Today's Teamster News 12.11.15

TEAMSTERS
Teamsters, Activists Deliver Thousands of Signed Petitions to UPS Calling for Withdrawal from ALEC  Teamster.org  ...Today, Teamsters Union representatives in Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, Ga. led delegations that included environmental and community activists that delivered thousands signed petitions to UPS offices in both cities. The 75,000 signed petitions collected call on the corporation to withdraw its membership in the controversial American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)...
Hoffa: Final Customs Bill Offers Little More to Make TPP Better for Workers  Teamster.org  ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa in response to the issuance of a House-Senate conference report on a customs reauthorization bill that does little to address the many shortfalls contained in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): “If leaders in Congress were trying to come up with a way to make trade fair for American workers and those around the globe, they failed miserably"...
Drivers at Transdev Vote to Join Teamsters Local 117  Local 117  ...Drivers, who are employed by Transdev, have voted to join Teamsters Local 117. The 260 workers came together seeking retirement security, affordable health care, fair and equal treatment, strong representation, and respect. “We’ve taken a very important step toward making our work environment better for the future,” said John Secord, a 4-year Transdev employee...

GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Paris Transport Workers Strike Amid Spike In Suspicious Package Claims  IBTimes  ...Less than a month since the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 and fueled international concerns over security, Paris transport workers are expressing their concerns for their own safety. Workers went on a 24-hour strike Thursday, saying security concerns have increased as a result of a high number of suspicious packages being reported on Paris public transportation, the Agence France-Presse reported. Passengers in Paris reported severely disrupted train traffic...
McConnell deals blow to Obama TPP hopes  The Hill  ...Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday crushed any hope that Congress could pass a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade agreement before the 2016 elections. McConnell, who has expressed concerns about the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and has yet to take a stance, said President Obama is risking defeat of his signature trade deal if he tries to push for passage before a lame-duck session next year...
Honduras and CAFTA Show Us One of the Key Reasons Why TPP Should Be Opposed  (opinion) AFLCIO  ...This week, the governments of Honduras and the United States signed an action plan to begin addressing the widespread failure to enforce labor laws in Honduras. While this is a small step in the right direction, the Honduran government has not fully considered or included workers' recommendations regarding this Monitoring and Action Plan. The Honduran government, employers and unions have reached consensus on some points...
Portugal's new anti-austerity government makes more spending cuts in battle to lower deficit  Star Tribune  ...Portugal's new anti-austerity Socialist government has hit a snag: it needs to introduce more cutbacks to keep its pledge of getting the budget deficit lower than 3 percent this year, as demanded by its eurozone partners and creditors. Finance Minister Mario Centeno said after a Cabinet meeting Thursday the government is imposing a freeze on non-urgent spending...
Tunisian Unions Receive Nobel Prize in Ceremony Today  Solidarity Center  ...,The Nobel Peace Prize was formally awarded today to the Tunisian “Quartet,” which includes the country’s labor movement for its role in brokering a peaceful path to democracy. At a ceremony in Oslo, Norway, Houcine Abassi, general secretary of the Tunisian General Labor Union (Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail, UGTT) said, “Tunisia is an exception so far in the Arab Spring countries, but this doesn’t mean that it may not be replicated in other countries”...
How Climate Change Will Transform Work  The Nation  ...The term “green economy” danced around the corridors at the Paris climate talks, evoking visions of electric cars and “clean tech.” But “decarbonization” is a messier story in the Global South. Workers in the rapidly warming “developing world” need more than wind turbines and highbrow organic farms; they need to build livelihoods that can mitigate ecological crisis—and leap ahead of the dominant fossil-fuel based economies, which historically have both controlled and stifled their development...

STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Connecticut Legislature Approves Budget Cuts  Wall Street Journal  ...Lawmakers in Connecticut on Tuesday approved a $350 million plan to address a shortfall in the state’s budget. The state Senate, controlled by Democrats, passed the bill 20-15. The House of Representatives, also controlled by Democrats, passed it 75-65. The plan cuts spending by $195.8 million and diverts $135.7 million from several specialized accounts, including the transportation fund...
Senate moves Pennsylvania budget fight into House's court  WTAE  ...The Pennsylvania Senate sprinted through hundreds of pages of just-unveiled budget legislation Thursday, handing it back to the House Republican majority and all but ensuring that a five-month stalemate that is crippling social services agencies would plow into next week. The Republican-controlled Senate adjourned Thursday night after a marathon week of passing major bills that authorize $30.8 billion in spending...
California pension overhaul advocates move forward after Kamala Harris issues analyses  Sac Bee  ...California moved one step closer to a public retirement fight after the state issued official summaries for two pension-change ballot proposals on Thursday – and for the first time neither labor unions nor the measures’ proponents griped that the language was politically slanted or inaccurate. “It’s not the most positive way to describe the initiative,” said Chuck Reed, the former San Jose mayor who is backing the proposal...

‘Right to work’ a tired, failed proposal  (opinion) Cincinnati.com  ...Here in Ohio, a broad coalition of working people is mobilizing against yet another attack on collective bargaining. Even though “right to work” has failed repeatedly in the past, Rep. Tom Brinkman, R-Mount Lookout, is pushing a new bill in the statehouse. It’s an effort to keep middle-class Ohioans from speaking up together for wages and benefits that can sustain our families...

Tucson talks of requiring paid sick leave from employers  Arizona Daily Star  ...The City Council is studying a proposal to require all Tucson employers to give earned sick days to employees, but the issue got off to a shaky start. Councilwoman Regina Romero proposed a city ordinance Tuesday making sick time mandatory as part of a “working family agenda,” but the discussion got heated and turned to whether the city can spend time on social justice issues while it’s trying to get its own fiscal house in order...

U.S. LABOR
Uber drivers get big boost in lawsuit against company  SF Chronicle  ...In a major setback for Uber, a federal judge on Wednesday dramatically expanded the scope — both in potential financial damages and in the number of people affected — of a class-action lawsuit by California drivers seeking to be reclassified as employees. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen ruled that even drivers who accepted mandatory arbitration in their Uber contract should be included in the case...
Negotiations Resume Between Kohler Company, Striking Workers  CBS  ...Negotiations resumed between Kohler company and union officials on Thursday, according to UAW Local 833 members. The 2,000 striking employees got their final paycheck at the end of last week from the company. Some will also have their vacation time paid out, members said...
Suburban office janitors rally for $15 wage as contract expiration looms  Business Journal  ...Dozens of janitors who staff more than 150 suburban Philadelphia office buildings called for a wage that would give their children a Christmas they deserve in a demonstration Thursday outside Vanguard's Malvern offices. Members of the 32BJ Service Employees International Union want the owners of the approximately 170 properties in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties to agree to raise their wage...
D.C. Streetcar Management Found Guilty of Threatening Workers  DC Labor  ...As news surfaced that the beleaguered DC Streetcar will not be ready this year and an exposé showed that the project has drained more than $200 million in taxpayer funds, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that the private DDOT contractor charged with operating the streetcar engaged in illegal anti-union activity, including threatening workers who wanted to join a union. The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) says the decision is a legal victory...
The Tipping Point: Most Americans No Longer Are Middle Class  NPR  ...Americans have long lived in a nation made up primarily of middle-class families, neither rich nor poor, but comfortable enough. This year, that changed, according to the Pew Research Center. A just-released analysis of government data shows that as of 2015, middle-income households have become the minority...
Proposed House and Senate Bills Would Roll Back New Worker Protections in Guestworker Program  In These Times  ..After years of legal battles, the H-2B guestworker program finally acquired official rules in April. For the first time, workers in the program were guaranteed basic protections like minimum hours and local average wages. But now those rules are being challenged in several Congressional bills. The proposed bills could dramatically alter the program, cutting protections for U.S. and foreign workers alike...

UC Berkeley Workers, Students Say University’s Subcontracted Campus Jobs Mean Poverty Wages  In These Times  ...Twenty-two student protesters were arrested on December 3 after staging a two-hour occupation of the central administration offices at the University of California, Berkeley. The protesters stormed California Hall, where school head Chancellor Nicholas Dirks is headquartered, and sat down in the office lobby demanding living wages and benefits for workers employed by private contractors on campus...

