NLRB sides with Fla. bus driver in dispute with Durham

In the latest positive development for school bus workers in Santa Rosa County, Fla., a National Labor Relations (NLRB) administrative law judge has ruled in favor of Durham school bus driver Diane Bence, one of the leading voices for the 200-person unit who recently took her case to the board after years of anti-worker behavior and lack of union recognition from the company.

Diane Bence

After visiting the United Kingdom with Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa more than a year ago to protest Durham’s parent company National Express, Bence became a victim of constant harassment and intimidation from the company. That included its CEO, who during Bence’s visit made disparaging comments to her that the NLRB administrative law judge found to be in violation of the National Labor Relations Act.

According to the Florida school bus driver, the icing on the cake came in literal form, as Durham management tried to stop her and her co-workers from partaking in cake during the unit’s two-year election anniversary this spring:

The real tipping point came when we held an event to recognize the two years since voting to form our union with Local 991. We had a cake with Teamsters written in icing and management made us scrape off the icing. It was humiliating and illegal, so we filed another ULP.

The decision marks the 22nd ruling in favor of the Florida workers in the two-and-a-half years since the unit overwhelmingly voting to join the Teamsters Union in 2013, but Local 991 President Jim Gookins is still waiting for the company to meet at the bargaining table to negotiate the workers a contract:

The company has fought us every step of the way, appealing to the NLRB after every ruling. But we continue to be on the winning side of this fight. This victory is due to hard work and the perseverance of Diane and her co-workers. I applaud them for their commitment and determination.

Since voting overwhelmingly to become Teamsters, Bence has been on the front lines of the fight for union representation, leading her unit to stand strong and united in the face of aggressive anti-union tactics from management. She and her co-workers remain committed to put an end to the anti-worker assaults and win union recognition:

After more than two years waiting for a contract, it’s time for the company to quit playing games. This is just further incentive to stick together and see this thing through. I have total faith in this unit. My co-workers and I will remain vigilant and continue to urge management to meet with the Teamsters to begin the collective bargaining process.

Today's Teamster News 06.25.15

Teamsters
EVSC, Teamsters to resume negotiations Monday  Courier & Press  ...After three weeks of standstill in discussions, the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. and Teamsters Local 215 negotiating teams have agreed to meet next week for collective bargaining sessions. Local 215 President Chuck Whobrey said meetings are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday...
Teamsters Join Battle Against HOS Changes, Truck Size Provisions  Trucking News  ...The Teamsters Union this week stood with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), representatives for highway safety advocates and law enforcement and families of highway accident victims to denounce a series of provisions it claims would threaten the safety of the driving public. This week, the Senate will follow the House and mark up the FY 2016 transportation appropriations bill...
Teamsters at Fleischmann's Plant Make Vinegar for the World  Local 727  ...Vinegar is Bob Maza’s unofficial family business. Maza followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps as an operator at Fleischmann’s Vinegar Co., beginning at age 17. “My dad got me the job. I started there right out of high school in 1972, and I’ve been there ever since,” said Maza, a Teamsters Local 727 steward...
The war against bad trade deals continues  TeamsterNation  ...The battle now turns to the TPP. Americans have not yet seen the text of this lengthy and complex agreement and even elected officials have limited access to the document. Teamsters and other advocates plan on keeping up the pressure to build real and enforceable labor and environmental standards...

Global Labor & Trade
Congress renews 'fast track' trade authority  USA Today  ...The Republican-controlled Congress delivered a significant second-term victory for President Obama, sending to his desk a six-year renewal of trade promotion authority intended to advance one of the largest trade pacts in history later this year. Trade promotion authority, more commonly referred to as "fast track" or TPA, reestablishes an expedited legislative process for presidents to submit trade deals to Congress that can only be approved or rejected, not amended...
Senate approves fast-track, sending trade bill to White House  The Hill  ...The Senate voted Wednesday to approve fast-track authority, securing a big second-term legislative win for President Obama after a months-long struggle. The 60-38 Senate vote capped weeks of fighting over the trade bill, which pitted Obama against most of his party — including Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)...
Fast-Track’s Passage Sets Up Round Two on Obama’s Trade Agenda  Wall Street Journal  ...The White House and Republican leaders notched a significant victory Wednesday with the Senate’s passage of divisive trade legislation, but the win kicks off a grueling, monthslong process to complete a Pacific trade pact that still faces domestic opposition and must win final congressional approval. President  Barack Obama is expected to sign the fast-track legislation within days, clearing a negotiating roadblock that prevented officials from moving ahead on the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership...
Here’s how much corporations paid the Senate to fast-track passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership  Raw Story  ...The US Senate passed Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) — the fast-tracking bill — by a 65-33 margin on 14 May. Last Thursday, the Senate voted 62-38 to bring the debate on TPA to a close. Those impressive majorities follow months of behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing by the world’s most well-heeled multinational corporations with just a handful of holdouts.
Even in Chicago, Democrats Sprint Away From Obama on Trade  National Journal  ...Even in Obama's home base, trade has driven a deep rift between the president and his fellow Democrats. At the same time, the labor movement has ramped up pressure on lawmakers to vote against fast-track, which they say will cost American jobs and slash wages. And Chicago-area Democrats locked in primaries that could be decided by a spare few thousand votes can ill afford to get on the wrong side of labor on a litmus-test issue...
Pay deal averts rail strike threat  BBC  ...The threat of a UK national rail strike has been averted after Network Rail agreed a two-year pay deal with unions. Members of the RMT, TSSA and Unite unions have voted to accept the offer. The deal includes a 2% pay rise this year and a pay increase in line with RPI inflation next year...
Greece 'Shoved Over Red Line' as IMF Pushes Even Harsher Cuts  Common Dreams  ...More austerity, more cuts, or no deal. That's the message the International Monetary Fund threw back at the Greek government after negotiators on Wednesday rejected the latest reform proposals submitted by the Syriza government. According to reporting on the ground, there were a "flurry of proposals, counter-proposals, leaks and verbal attacks" in Brussels as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras continued to try to hash out an acceptable bail-out...
China Workers Contracted by Uniqlo Strike Over Plant Closure  ABC News ...More than 300 Chinese workers at a garment factory that supplies international brands such as Uniqlo have been protesting for about two weeks what they say is a unilateral decision by the management to close down. The strike is one of more than 1,000 collective actions since January by Chinese workers, who are increasingly turning to group actions in fighting for their rights...

State & Living Wage Battles
Dispute over union fees could return to Supreme Court  Sacramento Bee  ...Powerful public-sector unions are facing another high-profile legal challenge that they say could wipe away millions from their bank accounts and make it tougher for them to survive. A group of California schoolteachers, backed by a conservative group, has asked the Supreme Court to rule that unions representing government workers can't collect fees from those who choose not to join...
Scott Walker Reveals Extreme Views On Equal Pay  Think Progress  ...He likened the push for equal pay laws to seeking to make more people reliant on government. “For [Obama and Clinton], your measure of success in government is how many people are dependent on the government.”
But what Walker implies he’d rather do to address the wage gap — give women more education and qualifications — won’t do the trick...
Debate ramping up ahead of vote on right-to-work veto  Joplin Globe  ...While it never received support from a number of House and Senate Republicans from districts near the state’s urban cores, right-to-work received unanimous support from the Republicans who represent Southwest Missouri. The bill was passed out of a committee chaired by Lant, R-Pineville, who said in a recent interview that he is pushing the effort to override Nixon’s veto...
NAACP head says state ‘blinked’ on voter ID  Winston-Salem Journal  ...A noisy protest staged last week by the state NAACP at the N.C. Legislative Building in Raleigh forced legislators to pass the law that modifies the voter ID law, the Rev. William Barber, the president of the N.C. chapter of the NAACP, said Wednesday. “They blinked,” Barber said. “They had to go back and fix what was clearly voter suppression”...
De Blasio refused offer linking minimum wage to pension deal  Capital New York  ...Mayor Bill de Blasio was offered a deal to raise the minimum wage for New York City in exchange for supporting a police pension proposal, but he rejected the offer, multiple sources told Capital. The deal, offered by the Republican-controlled State Senate, would have established an $11.50-an-hour minimum wage for New York City, the sources familiar with the talks said...
Lawmakers Unanimously Approve Country’s Most Robust Paid Sick Leave Law  Think Progress  ...The Montgomery County, Maryland council voted unanimously to pass a paid sick leave bill on Tuesday, making the town the 23rd place in the country to enact such a requirement. The law is one of the most robust to be passed at the city or state level so far. “The Montgomery County paid sick days laws is one of the strongest yet, and it should serve as a model for the state of Maryland and the nation,” said Charly Carter, director of Maryland Working Families...

