Wisconsin Teamsters Continue the Fight Against Right to Work TeamsterNation ...Wisconsin's indefatigable Teamsters were out in the cold wind in the state capital on Saturday, Sunday and today to protest the probable passage of a right-to-work (RTW) bill...
Hoffa to USTR and Administration: Reopen Mexican Cross-Border Trucking Issue teamster.org ... In a letter to United States Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa called on him and the administration to protect highway safety and reopen negotiations over Mexican cross-border trucking as part of the ongoing Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks...
New Data Add Fuel to Arguments Against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Economic Policy Institute …New data released this month show that the U.S. trade deficit with the countries in the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) increased to an unexpectedly large $265.1 billion in 2014, as shown in the updated graph, below. This increase is further proof that U.S. workers don’t need another job-killing trade deal, which would undoubtedly grow the trade deficit even more...
Using Hokey Numbers and Neon Lies to Sell TPP (opinion) WHAV …TPP is not some sort of futuristic flying machine, but yet another global trade scam coming at us like a volcanic eruption straight out of hell. This thing is a “partnership” of, by, and for global corporations—similar to NAFTA, only much, much, much bigger and far more destructive both to the middle class and to our people’s sovereignty...
We need a voice: Oppose ‘fast track’ for the TPP (opinion) The Hill ...There’s a reason why nearly 600 national, state and local groups - including the national NAACP – signed onto a letter opposing “fast track” last fall. The people, particularly black, white, and Latino workers in North Carolina and across the south, need a voice in policies that affect our families...
TPP: Warren Versus Zients. Warren Wins (opinion) Huffington Post …Jeff Zients, Director of the National Economic Council, …is parsing words. ISDS in fact allows multinationals to sue governments when they pass legislation after the enactment of the trade agreement that harms future corporate profits. The key word is "after," and all Zients is saying is that current regulations in the US, Vietnam or the other TPP nations would not be vulnerable…
State Battles
Scott Walker to sign anti-union bill that will make inequality worse The Hill ...Instead of acting in the interests of ordinary Wisconsinites, Walker has swallowed hook, line and sinker the anti-union extremism of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which is linked to the Koch brothers...
Bill Black: Scott Walker’s War on Workers and the Wall Street Journal’s Cleaned-Up Coverage (opinion) naked capitalism …Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has channeled his inner Mitt Romney and written off an immense swath of Americans as people he would not represent if he were elected President...
Oakland's Minimum Wage Gets Big Hike Starting Monday ABC7 News ... The current $9 an hour minimum wage will increase nearly 36 percent to $12.25 an hour. It will be the highest minimum wage in the Bay Area...
War on Workers
How Student Debt Stunts Financial Growth The Atlantic ...Analysis reveals that 34 percent of students with just $5,000 of outstanding debt—hardly “high”—default on their student loans. Student debt imperils far more than just individual borrowers’ monthly budgets. It erodes higher education’s ability to deliver on the promise that those who have similar abilities and work equally hard will achieve similar outcomes...
The Suddenly Hot Job Market for Workers Over 50 Time ...The latest data show the unemployment rate for those over age 55 stands at just 4.1%, compared with 5.7% for the total population and a steep 18.8% for teens...
Apple, Google workers head to court on $415 million poaching settlement Reuters ...Workers accusing Apple (AAPL.O), Google (GOOGL.O) and two other Silicon Valley companies of conspiring to hold down salaries will try on Monday to win approval of a $415 million settlement from a U.S. judge who rejected an earlier deal as too low...
Construction worker killed at Rochester hotel site Associated Press …Authorities say a construction worker died after a large metal attachment from a forklift fell on his head in Rochester...
Worker killed by falling telehandler attachment in Minnesota Equipment World …While working on a hotel jobsite in Minnesota, a worker was killed when an attachment from a telehandler suddenly fell on top of him...
Miscellaneous
China Monthly Box Office Tops U.S. for First Time Ever The Hollywood Reporter ...Chinese box-office revenue edged ahead of the United States in February for the first time ever as a record Lunar New Year bonanza brought in $650 million in the second-largest movie market, according to data from research firm Entgroup...
