Increased job deaths show need to focus on workplace safety

Why do we need unions? The reasons are many, but a key statistic released last week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) highlights an often-overlooked one -- to monitor workplace safety.

Too many people die at the workplace. The Labor Department reported that 4,679 workers were fatally injured on the job in 2014, up two percent from the previous year. The numbers were particularly grim for the workforce's oldest participants, who saw fatalities rise by nine percent. The 1,621 recorded deaths for those 55 and over is the highest since the agency began tracking such numbers in 1992.

Labor Secretary Tom Perez said the numbers are not acceptable:

Far too many people are still killed on the job -- 13 workers every day taken from their families tragically and unnecessarily. These numbers underscore the urgent need for employers to provide a safe workplace for their employees as the law requires.

Construction injuries – many of them falls – killed 874 workers last year, up from 828 the year before, BLS reported. The construction death rate is triple the death rate among all workers from occupational injuries, which was 3.3 per 100,000 last year, unchanged from 2013.

Meanwhile, BLS said 181 oil and gas extraction workers died on the job last year, 17 percent more than the year before. That industry’s death rate was 14.1 per 100,000 workers, second only to agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (24.1 deaths per 100,000 workers) in fatality rates. The most-dangerous occupations last year were loggers (109.5 fatalities per 100,000 workers), fishers and related occupations (80.8), aircraft pilots and engineers (63.2) and roofers (46.2).

Some of the most economically vulnerable workers are also among groups with high on-the-job death numbers. Perez called 789 Hispanic-named workers who died on the job last year a figure that’s “unacceptably high.” And 827 of 2014’s dead workers were foreign-born.

Unions have a long history of overseeing safety concerns. That's because the Teamsters and others labor groups have workers’ interests at heart. Legislation like so-called right-to-work hampers their ability to do so. Workers don't feel safe to air their concerns when they don't have an advocate.

Everyday Americans deserve better. That's why the Teamsters and other unions continue their push to make workplace safety a reality.

• Press Associates contributed to this report.

Today's Teamster News 03.21.15

Teamsters
Employees Vote On Whether They Want Teamsters Representation  Fontana News Herald   ...Ballots were mailed out last week to more than 15,000 San Bernardino county, city and agency employees to vote in an election for Teamsters representation. The workers, who are members of the San Bernardino Public Employees Association (SBPEA), will have the opportunity to vote in favor of affiliating with the Teamsters...
SEC to allow shareholder vote on Wal-Mart independent chairman  Reuters   ...Wal-Mart had argued that the proposal, submitted by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters General Fund, should be omitted because it was vague in its standard of independence...
Sysco, US Foods Seek Disclosure Of FTC Witness Identities  JDSupra   ...The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) went head-to-head last week with Sysco Corp. and US Foods Inc. over whether to make public the names of the declarants relied on by the FTC in its preliminary injunction to block Sysco and US Foods’ merger. Sysco and US Foods filed a motion in a Washington, D.C. federal district court on March 6 asking the judge to publicize the names, which the FTC quickly opposed...
Special Election 170th Legislative District: Dem. Sarah DelRicci Vs. Rep. Martina White  Philadelphia Public Record   ...The unions backing White are FOP Lodge 5; International Association of Fire Fighters Local 22; International Union of Painters & Allied Trades District Council 21; AFSCME DC 33; Teamsters Local 500; Gas Workers Local 686; Drywall Fitters Local 1955; International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 8; Glaziers Local 252; Sprinkler Fitters Local 692; Steamfitters Local 420; Painters 2011; and Plasterers Local 8...
In Sunset Park, Doubts About Development Plan  Wall Street Journal   ...The groups holding Sunday’s rally, at Uprose’s offices, include Neighbors Helping Neighbors, a tenant-advocacy group, and the Teamsters Local 812, which wants to preserve union port jobs. The developers are seeking a rezoning, which will require approval from the City Planning Commission and City Council...
Trade
DeLauro clashes with Obama trade officials over U.S. exports  the ct mirror   ...DeLauro, D-3rd District, was one of eight House Democrats who sent Froman a letter Thursday accusing him of inflating the number of U.S. exports and misleading Congress. The lawmakers also held a press conference challenging Froman’s calculations...
Dem: Trade officials ‘baffling’ lawmakers ‘with bullshit’  The Hill   ...Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) on Thursday accused the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) of “baffling” Democrats “with bullshit” in an effort to advance President Obama's trade agenda...
Japan says difficult to reach Japan-U.S. trade deal without TPA  Reuters   ...Japanese Economy Minister Akira Amari said on Friday it would be difficult to reach an agreement in two-way trade talks between Japan and the United States unless U.S. lawmakers fast-tracked trade promotion legislation...
Fair trade is racial justice issue (opinion) Sky Valley Chronicle   ...Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal could make matters worse in places like Ferguson, Mo...
State Battles
Wisconsin Lawmakers Go After Workers’ Weekends  ThinkProgress   ...Two Wisconsin state lawmakers have proposed a bill that would roll back the state’s requirement that companies give workers at least one day off every seven days...
Texas Senate considering bill that could financially kill public-sector unions  Breitbart   ...The bill, SB 1968, was filed at the very end of the bill filing period for this Legislative Session last Friday, and would end the practice of automatic payroll deductions for labor union dues for the majority of public-sector unions...
8 ways Nevada Republicans want to shift power from labor unions  Reno Gazette-Journal   ...Republican lawmakers have long been on a quest to eat away at the power local government employee unions have when negotiating the labor contracts that govern their salaries, benefits and working conditions...
Kansas Senate Committee Advances Bill On Public Sector Unions  Wichita Eagle   ...The Kansas Senate is headed for a fight with the state’s public sector unions after a committee advanced a bill limiting public employees’ collective bargaining power and changing the way unions collect dues. The bill would limit automatic paycheck deductions for public employee unions and other organizations such as charities. The head of United Way of the Plains called it “a kick in the teeth.”...
Wisconsin Judge Declines To Block New Right-To-Work Law  Chicago Tribune   ...Dane County Circuit Judge William Foust rejected the request by three unions to grant a temporary injunction blocking the law from being enforced pending the outcome of their legal challenge...
Illinois: Governor Tells Agencies To Divert Union Fees  New York Times   ...Gov. Bruce Rauner, dogged in his attempts to eliminate fees paid to unions by workers who choose not to join, has instructed state agencies to divert money from nonunion employee paychecks away from organized labor until a judge settles the matter...
War on Workers
OSHA Whistleblower Investigator Blows Whistle on Own Agency  NBC Bay Area   ...Employee says the federal whistleblower program isn’t protecting whistleblowers or the public...
Missing Citigroup Checks Spur Lawmaker to Call for Investigation  Bloomberg   ...Citigroup Inc.’s failure to pay 24,000 people owed money as part of a settlement with the government over foreclosure abuses has prompted a U.S. lawmaker to call for an investigation into whether banks missed other borrowers...
Congress sets up veto showdown with vote to roll back labor rule  Los Angeles Times   ...Setting up another veto showdown with President Obama, Congress on Thursday approved a measure that seeks to roll back a new labor rule that allows workers to conduct union elections more quickly...
House Passes Bill To Overturn Labor Board Rule  Wall Street Journal   ...The vote was 232-186. It followed Senate passage earlier this month of the measure, which uses a rarely invoked law that allows Congress to reverse certain agency actions. The White House has said Mr. Obama’s senior advisers would recommend that he veto the resolution...
Worker Killed: Electrocuted, Struck By Motorcycles  Space Coast Daily   ...A man working on a utilities truck that was cleaning storm drains along S. Harbor City Boulevard was killed Thursday night as a result of an unusual chain of events...
Tolland DPW Truck Hits And Kills Worker Patching Potholes  WVIT   ...A veteran Tolland public works employee died after he was hit by one of his own trucks while patching potholes in town on Thursday, according to state police...

