Holiday season hero: Teamster flight attendant takes quick action to save a life

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the spirit of giving gifts surrounds our society. This holiday season, a Teamster flight attendant was able to give the ultimate gift: the gift of a second chance at life.

Demetria Danielides-Abde works for Republic Airways, where she is represented by the Teamsters. Based out of Pittsburgh, she was on a layover in Atlanta, when she decided to go for a jog that would change her life and the life of a stranger:

I was running on a bike trail by our hotel when I heard a very loud bang that sounded like a gunshot. I looked around concerned, but nobody else was acting any differently. I figured it must’ve been a car backfiring, but when I ran a little further up the trail, I encountered the victim by the MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority).

The victim had been shot in the leg and was bleeding profusely. Danielides-Abde successfully calmed him down and got him to lie down as she was calling 911. Frighteningly, the shooter returned to the scene and confronted Danielides-Abde and the victim as she was giving him aid. In a situation where both her life and the life of the victim were in danger, she remained extremely composed and acted masterfully to bring the situation to a positive resolution. She said:

My mind went straight to the basics that we are taught in our job training. I told the victim very clearly to stop, lie down and don’t move. Upon closer examination, I discovered that he had been shot in the femur and he was beginning to slip in and out of consciousness. I used his belt to create an improvised tourniquet and managed to contain the bleeding. I’m glad I was in the right place at the right time and had the training to successfully help.

The police arrived and arrested the shooter. Paramedics arrived soon afterward and transported the victim to the hospital. He survived the ordeal and Danielides-Abde will be receiving the Accommodation Award for Action from the city of Atlanta because of her heroic actions as a good samaritan. 

Teamsters Airline Division Director Capt. David Bourne praised Danielides-Abde for her heroism: 

On behalf of the entire International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Airline Division, I want to recognize and salute Demetria for her incredible actions to save a man’s life in Atlanta. She went way above and beyond the call of duty, characteristic of the excellence and pride that Teamsters take in their profession. We are thrilled that she was able to help.

Today's Teamster News 10.06.15

TEAMSTERS
Hoffa: Despite Deal, Resistance to TPP Grows in All Corners  Huffington Post  ...We know a bad deal when we see one and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) just announced in Atlanta sure looks like one. Hundreds of Teamsters were joined in the streets of Atlanta this past week by other fair trade advocates sticking up for everyday Americans who could be damaged by the TPP. Unfortunately, negotiators from the U.S. and the other involved nations did not listen...
Shuttle Drivers with Dollar Thrifty Choose Teamsters Local 299  Teamster.org  ...Detroit shuttle drivers with Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, a subsidiary of Hertz Global Holdings, have voted to join the Teamsters. The 15 shuttle drivers transport passengers to and from Detroit Metropolitan Airport and the rental car facility. They united seeking respect and the protections of a union contract...
Tentative Agreement Reached for Teamster Flight Attendants at NetJets  Teamster.org  ...In a message to Teamster flight attendants at NetJets Aviation (NJA) this week, Teamsters Local 284 President Paul Suffoletto announced that a tentative agreement covering NJA’s 278 flight attendants had been reached. As with any tentative agreement, there’s still work to be done to finalize the definitions, develop implementation timelines and transition agreements, create explanatory materials, and proof and clean up the language before it is submitted to the flight attendants for a ratification...
Illinois Training Center Goes Extra Mile  Teamster.org  ...Talking with Mike Borjas, the director of the Illinois Teamsters Joint Council No. 25 Employers Apprenticeship and Training Fund in Joliet, Illinois, you’d think that he was drawing up a lesson plan for training military personnel. But, his goal is providing the best training for Teamsters working in the construction trades as he can. Fortunately for the union, he is accomplishing this every day...
Bid to unionize Uber, Lyft advances  Seattle Times  ...Seattle City Council members voted 7-0 in a committee Friday to move ahead with a bill that would help independent-contractor drivers for companies like Uber to unionize. The bill, championed by Councilmember Mike O’Brien in partnership with the Teamsters Local 117, is a new approach by labor organizers to unionize workers who lack certain rights because they’re not classified as employees...

GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Pacific Rim trade pact gets skeptical greeting in U.S. Congress  Reuters  ...A 12-nation Pacific Rim trade pact hammered out over the weekend in Atlanta got a rocky response in Washington on Monday from U.S. lawmakers, indicating it has a long, difficult road ahead as Congress considers whether or not to approve it. Even influential Republicans, who had championed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), initially criticized the result but didn't pinpoint specific concerns...
Republicans Sour on Obama's Trade Pact  The Atlantic   ...Having secured a landmark trade agreement with 11 Pacific Rim nations, President Obama is now relying on trade-loving Republicans to ratify it in Congress. But as details of the pact emerge, the chances of widespread GOP support are dicier than they once were. Senior Republicans have long been the loudest cheerleaders for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Yet on Monday those same Republicans criticized the very deal that they gave Obama the power to strike...
Sanders Condemns 'Disastrous' TPP as Ministers Seal Deal for Corporate Elite  Common Dreams  ...Amid a last minute scramble, leaders from the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries announced Monday that they had reached agreement on a sweeping trade deal, one that critics, including US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, say will slash standards and protections for both consumers and workers—with impacts to be felt across the globe...
Will Hillary Clinton flip on trade?  Politico  ...As much as she might want it, Hillary Clinton won’t get a free pass on free trade. Clinton has presented herself as a skeptic of the biggest trade deal in recent history, saying this summer that “we should be prepared to walk away” from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership unless it boosts Americans’ wages and national security. But with a deal announced Monday after months of backstage wrangling, she will be under intense pressure to take a stance...
Trade Officials Announce Conclusion of TPP—Now the Real Fight Begins  (opinion) EFF  ...Trade officials have announced today that they have reached a final deal on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Their announcement came after a drawn out round of negotiation in Atlanta, Georgia, which was mainly held up around disagreements over medicine patent rules and tariffs over autos and dairy. We have no reason to believe that the TPP has improved much at all from the last leaked version released in August...
Air France Workers Rip Shirts From Top Managers in Jobs Protest  Bloomberg  ...Air France executives were forced to flee with their clothes in tatters after workers stormed a meeting at Charles de Gaulle airport in protest at 2,900 planned job cuts. Violence erupted Monday as Air France told its works council that 300 pilots, 900 flight attendants and 1,700 ground staff might have to go after failed productivity talks with flight crew...
Outrage Stirred as Police Deploy Snipers to 'Observe' Anti-Austerity March in UK  Common Dreams  ...As the national Conservative Party in the U.K. held its annual meeting in Manchester over the weekend, an anti-austerity demonstration against the ruling party's economic policies attracted not only tens of thousands of people to march peacefully... but a few police snipers to keep "watch" over those who oppose the government's gutting of the public sector...
South Africa: 30,000 Miners Strike Over Pay Demand  Morning Star  ...Some 30,000 South African coalminers downed tools on Sunday night after cross-sector pay talks broke down. Conciliation came to an abrupt end last week when parties could not reach an agreement over demands by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) demand for a 1,000 rand (£48) rise for the lowest paid workers and 14 per cent for artisans, miners and officials...
Indigenous Communities Seek Autonomous Development Projects in Guatemala  Truthout  ...As Guatemala faces its greatest political crisis since the 1980s, behind the scenes, plans for the United States' Alliance for Prosperity continue to move along. The expansion of hydroelectric construction projects and the further integration of electric grids are central to the plan, yet these projects threaten indigenous communities' land rights...

STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Maine Governor Revives Old Rule To Punish Poor People For Saving Money  Think Progress  ...Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) has already knocked tens of thousands of people of his state’s food stamps rolls through a variety of stringent new rules for the program, but he’s not done. At a hearing Tuesday, state officials will lay out a new barrier to entry for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applicants that most other states have abandoned in recent years...
Opponents ask court to relax Wisconsin voter ID requirements  Journal Sentinel  ...Opponents of Wisconsin's voter identification law argued in federal court Monday that the legislation is improperly restrictive and should be expanded to allow people to use more forms of ID. The case represents the latest push from the American Civil Liberties Union against a law that has been the focus of a string of legal battles since it was passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Gov. Scott Walker four years ago...
Hearing set on Voter ID legal challenge  Winston-Salem Journal  ...The voter ID law will be back in federal court later this month. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder plans to hold a hearing Oct. 23 to get an update on efforts to settle the legal claims against the photo ID requirement. The N.C. NAACP, the U.S. Department of Justice and others filed a lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s Voter Information Verification Act...
These Lawmakers Want D.C. To Be The First City To Guarantee Paid Family Leave  Think Progress  ...On Tuesday, seven city councilmembers in the District of Columbia will introduce a paid family leave bill that would create the most progressive system in the country and serve as a model for other cities that might be interested in paid leave. If it eventually gets passed and signed into law, it would be the first city-level program in the country...
Alabama ‘clarifies’ voter ID confusion  (opinion) Boston Globe  ...If anyone still doubts that the Republican push for voter identification is really about limiting the franchise of Democratic voters — and in particular African-American voters — the state of Alabama has helpfully cleared up the confusion. In 2014, Alabama passed a law that required all of its citizens have a photo ID in order to vote...

