Wage hikes are latest sign workers are winning

The movement to raise the minimum wage paid off for workers Jan. 1 in 14 states and numerous cities across the nation. And it is a testament to the thousands of everyday Americans who took to the streets and demanded a higher salary floor in living wage protests across the country.

Workers across the nation have rallied for higher wages.

As a result, workers from Alaska to West Virginia will see a little extra in their paychecks starting this month. The largest gains are in California and Massachusetts, which are bumping the minimum wage up $1, to $10 an hour. It will help families keep food on the table as well as the economic buying power of the entire nation.

As an article in The Atlantic stated:

Efforts to raise the minimum wage paid off in 2015, and as the movement has gained momentum—the current target for many activists and some economists is $15 an hour—the debate over whether raising minimum wage is a good idea will likely become even more heated in 2016. 

On the side for raising minimum wage, labor activists argue that the current minimum wage is not enough to live on. There’s also the argument that raising it might also be beneficial for closing the gender wage gap, as women are more likely to hold minimum-wage jobs.

One instance of government listening to the people and going further on the issue is in New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a plan to raise the minimum wage for state university workers to $15 an hour. The increase will effect some 28,000 workers and is designed to include students who use work-study jobs to cover their college costs.

But clearly, more needs to be done. It is beyond unlikely that Congress will take action to raise the federal minimum wage this year. But where action can be taken on the local, state and federal front, it must happen. Hard-working Americans deserve to earn a wage that lets them live a simple but sustainable life.

New Calif. law will bring equal pay for all

Once again taking the lead where the dysfunctional U.S. Congress failed to do so, California’s legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown – with significant lobbying from the Teamsters and other unions – pushed through a strong equal pay law that brings fairness of all workers.

Jerry Brown signed the bill into law in October.

The California Fair Pay Act (CFPA), which takes effect Jan. 1, closes loopholes created since the federal Equal Pay Act passed in 1963, at least in the Golden State, home to one of every eight people in the U.S. The CFPA is among almost two dozen pro-worker laws the Democratic-run pro-labor legislature approved in its 2015 session.

The California law expands federal equal pay rights by mandating that employers pay workers, regardless of sex or gender, equally for “substantially similar” work, not just strictly equal work. Federal courts have been increasingly strict in deciding what is “equal work” the federal law covers. They’ve turned most such pay discrimination cases down.

The California law also strengthens worker protection against employer retaliation and requires firms to keep employment records, including pay records, for three years, not two.

A legal summary says California bans paying workers of the opposite sex less for "substantially similar work, when viewed as a composite of skill, effort, and responsibility." And the employer must take account of "similar working conditions," not just wages at the worksite or company branch involved.

California employers could still discriminate in pay, but only if they can show the wage differences “are due to a seniority system, merit system, a system that measures the quantity or quality of production, or a ‘bona fide factor other than sex, such as education, training, or experience,’" the law adds.

And if they cite those reasons, they must be directly job-related – and show that the factor that produces wage discrimination is “consistent with business necessity." The new law then gives workers a defense against business necessity by showing “an alternative business practice exists that would serve the same purpose without producing the wage disparity.”

The California law also bans employers from retaliating against workers who disclose their own wages, discuss other workers’ wages, ask about others’ wages or help other workers exercise their rights. But if the worker asks about wages, the
employer can refuse to answer.

If the employer is guilty of breaking the law, the worker gets back pay plus interest, an equal amount in damages, and attorney’s fees.

• Press Associates, Inc., contributed to this report.

Ballot box provides push to raise wages

Just a couple of years ago, getting the minimum wage raised above $10 an hour seemed like a fantasy. But lawmakers in more and more cities are hearing the cry of workers who live there, and the movement for fair wages blossomed. But it's not done yet.

The Fairness Project, backed by unions, is pushing forward to help with 2016 ballot campaigns where voters themselves will get a chance to vote on whether to substantially raise the minimum wage more broadly. Initial efforts are being centered in California, Maine and Washington, D.C., but the group plans to get involved in other states as well.

As The Washington Post notes, the movement has history on its side:

According to the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, minimum wage measures have been tried 20 times in 16 states since 1996, and all but two succeeded. The earlier victories came in waves, starting with the “living wage” movement in the 1990s. The campaigns even work in conservative states: in 2004, John Kerry lost Florida, but a minimum wage hike passed with 70 percent of the vote. 

Even though those measures may not have made it through state legislatures, in combination, they do seem to add momentum for minimum wage hikes on the federal level — Congress responded with legislation in 1997 after a spate of ballot initiatives, and again in 2007 and 2008. Sometimes, just the credible threat of a ballot initiative can spur state houses to action where previously they had no interest, although the final result may end up watered down. 

Most recently, in 2014, minimum wage measures passed in Arkansas, Alaska, Nebraska, and South Dakota. This latest wave is even more ambitious than the first and second, says Brian Kettenring, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy — and it benefits from the narrative around inequality that arose during an economic recovery that delivered very little wage growth.

Of course, the movement continues elsewhere, and it should. In Syracuse, N.Y., for example, the mayor announced that the minimum wage for city employees would be raised to $15 an hour. And the Dallas City Council is currently debating whether to extend a minimum wage in excess of $10 an hour to contract workers in the city such as sanitation workers.

The Teamsters have continually stressed that raising wages increases respect and dignity for everyday Americans in the workplace. Higher wages is a central tenet of our new "Let's Get America Working" campaign because it improves lives for families and brings in more business. More money to spend means higher sales.

Joining a union is the best way to raise salaries. But for those without such an option, raising the minimum wage is a place to start. While too many lawmakers aren't acting on the issue, the public is. And the U.S. will benefit because of it.

Making public sector jobs RTW will gut wages

Public-sector employees have become a punching bag for anti-union forces who are trying to cripple the movement. But with the U.S. Supreme Court getting ready to consider a lawsuit that could allow workers to opt-out of paying union dues while still receiving representation, a new report shows just how much value union membership brings to workers' paychecks.

