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Today’s Teamster News For July 5, 2016
TEAMSTERS
Teamsters International Convention Passes Resolutions in Support of Workers Teamster.org …The 29th International Brotherhood of Teamsters Convention continued on its fourth day with the spirit of international cooperation to protect workers’ rights in the U.S. and Canada. “The importance of solidarity has never been greater. We are not against trade, but we want fair trade that takes into consideration the interests of workers and not just corporations,” said Teamsters Canada President François Laporte, in reference to the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal…
Teamsters Tell Rady: Don’t Put Patient Care at Risk Teamster.org …Over 400 medical technicians at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, California, are continuing to carry out medical support functions, despite the expiration of their contract at midnight on Thursday, June 30. The technicians, along with 1,200 nurses, voted to affiliate with the Teamsters in April. “We are committed to serving the children who are patients at Rady, as well as their families,” said Katie Langenstrass, Executive Director of UNOCH Teamsters Local 1699…
Teamsters Resolve to Fight Soda Tax in Philadelphia, Nationwide Teamster.org …Teamsters from Philadelphia and nationwide resolved at the union’s 29th International Convention to join together in opposition to soda taxes that hurt good jobs in the beverage industry. Daniel Grace, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 830 in Philadelphia, put forth the motion at the convention…
Teamsters pledge $1.4 million to heroin awareness nonprofit Associated Press …Teamsters from around the country have pledged at least $1.4 million to a new Akron nonprofit set up to raise awareness about heroin addiction. The Akron Beacon Journal reports the pledges came at the union’s international convention in Las Vegas following a talk by Travis Bornstein, who heads Teamsters Local 24 in Akron…
Teamsters Vow More Organizing at Sysco, US Foods Bloomberg ….Delegates to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters convention June 28 approved a pair of resolutions calling for continued organizing of port truck drivers and the warehousing industry, including at Sysco Corp. and US Foods, two of the nation’s largest food wholesalers. The IBT already represents workers at both companies, which sought to merge in 2013 but called off the transaction two years later…
Corrections officers vote to join Teamsters Local 633 NH Union Leader …Corrections officers at the Cheshire County House of Corrections have voted to join Teamsters Local 633, Teamsters officials said Monday. “These men and women chose a difficult vocation and deserve the respect and support of the county, which we will ensure through collective bargaining,” said David Laughton, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Join county 10 and Local 633…
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Zimbabwean Government Workers Strike as Pay Checks Delayed Bloomberg …A group representing Zimbabwean government workers called for an immediate strike over the state’s failure to pay salaries on time, a day after protesters clashed with the police in Harare, the capital. “Our valued membership will not be able to report to duty,” the Civil Service Apex Council said in a statement sent to its members Tuesday and handed to Bloomberg…
Kenya: 11 Tea Factories Closed Amid Workers’ Strike All Africa …At least 11 tea factories in Nandi County have been shut as the week-long strike over the implementation of salary increments continues to bite. Farmers have said they are losing approximately Sh300 million weekly. Some of the factories whose operations have stalled include those managed by Eastern Produce Company, namely Kapsumbeiywo, Kipkoimet, Kipchamo, Savani, Kibware, Chemomi, Sitoi and Kibabet…
Canada: Mississauga workers’ strike shuts down 18 public libraries The Star …Striking Mississauga library workers say the city has one standard for dealing with labour costs in the unionized sector and another for management. “How do they justify giving (library) director Rose Vespa a 7.3 per cent salary increase the same year we got .5 per cent,” asked librarian and CUPE Local 1989 president Laura Kaminker, after a strike Monday shut down all 18 public libraries in Mississauga…
