Today's Teamster News 07.21.14

Trade
TPP risks weaker world trade system - ex WTO boss  New Zealand Herald   ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a step backwards to the days before the World Trade Organisation when the US and Europe controlled the global trading system to the detriment of developing economies, says a former director-general of the WTO, Supachai Panitchpakdi of Thailand...
Milk Group Wants EU To Move On GI Issue In TTIP  WNAX   ...European Union negotiators appear to be holding firm on their insistence for having geographical indicators imposed in the Trans Atlantic Trade And Investment Partnership agreement. G-I’s are common food names such as feta, parmesan or munster that the E.U. wants to have exclusive control of...
State Battles
In N.C., conservative donor Art Pope sits at heart of government he helped transform  Washington Post   ...From the outside, Pope’s family foundation has put more than $55 million into a robust network of conservative think tanks and advocacy groups, building a state version of what his friends Charles and David Koch have helped create on a national level...
Corporate Welfare State: Taxpayers now on the hook for Job Training, while state pushes importing cheaper "Skills Gap" labor!  WisDemCurmudgeon   ...the President of the Wisconsin Technology Council Tom Still ... (defended) importing cheap foreign labor to fill that mythical "skills gap," but he also bragged those same workers have a "propensity" to start their own businesses. If we lag in jobs created, Still said, it's because we don't have enough foreign workers in Wisconsin...
Senate Candidate Gary Peters To Kochs: Come At Me, Bros  Huffington Post   ..."I feel like l'm not really running against Terri Lynn Land. I feel like I'm running against the Koch brothers," Peters said at a campaign rally in Detroit on Friday...
War on Workers
Worker killed after being hit by truck near Sahara and Valley View  KTNV   ...A 57-year-old man who was working in the road was killed Sunday morning near West Sahara Avenue and Valley View Boulevard (in Las Vegas). The incident happened around 9:44 a.m. Police say the man, who was a subcontractor, was in the bus lane in the 3900 block of Sahara, cutting asphalt with a wet saw...
In a Subprime Bubble for Used Cars, Borrowers Pay Sky-High Rates  New York Times   ...Mr. Durham is one of millions of Americans with shoddy credit who are easily obtaining auto loans from used-car dealers, including some who fabricate or ignore borrowers’ abilities to repay. The loans often come with terms that take advantage of the most desperate, least financially sophisticated customers. The surge in lending and the lack of caution resemble the frenzied subprime mortgage market before its implosion set off the 2008 financial crisis...
NYC gives the green light to the building of apartments with a 'poor door' for tenants living in affordable housing  Daily Mail   ...The City approved a proposal from Extell, a prominent NYC developer, to install a separate door for tenants living in affordable housing units to enter the building...
Miscellaneous
Train Derailment Prompts Evacuation in Washington County  Associated Press   ...A fire official says two people are injured and several thousand gallons of diesel fuel have spilled after a train derailment in the town of Slinger, (Wisc.). Slinger Fire Department Chief Rick Hanke says three engines and 10 railcars derailed Sunday, forcing the evacuation of more than 100 nearby homes...

Rural residents raise hell at Moral Monday protest

Scores of Moral Monday protesters came to tiny Yadkinville, N.C., last night to fight the repressive anti-worker policies approved by Gov. Pat McCrory and his legislative allies this year. The rally was the 19th such event held since late April. Nearly 1,000 people were arrested at weekly protests held in the state capital earlier this year.

Laid-off worker Philip Diehl addresses crowd at rally.

Jobs and education were again at the top of the agenda for demonstrators. Several said the event gave those living in rural North Carolina the chance to have their voices heard in Raleigh. They oppose decisions to cut unemployment benefits and public education and the failure to expand Medicaid coverage for 600,000 residents.

Philip Diehl, who was laid off his job with Freightliner Trucks, said workers are hurting while McCrory doles out fat salaries to his staff. Protesters are just trying to make a difference, he told the Winston-Salem Journal:

You are fed up with the way things are going. You are trying to peacefully change things.

Christopher Petree, president of the Yakin County Association of Educators, tweeted that the governor and the Legislature are motivating the public to action:

Shout out to the @NCLeg and @PatMcCroryNC for bringing out the activist in me. You all know how to rally the masses!

The event closed with a candlelight vigil to remember all state residents who have been damaged by the extreme policies approved by lawmakers this year.

Week after week, North Carolina residents are pushing back on an agenda crafted by state budget director Art Pope, a multimillionaire who helped underwrite the campaigns of Gov. McCrory and his cronies in the Legislature. It is largely modeled on the pro-corporate, anti-worker platform of the American Legislative Exchange Council.

And more demonstrations are expected. In addition to the ongoing Moral Monday events, North Carolina teachers are currently mulling whether to hold a statewide walkout Nov. 4 to protest policy changes and poor working conditions in the classroom.

Stay tuned.

Moral Monday protests gain momentum in North Carolina



Students took the lead on the march around the governor's mansion.

Two Moral Monday events drew more than 500 people who protested North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and his legislative allies for curbing voting rights, slashing education spending and refusing federal dollars to expand Medicaid. The rallies held yesterday marked the 18th week since late April that North Carolinians gathered to protest the state government’s actions. About 925 people were arrested during the demonstrations for nonviolent civil disobedience.

