Thursday, April 3, 2014

Today's Teamster News 04.03.14

Teamster News
Shumlin Calls For End To CCTA Strike  Vermont Public Radio   ...Gov. Pete Shumlin urged Teamster drivers and management of the Chittenden County Transportation Authority on Tuesday to agree to a contract deal as soon as possible...
Bus Drivers and CCTA Management To Negotiate Again Wednesday  Burlington Free Press   ...Teamster Drivers with the Chittenden County Transportation Authority will meet with management at 5 pm Wednesday to continue negotiations over a three-year contract, CCTA Board of Commissioners Chairman Tom Buckley told the Burlington Free Press Tuesday afternoon...
California Teamsters Call On US Foods To Recognize Union, Provide Security For Workers  teamster.org   ...On Tuesday, US Foods warehouse workers in Corona, Calif., called on the company to recognize Teamsters Local Union 63, Los Angeles, as their bargaining representative and to proceed immediately to negotiations for a first contract. The workers are concerned about job security as Sysco attempts to acquire their employer...
Rangel Snags Endorsement From Teamsters Union  New York Observer   ...Congressman Charlie Rangel, who is facing a tough re-election battle in a rematch against State Senator Adriano Espaillat, has notched another endorsement, this time from the Teamsters union...
Trade
Trans-Pacific Partnership Update  KMA Land   ...Japan said last week it would be difficult to achieve a breakthrough in talks with the United States on a pacific trade deal in time for President Barack Obama's trip to Asia next month...
Defense Science Board: Offshoring Of U.S. Manufacturing Has Created National Security Vulnerabilities  Trade Reform   ...For the first time perhaps ever, a U.S.-government report has stated that the shift of American manufacturing overseas is causing a decline in Americans’ standard of living...
State Battles
Right to Work future still uncertain after late meeting  Springfield News-Leader   ...The fate of Right to Work remains unclear following a late night meeting of House Republicans after a less controversial Paycheck Protection measure was given early approval Monday...
Emails Show Sen. Corker’s Chief of Staff Coordinated with Network of Anti-UAW Union Busters   In These Times   ...Leaked documents obtained by Nashville TV station NewsChannel 5 WVTF reveal communications between the employees of two Tennessee Republicans—Sen. Bob Corker and Gov. Bill Haslam—and a network of prominent anti-union professionals during the United Auto Workers' union drive at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga earlier this year...
Union-busting efforts move forward in Mississippi, Michigan  MSNBC   ...One of the reasons anti-labor forces fought so hard to prevail in February’s fight in Chattanooga was that they wanted to send a message: conservatives are prepared to fight against unionization wherever and whenever they can...
Florida Gov. Rick Scott's 2012 voter purge violated federal law, court rules  Tampa Bay Times   ...A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Gov. Rick Scott’s administration violated federal law by trying to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls too close to the 2012 presidential election...
Drought in California may hinder job growth for years, economists say
  Los Angeles Times   ...Lack of rain in 2013 could diminish the fishing and manufacturing sectors in California, the UCLA Anderson Forecast says. Even without the weather factor, L.A. is grappling with major problems with its job market...
War on Workers
Power Surge for Donors  New York Times   ...Big donors, leaders of political parties and candidates with access to wealthy supporters will be the biggest beneficiaries of the Supreme Court decision issued on Wednesday, a ruling that could fundamentally reshape the political terrain in the 2014 elections and beyond...
Supreme Court Strikes Aggregate Donations Caps in Federal Elections  Reuters   ...On a 5-4 vote, the court struck down the overall limits on how much individuals can give to candidates, parties and political action committees in total during the federal two-year election cycle...
NSA searched Americans’ communications without a warrant, intelligence director says  Washington Post   ...Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. acknowledged that the National Security Agency has searched for Americans’ communications without warrants in massive databases that gather e-mails and phone calls of foreign targets...
More Americans see middle class status slipping  Associated Press   ...Nearly five years after the Great Recession ended, more people are coming to the painful realization that they’re no longer part of it...
BLS Issues New Occupational Employment and Wage Report  Fire Dog Lake   ...According to a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, both retail clerks and cashiers are occupations highest in employment...
Koch brothers vs. a bus: Why two billionaires hate a transit project in Nashville  Salon   ...The idea of a public bus transport project in Nashville, Tenn. is under fire as the Koch brothers and their front organization are trying to stop it...
Baltimore's MICA Adjunct Professors Set to Vote on Unionization  The Real News   ...Maryland Institute College of Art part-time faculty member Hannah Brancato and organizer Maria Maisto discuss the growing nationwide trend of adjunct professors organizing in order to collective bargain for decent salaries and benefits...
U.S. Labor Department Calls NFL Cheerleaders 'Seasonal Amusement' -- Says They Don't Deserve Minimum Wage  The Guardian   ...With next to no labor rights and making nowhere near the minimum wage, they could use a cheer or two themselves...
Miscellaneous
Greed Kills  Reuters   ...General Motors Co in 2005 decided not to change an ignition switch eventually linked to the deaths of at least 13 people because it would have added about a dollar to the cost of each car, according to an internal GM document provided to U.S. congressional investigators...
Caterpillar avoided $2.4 billion in taxes, senator says  Los Angeles Times   ...Sen. Carl Levin, saying it was "long past time" to ensure that multinational U.S. corporations pay taxes on their overseas profits, took Caterpillar Inc. to task for an offshore strategy that helped the company avoid $2.4 billion in income taxes...
Straight From the NSA's Mouth: We Searched You Without a Warrant
  AlterNet   ..NSA Director Clapper finally admitted to senators that the NSA performed warrantless searches...