Fight for 15 strikes D.C. as Sanders calls for $15 minimum wage

Chanting "If you want the people's vote, $15 and a union," low-wage federal contract workers brought the Fight for 15 movement to the center of presidential politics today. Workers, families and supporters held a strike that saw thousands marching to the U.S. Capitol calling for a living wage and union rights for federal contract workers and other low-wage workers.

Addressing the crowd at a rally in front of the Capitol, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced that he and his colleagues introduced a bill today to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour:

If you work 40 hours a week, you have the right not to live in poverty. The current federal minimum wage is a starvation wage. Because of you, the workers, and actions like this, states and cities are realizing we need the minimum wage to be a living wage. And it's time for the federal government to do the same.

Federal contract workers from the Pentagon, the Reagan Building, the Capitol and other locations participated in today's strike. They were joined by Sanders as well as Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and local leaders from Los Angeles and San Francisco, where the minimum wage was recently increased.

Sontia Bailey, who works at the Capitol, told the crowd why she went on strike:

I'm on strike today because I'm paid so little I had to get a second job. I work 70 hours a week and KFC pays me more than the government does.  

Workers also heard from Charles Gladden, a Senate cafeteria worker who is homeless thanks to poverty wages:

I'm striking again today because workers shouldn't have to rely on charity to survive. We work full time and shouldn't need public aid to get by.

Today's strike was supported by union members in DC and organized by Good Jobs Nation, which has been pushing for President Obama to sign executive orders granting living wages and union rights to low-wage workers subcontracted by the federal government.

With some two million low-wage jobs supported by the government, organizers say Obama can raise millions out of poverty with the stroke of a pen. Last year he signed an executive order raising the minimum wage for federal contract workers to $10.10, still a far cry from what workers need.

The Fight for 15 is gaining momentum as more states and local governments take up proposals for a higher minimum wage, including Los Angeles County, which just passed a $15 minimum wage yesterday. Fast food workers in New York are also pushing for the state's wage board to vote for a $15 minimum wage. Meanwhile, a thousand airport workers in New York City are set to walk off the job today to demand $15 an hour and the right to organize a union.

Teamsters and the labor movement stand with the Fight for 15 because we know this is not just about McDonald's and Walmart. Wages for all workers have not kept up with rising costs of living and increased worker productivity. The result is growing income inequality between corporate bosses and the rest of us.

To raise wages for all workers, we have to start at the base. That means standing in solidarity with low-wage workers who are putting their jobs on the line for living wages in America.

Today's Teamster News 04.23.15

Teamsters
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Global Labor & Trade
With 'Brave Tactic,' Sanders Tries to Slam Brakes on Fast Track  Common Dreams   ...In what is being heralded as a "brave tactic," Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday temporarily blocked lawmakers from rushing through legislation that would allow the Obama administration to "Fast Track" the controversial and highly secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. Sanders forcibly delayed the Senate Finance Committee from considering Fast Track legislation by using a rarely invoked senate scheduling rule...
China's shadow looms over Senate trade debate   Politico   ...The Senate Finance Committee’s vote late Wednesday to approve “fast track” trade legislation revealed two things: Some Democrats strongly support the measure, and concerns about China’s currency practices will dog the bill as it moves through Congress...
House Democratic Leader Joins Bid to Upend Trade-Deal Compromise   Bloomberg   ...With Pelosi’s endorsement, the Levin version could siphon Democratic votes from a bill by Representative Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who heads Ways and Means Committee, and introduced in the Senate by Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah and Ron Wyden of Oregon, the panel’s top Democrat...
Eyes wide shut on ISDS   The Hill  ...The ISDS provision allows foreign companies to sue their “host” governments though a specialized international arbitration mechanism that often grants protections exceeding those available in domestic courts. While the Obama administration has sought to downplay concerns about ISDS, the decision in Bilcon v. Canada highlights its very real problems...
Sen. Warren to Those Promising TPP Is So Great: 'Prove It. Let Us See the Deal'  Common Dreams   ..."The Administration says I'm wrong – that there’s nothing to worry about," Warren wrote in a blog post addressed to constituents and the general public on Wednesday. "They say the deal is nearly done, and they are making a lot of promises about how the deal will affect workers, the environment, and human rights. Promises – but people like you can't see the actual deal"...
Obama and Republicans Agree on the Trans-Pacific Partnership … Unfortunately   (opinion) New York Times  ...This is a bipartisan effort if ever there was one; George Will has called the TPP “Obama’s best idea.” Thus we see the administration, along with pro-business Democrats and Republicans, trying to bulletproof the deal. If that passes, Congress could vote only up or down on the deal, not amend it. That’s quite a bit of presidential power for a scheme that would have a striking impact on the global economy...
Congress Must Stop Fast Tracking Fast Track!  (opinion) Daily Kos   ...This Fast Track for secret, unread trade deals must be a wake up call that our democracy is in trouble and that politics as normal does not work. The corporate lobby from Nike, Microsoft, Google, Big Pharma, and led by the US Chamber of Commerce are all lined up against us like never before...
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State & Living Wage Battles
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Federal Contract Workers Just Went on Strike in DC  The Nation   ...Janitors and food service workers at federal monuments are tired of earning a pittance on the taxpayers’ dime, so they’ve gone on a one-day strike. They join workers across the country to demand from Washington what their fellow fast-food workers and retail clerks in the private sector are demanding from private firms: $15 an hour and union rights...
$70,000 minimum pay turns out to be good for business   Daily Kos  ...Remember Dan Price, the CEO who cut his own pay to raise the minimum annual pay at his company to $70,000? Turns out, that wasn't just a morally good thing to do, and Price doesn't have to wait for the longer-term payoff of increased productivity and reduced staff turnover: "Price said the news has brought in dozens of new clients, making it the best week for new business in the company's 11-year history"...