At a youth-led demonstration in Raleigh, some 250 people marched around the governor’s mansion to demand a roll back on the voter suppression and education cuts enacted in July. Some also carried three children’s coffins to honor the memory of four little African-American girls killed in a Birmingham, Ala. church bombing 50 years ago yesterday during the height of the civil rights movement in the South.

College students from around the area came to the protest to show they are concerned about the state’s future. They held signs reading “We will fight for our future,” “Reinvest in public education,” and “Take your hands off our voting rights.” Dylan Su-Chun Mott, a member of the University of North Carolina’s Student Power group, said students need to stand up and be heard:

[The UNC-system Board of Governors] is trying to tell us that the only thing we are in school for is to get jobs. … More importantly, we are learning to be fully participatory citizens in this, our great democracy.

Meanwhile, about 300 people gathered in the small town of Wentworth in north-central North Carolina. to protest education and Medicaid cuts. The event was held in the district of Senate leader Phil Berger.

Rev. Nelson Johnson of Greensboro’s Beloved Community Center said that Berger and other elected officials have forgotten the main purpose of government:

Mr. Berger, government and our democracy is supposed to work for the people and not against the people.

 Week after week, North Carolina residents are pushing back on an agenda crafted by state budget director Art Pope, a multimillionaire who helped underwrite the campaigns of Gov. McCrory and his cronies in the Legislature. It is largely modeled on the pro-corporate, anti-worker platform of the American Legislative Exchange Council.

McCrory says the changes will help everyone in the state, the numbers just don’t bear this out.  In fact, they show the state spent $100 million less on public schools, cut taxes only on out-of-state corporations and the wealth and made benefit cuts that hurt low-income citizens, not help them.

The next rally is scheduled for Yadkinville on Sept. 23.

Two NC Moral Monday protests draw hundreds

Hundreds of Moral Monday demonstrators turned out in two North Carolina counties yesterday to demand better wages and an end to attacks on workers, voter suppression and education cuts.



Protesters want to clean up the state capital.

Some 300 people turned out at a protest in Southern Pines in the central part of the state, while about 30 gathered in Jacksonville, in eastern North Carolina. In both places, people said they want their voices heard in Raleigh. They said they felt locked out of the legislative process, which resulted in cuts to unemployment benefits and Medicaid as well as tax increases for the middle class.

Chris and Katherine Stevenson, who attended the Southern Pines event, were both arrested during protests at the Statehouse earlier this year. Mrs. Stevenson said it is important to let lawmakers know that people across the state want change:

What is happening now is not going to solve the problems.

Greg Humphries, who came to the Jacksonville rally, agreed. Jobs and equality are essential, he said:

There ought to be equality in all aspects of government especially in pay. I believe that all people ought to get a good salary.

The demonstrations were just the latest in the effort to bring the Moral Monday movement statewide. The protests began in April in the state capital and continued through July, resulting in about 925 arrests. The state chapter of the NAACP, which served as main organizer, then took the rallies across the state to both rural and urban locations. An event held in Asheville last month drew about 10,000 people.

Gov. McCrory and the Legislature are fulfilling the corporate policies pushed by greedy billionaire Art Pope, an ALEC disciple and Benedict Arnold Koch brothers buddy who got himself appointed state budget director after financing a number of radical politicians’ campaigns.

The Legislature's attacks on middle-class North Carolinians are spreading through the state. A small coastal hospital announced it was closing down in the coming months because Gov. McCrory decided not to expand Medicaid. The expansion would have been funded by the federal government.

NC Moral Monday protests go statewide

N.C. NAACP President William Barber addresses crowd in Manteo.

Three Moral Monday rallies held across North Carolina yesterday drew upwards of 3,800 people to protest the anti-worker agenda approved by Gov. Pat McCrory and the Legislature this year. Protesters took aim at the new voter suppression law as well as severe cuts to unemployment benefits,  Medicaid and education.


Police estimated the event in Charlotte drew as many as 3,000 people, while smaller demonstrations in the mountain community of Burnsville and coastal community of Manteo drew about 500 and 300 people, respectively. At the center of all the rallies were regular people sounding off against pro-corporate policies pushed by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and state budget director Art Pope, a top money-man for Gov. McCrory and his legislative cronies.

Jeanne Milliken Bonds (Twitter handle @JeanneBonds4NC) was among many who shared their disgust with the state’s political leadership on social media:

#moralmonday grows; state #brand declines. 7 months #gop #ncga #ncgov Moderate, modern state #brand replaced w right-wing economic failure

Curtis King (Twitter handle @piecesofceekay) hailed the Charlotte protest, saying it showed the resolve of the state’s residents:

Rain didn’t stop the enthusiasm of Moral Monday. Thank U #NCNAACP & other advocates for speaking out. “Forward & Not One Step Back.”

Yesterday’s events were a continuation of weekly protests that began in Raleigh in late April and resulted in about 925 arrests. Since the events ended in the state capital late last month, the state NAACP has begun taking the event on the road, and two weeks ago a demonstration in Asheville drew nearly 10,000 people. Organizers say they intend to hold rallies in all of the state’s congressional districts in the coming months.

ALEC and Pope have stoked the anger of many in the state this year by helping to jam through the Legislature a big business agenda that raises taxes on average workers to help companies, while at the same time axing essential programs that benefit the middle class.

NC claims voter suppression championship, faces lawsuits

North Carolina is No. 1 -- in voter suppression. Gov. Pat McCrory ensured that yesterday when he signed into law legislation that makes it harder for the poor, minorities, young people, seniors and the disabled to vote.



