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Q4 2018

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139 Q4 2018 / CINEMONTAGE Democrats won 59 percent of the Senate vote, while Republicans won 40 percent. Arguably, this is due to population disparities between states. After a runoff election in Mississippi on November 27 won by the Republican candidate, that party had flipped four Senate seats, giving them control of the body with 53 (two more than the amount they had before the election), while Democrats flipped two seats but now only hold 47. Organized labor campaigned widely for progressive Democrats, having loudly opposed restrictive appointments to the National Labor Relations Board, and the nomination and confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, but showed interest in better terms in international trade agreements. Ultimately, Trump's inflammatory rhetoric and contempt for civil debate left organized labor opposed to his agenda of fear and division. The Democrats' emphasis on health care and, more specifically, "pre- existing conditions," turned out to be more important to voters. In response to the election results, IATSE President Matt Loeb said in a statement, "This election marks an important beginning to our efforts to return power to the working families of this country, and we will not rest until every IATSE member is represented by people who understand the value of our work and of workers' rights." For his part, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka was delighted that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was narrowly defeated by Democrat Tony Evers, a school superintendent. The race was so close that the incumbent governor initially refused to concede. Organized labor considered Walker to be "a polarizing figure who already survived an acrimonious recall challenge in 2012," according to Annie Gowan in The Washington Post. Walker "all but banned collective bargaining for public sector workers, banned dues deduction and forced unions to recertify every year," adds Samantha Winslow in Labor Notes. Under Walker's lead, the state went "right to work" in both public and private sectors, and union membership tumbled to 40 percent. In 2015, when Walker had announced his presidential candidacy, Trumka's news release was short and to the point: "Scott Walker is a national disgrace." When Walker dropped out of the race several months later, Trumka amended his original statement, saying, "Scott Walker is still a disgrace, just no longer national." On the day after the midterm elections, Trumka trotted out a similarly terse statement of contempt: "Scott Walker was a national disgrace." TEAMSTERS TOUT NEW UPS CON- TRACT, BUT MAJORITY VOTES AGAINST IT In early October, the Teamsters union announced that a new five-year nationwide contract at United Parcel Service (UPS) had been ratified, covering 209,403 drivers, sorters and others, but there's a hitch. The agreement was rejected by a majority of the 92,604 members who voted on it, according to several news sources, including Fortune and The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Teamsters at United Parcel Service voted by 54 percent to reject the company's offer, but only 44 percent of the unit's union members cast ballots. Under a provision in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters constitution, it takes a two-thirds majority to reject a contract if less than a majority of bargaining unit members cast votes. The new agreement raises wages by $4.15 over five years, and increases starting pay for part-time workers from $10 to $13 an hour. But it also sets up a two- tier system in which lower-paid full-time drivers would do weekend deliveries. Currently, full-time drivers earn over $36 an hour, and earn double time for work on Sundays. "The fact that they're moving to ratify the contract over a 'No' vote is a huge betrayal to the members," said David Levin with Teamsters for a Democratic Union, LABOR MAT TERS Teamsters at United Parcel Service voted by 54 percent to reject the company's offer, but only 44 percent of the unit's union members cast ballots. Courtesy of Teamsters for a Democratic Union

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