U.S. LABOR
Adjuncts Win Union Contract at Maryland Institute College of Art  In These Times  ...The national movement to unionize part-time faculty at U.S. colleges and universities has secured an initial beachhead in the Baltimore area with ratification of a first contract between Service Employees International Union Local 500 and the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Voting on the ratification concluded in mid-September and a formal signing ceremony for the pact is set for October 8, labor representatives report...
We must despise our kids: Our ugly war on teachers must end now  Salon  ...With September’s data in, we can see how many teachers went back to school this year. And Gould finds that the tremendous gap that opened up when local budgets crashed during the recession has not come close to being filled. At the peak, we had 8.1 million public K-12 education teachers and staff in July 2008. Seven years later, we have far less, 7.8 million, despite a larger population of students that need to be served...
Contra Costa County Nurses Begin Two-Day Strike Tues. Oct 6  IndyBay  ...Nurses who work at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center and clinics across the County will officially begin a two-day strike Tuesday, October 6, after what nurses say is the County’s continued failure to address serious patient care concerns. The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, which represents almost 1,000 County registered nurses, nurse practitioners and public health nurses, called on the County to immediately improve working conditions...
Supreme Court ‘right-to-work’ case could speed decline of unions  Al Jazeera  ...The Supreme Court will soon take up a case that could impose a de facto “right-to-work” rule across the public sector, eliminating public employee unions’ ability to require fees from nonmembers and, labor leaders say, threatening the unions’ survival. Labor officials often complain that right-to-work rules create a “free rider” problem...
UAW pledges new approach to members for FCA deal  Detroit News  ...United Auto Workers leaders are promising to handle a second round of contract talks with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV differently than the first discussions that culminated with membership overwhelmingly voting down a tentative four-year deal. In separate messages published online Monday, UAW President Dennis Williams and Vice President Norwood Jewell said they will not only address members’ issues with the contract itself, but communicate better...
Deere deal: Did UAW workers come out ahead?  Des Moines Register  ...United Auto Workers voted Sunday to ratify a six-year contract with Deere & Co., deciding that a modest pay bump and increased job security outweighed increases in their medical costs. The Moline, Ill.-based maker of iconic farm and construction equipment said the United Auto Workers union notified the company...
A Union Leader Who Always Knew Which Side He Was On  The Nation  ...Marty Beil knew which side he was on. He was a union man. Indeed, as Congressman Mark Pocan noted after Beil’s death last week at age 68, “Marty embodied the longstanding Wisconsin tradition of fighting for workers’ rights and protections.” Beil’s commitment to trade unionism was old-school and unequivocal. He was ready to bargain; but if the deal was no good, he took the fight to the streets...

SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
As Infrastructure Creaks, Congress Dithers  Wall Street Journal  ...Back in July, Congress failed, once again, to pass a long-term highway bill to make improvements in the nation’s transportation system. Instead of funding big infrastructure needs with a multiyear plan, as once was the norm in Washington, lawmakers passed a bill covering a grand total of three months—the 34th time since 2009 Congress has passed a temporary Band-Aid...
'Once-In-A-Millenium' Flooding Creates 'Otherworldly Scenes' in South Carolina  Common Dreams  ...South Carolina's once-in-a-millennium flooding this weekend left at least seven people dead and much of the state paralyzed—and as rains continued into Monday morning, officials warned that the deluge is likely to worsen. Climate scientists have linked South Carolina's catastrophic rains to climate change. "Joaquin has been traveling over a record-warm ocean surface and undoubtedly that has contributed to its rapid intensification," Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, told The Huffington Post...
War Crime in Afghanistan?: Outrage After U.S. Airstrike on Hospital Kills 22 Patients & Staff  Democracy Now  ...Doctors Without Borders is demanding an independent international inquiry into a U.S. airstrike Saturday on an Afghan hospital in the city of Kunduz that killed 22 people, including 12 staff members and 10 patients, three of them children. At least three dozen people were injured. The attack continued for 30 minutes after the U.S. and Afghan militaries were informed by telephone that the hospital was being bombed...

Teamsters fight against knives on planes

U.S. Rep. Ed Markey today, with Teamsters and the flight attendants coalition.

Teamsters objected to a new policy allowing small knives on planes at a Capitol Hill news conference today. The Teamsters are part of the Flight Attendants Union Coalition, which is coordinating a nationwide legislative and public campaign to reverse the Transportation Security Administration's decision.

CBS News reported:

A new Transportation Security Administration policy that would allow passengers to bring small knives on board commercial flights "will not fly," Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said today. 