It's back to the future for voting rights in North Carolina.

Two separate lawsuits were filed in federal court just hours after the governor signed the measure, and a third is expected to be filed in state court today. Meanwhile, Rep. G.K. Butterfield is asking U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to weigh in to protect voting rights in North Carolina.

Following the lead of a repressive Legislature that also gutted unemployment benefits, Medicaid and education spending this year, McCrory inked a measure that supposedly cracks down on illegal voting in the state. Problem is North Carolina has only had two such cases between 2000 and 2010, as Ari Berman points out in The Nation.

The facts, however, are irrelevant to those behind the effort. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) pushed the entire corporate-empowerment agenda approved by state lawmakers this year.  The Legislature’s attacks on working people in North Carolina sparked a backlash as thousands have joined weekly Moral Monday demonstrations. More than 900 protesters have been arrested since April for acts of civil disobedience. The governor and his cronies -- such as state budget director and campaign money-man Art Pope -- have succeeded in disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of state voters who noticeably tilt against the political party that instituted the changes:

316,000 registered voters don’t have state-issued ID; 34 percent are African-American and 55 percent are registered Democrats. Of the 138,000 voters without ID who cast a ballot in the 2012 election, 36 percent were African-American and 59 registered percent Democrats. The new [law] does not allow student IDs for voting, and would charge $10 to obtain an ID unless a voter signs a form saying they cannot afford it under penalty of perjury, making it among the most restrictive laws in the country.

Already, there are signs that the suppression of voting in the state is being implemented at the local level. The Wataugh County Board of Elections jammed through changes yesterday that closed a polling place on the Appalachian State University campus, even though the move creates a super-precinct that is more than double the size of the next largest one.

The decision brought shouts and boos from the 60 people in attendance and disgust from one board member, Kathleen Campbell. She opposed the move and said she was not told of the plan beforehand.

You can’t just come in here like gangbusters. You guys are really out of line.

Well said.

NC Teamsters in biggest Moral Monday protest yet

Moral Monday protesters rallied against the anti-worker Legislature.

Teamsters were among the 10,000 Moral Monday protesters who marched through the streets of Raleigh, N.C., last night to voice their disgust for a slate of anti-worker initiatives approved by the Legislature this year.  It was the largest of the weekly protests that resulted in 925 arrests for civil disobedience.


Lawmakers gutted public education, cut taxes for corporations while raising them for working and middle-class families more and suppressed voting. They cut unemployment and Medicaid benefits. While elected officials disappeared after recessing for the year last week, demonstrators at the 13^th Moral Monday event met on the Statehouse grounds before marching downtown through the state capital. Organizers plan to take the show on the road with similar protests scheduled to be held across the state in the weeks to come. The first is planned for Asheville, N.C., on Monday.

Randy Conrad, a Teamsters Local 71 organizer in Charlotte, said several of his members were in attendance yesterday to express their outrage at the direction Gov. Pat McCrory and legislators are taking the state:

We are pretty upset, even those people who voted for them. I can’t wrap my head around what they are trying to accomplish.

Many protesters yesterday were teachers outraged about budget provisions that freeze their pay – already among the lowest in the nation – while ending tenure and taking away salary incentives for them to earn master’s degrees. Several said they could be forced to move elsewhere is search of fairer wages.

Forsyth County teacher Frankie Santoro, who attended the march with fellow teacher Sara Thompson, said:

Without a doubt, we are both thinking of leaving the state. And we believe there will be a mass exodus of teachers from North Carolina.

Denise Jordan, a Guilford County parent who came to the rally with several of her local teachers, said the Legislature went too far:

Enough is enough. You can’t make a state better if we’re going to totally destroy education.

Gov. McCrory and the Legislature are fulfilling the anti-worker agenda pushed by greedy billionaire Art Pope, an ALEC disciple and Benedict Arnold Koch brothers buddy who got himself appointed state budget director after financing a number of radical politicians’ campaigns.

However, Moral Monday organizers -- led by the NAACP’s state chapter -- said they are not backing down and will continue through next year’s election.

Anti-worker agenda advances in North Carolina

Extremists in North Carolina, ignoring the turmoil caused by their anti-worker agenda, pushed forward yesterday with bills to empower corporations and savage the middle class. The House and Senate approved a budget that raises taxes on middle-class families and slashes public education funding, while the Senate approved a voter suppression bill that targets minorities, low-income residents, senior citizens and the disabled.


Protesters gather in Speaker Tillis' office.
 

The Legislature is set to adjourn today with its anti-worker agenda likely to pass. The voter suppression bill and the budget will head to Gov. Pat McCrory’s desk, and he is expected to sign both.

They are fulfilling the anti-worker agenda pushed by greedy billionaire Art Pope, an ALEC disciple and Benedict Arnold Koch brothers buddy who got himself appointed state budget director after financing a number of radical politicians’ campaigns.

The Legislature’s ALEC-inspired attacks on workers inspired a popular uprising that takes the form of weekly Moral Monday protests at the Statehouse. The demonstrations have resulted in 925 arrests for civil disobedience over the last 12 weeks. Organizers of the Moral Monday rallies are already promising to make their voices heard on Monday, during the next planned protest of the Legislature’s extreme anti-worker agenda.

