TEAMSTERS
Teamster Aviation Maintenance Technicians to Vote on United Contract Teamster.org ...The International Brotherhood Teamsters today announced an agreement to put a proposed joint contract out for ratification for members working at United Airlines. The deal, if approved, would cover the company’s aviation maintenance technicians and related workers. The proposed contract would combine the subsidiary groups of workers formerly associated with Continental and Continental Micronesia with United...
United agrees to tentative deal with Teamsters Chicago Tribune ...United Airlines said Friday morning that it has agreed to a deal with the Teamsters to put the carrier's 8,600 technicians and related employees under a single contract. The proposed deal — which has yet to be ratified by rank-and-file members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters — is United's first major deal since recently appointed CEO Oscar Munoz went on medical leave...
Port Truck Drivers Strike Over Wage Theft Capital & Main ...Truck drivers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will begin a strike at 6 a.m. today against local subsidiaries of XPO Logistics, a Connecticut-headquartered freight transportation company. Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa will bring a national spotlight to the fight later this week as he joins local union forces in support of the drivers...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
TPP deal is bad for the auto sector, Ford Canada chief says Globe and Mail ...Key automotive provisions of the Trans-Pacific trade agreement are bad for Canada, so the new Liberal government needs to take a careful look at the deal before approving it, says Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd. chief executive officer Dianne Craig. “We see [the Trans-Pacific Partnership] as a setback,” Ms. Craig said...
Indonesia to Decide on Joining Transpacific Partnership New York Times ...The Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, said he would decide whether Southeast Asia's largest economy would join the United States-led Pacific trade agreement after his meeting with President Obama at the White House on Monday. In an interview before a four-day visit to the United States this week, Mr. Joko also said that his government was rapidly stripping away cumbersome protectionist trade regulations that foreign businesses had long chafed at...
PM’s inaction on TTIP ‘means NHS at risk’ The National ...Party leaders from throughout the UK have signed to pledge to make sure the NHS is protected from TTIP, but there is one notable name missing: David Cameron. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership could put the future of the health service at risk, union leaders have claimed, with the nature of the trade deal opening the door for US investment in public services...
Monster march in Berlin says no to the bosses’ TTIP treaty Socialist Worker ...Up to 250,000 people marched through Berlin last Saturday against the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). It was Germany’s biggest demonstration since protests against the Iraq war in 2003. TTIP is a planned treaty to create the world’s biggest free trade area, involving the European Union (EU) and the US...
Canadian election rejects austerity: Paul Krugman Oregon Live ...On Monday, Canadian voters swept the ruling Conservatives out of power, delivering a stunning victory to the center-left Liberals. And while there are many interesting things about the Liberal platform, what strikes me most is its clear rejection of the deficit-obsessed austerity orthodoxy that has dominated political discourse across the Western world. The Liberals ran on a frankly, openly Keynesian vision, and won big...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Both Sides of Right-To-Work Mobilize For Governor’s Race WFPL ...Kentucky’s next governor will face a bevy of issues, ranging from a declining coal industry to a struggling pension system. Then there’s right-to-work. Right-to-work laws — which prohibit union dues as a condition of employment — have been adopted in 25 states. Proponents want to make Kentucky the 26th...
Labor Dept. To Set New 'Prevailing Wages' For Construction Projects In New Hampshire New Hampshire Public Radio ...The U.S. Department of Labor is looking to gather wage data for New Hampshire’s building and construction industries. The department is surveying firms about wages and benefits on a range of projects in order to set so-called prevailing wage rates for federal projects in the state...
Colorado Pushes for Universal Health Care That's Governed by the People Truthout ...First pot, now health. In November 2012, Colorado voters approved a ballot initiative that made recreational use of marijunana legal, despite a federal ban. In November of next year, the state will have the opportunity to lead the way again - this time, by opting out of Obamacare and replacing it with ColoradoCare, a universal health care system governed by those who rely on it...
Washington-area airport workers join fight for $15-an-hour minimum wage Washington Post ...A push for a $15-an-hour minimum wage for the lowest-paid airport workers across the United States has landed in Washington. Workers at Reagan National and Dulles International airports have joined a growing national campaign for better pay and benefits, bringing attention to hourly wages that are as low as $6.75...
Judge refuses to dismiss NC voter ID challenge Charlotte Observer ...A federal judge on Friday refused a request from state lawmakers to dismiss a challenge to the N.C. voter ID law. U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder set the issue for a trial, tentatively in January. Attorneys for state lawmakers argued that a 2015 change to the ID provision of an election law overhaul made the 2013 legal challenge moot...
Elizabeth Warren Rips the Obama Administration on Puerto Rico Mother Jones ...After months of facing indifference from Congress, the people of Puerto Rico might finally be making progress on getting some help with the island's massive debt crisis from both the Obama administration and Congress. Last Wednesday, the Obama administration outlined a proposal that would allow the island's entities to restructure debts. After Obama finally rolled out a plan, Sen. Warren calls on the government to do more for the US colony...
Walmart’s Wage Increase Is Hurting Its Stock Price—and That’s OK The Nation ...The company created some real waves when it announced earlier this year that it planned to raise its starting wages to $9 an hour by April and $10 an hour by February of next year. A few months later, it reported that it had already reduced turnover. But it also just released its financial results forecasting a drop in annual profit in the near term...
U.S. LABOR
Deadline looms for auto workers' strike threat against GM Business Insider ...The United Auto Workers union and General Motors Co. have reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract, avoiding a strike for now. The UAW said the agreement was reached at 11:43 p.m. Sunday, 16 minutes before the deadline it had set to either reach an agreement or call a strike at GM's U.S. plants. Details of the proposed contract weren't immediately available...
GM Reaches Tentative Deal With UAW Workers, Avoiding Strike Bloomberg ...General Motors Co. and the United Auto Workers reached a tentative four-year agreement that is expected to provide raises across the board, averting a potential strike. The union announced the deal in an e-mailed statement without giving details. Local union leaders at Detroit-based GM are set to vote on Wednesday whether to send the accord to rank-and-file members for ratification...
U.S. lawmakers call for more oversight of workers’ comp Salon ...Ten prominent Democratic lawmakers, including presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, are urging the U.S. secretary of labor to come up with a plan to ensure that state workers’ compensation programs are properly caring for injured workers. The lawmakers’ letter, sent Tuesday, was prompted by an investigation by ProPublica and NPR...
'Good' Jobs Aren't Coming Back The Atlantic ...Outsourcing decimated American manufacturing in the 1980s and 1990s, erasing nearly six million jobs between 1989 and 2009. But the number of manufacturing jobs has started to slowly grow again, and about 700,000 jobs have been added since 2010. “Onshoring,” as it’s called, is at this stage delivering just a trickle of new jobs, but states such as Tennessee are offering companies generous incentives to try and speed up the process...
Teaching While Poor: Adjunct Professors and the Fight for Fair Wages The Nation ...If there’s one area that isn’t contributing to our historic levels of student debt, it’s adjunct professor’s pay. More than half of all college professors in the United States are adjuncts, working only “part-time.” One out of three of them live near or below the poverty line, and one out of four is on some form of public assistance...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
The Debt Ceiling Is Coming! Slate ...The debt ceiling deadline has been moved up two days to Nov. 3, according to the most recent estimate from Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. That is 11 days from now and considerably fewer legislative days. So far the House hasn’t moved a bill, and neither has the Senate. There’s another problem emerging in the House of Representatives, too, if you can believe it: The votes supposedly aren’t there...
Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Joins Chorus Questioning Legality of Drone Killing Program Common Dreams ...Sparked by an exposé on the Obama administration's drone war, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) has echoed human rights groups and called into question the legality of the killing program. Based on documents leaked to The Intercept by an anonymous intelligence source, The Drone Papers offers an unprecedented look at the global killing program...
Voices of Rise Up October: Victims' Families Decry Police Violence Truthout ...On Saturday, thousands rallied in New York City against police brutality as part of three days of protest called "Rise Up October." Some 40 families across the country impacted by police violence participated in the event alongside scholars such as Dr. Cornel West and Chris Hedges, as well as celebrities including playwright Eve Ensler and filmmaker Quentin Tarantino...
Pro-Immigration Protester Violently Dragged Out Of Trump Rally Huffington Post ...Pro-immigration protesters and Donald Trump supporters clashed at a rally in Miami on Friday, leading to one protester being forcefully dragged out by his collar to chants of "USA! USA!" At least three separate protest groups showed up to the Republican presidential candidate's rally at his Trump National Doral Miami resort, with some bearing signs reading "Dignity" and "Equality"...
Showing posts with label United Airlines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United Airlines. Show all posts
Monday, October 26, 2015
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Today's Teamster News 06.11.15
Teamsters
Hoffa: TAA Will Offer Little Help to Workers Hit Hard by Trade Huffington Post ...For years, the Teamsters have been strong supporters of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) legislative efforts that have offered support to thousands of workers who have lost their jobs due to bad trade deals. But not this time. As lawmakers get ready to consider TAA legislation in the House in an effort to sweeten the pot and encourage the passage of the fast track trade bill, they too should reconsider their support of the measure...
