New Calif. law will bring equal pay for all

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

Jerry Brown signed the bill into law in October.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today's Teamster News 09.24.15

Teamsters
Worker advocates turn sights on warehouse industry in Southern California  JOC  ...In what could be the beginning of a larger effort to focus on working conditions and eventually organize the warehouse sector of the transportation industry, workers at a warehouse near the Port of Los Angeles walked off their jobs Tuesday, attracting the support of the Teamsters union. The job action at California Cartage Company was sponsored by the Warehouse Worker Resource Center...
Warehouse Workers of Los Angeles, Unite!  The Nation  ... A few dozen workers at the California Cartage warehouse went on strike on Tuesday to protest poverty wages and harsh working conditions. Though backed by the advocacy group Warehouse Workers Resource Center (WWRC), with support from the Teamsters, the strikers don’t have a union—many aren’t even permanent employees...
Port truckers continue to strike  Fleet Owner  ...As they await a ruling from the California Labor Commissioner on their wage and hour claims totaling in excess of $6 million, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, port drivers from Pacific 9 Transportation (Pac 9), who say they have been misclassified as independent contractors, have entered their 11th week on strike, according to the Teamsters Port Division. They plan to continue picketing at the company’s Carson-based yard and conduct “ambulatory picketing”...
Safe Mover Members Ratify New Contract With Raises  Local 727  ...Teamsters Local 727 members at M. Lange, Inc. have ratified a new three-year contract with annual raises and vacation fund increases. Local 727 representatives also secured employer-paid contribution increases to allow members to retain their top-notch union benefits. “These members are another part of our local union’s diverse and growing membership,” said John Coli Jr., President of Local 727...

Global Labor & Trade
Pacific trade pact negotiators move closer to deal on rules for autos  Reuters  ...Japan, the United States, Mexico and Canada are moving closer to a deal on rules for the automotive industry in a landmark Pacific trade deal, a leading obstacle to agreement on the 12-nation pact, officials briefed on the talks said on Wednesday.` Although two-day talks between negotiators from the four nations on auto trade did not reach a final agreement, ministers were readying for meetings in Atlanta...
Canada heads to TPP talks in Atlanta with key auto content issue unresolved  Globe and Mail  ...Canada’s Trade Minister Ed Fast is heading to Atlanta to join a pivotal round of talks that could yield a massive Pacific Rim trade deal – even though Japan has so far refused to give ground on rules in the proposed accord that could hurt Canada’s auto sector. The very same unreconciled differences between Canada and Mexico on one hand, and Japan on the other, stalled a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade accord last summer...
Malmstrom and Froman Discussed Upcoming TTIP Negotiations  EIN News  ...EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström today met with her American counterpart, US Trade Representative Michael Froman, in Washington DC. The purpose of the meeting was to take stock of the ongoing negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Both sides agreed on the need to accelerate discussions and achieve progress in all areas under negotiation. To give an additional boost to the talks, contacts between negotiating teams will be intensified...
Brazil hit by anti-austerity protests  Agence France Presse  ...Hundreds of demonstrators besieged government offices in Brazil Wednesday to protest plans for deep budget cuts as part of an austerity plan. President Dilma Rousseff, faced with a deepening recession and rising inflation, has put forth an austerity plan that involves $17 billion in cuts to bring the federal budget out of the red. Opposed to that plan, several hundred protesters blocked the entrance to the Finance Ministry's Sao Paulo headquarters...
EU Refugee Crisis: How Will European Countries Pay For The Influx Of Thousands Of People?  International Business Times  ...As refugees from the Middle East and North Africa continued Wednesday making dangerous sea crossings into Europe, EU officials were meeting in Brussels deliberating over increased emergency funding to cope with the influx of people. The crisis comes at a time when many states are still trying to dig themselves out from deep economic problems...