The budget bill cuts $260 million from North Carolina’s public education budget, hampering teachers who are already among the nation’s lowest paid. It also ends tenure and will lead to more crowded classrooms.  The Raleigh News-Observer took the GOP to task for the cuts in an editorial, saying its own leaders don’t even understand the implications:

Take Phil Berger, Republican senator from Eden and that chamber’s president pro-tem. When pressed for the reasons he has crusaded for ending teacher tenure in North Carolina’s public schools, Berger just says he heard about a lot of incompetent teachers hanging on thanks to tenure.

… Teachers are the heart of the most noble thing this state and this nation do: provide an education to all. And yet Berger and other Republicans speak of public schools as if they were more a nuisance than a monument to enlightenment. They also seem to believe they can continue to make teachers a target of petty criticism, pay them poorly, offer them few benefits and still maintain a quality school system.

Six opponents of a voter suppression bill were arrested after entering the office of House Speaker Thom Tillis last night. They refused to leave until they spoke with him and he agreed to halt the legislation. They may have hope: The U.S. Justice Department could challenge North Carolina’s voter law, as it announced today it will take new restrictive state measures to court. 

NC Moral Monday rally takes aim at voter, education policies

Police arrested 73 protesters at the 12^th Moral Monday rally held at the Statehouse in Raleigh, N.C.  last night. Demonstrators railed against voter suppression legislation and the proposed state budget, both of which will be considered by the GOP-controlled Legislature this week.



Protesters sit-in during Moral Monday rally. 

 
Thus far, 925 people have been arrested standing up to Gov. Pat McCrory and his cronies who would sock it to working families to benefit big business. The Legislature is considering measures that would limit the rights of voters, slash education spending to the bone and make regular people pay more so corporations can get tax breaks.

Police began making arrests after attendees sat on the floor and signaled they were intending to stay overnight. The General Assembly’s police chief then announced the building was closed and gave demonstrators five minutes to leave. Lawmakers, who usually meet Monday evening, moved up their schedule and were not present when the announcement was made about 7:15 p.m.

This week is a busy one at the Statehouse, as lawmakers are scheduled to wrap up their work for the year. Senate leaders announced they will begin marking up a voter repression bill in committee today, and released an amended version of the legislation that will be considered. We wrote about the original version of the bill last week.

State Sen. Josh Stein on his Facebook page described the latest 57-page bill as a “monstrosity,” noting it shortens early voting by one week; eliminates same-day voting and provisional voting; purges voter rolls more often and prevents counties extending poll hours due to lengthy lines:

Meanwhile, it floods the democratic process with more money. The bill makes it easier for outside groups to spend on electioneering and reduces disclosure of the sources. It also raises the contribution limits to $5000 per person per election from $4000 and indexes the amount to rise with inflation.

The state budget proposal will also be considered beginning today. On the education front, it phases out tenure for teachers as well as higher pay for  those with master’s degrees. The budget also axes 3,850 teacher assistant positions statewide.

Educators like Lindsay Kosmala Furst said she may have to leave the profession in order to provide for her family. As it stands, her two young daughters qualify for Medicaid due to her low pay as a Buncombe County high school English teacher: 

We never wanted to live in luxury. We did, however, hope to be able to take our little girls for an ice cream or not wonder where we will find the gas money to visit their grandparents.

North Carolinians have state budget director Art Pope to thank for this dismal funding bill. Pope, an ALEC disciple and top fundraiser for Gov. McCrory and state Republicans, got where he is today by filling his favorite politicians’ pockets with cash. Now working and middle class families are paying the price.

More to come …

NC lawmakers attack voting rights

The corporate-owned North Carolina Legislature is up to its dirty tricks again. This time, it is trying to take the vote away from its working-class political opponents.

Senate Republicans unveiled a voter suppression bill yesterday that would cut hundreds of thousands of citizens from the rolls. And -- wait for it -- a sizable majority of them are registered Democrats. The legislation would not allow student, county or municipal government identification to be used for verification purposes. Nor would public assistance photo IDs or public employee IDs be acceptable either.

Why are such changes necessary? Could it be the two voter impersonation prosecutions between 2000 and 2010? No? The answer is all in the state's numbers:

316,000 registered voters don’t have state-issued ID; 34 percent are African-American and 55 percent are registered Democrats. Of the 138,000 voters without ID who cast a ballot in the 2012 election, 36 percent were African-American and 59 registered percent Democrats. The new draft of the bill does not allow student IDs for voting, and would charge $10 to obtain an ID unless a voter signs a form saying they cannot afford it under penalty of perjury, making it among the most restrictive laws in the country.

Taking away the voting rights of the 99 percent who challenge corporate power has long been part of the master plan at American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC, the escort service connecting politicians and corporation,has a friend in Art Pope, North Carolina's budget director. Pope helped bankroll the campaign of Gov. Pat McCrory and many Republican legislators behind the voter suppression effort.

11 Moral Monday protests, 800 arrests.

With Pope pulling the strings, North Carolina is turning into an ALEC paradise as lawmakers pass bills to punish the unemployed, eradicate public education, oppress women, raise taxes on the poor and working class and eliminate environmental protections. A huge backlash is building with weekly Moral Monday protests that attract thousands of North Carolinians and massive arrests for civil disobedience. More than 800 citizens have taken arrests to protest the assault on working people. 

Look for North Carolina's lawmakers to suppress voting rights in other ways -- by slashing early voting, ending same-day voter registration and penalizing the parents of students who vote where they go to college. And look for more arrests.

