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Today’s Teamster News For May 26, 2016
TEAMSTERS
US Foods Teamsters Spread Strike to Metro N.Y. Facility Teamster.org …Striking Maryland workers have extended picket lines to US Foods’ Metro New York facility, where 320 workers are honoring the lines by refusing to work. It is the US Foods’ largest distribution center in America. The 180 warehouse workers who are members of Local 202 and 140 drivers who are members of Local 282 are just the latest group of US Foods workers to honor a picket line supporting the striking Maryland workers…
US Foods Teamsters Spread Strike to Indianapolis Area Facility Teamster.org …Teamsters working at a US Foods’ distribution facility here this afternoon refused to cross the picket line in solidarity with Teamsters in Severn, Md., who began an unfair labor practice strike against the company last month. The 215 workers who are members of Local 135 are just the latest group of US Foods workers to honor a picket line supporting the striking Maryland workers…
Teamsters Strike At Dichello Distributors Teamster.org …Drivers and warehouse workers at the state of Connecticut’s largest Anheuser-Busch distributor, Dichello Distributors, went on strike Sunday night over the company’s lack of a fair contract offer. The 91 workers, members of Teamsters Local 443 in New Haven, Conn., are now on a strike line outside company headquarters and the distribution of beer in the state is at a standstill…
Teamsters picket Molson Coors’ shareholder meeting in Denver Denver Post …The Teamsters came to Denver on Wednesday to share the story of a brewery in Eden, N.C. This brewery, open since 1978, was the birthplace of Miller Genuine Draft and employs more than 500 workers in a city of just over 15,000 people. In September it was handed a death sentence by owner MillerCoors…
Teamsters Support San Francisco School Board’s Adoption of Good Food Policy Teamster.org …The Teamsters applauded a unanimous vote by the San Francisco Unified School District School Board yesterday evening to adopt a policy committing to the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP). At the school board meeting, board members heard moving testimony from Jose Vega, a worker who was subject to an unfair termination from Taylor Farms, where the Teamsters have been battling abusive employer practices…
Washington, D.C. Taxi Drivers, Law Enforcement Officials Discuss Issues Teamster.org …About 50 Washington, D.C. taxi drivers attended a law enforcement/taxi driver town hall meeting on Monday, May 23 to discuss numerous issues that are hurting drivers’ ability to make a living. The meeting was sponsored by the Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association, which is affiliated with Teamsters Local 922…
Teamsters, CVS Pharmacists Fighting to Ensure ‘Safety and Sanctity of Pharmacy Profession’ Teamster.org …Since Teamsters Local 727 representatives began informing the public of the safety risks associated with CVS management’s mistreatment of overworked and understaffed Chicago-area pharmacists, the union has received an outpouring of support from pharmacists and CVS customers from across the country…
Teamsters representing Crestwood police Call Newspapers …Crestwood officials are preparing for negotiations with the city’s Police Department, which is the first law enforcement unit in the St. Louis area to unionize with the Teamsters. Just days after a vote by the Board of Aldermen to keep the city’s own police force rather than outsource police services to the county, Crestwood officers voted “overwhelmingly” to be represented by Teamsters Local 610 on April 29…
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Workers at France’s Nogent nuclear plant vote 24-hour strike, others may follow suit – trade union RT …Workers at the French CGT union are staging a 24-hour strike over labor law reforms at Nogent-sur-Seine nuclear plant, located about 100 kilometers from Paris. Other nuclear facilities’ employees are mulling joining the strike. The announcement comes amidst a major fuel crisis that is hitting the country due to a massive strike…
Rail Workers Strike Paralyzes Southern Belgium Sputnik News …A rail workers strike has paralyzed Belgium’s French-speaking region of Wallonia, with workers protesting against planned working hours increases, media reports said Thursday. The strike, which has also impacted train traffic in the regions of Brussels and Flanders, began late on Wednesday…
Greek Port Workers Strike Again Over Privatization Maritime Executive …Greek port workers will walk off the job on Thursday for 48 hours to protest against the sale of the country’s two biggest ports, which Athens has promised to international lenders in exchange for much-needed bailout loans. Privatizations, a key term of Greek bailouts since 2010, have generated only a fraction of an initial $56 billion target and have met strong union resistance. Port workers, who fear job cuts, have staged repeated strikes…
Workers at Toromocho copper mine in Peru plan 4-day strike Reuters …Workers at Chinalco Mining Corp International’s copper mine Toromocho in Peru plan to stage a four-day strike on May 31 to protest the suspension of a bonus tied to company results, the union said Wednesday. The stoppage at the Chinese-owned mine will start at 6:30 AM local time…