The Economic Policy Institute unveiled a document showing that if the court was to effectively institute so-called "right to work" for public sector jobs across the country, wages would likely fall far below what those in the private sector earn for the same work. Thus, if the court was to side with the plaintiffs in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, millions of workers would be hurt.

Jeffrey Keefe, a professor at Rutgers University who authored the report, says instituting a policy that would reduce wages makes no sense, taking a step that would worsen income inequality:

When states provide full collective-bargaining rights and permit the enforcement of provisions that allow unions to collect dues from all employees they represent, regardless of membership, unions can lessen and even eliminate this gap. This makes it possible for state and local governments to attract workers that might otherwise go to the private sector.

The Teamsters represent about 273,000 public sector workers, and other unions represent millions more. These government employees are everyday Americans just trying to earn a living and support their families. But that will be increasingly difficult if union rights are curtailed nationwide.

Sticking up for union jobs is essential because it paves the way to a middle-class lifestyle. The median union worker makes more than $200 more a week than non-union workers. That's why the Teamsters stressed the need for more union jobs in its "Let's Get America Working" campaign. Workers earning more doesn't just help their families, it helps the economy at large as well because they spend more.

Teamster Strong, America Stronger!

Talking wage theft at the White House

Alex Paz

Port truck driver Alex Paz had a story to tell yesterday at the White House. And it's one no hard-working American should have to experience:

I talked about what it is like to be a misclassified driver, what it is like to go home without a paycheck. What it's like to be charged by a company to rent your truck, for registration, parking, tires, insurance. And what it's like to go home with a negative paycheck and tell your wife, 'I don't have any money to sustain the family.'

Paz, a member of Local 848, took part in a panel on organizing during the White House Summit on Worker Voice. He said he and other participants were encouraged that President Obama and administration members issued their support for unions during the event.

But there is a lot of hard work that goes into increasing union membership. Paz said he got involved with the port campaign in June 2013, and since then has seen a dramatic improvement in conditions at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. That said, wage theft and unfair treatment remains a reality for all too many port truck drivers not only in Southern California where Paz resides, but across the country as well.

Nick Weiner, port campaign director for the Teamsters, said it is time more companies recognize the tide is turning against them:

Alex's opportunity to speak at the White House yesterday is an indication of the incredible progress and transformation we've been able to achieve collective as drivers over the last couple of years and accomplish the impossible. No one believed that trucking companies at the port would acknowledge that their drivers are employees. But today their are 500 Teamster port drives at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. 

Remembering Chavez and the Delano Grape Strike

There are moments in any movement that people can point to as ones that changed history. And 50 years ago today, labor giant Cesar Chavez was the catalyst for one of those.

At a church in the Central Valley of California on Sept. 16, 1965, the father of U.S. farmworker organizing cajoled Latino pickers to join Filipino grape workers and strike against area table and wine grape growers to protest years of low pay and poor conditions. It was the beginning of the five-year Delano Grape Strike and Boycott, which is discussed in the video above.

The effort went far beyond the fields of the Golden State, as United Farmer Workers  (UFW) -- a member of the Change to Win labor coalition like the Teamsters -- detailed:

Hundreds of grape strikers traveled across the U.S. and Canada, telling their stories and organizing mass support for the grape boycott. The strikers were joined by thousands of supporters who helped tirelessly organize the boycott.

... The boycott connected middle-class families in big cities with poor farm worker families in the California vineyards. Millions stopped eating grapes. At dinner tables across the country, parents gave children a simple, powerful lesson in social justice. 

By 1970, the grape boycott was a complete success. Table grape growers at long last signed their first union contracts, granting workers better pay, benefits, and protections.

There were other battles along the way. But Chavez was a great union and civil rights leader whose influence and importance has lingered well beyond his death in 1993.

Today, the union movement again sits at the precipice of great change. Growing income inequality has left many workers struggling with low wages -- not enough to support their families. The Teamsters, UFW and all unions have a role to play to ensure that everyday Americans receive a fair wage.

Union Strong, America Stronger!

Water, water isn't everywhere -- and that's a problem

America finds itself now in the midst of the dog-days of August, a time when the heat and humidity tends to hit home a little harder as the summer season winds down. But it is also a time when many states and localities realize a lack of water is having profound effects on the way government operates and residents live their lives. 

These concerns are best known and most acute in much of California, but worries over water are not a problem for the Golden State alone. Aging and inferior water infrastructure is a major concern nationwide, and one that must be addressed by policymakers on all levels of government if the problem is going to be conquered.

That's why you have unions and business coming together demanding solutions in many cases, like the San Francisco Buildings and Construction Trades Council and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Leaders from both wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle late last month there is a dramatic need to modernize water systems. Both groups have endorsed California Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to fix them:

We rely on our state’s outdated water distribution system to deliver water to 25 million Californians and 3 million acres of farmland. But this 60-year-old water delivery system of aging dirt levees, aqueducts and pumps is outdated and at risk of collapse in the event of a major earthquake or flood. Fundamental structural problems would be even more pronounced during the extreme weather patterns — drought followed by a series of severe storms — that experts say will become the new norm because of climate change. 

California Water Fix will replace this aging infrastructure, better protect against disruptions to water supply during earthquakes, floods and natural disasters, and will improve the ability to move and store water during wet years. This project needs to move forward because it represents the most viable approach to securing our state’s water future. We strongly encourage Californians to join us by supporting this plan and commenting on the environmental impact report.

Others are also getting behind the effort to improve water infrastructure elsewhere. Whether its editorial boards in Texas or local government officials in Kansas, there is a profound understanding that more needs to be done. Water is a commodity we all need. It's necessary for life. 

These type of infrastructure issues must be moved to the front burner. Government at all levels needs to invest in people, and that in turn will help business. Let's get America working by improving systems we all need.

