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Today’s Teamster News For September 19, 2016
TEAMSTERS
Teamsters and Consumers Warn About David’s Bridal’s Record of Broken Vows Teamster.org … Brides, their families and friends attending Washington, D.C.’s Great Bridal Expo were greeted Sunday by consumer activists and Teamster representatives informing them about David’s Bridal’s troubling record. At the expo, sponsored by David’s Bridal, the protesters highlighted concerns that the wedding giant’s worsening finances might impair its ability to deliver dresses and services to customers as promised…
Teamsters Statement On Sierra Shields Teamster.org …fficials with the New York City Police Department announced this weekend that remains discovered on the shore of Rikers Island were confirmed to be those of missing Delta flight attendant and Teamster member Sierra Shields. Shields had been missing since January 14, 2016 and her disappearance prompted a nationwide search. The Teamsters joined the voices seeking information on her whereabouts…
UCLA skilled workers take to the Hill to protest unfair wages Daily Bruin …About 150 union members chanted “We want a raise” and “Who does the work? We do the work” as they handed out yellow flyers to students and parents moving into the residential halls Friday morning. Teamsters Local 2010, the union representing the UCLA Skilled Trades bargaining unit, or K4, organized the rally. K4 includes electricians, carpenters and plumbers, among other skilled workers…
Union Still Fighting Against CVS Management’s Denial of Baby Bonding Time Local 727 …Teamsters Local 727 is still fighting against CVS management’s wrongful denial of baby bonding time. Earlier this year, three CVS members were promised time off for baby bonding by CVS management as part of the company’s policy. Management then rescinded its promises, saying the pharmacists were not eligible because they are union members…
State, union leaders gather in Walla Walla for Teamsters’ conference Union-Bulletin …Washington state leaders and union delegates from around the Pacific Northwest met Friday through Sunday in Walla Walla for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ Council 28 annual conference. More than 250 delegates and guests from Washington, Alaska and Idaho gathered at the Marcus Whitman Hotel & Conference Center for meetings…
Trucking Companies File for Employee Misclassification Amnesty Protection Trucks.com …Michael Manley, counsel for the Teamsters Port Division, said this is the first time that the unfair labor practice theory involving worker misclassification – which he now calls the Pac 9 theory – has been tested by the NLRB. “This theory could have a large impact on the port industry in California and nationwide,” Manley told Trucks.com…
Former Teamster president’s son says dad would like tiny house plan Journal Times …Lotharius’s father, Leo, was president of the Teamsters local from 1954-79. “Being a truck driver, he had to join the Teamsters,” Lotharius said, adding his father became a union representative before being elected president of the chapter. “He built the membership up from probably a thousand, maybe a little less, of members at the time, to about 6,000 members”…
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Brazil oil workers reject Petrobras wage offer; strike is possible Reuters …Brazil’s largest oil workers union strongly rejected on Friday a proposal from Petrobras for a deal over salaries and benefits in their annual talks, increasing the risk of a new strike at the state-led oil company. Leaders of the Federação Única dos Petroleiros (FUP) union said the terms broke agreements made in November to end a 20-day strike that was the company’s longest in 20 years…
GM workers in Canada will strike if Monday deadline missed, says union leader Market Watch …The leader of the union representing auto workers in Canada said thousands of factory employees will strike at two General Motors Co. plants if the sides miss a Monday night deadline for a new contract, threatening to disrupt the supply of engines that go into the company’s sport-utility vehicles…
UNRWA workers on strike in four countries over low wages Al Bawaba …The union of employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was staging a temporary strike in four countries on Monday to protest low salaries and staff shortages. Union speaker in Gaza Suheil al-Hindi told Ma’an on Sunday that the UNRWA main office and service facilities in the besieged Gaza Strip would be closed…
Protests in Germany against transatlantic TTIP and CETA trade deals BBC …Tens of thousands of people have protested in cities across Germany against a proposed transatlantic trade deal between the EU and the US. Protesters say the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will lower European standards on food and environmental protection, and could lead to outsourcing and job-losses. Supporters of the deal say it promises to lower tariffs and promote growth…
