2014: The year the states began to de-privatize

In 2014, taxpayers began to halt runaway privatization of government services. Maryland's Legislature passed a law banning private contractors from contracting with the state if they broke the law. In Oregon, Nebraska and Connecticut, legislatures passed laws requiring more supervision of private contracts.

Today, dozens of cities, counties and school districts are set to impose more control over private contractors, according to a new report by In The Public Interest.  And a total of 19 states had legislation introduced that would let taxpayers reclaim control of public services.

The rush to privatize government services began in the 1970s with claims the private sector could do it 'better, faster and cheaper,' than the government. But by now citizens are finding out 'privatization' often means private contractors looting the public treasury.

In, Chicago, residents rebelled against the privatization of the city's 36,000 parking meters. According to the Atlantic Monthly,

Parking-meter rates had suddenly gone up as much as fourfold. Some meters jammed and overflowed when they couldn't hold enough change for the new prices. In other areas, new electronic meters had been installed, but many of them didn't give receipts or failed to work entirely. And free parking on Sundays was a thing of the past. 

The new meter regime sparked mass outrage. People held protests and threatened to boycott. But there was little recourse: The city had leased its 36,000 meters to a private Morgan Stanley-led consortium in exchange for $1.2 billion in up-front revenue. The length of the lease: 75 years.

It got worse: an inspector general's report found the city's taxpayers overpaid the Morgan Stanley consortium by $974 million.

Here's another example: 65 percent of state contracts with private prison company CCA guarantee 90 percent of the prison beds will be filled, or the state will pay CCA for the difference.

Teamsters have successfully fought privatization of public services when it will replace Teamsters with low-paid, poorly trained contract workers and higher costs to taxpayers. The Teamsters represent several hundred thousand public sector workers.

The In the Public Interest report describes some sensible proposals to let taxpayers take more control of government spending on private contracts:

• In California, a resolution passed the Assembly that said lawmakers opposed any outsourcing of public services and assets that did not meet standards of transparency, accountability, shared prosperity and competition. 
• In Georgia, a bill was introduced requiring contracts to demonstrate a 10 percent cost savings to taxpayers. Minnesota lawmakers considered a bill to require a 15 percent savings from a private contractor.
• A Tennessee proposal would ban contract language that guarantees corporate profits at taxpayers' expense, including 'lockup quotas.'
• A Vermont will would make it easier for taxpayers to cancel a contract if the company doesn't deliver quality services and cost savings. 
• A West Virginia lawmaker proposed a bill that would ban companies that evade taxes or broke the law from receiving state contracts. It would also require fair pay and reasonable benefits. 

