Thursday, June 13, 2013

Today's Teamster News 06.13.13

Inequality In U.S. Is Scarily High, Rising (INFOGRAPHIC)  Huffington Post   ...Half of the U.S. population is now considered poor or low-income...
The Trade Deal Scam  Truthout   ...There are two key facts people should know about these proposed trade deals. First, they are mostly not about trade. Second they are not intended to boost the economy in a way that will help most of us...
How Costco saves taxpayers money  CNNMoney   ...The discount retail chain has remained steadfast on giving decent pay and benefits for its rank and file, saving the company--and U.S. taxpayers--plenty of money in the process...
How Spy Agency Contractors Have Already Abused Their Power  The Nation   ...Two years ago, a batch of stolen e-mails revealed a plot by a set of three defense contractors (Palantir Technologies, Berico Technologies and HBGary Federal) to target activists, reporters, labor unions and political organizations...
Behind Cry for Help From China Labor Camp  New York Times   ...In interviews with more than a dozen people who were imprisoned at Masanjia and other camps around the country, they described a catalog of horrific abuse, including frequent beatings, days of sleep deprivation and prisoners chained up in painful positions for weeks on end...
Darrell Issa joins Democrats’ push on foreclosure review  Politico   ... Democrats and consumer advocates pushing federal banking regulators to release more details about an abandoned review of past foreclosure abuses have a new ally: Darrell Issa...
Greek state TV, radio broadcasts going off the air  Associated Press   ...Greek state TV and radio have begun going off the air, hours after the government said it would temporarily close all state-run broadcasts, with the loss of about 2,500 job, due to austerity cuts...
North Carolina Is the New Wisconsin  The Nation   ...Republicans have imported a slew of ALEC-inspired policies in an attempt to turn the New South back into the Old Confederacy...
City Council grapples with looming budget shortfall, union concerns  Fort Wayne News-Sentinel   ...Fort Wayne City Council on Tuesday decided to hold for another week an ordinance that, if passed as currently written, would strip the ability of unions to collectively bargain aspects of health insurance coverage with the city...
Montana attorney general forms coalition to oppose Internet sales tax bill in Congress  Great Falls Tribune   ...Montana Attorney General Tim Fox on Wednesday announced the formation of a multi-state coalition opposed to a proposed federal Internet sales tax bill that would force businesses to collect sales tax for other states, counties and cities...
Iowa law closes sales tax loophole for online sellers  Sioux City Journal   ...Gov. Terry Branstad signed legislation to close a loophole that lets out-of-state online retailers offer customers a purchase price without collecting the state’s sales tax...
Massachusetts Minimum Wage Hearing Draws Crowd  WTIC 1080   ...Advocates for a higher Massachusetts minimum wage packed a Statehouse hearing Tuesday, saying an increase is a matter of fairness and would boost the economy...
Hoffa: Congress Needs to Take Action to Keep College Affordable  IBT   ...Working people struggle and fight to form unions so their children can have better lives than they do. For many, that means sending their sons and daughters to college. Higher education has long been the stepping stone to a better life. But that stone is being swept away by a tide of student debt...
Leslie Marshall Show Discusses Our Victory Against Knives on Planes  IBT  ...The Teamsters Airline Division, as part of the Coalition of Flight Attendant Unions, claimed a big victory last week with the TSA’s decision to disallow knives on planes...
Teamsters, Community Leaders Speak Before Rhinebeck School Board  IBT   ...School bus drivers and monitors, along with Teamsters Local 445 and New York State United Teachers (NYSUT)leaders, spoke out at Tuesday night’s Rhinebeck School Board meeting about their ongoing fight for a fair contract from Durham School Services...
Teamsters Complaint Results In $600,000 Settlement For Correctional Officers  IBT   ...The U.S. Department of Labor is overseeing the award of a $603,237 settlement to current and retired employees of the State Prison Facility in Raiford after finding that more than 700 corrections officers were not being properly compensated...