Malcolm Turnbull urges US to ratify Trans Pacific Partnership in face of populist protectionism Sydney Morning Herald …Malcolm Turnbull has turned up the heat on increasingly protectionist US legislators, pleading with them to ratify the Obama-led Trans-Pacific Partnership trade liberalisation agreement and to do it before the looming presidential change-over. Both the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees are opposed to ratification of the TPP because they say it is a bad deal for American workers…
Vietnam Delays TPP Ratification In Crucial Blow To Obama’s Ambitions Forbes …Vietnam’s government has opted to delay the ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), in an unexpected blow to U.S. President Barack Obama’s final uphill push for the trade deal’s approval. A government official told Reuters on Friday that Hanoi would not include ratifying the TPP on the agenda for its next parliament session…
With TPP on Ropes, It’s Corporate Power vs. People Power on Capitol Hill Common Dreams …As President Barack Obama gathered high-profile supporters of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) for a meeting at the White House on Friday, the corporate-friendly trade agreement was dealt a blow as Vietnam’s parliament deferred its long-expected ratification. Reuters reported from Hanoi Friday that Vietnam will not include ratification of TPP on its agenda for its next parliament session, which begins October 20…
Do we really want more lawsuits from foreign investors? (opinion) Washington Post …The provision in the Trans-Pacific Partnership that allows foreign corporations to force host governments into binding arbitration — known as investor-state dispute settlement, or ISDS — is one of the most controversial elements of trade agreements today. To date, Canadian companies have brought suit against the United States under NAFTA provisions 12 times…
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Right-to-work amendment will be on ballot in Virginia this November Times-Dispatch …In addition to races for president and Congress, Virginians will vote in November on a proposed amendment that would put the provisions of Virginia’s right-to-work law into the state constitution. The right-to-work law says that participation in a union may not be a condition for employment in Virginia…
“Rape On The Night Shift” Bill Wins Brown’s Signature Capital Public Radio …California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill intended to give new protections to female janitors against sexual predators at their workplaces. The measure was inspired by last year’s PBS Frontline documentary “Rape on the Night Shift.” It requires companies that employ janitors to register and receive licenses from the state…
100 Massachusetts school committees oppose charter expansion Daily Kos …More than 100 local school committees have voted to oppose Question 2 on the Massachusetts ballot, which would lift the state’s cap on the number of charter schools allowed. Local, elected school committees have good reason to oppose lifting the cap—not only are charters a drain on the budgets of public schools, but backers of Question 2 explicitly say that one of their goals is moving away from local control of schools…
New Jersey city passes paid sick leave, continuing the state’s unstoppable momentum Think Progress …This week, a town in New Jersey passed a law requiring businesses to offer all employees paid sick leave, becoming the 13th place in the state to do so and the 34th in the country. Morristown workers at companies with 10 or more employees will be able to take up to five days a year, while those with fewer will get three days…
New Documents Suggest Gov. Scott Walker Knowingly Solicited Illegal Corporate Checks Truthout …Documents released by the Guardian indicate that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker may have solicited and received corporate checks for the 2011 Senate recall fight and his own 2012 recall election. The checks — cut from corporate treasuries, not granted by individuals — were deposited into the account of the dark money group Wisconsin Club for Growth…
Washington state releases plan to cut carbon emissions Think Progress …On Thursday, Washington state adopted new rules that will force large polluters to begin curbing their greenhouse gas emissions. The rules come after a lengthy process that began last year when Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA) directed the state’s Department of Ecology to develop a regulatory cap on carbon emissions in the state…
U.S. LABOR
