Sunday, April 27, 2014

Today's Teamster News 04.27.14

Teamsters
For de Blasio, Carriage Horse Ban Is No Walk in the Park  New York Times   ...The mayor’s plan to ban horse-drawn carriages, an obscure proposal until Mr. de Blasio embraced it in last year’s mayoral race, has erupted into a cause célèbre, landing on the cover of The New Yorker and dominating local headlines, even as Mr. de Blasio is trying to refocus his administration on housing and wage issues...
EXCLUSIVE: FBI investigation of mayoral race includes de Blasio's pledge to ban carriage horses  New York Daily News   ...FBI agents have been questioning people about the pledge de Blasio made in March 2013, and the ads launched the next month by animal rights activists attacking Christine Quinn, the Daily News has learned. Agents also appear interested in a $175,000 contribution to the animal rights group NYCLASS from a union tied to de Blasio's cousin, labor leader John Wilhelm...
Trade
Japan, U.S. tiptoe into new phase of Pacific trade talks  Reuters   ...The United States and Japan are edging into a new phase of trade negotiations after U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's summit, people with knowledge of talks to create one of the world's biggest trade pacts said...
TPP Investment Map: New Privileges for 30,000 Companies?  Public Citizen   ...Under previous presidential administrations, the United States signed a number of free trade agreements (FTAs) that grant foreign corporations extraordinary rights and protections beyond the rights of domestic companies...
War on Workers
U.S. electricity prices may be going up for good  Los Angeles Times   ...Experts warn of a growing fragility as coal-fired plants are shut down, nuclear power is reduced and consumers switch to renewable energy...
91 Percent of Our Seafood is Imported and Only 2 Percent is Inspected  Economy in Crisis   ...The U.S. imports an astonishing 91 percent of our seafood and, unbeknownst to many Americans, much of this seafood is contaminated with antibiotics and toxic chemicals.  We can’t inspect this food for contaminants because we cannot afford the necessary number of FDA inspectors to do the job...
My Life in the New American Minimum Wage Economy  Mother Jones   ...After getting driven out of my job by the State Department, I found myself looking for part-time positions in retail...
Thomas Perez: Jobless benefits are a lifesaver (opinion)  Reno Gazette-Journal   ...With so many people we know facing so much uncertainty, depleting their savings and fearful that their dreams are slipping away, it is unconscionable that Congress has sat on its hands this long...
Scathing Report Finds Rocketship, School Privatization Hurt Poor Kids  truthout   ...A popular chain of charter schools called Rocketship, which originated in California and has spread to Wisconsin, with the enthusiastic support of state legislators and the local chamber of commerce in Milwaukee, is "a low-budget operation that relies on young and inexperienced teachers rather than more veteran and expensive faculty, that reduces curriculum to a near-exclusive focus on reading and math, and that replaces teachers with online learning and digital applications for a significant portion of the day...
Miscellaneous
Texas Republican Spent Over $30,000 In Campaign Cash On Chocolates And Ham  Buzzfeed   ...Texas Rep. Ralph Hall, the oldest serving member of Congress, spent more than $33,000 in campaign funds on orders from Honey Baked Foods and Godiva Chocolatier, campaign filings show...