Today's Teamster News 04.21.15

Teamsters
Longtime Union Activist Rodney Smith Helps Organize Facebook Shuttle Drivers  Contra Costa Times   ...As a union organizer for Teamsters Local 853 based in San Leandro, Smith played a key role in winning the drivers their first union contract. In the process, the father of two helped pull off a precedent-setting vote that targets the growing income gap in Silicon Valley...
Pilots Fault Allegiant on Safety as Talks Stall  New York Times   ...But Allegiant’s scrappy success is now being questioned by its pilots, who say they are worried about repeated mechanical problems with the airline’s fleet of older planes, poor maintenance operations and a culture where profits come before safety. All the claims were reported by the pilots and compiled by the Teamsters Aviation Mechanics Coalition on behalf of the pilots’ union, the Airline Professionals Association Teamsters Local 1224...
PCC unions question change on carpenters, Teamsters   Philly.com  ...Marino wrote a letter saying he would dismiss complaints - primarily on technical grounds - by the Metropolitan Council of Regional Carpenters and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which said they had been improperly shut out of work last May at the Convention Center. On Thursday, Marino reversed course, saying he would hear arguments in the case...

Global Labor & Trade
‘Fast Track’ Trade Bill Taps Tension In Ohio  Wall Street Journal   ...Rep. Tim Ryan doesn’t need to travel far from home to see the damage he ascribes to bad trade deals. “You can see how it’s hollowed out,” said the Democratic lawmaker, pointing to empty or underutilized steel plants on a recent tour of his district in northeast Ohio. “Global trade regimes aren’t fairly written if this is the end result.”...
Japan says trade talks with US are close to deal   The Hill   ...Abe said he and Obama must play a leadership role to wrap a deal and “ultimately, what needs to happen is for both countries to make a political decision” to tackle difficult remaining issues. A U.S.-Japan bilateral agreement is a major step toward completing the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
Progressive Coalition Tells Lawmakers: 'Don't Trade Away Our Future' with Fast Track  Common Dreams   ...With members of Congress set to debate Fast Track authority this week, hundreds of environmentalists, consumer advocates, nurses, labor leaders, and elected officials stood shoulder-to-shoulder at a Washington, D.C. rally on Monday, pleading with lawmakers: 'Don't Trade Away Our Future!'
AFL-CIO head Richard Trumka explains why labor unions hate Obama’s trade deal  Vox  ...The TPP has created some strange bedfellows: the Obama administration has found itself with many GOP allies in promoting the trade deal, while unions and liberals like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders staunchly oppose it. Vox spoke with Trumka recently about why he opposes the pact...
Don't Let TPP Gut State Laws  (opinion) Politico   ...State laws and regulators are increasingly important as gridlock in Washington makes broad federal action on important issues an increasingly rare event. From environmental protection to civil rights to the minimum wage, the action is at the state level. Ironically, one thing that may get done soon in Washington is a trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which has the potential to undermine a wide range of state and local laws...
Fast Tracking Democracy To Hell  (opinion) Huffington Post   ...The Congressional free traders want to Fast Track authorization of the TPP. Fast Track enables Congress to abdicate its constitutionally mandated duty to regulate international trade. Instead of scrutinizing, amending and improving proposed trade deals, lawmakers use Fast Track to gloss over the specifics and simply vote yea or nay on the entire package as presented...

State & Living Wage Battles
Workers Allege Walmart Closes Stores To Retaliate Against Strikes  Think Progress  ...Over the weekend, the AFL-CIO and United Food & Commercial Workers International Union filed an injunction on their behalf with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Walmart. “The Board should seek injunctive relief compelling Walmart to rehire every one of the 2200 Associates who have been terminated in all 5 stores,” it says...
David Koch on 2016 GOP Nominee: ‘It Should be Scott Walker.’ But...   The Nation   ...According to several reports from a New York State Republican Party fund-raising event on Monday, David Koch told the big donors: “We will support whoever the candidate is. But it should be Scott Walker.” That sounded like an endorsement. So did what Koch said outside the Manhattan event, at which Walker also spoke. Koch hailed the governor of Wisconsin “a tremendous candidate.”...
TWMP talks Right-to-Work, the budget, and 2016   The Missouri Times   ...Senate Pro Tem Tom Dempsey joined This Week In Missouri Politics to discuss the coming budget fight and his decision to put Right-to-Work legislation on the Senate calendar for debate...
Little Momentum for National Right-to-Work, Despite Support by White House Contestants  Bloomberg News   ...Despite the backing of at least two of the three current Republican presidential candidates and similar laws in place in half the states, right-to-work legislation remains highly unlikely to move at the federal level any time soon, lawmakers and other observers told Bloomberg BNA...
Not just fast food: Full-service restaurant chains pay poverty wages, too  Daily Kos   ...Fast food isn't the only part of the restaurant industry where workers are seriously underpaid. A recent report from the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United shows that many workers in full-service restaurants are also paid so little that they need and get nearly $9.5 billion in public assistance each year...
How a $15 Minimum Wage Helps All Workers   Counterpunch   ...Regardless of their reasoning, the anti-$15 workers are arguing against their own best interest, since a $15 minimum wage would benefit the overwhelming majority of people who make over $15 an hour. This is because a $15 minimum wage would transform the labor market in favor of all working people. Economists have even given a term for this phenomenon, called “compression,” which describes the effects of how rising lower wages puts pressure on employers to raise wages for higher paid workers...
New York City Just Outlawed Running Credit Checks on Job Applicants   The Nation   ...The legislation, which passed last Thursday following an extensive grassroots campaign by local and national labor and community groups, restricts a boss, prospective employer or agency from “us[ing] an individual’s consumer credit history in making employment decisions.”...