UAW accuses Honeywell of blocking safety inspection South Bend Tribune …Contract negotiations resumed on Wednesday between locked-out union members and Honeywell Aerospace, but it didn’t take long for them to implode. After the meeting, the United Auto Workers Local 9 issued a press release that said Honeywell “brought no new proposals to settle the lockout”…
Harvard food service workers overwhelmingly approve strike Boston Globe …Harvard University’s dining hall workers voted overwhelmingly Thursday to authorize an indefinite strike in the next two weeks if the union and the administration cannot reach a contract settlement. The vote comes after four months of negotiations between administrators and UNITE HERE Local 26, the union representing 750 food service workers across Harvard’s campuses…
When labor laws left farm workers behind — and vulnerable to abuse PBS …Blocking farm workers from a federal right to organize unions would guarantee, “a continuance of virtual slavery until the day of revolt,” a New York politician warned his colleagues during a hearing in the 1930s. Eighty years later, with Mexicans having largely replaced black Americans in the fields, farm workers lack the federal rights afforded to most laborers — even as they face some of the toughest working conditions in the country…
Uber nears settlement after pocketing half of drivers’ tips LA Times …Uber Technologies Inc. got the green light on Thursday to settle claims it pocketed about half of a 20% “gratuity” charge that passengers thought they were paying to drivers. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco, who is also presiding over a separate lawsuit against Uber concerning the classification of drivers, granted preliminary approval of a settlement…
UPS to hire more than 900 in St. Louis area to help with holiday shipping Post-Dispatch …United Parcel Service Inc. will hire more than 900 people in the St. Louis area, roughly the same number it hired last year, to help with holiday shipping, the company said Wednesday. The openings are a combination of seasonal and permanent jobs, including 440 package handlers, 105 package-car and tractor-trailer drivers and 360 driver helpers…
How Donald Trump’s Union Busting Is Killing the American Dream in Las Vegas and Beyond Huffington Post …Union busting is never pretty. But in the case of Donald Trump, it’s especially ugly. The Republican presidential nominee has campaigned on promises to make America great again by bringing back good jobs. But in Las Vegas a company he owns with casino mogul Phillip Ruffin has worked methodically to keep hundreds of its own employees from achieving the American Dream…
When Working Hard Is Hardly Working, Financially The Atlantic …Americans are working harder than they used to to stay afloat. After adjusting for inflation, the average two-parent household in the U.S. earned 23 percent more in 2009 than they did in 1978. But they did so by working 26 percent more hours. Discounting those extra work hours, wages have remained stagnant for the median family for nearly four decades…
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Coming Soon, Economists Hope: Big Spending on Roads, Bridges and Ports New York Times …Infrastructure spending, unlike many other forms of government outlays, holds the power to give the economy a sustained lift for decades down the line. First comes the addition of jobs — particularly the kinds of higher-wage blue-collar jobs that have been lost in recent years — and spending on products like concrete and steel to build new roads and repair worn-out bridges…
Reich: Every Aspect of Trump’s Trickle-Down Economic Plan Benefits Him Alternet …Donald Trump poses as a working-class populist, but everything about his new economic plan would be a gusher for the wealthy. And almost nothing will trickle down to anyone else. He’d knock down the top tax rate on businesses from 35 percent to 15 percent, thereby richly rewarding the investor class…
Actually, Donald Trump’s Immigration Proposals Are Nothing New Mother Jones ….Donald Trump may differ from other contemporary politicians in so openly stating his antipathy to immigrants of a certain sort. But the policies Trump is advocating, including that well-publicized wall and mass deportations, are really nothing new. They are the very policies initiated by Bill Clinton in the 1990s and—from border militarization to mass deportations—enthusiastically promoted by Barack Obama…
The Federal Poverty Line Is Too Damn Low The Nation …The US Census Bureau’s announcement today that the number of Americans living below the poverty line fell between 2014 and 2015 is good news. But before we get too excited, it is worth noting that the federal poverty line was a meager $12,000 for a single person living alone in 2015 (and only about $24,000 for a married couple living with two children)…