United Airlines Maintenance Workers Warn Shareholders of Problems at Airline Teamster.org ...United Airlines aviation maintenance technicians and related support personnel rallied outside the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Chicago today to warn investors and customers of problems at the airline. More than 9,000 Teamster aviation maintenance workers are seeking a fair collective bargaining agreement...
Clark County School District Employees To Vote For Teamster Representation Teamster.org ...Today, in a major victory for support staff workers at the Clark County School District (CCSD) in southern Nevada, the Employee-Management Relations Board (EMRB) announced a union election to be held November. The ballots will be mailed on November 2 and counted on December 5 in a simple-majority vote for Teamster representation at the nation’s fifth largest school district...
Teamsters Kick Off Carhaul Negotiations in Chicago Teamster.org ...Six days after the Teamsters exchanged contract proposals with the carhaul employer group, the union kicked off negotiations in Chicago today for a new national contract covering almost 6,000 employees. “Today is the start of a long process to negotiate a strong contract for our carhaul members, and we will not stop until we address our members’ concerns at the bargaining table,” said Kevin Moore, Director of the Teamsters Carhaul Division...
Hoffa: Safety Of Motorists Could Be Jeopardized By Transportation Bill Teamster.org ...Highways across Michigan and the U.S. have become increasingly dangerous for motorists. And that will only get worse if Congress approves a transportation spending bill that effectively keeps the suspension of rules in place that allow truck drivers to work longer hours, that permits larger double-trailers and that prevents the U.S. Department of Transportation from raising minimum insurance standards that have been frozen in place for the last three decades...
United Airlines employees protest at annual meeting Chicago Tribune ...Frustration among United Airlines' 9,000 unionized maintenance technicians, some of whom demonstrated outside the carrier's headquarters in Chicago on Wednesday, spilled over to the corporate annual meeting inside. United and the workers, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, have been working on a joint contract since January 2013 that covers workers of United and Continental, which merged in 2010. Mediated talks are scheduled to continue next week in Las Vegas...
D.C. area Teamsters endorse Donna Edwards for Senate Washington Post ...Rep. Donna F. Edwards (D-Md.) has won support from the Washington area Teamsters for her Maryland Senate campaign, two months after her primary rival U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) scored the first union endorsement in the contest. The Teamsters Local #639, which represents about 8,500 workers in Maryland, Virginia and the District and is largest in the region, announced their decision Wednesday...
Global Labor & Trade
House GOP prepares for close 'fast track' vote USA Today ...Seeing momentum for passage, House Republicans are aiming to move forward Friday with an anticipated close vote to renew trade promotion authority. The "fast track" trade bill is a top priority for Republicans and President Obama, but overwhelming opposition from the majority of congressional Democrats has pro-trade lawmakers anticipating a tight vote...
John Boehner set to move ahead on trade Politico ...Speaker John Boehner plans to bring a package of trade bills to the House floor Friday, despite lingering disagreements with Democrats. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), wading into the fast-track trade fight for the first time publicly, spent all week pressing Boehner to change the package, which passed the Senate last month...
Labor chief rebukes Obama in letter The Hill ...AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka this week sent President Obama a five-page letter slamming his push for fast-track trade authority, arguing labor unions have been treated unfairly throughout the process. Trumka railed against Obama in the letter, which was sent on Monday, asserting that he has “repeatedly isolated and marginalized labor and unions as the only opponents of fast track” and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
Hoffa: TAA Will Offer Little Help to Workers Hit Hard by Trade Huffington Post ...For years, the Teamsters have been strong supporters of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) legislative efforts that have offered support to thousands of workers who have lost their jobs due to bad trade deals. But not this time. As lawmakers get ready to consider TAA legislation in the House in an effort to sweeten the pot and encourage the passage of the fast track trade bill, they too should reconsider their support of the measure...
United Airlines Maintenance Workers Warn Shareholders of Problems at Airline Teamster.org ...United Airlines aviation maintenance technicians and related support personnel rallied outside the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Chicago today to warn investors and customers of problems at the airline. More than 9,000 Teamster aviation maintenance workers are seeking a fair collective bargaining agreement...
Clark County School District Employees To Vote For Teamster Representation Teamster.org ...Today, in a major victory for support staff workers at the Clark County School District (CCSD) in southern Nevada, the Employee-Management Relations Board (EMRB) announced a union election to be held November. The ballots will be mailed on November 2 and counted on December 5 in a simple-majority vote for Teamster representation at the nation’s fifth largest school district...
Teamsters Kick Off Carhaul Negotiations in Chicago Teamster.org ...Six days after the Teamsters exchanged contract proposals with the carhaul employer group, the union kicked off negotiations in Chicago today for a new national contract covering almost 6,000 employees. “Today is the start of a long process to negotiate a strong contract for our carhaul members, and we will not stop until we address our members’ concerns at the bargaining table,” said Kevin Moore, Director of the Teamsters Carhaul Division...
Hoffa: Safety Of Motorists Could Be Jeopardized By Transportation Bill Teamster.org ...Highways across Michigan and the U.S. have become increasingly dangerous for motorists. And that will only get worse if Congress approves a transportation spending bill that effectively keeps the suspension of rules in place that allow truck drivers to work longer hours, that permits larger double-trailers and that prevents the U.S. Department of Transportation from raising minimum insurance standards that have been frozen in place for the last three decades...
United Airlines employees protest at annual meeting Chicago Tribune ...Frustration among United Airlines' 9,000 unionized maintenance technicians, some of whom demonstrated outside the carrier's headquarters in Chicago on Wednesday, spilled over to the corporate annual meeting inside. United and the workers, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, have been working on a joint contract since January 2013 that covers workers of United and Continental, which merged in 2010. Mediated talks are scheduled to continue next week in Las Vegas...
D.C. area Teamsters endorse Donna Edwards for Senate Washington Post ...Rep. Donna F. Edwards (D-Md.) has won support from the Washington area Teamsters for her Maryland Senate campaign, two months after her primary rival U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) scored the first union endorsement in the contest. The Teamsters Local #639, which represents about 8,500 workers in Maryland, Virginia and the District and is largest in the region, announced their decision Wednesday...
Global Labor & Trade
House GOP prepares for close 'fast track' vote USA Today ...Seeing momentum for passage, House Republicans are aiming to move forward Friday with an anticipated close vote to renew trade promotion authority. The "fast track" trade bill is a top priority for Republicans and President Obama, but overwhelming opposition from the majority of congressional Democrats has pro-trade lawmakers anticipating a tight vote...
John Boehner set to move ahead on trade Politico ...Speaker John Boehner plans to bring a package of trade bills to the House floor Friday, despite lingering disagreements with Democrats. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), wading into the fast-track trade fight for the first time publicly, spent all week pressing Boehner to change the package, which passed the Senate last month...
Labor chief rebukes Obama in letter The Hill ...AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka this week sent President Obama a five-page letter slamming his push for fast-track trade authority, arguing labor unions have been treated unfairly throughout the process. Trumka railed against Obama in the letter, which was sent on Monday, asserting that he has “repeatedly isolated and marginalized labor and unions as the only opponents of fast track” and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
Paul Ryan Seeks to Bar Obama From Tweaking Immigration, Climate-Change Law Wall Street Journal ...Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) is seeking to prevent President Barack Obama from using trade agreements to make changes to U.S. laws on immigration and climate change, a move aimed at reassuring conservatives wary of voting to give Mr. Obama special trade authority...
House passes bill to repeal meat labeling rules The Hill ...The House passed legislation late Wednesday that would repeal country-of-origin labeling requirements for beef, pork and chicken products. Passage of the measure came easily on a vote of 300-131. The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled last month against the U.S. appeal to keep its existing country-of-origin labeling regulation for imported cuts of beef and pork...
Leaked trade deal terms prompt fears for Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme The Guardian ...The leak of new information on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) shows the mega-trade deal could provide more ways for multinational corporations to influence Australia’s control of its pharmaceutical regulations. Revealed via Wikileaks, the annexe on “transparency and procedural fairness for pharmaceutical products and medical devices” uncovered the draft agreements regarding medicines between the 12 TPPA member countries...
House passes bill to repeal meat labeling rules The Hill ...The House passed legislation late Wednesday that would repeal country-of-origin labeling requirements for beef, pork and chicken products. Passage of the measure came easily on a vote of 300-131. The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled last month against the U.S. appeal to keep its existing country-of-origin labeling regulation for imported cuts of beef and pork...
Leaked trade deal terms prompt fears for Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme The Guardian ...The leak of new information on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) shows the mega-trade deal could provide more ways for multinational corporations to influence Australia’s control of its pharmaceutical regulations. Revealed via Wikileaks, the annexe on “transparency and procedural fairness for pharmaceutical products and medical devices” uncovered the draft agreements regarding medicines between the 12 TPPA member countries...
Left wingers stage anti-austerity protest at Greek finance ministry, as bailout talks continue Associated Press ...Greek left-wing demonstrators are staging a sit-in at the finance ministry building in central Athens, in a protest against the radical, left-led government, which they accuse of planning new austerity measures. Thursday's protest came as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is engaged in a diplomatic offensive in Brussels to try to persuade European creditors to pay out the bailout loans the country needs to avoid default...
