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 10.28.15

TEAMSTERS
Teamster Pilots at Republic Airways Approve New Three-Year Contract  Teamster.org  ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Airline Division and Republic Airways Holdings Inc. announced today that pilots represented by Teamsters Local 357 voted to ratify a new three-year agreement. Results of the vote, which were tabulated today, were 1,363 votes in favor of the agreement to 421 votes against, with 1,784, or 90 percent of eligible pilots, participating in the vote...
Head of Teamsters, Jim Hoffa, stands with striking truckers in Long Beach  Press-Telegram  ...Teamster President Jim Hoffa joined striking port truck drivers Tuesday in Long Beach, saying the misclassification of these workers must end. “You have the support of the 1.4 million Teamster members,” Hoffa said. “We will bring justice to port truck drivers and warehouse workers nationwide.” The truck drivers who ferry goods to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach walked off the job Monday...
Teamsters ramp up drayage, warehouse worker organizing effort in LA-Long Beach  JOC  ...The Teamsters union Tuesday stepped up its organizing efforts in Southern California, targeting another drayage company in Los Angeles-Long Beach, and announcing a partnership with a warehouse worker advocacy organization. The latter signals a move by the Teamsters to organize what could potentially be thousands of workers in the warehouse and distribution industry...
Labor friction escalates between California port truckers, shippers  Reuters  ...Long-simmering labor tensions between Southern California port truckers and shipping companies they accuse of wage theft escalated on Tuesday as a group of drivers demanded recognition as full-fledged employees and petitioned to join the Teamsters union. The action, according to the Teamsters, was taken by at least 50 drivers who work for New Jersey-based Intermodal Bridge Transport (IBT)...
New Third Shift Creates Jobs, Better Working Conditions for Pepsi Members  Local 727  ...The addition of a third shift at the PepsiCo warehouse in Chicago’s Canaryville neighborhood means more union jobs and better working conditions for the location’s Teamsters Local 727 members. Starting Nov. 1, seven new third-shift production department machine operators and four additional workers will be on the job, along with the nearly 150 members already working at the warehouse...
Union, recycling advocates promote plan to revamp city’s sanitation setup  City & State  ...Teamsters Local 813, which represents commercial sanitation workers and is part of Transform Don’t Trash, would like to see labor peace agreements tied to licenses. Such accords typically prevent workers from striking or boycotting and give unions more leverage in attempting to organize. But Local 813’s support has raised questions about why it takes a push from organized labor to get the government to supervise the sector...

GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
U.S. officials to work with Congress on Pacific trade pact timing  Reuters  ...U.S. officials said on Tuesday they will work with Congress to find a window for lawmakers to consider a sweeping Pacific trade pact and warned that rejecting the deal would raise questions about America's leadership in the region. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said he was confident of winning political support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal sealed with 11 trading partners earlier this month...
Bank Provisions in Pacific Trade Pact Draw Fire  Wall Street Journal  ...The sweeping Pacific trade agreement completed this month gives banks an added international legal protection that congressional critics warn could lead to more challenges to Wall Street regulations. U.S. officials play down the new protection for financial firms, saying the Trans-Pacific Partnership also contains several new legal provisions that limit the ability of banks to challenge American financial rules...
Indonesia 'not ready' to join TPP  Nation Multimedia  ...Indonesia President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's intention to push for membership of the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal signals a reversal in Indonesia's protectionist traditions, and some experts have warned that the country had yet to carefully calculate the implications of this change, arguing that the decision might put Southeast Asia's largest economy in an inferior position in relation to other members of the TPP and the world more broadly...
Joseph Stiglitz: Under TPP, Polluters Could Sue U.S. for Setting Carbon Emissions Limits  Democracy Now  ...Nobel Prize-winning economist and Columbia University professor Joseph Stiglitz warns about the dangers of the TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. "Under these provisions, corporations can sue the government, including the American government, by the way, so it’s all the governments in the TPP that can be sued for the loss of profits as a result of the regulations that restrict their ability to emit carbon emissions...
Canadians split on support of TPP deal, poll suggests  Vancouver Sun  ...Almost one month after Canada and 11 other nations reached the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement in Atlanta, Canadians remain sharply divided on whether such a deal is good or bad for the public at-large. That is the finding of a EKOS poll commissioned by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, the results of which were released Today (Wednesday). The poll found almost an equal number of respondents supporting the TPP (41 per cent) and those who oppose the deal (38 per cent)...
Bundestag president calls TTIP undemocratic  The Local  ...The President (speaker) of the Bundestag, Norbert Lammert, has threatened to vote against the US-EU TTIP free trade agreement when it comes to a vote before the German parliament, saying that the deal lacks transparency and democratic legitimacy. ammert, who belongs to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said that he considers it "out of the question"...

STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Prevailing wage petition falls short with duplicate signatures  WNEM ...petition to repeal Michigan's prevailing wage law is being challenged, after claims that thousands of signatures were duplicated. It's a new twist in the GOP-led effort to go around Gov. Rick Snyder, and repeal a law the governor supports. John Purich is an attorney for a group wanting keep the state's prevailing wage law intact. "This one is not going to make it," Purich said...
In Minneapolis, a Strong ‘Fair Scheduling’ Law for Workers Runs Into a Corporate Roadblock  In These Times  ...Less than a year after San Francisco passed a first-of-its-kind fair scheduling ordinance for retail employers, progressive activists in Minneapolis began pushing for an even stronger scheduling ordinance of their own—along with paid sick leave, wage theft protections, and the possibility of a $15 minimum wage. But the campaign, dubbed the Working Families Agenda, ran into a roadblock earlier this month...
Sacramento City Council passes minimum wage increase  KCRA  ...The Sacramento City Council approved increasing minimum wage to $12.50 per hour by 2020 during its meeting Tuesday night. The ordinance, based on recommendations by the 2015 Task Force on Income Inequality, passed 6 to 3. In California, the current minimum wage is $9 per hour and will increase to $10...
Jersey City set to expand paid sick leave mandate  NJ.com  ...More small businesses would have to adhere to the city's paid sick time mandate under a measure set for adoption by the City Council tomorrow. The changes would require employers with fewer than 10 employees to provide workers with up to 24 hours of paid sick time and up to 16 hours of unpaid sick time annually. Previously, those businesses only had to provide unpaid time...

U.S. LABOR
UAW voting on GM contract starts Friday  Detroit Free Press  ...As UAW leaders brief local officials from more than 40 General Motors locations Wednesday afternoon, at least one local has decided its members will vote Friday on the four-year agreement. Details of the proposed contract will be shared Wednesday afternoon by UAW President Dennis Williams, Cindy Estrada, vice president of the union's General Motors department, and members of the bargaining committee...
Verizon gets call from Bernie Sanders to reach agreement with CWA union  Fierce Telecom  ...Verizon is facing yet another call to come to an agreement with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate, met with Verizon union employees during a demonstration near at Verizon Wireless store in New York's Times Square...
Final Major Budget Deal Of The Obama-Boehner Era Forces GOP To Release Social Security Hostages  Think Progress  ...The budget deal struck between Republican congressional leaders and the White House on Monday night would negate a previous GOP ploy to stage a crisis in Social Security funding next year. The deal will prevent a benefits cut by transferring funds from the main Social Security trust to the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) trust, which would otherwise run short of funding next year and be forced to cut payments to beneficiaries by 20 percent...
Lacking Federal Protection, Rural LGBTQ Workers Falling Through the Cracks  Common Dreams  ...Despite having won federal recognition of the right to marry a partner of their choosing, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people continue to face the possibility of being fired or harassed at work because of their identity or sexual preference. As much as 70 percent of the United States, geographically speaking, lacks any employment protections for LGBT workers...
The Pay Gap Will Ensure That CEOs Enjoy Luxurious Retirement While Workers Keep Struggling  Think Progress  ...The pay gap between what CEOs make and what they pay their workers is pretty well known. A new report released on Wednesday illuminates a different gap: that between what CEOs have stashed away for retirement and what their workers have been able to amass. The report from the Center for Effective Government and the Institute for Policy Studies looks at the retirement accounts among CEOs...

SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Texas Sheriff Faces Lawsuit Over Federal Immigration Holds  ABC  ...A Texas sheriff who faced criticism from Gov. Greg Abbott for not complying with federal immigration holds is being sued by people who say they were detained for unconstitutionally long periods. The lawsuit was filed the same day Abbott made public a letter to Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez threatening to penalize the county over her revised policy to no longer honor all federal immigration detention holds...
'Codifying' Government Surveillance, Senate Passes CISA  Common Dreams  ...The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) without any of the proposed amendments that would have strengthened user protections. The bill passed 74-21. Rights groups immediately called for President Barack Obama to veto the bill and vowed to keep pressure up.
Tensions Rise as Climate Negotiations Resume in Bonn  Truth-Out  ...The last round of negotiations before the much-anticipated Paris Conference kicked off on Monday in Bonn. With only five official negotiating days left before Paris, those involved in the talks have plenty of work ahead of them before agreeing on what will hopefully be a legally-binding agreement next December...
Obama: Police Are 'Scapegoats' for Broader Failures of Society  The Atlantic  ...President Obama’s speech to the International Association of Chiefs of Police in Chicago was always going to require some careful political balancing. he conversation was fairly soft. It was classic Obama: Admitting that every side had something to offer, steering a moderate path, and calling on all sides to step up and compromise...
National Outrage as Videos of Brutal Police Assault on Black Student Go Viral  Common Dreams  ...A brutal attack by a male officer on a black, female high school student in Columbia, South Carolina on Monday has spurred widespread outrage after a number of cell phone videos of the incident went viral. In the videos, Spring Valley High School resource officer Ben Fields, who is white, is shown briefly reproaching the student, who refuses to get up from her desk, before he puts his arm around her neck...

Today's Teamster News 09.29.15

Teamsters
Hoffa: Retirees, Workers Deserve to Receive Their Pensions  Huffington Post  ...The golden years of everyday Americans who worked hard for decades to put away money for retirement are increasingly being jeopardized by the nation's pension system. Earlier this month, several hundred Teamster members and retirees came to Washington to voice outrage over proposed rules governing pension cuts and support for legislation offered by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) that would bolster multi-employer plans...
Teamsters Local 357, Republic Airways Reach Tentative Agreement on New Contract  Teamster.org  ...Teamsters Local 357 and Republic Airways Holdings Inc. announced today that they have reached a consensual tentative agreement on the terms of a new three-year contract for the 2,100 Republic pilots represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. “This milestone is long overdue,” said Captain Jim Clark, Teamsters Local 357 president...
Teamsters-Sun Tran contract includes some 50% pay raises  Arizona Daily Star  ...A labor contract released Monday details pay raises of up to 50 percent for some Sun Tran workers. Teamsters Local 104 and Sun Tran management firm Professional Transit Management signed the two-year contract on Sept. 16, ending a 42-day bus strike in Tucson. Details of the contract were first made public Monday...
FedEx stockholders approve union-backed proposal  Commercial Appeal  ...FedEx stockholders on Monday approved a Teamsters-backed resolution that proposes an easier path for share owners to promote candidates for the board of directors. It was the only shareholder proposal adopted during the Memphis-based company's annual meeting, and the first such proposal to pass since 2010...
Browning-Ferris Joint-Employer Row Back At NLRB  Law360  ...The Teamsters on Friday filed an unfair labor charge against the successor company to Browning-Ferris Industries, bringing the parties at the center of the board’s decision changing the joint-employer standard head-to-head for another round after the company refused to bargain with the union. Workers at a recycling plant owned by Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc., now owned by Republic Services Inc., had voted to be represented by Teamsters Local 350...

Global Labor & Trade
Chief TPP negotiators race to wrap up broad trade deal  Japan Times  ...Chief negotiators from the United States, Japan and 10 other countries restarted talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership initiative Saturday, seeking to conclude years of negotiations before tight political schedules in some countries crimp the chances of making a quick deal. Ahead of a TPP ministerial meeting beginning Wednesday, the top working-level officials will try to reduce differences over thorny issues...
The unexpected upshot of John Boehner’s ouster: The Trans-Pacific Partnership is in danger  Salon  ...Even if negotiators work out a tentative agreement this week, the biggest announcement on TPP may have already happened. That would be last Friday’s resignation of House Speaker John Boehner. We don’t even know if the meetings in Atlanta can produce a deal, given all the deadlocks and unresolved provisions between the nations involved. But even if there’s a big announcement this week, the administration won’t have John Boehner in their corner...
TTIP negotiations not even half done  Politico  ...Negotiations on a massive EU-U.S. trade agreement are not even halfway complete, according to a new European Commission internal assessment, and the lack of progress is raising questions about Brussels’ hopes for concluding the agreement before the end of the Obama administration...
Conservatives line up support from auto-parts makers for TPP deal  Globe and Mail  ...The governing Conservatives have lined up enough support for a massive Pacific Rim trade agreement from big auto-parts makers to expose a split in the industry ahead of talks this week that may yield a 12-country deal. Talks between trade ministers resume shortly in Atlanta and one of the most contentious subjects is provisions agreed to by Japan and the United States that some warn could sideswipe some of the 80,000 auto-parts manufacturing jobs in Canada...
Good chance for conclusion of TPP: Mustapa  News Straits Times  ...There is a 50:50 chance for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations to be concluded in the US this Thursday, says International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. "It is 50:50 with a slight edge for conclusion," he told the Business Times before leaving for Atlanta this afternoon. The two-day ministerial round of talks opens tomorrow...
Japan considers making new offer on U.S. rice in Atlanta TPP talks  Japan Times  ... Japan is considering sweetening the pot for U.S. rice farmers in a bid to reach agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a source close to the matter said Monday. As talks resumed on Saturday between the United States, Japan and 10 other countries negotiating the bloc in Atlanta, Washington and Tokyo remained at odds...
Fiscal Austerity May Jeopardize Brazil's Poverty Alleviation Program  Truthout  ...Latin America's largest economy, Brazil, has succeeded in lifting 36 million people out of extreme poverty over the past 12 years. But it has still a long way to go towards promoting inclusive and sustainable growth. Financial crisis and fiscal austerity goals resulting in a cut to the 2015 budget of almost USD23 billion may imperil social achievements, according to experts...
UN Finally Puts Child Slavery on Development Agenda  Solidarity Center   ...Last week the United Nations passed its next set of commitments for development, the “Sustainable Development Goals,” for the coming 15 years and added important labor issues that its member states are obligated to prioritize. “This is significant,” said child labor crusader and Nobel Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi at the UN Summit, “because for the first time these goals include the issues of child slavery, labor and trafficking, and has brought forth the language to address them”...