Today's Teamster News 08.11.15

Teamsters
Teamsters, Bauer's Drivers Rally For Labor Harmony in San Francisco  Teamster.org   ...Teamsters and drivers for Bauer’s Intelligent Transportation held an action this morning in San Francisco to call on the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) to adopt a resolution ensuring labor harmony...
Tech-Shuttle Company Is Accused Of Thwarting Efforts To Unionize Its Drivers  Mother Jones   ..."The drivers need and deserve better wages, better benefits, and more respect," says Doug Bloch, the political director for the Northern California chapter of the Teamsters, which is holding a protest in San Francisco's Mission District today to call attention to Bauer's alleged union-busting tactics. "What Bauer's did is an insult to these workers."...

Global Labor & Trade
Japan Anxious At Lull, U.S. 'Giving Up', In Pan-Pacific Trade Talks  Reuters   ...Japan has expressed concern about a loss of momentum in talks on a pan-Pacific trade pact after participants failed to agree to meet again this month to try to clinch a deal that would cover 40 percent of the global economy...
China Devalues Yuan After Poor Economic Data  Huffington Post   ...China devalued its currency on Tuesday after a run of poor economic data, a move it billed as a free-market reform but which some suspect could be the beginning of a longer-term slide in the exchange rate...
After Marathon Talks, Greece And International Lenders Clinch Multi-Billion Euro Bailout Deal  Huffington Post   ...Greece and its international lenders reached a multi-billion euro bailout agreement on Tuesday after talking through the night, officials said, potentially saving the country from financial ruin...
Bounty On Its Head: Wikileaks Raising €100K Reward For Secret Text Of TTIP  Common Dreams   ...The full text of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (TTIP) now has a bounty on its head. Launched publicly on Tuesday, the media outlet Wikileaks announced its creation of a crowd-sourcing effort that aims to raise a €100,000 reward for the full text of the the TTIP, the corporate-friendly trade pact currently being negotiated in secret by the United States and member countries of the European Union...
Despite Majority Opposition, Japan About To Hit 'Go' On Nuclear Restart  Common Dreams   ...Despite widespread public opposition and lingering safety concerns, Japan on Tuesday will switch on a nuclear reactor for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster...
Hundreds Of Peace Corps Vets Demand US Stop Funding Ethnic Cleansing  Common Dreams   ...Over 500 former Peace Corps volunteers are calling on the U.S. government to withhold military aid and stop funding the Dominican Republic's ethnic cleansing of people of Haitian descent, adding theirs to the cacophony of voices—from Pope Francis to United Nations experts to thousands marching in Port-au-Prince—speaking out against the mass-scale human rights violations...

State & Living Wage Battles
Daily Oil Trains Could Threaten Lives In The Bay Area  San Francisco Chronicle   ...If oil giant Phillips 66 has its way, an oil train disaster and increased air pollution may be coming to a Bay Area town near you. Phillips 66 is proposing an oil transport station to refine Canadian tars sands in San Luis Obispo. If the project is approved by the San Luis Obispo planning commission and board of supervisors, Phillips 66 will have a contract for 500 oil train trips a year that could go right down the spine of the Bay Area...
Wis. Residents Upset About Sand, Oil Train Delays  Winona Daily News   ...Neighbors living near railroad tracks in Wisconsin are becoming increasingly concerned about long train blockages since an increase in sand and oil shipments have caused them to grow into a frequent and dangerous disruption...
Florida Lawmakers Pushing For Higher Minimum Wage  WFSU   ...As workers across the country push for higher minimum wage, two Florida lawmakers are joining the fight. They’ve filed a bill that would raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour. But earning a living wage is about more than a person’s hourly pay...
Study Reveals The True Scope Of Voter Disenfranchisement In Texas  Think Progress   ...A Texas law, which closely resembles similar laws erecting obstacles to the franchise in other states, does far more to keep voters from casting a ballot than previously thought, according to a study conducted by researchers at Rice University and the University of Houston...
Silicon Valley’s Skyrocketing Housing Costs Shut Teachers Out  Alternet   ...Skyrocketing housing prices in Silicon Valley, the red-hot center of tech entrepreneurship and one of the most highly educated enclaves in the world, are making it hard for teachers to call the area home...
Election Rights Advocates Allege New Voter ID Violations In Ohio  WLWT   ...The advocates say the laws allow absentee ballots to be rejected for mistakes such as the wrong birth month even though the voter supplied the correction information when requesting the ballot...

U.S. Labor
Unpredictable Work Hours, Chaotic Life  New York Times   ...The tyranny of erratic work schedules is obvious to employees who don’t know what their schedules will be tomorrow or have to call in to see if there is work. And the effects have been well documented in articles and oral histories. Increasingly, the anecdotal evidence is being confirmed by research...

