Today's Teamster News 04.09.15

Teamsters
Teamster Correctional Officers in Washington State Earn Community Support   Local 117   ...Over the last few weeks, members at Clallam Bay Corrections Center (CBCC) have talked with dozens of local, small business owners, and over 50 businesses have pledged their support for getting our DOC contract funded...
New Bethlehem Township Contracts Give Raises, Increase Benefits Contributions  Lehigh Valley Express-Times   ...Bethlehem Township on Monday approved new contracts with 35 union employees, giving them 2 percent raises for two years and a 3 percent raise in 2017...
New York City Carriage Horses Are Stress-Free Even After Long Day Of Trotting, Academic Says  New York Daily News   ...A California academic who specializes in equine medicine conducted an intensive study of stress levels on Big Apple carriage horses and found them completely angst-free – even after a long day trotting in Central Park...
Union Demands Independent Autopsy After Worker Dies Using NYCHA Hoist  New York Daily News   ...Greg Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, questioned the city’s findings. “The position that she was found in, the head wound, the trauma was not addressed,” he said. “I’m calling for an independent autopsy by somebody who does not have a political interest to tell us what killed Toni Jackson.”...

Global Labor & Trade
US Congress continues TPP fast-track negotiations as presidential race heats up  ABC Rural   ...It's crunch time for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the ambitious and controversial attempt to create a free trade bloc for the Asia-Pacific. But as talks enter the final stages, there's growing concern the deal could stall because of domestic politics in the US...
As Fast Track/TPP Becomes New Third Rail, Where Is Clinton?  Huffington Post   ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has become a new "third rail" for progressives and the activist Democratic "base." The thing is that more and more people are seeing it. And more and more people are asking Hillary Clinton to lead the fight against it...
Saving Seeds: Farmers Rise Up Against Industry-Backed Laws  Common Dreams   ...In Ghana, a coalition of students, trade unions, and small scale farmer organizations have mobilized against a pending Plant Breeders' Rights Bill, that would place aggressive legal restrictions against a farmer's use of seeds...
Exploited and Sexually Abused Qatari Migrant Workers Forced to Run Marathon  Alternet    ...Migrants who work under severe conditions often akin to slavery were forced to participate in a state-sponsored “megamarathon” in Doha, Qatar. Qatar is on schedule to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The International Trade Union Confederation has estimated that 4,000 migrant workers will die during construction...

State & Living Wage Battles
Right To Work In Ohio? Niche Panel Will Consider  Cincinnati.com   ...A niche legislative panel will consider adding right to work to the Ohio constitution, although the proposal – submitted by an Ohio citizen and obtained by The Enquirer – appears unlikely to pass...
Sweeping Collective Bargaining Reform Gets Legislative Hearing  Las Vegas Review Journal   ...A bill that would allow local governments to opt out of the state’s collective bargaining law was heard Tuesday in the Assembly Government Affairs Committee, where local government officials said it would give them flexibility to handle tight budgets and union representatives said it would gut recruitment and retention and jeopardize public safety...
Alabama Bill Would Increase Workers' Comp Benefits For Amputees  NPR   ...Alabama lawmakers have introduced a bill that would nearly triple the maximum compensation for workers who suffer amputations on the job. The bill, filed April 2, comes less than a month after a ProPublica and NPR investigation showed that Alabama had the lowest such benefits in the country...
Kansas Welfare Bill Would Cut Into Benefits With ATM Fees  FiveThirtyEight   ...Under the new rules, if someone receiving benefits plans to use her money to make a $600 rent payment, she’ll need to start withdrawing money and setting it aside 24 days in advance. So over 24 days, this hypothetical woman would lose $24 in fees; she’d need to start one day earlier to make her rent payment...

U.S. Labor
NLRB hits Postal Service over response to cyber breach  Washington Post   ...The National Labor Relations Board has filed a complaint calling on the U.S. Postal Service to negotiate with employee groups over how quickly to tell personnel about cyber attacks that affect their personal data...
New Union Election Rules Set Amid Court Challenges  CBS News   ...The National Labor Relations Board on Monday issued guidance from its general counsel on implementing the rules, adopted by the agency last year and set to take effect April 14, which shorten the time between a union filing a petition to represent workers and an election...
Growers Move to Gut California’s Farm Labor Law  Capital & Main   ...Gerawan Farming, one of the country’s largest growers, with 5,000 people picking its grapes and peaches, is challenging the California law that makes farm workers’ union rights enforceable. Lining up behind Gerawan are national anti-union think tanks...

Miscellaneous
Follow the Money: Invisible Investors Seek Big Bucks in Mass Incarceration  Truthout   ...Whether it be health care, food services or telecommunications, private equity firms rake in those big bucks by cutting corners on services, slashing jobs and wages, and taking advantage of pro-incarceration policy measures, from realignment to the war on drugs...
Living The High Life After Congress  Huffington Post   ...This is what ex-members of Congress and their staffs do nowadays. Rarely do they follow the example of ancient Rome's Cincinnatus and go back to the farm -- or take that teaching job at the local university or join a hometown law practice. They stay in DC to reap the bountiful harvest that comes from Capitol Hill experience and good old fashioned cronyism...
The Big Chill: How Big Money Is Buying Off Criticism Of Big Money (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...Our democracy is directly threatened when the rich buy off politicians. But no less dangerous is the quieter and more insidious buy-off of institutions democracy depends on to research, investigate, expose, and mobilize action against what is occurring...

Global support pours in for NYC horse carriage drivers

On the eve of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio's visit to Manchester, England, a British-based labor federation asked the city's council members to support Teamster horse-carriage drivers.  At the same time, an Australian horseman gave his stamp of approval to the horse carriages.

In a press release, the International Transport Workers Federation announced General Secretary Steve Cotton wrote:

On behalf of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) , I would like to add our organisation’s voice to those of the members of Teamsters Joint Council 16 and Teamsters Local 553 – and all those who support the continuation of New York’s horse drawn carriage industry. 

...we consider this industry to be a vibrant, well-established asset to the City of New York, and can see no meaningful reason to deprive the workers involved in it of their jobs, deprive visitors of the pleasure it generates, or deprive New York of one of its landmark sights. 

The men and women who work with these animals do so with pride. Horse drawn carriages are part of the tourism or transportation infrastructure of many countries. The carriages of Central Park are part of what makes New York a global capital. 

We have no doubt that you have examined the case for and against the continuation of this important industry, and feel confident that you will support those who work in it and the best interests of the City that it serves.

Unite, an ITF-affiliated union, plans “to raise the issue with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio when he attends the Labour Party conference in Manchester.”

Meanwhile, the New York Daily News reports Australian horse whisperer Guy McLean supports the Teamster carriage drivers as well.

 World-renowned Australian horseman Guy McLean gave his stamp of approval to the New York City's carriage horses after watching the gentle giants at work in Central Park this weekend. 

“The ones I saw didn't break a sweat. They love the work," said McLean, who was in town for the Central Park Horse Show. "And I've got to say, they look bright in the eyes and coat. These horses weren't working hard, not in the traditional sense, at least."... 

"You're not saving these horses one little bit by taking their job away,” he said. “These horses are happy. They look like beloved team members. And that's what they are."