Pennsylvania Scraps Flawed Test Meant To Determine If Food Stamp Recipients Are Poor Enough   Think Progress   ...Pennsylvania will no longer punish its poorest families for saving money after Gov. Tom Wolf’s (D) administration announced the end of a flawed eligibility test for food stamps that was imposed by Wolf’s Republican predecessor. On Tuesday, state officials said they are ending food stamps asset tests...
Kansas Lawmakers Want The Poor To Pay For Tax Cuts For The Rich  Washington Post   ...Even the proposed increases in sales and excise taxes would make up only a fraction of the deficit. To balance the budget for this year, Brownback and other policymakers have proposed temporary measures, such as transferring money out of the state's highway fund...
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U.S. Labor
Barack Obama Proposes $3.5 Billion Gas Pipeline Overhaul  Politico   ...But the amount of money the administration is proposing is just a fraction of what it would take to replace the hundreds of thousands of miles of decades-old cast-iron and bare-steel natural gas distribution pipes — the lines that are considered most vulnerable to ruptures. A full replacement would cost $270 billion, the report says. And the whole proposal immediately ran into GOP skepticism...
Pregnant Fast-Food Worker Robbed at Gunpoint Then Fired for Not Repaying Stolen Cash  Alternet   ...Marissa Holcomb was hard at work at a Popeye's in Texas. She was in the midst of one of the busiest shifts of the week when a gunman with a stocking cap entered the store, jumped over the counter and robbed the clerk at gunpoint. Unable to open the safes, she opened the registers and the thief made of with roughly $400. Did she receive praise for handing over the cash and surviving the ordeal?...
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NJEA breaks off pension talks with Christie   Philly.com   ...In a setback to Gov. Christie's proposal to overhaul New Jersey's pension and health benefit systems, the state's largest teachers' union on Tuesday said it would no longer participate in talks with a panel he appointed to tackle the funding crisis. The union also called on Christie to fully fund the pension system. Christie shorted the system about $1.6 billion for the current fiscal year...

Miscellaneous
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Pipelines Blow Up And People Die  Politico   ...Oil and gas companies like to assure the public that pipelines are a safer way to ship their products than railroads or trucks. But government data makes clear there is hardly reason to celebrate. Last year, more than 700 pipeline failures killed 19 people, injured 97 and caused more than $300 million in damage. Two of the past five years have been the worst for combined pipeline-related deaths and injuries since 2000...
GOP Infighting Threatens NSA Bill  Politico   ...It’s the second congressional effort to reform surveillance practices since Snowden’s leaks revealed the vast nature of the NSA’s operations. But if lawmakers don’t do anything this time, key parts of the PATRIOT Act will expire, including a key provision that the government has used to justify bulk data collection...
The Sun Must Go Down On The Patriot Act (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...Some legislators want Congress to reauthorize it in its current form -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has just introduced a bill that would do exactly that, extending it for another five years. Others want to make relatively minor changes. Congress shouldn't do either of these things. Unless Congress can coalesce around far-reaching reform, it should simply let the provision expire...

Low-wage federal contract workers on strike storm Capitol Hill

Low-wage workers above and below marched on the Capitol yesterday.

Up to a thousand low-wage contract workers in Washington, D.C. took part in a one-day strike Wednesday for living wages and a union. The workers, organized by Good Jobs Nation, are janitors, cafeteria workers and others who make up the subcontracted workforce in federal buildings.

