Teamsters
Teamsters, Employees, Allies Protest SLS Hotel's Violations Against Workers Teamster.org ...Today, Teamsters, employees and community allies protested SLS Casino and Hotel management’s ongoing violations of its workers’ right to form a union. Hundreds took part to support the valet parking attendants’ ongoing struggle for fairness. Management has committed several Unfair Labor Practices, including interrogation of workers that support the union. Management has fired three workers...
One Hundred Teamster Construction Drivers In Three Days: Fast Organizing Through PLA Teamster.org ...Organizing is tough, and it's not getting easier. But many Teamster locals are finding creative ways to bring in new members and strengthen the union. The use of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) help level the playing field for construction workers through the protection of a union contract. International Vice President Rome Aloise has spent nearly a decade envisioning a day when the Teamsters organize thousands of new construction workers under the promise of PLAs nationwide. In Aloise's home state of California, it appears that day has already arrived...
Teamsters Local 215 Scholarship fund awards $195,000 Courier & Press ...Officials with the Teamsters Local 215 Scholarship Fund recently announced the 109 sons and daughters of union members who are receiving between $500 and $3,200 in merit-based scholarships. The fund is giving a total of $195,000 in scholarships this year...
Valet union protests SLS Las Vegas casino-hotel on Strip Associated Press ...The union representing Las Vegas valet workers are protesting what they say is unfair treatment at the SLS Las Vegas hotel and casino on the Strip. Teamsters Local 986 said the group and supporters protested outside SLS Monday. The union wants to organize the casino-hotel's 50 valet employees...
Unions make strides among Silicon Valley workforce Aljazeera America ...Facebook shuttle drivers gained final approval for their union contract with Loop Transportation, the shuttle company that carries employees to and from Facebook’s Menlo Park headquarters. The Loop drivers are now members of Teamsters Local 853 — which just the previous month had also successfully organized drivers for Apple, Yahoo, eBay, and Evernote, among others...
Global Labor & Trade
Obama's trade pact faces cliffhanger vote Politico ...The centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s economic agenda faces a cliffhanger vote in the Senate on Tuesday, as Democratic leaders move to block his trade bill — leaving one powerful Oregon Democrat who may hold the key to the outcome squeezed between his party leaders and the White House...
Fight Over China Currency Policies Threatens Vote on Trade Bill New York Times ...A heated dispute over how to challenge China on currency policy has imperiled a trade bill that has become President Obama’s top legislative priority, uniting even the president’s top Democratic supporters against taking up the bill in the Senate...
Senate Democrats Are Revolting Against Obama's Trade Plan National Journal ... The majority of Democrats will not vote for any fast-track bill, also known as Trade Promotion Authority or TPA, no matter what. They discount the administration's claim that the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a major potential trade agreement affecting 40 percent of the world's economy, would be the "most progressive trade agreement in history" because of labor and environmental concerns...
AIPAC-backed amendments add to trade bill turmoil Politico ...The trade legislation being debated on Capitol Hill is already highly contentious. Amendments added about Israel are raising the rancor even more. The trade bill amendments aim to discourage foreign governments — in particular European ones — from boycotting, divesting from or putting sanctions on commercial activity linked to Israel and “Israeli-controlled territories”...
Nike-backed group pushes Trans-Pacific Partnership in Oregon Sunlight Foundation ...While Obama tries to convince Congress and working Americans of the merits of a new free trade agreement, Nike, along with other Oregon exporters, is focusing some of its substantial financial firepower on touting the TPP in its home state...
Network Rail workers vote to strike over pay BBC ...Network Rail workers have voted in favour of a UK-wide strike in a row over pay, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union has said.
Its members voted 4-1 for action after rejecting pay offers from Network Rail, which owns and maintains most of Britain's railway infrastructure...
