FL guv shuts down TB hospital amid outbreak

Scary.

When the government shuts down essential services that could mean life or death for thousands of people, we call that inhumane. But anti-worker politicians call it fiscal responsibility.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott and other tea party lawmakers shut down the state’s only TB hospital during the worst tuberculosis outbreak in 20 years last month.

According to the Miami Herald:

In late March, Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill that consolidated the state's Department of Health and required the closure of the A.G. Holley State Hospital in Lantana, where tuberculosis cases had been treated for more than 60 years.

The health agency ordered for the Palm Beach County hospital to be closed six months ahead of schedule. The hospital, which closed July 2, was one of four tuberculosis hospitals left in the country and the only one in Florida.

The closure was justified as a “cost-saving” measure. But what about life-saving services?

As Mother Jones commented,

What was Scott thinking? According to the Palm Beach Post, AG Holley's closure came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had warned the governor and his state health office in a report that tuberculosis was making a big comeback in the state. That report apparently never made it from those state officials to legislators who had voted to close the TB hospital.

Unfortunately this is hardly out of character for service-slashing tea partiers in the Sunshine State:

[I]t's par for the course here in Florida, where even septic-tank inspections are derided as socialism, and conservative lawmakers have cut social services to the bone—and Rick Scott has cut even further, using his line-item veto to slash mercilessly at Legislature-approved spending he deems unimportant.

Teamsters in Florida are painfully aware of Scott’s determination to downsize government with no regard for public safety. He and his friends in the Legislature have pushed to privatize state prisons, threatening the safety of Florida communities and the jobs of 20,000 FDOC Teamsters.

With the outrage over the state’s shuttering of the TB hospital, you’d think Scott would have something to say to the public about his callous service cuts.

But he’s is too busy schmoozing with aerospace executives in the U.K. While the tuberculosis flare-up has already claimed the lives of 13 Floridians, Scott’s overseas itinerary includes visits to the Farnborough International Air Show and Lloyd's of London. In his 19 months as governor, he’s also made official trips to Brazil, Canada, Israel, Panama, and Spain.

How’s that for sick priorities?

-- Union Thug

"It's a great day to be a Teamster'

International Vice President Ken Wood and FDOC Capt. Mike Riley.

Building a union from the bottom up isn't something that's done on behalf of workers. It takes workers' pride, their effort and their willingness to fight to make it happen.

That was the message from International Vice President Ken Wood and our new Teamster brother, Capt. Mike Riley, a Florida Department of Corrections officer and proud member of Local 2011.

Wood gracefully thanked all the Teamsters from all over the country who helped organize 20,000 FDOC officers in December:

Every Teamster walk of life was there.

But, he said, it took the involvement of the FDOC officers to start building Local 2011.

They said, 'Hey it's time, I want a union, I want to be involved, I want the ballot to vote on negotiations.'

Riley described how the International helped the correctional officers beat back powerful forces to defeat a prison privatization bill in the Florida Legislature. That bill would have jeopardized 5,000 jobs.

His former union insisted that correctional officers stay away from their legislators -- even chastising members who emailed their state representatives. Said Riley,

The Teamsters said, 'No that's not the way we do things. Officers will get out there, they will tell them who you are.'

Riley said that on the day of the vote,

One of the senators stood up and said she'd spent most of the day in her office with correctional officerss and their families. She talked to a correctional officers' 8-year-old daughter, who told her how privatization would affect her family. She voted no....

And he continued:

The involvement of officers and the International made an unbeatable combination...The biggest question I've heard is, 'How did we defeat privatization?' The amount of money spent by the company that tried to privatize was tremendous. They outspent us 4-1.

The simple answer: We were doing the right things for the right reason and we had somebody behind us showing us how to do things the right way. We had the power of the Teamsters.

Riley concluded with a surefire applause line:

It's a great day to be a Teamster.

