Teamsters
Teamsters, Elected Officials Demand San Bernardino County Keep Its Promises Teamster.org ...More than 1,200 San Bernardino County public employees were joined by State Treasurer John Chiang and District Attorney Mike Ramos at a town hall meeting at the Ontario Convention Center this weekend to protest the County Board of Supervisors’ broken promises. County workers perform crucial jobs such as 911 dispatchers, techs at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, child abuse hotline workers, building and bridge inspectors, flood specialists and many more....
CDT Member Receives Back Pay, Reduced Discipline Local 727 ...A CDT dispatcher member has received back pay and a reduced suspension after Teamsters Local 727 representatives fought against management’s unfair discipline. Devin Allen was wrongfully suspended for absenteeism caused by an ongoing illness, of which management was aware, and management planned to terminate Allen upon his return from the suspension. The union immediately filed a grievance...
Faith inspires Oklahoma man to donate kidney to co-worker News OK ...Henley, a UPS driver, made regular route stops at a UPS store on Memorial in Oklahoma City where Hall worked. “I got to know him well know enough to say ‘hi’ and visit some,” Henley said. In April 2014, Hall was diagnosed with kidney failure. Henley, 35, started to ask what was involved with donating a kidney...
Global Labor & Trade
Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement: Potential damage to global public health People's World ... The proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free trade agreement currently being negotiated among 12 Pacific Rim countries, threatens the future availability of affordable generic medicines and could undermine the global HIV response in developing countries, according to a new report released by amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research...
Dutch MPs criticise US trade treaty secrecy, want TTIP openness DutchNews ...Dutch MPs from across the political spectrum are demanding answers on the European Commission’s decision to stop sending them details of the negotiations over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The aim of the proposed free trade deal between the EU and US is to cut tariffs, standardise regulations and simplify investment...
How regional trade agreements can spark a fight over Feta cheese Fortune ...This arrangement poses a problem for the U.S. dairy industry. While the provision was made to protect those already in this business, new producers trying to sell their feta would be barred from entering the Canadian market unless they called their product “feta-like” or a similar term. This locking-in of existing names would extend to nearly a few hundred agricultural products that could only originate in 28 member states of the European Union...
Unions rally against China free trade deal Yahoo News ...Traffic outside the West Australian parliament was brought to a standstill as unions held a rally against the free trade deal with China, saying it will be bad for local jobs and exploit foreign workers. The CFMEU says Chinese companies will be able to bring in an entire overseas workforce for projects worth more $150 million in which they have a minimum 15 per cent stake...
Palestine Workers Find Strength in their Union Solidarity Center ...Trade unions in Palestine are among the most significant institutions of civil society not directly tied to any political party. As the primary voice for working families and the unemployed in Palestine, the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) plays a prominent role in backing the rule of law and developing coalitions among organizations seeking a more stable, just and prosperous Palestine. The fight for introducing and enforcing a minimum wage in Palestine is an example of this struggle...
Tube strike suspended by unions BBC ...Two 24-hour Tube strikes planned for this week have been called off after talks between unions and London Underground (LU) managers. Tube workers have been in dispute with LU over rotas and working conditions on the new Night Tube service. The Unite union said it had suspended its action as a "gesture of goodwill" to allow further talks...
State & Living Wage Battles
Prevailing wage repeal petition drive nears finish line, possible action by Michigan Legislature MLive ...While construction workers restored the Michigan Capitol this summer, a fight over guaranteed wages on government building projects was taking place on street corners all over the state. A business-backed group working to repeal Michigan's 1965 prevailing wage law was busy circulating petitions, and organizers say they are close to completing the signature gathering phase — well ahead of schedule...
The Florida Republicans Who Couldn't Draw a Map The Atlantic ...GOP leaders have tried—and failed—to come up with new congressional districts after the state’s highest court ruled their last effort was too favorable to their party. When the Florida legislature convened for a special summer session earlier this month, lawmakers had, literally, one job: to redraw the state’s congressional districts after a court had thrown out the last map they came up with...
