Today's Teamster News 09.25.14

Teamster News
Reinhart Teamsters Overwhelmingly Ratify First Contract  teamster.org   ...More than 230 workers at Reinhart Food Service represented by Teamsters Local Union 653 ratified a first contract, voting by a 2 to 1 margin to approve the collective bargaining agreement...
First Transit Workers Stand Together For Teamster Representation  teamster.org   ...WorFirst Transit paratransit drivers, dispatchers and schedulers in Chicago recently voted resoundingly for Teamsters Local 727 representation...
British Union To Confront Bill de Blasio Over Plan To Ban City's Horse-Carriage Industry  New York Daily News   ...Members of the federation will raise the carriage ban with de Blasio at the conference, the union said. New York’s carriage drivers are represented by the Teamsters union...
Tom Mulcair Targets 'Freeloader' Corporations In Speech To Teamsters  CBC News   ...In a toughly-worded speech to be delivered today to a Teamsters rail safety conference, the NDP leader's rhetoric is reminiscent of the party's former leaders, particularly that of David Lewis who campaigned against "corporate welfare bums" in 1972...
Pilot Attrition Accelerates At Allegiant Air As Labor Issues Heat Up  teamster.org   ...“The Teamsters have presented the company with a comprehensive proposal, to which they have refused to reply....An honest effort by the company to reach an agreement during contract negotiations would have a positive effect, stem the unsustainable losses they are experiencing, and allow the company to succeed going forward.”...
Trade
Japan trade minister: No progress with U.S. in TPP trade talks  Reuters   ...Japan's Trade Minister Akira Amari said he and his U.S. counterpart made no progress in bilateral talks that are key to an ambitious multilateral trade deal...  
U.S. Government Takes Historic Action to Enforce Labor Rules in Trade Agreement with Guatemala  AFL-CIO Now   ...The United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it will finally move forward to arbitration in the long-running dispute with the government of Guatemala regarding whether or not Guatemala is meeting the labor commitments of the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA or CAFTA)...
TTIP Should Help, Not Hinder, Workers (opinion)  The Broker   ...Labour provisions expected to be included in the deal do not provide enough protections.  Additionally, language that would bar preferred status to national companies in government purchasing – known as the Buy American program in the US – would starve job creation...
State Battles
Yahoo, Yelp, Facebook, Google and Microsoft reconsider their relationship with free-market group ALEC  Washington Post   ...Five tech giants have dropped, or plan to or are expected to drop, their membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council, a free-market, state-focused group that has become a target of the left in recent years...
Court Returns Inquiry Into Walker’s Finances to Wisconsin  New York Times   ...A federal appeals court on Wednesday removed an injunction halting an investigation into whether the campaign of Gov. Scott Walker illegally coordinated with conservative groups on fund-raising and spending as he sought to overcome a recall effort two years ago...
Judge defies Supreme Court order as legal wrangling over other voter ID case continues  Wisconsin State Journal   ...A Dane County judge has defied a state Supreme Court order to dismiss a challenge to Wisconsin’s law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls, while the legal wrangling continued Tuesday over another case seeking to block the law...
Group Hopes To Force Scott Walker's Administration To Raise The Minimum Wage  Wisconsin State Journal   ...On Wednesday, Wisconsin Jobs Now plans to present petitions from about 75 workers who say they are paid wages that are not self-supporting. The group said that violates a state law dating back to 1913 requiring that the minimum wage in the state “shall not be less than a living wage.”...
