Today's Teamster News 02.11.15

Teamsters
Teamsters give CP Rail 72-hour strike notice  CBC News   …3,330 locomotive engineers and conductors could walk off the job this weekend…
Farmers, Gov’t Brace For Possible Railway Labour Problems  Regina Leader Post   ...The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents unionized locomotive engineers, conductors, trainmen and yardmen throughout Canada, says its members have voted by 93 per cent in favour of a strike if they can’t reach an agreement with the Canadian Pacific Railway...
Sysco-US Foods Merger Faces Skepticism, Doubts About Remedies  teamster.org   ...As Sysco attempts to overcome antitrust issues plaguing its proposed acquisition of US Foods, the transaction faces skepticism from elected officials, consumer advocates, food service establishments, workers and others. They warn there may be no adequate remedies to protect consumers in an industry that, in the words of lawmakers on the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, “touches every single American consumer who eats meals away from home.”...
Golan's Workers Win First Union Contract, End 6-Month Strike  Progress Illinois   ...Following a strike that lasted six months, unionized workers at Golan's Moving and Storage in Skokie are back on the job after winning their first labor contract with their employer. Prior to the strike, workers at the Skokie moving company, located at 3600 Jarvis Ave., were waiting for their first labor contract for months after having won union representation by Teamsters Local 705 back in December 2013...
Trade
U.S. Lawmakers Put Currency Cheating On Trade Agenda  Reuters   ...U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday unveiled bipartisan legislation to stop trading partners from manipulating exchange rates, and a senior Democrat vowed to keep pushing for rules against currency cheating in trade deals...
Corrected Trade Data Confirm Ballooning Trade Deficit Under Korea FTA and More Than Twice the Trade Deficit With NAFTA Partners  Public Citizen Global Trade Watch   ...The corrected data, which remove foreign-produced goods from the tally of U.S. exports, reveal that the U.S. goods trade deficit with NAFTA partners is actually more than twice as large as indicated in the raw data, topping 182 billion. And three years after passage of the U.S pact with Korea that served as the template for the TPP, the U.S. goods trade deficit with Korea has ballooned 72 percent, spelling the loss of more than 70,000 U.S. jobs...
Left and Right Align in Fighting Obama’s Trade Agenda  New York Times   ...About 150 of the House’s 188 Democrats have already signed on to letters opposing fast track, an ominous figure for the president, since Mr. Boehner said last Congress he would need as many as 50 Democratic votes...
Trade Must Not Trump Women's Human Rights (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...Women's rights groups, including the Feminist Majority Foundation, sent President Obama a letter last summer, requesting that the administration remove Brunei from TPP negotiations or suspend TPP talks until Brunei revokes its penal code...
State Battles
Missouri Republicans target public employee unions  Washington Post   ...A measure that would severely limit the power of some public employee unions is advancing through the Missouri state House, opening the latest front in the GOP’s nationwide fight to curb one of the Democratic Party’s wealthiest constituencies. A House committee approved so-called “paycheck protection” legislation Monday...
Nurses Condemn Illinois Governor’s Anti-Worker Executive Order  National Nurses United   ...“Nurses, emergency responders, child welfare advocates, and public servants who enforce public oversight and regulatory protections are among the many groups of workers threatened by the order,” said Martese Chism, a Chicago registered nurse and board member for National Nurses Organizing Committee-Illinois, an NNU affiliate...
Davis Introduces Bill Which Would Require At Least Two Man Train Crews  KCSR   ...District 43 State Senator Al Davis of Hyannis wants to keep the thought of one man crews in the past. Davis has introduced Legislative Bill Number 192 (Nebraska), which would require all train crews in the state to have at least two individuals...
War on Workers
IRS Issues John Doe Summons To FedEx, DHL, UPS, HSBC In Massive Offshore Account Hunt  Forbes   …A federal judge approved the IRS issuing summonses requiring FedEx, DHL, UPS, and a bevy of other handlers to produce information about U.S. taxpayers who used Sovereign Management & Legal Ltd. for offshore accounts and assets...
Investors Should Know Pay Gap Between C.E.O.s and Workers (opinion)  New York Times   ...It has been well documented that large pay gaps between chief executives and their workers severely weaken companies and put investments in those companies at risk. These gaps inhibit teamwork and lead to lower job satisfaction and morale, higher employee turnover, reduced productivity and inferior product quality...
Should you join a union? The research says yes.  Washington Post   ...unions serve as a bulwark against wage inequality — which now can be illustrated mostly in the negative. A 2011 study attributed a fifth to a third of increased income inequality among men to the decline in union representation between 1973 and 2007...
Investor: Peasants Will Be Out With Pitchforks if We Don't Start Sharing the Wealth  Bloomberg News   ...Society at large has to enjoy some of the largesse, or else the pitchforks come out...
Uber Drivers Are Scrambling To Make Ends Meet After Latest Fare Cuts  New York Observer   ...Uber slashed fares in Washington D.C. two weeks ago in another attempt to get their app onto every phone they can and edge out “Big Taxi.” ... A number of drivers we spoke to—some who we reached out to, some who got in touch with us after seeing our previous reporting—say that the fare cuts are scorched-earth warfare tactics that sacrifice great drivers on the altar of competition...
The Koch Brothers Raised $249 Million At Their Latest Donor Summit  Mother Jones   ...Donors at the Palm Springs confab pledged $249 million toward funding the Koch brothers' grand plan, according to two sources with knowledge of the fundraising haul. ...If the Koch network raises comparable sums at its remaining donor retreats between now and November 2016—it tends to hold two to three such gatherings a year—it will easily meet, if not surpass, its $889 million target...
Comcast worker killed in Glen Ridge accident recalled as accomplished fighter, dedicated father  NJ.com   ...A Comcast employee who was killed while working on a utility pole last week was an accomplished martial arts fighter and dedicated father to three sons....
Miscellaneous
Virginia Tech Undertakes Restart Study, Looking For 250 Driver Participants  The Trucker   ...The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute is looking for some 250 truck drivers to participate in the Congressionally-mandated study that could ultimately determine whether drivers have unlimited use of the 34-hour restart provision or whether they will only be allowed a restart only once every 168 hours and then must include two consecutive 1 a. m.-5 a.m. time periods. VTTI was awarded a $4 million contract by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to conduct the study...

