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Today’s Teamster News For November 15, 2016
TEAMSTERS
San Bernardino Preschool Workers To Join Teamsters Teamster.org …Preschool teachers, aides, custodians and support staff working in the San Bernardino County Preschool Services Department will soon become members of Local 1932. The local union filed for recognition on behalf of the 503 workers on November 4 and San Bernardino County Human Resources recognized the Teamsters as having the majority on November 7…
UPS strike vote could land on Trump’s desk CNN …The 1,200 mechanics who work on the planes at United Parcel Service have voted overwhelmingly to go on strike. But a potential strike would have to overcome several hurdles — including a possible presidential order from Donald Trump to return to work. The Teamsters union, which represents the UPS mechanics, has been seeking a new contract at the parcel carrier for more than three years…
Teamster UPS Aircraft Mechanics Vote to Strike Teamster.org …Airline maintenance technicians and related classifications who maintain UPS’s (NYSE: UPS) fleet of jet engine aircrafts announced Monday that they have authorized a strike at the shipping giant. The airline maintenance workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike after three years of negotiations during which UPS has continued to demand huge health care concessions…
Local Teamsters vote in favor of school bus strike Eagle Tribune …Teamsters Local 633 members voted last night to reject an offer made by First Student Inc. and authorize a strike, an event that will depend on the outcome of national-level negotiations in Washington on Wednesday. “The members are understandably upset,” Jeff Padellaro, union business agent, said over the phone. “We’re hoping that cooler heads prevail down in Washington,” he said…
Teamsters Denounce Aubuchon Hardware Lockout Of Distribution Center Workers NH Labor News …Teamster warehouse workers and drivers at Aubuchon Hardware’s distribution facility found themselves locked out of their jobs when they reported to their shifts this morning. They were met by security who had been instructed to tell the workers that they were not allowed on the property. The 60 warehouse workers and drivers at Aubuchon’s distribution center are represented by Teamsters Local 170…
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
UK: RMT Tube drivers and station staff back strike action BBC …Thousands of London Underground staff have voted to go on strike over two separate disputes, the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) union said. The union said 85% of station workers had voted to walk out in a dispute over staffing and safety. Drivers on the Piccadilly line also backed action over a “wholesale breakdown” in industrial relations…
Japan PM: TPP difficult to put into force Japan News …Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated his belief on Monday that Japan should lead efforts to put the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement into effect at an early date. Regarding the likelihood of the TPP coming into force, however, Abe admitted, “We’re in an increasingly tough situation,” in the wake of the U.S. presidential election victory of Donald Trump, who has called for the United States to pull out of the trade deal…
A swan song for TISA talks Politico …The prospects for concluding negotiations on the Trade in Services Agreement now appear slim after a senior trade official close to the talks told Politico that it’s looking less likely that trade ministers will gather for an anticipated early December meeting in Geneva — a get-together at which negotiations had been expected to wrap up…
U.S. Rep. Brady to push free trade deals with Trump administration Reuters …U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady said on Monday he will continue to promote the benefits of free trade agreements with President-elect Donald Trump, including those offered under the Obama administration’s Asian free trade deal. Brady, a Republican, who described himself as a “champion of free trade,” told a trade and politics forum that Trump will have to set his own priorities for trade…
Trade, Not Immigrants, May Have Been Key Motivator of Donald Trump’s Voters Wall Street Journal …From the day he rode down an escalator at Trump Tower to launch his campaign, Donald Trump’s candidacy was identified most often with one issue: fighting illegal immigration. A deeper look into the results of the election that propelled him to the presidency, however, suggests the real fuel behind his victory may have come more from his stand against traditional free-trade agreements, and in his overall call for “change”…
Auto Workers Union Wants to Work With Trump on NAFTA Reform Fortune …The United Auto Workers union will work with president-elect Donald Trump to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, its President Dennis Williams said on Thursday. Williams told reporters that one reason Hillary Clinton lost was that she was blamed for NAFTA. The union opposed Trump’s candidacy, but said his “position on trade is right on”…
IMF Approves $12 Billion Bailout For Egypt After Austerity Measures NPR …The International Monetary Fund has given its final approval for a $12 billion bailout for Egypt over the next three years. The funding, which is aimed at boosting investor confidence in the region’s most populous country, comes after the government imposed a series of austerity measures. The IMF said the program “will help restore macroeconomic stability and promote inclusive grown”…
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
North Carolina’s legislature has a devious plan to overturn the will of the voters Think Progress …North Carolina voters chose last week to elect a new liberal majority to the state supreme court. The new North Carolina Supreme Court would provide a check on the power of the GOP’s veto-proof super-majority in the state legislature. But the legislature has come up with a scheme that would add two seats to the court…
Cuomo expands state film-production tax credit to a dozen more counties Crain’s NY …After four and a half months of urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to sign legislation that would give economic incentives to productions that film in Suffolk County and north of Rockland and Westchester counties, New York state elected officials received his John Hancock. Under the revised law, the 40% tax credit that film productions in 42 New York counties are currently eligible to receive will apply to an additional 12 counties…
Christie vetoes unemployment benefits for striking workers NJ.com …Gov. Chris Christie on Monday nixed a bill that would have allowed striking workers to collect unemployment benefits. Instead, the governor sent a revised bill back to the Democratic-controlled Legislature that would amend “the language of the current law to make it clear that all striking workers are disqualified from receiving benefits,” according to his conditional veto message…
More state, city lawmakers say salary history requirements should be banned Washington Post …Massachusetts became the first state to ban employers from requiring job candidates to provide salary information as a basis for future pay. Instead, employers will be required to publish salary ranges based on the skills and qualifications associated with the role. The bill, which passed unanimously, is already being replicated across the country…
Tentative settlement would end two of three Lincolnshire right-to-work lawsuits Chicago Tribune …Lincolnshire officials said they have reached a tentative settlement on two of three lawsuits filed over the town’s controversial right-to-work ordinance aimed at organized labor. The Liberty Justice Center, which had agreed to represent Lincolnshire pro bono in all three lawsuits, said under the agreement, it would pay $10,000 total to the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 and its individual plaintiffs…
U.S. LABOR
Fusion Staff Unionizes With Writers Guild of America East Yahoo …The editorial staff at Fusion, a digital site owned by Univision’s Fusion Media Group, has voted to join the Writers Guild of America East. The guild announced on Friday that more than 90% of Fusion’s 70-member bargaining unit voted in favor of unionization. The online vote came one week after the Fusion Union Organizing Committee wrote management, informing them that they were prepared to take action if an election date was not set for a union vote…
UAW reaches deals with Navistar, Clark County engineer’s office Springfield News-Sun …The United Auto Workers Local 402 has ratified a deal for more than 100 workers at Springfield’s Navistar facility, and reached an agreement with employees in the Clark County Engineer’s Office. The two most recent agreements would mean all four of the UAW’s bargaining units are currently under contract, said Jason Barlow, president of the UAW Local 402…
L.A. teachers union says it supports mass student protest LA Times …United Teachers Los Angeles says it’s supporting students and their families following the union called “politics of fear, racism and misogyny.” In a statement issued Monday, the union said its members think students should protest and express themselves peacefully. The union said it was committed to “educational and racial justice — both in our classrooms and in our communities”…
Paid Family Leave Could Be a Reality in Trump’s America TIME …Among the many crucial issues dealt a blow in the election was paid family leave, which the U.S. desperately needs. During Donald Trump’s campaign, he called for six weeks of paid maternity leave for women after giving birth. There are many problems with this, including its sexist presumption that only women can be caregivers…
Trump Poised to Reshape Labor Board, Lawyers Say Wall Street Journal …The election of is likely to mean big changes for the National Labor Relations Board, which could begin to roll back the Obama administration’s agenda of expanding employee and union rights, according to employment litigators. The NLRB now has a 2-1 Democratic majority with two empty seats…
Trump’s Wage and Hour Division Likely to Reverse Course Bloomberg …“I don’t think that the new administration is likely to continue with anything” that Wage and Hour Division Administrator David Weil “has regarded as a priority,” Paul DeCamp, WHD chief under President George W. Bush, told Bloomberg. Weil has overseen data-driven investigations in industries in which minimum wage and overtime violations are deemed likely…
How the gig economy will fare under President Trump Yahoo …Under Trump, members of the gig economy have an uncertain future, primarily because he has not addressed workplace protections for independent contractors. Trump has been largely silent about a growing segment of the workforce — 35% to be exact…
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Trump names white nationalist figure ‘Chief Strategist to the President’ Think Progress …Trump named Steve Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News, as “chief strategist and senior counselor” to the president. He will be one of Trump’s closest advisers and, one can presume, one of the most powerful people in America. In his role at Breitbart, he promoted and legitimized the modern white supremacist movement. Ben Shapiro, who worked alongside Bannon for four years as Breitbart’s Editor-at-Large, wrote that Bannon “openly embraced the white supremacist alt-right”…
What A Trump Administration Might Mean For Income Inequality Forbes …In terms of income inequality, the picture is highly murky. One major reason that Trump won the election is because so many middle-class and formerly middle-class people — including many, many white people — had felt ignored for too long. Their jobs gone, maybe their mortgages, and hope with them…
Bernie’s empire strikes back Politico …The revolution is back in business. Supporters of Bernie Sanders’ failed presidential bid are seizing on Democratic disarray at the national level to launch a wave of challenges to Democratic Party leaders in the states. The goal is to replace party officials in states where Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton during the acrimonious Democratic primary with more progressive leadership…
Trump’s path to boosting infrastructure is full of potholes AP …Donald Trump has vowed to rebuild the nation’s roads, bridges, airports and railways, but the path to delivering on that promise is full of potholes. When President Barack Obama tried to do it, a Republican Congress fought him at almost every turn, and Trump would have to contend with his party’s deep-seated dislike for government spending and higher taxes to meet the $1 trillion tab for his proposals…
Ryan Plans to Phase Out Medicare in 2017 TPM …Paul Ryan has been pushing to phase out Medicare and replace it with private insurance for several years. But now it’s real with unified Republican government. He just said he will try to rush it through early next year while repealing Obamacare…
Millions could lose Medicaid coverage under Trump plan Herald Leader …Millions of low-income Americans on Medicaid could lose their health coverage if President-elect Donald Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress follow through on GOP proposals to cut spending in the state-federal insurance program. The biggest risk for Medicaid beneficiaries comes from pledges by Trump and other Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act…
Trump: Criminals will be deported first Politico …Donald Trump will begin tackling the issue of illegal immigration by rounding up and deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal records, a group that he estimates at 2 million to 3 million people, the president-elect said in an interview to air Sunday night…