As Minimum Wages Rise, Restaurants Say No to Tips, Yes to Higher Prices New York Times ...Restaurant owners, customers and staff have long railed against the tyranny of tipping, but like a love affair gone bad, it has proved difficult to quit. Now, prompted by a spurt of new minimum wage proposals in major cities, an expanding number of restaurateurs are experimenting with no-tipping policies as a way to manage rising labor costs...
In Detroit, labor secretary hears pleas to boost minimum wage USA Today ...One-by-one, sometimes in tears, Detroit workers on Tuesday opened up to U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez, telling him how little they earn and why they joined a labor movement — Fight for 15 — that is seeking $15 an hour wages, as well as better benefits and opportunities for employees in the restaurant, retail and health care industries. They talked about how hard it is to work in low-wage jobs and how they struggle to use that income to care, not just for themselves, but also for their kids...
The Labor Prospect: Getting Sick of No Paid Sick Leave American Prospect ...Despite an expanding patchwork of paid sick leave policies cropping up around the U.S., an In These Times investigation reminds us that this country is woefully behind the rest of the world in terms of such worker rights. Lacking any sort of basic safety net, nearly one-quarter of working mothers are back on the grind within just two weeks of giving birth, the report finds...
U.S. Labor
Target Walks Away From Equal Opportunity Complaint With $2.8 Million Bill Think Progress ...Target agreed to pay $2.8 million on Monday to settle a claim that the retailer disproportionately screened out applicants based on their race or gender. The complaint, filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), targeted certain hiring assessments used over the past decade. The sum represents one of the highest amounts paid in recent years to settle a claim of hiring discrimination...
Kroger/Columbus Ratifies Labor Pact with UFCW Local 1059 Progressive Grocer ...The Kroger Co.'s Columbus division has ratified a new labor agreement with UFCW Local 1059. "We are pleased to reach an agreement that is good for our associates," said Joe Grieshaber, president of Kroger's Columbus division. "This new contract provides wage increases, affordable health care and ongoing investment in our associates' pension fund to support their retirement"...
Deere opens talks with UAW Chicago Tribune ...Moline-based Deere said Tuesday that it has opened negotiations with the United Auto Workers union over a labor deal covering 10,000 manufacturing jobs. But the timing, on the back of China's "Black Monday" stock market crash, couldn't be worse for the UAW. Low commodity prices were already slowing demand for farm equipment...
Overworked and Out of Time: a Democracy Issue Counterpunch ...The long-shot United States Democratic Party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has been telling the large crowds attending his rallies that American workers put in the longest hours in the industrialized world. He’s on solid ground. According to the International Labor Organization, “Americans work 137 more hours per year than Japanese workers, 260 more hours per year than British workers, and 499 more hours per year than French workers”...
90% Of WeWork Cleaners Jobless After Contract Termination Gothamist ...Roughly 90% of the subcontracted workforce who cleaned the New York offices of WeWork, the co-working startup recently valued at $10 billion, have been laid off amid allegations that the company is anti-union and discriminates against immigrants. The 150 custodians who picked up left-over coffee cups, swept hallways, and cleaned conference rooms for $10/hour learned in July that their employer had terminated its contract with WeWork...
Social Justice & Other News
High-End Visa Program Blasted as 'Immigration Reform for the 1%' Common Dreams ...Actions are taking place in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle on Tuesday decrying a controversial U.S. immigration program that unions and immigration advocates have dubbed "immigration reform for the 1%." The little-known EB-5 visa program allows wealthy foreigners to qualify for an entry visa when they invest a certain amount in an American business...
The Right-Wing Hasn’t Read This Black Lives Matter Textbook, But They Are Freaking Out Anyway Think Progress ...A line of textbooks aimed at teaching students current events has been targeted by right-wing media because it happens to address the complex issues raised by Black Lives Matter. Right-wing radio personality Larry Elder criticized the book on Fox News as means of “indoctrinating” black kids and “teaching them they are victims”...