Today's Teamster News 07.18.13

Bangladesh Government Allows Workers To Form Unions  ThinkProgress   ...Bangladesh’s government approved a labor law on Monday that would make it easier for workers to form unions. The legislation also included provisions that create a fund to improve workers’ living standards and require companies to deposit 5 percent of profits into employee welfare funds...
License plate cameras track millions of Americans  Washington Post   ...The spread of cheap, powerful cameras capable of reading license plates has allowed police to build databases on the movements of millions of Americans over months or even years, according to an American Civil Liberties Union report released Wednesday...
The 1 Move That Could Suddenly Pull 300,000 Workers Out Of Poverty  Huffington Post   ...Legislation introduced in both the Senate and the House of Representatives could pull hundreds of thousands of the country's working poor out of poverty, according to a new study by the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities...
Barclays fights US electricity price manipulation fine through the courts  Guardian   ...Barclays has pledged to fight a $470m (£300m) penalty for allegedly manipulating electricity prices in California by taking the case through the US judicial system...
Jack Lew: Delaying Dodd-Frank Rules Raises Threat Of More Bank Bailouts  Associated Press   ...U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew says delays in writing rules to put the financial overhaul law into effect have raised the prospect that taxpayers might again have to bail out big banks that fail...
U.S. seeks new tactic in financial crisis prosecutions  Reuters   ... U.S. federal prosecutors are considering a new strategy for criminally charging Wall Street bankers who packaged and sold bad mortgage loans at the height of the housing bubble, according to a federal official familiar with the investigation...
IRS cancels one furlough day, cuts costs elsewhere  Reuters   ...The Internal Revenue Service said it was cancelling an agency shutdown that had been scheduled for Monday and required by federal budget cuts...
Big Money Makes State and Federal Politics Powerful (opinion)  New York Times   ...Art Pope invested heavily in local North Carolina elections, which ultimately resulted in the redistricting of 13 Congressional and 170 legislative districts...
Surplus celebrated as poverty grows (opinion)  Fort Wayne Journal Gazette   ...Around the same time state leaders were boasting that Indiana was closing its June books with $1.9 billion in reserves, a report from the Indiana Institute for Working Families was released showing poverty in Indiana is sharply increasing...
Statehouse gan throws Ohio in reverse (opinion)  Toledo Blade   ...The new state budget is equally regressive as economic and social policy...
Unions wage legal fight against Michigan’s right-to-work law  Washington Times   ...The legal battle over Michigan’s new right-to-work law shows no signs of flagging. Right-to-work proponents suffered a small setback when Michigan’s Supreme Court declined to weigh in on the legality of the law...
GOP Lawmaker In Utah Wants To End Compulsory Education In The State  Talking Points Memo   ...State Sen. Aaron Osmond (R) argued that certain "parents act as if the responsibility to educate, and even care for their child, is primarily the responsibility of the public school system..."
State Dept. approves ND-to-Alberta gas pipeline  Associated Press   ...The U.S. State Department has approved construction of the North Dakota portion of a gas pipeline from Tioga into the Canadian province of Alberta, Sen. John Hoeven said Tuesday...
CCA asks judge to bar media from joining lawsuit  Associated Press   ...Private prison company Corrections Corporation of America is asking a federal judge to deny a request from Idaho news organizations to keep documents open in a lawsuit over conditions at a CCA-run prison...
Teamsters Call For Quick Approval Of Administration Nominees  IBT ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa today congratulated Senate Leader Harry Reid for forging a compromise that allows consideration of nominees for key administration posts...
Port Truck Drivers In New Jersey Reject Company’s Lies And Vote YES To Form A Union IBT ...Truck drivers employed by Australia-based Toll Group at the company’s New Jersey division voted overwhelmingly – by a margin of nearly 70 percent – to form a union and affiliate with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 469...
Buffalo EMTs, Paramedics’ Victory Spotlighted On Leslie Marshall Show  Leslie Marshall Show   ...Kevin Drysdale, president of Teamsters Local 375 in Buffalo spoke with radio show host Leslie Marshall about new, tentative agreement for EMTs and paramedics working for Rural/Metro. Download the audio here...
City, Teamsters Find Common Ground With Approval of Long-Awaited Collective Bargaining Agreement  Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Patch   ...Lake Forest Park City Council unanimously approved a long-awaited collective bargaining agreement with the Teamsters Local 117 representing maintenance workers at its recent meeting...
PolyOne plans to close Donora plant  Pittsburgh-Tribune Review   ...On Tuesday, the PolyOne’s plant supervisors announced that the company will close its facility in Donora, Pennsylvania by fall 2014. Teamsters Local 205 represents the roughly 100 employees at the plant...

NC Moral Monday protesters take on unemployment cuts; more than 80 arrested

Police arrested more than 80 people during the ninth Moral Monday protest in Raleigh, N.C,. last night. They were protesting a new state law that cuts off federal unemployment benefits for 70,000 state residents. Since late April, law enforcement has detained about 675 demonstrators for protesting the policies of Gov. Pat McCrory and the Republican-majority Legislature.

North Carolina yesterday became the first state to opt out from collecting extended unemployment benefits. Beyond those immediately affected, another 100,000 state residents could lose their benefits in the coming months. The new law also hacks the maximum weekly benefit a laid-off worker can receive from $535 to $350.