U.S. Labor
Safety Regulations Issued For Trains Carrying Oil  New York Times   ...Responding to public pressure to act more quickly after a series of fiery train derailments involving oil shipments, the Transportation Department on Friday issued a series of emergency orders, including a 40-mile-an-hour speed limit for hazardous materials moving through urban areas. The emergency rules also require railroads to provide detailed information about a shipment within 90 minutes of any derailment...
Why Can't America Have Great Trains?  National Journal   ...Along with PBS and the United States Postal Service, Amtrak is perpetual fodder for libertarian think-tankers and Republican office-seekers on the prowl for government profligacy. Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush repeatedly tried to eliminate its subsidy, while Mitt Romney promised to do the same. Democrats, for their part, aren't interested in slaying Amtrak, but mostly you get the sense they just feel bad for it...
One-day teacher strikes planned this week  King5.com  ...Teachers in eight school districts, from Arlington to Blaine, announced one-day strikes this week to protest the lack of funding for public schools. They look at their act of civil disobedience as an opportunity to demand that lawmakers to fully fund public schools as mandated by a state supreme court decision, and reduce class size according to the voter approved Initiative 1351...
NLRB Upholds Howard University Docs' Union Vote  Union City   ...Resident physicians at Howard University Hospital and community leaders are calling on hospital officials to come to the table to negotiate a first contract with the residents’ union in the wake of a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling upholding the union election held earlier this year, in which a majority of the 263 Howard resident physicians voted in favor of representation...

Miscellaneous
Corporate Giants Often Get Huge Tax Breaks, While Poor, Undocumented Immigrants Have Paid Billions In State Taxes  New York Daily News   ...The truth is that for corporate giants like General Electric, Verizon, Citigroup, FedEx and others, the only certainty in terms of taxes is that they contribute as little to the country’s coffers as possible. Ironically, while many of these corporate behemoths pay zero taxes, the eternally vilified undocumented immigrants in New York paid $1.1 billion in state taxes in 2012...
Senate Races In 2016 Look Poised To Set Spending Records  Washington Post   ...Yes, the 2016 presidential race will be the most expensive in history. But the battle for control of the U.S. Senate in November 2016 also looks likely to smash spending records...
How Corporate Lobbyists Conquered American Democracy  The Atlantic   ...Today, the biggest companies have upwards of 100 lobbyists representing them, allowing them to be everywhere, all the time. For every dollar spent on lobbying by labor unions and public-interest groups together, large corporations and their associations now spend $34. Of the 100 organizations that spend the most on lobbying, 95 consistently represent business...

Strike season continues today with LA port strike spreading to three more companies

The LA port truck driver strike that began last week spread to three more drayage companies today. The job action continues the latest season of low-wage worker strikes expected to come to a head with the largest Black Friday protest by Walmart workers on Nov. 28.

Teamsters and Walmart workers came to the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach on Thursday to support the drivers striking against Total Transportation Services (TTSI) and Pacific 9 Transportation (Pac 9).

As the striking port truck drivers picketed on the West Coast, low-wage federal contract workers walked off the job in Washington, D.C. Nearby the port, Walmart strikers staged their first-ever sit-down strike and then joined the striking truck drivers at the port.

Today, Andrew Khouri at the Los Angeles Times reported,

Port truck driver strike at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach grew Monday, as protest organizers targeted three more companies that they accuse of wage theft. 

Drivers from QTS Inc., LACA Express and WinWin Logistics Inc. joined an ongoing strike Monday morning, said Barb Maynard, a spokeswoman for the Teamsters Union, which is backing the drivers... 

As in prior job actions against other firms, drivers say they are improperly classified as independent contractors, leaving them with fewer workplace protections and lower pay than if they were company employees.

The Justice for Port Drivers campaign explained the reason for the strikes in a statement:

Drivers are striking to end misclassification as “independent contractors,” a scam that has led to massive wage theft and denied drivers basic workplace protections such as safety and health regulations, disability insurance, workers compensation, and unemployment insurance.  

“We are sick of this misclassification scam,” declared striking port driver Ricardo Ceja, a misclassified “independent contractor” from LACA Express. “We are coming out of the shadows to demand our rights as company employees to provide a better future for our families.” 

On Friday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti facilitated talks among the drivers at TTSI and Pac 9, and the drivers agreed to take down their picket lines. Garcetti had already negotiated a cooling-off period with Green Fleet Systems, and so drivers did not strike that company on Thursday.

Today, this WinWin Logistics truck was turned back at the LBCT terminal.

Here's more good news: The striking port drivers are not only getting support from Garcetti, but from LBCT, Maersk, APL and Yusen terminals. A delegation of community, faith and Teamster leaders will hold a news conference this afternoon to show their support. 

Solidarity!