Tories to bring in tough anti-strike laws The Telegraph ...The Conservatives will push ahead with plans to ban strikes unless 40 per cent of people vote in favour of industrial action in government's first Queen's Speech, the new business secretary has said. Sajid Javid said that the Tories will not "hide away from the changes we want to make" as the party prepares to introduce a raft of new anti-strike laws...
Who is writing the TPP? (opinion) Boston Globe ...The president argues that the TPP is about who will “write the rules” for 40 percent of the world’s economy — the United States or China. But who is writing the TPP? The text has been classified and the public isn’t permitted to see it...
TPP Is Not Yet 'The Most Progressive Trade Agreement in History' (opinion) Huff Post ...I have deep concern -- and some dismay -- when the president says that "we are just wrong," or we are "satisfied with the status quo," or worse, we are "making this stuff up" when we express concerns about the status of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations...
State & Living Wage Battles
Hundreds of union workers come to Missouri Capitol for ‘Right to Work’ debate Missourinet ...Hundreds of union workers showed up at the capitol Monday to oppose a so-called “Right to Work” bill that is expected to move quickly in this final week of the legislative session. Testimony was emotional for some, including for Terry Nelson with the Carpenters District Council in the St. Louis region. He said government is trying to turn their contractors into adversaries...
Right to Work in Missouri Moves to Senate Floor CBS St. Louis ...A Senate committee approved legislation moving Missouri closer to becoming a Right to Work state. In a hearing of the Senate Small Business Committee, senators heard heavy opposition to make Missouri a Right to Work state.
Sen. Mike Parson (R-Bolivar) is the chairman of the committee. Many of his calls for testimony in support of the bill went answered...
States Where Minimum Wages Are Supposed To Be Living Wages Think Progress ...Last week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced that he is taking advantage of a state law to raise minimum wages without the involvement of the legislature. He’s not the only governor with that power; others could also follow suit...
Senators answer court question on voter ID law Houston Chronicle ...The Texas Senate, with scant attention during an early morning vote, gave its unanimous answer to a lingering question the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals posed about the state’s embattled voter ID law. The bill won approval, 31-0. ore than 600,000 Texans lack the proper identification to vote under the state’s relatively new voting laws, among the most stringent in the nation...
How The Conservative Obsession With Policing Poor People’s Shopping Carts Got Started Think Progress ...In 2015, the poor are still smart shoppers. The USDA published research in early May comparing the food consumption patterns of SNAP recipients to both wealthier people and low-income families not receiving SNAP. The findings undermine the common conservative notion that the poor splurge on luxuries and empty calories...
U.S. Labor
New York City Nurses May Vote to Strike This Month In These Times ...Thousands of nurses at 12 hospitals poured into the streets of New York City April 16 to protest staffing shortages they say put patients at risk. The informational pickets were the latest salvo in negotiations with the city’s largest private hospitals. Next the New York State Nurses Association entered a month of intense federal mediation with three hospital systems. Voting for strike authorization could begin as soon as mid-May...
BP Whiting Refinery workers vote to end strike NWI Times ...United Steelworkers Local 7-1 members voted overwhelmingly to approve a new contract they say will make the BP Whiting Refinery a safer place to work and preserve bargaining rights the union has had for nearly 80 years. An estimated 92 percent of refinery workers and 100 percent of plant guards voted to ratify a new four-year agreement...
How Can You Get an Ethical Manicure? Support Worker Organizing The Nation ... Sarah Maslin Nir’s recent New York Times investigation reveals epidemic wage theft and abuse of workers across the roughly 2,000 under-regulated manicure shops dotting the city, where cheap mani-pedis are provided by Asian and Latina women workers who scrub and pamper fingers and toes amid noxious fumes. Following the Times’s extensive report, both state and city authorities are now weighing policies to tighten oversight...
