Monday, October 6, 2014

Today's Teamster News 10.06.14

Teamsters
Facebook’s Bus Drivers Seek Union  New York Times   ...they start work around 6 a.m. and do not finish until 9 p.m., 15 hours later. Now, some of these shuttle bus drivers, who get Facebook employees to work, are seeking representation by the Teamsters union...
Facebook workers 'like noblemen driven by servants' claims union  The Telegraph   ...Some of the drivers who ferry staff to the social network's headquarters in Menlo Park, California want to be part of the Teamsters union in order to get better conditions from the outside contractor they work for...
Uber Drivers Across The Country Are Organizing Their Largest Protest Yet  Buzzfeed   ...The California App-Based Drivers Association (CADA) – a non-profit dedicated to protecting fairness and transparency in the app-based car service industry – is mobilizing Uber drivers across the country and in some parts of the world to participate in what may be the largest coordinated Uber protest yet.
CADA, which is tied to the Teamsters Local 986 in L.A. , will be protesting at Uber’s L.A. offices on October 22 at noon and has encouraged all Uber drivers to gather at their local Uber offices...
Schakowsky walks picket line with Golan’s workers  Skokie Review   ... U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-9, and 7th District Cook County Commissioner Jesus Chuy Garcia joined dozens of striking workers Friday on the picket line outside Golan’s Moving & Storage in Skokie. The workers are entering their third month on strike after voting convincingly to unionize and join Teamsters Local 705. But the workers say the company has refused to bargain with them in good faith over a first contract...
Trade
Japan-U.S. accord still seen as key to TPP deal  Japan Times   ...An agreement between Japan and the United States is still a key element before the envisioned Trans-Pacific Partnership can become a reality, according to informed sources...
TISA, Yet Another Secret “Trade” Threat  New American   ...The four-day TISA event took place September 22-25 at the Geneva, Switzerland, headquarters of the World Trade Organization. It was held in secret, behind closed doors, of course, the same as with the ongoing talks for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)…. the drafters intend for the text of the agreement to remain secret for five years after the proposed TISA rules take effect!...
Make no mistake - the TTIP is a move in the wrong direction (opinion)  Ecologist   ...A huge EU-US trade and investment deal may not be quite so dangerous as its opponents portray it, writes Gabriel Siles-Brügge - but it still represents a serious threat to governments' ability to regulate for the benefit of citizens and environment, and would entrench 'competitive' markets in public service provision...
State Battles
Scott Walker is not running for governor  The Cap Times   ...The remarkable thing about Gov. Scott Walker’s re-election campaign is that Walker makes little effort to hide the fact that he is not running for governor in 2014. He is running for president in 2016...
Governor Walker dismisses need for extended DMV hours  Wisconsin Radio Network   ...“We know that 300,000 registered voters in Wisconsin lack the ID cards now necessary. Without better DMV service hours and more convenient DMV locations, I’m convinced many of these people will be shut out of the November election.”...
ALEC has huge influence in Indiana (LTE)  Indianapolis Star   ...By ALEC's own account, recurring controversies have caused the organization to lose almost 400 state legislators as members in the last three years. However, ALEC highlights Indiana as having a 40 percent gain in legislative members, with many members in the Indiana General Assembly...
War on Workers
Income Inequality Has Regressed to 1820 Levels, Will Likely Keep Regressing  Motherboard   ...Globalization, the study finds, has the curious effect of making nations more equal relative to each other, but making the residents of the nations less equal relative to each other...
Shift to Bad Retirement Plans Threatens Retirees With Privation  truthdig   ...The United States’ largest employers are increasingly pushing their workers into inadequate retirement plans—and they acknowledge doing so...
Oil, rail industries want time to fix cars  Associated Press   ...The oil and railroad industries are urging federal regulators to allow them as long as seven years to upgrade existing tank cars that transport highly volatile crude oil, a top oil industry official said. The cars have ruptured and spilled oil during collisions, leading to intense fires...
Two injured as freight train derails in north Louisiana  Reuters   ...The conductor of a Union Pacific freight train and an engineer on board were injured on Sunday when it crashed into a tractor-trailer that was stuck on tracks in northern Louisiana, a spokesman for Union Pacific said...
1 Dead In NJ Crash Involving Tanker Truck, SUV  myfoxphilly.com   ...One person is dead after a crash involving a tanker truck and an SUV in Westville...
Mexico massacre victims feared to be missing students  Reuters   ...Bodies found in mass graves in southwestern Mexico are feared to be those of students who went missing last month after they clashed with corrupt local police, authorities said on Sunday...
A grand design for greater gridlock at National Labor Relations Board  Los Angeles Times   ...Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee thinks he has the solution to perceived problems at the National Labor Relations Board: Make the five-member body just as deadlocked as Congress...
Big Pharma Ripoffs on Cancer Patients Makes 60 Minutes  Economic Populist   ... In 2012 alone, of the 12 cancer drugs approved by the FDA, 11 cost over $100,000...