ALL LOCAL UNION AND JOINT COUNCIL PRINCIPAL OFFICERS, POLITICAL COORDINATORS, AND STATE LOBBYISTS

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1 TO: FROM: ALL LOCAL UNION AND JOINT COUNCIL PRINCIPAL OFFICERS, POLITICAL COORDINATORS, AND STATE LOBBYISTS CHRISTY BAILEY, DIRECTOR DEPARTMENT OF FIELD & POLITICAL ACTION LISA KINARD, DIRECTOR DEPARTMENT OF FEDERAL LEGISLATION & REGULATION DATE: OCTOBER 8, 2010 RE: IBT LEGISLATIVE UPDATE SEPTEMBER Pension reform: Pension reform remains one of the IBT s top legislative priorities, and we continue to advocate the need for pension relief for our nation s pension plans, and in particular, multiemployer defined benefit plans. In June, Congress passed into law the Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act of 2010, which provides some funding relief for multi-employer plans and the companies that sponsor them. The changes include an extended amortization period for fund losses and a 10-year smoothing period. The new law will temporarily reduce the required contributions to multi-employer plans by allowing sponsors to recognize losses suffered in 2008 and This will help companies that may have been forced to make contribution increases that they could not afford, or reduce the extent of any benefit reductions that would have been required. The Teamsters Union worked alongside the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans (NCCMP) in support of this relief. While a good and important first step, we are still advocating for Congress to enact the remaining provisions of the Preserve Benefits and Jobs Act (H.R. 3936), introduced in the House by Representatives Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) and Patrick Tiberi (R-OH), and the Create Jobs and Save Benefits Act (S. 3157), introduced by Senator Robert Casey (D-PA). Senator Casey s bill focuses particularly on partition relief for plans with non-sponsored retirees and mergers and alliances of multiemployer plans. The bill would also increase the level of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation s (PBGC) benefits guarantee for multi-employer plan participants. We encourage Local Unions and Joint Councils to continue reaching out to members of Congress on this issue and to involve your membership, active and retired, as well. For updated Save Jobs, Protect Pensions action kit materials, please contact the Department of Field & Political Action at (202) Please also visit our Save Jobs, Protect Pensions page on the Teamster website at for the latest updates and ways to be engaged. 2. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization: On September 23, Congress passed another extension of current funding for FAA programs. The three-month extension will run through December 31. We remain hopeful that the FAA Reauthorization bill will be taken up this year in the lame-duck session, and we continue to advocate with key Senators for the inclusion of the Express Carrier Employee Protection provision in the final bill, or as a part of some other must-move piece of legislation.

2 Page 2 of 5 Please continue to speak to your Senators on this issue when meeting with them, and please continue to look for updates on our FedEx Drivers Aren t Pilots website ( We ask Local Unions and Joint Councils to place a link on your websites to this site so that members can be informed and engaged. 3. Clean Ports Act of 2010 (H.R. 5967): H.R. 5967, the Clean Ports Act of 2010, is now up to 89 cosponsors in the House. The bill would update the 30-year-old Motor Carrier Act, which deregulated the trucking industry. The bill would permit ports to implement Clean Truck Programs that allow trucking companies to purchase and maintain new, clean trucks and employ their drivers instead of misclassifying them as independent contractors. This legislation would clear a major legal obstacle standing in our way of organizing our nation s 100,000 port truck drivers who are stuck on the bottom of the economic ladder and kept in the shadows as misclassified workers. On August 27, a U.S. District Court upheld the concession requirements, including the employee driver requirement, in the Port of Los Angeles Clean Truck Program. This was a great victory for the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports, of which the IBT is a member. The American Trucking Association plans to appeal the decision, meaning that this litigation could be tied up for years and discourage other port communities across the country from enacting their own Clean Truck Programs. Therefore, it is even more important that the Clean Ports Act be enacted by Congress. The IBT is assisting with efforts to gain additional cosponsorships to the Clean Ports Act, and this is one of our priority issues that we ask Teamster leaders to discuss when holding meetings with members of Congress. The goal for cosponsors is between 125 and 150. For further information, please contact the Department of Field & Political Action. 4. U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement: In response to the President s announcement during his G-20 Summit trip that the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would be sent to Congress for ratification sometime after the midterm elections, Citizens Trade Campaign (CTC), along with over 500 national, state, and local organizations from across the country, sent a letter to the President on September 22 opposing the trade agreement as it currently stands. In its current form, the South Korea FTA is another NAFTA-style agreement that would hurt American working families. The financial services, investment, and labor chapters serve to benefit multi-national corporations, not small businesses and workers. The agreement also does not address South Korea s non-tariff barriers on certain U.S. exports, especially in the auto, beef, and textile industries, while the U.S. market remains open to South Korean exports. Not requiring equivalent market access is an unfair and unbalanced advantage for South Korea. The IBT was a signatory to the letter to President Obama, along with 21 Joint Councils and Local Unions. We thank those Joint Councils and Local Unions who joined in opposing the South Korea FTA as it currently stands.