State & Living Wage Battles
Immigration bill clears NC Senate  Charlotte Observer  ...The state Senate voted 28-17 to restrict forms of identification for non-citizens and ban counties and municipalities from having “sanctuary city” policies that limit enforcement of immigration laws. The bill was approved largely along party lines, with Sen. Josh Stein of Raleigh as the only Democrat voting yes...
Contractors Ask Legislature to Preserve Prevailing Wage  WDET  ...A group of construction contractors and trade unions is pushing back against an effort at the state Capitol to repeal prevailing wage requirements on many publicly funded projects. State and local prevailing wage rules require contractors to pay union-level wages on schools and other public building projects. A petition drive led by non-union builders has gathered signatures to put the question before the Legislature....
US politicians agree to delay minimum wage increase  Radio New Zealand  ...The United States House of Representatives has voted to delay until 2017 a 50 cent increase in the American Samoa minimum wage due to come into effect at the end of this month. The bill sponsored by American Samoa's congresswoman Aumua Amata now goes to the US Senate for consideration. If passed by the full Congress, the measure would still need to get to President Obama for approval...
Changes could be coming for Minneapolis workers  Kare11  ...The city of Minneapolis is looking to change how employers schedule and pay their workers. The "Working Families Agenda" has three key issues: fair scheduling, earned sick time and wage theft. "I'm here to continue to listen and that's what we're doing," said Elizabeth Glidden, city council vice president...
Support for fuel terminals is support for state’s workers (opinion) News Tribune ...The governor, the executives of King and Pierce County, the Seattle City Council, some members of the Tacoma City Council and others should seriously rethink their opposition to the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal in Bellingham and the Millennium Bulk Terminal and Vancouver Energy export terminals in Vancouver. While these export terminals provide construction and operational jobs, they are also important private investments in Washington’s trade infrastructure...

U.S. Labor
UAW gets yes vote at Warren Truck  Detroit Free Press  ...A majority of production workers at Warren Truck Assembly narrowly voted in favor of a proposed national agreement on Monday with Fiat Chrysler, giving the UAW its first glimmer of hope in recent days that it can convince a majority of workers to ratify the proposed contract. The UAW is scrambling to win support from about 40,000 Fiat Chrysler workers that it represents at 37 different UAW local units...
Al Jazeera America Will Not Recognize Union: NLRB Elections Underway  International Business Times  ...After several weeks, the management at Al Jazeera America (AJAM) has decided not to recognize the union drive announced by staffers on Sept. 3, putting into motion an election in which votes will be cast by employees and administered by the National Labor Relations Board, International Business Times has learned from a source with direct knowledge of the matter. Elections are happening Tuesday...
UFCW Local 5 still negotiating with Safeway  Supermarket News  ...United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 5, which represents 14,000 Safeway employees in parts of Northern California, is continuing to negotiate with the company nearly a year after the previous contract expired.
UFCW Local 8-Golden State announced a tentative agreement last week with 9,000 Safeway employees in Northern and Central California...
Marco Rubio's paid family leave plan would do little to expand paid family leave  Daily Kos  ...Four in five Americans thinks companies should be required to "offer paid leave to parents of new children and employees caring for sick family members." So trust a Republican to come up with a paid family leave policy that doesn't require anything and benefits business, not workers. Marco Rubio is the one Republican presidential candidate with any plan on this issue...
After Decades of Discrimination, Farm Workers Get Pesticide Protections  Common Dreams  ...Farm workers will now have sweeping new protections from pesticides under new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules announced Monday—safeguards which labor leaders say eluded farm workers for decades due to racial discrimination. The new rules [were] announced by EPA administrator Gina McCarthy, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, and United Farm Workers (UFW) president Arturo Rodriguez...
In America, the Poorer You Are, the Poorer Your Children Will Be  The Nation  ...When people talk about “balancing work and family,” they’re usually talking more about the workplace than what’s going on at home. Now we’re starting to get data on what the workaday life looks like from a kid’s eye view, and it doesn’t look good...

Social Justice & Other News
What John Boehner’s Surprise Resignation Means For Immigration Reform  Think Progress  ...House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is the favorite to succeed John Boehner (R-OH) after his surprise resignation as the House Speaker last week. The appointment of McCarthy, who represents a heavily Latino district, to preside over a more radically conservative Republican caucus could have implications for immigration reform...
Humane Criminal Justice Is Not Hopeless  Slate  ...Pope Francis concluded his historic first visit to the United States on Sunday, spending most of his final few hours with women and men imprisoned at Philadelphia’s Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility and putting an exclamation mark on a central theme of his visit: the need to infuse more dignity and hope into America’s criminal justice system...
US supreme court: conservatives set to retake reins after year of liberal wins  The Guardian  ...The supreme court returns on Monday for a new series of cases, and all indications point to equally dramatic plot twists involving race, class and murder. While 2014-15 will be remembered for surprise wins by the liberal wing of the court, particularly two blockbuster decisions endorsing gay marriage and Obamacare, legal experts expect this year will see a clutch of decisions that reassert the power of the conservative majority...
Trump’s Tax Plan Is A Big Giveaway To The Wealthiest  Think Progress  ...On Monday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will unveil a detailed tax reform plan — and he is already positioning it as a populist proposal. In a press alert about the plan, the campaign states, “Essentially, the plan is a major tax reduction for almost all citizens and corporations, in particular, those in the middle and lower income classes.” But the plan has a number of provisions that will overwhelmingly help the already well off...

Today's Teamster News 09.22.15

Teamsters
Teamsters-Sun Tran contract details not made public  Arizona Daily Star  ...The public hasn’t been clued in to the details of an agreement that ended a 42-day transit strike in Tucson. Teamsters Local 104 and Sun Tran management firm Professional Transit Management signed a two-year contract, good until June 30, 2017. Because the city is not a party to the labor agreement, the Tucson City Council does not have to approve the contract, said City Attorney Mike Rankin...
Teamsters at Sysco Vote 150-0 to Authorize a Strike  Local 117  ...“Record attendance,” said Local 117 Secretary-Treasurer John Scearcy, to resounding applause. “This is serious. The company is coming after us, but we will be ready.” The Union hall was packed with Teamsters on Saturday who work at the massive food service conglomerate, Sysco. The bargaining team called the group to the hall for Saturday’s meeting and, in an incredible display of solidarity, members voted 150-0 to authorize a strike...
Republic Airways Aims To Duck Teamsters' Pay Subsidy Spat  Law360  ...Republic Airways Holdings Inc. asked an Indiana federal judge Monday to stay any additional discovery as the court mulls whether to dismiss a lawsuit lobbed by the local Teamsters alleging the airline subsidized premium and bonus pay to pilots to undercut the union's ability to bargain collectively...