Jobsite Improvements Can’t Happen without Workers Solidarity Center ...The global economy generally is unregulated and the system encourages multinational corporations to operate or source from countries where wages are low, laws to protect human rights are few or unenforced and workers are impoverished and vulnerable, Shawna Bader-Blau, Solidarity Center executive director, said before the Canadian Parliament late yesterday...
State & Living Wage Battles
Scott Walker Congratulates Himself On His Education Record But Leaves Out Important Facts Think Progress ...In an op-ed for The Des Moines Register, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) talked up his record on education, saying that his decisions to get rid of teacher tenure and seniority and encourage the growth of more charter schools is responsible for better graduation rates and higher third grade reading scores. The data is skewed a little by the fact that the ACT test is largely taken in the Midwest and not on the east coast, and is required in certain states and not in others...
Kansas Waffles On Restriction That Would Only Let People Withdraw A Max Of $25 From Welfare Each Day Think Progress ...Though Kansas has been deadlocked over whether to raise taxes — something that should be unthinkable under its “tea party experiment” of baiting economic growth with lower taxes — it may be rolling back one particularly egregious aspect of restricting benefits on the poor...
California: Raise in Minimum Wage in Los Angeles Is to Be Signed Saturday New York Times ...Officials have given final approval to an ordinance that makes Los Angeles the largest city in the United States to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. The City Council on Wednesday voted 12 to 1 for the increase and forwarded it to Mayor Eric Garcetti. His office says he plans to sign it on Saturday...
Could West Virginia Lose Prevailing Wage? WDTV ...Prevailing wage has the potential to disappear temporality come next month. On Monday June 8th, a Republican-led committee voted to not extend the deadline to set a new prevailing wage in our state. The agency met a June 1st deadline to share it's method on how the wage would be reached, but If WorkForce West Virginia doesn’t submit more details on it's plans by July 1st, the state will no longer have a prevailing wage for the time being...
Walmart Violated Minimum Wage Laws, Federal Judge Rules Huffington Post ...Wal-Mart could be on the hook for more than $100 million in back pay after a federal judge ruled the company failed to pay California minimum wage to truck drivers for activities that included inspecting and washing their trucks, an attorney said Wednesday. The ruling came after the company argued that the drivers are paid for particular activities that include those tasks...
Council Rejects Prevailing Wage Ordinance Woodstock Independent ...The Woodstock City Council refused to pass a state-mandated prevailing wage ordinance at its June 2 meeting, a vote that will likely prove to be symbolic. The vote came after a presentation from Larson detailing the cost to municipalities of Illinois’ prevailing wage laws. Such laws, which exist at the federal level as well as in 32 states, dictate the hourly wage and benefits paid to many government-contracted laborers, workers and mechanics...
U.S. Labor
With Thousands Marching in the Streets, Chicago Teachers Union Declares ‘This Means War!’ In These Times ...Cries of “this means war!” echoed throughout Chicago’s financial district this Tuesday as teachers demonstrated against the Board of Education ahead of union contract negotiations this summer. The rally, which began in front of Chicago’s James R. Thompson center, served as an unofficial kickoff for the CTU’s campaign to bargain a new contract with CPS’s Board of Education, which represents 400,000 students and the country’s third-largest school district. The current contract expires on June 30...
Now interns are unionizing, too Washington Post ...Of all workplace positions, perhaps none is quite so exploitable — at least stereotypically — as the intern. Sometimes paid, but often not, they're asked to perform duties nobody else wants to do in exchange for that essential first line on a resume indicating “experience.” Haley Quinn, a 20-year-old student at New York University, thought life could be a lot better for the nation’s youngest professionals. Last summer, while interning at the American Federation of Teachers in Washington, D.C., she did what seemed natural in that environment: Organizing her co-workers...
Agreement with Cal-OSHA gives UFW bigger role in heat protection enforcement Bakersfield Californian ...Cal-OSHA, the state’s workplace safety agency, has agreed to adjust its approach to heat-illness protections, including stepping up inspections during the warmest weather and targeting repeat offenders, under a lawsuit settlement announced Wednesday by the United Farm Workers labor union. The agreement gives the UFW a bigger role in reporting employers it suspects of violating existing rules, and calls on the union to do more to persuade field workers to cooperate with state inspectors...
Clark County stops pay increases for SEIU members Las Vegas Review-Journal ...Clark County management has informed its largest union that employees won’t receive salary or benefit increases anytime soon, citing a new state law and contending that the contract between the county and Service Employees International Union Local 1107 has expired. The freeze is expected to end in August or early September, when the county expects to have a new contract in place with the union...
Saline UAW workers avoid strike minutes before deadline Click On Detroit ...A Saline auto parts plant avoided a potential United Auto Workers strike. They reached a deal minutes before midnight with auto supplier Faurecia. The union had told its members to prepare for strike assignments at 5:30 a.m. Thursday. UAW Local 892 President Larry Robinson passed out a negotiations update Wednesday, which regarded the end of deadline extensions, concluding that, if there is no deal at midnight, "unless you hear otherwise, you should consider yourself on strike"...
USW to vote Thursday to end lockout at Century Aluminum's Hawesville smelter Platts ...Hundreds of union members would return to work Monday at Century Aluminum's 244,000 mt/year Hawesville smelter in Kentucky if the United Steelworkers union ratifies a tentative agreement with the Chicago-based company to end a monthlong lockout, a USW official said Wednesday. The five-year deal was hammered out Tuesday by negotiators with the assistance of a federal mediator...
Miscellaneous
'Infrastructure? Who Cares,' Says GOP-Led House as it Slashes Amtrak Budget Common Dreams ...The GOP-led U.S. House of Representatives late Tuesday voted to slash $242 million from the Amtrak budget. "Amtrak currently receives $1.3 billion from the government, most of which goes toward capital improvements and debt service," AP reports. "The GOP-drafted measure cuts $242 million from capital accounts but fully funds the $289 million request for operating losses"...
Here little lady, let me tell you how banking works: Jamie Dimon mansplains to Elizabeth Warren Salon ...Jamie Dimon, the billionaire CEO of JP Morgan Chase and face of Wall Street bankers, doesn’t think Senator Elizabeth Warren “fully understands the global banking system” but he’s reportedly offered to meet with her and explain a few things. Dimon told a group of bankers at a luncheon for The Executives’ Club of Chicago today that although he agrees with some of the concerns expressed by America’s most vocal critic of Wall Street, he just doesn’t think that Warren actually gets how the whole global banking thing works...
Police Kill Black Women Too—and We Don't Talk About It Enough Mother Jones ...During protests that shook Baltimore in April, Freddie Gray's name became a rallying cry in calls for criminal justice reform nationwide. But how many of us have heard of Rekia Boyd, the 22-year-old unarmed black woman who was fatally shot by a police detective in Chicago back in 2012? Just five days before demonstrations erupted for Gray in Maryland and then across the country, a judge acquitted the Chicago detective who killed Boyd, despite finding that he had acted in a manner that was "beyond reckless"...
Jobsite Improvements Can’t Happen without Workers Solidarity Center ...The global economy generally is unregulated and the system encourages multinational corporations to operate or source from countries where wages are low, laws to protect human rights are few or unenforced and workers are impoverished and vulnerable, Shawna Bader-Blau, Solidarity Center executive director, said before the Canadian Parliament late yesterday...
State & Living Wage Battles
Scott Walker Congratulates Himself On His Education Record But Leaves Out Important Facts Think Progress ...In an op-ed for The Des Moines Register, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) talked up his record on education, saying that his decisions to get rid of teacher tenure and seniority and encourage the growth of more charter schools is responsible for better graduation rates and higher third grade reading scores. The data is skewed a little by the fact that the ACT test is largely taken in the Midwest and not on the east coast, and is required in certain states and not in others...
Kansas Waffles On Restriction That Would Only Let People Withdraw A Max Of $25 From Welfare Each Day Think Progress ...Though Kansas has been deadlocked over whether to raise taxes — something that should be unthinkable under its “tea party experiment” of baiting economic growth with lower taxes — it may be rolling back one particularly egregious aspect of restricting benefits on the poor...
California: Raise in Minimum Wage in Los Angeles Is to Be Signed Saturday New York Times ...Officials have given final approval to an ordinance that makes Los Angeles the largest city in the United States to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. The City Council on Wednesday voted 12 to 1 for the increase and forwarded it to Mayor Eric Garcetti. His office says he plans to sign it on Saturday...
Could West Virginia Lose Prevailing Wage? WDTV ...Prevailing wage has the potential to disappear temporality come next month. On Monday June 8th, a Republican-led committee voted to not extend the deadline to set a new prevailing wage in our state. The agency met a June 1st deadline to share it's method on how the wage would be reached, but If WorkForce West Virginia doesn’t submit more details on it's plans by July 1st, the state will no longer have a prevailing wage for the time being...
