What does the NLRB ruling on unions for college athletes really mean?

Many questions remain in the wake of last week's historic NLRB decision that Northwestern University scholarship athletes have a right to form a union. The NCAA will no doubt fight the NLRB's ruling that the football players are employees, and the ruling could affect college athletics around the country.

We do know some things, though, about the potential impact of the decision:

The NLRB ruling applies only to private colleges and universities. That's because the National Labor Relations Act only covers private employers. Athletes at public schools would have to proceed under state law. In states like Michigan, public employees have the same rights as private employees but they're governed by the state agency rather than the federal.

Unionizing could give college athletes a say in their working life. Many college athletes are subject to strict rules about where they live, when they work, what they wear and where they go. There are restrictions on their public comments and social media postings. They cannot profit off their image or reputation. Their schedules are tightly controlled, and they can be required to devote as many as 50 hours per week on football activities during the season. Should college athletes organize a union, they could negotiate changes to these restrictions.

Players say they want to negotiate for full cost-of-attendance scholarships and the right to their names, images, and likenesses. They want basic safety standards, protection for the scholarships of injured athletes and an end to the practice of making athletes pay for injuries and sports-related health issues. They want the NCAA to keep athletes from having to shoulder the costs of injuries and sports-related health issues. They want more rights in the NCAA’s disciplinary process, more rights to transfer between schools and better graduation rates. (Read more about their demands here.)

College athletes might be able to apply for workers' compensation. And college athletes might be more likely to win workers' compensation cases following the NLRB's ruling.

If athletes at many colleges organize, multiemployer bargaining might result, with the NCAA bargaining for all the colleges. In that case, the colleges would turn over bargaining duties to the NCAA the way major league baseball teams turn over bargaining to Major League Baseball.

(With thanks to ThinkProgress.)

How NAFTA destroyed millions of Mexican farms (video)

NAFTA drove more than 1 million small farmers off their land in Mexico between 1993 and 2005. The promised drop in undocumented immigration didn't happen -- quite the opposite, in fact.

This video explores the impact of NAFTA and other so-called 'free trade' deals (power grabs by multinational corporations and the One Percent, really). It explains the principles of fair trade -- real fair trade, not the marketing slogan.

Because no one is against trade. Just unfair trade.

Today's Teamster News 03.31.14

Teamster News
CCTA strike heads into third week, board to explore options  WPTZ News 5   ...negotiations between management and the Teamsters Union is the top priority, but there are other options to explore. They include legal remedies, such as asking for a judge to step in and file an injunction requiring union members work during the negotiations...
CCTA offers proposal to drivers  Vermont Digger   ...On Friday, March 28, CCTA and the Union engaged in negotiations for over 17 hours. The negotiations resulted in CCTA delivering another complete written compromise contract proposal to the Union...
Trade
Cokie Roberts Picked a Fight With Alan Grayson on the TransPacific Partnership. Guess Who Won?  naked capitalism   ...“Fast Track” legislation simply is a ploy to jam the resulting surrender to multinational corporations through Congress, without hearings, without mark-ups, without amendments and even without significant debate...
State Battles
Raising the Minimum Wage Does not ‘Kill Jobs’ – Preliminary Evidence from 2014  Center for Economic Policy and Research   ...At the beginning of 2014, thirteen states increased their minimum wage…. Goldman Sachs compared the employment change … They concluded that … the group of states that had hikes at the start of 2014 in fact performed better than states without hikes...
Right-to-work takes away employer choice (opinion)  St. Louis Post Dispatch   ... A good wage creates a consumer that with a disposable income that can purchase a good or service from local businesses investing in the local community...
Voters May Decide 'Right to Work' Issue; Controversy Builds  Ozarks First   ...Sen. Eric Burlison, a Republican representing Springfield, says the "Right to Work" bill he introduced may ultimately be decided by Missouri voters...
New G.O.P. Bid to Limit Voting in Swing States  New York Times   ...Pivotal swing states under Republican control are embracing significant new electoral restrictions on registering and voting that go beyond the voter identification requirements that have caused fierce partisan brawls...
The War on Workers
80 percent of U.S. adults face near-poverty, unemployment, survey finds (old)  Associated Press  ...Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream...
A Nation of Takers? (opinion)  New York Times   ...Here are five public welfare programs that are wasteful and turning us into a nation of “takers.” First, welfare subsidies for private planes...
The New Billionaire Political Bosses  Robert Reich   ...So far in the 2014 election cycle, “Americans for Prosperity,” the Koch brother’s political front group, has aired more than 17,000 broadcast TV commercials, compared with only 2,100 aired by Republican Party groups...
United Autoworkers membership grows slightly  Associated Press   ...The United Auto Workers said its membership grew by nearly 9,000 people last year, the union said in a filing with Department of Labor, the fourth-straight year that the union has rebuilt...
Plutocracy without end: Why the 1 percent always defeats the middle class  (opinion)  Salon   ...Plutocracy shocks us every day with its viciousness, but that doesn’t mean God will strike it down. The middle-class model worked much better for about ninety-nine percent of the population, but that doesn’t make it some kind of dialectic inevitability...
Waves of Nationwide Actions Planned at Key Historic Moment  Alternet   ...The #WaveOfAction extends from the day Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated to Independence Day. The campaign will begin with candlelight vigils around the world at the time of MLK’s assassination, which was 7:05 pm EST on April 4...
California Farmers Short of Labor, and Patience  New York Times   ...the powerful Western Growers Association, a group based in Irvine, Calif., that represents hundreds of farmers in California and Arizona, says many of its members may withhold contributions from Republicans in congressional races because of the party’s stance against a comprehensive immigration overhaul...
Miscellaneous
Adelson Wooed by Republican Presidential Prospects at Vegas Meet  Bloomberg   ...Three Republican governors eyeing the White House, including embattled New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, were in Las Vegas yesterday to court Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire casino owner who could give any of their eventual campaigns a major financial boost...

