Uncategorized
This Week’s Teamster News For April 1-7
TEAMSTERS
Political Action
Hoffa Meets With President Trump to Discuss Pension Security Teamster.org …International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa and International Vice President John Murphy met with President Donald Trump today at the White House to seek support for the union’s efforts to ensure pension security for Teamster members and retirees. They also discussed other issues of significant importance to Teamsters and their families…
Hoffa: Cadillac Tax hurts union workers The Detroit News …Congress’ recent effort to revamp the Affordable Care Act went down in flames last month. The bill went in the wrong direction when it came to making affordable quality health care available to consumers who need it. But there are plenty of improvements that should be made to the law. And none of them are more important than putting a permanent end to the so-called “Cadillac tax” that punishes many Teamsters and other union workers for having health insurance that is actually too good…
Teamsters Support Commerce Department Review of China’s Non-Market Economy Teamster.org …The Teamsters Union supports a full review of China’s trade non-market economy by the Department of Commerce and reviewing the country’s suitability to be classified as a market economy by the World Trade Organization. China’s extensive government involvement in its economy has created an imbalance that places American workers at a significant disadvantage…
Teamsters Applaud Executive Orders Addressing U.S. Trade Abuses Teamster.org …The Teamsters Union supports two executive orders signed today that establish initiatives to address long-standing issues that have plagued U.S. trade policy. The first executive order commissions a report on trade practices of countries with which the U.S. has a trade deficit and seeks to identify, “every form of abuses and non-reciprocal practice” that contributes to the deficit…
Hundreds of Teamster Leaders Gather in Southern California to Prepare to Fight for Their Right to Organize Teamster.org …This week, hundreds of Teamster leaders from across Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Hawaii joined Joint Council President Randy Cammack and International Brotherhood of Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall to kick-off their resistance to threatened federal legislation that would impact their right to organize and protect their members and all workers…
Airline Division
Teamsters, Southwest Airlines Reach Tentative Agreement for Material Specialists Teamster.org …The negotiating team for Southwest material specialists has reached a tentative agreement to amend their current collective bargaining agreement with Southwest Airlines. The negotiating team is comprised of Teamsters Airline Division International Representatives, local union business agents and rank-and-file committee members…
Teamsters Condemn ExpressJet/ASA for Demanding Wage Increases Well Below Industry Standard Teamster.org …Federally mediated negotiations between more than 360 mechanics represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) and ExpressJet subsidiary Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) ended on Thursday, March 30. The carrier told the union that it had provided all of the wage increases it was able to, and that further bargaining on economics would be fruitless…
Teamster Flight Dispatchers Reach Tentative Agreement with Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo Teamster.org …Negotiators with the Teamsters Airline Division have announced that a tentative agreement has been reached to extend the current collective bargaining agreement for flight dispatchers with Atlas Air, Inc. and Polar Air Cargo Worldwide. The flight dispatchers’ contract was due to reach term in November of this year…
UPS Teamsters
UPS Teamsters Focus On Contract Enforcement As Saturday Delivery Creates 6,000 New Jobs Teamster.org …On Monday UPS officially announced its expanded drop-off schedule with Saturday deliveries, calling the change “one of the largest in the company’s 109-year history.” Weekend deliveries are expected to create 6,000 new UPS jobs by 2018, 4,000 of which will be created this year. Regional chairs and co-chairs of the Teamsters Package Division are working with locals to ensure that the National Master Agreement and all Supplements are being followed…
Teamsters to Demand Lobbying Disclosures, Accountability at UPS Teamster.org …On May 4, UPS will hold its annual shareholder meeting in Wilmington, Delaware where Teamsters will call on the company to transparently report all lobbying activity. A shareholder proposal co-sponsored by the Teamsters will be presented at the meeting to demand lobbying disclosures and accountability. UPS currently does not disclose to shareholders its lobbying expenditures or rationale for contributing to groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)…