U.S. Labor
Someone Has to Sort Your Recycling, and It’s a Disgusting and Dangerous Job  The Nation  ...The industries that pride themselves on being friends of the earth are often hostile to workers, according to new research on the safety conditions in recycling plants. Published by the Massachusetts Council for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH), National COSH, and other advocacy groups, the analysis of the industry shows that, despite the green sector’s clean, progressive image, workers remain imperiled by old-school industrial hazards...
Marathon refinery workers in Texas to end strike July 6  The Courier  ...Unionized workers at Marathon Petroleum Corp.’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas will go back to work July 6 following nearly five months of striking. They ratified a contract with the company on Tuesday. About 1,200 workers at the refinery in Texas City, Texas, walked off the job Feb. 1...
Verizon and its unions off to tough start to contract talks  Times Union  ...Verizon and the unions that represent 38,000 of its workers in the Northeast, including about 1,000 in the Capital Region, have gotten off to an acrimonious start to their contract negotiations. After Verizon publicized it had offered employees wage increases, which included a $1,000 cash payment in the final year of a proposed three-year agreement, union officials accused the company of trying to surgarcoat what was really a bad deal...
AT&T, CWA begin negotiations for 27,000 Southeast employees  Fierce Telecom  ...AT&T  has begun contract negotiations with 27,000 employees in its Southeast territory represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The Southeast region, which was formerly BellSouth, has wireline employees in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Both parties met yesterday with both presenting their own position statements on the negotiation process...
School bus company underpaid workers in NY state more than $290K, Cuomo says; Poughkeepsie employees affected  Daily Freeman  ...More than $290,000 in wages have been returned to 462 workers at Durham School Services locations across New York as the result if an investigation by the state Department of Labor’s Division of Worker Protection, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday. The labor department launched an investigation after Service Employees International Union Local 200 raised concerns about possible pay violations at the Durham location in Syracuse...

Miscellaneous
Federal Judge Halts Sysco-US Foods Merger  Wall Street Journal  ...A federal judge on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction blocking Sysco Corp.’s planned acquisition of US Foods Inc., a ruling that could kill a deal to combine the nation’s two largest food distributors. The decision handed a high-profile victory to the Federal Trade Commission, which filed a lawsuit in February chanllenging the transaction on anti-trust grounds...
Obamacare upheld by US supreme court as conservative justices rescue law  The Guardian  ...Chief justice John Roberts has come to the rescue of Barack Obama’s healthcare reforms for a second time as the US supreme court struck down a Republican-led challenge to Obamacare that could have gutted the legislation and stripped millions of Americans of their health insurance. The decision in the high stakes case of King v Burwell all but guarantees that Obamacare will survive...
U.S. to Reduce Long Stays for Families at Immigration Centers  New York Times  ...In a sharp change of policy, Homeland Security officials announced plans Wednesday to end the long-term detention of mothers with children caught crossing the border illegally by allowing most of them to be released quickly on bond. The changes by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson expanded policies he ordered last month that were designed to shorten family detention but that had only limited effect...
Deadly American Extremism: More White Than Muslim  The Atlantic  ...It’s an accident of fate that Dzokhar Tsarnaev’s formal sentencing for the Boston Marathon bombing is happening just now, as the U.S. continues to reel from the Charleston massacre. Jihadists have killed 26 people, versus 48 by what New America calls “right-wing extremists.” In that way, Dylann Roof is far more representative of political violence in 21st century America than Dzokhar Tsarnaev could ever be...

London Calling: Teamsters lead UK symposium on National Express

Teamsters, former NLRB Chair support monitoring program at National Express.

Teamsters are in London this week calling on National Express Group, the U.K.-based parent company of Durham School Services, to honor the rights of their North American workers by voting on Resolution 22, a proposal that seeks to address serious labor relations concerns through the implementation of an independent monitoring program. 

At a symposium Tuesday night in London, a panel of academics, community and faith leaders discussed the benefits of having an independent review at National Express Group. On the panel was Stanford University Professor William Gould, former chair of the U.S. National Labor Relations Board under President Bill Clinton, who discussed his role monitoring the U.K.-based transportation company FirstGroup. From 2008-2011, Gould brought transparency to the U.S. school bus transport market, which resulted in a public recommendation to the company on issues of freedom of association. He told audience members of the benefits gained by having oversight:

What we did at FirstGroup was let employees know what their rights were and set up a procedure and system so they could avail themselves of these rights.

Also in attendance at last night's symposium was Dot Scott, president of the Charleston, S.C., chapter of the NAACP. Scott detailed her years of experience standing up for Durham school bus workers and Teamster members to work to improve conditions at Durham, concluding: 

What I’d like to see is the company value and respect its employees. There needs to be an independent party to address the issues at this company, and that is what Resolution 22 will accomplish.

The symposium comes just one week after 32 members of the U.S. Congress sent a letter urging the National Express Board of Directors to institute an independent review of Durham. 

Support in the U.K. has been overwhelming too, with more than 30 Members of Parliament recently putting forth an Early Day Motion, condemning the anti-trade union activities of National Express.

