trade deals can, and frequently do, benefit major investors at workers’ expense...
Desperately seeking a new model for trade (opinion) Aljazeera America ...Will our trade policy help us fulfill our collective obligation to our kids? Will they have clean air to breathe and water to drink? Will they have access to quality education and health care? Will we keep our promise to them that if they work hard and play by the rules, they can build decent lives for themselves? The Hatch-Wyden-Ryan bill would set us on the wrong path on all those fronts and must be opposed. We need a new model for trade that doesn’t prioritize corporate profits over the health of our communities, the economic security of everyday Americans and the future of our kids...
After Striking and Occupying Their Factory, Chinese Bike Light Workers Face Firings and Arrests In These Times ...Workers who make bike lights at a factory in Shenzhen, China, have been on strike since April 30, demanding that the company pay up what it legally owes them. The strikers stayed overnight in the factory, stopping production and delivery for two weeks, until police came to evict them and arrest worker leaders on May 13...
State & Living Wage Battles
Ahead of Big Budget, “Right-to-Work” Votes, IL Gov Rauner Is Literally Paying Politicians Off We Party Patriots ...Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is once again making waves before making a difference, doling out $400,000 from his campaign fund to the state’s Republican lawmakers in advance of several key votes. Major budget and “turnaround agenda” decision are looming for the legislature. The unorthodox move shows that the multi-millionaire’s promise to “shake up Springfield” more closely resembles an attempt to shake down Illinois...
Arizona Will Boot Thousands From Welfare To Address $1 Billion Budget Hole Think Progress ...Arizona’s legislature has decided to try to plug a $1 billion budget deficit in part by kicking people off of welfare after just 12 months, the strictest time limit in the country. The change will mean that at least 1,600 families, including more than 2,700 children, will lose the benefit on July 1, 2016 and save the state at least $4 million...
Fitzgerald says prevailing wage repeal is unlikely but reform could come in budget Star Tribune ...Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Wednesday that he doesn't have the votes to repeal the state's prevailing wage law, but he hopes to reform the statutes through the state budget. The Juneau Republican told WTMJ-Radio that his caucus is "fractured" on the issue, with some saying a full repeal would disrupt the construction industry...
Nevada Republicans Say They Want More Latinos Voting. They’re Also Pushing Restrictive Voter ID. Think Progress ...Nevada will play a crucial role in the presidential primary next year, as the fourth state to nominate a candidate and the first heavily Latino state to vote. In an effort to win support of the growing minority, Republican lawmakers in the state are trying something new — expanding voting rights for minorities instead of restricting them. At the same time that they’re looking at making the election more inclusive, the GOP-controlled legislature is also trying to require voters to show identification at the polls...
Walmart’s Absurd Anti-Union Training Video Just Got Leaked In These Times ...On April 13, Walmart suddenly shut down five stores—two in Texas, one in California, one in Florida and one in Oklahoma—leaving 2,200 workers shocked and unemployed. According to Los Angeles Times reporter Michael Hiltzik, employees were told that the stores have “ongoing plumbing issues that require extensive repairs.” A recently leaked Walmart training video lends credence to the suspicion that plumbing was not the real issue...
McDonald's can't ignore worker protests before shareholder meeting Daily Kos ...McDonald's workers are once again rallying ahead of the company's shareholder meeting, boosting their call for $15 an hour pay and the right to join a union. There was no ignoring the protest Wednesday:
"McDonald's shut down a restaurant near its headquarters Wednesday after the area was swamped by hundreds of protesters"...
McDonald's workers descend on headquarters to protest 'poverty wages' The Guardian ...Thousands of McDonald’s employees and union activists descended on the company’s headquarters near Chicago on Thursday to hold the biggest ever protest against “poverty wages” paid to most of its 400,000 employees, as the company’s board gathered for its annual shareholder meeting. About 5,000 McDonald’s employees from across the US chanted: “We work, we sweat, put $15 in our cheque” as they marched towards the burger giant’s headquarters...