Walmart Violated Minimum Wage Laws, Federal Judge Rules Huffington Post ...Wal-Mart could be on the hook for more than $100 million in back pay after a federal judge ruled the company failed to pay California minimum wage to truck drivers for activities that included inspecting and washing their trucks, an attorney said Wednesday. The ruling came after the company argued that the drivers are paid for particular activities that include those tasks...
Council Rejects Prevailing Wage Ordinance Woodstock Independent ...The Woodstock City Council refused to pass a state-mandated prevailing wage ordinance at its June 2 meeting, a vote that will likely prove to be symbolic. The vote came after a presentation from Larson detailing the cost to municipalities of Illinois’ prevailing wage laws. Such laws, which exist at the federal level as well as in 32 states, dictate the hourly wage and benefits paid to many government-contracted laborers, workers and mechanics...
U.S. Labor
With Thousands Marching in the Streets, Chicago Teachers Union Declares ‘This Means War!’ In These Times ...Cries of “this means war!” echoed throughout Chicago’s financial district this Tuesday as teachers demonstrated against the Board of Education ahead of union contract negotiations this summer. The rally, which began in front of Chicago’s James R. Thompson center, served as an unofficial kickoff for the CTU’s campaign to bargain a new contract with CPS’s Board of Education, which represents 400,000 students and the country’s third-largest school district. The current contract expires on June 30...
Now interns are unionizing, too Washington Post ...Of all workplace positions, perhaps none is quite so exploitable — at least stereotypically — as the intern. Sometimes paid, but often not, they're asked to perform duties nobody else wants to do in exchange for that essential first line on a resume indicating “experience.” Haley Quinn, a 20-year-old student at New York University, thought life could be a lot better for the nation’s youngest professionals. Last summer, while interning at the American Federation of Teachers in Washington, D.C., she did what seemed natural in that environment: Organizing her co-workers...
Agreement with Cal-OSHA gives UFW bigger role in heat protection enforcement Bakersfield Californian ...Cal-OSHA, the state’s workplace safety agency, has agreed to adjust its approach to heat-illness protections, including stepping up inspections during the warmest weather and targeting repeat offenders, under a lawsuit settlement announced Wednesday by the United Farm Workers labor union. The agreement gives the UFW a bigger role in reporting employers it suspects of violating existing rules, and calls on the union to do more to persuade field workers to cooperate with state inspectors...
Clark County stops pay increases for SEIU members Las Vegas Review-Journal ...Clark County management has informed its largest union that employees won’t receive salary or benefit increases anytime soon, citing a new state law and contending that the contract between the county and Service Employees International Union Local 1107 has expired. The freeze is expected to end in August or early September, when the county expects to have a new contract in place with the union...
Saline UAW workers avoid strike minutes before deadline Click On Detroit ...A Saline auto parts plant avoided a potential United Auto Workers strike. They reached a deal minutes before midnight with auto supplier Faurecia. The union had told its members to prepare for strike assignments at 5:30 a.m. Thursday. UAW Local 892 President Larry Robinson passed out a negotiations update Wednesday, which regarded the end of deadline extensions, concluding that, if there is no deal at midnight, "unless you hear otherwise, you should consider yourself on strike"...
USW to vote Thursday to end lockout at Century Aluminum's Hawesville smelter Platts ...Hundreds of union members would return to work Monday at Century Aluminum's 244,000 mt/year Hawesville smelter in Kentucky if the United Steelworkers union ratifies a tentative agreement with the Chicago-based company to end a monthlong lockout, a USW official said Wednesday. The five-year deal was hammered out Tuesday by negotiators with the assistance of a federal mediator...
Miscellaneous
'Infrastructure? Who Cares,' Says GOP-Led House as it Slashes Amtrak Budget Common Dreams ...The GOP-led U.S. House of Representatives late Tuesday voted to slash $242 million from the Amtrak budget. "Amtrak currently receives $1.3 billion from the government, most of which goes toward capital improvements and debt service," AP reports. "The GOP-drafted measure cuts $242 million from capital accounts but fully funds the $289 million request for operating losses"...
Here little lady, let me tell you how banking works: Jamie Dimon mansplains to Elizabeth Warren Salon ...Jamie Dimon, the billionaire CEO of JP Morgan Chase and face of Wall Street bankers, doesn’t think Senator Elizabeth Warren “fully understands the global banking system” but he’s reportedly offered to meet with her and explain a few things. Dimon told a group of bankers at a luncheon for The Executives’ Club of Chicago today that although he agrees with some of the concerns expressed by America’s most vocal critic of Wall Street, he just doesn’t think that Warren actually gets how the whole global banking thing works...
Police Kill Black Women Too—and We Don't Talk About It Enough Mother Jones ...During protests that shook Baltimore in April, Freddie Gray's name became a rallying cry in calls for criminal justice reform nationwide. But how many of us have heard of Rekia Boyd, the 22-year-old unarmed black woman who was fatally shot by a police detective in Chicago back in 2012? Just five days before demonstrations erupted for Gray in Maryland and then across the country, a judge acquitted the Chicago detective who killed Boyd, despite finding that he had acted in a manner that was "beyond reckless"...
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Today's Teamster News 07.24.14
Teamster News
Teamsters Back Rubain Dorancy for Central Brooklyn Senate Seat New York Observer ...Council 16 of the union representing drivers of various trades decided to back the education activist in his primary race against Mr. Adams’ former aide Jesse Hamilton and Community Board 9 member Demetrius Lawrence. ...
Bus Strike: GET Board Meets To Consider Union Proposal KBFX ...Golden Empire Transit District board members first met in open session to take public input, then they held a closed meeting to consider the proposal from the Teamsters...
Servisair Inc. and Teamsters reach new collective agreement CNW ...Today, the Honourable Dr. K. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women, congratulated Servisair Inc. and Teamsters Local 419 on ratifying a collective agreement for members working at Toronto Pearson International Airport...
Trade
Senate advances bill to end tax breaks for outsourcing The Hill ...The Senate voted 93-7 on Wednesday to advance a bill that would end tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas...
The Trans-Pacific Partnership and “Police Militarization”: The Coming Calamity, The Coming Resistance Centre For Research On Globalization ...While many praise the Trans-Pacific Partnership as free trade, one must be wary not only due to the geopolitical aspects, but also due to it being so secret that “often times, members of Congress and Parliament are denied access to them, even though the agreement will set out legal obligations that these elected officials will be expected to meet.”...
State Battles
Lake County judge strikes down Indiana right-to-work ban on union fees in 2nd blow to law The Republic ...Lake County Circuit Court Judge George Paras determined the law violates the state constitution by forcing unions to provide services to workers without payment...
Sealed Air jobs leaving the area Racine Journal Times ...All of the approximately 300 local Sealed Air jobs will leave the Racine area within the next three years, with the moves starting next year...
'Brain Drain' Continues As More Young Graduates Leave Wisconsin Wisconsin Public Radio ...UW Professor Says State Loses 14K College Graduates Per Year, Most Of Them Between Ages Of 21 And 29...
Unemployment up in Wisconsin's largest cities Associated Press ...The state Department of Workforce Development reported Wednesday that unemployment rates in June increased in all of the state's 32 largest cities. Unemployment rates went up in 61 of 72 counties and remained unchanged in the other 11...
Scott Walker Gets Very Little Money From The Little People Cap Times ...Of the $8.2 million the governor raised in the first six months of the year, only $1.3 million – less than one sixth – came from such donors giving $75 or less. Nearly as much came from the 106 donors who gave him the maximum contribution of $10,000, and nearly twice as much – $2.47 million – came from donors who gave at least $5,000. Most of Walker’s money, $4.7 million, came from those who gave at least $1,000...
War On Workers
United Airlines' Outsourcing Jobs To Company That Pays Near-Poverty Wages Is Shameful Huffington Post ...On October 1, United Airlines is planning to outsource 630 gate agent jobs at 12 airports to companies that pay near-poverty level wages. The airports affected include Salt Lake City; Charlotte, North Carolina; Pensacola, Florida; Detroit and Des Moines, Iowa. As a result hundreds of employees who formerly made middle-class, living wages will be forced to transfer to other cities, take early retirement or seek employment elsewhere...
Postal Workers Protest Staples In Chicago NBC Chicago ...Hundreds of members of the American Postal Workers Union protested outside a Staples in Chicago Tuesday in hopes to keep mini-post offices from opening up inside the business...
ODOT Worker Killed During Workplace Accident In Eastern Oregon KATU ...A 54-year-old Oregon Department of Transportation worker was killed on the job Tuesday, the agency said...
Koch Brothers Back 'Creepy Carenival' Where Clowns Deter Millennials From Obamacare Forbes Magazine ...Creepy Uncle Sam is back. This time, he’s bringing you to a “Creepy Carenival” – an anti-Obamacare spectacle backed by the billionaire Koch brothers where smirking clowns choose patients’ surgeries by throwing knives at a revolving wheel, insurance premiums explode and a “Dropped Coverage” game dunks millennials into a “High-Risk Pool.”...
Miscellaneous
60 Percent Of Incoming College Football Players Support Unions, Says Survey SB Nation ...60 percent of the 2015 recruiting class is in favor of unionization for college athletes, and more than 86 percent are in favor of athletes receiving some sort of stipend...
