TEAMSTERS
School safety agents make more than 400 weapon, drug seizures over 4 months Daily News ...Safety agents recovered weapons, drugs and other contraband in and around city schools on 355 occasions from July 1 to Nov. 1, records show. Teamsters Local 237 President Gregory Floyd, whose union represents the school safety agents, said the alarming cases show how badly they are needed. “These stats prove there is danger every day for our agents and our children,” said Floyd, whose union includes 5,000 active agents...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Brazil's Petrobras, union strike talks fail, risk of fuel shortage rises Reuters ...Brazil's Petrobras and unions failed to reach an agreement on Monday over worker demands that the state-run oil company reverse budget cuts and cancel assets sales aimed at trimming its massive debt, union and company officials said. The week-old strike, already the biggest in 20 years, now risks an impasse that could hurt domestic fuel supplies and further hobble a company already under financial pressure and the fallout from a corruption scandal...
Obama’s last battle with Congress looms over Pacific trade deal Washington Post ...What could be President Obama’s final grand battle with Congress kicked off this week with the release of a sprawling Pacific Rim trade agreement, setting up the latest skirmish in a two-decade string of trade showdowns on Capitol Hill. Initial lawmaker reaction to the Trans-Pacific Partnership has been sharp from its likely opponents, who declared it “worse than we thought”...
Warren steps up criticism of the Pacific Rim trade deal Boston Globe ...Senator Elizabeth Warren said Thursday that she is prepared to do everything within her power to stop the historic Pacific Rim trade pact negotiated last month if it hurts American workers. Warren, in an interview with the Globe, criticized the Obama administration for dragging its feet in posting details of the deal, which went up online early Thursday morning -- five weeks after a deal was announced...
Trade pact backers hit 2 big hurdles: Donald and Hillary Politico ...Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are railing against the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the Democratic primary. On the right, GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump is ripping the trade deal as a “disaster” negotiated by “incompetent people.” President Barack Obama’s herculean task of shepherding the landmark Trans-Pacific Partnership through Capitol Hill is about to run into one major hurdle: 2016 presidential politics...
TPP is too flawed for a simple ‘yes’ vote (opinion) Boston Globe ...Congress should vote “no’’ on the current TPP, while simultaneously endorsing its trade provisions as well as continuing the work with our counterparts on the other chapters. The current drafts on investor rights, the environment, labor, and intellectual property make extravagant concessions to powerful corporate interests...
TPP is about many things, but free trade? Not so much (opinion) Globe and Mail ...Because we’re debating the future framework of the global economy, it would be nice if the debate over the TPP went beyond the old free-traders-versus-protectionists charade. At the very least, we should look under the hood and be suspicious of anyone trying to sell us the TPP as a “free-trade agreement”...
Portugal braces for fall of govt amid austerity backlash Washington Post ...Portugal’s new government faced what were likely to be its final hours in power Tuesday as anti-austerity forces in Parliament prepared to force its resignation. The showdown came less than two weeks after the center-right government was sworn in...
Greece and Creditors at Loggerheads Again; Troika Wants More Foreclosures Naked Capitalism ...European creditors want to extract more blood from a stone, in this case Greece. Greece and its lenders are again at odds over the latest "bailout" funds, which is €2 billion that was scheduled to be approved for release. But a precondition for getting more dough was that Greece show enough "progress," as in either have implemented or have committed to a sufficiently large number of "reforms"...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Fast-food workers strike, seeking $15 wage, political muscle USA Today ...Fast-food workers demanding a $15 an hour wage walked out in dozens cities at 6 a.m. Tuesday, kicking off a year-long campaign to muster the political power of 64 million low-wage workers in next year's presidential election. The protests, which will take place in 270 cities, mark the workers' largest show of force in the three years since they launched a series of rallies to call for higher pay and the right to unionize...
'Come Get My Vote': Low-Wage Workers Rise Up in Advance of 2016 Election Common Dreams ...One year out from the 2016 presidential election, fast-food and other low-wage workers are striking on Tuesday in hundreds of cities across the U.S., demanding a livable wage, the right to form a union, and attention to their cause from those seeking elected office. Under the banner 'Come Get My Vote,' workers will walk off the job in 270 cities from Detroit to Denver, while close to 500 cities will host rallies...
Missouri labor unions spending big to fend off ‘right to work’ Kansas City Star ...Organized labor in Missouri is gearing up for another right-to-work fight in 2016. It’s been nearly two months since a handful of Republicans joined with Democrats to kill legislation that would would have made it illegal to force a worker to become a union member or to pay dues to a labor organization as a condition of employment...
Kentucky warily waits to see what Matt Bevin will do to 400,000 Medicaid enrollees Daily Kos ...Kentucky is feeling the first waves of panic now that tea party Republican Matt Bevin is about to become governor and implement his plans for undoing Kynect, the state's Obamacare program. While it's not entirely clear what those plans are now, since he's backtracked on his original full-on repeal position, he's still making it a top priority...
Who Stands with Workers? (opinion) Huffington Post ...Senate cafeteria workers serve food to the most august politicians, to their staffers, their Gucci-shoed lobbyists and to Senate visitors. Yet they don't earn close to a living wage. Those who work full time still live in poverty. Over the past months, these workers have walked out on the job, risking the work they need in order to demand decent wages and the right to organize...
Seattle's Experiment With Campaign Funding The Atlantic ...When people talk up the idea of the public financing of elections, they are usually referring to a system that goes something like this: Candidates must first raise money from individuals, and then the government will chip in matching funds or a pre-set amount that campaigns can spend on their race. In Seattle, however, voters just approved a system that flips that approach on its head...
U.S. LABOR
Capitol Workers to Strike Ahead of GOP Debate Roll Call ...Hours before a Republican primary debate, workers in the U.S. Capitol are going on strike and calling on the GOP senators running for president to help the workers who serve them. Senate food-service workers and some cleaning staff are set to walk off their jobs Tuesday morning to call for higher wages and a union. The event is set for Tuesday to highlight GOP presidential contenders who, in the opinion of the striking workers, have been silent on the Capitol workers’ low wages...
UAW listens to skilled-trades gripes; GM pact on hold USA Today ...The UAW is trying to untangle a knot holding up formal ratification of a new labor contract with General Motors as skilled-trades workers vented in meetings Monday over a variety of issues they say the contract doesn’t solve. Production workers, who account for a large majority of the UAW’s 52,700 members at GM (GM), approved the pact by a 58%-42% margin. But nearly 60% of skilled trades — the electricians, millwrights, pipefitters and diemakers — voted no...
