Today's Teamster News 02.13.15

Teamsters
Cross-Border Trucking Program Moving Forward  Texas Tribune   ...After two decades of political posturing, a cross-border trucking program will soon be ready to roll, opening up an avenue to expand trade between Texas and Mexico....
Teamsters Approve New Contracts at MillerCoors Breweries In N.C. And Texas  teamster.org   …Teamsters at MillerCoors breweries in Eden, N.C., and Fort Worth, Texas, have ratified new, three-year contracts. The agreements cover more than 900 employees at the two breweries and provide lifetime retiree health care benefits. Members of Local 391 and 997 at each location voted Saturday to ratify the contracts by 88 percent...
Teamster Unity Versus Heidelberg Family Feud  teamster.org   ... In a dramatic show of unity in the face of unreasonable demands on Heidelberg Distributing’s unionized workforce, Teamsters who represent approximately 500 workers at six of Heidelberg’s family-owned distributorships of beer, wine and spirits in Ohio declared their solidarity by marching together into negotiations with Teamsters Local 284 in Columbus for contract talks yesterday. Employees there voted to join the Teamsters two years ago, but are still without a contract...
Clark County School District Employees Win New Teamster Election  teamster.org   ...Today, in a major victory for workers, the Employee-Management Relations Board (EMRB) acknowledged that the supermajority election rule for Clark County School District (CCSD) support staff was not in the best interest of the employees and has ordered a new election take place requiring simple majority...
Hoffa To President Obama: Sign The Keystone Pipeline Act  teamster.org   ...With the passage of the Keystone Pipeline Act by the House of Representatives today, Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa is urging President Obama to sign the legislation when it reaches his desk...
GW Professor Becomes Inaugural James R. Hoffa Teamsters Professor In Modern American Labor History  Newswise   ...Eric Arnesen, a specialist in the history of race, labor, politics and civil rights was officially installed yesterday as the George Washington University’s James R. Hoffa Teamsters Professor in Modern American Labor History...
York County Prison Counselors Get New Contract  York Dispatch   ...The county and Teamsters Local 776, which represents the workers, couldn't reach a deal and were slated to go to arbitration, when the two sides revisited the contract and were able to reach an agreement...
Sysco Meets With FTC Commissioners In Effort To Allay Antitrust Concerns  Wall Street Journal   ...Sysco Corp. met with the five commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission in a last-ditch attempt to avert a possible antitrust lawsuit to block the food distributor’s planned $3.5 billion purchase of rival US Foods Inc...
Trade
Council Member Helen Rosenthal calls for NYC to be a "TPP-Free Zone"  Helen Rosenthal   ...On Thursday Council Member Helen Rosenthal introduced a new resolution that opposes the President’s “fast-track” authority over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and declares New York City a “TPP-Free Zone.”...
Liberal Democrats align with Tea Party against Obama’s trade agenda  Daily Times   ...A coalition of liberal Democrats and Tea Party Republicans is fighting against US President Barack Obama’s 
ambitious trade agenda that he hopes to secure before he leaves office...
The ‘Movement of Movements’ against Fast Tracking the TPP has the power to win  Daily Kos   …Since the President’s State of the Union message where he announced his plan to push corporate trade agreements and seek Fast Track trade promotion authority, the movement against Fast Track, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and globalized trade has grown. Instead of the bump in support that Obama expected after the State of the Union, opposition has increased inside Congress and in the grass roots...
Leaked : TTIP negotiations to constrain regulations that protect public interest  unbalanced evolution   …According to the proposal, as soon as a new regulation is in the pipeline, businesses should be informed through an annual report, and be involved. This is now called 'early information on planned acts', until recently called 'early warning'….This means businesses, for instance, at an early stage, can try to block rules intended to prevent the food industry from marketing foodstuffs with toxic substances, laws trying to keep energy companies from destroying the climate, or regulations to combat pollution and protect consumers.”...
A corporate coup d’etat Illinois Times   ...You haven’t heard of the TPP? Dubbed “a corporate coup d’etat” by Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, it’s a grandiose grab for power masked as a trade deal allowing an unprecedented level of global corporate rule over Americans. One reason we commoners don’t know about it is that the corporate and governmental elites of the 12 nations that have been negotiating this momentous deal in strict secrecy not only are keeping us in the dark, but also Congress. Another reason, however, is that the mass media has been shockingly silent, apparently even incurious, about what clearly is a huge story with historic consequences...
State Battles
