Today's Teamster News 05.18.14

Trade
TPP ministers to seek progress in Singapore but deal unlikely  global post   ...Hopes have grown that talks for an ambitious Pacific trade deal will advance when ministers from 12 countries gather in Singapore on Monday and Tuesday after Japan and the United States moved closer on thorny issues, but observers say reaching a broad deal at the upcoming meeting is unlikely...
Brussels authorities help silence opposition to the ‘Great Transatlantic Market’ (TTIP)  The Economic Voice   ...over a thousand people were in the streets of Brussels, attempting to peacefully protest against austerity and the proposed great transatlantic market (TTIP) which were being discussed in the absence of citizens at the European Business Summit. In an unprovoked move 281 people were violently arrested said the Corporate Europe Observatory, including Belgian and European parliamentarians and candidates, senior trade union officials, farmers and many elderly citizens...
State Battles
In Georgia, Lawmakers Taking Pride in Policies That Hurt the Poor  Next New Deal   ...lawmakers in Georgia have been systematically dismantling the state’s social safety net. Of the 300,000 Georgian families living below the poverty line, only 19,000 receive TANF and more than three quarters of those cases involve children only. That means that fewer than seven percent of low-income Georgians are able to get the welfare assistance they badly need...
‘Right-to-work’ is actually just a right to freeload  The Athens News   ...But why should they bother with the transparent ruse of right-to-work laws when they can just offer legislation to ban unions? That's what they really want...
Come to North Dakota for the paycheck, lose your life  Los Angeles Times   ...The state had the highest rate of worker fatalities in the nation--17.7 per 100,000 workers, or more than five times the national average. The union calculated the toll as "one of the highest state job fatality rates ever reported for any state," and observed that it had more than doubled from the rate in 2007...
ALEC fires back, but proves its 'pro-business' state index is bogus  Los Angeles Times   ...Plainly stung by the chorus of ridicule that has greeted their latest attempt to paint anti-union policies and tax cuts for the rich as pathways to economic nirvana, the folks at the American Legislative Exchange Council have struck back with a "response to the critics..."
War on Workers
A guide to the VA health care controversy  Washington Post   ...Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki faced tough questions from a Senate panel Thursday about the state of his department after allegations that some VA health clinics have cooked their books to cover up treatment delays...
The Deep Roots of Skilled Labor Shortages: Anti-Union, Anti-Worker Corporations  Economic Policy Institute   ...Oil giants like Chevron can afford to have their construction contractors pay well for skilled work, but they resist. Organizations they fund, such as the Business Roundtable, have led a decades-long campaign to weaken or destroy the building trades unions that actually train the greatest number of skilled tradesmen. Chevron, Koch Industries, ExxonMobil and many other energy industry corporations fund the American Legislative Exchange Council and its legislative efforts to kill unions and eliminate labor standards...
G.M. Is Fined Over Safety and Called a Lawbreaker  New York Times   ...Saying that safety practices at General Motors were “broken,” federal regulators on Friday imposed the biggest punishment they could on the automaker and condemned it over its failure to promptly report a defect that G.M. has linked to 13 deaths...
GM suggested engineers avoid ‘judgment words’ like ‘death trap,’ ‘grenade-like’  Politico Pro   ...GM told engineers to avoid using dozens of words when communicating about vehicle problems that could potentially lead to recalls, including everything from “safety” to “Kevorkianesque...”
Shocker: Cable TV prices went up four times the rate of inflation  ars technica   ...US homes on average receive 189.1 cable TV channels and only watch 17.5 of them...
Wal-Mart Says It Won't Oppose Increase in Minimum Wage  Wall Street Journal   ...Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it wouldn't oppose an increase in the federal minimum wage, its most explicit comment yet on the controversial debate to move past the $7.25-an-hour minimum...
Miscellaneous
Over 3000 Chinese Evacuated (By Boat & Plane) As Vietnam's Anti-China Riots Escalate; Taiwan Also On "High Alert"  zero hedge   ...China began evacuating hundreds of its nationals from Vietnam (via at least 2 planes and 5 ships) as the anti-China protests have become increasingly deadly following Beijing's attempt to deploy an oil drill in Vietnamese dispuited waters...

Today's Teamster News 10.31.13

Teamsters Hold First Meeting Of D.C. Taxi Operators Association  teamster.org   ...Hundreds of taxicab drivers in the nation’s capital attended the first meeting of the new Washington, D.C., Taxi Operators Association Tuesday in overwhelming support for a strong affiliation with the Teamsters as the city imposes major, costly industry changes affecting their livelihoods...
DC Cabbies to Be Represented by Teamsters  WUSA9 News   ...A big vote in Northeast DC has forever changed the political landscape for DC cab drivers. See the video...
DC Taxi Drivers Organize  DC Labor   ...DC taxi drivers chanted "We will win! We will win!" at yesterday's first meeting of the Washington DC Taxi Operators Association, which formalized its affiliation with Teamsters Local Union 922...
Teamsters members reject Wegmans contract  Democrat and Chronicle   ...For the second time during this round of contract talks, Wegmans' Rochester-based distribution and transportation employees have rejected the contract proposal that was agreed to by Wegmans and Teamsters Local 118...
Arbitrator rules on Teamsters Local 320 and Wadena County (Minnesota) contract issues  Wadena Pioneer Journal   ...Nearly 11 months after the county’s new labor agreements went into effect on Jan. 1, arbitrator Stephen F. Befort delivered his decisions on the unresolved issues between the county and its unit of 19 essential public safety employees represented by Teamsters Local 320...
City delays budget vote after Teamsters delay contract vote  ABC 57 News   ...The vote happens Tuesday and Wednesday and will affect about 250 city employees who are members of Teamsters Local 364...
YRC Worldwide, Teamsters Set to Meet in Dallas  Journal of Commerce   ...YRC Worldwide, fresh from a terminal network restructuring and change in leadership at $3.2 billion less-than-truckload carrier YRC Freight, will meet with the Teamsters union early next month to discuss the company’s future...
County, Teamster Union agree to 4-year contract Albany  Democrat-Herald   ...Linn County in Oregon has reached a four-year wage and benefits contract with Teamster Local Union No. 670, which represents about 42 of the county’s 600 employees...
Corporations Take, Take, Take While Workers Pay The Bill (opinion)  teamster.org   ...What do mega-corporations like communications giant Verizon and big pharma drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb have in common, besides their billions in earnings? They both paid an effective tax rate of zero percent over the past year...
ABF Update: Central Region Local Cartage Teamsters Overwhelmingly Decline To Authorize A Strike At ABF  teamster.org   ...In a vote with 77 percent turnout, a majority of the membership covered by the Central Region Local Cartage Supplement has overwhelmingly (70% to 30%) chosen not to authorize a strike at ABF...
Anheuser-Busch, Teamsters start contract talks  The Post-Standard   ...Negotiations will start next month on a new labor contract that could determine the future for the Anheuser-Busch InBev brewery near Baldwinsville, New York...
Is Funeral Home Chain SCI's Growth Coming at the Expense of Mourners?  Bloomberg   ...For traditional funerals, SCI charges $6,256 on average (excluding casket and cemetery plot), 42 percent more than independents...
Union-Made Halloween Treats  unionplus.org   ...When those little ghosts and goblins come collecting on Halloween, make sure you have a full supply of union-made-in-America treats for them like Jelly Belly's candy corn. Find out about other goodies that are made by union workers...
Today's College Grads Won't Be Able to Retire Until They're 73  Bethlehem Patch   ...Student loan debt likely will force today's college grads to work longer...
Stop The Social Security Stupidity: A Q&A With Bernie Sanders  Talking Points Memo   ...The Koch brothers, Pete Peterson and other billionaires are spending huge amounts of money trying to cut Social Security and other vitally important federal programs. As part of this campaign, an enormous amount of misinformation is floating around...
America’s new hunger crisis  MSNBC   ...“When 50 million people in the richest country on the planet are hungry, that’s a crisis...”
US budget deficit down to $680B, lowest in 5 years  Associated Press   ...For the first time in five years, the U.S. government has run a budget deficit below $1 trillion...
U.S. trade official pushes Congress to renew trade promotion authority  Reuters   ...The Obama administration's top trade official said on Tuesday that the United States is aiming to finalize a giant trade deal with 11 other Pacific Rim nations by the end of year, but that it needs Congress to approve a rule to speed up the talks...
Brazil protests: Sao Paulo bus station attacked  BBC News   ...Friday's protests began with a march through the city that lasted about three hours. Violence erupted when a section of the crowd broke off and attacked a bus terminal in the city centre, police said...
Census: More Ohioans living in poverty than since before the 'Great Recession'  Associated Press   ...A U.S. Census report shows there are more Ohioans living in poverty than before the Great Recession. The numbers show one in six Ohioans was living in poverty last year. The state's poverty rate increased from 13.1 percent in 2007 to 16.3 percent in 2012...
GOP GOVERNOR: 'There Seems To Be A War On The Poor' With Republicans In Washington  Business Insider   ...Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) criticized members of his party in Washington in an interview with The New York Times published Tuesday, saying there "seems to be a war on the poor."...
Lower middle-class workers get trampled  Indianapolis Star   ...Consumer confidence has plunged for lower middle-class Americans in recent years...
Alabama Blogger Arrested, Jailed For Writing About Former Governor’s Son  ThinkProgress   ...this sort of order is what is known as a prior restraint on First Amendment expression and is almost certainly unconstitutional...
Detroit Will be Democracy's Decisive Battle  Black Agenda Report   ...Detroit is the battleground chosen by Wall Street to crush the last vestiges of American democracy by creating “the template for direct corporate rule.”...