Global Labor & Trade
America's Collapsing Trade Initiatives  Huffington Post  ...Chinese president Xi Jinping will be in Washington this week on an official state visit. President Obama had hoped to impress Xi with an all but sealed trade deal with major Pacific nations called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to demonstrate that America is still a force to be reckoned with in China's backyard. But Obama's trade policy is in tatters...
TPP could have 'catastrophic effects' on Canada's economy: Unifor president  CTVNews  ...The president of Canada's largest private sector union says the Trans-Pacific Partnership could have "catastrophic effects" on the nation's economy. Unifor president Jerry Dias was responding to comments made by Conservative Leader Stephen Harper at the Globe and Mail debate on the economy Thursday. In the final segment of the debate, Harper said that Canada is entering the "final stages" of the 12-country trade negotiations...
26,000 Canadian jobs at risk as TPP auto talks resume, Unifor says  Canada Manufacturing  ...As Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiators from Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Japan meet to discuss the automotive-related features of the massive trade agreement, Unifor is calling on the Canadian contingent to “stand firm” on regional content rules for auto products and other sector-related provisions...
TPP nations to tackle sticking points at month's end  Asian Review  ...Trade ministers from the 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership countries will meet from Sept. 30 to hammer out disagreements left unresolved after previous talks, aiming for a broad agreement before the political climate shifts. Two to three days of talks will be held in the U.S. city of Atlanta. Free trade rules for most of the 31 areas covered by the TPP were settled at the last round of talks in July...
Two Indigenous Solar Engineers Changed Their Village in Chile  Truthout  ...Liliana and Luisa Terán, two indigenous women from northern Chile who travelled to India for training in installing solar panels, have not only changed their own future but that of Caspana, their remote village nestled in a stunning valley in the Atacama desert. These soft-spoken indigenous women with skin weathered from the desert sun and a life of sacrifice are in charge of giving Caspana at least part of the energy autonomy that the village needs in order to survive...
Greece braces for more austerity as Tsipras sworn in as prime minister  TribLive  ...Weary Greece braced for more painful austerity Monday as Alexis Tsipras was sworn in as prime minister with a mandate to drive through unpopular reforms agreed with the nation's international creditors.
As a downpour swept Athens, The 41-year-old left-wing leader took his second oath of office in eight months...
Hyundai, Kia Workers Set to Stage Partial Strikes  WardsAuto  ...The Hyundai branch of the Korean Metal Workers Union will hold partial strikes this week after the automaker made a wage offer equal to roughly half of what the union had sought. Talks broke down ahead of the customary deadline for reaching a contract agreement before the country’s Chuseok Thanksgiving holiday...

Strike delays hit Australian airports following border force worker strike  China Post  ...Travelers using Australia's international airports faced delays Monday and were warned of more to come as immigration and border force workers went on strike over pay and conditions. "These workers are angry, they're under pressure, they face major cuts to their take-home pay and workplace rights and government simply hasn't listened," said Nadine Flood, secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) representing workers...

State & Living Wage Battles
Capitol Workers to Strike Ahead of Papal Visit  Roll Call  ...A few hours before Pope Francis arrives in the District of Columbia for the first leg of his U.S. visit, Capitol food service and other government contract workers will walk off their jobs. The workers will strike Tuesday to renew their call for a $15-an-hour wage and the right to unionize. They plan to proceed to the Capitol and convene across from the East Front with religious leaders and presidential hopeful Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., to pray for lawmakers to heed the pope’s message about economic inequality...
Bernie Sanders Minimum Wage Strike: Pope Visit Encourages Federal Workers To Protest, Presidential Candidate To Join  International Business Times  ...Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is expected to throw his weight behind a labor strike of federal minimum wage workers Tuesday ahead of Pope Francis' visit later that day in Washington. The group organizing the strike, Good Jobs Nation, will receive the support of a rising populist power in the Democratic field as they call on U.S. President Barack Obama to issue an executive order increasing the minimum wage of federal workers to $15 an hour...
20 Republicans may face retaliation for Missouri right-to-work vote  STL Today  ...their votes weren’t enough to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto during the Legislature’s annual veto session Wednesday. The bill died in the House with a vote of 96-63, 13 votes short of the 109 needed to override. Twenty Republicans voted against right to work. Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, who is running for governor in 2016, called them out on it after veto session...
Voter ID Law in Limbo as Thousands Register  KTRH  ...Tuesday is "National Voter Registration Day," but those signing up in Texas could see major changes to the state's voter ID law ahead of next year's presidential primary. “The legislature has added the concealed weapons identification card as a form of valid photo ID, and there are number of valid government issued IDs with a photograph on them,” says Tom Berg at the League of Women Voters of the Houston Area...
NY gov's call for $15 minimum wage faces major challenges  The Chronicle  ...New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's pledge this week to push for a state minimum wage of $15 an hour for all workers already faces substantial opposition and skepticism. Cuomo made the pledge Sept. 10 at a labor rally with Vice President Joe Biden following Cuomo administration approval of a phased-in $15 minimum for workers at chain fast-food restaurants...

U.S. Labor
UAW leaders take Fiat Chrysler contract to membership  The Detroit News  ...United Auto Workers leadership is attempting to address questions and concerns of 40,000 union members with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV before they vote on a tentative four-year deal in the coming week. Leaders, including UAW Vice President Norwood Jewell, started meeting with local chapters over the weekend to discuss the proposed contract, as local chapters schedule informational meetings...
Registered nurses ratify labor pact at HCA-affiliated Research Medical Center  Kansas City Star  ...Registered nurses at HCA-affiliated Research Medical Center in Kansas City have ratified a new labor agreement that includes pay raises and changes in working conditions. Voting was scheduled to run through 12:30 a.m. Tuesday at Menorah Medical Center in Overland Park, which is among 17 hospitals covered by the tentative agreement negotiated by the National Nurses Organizing Committee of National Nurses United...
USW union asking members how to proceed  NWI Times  ...United Steelworkers meetings have been taking place in Burns Harbor, Gary and all across the country as the union looks at what to do next in negotiations with U.S. Steel. "Members of our USW bargaining committee have been holding meetings with our brothers and sisters at U.S. Steel locations around the country, reviewing the company's and the union's most recent contract proposals, discussing the status of negotiations and getting feedback from members about what our next steps should be," the union said in a recent update to members...

The Historical Roots of American Domestic Worker Organizing Run Deep  In These Times  ...Domestic workers and their advocates have been making an increasing number of headlines since 2010, when New York became the first state to pass a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. Guaranteeing overtime and time off, such legislation has spread to four other states and is being fought for in many more. But organizing around domestic work has been ongoing since at least the 1930s, an often forgotten corner of the labor movement...

Social Justice & Other News
Scott Walker Drops Out Of 2016 Presidential Race  Huffington Post  ...Once considered a favorite for the Republican presidential nomination, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announced Monday that he is dropping out of the race, amid sinking poll numbers and fundraising concerns. "I suspend my campaign immediately," he said at a press conference in Madison, Wisconsin. Walker implored other candidates to consider exiting the race as well, in order to winnow the field...
Pope Francis’s Philadelphia prison visit highlights crisis in US justice system  The Guardian  ...Behind barbed wire and under guard towers on the edge of north-east Philadelphia, Pope Francis will meet more than 100 men and women from a dangerously overcrowded prison population drawn largely from the poor, civil rights advocates say. The facility presents an extreme microcosm of two of the most pressing national prison problems: pretrial detention and overcrowding...
Americans Are Paying Way Too Much On Rent, And It’s Only Going To Get Worse  Think Progress  ...More than a quarter of renters in the United States have to put half of their income toward paying rent. But that’s not the bad news. The bad news is that things are almost certainly going to get worse. About half of all renters are paying more than the recommended 30 percent of income toward rent. Those rates are roughly double what they were in 1960...
US immigration back to pre–Great Recession levels, with Asians leading  Aljazeera  ...Immigration rates to the U.S. have rebounded to their pre-recession levels and the country’s percentage of foreign-born now is at its highest in more than a century, when boatloads of eastern and southern Europeans arrived at Ellis Island. But the face of immigration is dramatically different than it was just a decade ago, when the bulk of the influx came from Mexico and Central America. Asians now far outnumber the number of immigrants from Latin America...
Rights Campaigners Form Human Blockade to Stop Deportations  Common Dreams  ...Highlighting what they say is a "global human rights issue," dozens of rights campaigners on Monday morning locked themselves together and formed a human chain to block buses at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Takoma, Washington from carrying out deportations of suspected undocumented people...
Martin Shkreli on his “altruistic” motives: “I’m a capitalist — I want to create a big drug company”  Salon  ...On “CBS This Morning,” embattled Turing Pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli continued to defend his company’s decision to hike the price of Daraprim by 5,455 percent, claiming that “there are a lot of altruistic properties” to raising the cost. He denied that the increased cost was “drastic.” This new “reasonable profit” is being made at the expense of immunocompromised patients, such as pregnant women and babies, as well as those with AIDS or who are undergoing radiation therapy...