Ricky Maclin, Leader of Historic 2008 Republic Windows and Doors Factory Occupation, Dies at 61 In These Times ...Melvin “Ricky” Maurice Maclin, Vice President of United Electrical Workers Local 1110, leader of the historic six-day factory occupation of Republic Windows and Doors in December 2008 and founding member of New Era Windows Cooperative, died on May 5. “This is a huge loss for me and for our movement,” said his good friend, Local 1110 President Armando Robles, who was also a leader in the Republic occupation...
Miscellaneous
The delicate flowers of Wall Street: Financial titans warn Hillary to be mindful of their feelings Salon ...The titans of the financial industry have faced zero criminal liability for nearly destroying the economy in 2008, they still enjoy unrivaled influence over the policy platforms of both major political parties, and no one except Bernie Sanders even considers making a run for the president without hitting up the hedge fund managers for donations...
Showing posts with label Nike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nike. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Monday, May 11, 2015
Today's Teamster News 05.11.15
Teamsters
Hoffa: Nike's TPP Job Projections Will Be Just Another Round of Corporate Broken Promises Teamster.org ...Hoffa in response to Nike Inc.’s announcement today that the passage of the Trans Pacific Partnership will create thousands of new jobs in the U.S.: “Nike’s announcement that the Trans Pacific Partnership would lead to 10,000 new U.S. jobs at the company and up to 40,000 new jobs throughout the supply chain is nothing more than the same empty trade rhetoric we have heard over and over again since the passage of NAFTA"...
Albion College Workers Choose Teamsters Union Teamster.org ...Workers at Albion College in Albion, Mich., voted overwhelmingly in two separate elections Tuesday to join Teamsters Local 1038 in Detroit. Facility operators voted 26-9, while secretarial-clerical workers voted 24-3, in favor of the Teamsters Union over their prior representative, the Michigan Education Association (MEA). The more than 70 new Teamsters are seeking bargaining power, fair wages and the security of their first Teamster contract...
At Unity, Teamsters look ahead to a bright future Teamster Nation ...Some 1,600 Teamster brothers and sisters from across North America gathered together today as part of the 12th annual Unity Conference to share their success stories and speak truth to power about the increasingly perilous state of workers across the continent. Rank-and-file union members joined with Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa as well as other Teamster leaders to let attendees know they all have a role in ensuring that Teamster Power will not flourish if they don't continue to contribute and speak out...
Trucking Company Shows Facebook Road to Future New York Times ...More than three-quarters of the lesser-powered shares voted in 2014 to eradicate the fief, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has put the matter on the ballot again. Swift is urging against the idea, pointing to dual-class structures at Zynga, Groupon and LinkedIn as “some of the most successful I.P.O.s in recent years”...
Global Labor & Trade
Trade bill fate in doubt as debate kicks off Politico ...A controversial trade bill is well shy of the votes needed to pass the House and faces a difficult vote in the Senate as the debate in Congress kicks off in earnest this week. Congressional sources say that fewer than 20 House Democrats currently back giving President Barack Obama increased powers to cut trade deals...
Crunch time for TPPA talks The Star ...If the TPPA negotiations conclude, the texts will at some stage be made public, and the debate can be expected to intensify. But there are many hurdles to cross before that happens, and whether the political deadline can be met is still a big question. This will be answered in the next few weeks...
Obama’s Pacific Trade Push Faces a Senate Vote This Week New York Times ...President Obama’s most aggressive and sustained legislative push since the Affordable Care Act faces a crucial first test this week when a divided Senate considers a bill that would grant him accelerated power to complete a massive trade accord with 11 nations across the Pacific Rim...
Obama says 'dearest friends are wrong' when it comes to trade The Hill ...Several groups on the left ripped Obama for speaking about trade at the headquarters of Nike, which has been accused in the past of exploiting foreign workers. “It is sad to see how detached from reality President Obama is when it comes to TPP,” said Murshed Zaheed, deputy political director at the left-leaning CREDO...
