Wal-Mart resistance to escalate next week

Planned bus routes to Bentonville next week.

Next week Wal-Mart workers will turn up the volume a notch in their campaign to be treated decently by the retail giant. Echoing the freedom riders of the Civil Rights movement, they will ride in caravans of buses to the company's June 7 annual meeting in Bentonville, Ark.

The buses will be leaving from all over the U.S., including Southern California, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. They'll pick up Wal-Mart associates along the way. They're hoping for support from union members and other allies at their stops.

Josh Eidelson at The Nation reported earlier this month:

Several days before the shareholder gathering, caravans will leave from several cities around the country, stopping along the way to pick up workers and supporters, and to meet with community activists. OUR Walmart’s plans for the next month also include confrontations between Walmart employees and members of the company’s board of directors.

They decided on the Ride for Respect during a five-day planning session at the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, Ala.

Los Angeles Wal-Mart worker Tsehai Almaz told The Nation that she and her colleagues feel they're facing many of the same issues as the 1961 freedom riders:

I feel like we’re facing many of the same issues, even though it’s not necessarily about race—this time it’s about respect. And being able to feed our families, and having good working conditions...

It’s time for this generation basically to accept the baton and continue the movement. Because it didn’t end in the ’60’s. That just started the movement—it’s continuing with how Walmart is treating its associates.

The workers want full-time jobs, living wages, affordable health care and better working conditions. Wal-Mart pays its workers an average of $8.81 an hour, forcing many of them onto food stamps and Medicaid.

Preparations for the Ride for Respect can be found on OUR Walmart's Facebook page.

Across the country we're getting ready for the Ride for Respect! We'll be talking to Associates across the country and bringing our message of change to Bentonville for the Annual Meeting. Thanks to OUR Walmart So Cal for sharing this image. Like if you support and go to this link to sign up!

OUR Walmart is asking workers to sign the Bentonville Strike Pledge here. It says, in part,

I WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED by Walmart’s threats and retaliation against Associates who speak out for better pay, more hours and respect at work. I’m ready to put an end to Walmart’s unfair labor practices.

The Teamsters are supporting OUR Walmart through the Change to Win federation. Teamsters are encouraged to show support for the Ride for Respect.

Teamster school bus workers rally to end wage theft in MD

The school bus workers' movement to improve safety and to stop wage theft came to Baltimore earlier this week. They rallied School bus drivers and attendants with Durham School Services who transport students attending Baltimore City Public Schools joined with Teamsters, political and other community leaders at a rally today to demand respect and safe working conditions.

Sister Stephanie Urosa, a six-year attendant on a bus for children with special needs, said she has reported mold problems on our bus for years and the problem is not fixed. 

I’m scared for the kids on the bus. Some of the children we transport have weakened immune systems and allergies and they don’t need to be exposed to this. Mold is just one of a number of safety concerns we have.

The Baltimore Sun reported,

Bus drivers and aides employed by a Baltimore schools contractor say that unsafe conditions such as fires and mold spores are endangering lives and unfair wages are threatening their livelihoods. 

The grievances were aired Thursday at a rally of employees of Durham School Services, a national company that transports children in more than 350 school districts. Since 2002, the city has contracted with Durham, which earned an estimated $15.5 million over the last three school years. The company's buses transport about 928 students. 

The company is facing a collective-action lawsuit, representing 85 drivers and aides who work for the Rosedale-based affiliate of the company. 

The federal suit, filed in U.S. District Court on March 12, says the company has not paid workers for the hours they earned carrying out responsibilities required for transporting students, such as pre- and post-trip inspections, fueling and cleaning buses. The suit also says the company didn't pay the workers overtime they earned or pay it on a timely basis. 

"We believe that the workers are performing a variety of tasks that are integral to bus driving that they're not being paid for," said Brooke Lierman, who is representing the workers in the federal suit. "They're performing work for free."

Keep fighting, brothers and sisters!

Teamsters putting the pieces back together in Oklahoma City

Don't send water and don't send clothing to Oklahoma City if you want to help the victims of the deadly tornado.

That's the advice of Teamsters working on the disaster relief effort. They're urging members to donate to the Teamsters Disaster Relief Fund, every cent of which will help people in need. (Click here to make a tax deductible contribution.)

Oklahoma City officials are saying 12,000 houses were damaged or destroyed by the tornado, one of the worst in history. Teamster Local 886 President Ron Cobb said at least 12 Teamsters' homes were destroyed and 16 were damaged.

We're still in the stages of identifying need and touching the people we can touch.

Members whose homes were simply damaged are saying, "I just lost half a roof, take care of these other people," said Cobb.

Both the local and UPS are taking care of the UPS package car driver who suffered the loss of his wife and the serious injury to his son. Cobb said he plans to put an ABF member who is also a police chaplain on lost time so he can reach out to members hurt by the devastating storm.