Teamsters Prepare To Battle UPS, Truck Industry Lobbyists On Safety Issues Teamster.org …The Teamsters Union is keeping a close eye on a coalition of companies that includes UPS which is gearing up to push new increases in truck size and weight limits in Congress. Working in conjunction with UPS, Americans for Modern Transportation wants to make our roads less safe but mandating that twin 33s be the standard size of double trailers nationwide…
Local 162 Wins Dispatching Grievance for UPS Teamsters Teamster.org …On Christmas Eve in 2016, Local 162 members and UPS package car drivers working out of the Tualatin, Oregon facility were dispatched to work. But many showed up only to find that they were not needed. Teamsters Local 162 filed a class action grievance. Last month the Northwest Grievance Panel, chaired by Local 174 President Ted Bunstine, issued a decision in favor of the local, resulting in a total settlement of over $37,000…
It’s Time To Repeal The “Cadillac Tax” On UPS Teamsters’ Health Care Teamster.org …Last month, a showdown in Congress ended with Republican lawmakers withdrawing their bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. As the battle over healthcare reform rages on in Washington, DC, UPS Teamsters who enjoy some of the best employer-provided health benefits in the country remain threatened by punitive taxes on their health insurance…
Locals
Local 710 Secures Largest Wage Increases to Date for Hall’s Rental Drivers Local 710 …Approximately 30 Teamsters Local 710 delivery drivers at Hall’s Rental Service ratified a new four-year agreement at the end of March. The new contract went into effect a few days later on April 1. Local 710 successfully secured the largest raises these members have received to date. Full-time employees will see an increase of nearly $3 per hour and part-time and supplemental employees will see an increase of $2 per hour of the life of the agreement…
Labor, Immigrant and Allied Groups Announce 50,000-Person NYC Mobilization on May Day Joint Council 16 …a coalition of labor, immigrant rights and allied groups joined together to announce plans for a 50,000 person strong May Day rally in New York on May 1st at Foley Square. “On May Day, the Teamsters are rising up with our brothers and sisters in the labor movement and the immigrant rights movement because working people are under attack,” said Sean Campbell, President, Teamsters Local 813…
Judge temporarily blocks Seattle law allowing Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize Seattle Times …A federal judge in Seattle has temporarily blocked the city’s first-in-the-nation law that attempts to allow Uber, Lyft and taxi drivers to unionize. Teamsters Local 117 recently applied and got permission from the city to begin efforts to organize drivers at 12 local ride-hailing or taxi companies. The taxi and ride-hailing companies would have had to give Local 117 a list of their drivers this week, with contact information…
New contract for QCD Teamsters who deliver to Starbucks Local 117 …Members at Quality Custom Distribution (QCD) voted to ratify a new contract on Sunday. The 70-member group overwhelmingly approved the proposal, which provides wage increases, and retirement and job security for members and their families for the next four years. The ratification vote comes just two weeks after the group had voted to authorize a strike…
Local 727 and Hyatt O’Hare Ratify Richest Contract in Hyatt History Local 727 …After many bargaining sessions and countless hours, the Teamsters Local 727 Bargaining Committee and Hyatt Regency O’Hare management reached agreement on a new contract for the hotel’s 34 union members, which include shuttle bus drivers, bellmen, doormen, and valet hikers. Once ratified, members will receive a full wage increase retroactive to January 1, 2017, the first year of a five-year contract expiring December 31, 2021…
Silicon Valley
More Silicon Valley Shuttle Drivers Join Local 853 Teamster.org …Teamsters Local 853 is now the union representative for shuttle bus drivers working at WeDriveU, after workers there chose the union. The contractor supplies drivers for tech companies like LinkedIn and Twitter. Negotiations for a first-time contract will begin immediately. Local 853 will negotiate with WeDriveU over operational specifics based on client needs…
The Economic Justice Fight Inside Silicon Valley’s Commuter Buses Observer …The Teamsters Union, one of the nation’s largest labor organizations, has been working to bring the drivers into the union so they can collectively bargain for a better deal. Most recently, drivers at WeDriveU, an operator that service companies like LinkedIn and Twitter, voted to join Teamsters Local 853, according to a press release from the Teamsters last week…
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Argentine Workers to Hold General Strike Against Neoliberalism TeleSUR …Dozens of labor unions and grassroots organizations are calling for a general strike in Argentina on Thursday in protest of President Mauricio Macri and his neoliberal economic policies. The strike coincides with the start of the World Economic Forum on Latin America, which is expected to attract thousands of business and political leaders from around the world to the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires…