Teamsters push to oust Rob Walton as Walmart board chairman, support Walmart strikers

Walmart strikers today at Rob Walton's house. 

The Teamsters Union is calling for an independent board chairman at Walmart because of the company's labor violations and the ongoing investigation into corruption and bribery in Mexico, China, Brazil and India.

Walmart workers are striking this week with the support of the Teamsters and other unions to protest their poverty pay and retaliation for trying to organize a union. Walmart management, while scrimping on pay for its workers, plans to reward its executives lavishly though the sales have declined steadily for more than a year.

Today, Walmart moms protested outside the house of Rob Walton, Walmart chairman and CEO and one of the richest men in the world by virtue of his birth. As Walmart workers walk off the job tomorrow, Teamsters around the country will be showing solidarity.

Making Change at Walmart tells us Walmart workers held a meeting in Phoenix about inequality, then marched to Walton's estate carrying flags that read, "Moms won't be silenced."

Workers held the meeting and march to call on Rob Walton to respect workers’ right to speak out without fear of retaliation or step down as board chair given his many failures in leadership. One of six Walton heirs and majority owners of Walmart, Rob has failed to address basic concerns over wages, worker treatment and corporate controls, while he has continued to enrich his family – already the wealthiest in America – at the cost of millions of workers in Walmart’s stores and throughout its supply chain.

Mark Gruenberg at People's World reported:

The moms are part of a larger movement of workers conducting an inside campaign to force Walmart to raise its notoriously low pay, improve its bad benefits, give its workers full-time 40-hour-a-week jobs with set schedules and end its retaliation against workers who speak out. 

The moms and their allies will be part of a demonstration at the anti-worker retailer's shareholders meeting in Bentonville in the first week of June... 

Several unions, including the Teamsters, the UAW's Voluntary Employees Benefits Association - which runs the health insurance for its GM and Chrysler workers - and the Change To Win investment group, filed shareholder resolutions for Walmart's meeting. And Institutional Shareholder Services recommends that mutual funds vote to force Rob Walton out of his chair and for the Teamsters' move to have an independent chair instead.

Here is the Teamsters' resolution: 

RESOLVED:    The stockholders of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (the “Company”), ask the Board of Directors to adopt a policy that, whenever possible, the board chairman should be a director who has not previously served as an executive officer of the Company and who is “independent” of management.  For these purposes, a director shall not be considered “independent” if, during the last three years, he or she –

• Was, or was affiliated with a company that was, an advisor or consultant to the Company, or a significant customer or supplier of the Company;
• Was employed by, or had a personal service contract(s) with the Company or its senior management;
• Was affiliated with a company or non-profit entity that received the greater of $2 million or 2 percent of its gross annual revenues from the Company;
• Had a business relationship with the Company that the Company had to disclose under SEC regulations;
• Has been employed by a public company at which an executive officer of the Company serves as a director;
• Had a relationship of the sort described above with an affiliate of the Company; or,
• Was a spouse, parent, child, sibling or in-law of any person described above.

The policy should be implemented without violating any contractual obligation and should specify how to select an independent chairman if a current chairman ceases to be independent between annual shareholder meetings.  Compliance with the policy may be excused if no independent director is available and willing to be chairman.

SUPPORTING STATEMENT:   We believe the Board of Directors ability to provide independent oversight of management is compromised when the chairman of the board is not independent.

We believe that an independent Chairman who sets agendas, priorities and procedures for the board can enhance its oversight and accountability of management, and help ensure the objective functioning of an effective board.  We view the alternative of having a lead outside director, even one with a robust set of duties, as adequate only in exceptional circumstances fully disclosed by the board.

Investigations into bribery and corruption at Wal-Mart’s subsidiaries in Mexico, China, Brazil, and India, along with a recent National Labor Relations Board decision to authorize a nationwide complaint against the company for violations of federal labor law, highlight the need for enhanced oversight of Wal-Mart’s corporate culture and behavior.  A board led by an independent chairman is best positioned to drive such change.

