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This Week’s Teamster News for Sept. 30 – Oct. 6
TEAMSTERS
Puerto Rico Disaster Relief
Teamster Volunteers Depart for Puerto Rico to Assist with Relief Efforts Teamster.org …Wednesday, 79 Teamster members from across the country departed on a flight out of Newark, N.J. as part of a humanitarian mission organized by labor unions to send volunteers to Puerto Rico to assist in the ongoing hurricane relief efforts. In addition to the 79 Teamsters on the flight, 12 more are flying to Puerto Rico separately from Kentucky and 30 sanitation members from New York are already on the ground…
Teamsters Hit the Ground Running to Assist With Disaster Relief in Puerto Rico Teamster.org …Teamsters from across the country are on the ground in Puerto Rico assisting with disaster relief, following a chartered flight of over 200 union volunteers that arrived in Puerto Rico yesterday. “Teamster volunteers are wasting no time getting the job done in the critical roles of supply delivery, sanitation support, hooking up generators, and debris removal following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa…
Teamsters Recruiting Volunteer Members to Assist Puerto Rico with Transporting Vital Supplies Teamster.org …he International Brotherhood of Teamsters is working closely with Joint Council 16 in New York and the AFL-CIO to provide qualified volunteers to provide much needed support to the people of Puerto Rico. Teamsters Local Union 901 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, an affiliate of Joint Council 16, represents more than 2,000 working men and women across the island…
New York unions send workers, thousands in donations to aid hurricane victims in Puerto Rico NY Daily News …The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, in coordination with New York’s Teamsters Joint Council 16 put out a call for volunteer truck drivers to go to Puerto Rico. They’re needed to help deliver supplies. The New York State Nurses Association is pulling together a team of volunteer healthcare workers…
Teamsters organize truckers to move supplies in Puerto Rico CNN …Major U.S. labor unions are organizing truck drivers to help with relief efforts in Puerto Rico as the island continues to grapple with the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria last week. The Teamsters union and the AFL-CIO, a federation of more than 50 unions, are working together to recruit truckers to travel to Puerto Rico…
Teamsters Denounce False Reports of Work Stoppage by Union Drivers in Puerto Rico Teamster.org … The Teamsters Union denounces reports from online, anti-union sources that stated Teamster truck drivers in Puerto Rico have refused to move supplies from the port as part of an effort to leverage wage increases from the government. These reports are false and have no basis in fact…
Did Puerto Rico’s Teamsters Union Go on Strike During Hurricane Maria Relief Efforts? Snopes …A spokesperson for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters confirmed that Frente Amplio is an independent truck drivers’ union in Puerto Rico and is not affiliated with the Teamsters in any way. In any event, the Conservative Treehouse cites a Wapa TV interview with Victor Rodriguez, President of Frente Amplio, as evidence of a strike…
Fake news posts blame Puerto Rico’s truck drivers for refusing to ship relief supplies Politifact …The post claimed that while the “liberal media” is attacking President Donald Trump’s response to the humanitarian crisis, the real issue is that “the Teamsters Union drivers did not show up to work. But they aren’t right to blame union truckers for the lack of movement. It turns out the blog posts are delivering misinformation about this problem…
Far-right media make up Puerto Rican truck strike to absolve Trump over Hurricane Maria response Media Matter …Far-right and fringe media are baselessly claiming that truck drivers in Puerto Rico have gone on strike in order to benefit themselves and sabotage President Donald Trump’s relief efforts after the island was devastated by Hurricane Maria. The Teamsters Union issued a press release on October 2 denouncing the hoax…
There’s a right-wing conspiracy that union truckers are refusing to deliver crucial supplies in Puerto Rico — here’s the truth Business Insider …The main reason for the shortages is that local truck drivers have been displaced and are difficult to contact, due to fallen power lines. Puerto Rico is also dealing with blocked roads and diesel fuel shortages. On Monday, the Teamsters Union clarified that union workers have been contributing to delivery efforts “since day one”…
Community Action
Las Vegas Teamsters Encouraged to Give Blood Teamster.org …The Teamsters Union is asking all of our Las Vegas members in Locals 14, 631 and 986 to donate blood at their earliest convenience to assist the community in this time of need. With Sunday night’s terrible tragedy, the blood supply is running low and donations are urgently needed. There are four blood banks in Las Vegas…
Teamsters Sponsor Non-profit that Reaches Out to Vets in Need Teamster.org …Teamsters Airline Division Chairman Capt. David Bourne and Economics and Contracts Director Jim Kimball participated in a hospital visit over the weekend as part of their work with a non-profit that they coordinate closely with and raise money for, “Ipods for Wounded Veterans.” The non-profit, an organization that is completely run by volunteers, was started by a retired Teamster, Paul Cardello of Local 170 in Worcester, Mass…
