Today's Teamster News 11.29.12

Stand up to so-called Right to Work in Lansing  Michigan State AFL-CIO   ...We NEED you to come to Lansing to join our team of citizen lobbyists talking to legislators about why we don't need a Right-to-Work fight in Michigan Thursday, November 29th. Many Republican legislators and billionaire Dick DeVos are pushing this right wing agenda and we need your help to stop them...
President uses hashtag 'My2K' in fiscal cliff PR effort  CNN   ..."I'm asking Americans all across the country to make your voice heard," Obama said at the event. "Tell members of Congress what a $2,000 tax hike would mean to you. Call your members of Congress. Write them an email, post it on their Facebook walls. You can tweet it using the #My2K..."
Obama On Filibuster Reform: White House Embraces Harry Reid's Rule Changes  Huffington Post   ...Reid has been pushing for a series of changes that would preserve the right of the minority party to hold up legislative matters via a 60-vote threshold, but would make it harder to obstruct Senate business in this manner...
Obama Administration again fails to cite China on currency: Statement from the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM)  manufacture this   ..."We're disappointed that the Treasury Department has once again declined to designate China as a currency manipulator, which it most certainly is. Yes, the Yuan has appreciated somewhat against the dollar, but it is still far below an equilibrium value. The best evidence of that, other than China's massive foreign currency reserves, is our bilateral trade deficit, which is on pace to top last year's record $295 billion...
US bans BP from pitching for new government work  Independent   ...Oil giant is punished for its 'lack of business integrity' over the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster in 2010...
Extending Unemployment Insurance Would Create 300,000 Jobs Next Year  ThinkProgress   ...America’s unemployed are facing a cliff of a different kind. In January, the expanded federal unemployment insurance program will expire, cutting off benefits for millions of Americans...
Spencer Black: GOP stacked deck to control Legislature  The Cap Times   ...Voters also cast 193,000 more votes for Democrats than Republicans in the contests for state Assembly. Yet the Republicans ended up with more than 60 percent of the seats in the Assembly...
The Turning Point in Scott Walker's Little Legal Snag  Esquire   ...Walker keeps telling everyone that he is "confident" that he is not a target of the investigation but, considering that both Rindfleisch and Wink are going to jail because they worked on his campaign while simultaneously working for him in his capacity as county executive, those denials have to be taken with a small mountain of salt...
Waste hauler Republic Services to resume talks with Teamsters  Detroit News   ...Republic Services, a Michigan waste disposal company, said Wednesday it will resume collective bargaining negotiations with Teamsters Local 247 after the union's contract expired over disputes over a pension fund...
Teamster Horsemen's annual party to benefit Toys for Tots  Times Herald Record   ...With their mission in mind, members of the Teamster Horsemen Chapter 16 North and the Local 707 Dockworkers at YRC Freight in Maybrook came up with the idea to help the Marines with their Toys for Tots campaign this holiday season...

Clueless in FL: Slick Rick needs a puppetmaster (link to video)

We knew Slick Rick Scott should have gone to jail instead of ending up as Florida's governor. But we didn't know he was clueless.

The backstory: Floridians are furious that Slick Rick accepted $30 million from BP instead of joining a multi-billion dollar lawsuit against TransOcean for the oil leak that polluted the Gulf of Mexico and killed 11 workers.

So Slick Rick tried to do some damage control by talking to the media via satellite. The production crew left the mic on in between takes to reveal a muddled, aloof governor -- who needed to be coached on why he did the deal with BP!!!

Watch here as WESH pulls the trigger on Slick Rick.

Not only did Scott receive coaching about whether or not Orlando residents vacation in the Panhandle, he also got advice on how to explain why he accepted $30 million in marketing money from BP instead of going after potentially billions from TransOcean.

"Just continue to say that what's best for Florida is to continue to work through the process," an adviser said. "It just doesn't make sense."

Ignore those Koch brothers behind the curtain!

Today's Teamster News 04.21.11

NH Teamsters Condemn Senate Vote Against the Middle Class  Local 633   ...Right-to-work's sole purpose is to destroy unions...
Wisconsin court race heads for recount  Reuters   ...the challenger in the close race for a seat on the state Supreme Court has asked for a recount...
Rick Scott: Forget the Oil Spill -- Let's Go Fishing!  Broward Palm Beach New Times   ... He's refusing to sue the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig...
Michigan: SWATing Benton Harbor's Local Government  neon tommy   ...