Showing posts with label public employees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label public employees. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Today's Teamster News 06.10.15
Teamsters
Teamsters Rally at Republic Airways Shareholders Meeting Teamster.org ...Today, Republic Airways pilots and their families rallied outside the company's annual shareholders meeting in Indianapolis. The pilots, members of Teamsters Local 357, are calling on shareholders to pressure Republic CEO Bryan Bedford to quickly reach an agreement that includes fair pay and benefits and reflects changes that have occurred in the airline industry since the last contract was signed in 2003...
Trade Adjustment Assistance Bill Fails Public Sector Workers, Raids Medicare Teamster.org ...In a letter sent to House representatives today, the Teamsters joined eight other labor unions in expressing their opposition to a bill that would renew Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) without protecting millions of public sector workers while raiding Medicare for funding. Public sector workers, who were included under the 2009 TAA renewal, will be left vulnerable if any future trade agreements lead to the offshoring of their jobs...
Hoffa: Overworking truckers is dangerous Detroit News ...Highways across Michigan and the U.S. have become increasingly dangerous for motorists. And that will only get worse if Congress approves a transportation spending bill that effectively keeps the suspension of rules in place that allow truck drivers to work longer hours, that permits larger double-trailers and that prevents the U.S. Department of Transportation from raising minimum insurance standards that have been frozen in place for the last three decades...
The Plan to Cut Truck Traffic By Changing How Trash Haulers Do Business StreetsBlog ...In the past five years, at least six New Yorkers have been killed, and many others injured, by truck drivers working for private trash haulers. Labor and environmental advocates have a plan they say will reduce these deaths by cutting down on inefficiencies in private trucking routes. “No driver out there wants to break the law,” said Plinio Cruz, who has worked as a trash hauler for 10 years and is an organizer with Teamsters Joint Council 16...
Teamsters And GardaWorld Cash Services Tentative Agreement Ratified Teamsters Local 362 ...On June 4 a new collective agreement was ratified for GardaWorld Cash Services workers affiliated with the Teamsters Union. Ballots indicated that 93.5 percent of workers voted in favour of the new proposal. Over 450 workers are represented at GardaWorld Cash Services across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba...
Union Protects Andrew Distribution Members' Benefits, Working Conditions Teamsters Local 727 ...Teamsters Local 727 secured a two-year contract extension for Andrew Distribution drivers and clerical workers. The agreement includes annual bonuses and employer-paid benefit increases for Local 727 Health & Welfare and Legal & Educational Assistance Benefits while protecting all other current working conditions and job security clauses. Members ratified the agreement, which expires May 1, 2017...
Republic Airways teamsters rally for new contracts WISHTV ...Republic Airways pilots and their families rallied outside the company’s shareholders meeting in Indianapolis on Tuesday. The slow progress of contract negotiations between employees and one airline has caused several to voice their frustrations. Members of the Teamsters local 357 and employees of Republic Airways attended the rally...
Global Labor & Trade
GOP aiming for Friday trade vote, but snag remains Politico ...House leaders, confident but not yet certain they have the support to pass sweeping trade legislation, are aiming to bring the package to a floor vote by the end of this week — even as they rush to resolve a last-minute hangup over how to pay for aid to displaced workers. The vote to grant President Barack Obama fast-track authority to negotiate a massive Pacific Rim trade deal will be extremely tight...
Survey: Obama's Trade Proposal a Tough Sell for Most Americans NBC ...Despite a heavy push by President Barack Obama for a sweeping multinational trade deal, a majority of Americans echo the concerns of labor unions and a number of Democratic members of Congress that the trade accord will negatively impact U.S. workers and companies. Two-thirds of Americans say protecting American industries and jobs by limiting imports is more important than allowing free trade...
Unions, Seniors Groups Urge Congress Not To Cut Medicare To Fund Trade Assistance Huff Post ...An already difficult road for the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the House of Representatives got bumpier on Monday, as controversial Medicare cuts were brought into the mix. Labor unions and senior citizens' groups are launching efforts to lobby House members against a bill that includes $700 million in proposed cuts to Medicare reimbursements for doctors and hospitals. The cuts would be used to fund a $2.5 billion extension of Trade Adjustment Assistance funding...
