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Today’s Teamster News For July 8, 2016
TEAMSTERS
AFL-CIO, Teamsters mourn shooting death of Philando Castile Workday Minnesota …The Minnesota AFL-CIO (link is external) and Teamsters Local 320 (link is external) have issued statements mourning the shooting death of Philando Castile, who was killed Wednesday night after his car was stopped by police in Falcon Heights. Castile was a member of Local 320 since 2002 and worked as a nutrition services supervisor at J.J. Hill Montessori Magnet School in St. Paul. “The 11,000 members of Teamsters Local 320 are saddened and grieving the loss of Teamster brother Philando Castile,” Local 320 said in a statement…
Hoffa: Time to recall Attorney General Bill Schuette The Detroit News …A tragedy of epic proportions has taken place in Flint over the past two years. The health of tens of thousands of city residents, especially children and seniors, continues to be threatened by lead leaking into the water. And even though some remedies are being implemented, no one has stepped up to accept responsibility. The Teamsters, other unions and outside groups have stepped in to assist city residents…
Florida prisons a ‘ticking time bomb’ says Teamsters WCTV …A ticking time bomb. That’s how the union representing correctional officers describes Florida’s prisons right now. A riot, an uprising and attacks against officers are fueling fear. In a letter to the Governor and legislative leaders, the Teamersters says there are 1,100 fewer officers than there were a decade ago, but they are overseeing 12,000 more inmates…
Maintain State Sovereignty in Trucking Industry (opinion) Trucks.com …When Congress passed a multi-year highway bill at the end of 2015, it was an accomplishment that many had long been looking to in the transportation world. The Teamsters applauded Congress for passing that important legislation. Officially known as the FAST Act, the highway bill was notable for what it accomplished for our transportation sector and also for what it wisely chose not to touch…
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Nigeria: Another Fuel Crisis Looms As Oil Workers Begin Strike All Africa …Nigerians are uneasily bracing up for another round the gruelling fuel crisis as oil workers under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria ( PENGASSAN) yesterday commenced an industrial action to press home their various demands from the federal government. The union has announced the gradual withdrawal of its members on the offshore, loading bays and flow stations…
Zimbabwe Strike Highlights Wage Theft; Livelihoods at Risk Solidarity Center …Protesting the Zimbabwe government’s failure to pay civil servant salaries and outraged over a new law targeting market vendors who make up the vast proportion of the workforce, working people across Zimbabwe waged a successful one-day shut-down of businesses, government and services July 6. The “stay-away” day, one of the largest popular protests in years, follows days of unrest over the economic failure of the government, which working people say is unfairly targeting their pocketbooks…
U.S. trade chief says China offer falls short, UK could join TPP Reuters …U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said on Wednesday that China’s latest offer in bilateral investment talks is “a fair distance away from being acceptable,” but warrants continued engagement with Beijing. Froman, in a Bloomberg Television interview, also said that it may be possible for Britain, once it separates from the European Union, to join the 12-country U.S.- and Japan-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal…
“It’s About Letting Giant Corporations Rig the Rules”: Warren Skewers TPP Common Dreams …Ahead of this weekend’s Democratic platform fight, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has once again taken aim at the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), skewering the corporate-friendly trade deal she says will allow for “open season on laws that make people safer.” Warren makes the remarks about the 12-nation trade deal, which still needs Congressional approval, to progressive activists in a video released Thursday by social change network CREDO Action…
Brexit ‘shockwaves’ could derail TTIP trade deal, campaigners say Independent …Brexit should finally kill off the controversial TTIP trade deal being negotiated between the European Union and United States, campaigners have said. The 14th round of negotiations between American and EU officials is due to begin in Brussels on Monday. Critics of TTIP have claimed it could allow US companies to avoid having to meet various EU health, safety and environment regulations…
Sri Lanka: thousands protest against anti-union discrimination at FTZs IndustriAll …More than 3,000 members of independent trade unions in Sri Lanka demonstrated against severe anti-union discrimination in Free Trade Zones (FTZs) in the country. The independent trade union alliance, consisting of six trade unions, organized the protest on 22 June in front of the main gate of the Katunayake FTZ, the biggest FTZ in Sri Lanka…