After Laquan McDonald’s Shooting, Chicago Targets Police Contract Protections  Mother Jones  ...The Fraternal Order of Police contract with the city shapes how Chicago handles police misconduct allegations, disciplines rank-and-file officers, as well as when the city pays legal costs for police officers accused of wrongdoing. While activists have long called for changes to the contract, many people in local government have not been eager to take on that fight—until now...

SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Report Shows How Charter Schools Are in Business of 'Privatization and Profiteering'  Common Dreams  ...The explosion of charter schools in the U.S. is allowing individuals, corporations, and organizations to use public funds to secure their own financial gain and private profit—often at the expense of the common interest they claim to serve, a new policy brief from the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado-Boulder finds...
Immigration official: Etowah immigration detainee hunger strike over  AL.com  ...A hunger strike by immigration detainees at the Etowah County Detention Center that began the day before Thanksgiving has ended, immigration officials say. Bryan Cox, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said eight detainees ate the evening meal Wednesday and "voluntarily ended their strike." "As of today the Etowah hunger strike is over," Cox said Wednesday...
Climate Apartheid: Greenpeace Chief Says Poorest Suffer Brunt of Rich Nations' Emissions  Democracy Now  ...Representatives from nearly 200 nations are in the final stretch of negotiations at the U.N. climate summit in Paris. The text has nearly 100 outstanding points of disagreement that still need to be resolved. One of the most contentious issues is the role that wealthy and more advanced developing countries should play in helping vulnerable nations cope with the impacts of climate change...
Poll: Majority of Americans oppose Trump's Muslim ban plan  Daily Kos  ...Poll: Majority of Americans oppose Trump's Muslim ban plan. There are sharp differences by political party. Just over half of Republicans responding -- 54 percent -- support such a ban, while most Democrats and independents do not...
Hundreds of U.S. Groups Join Forces to Stand Against 'Dangerous Tide of Hatred, Violence'  Common Dreams  ...It is incumbent on every public figure, elected politician, and media outlet to stand up against the "dangerous tide of hatred, violence, and suspicion" taking hold in the United States, over 700 prominent organizations and people declared in a full-page ad in Thursday's New York Times. Signatories warn that, in particular, violence is aimed at "Arab and Muslim Americans, women and the places we seek health care, Black people, immigrants and refugees...
A Guilty Verdict for Daniel Holtzclaw  The Atlantic  ...An Oklahoma County jury handed down a series of guilty verdicts on Thursday night in the trial of former Oklahoma City Police Department officer Daniel Holtzclaw, who allegedly raped and sexually assaulted at least 13 black women in the neighborhood he patrolled. Holtzclaw, who turned 29 years old on Thursday, faced 36 charges in total...

Today's Teamster News 09.25.15

Teamsters
Brockton Custodians Ratify First Teamsters Contract  Teamster.org   ...By a vote of 90-6, custodians, craftsmen and outside ground crews in the Brockton township public school system have voted to ratify their first-ever collective bargaining agreement with Teamsters Local 653 in South Easton, Mass. This continues the tradition of strong contracts and benefits that has been a hallmark of Local 653’s representation of its members...
Labor Unrest At California Ports Continue As More Subcontracted Workers Go On Strike  In These Times   ...The nation’s largest port—spread across parts of both Los Angeles and Long Beach, CA—is a strangely varied workplace. And after years of tenacious effort, workers throughout the port may soon share one important tool their predecessors once had: a union and, therefore, a better job...
Drivers Who Shuttle Genentech Workers Will Get Wage Increase  San Francisco Chronicle   ...Shuttle drivers who transport Genentech employees received a wage increase Thursday as negotiations continue between their employer, Compass Transportation, and the Teamsters...
Teachers, Drivers Team Up Against Violence From Students  WHAS   ...For the first time the Jefferson County Teachers Association and the union for the bus drivers, are teaming up and fighting back...
Truck Driver Run Over By Own Trailer At Port Of Long Beach Last Week, Police Say  Long Beach Post   ...A truck driver was fatally struck by his own vehicle last week at the Port of Long Beach (POLB) when he attempted to unlatch a trailer from his tractor, which was not adequately parked, authorities said. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters held a press conference yesterday demanding more information from port. Details regarding the fatality were released by the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) today...
Union Questions Plan To Shift City Workers To GSD  Chicago Tribune   ...On Monday, Paul Berkowitz, an attorney for Teamsters Local 142, in Gary, sought clarification from the GSD commissioners. He said 37 Teamsters received a letter from the city's human resources department stating they would be transferred to the GSD by Dec. 4. He said 14 members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) would also shift to GSD...

