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Today’s Teamster News For May 5, 2016
TEAMSTERS
Verizon Workers – Activists Call For Massive Strike On May 5th ValueWalk …One of the biggest labor unions of the country, the Teamsters are calling for a giant protest tomorrow. “It’s more important now than ever to show Teamster solidarity in standing up to corporate greed. We have our own battles with corporate giants like US Foods where multiple Teamster Local Unions are on Unfair Labor Practice strikes, and at a Supervalu-owned distributor that services Kroger stores in Colorado”…
Teamsters Protect FDOC Rights On The Job Teamster.org …Teamsters Local 2011 has won a class-action grievance against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) regarding the use of their personal vehicles when required to travel from one worksite to another in the South Florida area. “We filed this grievance in order to correct what was clearly a business-related expense performed as a requirement of the FDOC,” said Les Cantrell, FDOC statewide coordinator for Local 2011…
Hundreds of pilots poised to leave Allegiant Air ABC …Teamsters Local 1224 President Daniel Wells said, “At an operation like Allegiant with all these many problems, the one last line of defense preventing a tragedy has been the incredible skill of the Allegiant pilots.” But hundreds of Allegiant pilots say they’ve had enough. And they’re fed up with the airline’s failure to negotiate a contract with the Teamsters…
Teamsters, St. Louis Residents Cite Republic Services’ Radioactive Landfill in Complaint to United Nations Teamster.org …Teamsters with the Solid Waste and Recycling Division, Saint Louis residents Dawn Chapman and Karen Nickel, founders of JustMoms STL and Center for Health Environment and Justice founder Lois Gibbs lodged a formal human rights complaint with the United Nations Rapporteur for Human Rights and the Environment…
Port Trucker Pacific 9 Seeks Bankruptcy Protection Wall Street Journal …A trucking company that works at California’s teeming ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has filed for bankruptcy protection, facing a demand to pay nearly $7 million to its truck drivers over a labor dispute with Teamster-backed drivers. Pacific 9 Transportation’s bankruptcy filing on Tuesday halts collection attempts from drivers who have fought for back pay…
Local 710 Teamsters at ReaderLink Continue Negotiations Local 710 …The Teamsters Local 710 bargaining committee for ReaderLink met Tuesday and Wednesday last week to continue negotiations. On Tuesday, the company presented their latest proposals and the union provided initial economic proposals for wages and health benefits. Negotiations opened Wednesday with the union providing a full red-line response to all outstanding proposals…
‘They Don’t Care About Us’: CVS Ignores Pharmacists’ Concerns Local 727 …After seven negotiation meetings with the Teamsters Local 727 Bargaining Committee, CVS management is still refusing to listen to pharmacists’ concerns about their diminishing working conditions. “They don’t value any of our concerns. They’re trying to get rid of the profession of pharmacy and make it just a job,” said CVS pharmacist steward Chuck Zuraitis, a Bargaining Committee member…
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Greek Unions Call 3-Day General Strike Over Austerity Vote ABC ..Unions in Greece have a three-day general strike to protest a parliamentary vote on a new round of bailout austerity measures. Starting Friday, state-run and municipal services, including garbage collection, will be disrupted for three days. Ferries services will be halted for four…
New Data Show U.S. Trade Deficit Doubled, More Jobs Lost Under Obama Trade Deal That Was Template for the TPP Huffington Post …Today’s alarming fourth-year trade data on President Obama’s U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) arrived just as the Obama administration has started its hard sell to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). And that is a real problem for the White House…
McConnell: Outlook ‘bleak’ for TPP this year Politico …Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has all but ruled out the possibility of Congress voting on the Trans-Pacific Partnership this year, but he said the deal could still be modified and put to a vote in 2017 or beyond. But McConnell also said he had substantive problems with the agreement, focusing in particular on tobacco and pharmaceutical issues that Republicans have raised…
Pro-Corporate TTIP on the Ropes as Top French Officials Lambaste ‘Bad Deal’ Common Dreams …The corporate-influenced TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), exposed earlier this week as “an enormous corporate power grab,” looks increasingly precarious. French President François Hollande reportedly said Tuesday that he would “never accept” the current agreement, citing its negative implications for “the essential principles of our agriculture, our culture, of mutual access to public markets”…
The TTIP and TPP trade deals: enough of the secrecy (opinion) The Guardian …After the contents of the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the US and the European Union was leaked and published by Greenpeace a few days ago, the negotiations – already in turmoil – have been thrown into further doubt now that the public has actually gotten to see what is being proposed by both sides…
Majority of Germans oppose TTIP, survey shows DW.com …A new poll published on Wednesday assessing German attitudes toward the government found that a clear majority of people view the trade deal as harmful and worry it could undermine consumer protection. According to the survey, 70 percent of the participants said they believe the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) has more disadvantages than it does advantages…
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