U.S. Shifts Stance on Drug Pricing in Pacific Trade Pact Talks, Document Reveals New York Times ...Facing resistance from its Pacific trading partners, the Obama administration is no longer demanding protection for pharmaceutical prices under the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, according to a newly leaked “transparency” annex of the proposed trade accord. But American negotiators are still pressing participating governments to open up the process that sets reimbursement rates for drugs and medical devices...
House Expected to Vote Wednesday to Repeal Country-of-Origin Meat Labels Due to a Trade Agreement Provision That Is Replicated in the TPP Public Citizen ...The threat to consumer laws posed by the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal will be on full display Wednesday when the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to pass legislation to repeal the U.S. policy requiring country-of-origin labels on meat sold here. This law is just the latest in a string of U.S. policies that have been repealed or weakened to comply with provisions in previous trade agreements that also are included in the current draft of the TPP deal...
Meet RCEP, a Trade Agreement in Asia That's Even Worse Than TPP or ACTA EFF ...If we described TISA as a treaty you've never heard of, RCEP has been even more obscure. RCEP can be compared with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), except that rather than being driven by the United States, it is being driven by the ten-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), with the addition of their trading partners from the broader Asia-Pacific region including most notably India and China, who are absent from the TPP pact...
New EIA Report Details Trade Deal Failure to Support the Environment Huff Post ...On June 4, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) published a new briefing paper that demonstrates how free trade agreements fail to lift up environmental standards. Their report, focused on the failure to enforce environmental obligations in the U.S.-Peru trade pact, is particularly timely given that proponents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal have claimed that its still-secret environment chapter will lift up environmental safeguards...
Supporting NAFTA Was the Kiss of Death for Democrats --Why Dems Should Think Twice About Voting for TPP Alternet ...t’s serious flashback time for those involved in the 1993 debate over the North America Free Trade Agreement. With the “fast track” trade vote expected as early as this Thursday, a Democratic president is once again twisting arms and dangling rewards in a desperate effort to muster votes for a corporate-driven trade deal...
Argentina strike: Transport hit by second major walkout BBC News ...A major transport strike in Argentina has brought parts of the country to a standstill as unions protest against high taxes and inflation. The 24-hour walkout - the second in three months - affects bus, train, plane and underground services. Swathes of the capital Buenos Aires ground to a halt after people were unable to reach their jobs...
Cambodia’s Draft Union Law ‘A Major Step Backward’ Solidarity Center ...Cambodia’s draft trade union law would violate the right to organize and be a major step backward for workers, Human Rights Watch said yesterday in a letter to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. The Cambodian government has told the media that the trade union law will be enacted in 2015, but has not made a draft public nor provided opportunities for feedback from workers, unions or the public...
State & Living Wage Battles
State Officials Deciding How Voter ID Law Will Work At Polls WFMY ...The State Board of Elections held a public hearing in Winston-Salem Tuesday night to get feedback from voters about how the voter ID law should work at the polls. The board of elections has a proposed list of rules that voters got to comment on during the two-hour hearing. "Voting is fundamental, it's extremely important. We take it very seriously, it's what we do every day. It doesn't surprise us that folks have feelings that run deep on these issues"...
The real story behind Scott Walker’s war on higher education Salon ...On its face, today’s Wisconsin story appears to be about budgets and entitlement. Citing the need to save money, the Joint Finance Committee of the Wisconsin Legislature at the end of May voted 12-4 to cut $250 million from the university’s budget and eliminate tenure from state law, enabling the governor-appointed Board of Regents to fire professors whenever they declared it time to “redirect” a program...
The People Who Clean Our Homes And Care For Our Children Just Won Big Think Progress ...Last week, domestic workers — those who care for children and clean inside people’s homes — won two surprise victories securing more rights in Connecticut and Oregon. Oregon has considered a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights for many years, but then last week it gained traction. Connecticut’s bill is a good deal narrower...