Elizabeth Warren fires back at Obama: Here’s what they’re really fighting about (interview) Washington Post ...The president said in his Nike speech that he’s confident that when people read the agreement for themselves, that they’ll see it’s a great deal. But the president won’t actually let people read the agreement for themselves. It’s classified. The president has committed only to letting the public see this deal after Congress votes to authorize fast track. At that point it will be impossible for us to amend the agreement or to block any part of it without tanking the whole TPP...
Why Obama Wants To Torpedo A Plan To Fight Human Trafficking Huff Post ...The Senate is gearing up to vote on a bill granting Obama so-called “fast track” powers to streamline the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But a seemingly uncontroversial human rights provision authored by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) is giving the administration serious headaches as it attempts to win over skeptical members of its own party...
Will the TPP really protect workers? (opinion) Washington Post ...To date, the United States has never had a trade agreement that protects basic rights and raises wages and living standards for working people. Previous agreements have failed to ensure the integrity of the democratic process and preserve consumer and environmental protections. Comparing this pact to previous agreements sets a pretty low bar...
The arguments for the TPP are transparently weak (opinion) Aljazeera America ...President Barack Obama must be having difficulty rounding up the necessary votes in Congress to pass fast-track authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Otherwise we would not be seeing President Bill Clinton’s former chief of staff Thomas McClarty, Secretary of State John Kerry and many other prominent people saying such silly things about the trade deal. If anyone is arguing that we should be happy about TPP because it will increase exports, they either do not understand basic economics or are trying to play games. Either way, this argument deserves to be ignored...
Eggs and insults fly as Uber battles for the streets of Milan Alternet ...Uber faces regulatory opposition in many places – authorities in the Chinese city of Chengdu paid a visit to Uber’s offices last week as part of an ongoing investigation; and the service has been banned in the US state of Kansas – but in Italy, the battle has become personal...
State & Living Wage Battles
Sen. Richard: Showdown on right-to-work looms The Joplin Globe ...As members of the Missouri General Assembly prepare to return to the Capitol for the final week of this year’s session, Senate Majority Leader Ron Richard is readying for a showdown over what’s known as "right-to-work," a controversial policy that aims to restrict labor union activity. Richard, a Joplin Republican who backs the policy, told reporters Friday that he planned to force a vote on the measure...
Missouri Senate will press right-to-work, Voter ID Kansas City Biz Journal ...The head of the Missouri Senate said he’ll push right-to-work and voter ID legislation before anything else in the Legislature’s final week, The Jefferson City News Tribune reports. Senate Majority Leader Ron Richard acknowledged that there are a number of important bills still waiting for action. But he said if his priorities “don’t make it, nobody else’s will either”...
Lawmakers will hold hearings on repealing prevailing wage laws this week Michigan Radio ...Unions are expected to push back this week against bills that would repeal prevailing wage laws in Michigan. A state Senate panel is expected to hold hearings on Senate Bills 1, 2, and 3. The legislation would ban laws requiring union-level compensation for workers on publicly-funded construction projects...
Where do the presidential candidates stand on paid sick leave? Daily Kos ...Paid sick leave is gaining ground as a national issue. It's now the law in three states and a growing number of cities, but the momentum behind it just means Republicans are gearing up to fight harder. Republicans in the Pennsylvania state legislature, for instance, are still working away at their ALEC-inspired goal of overriding Philadelphia's paid sick leave law...
Business allies cool to Garcetti's minimum wage plan Los Angeles Times ...With the City Council expected to vote on the minimum wage plan later this month, some of the small-business owners who backed Garcetti's first mayoral bid are having misgivings. Garcetti defended his handling of business issues, saying in a statement that he had cut red tape at City Hall, rolled back the size of the business tax and fought for an expansion of the state's film tax credit...
Protesters March For Living Wage Newsplex ...Cars and vans honked as protesters made their way down West Main Street screaming chants about living wage. In the summer of 2012 Charlottesville City council voted to increase the living wage from $11.67 an hour to 13.00 an hour but some say that's still not enough...