Today's Teamster News 03.30.14

Trade
Farm tariffs split Japan, U.S. on TPP  The Japan News   ...Japan and the United States remain far apart over Japanese tariffs on farm products after the latest round of working-level trade talks, a senior Japanese negotiator said Friday...
Thousands protest TPPA in downtown Auckland  New Zealand Herald   ...It was one of 15 such events around the country today to protest the free trade agreement (the TPPA) which is currently being negotiated between 12 countries, including New Zealand, behind closed doors...
Countries Rejecting Trade Deal Provisions that Let Investors Override National Regulation  naked capitalism   ...Countries are finally standing up for the rule of law over rule by multinational corporation...
Investor Treaties in Trouble  Triple Crisis   ...The tide is turning against investment treaties that allow foreign investors to take up cases against host governments and claim compensation of up to billions of dollars...
State Battles
Major municipalities join fight against anti-worker legislation  Labor Tribune   ...Major municipalities across the region are sending a clear message to the Missouri Legislature that they strongly believe that pending right-to-work/Freedom to Work/Workplace Freedom bills are WRONG for Missouri...
Walker signs asbestos bill opposed by veterans  Channel 3000   ...Gov. Scott Walker has quietly signed a bill opposed by numerous veterans groups and Democrats that changes the process for bringing asbestos exposure lawsuits...
MSU could lose $500k for offering labor courses  Michigan Radio   ...Michigan State University could risk losing $500,000 if it does not stop offering courses that allegedly promote unionization...
The War on Workers
Walmart Just Revealed How Poor U.S. Shoppers Are  Forbes   ...the problem isn’t that Walmart revealed how poor its customers really are, it’s that Walmart revealed how poor U.S. shoppers really are...
Sacramento officials kept in dark about crude oil transfers at rail facility  McClatchy   ... Since at least last September, trains carrying tank cars filled with crude oil have rolled into the the former McClellan Air Force base. Workers have transferred the oil, including some volatile Bakken crude, from trains to tanker trucks, which take it to Bay Area refineries. Until this week, Sacramento’s InterState Oil ran the crude operation without a required permit. Local fire and emergency officials who would be called upon to respond in case of a spill or fire weren’t informed it was happening...
Why Is MSNBC's Heiress Unwilling to Talk About the Most Important Economic Issues Facing Her Generation  Center for Economic and Policy Research   ...there is no way that paying for Social Security will have a major effect on the standard of living of people of Huntsman's age...
Miscellaneous
Minnesota teen wins settlement after school takes Facebook password  Fox News   ...A Minnesota school district has agreed to pay $70,000 to settle a lawsuit that claimed school officials violated a student's constitutional rights by viewing her Facebook and email accounts without permission...

Today's Teamster News 03.29.14

Teamster News
Truckers at Pratt Logistics in Lower Macungie Unioninze  The Morning Call   ...Truck drivers at a Lower Macungie cardboard box-maker now are represented by the Teamsters after a union vote taken nearly two years ago was unsealed and certified earlier this month...
CCTA: Contract Proposal from Drivers is Next Step Toward Compromise  Burlington Free Press   ...A contract proposal was offered Wednesday evening by Teamster bus drivers to the Chittenden County Transportation Authority management as the next installment in the contract negotiation saga...
20 Teamsters jobs in the balance with possible new sanitation contract  Cumberland Times-News   ...Bids for a new three-year garbage collection contract with the city of Cumberland are under review with the future of 20 city sanitation workers with Teamsters Local 453 hanging in the balance...
NetJets Unions Form Coalition, Start Picketing Campaign  AIN Online   ...The NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots and International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 284 executive boards launched the NetJets Union Coalition last week...
Trade
Hundreds protest against trade deal  msn.nz   ...Hundreds attended protest rallies across the country in opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal. About 15 rallies were held from 1pm on Saturday in cities and towns from Invercargill to Hokianga...
NZNO Joining Rally Against TPP  Voxy   ...The New Zealand Nurses Organization is joining the international rally against the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement...
U.S. Trade Deficits Have Grown More Than 440% with FTA Countries, but Declined 16% with Non-FTA Countries  Public Citizen   ...The aggregate U.S. goods trade deficit with Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners is more than five times as high as before the deals went into effect...
Labor Crisis Begets Violence on Colombia’s Pacific Coast  In These Times   ...The Pacific port city of Buenaventura handles around two-thirds of the country’s maritime foreign trade and connects Colombia to 300 ports around the world. But Buenaventura is better known as an epicenter of narco-paramilitary activity, making it one of Colombia’s many sites of rampant poverty and violence, death and hopelessness...
State Battles
St. Louis Religious Leaders Declare Opposition To 'Right-To-Work' Law  St. Louis Public Radio   ...Top religious leaders in St. Louis — led by Catholic Archbishop Robert J. Carlson — announced Friday that they oppose legislative efforts to pass “right-to-work’’ measures that would restrict labor rights...
Missouri Senate endorses unemployment change  Associated Press   ...The amount of time Missourians can receive unemployment benefits would be tied to the state's jobless rate under legislation endorsed by the state Senate on Wednesday...
Leah Vukmir agrees to turn over ALEC documents to settle open records lawsuit  Wisconsin State Journal   ...The agreement comes as part of a lawsuit settlement between Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, and the Center for Media and Democracy, a liberal advocacy group, over documents it sought related to the American Legislative Exchange Council. It includes $15,000 in payments from the state on behalf of Vukmir...
Good news for Connecticut’s governor: He got the highest state minimum wage  Washington Post   ...Connecticut’s Gov. Dan Malloy can breathe a little easier: he just landed the minimum wage hike he’s been pushing so hard for. The new bill will raise the minimum wage by 2017 to $10.10, the highest among any state...
Illinois House gets millionaire tax plan moving  Daily Herald   ...Illinois lawmakers chose to advance an additional income tax on millionaires over a broader shift of taxes toward the wealthy Thursday, setting the tone for months of debate over how much people should pay to help the state stabilize its finances...
NY AG Settles Labor Violations with 6 Domino's Franchisees  Blue MauMau   ...New York's Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced settlements with six Domino’s franchisees over labor violations, requiring them to pay $448,000 in restitution to 750 employees...
FedEx loses another driver misclassification case, in Maine  People's World   ...FedEx, notorious for misclassifying its drivers as "independent contractors" - barring them from labor law protection and avoiding paying Social Security, Medicare and workers' comp taxes, lost another misclassification case, in Maine...
War on Workers
U.S. Government Charges Kellogg With Serious Violations of Federal Law  bctgm.org   ...The U.S. government charged the Kellogg Company with multiple and serious violations of federal law stemming from its October 22, 2013 lockout of more than 220 workers at the company's Memphis cereal production facility...
Class-action lawsuit seeks back pay for cabdrivers    Chicago Sun-Times   ...Chicago taxicab companies are “misclassifying” their drivers as independent contractors and should consider them employees eligible for overtime and the state’s $8.25-an-hour minimum wage, a federal class-action lawsuit claimed Wednesday...
Walmart Gets More Heat for Low Pay  AOL Jobs   ...The pressure on Walmart is growing from within, as workers tell behind-the-scenes tales of overwork and underpayment at America's largest employer. But there's another, potentially more damaging source of growing criticism: the media, including the financial media that covers events from the investor's perspective...
SEPTA union boss Willie Brown: We're not afraid to strike  Philadelphia Inquirer   ...The chances of a transit strike against SEPTA are "very good," union president Willie Brown said Wednesday...
The troubling reason Americans are so depressed  AlterNet   ...Our unhappiness can be traced to feelings of "learned helplessness" -- and corporations, in part, may be to blame...
Michigan State Univ. should end union organizing seminars, say anti-union lawmakers and builders    Michigan Live   ...The Associated Builders and Contractors of Michigan is demanding that Michigan State University cancel its Building Trades Academy program on the grounds that it encourages "organizing in non-union construction companies"...
Greek unions to hold general strike on April 9 to protest latest austerity measures  Associated Press   ...Greece's largest public sector union says it will join a nationwide general strike April 9 to protest austerity measures. The move means that the walkout will affect all private and public sector services...
Miscellaneous
Social Security launches expedited process for Veterans’ disability claims  Belvoir Eagle
Social Security claims from veterans with a Veterans Affairs Department disability compensation rating of 100 percent permanent and total have a new process that will treat their applications as high priority and issue expedited decisions...

