Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Today's Teamster News 10.29.14

Teamster News
Second Con-way Terminal Joins Teamsters; Two Vote No  Truckinginfo   ...The Teamsters Union has gotten the go-ahead from workers at a second Con-way Freight terminal to represent them in talks with company management, but were turned back at two other locations in votes all supervised by the National Labor Relations Board...
Republic Waste Workers Approve 3-Year Contract  Massillon Independent   ...Members of Teamsters Local 92 employed by Republic Waste Services voted Sunday to ratify a three-year agreement with the company ... by a vote of 100 to 26...
UVM Maintenance Workers Ratify Contract  Vermont Digger   ...In August, the school agreed to a two-year contract with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents police officers, service officers and dispatchers on campus. The Teamsters FY15 increase also will be adjusted to 2.25 percent...
Avalon Truck Drivers Close To Contract  Massillon Independent   ...the union will meet with the company Friday with some proposals he believes may lead to a tentative agreement. Truck drivers of refrigerated tractor-trailers at Avalon Foodservice have been negotiating their first contract for a year. Drivers organized in August 2013...
D.C. Taxi Drivers Demonstrate As Council Votes On Bill To Regulate Ride Services  teamster.org   ...Hundreds of D.C. taxi drivers circled Freedom Plaza and packed a D.C. City Council hearing room today to protest a bill to regulate private sedan services that drivers say continues to give the services a huge competitive edge...
PaRR: Sysco/US Foods Divestitures Not Clear Solution, Industry Sources Say  teamster.org   ..It will be challenging for Sysco (NYSE:SSY) and US Foods to craft an antitrust remedy package that creates a new national competitor, industry sources said...
First Student drivers protest at bus yard  WTOC   ...First student bus drivers rallying today to protest what they call income insecurity during sommer months...
Nicholas Lanzilli Receives Teamster Endorsement  Medford Transcript   ..."It is with much pleasure that I announce that I have received the endorsement of the Teamsters Local 25 Union...
Trade
APEC next stop for TPP talks — Fast-track to move in lame duck?  Politico   ...Labor groups are waging a four-week ad campaign in the Washington metro system aimed at discouraging a vote on “fast-track” trade legislation during the upcoming lame-duck session of Congress. The legislation, also known as trade promotion authority, would allow the White House to submit trade agreements like the proposed TPP pact to Congress for a straight up-or-down vote without amendments...
H&M Blacklists Spinning Mill In India After Reports Of Child Labour And ‘Appalling’ Work Conditions  Financial Post   ...Hennes & Mauritz AB will blacklist a spinning mill in southern India after a report claimed five manufacturers there use child labour and subjected workers, mostly women and girls, to “appalling” working conditions...
State Battles
Power Players Behind the Corporate Takeover of Pennsylvania Schools  Center for Media and Democracy   ...at least 31 Pennsylvania legislators are still ALEC dues-paying members and many more appear to use the ALEC library of bills when shopping around for corporate education policy. Bills to institute school vouchers, take away local control for authorizing charter schools, expand tax credits to fund charter schools, or enact so-called “parent trigger legislation” can be traced back to ALEC and member groups like the American Federation of Children and the Cato Institute...
Arkansas Court Lets Minimum Wage Issue Stay On Ballot  Huffington Post   ...Arkansas' highest court ruled Monday that a proposal to gradually raise the state's minimum wage can remain on the November ballot. ...Arkansas is one of the few states with a minimum wage below the federal level of $7.25 an hour...
Will Conservative Kansas Vote Out Its Conservative Governor, Sam Brownback?  Washington Post   ...Sam Brownback ... is at risk of becoming an object lesson in the limits of conservative governance in a conservative state...
For-profit company’s role scaled back in plan for Maine second virtual charter school  Portland Press Herald   ...Officials trying to open a virtual charter school in Maine have significantly changed their business model, agreeing to staff the school with Mainers after critics and state officials said their original plan left too much power in the hands of a national for-profit company...
War on Workers
U.S. Homeownership Rate Falls to Lowest Since Early 1995  Bloomberg   ...Entry-level buyers have been held back by stringent mortgage standards and slow wage growth. The share of first-time buyers was 29 percent in September for the third straight month, compared with about 40 percent historically...
Feds set to destroy H-1B records  Computerworld   ...The U.S. has changed its H-1B record retention policy to the concern of people who study the visa's impact on the workforce and economy...
AT&T Sued By Feds For Throttling “Unlimited” Wireless Customers  Consumerist   ...AT&T ticked off a lot of wireless customers with so-called “unlimited” plans byannouncing that it would throttle data speeds for users who passed certain monthly thresholds. Though customers tried to sue in response, AT&T’s terms of service generally prevent class action suits from customers and force users into private, binding arbitration. But even though millions of customers can’t sue, the federal government can...
Worker Killed in Explosion at Ammunition Factory  jobs.aol.com   ...Federal investigators are returning to the scene of a deadly explosion at an ammunition factory in Tennessee. One worker was killed and three others were injured in the blast...
Construction worker dies after falling off roof  GreenvilleNews.com   ...James Irby, a commercial painter, was securing a ladder on top of an apartment at 114 Asteria St. on Oct. 22 when he fell from the roof onto the concrete walkway about 25 feet below...  
Miscellaneous
Report Reveals Wider Tracking Of Mail In U.S.  New York Times   ...the United States Postal Service reported that it approved nearly 50,000 requests last year from law enforcement agencies and its own internal inspection unit to secretly monitor the mail of Americans for use in criminal and national security investigations. ... the surveillance program is more extensive than previously disclosed and that oversight protecting Americans from potential abuses is lax...