Today's Teamster News 06.21.14

Teamster News
Safety Report On Tracy Morgan Crash Raises New Questions  MSN   ..."The NTSB's preliminary findings in this case clearly show that truck drivers are pushing beyond the limits of the current hours of service rules," Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa said....
Commissioners Approve Employee Communications Consultants In Wake Of Union Petition  The Sentinel   ...The Cumberland County commissioners voted 2-1 Thursday afternoon to approve a contract addendum allowing labor council Campbell, Durrant, Beatty, Palombo & Miller to engage consultants for communications with employees...
Labor Relations Board Judge To Hear Claims Against Rancho Dominguez Trucking Firm  Long Beach Press-Telegram   ...A National Labor Relations Board judge in August will hear allegations by Los Angeles and Long Beach port truck drivers and their supporters that a Rancho Dominguez trucking firm committed more than 50 labor law violations...
Temporary Workers, Paid Sick Days, Back Wages Lead California Labor Priorities  Sacramento Bee   ...Paid sick days. Tougher penalties for employers who withhold back wages. More liability for corporations that use subcontractors. The priority list of organized labor, a formidable force in the Legislature, begins with these three items...
Teamsters: NLRB Complaint Issued Against Green Fleet Systems  teamster.org   ...In a tremendous victory for Los Angeles/Long Beach port truck drivers who have gone on three “Unfair Labor Practice” strikes in the last eleven months, Region 21 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a consolidated complaint alleging a myriad of over 50 egregious labor law violations against one of the larger drayage companies, Green Fleet Systems (GFS) (the company also has operations at the Port of Savannah, Georgia)...
Kraft Foods workers in Avon ratify new contract  Democrat & Chronicle   ...After nearly 13 months of negotiations, members of Teamsters Local 118 have ratified a new four-year contract with Kraft Foods...
Vermont Bus Maintenance Workers Ratify Teamster Contract  teamster.org   ...Maintenance workers in Vermont's Chittenden County bus system have ratified a new contract with Teamsters Local 597...
Trade
Pocan calls for end to Brunei negotiations over new anti-LGBT laws  Gay Politics   ...U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, along with over 100 other House members, called on Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman to stop any further negotiations with the government of on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement until Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah revokes a newly adopted penal code that is in gross violation of human rights...
Dear Defense Contractor CEOs: Why Is the Pentagon Buying Weapons With Chinese Parts Instead of US Parts?  truthout   ...At least 80 of our nation's primary weapon systems wouldn't work at all without Chinese-sourced rare earth materials...
State Battles
Wisconsin Employment Flatlines  Econbrowser   ...State-level employment figures released this morning by the BLS indicate indicate that as US (and regional peer Minnesota) employment powers along, Wisconsin lags. As does Kansas. Hence, the negative correlation between the ALEC-Laffer economic outlook index and actual economic activity persists...
4 Key Takeaways About Scott Walker's Alleged "Criminal Scheme"  Mother Jones   ...Prosecutors are probing whether Walker and two of his aides illegally coordinated with outside groups—including the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity—to fend off a wave of recall elections in 2011 and 2012...
It's Official. Big Food Sues Vermont  truthout   ...Monsanto and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) filed a lawsuit in federal the U.S. District Court, State of Vermont, to overturn Vermont’s recently passed GMO labeling law...
Audit finds 'intentional misuse' of funds by Elevate Ventures  Indianapolis Business Journal   ...The Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Treasury Department says Elevate Ventures “intentionally misused” almost $500,000 in taxpayer funds when the state contractor invested in a company run by its board chairman...
SEC Charges Private Equity Firm With Pay-to-Play Violations Involving Political Campaign Contributions in Pennsylvania  SEC   ...The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Philadelphia-area private equity firm with violating “pay-to-play” rules by continuing to receive advisory fees from the city and state pension funds following campaign contributions made by an associate in 2011 to the governor of Pennsylvania and a candidate for mayor of Philadelphia...
Keurig and Coca-Cola Brew Jobs in Georgia  manufacture this   ...The two beverage companies will create 550 new jobs in Douglasville, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta) and invest $337 million into the facility in the next five years. The new manufacturing center will produce pods for the company’s new Keurig Cold Platform...
War On Workers
Supreme Court Gives Public Workers 1st Amendment Shield  Los Angeles Times   ...The Supreme Court shielded public employees from being fired or disciplined if they testify in court against their superiors, ruling Thursday that the 1st Amendment protects citizens who are called upon to tell the truth...
Local cops can track your phone, and the government doesn’t want you to know how  Columbia Journalism Review   ...Police departments around the country increasingly are using sophisticated technology to surveil American citizens by monitoring cellphone data, in many cases carefully hiding those activities from the public and the press...
Miscellaneous
The Dead-End Of Financialization: Innovation Is Slumping For A Reason  David Stockman's Contra Corner   ...monetary policy is not neutral as proclaimed, but rather ... there are innumerable and immeasurable changes due to persistent monetary intrusions that depress economic potential ... The fullest expression of that is the complete infiltration of “easy money” as an expectation – it erodes everything from what we expect from stocks (doubling your money every year is normal!) to actual work ethic (“put your money to work”) to resource allocation (day traders and house flippers, not to mention Wall Street mathematicians and lawyers, rather than industrial entrepreneurs)...

Today's Teamster News 03.31.14

Teamster News
CCTA strike heads into third week, board to explore options  WPTZ News 5   ...negotiations between management and the Teamsters Union is the top priority, but there are other options to explore. They include legal remedies, such as asking for a judge to step in and file an injunction requiring union members work during the negotiations...
CCTA offers proposal to drivers  Vermont Digger   ...On Friday, March 28, CCTA and the Union engaged in negotiations for over 17 hours. The negotiations resulted in CCTA delivering another complete written compromise contract proposal to the Union...
Trade
Cokie Roberts Picked a Fight With Alan Grayson on the TransPacific Partnership. Guess Who Won?  naked capitalism   ...“Fast Track” legislation simply is a ploy to jam the resulting surrender to multinational corporations through Congress, without hearings, without mark-ups, without amendments and even without significant debate...
State Battles
Raising the Minimum Wage Does not ‘Kill Jobs’ – Preliminary Evidence from 2014  Center for Economic Policy and Research   ...At the beginning of 2014, thirteen states increased their minimum wage…. Goldman Sachs compared the employment change … They concluded that … the group of states that had hikes at the start of 2014 in fact performed better than states without hikes...
Right-to-work takes away employer choice (opinion)  St. Louis Post Dispatch   ... A good wage creates a consumer that with a disposable income that can purchase a good or service from local businesses investing in the local community...
Voters May Decide 'Right to Work' Issue; Controversy Builds  Ozarks First   ...Sen. Eric Burlison, a Republican representing Springfield, says the "Right to Work" bill he introduced may ultimately be decided by Missouri voters...
New G.O.P. Bid to Limit Voting in Swing States  New York Times   ...Pivotal swing states under Republican control are embracing significant new electoral restrictions on registering and voting that go beyond the voter identification requirements that have caused fierce partisan brawls...
The War on Workers
80 percent of U.S. adults face near-poverty, unemployment, survey finds (old)  Associated Press  ...Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream...
A Nation of Takers? (opinion)  New York Times   ...Here are five public welfare programs that are wasteful and turning us into a nation of “takers.” First, welfare subsidies for private planes...
The New Billionaire Political Bosses  Robert Reich   ...So far in the 2014 election cycle, “Americans for Prosperity,” the Koch brother’s political front group, has aired more than 17,000 broadcast TV commercials, compared with only 2,100 aired by Republican Party groups...
United Autoworkers membership grows slightly  Associated Press   ...The United Auto Workers said its membership grew by nearly 9,000 people last year, the union said in a filing with Department of Labor, the fourth-straight year that the union has rebuilt...
Plutocracy without end: Why the 1 percent always defeats the middle class  (opinion)  Salon   ...Plutocracy shocks us every day with its viciousness, but that doesn’t mean God will strike it down. The middle-class model worked much better for about ninety-nine percent of the population, but that doesn’t make it some kind of dialectic inevitability...
Waves of Nationwide Actions Planned at Key Historic Moment  Alternet   ...The #WaveOfAction extends from the day Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated to Independence Day. The campaign will begin with candlelight vigils around the world at the time of MLK’s assassination, which was 7:05 pm EST on April 4...
California Farmers Short of Labor, and Patience  New York Times   ...the powerful Western Growers Association, a group based in Irvine, Calif., that represents hundreds of farmers in California and Arizona, says many of its members may withhold contributions from Republicans in congressional races because of the party’s stance against a comprehensive immigration overhaul...
Miscellaneous
Adelson Wooed by Republican Presidential Prospects at Vegas Meet  Bloomberg   ...Three Republican governors eyeing the White House, including embattled New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, were in Las Vegas yesterday to court Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire casino owner who could give any of their eventual campaigns a major financial boost...

Today's Teamster News 03.24.14

Teamster News
CCTA, Teamster negotiations fail; strike extends into second week  VT Digger   ...The bus drivers’ union, Teamsters Local 597, and the Chittenden County Transit Authority failed to come to an agreement after seven hours of negotiations on Saturday...
At least two issues divide CCTA and striking bus drivers  Burlington Free Press   ...Watterson said the talks centered on four issues highlighted by the union: compensation, cameras on the bus, including the use of anonymous complaints to discipline drivers, the use of part-time drivers and the length of the work day because of the split shifts expected for drivers...
The End of Jobs  In These Times   ...In a major victory for a long-running campaign,  port truck drivers at Pacific 9 Transportation in California have won the right to be considered employees under the National Labor Relations Act, and to form a union...
Trade
The Disastrous Trans-Pacific Partnership and Unconstitutional Fast Track Authority  Economy in Crisis   ...Thomas Hartmann explains why this is dangerous...
State Battles
GOP to push 'right to work'  Associated Press   ...Missouri House Republican leaders are vowing to consider one of their top priorities, legislation known to supporters as "right to work," when lawmakers return from their weeklong break...
War on Workers
Google, Apple, and Other Tech Titans’ Wage-Suppression Conspiracy Estimated to Cover One Million Workers  naked capitalism   ...Between approximately 2005 and 2009, Defendants Adobe, Apple, Google, Intel, Intuit, Lucasfilm, and Pixar allegedly engaged in an “overarching conspiracy” to eliminate competition among Defendants for skilled labor. The conspiracy consisted of an interconnected web of express bilateral agreements...
Why Electricity Costs Are Major Cause of Poverty in the South  Alternet   ...families in the Southeast pay a higher percentage of their income on electricity...
Miscellaneous
Banker Deaths Leave Industry Concerned As Coroners Probe  Bloomberg   ...Coroners in London are preparing to investigate two apparent suicides as unexpected deaths by finance workers around the world have raised concerns about mental health and stress levels in the industry...
Carter fears NSA is spying on his emails  The Hill   ...Former President Jimmy Carter (D) says he thinks the National Security Agency might be monitoring his emails....Carter said he sends messages to foreign leaders via snail mail instead...