Today's Teamster News 10.10.13

Ballots Sent to Some ABF Teamsters for Strike Vote  truckinginfo   ...Less-than-truckload carrier ABF has been notified by the Teamsters Union that ballots to authorize a strike are being mailed on Tuesday to nearly 1,800 employees covered by the Central Region Local Cartage supplement...
Teamsters again declare bargaining impasse with Pasco  Tampa Tribune   ...Three years after Pasco County workers voted to form a union, they still don’t have a contract. The Teamsters Local 79 declared impasse for the second time last Friday, which means both sides will again plead their case to a special magistrate...
All in the Family  teamster.org   ...Shelley Goodman has witnessed a lot of hardship in her 21 years as a Durham School Services school bus driver and Teamster organizer...
Hoffa: Government Shutdown A Financial Crisis for Workers  Detroit News   ...The Republican shutdown of the federal government is being felt not only in Washington, but here in Michigan as well. Workers, military members and even children are the unfortunate victims of the political budget games...
Labor takes time to celebrate Local's 100 years  Anderson Valley Post   ...On October 5, organized labor took some time off to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Teamsters Local 137 at the Shasta District Fairgrounds in Anderson...
Hoffa: Unions Need Global Solidarity  Huffington Post   ...In a few short decades, our country and our world have changed dramatically. In the last 30 years, America has gone from the world's biggest creditor nation to the one holding the world's largest debt...
Newsday driver jobs may be cut  New York Post   ...Cablevision is hoping to shave $10 million in costs from its money-draining Newsday operating by booting about 35 drivers, who are members of Graphic Communications Conference Local 406...
The Kochs Can't Control the Monster They Created  The Atlantic   ...The billionaire conservatives join the ranks of business interests trying to rein in the GOP's base, but it has turned into an unstoppable force...
Gallup: GOP approval at all-time low  Salon   ...A new poll finds the GOP with the lowest party approval rating in Gallup history...
Starting tomorrow, we’re down 90 percent of our nuclear safety regulators  Salon   ... efforts to make the reactors safer, such as changes meant to prevent something similar to what’s going on at Fukushima from happening here, will be put on hold...
There's an International Plan to Censor the Internet in the Works -- Let's Stop It in Its Tracks  Alternet   ...The lack of general awareness about the TPP is exactly what unelected trade officials and lobbyists hope for; the more covert the negotiations, the easier it is to usher in extreme new Internet censorship rules...
How Private Tech Companies Are Collecting Data on You and Selling Them to the Feds for Huge Profits  Alternet   ... Inside your mobile phone and hidden behind your web browser are little known software products marketed by contractors to the government that can follow you around anywhere...
New EPI Economic Indicator: Monthly Updates of the Number of “Missing Workers” and What the Unemployment Rate Would Be If They Were Looking for Work  Economic Policy Institute   ...if the nearly 5 million missing workers were looking for work and thus counted as unemployed, the unemployment rate in August would have been 10.1 percent instead of 7.3 percent...
McDonald's Employee Confronts Executive: I Can't Afford Shoes For My Children  The Real News   ...Salgado confronted the president of McDonald’s, Jeff Stratton, about her wages during his speech at the Union League Club of Chicago….She and six other protesters were given tickets for trespassing...
Thousands Join Teachers' Protest in Rio de Janeiro  Portside   ...March draws biggest turnout since wave of protests during Confederations Cup in June, and anarchist groups clash with police...
Michigan Education Association Retains 99% Of Members  WKAR Public Media   ...As we hear from The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta, the president of the Michigan Education Association says 99 percent of its members have opted to stick with the union...
School buses roll again in Boston; disgruntled drivers meet with bus company officials  Boston Globe   ...Hundreds of Boston school buses ferried students to schools yesterday morning with only a few delays, a day after a surprise strike by the drivers sent thousands of parents scrambling for alternatives...
When Giant Banks Pay Fines, Where Does the Money Go? Does It Stop Crime?  AlterNet   ...If somebody broke into your home and stole your belongings, you’d expect to see some serious consequences if they got caught. But when banks rob Americans—and even cast them out of their own homes illegally—the worst that usually happens is a fine...
Under Scott Walker, Wisconsin keeps increasing its long-term borrowing  The Cap Times   ...Gov. Scott Walker has honed his reputation as a fiscal conservative, taking credit for closing a $3.6 billion spending gap left from the Jim Doyle administration...
GOP bets on economy haven't paid off (opinion)  NWI Times   ...The way Gov. Mitch Daniels and fellow Republicans talked in early 2012, I was ready to set up a toll gate at the state line when the anti-union right-to-work bill was approved...
Bill Schuette to Michigan Supreme Court: Don't waste your time on right-to-work appeal  Detroit Free Press   ...The Michigan Supreme Court shouldn't waste its time taking up an appeal over one of the state's controversial right-to-work laws, Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette wrote in a court filing this week...

Organizing is in the blood of this Teamster family

As a Teamster organizer and a Durham School Services school bus driver, Shelley Goodman witnessed a lot of hardship in 21 years. She worked to alleviate it -- and to pass that torch to a new generation.

Goodman saw what happened to school bus drivers without a union. One school bus monitor sold her blood to make ends meet in Jacksonville, Fla. Goodman met her on an organizing drive.

A worker who had terminal cancer came to cast his vote in the Teamster election in Minnesota, so committed was he to a better future for his coworkers.

“I’ve witnessed all these battles,” Goodman told the audience of 1,000 Teamsters at the recent 2013 Teamsters Women’s Conference. “But there are two women who I would like to recognize today. They encouraged me to be an activist. They are my two daughters.”

The two sisters have the same fire as their mother to empower workers to better their working conditions and their lives.

Goodman said she is extremely proud of her daughters as she called on the audience of Teamsters to continue their fight and pass it on to the next generation.

Courtney Goodman Bell is a business agent with Local 777 in Chicago. Kacie Goodman Romero is a special education teacher in Louisiana and a chief shop steward working to organize and mobilize her coworkers.

Romero is learning from her mother and sister about empowering workers to stand up for their rights.

“I’m glad to be at the Teamsters Women’s Conference," Romero said. "Having moved from Illinois to Louisiana, a right-to-work state, I have a lot to learn about organizing and unions. I want to empower myself to help others.

Romero is one of five union members among a work force of 80. The teachers and staff have a growing interest in organizing, but also a fear of retribution from their employer.

Romero remembers workers coming to their house to talk to their mom, the fighter, she told the Teamster women at the conference. “Mom would go to her shop steward meetings and bring us along when we were little,” Romero said.

Bell said being in a union is ingrained in their family.

Our father was a union ironworker. When I was eight years old, Mom organized at her bus terminal. For us, it was common conversation at the dinner table.

Bell is the youngest daughter, but advises her sister on how to organize in her workplace.

“I’m a business agent and I represent school bus drivers, and I can explain to them, I rode a bus, too, with my Mom. I know the gratification and challenges of being a bus driver,” Bell said.

Today's Teamster News 06.13.13

Inequality In U.S. Is Scarily High, Rising (INFOGRAPHIC)  Huffington Post   ...Half of the U.S. population is now considered poor or low-income...
The Trade Deal Scam  Truthout   ...There are two key facts people should know about these proposed trade deals. First, they are mostly not about trade. Second they are not intended to boost the economy in a way that will help most of us...
How Costco saves taxpayers money  CNNMoney   ...The discount retail chain has remained steadfast on giving decent pay and benefits for its rank and file, saving the company--and U.S. taxpayers--plenty of money in the process...
How Spy Agency Contractors Have Already Abused Their Power  The Nation   ...Two years ago, a batch of stolen e-mails revealed a plot by a set of three defense contractors (Palantir Technologies, Berico Technologies and HBGary Federal) to target activists, reporters, labor unions and political organizations...
Behind Cry for Help From China Labor Camp  New York Times   ...In interviews with more than a dozen people who were imprisoned at Masanjia and other camps around the country, they described a catalog of horrific abuse, including frequent beatings, days of sleep deprivation and prisoners chained up in painful positions for weeks on end...
Darrell Issa joins Democrats’ push on foreclosure review  Politico   ... Democrats and consumer advocates pushing federal banking regulators to release more details about an abandoned review of past foreclosure abuses have a new ally: Darrell Issa...
Greek state TV, radio broadcasts going off the air  Associated Press   ...Greek state TV and radio have begun going off the air, hours after the government said it would temporarily close all state-run broadcasts, with the loss of about 2,500 job, due to austerity cuts...
North Carolina Is the New Wisconsin  The Nation   ...Republicans have imported a slew of ALEC-inspired policies in an attempt to turn the New South back into the Old Confederacy...
City Council grapples with looming budget shortfall, union concerns  Fort Wayne News-Sentinel   ...Fort Wayne City Council on Tuesday decided to hold for another week an ordinance that, if passed as currently written, would strip the ability of unions to collectively bargain aspects of health insurance coverage with the city...
Montana attorney general forms coalition to oppose Internet sales tax bill in Congress  Great Falls Tribune   ...Montana Attorney General Tim Fox on Wednesday announced the formation of a multi-state coalition opposed to a proposed federal Internet sales tax bill that would force businesses to collect sales tax for other states, counties and cities...
Iowa law closes sales tax loophole for online sellers  Sioux City Journal   ...Gov. Terry Branstad signed legislation to close a loophole that lets out-of-state online retailers offer customers a purchase price without collecting the state’s sales tax...
Massachusetts Minimum Wage Hearing Draws Crowd  WTIC 1080   ...Advocates for a higher Massachusetts minimum wage packed a Statehouse hearing Tuesday, saying an increase is a matter of fairness and would boost the economy...
Hoffa: Congress Needs to Take Action to Keep College Affordable  IBT   ...Working people struggle and fight to form unions so their children can have better lives than they do. For many, that means sending their sons and daughters to college. Higher education has long been the stepping stone to a better life. But that stone is being swept away by a tide of student debt...
Leslie Marshall Show Discusses Our Victory Against Knives on Planes  IBT  ...The Teamsters Airline Division, as part of the Coalition of Flight Attendant Unions, claimed a big victory last week with the TSA’s decision to disallow knives on planes...
Teamsters, Community Leaders Speak Before Rhinebeck School Board  IBT   ...School bus drivers and monitors, along with Teamsters Local 445 and New York State United Teachers (NYSUT)leaders, spoke out at Tuesday night’s Rhinebeck School Board meeting about their ongoing fight for a fair contract from Durham School Services...
Teamsters Complaint Results In $600,000 Settlement For Correctional Officers  IBT   ...The U.S. Department of Labor is overseeing the award of a $603,237 settlement to current and retired employees of the State Prison Facility in Raiford after finding that more than 700 corrections officers were not being properly compensated...

