Today's Teamster News 03.22.14

Teamster News
Truckers for Costco and Forever 21 land victory that may allow joining the Teamsters  Salon ...The Port of Los Angeles workers who alleged stolen wages and false "independent contractor" scam now one step closer to organizing with the Teamsters Union...
Truck Drivers Handed Labor Victory That Could Reshape The Industry  ThinkProgress   ...Truck drivers at a Los Angeles-area freight hauling company cannot be treated as “independent contractors” or harassed for discussing the possibility of unionizing, according to a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling issued Thursday...
Port truck drivers vying to join union get state, federal boost  Los Angeles Times   ...A string of actions by state officials and the National Labor Relations Board has strengthened the hand of truck drivers who say they need union representation to improve pay and working conditions for the thousands who transport cargo out of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach...
Port Truck Drivers Labeled 'Independent Contractors' Told They Have Right To Unionize  Huffington Post   ...As part of a settlement with the Teamsters that was finalized on Thursday, Pacific 9 Transportation in Carson, Calif., has agreed to hang a posting in the workplace saying workers have the right to form a labor union...
Teamsters Local 722 Highway Maintainers Ratify New Contract  Joint Council 25   ...Carroll County, Illinois, public employees represented by Teamsters Local 722 unanimously approved a new three-year contract with the county’s highway department...
APAC/Old Castle Inc. Drivers Choose Teamsters  Teamsters Local 523   ...Drivers at APAC/Old Castle Inc. in Vinita, Okla. voted to join Teamsters Local 523 in Tulsa, securing a strong voice on the job, despite the company's blatant union-busting tactics...
Teamsters at CCTA find support from fellow workers  Burlington Free Press   ...Drivers with Chittenden County Transportation Authority (CCTA), who are represented by Teamsters Local 597, were joined by numbers of organizations at a rally in support of their strike against the company since Monday....
Teamsters, Pasco reach tentative contract deal  Tampa Bay Times  ...Teamsters Local 79, which represents more than half of Pasco County, Florida's workers, says it has reached a tentative contract deal after a final round of talks...
Georgia Senate votes to bar some workers from unemployment benefits  Atlanta Journal-Constitution   ...The Georgia Senate approved a measure Thursday that would ban bus drivers, cafeteria workers and other people who work for private firms in public schools from claiming unemployment benefits when school is out...
Teamsters reject CN deal, company proposes binding arbitration   The Northern View ...The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference has rejected a second proposed settlement with CN with a vote of 891 against and 852 voting in favor of the agreement...
Teamsters Step Up Fight for D.C. Taxi Drivers   teamster.org ...The Teamsters Local 922-affiliated Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association filed a petition on Wednesday demanding that ride-sharing companies adhere to similar regulations that the taxi drivers follow...
Trade
Roberto Azevedo urges U.S. to push for Doha finish  Politico   ...World Trade Organization Director-General Roberto Azevedo urged the United States on Monday to reprise its traditional leadership role in the multilateral trading system by pushing to bring the 13-year-old Doha Round of world trade talks to a swift conclusion...
State Battles
W.Va. governor signs budget that taps reserves  Associated Press ...West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed a budget into law Wednesday that dips into millions of dollars in state reserves but gives public employees raises...
Louisiana committee OK's bill to bar teachers unions from public pension system  Times-Picayune   ...The House Retirement Committee on Thursday approved a bill that would bar any future employees of four organizations, two of them teachers unions, from also being members in the state public pension system for teachers...
War on Workers
Real wage stagnation, year 41  Angry Bear   ...The good news is that… real wages advanced somewhat in 2013, from $294.31 per week (in 1982-84 dollars) to $295.51, an increase of 0.4%. Woo hoo! The bad news, of course, is that this is still 13.5% off the peak real weekly wage of $341.73, achieved in 1972... 
Social Security already hit by the austerity squeeze  DailyKos   ... that annual statement you used to get that provided your earnings to date and estimated your monthly benefits is gone now. It was an important educational tool for Social Security, and a reminder that you are paying into a secure retirement fund. The statements are still available, but you have to be able to go online or visit an SSA office...
Microsoft Software Leak Inquiry Raises Privacy Issues  New York Times   ...The company conducted an inquiry by reading through email and instant messages, which may violate its promise of privacy, highlighting the power technology companies have to snoop on their customers...
Fox Has Consistently Minimized Koch Campaign Funding, But The Truth Is Out  Media Matters   ...As the group emerges as a dominant force in the 2014 midterm elections, spending up to 10 times as much as any major outside Democratic group so far, officials of the organization say their effort is not confined to hammering away at President Obama's Affordable Care Act...
Miscellaneous
Discovery of body clock reset mechanism could help shift workers and jetsetters  gizmag   ..."As this work progresses in clinical terms, we may be able to enhance the clock's ability to deal with shift work, and importantly understand how maladaptation of the clock contributes to diseases such as diabetes and chronic inflammation"...
Bernie Madoff: 'JPMorgan knew'  PoliticoPro   ...JPMorgan Chase served as Madoff’s bank for more than two decades and its role in his infamous Ponzi scheme has been the subject of intense interest to both federal authorities and investors who were victims of his fraud...
Hog Wild: Factory Farms are Poisoning Iowa's Drinking Water  Mother Jones   ...Millions of pigs are crammed into overcrowded barns all across the state, being fattened for slaughter while breeding superbugs—all to feed China's growing appetite for Spam...
Revelations of NSA Spying Cost U.S. Tech Companies  New York Times   ...Tech companies in the United States have lost customers and billions of dollars while companies overseas are gaining customers because of the revelations made by Edward J. Snowden,tied these providers to the National Security Agency’s vast surveillance program.