State & Living Wage Battles
'Right-to-work' bill being drawn up in Ohio House  Cleveland.com  ...An Ohio lawmaker said he plans to introduce a "right-to-work" bill that would prohibit private-sector labor union membership as a condition of employment. State Rep. Tom Brinkman said Wednesday that his bill, which he plans to introduce next month, would ban "closed shops" and forbid unions from charging "fair-share fees" to non-union workers at private-sector workplaces. The Cincinnati Republican said he intends to introduce the bill sometime next month...
Hinsdale District 86 to petition state leaders to change prevailing wage rates  Chicago Tribune  ...Hinsdale High School District 86 will petition state leaders to use a new method of calculating the prevailing wage rate. The school board passed a resolution asking that the Illinois Department of Labor use both private and public wage rates when setting the prevailing wage rate for the counties. The district will send the resolution to Gov. Bruce Rauner, House Speaker Michael Madigan, Senate President John Cullerton and the state senators and representatives for the areas that District 86 encompasses...
Poll: New Yorkers support $15 minimum wage  Syracuse.com  ...New York voters strongly support Gov. Andrew Cuomo's plan to raise the state's minimum wage to $15 per hour, according to a new Siena College poll made public Thursday. The poll found 59 percent of voters support Cuomo's plan to gradually phase in the higher minimum wage, compared to 38 percent who oppose the increase...
Judge allows voter-ID lawsuit to proceed  Associated Press  ...A judge on Wednesday declined to dismiss a lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s photo identification requirement to vote that starts next year, even though lawmakers recently eased the mandate for some without IDs wishing to cast ballots. Superior Court Judge Michael Morgan denied the motion of attorneys for the state to toss out the suit...

U.S. Labor
Judge Rules Nation’s Largest Peach Grower Interfered with UFW Vote  AllGov.com  ...Gerawan Farming Inc., America’s biggest peach grower, thought it was rid of the United Farm Workers (UFW) 20 years ago when the elected bargaining representative of its field hands walked away (out of frustration, they say) and did not return—until October 2012. The UFW sought to sit down at the bargaining table with Gerawan after the long absence, but the Fresno-area company refused and tried to decertify the union...
Workers at Alabama auto supplier vote to join UAW union  AL.com  ...Employees at a northeastern Alabama auto parts manufacturer have voted in favor of joining the United Auto Workers union. The 89-45 vote was at Commercial Vehicle Group Inc. in Piedmont. A press release posted on the UAW's website cited low pay -- ranging from $9.70 to $15.80 per hour for production workers -- high health care costs and the plant's increasing use of temporary workers as some of the reasons behind the successful union vote...
First Student, AFSCME negotiating Unit 5 bus contract  Pantagraph   ...School bus drivers and monitors who work for Normal-based McLean County Unit 5's bus service are finally on their way to a union contract. First Student Inc., the Cincinnati-based bus provider contracted by Unit 5, has recognized and started negotiating with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees...
Republican Senator Offers A Serious Idea For Combating The Gender Wage Gap  Think Progress  ...After years of Republicans standing in lockstep against a Democratic bill aimed at closing the gender wage gap, a Republican senator just introduced a bill that looks nearly identical to it. On Tuesday, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) introduced the Gender Advancement in Pay (GAP) Act, a bill aimed at gender wage discrimination. The bill’s elements look nearly identical to those in the Paycheck Fairness Act, a measure backed by a number of Democrats...
Cab Drivers Stop Traffic at Chicago Airports, Protesting Rahm Emanuel’s Uber-Friendly Proposal  In These Times  ...Hundreds of cab drivers at O’Hare and Midway airports in Chicago halted service late Wednesday morning in protest of new rules in Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed 2016 budget. The action, which was organized by Cab Drivers United/AFSCME Local 2500 (CDU), saw drivers blocking traffic. Drivers acted in response to Emanuel’s proposed rules, which would allow rideshare services like Uber and Lyft access to the airports while maintaining their exemption from many of the regulations to which traditional taxi services are subject...
Charter School Network Challenges NLRB Ruling Allowing Teach for America Members To Unionize  In These Times  ...Detroit 90/90, the charter school management group that operates University Prep, the city’s largest charter school network, furthered its challenge of ongoing union organizing by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), recently appealing a ruling made by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) last month that stated that Teach for America (TFA) members should be in the same bargaining unit as professional teachers...

Social Justice & Other News
Sanders: We Must End For-Profit Prisons  Common Dreams  ...The U.S. has less than five percent of the world's population, yet we incarcerate about a quarter of its prisoners -- some 2.2 million people. There are many ways that we must go forward to address this tragedy.  One of them is to end the existence of the private for-profit prison industry which now makes millions from the incarceration of Americans... 
"We Are Living at a Critical Moment of History": The Pope on Poverty, Immigration & Climate Change  Democracy Now  ...Pope Francis heads to Capitol Hill today to become the first pope ever to address Congress. On Wednesday, he spoke at the White House, then addressed hundreds of U.S. bishops at St. Matthew’s Cathedral. At the White House, Pope Francis spoke about poverty, immigration and climate change. "Mr. President, I find it encouraging that you are proposing an initiative for reducing air pollution," Pope Francis told President Obama...
Women Walk 100 Miles To See Pope Francis, Plead For Immigration Reform  Huffington Post  ...When more than 100 women arrived at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, they had made it 97 miles by foot, and only had three to go to the middle of D.C. The women, who are mostly immigrants, some of them undocumented, started their pilgrimage in Pennsylvania on Sept. 15 and traveled to Washington to see Pope Francis...
With Letter and Hug, Five-Year-Old Takes Immigration Plea to Pope Francis  Common Dreams  ..."I believe I have the right to live with my parents. I have the right to be happy." With a message and a hug, five-year-old Sophie Cruz on Wednesday transformed a few minutes of Pope Francis' first U.S. visit into a resounding call for immigration reform. Cruz, who was attending Francis' cavalcade on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. with her father and a group of immigration activists, caught media attention when she ran through a barricade to meet the Popemobile and deliver a letter to the Catholic leader...
USDA Does Not Have The Cash To Keep Food Stamps Running If The Government Shuts Down  Think Progress ...Tens of millions of vulnerable Americans would lose their food stamps benefits if Republicans bent on defunding Planned Parenthood force the second government shutdown of the Obama era next week, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) warned on Tuesday. Unlike the 2013 shutdown when cash reserves allowed Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to be disbursed as normal, “USDA will not have the funding necessary for SNAP benefits"...