Today's Teamster News 03.28.12

Justices signal deep trouble for health care law  Associated Press   ...The fate of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul was cast into deeper jeopardy Tuesday as the Supreme Court's conservative justices sharply and repeatedly questioned its core requirement that virtually every American carry insurance...
Red States See Massive Public Sector Job Losses  The Nation   ...Republicans seized control of both branches of the legislature in 11 states after the 2010 elections. It’s in these very states that public sector layoffs are disproportionately concentrated, leading to one of the biggest rounds of job losses for the public workforce since record keeping began...
Home Prices in U.S. Cities Fell at Slower Pace in January  Bloomberg   ...Prices were little changed in January from the prior month, the best performance since July... 
A national sex strike! Spain's 'high-class hookers refuse to sleep with bankers until they open up credit lines to cash-strapped families'  Daily Mail   ...Sneaky bankers were trying to circumvent the protest by claiming to be architects or engineers, the sex-workers said...
When privatisation doesn't work (opinion)  The Guardian   ...What politicians typically mean when they speak of greater efficiency is lower costs, typically achieved by employing cheap, non-unionised labour. This is the real reason so many public services are outsourced...
Teamsters challenge Florida probation change  Associated Press   ...The Teamsters union is challenging a decision to suspend visits by Florida probation officers to the homes of released convicts...

Today's Teamster News 03.03.12

State files response to right-to-work lawsuit  Post-Tribune   ...State officials have said that a lawsuit seeking to block the recently signed right-to-work legislation should fail because officials can’t be sued, according to a brief filed Friday in the U.S. District Court in Hammond...
State reduces visits to violent criminals on probation  Tampa Bay Online   ...Cost-saving measures by the Florida Department of Corrections have ended surprise home visits by probation officers to thousands of violent criminals and drug offenders who are under court-ordered supervision...
More time for Hostess  New York Post   ...A bankruptcy judge postponed a hearing set for March 5 after Hostess Brands requested a two-week extension while it continues to negotiate with its unions...
Will Wall Street Ever Face Justice? (opinion)  New York Times   ...after the savings-and-loan debacle of the late 1980s, more than 1,000 bank and thrift executives were convicted of felonies. But today the rate of federal prosecutions for financial fraud is less than half of what it was then...
Is Drug War Driven Mass Incarceration the New Jim Crow  Forbes   ...there is no denying that if your goal were to consign African Americans to a permanent underclass—one which the rest of us would be culturally and legally permitted to discriminate against in employment, housing, voting rights, and government benefits—the war on drugs would be a great way to do it...
Mansion servant enslaved by uber-rich New York family for six years  Sideshow   ...A wealthy New York woman is facing criminal charges after being accused of keeping an illegal immigrant as an indentured servant and forcing her to live in a closet for nearly six years...

Today's Teamster News 02.19.20

Vaughan-Bassett Furniture still making it in America  Richmond-Times Dispatch   ...The official had no idea Bassett was on a mission to gather proof that Chinese manufacturers were not playing by the rules, threatening to put a permanent chill on the smokestacks that bore his family's name...
Foxconn Plans to Lift Pay Sharply at Factories in China  New York Times   ...Foxconn said that salaries for many workers would immediately jump by 16 to 25 percent, to about $400 a month, before overtime...
Foreclosure abuse rampant across U.S., experts say  Reuters   ...One of the major problems that has emerged in the foreclosure crisis is that it is far from clear that many lenders foreclosing on properties actually own the loans and have the right to take action against them...
Kill prison privatization? Not so fast, Scott says  Jacksonville.com   ...Gov. Rick Scott ... last week ... told a group of reporters that he is going to explore ways he can privatize prisons unilaterally...
Occupy Our Hearts: Potluck Social and Port of Seattle Truckers Food Drive  Facebook   ...We are also collecting non-perishables for the Teamsters who have risked their livelihoods in order to fight the good fight...
Teamsters' Drive Up Standards Bus Campaign Reaches Milestone 300th Win  IBT   ...The Teamsters' Drive Up Standards campaign to organize private school bus and transit workers nationwide has reached a major milestone, with 300 organizing wins for more than 32,500 workers since the campaign began in 2006...