U.S. Labor
UAW is best route to works council, union leader says Nooga.com ...The United Auto Workers released documents they say shows consensus among Volkswagen leaders that the best route to establishing a works council in Chattanooga is through their union. "It's well-established by Volkswagen's leadership at the Chattanooga plant and in Germany that a works council can only be realized in partnership with a union"...
Members of GTFF, UA, SEIU and SLAP hold unity rally outside Johnson Hall Daily Emerald ...Around 59 students, classified staff and faculty gathered in front of Johnson Hall from the Service Employees International Union, Graduate Teaching Fellowship Federation, United Academics and Student Action Labor Project participated in a rally to celebrate a year’s work of labor between the groups, and to look forward to the bargaining process to continue over the summer concerning raising the contracts of the SEIU and the UA...
Century Aluminum hiring temporary replacement workers for smelter: USW Platts.com ...Century Aluminum has bused in dozens of temporary replacement workers to its 244,000 mt/year Hawesville smelter in western Kentucky as a week-old lockout continued Wednesday with no end in sight, a spokesman for Local 9423 of the United Steelworkers union said...
Miscellaneous
World’s Largest Banks Admit to Massive Global Financial Crimes, But Escape Jail (Again) Democracy Now ...Five of the world’s top banks will pay over $5 billion in fines after pleading guilty to rigging the price of foreign currencies and interest rates. Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland pleaded guilty to conspiring to manipulate the price of U.S. dollars and euros exchanged in the $5 trillion FX spot market. UBS pleaded guilty for its role in manipulating the Libor benchmark interest rate. No individual bank employees were hit with criminal charges as part of the settlements...
How Defunding Derails Our Infrastructure The Nation ...It’s not just safety that’s being underfunded, and not just on rail lines. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the nation’s infrastructure a grade of D+ in 2013 and outlined the need for massive investment to bring things up to speed. Congress must recognize what New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, and Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, a Republican, recently noted: While US spending on infrastructure has collapsed to 1.7 percent of GDP, “the rest of the world races ahead"...
Robert Reich: It’s time to bust up the big banks Salon ..Antitrust law should be used the way it was against the big oil trusts and the telephone monopoly. The idea was to prevent too much economic and political power from concentrating in too few hands. And that’s precisely the problem with Wall Street. The only sure way to stop excessive risk-taking on Wall Street so you don’t risk losing your job or your savings or your home, is to put an end to the excessive economic and political power of Wall Street.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Today's Teamster News 04.20.15
Teamsters
First Transit Workers At Auburn University Choose Teamsters Local 612 Teamster.org ...Drivers and mechanics with First Transit in Auburn, Ala., have voted by an overwhelming 3-1 margin in favor of Teamsters representation. The 116 workers, who provide transportation services for students at Auburn University, chose to join Teamsters Local 612 in Birmingham, Ala., seeking respect, fair pay and improved working conditions...
New Contract For MBS International Airport Unionized Workers OK’d Midland Daily News ...The MBS Airport Commission recently approved a collective bargaining agreement that covers 20 unionized employees. Ratified by Teamsters Local 214, the two-year contract calls for a 1 percent pay increase for each year and a $600 lump sum payment.
Teamsters: Railroad Unions Advancing Two-Person Crew Legislation To Protect Safety Teamster.org ...Continuing a cooperative effort to promote safety in the railroad industry, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers International Association (SMART) have jointly announced that legislation requiring at least two crew members on all freight trains in the U.S. has been introduced in the 114th Congress...
1,800 CN Locomotive Engineers Represented By Teamsters Ratify 3-Year Contract Montreal Gazette ...Canadian National Railway says the 1,800 locomotive engineers represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference have ratified a new collective agreement with the company. The railway says the three-year agreement, retroactive to Jan. 1, provides both wage increases and benefit improvements...
Global Labor & Trade
Key Democrat says he’ll try to kill Obama-backed trade bill Market Watch ...A key House Democrat said Friday he’ll try to kill a bill that would give President Barack Obama “fast track” trade treaty authority, a measure strongly supported by the White House. “I’m out to defeat the Hatch-Wyden bill,” Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, told reporters...