Today's Teamster News 02.28.14

Teamster News
Teamsters not happy with inmates filling potholes  WFMJ.com   ...The Teamsters union, representing employees with the Mahoning County engineer's office, is considering filing a grievance after seeing inmates filling potholes...

Teamster School Bus News  teamster.org   ...Baltimore school bus workers win $1.25 million wage settlement; Teamsters Local 445 drivers and monitors in New York win fight for fair contract at Durham; what to do when your bus equipment is defective – all these stories and more are in the latest issue of the Drive Up Standards newsletter...
Nashville Chapter of TNBC Honors Leaders  teamster.org   ...The Nashville Middle TN Valley Chapter of the Teamsters National Black Caucus (TNBC) held its second annual awards banquet titled “Education and Accountability” on February 22, 2014 in Nashville...
Liam Neeson: NYC Mayor Is a Horse Nazi  TMZ   ...Liam Neeson is PISSED OFF at New York City's new mayor for trying to kill the Central Park horse industry...
Will Academy Award nominees speak up for the workers who make the Oscars?  Pando Daily   ...The Teamsters Local 743 in Chicago has been unable to reach an agreement with R.S. Owens & Company, the local awards shop that has exclusively manufactured the familiar gold statuettes for the last three decades...
D.C. Taxi Drivers' Voices Are Being Heard  teamster.org   ...Over the past few months, Washington, D.C. taxi drivers have joined together with the Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association, affiliated with Teamsters Local 922, for one strong voice...
Teamster Tells Lawmakers How TPP Will Damage Workers  teamster.org   ..."this is about American families and these trade deals have brutalized the American economy,” he said. “A trade agreement is not an agreement. It is a gun to the head of the American worker...”
BLET tells House: Don’t extend deadline for Positive Train Control  BLET News   ...BLET Vice President & National Legislative Representative John P. Tolman made a strong case for the timely implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) and other measures to boost rail safety and improve the quality of life for BLET members during testimony delivered at a House subcommittee hearing on February 26...
Trade
NPPC: Japan's Offer On TPP Unacceptable to U.S. Agriculture  National Hog Farmer   ...The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) says U.S. acceptance of the recent Japanese offer, made as part of the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade talks,  would be a radical departure from previous U.S. free trade agreements (FTAs) and could potentially set an unacceptable precedent for future trade deals...
Japanese activist: TPP will affect food security  FMT News   ...The TPP will not only widen the economic disparity between the rich and the poor, but also deny poor nations the power to secure food import, says a Japanese activist...
Ending currency manipulation would create jobs  ABC, Sioux Falls   ...Policy change could bring 20,000 jobs to South Dakota...
State Battles
Protestors gather as Republicans unveil Right to Work legislation  WAVE News   ...Protesters gathered in Frankfort on Thursday as Kentucky Republicans introduced right to work legislation, even though the legislation has dim chances of success this year...
Vermont Citizens Push to Form a State Bank, But Will Ratings Agencies Kill the Idea?  naked capitalism   ...The objective is not to set up a retail bank (say along the lines of a Post Office bank) but to save the fees that are now paid to large financial institutions and to fund public projects...
The War on Workers
Household wealth still down 14 percent since recession  EurekAlert   ...the mean net worth of American households in mid-2013 was still about 14 percent below the pre-recession peak in 2006. Their analysis suggested that middle-aged people took the biggest hit...
Wal-Mart Ad Celebrates American Workers With A Canadian Band's Song About A Guy Who Hates His Job  Business Insider   ...Wal-Mart has been running a high-profile advertising campaign to promote its recent pledge to purchase $250 billion of American-made products over the next 10 years...Rush was strange choice of soundtrack for an ad celebrating American manufacturing given that the band is not just Canadian, but famously Canadian...
Underemployment Piles On Problems For Low-Wage Workers  CBS   ...The state Labor Department says there are about 276,000 Pennsylvanians in the category “working part time for economic reasons.” They include 47,900 people who usually work full-time but are working part-time, and 228,000 people who usually work part-time but are working less than they normally would...
GOP blocks veterans bill  The Hill   ...Senate Republicans stopped Democrats from advancing a bill that would have expanded healthcare and education programs for veterans...
Miscellaneous
Federal Budget Deficit Falls to Smallest Level Since 2008  New York Times   ...Closing the books on a fiscal year in which the federal budget deficit fell more sharply than in any year since the end of World War II, the Treasury Department reported on Thursday that the deficit for 2013 dropped to $680 billion, from about $1.1 trillion the previous year...

Today's Teamster News 02.10.14

Vt. lawmakers balk at no-media trade talks  Associated Press   ...Vermont lawmakers are refusing to meet a demand from the office of the U.S. trade representative that they conduct secret talks over the impacts of a proposed international trade agreement...
Obama signs farm bill that trims food stamps  Associated Press   ...President Barack Obama on Friday signed into law an agriculture spending bill that will spread benefits to farmers in every region of the country, while trimming the food stamp program that inspired a two-year battle over the legislation...
If You Thought You Couldn't Go To Jail For Debt Anymore, You're Wrong  Business Insider   ...n Ohio, the practice has been dealt a major blow ... The Ohio Supreme Court released a "bench card" to every state and municipal court judge in Ohio explaining how they must avoid sending people to jail who are too poor to pay their court fines. This bench card is the first of its kind in the nation...
Chinese Official Made Job Plea to JPMorgan Chase Chief  New York Times   ...Federal authorities are now investigating whether the hiring at JPMorgan — and at least six other big banks — was done explicitly to win business from Chinese companies. The authorities could decide to bring charges against individuals or a bank if they find such activity to be in violation of anti-bribery laws...
Suspicious Death of JPMorgan Vice President, Gabriel Magee, Under Investigation in London  Wall Street on Parade   ...No solid evidence exists currently to suggest that the death was a suicide. In fact, there is a strong piece of evidence pointing in the opposite direction...
Tapering of Quantitative Easing Is Throwing Emerging Markets into Chaos - And Big Banks Are Getting Richer  The Real News   ...the economy is growing, but it's growing in a very dysfunctional way... it is growing out of proportion. It is not growing in areas that affect Main Street, small businesses, wages...
Decades of Greed: Behind the Scenes With An Angry Walmart Manager  Gawker   ...How come in 1999 Walmart could pay me over $10 an hour but in 2014 I hire people in at $8.00 an hour?...
Crybabies of the 1 Percent: The Rich Complain While Getting Away With Everything  Alternet   ...Consider the case of a Texas teenager who  killed four people and severely injured two others while drunk-driving in his father’s pickup truck. Prosecutors wanted to send him to prison for 20 years, but a judge decided to give him no jail time at all after an expert witness for the defense testified that the defendant was suffering from “affluenza.” This affliction, the psychologist testified, was a product of the defendant having spent his life in the lap of luxury...
Group: Bangladesh Workers Threatened Over Union  Associated Press   ...dozens of workers who said they were beaten, lost their jobs or forced to resign after trying to organize unions...
Author: When It Comes To High-Speed Internet, U.S. 'Falling Way Behind'  NPR   ...American Internet service is falling behind other nations because cable companies have such dominance in many markets, and that will undermine our ability to compete in a global economy...
Subway Takes Chemical Out of Sandwich Bread After Protest  ABC News   ...Subway said today it is removing a chemical used in yoga mats and shoe soles from the bread of it its popular sandwiches after a food blogger got more than 50,000 signatures in a petition drive...
Right-to-work push (LTE)   Kansas City Star   ...Right to work is really the right to work for less. Sen. Ed Emery confirmed this when he said, “One of the things that will be advocated by the unions is look at all these right-to-work states, average wages all go down. Sure they go down.”...