Foes of Mich. workers take aim at prevailing wage again

Those behind an effort to sandbag Michigan's prevailing wage law are not giving up, despite the fact its first effort at a ballot measure failed because of the presence of a massive number of duplicate and improper names on the signature sheets.

Chris Fisher, leader of the anti-prevailing wage group, Protecting Michigan Taxpayers, has vowed to re-start the petition process, saying he would submit new petition language to the Secretary of State to do just that. He had to ditch the old campaign on Oct. 30.

Fisher's threat was prompted by an earlier press conference by the union-backed group, Protect Michigan Jobs, which found 43 percent of the 390,000 repeal signatures the so-called taxpayers group submitted to the state Board of Canvassers were invalid. That means the petition was more than 25,000 short of the 252,523 valid names state law required.

 Much of the funding for the petition effort came from the ultra-rich, ultra-right DeVos family of Grand Rapids, owners of the exploitative Amway direct sales firm. The Michigan campaign to repeal the prevailing wage, which would trash construction workers' wages and job protections, is part of a nationwide effort to destroy workers' pay and obliterate both their unions and their rights on the job.

Bart Carrigan, a co-chair of Protect Michigan Jobs and President and CEO of Associated General Contractors of Michigan, said the effort would be disastrous for workers:

Eliminating prevailing wage to cut wages and benefits of hard working skilled trades men and women in our state would hurt the Michigan economy, aggravating current worker shortages in the industry and discouraging young people from entering these valuable professions. Let's end this attack on skilled trade workers and the companies who hire them as quickly as possible, so we can focus on building a better Michigan.

Apparently, however, Protecting Michigan Taxpayers is confident that their deep-pocketed backers are willing to double-down on the incompetence of the anti-worker Associated Builders and Contractors and its signature collectors with their vow to re-start the petition process.

Now, having filed the petition paperwork, the group's new deadline to collect the necessary 252,523 signatures is in April 2016. If sufficient signatures are collected -- and approved -- the prevailing wage repeal question goes before the Republican-run state legislature. There, the building trades have been lobbying a handful of moderate Republican lawmakers not to approve it.

If the legislature votes down the measure or passes on it, the prevailing wage repeal question goes to the voters as a statewide referendum in November 2016. State surveys indicate strong support for prevailing wage, and construction industry leaders have also publicly expressed support for the law.

Stick up for workers, Michigan! Say no to repealing prevailing wage!

• Press Associates, Inc. contributed to this report.

Today's Teamster News 06.12.15

Teamsters
Hoffa Calls on House to Vote Down Flawed Trade Adjustment Assistance Bill  Teamster.org  ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa challenged House representatives to vote down a severely flawed Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) bill in a letter delivered this morning. Hoffa questioned the lack of funding and protection for public service workers in the TAA bill...
Teamsters Corrections Employees Picket, Protest Threat Of Washington State Government Shutdown  Teamster.org  ...Teamster corrections employees picketed at the Monroe Correctional Complex in Monroe and the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla on Thursday to demand that the legislature pass a budget that funds their contract and prevents a costly government shutdown. Picketers at both facilities held signs that read: DOC Corrections Employees – Keeping our Communities Safe – and they urged the public to support them...
Teamsters get back into Convention Center  Philly.com  ...In yet another complicated twist to the Pennsylvania Convention Center saga, members of the Teamsters local that had lost the right to work in the building are back in the building working. In May 2014, two of the six unions that worked in the building setting up trade shows lost jurisdiction when their leaders failed to sign a new customer satisfaction agreement by a management-imposed deadline.

Global Labor & Trade
Obama’s Trade Bills Face Tough Battle Against House Democrats  New York Times  ...President Obama’s ambitious push to expand his trade negotiating powers faces a final congressional showdown on Friday, but lawmakers in his own party — pressed hard by organized labor, environmental groups and liberal activists — are threatening to bring down the entire package of trade bills...
Could liberals bring down Obama’s big trade agenda?  Washington Post  ...President Obama’s trade agenda is really hanging in the balance right now, as the bill giving him Fast Track authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal appears balanced on the edge of a knife in the House of Representatives...
Backlash Against TPP Grows as Leaked Text Reveals Increased Corporate Control of Public Health  Democracy Now  ...As the Obama administration praises the benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), backlash continues to grow against the deal. WikiLeaks has just published another section of the secret text — this one about public healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry. Newly revealed details of the draft show the TPP would give major pharmaceutical companies more power...
Trade Bill in Jeopardy as Democrats Hold Back  National Journal  ...The fate of President Obama's fast-track trade bill remained uncertain Thursday afternoon even after clearing a key hurdle, as Democrats expressed growing concern with the slice of the package that helps train workers who lose their jobs as a result of a future trade deal. The Trade Adjustment Assistance bill—a key provision for Democrats—is vital to passing Trade Promotion Authority, legislation that gives Congress and up-or-down vote on trade deals negotiated by the president...
Republicans Tie Their Favorite Causes to the Trade Agreement  New York Times  ...For Representative F. James Sensenbrenner, Republican of Wisconsin, there is language promising that no trade deals can compel the United States to address climate change. For anti-immigrant firebrand Steve King, Republican of Iowa, another provision would prohibit future trade deals from loosening immigration laws or expanding visa access...
Why the Founding Fathers Would Oppose Fast Track  Eyes on Trade  ...Morrison warns in a letter to Congress that the TPP’s proposed expansion of a controversial parallel legal system for foreign corporations, known as “investor-state dispute settlement” (ISDS), “improperly removes a core judicial function from the federal courts and therefore violates Article III of the Constitution.” TPP’s expansion of ISDS would newly empower thousands of foreign corporations to bypass the entire U.S. legal system...
Obama’s trade deal is a Trojan horse  (opinion) MSNBC  ...President Barack Obama has ditched his renowned cool to go on the warpath against Democratic senators, small business leaders, American unions, and faith, environmental and health organizations that oppose the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement he wants to enact. Improbably, Obama is united with the Wall Street titans, big business interests and Republican congressional leaders who tried to keep him out of office to revive a Nixon-era procedure called “fast track” that could railroad the TPP through Congress...
Child Labor Stems from Lack of Good Jobs for Adults  Solidarity Center  ...Some 168 million children remain trapped in child labor—11 percent of the world’s child population—even as 200 million youth in 2012 were working but earning less than $2 per day, according to an International Labor Organization (ILO) report released this week. “Both child labor and the youth decent work deficit are symptomatic of the general lack of sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the global economy and in developing economies in particular,” according to the report.