Farm union begins awareness drive to alert workers to back pay they’re owed Fresno Bee ...Union workers will begin an awareness drive to get millions of dollars in back pay paid to farm workers that a new law says are owed wages that went unpaid for rest periods and “unproductive time,” United Farm Workers of America said. The drive begins Tuesday in Monterey, Sonoma, Madera, Fresno, Kern and Ventura counties, and is aimed at workers owed money under a law that officially goes into effect Jan. 1, 2016...
Bernie Sanders To Join Low-Wage Workers On Strike From U.S. Capitol Buildings Think Progress ...Workers who serve food at the United States Capitol went on strike Tuesday morning to protest their low wages and call attention to retaliatory actions they say their employer has taken against workers who want to unionize. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) plans to join the strikers outside a Senate office building for a press conference around mid-morning...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Black Student Revolt Against Racism Ousts 2 Top Officials at University of Missouri Democracy Now ...A revolt by African-American students at the University of Missouri has forced two top officials to resign. On Monday, President Tim Wolfe and Columbia campus chancellor Bowen Loftin announced they will step down in the face of protests over their handling of racism on campus. African-American students have staged weeks of demonstrations against what they called a lax response to bigotry and vandalism...
Climate Crisis Poised to Push 100 Million into Extreme Poverty Common Dreams ...Adding urgency to the call for bold emissions cuts and a radical rethinking of the global economy, a new report from the World Bank warns that human-caused climate change could push more than 100 million people into extreme poverty within just 15 years. Entitled Shock Waves: Managing the Impacts of Climate Change on Poverty, the World Bank's study differs from previous efforts by looking at the poverty impacts of climate change...
Appeals court rules against Obama’s immigration plan Washington Post ...A federal appeals court on Monday ruled against President Obama’s plan to shield up to 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation, dealing another blow to the administration’s effort to remake immigration laws and likely setting up a final battle in the Supreme Court next year...
“A life sentence to poverty”: How our laws deny ex-offenders a true second chance Salon ...President Barack Obama has always supported criminal justice reform, broadly speaking. Recently, though, the president has moved criminal justice reform issues to the front-and-center of his public agenda. This summer, for example, he became the first sitting president to visit a federal prison. Soon after, he held a (remarkably worthwhile) discussion on reform at the White House, too...
Michigan City Tells Residents To Pay Up Or They’ll Shut Off Water — Again Think Progress ...Months after a county judge ordered Flint, Michigan to cease shutting off water pipes and revise customers’ bills, the city is once again sending out letters warning customers to pay or go dry.
The city sent out more than 1,800 shutoff notices since last week, representing about 60 percent of all customers billed in September...
Showing posts with label federal contract workers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label federal contract workers. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Fight for 15 strikes D.C. as Sanders calls for $15 minimum wage
Chanting "If you want the people's vote, $15 and a union," low-wage federal contract workers brought the Fight for 15 movement to the center of presidential politics today. Workers, families and supporters held a strike that saw thousands marching to the U.S. Capitol calling for a living wage and union rights for federal contract workers and other low-wage workers.Addressing the crowd at a rally in front of the Capitol, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced that he and his colleagues introduced a bill today to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour:
If you work 40 hours a week, you have the right not to live in poverty. The current federal minimum wage is a starvation wage. Because of you, the workers, and actions like this, states and cities are realizing we need the minimum wage to be a living wage. And it's time for the federal government to do the same.
Federal contract workers from the Pentagon, the Reagan Building, the Capitol and other locations participated in today's strike. They were joined by Sanders as well as Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and local leaders from Los Angeles and San Francisco, where the minimum wage was recently increased.Sontia Bailey, who works at the Capitol, told the crowd why she went on strike:
I'm on strike today because I'm paid so little I had to get a second job. I work 70 hours a week and KFC pays me more than the government does.Workers also heard from Charles Gladden, a Senate cafeteria worker who is homeless thanks to poverty wages:
I'm striking again today because workers shouldn't have to rely on charity to survive. We work full time and shouldn't need public aid to get by.Today's strike was supported by union members in DC and organized by Good Jobs Nation, which has been pushing for President Obama to sign executive orders granting living wages and union rights to low-wage workers subcontracted by the federal government.
With some two million low-wage jobs supported by the government, organizers say Obama can raise millions out of poverty with the stroke of a pen. Last year he signed an executive order raising the minimum wage for federal contract workers to $10.10, still a far cry from what workers need.
Teamsters and the labor movement stand with the Fight for 15 because we know this is not just about McDonald's and Walmart. Wages for all workers have not kept up with rising costs of living and increased worker productivity. The result is growing income inequality between corporate bosses and the rest of us.
To raise wages for all workers, we have to start at the base. That means standing in solidarity with low-wage workers who are putting their jobs on the line for living wages in America.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Today's Teamster News 04.30.15
Teamsters
Disney Teamsters Win Wrongful Termination Case Teamster.org ...A federal arbitrator has ruled in favor of three character performers who were fired from Disney's Animal Kingdom for refusing to wear unsanitary costumes, the Teamsters Union announced Monday. The ruling, issued April 26, orders Walt Disney World to reinstate full-time employees Drew Pearson, Matthew Warfield and Raymond “Doug” Biederman...
Group of Shaw’s staff pharmacists in Maine vote to join Teamsters union Bangor Daily News ...A group of 21 staff pharmacists at 16 Shaw’s Supermarket stores throughout Maine will join the Teamsters Union Local 340 after approving the move in a vote Tuesday. The union announced the vote in a news release Wednesday. Aligning with the national labor organization will give the staff pharmacists collective bargaining representation...
Unionized: Tiger Transit drivers vote to join International Teamsters Union The Plainsman ...The Tiger Transit drivers of Auburn University have voted to unionize in attempt to get more affordable health care, higher wages and respect in the workplace. The workers will be joining the International Brotherhood of Teamsters at the 612 location in Birmingham...
Proxy Voting Advisors Recommend NEX Shareholder Resolution On Internal Review Of Labor Practices Teamster.org ...The proposal, which was submitted by the Teamsters General Fund, members of the Local Authorities Pension Fund (LAPFF) and 100 individual NEX shareholders, is the first to be recommended by ISS in at least 10 years that specifically addresses labor issues at a publically-traded company in the U.K...
Global Labor & Trade
Obama trade bill in trouble Politico ...At this point, upward of 75 House Republicans could vote against trade promotion authority if it comes up for a vote in the coming weeks, according to aides and lawmakers involved in the process. Some of the lawmakers fear job losses in their districts from free trade; others distrust Obama and oppose giving him more power...