Missouri House Approves Right-To-Work Bill, But Margin Not Veto-Proof  St. Louis Public Radio   ...For the first time ever, the Missouri House has approved a right-to-work bill that curbs union rights. But the House’s 92-66 vote Wednesday afternoon was far short of the number – 109 -- needed to withstand a likely veto by Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat with close union ties...
‘Paycheck Protection’ Bill Aims At Unions  Lee's Summit Journal   ...A [Missouri] House committee on Monday signed off on legislation supporters have christened “paycheck protection” — and detractors call “paycheck deception” — that would require public employees to give permission before union dues are taken from their paychecks...
Beer Battle Brewing In Frankfort Spills Into Commercials  WHAS   ...A-B InBev has stressed that House Bill 168 is backed by rival distributorships that want to take over businesses it would be forced to sell. The Belgium-based company has the backing of the Teamsters Union. About 200 Teamsters work at the Louisville facility...
House panel shoots down two Senate bills opposed by Kentucky unions  Herald-Leader   ... Union workers flooded the state Capitol on Thursday to express their disdain for bills that would allow people to work for unionized employers without joining the union and repeal the prevailing-wage requirement for school construction projects. They liked what they heard in the House Labor and Industry Committee. The panel overwhelmingly voted down Senate Bill 1, the so-called right-to-work bill sponsored by Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, and SB 9, the prevailing-wage measure sponsored by Sen. Wil Schroder, R-Campbell County...
More Kentucky Counties Getting Behind the Right-to-Work Movement  WKU   ...Butler County is joining the growing list of Kentucky counties passing or considering right-to-work laws. ..
Right-Wing Media Discover A Lawless Executive Order They Support -- It's Anti-Union, Of Course  Media Matters for America   ...Right-wing media are celebrating Gov. Bruce Rauner's (R-IL) executive order blocking public-sector unions from collecting "fair share" fees from the state employees they represent, even though there is no precedent for such a move... 
Education Is Newest Target Of Kansas Budget Cuts  New York Times   ...The cuts come amid a larger budget picture in which the governor has been forced to fill a $344 million budget gap for the fiscal year ending in June; a shortfall of nearly $600 million has been forecast for the fiscal year starting July 1....
States Dangle Water To Tempt California Dairy Farmers  NBC News   ...Mark Watte, a diversified row crop and dairy farmer in Tulare, said he's considered moving his 1,000-cow operation out of California due to water shortages and burdensome regulations, but his family obligations keep him here...
War on Workers
Are You Being Served - By A Drone  Bloomberg News   ...Timbre introduced tablets at its restaurants more than three years ago to enable customers to place orders faster; it resulted in a 25 percent increase in productivity, Chia said. It now plans to equip its five venues with eight drones each, four at the bar and four for the kitchen. After diners place their orders on the tablets, the drones will pick up the food and drinks from the kitchen or bar and deliver them to a service area, from where the staff will take them to the tables, he said. They will also be loaded with empties to take back to the kitchen...
OUTRAGE! Indiana Wants Workers To Repay Unemployment Cash Received Because State Messed Up!  Praise Indy   ...During the summer months school bus drivers, Head Start workers and others who work most of the year, but have a hiatus during the summer, used to be able to file for unemployment benefits.  But the Legislature changed the law prohibiting it.  But it seems none told employees at state unemployment offices who approved the benefits when workers applied.  Now, after catching their mistake, the state wants the workers to payback the cash, even though it was the state that screwed up...
Oil Workers Are Striking Because They're Underpaid and Overworked—and It's Killing Them  New Republic   ...The union accuses oil companies like Shell and BP of keeping operations too lean while oil prices are low, hiring inexperienced non-union operators, and overworking staff. "We're concerned about the excessive overtime," said Lynne Hancock, a spokesperson for United Steelworkers. "In a lot of locations the workers have mandatory overtime. And when people are working non-stop, they get tired and fatigued. And when you are fatigued, you have a tendency to make some mistakes...
Study says 401(k)-style public pensions cost more than traditional plans  Reuters   ...Public worker unions and others who back traditional pensions over 401(k)-style plans got ammunition on Tuesday from a new study that shows U.S. state governments that made the switch did not achieve the predicted savings but rather lost money...
South Texas oil worker dies, fell from rig  Associated Press   …An oil field worker in South Texas has died after falling while near the top of a 50-foot rig...
Miscellaneous
Goldman: Here's Why Oil Crashed—and Why Lower Prices Are Here to Stay  Bloomberg News   ...The big take-away: “[T]he decline in oil has been driven by an oversupplied global oil market,” wrote Goldman economist Sven Jari Stehn. As a result, “the new equilibrium price of oil will likely be much lower than over the past decade.”... 