For some in the crowd of 1,200 gathered near the Statehouse, the loss is far more than a statistic. Wayne Bostic said he is unsure whether he will be able to remain in his home:

It means my check, which is the mortgage check, is not going to be there. How is a cut in anybody's money going to help a person?

Chapel Hill resident Kristin Frescoln is the former manager of the state's drug treatment courts who lost her job in 2011 when the Legislature largely defunded the program. She said the protests build awareness of what is going on in North Carolina:

We have to bring attention to what is happening here. It's our obligation in a democracy to speak out.

The state chapter of the NAACP, with the backing of unions, the North Carolina Democratic Party and others, have continued to put pressure on Gov. McCrory and the Legislature. They are dancing to the tune of the state's multimillionaire budget director, Art Pope. Pope is a friend of the Koch brothers and a disciple of ALEC, the escort service for corporations and state lawmakers. Pope helped pay for the 2012 candidacies of the governor and many state GOP lawmakers now in office.

Besides unemployment benefit cuts, the Legislature opted out of participating in the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion, which would have covered an additional 500,000 North Carolinians. The Legislature is also proposing tax changes that would favor corporations and the rich over middle-class families and education cuts as well.

Stay tuned...

Good dog!

NC's biggest Moral Monday crowd yet fights ALEC policies

Police arrested 120 people protesting the ALEC-backed anti-worker agenda at the eighth Moral Monday protest in Raleigh, N.C., last night. Organizers and law enforcement agreed it was the largest such rally to date, attracting upwards of 5,000 attendees.

So far nearly 600 people have been arrested for voicing their disgust with the policies put forward by Gov. Pat McCrory and the Republican-majority Legislature. These elected officials are pushing bills that would slash education and health care while cutting corporate taxes, all of which would hurt the working- and middle-class. Supporters of those views received significant support during last year's elections by state budget director Art Pope, a disciple of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

James Andrew, president of the North Carolina AFL-CIO, was among those arrested yesterday. The Moral Monday protesters criticized unemployment benefit cuts that will end extended benefits for some 70,000 state residents at the end of the month. North Carolina is the only state in the country opting to restrict benefits instead of using federal dollars to continue covering these job seekers.

Raleigh resident Lee Creighton said he's been having trouble finding work since earning a master's degree. He argued he isn't the deadbeat that some lawmakers are trying to portray:

If this is such a vacation, why do I cry to sleep every night?

Despite the dire consequences that could result from the Legislature's actions, demonstrators who took to social media said the mood of attendees was largely upbeat. That includes those who ended up on one of the five buses that carried them off to jail.

Carrsboro resident Kyle Bailey tweeted that a crowd gathered outside where those who had been arrested were booked to lend them support:

At detention center, arrestees starting to stream out to applause.

Others said it is time to further grow the movement. From Twitter user Thurman:

Looks like it's time for the other 49 to take a lesson from North Carolina. Let's take Moral Monday nationwide!

We can't either.

Pope-backed group attempts to make joke out of N.C. protesters

The Moral Monday protests in North Carolina have already resulted in nearly 500 arrests, not including tonight's Statehouse rally. That's scores of real North Carolinians standing up against the gutting of education, health care and the environment and for fairness in the tax code. But for some, it's all just a game.

The Civitas Institute, a state-focused stink-tank largely funded by state budget director Art Pope, decided it would be "fun" to create a "Pick the Protester" game. It lets the user choose among three mug shots of those arrested to answer a question. For instance, it asks, "who's from Raleigh" or "who is 73 years old" or "who is unemployed"? It attempts to make a joke out of those who are standing up for the middle class.

If that's not your kind of humor, you also won't like the website's more insidious roster of arrestees which links their photo to information about each person's name, age, residence, race, occupation, employer and interest group memberships. It reeks of the some of the actions taken to tamp down on civil rights protests in the 1950s and 1960s.

As stated by the Institute of Southern Studies:

Civitas' database brings to mind another troubling episode of mid-20th century U.S. history: how in some Southern cities at that time the white-supremacist White Citizens' Councils (WCC) would publish in local newspapers the names of NAACP supporters and those who signed anti-segregation petitions in order to encourage retaliation against them. The WCCs, like Civitas, also had close ties to powerful government officials.

Thankfully, the plan doesn't seem to be working. Organizers are expecting a huge turnout for tonight's rally, which is focused on labor and economic issues. Union members are expected to be out in force. We stand tall with those who are sticking up for working men and women.

Moral Mondays starting to rattle ALEC in NC as arrests near 500

Police arrested 84 protesters last night during the seventh Moral Mondays demonstration at the Statehouse in Raleigh, N.C. Thus far nearly 500 people have been jailed while standing up to the anti-worker agenda pushed by state budget director Art Pope and the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Following the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) playbook, Pope and GOP lawmakers are trying to raise taxes on the middle and working class, make it harder to vote, hamper health care availability and gut education and the environment. In response, about 2,000 North Carolinians showed up last night to say they won't quietly sit by.

Opponents have attempted to label the demonstrators as outsiders, but a survey conducted yesterday by University of North Carolina researchers showed that was not the case. Of the 316 people surveyed, only five were not state residents. The racial breakdown of attendees also largely followed the state's demographics.

Those on hand said they came to the rally because they have had enough of the pro-corporate platform that is winding its way through the Legislature. Raleigh resident Elizabeth Banfield said:

I want the legislators who are intending to roll back our rights to hear our voice and know we're not in favor of it. There's too much at stake, and just will always prevail. They can pretend not to listen, but we cannot be silenced. 