 

Today's Teamster News 03.28.14

Teamster News
Council Votes To Encourage End To CCTA Strike  WPTZ   ...The Burlington City Council has voted to encourage management with the Chittenden County Transportation Authority and the bus drivers' union, represented by the Teamsters, to end the nearly two-week strike as soon as possible...
Victory at Pasco County, Florida for Teamsters Local 79  teamster.org   ...More than 1,100 Pasco County, Florida public employees will soon be voting on a first Teamster contract now that Local 79, Tampa and the county have agreed on a tentative contract. According to the local union, such issues as seniority, break time, overtime pay, holidays, uniforms and more are addressed in the contract...
Teamsters: The Deadline To Apply For A James R. Hoffa Scholarship Is March 31  teamster.org   ...The Fund will award $800,000 in scholarships this year to children and financially dependent grandchildren of Teamster members...
A Brief Glimpse of Human Rights Advances In The Teamsters  teamster.org   ...Women and minorities have always been active in the labor movement. Much of the crit­ical legislation that has been passed over the years started as grassroots movements from within one or more of these groups, even though they frequently did not receive credit or recognition for their efforts. View the full post, here...
March Madness: Brought to You by the Teamsters  Counterpunch   ...This (NLRB) ruling (which applies only to private colleges and universities, and not public institutions) ... gives college basketball players the right to unionize as well.  Just think about that.  March Madness, brought to you by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters!  Is this a great country, or what?...
Trade
U.S. Steelmakers Accuse South Korea Of Dumping  Independent Business Journal   ...U.S. Steel Corp., the largest U.S. producer of the metal by volume, said South Korea is dumping steel pipes and tubes in the U.S...
NAFTA at 20  AFL-CIO   ...NAFTA pushed small Mexican farmers off their lands, increasing the flow of desperate undocumented migrants...
State Battles
Still No Wage Agreement In Annapolis  Baltimore Sun ...The standoff in Annapolis over raising the minimum wage intensified Tuesday...
Missouri Union Members Rally Against Right To Work  Associated Press   ...About a thousand Missouri union members rallied at the state Capitol to combat legislation that would prohibit labor contracts from requiring that all employees pay union fees...
Minnesota Unions Come To Dakotas' Aid  Twin Cities Daily Planet   ...With more than 20,000 job openings and the nation's lowest unemployment rate, North Dakota is desperately seeking skilled workers to build infrastructure that keeps pace with its oil boom. Despite the conservative state's laws unfriendly to organized labor, six Minnesota-based trade unions are stepping up to help...
Mississippi Senate Gives Final Approval To 3 Anti-Union Bills  Associated Press   ...Bills that aim to restrict union organizing and picketing practices in Mississippi, as well as limit governments' abilities to pressure employers to use unionized workers, are on their way to Gov. Phil Bryant...
Hidden Cameras Catch Lobbyists, AZ Lawmakers Wining And Dining  CBS 5 News   ...CBS 5 Investigates rolled hidden cameras during a membership drive for one of the country's most secretive and controversial organizations. Lobbyists and state lawmakers mingled over steaks and drinks in a private room at the Valley's exclusive Donovan's Steakhouse, an event put on by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)...
Wisconsin GOP Heads Off Criminal Probe Into Corporate Election Spending By Trying To Make It Legal  ThinkProgress   ...Wisconsin’s State Senate Majority Leader, who is reportedly under investigation for his role in a possibly illegal campaign finance scheme, has come up with a novel way to shut down the criminal probe: changing the state law to legalize the activity in question...
War on Workers
The 67 People As Wealthy As The World's Poorest 3.5 Billion  Forbes   ...Each of the 67 is on average worth the same as 52 million people from the bottom of the world’s wealth  pyramid...
Northwestern Football Players Win First Round In Union Battle  Huffington Post ...Football players at Northwestern University have cleared the first major hurdle in their closely watched unionization effort, with an official of the National Labor Relations Board determining that the players are employees and thus eligible to vote in a union election...
GOP States Are The Most Dependent On Government  Huffington Post ...If we learned nothing else during the 2012 election, it is that some of us are makers, hard-working folk solely responsible for America's prosperity, and others are takers, who want the federal government to pay for luxuries like food and health care...
Feds Tally Rollovers Of Payday Loans  The Columbus Dispatch ...About half of all payday loans are made to people who extend the loans so many times that they end up paying more in fees than the original amount they borrowed, a report by a federal watchdog has found...
Walmart Admits Profits Depend Heavily On Corporate Welfare  ZeroHedge   ...It appears that Walmart has admitted the potentially severe adverse impact a reduction in food stamp payments could have on its bottom line...
Hundreds of Students & Faculty Occupy College Campus to Fight Cuts to Public Higher Ed  Real News   ...hundreds of students, faculty, and supporters rallied at University of Southern Maine against the announced layoffs of 20 full-time faculty members...
Miscellaneous
Labor unions saved Ford in our 'darkest' hour: Bill Ford  CNBC   ...the UAW helped the entire industry "get back on its feet..."
US Seniors Shafted By Inflation That Is 170 Percent In Excess Of Savings' Interest  Truthout   ...Lost in the coverage of America's tale of two economies (the 1% who have received 95 percent of the financial gains since they busted the economy in 2008 -- and the rest of us), is that seniors are especially hard hit by the disparity between so-called savings account interest and inflation...
A Government Computer Glitch Forced Thousands Of Families To Go Hungry  Huffington Post   ...Thousands in North Carolina had enough to worry about before a computer glitch began to fray the basic part of the social safety net..
Caterpillar To Cooperate With Tax Investigation  GateHouse Media Illinois   ...Caterpillar Inc. plans to cooperate with a U.S. Senate investigative panel looking into whether the company may have improperly avoided U.S. taxes by moving profits outside the country...
A Massive Chemical Plant Is Poised To Wipe This Louisiana Town Off The Map  Mother Jones   ...SASOL's proposed facility may spell the end for a 224-year-old community founded by freed slaves...

Today's Teamster News 03.27.14

Teamster News
Special City Council Meeting to Address Teamsters Strike Against CCTA  Burlington Free Press   ...One of the two items on the agenda of a Burlington City Council meeting that starts 5 pm Wednesday will be an update on the Teamster drivers' strike from Chittenden County Transportation Authority representatives...
Teamster Drivers Strike  at CCTA Enters Week 2  WCAX   ...It's week two of the Teamsters bus drivers' strike, and riders are still struggling to get around. With no apparent end in sight, some families that rely on public transportation say they fear the worst...
Huge Teamster turnout at pro-worker, anti-RTW4Less rally in Missouri  TeamsterNation   ...A large contingent of Teamsters joined well over 3,000 workers in Jefferson City today to rally against right-to-work and paycheck deception bills before the Missouri Legislature...
The death of an employer scam  American Prospect   ...The decisions of the NLRB and the California Labor Commissioner signal that the days of industry-wide misclassification—at least, for port truckers—may be numbered...

Trade
China loses trade dispute over rare earth exports  Reuters   …China has lost a dispute at the World Trade Organization over limits on rare earth and metals exports, handing Europe and the United States a victory over what they see as Beijing's unfair trade practices...
U.S. Steelmakers Push for Duties on Korean Rivals  Wall Street Journal   ...Struggling U.S. steelmakers want Washington to punish their South Korean competitors for selling lucrative steel products to the U.S. oil and gas industry at prices the U.S. suppliers say are unfair...
State Battles
Union groups rally against ‘right to work’ legislation at Missouri Capitol  St. Louis Post Dispatch   ...Gov. Jay Nixon told the crowd he would not hesitate to veto anti-worker legislation as he has in the past. Currently, the Missouri House is considering a measure to put right to work on the August ballot, bypassing the governor...
Pa. still facing an uphill battle to privatize liquor sales  Express-Times   ...The road to liquor privatization in Pennsylvania is defined by detour, and this year is no exception. As an election season begins to heat up, the Legislature is entertaining multiple reform efforts...
Wisconsin's personal income rebounded more slowly than U.S. average  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...After American wages plunged in the darkest days of the last recession, Wisconsin's personal net earnings have rebounded — but at an average annual rate that lags that of the nation and most of its Great Lakes peers, according to the latest government estimates released Tuesday...
Iowa lawmakers consider tax credit for student debt  Quad-City Times   ...Iowa residents could receive a state tax credit for student loans if they earned a degree from a regent institution, community college or nonprofit university in Iowa under legislation considered by a three-member House panel Tuesday...
War on Workers
Northwestern players get union vote  MSNBC   ...In a potentially game-changing moment for college athletics, the Chicago district of the National Labor Relations Board ruled on Wednesday that Northwestern football players qualify as employees of the university and can unionize...
Teachers stage one-day strike in England and Wales  The Guardian   ...Thousands of schools across England and Wales will face disruption and closures today as teachers stage a one-day national walkout over pay and conditions...
Fast Food Managers Prefer 'Stature' To Overtime Pay, Wealthy CEO Says  Huffington Post   ...Fast food CEO Andy Puzder took to the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal Tuesday to rip into a White House proposal to raise the wages of low-paid managers who work unpaid overtime hours...
Almagamated Transit Union says overtime exemptions create 'Sweatshops on Wheels'  Examiner   ...Union says that bus drivers have become the scapegoats for accidents caused by workers who are forced to work more than 15 hour days just to make ends meet…
Koch Brothers Invade Tiny Iron County, Wisconsin  The Daily Beast   ...A mining town of 6,000 people isn’t too small for billionaires to mess with to get their way. Inside the race bringing in big money...
Global Horizons Found Liable For Thai Worker Abuse  Associated Press   ...A federal judge has found a California-based labor contractor liable for discrimination and abuse of hundreds of Thai workers at Hawaii farms...
Miscellaneous
Housing WatchdogSlams Massive Property Inspection Industry  Huffington Post   ...The inspectors who decide whether homes have been abandoned and are ready for foreclosure are doing such a terrible job that the whole system requires a major overhaul, and maybe should be scrapped altogether, a government watchdog warned on Tuesday...

 

Who says unions are only for Democrats?

Patrick Stephens doesn't think unions are only for Democrats. He posted this comment on the Teamsters Facebook page, which we liked so much we're sharing: 

It has often been said to me Unions are only for Democrats, well let me say I am a Lifelong Conservative and my workplace has gone Union, and I think this is the greatest happening since sliced bread. The working man needs representation and a group to look out for his or her interests, no company or government agency is going to do that! Proud to be affiliated with the Teamsters! 

Patrick Stephens
Utility Worker-Central Florida

We're proud to have you aboard, brother!

Huge Teamster turnout at pro-worker, anti-RTW4Less rally in Missouri

Teamsters at today's rally.

A large contingent of Teamsters joined well over 3,000 workers in Jefferson City today to rally against right-to-work and paycheck deception bills before the Missouri Legislature.

Secretary of State Jason Kander looked out at the huge crowd and said he felt like the cavalry arrived.

Extremists backed by ALEC are pushing the unfair, anti-worker legislation. Fortunately, there is bipartisan opposition to it. Republican and Democratic lawmakers spoke to the working people standing in front of the state capitol. Their message: lawmakers need to get their priorities straight and work on creating good jobs.