Scott Walker keeps on wrecking Wisconsin's economy

Ever since job-killer Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker began to cut the government budget and weaken unions, the state's economy has tanked.

Candidate Walker famously promised to create 250,000 jobs as governor and then set about destroying them.  He awarded state contracts to out-of-state companies, pulled the plug on a high-speed rail project, lowered state worker pay by taking away collective bargaining rights, made massive cuts to education and slashed taxes for business.

Chances of Walker creating 250,000 jobs are now slim and none, and Slim just left town.

The Econbrowser blog estimates Wisconsin would need to create 12,275 jobs per month for the next year to achieve Walker's goal. During Walker's administration, an average of 2,892 jobs were created every month.

Wisconsin lags the U.S. economy and all of its neighbors, as this chart shows:

The Minnesota example is especially compelling. Minnesota is similar to Wisconsin in size, population, climate and industry. But there's an important difference: Minnesota's government. A story in MinnPost late last year reported:

Along with California, Minnesota is the fifth fastest growing state economy, with private-sector job growth exceeding pre-recession levels. Forbes rates Minnesota as the eighth best state for business.... 

The lion’s share of Minnesota’s new tax revenue was sunk into human capital. While the state’s Constitution required that half of the new revenue balance the budget in 2013, Mr. Dayton invested 71 percent of the remaining funds in K-12 schools and higher education as well as a pair of firsts: all-day kindergarten and wider access to early childhood education. Minnesota was one of the few states that raised education spending under the cloud of the Great Recession. 

Walker will continue to cook the state's books and rely on clownish economists from ALEC to whitewash his dismal jobs record. Let's hope Wisconsin's voters aren't fooled.

Huge Teamster victory at the Port of LA/Long Beach!

Pacific 9 Transportation (Pac 9) agreed today that its port truck drivers are employees and have the right to join a union, according to a settlement reached with the Teamsters today. The settlement is part of a series of state and federal actions that strengthened the hand of truck drivers who want union representation at the Port of LA/Long Beach, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The settlement follows a finding by the National Labor Relations Board that Pac 9 drivers have been misclassified as “independent contractors” under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Further, the NLRB’s Region 21 found that drivers have been subjected to unlawful retaliation for exercising their legal rights to organize a union. (Read the settlement here.) 

According to the Los Angles Times,

The agreement comes after repeated victories at the state Labor Commissioner’s office, where 30 drivers have won decisions against 11 port trucking firms, awarding them $3.6 million in wages and penalties.

