Today's Teamster News 09.28.13

<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-27/regulator-said-to-look-other-way-on-unsafe-mexican-trucks.html" rel="nofollow">Regulator Said to Look Other Way on Unsafe Mexican Trucks</a>  Bloomberg   ...“They need these companies, they need the numbers,” said Fred McLuckie, director of federal legislation and regulation for the Teamsters, which unsuccessfully sued to stop regulators from allowing Mexican trucks. “They’re looking the other way...”<br /><a href="http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/22827341-418/chicago-teamsters-reject-rahm-emanuels-bid-for-contract-concessions-on-461-11-vote.html" rel="nofollow">Chicago Teamsters reject Rahm Emanuel’s bid for contract concessions on 461-11 vote</a>  Chicago Sun-Times   ...Already feuding with police, firefighters, teachers and other public employees, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration sought but failed to win concessions this week from the only major labor group that had supported Emanuel’s election...<br /><a href="http://www.teamster.org/content/funeral-industry-giant-sci-committed-unfair-labor-practices-labor-board-says" rel="nofollow">Funeral Industry Giant SCI Committed Unfair Labor Practices, Labor Board Says</a>  teamster.org   ...Region 13 of the National Labor Relations Board has found merit in several unfair labor practice charges filed against funeral industry giant Service Corporation International (SCI), which has locked out 59 funeral directors and drivers at 16 Chicago-area funeral homes...<br /><a href="http://www.teamster.org/content/teamsters-vote-wegmans-offer" rel="nofollow">Teamsters To Vote Wegmans' Offer</a>  teamster.org   ...Workers will cast ballots on the company’s proposal that would eliminate the pensions of more than 900 of its Rochester employees and dramatically reduce their compensation package...<br /><a href="http://citizen.typepad.com/eyesontrade/2013/09/beware-of-outlandish-claims-about-economic-benefits-of-us-eu-free-trade-deal.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eyesontrade+%28Eyes+on+Trade%29" rel="nofollow">Beware of Outlandish Claims About Economic Benefits of U.S.-EU ‘Free Trade’ Deal</a>  Public Citizen   ...The study ignored the predictable social and economic costs that would result from such extreme regulatory rollback, such as an increase in the incidence of foodborne illness and a rise in financial instability...<br /><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/09/federal-ruling-domestic-workers-protection-charts" rel="nofollow">4 Reasons Why the White House's Domestic-Worker Protections Matter </a> Mother Jones   ...Starting in January 2015, the federal labor laws that currently ensure minimum wage and overtime protections will be extended to the nation's direct-care workers—some 2 million people who perform jobs like caring for the elderly and the disabled. And yesterday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed the California Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights into law, expanding the legal protections for its estimated <a href="http://nelp.3cdn.net/6568360c9c5188e6d6_4hm6ibsc7.pdf">360,000</a> (PDF) domestic workers...<br /><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/10/how-the-nfl-fleeces-taxpayers/309448/" rel="nofollow">How the NFL Fleeces Taxpayers</a>  The Atlantic   ...Taxpayers fund the stadiums, antitrust law doesn't apply to broadcast deals, the league enjoys nonprofit status, and Commissioner Roger Goodell makes $30 million a year. It's time to stop the public giveaways to America's richest sports league—and to the feudal lords who own its teams...<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/27/ron-wyden-nsa-systematically-deceived" rel="nofollow">Sen. Ron Wyden: NSA 'repeatedly deceived the American people'</a>  The Guardian   ..."the leadership of NSA built an intelligence collection system that repeatedly deceived the American people..."<br /><a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/09/27/nsa-employees-used-surveillance-system-to-spy-on-spouses-lovers/" rel="nofollow">NSA employees used surveillance system to spy on spouses, lovers</a>  Raw Story   ... a woman told the NSA that she’d recorded a conversation between her husband and a foreign telephone number because she suspected he’d been unfaithful...<br /><a href="http://laborpress.org/sectors/green-initiatives/2778-school-bus-companies-ordered-to-restore-lost-wages-to-atu-1181-workers" rel="nofollow">School Bus Companies Ordered to Restore Lost Wages to ATU 1181 Workers</a>  LaaborPress   ...Judge Matsumoto ordered the companies to return to the bargaining table they abandoned in March; bargain in good faith with the union; rescind the wage and benefit cuts and all other terms and working conditions previously imposed by the companies; and restore the wages, benefits and working conditions in effect at the time the companies imposed their cuts...<br /><a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/09/27/i_worked_all_week_for_free_the_horrifying_true_story_of_0_paychecks/" rel="nofollow">I worked all week for free?!: The horrifying, true story of $0 paychecks</a>  Salon   ...Photos provided to Salon by the National Guestworker Alliance, the group behind the work stoppage, show checks reading “No Dollars and No Cents,” and a page dated June 25 warning guest workers on H-2B visas that, “Any worker who does not show up for your assignment will be immediately removed from Mister Clean Housing and will be reported as AWOL (Absent Without Leave) to ICE (Immigration Custom Enforcement)...”<br /><a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/09/27/american-workers-hanging-on-by-the-skin-of-their-teeth/" rel="nofollow">American Workers: Hanging on by the Skin of Their Teeth</a>  Counterpunch   ...Americans are losing faith in the nation’s economic recovery.” Because they don’t see any recovery...<br /><br /><br />