Court: 35 days of early voting to start in Ohio  Toledo Blade   ...Ohio’s 35-day early voting window will remain intact for the Nov. 4 election, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted said he will ask the entire U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, not just a three-judge panel, to hear an appeal of the decision. Time is short, however. Early voting will begin Tuesday...
Fed Judge: No press exemption for Citizens United in Colorado  Colorado Independent   ...Judge Brooke Jackson issued a curt decision today refusing to issue a federal injunction that would have allowed Citizens United to air and advertise a documentary on Colorado politics ahead of the November elections without disclosing funding behind any advertising related to the movie.
... Jeffco students walk out of 5 high schools in school board protest  Denver Post   ...Community members are angry about an evaluation-based system for awarding raises to educators and a proposed curriculum committee that would call for promoting "positive aspects" of the United States and its heritage and avoiding material that would encourage or condone "civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law..."
Indiana Toll Road operator files Chapter 11  Bloomberg   ...The operator of the Indiana Toll Road, owned by affiliates of Macquarie Group Ltd. and Ferrovial SA, sought bankruptcy protection after dwindling traffic soured a $3.8 billion bet on a 75-year lease... Alaska's Lessons For The Keystone XL Pipeline (opinion)  Wall Street Journal   ...The lesson of the Trans-Alaska pipeline is that we can build pipelines in ways that protect the environment while yielding large economic benefits. The naysayers were wrong 40 years ago, and policy makers should give scant credence to their arguments against Keystone today...
War On Workers
Inside the Koch brothers' toxic empire  Rolling Stone   ...The company's troubled legal history – including a trail of congressional investigations, Department of Justice consent decrees, civil lawsuits and felony convictions – augmented by internal company documents, leaked State Department cables, Freedom of Information disclosures and company whistle­-blowers, combine to cast an unwelcome spotlight on the toxic empire whose profits finance the modern GOP...
Walmart moms demand better pay and protections for women workers  Peoples World   ...Thelma Moore, who worked at the Chatham, Ill. store and is pregnant with her second child., (said) "...we're fighting for bathroom breaks when we're pregnant and steady schedules that let us get reliable childcare and put food on the table." Moore was fired from the store for an absence when she was at doctors' appointments after television sets fell on her at the store...
Student homelessness hits another record high  CNN Money   ...Approximately 1.3 million students enrolled in U.S. public preschools, elementary schools, middle schools and high schools schools were homeless during the 2012-13 school year. That's up 8% from the prior year…
Worker Dies From Fire at EOG Resources Site in Wyoming  Wall Street Journal   ...A worker died after a flash fire at a storage tank near a natural gas well in Wyoming, company and hospital officials said. The contract worker, whose name hasn't been released, was one of three people hospitalized after a fire at a well site owned by EOG Resources Inc…
Second worker dies from U.S. Steel explosion; OSHA investigating  Pittsburgh Business Times   ...A second United States Steel Corp. employee has died from injuries in an explosion at the company's facility in Fairfield, Ala., a spokesperson for UAB Hospital confirmed Wednesday...
Manchester worker dead after Eagleville school accident  The Tennessean   ...A construction worker died after a backhoe flipped over on him Tuesday afternoon at Eagleville School...
The Recovery That Left Out Almost Everybody (opinion)  Wall Street Journal   ...Not only are hourly wages stagnating; America's families want more hours of work than the economy is providing...

Today's Teamster News 02.13.14

Teamsters
Washington Twp. cops might go union  Pittsburgh Tribune-Review   ...The Washington Township Police Department soon might become members of Teamsters Local 205, based in White Oak, Pennsylvania. The state's Labor Relations Board will schedule an election within the next month for township officers...
Union Negotiations Continue at Beverly's Armstrong Plant  12 WBOY News   ...Negotiations are still underway between Armstrong and the Teamsters to reach a new agreement at its plant in Randolph County, WV. The current contract expires Saturday...
Collective Bargaining: How to Negotiate Strong Teamster Contracts  teamster.org   ...The IBT Training and Development Department is conducting a Teamsters Leadership Academy (TLA) on collective bargaining, March 11-14. Get the details here...
Trade
Pelosi comes out against fast track bill  The Hill   ...Pelosi made clear on Wednesday night that she isn’t opposed to the concept of TPA, also known as fast-track authority, but she can’t support a bill introduced by Baucus, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Senate Finance Committee ranking member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)...
Hoffa: Voices Against Fast Track Are Growing Louder  teamster.org   ...Thousands of Teamsters have contacted Congress in recent weeks to let them know “fast track” trade authority is the wrong track for America. And the message is getting through...
Crowley Opposes Fast Track  New York Daily News   ...Rep. Joe Crowley’s far from shocking statement opposing the authority, which lets the president force trade bills, like a pending Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, to receive up or down votes in both congressional chambers...
State Battles
Tennessee Paper Pushes Koch-Connected Anti-Union Message Ahead Of UAW Vote  Media Matters   ...A misleading op-ed in Chattanooga's Times Free Press, co-written by a Koch and ALEC ally, falsely claimed creating a union in a local Volkswagen plant would negatively impact the state economy and plant relations, despite evidence to the contrary...
U.S. senator drops bombshell during VW plant union vote  Reuters   ...U.S. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said on Wednesday he has been "assured" that if workers at the Volkswagen AG plant in his hometown of Chattanooga reject United Auto Worker representation, the company will reward the plant with a new product to build. Corker's bombshell … runs counter to public statements by Volkswagen...
Tennessee Republicans Don't Believe in a Free Market  Center for Economic and Policy Research   ...these politicians believe they are better able to run a car company than the Volkswagen's managers. This is an interesting view coming from people who usually claim to be supporters of a free market and to believe that the government should not interfere in the running of a business...
Austerity in Maine has forced state troopers to go without heating and feed their families roadkill  Salon   ...Back in 2013, the lawmakers of the state of Maine decided to freeze state merit and longevity pay for its state troopers. According to a report in the Bangor Daily News, for at least some state troopers — and their families — the consequences have been dire...
Harsh words for CDOT at public meeting on 50-year U.S. 36 contract  Daily Camera   ...Colorado Department of Transportation officials took a verbal beating Wednesday night from a crowd of hundreds who blasted the agency for partnering with a private firm to maintain and operate U.S. 36 between Boulder and Denver for the next 50 years.
Assembly committee takes up bill tossing some "living wage" ordinances  WHBL   ...Wisconsin lawmakers were hearing testimony Wednesday on a bill to throw out local "living wage" ordinances...
Kentucky sinkhole opens up at Corvette museum, swallows vintage Corvettes dailykos   ...The museum issued a statement that said six of the damaged cars were owned by the museum and two — a 1993 ZR-1 Spyder and a 2009 ZR1 Blue Devil — were on loan from General Motors...
States, U.S. Forfeit Billions in Corporate Tax Revenue Annually  teamster.org   ...States could save more than $1 billion a year in tax revenue if they would make simple reforms that would crack down on shady corporate practices that funnel dollars away from their coffers. But only two states have put the brakes on such practices thus far...
How California’s Worsening Drought Could Make Your Grocery Bill Spike  ThinkProgress   ...If what the tree rings say is true, California hasn’t been this dry in more than 500 years. If what the leading climate scientists say is true, that dryness will only get worse in the coming years, which will adversely impact the agricultural industry...
This Is What It Looks Like When 100,000 Gallons Of Coal Waste Spill Into A West Virginia Stream  ThinkProgress   ...A pipe break at a Patriot Coal preparation site spewed more than 100,000 gallons of coal slurry into a waterway near Charleston, WV on Tuesday...
Pence wants state to replace some proposed local business tax cuts  Indianapolis Star   ...In the face of a growing outcry from mayors across the state, Gov. Mike Pence announced Tuesday that he supports replacing some of the revenue local governments would lose under proposals to cut Indiana's tax on business equipment...
The War on Workers
Lawsuit Calls Government’s Sweetheart Deal With JP Morgan ‘Unlawful’   ThinkProgress ...The Justice Department (DOJ) broke the law when it settled mortgage finance market fraud allegations against JP Morgan in a headline-grabbing legal settlement last year, according to a lawsuit filed Monday...
Former Enron Trader Funding PBS Series On Pensions  firedoglake   ... billionaire and Enron alum John Arnold has financed a new two-year news series entitled “Pension Peril.” A program that, not surprisingly, pushes an agenda that companies like Enron would love. The series, promoting cuts to public employee pensions, is airing on hundreds of PBS outlets all over the nation...
RealtyTrac: Monthly foreclosure filings reverse course, rise 8%  Housing Wire   ...Monthly foreclosure filings — including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — reversed course and increased 8% to 124,419 in January from December...
AT&T Mobility, CWA reach tentative agreement  Atlanta Journal-Constitution ...AT&T Mobility has reached a tentative agreement with the Communications Workers of America on a contract covering more than 11,500 employees in Georgia and other parts of the Southeast...
What the jobless do when the benefits end  Washington Post   ...Many facing the end of benefits will turn to Social Security. Others will cobble together what they can...
Bob Costas is right: Going to work sick is a terrible idea  Washington Post   ..."Presenteeism" is actually a vexing problem for employers that could, by some estimates cost them as much as $150 billion per year...

States spend more on corporate tax breaks than worker pensions

In 10 states,  the revenue lost to corporations through loopholes and tax breaks is bigger the current cost of pension benefits to state employees, according to a new report by Good Jobs First.

