Teamsters join LA Labor Day march for workers

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNiYzsAkCQyvAN94PkWF2YjvBLPfIrPV1pHXTCFTfI6msI1V5UsBJ4vH1mymMje1rCHC2g2mhjdx-5KOe10yOQyBIW15_XkY_Ebz5D8Lvon8_OdAOvjPhNW7UehPNVQ2xsp_3KhpRl_vC7/s1600/050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNiYzsAkCQyvAN94PkWF2YjvBLPfIrPV1pHXTCFTfI6msI1V5UsBJ4vH1mymMje1rCHC2g2mhjdx-5KOe10yOQyBIW15_XkY_Ebz5D8Lvon8_OdAOvjPhNW7UehPNVQ2xsp_3KhpRl_vC7/s400/050.JPG" title="Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti met with Teamsters Horsemen during Los Angeles Labor Day festivities." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (center) met with Teamsters during picnic.</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>We're catching up with our Labor Day coverage. Here is a dispatch from California: </i></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">About 250 Southern California Teamsters joined more than 2,000 of their union brothers and sisters Monday in Los Angeles to march for workers’ rights. </span><a href="http://www.lalbharborlabor.org/" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Labor Day parade</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> and rally took place near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where </span><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/08/la-port-strike-ends-with-return-to-work.html" rel="nofollow">port truck drivers have been fighting</a></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> for fair treatment and the right to organize.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Led by three 18-wheelers in front and about 100 motorcycles and classic cars in back, Teamsters from several different locals across the region chanted, cheered and revved their engines while traversing the mile-long parade route. They also delighted the hundreds of spectators taking in the event with their call-and-response cheers:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rolling, rolling, rolling with the Teamsters! Who are we? Teamsters!</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anthony Balbastro, a <a href="http://www.teamsters63.org/" rel="nofollow">Teamsters Local 63</a> member and a shop steward at United Stationers, said the Labor Day event filled him with pride:</span></div><div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Only in America can you stand next to other brothers and sisters and march.</span></blockquote></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Patrick Kelly, secretary-treasurer of <a href="http://www.teamsters952.org/" rel="nofollow">Teamsters Local 952</a>, said the parade sends an important message to all workers:<o:p></o:p></span><br /><div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is an example of collective direct action where we can show the community who we are. It is important to reaffirm solidarity among working people.</span></blockquote></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And a group of retired Teamsters said they are concerned about the next generation of workers. Dan Salazar, a retired member of Teamsters Local 63, said:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are here out of respect for the lifestyle we enjoy for our families. We want other people to enjoy what we had. The laws have changed, peoples’ culture has changed. They are starting to get left behind.<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhuQtLagdCg9rtRmy2IPFnvVAySsF3Q6RTjpB_UnSXS9jGMV-gBthO8Ai_UiOJQVhS5kBl9EWlojhEEuUcXUWYtf5KqSQljNCjWO231adkzRy2fH4UQLCj_E4LTpoNZSw4dmi4xdReV3Gp/s1600/038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhuQtLagdCg9rtRmy2IPFnvVAySsF3Q6RTjpB_UnSXS9jGMV-gBthO8Ai_UiOJQVhS5kBl9EWlojhEEuUcXUWYtf5KqSQljNCjWO231adkzRy2fH4UQLCj_E4LTpoNZSw4dmi4xdReV3Gp/s320/038.JPG" title="Teamsters marching during the parade want better jobs, schools and health care." width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teamsters marched for a better life for the middle class.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Salazar said he was encouraged by recent actions by low-wage workers. Last week, </span><a href="http://www.teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/08/la-port-strike-ends-with-return-to-work.html"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">L.A. port truck drivers returned to work after a historic 24-hour strike</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> ended against trucking company Green Fleet Systems. The drivers struck to protest unfair labor practices by Green Fleet’s management, including unlawful anti-union retaliation, harassment and intimidation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The short, sudden port truck driver strike was followed by more job actions by low-wage workers around the country. Fast-food workers in more than 50 U.S. cities walked off the job on Thursday. <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/175995/protesting-activists-firings-walmart-workers-plan-biggest-mobilization-black-friday#axzz2dwMbJVgt" rel="nofollow">Walmart workers are planning to strike</a> in 15 cities tomorrow, their largest mobilization since Black Friday. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After the parade, people thronged a local park for a barbecue and entertainment. Joining them were federal, state and local elected officials who pledged to work on behalf of workers for fairer wages. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Newly elected <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Garcetti" rel="nofollow">Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti</a> said now is the time to stand up for workers:</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We will fight for a living wage. And better schools. And a greater Los Angeles.</span></blockquote></div>