Brother Roy Gillespie, who coordinates the Red Cross response from St. Louis, said the agency is scheduling Teamsters to work in the Oklahoma City warehouse this weekend. They'll load and unload supplies. A call for forklift drivers earlier this week sent Cobb to the warehouse, where he said they were still in the initial stages of getting organized.

In Tulsa, Local 523 has trailers set up in car lots around the city. President Gary Ketchum is telling members to buy something extra at the grocery store and put it in those trailers.

Cobb emphasized there's no need for water in Oklahoma City. "They're using cases of water for doorstops," he said.

Anyone who wants to volunteer should check with the local or the Red Cross first. Said Gillespie:

Send the local an email (rcobb@teamsterslocal886.com) or call (405) 947-2333. Or contribute to the Teamsters Disaster Relief Fund.  The worst thing you want to do is have a drive without checking with Ron.

Stay tuned.

Today's Teamster News 05.25.13

It’s Called Deceptive Price-Gouging  Working Life   ...AT&T Inc. has added a new monthly administrative fee of 61 cents to the bills of all of its contract wireless lines as of May 1, a move that could bring in more than a half-billion dollars in annual revenue to the telecom giant...
EU oil pricing probe spurs lawsuit against BP, others  Reuters   ...A Chicago-based commodities trading firm has filed suit against three of the world's largest oil companies, accusing them of colluding to fix oil prices after European authorities opened an investigation last week...
Wall Street Seeks Dodd-Frank Changes Through Trade Talks  Bloomberg   ....U.S. bankers and insurers are trying to use trade deals, which can trump existing legislation, to weaken parts of the Dodd-Frank Act designed to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis...
It's a "Trade" Pact not "Free-Trade" Pact  CEPR   ...the pact has to do with a range of regulatory issues, in many cases seeking to impose rules that might not pass muster if they had to go through the conventional political process...
Budget Cuts Get Personal; Those Who Are Hurt, Holler  ABC News   ... Nearly four in 10 Americans now say sequestration has hurt them personally, up substantially since it began in March – and they’re far less sanguine than others about the economy’s prospects overall...
I-5 bridge collapses over Skagit River; possibly triggered by truck  Seattle Times   ...A law-enforcement source said investigators believe a truck with an over-sized load heading south struck the bridge, which started bouncing, then fell...
Bangladesh factory collapse probe uncovers abuses  BBC News   ...It also recommended life sentences for the building's owner and the owners of five garment factories operating there...
Sweden riots spread beyond Stockholm despite extra police  BBC News   ...In the affected areas themselves, some people say the riots are a response to discrimination and relatively high unemployment. Sweden, once a by-word for equality, has seen a widening gap between rich and poor...
Chief Edward Flynn blasts Scott Walker, Legislature  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ..."I don't know of a governor anywhere in the country who succeeded in turning his state's economy around by actively facilitating the decline of his biggest city," Flynn said...
Ohio unions remain vigilant against anti-worker blitz  People's World   ...Labor and the huge We Are Ohio coalition have been holding a series of mass meetings across the state, organizing against introduction of three right to work (for less) bills by right-wing GOP Ohio legislators this session...
Maryland Bucks Trend, Expands Prevailing Wage Law  AFL-CIO Washington DC Metro Council   ...While other states are passing anti-union laws, Maryland passed the largest expansion of the prevailing wage law in the state’s history...
Florida Governor Signs Election Reform Bill Reversing His Own Voter Suppression Laws  ThinkProgress   ...Though Scott initially insisted he “did the right thing” by implementing these laws, vehement backlash and plummeting approval ratings prompted the governor to embrace election reforms:..
Kansas lawmaker opposes ‘encouraging the behavior of purchasing food’ with lower food taxes  Raw Story   ...A Republican state lawmaker in Kansas says that he opposes cutting the taxes on groceries because it would be a form of “social engineering” that encourages people to buy food over other items...

6 things you should know about the IRS scandal

This ad was paid for by a "social welfare nonprofit."

Social welfare nonprofits at the center of the controversy over the IRS's targeting of Tea Party groups have another name. They're also called dark money groups because they don’t have to disclose the donors who spent more than $256 million into the 2012 federal elections.

ProPublica, the nonprofit public-interest news outlet, reminds us of six important facts lost in the controversy. We thought we'd share them with you:

1. Social welfare nonprofits are supposed to have social welfare, and not politics, as their “primary” purpose.
2. The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision meant that corporations could pay for political ads, anonymously, using social welfare nonprofits.
3. Social welfare nonprofits do not actually have to apply to the IRS for recognition as tax-exempt organizations. (See Stephen Colbert on that point.)
4. Most -- about 80 percent -- of the money spent on elections by social welfare nonprofits supports Republicans.
5. Some social welfare groups promised in their applications, under penalty of perjury, that they wouldn’t get involved in elections. Then they did just that.
6. Donors to social welfare nonprofits are anonymous for a reason. It's because Alabama tried to force the NAACP to disclose its donors during the Civil Rights struggles in the 1950s. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1958 ruled the NAACP's donors could remain secret because disclosure would risk reprisal and threats. 

