Walker wants to take anti-worker platform nationwide

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker declared a war on workers yesterday. But this time, he's going after all of America instead.

Walker, currently flailing in his attempt to capture the Republican presidential nomination, released a plan that would roll back worker rights and cut pay all for the benefit of massive corporations who could then pay less and make more. Instead of trying to address income inequality, the Wisconsin union buster is doubling down on it.

The Washington Post summarizes Walker's anti-worker platform:

On the long list of changes Walker wants to make: enact national right-to-work legislation, dissolve federal unions and repeal President Obama's labor regulations. Walker would work with Congress to enact many of these changes, "or when appropriate, use the power of the executive to make commonsense changes to some of the workplace rules set by Washington," according to an advance copy of an eight-page proposal the campaign shared with reporters.

This doesn't come as a surprise. After all, Walker made his name by embracing a platform pushed by the billionaire industrialist Koch Brothers and the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council in Wisconsin to impose so-called RTW at the expense of everyday workers. So why not spread it nationwide?

Of course, the Teamsters have challenged all efforts to implement no-rights-at-work across the country. General President Jim Hoffa, in fact, just yesterday challenged an effort to override Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of the anti-worker legislation in that state. Although the piece speaks about that RTW bill specifically, change "Missouri" to "America" and the concerns are just as valid:

If the Legislature were to override Gov. Nixon's veto, it would be harder for workers to protect their wages and job security and their voice at the workplace would be silenced. Meanwhile, big business would get even more power at a time when CEO pay has grown to 373 times that of the average worker. 

This effort needs to be called out for what it is -- a corporate-fueled attack on everyday people who are just trying to earn a living to support their families. It's part of a national effort being pushed by the same big companies and business executives who for years have boosted their profits by sending American jobs overseas. These out-of-state special interests are targeting Missouri to lower wages and cut benefits for workers so they can increase their profits even more.

Luckily for workers, it seems Walker is his own worst enemy in his run for the White House. At this point, it is unlikely he will get a chance to implement his plans himself. But workers shouldn't be naive. Other anti-worker politicians could grab hold of the mantle and punish everyday Americans themselves.

RTW is a ruse. It lowers pay and benefits. That's why workers need be aware of the issues and stay involved in the process. That way, workers win. Teamster Strong, America Stronger!

Today's Teamster News 08.17.15

Teamsters
SunTran Strike: Teamsters Say Their Offer Rejected; SunTran Still Says, “Let’s Talk.”  KQTH   ...The SunTran strike has been dragging on for nine days now. Late Friday afternoon, the Teamsters said SunTran rejected another offer the union proposed late Thursday, though SunTran says it's still interested in talking more about the proposal...
Teamsters Union Approves Contract With County  Laconia Daily Sun   ...The contract was approved by a 2-1 vote of the County Commissioners last week, the commissioners announced Wednesday. This week the pact was approved by a majority vote of union membership. The contract will now go the Belknap County Convention for approval of the cost items...
Anti-Union Campaign In Full Swing At Google Express  San Francisco Chronicle   ...While the rest of the on-demand economy struggles to come to terms with the fallout from start-ups' reliance on classifying employees as independent contractors, Google Express — which does not use independent contractors but instead subcontracts its workforce through a staffing agency — is facing labor troubles of its own. And the battle is heating up...

Global Labor & Trade
Germany's Merkel To Face Down Party Rebels In Greek Bailout Vote  Huffington Post   ...In a major test of her authority, Chancellor Angela Merkel will ask skeptical German lawmakers to back an 86 billion euro ($95.5 billion) bailout for Greece on Wednesday despite uncertainty over whether the IMF will play a role in the rescue...

State & Living Wage Battles
Ulster County Considers Raising Minimum Wage To $15 An Hour For Its Employees  Daily Freeman   ...Ulster County Legislature Chairman John Parete has proposed establishing a $15-an-hour minimum wage for county employees. “If we’re going to try to save the world, we’ve got to start leading from right here,” said Parete, D-Boiceville. “It might be an awful good signal to the world that we’re progressive and we care about the people that are servicing us and servicing our county...
Researchers: Voter ID Confusion May Have Turned An Election  Jacksonville Daily Progress   ...Mark Jones, a Rice University political scientist, and other researchers talked to 400 registered voters who didn't participate in the election in District 23, which experts said was the only congressional district in the state with competitive candidates from both major parties. The district sprawls the Trans-Pecos region from San Antonio to El Paso County. Confusion over ID rules potentially discouraged up to 9 percent of voters from casting ballots, the researchers found. “When you look at the people who were confused, those voters overwhelmingly favored Pete Gallego,” Jones said. “If they hadn’t been confused, it’s quite possible that Pete Gallego would have won.”...
Paid Sick Leave Vote Put On Hold  Spokane Spokesman-Review   ...City Council President Ben Stuckart said some council members had hoped to vote later this month on a plan that would require businesses to offer their workers one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. That amounts to three days a year for full-time workers...
Los Angeles Is Facing A Housing Affordability Crisis  BuzzFeed   ...Los Angeles appears to be facing a growing crisis after two new reports showed that it has the least affordable housing in the U.S., stagnant wages, and a market that favors a “wealthy minority.”...
ATI Locks Out Union Workers  Pittsburgh Post Gazette   ...On Friday, union officials said non-essential union workers were told to go home and that they would be paid through today. Mr. Troyan, 59, who works at a furnace at the company’s new, $1.2 billion Brackenridge mill, said he was told to report for his shift, which started at 7 p.m. Friday and ends at 7 a.m. today...