Today's Teamster News 09.01.15

Teamsters
EVSC Board and Teamsters working toward agreement, schedule more meetings  Courier & Press  ...Despite still lacking official agreements, Teamsters Local 215 President Chuck Whobrey believes the union and the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. School Board are making progress in negotiating contracts for the five EVSC employee groups represented by Local 215. Whobrey said the employee groups — bus drivers, secretaries, custodians, special education assistants and bus aides — have issues in common and issues specific to their units...
Bipartisan Panel Including DOT Secretary Foxx, Teamsters President Hoffa and Mississippi Governor Barbour to Tackle Infrastructure Issues, Announce New Funding Campaign  PR Newswire  ...Infrastructure in the United States is crumbling, and funds to fix it are disappearing. It's time to address the immediate need to fund infrastructure building, maintenance and repair. That's the message to be presented by Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, Teamsters President Jim Hoffa and former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour at a National Press Club newsmaker press conference on September 9...
This Labor Ruling Could Give a Big Boost to the Fight For 15  The Nation  ...The Teamsters had sought to organize a union election for Leadpoint workers—comprised of “part-time, and on-call sorters, screen cleaners, and housekeepers” on a short-term contract at a BFI recycling plant. The effort was thwarted by a regional labor-relations board and then appealed. The Teamsters argued that the narrow definition of joint employer allowed a company to act like a regular boss without upholding traditional employers’ responsibilities...
Teamsters Local 357 Prepares Counter-Proposal to Republic Airways (RJET) Recent Offer  Street Insider  ...Teamsters Local 357 prepared a counter-proposal to Republic Airways latest offer. The announcement follows news that Local 357 would not put Republic Airways' recent so-called 'LBFO' offer to a vote, which sent shares of the carrier sharply lower. "As you know, on Tuesday the Local 357 EBoard announced their position that the Company's August 20th, 2015 offer should not be sent out for a vote. There are many reasons in support of their decision"...

Global Labor & Trade
As TPP Grinds To A Halt, Asian Countries Start Focusing On Rival Trade Agreement RCEP  TechDirt  ...that final breakthrough and completion never happened. Instead, we had the "Maui meltdown", when a whole bunch of old and new problems raised their heads, with the result that TPP may have missed a key deadline that means it won't be happening soon, if ever...
Poster woman for the war against the U.S.-led TPP  Japan Times  ...For Yoko Inoue, art is like a bomb: Throw it into a crowded street and the truth just might explode out of it. The Japanese-born, New York-based multimedia and performance artist takes aim at society’s assumptions about commerce and culture using works rooted in intensive research. This time, her target is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
The promised ‘transparency’ around TTIP has been a sham  (opinion) The Guardian  ...Beyond the lack of transparency, the real trouble with TTIP and the EU’s multitude of bilateral trade deals is not in the method, but in substance. Europe should put its weight behind a multilateral trading system based on open markets, fairness, sustainability and democracy. An equitable reform of the World Trade Organisation rules is clearly better for business...
Germany bullied France into policy of austerity, says Stiglitz  BDLive  ...France has been intimidated by Germany into pursuing an economic policy that is not working, Nobel prize-winner Joseph Stiglitz said on Monday. "There is a kind of intimidation," Mr Stiglitz, an outspoken opponent of austerity policy, said of the influence of Germany over the policies pursued by President Francois Hollande...
Indian unions to hold one-day national strike  WSWS.org  ...Tens of millions of Indian workers will join a one-day national strike this Wednesday, September 2, in protest against the pro-investor policies of the 15-month-old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government. Ten labor federations are sponsoring Wednesday’s strike. Prominent among them are the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU)...
Airline Agrees To Stop Firing Flight Attendants For Getting Married, But Only After UN Investigation  Think Progress  ...Flight attendants who work for Qatar Airways will no longer risk losing their jobs if they decide to get married or pregnant. The International Labour Organisation, the labor agency at the United Nations, concluded a yearlong investigation in June, finding that the airline’s policies required workers to notify the company when they became pregnant and were often fired once they did...

State & Living Wage Battles
Religious leaders in Puerto Rico condemn austerity, ask Fed for help  Reuters  ...Religious leaders in Puerto Rico called on Monday for the island's government and its lenders to avoid austerity measures and for the Federal Reserve to step in with assistance. The religious leaders on the mostly Catholic island, working with Jubilee USA Network, a religious development organization in Washington, D.C., want a solution to Puerto Rico's debt crisis that invests in the island's economy, does not hurt the poor and brings about more budget transparency...
Scott to head to Kentucky to lure businesses next month  Orlando Sentinel  ...Gov. Rick Scott has a message for business owners in the Bluegrass State: the sun shines brighter in Florida than on your old Kentucky home. “Florida’s business climate is better than Kentucky’s in almost every way. Kentucky leaders continue blocking Kentucky counties from becoming right-to-work areas," Scott stated. Scott has targeted businesses in other states with Democratic governors in the past...
Minimum-wage debate heats up in Pennsylvania  Times Online  ...Nineteen U.S. cities and counties experienced mandated wage increases this year; 29 states and Washington, D.C., already require employers to pay workers more than $7.25. Pennsylvania isn’t part of this group – yet. There are five bills pending in the state Legislature proposing to raise the minimum wage...
Sen. Bill Nelson calls for independent redistricting commission for Florida  Bradenton Herald  ...The repeated failures of the Florida Legislature to redraw the state’s congressional districts is a sure sign that Florida needs to create an independent commission to do the work, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said during a stop in Tallahassee on Monday. “Seems to me we need an independent commission for future reapportionment so that you stop this self-serving process of drawing districts for your own self interest,” said Nelson, a Democrat...

U.S. Labor
Workers at Trump Taj Mahal Begin Preparations for Strike   In These Times  ...While Donald Trump's push for the Republican nomination for president is showing no signs of slowing, worker unrest at a hotel and casino that bear his name appears near the boiling point. Strike preparations have begun for over 1,100 non-gaming casino employees at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 54, gathered near their local headquarters last Tuesday...
USW to keep negotiating to avoid work stoppage  NWI Times  ...The United Steelworkers union wants more time to negotiate rather than go on strike at Northwest Indiana's largest steel mills. The union reached a "continue to work agreement" with ArcelorMittal, meaning steelworkers won't hit the picket line when the contract expires Tuesday with no new bargain in place. The USW also told U.S. Steel it would extend talks to avoid a work stoppage...
The People Who Rebuilt New Orleans Are Still Waiting to Get Paid  Alternet  ...During a decade of fast-paced and rough-and-tumble post-Katrina reconstruction, contractors have stolen an estimated aggregate fortune worth millions of dollars from migrant workers like Vasquez. Accounts by him, other migrant workers, employment lawyers, workers’ advocates, and others paint a picture of systematic and multifaceted exploitation...
UAW-GM workers approve strike authorization   Detroit News  ...General Motors Co. union members have passed a strike authorization by 97 percent, UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada said in a letter Monday. Local unions representing GM’s about 50,800 hourly workers held strike authorization votes within the past few weeks. The votes are procedural and give the union the ability to call for a strike if necessary. It does not mean there will be a strike...

