Sunday, December 14, 2014

Today's Teamster News 12.14.14

Teamsters
Teamsters Denounce Senate Passage Of Omnibus Spending Bill  teamster.org   ..."With the passage of the omnibus spending bill by the Senate, we have witnessed the latest attack by corporate interests on working families. Big business and Wall Street have bought and paid for influence and access that has allowed them to continue to enrich corporations at the expense of the middle class....
The end of horse-drawn carriages in New York City?  Pet Today   ...Video: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says he’s sticking to his election promise to outlaw one of the city’s most iconic images, horse-drawn carriages...
Schwebel's eyes first quarter of 2015 for closure of Cuyahoga Falls plant  Falls News Press   …Of the 119 employees, 100 are represented by either Teamsters Local 377 (Drivers), Teamsters Local 336 or Teamsters Local 52; the other 19 are not in a union, according to the letter...
Trade
Column: What you should to know about hushed negotiations taking place between the EU and US  thejournal.ie   ...There are huge concerns regarding the secrecy in which the TTIP negotiations have been shrouded. We only became aware of the mandate for the negotiations through a leaked document and subsequent public pressure forced the European Commission, an undemocratically appointed body, to make it publicly available...
Don’t fast track TPP   My San Antonio   ...Unbelievably, they want this fast track legislation passed before we or Congress know what is in the TPP, which is being negotiated in secrecy. The fast tracking of the trade agreement bears scrutiny because it will be worse than the failed North American Free Trade Agreement passed in 1994... 
War on Workers
Americans are 40% poorer than before the recession  MarketWatch   ...The net worth of American families — the difference between the values of their assets, including homes and investments, and liabilities — fell to $81,400 in 2013, down slightly from $82,300 in 2010, but a long way off the $135,700 in 2007, according to a new report...
Why America's middle class is lost  Washington Post   ...Workers today produce nearly twice as many goods and services per hour on the job as they did in 1989, but as a group, they get less of the nation’s economic pie. In 81 percent of America’s counties, the median income is lower today than it was 15 years ago...
‘Enough is enough’: Elizabeth Warren’s launches fiery attack after Congress weakens Wall Street regs  Washington Post   ...in recent years, many Wall Street institutions have exerted extraordinary influence in Washington’s corridors of power, but Citigroup has risen above the others. Its grip over economic policymaking in the executive branch is unprecedented...
Warren to banks: We should have ‘broken you into pieces’  The Hill   ...Warren argues the repeal of the provision is a hand out to powerful banks that would leave taxpayer holding the bag again if risky investments fall through. “I agree with you Dodd-Frank isn’t perfect,” Warren said. “It should have broken you into pieces...
Senate Passes $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill  Associated Press   ...The vote was 56-40 in favor of the measure, which funds nearly the entire government through the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year. It also charts a new course for selected shaky pension plans covering more than 1 million retirees, including the possibility of benefit cuts...
New Leak Reveals Luxembourg Tax Deals for Disney, Koch Brothers Empire  International Consortium of Investigative Journalists   ...Disney and Koch Industries, a U.S.-based energy and chemical conglomerate, both created tangles of interlocking corporations in Luxembourg that may have helped them slash the taxes they pay in the U.S. and Europe, according to the documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists...
How to stop wage stagnation? Stronger collective bargaining, says new report  Left Foot Forward   ...The reports says that average wage growth in developed economies has fluctuated around 1 per cent per year since 2006 and then slowed further in 2012 and 2013 to only 0.1 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively...
3 workers killed in fire at Dallas high-rise  USA Today   ...The fire broke out in the garage of the 50-story glass tower just before 11 a.m., forcing about 2,800 people to evacuate. The three workers who died were subcontractors working on the air conditioning system in the basement garage, Dallas Fire Rescue spokesman Jason Evans said...