Today's Teamster News 02.17.12

Deal reached on unemployment, payroll tax cut  CBS News   ...The bill would assure a continued tax cut for 160 million workers and jobless benefits for several million others...
Collection and Credit Firms Facing Broad New Oversight  New York Times   ...Debt collectors and credit reporting companies are bracing for intense scrutiny after the government’s consumer finance watchdog unveiled a broad plan to regulate financial firms that have largely evaded federal oversight...
New Bill to Weaken Protections, Incentives for Whistleblowers Sneaks Through Committee  truthout   ...Thanks to a lobbying effort from the US Chamber of Commerce, New York Rep. Michael Grimm's attempt to eviscerate hard-fought whistleblower reforms included in the Dodd-Frank Act is gaining steam. This news should be seriously troubling to anyone hoping to stop wrongdoing on Wall Street - the kind that led to the 2008 financial meltdown...
Kazakhstan massacre death toll may rise to 200  the moscow news   ...over 70 people were killed and 400 injured when police shot at striking oil workers in the central square of the Caspian port city of Zhanaozen on Dec. 16...
Detroit Finance Study Team Closed Sessions Barred by Judge  Bloomberg   ...A Michigan judge permanently barred a review team studying Detroit’s finances from holding closed- door sessions, handing a legal victory to city employees...
Teamsters: Florida Doesn't Want Prison Privatization  Local 2011   ..."Floridians do not want the rules changed so private companies can get secret contracts with no cost-benefit analysis and no public review," (said Ken Wood, Acting President of Teamsters Local 2011).

Today's Teamster News 02.15.12

Florida Prison Privatization Dies on Senate Floor  The Bradenton Herald   ...As more and more Senators from both sides of the aisle began to question whether it was a good idea to displace more middle-class Floridians from their jobs, especially when there seemed to be little to no evidence that it would have the budget-solving impacts that its proponents promised, a critical mass began to build, leading to Tuesday's negative vote...
Payroll-tax cut, unemployment benefits: Tentative deal reached  Politico   ...A tentative deal reached by senior House and Senate leaders, which appears poised to pass absent a last-minute snag, would prolong a payroll tax cut that benefits 160 million Americans, extend unemployment benefits and forestall rate cuts to doctors who treat Medicare patients...
Greece and the return of the economic 'death spiral'  The Guardian   ...The lesson of 2008 was that stimulus prevented a new Great Depression. Without similar drastic help, Greece will now default...
Teamsters union eyes Hostess strike if judge cuts pensions  Associated Press   ...The Teamsters union said Monday that its members at Wonder Bread and Twinkies maker Hostess Brands have voted to authorize a strike if a bankruptcy judge approves the company's request to cut their health care and pension benefits...
Teamsters strike Red Cross of Northern Ohio  WTAM1100   ...Dozens of blood collection workers and mobile unit assistants for the American Red Cross in Northern Ohio are in front of the Red Cross building on Euclid Avenue holding signs that say "Red Cross Unfair. Tainted with Greed."...
Teamsters ratify contract at Memphis Kroger distribution center  Memphis Commercial Appeal   ...Kroger said the new agreement includes high-quality, affordable health care, company-funded pensions and wage increases, determined by local supplemental agreements, over three years...
Teamsters protest meddling by papers' ownership  Philadelphia Daily News   ...About 50 Teamsters protested in front of the Daily News and Inquirer building yesterday, complaining that company managers imperiled "journalistic integrity" - and therefore Teamster jobs - by meddling last week with news stories about the sale of Philadelphia Media Network.

