VIDEO: Inside unionizing Silicon Valley

The Teamsters' efforts to organize low-wage workers in the Silicon Valley at places such as Facebook and Google are getting the attention of the national media at a time when income inequality is a top concern of Americans.

This MSNBC video discusses the work of the Teamsters and other unions to organize and the growing appeal of unions nationwide. Workers are organizing because they are tired of getting the short end of the stick while companies rake in huge profits!

Support is growing for unions across the country because everyday Americans realize they are stronger when they organize together than when they stand alone. Teamster Strong makes America Stronger!

Today's Teamster News 08.24.15

Teamsters
Google Express Workers Choose Teamsters Representation  Teamster.org  ...Warehouse and shipping workers at Google Express Services voted today by a strong majority in favor of representation by Teamsters Local 853 in San Leandro, Calif. The 151 workers at Google Express in Palo Alto, employed through contractor Adecco, sought out the Teamsters for help with improving working conditions and treatment on the job...
Google Express workers vote to unionize  USA Today  ...Google Express workers in Palo Alto, Calif. voted to unionize Friday, although the news comes as the newly restructured Google closes two delivery hubs in the San Francisco area. The workers seeking representation are employed by human resources company Adecco to work for Google Express...
These Google workers have voted to join the Teamsters union  Fortune  ...Warehouse and shipping workers for Google Shopping Express, the tech giant’s same day shopping delivery service, voted Friday to join a local chapter of the Teamsters union. The 151 workers had sought to unionize because of what they described as poor working conditions, such as lack of ventilation, low wages, poor benefits, harassment to work faster and with damaged equipment, cracked floors, and failing electrical systems...
NLRB case asks who's really the boss of subcontractors' workers  LA Times  ...In the case brought by the Teamsters, the union maintains that Republic has sufficient control over the wages and work conditions of the Leadpoint workers to count as their joint employer with Leadpoint. The NLRB's general counsel, which says it's taking no position on the facts of the case, supports the Teamsters' interpretation of the law. "This issue is creeping into almost every industry where Teamsters work," including trucking, warehousing and food processing, says Doug Bloch...
Teamsters strike against Sun Tran may go on for a while   Tucson News Now  ...The Teamsters Local 104 Union's prediction that the Sun Tran bus strike may go on for weeks, not days, is coming closer to reality. The strike is now in its 16th day and there are still no talks scheduled. According to Teamsters Spokesman Andrew Marshall, "the federal mediator called me at 8:20 this morning and reiterated again there's no proposal from Sun Tran...
Teamsters break strike record, plan to rally  Arizona Daily Star  ... The strike has passed the record for the longest ever. In 2001, the workers were on strike for 12 days. Teamsters Local 104 is holding a rally at 4 p.m. today, at Ronstadt Transit Center, 215 E. Congress St. Sun Tran spokeswoman Kandi Young said the management continues to work with a federal mediator to try to schedule talks with the union. But Teamsters spokesman Andy Marshall called it lip service...

Global Labor & Trade
Critics of Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal warn about arbitration clause  LA Times  ...Few things have galvanized critics of the 12-nation Pacific Rim trade deal as much as an arbitration clause aimed at protecting foreign businesses from the hazards of investing in countries with weak rule of law and unstable governments. The provision allows multinational investors to sue foreign governments for expropriation and unfair or unequal treatment, giving them the ability to bring cases before a special, extrajudicial arbitration tribunal that is unavailable to domestic investors...
NAFTA countries reignite negotiations over TPP auto-parts dispute  Globe and Mail  ...Negotiators for Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are meeting in Washington to try to break a deadlock over autos – one of the biggest stumbling blocks to a massive Pacific Rim trade pact between 12 countries. They are facing pressure from firms in the Canadian and Mexican auto sectors for a better deal...
Protesters rally against the Trans-Pacific Partnership in Martin Place  Sydney Morning Herald  ...More than one hundred protesters gathered in Martin Place on Sunday to rally in opposition against the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The rally was organised by GetUp! and the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network and called on Trade Minister Andrew Robb to scrap the United States-led deal, which will "set the rules" for business in the region...
Opponents of secret 'TTIP' trade deal with the US take to the streets  Chronicle Live  ...Campaigners took to the streets on Saturday to campaign against a new trade deal which is so secret that it has to be kept in a locked room in Brussels. Ministers say the planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a treaty due to be signed by the US and EU, will boost exports from the North East by £1.05bn...
Rep. Rosa DeLauro: Now Is The Time to Stop the TPP  (opinion) BNR  ...The latest round of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations has again failed to produce an agreement, despite intense pressure on the Obama administration to conclude negotiations before the start of the 2016 primary season. The TPP is in trouble because of serious problems with the agreement highlighted by Democrats in Congress and elsewhere. Now is the perfect moment for progressives to speak out about those weaknesses...
Kenya: Workers' Strikes Plunge Health Service in Crisis  AllAfrica  ...The crisis that has gripped health services has worsened as hospital workers in at least 10 counties threaten to strike over labour disputes with the devolved governments. The public health service in nearly all counties has been marred by claims of ethnic profiling, job stagnation, salary delays and withholding of allowances and poor working conditions...
Workers Win New Labor Law in Iraq  Solidarity Center  ...The Iraqi parliament passed a new labor law on Monday, marking a victory for workers and civil society who have long fought for a legal framework that would protect the interests of workers. The consensus version of the law was hammered out by representatives of workers and civil society with government officials earlier this month during a consultative conference...
China’s Stock Market Is Melting Down—and It’s Taking Markets Everywhere With It  Slate  ...Friday was a rout in the stock markets; Monday is already looking worse. The Shanghai Composite index tumbled 8.5 percent—erasing the last of its gains for the year in its biggest single-day loss since 2007. European stocks have plunged nearly 5 percent. U.S. stocks nosedived at the opening bell...