Stopping Short of Rejection, Clinton Sets Conditions for a Trade Deal New York Times ...“Hillary Clinton believes that any new trade measure has to pass two tests,” her spokesman, Nick Merrill, said in a statement. “First, it should put us in a position to protect American workers, raise wages and create more good jobs at home. Second, it must also strengthen our national security. We should be willing to walk away from any outcome that falls short of these tests...
'Stop TTIP': Global Day of Action Draws Tens of Thousands Common Dreams ...Demonstrators marched around the globe Saturday to protest the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a 'free trade' agreement currently being negotiated between the European Union (EU) and the United States. Opponents fear that TTIP will erode food, labor and environmental standards particularly with regard to the EU's strict regulations on food additives, genetically modified crops and the use of pesticides...
The Trans Pacific Partnership won’t fix our China problem (opinion) The Hill ...The TPP will not effectively deal with the core reason China enjoyed a $342.6 billion goods trade surplus with the U.S. last year, or an accumulated goods trade surplus with our country of $3.1 trillion since it joined the WTO: China operates based on a state-capitalist, mercantilist model, under which international trade law doesn’t mean much...
Trade Talks in Tokyo Get Push From 'Fast-Track' Deal in US New York Times ...Top Japan and U.S. trade officials plan to meet this weekend, seeking to close gaps over autos and farm trade before Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits Washington later this month. The U.S. and Japan must agree on market-opening measures before the 12 countries involved can reach a long-delayed final accord on the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership, a Pacific Rim trade pact...
Bernie Sanders urges Hillary to fight trade deal The Hill ...Sanders said Clinton and every other 2016 presidential candidate should oppose the 12-nation Asia-Pacific pact that the Obama administration is negotiating. "My strong hope is that Secretary Clinton and all candidates — Republicans and Democrats — will make it clear that the Trans-Pacific Partnership should be rejected and that we must develop trade policies that benefit working families, not just Wall Street and multi-national corporations," Sanders said in a statement...
Durham teachers' strike seen as start of wave of labour unrest Toronto Star ...Durham public high school teachers hit the picket lines on Monday in a protest widely seen as the start of a wave of teacher unrest across the province, with six more boards targeted in the coming weeks and other unions growing increasingly frustrated at the bargaining table...
State & Living Wage Battles
Alabama Auto Parts Plant Slapped With Federal Restraining Order NBC News ...A federal judge in Alabama issued a temporary restraining order Thursday against auto parts manufacturer Lear Corp. after the Labor Department accused the company of illegally harassing its workers and obstructing a federal safety investigation...
Walker's Dark Money Allies Orchestrate Coup of the Courts PR Watch ...Two court cases next week--one being heard in open court, another being considered in silence behind closed doors--will decide the future of Wisconsin campaign finance law, the independence of the Wisconsin judiciary and will impact the future of presidential candidate Scott Walker...
The 'Inexcusable' Assault On Workers In Wisconsin (opinion) Huffington Post ...The right-to-work scam is not what we should aspire to in Wisconsin, or anywhere else. The labor movement has played a key role in helping working families enter the middle class and stay in the middle class. That's why the President encouraged Walker to offer workers "the tools they need to get ahead" rather than strip them of their hard-won rights...
Colorado Minimum-Wage Bill Dies Amid Protests Across Denver, Nation Denver Business Journal ...Minimum wage got a maximum amount of attention Wednesday in Denver, both inside and outside the Capitol. As protesters gathered on the Auraria Campus calling for a national hike in the minimum wage to $15 an hour, a state Senate committee killed a bill that would have allowed cities and counties to raise the floor wage level within their boundaries above the state’s minimum of $8.23 per hour...
L.A. restaurants push for tips to count toward minimum wage LA Times ...Labor activists warn that counting tips toward the citywide minimum wage would violate California law and leave those waiting tables, scrubbing cars or turning down hotel beds more vulnerable to being illegally underpaid. Most tipped workers have low incomes, they say, both inside and outside the restaurant world...