County Board passes resolution opposing 'right to work' Web Times ...The La Salle County Board overwhelmingly expressed its opposition to "right to work" laws by passing a resolution with a 23 to 2 vote. Before the meeting, a crowd gathered outside of the Ottawa Knights of Columbus in support of the resolution...
Walmart Raised Wages In April. It’s Already Seeing The Benefits. Think Progress ...After it raised wages for employees in April, Walmart said on Friday that it’s already seen lower turnover and an increase in job applicants. “Our job applications are going up and we are seeing some relief in turnover,” CEO Doug McMillon said at a media briefing after its annual shareholders meeting. The company’s performance has been suffering recently thanks to understaffed stores, among other things...
LA City Council Expected To Give Final Vote On Minimum Wage Ordinance CBS ...Members of the Los Angeles City Council are expected to make a final vote Wednesday on an ordinance that would raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour over the next five years. If the ordinance receives unanimous approval, wage increases will take place on the first of July each year...
U.S. Labor
Applebee’s Is Trying To Limit Workers’ Ability to Sue the Company When Their Wages Are Stolen In These Times ...Workers in the restaurant industry are routinely the victims of wage theft. For workers without a union, suing the company is one of the few ways to recover those wages. But a legal fight led by the restaurant chain Applebee’s against the National Labor Relations Board is aiming to further limit workers’ ability to sue the company over disputes on the job...
Chipotle is Giving Their Hourly Employees Paid Sick Leave, Vacation Time, and a College Reimbursement Alternet ...In addition to sick leave and vacation, workers will also be eligible for tuition reimbursements. A spokeswoman for the company announced that Chipotle will reimburse 90% of tuition and fees up to the IRS's $5,250 per calendar year limit. These benefits will be offered to all hourly employees after one year of work and to managers and salaried employees without any wait...
Striking Texas refinery workers say reach tentative pact with Marathon KFGO ...Negotiators for Marathon Petroleum Corp and union workers at the company’s Galveston Bay, Texas, refinery reached a tentative agreement on Monday for a four-year contract, pointing to the end of a walkout that has lasted four months, said local union officials. Before strikers can leave their picket lines outside the 451,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Texas City, Texas, United Steelworkers union (USW) Local 13-1 and Marathon will have to complete a return-to-work agreement and union members will have to vote on the contract...
SEIU Local 668 ratifies one-year contract benefiting thousands of workers in Northeastern Pennsylvania Times Leader ...Pennsylvania’s second-largest Service Employees International Union on Monday ratified a one-year contract covering nearly 2,000 workers in five local counties. Approved by a “significant margin,” the contract agreed to by SEIU Local 668 guarantees a freeze on health care benefits, a 2.25 percent step increase, and preservation of future bargaining rights, according to union president Tom Herman...
AFSCME members rally as contract with state nears expiration State Journal-Register ...In advance of the deadline, the union has planned more than 100 public events across the state this week to raise awareness about services provided by state employees and to urge support for a new contract. According to an AFSCME bargaining bulletin obtained by The State Journal-Register in May, Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration is seeking "deep cuts to health insurance benefits" that the union said could drive up employee costs by more than 500 percent...
Miscellaneous
Mortgage Lender CEO Will Pay $1 Million Out Of His Own Pocket To Resolve Charges He Bilked Clients Think Progress ...Despite saying he did nothing wrong, a mortgage lending executive has agreed to make a personal $1 million fine payment as part of a $20 million settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) over allegations that he paid his employees to bilk their clients. RPM Mortgage CEO Robert Hirt will pay a million-dollar penalty out of his own pocket, and another $1 million fine will come from the corporate treasury...
By the numbers: US police kill more in days than other countries do in years The Guardian ...Looking at our data for the US against admittedly less reliable information on police killings elsewhere paints a dramatic portrait, and one that resonates with protests that have gone global since a killing last year in Ferguson, Missouri: the US is not just some outlier in terms of police violence when compared with countries of similar economic and political standing...