Today's Teamster News 01.21.15

Teamsters
CN And Teamsters Reach Deal  Materials Management and Distribution   ...CN has negotiated a tentative labour agreement with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference-Rail Canada Traffic Controllers (TCRC-RCTC) union that represents rail traffic controllers in Canada...
Teamsters Head "Optimistic" on Ratification of New Commercial Deal  Hollywood Reporter   …Teamsters Local 399 reached a tentative agreement with commercial producers, the union announced Tuesday, likely averting a threatened strike by drivers and location managers...
Striking Teamsters rally at TW Perry with support from unions, community  TeamsterNation   …Teamsters striking at TW Perry since Jan. 6 took it to the bosses today with help from the Metro Washington DC Labor Council, AFL-CIO and DC Jobs with Justice. They held a spirited rally at the TW Perry lumber store in Springfield, standing in solidarity with the courageous workers...
Texas Teamsters Reach Contract Agreement With Danone  teamsterorg   … Teamsters Local 997 members at Danone's (epn:BN) Fort Worth, Texas, plant have ratified an agreement with the company, gaining participation in the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Fund (WCTPF), the largest multi-employer pension plan in the United States...
Bad Work Conditions Hurt LGBT Employees Too (opinion)  Advocate   ...Jose works at Taylor Farms, which supplies major retailers with chopped fruits and vegetables, and unfortunately his story is not unique. It falls in line with a well-documented history of worker mistreatment at Taylor Farms...
Golden Parachutes Are Lead Balloon For Investors  FT   … by far the biggest component of golden parachutes tends to be the immediate vesting of unvested stock options and other forms of equity-linked compensation. Trade union bodies such as the Amalgamated Bank, AFL-CIO and International Brotherhood of Teamsters are therefore focusing in particular on this aspect of golden parachute payouts...
FTC Yearlong Review of Sysco-U.S. Foods Merger Nears Final Stages  Nasdaq   ...The Federal Trade Commission is nearing the finish line in its yearlong consideration of whether to allow the proposed merger of rival food-service companies Sysco Corp. and U.S. Foods Inc., but the decision still could go either way...
Trade
Liberals: Great speech, Obama … except on trade  Politico   …The president’s push for trade deals is ‘No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4’ on the list of what House Democrats disliked about the State of the Union, Rep. Peter DeFazio said...
Obama Pushes for Trade Support, Warns on China  Wall Street Journal   …Many Democrats, especially in areas that have seen manufacturing losses, are dead-set against the measure. “Fast track is a bad deal for American families,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.), whom colleagues said is leading the House campaign against the legislation...
SOTU Schizophrenia: Middle-Class Jobs vs. Fast Track and TPP (opinion)  Huffington Post   … either Obama will be the president whose initiatives to address income inequality and wage stagnation helped rebuild America's middle class, or he will prioritize a trade agenda that will offshore more good-paying jobs, destroy what is left of the American manufacturing sector, increase income inequality and speed the demise of America's middle class. He cannot do both…..
State Battles
Ky counties take up own 'right-to-work' laws  The Courier-Journal   …Kentucky has become the tip of the spear in a national effort to get county governments to pass legislation that would open up union businesses to employees who don't pay dues or service charges to the labor groups...
Wisconsin Right-To-Work Bill Unlikely Soon, Senate Leader Says  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...A group of business leaders opposed to making Wisconsin a right-to-work state announced 50 new members Monday, while Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said any debate over the idea likely won't happen until after the April 7 election...
Missouri Republican operatives launch ‘Missouri Century Foundation’  PoliticMO   …Gregg Keller, Rich Chrismer, Jim Gwinner, Mike Hafner and Holly Gogel – all of whom have deep roots within the state’s Republican community — have launched the “Missouri Century Foundation,” a new non-profit organization that will focus on three issues in the Legislature… actively oppose Medicaid expansion, labor unions, and is teaming up with the American Center for Law & Justice against proposed legislation that would require political non-profits to disclose their donors…
Debate begins on right-to-work laws in NM  Albuquerque Journal   …With New Mexico lawmakers poised to take up politically charged right-to-work legislation in a 60-day session that begins Tuesday, debate is already in full swing over what the change in labor laws would mean to New Mexico’s sluggish economy...
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Wants to Raise Minimum Wage  Wall Street Journal   ...New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday proposed raising the state’s minimum wage and unveiled plans to alleviate student loan debt and cut taxes for small businesses...
New State Minimum Wage? Why Some Foreign Guests Earn $3 More  Seattle Times   ...Last month, the minimum wage for thousands of workers in Washington jumped by nearly 5 percent to $12.42 an hour. Beneficiaries of Seattle’s march toward the nation’s highest minimum wage? Actually, the new pay raises apply only to a select group of people: foreigners hired as seasonal farmhands...
Bill Would Raise Georgia's Minimum Wage To $10 An Hour  WMAZ   ...The bill calls for employers in Georgia to pay their employees at least $10.10 an hour, with built-in increases coming on January 1 each following year to offset the rising cost of living. Presently, minimum wage in the state is just $5.15 an hour, though generally the federal rate of $7.25 applies...
War on Workers
Unemployment on the rise over next five years as inequality persists  International Labor Organization   …ILO report says sluggish jobs recovery and social instability are the result of greater inequality...
New police radars can 'see' inside homes  USA Today   …At least 50 U.S. law enforcement agencies quietly deployed radars that let them effectively see inside homes, with little notice to the courts or the public...
Worker Killed In Industrial Accident At Springfield Business  KOLR   ...Greene County detectives are investigating a fatal workplace accident.According to the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, a man in his early 50’s died while working at Ridewell Suspensions Corp. in the 3700 block of E. Farm Road 94 in Springfield Monday afternoon...
Miscellaneous
Fed Officials On Track To Raise Short-Term Rates Later In The Year  Wall Street Journal   ...Federal Reserve officials are staying on track to start raising short-term interest rates later this year, even though long-term rates are going in the other direction amid new investor worries about weak global growth, falling oil prices and slowing consumer price inflation...