Added 90-year-old Raleigh resident Cyrus King, who has been to all of the demonstrations:

I just think the Legislature is doing damage to our state and our people.

The rallies might be having an effect on the Koch brothers good friend Pope, as the Pope-backed Civitas Institute took aim at Moral Monday demonstrators this week. As detailed in the Camel City Dispatch:

The Civitas Institute ... has launched an attack against Moral Monday protesters proving once more that the demonstrations are getting to them. The response from North Carolina’s right wing has become hysterical and has begun to sound offended at the very idea that people may not find their current agenda either “Godly” or “Moral”.  From today’s Civitas hit, to the NC Values Coalition Executive Director Tami Fitzgerald’s attempt to paint “lowering taxes” as a component of Christian teachings, the far right in North Carolina seems frightened, challenged, and above all offended at the demonstrators and their message that the last shall be first and the  first shall be last.

The Civitas hit is by far the funniest, while Fitzgerald’s embracing of Ayn Rand over Jesus Christ is probably most disturbing to her fellow Christians. The Art Pope funded Civitas released a statement today calling Moral Monday “Civil Disobedience Lite” – basically stating that unless the Governor or General Assembly decided to act violently to put down the protest, then the demonstrations have no merit because the protesters are not suffering enough.

We think standing up to the ALEC agenda is a noble act. North Carolina is the latest battleground in the fight between billionaires and working families. Unions have played an active role in these demonstrations. We will continue in solidarity.

Dozens more arrested in latest Moral Monday protest in NC

Dozens were arrested yesterday in the weekly Moral Monday protest outside the North Carolina Statehouse, where thousands rallied against the Legislature's anti-worker agenda.

More than 375 people have been arrested over six weeks of protests.

Religious leaders led the charge yesterday against proposals to raise taxes on the middle class, gut public education, suppress voting, further enrich billionaires, weaken workers' rights and eliminate environmental protections.

Catholic, Protestant and Jewish clergy joined in solidarity with the state NAACP, unions, the Democratic Party and others to oppose the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Pat McCrory, the Raleigh News and Observer reported.

The Rev. Jimmie Hawkins of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Durham helped organize the effort and held planning meetings at his church. He told the Herald-Sun newspaper it's important for lawmakers to hear from the religious community about what's going on in North Carolina:

This is a moral stand we’re taking here. We’re ministers and tremendously bothered by legislation being proposed.

Said Jason Williams, a clergyman from Charlotte:

We’re here to stand on the side of the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed.

Seven North Carolina rabbis issued their support for the demonstrations after their efforts to meet with legislative leaders were rebuffed. They said civil disobedience is a worthy vehicle to express disagreement:

We recognize the need for solidarity at this time in North Carolina. The Jewish vision of social justice is broadly shared by all people of faith who are mobilizing this Monday, and now is the time to speak out.

Lawmakers unveiled three new bills late last month that would raise taxes on working families and lower them for rich corporations.

The anti-worker tax policy proposals are the brainchild of North Carolina state budget director Art Pope, a close ally of the Benedict Arnold Koch brothers. The Koch brothers help bankroll ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council that serves as an escort service matching state lawmakers with corporations. 

ALEC's agenda has sparked massive protests throughout the country since 2011, including the Wisconsin uprising in 2011, the fight against SB5 in Ohio and protests in Michigan against No Rights At Work. Now, North Carolina is the key battleground in the fight between billionaires and working families. 

Stay tuned. 

151 arrested in latest NC Moral Monday protest

Police arrested 151 protesters during the fifth "Moral Monday" rally at the Statehouse in Raleigh yesterday, nearly doubling the number of those arrested at the previous four events combined.

In another sign of strength in the movement, organizers said the event drew 1,600, by far the best turnout to date. Originally started by the NAACP's state chapter, the protest has grown to include unions, the North Carolina Democratic Party, other political organizations and student groups. All are united in trying to stop legislation that would put the powerful before the people.

Protesters are fighting ALEC's agenda to empower billionaires and eradicate public education, suppress voting, weaken workers' rights and eliminate environmental protections. Last week, lawmakers unveiled three new bills last that would raise taxes on working families and lower them for rich corporations. Organizers said it is critical the middle class continues to push back.

Rev. William Barber, the NAACP's state chapter president, told attendees they are starting to be noticed:

The people are awake now, and we have decided to stand up. We are a movement. This is not a moment.

Protesters are rebelling against the anti-worker efforts of North Carolina state budget director Art Pope, a close ally of the Benedict Arnold Koch brothers. The Koch brothers help bankroll ALEC, an escort service matching state lawmakers with corporations.

Before assuming his position as state budget director, the multimillionaire Pope spent years touting tax policies that shift more payments to the middle and lower class and away from the wealthy. He helped get Gov. Pat McCrory elected last year, and now he is trying to make those tax policies the law.

While the 2014 elections are important, however, there is much that can be done right now. Let your state representatives and Gov. McCrory know that you oppose HB 998, SB 394 and SB 677. Tell them you should be setting the state's agenda, not ALEC.

NC middle-class tax hikes to inspire 5th 'Moral Monday' protests

The fifth Moral Monday protest in North Carolina tomorrow is likely to be the biggest ever. Three new bills that raise taxes on working families and lower them for wealthy businesses are fueling the growing protest movement.