U.S. Labor
Oakland Teachers Vote to Authorize Strike, Stage ‘Work-to-Rule’ Actions in Protest of Low Pay In These Times ...Public school teachers with the Oakland Education Association (OEA) voted last week to authorize strike action if the union’s executive board cannot come to an agreement with the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) in its year-long bargaining for a new contract. A central sticking point in the negotiations is over salary increases...
UAW, Car Makers Weigh New Class of Hires Wall Street Journal ...United Auto Workers officials are considering a plan to encourage the Detroit Three auto makers to add thousands of jobs traditionally belonging to auto-parts suppliers, hoping to fuel the union’s recent string of modest membership increases...
Kellogg to appeal NLRB's Memphis ruling BattleCreek Enquirer ...Kellogg Co. said it will appeal the National Labor Relations Board finding that the company's lockout of employees at its Memphis cereal plant was unlawful. Kevin Bradshaw, president of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union's Memphis local, said "we're just glad to see the law is on our side"...
For the First Time, Guestworkers Get Crucial Legal Protections Under New Rules In These Times After nearly two months of suspense, the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have issued two new rules for the H-2B guestworker program. Worker advocates are praising the rules for establishing badly-needed protections for guestworkers and U.S. workers alike, while industries that rely on H-2B workers call the new rules “flawed”...
Miscellaneous
America’s Richest Congressman, Worth Almost $500 Million, Says Poor Americans Are Doing Great Think Progress ...Congressman Darrell Issa, America’s richest Congressman with a net worth of nearly $500 million, says the nation’s poor are actually doing very well, suggesting that if wages for lower-income Americans grow too high, American products would not be able to compete on the global marketplace...
Paul Krugman Exposes Wall Street Vampires' Latest Ploy Alternet ..."Last year the vampires of finance bought themselves a Congress," Paul Krugman begins his colum Monday. He then spends the rest of the piece explaining why what might seem like a pretty harsh metaphor is actually apt. But first there's the fact that the bought and paid for Congressional Republicans are trying their darndest to repay their masters by killing the financial reform bill enacted in 2010...
DOJ to Investigate Pattern of Racist Policing in Baltimore Common Dreams ...The United States Department of Justice announced Friday that after weeks of uproar and protest it would open an official investigation into the Baltimore Police Department to determine whether the discrimination and events that led to the brutal death of Freddie Gray were part of systemic pattern of abuse...
Hoffa: Nike's TPP Job Projections Will Be Just Another Round of Corporate Broken Promises Teamster.org ...Hoffa in response to Nike Inc.’s announcement today that the passage of the Trans Pacific Partnership will create thousands of new jobs in the U.S.: “Nike’s announcement that the Trans Pacific Partnership would lead to 10,000 new U.S. jobs at the company and up to 40,000 new jobs throughout the supply chain is nothing more than the same empty trade rhetoric we have heard over and over again since the passage of NAFTA"...
Albion College Workers Choose Teamsters Union Teamster.org ...Workers at Albion College in Albion, Mich., voted overwhelmingly in two separate elections Tuesday to join Teamsters Local 1038 in Detroit. Facility operators voted 26-9, while secretarial-clerical workers voted 24-3, in favor of the Teamsters Union over their prior representative, the Michigan Education Association (MEA). The more than 70 new Teamsters are seeking bargaining power, fair wages and the security of their first Teamster contract...
At Unity, Teamsters look ahead to a bright future Teamster Nation ...Some 1,600 Teamster brothers and sisters from across North America gathered together today as part of the 12th annual Unity Conference to share their success stories and speak truth to power about the increasingly perilous state of workers across the continent. Rank-and-file union members joined with Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa as well as other Teamster leaders to let attendees know they all have a role in ensuring that Teamster Power will not flourish if they don't continue to contribute and speak out...