Today's Teamster News 01.16.15

Teamsters
Hoffa: Teamsters Put Corruption In Its Past  USA Today   ...The Teamsters Union and the U.S. Attorney for the southern district of New York filed an application with Chief Judge Loretta Preska requesting that she approve an agreement to end decades of government oversight of our union. We anticipate that the court will approve the agreement...
Allegiant Airline Pilots Picket For Better Pay  WKMG   ...Teamsters Local 1224, which represents roughly 500 pilots for Allegiant Airlines, said it's been in negotiations with the company since 2012, but those talks have yielded little to no progress. "We seek average wages and job protections, which are standard in the airline industry," said Teamsters Local 1224 President Dan Wells...
Hunts Point Workers Postpone Strike Until Sunday at Request of Federal Mediator  Teamsters Joint Council 16   ...Teamsters Local 202 has postponed its strike at Hunts Point Market until 4 p.m. Sunday, at the request of the Acting Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service...
Bronx Produce Company Workers Threaten Strike Over Daily $5 Raise Request  New York Daily News   ...The Hunts Point Produce Market workers are threatening to go on strike unless a deal is reached by after midnight Friday — raising the specter of New Yorkers having to forego their kale salads and blueberry smoothies. “This is a story about people that work really hard and want to be compensated for it,” said Daniel Kane, president of Teamsters Local 202...
Teamsters To Meet With Producers In Hope of Averting Commercials Strike  Deadline Hollywood   ...Teamster leaders say that the new meeting, set for January 24, is being called “in anticipation of a revised offer” from producers. The first offer was rejected overwhelmingly by the local’s members on January 11, which put the union on a strike footing...
Teamsters Blast Green Light Allowing Mexican Trucks Roll Nationwide  People's World   ...An "outraged" union President James Hoffa called DOT's ruling "rash" and in defiance of facts about un-inspected and unsafe Mexican trucks and lack of U.S. inspectors that the agency's own Inspector General uncovered...
Trade
Japan TPP negotiator: felt US intends to wrap up talks in few months  Reuters   ...But Oe also said more work needed to be done and it was not yet a situation in which a "political decision" could be arranged...
State Battles
Labor Groups File Suit To Stop Kentucky County Right-To-Work Law  Reuters   ...Nine labor unions filed suit in a Kentucky federal court late on Wednesday to stop a county from enacting right-to-work legislation they say violates the National Labor Relations Act...
Barren County Fiscal Court magistrates tackle ‘right-to-work’  Glasgow Daily Times   ...A committee of the Barren County Fiscal Court will be considering Tuesday whether to take a “right-to-work” ordinance to the full court...
Michigan Republicans making new push for prevailing wage repeal in state Legislature  Michigan Live   ...Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof on Thursday announced plans to sponsor Senate Bill 1, which will seek repeal the 50-year old law that requires union wages and benefits for workers on government-funded construction projects...
Thrasher nixes meeting with students on Koch funding  Tallahassee Democrat   ...Florida State University President John Thrasher abruptly canceled a meeting Wednesday with students who believe FSU sold its academic integrity for funding of some economics teaching positions by the conservative Koch brothers...
The Koch Foundation funds a lecture series at Penn  Daily Pennsylvanian   ...The industrialist siblings contributed more than $12.7 million to 163 colleges and universities in 2012. According to the Koch Family Foundations website, Penn is one of those recipient schools, having received a one-time grant of $5,000...
Sinquefield Is Top Missouri Campaign Donor in 2014; McCaskill Leads Democrats  St. Louis Public Radio   ...During 2014, wealthy financier Rex Sinquefield cemented his place as Missouri’s top political donor — by far — by distributing close to $10 million to candidates and political groups...
N.J. unions back in court today fighting Christie's pension cuts  NJ.com   ...Seven months after a state Superior Court judge excused Gov. Chris Christie from making a full pension contribution in the last fiscal year, New Jersey unions return to court this morning to fight for the $1.57 billion still in play...
War on Workers
Judge Overturns Home Health Care Wage, Overtime Rules  Associated Press   ...A federal judge on Wednesday overturned Labor Department regulations requiring overtime and minimum wage protection for 2 million home health care workers...
Trying To Solve The Great Wage Slowdown  New York Times   ...While wages and incomes have stagnated in the United States (as well as in Japan and large parts of Europe), they have not done so everywhere. In Canada, a broad measure of incomes has risen about 10 percent since 2000, even as it’s fallen here. In Australia, it’s up 30 percent...
What your bank owes you: clarity opinion  Los Angeles Times   ...many who attend college do not understand their student loans, and 14% of students with federal loans believe they have no student loan debt at all...
Republicans should join in scuttling Citizens United (opinion)  The Hill   ...Poll after poll shows that the majority of voters of all political stripes are alarmed at the record amounts of money pouring into elections. Voters feel they are being drowned out...
Woman, EMS Worker Killed In Separate Accidents As Wrecks Reported On Icy Patches On NC Roads  The Republic   ...An emergency worker and a 22-year-old woman were killed in separate accidents Wednesday related to the icy weather that struck portions of North Carolina...
Super Bowl Setup Worker Killed In Fall From Tower  KPHO   ...A worker on a Super Bowl setup crew died after falling from a tower outside University of Phoenix Stadium. It happened Wednesday shortly after noon in a parking lot where the NFL Tailgate Party will take place...
Georgia Factory Worker Killed By Falling Tons Of Marble  New York Daily News   ...Falling tons of marble crushed a Georgia factory worker to death Tuesday, authorities said...
Miscellaneous
U.S. Retail Sales Reflect Consumer Caution Despite Lower Gas Prices  Wall Street Journal   ...Steady job growth and relatively strong confidence supported an upward trend in consumer spending through most of 2014, before the December easing. Most economists expect those factors, beyond just lower energy prices, to support household spending—and overall economic growth—this year despite headwinds from small wage gains and overseas turmoil...