Got water? A handful of rich Calif. families do, and they're looking to sell

California's Central Valley is known as America's breadbasket for the sheer volume of food it produces. But the region has a darker reputation for those who live and work there due to a handful of ultra-rich families who run the place. How those elites make their money -- on water --  is a disturbing tale.

Although they don't reside there, some of the country's most well-known families have interests in the Central Valley. The former owners of the Union Pacific Railroad, Standard Oil and the Los Angeles Times are among them. And now their decedents lord over the area like the oligarchs their families once were, writes Yasha Levine at nsfwcorp:

Their offspring still run the place like their very own banana republic. They fly in to inspect their businesses on private jets, buy politicians, own entire towns, import migrant slave labor, pollute and plunder with impunity and bend everything and everyone to their will. They wield enormous political power, and the vast tracts of land under their control boggles the mind. You can drive for an hour at 80 mph and only trace one side of a single oligarch-family farm. And yet, they are nearly invisible to the general public.

In a show of power, one of these corporate interests disguised as a farmer made a huge profit in 2009 when it sold water to local water agency in drought-stricken California. The price? $73 million!:

... the farmer was a private Silicon Valley company called Sandridge Partners owned by the Vidovich family. The Vidoviches own cotton fields and almond orchards in the Central Valley. They also control a small real estate empire in the Bay Area, complete with office complexes, condominiums, mobile home parks, hotels and shopping centers. John Vidovich, the current family patriarch, lives in a $11.4 million home in the Los Altos Hills, a ritzy wooded area overlooking the bay just south of San Francisco sitting in the 8th most expensive zip code in America. To top it all off, the Vidovich clan is among the biggest welfare queen-farmers in the country, taking in $11 million in subsidies since 1995.

But as the article states, the Vidoviches are far from the only family getting rich off of water. There are many others, led by the Resnick family of Beverly Hills, who own about 300 square miles in the Central Valley:

The Resnicks helped engineer a covert scheme that subverted the state's constitution by partially privatizing California's water supply, creating the concept of "paper water" and opening up an unregulated water market for the first time in California.

The Resnick's “paper water” market was a speculator’s wet dream. Even Enron tried to get in on Oligarch Valley's paper water bonanza in the early 2000s, opening up an Internet-based operation next door to the Resnicks in the hopes of creating the etrade.com of H20, where future traders from would around the world would log in from home and buy and sell water in between sessions on YouPorn.com. Called Azurix, it would function as an “exchange on the Internet for buying, selling, storing and transporting water in the West, hoping to make water a traded commodity much like natural gas or electricity,” the Wall Street Journal wrote in 2000.

Enron's water speculation utopia crashed and burned, but the Resnicks emerged as the biggest water traders in America. Among other things, the Resnicks made hundreds of millions of dollars selling water back to California for a 100% markup.  

All this happens while many Central Valley residents are mired in poverty. The article notes the Fresno, Modesto and Bakersfield metropolitan areas are among the poorest in the country.

The whole thing is worth a read. You can find it here.

Help make a dream come true for the boy who made Teamsters cry

Watch to the end.

Christopher Duffley, the 10-year-old blind boy who made Teamsters cry at the 2011 convention, is now 12 years old and hoping to cut two albums.

Christopher was born blind with cocaine in his system, weighed just 28 ounces and was diagnosed with autism. But he makes up for his problems with his voice and his spirit. For the past few years he has inspired audiences with his singing in churches, sporting events, conventions, concerts, military functions, and conferences throughout the U.S. and Canada. (You can view a short video about his life here.)

Our brothers and sisters at Teamsters Local 25 in Boston have worked with Christopher for several years in promoting autism awareness. That's how he came to the union's convention, where he delivered an inspiring version of "Lean On Me." He has raised thousands of dollars for autism causes by singing at Local 25's annual gala.

Now Local 25 is helping him in his quest to cut two albums through the Kickstarter crowd funding program. He wants to record two kinds of albums: 

#1  ·Inspirational Christian Music: including “Open the Eyes of My Heart”, “Amazing Grace,” and “I Can Only Imagine.” 

# 2  ·Inspirational & Patriotic Music:, including “Lean on Me”, “God Bless the USA" and "God Bless America". 

AND.... at least one video of his life story to be included with each recording....

He needs $70,000 to pay for royalties, studio musicians, travel, marketing and technical help. He already has 40 backers but he needs more.

His Kickstarter post assures potential backers he can get the job done:

Anyone familiar with Christopher’s story knows that challenges have never stopped him from succeeding. Since Christopher has completed some recording in the Nashville area, he is quite able to produce what we have promised and more! The money raised in this campaign will make this project possible, to record in Nashville, Tennessee with world-class musicians, producers, studios and engineers. We can't extend our hearts enough in thanking you for entrusting us with your investment!

Click here to help Christopher out.