Getting Better Organized: San Francisco's Fight for $15 and a Union Truthout.org ...The demand for $15 an hour minimum wage is a good example of this progress. It is simple, clear, specific, easily understood and, very important, achievable. Though quite bold and in stark contrast to the cowardly timid proposals coming out of Washington politicians from both major parties, the slogan is still quite reasonable...
U.S. Labor
Alleging Labor Abuses, U.S. and Mexican Workers Call for Boycott of Driscoll’s Berries In These Times ...Driscoll’s may be the U.S.’s most recognizable brand name on strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and blackberry cartons. To keep its berries stocked far and wide, the company uses a vast supplier network stretching from Canada to Argentina. But some of those suppliers are coming under fire for allegedly abusing workers, in the U.S. and Mexico. One of Driscoll’s grower has spent weeks embroiled in a major farmworker protest, while a nearly two-year boycott against another grower recently intensified...
AFSCME union president urges members to stay strong The Day ...The U.S. Supreme Court will be hearing arguments soon in Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association, "a case that will determine, essentially, whether we continue to exist," Saunders said. The suit, brought on behalf of a group of 10 California teachers, claims a law that requires public employees to pay union dues as a condition of employment violates their employee rights. Should the teachers win, the country's public sector could become a "right to work" sector, undermining the power of the labor unions...
Two Years After West, Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion, Are Workers Any Safer? New Report Says No In These Times ...In a report released this week, the Center for Effective Government, a non-partisan government watchdog, examined emergency response planning and reporting on chemicals required of plants like West Fertilizer under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA)—enacted in response to the 1984 release of deadly methylisocyanate gas from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India that killed thousands and injured many more—and the Clean Air Act...
Miscellaneous
California drought spurs protest over 'unconscionable' bottled water business The Guardian ...Californians facing the prospect of endless drought, mandated cuts in water use and the browning of their summer lawns are mounting a revolt against the bottled water industry, following revelations that Nestlé and other big companies are taking advantage of poor government oversight to deplete mountain streams and watersheds at vast profit...
Fed Shies Away From June Rate Hike Wall Street Journal ...A patch of soft economic data has created uncertainty inside the Federal Reserve about when to start raising short-term interest rates, dimming the chances of a move as early as June...
Meaningful Financial Reform (opinion) Washington Post ...The objective can’t be questioned. The need for institutional reform is evident. Let’s break the pattern of resisting the need for administrative reform, consider the risks of repeating avoidable crises and demonstrate that this great democracy still has the capacity to act in the common interest...
Millions Spent Lobbying By Private Prison Corporations To Keep A Quota Of Arrested Immigrants, Report Says Think Progress ...Private prison corporations spent $11 million over six years to lobby Congress to keep immigrants in detention centers, a new report released Wednesday found. The Grassroots Leadership report, Payoff: How Congress Ensures Private Prison Profit with an Immigrant Detention Quota, found that lobbying efforts of the two largest private prison corporations have made them the main beneficiaries of aggressive immigration detention policies...
First Transit Workers At Auburn University Choose Teamsters Local 612 Teamster.org ...Drivers and mechanics with First Transit in Auburn, Ala., have voted by an overwhelming 3-1 margin in favor of Teamsters representation. The 116 workers, who provide transportation services for students at Auburn University, chose to join Teamsters Local 612 in Birmingham, Ala., seeking respect, fair pay and improved working conditions...
New Contract For MBS International Airport Unionized Workers OK’d Midland Daily News ...The MBS Airport Commission recently approved a collective bargaining agreement that covers 20 unionized employees. Ratified by Teamsters Local 214, the two-year contract calls for a 1 percent pay increase for each year and a $600 lump sum payment.