Trucking Company Shows Facebook Road to Future New York Times ...More than three-quarters of the lesser-powered shares voted in 2014 to eradicate the fief, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has put the matter on the ballot again. Swift is urging against the idea, pointing to dual-class structures at Zynga, Groupon and LinkedIn as “some of the most successful I.P.O.s in recent years”...
Global Labor & Trade
Trade bill fate in doubt as debate kicks off Politico ...A controversial trade bill is well shy of the votes needed to pass the House and faces a difficult vote in the Senate as the debate in Congress kicks off in earnest this week. Congressional sources say that fewer than 20 House Democrats currently back giving President Barack Obama increased powers to cut trade deals...
Crunch time for TPPA talks The Star ...If the TPPA negotiations conclude, the texts will at some stage be made public, and the debate can be expected to intensify. But there are many hurdles to cross before that happens, and whether the political deadline can be met is still a big question. This will be answered in the next few weeks...
Obama’s Pacific Trade Push Faces a Senate Vote This Week New York Times ...President Obama’s most aggressive and sustained legislative push since the Affordable Care Act faces a crucial first test this week when a divided Senate considers a bill that would grant him accelerated power to complete a massive trade accord with 11 nations across the Pacific Rim...
Obama says 'dearest friends are wrong' when it comes to trade The Hill ...Several groups on the left ripped Obama for speaking about trade at the headquarters of Nike, which has been accused in the past of exploiting foreign workers. “It is sad to see how detached from reality President Obama is when it comes to TPP,” said Murshed Zaheed, deputy political director at the left-leaning CREDO...
Elizabeth Warren fires back at Obama: Here’s what they’re really fighting about (interview) Washington Post ...The president said in his Nike speech that he’s confident that when people read the agreement for themselves, that they’ll see it’s a great deal. But the president won’t actually let people read the agreement for themselves. It’s classified. The president has committed only to letting the public see this deal after Congress votes to authorize fast track. At that point it will be impossible for us to amend the agreement or to block any part of it without tanking the whole TPP...
Why Obama Wants To Torpedo A Plan To Fight Human Trafficking Huff Post ...The Senate is gearing up to vote on a bill granting Obama so-called “fast track” powers to streamline the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But a seemingly uncontroversial human rights provision authored by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) is giving the administration serious headaches as it attempts to win over skeptical members of its own party...
Will the TPP really protect workers? (opinion) Washington Post ...To date, the United States has never had a trade agreement that protects basic rights and raises wages and living standards for working people. Previous agreements have failed to ensure the integrity of the democratic process and preserve consumer and environmental protections. Comparing this pact to previous agreements sets a pretty low bar...
The arguments for the TPP are transparently weak (opinion) Aljazeera America ...President Barack Obama must be having difficulty rounding up the necessary votes in Congress to pass fast-track authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Otherwise we would not be seeing President Bill Clinton’s former chief of staff Thomas McClarty, Secretary of State John Kerry and many other prominent people saying such silly things about the trade deal. If anyone is arguing that we should be happy about TPP because it will increase exports, they either do not understand basic economics or are trying to play games. Either way, this argument deserves to be ignored...
Eggs and insults fly as Uber battles for the streets of Milan Alternet ...Uber faces regulatory opposition in many places – authorities in the Chinese city of Chengdu paid a visit to Uber’s offices last week as part of an ongoing investigation; and the service has been banned in the US state of Kansas – but in Italy, the battle has become personal...
State & Living Wage Battles
Sen. Richard: Showdown on right-to-work looms The Joplin Globe ...As members of the Missouri General Assembly prepare to return to the Capitol for the final week of this year’s session, Senate Majority Leader Ron Richard is readying for a showdown over what’s known as "right-to-work," a controversial policy that aims to restrict labor union activity. Richard, a Joplin Republican who backs the policy, told reporters Friday that he planned to force a vote on the measure...