State & Living Wage Battles
Both sides prepare as right-to-work battle heats up  Joplin Globe ...Southwest Missouri Democrats plan a second town hall meeting to support Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of right-to-work legislation. Groups for and against the measure are gearing up in advance of the veto session that starts Sept. 16 in Jefferson City. The Missouri Chamber of Commerce is leading the charge for the veto override and suggests "an increasing likelihood of a successful vote"...
Minimum-wage debate heats up in Pennsylvania  Times Leader  ...Nineteen U.S. cities and counties experienced mandated wage increases this year; 29 states and Washington, D.C., already require employers to pay workers more than $7.25. Pennsylvania isn’t part of this group – yet. There are five bills pending in the state Legislature proposing to raise the minimum wage, with different methods and standards...
Under John Kasich, Ohio's Charter Schools Became a "National Joke"  Mother Jones  ...In the four years that Kasich has been in office, funding for traditional public schools has declined by almost half a billion dollars, while charter schools have seen a funding increase of more than 25 percent. Much of that funding appears to have been misspent. When State Auditor David Yost visited 30 charter schools unannounced this past fall, he found that in more than half of them, attendance was drastically lower...
NC voter ID case back in state court this morning  Progressive Pulse  ...The state court challenge to the 2013 voter ID provisions of the monster voting law is set for a hearing this morning at the Wake County Courthouse on the state’s request to dismiss the case. That request comes on the heels of the recent amendment to the law providing that voters lacking an acceptable photo ID can still cast a ballot after signing an affidavit...
Supporters of Puerto Rico statehood see opportunity as island's woes deepen  US News & World Report  ...With unemployment at 12 percent, and the public debt reaching $72 billion, advocates for making the Caribbean island the 51st state say the economic woes are strengthening their arguments. As a state, Puerto Rico's municipalities and public utilities would no longer be prohibited from restructuring their debts through bankruptcy. It would also receive more of certain kinds of federal funding that other states get...
Washington Supreme Court Rules All SeaTac Workers Be Paid $15 Minimum Wage  Truthout  ...SeaTac workers have a reason to celebrate after the Washington Supreme Court ruled 5-4 yesterday that the $15 minimum wage passed by a recent voter referendum should apply to thousands of airport employees. SeaTac surrounds Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and many of its 28,000 residents are employed by companies near and in the airport...
Court Ruling Grants Home Care Workers Minimum Wage, Overtime Protections  Think Progress  ...A federal appeals court has reinstated a rule change that is meant to provide home care workers minimum wage and overtime protections. In 2013, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it would make changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act so that this workforce, who care for the elderly and disabled in their homes, would be guaranteed the same labor protections as all other workers...