Union women outearn non-union women in every state

The Teamsters have repeated noted that it pays to be in a union. It doesn't matter who you are. And a new report looking at women in the workplace further proves that fact.

Teamster women gathered at annual conference last week.

Unionized women make more than their non-union sisters in every state, with gaps ranging from $48 weekly in D.C. to $349 in Wyoming, an Institute for Women's Policy Study document shows. All told, the median wage gap nationwide between union women and non-union women is $212 weekly. That's greater than the $173 wage gap for men.

The gaps are the largest in the low-density right-to-work states. Wyoming’s $349 translates into a 53 percent weekly wage advantage for union women there. The second and third largest gaps are in South Carolina (46 percent) and Louisiana (42 percent).

The median weekly gap between union and non-union working women is even larger for Latinas, the report says. Unionized Latinas earn $739, while non-union Latinas earn $520. White unionized women earn $923 weekly, while non-union white working women earn $704. Unionized African-American women earn $788, while their non-union sisters earn $590.

Except for management, business, financial, professional and sales occupations, union women also enjoy a wage gap over their non-union counterparts, the report says. They have a 95.5 percent gap in construction, natural resources and maintenance jobs. Other advantages are 26.7 percent in production, transportation and materials, 26.4 percent in services and 22.2 percent in administrative support and office occupations.

But the advantages don't stop with the paycheck. They extend into benefits as well:

Women who are labor union members (or covered by a union contract) are more likely to participate in a pension plan than those who are not unionized. Approximately three in four unionized women (74.1 percent) have a pension plan, compared with only slightly more than four in ten (42.3 percent) of their nonunion counterparts. Among the largest racial and ethnic groups, the difference in participation rates between union members and nonunion members ranges from about 27 percentage points for black women to about 35 percentage points for Asian/Pacific Islander women.

Women who are members of a labor union (or covered by a union contract) are also more likely to receive health insurance benefits through their job than those who are not unionized. As of 2013, approximately three in four unionized women (76.6 percent) had employer- or union-provided health insurance coverage, compared with about half (51.4 percent) of their nonunion counterparts. Among the largest racial and ethnic groups, the difference between coverage rates for union members and nonunion members was greatest for Hispanic women and women who identify with another race or two or more races (29.2 and 27.4 percentage points, respectively).

The Teamsters just concluded our annual Women's Conference last week. The event brought in more than 1,000 attendees who can attest the value of union membership. They know the strength that comes from being organized in the workplace. Here's hoping others will as well soon.

• Press Associates contributed to this report.