Justice at last for Tazreen fire victims IndustriAll …Compensation payments to the victims of the Tazreen Fashions fire in Bangladesh have finally been completed. More than a hundred people were killed and around 200 injured in the garment factory disaster in Ashulia on 24 November 2012. The Tazreen Claims Administration Trust says a total of US$2.17 million has now been paid to the families of 112 dead and missing workers, and to 174 people injured in the fire…
Ukraine Unions Protest Austerity, Utility Cost Increases Solidarity Center …Tens of thousands of trade union members marched through central Kyiv July 6, protesting austerity measures they believe are undermining standards of living of Ukraine’s working families. In particular, the government plans to continue to implement International Monetary Fund demands that utility subsidies to be cut, drastically raising home heating and utility bills…
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
LePage uses radio address to oppose minimum wage ballot question Press Herald …Maine’s Republican Gov. Paul LePage is taking aim at labor unions and the wording of a statewide ballot question seeking to raise the minimum wage. Voters will decide the issue in November. LePage, in his weekly radio address released Wednesday, said efforts to raise the minimum wage to $12 hour were misguided and would result in job losses and fewer opportunities for young workers to gain experience…
Eastern Kentucky public hearing on Bevin Medicaid plan results in harshest criticism to date KY Forward …In the county and region where the expansion of Medicaid has had the most impact, residents and health-care providers gave the harshest criticism yet of Gov. Matt Bevin’s plan to change it. “Poor people don’t need more red tape and hoops to jump through,” Elizabeth Hensley of Clay County told state officials near the end of the Wednesday hearing that drew about 150 people to Hazard Community and Technical College…
Deadline Approaches for Texas Voter ID Law, But It Likely Won’t End the Legal Battle KUT.org …The deadline for a federal appeals court to rule on the state’s controversial voter ID law is fast approaching. The U.S. Supreme Court gave the court until July 20 to make a decision about whether the law violates federal civil rights law. But, no matter what happens, this likely isn’t the end of this legal battle. Texas has strict guidelines for what kind of ID voters can use at the polls. Laws like this are relatively new, and they’re growing in popularity – especially in Republican-led states…
The “Right-to-Work” Con (opinion) Huffington Post …In the U.S., roughly half the states have right-to-work laws and half do not. The evidence shows that right-to-work laws reduce the earnings of workers by a bit more than 3%, and that workers in right-to-work states are also less likely to benefit from employer-sponsored health care and pension coverage. That might be OK if such laws were indeed “the price of liberty.” But these laws are not about liberty. Their real purpose is to tilt the balance of power in favor of employers at the expense of their workers…
Lawsuit: California Workers’ Compensation System Biased Against Women CBS …California’s workers’ compensation system discriminates against women by judging benefits on the basis of stereotypes and ignoring harm done to women — such as refusing permanent benefits when a woman loses a breast to cancer, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday. The suit, filed on behalf of several women and a labor union, argues that women’s equal opportunity rights are violated…
U.S. LABOR
Carrier workers union takes aim at Pence, Trump The Indy Channel …The union that represents Carrier’s workers in Indianapolis took aim this week at Gov. Mike Pence and Donald Trump. The union says the governor’s office has agreed to meet with them, but there’s still nothing on the calendar. “If you want to take credit for all those jobs coming to Indiana, and we’re losing jobs due to corporate greed – I’ve got issues with that,” said Chuck Jones, of the United Steelworkers Union Local 1999…
California state maintenance workers reject deal, authorize strike SacBee …Rank-and-file members of the California state maintenance workers’ union have voted overwhelmingly to reject a tentative agreement with Gov. Jerry Brown and authorize a strike, union officials said Thursday. The deal would have increased workers’ pay 10 percent through 2019, but would have required them to pay nearly half of the increase back toward retiree health benefits…
Unions Say 5 Pointz Developers Reneged On Labor Promise; Giant Rat Placed On Construction Site Lic Post …The developers of the two residential towers that are going up on the former 5 Pointz site are being criticized by union leaders for allegedly going back on their word that union contractors would be hired to build the entire 1,000-apartment unit project. Developers Jerry and David Wolkoff agreed to use 100 percent union labor as one of the conditions of receiving a special zoning permit in order to build the 41-story and 47-story tower…
Santa Clara Co. Child Care Cast Workers Begin 2-Day Strike ABC …Families looking for help paying for child care in Santa Clara County will have to wait a few days. Case workers are walking the picket line to begin a two-day strike. Protesters say they’re passionate about helping families find child care in Santa Clara County but their organization isn’t doing its part. The protest by striking workers and the SEIU outside the Community Child Care Council of Santa Clara County was loud and, a few times, confrontational…
When Corporations Lock Out Their Own Workers The Nation …The lockout is, essentially, a work stoppage initiated by the employer: the boss applies pressure to workers in a labor dispute by suspending operations. The power dynamics of blocking workers from their jobs, however, play out differently than a worker-led uprising. The Century Foundation (TCF) analyzed trends in labor lockouts and concluded that firms inherently wield dramatically more leverage over workers…
June Jobs Report Shows Increased Employment, Stagnating Wages Think Progress …The economy added 287,000 jobs in April while the unemployment rate rose to 4.9 percent, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Analysts had expected 175,000 jobs to be added. The gains in June largely offset a very disappointing jobs report in May, when the economy added just 38,000 jobs. May’s report was revised even further down, however, to just 11,000 jobs, while April was revised up by 21,000 extra jobs…
T.I.’s Restaurant Employees Are Suing Him for Unpaid Wages Atlanta Eater …Atlanta-based, Grammy-winning rapper T.I., who ventured into the world of restaurant ownership last year, is catching heat for his latest venture. Former employees of his downtown eatery Scales 925 are suing the recording artist, formally known as Clifford Harris Jr., for unpaid wages. Twelve plaintiffs are citing the Fair Labor Standards Act and claim they were deprived of owed wages in a number of ways…
Commentary: airport workers won’t rule out strike during DNC Philly.com …Some unions have vowed not to strike during the Democratic National Convention. I respect their choice and support them. They have collective bargaining agreements that allow them to make a living wage and enjoy fair schedules, health care, and retirement benefits. Their decision not to strike is reasonable, but my coworkers and I cannot afford to take a strike off the table…
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Death by Police The Atlantic …It wasn’t until recently that it became easy to find a number to go with the gruesome reality that black people—and black men in particular—live with every day: the ever-present threat of police violence. Police officers fatally shot nearly 1,000 people last year, according to The Washington Post’s ongoing count. Halfway through 2016, police have shot and killed 506 more…
Twelve Officers Shot, Five Killed, At Black Lives Matter Protest in Dallas Think Progress …Shots rang out at a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Dallas on Thursday night. Twelve police officers were shot, five fatally, by snipers who were reportedly shooting from elevated positions. One civilian was also injured. Three people are in custody and a fourth is dead, according to Dallas Police Chief David Brown. The fourth suspect was killed by a police robot detonating a bomb…
Why Alton Sterling and Philando Castile Are Dead (opinion) The Nation … Law-enforcement agencies are among the largest and most powerful bureaucracies in most localities, and they are deeply enmeshed in our daily lives, particularly in communities of color. A nd they are armed. At some point, we must question whether all of this law enforcement is necessary, and whether public safety is best served by having much, much less of it…
New Poll Reveals That Americans’ Anti-Immigrant Attitudes Are Fueled By Racism Think Progress …Anti-immigrant sentiment is driven mainly by concerns about immigrants making Americans less safe — and rests on racial assumptions about immigrants from the Middle East being most dangerous — according to new polling results. The poll, which looks at Americans’ views on immigrants from various countries, found that white Americans tend to have negative opinions about immigrants from non-European countries…
A Leg Up: How A Privileged Minority Is Graduating Without Debt Demos …Borrowing is essentially a requirement for black and low-income students. And high costs and the universality of borrowing has led to a system in which many students are taking on debt without graduating, which massively increases the risk of struggling to repay or defaulting on a loan. Both average borrowing and the risk associated with dropping out with debt are inequitably distributed by race and class…
‘Largest-ever’ Silicon Valley eviction to displace hundreds of tenants The Guardian …Roughly 670 tenants are being displaced from their homes in what local housing advocates believe to be Silicon Valley’s largest-ever mass eviction of rent-controlled tenants. The 216-unit complex called the Reserve Apartments that is being demolished to make way for a development of market-rate housing – located five miles away from Apple’s headquarters…