U.S. Labor
NLRB Declines To Rule On Northwestern Football Players’ Union, Setting Back Player Organizing  In These Times  ...Faced with a decision about whether Northwestern University’s football team players could vote on whether they wanted a union, the five members of the National Labor Relations Board borrowed a tactic from the petitioning players’ game: they punted. They claimed that they could have decided, as the regional director did in March 2014, that the players were employees of the university. But the NLRB declined...
UAW activists pressure Detroit Three to end two-tier wages  Detroit Free Press  ...Auto workers need to continue to speak out to pressure UAW leaders as well as the Detroit Three to eliminate the two-tier wage structure in this year's contract negotiations, according to union members and retirees who spoke Sunday at an event in Detroit. “It’s now or never on ending two tier," said Jim Tyson, who drives trucks that deliver parts for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles...
California high court to hear Gerawan, UFW case  The Packer  ...California’s Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case involving the United Farm Workers and Gerawan Farming Inc., but it could be well into 2016 before the justices rule on whether the union and state officials can force the grower’s workers to join the union. The Fresno-based grower of stone fruit and grapes has been fighting the union and the California Agriculture Labor Relations Board...
Why One Company Is Experimenting With A Four-Day Workweek  Think Progress  ...Fast Retailing, which owns Uniqlo, Theory, and J Brand, will give about a fifth of its employees the option to work four days a week starting in October, Bloomberg News reports. In exchange for a three-day weekend, workers will have to put in 10-hour days when they are at work and some will have to work Saturdays and Sundays...
USW stages massive rally  NWI Times  ...At least 3,000 steelworkers marched through downtown Gary to the gates of U.S. Steel's Gary Works mill, demanding a fair contract that preserves benefits previous generations fought for. Steelworkers carried signs saying "Fair Contract Now" and "Mario Got His $15,000,000. Where's Ours?"...
Robert Reich: In the New Economy, Workers Take on All the Risk  Alternet  ...As Labor Day looms, more Americans than ever don’t know how much they’ll be earning next week or even tomorrow. This varied group includes independent contractors, temporary workers, the self-employed, part-timers, freelancers, and free agents. Most file 1099s rather than W2s, for tax purposes...
Oil Field Workers Keep Dying, and the Feds Want to Know Why  Mother Jones  ...The oil boom in North Dakota and elsewhere has helped the US become the world's leading energy provider and has captured the attention of Hollywood producers. It also has claimed the lives of dozens of oil field workers. Now, that fallout from the boom is drawing renewed attention from government scientists...

Social Justice & Other News
Donald Trump Changes His Tune On Taxing The Super Rich  Think Progress  ...On Sunday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump struck a populist tone when talking about hedge funds and the taxes they pay. But Trump has not always stuck up for the less well off in his tax reform proposals. As recently as 2011, in his book Time to Get Tough, he actually called for lowering the tax rate on capital gains income as well as dividends... 
We Need to Fix Our Democracy: Lawrence Lessig Weighs Presidential Run to Rid Money from Politics  Democracy Now  ...The 2016 presidential race is shaping up to be the most expensive political race in history. Experts predict as much as $10 billion could be spent by candidates, parties and outside groups on the campaign. A recent analysis by The New York Times shows fewer than 400 families are responsible for almost half the money raised to date...

Today's Teamster News 08.17.15

Teamsters
SunTran Strike: Teamsters Say Their Offer Rejected; SunTran Still Says, “Let’s Talk.”  KQTH   ...The SunTran strike has been dragging on for nine days now. Late Friday afternoon, the Teamsters said SunTran rejected another offer the union proposed late Thursday, though SunTran says it's still interested in talking more about the proposal...
Teamsters Union Approves Contract With County  Laconia Daily Sun   ...The contract was approved by a 2-1 vote of the County Commissioners last week, the commissioners announced Wednesday. This week the pact was approved by a majority vote of union membership. The contract will now go the Belknap County Convention for approval of the cost items...
Anti-Union Campaign In Full Swing At Google Express  San Francisco Chronicle   ...While the rest of the on-demand economy struggles to come to terms with the fallout from start-ups' reliance on classifying employees as independent contractors, Google Express — which does not use independent contractors but instead subcontracts its workforce through a staffing agency — is facing labor troubles of its own. And the battle is heating up...

Global Labor & Trade
Germany's Merkel To Face Down Party Rebels In Greek Bailout Vote  Huffington Post   ...In a major test of her authority, Chancellor Angela Merkel will ask skeptical German lawmakers to back an 86 billion euro ($95.5 billion) bailout for Greece on Wednesday despite uncertainty over whether the IMF will play a role in the rescue...

