Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Today's Teamster News 06.04.14

Teamster News
Union Workers Approve Close Out Agreement With Rite-Aid  West Virginia Metro News   ...The Rite-Aid distribution center in Poca is going to stay open about 18 months longer than originally announced following a new deal between the company and Teamsters union...
Teamsters push to oust Rob Walton as Walmart board chairman, support Walmart strikers  TeamsterNation   ...The Teamsters Union is calling for an independent board chairmanat Walmart because of the company's labor violations and theongoing investigation into corruption and bribery in Mexico, China, Brazil and India...
Nearly 99 percent of BLET members authorize strike  Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen   ...An overwhelming 98.84 percent majority of BLET members working for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) have voted to authorize a strike when a mandatory 30-day cooling off period under the Railway Labor Act comes to an end in less than two weeks...
UPS In Wyoming Valley To Add Jobs, Convert Vehicles To Natural Gas  Wilkes-Barre Times Leader   ...Cartwright was at the facility off Armstrong Road to meet with UPS officials and employees to talk about several issues, including the company's "labor friendly" relationship with the Teamsters Union. More than 400,000 UPS workers nationwide are union members...
OnTrac Line Haul Drivers Ratify First-Ever Teamster Contract  teamster.org   ...line haul drivers ratified the first-ever Teamster contract at OnTrac, the largest regional package delivery company in America. The drivers are members of Teamsters Local Union 63 in Covina, Calif. and had been negotiating a first contract for more than a year...
Trade
NMPF, USDEC Threaten To Withdraw Support For Trans-Pacific Partnership  Ag Web   ...The majority of U.S. dairy farmer cooperatives and dairy processing companies, all of which are members of the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) or the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), today threatened to withdraw support from the pending Trans-Pacific trade agreement...
Walmart's 'Made in USA' push exposes strains of manufacturing rebirth  Reuters   ...When Walmart pledged last year to buy an extra $250 billion in U.S.-made goods over the next decade, it appeared to be just what was needed to help move America's putative manufacturing renaissance from rhetoric to reality. But suppliers trying to reshore production as part of the initiative by the world's largest retailer are running into practical problems as they try to restart long-idled corners of U.S. manufacturing...
State Battles
Seattle To Enact $15 Minimum Wage  Washington Post   ...The Seattle City Council voted unanimously Monday to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, equaling the highest minimum wage in the nation...
Scott Walker's Dark Money Troubles  The Progressive   ...The week after Governor Scott Walker's opponent Mary Burke pulled even with Walker in the polls, the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity dumped $900,000 into a major TV ad buy in Wisconsin, aimed at persuading Wisconsinites that things are going better in the state than they may think...
War On Workers
After Crash Killing 47, Oil-by-Rail on Trial in Canada, Maine  truthout   ...The explosive growth of oil by rail traffic in the United States and Canada and the failure to do anything about safety except tinker around the edges of the matter all but guarantee that the string of oil train crashes that followed the Lac Mégantic tragedy will continue...
Allure of Homeownership Slumps Amid Worries of Continued Crisis  Wall Street Journal   ...While home prices have stopped falling, the vast majority of Americans still believe the housing crisis isn’t over, according to a wide-ranging survey on housing attitudes released Tuesday...
Walmart Workers Are Going On Strike To Speak Out. Why Walmart Should Listen  Christian Science Monitor   ...The current struggle of low-wage workers across America echoes the civil rights struggle of the 1960s. Today, as then, a group of Americans is denied the dignity of decent wages and working conditions...
1 in 5 Children Live in Poverty in U.S.  CNS News   ...One in five children under age 18, or 21.3%, are living in poverty in the United States, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau...
Low Retail Wages Disproportionately Hurt Women  MSNBC   ...Women earn disproportionately low wages across the entire retail industry, according to a new report from the left-leaning think tank Demos...
D.C. Council To Vote On Wage Theft Bill Tuesday  ABC News   ...The D.C. Council is set to vote on a bill that would enhance penalties for employers who pay their employees illegal wages or less than what they've agreed to pay...
Miscellaneous
Income From Work Is Shrinking. Here Is Where Most Americans Are Getting More Of Their Income Now  Vox   ...Americans' income from work is substantially smaller than it used to be. The Washington Post's Lydia DePillis today highlights a Wells Fargo report that Americans' non-labor income is growing while their income from jobs is diminishing...
Could A 6-Cent Tax Sour Us On Soda And Sugary Drinks?  PBS   ...A new study published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics concludes that a tax on sodas and other sugary beverages could be the way to go. Specifically, the authors argue that taxing by the calorie would prompt consumers to cut back...