Home Juice Workers Overwhelmingly Ratify Unified Contract  Local 727  …Teamsters Local 727-represented Home Juice inside and outside beverage workers have overwhelmingly ratified a new three-year contract that includes wage increases, improved retirement benefits and the maintenance of health and welfare benefits. “This work force has dedicated their careers and put our hearts into this company. It was a lot of work, but these negotiations were a true team effort,” said driver steward Tyrone Lewis…

Union targets Taylor Farms through Chipotle  The Californian  …Protesters, organized by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, are trying to put pressure on the Mexican fast-food chain to put their own pressure on Salinas-based Taylor Farms, which supplies tomatoes to Chipotle restaurants. They want Taylor Farms to recognize the union representing about 900 workers at its Tracy plant and negotiate with Teamster reps on a labor contract…

Teamsters headed to Washington to protest pension cuts  Ohio.com  …Thousands of retired Teamsters — including two busloads from the Akron area — will pressure federal lawmakers Thursday at a rally in Washington, D.C., to ward off deep pension cuts expected to start this summer. “The rally is going to be on the west front lawn of the U.S. Capitol,” said Mike Walden, a retired Teamster from Cuyahoga Falls and head of the Northeast Ohio Committee to Protect Pensions…

Local 710 Secures Strong Protections for ABF Road Drivers  Local 710  …Teamsters Local 710 secured a big win for freight members at the committee meeting on March 30, reversing a major change of operations at ABF. ABF recently implemented a change of operations that transferred work traditionally performed by road drivers to utility employees at smaller city terminals. At the South Chicago hub, this would have resulted in a loss of seven road positions…

NJASAP pilots cry foul as Flexjet, Flight Options management delays negotiations, disrespects pilots  NJASAP  …Standing in solidarity with their pilot peers, the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP) is lending its voice in support of the Flight Options and Flexjet pilots. On Tuesday, their union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, filed an answer and counterclaim in federal court in response to a lawsuit filed by Flexjet and Flight Options…

1,000 workers strike over long hours at South Korean factory in Vietnam  Thanh Nien News  …Nearly 1,000 workers at an electronics company in the northern city of Hai Phong started a strike Monday after their South Korean employer reportedly ignored their requests for cutting working hours and increasing wages. The workers at Bluecom Vina, a South Korea-invested company, said they also want the company’s management to recognize their right to form a union as promised, local media reported…

90 Percent of the World’s Domestic Workers Lack Social Security Protection  In These Times  …Ninety percent—or 60 million of the world’s estimated 67 million domestic workers, some 80 percent of whom are women—labor without any basic social security protections, says a new International Labor Organization (ILO) report. Developing countries have the biggest gaps in coverage but wealthier nations are not immune to this problem…

Public health groups call for Congress to reject TPP  The Hill  …More than 50 public health groups on Tuesday called on Congress to reject a trade agreement between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations because it will block access to affordable medicines. Led by Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam America, the groups wrote a letter to Congress arguing that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement contains provisions that would undermine public health…

Mexico’s president wants to adopt TTIP free trade deal with EU  Yucatan Times  …Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Tuesday April 12 backed a planned free trade deal between the European Union and the United States known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), saying his country could also adopt it. During a visit to Berlin, Reuters reported, Peña Nieto said TTIP offered an opportunity for more free trade…

The Peru Trade Deal Turns Ten: The Consequences Of Irresponsible Trade Past, Present, And Future  Sierra Club   …Ten years after the signing of the pact, it is clear that bet didn’t pay off. Despite the detailed rules in the pact that required Peru to reduce illegal logging, the illegal logging crisis continues today unabated. Peru’s own government found in 2014 that 78 percent of Peru’s wood slated for export was harvested illegally…

More than 4,000 protesters set to take part in anti-austerity demonstration in central London  Independent  …Thousands of activists are set to descend on Trafalgar Square this weekend and demand that the “vicious government” ends its austerity agenda. With a concentration on health, social housing, jobs and education, organisers from the People’s Assembly Against Austerity – a national movement to end austerity – are expecting a considerable turnout…

How the IMF Foresees the Global Economy, at a Glance  AP  …In downgrading its outlook for world economic growth in 2016, the International Monetary Fund said it foresees expansion of 3.2 percent this year, down from the 3.4 percent it forecast in January. By comparison, last year the global economy grew 3.1 percent, its slowest pace since the recession year of 2009…

Does Wisconsin’s Right-to-Work Law Expose a Fatal Flaw?  American Prospect …Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s right-to-work law was found by a judge to be in violation of the state’s constitution. The ruling was a small bright spot for a union movement that’s been subjected to the governor’s anti-worker crusade for more than five years. It was also a potential victory for the national labor movement…