U.S. Labor
How America's Global Financial System Blocks Development  Huffington Post   ...Just a few years ago, Ben Bernanke, then the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, talked about a global savings glut. And yet investment projects with high social returns were being starved of funds. That remains true today. The problem, then as now, is that the world's financial markets, meant to intermediate efficiently between savings and investment opportunities, instead misallocate capital and create risk...
FAA Still Working To Fix Flight Delays After Computer Outage  BuzzFeed   ...The Federal Aviation Administration on Sunday said it was still working to resume normal air traffic operations after flights along the East Coast were disrupted Saturday because of a computer problem, delaying some flights in the Washington, D.C. area for hours...
Bankruptcy Loses Its Stigma - For Wealthy Corporations  Philadelphia Inquirer   ...The finance industry urged lawmakers to ignore factors such as overly easy and tricky credit or lagging middle-class incomes. It achieved its key goal - making it harder and costlier for consumers to go to court to escape debt - largely by arguing that bankruptcy was booming because it had "lost its stigma."...
Walmart's Use Of Tax Havens Hurts Small Businesses  Cap Times   ...ATF says Walmart may have skirted U.S. securities law by not properly reporting its tax-haven subsidiaries. But even if hiding them runs afoul of the law, using tax havens to avoid U.S. taxes is perfectly legal. Yet every time a big corporation uses accounting schemes to avoid paying its full measure of taxes — the typical use of tax havens — small businesses and working families pay the price, either in higher taxes or deteriorating public services...
Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas In A Brutal Workplace  New York Times   ...Even as the company tests delivery by drone and ways to restock toilet paper at the push of a bathroom button, it is conducting a little-known experiment in how far it can push white-collar workers, redrawing the boundaries of what is acceptable. The company, founded and still run by Jeff Bezos, rejects many of the popular management bromides that other corporations at least pay lip service to and has instead designed what many workers call an intricate machine propelling them to achieve Mr. Bezos’ ever-expanding ambitions...

Social Justice & Other News
Julian Bond, Former N.A.A.C.P. Chairman And Civil Rights Leader, Dies At 75  New York Times   ...Julian Bond, a former chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a charismatic figure of the 1960s civil rights movement, a lightning rod of the anti-Vietnam War campaign and a lifelong champion of equal rights for minorities, died on Saturday night, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. He was 75...
Exclusion Of Blacks From Juries Raises Renewed Scrutiny  New York Times   ...Here are some reasons prosecutors have offered for excluding blacks from juries: They were young or old, single or divorced, religious or not, failed to make eye contact, lived in a poor part of town, had served in the military, had a hyphenated last name, displayed bad posture, were sullen, disrespectful or talkative, had long hair, wore a beard...
David Denson Becomes First Openly Gay Player On MLB-Affiliated Team  Huffington Post   ..."Talking with my teammates, they gave me the confidence I needed, coming out to them," Denson told the newspaper. "They said, "You're still our teammate. You're still our brother. We kind of had an idea, but your sexuality has nothing to do with your ability. You're still a ballplayer at the end of the day. We don't treat you any different. We've got your back.'...
Black Lives Matter Joins A Long Line Of Protest Movements That Have Shifted Public Opinion — Most Recently, Occupy Wall Street  Salon.com   ...By introducing the phrase “black lives matters” into our culture – primarily through the use of social media but also by engaging in protest and civil disobedience – BLM has shifted public opinion. A new Pew Research Center poll discovered that the number of Americans who believe that changes are needed to give African-Americans equal rights has swelled from 46 percent to 59 percent just in the past year. Among white Americans, the number has increased from 39 percent to 53 percent. Among Republicans, it spiked from 27 percent to 42 percent...
NC House Passes Bill That Regulates Drone Usage  WNCN   ...As drones become more popular across the nation, North Carolina lawmakers are working to create regulations for the technology. The State House passed Senate Bill 446 this week that develops guidelines for operating drones. The bill now moves on to the Senate...
FAA Considering New Drone Registration Rules  CBS News   ...The Department of Transportation is reviewing whether the FAA has the authority to require drones be registered at their point of sale, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx told CBS News on Friday...
When Public Servants Refuse To Serve The Public  The Atlantic   ...Is it possible to agree on what religious freedom is not? It’s not a right to wear a Marine uniform but refuse to fight. It’s not a right to be a county clerk and decide which citizens you will serve and which you won’t. Religious “accommodation” doesn’t mean what Liberty Counsel thinks it means. If a person can perform the duties of a job with some adjustment for religious belief, that’s an accommodation. If they’re not willing to do the job, they have to leave. That’s not just a requirement of law; honor requires it as well...
Lawyers: Immigrant Family Detention Still Lengthy And Unsafe  ABC News   ...A group of immigrant rights lawyers say that detention of women and children caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally is lengthy and unsafe, challenging the government's claims that immigrant families are held only briefly and that their detention doesn't violate a longstanding ban...

Today's Teamster News 08.11.15

Teamsters
Teamsters, Bauer's Drivers Rally For Labor Harmony in San Francisco  Teamster.org   ...Teamsters and drivers for Bauer’s Intelligent Transportation held an action this morning in San Francisco to call on the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) to adopt a resolution ensuring labor harmony...
Tech-Shuttle Company Is Accused Of Thwarting Efforts To Unionize Its Drivers  Mother Jones   ..."The drivers need and deserve better wages, better benefits, and more respect," says Doug Bloch, the political director for the Northern California chapter of the Teamsters, which is holding a protest in San Francisco's Mission District today to call attention to Bauer's alleged union-busting tactics. "What Bauer's did is an insult to these workers."...

Global Labor & Trade
Japan Anxious At Lull, U.S. 'Giving Up', In Pan-Pacific Trade Talks  Reuters   ...Japan has expressed concern about a loss of momentum in talks on a pan-Pacific trade pact after participants failed to agree to meet again this month to try to clinch a deal that would cover 40 percent of the global economy...
China Devalues Yuan After Poor Economic Data  Huffington Post   ...China devalued its currency on Tuesday after a run of poor economic data, a move it billed as a free-market reform but which some suspect could be the beginning of a longer-term slide in the exchange rate...
After Marathon Talks, Greece And International Lenders Clinch Multi-Billion Euro Bailout Deal  Huffington Post   ...Greece and its international lenders reached a multi-billion euro bailout agreement on Tuesday after talking through the night, officials said, potentially saving the country from financial ruin...
Bounty On Its Head: Wikileaks Raising €100K Reward For Secret Text Of TTIP  Common Dreams   ...The full text of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (TTIP) now has a bounty on its head. Launched publicly on Tuesday, the media outlet Wikileaks announced its creation of a crowd-sourcing effort that aims to raise a €100,000 reward for the full text of the the TTIP, the corporate-friendly trade pact currently being negotiated in secret by the United States and member countries of the European Union...
Despite Majority Opposition, Japan About To Hit 'Go' On Nuclear Restart  Common Dreams   ...Despite widespread public opposition and lingering safety concerns, Japan on Tuesday will switch on a nuclear reactor for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster...
Hundreds Of Peace Corps Vets Demand US Stop Funding Ethnic Cleansing  Common Dreams   ...Over 500 former Peace Corps volunteers are calling on the U.S. government to withhold military aid and stop funding the Dominican Republic's ethnic cleansing of people of Haitian descent, adding theirs to the cacophony of voices—from Pope Francis to United Nations experts to thousands marching in Port-au-Prince—speaking out against the mass-scale human rights violations...

State & Living Wage Battles
Daily Oil Trains Could Threaten Lives In The Bay Area  San Francisco Chronicle   ...If oil giant Phillips 66 has its way, an oil train disaster and increased air pollution may be coming to a Bay Area town near you. Phillips 66 is proposing an oil transport station to refine Canadian tars sands in San Luis Obispo. If the project is approved by the San Luis Obispo planning commission and board of supervisors, Phillips 66 will have a contract for 500 oil train trips a year that could go right down the spine of the Bay Area...
Wis. Residents Upset About Sand, Oil Train Delays  Winona Daily News   ...Neighbors living near railroad tracks in Wisconsin are becoming increasingly concerned about long train blockages since an increase in sand and oil shipments have caused them to grow into a frequent and dangerous disruption...
Florida Lawmakers Pushing For Higher Minimum Wage  WFSU   ...As workers across the country push for higher minimum wage, two Florida lawmakers are joining the fight. They’ve filed a bill that would raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour. But earning a living wage is about more than a person’s hourly pay...
Study Reveals The True Scope Of Voter Disenfranchisement In Texas  Think Progress   ...A Texas law, which closely resembles similar laws erecting obstacles to the franchise in other states, does far more to keep voters from casting a ballot than previously thought, according to a study conducted by researchers at Rice University and the University of Houston...
Silicon Valley’s Skyrocketing Housing Costs Shut Teachers Out  Alternet   ...Skyrocketing housing prices in Silicon Valley, the red-hot center of tech entrepreneurship and one of the most highly educated enclaves in the world, are making it hard for teachers to call the area home...
Election Rights Advocates Allege New Voter ID Violations In Ohio  WLWT   ...The advocates say the laws allow absentee ballots to be rejected for mistakes such as the wrong birth month even though the voter supplied the correction information when requesting the ballot...

U.S. Labor
Unpredictable Work Hours, Chaotic Life  New York Times   ...The tyranny of erratic work schedules is obvious to employees who don’t know what their schedules will be tomorrow or have to call in to see if there is work. And the effects have been well documented in articles and oral histories. Increasingly, the anecdotal evidence is being confirmed by research...

Social Justice & Other News
Huffington Post, Washington Post Reporters Charged For Doing Journalism In Ferguson  Huffington Post   ...Reporters from The Huffington Post and Washington Post have been charged with trespassing and interfering with a police officer’s performance, a chilling setback for press freedom coming nearly a year after their arrests in Ferguson, Missouri...
Jerry Brown Nixes 'Alien' From California Labor Law  Huffington Post   ...California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed legislation Monday removing the word "alien" in reference to undocumented immigrants from the state's labor code. The measure, which will take effect Jan. 1, seeks to modernize the language used in California state law. Brown signed the legislation, SB 432, along with two other bills updating immigration policy on Monday...
Twitter Activists Slam St. Louis County Officials For Ferguson Response With #WhichEmergency Hashtag  Salon.com   ...Shortly after St. Louis County officials declared a state of emergency last night in response to protesters marking the anniversary of the death of Michael Brown, activists on Twitter did something odd, agreeing with county officials and tweeting that there is, in fact, a state of emergency in St. Louis County — just not the one the officials had declared...
Here's How Much Water Golf Courses, Ski Resorts, And Pools Are Using In California  Mother Jones   ...Of the thirsty nonagricultural businesses, golf takes the lead: The average Palm Springs golf course uses the same amount of water in one day that a family of four does in five years. The 123 golf courses in the Palm Springs area use nearly a quarter of the region's groundwater...
Water Rationing In Puerto Rico Hits The Poor, Leaves Resorts Untouched  Think Progress   ...As the commonwealth’s reservoirs drop to their lowest levels in decades, the government has declared a state of emergency, and implemented strict rationing. Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans now have had tap water only every third day, and that tightened this past weekend, giving families water only two days a week...
Heavily-Armed Oath Keepers Showed Up To Ferguson Last Night  Mother Jones   ...As demonstrators gathered in Ferguson to continue commemorating the one year anniversary of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown on Monday, five heavily-armed men belonging to a vigilante group called the Oath Keepers were spotted patrolling the streets. According to reports, the Oath Keepers said they were on the scene to provide voluntary protection to a journalist working for the site InfoWars, the conspiracy mill run by noted lunatic Alex Jones...
Racialized Poverty In America Has Nearly Doubled In 21st Century  Common Dreams   ...Discriminatory housing, zoning, and other policy choices are driving the dramatic rise of racialized poverty and segregation across the United States, with the number of people residing in low-income "ghettos, barrios, and slums" nearly doubling in the 21st century alone, a new report finds...

Some in Congress set sights on union movement

Anti-union lawmakers are at it again. Not satisfied with ever-growing income inequality in the U.S. and huge corporate profits, several members of Congress are looking to further squeeze hardworking Americans by making it harder to organize and easier to shut unions down.

The Hill describes the effort as a retread of previous attempts to curtail union activity, including the ability to make political donations:

The bill is the latest shot fired in the bitter battle between the Obama administration and Republicans over labor policy. Hatch introduced the legislation in 2012, but to little avail. With Republicans now in control of the Senate, he's hoping for more success this time around.

It boggles the mind what these lawmakers are trying to do with such efforts. They always start by saying they're not against unions, but such efforts would gut them by making them poor and powerless, thus rendering them obsolete. Of course, that is the real plan behind such legislation.

Need proof of what the job market looks like when union membership is driven down? Head south to America's Sunbelt, and you will find a virulent strain of anti-unionism led by state and local leaders even in the wake of falling wages. Companies may have relocated there, but there not driving up income, only their own profits.

Unfortunately, some in the Midwest have bought into the big business hype, as The American Prospect outlines:

In the last three years, the Republican governors and legislatures of such onetime union bastions as Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin have joined the South in enacting “right to work” laws intended to reduce union membership. Since these laws cover only private-sector unions, and thus have no effect on the labor costs of government employees, the Republicans’ initial motivation was almost entirely political: Diminishing unions weakened institutions that generally campaigned for Democrats. But in recent months, bills to lower wages for construction workers on public projects have been moving through the legislatures in those three states, and the Michigan legislature has passed a bill forbidding cities from setting their own minimum-wage standards—all measures designed to hit workers’ pocketbooks. Moreover, laws designed to depress minority, millennial, and Democratic voting by requiring voters to present particular kinds of photo identification have been enacted not only by eight of the eleven once-Confederate states, but by Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin as well. Like the pre-1861 slaveholding elites, today’s Republicans appear increasingly dedicated to Southernizing the North.

Workers and elected officials shouldn't be fooled by these efforts. RTW and this latest congressional effort are frauds. They drive down wages for everyday Americans. Union jobs pay $200 more a week on average. When unions are strong, America is stronger.

Today's Teamster News 08.07.14

Teamster News
Unions No Enemy To Achievement  Worcester Telegram and Gazette   ...Last month, teachers at the Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School in Marlboro voted to join the Teamsters, and in so doing picked the scab of a festering lie — that unions are the enemy of a competitive American business climate...
GET Officials Summoned To City Council Meeting  Bakersfield Californian   ...Tuesday, GET issued a news release spelling out for the first time its weeks-old bargaining position with Teamsters Local 517, the union representing the more than 250 bus drivers and mechanics who walked off the job July 15...
Tentative agreement reached between Sun Tran, Teamsters  Tucson Business   ...Sun Tran officials and representatives of Teamsters Local 104 have announced a tentative agreement on a new contract and assured normal bus service through at least tomorrow...
Teamsters Support Rep. Dan Maffei  Teamsters Locals 294 and 317   ..."Local Teamster Unions 294 and 317 proudly support Rep. Dan Maffei because he is a proven leader for the hardworking men and women of Central New York and someone who has worked tirelessly on efforts to strengthen the middle and grow the economy...
Trade
Trade Gap Shrinks To Five-Month Low As U.S. Imports Drop  Bloomberg News   ...The gap shrank 7 percent to $41.5 billion, the smallest since January, from May’s $44.7 billion, Commerce Department figures showed today...
State Battles
Thousands Attend Mountain Moral Monday In Asheville  USA Today   ...Barber said lawmakers are hurting schools and children by not adequately funding education. They have taken away rights through sweeping restrictions on how people vote, he said. They have raised taxes on working people and cut taxes for the rich and corporations, he said...
Map: Where's Scott Walker?  The Cap Times   ...Since November 2012, the governor has been traveling the country — most recently to Colorado — looking a lot like a 2016 presidential candidate...
Just how accurate are Wisconsin's vote counting machines?  Daily Isthmus   ..."You don't need to understand the intricacies of computer security to understand that if computers managed by the likes of Target and the Federal Reserve Bank can be hacked, computers managed by my municipality or county can be hacked," she says...
Union-Backed City Council Members Clear The Way For Referendum On $12.25 Minimum Wage  Daily Signal   ...Last week, the council voted, 5-3, against a moderate proposal to raise the minimum wage over time and to exempt small businesses in the early stages so they could adjust. The council did so to clear the way for a ballot measure to put before the voters in November that would raise the wage for all businesses to $12.25 beginning in March...
War On Workers
How the Decline of Labor Unions Led to Stagnant Wages  Motley Fool   ...From the years 2000 to 2012, college graduates saw a rise in pay of only 1% . For those with a high school diploma or only a smattering of college, wages actually fell during that time span...
Guitar Center Accused Of Unfair Labor Practices  Huffington Post   ...More than a year after its initial election victory at a Guitar Center store, the union representing the chain's first unionized employees is accusing the retailer of bargaining in "bad faith" and trying to purge the union...
Minn. Restaurant Charging Customers Minimum Wage Fee  CBS News   ...People eating at a Stillwater restaurant Tuesday noticed a new fee added to their bill. Owners of the Oasis Cafe are charging a 35 cent minimum wage fee. They say it’s to offset the cost of an increased minimum wage for tipped employees...
A comprehensive investigation of voter impersonation finds 31 credible incidents out of one billion ballots cast  Washington Post   ...ID laws are not aimed at the fraud you’ll actually hear about. Most current ID laws (Wisconsin is a rare exception) aren’t designed to stop fraud with absentee ballots (indeed, laws requiring ID at the polls push more people into the absentee system, where there are plenty of real dangers). Or vote buying. Or coercion. Or fake registration forms. Or voting from the wrong address. Or ballot box stuffing by officials in on the scam. In the 243-page document that Mississippi State Sen. Chris McDaniel filed on Monday with evidence of allegedly illegal votes in the Mississippi Republican primary, there were no allegations of the kind of fraud that ID can stop...
Part-time workers find full-time jobs elusive  McClatchy   ...The number of unemployed people is 24 percent higher now than it was in December 2007 when the recession began. But the number of people like Alexander _ known as involuntary part-time workers _ is 66 percent higher, more than double what it was back then...
The 1% May Be Richer Than You Think, Research Shows  Bloomberg   ...The 1 percent is literally rich beyond measure, depriving nations of billions in tax revenue and obscuring shifts in global inequality...
AP Source: BofA Nears $16-$17B Settlement With US  Associated Press   ...Bank of America is nearing a $16 billion to $17 billion settlement to resolve an investigation into its role in the sale of mortgage-backed securities before the 2008 financial crisis...
New Statistics: Pregnancy Discrimination Claims Hit Low-Wage Workers Hardest  Washington Post   ...pregnancy discrimination cases show some of the most overt, if unconscious, discrimination of any cases they litigate. Now, new data released by the EEOC show that that discrimination hits virtually every industry and every geographic area of the country...
Highway 101 Worker Killed In Redwood City When Driver Veers Off Road  CBS News   ...A highway road worker was killed Tuesday after a car ran off of Highway 101 in Redwood City and into a crew worksite...
Miscellaneous
Subpoena Could Drag The NFL Into Cheerleader Wage-Theft Cases  Bloomberg Businessweek   ...Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner under scrutiny for his response to domestic violence allegations against a running back, now faces a further potential headache: a subpoena seeking to depose him on the league’s role in cheerleaders’ pay (or lack thereof)...
New Post-Snowden Leaks Reveal Secret Details Of U.S. Terrorist Watch List  Time Magazine   ...The published documents describe government efforts using the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE), a database used by federal state and local law-enforcement agencies to identify and track known or suspected terrorist suspects. The database has been subject to public debate and federal litigation, because of the secretive process that determines inclusion on this list...