BMW workers to stage first UK strikes over pensions BBC ..Workers at BMW’s UK plants are taking strike action over plans to close the company’s final salary pension scheme. Unite the union will call eight 24 hour strikes across four sites, starting on 19 April and ending on 24 May. It will be the first time that staff at BMW’s UK operations have staged a walk-out. BMW employs about 8,000 people and Unite says that the action could involve up to 3,500 workers who are in final-salary pension schemes…
Signs point away from Trump labelling China currency manipulator Reuters …U.S. President Donald Trump looks unlikely to formally declare China a currency manipulator next week just days after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping, foreign exchange policy experts say, leaving a vocal Trump campaign pledge unmet, at least for now. The U.S. Treasury would have to radically change its definitions of currency manipulation in order to squeeze China into that label for its next report due April 14, said these experts…
Hatch calls for vote on USTR nominee Lighthizer The Hill …A top Senate Republican is planning to move forward with a committee vote on President Trump’s nominee to head the nation’s trade office despite an ongoing feud with Democrats over the process. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said Tuesday that the panel will vote Thursday on the nomination of Robert Lighthizer to serve as the U.S. trade representative (USTR)…
Jobs departing U.S. for Mexico again as Trump’s threats ignored Chicago Tribune …Affter Donald Trump’s election, the flow of manufacturers setting up shop south of the border dwindled to a trickle. But now the pace is picking back up. Illinois Tool Works Inc. will close an auto-parts plant in Mazon, Ill., and head to Ciudad Juarez. Triumph Group Inc. is reducing the Spokane, Wash., workforce that makes fiber-composite parts for Boeing Co. aircraft and moving production to Zacatecas and Baja California…
Trump’s Made in America Slogan Doesn’t Fit Ivanka’s Clothing Line NBC …Despite President Donald Trump’s calls for American companies to manufacture their products in the U.S., shipments of his daughter’s branded, Chinese-made dresses have continued to land on U.S. shores since he took office, documents reviewed by NBC News show. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have a lot to talk about during their first meeting Thursday, including the Trump’s allegations of Chinese currency manipulation and the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs to Beijing’s unfair trade practices…
U.S. labor chief wants more drastic changes to NAFTA from Trump Reuters …Top U.S. labor leader Richard Trumka on Tuesday blasted the Trump administration’s initial plan to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), calling it “very timid.” Speaking before an audience at the National Press Club, Trumka said that the administration could leave the “most oppressive pieces” of NAFTA in place despite President Donald Trump’s harsh criticism of the 23-year-old trade deal with Mexico and Canada…
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Illinois $15 minimum wage clears House committee Chicago Tribune …A proposal to slowly raise Illinois’ minimum wage to $15 an hour cleared a House committee Wednesday despite business concerns. The House Labor and Commerce Committee voted 17 to 6 to recommend HB 198, which would increase the state’s hourly minimum wage from its current level of $8.25 to $15 by 2022…
Labor unions: Iowa’s current legislative session worse than expected Omaha World-Herald …GOP legislators, with support from Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, have tightened the workers’ compensation system, severely limited the scope of collective bargaining rights for public employee unions and banned local minimum wage increases, reversing raises in some counties…
Wisconsin: Scott Walker will ask Trump to let him drug test poor people who need health care Think Progress …The failure of the Republican repeal and replace bill for Obamacare means that governors who want to change Medicaid requirements have to ask the federal government for permission. Walker is readying a request to let his state screen Medicaid applicants for drug use, which he plans to make public on April 19…
California Senate OKs ‘Sanctuary’ State Bill; Critics Fear Losing Federal Money KQED …California’s Senate passed a bill late Monday that would make the state a “sanctuary state,” under which local and state law enforcement agencies would be prohibited from using their resources to help federal immigration officials. The legislation, Senate Bill 54, passed despite last week’s announcement by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions that sanctuary jurisdictions risk losing federal money…