(The) SWAT team of Emergency Financial Managers ... will be fully prepared to take action: removing elected school board members from office, closing schools, invalidating union contracts, suspending collective bargaining rights, selling public property, privatizing much-needed government services, removing elected local officials from office, and, finally, dissolving elected local governments altogether...

Big Brothers: Thought Control at Koch  The Nation   ... Koch Industries sent an urgent letter to most of its 50,000 employees advising them on whom to vote for and warning them about the dire consequences to their families, their jobs and their country should they choose to vote otherwise...

Labor Board Tells Boeing New Factory Breaks the Law  New York Times   ...Boeing’s decision to transfer a second production line for its new 787 Dreamliner passenger plane to South Carolina was motivated by an unlawful desire to retaliate against union workers for their past strikes in Washington...

This sucks

Oil rig explodes in Gulf. AP reports:

An offshore oil rig has exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, west of the site of the April blast that caused the massive oil spill.

Links 07/22/10

Workers on Doomed Rig Voiced Concerns About Safety New York Times ...A confidential survey of workers on the Deepwater Horizon in the weeks before the oil rig exploded showed that many of them were concerned about safety practices and feared reprisals if they reported mistakes or other problems.
Maine Giving Social Security Another Look New York Times ...Maine legislators have prepared a detailed plan for shifting state employees into Social Security and are considering whether to adopt it. They acknowledge it will not solve their problem in the short term but see long-term advantages.
Program to Help Prevent Foreclosures Falls Short New York Times ...Only 390,000 homeowners have seen their mortgage terms permanently modified since the $50 billion program was announced in March 2009.
No Fed Plans to Give More Support, Bernanke Says New York Times ...The chairman of the Federal Reserve, in saying that it had no immediate plans to provide additional support to the economy, dashed the hopes of some economists and executives who have been pushing for action to add momentum to the sluggish recovery.
Restore the Estate Tax! Newsweek ...abolishing the estate tax massively increases the deficit in order to help a few very wealthy people.
Mine Citations Focus on Ventilation, Fire, Electricity NPR ...Citations for safety and health violations by operators of underground coal mines have increased by nearly a third since 2006.
Workers To Vote on Teamsters Contract Modesto Bee ...One of the largest cheese manufacturers in the United States is on the cusp of signing a new labor contract with Teamster Local 386, which represents about 100 workers at the company's Newman cheese plant.

Links 07/15/10

Obama Courts Stimulus Doubters Wall Street Journal
Small biz owners uneasy with Obama Politico
Health Plans Must Provide Some Tests at No Cost New York Times
Americans in 73% Majority Oppose Ban on Deepwater Drilling Bloomberg
Watchdog: Small banks struggling despite bailout Associated Press

CNN: Almost All Exxon Valdez Cleanup Crew Dead!!!

CNN reporting that the average life span for Exxon Valdez workers was 51 years.

Two Workers Dead in BP Oil Disaster Recovery Effort

I guess we shouldn't be surprised, given the disregard shown for worker safety. Michael Whitney at firedoglake has the story of the workers who died.

Update: Both deaths appear to be unrelated to the cleanup effort. BUT a problem with the containment cap is causing more oil to spew forth. Heckuva job!

Links 6/23/10

Senate confirms 2 labor board nominees Associated Press
Judge who nixed drill ban reported oil investments Associated Press
Lincoln Intervenes for Arkansas Bank Wall Street Journal
Democrats Weigh Tax-Pledge Pullback Wall Street Journal
U.A.W. Chief Is Taking On Toyota Plants New York Times

Does BP really care about the small people?

Here’s a shock (not): BP is underreporting the number of workers who’ve been hurt or sickened during the Gulf cleanup, according to Michael Whitney at firedoglake.

No one should expect BP to show any concern for its workers. CEO Tony Hayward actually complained, “I’d like my life back” – just weeks after 11 BP workers lost their lives in the rig explosion. He later apologized.

Gordon Jones was one of the workers who died in the fire. His brother Chris said BP never called the family to offer condolences.

Now, apparently, working conditions for the cleanup workers suck. Mother Jones reports that workers don’t have respirators or protective clothing. If they ask for a medic’s help they’re automatically drug tested. And the company keeps losing their checks.

Seems they really don’t care about the small people.