State & Living Wage Battles
Ulster County Considers Raising Minimum Wage To $15 An Hour For Its Employees  Daily Freeman   ...Ulster County Legislature Chairman John Parete has proposed establishing a $15-an-hour minimum wage for county employees. “If we’re going to try to save the world, we’ve got to start leading from right here,” said Parete, D-Boiceville. “It might be an awful good signal to the world that we’re progressive and we care about the people that are servicing us and servicing our county...
Researchers: Voter ID Confusion May Have Turned An Election  Jacksonville Daily Progress   ...Mark Jones, a Rice University political scientist, and other researchers talked to 400 registered voters who didn't participate in the election in District 23, which experts said was the only congressional district in the state with competitive candidates from both major parties. The district sprawls the Trans-Pecos region from San Antonio to El Paso County. Confusion over ID rules potentially discouraged up to 9 percent of voters from casting ballots, the researchers found. “When you look at the people who were confused, those voters overwhelmingly favored Pete Gallego,” Jones said. “If they hadn’t been confused, it’s quite possible that Pete Gallego would have won.”...
Paid Sick Leave Vote Put On Hold  Spokane Spokesman-Review   ...City Council President Ben Stuckart said some council members had hoped to vote later this month on a plan that would require businesses to offer their workers one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. That amounts to three days a year for full-time workers...
Los Angeles Is Facing A Housing Affordability Crisis  BuzzFeed   ...Los Angeles appears to be facing a growing crisis after two new reports showed that it has the least affordable housing in the U.S., stagnant wages, and a market that favors a “wealthy minority.”...
ATI Locks Out Union Workers  Pittsburgh Post Gazette   ...On Friday, union officials said non-essential union workers were told to go home and that they would be paid through today. Mr. Troyan, 59, who works at a furnace at the company’s new, $1.2 billion Brackenridge mill, said he was told to report for his shift, which started at 7 p.m. Friday and ends at 7 a.m. today...

U.S. Labor
How America's Global Financial System Blocks Development  Huffington Post   ...Just a few years ago, Ben Bernanke, then the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, talked about a global savings glut. And yet investment projects with high social returns were being starved of funds. That remains true today. The problem, then as now, is that the world's financial markets, meant to intermediate efficiently between savings and investment opportunities, instead misallocate capital and create risk...
FAA Still Working To Fix Flight Delays After Computer Outage  BuzzFeed   ...The Federal Aviation Administration on Sunday said it was still working to resume normal air traffic operations after flights along the East Coast were disrupted Saturday because of a computer problem, delaying some flights in the Washington, D.C. area for hours...
Bankruptcy Loses Its Stigma - For Wealthy Corporations  Philadelphia Inquirer   ...The finance industry urged lawmakers to ignore factors such as overly easy and tricky credit or lagging middle-class incomes. It achieved its key goal - making it harder and costlier for consumers to go to court to escape debt - largely by arguing that bankruptcy was booming because it had "lost its stigma."...
Walmart's Use Of Tax Havens Hurts Small Businesses  Cap Times   ...ATF says Walmart may have skirted U.S. securities law by not properly reporting its tax-haven subsidiaries. But even if hiding them runs afoul of the law, using tax havens to avoid U.S. taxes is perfectly legal. Yet every time a big corporation uses accounting schemes to avoid paying its full measure of taxes — the typical use of tax havens — small businesses and working families pay the price, either in higher taxes or deteriorating public services...
Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas In A Brutal Workplace  New York Times   ...Even as the company tests delivery by drone and ways to restock toilet paper at the push of a bathroom button, it is conducting a little-known experiment in how far it can push white-collar workers, redrawing the boundaries of what is acceptable. The company, founded and still run by Jeff Bezos, rejects many of the popular management bromides that other corporations at least pay lip service to and has instead designed what many workers call an intricate machine propelling them to achieve Mr. Bezos’ ever-expanding ambitions...

