Today's Teamster News 07.02.13

Fast-moving Arizona wildfire leaves 19 firefighters dead, destroys more than 200 homes  Associated Press   ...Gusty, hot winds blew an Arizona blaze out of control Sunday in a forest northwest of Phoenix, overtaking and killing 19 members of an elite fire crew in the deadliest wildfire involving firefighters in the U.S. for at least 30 years...
Paid via Card, Workers Feel Sting of Fees  New York Times   ...A growing number of American workers are confronting a frustrating predicament on payday: to get their wages, they must first pay a fee...
Interest rates on new college student loans double, but Congress could restore low rates later

Washington Post   ...The interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans doubled from 3.4 percent Monday and could stay doubled unless Congress fulfills its pledge to restore lower rates when it returns from the Fourth of July holiday...
Will the Trans-Atlantic Spying Scandal Kill the Trans-Atlantic "Trade" Scandal?  Public Citizen   ...The revelation has sparked ire from European officials, unleashing a torrent of warnings today that TAFTA negotiations, slated to start next week, may be doomed before they begin...
Local man found not guilty in chalk vandalsim case  ABC 10 News   ...A 40-year-old man was acquitted Monday of 13 misdemeanor vandalism charges that stemmed from protest messages he wrote in chalk in front of three Bank of America branches in San Diego...
Lawmakers push U.S. government to buy flags made in America  WQAD News 8   ...Illinois Congresswoman Cheri Bustos and Iowa Senator Bruce Braley are pushing the federal government to only purchase American-made U.S. flags...
Brunswick Council and Chamber split over relevancy of right-to-work resolution  Sun News   ...In spite of opposition from the Brunswick Area Chamber of Commerce, a resolution opposing the state's anti-union "right to work" laws in Ohio passed by a 3-1 vote. Ward 4 Councilman Anthony Capretta, whose father was a Teamster, said his vote in favor of the legislation was a matter of principal...
Maine should not accept low-skill, low-wage future (opinion)  Portland Press Herald   ...Researchers found that most new jobs in the next decade will be low-wage, low-skill positions that won't require even a high school diploma...
Florida privatized prison health services leaves nearly 1,800 public employees out of a job  Miami Herald   ...The nation’s largest outsourcing of prison medical care is underway in Florida with the state turning to a private company with a history of problems in other states...
Amendment's OK boon to Penn. liquor privatization effort  Meadville Tribune   ...An amendment approved by the Pennsylvania state Senate early Saturday morning is a victory for proponents of privatization as it agrees to take a greater step relinquishing control of the lucrative wholesale liquor business...
BART strike on after talks fail  San Jose Mercury News   ...After a breakdown in contract talks Sunday evening, BART workers are on strike. About 15 workers from the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 announced at midnight that their contact had expired without a new offer from BART, and then started their picketing…
UNITE HERE and Hyatt Reach National Agreement  UNITE HERE   ...Hyatt Hotels Corporation and UNITE HERE, the union of hospitality workers in the U.S. and Canada, announced a national agreement that resolves longstanding disputes between the two organizations...
SCI Funeral Directors Vote to Strike  IBT   ...Funeral directors and drivers represented by Teamsters Local 727 overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike against Houston-based funeral giant Service Corporation International yesterday evening.  The strike is set to begin this morning...
ABF Members Approve National Contract and Most Supplements  IBT …The national master portion of the ABF National Master Freight Agreement has been approved. This means the national contract is not open for renegotiating. Most of the supplements were also approved—21 of the 27. The six that did not pass are open for renegotiating...
Private Equity Firm Warburg Pincus' Greed Harming First Responders In Western New York  IBT   ...On June 28, Rural/Metro Medical Services (Rural/Metro) of Buffalo presented its final wage and benefit offer to paramedics and medical technicians, who are members of Teamsters Local Union 375...
7-Up strike settled  Press-Enterprise   ...A Teamster strike that began last Monday at the Riverside distribution center that ships 7-Up and other beverages to retailers in the Inland area was resolved Friday afternoon, a union leader said...
On The Waterfront With Labor  Rick Smith Show   ...The show heads to the Pacific Northwest and talks to several members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) in Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, Wash. about lockouts and the state of the union. Listen here. Come back to the People’s Tour of America page daily to hear the latest from his road travels...
Sign Up for the 2013 Teamster Women's Conference  IBT   ...The Teamster Women’s Conference will be held September 19-21, 2013 in New Orleans. Register now to join your Teamster Sisters and Brothers!...

Walmart says it won't spy on workers anymore

We'll see about that.

At least for now, Walmart and its public relations firm say they won't spy illegally on their workers.

Last year, a flack named Zoe Mitchell pretended to be a journalist at a press conference and interviewed a warehouse worker.