The tax proposals were unveiled by North Carolina lawmakers this week. They continue the Republican-controlled legislature's assault on working class North Carolinians.

North Carolina citizens are resisting the attack with "Moral Monday" protests at the Statehouse. The protests resulted in 153 arrests since they began in April. According to the state AFL-CIO,

People who attend Moral Mondays are North Carolina citizens and residents – doctors, teachers, pastors, students, workers – who are fed up by extremist laws – some pending and other passed -- to restrict voting, to reject Medicaid expansion, to reduce unemployment benefits, to run roughshod over local governments, and to lower taxes on the rich by raising them on the rest -- among others – and who have determined not to let North Carolina's slide backward go unnoticed and unreported.

The latest tax bills show elected officials are ignoring the protest.

Two of the bills, HB 998 and SB 394, would cost North Carolina about $1.2 billion over the next five years. They tax some services that are now exempt. Meanwhile, SB 677 would add more than 130 new taxes, including on groceries, prescription drugs and Social Security benefits.

Think Progress notes that the measures, especially SB 677, seek to shift much of the state's tax burden away from the rich and most profitable companies onto low- and middle-class families:

After initially proposing to eliminate the state’s income tax outright, Republicans are instead introducing a flat income tax rate across all earning levels. The proposal unveiled Thursday would also expand the reach of sales taxes in the state, which hits low-income families hardest, and comes on top of the March repeal of a tax credit for 900,000 working families in the state.

The tax rewrite comes directly from the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, the escort service matching state lawmakers with corporations. Art Pope, the greedy billionaire who serves as North Carolina's state budget director, is a a close ally of the Benedict Arnold Koch brothers who help bankroll ALEC.

ALEC is taking its corporate agenda across the country, backing legislation that not only would reduce taxes for elites, but would kill unions and hamper whistleblowers reporting unsafe working conditions. It seeks to enrich big business at the expense of regular Americans.

Please North Carolina, let your state representatives and Gov. Pat McCrory know that you won't stand for ALEC's agenda. Tell them you oppose HB 998, SB 394 and SB 677 and that peoples' interests should be put before corporate ones.

49 anti-ALEC protesters arrested in NC

North Carolinians are fighting against the corporate takeover of the state’s government—yet another effort spearheaded by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). In a protest on Monday, some residents were arrested for raising awareness about sham tax plans and other anti-worker policies being pushed by ALEC-sponsored  lawmakers.

Protests dubbed “Moral Mondays” have gone on for the last three weeks at the legislative building in Raleigh, the state’s capital. They're sponsored by the NAACP and other groups. 

During the protest this week, the Charlotte Observer reported 49 people were arrested when they refused to leave the second floor rotunda as House lawmakers met. Among the issues they are rallying against are proposed tax reforms that would help companies and the rich while saddling everyone else with more of the state’s tax burden.

The Rev. William Barber, head of the state NAACP, said many of the ideas being put forward by the Republican-majority state legislature are modeled on proposals supported by ALEC. He argued that state lawmakers should listen to their constituents more.

“You should not be arresting us,” he said. “You should thank us for having the courage to tell it like it is.”

At the center of the controversy is North Carolina state budget director Art Pope, a close ally of the  Benedict Arnold Koch brothers. If you haven't been following, the Koch brothers bankroll ALEC, an escort service matching state lawmakers with corporations.

Before assuming his position as state budget director, the multimillionaire Pope spent years touting tax policies that shift more payments to the middle and lower class and away from the wealthy. He helped get Gov. Pat McCrory (R) elected last year, and now he is trying to make those tax policies the law.

A recent article by the Center for Media and Democracy details Pope’s efforts to pull the strings:

When McCrory appointed Pope as his budget director in 2012, many progressives in the state feared sweeping tax cuts were on the way. The governor has been mostly silent, so far, but … three Pope-tied groups have each released their own highly regressive tax plans.

The Civitas tax plan was written by Arthur Laffer, the author of the annual American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) tax publication "Rich States, Poor States." The two plans are like peas in a pod. Like the ALEC publication, the Civitas plan proposes austerity coupled with abolishing individual and corporate income taxes and replacing it with an increased state sales tax. A sales tax is regressive since the less a person earns, the greater proportion of their income is eat up by the tax. According to the North Carolina Justice Center such a shift would mean a tax cut for the wealthiest 20%, while placing a greater financial burden on the bottom 60%. This would translate into a $500 tax increase for somebody earning $24,000, but a $41,000 decrease for a $1 million earner.

In January 2013, Civitas invited Laffer to provide a day-long "briefing" to newly elected legislators. ALEC legislators from outside North Carolina also presented at the event. "Go to the goal line," Laffer told the North Carolina legislators, urging a tax code overhaul. "I can't tell you how proud I am of you."

Meanwhile, the newly-installed GOP majority in the legislature is not afraid to engage in trickery when it comes to promoting the ALEC agenda. Earlier this month, Republicans in one committee pushed through an energy bill on a voice vote even when it wasn’t clear which side prevailed. The panel quickly adjourned before a manual count of votes could be taken.

There is much at stake in North Carolina. The Teamsters hail those who are bravely protesting the ALEC agenda being advanced by Pope and others. Now is the time for all state workers to join the fight. We ask North Carolinians to contact their state representatives as well as the governor’s office and tell them to say no to the corporate takeover of state government.