Today's Teamster News 12.12.14

Teamster News
Workers At Con-Way Freight In Miami Vote To Join Teamsters Local 769  teamster.org   … A group of 74 drivers and dockworkers at Con-way Freight in Miami Lakes, Fla., voted today to join Teamsters Local 769 in North Miami, Fla...
Teamsters Mourn Death Of Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka  teamster.org   ...Teamsters Local 727 joins the State of Illinois in mourning the death of State Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, who died Dec. 10 of complications from a stroke...
New Orleans Ready Mix Drivers Vote For Teamsters  teamster.org   ...Ready Mix cement workers at Lafarge Concrete have voted to become members of Teamsters Local 270, New Orleans. Lafarge Concrete is one of the largest cement suppliers in the area and handles all types of projects: highways, commercial buildings, schools and residences...
Teamsters Make Public Cry For Better Contracts  Insurance News   ..."While emergency communication is important, so are the daily needs of the nursing home residents and your employees who care for them," said Herb Garber, a representative of Teamsters Local 776, a union representing nursing home workers, during a speech at the meeting...
Bill de Blasio’s Horse-Carriage Ban Gains Little Support From Congress Members From New York  New York Daily News   ...Members of Congress from New York don't get to vote on Mayor de Blasio's bid to ban horse-drawn carriages — but that isn't stopping them from weighing in against the proposal...
Anti-horse carriage group NYCLASS will make 'substantial payment' for campaign finance violations  New York Daily News   ...The group trying to ban horse-drawn carriages in the city will make a “substantial payment” to settle charges that it broke campaign finance rules in last year’s city elections, its lawyer said Wednesday...
Gene Laughlin  Champaign News-Gazette   ...Gene was a World War II Army veteran, serving in the Philippines and Australia. Upon discharge, he worked as a Teamsters truck driver and was a member of Teamsters Local 26. Gene was also a lifetime member of the VFW Post 630, American Legion Post 24, Moose and Eagles Lodges...
Teamsters Reject Contract Proposed By Giant Eagle Subsidiary  WFMJ   ...Local Teamsters employed by Tamarkin, a subsidiary of Giant Eagle, tonight narrowly defeated a contract extension which employees say was the company's "final offer. Union Leaders won't comment, but rank and file employees told 21 News that the company is trying to build a new warehouse, at their expense...
Trade
Labor warns Obama on trade policy  The Hill   ...Labor unions and environmental groups warned President Obama Wednesday that getting too cozy with congressional Republicans on trade issues could imperil other parts of his policy agenda...
Germany calls for transparency on US-EU trade deal  Economic Times   ...Germany has called for more transparency in negotiations for a sweeping trade pact between the European Union and the United States after complaints that the controversial talks are too secretive. "The trust of the citizens is essential to make this important agreement happen," German agriculture minister Christian Schmidt said yesterday after discussing the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) pact with officials in Washington...
State Battles
Wisconsin lawmaker, right-to-work champion leads push on U.S. Constitution  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...The state Legislature's most vocal advocate for right-to-work legislation inside Wisconsin is working outside the state to hold a convention to amend the U.S. Constitution...
Board of Port Authority Proposes a Wage Increase for Airport Workers  New York Times   ...The board meeting held by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Wednesday may turn out to be the last one held somewhere other than the World Trade Center and the last one attended by redshirted airport workers demanding higher wages...
