Teamsters
Teamsters, Bauer's Drivers Rally For Labor Harmony in San Francisco Teamster.org ...Teamsters and drivers for Bauer’s Intelligent Transportation held an action this morning in San Francisco to call on the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) to adopt a resolution ensuring labor harmony...
Tech-Shuttle Company Is Accused Of Thwarting Efforts To Unionize Its Drivers Mother Jones ..."The drivers need and deserve better wages, better benefits, and more respect," says Doug Bloch, the political director for the Northern California chapter of the Teamsters, which is holding a protest in San Francisco's Mission District today to call attention to Bauer's alleged union-busting tactics. "What Bauer's did is an insult to these workers."...
Global Labor & Trade
Japan Anxious At Lull, U.S. 'Giving Up', In Pan-Pacific Trade Talks Reuters ...Japan has expressed concern about a loss of momentum in talks on a pan-Pacific trade pact after participants failed to agree to meet again this month to try to clinch a deal that would cover 40 percent of the global economy...
China Devalues Yuan After Poor Economic Data Huffington Post ...China devalued its currency on Tuesday after a run of poor economic data, a move it billed as a free-market reform but which some suspect could be the beginning of a longer-term slide in the exchange rate...
After Marathon Talks, Greece And International Lenders Clinch Multi-Billion Euro Bailout Deal Huffington Post ...Greece and its international lenders reached a multi-billion euro bailout agreement on Tuesday after talking through the night, officials said, potentially saving the country from financial ruin...
Bounty On Its Head: Wikileaks Raising €100K Reward For Secret Text Of TTIP Common Dreams ...The full text of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (TTIP) now has a bounty on its head. Launched publicly on Tuesday, the media outlet Wikileaks announced its creation of a crowd-sourcing effort that aims to raise a €100,000 reward for the full text of the the TTIP, the corporate-friendly trade pact currently being negotiated in secret by the United States and member countries of the European Union...
Despite Majority Opposition, Japan About To Hit 'Go' On Nuclear Restart Common Dreams ...Despite widespread public opposition and lingering safety concerns, Japan on Tuesday will switch on a nuclear reactor for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster...
Hundreds Of Peace Corps Vets Demand US Stop Funding Ethnic Cleansing Common Dreams ...Over 500 former Peace Corps volunteers are calling on the U.S. government to withhold military aid and stop funding the Dominican Republic's ethnic cleansing of people of Haitian descent, adding theirs to the cacophony of voices—from Pope Francis to United Nations experts to thousands marching in Port-au-Prince—speaking out against the mass-scale human rights violations...
State & Living Wage Battles
Daily Oil Trains Could Threaten Lives In The Bay Area San Francisco Chronicle ...If oil giant Phillips 66 has its way, an oil train disaster and increased air pollution may be coming to a Bay Area town near you. Phillips 66 is proposing an oil transport station to refine Canadian tars sands in San Luis Obispo. If the project is approved by the San Luis Obispo planning commission and board of supervisors, Phillips 66 will have a contract for 500 oil train trips a year that could go right down the spine of the Bay Area...
Wis. Residents Upset About Sand, Oil Train Delays Winona Daily News ...Neighbors living near railroad tracks in Wisconsin are becoming increasingly concerned about long train blockages since an increase in sand and oil shipments have caused them to grow into a frequent and dangerous disruption...
Florida Lawmakers Pushing For Higher Minimum Wage WFSU ...As workers across the country push for higher minimum wage, two Florida lawmakers are joining the fight. They’ve filed a bill that would raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour. But earning a living wage is about more than a person’s hourly pay...
Study Reveals The True Scope Of Voter Disenfranchisement In Texas Think Progress ...A Texas law, which closely resembles similar laws erecting obstacles to the franchise in other states, does far more to keep voters from casting a ballot than previously thought, according to a study conducted by researchers at Rice University and the University of Houston...
Silicon Valley’s Skyrocketing Housing Costs Shut Teachers Out Alternet ...Skyrocketing housing prices in Silicon Valley, the red-hot center of tech entrepreneurship and one of the most highly educated enclaves in the world, are making it hard for teachers to call the area home...
Election Rights Advocates Allege New Voter ID Violations In Ohio WLWT ...The advocates say the laws allow absentee ballots to be rejected for mistakes such as the wrong birth month even though the voter supplied the correction information when requesting the ballot...
U.S. Labor
Unpredictable Work Hours, Chaotic Life New York Times ...The tyranny of erratic work schedules is obvious to employees who don’t know what their schedules will be tomorrow or have to call in to see if there is work. And the effects have been well documented in articles and oral histories. Increasingly, the anecdotal evidence is being confirmed by research...
Social Justice & Other News
Huffington Post, Washington Post Reporters Charged For Doing Journalism In Ferguson Huffington Post ...Reporters from The Huffington Post and Washington Post have been charged with trespassing and interfering with a police officer’s performance, a chilling setback for press freedom coming nearly a year after their arrests in Ferguson, Missouri...
Jerry Brown Nixes 'Alien' From California Labor Law Huffington Post ...California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed legislation Monday removing the word "alien" in reference to undocumented immigrants from the state's labor code. The measure, which will take effect Jan. 1, seeks to modernize the language used in California state law. Brown signed the legislation, SB 432, along with two other bills updating immigration policy on Monday...
Twitter Activists Slam St. Louis County Officials For Ferguson Response With #WhichEmergency Hashtag Salon.com ...Shortly after St. Louis County officials declared a state of emergency last night in response to protesters marking the anniversary of the death of Michael Brown, activists on Twitter did something odd, agreeing with county officials and tweeting that there is, in fact, a state of emergency in St. Louis County — just not the one the officials had declared...
Here's How Much Water Golf Courses, Ski Resorts, And Pools Are Using In California Mother Jones ...Of the thirsty nonagricultural businesses, golf takes the lead: The average Palm Springs golf course uses the same amount of water in one day that a family of four does in five years. The 123 golf courses in the Palm Springs area use nearly a quarter of the region's groundwater...
Water Rationing In Puerto Rico Hits The Poor, Leaves Resorts Untouched Think Progress ...As the commonwealth’s reservoirs drop to their lowest levels in decades, the government has declared a state of emergency, and implemented strict rationing. Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans now have had tap water only every third day, and that tightened this past weekend, giving families water only two days a week...
Heavily-Armed Oath Keepers Showed Up To Ferguson Last Night Mother Jones ...As demonstrators gathered in Ferguson to continue commemorating the one year anniversary of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown on Monday, five heavily-armed men belonging to a vigilante group called the Oath Keepers were spotted patrolling the streets. According to reports, the Oath Keepers said they were on the scene to provide voluntary protection to a journalist working for the site InfoWars, the conspiracy mill run by noted lunatic Alex Jones...
Racialized Poverty In America Has Nearly Doubled In 21st Century Common Dreams ...Discriminatory housing, zoning, and other policy choices are driving the dramatic rise of racialized poverty and segregation across the United States, with the number of people residing in low-income "ghettos, barrios, and slums" nearly doubling in the 21st century alone, a new report finds...