She got caught.

Here's what happened next, according to Warehouse Workers United, a Teamster-supported group that aims to improve working conditions for warehouse workers in California's Inland Empire:

Walmart and Mercury Public Affairs agreed to destroy any recordings made at a press conference last year that was co-sponsored by Warehouse Workers United and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. The companies settled to avoid a trial after federal authorities investigated and authorized a complaint over a federal charge filed by Warehouse Workers United. 

At the June 2012 press conference, warehouse worker Santos Castaneda was interviewed by a Mercury Public Affairs staffer posing as a student journalist. The public relations agent said her name was Zoe Mitchell and that she was a journalism student at the University of Southern California. The next week, the same woman appeared at a press event in front of the proposed location for a Walmart in Los Angeles’ Chinatown. This time she used her real identity, Stephanie Harnett, and said she was representing Walmart.

At least someone has a sense of humor about the incident:

Buffalo first responders ready to walk from private equity firm offer

A bad situation is getting worse each day for our brother and sister first responders at Local 375 in Buffalo. A big, greedy, private-equity firm that has no business in emergency medical services is trying to cut their health care and making a miserly wage offer.

Warburg, Pincus is the private-equity firm that owns Rural/Metro Medical Services. Last week they submitted a crappy contract offer. The workers, represented by Teamsters Local 375, will vote on the contract tomorrow and Wednesday.

Kevin C. Drysdale, president of Teamsters Local 375, said there is little chance workers will support the current offer. He said in a press statement:

Their greedy bargaining position is not good for the working families of Western New York or the public in general.

Once the offer is rejected, the Teamsters will issue a required 10-day notice permitting job actions -- can you say "strike?" -- throughout greater Buffalo. That is, unless Warburg Pincus allows Rural/Metro to negotiate a reasonable wage and benefits package.

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service worked with both sides, but Rural/Metro seemed unwilling to negotiate in good faith with their employees. The current contract expired June 30.

Stay tuned.

Student loan interest rates double. Congress takes vacation.

Working Americans with dreams of attending college themselves or sending their children there are now being saddled with additional costs due to congressional inaction. Overnight the student loan rate doubled to 6.8 percent, meaning the average college student will pay an additional $2,600 for their education, according to Congress' Joint Economic Committee.

Higher education, already out of reach for many, just became more so. And why? Because lawmakers cannot come to a consensus on a policy. Instead they just let the interest rates on new federal Stafford loans go up. The federal government should not be balancing the budget on the backs of the nation's future generations.

The potential damage that could come from the higher lending rate is staggering, according to experts. Ted Beck, president and chief executive officer of the National Endowment for Financial Education, said a lifetime of student loan debt could become the new American normal if changes aren't made:

You could have generations that never get in the economic mainstream. If you never get into the whole U.S. economic system because you've been held back by too much debt ... we could have a lot of people who just never really come anywhere near their potential.

The same USA Today article details how there could also be a trickle-down effect on the entire economy caused by higher loan rates. More and more, those who do go to college will have to put off home ownership, contributing to their retirement or qualifying for such things as car and small business loans.

James P. Hoffa, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said it best when he explained in a recent column how higher student loan rates would hurt working- and middle-class families:

Higher education has long been the stepping stone to a better life.  But that stone is being swept away by a tide of student debt.

Thankfully, Congress can still take action to minimize the damage. Senate Democrats are likely to bring to the floor a measure next week that would roll back the increase and extend the former 3.4 percent loan rate another year. But the longer-term answer is to comprehensively revamp the system, something Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is advocating.

Whatever the solution, Capitol Hill shouldn't jeopardize the future by punishing today's students.

How taxpayers are revolting against privatization

State and local governments are starting to end the looting of the taxpayer by for-profit corporations.

So says the Center for Media and Democracy, our indispensable friends who have done so much to expose ALEC as an escort service for corporations and state lawmakers. ALEC relentlessly peddles its influence to turn state and local services over to predatory corporations.

In a recent post by Brendan Fischer, CMD tells us that voters are trying to restore control over public services in New Jersey, Texas, California and Kentucky:

In New Jersey, legislation to ensure that public services won't be privatized unless it will result in actual savings for taxpayers has passed both chambers of the legislature. In Texas, a bipartisan coalition is fighting against a private prison in Montgomery County, and Kentucky is rejecting private prisons altogether. And in Fresno, California, voters rejected a proposal backed by the city's popular mayor to privatize trash collection services.