Philip Mattera, research director of  Good Jobs First, said politicians are balancing their budgets on the backs of public employees, though Wall Street caused their revenue shortfalls. And:

...our research shows that corporate interests are generally prioritized over teachers, firefighters, police officers, and thousands of other employees who dedicate their lives to public service. 

No shock there. What is shocking is the size of the corporate subsidies. In Pennsylvania, for example, corporate subsidies and loopholes cost $4 billion every year -- two-and-a-half times the cost of public pensions. 
Said Mattera: 

As a matter of honest accounting and fair budgeting, state leaders should examine all forms of spending before  they single out pensions or any other expense,” said Mattera. “Corporate tax breaks and loopholes are often poorly understood and little-noticed because they do not get debated as appropriations, nor do they often get sunsetted or audited. But over time they add up to hundreds of millions, or even billions, of dollars per year.

Good Jobs First studied 10 states where legislatures are trying to steal pensions underfunding pensions or elected officials are threatening to cut them. They are:

• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Florida
• Illinois
• Louisiana
• Michigan
• Missouri
• Oklahoma
• Pennsylvania. 

Read the whole thing here.

Today's Teamster News 04.22.13

Teamsters to Help Stop Protest of Campbell Funeral  Medford Patch   ...Teamsters Local 25 has encouraged off-duty members to go to Medford Monday morning to prevent the fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church from picketing the funeral of Krystle Campbell...
Texas Fertilizer Company Didn't Heed Disclosure Rules Before Blast  Reuters   ...The fertilizer plant that exploded on Wednesday, obliterating part of a small Texas town and killing at least 14 people and injuring 200, had last year been storing 1,350 times the amount of ammonium nitrate that would normally trigger safety oversight by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security...
Victims Leader Assassinated in Colombia  Justice for Colombia   ...Ana Isabel Gomez Perez, the leader of the Committee of Victims of Violence in Cordoba (COMFAVIC), was killed in a rural region of Cordoba by two men on motorcycles. Her daughter, who was with her at the time of her murder, escaped the April 15th attack unhurt...
Rail Traffic Continues To Trend Lower  Business Insider   ...Recent rail trends have weakened substantially from very strong levels earlier this year...
Americans Can't Stop Talking About Income Inequality, But No One Is Doing Anything About It   Business Insider   ...The US has the highest level of income gap of any of the advanced countries, with the top 1% capturing over 90% of the income growth, with the continual “hollowing out of the middle and increasing poverty at the bottom”…
Keeping Jobs in Colorado  Trade Reform   ...A measure to make sure more Colorado taxpayer dollars stay in Colorado, supporting Colorado businesses and putting Coloradans to work, passed its first legislative test today...
City Report Shows More Were Near Poverty in 2011  New York Times   ...The rise in New York City’s poverty rate as a result of the recession has apparently eased, but not before pushing nearly half of the city’s population into the ranks of the poor or near-poor in 2011, according to an analysis by the Bloomberg administration...
Update from the midwest subsidiary of Koch Industries, formerly known as the state of Wisconsin  Wisconsin State Journal   ...WI Republicans were supposed to turn over state computerized redistricting files to Democrats for review, but thousands of files were deleted before the handover. Democrats are suing... 
Florida sues BP, Halliburton over 2010 oil spill  CNN   ...The state of Florida on Saturday filed a lawsuit against BP and Halliburton over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The suit argues that Florida is entitled to the revenues it lost because of the spill...
Teamsters Participate in Rally to Stop Right-to-Work Legislation in Pennsylvania  Chambersburg Public Opinion Online   …Members of Teamsters Local 776 in Harrisburg were among the marchers who sang, chanted and displayed their handmade signs at a rally in Chambersburg Saturday to raise awareness for what right-to-work legislation would do (or not) for union and non-union people...