Teamsters Back Rubain Dorancy for Central Brooklyn Senate Seat New York Observer ...Council 16 of the union representing drivers of various trades decided to back the education activist in his primary race against Mr. Adams’ former aide Jesse Hamilton and Community Board 9 member Demetrius Lawrence. ...
Bus Strike: GET Board Meets To Consider Union Proposal KBFX ...Golden Empire Transit District board members first met in open session to take public input, then they held a closed meeting to consider the proposal from the Teamsters...
Servisair Inc. and Teamsters reach new collective agreement CNW ...Today, the Honourable Dr. K. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women, congratulated Servisair Inc. and Teamsters Local 419 on ratifying a collective agreement for members working at Toronto Pearson International Airport...
Trade
Senate advances bill to end tax breaks for outsourcing The Hill ...The Senate voted 93-7 on Wednesday to advance a bill that would end tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas...
The Trans-Pacific Partnership and “Police Militarization”: The Coming Calamity, The Coming Resistance Centre For Research On Globalization ...While many praise the Trans-Pacific Partnership as free trade, one must be wary not only due to the geopolitical aspects, but also due to it being so secret that “often times, members of Congress and Parliament are denied access to them, even though the agreement will set out legal obligations that these elected officials will be expected to meet.”...
State Battles
Lake County judge strikes down Indiana right-to-work ban on union fees in 2nd blow to law The Republic ...Lake County Circuit Court Judge George Paras determined the law violates the state constitution by forcing unions to provide services to workers without payment...
Sealed Air jobs leaving the area Racine Journal Times ...All of the approximately 300 local Sealed Air jobs will leave the Racine area within the next three years, with the moves starting next year...
'Brain Drain' Continues As More Young Graduates Leave Wisconsin Wisconsin Public Radio ...UW Professor Says State Loses 14K College Graduates Per Year, Most Of Them Between Ages Of 21 And 29...
Unemployment up in Wisconsin's largest cities Associated Press ...The state Department of Workforce Development reported Wednesday that unemployment rates in June increased in all of the state's 32 largest cities. Unemployment rates went up in 61 of 72 counties and remained unchanged in the other 11...
Scott Walker Gets Very Little Money From The Little People Cap Times ...Of the $8.2 million the governor raised in the first six months of the year, only $1.3 million – less than one sixth – came from such donors giving $75 or less. Nearly as much came from the 106 donors who gave him the maximum contribution of $10,000, and nearly twice as much – $2.47 million – came from donors who gave at least $5,000. Most of Walker’s money, $4.7 million, came from those who gave at least $1,000...
War On Workers
United Airlines' Outsourcing Jobs To Company That Pays Near-Poverty Wages Is Shameful Huffington Post ...On October 1, United Airlines is planning to outsource 630 gate agent jobs at 12 airports to companies that pay near-poverty level wages. The airports affected include Salt Lake City; Charlotte, North Carolina; Pensacola, Florida; Detroit and Des Moines, Iowa. As a result hundreds of employees who formerly made middle-class, living wages will be forced to transfer to other cities, take early retirement or seek employment elsewhere...
Postal Workers Protest Staples In Chicago NBC Chicago ...Hundreds of members of the American Postal Workers Union protested outside a Staples in Chicago Tuesday in hopes to keep mini-post offices from opening up inside the business...
ODOT Worker Killed During Workplace Accident In Eastern Oregon KATU ...A 54-year-old Oregon Department of Transportation worker was killed on the job Tuesday, the agency said...
Koch Brothers Back 'Creepy Carenival' Where Clowns Deter Millennials From Obamacare Forbes Magazine ...Creepy Uncle Sam is back. This time, he’s bringing you to a “Creepy Carenival” – an anti-Obamacare spectacle backed by the billionaire Koch brothers where smirking clowns choose patients’ surgeries by throwing knives at a revolving wheel, insurance premiums explode and a “Dropped Coverage” game dunks millennials into a “High-Risk Pool.”...
Miscellaneous
60 Percent Of Incoming College Football Players Support Unions, Says Survey SB Nation ...60 percent of the 2015 recruiting class is in favor of unionization for college athletes, and more than 86 percent are in favor of athletes receiving some sort of stipend...
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Today's Teamster News 02.12.14
Salt and plow truck drivers ratify contract that avoided strike Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ...Members of Teamsters Local 249, whose salt and plow truck drivers threatened to strike last week as snow loomed in the forecast, ratified a contract Sunday, according to a spokeswoman for the union...
Bay Valley strike continues Sauk Valley Media ...Negotiations between Bay Valley Foods and Teamsters Local 722 are expected to continue. The two sides met for 3 hours on Friday and Sunday with a federal mediator, but "very little progress" had been made...
CCTA Workers Vote Down Contract, Strike Looms My Champlain Valley ...The workers at CCTA voted down the company's best offer by 53-4. The nearly 70 employees, represented by Local 597 in South Barre, Vermont could go on strike in two weeks...
Miller Waste talks in conciliation Owen Sound Sun Times ...Contract negotiations between Teamsters Local 879 and The Miller Group's waste division in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada have moved into the conciliation stage as they negotiate a first contract...
The Latest Attack on Public Sector Unions: Paycheck Protection in Pennsylvania and Missouri Truthout ...The GOP offensive against public sector unions at the state level that began in earnest in Wisconsin and Ohio in early 2011 is far from over. In its more recent manifestation, Republican politicians in Missouri and Pennsylvania are once again promoting so-called "paycheck protection" legislation, which they claim will protect the interests of ordinary workers. Nothing could be further from the truth...
Republican caucus divided on RTW strategy for 2014 Missouri Times ...“It’s a fractious issue for us as a caucus,” Rep. Myron Neth, R-Liberty said. “And for some of us, we see it as something that will likely lose us some seats in the legislature...”
Missouri House committee endorses ‘right to work’ Kansas City Star ...A Missouri House committee has endorsed a measure, known as “right to work,” that would bar labor contracts from requiring that all employees pay union fees...
Tenn. lawmakers issue incentive threat in VW union move USA Today ...Not only are Republican legislators accusing Volkswagen of backing the UAW, some of their leaders on Monday threatened to withhold tax incentives for future expansion of the 3-year-old assembly plant in Chattanooga if workers vote this week to join the UAW...
How Tennessee Papers Are Helping The Anti-Union Fight Media Matters ...Two major Tennessee newspapers are aiding opposition to unionization efforts at a Volkswagen plant in the state by hiding the facts about union support and outside conservative influences...
Florida County Eliminates Minority-Heavy Polling Places ThinkProgress ...On a party-line vote, a Florida county’s Republican majority Board of County Commissioners voted Tuesday to eliminate almost one-third of Manatee County’s voting sites...
Labor Battle at Kellogg Plant in Memphis Drags On New York Times ...For more than three months, Kellogg has locked out more than 200 workers, barring them from returning to their jobs making Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops until their union agrees to a new contract...
Flight Attendants Reach Truce with United Airlines Over ‘Involuntary Furloughs’ In These Times ...United Airlines attendants still face furloughs and a possible shift to the Continental side of the company, but on the union's terms...
2013 Trade Data Show Why Fast Tracking a TPP NAFTA Expansion Is a Very Bad Idea Huffington Post ...The only good news in the just-released 2013 U.S. trade data is that it can only reinforce growing congressional and public opposition to more-of-the-same trade agreements...
Business groups want early TPP The Japan News ...Leaders of three major business groups requested that talks on a Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact be concluded early...
A Walmart Worker Explains Why Walmart's Customer Service Is Horrible Gawker ...store manager's and assistant manager's incentive bonuses (to the tune of $80K for store managers and $20K for assistant managers, once yearly) are partially determined by how much they can bring scheduled hours/payroll DOWN from the year before (of course, while still keeping sales up...
London tube strike called off after talks produce breakthrough The Guardian ...Unions planning 48-hour strike from Tuesday will no longer take action after bosses come up with new proposals...
States Crack Down On Corporate Tax Loophole While Congress Does Nothing Huffington Post ...Montana isn't often considered a fiscal policy pioneer, but in 2003 lawmakers closed a corporate tax loophole that was costing the state millions of dollars in lost revenue. A decade later, other cash-strapped states are finally following Montana's lead...
Tech Giants Push US Gov To Limit Surveillance Programs Associated Press ...A coalition of the nation's leading technology firms is urging changes in the government's spying programs...
Bay Valley strike continues Sauk Valley Media ...Negotiations between Bay Valley Foods and Teamsters Local 722 are expected to continue. The two sides met for 3 hours on Friday and Sunday with a federal mediator, but "very little progress" had been made...
CCTA Workers Vote Down Contract, Strike Looms My Champlain Valley ...The workers at CCTA voted down the company's best offer by 53-4. The nearly 70 employees, represented by Local 597 in South Barre, Vermont could go on strike in two weeks...
Miller Waste talks in conciliation Owen Sound Sun Times ...Contract negotiations between Teamsters Local 879 and The Miller Group's waste division in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada have moved into the conciliation stage as they negotiate a first contract...