State & Living Wage Battles
Virginia Democrats sue over voter ID law  Associated Press ...Virginia Democrats are trying to strike down the state’s voter ID law, joining efforts in two other swing states to challenge voting laws ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The Democratic Party of Virginia said it filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against the State Board of Elections seeking to undo the state’s voter photo ID provision...
There Is No Budget Surplus in Wisconsin  PR Watch  ...Walker does not have a surplus. He has a $2.2 billion deficit and a big problem. With his budget committee now caught up in a hot debate over how to fund the Bucks’ new arena and bankroll new road-building, Joint Finance is stuck, with no new meetings scheduled. The standoff could delay Walker’s much-anticipated announcement as a candidate for president...
“Something is rotten in Michigan”: Poisoned water supplies, dissolved school districts and a massive unraveling of American democracy  Salon  ...If you’re thinking, “Who cares?” since what happens in Michigan stays in Michigan, think again. The state’s aggressive balance-the-books style of governance has already spread beyond its borders. In January, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie appointed bankruptcy lawyer and former Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr to be a “legal adviser” to Atlantic City...
The Koch Brothers Usually Have Scott Walker's Back. Not This Time.  Mother Jones  ...The Koch brothers and their political machine have long been key allies of Wisconsin governor and presumptive 2016 hopeful Scott Walker. With the GOP presidential field getting more crowded by the day and political observers wondering who will win the Koch Primary—and the financial backing of these billionaires and their donor network—Walker has sparked a controversy in his home state in which and he and Team Koch are on opposite sides...
Why Scott Walker is Even More of a Menace Than He Seems  Counterpunch ...Having gutted public sector unions in Wisconsin, attacking organized labor in one of its proudest strongholds, Governor Scott Walker now has his sights set on another of his state’s glories, the University of Wisconsin. His target is the entire university and college system, but what sets him off most is Wisconsin’s “flagship” campus in Madison...
Emanuel to rely on worker complaints to enforce higher minimum wage  Chicago Tribune  ...en the minimum wage in Chicago increases to $10 an hour July 1, Mayor Rahm Emanuel will rely mainly on workers filing complaints against their bosses to make sure thousands of businesses big and small comply with the new standards. Emanuel was out Wednesday reminding people about the $1.75-an-hour wage hike, casting the bump in pay for about 200,000 workers in human terms for struggling families...
Chris Christie Suggests College Students Should Sell Themselves To Investors To Pay Tuition  Think Progress  ...Christie also mentioned income share agreements, which allow students to essentially issue stock in themselves. It allows people to invest in college students, or to “own human capital contracts,” which means that an investor could pay a portion of the student’s tuition to attend college in exchange for that student giving the investor a certain percentage of their income for so many years...

U.S. Labor
USW Ratifies New Contract at Hawesville, Kentucky Smelter  MarketWatch  ...Century Aluminum of Kentucky General Partnership (the "Company"), a subsidiary of Century Aluminum Company, announced today that a new, five-year collective bargaining agreement was ratified by the United Steelworkers Local 9423 on June 11, 2015 for the Company's Hawesville, Kentucky smelter. The new contract is effective today through April 1, 2020...
Hayward, SEIU Local 1021 reach tentative contract agreement  Contra Costa Times  ...The city reached a tentative contract agreement with the union representing its clerical and maintenance, ending a lengthy labor dispute. The agreement with SEIU Local 1021 was announced Thursday following a 12-hour negotiating session Wednesday. Details of the agreement were not available pending a vote by union members...
Better Enforcement of Farmworker Heat Rules as UFW and Brown Administration Settle Lawsuit  Huffington Post  ...Timelier, more effective, and more consistent inspections of farm and other outdoor worksites under California's recently improved heat-illness-prevention regulations will follow the settlement of two lawsuits between the Jerry Brown administration's work-safety agency and farmworkers partnering with the United Farm Workers (UFW)...
AFSCME members continue to voice displeasure with contract negotiations at rally  State Journal-Register  ...Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees continued their string of protests against Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday at the Old State Capitol. An AFSCME bulletin obtained by The State Journal-Register in May states the governor wants a salary freeze, reduced vacation time and cuts to health insurance...
New DC JWJ Report Reveals Unfair Scheduling Practices in DC  DC Jobs with Justice  ...In line with previous research, it finds that “just in time” approaches to scheduling negatively impact many D.C. employees’ lives, often resulting in erratic and unpredictable hours for the women and men who serve our food, stock our shelves and sweep our floors. Employees are granted too few hours on too short notice, resulting in unpredictable incomes and work schedules that make it hard to budget, arrange childcare, continue with education or hold down a second job to try to make ends meet...
National labor board says tribal sovereignty trumps NLRB protection in Chickasaw casino case  Tulsa World  ...Tribal sovereignty trumps federal protection by a national labor board in a case of union-organizing complaints at the state’s largest casino, the board found this month.
The June 4 opinion by the National Labor Relations Board contradicts a recent appeals court decision regarding a similar dispute with another tribe and its casino...

Miscellaneous
Iceland Jailed Bankers and Rejected Austerity—and It’s Been a Success  TruthDig  ...When the global economic crisis hit in 2008, Iceland suffered terribly—perhaps more than any other country. Now, less than a decade later, the nation’s economy is booming. That’s because it took a different approach. Instead of imposing devastating austerity measures and bailing out its banks, Iceland let its banks go bust and focused on social welfare policies...
Big Pharma's Hidden Hand In Rise of Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs  Common Dreams  ...From the World Health Organization to the National Academy of Sciences, scientists are warning that rising antibiotic resistance poses a public health threat across the world. Now, a new report from consumer advocacy group Sum Of Us examines an often-overlooked factor behind this crisis: the complicity of pharmaceutical giants in the dangerous dumping of drug waste throughout the supply chain...

Today's Teamster News 05.29.15

Teamsters
Red Cross workers vote to join Teamsters local in Wichita  Wichita Eagle  ...The Teamsters union said a group of American Red Cross workers who collect blood for the organization in Kansas have voted to join Teamsters Local 795 in Wichita. According to a Teamsters news release, the Wichita bargaining unit will represent 91 workers. The workers voted 64-13 to join the Teamsters, the release said...
Port Truckers Revive Drive for Employee Status  Wall Street Journal  ...Backed by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, port truckers have been filing formal complaints against their employers for years, arguing that they’ve been classified illegally as independent contractors. Alex Paz, a drayage driver in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area who participated in protests earlier this year, said vehicle payments and maintenance often are deducted from drivers’ paychecks, which he believes is unfair...

Global Labor & Trade
New Polls Spotlight Damage of Past Trade Deals, Reveal Opposition to TPP Content  Public Citizen  ...You may have seen the headlines about today’s Reuters/Ipsos poll and yesterday’s Pew poll, touted as showing public support for trade deals. A close look at the polls  reveals that they did not even ask about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Fast Track, the Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA), or any other element of the controversial current trade policy agenda. The U.S. public likes the general notion of trade but opposes the documented results of past trade deals...
Top Dem: Trade deal could restrict access to cheaper medicines  The Hill  ...Rep. Sandy Levin (Mich.), the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, says a new trade deal could be a “major step backwards” on access to affordable medicines. In an op-ed Thursday, Levin raised concerns that the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, which the U.S. is negotiating, will curtail access to generic drugs...
Just in time for House trade debate, opponents find new ammunition  McClatchy  ...The global trade body (World Trade Organization) in Geneva set off a scramble on Capitol Hill last week when it sided with Canada and Mexico in a dispute over the U.S. country-of-origin meat-labeling law, saying it put foreign competitors at a disadvantage.
Obama Trade Bill Seen Gaining Enough Support for Final Passage  Bloomberg  ...Passage of the measure in the Senate last week -- after a brief rebellion by Democrats -- has proven to uncommitted House members that the legislation will come up for a vote. Lawmakers will have to choose between the business lobby, which backs the bill, and labor, environmental and other groups that bitterly oppose it...
AFL-CIO leader warns labor could sit out 2016 fight over trade  The Hill  ...AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka warned Hillary Clinton that his powerful labor union coalition might not endorse her presidential campaign if she comes out in support of the controversial trade deal making its way through Congress. Trumka first said in an interview with USA Today that it would cost Clinton the enthusiasm of organized labor if she backed the Trans-Pacific Partnership...
Is US Trade Rep a Wall Street Crony? Groups Demand Transparency.  Common Dreams  ...Noting deep ties between the country's top trade negotiator and Wall Street banks, ten groups representing millions of Americans are calling on the White House to make public all communications between U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and the massive financial institutions that stand to benefit from proposed trade deals...
Nigeria Petrol Strike Hits Country  BBC  ...Nigeria, Africa's largest economy, is hit with a strike by petroleum companies. Shops are forced to close their doors as delivering goods becomes impossible, and factories across the country shut down production...

