Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Today's Teamster News 01.08.13

Teamster UPS Freight Local Union Leaders Recommend New Tentative Agreement  teamster.org   ...Teamster Local Union leaders representing UPS Freight workers across the country endorsed a new tentative national agreement that would provide for major economic improvements and protect work and jobs at a time when most LTL companies are cutting wages and benefits...
New Safety Recommendations for Maintenance of Way Rail Employees  teamster.org   ...The Fatality Analysis of Maintenance of Way Employees and Signalmen (FAMES) Committee has released a report on its analysis of “Fatal Accidents occurring under Train Approach Warning (Watchmen/Lookout Protection), and includes specific recommendations to improve safety...
Retirement Shouldn’t Be Sacrificed for Corporate Welfare  teamster.org   ...“The absolute last thing we should do … is allow [Social Security] to begin to be dismantled inch by inch.”...
Teamsters Continue to Stand in Solidarity with Korean Railway Workers  teamster.org   ...Teamsters are standing in solidarity with Korean workers as they prepare for general strikes on January 9 and 16...
Angry Workers Swarm Seoul’s Streets, Demand President Resign  In These Times   ...South Korea may best be known for slick electronics and saccharine pop tunes. Instead, the streets were filled with throngs of angry union workers, facing down riot police in a show of defiance against a government plan that they say would lead to layoffs and privatization...
Scalia’s golden chance to kill unions The Salon   ...A "sweeping" ruling could force right to work on every U.S. public sector worker, Harvard's Ben Sachs warns...
Senate moves ahead with measure to extend long-term unemployment benefits  Washington Post   ...The Senate voted Tuesday to move ahead with a measure to extend long-term federal unemployment benefits to more than 1 million Americans for three months…
What happened to US life expectancy?  Incidental Economist   ...Possible causes of this departure from international norms were highlighted in a 2013 Institute of Medicine report and have been ascribed to many factors, only some of which are attributed to medical care financing or delivery. These include differences in cultural norms that affect healthy behaviors (gun ownership, unprotected sex, drug use, seat belts), obesity, and risk of trauma...
Letter to My Elected Officials Regarding "Fast Track" on TPP (opinion)  OpEd News   ...The exclamation point on the demise of democracy in the once Superpower may well be the Trans Pacific Partnership, TPP, which has been devised by 600+ corporate attorneys, and will be monitored by the same, behind those closed doors that even YOU, our elected official, has been shut from knowing what is contained in the document, said to be some 26 Chapters with only three (3) having to do with "trade"...
Leaked Email Exposes Bank Of America's Social Media Spies  Popular Resistance   ...An email uncovered through a Washington state public records request has confirmed the existence of a Bank of America “social media trolling” spy team, used to carry out surveillance on multiple political groups...
JP Morgan Pulled $275 Million Of Its Own Money From Madoff Feeder Funds Months Before His Arrest  Business Insider   ...JP Morgan was aware of the Ponzi scheme before Madoff's arrest...
Boeing reports record orders and deliveries for 2013 BBC News   ...Boeing reports record orders and deliveries last year, showing they can definitely pay their workers more...
The U.S. Government Uses Sweatshops, Too  In These Times ...The collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex in Bangladesh last April exposed the cruel link between abusive Global South factories and the Western brands they supply. But while consumers may have been shocked to learn of the Gap or Benetton's latest designs strewn amid the wreckage of “death trap” factories, they might have missed that much of the clothing churned out by overseas sweatshops is custom-made for Uncle Sam...
America declared an ‘unconditional war on poverty’ 50 years ago, but you’d never know it  The Guardian   ...This 8 January marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson’s declaration of “unconditional war on poverty.” But a half century later, it’s time to re-examine the case Johnson made in 1964 for remedying poverty in America...
Workplace Deaths Among Miners Rose In 2013  ThinkProgress   ...The number of deaths among miners caused by work-related accidents in 2013 increased to 42 last year, up from 36 in 2012, according to the latest Department of Labor (DOL) data...
Retirement Theft in 4 Despicable Steps  AlterNet   ...American workers are being cheated out of the retirement they've paid for all their lives...
Koch-backed political coalition, designed to shield donors, raised $400 million in 2012
  Washington Post   ...The political network spearheaded by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch has expanded into a far-reaching operation of unrivaled complexity, built around a maze of groups that cloaks its donors…
Here’s Why Some Of The World’s Billionaires Dislike Pope Francis  carbonated.tv   ...How long were the rich going to remain silent and let the Pope Francis attack capitalism and consumerism? Not long. Billionaire feathers have been ruffled and they are making it known...
Wisconsin Lawmaker Wants To Take Away Workers’ Weekends  ThinkProgress   ...Wisconsin state Sen. Glenn Grothman (R) is pushing to undo the state’s law that employers have to provide their employees with at least one day off a week, the Huffington Post reports...
Oklahoma labor commissioner opposes OSHA proposal  Kansas City Star   ...Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Mark Costello will testify against a proposed federal regulation made by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that Costello says is "fraught with peril."...