Today's Teamster News 01.14.15

Teamsters
Shippers Transport Drivers Join Teamsters At SoCal Ports  Truckinginfo   ...Prior to the start of the year the drivers for Shippers Transport Express, a wholly owned subsidiary of SSA Marine, were classified an independent contracts. In November, all drivers were notified that the company was transitioning to an employee-based business model on Jan. 1, and were invited to apply for employee jobs. Eighty-eight out of 111 employee drivers signed union authorization cards, with the union now beginning the process of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with their employer...
Teamster Pilots With Allegiant Air Conduct Informational Pickets  teamster.org   ...Teamster pilots with Allegiant Air are conducting informational picketing today in an effort to bring awareness to their plight for investments into Allegiant Air’s operational systems, basic industry averages in salary and for other job protection measures that are standard in the airline industry...
Teamsters, city reach deal  WGAL.com   ...An agreement has been reached with public works employees and the city of York -- no furloughs in exchange for no pay raise...
Trade
Border Opens To Mexican Trucks  San Diego Union Tribune   ...The United States is preparing to open the border to Mexican long-haul truckers, allowing those who qualify for permits to make direct deliveries from Mexico to U.S. destinations — a measure stipulated more than two decades ago under the North American Free Trade Agreement...
TTIP: European commission faces huge scepticism towards free trade deal  Guardian   ...Officials are surprised after receiving 150,000 mainly negative responses to Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership...
State Battles
Michigan Justices To Weigh Right-To-Work Law  Detroit News   ...Michigan’s two-year-old right-to-work law will face the scrutiny of the Michigan Supreme Court during oral arguments Tuesday over a union lawsuit challenging whether the law applies to state workers...
Documents Show Notorious Union-Buster Backing Kentucky’s County Right-To-Work Laws  In These Times   ...Whereas a few months ago, there was a general understanding that the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act only permitted states and territories to pass these laws—which threaten unions’ solvency by allowing workers to receive the benefits of union representation without paying union dues—now five Kentucky counties are on track to pass local laws. And the coalition of conservative organizations promoting these questionable new measures has also morphed, as a new organization with hidden funding sources has formed to finance any possible litigation...
Democrats Propose Minimum Wage Increase, Mandatory Sick Leave For Coming Session  The Oregonian   ...Several bills — which include proposals to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and to require employers to offer paid sick leave — signal an effort by the Democratic majority to follow with a core set of changes in the coming session promised to voters before last fall's election...
War on Workers
Democrat seeks U.S. middle-class tax breaks at expense of wealthy  Reuters   ...A senior U.S. House Democrat on Monday unveiled a more aggressive agenda to boost workers' paychecks by shifting significant tax breaks from the wealthiest Americans to the middle class...
Wage Gains Tepid in 2014 Despite Best Year of Job Creation Since 1999  Wall Street Journal   ...Hourly earnings fell by five cents last month from November to $24.57—marking the largest monthly decrease since at least 2006, the year the government began tracking wages for all private employees...
Senator Warren and America Win in a Skirmish in a Long Struggle Against Wall Street’s Coup  naked capitalism   ...Treasury does not “win” when we appoint such people – Wall Street wins...
Coming soon to a workplace near you: 'wellness or else'  Reuters   ...For some companies, however, just signing up for a wellness program isn't enough. They're linking financial incentives to specific goals such as losing weight, reducing cholesterol, or keeping blood glucose under control. The number of businesses imposing such outcomes-based wellness plans is expected to double this year to 46 percent, the survey found...
Worker Dies After Becoming Entangled In Machine  KSAZ   ...A 31-year-old worker was killed after he became entangled in a metal fabrication machine killed on Monday at an industrial plant...
Construction Worker Killed In Crane Accident  KSDK   ...A construction worker was killed in an industrial accident Monday after being crushed by a crane, said Edwardsville police...
Contract Worker Killed At Northeast Nevada Gold Mine  Las Vegas Sun   ...State and federal officials are investigating the death of a contract worker in an accident at an underground gold mine in northeast Nevada...
Miscellaneous
Senate Advances Bill To Approve Keystone Pipeline Despite Obama's Veto Threat  Huffington Post   ...The Senate voted 63-32 to clear a procedural hurdle and begin debate on the bill. Ten Democrats and one independent, Angus King (Maine), voted with every Republican to move the bill forward. Those Democrats included Sens. Michael Bennet (Colo.), Tom Carper (Del.), Bob Casey (Pa.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Jon Tester (Mont.), Tom Udall (N.M.) and Mark Warner (Va.). A final vote is expected later this week...

Today's Teamster News 12.20.14

Teamster News
Anne Arundel County Fire Department Battalion Chiefs Choose Teamsters  teamster.org   ...–Anne Arundel County Fire Department battalion chiefs have voted unanimously to join Teamsters Local 355 in Baltimore...
Negotiations At VIA Rail: The Teamsters Union And The Employer Have Requested A Conciliator  CNW News   ...The bargaining process between the 350 Locomotive Engineers at VIA Rail represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) and the rail carrier, are at a point that both parties agree that third party assistance would be beneficial...
CN reaches tentative labour agreement with Teamsters union representing locomotive engineers and conductors on Northern Quebec Internal Short Line  Yahoo Finance   ...The four-year agreement would provide wage increases and benefit improvements to 93 employees. Details of the agreement are being withheld pending ratification by the affected TCRC members. The union is expected to announce the results of the ratification vote by the end of February 2015...
Council Asks EPA For Bridgeton Landfill Contaminant Studies  KMOX   ...The St. Louis County Council has unanimously passed a resolution that pushes the Environmental Protection Agency to release studies on groundwater contamination at the Bridgeton Landfill...
Trade
Elizabeth Warren: Obama Trade Deal Could Undermine Wall Street Reform  Huffington Post   ..."With millions of families still struggling to recover from the last financial crisis and the Great Recession that followed, we cannot afford a trade deal that undermines the government's ability to protect the American economy."...
The consequences of a crumbling TTIP (opinion)  Euractiv   …A growing number of Europeans see TTIP as selling out Europe's social and environmental standards. Perhaps the EU and the US should have never undertaken this mammoth project...
State Battles
Warren County Passes Local Right-To-Work Law   ...The General Motors plant in Warren County is a closed shop, meaning its 888 employees must pay union dues in order to work there. But the Warren County Fiscal Court passed a local law Friday banning that practice in the future, defying the state's Democratic attorney general and taking the first step toward trying to overturn a 49-year-old state decision...
Minimum Wage On Agenda At Legislature  Albuquerque Journal   ...Two bills have been pre-filed this week by Democratic lawmakers, both seeking a hike in the state’s current $7.50-per-hour minimum wage – one of them to $8.30 an hour and the other to $10.10....
Minimum Wage In Louisville Upped To $9  Louisville Courier Journal   ...The Metro Council and Mayor Greg Fischer, who were at odds over increasing the minimum wage, reached an agreement Thursday night with the council voting to increase the minimum wage in Jefferson County to $9 an hour gradually over three years...
Ohio's Minimum Wage Increase Expected To Boost Economy By $40 Million  Cleveland Plain Dealer   ...As the calendar flips to 2015, Ohio's minimum wage will increase by 15 cents to $8.10 per hour, benefiting an estimated 313,000 low-wage workers in the state, according to a release from the National Employment Law Project, a non-partisan, nonprofit organization that advocates on issues affecting low-wage and unemployed workers. In addition, the minimum wage for tipped workers in Ohio will rise by 7 cents to $4.05 per hour...
War on Workers
Obama labor board comes down hard on McDonald’s  Politico   …In a significant victory for fast-food demonstrators, the Obama administration filed 13 legal complaints on Friday against McDonald’s USA, LLC, alleging 78 instances in which it violated federal labor law by punishing workers for taking part in fast food protests...
When the Well Educated Middle Class Joins the Working Poor  BillMoyers.com   ...Today, around three-quarters of all US college professors are classified as “contingent faculty” — those who aren’t on a tenure track — and about half are technically “part-time,” even though many of them teach a full-time load of classes. They may be highly educated professionals, but most adjuncts struggle to make ends meet with low pay, limited benefits and zero job security...
Yard Worker Killed  Trade Winds   ...The worker was on a ladder about 30 feet above the deck at the time. He lost his balance and fell, striking his head on a beam...
Employee Dies While Working At Dayton Sand And Gravel  Portland Press Herald   ...Goodwin Mills Fire Chief Roger Hooper said Libby was climbing down a ladder attached to a bucket truck when he went into cardiac arrest and fell....The death is the second at the business in two yearsl...
Construction Worker Dies In Emerson  NorthJersey.com   ...A construction worker was killed Thursday afternoon when he was working near a backhoe and was hit in the head by the machine’s rear bucket, authorities said...
Miscellaneous