Today's Teamster News 06.09.13

The Most Dishonest Words in American Politics: 'Right to Work'  AlterNet   ...Right-to-work measures appeal to freedom and choice, but they're all about busting unions...
Striking Worker and Bangladesh Activist Address Thousands at Walmart Shareholder Meeting  The Nation... A striking retail worker and a Bangladesh labor activist made their case from the floor of Walmart’s shareholder meeting, addressing thousands of workers and stock-owners and countering what was otherwise a highly scripted celebration of the largest private company in the world...
Taxpayers' loss on GM bailout looks to be about $10 billion  Chicago Tribune   ...The U.S. Treasury’s deal to sell 30 million shares of General Motors Co. will recoup taxpayers another $1 billion of the bailout money the government put into the automaker back in 2009...
Oklahoma Sweatshop Tells One Story of Labor's Challenge   Huffington Post   ...Temperatures would hit levels higher than 120 degrees. Because there was no air conditioning, bosses placed high-powered fans throughout the concrete facility. Management chain smoking cigars in the shop while reminding workers of the non-smoking policy. Promised pay increases never materialized, even with business on the upswing. This only begins to describe the horrendous working conditions at this workplace...
'No' votes take lead on measure to privatize trash service in Fresno, California   Reuters   ...Votes against a measure that would privatize garbage service in Fresno to raise revenue for the cash-strapped California city took a slim lead on Friday as election officials continued counting ballots...
Transamerica Among 11 Insurers in $763 Million Settlement  Bloomberg News   ...Aegon NV’s Transamerica and New York Life Insurance Co. are among 11 insurers that will pay a combined total of as much as $763 million to resolve a multistate probe into whether the firms held funds that should have gone to beneficiaries...
Scott signs foreclosure bill  Sun Sentinel   ...Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill Friday designed to speed up foreclosures in Florida, but critics say the measure is unfair to homeowners...
Union files unfair labor practice complaints against 6 Logan contractors  Boston Globe   ...The union trying to organize airport contract employees has charged six aviation services companies at Logan International Airport with unfair labor practices, including restricting free speech, spying on a union meeting, and firing an employee for speaking out about working conditions...
UAW's King: Progressive groups must stand together   Lansing State Journal   ...Now more than ever, organized labor must stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other progressive groups as it fights for collective bargaining rights and other civil rights causes, United Auto Workers President Bob King said...
ALEC says its communications with Wisconsin lawmakers are private  Wisconsin State Journal   ...The American Legislative Exchange Council, better known as ALEC, is being challenged for using Internet drop boxes and broad new assertions of privacy to shield from public view the discussions of elected officials and corporate leaders it brings together to write model legislation for state governments...
LA Labor Remains Strong, United After Mayoral Race (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...those who attach too sweeping an analysis to the outcomes -- or suggest that labor's role in this city has declined -- are sadly off the mark...
Academy Award Maker Denies Earned Benefits to Workers  IBT   ...R.S. Owens, the Chicago company that’s produced Hollywood’s coveted Oscar statues for decades, is refusing to compensate its former workforce for nearly a year of earned vacation benefits...

Today's Teamster News 03.19.11

US Cost of Living Hits Record, Passing Pre-Crisis High  CNBC   ..."the absolute cost of living is now back at a record high in a country that has seven million less jobs...”
Another sign of nervousness about Wisconsin recalls: Major GOP firm testing hard-core anti-union messages in the state  Washington Post   ...a major national Republican polling firm is ... testing ... messages, including ones about how pro-union forces targeted a GOP state senator with death threats...
Gov. John Kasich moves development director Mark Kvamme into new position to avoid legal challenge  Cleveland.com   ...The liberal watchdog ProgressOhio.org filed a lawsuit that argued Kvamme – as a California resident – was disqualified from holding a cabinet position under the Ohio Constitution...
Teamster Mechanics at United Airlines Secure Tentative Agreement With Airline  IBT   ...This is the first contract negotiated by the Teamsters for the group since the workers voted to join the union in March 2008...
Teamsters Warn: Labor Unrest Could Floor Armstrong World Industries Recovery Efforts  IBT   ..."The last thing we want is a strike" ...said Ken Hall...
New boss, same GM work – and pay – for haulers  journalgazette.net   ...members of Teamsters Local 414 will continue to play a role in moving new Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups from the Allen County truck assembly plant to dealership lots...
War On The Poor: Minnesota Republicans Want To Bust Poor People Who Carry Cash  crooksandliars   ...Minnesota Republicans are pushing legislation that would make it a crime for people on public assistance to have more $20 in cash in their pockets any given month...

