Thursday, March 13, 2014

Today's Teamster News 03.13.14

Teamster News
Teamsters: Just 19 Days Until the Deadline to Apply for a James R. Hoffa Scholarship  teamster.org   ...The Fund will award $800,000 in scholarships this year to children and financially dependent grandchildren of Teamster members...
Teamsters Support the Fight for Justice for Port Drivers  teamster.org   ...At the Port of Savannah, Teamster Local 728 Organizing Director Ben Speight and Savannah port truck driver John Jackson were hosted by radio show host Rick Smith...
Teamsters Local 830 endorses Davidson in 164th district  Delaware County Daily Times   ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 830 endorsed state Rep. Margo Davidson last week in the Democratic primary for the 164th Legislative District...
Teamsters: Latest Transit Numbers Show More Investment is Warranted  teamster.org   ...Since 1995, ridership for rail and buses is up 37.2 percent, out pacing not only population growth but vehicle miles traveled as well...
Trade 
U.S. biz lobby says Japan’s TPP proposal not enough  The Japan Times   ...apan has so far insisted on maintaining tariffs in five key farm product categories, including rice and beef. It is holding two days of working-level talks with the U.S. in Washington...
2 years later, Korea trade deal a disaster  TeamsterNation   ...Two years after the so-called 'trade' deal with Korea took effect, U.S. exports plummeted, the trade deficit ballooned and 40,000 Americans lost their jobs...
How dependent on China is the U.S. military?  manufacture this   ...America's national security is threatened by a growing military reliance on foreign sourcing for raw materials, parts, and finished products...
State News
UAW: NLRB ruling in favor of anti-union VW workers 'an outrage'  Detroit News   ...“(It) claims to be an organic group of Volkswagen workers who came together of their own accord to participate in the election campaign,” the UAW said, alleging that the group is actually funded by conservative business groups...
Was LePage’s jobs proposal sincere or a union-busting ‘election stunt’?  Bangor Daily News   ...Gov. Paul LePage’s proposal to create Open for Business zones to attract economic development and jobs to Maine likely would breeze through the Legislature if it weren’t for the fact that it includes a “right-to-work” provision that there is little appetite for in the State House...
Ohio’s Kasich Says He’s ‘Not Interested’ In Run For President  10TV   ...Kasich's denial comes after his Democratic opponent Ed FitzGerald last month challenged him to sign a pledge vowing to serve a full term if reelected this November...
Public Union Dust Still Settling in Wisconsin, Three Years After Act 10  WUWM   ...Even if they got recertified the only thing that they could collectively bargain about would be pay raises up to the level of inflation. That was tantamount to abolishing public employee unions in Wisconsin, which I think was the intent...
Rasmussen Poll: Scott Walker Tied With Democratic Challenger  Talking Points Memo   ...The poll found Walker tied with Democrat Mary Burke with each candidate getting 45 percent of support of those surveyed. Five percent said they preferred some other candidate in the race and the last five percent said they were not sure who they supported...
War on Workers
It's Official: One Koch Brother Equals 515,000 Union Members  New Republic   ...conservative nonprofit organizations that received large grants from Koch-backed intermediaries spent $170 million during the 2012 election cycle. Unions spent just $24 million...
Still No Jobs for More Than 60 Percent of Job Seekers  Economic Policy Institute   ... there were 10.2 million job seekers and only 4.0 million job openings, meaning that more than 60 percent of job seekers were not going to find a job in January no matter what they did. In a labor market with strong job opportunities, there would be roughly as many job openings as job seekers. We are not in a strong labor market...
My Life as a Retail Worker: Nasty, Brutish, and Poor  The Atlantic  ...Mop the floors in the bathroom, replace the toilet paper and scrub the toilets if necessary. Vacuum. Empty the garbage. Wipe down the glass front doors, every night, even if they don’t really need it. It was all part of the job, done after your shift has ended but without overtime pay...
The Looting Of Ukraine Has Begun  Paul Craig Roberts   ...the finance ministry of Washington’s stooges in Kiev who are pretending to be a government has prepared an economic austerity plan that will cut Ukrainian pensions from $160 to $80 so that Western bankers who lent money to Ukraine can be repaid at the expense of Ukraine’s poor. http://www.kommersant.ua/doc/2424454 It is Greece all over again.