Louisiana governor hopes to increase minimum wage WBRZ …The governor hopes to sway politicians into approving an increase in the state’s minimum wage. The plan was outlined Tuesday as part of Governor John Bel Edwards’ plans for the upcoming regular meeting of state lawmakers at the capitol in downtown Baton Rouge. The session, known as the Regular Session, starts Monday…
Maryland General Assembly approves paid sick leave AP …A measure requiring businesses with 15 or more employees to provide five paid sick days cleared the Maryland General Assembly on Wednesday, sending the bill to Gov. Larry Hogan, who has described it as “job-killing” legislation he intends to veto. The House of Delegates voted 87-53 to agree with changes made by the Senate in a bill that affects hundreds of thousands of state residents…
Pay-Equity Fight Quickens Even Without U.S. Cheerleader-in-Chief Bloomberg …Moeller’s bill would prohibit employers from asking about previous pay as part of the hiring process, modeled on a bill passed in Massachusetts last year. The National Conference of State Legislatures counts Moller’s among more than 60 bills pending in more than 20 states that attempt to address the stubborn fact that nationally, women still make about 82 cents for every $1 earned by a man…
Kentucky legislature stands up to Gov. Bevin (editorial) Richmond Register …Just when it appeared the 2017 session of the General Assembly truly had become a victory lap for Gov. Matt Bevin, an overwhelming majority of the lawmakers found the courage this week to override four of his vetoes. Bevin’s efforts to nullify all or most of the four bills were overturned on the next-to-last day of the session. However, the Republican-controlled House and Senate earlier had virtually turned the 2017 session into the “Matt Bevin Show”…
U.S LABOR
AT&T Union Workers Are Planning Mass Protests Fortune …Thousands of AT&T employees in Nevada and California are planning a massive protest rally in San Jose this weekend to mark the one-year anniversary of the expiration of their union contract with the carrier. The AT&T employees—mostly technicians and call center workers in the Communications Workers of America union—are pressing for better wages and healthcare benefits along with an end to outsourcing of jobs to nonunion workers…
Hollywood on edge as another writers’ strike looms large The Guardian …With new contract negotiations in the offing, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the production bosses have spent much of the past month acting like Truman and Stalin at the outset of the cold war. The writers say they are losing revenue every year – 23% in the last two years alone – and are tethered to deals that undermine job security and constrain their ability to earn a living…
Unions lead protest outside Nissan dealership in Nashville The Tennessean …Union members from seven states, dropped off by bus, marched past empty office buildings and chanted protests before staging a rally across the street from Downtown Nashville Nissan. “Nissan, respect your workers!” the crowd sang in unison, holding signs that read, “Union. Yes.” The Canton plant, which opened in 2003 and where some 5,000 employees work, has long been a focus for UAW…
Central Refrigerated Trial Will Decide Award Damages to Misclassified Truck Drivers Trucks.com …A trial is scheduled for April 25 to decide damages owed to truck drivers after a federal arbitrator found that motor carrier Central Refrigerated Service Inc. misclassified drivers as independent contractors. All aspects of the truck drivers’ workdays were fully controlled by Central Refrigerated based on the equipment leasing and contractor agreements…
Civil Rights Act Protects Gay Workers, Court Rules New York Times …In a significant victory for gay rights, a federal appeals court in Chicago ruled Tuesday that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects gay workers from job discrimination, expanding workplace protections in the landmark law to include sexual orientation. The ruling on Tuesday comes as gay rights advocates have voiced concern about the potential rollback of protections under President Trump…
At Building Trades, Trump promises open door to labor leaders Workday Minnesota …Saying “America’s labor leaders will always find an open door with Donald Trump,” the new Republican U.S. president addressed some 3,000 delegates from Building Trades unions gathered in Washington, D.C. Reactions to Trump’s speech were mixed. Trump drew a smattering of boos when he took several digs at his predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama. “The era of economic surrender has come to an end,” he stated…
Modern-day Braceros: The United States has 450,000 guestworkers in low-wage jobs and doesn’t need more EPI …On César Chávez Day, lost in all the news about the Trump administration’s criminalization and scapegoating of immigrants and attempts to withhold federal funds from cities with policies that protect immigrants, are the 450,000 low-wage-earning migrant workers employed in the United States through the H-2A, H-2B, and J-1 visa temporary foreign worker programs…
