Today's Teamster News 03.07.15

Teamsters
Pasco HR Director Resigns Amid Criticism From Unions, Sheriff  The Tampa Tribune   ...Members of the Teamsters Local 79 routinely post videos of union bargaining session on YouTube with headlines describing DeSimone as the “snippy county lawyer.”...
Wisconsin Right-To-Work Law Heads To Scott Walker's Desk Despite Union Fight  The Guardian   ...Thomas Millonzi, the head of a 4,700-member Teamsters local in Milwaukee, said he was already taking steps to discourage Teamsters from seizing on the new legislation to quit the union and stop paying union dues...
Ryder Drivers At Three Locations In California Join Teamsters Union  teamster.org   …Drivers with Ryder Integrated Logistics at three California locations have voted to join the Teamsters Union, gaining representation for 105 workers in one week...
Trade
Thank You, Congressmember Loebsack  Blog for Iowa   …The second is for his membership in the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC)….The CPC issued an alternative to the TPP Thursday that takes the negotiations back from corporations and puts it back into the hands of elected representatives...
State Battles
Senate Deadlocks On Right-To-Work Bill  New Hampshire Union Leader   ...New Hampshire is not likely to join the ranks of right-to-work states any time soon. After a short debate Thursday, the Senate deadlocked 12-12 on Senate Bill 107, which would have prohibited collective bargaining agreements from requiring employees to either join or contribute to a union...
Illinois: Unions Sue To Reinstate Dues  New York Times   ...Labor unions filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to invalidate Gov. Bruce Rauner’s executive order ending a requirement that state workers pay union dues even if they do not want to join a union. Twenty-seven unions sued the Republican governor, saying the order he issued last month violates collective bargaining agreements and state labor law and that Mr. Rauner exceeded his constitutional authority...
Push To Expand Paid-Leave Law In Connecticut  Wall Street Journal   ...On Thursday, the state Legislature’s labor and public-employees committee is holding a public hearing in Hartford on a new bill that would expand the law to include businesses with 10 or more workers. It would extend the number of paid days to seven a year. Manufacturing companies and certain nonprofit organizations, which are currently exempt, are included in this proposal...
War on Workers
Senate Votes To Kill NLRB Rule That Speeded Votes On Union Representation  Washington Post   ...The Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday voted 53 to 46 to kill a National Labor Relations Board rule reducing the time between a union’s request for representation and a vote by workers on it. The legislation now goes to the House, where similar action is expected...
U.S. Airlines Reveal Evidence They Say Proves Gulf Carriers Get Unfair Subsidies  Skift   ...Delta Air Lines, American Airlines Group, and United Airlines released their much-anticipated report providing what they say is proof that the Gulf carriers have received $42 billion in “quantifiable subsidies” from their governments, enabling them to jumpstart their growth and distort the competitive marketplace...
Workplace Injuries Are Adding To Income Inequality: Labor Department  Huffington Post   ...According to the Labor Department, roughly 4 million serious injuries and illnesses are reported by employers each year, though the true tally is likely much higher. Workers who suffer a serious injury earn an estimated 15 percent less, or $31,000 on average, over the ensuing decade...
Strong Hiring Still Isn’t Bringing Pay Raises  FiveThirtyEight   ...wages are doing little more than keeping up with inflation. The average worker earned $24.78 an hour in February, just 2 percent more than a year earlier. That means most workers aren’t seeing much benefit from the rapidly improving job market...
Miscellaneous
On The Anniversary Of Selma, A Call To Action (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...It is time for us to continue in the footsteps of the great civil rights leaders that came before us. As a labor movement, we need to start pressuring Congress along with our allies to immediately pass a Voting Rights Act that will close all the loopholes that allow restrictive legislation to be possible...

