Showing posts with label Wegmans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wegmans. Show all posts

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Today's Teamster News 11.07.13

D.C. Taxi Operators Sue to Stop Fines, Towings  teamster.org   ...The Teamster-affiliated Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the city’s more than 6,000 cab drivers, demanding that the District stop towing and impounding taxis and issuing fines to drivers who have been unable to install new dome lights or credit card machines...
Teamsters,Wegmans Meet With Federal Mediator  teamster.org   ...Teamsters Local 118 representatives and Wegmans resumed discussions Tuesday to resolve an ongoing contract dispute, this time joined by a mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS.) Previous efforts to engage FMCS were thwarted by a 16-day government shutdown...
eBay CEO Shares Lessons from His First Job as a Teamster  EcommerceBytes.com   ...eBay’s CEO John Donahoe talks about his job after high school working for his friend's father's beer distribution company as a Teamster, which taught him two great leadership lessons…
Planned layoffs jumped in October on drug, financial firm cutbacks  Los Angeles Times   ...Planned layoffs by U.S. employers jumped 13.5% last month, led by cutbacks at pharmaceutical and financial services firms, according to a report Wednesday...
Planned treaties cause pain for citizens; pleasure for corporations (opinion)  Lebanon Daily News   ...If you don't know what the TPP and the TTIP are, you can be forgiven. The governments and corporations involved don't want you to know because these international agreements they are negotiating are that good for them and that bad for you...
South Carolina Ports Launch Clean Trucks Program  Truckinginfo   ...The South Carolina Ports Authority has announced a new Clean Truck Certification Program to take effect on Jan. 1, 2014 that would require trucks serving the container terminals to have engines manufactured in 1994 or later...
One by One, States Are Pushing Bans on Sick Leave Legislation  Economic Policy Institute   ...Nearly 40 million Americans—almost 40 percent of the private-sector workforce—lack the right to even a single day of paid sick leave. These employees commonly go to work sick, or leave sick children home alone, out of fear of dismissal...
California Wal-Mart workers strike, following stunning Florida victory  The Salon   ...West Coast Wal-Mart workers walked off the job as the union-backed campaign says Florida strikers won major changes...
Next Time You're Tempted To Give A Bad Tip, Consider This  Huffington Post   ...The federal minimum wage for tipped workers is only $2.13 per hour...
The Biggest, Baddest Prison Profiteer of Them All  Huffington Post   ..."CCA" has become a dirty word. Because profiting off mass incarceration is a dirty business. When private prison company Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) squanders taxpayer money and runs facilities rife with human rights abuses, it's dragging its own name through the mud...
The super-rich no longer need a middle class  AlterNet   ...They now inhabit a privatized economy and have left us at the mercy of the market...
Inside the Psyche of the 1% -- Many Actually Believe Their Ideology of Greed Makes for a Better World  AlterNet   ...If the 1% are to develop the same level of understanding of others that the 99% has, they will need to walk in their shoes...
US Tax Policy In One Chart: Rising Individual Income Taxes; Falling Corporate Income Taxes  Zero Hedge   ...Because those record offshore (tax-haven arbitraged) corporate cash balances will not grow themselves, obviously...
Apple discloses government data requests -- what little it can  Los Angeles Times   ...The company released a report Tuesday that provided some general information about requests for information it receives from governments. But seeking full disclosure is an effort in futility...
Euro Crisis Takes Major Toll On Life Satisfaction  Reuters   ...Ordinary people's satisfaction with life has plunged in the euro zone countries worst hit by the financial crisis as faith in their governments' ability to ease the strain has shrunk according to a recent study...
Consumer watchdog targets debt collectors  Los Angeles Times...   The federal government's consumer financial watchdog plans to crack down on the nation's 4,500 debt collectors with new rules to rein in the companies' aggressive tactics...
It’s Time To Stop Starving U.S. Investment  teamster.org   ...An analysis of infrastructure spending by the Financial Times shows U.S. public investment is at its lowest level since World War II. Public sector investment is now just 3.6 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, and austerity is hurting everything from building roads to investing in science and education...