Clint Zweifel

Gov. Jay Nixon, who vetoed a right-to-work-for-less bill last year, spoke to the crowd. He said if a right-to-work bill reaches his desk he'll veto it again. And if it's put on the ballot, he pledged to stand with union to beat it again.

"Instead of putting forth bills that support the middle class, some here in the Missouri Legislature are putting forth bills to destroy it," Nixon said.

Our Teamster brother Clint Zweifel, Missouri state treasurer, also spoke. He described the advantages of unions.

Having a union is about opening up a door of opportunity for all of us. Having a union gives you a voice at work and it gives you a voice in our larger economy. Having a union makes sure people who build a community can afford to live in a community...Having a union means you're optimistic about your future because you have a voice. 

Zweifel said unions let parents spend times coaching soccer teams or leading scout troops instead of taking two jobs just to make ends week. His father and grandfather were union carpenters, and he remembers a sticker on his dad's lunchbox. It said,

Right to work is a ripoff. 

Watch the rally at the Statehouse here.

Hidden camera catches ALEC lobbyists plying AZ lawmakers with $70 steaks

A hidden news camera caught ALEC lobbyists wining and dining Arizona state lawmakers behind closed doors at a restaurant that serves $70 steaks.

It didn't look good for ALEC to be holding an expensive backroom party for 17 state lawmakers, especially since ALEC claims it's a charity that doesn't do much lobbying.

As we all know by now, ALEC is a corporate lobby that tries to lower wages, eradicate public education, eliminate environmental protections, weaken unions, make workplaces more dangerous and empower corporations.

"Are they buying access to your state leaders?" CBS 5 asks rhetorically. And then answers its own question, calling the story "an exclusive look at how one of the countries' most controversial nonprofit organizations influences state leaders."

The camera "spots state lawmaker after state lawmaker, along with lobbyists and power brokers heading into a backroom -- a closed-door dinner with an open bar at a restaurant with $70 steaks."

You can watch the video here.

Rep. Debbie Lesko, ALEC's state chairman, said ALEC is "no different than any other organization." (We love that she said she "talked about what ALEC offers."

Well, yeah, it is. ALEC lobbyists get access to lawmakers that environmental activists and union members don't.

And CBS 5 reporter Morgan Loew checked and found four ALEC bills before the Arizona Legislature. The voting records of the 17 lawmakers at the ALEC party showed none of them voted against ALEC bills.

Today's Teamster News 03.26.14

Teamster News
Teamsters strike agreement with Calif. port carrier on drivers’ right to unionize  Overdrive   ...The National Labor Relations Board has negotiated a settlement between a California carrier and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to post notice about the right to unionize...
CN Rail, Teamsters to meet Wednesday in last push for contract  Reuters   ...Canadian National Railway Co and the Teamsters Union will meet in Montreal on Wednesday to make a final attempt at reaching a labor deal for some 3,000 contractors, yard workers and traffic coordinators...
Beaufort County Bus Driver Reports Buses Unfit For Children  WSAV-TV   ...Some school bus drivers will begin to wage battle in Charleston tonight, based on what they call hazardous driving conditions. The group Teamsters Local 509 says their next stop is Beaufort County...
Trade
Japan, U.S. to discuss TPP tariffs this week in Washington  Global Post   ...Japan and the United States will hold bilateral talks linked to a Pacific free trade deal later this week in Washington, focusing with how to deal with tariffs Tokyo seeks to retain on sensitive farm products...
Several tech companies urge careful review in public of details in proposed TPP deal  Inside Counsel   ...Some prominent tech companies have registered their opposition to the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that would govern in the Asia-Pacific region...
State Battles
Right to work bill on the Missouri House schedule  Rolla Daily News   ...Missouri House Republicans are vowing to consider one of their top priorities, legislation known as "right-to-work" when lawmakers return from their week long break...
Teamsters to rally Wednesday as vote expected on right-to-work-for-less in Missouri  TeamsterNation   ...Teamsters, union families and their supporters will hold a large (and we expect spirited) rally in Missouri's state capital tomorrow as Missouri lawmakers are expected to vote on a right-to-work-for-less bill...
'Moral Monday' protesters decry cuts to education, Medicaid  Mooresville Tribune   ...Monday’s event in Statesville was one in which organizers were granted a permit to gather on government property so there was virtually no risk of being arrested as more than a dozen speakers addressed the crowd over the course of about two hours, beginning at 5 p.m... 
Michigan Democrats say Rick Snyder administration helped cousin  Politico   ...Michigan Democrats charge that officials in Republican Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration moved to protect the business interests of the governor’s cousin from a round of steep budget cuts shortly after Snyder took office in 2011. They say not only were the cuts ultimately nixed, but George Snyder's furniture business contract was increased that year...
Lawyer hired by North Carolina in spill probe once represented coal firm  Associated Press   ...The lawyer hired to represent North Carolina's environmental agency during a federal investigation into its regulation of Duke Energy's coal ash dumps once represented the utility company in a different criminal probe...

States, D.C. are told to clean up voter rolls or be sued; Judicial Watch counters Obama  The Washington Times   ...Conservative public interest lawyers sent letters Monday giving the District of Columbia, Iowa and Colorado 90 days to prove they are taking steps to delete from their registration lists dead voters and former residents, or else face a lawsuit...
War on Workers
Unemployed, and heading toward foreclosure  New York Times   ...When Congress refusedto renew federal benefits for 1.7 million jobless Americans in December, they also cut a lifeline for homeowners who are now struggling to make their mortgage payments. About 54% of the long-term unemployed live in owner-occupied homes...
Goldman Sachs' Outrageous Scheme to Profit Off Jailed Young Offenders  Alternet   ... big banks have hauled in boatloads of money from their flawed, and even fraudulent, schemes directed at public funding needs, such as financial contraptions and deals involving complex derivatives and whatnot that were supposed to help governments pay for things like bridges and waterworks. ... cities and states frequently get hosed...
The Death of an Employer Scam  The American Prospect   ...One of the most pervasive scams that employers use to lower their workers’ wages is misclassification—that is, turning their workers into independent contractors or temps when they are actually employees... 
Koch brothers attacks expanding  Las Vegas Review-Journal   …U.S. Sen. Harry Reid’s recent crusade against the oil billionaire Koch brothers is catching on in Washington, D.C. Now, the New York Times reports a top Democratic PAC is going to take aim at the brothers, too...
Overwhelming Evidence that Half of America is In or Near Poverty AlterNet ...And it's much worse for black families...

Too many workers are still dying 103 years after Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

Bodies of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire victims in coffins on the sidewalk

Far too many workers are still dying on the job in the United States, 103 years after the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire killed 146 garment workers in New York City. Though the tragedy inspired better safety standards, 12 workers are still killed every day on the job in the United States. 

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire was one of the deadliest industrial accidents in history. It didn't have to be. When the fire broke out, workers jumped from the eight, ninth and tenth floors to escape the flames. They couldn't take the fire escapes because the owners had locked them to prevent theft and breaks.

Unions struggled for decades to improve working conditions. It's an issue especially dear to Teamsters' hearts because highway accidents are the leading cause of death on the job. Truck drivers are more likely to die at work than people in any other occupation.

• Today, according to the Associated Press, two people died in northeast Kansas after a cellphone tower they were working on collapsed. 
• At 2 a.m. last night, a 41-year-old workers was killed doing maintenance work on a piece of underground mining machinery at an Indiana coal mine.  
• On Friday, a 48-year-old female construction worker was killed on Interstate 44 when a dumptruck backed into her. 
• On Sunday, a flagman was killed in a two-car highway accident in Mississippi. 
• A 21-year-old worker died Wednesday after he fell 180 feet from a water tower in Maryland. 

Just do a Google search using the terms 'worker killed.' You'll get plenty of results.

Teamsters to rally tomorrow as vote expected on right-to-work-for-less in Missouri

Teamsters, union families and their supporters will hold a large (and we expect spirited) rally in Missouri's state capital tomorrow as Missouri lawmakers are expected to vote on a right-to-work-for-less bill.

Lawmakers are also expected to vote on paycheck deception. Corporate special interest groups are pushing for right-to-work-for-less and paycheck deception to restrict workers' rights and weaken their political power.

Both HB1617 (Paycheck Deception) and HB1770 (Right to Work) are listed on the House Calendar for this week. Both of them contain  language that would put either paycheck deception or right-to-work-for-less on the August 2014 ballot.

Although both are priorities of Republican leadership in the House, there’s bipartisan opposition to both bills. And as one Republican lawmaker said,

You can follow the debate tomorrow here: http://streaming.house.mo.gov/chamber/. People will be livetweeting using the #moleg hashtag as well as #paycheckdeception, #righttowork, and likely #HB1617 and #HB1770 as well.

We could win this one.

Today's Teamster News 03.25.14

Teamster News
Teamsters conference, CN to enter labor negotiations  Progressive Railroading ...CN announced on Friday that the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference - Conductors, Trainpersons and Yardpersons (TCRC-CTY) has accepted the Class I's offer to enter labor negotiations for a contract settlement, on the condition that final and binding arbitration will apply if the parties cannot reach an agreement...
Pacific 9 Transport, Teamsters Reach Settlement on Organization Effort  Transportation Topics ...Pacific 9 Transportation, a Los Angeles-area port trucker, and the Teamsters have reached a settlement agreement that bars the carrier from penalizing drivers who support the union’s effort to organize them...
Charleston School Bus Drivers, Community Speak Out About Safety Concerns  teamster.org   ...Teamster school bus drivers were joined by parents, community, political and faith leaders, as well as representatives from Teamsters Local 509, at Monday night’s Charleston County School Board meeting...
Trade
Philippines Engages US on TPP Membership  Tax News ...The United States and the Philippines, during their recent meeting under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), agreed to a program of expanded future engagement on bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade issues, and, in particular, on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) treaty...
Memo to USTR: Global governance deals cause US economic decline  Trade Reform   ...We don’t need to give up our sovereignty.  We don’t need global governance.  We don’t need unilateral trade disarmament and economic decline.  We don’t need offshoring in the guise of “global supply chains”.  We don’t need the same-old “investment” deals for Froman’s Wall Street buddies… because they helped drive the economy into the ditch...
State Battles
Right to work is wrong for Missouri workers and businesses (opinion)  Kansas City Star   ...The best way to ensure economic security for Missouri’s working families is through quality jobs with family supporting wages and quality benefits...
Illinois working families face major threat with Rauner primary win  People’s World   ...Working families, organized labor, progressives, and other democratic forces face a major threat from the right with billionaire venture capitalist Bruce Rauner winning the Republican contest for governor in the Mar. 18 primaries...
War on Workers
More Evidence that Half of America is In or Near Poverty  Nation of Change   ...The original poverty measures were (and still are) based largely on the food costs of the 1950s. But while food costs have doubled  since 1978, housing has more than  tripled, medical expenses are six times higher, and college tuition is eleven times higher...
Document: JPMorgan Chase Bets $10.4 Billion on the Early Death of Workers  Wall Street on Parade   ...Families of young JPMorgan Chase workers who have experienced tragic deaths over the past four months, have been kept in the dark on many details, including the fact that the bank most likely held a life insurance policy on their loved one – payable to itself...
How you support the Koch Brothers (even if you don’t know it)  Washington Post   ...On Feb. 26, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid blasted billionaires Charles and David Koch, calling them “about as un-American as anyone that I can imagine.” Less than a week later, he continued railing against the duo, saying: “Senate Republicans are addicted to Koch.” As it turns out, we all may be...
Union: Train operator in crash 'tired'  Associated Press   ...An operator of a Chicago public-transit train that jumped the tracks and scaled an escalator at one of nation's busiest airports Monday may have dozed off, a union official said...
Chinese Wal-Mart Employees Protest Layoffs  New Tang Dynasty Television   ...Wal-Mart's practice of closing stores across China, then turning around and opening a slew of new stores, has met with resistance from its laid-off employees, who organized protests to demand labor rights...
Report: 22,000 mortgage workers fired in fourth quarter  Los Angeles Times   ...Mortgage-related firings totaled nearly 22,000 in the fourth quarter of 2013, the highest level in six years, according to a tally by Mortgage Daily...
New Lawsuit Alleges That Wells Fargo Has a Manual for Mass Fabrication of Foreclosure Documents  Naked Capitalism   ...A smoking gun about fabrication may have been found...
Court reverses ruling on swipe fees in favor of banks  Washington Post   ...In a victory for the banking industry, a U.S. appeals court on Friday struck down a district court decision that ordered the Federal Reserve to rewrite its rules governing fees that banks collect each time a debit card is swiped...
Wall Street Bonuses and the Minimum Wage  Portside   ...Wall Street banks handed out $26.7 billion in bonuses to their 165,200 employees last year. That amount would be enough to more than double the pay for all 1,085,000 Americans who work full-time at the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour...
Miscellaneous
You call this a meritocracy? How rich inheritance is poisoning the American economy  Huffington Post   ...No, your economic fortune isn't just based on work ethic and idea quality. It's also a gaping inheritance disparity...

Father of Michigan RTW gets his money from job-cutting corporation

Dick DeVos, the loony billionaire whose dollars bought right-to-work-for-less in Michigan, inherited his fortune from a company that sent American jobs overseas.

This should surprise no one.

DeVos is the son of Amway co-founder Richard DeVos. Amway in 2011 settled a class-action suit alleging the company is a Ponzi scheme. USA Today explained:

The lawsuit alleged Amway is a "pyramid scheme" — which was changed to "illegal scheme" in an amended version — in which distributors rarely sell products to outside customers, only to other new distributors they bring in, who must bring more recruits in to make money. New entrants, the lawsuit says, were "effectively required" to purchase products and event tickets from the high-level distributors.

But if Amway was ripping off people, at least it was doing it with American products. Not any more. Inbound Logistics recently interviewed an Amway executive, who said:

Until about 2010, most of our supply chain and manufacturing was U.S.-based. That has now changed. Amway has been moving home care manufacturing closer to the point of sale in different regions. We're making product in Belgium for Europe and Russia, and producing in China for Southeast Asia.

So, let's review: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said for months that right-to-work-for-less wasn't on his agenda. Then Amway heir Dick DeVos gathered some of his sociopath billionaire pals together to pressure Republicans to pass a right-to-work-for-less bill in the lame duck session of 2012. According to Mother Jones, 

They had formulated a single, all-encompassing strategy: They had a fusillade of TV, radio, and internet ads in the works. They'd crafted 15 pages of talking points to circulate to Republican lawmakers. They had even reserved the lawn around the state capitol for a month to keep protesters at bay. 

One of those talking points was that right-to-work-for-less would bring jobs to Michigan.

The Republicans, under intense pressure from the billionaires, caved.

We've known all along that billionaires like Dick DeVos don't care one bit about creating jobs in Michigan or anywhere else. All they want to do is to cut costs. When he was CEO of Amway, Dick DeVos cut over 1,300 jobs, mostly in Michigan.

So knowing that Amway moved jobs overseas just makes it more painful to think people actually believe Dick DeVos's lies.

It's getting harder to steal wages from truck drivers

On April 10, a new law will go into effect in New York State that makes it harder to steal wages from truck drivers by misclassifying them as 'independent contractors.'

The crackdown on bad actors in New York follows a huge victory over misclassification last week by port drivers in California. On Friday, they announced their employer, Pacific 9 Transportation (Pac9), agreed to stop calling them independent contractors and to recognize their right to form a union.

The Los Angeles Times reported the Pac 9 settlement strengthened the hand of port truckers who want to join a union. It follows a string of victories by the port drivers challenging their misclassification. Reports the Times:

A total of 515 drivers serving the two ports have filed complaints with the state Labor Commissioner’s office about wage disputes, many saying exorbitant deductions had been taken from their checks. 

The state agency has sided with drivers in all 30 of the cases decided so far, determining that the workers had been misclassified as independent contractors when their job requirements made them tantamount to employees.

On the other coast, the new New York law will impose stiff penalties -- including prison sentences -- on companies that misclassify their workers.

Go By Truck News reports:

The bill ... creates new definitions for employee and independent contractor, with standards above and beyond the Internal Revenue Service definitions. 

Under the law, employers will bear the burden of properly classifying their drivers. The law also includes a whistleblower provision for those who report misclassification... 

The law also outlines penalties for employers and contractors who violate the law. First-time offenders will pay a civil penalty of up to $2,500 per misclassified employee and either spend up to 30 days in prison or pay up to $25,000 in criminal fines. Subsequent offenses are penalized at $5,000 per affected employee and carry prison sentences up to 60 days and criminal fines up to $50,000.

Now let's take on a few more states!

Target's cheesy new anti-union video leaves out something important

Dawn and Ricardo, the stars of Target's new union-busting video

Target, the nation's third-largest retailer, has a new union-busting video that describes unions as 'businesses' (and Target isn't?).

Watch it here.

As Hamilton Nolan at Gawker points out, the video leaves out the real reason Target employees shouldn't join a union:

Target does not want any of its employees to unionize is not because it fears a loss of its precious "culture," but because it fears having to pay higher wages and provide better benefits and working conditions. I don't know how that bit was left out of the script. Quite an oversight.

Unions 4 Workers posted An Maben's terrific response to the video on their Facebook page:

Unions are a 'business' that only exist to perpetuate themselves. Yeah, right. Due to my mother's union membership, her job was protected when her boss tried to fire her and replace her with a younger woman - just because the woman was younger - her job evaluations were actually not as good as my mother's. Because of her union, my mother had a pension to add to her Social Security and excellent Medicare supplement insurance after working at the company only 15 years. Yeah, because of her 'terrible' union my 50-something mom kept her job and my parent's retirement years were much better. Why is Target so afraid of unionization? Because they don't want to supply any of that to their employees.

 'Nuf said.

Let the Post Office fight off predatory lenders

One of the biggest unionized workforces in the United States, Post Office employees, may be able to help lift families out of poverty.

Postal workers provide reliable mail service to almost every American. They may also be able to help working families with basic financial services. Lawmakers like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) want to use the Post Office to help the 68 million Americans who do not have access to basic financial services.

Warren articulates the problems those families face:

Collectively, these households spent about $89 billion in 2012 on interest and fees for payday loans and check cashing. That means the average underserved household spends roughly 10 percent of its annual income on interest and fees -- about the same amount they spend on food.

Think about that: about 10 percent of a family's income just to manage getting checks cashed, bills paid, and, sometimes, a short-term loan to tide them over. That's more than a full month's income just to try to navigate the basics. The poor pay more, and that's one of the reasons people get trapped at the bottom of the economic ladder.

Warren goes on to propose that the Post Office could generate a badly needed additional revenue stream and fight off lenders that prey on the middle and working class families by offering check cashing, small loans and banking services at reasonable rates.

Warren's proposal could be especially helpful in parts of the country where banking services are hard to access.

