Friday, November 14, 2014

Today's Teamster News 11.14.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Strike, Allege Wage Theft  Los Angeles Business Journal   ...Truck drivers who work at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach walked off the job Thursday to protest two trucking firms they accuse of wage theft, according to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which organized the action...
L.A. truck drivers strike as tension mounts at ports  Los Angeles Times   ...Some truck drivers who work at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach walked off the job Thursday, organizers said, in a protest against two trucking firms they accuse of wage theft...
Walmart sit-down strike follows strikes today by port truck drivers and federal contract workers  TeamsterNation   ...Walmart workers in a Crenshaw, Calif., store sat down on the job today, even as striking port truck drivers picketed marine terminals and trucking yards at the Port of L.A. and hundreds of federal government contractors marched off the job and onto a Capitol Hill rally...
Teamsters Local 402 Organizes Ready-Mix Drivers  teamster.org   ...Ready-Mix drivers in Huntsville, Ala., recently voted to be represented by Teamsters Local 402.  They are fighting for improved wages and fair treatment on the job...
Teamsters Stand with Students to Stop the Tuition Hikes  Teamsters Local 2010   ...Teamsters Local 2010 therefore demands the UC Board of Regents reject the proposed tuition increases and approach both the workers and students to discuss better solutions...
Bus Driver Summer Pay Bargaining Progressing; Other Issues Remain  Savannah Morning News   ...First Student school transportation provider and Teamsters Union Local 728 are nearing an agreement about year-round pay after three days of bargaining, but continue to disagree on contract and financial issues...
Concord Settles Contract With Employee Union  Contra Costa Times   ...The city has struck a deal with its largest employee union -- thus averting a threatened strike that could have crippled daily operations. Teamsters Local 856 represents 141 employees -- including administrative clerks, police dispatchers and maintenance workers -- who have been working without a contract since the end of June, despite ongoing negotiations...
William Bounds Jr.  Champaign News-Gazette   ...Bill continued his career with the Teamsters Union Local 26 in Danville as a business agent. He later was elected president of Local 26 and held that position for 30 years. Bill was also the president of the Teamsters Joint Council 65 located in Springfield for approximately 18 years, overseeing parts of four states and 30,000 members...
Trade
Flaws in granting Mr. Obama fast-track authority (opinion)  Washington Post   ...Many Republicans, especially in the House, where the real trade action is, question the constitutionality of fast-track trade authority and the wisdom of giving the president even freer rein...
Never Mind ISIS, It’s ISDS That’s The Real Threat  The Nation   ...mining corporations have taken El Salvador to court for trying to limit their right to open-pit mine the country and pollute its rivers and El Lilly has sued Canada, complaining that its patent laws have hindered profits it could make on an ADD drug...
State Battles
Right-To-Work Legislation Likely To Be On Agenda  Albuquerque Journal   ...debate is already building over the long-stymied idea of making New Mexico a “right-to-work” state. After seizing control of the state House of Representatives for the first time in 60 years, Republican lawmakers have signaled the legislation will be on the table for the coming session...
Texas GOP’s Voter ID Ploy “Worked”: Turnout Way Down, Provisional Ballots Way Up  Salon.com   ...Despite a larger population and a contested race for an open gubernatorial seat, turnout in the state of Texas was reportedly down this year... [suggesting] the Texas GOP’s strategy of suppressing the vote this year with polling place Photo ID restrictions seems to have worked...
Emergency Manager Recommended For Atlantic City  Press Of Atlantic City   ...An emergency manager to oversee the city’s troubled finances and the creation of a new public-private development corporation are part of a package of reforms Gov. Chris Christie will consider to revitalize the struggling resort town...
War on Workers
Walmart Workers Stage First-Ever Sit-In Strike  ThinkProgress   ...Workers at a Los Angeles Walmart began the first sit-down strike in the company’s history at around 2 p.m. on Thursday. The strike is to protest their low wages and a culture of retaliation at the company...
23 Arrested During Pico Rivera Walmart Protest   Associated Press   ...Authorities say 23 men and women were arrested Thursday after they blocked traffic at a Pico Rivera intersection during a protest that began with a sit-down strike inside the local Walmart...
U.S. Capitol workers, others strike for higher pay, union  Reuters   ...Hundreds of striking federal contract workers, including for the first time some from the U.S. Capitol, rallied on Thursday to urge President Barack Obama to boost pay and spur unionization...
Longtime Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship indicted  Charleston Gazette   ...Don Blankenship, the longtime chief executive officer of Massey Energy, was indicted Thursday on charges that he orchestrated the routine violation of key federal mine safety rules at the company’s Upper Big Branch Mine prior to an April 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners...
Halliburton worker killed in Colorado fracking accident  Reuters   ...An accident at a fracking site in Colorado killed one Halliburton Co worker and seriously injured two on Thursday as they tried to thaw a high-pressure water line that had frozen in record-breaking cold conditions, the company said...
Worker killed when pedestrian bridge collapses  Associated Press   ...Officials say one worker was killed and four others were hurt when a pedestrian bridge under construction collapsed at a community college in North Carolina...
Worker dies as wall collapses at Avon Lake construction site  cleveland.com   ...A construction worker died Thursday afternoon after a wall of a house collapsed on him...
Only 1 State's College Students Graduate With Less Than $20K Of Debt, Report Finds  Huffington Post   ...For the class of 2013, seven out of 10 college students nationwide carried some form of education debt when they graduated, ... The average graduate was $28,400 in the red, the report says. In six states, students graduated with an average of more than $30,000 in education debt, and only New Mexico grads came in below the $20K mark, with an average of $18,656 in school debt...
Miscellaneous
Keystone On The Move In Congress  Politico   ...In the House, Republicans quickly announced a vote as early as Thursday on a version of Landrieu’s Keystone bill with Cassidy’s name on it. When Landrieu did not object to a Republican request that Cassidy’s House bill be the measure ultimately sent to Obama — not her own — the Senate agreed to a Tuesday vote on the $8 billion pipeline...