Teamsters: Railroad Unions Advancing Two-Person Crew Legislation To Protect Safety Teamster.org ...Continuing a cooperative effort to promote safety in the railroad industry, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers International Association (SMART) have jointly announced that legislation requiring at least two crew members on all freight trains in the U.S. has been introduced in the 114th Congress...
1,800 CN Locomotive Engineers Represented By Teamsters Ratify 3-Year Contract Montreal Gazette ...Canadian National Railway says the 1,800 locomotive engineers represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference have ratified a new collective agreement with the company. The railway says the three-year agreement, retroactive to Jan. 1, provides both wage increases and benefit improvements...
Global Labor & Trade
Key Democrat says he’ll try to kill Obama-backed trade bill Market Watch ...A key House Democrat said Friday he’ll try to kill a bill that would give President Barack Obama “fast track” trade treaty authority, a measure strongly supported by the White House. “I’m out to defeat the Hatch-Wyden bill,” Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, told reporters...
Stopping Short of Rejection, Clinton Sets Conditions for a Trade Deal New York Times ...“Hillary Clinton believes that any new trade measure has to pass two tests,” her spokesman, Nick Merrill, said in a statement. “First, it should put us in a position to protect American workers, raise wages and create more good jobs at home. Second, it must also strengthen our national security. We should be willing to walk away from any outcome that falls short of these tests...
'Stop TTIP': Global Day of Action Draws Tens of Thousands Common Dreams ...Demonstrators marched around the globe Saturday to protest the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a 'free trade' agreement currently being negotiated between the European Union (EU) and the United States. Opponents fear that TTIP will erode food, labor and environmental standards particularly with regard to the EU's strict regulations on food additives, genetically modified crops and the use of pesticides...
The Trans Pacific Partnership won’t fix our China problem (opinion) The Hill ...The TPP will not effectively deal with the core reason China enjoyed a $342.6 billion goods trade surplus with the U.S. last year, or an accumulated goods trade surplus with our country of $3.1 trillion since it joined the WTO: China operates based on a state-capitalist, mercantilist model, under which international trade law doesn’t mean much...
Trade Talks in Tokyo Get Push From 'Fast-Track' Deal in US New York Times ...Top Japan and U.S. trade officials plan to meet this weekend, seeking to close gaps over autos and farm trade before Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits Washington later this month. The U.S. and Japan must agree on market-opening measures before the 12 countries involved can reach a long-delayed final accord on the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership, a Pacific Rim trade pact...
Bernie Sanders urges Hillary to fight trade deal The Hill ...Sanders said Clinton and every other 2016 presidential candidate should oppose the 12-nation Asia-Pacific pact that the Obama administration is negotiating. "My strong hope is that Secretary Clinton and all candidates — Republicans and Democrats — will make it clear that the Trans-Pacific Partnership should be rejected and that we must develop trade policies that benefit working families, not just Wall Street and multi-national corporations," Sanders said in a statement...
Durham teachers' strike seen as start of wave of labour unrest Toronto Star ...Durham public high school teachers hit the picket lines on Monday in a protest widely seen as the start of a wave of teacher unrest across the province, with six more boards targeted in the coming weeks and other unions growing increasingly frustrated at the bargaining table...
State & Living Wage Battles
Alabama Auto Parts Plant Slapped With Federal Restraining Order NBC News ...A federal judge in Alabama issued a temporary restraining order Thursday against auto parts manufacturer Lear Corp. after the Labor Department accused the company of illegally harassing its workers and obstructing a federal safety investigation...
Walker's Dark Money Allies Orchestrate Coup of the Courts PR Watch ...Two court cases next week--one being heard in open court, another being considered in silence behind closed doors--will decide the future of Wisconsin campaign finance law, the independence of the Wisconsin judiciary and will impact the future of presidential candidate Scott Walker...
The 'Inexcusable' Assault On Workers In Wisconsin (opinion) Huffington Post ...The right-to-work scam is not what we should aspire to in Wisconsin, or anywhere else. The labor movement has played a key role in helping working families enter the middle class and stay in the middle class. That's why the President encouraged Walker to offer workers "the tools they need to get ahead" rather than strip them of their hard-won rights...