Missouri Senate will press right-to-work, Voter ID Kansas City Biz Journal ...The head of the Missouri Senate said he’ll push right-to-work and voter ID legislation before anything else in the Legislature’s final week, The Jefferson City News Tribune reports. Senate Majority Leader Ron Richard acknowledged that there are a number of important bills still waiting for action. But he said if his priorities “don’t make it, nobody else’s will either”...
Lawmakers will hold hearings on repealing prevailing wage laws this week Michigan Radio ...Unions are expected to push back this week against bills that would repeal prevailing wage laws in Michigan. A state Senate panel is expected to hold hearings on Senate Bills 1, 2, and 3. The legislation would ban laws requiring union-level compensation for workers on publicly-funded construction projects...
Where do the presidential candidates stand on paid sick leave? Daily Kos ...Paid sick leave is gaining ground as a national issue. It's now the law in three states and a growing number of cities, but the momentum behind it just means Republicans are gearing up to fight harder. Republicans in the Pennsylvania state legislature, for instance, are still working away at their ALEC-inspired goal of overriding Philadelphia's paid sick leave law...
Business allies cool to Garcetti's minimum wage plan Los Angeles Times ...With the City Council expected to vote on the minimum wage plan later this month, some of the small-business owners who backed Garcetti's first mayoral bid are having misgivings. Garcetti defended his handling of business issues, saying in a statement that he had cut red tape at City Hall, rolled back the size of the business tax and fought for an expansion of the state's film tax credit...
Protesters March For Living Wage Newsplex ...Cars and vans honked as protesters made their way down West Main Street screaming chants about living wage. In the summer of 2012 Charlottesville City council voted to increase the living wage from $11.67 an hour to 13.00 an hour but some say that's still not enough...
U.S. Labor
Oakland Teachers Vote to Authorize Strike, Stage ‘Work-to-Rule’ Actions in Protest of Low Pay In These Times ...Public school teachers with the Oakland Education Association (OEA) voted last week to authorize strike action if the union’s executive board cannot come to an agreement with the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) in its year-long bargaining for a new contract. A central sticking point in the negotiations is over salary increases...
UAW, Car Makers Weigh New Class of Hires Wall Street Journal ...United Auto Workers officials are considering a plan to encourage the Detroit Three auto makers to add thousands of jobs traditionally belonging to auto-parts suppliers, hoping to fuel the union’s recent string of modest membership increases...
Kellogg to appeal NLRB's Memphis ruling BattleCreek Enquirer ...Kellogg Co. said it will appeal the National Labor Relations Board finding that the company's lockout of employees at its Memphis cereal plant was unlawful. Kevin Bradshaw, president of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union's Memphis local, said "we're just glad to see the law is on our side"...
For the First Time, Guestworkers Get Crucial Legal Protections Under New Rules In These Times After nearly two months of suspense, the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have issued two new rules for the H-2B guestworker program. Worker advocates are praising the rules for establishing badly-needed protections for guestworkers and U.S. workers alike, while industries that rely on H-2B workers call the new rules “flawed”...
Miscellaneous
America’s Richest Congressman, Worth Almost $500 Million, Says Poor Americans Are Doing Great Think Progress ...Congressman Darrell Issa, America’s richest Congressman with a net worth of nearly $500 million, says the nation’s poor are actually doing very well, suggesting that if wages for lower-income Americans grow too high, American products would not be able to compete on the global marketplace...
Paul Krugman Exposes Wall Street Vampires' Latest Ploy Alternet ..."Last year the vampires of finance bought themselves a Congress," Paul Krugman begins his colum Monday. He then spends the rest of the piece explaining why what might seem like a pretty harsh metaphor is actually apt. But first there's the fact that the bought and paid for Congressional Republicans are trying their darndest to repay their masters by killing the financial reform bill enacted in 2010...