Today's Teamster News 11.30.13

Dozens arrested in Wal-Mart protests nationwide, 10 in Chicago  Chicago Tribune   ...Hundreds of protesters, including some Walmart workers who skipped their shifts on the retail industry's busiest day, spoke, chanted and sang outside of Walmart stores around the United States, making pleas for higher wages and better healthcare for Walmart hourly workers...
Wal-Mart protesters arrested at Black Friday rallies  CNN   ...In a tradition that's becoming as much a part of Black Friday as the shopping, protesters gathered outside a number of Wal-Mart locations Friday calling for higher wages at the country's largest private retailer...
Activists arrested in Virginia at one of 1,500 planned Wal-Mart protests  Salon   ...Nine activists were arrested at an Alexandria, Virginia protest Friday morning, the first of nine planned civil disobedience demonstrations against Wal-Mart...
Walmart's Black Friday Going About As Badly As You'd Expect  Huffington Post   ...The … video was taken at a Walmart in Johnson City, Tenn., according to Instagram user jcooper770. Such instances weren't limited to a single Walmart store, according to various Internet users...
Senators blast Wal-Mart “trampling” workers’ rights as dozens of activists are arrested on Black Friday  Salon   ...Democratic Senators Sherrod Brown and Ed Markey, and House members Jan Schakowsky, Judy Chu, William Lacy Clay, Gwen Moore, and Jim McDermott also voiced their support in a Friday statement, saying “It is time that Walmart pays its workers a fair wage and stops trampling on their rights...”
On Register’s Other Side, Little to Spend”  New York Times   ...In many stores around the country, the workers stocking the shelves and ringing up the gifts are at the very heart of this season’s retail lament —many Americans are so financially strapped that projections for holiday sales have grown bleaker by the week...
The dark side of Black Friday  BBC Trending   ...The vast volume of shoppers has led to chaotic scenes and outbreaks of violence. Stampedes and shootings have plagued the day, resulting in four deaths and 56 injuries in the past five years...
Struggles of Younger US Workers Ripple Through Economy  Alternet   ...Since 1965, the number of households has grown at a rate of 1.5 percent annually, according to census data, and that’s meant about 1.3 million new ones every year. ... “The number of households, via quarterly Census Bureau data, (suggests) we’re only adding about 600,000 to 700,000 this year...
Secretive Corporate Deal in the Works Could Establish Special Closed Door Courts for Big Business  Alternet   ...The proposed investment chapter of the deal revealed plans to expand the system of international investment tribunals that deal with what is called ‘investor-state dispute settlement’. These are closed-door courts that take direct aim at the ability of governments across the world to enact environmental, public health and other protections for their citizens...
World Fights Back Against the Biggest Brother in History  truthout   ...a United Nations committee approved without a vote a draft resolution entitled “The Right to Privacy in a Digital Age.” The nonbinding resolution, which will now head to the General Assembly where it has broad support, follows from a report published in June by the United Nations Human Rights Council. It detailed the negative impact of state surveillance on free expression and human rights and lamented that technology has outpaced legislation...

Today's Teamster News 11.22.13

Teamsters Joint Council 42 and Local 911 Endorse Lee Rogers for Congress  Inland Empire   ...Dr. Lee Rogers, candidate for Congress in California’s 25th District, announced today that he has picked up the endorsements of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 911 and their umbrella organization, Joint Council 42. Rogers, a podiatrist, is a member of the Teamsters Union...
Use Teamster-Made Ingredients for Thanksgiving  teamster.org   ...For your Thanksgiving recipes, use Teamster-made ingredients and support your brothers and sisters at these companies...
Waste Workers Near San Diego Ratify First Teamster Contract  teamster.org   ...Drivers and mechanics at Waste Management in Carlsbad, California, who voted to join Teamsters Local 683 in San Diego, have ratified their first contract...
New contract gives wage increases for dining workers  The Daily Pennsylvanian   ...Penn dining workers have finished negotiations with Bon Appetit, which will increase their wages and provide a healthcare package. Negotiations began in September, after the workers joined Teamsters Local 929...
Massena, highway department union reach four-year deal  North Country Now   ...The Town Council in Messena, New York, unanimously agreed to a four-year contract with the Teamsters Local 687 to cover the town Highway Department’s eight employees on Wednesday night...
Hoffa to Corporate America: 'Have You No Sense of Decency?'  Huffington Post   ...the average American family pays $6,000 a year to cover government tax breaks for big business....
Senator Sounds The Alarm On Social Security   teamster.org   ...The median retirement savings of U.S. workers near retirement age is only $12,000....
Walmart Workers Strike At Seven Stores In Dallas  ThinkProgress   ...Walmart workers called out or walked off the job at seven stores in Dallas, according to OUR Walmart activists, the group that has been organizing strikes and protests against the company...
Wal-Mart labor group promises 1,500 Black Friday protests next week  Salon   ...Amid scrutiny of Wal-Mart taking up employee-to-employee charity, strike wave continues against retail giant...
The Middle Class Is Disappearing Despite The Economic Recovery  ThinkProgress   ...There were nearly 700,000 fewer middle-income households since the began than during the economic crisis, according to new Census Bureau data...
The U.S. ranks 26th for life expectancy, right behind Slovenia  Washington Post   ...Back in the 1970s, Americans typically lived longer than residents of other countries. Not anymore, according to a new report...
‘I Watched My Patients Die of Treatable Diseases Because They Were Poor’  AlterNet   ...A Galveston medical student describes life and death in the non-existent Texas safety net...
Tea party groups can't shield donors, FEC rules  Politico   ...The panel voted 3-2 against a proposal that would have allowed the Tea Party Leadership Fund to shield the names and information of their donors from public scrutiny...
What will happen to truck drivers when self-driving vehicles take over?  Washington Post   ...Google's test vehicles for its self-driving technology are a Lexus and a Prius. That suggests that Google sees self-driving as a technology for passenger cars. But self-driving technology will almost certainly affect industry and commerce first...
5 Signs the Rich Have Way Too Much Money  AlterNet   ...You can get a $5,000 hamburger for lunch. The Fleur de Lys restaurant in Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay offers the "Fleurburger 5000" for $5,000...
Cash America fined over claims of robo-signing, gouging military families  Washington Post   ...The $19 million settlement is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s first with a payday lender...
UPS increasing rates by 4.9% in 2014  Associated Press   ...The shipping company said that the number is an average of its UPS Ground, Air and International, and Air Freight rate increases for the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico...
Spanish court sentences 'Robin Hood' mayor  Associated Press   ...A Spanish court has sentenced a town mayor and four others to seven months in prison for occupying unused military land they wanted to be loaned to farmers hard hit by the economic crisis...
NY Signs DOL Deal to Tackle Misclassification; Payroll Fraud Protection Act of 2013 Introduced  The We Party   ...The state of New York has signed into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division in an attempt to stop the misclassification of employees as independent contractors. New York is the 15th state to sign such an agreement...
Targets seek stay of investigation into Scott Walker's recall campaign and other groups  Wisconsin State Journal   ...Three unnamed petitioners are asking that a judge be ordered to temporarily halt a secret investigation into campaign activity by Gov. Scott Walker’s recall campaign and more than two dozen conservative political groups...
Wisconsin Employment: October 2013  Econbrowser   ...Two numbers to remember: 84 thousand and 107 thousand. The first number is the amount by which actual October employment lags Governor Walker's promised path; the second is the amount by which the Administration's own forecast for January 2015 lags Walker's promised 250,000 net new jobs figure...

