Teamsters
Retired Funeral Directors, Teamsters Local 727 Reps Stand Up For Workers at Shareholders Meeting Teamster.org ...Longtime employees and Teamsters Local 727 representatives on May 13 called out funeral industry giant Service Corporation International’s poor business practices and called on its Board of Directors to take action during the company’s annual shareholders meeting in Houston...
National Red Cross Negotiations Begin Teamster.org ...Last week, leaders from eight national unions met with representatives from American Red Cross in Washington, D.C., and reached an agreement to formally enter into national negotiations. This is a significant step in ensuring Red Cross’ mission and its employees are moving towards a brighter future...
Can the Taxi Union Get the Courts to Shut down Uber and Lyft in DC? DC Inno ...Uber, Lyft and Sidecar were given an unfair advantage by the regulations approved last year by the D.C. Council according to the Metro Area Taxi Operators Association. The taxi union, which is affiliated with the Teamsters, filed a class-action lawsuit with six D.C. taxi drivers in U.S. District Court against the city on Friday...
Global Labor & Trade
House GOP split jeopardizes trade deal Politico ...Democrats in Congress are in open warfare with President Barack Obama over his pitch for fast-track authority to negotiate trade deals, but conservative dissenters are conducting their fight quietly behind closed doors — even though they may be the key to approving the deal...
GOP turns to Tea Party to win trade powers for Obama The Hill ...House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and GOP leaders have turned to some unlikely allies to rally support for a key trade bill: Tea-Party conservatives, including some prominent names from the raucous House Freedom Caucus. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) recently tapped Rep. Tom McClintock to give the weekly GOP address, in which the conservative Californian declared: “Trade means prosperity”...
Forced Trade and the Damaging Effects of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (opinion) In These Times ...Senators who voted last week to Fast Track ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) call it a free trade deal, but really, it’s forced trade imposed on protesting American workers who have endured its damaging effects for decades. Under the free trade regime, rich and powerful corporate interests have hauled in ever-higher profits as they shipped manufacturing overseas to low-wage, no-environmental-regulation countries...
WaPo Takes Another Shot at Senator Warren on Behalf of the TPP (opinion) CEPR ...The fast-track authority needed to get the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) through Congress must be in real trouble. Why else would the Washington Post devote so much space to pushing the deal and attacking its critics? The latest was a diatribe by editorial board member Jonathan Capehart which is directed largely at Senator Elizabeth Warren. The piece starts by basically calling Senator Warren a liar for describing the TPP as "secret"...
How One Country Is Poised To Hold McDonald’s Accountable Think Progress ...Brazil’s Senate will hold public hearings on worker allegations that McDonald’s has flouted the country’s strict labor protections for decades, union officials announced on Thursday. When politicians solicit worker testimony at the August hearing, they will create a second forum within the Brazilian government for a slate of allegations that echo accusations in the United States...
Why the Philippines’ Deadly Factory Fire Will Not Be the Last The Nation ...The deaths of 72 workers at a sandals factory in the Philippines earlier this month is sadly not shocking news; risk of mass death is practically considered a regular cost of doing business in the regional factories. But the blaze coincides with two grim anniversaries for Global South labor: the death of more than 1,100 workers in the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh in 2013, and the subsequent launch of a landmark safety program for Bangladesh factories...
Striking Mineworker Injured, 6 Arrested in Peru Solidarity Center ...Six mineworkers were arrested and one injured from police gunfire yesterday as some 100 workers protested at the Ministry of Labor and Employment Promotion in Lima, Peru. The miners, who have been on strike for 17 days at Buenaventura’s Uchucchacua silver mine in the coastal region north of Lima, are calling for immediate improvement in safety and health conditions in the mines...
State & Living Wage Battles
John Kasich on campaign trail: No need for right-to-work law Cincinnati ...Gov. John Kasich says he still believes Ohio doesn't need a right-to-work law, even though he last week rescinded union rights for roughly 15,000 health-care and child-care workers. The governor's increasingly moderate stance on unions had drawn criticism from fellow Republicans – whom he's courting as he explores a possible bid for president...
Prevailing wage supporters plan defense as repeal petitions are approved for circulation MLive ...Construction trade groups say they plan to publicly defend Michigan's prevailing wage law in the face of a petition drive seeking to repeal it. "Let me tell you one thing, we're not going to take this lying down by any means," said Patrick "Shorty" Gleason, legislative director of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council...
Bucking GOP leadership, Assembly panel to take up prevailing wage law Journal Sentinel ...Three weeks after an effort to repeal the state's prevailing wage law failed in a Senate committee, an Assembly panel will make its own attempt to get rid of the policy that sets a minimum wage for those building roads, schools and other public infrastructure. The move goes against GOP legislative leaders. They have said they want to rewrite the law, not repeal it...
Ted Cruz's Iowa Chairman Spent $250K to Stop People From Voting Mother Jones ...By tapping Schultz, Cruz also tied himself to Schultz's leading cause: trying to restrict voting under the guise of combating voter fraud. During his four years as secretary of state, Schultz spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to unearth evidence of fraud but ended up finding little and being cited for the mismanagement of public funds...
LA’s Min. Wage Will Be $15 by 2020. But This Bay Area City’s Minimum Will Be $14.44 By July. In These Times ...Most of the increases will be implemented gradually over several years. LA’s minimum wage, for example, will reach $15 by 2020. But earlier this month, one small California city decided that its low-wage workers shouldn’t have to wait that long for a living wage. This summer, Emeryville will set a new national precedent when its minimum wage surges to nearly double the federal rate...