Today's Teamster News 12.19.14

Teamster News
Teamsters settles grievance with town over surveilance cameras in town hall  Watertown Daily Times   ...the language added to the contract though helps alleviate concerns that the cameras were being installed to monitor employees...
Hamburg Ratifies Contract  Sun News   ...After about two and a half years, clerical staff in the Hamburg Central School District have a new contract, with a five-year collective bargaining agreement between the district and Teamsters Local 264 unanimously approved at the school board’s Dec. 9 meeting...
Opposition to Carriage Horse Ban is Growing: Poll  New York Observer   ...Some 67 percent of residents polled in new Quinnipiac University poll released today said they do not believe Mayor Bill de Blasio should ban horse-drawn carriages, something he promised to do on “day one” of his administration. Just 22 percent of those polled supported the mayor’s plans to nix the industry...
Backing The Wrong Horse  City Journal   ...In threatening to ban Central Park horse carriages, he is taking on a popular and well-connected industry and making enemies out of natural allies. The 300 or so carriage drivers, represented by Teamsters Local 553, enjoy the support of the Central Labor Council, representing 1.3 million workers in the five boroughs, as well as the left-wing Working Families Party...
Security Workers At Indian Point Have 5-Year Contract  Patch   ...Entergy and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 456 have a new contract for the union’s approximately 186 members who work in security positions at the Indian Point Energy Center...
Offset Paperback Won’t Eliminate 37 Jobs  Citizens Voice   ...Unionized employees are represented by the Graphic Communications Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 137C...
Hernando Commission Approves Proposed Contract With Employees  Tampa Bay Times   ...The county's roughly 430 bargaining unit members with Teamsters Local 79 will vote on the pact at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 5 in the jury assembly room at the Hernando County Government Center. Teamsters business agent John Sholtes is enthusiastically supportive of the proposed contract...
Trade
Elizabeth Warren, other Democrats raise concerns about free-trade pact with Asia  Washington Post   ...Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday voiced new concerns over President Obama’s trade agenda as congressional Democrats ramp up efforts to slow the administration’s bid to finalize a major free-trade pact in Asia that the president has called a top priority...
"NAFTA on Steroids" Trade Talks to Wrap Up  The Free Press   ..."This whole thing is an attempt to make sure that capitalism runs completely unabated by any legislator or regulator," said Jackson at the November meeting of Maine's Citizen Trade Policy Commission, a panel of state lawmakers and stakeholders who advise federal policy makers on trade policy. "The few elite will decide what's best for all of us, and it won't get debated. It'll get voted up or down, and that is not transparent government in any shape or form."...
Latest secret TPPA leak reveals mass surveillance plans  The Daily Blog   ...a seemingly innocuous e-commerce chapter in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) could become a stalking horse for the NSA to get its hands on our personal data, as well as sweeping away privacy protections and controls on internet commerce...
Democrats urge officials to leave out investor-state dispute provisions in major trade deals  The Hill   ...Several House and Senate Democrats are urging the Obama administration to leave out provisions in a two major trade deals they say could lead to changes in U.S. finanical regulations...
State Battles
Wisconsin Teamsters laying groundwork for right-to-work battle  TeamsterNation   ...Anti-worker politicians in Wisconsin are spoiling for a fight against working people in 2015, and Wisconsin Teamsters are ready to defend them if necessary...
Foes of Unions Try Their Luck in County Laws  New York Times   ...Beginning here in the hometown of Senator Rand Paul and the Chevy Corvette, groups including the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Heritage Foundation and a newly formed nonprofit called Protect My Check are working together to influence local governments the same way they have influenced state legislatures, and anti-union ordinances are just the first step in the coordinated effort they envision...