Ohio's charter school performance is "grim" and needs state attention, Stanford researcher tells the City Club  Plain Dealer   ...Ohio's longstanding and "grim" problem with underperforming charter schools is improving, a Stanford researcher said at the City Club today, but the state needs to increase its quality control efforts...
War on Workers
Congress poised to allow cuts to private pension payouts  Los Angeles Times   ...More than 1 million Americans who were promised secure, predictable retirement income probably will see part of their monthly benefit checks evaporate as Congress moves to stabilize some private pension systems veering toward insolvency...
Congressional spending bill would suspend some hours-of-service provisions, require FMCSA to further study rules’ impacts  CCJ   ...Congress likely will send a bill to the White House in the coming days that includes a provision that will put a stay on enforcement of two key elements of the 2013 rule: The requirement that a driver’s 34-hour restart include two 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. periods and the provision limiting the use of the restart to one time per week. The suspension of enforcement will last at least until Sept. 30, 2015...
House narrowly averts government shutdown, Senate up next  Chicago Tribune   …The House of Representatives averted a government shutdown on Thursday, narrowly passing a $1.1 trillion spending bill despite strenuous Democratic objections to controversial financial provisions.
Employees Shouldn’t Be Treated Like Products (opinion)  Washington Post   ...Hail the lowly bar code. By enabling retailers to track sales and inventory, it allows them to order goods from warehouses and manufacturers only when needed, reducing overhead and costs. Just-in-time production is a signal achievement of our digitized age. Just-in-time labor is not. Millions of retail workers are routinely summoned to their workplaces with little more advance warning than their employers accord the truckloads of goods or food those workers sell...
Walmart Illegally Punished Workers, Judge Rules  New York Times   ...In a decision made public on Wednesday, Geoffrey Carter, an N.L.R.B. administrative law judge, also found that a Walmart manager had illegally intimidated workers by saying, “If it were up to me, I’d shoot the union.” In addition, the judge said it was unlawful for Walmart managers to tell employees that co-workers returning from a one-day strike would be looking for a new job...
Guest: For better or worse, the labor movement is reinventing itself (opinion)  Los Angeles Times   ...Haltingly, with understandable ambivalence, the American labor movement is morphing into something new. Its most prominent organizing campaigns of recent years — of fast-food workers, domestics, taxi drivers and Wal-Mart employees — have prompted states and cities to raise their minimum wage and create more worker-friendly regulations...
Miscellaneous
Backroom Move Strips 'Backdoor' NSA Spying Ban From Spending Bill  Huffington Post   ...In place of the backdoor surveillance ban is language that states the NSA must not "target" American citizens' content for surveillance. But the agency's highly specific definition of targeting would still allow it to collect and search Americans' emails as long as they are sent abroad...
Fed Sets Tough New Capital Rule For Big Banks  Wall Street Journal   ...The proposal, which will be phased in starting in 2016 and take full effect in 2019, is aimed squarely at pushing big banks to shrink, an outcome regulators were explicit in saying they hope to encourage to reduce the likelihood a firm’s failure could require bailouts or damage the broader economy...