Chicago funeral directors contract negotiations economy FLSA Mexican trucks NFL school bus slavery spying trade Today's Teamster News 09.28.13

Regulator Said to Look Other Way on Unsafe Mexican Trucks  Bloomberg   ...“They need these companies, they need the numbers,” said Fred McLuckie, director of federal legislation and regulation for the Teamsters, which unsuccessfully sued to stop regu…

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Teamsters say feds ignore dangerous Mexican trucks

The federal government is looking the other way at Mexican trucks that are serial violators of U.S. safety laws, but the <a href="http://teamster.org/" rel="nofollow">Teamsters</a> aren't.<br /><br />The Teamsters have long fought hard against opening the border to dangerous Mexican trucks. Today in the press the Teamsters blasted the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Motor_Carrier_Safety_Administration" rel="nofollow">Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration</a> for its lax oversight of the pilot program to let Mexican trucks travel beyond the border zone.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-27/regulator-said-to-look-other-way-on-unsafe-mexican-trucks.html" rel="nofollow">Bloomberg</a> today reported on the <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/05/dangerous-mexican-trucks-allowed-in.html" rel="nofollow">Teamsters complaint</a> that the federal government broke its own rules by<br />letting one company keep operating over the border after its safety rating was lowered. FMCSA also ignored other Mexican carriers' ties to dangerous operators.<br /><br />Here's why: The FMCSA needs enough participants in the pilot program to arrive at statistically valid conclusions about the impact of Mexican trucks on U.S. highway safety. Since regulators can't find enough safe Mexican carriers -- as the <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/teamsters-respond-to-government-on-mexican-truck-program-141912703.html" rel="nofollow">Teamsters predicted</a> -- they're ignoring egregious safety violations.<br /><br />Bloomberg reported:<br /><ul><li>Mexican companies allowed into the U.S. under the latest agreement have been cited for thousands of violations, records <a href="http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/intl-programs/trucking/Trucking-Program.aspx">show</a>.</li><li>One truck belonging to GCC Transporte SA de CV, the company that’s crossed the border most often, was stopped for violations 18 times between August 2012 and August 2013. It was found to have defective or missing axle parts, brake defects, a cracked frame, inoperative signals, oil and grease leaks, non-working lights, windshield-wiper defects and a tire-tread separation.</li><li>Servicio de Transporte Internacional y Local SA de CV, the Mexican company that’s been<a href="http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/documents/intl-programs/trucking/Aggregate_Data_thru_September-08-2013.pdf">inspected the most</a>, was cited for 44 violations on a single day -- July 31, 2013. Citations included tire separations and leaks, oil and grease leaks, inoperative signals and a brake-compressor violation. Its driver-fitness score of 99.2 percent indicates fewer than 1 percent of U.S. carriers have worse records. Almost all of the violations are for drivers who aren’t fluent in English, according to government records.</li></ul>Read the whole horrifying story <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-27/regulator-said-to-look-other-way-on-unsafe-mexican-trucks.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>.