Teamsters Rally at Republic Airways Shareholders Meeting Teamster.org ...Today, Republic Airways pilots and their families rallied outside the company's annual shareholders meeting in Indianapolis. The pilots, members of Teamsters Local 357, are calling on shareholders to pressure Republic CEO Bryan Bedford to quickly reach an agreement that includes fair pay and benefits and reflects changes that have occurred in the airline industry since the last contract was signed in 2003...
Trade Adjustment Assistance Bill Fails Public Sector Workers, Raids Medicare Teamster.org ...In a letter sent to House representatives today, the Teamsters joined eight other labor unions in expressing their opposition to a bill that would renew Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) without protecting millions of public sector workers while raiding Medicare for funding. Public sector workers, who were included under the 2009 TAA renewal, will be left vulnerable if any future trade agreements lead to the offshoring of their jobs...
Hoffa: Overworking truckers is dangerous Detroit News ...Highways across Michigan and the U.S. have become increasingly dangerous for motorists. And that will only get worse if Congress approves a transportation spending bill that effectively keeps the suspension of rules in place that allow truck drivers to work longer hours, that permits larger double-trailers and that prevents the U.S. Department of Transportation from raising minimum insurance standards that have been frozen in place for the last three decades...
The Plan to Cut Truck Traffic By Changing How Trash Haulers Do Business StreetsBlog ...In the past five years, at least six New Yorkers have been killed, and many others injured, by truck drivers working for private trash haulers. Labor and environmental advocates have a plan they say will reduce these deaths by cutting down on inefficiencies in private trucking routes. “No driver out there wants to break the law,” said Plinio Cruz, who has worked as a trash hauler for 10 years and is an organizer with Teamsters Joint Council 16...
Teamsters And GardaWorld Cash Services Tentative Agreement Ratified Teamsters Local 362 ...On June 4 a new collective agreement was ratified for GardaWorld Cash Services workers affiliated with the Teamsters Union. Ballots indicated that 93.5 percent of workers voted in favour of the new proposal. Over 450 workers are represented at GardaWorld Cash Services across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba...
Union Protects Andrew Distribution Members' Benefits, Working Conditions Teamsters Local 727 ...Teamsters Local 727 secured a two-year contract extension for Andrew Distribution drivers and clerical workers. The agreement includes annual bonuses and employer-paid benefit increases for Local 727 Health & Welfare and Legal & Educational Assistance Benefits while protecting all other current working conditions and job security clauses. Members ratified the agreement, which expires May 1, 2017...
Republic Airways teamsters rally for new contracts WISHTV ...Republic Airways pilots and their families rallied outside the company’s shareholders meeting in Indianapolis on Tuesday. The slow progress of contract negotiations between employees and one airline has caused several to voice their frustrations. Members of the Teamsters local 357 and employees of Republic Airways attended the rally...
Global Labor & Trade
GOP aiming for Friday trade vote, but snag remains Politico ...House leaders, confident but not yet certain they have the support to pass sweeping trade legislation, are aiming to bring the package to a floor vote by the end of this week — even as they rush to resolve a last-minute hangup over how to pay for aid to displaced workers. The vote to grant President Barack Obama fast-track authority to negotiate a massive Pacific Rim trade deal will be extremely tight...
Survey: Obama's Trade Proposal a Tough Sell for Most Americans NBC ...Despite a heavy push by President Barack Obama for a sweeping multinational trade deal, a majority of Americans echo the concerns of labor unions and a number of Democratic members of Congress that the trade accord will negatively impact U.S. workers and companies. Two-thirds of Americans say protecting American industries and jobs by limiting imports is more important than allowing free trade...
Unions, Seniors Groups Urge Congress Not To Cut Medicare To Fund Trade Assistance Huff Post ...An already difficult road for the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the House of Representatives got bumpier on Monday, as controversial Medicare cuts were brought into the mix. Labor unions and senior citizens' groups are launching efforts to lobby House members against a bill that includes $700 million in proposed cuts to Medicare reimbursements for doctors and hospitals. The cuts would be used to fund a $2.5 billion extension of Trade Adjustment Assistance funding...