Today's Teamster News 03.06.13

Dow Hits New High While Most of America Suffers  Economic Populist   ...Work in America has become so exploitive, many are working for free...
Sequester Cuts 'Will Impact Food Inspection,' Reducing Meat Supply, Agriculture Secretary Says Huffington Post   ...the budget cuts mandated by the sequester would force the USDA to furlough meat inspectors for up to 15 days. Federal law prohibits meat plants from operating without a federal inspector, so this suggested the entire industry would have to shut for more than two weeks, leading to higher prices and shortages...
U.S. “Stalling” Could Force Acceptance of Onerous TPP  Inter Press Service   ...That broad geographical sweep, together with the simultaneous negotiation of a lengthy but highly secretive list of contentious issues not necessarily related to trade, is leading critics to warn that the scope of any pending agreement could negatively impact on nearly half the globe....
Striking Iberia workers protest against job cuts  Reuters   ...Thousands of workers facing pay and job cuts at loss-making Spanish airline Iberia on Monday staged a second wave of protests that could ground nearly 1,300 flights this week. Iberia, part of International Airlines Group , is battling competition from low-cost airlines and high-speed trains as well as a deep recession in Spain, where one in four workers is without a job...
Mo AFL-CIO urges action to stop ‘RTW,’ paycheck deception measures  Labor Tribune   ...Hugh McVey, president of the Missouri AFL-CIO, say extremists are “set to strike in the General Assembly” and is urging union members to call their senators now to voice their opposition to “right-to-work” (for less) and paycheck deception measures...
'Right to Work' and Other Betrayals Are Killing Snyder, Republican Brand in Michigan  Huffington Post   ...The party that keeps promising lower taxes is raising taxes on retirees, slapping a new health care tax on ordinary citizens and jacking up the overall tax burden of families who are already struggling to make ends meet...
House Sides With Business On Labor Laws  Associated Press   ...(Georgia) House Bill 361 would allow workers to opt out at any time from automatic payroll deductions for union dues. Current law says workers must have only an annual option to opt out. House Bill 362 would prohibit any state or local government entity in Georgia from requiring that bidders for public works contracts use unionized labor for a project...
Grand Rapids teachers say paycheck cuts qualify them for food stamps  Michigan Live   ...Since Feb. 15 when the district began deducting back health insurance premiums over what it’s allowed to pay under the state’s Publicly Funded Health Insurance Contribution Act of 2011 ... morale among teachers has suffered dramatically and a sort of depression has set in. Some are losing $300 per pay check...
Corbett, wife accepted thousands in gifts from biz execs, lobbyists  philly.com   ...Corbett and his wife, Susan, accepted $11,343 in gifts from business executives, lobbyists or lobbying firms in 2010 … and in 2011, his first year in office. (They) were feted by business interests with Steelers playoffs tickets, private jet travel, seats at a swank gala for the Philadelphia Orchestra, a Rhode Island summer vacation aboard a businessman's yacht - even money to help pay for the first lady's inauguration gown...
Teamsters Applaud Council Decision To Keep Borough Law Enforcement Local  IBT   ...West York Council members voted last night to reverse a decision made earlier this year to accept bids from neighboring police departments to outsource the borough's law enforcement to the lowest bidder and close the West York Police Department. The council also announced its intention to move forward with negotiations with Teamsters Local Union 776 in Harrisburg, Pa...
3 approved labor union pacts await signatures  Toledo Blade   ...Signatures are the only thing needed after a collective bargaining deal between the three Waterville city labor unions was ratified and approved...“The Teamster contract will provide for insurance coverage for their union members, the four public works technicians,” said Dale Knepper, the city’s chief of finance and administration...
Progress on ABF-Teamsters talks may lead to extension Kansas City Business Journal ...ABF Freight System Inc. is anticipating that negotiations with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters could last past the March 31 expiration date of the current labor agreement between the two parties... 
Flight Attendants Union Coalition Blasts TSA Decision To Allow Dangerous Items Onto Aircraft AFA   ...The Flight Attendants Union Coalition issued the following statement blasting today's announcement..."Today's announcement to permit knives back into the aircraft cabin is a poor and shortsighted decision by the TSA. Continued prohibition of these items is an integral layer in making our aviation system secure and must remain in place...

