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Today’s Teamster News For July 29, 2016
TEAMSTERS
Teamster Allegiant Air Pilots Approve Historic First Contract Teamsters…After more than three years of bargaining, Allegiant Air pilots – represented by Teamsters Local 1224 – ratified their first union contract with the airline on Thursday. With substantial improvements in compensation, benefits, and scheduling, the contract is a major victory for the pilots who have been working tirelessly to raise standards at the low-cost carrier…
Allegiant Pilots Ratify Teamsters Contract After More Than Two Years Of Bargaining Tampa Bay Times…Allegiant Air pilots have ratified their first union contract with the airline after more than three years of negotiations. More than 85 percent of the pilots voted to ratify the contract through anonymous ballots in the past two weeks. They are represented by the Airline Professionals Association Teamsters Local 1224 based in Wilmington, Ohio…
Teamsters Organizing At Sysco And Other Labor News Out Of Michigan The Union Edge…Terry “The Teamster” Hoogerhyde of Teamsters Local 406 joins us to talk about the importance of getting out to vote, an update on organizing at Sysco, and other news coming out of Michigan…
Uber Hired CIA-linked Research Firm To Investigate Seattle Union Politics The Verge…”I’m not surprised they’re investigating us but I don’t know what new information there is to be gained,” said Dawn Gearheart, a Teamsters official who’s been providing organizational support for the new union. “We don’t have anything to hide”…
120 Workers Remain On Strike Over Excessive Hours At Delaware Plant WSYX…A strike by about 120 workers at a Delaware cardboard box plant is about to drag into its third month. The employees, members of the Teamsters, are picketing International Paper’s plant in Delaware, claiming the company wants to work them up to 80 hours a week. The Teamsters say the company wants the ability to have employees work up to seven days a week, 12 hours a day…
NCTD Averts Teamsters’ Strike, Bus Service Interruptions Carlsbad Patch…Cincinnati-based First Transit alerted customers Wednesday of a potential service disruption for its LIFT paratransit, FLEX and BREEZE operations at NCTD due to union negotiations between NCTD’s service operator, First Transit, and the LIFT and FLEX drivers and reservationists. But on Thursday, First Transit announced that because it reached a tentative agreement with the Teamsters Local 542 of San Diego, there will be no service interruptions after all…
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Harry Reid Opposes Ramming TPP Through In Lame-Duck Session Huffington Post…Ratifying the TPP in a lame-duck session ― which is the period after the election but before the new Congress is sworn in ― would be a major thumb in the eye of the public, but it wouldn’t be an unusual move: Lame-duck sessions are often used to implement corporate-friendly policies that the public broadly opposes…
Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown: Trump ‘Never Seen’ For Decades In Trade Fight Politico…Brown was banging the drum on the issue before it was in vogue. In his speech, he noted that his suit was made 10 miles from his Cleveland home, while Trump’s products are made in Mexico. “I’ve been fighting for a trade agenda for more than 20 years that puts American workers first,” Brown said. “And I can tell you, in all those years, I’ve never even seen Donald Trump”…
EU-US Trade Threat Over Dublin-Based Norwegian Air The Irish Independent…The failure by US authorities to issue a permit to Dublin-based Norwegian Air International to enable it to operate flights to America could damage the proposed EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the EU Transport Commissioner has warned her counterpart in Washington…
Free Trade Warrior Mike Pence Now ‘Questions The Wisdom’ Of TPP, NAFTA RTV 6 (Indianapolis, IN)…Gov. Mike Pence – a man who has spent his entire political career advocating for free trade deals like NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership – now says he “questions their wisdom.” As the president of the free-market think tank the Indiana Policy Review Foundation and as a conservative radio host, Pence pushed aggressively for free trade. As a Congressman – as the Washington Post and numerous other outlets have pointed out – Pence voted in favor of every free trade deal that came before him, including the Central America Free Trade Agreement, the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, and other free trade deals with Panama, Korea and Peru…
Actress Evangeline Lilly Narrates New Sierra Club Video To Stop TPP And Toxic Trade Deals Park Forest e-News…Today, the Sierra Club released its new “Stop Toxic Trade Deals” video on the dangers two massive proposed trade deals — the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) — pose to our air, our water, our communities, and our climate…
Russia-Iran Study Group To Propose Free Trade Agreement Plan By End Of Year Sputnik News…Russia and Iran expect a Joint Study Group working on the establishment of the Free Trade Area (FTA) to submit the action plan for FTA’s establishment by the end of 2016, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Friday. Earlier in the day, Novak met with the co-chair of the Russia-Iran joint economic commission and Iranian Communications Minister, Mahmoud Vaezi…