Global Labor & Trade
Car Industry 'Buried Report Revealing U.S. Car Safety Flaws Over Fears For TTIP Deal'  The Independent   ...The motor industry has been accused of withholding a report that reveals US cars are substantially less safe than European vehicles - for fear that the findings would hamper the drive to harmonise safety standards as part of the controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal...
Japan TPP Chief Negotiator: Broad Agreement Is Within Reach: Jiji  Reuters   ...Japan's chief negotiator for the 12-nation pan-Pacific trade talks said on Friday a broad agreement of the ambitious trade pact was within reach, Jiji news agency reported...

State & Living Wage Battles
The Great Divide In Workplace Benefits  New York Times   ...For a small, lucky set of parents, the work-family juggle is relatively easy. Their employers give them paid leave; nannies to accompany them on business trips; flexible hours; child and elder care; and even on-site haircuts and nap rooms. For the rest of American workers, life tends to be much more difficult...
Fairness For Franchise Businesses And Workers  New York Times   ...In California today, nearly 83,000 fast-food restaurants, convenience stores and other franchise businesses generate $94 billion in annual revenue and employ almost one million people. In California, and in the rest of the nation, however, developments in franchise law in recent decades have increasingly reduced the power of franchisees in dealings with their corporate parents. The result has been lower franchisee profits and lower worker pay, while corporate profits and executive compensation soar...
Council Will Consider $15 Minimum Wage For Santa Monica  Santa Monica Lookout   ...Santa Monica’s lowest wage earners could soon get a raise. The City Council on Tuesday will consider a gradual minimum wage hike that calls for it to reach $15 in 2020...

U.S. Labor
Troubling Signs Emerge In UAW-FCA Contract Voting  Detroit Free Press   ...Signs began to emerge late Thursday that a proposed contract between the UAW and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is in early trouble as large UAW locals in Sterling Heights, Center Line and Kokomo, Ind. voted against the new four-year deal...
I'm Making Only $2.64 An Hour Working As An Uber Driver   AlterNet   ...Twenty-six-year-old Takele Gobena is part of the “on-demand” economy, working full-time as a driver for Uber and part time for Lyft. The Ethiopian immigrant quit his job at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and purchased a new car to drive for the ride-hailing firms, believing it would make him a better provider for his one-year-old daughter. Instead, Gobena now finds himself in debt and, after expenses, making well below minimum wage. But because Uber and Lyft drivers are classified as independent contractors, Gobena is not protected by minimum wage laws...