Today's Teamster News 12.18.14

Teamster News
Teamsters, Consumers And Community Protest UNFI Shareholders Meeting  teamster.org   ... Teamsters, organic food consumers, supply chain workers and community leaders protested the unsustainable practices of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE: UNFI) and its retail partner Whole Foods Market at UNFI’s annual shareholders meeting today. The protestors informed UNFI shareholders and put management on notice that continued worker abuse and intimidation will not be tolerated...
BLET/Teamsters, Smart-TD And Four Other Rail Unions Bargain Together  teamster.org   ...Top leaders of the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART–TD) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) announced today that their organizations will be participating with four other rail unions in coordinated bargaining in the upcoming round of national negotiations...
Some Labor Unions Reluctant To Back ’24 Olympics Effort  Boston Globe   ...The International Olympic Committee wants assurances that there is broad public support in the city that would host the Games. And the support of [Teamsters] Local 25’s 11,000-person army of truck drivers, parking lot attendants, and others could play a crucial role...
St. Louis County Council Cites 'Growing Consensus' On West Lake Landfill Dangers  St. Louis Post Dispatch   ...The St. Louis County Council says there is “growing consensus” that the radioactively contaminated West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton “presents an active danger to the community,” and it’s putting new pressure on federal regulators to take action...
Trade
New TISA Leak: US on Collision Course With EU Over Global Data Flows  techdirt   …Like TPP and TAFTA/TTIP, TISA is being negotiated in strict secrecy, but earlier this year the financial services annex leaked, giving us the first glimpse of the kind of bad ideas that were being worked on. Now, another leak has surfaced, which reveals the US's proposals to free up data flows online...
GPhA Expresses Concern Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Negotiations Could Hinder Access and Competition to Generic Drugs  First Word Pharma   ...GPhA and its member companies are concerned about any effort to include provisions in the TPP agreement that would hinder competition and access to the safe and affordable medicines that the generic pharmaceutical industry provides to patients in the United States and abroad...
State Battles
How ALEC helped undermine public unions  Washington Post   ... the success of ALEC-derived labor bills resulted in lower public union density beginning three to four years after those bills became law. On average, state public-sector union density fell by about three percentage points per year, or nearly 10 percent of the current level of public-sector union density in the country as a whole...
Missouri’s Minimum Wage Rises In 2015, No Change In Kansas  Kansas City Star   ...Missouri is among 29 states that have, or will have as of Jan. 1, state minimums that are higher than the current federal rate of $7.25 an hour...
Unions, retirees sue to block Chicago pension changes  Reuters   …Chicago public employee unions and others on Tuesday opened a new front in the battle over pension cuts for public workers, suing to block a law aimed at shoring up funding for two of the city's public pension systems…
Los Angeles hotel groups sue city over minimum wage ordinance  Washington Post   …The American Hotel & Lodging Association and the Asian American Hotel Owner Association filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the city of Los Angeles over an ordinance that raises minimum wage for hotel workers to $15.37...
State high court to take up Doe cases centered on Walker's campaign  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ... Four of the justices have benefited from political spending by the Wisconsin Club for Growth, one of the groups at the center of the investigation. Some legal experts have argued that at least some of those justices should not hear the cases because of actual or perceived biases from that political help...
War on Workers
How the NLRB may expand responsibility for labor violations  Reuters   ...The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is expected to rule soon on if, and how, companies can be held responsible for labor violations carried out by their contractors or franchisees - a move that could have far-reaching implications for businesses...
Metro-North Faces Historic Fine For Retaliating Against Worker Who Reported Injury  Hartford Courant   ...In fining the railroad $260,000 plus legal fees, the U.S. Department of Labor said it found a culture of intimidation, in which supervisors actively tried to discourage workers from filing injury reports and punished workers who did. In November, the National Transportation Safety Board, following a string of accidents, including fatalities, said Metro-North failed to maintain effective safety programs...
100 defects found during state crude oil rail inspections  Albany Times Union   ...The latest round of the state’s targeted crude oil tank car and rail inspections showed 100 track and train car defects, including eight that require immediate action, the governor’s office announced Monday...
More than 60 million households rely on low-wage workers  The Hill   ...The research shows that most low-wage workers are frequently the primary breadwinners in their families and they are not, as commonly thought, teenagers with few skills still living with their parents, according to the report by Oxfam America and the Economic Policy Institute...
For Low-Wage Americans, The Holiday Season Is A Time To Work  Huffington Post   ...More than 30 percent of Americans were living in poverty for at least two months from 2009 to 2011 -- a 4.5 percent increase from the period 2005 to 2007...
Americans Are Trading Sleep For Work, And It’s Literally Killing Us  Washington Post   ...This isn't a particularly healthy way to live -- insufficient sleep is associated with obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and a host of other physical ailments. Drowsy driving causes around 80,000 automobile accidents every year, 1,000 of which are typically fatal...
Child Labor: Number Of Children Involved Is Shrinking Every Year  Christian Science Monitor   ...While there are fewer children involved in child labor every year, the rate at which child labor is decreasing is slowing down at both the global and regional levels...
Worker Killed In Mesa Industrial Accident  Arizona Republic   ...One person was killed in an industrial accident at a plant in west Mesa on Wednesday morning, according to a Mesa fire spokesman...
Construction Worker Killed In Caldwell Parish Crash  KNOE   ...A Cadillac ATS, driven by 42-year-old Jan Williams of Columbia, was traveling north on US 165 in the outside travel lane when she attempted to move into the inside lane but struck the rear of Chevrolet pickup and all three construction workers...