Obama Is Selling the TPP Trade Deal Just Like Al Gore Sold NAFTA New Republic ...Gore made a distinction between previous trade deals with Japan and China, and NAFTA, with its side agreements on labor and the environment. Critics of NAFTA “confuse the bad trade deals in the past with this one,” Gore said. This mirrors Obama’s claim about inferior prior deals—including NAFTA. “Not every trade deal has lived up to the hype,” Obama acknowledged...
Rust-belt Republicans face tough sell on global trade deals before 2016 Washington Post ...Midwest Republicans are keenly aware that their region has been hit hard by disappearing factory jobs, placing these GOP senators in a tough spot heading into the 2016 elections as they tout a message that might not resonate...
White House Trade Pitch Goes Into Overdrive National Journal ...The Obama administration is ramping up a massive sales pitch on trade policy, bringing key Democrats to the White House—and using one of its most effective lobbyists in the hallways of the Capitol. Biden seizing the chance to talk trade is just one part of a much wider White House PR and lobbying blitz for the TPP and, equally important, the "fast-track" bill that would strip Congress of its ability to amend sweeping trade deals...
House Dems attack trade deal on eve of Japan PM’s address The Hill ...Five Democrats pushed back against the Obama administration’s arguments that adding currency provisions to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would derail the deal and potentially interfere with U.S. monetary policy decisions...
Travel Chaos As Bus Strike To Go Ahead Tomorrow Dublin's 98FM ...Commuters face travel chaos tomorrow as strike action at Bus Eireann and Dublin Bus looks set to go ahead. Drivers are downing tools for two days over the privatisation of bus routes...
State & Living Wage Battles
Legislation Allowing Delaware 'Right-to-Work' Zones Stalls WBOC 16 ...Republican legislation allowing "right-to-work" zones in Delaware stalled in a Democratic-led Senate committee Wednesday amid complaints from organized labor that it is a union-busting measure. Under the legislation sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Greg Lavelle, a person would not be required to join a labor union or pay union dues as a condition of employment in a right-to-work zone...
Republicans push for photo ID voting requirements again The Columbus Dispatch ...Rep. Andrew Brenner, R-Powell, backed by some of the more conservative members of the House, is introducing legislation that would require voters show a driver’s license, state photo ID card, passport or military ID...
How This State Plans To Close Its Gender Wage Gap Think Progress ...The changes New York lawmakers approved look very similar to changes that would be made nationally if Congress were to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. That bill would ban salary secrecy as well as strengthen the permissible reasons for having gender-based pay differentials...
Changes to prevailing wage likely but repeal won't happen, Robin Vos says Milwaulkee Journal Sentinel ...he 84-year-old law prescribes wages for workers on public works jobs such as bridges and highways according to a complex formula. Conservatives are targeting the law as their next big push after passing right-to-work legislation in March, which prohibits labor groups and employers from agreeing to require workers to pay fees to a union...
Los Angeles Latinas Fast to Raise Minimum Wage NBC News ...The 19-year-old daughter of Guatemalan immigrants is among a group of women who are close to completing a 15-day fast in Los Angeles. They hoped to persuade city council members there to raise the minimum wage of $9 an hour to $15 an hour. They planned to break the fast Thursday...
Palo Alto: Committee favors raising minimum wage Mercury News ...A City Council committee is backing a proposal to hike the minimum wage -- potentially as high as $15 per hour by 2018. On Tuesday, the four-member Policy and Services Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the full council adopt an ordinance that would see most workers earn $11 per hour starting on Jan. 1, 2016...
La Center school board backs right-to-work The Columbian ...The La Center School District made a contentious move Tuesday night, asking union reps to allow district employees to drop their representation. The issue surfaced in the form of a "right-to-choose" resolution that gained unanimous approval from the district's five-member school board...
U.S. Labor
University of Chicago Nurses Narrowly Avert Strike, Claim Victory Against Hospital In These Times ...Early Tuesday, National Nurses United (NNU) announced that its 1,500 members at the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) would not go on strike as planned. The union called for a one-day strike set for April 30, following nearly eight months of negotiations and a strike authorization vote...
NLRB Issues Complaint Against El Super Chain EGP News ...The National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against a Paramount-based supermarket chain for allegedly restraining employees from advocating for union representation, it was announced today. The complaint against the El Super chain alleges that the company has refused to bargain with unions for more than a year after failing to agree on a contract with the local United Food and Commercial Workers...
BP, union reach tentative deal to end Whiting refinery strike Reuters ...BP Plc and the United Steelworkers union (USW) chapter representing striking workers at the company's Whiting, Indiana, refinery reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday to end an 11-week work stoppage. The two sides have to negotiate an agreement on returning the striking workers to the Chicago-area plant, but a ratification vote is expected next week...
Capitol Vistory Center Workers Allege Retaliation After Strike Roll Call ...On April 24, the advocacy group Good Jobs Nation filed the complaint to the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of Duckett and fellow CVC cafeteria worker Tracy Allen. The complaint is filed against Restaurant Associates, which employes the food service contract workers in the Capitol complex...
Here Are All the Ways People Are Dying at Work The Nation ...This week, Workers’ Memorial Day reminded us that the leading cause of death at work isn’t factory fires, mine collapses, or machinery accidents—though it is all those things. The main reason workers die is because those in power look the other way. Global Worker Watch’s labor death map presents a chilling snapshot of an everyday calamity...
Miscellaneous
Man Who Blew the Whistle on Big Bank's Practices Is Now About to Lose His Home to that Same Bank Alternet ...He went to the federal government as a whistleblower, hoping to bring an end to these practices. Yet in the process of doing so, the bank – today owned by Wells Fargo, which bought it in 2008 – fired him. Kraus is now on the verge of losing his home...
Disney Teamsters Win Wrongful Termination Case Teamster.org ...A federal arbitrator has ruled in favor of three character performers who were fired from Disney's Animal Kingdom for refusing to wear unsanitary costumes, the Teamsters Union announced Monday. The ruling, issued April 26, orders Walt Disney World to reinstate full-time employees Drew Pearson, Matthew Warfield and Raymond “Doug” Biederman...
Group of Shaw’s staff pharmacists in Maine vote to join Teamsters union Bangor Daily News ...A group of 21 staff pharmacists at 16 Shaw’s Supermarket stores throughout Maine will join the Teamsters Union Local 340 after approving the move in a vote Tuesday. The union announced the vote in a news release Wednesday. Aligning with the national labor organization will give the staff pharmacists collective bargaining representation...
Unionized: Tiger Transit drivers vote to join International Teamsters Union The Plainsman ...The Tiger Transit drivers of Auburn University have voted to unionize in attempt to get more affordable health care, higher wages and respect in the workplace. The workers will be joining the International Brotherhood of Teamsters at the 612 location in Birmingham...