Today's Teamster News 03.24.14

Teamster News
CCTA, Teamster negotiations fail; strike extends into second week  VT Digger   ...The bus drivers’ union, Teamsters Local 597, and the Chittenden County Transit Authority failed to come to an agreement after seven hours of negotiations on Saturday...
At least two issues divide CCTA and striking bus drivers  Burlington Free Press   ...Watterson said the talks centered on four issues highlighted by the union: compensation, cameras on the bus, including the use of anonymous complaints to discipline drivers, the use of part-time drivers and the length of the work day because of the split shifts expected for drivers...
The End of Jobs  In These Times   ...In a major victory for a long-running campaign,  port truck drivers at Pacific 9 Transportation in California have won the right to be considered employees under the National Labor Relations Act, and to form a union...
Trade
The Disastrous Trans-Pacific Partnership and Unconstitutional Fast Track Authority  Economy in Crisis   ...Thomas Hartmann explains why this is dangerous...
State Battles
GOP to push 'right to work'  Associated Press   ...Missouri House Republican leaders are vowing to consider one of their top priorities, legislation known to supporters as "right to work," when lawmakers return from their weeklong break...
War on Workers
Google, Apple, and Other Tech Titans’ Wage-Suppression Conspiracy Estimated to Cover One Million Workers  naked capitalism   ...Between approximately 2005 and 2009, Defendants Adobe, Apple, Google, Intel, Intuit, Lucasfilm, and Pixar allegedly engaged in an “overarching conspiracy” to eliminate competition among Defendants for skilled labor. The conspiracy consisted of an interconnected web of express bilateral agreements...
Why Electricity Costs Are Major Cause of Poverty in the South  Alternet   ...families in the Southeast pay a higher percentage of their income on electricity...
Miscellaneous
Banker Deaths Leave Industry Concerned As Coroners Probe  Bloomberg   ...Coroners in London are preparing to investigate two apparent suicides as unexpected deaths by finance workers around the world have raised concerns about mental health and stress levels in the industry...
Carter fears NSA is spying on his emails  The Hill   ...Former President Jimmy Carter (D) says he thinks the National Security Agency might be monitoring his emails....Carter said he sends messages to foreign leaders via snail mail instead...

Today's Teamster News 03.23.14

Teamster News
Teamsters score a win against “sharecropping on wheels.” But will the trucking industry really change?  Washington Post   ...Along with auto technicians, fast food workers, and baggage handlers, another profession has been hit by the separation of labor from employer: Port truckers, who haul containers from cargo ships on short trips around the terminal...
Port trucking company agrees to labor settlement with drivers  Orange County Register   ...Carson-based Pacific 9 Transportation Inc. has agreed to a settlement with 50 independent truck drivers that could force the company to treat them as employees, not independent contractors, according to an agreement filed with a federal labor relations agency in Los Angeles...
Anheuser-Busch, Teamsters reach tentative deal  Associated Press   ...Anheuser-Busch and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters say they have reached a tentative deal on a five-year contract for workers at the beverage-maker's 12 U.S. breweries...
Canadian National Railway Company and Teamsters Canada Rail Conference resume negotiations  PR Newswire   ...Today, the Honourable Dr. K. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women, congratulated the Canadian National Railway (CN) and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) for returning to the bargaining table and working to reach a new agreement...
Trade
Debate in US over trade deficit with China heats up  South China Morning Post   ...A chorus of voices in the United States has been calling for tougher trade action against China, alleging imports from the country are slashing jobs in the US...
State Battles
Right to work bill on the Missouri House schedule  Associated Press   ...Missouri House Republican leaders are vowing to consider legislation known to supporters as "right to work" when lawmakers return from their weeklong break...
Republican pitches alternative to liquor privatization  The Sentinel   ...A Bucks County Republican lawmaker opposed to selling off state-run liquor stores on Thursday unveiled an alternative to privatization of Pennsylvania’s market share of the industry...
State DOJ files first appeals in Capitol singalong cases  Wisconsin State Journal   ..The Wisconsin Department of Justice for the first time Friday appealed a Dane County judge’s decision to throw out tickets related to the Capitol singalong...
More than 100 USM students, faculty protest proposed budget cuts, layoffs  Bangor Daily News   ...University of Southern Maine students and faculty chanted, yelled and — in one case — stretched out on the floor of the hallway outside the office of Provost Michael R. Stevenson to protest during meetings Friday at which 15 full-time faculty members in nine departments were expected to be laid off...
The War on Workers
Spain austerity: Huge Madrid protest turns violent  BBC News   ...Violence has broken out at the end of an anti-austerity protest attended by tens of thousands of people in the Spanish capital Madrid...
When Minimum Wage Rises, Many Are Left Looking Up at It  New York Times   ...so many immigrants are willing to do this work that it is not hard for unscrupulous businesses to find people desperate enough to do it for less than what the law requires...
U.S. IRS audited fewer wealthy Americans in 2013  Reuters   ... The U.S. Internal Revenue Service said on Friday that it audited fewer high-income Americans in 2013 than it did in 2012 or 2011, while it conducted more audits of people with no income...
Pixel & Dimed: On Not Getting By in the Gig Economy  Fast Company   ...For one month, I became the “micro-entrepreneur” touted by companies like TaskRabbit, Postmates, and Airbnb. Instead of the labor revolution I had been promised, all I found was hard work, low pay, and a system that puts workers at a disadvantage...
Industries Across the U.S. Are Stealing Wages From Their Lowest Paid Workers  The Real News   ...about a quarter of workers had not been paid minimum wage in the week of the survey. Three-quarters of them had not been paid overtime pay even though they had worked overtime hours...
Out of Work, Out of Luck  Five Thirty Eight Economics   ...Many if not most of the 3.8 million Americans who have been out of work for more than six months will never again hold steady jobs...
The Stone Unturned: Credit Ratings  New York Times   ...It’s the one question about the 2008 financial crisis that people still ask me more than any other: Why have regulators done so little to rein in the credit rating agencies? Other institutions that contributed to the mortgage debacle have submitted to new rules and compliance requirements, but Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s and their peers remained relatively untouched...
S&P Judge Tentatively Rules It Must Face Deception Claims  Bloomberg   ...McGraw Hill Financial Inc. (MHFI)’s Standard & Poor’s unit must face California’s claims it deceived the state’s pension funds in its ratings of mortgage-back securities, a judge said in a provisional ruling...