Teamsters Local 769 Takes Charge in Florida Keys After Irma Teamster.org …At a park in the Bahama Village neighborhood of Key West, the fact that it’s 90 degrees and humid isn’t discouraging Teamster members and their community partners from unloading a packed freight truck. Time is of the essence, and nobody can wait for the sun to go down. “When people see a trailer coming in here, you see a look of surprise and pure happiness on people’s faces,” said Stefan McLane, a member of Local 769 in Miami…
Locals
Two Teamsters among dead in Vegas shooting People’s World …Two Teamsters members from California, Dana Gardner of Local 1932 in San Bernardino, and Rachael Parker of Local 911, a police records clerk from Manhattan Beach, were among 59 people killed in the shooting massacre in Las Vegas the night of October 1-2, the Southern California Teamster reported. A kindergarten teacher from southern California, Jenny Parks, a member of a National Education Association local there, also was shot to death…
Teamsters not happy with nurses’ lockout; impact on hospital services still unclear Berkshire Eagle …Striking nurses won support from other area unions Tuesday, and a big one in particular – the Teamsters. In a letter to Berkshire Medical Center’s chief executive, Teamsters Joint Council 10 New England said it hoped the hospital would negotiate with the Massachusetts Nurses Association and not go forward with a four-day lockout starting Wednesday…
Teamsters Local 700 Wins Insurance Reimbursement for Grundy County Sergeants Local 700 …Nine Grundy County sergeants that are represented by Teamsters Local 700 will be made whole after an arbitrator decided they shall receive reimbursement for insurance premiums that their employer failed to pay for. The sergeants’ previous health insurance plan was cancelled at the end of January. When the Sheriff and the County did not provide a replacement plan and told the sergeants to get their own health insurance, Local 700 filed an unfair labor practice…
APP Teamsters Vote Unanimously in Favor of Strike Action Teamster.org …This Sunday, Teamsters from APP/World Fuel Services showed the incredible power of solidarity as they voted unanimously in favor of a strike action at their employer. The group of almost 90 fuel truck drivers have been fighting for a first contract for nearly a year, and this strike authorization vote was an important next step in that battle. The APP drivers voted to join Teamsters Local 174…
Following Teamster rallies, St. Paul public schools agree to $15 minimum wage Fox …After their previous contract expired June 30, dozens of St. Paul Public Schools nutrition services workers took their fight for a living wage to a School Board meeting last month–and it seems to have paid off. The district announced Tuesday that it would increase its minimum-wage to $15 for all employees by 2020, including the group of 110 nutrition services workers that rallied with Local 320…
Atlas Air vs pilots clash gets court date as protests hit Miami symposium The Load Star …Pilots and members of the Teamsters Local 1224 union have concerns about the “intensifying staffing crisis” they claim is driving operational challenges at Atlas. Executive council chairman of Local 1224, and Atlas pilot, Robert Kirchner said the operation at Atlas was “falling apart” because of “chronic mismanagement” and a lack of operational personnel…
Political Action
Hoffa: Senate Committee Right in Reining in Push to Include Trucks in Legislation Teamster.org …Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa in response to today’s passage of S. 1885, the AV Start Act, out of the Senate Commerce Committee: “The Teamsters continue to follow the development of autonomous driving technology closely, tracking the potential impact on both hundreds of thousands of Teamster members as well as on the broader motoring public”…
Hoffa: NAFTA Should Deal With Trucking, Labor The Detroit News …As governments continue to grapple with much-needed changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), U.S. and Canadian Teamsters have joined together to stand up for workers and push for policy changes that will improve their lives and livelihoods. While the third round of renegotiations of the trade pact ended last week, the status of many important issues remains in flux…
Teamsters Decry House Panel’s Passage of Bill Rolling Back Worker Protections Teamster.org …Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa in response to the House Education and Workforce Committee’s approval of a measure that would roll back the 2015 NLRB “joint employer” ruling handed down in the case of Teamster employer Browning-Ferris Industries, Inc.: “Committee lawmakers have thumbed their noses at workers by voting to again allow shady businesses to manipulate the system to avoid their obligations to temporary and contracted workers”…
National Campaigns
UPS Teamsters Convene National Grievance Committee Panels UPS Rising …Representatives and leaders of UPS and UPS Freight Teamster local unions are meeting this week in Seattle for Teamsters National Grievance Committee panel sessions. Across the table from company representatives, subcommittees are hearing dozens of grievance cases on subcontracting, 9.5 violations, safety and health violations, and other issues…
Fighting the Opioid Epidemic by Targeting Big Pharma’s Bottom Line The Nation …The Teamsters, whose members have struggled with the crisis of both illegal and legal opioid abuse, are wielding their shareholder power to link Big Pharma’s primary distributors to the logistical chain swelling opioid markets to a breaking point. At the August shareholder’s meeting of pharmaceutical wholesaler McKesson, the union leadership, as direct share owners, called for reforms…
BLET: coordinated Bargaining Group unions reach tentative national contract agreement BLET.org …Rail Unions making up the Coordinated Bargaining Group (CBG) announced today that they have reached a Tentative National Agreement with the Nation’s Freight Rail Carriers. The CBG is comprised of six unions, including the American Train Dispatchers Association; the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (a Division of the Rail Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters)…
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Italy: Poste Italiane says parcel strike hitting it hard Reuters …The head of one of Poste Italiane’s parcel units said on Wednesday a month-long strike by workers at some contractors was crippling parcel deliveries and hurting restructuring plans. Workers in Italy’s business capital went on strike after losing their jobs at a firm that used to be an SDA contractor and were then re-hired on worse terms by another company that also handles parcels for SDA…
Spain: Rail, roads closed amid Catalonia workers’ strike Newshub …Barcelona metro stations closed, pickets blocked main roads and civil servants have walked out in response to a strike called by pro-independence groups after hundreds were injured in a Spanish police crackdown on a banned independence referendum. Tuesday’s stoppages, originally billed as a region-wide general strike but disavowed by Spain’s largest unions, affected the public sector, public transport and basic services…
Thai Public Employees Campaign to Save Jobs, Union Rights Solidarity Center …Public-sector employees in Thailand are stepping up their campaign to save jobs and hard-won benefits that would be lost if lawmakers approve a draft law privatizing state-owned companies. Some 50,000 state enterprise workers will lose their jobs or transfer to companies with fewer benefits, and their collective bargaining process will also be at risk under the Public Holding Company Act…
Canada’s wake-up call to the US on NAFTA CNN …President Donald Trump, a loud and persistent critic of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), recently began renegotiating this trade deal with Canada and Mexico. The President promised to secure a fair deal for American workers. That sounds great. After all, we don’t think Americans should be forced to compete with poorly paid workers from Mexico or elsewhere, and we can demand that companies that want to trade with us lift wages, benefits, and health and safety standards for their foreign workers…
Mexico economy minister downplays trade deficits ahead of NAFTA talks Reuters …As the United States, Mexico and Canada prepare for another round of negotiations to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexico’s economy minister on Tuesday urged the parties to stop fixating on trade deficits between the countries. The trade disparity between the U.S. and Mexico has been a frequent complaint of President Donald Trump…
U.S., South Korea Announce Plans to Tweak Trade US News & World Report …Despite weeks of South Korean skepticism over the prospects of retooling its trade agreement with the U.S., the two sides appeared to make headway Wednesday as Seoul’s trade ministry identified a need to “amend” and “enhance mutual benefits” related to bilateral trade. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has been in discussions with his South Korean counterparts…
Round Of NAFTA Negotiations Over, ATA Strongly Supports Mexican Truck Program Go By Truck …The negotiations are continuing at an unprecedented pace, and the United States looks forward to hosting the next round in Washington, DC in about two weeks. The American Trucking Associations strongly weighed in on their position regarding the Mexican truck program. Chief Economist and Senior Vice President Robert Costello stated in a Sept. 29 letter to Lighthizer that the trucking lobby supports the Mexican truck program…
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Ohio minimum wage set to rise to $8.30 an hour Canton Rep …Ohio’s minimum wage is set to rise 15 cents to $8.30 per hour starting Jan. 1, putting it more than $1 above the federal rate. For tipped employees, the new wage will go from $4.08 per hour to $4.15, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce. Under a constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2006, Ohio’s minimum wage rises each year by the rate of inflation…
Minimum wage increasing in Montana KPAX …Montana’s minimum wage is increasing 15 cents an hour to $8.30 on Jan. 1. State law requires the Department of Labor and Industry to adjust the minimum wage based on the rate of inflation. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased by 1.939 percent between August 2016 and August 2017…