Colorado Minimum-Wage Bill Dies Amid Protests Across Denver, Nation Denver Business Journal ...Minimum wage got a maximum amount of attention Wednesday in Denver, both inside and outside the Capitol. As protesters gathered on the Auraria Campus calling for a national hike in the minimum wage to $15 an hour, a state Senate committee killed a bill that would have allowed cities and counties to raise the floor wage level within their boundaries above the state’s minimum of $8.23 per hour...
L.A. restaurants push for tips to count toward minimum wage LA Times ...Labor activists warn that counting tips toward the citywide minimum wage would violate California law and leave those waiting tables, scrubbing cars or turning down hotel beds more vulnerable to being illegally underpaid. Most tipped workers have low incomes, they say, both inside and outside the restaurant world...
Getting Better Organized: San Francisco's Fight for $15 and a Union Truthout.org ...The demand for $15 an hour minimum wage is a good example of this progress. It is simple, clear, specific, easily understood and, very important, achievable. Though quite bold and in stark contrast to the cowardly timid proposals coming out of Washington politicians from both major parties, the slogan is still quite reasonable...
U.S. Labor
Alleging Labor Abuses, U.S. and Mexican Workers Call for Boycott of Driscoll’s Berries In These Times ...Driscoll’s may be the U.S.’s most recognizable brand name on strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and blackberry cartons. To keep its berries stocked far and wide, the company uses a vast supplier network stretching from Canada to Argentina. But some of those suppliers are coming under fire for allegedly abusing workers, in the U.S. and Mexico. One of Driscoll’s grower has spent weeks embroiled in a major farmworker protest, while a nearly two-year boycott against another grower recently intensified...
AFSCME union president urges members to stay strong The Day ...The U.S. Supreme Court will be hearing arguments soon in Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association, "a case that will determine, essentially, whether we continue to exist," Saunders said. The suit, brought on behalf of a group of 10 California teachers, claims a law that requires public employees to pay union dues as a condition of employment violates their employee rights. Should the teachers win, the country's public sector could become a "right to work" sector, undermining the power of the labor unions...
Two Years After West, Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion, Are Workers Any Safer? New Report Says No In These Times ...In a report released this week, the Center for Effective Government, a non-partisan government watchdog, examined emergency response planning and reporting on chemicals required of plants like West Fertilizer under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA)—enacted in response to the 1984 release of deadly methylisocyanate gas from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India that killed thousands and injured many more—and the Clean Air Act...
Miscellaneous
California drought spurs protest over 'unconscionable' bottled water business The Guardian ...Californians facing the prospect of endless drought, mandated cuts in water use and the browning of their summer lawns are mounting a revolt against the bottled water industry, following revelations that Nestlé and other big companies are taking advantage of poor government oversight to deplete mountain streams and watersheds at vast profit...
Fed Shies Away From June Rate Hike Wall Street Journal ...A patch of soft economic data has created uncertainty inside the Federal Reserve about when to start raising short-term interest rates, dimming the chances of a move as early as June...
Meaningful Financial Reform (opinion) Washington Post ...The objective can’t be questioned. The need for institutional reform is evident. Let’s break the pattern of resisting the need for administrative reform, consider the risks of repeating avoidable crises and demonstrate that this great democracy still has the capacity to act in the common interest...
Millions Spent Lobbying By Private Prison Corporations To Keep A Quota Of Arrested Immigrants, Report Says Think Progress ...Private prison corporations spent $11 million over six years to lobby Congress to keep immigrants in detention centers, a new report released Wednesday found. The Grassroots Leadership report, Payoff: How Congress Ensures Private Prison Profit with an Immigrant Detention Quota, found that lobbying efforts of the two largest private prison corporations have made them the main beneficiaries of aggressive immigration detention policies...
Friday, June 7, 2013
Today's Teamster News 06.07.13
Federal unemployment checks to shrink by $51 next week Chicago-Tribune ...Those collecting extended, federal unemployment benefits will see weekly checks shrink by $51 as of June 10 because of sequestration budget cuts...
