Friday, December 14, 2012

Today's Teamster News 12.13.12

Oops: Michigan Republicans Have Passed a Right to Work Law that may be Impossible to Implement  Politicususa   ...Did Michigan Republicans even read the ALEC-Koch “Right-to-Work” legislation they just passed? It doesn’t appear likely...Just as the Wisconsin law violated their state constitution, so it appears the Michigan law does the same, albeit for different reasons....“The Michigan Constitution gives clear authority to the Civil Service Commission over conditions of employment for the state’s workforce. Experts have suggested today only a vote of the Civil Service Commission could enact Right to Work policies for state workers...”
Petitions seek ‘right to work’ in Ohio  Toledo Blade   ...As Michigan lawmakers prepare today to make the Wolverine State the latest right-to-work state, petitions are circulating on Ohio streets to put a similar issue directly before Buckeye voters...
Virginia GOP Official Calls Union Members ‘Terrorists’  ThinkProgress   ...Union workers who were protesting the passage of so-called “right-to-work” laws outside the state capitol in Lansing, Michigan are “terrorists,” according to a former high-ranking official in the Republican Party of Virginia who now serves in a county-level elected office...
Tom Harkin: Conservative Media 'Manufactured' Fiscal Cliff Crisis 'To Scare People' (VIDEO)  Huffington Post   ...Republican leadership is resistant to raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, a key piece of the White House plan. Meanwhile, Democrats are reluctant to making changes to Medicare or Social Security that GOP has suggested...
Arizona funnels business to CCA through its school-to-prison pipeline  The Guardian   ...Casa Grande invited a private prison firm to help make a high-school marijuana bust. Can you spot the conflict of interest?...
Teamsters back on strike in Auburn against United Natural Foods  The Seattle Times   ...Warehouse workers and drivers went back on strike in Auburn against United Natural Foods Thursday night after company officials told union members that 72 of 163 striking workers would be permanently replaced, according to a news release from Teamsters Local 117...
James Hoffa on Michigan now being a ‘right-to-work for less’ state  Current TV   ...He and Bill Press speak about how the far right is fired up over Romney’s defeat. Hoffa says, “How do you weaken the Democratic Party in Michigan? It’s labor. And it’s the same in Ohio.” Hoffa says that this is absolutely political payback...