Jerry Brown signs bill expanding state family leave benefits  SF Gate  …California workers who need to take time off to care for a newborn or family member will receive up to 70 percent of their pay after Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Monday to expand the benefit. Brown said AB908 adds to the state’s efforts to address income inequality. He recently signed a bill to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 by 2022…

Maryland legislature passes expansion of equal pay law  WTOP  …The Maryland General Assembly has passed an expansion of the state’s equal pay law. The House of Delegates gave the bill final approval on a 100-36 vote Saturday. The bill strengthens state law that prohibits pay discrimination based on gender. The measure also prohibits discrimination based on gender identity…

Kentucky’s Governor Dramatically Cut Education Funding. Now He’s Getting Sued.  Think Progress  …This spring, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) bypassed the state legislature to unilaterally cut $41 million in education funding. Now, he’s getting hit with a lawsuit. State Attorney General Andy Beshear (D) is suing Bevin over what he sees as a violation of state law and the governor’s authority. Bevin ordered a 4.5 percent cut to higher education funding in March…

Court ruling softens Wisconsin voter ID law  Post-Crescent  …A panel of three federal judges opened up the possibility Tuesday that Wisconsin voters who have great difficulty getting photo IDs could cast ballots without them. The unanimous decision by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals panel keeps the voter ID law in place, but provides a potential way for those who can’t get IDs to vote…

The Effects of New York’s Restrictive Voting Laws  The Atlantic  …Voting in New York is for early planners, not procrastinators. And that’s especially true for primaries. The Empire State has no early voting and no same-day registration. Party primaries are open only to registered Democrats or Republicans, and new voters must register at least 25 days in advance in order to participate… 

Nearly 40,000 Verizon workers go on strike  USA Today  …Nearly 40,000 employees of Verizon went on strike Wednesday seeking improved benefits and work conditions, as well as a slowdown in outsourcing some jobs. The Communications Workers of America and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers officially began the strike at 6 a.m. ET for the tens of thousands of its union members that work for the telecommunications giant on the East Coast…

Five Reasons to Care About the Verizon Strike  Jobs with Justice  …Unions of working people at Verizon announced that they will strike on Wednesday morning if their bosses fail to come to the table to negotiate a mutually beneficial agreement. The 39,000 women and men who make up the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) are ready to take the streets to demand a fair return on their work…

SEIU fast-food Thursday protests will target 300 cities  The Hill  …The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which is behind the push for a $15 minimum wage, is preparing for its biggest round of fast-food protests yet. Tens of thousands of low-wage workers will walk off their jobs and protest on Thursday in more than 300 cities around the world, according to labor organizers. The “Fight for $15” protests will sweep through New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Miami, St. Louis and hundreds of other cities…

Recent Win for Unions in the Courts Is Also an Unexpected Victory for Women  Huffington Post  …The Court’s recent decision (or rather indecision) on Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, which preserves unions’ ability to collect fees from teachers and government workers to help support the cost of collective bargaining, is an obvious victory for unions. What’s less obvious is that it’s a victory for women. Women make up nearly half of the nation’s union membership…

Walmart Loses $224 Million Lawsuit For Stealing Lunch Breaks From 187,000 Workers  Occupy Democrats  …This past week, Walmart lost its appeal of a $224 million dollar judgement to its Pennsylvania employees for forcing all of them to work through lunch breaks. The Supreme Court declined to hear Walmart’s appeal, so 187,000 workers who have been waiting to get paid since 2006 will finally receive their paychecks…

From Wisconsin to Washington, Americans Are Demanding an Amendment to Overturn ‘Citizens United’  The Nation  ….Eleven Wisconsin cities, villages, and townships voted last Tuesday for proposals to amend the Constitution to declare that corporations are not people, that money is not speech, and that citizens have a right to organize elections in which their votes matter more than billionaire dollars. In Washington this week, “Democracy Spring” protests are raising an outcry against corporate influence over elections and governance…

Why Are There So Many Anonymous Corporations in Delaware?  Truthout  ..Delaware is home to more than a million corporations, meaning it has more corporations than actual human residents. In 2012, The New York Times reported that a single building in Wilmington was the legal address of over 285,000 separate businesses. About 65 percent of Fortune 500 companies are incorporated in Delaware…

The Truth Of The Goldman Sachs Settlement Is In The Fine Print  Think Progress  …Nearly a decade after the housing bubble burst, Goldman Sachs is clearing up pesky allegations that it knowingly defrauded people by selling them bad mortgage securities. The powerful banking firm agreed to a $5 billion settlement over the allegations, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Monday afternoon…