Today's Teamster News 01.24.15

Trade
The Trans-Pacific Partnership won't deliver jobs or curb China's power (opinion)  Los Angeles Times   ...U.S. leaders promised [previous free-trade] deals would create high-paying jobs, reduce the trade deficit, increase GDP and raise living standards. But none of this came true...
Trans-Pacific Partnership Deal Isn't Secret, Says US Official, But Access To Text Is Highly Restricted  International Business Times   ...[U.S. Trade Representative] Michael From an and Roberto Carvalho de Azevêdo, the director-general of the World Trade Organization, were asked at the World Economic Forum why the TPP is being kept secret by the U.S. at the same time the European Union has just published the full text of a separate proposed trade agreement with the United State….
Bipartisan push to stop currency cheats could derail TPP  Washington Post   …The latest news is that lawmakers will ask for any agreement to include a provision to stop foreign countries from manipulating their currencies at the expense of U.S. manufacturers...
America's Losing the Currency War (opinion)  Bloomberg  … Now the ball is in Japan's court again, and the U.S. is "just sitting here watching, being the one country whose currency is rallying because everyone else is trying to devalue."...
State Battles
Workers fight anti-worker local right-to-work laws in Kentucky  TeamsterNation   ...You can bet it isn't Kentucky workers who are passing right-to-work laws in six counties so far this year. The workers are fighting them...
Republicans vote to end Pay Equity Commission  Fox31 Denver   … Senate Republicans again reminded their Democratic colleagues what it’s like being in the minority as they voted Wednesday afternoon to do away with the Pay Equity Commission, arguing that it’s a feckless body that hasn’t accomplished much. Democrats …are already returning to their oft-used narrative that the GOP is hostile to women by scrapping a body charged with rooting out gender discrimination in the workplace...
AN ACT CONCERNING LARGE RETAIL STORES AND EMPLOYMENT OF WORKERS DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON.  Connecticut General Assembly   ...To require retail stores of five thousand square feet or more to close on certain holidays unless employees are given the option not to work holidays without penalty...
Rauner pulls plug on Quinn's last-minute moves  Chicago Tribune   ...Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has pulled the plug on Democratic predecessor Pat Quinn’s attempt to raise the minimum wage for state contractors, require the governor to release more details about his tax returns and stop Illinois State Police from detaining people based on their immigration status...
Prevailing wage emerges as unions' next big battle  CNHI   …The labor movement may be facing another high-stakes fight as sentiment grows to roll back the prevailing wage for workers on public projects. [in Indiana]...
“Right to Work” Is the Wrong Answer for Wisconsin’s Economy  Economic Policy Institute   ...What RTW laws do is to make it illegal for a group of unionized workers to negotiate a contract that requires each employee who enjoys the benefit of the contract to pay his or her share of the costs of negotiating and policing it...
War on Workers
Labor at a Crossroads: In Defense of Members-Only Unionism (opinion)  American Prospect   ...Allowing members-only unions would protect the rights of those who wish to bargain collectively even if they fail to surmount all the legal hurdles necessary to establish the union as the representative of all employees in the workplace. The decision of the United Auto Workers union to engage in members-only bargaining at the VW plant in Chattanooga is a potentially revolutionary experiment with a new approach to union representation...
Why the Energy Selloff Is So Dangerous to the U.S. Economy  Wall Street on Parade   ... Oil-related companies in the U.S. now account for between 35 to 40 percent of all capital spending. Announcements of sharp cutbacks in capital spending and job reductions by these companies create big ripples, forcing related companies to trim their own budgets, revenue assumptions, and payrolls accordingly...
Buying a Nominee  National Journal   ...The coming presidential contest is ushering in an epochal shift: the arrival of candidate-specific nonprofits, personalized vehicles for a politician's supporters to raise and spend unlimited cash—completely clandestinely. It is poised to yield a campaign season more dominated by secret money than any election since Watergate...
Bob Dylan wants billionaire ‘job creators’ to start actually creating some jobs  Raw Story   … “People have to create jobs, and these big billionaires are the ones who can do it. We don’t see that happening. We see crime and inner cities exploding with people who have nothing to do, turning to drink and drugs. They could all have work created for them by all these hotshot billionaires. For sure that would create lot of happiness.”...
Wells Fargo, JPMorgan loan officers took cash kickbacks  CNN Money   ...Regulators said more than 100 loan officers at Wells Fargo (WFC) locations in Maryland and Virginia steered thousands of loans to Genuine Title, which went out of business last year, in exchange for cash...
Number of NC workers killed on the job nearly doubled last year  Charlotte News & Observer   ...Forty-four people died in work-related accidents last year, up from 23 in 2013. It was the highest number of worker deaths since 2011, when 53 died, according to the Labor Department...
Worker killed in steel factory accident  Boston Globe   …the worker was struck by a piece of steel as it was swinging on a crane inside the warehouse...
Miscellaneous
Senate Sets Final Vote For Keystone XL After Long, Tense Night Of Amendment Voting  ThinkProgress   ...The Senate was in session until midnight Thursday night, debating and voting on fifteen amendments to a bill that would approve the construction of the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. At the end of it all, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filed for cloture, a procedural move that effectively sets up a final vote on Keystone for next week...
Federal Court Order: Explosive DOT-111 "Bomb Train" Oil Tank Cars Can Continue to Roll  DeSmogBlog   …A U.S. federal court has ordered a halt in proceedings until May in a case centering around oil-by-rail tankers pitting the Sierra Club and ForestEthics against the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). As a result, potentially explosive DOT-111 oil tank cars, dubbed “bomb trains” by activists, can continue to roll through towns and cities across the U.S. indefinitely...