The Latest Attack on Public Sector Unions: Paycheck Protection in Pennsylvania and Missouri Truthout ...The GOP offensive against public sector unions at the state level that began in earnest in Wisconsin and Ohio in early 2011 is far from over. In its more recent manifestation, Republican politicians in Missouri and Pennsylvania are once again promoting so-called "paycheck protection" legislation, which they claim will protect the interests of ordinary workers. Nothing could be further from the truth...
Republican caucus divided on RTW strategy for 2014 Missouri Times ...“It’s a fractious issue for us as a caucus,” Rep. Myron Neth, R-Liberty said. “And for some of us, we see it as something that will likely lose us some seats in the legislature...”
Missouri House committee endorses ‘right to work’ Kansas City Star ...A Missouri House committee has endorsed a measure, known as “right to work,” that would bar labor contracts from requiring that all employees pay union fees...
Tenn. lawmakers issue incentive threat in VW union move USA Today ...Not only are Republican legislators accusing Volkswagen of backing the UAW, some of their leaders on Monday threatened to withhold tax incentives for future expansion of the 3-year-old assembly plant in Chattanooga if workers vote this week to join the UAW...
How Tennessee Papers Are Helping The Anti-Union Fight Media Matters ...Two major Tennessee newspapers are aiding opposition to unionization efforts at a Volkswagen plant in the state by hiding the facts about union support and outside conservative influences...
Florida County Eliminates Minority-Heavy Polling Places ThinkProgress ...On a party-line vote, a Florida county’s Republican majority Board of County Commissioners voted Tuesday to eliminate almost one-third of Manatee County’s voting sites...
Labor Battle at Kellogg Plant in Memphis Drags On New York Times ...For more than three months, Kellogg has locked out more than 200 workers, barring them from returning to their jobs making Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops until their union agrees to a new contract...
Flight Attendants Reach Truce with United Airlines Over ‘Involuntary Furloughs’ In These Times ...United Airlines attendants still face furloughs and a possible shift to the Continental side of the company, but on the union's terms...
2013 Trade Data Show Why Fast Tracking a TPP NAFTA Expansion Is a Very Bad Idea Huffington Post ...The only good news in the just-released 2013 U.S. trade data is that it can only reinforce growing congressional and public opposition to more-of-the-same trade agreements...
Business groups want early TPP The Japan News ...Leaders of three major business groups requested that talks on a Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact be concluded early...
A Walmart Worker Explains Why Walmart's Customer Service Is Horrible Gawker ...store manager's and assistant manager's incentive bonuses (to the tune of $80K for store managers and $20K for assistant managers, once yearly) are partially determined by how much they can bring scheduled hours/payroll DOWN from the year before (of course, while still keeping sales up...
London tube strike called off after talks produce breakthrough The Guardian ...Unions planning 48-hour strike from Tuesday will no longer take action after bosses come up with new proposals...
States Crack Down On Corporate Tax Loophole While Congress Does Nothing Huffington Post ...Montana isn't often considered a fiscal policy pioneer, but in 2003 lawmakers closed a corporate tax loophole that was costing the state millions of dollars in lost revenue. A decade later, other cash-strapped states are finally following Montana's lead...
Tech Giants Push US Gov To Limit Surveillance Programs Associated Press ...A coalition of the nation's leading technology firms is urging changes in the government's spying programs...
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Today's Teamster News 12.01.13
United Airlines parent plans to cut costs by $2 billion a year Chicago Tribune ...The United Airlines parent said it will reduce fuel use, increase productivity and improve maintenance processes, among other methods. It said the cuts will not include layoffs...
Black Friday protests demand improved conditions from Walmart The Guardian ...the wave of protests will mark a dramatic increase in the opposition to Walmart's pay structure from Black Friday 2012, when similar events were staged in about 1,000 stores...
Social Security is a family protection program (opinion) Des Moines Register ... It protects working men and women of all ages from risks in life that can lead to the loss of livelihood, such as from death or disability. We may not think of Social Security as a family protection plan — but that’s exactly what it is...
Pacific Rim trade talks’ secrecy doesn’t help chances for a deal Seattle Times ...Among the biggest disputes concerns the unprecedented secrecy surrounding the talks, where even most members of Congress and congressional staffers have been barred from examining drafts of the agreement...
South Korea moves closer to joining TPP trade talks Reuters ...The world's seventh-largest exporter said after a meeting of top economic officials that it would soon enter negotiations with the United States, Japan, Canada and nine others already in the group...
Brewing Signs of Housing Trouble Economic Populist ...U.S. borrowers are increasingly missing payments on home equity lines of credit they took out during the housing bubble, a trend that could deal another blow to the country's biggest banks. The loans are a problem now because an increasing number are hitting their 10-year anniversary, at which point borrowers usually must start paying down the principal on the loans as well as the interest they had been paying all along...
A focus on poverty obscures the need to tackle inequality Tax Justice Network ...the focus on poverty also allows the rich (should they wish to try and help) to disport themselves across the domestic and world stage as a force for good. This further obscures the root problem of their excessive share of income and wealth which is left largely unexamined and unquestioned. All of which probably explains why some rich people are keen to tackle poverty but most of them do not want to talk about inequality...
When HSBC Closes Your Bank Account Without Telling You Huffington Post ...This is not a story simply on a customer service failure, or a communications failure, but the story of an organization who has not yet realized it is the 21st Century...
Black Friday protests demand improved conditions from Walmart The Guardian ...the wave of protests will mark a dramatic increase in the opposition to Walmart's pay structure from Black Friday 2012, when similar events were staged in about 1,000 stores...
Social Security is a family protection program (opinion) Des Moines Register ... It protects working men and women of all ages from risks in life that can lead to the loss of livelihood, such as from death or disability. We may not think of Social Security as a family protection plan — but that’s exactly what it is...
Pacific Rim trade talks’ secrecy doesn’t help chances for a deal Seattle Times ...Among the biggest disputes concerns the unprecedented secrecy surrounding the talks, where even most members of Congress and congressional staffers have been barred from examining drafts of the agreement...
South Korea moves closer to joining TPP trade talks Reuters ...The world's seventh-largest exporter said after a meeting of top economic officials that it would soon enter negotiations with the United States, Japan, Canada and nine others already in the group...
Brewing Signs of Housing Trouble Economic Populist ...U.S. borrowers are increasingly missing payments on home equity lines of credit they took out during the housing bubble, a trend that could deal another blow to the country's biggest banks. The loans are a problem now because an increasing number are hitting their 10-year anniversary, at which point borrowers usually must start paying down the principal on the loans as well as the interest they had been paying all along...
A focus on poverty obscures the need to tackle inequality Tax Justice Network ...the focus on poverty also allows the rich (should they wish to try and help) to disport themselves across the domestic and world stage as a force for good. This further obscures the root problem of their excessive share of income and wealth which is left largely unexamined and unquestioned. All of which probably explains why some rich people are keen to tackle poverty but most of them do not want to talk about inequality...
When HSBC Closes Your Bank Account Without Telling You Huffington Post ...This is not a story simply on a customer service failure, or a communications failure, but the story of an organization who has not yet realized it is the 21st Century...
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Today's Teamster News 11.28.13
Teamsters YRCW Local Union Leaders to Meet on December 6 teamster.org ...The Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee (TNFINC) has called a meeting with Teamster Local Unions that represent YRCW members on December 6th to review a forthcoming proposal from YRCW that modifies the existing Restructuring Agreement that is not scheduled to expire until March 31, 2015...
United Airlines Mechanics Escalate Actions For Joint Agreement At 12 U.S. Airports teamster.org ...United Airlines (UAL) professional aviation mechanics represented by the Teamsters Union escalated their actions to pressure the company to live up to its promises by hand-billing UAL customers inside and outside 12 major airports around the country...
‘IKEA Hurts Families’ Campaign Featured on Leslie Marshall Show teamster.org ...Radio host Leslie Marshall interviews Tim Beaty, Director of Global Strategies for the Teamsters, about the ‘IKEA Hurts Families’ campaign and the ongoing lockout of 350 Teamsters by IKEA in Canada...
Union-Made in America Thanksgiving AFL-CIO Now ...double check your shopping list to make sure your Turkey Day fixin's are all union made in America...
'Walmart Illegally Fired Me, But I’m Still Fighting for Change This Black Friday' Alternet ...A Walmart worker who was fired after taking part in the longest strike ever against the corporation continues to fight for his former co-workers...
These Retailers Say No to Thanksgiving Madness Wall Street Journal ...Discount chain T.J. Maxx and regional department store Dillard's Inc., along with warehouse clubs and some electronics stores are holding true to tradition and waiting for Friday before kicking off the all-important holiday shopping frenzy...
The NSA is crippling America’s economy Salon ...many American companies have been reporting large profit losses due to the spying revelations. By some estimates, the damage to U.S. companies could run as high as $180 billion...
Pope Francis: Why are Deaths of the Homeless not a Headline but a 2-point Dow Jones rise is? informed comment ..."Until exclusion and inequality in society and between peoples is reversed, it will be impossible to eliminate violence," he wrote...