California Labor Day Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti Teamsters Teamsters join LA Labor Day march for workers

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (center) met with Teamsters during picnic.We're catching up with our Labor Day coverage. Here is a dispatch from California: About 250 Southern California Teamsters joined more than 2,000 of their union brothers and si…

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Today's Teamster News 09.03.13

<a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/labor/318795-five-reasons-for-optimism-about-unions-this-labor-day#ixzz2dDzjgGWO" rel="nofollow">Five reasons for optimism about unions this Labor Day</a> (opinion) The Hill   ...most Americans hold favorable views of unions. According to a June 2013 poll by the Pew Research Center, 51 percent of Americans hold favorable views of labor unions, a 10 percent increase from the number in the same poll conducted two years earlier...<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/02/workers-are-better-off-now-than-in-1894_n_3829698.html" rel="nofollow">9 Ways We're Better Off Now Than We Were On The First Labor Day (And 5 Ways We're Not)</a>  Huffington Post   ...The federal minimum wage, <a href="http://www.dol.gov/whd/minimumwage.htm">which currently stands at 7.25 an hour</a>, is <a href="http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/cepr-blog/raising-minimum-wage-to-9-not-enough-to-ensure-that-families-with-fulltime-workers-live-above-poverty-line">not enough to keep American families out of poverty</a>, according to the Center For Economic And Policy Research...<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-elk/union-busting-ended-my-lo_b_217015.html" rel="nofollow">Union Busting Ended My Love Affair with a Beer</a>  Huffington Post   ...Yuengling had illegally busted their union...<br /><a href="http://www.nwitimes.com/news/opinion/columnists/guest-commentary/guest-commentary-labor-day-message-we-can-fix-this/article_407f64db-5bfd-5d60-b78d-e0d8ddb8f0a2.html" rel="nofollow">Labor Day message: We can fix this</a> (opinion)  NWI   ...We must embrace the new worker activism we see popping up at places like fast-food chains and retail establishments whose workers merely hope to raise their families on a livable wage...<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-a-mccartin/labor-day-2013-religion-workers-rights_b_3854319.html" rel="nofollow">"What's Outrageous? Poverty Wages!" The Role of Religious Leaders in Worker Justice </a> Huffington Post   ...The faith leaders now rallying to support fast food workers' demands for a living wage are reviving one of America's oldest and most powerful arguments for social justice, one deeply rooted in religious ideals...<br /><a href="http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2013/09/gdp-drag-from-state-and-local.html" rel="nofollow">GDP drag from State and Local Governments</a>  Calculated Risk   ...However state and local government spending has made a negative contribution for 13 of the last 14 quarters...<br /><a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10631" rel="nofollow">Wall Street Eager to See Larry Summers Nominated Fed Chair </a> Real News   ...if you had to trace the collapse of the 2007-2009 financial crisis on one person--and, of course, you can't really trace it to one person--but if you did, I think you could make a fair argument that Larry Summers is more to blame for the financial crisis that we experienced than any other person...<br /><div><a href="http://www.nationalmemo.com/making-too-big-to-fail-banks-help-poor-borrowers/" rel="nofollow">Making ‘Too Big To Fail’ Banks Help Poor Borrowers</a> (opinion)  The National Memo   ...Predatory lenders are folding fast in New York State, thanks to a savvy banking regulator who takes his duty to protect the public as seriously as his duties to the financial industry — and knows how to use the law to get quick action...<br /><div><a href="http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/09/01/director-of-dia-selling-art-tantamount-to-closing-museum/" rel="nofollow">DIA Director: Selling Art Tantamount To Closing Museum</a>  CBS Detroit   ...Detroit’s Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr has stated that the some of the art could be sold as part of the city’s bankruptcy deal Beal says the art being considered as “assets” are those that were bought by Detroit between 1922 and 1931– that’s about 3,300 pieces...<br /><a href="http://www.plunderbund.com/2013/08/23/ohio-gop-grassroots-lead-to-billionaire/" rel="nofollow">Ohio GOP grassroots lead to billionaire</a>  Plunderbund   ...Americans for Prosperity. … That’s the right-wing outfit whose work is fashioned  by billionaire David Koch...<br /><br /></div></div>

banks Detroit bankruptcy Kochs Labor Day minimum wage tea party union-busting wages Today's Teamster News 09.03.13