Obama races to cement the big Pacific Rim trade deal that all his potential successors oppose LA Times …President Obama is racing against the clock to cement a massive Pacific Rim trade deal that all of his potential successors oppose, with his administration eyeing a looming fight on Capitol Hill while starting to implement as much of the complicated pact as it can. The effort begins in Vietnam, where Obama spent the last three days touting the merits of the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership…
Why Goldman Sachs Likes Obama’s Trade Agenda Huffington Post …Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was right. Big banks really did want President Barack Obama to sign a trade deal making it easier for them to challenge regulations they don’t like. And they got what they wanted. Goldman Sachs believed that any trade pact that did not include terms to help it challenge rules would not be “a meaningful agreement for our industry”…
Obama administration strikes deal on TPP data storage The Hill …The Obama administration said Wednesday that it has reached an agreement with the financial services industry that could smooth passage of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement. The thrust of the new proposal, which is aimed at placating concerns about a provision in the TPP that could give foreign governments the ability to require U.S. businesses to maintain data servers within their borders, would broadly prohibit requirements for data storage…
Why pursue the TPP when we know it won’t work? (opinion) The Hill …The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has just released its Congressionally-mandated report detailing the potential economic outcomes of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). And while the ITC puts the best possible face on putative gains, it’s clear from the study that the trade deal not only won’t provide any large benefits for the U.S. economy but will also harm our all-important manufacturing sector…
Brazil’s new president Temer unveils austerity measures DW.com …Brazil’s interim president Michel Temer has unveiled a raft of economic austerity measures. Just a few days into his 180-day tenure, the 75-year old has confounded expectations he would spend Brazil out of its slump. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has long called for austerity, and what is called sustainable cuts in public services…
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Paid sick leave campaign closes before it reaches the ballot Michigan Radio …The effort to get paid sick leave for all Michigan workers on the ballot this November is over for now. Dave Woodward is the Oakland County Commissioner for Berkley and Royal Oak. He and the Time to Care coalition organized the campaign to get paid sick leave on the ballot, but aren’t confident the group would get enough petition signatures in time…
Ohio lawmakers fast-track bill requiring cash for longer voting hours Cincinnati.com …Sen. Bill Seitz’s plan to change how voters can keep polls open on Election Day heads to Gov. John Kasich. Despite objections from several Democrats, House lawmakers approved a plan, 61-32, that would require anyone who successfully extends voting hours to pay a bond, which could range from $1 to the full cost of keeping polls open…
New Mexico Officials Accused Of Tampering With Documents To Deny Citizens Emergency Food Stamps Think Progress …The state has long had trouble complying with regulations meant to get food stamps to people quickly and efficiently, particularly the one ensuring that emergency benefits go through within seven days. In the 1990s, New Mexico entered into a court-ordered consent decree as part of a settlement of a class action lawsuit over its inability to follow the rules and process applications…
Domino’s Accused Of Fraud And ‘Systemic Wage Theft’ By New York State Huffington Post …The attorney general of New York filed a lawsuit against Domino’s on Tuesday, accusing the pizza giant of systematically shorting workers’ pay. Fast-food restaurants are sued all the time for alleged wage theft. What makes this suit different is who’s included among the defendants: Domino’s itself, as opposed to just the franchisees who run Domino’s shops…
McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) Braces For Minimum Wage Protests In Chicago IBTimes …When McDonald’s begins its annual shareholders’ meeting at its headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, Thursday morning, it is expected to be targeted by protesters seeking a $15 minimum wage and the right to unionize. In recent months, the American fast food giant and its franchisees have increasingly faced accusations of underpaying workers and wage theft…
Farmworkers are treated unfairly in California. Sacramento has a chance to right that wrong (editorial) LA Times …The workers in California’s sprawling agricultural fields perform some of the most arduous labor in the state, often in intense heat in the summertime, and often six days a week. Yet for bizarre historical reasons, their overtime protections differ from those of other hourly workers…
U.S. LABOR