SeaTac $15 Minimum Wage Barely Passes In Final Vote Tally, Recount May Follow Huffington Post ...After weeks of careful ballot counting, officials in Washington state on Tuesday certified the results in a potentially historic vote that will create far and away the highest minimum wage in America...
For U.S. stores it is ugly out there: in more ways than one Reuters ...With growing online competition, weak consumer confidence and no fashion must-haves, most U.S. retailers will have to offer both big discounts and stellar service to get consumers to spend freely, according to analysts who joined Reuters reporters on visits to stores in New York, New Jersey, California and Illinois ahead of the holiday season...
Holiday shopping: Love it or hate it, more do it online Pew Research Center ...Just 2% of Americans say they will shop on Thanksgiving Day itself — the majority of Americans (76%) believe stores should be closed then...
The IRS Moves to Limit Dark Money – But Enforcement Still a Question ProPublica ...The IRS and Treasury Department announced proposed guidelines clarifying the definition of political activities for social welfare nonprofits Tuesday afternoon, a move that could restrict the spending of the dark money groups that dumped more than $254 million of anonymous money into the 2012 elections...
Sriracha: judge orders partial shutdown of California factory The Guardian ...Claims smell sickened residents lacked 'credible evidence', said judge, but Huy Fong Foods must cease production and reduce future odours...
United Airlines Mechanics Escalate Actions For Joint Agreement At 12 U.S. Airports teamster.org ...United Airlines (UAL) professional aviation mechanics represented by the Teamsters Union escalated their actions to pressure the company to live up to its promises by hand-billing UAL customers inside and outside 12 major airports around the country...
‘IKEA Hurts Families’ Campaign Featured on Leslie Marshall Show teamster.org ...Radio host Leslie Marshall interviews Tim Beaty, Director of Global Strategies for the Teamsters, about the ‘IKEA Hurts Families’ campaign and the ongoing lockout of 350 Teamsters by IKEA in Canada...
Union-Made in America Thanksgiving AFL-CIO Now ...double check your shopping list to make sure your Turkey Day fixin's are all union made in America...
'Walmart Illegally Fired Me, But I’m Still Fighting for Change This Black Friday' Alternet ...A Walmart worker who was fired after taking part in the longest strike ever against the corporation continues to fight for his former co-workers...
These Retailers Say No to Thanksgiving Madness Wall Street Journal ...Discount chain T.J. Maxx and regional department store Dillard's Inc., along with warehouse clubs and some electronics stores are holding true to tradition and waiting for Friday before kicking off the all-important holiday shopping frenzy...
The NSA is crippling America’s economy Salon ...many American companies have been reporting large profit losses due to the spying revelations. By some estimates, the damage to U.S. companies could run as high as $180 billion...
Pope Francis: Why are Deaths of the Homeless not a Headline but a 2-point Dow Jones rise is? informed comment ..."Until exclusion and inequality in society and between peoples is reversed, it will be impossible to eliminate violence," he wrote...
SeaTac $15 Minimum Wage Barely Passes In Final Vote Tally, Recount May Follow Huffington Post ...After weeks of careful ballot counting, officials in Washington state on Tuesday certified the results in a potentially historic vote that will create far and away the highest minimum wage in America...
For U.S. stores it is ugly out there: in more ways than one Reuters ...With growing online competition, weak consumer confidence and no fashion must-haves, most U.S. retailers will have to offer both big discounts and stellar service to get consumers to spend freely, according to analysts who joined Reuters reporters on visits to stores in New York, New Jersey, California and Illinois ahead of the holiday season...
Holiday shopping: Love it or hate it, more do it online Pew Research Center ...Just 2% of Americans say they will shop on Thanksgiving Day itself — the majority of Americans (76%) believe stores should be closed then...
The IRS Moves to Limit Dark Money – But Enforcement Still a Question ProPublica ...The IRS and Treasury Department announced proposed guidelines clarifying the definition of political activities for social welfare nonprofits Tuesday afternoon, a move that could restrict the spending of the dark money groups that dumped more than $254 million of anonymous money into the 2012 elections...
Sriracha: judge orders partial shutdown of California factory The Guardian ...Claims smell sickened residents lacked 'credible evidence', said judge, but Huy Fong Foods must cease production and reduce future odours...
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
United mechanics escalate strike warning at 12 airports
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| Teamsters at Los Angeles International Airport today. |
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| Teamsters at Newark Airport today. |
According to the Teamsters press statement,
After a year of stalling, UAL executives broke off contract negotiations without agreeing to the pensions they had promised, and declared that 3,500 mechanics will be forced to pay an additional $300-$500 each month for their health care. The last proposal made by the company would actually have thousands of mechanics making less than they do today.
The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) announced that they stand “shoulder-to-shoulder in solidarity with our sisters and brothers at the Teamsters” to “demonstrate to the company it’s time to move forward together” and joined the Teamsters on the picket line. Read AFA press release here.
- A.B. Won Pat International Airport Authority, Guam (GUM)
- Honolulu International Airport (HNL)
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
- San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
- Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
- Denver International Airport (DEN)
- George Bush Intercontinental/Houston Airport (IAH)
- Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE)
- Dulles International Airport (IAD)
- Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
- Orlando International Airport (MCO)
- Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
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| Today at San Francisco International Airport. |
View more pictures here.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Today's Teamster News 11.26.13
United Airlines Mechanics Call for Pension Reinstatement During Informational Pickets at Airports Across the U.S. teamster.org ...On Monday, United Airlines (UAL) professional aviation mechanics represented by the Teamsters Union held informational pickets at 10 major airports around the country to let the public know they may be forced to strike if the company refuses to keep its promise to reinstate the workers’ pension plans...
BLET Urges Support For Two-Person Crew Bill ble-t.org ...The BLET, working jointly with SMART-Transportation Division (formerly the United Transportation Union), made nearly 150 visits to members of the U.S. House of Representatives last week in support of H.R. 3040, the Safe Freight Act...
Thanksgiving Openings Show Lack of Respect for Workers teamster.org ...“Many of them are underperforming and desperate for every dollar of sales.”...
Walmart Strikes Hit Three More Cities In Florida And California ThinkProgress ...Walmart workers went on strike on in Miami on Monday morning, following strikes in Tampa on Saturday and in Sacramento, CA on Friday...
National, Iowa Right to Work Groups Subsidized State Candidates, Misled IRS, Former Employee Charges Open Secrets ...A former political operative with the National Right to Work Committee who was involved with the 2008 and 2012 Ron Paul presidential campaigns has accused the anti-union group of running a sprawling off-the-books mass-mailing operation that violated state campaign finance laws and is at odds with the group's statements to the IRS...
WTO talks fail to agree on global trade deal text Reuters ...Marathon talks on the World Trade Organization's first-ever worldwide trade reform in Geneva failed early on Monday to agree on a text to put to ministers who meet in Bali next month...
Why Globalization Is Going Into Reverse Bloomberg ...A new study shows that cross-border investment and trade flows declined worldwide in 2012, ending a two-year recovery after the global financial crisis...
Bold Boeing workers refuse to screw over next generation The Salon ...By rejecting a contract that amounted to corporate extortion, employees have taken a stand for the middle class...
The Corporate Bully Whose Front Groups, Willful Distortions and Hate-Mongering Has Poisoned U.S. Politics: Meet Richard Berman AlterNet ...“Why don’t we know one of the most powerful people in America is? What he has done? Why '60 Minutes' called him Dr. Evil?” asks Saru Jayaraman, a leader in a growing national movement of restaurant workers demanding better pay and working conditions...
H&M: 'Living Wage' Coming To Textile Workers By 2018 Reuters ...Hennes & Mauritz, the world's second-largest clothing retailer, laid out a plan on Monday to pay a fair "living wage" to some 850,000 textile workers by 2018, saying governments were acting too slowly...
4 Ways the Koch Brothers' Wealth Is Beyond Comprehension Alternet ...In 2012, David and Charles Koch made enough money in one second to pay the food bill for an entire year for a homeless woman named Beverly...
10 Biggest Myths About Retail Workers The Guardian ...The average age of a retail worker is 37 years old (pdf), and more than half of year-round retail workers contribute a significant portion (pdf) of their family's total income. For example, researchers found that a third (pdf) of New York City retail workers support at least one dependent...
Hungry Americans Less Productive as Budget Cuts Deepen: Economy Bloomberg ...Hunger costs the U.S. at least $167.5 billion each year in lost economic productivity and earnings, health-care expenses that could have been avoided by better nutrition and the value of charity to keep families fed...
Unions to address austerity measures Kenora Online ...Ontario Federation of Labour gathers in Toronto this week to address austerity measures, including anti-union legislation...
A tale of two states MSNBC ...After the 2010 elections, Wisconsin got to work targeting collective bargaining, tax cuts, and reduced spending. After the 2010 elections, Minnesota got to work raising taxes on the wealthy and making new in-state investments in areas such as education and infrastructure….Three years into Mr. Walker’s term, Wisconsin lags behind Minnesota in job creation and economic growth...
Heart of Darkness: Criminal Investigation of WI Recall $ Center for Media and Democracy ...The post-Citizens United dark money showdown is underway in Wisconsin...