Mexican trucks Teamsters say feds ignore dangerous Mexican trucks

The federal government is looking the other way at Mexican trucks that are serial violators of U.S. safety laws, but the Teamsters aren't.The Teamsters have long fought hard against opening the border to dangerous Mexican trucks. Today in the press t…

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Mexican truck pilot program still struggles

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij4aEJUX3PYRp94qtCqINvr7LJ8wfBbSlHmF97gkkUBVufkEyhyphenhyphenT88P1pJtG9n1YEkbMe1TelGxTm7S-_Cyp1ToqhtkfbQiMqORpzToKiQNPRlJoUKhn87XPCI3ehTcVZrRRJtosv2IFAp/s1600/Mexican-Trucks-Graphic-2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij4aEJUX3PYRp94qtCqINvr7LJ8wfBbSlHmF97gkkUBVufkEyhyphenhyphenT88P1pJtG9n1YEkbMe1TelGxTm7S-_Cyp1ToqhtkfbQiMqORpzToKiQNPRlJoUKhn87XPCI3ehTcVZrRRJtosv2IFAp/s1600/Mexican-Trucks-Graphic-2013.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dangerous Mexican trucks raise <br />concerns for Teamsters</td></tr></tbody></table>Only a handful of Mexican trucks are traveling beyond the border zone as part of the two-year-old pilot program run by the U.S. Transportation Department. That's a big problem for the Department, as the law says enough trucks have to participate in order to form a valid judgment about the safety of Mexican trucks.<br /><br />With a little over a year to go, the pilot program now has only 12 carriers with 44 trucks. More carriers have dropped out or were dismissed from the program – a total of 13 – than are currently participating.<br /><br />The Teamsters nevertheless are continuing to question the safety of the Mexican truck pilot program. The union is currently reviewing its legal options. A federal court last week <a href="http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/DFA379A6AF9DBBF785257BB4005133E6/$file/11-1251-1448602.pdf" rel="nofollow">refused the Teamsters' appeal</a> for a rehearing of their case seeking to shut down the Mexican truck pilot program.<br /> <br />According to the <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/29/5606081/teamsters-still-question-mexican.html" rel="nofollow">press release</a>:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">The Teamsters in June had asked for a rehearing on the decision in May by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The appeals panel upheld the legality of the program. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">The Teamsters argued a rehearing is necessary “because the panel’s dismissal of Petitioners’ claims … conflicts with decisions of this Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.” The court on Friday issued an amended decision that used an alternative basis for its ruling that Mexico-domiciled trucks do not have to comply with certain federal safety certification requirements.  Nothing in the amended decision suggests Mexican trucks are safe.</blockquote>In May, the Teamsters found that <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/05/dangerous-mexican-trucks-allowed-in.html">dangerous Mexican trucks</a> were allowed into the program and objected strongly to the federal government:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 16.890625px;">Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa co-signed a letter to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) chief Anne Ferro accusing her of endangering the driving public.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 16.890625px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 16.890625px;">The letter stated two Mexican carriers hid their dreadful safety records by creating a third company -- and didn't disclose that to the FMCSA in order to be admitted to the pilot program. Two other companies were allowed to continue in the pilot program despite less-than-satisfactory ratings in their safety compliance reviews. Finally, FMCSA promised it would review how its studying the pilot program. It did not.</span></blockquote>Hoffa said at the time,<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.890625px;">We’ve said all along that our concern about this program was ensuring that Mexican trucks and drivers meet our U.S. safety standards, and it’s clear that FMCSA has not been exercising the proper oversight to accomplish this goal.  It’s wrong and inexcusable to endanger the traveling public in this way.</span></blockquote>We'll keep you posted on future developments. <br /><br />

Mexican trucks Mexican truck pilot program still struggles

Dangerous Mexican trucks raise concerns for TeamstersOnly a handful of Mexican trucks are traveling beyond the border zone as part of the two-year-old pilot program run by the U.S. Transportation Department. That's a big problem for the Department, a…

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