Eric Tate, Teamsters Local 848 secretary-treasurer, told the Times he's thrilled with the settlement:

I am ecstatic. They dug into this situation and found there is a serious problem here. We are trying to protect jobs and workers who are being mistreated.

The ruling from the NLRB regional office could affect the entire port trucking industry, which currently leaves many of America’s port drivers working full time yet earning less than minimum wage. 

According to HDT Trucking Info,

...the settlement does not include Pacific 9 Transportation admitting to any wrongdoing. 

Pacific 9 drivers have filed more than 50 wage and hour claims with the California Labor Commissioner and went on strike in November 2013 in protest of unfair labor practices. They were joined in a 36-hour protest by drivers of Green Fleet Systems and American Logistics International, also located in Carson, just north of Long Beach. 

Pac 9’s business practices have also attracted the attention of the Tax Division of the California Employment Development Department for misclassifying drivers and failing to pay unemployment and workers compensation taxes, according to the group.

Josh Eidelson at Salon quoted Pac 9 driver Amador Rojas,

Now that the government has validated what I’ve always known – that I am misclassified as an independent contractor – I have the rights of an employee and can fight for better conditions at work and a better future for my family through a Teamster contract.

Pac 9 owns the trucks driven by the drivers, but forces them to pay for fuel, tires and maintenance. Because the company misclassified them as independent contractors, they didn't receive benefits or enjoy legal protections as employees.

Jon Stewart takes on Fox News' poor bashing

The Daily Show
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Here's a great clip from a recent 'Daily Show' in which Jon Stewart explains how JPMorgan pushes people onto food stamps, then profiteers from the food stamp system, all the while employing cheap laborers in India to help run the business.

We also liked Stewart's comment:

What I'm getting from Fox is this: exploiting government largess while reprehensive and morally corrupting for an individual, is A-okay for a corporations. So, maybe this will help. Don't think of food stamps and Head Start - programs like that - as feeding and helping a small child. Think about it as investing in a promising start up with a liquidity problem.