The colorful and boisterous throng of workers chanted "hey hey, ho ho -- $10.10 is way too low" as drums and blaring trumpets led the march line passed Senate offices and to the grounds of the Capitol.

Good Jobs Nation is part of the growing movement calling for "$15 and a union" for low-wage workers. In particular, contract workers point out that the federal government produces more low-wage, poverty-level jobs than Walmart and McDonald's combined. They are taking action to demand a $15 wage and an executive order from President Obama allowing them to unionize.

Sonia Chavez spoke to the crowd at a press conference in front of the Capitol at the end of the march:

My husband and I are federal contract workers who clean the office of the U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. The Secretary of Education likes to speak about a “Race to the Top” on education. But the truth is we also need a “Race to the Top” on wages.

Sonia and her husband are only paid $9.50 an hour. They clean the offices of the most powerful government in the world -- yet they are victims of wage theft and are owed $40,000 in back pay.

Last year, workers' actions led to Obama signing an executive order raising the minimum wage for federal contract workers to $10.10 -- a still-paltry wage for families living in a region where the cost of living continues to skyrocket. Organizers of yesterday's strike actions say the president should sign an executive order mandating federal agencies to give contract-bidding preference to employers that pay a $15 minimum wage to their workers.

With candidates gearing up for the 2016 presidential election, workers are calling for a president who will support them with a living wage. They chanted "If you want the people's vote -- $15 and a union" during the march.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has hinted at running, joined workers at the press conference:

American workers deserve a decent wage. The middle class is disappearing. We have millions of working people living in poverty and 99 percent of all new income is going to the top one percent. That is not what America is supposed to be about. If you work 40 hours a week, you should make enough to take care of your kids and your family.  

What we’re saying today is pretty simple. The taxpayers of this country want to make sure that when government contracts are made those employers who get those contracts pay employees a living wage, that they allow their workers to form a union, that they provide good benefits to their workers.

Other leaders stood with workers at yesterday's action including Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), faith leaders and other supporters.

Video: Federal contract workers rally at the 'Capitol of Inequality'

The workers' movement to raise their wages, fix their schedules and their workplaces and to escape retaliation just keeps getting broader.

We received this in our in-box today from our allies at Good Jobs Nation:

Last week, America’s progressive leadership released a new economic executive action platform – More than the Minimum – to call on the President to award lucrative contracts to companies that pay living wages, offer good benefits and respect workers' rights. 

To drive the point home, hundreds of federal contract workers from the U.S. Capitol and other federal sites went on strike chanting “Mr. President, it’s been tough, $10.10 is not enough!”

Today, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. George Miller held a Capitol Hill briefing on workers' erratic schedules that deprive them of time with family or predictable earnings.

Peter Schroeder at The Hill reports,

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and a host of left-leaning groups are setting their sights on Wal-Mart as they push for improved treatment of workers. 

Warren joined with Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), labor advocates, and employees of the retail chain to criticize its wage and scheduling policies, and push for Congress to force changes to better accommodate workers. 

“It is good to hear workers’ voices in the halls of Congress,” said Warren. “No one in this country should work full-time and still live in poverty, and that’s what raising the minimum wage is all about.” 

Miller said companies “conspired” to keep workers down, and it was up to policymakers to improve worker conditions. 

“This is about the simple dignity of the people that you’ve hired to work,” he said. “We have to override what the policies are in a place like Wal-Mart.” 

Teamsters are supporting actions taken by low-wage workers, even as Walmart and fast food workers support Teamster organizing efforts at ports and food processing companies. Walmart workers spoke out in support of the port drivers striking in Los Angeles. California's politicial leaders were recently briefed by a McDonald's worker, a UFCW Safeway member along with Teamsters and Taylor Farms workers.

Walmart sit-down strike follows strikes today by port truck drivers and federal contract workers

Walmart sit-down strikers today.

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.

Strike fever is spreading among low-wage workers fed-up with poverty, wage theft and retaliation for trying to form a union. The tactic of short, sudden strikes started in New York City several years ago has spread throughout the nation.

The Walmart sit-in is the day's most recent development. The Crenshaw store workers chanted, "Stand up, live better. Sit down, live better!" It is the first sit-down strike in Walmart history. Watch a livestream of the Walmart action here.

Making Change at Walmart tells us:

OUR Walmart members, some of whom were part of the first Walmart strike in October 2012, have just sat down near registers and next to racks of a Walmart store in Crenshaw. The group of striking workers, from stores throughout California, has placed tape over their mouths signifying the company’s illegal efforts to silence workers who are calling for better jobs. Even as the mega-retailer brings in $16 billion in annual profits and Walmart’s owners build on their $150 billion in wealth, the majority of Walmart workers are paid less than $25,000 a year...