Today's Teamster News 02.11.12

Letter: Let me try to figure out why politicians want to privatize prisons  TCPalm   ...Employees earning $30,000 to $40,000 a year are not Florida's biggest problem yet the governor has put this on the front burner...
12 Indiana House Democrats call it quits  Associated Press   ...More than quarter of the Indiana House Democrats who unsuccessfully fought passage of the state’s new right-to-work law won’t try for re-election this year, further boosting the chances of Republicans strengthening their hold on the chamber...
Strike at the Seattle Port: Truckers Buck an Unfair System  Demos   ...The Port of Seattle has been shut down for more than a week. And it is the so-called independent contractor drivers who have stood together to stop the flow of goods. In doing so, the drivers are taking a powerful stand against the deregulated model of port trucking that takes a toll, not only on their own livelihoods and safety but on the environment and public as well...
Dayton's veto of four 'tort reform' bills comes with stinging GOP criticism  MinnPost.com   ...The changes, Dayton said, would not create a single job, would not help Minnesotans and would only "pad the bottom lines of mostly out-of-state insurance companies..."
Teamsters Oppose Court Approval of Hostess CEO's Contract  IBT   ...“We struggle to understand how Hostess’ management team, its board and its advisers think that filing this motion to guarantee CEO Brian Driscoll’s employment conditions, at a time when Hostess is seeking to dramatically modify the working conditions of its employees, is a good idea" (said Ken Hall, Teamsters International Vice President...
Anti-worker bills must be rejected  (LTE)  Concord Monitor   ...Currently the New Hampshire House has a long list of anti-public worker legislation filed. The goal is to weaken New Hampshire public worker rights and local influence. What is really troubling is that a national special interest group called ALEC (the American Leadership Exchange Council) has been giving our GOP legislators trips to its seminars where they are encouraged and coached on how to write and pursue anti-union legislation...
Missing Settlement Document Raises Doubts on $25B Deal  American Banker   ...a fully authorized, legally binding deal has not been inked yet...
The big banks win again  Salon   ...Foreclosure victims get little help in a mortgage-settlement plan that only benefits the banks' bottom line...
Red Cross Cancels Blood Drive In Anticipation Of Teamsters Strike  Mentor Patch   ...Albert Mixon, the chapter's Secretary-Treasurer (said) "We are operating blood drives at high schools, community centers and hospitals every day. But now Red Cross’ blood services division wants to cut staffing levels to the point where donors should be concerned for their safety..."

Today's Teamster News 02.10.12

Haridopolos: Private prison vote is next week  Orlando Sentinel   ...Haridopolos was coy though when asked if that meant he had the votes to pass the bill. “We’ll see,” he said...
Pro-labor Republicans recruit challengers for right-to-work supporters in Indiana House  Associated Press   ...some candidates, such as high school teacher Diana Boersma, are taking on powerful House members, such as Rep. Douglas Gutwein of Francesville. Others, such as Randy Conner and Jon D. Hare, are challenging freshmen legislators elected in 2010's Republican sweep...
ALEC wrote parts of LePage education agenda  Maine's Majority   ...ALEC, a corporate-funded organization that encourages conservative lawmakers to advance big business-friendly laws on the state level, is currently under fire for its efforts to influence the legislative process in several states, including Maine...
Jobs, Economy Most Important Issues To NH Residents  WMUR   ...Coming in a distant second place is the Republican majority in the Legislature...
SD Panel Strikes Down Collective Bargaining Ban  Keloland.com   ...Lawmakers unanimously rejected a bill Wednesday that would have ended collective bargaining for public employees in South Dakota...
This is no bailout for Main Street America  The Guardian   ...While the government's help to homeowners is far from adequate or just, it represents a partial and late recognition of trickle-down economics' inadequacy as policy...
Disgruntled Greeks Start 48-Hour National Strike  New York Times   ...Greek workers walked off the job for the second time this week on Friday in a snap 48-hour general strike called to protest new austerity measures the country must take to avert a disastrous default next month...
This Teamsters Memo Shows How The Threat Of A Union Strike Could Seal Hostess' Fate  Business Insider   ...union officials are calling Hostess's demands — which include a five-year wage freeze and scrapping employer contributions to health and pension plans — unreasonable...

Today's Teamster News 02.09.12

Ohio Lawmakers Introduced 33 Bills Last Year Based on ALEC Model Legislation  truthout.com   ...At least nine of the 33 bills have passed the State Legislature, including the now-defunct Senate Bill 5, which was poised to strip public employees of collective bargaining rights until Ohioans overwhelmingly voted for a repeal in November...
Koch Brothers Spend $700,000 on Ads Defending Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker  Atlantic Wire   ...Last year, they were reportedly behind Walker in his showdown with unions over the state budget...
49-State Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Will Be Finalized Thursday  firedoglake   ...Forty-nine states, every one but Oklahoma, as well as federal regulators will participate in a foreclosure fraud settlement that will release the five biggest banks (Wells Fargo, Citi, Ally/GMAC, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America) and their mortgage servicing units from liability for robo-signing and other forms of servicer abuse, in exchange for $25 billion in funding for legal aid, refinancing, short sales, restitution for wrongful foreclosures and principal reduction for underwater borrowers...
Insight: The dark side of Germany's jobs miracle  Reuters   ...Wage restraint and labor market reforms have pushed the jobless rate down to a 20-year low, and the German model is often cited as an example for European nations seeking to cut unemployment and become more competitive. But critics say the reforms that helped create jobs also broadened and entrenched the low-paid and temporary work sector, boosting wage inequality...
Condemned Florida prison gets second chance at life in House  Palm Beach Post   ....The Senate and Gov. Rick Scott still need to be persuaded. But the House decision to add the prison financing to its $69.2 billion proposed state budget will likely go a long way toward preventing the closing...
Boiling point at the port  Seattle Times   ...the Teamsters are supporting an effort by non-union drayage (short-haul) truckers to shut down the Port of Seattle...

State lawmakers unleash a whole lot of crazy



Jim Hoffa in Madison last year.

It's becoming an annual ritual when state Legislatures convene in January. The corporate quislings who somehow got elected file anti-worker bill after anti-worker bill. The explanations are always lame. In Florida, for example, Budget Chairman J.D. Alexander offered the head-spinner that privatizing correctional facilities was good because a lack of competition destroyed the Soviet Union. Say what?

In Indiana, Gov. Mitch Daniels said right-to-work for less would improve the state's business climate. As if making Indiana more like Mississippi would somehow generate lots of jobs, albeit low-wage ones. Doesn't Mitch know the crappy jobs are going to China and India these days?

Just today we learn that a New Hampshire lawmaker wants to eliminate workers' lunch breaks. ThinkProgress tells us,

The bill’s sponsor, state representative J.R. Hoell, argued that companies failing to provide lunch breaks would be shamed over social media, thus rendering the law unnecessary. “If they are not letting people have lunch, they could put it out though the news media, though social media. I don’t think that abusive behavior would continue, the way communications are today,” he said.

Of course, not every employer can be counted to to follow even the easiest of requirements to look after workers’ health and rights. Back in 2005, Walmart was forced to pay $172 million for denying workers their lunch breaks. Pyramid Breweries Inc. settled a case in 2008 for $1.5 million. Just a few months ago, California ordered Embassy Suites to pay workers tens of thousands of dollars for forcing them to skip breaks.

Jim Hoffa warns that politicians who attack workers -- who, after all, represent the vast majority of the electorate -- will ultimately fail. Today in the Detroit News he writes,

Michigan politicians contemplating similar anti-union legislation should proceed at their own electoral peril. Michigan's working families are mobilizing right now and will certainly remember in November.

We may not win battles in every state this fall. It may take years, but in the end, I'm confident we'll win the war on workers.

Today's Teamster News 02.06.12

Small Super Bowl protest for anti-union law  Reuters   ...A small group of about 50 activists marched to Lucas Oil Stadium where the Super Bowl will be played later on Sunday to peacefully protest Indiana's new anti-union "right-to-work" law...
Adbusters Calls for 50,000 Protesters to Meet at Chicago’s G8/NATO Summit  In These Times   ...Adbusters, the group credited with inspiring the Occupy Wall Street movement, has once again put out a call for tens of thousands of protesters to flock to Chicago in early May and "set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and #OCCUPYCHICAGO for a month," according to the official statement...
Florida prison privatization push stalls despite big spending  Palm Beach Post   ...Millions of dollars in campaign contributions from for-profit prison companies may not be enough this year to push through a prison privatization plan that is a priority of Gov. Rick Scott and Republican legislative leaders...
Strike Looms As Greek Party Leaders Push For Deal on Reforms  Wall Street Journal   ...Signs of popular protest loomed over Greece's political leaders as they raced to agree on painful reforms, including private-sector pay cuts, needed to win a new bailout agreement to keep the country from defaulting on its debts next month...
The Nine American Cities Nearly Destroyed by the Recession  24/7 Wall St.   ...Norwich-New London, Ct.; Brunswick, Ga.; Abilene, Texas; Wichita Falls, Texas; Flint, Mich.; Champaign-Urbana, Ill.; Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, Calif.; Reno-Sparks, Nev.; Carson City, Nev....
Rep. Mike Michaud (D-ME) urges trade enforcement against China  Manufacture This   ...Three new reports issued by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and the Law Offices of Stewart and Stewart have found that more 400,000 jobs in the U.S. auto supply chain have been lost since 2000...

Today's Teamster News 02.05.12

Legislature nears midpoint as houses divided  SunSentinel.com   ...Senate President Mike Haridopolos, by insisting on driving through the prison plan, risks losing his grip on his chamber...
Indiana's new law turns up the volume on 'right to work' debate in Michigan Legislature  Associated Press   ...The debate over whether Michigan should become a right-to-work state has intensified because of actions in a neighboring state...
Gov. Scott Walker to meet with DA about John Doe investigation  Wisconsin Rapids Tribune   ...Gov. Scott Walker said Friday evening that he will be "voluntarily meeting" with the prosecutor leading the secret John Doe investigation that already has brought charges against some of his top aides...
Occupy CPAC  Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO   ...With workshops like “Return of Big Labor: What Can We Learn from Wisconsin & Ohio,” and “Taking back Wall Street: The Tea Party vs. Occupy Wall Street,” the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) descends on the nation’s capital February 9-11 and local labor activists are planning a DC lesson to ensure that the voice of the 99% are heard at this elite conservative gathering...
Agribusiness Fights to Allow Children to Work in Manure Pits  Republic Report   ...lobbying is just gross...
Snow plow drivers still negotiating with state  KXLH.com   ...The Teamsters are asking for more pay, a different work schedule, and a better reimbursement for health insurance. The employees haven't received a raise in 4 years. In December, the Teamsters voted to strike if they didn't get a deal...

Today's Teamster News 02.04.12

Dockery to Senate bosses: Just the prison privatization facts, please  Orlando Sentinel   ...I have seen no convincing evidence that the state’s current private prisons are saving tax dollars...
How to fight Indiana’s “Right to Work” law  Salon   ...To survive after losing the fight in the statehouse, Indiana labor needs to win the fight in a thousand break rooms and living rooms – not just over whether it’s worth paying dues, but whether it’s worth joining the struggle...
Jan Brewer Recall Possible As Arizona Collective Bargaining Has Democrats, Unions Planning Protests  Huffington Post   ...State Democrats and union leaders said that plans are in place to launch Wisconsin-style measures in an effort to block the collective bargaining ban measures currently headed to a vote in the Republican-dominated Senate...
How Scott Walker and ALEC Plotted the Attack on Arizona's Unions  The Nation   ...Two days after Ohio voters overwhelmingly rejected Governor John Kasich’s anti-labor agenda by a sixty-one to thirty-nine margin in a statewide referendum, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker jetted to Arizona to launch the next front in the national campaign to attack union rights...
Koch Brothers, Allies Pledge $100 Million At Private Meeting To Beat Obama  Huffington Post   ...Charles Koch pledged $40 million and David pledged $20 million...
Teamsters reach agreement with Fieldbrook Foods  Observer   ...Some 350 production and maintenance workers at Fieldbrook Foods in Dunkirk will be working under a new contract ... (that) ...provides significant increases to wages and benefits...

Today's Teamster News 02.02.12

Indiana’s Last ‘Right-To-Work’ Law Failed So Badly It Was Repealed Eight Years Later  ThinkProgress   ...Indiana Republicans passed a similar right-to-work law in 1957 over the objections of Democrats, labor leaders, and workers, and the law proved so unpopular that it lasted only eight years...
Prison privatization plan may be crumbling in Florida Senate  Orlando Sentinel   ...The plan – scheduled to be debated on the Senate floor Wednesday – was abruptly yanked off the calendar by Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, amid reports that as many as 20 Republicans and Democrats were prepared to kill it...
Teamsters, safety advocates oppose higher truck weight limit bill  Detroit News   ...Teamsters President Jim Hoffa ... called it a "recipe for danger and disaster. This legislation is a reckless giveaway to the trucking industry, and corporate greed is at the wheel. The driving public absolutely does not support these radical changes that will endanger our highways. This overhaul will not create jobs. It will damage our roads and bridges, costing taxpayers. It will put lives at risk...."
Apple's Ethical Blindness Selects for Criminal Suppliers in Fraud-Friendly Nations  Huffington Post   ...Apple's suppliers' often seek managers willing to order their workers to exceed the lawful workweek, to refuse to pay them for significant portions of the wages they have earned, to unlawfully employ child labor, and even to coerce abortions. American managers are often unreliable in terms of their willingness to engage in these forms of illegality...
US unemployment “progress”  FT Alphaville   ...“if the same number of people were seeking work today as in 2007, the jobless rate would be 11 per cent”...
Teamsters, Nichols to resume talks Saturday as Iowa strike continues  Platts.com   ...Contract talks are scheduled to resume Saturday between Teamsters Local 371 and Nichols Aluminum in an attempt to end a strike that began January 20 at the company's casting and coil-coating plants in Davenport, Iowa. Local 371 President Howard Spoon said Wednesday it will be their first face-to-face meeting since more than 200 hourly workers launched the first strike at the Davenport plants since 1965...