Proxy Voting Advisors Recommend NEX Shareholder Resolution On Internal Review Of Labor Practices Teamster.org ...The proposal, which was submitted by the Teamsters General Fund, members of the Local Authorities Pension Fund (LAPFF) and 100 individual NEX shareholders, is the first to be recommended by ISS in at least 10 years that specifically addresses labor issues at a publically-traded company in the U.K...
Global Labor & Trade
Obama trade bill in trouble Politico ...At this point, upward of 75 House Republicans could vote against trade promotion authority if it comes up for a vote in the coming weeks, according to aides and lawmakers involved in the process. Some of the lawmakers fear job losses in their districts from free trade; others distrust Obama and oppose giving him more power...
Obama Is Selling the TPP Trade Deal Just Like Al Gore Sold NAFTA New Republic ...Gore made a distinction between previous trade deals with Japan and China, and NAFTA, with its side agreements on labor and the environment. Critics of NAFTA “confuse the bad trade deals in the past with this one,” Gore said. This mirrors Obama’s claim about inferior prior deals—including NAFTA. “Not every trade deal has lived up to the hype,” Obama acknowledged...
Rust-belt Republicans face tough sell on global trade deals before 2016 Washington Post ...Midwest Republicans are keenly aware that their region has been hit hard by disappearing factory jobs, placing these GOP senators in a tough spot heading into the 2016 elections as they tout a message that might not resonate...
White House Trade Pitch Goes Into Overdrive National Journal ...The Obama administration is ramping up a massive sales pitch on trade policy, bringing key Democrats to the White House—and using one of its most effective lobbyists in the hallways of the Capitol. Biden seizing the chance to talk trade is just one part of a much wider White House PR and lobbying blitz for the TPP and, equally important, the "fast-track" bill that would strip Congress of its ability to amend sweeping trade deals...
House Dems attack trade deal on eve of Japan PM’s address The Hill ...Five Democrats pushed back against the Obama administration’s arguments that adding currency provisions to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would derail the deal and potentially interfere with U.S. monetary policy decisions...
Travel Chaos As Bus Strike To Go Ahead Tomorrow Dublin's 98FM ...Commuters face travel chaos tomorrow as strike action at Bus Eireann and Dublin Bus looks set to go ahead. Drivers are downing tools for two days over the privatisation of bus routes...
Legislation Allowing Delaware 'Right-to-Work' Zones Stalls WBOC 16 ...Republican legislation allowing "right-to-work" zones in Delaware stalled in a Democratic-led Senate committee Wednesday amid complaints from organized labor that it is a union-busting measure. Under the legislation sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Greg Lavelle, a person would not be required to join a labor union or pay union dues as a condition of employment in a right-to-work zone...
Republicans push for photo ID voting requirements again The Columbus Dispatch ...Rep. Andrew Brenner, R-Powell, backed by some of the more conservative members of the House, is introducing legislation that would require voters show a driver’s license, state photo ID card, passport or military ID...
How This State Plans To Close Its Gender Wage Gap Think Progress ...The changes New York lawmakers approved look very similar to changes that would be made nationally if Congress were to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. That bill would ban salary secrecy as well as strengthen the permissible reasons for having gender-based pay differentials...
Changes to prevailing wage likely but repeal won't happen, Robin Vos says Milwaulkee Journal Sentinel ...he 84-year-old law prescribes wages for workers on public works jobs such as bridges and highways according to a complex formula. Conservatives are targeting the law as their next big push after passing right-to-work legislation in March, which prohibits labor groups and employers from agreeing to require workers to pay fees to a union...
Los Angeles Latinas Fast to Raise Minimum Wage NBC News ...The 19-year-old daughter of Guatemalan immigrants is among a group of women who are close to completing a 15-day fast in Los Angeles. They hoped to persuade city council members there to raise the minimum wage of $9 an hour to $15 an hour. They planned to break the fast Thursday...
Palo Alto: Committee favors raising minimum wage Mercury News ...A City Council committee is backing a proposal to hike the minimum wage -- potentially as high as $15 per hour by 2018. On Tuesday, the four-member Policy and Services Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the full council adopt an ordinance that would see most workers earn $11 per hour starting on Jan. 1, 2016...
La Center school board backs right-to-work The Columbian ...The La Center School District made a contentious move Tuesday night, asking union reps to allow district employees to drop their representation. The issue surfaced in the form of a "right-to-choose" resolution that gained unanimous approval from the district's five-member school board...
U.S. Labor
University of Chicago Nurses Narrowly Avert Strike, Claim Victory Against Hospital In These Times ...Early Tuesday, National Nurses United (NNU) announced that its 1,500 members at the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) would not go on strike as planned. The union called for a one-day strike set for April 30, following nearly eight months of negotiations and a strike authorization vote...
NLRB Issues Complaint Against El Super Chain EGP News ...The National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against a Paramount-based supermarket chain for allegedly restraining employees from advocating for union representation, it was announced today. The complaint against the El Super chain alleges that the company has refused to bargain with unions for more than a year after failing to agree on a contract with the local United Food and Commercial Workers...
BP, union reach tentative deal to end Whiting refinery strike Reuters ...BP Plc and the United Steelworkers union (USW) chapter representing striking workers at the company's Whiting, Indiana, refinery reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday to end an 11-week work stoppage. The two sides have to negotiate an agreement on returning the striking workers to the Chicago-area plant, but a ratification vote is expected next week...
Capitol Vistory Center Workers Allege Retaliation After Strike Roll Call ...On April 24, the advocacy group Good Jobs Nation filed the complaint to the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of Duckett and fellow CVC cafeteria worker Tracy Allen. The complaint is filed against Restaurant Associates, which employes the food service contract workers in the Capitol complex...
Here Are All the Ways People Are Dying at Work The Nation ...This week, Workers’ Memorial Day reminded us that the leading cause of death at work isn’t factory fires, mine collapses, or machinery accidents—though it is all those things. The main reason workers die is because those in power look the other way. Global Worker Watch’s labor death map presents a chilling snapshot of an everyday calamity...
Miscellaneous
Man Who Blew the Whistle on Big Bank's Practices Is Now About to Lose His Home to that Same Bank Alternet ...He went to the federal government as a whistleblower, hoping to bring an end to these practices. Yet in the process of doing so, the bank – today owned by Wells Fargo, which bought it in 2008 – fired him. Kraus is now on the verge of losing his home...
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Low-wage federal contract workers on strike storm Capitol Hill
 |
| Low-wage workers above and below marched on the Capitol yesterday. |
The colorful and boisterous throng of workers chanted "hey hey, ho ho -- $10.10 is way too low" as drums and blaring trumpets led the march line passed Senate offices and to the grounds of the Capitol.