Euroscepticism, Past Austerity Allow Spain To Avoid EC Fine The Corner (EU)…The European Commission (EC) opted against imposing fines on Spain and Portugal for their non-compliance with 2015 deficit targets. Pierre Moscovici, the European commissioner for economic and financial affairs, openly admitted on Wednesday “We decided that a punitive effect would not be the most appropriate at a time when people are questioning Europe”…
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Democrats Celebrate Their Move Left On Minimum Wage Los Angeles Times…Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize winning economist and former chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, said the push for a $15 wage had helped galvanize a progressive movement around issues of income inequality. “This is transformative at the moment,” he said in an interview Thursday following a panel discussion about building a case for a new economic message for Democrats. The issue could be a spark toward attracting more low-wage workers into the party, he said…
Yes, We Should Raise The Minimum Wage Mother Jones (opinion)…I’m generally loath to play too many games with inflation measures, since you can very quickly get into a quagmire of cherry picking just the bits and pieces that help your argument. But in this case, it really does seem clear: in the case of the minimum wage, the lived experience of the poor over the long term is much closer to the CPI than to the PCE. A minimum wage of $10 would get us back to roughly where we were in the late 60s and early 70s. Is there really a good reason we shouldn’t do that?…
Baltimore City Council Panel Approves $15 Minimum Wage Bill The Baltimore Sun…A Baltimore City Council committee approve a controversial $15 hourly minimum wage proposal Thursday. For advocates, led by Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, the boosted minimum wage would help lift some full-time workers out of poverty. Clarke introduced the bill in April. A spokesman for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has said she would sign the bill if the City Council approves it…
San Leandro Increases Minimum Wage To $15 An Hour By 2020 The San Jose Mercury News…Everyone working in San Leandro must be paid at least $15 an hour by 2020, the City Council has decided. The council dropped an earlier plan to give small businesses an extra year to get on board. “When you put money in the hands of low-wage workers, they put that money right back into the hands of the consumers and the small businesses in the community,” Councilman Jim Prola said before the 6-1 vote at the council’s July 18 meeting…
Detroit Resident Excited To Take Fight For Minimum Wage Increase To 2016 DNC Michigan Live…Ivey is a home care worker in Detroit who makes Michigan’s minimum wage, currently $8.50 per hour. She’s been working in the home care industry since 2008, and also has a second job working as a driver for an auto store in the city. The 50-year-old mother and grandmother never expected to be on the national stage, preparing to speak before the 2016 Democratic National Convention. And she never expected to meet a presidential candidate, let alone one who cared so much about the issues she faces in her day-to-day life…
If Politicians Care About A Rigged System, It’s Time To Address Wage Theft Washington Post (opinion)…Wage theft is not a sexy crime. It rarely makes front-page news, even as it harms so many Americans living paycheck to paycheck. We don’t know how prevalent it is, only how often it is discovered — which is highly dependent on how much the government invests in enforcement. Last year, Labor Department investigators found $247 million in back wages owed to more than 240,000 workers. That’s more than $1,000 stolen from each worker, on average, or the equivalent of about three weeks’ pay for a typical maid, janitor or cashier…
Arizona Sued Over Ban On Cities Mandating Paid Sick Leave Arizona Republic…A new state law governing paid employee sick leave has prompted a lawsuit by more than 30 state legislators and members of several city councils across Arizona. Tempe, Tucson and several other municipalities were debating such ordinances when Gov. Doug Ducey warned in January that cities adopting employment ordinances would lose state shared revenue. The lawsuit, filed last month, argues the law contradicts cities’ rights to legislate protections for workers and families…
Paid Sick Leave Hits Record High In Private Industry HR Dive…The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released some welcome news about paid sick leave for U.S. employees working in the private sector. In the past 12 months, the share of private industry workers with access to at least one day of paid sick leave increased from 61% to 64%, the highest on record. To put it in perspective, there has been a total increase of just 7 percentage points over the last decade…
Low-Wage Workers Hold 1st Annual ‘Fight For 15’ Convention Ebony Magazine…Fast food and other low-wage workers from across the nation and their allies will converge in Richmond, VA for the first-ever Fight for 15 Convention next month. The gathering will mark the first time workers from dozens of industries will join together…
U.S. LABOR
North Bay Workers’ Rights Hearing On Health Professionals Sonoma County Gazette…The Health Professionals Unit at the County of Sonoma and ESC Local 20 have requested that the North Bay Workers’ Rights Board (WRB) conduct a hearing and investigate their complaints. The WRB is a public forum where workers can bring complaints against employers and institutions for violating their human and legal rights and expectations of fair treatment at the workplace…
