Tag Archives: news

Recent News

Trump Not Free to Rock in the Free World

Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA) member Neil Young decried Donald Trump’s use of his song “Rockin’ in the Free World” as part of his presidential campaign announcement on Tuesday.

An official statement from Young read: “Donald Trump was not authorized to use ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ in his presidential candidacy announcement. Neil Young, a Canadian citizen, is a supporter of Bernie Sanders for President of the United States of America.”

Young wrote the 1989 song as a critique of the George H. W. Bush Administration, and its lack of concern for the plight of America’s poor. Use of it by the billionaire conservative was a complete misrepresentation of the liberal song’s meaning.

Recent News

Canadian Appeals Court Mandates Google to Remove Pirate Site

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Canadian Court of Appeals has upheld worldwide injunctions requiring that Google remove search links from certain pirate sites around the world. It is highly unusual for a court to make an order that could place limits on expression in another country. Justice Harvey Groberman explains, “It has not been suggested that the order prohibiting the defendants from advertising wares that violate the intellectual property rights of the plaintiffs offends the core values of any nation.”

The court battle against Google began when a one-time distributor for Equustek Solutions Inc. relabeled Equustek’s products to pass them off as their own through their website. Equustek alleged trademark violations and misappropriation of trade secrets, and the judge told Google to remove a number of websites used by the defendants from its search indexes. Google removed the URLs from google.ca only, which led Equustek to complain of a “whack-a-mole” approach.

The International Federation of Film Producers Association and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry have since joined with Equustek, bring their own arguments and calling for removal of pirating sites.

“Google raises the specter of it being subjected to restrictive orders from courts in all parts of the world, each concerned with its own domestic law,” writes Groverman. “… it is the worldwide nature of Google’s business and not any defect of the law that gives rise to that possibility.”

Recent News

UFCW Members Vow to Block “Right to Work” in Missouri

While thanking Missouri Governor Jay Nixon for vetoing a bill that was designed to silence workers, the 20,000-member Missouri United Food and Commercial Workers vowed to the state’s proposed “right to work” legislation.

“Right to work sounds good on paper, but in reality it means lower paying jobs, fewer benefits, and more dangerous workplaces. It is being pushed by out of state special interests who believe workers do not deserve a say in the terms of their employment. Plain and simple, it’s a corporate giveaway at the expense of everyday Missouri families,” the organization says.

Recent News

Court Refuses to Block Net Neutrality Rules

The DC Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a last minute effort by Internet service providers (ISPs) to stop net neutrality rules from becoming effective June 12. The National Cable and Telecommunications Association, USTelecom, the Wireless Association, among other groups, sought block the FCC’s reclassification of Internet services as a Title II telecommunications service. The FCC had voted to reclassify Internet services back in February in order to allow implementation of net neutrality laws.

“This is a huge victory for Internet consumers and innovators! Starting Friday, there will be a referee on the field to keep the Internet fast, fair and open,” FCC chair Tom Wheeler said in a statement. “Blocking, throttling, pay-for-priority fast lanes and other efforts to come between consumers and the Internet are now things of the past. The rules also give broadband providers the certainty and economic incentive to build fast and competitive broadband networks.”

Recent News

Fast Track Derailed in House

According to Reuters, the House of Representatives has effectively blocked Fast Track. The legislation had created unusual coalitions with President Obama and House Republican leaders are allied in supporting it, while most Democrats and some Republicans oppose it. Labor organizations oppose Fast Track, they fear will result in American job losses by giving Congress less oversight when it comes to trade deals. Congress would lose the ability to make changes to a trade deal, and would only allow it to hold a yes-or-no vote on one. Though the legislation is dead for now, the House may still hold a Fast Track vote in order to allow members to share their views. In the weeks leading up to the vote the AFL-CIO has asked workers to contact their representatives to speak out against Fast Track.

Recent News

Attorneys General Investigate Apple Music

According to Billboard, the attorneys general of both New York and Connecticut are looking at Apple’s new streaming service to determine if Apple pressured or conspired with record labels to withdraw support from other streaming services. The European Commission is also investigating Apple’s dealings with record labels. At issue is the lack of an advertising-based freemium model as offered by Spotify and other companies. Apple is offering a three-month free trial period instead.