Social Justice & Other News
We Need To Protect And Preserve Public Housing In New York City  New York Amsterdam News   ...May 19, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his 10-year plan to eliminate NYCHA’s operating deficit to prevent the downfall of a program that houses over 600,000 and employs over 11,000 New Yorkers. In fact, 1 out of every 8 New Yorkers lives in NYCHA housing...
John Boehner To Resign From Congress At End Of October  Huffington Post   ...House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will resign from Congress at the end of October, his office announced Friday...
Pope Francis’ Challenge To America  New York Times   ...In an address of memorable passion and nuance, Francis focused widely on the divisive immigration issues at home and abroad, the economic divide driving poverty, the threat to the environment, the “brutal atrocities” and “simplistic reductionism” of the world’s continuing conflicts, and the need, above all, for “courageous actions and strategies” rather than “facile proposals” from leaders responsible for solutions...
Pope To U.N.: Economics, Climate Change, And War Are All Connected  Think Progress   ...Pope Francis spoke before the United Nations General Assembly Friday morning, articulating an urgent — but intentionally nuanced — call to address the world’s many interconnected problems, especially economic inequality, climate change, and war...
China Says It Will Start The World's Biggest Carbon Market By 2017  Mother Jones   ...On Friday, Chinese president Xi Jinping will announce that China will start the world's largest carbon trading system by 2017, according to a statement released Thursday night by the White House...
Astounding Drug Prices Show How U.S. Government Is In Cahoots With Big Pharma  AlterNet   ...While Shkreli’s move may have been extremely ostentatious, and drawn the public’s attention, the issue of overpriced drugs in America is one that is not confined to Shkreli and Turing Pharmaceuticals...
How Many Deaths Did Volkswagen's Pollution Scandal Cause?   Vox   ...Using these figures, the extra pollution from Volkswagen's US cars can be expected to lead to an additional 5 to 27 premature deaths per year. If we extrapolated worldwide to all 11 million vehicles, that would come to somewhere between 74 and 404 premature deaths each year...

Today's Teamster News 06.19.15

Teamsters
Teamsters Endorse Bill to Protect Pensions, Strengthen Multi-Employer Plans  Teamster.org  ...he International Brotherhood of Teamsters issued its support today for new legislation that will protect earned pension benefits for retirees and boost multi-employer pension plans for workers and participating employers. The “Keep our Pension Promises Act,” sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), will roll back provisions slipped into the fiscal 2015 spending bill...
Teamsters Denounce Hijacking of Firefighter Retirement Bill to Pass Fast Track in House  Teamster.org  ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters denounced the political gamesmanship used by House representatives to pass Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) by attaching it to HR 2146, the Defending Public Safety Employees’ Retirement Act, a widely-supported bill that enables federal firefighters to access their retirement savings once they reach retirement age...
Teamsters Local 264 Members at Costanzo’s Bakery Ratify Strong Agreement  Teamster.org  ...Teamsters Local 264 members who work for Costanzo’s Bakery in Cheektowaga, N.Y., have voted to ratify an agreement providing for improvements to wages, health care, benefits and more. The 10 route sales drivers sell and deliver baked goods across western New York. “It started out contentious, but in the end we got a very good contract that is a fair deal for everybody involved,” said Tony Vaccaro, a business agent with Local 264 in Cheektowaga...
Teamsters, machinists, aerospace unions support bill to repeal multiemployer reforms  Pensions & Investments  ...International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Washington, endorsed legislation introduced Thursday that would repeal the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014. The Teamsters union represents 1.4 million members. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers also endorsed the bill Thursday...

Global Labor & Trade
House Sends Trade Bill Back to Senate in Bid to Outflank Foes  New York Times  ...The House on Thursday approved a bill to give President Obama accelerated negotiating authority to pursue a sweeping, legacy-building trade agreement with 11 Pacific Rim nations, Part 1 of a complex legislative strategy devised by Republicans to get a trade package to Mr. Obama’s desk after Democrats derailed the measure in the House last week. But many of the 14 Senate Democrats who have already voted for a trade package are withholding their support...
Obama's Pacific trade pact revived in U.S. House, heads to Senate  Reuters  ...The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday reversed course, approving "fast-track" legislation central to President Barack Obama's trade deal with Pacific Rim nations and sending it back to the Senate. The close vote in the House, which last week rejected a related bill, kept alive Obama's goal of bolstering U.S. ties with Asia through a 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
House Passes Fast-Track Trade Bill, but Senate Outcome Uncertain  Wall Street Journal  ...The House passed legislation Thursday to ease trade pacts through Congress. But the bill’s fate is intertwined with a related measure to help workers hurt by international trade. Many pro-trade Senate Democrats say they won’t vote for the fast-track bill without evidence that the worker-aid program...
Obama’s trade agenda, back from the dead  Washington Post  ...Today the House of Representatives passed a bill giving President Obama Fast Track authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. That means Obama’s trade agenda could still survive, which caused a stampeded of commentators who had declared it dead and buried (in a “stinging” and “humiliating” defeat for Obama) to admit they might have rendered judgment too quickly...
Trade turnaround: House backs new power for Obama  Politico  ...President Barack Obama’s trade agenda was jolted back to life Thursday, as the House voted narrowly to grant him fast-track authority to finalize a sweeping accord with 11 other Pacific Rim nations. Now, in order to score a major victory on a centerpiece of his economic agenda, he has to convince a handful of key Senate Democrats to take a leap of faith ahead of a crucial procedural vote Tuesday. So far, several are holding back...
Ban Ki-moon: Uzbekistan Must Do More to End Forced Labor  Solidarity Center  ...Labor and human rights groups are applauding a statement by United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who said during a recent visit to Uzbekistan that more must be done now to address “the mobilization of teachers, doctors and others in cotton harvesting, and prevent the maltreatment of prisoners.” On June 5, dozens of labor and human rights organizations, including the Solidarity Center, sent a letter to Ban Ki-moon urging him to raise the issue of forced labor...
As Debt Crisis Spirals, Greeks Declare: 'Our Lives Don't Belong to the Lenders'  Common Dreams  ...With strained negotiations between Greece and its European lenders at a seeming impasse—and the prospect of a Greek exit from the euro zone, or "Grexit," looming large—thousands rallied in central Athens on Wednesday night, in a show of support for the leftist Syriza party and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who has so far resisted the creditors' push for deeper cuts and further austerity...
London faces biggest tube strike in more than 10 years over night shift pay  The Guardian  ...London could face the most widespread tube disruption for more than a decade next month after drivers voted overwhelmingly to strike over Transport for London plans to force through night shifts for no extra pay. London Underground drivers will stage a 24-hour strike from 9.30pm on 8 July, Aslef announced...
Hunger Strike At Uniqlo Clothing Supplier In China Highlights Industry's Search For Lower Labor Costs  International Business Times  ...Hundreds of Chinese factory workers are on strike at a facility that makes casual wear for Uniqlo, the popular clothing chain owned by Japan’s Fast Retailing Co. Workers are upset over their employer’s surprise decision in May to relocate the factory, which is based in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen...

State & Living Wage Battles
Scott Walker Expands All-Out War Against Teachers' Unions To University of Wisconsin  Alternet  ...Gov. Scott Walker and his allies are advancing one of the most radical assaults on public education in recent history, by bombarding Wisconsin’s highly regarded schools, from kindergarten through the state university system, with draconian spending cuts, anti-union and corporate-style governance and ending faculty tenure...
Wisconsin's unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in May  Journal Sentinel  ...Wisconsin's unemployment rate rose last month as more people were estimated to be unemployed and fewer said they were looking for work, according to a monthly jobs report released Thursday from the state Department of Workforce Development. Thursday's data also showed that an estimated 4,900 people had taken themselves out of the civilian labor force — which means they stopped looking for work...
Maine Senate passes minimum wage increase  Portland Press Herald  ...The Republican-controlled Senate narrowly passed a bill Thursday that would raise Maine’s minimum wage to $9 an hour. But the Senate proposal contains a more modest wage increase than a version passed by the Democratic-controlled House this month and the two have several key policy differences...
North Carolina Makes Last-Minute Change To Voter ID Law Facing Challenge In Court  Huffingtoin Post  ...The North Carolina General Assembly passed a bill on Thursday allowing voters who do not have government-issued photo identification to still vote in next year's elections by signing an affidavit and presenting alternate forms of ID. The photo ID requirement was set to go in effect for 2016 under a larger elections bill...
NM Court Sides with Building Trades, Says Martinez Admin Has Been Illegally Setting Wage Rates  We Party Patriots  ...must change the way they set the prevailing wage and fringe benefits for publicly funded projects.  In her 15-page opinion, Justice Petra Jimenez Maes argued that the Martinez administration has a duty to set rates based on collective bargaining agreements rather than wage surveys.  The failure to do so has forced workers to earn between 5 and 30 percent less than they would have had the law been followed...
Nixon defends veto of 'right to work' bill, dismisses Republican attacks over large union donation  St.Louis Public Radio  ...Amid GOP calls that he give back the money, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon says any controversy over $50,000 that he recently received from the national AFL-CIO misses the point of why he vetoed an anti-union bill known as “right to work.” “This is not partisan to me,’’ Nixon said in an interview Thursday after an unrelated news conference to herald a new business coming to the city’s Grand Center area...
Texas workers’ comp ruling is two-edged sword for employers  Dallas News  ...Workers at thousands of Texas businesses who are seriously injured on the job may find it harder to sue their employers for damages after an accident. The Supreme Court of Texas, in a potentially precedent-setting decision issued last week, slammed the courthouse door on damages for many employees hurt while working in hazardous situations...