Mexico's Drug War Claims 70, 000 Lives in 6 Years The Real News ...Mexico's government estimates 26,000 people have gone missing since 2007 and as many as 70,000 killed in drug-related violence...
Nicaragua gives Chinese firm contract to build alternative to Panama Canal Guardian ...Project will reinforce China's growing influence on global trade and weaken US dominance over a key shipping route...
U.S. lawmakers air concerns about Smithfield-Shuanghui deal Reuters ...Chinese meat company Shuanghui International's plans to buy U.S.-based pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc has some lawmakers worried the deal could create food safety issues for U.S. consumers...
Walmart's War Against Unions -- and the U.S. Laws That Make It Possible Huffington Post ...As Walmart workers from across the country once again converge this week on the corporation's headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, one startling fact stands out: none of them, or any of the retail giant's 1.4 million workers, are represented by a union...
Senate GOP Puts Corporate Tax Loopholes Over Student Loans Think Progress ...After their own proposal on student loan interest rates failed, Republican senators blocked a Democratic proposal to forestall the doubling of rates for the poorest students for two years. Republicans object to the way Democrats would pay for the extension – by closing tax loopholes for oil companies, wealthy pensioners, and multinational corporations...
Costco CEO Craig Jelinek Leads the Cheapest, Happiest Company in the World Bloomberg BusinessWeek ...59-year-old Joe Carcello has an annual salary of $52,700, gets five weeks of vacation a year, and is looking forward to retiring on the sizable nest egg in his 401(k), which his employer augments with matching funds. After 26 years at his company, he’s not worried about layoffs. In 2009, as the recession deepened, his bosses handed out raises. This wouldn’t be remarkable except that Carcello works in retail, one of the stingiest industries in America, with some of the most dissatisfied workers. But Carcello works at Costco...
Bustos makes push to have U.S. government only purchase flags made in USA Rock River Times ...U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., continued her push for American jobs by fighting to ensure all American flags are made in America by offering an amendment, which passed by a bipartisan voice vote, to the FY 2014 Homeland Security Appropriations Act (H.R. 2217)...
Unions fight Koch brothers' bid to buy the public square AFT News ...Union members are mobilizing against the potential sale of the Los Angeles Times, the Baltimore Sun, and other print, electronic and online media assets held by Tribune Co., to billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch, two of the most virulent anti-worker voices in the nation...
Documents: U.S. mining data from 9 leading Internet firms; companies deny knowledge Washington Post ...The National Security Agency and the FBI are tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies, extracting audio and video chats, photographs, e-mails, documents, and connection logs that enable analysts to track foreign targets...
Verizon provides all call records to U.S. under court order Washington Post ...The National Security Agency appears to be collecting the telephone records of tens of millions of American customers of Verizon, one of the nation’s largest phone companies, under a top-secret court order issued in April...
Fed index ranks Wisconsin 49th in economic outlook Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ... the Leading Index is also the most recent report that suggests that Wisconsin is struggling in comparison with other states...
$1,480 checks going out to more than 72,000 foreclosed Floridians Sun Sentinel ...More than 72,000 eligible Floridians who lost their homes to foreclosure from 2008 to 2011 will receive $1,480 from the landmark mortgage settlement involving the nation's five largest mortgage lenders, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi announced...
MV Transportation Puts Paratransit Services, Public at Risk Teamsters Local 727 ...Paratransit services in Cook County could be suspended starting next week because MV Transportation is on the cusp of forcing a work stoppage...
NMB Approves US Airways Election to Move Forward IBT ...On June 6, the National Mediation Board (NMB) announced that the Teamsters Union has a showing of interest (sufficient authorization cards) and will be scheduling an election soon. This is a huge step forward in our campaign to win a more secure future as Teamsters at the world’s largest airline...
First Transit Workers Join Teamsters Teamsters Local 727 ... Dispatchers and call takers at First Transit have voted unanimously to join the Teamsters Union...