"It is a nonsensical policy, it is a contradictory policy, it is a dangerous policy," Markey said, standing outside of the U.S. Capitol with representatives from flight attendant unions, the Federal Air Marshal Service and other groups opposed to the change. 

"We want the TSA to stand for 'Transportation Security Administration,'" Markey said, "not 'Take Small knives Aboard.'" 

With the policy change slated to kick in next month, Markey has introduced the "No Knives Act" to keep knives off planes.

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa spoke out against the policy, scheduled to take effect on April 25:

Since the horrific 9/11 terror attacks, the ban on dangerous objects in the aircraft cabin has helped make our nation’s airline industry the safest in the world. This ban has been and continues to be an integral part of our nation’s aviation security system, ensuring the safety of both passengers and crew members. We call on the TSA to reverse this decision.

You can sign a petition to keep knives off planes here.

David Bourne, director of the Teamsters Airline Division, said:

We have spent countless hours working with our nation’s leaders, union leaders, industry leaders, and our membership to protect the American traveling public, our members, and those people on the ground. Under the current rules, you are allowed to transport the ‘new’ items but they must be checked items. The current rules should be continued.

The Teamsters Airline Division represents about 80,000 workers in all segments of commercial aviation, including pilots and flight attendants. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters was founded in 1903 and represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Today's Teamster News 03.08.13

Senators blast financial regulators over 'prosecution-free zone for large banks'  The Hill   ..."If you're caught with an ounce of cocaine, the chances are good you're going to jail," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) at the Banking Committee hearing. "Evidently, if you launder nearly $1 billion for drug cartels and violate our international sanctions, your company pays a fine and you go home and sleep in your own bed at night."...
Study Demolishes the Myth That U.S. Workers Lack Skills  In These Times   ... “The problem isn’t a malfunctioning ‘talent pipeline.' The problem is a sputtering job-creation machine, in both the quantity and quality of jobs created.”...
 The children going hungry in America  BBC   ...Child poverty in the US has reached record levels, with almost 17 million children now affected. A growing number are also going hungry on a daily basis...
Yes, America’s trade deficit with China just rose AGAIN.  manufacture this   ...the U.S. trade deficit with China jumped 14% from the previous month: ...While not a record, it is 6% larger than last year's historically high average...
Costco CEO: Raise The Minimum Wage To More Than $10 Per Hour  Huffington Post   ...paying employees good wages makes good sense for business," Jelinek said in a statement. "We pay a starting hourly wage of $11.50 in all states where we do business, and we are still able to keep our overhead costs low."...
Europe's recession deepens - ECB  CNN Money   ...The European Central Bank downgraded its forecast for the eurozone economy Thursday but decided against cutting interest rates to a new record low despite tame inflation, record unemployment and political instability in Italy...
Koch Brothers Organize to Stop Medicaid Expansion in Arizona, Nationwide  Blog for Arizona   ...Americans for Prosperity-- the Koch Brothers' astroturf  group-- is organizing the citizenry to fight against their own self interests to defeat Medicaid expansion...
No matter how you spin job numbers, Wisconsin near bottom compared to other states  The Cap Times   ...going back two years, Wisconsin is No. 50 in percentage change, with an actual decline of 15,900 jobs since January 2011...
Kasich, Yost in showdown over JobsOhio  Columbus Dispatch   ...State Auditor Dave Yost issued a subpoena for the financial records of JobsOhio yesterday after Gov. John Kasich’s privatized economic-development agency failed to turn them over...
Snyder's numbers still down in the dumps  Public Policy Polling   ...Rick Snyder's numbers are not recovering yet following the plunge they took in December after he signed the right to work law. Only 37% of voters in the state approve of the job he's doing to 54% who disapprove...
Council votes to appeal Snyder's plan for emergency manager  Detroit Free Press   ...The resolution passed by council this afternoon says the city does indeed have a plan to fix the financial problems that have plagued the city for years...
Mark Dayton envisions minimum wage between $9 and $9.50  Associated Press   ...As Minnesota legislators debate raising the state's minimum wage, Gov. Mark Dayton says he'd be comfortable with hiking the rate to $9 or $9.50 per hour...
Plan for LCB privatization is formally introduced  Philly.com   ...The plan faces a tough fight in the legislature, which for years has been loath to make even minor changes to the state-run liquor model that has been in place since Prohibition ended...
Teachers’ unions fighting restrictions on contract talks in Kansas  Kansas City Star   ...“We are seeing a lot of things that appear to be a direct attack on teachers...”
Flight Attendants Union Coalition Launches Nationwide Opposition to Knives in Cabin  AFA   ...The Flight Attendants Union Coalition, representing nearly 90,000 Flight Attendants at carriers across the county, is coordinating a nationwide legislative and public campaign to reverse yesterday's announcement from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that effective April 25, knives would be allowed in the aircraft cabin for the first time since 9/11...