Social Justice & Other News
Overruling 'God's Authority,' Supreme Court Affirms Gay Marriage Ruling  Common Dreams  ...Backing up this year's landmark equality ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a Kentucky county clerk's request to deny issuing same-sex marriage certificates on the grounds of religious preference. In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that the Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis could not 'opt out' of her duties as a public official because of her personal objections...
How Katrina Sparked Reform in a Troubled Police Department  The Atlantic  ...The New Orleans Police Department had a reputation for corruption long before Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the summer of 2005. For decades, the department was infected by a culture of discrimination, abuse, and lawlessness. That culture spilled out into the open in the week after the storm. During that brief period, police officers shot and killed three unarmed civilians...
People Are Quicker to Shoot a Black Target Than a White Target  Mother Jones  ...According to a new report from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, racial bias can affect the likelihood of people pulling the trigger of a gun—even if shooters don't realize they were biased to begin with. Researchers found that, in studies conducted over the past decade, participants were more likely to shoot targets depicting black people than those depicting white people...
Fear Canada?  Slate ...Continuing to grope his way toward a semi-coherent immigration policy, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker suggested Sunday that the idea of building a fence along America’s 5,525-mile border with Canada is a “legitimate issue.” Walker has stuck with his ridiculous position, saying he’s responding to concerns he’s heard from law enforcement. The border fence idea may be Trump-inspired lunacy, but Walker is hardly the first U.S. politician to draw attention to the threat emanating from America’s neighbor to the north...

Today's Teamster News 08.27.15

Teamsters
The Teamsters Take on Tech Shuttle Unions  SF Weekly  ...Bauer's enjoys a cozy relationship with San Francisco's political establishment. But that relationship is about to be tested by the Teamsters union, which is determined to ensure that the jobs created by tech shuttle companies are union jobs. Just days after union organizers contacted Bauer's workers, Bauer's management started its own "independent" union called the "Professional Commuter Drivers' Union"...
Hawthorne Race Course Members Unanimously Ratify New Contract  Local 727  ...Teamsters Local 727-represented starters and jockey valets at Hawthorne Race Course voted unanimously to ratify a new contract for the Fall 2015 and Spring 2016 meets. The one-year contract protects the members’ wages, benefits and working conditions and also includes an economic re-opener in the event that gaming legislation is passed...
Labor Trouble With Pilots Deepens At Republic Airways  CBS  ...The Teamsters group representing pilots at Republic Airways is balking at allowing a vote on the company’s contract offer, deepening the rift between labor and management at the regional airline. The Indianapolis company’s shares plunged 37 percent on Wednesday. Republic has threatened to begin a restructuring process if pilots don’t approve the proposal it offered last week...
ATA rebutts Teamsters, other labor groups on drug testing changes, urges Congress to allow hair tests  OverDrive  ...The American Trucking Associations has sent a letter to Congress asking lawmakers to retain in a trucking regulatory reform bill a provision that would allow carriers to use hair testing to satisfy driver drug screening requirements. The letter comes a week after the Teamster and other groups called on Congress to remove the drug testing reform measure...

Global Labor & Trade
Trans-Pacific Partnership Won’t Work Until the Cows Come Home  Teamsters Canada  ...With negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) now delayed, the Teamsters Union in Canada would like to remind Canadian negotiators that the 6000 dairy workers they represent are strongly against making any changes to our supply management system. The TPP has brought together several big players in the dairy industry, like Quebec’s Union des producteurs agricoles, the Dairy Farmers of Canada, and several other unions...
Obama, Japan's Abe discussed quickly concluding trade deal  Reuters  ...U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discussed in a call on Tuesday their commitment to concluding the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement as soon as possible, the White House said on Wednesday...
TTIP controversy: The European Commission and Big Tobacco accused of cover-up after heavily redacted documents released  Independent  ...The European Commission has been accused of a cover-up after refusing to release details of talks between its officials and the tobacco industry during negotiations over the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) treaty. Corporate lobbying campaigners published documents that revealed the EU’s executive body had met and corresponded with lobbyists from British American Tobacco and Philip Morris.
Mustapa : No light at the end of the tunnel yet on TPPA  Malaysia Reserve  ...After five years of intense negotiations, Malaysia is still lobbying for resolutions on key sensitive areas in the controversial United States-led Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said he still could not see "the light at end of the tunnel" in the areas of Bumiputera rights, state-owned enterprises (SOE) and labour...
China’s Meltdown Goes Deeper Than the Stock Market  The Nation  ...Even by conventional measures, China’s real economy was slumping well before the latest market shocks. China’s nominal GDP growth had been slipping in both construction and manufacturing-related industries while the financial sector surged, signaling the profound disconnect between the trading floor and the shop floor. The key difference is that stock-market volatility hurts share prices; turbulence in the real economy plunges workers into poverty and lethal risks at work...
Thai Official Gets 22 Years for Human Trafficking  Solidarity Center  ...Nurul Islam and three other Thai men from his village in Rakhine state believed the Rohingya brokers who promised to take them to Malaysia for jobs. Instead, the men were herded at gunpoint deep into a forest with 350 other migrant women, men and children, and told if they did not pay up to $2,300 each, they would be beaten and killed...

State & Living Wage Battles
California voters support increasing tobacco tax, raising minimum wage  SacBee  ...About two-thirds of California voters support increasing the state cigarette tax by $2 a pack, and a similar percentage would back a minimum wage hike to $15 an hour, according to a Field Poll released Wednesday. Proposals to raise the tobacco tax or increase the minimum wage have been introduced in the Legislature or as voter initiatives in recent years...
Kansas debate over voter ID law far from over  KSN ...The state’s voter ID law has been the target of protests since well before it was enacted last year. Kobach’s law is being challenged again in court by two people who say the law violates their right to vote. Next week, Kobach is expected to purge more than 34,000 would-be voters throwing out their registration forms...
Call made to revisit state's minimum wage  Chicago Tribune  ...Families can't make it on their own making $7.25 an hour, Indiana's minimum wage, said state Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, who said she filed legislation to increase the rate for two or three years, but none of the bills received a hearing. Still, Tallian said she'll try again this year. She said she'll be filing another bill, this time asking that the minimum wage in Indiana be increased to between $9 and $11.50 an hour...
Alabama Risks Making It Much Harder To Get Required Voter ID  Huffington Post  ...The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Monday that proposed budget cuts would force it to close all but four driver's license offices, even though the state requires government-issued photo identification, like a driver's license, to vote in elections. The 45 other locations would be closed in phases, the agency said, if the Republican-controlled state legislature were to pass the kind of "drastic" budget cuts it's now considering...
Shumlin, Smith call for paid sick leave on Women's Equality Day  VT Digger  ...On the 95th anniversary of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote, officials gathered to call for passage of a paid sick days bill in the next legislative session. Boosters say the legislation would bring Vermont a step closer to women’s equality. Gov. Peter Shumlin, state lawmakers and local activists held a news conference...