Today's Teamster News 07.17.14

Teamster News
Horse and carriage drivers rally at City Hall, drop off 40,000 signatures supporting the industry  New York Daily News   ...Three months after the Daily News kicked off its campaign to stop de Blasio's proposed ban on the horse-drawn carriages, over 100 supporters rallied on de Blasio's door step to drop off five bags of signed petitions supporting the industry...
Hoffa: Sufficient Rest Key To Truck Driver Safety  IBT   ...The Teamsters Union today called for a renewed commitment by Congress to protect the driving public by keeping current hours of service rules in place to help prevent tragedies that are the result of driver fatigue...
Teamsters Ratify New Pipeline Agreement  IBT   ...An overwhelming majority of Teamster local unions that represent pipeline construction workers in the United States voted in favor of a new three-year contract, the Teamsters Union announced today. The contract covers about 4,000 Teamsters...
Teamsters Submit Comments On FAA Requirements For Drug Testing At Foreign Repair Stations  IBT   ...The Teamsters Aviation Mechanics Coalition (TAMC) called for the implementation of a single standard of drug testing for airline mechanics in its comments submitted today to the FAA on its proposed rulemaking, (Docket No. FAA-2012-1058), for required drug testing at foreign repair stations...
Funeral Giant SCI Continues Mistreatment Of Chicago-Area Workers  IBT   ...Funeral giant Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) is once again mistreating its Chicago-area workers by proposing draconian, regressive changes while employing delay tactics and refusing to give Teamsters Local 727 a last, best and final offer for its membership to vote...
Oxford County Deputies Protest 'Low' Wages  Oxford Hills Sun Journal   ...Deputies from the Oxford County Sheriff's Office held a protest Tuesday morning to highlight their ongoing labor dispute with the county. Around 10 deputies and members of Teamsters Local 340 marched in front of the Oxford County Courthouse on Western Avenue to bring attention to the ongoing battle to raise their wages...
Trade
The TPP and Civil War  Counterpunch   ...While the poor, and what remains of the middle and the working classes, suffer defeat after defeat, the wealthy are hammering out yet another “free trade agreement.”...
To End Child Labor, Washington Must Press Companies to Act (opinion)  New York Times   ...Regulation and collective bargaining by independent unions free from political repression are the most important means to reduce child labor and other abuses in developing countries. Unfortunately the U.S. government has not put its enormous influence on the side of enforceable labor rights in the commercial agreements that it negotiates, fighting instead for the rights of patented drug companies and other corporations to exploit global monopolies. These priorities must be changed...
State Battles
Colorado Attorney General Files “Massive” Lawsuit Against Foreclosure Mills, Paving Way for Suits in Other States  naked capitalism   ...The Colorado case filed on Tuesday (embedded below) gives a detailed account of how the two largest foreclosure law firms in the state colluded to set prices on various services well above permissible levels, garnering as much as $97 million in ill-gotten gains since 2006...
Brownback Tax Cuts That Ravaged Surplus Hinder Re-Election Bid  Bloomerg   ...A policy that he promised would create an economic juggernaut produced a sinkhole. A projected $27 million surplus in fiscal 2015 is all that remains of $700 million two years ago, according to budget analysts. Job growth didn’t materialize, Moody’s Investors Service cut the state’s debt rating, former Republican Party chairwoman Rochelle Chronister called Brownback’s plan “ruinous” and “crazy” and 104 members of the party yesterday endorsed his Democratic opponent...
No outsourcing after taking WEDC money (opinion)  Racine Journal Times   ... at least two companies that received financial awards from the WEDC later outsourced jobs to foreign countries, with one of those companies receiving a second WEDC award after the fact...
War On Workers
US Port Strike Threat Highlights Supply Chain Risk  naked capitalism   ...Fears of a strike or lockout at the west coast ports that handle more than 40 per cent of all container imports to the US are disrupting businesses’ supply chains, as shippers anticipating a stoppage divert cargo to Canadian ports...
A Rare Win For The Unions? Staples Abandons Postal Service Trial  Wall Street Journal   ...The labor movement hasn’t had the best 2014 so far, with a bruising defeat for the UAW in its attempts to organize auto workers in the South, and an ominous Supreme Court ruling for public sector unions. But today, the American Postal Workers Union and its allies seem to be making progress in an important battle...
FBI warns driverless cars could be used as 'lethal weapons'  The Guardian   ...Google’s driverless car may remain a prototype, but the FBI believes the “game changing” vehicle could revolutionise high-speed car chases within a matter of years. The report also warned that autonomous cars may be used as "lethal weapons"...
Miscellaneous
Study Urges Pay Increase For Jersey's 'Tipped' Workers  Philadelphia Inquirer   ...New Jersey's servers, bellhops, and bartenders earn lower hourly wages than their counterparts in Pennsylvania and Delaware, pushing them into poverty, according to a report released Wednesday...

T-Mobile managers says union-members can't high-five (but others can)

A T-Mobile managers is accused of banning 'high-fives' by union workers -- but not non-union workers -- in a case before the NLRB.

The NLRB made public the allegations as part of a ruling that consolidates complaints against T-Mobile. Among those complaints:

• On May 8, Department Manager Cesar Gonzales, inside the Albuquerque call center, 'discouraged employees' union activities by withholding the benefit of providing a 'high five' gesture who engaged in union activities or demonstrated their union sympathies. 
• On May 30, Manager Mark Cisneros did the same thing in the same place. 

T-Mobile is also accused of training employees with a list called '13 Ways To Get Fired.'

BuzzFeed has the story:

The ruling will allow for a joint decision from the NLRB on T-Mobile and MetroPCS’s alleged anti-union practices nationwide. There will be several months of hearings before a final ruling is brought down. 

In the ruling, the NLRB outlined some of the practices the Communications Workers of America say are illegal. 

The allegations include an “overly broad and discriminatory” employee handbook that bans employees from organizing and stresses multiple times the importance of keeping the contents of the handbook, as well as other various business activities, secret.

Today's Teamster News 04.03.14

Teamster News
Shumlin Calls For End To CCTA Strike  Vermont Public Radio   ...Gov. Pete Shumlin urged Teamster drivers and management of the Chittenden County Transportation Authority on Tuesday to agree to a contract deal as soon as possible...
Bus Drivers and CCTA Management To Negotiate Again Wednesday  Burlington Free Press   ...Teamster Drivers with the Chittenden County Transportation Authority will meet with management at 5 pm Wednesday to continue negotiations over a three-year contract, CCTA Board of Commissioners Chairman Tom Buckley told the Burlington Free Press Tuesday afternoon...
California Teamsters Call On US Foods To Recognize Union, Provide Security For Workers  teamster.org   ...On Tuesday, US Foods warehouse workers in Corona, Calif., called on the company to recognize Teamsters Local Union 63, Los Angeles, as their bargaining representative and to proceed immediately to negotiations for a first contract. The workers are concerned about job security as Sysco attempts to acquire their employer...
Rangel Snags Endorsement From Teamsters Union  New York Observer   ...Congressman Charlie Rangel, who is facing a tough re-election battle in a rematch against State Senator Adriano Espaillat, has notched another endorsement, this time from the Teamsters union...
Trade
Trans-Pacific Partnership Update  KMA Land   ...Japan said last week it would be difficult to achieve a breakthrough in talks with the United States on a pacific trade deal in time for President Barack Obama's trip to Asia next month...
Defense Science Board: Offshoring Of U.S. Manufacturing Has Created National Security Vulnerabilities  Trade Reform   ...For the first time perhaps ever, a U.S.-government report has stated that the shift of American manufacturing overseas is causing a decline in Americans’ standard of living...
State Battles
Right to Work future still uncertain after late meeting  Springfield News-Leader   ...The fate of Right to Work remains unclear following a late night meeting of House Republicans after a less controversial Paycheck Protection measure was given early approval Monday...
Emails Show Sen. Corker’s Chief of Staff Coordinated with Network of Anti-UAW Union Busters   In These Times   ...Leaked documents obtained by Nashville TV station NewsChannel 5 WVTF reveal communications between the employees of two Tennessee Republicans—Sen. Bob Corker and Gov. Bill Haslam—and a network of prominent anti-union professionals during the United Auto Workers' union drive at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga earlier this year...
Union-busting efforts move forward in Mississippi, Michigan  MSNBC   ...One of the reasons anti-labor forces fought so hard to prevail in February’s fight in Chattanooga was that they wanted to send a message: conservatives are prepared to fight against unionization wherever and whenever they can...
Florida Gov. Rick Scott's 2012 voter purge violated federal law, court rules  Tampa Bay Times   ...A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Gov. Rick Scott’s administration violated federal law by trying to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls too close to the 2012 presidential election...
Drought in California may hinder job growth for years, economists say  Los Angeles Times   ...Lack of rain in 2013 could diminish the fishing and manufacturing sectors in California, the UCLA Anderson Forecast says. Even without the weather factor, L.A. is grappling with major problems with its job market...
War on Workers
Power Surge for Donors  New York Times   ...Big donors, leaders of political parties and candidates with access to wealthy supporters will be the biggest beneficiaries of the Supreme Court decision issued on Wednesday, a ruling that could fundamentally reshape the political terrain in the 2014 elections and beyond...
Supreme Court Strikes Aggregate Donations Caps in Federal Elections  Reuters   ...On a 5-4 vote, the court struck down the overall limits on how much individuals can give to candidates, parties and political action committees in total during the federal two-year election cycle...
NSA searched Americans’ communications without a warrant, intelligence director says  Washington Post   ...Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. acknowledged that the National Security Agency has searched for Americans’ communications without warrants in massive databases that gather e-mails and phone calls of foreign targets...
More Americans see middle class status slipping  Associated Press   ...Nearly five years after the Great Recession ended, more people are coming to the painful realization that they’re no longer part of it...
BLS Issues New Occupational Employment and Wage Report  Fire Dog Lake   ...According to a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, both retail clerks and cashiers are occupations highest in employment...
Koch brothers vs. a bus: Why two billionaires hate a transit project in Nashville  Salon   ...The idea of a public bus transport project in Nashville, Tenn. is under fire as the Koch brothers and their front organization are trying to stop it...
Baltimore's MICA Adjunct Professors Set to Vote on Unionization  The Real News   ...Maryland Institute College of Art part-time faculty member Hannah Brancato and organizer Maria Maisto discuss the growing nationwide trend of adjunct professors organizing in order to collective bargain for decent salaries and benefits...
U.S. Labor Department Calls NFL Cheerleaders 'Seasonal Amusement' -- Says They Don't Deserve Minimum Wage  The Guardian   ...With next to no labor rights and making nowhere near the minimum wage, they could use a cheer or two themselves...
Miscellaneous
Greed Kills  Reuters   ...General Motors Co in 2005 decided not to change an ignition switch eventually linked to the deaths of at least 13 people because it would have added about a dollar to the cost of each car, according to an internal GM document provided to U.S. congressional investigators...
Caterpillar avoided $2.4 billion in taxes, senator says  Los Angeles Times   ...Sen. Carl Levin, saying it was "long past time" to ensure that multinational U.S. corporations pay taxes on their overseas profits, took Caterpillar Inc. to task for an offshore strategy that helped the company avoid $2.4 billion in income taxes...
Straight From the NSA's Mouth: We Searched You Without a Warrant  AlterNet   ..NSA Director Clapper finally admitted to senators that the NSA performed warrantless searches...

Today's Teamster News 03.30.14

Trade
Farm tariffs split Japan, U.S. on TPP  The Japan News   ...Japan and the United States remain far apart over Japanese tariffs on farm products after the latest round of working-level trade talks, a senior Japanese negotiator said Friday...
Thousands protest TPPA in downtown Auckland  New Zealand Herald   ...It was one of 15 such events around the country today to protest the free trade agreement (the TPPA) which is currently being negotiated between 12 countries, including New Zealand, behind closed doors...
Countries Rejecting Trade Deal Provisions that Let Investors Override National Regulation  naked capitalism   ...Countries are finally standing up for the rule of law over rule by multinational corporation...
Investor Treaties in Trouble  Triple Crisis   ...The tide is turning against investment treaties that allow foreign investors to take up cases against host governments and claim compensation of up to billions of dollars...
State Battles
Major municipalities join fight against anti-worker legislation  Labor Tribune   ...Major municipalities across the region are sending a clear message to the Missouri Legislature that they strongly believe that pending right-to-work/Freedom to Work/Workplace Freedom bills are WRONG for Missouri...
Walker signs asbestos bill opposed by veterans  Channel 3000   ...Gov. Scott Walker has quietly signed a bill opposed by numerous veterans groups and Democrats that changes the process for bringing asbestos exposure lawsuits...
MSU could lose $500k for offering labor courses  Michigan Radio   ...Michigan State University could risk losing $500,000 if it does not stop offering courses that allegedly promote unionization...
The War on Workers
Walmart Just Revealed How Poor U.S. Shoppers Are  Forbes   ...the problem isn’t that Walmart revealed how poor its customers really are, it’s that Walmart revealed how poor U.S. shoppers really are...
Sacramento officials kept in dark about crude oil transfers at rail facility  McClatchy   ... Since at least last September, trains carrying tank cars filled with crude oil have rolled into the the former McClellan Air Force base. Workers have transferred the oil, including some volatile Bakken crude, from trains to tanker trucks, which take it to Bay Area refineries. Until this week, Sacramento’s InterState Oil ran the crude operation without a required permit. Local fire and emergency officials who would be called upon to respond in case of a spill or fire weren’t informed it was happening...
Why Is MSNBC's Heiress Unwilling to Talk About the Most Important Economic Issues Facing Her Generation  Center for Economic and Policy Research   ...there is no way that paying for Social Security will have a major effect on the standard of living of people of Huntsman's age...
Miscellaneous
Minnesota teen wins settlement after school takes Facebook password  Fox News   ...A Minnesota school district has agreed to pay $70,000 to settle a lawsuit that claimed school officials violated a student's constitutional rights by viewing her Facebook and email accounts without permission...

Today's Teamster News 03.28.14

Teamster News
Council Votes To Encourage End To CCTA Strike  WPTZ   ...The Burlington City Council has voted to encourage management with the Chittenden County Transportation Authority and the bus drivers' union, represented by the Teamsters, to end the nearly two-week strike as soon as possible...
Victory at Pasco County, Florida for Teamsters Local 79  teamster.org   ...More than 1,100 Pasco County, Florida public employees will soon be voting on a first Teamster contract now that Local 79, Tampa and the county have agreed on a tentative contract. According to the local union, such issues as seniority, break time, overtime pay, holidays, uniforms and more are addressed in the contract...
Teamsters: The Deadline To Apply For A James R. Hoffa Scholarship Is March 31  teamster.org   ...The Fund will award $800,000 in scholarships this year to children and financially dependent grandchildren of Teamster members...
A Brief Glimpse of Human Rights Advances In The Teamsters  teamster.org   ...Women and minorities have always been active in the labor movement. Much of the crit­ical legislation that has been passed over the years started as grassroots movements from within one or more of these groups, even though they frequently did not receive credit or recognition for their efforts. View the full post, here...
March Madness: Brought to You by the Teamsters  Counterpunch   ...This (NLRB) ruling (which applies only to private colleges and universities, and not public institutions) ... gives college basketball players the right to unionize as well.  Just think about that.  March Madness, brought to you by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters!  Is this a great country, or what?...
Trade
U.S. Steelmakers Accuse South Korea Of Dumping  Independent Business Journal   ...U.S. Steel Corp., the largest U.S. producer of the metal by volume, said South Korea is dumping steel pipes and tubes in the U.S...
NAFTA at 20  AFL-CIO   ...NAFTA pushed small Mexican farmers off their lands, increasing the flow of desperate undocumented migrants...
State Battles
Still No Wage Agreement In Annapolis  Baltimore Sun ...The standoff in Annapolis over raising the minimum wage intensified Tuesday...
Missouri Union Members Rally Against Right To Work  Associated Press   ...About a thousand Missouri union members rallied at the state Capitol to combat legislation that would prohibit labor contracts from requiring that all employees pay union fees...
Minnesota Unions Come To Dakotas' Aid  Twin Cities Daily Planet   ...With more than 20,000 job openings and the nation's lowest unemployment rate, North Dakota is desperately seeking skilled workers to build infrastructure that keeps pace with its oil boom. Despite the conservative state's laws unfriendly to organized labor, six Minnesota-based trade unions are stepping up to help...
Mississippi Senate Gives Final Approval To 3 Anti-Union Bills  Associated Press   ...Bills that aim to restrict union organizing and picketing practices in Mississippi, as well as limit governments' abilities to pressure employers to use unionized workers, are on their way to Gov. Phil Bryant...
Hidden Cameras Catch Lobbyists, AZ Lawmakers Wining And Dining  CBS 5 News   ...CBS 5 Investigates rolled hidden cameras during a membership drive for one of the country's most secretive and controversial organizations. Lobbyists and state lawmakers mingled over steaks and drinks in a private room at the Valley's exclusive Donovan's Steakhouse, an event put on by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)...
Wisconsin GOP Heads Off Criminal Probe Into Corporate Election Spending By Trying To Make It Legal  ThinkProgress   ...Wisconsin’s State Senate Majority Leader, who is reportedly under investigation for his role in a possibly illegal campaign finance scheme, has come up with a novel way to shut down the criminal probe: changing the state law to legalize the activity in question...
War on Workers
The 67 People As Wealthy As The World's Poorest 3.5 Billion  Forbes   ...Each of the 67 is on average worth the same as 52 million people from the bottom of the world’s wealth  pyramid...
Northwestern Football Players Win First Round In Union Battle  Huffington Post ...Football players at Northwestern University have cleared the first major hurdle in their closely watched unionization effort, with an official of the National Labor Relations Board determining that the players are employees and thus eligible to vote in a union election...
GOP States Are The Most Dependent On Government  Huffington Post ...If we learned nothing else during the 2012 election, it is that some of us are makers, hard-working folk solely responsible for America's prosperity, and others are takers, who want the federal government to pay for luxuries like food and health care...
Feds Tally Rollovers Of Payday Loans  The Columbus Dispatch ...About half of all payday loans are made to people who extend the loans so many times that they end up paying more in fees than the original amount they borrowed, a report by a federal watchdog has found...
Walmart Admits Profits Depend Heavily On Corporate Welfare  ZeroHedge   ...It appears that Walmart has admitted the potentially severe adverse impact a reduction in food stamp payments could have on its bottom line...
Hundreds of Students & Faculty Occupy College Campus to Fight Cuts to Public Higher Ed  Real News   ...hundreds of students, faculty, and supporters rallied at University of Southern Maine against the announced layoffs of 20 full-time faculty members...
Miscellaneous
Labor unions saved Ford in our 'darkest' hour: Bill Ford  CNBC   ...the UAW helped the entire industry "get back on its feet..."
US Seniors Shafted By Inflation That Is 170 Percent In Excess Of Savings' Interest  Truthout   ...Lost in the coverage of America's tale of two economies (the 1% who have received 95 percent of the financial gains since they busted the economy in 2008 -- and the rest of us), is that seniors are especially hard hit by the disparity between so-called savings account interest and inflation...
A Government Computer Glitch Forced Thousands Of Families To Go Hungry  Huffington Post   ...Thousands in North Carolina had enough to worry about before a computer glitch began to fray the basic part of the social safety net..
Caterpillar To Cooperate With Tax Investigation  GateHouse Media Illinois   ...Caterpillar Inc. plans to cooperate with a U.S. Senate investigative panel looking into whether the company may have improperly avoided U.S. taxes by moving profits outside the country...
A Massive Chemical Plant Is Poised To Wipe This Louisiana Town Off The Map  Mother Jones   ...SASOL's proposed facility may spell the end for a 224-year-old community founded by freed slaves...