3 Page 3 of 5 5. Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act (H.R. 2378): On September 30, the House passed H.R. 2378, the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act. The bill would allow the Obama administration to penalize nations, and China in particular, that undervalue their currency to make their exports cheaper. The bill enjoyed bipartisan support and passed overwhelmingly, The size of this vote shows Americans are furious that China is bleeding us dry, General President Hoffa said. American workers are paying a steep price for China s cheating. This bill would help bring back the jobs that America lost. The IBT, as part of the Citizens Trade Campaign coalition, was a signatory to a letter sent September 16 to all House Representatives urging for passage of the legislation. 6. Social Security: The IBT has joined the Strengthen Social Security coalition, whose campaign is meant to oppose any efforts by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform to recommend cuts to Social Security. The Commission was appointed earlier this year by President Obama with the task of developing recommendations for Congress on ways to eliminate the nation s debt. The Commission s report is due December 1. Any recommendations approved by the Commission would then be fast-tracked with an up-ordown vote in Congress; bypassing the committee process, floor amendments, and the type of deliberation that should precede such momentous legislation. There are a number of efforts underway in Congress to protect Social Security. A letter opposing any cuts to Social Security benefits, including raising the retirement age, and privatization of Social Security in any form is being circulated by Representatives Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), John Conyers (D-MI), and Dan Maffei (D-NY). Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) has introduced a House resolution that opposes any increase in retirement age. In the Senate, a resolution has also been introduced that opposes any cuts to Social Security benefits, including raising the retirement age, and any privatization efforts. This resolution is sponsored by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Dan Akaka (D-HI), Dan Inouye (D-HI), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Barbara Boxer (D-CA). The IBT has sent letters to members of the House and Senate urging that they join their colleagues by signing Rep. Grijalva s letter and cosponsoring Rep. Giffords s resolution in the House and by cosponsoring Senator Sanders s resolution in the Senate. 7. James Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act (H.R. 847): On September 29, the House voted to pass the James Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act (H.R. 847). This bill would provide medical monitoring and treatment to emergency responders, recovery and clean-up workers, and community members suffering serious diseases due to exposure to the Ground Zero toxins resulting from the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Many of these workers have suffered economic losses because of their World Trade Center-related illnesses. H.R. 847 would reopen the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund to provide compensation for economic losses and harm for those who are sick. Teamster

4 Page 4 of 5 members were among the thousands of rescue and recovery workers who responded to this horrific attack and who now need help. General President Hoffa urged the Senate to take up the bill quickly. Nine years after the terrorist attacks on our country, 9/11 is still claiming people s lives, he said. It s past time to live up to our moral obligation to help the sick and the dying, and to show that we understand the value of their sacrifice. 8. Creating American Jobs and Ending Offshoring Act (S. 3816): On September 28, the Senate voted on the motion to proceed to the Creating American Jobs and Ending Offshoring Act, unable to break a filibuster on legislation that would help keep jobs in America by ending subsidies to corporations that move facilities or production offshore. The bill, sponsored by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), also would have given tax incentives to companies that hire U.S. workers instead of overseas employees. Congress had a chance to help middle-class Americans in their daily lives by enacting this bill, General President Hoffa said. I don t see how the Senate in good conscience could recess without passing it. 9. National Mediation Board union election rule: On September 23, by a vote of 43-56, the Senate defeated a joint resolution introduced by Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) which expressed disapproval for the National Mediation Board s (NMB) recent reform of union elections in the airline and railroad industries. The resolution was the first step in an attempt to overturn the new NMB rule which allows a union to be certified if a majority of the employees who vote support it. The rule previously required majority support of all workers eligible to vote and counted non-voters as a no vote. The new rule brings union elections in the rail and airline industries up to modern standards of democratic election law. I m pleased that the majority party in the Senate defeated an attempt by anti-union groups to undermine a fairer system for workers who want to join a union, General President Hoffa said. 10. Fair Playing Field Act of 2010 (H.R. 6128/S. 3786): On September 15, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Senator John Kerry (D-MA) introduced the Fair Playing Field Act of 2010 (H.R. 6128/S. 3786), legislation that would close the Safe Harbor IRS provision that makes it too easy for companies to misclassify workers as independent contractors. The bill lets the IRS offer guidance on proper worker classification, something it had been prevented from doing, and requires the Treasury Secretary to set guidelines on worker classification. It raises penalties on employers for failing to deduct and withhold income taxes and their employees share of FICA taxes. Finally, the bill requires companies that hire independent contractors to give them a written statement of their tax liabilities and their right to seek a status determination from the IRS. The Obama Administration, which has already begun efforts to crack down on worker misclassification, supports the legislation. The IRS is currently undertaking a three-year effort to audit employers to identify cases of misclassification, and a new Labor Department

5 Page 5 of 5 initiative has been proposed to ramp up enforcement and help states that are doing a good job of going after bad-acting employers. If you have any questions or need additional information about this month s legislative update, please contact the Department of Field and Political Action at (202) A legislative update for members is also available on the Teamster website at Please feel free to place a link to this information on your Local Union/Joint Council s website. CB:LK/ms