Today's Teamster News 03.13.13

Are the Koch Brothers Trying to Buy the Los Angeles Times?  LA Weekly   ...Multiple sources tell L.A. Weekly that Charles and David Koch -- the infamous right-wing billionaire brothers -- are considering an offer on either the Tribune Co. newspaper group, which includes the L.A. Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Baltimore Sun or the entire Tribune Co., which includes more than 20 stations like WGN and KTLA Channel 5...
How Deadbeat Banks Pushed Detroit To The Brink  The National Memo   ...Detroit has been ravaged by an unending foreclosure crisis. Predatory loans trapped borrowers into monthly mortgage rates they couldn’t pay, with lenders particularly targeting lower-income minority areas like Detroit...
NLRB To Seek Supreme Court Review in Noel Canning v. NLRB  NLRB   ...The Board, in consultation with the Department of Justice, intends to file a petition for certiorari with the United States Supreme Court for review of that decision....
If Corporations Don’t Pay Taxes, Why Should You?  Truthdig.com   ...60 of the largest U.S. corporations “parked a total of $166 billion offshore last year” shielding more than 40 percent of their profits from U.S. taxes. But they all still expect Uncle Sam to come to their aid with military firepower in case the natives abroad get restless and nationalize their company’s assets...
Job Openings Increase as U.S. Labor Market Improves   Bloomberg   ...The fewest workers on record were fired in January and job openings rebounded, showing employers are gaining confidence the U.S. expansion will be sustained even as lawmakers battle to trim the federal budget deficit...
TPP: What you need to know about this 'super-sized' trade deal  Rabble.ca   ...Like NAFTA, the TPP will handcuff our ability to set regulations in key areas like finance, industry, the environment, public procurement and fostering programs to create jobs at home. Free trade offers corporate subsidies for the rich and cut-throat competition for everyone else...
Lawmakers grill Cordray in duel over consumer watchdog  MoneyWatch   ...No legislators or financial experts question Cordray's credentials to lead the CFPB. But congressional Republicans have opposed the bureau even before it was created in 2010 under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, which seeks to protect people from deceptive financial practices...
Mo. House endorses union paycheck bill  Associated Press   ...After steadfast opposition from Democrats, the Missouri House and Senate each endorsed separate measures Tuesday that would change the way labor unions can collect and spend fees...
Appeals court refuses to grant stay in Act 10 case  WisPolitics Budget Blog   ...A state appeals court refused today to stay a Dane County judge's ruling that the governor's collective bargaining changes for some municipal employees are unconstitutional....
Florida senate president aims to hand out rare pay raises  Florida Today   ...The Senate president reiterated Friday that lawmakers will try to give state workers their first raise in six years, though he warned about the unpredictable nature of economic circumstances that could derail the plan...
Poll: Tom Corbett losing to 5 Democratic hopefuls  Politico   ...Only a third of voters approve of the Republican’s job performance. Fifty-eight percent disapprove...
Compass: Mayor's labor law guts a system that works for the city (opinion) Anchorage Daily News   ...these drastic rules would end forever a cost-effective system that for decades has worked fairly for taxpayers and employees. Sullivan's new law is a stab in the back to every citizen of Anchorage...
Soda Wars Backlash: Mississippi Passes 'Anti-Bloomberg' Bill  National Public Radio   ...A bill now on the governor's desk would bar counties and towns from enacting rules that require calorie counts to be posted, that cap portion sizes, or that keep toys out of kids' meals...
State pays millions as prison populations sink  Colorado Public News   ...Colorado’s governor and legislature quietly agreed last year to pay millions to a private prison company for cells the state would not need...
Twinkies sold by Hostess Brands in private equity deal  BBC News   ...In a joint bid, Metropoulos & Co and Apollo Global Management are paying $410m (£275m) for the bankrupt company...
Teamsters Call On TSA To Reverse Policy Allowing Knives On Planes  IBT  ...The Transportation Security Administration's recent decision allowing knives in the aircraft cabin is an outrageous move that will endanger the security of the flying public and the safety of thousands of flight attendants and pilots, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said today...
California Teamsters Urge Fair Treatment Of Immigrants  IBT  ...Teamsters Joint Council 7 spoke out at a recent hearing on the abuse of immigrant workers by California businesses. The hearing, called for by Assemblymember Roger Hernandez, Chair of the Assembly Labor & Employment Committee, included testimony from immigrant workers at Marquez Brothers and the warehouse, car wash and recycling industries...
Teamsters Local 705 on strike at sanitary district  NWITimes.com   ...District officials have said the two sides are stuck on issues related to wages and health insurance premium contributions, but Neil Messino, the Teamsters' contract administrator, said Monday the union has filed an unfair labor practices charge against Thorn Creek officials, saying they have refused to bargain in good faith with the union...