Today's Teamster News 11.10.13

<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/07/economic-growth-q3-2013_n_4232329.html" rel="nofollow">U.S. Economy Expanded At Surprising Rate Ahead Of The Government Shutdown</a>  Associated Press   ...The U.S. economy expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate from July through September, a surprising sign of strength ahead of the 16-day partial government shutdown. Exports rose, businesses stocked up, home construction increased and state and local governments spent at the fastest pace in four years…Analysts expect the shutdown will slow growth in the October-December quarter…<br /><a href="http://truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/18302-koch-brothers-organized-federal-shutdown" rel="nofollow">How the Koch Brothers Organized the Federal Shutdown</a>  Buzzflash   ...The two chief contributors to Cruz's political career donated over a million dollars to it (and no other entity donated as much as $100,000 to it). These two top sources of contributions to Mr. Cruz's political career were Club For Growth, and Senate Conservatives Fund, which together donated over a million dollars to it...<br /><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/11/08/2919341/switzerland-executive-compensation-limits/" rel="nofollow">Switzerland Weighs Radical Approach To Runaway Executive Compensation</a>  ThinkProgress   ...A referendum is set for November 24 on a law called the “1:12 Initiative” that would impose a flexible cap on top employee compensation at Swiss companies. If approved, the highest-paid employee of any given Swiss firm could not earn more in a month than its lowest-paid employee makes in a year...<br /><a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-origins-and-evolution-of-the-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp/5357495?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-origins-and-evolution-of-the-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp" rel="nofollow">The Origins and Evolution of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)</a>  Global Research   ...THE free trade agreement being negotiated by the regional bloc known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has provoked widespread opposition in the countries involved in its negotiation...<br /><a href="http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/11/the-tpp-if-passed-spells-the-end-of-popular-sovereignty-for-the-united-states.html" rel="nofollow">The TPP, If Passed, Spells the End of Popular Sovereignty for the United States</a>  naked capitalism   ...TPP replaces popular sovereignty with transnational investor rule, in two ways...<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/nov/09/bank-of-america-us-864m-mortgage-verdict" rel="nofollow">US seeks $864m from Bank of America after mortgage fraud verdict</a>  The Guardian   ...Countrywide's program emphasized and rewarded employees for the quantity rather than the quality of loans produced, and eliminated checkpoints designed to ensure that loans were sound...<br /><a href="http://m.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/11/a-fraying-of-the-public-private-surveillance-partnership/281289/" rel="nofollow">A Fraying of the Public/Private Surveillance Partnership</a>  The Atlantic   ...The publicity resulting from the Snowden documents has made companies think twice before allowing the NSA access to their users' and customers' data...<br /><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/05/1253318/-Wage-theft-outstrips-bank-gas-station-and-convenience-store-robberies?detail=email#" rel="nofollow">Wage theft outstrips bank, gas station and convenience store robberies</a>  DailyKos   ...Fully 64 percent of low-wage workers have some amount of pay stolen out of their paychecks by their employers every week, including 26 percent who are effectively paid less than minimum wage...<br /><a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/177043/scott-walker-effect-helping-democrats-win-and-republicans-lose#" rel="nofollow">The Scott Walker Effect: Helping Democrats Win and Republicans Lose</a>  The Nation   ...Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli counted on Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to provide the conservative candidate with some of the “star power” he needed to get him elected November 5. It didn’t work...<br /><br />

bank criminality economy government shutdown Koch brothers mortgage fraud scott walker spying TPP wage theft Today's Teamster News 11.10.13

U.S. Economy Expanded At Surprising Rate Ahead Of The Government Shutdown  Associated Press   ...The U.S. economy expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate from July through September, a surprising sign of strength ahead of the 16-day partial government …

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Port truck drivers get paychecks for $0

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrf55QEYY1eh9BR8Rzr0UIh-lJ7b_Lfv83E8wI-NBsfagXuCK0RwZD3fPUyiXqNcMRCnr2DNTW9f4e-BIh2kXcyvkCdO3wRzhbij7oL5ho-eO-h9RvvxAcuO2uEI44e1al6VJDIeUVPIoV/s1600/misclass+paystub+TTSI+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrf55QEYY1eh9BR8Rzr0UIh-lJ7b_Lfv83E8wI-NBsfagXuCK0RwZD3fPUyiXqNcMRCnr2DNTW9f4e-BIh2kXcyvkCdO3wRzhbij7oL5ho-eO-h9RvvxAcuO2uEI44e1al6VJDIeUVPIoV/s400/misclass+paystub+TTSI+(2).JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />Take a look at the paycheck of this port truck driver. He worked 32 hours for a net pay of zero. He actually owed his employer $196.30 for the “privilege” of working!<br /><br />The wages of port drivers all over the country are being systematically stolen through employer scams that boost company profits.<br /><br />They aren't the only ones. Josh Eidelson at <a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/09/27/i_worked_all_week_for_free_the_horrifying_true_story_of_0_paychecks/" rel="nofollow">Salon</a> posted a story, "I worked all week for free?!: The horrifying, true story of $0 paychecks." He writes,<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">...guest workers employed by Mister Clean Laundry and Cleaning Services filed a federal complaint and went on strike Aug. 19. “We were scared,” said striker Shellion Parris, but “we knew in the back of our heads that we need to do this, we have to do this.” </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Photos provided to Salon by the <a href="http://www.guestworkeralliance.org/" rel="nofollow">National Guestworker Alliance</a>, 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).” The statement, which was in all-caps, continued, “You will then be escorted to pick up your plane ticket and go back to Jamaica. You will have an ICE and Okaloosa County Sheriff Department Escort.” Workers say that warning arrived stapled to their checks. Mister Clean did not respond to a request for comment.</blockquote>Here's how most port trucking companies rip off their workers: The vast majority misclassify drivers as “independent contractors,” though they work the same way as employee drivers. Why? To eliminate the cost of having employees (payroll taxes, health insurance, vacations, retirement benefits, disability insurance), and to eliminate the cost of running a trucking business (truck leases, insurance, maintenance)!<br /><br />With the help of the <a href="http://teamster.org/" rel="nofollow">Teamsters</a>, drivers at ports around the country are fighting back. In California alone, nearly 10 percent of truck drivers serving the <a href="http://www.portoflosangeles.org/" rel="nofollow">Ports of Los Angeles</a> and <a href="http://www.polb.com/" rel="nofollow">Long Beach</a> filed claims with the <a href="http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/" rel="nofollow">California Labor Commissioner</a>. Industry liability could reach $100 million in stolen wages.<br /><div><br /></div>

misclassification port truck drivers wage theft Port truck drivers get paychecks for $0

Take a look at the paycheck of this port truck driver. He worked 32 hours for a net pay of zero. He actually owed his employer $196.30 for the “privilege” of working!The wages of port drivers all over the country are being systematically stolen throu…

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Oakland gives sweetheart deal to anti-worker creep

<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Take a look at this: A Teamster-hating, worker-screwing California business owner, who swindled port truck drivers out of nearly $1 million, is </span><a href="http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/oakland-to-spend-15-million-to-help-influential-contractor/Content?oid=3713472" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">getting a $1.5 million handout</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> from the city of Oakland. And to top it off, the city doesn’t have the money to cover the deal with the influence-wielding contractor -- Bill Aboudi.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTzwKEGtnelIvRMfZUMNy7reLsKbG7l-9iOso93Tqo5xgu9ZzFlp8FK6rw_pYliweDmTwSNRexCUOixvWjbXQTJb_fBCH9FRlkv-7hV8WVGIDtAaOusVK6KqaY5dqe6OzuPWUPpCB_M71/s1600/aboudi.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTzwKEGtnelIvRMfZUMNy7reLsKbG7l-9iOso93Tqo5xgu9ZzFlp8FK6rw_pYliweDmTwSNRexCUOixvWjbXQTJb_fBCH9FRlkv-7hV8WVGIDtAaOusVK6KqaY5dqe6OzuPWUPpCB_M71/s320/aboudi.jpeg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Aboudi, who </span><a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/06/judge-says-greedy-oakland-hustler-owes.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">an Alameda County Superior Court judge determined in June had stolen $965,000 in wages</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> from 73 current and former employees, just doesn’t like to follow the rules. And in addition to screwing his workers, his company, Oakland Maritime Support Services, has also been discharging storm water pollution into the San Francisco Bay in violation of state and federal environmental laws, court documents show.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> That, however, seems of little concern to Oakland officials, who gave him the money to offset his move from a former Army base being redeveloped by the city. By the way, did we mention Aboudi has also repeatedly missed rent payments in excess of $235,000 and that his business has been effectively exempted from having to pay parking taxes?<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Doug Bloch of </span><a href="http://www.teamstersjc7.org/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Teamsters Joint Council 7</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> said he is befuddled by the turn of events:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m speechless. It’s a gift of public funds.</span></blockquote></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What’s really going on here? </span><a href="http://www.eastbayexpress.com/" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The East Bay Express</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> explains:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So why has the city been assisting a contractor who fails to pay his workers and has polluted the environment? And why does it continue to do financial favors for him? Aboudi has strong defenders on the city council: namely, Councilmembers Larry Reid, Desley Brooks, and Rebecca Kaplan.</span></blockquote></div><div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Aboudi also has exploited citizen fears of trucks parking in West Oakland neighborhoods by telling folks that if the city does not provide him with another truck-parking location, then truckers will park their big rigs in front of people's homes — even though such long-term parking is illegal. And Aboudi's threats are hollow because the port also operates a thirty-acre truck-parking facility, and thus provides plenty of truck parking in the area.</span></blockquote></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Port officials also have been less accommodating toward Aboudi than the city has. The port balked at agreeing to a multi-year lease with the city because of Aboudi's many legal troubles and the $1 million court judgment against him. As a result, city officials ordered the Army Base development team, led by Oakland developer Phil Tagami, to move part of its construction-staging area to the port property so that Aboudi could move his business onto the land that Tagami's team had planned to use.<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> See the switch-a-roo they pulled?<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But there’s a snag. The switch will cost an extra $1.465 million, Tagami said late last week, because the port property has to be readied for use as a construction-staging site. That's $1.465 million that the city doesn't have -- and wouldn't otherwise have to spend were the city weren’t making accommodations for Aboudi. "The city wrote a letter accepting responsibility," Tagami said of the extra costs, "but doesn't have the money to pay for it."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p>So to recap, powerful city contractor with lots of connections is getting something for nothing while he screws drivers who work for him, taxpayers and the environment. Got it!</o:p></span></div>