Today's Teamster News 02.01.12

Indiana poised to enter right-to-work era as unions prep protest amid Super Bowl festivities  Associated Press   ...The Indiana Senate scheduled a Wednesday morning vote on the bill that, if passed, would be sent to Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, who has said he will sign it as soon as it arrives on his desk...
Prison privatization plan debated in Senate  Associated Press   ...Faced with opposition from Republicans and Democrats alike, Senate President Mike Haridopolos cut off debate Tuesday on a South Florida prison privatization plan that once seemed likely to be approved and now is being harshly criticized...
In Atlanta, Housing Woes Reflect Nation’s Pain  New York Times   ....In November, prices of single-family homes were down close to 12 percent compared with a year earlier, the largest decline among major metropolitan areas, according to data released on Tuesday in the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index...
Romney’s gift from Congress  Reuters   ...The idea that someone could pay zero gift taxes on contributions to a $100 million trust fund may surprise people who have heard arguments that the wealthy are overburdened by gift and estate taxes. But the Romneys’ gift-tax avoidance strategy is perfectly legal...
The Perils of 2012  Project Syndicate   ...The pragmatic commitment to growth that one sees in Asia and other emerging markets today stands in contrast to the West’s misguided policies, which, driven by a combination of ideology and vested interests, almost seem to reflect a commitment not to grow...
Norwood CertainTeed settles contract with Teamsters Local 25  Norwood Patch   ...The employees voted overwhelmingly, 69-0 to accept the contract offer and will be returning to work today with full shingle and granule production beginning at that time...

Today's Teamster News 01.26.12

Right-to-work measure clears Indiana House  Associated Press   ...Indiana is poised to become the first right-to-work state in more than a decade after the Republican-controlled House passed legislation on Wednesday banning from collecting mandatory fees from workers...
Private-prisons bill advances in Florida Senate  Miami Herald   ...opposition is building on multiple fronts. Correctional officers and unions say privatization is being rushed and will cause widespread disruption to families, where it is common for two or more members of the same family to hold prison jobs...
Five Democratic State Senators In Missouri Threatened With Sniper Crosshairs On Their Office Doors  Addicting Info   ...Just a few days ago, a Democratic campaign manager in Arkansas arrived home to find his children’s pet cat murdered with the word ‘Liberal’ scrawled across its fur. And now, Missouri lawmakers are also being threatened...
California calls $25-billion mortgage settlement 'inadequate'  Los Angeles Times   ...“Our state has been clear about what any multistate settlement must contain: transparency, relief going to the most distressed homeowners and meaningful enforcement that ensures accountability. At this point, this deal does not suffice for California..."
Bank of America Poses a Grave Threat to U.S. Financial Stability  Public Citizen   ...Petition calling on Federal Reserve and Financial Stability Oversight Committee to break up Bank of America...
Trucking Industry, Teamsters Clash Over Owner-Operator Bill  Journal of Commerce   ...The harbor trucking industry is clashing with the Teamsters union over a bill before the Washington state legislature that would classify owner-operators as employees rather than as independent contractors...

