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Today’s Teamster News For November 3, 2016
TEAMSTERS
Drivers and Monitors at First Student Vote to Join the Teamsters Teamster.org …On Sept. 29, 2016, drivers and monitors at First Student in Steilacoom, Wash. voted unanimously to join the Teamsters. The 21 drivers and monitors in the bargaining unit will become members of Local 313. The workers filed for the union election with the National Labor Relations Board on Sept. 20, 2016 and the results were certified on Oct. 12, 2016…
Teamsters challenge University’s treatment of sick workers Workday Minnesota …The University of Minnesota is unjustly disciplining employees who take time off when they are sick, the union representing U food service and maintenance workers says. Joined by other U employees and allies, they held a demonstration Tuesday outside the administration building on the Minneapolis campus. Teamsters Local 320, which represents several hundred facilities and food service workers, said the University is misinterpreting union contract language and state law…
New Hampshire school bus drivers threaten strike amid contract dispute Union Leader …New Hampshire school bus drivers and other workers employed by First Student are threatening to strike over a contract dispute,. Officials from several school districts are notifying their school communities that a strike is possible within the next few weeks after a strike notice was issued two weeks ago by Teamsters Union Local 633, the union representing First Student’s 850 workers in New Hampshire…
Butte County employee union vote remains unsettled Chicoer …After an invalid election and then lack of a majority vote, employees in the general and social service units will vote again in a runoff election this month and may choose a new union. In October’s election for general unit employees, Teamsters came in with 177 votes, the association 103, United Public Employees of California, or UPEC, 78, and there were six votes for no union, McReynolds said. The runoff for the general unit employees election will be between Teamsters and the association…
American Canyon city workers vent at council over labor talks Napa Valley Register …City employees showed up Tuesday night to express their frustrations to the City Council over not having a new labor contract. Teamsters Local 315 has been negotiating since the beginning of the year with City Manager Dana Shigley and the city’s labor counsel to forge a new contract. The previous contract, approved in 2013, expired July 1…
‘Union-busting’ consultants charged UTA $46,700 SLTrib.com …The publicly financed Utah Transit Authority contracted to pay $3,000 a day each to some consultants, plus cover their travel expenses and, if UTA phoned them with questions, pay them another $375 an hour. Who charged such fees — lawyers, engineers, academics? It was a firm that helped UTA defeat efforts by the Teamsters Union to represent 44 TRAX supervisors. The Teamsters call the company, Labor Relations Institute (LRI), a “union-busting” consultant…
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Canada: Ford Motor Company Avoids a Costly Strike — for Now Motley Fool …Ford Motor Company reached a tentative labor agreement with the union representing hourly workers at its facilities in Canada late on Monday night, moments before workers were set to walk out at several critical Ford facilities.Under the deal, hourly workers at three Ford factories and a parts-distribution center will receive modest wage bumps and a boost in the pay rate for newly hired workers…
Obama Admin Claims TPP Has the Votes Polizette …President Obama’s top trade official said the deeply unpopular Trans-Pacific Partnership is not only still alive but that Congress has enough votes to pass it during an interview Tuesday with CNBC. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman applauded members of Congress for allegedly “starting to see” the benefits the TPP supposedly offers. What Froman failed to mention, however, was the vehement, and rising opposition to TPP coming from both sides of the political aisle…
‘Trojan Horse’: CETA Designed to Pave the Way for TTIP Implementation Sputnik News …The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) signed by the EU and Canada on Sunday is a “Trojan Horse” designed to pave the way for the TTIP deal between the EU and the US, French journalist Karel Vereycken told Sputnik, stressing that the rejection of CETA remains possible through citizens’ mobilization and political action…
Japan ruling coalition gives up trying to pass TPP-ratifying bill Japan Times …Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition on Wednesday gave up trying to pass a bill to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement through a special Lower House committee. With U.S. presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both opposed to the deal, Tokyo was desperate to pass the bill through the Lower House plenary session before Election Day…
Opposition to Trans-Pacific Partnership evident in dairy producer survey Wisconsin State Farmer …Responses to a recent survey sent out by Wisconsin Farmers Union (WFU) indicate dairy farmers throughout the state are against passing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in its current form. The survey, which was sent to all dairy producers in Wisconsin, is the first of its kind to ask dairy farmers directly about their views on the TPP. Over 1,000 farmers responded…