Indiana Supreme Court Dismisses ‘Right To Work’ Challenge  Indianapolis Star   ...The Indiana Supreme Court has dismissed a second challenge to the state’s “right to work” law. The state’s high court unanimously dismissed the case Tuesday — a move that was expected after justices upheld the law in a similar case last month...
Why Did Wisconsin Club for Growth Send $750K to a Dark-Money Group in Missouri Last Year?  Express Express   ...I’ve always wondered why a Missouri-based attorney was mixed up in a case involving Wisconsin’s campaign finance laws. Is the Wisconsin Club for Growth’s money the link? And, if so, why?...
EBay parts ways with controversial political group ALEC  Reuters   ...Ebay Inc said on Thursday that it will end its association with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a political group that other tech companies dropped earlier this year due to its views on climate change...
Uber Strikes Deal With Portland to Suspend Service for Three Months  Wall Street Journal   ...Uber reached an agreement with Portland to suspend operations in the city for three months while regulators work to revise rules around taxis that currently prohibit ridesharing apps...
After A Spate Of Bad Press For Uber, Some Turn Back To Traditional Taxicabs  New York Daily News   ...The renegade taxi service has been a worldwide punching bag all year — thanks to prices that become astronomical during peak times, a company official who suggested investigating reporters, drivers who have sexually harassed and allegedly raped customers, and claims of bizarre routes meant to jack up prices — and more and more New Yorkers are hitting delete...
War on Workers
America’s Wealth Gap Is Becoming a Wealth Chasm  Slate   …"The upper fifth of households by income, their typical wealth levels have indeed started to mend from the devastation of the Great Recession," says Richard Fry, a researcher at Pew and author on the report. "But for the bottom four-fifths of households, particularly the middle income households, they’ve made no gains."...
Meet the Men and Women on the Hill Who Told Citigroup to Go to Hell  Wall Street on Parade   ...Citigroup received the largest taxpayer bailout in history during the financial crisis as a result of its unchecked derivatives: $45 billion in TARP funds; over $306 billion in asset guarantees; and more than $2 trillion in low-cost loans from the Fed according to the General Accountability Office. The abject repulsion that the very bank that got the biggest handout and played a pivotal role in collapsing the economy should now be gaming Congress to repeal financial protections drew a joint letter of protest from Republican Senator David Vitter of Louisiana and Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio...
Sorry, Kevin Yoder: Your measure really is about helping the big banks (opinion)  Kansas City Star   ...Ever since he was named last week as the sponsor of a controversial measure rolling back a significant financial reform, U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder has been trying to have it both ways. The Republican from Kansas wants constituents to think his motives were all about helping out community banks and farmers. But the biggest beneficiaries are Wall Street banks, which already have rewarded Yoder handsomely and will continue to do so...
20 States Raise Their Minimum Wages While the Federal Minimum Continues to Erode  Economic Policy Institute   ...these increases will provide workers with $2.5 billion in additional wages over the course of the year. This added pay represents a modest, but significant, boost to the spending power of the affected workers, many of whom have children and families to support...
Oil Trains Hold Upper Hand As Pipeline Called Off  Houston Chronicle   ...The big increase in rail transport has raised safety concerns and pushed regulators to examine hazardous materials shipping standards in the face of high-profile accidents - including a July 6, 2013, derailment and explosion that killed 47 people in Lac-Megantic, Quebec...
Miscellaneous
Beach man saved by UPS worker dies in hospital surrounded by family  WTKR   ... Last week Marvin went into cardiac arrest while inside the Calvary Baptist Church in Virginia Beach. At that moment, UPS workers Sisha Perea  and her husband Rob pulled up to deliver a package. Sisha gave Marvin CPR and saved his life...

