Today's Teamster News 02.13.14

Teamsters
Washington Twp. cops might go union  Pittsburgh Tribune-Review   ...The Washington Township Police Department soon might become members of Teamsters Local 205, based in White Oak, Pennsylvania. The state's Labor Relations Board will schedule an election within the next month for township officers...
Union Negotiations Continue at Beverly's Armstrong Plant  12 WBOY News   ...Negotiations are still underway between Armstrong and the Teamsters to reach a new agreement at its plant in Randolph County, WV. The current contract expires Saturday...
Collective Bargaining: How to Negotiate Strong Teamster Contracts  teamster.org   ...The IBT Training and Development Department is conducting a Teamsters Leadership Academy (TLA) on collective bargaining, March 11-14. Get the details here...
Trade
Pelosi comes out against fast track bill  The Hill   ...Pelosi made clear on Wednesday night that she isn’t opposed to the concept of TPA, also known as fast-track authority, but she can’t support a bill introduced by Baucus, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Senate Finance Committee ranking member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)...
Hoffa: Voices Against Fast Track Are Growing Louder  teamster.org   ...Thousands of Teamsters have contacted Congress in recent weeks to let them know “fast track” trade authority is the wrong track for America. And the message is getting through...
Crowley Opposes Fast Track  New York Daily News   ...Rep. Joe Crowley’s far from shocking statement opposing the authority, which lets the president force trade bills, like a pending Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, to receive up or down votes in both congressional chambers...
State Battles
Tennessee Paper Pushes Koch-Connected Anti-Union Message Ahead Of UAW Vote  Media Matters   ...A misleading op-ed in Chattanooga's Times Free Press, co-written by a Koch and ALEC ally, falsely claimed creating a union in a local Volkswagen plant would negatively impact the state economy and plant relations, despite evidence to the contrary...
U.S. senator drops bombshell during VW plant union vote  Reuters   ...U.S. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said on Wednesday he has been "assured" that if workers at the Volkswagen AG plant in his hometown of Chattanooga reject United Auto Worker representation, the company will reward the plant with a new product to build. Corker's bombshell … runs counter to public statements by Volkswagen...
Tennessee Republicans Don't Believe in a Free Market  Center for Economic and Policy Research   ...these politicians believe they are better able to run a car company than the Volkswagen's managers. This is an interesting view coming from people who usually claim to be supporters of a free market and to believe that the government should not interfere in the running of a business...
Austerity in Maine has forced state troopers to go without heating and feed their families roadkill  Salon   ...Back in 2013, the lawmakers of the state of Maine decided to freeze state merit and longevity pay for its state troopers. According to a report in the Bangor Daily News, for at least some state troopers — and their families — the consequences have been dire...
Harsh words for CDOT at public meeting on 50-year U.S. 36 contract  Daily Camera   ...Colorado Department of Transportation officials took a verbal beating Wednesday night from a crowd of hundreds who blasted the agency for partnering with a private firm to maintain and operate U.S. 36 between Boulder and Denver for the next 50 years.
Assembly committee takes up bill tossing some "living wage" ordinances  WHBL   ...Wisconsin lawmakers were hearing testimony Wednesday on a bill to throw out local "living wage" ordinances...
Kentucky sinkhole opens up at Corvette museum, swallows vintage Corvettes dailykos   ...The museum issued a statement that said six of the damaged cars were owned by the museum and two — a 1993 ZR-1 Spyder and a 2009 ZR1 Blue Devil — were on loan from General Motors...
States, U.S. Forfeit Billions in Corporate Tax Revenue Annually  teamster.org   ...States could save more than $1 billion a year in tax revenue if they would make simple reforms that would crack down on shady corporate practices that funnel dollars away from their coffers. But only two states have put the brakes on such practices thus far...
How California’s Worsening Drought Could Make Your Grocery Bill Spike  ThinkProgress   ...If what the tree rings say is true, California hasn’t been this dry in more than 500 years. If what the leading climate scientists say is true, that dryness will only get worse in the coming years, which will adversely impact the agricultural industry...
This Is What It Looks Like When 100,000 Gallons Of Coal Waste Spill Into A West Virginia Stream  ThinkProgress   ...A pipe break at a Patriot Coal preparation site spewed more than 100,000 gallons of coal slurry into a waterway near Charleston, WV on Tuesday...
Pence wants state to replace some proposed local business tax cuts  Indianapolis Star   ...In the face of a growing outcry from mayors across the state, Gov. Mike Pence announced Tuesday that he supports replacing some of the revenue local governments would lose under proposals to cut Indiana's tax on business equipment...
The War on Workers
Lawsuit Calls Government’s Sweetheart Deal With JP Morgan ‘Unlawful’   ThinkProgress ...The Justice Department (DOJ) broke the law when it settled mortgage finance market fraud allegations against JP Morgan in a headline-grabbing legal settlement last year, according to a lawsuit filed Monday...
Former Enron Trader Funding PBS Series On Pensions  firedoglake   ... billionaire and Enron alum John Arnold has financed a new two-year news series entitled “Pension Peril.” A program that, not surprisingly, pushes an agenda that companies like Enron would love. The series, promoting cuts to public employee pensions, is airing on hundreds of PBS outlets all over the nation...
RealtyTrac: Monthly foreclosure filings reverse course, rise 8%  Housing Wire   ...Monthly foreclosure filings — including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — reversed course and increased 8% to 124,419 in January from December...
AT&T Mobility, CWA reach tentative agreement  Atlanta Journal-Constitution ...AT&T Mobility has reached a tentative agreement with the Communications Workers of America on a contract covering more than 11,500 employees in Georgia and other parts of the Southeast...
What the jobless do when the benefits end  Washington Post   ...Many facing the end of benefits will turn to Social Security. Others will cobble together what they can...
Bob Costas is right: Going to work sick is a terrible idea  Washington Post   ..."Presenteeism" is actually a vexing problem for employers that could, by some estimates cost them as much as $150 billion per year...

Today's Teamster News 01.30.14

Teamsters Speak Out at Lobby Day in Olympia  teamster.org   ...Correctional employees teamed up with taxi cab operators, warehouse workers, nurses, cooks and county and city employees for dozens of meetings with legislators...
Whitney Foods Workers Join Teamsters Local 703  teamster.org   ...Chicago distribution workers with Whitney Foods are now members of Teamsters Local 703 after the company voluntarily recognized its employees’ right to join the union last fall...
Collective Bargaining: How to Negotiate Strong Teamster Contracts  teamster.org   ...The IBT Training and Development Department is conducting a Teamsters Leadership Academy on collective bargaining, March 11-14, 2014...
Allegiant Air Pilots to Meet with Investors, Analysts to Discuss Operating, Safety Concerns  teamster.org   "...the major service disruptions over the last several months, ranging from multiple fleet shutdowns, chronic staffing and equipment shortages, significant ramp-up in 3rd party contracting for scheduled flights and sub-servicing and the shutdown of the company’s training department, all flow from the short-sighted decisions being made at the top.”...
New poll shows voters overwhelmingly oppose Fast Track  TeamsterNation   ...Voters by a 2-to-1 margin oppose Fast Track authority to pass trade deals, according to a new poll by Hart Research released today...
Reid Deals Body Blow to Obama on Trade  Wall Street Journal   ...Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid broke publicly with the White House Wednesday on trade policy, instantly imperiling two major international trade deals...
Even Companies Need to Know More about Fast Track, TPP  teamster.org   ...Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) raised the issue of trade provisions that would allow foreign companies to sue governments before international tribunals
Fight back against currency manipulation   McClatchy   ...we need to increase sales of goods and services made in the United States, which means expanding exports, reducing imports and shrinking our trade deficit. Currency manipulation, by about 20 countries (mostly in Asia), is the single most important cause of our trade deficit...
Asian Shares Slump After Fed Action  Wall Street Journal   ...Market turmoil returned to Asia Thursday, with Japanese stocks at one point slumping more than 3%, after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would scale back further on its stimulus measures...
Is A New Economic Crisis At Hand?  TripleCrisis   ...AT the end of last week, several developing countries saw sharp falls in their currency as well as stock market values, prompting the question of whether it is the start of a wider economic crisis. The sell-off in emerging economies also spilled over to the American and European stock markets, thus causing global turmoil...
K Street's Fortunes Decline for Third Year  OpenSecrets   ...For the third straight year, spending on K Street is down, with only a handful of industries spending more on lobbying in 2013 than they did in 2012...
Fortune 50 CEO pay vs. our salaries  CNN Money   ...With a staggering total compensation package of $378 million for 2011, Apple's Tim Cook takes the cake for the highest Fortune 50 CEO-to-typical-worker pay ratio. Indeed, it takes 6,258 typical Apple worker salaries to match Cook's total pay...
The Stealth Privatization of Pennsylvania's Bridges  TruthOut   ...Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett's administration has decided to sign a 40-year contract to privatize the state's crumbling bridges, but there has been little to no media coverage of the deal and what it will mean for two generations of Pennsylvanians...
Fun With Scary Pension Numbers in Chicago  Center for Economic Policy and Research   ...The Chicago Tribune headlined a news story: "Chicago pension tab: $18,596 for every man, woman, child." That's pretty scary. Fortunately my Chicago public school teachers taught me about fractions and denominators. That is what is missing here. The key point is that Chicago does not have to pay this money tomorrow or even over the next year. This is a liability over the next 30 years...

Today's Teamster News 12.04.13

2014 Teamsters Leadership Academy (TLA) Course Summary  teamster.org   ...Below is a list of the 2014 Teamsters Leadership Academy programs available from the IBT Training and Development Department for Teamster leaders. Download the schedule here...
Report: ALEC faces financial, possibly legal, problems  UPI   ...A conservative U.S. lobbying group critics say has undue influence on public policy faces a funding crisis and possible legal trouble, internal documents show...
Ill. Legislature OKs fix for $100B pension crisis  Associated Press   ...A coalition of unions known as We Are One Illinois, which lobbied heavily against the bill, issued a statement saying the legislation is unfair to workers and retirees who for years made faithful contributions to retirement systems but now will see benefits cut because of government mismanagement. "This is no victory for Illinois, but a dark day for its citizens and public servants," they said. "Teachers, caregivers, police and others stand to lose huge portions of their life savings because politicians chose to threaten their retirement security..."
Judge: Detroit eligible for Chapter 9 bankruptcy  Associated Press   ...Detroit is eligible to shed billions in debt in the largest public bankruptcy in U.S. history, a judge said Tuesday in a long-awaited decision that now shifts the case toward how the city will accomplish that task...
Missouri Extremists Get an Early Start on Attacking Working Families for 2014 Legislative Session  AFL-CIO Now   ...Extremist pro-corporate Republicans in Missouri are getting an early start on attacking the rights of working families by pre-filing a "right to work" for less bill for the 2014 legislative session. While there undoubtedly will be similar attacks in other states in 2014, Missouri is the first state to take formal steps to strip working families of their rights...
Scott Walker campaign aide fired after tweets demeaning Hispanics  Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel   ...For the second time in less than four months, Gov. Scott Walker has fired an aide for making demeaning comments about Hispanics on social media...
Fast Food Strikes Will Hit 100 Cities On Thursday  ThinkProgress   ...Fast food workers will stage a one-day strike against their employers in 100 cities on Thursday ... Strikes will take place for the first time in some cities, such as Charleston, SC; Providence, RI; and Pittsburgh, PA.
They’ll also stage protests in an additional 100 cities, activists say...
Fast food CEOs exploit despicable tax loophole  Salon   ...Outrageous: In two years, fast food corporations paid out $183 million in deductible "performance pay" to top brass...
Making One Do the Work of Three: My Years at Wal-Mart  CounterPunch   ...This is the text of a speech given on November 29, in Raleigh, North Carolina by former Wal-Mart worker Patrick Snipes...
Cisco Says NSA Costing Them Major Business Abroad  firedoglake   ...Cisco Systems, one of the largest networking equipment sellers in the world, has been losing major business in the wake of the NSA spying scandal. The company has publicly blamed the NSA for sowing distrust between American technology companies and the rest of the world – potentially costing them billions...
Race to the Bottom: Declining State Corporate Tax Rates  CounterPunch   ...Behind the decline in the corporate income tax as a share of total tax revenues lies the growing proliferation of corporate tax exemptions, credits, deferral of payments, and various other ‘loopholes.’...
Global Elites Getting Nervous About Skyrocketing Inequality (But Won't Spare a Nickel to Fix It)  AlterNet   ...There’s a lot of handwringing, but will elite anxiety bring any changes?...
Survey: Rich kids reap benefits of online courses  Bloomberg News ...An international poll casts doubt on the idea that the free online classes will benefit disenfranchised students...
As Hospital Prices Soar, a Single Stitch Tops $500  New York Times   ...Hospital pricing is often convoluted, and hospital charges represent about a third of the total United States health care bill...

Today's Teamster News 10.23.13

Teamsters Union optimistic for deal with CN Railway this week  Reuters   ...The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference union is optimistic that talks with Canadian National Railway Co, Canada's largest rail operator, will produce a deal this week…
Hershey Medical Center, Teamsters Continue Talks  Lebanon Daily News ...Negotiators for the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Teamsters Local 776 were expected to sit down with a federal mediator to hammer out a new contract...
'Local Union Communications: The Social Art of Educating Members' TLA to be Held December 3-4  teamster.org   ...This two-day Teamsters Leadership Academy (TLA), hosted by Local 986 in Los Angeles, will explore effective ways Teamster affiliates can communicate with members through the use of social networking, flyers, newsletters, websites and media. Don’t forget to register for this program...
Grocery Workers Strike in Puget Sound Averted  Sky Valley Chronicle   ...The large grocery store workers strike that was headed to begin October 21, by some 21,000 union employees against four large grocery chains, was averted at the wire by a tentative agreement reached by the negotiating teams for both sides in the dispute...
Top Five Ways Lobbyists Will Win and We Will Lose If a Major Corporate Trade Deal Goes Through  Alternet   ...The next time you want to share a song or a recipe online, you’d have to ask yourself: Am I a criminal? Interested in writing some fan fiction based on your favourite detective series and sharing it online? Ask yourself that very same question. That’s how TPP provisions could characterize you based on what we know about its Intellectual Property chapter...
Billion Dollar Pay Check? 10 CEOs in America Break All Records for Executive Pay  Alternet   ... the top 10 CEOs in this year's poll took home over $4.7bn between them and for the first time ever none earned less than $100m. "I have never seen anything like that," said Greg Ruel, GMI's senior research consultant and author of the report. "Usually we have a few CEOs at the $100m-plus level but never the entire top 10..."
College campuses see rise in homeless students  USA Today   ...Though hard data are lacking, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid estimates that there are 58,000 homeless students on campuses nationwide...
Plutocrats at Work: How Big Philanthropy Undermines Democracy  Truthout   ...For a dozen years, big philanthropy has been funding a massive crusade to remake public education for low-income and minority children in the image of the private sector...
Tax breaks could ease pain of JPMorgan deal  Politico   ...JPMorgan Chase has struck a tentative deal with the Justice Department to pay a record $13 billion over dodgy mortgage products — but the biggest U.S. bank may be able to slash that bill by paying Uncle Sam less in taxes...
Following Nationwide Strikes, Bangladesh Garment Workers Win Minimum Wage Increase  The Real News   ...Garment workers in Bangladesh are poised to receive a 50 to 80 percent increase in the minimum wage following massive protests in September which closed more than 100 factories and caused a 20 percent decline in national production, according to a Reuters report citing the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association...
Limited service delays BART commuters as strike ends  Los Angeles Times   ...Despite having reached a deal Monday night to end a four-day Bay Area commuter-rail strike, staffing issues made for a rocky start for BART riders Tuesday morning...
Hatred of unions is misplaced, as they created the strong middle class (opinion) Canton Repository   ...I cannot understand why so many Americans have hatred for unions, which gave us a strong and vibrant middle class in the past...
Your prescription history is their business  Los Angeles Times   ...A secretive, for-profit service called ScriptCheck keeps track of all your prescriptions, even those you pay for with cash. Life insurers pay for the data...
More Americans pessimistic about economy after shutdown, poll shows  Los Angeles Times   ...Americans are more pessimistic about the state of the economy after the partial government shutdown and debt limit fight, according to poll results released Tuesday...
Feeding antibiotics to livestock is bad for humans, but Congress won’t stop it   Washington Post   ...The farm and pharmaceutical lobbies have blocked all meaningful efforts to reduce the use of antibiotics in raising livestock in America, a practice that contributes to a major public health risk, according to a study released Tuesday...
Ohio State University has invested millions with friend of Gov. John Kasich and Gordon Gee, but officials won't share details about the deal  Cleveland Plain Dealer   ... Ohio State University has invested tens of millions of dollars in a new, untested fund co-founded by a venture capitalist who enjoys close relationships with recently retired university president E. Gordon Gee and Gov. John Kasich. The deal was done behind closed doors, right around the time trustees changed OSU policy to allow top administrators more leeway over how to invest operating funds...
Court Holds Wisconsin Officials In Contempt For Enforcing Scott Walker’s Anti-Union Law  ThinkProgress   ...A Wisconsin judge who declared Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) union-busting law unconstitutional more than a year ago held the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission in contempt of court on Monday for continuing to enforce that law against school and municipal workers...
Capitol Hill Needs to Save the Middle Class (opinion)  teamster.org   ...America’s ever-shrinking middle class is not only feeling pain in their wallet from lower take-home pay. Many are also witnessing a change in the places they live and the schools their children attend that could alter the fabric of our society for years to come...

Today's Teamster News 10.18.13

Chicago Teamsters Secure Five-Year Agreement for Nearly 700 Workers  teamster.org   ...For approximately 700 Chicago area valet drivers, Teamsters Local 727 has secured a new contract that includes union health care coverage for full-time workers at dozens of companies...
Suburban Chicago Printers Choose Teamster Power  teamster.org   ...Web press operators and full service print production workers in suburban Chicago overwhelmingly joined the Teamsters Union and ratified their first union contract last month...
Font ResizeAmerican Canyon, Teamsters reach employee contract deal  Vallejo Times-Herald   ...A long-awaited contract deal with the city's middle managers represented by Teamsters Local 315 has been approved that includes restoration of furlough days and a 1.5 percent raise over the next three years...
DeKalb County Opens Door to Teamsters Representing Sanitation Workers  WABE News   ...Starting next year, DeKalb County’s 450 sanitation workers will have a new route to air their grievances, and they will have a union with them...
Grocers, unions talk, prepare for possible strike  The Olympian   ...Talks resumed Wednesday between major Puget Sound area grocery chains and unions, including the Teamsters, that represent 21,000 of their workers...
Local Union Communications: The Social Art of Educating Members' TLA to be Held December 3-4 teamster.org   ...This two-day Teamsters Leadership Academy (TLA), hosted by Local 986 in Los Angeles, will explore effective ways Teamster affiliates can communicate with members through the use of social networking, fliers, newsletters, websites and media...
ILA Strike Continues at Baltimore  Journal of Commerce Online   ...A longshoremen’s strike that has idled the Port of Baltimore continued into its second day yesterday. The workers struck on Oct. 16 after rejecting a proposed contract with the Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore. The port’s other ILA locals refused to cross the picket lines...
Organized labor criticizes county for its union dealings  Chronicle-Telegram   ...Labor leaders criticized Ohio’s Lorain County leaders for how they deal with unions, including paying large sums to a law firm that specializes in union busting to handle the county's contract negotiations and human resource issues…
Corporations Now Using Foreign Tribunals to Attack Domestic Court Rulings  Public Citizen   ...This dangerous trend of private three-person tribunals assuming the authority to contravene domestic court decisions at the behest of multinational corporations should raise the ire of those who support the independence of courts, the sovereignty of nations, the rule of law, or even the core democratic notion that a system of legal decision-making should be accountable to those who will live with the decisions...
Reich: Their Real Goal: To Make Us All So Cynical About Government, We Give Up (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...Then they're free to take over everything...
Why Elizabeth Warren Is 'NOT Celebrating' The End Of The Government Shutdown  Huffington Post   ...Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) emailed supporters late Wednesday to say how glad she is that the government shutdown ended and the U.S. didn't default. But she made it clear she isn't celebrating...
Dying Middle-Class Neighborhoods Being Replaced By A Segregated Society  Huffington Post   ...The divide between rich and poor isn’t just growing in America’s bank accounts. It’s also splitting apart its neighborhoods, cutting the country in two, according to a new study...
Washington budget fight hurts auto sales  Muscatine Journal   ...Auto sales tailed off last week, and some dealers and experts are pointing the finger at bickering politicians in Washington. Collected data shows that sales fell in the second week of October as the partial shutdown of the government and the debate over the nation's borrowing dragged on...
Illinois Supreme Court to hear lawsuit on lawmaker pay  Associated Press   ...The Illinois Supreme Court has agreed to hear Gov. Pat Quinn's appeal of a ruling that his veto of money for lawmaker pay was unconstitutional. Quinn said the lawmakers didn't deserve to get paid until they address Illinois' nearly $100 billion pension crisis...
Michigan to withhold payment to Xerox over Bridge Card outage  Associated Press   ...Michigan will withhold money from Xerox Corp. because a technical problem crashed the state’s debit card-style food stamps program. People in 17 states from Alabama to California were unable to use their food stamp cards on Saturday morning…
Mortgage settlements helped few  New York Times   ...The $25 billion national mortgage settlement has fallen far short of the original predictions, and more people gave up their homes in short sales than received debt reduction that would have allowed them to stay in their homes...
Walmart-contracted warehouse fined for unsafe working conditions  San Bernardino County Sun   ...A warehouse contracted by Walmart to move suitcases has been fined by California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health for a number of unsafe and illegal working conditions...
U.K. joins currency manipulation probe  CNNMoney   ...A global crackdown into foreign exchange trading is gathering pace as U.K. regulators investigate possible misconduct by a number of firms in the $5.3 trillion foreign currency market...

Today's Teamster News 10.09.13

SCI’s Actions Have Broken Bonds With Chicago, Funeral Directors Say  teamster.org   ...The lockout of 59 funeral directors and drivers by Service Corporation International (SCI) at 16 Chicago-area funeral homes has not only cost workers their livelihoods, it has removed them from doing what they do best -- serving the needs of their communities as many have done for decades...
Shutdown delays FSI union vote  News-Messenger  ...The government shutdown has delayed a local trash-hauling company’s latest efforts to unionize. Workers at FSI Disposal were scheduled to vote on Thursday whether to join the Teamsters Local 507 in Cleveland...
Marquez union vote delayed  The Sentinel   ...Teamsters is pressing on with its campaign during the government shutdown, meeting with workers and former workers before and after shifts to build support. The union is accusing Marquez of firing pro-union employers and harassing others until they quit...
In Honor of National Truck Drive Appreciation Week  teamster.org   ...We posted hundreds of Teamster photos on Facebook. Now we made a video...
'Local Union Communications: The Social Art of Educating Members' TLA to be Held December 3-4  teamster.org   ...This two-day Teamsters Leadership Academy (TLA), hosted by Local 986 in Los Angeles, will explore effective ways Teamster affiliates can communicate with members through the use of social networking, fliers, newsletters, websites and media...
Exclusive Gyms For Members Of Congress Deemed ‘Essential,’ Remain Open During Shutdown  ThinkProgress   ...Head Start programs have been shuttered, small businesses can’t get loans and hundreds of thousands of federal government employees are furloughed. But the exclusive gyms available only to members of Congress have remained open throughout the shutdown...
12 Warning Signs You'll Get Overworked and Underpaid by an Employer  Alternet   ...Beware of companies that call their employees “associates” or “team members.” This is a cheap way of making them feel valued without paying them...
Carter: Middle Class Today Resembles Past's Poor  Associated Press   ...Former President Jimmy Carter said Monday that the income gap in the United States has increased to the point where members of the middle class resemble the Americans who lived in poverty when he occupied the White House...
No Matter What Happens, Unions Get Blamed  Counterpunch   ...in response to Japan’s spectacular (albeit illegal) entry into the U.S. market, too many people drew the erroneous conclusion that American workers weren’t capable of producing a top-quality car, and, more specifically, that labor union members were inferior workers. You still hear people today parrot that ridiculous factoid...
China tells US to avoid debt crisis for sake of global economy  BBC News ...A senior Chinese official has warned that the "clock is ticking" to avoid a US default that could hurt China's interests and the global economy...
5 Depressing Ways That 1%'s Huge Profits Have Broken the Back of America  AlterNet   ...The middle class, once the backbone of a strong American society, has been broken, beaten down, pushed further and further toward poverty levels. Here are five well-documented ways that this has happened...
Factory fire in Bangladesh kills garment workers  The Guardian   ...At least 10 die as fire services work to bring four-storey blaze under control in clothing industry zone of Gazipur, near Dhaka...
Class in the Classroom: Why Middle-Income Students Are Being Left in the Dust  AlterNet   ...It's well known that wealthy kids outperform poor kids in school, but now the rich are also pulling away from their middle-class peers. Why is that so?...
The Latest Voter Suppression Fad: Two Tiers  Talking Points Memo   ...Officials in Arizona and Kansas are making preparations for elections with two categories of voters. There will be those who provided proof of citizenship when they registered to vote, and will therefore be able to vote in all local, state, and federal elections. And then there will be those who did not provide proof of citizenship when they registered. Those people will only be able to vote in federal contests -- if at all...
Kansas Sec. of State Kris Kobach Has New Plan to Keep 17,500+ Legal Voters From Voting  The BRAD BLOG   ...That new proof-of-citizenship law took affect at the beginning of this year and has resulted in thousands of previously legal voters becoming "suspended" until such time as they present documentation to prove they are citizens...
U.S. ban on some Samsung products to go into effect  Reuters   ...The U.S. Trade Representative's office said on Tuesday that it would allow a U.S. ban to go into effect on products made by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd that infringe on Apple Inc. patents...
Profiting from the Poor: Outsourcing Social Services Puts Most Vulnerable at Risk  Center for Media and Democracy   ...Privatized foster care? What could possibly go wrong?...
Get Ready for Extra Helpings of Feces, Pus and Chlorine on Your Plate — America is Deregulating Its Meat Industry  AlterNet   ...Risks to food consumers will only increase as the government "washes its hands" of meat and poultry inspection...
How Do You Know Someone Is Doing Something Awful? If They Call You A Terrorist For Photographing It.  Upworthy   ...I don’t know what to find more horrifying — the idea that people still habitually abuse helpless animals, or that this is how parts of our country want to treat the people who try to stop it... 
Boston School bus drivers stage wildcat strike, disrupting service to thousands of students  Boston Globe   ...A wildcat strike by the union representing Boston Public Schools bus drivers has halted service for tens of thousands of students, officials said...
Gov. Brown signs package of 18 business-friendly bills  Los Angeles Times   ...Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law legislation that was heavily lobbied by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and aimed at boosting sales of high-tech goods and services...
Ohio man remains legally dead despite his recent court plea  RT   ...Miller was ruled legally dead by a court in 1994, eight years after he disappeared from his home in Arcadia. His appeal Monday in Hancock County Probate Court to rescind his “death” didn’t earn a change of status in the view of the law...

Today's Teamster News 09.26.13

(UPDATES with items about federal contract worker pay)

Hoffa Calls On Cruz, Right-Wing Extremists To Stop ACA Misrepresentations  teamster.org   ...Here's an official statement by Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa...
Hundreds of Manufacturing Workers Ratify First Teamster Contract  Joint Council 25   ...Approximately 340 manufacturing employees at Senior Flexonics ratified their first contract with Teamsters Local 330 by a 3-to-1 margin...
Teamsters: Private Prison Quotas Rob Taxpayers  teamster.org   ...The Teamsters Union is denouncing the findings of a new study revealing that private prison management firms have contracts that directly link profits to inmate capacity. The Teamsters Union represents 30,000 correctional officers in 20 states across the country...
Teamsters Capital Strategies Speaks Out On Wage Disparity  The Leslie Marshall Show ...A proposed rule for the Security and Exchange Commission would shed light on the ratio of media worker pay versus that of a company’s CEO...
BASIS TLA Scheduled October 7-11  teamster.org   ...The IBT Training and Development Department will conduct a Teamsters Leadership Academy for new local union business agents, October 7-11, 2013, at the union's headquarters in Washington, D.C...
Organizational Skills for Office Managers Scheduled for November 6-8  teamster.org   ...The IBT Training and Development Department will conduct a TLA for Teamster Office Managers and key administrative staff, November 6-8, 2013, at the union's headquarters in Washington, D.C...
Federal Contracts Send Billions Of Dollars To CEOs But Pay Workers A Poverty Wage  ThinkProgress   ...The contracting practices that make the federal government the largest low-wage employer in the country are also paying top corporate executives nearly $24 billion per year according to new research from the think tank Demos...
Federal workers to strike, march on White House Wednesday  Salon   ...Cleaning and concessions workers in federal buildings will protest their taxpayer-funded poverty jobs...
How Bad Data Warped Everything We Thought We Knew About the Jobs Recovery  The Atlantic   ... the jobs report's real margin of error has been about as big as the average jobs report itself the past few years...
Wal-Mart Cutting Orders as Unsold Merchandise Piles Up  Bloomberg News   ...Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) is cutting orders it places with suppliers this quarter and next to address rising inventories the company flagged in last month’s earnings report...
Steelmakers rally against China  Pittsburgh Business Times   ...Steel manufacturers in the U.S. have been filing complaints with U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission against a number of countries, including China, charging that unregulated imports are causing material injury to the domestic steel industry...
Austerity measures push Greek universities to point of collapse  The Guardian   ...Internationally mandated austerity measures have pushed universities in Greece to the point of collapse with many of the debt-stricken country's pre-eminent higher education institutions being forced to suspend operations...
Revealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves'  The Guardian   ...thousands of Nepalese, who make up the single largest group of labourers in Qatar, face exploitation and abuses that amount to modern-day slavery, as defined by the International Labour Organisation, during a building binge paving the way for 2022...
Union to Protest Staffing Levels at Iowa Prisons  Associated Press   ...The union that represents correctional officers at Iowa prisons is planning an informational picket to raise awareness about what it calls dangerously low staffing levels...
CFPB Takes Aim At Sallie Mae For Student Loan Servicing  Huffington Post   ...A federal consumer regulator has taken aim at the Department of Education’s preferred companies for servicing the agency’s $1 trillion in student loans, highlighting potentially poor customer service and raising the specter of increased government scrutiny...
Is President Obama In Denial About the National Threat Wall Street Poses (opinion)  Wall Street on Parade   ...This is not a banking system – this is an institutionalized, legalized, mechanized, wealth transfer system bearing the imprimatur of the President of the United States and the U.S. Congress through their refusal to take the simple measure that can stop the looting in its tracks – the restoration of the Glass-Steagall Act...
The Republican Vote to Cut Food Stamps is Really a Decision to Kill the "Useless Eaters" (opinion)  AlterNet   ...15 million Americans were “food insecure” in the United States during 2012. The Great Recession has increased the number of Americans who do not have sufficient food by 30 percent. The fastest growing group of people who need some assistance is the elderly...
Some public companies are divulging more details about their political contributions  Washington Post   ...Some of the nation’s largest publicly traded companies are divulging more details about their political contributions, in part to ward off lawsuits and mounting pressure from shareholders, who increasingly have thrust the issue before boards of directors...
City workers protest Emanuel over contract talks  Chicago Tribune   ...Scores of union workers protested outside city buildings during lunch Tuesday, taking aim at Mayor Rahm Emanuel for what they contend is an attempt to retroactively freeze their wages after privatizing hundreds of jobs in the past couple of years...
Exposing The Pay Gap  New York Times   ...Of all the provisions in the vast and complex Dodd-Frank financial reform law, one of the most far-reaching is also the most direct and easily understood. It requires public companies to compute and disclose the ratio of a chief executive’s pay to that of a typical employee...
For-Hire Trucking Tonnage Index Rose in August  Journal of Commerce   ...The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Trucking Tonnage Index increased 1.4 percent in August from July, to 126.9, after slipping 0.6 percent in July...
How A New Job Application Form Could Save Hundreds Of Californians From Returning To Prison  Think Progress    ...In an attempt to cut down on employment discrimination against felons and reduce recidivism rates, a bill waiting for California Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature would remove a question on local and state job applications asking applicants about their criminal record...

Today's Teamster News 08.24.13

UPS Teamsters Not Impacted By Company Decision To Eliminate Spousal Coverage  IBT   ...UPS announced a change in its health care coverage for spouses of nonunion employees. Going forward, UPS will not cover spouses of nonunion employees who are eligible for employer coverage at their workplace. This decision does not impact the health care coverage of Teamsters at UPS...
Teamster school administrators ratify 3.1% hike in contract  The Montana Standard   ...The Butte school district’s 15 administrators, who are members of Teamsters Local 2, ratified a contract offer that provides a 3.1 percent wage hike in 2013-14, and a 1.5 percent increase in 2014-15...
Organizational Skills for Office Managers Scheduled for November 6-8  IBT   ...The IBT Training and Development Department will conduct a TLA for Teamster office managers and key administrative staff, November 6-8, 2013, at the International Headquarters in Washington, D.C...
Allied Bankruptcy Hearing Postponed By the Court to September 10   IBT   ...A hearing before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Allied Systems’ bankruptcy case that was scheduled for Thursday, August 22, has been postponed by the court to noon Tuesday, September 10...
March on Washington: Throngs to attend events, mark 'I Have a Dream' anniversary  CNN   ...Saturday's event begins with speeches before a march past the King Memorial, where an image of the slain civil rights leader now stands immortalized in granite...
Mass. Sen. Elizabeth Warren targets DOJ settlements with banks over forged documents and illegal practices  Global Dispatch   ...Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) calls the latest deal “settling cheap” in her letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, questioning whether a major government settlement with the nation’s largest mortgage companies is a “timid enforcement strategy.”...
Walmart's Latest Scheme to Replace the Middle Class With an Underclass Forced to Buy its Shoddy Goods  AlterNet    ...Almost 30 years ago, as the U.S. was bleeding jobs, Walmart launched a "Buy America" program and started hanging "Made in America" signs in its 750 stores. It was a marketing success, cementing the retailer's popularity in the country's struggling, blue-collar heartland. A few years later, NBC's Dateline revealed the program to be a sham...
Fired Walmart Workers Arrested at Rally Announcing Labor Day Deadline  The Nation   ...Nine fired workers and a current employee were arrested around 2:30 pm Thursday after locking arms and sitting in front of the entrance to a Washington, D.C. Walmart office...
Banks shed thousands of jobs as housing market improves  Los Angeles Times   ...Six years after the mortgage meltdown, delinquencies and foreclosures are way down. That's great for borrowers and bank balance sheets, but bad for bank workers — who are now being laid off by the thousands...
Boeing’s Wage-Slashing Move to SC Backfires as Company Can’t Meet 787 Production Demand  We Party Patriots   ...When Boeing left Washington for South Carolina in order to suppress the wages of its workers, it also left behind the quality work that had been provided by a highly skilled, union workforce. Now, that union-busting is backfiring as productivity has dropped immensely and Boeing is unable to meet their 787 Dreamliner production goals...
Keeping a Massive Trade Deal Out of the Fast Lane  The Nation   ...Congress itself hasn’t heard much about the TPP; the negotiating process has been characterized by extreme secrecy and the Obama administration has denied repeated calls from legislators to make the process more transparent, while pressing to finalize the agreement this year...
Louisiana businessman sentenced in Afghanistan kickback scheme  Associated Press   ...He kidnapped an Indian businessman in South Sudan, but got off. Now he’s been found guilty of demanding $60,000 in kickbacks for approving a $3.2m award to an American company for construction in Afghanistan. His sentence? 10 months in the federal slammer...
Fight Against ‘Right-to-Work’ Not Over in Michigan  In These Times   ...Last December, Gov. Rick Snyder outraged unions and progressives when he abruptly signed two bills into law making Michigan the 24th so-called "right-to-work" state. The laws allow workers to get union benefits without paying mandatory union membership dues. Organized labor has widely decried right-to-work laws as dangerous to unions and ultimately detrimental to all workers...
Sen. Jon Erpenbach goes to bat for Capitol protesters  The Cap Times   ..."I would suggest that you abandon the current permit policy, and stop the arrests of noon-time singers," Erpenbach writes. "Because if the goal was eliminating the singing — your policy is producing the direct opposite..."
Chicago Midway Airport Privatization Deal Could Negatively Affect Workers, residents  Progress Illinois   ...Privatization plans for Chicago Midway Airport could negatively affect both nearby residents as well as airport workers, according to Alderman Michael Zalewski (23rd), who is concerned about allegations that one of the two contenders for the privatization contract has a history of "union busting and black-listing."...
Quinn looking to boost minimum wage  Quad-City Times   ...Wednesday marked the 10th anniversary of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's signing of the first of a series of increases in Illinois' minimum wage. And now, his former running mate and successor, Gov. Pat Quinn, says he wants to push the state's $8.25 per hour minimum wage higher...
Illinois receives more than $2 billion in relief from national foreclosure settlement  Rock River Times   ...Illinois Attorney General Madigan (D) reported that Illinois homeowners and assistance organizations have received more than $2 billion in total relief under the national foreclosure settlement...
Arizona and Kansas sue U.S. over voter registration law  Reuters   ...Kansas and Arizona filed a lawsuit against the U.S. federal government on Wednesday, seeking court approval for states to require proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote...
Maine group touts new plan to eliminate income tax  Associated Press   ...A conservative think tank in Maine is rolling out a new proposal to gradually phase out the state's income tax, one of the top priorities for Gov. Paul LePage's administration...

Today's Teamster News 08.01.13

Teamsters Protest McKesson's Worker Abuse And Executive Pay At Shareholder Meeting  IBT   ...Teamsters from across the country protested today outside the annual shareholder meeting of San Francisco-based McKesson Corporation, North America’s leading pharmaceutical distributor...
No end in sight for Teamsters strike against Gold Cross  Imperial Valley Press   ...The Gold Cross ambulance employees strike entered its third day Tuesday, and with talks between the company and the employees’ union at a standstill, there is no end in sight...
UPS Freight Negotiations Update  IBT   ...The UPS Freight National Negotiating Committee met today to discuss concerns that members have raised about the tentative agreement that was rejected. The committee also discussed the next steps for continuing negotiations with the company so that an agreement can be put to another membership vote. View the memo here...
Civil Service ruling in Scranton Parking Authority case seen as harbinger   Scranton Times-Tribune   ...A state Civil Service Commission dismissal of a furlough appeal by Scranton Parking Authority's former executive director may be a harbinger in an unrelated arbitration case involving union workers, who are members of Teamsters Local 229, who also were laid off...
2013 Teamsters Leadership Academy (TLA) Course Summary and Registration Form  IBT   ...Check out the Teamsters Leadership Academy schedule of programs for Teamster leaders that available for the remainder of this year. Download the schedule here...
Economic Recovery by Statistical Manipulation  Counterpunch   ...he Obama administration will announce a major revision of how it calculates GDP which will bump up GDP numbers by as much as 3% according to some estimates...
New Amtrak trains, made in USA  manufacture this   ...The Department of Transportation reports that the first of Amtrak's new fleet of electric locomotives, called Cities Sprinters, rolled out of a Siemens plant in Sacramento, CA...
Trucks transported 60.8% of U.S.-NAFTA trade in May 2013   Trucker News Services   ...The Bureau of Transportation Statistics released May, North American Free Trade Agreement freight numbers showing that trucks carried 60.8 percent of the $98.6 billion of freight moved in May 2013 between the United States and its NAFTA partners, Canada and Mexico...
Union leader says BART contract talks were unproductive  KTVU News   ...BART management met with union leaders again Tuesday to try to reach an agreement before the contract for the transit agency's employees expires Sunday night but a union official said the talks weren't productive...
Protests about low wages continue in Kansas City  Kansas City Star   ...Stand Up KC, a campaign to give a collective voice to low-paid fast-food workers, staged a rally and march Tuesday afternoon at which 500 people advocated for higher pay and union rights...
Bankrupt Detroit Receives Less U.S. Aid Than Colombia  Bloomberg News   ...President Barack Obama proposed giving Colombia about $323 million in aid next year, mostly to combat drug trafficking and violence. Detroit, with an 81 percent higher homicide rate, will get $108.2 million...
Walmart Embroiled in D.C. Wage Battle  KNWA-TV   ...Walmart is threatening to pull out three of its stores that are planned to open this fall in the nation's capital. If the mayor signs the Large Retailer Accountability Act that was passed by the D.C. Council, the corporation could be forced to pay its employees more than $4 above minimum wage...
Fox Claims That Feeding Seniors In Need Is An Effort To Buy Their Vote  Media Matters for America   ...Fox News continued its campaign to demonize programs that provide necessary food assistance to millions of Americans by attacking the AARP's effort to enroll eligible seniors in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), baselessly claiming the program was an effort to buy their vote and dismissing the fact that many eligible seniors find it difficult to get the assistance they need...
Prison Guard Union Still Smarting Over Closure Announcement  WXXI News   ...Correction officers say they are still in “shock”, that late on a July Friday, with very little advance warning, New York's Gov. Cuomo’s prison agency announced the closure of four prisons within the next year...
Group accuses Apple supplier of labor abuses  Associated Press   ...A labor rights group Monday accused a Chinese company that makes iPhones for Apple Inc. (AAPL) (AAPL) of abuses including withholding employees' pay and excessive working hours...
Opinion: NC House Dances With Joy Over Their Accomplishments  CNN iReport  ...It should have been a solemn day last Thursday when the NC General Assembly passed legislation that has been called the most severe voter restrictions  ... in the country, but instead there was fiddling, dancing and ice cream...

Today's Teamster News 06.06.13

UCLA Anderson Forecast paints dismal picture of economic recovery  Los Angeles Times   ..."It's not a recovery. It's not even normal growth. It's bad," UCLA economist Edward Leamer says...
U.S. worker productivity increases as hourly compensation drops  Los Angeles Times   ... hourly compensation fell 3.8% in the first quarter. That decline was the largest in the series, kept since 1947...
Wal-Mart's low wages cost taxpayers  CNNMoney   ...At the end of 2012, there were 3,216 Wal-Mart employees who were enrolled in Wisconsin public health care programs, more than any other employer. Add in the dependents of Wal-Mart workers and the total jumps up to 9,207...
Always Low Wages: Meet the Billionaires Who Run Walmart  The Nation   ...This week, Walmart shareholders will gather in the retail giant’s Arkansas backyard and re-elect a board of directors charged with guiding the company over the coming years...
Your student loan isn’t really a loan  Salon   ...You can't refinance, or get rid of the debt through bankruptcy. Here's how it's even more of a sham than you know...
Yes, Europe really is in the throes of austerity  Washington Post   ...“Immediate spending cuts would, by themselves, likely slow the economy.”...
Senators Introduce Currency Manipulation Bill  U.S. Senate   ...Following new figures that show a 34 percent jump over last month’s U.S.-China trade deficit, U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Richard Burr (R-NC), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Robert Casey (D-PA), today introduced the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2013, bipartisan legislation that would reform and enhance oversight of currency exchange rates...
Mothers join effort as Florida debates rules on sick leave  Herald-Tribune   ...Myriam Rivera joined a group of Central Florida mothers who used baby strollers and a red wagon to deliver 11,000 petitions to Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday. The message: Veto a business-backed bill that would prevent local governments from setting sick-leave standards for workers...
The billionaire force behind GOP attempts to dismantle Maine’s renewable energy standards  Bangor Daily News   ...Put into effect nearly 15 years ago with bipartisan support, Maine’s Renewable Portfolio Standard has created thousands of jobs, cut down on harmful pollution and helped to keep more of Mainers’ energy dollars in the state.  So, why are some elected officials pushing legislation that would dismantle it?...
Bail Bond Bill Will Create Debtor’s Prisons  Urban Milwaukee   ...Across America, more than half a million inmates sit in jails simply because they are poor. ... They are here because they can’t make bail — sometimes as little as $50.”...
Operation: Stop Bruce Karsh From Selling Tribune to the Koch Brothers  Daily Beast   ...The left’s biggest bogeymen could snap up the ailing Tribune Company, and with it the ‘Los Angeles Times.’ David Freedlander reports on the effort to stop the billionaires—and whether it extends to the newsroom...
Delaware bill would restrict government agency use of criminal background checks for new hires  Associated Press   ...The bill introduced last week would prohibit public employers in Delaware from considering the criminal history or credit history of an applicant before making a conditional job offer...
Kentucky tax collection measure draws lawmaker concerns  Courier-Journal   ...Lawmakers fear that a provision in Kentucky’s recent pension reforms will hamper the ability of delinquent taxpayers to pay back taxes owed to the state by revoking their driver's and other professional licenses if they fail to pay...
Labor Trouble Possibly on the Horizon at Kaleida Health   WGRZ-TV   ...Three unions (SEIU, CWA, IUOE) representing 7,000 healthcare workers at Keleida Health Hospitals in Western New York have scheduled strike votes for next week...
TSA To Keep Knives Off Passenger Planes  IBT   ...The Coalition of Flight Attendants, which the Teamsters Airline Division is part of, today celebrated the success of its campaign to keep knives off planes and commended the TSA for holding the line against weapons on flights...
Derry council approves union contract for some Public Works workers  New Hampshire Union Leader   ...The Town Council approved a new three-year contract for Teamsters Local 633, the union that represents a number of divisions of the Department of Public Works...
Middletown council approves new union contract  Middletown Press   ...The Common Council approved a contract between the city and Teamsters Local 671, concluding a year-long negotiation process...
Collective Bargaining TLA Slated for June 18-21  IBT ...The IBT Training and Development Department is conducting a Teamsters Leadership Academy on Collective Bargaining, June18-21, 2013, hosted by Joint Council 40 in Mars, Pennsylvania...
Pipeline Training Fund Offers Courses in June   IBT ...The Teamsters National Pipeline Training Fund has the following trainings scheduled in Illinois for June 2013. Every Teamster Pipeliner or prospective Teamster Pipeliner is encouraged to attend...
Advanced Business Agents’ Seminar Scheduled July 29-31  IBT ...The IBT Training and Development Department will conduct an Advanced Business Agents seminar July 29-31, 2013 at Teamsters Joint Council 25 in Chicago...

Today's Teamster News 05.29.13

Working moms are now main breadwinners in a record 40 percent of US households with children  Associated Press   ...While most are headed by single mothers, a growing number are families with married mothers who bring in more income than their husbands...
Chance at a Union Job Draws 800 Job Applicants in Queens, N.Y.  AFL-CIO   ...a union elevator mechanic job prompted nearly 1,000 young workers to haul out tents and mattresses and weather the great outdoors of Long Island City at the chance to be considered...
Feds investigate Md. train derailment, explosion  Associated Press   ...In the third serious derailment this month, a dozen or so rail cars — at least one carrying hazardous materials — went off the tracks around 2 p.m. Tuesday in Rosedale, Md., a suburb east of Baltimore. Several rail cars caught fire, sending a plume of black and gray smoke into the air that could be seen for miles, and an explosion rattled homes at least a half-mile away...
'Lost generation' fears for Europe's youth as unemployment soars across eurozone and leaves more than 19million without jobs  Daily Mail   ...In Greece, 58 per cent of under-25s are unemployed, along with 56 per cent in Spain and 38 per cent in Portugal and Italy. In the eurozone as a whole it is 24 per cent. In the UK it is 21 per cent...
Citi settles U.S. suit over $3.5 billion in mortgage securities  Reuters   ...Citigroup Inc (C.N) has reached a settlement with a federal agency that had accused the bank of misleading Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB) and Freddie Mac (FMCC.OB) into buying $3.5 billion of mortgage-backed securities...
US tax inspector targets Caribbean bank  The Guardian   ...A Caribbean bank formerly co-owned by Barclays has been targeted by US tax authorities seeking information on suspected American tax evaders...
US prosecutes '$6 bn money-laundering hub'  BBC News   ...The Liberty Reserve digital money service that was shut down laundered more than $6 billion in criminal cash, US authorities have said...
Wal-Mart pleads guilty in environmental case involving pesticides sent to Missouri contractor   Kansas City Star  ...Retailer Wal-Mart resolved years of hazardous-waste complaints Tuesday with criminal guilty pleas in Missouri and California and the settlement of a civil lawsuit filed by federal environmental authorities...
Elders Should Exercise Caution Before Turning to Payday Loans   Rocky Mount Telegram   ...An increasing number of cash-strapped elders are turning to payday loans—a highly-risky source of short-term financing—to cover their day-to-day expenses...
Appeals court says union groups may revise lawsuit  Associated Press   ...Union groups are getting a chance to revise their lawsuit and add new defendants in a challenge to two Idaho laws targeting organized labor...
Women still on the lower salary rungs in Wyoming state government  Star-Tribune   ...Women working in Wyoming’s state government hold relatively few high-paid jobs — including management positions — compared to men, a state-issued report found...
American Airlines Mechanics File for Election to Become Teamsters  IBT   ...American Airlines mechanics and related workers filed for an election today with the National Mediation Board (NMB) as part of a months-long effort to become Teamsters...
Local 117 Members Attend National Police Week  Teamsters Local 117   ...Two Local 117 Police Officers, Roger Gale of the City of Pacific and Willie Bergin from the University of Washington, attended National Police Week in Washington D.C. from May 12-18...
Collective Bargaining TLA Slated for June 18-21  IBT   ...The IBT Training and Development Department is conducting a Teamsters Leadership Academy on Collective Bargaining, June18-21, 2013, hosted by Joint Council 40 in Mars, Pennsylvania...
Advanced Business Agents’ Seminar Scheduled July 29-31  IBT   ...The IBT Training and Development Department will conduct an Advanced Business Agents seminar July 29-31, 2013 at Teamsters Joint Council 25 in Chicago...