Good Jobs Nation is part of the growing movement calling for "$15 and a union" for low-wage workers. In particular, contract workers point out that the federal government produces more low-wage, poverty-level jobs than Walmart and McDonald's combined. They are taking action to demand a $15 wage and an executive order from President Obama allowing them to unionize.
Sonia Chavez spoke to the crowd at a press conference in front of the Capitol at the end of the march:
My husband and I are federal contract workers who clean the office of the U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. The Secretary of Education likes to speak about a “Race to the Top” on education. But the truth is we also need a “Race to the Top” on wages.Sonia and her husband are only paid $9.50 an hour. They clean the offices of the most powerful government in the world -- yet they are victims of wage theft and are owed $40,000 in back pay.
With candidates gearing up for the 2016 presidential election, workers are calling for a president who will support them with a living wage. They chanted "If you want the people's vote -- $15 and a union" during the march.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has hinted at running, joined workers at the press conference:
American workers deserve a decent wage. The middle class is disappearing. We have millions of working people living in poverty and 99 percent of all new income is going to the top one percent. That is not what America is supposed to be about. If you work 40 hours a week, you should make enough to take care of your kids and your family.
What we’re saying today is pretty simple. The taxpayers of this country want to make sure that when government contracts are made those employers who get those contracts pay employees a living wage, that they allow their workers to form a union, that they provide good benefits to their workers.Other leaders stood with workers at yesterday's action including Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), faith leaders and other supporters.
Monday, April 13, 2015
Today's Teamster News 04.13.15
Teamsters
Gregory Floyd Named Teamsters International Trustee Teamster.org ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced today that Gregory Floyd was appointed to serve as an International Trustee on the General Executive Board. Floyd is the President of Teamsters Local 237 in New York City, the union’s largest local chapter with more than 24,000 members that work in the public sector...
Ron Herrera Appointed Teamsters Western Region International Vice President Teamster.org ...Herrera has served on the General Executive Board as an International Trustee since 2012. Herrera, who was also recently appointed director of the Teamsters Solid Waste, Recycling and Related Industries Division, has spent his entire career as a vocal advocate for workers in Southern California. He is also Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 396 in Covina, Calif., Executive Director of the National Hispanic Caucus and Recording Secretary of Joint Council 42...
Willbros' Investors Call for Sale of Oil & Gas Business; Launch Watchdog Website Teamster.org ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters have joined with other investors of Willbros Group [NYSE: WG] to demand swift and drastic actions by Willbros’ board of directors including the sale of its Oil and Gas segment. Willbros stock price has dropped 73 percent over the past year, hitting a record low of $1.50 in recent weeks...
Teamsters Gain Ally In Mexican Trucking Challenge Law360 ...A truck drivers' lobbying group has launched a bid to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters' Ninth Circuit challenge of an Obama administration move to open the U.S. border to Mexican trucking services...
Failed fast track is nearly upon us -- again TeamsterNation ...Despite the Teamsters and our allies making clear that U.S. residents will be hurt if fast track can be used to quickly push secret trade deals like the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) through Congress, some lawmakers had decided to side with big business instead...
Global Labor & Trade
Greece defends bailout tactics as latest deadline looms The Guardian ...Eurozone officials disagreed with this assessment, saying Athens was still able to meet its international obligations, and regarded its ability to pay public sector wages and pensions as a domestic problem, according to the report. They deplored Greece’s unwillingness to discuss cuts to public sector pensions...
50 Reasons We Cannot Afford the TPP Public Citizen ...The TPP would extend the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) model that has contributed to massive U.S. trade deficits and job loss, downward pressure on middle class wages, unprecedented levels of inequality, lagging exports, new floods of agricultural imports, and the loss of family farms...
When corporate profit trumps human rights, we all lose (opinion) The Hill ...The United States is the largest economy in the world and a global leader in the advancement of human rights. We should not reward countries that abuse the human rights of LGBT people and women with a trade agreement that would establish those countries as privileged trading partners...
What Is a 'Corporatist Agenda,' and Where Can We Find One? (opinion) Huffington Post ...The White House has several serious challenges with this narrative. First, TPP looks like a corporatist agenda, walks like one, quacks like one, and has the same effect on my daily life as a corporatist agenda. When you say, "It's not a corporatist agenda," you immediately put your credibility in doubt...
What's driving Seattle's opposition to international trade pact? Income inequality, Bellevue rep says Puget Sound Business Journal ...The massive Trans Pacific Partnership is in “real trouble,” and much of that is because average voters find nothing in it for them. Regional debate about the 12-nation TPP trade agreement has been fiery recently, with the Seattle City Council last month unanimously voting to oppose it in the current form...
State & Living Wage Battles
Judge Overturns Gov. Rauner’s Order Restricting Union Dues CBS ...A judge has issued an order requiring Illinois government agencies to immediately reinstate mandatory union dues for nonmembers. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner last month issued an executive order ending the dues, which nonmembers must pay to cover the cost of non-political union activities that benefit all employees...
Gov. Rauner hopes deal will speed resolution of union dues dispute State Journal-Register ...Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration has agreed to allow government agencies to resume taking fees from the paychecks of nonunion members to cover union representation while his lawsuit challenging the legality of the fees is resolved in court...
Reining in payday loans falls by wayside in New Mexico Associated Press ...High-interest lending practices have been a target of consumer advocates for decades in New Mexico, one of the poorest states in the country. They failed again this year in the Legislature, however, as bills that would have capped interest rates on payday loans at 36 percent fell by the wayside...
Why the federal government still sometimes doesn’t obey its own minimum wage laws Washington Post ...The Service Contract Act is obscure, and the Department of Labor has to police every complaint, so sometimes it's just overlooked. In its complaint, Good Jobs Nation says in total the violations have deprived 65 workers of $1,578,700 in wages at three workplaces over the two years the statute covers. Their findings illustrate the difficulty the federal government has had in enforcing its own laws...
Federal janitors and zoo groundskeepers file wage theft complaint Daily Kos ...The minimum wage isn't the only wage rate that applies—or should apply—to many federal contract workers, and a group of people who work in Washington, DC, institutions say they're not getting the pay they're legally entitled to. Janitors at the Department of Education, groundskeepers at the National Zoo, and tour bus drivers under a contract with the National Park Service say they haven't been getting the SCA-mandated prevailing wage
Workers Sue Walmart For Manipulating Employee Classification To Deny Them Overtime Pay Think Progress ...because they are labeled managers, they are exempt from federal overtime laws that require employers to pay workers time and a half for more than 40 hours of work a week. The lawsuit alleges that they “were ‘managers’ in name only because they did not have the managerial duties or authority”...