Senate committee to vote on proposed minimum wage hike WPRI ...Rhode Island’s lowest paid workers could soon be getting another raise. The Senate Labor Committee is set to vote Wednesday on legislation that would increase the state’s minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. If approved, the $1.10 increase would go into effect January 1...
Better Pay Comes Only When We Demand It (opinion) CounterPunch ...The nation’s second-biggest city joins Seattle, San Francisco and little Emeryville, Calif., in forging the way to a decent minimum. These victories are a product of the demonstrations and protests of fast food and other low-wage workers. They risked their jobs to demand decency. They put a human face on workers who labor full time but can’t lift their families out of poverty. They exposed the lie that these were transitory jobs for the young while they went to college or high school..
U.S. Labor
Public-Sector Jobs Vanish, Hitting Blacks Hard New York Times ...The decline reverses a historical pattern, researchers say, with public sector employees typically holding onto their jobs even during most economic downturns. Because blacks hold a disproportionate share of the jobs, relative to their share of the population, the cutbacks naturally hit them harder...
NLRB dismisses union complaint against Boeing’s North Charleston site Post and Courier ...The National Labor Relations Board said it has dismissed a complaint filed by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in the wake of the union’s canceled vote at Boeing Co.’s North Charleston operations. The IAM had accused Boeing of “deliberately encouraging and promoting harassment, assaults and threats of violence against union supporters”...
T-Mobile US touts workforce gains, draws CWA ire RCR Wireless ...T-Mobile US continues to court controversy with its labor practices as the mobile operator announced the expansion of a call center in Alabama while at the same time the Communications Workers of America has asked T-Mobile US parent company Deutsche Telekom to “protect” worker rights at those locations...
Why turning the Postal Service into a bank isn’t nearly as ridiculous as it sounds Salon ...The American Postal Worker’s Union, which represents over 200,000 clerks and support service staff, is in the middle of contract negotiations, and has vowed to make postal banking part of their core demands. APWU President Mark Dimondstein praised the Inspector General’s report, saying it “confirms that the Postal Service can act now to provide consumers with affordable financial services while strengthening our trusted national treasure, the public Postal Service”...
Miscellaneous
Robert Reich: Corporate Collusion Is Rampant and We All Pay the Steep Price Alternet ...The banks had engaged in the biggest price-fixing conspiracy in modern history. Their self-described “cartel” used an exclusive electronic chat room and coded language to manipulate the $5.3 trillion-a-day currency exchange market. It was a “brazen display of collusion” that went on for years, said Attorney General Loretta Lynch. But there will be no trial, no executive will go to jail, the banks can continue to gamble in the same currency markets...
8 Ways Robots Are Taking Over Our Jobs and Our World Alternet ...One of the next great challenges American workers are starting to face is the increasing automation of jobs that previously could only be done by a living, breathing human being. Here are eight jobs that robots are taking over as they take over the world...
Showing posts with label USPS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USPS. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Today's Teamster News 11.16.13
Supervisors reach agreement with Teamsters Herald-Standard ... Supervisors say they "dodged the bullet" regarding a grievance filed with the US. Dept. of Labor and Industry by the Teamsters on behalf of a township employee...
Raritan Township workers get four-year Teamsters contract Hunterdon County Democrat ...A four-year contract has been approved for the township’s 18 employees represented by the Teamsters Union. It covers 2012 through 2015...
Caught On Video: DC Taxi Commission Discriminates Against Foreign Speakers at Public Meeting AlterNet ...Washington D.C. taxi drivers recently joined the Teamsters Union, and judging by this video released by the union, they’ll need all the help they can get considering the questionable practices of the city’s Taxicab Commission...
International Unions To Organize Support For Locked Out Ikea Workers Left Labor Reporter ...After conducting a fact finding inquiry, a panel of international trade union representatives said that they would return home and organize support for more than 300 IKEA Teamster workers in Richmond, B.C. locked out since May...
12-year-old children are working — and dying — on America’s farms Salon ...the Labor Department’s 2011 attempt to update child labor laws … fell through in the face of pressure from the Farm Bureau and other agricultural lobbies … Since the proposals were scrapped … four farmworkers under the age of 16 died, and 16 others were injured, doing jobs that would have been off-limits…
Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement The New Yorker ...In every state in the country, there is at least one ostensibly independent “free-market” think tank that is part of something called the State Policy Network— there are sixty-four in all, ranging from the Pelican Institute, in Louisiana, to the Freedom Foundation, in Washington State. ... the think tanks are less free actors than a coördinated collection of corporate front groups—branch stores, so to speak—funded and steered by cash from undisclosed conservative and corporate players...
Ted Cruz and Koch Brothers embroiled in shadowy Tea Party scheme Salon ...Meet the right-wing group masquerading as a mainstream nonprofit -- but pushing extremist laws across the country...
Walmart Worker Strikes Reach Chicago The Huffington Post ...Walmart workers from three separate stores in the Chicago area went on strike Wednesday. The walkouts are the latest in a series of worker demonstrations in protest of what associates describe as the retailer's low wages, unpredictable hours and unjust retaliation against workers...
Next wave of Walmart, low-wage strikes is here TeamsterNation ...Another massive wave of low-wage worker strikes may be upon us as labor unrest is rising at the Port of Los Angeles and Walmart workers walked off the job in three cities over the past 10 days...