Today's Teamster News 03.02.13

Keystone XL pipeline would have little impact on climate change, State Department analysis says Washington Post   ...Canada’s oil sands will be developed even if President Obama denies a permit to the pipeline connecting the region to Gulf Coast refineries, the analysis said. Such a move also would not alter U.S. oil consumption, the report added...
Factory Expansion Spurs Growth as Budget Cuts Loom  Bloomberg   ...American factories expanded in February at the fastest pace in almost two years, spurred by a jump in orders that is helping propel an economy about to be tested by federal government cutbacks...
Personal Income Hammered - Drops -3.6% for January 2013  Economic Populist   ...Disposable income is worse.   DPI dropped -4.0%, even when adjusted for inflation....
Since 2011, 105 Wage Supression Bills Have Been Introduced In State Legislatures  ThinkProgress   ... lawmakers in 31 states have introduced 105 bills aimed at suppressing workers’ wages, with a little help from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the conservative group that provides model legislation on everything from union-busting to voter disenfranchisement:...
Looming federal spending cuts will hit hospitals where it hurts  McClatchy   ...More than 4,200 hospitals that are among the largest employers in their communities would lose nearly $3 billion under the Medicare cuts this year. That could trigger the loss of 73,000 hospital jobs nationwide...
Ahead of Singapore Round of TPP Negotiations, U.S. Public Opposition to Deal Grows  Public Citizen   ...With Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations slated to begin on March 4, opposition to the deal in the United States continues to mount. More than 300 groups signed on to a letter to Congress calling the lack of transparency in negotiations “inconsistent with democratic principles”...
Michigan governor clears way for state takeover of Detroit  Reuters   ...Friday's declaration by the Republican governor virtually assures that the state of Michigan will assume control of Detroit's books, and eventually decide whether the city should file the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history...
Taylor schools, union sued over contract that skirts right to work  Detroit News   ...The Mackinac Center for Public Policy filed a lawsuit Thursday on behalf of three Taylor teachers who object to a union security clause adopted by the school board and the Taylor Federation of Teachers...
At lager heads: Pa. beer distributors stoutly oppose Corbett privatization   newsworks.com   ...Any reservations beer distributors have about Pa. Gov. Tom Corbett's liquor privatization plan have brewed into outright opposition...
Nutter seeks high court's OK to impose his terms on city workers  philly.com   ...If Nutter succeeds, the case could change labor negotiations across Pennsylvania by significantly shifting power to mayors and governors...
Missouri House Votes To Exempt Schools From Prevailing Wage  KCUR.com   ...Democrats argued that waiving the prevailing wage requirement could lead to cut-rate contractors from other states taking jobs away from skilled workers in Missouri...
GOP lawmaker targets public employee unions with bills  Cronkite News   ...Two ... bills would restrict the ability of public employee union members to strike and to be paid for time spent on union activities. The other would require public employees represented by unions to sign off each year on having dues deducted from paychecks...
Alaska lawmakers raise labor cost concerns  Associated Press   ...Alaska legislative leaders are urging Gov. Sean Parnell to negotiate no raises in union labor contracts amid concerns about state budget costs...
Waste Management Workers In California Vote To Join Local 683 In San Diego  IBT   ...sanitation drivers, helpers, mechanics and yard crew from El Cajon‘s Waste Management facility overwhelmingly voted to join Teamsters, Local 683. The vote was 144 to 37 in favor of forming their union. There are 191 workers in the bargaining unit...
Teamsters Organizes Sleepy Hollow Employees  Tarrytown-SleepyHollow Patch   ...The new Teamsters span a broad array of workplaces and duties, from village hall clerks and other office staff to rec workers, crossing guard and the village’s parking-law enforcer...
Fairbanks school bus drivers vote to authorize strike  Daily News-Miner   ...Local school bus drivers overwhelmingly approved a strike vote on Thursday against First Student, but union officials say no work stoppage is imminent. Members of Teamsters Local 959 voted to strike after unsuccessful negotiations...
Cleveland city lawyers want to join Teamsters, citing years of low pay and job insecurity  The Plain Dealer  ...Civil attorneys in the city of Cleveland's law department have petitioned to join the Teamsters and become the first municipal law department in Ohio to unionize...
Negotiations for county workers hit seniority snag  Tampa Bay Times   ...Representing about 400 county employees, Teamsters Local 79 pushed hard Thursday to get the county administration to agree to use seniority as the main factor in filling county jobs...
Hoffa Calls On Congress To Act On Sequester  IBT  ...Hoffa on the failure of Congress to replace the sequester by today's deadline: "Austerity is destroying the economies of Europe and worsening the European debt crisis. Austerity will destroy America's economy and increase our deficit. Cutting government spending is exactly what Congress should not be doing during an economic slump...

Woo-hoo! Another Teamster organizing victory!

Let's give a warm welcome to 162 new Teamster brothers and sisters who work at the McKesson Phamaceutical warehouse in Lakeland, Fla. They are now members of Local 79 in Tampa.

The workers prevailed despite a vicious anti-union assualt by the company, according to Randy Pines, Local 79's organizer and political liaison. Said Pines,

The company hired a union-busting law firm and management held three-hour meetings with workers daily over the past several weeksThe organizing committee took on the bosses at the captive-audience meetings and challenged them. This was the workers’ victory.

Local 79 President Ken Wood said,

The workers remained united and won this for themselves and for their families. Now we will focus on negotiating a strong contract for the workers that addresses all their concerns.

Teamsters battling across the USA

The war on workers isn't limited to state capitals. (But you knew that.) Teamsters are fighting back against employers who keep wanting more, more, more for themselves and less, less, less for their employees.

