Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Today's Teamster News 04.23.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Urge Buffalo Common Council To Keep Rural Metro Contract  The Buffalo News   ...The unionized workforce of Buffalo's exclusive ambulance provider came to city hall today to urge the common council not to change providers...
Trade
Obama Faces Headwinds On Trans-Pacific Partnership In East Asia Trip  South China Morning Post   ...As US President Barack Obama embarks on a four-nation Asian tour, his effort to push the economic side of the US "rebalancing" towards the Asia-Pacific faces hurdles...
Abe-Obama Deal On TPP Unlikely  The Japan Times   ...Japan and the United States are not expected to announce a broad bilateral agreement for a Pacific trade pact when their leaders meet Thursday in Tokyo, as they remain considerably apart over the issue of market access for agricultural products and automobiles...
State Battles
Missouri Considers Right-To-Work Law  The Patriot Post   ...Following on the heels of some of its Midwest regional neighbors, Missouri's legislature is considering right-to-work legislation. With a heavily Republican legislature it seemed like passage would be a slam dunk. But that hasn't turned out to be the case...
Ohio Labor Supporters Gain Valuable Lesson From Missouri Right To Work Fight  PR News Channel   ...In Ohio, union supporters have so far kept the legislature off the ballot and are working tirelessly to ensure Right to Work doesn’t gain a foothold in their state....
War on Workers
The American Middle Class Is No Longer the World’s Richest  New York Times   ...After-tax middle-class incomes in Canada — substantially behind in 2000 — now appear to be higher than in the United States. The poor in much of Europe earn more than poor Americans...
Moving in with parents becomes more common for the middle-aged  Los Angeles Times   ...For seven years through 2012, the number of Californians aged 50 to 64 who live in their parents' homes swelled 67.6% to about 194,000, according to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the Insight Center for Community Economic Development. The jump is almost exclusively the result of financial hardship caused by the recession...
Cabdrivers Seek To Unionize To Push Case For Fair Hike  Chicago Sun Times   ...Tired of waiting nine years for a fair increase and being pushed around as independent contractors, Chicago cab drivers are trying a different tack to press their case for a "living wage"...
White House approves stricter coal dust rule  The Hill   ...The rule was proposed in 2010 by the Mine Health and Safety Administration in an attempt to reduce black lung disease, a deadly condition that kills hundreds of miners each year and is caused by coal dust...
Sherpas Move to Shut Everest in Labor Fight  New York Times   ...The avalanche that killed at least 13 Sherpas last Friday has prompted an extraordinary labor dispute, as Mount Everest’s quiet workhorses took steps on Tuesday to shut down the mountain for the season, demanding that the government share proceeds from what has become a multimillion-dollar business...
Miscellaneous
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Michigan Affirmative Action Ban  Think Progress   ...The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Michigan's ban on affirmative action in higher education Tuesday morning, in the latest ruling to effectively weaken affirmative action without killing it...