Five reasons for optimism about unions this Labor Day (opinion) The Hill   ...most Americans hold favorable views of unions. According to a June 2013 poll by the Pew Research Center, 51 percent of Americans hold favorable views of labor unions, a 10 …

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Today's Teamster News 09.01.13

<a href="http://business.time.com/2013/08/30/this-labor-day-much-of-america-will-be-laboring/" rel="nofollow">This Labor Day, Much of America Will Be . . . Laboring</a>  Time   ...39 percent of employers will keep operations open and require some workers to come into work, while a seperate survey of Beyond.com users says that 45% of those folks will spend Labor Day working or looking for work...<br /><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/08/30/2556301/burrito-chain-pays-entry-level-workers-10-hour-pay/" rel="nofollow">The Burrito Chain That Pays Entry-Level Workers $10 An Hour And Wants To Pay More </a> ThinkProgress   ...Boloco, a Boston-based burrito chain, pays its entry-level workers anywhere from $9 to $11 an hour, most of them making $10, with many who advance into higher roles making $17 an hour or more, CEO John Pepper told Fox Business News...<br /><a href="http://progressive.org/Wisconsin-republicans-ban-public-for-miles-from-mine" rel="nofollow">Wis. GOP to Ban Public for Miles from Mine</a>  The Progressive   ...A new bill to allow the Gogebic Taconite iron mining company to bar the public from using public access land on an eight-square-mile parcel near their proposed mine site. This is an area that attracts people from all over the country to enjoy the excellent trout fishing and hunting...<br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/business/income-gap-grows-wider-and-faster.html?partner=yahoofinance&_r=1&" rel="nofollow">Income Gap Grows Wider (and Faster)</a>  New York Times   ...when average wages grow faster than the median, as happened from 2009 through 2011, it means that lower earners are falling further behind those at the top...<br /><a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/08/30/freedom-from-jobs/" rel="nofollow">Freedom From Jobs</a>  Counterpunch   ... though some gains have certainly been made over the past half-century toward a more inclusive, egalitarian society, in many respects – particularly in economic matters – there has been little or no progress whatsoever...<br /><a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2013/08/longshore_union_pulls_out_of_n.html#incart_flyout_business" rel="nofollow">Longshore union pulls out of national AFL-CIO, citing attacks at Northwest grain terminals</a>  The Oregonian   ...The West Coast longshore union is pulling out of the national AFL-CIO, citing "attacks" in which the umbrella organization's members blatantly cross picket lines at Northwest grain terminals...<br /><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/why-wall-street-wants-larry-summers-why-rest-180751330.html" rel="nofollow">Why Wall Street Wants Larry Summers (and Why the Rest of Us Should Not)</a>  Yahoo Finance!   ...Our recent near-death experience under Alan Greenspan’s anti-regulation Fed chairmanship, aided and abetted by the deregulation pushed by Summers, should cause the President to think hard about banking regulation...<br /><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/08/27/nsa-snowden-russia-obama-column/2702461/" rel="nofollow">NSA intimidation expanding surveillance state: Column </a> USA Today   ...If you run a business, and the FBI or NSA want to turn it into a mass surveillance tool, they believe they can do so, solely on their own initiative. They can force you to modify your system. They can do it all in secret and then force your business to keep that secret. Once they do that, you no longer control that part of your business...<br /><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-08-30/slavery" rel="nofollow">Slavery! </a> zero hedge   ...There are more slaves today working in the world than ever before...<br /><br />

AFL-CIO inequality Labor Day Larry Summers March on Washington public lands slavery spying wages Today's Teamster News 09.01.13

This Labor Day, Much of America Will Be . . . Laboring  Time   ...39 percent of employers will keep operations open and require some workers to come into work, while a seperate survey of Beyond.com users says that 45% of those folks will spend Labor …

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How to talk about low-wage strikers