Here's a quick recap of some headline-grabbing Teamster actions:

• Teamsters sue to block Frontier Airline concessions. The Denver Post reports the International Brotherhood of Teamsters sued Frontier in U.S. District Court on Aug. 3. The IBT argues that a concession deal worked out between Frontier and its former union was illegal.
• Teamsters escalate protests against BMW across the country. Jobmouse.com reports the Teamsters set up protests outside 50 BMW dealerships in 11 states – California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, New York and Virginia. The German company, which received a $4 billion bailout from U.S. taxpayers, now wants to lay off nearly 100 longtime Teamsters in Ontario, Calif., -- just because it can.  
• Sotheby's locks out unionized art handlers, sparks picket line. Reuters reports New York Teamsters set up a picket line outside of Sotheby's, the high-end auction house, after they were locked out during a contract dispute.
• Teamsters Local 79 sued the State of Florida for requiring state employees to contribute to their pension plans in violation of their contract.
• Minnesota Public Radio reports Teamsters won't deliver to American Crystal Sugar because the company locked out workers who are members of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union.

Teamsters challenge new Florida pension law

Gov. Skelator Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature are facing heat from Teamsters over the pension reform bill they passed in the last session. Effective July 1, the pension law requires participants in the Florida Retirement System (FRS) contribute 3 percent of their salaries into the state pension fund.

A lawsuit filed by Teamsters Local 79 contends the 3 percent contribution requirement is unconstitutional and impairs the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the Citrus County School Board and Tampa-based Teamsters Local 79.
Teamsters Local 79 and Adolph Baumann, a Local 79 member, are plaintiffs in the case.

Ken Wood, International Vice President and President of Local 79, put it succinctly:

Our collective bargaining agreement does not allow the state to impose this hardship on our members. This is wrong, it’s immoral and Teamsters are going to stand up and fight for our members.

Baumann has worked at CCSB as a custodian for 21 years. He said:

I feel like we were betrayed. People who work in the school system don’t make much money to begin with, but we should get the benefits we were promised. The new governor and legislature are breaking our contract by taking this money out of our salaries.

The legal action requests that the court permanently stop CCSB from taking 3 percent from the Teamster members’ paychecks because their CBA specifically says that they are not to contribute to the retirement system. The new pension law goes against the contract, requiring the contribution. And according to the Florida Constitution, laws cannot be passed that impair contracts, like the one between CCSB and Teamsters Local 79.

This is the second lawsuit Teamsters have filed over the pension law. Teamsters Local 385 members in Orlando recently joined a lawsuit filed by a coalition of public sector unions against the State over the 3 percent contribution. Like the Teamsters Local 79 lawsuit, this lawsuit also states that the 3 percent contribution is unconstitutional. However, this lawsuit instead deals with employees’ basic rights when they participate in FRS, as opposed to how the new pension laws affect a particular CBA.

No matter how you look at it legally, Florida workers are getting screwed.

This is what we union thugs do in our spare time

We paint houses for low-income people. For free.

Jo Simon got the ball rolling after she opened her gas bill at her home in Clearwater, Fla. The bill included a flier seeking low-income people who needed their houses painted. Simon, head of the Teamsters Local 79 women’s committee and a 17-year UPS Teamster, called to find out how she could help.

TeamsterMagazine reports that Simon ended up gathering a team of 21 Teamsters to help paint a disabled elderly woman's home. The project was part of  the annual "Paint Your Heart Out Clearwater" event, which resulted in 20 low-income people's houses being painted in one day.

Teamsters from as far as Tennessee came to help out. Kelly Andrews, a member of Local 528 in Atlanta and coordinator for the Local 519-sponsored women’s committee, took vacation time and traveled 10 ½ hours from the Chattanooga, Tenn. area. Andrews brought along fellow Teamster women, Sandy Gilliam and Kelly Sims, as well as her 16-year-old son, Sam. Teamsters from Local 79 in Tampa, Fla., Local 528 in Atlanta and Local 519 in Knoxville, Tenn., participated in the project.

“There are a lot of charities that you can make donations to, but you don’t get to see the people that you helped. It uplifted all of our spirits to be a part of this and to see the positive impact we had on such a wonderful woman,” Andrews said.