Social Justice & Other News
Julian Bond, Former N.A.A.C.P. Chairman And Civil Rights Leader, Dies At 75  New York Times   ...Julian Bond, a former chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a charismatic figure of the 1960s civil rights movement, a lightning rod of the anti-Vietnam War campaign and a lifelong champion of equal rights for minorities, died on Saturday night, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. He was 75...
Exclusion Of Blacks From Juries Raises Renewed Scrutiny  New York Times   ...Here are some reasons prosecutors have offered for excluding blacks from juries: They were young or old, single or divorced, religious or not, failed to make eye contact, lived in a poor part of town, had served in the military, had a hyphenated last name, displayed bad posture, were sullen, disrespectful or talkative, had long hair, wore a beard...
David Denson Becomes First Openly Gay Player On MLB-Affiliated Team  Huffington Post   ..."Talking with my teammates, they gave me the confidence I needed, coming out to them," Denson told the newspaper. "They said, "You're still our teammate. You're still our brother. We kind of had an idea, but your sexuality has nothing to do with your ability. You're still a ballplayer at the end of the day. We don't treat you any different. We've got your back.'...
Black Lives Matter Joins A Long Line Of Protest Movements That Have Shifted Public Opinion — Most Recently, Occupy Wall Street  Salon.com   ...By introducing the phrase “black lives matters” into our culture – primarily through the use of social media but also by engaging in protest and civil disobedience – BLM has shifted public opinion. A new Pew Research Center poll discovered that the number of Americans who believe that changes are needed to give African-Americans equal rights has swelled from 46 percent to 59 percent just in the past year. Among white Americans, the number has increased from 39 percent to 53 percent. Among Republicans, it spiked from 27 percent to 42 percent...
NC House Passes Bill That Regulates Drone Usage  WNCN   ...As drones become more popular across the nation, North Carolina lawmakers are working to create regulations for the technology. The State House passed Senate Bill 446 this week that develops guidelines for operating drones. The bill now moves on to the Senate...
FAA Considering New Drone Registration Rules  CBS News   ...The Department of Transportation is reviewing whether the FAA has the authority to require drones be registered at their point of sale, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx told CBS News on Friday...
When Public Servants Refuse To Serve The Public  The Atlantic   ...Is it possible to agree on what religious freedom is not? It’s not a right to wear a Marine uniform but refuse to fight. It’s not a right to be a county clerk and decide which citizens you will serve and which you won’t. Religious “accommodation” doesn’t mean what Liberty Counsel thinks it means. If a person can perform the duties of a job with some adjustment for religious belief, that’s an accommodation. If they’re not willing to do the job, they have to leave. That’s not just a requirement of law; honor requires it as well...
Lawyers: Immigrant Family Detention Still Lengthy And Unsafe  ABC News   ...A group of immigrant rights lawyers say that detention of women and children caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally is lengthy and unsafe, challenging the government's claims that immigrant families are held only briefly and that their detention doesn't violate a longstanding ban...

Woot! Google to dump ALEC!!

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt announced this afternoon the company will no longer support ALEC, the corporate dating service for state lawmakers. Just one week ago we learned four other companies quit paying dues to ALEC: Raytheon, Sempra Energy, Southern California Edison and Illinois Tool Works.

The Teamsters joined 50 other organizations in sending a letter to Google asking it to leave ALEC. The letter pointed out that ALEC represents positions that Google itself says it doesn't support. 

Google's departure further weakens ALEC, which has come under attack because:

• It is tied to the Koch brothers; 
• It is a lobbying group masquerading as a charity;
• It has an agenda of lowering wages, empowering corporations, eradicating public education, suppressing voting, exporting natural gas, looting the public treasury and privatizing everything that isn't nailed down.
• It operates in secrecy, buying lawmakers lavish vacations and access to corporate political contributors. 

At least 90 organizations left ALEC in the past few years. Google has been petitioned to leave ALEC for two years, according to a press statement. 

“Over the past two years, hundreds of thousands of Americans have signed petitions in order to ask that you take this step because of the role ALEC has played in subverting our democratic process,” the letter states. “The public knows that the ALEC operation—which brings state legislators and corporate lobbyists behind closed doors to discuss proposed legislation and share lavish dinners—threatens our democracy. The public is asking Google to stop participating in this scheme.” 

Over the past two years over 80 corporations and at least 400 state legislators have dropped their membership in ALEC due to its unpopular stances and increasingly tight relationship with right-wing dark money groups. ALEC has been called a “dating service” for politicians and corporate lobbyists and is known for pushing an extreme corporate agenda at the expense of the American people.

(You can read the letter here.)

Schmidt made the announcement in response to a caller question on the Diane Rehm radio show. Here's what he said:

K: Um, I'm curious to know if Google is still supporting ALEC which is that fund, they're, um, lobbyists in DC that are funding climate change deniers.
E: Um, we funded them as part of a political [campaign---somewhat unintelligible] of something unrelated. I think the consensus within the company was that that was some sort of mistake and so we're trying to not do that in the future.