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Today's Teamster News 10.31.13

Teamsters Hold First Meeting Of D.C. Taxi Operators Association  teamster.org   ...Hundreds of taxicab drivers in the nation’s capital attended the first meeting of the new Washington, D.C., Taxi Operators Association Tuesday in overwhelming support for a strong affiliation with the Teamsters as the city imposes major, costly industry changes affecting their livelihoods...
DC Cabbies to Be Represented by Teamsters  WUSA9 News   ...A big vote in Northeast DC has forever changed the political landscape for DC cab drivers. See the video...
DC Taxi Drivers Organize  DC Labor   ...DC taxi drivers chanted "We will win! We will win!" at yesterday's first meeting of the Washington DC Taxi Operators Association, which formalized its affiliation with Teamsters Local Union 922...
Teamsters members reject Wegmans contract  Democrat and Chronicle   ...For the second time during this round of contract talks, Wegmans' Rochester-based distribution and transportation employees have rejected the contract proposal that was agreed to by Wegmans and Teamsters Local 118...
Arbitrator rules on Teamsters Local 320 and Wadena County (Minnesota) contract issues  Wadena Pioneer Journal   ...Nearly 11 months after the county’s new labor agreements went into effect on Jan. 1, arbitrator Stephen F. Befort delivered his decisions on the unresolved issues between the county and its unit of 19 essential public safety employees represented by Teamsters Local 320...
City delays budget vote after Teamsters delay contract vote  ABC 57 News   ...The vote happens Tuesday and Wednesday and will affect about 250 city employees who are members of Teamsters Local 364...
YRC Worldwide, Teamsters Set to Meet in Dallas  Journal of Commerce   ...YRC Worldwide, fresh from a terminal network restructuring and change in leadership at $3.2 billion less-than-truckload carrier YRC Freight, will meet with the Teamsters union early next month to discuss the company’s future...
County, Teamster Union agree to 4-year contract Albany  Democrat-Herald   ...Linn County in Oregon has reached a four-year wage and benefits contract with Teamster Local Union No. 670, which represents about 42 of the county’s 600 employees...
Corporations Take, Take, Take While Workers Pay The Bill (opinion)  teamster.org   ...What do mega-corporations like communications giant Verizon and big pharma drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb have in common, besides their billions in earnings? They both paid an effective tax rate of zero percent over the past year...
ABF Update: Central Region Local Cartage Teamsters Overwhelmingly Decline To Authorize A Strike At ABF  teamster.org   ...In a vote with 77 percent turnout, a majority of the membership covered by the Central Region Local Cartage Supplement has overwhelmingly (70% to 30%) chosen not to authorize a strike at ABF...
Anheuser-Busch, Teamsters start contract talks  The Post-Standard   ...Negotiations will start next month on a new labor contract that could determine the future for the Anheuser-Busch InBev brewery near Baldwinsville, New York...
Is Funeral Home Chain SCI's Growth Coming at the Expense of Mourners?  Bloomberg   ...For traditional funerals, SCI charges $6,256 on average (excluding casket and cemetery plot), 42 percent more than independents...
Union-Made Halloween Treats  unionplus.org   ...When those little ghosts and goblins come collecting on Halloween, make sure you have a full supply of union-made-in-America treats for them like Jelly Belly's candy corn. Find out about other goodies that are made by union workers...
Today's College Grads Won't Be Able to Retire Until They're 73  Bethlehem Patch   ...Student loan debt likely will force today's college grads to work longer...
Stop The Social Security Stupidity: A Q&A With Bernie Sanders  Talking Points Memo   ...The Koch brothers, Pete Peterson and other billionaires are spending huge amounts of money trying to cut Social Security and other vitally important federal programs. As part of this campaign, an enormous amount of misinformation is floating around...
America’s new hunger crisis  MSNBC   ...“When 50 million people in the richest country on the planet are hungry, that’s a crisis...”
US budget deficit down to $680B, lowest in 5 years  Associated Press   ...For the first time in five years, the U.S. government has run a budget deficit below $1 trillion...
U.S. trade official pushes Congress to renew trade promotion authority  Reuters   ...The Obama administration's top trade official said on Tuesday that the United States is aiming to finalize a giant trade deal with 11 other Pacific Rim nations by the end of year, but that it needs Congress to approve a rule to speed up the talks...
Brazil protests: Sao Paulo bus station attacked  BBC News   ...Friday's protests began with a march through the city that lasted about three hours. Violence erupted when a section of the crowd broke off and attacked a bus terminal in the city centre, police said...
Census: More Ohioans living in poverty than since before the 'Great Recession'  Associated Press   ...A U.S. Census report shows there are more Ohioans living in poverty than before the Great Recession. The numbers show one in six Ohioans was living in poverty last year. The state's poverty rate increased from 13.1 percent in 2007 to 16.3 percent in 2012...
GOP GOVERNOR: 'There Seems To Be A War On The Poor' With Republicans In Washington  Business Insider   ...Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) criticized members of his party in Washington in an interview with The New York Times published Tuesday, saying there "seems to be a war on the poor."...
Lower middle-class workers get trampled  Indianapolis Star   ...Consumer confidence has plunged for lower middle-class Americans in recent years...
Alabama Blogger Arrested, Jailed For Writing About Former Governor’s Son  ThinkProgress   ...this sort of order is what is known as a prior restraint on First Amendment expression and is almost certainly unconstitutional...
Detroit Will be Democracy's Decisive Battle  Black Agenda Report   ...Detroit is the battleground chosen by Wall Street to crush the last vestiges of American democracy by creating “the template for direct corporate rule.”...

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Today's Teamster News 10.05.13

Wegmans, Teamsters to talk  Democrat & Chronicle   ...Following Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy’s plea for resolution, Wegmans Food Markets and Teamsters Local 118 representatives have agreed to return to negotiations October 11...
Sikorsky union rep prepares workers for furloughs  San Francisco Chronicle   ...Rocco Calo is angry, but even as head of Teamsters Local 1150 that represents employees at Sikorsky Aircraft, he cannot do anything to prevent the furlough of 2,000 workers from the expansive plant that manufactures helicopters for the U.S. military...
Labour dispute drags on at Richmond Ikea  Canadian Labour Reporter   ...There is no end in sight for the labour dispute between the Richmond, B.C., Ikea and its union, Teamsters Local 213. The two parties even disagree on what to call the dispute — the union refers to the past 70 days as a lockout while the company is calling it a strike...
The Loss of U.S. Pre-eminence (opinion)  New York Times   ...The United States won its global predominance in a short period … Now the groundwork has been laid for its decline with political polarization, a longstanding tax revolt and a well-orchestrated campaign to undermine the legitimacy of the federal government...
Government Close Down - Another Grand Betrayal in the Works?   The Real News   ...is the outcome here not that (Obama)  gives up on health care, but he gives another important concession somewhere else, and then everybody calls it a victory--Obama saved health care, but the Republicans actually get some other big cut ... in the social safety net…?
Washington’s Z-Burger Shuts Down Shutdown Special  Wall Street Journal   ...The chain Z-Burger, which has been offering free burgers to furloughed workers, said it has ended the  promotion, citing overwhelming demand in the first three days of the government shutdown. Peter Tabibian, Z-Burger’s owner, said the chain gave out 15,840 hamburgers during the promotion, the equivalent of more than $88,000 at retail prices...
"A Corporate Trojan Horse": Obama Pushes Secretive TPP Trade Pact, Would Rewrite Swath of U.S. Laws  Democracy Now   ...While the text of the treaty has been largely negotiated behind closed doors and, until June, kept secret from Congress, more than 600 corporate advisers reportedly have access to the measure, including employees of Halliburton and Monsanto...
Obama Cancels Trip to Asia Trade Summit as Elected, Labor and Business Leaders Detail TPP Trade Pact Problems  Public Citizen   ...President Obama has now announced that due to the government shutdown, he will not be attending the summit next week in Indonesia that his administration had (mis)identified as a deadline for concluding the long-lingering negotiations for the sprawling Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) "trade" pact...
Why are Nurses at Vanderbilt Medical Center Cleaning Bathrooms? Health care's Fight Between Labor and Capital  Portside   ...Hospital budget cuts became viscerally visible earlier this month when Vanderbilt Medical Center announced that nurses must now perform housekeeping duties - cleaning patients' rooms and bathrooms...
Adobe Hacked: Cyber-Thieves Accessed Credit Card Information Of Nearly 3 Million Customers   Associated Press   ...Adobe Systems Inc. said a cyber attack on its systems has exposed credit-card information of 2.9 million customers. The maker of Photoshop and other software said Thursday that the attacker accessed Adobe customer IDs and passwords on its systems...
CFPB Pledges To Enforce Consumer Protection Laws Over Mandatory Payroll Cards  MintPress News   ...Mandatory payroll cards force employees to consent to a bank fee structure as a condition of employment, ranging from $1.75 to $7. In other words, making the workers pay to be paid. And the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to put a stop to that type of abuse…
Michigan turns down idea of prison privatization  WIN 98.5 News   ...It’s hard to say yet what it could mean for the future of prisons in the state, but the Michigan Department of Management and Budget on Thursday declined to put prisoners in a privately run correctional facility after bids came in at nearly $6 million over the state's current cost...
Illinois Says Banks to Improve Loan-Modification Process  Bloomberg News   ...Bank of America Corp. and the four other biggest U.S. mortgage servicers will put in place new procedures to improve the process for borrowers to seek loan modifications, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said...
As Missouri Lt. Gov. digs in on Right to Work policy, unions mobilize to fight  PR News   ...With state lawmakers in Missouri back in session, the Show-Me state is once again front and center in the controversial Right to Work battle...
MBTA, union sue over arbitrator's pay award  Associated Press   ...Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority management and the union representing some workers have filed dueling lawsuits in a dispute over an arbitrator's award that would increase workers' salaries by an average of more than 10 percent...
Government Shutdown Reduces OSHA Inspection Force by More Than 90 Percent  Bloomberg News   ...The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration furloughed more than 90 percent of its inspectors as a result of the Oct. 1 shutdown of the federal government, leaving the agency with only enough personnel to respond to the most serious workplace emergencies...

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Today's Teamster News 10.03.13

NYC Teamsters begin campaign to create good commercial waste jobs  TeamsterNation   ...New York City Teamsters and their allies have high hopes for a campaign launched today to increase good jobs, recycling and justice in the commercial waste industry. New Yorkers are paying attention...
Teamsters at work after rejecting Wegmans contract  Democrat and Chronicle   ...Truck drivers, warehouse workers and other Wegmans Food Markets employees, who are members of Teamsters Local 118, were at work as scheduled Tuesday following a union vote Monday rejecting a company contract offer...
Northumberland County agrees to union raises  News-Item   ...Northumberland County commissioners approved Tuesday a collective bargaining agreement with court-appointed, non-professional employees that grants them at least a 3 percent raise next year. The workers are represented by Teamsters Local 764, based in Milton, Pennsylvania...
Rail Safety Report Shows Increase in Fatal Incidents in Fourth Quarter  BMWED ...A comparison of roadway worker fatality data over a span of 21 years (1986–1994 and 1997– 2010) indicates that the highest number of roadway worker incidents occur in the 4th Quarter...
How Less Than 5% Of The US Population Caused The Government To Shut Down  Business Insider   ...it's just stunning that such few people — a group slightly larger than the population of Illinois — can hold that much power...
Union calls for fed workers to ‘fight back’ against shutdown  Washington Post   ...A labor leader representing federal employees is exhorting them to “take to the streets” to protest a partial government shutdown that began Tuesday...
Which lawmakers will refuse their pay during the shutdown?  Washington Post   ...Hundreds of thousands of rank-and-file federal employees were forced out of the office Tuesday morning because of the start of a government shutdown and won't be paid over the course of the impasse. As of noon Wednesday, here is the tally of  lawmakers who have said that they plan to donate or refuse compensation earned over the course of the impasse...
Fixing exorbitant CEO pay: All is not lost  Fortune   ...Despite what has felt like relentless insanity, the prognosis for positive changes to executive pay looks better than it has for a decade...
NOT SHOCKED: Five States With the Worst Food Insecurity are “Right-to-Work” States  We Party Patriots   ...A recent USDA report provides details on our growing trend of food (in)security. In 7 million homes, a family member has skipped meals because money was tight. A look at the five states where food insecurity is a problem (North Carolina, Alabama, Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi) are also “Right-to-Work” states...
Independent Contractors – Keeping it Real  Construction Citizen   ...Real independent contractors are easy to identify. They are hired to perform a specific project, bring their own tools, have their own business cards, and send you an invoice when the work is done. If people are hired to perform ongoing work, told when to show up and what to do, those workers are not independent contractors...
The Cost of Crushing Dissent in New York City  Wall Street on Parade   ...Today, we have still not restored the Glass-Steagall Act, the largest Wall Street banks of 2008 are even larger and more dangerous today, and unprecedented levels of wealth and income inequality, enforced by the structure of Wall Street, is spreading economic misery to ever greater numbers of Americans...
GOP’s newest target: The postal service  Salon   ...The government itself wasn't enough. Led by Darrell Issa, they now want to go after your mail delivery...
Google Accused of Wiretapping in Gmail Scans  New York Times   ...Wiretapping is typically the stuff of spy dramas and shady criminal escapades. But now, web company giant Google must defend itself against accusations that it is illegally wiretapping in the course of gathering data about Internet users and showing them related ads...
Bill would require Michigan cities to buy American-made flags for veterans' grave sites  Detroit Free Press  ...A bill unanimously passed by the state Senate Wednesday would require Michigan cities to buy American-made flags and flag holders for veterans’ grave sites if those flags are competitively priced with foreign-made products...
New York to Sue Wells Fargo Over Mortgage Settlement  New York Times   ...Fielding complaints from borrowers struggling to save their homes, New York’s top prosecutor is preparing a lawsuit against Wells Fargo, accusing the bank, the nation’s largest home lender, of flouting the terms of a multibillion-dollar settlement aimed at stanching foreclosure abuses...
Poll: Majority in state support fully privatizing wine, spirit sales  Pittsburgh Tribune-Review   ...Millions of dollars in lobbying efforts by groups on all sides of the liquor privatization issue had little impact on the opinions of everyday Pennsylvanians, according to two groups that released a poll Tuesday...
An overdue trash overhaul (opinion)  New York Daily News   ...Cleaning up commercial collection would help Bloomberg burnish his environmental legacy...
NY Thruway Authority cuts more workers  Times Union   ...New York’s Thruway Authority last week quietly laid off about a half-dozen non-union employees. Saying it was a personnel matter, Thruway spokesman Dan Weiller declined to comment on the precise nature of the job cuts or the reason...
N.C. voting rights advocates applaud federal lawsuit  USA TODAY   ...Voting rights advocates applauded the U.S. Justice Department's move Monday to sue North Carolina for racial discrimination over its tough new voting rules while Republicans in the state called the allegation "baseless."...
Pennsylvania House nudged to implement online voter registration  NewsWorks   ...A bipartisan coalition is urging the state House to pass a proposal allowing online voter registration in Pennsylvania. The measure, which passed unanimously in the Senate earlier this year, is currently before a House committee...



















Monday, September 30, 2013

Today's Teamster News 09.30.13

Wegmans blames Teamsters for anti-Buffalo banner at Bills game  The Buffalo News   ...In addition to passing out union leaflets at the Bills game, the Teamsters were accused of using the airplane to fly over the stadium with a “Wegmans wants Buffalo to lose” banner...
JPMorgan’s Biggest Mistake  Bloomberg   ...the derivatives trades resulted in losses of $6.2 billion plus an additional $920 million in fines -- so far...
Elizabeth Warren Calls For Big Changes To Student Loans  Huffington Post   ...College graduates struggling to repay their student loans should have an easier time getting their debt eliminated if they go into bankruptcy, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Saturday...
Social Security Does Not Redistribute From Young to Old, It Is a Public Pension System  Center for Economic and Policy Research   ...If workers contributed the same amount to a privately managed pension fund and then collected an annuity in their retirement no one would call it a redistribution from young to old...
Half of British pilots admit to falling asleep in cockpit -survey  Reuters   ...According to the British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA), 56 percent of 500 commercial pilots admitted to being asleep while on the flight deck and, of those, nearly one in three said they had woken up to find their co-pilot also asleep...
Gasoline Prices down 35 cents per gallon year-over-year  Calculated Risk   ...Some of the year-over-year price decline is related to slightly lower Brent oil prices, but most of decline is because there were refinery and pipeline issues last year at this time...
Government Blurs the Lines Between Bad Guys and Average Americans  The Big Picture   ...If you’ve ever cared about privacy while using the Internet in public, you might be a terrorist. At least that’s the message from the FBI and Justice Department’s Communities Against Terrorism initiative...
TPP Protestors Scale Trade Building To Bring Attention to Secretive Deal  The Real News   ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership has nothing to do with trade or freedom, and ongoing demonstrations could encourage those on the inside to speak up...
Stuck: State of Working Ohio 2013  Policy Matters Ohio   ...While the national recovery is weak, Ohio’s is much worse...
UAW releases 2014 union-built vehicles list  UAW   ...The new editions to the list include Ford Motor Co.’s Fusion sedan, made for the first time at the Flat Rock (Mich.) Assembly Plant as a result of 2011 bargaining between the UAW and Ford...
Wisconsin leads nation in removing most people from Medicaid  The Cap Times   ...By a wide margin, Wisconsin would remove more low income people from Medicaid than any other state as part of a plan advanced by Gov. Scott Walker still awaiting federal approval...
Govt to Sue North Carolina Over New Voter Law  Associated Press   ...The Justice Department will sue the state of North Carolina for alleged racial discrimination over tough new voting rules, the latest effort by the Obama administration to fight back against a Supreme Court decision that struck down the most powerful part of the landmark Voting Rights Act and freed southern states from strict federal oversight of their elections...
Rising foreclosures hurt Island as nation recovers  Newsday   ...New foreclosure cases on Long Island are spiking, even as the mortgage crisis fades in the rest of the United States...

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Teamsters fight Wegmans' pension grab

Wegmans Teamsters at a recent informational picket.
For more than 15 years, Wegmans grocery stores have been ranked as one of the best places to work in America.

Until now.

Although the chain made over $6.6 billion in sales last year, it is trying to cut costs on the backs of workers.

Rochester, N.Y., stores are threatening to take away secure retirement plans for Teamsters Local 118 delivery and warehouse workers by replacing it with a Wegmans 401(k) plan.

Other Wegmans workers already on the plan are urging members to stay away. Said Kevin McIntosh, Teamsters Local 118 business agent: 
They’re telling us to keep fighting because they know they can’t survive on the company’s plan.
Having a good company retirement plan is more important now than ever before.  As company pension plans have disappeared, almost half of American households cannot afford to set aside any money for their retirement.

A better outcome than that is not likely if Teamsters are switched to Wegmans 401(k) plan.

Not only is the company trying to take away the hope of a good retirement for workers, but management retaliated against members who spoke out against the switch.

On behalf of members at Wegmans, Local 118 filed for an unfair labor practice charge on Monday and is practicing picketing outside company headquarters. Said McIntosh:
We want to send a strong message to Wegmans that our members are committed to protecting quality jobs in our community and will not tolerate threats and intimidation on the part of the company. We will not stand by while Wegmans attempts to undercut the standards our members have worked hard to build for decades.
If you think workers deserve a better future, like them on their Facebook page and send a message of support to our brothers and sisters at Wegmans.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Today's Teamster News 09.24.13

Warehouse Workers in Georgia Join Teamsters Local 528  teamster.org   ...On September 11, warehouse workers at Americold in McDonough, Georgia voted to become Teamsters...
Teamsters at Darigold Leaflet Walmart & Sam's Club Shoppers at 10 Locations  Teamsters Local 117 ...Teamster production workers and lab technicians, employed by Darigold, distributed leaflets at ten Walmart and Sam’s Club locations throughout the day to inform consumers about the company’s multiple violations of federal labor law and the growing threat of a potential lockout or strike...
Wegmans Employees Disgruntled Over Retirement Payments  Rochester Homepage   ...Dozens of people were outside Wegmans' company officers Friday practicing picketing over disagreements with Wegmans on retirement payments and wages. Current warehouse and driver employees are represented through the Teamsters Union...
The Average American Family Pays $6,000 a Year in Subsidies to Big Business  AlterNet   ...That's more than an insult—it's an attack...
White House rebuffed union pleas to ditch Walmart  Salon   ...Labor leader says allies in the Administration tried to persuade First Lady to dump retail giant -- but were denied...
Bank of America goes to trial over U.S. mortgage fraud charges  Reuters   ...Bank of America Corp heads to trial this week over allegations its Countrywide unit approved deficient home loans in a process called "Hustle," defrauding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the U.S. government enterprises that underwrite mortgages...
One Big Trader Lost Millions Betting on Romney, Study Finds  Washington Wire   ...A new academic paper digging into presidential betting in the final weeks of the 2012 election finds that a single trader lost between $4 million and $7 million placing a flurry of Intrade bets on Mitt Romney—perhaps to make the Republican nominee’s chance of victory appear brighter...
Child Labor Dropped By One-Third Over The Past Decade, But UN Officials Urge Faster Progress  Associated Press   ...The number of children doing hazardous work dropped by half to 85 million from 2000 to 2012, but the rate of progress isn't fast enough to meet the goal of having no child laborers by 2016...
Suicides Spiked One Year After Great Recession: Study  Huffington Post   ...The Great Recession resulted in 5,000 additional suicides worldwide in 2009, according to a recent study -- the first to look at suicide trends globally in the wake of the crisis...
At 77, He Prepares Burgers Earning in Week His Former Hourly Wage  Bloomberg News   ...At the height of his corporate career, Tom Palome was pulling in a salary in the low six-figures and flying first class on business trips to Europe. Today, he juggles two part-time jobs: one as a $10-an-hour food demonstrator, the other flipping burgers…
Why are 47 million Americans on food stamps?  Washington Post   ...There's a fairly basic question underlying the current food-stamp debate in Congress. Why has the program grown so rapidly over the past few years — to the point where 47 million people, one-sixth of the country, now receive food stamps?...
Buy a House, Make Your Payments, Then Discover You've Been Foreclosed On Without Your Knowledge  AlterNet   ...This should never happen, but it did, thanks to the sordid mortgage servicing industry...
Chiquita Asks Court To Block Suits Blaming Banana Giant For Violent Deaths  Associated Press   ...Faced with potentially billions of dollars in legal liability, Chiquita Brands is asking a federal appeals court to block lawsuits filed against it in the U.S. by thousands of Colombians whose relatives were killed in that country's bloody, decades-long civil war...
Ag-gag resurfaces, threatens whistleblowers  Fort Wayne Journal Gazette   ...Opponents of ag-gag legislation reasonably fear that it obstructs First Amendment rights. Such legislation also protects illegal and unethical practices while punishing whistleblowers...
Major police union will sit out race for New Jersey governor  Star-Ledger   ...In a blow to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Barbara Buono, one of New Jersey’s two largest police unions has decided to sit out the election for governor...
Florida offers to cut loan balances for 'underwater' homeowners  Orlando Sentinel   ...Florida homeowners with "underwater" mortgages may now qualify to have as much as $50,000 chopped from their loan balance under a new program announced Friday by the state...
Amazon to collect 6 pct sales tax in WV  Associated Press   ...Amazon will start collecting a 6 percent sales tax on purchases shipped to West Virginia starting Oct. 1...
BART prepares for another possible worker strike  Associated Press   ...As another potential strike looms, Bay Area Rapid Transit officials are preparing other ways to get commuters to work, including possibly allowing managers to drive a limited number of trains...