U.S. Labor
Doctors at University of California health clinics go on strike LA Times ...Unionized doctors began a strike Saturday at student health clinics on University of California campuses in Southern California, saying administrators had acted unfairly during negotiations for the physicians' first contract...
Striking Lyondell Houston refinery workers to weigh final offer Reuters ...More than 400 striking hourly workers represented by the United Steelworkers union (USW) at Lyondell Basell Industries' Houston refinery are scheduled to vote on the company's last, best and final offer on Monday and Tuesday, a local union official said on Sunday...
NEA: No Child Left Behind rewrite doesn’t level the playing field Washington Post ...The head of the country’s largest teachers union said that her organization does not support a bipartisan proposal in the Senate to replace the nation’s main federal education law because it does not go far enough to create equal educational opportunities for poor children...
Miscellaneous
Report Reveals How Corporate Tax Dodgers Avoid Paying Their Fair Share - or Any Share At All Common Dreams ...Pointing to egregious examples of Fortune 500 corporations "manipulating the tax system to avoid paying even a dime in tax on billions of dollars in U.S. profits," a new report from Citizens for Tax Justice makes a sharp case for corporate tax reform..,
Will Hillary's Constant Feeding at the Corporate Trough Make it Hard for Her to Embrace Needed Populism? (opinion) Alternet ...The Clinton campaign plans to focus on “economic security” – but the question is: whose? Clinton can adopt classical Democratic positions based on expanding the safety and boosting wages, but her ability to truly transform America's economy and reduce economic inequality will be hampered if she feels indebted to the very same corporations that made her husband and her rich...
Gregory Floyd Named Teamsters International Trustee Teamster.org ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced today that Gregory Floyd was appointed to serve as an International Trustee on the General Executive Board. Floyd is the President of Teamsters Local 237 in New York City, the union’s largest local chapter with more than 24,000 members that work in the public sector...
Ron Herrera Appointed Teamsters Western Region International Vice President Teamster.org ...Herrera has served on the General Executive Board as an International Trustee since 2012. Herrera, who was also recently appointed director of the Teamsters Solid Waste, Recycling and Related Industries Division, has spent his entire career as a vocal advocate for workers in Southern California. He is also Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 396 in Covina, Calif., Executive Director of the National Hispanic Caucus and Recording Secretary of Joint Council 42...
Willbros' Investors Call for Sale of Oil & Gas Business; Launch Watchdog Website Teamster.org ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters have joined with other investors of Willbros Group [NYSE: WG] to demand swift and drastic actions by Willbros’ board of directors including the sale of its Oil and Gas segment. Willbros stock price has dropped 73 percent over the past year, hitting a record low of $1.50 in recent weeks...
Teamsters Gain Ally In Mexican Trucking Challenge Law360 ...A truck drivers' lobbying group has launched a bid to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters' Ninth Circuit challenge of an Obama administration move to open the U.S. border to Mexican trucking services...
Failed fast track is nearly upon us -- again TeamsterNation ...Despite the Teamsters and our allies making clear that U.S. residents will be hurt if fast track can be used to quickly push secret trade deals like the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) through Congress, some lawmakers had decided to side with big business instead...
Global Labor & Trade
Greece defends bailout tactics as latest deadline looms The Guardian ...Eurozone officials disagreed with this assessment, saying Athens was still able to meet its international obligations, and regarded its ability to pay public sector wages and pensions as a domestic problem, according to the report. They deplored Greece’s unwillingness to discuss cuts to public sector pensions...
50 Reasons We Cannot Afford the TPP Public Citizen ...The TPP would extend the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) model that has contributed to massive U.S. trade deficits and job loss, downward pressure on middle class wages, unprecedented levels of inequality, lagging exports, new floods of agricultural imports, and the loss of family farms...
When corporate profit trumps human rights, we all lose (opinion) The Hill ...The United States is the largest economy in the world and a global leader in the advancement of human rights. We should not reward countries that abuse the human rights of LGBT people and women with a trade agreement that would establish those countries as privileged trading partners...
What Is a 'Corporatist Agenda,' and Where Can We Find One? (opinion) Huffington Post ...The White House has several serious challenges with this narrative. First, TPP looks like a corporatist agenda, walks like one, quacks like one, and has the same effect on my daily life as a corporatist agenda. When you say, "It's not a corporatist agenda," you immediately put your credibility in doubt...
What's driving Seattle's opposition to international trade pact? Income inequality, Bellevue rep says Puget Sound Business Journal ...The massive Trans Pacific Partnership is in “real trouble,” and much of that is because average voters find nothing in it for them. Regional debate about the 12-nation TPP trade agreement has been fiery recently, with the Seattle City Council last month unanimously voting to oppose it in the current form...
State & Living Wage Battles
Judge Overturns Gov. Rauner’s Order Restricting Union Dues CBS ...A judge has issued an order requiring Illinois government agencies to immediately reinstate mandatory union dues for nonmembers. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner last month issued an executive order ending the dues, which nonmembers must pay to cover the cost of non-political union activities that benefit all employees...
Gov. Rauner hopes deal will speed resolution of union dues dispute State Journal-Register ...Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration has agreed to allow government agencies to resume taking fees from the paychecks of nonunion members to cover union representation while his lawsuit challenging the legality of the fees is resolved in court...
Reining in payday loans falls by wayside in New Mexico Associated Press ...High-interest lending practices have been a target of consumer advocates for decades in New Mexico, one of the poorest states in the country. They failed again this year in the Legislature, however, as bills that would have capped interest rates on payday loans at 36 percent fell by the wayside...
Why the federal government still sometimes doesn’t obey its own minimum wage laws Washington Post ...The Service Contract Act is obscure, and the Department of Labor has to police every complaint, so sometimes it's just overlooked. In its complaint, Good Jobs Nation says in total the violations have deprived 65 workers of $1,578,700 in wages at three workplaces over the two years the statute covers. Their findings illustrate the difficulty the federal government has had in enforcing its own laws...
Federal janitors and zoo groundskeepers file wage theft complaint Daily Kos ...The minimum wage isn't the only wage rate that applies—or should apply—to many federal contract workers, and a group of people who work in Washington, DC, institutions say they're not getting the pay they're legally entitled to. Janitors at the Department of Education, groundskeepers at the National Zoo, and tour bus drivers under a contract with the National Park Service say they haven't been getting the SCA-mandated prevailing wage
Workers Sue Walmart For Manipulating Employee Classification To Deny Them Overtime Pay Think Progress ...because they are labeled managers, they are exempt from federal overtime laws that require employers to pay workers time and a half for more than 40 hours of work a week. The lawsuit alleges that they “were ‘managers’ in name only because they did not have the managerial duties or authority”...