State & Living Wage Battles
Michigan May Add Another Hurdle To Getting Welfare  Think Progress  ...Experts say tying welfare benefits to school attendance isn’t the best way to encourage kids to stay in school. Researchers agree that the problem is more of an economic one than a matter of insufficient financial rewards or punishments for parents whose children are frequently absent...
Right-to-work loses in Illinois house, heads for Missouri veto  People's World  ...In a huge rebuke to right-wing GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner's anti-worker agenda, the Democratic-run Illinois House voted his so-called right-to-work bill down, 72-0. While 37 state House Republicans, following Rauner's orders, voted present, another four didn't vote at all. One, Raymond Poe, joined the Democrats in opposing RTW...
Walker says he would be 'pleased' if prevailing wage repeal part of state budget  Star Tribune  ...Gov. Scott Walker says he would be "pleased" if a repeal of Wisconsin's prevailing wage law were a part of the state budget, but he'd also be satisfied with significant changes to the requirement setting construction wages for public works jobs. Walker reiterated his support Thursday for a full repeal, saying he believes that makes sense and is what he prefers...
Irvine bucks the trend as council votes to repeal living wage law  LA Times  ...As cities across the country are warming to the idea of increasing the minimum wage, Irvine is headed in the opposite direction. City Council members voted Tuesday to repeal the 2007 ordinance. A second council vote is needed to finalize repeal of the living wage law. The council meets again next month...
House Leaders: Bill Expanding Worker's Compensation Needs Further Study  Hartford Courant   ...A bill that would significantly expand the workers compensation system for police and firefighters is unlikely to come up for a vote in the House of Representatives this year. House Speaker Brendan Sharkey and Minority leader Themis Klarides both said Wednesday that further study is needed before the legislation is ready for a vote...

U.S. Labor
AFSCME pushing bill to prevent state workers from going on strike, being locked out  State Journal-Register  ...The state's largest public employee union is pushing a bill that would prevent state workers from striking or being locked out in the event talks on a new labor contract stall. Instead, the labor dispute would be handed over to an arbitrator to resolve through binding arbitration...
How We're Voting on the Union, and Why  Gawker  ...Yesterday, Gawker Media announced that we will be holding an election next week to vote on whether our editorial staffers want to form a union. The vote next week is to decide whether we want to agree to collectively bargain as a group, and join the Writers Guild of America, East...
No agreement reached between BP and USW at Oregon refinery  NBC  ...According to a spokesman for BP, the United Steelworkers Union and BP have not reached an agreement. Scott Dean, BP spokesman, says a new collective bargaining agreement has not been reached for employees working at the BP-Husky Toledo Refinery. Even though local issues are not resolved, the union wants to call off the strike and return its members to work...
Union Demands That The Streetcar Open And Fired Workers Be Rehired  DCist  ...The ATU has filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, but it could be weeks or months before it gets resolved. In the meantime, a handful of union members and supporters took to the corner of H and 14th streets NE last Friday to show support for the fired workers and pressure the city to finally open the project. "[The streetcar] needs to become the job creator they said it would be"...

Miscellaneous
Detroit Shuts Off Water For 1,000 Poor Residents Despite City Council’s Call To Stop  Think Progress  ...The Detroit Water and Sewage Department began shutting off water to about 1,000 delinquent accounts on Tuesday, against the wishes of the city council. The department would not make the exact number of households affected available. It distributed about 3,000 door hangers earlier in the month warning residents...
US economy shrinks 0.7% in first quarter as strong dollar eats into growth  The Guardian  ...A harsh winter, a strong dollar and falling oil prices took their toll on the US economy in the first quarter, the Commerce Department revealed on Friday. The quarterly economic decline is the first since the economy shrank by an even sharper 2.1% annual rate in the first quarter of 2014. A bleak winter also contributed to that decline as consumers stayed home and some businesses closed...
Extreme Wealth And Absolute Squalor: Homelessness In Silicon Valley  Think Progress  ...In Silicon Valley, abundant wealth commonly lives alongside absolute squalor. The same county that houses Yahoo!, Google, and scores of other digital money mines is mired in a costly ongoing failure to address rampant homelessness. “The dichotomy here is just astonishing,” Destination: Home executive director Jennifer Loving told ThinkProgress...

Today's Teamster News 02.08.14

Teamsters
Teamsters Membership Authorize Strike Action At CP  Teamsters Canada   …Today the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) members employed as Locomotive Engineers, Conductors, Trainmen and Yardmen throughout Canada has provided their National Bargaining Committee with a resounding demonstration of support…
Trade
Enormous, Humongous Trade Deficits Widen, Further Exposing Failed Policy  Huffington Post   …In December the trade deficit in goods and services made its largest percentage jump in more than five years and the 2014 yearly total is its highest since 2012 - which begs the question: Why is the Obama administration doubling down on the failed trade policies of its predecessors?...
Five Reasons Congress Should Oppose the TPP  truthout   …Nearly 60,000 job losses can be attributed to the 2012 US-Korea FTA, EPI reports. Secretary of State John Kerry and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack insist that the TPP would support 650,000 jobs in the United States, but the Washington Post's Fact Checker awarded their "illusionary" job claims four Pinocchios for "fishy math."...
STUDY: TV News Shows Largely Ignore Historic Trade Negotiations  Media Matters for America   …Weeknight television news programs have given little attention to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a sweeping trade agreement between the United States, Canada, and 10 nations from the Asia-Pacific region. Although the nations involved in the negotiations create a huge amount of economic activity, only PBS and MSNBC have devoted any significant coverage to the TPP since August 2013...
State Battles
Right-to-work law stands as judge dismisses suit over Michigan Capitol lockdown  Michigan Live   …A Michigan Court of Claims judge on Friday threw out a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the state's right-to-work law over alleged violations of the Open Meetings Act during the legislative process...
Lt. Governor ready to be tiebreaker in right-to-work vote (Video)  Albuquerque Business Journal   …Lieutenant Governor John Sanchez…said that as president of the New Mexico Senate and the tiebreaker, he'll vote for right-to-work legislation and support raising New Mexico's minimum wage to that of neighboring states…
The dangers of Illinois as a 'right to work' state  Chicago Sun-Times   …workers would suffer a substantial income loss from 5.7 percent to 7.3 percent. More damaging to middle class standards, workers would experience the equivalent of a decade-long wage freeze. Additionally, fewer workers would have health insurance and retirement savings…
War on Workers
Adjunct professors get poverty-level wages. Should their pay quintuple?  Washington Post   …Since getting into the game a few years ago, the Service Employees International Union has won elections covering about 24,000 contingent faculty across 25 campuses...
Union says U.S. refinery strike widened; cites unfair labor practices  Reuters   … The United Steelworkers union said on Saturday the strike by U.S. refinery workers is expanding to two more plants early on Sunday due to unfair labor practices by oil companies…
The job market is unquestionably improving, and at a nice clip. But wage growth is not heating up.  The Washington Post   …Wages/compensation are growing at about 2 percent, a rate that’s far from inflationary...

