Thursday, August 22, 2013

Today's Teamster News 08.22.13

Teamsters Sue Florida Governor And State Agencies   IBT   ...Teamsters Local 2011, the bargaining agent for 19,000 officers employed by the Florida Department of Corrections, has filed a law suit in Leon County Circuit Court that seeks to stop the state from forfeiting time accrued by correctional officers for work performed on statutorily-established state holidays throughout the year...
Reinstated Teamster corrections officers will get back pay  The Daily Herald ...Teamsters Local 117 won $350,000 in back pay and benefits to three recently reinstated Washington State Reformatory corrections officers and a demoted sergeant who were unfairly disciplined after their coworker, Jayme Biendl, was killed by an inmate in 2011...
Teamsters, City of Kelso agree to new contract with raises  Longview Daily News   ...The city of Kelso and Teamsters Local 58 in Vancouver, Washington, have negotiated a contract that includes pay raises in each of the next three years for nine city library and clerical workers...
Sen. Clark to visit families  Daily Times Chronicle   ...Massachusetts State Sen. Katherine Clark, who has been endorsed by unions, including Teamsters Local 25, has had enough of a Congress that doesn't care about the issues affecting women and families. She is launching a kitchen table tour to talk to voters about the family issues and listen to their concerns...
Councilwoman Schipske Picks Up Endorsement From Teamsters   Everything Long Beach   ...The Teamsters Joint Council 42, representing over 200,000 workers, announced that it was throwing its support behind Gerrie Schipske, who is running for Mayor of Long Beach, Calif...
Organized Labor Throws Support behind March  Washington Informer   ...Bill Lucy wasn’t among the more than 250,000 people who took part in the 1963 March on Washington, but on the 50th anniversary of the seminal civil rights event, he said organized labor would be well represented...
Unions, public pension funds file formal objections to Detroit bankruptcy  MSNBC   ...Wall street and bondholders are on a collision course with unions and 21,000 retired pension holders in Detroit, most of them elderly. Yesterday the unions and two public pension funds filed formal objections to Detroit's bankruptcy filing ahead of a midnight deadline...
The Wisconsin Uprising Is Coming Back  Huffington Post   ...Erwin's strategies of chilling dissent aren't working, just as Walker's so-called "job creation" proposals are still falling short of the national average...
For retailers, low wages aren’t working out (opinion) Washington Post   ...This Wal-Mart low-prices, low-wages thing isn’t working out so well — even for Wal-Mart...
Walmart board chairman target of protests  The Californian   ...This weekend, former Walmart employees and supporters passed out flyers at the Salinas store in Salinas about Rob Walton, chairman of the board. “The Waltons are a very rich family and there is nothing wrong with that. But when … your employees have to look for a second job, because their pay rate is too low, that is injustice,” said Tony Barrera, a Salinas City Councilman...
Greece's Golden Dawn: A Wake-up Call for Europe  truthout   ...For the first time since WWII, many Greeks are faced with hunger, homelessness and a lack of basic health care...
Warren asks DOJ to explain 'timid' FHA settlement  The Hill   ...Warren wondered if a portion of a broad government settlement with mortgage servicers amounted to a drop in the bucket, and a sign of the government's "timid enforcement strategy" when it comes to chasing bad actors in the financial sector...
Port of Oakland Terminal Reopens After Trucker Protest  Transport Topics   ...The Port of Oakland, Calif., said Wednesday there are no protesters in the area and terminals are open, after protesting truck drivers had shut down a terminal Monday...
NSA Can Tap Three-Fourths Of Domestic U.S. Internet Traffic, Wall Street Journal Reports Huffington Post   ...The National Security Agency has developed surveillance programs that reach more Internet communications of Americans than have publicly been disclosed, according to current and formal officials cited in a Wall Street Journal article posted online Tuesday night...
The Business Community Finally Realizes Republicans Are Screwing Them Over PoliticusUSA   ...Guess who’s sorry they fell for the Koch brothers baloney? Oh, none other than the “U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business, and other business interests”. See, it turns out that what is good for the Koch brothers isn’t necessarily good for the rest of the business community, the country or Wall Street...
Welfare Can Pay More Than That Entry-Level Job   National Journal   ...Welfare programs pay more than minimum wage in 35 states. That's according to a new study released this week. Here is something to chew on: In 11 states, these programs pay more annually than the average teacher after his or her first year on the job...
The Three Factors That Put Lower-Income Americans At Greater Risk From Extreme Weather   Think Progress   ...As extreme weather batters communities across the country, a new report from the Center for American Progress details how these events disproportionately harm middle and lower-income Americans because they simply have fewer resources to prepare for and recover from such disasters...
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to address Alabama Republicans on Friday  Huntsville Times   ...Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who ignited a political firestorm when he moved to eliminate collective-bargaining rights for teachers and public employees, will the keynote speaker at the Alabama Republican Party's 2013 summer fundraising dinner...
Colorado Internet tax jumps hurdle  Associated Press   ...A federal appeals court has ruled Colorado's law requiring large online retailers to collect millions of dollars in state taxes on Internet sales is legal. The court ruled Tuesday a lower court overstepped its jurisdiction in tossing out the law last year...