Universal Music Group’s legal firm responded that it has no agreements with Apple or other labels that might impede the availability of free or ad-supported services and that it is committed to a robust and competitive market for music streaming services.

Though the attorneys general investigation is currently in “suspended” status, there could be further action in the future.

Recent News

Live Nation Among Employers Who Misclassify Workers

A new study from the Economic Policy Institute shows that more than 10 million American workers are misclassified as independent contractors, when they are really employees. The study points to Live Nation and FedEx as businesses that routinely abuse the system, to save money on taxes, employment insurance, overtime pay, minimum wage, and workmen’s compensation.

For example, the concert producer uses subcontractor Crew One to staff its shows in Atlanta. Crew One treats the workers it employs for Live Nation as independent contractors, providing no safety training, work shoes, hard hats, and saving the expense of payroll taxes. Crew One stagehands have voted (2 to 1) to form a union, but the company is challenging the election results on the grounds that the workers are independent contractors.

FedEx is currently fighting a legal battle over worker misclassification in 27 states. Drivers are treated as independent contractors, but they must provide their own trucks painted to FedEx specifications and purchase FedEx specified uniforms, scanners, and other equipment. They also work according to FedEx hours and procedures. As independent contractors, FedEx drivers take on immense financial liability.

A tax loophole called the “Safe Harbor Rule” protects employers, allowing misclassification for tax purposes, even if it is demonstrated that they really are employees. President Obama proposed closing this loophole in his 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 budget proposals. The US Treasury estimates that doing so would generate $9 billion in tax revenue over 10 years.

To read the entire EPI report visit www.epi.org/publication/independent-contractor-misclassification/.

Recent News

AFM Sues Paramount for Offshoring Jobs

This week the AFM filed suit against Paramount Pictures, Inc. for recording the score to the film Same Kind of Different As Me in Slovakia. The complaint claims the film studio breached its collective bargaining agreement with musicians that required Paramount films produced in the US or Canada to be scored in the US or Canada.

“Only weeks after we filed suit against Paramount for offshoring jobs in other films, they did it again. This total disrespect for musicians is shameful. It is nothing more than corporate greed,” says AFM President Ray Hair. In May the Federation sued six studios, including Paramount, for offshoring jobs for other films. The AFM is seeking breach of contract damages, including wages and benefits that should have been paid to musicians.

Same Kind of Different As Me, directed by Michael Carney and starring Renée Zellweger, Greg Kinnear, and Jon Voight, was filmed in Mississippi, but scored in Bratislava, Sovakia, last month. It is scheduled for release in April 2016. According to Hair, such offshoring of scores allows film producers to drive profits up at the expense of North American musicians.

You can read the full complaint at: www.afm.org/uploads/file/public_pdf/SKODAM_Complaint-Court-Stamped.pdf.

 

Recent News

Copyright Protection Portal Protects British Artists

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), a trade body for more than 300 UK music labels, has launched a Copyright Protection Portal that lets rights holders and artists track and report illegal copies of their music. Users upload their songs into BPI’s bespoke crawlers, which provides analysis on tunes that are being pirated and where, as well as information about infringing links that have already been removed. BPI partnered with the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) to create the bespoke program. BPI claims to have removed nearly 145 million illegal links to music from Google and carried out 465 physical investigations, resulting in seizures of more than 13 million tracks in 2014.

minimum wage map
Recent News

Why We Need to Raise Minimum Wage

The standard for measuring housing affordability used to be that your mortgage or rent should be about 30% of your income, leaving the rest to cover food, utilities, transportation, medical care, and other expenses. A new report from the National Low-Income Housing Coalition shows that in 2015, working 40 hours at minimum wage isn’t even enough to cover the rent of a one-bedroom apartment in any state. In only 13 states and Puerto Rico, can you afford that apartment on less than 60 hours a week, with the lowest number of hours being in Puerto Rico (48) and South Dakota (49). At the other end of the spectrum, you’d need to work at least 100 hours in Washington, DC, Maryland, or New Jersey to afford a one-bedroom apartment on the minimum wage.

The full report, titled Out of Reach, is available on the National Low Income Housing Coalition website: nlihc.org. Thanks to www.aflcio.org there is an easy to read map showing where each state stands.

minimum wage map