Today's Teamster News 06.10.13

Half Lives: Why the Part-time Economy Is Bad for Everyone  Alternet   ...one in every five workers is now part-time...
With 47 Million Americans on Food Assistance, Congress Considers Cuts  PBS   ...The Senate will soon vote on the farm bill, which includes funding for food assistance programs that help roughly 47 million Americans. How would spending cuts impact needy families?...
American auto industry about to go on hiring spree  The Detroit News   ...The auto industry is about to go on a hiring spree as car makers and parts suppliers race to find engineers, technicians and factory workers to build the next generation of vehicles...
Welcome home: 'Made in USA' on the rise  CNBC News   ...Despite years of panicked headlines about manufacturing moving to Japan or China, Mitch Cahn has kept the apparel-making business he founded, Unionwear, open for 21 years on American soil...
FAA cuts, exhausted pilots, ancient planes: Is your flight really safe?  The Salon   ...Airline travel's never been safer. But with FAA cuts, aging planes, worn-out pilots -- there's lots to worry about...
Ruling Against Connecticut’s Unionized Workers Overturned by Appeals Court  Hartford Courant   ...The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling, and gave unionized state employees a major victory. The appeals panel upheld the claim of the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition that ex-Gov. John G. Rowland and his budget chief Marc Ryan. and the state acted illegally by targeting more than 2,800 union members for layoffs while sparing non-union workers...
Activists kick off initiative to raise Idaho minimum wage  The Spokesman-Review   ...Health teacher Warren Ducote saw firsthand the effect of poverty on students’ emotional and physical well-being. Ducote joined religious, education and community activists Saturday morning in Coeur d’Alene to kick off a voter initiative that would raise Idaho’s minimum wage from the federal minimum, $7.25 per hour, to $9.80 per hour over the next four years...
Liquor privatization drive hits wholesale snag  Associated Press   ...What may end up derailing the Republicans’ drive to privatize Pennsylvania’s sale of wine and liquor is not who gets to sell it – but who gets to deliver it…
Payday loans just another name for loansharking  The Daily Review   ...A state Senate committee last week narrowly approved the means to worsen the plight of poor workers in Pennsylvania...
Surprise inspections on state roadways for commercial vehicles  Cumberland Times-News   ...Local and state police officers are launching surprise inspections to boost commercial vehicle safety in the state as part of the Roadcheck 2013 program, which is the largest targeted enforcement program on commercial vehicles in the world...
Philadelphia building collapse: City tightens rules on demolition  Los Angeles Times   ...Officials in Philadelphia announced sweeping changes to the city’s demolition standards Friday as the first lawsuit was filed in the four-story building collapse that left six people dead...
70,000 long-term unemployed in N.C. lose federal benefits July 1  McClatchy News Service   ...Paul Moore is one of tens of thousands of jobless North Carolinians whose unemployment benefits will be terminated at the end of this month. Advocacy groups call it “the unemployment cliff”...
Teamsters seek arbitration in school bus contract dispute  Mid-Hudson News   ... Teamsters Local 445, which represents the more than 165 Durham School Services bus employees service Dutchess County BOCES and the Spackenkill and Rhinebeck school districts, has asked the company to agree to arbitration to end the nine-month contract dispute that has led to strikes and other disruptions in recent weeks...