Today's Teamster News 03.21.14

Teamster News
Striking VT Teamsters Fend Off Binding Arbitration, Enjoy Support of Local Community, Gov’t
The We Party   ...In Burlington, Vermont nearly 70 bus drivers have gone on strike hoping to receive a fair contract from management. The drivers are represented by Teamsters Local 597 and work for the Chittenden County Transportation Authority (CCTA). Chittenden County is Vermont’s most populated county...
Trade
Conn. suffers losses under U.S.-Korea trade treaty  Stamford Advocate   ...U.S. monthly net exports to Korea of helicopters -- Connecticut's second largest export -- have plummeted 81 percent on average under the FTA...
Tech Companies Urge Senator Wyden to Reject Fast Track and Bring Transparency to TPP   Electronic Frontier Foundation   ...More than 25 leading technology companies have joined a public letter urging Senator Ron Wyden, the newly appointed Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, to firmly oppose any form of "fast track" authority for trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
In Trade Talks, It's Countries vs. Companies  Bloomberg   ...to many people, arbitration looks profoundly undemocratic. Countries that sign the treaties give away a lot: The arbitration panels are unelected tribunals of three experts (usually lawyers, one chosen by each side and one picked by mutual consent or a third party) that are empowered to overrule a nation’s highest authorities. The panels have come under attack from environmental groups, labor unions, and developing nations including Venezuela, Ecuador, and South Africa....
Rights group alarmed by Colombian port killings  Associated Press   ... illegal armed groups have forcibly disappeared scores if not hundreds of people in Colombia's main Pacific port of Buenaventura in the past two years, killing and dismembering some in so-called "chop-up houses."… the situation is among the most alarming it has seen in years…
State Battles
New York law makes it illegal to misclassify truckers  Land Line   ...Employers who misclassify truckers in New York face civil and criminal penalties under a new law that takes effect April 10. Classification has ramifications not only for employee drivers but also for owner-operators and leased operators...
Judge: Arizona can require proof of citizenship from new voters  Capitol Media Services   ...A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Election Assistance Commission to require would-be Arizona voters to provide proof of citizenship when they register...
Governors siphoning mortgage settlement money: It's disgusting  Los Angeles Times ...Gov. Jerry Brown diverted more than $350 million from California's share of the 2012 national mortgage settlement with the banking industry to reduce the state's 2013 budget deficit. A coalition of homeownership advocates and religious organizations has filed suit against the state to force Brown to restore the money...
Md. Senate chair seeks pay raise for workers who care for developmentally disabled  Washington Post   ...The chairman of a key Maryland Senate Committee said Wednesday that he does not plan to act on a bill to raise the minimum wage until a related issue is resolved involving the way the state reimburses workers who care for the developmentally disabled...
Michigan Plan Would Allow Students to Attend College 'For Free'   Newsmax   ...Students would be able to initially attend college for free under a new plan introduced recently in the Michigan Legislature, but they would have to pay for it down the road...
Pennsylvania among states to block food stamp cuts  Pittsburgh Tribune-Review   ...Pennsylvania will join more than a half-dozen states and the District of Columbia to block as much as $1.2 billion in food stamp cuts, relying on a wrinkle in federal law to preserve aid for millions of people...
Wisconsin Poised to Pass ALEC's Deadly Asbestos Bill  Center for Media and Democracy   ...Wisconsin could become the latest state to narrow access to the courts for asbestos victims in a bill up for a vote on March 20, joining a national coordinated effort that can be traced back to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce...
Gov Haley fires back after machinists union opens office for Boeing employees  WCSC News 5   ...South Carolina's Governor Nikki Haley responds to a machinists union opening an office in North Charleston to educate workers at Boeing...
War on Workers
Koch Group, Spending Freely, Hones Attack on Government  New York Times   ...Americans for Prosperity — the group backed by David H. and Charles G. Koch that has been pouring millions of dollars into competitive Senate races...
Google Sued For Data-Mining Kids' Emails in Its Education App  Alternet   ...Google admitted in a sworn statement that it scans millions of students’ email messages to compile keywords for advertisements, despite not displaying any visual ads on its app...
Just 11% of US long-term unemployed find jobs  Associated Press   ...The number of people unemployed for more than six months has tripled since the recession began at the end of 2007...
This J.C. Penney Worker Was Fired For Telling The Truth About Its 'Fake' Prices  Huffington Post   ...J.C. Penney is going to war against a former employee who outed the department store for its questionable discounting practices...
Chicago voters support raising minimum wage  The Chicago Reporter   ...A symbolic victory on the non-binding referendum gives advocates and progressive aldermen the boost needed to press for an ordinance raising Chicago's minimum wage...
Walmart workers in China blockade store in protest at closure plan  USI   ...Nearly 150 workers have been picketing a Walmart store in the central Chinese city of Changde for two weeks, after management announced 4 March that the store would close down on 19 March...
Miscellaneous
New Report: Fortune 100 Companies Have Received $1.2 Trillion in Corporate Welfare Recently  AlterNet   ..Military contractors, oil companies and banks are the biggest 'welfare queens' around...
Starbucks to expand evening beer and wine service  Guardian   ...The chain first offered beer and wine after 4pm at one of its Seattle cafes in 2010. The drinks are now in about 26 cafes, with plans to reach 40 by the end of the year...
Residents Still Not Drinking Tap Water Two Months After West Virginia Spill  Truthout   ...It was a harsh start to 2014 for West Virginia, though in this state, events over the last two months have been only the latest twists in a long and familiar story...
NSA: Tech Companies Knew About PRISM The Whole Time  Huffington Post   ...Since leaked documents revealed that Internet companies like Apple, Facebook and Google were giving the National Security Agency vast access to people's online information under a scheme codenamed PRISM, those Silicon Valley titans have taken pains to deny participation in such a program. But now, the NSA's top lawyer says that just isn't true...
Bad news about American retirement  McCook Daily Gazette   ...How much do you have put away for retirement? A million dollars? Five hundred thousand? Five hundred dollars? If you're like a third of Americans, the final answer is closer to the truth...