To date, workers at more than 2,100 Walmart stores nationwide have signed a petition calling on Walmart and the Waltons to publicly commit to paying $15 an hour and providing consistent, full-time hours. After taking the petition to members of the Walton family, supporters committed to returning to stores on Black Friday if jobs aren’t improved by then.

Striking federal contract workers.

In Washington, D.C., the 10th daylong strike was the largest ever by federal contract workers who toil in government buildings. Hundreds marched up Capitol Hill and held a spirited rally in front of the U.S. Capitol. They carried signs that read, "To Survive, Workers Need $15 and  Union." They rallied in front of the Capitol, led by U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, Rep. Judy Chu and Rep. Keith Ellison. Their message: "We are here to call on the President to do #MoreThanMin & help workers live the American Dream." Said Ellison, "We know some contractors are good and some are bad. The federal government needs to stop working with the bad ones."

The Teamster-supported port drivers strike.

In Los Angeles, port truck drivers were striking for the fifth time in a year and a half. The drivers walked off the job at Total Transportation Services (TTSI) and Pacific 9 Transportation (Pac 9).  Drivers at Green Fleet Systems (GFS) agreed to remain in the “cooling off” status because of ongoing talks with the company owners.

A court recently ordered two port drivers to return to work at Green Fleet Systems as employees after they were fired for challenging their misclassification as independent contractors. But since the last strike in July, 35 drivers were fired for refusing to withdraw their wage and hour claims. Drivers have experienced a dramatic increase in wage theft, leaving some drivers owing the company for driving for them.

The port strikes are expected to continue.

Federal contract workers kick off another strike season today on Capitol Hill

Striking federal contract workers

Federal contract workers walked off their jobs today demanding a $15-an-hour minimum wage and the right to join a union.

The action signaled the beginning of another season of strikes by low-wage workers in the fast food, retail, warehousing and port trucking industries. Protests are expected for Black Friday at Walmart, while port truck drivers are walking off the job at the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach today.

The low-wage worker movement is coalescing as Walmart workers and Teamsters joined striking federal contract workers in today's action. 

Marching up Capitol Hill today.

Hundreds of low-wage workers employed by government contractors marched up Capitol Hill this morning, carrying signs that read, "To Survive, Workers Need $15 and  Union." They rallied in front of the Capitol, led by U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, Rep. Judy Chu and Rep. Keith Ellison. Their message: "We are here to call on the President to do #MoreThanMin & help workers live the American Dream." Said Ellison, "We know some contractors are good and some are bad. The federal government needs to stop working with the bad ones."

This is the 10th and largest of the government contractor employee strikes. Ned Resnikoff at AlJazeera America reported, 

Since Good Jobs Nation’s first strike a year and a half ago, the campaign has won a handful of key victories. First, President Barack Obama signed an executive order in February that requires all federal contractors pay their employees a minimum wage of $10.10 per hour. Obama followed up with executive orders banning LGBT discrimination at federally contracted workplaces and tightening labor law compliance requirements for businesses seeking federal contracts. The $10.10 executive order was particularly significant: It met the first major demand issued by the Good Jobs Nation campaign.

One of today's strikers is featured on a Credo petition asking President Obama to do more than the minimum and use a stroke of the pen for $15 and a union. Here is his message:

Today, my coworkers and I walked off the job at the U.S. Capitol to highlight the plight of low-wage workers under federal contracts. We were joined by low-wage federal contract workers from other federal buildings in the D.C. area, representing 2 million working across the nation.

I work at the Capitol Visitor's Center making $12.46 an hour. My coworkers and I are the ones who labor invisibly in the basement of this great landmark. We welcome the tourists, serve them food, clean the tables and empty the trash bins. 

Because I make so little, I qualify for government food stamps. Even though I was hired as a full-time worker, my hours were cut without warning. I don’t get any sort of benefits such as health care insurance or retirement savings from my employer. I'm fifty years old and I won't be able to retire, because I can't save money when I'm struggling to afford basic needs like paying rent and putting food on the table. 

As a father, I want to help my kid out, because college tuition is expensive. My ex-wife and I are trying to help our daughter graduate from college, but I’m afraid the tuition checks will bounce. 

We are grateful to President Obama for signing executive orders to raise the minimum wage and stop wage theft on federal contracts. But workers like me need more than the minimum to survive.

You can sign the petition here.

Today's rally in front of the U.S. Capitol

Follow the action on Twitter @GoodJobsNation & #MoreThanMin.