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Today’s Teamster News For October 21, 2016
TEAMSTERS
Edmonton railroad workers take on CN over workplace fatigue, ‘culture of fear and intimidation’ Metro News …Some CN railroad workers in Edmonton say they are fed up with a “culture of fear and intimidation” that keeps them working longer hours than they can handle. The workers’ union, Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Division 796, claims CN train crews are commonly forced to work beyond the time their rest periods are scheduled to begin. The engineer who spoke to Metro said employees have been ignored…
Teamsters Win Two Votes at XPO Logistics Labor Press …The Teamsters have won two more elections in their bid to organize truckers and warehouse workers at XPO Logistics, with workers at a warehouse in North Haven, Connecticut, and a less-than-truckload facility in Aurora, Illinois, voting to be represented by the union. The “workers have sent the company a message that they will no longer tolerate the poor treatment and low wages,” Steve Vairma, director of the Teamsters Warehouse Division, said…
Victory for bus drivers: 3 year battle through federal court ends in pay raise Gulf Breeze News …After more than three years of fighting through National Labor Relations and federal courts, the contractor handling bus transportation for the school district accepted a federal appeals court ruling in June that stated the union election of February 2013 was legal. That meant that Durham was required to begin bargaining with the union that had been approved by the majority of voting drivers and monitors in 2013 – the Teamsters…
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Nigeria: workers strike paralyses government activities in Ogun Guardian …Government activities were grounded in Ogun on Thursday as civil servants commenced indefinite strike over non-remittance of over 12 months deductions from their salaries. The development followed a directive issued by the Joint National Public Negotiating Council on Monday. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the entire secretariat at Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, was deserted by workers…
Workers Protest in Kuwait, Teachers Promise to Strike Migrant-Rights …Following the decision of the Civil Service Commission to slash their monthly housing benefits, expatriate teachers have voiced their objections to local press, ministry officials, and their countries’ embassies. A hashtag on social media called on teachers to dress in black to express their rejection to this violation of their contracts. The teachers promise to organize a strike if the decision is not overturned…
Canada: government repeals anti-union legislation Canadian Labour …On Wednesday, Parliament voted to adopt Bill C-4, a government bill that repeals the previous Conservative government’s controversial anti-union bills C-377 and C-525. Earlier this year, Labour Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk made good on the Liberals’ election promise to repeal the bills. The bills C-377 and C-525 were ideologically-motivated and designed by the former Conservative government to undermine the ability of unions to advocate for workers…
The Great CETA Swindle – Signing Of Trade Deal Hits Last Minute Glitch Global Research …Belgium followed a ‘no’ vote by two of its regional Parliaments on the controversial EU-Canada trade deal CETA, temporarily blocking the first step towards the treaty’s ratification in a meeting of EU trade ministers. A close look at the CETA shows that concerns over CETA are well-founded. A record 3.5 million people across Europe signed a petition against CETA and its twin agreement TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership)…
New feud may set back Japan’s TPP vote Asian Review …Japan’s parliamentary debate on the Trans-Pacific Partnership turned into a shouting match Wednesday after the agriculture minister suggested the ruling coalition force a vote on the U.S.-led trade deal, with the rancor threatening the government’s timetable for ratification. Yuji Yamamoto apologized and took back his comment at meeting of a special committee on the TPP in the lower house of the Diet…
Portugal scraps more austerity but vows budget deficit cut The Herald …Portugal’s center-left government is rolling back some more austerity measures, even while it pledges to keep cutting its budget deficit as part of an ongoing effort to reduce its huge national debt. The government said Thursday it will re-open some public services in rural areas that were shut to save money…
Let’s be clear, everyone has failed Haiti Think Progress …Everyone has failed Haiti, the world’s first independent black nation. The U.N. only recently admitted to facilitating Haiti’s cholera epidemic after years of denying it. And even when the United States and non-profits aimed to help with relief after a deadly disaster, such as Hurricane Matthew, there was arguably more harm than help. Despite Clinton’s complex role with Haiti’s history and politics, Little Haiti residents and the internet at large were quick to let Trump know he’s no friend of theirs either…
STATE& LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Arizona poll: most voters support minimum-wage hike AZ Central …Arizona’s minimum-wage earners appear to be on track for a raise, according to a new Arizona Republic/Morrison/Cronkite News poll that showed Proposition 206 leading by a wide margin. Of the 779 likely Arizona voters surveyed, 58.4 percent said they were in favor of Prop. 206, while 31.6 percent said they were against the measure…
Washington: how Seattle’s $15 minimum wage kneecapped opposition to statewide wage hike Inlander …If polls and campaign contributions are anything to go by, Washington state — which, at $9.47 already had one of the highest minimum wages in the country — is about ready to boost its minimum wage to $13.50 by 2020. This month, a KOMO News/Strategies 360 poll found the Raise Up Washington initiative, which would also guarantee sick leave for all workers, was leading with 62 percent supporting…
California promised public employees generous retirements. Will the courts give government a way out? LA Times …California’s generous public employee pensions, shielded for decades by the state’s courts, may soon no longer be sacrosanct. In a potentially huge win for advocates of cutting government pensions, an appeals court in August declared that public retirement plans were not “immutable” and could be reduced…
California: Nurses Celebrate State’s New Regulations to Prevent Workplace Violence in Healthcare Settings NNU …The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (OSHSB) today voted unanimously to approve nation-leading regulations to prevent workplace violence in healthcare settings—implemented as a result of 2014 legislation, SB 1299, sponsored by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) and carried by California Secretary of State, and former State Senator, Alex Padilla on behalf of CNA…
Washington Jobless Rate Ticks Down On Strong Job Growth KUOW …Washington state employers added 20,000 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis last month according to the latest numbers out Wednesday from the state’s Employment Security Department. It’s a much higher gain than seen in a while. The early fall job surge helped the state unemployment rate break out of a long plateau at 5.8 percent. The report pegs Washington’s current statewide jobless rate at 5.6 percent…
Nevada: Latino, Union Voters May Hold the Cards Real Clear Politics …As a state that has been built on the gaming industry and tourism tied to it, Nevada knows odds. And the odds are now against Donald Trump here. Among the state’s robust Hispanic population, which is disproportionately Mexican-American, Trump’s disparaging remarks about Mexican immigrants have come home to roost…
Voter Suppression Is a Much Bigger Problem Than Voter Fraud The Nation …Voter fraud is a very small problem in American politics and voter impersonation, which GOP-backed voter-ID laws are meant to address, is exceedingly rare. Wisconsin didn’t present a single case of voter impersonation in court to justify its voter-ID law. Yet 300,000 registered voters, according to a federal court, lack strict forms of photo ID and could be disenfranchised by the law…
U.S. LABOR
California’s largest state worker union to vote on strike SacBee …State government’s largest union is edging closer to a strike. SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker has called for a strike vote of the union’s 95,000 members beginning next week, according to a statement on the union website. The union is trying to get a bigger raise than the 2.96 percent pay hike Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration is offering…
The Jim Beam strike: Kentucky distillery workers have started a new whiskey rebellion in the name of sane hours Salon …For a number of American workers, Suntory time is anything but relaxing — often meaning, they claim, 80-hour work weeks. That’s a major reason about 250 unionized employees at two Jim Beam bourbon distilleries in Kentucky initiated a strike, which entered its sixth day on Thursday after workers rejected a final contract offer from their employer, Beam Suntory…
Jim Beam union contract up for vote Friday Courier-Journal …Hundreds of Jim Beam employees at two Kentucky plants could be back to work next week if they approve a new union contract Friday. For the past six days, 252 distillery and bottling workers have been on strike following failed negotiations with company officials and an outside consulting firm concerning a contract that ended Oct. 14…
Union Asks Court to Reverse Wal-Mart Trespassing Order ABC … labor union that has demonstrated against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. asked the Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday to reverse a judge’s decision barring it from entering the retail giant’s property for anything other than shopping. An attorney for the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union argued that the National Labor Relations Board, not the Benton County judge, should have jurisdiction over the matter…
UNO teachers, charter network avert strike Chicago Tribune …Teachers at one of the city’s largest charter school networks reached a deal to avoid a strike after extended talks over a new contract yielded an agreement announced at about 3 a.m. Wednesday. “We’re really pleased to keep our kids back in class, and we’re all very happy to go back to the classroom today,” union spokeswoman Erica Stewart said at a news conference…
Federal Judge Leaves Protections For Transgender Workers In Limbo BuzzFeed …A judge has denied the federal government’s request to narrow the geographic scope of a nationwide injunction that bars agencies from enforcing rules to protect transgender students’ access to restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity. However, the court’s order left open the larger question about whether the government is banned from enforcing similar rules that several federal entities have concluded protect transgender workers…
AFL-CIO to help more Latina working women organize People’s World …While Donald Trump continues to excoriate immigrants from South and Central America, the AFL-CIO is ramping up programs to help them unionize and gain political power. A forum recently held here highlighted what the labor movement will be doing to provide Latina working women with the tools they need to win better standards of living and security for the future…
Research suggests that half of US parents will take pay cuts for better family benefits at work Quartz …It is well known that many US companies do very little to help working parents. Most don’t offer paid parental leave and few offer substantive child-care benefits. They should reconsider. According to Bright Horizons’ 2016 Modern Family Index, a report that looks at the attitudes and experiences of young working parents in the US, 49% of new parents surveyed took a new job for less money at a more family-friendly employer…
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Donald Trump’s immigration plan: Get rid of ‘bad hombres’ Think Progress …At the third presidential debate, Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, answered a question about his immigration plan by calling undocumented immigrants “bad hombres.” His casually racist remarks should not come as any surprise to voters given the fact that he kicked off his campaign by saying Mexican immigrants are criminals and rapists…
‘Lions Hunting Zebras’: Ex-Wells Fargo Bankers Describe Abuses New York Times …Wells Fargo would like to close the chapter on the sham account scandal, saying it has changed its policies, replaced its chief executive and refunded $2.6 million to customers. But lawmakers and regulators say they will not let it go that quickly, and emerging evidence that some victims were among the bank’s most vulnerable customers has given them fresh ammunition…
With one line, Trump ensured our rape culture isn’t going anywhere Think Progress …Trump has repeatedly denied the attacks happened, using a variety of excuses. He’s said that the women in question are too ugly for him to assault, and his surrogates have claimed that groping women without their consent doesn’t “count” as sexual assault. But perhaps most problematic is that Trump repeatedly claims that the women coming forward are just seeking fame or attention…
“Nasty woman” becomes the feminist rallying cry Hillary Clinton was waiting for (opinion) Vox …Calling Hillary Clinton a “nasty woman” may have been the best thing Donald Trump has ever done for her campaign. Trump has spent most of the election reminding us just how difficult it can be for a woman to run for president in a world still steeped in patriarchy. During the third debate, Trump fired off his most respectful attack when he leaned into his mic and blurted out that Clinton was “such a nasty woman.” Well, he did say no one respects women more than him…
Challenging Discrimination in Education, Seattle Teachers Hold District-Wide Black Lives Matter Rallies Common Dreams …In an unprecedented display of unity in the face of continued institutional racism, 2,000 teachers and employees across the Seattle school system on Wednesday donned t-shirts that read “Black Lives Matter/ We Stand Together,” while students and teachers across the district organized rallies with the declaration, “Black Lives Matter at Schools”…