Colombian union activist murdered; Colombia still not safe for union members Left Labor Reporter ...A 25-year employee at the Nestle food processing plant in Bugalagrande and a member of SINALTRAINAL, the Colombian food workers union, was gunned down on November 9 after receiving a death threat from a group described as “a violent drug-running and crime syndicate formed several years ago from disbanded right-wing paramilitary groups.”...
Secret Trade Treaty Exposed Economic Populist ...Thank you WikiLeaks and we hope they obtain more parts of trade treaties being crafted in secret by large multinational corporations in future...
151 House Democrats, Bloc of GOP Announce Opposition to ‘Fast Track’ Trade Authority Public Citizen ...A letter sent today to President Barack Obama opposing Fast Track authority, signed by 151 House Democrats, signals the end of a controversial Nixon-era procedure used to railroad contentious trade pacts through Congress. Obama has asked Congress to delegate to him its constitutional trade authority via Fast Track for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and other pacts...
Falling Exports under Korea FTA Likely to Bolster Fast Track Opposition Public Citizen ...This week's government release of trade data highlights a stunning decline in U.S. exports to Korea, a rise in imports, and a ballooning of the U.S. trade deficit under the Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA)...
Secrecy, Spying Shouldn’t Be Associated With TPP teamster.org ...There is no shortage of good reasons to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
The 10 Giant Corporations That Have Taken Over Much of Our Economy AlterNet ...There was a time when there was competition in the American marketplace, when one corporation didn't own 200 other companies -- that time is long gone...
JPMorgan Paid Daughter Of Ex-Chinese Prime Minister $75,000 A Month New York Times
To promote its standing in China, JPMorgan Chase turned to a seemingly obscure consulting firm run by a 32-year-old executive named Lily Chang...
Unemployment in Greece remains over 27% EnetEnglish ...A total of 6,557 people joined the dole queues in June, bringing the total number out of work to 1,365,406...
U.S. Postal Service reports $5-billion yearly loss Los Angeles Times ...The beleaguered U.S. Postal Service on Friday reported a $5-billion loss in the last fiscal year and again urged Congress to take legislative action that would help the agency shore up its finances...
Walker Donations Undergo Sex Change Wisconsin Democracy Campaign ...Governor Scott Walker recently amended his campaign finance report for the first six months of 2013 to lower contributions made by some of his high-end donors in order to protect them from being found in violation of campaign finance law...
A Rare Win for Labor’s Rank and File Counterpunch ...Machinists at Boeing resoundingly voted down mid-contract concessions yesterday and then booed the union leaders who had pushed the proposal on a shocked membership...
Unionized state employees protest proposed labor contract as negotiations go to impasse panel Michigan Live ...Dozens of state workers held a rally on Wednesday morning, demanding a fair contract as an impasse panel began hearings on disagreements over wages and benefits...
Port of Oakland wants court to stop truckers protesting over pay, CARB Land Line ...The Port of Oakland wants a restraining order against truckers who have organized protests there to stay in place...
Raritan Township workers get four-year Teamsters contract Hunterdon County Democrat ...A four-year contract has been approved for the township’s 18 employees represented by the Teamsters Union. It covers 2012 through 2015...
Caught On Video: DC Taxi Commission Discriminates Against Foreign Speakers at Public Meeting AlterNet ...Washington D.C. taxi drivers recently joined the Teamsters Union, and judging by this video released by the union, they’ll need all the help they can get considering the questionable practices of the city’s Taxicab Commission...
International Unions To Organize Support For Locked Out Ikea Workers Left Labor Reporter ...After conducting a fact finding inquiry, a panel of international trade union representatives said that they would return home and organize support for more than 300 IKEA Teamster workers in Richmond, B.C. locked out since May...
12-year-old children are working — and dying — on America’s farms Salon ...the Labor Department’s 2011 attempt to update child labor laws … fell through in the face of pressure from the Farm Bureau and other agricultural lobbies … Since the proposals were scrapped … four farmworkers under the age of 16 died, and 16 others were injured, doing jobs that would have been off-limits…
Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement The New Yorker ...In every state in the country, there is at least one ostensibly independent “free-market” think tank that is part of something called the State Policy Network— there are sixty-four in all, ranging from the Pelican Institute, in Louisiana, to the Freedom Foundation, in Washington State. ... the think tanks are less free actors than a coördinated collection of corporate front groups—branch stores, so to speak—funded and steered by cash from undisclosed conservative and corporate players...
Ted Cruz and Koch Brothers embroiled in shadowy Tea Party scheme Salon ...Meet the right-wing group masquerading as a mainstream nonprofit -- but pushing extremist laws across the country...
Walmart Worker Strikes Reach Chicago The Huffington Post ...Walmart workers from three separate stores in the Chicago area went on strike Wednesday. The walkouts are the latest in a series of worker demonstrations in protest of what associates describe as the retailer's low wages, unpredictable hours and unjust retaliation against workers...
Next wave of Walmart, low-wage strikes is here TeamsterNation ...Another massive wave of low-wage worker strikes may be upon us as labor unrest is rising at the Port of Los Angeles and Walmart workers walked off the job in three cities over the past 10 days...
Colombian union activist murdered; Colombia still not safe for union members Left Labor Reporter ...A 25-year employee at the Nestle food processing plant in Bugalagrande and a member of SINALTRAINAL, the Colombian food workers union, was gunned down on November 9 after receiving a death threat from a group described as “a violent drug-running and crime syndicate formed several years ago from disbanded right-wing paramilitary groups.”...
Secret Trade Treaty Exposed Economic Populist ...Thank you WikiLeaks and we hope they obtain more parts of trade treaties being crafted in secret by large multinational corporations in future...
151 House Democrats, Bloc of GOP Announce Opposition to ‘Fast Track’ Trade Authority Public Citizen ...A letter sent today to President Barack Obama opposing Fast Track authority, signed by 151 House Democrats, signals the end of a controversial Nixon-era procedure used to railroad contentious trade pacts through Congress. Obama has asked Congress to delegate to him its constitutional trade authority via Fast Track for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and other pacts...
Falling Exports under Korea FTA Likely to Bolster Fast Track Opposition Public Citizen ...This week's government release of trade data highlights a stunning decline in U.S. exports to Korea, a rise in imports, and a ballooning of the U.S. trade deficit under the Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA)...
Secrecy, Spying Shouldn’t Be Associated With TPP teamster.org ...There is no shortage of good reasons to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
The 10 Giant Corporations That Have Taken Over Much of Our Economy AlterNet ...There was a time when there was competition in the American marketplace, when one corporation didn't own 200 other companies -- that time is long gone...
JPMorgan Paid Daughter Of Ex-Chinese Prime Minister $75,000 A Month New York Times
To promote its standing in China, JPMorgan Chase turned to a seemingly obscure consulting firm run by a 32-year-old executive named Lily Chang...
Unemployment in Greece remains over 27% EnetEnglish ...A total of 6,557 people joined the dole queues in June, bringing the total number out of work to 1,365,406...
U.S. Postal Service reports $5-billion yearly loss Los Angeles Times ...The beleaguered U.S. Postal Service on Friday reported a $5-billion loss in the last fiscal year and again urged Congress to take legislative action that would help the agency shore up its finances...
Walker Donations Undergo Sex Change Wisconsin Democracy Campaign ...Governor Scott Walker recently amended his campaign finance report for the first six months of 2013 to lower contributions made by some of his high-end donors in order to protect them from being found in violation of campaign finance law...
A Rare Win for Labor’s Rank and File Counterpunch ...Machinists at Boeing resoundingly voted down mid-contract concessions yesterday and then booed the union leaders who had pushed the proposal on a shocked membership...
Unionized state employees protest proposed labor contract as negotiations go to impasse panel Michigan Live ...Dozens of state workers held a rally on Wednesday morning, demanding a fair contract as an impasse panel began hearings on disagreements over wages and benefits...
Port of Oakland wants court to stop truckers protesting over pay, CARB Land Line ...The Port of Oakland wants a restraining order against truckers who have organized protests there to stay in place...
Friday, September 20, 2013
Today's Teamster News 09.20.13
Strike, lockout possibilities for Darigold workers KIRO TV ...Workers at Darigold, who have worked without a contract since June 1, staged an informational picket line a couple of weeks ago with signs that read "just practicing." Now the members of Teamster Local 117 believe their company has set the stage for a lockout or strike...
Middle-Class Decline Mirrors The Fall Of Unions In One Chart Huffington Post ...This week the Census Bureau reported the latest depressing decline in middle-class incomes during the so-called economic recovery. But it may have missed an important factor in this story. As union membership declines, middle-class incomes shrink...
Income, Poverty, and Healthcare 2012: The Patient Did Not Get Worse But Remains Seriously Ill Corrente ...A comparison of real household income over the past five years showed an 8.3 percent decline since 2007, the year before the nation entered an economic recession, and a 9.0 percent decrease from the 1999 peak of $56,080...
The Era of Cheap Gasoline is Over OilPrice ...The last time the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the United States was below $3.00, however, was the day before Christmas Eve 2010. AAA said that, on average, prices may never be that low again...
As President’s Export Council Meets, No Chance to Meet Obama’s Export Doubling Goal; Exports Fall Under Free Trade Agreements Public Citizen ...recent government data show it will be virtually impossible to meet Obama’s stated goal of doubling exports by the end of 2014. The same data shows that in 16 out of 16 months since the Korea “free trade” agreement (FTA) took effect last year, U.S. goods exports to Korea have fallen below the average export level in the year before the deal...
Pope Says Church Is ‘Obsessed’ With Gays, Abortion and Birth Control New York Times ...Six months into his papacy, Pope Francis sent shock waves through the Roman Catholic church on Thursday with the publication of his remarks that the church had grown “obsessed” with abortion, gay marriage and contraception, and that he had chosen not to talk about those issues despite recriminations from critics...
Search for L.A. film czar drags on at City Hall Los Angeles Times ....L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti is still searching for a film czar to serve as an industry advocate in City Hall and to help stop runaway production...
AAR: Rail Traffic increased in August Calculated Risk ...The Association of American Railroads (AAR) ... reported increased total U.S. rail traffic for the month of August 2013, with intermodal setting a new record and carload volume increasing overall compared with August 2012...
Union rep: Cutbacks cost lives in Navy Yard shooting USA TODAY ...A top union official for Washington Navy Yard police says he believes fewer lives would have been lost had the department not been understaffed during the attack that left the shooter and 12 of his victims dead...
Tensions Between BART and Unions Escalate, Transit Strike Looming SF Weekly ...After another full day of negotiations Wednesday, it's fair to say things between BART and its unions are getting worse, not better...
Labor to “play heavily” in state elections next year People’s World ...Organized labor, with its community allies, will "play heavily" in state gubernatorial and legislative races next year, its top two political operatives say...
Watch the growth of U.S. income inequality with this animated map Washington Post ...Here's a fascinating visualization of how inequality in the United States has evolved over the years...
Postmaster says USPS may need emergency rate hike Associated Press ...The Postal Service may need an emergency rate increase to stay afloat, according to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe who says the agency’s cash balance next month likely will cover only five days of its average daily expenses...
The Monsanto Protection Act Is Back! Huffington Post ...The agrichemical companies may have the best lobbyists in town. Last May, the agrichemical giants -- Monsanto, Dow, Syngenta, Bayer, DuPont, BASF -- pulled off a stunning maneuver to protect their massive profits. These companies could have legal protection to continue selling their products even if the courts pulled the products from the market...
In JPMorgan case, a rare admission: bank broke the law Los Angeles Times ...The $920-million settlement JPMorgan Chase and Co. struck with regulators in the "London Whale" fiasco contains something rare: an admission the bank broke the law...
More Amazon Warehouse Workers Sue Retailer Over Unpaid Security Waits Huffington Post ...A growing number of Amazon.com warehouse workers are suing the online retail giant and its contractors for requiring them to undergo time-consuming and unpaid security screenings in order to do their jobs...
Misplaced Idea to Private the Tennessee Valley Authority Brings Unions, GOP Together The We Party ...The budget proposed by President Barack Obama in April floated an idea to privatize the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a crown jewel of the New Deal. Labor unions expressing deep opposition to the idea are being joined by unlikely allies in the fight...
Ohio unions keep watchful eye on Right to Work legal challenge in Indiana PR News Channel ...Ohio union supporters are anxiously watching the developments in Indiana on the heels of the state’s controversial Right to Work law being ruled unconstitutional by a Lake County judge last week…
Wisconsin's Anti-Voting Law Heads to Federal Court Huffington Post ...With deceptively little fanfare or attention, a federal judge in Wisconsin is poised to preside over the first trial challenging a photo ID law under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act...
Florida Gov. Rick Scott seeks Supreme Court review of worker drug test Associated Press ...Florida Gov. Rick Scott plans to seek U.S. Supreme Court review of his executive order requiring random drug tests for thousands of state employees...
Senator: 'Flawed' bidding process led to privatization of prison food service Lansing State Journal ...A Republican senator told the Civil Service Commission on Wednesday that a flawed bidding process led to the state’s decision to privatize food service for 45,000 Michigan prisoners and eliminate about 370 state jobs...
Middle-Class Decline Mirrors The Fall Of Unions In One Chart Huffington Post ...This week the Census Bureau reported the latest depressing decline in middle-class incomes during the so-called economic recovery. But it may have missed an important factor in this story. As union membership declines, middle-class incomes shrink...
Income, Poverty, and Healthcare 2012: The Patient Did Not Get Worse But Remains Seriously Ill Corrente ...A comparison of real household income over the past five years showed an 8.3 percent decline since 2007, the year before the nation entered an economic recession, and a 9.0 percent decrease from the 1999 peak of $56,080...
The Era of Cheap Gasoline is Over OilPrice ...The last time the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the United States was below $3.00, however, was the day before Christmas Eve 2010. AAA said that, on average, prices may never be that low again...
As President’s Export Council Meets, No Chance to Meet Obama’s Export Doubling Goal; Exports Fall Under Free Trade Agreements Public Citizen ...recent government data show it will be virtually impossible to meet Obama’s stated goal of doubling exports by the end of 2014. The same data shows that in 16 out of 16 months since the Korea “free trade” agreement (FTA) took effect last year, U.S. goods exports to Korea have fallen below the average export level in the year before the deal...
Pope Says Church Is ‘Obsessed’ With Gays, Abortion and Birth Control New York Times ...Six months into his papacy, Pope Francis sent shock waves through the Roman Catholic church on Thursday with the publication of his remarks that the church had grown “obsessed” with abortion, gay marriage and contraception, and that he had chosen not to talk about those issues despite recriminations from critics...
Search for L.A. film czar drags on at City Hall Los Angeles Times ....L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti is still searching for a film czar to serve as an industry advocate in City Hall and to help stop runaway production...
AAR: Rail Traffic increased in August Calculated Risk ...The Association of American Railroads (AAR) ... reported increased total U.S. rail traffic for the month of August 2013, with intermodal setting a new record and carload volume increasing overall compared with August 2012...
Union rep: Cutbacks cost lives in Navy Yard shooting USA TODAY ...A top union official for Washington Navy Yard police says he believes fewer lives would have been lost had the department not been understaffed during the attack that left the shooter and 12 of his victims dead...
Tensions Between BART and Unions Escalate, Transit Strike Looming SF Weekly ...After another full day of negotiations Wednesday, it's fair to say things between BART and its unions are getting worse, not better...
Labor to “play heavily” in state elections next year People’s World ...Organized labor, with its community allies, will "play heavily" in state gubernatorial and legislative races next year, its top two political operatives say...
Watch the growth of U.S. income inequality with this animated map Washington Post ...Here's a fascinating visualization of how inequality in the United States has evolved over the years...
Postmaster says USPS may need emergency rate hike Associated Press ...The Postal Service may need an emergency rate increase to stay afloat, according to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe who says the agency’s cash balance next month likely will cover only five days of its average daily expenses...
The Monsanto Protection Act Is Back! Huffington Post ...The agrichemical companies may have the best lobbyists in town. Last May, the agrichemical giants -- Monsanto, Dow, Syngenta, Bayer, DuPont, BASF -- pulled off a stunning maneuver to protect their massive profits. These companies could have legal protection to continue selling their products even if the courts pulled the products from the market...
In JPMorgan case, a rare admission: bank broke the law Los Angeles Times ...The $920-million settlement JPMorgan Chase and Co. struck with regulators in the "London Whale" fiasco contains something rare: an admission the bank broke the law...
More Amazon Warehouse Workers Sue Retailer Over Unpaid Security Waits Huffington Post ...A growing number of Amazon.com warehouse workers are suing the online retail giant and its contractors for requiring them to undergo time-consuming and unpaid security screenings in order to do their jobs...
Misplaced Idea to Private the Tennessee Valley Authority Brings Unions, GOP Together The We Party ...The budget proposed by President Barack Obama in April floated an idea to privatize the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a crown jewel of the New Deal. Labor unions expressing deep opposition to the idea are being joined by unlikely allies in the fight...
Ohio unions keep watchful eye on Right to Work legal challenge in Indiana PR News Channel ...Ohio union supporters are anxiously watching the developments in Indiana on the heels of the state’s controversial Right to Work law being ruled unconstitutional by a Lake County judge last week…
Wisconsin's Anti-Voting Law Heads to Federal Court Huffington Post ...With deceptively little fanfare or attention, a federal judge in Wisconsin is poised to preside over the first trial challenging a photo ID law under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act...
Florida Gov. Rick Scott seeks Supreme Court review of worker drug test Associated Press ...Florida Gov. Rick Scott plans to seek U.S. Supreme Court review of his executive order requiring random drug tests for thousands of state employees...
Senator: 'Flawed' bidding process led to privatization of prison food service Lansing State Journal ...A Republican senator told the Civil Service Commission on Wednesday that a flawed bidding process led to the state’s decision to privatize food service for 45,000 Michigan prisoners and eliminate about 370 state jobs...
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Today's Teamster News 07.04.13
Privacy issue hinders U.S-E.U. trade talks Washington Post ...European leaders tell citizens not to patronize U.S. companies due to concerns over privacy...
New Study: The Wealthy are more Unethical Economic Populist ...Seven studies using experimental and naturalistic methods, reveal that upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower-class individuals...
U.S. Postal Service Logging All Mail for Law Enforcement New York Times ...postal mail is subject to the same kind of scrutiny that the National Security Agency has given to telephone calls and e-mail...
Arizona firefighters lacked a proper escape route Los Angeles Times ...The 19 wildland firefighters killed in Arizona appeared not to have established an escape route to a safe site large enough for the entire group, a forestry official said. Safety protocols require crews to have a place to go in case fire overtakes them. That did not happen in the Yarnell Hill fire...
Truckers Are Losing Sleep Over 70-Hour Work Limit Wall Street Journal ...The changes—the most significant overhaul of rules governing truck-driver hours in a decade—shorten the workweek, restrict how many nights truckers can be on the road and require rest breaks during the day...
Critics sue to block American-US Airways merger Associated Press ...Opponents of the proposed merger of American Airlines and US Airways filed a lawsuit Tuesday to block the deal, claiming it would hurt consumers by driving up airfares...
Supreme Court Rejects Cablevision Request To Block NLRB Trial In Union Dispute Deadline New York ...The National Labor Relations Board can go ahead with its administrative trial this month on charges that Cablevision resorted to intimidation, bribery and harassment to stop some of its workers in the Bronx from joining the Communications Workers of America (CWA)...
Eurozone crisis: Portugal sends stock markets tumbling The Guardian ...Stock markets were spooked by Portugal's descent into political chaos on Wednesday as the threat of a government collapse sent the country's borrowing costs into critical territory and threatened a new phase in the eurozone crisis...
West Virginia’s food sales tax eliminated this week Morgan Messenger ...The West Virginia sales tax on food was completely eliminated Monday, July 1, in the final step of a food tax reduction plan that went into effect in 2005...
Rhode Island to Become Third State With Paid Family Leave Opposing Views ...The Rhode Island House voted on Tuesday to provide paid time off to care for a new child or sick family member, a bill activists believe will be signed by Gov. Lincoln Chafee and make Rhode Island the third state to provide paid family leave...
Progress made in SF Bay Area transit talks Associated Press ...Negotiators for Bay Area Rapid Transit and its striking train workers made progress during overnight contract talks, officials said Wednesday, raising hope that a deal might be struck when talks resume later in the day...
Teamsters File Challenge Against State of Florida IBT ...Teamsters Local 2011, which represents 17,000 officers of the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC), filed a formal complaint against the state with the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC), alleging that the state committed an unfair labor practice by trying to force illegal working conditions on corrections officers – taking away officers’ earned, paid time off...
Corrections workers ratify collective bargaining contract with New Hampshire Associated Press ...Teamsters Local 633, which represents more than 300 Department of Corrections' employees, has ratified a new two-year contract that provides workers with their first pay increase in five years...
Strike ends at Austintown beverage distributor WFMJ News ...Union members vote to end their strike of beverage distributor R.L. Lipton. The members of Teamsters Local 377 accepted a modified wage agreement during voting yesterday afternoon. They'll return to work on Monday...
New Study: The Wealthy are more Unethical Economic Populist ...Seven studies using experimental and naturalistic methods, reveal that upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower-class individuals...
U.S. Postal Service Logging All Mail for Law Enforcement New York Times ...postal mail is subject to the same kind of scrutiny that the National Security Agency has given to telephone calls and e-mail...
Arizona firefighters lacked a proper escape route Los Angeles Times ...The 19 wildland firefighters killed in Arizona appeared not to have established an escape route to a safe site large enough for the entire group, a forestry official said. Safety protocols require crews to have a place to go in case fire overtakes them. That did not happen in the Yarnell Hill fire...
Truckers Are Losing Sleep Over 70-Hour Work Limit Wall Street Journal ...The changes—the most significant overhaul of rules governing truck-driver hours in a decade—shorten the workweek, restrict how many nights truckers can be on the road and require rest breaks during the day...
Critics sue to block American-US Airways merger Associated Press ...Opponents of the proposed merger of American Airlines and US Airways filed a lawsuit Tuesday to block the deal, claiming it would hurt consumers by driving up airfares...
Supreme Court Rejects Cablevision Request To Block NLRB Trial In Union Dispute Deadline New York ...The National Labor Relations Board can go ahead with its administrative trial this month on charges that Cablevision resorted to intimidation, bribery and harassment to stop some of its workers in the Bronx from joining the Communications Workers of America (CWA)...
Eurozone crisis: Portugal sends stock markets tumbling The Guardian ...Stock markets were spooked by Portugal's descent into political chaos on Wednesday as the threat of a government collapse sent the country's borrowing costs into critical territory and threatened a new phase in the eurozone crisis...
West Virginia’s food sales tax eliminated this week Morgan Messenger ...The West Virginia sales tax on food was completely eliminated Monday, July 1, in the final step of a food tax reduction plan that went into effect in 2005...
Rhode Island to Become Third State With Paid Family Leave Opposing Views ...The Rhode Island House voted on Tuesday to provide paid time off to care for a new child or sick family member, a bill activists believe will be signed by Gov. Lincoln Chafee and make Rhode Island the third state to provide paid family leave...
Progress made in SF Bay Area transit talks Associated Press ...Negotiators for Bay Area Rapid Transit and its striking train workers made progress during overnight contract talks, officials said Wednesday, raising hope that a deal might be struck when talks resume later in the day...
Teamsters File Challenge Against State of Florida IBT ...Teamsters Local 2011, which represents 17,000 officers of the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC), filed a formal complaint against the state with the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC), alleging that the state committed an unfair labor practice by trying to force illegal working conditions on corrections officers – taking away officers’ earned, paid time off...
Corrections workers ratify collective bargaining contract with New Hampshire Associated Press ...Teamsters Local 633, which represents more than 300 Department of Corrections' employees, has ratified a new two-year contract that provides workers with their first pay increase in five years...
Strike ends at Austintown beverage distributor WFMJ News ...Union members vote to end their strike of beverage distributor R.L. Lipton. The members of Teamsters Local 377 accepted a modified wage agreement during voting yesterday afternoon. They'll return to work on Monday...
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Today's Teamster News 06.12.13
NSA Leaker's Six-Figure Pay Should Spark Debate: Why Are Federal Workers Being Replaced With Pricier Contractors? Forbes ...Why is a 29-year-old high school drop-out making more as a low-level contractor than any senior manager in the federal government short of the President himself, and a very few other special category employees?...
Edward Snowden: Exhibit A for How Washington Blows Money on Contractors The Atlantic ...the government has outsourced huge chunks of its operations wholesale to private contractors like Booz Allen, particularly in the realm of intelligence gathering. And it's costing Washington untold billions every year...
Obama Hosts Peru’s Humala in Push for Pacific Trade Deal Bloomberg ...President Barack Obama called Peru one of the most reliable partners of the U.S. in the Western Hemisphere and said a Pacific region trade pact being negotiated will enhance the economic relationship...
Overdrafts accounted for 61% of bank fees in 2011, report finds New York Times ...Overdrafts accounted for 61 percent of the fees banking customers paid in 2011, according to a report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The bureau conservatively estimates that the banking industry made $12.6 billion in such fees...
Banks Seen as Aid in Fraud Against Older Consumers New York Times ...The pitch arrived, as so many do, with a friendly cold call. Bruno Koch, 83, told the telemarketer on the line that, yes, of course he would like to update his health insurance card. Then Mr. Koch, of Newport News, Va., slipped up: he divulged his bank account information. What happened next is all too familiar...
Federal agencies turning to UPS, Fed Ex instead of USPS for delivery needs Washington Free Beacon ...The U.S. Postal Service’s bottom line has been hit as the federal government has increased its contracts with publicly traded companies, and spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year for these services. The lion’s share of contracts has gone to the United Parcel Service (UPS)...
Employers: Pay your interns. Labor Department: Bust them if they don’t! Economic Policy Institute ...At a time when the real value of the minimum wage is well below the levels of the 1960’s (making entry-level workers quite affordable), when the weak labor market is forcing college graduates in record numbers to take jobs that don’t require a college degree and entry level wages for college grads are already substantially below the levels of 10 years ago, the exploitation involved in not paying employees anything at all is shameful and economically dangerous...
When it comes to open records, ALEC needs to be put in its place Cap Times ...Communications with Wisconsin legislators are open records under the state's long-standing openness laws and for good reason. Citizens have a right to know who is influencing the conduct and actions of their elected representatives...
Walmart CEO Mike Duke, Other Execs Face Dissent In Shareholder Vote Huffington Post ...Wal-Mart's final shareholder vote for its board of directors showed another year of dissent against key executives and directors, including its CEO Mike Duke, as the company deals with the fallout from overseas bribery allegations...
Residents shut out of packed Detroit emergency manager meeting; Reporters tossed out Michigan Live ...(Emergency Manager Kevyn) Orr ... spoke in the meeting about making full use of either his broad powers under the state emergency manager law or Chapter 9 bankruptcy to address the city’s finances...
Bill would give Michigan college grads tax credits for student loans Central Michigan Life ...A new bill working its way through the state Legislature in Lansing would give college graduates an income tax credit if they continue to live in Michigan...
OSHA targets industrial truck safety FleetOwner ...OSHA is launching a new program in Idaho that will emphasize safety when working with industrial trucks like forklifts and lift trucks. Investigations will begin this month identifying and evaluating hazards associated with using these trucks...
Foreclosure abuse victims in Virginia to get checks Associated Press ...Checks are going out this week to more than 22,500 Virginians participating in the national mortgage foreclosure settlement, said Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli...
Davidson County judge blocks Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam's plan to lay off state workers Chattanooga Times Free Press ...Gov. Bill Haslam's plan to lay off more than 200 state workers this month struck a pothole late Monday afternoon when a Davidson County judge issued a temporary restraining order after state employees filed suit...
Record Temperatures Bring Reminders of Heat-Related Illness from Cal/OSHA EHS Today ...With parts of California experiencing record-breaking temperatures, with some highs in in the triple digits, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is reminding employers and employees of ways to beat the heat...
Teamsters Lead The Charge On Behalf Of Women Teamsters Canada ...The Teamsters Union has decided to lead the charge on behalf of pregnant women whose jobs are governed by the Canada Labour Code. The union wants to ensure that these women continue to be paid if they have to take a preventive withdrawal...
Edward Snowden: Exhibit A for How Washington Blows Money on Contractors The Atlantic ...the government has outsourced huge chunks of its operations wholesale to private contractors like Booz Allen, particularly in the realm of intelligence gathering. And it's costing Washington untold billions every year...
Obama Hosts Peru’s Humala in Push for Pacific Trade Deal Bloomberg ...President Barack Obama called Peru one of the most reliable partners of the U.S. in the Western Hemisphere and said a Pacific region trade pact being negotiated will enhance the economic relationship...
Overdrafts accounted for 61% of bank fees in 2011, report finds New York Times ...Overdrafts accounted for 61 percent of the fees banking customers paid in 2011, according to a report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The bureau conservatively estimates that the banking industry made $12.6 billion in such fees...
Banks Seen as Aid in Fraud Against Older Consumers New York Times ...The pitch arrived, as so many do, with a friendly cold call. Bruno Koch, 83, told the telemarketer on the line that, yes, of course he would like to update his health insurance card. Then Mr. Koch, of Newport News, Va., slipped up: he divulged his bank account information. What happened next is all too familiar...
Federal agencies turning to UPS, Fed Ex instead of USPS for delivery needs Washington Free Beacon ...The U.S. Postal Service’s bottom line has been hit as the federal government has increased its contracts with publicly traded companies, and spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year for these services. The lion’s share of contracts has gone to the United Parcel Service (UPS)...
Employers: Pay your interns. Labor Department: Bust them if they don’t! Economic Policy Institute ...At a time when the real value of the minimum wage is well below the levels of the 1960’s (making entry-level workers quite affordable), when the weak labor market is forcing college graduates in record numbers to take jobs that don’t require a college degree and entry level wages for college grads are already substantially below the levels of 10 years ago, the exploitation involved in not paying employees anything at all is shameful and economically dangerous...
When it comes to open records, ALEC needs to be put in its place Cap Times ...Communications with Wisconsin legislators are open records under the state's long-standing openness laws and for good reason. Citizens have a right to know who is influencing the conduct and actions of their elected representatives...
Walmart CEO Mike Duke, Other Execs Face Dissent In Shareholder Vote Huffington Post ...Wal-Mart's final shareholder vote for its board of directors showed another year of dissent against key executives and directors, including its CEO Mike Duke, as the company deals with the fallout from overseas bribery allegations...
Residents shut out of packed Detroit emergency manager meeting; Reporters tossed out Michigan Live ...(Emergency Manager Kevyn) Orr ... spoke in the meeting about making full use of either his broad powers under the state emergency manager law or Chapter 9 bankruptcy to address the city’s finances...
Bill would give Michigan college grads tax credits for student loans Central Michigan Life ...A new bill working its way through the state Legislature in Lansing would give college graduates an income tax credit if they continue to live in Michigan...
OSHA targets industrial truck safety FleetOwner ...OSHA is launching a new program in Idaho that will emphasize safety when working with industrial trucks like forklifts and lift trucks. Investigations will begin this month identifying and evaluating hazards associated with using these trucks...
Foreclosure abuse victims in Virginia to get checks Associated Press ...Checks are going out this week to more than 22,500 Virginians participating in the national mortgage foreclosure settlement, said Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli...
Davidson County judge blocks Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam's plan to lay off state workers Chattanooga Times Free Press ...Gov. Bill Haslam's plan to lay off more than 200 state workers this month struck a pothole late Monday afternoon when a Davidson County judge issued a temporary restraining order after state employees filed suit...
Record Temperatures Bring Reminders of Heat-Related Illness from Cal/OSHA EHS Today ...With parts of California experiencing record-breaking temperatures, with some highs in in the triple digits, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is reminding employers and employees of ways to beat the heat...
Teamsters Lead The Charge On Behalf Of Women Teamsters Canada ...The Teamsters Union has decided to lead the charge on behalf of pregnant women whose jobs are governed by the Canada Labour Code. The union wants to ensure that these women continue to be paid if they have to take a preventive withdrawal...
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