U.S. Labor
Doctors at University of California health clinics go on strike LA Times ...Unionized doctors began a strike Saturday at student health clinics on University of California campuses in Southern California, saying administrators had acted unfairly during negotiations for the physicians' first contract...
Striking Lyondell Houston refinery workers to weigh final offer Reuters ...More than 400 striking hourly workers represented by the United Steelworkers union (USW) at Lyondell Basell Industries' Houston refinery are scheduled to vote on the company's last, best and final offer on Monday and Tuesday, a local union official said on Sunday...
NEA: No Child Left Behind rewrite doesn’t level the playing field Washington Post ...The head of the country’s largest teachers union said that her organization does not support a bipartisan proposal in the Senate to replace the nation’s main federal education law because it does not go far enough to create equal educational opportunities for poor children...
Miscellaneous
Report Reveals How Corporate Tax Dodgers Avoid Paying Their Fair Share - or Any Share At All Common Dreams ...Pointing to egregious examples of Fortune 500 corporations "manipulating the tax system to avoid paying even a dime in tax on billions of dollars in U.S. profits," a new report from Citizens for Tax Justice makes a sharp case for corporate tax reform..,
Will Hillary's Constant Feeding at the Corporate Trough Make it Hard for Her to Embrace Needed Populism? (opinion) Alternet ...The Clinton campaign plans to focus on “economic security” – but the question is: whose? Clinton can adopt classical Democratic positions based on expanding the safety and boosting wages, but her ability to truly transform America's economy and reduce economic inequality will be hampered if she feels indebted to the very same corporations that made her husband and her rich...
Friday, November 14, 2014
Today's Teamster News 11.14.14
Teamster News
Teamsters Strike, Allege Wage Theft Los Angeles Business Journal ...Truck drivers who work at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach walked off the job Thursday to protest two trucking firms they accuse of wage theft, according to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which organized the action...
L.A. truck drivers strike as tension mounts at ports Los Angeles Times ...Some truck drivers who work at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach walked off the job Thursday, organizers said, in a protest against two trucking firms they accuse of wage theft...
Walmart sit-down strike follows strikes today by port truck drivers and federal contract workers TeamsterNation ...Walmart workers in a Crenshaw, Calif., store sat down on the job today, even as striking port truck drivers picketed marine terminals and trucking yards at the Port of L.A. and hundreds of federal government contractors marched off the job and onto a Capitol Hill rally...
Teamsters Local 402 Organizes Ready-Mix Drivers teamster.org ...Ready-Mix drivers in Huntsville, Ala., recently voted to be represented by Teamsters Local 402. They are fighting for improved wages and fair treatment on the job...
Teamsters Stand with Students to Stop the Tuition Hikes Teamsters Local 2010 ...Teamsters Local 2010 therefore demands the UC Board of Regents reject the proposed tuition increases and approach both the workers and students to discuss better solutions...
Bus Driver Summer Pay Bargaining Progressing; Other Issues Remain Savannah Morning News ...First Student school transportation provider and Teamsters Union Local 728 are nearing an agreement about year-round pay after three days of bargaining, but continue to disagree on contract and financial issues...
Concord Settles Contract With Employee Union Contra Costa Times ...The city has struck a deal with its largest employee union -- thus averting a threatened strike that could have crippled daily operations. Teamsters Local 856 represents 141 employees -- including administrative clerks, police dispatchers and maintenance workers -- who have been working without a contract since the end of June, despite ongoing negotiations...
William Bounds Jr. Champaign News-Gazette ...Bill continued his career with the Teamsters Union Local 26 in Danville as a business agent. He later was elected president of Local 26 and held that position for 30 years. Bill was also the president of the Teamsters Joint Council 65 located in Springfield for approximately 18 years, overseeing parts of four states and 30,000 members...
Trade
Flaws in granting Mr. Obama fast-track authority (opinion) Washington Post ...Many Republicans, especially in the House, where the real trade action is, question the constitutionality of fast-track trade authority and the wisdom of giving the president even freer rein...
Never Mind ISIS, It’s ISDS That’s The Real Threat The Nation ...mining corporations have taken El Salvador to court for trying to limit their right to open-pit mine the country and pollute its rivers and El Lilly has sued Canada, complaining that its patent laws have hindered profits it could make on an ADD drug...
State Battles
Right-To-Work Legislation Likely To Be On Agenda Albuquerque Journal ...debate is already building over the long-stymied idea of making New Mexico a “right-to-work” state. After seizing control of the state House of Representatives for the first time in 60 years, Republican lawmakers have signaled the legislation will be on the table for the coming session...
Texas GOP’s Voter ID Ploy “Worked”: Turnout Way Down, Provisional Ballots Way Up Salon.com ...Despite a larger population and a contested race for an open gubernatorial seat, turnout in the state of Texas was reportedly down this year... [suggesting] the Texas GOP’s strategy of suppressing the vote this year with polling place Photo ID restrictions seems to have worked...
Emergency Manager Recommended For Atlantic City Press Of Atlantic City ...An emergency manager to oversee the city’s troubled finances and the creation of a new public-private development corporation are part of a package of reforms Gov. Chris Christie will consider to revitalize the struggling resort town...
War on Workers
Walmart Workers Stage First-Ever Sit-In Strike ThinkProgress ...Workers at a Los Angeles Walmart began the first sit-down strike in the company’s history at around 2 p.m. on Thursday. The strike is to protest their low wages and a culture of retaliation at the company...
23 Arrested During Pico Rivera Walmart Protest Associated Press ...Authorities say 23 men and women were arrested Thursday after they blocked traffic at a Pico Rivera intersection during a protest that began with a sit-down strike inside the local Walmart...
U.S. Capitol workers, others strike for higher pay, union Reuters ...Hundreds of striking federal contract workers, including for the first time some from the U.S. Capitol, rallied on Thursday to urge President Barack Obama to boost pay and spur unionization...
Longtime Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship indicted Charleston Gazette ...Don Blankenship, the longtime chief executive officer of Massey Energy, was indicted Thursday on charges that he orchestrated the routine violation of key federal mine safety rules at the company’s Upper Big Branch Mine prior to an April 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners...
Halliburton worker killed in Colorado fracking accident Reuters ...An accident at a fracking site in Colorado killed one Halliburton Co worker and seriously injured two on Thursday as they tried to thaw a high-pressure water line that had frozen in record-breaking cold conditions, the company said...
Worker killed when pedestrian bridge collapses Associated Press ...Officials say one worker was killed and four others were hurt when a pedestrian bridge under construction collapsed at a community college in North Carolina...
Worker dies as wall collapses at Avon Lake construction site cleveland.com ...A construction worker died Thursday afternoon after a wall of a house collapsed on him...