Here's what's happened:

• In New Jersey, a first-in-the-nation bill to crack down on predatory privatizers is on Gov. Chris Christie's desk.  It would ban privatization contracts that save money by cutting services or raising rates, and requires companies to pay workers comparable wages and benefits. 
• In Texas, Tea Party groups are joining with others to oppose GEO Group's purchase of a prison in Montgomery County.
• Kentucky is not renewing its contract with the private prison company Corrections Corporation of America, the fifth contract cancellation for CCA in a month.
• Fresno, Calif., voters this month rejected a plan to outsource trash service for the city's 500,000 residents to a private company, which would cut pay for the workers. Opponents of privatization were outspent 3-to-1, but they prevailed anyway.

Donald Cohen, who chairs In the Public Interest, said:

...when taxpayers see what they lose by handing over control of their roads, prisons and other services, they don’t want anything to do with outsourcing.

Yup.

A Teamster writes: In unity there is dignity

Brother Charles Wilkinson, a Teamster retiree from Local 222 in Provo, Utah, writes a wonderful op-ed in the Salt Lake Tribune. We thought we'd share some of it with you. To read the whole thing, click here.

...maybe the most important definition of dignity is this: the quiet knowledge of self-worth that lies within the human heart. 

I have known and worked with folks who labored physically. They came to work clean but returned to their homes tired, with soiled clothes and hands. They held no official position, had no title and were not part of a privileged class. But most of them had a sense of dignity. 

Many working people, though not all, struggle with their own self-worth. Perhaps they are underpaid and treated in the work place as if they are of no importance. Or perhaps they have been taught that a life of labor is undignified and not a desirable way to earn an income. I know many who feel this way... 

I plead with working people, no matter what your position, not to accept this evaluation. All work, no matter what the duty, is of great importance to an organization. 

Every politician who puts on his fine suit and shoes each morning should thank the tailor for the skill it took to make his clothing; thank the sheep man for the wool; thank the cotton farmer and the field hand; thank the truck driver for transporting the materials to market; thank the maintenance people who clean the building where the manufacturing took place and the machinist for the necessary machines... 

There are occasions when a businessman threatens a working person with: "You can easily be replaced." He is right. As an individual, you can be replaced. 

But that is when dignity can be maintained through unity. Alone, we may be at the mercy of an unjust tyrant, but together, working people can demand the respect they so well deserve. Yes, you, the person who prepares fast food, or who stocks the shelves on the night shift at the big-box store. You, who empties the trash and sweeps the floor. 

You are invaluable to that organization and are a valuable part of our society. Let no one try to persuade you otherwise. You, laborers, are worthy of a living wage, health care, shelter from the storm and whatever else is necessary to live a life with dignity. 

But you can only accomplish this through unity.

Brother Wilkinson runs a terrific Facebook page, Friends of Teamsters Local 222, which is well worth reading. Just click here.

Today's Teamster News 07.01.13

New Study Shows 1/3 of Jobs Prone to Offshore Outsourcing  Economic Populist   ...The occupational groups identified as being vulnerable to offshoring include office support (e.g., data entry and payroll clerks), auditors and tax preparers, computer programmers and software engineers, medical transcriptionists and paralegals, and technical writers...
Without full-time jobs, workers flock to temp towns  Salon   ...Short-term work has become a mainstay of the American economy, intensifying the rise in income inequality...
An Unstoppable Climb in C.E.O. Pay  New York Times   ...the executive compensation analysis firm, found that the median 2012 pay package came in at $15.1 million — a leap of 16 percent from 2011. ..
No, manufacturing jobs won’t revive the economy  Salon   ...Stop claiming a factory boom will save the country and lift people up. Here's what these jobs really look like...
Key US-EU trade pact under threat after more NSA spying allegations  The Guardian   ...The prospects for a new trade pact between the US and the European Union worth hundreds of billions have suffered a severe setback following allegations that Washington bugged key EU offices and intercepted phonecalls and emails from top officials...
New Bank of America whistle-blower emerges: More customer abuse secrets  Salon   ...Bank of America whistle-blower details latest scheme to abuse homeowners, evade settlement rules and pocket cash...
MF Global and Wall Street: Whose Job Is It To Take the Keys Away (opinion)  Wall Street On Parade   ...Isn’t it the job of Congress to pass laws to ensure that checks and balances exist that prevent powerful men from gaming the system and dipping into customer funds to make casino bets...
War On the Unemployed (opinion)  New York Times   ...there’s a nationwide movement under way to punish the unemployed, based on the proposition that we can cure unemployment by making the jobless even more miserable...
Protests overshadow football final in Brazil  al-Jazeera   ...Protesters hurling petrol bombs have clashed with riot police in Brazil at the Confederations Cup football match, overshadowing the host nation's victory over world champions Spain in the final...
SCI Rejects Last and Best Offer from Teamsters  Benzinga   ...Houston-based funeral giant Service Corporation International ... rejected a last and best offer from Teamsters Local 727 and countered with its original proposal to eliminate the employees' pension, health and educational assistance benefits...