Friday, June 15, 2012

Today's Teamster News 06.15.12


Wal-Mart’s PR Firm Sent This Flack to Pose as a Reporter to Spy on a Pro-Labor Group  Gawker   ...Wal-Mart is trying to open a new store in LA's Chinatown area. Local labor groups, among others, are challenging the store's permitting. It's a fight with big stakes for Wal-Mart, as it goes right to the heart of the company's strategy of expanding in large cities. And now, one labor group says that an employee of a PR firm working for Wal-Mart actually posed as a reporter in order to infiltrate one of their meetings...
Layoff threats put Congress on notice  Reuters   ...Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defense contractor and a bellwether of the industry, already has started preparing for the possibility of staff reductions. The company, which is dependent on government contracts for the bulk of its revenue, recently has seen its stock price slide...
Senators Suck Up to Jamie Dimon, Get Paid for It  The Nation   ...when historians look back upon the current era of unbridled financial sector influence on American government—unless all historians are by then employed at CitiBankofAmericaChaseOne Institutions of Higher Learning™—Wednesday’s hearing of the Senate Banking Committee will be an instructive example of our perverse power structure...
Walker will use his personal name-recognition to promote Wisconsin's economy  WTAQ.com   ...Governor Scott Walker says he’ll use whatever national stature he gained during his recall battle to promote Wisconsin, and reach out to businesses to try-and-attract jobs...
CMD Asks Elections Board to Investigate Tea Party Group Supporting Walker  The Center for Media and Democracy   ...The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) has filed a complaint requesting that Wisconsin’s elections board investigate a Tea Party-affiliated group from California that spent tens of thousands of dollars on ads supporting Governor Scott Walker in the June 5 recall election, but did not register as a political committee in the state or report its funding and spending, as required by Wisconsin election law...
Contract talks break down between Waste Management, Teamsters  q13fox.com   ...Contract negotiations between Waste Management and the Teamsters union representing about 150 recycle truck drivers broke down Thursday, increasing the possibility of a strike or lockout that could affect pickups starting next week...