39,000 Verizon Workers Mark Six Weeks on Strike in Biggest U.S. Labor Action in Years Democracy Now …Today marks six weeks since nearly 40,000 Verizon workers went on strike along the East Coast, from Massachusetts to Virginia, marking one of the biggest U.S. strikes in years. The workers have been without a contract since August amid attempts by Verizon to cap pensions, cut benefits and outsource work to Mexico, the Philippines and the Dominican Republic…
Detroit Diesel UAW Local Overwhelmingly Ratify 5-Year Contract CBS …UAW Local 163 members at Detroit Diesel overwhelmingly ratified a five-year agreement that raises compensation for all workers and commits the Daimler Trucks North America subsidiary to building two displacements of a medium-duty truck engine in the near future…
Leading US union SEIU makes fighting climate change a campaign priority The Guardian …One of the US’s largest unions voted to use political pressure to fight climate change on Tuesday, citing events such as Hurricane Sandy, the California drought and the water situation in Flint, Michigan, as examples of how the phenomenon disproportionately affects its members…
Kroger, UFCW 400 reach agreement, avoid strike WSET …Kroger and UFCW 400 have reached a tentative agreement. This affects 5,100 associates working in 41 stores. The union is fully recommending the agreement for ratification by the members. Employees from the local union said 41 different Kroger stores in our area voted on May 18th to authorize a strike if needed…
Intel cafeteria workers say bathroom visits restricted USA Today …Contract workers who staff the cafeteria at chip-making giant Intel’s Santa Clara, Calif. headquarters allege they are restricted from going to the bathroom except on their meal periods or during one of their ten minute breaks. The cafeteria staff do not work for Intel but for Eurest, a $1.4 billion Charlotte, North Carolina-based dining services company that runs employee dining centers nationwide…
TSA Union in Full-Page Ad: Congress Must Fund 6,000 New Airport Security Screeners NH Labor News …The union representing Transportation Security Officers at our nation’s airports is amplifying its call for 6,000 additional full-time screeners to alleviate long airport security lines. The American Federation of Government Employees took out a full-page ad in The Hill newspaper today urging Congress to pass emergency legislation funding the additional screeners…
CUNY Professors and Staff Consider Future Strike to Defend Public Education Funding Truthout …92 percent of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), the union representing more than 25,000 CUNY professors and staff, decided earlier this month to approve use of a strike to fight not only for a new contract, but also to ensure a quality education for students. The origins of this vote begin in 2010, when the last contract agreed upon between CUNY and the PSC expired…
Oilfield business failure leaves workers unpaid, jobless Bismarck Tribune …At least 42 employees of a North Dakota oilfield service company that folded a year ago are still owed hundreds of thousands in unpaid wages in a business debacle that also took its toll on Minnesota investors and other companies. Lawsuits and red tape have yet to bring any relief to the oilfield workers…
Obama Overtime Plan Won’t Hurt Businesses, Executives Admit The Intercept …Business interest groups and their allies engaged in hyperbolic rhetoric about the supposed negative impact of overtime regulations before they were announced last week. But in investor calls over the past week, executives at some leading American retailers quietly admitted that the rule will only have a modest impact on their bottom lines, if any at all…
Union Members Don’t Oppose Environmental Protections. They’re Actually More Likely To Support Them. In These Times …Union workers attacking environmentalists—it has become a trope of our time. But what do union members actually think about the environment? In a study soon to be published in Labor Studies Journal, researchers find that union members are on average more likely than the general population to display pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors…
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Trump Protesters Picked The Wrong Police Department To Clash With Think Progress …It seems safe to say the majority of protesters were at least partially motivated by Trump’s disparaging remarks towards Mexican immigrants. What the protesters may not have realized is that they were clashing with one of the most notoriously violent police departments in the country. If Trump protestors have a culture of violence, the Albuquerque Police Department has a culture of sheer brutality…
Donald Trump Tried to Cheat Veterans out of $1 Million Mother Jones …Here’s what Donald Trump did recently: He pledged $1 million to help veterans. He tried to weasel out of it for months and hoped no one would notice. When he finally got caught, he ponied up grudgingly and insulted the reporter who caught him. Even among sleazebags, this is not normal behavior…
‘Shameful Attack on Transgender Youth’: 11 States Sue Feds over Bathrooms Common Dreams …Eleven states are suing the Obama administration over its recent directive requiring public schools to grant transgender students access to bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. The lawsuit charges that “Defendants have conspired to turn workplaces and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment…