TEAMSTERS
Teamsters Call On Solutions One Industries To Recognize Union, Honor Contract Teamster.org ...Teamsters that provide logistical and warehousing support for the men and women who serve at the Fort Irwin National Training Center are fighting an effort by One Solutions Industries to deny the wages and benefits guaranteed to the workers under their collective bargaining agreement. Solutions One Industries (SOI) was awarded the federal contract that covers the 23 members of Teamsters Local 166 on Nov. 1, 2015...
Cargill: Tried to resolve issues before firing Colorado Muslim workers Denver Post ...About 190 workers, mostly Somali, were let go after they left the meatpacking line to protest changes to prayer policy. The workers earn $14 per hour and up and are represented by a union, Teamsters Local 455. More than 2,000 people are employed at the plant...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Strike deadline set in Ontario corrections talks Canadian Labour Reporter ...Ontario correctional workers will be in a legal strike or lockout position on Jan. 10. The Ontario Ministry of Labour issued a “no board” report on Dec. 24, 2015, with respect to negotiations between the provincial government and Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) members in the Correctional Bargaining Unit of the Ontario Public Service...
With European trade deal unfinished, Obama to head to Germany in the spring Washington Post ...President Obama will head to Hannover, Germany in late April to attend a trade fair, the White House announced Wednesday, part of the administration's push to secure a European trade deal before he leaves office. Administration officials are hoping to make progress on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), negotiations between the United States and the European Union that have taken a back seat to the recently-forged Trans Pacific Partnership...
Business leaders announce support for TPP The Hill ..A group of the nation's chief executives is endorsing a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade agreement, calling on Congress to pass the pact this year. The Business Roundtable announced support Tuesday for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) saying it is a “significant” agreement that will open foreign markets and create U.S. jobs. BRT is the second major business group this week to announce support for the 12-nation TPP deal...
The five biggest lobbying fights to watch in 2016 Washington Post ...1. Trans-Pacific Partnership: TPP, the sweeping trade deal reached in October between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations, is expected to be hotly contested, both from members of Congress and from a wide swath of interest groups. It will be the biggest showdown among lawmakers, interest groups and the White House in 2016...
Chile will sign the TPP in February Fresh Plaza ...The Chilean government announced that it would sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) in February in New Zealand. For this purpose, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Heraldo Munoz, will travel to New Zealand to complete the processing of an arrangement that involves 12 countries, including the United States, Japan, Mexico, Canada, and Peru...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Dems say paid sick leave bill a priority WCAX ...Vermont lawmakers will return to Montpelier Tuesday. With a budget to balance, a revenue bill to compose and potentially marijuana legalization to debate, their schedule is full. Democrats also have their sights set on changing the way some companies do business. The two political parties differ wildly over whether mandating that employers offer paid sick leave is a good idea...
Cuomo Lifts Minimum Wage for Workers at New York Universities New York Times ...Continuing a push for the payment of higher wages for public-sector jobs, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York announced a plan on Monday to raise the minimum wage for state university workers to $15. Mr. Cuomo’s action was the latest to address what he sees as subpar wages: He used a state wage board to increase hourly pay to $15 for fast-food workers last summer and unveiled a similar plan for an estimated 10,000 state workers in November...
16 Michigan political issues to watch in 2016 MLive ...There is a legislative appetite to repeal prevailing wage in the state which provides union-scale wages on publicly funded construction projects. But Gov. Rick Snyder has telegraphed that it's not a priority of his. The ballot proposal could essentially circumvent the governor, repealing prevailing wage by getting 252,523 signatures and submitting it to the legislature...
N.H.'s Voter ID Law Remains Big Unknown for Presidential Primary Day NHPR ...New Hampshire’s primary is just five weeks away, and state election officials are anticipating record turnout. There’s something else on their minds too—this will be the first presidential primary with the state’s new voter ID law in place. The law, which passed three and a half years ago, was part of a wave of stricter voter laws pushed by Republicans across the country...
Right-to-work law would hurt workers, weaken labor unions in West Virginia (opinion) Herald Dispatch ...One piece of legislation likely to be considered in West Virginia in 2016 is misleadingly called "right to work," or RTW. It really has nothing to do with that right but a lot to do with targeting all working families. It's more like "right to work for less." According to current law, if most eligible workers in a private-sector job vote to join a union in a National Labor Relations Board election, all belong...
U.S. LABOR
Volkswagen appeals UAW election at Chattanooga plant Times Free Press ...In the latest salvo between Volkswagen and the United Auto Workers, VW has asked in an appeal of the union election at its Chattanooga plant this month that regulators scrap key cases on which the UAW based much of its legal footing. Lawyers for VW said the Specialty Healthcare legal cases on which the UAW depended to organize a small group of workers should be abandoned...
UAW receives notice of 936 layoffs at Freightliner plant WSOCTV ...A representative of the United Auto Workers Union told channel 9 on Monday that the union received a notice that 936 people will be laid off from the Cleveland Freightliner plant in Rowan County. The representative said the UAW received a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice dated Dec. 31. The last day of work will be Friday...
Richmond Baking Company workers strike Pal-Item ...The company was notified Sunday by the Bakery Workers Union that employees would begin a strike at 2 p.m. Monday, and they did just that. Workers held signs saying "On strike unfair contract," "We have pride too," "More work? Less pay? No way," "Work up; family and pay down," "United We Stand Local 1," "Fair work fair pay" and "Honk 2 Help"...
Mediation begins in Valley bus union-operator negotiations KTAR ...Mediation begins Monday between the union representing bus drivers in the metro Phoenix area and the company that operates them. There is a new middle man in the fight between Transdev and the Amalgamated Transit Union. Former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor has been hired to help the two parties settle a collective bargaining agreement in hopes of avoiding a bus driver strike...
Analysis of NLRB Elections Shows Quicker Elections, More Union Wins BNA ...Since the National Labor Relations Board’s controversial amendments to its representation election rules took effect last April, supporters and opponents alike have asked two questions: Have the new rules served to speed up the election process? And, if so, has this pickup in tempo favored unions more than employers? Bloomberg BNA has released a report, Election Speed and the NLRB: How Unions Fare in the Representation Process, which suggests that the answer to both questions is yes...
The middle class is just this screwed: Janet Yellen declares victory while workers drown Salon ...Earlier this month when Fed chair Janet Yellen offered her rationale for raising interest rates, it was sadly reminiscent of President George W. Bush’s infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech, given on the USS Abraham Lincoln when he declared that major combat operations in Iraq were over in 2003. Between 2010 and 2014 poverty increased in one third of America’s 3,000 counties...
Who’s Fighting the Mental-Health Crisis on Campus? Unions. The Nation .... Though Yale’s Mental Health Services system is supposed to provide general psychiatric care for all students and employees, Yale’s Graduate Employee Student Organization (GESO) - the UNITE HERE!–affiliated labor group that Yale graduate employees have been trying to turn into an official union for over a decade - argues that services on campus are deeply inadequate and fraught with bureaucratic barriers...
Women Can’t Expect Equality In The Boardroom Until At Least 2065 Think Progress ...The share of women on corporate board seats among hundreds of the country’s biggest corporations has doubled over the last 17 years. But even if the rate of change significantly increased, it will take decades until women reach equality. In 2014, women made up about 16 percent of board seats among companies in the S&P 1500 index...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
'Don't open the door,' immigrants are warned as family deportation roundup continues LA Times ...More than a hundred immigrants, mostly Central American families, were detained in a handful of states through the weekend in a federal effort to deport those who recently entered the country and stayed illegally, according to officials and advocates. As part of the operation, 121 people were taken into custody -- primarily in Georgia, North Carolina and Texas -- and are being processed for deportation...
Robert Reich: The Economy in 2016: On the Edge of Recession Common Dreams ...Economic forecasters exist to make astrologers look good, but I’ll hazard a guess. I expect the U.S. economy to sputter in 2016. That’s because the economy faces a deep structural problem: not enough demand for all the goods and services it’s capable of producing. American consumers account for almost 70 percent of economic activity, but they won’t have enough purchasing power in 2016 to keep the economy going on more than two cylinders. Blame widening inequality..
5 Things You Need to Know About Oregon’s Militia Movement U.S. Uncut ...The ‘Patriot’ movement is a child of the White Power movement. Many of the tactics and talking points being used were popularized in the 1970s by the white supremacist group Posse Comitatus. This group promoted the “Christian Patriot” movement, advocated the formation of “Citizens Militias,” helped forge an idiosyncratic reading of the Constitution...
Here’s What Happened When Black People Tried Armed Occupation Think Progress ...30 years ago, a similar standoff between police and a black anti-government group in Philadelphia played out very differently. Armed members of a fringe liberation group called MOVE were bombed and burned alive for directing their weapons at police. The bombing highlighted the stark contrast in the way cops treat black and white radicals...
How the Leader of the Oregon Armed Protest Benefited From a Federal Loan Program Mother Jones ...As one of the leaders of a band of armed, anti-government activists who have taken over a Fish and Wildlife Service building in Oregon, Ammon Bundy has denounced the "tyranny" of the federal government. But not long ago, Ammon Bundy sought out help from the government he now decries and received a federal small-business loan guarantee...
The Melting Arctic's Dramatic Impact on Global Weather Patterns Truthout ...Arctic sea ice is melting at a record pace - and every summer looks grimmer. This past summer saw the ice pack at its fourth-lowest level on record, and the overall trend in recent decades suggests this will only continue. "Using satellites, scientists have found that the area of sea ice coverage each September has declined by more than 40 percent since the late 1970s, a trend that has accelerated since 2007"...
Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Friday, October 16, 2015
It's time to tamp down on law-breaking employers
Low-wage workers struggle for dignity on the job everyday. Not only do they have to put up with the dismal salaries they earn, but many have to fight to just to get all the money owed to them in their paychecks.As this blog has noted many times, port truck drivers struggle with wage theft, and the Teamsters are fighting on their behalf. But across other sectors of the economy, workers continue to suffer, many of them in silence. And that not only hurt those families, but America as well.
The latest example is four current and former Papa John's franchisees in New York City, who agreed to pay out nearly $500,000 to their workers to settle a wage theft probe brought by state and federal officials. Employees at nine restaurants in Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn were affected.
It's a continuing problem not only for Papa John's, but the fast food industry as a whole, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said:
Once again, we’ve found Papa John’s franchises in New York that are ripping off their workers and violating critical state and federal laws. Fast food chains across the State should be on notice: we will not stop until your workers are treated with respect and paid lawful wages. Once again, I call on Papa John’s and other fast food companies to step up and stop the widespread lawlessness plaguing your businesses and harming the workers who make and deliver your food.
David Weil, administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor's wage and hour division, explains why such practices jeopardize businesses:
Employers who underpay their employees not only deprive workers of the funds needed to buy their food, pay their rent or attend to other necessities, they undercut those law-abiding employers who pay their employees properly in the first place
Wage theft is a significant issue in this country today. That's why the Teamsters included it in its "Let's Get America Working" platform. Why should everyday Americans suffer while corporations rake in huge profits? They shouldn't.
If policymakers and the private sector truly want to get the U.S. back on track, they'll do what's right and create a system that works for everyone.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Today's Teamster News 03.05.15
Teamsters
Teamsters and Labor Allies Urge Congress to Oppose Fast Track teamster.org …Teamsters from around the country joined their union brothers and sisters on Capitol Hill today to meet with members of Congress to discuss their continued opposition to fast-track trade promotion authority, which would have a damaging impact on American workers...
First Student, Teamsters Strike Summer Pay Deal Savannah Morning News ...Negotiations between Savannah-Chatham Public Schools transportation provider First Student and Teamsters Local 728 have resulted in a summer pay contract for about 500 bus drivers, monitors and technicians...
Apple To Make Many Security Guards Full-Time Employees San Jose Mercury News ...Under a contract approved last month, Facebook drivers working full-time will receive about $33,000 more in wages and benefits than they received before, the Teamsters said...
Lawmakers resume debate over Sunday growler sales MPR News …Edward Reynoso, the legislative director for Teamsters Union Joint Council 32, said changing the law to allow growlers to be sold on Sundays could reopen the labor contracts for 850 of his members who work in the liquor industry...
CN Rail reaches collective deal with Teamsters plans to buy back shares via private agreement MENAFN …Canadian National Railway Co. (TSE:CNR) the country's largest railroad and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference union have renewed their collective agreement...
Stericycle Inc. and Teamsters reach a collective agreement Canada NewsWire …Stericycle Inc. is a trucking company offering waste disposal services and product destruction, including medical and pharmaceutical waste disposal. The collective agreement covering approximately 114 employees working in Brampton and Scarborough, Ontario, expired on December 31, 2014...
Trade
Fate of Obama’s Trade Agenda May Rest on Oregon Senator New York Times …From his position in the driver’s seat, Mr. Wyden is putting demands on the fast-track bill that Republicans are not sure they can accept — most important, a shut-off valve that Congress could turn if the details of the Pacific or European accords did not live up to their promise...
White House counts on Sen. Wyden to deliver on a trade deal Washington Post …Obama was calling to thank Wyden for his support of the president’s sweeping trade agenda which, in a reflection of the topsy-turvy politics of the issue, has drawn support from Republican leaders and staunch objections from many Democrats...
Japan, U.S. resume TPP talks but pact’s future very much in doubt Japan Times …Japanese and U.S. officials resumed talks Thursday in Tokyo on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, but the outcome of the negotiations remains unclear with political difficulties mounting for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and indications of growing opposition to the deal in the U.S…
Business Rallies Against Secretive TPP Trade Talks (opinion) Macro Business ...It is also lamentable that the TPP negotiations have been opened to some large corporations, which are free to lobby for their interests, but barred to individuals and industry groups. This all but ensures that the final deal will not be in the public’s best interests...
State Battles
Assembly debates right-to-work bill today Associated Press …With Wisconsin positioned to become the third Midwestern state in as many years to enact a right-to-work law, the Assembly begins debate Thursday on a plan Republican Gov. Scott Walker has promised to quickly sign and Democrats lack the votes to stop...
Assembly Plans 24-Hour Right-To-Work Debate Green Bay Press Gazette ...The Wisconsin state Assembly plans to start debate of the right-to-work bill at 9 a.m. Thursday and end no later than 9 a.m. Friday...
Boost In Minimum Wage To $12 Wins Backing In State House Seattle Times ...The Washington state House voted along party lines Tuesday to raise the state’s minimum wage — already the nation’s highest — to $12 an hour over the next four years...
Missouri House Passes Voter ID Bills Northwest Missourian ...The bill says approved forms of identification would include a current Missouri driver’s license or a current Missouri non-driver’s license, a document issued by the United States of the State of Missouri containing the person’s name and photograph or any armed services identification containing a photograph that is not expired...
Oakland New Minimum Wage Law Now In Effect Contra Costa Times ...The law raises the minimum hourly wage from $9 as set by the state to $12.25. Workers also are now entitled to paid sick days under the law that was approved by 82 percent of voters last November...
Governor Wants $10.50 Minimum Wage For NYS WKBW ...$10.50 - that's what Governor Andrew Cuomo wants to make the minimum wage in New York State. The Governor made the announcement Tuesday at the Boys & Girls Club on Bailey Avenue alongside Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown...
Thousands expected at Capitol for Saturday labor rally West Virginia Gazette …The “Mountaineers Workers Rising Rally” will protest “legislative attacks on our working families,” according to a news release from the state AFL-CIO. The leaders of the national AFL-CIO, the United Mine Workers of America, the Teamsters, both national teachers unions, the United Utility Workers Union and United Steelworkers are all scheduled to speak...
War on Workers
Injured Workers Suffer As 'Reforms' Limit Workers' Compensation Benefits NPR ...Until recently, America's workers could rely on a compact struck at the dawn of the Industrial Age: They'd give up their right to sue. In exchange, if they were injured on the job, their employers would pay their medical bills and enough of their wages to help them get by while they recovered. No longer...
American Airlines Mechanic Killed In Accident At Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport KXAS ...A mechanic who had worked for American Airlines for 30 years died Monday after falling from a jet bridge at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
Family of Oregon Worker Killed in Blender Sues Meat Distributor Insurance Journal …The Oregonian reported that the lawsuit filed last week in Clackamas County Circuit Court accused Interstate Meat Distributors of failing to follow safety procedures...
First Student, Teamsters Strike Summer Pay Deal Savannah Morning News ...Negotiations between Savannah-Chatham Public Schools transportation provider First Student and Teamsters Local 728 have resulted in a summer pay contract for about 500 bus drivers, monitors and technicians...
Apple To Make Many Security Guards Full-Time Employees San Jose Mercury News ...Under a contract approved last month, Facebook drivers working full-time will receive about $33,000 more in wages and benefits than they received before, the Teamsters said...
Lawmakers resume debate over Sunday growler sales MPR News …Edward Reynoso, the legislative director for Teamsters Union Joint Council 32, said changing the law to allow growlers to be sold on Sundays could reopen the labor contracts for 850 of his members who work in the liquor industry...
CN Rail reaches collective deal with Teamsters plans to buy back shares via private agreement MENAFN …Canadian National Railway Co. (TSE:CNR) the country's largest railroad and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference union have renewed their collective agreement...
Stericycle Inc. and Teamsters reach a collective agreement Canada NewsWire …Stericycle Inc. is a trucking company offering waste disposal services and product destruction, including medical and pharmaceutical waste disposal. The collective agreement covering approximately 114 employees working in Brampton and Scarborough, Ontario, expired on December 31, 2014...
Trade
Fate of Obama’s Trade Agenda May Rest on Oregon Senator New York Times …From his position in the driver’s seat, Mr. Wyden is putting demands on the fast-track bill that Republicans are not sure they can accept — most important, a shut-off valve that Congress could turn if the details of the Pacific or European accords did not live up to their promise...
White House counts on Sen. Wyden to deliver on a trade deal Washington Post …Obama was calling to thank Wyden for his support of the president’s sweeping trade agenda which, in a reflection of the topsy-turvy politics of the issue, has drawn support from Republican leaders and staunch objections from many Democrats...
Japan, U.S. resume TPP talks but pact’s future very much in doubt Japan Times …Japanese and U.S. officials resumed talks Thursday in Tokyo on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, but the outcome of the negotiations remains unclear with political difficulties mounting for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and indications of growing opposition to the deal in the U.S…
Business Rallies Against Secretive TPP Trade Talks (opinion) Macro Business ...It is also lamentable that the TPP negotiations have been opened to some large corporations, which are free to lobby for their interests, but barred to individuals and industry groups. This all but ensures that the final deal will not be in the public’s best interests...
State Battles
Assembly debates right-to-work bill today Associated Press …With Wisconsin positioned to become the third Midwestern state in as many years to enact a right-to-work law, the Assembly begins debate Thursday on a plan Republican Gov. Scott Walker has promised to quickly sign and Democrats lack the votes to stop...
Assembly Plans 24-Hour Right-To-Work Debate Green Bay Press Gazette ...The Wisconsin state Assembly plans to start debate of the right-to-work bill at 9 a.m. Thursday and end no later than 9 a.m. Friday...
Boost In Minimum Wage To $12 Wins Backing In State House Seattle Times ...The Washington state House voted along party lines Tuesday to raise the state’s minimum wage — already the nation’s highest — to $12 an hour over the next four years...
Missouri House Passes Voter ID Bills Northwest Missourian ...The bill says approved forms of identification would include a current Missouri driver’s license or a current Missouri non-driver’s license, a document issued by the United States of the State of Missouri containing the person’s name and photograph or any armed services identification containing a photograph that is not expired...
Oakland New Minimum Wage Law Now In Effect Contra Costa Times ...The law raises the minimum hourly wage from $9 as set by the state to $12.25. Workers also are now entitled to paid sick days under the law that was approved by 82 percent of voters last November...
Governor Wants $10.50 Minimum Wage For NYS WKBW ...$10.50 - that's what Governor Andrew Cuomo wants to make the minimum wage in New York State. The Governor made the announcement Tuesday at the Boys & Girls Club on Bailey Avenue alongside Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown...
Thousands expected at Capitol for Saturday labor rally West Virginia Gazette …The “Mountaineers Workers Rising Rally” will protest “legislative attacks on our working families,” according to a news release from the state AFL-CIO. The leaders of the national AFL-CIO, the United Mine Workers of America, the Teamsters, both national teachers unions, the United Utility Workers Union and United Steelworkers are all scheduled to speak...
War on Workers
Injured Workers Suffer As 'Reforms' Limit Workers' Compensation Benefits NPR ...Until recently, America's workers could rely on a compact struck at the dawn of the Industrial Age: They'd give up their right to sue. In exchange, if they were injured on the job, their employers would pay their medical bills and enough of their wages to help them get by while they recovered. No longer...
American Airlines Mechanic Killed In Accident At Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport KXAS ...A mechanic who had worked for American Airlines for 30 years died Monday after falling from a jet bridge at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
Family of Oregon Worker Killed in Blender Sues Meat Distributor Insurance Journal …The Oregonian reported that the lawsuit filed last week in Clackamas County Circuit Court accused Interstate Meat Distributors of failing to follow safety procedures...
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Today's Teamster News 01.21.15
Teamsters
CN And Teamsters Reach Deal Materials Management and Distribution ...CN has negotiated a tentative labour agreement with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference-Rail Canada Traffic Controllers (TCRC-RCTC) union that represents rail traffic controllers in Canada...
Teamsters Head "Optimistic" on Ratification of New Commercial Deal Hollywood Reporter …Teamsters Local 399 reached a tentative agreement with commercial producers, the union announced Tuesday, likely averting a threatened strike by drivers and location managers...
Striking Teamsters rally at TW Perry with support from unions, community TeamsterNation …Teamsters striking at TW Perry since Jan. 6 took it to the bosses today with help from the Metro Washington DC Labor Council, AFL-CIO and DC Jobs with Justice. They held a spirited rally at the TW Perry lumber store in Springfield, standing in solidarity with the courageous workers...
Texas Teamsters Reach Contract Agreement With Danone teamsterorg … Teamsters Local 997 members at Danone's (epn:BN) Fort Worth, Texas, plant have ratified an agreement with the company, gaining participation in the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Fund (WCTPF), the largest multi-employer pension plan in the United States...
Bad Work Conditions Hurt LGBT Employees Too (opinion) Advocate ...Jose works at Taylor Farms, which supplies major retailers with chopped fruits and vegetables, and unfortunately his story is not unique. It falls in line with a well-documented history of worker mistreatment at Taylor Farms...
Golden Parachutes Are Lead Balloon For Investors FT … by far the biggest component of golden parachutes tends to be the immediate vesting of unvested stock options and other forms of equity-linked compensation. Trade union bodies such as the Amalgamated Bank, AFL-CIO and International Brotherhood of Teamsters are therefore focusing in particular on this aspect of golden parachute payouts...
FTC Yearlong Review of Sysco-U.S. Foods Merger Nears Final Stages Nasdaq ...The Federal Trade Commission is nearing the finish line in its yearlong consideration of whether to allow the proposed merger of rival food-service companies Sysco Corp. and U.S. Foods Inc., but the decision still could go either way...
Trade
Liberals: Great speech, Obama … except on trade Politico …The president’s push for trade deals is ‘No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4’ on the list of what House Democrats disliked about the State of the Union, Rep. Peter DeFazio said...
Obama Pushes for Trade Support, Warns on China Wall Street Journal …Many Democrats, especially in areas that have seen manufacturing losses, are dead-set against the measure. “Fast track is a bad deal for American families,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.), whom colleagues said is leading the House campaign against the legislation...
SOTU Schizophrenia: Middle-Class Jobs vs. Fast Track and TPP (opinion) Huffington Post … either Obama will be the president whose initiatives to address income inequality and wage stagnation helped rebuild America's middle class, or he will prioritize a trade agenda that will offshore more good-paying jobs, destroy what is left of the American manufacturing sector, increase income inequality and speed the demise of America's middle class. He cannot do both…..
State Battles
Ky counties take up own 'right-to-work' laws The Courier-Journal …Kentucky has become the tip of the spear in a national effort to get county governments to pass legislation that would open up union businesses to employees who don't pay dues or service charges to the labor groups...
Wisconsin Right-To-Work Bill Unlikely Soon, Senate Leader Says Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...A group of business leaders opposed to making Wisconsin a right-to-work state announced 50 new members Monday, while Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said any debate over the idea likely won't happen until after the April 7 election...
Missouri Republican operatives launch ‘Missouri Century Foundation’ PoliticMO …Gregg Keller, Rich Chrismer, Jim Gwinner, Mike Hafner and Holly Gogel – all of whom have deep roots within the state’s Republican community — have launched the “Missouri Century Foundation,” a new non-profit organization that will focus on three issues in the Legislature… actively oppose Medicaid expansion, labor unions, and is teaming up with the American Center for Law & Justice against proposed legislation that would require political non-profits to disclose their donors…
Debate begins on right-to-work laws in NM Albuquerque Journal …With New Mexico lawmakers poised to take up politically charged right-to-work legislation in a 60-day session that begins Tuesday, debate is already in full swing over what the change in labor laws would mean to New Mexico’s sluggish economy...
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Wants to Raise Minimum Wage Wall Street Journal ...New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday proposed raising the state’s minimum wage and unveiled plans to alleviate student loan debt and cut taxes for small businesses...
New State Minimum Wage? Why Some Foreign Guests Earn $3 More Seattle Times ...Last month, the minimum wage for thousands of workers in Washington jumped by nearly 5 percent to $12.42 an hour. Beneficiaries of Seattle’s march toward the nation’s highest minimum wage? Actually, the new pay raises apply only to a select group of people: foreigners hired as seasonal farmhands...
Bill Would Raise Georgia's Minimum Wage To $10 An Hour WMAZ ...The bill calls for employers in Georgia to pay their employees at least $10.10 an hour, with built-in increases coming on January 1 each following year to offset the rising cost of living. Presently, minimum wage in the state is just $5.15 an hour, though generally the federal rate of $7.25 applies...
War on Workers
Unemployment on the rise over next five years as inequality persists International Labor Organization …ILO report says sluggish jobs recovery and social instability are the result of greater inequality...
New police radars can 'see' inside homes USA Today …At least 50 U.S. law enforcement agencies quietly deployed radars that let them effectively see inside homes, with little notice to the courts or the public...
Worker Killed In Industrial Accident At Springfield Business KOLR ...Greene County detectives are investigating a fatal workplace accident.According to the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, a man in his early 50’s died while working at Ridewell Suspensions Corp. in the 3700 block of E. Farm Road 94 in Springfield Monday afternoon...
Miscellaneous
Fed Officials On Track To Raise Short-Term Rates Later In The Year Wall Street Journal ...Federal Reserve officials are staying on track to start raising short-term interest rates later this year, even though long-term rates are going in the other direction amid new investor worries about weak global growth, falling oil prices and slowing consumer price inflation...
CN And Teamsters Reach Deal Materials Management and Distribution ...CN has negotiated a tentative labour agreement with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference-Rail Canada Traffic Controllers (TCRC-RCTC) union that represents rail traffic controllers in Canada...
Teamsters Head "Optimistic" on Ratification of New Commercial Deal Hollywood Reporter …Teamsters Local 399 reached a tentative agreement with commercial producers, the union announced Tuesday, likely averting a threatened strike by drivers and location managers...
Striking Teamsters rally at TW Perry with support from unions, community TeamsterNation …Teamsters striking at TW Perry since Jan. 6 took it to the bosses today with help from the Metro Washington DC Labor Council, AFL-CIO and DC Jobs with Justice. They held a spirited rally at the TW Perry lumber store in Springfield, standing in solidarity with the courageous workers...
Texas Teamsters Reach Contract Agreement With Danone teamsterorg … Teamsters Local 997 members at Danone's (epn:BN) Fort Worth, Texas, plant have ratified an agreement with the company, gaining participation in the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Fund (WCTPF), the largest multi-employer pension plan in the United States...
Bad Work Conditions Hurt LGBT Employees Too (opinion) Advocate ...Jose works at Taylor Farms, which supplies major retailers with chopped fruits and vegetables, and unfortunately his story is not unique. It falls in line with a well-documented history of worker mistreatment at Taylor Farms...
Golden Parachutes Are Lead Balloon For Investors FT … by far the biggest component of golden parachutes tends to be the immediate vesting of unvested stock options and other forms of equity-linked compensation. Trade union bodies such as the Amalgamated Bank, AFL-CIO and International Brotherhood of Teamsters are therefore focusing in particular on this aspect of golden parachute payouts...
FTC Yearlong Review of Sysco-U.S. Foods Merger Nears Final Stages Nasdaq ...The Federal Trade Commission is nearing the finish line in its yearlong consideration of whether to allow the proposed merger of rival food-service companies Sysco Corp. and U.S. Foods Inc., but the decision still could go either way...
Trade
Liberals: Great speech, Obama … except on trade Politico …The president’s push for trade deals is ‘No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4’ on the list of what House Democrats disliked about the State of the Union, Rep. Peter DeFazio said...
Obama Pushes for Trade Support, Warns on China Wall Street Journal …Many Democrats, especially in areas that have seen manufacturing losses, are dead-set against the measure. “Fast track is a bad deal for American families,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.), whom colleagues said is leading the House campaign against the legislation...
SOTU Schizophrenia: Middle-Class Jobs vs. Fast Track and TPP (opinion) Huffington Post … either Obama will be the president whose initiatives to address income inequality and wage stagnation helped rebuild America's middle class, or he will prioritize a trade agenda that will offshore more good-paying jobs, destroy what is left of the American manufacturing sector, increase income inequality and speed the demise of America's middle class. He cannot do both…..
State Battles
Ky counties take up own 'right-to-work' laws The Courier-Journal …Kentucky has become the tip of the spear in a national effort to get county governments to pass legislation that would open up union businesses to employees who don't pay dues or service charges to the labor groups...
Wisconsin Right-To-Work Bill Unlikely Soon, Senate Leader Says Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...A group of business leaders opposed to making Wisconsin a right-to-work state announced 50 new members Monday, while Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said any debate over the idea likely won't happen until after the April 7 election...
Missouri Republican operatives launch ‘Missouri Century Foundation’ PoliticMO …Gregg Keller, Rich Chrismer, Jim Gwinner, Mike Hafner and Holly Gogel – all of whom have deep roots within the state’s Republican community — have launched the “Missouri Century Foundation,” a new non-profit organization that will focus on three issues in the Legislature… actively oppose Medicaid expansion, labor unions, and is teaming up with the American Center for Law & Justice against proposed legislation that would require political non-profits to disclose their donors…
Debate begins on right-to-work laws in NM Albuquerque Journal …With New Mexico lawmakers poised to take up politically charged right-to-work legislation in a 60-day session that begins Tuesday, debate is already in full swing over what the change in labor laws would mean to New Mexico’s sluggish economy...
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Wants to Raise Minimum Wage Wall Street Journal ...New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday proposed raising the state’s minimum wage and unveiled plans to alleviate student loan debt and cut taxes for small businesses...
New State Minimum Wage? Why Some Foreign Guests Earn $3 More Seattle Times ...Last month, the minimum wage for thousands of workers in Washington jumped by nearly 5 percent to $12.42 an hour. Beneficiaries of Seattle’s march toward the nation’s highest minimum wage? Actually, the new pay raises apply only to a select group of people: foreigners hired as seasonal farmhands...
Bill Would Raise Georgia's Minimum Wage To $10 An Hour WMAZ ...The bill calls for employers in Georgia to pay their employees at least $10.10 an hour, with built-in increases coming on January 1 each following year to offset the rising cost of living. Presently, minimum wage in the state is just $5.15 an hour, though generally the federal rate of $7.25 applies...
War on Workers
Unemployment on the rise over next five years as inequality persists International Labor Organization …ILO report says sluggish jobs recovery and social instability are the result of greater inequality...
New police radars can 'see' inside homes USA Today …At least 50 U.S. law enforcement agencies quietly deployed radars that let them effectively see inside homes, with little notice to the courts or the public...
Worker Killed In Industrial Accident At Springfield Business KOLR ...Greene County detectives are investigating a fatal workplace accident.According to the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, a man in his early 50’s died while working at Ridewell Suspensions Corp. in the 3700 block of E. Farm Road 94 in Springfield Monday afternoon...
Miscellaneous
Fed Officials On Track To Raise Short-Term Rates Later In The Year Wall Street Journal ...Federal Reserve officials are staying on track to start raising short-term interest rates later this year, even though long-term rates are going in the other direction amid new investor worries about weak global growth, falling oil prices and slowing consumer price inflation...
Friday, May 10, 2013
Relief for Teamsters affected by Hurricane Sandy
“Teamsters
care. It’s in our DNA,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President, after
reports of Teamsters loading trucks with relief supplies, delivering them to
staging areas, working with the Red Cross and other groups, and doing a lot of
the heavy lifting that comes with rescue and recovery efforts after a natural
disaster of that magnitude.
After the
storm, Teamsters in the stricken areas worked long hours in horrific conditions
to get storm-struck areas back to normal—or at least a semblance of normal. But
Teamsters who weren’t close enough to physically help still dug deep and
donated to the Teamsters Disaster Relief Fundto help out those
Teamsters who had to rebuild themselves.
A couple of
months ago, relief checks from the Teamsters Union made their way into the
hands of Teamsters whose property was severely damaged.
It was ugly outside on the day Mike Klein got his check from the
Teamsters Disaster Relief Fund. “It was raining, I was upset, but getting that
help from the Teamsters Union brought some light into my day,” said Klein, a
Local 831 Teamster who works for New York City’s Department of Sanitation.
Klein is one of many Teamsters who, despite being affected by the hurricane
personally, worked through the deadly aftermath.
“We live in an evacuation zone and knew an evacuation order was
coming. A year earlier, during Hurricane Irene, we were also ordered to evacuate,”
said Klein, who lives on Long Island and works in the Bronx. “We rode out Irene
at home. My wife didn’t want to leave the house. It wasn’t that bad. We had a
little damage…lost some shingles but we didn’t lose power. We thought it would
be the same this time.”
But it wasn’t. Hurricane Sandy turned out to be one of the
deadliest and most destructive hurricanes in U.S. history. It was the
second-costliest hurricane in American history after Hurricane Katrina. It cost
tens of billions of dollars in damage, destroyed thousands of homes, left
millions without power and caused dozens of deaths, including some Teamster
members and their families.
“We’re on the water, on the bay side. We were completely
destroyed. We were allowed to go back in and then directly out a week or so
later to get our belongings. We couldn’t stay there, though. We had to go back
and forth, back and forth to get our things. The place was in bad shape. Our
foundation was destroyed. Engineers said we had to get it redone. A lot of things
have to be redone—all the plumbing and electric, for example.” It took months
before he and his family could get back into their home, incurring many
expenses along the way.
“When we got back in, obviously we hadn’t had a chance to repair
much yet. The insurance money hadn’t come through yet. We did what we could
just to be in the house…to have a roof over our heads,” Klein said. “It’s hard
to describe to people what it was like to watch the houses on either side of me
get ripped apart.”
Normalcy has since returned to his life thanks, in part, to the Teamsters
Disaster Relief Fund.
“When I came home from work with the check from the Teamsters,
it brought my wife to tears,” Klein said.
“You don’t know what that relief fund has meant to our members.
We have sanitation workers that live and work in New York City and our claims
were really high,” said Harry Nespoli, President of Local 831 in New York City,
which represents sanitation workers. “I went out to Rockaway, Coney Island,
Staten Island—all the hardest-hit areas. It was devastating. Many of our men
were there working in the neighborhoods with their own homes wiped out. They
were living and sleeping in the garages. They worked 12-hour shifts. We had
guys that took the trucks out on their own time and worked for nothing, just to
help.”
Joey Manuel was one of those workers who went right into work
directly after the storm despite the trauma of losing his own home.
“This whole experience has really changed my life,” said Manuel,
a steward and clerk with the New York City Sanitation Department. “After an
experience like this, you see how fragile life can be. It’s there at one point
and it could be gone the next.”
Manuel was watching football on TV when he noticed water rising
outside of his house. There wasn’t much at first…just a sidewalk underwater.
It’s didn’t take long for it to get worse.
“Sure enough the whole corner of my block is soon
underwater…within half an hour, me and my mother were paddling through it. We
didn’t realize the whole basement had been filling up underneath us. It has an
8-foot ceiling and it filled up then started coming in the rest of the house,” he
said. “I told my mom that we had to get out so we got in the car, which was
ankle deep in water in the back yard by then. By then the whole neighborhood
was full of water. The car got submerged while we were in there with all of our
personal belongings that we were trying to take with us. We had to get out
because water was coming into the car. I open the door, water rushes in. I get
out, get my mom out and bring her back to the house. We go up to the top floor
and stay there.”
Through it all, Manuel and his mom were dodging boats floating
down their street, power lines coming down and other hazards. In the end, his
home was almost completely destroyed, but he still went to work that day.
“I was a zombie,” he said, but he realized there were people—his
neighbors, friends and family—that still needed help. So he got to work, like
hundreds of other Teamsters. Manuel recently got his check from the Teamsters
Disaster Relief Fund.
Teamster magazine wrote about the
union’s reaction to the storm in the Winter 2013 edition and had this to say about the
city’s sanitation workers:
New York sanitation workers, members of
New York City’s Local 831, quickly became the most popular people in
storm-ravaged neighborhoods. Even President Barack Obama referred to their hard
work, mentioning the sanitation workers “who sometimes don’t get credit but
have done heroic work.”
Those Teamster sanitation workers
cleared more than 300,000 tons of debris from neighborhoods after the storm.
The Staten Island Advance newspaper reported,“The Sanitation workers arrive
like heroes in Staten Island’s devastation zone…New York City’s Strongest are
showing up in force—with bulldozers, dumpsters, and hundreds of workers on duty
at a time, clad in gloves and dust masks, doing the back-breaking work of
cleaning up, neighborhood by neighborhood, in the hardest-hit zones.”
“We really appreciate everything from the Teamsters. It really
helps,” Manuel said.
“Getting
that check with the Teamster name on there made them feel good. The checks went
to buying groceries, some are still making repairs on their homes,” Nespoli
said. “It’s not so much the money, though. It’s that people care. New York had
never been hit anything like this before and it was good to see other people,
our Teamster brothers and sisters, reach out and help. I was really proud of
the Teamsters on this particular front. It meant a lot.”
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Teamsters fight worker misclassification in NY
New York Teamsters are going all out to support legislation that will crack down on non-union cheats like FedEx Ground that misclassify their workers as independent contractors.
Companies in New York and across the country save millions of dollars a year by avoiding their responsibilities to paying into workers' compensation and unemployment funds.
During a Teamster advocacy day in Albany last week, our brothers and sisters met with state lawmakers to urge them to back SB 4589 and AB 5237, two identical bills introduced earlier this year in both chambers of the state Legislature. The measures would prevent the misclassification of commercial goods transportation services employees and bring added protections to thousands of workers statewide.
A study conducted by Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations found that in New York State between 2002 and 2005, nearly 40,000 employers misclassified more than 700,000 workers.
The memo also states the problem is especially acute in the
trucking industry:
Unlike real independent contractors, these workers are subject to stringent behavioral controls and are financially dependent on the company. Such drivers who functionally operate as employees are classified as independent contractors and therefore deprived of proper social security benefits, healthcare, workers' compensation, unemployment benefits, minimum wage protections, rights to join a union, and the right to a safe and healthful workplace.
Additionally, as pressures increase to improve environmental conditions at ports across the United States, truck drivers are being asked to purchase new, more environmentally friendly trucks. However, with salaries averaging around $29,000, truck drivers cannot afford this ask. By correctly classifying truck drivers as employees, the burden of purchasing new trucks would be put on the companies; employees would enjoy their proper rights as intended by the law, and environmental conditions at ports would improve.No action on either bill is currently scheduled. However, this is the time for labor supporters in New York to contact their state legislators and urge them to support hard-working drivers across the state. Teamster pride!
Monday, October 15, 2012
Correction: NY Teamsters donate weekly pay to fired brothers
 |
| One hour. We each give one hour per week. |
We were wrong. They voted to make a one-hour-of-pay-per-week contribution to support their brothers who were unjustly fired and replaced by cheaper workers.
 |
| Julio Montes |
Arthur Stingo, a member of Local 584, was there doing the vote:
...amazing Teamsters when it came to it we stood as a Union. Nobody was divided.. In Union We Stand..!!!!Brothers and sisters all over the country posted messages of support and admiration for the solidarity shown by Local 584 on the Teamsters Facebook page. Here are just a few:
Frank Mendiara Rock solid, guys. Way to go to bat for our brothers
Nathan Tinsley Local 700 givin a shout out!!!
Kevin M. Durant That's why we call ourselves a BROTHERHOOD we are family and family takes care of family.
Edelmiro Rodriguez way to boys as always we set the stage for others to follow . its moments like that make me a proud teamster and have been for over 25 years
Don Meadows PROUD TO BE UNION
Andrew Iglio ATTA boy guys local 282
David Stover That's what us "thugs" do...help each other out. Way to go from a brother in Local 173!Joint Council 16 President George Miranda said the union will not tolerate that treatment by Elmhurst Dairy. The Teamsters are fighting to get their jobs back, and have filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board.
Stay tuned. And stay proud.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Today's Teamster News 08.22.12
Paul Ryan Defended Stimulus -- When George W. Bush Wanted It In 2002 (VIDEO) Huffington Post ...Biden's analysis -- that the government needs to juice the economy to promote growth, or else revenue will fall long term -- is one that Ryan himself articulated cogently back when the GOP was urging stimulus...
Court Voids Rule on Coal Pollution Wall Street Journal ...A federal appeals court Tuesday rejected the Environmental Protection Agency's latest effort to limit soot- and smog-forming air pollution that blows across state lines, providing a short-term lifeline for aging coal-fired power plants and removing a significant accomplishment from the Obama administration's environmental résumé...
State Workers' Vacation, Sick Time Eyed for Cuts The Ledger ...(Florida's) rank-and-file state workers who haven't received a pay raise in the past half-dozen years may now see some perks reduced to help pare what some lawmakers say is a worrisome liability...
Paterson to join protest against Goodwill’s low pay for the blind Albany Times-Union ...David Paterson is joining in the protest against Goodwill Industries in the wake of revelations that they paid some workers as little as 22 cents an hour...
Teamsters says it cannot endorse Hostess ‘final offer’ – but puts it to union vote Food Navigator ...The Teamsters union has said it cannot endorse a “final offer” put forward by Hostess Brands, which includes an 8% pay cut in the first year of a five-year contract, but it will let members vote on the offer, considering that their jobs may be at stake if they do not come to an agreement...
NY Teamsters Endorse For Senate, Assembly Daily News ...President George Miranda (said) “These endorsements are more than pronouncements for the press; rather, Teamsters will be in the streets in districts across the State putting shoe leather and hard work behind these endorsements...
Court Voids Rule on Coal Pollution Wall Street Journal ...A federal appeals court Tuesday rejected the Environmental Protection Agency's latest effort to limit soot- and smog-forming air pollution that blows across state lines, providing a short-term lifeline for aging coal-fired power plants and removing a significant accomplishment from the Obama administration's environmental résumé...
State Workers' Vacation, Sick Time Eyed for Cuts The Ledger ...(Florida's) rank-and-file state workers who haven't received a pay raise in the past half-dozen years may now see some perks reduced to help pare what some lawmakers say is a worrisome liability...
Paterson to join protest against Goodwill’s low pay for the blind Albany Times-Union ...David Paterson is joining in the protest against Goodwill Industries in the wake of revelations that they paid some workers as little as 22 cents an hour...
Teamsters says it cannot endorse Hostess ‘final offer’ – but puts it to union vote Food Navigator ...The Teamsters union has said it cannot endorse a “final offer” put forward by Hostess Brands, which includes an 8% pay cut in the first year of a five-year contract, but it will let members vote on the offer, considering that their jobs may be at stake if they do not come to an agreement...
NY Teamsters Endorse For Senate, Assembly Daily News ...President George Miranda (said) “These endorsements are more than pronouncements for the press; rather, Teamsters will be in the streets in districts across the State putting shoe leather and hard work behind these endorsements...
Friday, March 30, 2012
This is what solidarity feels like
We're hoping to hear some good news soon from our brothers and sisters at Republic Services. In the meantime, we again praise the remarkable solidarity of 400 Teamsters in New York, Ohio and Washington. They refused to cross the picket line, giving up their pay, to help out their 24 brothers in Mobile.
Alternet had a story about the spreading sympathy strike. The reporter interviewed Alabama striker Robert Agee.
“It means a whole lot to know that other guys stand behind us…” says Alabama striker Robert Agee. “To have that much support from people you don’t even know means a whole lot.” That solidarity – from South to Northeast to Midwest to Northwest – may be what brought Republic back to the negotiating table for the first time in months.The photo above shows a FedEx driver refusing to cross the Republic picket line in Mobile. That should lift all our spirits. The company had to send a representative out to sign for the packages. We hope that was a very long walk.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Republic Waste strike spreads to WA
 |
| Steve Burroughs holding the line in Bellevue. |
Burroughs, who has worked at Republic for 16 years, didn't want to strike. But, he said,
These top 1 percent corporations have done nothing but harass and intimidate us. As a worker, I’m part of the 99 percent in America and I can’t stand by any more while our jobs are destroyed.According to Local 991's press release,
On Thursday night, March 22, all 24 Republic Services workers in Mobile went on strike, including two workers who are not members of Teamsters Local 991. They are striking over Republic’s labor laws violations. In February, Republic negotiators agreed to a contract, then backed out when they decided they wanted to pay less for workers’ families health care coverage.It sure helps when your brothers and sisters have your back. Hours after Mobile workers went on strike, members of Local 284 in Columbus and Local 449 in Buffalo refused to cross sympathy picket lines at Republic Services facilities. Props to the 400 Teamsters who have honored picket lines so far.
There's even more to come. Sympathy strikes are spreading to Republic facilities across the country, as the Teamsters represent 9,000 employees with nearly 150 contracts in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.
In 2011, Republic Services/Allied Waste earned $8.2 billion in revenues and declared profit of $589 million, up 15 percent per share from 2010. And yet it claims it can't afford to provide quality, reasonably priced health care for its employees.
Stand strong, brothers and sisters!
Monday, March 19, 2012
Today's Teamster News 03.19.12
The Private Prison Industry: Resistance Isn't Futile Huffington Post ...The private prison industry is on the march. In recent months the industry moved to take over 24 state prisons in southern Florida and buy five prisons in Ohio. Now it's making moves in Michigan. But the industry doesn't always win...
Whistleblower Gets Sham Justice From Wall Street Court Bloomberg ...mandatory arbitration with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority may be the single largest ongoing abdication of legal rights -- affecting millions of people -- that exists in this country...
Nixon vetoes workplace bills St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...One bill would narrow the state’s employment discrimination law, and the other would push occupational disease claims to the workers' compensation program...
New York Lawmakers Vote to Limit Public Pensions New York Times ...Lawmakers on Thursday morning approved a hard-fought measure to cut the retirement benefits for future public employees in New York City and across the state, dealing a defeat to labor unions at the end of a dramatic all-night session...
RI coalition seeks tax hike on wealthiest earners Turn to 10 ...A coalition of organized labor and advocates for the disabled and the homeless in Rhode Island rallied at the State House on Tuesday, asking state lawmakers to raise taxes on wealthy residents to prevent further budget cuts...
UPS to Purchase TNT Express for $6.8 Billion Bloomberg ...United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) raised its offer for TNT Express NV (TNTE) by 5.6 percent to 5.16 billion euros ($6.8 billion) to secure the biggest deal in the U.S. company’s 105-year history and challenge Deutsche Post (DPW) AG...
Whistleblower Gets Sham Justice From Wall Street Court Bloomberg ...mandatory arbitration with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority may be the single largest ongoing abdication of legal rights -- affecting millions of people -- that exists in this country...
Nixon vetoes workplace bills St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...One bill would narrow the state’s employment discrimination law, and the other would push occupational disease claims to the workers' compensation program...
New York Lawmakers Vote to Limit Public Pensions New York Times ...Lawmakers on Thursday morning approved a hard-fought measure to cut the retirement benefits for future public employees in New York City and across the state, dealing a defeat to labor unions at the end of a dramatic all-night session...
RI coalition seeks tax hike on wealthiest earners Turn to 10 ...A coalition of organized labor and advocates for the disabled and the homeless in Rhode Island rallied at the State House on Tuesday, asking state lawmakers to raise taxes on wealthy residents to prevent further budget cuts...
UPS to Purchase TNT Express for $6.8 Billion Bloomberg ...United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) raised its offer for TNT Express NV (TNTE) by 5.6 percent to 5.16 billion euros ($6.8 billion) to secure the biggest deal in the U.S. company’s 105-year history and challenge Deutsche Post (DPW) AG...
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Today's Teamster News 03.11.12
IN lawmakers end RTW dominated session Associated Press ...Indiana lawmakers came roaring into their 2012 session with a battle over right-to-work legislation. Now they are leaving quietly with a new statewide smoking ban, more money for state fair victims, changes to the state's education system and rules giving homeowners the right to forcibly keep police from entering their homes...(No jobs bill?)
Madison, Wis.: Protests mark year since Gov. Scott Walker's collective bargaining law Associated Press ...Thousands of demonstrators descended on the Wisconsin Capitol on Saturday to voice their anger at Gov. Scott Walker, using the anniversary of the passage of his collective bargaining law to rally support for efforts to remove him and five other Republicans from office. About 35,000 people, including many members of public employee unions who lost nearly all their collective bargaining rights under the Republican-backed law, chanted, drummed and waved anti-Walker signs...
Employers Need Wind Power Technicians slashdot ...With a wind power rush underway, companies are competing to secure the windiest spots, while breathing life into small towns. The problem is, each turbine requires regular maintenance during its 20-year lifespan, with a requirement of one turbine technician for every 10 turbines on the ground. So even with a job that can pay a good starting salary (for technicians with a GED or high school diploma who complete a four-week turbine maintenance training program), there aren't enough qualified technicians to do the work..
Deficits Push NY Cities and Towns to Desperation New York Times ... The problems are spreading as municipalities face a toxic mix of stresses that has been brewing for years, including soaring pension, Medicaid and retiree health care costs. And many have exhausted creative accounting maneuvers and one-time spending cuts or revenue-raisers to bail themselves out...
HAWAII SENATE RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO INVESTIGATE CASES WHERE FRAUDULENT TRANSFERS AND ASSIGNMENTS OF MORTGAGE LOAN DOCUMENTS ARE ALLEGED Deadly Clear ...In an effort to get the Hawaii Attorney General’s focus on the fraudulent documents filed in the Hawaii Bureau of Conveyances, the Hawaii Senate drafted a Concurrent Resolution in cooperation with the House Representatives...
WV Senate OK’s Buy American Act as a study The State Journal ...The bill as the Senate passed it, would require the state purchasing division and Division of Labor to make a joint task force to study the use of American-constructed materials and manufactured goods. The bill would require the task force report back to the Legislature's joint committee on government and finance by Dec. 31, 2012...
Student Loan Debt Hits Home for Bernanke Wall Street Journal ...The most interesting anecdote to come out of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke‘s semiannual testimony to Congress: His son, who is in medical school in New York, is likely to rack up $400,000 of student loan debt in the process of getting his degree...
Madison, Wis.: Protests mark year since Gov. Scott Walker's collective bargaining law Associated Press ...Thousands of demonstrators descended on the Wisconsin Capitol on Saturday to voice their anger at Gov. Scott Walker, using the anniversary of the passage of his collective bargaining law to rally support for efforts to remove him and five other Republicans from office. About 35,000 people, including many members of public employee unions who lost nearly all their collective bargaining rights under the Republican-backed law, chanted, drummed and waved anti-Walker signs...
Employers Need Wind Power Technicians slashdot ...With a wind power rush underway, companies are competing to secure the windiest spots, while breathing life into small towns. The problem is, each turbine requires regular maintenance during its 20-year lifespan, with a requirement of one turbine technician for every 10 turbines on the ground. So even with a job that can pay a good starting salary (for technicians with a GED or high school diploma who complete a four-week turbine maintenance training program), there aren't enough qualified technicians to do the work..
Deficits Push NY Cities and Towns to Desperation New York Times ... The problems are spreading as municipalities face a toxic mix of stresses that has been brewing for years, including soaring pension, Medicaid and retiree health care costs. And many have exhausted creative accounting maneuvers and one-time spending cuts or revenue-raisers to bail themselves out...
HAWAII SENATE RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO INVESTIGATE CASES WHERE FRAUDULENT TRANSFERS AND ASSIGNMENTS OF MORTGAGE LOAN DOCUMENTS ARE ALLEGED Deadly Clear ...In an effort to get the Hawaii Attorney General’s focus on the fraudulent documents filed in the Hawaii Bureau of Conveyances, the Hawaii Senate drafted a Concurrent Resolution in cooperation with the House Representatives...
WV Senate OK’s Buy American Act as a study The State Journal ...The bill as the Senate passed it, would require the state purchasing division and Division of Labor to make a joint task force to study the use of American-constructed materials and manufactured goods. The bill would require the task force report back to the Legislature's joint committee on government and finance by Dec. 31, 2012...
Student Loan Debt Hits Home for Bernanke Wall Street Journal ...The most interesting anecdote to come out of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke‘s semiannual testimony to Congress: His son, who is in medical school in New York, is likely to rack up $400,000 of student loan debt in the process of getting his degree...
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Today's Teamster News 12.13.11
Oakland port workers stay home as protesters rally San Francisco Chronicle ...Despite calls to desist from Oakland politicians and union officials, Occupy protesters succeeded Monday night in shutting down operations at the Port of Oakland for the second time in less than two months...
No Draghi Ex Machina New York Times ...So last week European leaders announced a plan that, on the face of it, was pure nonsense...
Long-term jobless eye bleak future as benefits end Reuters ...nearly 7 million Americans (are) receiving jobless benefits under seven different state and federal programs. Around a quarter of those will fall off the rolls in January if Congress does not renew an extended benefits program that expires at year end...
NPR Reports that Debtors' Prisons Are Alive and Well Credit Slips ...Illinois debtor Robin Sanders in Illinois ... was stopped by police for a loud muffler but taken directly to jail on an arrest warrant for failure to appear at a hearing on an unpaid medical bill, all in a lawsuit she was unaware of...
Walker Announces Tax Credits to Assist Company That Hopes to Create “at least 3 new jobs” blue cheddar ...Scott Walker today announced that WEDC, a public/private corporation created by Walker to hand out taxpayer money to private companies, has approved two tax credits for investors in a company called OnScreenBrands, Inc., of Milwaukee. According to an announcement on the WEDC web site: “OnScreenBrands has projected creating at least three new jobs in Milwaukee over the next three years...”
Radio ad: 'Liu wants to give Wall Street bankers your money' Capital New York ...Teamsters Local 237 President Gregory Floyd, who is one of many people considering running for mayor, is out with a radio commercial criticizing Comptroller John Liu's plan to merge the management of five city pensions...
No Draghi Ex Machina New York Times ...So last week European leaders announced a plan that, on the face of it, was pure nonsense...
Long-term jobless eye bleak future as benefits end Reuters ...nearly 7 million Americans (are) receiving jobless benefits under seven different state and federal programs. Around a quarter of those will fall off the rolls in January if Congress does not renew an extended benefits program that expires at year end...
NPR Reports that Debtors' Prisons Are Alive and Well Credit Slips ...Illinois debtor Robin Sanders in Illinois ... was stopped by police for a loud muffler but taken directly to jail on an arrest warrant for failure to appear at a hearing on an unpaid medical bill, all in a lawsuit she was unaware of...
Walker Announces Tax Credits to Assist Company That Hopes to Create “at least 3 new jobs” blue cheddar ...Scott Walker today announced that WEDC, a public/private corporation created by Walker to hand out taxpayer money to private companies, has approved two tax credits for investors in a company called OnScreenBrands, Inc., of Milwaukee. According to an announcement on the WEDC web site: “OnScreenBrands has projected creating at least three new jobs in Milwaukee over the next three years...”
Radio ad: 'Liu wants to give Wall Street bankers your money' Capital New York ...Teamsters Local 237 President Gregory Floyd, who is one of many people considering running for mayor, is out with a radio commercial criticizing Comptroller John Liu's plan to merge the management of five city pensions...
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Today's Teamster News 12.03.11
YRC Worldwide Executes 1-for-300 reverse stock split IBT ...today’s actions will not affect the value of your shares, but they will lower the total number of shares in your account...
Bloomberg's Girlfriend Diana Taylor Threatens to Resign From Sotheby’s Board If Teamsters’ Demands Are Met (Video) New York Observer ...this is perhaps the most inflammatory response the Teamsters could have hoped for...
Toll rejects Hoffa's claims on LA truckers The Sydney Morning Herald ...James Hoffa, son of the legendary American union boss Jimmy Hoffa, has led a rally outside Australian transport company Toll Holdings' Los Angeles facility to protest what he says was the sacking of 26 US truck drivers...
Banks May Have Illegally Foreclosed On 5,000 Members Of The Military ThinkProgress ... the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has found that banks — including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup — may have improperly foreclosed on up to 5,000 active members of the military...
Alabama red-faced as second foreign car boss held under immigration law The Guardian ...To arrest one foreign car-making executive under Alabama's new tough immigration laws may be regarded as a misfortune; to arrest a second looks like carelessness...
Bloomberg: If I Had It My Way I’d Dump Half Of NYC’s Teachers CBS News ...And I would, if I had the abilitym... cut the number of teachers in half, but you would double the compensation of them and you would weed out all the bad ones and just have good teachers. And double the class size with a better teacher is a good deal for the students...”
Bloomberg's Girlfriend Diana Taylor Threatens to Resign From Sotheby’s Board If Teamsters’ Demands Are Met (Video) New York Observer ...this is perhaps the most inflammatory response the Teamsters could have hoped for...
Toll rejects Hoffa's claims on LA truckers The Sydney Morning Herald ...James Hoffa, son of the legendary American union boss Jimmy Hoffa, has led a rally outside Australian transport company Toll Holdings' Los Angeles facility to protest what he says was the sacking of 26 US truck drivers...
Banks May Have Illegally Foreclosed On 5,000 Members Of The Military ThinkProgress ... the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has found that banks — including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup — may have improperly foreclosed on up to 5,000 active members of the military...
Alabama red-faced as second foreign car boss held under immigration law The Guardian ...To arrest one foreign car-making executive under Alabama's new tough immigration laws may be regarded as a misfortune; to arrest a second looks like carelessness...
Bloomberg: If I Had It My Way I’d Dump Half Of NYC’s Teachers CBS News ...And I would, if I had the abilitym... cut the number of teachers in half, but you would double the compensation of them and you would weed out all the bad ones and just have good teachers. And double the class size with a better teacher is a good deal for the students...”
Friday, December 2, 2011
Today's Teamster News 12.02.11
For Jobless, Little Hope of Restoring Better Days New York Times ...just 7 percent of those who lost jobs after the financial crisis have returned to or exceeded their previous financial position and maintained their lifestyles...
In Recording, American Crystal Sugar President Likens Union Workers to Cancerous Tumor Minnesota AFL-CIO ...The already strained relationship between management of American Crystal Sugar Company (ACSC) and its 1,300 locked out workers was dealt another serious blow when recordings of anti-worker statements by ACSC President and CEO Dave Berg were made public this week...
Speaker O'Brien Lies in Press Statement, Unable to Name a Single Business to Move to NH if HB 474 Had Passed Granite State Progress ..."Not once has the topic of right-to-work ever come up in all of [their] discussions with New Hampshire businesses and prospective businesses..."
Opinion: N.J. unions will achieve goals by speaking with collective voice Times of Trenton ...When our political system gets so out of whack that it stops working for the very people it represents, working- and middle-class voters do what too many politicians have been refusing to do: Come together to restore balance to our economy and our politics...
Wisconsin Recall Drive Surpasses 300,000 Signatures The Nation ...What is truly remarkable is where the signatures are coming from: rural and small-town Wisconsin communities are contributing disproportionally high numbers of signatures to the total...
How Republicans are being taught to talk about Occupy Wall Street The Ticket ..."I'm so scared of this anti-Wall Street effort. I'm frightened to death," said Frank Luntz, a Republican strategist and one of the nation's foremost experts on crafting the perfect political message. "They're having an impact on what the American people think of capitalism..."
Mayor Bloomberg: ‘I Have My Own Army’ New York Observer ...“I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh biggest army in the world..."
In Recording, American Crystal Sugar President Likens Union Workers to Cancerous Tumor Minnesota AFL-CIO ...The already strained relationship between management of American Crystal Sugar Company (ACSC) and its 1,300 locked out workers was dealt another serious blow when recordings of anti-worker statements by ACSC President and CEO Dave Berg were made public this week...
Speaker O'Brien Lies in Press Statement, Unable to Name a Single Business to Move to NH if HB 474 Had Passed Granite State Progress ..."Not once has the topic of right-to-work ever come up in all of [their] discussions with New Hampshire businesses and prospective businesses..."
Opinion: N.J. unions will achieve goals by speaking with collective voice Times of Trenton ...When our political system gets so out of whack that it stops working for the very people it represents, working- and middle-class voters do what too many politicians have been refusing to do: Come together to restore balance to our economy and our politics...
Wisconsin Recall Drive Surpasses 300,000 Signatures The Nation ...What is truly remarkable is where the signatures are coming from: rural and small-town Wisconsin communities are contributing disproportionally high numbers of signatures to the total...
How Republicans are being taught to talk about Occupy Wall Street The Ticket ..."I'm so scared of this anti-Wall Street effort. I'm frightened to death," said Frank Luntz, a Republican strategist and one of the nation's foremost experts on crafting the perfect political message. "They're having an impact on what the American people think of capitalism..."
Mayor Bloomberg: ‘I Have My Own Army’ New York Observer ...“I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh biggest army in the world..."
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Today's Teamster News 10.08.11
The U.S. today: economic stagnation, political paralysis The Guardian ...Given mass unemployment and stimulus spending blocked in Washington, no wonder people are taking to the streets...
US Gains 103,000 Jobs in September firedoglake ...This is basically a moving-sideways report. It shows the need for the American Jobs Act, the Chinese currency bill, Fed policy – something, everything to accelerate growth and get the country working again...
Right to work bill plays big Concord Monitor ...many candidates for the Republican nomination are making sure New Hampshire voters know where they stand on an issue even political insiders are surprised to see popping up: the so-called Right to Work legislation...
Governor signs bill to bolster "buy America" rules for new buses and train cars San Jose Mercury News ...When the law takes effect Jan. 1, transit agencies can impose a higher buy-American minimum. The buy-America requirements, however, cannot be imposed if they increase the purchase price of vehicles in excess of certain federal thresholds...
Hundreds Protest at Right-to-Work Hearing thendychannel.com ...The crowd wasn't as big or as rowdy as the ones that took over the Statehouse during the regular legislative session, but protestors got their point across that they believe the bill would reduce the power of unions and would lower wages...
Right to teach bill debuts in Michigan Senate Associated Press ...A spokeswoman for Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has said he is unlikely to back the proposal if it gets to his desk...
Governor releases list of job titles targeted with layoffs looming Buffalo News ..."If there is any way we can avoid 3,500 layoffs, that is what my administration wants to do," Cuomo told reporters at the Capitol...
US Gains 103,000 Jobs in September firedoglake ...This is basically a moving-sideways report. It shows the need for the American Jobs Act, the Chinese currency bill, Fed policy – something, everything to accelerate growth and get the country working again...
Right to work bill plays big Concord Monitor ...many candidates for the Republican nomination are making sure New Hampshire voters know where they stand on an issue even political insiders are surprised to see popping up: the so-called Right to Work legislation...
Governor signs bill to bolster "buy America" rules for new buses and train cars San Jose Mercury News ...When the law takes effect Jan. 1, transit agencies can impose a higher buy-American minimum. The buy-America requirements, however, cannot be imposed if they increase the purchase price of vehicles in excess of certain federal thresholds...
Hundreds Protest at Right-to-Work Hearing thendychannel.com ...The crowd wasn't as big or as rowdy as the ones that took over the Statehouse during the regular legislative session, but protestors got their point across that they believe the bill would reduce the power of unions and would lower wages...
Right to teach bill debuts in Michigan Senate Associated Press ...A spokeswoman for Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has said he is unlikely to back the proposal if it gets to his desk...
Governor releases list of job titles targeted with layoffs looming Buffalo News ..."If there is any way we can avoid 3,500 layoffs, that is what my administration wants to do," Cuomo told reporters at the Capitol...
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Today's Teamster News 08.30.11
Kasich To Give Public Money To Private Groups Supporting His Agenda ProgressOhio ...Gov. John Kasich is finalizing plans today to funnel public money to private groups that support Senate Bill 5. And a new analysis shows these groups and their affiliates have donated nearly a half-million dollars to pro-SB 5 candidates and causes...
Pro-SB 5 campaign has work cut out Columbus Dispatch ...The key question now is whether the coalition of Democrats and union supporters pushing for a repeal can keep those signees in their camp and get them to show up to vote in November...
Republican Politicians Banned From Labor Day Parade In Wisconsin Huffington Post ... A group of Wisconsin union officials has voted to ban Republican politicians from a local Labor Day parade...
Pay cut tied to state employee health care ruled unconstitutional Detroit Free Press ...Affirming a lower court decision out of Ingham County, the three-judge appellate panel said the deduction, enacted by the Legislature and former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, illegally bypassed the state Civil Service Commission, which has primary jurisdiction over state employee compensation...
Union protests company CEO who backs right-to-work bill Boston Globe ...Around 20 union members protested today outside the office of Fred Kfoury Jr., president and CEO of Central Paper Products in Manchester, N.H., who appeared in a pro-Mitt Romney video supporting right-to-work legislation...
NYC workers fight for 40-hour week Crain's New York Business ...Now that manufacturing jobs have been replaced by retail and other service positions, workers are again fighting for a 40-hour week. Only this time, the battle has been turned upside down...
Most Referendums Since 1998 Give U.S. Voters a Chance to Reject State Laws Bloomberg ...Citizen-initiated ballot measures are one response to polarized statehouses, where laws pass by slim margins along party lines...
Pro-SB 5 campaign has work cut out Columbus Dispatch ...The key question now is whether the coalition of Democrats and union supporters pushing for a repeal can keep those signees in their camp and get them to show up to vote in November...
Republican Politicians Banned From Labor Day Parade In Wisconsin Huffington Post ... A group of Wisconsin union officials has voted to ban Republican politicians from a local Labor Day parade...
Pay cut tied to state employee health care ruled unconstitutional Detroit Free Press ...Affirming a lower court decision out of Ingham County, the three-judge appellate panel said the deduction, enacted by the Legislature and former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, illegally bypassed the state Civil Service Commission, which has primary jurisdiction over state employee compensation...
Union protests company CEO who backs right-to-work bill Boston Globe ...Around 20 union members protested today outside the office of Fred Kfoury Jr., president and CEO of Central Paper Products in Manchester, N.H., who appeared in a pro-Mitt Romney video supporting right-to-work legislation...
NYC workers fight for 40-hour week Crain's New York Business ...Now that manufacturing jobs have been replaced by retail and other service positions, workers are again fighting for a 40-hour week. Only this time, the battle has been turned upside down...
Most Referendums Since 1998 Give U.S. Voters a Chance to Reject State Laws Bloomberg ...Citizen-initiated ballot measures are one response to polarized statehouses, where laws pass by slim margins along party lines...
Thursday, July 7, 2011
VIDEO: WI, MN, MI get their protest on
Skirmishes in the War on Workers continue on land and on sea. In Wisconsin, floating protests of
The Daily Isthmus reports:
Saturday's protest was organized very quickly, says Arthur Kohl-Riggs, who organized the event through the "Shit Scott Walker Is Doing To My State" Facebook page he operates. He learned about the party Friday night and created a Facebook event Saturday morning.Guess that is what democracy floats like. (Look for the "Stop the War on Workers" sign in the video.)
Kohl-Riggs was pleasantly surprised that the turnout included people who had not met prior to the protest. The flotilla consisted of two kayaks, two canoes and a paddleboat.
"Saturday was kind of a test drive," Kohl-Riggs says. He has since created a Facebook event called "A Summer Full of #wiflotilla" to organize future lake shore protests. Flotilla protesters are also organizing with the Twitter hashtag #wiflotilla.
In shuttered Minnesota, protesters set up a Downeyville outside of the state Capitol today. They're following the example of Walkerville, Bloombergville and Christieville. You'll recall Minnesota has shut down because extremist Republican lawmakers refuse to tax millionaires. Downeyville is named after Edina Rep. Keith Downey, who wants to cut 5,000 state jobs and destroy government unions.
The Minnesota Independent quotes Jenifer Munt, AFSCME spokeswoman:
“We’re trying to make sure people understand what’s at stake with an all-cuts budget,” Munt told the Minnesota Independent. “The shutdown gives people a taste of what that would be like, but the Republican budget proposals as they stand today are far worse than the shutdown for the average person in Minnesota.”Judging by the photos, it looks as if a thousand people -- government workers, we're told -- joined the protest, many with "We Want To Work" signs. It wasn't the first protest in St. Paul over the shutdown, and it won't be the last. Minnesota's unions say they have actions planned throughout the month of July. Meanwhile, the shutdown is costing a lot of money.
Aside from the playful aspects of the event, it represents a push by the public employee unions MAPE and AFSCME to put pressure on Republican moderates who might help shift their caucuses towards compromise with Gov. Mark Dayton to end the state government shutdown. Republicans have so far shown little willingness to change their positions.
Yesterday in Michigan, state employees protested a plan to privatize a veterans home (what a great way to say "thank you" to our veterans). And give Michiganders credit for trying to recall Rick Snyder and the heinous emergency financial manager (governor-appointed local dictator) law. Eclectablog is a great place to follow those efforts.
And let's not forget our brothers and sisters in Egypt, who are planning a massive protest in Tahrir Square tomorrow.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Protest Scott Walker in NYC on Tues
Even a mouth-breather like Walker has got to realize that he's bound to be recalled in 191 days if he doesn't turn things around. Especially after making the enormous blunder of planning a budget-signing ceremony at a company owned by a felonious tax evader.
But no, he's jetting to New York City on Tuesday to head a swanky fundraiser for the chairman of the Republican National Committee. That'll create a lot of jobs in Wisconsin, won't it? Actually, it will inspire a protest. Here are the deets:
Tuesday, June 28. Grand Army Plaza Park, 5th Avenue between 58th and 60th Streets (Across the street from the Sherry Netherland Hotel). The fundraiser runs from 5 pm to 7 pm.Perhaps the good people from Bloombergville would like to join.
Stay tuned. We'll have more on this.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Meanwhile, across the river from NJ....(VIDEO link)
...Bloombergville is still up and running. It's another tent city protesting budget cuts (which of course are necessitated by the FALLING TAX RECEIPTS which result from WALL STREET RECKLESSNESS) in New York.
Bloombergville Now! says a lunchtime rally was scheduled today; we'll check in later to see how that went. And tonight a rally is planned in which attendees are invited to dress as a millionaire or a street urchin.
Here's how Bloombergville Now! explains its ask:
Bloombergville Now! says a lunchtime rally was scheduled today; we'll check in later to see how that went. And tonight a rally is planned in which attendees are invited to dress as a millionaire or a street urchin.
Here's how Bloombergville Now! explains its ask:
After already severe cuts in the past two years that left hospitals underfunded, closed schools, eliminated bus lines and subway service, and reduced other public services including sanitation and rat control, average New Yorkers can’t take any more. Our message is No More: No Cuts, No Layoffs, No Compromises, Make Bankers and Millionaires Pay!!For some reason we can't embed the latest youtube video, but here's a link to it.
If allowed to pass the proposed Bloomberg budget will close up to 17 senior centers, cut or reduce services at nearly 60 child care centers, shut 20 more schools and 20 firehouses, and cause thousands of workers to lose their jobs, including up to 6000 teachers.
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