Today's Teamster News 03.06.13

Dow Hits New High While Most of America Suffers  Economic Populist   ...Work in America has become so exploitive, many are working for free...
Sequester Cuts 'Will Impact Food Inspection,' Reducing Meat Supply, Agriculture Secretary Says Huffington Post   ...the budget cuts mandated by the sequester would force the USDA to furlough meat inspectors for up to 15 days. Federal law prohibits meat plants from operating without a federal inspector, so this suggested the entire industry would have to shut for more than two weeks, leading to higher prices and shortages...
U.S. “Stalling” Could Force Acceptance of Onerous TPP  Inter Press Service   ...That broad geographical sweep, together with the simultaneous negotiation of a lengthy but highly secretive list of contentious issues not necessarily related to trade, is leading critics to warn that the scope of any pending agreement could negatively impact on nearly half the globe....
Striking Iberia workers protest against job cuts  Reuters   ...Thousands of workers facing pay and job cuts at loss-making Spanish airline Iberia on Monday staged a second wave of protests that could ground nearly 1,300 flights this week. Iberia, part of International Airlines Group , is battling competition from low-cost airlines and high-speed trains as well as a deep recession in Spain, where one in four workers is without a job...
Mo AFL-CIO urges action to stop ‘RTW,’ paycheck deception measures  Labor Tribune   ...Hugh McVey, president of the Missouri AFL-CIO, say extremists are “set to strike in the General Assembly” and is urging union members to call their senators now to voice their opposition to “right-to-work” (for less) and paycheck deception measures...
'Right to Work' and Other Betrayals Are Killing Snyder, Republican Brand in Michigan  Huffington Post   ...The party that keeps promising lower taxes is raising taxes on retirees, slapping a new health care tax on ordinary citizens and jacking up the overall tax burden of families who are already struggling to make ends meet...
House Sides With Business On Labor Laws  Associated Press   ...(Georgia) House Bill 361 would allow workers to opt out at any time from automatic payroll deductions for union dues. Current law says workers must have only an annual option to opt out. House Bill 362 would prohibit any state or local government entity in Georgia from requiring that bidders for public works contracts use unionized labor for a project...
Grand Rapids teachers say paycheck cuts qualify them for food stamps  Michigan Live   ...Since Feb. 15 when the district began deducting back health insurance premiums over what it’s allowed to pay under the state’s Publicly Funded Health Insurance Contribution Act of 2011 ... morale among teachers has suffered dramatically and a sort of depression has set in. Some are losing $300 per pay check...
Corbett, wife accepted thousands in gifts from biz execs, lobbyists  philly.com   ...Corbett and his wife, Susan, accepted $11,343 in gifts from business executives, lobbyists or lobbying firms in 2010 … and in 2011, his first year in office. (They) were feted by business interests with Steelers playoffs tickets, private jet travel, seats at a swank gala for the Philadelphia Orchestra, a Rhode Island summer vacation aboard a businessman's yacht - even money to help pay for the first lady's inauguration gown...
Teamsters Applaud Council Decision To Keep Borough Law Enforcement Local  IBT   ...West York Council members voted last night to reverse a decision made earlier this year to accept bids from neighboring police departments to outsource the borough's law enforcement to the lowest bidder and close the West York Police Department. The council also announced its intention to move forward with negotiations with Teamsters Local Union 776 in Harrisburg, Pa...
3 approved labor union pacts await signatures  Toledo Blade   ...Signatures are the only thing needed after a collective bargaining deal between the three Waterville city labor unions was ratified and approved...“The Teamster contract will provide for insurance coverage for their union members, the four public works technicians,” said Dale Knepper, the city’s chief of finance and administration...
Progress on ABF-Teamsters talks may lead to extension Kansas City Business Journal ...ABF Freight System Inc. is anticipating that negotiations with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters could last past the March 31 expiration date of the current labor agreement between the two parties... 
Flight Attendants Union Coalition Blasts TSA Decision To Allow Dangerous Items Onto Aircraft AFA   ...The Flight Attendants Union Coalition issued the following statement blasting today's announcement..."Today's announcement to permit knives back into the aircraft cabin is a poor and shortsighted decision by the TSA. Continued prohibition of these items is an integral layer in making our aviation system secure and must remain in place...