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5L2PPv97ZzOjT-oVlaJkuSnWBpppQonoVeuuv1gA0ano_Z8YFNownClSnouIWCwqoiOGsi9riwJ0dmgWcVi4FmFz3lh2ITfcxS9O8LgS_JuQTKPlMR1s5OC75kweMd4g9owmA2HklRttN/s1600/strike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5L2PPv97ZzOjT-oVlaJkuSnWBpppQonoVeuuv1gA0ano_Z8YFNownClSnouIWCwqoiOGsi9riwJ0dmgWcVi4FmFz3lh2ITfcxS9O8LgS_JuQTKPlMR1s5OC75kweMd4g9owmA2HklRttN/s1600/strike.jpg" /></a></div>Are you dreading the prospect of talking to your right-wing uncle over the Labor Day weekend? <br /><br />When the subject of low-wage worker strikes comes up, here are things you can say in response to the predictable anti-worker arguments you'll hear:<br /><ul><li><em>"Those jobs are for high school kids and dropouts working part time. They don't deserve more money."</em>  Actually most people working in low-wage service sectors like retail and fast-food are <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=623664947664226&set=a.591503887546999.1073741828.580610428636345&type=1">middle-age and working full time</a> to support their families. The average age of workers filling low-wage job positions is 35 and more than a third of them are 40 or older. On average, they earn half of their family's income and 28 percent of them have kids.</li></ul><ul><li><em>"Well then they should get different jobs if they want more money. It's their fault for choosing to work crappy jobs that are supposed to be for teenagers."</em> No, it isn't their fault because most of them didn't choose those jobs. They were forced into them by <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/08/our-low-wage-recovery-how-mcjobs-have-replaced-middle-class-jobs/261839/">an economy being dominated by low-wage industries</a>. By a three-to-one margin, high-skilled, good-paying jobs that have been lost due to recession and bad trade deals have been replaced by low-wage jobs in the service industry. Sixty percent of jobs lost in the recession were in middle-class occupations while 21 percent were in low-wage occupations. Since the recession, 58 percent of job growth has been in low-wage occupations while just 22 percent has been in middle-income level jobs. Do the math!</li></ul><ul><li><em>"Still, flipping burgers has always been a minimum wage job and that's the way it should be."</em> Okay, but if we're paying workers based on inflation and productivity, then <a href="http://www.raisetheminimumwage.com/facts/">the minimum wage needs to be increased</a>, too. Right now it stands at just $7.25 an hour and hasn't been increased since 2009. If the minimum wage kept up with inflation over the past 40 years, it would be $10.74. And if it kept up with the rise in productivity it would be $18.67. The annual income for a full-time worker making the federal minimum wage is $15,080 - well below the poverty line for a family of three or four.</li></ul><ul><li><em>"Paying low-wage workers more by increasing the minimum wage or giving them raises will hurt businesses and raise prices."</em> Says who? While the CEOs of Walmart and fast-food corporations would love to pass the cost of higher wages on to consumers, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/29/robert-reich-wages-mcdonalds-walmart-_n_3837762.html">they can well afford to pay their workers more</a>. The top eight fast-food chains made $7.35 billion in profits last year. Walmart's CEO makes more in one hour than the average Walmart employee makes in a year. If the CEO of McDonald's -- who got a $4.1 million raise last year -- can take home $13.8 million a year, he can afford to pay workers more than poverty wages.</li></ul><ul><li><em>"Well, I'm not a fast-food worker so what they get paid doesn't impact me."</em> Actually it does. The rising number of workers making low wages means more and more people have to turn to public assistance like food stamps and other welfare programs. They can't make ends mean when the only jobs available pay so little. Low wages at <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/31/walmart-taxpayers-house-report_n_3365814.html">a single Walmart store can cost taxpayers up to $900,000 a year</a>. So winning a living wage for workers in retail, fast-food, warehouse and other low-wage industries will save taxpayers tons of money. And let's not forget that higher pay usually means lower employee turnover and higher productivity for business. Plus, higher wages will boost consumer spending and strength local economies.</li></ul>Finally, remind your right-wing relatives that Labor Day is about honoring workers -- ALL workers!

fast food strikes Labor Day low wage workers walmart strikers How to talk about low-wage strikers

Are you dreading the prospect of talking to your right-wing uncle over the Labor Day weekend? When the subject of low-wage worker strikes comes up, here are things you can say in response to the predictable anti-worker arguments you'll hear:"Those jo…

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