Social Justice & Other News
Huffington Post, Washington Post Reporters Charged For Doing Journalism In Ferguson  Huffington Post   ...Reporters from The Huffington Post and Washington Post have been charged with trespassing and interfering with a police officer’s performance, a chilling setback for press freedom coming nearly a year after their arrests in Ferguson, Missouri...
Jerry Brown Nixes 'Alien' From California Labor Law  Huffington Post   ...California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed legislation Monday removing the word "alien" in reference to undocumented immigrants from the state's labor code. The measure, which will take effect Jan. 1, seeks to modernize the language used in California state law. Brown signed the legislation, SB 432, along with two other bills updating immigration policy on Monday...
Twitter Activists Slam St. Louis County Officials For Ferguson Response With #WhichEmergency Hashtag  Salon.com   ...Shortly after St. Louis County officials declared a state of emergency last night in response to protesters marking the anniversary of the death of Michael Brown, activists on Twitter did something odd, agreeing with county officials and tweeting that there is, in fact, a state of emergency in St. Louis County — just not the one the officials had declared...
Here's How Much Water Golf Courses, Ski Resorts, And Pools Are Using In California  Mother Jones   ...Of the thirsty nonagricultural businesses, golf takes the lead: The average Palm Springs golf course uses the same amount of water in one day that a family of four does in five years. The 123 golf courses in the Palm Springs area use nearly a quarter of the region's groundwater...
Water Rationing In Puerto Rico Hits The Poor, Leaves Resorts Untouched  Think Progress   ...As the commonwealth’s reservoirs drop to their lowest levels in decades, the government has declared a state of emergency, and implemented strict rationing. Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans now have had tap water only every third day, and that tightened this past weekend, giving families water only two days a week...
Heavily-Armed Oath Keepers Showed Up To Ferguson Last Night  Mother Jones   ...As demonstrators gathered in Ferguson to continue commemorating the one year anniversary of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown on Monday, five heavily-armed men belonging to a vigilante group called the Oath Keepers were spotted patrolling the streets. According to reports, the Oath Keepers said they were on the scene to provide voluntary protection to a journalist working for the site InfoWars, the conspiracy mill run by noted lunatic Alex Jones...
Racialized Poverty In America Has Nearly Doubled In 21st Century  Common Dreams   ...Discriminatory housing, zoning, and other policy choices are driving the dramatic rise of racialized poverty and segregation across the United States, with the number of people residing in low-income "ghettos, barrios, and slums" nearly doubling in the 21st century alone, a new report finds...

UPS workers demand employer end ALEC membership

Joint Council 42 President Randy Cammack calls on UPS to leave ALEC.

UPS Teamsters have for years asked the package delivery giant to end it's affiliation with the virulently anti-union American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). And yesterday in San Diego, hundreds of them from throughout California came to a national meeting of the organization to have their voices heard.

Randy Cammack, President of Teamster Joint Council 42, which represents members throughout Southern California, spoke to the more than thousand people on hand and told them to send a message to the UPS representative inside:

There is a UPS representative inside attending the meeting as we rally out here. Let's make sure she can hear what we have to say -- UPS, get out of ALEC! UPS, get out of ALEC! UPS, get out of ALEC!

The Teamsters represent more than 250,000 members at UPS and UPS Freight. While more than 120 corporations and organizations have left ALEC due to their controversial positions, UPS remains an active member of ALEC despite the organization's anti-worker agenda that seeks to undermine and weaken worker positions. UPS might be obligated to encourage union involvement among its workforce, but uses part of its profits to push for so-called "right-to-work" laws in states around the nation.

ALEC has served as a legislative clearinghouse which authors model bills that are often brought to state capitals by lawmakers and introduced as-is. The group also acts to connect lawmakers with corporate big-wigs. It is funded, in part, by billionaire industrialists the Koch Brothers.

These legislative schmoozefests, for instance, have resulted in more and more states introducing preemption bills that stop localities from raising the minimum wage in their jurisdictions or offering paid sick leave. Big business relishes such laws. Workers pay the price for their greed.

Ken Hall, the Teamsters' General Secretary-Treasurer, said by remaining in ALEC, UPS sends the wrong message to its employees and people around the country:

Global corporations like Coca Cola, Apple, McDonald’s and even Walmart have decided that continuing a relationship with this toxic organization is too damaging to their brand. It begs the question of why UPS, the largest unionized company in America, continues to associate with ALEC. It’s time for UPS to do the right thing for its workers and cut ties with ALEC.

Staff at Calif. children's home stand up for workplace rights

An organizing victory in California is getting attention because of the unique work the new Teamsters do, and because of the challenges faced by workers in the industry.

Edgewood workers joined Local 856.

After a difficult organizing campaign, direct care staff at Edgewood Center for Children and Families in San Francisco voted to join Local 856 in San Bruno, Calif. In June 2014, workers there began the process of forming a union in an effort to stem the agency’s notoriously high turnover rate and bring benefits and wages on par with comparable nonprofits in San Francisco.

About 150 residential counselors and direct care staff work with some of the most emotionally challenged children in the Bay Area. Staff work up to 16-hours days with no overtime, unaffordable health care options and wages that do not keep up with the cost of living in one of the most expensive cities in the country.

ProPublica, an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest, ran a story on the Teamster victory at Edgewood shortly after they joined the union:

Workers at a former orphanage in San Francisco that now functions as a large group home for troubled children have unionized—a rare step by frontline employees who work at facilities that can be both demanding and dangerous. 

In June 2014, a large group of workers at Edgewood, a complex in the city’s Sunset district that houses a maximum of 48 children, first began to work with a local of the national Teamsters union. The workers wanted higher wages, better benefits and a greater say in the treatment of the children under their care, said Michael Shih, a residential counselor who worked on the Edgewood campus for five years and played a leading role in organizing the workers.

Previously, ProPublica reported on the demise of a similar home in Davis, Calif., run by a nonprofit called EMQ FamiliesFirst. Due to staffing problems, workers there were ill equipped to care for the troubled children entrusted to them.

According to ProPublica, the lack of training and low wages resulted in a difficult working environment and high turnover. Residential counselor Cory Henning said in a statement:

In the past year, I have had to take over two months off of work due to assaults on the floor. Instead of receiving support from the management while injured, I was asked to return to the floor… essentially risking my safety due to low-staffing.

Edgewood’s conduct in an October 2014 election resulted in a National Labor Relations Board investigation. Edgewood agreed to a settlement and the workers won a new election, voting to join the Teamsters in May.

Look for a story on these workers in the next issue of Teamster magazine.

Report: Misclassification is a significant problem for workers

Employee misclassification is not a well-known issue for most people. But with millions of workers teetering on the edge of the U.S. economy, that is changing. And luckily, the Teamsters and other groups are here taking a stand to end the practice also known as wage theft.