Today's Teamster News 02.03.15

Teamsters
Dutchess County LOOP Strike Averted As Negotiations Continue  Daily Freeman   ...The potential strike by the union representing Dutchess County LOOP bus drivers, mechanics, office employees and bus washers has apparently been averted. Teamsters Local 445 Business Agent Jerry Ebert said ... the company said it would resume negotiations, resulting in the union calling off its threat to strike.....
City Of Monroe Reports On Feb. 1 Snow Removal Efforts  Monroe News   ..."I am proud to report that all 15 Teamster personnel, both of our 2 supervisors, and our Superintendent of Public Services, Bill Walters, have all already been involved in our efforts today to combat the winter storm...
Leslie Marshall Show Features Teamsters Fight At Allegiant Air  teamster.org   …Teamsters Local 1224 President Daniel Wells talks with Leslie Marshall about the more than 500 Teamster Allegiant Air pilots and their fight for a fair contract...
Sysco Offers To Sell 11 Facilities To Win Merger Approval  New York Times   ...Sysco said on Monday that it had agreed to divest 11 distribution centers in a bid to obtain the blessing of regulators including the Federal Trade Commission. Sysco will sell the centers for an undisclosed sum to Performance Food Group, which will be its nearest rival after the deal for US Foods closes...
Trade
TPP negotiators agree on copyrights protection  NHK World News   …Negotiators of the Trans Pacific Partnership free trade pact say they are a step closer to reaching a deal on copyright duration in principle. The plan is for copyrights to last for 70 years...
Let's Take Apart The Corporate Case For Fast Track Trade Authority  Economy In Crisis   …an argument that TPP and similar agreements will “expand trade” masks what the bulk of these agreements are really about, which is getting governments off the backs of the giant corporations and protecting their profits from competition and democratic regulation...
Syriza-Led Greek Parliament ‘Will Never Ratify TTIP’  EurActiv   ...After making its voice heard in the debate over sanctions on Russia, the new government in Athens is now making its opposition known to the EU-US trade deal, TTIP...
State Battles
Legislation is detrimental to Missouri workers (opinion)  St. Louis Post Dispatch   …Missouri House Speaker John Diehl wants to make so-called worker freedom a key emphasis for the Legislature by passing right-to-work and “paycheck protection” bills. This legislation has nothing to do with workers’ rights or workers’ protection. Actually, these bills attack both. They undermine the ability of workers to have a voice and to organize opposition to the out-of-state, well-heeled efforts of extremists and the 1 percent...
Right To Work bill introduced in Senate  The InterMountain.com   …Proposed legislation would make West Virginia a Right To Work state...
Scott Walker To Cut $300 Million From Universities, Spend $500 Million On A Pro Basketball Stadium  Think Progress   ...Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) will unveil a budget Tuesday night that aims to slash hundreds of millions of dollars from the state’s public universities over the next two years....
War on Workers
U.S. workers strike for second day at nine refineries; one to shut  Reuters   …Union workers were on strike for a second day on Monday at nine U.S. refineries and chemical plants as they sought a new national contract with oil companies covering laborers at 63 plants...
Croatia just canceled the debts of its poorest citizens  Washington Post   …the government scheme aims to help some of the 317,000 Croatians whose bank accounts have been blocked due to their debts. Given that Croatia is a relatively small Mediterranean country of only 4.4 million inhabitants, the number of indebted citizens is significant and has become a major economic burden for the country…
World Bank Declines Child Labor Investigation World Bulletin   ...The World Banks internal watchdog has decided to pursue and investiage the link between the banks' loans and the Uzbek government-organised forced labour. The request by human rights campaigners to investigate the use of forced labour and child labour was declined, even though it has acknowledged that farms benfitting from its assistance might be forcing both adults and children against their will...
The Mental And Physical Toll Of Student Loans  The Atlantic   ...“Cumulative student loans were significantly and inversely associated with better psychological functioning,” according to the results. That means, generally speaking, student-loan debt was not great for the mental health of study participants...
Portland strippers head to Salem to lobby for better work conditions  Associated Press  …Tired of watching well-meaning strangers impose their own visions for improving the plight of the dancer, some of Portland's seasoned strippers are working directly with state lawmakers and professional lobbyists...
Uber Opening Robotics Research Facility In Pittsburgh To Build Self-Driving Cars  Tech Crunch   …Driver-on-demand service Uber is building a robotics research lab in Pittsburgh, PA to “kickstart autonomous taxi fleet development,” sources close to the decision have confirmed to TechCrunch. They say the company has hired talent from Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute, including lead engineering and commercialization experts...
The New Face of the Koch Campaign  The Daily Beast   …A father of two was sentenced to 55 years in jail for selling pot. The Koch brothers want to help set him free and make him the face of their new campaign for criminal justice reform...
Worker Dies On The Job At Chattanooga's Wrigley Plant  News Channel 9   …A worker died while on the job at Chattanooga's Wrigley Plant in Tuesday's early morning hours…This is the second time someone has died on site of the Wrigley Plant…
Cops: Social Worker Killed to Cover Up Embezzlement  Newser   …In a case that Philadelphia police say has left them "angry and confounded," a social worker allegedly gunned down a colleague in broad daylight after she discovered that he had embezzled tens of thousands of dollars from an after-school outreach program...
Miscellaneous
Keystone XL Pipeline Bill House Vote Eyed For Next Week  International Business Times   ...The House can either vote on the Senate version of the bill as is or write its own bill, pass that and then go into a conference committee with Senate leaders to hash out compromise legislation. A compromise bill might take too long, especially because eight agencies have a Monday deadline to weigh in on Keystone, according to Politico...