Today's Teamster News 01.20.14

Group Focused on Government Ethics Puts Scott Walker on List of “Worst Governors in America”  Center for Media and Democracy   ...Walker made the list of most ethically challenged public officials due to poor marks in several categories, including cronyism, scandal, mismanagement and excessive partisanship. The report reviews his promotion of the Koch Brothers' agenda -- the Kochs are some of his biggest campaign donors...
Rising Tide of Public Outrage on the Verge of Stopping a Shady Corporate Deal in Washington  Alternet   ...Turn up the heat: election years are a terrible time to pass anything controversial and the Trans-Pacific Partnership is becoming politically toxic...
US trade debate prompts fears of delay in talks  Financial Times   ...A heated debate over trade in the US Congress risks stalling two trade negotiations that cover 70 per cent of the global economy, senior international officials have warned...
7 Reasons We Don’t Want ‘Fast Track’ Trade Deals  Buzzfeed   ...It’s a policy designed to ensure that Congress passes any and all trade deals the administration negotiates. Kind of like if your teacher had to give you an A no matter how pathetic your work actually was...
NYC Politicians and Workers Ready to Battle Over Horse-Drawn Carriages  skift.com   ...It’s one of the first items on New York City Mayor Bill) de Blasio’s to-do list, but his efforts to ban the carriages could bring up much larger issues of employment and the importance of tourism...
Palmer farm against ending NYC horse carriages  WWLP.com   ..."We believe it's going to add to a current terrible crisis in homelessness with the horses we already have in the country,” said Pamela Rickenbach. "And more than the horses losing their jobs, the families that would lose their jobs also."...
The Undeserving Rich (opinion)  New York Times   ...for the past three decades and more the main obstacle facing the poor has been the lack of jobs paying decent wages...
‘Dark money’ and corruption, here and abroad (opinion)  Washington Post   ...A surge in independent spending is invading the election of state supreme court justices, and much of it comes from hidden sources. ... (In 2011-12) special-interest groups spent an unprecedented $15.4 million on TV ads and other election materials in state judicial campaigns during that period...
US tech firms make eleventh-hour attempt to halt tax avoidance reforms  The Guardian   ...Silicon Valley has launched a last-ditch attempt to derail plans devised by the G20 group of countries to close down international loopholes that are exploited by the likes of Google, Amazon and Apple to pay less tax in the UK and elsewhere...
The robots are coming for white-collar jobs  Macrobusiness   ...Take, for example, the autonomous driverless cars under development by Google. They are a prime example of a how a human worker, such as long-haul truck and taxi drivers, could soon be replaced by machines – just like a scene from the 1990s futuristic movie Total Recall or the 2000s film Artificial Intelligence...
Walmart under fire after customer takes photos of tanks full of dead and dying fish  Daily Mail   ...A New Jersey Walmart customer has become the owner of a number of fish she purchased after discovering a dozen dirty fish tanks filled with dead and dying fish at her local store...
Google is hiring security guards to protect its work buses in San Francisco following protests over tech workers driving up city rents  Daily Mail   ...In San Francisco, many long-time residents believe the influx of richly compensated workers at Google and other big technology companies such as Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc has pushed rents to unaffordable levels in neighborhoods that once were homes to the working class...
Moral Monday A Branding Exercise Blaming Republicans for Stuff Democrats Helped Them Do (opinion)   Black Agenda Report   ...The problem is that Democrats enabled and helped Republicans to enact the immoral policies which Moral Monday spokespeople inveigh against in the first place...
What Happens When the Poor Receive a Stipend? (opinion)  New York Times   ...a little extra money may confer long-lasting benefits on poor children...

Why Facebook and Google joined ALEC

Facebook and Google want us to think they're 'progressive' organizations, but then they go ahead and join ALEC.

Readers of this blog know that ALEC (the American legislative Exchange Council) is a corporate dating group for state lawmakers. It offers lawmakers thinly disguised vacations at posh resorts in exchange for legislation that empowers corporations, enriches billionaires, eradicates public education, destroys workers' rights, undermines health and safety, weakens democracy and lowers the standard of living for the 99 percent. 

So why would Facebook and Google want to join ALEC?

Tim Worstall at Forbes magazine has a great explanation: It's the way the system works. 

...the tech companies have all learned their lesson from Microsoft. A decade or more ago the company did almost no lobbying. It sat there out in Redmond and carried on its plans for world domination without worrying overmuch about politics or politicians. It was rudely disabused of this notion when it got sued, investigated, charged with abuse of a monopoly and much, much, more. It found that you needed friends in politics at this point and they way to get such friends is to join the various lobbies, spread a little cash around the city of DC and in general, make the political classes feel happy that you’re paying attention to them. 

Thus what Facebook and Google are doing. Making sure that the political classes, all sides and flavours of them, know and like them. That way there will be much less trouble from said political classes over the years. No, it’s not quite the Mafia extorting: but there’s a definite flavour of “nice company you’ve got here, would be a shame if the law changed, wouldn’t it?”. A few millions in the lobby budgets, a few millions spread around every electoral cycle is the cure for this potential problem. 

And it is just a few millions: for whatever else politicians are they are undoubtedly cheap.

Best explanation we've heard.  

Today's Teamster News 10.16.13

ABF Teamsters Approve Western Office Supplement  teamster.org   ...Teamsters at ABF, who work under the Western Office Supplement, have approved the supplement. Ballots were counted on Monday, October 14. About 67 workers are covered by the supplement...
A union against Inquirer publisher  Philadelphia Inquirer   ...On Tuesday, the battle over The Inquirer shifted to employees. Outside the newspaper's Center City headquarters, members of the Teamsters locals who package and deliver the paper inflated a 15-foot rat and protested for two hours against publisher Robert J. Hall...
Teamsters Warn of Possible Strike or Lockout at CN Rail  Waterloo Region Record   ...The Teamsters Union is warning of a potential strike or lockout at CN Rail starting on Oct. 28 after an offer to continue a conciliation effort was rejected by the company...
Unions, pension funds fight to kick Detroit out of bankruptcy court  Detroit News   ...All the big acronyms will be in federal court at 10 a.m. as labor unions, retirees, pension funds and others try to convince a judge that Detroit is not eligible for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection...
Bodies Double as Cash Machines With U.S. Income Lagging: Economy  Bloomberg   ...Hair, breast milk and eggs are doubling as automated teller machines for some cash-strapped Americans...
Here Are The Sleaziest Things Congress Has Done During The Shutdown  Huffington Post   ...After almost two weeks into the shutdown, recent polling has shown record levels of support for replacing every member of Congress, and lawmakers are now less popular than witches and dog poop...
Hypocrites! Corporate Leaders Bemoan the Default Crisis Created by Tea Partiers They Funded AlterNet   ...Now big-wigs are begging these yo-yos not to crash the economy...
Support for GOP's Budget Strategy Falls Further Still  Slate   ...New poll, same takeaway: No one's winning the shutdown/debt ceiling blame game, but congressional Republicans are losing it worse than either congressional Democrats or President Obama...
Mrs. Ted Cruz: VP Goldman Sachs, Economic Policy Advisor to Bush-Cheney  Daily Kos   ...These people don't even hide their conflicts of interest anymore…
World Bank support for China solar and wind power may have cost U.S. jobs  Washington Post   ...As investment in alternative energy rebounded in 2011, U.S. wind and solar companies found stiff new competition — Chinese firms dominating the green industries that American officials looked to for growth...
Irish Unveil Austerity Budget, Seek Bailout Exit  Associated Press   ...Ireland unveiled its seventh straight austerity budget Tuesday, a plan to slash 2.5 billion euros ($3.4 billion) from next year's deficit and pave the way for the nation to escape from its international bailout...
Should Rich Kids Get Most of the Scholarships?  Truthout   ...it makes a heck of a big difference to your scholarship chances if you don’t have to work 25 hours a week...
Google’s Privacy Violations Under Fire  Fire Dog Lake   ...Everyone’s favorite tax dodger, Google inc., is trying to put out multiple fires concerning their seeming total disregard for user privacy. In an effort to snatch even more revenue in search – a category they may already be violating anti-trust laws in…
There's an International Plan to Censor the Internet in the Works -- Let's Stop It in Its Tracks  AlterNet   ...How the Trans Pacific Partnership making its way through Washington seriously undermines citizens’ rights to participate in a free and open Internet...
Burger Cooks Cost $7 Billion a Year in Government Aid  Bloomberg   ...Hamburger grillers and other fast-food workers at restaurants such as McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) and Wendy’s Co. get about $7 billion a year in U.S. government aid, a report recently published shows...
California Now Seventh State To Bar Employment Discrimination Against Domestic Violence Victims  ThinkProgress   ...On Friday, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a law that bars employment discrimination against victims of domestic violence and those who experience stalking or sexual assault...
Petitions seek ‘right-to-work’ vote in 2014  Columbus Dispatch   ...Supporters of a proposed “right-to-work” issue on Ohio’s 2014 statewide ballot said they have gathered 100,000 signatures and plan a big push next month for more names...
Scott Walker Creates Phantom Jobs To Boost Aides’ Pay  ThinkProgress   ...Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), who has so far fallen well short on his promise of 250,000 new jobs by 2015, at the same time has created phantom jobs to boost his employees’ pay, including some top aides...