Today's Teamster News 02.13.13

Fired America  Economic Populist   ... a full 23% of Americans have been fired in the last four years... a full 22% (of those) cannot find another job...
The One Percent Gobbled Up the Recovery, Too  The New Republic   ...the one percent didn’t just gobble up all of the recovery during 2010 and 2011; it put the 99 percent back into recession...
TARP: The bailout success story that wasn’t (opinion)  MarketWatch   ...As of Dec. 30, TARP was still owed $67.3 billion, including $27 billion in realized losses — which is to say, that money is gone and is never coming back...
State Of The Union: Obama Calls For Controversial Trade Deals  Huffington Post   ...President Barack Obama used his State of the Union address Tuesday night to urge the United States to pass two key trade agreements, including the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership and a new deal with the European Union that human rights say will impede access to medicines and degrade labor standards...
Obama announces voting rights commission to tackle broken system  The Guardian   ...Obama has ordered the creation of a non-partisan commission on voting rights in the US in an attempt to remove the hurdles to democratic participation that dogged the 2012 presidential election...
Slower Growth of Health Costs Eases Budget Deficit  New York Times   ...A sharp and surprisingly persistent slowdown in the growth of health care costs is helping to narrow the federal deficit, leaving budget experts trying to figure out whether the trend will last and how much the slower growth could help alleviate the country’s long-term fiscal problems...
Greek Factory Under Workers Control  The Nation   ...after a series of general assemblies the workers convened, they've started occupying the factory and operating it under direct democratic workers’ control...
General Assembly may be divided on future of “right to work” legislation  MO Politics   ...the Senate Majority Floor Leader, said there is “a lot of talk” in the House about legislation that would prevent union membership from being a condition of employment, but believes it would be a hard sell in the Senate...
Two years since Walker 'dropped the bomb,' and state economy is still shattered  The Capital Times   ...On Feb. 11, 2011, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, in his own words, "dropped the bomb" when he announced that he would eliminate collective bargaining for public workers in the state...Walker promised to create 250,000 jobs during his tenure, but is well short of that total...
Mich. Gov. Rick Snyder's approval rating down sharply since right-to-work law passed  Detroit Free Press   ...A poll released to the Free Press today suggests that support for Gov. Rick Snyder dropped sharply after he did an about-face in December and backed the speedy passage of controversial right-to-work legislation...
Could Washington state trucker reclassification be near?  Land Line Magazine   ...On the move at the Washington statehouse is a bill that could soon result in many truck drivers being reclassified as employees...Supporters say that some employers classify people as subcontractors to avoid paying insurance and other benefits due employees...
Dems decry ALEC influence on working Kansans  Capital Journal   ...Kansas Democrats say Republicans in charge of the House and Senate have loaded the legislative session with "anti-worker" bills straight out of the American Legislative Exchange Council's playbook...
Rhinebeck school bus drivers reject contract offer but defer strike  Daily Freeman   ...bus drivers who take Rhinebeck school district students to and from school have rejected a contract offer but do not plan to strike immediately...Rather, the Durham Student Services drivers in Teamsters Local 445 plan to continue negotiations...
Teamsters Bring Protest, Inflable Rat To SuperInvestor  PEHub.com   ...Members of the Teamsters union who transport chemicals for Nexeo Solutions showed up in front of San Francisco’s famous Fairmont Hotel, site of this week’s SuperInvestor private equity conference...The Teamsters said that TPG Capital “loaded” the company with $600 million in debt and then quickly slashed the retirement and health care benefits of Nexeo employees...
Gettysburg police union files complaint against the borough  The Evening Sun   ...A complaint has been filed by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Number 776 against the borough and Police Chief Joseph Dougherty, claiming that they violated police department employees' First and 14th Amendment rights...

Today's Teamster News 01.24.13

Austerity Fails: European Nations See Debt Grow Despite Deep Spending Cuts  ThinkProgres  ...Since the onset of the financial crisis, European countries have attempted to deal with their economic malaise by implementing austerity packages, slashing government spending and laying off public workers. However, such measures have proved self-defeating, as the austerity measures blunted economic growth and caused Europe’s debt to actually grow...