Today's Teamster News 01.27.15

Teamsters
Hoffa: No Time To Waste In Letting Public, Lawmakers Know About Fast Track  Huffington Post   ...congressional leaders want to move on fast track, and soon. That means those standing up for the interests of hardworking Americans must step up their efforts. After all, not everyone is aware of the consequences that a quick up-or-down vote on the 12-nation Pacific Rim trade deal will bring. It will devastate not only wage earners, but their families as well...
Teamsters Score Second Drayage Victory  Journal of Commerce   ...The Teamsters are gaining more traction in their attempt to unionize Southern California drayage truckers after drivers at an SSA Marine subsidiary chose a union local as their exclusive bargaining representative...
Open For Business  Journal of Commerce   ...The U.S. Department of Transportation’s decision to finally open the border to Mexican trucking companies — a stipulation of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement stymied by opponents for two decades — resolves none of the political controversy over allowing Mexican trucks on U.S. highways and still faces severe political backlash from critics, including the Teamsters union...
Trade
Protests As Trans-Pacific Partnership Talks Resume In New York Today  Crooks & Liars   ...Negotiators working on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) convened today in New York City. Even the location was kept secret until the last possible minute, but hundreds of trade, labor, environmental, health, communities of color, anti-GMO and food justice, anti-fracking, animal and other activists still showed up in the big blizzard to protest the secret trade agreement and "fast track" trade promotion authority (TPA)...
U.S. says final contours of Pacific trade pact coming into focus  Reuters   …The final form of an ambitious Pacific trade pact is coming into focus, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said on Tuesday as he urged Congress get behind the U.S. trade agenda...
The TPP Will Sink the Middle Class  Thom Hartmann   …we now know that the TPP would give big pharmaceutical companies virtual monopoly patent power, let corporations sue countries in international courts over regulations that those corporations don’t like, and gut environmental and financial rules.
The One Power Democrats Don’t Want Obama To Have  The Hill   ...Democrats and some Republicans are adamant that trade promotion authority (TPA) would give Obama’s trade team too much control over negotiations, and are making their opposition known in a barrage of press conferences on Capitol Hill...
State Battles
Gov. Mike Pence's state-run news outlet will compete with media  Indianapolis Star   …Gov. Mike Pence is starting a state-run taxpayer-funded news outlet that will make pre-written news stories available to Indiana media, as well as sometimes break news about his administration, according to documents obtained by The Indianapolis Star...
Right To Work Support In Legislature Backing Down  Badger Herald   ...Right-to-work legislation, which looks to limit unions’ governing power, is losing pull as a priority issue in Wisconsin’s Legislature this session. Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said in a statement this month he no longer expects right-to-work legislation to be brought up any time soon, a dramatic shift from his earlier statements that he intended to make the movement a priority this session...
Dropkick Murphys ‘literally hate' Scott Walker for using their song at Iowa convention  New York Daily News   ...The Dropkick Murphys have no problem dropping the hate word when it comes to politicians using their music at events especially when Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker entered the Iowa Freedom Summit to the song ‘I’m Shipping Up to Boston.’...
Kentucky: A New Frontier for Right-to-Work Laws?  The National Law Review   ... this appears to be the first time efforts by smaller units of “state government” (i.e., counties) have been undertaken on this front. While the NLRA allows “states” to pass and implement right-to-work laws, it is not clear if smaller units of local government can pass these laws or not...
Michigan Union Membership Dropped Significantly In 2014, First Full Year Under Right-To-Work Law  MLive   ...Overall, 14.5 percent of wage and salary workers in Michigan were members of a union in 2014, down from 16.3 percent in 2013, according to federal statistics released Friday...
Wage theft rampant in Colorado  The Durango Herald   ...From telemarketers to tortilla manufacturers, workers in myriad industries have suffered from employers failing to pay them wages they are owed, a Rocky Mountain PBS I-News investigation has found...
Oregon Strippers Prepare to Fight For Workplace Protection Laws  Willamette Week   ...Nude dancers who want more rights and better workplace protections are pushing forward with bills to create new rules for Oregon strip clubs.  A coalition of dancers, social workers and other advocates have drafted two bills they hope will get a hearing in Salem when lawmakers reconvene in February...
Will Sandoval Use The Bill To Achieve Collective Bargaining Reform?  Las Vegas Review Journal   ...Assemblyman Randy Kirner, R-Reno, is requesting the most comprehensive measure ...It would clarify the rules that exclude supervisors from collective bargaining, prohibit using government funds to pay employees engaged in union activities, require employees to seek union deductions before they would be collected by a government entity and make agreements retroactive to the date of the expiration of the previous contract. It also would require a final contract offer to be made public...
Possible Ballot Measure Could Be Bargaining Chip In Minimum-Wage Debate  Seattle Times   ...Democrats in Olympia are making one thing clear about a new proposal to raise the minimum wage: If it doesn’t pass this year, be ready for a ballot initiative...
War on Workers
Koch Brothers’ Budget of $889 Million for 2016 Is on Par With Both Parties’ Spending  New York Times   …The political network overseen by the conservative billionaires Charles G. and David H. Koch plans to spend close to $900 million on the 2016 campaign, an unparalleled effort by coordinated outside groups to shape a presidential election that is already on track to be the most expensive in history...
The State Of The Unions: Membership Is Up, But Density Still Drops  Washington Post   ...What's interesting about this is that union membership actually went up last year, with 41,000 new union members in the private sector and 8,000 in public. But the number of people working increased much more than that. The long-term trend has been that union membership in the public sector -- meaning government employees -- has grown, while private sector membership has dropped...
As inequality soars, the nervous super rich are already planning their escapes  Guardian   ...“I know hedge fund managers all over the world who are buying airstrips and farms in places like New Zealand because they think they need a getaway,” he said...
Woman, age 30, killed during robbery at Sunhouse store Sunday night  myhorrynews.com   ...On Sunday night at around 10 p.m., a female clerk was shot and killed at the Sunhouse on Cultra Road between Highway 701 and Highway 501 in Conway, Horry County Deputy Coroner Tony Hendrick has confirmed...
State Patrol: Army veteran, ER worker killed when a driver ran a stop sign  BringMeTheNews   …A 47-year-old emergency room manager and Gulf War veteran was killed after police say he was broadsided by a car that ran through a stop sign...
Miscellaneous
Regulators Advance Plans For Truck Driver Training  Journal of Commerce   ...The amount of time future truck drivers must spend in training and how rigorous a program they must complete will be determined not by federal fiat but through negotiations. Federal regulators are proceeding with a negotiated rule-making on minimum national truck driver training standards, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said in December...
FOIA Documents Reveal Massive DEA Program to Record American’s Whereabouts With License Plate Readers  ACLU   …The Drug Enforcement Administration has initiated a massive national license plate reader program with major civil liberties concerns but disclosed very few details, according to new DEA documents obtained by the ACLU through the Freedom of Information Act...

Billionaires double down in Michigan, elsewhere, to attack unions

Union membership in Michigan is actually up slightly (by 4,000 members) since billionaire-backed politicians forced right-to-work through the Legislature. So the billionaire-backed front groups are at it again this week.

Michigan teachers can only withdraw from the union in August. And so the billionaire-backed think tank, the Mackinac Institute, launched a campaign to persuade teachers to leave the Michigan Education Association.

(There's a reason, by the way, Charles and David Koch and their billionaire friends use front groups. If the Kochs or the Waltons offered you 'workplace freedom,' you'd probably figure out immediately that 'freedom' is just another word for lower pay, fewer rights and a more dangerous workplace.)

Two billionaire-backed front groups are sponsoring 'National Employee Freedom Week, this week. They are the Association of American Educators (AAE) and the Nevada Policy Research Institute (NPRI), both linked to the Kochs, the Waltons, the DeVoses and most of the other billionaires who want to turn America into a feudal serfdom.

eclectablog, the must-read blog for Michigan workers, tells us they're largely failing:

The good news is that these corporate front groups are largely failing in their mission to push an extreme anti-worker agenda and dismantle labor unions or anything else that gets in the way of unchecked corporate greed. National Employee Freedom Week is largely unknown, though they are clearly well-funded with a slick website and an enticing “please become a freeloader” messaging splashed across multiple webpages. 

