Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Today's Teamster News 08.27.13

Port truck drivers at Carson firm seek union rep, go on strike Los Angeles Times ...Thirty port truck drivers went on strike Monday night at a Carson-based trucking firm, alleging their employer is attempting to thwart their efforts to unionize, organizers said...
Calif port truck drivers go on 24-hour strike Associated Press ...port truck drivers have gone on strike, claiming their company is trying to thwart their efforts to unionize...
LABOR: Trucking firm that supplies Skechers is Teamsters target Press-Enterprise ...Drivers who work for a Los Angeles area trucking company are leading picket lines at Skechers’ distribution center in Moreno Valley, part of an ongoing labor dispute between the trucking company and the Teamsters...
Teamsters, Hernando County trade figures for salary, benefit increases Tampa Bay Times ...The union that negotiates the contract for 400 Hernando County employees traded pay and benefit proposals with the county Monday, the eve of the County Commission's first discussion of the 2013-14 budget...
BLET Scores Organizing Win at Texas Pacifico  teamster.org   ...The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) scored a short line organizing victory (Thursday) ... as a majority of workers at Texas-Pacifico Transportation Ltd. voted to make the BLET their designated collective bargaining representative...
Trans-Pacific Partnership talks hit roadblock over anti-smoking policies The Globe and Mail ...Fast-moving trade talks aimed at reaching an ambitious Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal have hit a major snag over anti-smoking policies, as divisions emerged over a proposal critics say would expose governments to lawsuits from tobacco companies...
We’re All Still Hostages to the Big Banks (opinion)  New York Times   ...NEARLY five years after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers touched off a global financial crisis, we are no safer. Huge, complex and opaque banks continue to take enormous risks that endanger the economy. From Washington to Berlin, banking lobbyists have blocked essential reforms at every turn...
The Leveraged Buyout of America  Common Dreams   ...Giant bank holding companies now own airports, toll roads, and ports; control power plants; and store and hoard vast quantities of commodities of all sorts. They are systematically buying up or gaining control of the essential lifelines of the economy...
Pinching Pensions to Keep Wall Street Fat and Happy  truthout   ...Contracts with Wall Street types always seem to draw more respect than contracts with workers...
Set Back by Recession, and Shut Out of Rebound  New York Times   ...a substantial number of older workers who lost jobs — even those lucky enough to be re-employed — are still suffering. Two-thirds in that age group who found work again are making less than they did in their previous job; their median salary loss is 18 percent compared with a 6.7 percent drop for 20- to 24-year-olds...
College Costs Surge 500% in U.S. Since 1985: Chart of the Day  Bloomberg   ...The CHART OF THE DAY shows that tuition expenses have increased 538 percent in the 28-year period, compared with a 286 percent jump in medical costs and a 121 percent gain in the consumer price index...
Indiscriminate surveillance fosters distrust, conformity and mediocrity: research  The Guardian   ...A government that engages in mass surveillance cannot claim to value the wellbeing or productivity of its citizens...
Drone crashes into Virginia bull run crowd  Washington Post   ...A drone crashed into the grandstand at Virginia Motorsports Park during the Great Bull Run, said Major W.B. Knott, of the Dinwiddie County sheriff’s office, reporting what might be described as the dramatic encounter between a controversial piece of hardware and a controversial spectacle...
With Ensign Decision, Court Hands CREW Fourth Victory Against DOJ  CREW   ...Judge Bates found Sen. Ensign’s privacy interests were outweighed by the substantial public interest in records that would shed light on the DOJ investigation and the decision not to bring charges against the senator...
Raleigh police threaten arrest for charity feeding homeless  WTVD   ...A group from a local church has been feeding the homeless in downtown Raleigh virtually every Saturday and Sunday for the past six years, until this weekend...
Nikki Haley Makes Re-Election Bid  Mauldin Patch   ...Gov. Nikki Haley made it official on Monday, announcing her re-election campaign at a rally at the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville, surrounded by a few hundred supporters, a group of sign-waving protesters, and three fellow Republican governors who might just be planning a run for president...