DOJ to Investigate Pattern of Racist Policing in Baltimore Common Dreams ...The United States Department of Justice announced Friday that after weeks of uproar and protest it would open an official investigation into the Baltimore Police Department to determine whether the discrimination and events that led to the brutal death of Freddie Gray were part of systemic pattern of abuse...
Friday, May 8, 2015
Fast track flunkies go all out to try to force vote in Senate
Earlier this week, the Senate's top Democrat Harry Reid put his foot down on the fast track trade bill, saying he would not allow supporters to quickly jam the measure through the chamber. Well, not surprisingly, corporations and their lawmaker cronies didn't like that. So they are pushing back hard.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is forcing the issue by calling for a procedural vote known as cloture as soon as next week. If he can get 60 votes, the Senate can end debate on the matter and take a final vote on fast track. But whether he can get those 60 votes is the big question.
It could take a bipartisan effort to stop cloture. A handful of Democrats have decided to side with big business already on fast track, which means any vote will be very close. For U.S. workers and those who support fair trade, there is no margin for error.
Just in case anyone needed a reminder on why stopping fast track is essential, he is a primer: it would allow quick votes to be taken on bad trade deals like the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), with no chance to amend the deals. That is particularly insidious when details of trade agreements are shielded from public view.
Yet supporters are doing everything they can to push for fast track and the TPP. Today, President Obama is in Oregon to visit Nike Headquarters, and the company is doing all it can to shill for the trade deals. The company says it could create 10,000 new U.S.-based jobs at Nike if the Pacific Rim trade pact is approved. This is the shoe manufacturer, mind you, that is the poster boy for sweatshops worldwide.
Well the Teamsters aren't buy it, and the American public shouldn't either. As Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said today:
It's time to take a stand against these big business bullies. If workers want to protect American jobs and their wages there is only one answer -- say no to fast track. Make sure to let the Senate know they should be doing the same.
 |
| Protesters took a stand against fast track on Capitol Hill in April. |
It could take a bipartisan effort to stop cloture. A handful of Democrats have decided to side with big business already on fast track, which means any vote will be very close. For U.S. workers and those who support fair trade, there is no margin for error.
Just in case anyone needed a reminder on why stopping fast track is essential, he is a primer: it would allow quick votes to be taken on bad trade deals like the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), with no chance to amend the deals. That is particularly insidious when details of trade agreements are shielded from public view.
Yet supporters are doing everything they can to push for fast track and the TPP. Today, President Obama is in Oregon to visit Nike Headquarters, and the company is doing all it can to shill for the trade deals. The company says it could create 10,000 new U.S.-based jobs at Nike if the Pacific Rim trade pact is approved. This is the shoe manufacturer, mind you, that is the poster boy for sweatshops worldwide.
Well the Teamsters aren't buy it, and the American public shouldn't either. As Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said today:
The promise of job creation as a result of these unbalanced trade agreements is a just a broken record replaying the same corporate lies. We’ve heard it all before – and the middle class is tired of bearing the brunt of these unfair trade agreements.
Before NAFTA was passed, General Electric promised more than 10,000 new jobs would be created. Instead, GE eliminated 11,675 jobs directly due to increased competition from imports and offshoring under NAFTA. Chrysler promised 4,000 new jobs and it eliminated nearly 18,000 jobs. And just last month, Caterpillar announced it will move two production lines from Joliet, Illinois to Mexico, costing the community 230 jobs.
With a track record like this, you can understand why working men and women are skeptical of trade agreements. Global corporations like Nike take advantage of the rules outlined in trade deals like NAFTA and TPP. The system is rigged to benefit companies that move operations to countries where they can take advantage of low wages and weak labor protections. Nike alone employs 990,000 workers in low-wage countries.
We must not repeat the mistakes of the past by passing TPP and watching more manufacturing jobs leave our country while the middle class suffers.
It's time to take a stand against these big business bullies. If workers want to protect American jobs and their wages there is only one answer -- say no to fast track. Make sure to let the Senate know they should be doing the same.
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