More battles in the war on workers, with some victories

Today's arrests in Albany

A new wave of civil disobedience is sweeping the country as protesters demand a fairer share of the wealth they produce. On Tuesday, 39 Georgians got arrested in the state capitol demanding Medicaid expansion, 17 South Carolinians were arrested in Columbia for the same reason and McDonald's workers held rallies in 30 cities to protest wage theft. Just hours ago, 43 New Yorkers took arrests in the state capitol in Albany, demanding an end to tax cuts for the rich and more funding for education.

The news media dismisses the unrest as a fruitless recycling of the same old tactics. (The Wall Street Journal on today's protest in Albany: "It's an annual event.")

But as Sarah Jaffe points out in today's Washington Post, workers who are rising up are getting results. Writes Jaffe:

...strikes and multiyear pressure campaigns by low-wage workers have some impact on their employers. McDonald’s even admitted as much; the SEC report noted “increasing public focus on matters of income inequality” and worker actions were affecting their public image. Labor organizing, often declared dead on arrival, is having some impact. Even President Obama’s decision to raise the minimum wage for workers under future federal contracts was inspired by seven different strikes by low-wage workers at places such as the Smithsonian and the Pentagon.

McDonald's workers are doing more than protesting: They're suing the company for wage theft. The tactic has worked in other places, notably Baltimore. There, the Teamsters helped Baltimore bus drivers win a $1.25 million wage-theft settlement from their employer, Durham School Services. According to We Party Patriots,

Durham Bus Services operates in 30 states and has been accused of “rampant” wage theft across the country.  Teamsters Deputy Organizing Director Kim Keller says that Durham could eventually be held responsible for “hundreds of millions of dollars” in back pay.

Here's what the Albany protests are about today, according to the All of Us coalition:

Albany works for the super-rich and powerful corporations. If it favors the wealthy and CEO campaign contributors, it’s sure to pass in Albany. On the other hand, common sense legislation the majority of New Yorkers believe in, is stalled by politics.  

It doesn’t have to be this way. We can do better. On March 20th we are going to hold our elected officials in Albany responsible for putting people ahead of campaign contributors. We demand that our basic democratic rights be respected. We can do this. New York has done this before. Together, we can build a New York that works for all of us.

More to come....

Republic Services rips off workers, violates contract with San Jose

Republic Services is breaking the law in San Jose by refusing to pay workers living wages for the hard, dangerous work they do, according to Brother John Bouchard, business agent for Teamsters Local 350 in Daly City, Calif.

Brother Bouchard posted a story in The Left Hook blog today about Republic's theft of wages from workers at the Newby Island Recyclery. He tells us:

Republic Services is the second largest solid waste and recycling company in the world, and they are the company that runs Newby Island Recyclery, a state of the art recycling facility that uses hundreds of unrepresented workers to sort the various commodities that are brought in and processed there.  These workers perform extremely difficult work in poor conditions. 

They don’t have any benefits, and are only paid the city’s minimum wage; about half of what sorters make for other companies.  Republic has refused to pay them the living wage, as called for in their contract with the city of San Jose. 

Why, you ask, are these workers only paid the minimum wage?  Because Republic Services feels that they are above the law, and that the living wage provision in their contract with the city does not apply to this group of workers. 

As members of this community, we should all be extremely concerned about this lack of respect, and blatant disregard for worker’s rights.  This wasn’t just a simple oversight.  It was an intentional cost-saving move at the worker’s expense.  The city of San Jose has brought the violation to Republic’s attention, and Republic is still disputing whether or not they are obligated to pay the required wages. 

Republic Services owes more than two million dollars in back-pay to affected workers, and could face more fines from the city for not complying with the ordinance.  This has been dragging on for months, and as of today, the issue has not been settled due to Republic’s continued appeals.  This company ought to be ashamed of itself, skirting the law instead of flouting it in the face of the 10th largest city in America.

We especially like Brother Bouchard's explanation of why living wage ordinances are important:

... for those workers that are non-union, living wage ordinances may be the only wage protection they have...They are meant to ensure that workers are provided with fair wages for jobs performed in the areas in which they live and work. 

Read his whole post here. And post a comment of support for our brothers and sisters who work for Republic Services on their Facebook page here.