U.S. Labor
Chicago Charter School Students Say UNO Teacher Was Fired for Union Activism  In These Times  ...Heise, an educator and activist who was active in the recently successful campaign to unionize his school was fired earlier this month for reasons the administration has declined to comment on. Daniel Izguerra, who was in Heise's mentorship program before graduating last year, says he knows the real reason why Heise was fired. "They fired him for being an outspoken union activist"...
SEIU To Shift 70K Workers Out of United Healthcare Workers West  California Healthline  ...The largest health care workers union in California is planning to move nearly half of the members of United Healthcare Workers West to a separate local chapter focused on nursing homes and home care. UHW President Dave Regan said the Service Employees International Union in May announced it would cut about 70,000 home care workers from UHW, moving them to a separate local chapter...
Disney Reverses 35 Layoffs, but No Fairytale Ending for Thousands of Others Displaced by H-1B Visa Program  EPI  ...Disney had reversed a decision to replace 35 American information technology (IT) workers with cheaper H-1B guestworkers at its ABC broadcasting offices in New York City and Burbank, CA. However, this decision by Disney executives does nothing for the 250 workers who have already lost their jobs to workers they were forced to train and who will earn roughly $40,000 less for doing the same job...
UAW aims to cut wage gap, have one health plan in talks  The Blade ...A month away from the start of labor contract talks between the United Auto Workers and the Detroit automakers, the union’s president is taking aim at the industry’s two-tier wage system and working on a proposal that would bring workers at all three companies under the same insurance plan...
USW Strike May Finally Actually End for Marathon Refinery Workers  Houston Press  ...The striking oil refinery workers at Marathon's Galveston Bay Refinery have been "on the verge of a deal" with Marathon for months now, but now it's looking entirely possible that one of the last holdouts from the largest oil refinery strike in the past 35 years will finally get a new local contract, bringing the strike to a close...

Miscellaneous
Charleston’s ‘Mother Emanuel Church’ Has Stared Down Racist Violence for 200 Years  The Nation  ...The more you read about Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, otherwise known as “Mother Emanuel,” the more awe you feel for its historic resilience amidst white-supremacist terror. This church is now known as the scene of a massacre, which is being investigated as a “hate crime.” Nine are dead, but this institution will not fall...
Daily Show's Jon Stewart on Charleston shooting: 'This was a terrorist attack'  The Guardian  ...The media response had been too slow to acknowledge the culture that made such violence possible, Stewart said: “I heard someone on the news say, a tragedy has visited this church. This wasn’t a tornado. This was racist. This was a guy with a Rhodesia badge on his sweater … This one is black and white. There’s no nuance here"...
Failing to Meet Global Police Standards, US Forsakes 'the Right to Life'  Common Dreams  ...Each of the 50 United States has failed to comply with international standards on police use of lethal force, a reality that threatens lives, poses grave human rights concerns, perpetuates institutional racism, and requires immediate reform, a new report by Amnesty International published Thursday has found...
Pope Francis: "Bold Cultural Revolution" Needed to Save Planet from Climate Change & Consumerism  Democracy Now  ...In his long-awaited encyclical on the environment and climate change, Pope Francis has called for swift action to save the planet from environmental ruin, urging world leaders to hear "the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor." He called for a change of lifestyle in rich countries steeped in a "throwaway" consumer culture...

Today's Teamster News 06.12.15

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

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

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

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

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