Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Today's Teamster News 01.21.15

Teamsters
CN And Teamsters Reach Deal  Materials Management and Distribution   ...CN has negotiated a tentative labour agreement with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference-Rail Canada Traffic Controllers (TCRC-RCTC) union that represents rail traffic controllers in Canada...
Teamsters Head "Optimistic" on Ratification of New Commercial Deal  Hollywood Reporter   …Teamsters Local 399 reached a tentative agreement with commercial producers, the union announced Tuesday, likely averting a threatened strike by drivers and location managers...
Striking Teamsters rally at TW Perry with support from unions, community  TeamsterNation   …Teamsters striking at TW Perry since Jan. 6 took it to the bosses today with help from the Metro Washington DC Labor Council, AFL-CIO and DC Jobs with Justice. They held a spirited rally at the TW Perry lumber store in Springfield, standing in solidarity with the courageous workers...
Texas Teamsters Reach Contract Agreement With Danone  teamsterorg   … Teamsters Local 997 members at Danone's (epn:BN) Fort Worth, Texas, plant have ratified an agreement with the company, gaining participation in the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Fund (WCTPF), the largest multi-employer pension plan in the United States...
Bad Work Conditions Hurt LGBT Employees Too (opinion)  Advocate   ...Jose works at Taylor Farms, which supplies major retailers with chopped fruits and vegetables, and unfortunately his story is not unique. It falls in line with a well-documented history of worker mistreatment at Taylor Farms...
Golden Parachutes Are Lead Balloon For Investors  FT   … by far the biggest component of golden parachutes tends to be the immediate vesting of unvested stock options and other forms of equity-linked compensation. Trade union bodies such as the Amalgamated Bank, AFL-CIO and International Brotherhood of Teamsters are therefore focusing in particular on this aspect of golden parachute payouts...
FTC Yearlong Review of Sysco-U.S. Foods Merger Nears Final Stages  Nasdaq   ...The Federal Trade Commission is nearing the finish line in its yearlong consideration of whether to allow the proposed merger of rival food-service companies Sysco Corp. and U.S. Foods Inc., but the decision still could go either way...
Trade
Liberals: Great speech, Obama … except on trade  Politico   …The president’s push for trade deals is ‘No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4’ on the list of what House Democrats disliked about the State of the Union, Rep. Peter DeFazio said...
Obama Pushes for Trade Support, Warns on China  Wall Street Journal   …Many Democrats, especially in areas that have seen manufacturing losses, are dead-set against the measure. “Fast track is a bad deal for American families,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.), whom colleagues said is leading the House campaign against the legislation...
SOTU Schizophrenia: Middle-Class Jobs vs. Fast Track and TPP (opinion)  Huffington Post   … either Obama will be the president whose initiatives to address income inequality and wage stagnation helped rebuild America's middle class, or he will prioritize a trade agenda that will offshore more good-paying jobs, destroy what is left of the American manufacturing sector, increase income inequality and speed the demise of America's middle class. He cannot do both…..
State Battles
Ky counties take up own 'right-to-work' laws  The Courier-Journal   …Kentucky has become the tip of the spear in a national effort to get county governments to pass legislation that would open up union businesses to employees who don't pay dues or service charges to the labor groups...
Wisconsin Right-To-Work Bill Unlikely Soon, Senate Leader Says  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...A group of business leaders opposed to making Wisconsin a right-to-work state announced 50 new members Monday, while Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said any debate over the idea likely won't happen until after the April 7 election...
Missouri Republican operatives launch ‘Missouri Century Foundation’  PoliticMO   …Gregg Keller, Rich Chrismer, Jim Gwinner, Mike Hafner and Holly Gogel – all of whom have deep roots within the state’s Republican community — have launched the “Missouri Century Foundation,” a new non-profit organization that will focus on three issues in the Legislature… actively oppose Medicaid expansion, labor unions, and is teaming up with the American Center for Law & Justice against proposed legislation that would require political non-profits to disclose their donors…
Debate begins on right-to-work laws in NM  Albuquerque Journal   …With New Mexico lawmakers poised to take up politically charged right-to-work legislation in a 60-day session that begins Tuesday, debate is already in full swing over what the change in labor laws would mean to New Mexico’s sluggish economy...
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Wants to Raise Minimum Wage  Wall Street Journal   ...New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday proposed raising the state’s minimum wage and unveiled plans to alleviate student loan debt and cut taxes for small businesses...
New State Minimum Wage? Why Some Foreign Guests Earn $3 More  Seattle Times   ...Last month, the minimum wage for thousands of workers in Washington jumped by nearly 5 percent to $12.42 an hour. Beneficiaries of Seattle’s march toward the nation’s highest minimum wage? Actually, the new pay raises apply only to a select group of people: foreigners hired as seasonal farmhands...
Bill Would Raise Georgia's Minimum Wage To $10 An Hour  WMAZ   ...The bill calls for employers in Georgia to pay their employees at least $10.10 an hour, with built-in increases coming on January 1 each following year to offset the rising cost of living. Presently, minimum wage in the state is just $5.15 an hour, though generally the federal rate of $7.25 applies...
War on Workers
Unemployment on the rise over next five years as inequality persists  International Labor Organization   …ILO report says sluggish jobs recovery and social instability are the result of greater inequality...
New police radars can 'see' inside homes  USA Today   …At least 50 U.S. law enforcement agencies quietly deployed radars that let them effectively see inside homes, with little notice to the courts or the public...
Worker Killed In Industrial Accident At Springfield Business  KOLR   ...Greene County detectives are investigating a fatal workplace accident.According to the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, a man in his early 50’s died while working at Ridewell Suspensions Corp. in the 3700 block of E. Farm Road 94 in Springfield Monday afternoon...
Miscellaneous
Fed Officials On Track To Raise Short-Term Rates Later In The Year  Wall Street Journal   ...Federal Reserve officials are staying on track to start raising short-term interest rates later this year, even though long-term rates are going in the other direction amid new investor worries about weak global growth, falling oil prices and slowing consumer price inflation...