British PM proposes vote on EU membership  AP ...Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday he will offer British citizens a vote on whether to leave the European Union if his party wins the next election, a move which could trigger alarm among fellow member states...
Two Democrats try for long-shot financial transaction tax   Reuters ...Two congressional Democrats said on Tuesday they will revive a bill to tax financial transactions after 11 euro zone countries won approval for such a tax...

Austerity bites for unions  Washington Post ...The Labor Department is out this morning with its annual report on union membership in America, and once again, it shows a year-over-year drop in how many workers belong to labor unions. The big culprit for last year’s drop doesn’t appear to be outsourcing (though union factory employment has fallen since the recession, while non-union employment has risen). The issue was austerity...

Senate Democrats proclaim victory, will move quickly to pass House debt-ceiling bill  The Hill ...The Senate will immediately pass a House bill to extend the federal debt limit to May 19 on condition that both chambers pass budget resolutions by mid-April, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)...

Senate to examine FAA approval of Dreamliner battery  Reuters ...A key Senate committee will hold a hearing in coming weeks to examine U.S. aviation safety oversight and the Federal Aviation Administration's decision to allow Boeing Co to use highly flammable lithium-ion batteries on board its new 787 Dreamliner...

Wal-Mart Factory Rules Won’t Make Them Safer, Activists Say  Bloomberg ...Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT)’s new zero-tolerance policy for suppliers that source garments from unauthorized factories won’t make workers safer, a labor-rights activist said...
Colorado right to work bill gets quick axing  Denver Business Journal ...it took just 21 minutes for a Senate committee to dismiss a freshman senator’s effort to turn Colorado into the 25th right-to-work state, dismissing it with nary a word...
Maine lawmakers join effort to amend Constitution to allow campaign funding limits  Bangor Daily News   ...Republican state Sen. Edward Youngblood of Brewer and Democratic state Sen. Geoff Gratwick of Bangor joined forces Tuesday to endorse a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling that equates campaign donations to free speech protected by the First Amendment...
Unions pan NH proposal as management power grab  NECN.com   ...New Hampshire's labor unions are criticizing legislation that would give public employers more control in the collective bargaining process as a power grab...
Supreme Court to hear whether JobsOhio lawsuit can proceed  Plain Dealer   ...No court has ever heard ProgressOhio's main contention: That it violates the Ohio Constitution for Kasich to funnel state liquor profits to support JobsOhio, a private economic development entity that he set up...
Voter ID trial set for July  WITF   ...Today Judge Robert Simpson issued an order scheduling the voter ID trial for July 15, 2013, at the Pennsylvania Judicial Center in Harrisburg...
Virginia State Senate Moves Ahead on Electoral College-Rigging Bill  Slate   ...Virginia's Republican-ruled legislature has taken the first steps toward ending the state's winner-takes-all system of apportioning its 13 presidential electoral votes...
Board Approves Pay Raise  The Sentinel  ...the approval of collective bargaining agreements with the Teamsters Local 776 Juniata County Commissioners residual unit and appointed employees unit...meant close to a 10 percent pay increase for employees during the next four years... 

Teamsters mobilizing for August 10-11 Philly rally

Pennsylvania Teamsters will join thousands of workers and labor advocates as they converge on Philadelphia next month for the “Workers Stand for America” mobilization. And at least two tractor-trailers from Locals 107 and 776 will be on hand to demonstrate Teamster power at the demonstrations.

The rallies, which we blogged about yesterday, will bring tens of thousands of workers from around the country together to demand a Second Bill of Rights for workers in America. Included among these rights are the right to full employment, a living wage and a voice at work.

There will be two protests as part of the Workers Stand for America action. A rally on Friday August 10 will feature speakers from the Philadelphia AFL-CIO and Building Trades and John Dougherty from IBEW 89. A reception will be held at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel later in the evening. The main rally kicks off at 11 am on Saturday August 11 and will take place at Eakins Oval by the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Teamster locals in Pennsylvania, along with Joint Council 53 and the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters, are encouraging members to participate in this historic mobilization to push back against corporate greed and win economic justice for workers.