A recent Economic Policy Institute report sums up the full size of the problem. Upwards of 20 percent of employers misclassify at least one worker as an independent contractor. Many of these workers are in the trucking and construction industries, but the problem is growing in other sectors as well. While the employer saves on paying taxes and social security as well by not providing health insurance for such workers, the public is left on the hook to support these people if they are injured on the job.

Francoise Carre, the document's author and the research director for the Center for Social Policy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, said unscrupulous employers engage in misclassification to avoid employment-related obligations:

Misclassification is one way in which employers deprive workers of the ability to bargain over wages and working conditions. It is a troubling and understudied trend and seems to be on the rise. The growth of the "sharing economy," which mostly treats on-demand workers as self-employed, further highlights the need for clarity on employee status.

In recent years, the Teamsters have been actively involved in fighting such issues, both for port truck drivers at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as well as with food processors working at places such as Taylor Farms in California's Central Valley. And the union is winning.

Meanwhile, states are beginning to catch onto the scam. The GOP-controlled Georgia Legislature, for instance, is investigating whether companies in that state deliberately misclassify employees as part time or contractors in order to avoid paying minimum wage or payroll taxes.

Companies that engage in misclassification are not paying their fair share. The Teamsters believe that workers should be treated fairly, that the letter and spirit of employment law should be upheld, and that deliberate violations of employment law should be punished to the fullest extent possible.

Victory for 2 misclassified port drivers who return to work as employees!

A court ordered two fired port drivers to return to work today at Green Fleet Systems in Carson, Calif. The drivers, fired for challenging their misclassification as independent contractors, returned to work as employees.

A federal judge had issued a temporary injunction returning Mateo Mares and Amilcar Cardona to work. The company tried to stop the injunction, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the company's request.

Mares and Cardona were fired because they challenged their misclassification, filed claims for stolen wages with the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) and publicly supported the Teamsters union.

Port drivers celebrate return of Mateo Mares and Amilcar Cardona this morning.

The Teamsters are supporting port drivers throughout the United States in their quest to increase their wages, improve their working conditions and raise their standard of living. Like low-wage workers in the retail and fast food industries, port drivers are resorting to short, sudden strikes to win sympathy for their cause. “We are on the front lines of the fight,” Mares said.

Jim Hoffa, Teamsters general president, said in a statement,

America’s port drivers are the poster child for wage theft in America. Like millions of workers, drivers are treated like regular employees but illegally compensated as independent contractors. The Teamsters are committed to working with drivers and their allies to stop wage theft in the port trucking industry. Justice for port drivers means justice for all American workers.

Mares added:

This ruling is a great victory not just for me, Amilcar, and our families, but for all drivers at Green Fleet Systems who have been too fearful to openly support our effort to become Teamsters, and for misclassified workers across America. Although the fight was long, justice has finally been served. The law is on our side and we all have rights as employees to form our union.

Julie Gutman Dickinson, the attorney representing the drivers, said the court's decision sends a message to the trucking industry and to all employers who try to pass off regular employees as independent contractors. That message:

They are in fact employees that are entitled to choose union representation and cannot be fired for their union activities or for filing claims for wage theft. 

 Congratulations, brothers!

Today's Teamster News 08.29.14

Teamster News
MV Transportation Drivers Unanimously Choose Teamsters Union  IBT   ...MV Transportation drivers have voted unanimously, 67-0, to join Teamsters Local 890 in Salinas, Calif., to improve their working conditions. The 91 drivers provide adult paratransit services, shuttle and tourist trolley routes in Salinas and Monterey...
Calif. Senate Approves Bill To Protect Temporary Workers   IBT   ...The California Senate approved AB 1897 Wednesday evening. The bill will hold companies accountable for serious violations of the rights of workers on their premises that are committed by their own labor suppliers...
Uber Drivers In Southern California Form Association With Teamsters Local 986  IBT   ...The California App-Based Drivers’ Association (CADA) met in El Monte, California on Tuesday, to formalize its affiliation with Teamsters Local 986...
How One Union Is Playing For Both Sides In The Battle Between Uber And Taxis  BuzzFeed   ...As the bitter divide between ride-sharing and taxi companies continues to grow, one union is trying to unite all the drivers, no matter who they work for...
Trade
TTIP Will Sacrifice Food Safety For Faster Trade, Warn NGOs  EurActiv   ...The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will irreversibly put EU consumers and animals at risk, the European Commission will be warned today...
Kristen Marshall: Reject the TPP  (opinion)   DailyCamera   ...“Why are we relying on WikiLeaks for information about TPP?”; and “What about Congress?”...
State Battles
Ballot Initiatives Become Pricey Playgrounds Of Parties And Corporations  Washington Post   ...For the first time in history, spending on the approximately 125 ballot questions facing voters in 41 states is likely to top $1 billion in campaign spending this year — and perhaps much more: Oil and gas companies in Alaska spent more than $170 for every vote they won in a successful campaign to reject higher taxes earlier this month...
The End Of The Scott Walker Experiment?  Slate   ...the biggest national test taking place in Wisconsin is a test of the Walker Hypothesis, which held that a politician who enacted conservative policies and didn’t shrink from the resulting controversy would be rewarded by a wide range of voters—conservatives, but also swing voters. ... With each new poll showing a close race, that hypothesis grows weaker...
DOR: Fiscal year revenue comes in $281.2 million below projections  WisPolitics Budget Blog   ...The largest shortfall came in income taxes, where the state collected $178.7 million less than expected. Corporate tax collections were also significantly lower, coming in $97.7 million behind projections...
War On Workers
You're Losing $18,000 A Year Because Of Income Inequality  Huffington Post   ..."Stagnant growth at the middle is just the flip side of fast growth at the top," Elise Gould, the author of the paper and EPI’s director of health policy research, told The Huffington Post...
When Do We Start Calling This “The Greater Depression”?  Washington Center for Equitable Growth   ...Between the start of 2005 and the end of 2007 U.S. real GDP grew at 3.1%/year. The recession trough in 2009 saw the U.S. real GDP level 11% lower than the 2005-2007 trend. Today it stands 16% below...
Most Americans Think The Economy Is Permanently Damaged  Huffington Post   ..."Looking at the aftermath of the recession, it is clear that the American landscape has been significantly rearranged," Rutgers professor Cliff Zukin said in a press release. "With the passage of time, the public has become convinced that they are at a new normal of a lower, poorer quality of life."...
For Every Education Level, Real Wages Have Gone Down So Far This Year  Bloomberg Businessweek   ...From the first half of 2007 to the first half of this year, real wages declined 4.9 percent for workers with a high school degree and 2.5 percent for workers with a college degree. Workers with advanced degrees registered an increase of only 0.2 percent over those seven years...
In Corporations, It’s Owner-Take-All (opinion)  Washington Post   ...Lazonick looked at the 449 companies listed every year on the S&P 500 from 2003 to 2012. ... That’s a total of 91 percent of their profits that America’s leading corporations targeted to their shareholders, leaving a scant 9 percent for investments, research and development, expansions, cash reserves or, God forbid, raises...
Sheriff releases name of Kalispell Walmart worker killed in fall  Missoulian   ...Larry Wurtz has been identified as the Kalispell Walmart employee who died after falling from a movable staircase in a back room of the store last week...
Worker hit and killed by SF city truck in the Bayview  SF Gate   ...A San Francisco Department of Public Works garbage truck struck and killed a crew member Thursday morning, city officials said...
Miscellaneous
Boomer Wealth Dented by Mortgages Poses U.S. Risk  Bloomberg   ...The share of Americans 65 and older with mortgage debt rose to 30 percent in 2011 from 22 percent in 2001, according to a May analysis by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau based on the latest available figures...

Woo-hoo! Another Teamsters organizing victory in California!

Welcome to our 63 brand-new brothers and sisters who drive for Iron Mountain in Pico Rivera, Calif. They voted by a 3-to-1 margin to join Teamsters Local 986 today! 

The drivers pick up information-sensitive documents at locations and shred them onsite or take them back to the company for shredding.

The organizing victory follows successful organizing drives at Iron Mountain in Oakland, Sacramento, Chicago and Atlanta. 

Chris Griswold, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 986 in South El Monte, Calif., pledged to help negotiate a contract that will resolve their concerns: 

For a long time, these drivers have been seeking fair wages, improved benefits and getting treated with the respect and dignity that they deserve. 

Local 986 organizer Ron Seamans, Jr., thanked the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, organizer Mike Parker and Local 728 organizer Ben Speight for their help with the campaign. Seamans said,

The workers remained united and strong.

They made the right decision! 

Hoffa comes to California to fight abuse of temporary workers at Taylor Farms

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa today told Taylor Farms workers in Sacramento that the Teamsters are backing them in their fight to join a union and to change the law to protect temporary workers.

Teamsters President Jim Hoffa with Taylor Farms workers today in Sacramento.

Hoffa met with workers before speaking at a news conference on the steps of the Capitol. Taylor Farms worker Armida Galeana thanked Hoffa for joining the fight. Maria Carranza fought back tears when telling him her story about her treatment at Taylor Farms.

Jose Gonzalez works at Taylor Farms, but is employed by a labor contractor called slingshot. He said he's been a temp workers for 10 years.

Why not pay me the money going to the temporary agency for my labor? As a temp worker I have no health care, sick or vacation pay or retirement security. I have no future. It’s like I’m a modern-day slave.

Hoffa said,

While there are 900 of you at Taylor Farms, you have 1.4 million Teamsters with you. 

California Teamsters are working with Taylor Farms workers to press for a bill that would protect temporary workers from abuse by employers. The bill, AB 1897, was approved by the Assembly and passed out of the Senate Labor Committee yesterday. It would hold companies accountable for serious violations of the rights of workers on their premises that are committed by their own labor suppliers.

Hoffa called it a shell game that contributes to today's jobs crisis.

More and more people are working harder with less to show for it. Their low wages, unhealthy working conditions, and lack of benefits subsidize the greatest wealth at the top in the history of the world. Holding corporations accountable for violations of basic worker rights on their premises would be an important step in the right direction.

Taylor Farms is the world’s largest salad processor, supplying to McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut, Dominos, Subway, Darden Restaurants (Olive Garden and Red Lobster), and many other restaurant and food chains. At its processing plant in Tracy, a majority of the people who do the work actually are employed by two temporary staffing agencies and not by Taylor Farms. Slingshot has its office on the company’s premises, and Taylor Farms is its only customer.

While its workers generated $1.8 billion in revenue for the company in 2012, Taylor Farms claims that it has no responsibility for how its “temporary” workers are treated. Many are paid the minimum wage and even that gets stolen from them. They've been fired for getting injured or ill,
discriminated against for their ethnicity and sexual orientation and confronted by dangerous working conditions. They often have to provide their own safety equipment like gloves and warm clothes. They're even denied breaks to use the bathroom.

Read more about the corporate scam that lets corporations abuse temporary workers here.

California bill to make employers responsible for temp hires moves forward in Legislature

The Teamsters bill to establish joint employer liability for employers when their temporary agencies break California labor laws passed the Assembly Floor with 45 votes.

That's the great news from Brother Doug Bloch, political director for Teamsters Joint Council 7 in California.

You may remember how Teamsters and Taylor Farms workers lobbied lawmakers earlier this month on the bill. Here's a picture:

Brother Doug continued:

This was a tremendous collective effort on the part of many of our Joint Council 7 and 42 Local unions.  We really saw what happens when our Locals get involved in politics on the local level -- making endorsements and DRIVE contributions -- and how that helped us influence legislators.  We reached out to legislators in their districts, making a big difference. 

Furthermore, in our effort to connect organizing and legislation, we put Taylor Farms and their temporary agencies front and center in this fight, with workers and Teamsters hitting the capitol on three separate lobby days, mobilizing over 100 people.  The bravery of Taylor Farms workers and the horror stories they told led some opponents of the bill to distance themselves from Taylor Farms as a "bad actor" in this industry. 

Next we move on to the Senate.  A great effort so far with more work to come!

Looking forward to another Teamster victory!

Northern California Teamsters hit the precincts, the picket lines, the capital

What a week for our brothers and sisters in Teamsters Joint Council 7 in Northern California. Within the past seven days, more than 450 Teamsters lobbied for a pro-worker bill at the capital, joined striking fast-food workers on the picket line in Oakland, packed a meeting in Tracy to tell public officials about horror stories at Taylor Farms, kicked off a political organizing rally in the Central Valley and walked precincts for pro-worker candidates in the Bay Area.

Here's Brother Doug Bloch, Joint Council 7's political director, with the rundown:

Wednesday
Over 50 Teamsters and Taylor Farms workers hit the Capitol to lobby for AB 1897, a bill by Assembly Labor and Employment Committee Chair Roger Hernandez that will hold companies accountable for wage theft and other abuses when they use staffing agencies and other contractors who break the law.  We joined the California Labor Federation, UNITE HERE Local 11, and UFCW Local 5.

Roughly 900 Latino workers at Taylor Farms in Tracy  are organizing with Teamsters Local 601.  Over 2/3rds work for two temporary agencies, although some workers have been there for over 10 years as so-called "temps"!  When workers are injured, have wage claims, or other issues the temporary agencies and Taylor Farms both point fingers at the other one, denying responsibility.  AB 1897 would fix that.

Teamsters Local 601 led a delegation of Taylor Farms workers throughout the Capitol, earning support for the campaign and legislation.

The lobby day was highlighted by the California Labor Federation in their blog Labor's Edge.

Thursday
Taylor Farms workers leave Tracy at 4:30 to join striking McDonald's workers on the picket line at 6 am in Oakland. Taylor Farms supplies McDonald's, Subway, Chipotle, and other fast food chains with produce.

On Thursday evening nearly 200 Taylor Farms workers, Teamsters, and community supporters packed a meeting in Tracy where Assemblymember Hernandez and others heard horror stories from Taylor Farms workers and pledged their support.

Others on the panel included Modesto City Council Member Tony Madrigal; Maria Noel Fernandez, Working Partnerships USA; Don Villarejo, founder of the California Institute for Rural Studies; Father Rex Hays, Sacred Heart Catholic Church; and Jessica Cabrera, San Joaquin Immigrant Youth Coalition. A representative from Senator Cathleen Galgiani's office was also at the forum.

Friday
Food Chain Workers Alliance (FCWA) Executive Director Joann Lo publishes an article in the National Journal highlighting the struggles of Taylor Farms and other food chain workers to earn decent pay. Joint Council 7 is a proud member of the FCWA.

Saturday

Over 100 shop stewards from Teamsters Local 439 and Teamsters Local 601 kicked off a political organizing campaign in the Central Valley.  

This effort includes joining DRIVE (the Teamsters political action fund), voter registration, and supporting candidates who support workers.

At the same time, over 20 shop stewards from Teamsters Local 386 were meeting in Modesto.

And back in the Bay Area, 20 Teamsters from Locals 70, 315, and 856 walked precincts for Tim Sbranti in his race against Steve Glazer for Assembly District 16. Sbrant is a long-time friend of workers, while Glazer is running on a platform of banning the right for transit employees to strike.  Teamsters 665 members were also walking precincts in the 10th Assembly District against incumbent Assemblymember Marc Levine.

We are gearing up for even larger events in June.  When Teamsters take action, we win!

Victory! Teamsters win new pro-worker laws in California

California Gov. Jerry Brown last week signed three bills that will strengthen the state’s labor laws by protecting workers from employer retaliation.

This is a huge win for Teamsters Joint Council 7, which led the legislative battle to get the laws passed. It’s also a big victory for workers like Marquez Brothers employees who have faced harsh retaliation since they voted to become Teamsters last year.

Doug Bloch, political director of Teamsters Joint Council 7, says the trio of laws are the strongest labor protections for immigrant workers in the country:

Under these laws, immigrant workers who speak up now have new legal protections... That's because these laws put civil and criminal penalties in place for employers who threaten workers with immigration enforcement.

The three laws -- AB 263, AB 524 and SB 666 -- prohibit immigration-related retaliation and clarify that threatening to expose workers’ immigration status is extortion.

Marquez Brothers is a perfect example of why these laws are necessary. The cheese company has been ruthlessly intimidating workers at its Hanford, Calif., plant since they joined Teamsters Local 517, refusing to bargain and launching a campaign to get the union decertified.

Brother Bloch explains:

Marquez Brothers is one of the largest distributors of dairy products serving the Latino community in North America. After their workers organized a union, the company responded by bringing in Littler Mendelson, a law firm that touts its ability to advise clients on "union avoidance" and "maintaining a union-free workplace." One strategy Littler excels in involves a classic union-busting strategy: delay and decertify.

Marquez Brothers used the [decertification] petition as a legal justification to withdraw union recognition from the workers. In the year since they first organized, Marquez workers have faced a constant campaign of harassment and intimidation. In March, workers traveled to Sacramento to testify at a legislative hearing on employer intimidation, only to be followed by company management and Littler attorneys. One of the workers was fired shortly after the hearing. She was one of twenty union supporters fired since they organized. Others have quit in the face of a constant barrage of harassment.

The state’s new laws put abusive companies like Marquez Brothers on notice, calling their behavior exactly what it is: criminal.

Teamsters at Marquez Brothers have organized a recertification campaign to beat back the company’s anti-union drive. They filed to recertify the union last month, but that election is on hold pending the reopening of the NLRB after the government shutdown.