Here in Michigan, the MEA is pushing back. They have created a website —MEAmatters.org — to inform educators about the lies and misinformation being spread by the Mackinac Center.

eclectablog warns readers that anti-union 'reporting' by the news media is the result of Koch-fueled propaganda.

This isn’t true journalism. This is propaganda being disseminated as journalism and the groups that give voice to this propaganda should be ashamed. This includes Michigan Radio and their “reporting” yesterday on this non-story about the Mackinac Center’s anti-union project. 

If you are a union member, educate yourself. If you are encouraged to leave the union, please make your decision knowing that the ulterior motive behind those urging you to freeload from unions who represent you in the work place is ultimately to destroy the unions themselves. 

If that happens, every worker in the USA, whether they belong to a union or not, will pay a steep price in terms of lower wages, worse protections, and dramatically reduced benefits.

Another privatization scandal (in Michigan) where no one gets punished much

In politics, it looks bad if one person wastes thousands of dollars taxpayer money on personal luxuries. But it's okay if a company loots the state treasury for millions of dollars. Or maybe they have to pay a little fine.

That's exactly what's happening in Michigan. Michigan Radio reports Gov. Rick Snyder's housing authority director took a stretch limo across Nebraska for $1,200 of the taxpayers money. Snyder fired the guy within 24 hours of the revelations.

Guess what happened to Aramark, a privatized prison food company, after maggots were found in prisoners' food and employees were fired for inappropriate behavior?

Here's Michigan Radio again:

The governor didn’t move nearly so quickly when it came to the Aramark Correctional Services abuses. For weeks, there have been stories about maggots on the chow line and scores of Aramark employees fired or suspended for inappropriate behavior.  

Many people expected that the governor would cancel Aramark’s $145 million contract with the state. But that didn’t happen. Instead, on the same day his housing director was sent packing, he announced he was sticking with Aramark. 

The governor did assess the private food service company a $200,000 fine, and said they would be obligated to change their training and staffing procedures, whatever that means.

That didn’t please the head of the corrections workers’ union, who called the fine a mere “slap on the wrist.”  

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer said prison food service shouldn’t be privatized in the first place; he would turn it back to the state.

It's always best to engage in corruption that costs taxpayers millions. The small stuff will get you in trouble, but not when your plunder reaches into the seven and eight figures.

Father of Michigan RTW gets his money from job-cutting corporation

Dick DeVos, the loony billionaire whose dollars bought right-to-work-for-less in Michigan, inherited his fortune from a company that sent American jobs overseas.

This should surprise no one.

DeVos is the son of Amway co-founder Richard DeVos. Amway in 2011 settled a class-action suit alleging the company is a Ponzi scheme. USA Today explained:

The lawsuit alleged Amway is a "pyramid scheme" — which was changed to "illegal scheme" in an amended version — in which distributors rarely sell products to outside customers, only to other new distributors they bring in, who must bring more recruits in to make money. New entrants, the lawsuit says, were "effectively required" to purchase products and event tickets from the high-level distributors.

But if Amway was ripping off people, at least it was doing it with American products. Not any more. Inbound Logistics recently interviewed an Amway executive, who said:

Until about 2010, most of our supply chain and manufacturing was U.S.-based. That has now changed. Amway has been moving home care manufacturing closer to the point of sale in different regions. We're making product in Belgium for Europe and Russia, and producing in China for Southeast Asia.

So, let's review: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said for months that right-to-work-for-less wasn't on his agenda. Then Amway heir Dick DeVos gathered some of his sociopath billionaire pals together to pressure Republicans to pass a right-to-work-for-less bill in the lame duck session of 2012. According to Mother Jones, 

They had formulated a single, all-encompassing strategy: They had a fusillade of TV, radio, and internet ads in the works. They'd crafted 15 pages of talking points to circulate to Republican lawmakers. They had even reserved the lawn around the state capitol for a month to keep protesters at bay. 

One of those talking points was that right-to-work-for-less would bring jobs to Michigan.

The Republicans, under intense pressure from the billionaires, caved.

We've known all along that billionaires like Dick DeVos don't care one bit about creating jobs in Michigan or anywhere else. All they want to do is to cut costs. When he was CEO of Amway, Dick DeVos cut over 1,300 jobs, mostly in Michigan.

So knowing that Amway moved jobs overseas just makes it more painful to think people actually believe Dick DeVos's lies.

Stink Tanks exposed as front groups for Koch brothers

A national network of stink think tanks is quietly pushing the agenda of anti-worker groups with funding from Koch brothers-affiliated organizations, according to a report released today.

Today our friends at the Center for Media and Democracy exposed the State Policy Network, which claims to fund 'independent' think tanks in all 50 states. The State Policy Network, disturbingly, is tax-exempt and so are the stink tanks it funds.

SPN's stink tanks use 'dark money' from the Benedict Arnold Koch brothers and their ilk to push an anti-worker, anti-consumer corporate-empowerment agenda in the states -- while pretending to be nonpartisan.

If this is sounding a lot like the corporate dating service for state lawmakers known as ALEC, it is. Lisa Graves, executive director of the CMD, told Politico the SPN, like ALEC, is part of the Kochtopus.

According to CMD:

SPN has played a major role in supporting ALEC, serving as a "chairman" level sponsor of the 2013 and 2011 ALEC Annual Conferences and acting as a voting member of several task forces. SPN affiliates push parts of ALEC's agenda in their respective states, and ALEC is also an associate member of SPN. SPN and its affiliates have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to ALEC. 

Politico quoted Graves today:

“These aren’t just little think tanks that are doing nonpartisan research based on what’s happening in the state and really reflective of the culture of those states,” said Lisa Graves....“These are a lot of groups that put together pretty cooked books on the issues they are peddling and have been criticized in state after state for how shoddy their research has been.” 

In a press statement, Graves said,

The 'experts' of State Policy Network groups get quoted on TV, in the papers, or in the legislature as if they were nonpartisan, objective scholars on issues of public policy. But in reality, SPN is a front for corporate interests with an extreme national policy agenda tied to some of the most retrograde special interests in the country, including the billionaire Koch brothers, the Waltons, the Bradley Foundation, the Roe Foundation, and the Coors family.

Teamsters have tangled with these groups before. In Wisconsin, the MacIver Institute promoted job-killer  Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting Act 10 as good for the economy. It wasn't.

In Michigan, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy pushed job-killer Gov. Rick Snyder's right to work for less law with the same arguments and the same results. In Missouri, it's the Show-Me Institute. In Ohio, the Buckeye Institute. And so on.

If you're getting a whiff of foul odors from your state capital, check out the CMD's new website, www.stinktanks.org. If you think it's a stink tank, it probably is.