West Virginia repeal of state prevailing wage takes effect Register-Herald …West Virginia has eliminated its prevailing wage for new public construction projects. The repeal passed this winter by the Republican-led Legislature took effect Thursday. Lawmakers overrode a veto by Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, which required a simple majority of the Legislature. Republicans believe the wage is inflated and said repealing it will save taxpayer money. Democrats said the repeal won’t produce savings, but will reduce pay and benefit out-of-state contractors…
Missouri House Votes to Pass Voter ID Law CBS …The Missouri Legislature passed a bill Wednesday that would require voters to show photo identification at the polls, sending the proposal to Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon with enough support to overcome a possible veto. If the bill makes it past Nixon, it would only go into effect if voters approve a separate proposal to amend the state constitution…
ALEC’s 2016 Agenda Moving in the States: A Snapshot PR Watch …In states across the country, concerned citizens are asking state and local policymakers to raise the minimum wage, enact workplace reforms including earned sick days and the right to organize, stop the privatization of public schools, and help mitigate climate change. Opposition to these initiatives is fierce and growing and often nationally-driven and coordinated by the American Legislative Exchange Council…
NC Faces Costs of Codifying Hate as DOJ Issues Warning Over Anti-LGBTQ Law Common Dreams …The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said Wednesday that North Carolina’s anti-LGBTQ legislation violates federal civil rights, warning the state that it is in danger of losing federal funding if it does not repeal the law. The DOJ ordered McCrory to confirm by May 9 that the state would not implement the law and would notify its employees that they are allowed to access facilities consistent with their gender identities…
Trump Seems to Be Fine with Outsourcing to Right to Work States AFLCIO …Donald Trump trashed the North American Free Trade Agreement and outsourcing in his Hoosier primary victory speech. “Now if they want to go to a different state, good luck. Compete.” Trump didn’t elaborate. But it sounds like he is fine with companies busting unions in free bargaining states and heading for “right to work” states. Trump is clear that he prefers right to work states…
U.S. LABOR
Striking Verizon workers plan massive protests for day of shareholders meeting The Hill …Unions representing striking Verizon workers say they are planning hundreds of protests for Thursday, when the company holds its annual shareholders meeting. The Communications Workers of America said that “dozens” of striking workers would protest outside the meeting, in Albuquerque, N.M…
Verizon Workers to Hold 400 Protest Events Across the US, Plan to Crash Company’s Shareholder Meeting Alternet …Striking Verizon workers and their supporters are holding a day of protest on Thursday, May 5. There will be over 400 actions throughout the country as the work stoppage enters its third week. Workers will also descend on the company’s shareholder meeting in New Mexico. The union is a major shareholder, owing roughly $1.3 billion in company stock. They want shareholders to vote for executive pay to be capped…
SEIU janitors in LA agree to new contract, avoid strike Daily News …Unionized janitors across the state approved a new collective bargaining agreement on Monday night, averting a strike. Service Employees International Union United Service Workers West members in Los Angeles County, Orange County and the Bay Area approved the new deal that covers wages and includes protocols for workers to report sexual harassment and assault, the union announced…
Ethiopian immigrants turn job niche into labor activism Washington Post …More than 1,500 people sell snacks and magazines, wait on tables and clean floors at dozens of terminal outlets such as Starbucks and Hudson News, which are under contract at both airports with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. Between 60 and 75 percent of those workers are from Ethiopia, according to Unite Here union officials…
NYC private sanitation companies rife with dangerous conditions Daily News …Private sanitation companies in the city are rife with dangerous and illegal conditions that injure and sometimes kill their workers, advocates charged in a new report. The New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health found the for-profit companies, which cart away commercial trash, routinely break rules and force employees to work with faulty equipment and no training…
Uber settlement getting a thumbs down from some drivers Mercury News …With more than half of California’s Uber drivers likely to receive less than $100 and the company refusing to include a tipping option in its ride-hailing app, some already are saying the high-profile settlement is a disappointment. The $84 million settlement — which could grow to $100 million with a successful Uber IPO — doesn’t provide the employee benefits drivers wanted and most won’t receive a big payout…
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Hedge Funds Serve Very Little Useful Purpose Except to Make a Few People Very Rich Alternet …Do hedge funds represent an asset to the larger economy, or a menace? Do they really help make markets more efficient and transparent, or do they just exploit opportunities at the expense of other investors? There are roughly 11,000 such funds—investment vehicles that control a mix of client dollars and borrowed money, with a corporate structure that exempts them from most investment-company regulations…
Here’s How Much Trump’s Mass Deportation Policy Would Cost Everyone Think Progress …On his first day as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump went on NBC and reiterated his plan to deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants living in this country. The American Action Forum finds that rounding up and deporting all undocumented immigrants could shrink the economy by 2 percent in one year, according to research it will release Thursday…