Today's Teamster News 11.15.13

Teamsters Support Walmart Strikers   teamster.org   ...Teamsters are out front supporting Walmart worker protests in the run-up to the nationwide strike planned for Friday, Nov. 29, or Black Friday. Walmart workers want respect, a living wage and the right to form a union...
Teamsters Support 'SAFE SKIES ACT Of 2013  teamster.org   ...The Teamsters Union applauds today’s re-introduction of the ‘Safe Skies Act of 2013’ by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA). The bill would bring air cargo and supplemental pilots under the same safety regulations as air passenger pilots, standardizing rules within the industry...
Teamsters Condemn Cab Commission's Denying Driver Time To Speak At Public Meeting  DCist   ...At yesterday's extremely chaotic D.C. Taxicab Commission meeting, which was attended by over one hundred city cabbies, a driver without copies of his testimony for the commissioners was told he could not speak...
Maine Teamsters Endorse Michaud For Governor, Jackson For Congress  Teamsters Local 340   ...Teamsters Local 340 in South Portland, Maine announced that its executive board unanimously voted to endorse both Rep. Mike Michaud (D-2nd District) in his run for governor and State Senator Troy Jackson who is running for the 2nd Congressional District seat being vacated by Michaud...
Hoffa: Lawmakers Increasingly Realize Fast Track Is a Fraud  Huffington Post   ...The Teamsters for years have been an outspoken critic of fast-track trade authorization which allows bad proposed trade agreements to move through Congress on just a quick up-or-down vote. And in the last week, we were joined by 185 House lawmakers who feel the same way...
The more you know about the odious Trans-Pacific Partnership, the less you’ll like it  The Guardian   ...That is why it's been negotiated in secret meetings dominated by governments and corporations...
US trade deficit widened 8% in September  Associated Press   ...imports increased to the highest level in 10 months while exports slipped. The wider gap suggests growth was somewhat slower over the summer than previously estimated...
US mobility for young adults falls to 50-year low  Associated Press   ...Among adults ages 25-29, just 4.9 million, or 23.3 percent, moved in the 12 months ending March 2013. That's down from 24.6 percent in the same period the year before. It was the lowest level since at least 1963. The peak of 36.7 percent came in 1965, during the nation's youth counterculture movement...
Facebook and Microsoft help fund rightwing lobby network, report finds  The Guardian   ...State Policy Network rejects climate change, opposes workers' rights – and is backed by some top US tech and telecoms firms...
Koch-backed nonprofit spent record cash in 2012  Center for Public Integrity   ...Americans for Prosperity — the main political arm of billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch — spent a staggering $122 million last year as it unsuccessfully attempted to defeat President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats, according to a Center for Public Integrity review of documents filed in Colorado...
How McDonald's And Walmart Became Welfare Queens  Bloomberg   ...It seems that welfare queens are back in the news these days. This time, they are even bigger, richer and less deserving of taxpayer support...
An example of how the banking cartels control countries  the unbalanced evolution of homo sapiens   ...The biggest private banks created a complex financial environment with complex financial destructive "tools" which governments are unable to manage. Governments are forced to turn to the same banks for "advising services" while they are flooded with former bank executives placed in key positions. This explains why the biggest private banks receive bailout packages of billions at the expense of taxpayers, loading governments with more debt...
Justices grill lawyers over neutrality agreements between employers and unions  Washington Post   ...Supreme Court justices seemed reluctant Wednesday to disallow a type of agreement between employers and unions that has become increasingly important to the labor movement as it tries to grow its ranks...
Poverty Is America's #1 Education Problem (opinion)  AlterNet   ...Teachers' unions are not the reason America's schools are in trouble...
Troubled Youth Prison Company Wins Even More Contracts  Huffington Post   ...Despite voluminous evidence that inmates have suffered violence, sexual abuse and neglect inside the facilities of a private juvenile prison operator, the state of Florida has in recent weeks awarded fresh contracts to the company...
Lockheed to cut 4,000 jobs as U.S. government spending wanes  Reuters   ...Defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp said on Thursday it plans to cut 4,000 jobs, or more than 3 percent of its worldwide workforce, to cope with declines in U.S. spending...
Swiss voters likely to reject salary cap bill for executives  Raw Story   ...Swiss voters look set to reject a law to rein in executive pay in a looming referendum, with a poll released Wednesday showing only around a third back the plan...
German union's incoming boss warns VW about avoiding unions  Reuters   ...The incoming leader of an influential German union warned Volkswagen AG on Wednesday about trying to avoid unions in Tennessee, where the German automaker has an assembly plant...
Giant, Safeway workers authorize possible strike   Washington Post   ...Unionized employees at Washington area Safeway and Giant Food stores voted Wednesday to authorize a strike against the grocery chains if the two parties fail to agree on a new contract...
Any proposal to ban BART workers from striking is not a simple matter (opinion)  San Francisco Examiner   ...The California Supreme Court has gone back and forth on whether public-sector employees, such as these BART workers last month, are allowed to walk off the job...
Boeing machinists soundly reject labor deal Reuters   ...Boeing machinists soundly rejected an eight-year labor contract extension on Wednesday that would have let them build the company's newest jetliner in Washington, a historic decision that could forever alter the course of Boeing's 97-year presence in the state...

Walmart workers to strike in 15 cities tomorrow

Tomorrow is shaping up to be another big day of action among low-wage workers as Walmart employees prepare to mount widespread protests and walkouts. OUR Walmart organizers are hoping the day of action will be the biggest since last year's Black Friday strike.

Josh Eidelson at The Nation reports:

This week’s rallies follow an August 22 civil disobedience action at which the campaign announced a Labor Day deadline for Walmart to raise its wages to at least $25,000 per year, and reverse the terminations of twenty workers who participated in a June strike.

Thursday’s actions will include a march through downtown Los Angeles to the site of a proposed Walmart in Chinatown, and a demonstration in Washington, DC, where all sides are awaiting word on whether Mayor Vince Gray will veto a bill (passed by City Council in July but formally sent to his desk last Friday) that would require “large retailers” like Walmart to pay employees at least $12.50 in total hourly compensation. Thursday actions are also planned for cities in the East, West, South and Midwest: Baton Rouge, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Orlando, Sacramento, San Francisco and Seattle.

Walmart protests tomorrow follow strikes last week involving low-wage workers in the port trucking and fast-food industries. Walmart workers are fighting back against management retaliation against OUR Walmart supporters, and they are part of a growing movement to raise wages and standards for America's growing population that is trying to survive on poverty wages.

Eidelson adds:

Thursday’s rallies will have the largest total turnout by Walmart employees, and the biggest overall number of participants, of any Walmart mobilization since the one-day November 23 strike last year, in which organizers say 400-some workers walked off the job and thousands of supporters turned out to support them. Since then, organizers say hundreds of workers took part in collective confrontations with local management over scheduling on April 24, and over a hundred participated in the longer June work stoppage, which included a week of protests in and around Walmart’s Arkansas hometown. 

The OUR Walmart campaign has asked the National Labor Relations Board, whose pace and penalties labor has long charged are insufficient for protecting workers, to seek an injunction to more quickly address Walmart’s recent alleged retaliation.

Last week, port truck drivers staged a historic one-day strike in their drive to become Teamsters and raise standards at the Port of Los Angeles.

While corporations in retail and other low-paying industries are rolling in record profits, low-wage workers represent the fastest-growing segment of American workers and the country's expanding income gap.

Making Change at Walmart wrote in a statement yesterday:

Economists, labor market experts and others have been increasingly voicing concern about the growing income inequality and its impact on the economy. Walmart, the largest company on the Fortune 500 list, made $16 billion in profit last year, and the majority of owners of the company, the Waltons, have the combined wealth of nearly half of American families. Meanwhile, many Walmart workers continue to earn on average poverty wages of $8.81 an hour.

Rather than providing good jobs that American workers need and deserve, Walmart is trying to silence workers who are standing up with their co-workers to live better and spending its time and money trying to deny workers a decent day’s pay.

Since June, Walmart has illegally disciplined nearly 80 workers, including firing 20 worker-leaders. More than 100 Unfair Labor Practice charges have been filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Walmart. 

Not only do Walmart and other low-wage workers represent a growing part of the labor force, they represent a huge upsurge of collective action against corporate greed and the fight to save the middle class.

Teamsters and supporters everywhere are encouraged to stand in solidarity with Walmart workers tomorrow. Visit the Corporate Action Network website to find a protest in your area.

SOLIDARITY!

How to talk about low-wage strikers

Are you dreading the prospect of talking to your right-wing uncle over the Labor Day weekend?

When the subject of low-wage worker strikes comes up, here are things you can say in response to the predictable anti-worker arguments you'll hear:

• "Those jobs are for high school kids and dropouts working part time. They don't deserve more money."  Actually most people working in low-wage service sectors like retail and fast-food are middle-age and working full time to support their families. The average age of workers filling low-wage job positions is 35 and more than a third of them are 40 or older. On average, they earn half of their family's income and 28 percent of them have kids.

• "Well then they should get different jobs if they want more money. It's their fault for choosing to work crappy jobs that are supposed to be for teenagers." No, it isn't their fault because most of them didn't choose those jobs. They were forced into them by an economy being dominated by low-wage industries. By a three-to-one margin, high-skilled, good-paying jobs that have been lost due to recession and bad trade deals have been replaced by low-wage jobs in the service industry. Sixty percent of jobs lost in the recession were in middle-class occupations while 21 percent were in low-wage occupations. Since the recession, 58 percent of job growth has been in low-wage occupations while just 22 percent has been in middle-income level jobs. Do the math!

• "Still, flipping burgers has always been a minimum wage job and that's the way it should be." Okay, but if we're paying workers based on inflation and productivity, then the minimum wage needs to be increased, too. Right now it stands at just $7.25 an hour and hasn't been increased since 2009. If the minimum wage kept up with inflation over the past 40 years, it would be $10.74. And if it kept up with the rise in productivity it would be $18.67. The annual income for a full-time worker making the federal minimum wage is $15,080 - well below the poverty line for a family of three or four.

• "Paying low-wage workers more by increasing the minimum wage or giving them raises will hurt businesses and raise prices." Says who? While the CEOs of Walmart and fast-food corporations would love to pass the cost of higher wages on to consumers, they can well afford to pay their workers more. The top eight fast-food chains made $7.35 billion in profits last year. Walmart's CEO makes more in one hour than the average Walmart employee makes in a year. If the CEO of McDonald's -- who got a $4.1 million raise last year -- can take home $13.8 million a year, he can afford to pay workers more than poverty wages.

• "Well, I'm not a fast-food worker so what they get paid doesn't impact me." Actually it does. The rising number of workers making low wages means more and more people have to turn to public assistance like food stamps and other welfare programs. They can't make ends mean when the only jobs available pay so little. Low wages at a single Walmart store can cost taxpayers up to $900,000 a year. So winning a living wage for workers in retail, fast-food, warehouse and other low-wage industries will save taxpayers tons of money. And let's not forget that higher pay usually means lower employee turnover and higher productivity for business. Plus, higher wages will boost consumer spending and strength local economies.

Finally, remind your right-wing relatives that Labor Day is about honoring workers -- ALL workers!

Resistance to the War on Workers spreading everywhere

Homeless McDonald's workers speak out.

Today warehouse workers asked a court to include Wal-Mart as a defendant in a class-action suit for wage theft. It was the latest act of worker resistance against poverty wages, exploitation and ill treatment.

Tomorrow, union and community members will take the next act of defiance against plutocrats who are crushing working families. Throughout the country, rallies, news conferences and 30-hour watches will be held to oppose Wall Street's latest attempt to plunder the retirement and health benefits earned by American workers.

Last year, huge labor protests engulfed the capital of Wisconsin. Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa then said Gov. Scott Walker's brazen attacks on government employees awakened all American workers.

Scott Walker gave a wake-up call to Wisconsin’s working families, and they gave it right back.

Teamsters supporting striking fast-food
workers in Brooklyn yesterday.

Hoffa called it. Activism has spread from unionized government workers to low-paid non-union employees such as Wal-Mart associates, fast-food workers and misclassified warehouse workers along the supply chain. It's spreading to a broad spectrum of Americans fighting against proposed cuts to programs and benefits for working people.

Teamsters are standing in solidarity with all working families fighting for a better life. And they're standing with us.

Yesterday, dozens of workers at McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's walked off the job in New York City yesterday to protest their poverty wages and ill treatment. Teamsters joined them. (Watch a video of yesterday's fast-food strike here.)

On Black Friday, Wal-Mart workers and supporters took more than 1,000 actions in 46 states. Teamsters stood by them, too.

Josh Eidelson at The Nation tells us what's next for the Organization United for Respect at Wal-Mart:

During the holiday shopping season, OUR Walmart plans to communicate with Walmart customers about the company’s conditions. That includes internet outreach and face-to-face conversations with people entering and leaving stores. OUR Walmart so far has stopped short of calling on customers to boycott the company. 

At the same time, OUR Walmart has pledged to defend workers it says have been punished for their activism. Along with discussing the allegations with customers, OUR Walmart plans to file a battery of new National Labor Relations Board charges against the company, and to form new rapid-response committees prepared to support workers facing future retaliation. 

Local 707 Teamsters supporting striking Wal-Mart workers
in Kingston, N.Y. 

Both the customer engagement and the anti-retaliation strategy are designed to be ongoing programs that won’t center on a single day like Black Friday. But striker Colby Harris said there’s also a major action planned for an unspecified date next month. He said to also expect “possibly more strikes, more walkouts, maybe some sit-ins, some picketing possibly. Just what we’ve always done, just at a higher volume, more frequent.”

The Los Angeles Times reported today on the lawsuit by the warehouse workers, which is supported by the Change to Win federation to which the Teamsters belong.

The suit accuses Wal-Mart, Schneider Logistics Inc., which operates a Wal-Mart warehouse, and a pair of temporary employment agencies of forcing approximately 1,800 employees "to work long hours, under oppressive workplace conditions, for legally inadequate pay."

The facilities in Mira Loma, near Ontario, receive containers from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and reship them to Wal-Mart distribution centers and stores around the country.

"It has become increasingly clear that the ultimate liability for workplace violations rests squarely on the shoulders of Wal-Mart, and not just on the contractors and subcontractors that act as a buffer...," said an attorney for the warehouse workers, Michael Rubin.

We will keep bringing you dispatches from the battlefield.