Bloch says the legislative victory once again puts California on the cutting-edge of pro-labor reforms. And it also shows that when Teamsters mobilize, we win!

The lobby days and work that many Locals did with their legislators on the ground made a huge difference, along with the high visibility of the Teamsters in the Prop 32 fight last year and the DRIVE contributions we make. This is a real testament to all of our JC7 Locals and members who have stepped up in politics.

This victory wouldn’t have happened without the brave sacrifices made by Marquez Brothers workers who lost their jobs during the campaign. With their trips to the state capitol and talking to the press, they won strong support from state legislators and showed why these anti-retaliation laws needed to be passed.

When companies are able to bully workers on immigration issues in order to suppress their wages and working conditions, it drives down standards for all workers. So this is a big win for all California workers.

And in a time when we find ourselves fighting off anti-worker legislation in so many states, it’s refreshing to score a victory for worker-friendly laws.

Way to go, California Teamsters!

Oakland gives sweetheart deal to anti-worker creep

Take a look at this: A Teamster-hating, worker-screwing California business owner, who swindled port truck drivers out of nearly $1 million, is getting a $1.5 million handout from the city of Oakland. And to top it off, the city doesn’t have the money to cover the deal with the influence-wielding contractor -- Bill Aboudi.

Aboudi, who an Alameda County Superior Court judge determined in June had stolen $965,000 in wages from 73 current and former employees, just doesn’t like to follow the rules. And in addition to screwing his workers, his company, Oakland Maritime Support Services, has also been discharging storm water pollution into the San Francisco Bay in violation of state and federal environmental laws, court documents show.

That, however, seems of little concern to Oakland officials, who gave him the money to offset his move from a former Army base being redeveloped by the city. By the way, did we mention Aboudi has also repeatedly missed rent payments in excess of $235,000 and that his business has been effectively exempted from having to pay parking taxes?

Doug Bloch of Teamsters Joint Council 7 said he is befuddled by the turn of events:

I’m speechless. It’s a gift of public funds.

What’s really going on here? The East Bay Express explains:

So why has the city been assisting a contractor who fails to pay his workers and has polluted the environment? And why does it continue to do financial favors for him? Aboudi has strong defenders on the city council: namely, Councilmembers Larry Reid, Desley Brooks, and Rebecca Kaplan.

Aboudi also has exploited citizen fears of trucks parking in West Oakland neighborhoods by telling folks that if the city does not provide him with another truck-parking location, then truckers will park their big rigs in front of people's homes — even though such long-term parking is illegal. And Aboudi's threats are hollow because the port also operates a thirty-acre truck-parking facility, and thus provides plenty of truck parking in the area.

Port officials also have been less accommodating toward Aboudi than the city has. The port balked at agreeing to a multi-year lease with the city because of Aboudi's many legal troubles and the $1 million court judgment against him. As a result, city officials ordered the Army Base development team, led by Oakland developer Phil Tagami, to move part of its construction-staging area to the port property so that Aboudi could move his business onto the land that Tagami's team had planned to use.

See the switch-a-roo they pulled?

But there’s a snag. The switch will cost an extra $1.465 million, Tagami said late last week, because the port property has to be readied for use as a construction-staging site. That's $1.465 million that the city doesn't have -- and wouldn't otherwise have to spend were the city weren’t making accommodations for Aboudi. "The city wrote a letter accepting responsibility," Tagami said of the extra costs, "but doesn't have the money to pay for it."

So to recap, powerful city contractor with lots of connections is getting something for nothing while he screws drivers who work for him, taxpayers and the environment. Got it!

Teamsters join LA Labor Day march for workers

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (center) met with Teamsters during picnic.

We're catching up with our Labor Day coverage. Here is a dispatch from California: 

About 250 Southern California Teamsters joined more than 2,000 of their union brothers and sisters Monday in Los Angeles to march for workers’ rights. The Labor Day parade and rally took place near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where port truck drivers have been fighting for fair treatment and the right to organize.

Led by three 18-wheelers in front and about 100 motorcycles and classic cars in back, Teamsters from several different locals across the region chanted, cheered and revved their engines while traversing the mile-long parade route. They also delighted the hundreds of spectators taking in the event with their call-and-response cheers:

Rolling, rolling, rolling with the Teamsters! Who are we? Teamsters!

Anthony Balbastro, a Teamsters Local 63 member and a shop steward at United Stationers, said the Labor Day event filled him with pride:

Only in America can you stand next to other brothers and sisters and march.

Patrick Kelly, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 952, said the parade sends an important message to all workers:

It is an example of collective direct action where we can show the community who we are. It is important to reaffirm solidarity among working people.

And a group of retired Teamsters said they are concerned about the next generation of workers. Dan Salazar, a retired member of Teamsters Local 63, said:

We are here out of respect for the lifestyle we enjoy for our families. We want other people to enjoy what we had. The laws have changed, peoples’ culture has changed. They are starting to get left behind.

Teamsters marched for a better life for the middle class.

Salazar said he was encouraged by recent actions by low-wage workers. Last week, L.A. port truck drivers returned to work after a historic 24-hour strike ended against trucking company Green Fleet Systems. The drivers struck to protest unfair labor practices by Green Fleet’s management, including unlawful anti-union retaliation, harassment and intimidation.

The short, sudden port truck driver strike was followed by more job actions by low-wage workers around the country. Fast-food workers in more than 50 U.S. cities walked off the job on Thursday. Walmart workers are planning to strike in 15 cities tomorrow, their largest mobilization since Black Friday. 

After the parade, people thronged a local park for a barbecue and entertainment. Joining them were federal, state and local elected officials who pledged to work on behalf of workers for fairer wages.

Newly elected Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said now is the time to stand up for workers:

We will fight for a living wage. And better schools. And a greater Los Angeles.