This is where NAFTA hurts American workers the most Yahoo …New research published in the “Review of Economics and Statistics” provides a picture of the workers and regions harmed and helped most by NAFTA. Economists John McLaren of the University of Virginia and Shushanik Hakobyan of Fordham University used Census data to estimate the effect of NAFTA on wages in every region of the United States. They also analyzed incomes for four different educational groups…
Sometimes, your trade deficit is thrust upon you (opinion) Washington Post …For years, elites of both parties have not only ignored the downsides [of globalization], they’ve also dismissed those who raise them as protectionist troglodytes who fail to understand the principle of “comparative advantage.” The winners from globalization have failed not only to compensate those hurt by it. They have also taken their winnings and, in our heavily money-driven political system, used them to buy policy changes that further hurt those already hit by trade…
Hundreds of desperate people trying to reach Europe drowned this week Think Progress …The United Nations refugee agency confirmed Thursday that at least 239 people are believed to have died in two separate shipwrecks off Libya this week — bringing the total number of deaths on the Mediterranean Sea to 4,220 so far this year. Two survivors confirmed the deadly shipwrecks after they were brought to the reception center on the Italian island of Lampedusa…
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Ohio: one voting lawsuit rejected, another dealing with voter intimidation filed The Columbus Dispatch …The last pending legal challenge to Ohio’s voting laws died a quick death Monday when it was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court. “And thousands of Ohio voters could have their ballots thrown out as a result, the attorney who filed the lawsuit says…
Massachusetts: Public Education at Stake With Voters to Decide on Pro-Charter School Measure Common Dreams …U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has weighed in on the most expensive statewide ballot measure voters will face November 8—Massachusetts’ Question 2, which would lift the existing cap and allow for as many as 12 new charter schools per year. Referring to the financial industry’s backing of Question 2, the former presidential candidate said in a statement Tuesday, “Wall Street must not be allowed to hijack public education in Massachusetts”…
Florida: utility companies pump millions into last-ditch effort to pass deceptive solar initiative Think Progress …On Tuesday, former Florida Senator and Gov. Bob Graham (D) added his voice to the growing chorus against Florida’s Amendment 1, which asks voters to support a utility-backed initiative that could make it more difficult for the solar industry to develop. “There is an amendment on the ballot that isn’t what it appears to be,” Graham told reporters…
Mississippi: no one kicked off welfare for drug tests has gotten treatment Think Progress …According to the Daily Journal, 307 people have been tested for drugs since August of 2014, and 17 have tested positive. Another 39 people were deemed to be likely to have a substance abuse problem through a questionnaire but refused to take a test, thereby also getting cut off from benefits. But none of them have gotten treatment…
Michigan: As Flint Suffers, Nestlé Plans Dramatic Expansion of Water Privatization in State Common Dreams …The state of Michigan has reportedly issued preliminary approval for bottled water behemoth Nestlé to nearly triple the amount of groundwater it will pump. “Nestlé Waters North America is asking the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for permission to increase allowed pumping from 150 to 400 gallons-per-minute at one of its production wells north of Evart,” MLive reported on Monday…
Alabama elections chief says automatic registration would ‘cheapen’ civil rights leaders’ work Think Progress …The Brennan Center for Justice calls automatic registration the “gold standard of modernized registration.” If the practice were to be adopted across the country, roughly 50 million more eligible voters could be added to the rolls, the United States would save money, and the accuracy and security of elections would improve. After Oregon became the first state to enact automatic registration in 2015, the state added nearly 52,000 voters in just four months this year…
U.S. LABOR
Talks Break Down, Commuters Brace for Day 3 of SEPTA Strike ABC …Commuters braced for a third day of traffic gridlock in and around Philadelphia Thursday as SEPTA urged the union representing about 4,700 striking workers to engage in good-faith negotiations to bring an end to the walkout. Talks broke down Wednesday night between the union and the transit agency. Both sides were expected to return to the bargaining table sometime on Thursday…
West Coast Dockworkers and Shippers Set to Discuss Contract Extension KQED …Talks start Tuesday to extend the labor peace that ended a major dispute between tens of thousands of West Coast dockworkers and their shipping company employers. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) have agreed to meet for two days to discuss extending the contract that ended a nine-month dispute in late 2014 and early 2015 that involved work slowdowns and lockouts…