Only 1 State's College Students Graduate With Less Than $20K Of Debt, Report Finds Huffington Post ...For the class of 2013, seven out of 10 college students nationwide carried some form of education debt when they graduated, ... The average graduate was $28,400 in the red, the report says. In six states, students graduated with an average of more than $30,000 in education debt, and only New Mexico grads came in below the $20K mark, with an average of $18,656 in school debt...
Miscellaneous
Keystone On The Move In Congress Politico ...In the House, Republicans quickly announced a vote as early as Thursday on a version of Landrieu’s Keystone bill with Cassidy’s name on it. When Landrieu did not object to a Republican request that Cassidy’s House bill be the measure ultimately sent to Obama — not her own — the Senate agreed to a Tuesday vote on the $8 billion pipeline...
Teamsters Strike, Allege Wage Theft Los Angeles Business Journal ...Truck drivers who work at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach walked off the job Thursday to protest two trucking firms they accuse of wage theft, according to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which organized the action...
L.A. truck drivers strike as tension mounts at ports Los Angeles Times ...Some truck drivers who work at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach walked off the job Thursday, organizers said, in a protest against two trucking firms they accuse of wage theft...
Walmart sit-down strike follows strikes today by port truck drivers and federal contract workers TeamsterNation ...Walmart workers in a Crenshaw, Calif., store sat down on the job today, even as striking port truck drivers picketed marine terminals and trucking yards at the Port of L.A. and hundreds of federal government contractors marched off the job and onto a Capitol Hill rally...
Teamsters Local 402 Organizes Ready-Mix Drivers teamster.org ...Ready-Mix drivers in Huntsville, Ala., recently voted to be represented by Teamsters Local 402. They are fighting for improved wages and fair treatment on the job...
Teamsters Stand with Students to Stop the Tuition Hikes Teamsters Local 2010 ...Teamsters Local 2010 therefore demands the UC Board of Regents reject the proposed tuition increases and approach both the workers and students to discuss better solutions...
Bus Driver Summer Pay Bargaining Progressing; Other Issues Remain Savannah Morning News ...First Student school transportation provider and Teamsters Union Local 728 are nearing an agreement about year-round pay after three days of bargaining, but continue to disagree on contract and financial issues...
Concord Settles Contract With Employee Union Contra Costa Times ...The city has struck a deal with its largest employee union -- thus averting a threatened strike that could have crippled daily operations. Teamsters Local 856 represents 141 employees -- including administrative clerks, police dispatchers and maintenance workers -- who have been working without a contract since the end of June, despite ongoing negotiations...
William Bounds Jr. Champaign News-Gazette ...Bill continued his career with the Teamsters Union Local 26 in Danville as a business agent. He later was elected president of Local 26 and held that position for 30 years. Bill was also the president of the Teamsters Joint Council 65 located in Springfield for approximately 18 years, overseeing parts of four states and 30,000 members...
Trade
Flaws in granting Mr. Obama fast-track authority (opinion) Washington Post ...Many Republicans, especially in the House, where the real trade action is, question the constitutionality of fast-track trade authority and the wisdom of giving the president even freer rein...
Never Mind ISIS, It’s ISDS That’s The Real Threat The Nation ...mining corporations have taken El Salvador to court for trying to limit their right to open-pit mine the country and pollute its rivers and El Lilly has sued Canada, complaining that its patent laws have hindered profits it could make on an ADD drug...
State Battles
Right-To-Work Legislation Likely To Be On Agenda Albuquerque Journal ...debate is already building over the long-stymied idea of making New Mexico a “right-to-work” state. After seizing control of the state House of Representatives for the first time in 60 years, Republican lawmakers have signaled the legislation will be on the table for the coming session...
Texas GOP’s Voter ID Ploy “Worked”: Turnout Way Down, Provisional Ballots Way Up Salon.com ...Despite a larger population and a contested race for an open gubernatorial seat, turnout in the state of Texas was reportedly down this year... [suggesting] the Texas GOP’s strategy of suppressing the vote this year with polling place Photo ID restrictions seems to have worked...
Emergency Manager Recommended For Atlantic City Press Of Atlantic City ...An emergency manager to oversee the city’s troubled finances and the creation of a new public-private development corporation are part of a package of reforms Gov. Chris Christie will consider to revitalize the struggling resort town...
War on Workers
Walmart Workers Stage First-Ever Sit-In Strike ThinkProgress ...Workers at a Los Angeles Walmart began the first sit-down strike in the company’s history at around 2 p.m. on Thursday. The strike is to protest their low wages and a culture of retaliation at the company...
23 Arrested During Pico Rivera Walmart Protest Associated Press ...Authorities say 23 men and women were arrested Thursday after they blocked traffic at a Pico Rivera intersection during a protest that began with a sit-down strike inside the local Walmart...
U.S. Capitol workers, others strike for higher pay, union Reuters ...Hundreds of striking federal contract workers, including for the first time some from the U.S. Capitol, rallied on Thursday to urge President Barack Obama to boost pay and spur unionization...
Longtime Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship indicted Charleston Gazette ...Don Blankenship, the longtime chief executive officer of Massey Energy, was indicted Thursday on charges that he orchestrated the routine violation of key federal mine safety rules at the company’s Upper Big Branch Mine prior to an April 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners...
Halliburton worker killed in Colorado fracking accident Reuters ...An accident at a fracking site in Colorado killed one Halliburton Co worker and seriously injured two on Thursday as they tried to thaw a high-pressure water line that had frozen in record-breaking cold conditions, the company said...
Worker killed when pedestrian bridge collapses Associated Press ...Officials say one worker was killed and four others were hurt when a pedestrian bridge under construction collapsed at a community college in North Carolina...
Worker dies as wall collapses at Avon Lake construction site cleveland.com ...A construction worker died Thursday afternoon after a wall of a house collapsed on him...
Only 1 State's College Students Graduate With Less Than $20K Of Debt, Report Finds Huffington Post ...For the class of 2013, seven out of 10 college students nationwide carried some form of education debt when they graduated, ... The average graduate was $28,400 in the red, the report says. In six states, students graduated with an average of more than $30,000 in education debt, and only New Mexico grads came in below the $20K mark, with an average of $18,656 in school debt...
Miscellaneous
Keystone On The Move In Congress Politico ...In the House, Republicans quickly announced a vote as early as Thursday on a version of Landrieu’s Keystone bill with Cassidy’s name on it. When Landrieu did not object to a Republican request that Cassidy’s House bill be the measure ultimately sent to Obama — not her own — the Senate agreed to a Tuesday vote on the $8 billion pipeline...
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