As the war on workers continues to undermine the livelihoods of middle class families around the country, a demonstration like this couldn’t be more urgent.

We've got to stand and fight. Otherwise, corporate America and their politician servants will not end the war on workers.

Click here to sign the Second Bill of Rights. And for more information on the Workers Stand for America action, contact Teamsters Joint Council 53 at teamstersc53@yahoo.com or the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters at pateamsters@verizon.net

Let’s bring Teamster Power to the streets of Philly!

-- Union Thug

This is what we union thugs do when school starts

We make surprise deliveries of pencils and paper to schools in our community.

Props to Local 776 in Harrisburg for coming to the rescue of Ben Franklin Elementary School. Students didn't have the supplies they needed, so Teamsters brought boxes of pencils, crayons, paper and books.

Said Bob Snyder, Jr., president of Local 776,

When we heard about them not having supplies, we wanted to do something.

Said one parent:

It's great to have someone who cares.

So proud of our Teamster brothers and sisters in Harrisburg!

Most bad-ass Teamster photo ever

We love this photo from Local 776 in Harrisburg, Pa.

Teamsters echo King's rallying cry in CO, OH, NY, WI, NV



Ohio Teamsters march in the annual MLK parade in Cleveland.

 Thousands of Teamsters joined the great wave of demonstrations for workers' rights throughout America yesterday, in the streets, the parks, the churches and the statehouses.

In Cleveland, Brother Fred Crow reports:

Attended two events in Cleveland today in some awful weather, for our first event which was put together by AFGE, we had our Ohio Conference Truck in attendence so we could use the stage for our "outdoor" rally. Well to make a long story short, due to the wind, rain, lightning, etc. we moved the rally inside, where we had a great rally, that filled the AFGE union hall, and guest speaker Betty Sutton!

Rally 2 Cleveland, Ohio The weather still awful, We still marched and had a great rally in the Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church!

Teamsters came out to a rally at City Park in Denver, Colo. KDVR-TV has the story.

Several hundred Colorado teachers, firefighters and pipe-fitters gathered in City Park Monday night to channel inspiration from the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King toward their own battle for worker's rights...Less than a month after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker eliminated collective bargaining for union workers there, Colorado's teamsters believe that unions everywhere are under attack.

We saw Pennsylvania Teamsters at an energetic rally in Pittsburgh, captured here on youtube, and Local 776 got to showcase its new semi in Harrisburg.

Brother Tom Bennett, president of Local  200 in Milwaukee, shared this photo of the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the "Memphis to Madison" rally in Wisconsin. Bennett writes:

Local 200 at the Memphis to Madison Rally on 4.4.11 as Rev. Jackson energizes the crowd of thousands and then a moment to honor MLK at the moment in time when his death came upon him.

In Newburgh, N.Y., Local 445 held a rallyat the intersection of Rte. 300 and Rte. 17K. We have this picture:

And in Nevada, Teamsters joined what the Las Vegas Sun called a "motley" group

...of about 500 activists from unions across the valley that gathered under the late afternoon sun Monday to protest budget cuts proposed by Gov. Brian Sandoval.

From steelworkers and boilermakers to firefighters and elevator construction workers, they assembled in a parking lot at the College of Southern Nevada’s Charleston campus, waving signs and chanting slogans.

Despite their different backgrounds, the union activists who gathered for the national “We are One, Respect our Rights” rally held in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a cohesive message: stop education cuts and save collective bargaining.

Teamsters joined the Las Vegas rally.

Still more to come!

Teamsters 776 semi and 'We Shall Overcome' in PA rally

We know our Teamster brothers and sisters are at the 4.4.11 rally today in Harrisburg, because the tweetosphere tells us the Local 776 semi pulled up. Here's a short video of people singing "We Shall Overcome" in the Capitol Rotunda.

The event was sponsored by Harrisburg Region Central Labor Council; Greater Harrisburg NAACP; Interdenominational Ministers Conference of Greater Harrisburg, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, Latino Hispanic American Community Center.