NLRB Allows Trump Hotel Employees To Unionize The Hill…A three-member Democratic panel of the NLRB said it would recognize a union organized by more than 500 employees at Trump International Hotel Las Vegas. The Trump hotel workers voted to join the Culinary and Bartenders Union in December 2015, but the company appealed the election results. On Thursday, the NLRB said it would uphold the decision of the agency’s regional director…
Aircraft Cleaners Get NLRB Vote At Portland Airport Bloomberg BNA…Aircraft cabin cleaners at Oregon’s Portland International Airport may vote on union representation in a secret-ballot election, a National Labor Relations Board regional director held. The decision addressed a recurring dispute about whether ground operations provided to airlines by non-carriers fall within the jurisdiction of the NLRB or the National Mediation Board…
Union Chief Says American Pushing Pilots To Speed Up Flights Associated Press…The pilots’ union president said Thursday that American Airlines is reducing its safety margin by “manipulating” flight plans with tactics that include faster speeds. The union official suggested that American is trying to avoid canceling flights when crews push the limits of their legally allowed work shifts. American did not respond directly to the union leader’s claims. A spokesman said the airline takes safety and regulations seriously…
Momentive Makes Final Offer To Waterford IUE-CWA Union Times-Union (Albany, NY)…Executives at Momentive Performance Materials say the company is done negotiating a new contract for its unionized workers at its Waterford and Willoughby, Ohio, plants and has given the IUE-CWA its final offer. The company, which is headquartered in Waterford, where it employs 1,050 people, has been in talks with the IUE-CWA since June 6. The two sides have yet to reach an agreement, and Momentive provided what it says is its “last, best and final” offer to the union last Friday…
Why Dayton Autoworkers Are Joining The UAW The Huffington Post (opinion)…Veronica Laster’s hometown of Dayton sits in the center of America’s rust belt. For decades the residents of Dayton relied on safe, middle-class factory jobs to build and sustain their community. And for a long time, they thrived. Not anymore. Now, many auto jobs in the area pay so little that they have more in common with positions at Walmart or McDonald’s. That’s why auto workers at the Creative Foam plant in Dayton are voting to join the United Auto Workers next week, so they can win back the good jobs that families in their city deserve…
Teachers’ Unions Sense Momentum At DNC Philadelphia Public School Notebook…Late last year, Congress passed a new education bill to replace No Child Left Behind, the Bush-era law that paved the way for many reform measures. In March, a Supreme Court deadlock thwarted–at least for now–a challenge to the union dues structure that could have greatly diminished union clout. Now union leaders get to parade around Philadelphia in support of a new Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton…
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
How A Temp Agency Can Get Away With Discrimination Center for Investigative Reporting…The company refused to hire women, telling applicants the jobs were for men only. That’s what government regulators said when they sued Industrial Labor Management Group. The lawsuit demanded back pay and damages for the women. Then, the company disappeared…
Trump’s Decade-Long Record Of Hiring Foreign Guest Workers CNN Money…In total, records filed at the U.S. Department of Labor and reviewed by CNN reveal that in the last 15 years, Donald Trump’s various businesses have been granted approval to import at least 1,256 foreign guest workers. The guest workers were brought in on a variety of different U.S. visa programs that allow companies to import workers temporarily from overseas. Trump seems to like his overseas workers to be young and attractive, and with strong specific accents from Romania and South Africa — countries that convey a well-heeled, exotic appeal, according to numerous former workers interviewed on background…
The Rev. William Barber Dropped The Mic Washington Post…What he delivered — eight years after this brand of liberation theology took a beating from uninformed corners of the conservative commentariat — was evidence of a long tradition of liberal, religious patriotism. It was a call to action that, in Barber’s view, serves this cause — an articulation of a liberal and patriotic philosophy with what Barber said was the moral force to shock and resuscitate the heart of the nation…
A President’s Economic Decisions Matter … Eventually Five Thirty Eight…But that doesn’t mean presidents have no power over the economy at all, or that their policies are unimportant. Indeed, presidents, along with Congress, can exert profound influence over the economy, for good and ill. It’s just that their true impact is rarely what gets talked about in party conventions or on the campaign trail. True presidential impacts are often invisible — as much about what doesn’t happen as what does — and become clear only years or even decades after they leave office…
U.S. Navy Designates A Ship After Gay Rights Leader Harvey Milk Alternet…Milk joined the Navy in 1951, serving as a diving officer and later a diving instructor during the Korean War. He moved to the Bay Area in the late 1960s and led a campaign against police targeting of gay bars, clubs and bathhouses in San Francisco. Milk’s role as a politician grew in subsequent years, and in 1977, he defeated 16 other candidates to win a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, a first for California…