Today's Teamster News 10.01.13

Teamsters: House GOP's Political Games Endanger Economy, Jobs  teamster.org   ...The Teamsters Union blasted extremist House Republicans today for endangering the U.S. economy and threatening the livelihood of millions of public and private sector workers with a possible government shutdown...
Teamsters reject Wegmans contract offer  Rochester Democrat & Chronicle   ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 118 has rejected Wegmans "last, best and final" contract offer. The grocery company says the move authorizes union members to go on strike...
Hospital, union deserve praise (opinion)  Montana Standard   ...Congratulations are in order for St. James Healthcare and Teamsters Local 2, who reached a last-minute deal late on Sept. 19 to avoid a strike...
U.S. Wealth Is Now the Most Concentrated at the Top Since 1916  AlterNet   ...The top ten-thousandth of the U.S. population have done very well under President Obama’s leadership, even if they had predominantly voted and contributed to Mitt Romney...
US Chamber of Commerce: TPP is one month away  CNBC   ..."I think we are getting close. The [U.S.] President will be able to announce, as will other world leaders, progress in the right direction [at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting], but my guess is that it's got another month in it," Donohue told CNBC Asia's Squawk Box on Tuesday...
FHA to get $1.7 billion in its first taxpayer-funded bailout  Los Angeles Times   ...The Federal Housing Administration dramatically expanded its role after the subprime market collapsed, but at the expense of its own finances. Now, the government agency will get a first-ever bailout of $1.7 billion...
Google Paid $55 Million In UK Taxes On $5.5 Billion Sales In 2012  Reuters   ...Google, which has been grilled twice in the past year by a UK parliamentary committee over its tax practices, had a UK tax bill of 35 million pounds ($55 million) in 2012, on sales of $5.5 billion to British customers, its accounts showed...
A Wave of U.S. Sewing Jobs as Orders Pile Up  New York Times   ...Factories are finding that years of doing business overseas has shrunk what once was a thriving textile and apparel work force...
Toyota says it will export U.S.-built Corollas to Latin America  Los Angeles Times ...The new Toyota Corolla has barely hit car dealers but Toyota is already saying it plans to export the U.S.-built version of the compact sedan to 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean starting next year...
NYC inmate almost as costly as Ivy League tuition  Associated Press   ...New York is indeed an expensive place, but experts say that alone doesn't explain a recent report that found the city's annual cost per inmate was $167,731 last year — nearly as much as it costs to pay for four years of tuition at an Ivy League university...
Huge Spike In Poverty Among Elderly Women Catches Analysts By Surprise  Think Progress   ...The number of women over the age of 65 living in extreme poverty jumped by 18 percent last year after having held steady for most of the previous decade the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) reported Thursday...
Wall Street Predators Wage Secret War on American Retirements  AlterNet   ...Financiers are lying their way to another giant theft of public money...
BP returns to court over Deepwater Horizon spill as $18 billion in fines loom  The Guardian   ...Penalties against BP for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster could add up to $18 billion – five times the $3.5 billion originally set aside for fines...
Airlines shift focus from baggage fees to new services to make flying better, boosting revenue  Associated Press ...Airlines are introducing a new bevy of fees, but this time passengers might actually like them...
American Airlines plans to hire 1,500 pilots  Reuters   ...American Airlines plans to hire 1,500 pilots over the next five years as it expands international flying and takes delivery of new planes, the carrier said on Monday...
Indiana, Illinois governors endorse Illiana Expressway  Associated Press   ...The governors of Indiana and Illinois have given their endorsement to a planned 47-mile expressway aimed at relieving traffic congestion in the Chicago area and creating jobs in both states...
Consultants' contracts soar to more than $62 million for Detroit bankruptcy  Detroit Free Press   ...Contracts approved for consultants and lawyers advising emergency manager Kevyn Orr’s team as it restructures city government and prepares for a likely Chapter 9 bankruptcy have skyrocketed to at least $62 million, with some firms getting more than $10-million increases, according to records reviewed by the Free Press...