Herring wins Virginia attorney general race, elections board announces Washington Post ...The State Board of Elections on Monday declared Democrat Mark R. Herring Virginia’s next attorney general, capping a dramatic three-week certification process in the closest statewide race in Virginia history...
BLET Urges Support For Two-Person Crew Bill ble-t.org ...The BLET, working jointly with SMART-Transportation Division (formerly the United Transportation Union), made nearly 150 visits to members of the U.S. House of Representatives last week in support of H.R. 3040, the Safe Freight Act...
Thanksgiving Openings Show Lack of Respect for Workers teamster.org ...“Many of them are underperforming and desperate for every dollar of sales.”...
Walmart Strikes Hit Three More Cities In Florida And California ThinkProgress ...Walmart workers went on strike on in Miami on Monday morning, following strikes in Tampa on Saturday and in Sacramento, CA on Friday...
National, Iowa Right to Work Groups Subsidized State Candidates, Misled IRS, Former Employee Charges Open Secrets ...A former political operative with the National Right to Work Committee who was involved with the 2008 and 2012 Ron Paul presidential campaigns has accused the anti-union group of running a sprawling off-the-books mass-mailing operation that violated state campaign finance laws and is at odds with the group's statements to the IRS...
WTO talks fail to agree on global trade deal text Reuters ...Marathon talks on the World Trade Organization's first-ever worldwide trade reform in Geneva failed early on Monday to agree on a text to put to ministers who meet in Bali next month...
Why Globalization Is Going Into Reverse Bloomberg ...A new study shows that cross-border investment and trade flows declined worldwide in 2012, ending a two-year recovery after the global financial crisis...
Bold Boeing workers refuse to screw over next generation The Salon ...By rejecting a contract that amounted to corporate extortion, employees have taken a stand for the middle class...
The Corporate Bully Whose Front Groups, Willful Distortions and Hate-Mongering Has Poisoned U.S. Politics: Meet Richard Berman AlterNet ...“Why don’t we know one of the most powerful people in America is? What he has done? Why '60 Minutes' called him Dr. Evil?” asks Saru Jayaraman, a leader in a growing national movement of restaurant workers demanding better pay and working conditions...
H&M: 'Living Wage' Coming To Textile Workers By 2018 Reuters ...Hennes & Mauritz, the world's second-largest clothing retailer, laid out a plan on Monday to pay a fair "living wage" to some 850,000 textile workers by 2018, saying governments were acting too slowly...
4 Ways the Koch Brothers' Wealth Is Beyond Comprehension Alternet ...In 2012, David and Charles Koch made enough money in one second to pay the food bill for an entire year for a homeless woman named Beverly...
10 Biggest Myths About Retail Workers The Guardian ...The average age of a retail worker is 37 years old (pdf), and more than half of year-round retail workers contribute a significant portion (pdf) of their family's total income. For example, researchers found that a third (pdf) of New York City retail workers support at least one dependent...
Hungry Americans Less Productive as Budget Cuts Deepen: Economy Bloomberg ...Hunger costs the U.S. at least $167.5 billion each year in lost economic productivity and earnings, health-care expenses that could have been avoided by better nutrition and the value of charity to keep families fed...
Unions to address austerity measures Kenora Online ...Ontario Federation of Labour gathers in Toronto this week to address austerity measures, including anti-union legislation...
A tale of two states MSNBC ...After the 2010 elections, Wisconsin got to work targeting collective bargaining, tax cuts, and reduced spending. After the 2010 elections, Minnesota got to work raising taxes on the wealthy and making new in-state investments in areas such as education and infrastructure….Three years into Mr. Walker’s term, Wisconsin lags behind Minnesota in job creation and economic growth...
Heart of Darkness: Criminal Investigation of WI Recall $ Center for Media and Democracy ...The post-Citizens United dark money showdown is underway in Wisconsin...
Herring wins Virginia attorney general race, elections board announces Washington Post ...The State Board of Elections on Monday declared Democrat Mark R. Herring Virginia’s next attorney general, capping a dramatic three-week certification process in the closest statewide race in Virginia history...
Monday, November 25, 2013
Teamster UAL mechanics picket for pension reinstatement
 |
| Teamsters picketing at San Francisco International Airport today. |
According to the press statement,
In 2005, UAL took away the pensions for 11,000 professional aviation mechanics, but promised when the company’s financial situation improved they would get their retirement plans back. UAL has since rebounded and is reporting hundreds of millions in profits. The second quarter of 2013 saw UAL earn its highest revenue in history. After a year of stalling, UAL executives broke off contract negotiations without agreeing to the pensions they had promised, and declared that 3,500 mechanics will be forced to pay an additional $300-$500 each month for their health care.UAL mechanic John Lauren, a member of Teamsters Local 856, said they'd weathered the storm with the airline when times were tough, and now management wants to leave them in the cold:
It is insulting that United Airlines is asking me to pay an extra $300-$500 each month for my health care when the company brought in record profits last year. What happened to us being in this together?The 10 airports where mechanics picketed include:
- A.B. Won Pat International Airport Authority, Guam (GUM)
- Honolulu International Airport (HNL)
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
- San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
- Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
- Denver International Airport (DEN)
- George Bush Intercontinental/Houston Airport (IAH)
- Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE)
- Dulles International Airport (IAD)
- Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Today's Teamster News 11.12.11
Congress Members Took Part in Insider Trading: Abramoff CNBC ...As many as a dozen members of Congress and their aides took part in insider trading based on foreknowledge of market moving information on Capitol Hill, disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff told CNBC...
Unemployment for Young Vets: 30%, and Rising Bloomberg ...while the job market is slowly improving for most Americans, it’s moving in the opposite direction for Gulf War II vets...
Occupy Wall Street is winning Politico ...Whatever the objectives of protesters involved in Occupy Wall Street, they have succeeded in engaging the country in a conversation about income inequality...
Wisconsin unions encouraged by Ohio vote but face tough challenge in recalling Gov. Walker Associated Press ...The resounding rejection of an anti-union law by Ohio voters provides a huge boost for Democrats and union officials preparing for their next major battle -- the attempted recall of Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker -- but their prospects could be clouded by the differences between the two Midwestern states and their election laws...
United, Teamsters reach deal on labor contract Chicago Tribune ...The deal is really an interim contract, part of a two-step process to first get union contracts with United and Continental mechanics separately and then negotiate a joint deal...
Teamsters Union International Officer Election Ballot Count Begins November 14 Office of the Election Supervisor for the IBT ...The ... Election Supervisor for the ... Teamsters Union ... will begin counting Teamsters' votes for officers of the International Union on Monday, November 14 in Alexandria, VA...
Unemployment for Young Vets: 30%, and Rising Bloomberg ...while the job market is slowly improving for most Americans, it’s moving in the opposite direction for Gulf War II vets...
Occupy Wall Street is winning Politico ...Whatever the objectives of protesters involved in Occupy Wall Street, they have succeeded in engaging the country in a conversation about income inequality...
Wisconsin unions encouraged by Ohio vote but face tough challenge in recalling Gov. Walker Associated Press ...The resounding rejection of an anti-union law by Ohio voters provides a huge boost for Democrats and union officials preparing for their next major battle -- the attempted recall of Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker -- but their prospects could be clouded by the differences between the two Midwestern states and their election laws...
United, Teamsters reach deal on labor contract Chicago Tribune ...The deal is really an interim contract, part of a two-step process to first get union contracts with United and Continental mechanics separately and then negotiate a joint deal...
Teamsters Union International Officer Election Ballot Count Begins November 14 Office of the Election Supervisor for the IBT ...The ... Election Supervisor for the ... Teamsters Union ... will begin counting Teamsters' votes for officers of the International Union on Monday, November 14 in Alexandria, VA...
Friday, September 17, 2010
Today's Teamster News 09/17/10
Lost Decade for Family Income Wall Street Journal ...new Census data show ... years of stagnant wage growth ... made the past decade the worst for American families in at least half a century.
After Vote on Airline Merger, Real Work Starts Wall Street Journal ...Shareholders of United Airlines ... and Continental Airlines ... will vote Friday ... on the merger of their carriers, the last major step before the transaction can close by Oct. 1.
Obama Appoints Elizabeth Warren To Advisory Position On Consumer Protection Talking Points Memo ...The White House ... appoint(ed) Elizabeth Warren to ... help the administration set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Protecting workers' rights builds a win-win economy (opinion) Gaston Gazette ...It’s encouraging that the National Labor Relations Board is taking preliminary steps toward justice for Stabilus, Inc. workers...
After Vote on Airline Merger, Real Work Starts Wall Street Journal ...Shareholders of United Airlines ... and Continental Airlines ... will vote Friday ... on the merger of their carriers, the last major step before the transaction can close by Oct. 1.
Obama Appoints Elizabeth Warren To Advisory Position On Consumer Protection Talking Points Memo ...The White House ... appoint(ed) Elizabeth Warren to ... help the administration set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Protecting workers' rights builds a win-win economy (opinion) Gaston Gazette ...It’s encouraging that the National Labor Relations Board is taking preliminary steps toward justice for Stabilus, Inc. workers...
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