Wal-Mart strikes in 100 cities, 46 states

The video above shows 33 Wal-Mart actions today in 33 cities. There were way more: Making Change at Walmart reports 1,000 actions throughout the country, including strikes in at least 100 cities and protests in 46 states.  Josh Eidelson reported in The Nation that it will take time to tally more exact figures because many strikers are walking off the job on their own in stores where no actions have been taken before.

Local 707 today in Kingston, N.Y.

Teamsters pledged their support for the strike, organized by an offshoot of UFCW. (The Teamsters and UFCW belong to the Change to Win federation.)

Teamsters all over the country came out to show solidarity with the striking workers. Teamsters from Local 728 raised a ruckus on the picket line in Atlanta. They joined a rally in front of a store in Durham, N.C. Joint Council 7's truck rolled up to the Wal-Mart action in San Jose, Calif. Teamsters from Local 89 came bearing "ULP Strike" signs in Louisville. Local 707 members brought handmade signs to the rally in Kingston, N.Y.

We'll have more reports of Teamster action over the next week.

Joint Council 7 in San Jose

Wal-Mart called the police on some strikers. In St. Cloud, Fla.,Vanessa Ferreira,  a 59-year-old cake decorator walked off the job -- alone -- and police arrested her for trespassing. Gather reported,

Ferreira said that the wages Walmart paid were far too low to survive on, and that workers had to use government benefits to supplement their incomes. She also said that many employees are on part-time status, which makes it very difficult for them. "They pay low wages, then the taxpayers pick up the tab for food stamps and Medicaid," Ferreira said.

The Naked Capitalist points out that it's too early to tell how effective the strike will be. But she also notes another threat to Wal-Mart:


It’s too early to tell how effective the Black Friday against Walmart’s low pay and abusive working conditions were. The early reports from management and the organizers are wildly at odds with each other.

However, a new front may open up in the Walmart disputes: that of disruption to its international shipments. It’s too early to tell if this is serious or merely sympathetic window dressing, but the four and a half million strong International Transport Workers’ Federation had cleared its throat. From the Guardian:

Now the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has written to shipping owners and ship captains who carry Walmart goods and asked them to contact the gigantic global company and express support for the protesting workers. “Walmart workers taking industrial action know that their jobs are at risk. The least we can do to help is use our expertise at sea and relations with the shipping industry to back them in any way we can.”

Local 89 in Louisville, Ky.

ITF acting general secretary Steve Cotton told the Guardian: “We’re talking to captains and the ship operators moving Walmart goods, and asking them to register their concerns with the company about its treatment of staff – and the impact that could have on trade.” 

As readers no doubt know, Walmart’s business model depends on being able to import cheap goods from overseas. It also uses the “just in time” inventory practices first developed by Japanese automakers, so it does not typically carry large inventory buffers. If international transport workers were to start interfering with or delaying Walmart shipments, it could prove to be disruptive.

 Stay tuned.

Teamsters supporting striking Wal-Mart workers today

Teamsters are supporting striking Wal-Mart workers at rallies outside stores throughout the country today.

The mainstream media is doing its usual job of covering workers' protests (that is, pretty much ignoring them), so we have to hunt to find out what's going on with the Wal-Mart workers' Black Friday strike.

Tweeters tell us 400 people marched to Capitol Plaza in Prince George County, Md. Wal-Mart called the police on striking workers in Louisiana. Strikers are rallying outside a store in Milwaukee to protest low pay, scheduling and health care.

We learned from Josh Eidelson at The Nation this morning that retail workers in at least seven states, including Florida, Wisconsin, Texas, California, New Mexico, Maryland and Louisiana.

Walmart stores opened at 8 PM, drawing additional ire from employees required to come into work on Thanksgiving earlier than ever. But workers’ protests got off to an early start too. Around 7:30 PM EST, 30 workers from three Miami stores went on strike, joining 100-plus supporters for one of several nighttime rallies across the country. “It’s been so long that I’ve been working for people that had no respect for me,” Miami striker Elaine Rozier told The Nation. “They retaliated against me, and they always treated me like crap. And I’m so happy that this is history, that my grandkids can learn from this to stand up for themselves.” In the past, said Rozier, “I always used to sit back and not say anything…I’m proud of myself tonight.” 

Chicago Wal-Mart worker today:
"We want to earn a living wage."

At 9:45 PM CST, workers struck and rallied with supporters outside a store in Dallas; OUR Walmart says that the peaceful crowd was dispersed by police. When workers walked off the job in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the group says that managers kicked customers out of the store on the mistaken assumption that they were there to protest. Workers are also on strike in San Leandro, California, and Clovis, New Mexico. Stores in Ocean City, Maryland; Orlando, Florida; and Baton Rouge, Louisiana each have a single worker out on strike. In St. Cloud, Florida, Walmart associate Lisa Lopez was joined by Congressman-Elect Alan Grayson as she walked out on strike.  

At 11:45 PM, labor and community activists demonstrated outside a store in Quincy, Massachusetts, the first of a string of protests that allied groups promise will hit all 48 Walmarts in the state.

From Twitter we learn Wal-Mart workers are striking in Chicago,

@Sara_Jeans (Sara Shaw) tweeted the photo below: Room full of people getting ready to head out to stand with ‪#walmartstrikers‬ in the DC/MD area!

We especially like this photo of the Overhead Light Brigade in Kenosha, Wisc.: