Today's Teamster News 01.31.14

Hoffa Praises Bill to Discourage Excessive CEO Pay  teamster.org   ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa praised U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, for introducing a bill to end a taxpayer subsidy for excessive CEO pay...
Teamsters Win First Contract at Kennedy Space Center  teamster.org   ...Badging clerks at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center ratified their first union contract on Tuesday as members of Teamsters Local 769. The new pact secures wage increases, improved vacation benefits and protection of full-time jobs in the 10-member bargaining unit...
Teamsters, Fast Track opponents making an impact. You can too.  TeamsterNation   ...Members of Congress are starting to listen to the thousands of Teamsters who are calling, emailing, rallying and telling them face-to-face: Vote NO on Fast Track...
Applications are now being accepted for the JRHMSF  teamster.org   ...The 2014-2015 scholarship for high school seniors has an application deadline of March 31, 2014. Visit the James R. Hoffa Scholarship Fund Information Center for eligibility requirements and application procedures...
Lunches seized from kids in debt at Salt Lake City elementary  The Salt Lake Tribune   ...Up to 40 kids at Uintah Elementary in Salt Lake City picked up their lunches Tuesday, then watched as the meals were taken and thrown away because of outstanding balances on their accounts — a move that shocked and angered parents...
The Danish Government Nearly Collapsed Today Over A Deal With Goldman Sachs  Business Insider   ...Denmark's government is in turmoil after the Socialist People's Party (SF) quit the ruling coalition over a deal with Goldman Sachs, Lars Eriksen of the Guardian reports. The deal involves Goldman purchasing a 19% stake in state-owned utility Dong Energy for $1.5 billion. Denmark’s shareholding would fall to about 60%...
Coal Markets Hit Hard as Emerging Economies Begin to Wobble  Oil Price   ...Slowing growth in developing countries has started to affect the commodities market, especially for coal, as orders are slashed and prices have fallen as much as 10 percent in a month...
Spy Agencies Work On Psychologically Profiling Everyone  Washington's Blog   ...Newly-released documents from Edward Snowden show that the NSA and other spy agencies are tracking people’s psychological and lifestyle traits such as sexual preference, extroversion-versus-introversion, and whether people are leaders or followers...
Beer buzz? FAA grounds plan to deliver 12-packs by drone  Minneapolis Star Tribune   ...The idea seemed ingenious: Delivering 12-packs of beer to the cold, windswept surfaces of popular ice fishing lakes — using a drone...
Lawsuit: KBR transported soldiers' ice in unsanitized morgue trailers  Military Times   ...The Justice Department is suing KBR and two foreign companies for allegedly defrauding the Army. The most shocking accusation: Workers used “refrigerated trailers to transport ice for consumption by the troops that had previously been used as temporary morgues without first sanitizing them.”...
Wall Street’s New Housing Bonanza  New York Times   ... Investment bankers and lawyers are now lining up to finance investors, from big private equity firms to plumbers and dentists moonlighting as landlords, who are buying up foreclosed houses and renting them out...
U.S. West Coast Labor Tensions Push Shippers to Look at Alternative Routes  Journal of Commerce ...Li & Fung Logistics is preparing alternatives to shipping through U.S. West Coast ports, as the global sourcing giant expects some type of International Longshore and Warehouse Union disruption tied to the negotiations for a contract to replace the current one that expires June 30...
States Have Lost $1.76 Billion After Long-Term Unemployment Benefits Lapsed  ThinkProgress   ...State economies have lost $1.76 billion after Congress let the benefits program for the long-term unemployed lapse at the end of last year, according to a calculation from the Democratic Policy & Communications Center...
Citigroup to limit work hours, force bankers to use vacation time  Bloomberg News   ...Citigroup Inc. will require junior bankers to take Saturdays off and use all of their vacation time each year as the firm joins an industry effort to improve working conditions...
State Moves To Make Sure Workers Don’t Lose Pay If They Get The Flu  ThinkProgress   ...On Wednesday, the Washington State House passed a bill that would guarantee workers paid time off for an illness or to care for a sick family member...
U.S. has launched criminal probe into Target cyberattack  Los Angeles Times   ...The Justice Department said Wednesday that it has launched a criminal investigation into the recent cybertheft of more than 110 million Target customers' personal data...
Union Members Overwhelmingly Vote to Ratify Caesars Entertainment Contract  unitehere.org   Members of the Culinary and Bartenders Unions voted yesterday to ratify a new five-year agreement with Caesars Entertainment. The contract covers 13,000 workers in Las Vegas...

Today's Teamster News 05.06.13

The Rich Have Gained $5.6 Trillion in the 'Recovery,' While the Rest of Us Have Lost $669 Billion AlterNet   ...Oh, are we getting ripped off. And now we've got the data to prove it. From 2009 to 2011, the richest 8 million families (the top 7%) on average saw their wealth rise from $1.7 million to $2.5 million each. Meanwhile the rest of us--the bottom 93% --suffered an average decline of $6,000 each...
When Your Boss Steals Your Wages: The Invisible Epidemic That’s Sweeping America AlterNet   ...Wage theft is fast becoming a top trend of the 21st-century labor market...
Bangladesh building collapse: death toll over 650 News Limited    ...The death toll from Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster has surpassed 650 after dozens more bodies were pulled from the wreckage of a building housing garment factories...
The Walt Disney Company pulls out of Bangladesh: Will that make workers safer?  Christian Science Monitor   ...The Walt Disney Co. is pulling out of Bangladesh and other developing countries, in part because of fatal accidents in factories that produced branded merchandise for Western firms. Announcement of the move follows last week’s tragedy that may be the worst such accident in world history...
Court not ready to give right-to-work opinion  Traverse City Record-Eagle   ...The Michigan Supreme Court is in no hurry to give an opinion on the legality of the state’s right-to-work law. In fact, the court still hasn’t decided whether to even grant Gov. Rick Snyder’s request...
Ohio 'right to work' fight likely to resurface in state legislature  Plain Dealer   ...Ohio's latest "right to work" effort seems dead on arrival, but don't bet against the issue coming back to life...
Montana Democratic women consider running for U.S. Senate  Missoulian   ...Several Democratic women are among those looking at the 2014 U.S. Senate race in Montana, one of about two dozen states where a woman has never been elected to the Senate...
CDC reports rise in autism, California social security benefits may help   Digital Journal   ...The CDC estimates 1 in 88 children are diagnosed with autism before reaching the age of eight. The disorder can be financially devastating, but social security benefits may help cover the cost of treatment and intervention...
Union Launches Major Ad Campaign Against Liquor Privatization  CBS KDKA-TV   ...So far it’s been mostly Governor Corbett and his allies arguing for privatization of the liquor system. But another side is about to be heard...
Teamsters, ABF Reach Tentative Contract Agreement  IBT   ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters and ABF reached a tentative contract agreement, Gordon Sweeton, Co-Chairman of the Teamsters National ABF Negotiating Committee, announced Friday...
IBT To Conduct Crane Operations Courses in St. Louis  IBT    ...The IBT Safety and Health Department will be conducting the following classes on Crane Operations at Teamsters Local 682 in St. Louis...
Alpha School Bus Workers Ratify Contract  IBT   ...School bus drivers and monitors with Alpha School Bus in Crestwood, Ill., have ratified their first three-year agreement by a nearly unanimous vote...
Illinois Governor Honors BLET Anniversary  BLET   ...California, Massachusetts, and Ohio and two cities (Detroit and Marshall, Mich.) recognize North America’s oldest railroad labor union...
Employees of Durham Bus Services Fight For Respect and Union Rights  RadioLabour   ...Employees of Durham Bus Services in the US have been trying to join the Teamsters union. But the company, owned by National Express in the UK, is actively resisting their right to join a union. A RadioLabour interview with Louis Malizia, the Assistant Director of the Capital Strategies Department of the Teamsters...
Teamsters persist in drive to unionize truckers at L.A. and Long Beach ports  Daily Breeze   ... For decades, the docks at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have been organized labor strongholds, dominated by the powerful International Longshore and Warehouse Union. But other workers handling imports and exports have mostly been left out. But that may be changing...