U.S. Shifts Stance on Drug Pricing in Pacific Trade Pact Talks, Document Reveals New York Times ...Facing resistance from its Pacific trading partners, the Obama administration is no longer demanding protection for pharmaceutical prices under the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, according to a newly leaked “transparency” annex of the proposed trade accord. But American negotiators are still pressing participating governments to open up the process that sets reimbursement rates for drugs and medical devices...
House Expected to Vote Wednesday to Repeal Country-of-Origin Meat Labels Due to a Trade Agreement Provision That Is Replicated in the TPP Public Citizen ...The threat to consumer laws posed by the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal will be on full display Wednesday when the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to pass legislation to repeal the U.S. policy requiring country-of-origin labels on meat sold here. This law is just the latest in a string of U.S. policies that have been repealed or weakened to comply with provisions in previous trade agreements that also are included in the current draft of the TPP deal...
Meet RCEP, a Trade Agreement in Asia That's Even Worse Than TPP or ACTA EFF ...If we described TISA as a treaty you've never heard of, RCEP has been even more obscure. RCEP can be compared with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), except that rather than being driven by the United States, it is being driven by the ten-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), with the addition of their trading partners from the broader Asia-Pacific region including most notably India and China, who are absent from the TPP pact...
New EIA Report Details Trade Deal Failure to Support the Environment Huff Post ...On June 4, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) published a new briefing paper that demonstrates how free trade agreements fail to lift up environmental standards. Their report, focused on the failure to enforce environmental obligations in the U.S.-Peru trade pact, is particularly timely given that proponents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal have claimed that its still-secret environment chapter will lift up environmental safeguards...
Supporting NAFTA Was the Kiss of Death for Democrats --Why Dems Should Think Twice About Voting for TPP Alternet ...t’s serious flashback time for those involved in the 1993 debate over the North America Free Trade Agreement. With the “fast track” trade vote expected as early as this Thursday, a Democratic president is once again twisting arms and dangling rewards in a desperate effort to muster votes for a corporate-driven trade deal...
Argentina strike: Transport hit by second major walkout BBC News ...A major transport strike in Argentina has brought parts of the country to a standstill as unions protest against high taxes and inflation. The 24-hour walkout - the second in three months - affects bus, train, plane and underground services. Swathes of the capital Buenos Aires ground to a halt after people were unable to reach their jobs...
Cambodia’s Draft Union Law ‘A Major Step Backward’ Solidarity Center ...Cambodia’s draft trade union law would violate the right to organize and be a major step backward for workers, Human Rights Watch said yesterday in a letter to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. The Cambodian government has told the media that the trade union law will be enacted in 2015, but has not made a draft public nor provided opportunities for feedback from workers, unions or the public...
State & Living Wage Battles
State Officials Deciding How Voter ID Law Will Work At Polls WFMY ...The State Board of Elections held a public hearing in Winston-Salem Tuesday night to get feedback from voters about how the voter ID law should work at the polls. The board of elections has a proposed list of rules that voters got to comment on during the two-hour hearing. "Voting is fundamental, it's extremely important. We take it very seriously, it's what we do every day. It doesn't surprise us that folks have feelings that run deep on these issues"...
The real story behind Scott Walker’s war on higher education Salon ...On its face, today’s Wisconsin story appears to be about budgets and entitlement. Citing the need to save money, the Joint Finance Committee of the Wisconsin Legislature at the end of May voted 12-4 to cut $250 million from the university’s budget and eliminate tenure from state law, enabling the governor-appointed Board of Regents to fire professors whenever they declared it time to “redirect” a program...
The People Who Clean Our Homes And Care For Our Children Just Won Big Think Progress ...Last week, domestic workers — those who care for children and clean inside people’s homes — won two surprise victories securing more rights in Connecticut and Oregon. Oregon has considered a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights for many years, but then last week it gained traction. Connecticut’s bill is a good deal narrower...