U.S. Labor
NLRB orders Manhattan College adjuncts' ballots counted  Politico  ...The National Labor Relations Board's regional director has ordered Manhattan College adjuncts' ballots to be counted in their vote for union recognition. The NLRB's decision came after it had ordered the ballots temporarily impounded following the vote. The college has said its adjuncts do not fall under the NLRB's jurisdiction...
Greenpeace Workers Strike for Job Security and a Union  Socialist Alternative  ...In San Diego and Sacramento, Greenpeace canvassers have gone on strike for job security and a union. The strike, which began on August 5, now includes the majority of both San Diego and Sacramento Frontline programs, Greenpeace’s in-house fundraising program. The striking workers demand increased job security through reforming the quota system, and a union...
Union files grievances with Haggen, Vons and Albertsons  LA Times  ...A union has filed grievances with Haggen Inc., Vons and Albertsons, alleging that recent layoffs and reduced hours for employees at Haggen stores violated a collective bargaining agreement. The grievances, which are called official complaints, were given to the companies Monday, said Rick Icaza, president of UFCW Local 770. The union also asked for a formal meeting...
Tucson, workers' union agree on labor contract  Arizona Daily Star  ...The city and a labor union representing its blue-collar workers compromised and reached an agreement Tuesday under the guidance of a federal mediator, quickly ending a contract dispute. AFSCME Local 449 Chairman Jerry Gebell said he couldn’t disclose details of the labor agreement, which must be approved by the Tucson City Council...
Chicago Mayor Proposes School Closures To Close Billion Dollar Budget Deficit, Parents Hunger Strike  Think Progress  ...A small group of parents and community members in the South Side of Chicago have gone on a hunger strike until the Chicago Board of Education agrees to a proposal to revitalize a local school. To understand what is happening in Chicago, and why the story has gained national attention in the news and on social media, you have to look at the long, heated fight between the Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel...
Longer Hours, More Stress, No Extra Pay: It’s Not Just Amazon, It’s the Modern Workplace  The Nation  ...American employers enjoy an inordinate amount of power over their employees, at all pay grades and skill levels. The vast majority of professionals say they work more than 50 hours a week. Retailers keep their workers on edge about whether or not they’ll work a given day or demand they work two shifts in one day. Few of us have the ability to push back when a boss tells us they want us working late or starting early...

Social Justice & Other News
Progressives Call on Clinton to End Wall Street-to-Washington Revolving Door  Common Dreams  ...Decrying what they describe as "a barely legal, backdoor form of bribery," a coalition of eight progressive groups representing nine million Americans is asking Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to condemn the controversial practice of Wall Street firms paying large bonuses, or "golden parachutes," to executives who take on government jobs...
The Drug War Has to End: David Simon on "The Wire" & Over-Policing of the Poor  Democracy Now  ...Earlier this year, President Obama described "The Wire" as "one of the greatest, not just television shows, but pieces of art, in the last couple of decades.” Simon said he aimed to portray how "raw, unencumbered capitalism" devalues human beings. Nearly a decade ago in Slate, Jacob Weisberg wrote: "No other program has ever done anything remotely like what this one does, namely to portray the social, political, and economic life of an American city...
Maryland Launches New Effort to End Racial Profiling by Police  Common Dreams  ...Maryland on Tuesday took a significant step to curb racial profiling and other discriminatory policing tactics, releasing broad new rules that aim to limit law enforcement officers from targeting individuals based on race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, among other characteristics. The state's Attorney General Brian Frosh issued a nine-page memorandum to police...

Today's Teamster News 07.14.15

Teamsters
McKesson Executive Compensation Under Fire, Again  Teamster.org  ...The country’s leading proxy voting advisor, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), recommends that McKesson shareholders vote for Item #7 on the company’s ballot -- a  Teamster-sponsored shareholder proposal to address the automatic accelerated vesting of equity awards for top executives in the event of a change of control...
Teamsters Union Files Lawsuit Against Republic Airways Calling On Fair Contracts  AvStop.com  ...Teamsters Local 357 in Plainfield, Ind., filed a lawsuit against Republic Airways for unilaterally changing pilots’ working conditions regarding “open time” flying without first agreeing with the union about those changes. More than 2,200 Republic pilots are members of Local 357 and have been seeking a fair contract from the company since 2007...

Global Labor & Trade
Obama Urged To Toss Canada Out Of TPP Trade Talks Over Dairy Supply Management  Huffington Post  ...U.S. politicians are pressuring the Obama administration to leave Canada out of a major and controversial trade deal, if Canada doesn't agree to deregulate its dairy and poultry industries and open them up to foreign competition. Reuters news service cites “two sources” close to the issue as saying the U.S. may go forward with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) without Canada...
New trade fight brews for Obama, Dems  The Hill  ...A new trade fight is brewing between the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress. Sen. Bob Menendez (N.J.) and other Democrats opposed to President Obama’s trade agenda are worried the State Department will upgrade Malaysia’s ranking in a human trafficking report to be released this week to ensure the country can be included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal...
Canada Trade Minister Says Supply Management Won’t Kill TPP Deal  Bloomberg  ...“I am confident that at the end of the day Canada will be part of the TPP,” Fast said. “We have some market access issues left to resolve. They’re always the toughest ones that remain to the end. This is no different than any other negotiation.” Fast will join other negotiators and ministers in Hawaii later this month as TPP talks reach the final stage. The 12 countries involved are entering “the end-game in these negotiations”...
US lawmakers, activists alarmed at upgrade in Malaysia’s human trafficking rating  Malaysia Insider  ...The New York Times (NYT) newspaper and Huffington Post website reported that US Senator Robert Menendez will call for an investigation if the US government upgrades Malaysia’s rating. A Reuters report on July 8 quoted sources as saying that the US government was upgrading Malaysia’s status, thus paving the way for it to sign on to the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA)...
Has US desire for Asia trade deal trumped slavery with Malaysia's ranking?  Christian Science Monitor  ...President Obama says he wants the United States at the forefront of efforts to end the global scourge of slavery and human trafficking. But at the same time, Mr. Obama is keen to advance international trade and America’s leadership role in the global trading system – particularly by concluding as early as this year a vast free-trade agreement with Asian-Pacific countries known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
Premier of Greece, Alexis Tsipras, Accepts Creditors’ Austerity Deal  New York Times  ...Forced by his nation’s creditors into broad new concessions to avert financial collapse, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece returned home on Monday with just days to sell the deal to fractured lawmakers and a dazed electorate. The agreement he struck with other European leaders early Monday after a contentious all-night bargaining session would give Greece the chance to receive its third international bailout...
Greek Debt Crisis: European Ministers Want Greece To Limit Ability Of Workers To Strike  International Business Times   ...For Greek workers, it’s a painful cornerstone of the first two bailouts: Labor market reform. Now it’s part of a third rescue package, according to the most recent last-ditch agreement to keep Greece in the eurozone. The text released by European leaders on Monday is vague, but it suggests the following: Greece will keep in place existing restrictions on workers’ bargaining rights that creditors have successfully demanded in the past...
#ThisIsACoup: Greeks Denounce Bailout Deal That Calls for New Round of Austerity  Democracy Now  ...Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is facing protests from members of his own Syriza party after accepting harsh austerity measures in exchange for a new international bailout. In order for the deal to move forward, the Greek Parliament must accept pension cuts and other reforms by Wednesday, 10 days after voters rejected similar reforms in a referendum...
Osun Workers End Strike as Govt Commences Payment of Salaries  This Day Live  ...Osun State workers monday ended their six weeks strike after a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the state government to put an end to the industrial crisis in the state. Also, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC),  Joint Public Service Negotiating Councils (JPSNC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in the state have dissociated the unions from the protests embarked upon by a ‘group of people’ in the state which the group claimed was over unpaid salaries...