Equal Pay Day 2017 actually falls on different days for white women and people of color Mic …If you’re a white woman, your equal pay day already came and went: You’d “only” have to work until March 12 — plus all of 2016 — to earn the same as a man did in 2016 alone. Black women in the United States, on the other hand, wouldn’t have their equal pay day until June 5. And if you’re a Hispanic or Latina woman, you’re going to have to wait until July 25 for your equal pay day…
Sanitation Workers Remember King’s Last Stand NPR …Forty years ago Friday, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed in Memphis, Tenn. He was there to lend his support to sanitation workers — most of them African American — who were on strike, protesting terrible working conditions and low wages. Taylor Rogers and Elmore Nickelberry were among the 1,300 who walked off the job in 1968…
How a Private Prison Company Used Detained Immigrants for Free Labor Mother Jones …The GEO Group, the private prison company that operates Aurora, allegedly forced more than 50,000 immigrants like Ortiz to work without pay or for $1 a day since 2004, according to a lawsuit that nine detainees brought against the company in 2014. On February 27, a federal judge ruled that their case could proceed as a class action…
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Senate Republicans go ‘nuclear,’ pave the way for Gorsuch confirmation to Supreme Court Washington Post …Republicans on Thursday cleared the way for Judge Neil Gorsuch to be confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court, overcoming a historic Democratic blockade by changing the rules of the U.S. Senate. The long-anticipated rules change now means that all presidential nominees for executive branch positions and the federal courts need only a simple-majority vote to be confirmed by senators…
Fight for 15 and Black Lives Matter Join Forces on Anniversary of MLK’s Death American Prospect … On the anniversary of King’s assassination, Fight for 15 workers and Black Lives Matter activists—many already involved in both movements—joined together for a series of protests across the country to elevate their intersecting demands for racial justice and economic justice. The actions today seek to emphasize and build upon African Americans’ inextricable and intertwined struggle for both civil rights and economic justice…
The government’s struggle to hold opioid manufacturers accountable Washington Post …To combat an escalating opioid epidemic, the Drug Enforcement Administration trained its sights in 2011 on Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, but six years later the government has taken no legal action against Mallinckrodt. The case shows how difficult it is for the government to hold a drug manufacturer responsible for the damage done by its product…
Boycotting Bill O’Reilly: Over 50 Advertisers Pull Ads on Fox Show over Sexual Harassment Scandal Democracy Now …The number of advertisers boycotting Bill O’Reilly’s Fox News program has increased to at least 52, following revelations that he and the network paid out $13 million to settle lawsuits by five women who accuse O’Reilly of sexual harassment and inappropriate sexual behavior. Meanwhile, a third Fox News employee has joined a lawsuit charging the network with racial discrimination…
The Koch Caucus Continues Its Assault on Healthcare CMD …The travails of the bill known as “Trumpcare” have been covered extensively in the media, but another aspect of the story has not: the overwhelming majority of Freedom Caucus members have received campaign funding from a PAC funded by the Koch Industries. The Kochs’ unpopular and extreme agenda is reflected in Caucus efforts to make a bad bill even worse…
NYPD officers accessed Black Lives Matter activists’ texts, documents show The Guardian …Undercover officers in the New York police department infiltrated small groups of Black Lives Matter activists and gained access to their text messages, according to newly released NYPD documents obtained by the Guardian. The records provide the most detailed picture yet of the sweeping scope of NYPD surveillance during mass protests…
Judge to Trump: No protection for speech inciting violence AP …A federal judge has rejected President Donald Trump’s free speech defense against a lawsuit accusing him of inciting violence against protesters at a campaign rally. Trump’s lawyers sought to dismiss the lawsuit by three protesters who say they were roughed up by his supporters at a March 1, 2016 rally in Louisville, Kentucky. They argued that Trump didn’t intend for his supporters to use force…
Big bucks in Washington: Right-wing billionaires have made White House staffers multi-millionaires Salon …President Donald Trump’s White House is not only being run by super-wealthy Americans — it is filled with men and women whose far right-wing advocacy also made them rich. These White House staffers have made fortunes as political consultants for America’s most right-wing ideologues, from the billionaire energy magnate Koch brothers to the Mercer family…