Today's Teamster News 12.14.10

YRC's consolidation plans could bring jobs to KC  Kansas City Star
Holidays are feasts for package delivery companies  Raleigh News Observer   ...Industrywide, holiday shipments are expected to be up - a boon for businesses like FedEx and larger rival UPS...
GM Offers Buyouts to Skilled Workers  Wall Street Journal   ...offering buyouts and early-retirement incentives in hopes of persuading up to 3,000 skilled-trades workers to leave U.S. plants...
GOP Unmoved by Miners' Health Concerns While MSHA Cracks Down on Black Lung, Scofflaws  Huffington Post   ...Republicans blocked passage of a new bill Wednesday that would have enabled the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to more effectively hold repeat offender mine owners accountable and to better protect miners' lives...
Obama meeting CEOs — now how about workers? (opinion)  Chicago Sun-Times  ...While Wall Street and corporate leaders have expressed displeasure with the president’s reform agenda — on health care and financial reform particularly — the reality is that corporations are making record profits
Senate votes for tax cut deal. What's route through House?  Washington Post   ...The deal is expected to clear the House with a combination of strong GOP support and some backing among moderate Dems...
More talk of severe budget cuts to follow tax cut deal  firedoglake   ...Anyone who thinks there won’t be spending cuts – in the first year – passed by the Congress (plenty of Democrats agree with this philosophy, especially in the Senate) that cancel out the stimulus from this deal, are living on another planet...
Incoming GOP Financial Services Chairman: Washington's Role Is "To Serve The Banks"  Alternet
How hedge funds create criminals  Harvard Business Review  ...Hedge funds are playing the role of Wall Street villain...

Today's Teamster News 09/21/10

Congress needs 
to pass FAA bill (opinion) Atlanta Journal-Constitution ...Lobbyists for FedEx ... will use every available obstructionist tactic to block the Senate from voting on the bill...

Is This What a Recovery Feels Like? (opinion) New York Times ...Most Americans probably find it hard to believe that statisticians have deemed the U.S. economy to be out of recession...

Union, ranchers joining forces Bloomberg ...a labor union and farmers and ranchers ... say the world’s largest retailer is using its power to hold down prices in the agriculture industry...

Airline Profits Expected to Soar This Year New York Times ...an industry body Tuesday ... more than triple(d) its profit forecast for the world’s airlines to $8.9 billion this year ...

SAIC of China Weighs Buying Stake in G.M. New York Times ... A Chinese automaker has expressed interest in buying a stake in General Motors ...

GMAC Halts Foreclosures in 23 States for Review New York Times ...GMAC, which has been the recipient of billions of dollars of government aid... is concerned about potential liability in evicting families and selling houses to which it does not have clear title. ..

The Brothers Koch and AB 32 (opinion) New York Times ...a well-financed coalition of right-wing ideologues, out-of-state oil and gas companies and climate-change skeptics is seeking to effectively kill ...(AB 32) with an initiative on the November state ballot...

Links 08/12/10

Employers Moving Slowly to Fill Jobs Wall Street Journal ...Even as jobs remain scarce, employers are being unusually slow to fill positions—a problematic trend at a time when 4.3% of the labor force has been out of work for more than six months.


Troubles Abroad Adds to Worries for US Economy New York Times ...While the economy is growing again, it is growing too slowly to create many jobs or to increase household incomes.

U.S. Plans More Aid for Jobless Homeowners New York Times ...the Obama administration on Wednesday pumped $3 billion into programs intended to stop the unemployed from losing their homes.

Turnaround Continues at G.M. With Strong Quarter New York Times ...The quarterly profit marked G.M.’s strongest financial performance since 2004...

Union Official To Leave Two Posts New York Times ...Anna Burger announced Wednesday that she was retiring from her positions as secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union and chairwoman of Change to Win.


Survey: Workers Concerned About Social Security’s Future U.S. News & World Report