State & Living Wage Battles
The Austerity Candidate? Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Launches Presidential Bid on Anti-Union Record  Democracy Now  ...Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has become the 15th Republican candidate to formally announce he’s running for president. On Monday, Walker launched his campaign by touting his successful efforts to eviscerate public employee unions in his home state and later defeat a recall effort against him. He also extolled his record reducing taxes, cutting the size of the federal government and passing voter restrictions...
Wisconsin’s Construction Industry Is In For A Rough Ride — And So Are Its Taxpayers  Think Progress  ...About 24 hours before announcing his official White House candidacy, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) made life a lot harder for people who sweat for a living. “We may end up having to lay some people off,” Chris Martinez, owner of Dairyland Energy Solutions in Butler, WI, told ThinkProgress. Martinez was referring to Walker’s repeal of the state’s 80-year-old prevailing wage law...
Scott Walker Campaigns Against Unions, Wages, and Weekends  The Nation  ...Scott Walker has gone Bush one better. The governor of Wisconsin and Bush rival for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination just codified the concept. The state budget that Walker signed on Sunday as Wisconsin’s governor includes a provision that eliminates a historic guarantee that factory and retail employees “must get at least 24 consecutive hours of rest for every seven-day stretch” of work...
Missouri 'Right to Work' legislation hopes to gain supporters  Heartland Connection  ...Missouri lawmakers may be on summer break, but that hasn't stopped one grassroots organization from traveling around the state and educating citizens on 'Right to Work' legislation. That legislation would have allowed workers who choose not to join a labor union to avoid paying the equivalent of dues...
Paid sick days would be mandatory under ballot initiative  MLive  ...Michiganders soon may be asked to sign for sick days as a new group pushes for all workers to have access to that benefit. The Time to Care Coalition will lead a legislative ballot initiative and plans to collect more than 300,000 signatures. The group's proposal would allow workers to earn one hour of paid sick time for every 40 hours worked...
Oklahoma GOP Makes Case Against Food Stamps: ‘Don’t Feed The Animals’  Think Progress  ...The Oklahoma Republican Party is making the case against food stamps by comparing poor people to animals, reviving a stereotype that’s often deployed against Americans who rely on government benefits to feed their families. In a Facebook post published Monday night, the Oklahoma GOP suggested that the millions of Americans receiving food stamps this year should not be enrolled in the program because “the animals will grow dependent"...
States Battle Cities Over Minimum Wage  Huffington Post  ...Kansas City is caught in the middle of a national fight that pits labor against business and increasingly, cities against states. As city after city has voted to give low-wage workers a raise in recent years, state after state has passed laws limiting local governments’ power to do so...
Scott Walker calls minimum wage one of many ‘lame idea’ from Democrats  Washington Post  ...Scott Walker appeared to take aim at the national minimum wage on Monday evening, referring to it as one of many "lame ideas" pushed by Democrats. Walker's comment came in a lengthy interview with Fox News's Sean Hannity immediately following a speech formally announcing his entrance into the 2016 presidential race...
Protests greet start of voter ID trial in Winston-Salem  WNCN  ...The outcome of a trial that began Monday could have a major impact on voting rights in North Carolina, and the start of the trial drew a large protest in Winston-Salem. The issue is whether voting law changes approved by the Republican-led General Assembly weakens the ability of minor voters to influence elections. That question is now being debated before a federal judge...
If This Amendment Passes, Several States Would Lose Millions in Federal Education Funding  Think Progress  ...Today the U.S. Senate will convene to debate amendments to the bipartisan No Child Left Behind rewrite. The House passed its rewrite to No Child Left Behind, or the Student Success Act, last week in a 218 to 213 vote. Democrats and civil rights groups opposed it, arguing that the bill would hurt low-income students, disabled students and students of color. The president has threatened to veto it...

U.S. Labor
Congress Is Debating Whether or Not To Make It Easier for Bosses to Cheat Guestworkers  In These Times  ...In June, In These Times reported that industry groups have filed a lawsuit against new government-issued worker protections for H-2B guestworkers. That’s not their only strategy, however: new proposed riders on a Senate appropriations bill could block some of the new protections—and some old ones—no matter the outcome of the lawsuit. Many employers were outraged when the Obama administration passed new rules regulating the H-2B visa program...
Facing 'Retirement Crisis,' Sanders Leads Charge for Social Security Expansion  Common Dreams  ...On the eve of a once-in-a-decade White House Conference on Aging (WHCOA)—and in the face of what they describe as the "impending retirement savings crisis facing this nation"—a group of 70 Democratic lawmakers led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) on Sunday called on President Barack Obama to expand Social Security benefits...
Richard Trumka on Gov. Scott Walker’s Presidential Run: “Walker is a national disgrace”  In These Times  ...“Scott Walker is a national disgrace,” says Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, the United States’ largest union alliance, in response to Governor Scott Walker’s announcement of his presidential ambitions. His statement, composed of only six words, was released shortly before Walker’s announcement. Trumka’s expression of disgust should come as no surprise to those familiar with Walker’s union-busting policies...
UAW president: Contract talks with GM will not be easy  USA Today  ...Top officials from the UAW and General Motors were all smiles Monday as they kicked off contract talks and promised to work together even as sharp differences percolate just beneath the surface. This year, the union wants to win wage increases for autoworkers after years of rising sales and profits among U.S. automakers while the manufacturers will want to hold down labor costs...
KapStone millworkers to vote on 'unfair labor practice strike'  TDN.com  ...KapStone’s millworkers will be back to the polls this week to decide whether to go on an unfair labor practice strike, even as company and union officials continue federal mediation. Union members overwhelming approved of a measure in December that lends their bargaining board the power to call a strike if necessary. It’s been a month since Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers Local 153 provided the company with a 10-day strike notice...
Council approves 3-year pact with AFSCME   Coshocton Tribune  ...City Council has unanimously approved a new three-year contract with non-uniformed workers that matches the 2.5 percent annual raises granted firefighters last month. Mayor Steve Mercer said the new pact with Local 2551 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees will take effect Aug. 1. The current contract expires July 31...
Food Cart Vendors Are Getting Kicked to the Curb  The Nation  ...One of the strongest pillars of Los Angeles’s retail landscape isn’t a mom-and-pop storefront or a strip mall; in fact, it doesn’t even have a fixed address. The city is peppered with about 50,000 mobile food vendors, Old World startups on wheels, catering to high- and low-brow tastes ranging from grandma’s tamales to fresh tropical fruits to rolling shaved ice pops. But this vital layer of the urban foodie firmament has long operated essentially outside the law. And now controversy is swirling over a proposal to provide a formal permitting scheme to legalize their “microbusinesses”...

Miscellaneous
Wall Street’s sinister disappearing act: How it still endangers America — while Washington looks the other way  Salon  ...A common denominator bridges this gaping partisan chasm: Both sides ignore the role of Wall Street as a driver of inequality. In one sense, this is curious. If there is one group that is consistently among the least trusted and most disliked, it is the banks. Linking the core economic issue, inequality, to Wall Street makes for obvious populist appeal...
Hillary Clinton Lays Out Unexpectedly Tough Agenda On Wall Street  Think Progress  ...In the first major economic policy speech of her campaign, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton outlined her plan to crack down on major financial institutions and other players on Wall Street that have benefited from rising corporate profits while the middle class lags behind. “Over the course of this campaign, I will offer plans to reign in excessive risks on Wall Street and ensure that stock markets work for everyday investors, not just high-frequency traders or those with the best or fastest connections"...
Migrant Mothers and Children Being Freed From Detention  Truthout  ...Federal officials have begun releasing hundreds of detained mothers and children from the nation's family detention centers as part of plans to end long-term detention of migrant families. Nearly two hundred detained parents and children were released over the weekend, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials...
Opening Historic 'Possibility of Peace,' World Powers Clinch Iran Deal  Common Dreams  ...Following years of arduous negotiations, and decades of hostile relations, Iran and world powers on Tuesday announced a nuclear agreement that proponents say provides a historic opening for military deescalation, relief from devastating sanctions, and ultimately, peace. "This deal is a huge victory for diplomacy over war," Phyllis Bennis, senior fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies...