Future Of Bus Driver's Union Up In The Air In Bennington  Daily Reporter   ...The outcome of a vote on whether employees of the Green Mountain Express company in Vermont will join the Teamsters Union is up in the air...
Bill de Blasio takes on Teamsters and Liam Neeson as he tries to ban New York's horse carriages  Guardian   ...The city's major newspapers have come out against the proposed ban and the powerful Teamsters union has mobilised in support of the carriage drivers, stable owners and stable hands...
153 Democratic Lawmakers Push U.S. To Toughen Up Trans-Pacific Partnership Rules  Raw Story   ...U.S. trade negotiators must insist on tough standards on human and workers' rights in a Pacific trading deal spanning 12 countries, more than 150 Democratic lawmakers said in a letter to the Obama administration on Thursday...
Rip Up The TTIP opinion  The Scottish Farmer   ...It may sound like just another annoying agri-politics acronym, but European milk industry leaders should be very concerned about the TTIP--the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership...
State Battles
Scott Walker Is Falling Apart: The Little Corruption Problem He Just Can't Shake  Salon.com   ...Walker has a corruption problem he just can't seem to shake. In brief, the governor is being investigated by prosecutors for illegally coordinating with conservative groups, an investigation that sprang from an earlier one investigating Walker's previous tenure as Milwaukee County executive...
Scott Walker says he won't back away from allies in Doe probe  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...Walker also expressed surprise with a recent Wall Street Journal editorial that criticized alleged settlement talks between the Walker campaign and special prosecutor Francis Schmitz...
War On Workers
What McDonald's Owes Its Workers  CNN Money   ...Thompson's pay for one day (based on 365 days a year) in 2013 was 1.4 times the average annual rate of a full-time fast food worker. McDonald's did not respond to a request for a comment on worker pay issues...
Walmart defends ‘overpaid’ executives  New York Post   ...Walmart is refusing to budge an inch after critics bashed the retail giant for overpaying its executives while they mishandled a probe into charges that it systematically bribed officials in Mexico...
Chicopee Walmart site of new skirmish over wages and work conditions  MassLive   ...At the customer service desk, she presented her boss with a letter outlining the reasons for her strike, including unreasonable scheduling, lack of benefits and other practices...
Will The Supreme Court Undermine Public-Sector Labor Rights?  The Hill   ...Before late June, the Supreme Court will rule on Harris v. Quinn, perhaps the most important labor case to come before it in several decades. If the court sides with the extremist National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation (NRTW) which appealed the case after losing before the Seventh Circuit and lower courts, it could inflict a major blow on unions that represent public sector employees...
House GOP Votes Down Measure Aimed At Curbing Wage Theft  Huffington Post   ...Early Friday morning, House Republicans voted down a measure that would have discouraged the government from giving contracts to companies that have committed wage theft...
Big Money, The Koch Brothers And Me  Politico   ...The richest Americans have always used their fortunes to try and tilt America's political landscape to their liking. The robber barons spent unknown millions financing William McKinley's 1896 Presidential election...
Shinseki Resigns Amid Veterans' Health Care Issues  Christian Science Monitor   ... Lawmakers are now calling for a complete overhaul of the VA system, including Sen. Charles Schumer...
U.S. Ranks Alongside Indonesia And Thailand On Workers Rights  Think Progress   ...The United States ranks in the bottom half of the world when it comes to labor rights, according to a new global comparison from an international labor coalition that represents 176 million workers from 161 different nations...
Justice Department Seeks More Than $10 Billion From PNB Paribas  Wall Street Journal   ...U.S. authorities are pushing BNP Paribas to pay more than $10 billion to end a criminal probe into allegations the bank evaded U.S. sanctions...
Posted by Teamster Power at 8:19 AM Labels: bank criminality, bus drivers, Koch brothers, mcdonald's, scott walker, supreme court, Teamsters, TPP, Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement, unionization, wage theft, workers rights

Teamsters, others, to take action against Walmart poverty wages

On June 4th, Walmart Associates, Teamsters, members of other unions, faith communities, community groups, allied groups and students are coming together to take action against poverty wages.

OUR Walmart members will be striking in key locations across the country to protest Walmart’s illegal retaliation against associates who have spoken up about inequality and have struck. Associates want Walmart to raise wages to $25,000. Actions will be taken in solidarity with Walmart associates all over the country and online.

You can support by signing onto a solidarity statement here. Please sign onto the statement by Tuesday June 3! You can also participate in a local action in your city or state. To find a local action click here.

Teamsters have been in the midst of the broad movement to raise wages and get the U.S. economy moving again. Recently, striking port drivers at the Port of LA/Long Beach marched alongside Teamsters, longshoremen and Walmart workers to protest retaliation against drivers who tried to form a union for better pay and working conditions. Teamsters and Taylor Farms workers who hope to become Teamsters stood in solidarity with fast-food worker strikes. Some of our brothers in Los Angeless got arrested during a Walmart strike last year. And Teamsters all over the country have supported striking low-wage workers in warehouses, at fast food restaurants, at government-contracted worksites and at Walmart stores. The news media is paying attention to the latest wave of low-wage worker strikes. The Guardian reports:

Walmart workers and supporters in the trade union movement say they intend to stage a new series of protests over wages and conditions at America's largest private employer, in which they will target the firm's family-friendly ethic ahead of its annual shareholders meeting next week.

Hundreds of so-called “Walmart moms” who work at stores across the US plan a number of strikes in 20 cities nationwide. Others will travel to Arkansas, the company’s home state, to provide a visual presence to shareholders, workers’ rights groups said on Thursday.

The actions will follow a series of “Black Friday” rallies last year, which came after a House of Representatives committee report found taxpayers were subsidising workers at just one Walmart store to the tune of $1m a year in food stamps and other public-assistance programmes, because of the low wages they took home.

So if you want to show solidarity with Walmart associates, click here.

Posted by Teamster Power at 2:43 PM Labels: low-wage workers, strike, Walmart

US economy shrinks, and New York Times says it's bad for....who???

We had to laugh at this New York Times story about the U.S. economy shrinking: The newspaper wrote it's bad for the White House.

Really? The White House? How about the millions of other people in this country whose wages are falling, who are losing their homes, who can't get a job, who shoulder enormous student debt, who work for temp agencies at poverty wages for years, who are middle-aged and living with their parents, who are 50 years old and scared to lose their jobs because they'll never get another one, who are 60 years old with no retirement savings, who graduated from college and are working at a fast-food restaurant, who got fired for trying to form a union, who are 76 and still working, who have given up looking for work because there are no jobs, who are dipping into their 401(k) plans before they retire?

A shrinking economy means things got worse for them.

This is what the New York Times actually published:

The Commerce Department said on Thursday that the nation’s overall output shrank at an annual rate of 1 percent in the first three months of the year ...It is the first quarter in three years in which the nation’s output of goods and services has contracted.
The figures are bad news for the White House...

Maybe it's just an attempt at self-parody...

(Anyhoo, the good news is that commercial activity appears to be picking up.)
Posted by Teamster Power at 1:04 PM Labels: economy, retirement, student debt, unemployment, wages

Today's Teamster News 05.30.14

MORENO VALLEY: Union vote nixed at food company  Press Enterprise   ...An Inland-based Teamsters local attempting to organize workers at a Moreno Valley food distribution center has canceled an election that had been scheduled for today, claiming that the company continues to threaten and intimidate employees...
Teamsters target Florida West International Airways  teamster.org   ... Today, the Teamsters Airline Division announced the start of a new initiative to organize pilots at Florida West International Airways (FWIA), a cargo airline based out of Miami International Airport. The pilots fly routes throughout the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean...
Teamsters ratify 4 contracts with Pekin  Journal Star   ...The Teamsters represent four units that work for the city — the street department, the wastewater plant workers, solid waste department workers and a general unit that represents bus drivers, mechanics, secretaries, clerks and others...
EU Elections Pose New Threat To Trade Deal  Financial Times   ...EU and US officials are increasingly concerned about the impact on transatlantic trade talks of a surge in support for anti-establishment parties in European elections, raising the prospect for delays as they adapt to a new political reality...
Fort Wayne Moves To End Collective Bargaining  WSBT   ...Indiana's second-largest city is poised to end collective bargaining with all city employees except police and firefighters under a measure a union official said is being pushed by "far-right politicians" to the detriment of hundreds of hard-working public employees...
Why Is The Wall Street Journal Livid That Scott Walker Wants A John Doe Settlement  PR Watch   ...Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's campaign is reportedly negotiating a settlement with prosecutors in the long-running "John Doe" criminal campaign finance probe -- and the editorial board, which for months has attacked prosecutors and portrayed the investigation as baseless, is livid...
Seattle City Council panel OKs $15 minimum wage  Associated Press   ... City Council members approved a delay to the implementation of the ordinance, from Jan. 1, 2015 to April 1, 2015...
An End to Sweatshop-Made City Workers’ Uniforms in Chicago?  In These Times   ...the people who make those same uniforms are unlikely to have any protections from the wage theft, locked fire exit doors and precarious buildings they could be facing on the job. A new ordinance introduced in the Chicago City Council on May 28 aims to fix that inconsistency. If the ordinance is passed, Chicago will join Los Angeles, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Boston and Seattle in attempting to enforce labor rights for factory workers…
U.S. Economy Shrinks For The First Time In 3 Years  Huffington Post   ...The U.S. economy contracted for the first time in three years as it buckled under the weight of a severe winter, but there are signs activity has since rebounded...
Walmart Moms’ Walkout Starts Friday  In These Times   ... hundreds of mothers who work at Walmart stores throughout the country will begin walking off the job on Friday, a week before the company's shareholders meet in Bentonville, Arkansas. The action will culminate in a nationwide strike on Wednesday, June 4...
Few workers confident of easy retirement  USA Today   ...Only 28% of U.S. workers are "very" or "extremely" confident that they'll one day fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle; a third are somewhat confident...
In New Orleans, Major School District Closes Traditional Public Schools For Good  Washington Post   ...The second-graders paraded to the Dumpster in the rear parking lot, where they chucked boxes of old work sheets, notebooks and other detritus into the trash, emptying their school for good. Benjamin Banneker Elementary closed Wednesday as New Orleans’s Recovery School District permanently shuttered its last five traditional public schools this week...
Northwestern And Its Football Players May Have To Wait For Clarity About Unionizing  Chicago Business Journal   ...When the Northwestern football team starts practice for the 2014 season in early August, will there be clarity about whether the team has the right to unionize? Frankly, it's unclear at this point. But here is what is known about where things stand right now...
Here's What Corporate America Really Thinks About You  Huffington Post   ...If you are an American human being today, ... what you really are is a sadly predictable agglomeration of demographic traits and buying habits. This is just how the world works, according to our many "data brokers," who pretty much know everything. These are companies that tirelessly scour the Internet, government records and anyplace else we might leave a mark on this mortal coil and then use the information they glean to help companies sell crap to you...
Harry Reid's Attacks On Koch Brothers Send GOP Donors Into The Shadows  Washington Post   ...Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid's relentless attacks on the billionaire Koch brothers are having an unforeseen impact--spurring other wealthy GOP donors to give more money to groups that keep their supporters' names secret...
The Wal-Mart Free City  The New Yorker   ...In October, the city council of Portland, Oregon, ... adopted a resolution banning Walmart—and Walmart alone— from the city’s investment portfolio. The resolution, unanimously approved, cited an anonymous executive who was quoted in Charles Fishman’s 2006 book, “The Wal-Mart Effect,” saying, “They have killed free-market capitalism in America.”...
Posted by Teamster Power at 7:14 AM Labels: charter schools, corporate greed, economic insecurity, Gov. Scott Walker, investigation, Koch brothers, NSA, political corruption, Teamsters, Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement, Wal-Mart, workers rights

California bill to make employers responsible for temp hires moves forward in Legislature

The Teamsters bill to establish joint employer liability for employers when their temporary agencies break California labor laws passed the Assembly Floor with 45 votes.

That's the great news from Brother Doug Bloch, political director for Teamsters Joint Council 7 in California.

You may remember how Teamsters and Taylor Farms workers lobbied lawmakers earlier this month on the bill. Here's a picture: Brother Doug continued:

This was a tremendous collective effort on the part of many of our Joint Council 7 and 42 Local unions.  We really saw what happens when our Locals get involved in politics on the local level -- making endorsements and DRIVE contributions -- and how that helped us influence legislators.  We reached out to legislators in their districts, making a big difference.

Furthermore, in our effort to connect organizing and legislation, we put Taylor Farms and their temporary agencies front and center in this fight, with workers and Teamsters hitting the capitol on three separate lobby days, mobilizing over 100 people.  The bravery of Taylor Farms workers and the horror stories they told led some opponents of the bill to distance themselves from Taylor Farms as a "bad actor" in this industry.

Next we move on to the Senate.  A great effort so far with more work to come!

Looking forward to another Teamster victory!

Posted by Teamster Power at 5:20 PM Labels: california, JC42, JC7, temporary workers

Walmart moms to strike in 20 cities as low-wage worker movement builds momentum

The broad movement to raise wages for American workers will surge ahead next week as Walmart moms plan to strike in more than 20 cities starting as early as tomorrow. They are walking off the job to protest illegal firings of their co-workers who asked for more hours and better pay.

Workers, unionized and non-unionized, have stood shoulder-to-shoulder during the wave of one-day strikes that are becoming a regular occurrence. Food processing workers, Teamsters, fast food workers, longshoremen, UFCW members, warehouse workers and port truck drivers have all walked the picket line together in the past year.

According to the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart), Walmart workers will also demand change at Walmart's annual meeting. The strikes are beginning to work, according to OUR Walmart:

Recently, Walmart improved its pregnancy policy after OUR Walmart members, who are also shareholders, submitted a resolution to the company about its pregnancy policy. And, responding to OUR Walmart members’ growing calls on the retailer to improve access to hours, Walmart rolled out a new system nationwide that allows workers to sign up for open shifts in their stores online...

The majority of Walmart workers are paid less than $25,000 a year – forcing many to rely on food stamps and other taxpayer-supported programs to survive. Working women—increasingly the breadwinners and decision makers in households—make up the majority of Walmart’s workforce and are often hit hardest by the employer’s poverty wages.
As the peerless Hamilton Nolan reported at Gawker, Walmart scrimps on its workers but not on its executives:

The problems afflicting crap mecca Walmart extend beyond its persecuted work force, all the way into the corporate executive suite. A new report from an outside overseer says the famously cheap company doesn't mind burning tons of money to benefit top executives.

Institutional Shareholder Services is a firm that examines the corporate practices of companies and then advises big investors on how to vote on various company issues. ISS is far from a radical group. Its focus is simply on making sure companies are well-run. Its recommendations are closely followed by investors representing bazillions of dollars. The Wall Street Journal reports that ISS is now advising its clients that the chairman of Walmart's board needs to tossed out for being too cozy with company executives, and that the company's executive pay needs to be reined in, because it is too easy for Walmart executives to get big paydays regardless of the company's declining performance over the past year-plus...

A new report from Americans for Tax Fairness shows Walmart and the Waltons received an estimated estimated $7.8 billion in tax breaks and subsidies in 2013. If that ticks you off, consider participating in Walmart actions. Just click here. North Carolina tries to stifle dissent (VIDEO)

North Carolina's anti-worker Legislature is trying to severely limit protest outside the Statehouse, after hundreds were arrested last year for demonstrating against laws that raised taxes on the poor, lowered them on the rich, slashed education and suppressed voting.

The protests became known as the Moral Monday movement, and they undoubtedly embarrassed North Carolina lawmakers.

WNCN reports:

The new rules, which were changes to existing rules, were passed Thursday by the Legislative Services Commission. The committee had not met since 1999, and the rules had not been altered since 1987...

Rep. Larry Hall, A Democrat and the House minority leader, said, "This is not regarding safety. This is limiting people's ability to have their voices heard."

The new rules do not allow groups to "disturb, or create an imminent disturbance," at the General Assembly.

They state that visitors may be asked to leave the Legislative Building if they are found to be disturbing "the General Assembly, one of its houses, or its committees, members, or staff in the performance of their duties."

The Rev. William Barber, who led the Moral Monday protests, said the protests will start next week even if the new rules are passed:

Barber said the protests will replicate last year's and arrests will be up to the Legislature's police.

In a statement Thursday afternoon, Barber said,"Speaker Thom Tillis and the extremists he leads are attempting to undermine, stifle and stop the voice of the people."

Barber said that courts would uphold the North Carolina Constitution, which states, "The people have a right to assemble together to consult for their common good, to instruct their representatives, and to apply to the General Assembly for redress of grievances."

Barber said the new rules violate the First Amendment rights to free speech and are "highly offensive and prejudicial to African Americans, minorities, women, the poor, LGBT people and faith communities who have been historically criticized for being abnormal to the so-called mainstream of our country whenever they have chosen to protest."

Posted by Teamster Power at 4:30 PM Labels: Moral Mondays, north carolina, stop the war on workers protests

Today's Teamster News 05.29.14

The fight to save an industry and middle class jobs from imports  Cleveland Plain Dealer   ...The United States is losing middle class jobs; but those in the fight to limit steel imports are hoping they will be able to offer an example on how to save them. At its core, the effort to limit steel imports is part of a much bigger effort to save American jobs. Not just any job, but “decent-paying” and “family supporting” jobs, to draw upon the chants of organized labor...
City council votes to repeal collective bargaining for some workers  WANE.com   ...In a 7-2 vote Tuesday night, Fort Wayne City Council approved an ordinance that will remove collective bargaining for some city workers. Council members had three ordinances to vote on Tuesday that would affect collective bargaining rights for most of the city’s union workers...
Scientists: Florida's congressional map is 'partisan gerrymander'  Orlando Sentinel   ...The coalition of groups trying to prove Florida's congressional map was intentionally gerrymandered to help Republicans turned to experts Tuesday who testified it was "virtually impossible" to have drawn the maps without political bias...
Supreme Court case could impact public unions   Philadelphia Inquirer   ...A largely overlooked Supreme Court case has the potential to fundamentally alter the right of public employees to unionize — and a ruling could be handed down as early as this week...
American jails have become the new mental asylums – and you're paying the bill (opinion)  Guardian   ...As sheriff, I run the Cook County Jail, the largest jail on a single site in the country with approximately 10,000 inmates on any given day – and approximately 30% of them suffering from a serious mental illness...
How Tech Companies Tricked A Generation Into Working For Free  Forbes   ...Valve’s Steam service is building an ecosystem of unwaged user productivity, selling games through its “Early Access” program, essentially allowing game developers to charge players to beta test their games in exchange for the flattering thrill of seeing something before it’s ready...
The Worst Places On The Planet To Be A Worker  Huffington Post   ...The U.S., embarrassingly, scored a 4, indicating "systematic violations" and "serious efforts to crush the collective voice of workers."s...
Walmart's Penny Pinching Doesn't Extend To Executives, Says Report  Gawker   ...The problems afflicting crap mecca Walmart extend beyond its persecuted workforce, all the way into the corporate executive suite. A new report from an outside overseer says the famously cheap company doesn't mind burning tons of money to benefit top executives...
Walmart Workers Launch Effort To Unseat Rob Walton As Chair  Forbes Magazine   ...Walmart has a new CEO in Doug McMillon, a one-time warehouse worker who took over the top job this year. Is it time for a new chairman too? A coalition of Walmart workers believe so, and they're mobilizing fellow shareholders in an effort to boot billionaire Rob Walton off the board at the big box giant's annual meeting on Friday, June 6...
VA investigators: Delayed care is everywhere  USA Today   ..."Our reviews at a growing number of VA medical facilities have thus far provided insight into the current extent of these inappropriate scheduling issues throughout the VA health care system and have confirmed that inappropriate scheduling practices" are widespread, the report said...
R.I.P., Maya Angelou, Proud Gun Owner and User  National Review   ...Angelou also emerged very late in life as an off-hand supporter of the right to bear arms. In a 2013 interview with Time magazine’s Belinda Luscombe, the ancient poetess talked Star Trek and death (“I’ll probably be writing when the Lord says, ‘Maya, Maya Angelou, it’s time’”), but she also recounted how she used a gun for home defense...
Posted by Teamster Power at 7:59 AM Labels: executive compensation, poverty wages, prisons, public sector unions, student debt, trade, veterans, wage theft, Walmart, workers rights

Getting the fig leaf ready for fast-tracking TPP

Vietnam's horrific treatment of workers is one of the many, many reasons to fight the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a power grab for corporations and the 1%.

It's a crime in Vietnam to try to form a union, according to a report by the Workers' Rights Consortium. Child slavery is tolerated, pregnant women are fired and wages are routinely stolen.

The U.S. Trade Representative, who's negotiating the TPP, is getting a fig leaf ready to disguise Vietnam's labor record, according to Inside U.S. Trade:

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is actively negotiating with Vietnamese officials an action plan to strengthen labor rights in Vietnam in the context of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and Ways and Means Democratic staff are providing input to this process along with a group of like-minded House Democratic offices, according to congressional aides.

A similar trick was used to get the Colombia 'trade' deal passed. It was a fig leaf that allowed members of Congress to vote for the Colombia 'trade' deal. A 'Labor Action Plan' was drawn up, along with promises that Colombia would do better.

Three years later, Colombia is still the most dangerous place in the world to be a trade unionist -- just as the Teamsters predicted.

As we reported in April, violence against trade unionists is increasing in Colombia. There were four more unionist murders in 2013 than in 2012. Public Citizen tells us:

In the three years since the LAP was unveiled, 73 Colombian unionists have been murdered ... Colombia’s workers have also endured 31 murder attempts and 953 death threats since the LAP was announced. These crimes have not resulted in any captures, trials, or convictions. The overall impunity rate for unionist murders from 1977 through the present is 87%, while impunity for anti-union death threats stands at 99.9%.

Let's not get fooled again.

Posted by Teamster Power at 4:43 PM Labels: Colombia, TPP, trade

Help save New York City's horse carriage industry!

Our Teamster brothers and sisters in New York City are fighting to save 300 good Teamster jobs and the iconic horse carriage industry.

The horse carriages in New York are highly regulated, and Central Park horses are treated humanely and respectfully. The horses work no more than nine hours a day, are protected from working in extreme weather conditions, receive five weeks of vacation a year, must pass bi-annual physicals by veterinarians, and also receive retirement.

Not only are the horses well cared for, but this industry also supports hundreds of New York City workers who are employed as drivers, stable workers, and blacksmiths, as well as their families.

Mayor Bill de Blasio is trying to ban the horse carriages, so we need your help to save them. A huge majority of New Yorkers oppose banning the carriage horses, along with the New York Times, the Daily News, the New York Post, and Liam Neeson. It seems like the only person in New York who wants to ban the horses from Central Park is Bill de Blasio.

Please tell your Council Member to defend our Teamster brothers and sisters. Click here to find your Council Member.

On almost every other issue, the Teamsters support Mayor de Blasio - but we can't stand by while 300 workers, who have done nothing wrong, lose their jobs.

Please contact your Council Member and tell him/her to support good Teamster jobs in New York City and oppose the Mayor’s plan to shut down the famous Central Park horse carriage industry. Click here to find your Council Member and send a message today.

Thank you for standing with them.

Posted by Teamster Power at 10:25 AM Labels: horse carriages, Local 553, NYC

Today's Teamster News 05.28.14

Teamsters Hope To Keep ABF In Little Rock  Memphis Business Journal   ...The president of the Teamsters local in North Little Rock, Tim Nichols, says he will meet with Gov. Mike Beebe this week in hopes of preventing ABF from moving to Memphis...
Bus Company Workers To Vote On Joining Union  WAMC   ...Employees of the Green Mountain Express bus company in Vermont have scheduled a vote on whether to join the Teamsters union. William Kelly, trustee organizer for Teamsters Local 597, tells the Bennington Banner that 23 people at Green Mountain Express are eligible to vote Wednesday...
Pekin City Council approves Teamsters pact  Pekin Daily Times   ...The Pekin City Council on Tuesday approved a three-year contract with the Teamsters, Chauffeurs & Helpers Local 697...
Hollywood Teamsters Back Patric Verrone For State Senate  Deadline Hollywood   ...Hollywood Teamsters Local 399 stood behind former WGA West President Patric Verrone when he led the 2007-08 Writers Guild strike, and it’s supporting him again in his run for the California Legislature...
European Milk Board opposes TTIP  Dairy Herd Management   ...A dairy farmer group representing organizations in 14 E.U. countries is not happy with current trade talks that would align European and U.S. trade and investment...
TTIP: The Lobby plague is coming  Access   ...The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a free trade agreement currently being negotiated between the United States and the European Union, aiming at increasing trade and (dangerously) seeking “regulatory coherence.” If adopted, TTIP would become the world’s largest free trade and investment agreement, opening both markets for exchange in goods, services, investment, and public procurement. While the negotiations are being held in secret on both sides of the Atlantic, a large number of concerns arose in Europe on the actual benefits of such a trade agreement and its potential impact on EU legislation on digital rights as well as environmental protection, public health, agriculture, consumer rights, and labour standards...
TPP: Bad for global health (opinion)  OakPark.com   ...On April 8, Oak Park Township approved putting a referendum measure on the November ballot that would declare Oak Park a "TPP-Free Zone."...
Will The Supreme Court Kill Public-Employee Unions?  Mother Jones   ...Forget Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and his fellow union-bashing governors. Forget the partisan attacks on organized labor. The gravest threat to public-employee unions--which represent cops, firefighters, prison guards, teachers, nurses and other state workers, is a Supreme Court case named Harris v. Quinn...
Michigan's Snyder signs bill raising minimum wage  Associated Press   ...Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation Tuesday to raise the state's minimum wage by 25 percent gradually over the next four years to $9.25 an hour, as Republicans controlling the state government moved to head off a November ballot measure that could have raised pay even more.
Federal Judge Who Halted Walker Dark Money Criminal Probe Attended Koch-Backed Judicial Junkets  Center for Media and Democracy   ...The federal judge who ordered a halt to Wisconsin's "John Doe" criminal investigation into spending during the 2011 and 2012 recall elections has regularly attended all-expenses paid "judicial junkets" funded by the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, and other ideological and corporate interests...
States Consider Bills To Crack Down On Workplace Bullies  NPR   ...Bullying is a behavioral problem often associated with children in grade school, but according to a recent Zogby poll, more than a quarter of American workers say they've experienced abusive conduct at work...
Median CEO Pay Passes The $10 Million Mark For The First Time  Think Progress   ...The median CEO pay package hit $10.5 million last year, according to the Associated Press, cracking eight figures for the first time since the wire service began calculating the statistic...
Workers At This Giant Retailer Are Really Happy With Their Pay  Think Progress   ...In an analysis of employee feedback shared on Glassdoor over the past year, just one retailer comes in the top 25 for top marks on pay and benefits: Costco...
The Ripple Effects Of Rising Student Debt  New York Times   ...What are the roads not taken because students must take out loans for college? A collection of studies show that the burden of student debt may very well cause people to make different decisions than they would otherwise--affecting not just individual lives, but also the entire economy...
Europe's Secret Success  New York Times   ...Europe's financial and macroeconomic woes have overshadowed its remarkable, unheralded longer-term success in an area where it used to lag: job creation. What? You haven't heard about it? Well, that's not too surprising...
7 States Running Out Of Water  Huffington Post   ...In seven states, drought conditions were so severe that each had more than half it's land area in severe drought. Severe drought is characterized by crop loss, frequent water shortages and mandatory water use restrictions...

Posted by Teamster Power at 7:45 AM Labels: ABF, CEO Pay, cost of living, costco, drought, Kochs, living wage, MI, minimum wage, public employee unions, student debt, supreme court, Teamsters, unionization, welfare, workplace abuses

Minnesota streamlines collective bargaining process for public sector workers

Minnesota in many ways is comparable with Wisconsin in terms of size, population, climate, demographics and industry mix. In other ways it differs: Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton has not busted government worker unions the way Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has.

Guess which state is prospering and which state is struggling? Yup, Minnesota is outperforming Wisconsin in job creation and in economic growth, and now it's doing something constructive with its government worker unions.

Minnesota has a new law on the books that streamlines the collective bargaining process for government workers.

On May 9, Governor Mark Dayton signed legislation establishing a Public Employee Relations Board. It was one of the most significant amendments to the state Public Employment Labor Relations Act since its adoption in the early 1970s.

The new board will hear unfair labor practice cases previously handled in the court system. Proponents, which include many public employee unions, said this change will save both time and money for taxpayers and public workers.

The new process “is a useful tool for labor and management – without breaking the bank,” said Eliot Seide, executive director of AFSCME Council 5, the largest state employees’ union.

Unfair labor practices are violations of the state public employee labor law. In the years since public employees won bargaining rights with the adoption of PELRA, “the process of bringing charges through district court was very expensive, cumbersome and time consuming,” said Sami Gabriel, president of DRIVE, the Teamsters’ political action organization.

“The typical cost for a labor union to bring a charge was $50,000 to $75,000, and could take years for a decision,” she said.

Taxpayers also were footing a hefty bill, noted Seide. He gave the example of the City of Bloomington, which spent $150,000 in legal fees to fight union organizing by 23 city employees.
In addition to saving money, the board is expected to speed up the process of resolving such disputes.

We expect Minnesota will continue to outperform Wisconsin in the months to come.

Posted by Teamster Power at 5:17 PM Labels: government workers, MN, WI

Protect your skin while protecting American workers Now that it's summertime, our friends at Labor 411 remind us to buy union-made sunscreen:

May 27 is National Sunscreen Day! Yes, summer has unofficially started and the sun worshippers will be back at the beach and taking full advantage of the warm weather. Don’t forget the Coppertone and Bain de Soleil!

These union-made products not only protect your skin, but represent companies that protect a way of doing business that benefits the American middle-class worker. Both are made by members of the United Steelworkers and knowing that will make the kiss of the sun feel that much warmer. Posted by Teamster Power at 4:38 PM Labels: buy union, steelworkers

This is what happens when workers' wages fall...

...they quit buying things in stores.

Here's a chart that shows how median household income has fallen since 2000: American households are dying a slow financial death. Median household income fell $4,500 since 2008, from $56,000 to $51,500.

That means retail chains aren't selling as much as they expected -- by the biggest margins in 13 years, according to Bloomberg:

Most retail segments are showing profit declines, with department stores, teen-apparel chains and home-furnishing stores faring the worst, Retail Metrics said. About 41 percent of retailers have missed estimates, while 45 percent have beat.

Improved weather, pent-up demand and better employment trends may help the industry in the second quarter (Ken) Perkins (Retail Metrics’ president) said. Analysts are projecting an 8.6 percent gain in profit for the current three-month period, he said.

That may be optimistic, since most of the jobs being created only pay low wages.

Posted by Teamster Power at 3:00 PM Labels: low wage workers, retail

Today's Teamster News 05.27.14

WTO Final Ruling: European Ban on Products from Inhumane Seal Harvest Violates WTO Rules  Public Citizen   ...The WTO today added fuzzy white baby seals clubbed to death on bloody ice flows to dolphins and sea turtles as animals that the WTO has declared cannot be protected by domestic laws because they  violate “trade” rules, which will just fuel public and policymaker skepticism about these so-called trade deals...
W.T.O. Sides With U.S. in Dispute Over Chinese Car Tariffs  New York Times   ... The World Trade Organization sided with the United States on Friday in a dispute over punitive Chinese tariffs on American exports of cars and sport utility vehicles...
U.S. Case Offers Glimpse Into China’s Hacker Army  New York Times   ...Many hackers working directly for the Chinese government are men in their 20s and 30s who have been trained at universities run by the People’s Liberation Army and are employed by the state in myriad ways. ..
War on Workers
Using Jailed Migrants as a Pool of Cheap Labor  New York Times   ...As the federal government cracks down on immigrants in the country illegally and forbids businesses to hire them, it is relying on tens of thousands of those immigrants each year to provide essential labor — usually for $1 a day or less — at the detention centers where they are held when caught by the authorities...
The loss of Memorial Day's meaning is just one way we short-change veterans (opinion)  The Guardian   ...from 2009 to 2011, according to estimates by the Department of Veteran Affairs, 22 soldiers a day committed suicide – an average of nearly one per hour. That means that, in just one year, more than 8,000 veterans take their own lives – more than the total number of OIF and OEF casualties combined...
Atlas hid: Uber has set up a decoy office to keep drivers away from its shiny new HQ  Pando   ...Euphemistically called a “driver center,” one Uber driver told us the second office is actually more of a decoy: allowing the company to fulfill its promise to be more accessible to drivers without, you know, actually having them make Uber’s real office look untidy. …  Uber’s office on Mission Street has been a focal point for protests by drivers...
The US labor market is not working  Antonio Fatas on the Global Economy   ...Among OECD economies, the US stands towards the bottom of the table when it comes to employment to population ratio...
Federal probe into Major League Baseball for illegal pay practices expands  Salon   ...A federal investigation of pay practices in Major League Baseball has been expanded to include two more teams—the Baltimore Orioles and Oakland A’s—bringing to four the number of clubs that have come under scrutiny for possible violations of U.S. wage standards. The Labor Department’s focus is pay for clubhouse and administrative workers and interns...
Chlorine in your chicken: Why poultry is more dangerous than ever  Salon   ... poultry workers, who ... already report an injury rate that’s more than 50 percent higher than the injury rate for all U.S. workers...
New Docs Reveal Extensive Monitoring of Occupy  In These Times   ...The monitoring appears similar to that conducted by the FBI counterterrorism officials...
Train accident kills at least 40 in Northern India   Associated Press   ...The Gorakhpur Express passenger train was traveling at high speed and slammed on its brakes in an attempt to stop, but hit the train sitting on the tracks near a railway station in Uttar Pradesh state, district magistrate Bharat Lal said...
Posted by Teamster Power at 7:41 AM Labels: china, food safety, immigration, pensions, prison, rail, spying, tariffs, taxis, trade, veterans, wage theft, WTO

US Chamber (aka multinational front group) opposes disclosure of corporate wage gap The U.S. Chamber of Commerce doesn't think companies should have to reveal the gap between their CEO and their workers.

The Chamber has no business calling itself 'U.S.' because it's a front group for multinationals and a money laundering operation for foreigners who want to influence our elections.

Generally, if the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is in favor of something, it's a bad idea. Like the TPP. And if the U.S. Chamber opposes something, it's probably a good idea.

The Chamber opposes the SEC's proposed rule to require companies to reveal the gap between CEO pay and workers' pay. The Chamber says it will cost too much money. That just isn't true.

The fact is that exposing the pay gap can warn investors that a CEO is looting the corporation he's supposed to protect.

The Teamsters strongly support the SEC's proposed rule on CEO pay. Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall says the rule will help solve the problem of excessive CEO pay, which harms our funds’ investments, the sustainability of U.S. corporations and the employment and retirement security of Teamster members.

Teamsters know firsthand what happens when the disparity between worker pay and CEO pay is too great. At McKesson, CEO John Hammergren took home more than $50 million last year and has a pension of $114 million. All that for steering the company into nearly $1 billion in legal settlements for price-fixing and Medicaid fraud.

Meanwhile, the company is paying its workers so little in its Lakeland, Fla., warehouse that they can't afford health care benefits.

That's a gap that needs to be exposed.
Posted by Teamster Power at 10:30 AM Labels: CEO Pay, McKesson

Today's Teamster News 05.23.14

Have a wonderful holiday, everyone! TeamsterNation will be on hiatus over the Memorial Day holiday. We'll see you again Tuesday morning!
Youngstown Approves Pacts With 2 Employee Unions  Insurance News Net   ...City council approved contracts with two labor unions that provide salary increases for the first time in about four years. The deals with Teamsters Local 377, which represents 30 street department workers...
TTIP: EU And US Prepare To Enhance Global Corporatocracy With Free Trade Deal  International Business Times   ...Belgian MP Alain Maron, who was one of the 200 arrested in Belgium last Thursday, May 15, as an unauthorized protest against TTIP broke out in Brussels, branded the deal "an erosion of consumer and human rights."...
Two Ways Chris Christie Screwed Over Pensioners for GOP Donors  In These Times   ...Christie isn't being forced to renege on the pension payment—he's choosing to spend money on corporate subsidies and investment fees rather than on those pension promises...
EXCLUSIVE: We name the political donors whose firms got $14bn of pension cash from New Jersey  Pando   ...political donors associated with 43 financial firms managing New Jersey pension money have spent a total of $11.6 million on contributions to New Jersey politicians and to major political organizations operating in New Jersey elections...
Koch Brothers' Detroit Abomination: Stunning Avarice And Cruelty Reaches New Low  Salon.com   ...After much controversy and debate, Michigan's Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has agreed to provide $195 million in state funding that will limit pension cuts to no more than 4.5 percent and protect the Detroit Institute of Art from liquidating its collection. "This is a settlement. This is not a bailout." Snyder said. "And I want to be very, very clear about that." Not so fast Gov. Snyder. Americans for Prosperity has built a shiny new website...
Just Released: What Kinds of Jobs Have Been Created during the Recovery?  Liberty Street Economics   ...during the recession, the vast majority of jobs that were lost in the nation and across the region were middle-skill jobs, such as construction workers, teachers, machine operators, and administrative support workers. These jobs have not come back during the recovery...
Students Now Indentured to the Banksters  Truthout   ...Back in January, 31-year-old Tony Muzzatti, who at the time owed around $60,000 in student loan debt to Sallie Mae and always made on-time payments, was told that he had to immediately make a payment of $10,000, or face asset seizures. That's because his grandmother, who also happened to be his cosigner on the student loans, had just died...
Business That Bashed Obama's OSHA Just Had Horrifying Industrial Accident  Huffington Post   ...During the 2012 presidential campaign, Wisconsin businessman Lance Johnson said President Barack Obama's workplace safety inspectors were burdening him and killing jobs with too much red tape. "I've never been audited by more government agencies in my life than I have under Obama." Johnson, president of Johnson Brass & Machine Foundry Inc. in Saukville, Wisconsin, told the Wall Street Journal in a Nov. 2, 2012 campaign story. On Monday, Johnson's foundry was the site of a horrifying industrial accident...
Cutting Off Emergency Unemployment Benefits Hasn't Pushed People Back To Work  Five Thirty Eight   ...Of the roughly 1.3 million Americans whose benefits disappeared with the end of the program, only a quarter had found jobs as of March, about the same success rate as when the program was still in effect; roughly another quarter had given up searching...
Larry Summers: Student Debt Is Slowing The U.S. Housing Recovery  Wall Street Journal   ...Former White House adviser Lawrence Summers said Wednesday that student debt is slowing the housing recovery and the broader economic recovery, adding a prominent voice to the debate in Washington...
Over 100 McDonald's Workers Arrested Protesting Outside Shareholder Meeting  Think Progress   ...More than 100 workers and dozens of other protesters were arrested during peaceful protests outside McDonald's corporate headquarters on Wednesday. On Thursday, a thousand McDonald's workers and their supporters are marching on the company's Oak Brook, Illinois campus...
Sallie Mae Torments Faithful Student Borrowers After Co-Signers Die  Huffington Post   ...Seven borrowers who had been paying their Sallie Mae student loans on time for years were unexpectedly threatened with asset seizures after a Sallie Mae contractor demanded they immediately repay tens of thousands of dollars simply because a family member had died...
Ray LaHood Declares U.S. Highways ‘One Big Pothole’ at ALK Summit  Truckinginfo   ...Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood opened the second day of the ALK Technology Summit in Princeton, N.J., on Wednesday by telling attendees that while the U.S. is "the greatest country in the world [our] transportation and infrastructure is a big mess..."
NSA reform bill loses backing from privacy advocates after major revisions  The Guardian   ...A landmark surveillance bill, likely to pass the US House of Representatives on Thursday, is hemorrhaging support from the civil libertarians and privacy advocates who were its champions from the start...
Posted by Teamster Power at 7:55 AM Labels: consumer protection, Detroit bankruptcy, fast food strike, Free Trade Agreement, Koch brothers, McDonald's strike, NSA, OSHA, racism, Sallie Mae, student debt, Teamsters, unemployment benefits, workplace safety

Northern California Teamsters hit the precincts, the picket lines, the capital

What a week for our brothers and sisters in Teamsters Joint Council 7 in Northern California. Within the past seven days, more than 450 Teamsters lobbied for a pro-worker bill at the capital, joined striking fast-food workers on the picket line in Oakland, packed a meeting in Tracy to tell public officials about horror stories at Taylor Farms, kicked off a political organizing rally in the Central Valley and walked precincts for pro-worker candidates in the Bay Area.

Here's Brother Doug Bloch, Joint Council 7's political director, with the rundown:

Over 50 Teamsters and Taylor Farms workers hit the Capitol to lobby for AB 1897, a bill by Assembly Labor and Employment Committee Chair Roger Hernandez that will hold companies accountable for wage theft and other abuses when they use staffing agencies and other contractors who break the law.  We joined the California Labor Federation, UNITE HERE Local 11, and UFCW Local 5. Roughly 900 Latino workers at Taylor Farms in Tracy  are organizing with Teamsters Local 601.  Over 2/3rds work for two temporary agencies, although some workers have been there for over 10 years as so-called "temps"!  When workers are injured, have wage claims, or other issues the temporary agencies and Taylor Farms both point fingers at the other one, denying responsibility.  AB 1897 would fix that.

Teamsters Local 601 led a delegation of Taylor Farms workers throughout the Capitol, earning support for the campaign and legislation. The lobby day was highlighted by the California Labor Federation in their blog Labor's Edge.

Taylor Farms workers leave Tracy at 4:30 to join striking McDonald's workers on the picket line at 6 am in Oakland. Taylor Farms supplies McDonald's, Subway, Chipotle, and other fast food chains with produce. On Thursday evening nearly 200 Taylor Farms workers, Teamsters, and community supporters packed a meeting in Tracy where Assemblymember Hernandez and others heard horror stories from Taylor Farms workers and pledged their support. Others on the panel included Modesto City Council Member Tony Madrigal; Maria Noel Fernandez, Working Partnerships USA; Don Villarejo, founder of the California Institute for Rural Studies; Father Rex Hays, Sacred Heart Catholic Church; and Jessica Cabrera, San Joaquin Immigrant Youth Coalition. A representative from Senator Cathleen Galgiani's office was also at the forum. Food Chain Workers Alliance (FCWA) Executive Director Joann Lo publishes an article in the National Journal highlighting the struggles of Taylor Farms and other food chain workers to earn decent pay. Joint Council 7 is a proud member of the FCWA.

Over 100 shop stewards from Teamsters Local 439 and Teamsters Local 601 kicked off a political organizing campaign in the Central Valley. This effort includes joining DRIVE (the Teamsters political action fund), voter registration, and supporting candidates who support workers. At the same time, over 20 shop stewards from Teamsters Local 386 were meeting in Modesto.

And back in the Bay Area, 20 Teamsters from Locals 70, 315, and 856 walked precincts for Tim Sbranti in his race against Steve Glazer for Assembly District 16. Sbrant is a long-time friend of workers, while Glazer is running on a platform of banning the right for transit employees to strike.  Teamsters 665 members were also walking precincts in the 10th Assembly District against incumbent Assemblymember Marc Levine. We are gearing up for even larger events in June.  When Teamsters take action, we win!

Posted by Teamster Power at 5:22 PM Labels: 386, 439, 601, california, fast food strikers, Taylor farms

TAFTA trade deal sparks protests, arrests, European press actually reports on it

Hundreds of Europeans were arrested last week in a protest against TAFTA, the latest power grab for corporations and the 1% masquerading as a trade deal between the U.S. and Europe. The European news media actually reported on the protest, the arrest and the aftermath of  TAFTA,  also known as TTIP. (We think TAFTA, which stands for Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement, is a more accurate term.)

We have little hope that the U.S. mainstream media would ever deign to cover TAFTA, protests against TAFTA or concerns about TAFTA. That's because ABC, Fox News, NBC and CNN have all hired lobbyists to lobby for trade deals.  They know the best way to get trade deals passed is to keep Americans in the dark about them.

Here's how the European media covers the TAFTA protests. From EurActive.com:

NGOs and trade unions today (19 May) hit back at accusations they were spreading lies on social media about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), as it emerged that Brussels Police used controversial “kettling” techniques and water cannon on protestors outside the European Business Summit.

Hundreds of anti-TTIP protestors, including a Green member of the Belgian Parliament, were encircled for several hours by riot gear-clad cops before being arrested en masse outside the Egmont Palace in Brussels, using a legal mechanism known as “administrative arrest”.

Administrative arrest allows groups of people to be held without charge for up to 12 hours.
Shortly after an estimated 250 demonstrators were arrested on Thursday, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and US Ambassador to the EU Anthony Gardner accused some protestors of spreading lies during a summit panel about TTIP, a trade deal between the EU and US. One example cited was that TTIP would mean Europeans being sold US chickens washed in chlorine.

Here's something else you won't find out from U.S. mainstream media:

This week, EU and US negotiators are meeting in Washington DC for the fifth round of negotiations. They are aiming to agree on a deal by the end of next year.

Just try it: Do a google news search of TTIP or TAFTA. You'll see what news organizations are covering it.

And read the whole EurActive.com story here.
Posted by Teamster Power at 2:39 PM Labels: TAFTA, trade

US bank hires offshore call center to lie to customers on the road to foreclosure A Bank of America customer service representative in India told a borrower his name was Brian (it's Sunil), then lied to him again about his loan. Bank of America then foreclosed on the borrower's home after months of delays, lost paperwork, misleading advice and discussions with 40 different customer service representatives.

Counterpunch has the story about the borrower, a retired Montana accountant, and his wife, Abraham and Betty Morrow. They are suing the Bank of America for fraud. They claim the bank deliberately misled them into foreclosing on their home. One reason the couple has a shot is that Abraham took meticulous notes of his conversations with customer service representatives.

According to Counterpunch,

(The Morrows' lawyer John) Heenan later deposed Kumar by telephone. Heenan said Kumar told him, “We all use American names” when speaking with customers.

That wasn't the worst of it.

The Morrows had run into financial trouble when the buyer of their business defaulted on payments to them. They tried to modify their mortgage loan with Bank of America, but couldn't. They were told to skip payments so they'd qualify for a loan modification -- then they'd get calls from collection agencies. They submitted paperwork, then were it was lost and to resubmit it again.  They were sent letters by the bank and then told by the bank's customer service representatives to ignore the letters. They applied for a loan modification and waited for 10 months before they got an answer.

And the bank's defense? Abraham Morrow had never talked to a customer service representative named Brian!

The Morrows' case now goes to trial.

Read the whole story here.

Posted by Teamster Power at 1:57 PM Labels: bank fraud, Bank of America, foreclosure, offshoring

Today's Teamster News 05.22.14

Teamsters Strike Averted  Pekin Daily Times   ...After about five hours of mediation between the city of Pekin and Teamsters Local 627 officials the two sides reached a tentative agreement Tuesday to keep city services operational...
International Brotherhood Of Teamsters Reports Taylor Farms Workers' Rights Violations  Insurance News Net   ...Taylor Farms workers and Teamster members gathered with state and community leaders at a forum on May 15 evening to investigate workers' rights violations at the company's facilities in Tracy, California, according to a release from International Brotherhood of Teamsters...
ACTR Drivers To Vote On Union  The Eagle   ...Bus drivers of ACTR, Addison County Transit Resources, will vote to unionize June 11, according to driver Craig Bingham. Bingham says the drivers will decide to join the Teamsters Local 597...
Drivers Physicals Must Now Be Performed by Certified Medical Examiners  Trucking Info   ...The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is reminding the trucking industry Wednesday marks the start of new regulations requiring that all U.S. DOT physicals must be performed by a qualified health professional listed on the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners.
The new program sets baseline training and testing standards for medical professionals who perform commercial driver physicals and for tracking of driver medical certificates...
Teamsters Local 727 Defends Funeral Workers at SCI Shareholders Meeting  Teamsters Local 727   ...Teamsters Local 727 President John Coli Jr. on May 14 publicly denounced funeral giant Service Corporation International at its annual shareholders meeting in Houston for the company’s mistreatment of Chicago-area workers...
Surprise, US media fails to cover talks on big 'trade' deal with Europe  TeamsterNation   ...The European media came out for a press conference today against TAFTA, the latest power grab by big corporations and the 1%. The American media wasn't interested in the so-called trade deal with Europe...
Trans-Pacific Partnership Talks To Intensify As Key Players Remain Divided  Raw Story   ...Asia-Pacific trade ministers said Tuesday they would intensify talks on a vast trans-Pacific free trade agreement, but offered no clue on when a final accord would be reached. At the end of a two-day meeting in Singapore, ministers and chief negotiators of the 12 putative member economies of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) remained divided on key issues...
Christie's pension payment reduction plan sparks lawsuit from CWA  NJ.com   ...Another prominent labor union, the Communications Workers of America, says it will file a lawsuit in an effort to stop Gov. Chris Christie's plans to grab $2.43 billion meant for the pension system to balance the state budget...
Minnesota vs. Wisconsin, and More  Econbrowser   ... No turnaround for Wisconsin — it continues to lag Minnesota and the Nation...
U.S. Fast Food Protests Go Global  The Hill   ...Last Thursday, fast food workers in over 30 countries participated in protests over poverty wages, a lack of full-time positions, poor working conditions and management retaliation against union activism. U.S. workers protested in over 160 cities...
McDonald's Vacates Headquarters Ahead Of Massive Protest  Business Insider   ...McDonald's executives vacated the company headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, on Wednesday ahead of a massive protest involving thousands of workers and supporters...
Why Is Credit Suisse Still Allowed to Do Business in the United States?  The Atlantic   ...Credit Suisse, the gigantic Swiss bank, is clearly a criminal organization. In its guilty plea yesterday, Credit Suisse admitted that it has been actively helping Americans (and no doubt people from all around the world) evade taxes for years...
Is Credit Suisse Really in Jail?  Baseline Scenario   ...no one will go to jail because of the conviction...
Hubris at the Top: The Imperial and Tone Deaf CEO  Wall Street on Parade   ...Yesterday, at the JPMorgan shareholders’ meeting, which has been held in Tampa, Florida for the past three years, more than 1,000 miles from the JPMorgan headquarters in New York (ostensibly to avoid mass protests), CEO Jamie Dimon’s pay package was rubber stamped by shareholders at $20 million for 2013. Over the past 18 months, the bank has been charged with ever alarming amounts of crimes, including the unprecedented two-felony count charge for aiding and abetting the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme which devastated financial lives across America...
TransCanada Considers Keystone XL Pipeline Alternative, Oil By Rail  Reuters   ...TransCanada Corp is in talks with customers about shipping Canadian crude to the United States by rail as an alternative route as its Keystone XL pipeline project that has been mired in political delays, Chief Executive Russ Girling said on Wednesday...
Couple Fined $750, Threatened With Jail for Feeding Homeless People  Alternet   ...A Florida couple who fed more than 100 homeless people each week have been accused of breaking the law for their good deed...
Saudi Arabia: Filipino Maid Disfigured with Boiling Water for not Bringing Coffee on Time  IBT   ...The maid, who is from Pikit, North Cotabato, said she had been working for the Arab family in Riyadh for two months. She was not given her salary or provided with proper meals... Labels: bank criminality, collective bargaining rights, fast food strikes, JPMorgan, Keystone XL Pipeline, nj, pensions, rail, school privatization, SCI, strike, TAFTA, Taylor farms, TPP, unionization, wisconsin

We didn't expect the U.S. media to cover the event, as it is in the tank for these corporate power grabs and knows the less people know about them, the better. They just lobby on trade deals, they don't report on them.

Anyhoo, TAFTA talks are going on in Arlington, Va., and representatives from a range of organizations explained why they oppose the deal. According to our friends at the Citizens Trade Campaign,

A wide range of consumer, family farm, environmental, Internet freedom, labor and other organizations held a press event ...to expose the pact as more about deregulation than “trade” per se.

Here's one good reason to oppose it, CTC tells us:

“European negotiators have targeted ‘Buy Local’ public procurement in 23 cities across the United States, threatening programs that shore up local economies and family farms,” said Kathy Ozer from the National Family Farm Coalition.  “Corporations on both sides of the Atlantic are also targeting food safety and consumer measures affecting everything from GMO labeling, to milk standards, to policies under the recent Food Safety Modernization Act.   Knocking down progress on food safety and GMOs through TTIP further threatens food sovereignty here in the US and across the globe.”

And, jobs.

Posted by Teamster Power at 4:33 PM Elizabeth Warren, the most hated woman on Wall Street (video)

While we're on the topic of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, here's Stephen Colbert interviewing Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren about the need to protect consumers from credit card companies. Warren, a former professor of contract law at Harvard, said she can't read her own credit card agreement -- because credit card agreements are designed not to be read.

No wonder Colbert said:

It's just like the old Wall Street adage — if you don't have anything nice to say, it's probably about Elizabeth Warren.
[null, null, {"document_url": "http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2014/05/", "unformatted_src": "http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tgzOyTV5QGg/U4jOgn-8qPI/AAAAAAAASs0/03BbAqFipu8/s1600/Teamsters+Seattle+Walmart+strike.jpg", "src": "http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tgzOyTV5QGg/U4jOgn-8qPI/AAAAAAAASs0/03BbAqFipu8/s1600/Teamsters+Seattle+Walmart+strike.jpg", "formatted_filename": "Teamsters Seattle Walmart strike", "rendered_width": 240, "rendered_height": 320}, null, null, null, null, {"document_url": "http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2014/05/", "unformatted_src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bsf76MbUn44/U4ekWBbSlKI/AAAAAAAASsI/97WlwvB-N1M/s1600/wednesday.jpg", "src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bsf76MbUn44/U4ekWBbSlKI/AAAAAAAASsI/97WlwvB-N1M/s1600/wednesday.jpg", "formatted_filename": "wednesday", "rendered_width": 400, "rendered_height": 100}, null, null, {"document_url": "http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2014/05/", "unformatted_src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HO0m5zDX_Zk/U4eg1fDse6I/AAAAAAAASsA/o9DgPb3dm58/s1600/walmart+meme.jpg", "src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HO0m5zDX_Zk/U4eg1fDse6I/AAAAAAAASsA/o9DgPb3dm58/s1600/walmart+meme.jpg", "formatted_filename": "walmart meme"}, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, {"document_url": "http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2014/05/", "unformatted_src": "http://www.labor411.org/images/bain_de_soleil.jpg", "src": "http://www.labor411.org/images/bain_de_soleil.jpg", "formatted_filename": "bain de soleil", "rendered_width": 198, "rendered_height": 200}, null, {"document_url": "http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2014/05/", "unformatted_src": "http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RfsWPNWbq6Y/U4T3sQ_z2vI/AAAAAAAASrM/Y7T0l4qTZ80/s1600/coppert.jpg", "src": "http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RfsWPNWbq6Y/U4T3sQ_z2vI/AAAAAAAASrM/Y7T0l4qTZ80/s1600/coppert.jpg", "formatted_filename": "coppert", "rendered_width": 320, "rendered_height": 260}, null, null, {"document_url": "http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2014/05/", "unformatted_src": "http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e8HTvSUlLes/U4TekdC2KvI/AAAAAAAASq8/hDOilhc8aBU/s1600/declining+us+income.jpg", "src": "http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e8HTvSUlLes/U4TekdC2KvI/AAAAAAAASq8/hDOilhc8aBU/s1600/declining+us+income.jpg", "formatted_filename": "declining us income", "rendered_width": 320, "rendered_height": 293}, null, null, null, {"document_url": "http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2014/05/", "unformatted_src": "http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Hl5DZ5v8Uxs/U39YUI-c0tI/AAAAAAAASqs/y3XiVYPxkV8/s1600/CEO+pay.png", "src": "http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Hl5DZ5v8Uxs/U39YUI-c0tI/AAAAAAAASqs/y3XiVYPxkV8/s1600/CEO+pay.png", "formatted_filename": "CEO pay", "rendered_width": 320, "rendered_height": 276}, null, null, null, {"document_url": "http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2014/05/", "unformatted_src": "http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xFho_0DM8MY/U35jyn_ibuI/AAAAAAAASpg/n2_KwqigUTA/s1600/wednesday.jpg", "src": "http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xFho_0DM8MY/U35jyn_ibuI/AAAAAAAASpg/n2_KwqigUTA/s1600/wednesday.jpg", "formatted_filename": "wednesday", "rendered_width": 400, "rendered_height": 100}, null, {"document_url": "http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2014/05/", "unformatted_src": "http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vTikdhh5ckg/U35mnJ2YMhI/AAAAAAAASpo/ca2sZU2la_E/s1600/wednesday2.jpg", "src": "http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vTikdhh5ckg/U35mnJ2YMhI/AAAAAAAASpo/ca2sZU2la_E/s1600/wednesday2.jpg", "formatted_filename": "wednesday", "rendered_width": 400, "rendered_height": 175}, null, {"document_url": "http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2014/05/", "unformatted_src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9b1wAo78nC0/U3UOLwEhAHI/AAAAAAAASmI/Edj9zZDij1c/s1600/Taylor+Farms+teamsters+and+fast+food+strikers.jpg", "src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9b1wAo78nC0/U3UOLwEhAHI/AAAAAAAASmI/Edj9zZDij1c/s1600/Taylor+Farms+teamsters+and+fast+food+strikers.jpg", "formatted_filename": "Taylor Farms teamsters and fast food strikers", "rendered_width": 300, "rendered_height": 400}, null, {"document_url": "http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2014/05/", "unformatted_src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N2WlnVUPsIs/U35nbjJvXYI/AAAAAAAASp0/iKXn0MHps5s/s1600/thursday.jpg", "src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N2WlnVUPsIs/U35nbjJvXYI/AAAAAAAASp0/iKXn0MHps5s/s1600/thursday.jpg", "formatted_filename": "thursday", "rendered_width": 400, "rendered_height": 126}, null, {"document_url": "http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2014/05/", "unformatted_src": "http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VMUNK5CzhbE/U35n_E_5M4I/AAAAAAAASqA/KjFOnV9WN0w/s1600/thursday2.jpg", "src": "http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VMUNK5CzhbE/U35n_E_5M4I/AAAAAAAASqA/KjFOnV9WN0w/s1600/thursday2.jpg", "formatted_filename": "thursday", "rendered_width": 400, "rendered_height": 227}, null, {"document_url": "http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2014/05/", "unformatted_src": "http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yu_p4RExT8o/U35orUJ_FkI/AAAAAAAASqI/rshPQu5Nw-8/s1600/saturday.jpg", "src": "http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yu_p4RExT8o/U35orUJ_FkI/AAAAAAAASqI/rshPQu5Nw-8/s1600/saturday.jpg", "formatted_filename": "saturday", "rendered_width": 400, "rendered_height": 192}, null, {"document_url": "http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2014/05/", "unformatted_src": "http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2_fU5_gJZJU/U35pFFSvaLI/AAAAAAAASqQ/47xK--isXAc/s1600/saturday2.jpg", "src": "http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2_fU5_gJZJU/U35pFFSvaLI/AAAAAAAASqQ/47xK--isXAc/s1600/saturday2.jpg", "formatted_filename": "saturday", "rendered_width": 400, "rendered_height": 231}, null, {"document_url": "http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2014/05/", "unformatted_src": "http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C7dBXSs3dfA/U35pqB26FZI/AAAAAAAASqc/r-KkuJmx69k/s1600/saturday3.jpg", "src": "http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C7dBXSs3dfA/U35pqB26FZI/AAAAAAAASqc/r-KkuJmx69k/s1600/saturday3.jpg", "formatted_filename": "saturday", "rendered_width": 400, "rendered_height": 300}, null, null, {"document_url": "http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2014/05/", "unformatted_src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dI_m9gOcDTU/U35DU36aRvI/AAAAAAAASpU/KPhVzMUS4nQ/s1600/stop-tafta.jpg", "src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dI_m9gOcDTU/U35DU36aRvI/AAAAAAAASpU/KPhVzMUS4nQ/s1600/stop-tafta.jpg", "formatted_filename": "stop tafta", "rendered_width": 320, "rendered_height": 196}, null, null, {"document_url": "http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2014/05/", "unformatted_src": "http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ma80bfSPFJs/U346Ve_jptI/AAAAAAAASpI/-G8pcVL2NU0/s1600/liar.jpg", "src": "http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ma80bfSPFJs/U346Ve_jptI/AAAAAAAASpI/-G8pcVL2NU0/s1600/liar.jpg", "formatted_filename": "liar"}, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null]