Today's Teamster News 01.24.12

Indiana House Dems lose right-to-work referendum vote, possibly resume boycott in labor battle  Associated Press   ...While Indiana House Republicans were bracing for another possible Democratic boycott in the bruising right-to-work battle, Senate Republicans on Monday were cheering the final passage of the measure in their chamber just a few hundred feet away...
Prison privatization bills move forward in Senate  Associated Press   ...Dozens of people spoke against the bills, telling senators privatization would put state employees out of work and will reduce public safety...
Romney’s released tax return reveals 13.9% rate, holdings in foreign ‘tax havens’  Reuters   ...Romney’s tax rate is below that of most wage-earning Americans because most of his income, as outlined in more than 500 pages of tax documents, flows from capital gains on investments...
‘Licking Their Chops’ on K Street and Capitol Hill  Bill Moyers   ...“Former senators could expect to earn somewhere between $800,000 and $1.5 million in annual salary next year at lobby firms, while ex-House members could earn between $300,000 and $600,000, headhunters estimated.”...
Settlement with mortgage lenders inadequate, activists say  Washington Post   ...a significant number of state attorneys general and activist groups fear the pending settlement would allow banks to pay only a fraction of what is warranted and escape legal culpability for a wide range of abuses that have yet to be fully investigated. They also say too lenient a settlement would send a troubling message that the financial giants who helped create the housing bubble won’t be held accountable for their role in the bust...
Teamsters remain on Nichols picket line  Quad City Business Journal   ...The two sides said they have not communicated since Friday, and no plans for coming back to the negotiating table are scheduled...

Today's Teamster News 01.23.12

“Right-to-Work” Divides Indiana Lawmakers as General Assembly Continues  WFPL   ...Bauer is unapologetic about the filibuster. “It is the only tool of the minority against a majority that wants to thrust a crown of thorns upon the working people of this state,”...
Today in Tallahassee: Prison privatization, university gigs, and a presidential breather?  Orlando Sentinel   ...The biggest event of the day in Tallahassee is likely to be the Senate Rules Committee at 1 p. m., which is hearing its bills to privatize prisons in 18 southern Florida counties (SB 2038) and another to delay the production of a “business case” for agencies privatizing services until after it has awarded a contract to a private vendor (SB 2036)...
Mitt Romney's misery, in a word: Bain  Politico   ...He fumbled questions about whether he’d release his tax returns, gave shifting answers on how many jobs he’d helped create and told a crowd earlier this month that he liked being able to fire service providers...
CRS report: Congress can require Keystone oil pipeline approval  The Hill   ...Capitol Hill lawmakers probably have the Constitution at their back if they require a permit for the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline that President Obama rejected days ago, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service...
MPs to discuss sale of Parliament  Independent   ...MPs will tomorrow discuss selling the Palace of Westminster amid concerns over its long-term future...
New York Times Tells Us Only Chinese Near Slave Labor Could Handle Steve Jobs' Demands   naked capitalism   ...Silicon Valley executives say that the cost of US labor is not what is driving their decisions. It is the responsiveness of the supply chain, which among other things means ability to recruit factory labor and engineers quickly (and to get the factory workers to put in Foxconn like hours). Thus the savings is in inventory costs rather than labor per se...

FL Teamsters to descend on Statehouse to fight prison plan



Sheila Jewett and Leila Kirkland, from Florida State Prison, Nathan Preston from New River C.I., and Nathan's wife Staci. They came to the Statehouse to lobby against privatization.

Florida Teamster correctional officers will descend on Tallahassee this week to urge lawmakers to kill two nasty prison privatization bills. Elected officials will hear plenty from Teamsters, their families and their neighbors at hearings on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Some are driving all the way from Miami.

Teamsters are also emailing, calling and sending letters to their local editors. Here's a terrific letter to the Cape Coral Daily Breeze from Clinton Larkins, a correctional officer at Hendry Work Camp in Ft. Myers.

I believe the ethics complaint the Teamsters Union has filed against Gov. Rick Scott is just what we need to expose this tainted bidding process for what it is. Gov. Scott and the State Legislature passed a bill in May to allow prisons in 18 south Florida counties to privatize. Now we find out Geo Group and CCA, the two private companies currently bidding on the operations of the prisons, have donated $1 million to Gov. Scott and state politicians.

Is that the price the governor and the state are willing to put on public safety?

Privatization will not save the state money, will result in the loss of jobs and put our communities at risk.

Prison privatization is not a done deal and now is the time for the state to pull back requests for proposals and remove Geo Group and CCA from the process altogether.

I urge my fellow officers and all Florida residents to contact their legislators and tell them to halt the ill-conceived plan to privatize our prisons. Our government should be by and for the people, not one that is bought and controlled by big corporations.

Clinton Larkins
Fort Myers