California Turns Itself Into A ‘Sanctuary State’ Huffington Post …California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a “sanctuary state” bill on Thursday that will limit the extent to which local and state enforcement can cooperate with federal immigration officials. It’s the most significant legislative step in the state’s efforts to resist President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant policies…
West Virginia Justice Davis blasts colleagues in right-to-work dissent Gazette Mail …In a dissent to the majority opinion that last month dissolved a temporary injunction blocking enforcement of the state’s new right-to-work law, state Supreme Court Justice Robin Davis blasted colleagues for focusing on the law as a policy issue, rather than as a violation of constitutional rights. The majority opinion, issued Sept. 15, did not directly address the unions’ argument, except to note that similar right-to-work laws in 28 states have been upheld…
California teachers, other school employees could get 6 weeks paid maternity leave San Francisco Chronicle …Almost all teachers and other employees in California public schools and community colleges would get six weeks of fully paid maternity leave starting next year under a bill that is awaiting Gov. Jerry Brown’s approval. Proponents say AB568 would help schools attract and retain staff at a time when many are facing teacher shortages…
DC: Paid Family Leave May Be Law, But Some Big Details Are Still Up For Debate WAMU …It’s been almost a year since a super-majority of the D.C. Council approved a bill guaranteeing workers in D.C. up to eight weeks of paid family leave, but next week legislators will re-open debate on the issue and consider a number of measures that could change who’s on the hook for funding the leave program — and what they’ll have to pay….
Puerto Rico: White House Dials Back Trump’s Vow to Clear Debt New York Times …The Trump administration on Wednesday walked back the president’s apparent vow to wipe out Puerto Rico’s debt, suggesting that the island would have to solve its own fiscal woes despite the catastrophic damage it has endured from two powerful hurricanes. “I wouldn’t take it word for word with that,” Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said on CNN in reference to President Trump’s suggestion that the United States might clear Puerto Rico’s debt…
Puerto Ricans Protest Trump’s Visit, Denounce Militarization Amid Lack of Aid Distribution Democracy Now …President Trump traveled to Puerto Rico, some two weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, destroying its electrical grid and leaving more than half of Puerto Rico’s three-and-a-half million residents with no access to clean water. Trump’s visit comes just two days after he called Puerto Rican leaders who have criticized his hurricane response “politically motivated ingrates,” and said Puerto Ricans, quote, “want everything to be done for them”…
U.S. LABOR
Striking Charter Workers Plan To Escalate Battle With the Cable Company Fortune …Around 1,800 striking Charter Communications workers in New York are looking to escalate their battle with management as their walkout drags into a seventh month. Representatives for Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union are starting an online ad campaign attacking Charter, which offers cable TV and Internet service under the Spectrum brand in New York…
Union Says Nissan Surveils Workers at Mississippi Plant Bloomberg …The United Auto Workers accused Nissan Motor Co. of illegally tracking and rating employees by their union sentiments for years at a Mississippi assembly plant where workers voted down representation last month. The union alleges the automaker “continues to maintain an employee surveillance, data collection and rating system that records employee union activity and rates workers”…
TimkenSteel, United Steelworkers reach tentative contract Cleveland Business …TimkenSteel and the United Steelworkers Local 1123 have reached a tentative agreement on a four-year contract, the Canton-based company announced Tuesday, Oct. 3. While specific details weren’t provided in a news release, the tentative pact calls for increases to permanent base wages each year of the contract and health care and retirement benefits for all members…
Los Angeles Times Newsroom, Challenging Tronc, Goes Public With Union Push New York Times …Newsroom employees at The Los Angeles Times are trying to form a union, setting up a potential clash with the newspaper’s parent company, Tronc. After months of organizing, the committee behind the push for a union drafted a one-page letter laying out its reasoning. The letter also says “a majority of the newsroom” had signed union cards supporting representation by the News Guild…
Ben & Jerry’s Strikes Deal to Improve Migrant Dairy Workers’ Conditions New York Times …On Tuesday, the ice cream maker, which is based in Vermont, signed an agreement with a farmworkers’ group that establishes labor standards for the company’s suppliers in the state, and creates an enforcement strategy that encourages workers to speak up about violations. The agreement borrows heavily from an arrangement called the Fair Food Program that was put in place in 2011 to address troubling conditions in Florida’s tomato industry….