Mexico's Drug War Claims 70, 000 Lives in 6 Years The Real News ...Mexico's government estimates 26,000 people have gone missing since 2007 and as many as 70,000 killed in drug-related violence...
Nicaragua gives Chinese firm contract to build alternative to Panama Canal Guardian ...Project will reinforce China's growing influence on global trade and weaken US dominance over a key shipping route...
U.S. lawmakers air concerns about Smithfield-Shuanghui deal Reuters ...Chinese meat company Shuanghui International's plans to buy U.S.-based pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc has some lawmakers worried the deal could create food safety issues for U.S. consumers...
Walmart's War Against Unions -- and the U.S. Laws That Make It Possible Huffington Post ...As Walmart workers from across the country once again converge this week on the corporation's headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, one startling fact stands out: none of them, or any of the retail giant's 1.4 million workers, are represented by a union...
Senate GOP Puts Corporate Tax Loopholes Over Student Loans Think Progress ...After their own proposal on student loan interest rates failed, Republican senators blocked a Democratic proposal to forestall the doubling of rates for the poorest students for two years. Republicans object to the way Democrats would pay for the extension – by closing tax loopholes for oil companies, wealthy pensioners, and multinational corporations...
Costco CEO Craig Jelinek Leads the Cheapest, Happiest Company in the World Bloomberg BusinessWeek ...59-year-old Joe Carcello has an annual salary of $52,700, gets five weeks of vacation a year, and is looking forward to retiring on the sizable nest egg in his 401(k), which his employer augments with matching funds. After 26 years at his company, he’s not worried about layoffs. In 2009, as the recession deepened, his bosses handed out raises. This wouldn’t be remarkable except that Carcello works in retail, one of the stingiest industries in America, with some of the most dissatisfied workers. But Carcello works at Costco...
Bustos makes push to have U.S. government only purchase flags made in USA Rock River Times ...U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., continued her push for American jobs by fighting to ensure all American flags are made in America by offering an amendment, which passed by a bipartisan voice vote, to the FY 2014 Homeland Security Appropriations Act (H.R. 2217)...
Unions fight Koch brothers' bid to buy the public square AFT News ...Union members are mobilizing against the potential sale of the Los Angeles Times, the Baltimore Sun, and other print, electronic and online media assets held by Tribune Co., to billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch, two of the most virulent anti-worker voices in the nation...
Documents: U.S. mining data from 9 leading Internet firms; companies deny knowledge Washington Post ...The National Security Agency and the FBI are tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies, extracting audio and video chats, photographs, e-mails, documents, and connection logs that enable analysts to track foreign targets...
Verizon provides all call records to U.S. under court order Washington Post ...The National Security Agency appears to be collecting the telephone records of tens of millions of American customers of Verizon, one of the nation’s largest phone companies, under a top-secret court order issued in April...
Fed index ranks Wisconsin 49th in economic outlook Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ... the Leading Index is also the most recent report that suggests that Wisconsin is struggling in comparison with other states...
$1,480 checks going out to more than 72,000 foreclosed Floridians Sun Sentinel ...More than 72,000 eligible Floridians who lost their homes to foreclosure from 2008 to 2011 will receive $1,480 from the landmark mortgage settlement involving the nation's five largest mortgage lenders, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi announced...
MV Transportation Puts Paratransit Services, Public at Risk Teamsters Local 727 ...Paratransit services in Cook County could be suspended starting next week because MV Transportation is on the cusp of forcing a work stoppage...
NMB Approves US Airways Election to Move Forward IBT ...On June 6, the National Mediation Board (NMB) announced that the Teamsters Union has a showing of interest (sufficient authorization cards) and will be scheduling an election soon. This is a huge step forward in our campaign to win a more secure future as Teamsters at the world’s largest airline...
First Transit Workers Join Teamsters Teamsters Local 727 ... Dispatchers and call takers at First Transit have voted unanimously to join the Teamsters Union...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)