SAG-AFTRA Video Game Strike: Union To Picket WB Deadline …Contract talks between SAG-AFTRA and the video game industry, which broke off October 19, had been an on-again, off-again affair for 19 months. Rolling picket lines are expected in the coming days and weeks at the other companies targeted in the strike…
McDonald’s Settlement Could Open Door for Worker Wins Nationwide Common Dreams …Not only is this the first time the company has reached a settlement with franchise workers, it comes as the fast food giant faces claims that it is indeed responsible for the treatment of its workers at franchise restaurants. The question of whether the fast food giant is “joint employer” of its franchise workers, which McDonald’s has denied, is currently being weighed in a case before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)…
Chicago Teachers Union gives thumbs up to 4-year contract Chicago Tribune …The Chicago Teachers Union voted late Tuesday to approve a four-year contract reached with Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration just prior to a strike deadline last month. The union said early totals showed 72 percent of voting members approved the deal and 28 voted against it. Results from fewer than 60 schools were waiting to be counted…
22 Days: The Strike That Shook Campus Harvard Crimson …Ultimately, Harvard and its dining workers agreed on a contract that effectively established a $35,000 minimum salary for full time employees and curtailed any expected increases in out-of-pocket health expenses for the life of the five-year agreement. They will maintain their health care plan until 2019, when they will transition into the coverage Harvard’s largest union negotiated last winter…
Administration defends labor-law executive order against court decision Washington Post …Obama’s “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” directive was years in the making when it was suddenly halted, at least temporarily, the day before it took effect. It would allow federal agencies to say no work for federal contractors with workplace violations. Now, administration officials are plotting how to proceed in the wake of Crone’s action…
Why robots, not trade, are behind so many factory job losses AP …Donald Trump blames Mexico and China for stealing millions of jobs from the United States. He might want to bash the robots instead. Despite the Republican presidential nominee’s charge that “we don’t make anything anymore,” manufacturing is still flourishing in America. Problem is, factories don’t need as many people as they used to because machines now do so much of the work. America has lost more than 7 million factory jobs since manufacturing employment peaked in 1979…
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
“Independent” Women’s Group Backing Trump Skirts Law to Influence Elections CMD …Independent Women’s Voice (IWV) has violated the law by spending millions of dollars to influence federal elections without registering as a political committee, a new complaint to the Federal Election Commission charges. The complaint filed today by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) alleges that IWV’s major purpose is to influence federal elections…
A Trump Tower Goes Bust in Canada Politico …A Canadian bankruptcy judge placed the glass-and-granite building into receivership, just four years after Trump and his children cut the ribbon at its grand opening. Once it’s auctioned off, whether or not Trump is the leader of the free world by then, his name may well vanish from its marquee. Trump is not the project’s developer or even an investor; one of his partners, a Russian-born billionaire who got rich in Ukraine’s steel industry, controls the firm that’s in default…
Police pepper-spray black students peacefully protesting David Duke Think Progress …Students at the historically black college Dillard University came out in force Wednesday night to protest a Louisiana Senate debate featuring former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke. About 75 people, mostly Dillard students, gathered at the door to the mostly empty building where the debate was being staged, demanding to be allowed inside…
New York: Workers Detained in ICE Raid in Rochester Launch 7-Day March Democracy Now …In New York state, a group of undocumented workers has launched a week-long march to protest raids by the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency in Buffalo, New York. The group is known as the Buffalo 25—25 undocumented workers who were detained after ICE raided four Mexican restaurants earlier this month. At least four of the Buffalo 25 are currently wearing GPS ankle monitors used by ICE…
Man’s death hints at wretched medical care in private immigration prisons The Guardian …The failings in Jaramillo’s case, reported here for the first time and pieced together through court documents, depositions, public records and interviews, reveals extraordinary details of the substandard medical care given to inmates in this facility and, advocates warn, the likelihood of continued failure when the institution reopens its doors to detainees this week…