European Civil Society to Meet on TTIP as Negotiations Continue TeleSUR …Civil society groups from across the European Union will participate in a meeting on Thursday to address “specific key issues of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations.” The public hearing will provide organizations and watchdog groups the opportunity to formulate public positions regarding several measures included in the secret trade deal…
TTIP will survive Brexit, EU commissioner says Market Watch …A proposed trade agreement between the U.S. and the European Union will survive Great Britain’s decision to leave the single market, the European Union’s commissioner in charge of trade said Wednesday. Speaking at an event in Washington, EU Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom reiterated that both sides would strive to wrap up talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership…
The Democratic Party’s Draft Platform Doesn’t Oppose the TPP—That’s Bad Policy and Bad Politics (opinion) The Nation …In a Friday night showdown at the Democratic Party platform-drafting committee, the Clinton majority outvoted the Sanders delegates 10-5, rejecting any language specifically opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Instead, the majority substituted generic language that trade deals should protect workers’ rights and the environment…
Donald Trump’s anti-trade rhetoric is textbook hypocrisy (opinion) The Guardian …“Outsourcing Creates Jobs in the Long Run”. That was the title of a blog written by Donald Trump for his students at the now defunct Trump University. You see, long before Trump made speeches this week in Pennsylvania and Ohio decrying the consequences of unfair trade deals, he was the head cheerleader and a major beneficiary of the policies that have battered America’s manufacturing base for decades…
Tens of Thousands March for European Unity in Anti-Brexit Demonstration Common Dreams …Tens of thousands rallied in the streets of London on Saturday, protesting last week’s Brexit referendum results and seeking a unified way forward in a colorful March for Europe. “Today we joined thousands of people backing ‘March for Europe’ and we called for the country to come together in a positive democratic discussion over the new partnership with Europe,” organizers said in a statement…
Ireland: Austerity policies leaving poorest communities vulnerable Examiner …Successive government policies have damaged the country’s poorest communities and undermined local structures to combat the drugs crisis, according to new research.The report said power has been removed from affected areas and centralised at government level, where the system is “utterly disconnected” from the needs of people and communities…
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Labor unions file lawsuits challenging ‘right-to-work’ Gazette-Mail …Eleven state labor unions filed petitions in Kanawha Circuit Court Monday challenging the state’s new “right-to-work” law as an illegal taking of union property and resources. “First and foremost, it’s unconstitutional because it’s an illegal taking of property without due process,” said Josh Sword, secretary treasurer of the West Virginia AFL-CIO, one of the 11 plaintiffs…
‘Right to work’: measure backers withdraw bid to limit union dues Oregon Live …Oregonians won’t vote this fall after all on whether to let public employees opt out of paying union dues, after the sponsor of a proposed “right to work” measure dropped her effort this week. Jill Gibson, a Portland attorney who was the initiative’s chief petitioner, said Friday that a lengthy dispute over the ballot title language left supporters without time…
Becker introduces public right-to-work bill Cincinnati.com …Rep. John Becker knows many fellow Republicans, including Gov. John Kasich, have little interest in an Ohio right-to-work law, but that didn’t stop him from offering one anyway. Becker, R-Union Township in Clermont County, called his proposal a “win-win” for both sides: it would allow public sector workers to opt out of union representation and dues. But those who opt out would not be eligible for union protections…
Chris Christie Refuses To End Racist, Sexist Welfare Rule Think Progress …Last month, state lawmakers sent Gov. Chris Christie (R) a bill that would repeal the welfare family cap, one of many policies around the country that were explicitly implemented in the 1990s as an attempt to curb the families of low-income women, particularly women of color. But Christie refused to sign it, saying in his veto message that getting rid of the cap would be unfair to families who don’t need cash assistance….