Today's Teamster News 10.10.13

Ballots Sent to Some ABF Teamsters for Strike Vote  truckinginfo   ...Less-than-truckload carrier ABF has been notified by the Teamsters Union that ballots to authorize a strike are being mailed on Tuesday to nearly 1,800 employees covered by the Central Region Local Cartage supplement...
Teamsters again declare bargaining impasse with Pasco  Tampa Tribune   ...Three years after Pasco County workers voted to form a union, they still don’t have a contract. The Teamsters Local 79 declared impasse for the second time last Friday, which means both sides will again plead their case to a special magistrate...
All in the Family  teamster.org   ...Shelley Goodman has witnessed a lot of hardship in her 21 years as a Durham School Services school bus driver and Teamster organizer...
Hoffa: Government Shutdown A Financial Crisis for Workers  Detroit News   ...The Republican shutdown of the federal government is being felt not only in Washington, but here in Michigan as well. Workers, military members and even children are the unfortunate victims of the political budget games...
Labor takes time to celebrate Local's 100 years  Anderson Valley Post   ...On October 5, organized labor took some time off to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Teamsters Local 137 at the Shasta District Fairgrounds in Anderson...
Hoffa: Unions Need Global Solidarity  Huffington Post   ...In a few short decades, our country and our world have changed dramatically. In the last 30 years, America has gone from the world's biggest creditor nation to the one holding the world's largest debt...
Newsday driver jobs may be cut  New York Post   ...Cablevision is hoping to shave $10 million in costs from its money-draining Newsday operating by booting about 35 drivers, who are members of Graphic Communications Conference Local 406...
The Kochs Can't Control the Monster They Created  The Atlantic   ...The billionaire conservatives join the ranks of business interests trying to rein in the GOP's base, but it has turned into an unstoppable force...
Gallup: GOP approval at all-time low  Salon   ...A new poll finds the GOP with the lowest party approval rating in Gallup history...
Starting tomorrow, we’re down 90 percent of our nuclear safety regulators  Salon   ... efforts to make the reactors safer, such as changes meant to prevent something similar to what’s going on at Fukushima from happening here, will be put on hold...
There's an International Plan to Censor the Internet in the Works -- Let's Stop It in Its Tracks  Alternet   ...The lack of general awareness about the TPP is exactly what unelected trade officials and lobbyists hope for; the more covert the negotiations, the easier it is to usher in extreme new Internet censorship rules...
How Private Tech Companies Are Collecting Data on You and Selling Them to the Feds for Huge Profits  Alternet   ... Inside your mobile phone and hidden behind your web browser are little known software products marketed by contractors to the government that can follow you around anywhere...
New EPI Economic Indicator: Monthly Updates of the Number of “Missing Workers” and What the Unemployment Rate Would Be If They Were Looking for Work  Economic Policy Institute   ...if the nearly 5 million missing workers were looking for work and thus counted as unemployed, the unemployment rate in August would have been 10.1 percent instead of 7.3 percent...
McDonald's Employee Confronts Executive: I Can't Afford Shoes For My Children  The Real News   ...Salgado confronted the president of McDonald’s, Jeff Stratton, about her wages during his speech at the Union League Club of Chicago….She and six other protesters were given tickets for trespassing...
Thousands Join Teachers' Protest in Rio de Janeiro  Portside   ...March draws biggest turnout since wave of protests during Confederations Cup in June, and anarchist groups clash with police...
Michigan Education Association Retains 99% Of Members  WKAR Public Media   ...As we hear from The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta, the president of the Michigan Education Association says 99 percent of its members have opted to stick with the union...
School buses roll again in Boston; disgruntled drivers meet with bus company officials  Boston Globe   ...Hundreds of Boston school buses ferried students to schools yesterday morning with only a few delays, a day after a surprise strike by the drivers sent thousands of parents scrambling for alternatives...
When Giant Banks Pay Fines, Where Does the Money Go? Does It Stop Crime?  AlterNet   ...If somebody broke into your home and stole your belongings, you’d expect to see some serious consequences if they got caught. But when banks rob Americans—and even cast them out of their own homes illegally—the worst that usually happens is a fine...
Under Scott Walker, Wisconsin keeps increasing its long-term borrowing  The Cap Times   ...Gov. Scott Walker has honed his reputation as a fiscal conservative, taking credit for closing a $3.6 billion spending gap left from the Jim Doyle administration...
GOP bets on economy haven't paid off (opinion)  NWI Times   ...The way Gov. Mitch Daniels and fellow Republicans talked in early 2012, I was ready to set up a toll gate at the state line when the anti-union right-to-work bill was approved...
Bill Schuette to Michigan Supreme Court: Don't waste your time on right-to-work appeal  Detroit Free Press   ...The Michigan Supreme Court shouldn't waste its time taking up an appeal over one of the state's controversial right-to-work laws, Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette wrote in a court filing this week...

Today's Teamster News 10.05.13

Wegmans, Teamsters to talk  Democrat & Chronicle   ...Following Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy’s plea for resolution, Wegmans Food Markets and Teamsters Local 118 representatives have agreed to return to negotiations October 11...
Sikorsky union rep prepares workers for furloughs  San Francisco Chronicle   ...Rocco Calo is angry, but even as head of Teamsters Local 1150 that represents employees at Sikorsky Aircraft, he cannot do anything to prevent the furlough of 2,000 workers from the expansive plant that manufactures helicopters for the U.S. military...
Labour dispute drags on at Richmond Ikea  Canadian Labour Reporter   ...There is no end in sight for the labour dispute between the Richmond, B.C., Ikea and its union, Teamsters Local 213. The two parties even disagree on what to call the dispute — the union refers to the past 70 days as a lockout while the company is calling it a strike...
The Loss of U.S. Pre-eminence (opinion)  New York Times   ...The United States won its global predominance in a short period … Now the groundwork has been laid for its decline with political polarization, a longstanding tax revolt and a well-orchestrated campaign to undermine the legitimacy of the federal government...
Government Close Down - Another Grand Betrayal in the Works?   The Real News   ...is the outcome here not that (Obama)  gives up on health care, but he gives another important concession somewhere else, and then everybody calls it a victory--Obama saved health care, but the Republicans actually get some other big cut ... in the social safety net…?
Washington’s Z-Burger Shuts Down Shutdown Special  Wall Street Journal   ...The chain Z-Burger, which has been offering free burgers to furloughed workers, said it has ended the  promotion, citing overwhelming demand in the first three days of the government shutdown. Peter Tabibian, Z-Burger’s owner, said the chain gave out 15,840 hamburgers during the promotion, the equivalent of more than $88,000 at retail prices...
"A Corporate Trojan Horse": Obama Pushes Secretive TPP Trade Pact, Would Rewrite Swath of U.S. Laws  Democracy Now   ...While the text of the treaty has been largely negotiated behind closed doors and, until June, kept secret from Congress, more than 600 corporate advisers reportedly have access to the measure, including employees of Halliburton and Monsanto...
Obama Cancels Trip to Asia Trade Summit as Elected, Labor and Business Leaders Detail TPP Trade Pact Problems  Public Citizen   ...President Obama has now announced that due to the government shutdown, he will not be attending the summit next week in Indonesia that his administration had (mis)identified as a deadline for concluding the long-lingering negotiations for the sprawling Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) "trade" pact...
Why are Nurses at Vanderbilt Medical Center Cleaning Bathrooms? Health care's Fight Between Labor and Capital  Portside   ...Hospital budget cuts became viscerally visible earlier this month when Vanderbilt Medical Center announced that nurses must now perform housekeeping duties - cleaning patients' rooms and bathrooms...
Adobe Hacked: Cyber-Thieves Accessed Credit Card Information Of Nearly 3 Million Customers   Associated Press   ...Adobe Systems Inc. said a cyber attack on its systems has exposed credit-card information of 2.9 million customers. The maker of Photoshop and other software said Thursday that the attacker accessed Adobe customer IDs and passwords on its systems...
CFPB Pledges To Enforce Consumer Protection Laws Over Mandatory Payroll Cards  MintPress News   ...Mandatory payroll cards force employees to consent to a bank fee structure as a condition of employment, ranging from $1.75 to $7. In other words, making the workers pay to be paid. And the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to put a stop to that type of abuse…
Michigan turns down idea of prison privatization  WIN 98.5 News   ...It’s hard to say yet what it could mean for the future of prisons in the state, but the Michigan Department of Management and Budget on Thursday declined to put prisoners in a privately run correctional facility after bids came in at nearly $6 million over the state's current cost...
Illinois Says Banks to Improve Loan-Modification Process  Bloomberg News   ...Bank of America Corp. and the four other biggest U.S. mortgage servicers will put in place new procedures to improve the process for borrowers to seek loan modifications, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said...
As Missouri Lt. Gov. digs in on Right to Work policy, unions mobilize to fight  PR News   ...With state lawmakers in Missouri back in session, the Show-Me state is once again front and center in the controversial Right to Work battle...
MBTA, union sue over arbitrator's pay award  Associated Press   ...Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority management and the union representing some workers have filed dueling lawsuits in a dispute over an arbitrator's award that would increase workers' salaries by an average of more than 10 percent...
Government Shutdown Reduces OSHA Inspection Force by More Than 90 Percent  Bloomberg News   ...The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration furloughed more than 90 percent of its inspectors as a result of the Oct. 1 shutdown of the federal government, leaving the agency with only enough personnel to respond to the most serious workplace emergencies...