Foreign farmworkers’ unusual strike in Central Washington shows new labor muscle Seattle Times …On a recent blustery evening, Mexican workers gathered for a meal of grilled meats to celebrate the end of their six-day strike in the apple orchards of Central Washington. The 17 workers reached a settlement that obligates their employer — Larson Fruit — to address complaints ranging from a scarcity of toilet paper to verbal abuse from a supervisor…
AFL-CIO, several unions send volunteers to Puerto Rico People’s World …ome 275 volunteers – pilots, mechanics, flight attendants and other workers – took off from Newark International Airport on October 4 on a union-sponsored relief mission to hurricane-smashed Puerto Rico, the AFL-CIO announced. Some 50 unionized registered nurses, members of National Nurses United, flew in from San Francisco the day before to join the mission…
Supreme Court, spurred by Trump’s lawyers, could achieve backdoor repeal of workers’ rights laws Los Angeles Times …Thhe Supreme Court opens its term on Monday with Trump administration lawyers arguing for a pro-business ruling that could bar workers from joining together to challenge the legality of their company’s workplace rules, including on wages and overtime pay…
The Supreme Court Returns to Washington, and Workers Are on the Menu The Nation …With Neil Gorsuch, the man who occupies a seat that Republicans held open for more than a year in the hopes that Donald Trump would get to fill it, now beginning his first full term, the Court’s Republican majority appears emboldened. Last week, the Court announced that it will hear Janus v. AFSCME, a suit seeking to sabotage public-sector unions…
Trump administration sides with employers against NLRB in major labor case before Supreme Court St. Louis Post-Dispatch …The U.S. Supreme Court kicks off its new nine-month term on Monday with a major employment case that could deprive workers of the ability to join together to file lawsuits when taking on companies over a wide range of labor disputes. President Donald Trump’s administration will argue alongside companies that agreements requiring workers to arbitrate disputes with their employers individually, rather than bringing class-action lawsuits collectively with their co-workers, are valid…
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
There’s one clear winner from Trump’s tax plan: The bottom line of giant corporations CNBC …As the debate continues over who will benefit most from the Trump administration’s tax reform plan, one clear winner will be corporate America’s bottom line. Estimates being tossed around by Wall Street analysts have companies overall getting an extra 7 to 12 percent boost in profits, with some banks reaping 25 percent growth above current estimates…
Trump administration weighing executive order on welfare Politico …Trump administration officials are mulling an executive order that would instruct federal agencies to review low-income assistance programs, part of a coming effort to make sweeping changes to the country’s welfare system. The White House began circulating a draft order to federal agencies for comment last week…
The Trump administration didn’t notify immigrants about an abrupt deadline to renew DACA Vox …Officially, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program ends on March 5, 2018. In practice, the doors of the program are about to slam shut. No one has been able to apply for new protections under the program since the Trump administration officially announced its recession of DACA on September 5…
At least 59 dead, more than 500 injured in Las Vegas shooting AOL …A retiree armed with multiple assault rifles strafed an outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas from a high-rise hotel window on Sunday, slaughtering at least59 people before killing himself in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The barrage of gunfire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel into a crowd of 22,000 people came in extended bursts…
As Las Vegas Massacre Toll Rises, Calls Grow for Background Checks on Nevada Gun Sales Democracy Now …Nevada has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the country and doesn’t require firearms owners to have licenses or register their weapons, and does not limit the number of firearms one can possess. Gun experts say Paddock may have used a trigger device—available for purchase online for as little as $40—that can turn a semi-automatic assault rifle into a fully automatic machine gun…
There’s Been a Startling Shift in National Support for Protesting Players The Nation …Even though these brave athletes have been called anti-US, anti-military, and anti–apple pie, public opinion has shifted in their favor. According to a USA Today poll, “Most Americans say the protests by NFL players during the National Anthem are appropriate, a USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds, and they say, by overwhelming margins, that President Trump’s heated criticism of them are not.” The numbers to back that up—in these draining, dark times—are cause for hope…
9 Million Kids Might Lose Health Care Because Congress Failed to Reauthorize a Crucial Program Splinter …The Children’s Health Insurance Program, a federally funded initiative that provides health insurance for 9 million children, expired over the weekend after congress failed to reauthorize the program. Preoccupied with ripping away health care from another 32 million people by passing Graham-Cassidy, congressional leaders missed a crucial deadline to re-approve funding for CHIP…
World Animal Day Takes ‘Dark’ Turn as Interior Dept Denies Protections for 25 Species Common Dreams …As Republicans in the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee advanced legislation that would “cripple” the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on Wednesday—which happened to be World Animal Day—the Trump administration’s Interior Department denied petitions to protect 25 species…