California ports wage theft Oakland gives sweetheart deal to anti-worker creep

Take a look at this: A Teamster-hating, worker-screwing California business owner, who swindled port truck drivers out of nearly $1 million, is getting a $1.5 million handout from the city of Oakland. And to top it off, the city doesn’t have the mone…

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Port drivers fighting abusive employers all over the US

<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/AVvXsEjBgxAejC7jNQtwgWGkjCudl0ktonkfAv69AnHLQKHMvQr4OeFv2n0VjrOiHpZFOBDIR7OOIx6tTLLQESsE389SfWfS4Br1Rs2DZoo_k32dFj9Z0wmnqmGNOEEWprveweY14P1ljXE45263/s1600/GFS+Committtee-Teamster+truck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBgxAejC7jNQtwgWGkjCudl0ktonkfAv69AnHLQKHMvQr4OeFv2n0VjrOiHpZFOBDIR7OOIx6tTLLQESsE389SfWfS4Br1Rs2DZoo_k32dFj9Z0wmnqmGNOEEWprveweY14P1ljXE45263/s400/GFS+Committtee-Teamster+truck.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green Fleet port truck drivers are ready to rally tomorrow</td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1395542780671801/" rel="nofollow">Tomorrow's large rally</a> to support abused truck drivers at the Port of Los Angeles comes at a time when port workers are rising up everywhere against injustice.<br /><br />Hundreds are expected to gather at a Carson, Calif., warehouse tomorrow to stand with port truck drivers who are harassed and intimidated by Green Fleet Systems because they want to form a union.<br /><br />The company has hired union busters to frighten workers away from union organizers, adding to an already toxic work environment. Green Fleet driver Ramon Guadamuz said he has been forced to work when he was sick with fever. "They didn’t even let me go to my son’s high school graduation even though I had requested that time off,” he said.<br /><br />In Savannah, port truck drivers are speaking out against the<a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/06/300-learn-how-to-cheat-worker-at.html" rel="nofollow"> theft of their wages</a>. In Hazlet, N.J., port truck drivers at Australia-based Toll Group<a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/07/woo-hoo-another-teamster-organizing.html" rel="nofollow"> voted to join the Teamsters</a> in June, and will meet soon to negotiate a contract. They were inspired by the port truck drivers in Los Angeles who<a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/01/amazing-teamster-contract-sending-wave.html" rel="nofollow"> joined the Teamsters</a> last year. In January, those drivers ratified an amazing contract that gives them a $6-an-hour raise, a pension, affordable health care, job security and clean restrooms.<br /><br />California port truck drivers are filing class action suits against wage theft. At least five trucking companies had charges filed against them for labor law violations by Jerry Brown, the current governor of California, in his last role as California attorney general.<br /><br />As of last year, California is one of 14 states actively partnered with the U.S. Department of Labor’s <a href="http://www.dol.gov/whd/workers/misclassification/">Misclassification Initiative</a> to tamp down on worker abuse. Through this initiative, over <a href="http://blog.capital.org/tag/misclassification-initiative/">$9.5 million has been collected in back wages for more than 11,400 workers</a>.<br />Brothers Jose A. and Jose I. Estrada filed a lawsuit in May against Harbor Express Inc., one of the largest Southern California trucking companies, for wage theft and other basic violations after being classified as independent contractors.  Over 400 other port drivers could be affected by the outcome of the suit. Said Jose A. Estrada,<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">We filed this claim because we’re tired of being taken advantage of. They don't pay us a penny for the time we wait at the port.  I live paycheck to paycheck.</blockquote>Instead of being paid by the hour like normal employees, they are given a small lump sum for their work, which is often lower than minimum wage.<br /><br />Although the brothers have driven Harbor Express company trucks exclusively for years, Horizon Express refuses to acknowledge them as employees.  Jose I. Estrada was disabled after an accident at work and may never be able to work again.  As he was hired as an independent contractor, Harbor Express does not have to provide any worker compensation.<br /><br />As a result of trucking deregulation in the 1980’s, <a href="http://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/publications/Port%20Trucking%20Down%20the%20Low%20Road.pdf">an estimated 90 percent of port drivers at the Southern California ports are now illegally misclassified workers.</a><br /><br />

misclassification port truck drivers wage theft Port drivers fighting abusive employers all over the US

Green Fleet port truck drivers are ready to rally tomorrowTomorrow's large rally to support abused truck drivers at the Port of Los Angeles comes at a time when port workers are rising up everywhere against injustice.Hundreds are expected to gather a…

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