The Fight for $15 Won in New Jersey—But Chris Christie May Veto It The Nation …While workers were still celebrating the historic signing of laws in New Jersey and New York to raise the state wage floor to $15 per hour, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey beat down the ceiling, poised for the dubious distinction of making his state the first to veto a $15 minimum wage. Christie has assailed the proposal, while promising more tax breaks for corporations…
Walker Thought His Business Tax Break Would Stimulate The Economy. The Early Returns Aren’t Good. Think Progress …In 2011 — the same year Scott Walker became governor — Wisconsin enacted a Manufacturing and Agriculture Credit (MAC) meant to stimulate the state economy by providing tax relief for those who use property for productive purposes. A new study indicates it’s providing lots of tax relief for the rich but not much economic stimulus for anybody else…
Michigan families say no justice for workers killed on the job Detroit Free Press …For the families of hundreds of workers killed on the job in Michigan, there is often no justice. No criminal charges. No civil lawsuits. No costly penalties from Michigan’s workplace safety agency. And strict limits on workers compensation. A yearlong Free Press investigation into more than 400 workplace deaths across the state found a flawed system of oversight with penalties against employers so low they’re not a deterrent…
U.S. LABOR
Trump Taj Mahal Casino workers strike continues over holiday weekend CNN …About 1,000 employees — who cook, serve guests and clean hotel rooms — stopped working Friday after negotiations broke down between casino owners and UNITE Here Local 54, the city’s largest workers union. Bob McDevitt, Local 54’s president, said about 98% of those workers are standing by the strike and intend to hold out “as long as it takes”…
Trump’s Vegas Hotel Spent Half A Million Dollars To Stop Maids From Unionizing Huffington Post …The Culinary Workers Union recently organized housekeepers and other service workers at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. The union won the election in December — but not without a fight from hotel owners Trump Ruffin Commercial LLC. That’s a joint venture between the likely GOP nominee and casino magnate Phil Ruffin, himself a major financial backer of Trump’s presidential run…
UAW rallies to support locked-out Honeywell workers South Bend Tribune …Frustrated union workers as well as their families, friends and supporters filled the sidewalks Thursday evening outside the main gate of Honeywell’s aerospace plant on the city’s west side. Honeywell locked more than 300 members of United Auto Workers Local 9 out of the factory on May 9, a few days after union members voted against the company’s new contract offer…
Nurses Get New Offer Following a Seven-Day Strike at Minneapolis-based Allina Health Daily Nurse …After five Allina Health hospitals and their nurses failed to reach an agreement over a new three-year contract, 4,800 nurses from the Minnesota Nurses Association issued a seven-day strike on June 19 against their hospitals. Allina has a plan to eliminate union-backed health insurance, but a new offer ending the strike gives nurses until 2020 to make the insurance move…
SVMH workers to hold second strike if mediation fails Monterey County Weekly …After more than a year of negotiations and acrimony, as well as a one-day strike followed by a two-day lockout, neither the administration at the Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital nor the workers are poised to make concessions needed for an agreement. The two sides will meet with a state-appointed mediator on July 19 and 26. If mediation falls through the rank-and-file of the National Union of Healthcare Workers have voted for a three-day strike…
On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights American Prospect …Despite the atomization of this workforce, there are stirrings from below among the app-based, crowdsourced, microtasking masses. As has so often happened across history when workers feel underpaid and unheeded, the toilers of the on-demand economy are stepping up and taking steps—some tentative, some innovative, and a few ingenious—to be heard and heeded…
Income Inequality Is At The Highest Level In American History Think Progress …Last year was a good one for everyone’s income. But it was a much better year for the richest of the rich. According to a new analysis by economist Emmanuel Saez, Americans in the bottom 99 percent of the country’s income distribution saw their take home pay rise 3.9 percent in 2015 over 2014’s levels, adjusted for inflation, the best increase they’ve seen in 17 years. But the top 1 percent of the country far outpaced them…
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Congress unlikely to deliver on immigration for new president USA Today …Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have both vowed to take quick action on immigration as president, but Congress is poised to disappoint whomever wins the White House. “The candidates are raising expectations that something will finally happen on immigration,” said Eric Herzik, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. “Then after one of them is elected, they’ll turn to Congress and reality will hit”…
“No Touching”: Peering Through the Iron Bars of the US-Mexico Border, Families Struggle to Connect Truthout …The rules imposed by the US Border Patrol in Border Field State Park say that where there’s no screen, the family members on that side have to stay back several feet from the wall. So — no touching. Some volunteers, most from the US side, called “Friends of Friendship Park,” have tried to make the Mexican side more pleasant and accommodating for families…
As World Burns, Richest Nations Can’t Decide When to End Fossil Fuel Handouts Common Dreams …The world’s richest nations have failed to agree on a deadline to phase out fossil fuels subsidies—a commitment energy ministers made in 2009—stirring new fears over the impact of the hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars that go toward keeping dirty energy afloat every year. Energy ministers from the Group of 20 (G20) met in Beijing on Wednesday and Thursday…
The Black Lives Matter Movement’s Political Moment The Atlantic …With the 2016 Democratic and Republican conventions approaching, America’s mood is perhaps not quite as tense as it was after the anti-black violence of the 1964 Freedom Summer or the fear and destruction of the 1968 King riots. But it is still characterized in part by anger from black activists. Donald Trump’s campaign has fomented protests from black organizers across the country, and his racist posturing has led to renewed calls for protests against the Republican National Convention in Cleveland…