Today's Teamster News 05.25.13

It’s Called Deceptive Price-Gouging  Working Life   ...AT&T Inc. has added a new monthly administrative fee of 61 cents to the bills of all of its contract wireless lines as of May 1, a move that could bring in more than a half-billion dollars in annual revenue to the telecom giant...
EU oil pricing probe spurs lawsuit against BP, others  Reuters   ...A Chicago-based commodities trading firm has filed suit against three of the world's largest oil companies, accusing them of colluding to fix oil prices after European authorities opened an investigation last week...
Wall Street Seeks Dodd-Frank Changes Through Trade Talks  Bloomberg   ....U.S. bankers and insurers are trying to use trade deals, which can trump existing legislation, to weaken parts of the Dodd-Frank Act designed to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis...
It's a "Trade" Pact not "Free-Trade" Pact  CEPR   ...the pact has to do with a range of regulatory issues, in many cases seeking to impose rules that might not pass muster if they had to go through the conventional political process...
Budget Cuts Get Personal; Those Who Are Hurt, Holler  ABC News   ... Nearly four in 10 Americans now say sequestration has hurt them personally, up substantially since it began in March – and they’re far less sanguine than others about the economy’s prospects overall...
I-5 bridge collapses over Skagit River; possibly triggered by truck  Seattle Times   ...A law-enforcement source said investigators believe a truck with an over-sized load heading south struck the bridge, which started bouncing, then fell...
Bangladesh factory collapse probe uncovers abuses  BBC News   ...It also recommended life sentences for the building's owner and the owners of five garment factories operating there...
Sweden riots spread beyond Stockholm despite extra police  BBC News   ...In the affected areas themselves, some people say the riots are a response to discrimination and relatively high unemployment. Sweden, once a by-word for equality, has seen a widening gap between rich and poor...
Chief Edward Flynn blasts Scott Walker, Legislature  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ..."I don't know of a governor anywhere in the country who succeeded in turning his state's economy around by actively facilitating the decline of his biggest city," Flynn said...
Ohio unions remain vigilant against anti-worker blitz  People's World   ...Labor and the huge We Are Ohio coalition have been holding a series of mass meetings across the state, organizing against introduction of three right to work (for less) bills by right-wing GOP Ohio legislators this session...
Maryland Bucks Trend, Expands Prevailing Wage Law  AFL-CIO Washington DC Metro Council   ...While other states are passing anti-union laws, Maryland passed the largest expansion of the prevailing wage law in the state’s history...
Florida Governor Signs Election Reform Bill Reversing His Own Voter Suppression Laws  ThinkProgress   ...Though Scott initially insisted he “did the right thing” by implementing these laws, vehement backlash and plummeting approval ratings prompted the governor to embrace election reforms:..
Kansas lawmaker opposes ‘encouraging the behavior of purchasing food’ with lower food taxes  Raw Story   ...A Republican state lawmaker in Kansas says that he opposes cutting the taxes on groceries because it would be a form of “social engineering” that encourages people to buy food over other items...

How ALEC and AT&T are trying to screw you

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is teaming up with the country's largest telecommunications company to try to raise prices and limit phone and internet service for consumers and businesses. And the regulatory agency that oversees U.S. communications policy is listening and taking preliminary steps to implement the plan.

ALEC, which is mostly an escort service for corporations and state lawmakers, is going national on this matter. Its member company AT&T filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last year calling for a nationwide upgrade of communications networks. That would involve replacing more of the existing copper infrastructure with fiber-optic cable over several years. AT&T wants such changes be tested in different pilot programs across the U.S. Earlier in the month, a FCC task force charged with looking into the issue agreed, proposing the agency conduct select trials.

No one is doubting that fiber networks are better. They provider faster broadband service, clearer voice service and video programming. But there is small print with big repercussions for the public on this issue. Under existing law, AT&T, Verizon and other phone companies formerly part of the nation's Bell system need to allow competitors access to the copper network so they too can provide service. That obligation would go away with a fiber network.

As Bruce Kushnick, executive director of the New Networks Institute, details in his recent Huffington Post column:

AT&T and the telcos keep talking about free markets and competition, when, in fact, one of the goals of this transition is to close down the rights of all competitors currently using the networks. In fact, AT&T's plan has been to get the government to protect their business by writing laws to block competitors.

In August, 2012, AT&T wrote that the FCC should eliminate any requirements or obligations on AT&T and the local phone companies and remove the rights of competitors to rent the networks at wholesale rates.

Other consumer protections would disappear. Requirements that AT&T and other landline phone companies serve all customers in their territories would be removed. So would many customer service regulations. And state regulatory commissions that have had oversight of these telephone companies for decades would lose much of their role. The result? Higher prices and less consumer protections.

The petition also discounts all the gains that have been made to improve copper networks. Many competitive telecom companies have been able to ramp up Internet speeds over the existing infrastructure through technological innovations. Copper networks are also more reliable during bad weather and natural disasters because they can provide phone service even if a home or business loses power.

There is still time for concerned citizens to contact the FCC and tell them not to allow ALEC and telecom big-wigs to dictate policy that will hurt the public. Let the agency know that consumers count!

Today's Teamster News 04.26.11

Gov. Walker Counting 125 Jobs Created by Doyle Administration  WTAQ.com   ...Walker ...(is) reportedly counting 125 jobs his predecessor announced last December...
Numerous polls suggest the repeal of SB5 would get significant support  The Daily-Record   ...A recent poll by Public Policy Polling found 54 percent of voters would repeal the law while only 31 percent would vote to keep the legislation...
Time for an uprising in Benton Harbor (opinion)  Chicago Sun-Times   ...Benton Harbor’s residents now live in a dictatorship imposed by a Republican governor famous for his belief that the poor should be punished and the rich rewarded...
Gov. Rick Scott pushes corporate tax cut plan but Senate committee balks  Tampa Bay Times Herald   ..."Is this just kind of an odd time to start this ... during the worst of times instead of the best of times?"...
Boeing flies into South Carolina labor turbulence  Salon   ...last week's decision that Boeing had violated the National Labor Relations Act by moving airline production from a union plant in Washington to a nonunion plant in South Carolina seems, on the face of it, like a pretty big deal...
Teamsters Support Planned Merger of AT&T and T-Mobile  IBT   ...The Teamsters Union supports the joining of these two mobile communications providers as a positive sign that T-Mobile workers will soon enjoy the same protections and bargaining power as the 42,000 unionized workers at AT&T...
Public Workers Have Until May 17 to Make Concessions to Avert Layoffs  Paramus Patch   ...Patrick Guaschino, vice president of Teamsters Local 97, which represents eight of the affected workers, was confident that he could find a solution to save $140,000...