Today's Teamster News 08.24.13

UPS Teamsters Not Impacted By Company Decision To Eliminate Spousal Coverage  IBT   ...UPS announced a change in its health care coverage for spouses of nonunion employees. Going forward, UPS will not cover spouses of nonunion employees who are eligible for employer coverage at their workplace. This decision does not impact the health care coverage of Teamsters at UPS...
Teamster school administrators ratify 3.1% hike in contract  The Montana Standard   ...The Butte school district’s 15 administrators, who are members of Teamsters Local 2, ratified a contract offer that provides a 3.1 percent wage hike in 2013-14, and a 1.5 percent increase in 2014-15...
Organizational Skills for Office Managers Scheduled for November 6-8  IBT   ...The IBT Training and Development Department will conduct a TLA for Teamster office managers and key administrative staff, November 6-8, 2013, at the International Headquarters in Washington, D.C...
Allied Bankruptcy Hearing Postponed By the Court to September 10   IBT   ...A hearing before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Allied Systems’ bankruptcy case that was scheduled for Thursday, August 22, has been postponed by the court to noon Tuesday, September 10...
March on Washington: Throngs to attend events, mark 'I Have a Dream' anniversary  CNN   ...Saturday's event begins with speeches before a march past the King Memorial, where an image of the slain civil rights leader now stands immortalized in granite...
Mass. Sen. Elizabeth Warren targets DOJ settlements with banks over forged documents and illegal practices  Global Dispatch   ...Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) calls the latest deal “settling cheap” in her letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, questioning whether a major government settlement with the nation’s largest mortgage companies is a “timid enforcement strategy.”...
Walmart's Latest Scheme to Replace the Middle Class With an Underclass Forced to Buy its Shoddy Goods  AlterNet    ...Almost 30 years ago, as the U.S. was bleeding jobs, Walmart launched a "Buy America" program and started hanging "Made in America" signs in its 750 stores. It was a marketing success, cementing the retailer's popularity in the country's struggling, blue-collar heartland. A few years later, NBC's Dateline revealed the program to be a sham...
Fired Walmart Workers Arrested at Rally Announcing Labor Day Deadline  The Nation   ...Nine fired workers and a current employee were arrested around 2:30 pm Thursday after locking arms and sitting in front of the entrance to a Washington, D.C. Walmart office...
Banks shed thousands of jobs as housing market improves  Los Angeles Times   ...Six years after the mortgage meltdown, delinquencies and foreclosures are way down. That's great for borrowers and bank balance sheets, but bad for bank workers — who are now being laid off by the thousands...
Boeing’s Wage-Slashing Move to SC Backfires as Company Can’t Meet 787 Production Demand  We Party Patriots   ...When Boeing left Washington for South Carolina in order to suppress the wages of its workers, it also left behind the quality work that had been provided by a highly skilled, union workforce. Now, that union-busting is backfiring as productivity has dropped immensely and Boeing is unable to meet their 787 Dreamliner production goals...
Keeping a Massive Trade Deal Out of the Fast Lane  The Nation   ...Congress itself hasn’t heard much about the TPP; the negotiating process has been characterized by extreme secrecy and the Obama administration has denied repeated calls from legislators to make the process more transparent, while pressing to finalize the agreement this year...
Louisiana businessman sentenced in Afghanistan kickback scheme  Associated Press   ...He kidnapped an Indian businessman in South Sudan, but got off. Now he’s been found guilty of demanding $60,000 in kickbacks for approving a $3.2m award to an American company for construction in Afghanistan. His sentence? 10 months in the federal slammer...
Fight Against ‘Right-to-Work’ Not Over in Michigan  In These Times   ...Last December, Gov. Rick Snyder outraged unions and progressives when he abruptly signed two bills into law making Michigan the 24th so-called "right-to-work" state. The laws allow workers to get union benefits without paying mandatory union membership dues. Organized labor has widely decried right-to-work laws as dangerous to unions and ultimately detrimental to all workers...
Sen. Jon Erpenbach goes to bat for Capitol protesters  The Cap Times   ..."I would suggest that you abandon the current permit policy, and stop the arrests of noon-time singers," Erpenbach writes. "Because if the goal was eliminating the singing — your policy is producing the direct opposite..."
Chicago Midway Airport Privatization Deal Could Negatively Affect Workers, residents  Progress Illinois   ...Privatization plans for Chicago Midway Airport could negatively affect both nearby residents as well as airport workers, according to Alderman Michael Zalewski (23rd), who is concerned about allegations that one of the two contenders for the privatization contract has a history of "union busting and black-listing."...
Quinn looking to boost minimum wage  Quad-City Times   ...Wednesday marked the 10th anniversary of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's signing of the first of a series of increases in Illinois' minimum wage. And now, his former running mate and successor, Gov. Pat Quinn, says he wants to push the state's $8.25 per hour minimum wage higher...
Illinois receives more than $2 billion in relief from national foreclosure settlement  Rock River Times   ...Illinois Attorney General Madigan (D) reported that Illinois homeowners and assistance organizations have received more than $2 billion in total relief under the national foreclosure settlement...
Arizona and Kansas sue U.S. over voter registration law  Reuters   ...Kansas and Arizona filed a lawsuit against the U.S. federal government on Wednesday, seeking court approval for states to require proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote...
Maine group touts new plan to eliminate income tax  Associated Press   ...A conservative think tank in Maine is rolling out a new proposal to gradually phase out the state's income tax, one of the top priorities for Gov. Paul LePage's administration...