County Board passes resolution opposing 'right to work' Web Times ...The La Salle County Board overwhelmingly expressed its opposition to "right to work" laws by passing a resolution with a 23 to 2 vote. Before the meeting, a crowd gathered outside of the Ottawa Knights of Columbus in support of the resolution...
Walmart Raised Wages In April. It’s Already Seeing The Benefits. Think Progress ...After it raised wages for employees in April, Walmart said on Friday that it’s already seen lower turnover and an increase in job applicants. “Our job applications are going up and we are seeing some relief in turnover,” CEO Doug McMillon said at a media briefing after its annual shareholders meeting. The company’s performance has been suffering recently thanks to understaffed stores, among other things...
LA City Council Expected To Give Final Vote On Minimum Wage Ordinance CBS ...Members of the Los Angeles City Council are expected to make a final vote Wednesday on an ordinance that would raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour over the next five years. If the ordinance receives unanimous approval, wage increases will take place on the first of July each year...
U.S. Labor
Applebee’s Is Trying To Limit Workers’ Ability to Sue the Company When Their Wages Are Stolen In These Times ...Workers in the restaurant industry are routinely the victims of wage theft. For workers without a union, suing the company is one of the few ways to recover those wages. But a legal fight led by the restaurant chain Applebee’s against the National Labor Relations Board is aiming to further limit workers’ ability to sue the company over disputes on the job...
Chipotle is Giving Their Hourly Employees Paid Sick Leave, Vacation Time, and a College Reimbursement Alternet ...In addition to sick leave and vacation, workers will also be eligible for tuition reimbursements. A spokeswoman for the company announced that Chipotle will reimburse 90% of tuition and fees up to the IRS's $5,250 per calendar year limit. These benefits will be offered to all hourly employees after one year of work and to managers and salaried employees without any wait...
Striking Texas refinery workers say reach tentative pact with Marathon KFGO ...Negotiators for Marathon Petroleum Corp and union workers at the company’s Galveston Bay, Texas, refinery reached a tentative agreement on Monday for a four-year contract, pointing to the end of a walkout that has lasted four months, said local union officials. Before strikers can leave their picket lines outside the 451,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Texas City, Texas, United Steelworkers union (USW) Local 13-1 and Marathon will have to complete a return-to-work agreement and union members will have to vote on the contract...
SEIU Local 668 ratifies one-year contract benefiting thousands of workers in Northeastern Pennsylvania Times Leader ...Pennsylvania’s second-largest Service Employees International Union on Monday ratified a one-year contract covering nearly 2,000 workers in five local counties. Approved by a “significant margin,” the contract agreed to by SEIU Local 668 guarantees a freeze on health care benefits, a 2.25 percent step increase, and preservation of future bargaining rights, according to union president Tom Herman...
AFSCME members rally as contract with state nears expiration State Journal-Register ...In advance of the deadline, the union has planned more than 100 public events across the state this week to raise awareness about services provided by state employees and to urge support for a new contract. According to an AFSCME bargaining bulletin obtained by The State Journal-Register in May, Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration is seeking "deep cuts to health insurance benefits" that the union said could drive up employee costs by more than 500 percent...
Miscellaneous
Mortgage Lender CEO Will Pay $1 Million Out Of His Own Pocket To Resolve Charges He Bilked Clients Think Progress ...Despite saying he did nothing wrong, a mortgage lending executive has agreed to make a personal $1 million fine payment as part of a $20 million settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) over allegations that he paid his employees to bilk their clients. RPM Mortgage CEO Robert Hirt will pay a million-dollar penalty out of his own pocket, and another $1 million fine will come from the corporate treasury...
By the numbers: US police kill more in days than other countries do in years The Guardian ...Looking at our data for the US against admittedly less reliable information on police killings elsewhere paints a dramatic portrait, and one that resonates with protests that have gone global since a killing last year in Ferguson, Missouri: the US is not just some outlier in terms of police violence when compared with countries of similar economic and political standing...
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