Today's Teamster News 11.13.14

Teamster News
Trade Agreement Could Cost Michigan Jobs (opinion)  Detroit News   ...A lame-duck session of Congress convenes this week, and Capitol Hill lawmakers could consider fast-track trade promotion authority in the coming weeks that would jeopardize thousands of jobs in Michigan and nationwide...
Twinkie Maker’s Success Story Tempting Entenmann’s  New York Post   ...Members of Teamsters Local 802, which represents roughly 300 Entenmann’s drivers in New York and northern New Jersey, are preparing for the worst and have authorized union leaders to call a strike...
NetJets Threatens To Fire Middle Class Workers On Behalf Of The Global Super-Rich  teamster.org   ...Berkshire Hathaway’s [BRK/B] NetJets, Inc. is threatening to fire workers over the International Brotherhood of Teamsters decision to publicize the names of wealthy customers who stand to benefit from the company’s attack on the wages, benefits and working conditions of middle class employees...
Sysco Doesn’t Expect US Foods Deal to Close This Year  Wall Street Journal   ...Sysco Corp. , the nation’s biggest food distributor by sales, again pushed back the timeline for completing its acquisition of rival US Foods Inc., saying talks with antitrust regulators are taking longer than expected...
Sysco Expands; Buys Pacific Star Foodservice In Mexico  Zacks   ...this leading foodservice distributor of North America is rapidly expanding in Latin America. Apart from Latin America, Sysco has expanded in Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Bahamas....
Trade
House Dems say trade bills have no chance of passing  The Hill   ...A trio of House Democrats said Wednesday that neither fast-track nor an Asia-Pacific trade deal have any chance of passing in the lame-duck session or in the next Congress...
China Suspected Of Breaching U.S. Postal Service Computer Networks  Washington Post   ...Chinese government hackers are suspected of breaching the computer networks of the United States Postal Service, compromising the data of more than 800,000 employees — including the postmaster general’s...
State Battles
Appeals court upholds conviction of Kelly Rindfleisch, former aide to Scott Walker  Wisconsin State Journal   ...Rindfleisch, 46, was sentenced to six months in jail with work release privileges and three years of probation for doing campaign work on county time, but that sentence was stayed pending appeal...
State Street, Governor Elect Rauner Both Implicated in Pay-to-Play Scandals  naked capitalism   ... Illinois governor elect Bruce Rauner, who comes out of the private equity industry, took over $140,000 in campaign contributions from executives at funds that manage state money, which violates state and federal laws, since Rauner will be appointing pension system trustees...
Detroit Emerges From Bankruptcy, Yet Pension Risks Linger  New York Times   ...foundations, the state of Michigan, the Detroit Institute of Arts and even the city’s water and sewer system have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to bolster the municipal pension system and give the art collection new, bankruptcy-proof ownership. In return, retired workers accepted reductions to their monthly checks and other cutbacks...
War on Workers
Jobs Growth Far from Strong: It Will Be 2018 Before the Economy Looks like 2007  Economic Policy Institute   ...if we extrapolate this rate of jobs growth into the future, it will be 2018 before we return to a labor market resembling the one we had before the recession began...
FedEx Pilots Picket for 'Respect'  WIBC   ...Dozens of pilots descended on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis Wednesday.  They're among some 800 picketing pilots across the nation.  They're represented by the Air Line Pilots Association. They say they've been in contract talks for nearly four years with FedEx...
Apple’s iTunes earnings mostly untaxed  Australian Financial Review   ...More than two-thirds of the money Apple’s iTunes makes outside North America goes through the group’s Luxembourg holding company where it is not taxable, thanks to an intra-group fees agreement signed in 2008...
Banks Reach Settlement In Foreign-Exchange Probe  Wall Street Journal   ...Six banks agreed Wednesday to pay a total of about $4.2 billion to U.S., British and Swiss regulators to resolve allegations that for years they worked together to try to manipulate the vast foreign-exchange market to boost their profits...
Dad’s Disbelief Over Son’s Missing Shows Mexico Reeling  Bloomberg   ...“It’s impossible for me to believe that they just made 43 students disappear,” Gonzalez, 49, said on Nov. 3 as he looked out over fields at Cesar’s school in the town of Ayotzinapa, Guerrero. “The worst thing,” he said, tears filling his eyes, “is knowing it wasn’t organized crime that instigated this -- this was our own government...”
In Bolivia, A Child's Place Is In The Market And The Mines  NPR   ...In the Bolivian city of El Alto on a recent day, youngsters shout out the destinations of departing buses to lure passengers. One of these barkers is 15-year-old Luis Canaza. He earns about 12 cents for every bus he fills...
Uzbekistan: Forced To Labor In Cotton Fields, Students Rebel  EruAsiaNet   ...Third-year male journalism students were ordered to the cotton fields by the rector and faculty deacon, says the letter. It is addressed to Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev; the prosecutor’s office; the National Security Service (SNB); the Higher Education Ministry; and the university rector, Mirzo Mukhamedov...
Construction Worker Killed In Warwick’s Apponaug Section  WPRI   ...An unidentified man from Fall River died early Wednesday morning after a large piece of equipment fell on him at a construction site in Apponaug...
Private sanitation worker killed by falling dumpster at Staten Island golf course  Staten Island Advance   ...A private sanitation worker was killed when a dumpster fell and struck him outside the Richmond County Country Club in Dongan Hills Wednesday night, police said...
Miscellaneous
Dan Sullivan Beats Mark Begich In Alaska  Politico   ...Republican Dan Sullivan has won the Alaska Senate race, ousting Democratic incumbent Mark Begich, according to The Associated Press, which called the race for Sullivan late Tuesday night following the first day of counting early and absentee ballots...

Today's Teamster News 10.01.14

Teamster News
New Orleans Union Membership Set to Double After Hotel and Casino Workers Win  In These Times   ...The hospitality and gaming union Unite Here and Teamsters Local 270 are in contract negotiations with Harrah’s Hotel and Casino after winning a card check election among 900 hotel and food workers...
NY Pol Legislates Against Carriage Horse Ban  Yonkers Hamlet Hub   ...The battle to save New York City’s city’s carriage horse industry has reached the state Capitol. NYS State Assemblyman, J. Gary Pretlow has introduced legislation that would countermand New York Mayor, Bill de Blasio's vow to ban the iconic horse drawn carriages in New York City...
Ports Of Los Angeles, Long Beach Truck Drivers Fast, Pray To Raise Awareness  Long Beach Press Telegram   ...A handful of truck drivers, who carry goods from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach took part Monday in a day of prayer and fasting to raise awareness of three area trucking firms they say misclassify drivers as independent contractors to skirt labor laws...
Trade
TTIP Threatens EU's Transparency On Clinical Trials (opinion)  The Parliament Magazine   ...positive progress on transparency is already being threatened by the transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP) negotiations. Huge economic interests are at stake and medical companies on both sides of the Atlantic ocean are doing their best to limit data disclosure, a fact brought to daylight in the leaked BigPharma wish list...
State Battles
Governor Scott Weighs In On Troubles Surrounding Florida Prisons  WUSF News   ...“The Secretary of the Department of Corrections is taking it seriously. He’s traveled the state, he’s made sure there’s new training programs, he’s made sure now there’s more transparency, and if there’s going to be investigations, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement—which has a great reputation—will be involved in those investigations..."
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder defends education funding, right-to-work law in first town hall  MLive   ...An audience member contrasted the governor's 2010 pledge for government transparency with his use of the tax-exempt NERD Fund. He also noted Snyder's decision to sign a right-to-work law after originally saying the issue was not on his agenda. "Why would any voter believe you?" he asked...
Koch group faces investigation in N.C. over bogus voting info  MSNBC   ...Last week, the public learned that the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity created quite a mess sending out incorrect voting materials to many North Carolina voters. This week, the group finds itself under investigation...
Emanuel Prods Sister Agencies To Mandate $13-An-Hour Minimum Wage  Chicago Sun Times   ...Emanuel is pressuring all local government agencies under his control — CTA, CHA, Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Park District, City Colleges and Public Building Commission — to follow his lead. That would mean a pay raise for roughly 2,400 contract employees working as custodians, landscapers and bus drivers...
De Blasio’s Executive Order Will Expand Living Wage Law To Thousands More  New York Times   ...Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to sign an executive order on Tuesday significantly expanding New York City’s living wage law, covering thousands of previously exempt workers and raising the hourly wage itself, to $13.13 from $11.90, for workers who do not receive benefits...
This Is What's The Matter With Kansas  New Republic   ...By June of 2014, the results of Brownback’s economic reforms began to come in, and they weren’t pretty. During the first fiscal year that his plan was in operation, which ended in June, the tax cuts had produced a staggering loss in revenue $687.9 million, or 10.84 percent...
A Fiscal Tale of Two States: Minnesota vs. Wisconsin  Econbrowser   ...The two neighboring states of Wisconsin and Minnesota share a similar economic structure and size; and yet their fortunes have diverged over the past three years. One correlate of Wisconsin’s growth deficit is state and local government spending...
War On Workers
Iceland: Bankers convicted, unemployment down  Angry Bear   ...While Iceland suffered a great deal from the crisis and is by no means out of the woods, it looks like the country made the right call by not bailing out the banks. The economy is growing and unemployment is down to less than half of its peak crisis level...
Your medical record is worth more to hackers than your credit card  Reuters   ...Last month, the FBI warned healthcare providers to guard against cyber attacks after one of the largest U.S. hospital operators, Community Health Systems Inc, said Chinese hackers had broken into its computer network and stolen the personal information of 4.5 million patients...
Prison bankers cash in on captive customers  Center for Public Integrity   ...JPay and other prison bankers collect tens of millions of dollars every year from inmates’ families in fees for basic financial services. To make payments, some forego medical care, skip utility bills and limit contact with their imprisoned relatives...
The Ugly Face of Shareholder Value Exposed By Inversions  Economic Populist   ...Burger King has become Canadian, Pfizer seems to be trying to be British, and Walgreens has backed away from becoming Swiss only because of the outcry over their plan for a new nationality.  Seeing what our companies are willing to do to escape paying income tax, people are beginning to wonder about how American our American companies are...
Worker killed at plant in north Charlotte  Charlotte Observer   ...state officials were told by Charlotte firefighters that the death took place at Source Recycling. She said state officials were told an employee was struck by a forklift...
Port worker dies after metal collapses on him  The Monitor   ...A San Benito man has died after he was pinned Monday under metal at a recycling center in the Port of Brownsville, authorities confirmed...
Worker dies after East Idaho spud harvest accident  Capital Press   ...Madrid-Rivera was working on a tarp covering his load at the side of his truck when another truck backed up and crushed him...
For A Worker With Little Time Between 3 Jobs, A Nap Has Fatal Consequences  New York Times   ...Emergency responders found the gas can open and overturned in the cargo hold and the S.U.V. filled with fumes, in what police said appeared to have been an accident. As commuters streamed by her counter in Newark, Ms. Fernandes was pronounced dead at 5:56 p.m. She was still in her uniform...
Miscellaneous
Driver in Fatal Oklahoma Crash Tells Police He Was Distracted  Bloomberg   ...The driver of a tractor-trailer that crashed into a bus and killed four college students on Interstate 35 in southern Oklahoma told investigators he was distracted...
Trucker in Massive Rig Destroys Two Families in His Sleep  Bloomberg   ...Safety advocates say the rate is far higher and claim trucker fatigue kills hundreds each year. In a 2006 federal survey of truckers cited in congressional testimony this July, 47.6 percent said they had fallen asleep while driving in the previous year. Yet unlike drugs or alcohol, there’s no test for fatigue after a crash...
Tracy Morgan hits back at Walmart  USA Today   ..."After I heard what Walmart said in court I felt I had to speak out. I can't believe Walmart is blaming me for an accident that they caused...
Senators Ask For More Oil Train Notifications  Bismark Tribune   ...The letter, sent Monday to U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, says railroads should supply states with advanced notification of all high-hazard flammable liquid transports — including crude from outside the Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana, as well as ethanol and 71 other liquids...
Police Want to Get Rid of Their Pentagon-Issued Combat Gear. Here's Why They Can't.  Mother Jones   ...Even before police militarization made the news, hundreds of police departments were finding that grenade launchers, military firearms, and armored vehicles aren't very useful to community policing...

Today's Teamster News 08.27.14

Teamster News
Teamsters vow to fight IDOT layoffs  State Journal-Register   ...Lawyers representing Teamsters Local 916 said Tuesday they want 55 members of the union who were put in Illinois Department of Transportation jobs as staff assistants … to be able to continue working for the agency...
1934 Minneapolis Teamsters Strike, One Key Precursor To Wagner Act  People's World   ...Wagner wrote the National Labor Relations Act(NLRA), the nation's basic labor law, in early 1935, then convinced a reluctant Roosevelt to support it. The Senate passed the NLRA 63-12, the House approved it by voice vote, and Roosevelt signed it on July 5, 1935...
Trade
Petition to Sen. Wyden — “Smart Track” cannot be “Fast Track” in Disguise  Public Citizen   ...Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden has been working on what he calls a new form of trade authority. What we need is a replacement for Fast Track — the Nixon-formulated process that allowed presidents to sign “free trade” deals before Congress got to vote on them, and then railroad the deals through Congress in only 90 days with limited debate and no amendments...
Import Competition and the Great U.S. Employment Sag of the 2000s  National Bureau of Economic Research   ...“Our central estimates suggest net job losses of 2.0 to 2.4 million stemming from the rise in import competition from China over the period 1999 to 2011...”
Registered Lobbyists Elbow Their Way Back Into TPP Committees  Electronic Frontier Foundation   ...Special interests won a federal court ruling earlier this year, where the judge in the case suggested that President Obama's ban on registered lobbyists serving on federal advisory committees violated those lobbyists' rights...the White House has sent a memo specifying new rules, permitting lobbyists to once again officially serve on federal agencies if they are representing a specific client...
State Battles
John Nichols: Scott Walker, mine money and the 'appearance of corruption'  The Cap Times   ...Gogebic Taconite moved $700,000 to the Wisconsin Club for Growth, which in turn steered resources to other groups that cheered on Walker and his Republican allies. "Because Wisconsin Club for Growth's fundraising and expenditures were being coordinated with Scott Walker's agents at the time of Gogebic's donation, there is certainly an appearance of corruption in light of the resulting legislation from which it benefited," argued Dean Nickel, the former head of the state Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Unit...
Nearly Half Of Workers In California Don’t Get Paid Sick Days, Analysis Finds  Washington Post   ...Forty four percent of workers in California don’t get any paid sick days, according to a new analysis...
Angry About Ferguson? Oppose Voter ID Laws  Daily Beast   ...Even a study that voter ID proponents frequently cite because it minimizes the problem readily admits that that “the adverse effects fall disproportionately on women, African-Americans, and Democrats.”...
O'Connell: Council Can Raise Minimum Wage  Louisville Courier Journal   ...Scott requested an opinion from the office on whether the council could establish a minimum wage. Council members have not introduced a proposed ordinance, but members of the Democratic majority have voiced their support for an increase...
War On Workers
Burger King swallows Tim Hortons; new firm is Canada-bound  Los Angeles Times   ...Burger King Worldwide Inc. said Tuesday it would buy the Tim Hortons coffee-and-doughnut chain for about $11.4 billion and place the new firm's headquarters in Canada, where the corporate tax rate is lower than in the U.S...
Burger King Fans Call For Boycott Over Tax Dodge  Huffington Post   ...People flooded the fast-food chain’s Facebook page on Monday with threats of a boycott after the company announced talks to merge with Canadian coffee and doughnut chain Tim Hortons. The combined company would be headquartered in Canada...
A New Reason to Question the Official Unemployment Rate  New York Times   ...there seems to have been an increase in the number of people who once would have qualified as officially unemployed and today are considered out of the labor force, neither working nor looking for work...
Contract Worker Killed In Accident At NewPage In Rumford  River Valley Sun Journal   ...A man was killed in an accident at the NewPage mill Monday afternoon, according to mill spokesman Tony Lyons...
Worker killed, others hurt in July explosion  Associated Press   ...The U.S. Chemical Safety Board says a fatal July explosion at a fish processing plant on the Mississippi Coast occurred during “hot work” on a tank...The board says no combustible gas testing was done on the contents of the tank before the hot work began...
Poor Door’ in a New York Tower Opens a Fight Over Affordable Housing  New York Times   ...A 33-story glassy tower rising on Manhattan’s waterfront will … also cater to renters who make no more than about $50,000. They will not share the same perks, and they will also not share the same entrance...
Miscellaneous
Amid job stagnation, a prosperous class grows (opinion) AlJazeera America   ...A small group of very well-paid workers is earning a third of the nation’s wages...

Today's Teamster News 08.20.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Local Union Ratifies New Agreement With Penn State  Penn State News   ...Members of Teamsters Local Union No. 8 employed by Penn State have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with the University to replace the current agreement, which expired June 30. Teamsters Local Union No. 8 represents the bargaining unit consisting of approximately 2,600 technical-service employees at University locations throughout the Commonwealth...
Negotiations Continue Between EVSC And Teamsters  WTVW   ...While there is still no contract in hand, communication is still open between the EVSC and Teamsters Local 215 Union. ...The Teamsters Union is made up of bus drivers, custodians, and secretaries, or about 20 percent of the EVSC's staff...
Dubuque's unions name grand marshal for annual Labor Day parade  KWWL.com   ...This year, members of Dubuque's United Labor Participation Committee selected long-time local Teamsters leader Dave Baker as the parade's grand marshal...
Trade
China fines Japanese car parts firms for price-fixing  BBC News   ...he country's anti-monopoly regulator said the companies were found to have colluded to reduce competition. Japan's Sumitomo Electric and Mitsubishi Electric were among the firms that received the heaviest fines...
If America Won’t Invest in America’s Infrastructure, China Will  manufacture this   ...there is a big gap between eastern and western China in terms of transportation infrastructure. China will strengthen infrastructure construction in central and western areas while promoting exports in technology and high-speed railway and highway equipment. China is willing to join the United States in upgrading transportation infrastructure...
State Battles
WEDC is marketing industrial properties owned by Walker donors  WKOW.com   ...The only private properties being marketed through a Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) land development program are owned by companies whose executives have donated extensively to the campaign of Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin)...
Group Backing Minimum Wage Hike Submits More Signatures  Arkansas News   ...A group seeking to place on the November ballot an initiated act to raise the state minimum wage submitted what it said were 69,070 additional signatures in support of the measure to the secretary of state’s office Monday...
San Diego Defies Mayor, Raises Minimum Wage  CNN Money   ...San Diego is the latest city to pass a minimum wage hike despite a veto from Mayor Kevin Faulconer. On Monday, the San Diego City Council overrode his veto to approve a gradual wage increase and paid sick days...
Students Appeal to 4th Circuit for Stay of Voter Suppression Law  Camel City Dispatch   ...On Monday Students who have filed suit against the state of North Carolina over new voter suppression legislation (HB589 which Republican messaging call a voter ID bill) have filed a notice of appeal of U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder’s August 8 ruling denying a stay of the new law, pending the 2014 elections...
War On Workers
Wendy's Worker Says She Was Fired For Being Sick  Huffington Post   ...A 6-year veteran Wendy's worker in Alabama is alleging that management fired her for "job abandonment" while she was being treated for an ovarian cyst that would require surgery...
Lawn Worker Killed By Vehicle On McIntosh Road  WWSB   ...Authorities are investigating the death of a lawn maintenance worker that was struck by a vehicle while he mowed along McIntosh Road Monday morning...
Outside Campaign Spending Jumps In 2014  The Hill   ...Outside political groups are on track to eclipse their spending during the 2010 GOP wave election, but only a fraction of that money has been reported to the public. ... outside groups have spent $72 million on independent expenditures in nine Senate races, a pace set to exceed the $97 million that such groups spent on 37 Senate races in the 2010 cycle...

Today's Teamster News 08.19.14

Teamster News
Michigan Teamsters Joint Council 43 President Nowak, Executive Board Re-Elected Without Opposition  IBT   ...Michigan Teamster local union officers who gathered at the Shanty Creek Resort in Bellaire, Mich. for Joint Council 43’s 2014 Fall Delegates Meeting voted unanimously to re-elect Joint Council 43 President Greg Nowak, Secretary-Treasurer Jim “Cinci” Cianciolo and the entire Executive Board to a new three-year term...
Trade
Awash In Coal, U.S. Imports Even More  Wall Street Journal   ...Coal imports surged 44% to 5.4 million metric tons during the first six months of 2014, compared with a year ago, according to Global Trade Information Services...
State Battles
Nebraska: Minimum Wage Increase to Be on Ballot  New York Times   ...A proposal to increase Nebraska’s minimum wage has qualified for the November ballot. The secretary of state’s office said Friday it had verified enough signatures. If approved by voters, the measure would increase the state’s minimum wage to $9 an hour by 2016 from $7.25 an hour, the same as the federal minimum...
California teachers union fears right-to-work law inevitable  Washington Examiner   ... the change might be inevitable based on various lawsuits that could reach the Supreme Court...
With close ties to sugar, Florida’s next House speaker admits taking King Ranch trip  Miami Herald   ...Crisafulli, who will become the most powerful man in the Florida House of Representatives this fall, has been a major beneficiary of the state’s sugar industry. During the past two election cycles, agricultural interests have contributed at least $200,000 to Rep. Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, and his political action committees...
How Much Of Wal-Mart Is Really Made In America?  Bloomberg Businessweek   ...At least one company, Kent Bicycles, has said it located a new factory in South Carolina because of the state’s right-to-work law. The chief executive noted that Wal-Mart had introduced him to South Carolina’s Republican governor, Nikki Haley...
Democracy A Casualty Of Voter-Suppression Politics (opinion)  Billings Gazette   ...When same-day voter registration and voting is being cut back, as pushed in Montana by the Republican Legislature, and evidence shows that the majority of late registrants do not vote the Republican way, no wonder many Montanans think someone is trying to stop them from voting because of where they stand philosophically...
6,000 Lack Proper Voter ID Locally  The Robesonian   ...More than 6,000 Robeson County (North Carolina) residents will have to get a voter ID if they they want to vote in the 2016 General Election...
War On Workers
Blame Employers, Not Workers, for Any Skills Gap, Economist Says  Wall Street Journal   ...The “obvious solution” to “virtually all the skill problems reported by employers is to increase training and produce the skilled workers they want themselves.” Much of the evidence in support of a skills gap could be explained by employers who are no longer willing to train their employees or raise salaries, and instead want to be able to hire people with exactly the right skills–and on the cheap...
Average cost of raising a child hits $245,000  CNN   ...To raise a child born in 2013 to the age of 18, it will cost a middle-income couple just over $245,000, according to newly released estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That's up $4,260, or almost 2%, from the year before...
Feds: Red light camera firm paid for Chicago official’s car, condo  ars technica   ...The former chief executive officer of Redflex, a major red light camera (RLC) vendor, has been indicted on federal corruption charges stemming from a contract with the City of Chicago...
Worker Killed In North Side Industrial Accident  KSAT   ...A man in his 60s was killed Monday when a 3,500 pound sack of fracking sand fell on him...
Efforts Advance To Stabilize The Schedules Of Part-Time Workers  Kansas City Star   ...The movement to support “schedules that work” for employees includes a bill by that name, introduced this summer in the U.S. House and Senate, that would let employees request changes to their work schedules “without fear of retaliation,” among other things...
Money in Politics: Rising in Intensity as a 2014 Election Issue  Huffington Post   ...candidates all over the country, in red states as well as purple and blue, are taking up the fight against money in politics, to take the country back from the Koch brothers, Wall Street, and the big business interests that run things right now...
Miscellaneous
Community Health says data stolen in cyber attack from China Reuters   ...Community Health Systems Inc (CYH.N), one of the biggest U.S. hospital groups, said on Monday it was the victim of a cyber attack from China, resulting in the theft of Social Security numbers and other personal data belonging to 4.5 million patients...