Today's Teamster News 03.12.13

This New Puerto Rican Law Makes Wealthy People Want To Move There To Avoid Taxes  Business Insider   ...Billionaire hedge funder John Paulson, who famously bet against the subprime housing market, is reportedly weighing a move to Puerto Rico to take advantage of a new tax law there...
Illinois settles SEC fraud charges over pension fund disclosures  Reuters   ...Illinois failed to inform investors about the impact of problems with its pension funding schedule as the state offered and sold more than $2.2 billion worth of municipal bonds from 2005 to early 2009...
Ex-Detroit mayor Kilpatrick convicted of range of corruption charges  NBC News   ...Prosecutors said that Kilpatrick, 42, steered $83 million in city work to a friend and contractor, Bobby Ferguson, in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks...
After Watering Down Financial Reform, Ex-Senator Scott Brown Joins Goldman Sachs’ Lobbying Firm  ThinkProgress   ...During his nearly three years in the U.S. Senate, Scott Brown (R-MA) frequently came to the aid of the financial sector — watering down the Dodd-Frank bill and working to weaken it after its passage — and accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign cash from the industry...
Congress wants role as Obama pushes trade agenda  Associated Press   ...A strong trade agenda, said Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah requires close cooperation and consultation with Congress. Members of Obama's Democratic Party tend to oppose "fast track," arguing that trade pacts negotiated by past administrations have resulted in job losses in America and given short shrift to environmental and labor and human rights issues...
Sequester scuttling Sandy shape-up?  Manufacture This  ...New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, are still repairing after Hurricane Sandy, five months later. But now there's a new complication: the sequester has taken a bite out of federal aid money...
Missouri Senate Backs Union Paycheck Bill  Associated Press   ...The Missouri Senate has given first-round approval to a measure that would require public employee unions to seek annual consent to automatically deduct dues from members' paychecks...
Judge Cans Soda Ban  Wall Street Journal   ...Mayor Michael Bloomberg was dealt a stinging blow on Monday when a state Supreme Court Judge quashed his plan to ban the sale of large sugary drinks in the city's restaurants and other venues...
Why liquor privatization still faces a long road  PennLive   ...While some legislators say a bill introduced this week to end the state's longtime monopoly is on the fast track, others say they aren't so sure such a swift timetable is in the cards...
Behind Closed Doors: Americans for Prosperity chapter leader is no stranger to Pence  Indianapolis Star   ...Americans for Prosperity is a national group launched by Charles and David Koch, billionaire brothers and influential conservative leaders who financially supported Pence’s campaign for governor...
Minnesota Poll: Majority supports raising state minumum wage  Minneapolis Star-Tribune   ...But Minnesotans are divided on how high to go, $7.50 an hour vs. $9.50...
Realtors asked for budget provision expanding foreign ownership of state land  The Cap Times   ...Wisconsin Realtors look to be next in line to benefit from Gov. Scott Walker’s “Wisconsin is open for business” vow...
Teamsters begin picket at Thorn Creek Basin facility  NWITimes.com  ... About a dozen Teamsters Local 705 members began pickets Monday at the Thorn Creek Basin Sanitary District facility in frustration with the current negotiations for a new contract...
Teamsters rally in Memphis behind Republic Services workers  Commercial Appeal   ...The nation’s second-most powerful Teamster came to Memphis Sunday with Teamsters from across the nation to express their support to sanitation workers employed by Republic Services. About 180 employees are working under an expired contract to serve about 200,000 Memphis-area residents...
Teamsters Educate City Leaders About Republic Services' Poor Record  IBT  ...More than 2,000 mayors, city councilmembers, and local administrators at the conference were greeted by Teamsters holding a banner that stated "Republic Services Trashes American Cities." The League of Cities attendees also received leaflets that read, "Tell Republic: Do It Right or Pay the Penalty."...

Today's Teamster News 1.2.11

YRC Worldwide Reports Key Stakeholder Support of Comprehensive Plan  YRC  ...Teamsters extend timeline for tecapitalization of YRCW balance sheet...
Visalia caught in union fight over jobs in Bay Area  Fresno Bee   ...the Teamsters want to save union jobs at a warehouse in the Bay Area...
Overweight, Out of Work At Rail Yard Chicago News Cooperative   ...Those not rehired say BNSF officials gave them various reasons they were not qualified for the jobs they had been doing for years — including that they are too fat...
Public Workers Facing Outrage as Budget Crises Grow  New York Times   ...Local governments shed 212,000 jobs last year...
California Republican touts legislation banning public pension bailouts  The Hill   ...Rep. Devin Nunes ... is promoting legislation designed to gauge the extent of the problem, while also establishing a ban on federal bailouts of public pension programs...
New health-care rules to take effect  Washington Post  ...The new rules are designed to help those caught in Medicare's "doughnut hole," offer seniors more preventative care, and limit how much of their customers' money health-insurance companies can keep for overhead and profit...