Today's Teamster News 03.07.14

Teamster News
Listen to Teamster Nation News for March 6-12  teamster.org   ...McKesson CEO takes a $45 million cut to his pension after shareholders raised a stink at annual meeting, but is still set to make $114 million in retirement while some workers can’t afford healthcare.  Thanks for listening to this podcast episode and be sure to subscribe...
Teamsters and Sarasota County agree on raises  Herald-Tribune...After two and half years of negotiations, Sarasota County and the Teamsters Local 173 in Bradenton, Florida signed off on a new collective bargaining agreement for nearly 400 workers...
A Cuomo-de Blasio Airport Partnership (opinion by Joe Sitt and George Miranda)  New York Daily News   ...De Blasio must now take up the mantle as well — and use his powerful platform and microphone to drive improvements at our airports...
Mayor de Blasio Falls Short on Job Approval, But Handled Snow OK: NBC4 Poll  NBC4   ...Two months into Mayor de Blasio's first term, fewer than four in 10 voters approve of his job performance as mayor, but a majority applauds his response to a series of storms during one of the snowiest winters in New York City history...
Teamsters: Ending Currency Manipulation Will Bring Worker Security   teamster.org   ...Efforts by other nations to keep the value of their currency artificially low are killing U.S. jobs and is a major reason why this country currently has an annual trade deficit in excess of $700 billion, a new Economic Policy Institute (EPI) report explains. Changing the system, the document states, would create 5.8 million jobs here...
Trade
Protesters oppose trade agreement   Wisconsin State Farmer   ...The group Family Farm Defenders organized a march to Rep. Ron Kind’s office in La Crosse Friday to urge him to oppose “fast track” authority and the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) a trade agreement with Pacific Rim countries...
Radioactive Imported Dog Food Bowls.  Trade Reform   ...Petco has determined that one of its foreign suppliers used stainless steel mistakenly containing small quantities of Cobalt-60 when fabricating certain orders of certain SKUs/models of stainless steel pet food bowls. Cobalt-60 is a radioactive material commonly used in industrial gauging equipment and other uses...
State Battles
Conservative group Alec trains sights on city and local government  The Guardian   ...It has already quietly set up, and is making plans for the public launch of, an offshoot called the American City County Exchange (ACCE) that will target policymakers from “villages, towns, cities and counties”. The new organisation will offer corporate America a direct conduit into the policy making process of city councils and municipalities. Lobbyists acting on behalf of major businesses will be able to propose resolutions and argue for new profit-enhancing legislation in front of elected city officials, who will then return to their council chambers and seek to implement the proposals...
Miss. House passes bills meant to restrict unions  Clarion Ledger   ...Mississippi lawmakers are moving ahead with a package of bills to restrict some labor union organizing and picketing practices...
Republican Governor Will Protect His State’s Residents From Food Stamp Cuts  ThinkProgress   ...Gov. Tom Corbett (R-PA) will be the third governor (and the first Republican) to block Congress's food stamp cuts in his state...
10,000 state workers still without back pay  KOAT 7 Albuquerque   ...As much as $50 million has yet to arrive after a union beat state in a case that went to the New Mexico Supreme Court...
Illinois Legislation Supports Interest-Free Student Loans  WIFR News   ...Students nationwide are graduating college on average, up to $30,000 in debt and now new Illinois legislation could help offer interest-free loans...
Nebraska bill could benefit low-income parents  Associated Press   ...Some low-income parents would have a greater incentive to seek raises and promotions at work and to save for a child's college education, under a bill in the Nebraska Legislature...
No, Connecticut’s History-Making Paid Sick Leave Law Did Not Hurt Business   ThinkProgress   ...When Connecticut was considering whether to become the first state to require employers to offer their workers paid sick leave, businesses raised concerns that it would create an unbearable cost, forcing some to close, and that abuse would be rampant. But a new survey of employers in the state a year and a half after the law took effect shows those fears were unfounded...
Louisiana lawmakers seek to cap payday loan rates  Associated Press   ...Louisiana organizations that represent the elderly, the poor and others on fixed incomes want stiffer regulation of payday lending businesses that offer short-term loans with high interest rates of no greater than 36 percent annually...
Oklahoma House votes to make trooper dash cam videos public records  News OK   ...The Oklahoma Highway Patrol would be required to make trooper dash camera videos available for public viewing under a bill passed Wednesday by the state House of Representatives...
West Virginia House Passes Chemical Storage Bill In Effort To Prevent Future Spills ThinkProgress   ...Nearly two months after Freedom Industry's leaky chemical storage tank on the Elk River in West Virginia contaminated the drinking water supply for 300,000 people, the House of Representatives passed a new bill late Wednesday night regulating chemical storage tanks...
War on Workers
Real World Evidence That Increasing The Minimum Wage Doesn’t Cost Jobs  ThinkProgress
 ...Last month, conservatives seized on a Congressional Budget Office report showing that increasing the minimum wage could result in job loss to argue that President Obama’s push to pay workers more would undermine the American economy and stifle growth. But a growing body of real world experiences is already proving the nonpartisan economists wrong...
'Paycheck protection' is bad for unions, good for free-riding deadbeats (Opinion)  Penn Live   ...Once again, legislation has been proposed to prevent the automatic withholding of union dues from public employees' paychecks (House Bill 1507). This legislation serves only to undermine the timely, efficient payment of monies which are rightfully due to the union...
Miscellaneous
Bernie Sanders: ‘I Am Prepared to Run for President of the United States’  The Nation   ...he says his political instincts tell him America is ready for a “political revolution.”...
Meet the Company That Can Track Everywhere You've Been and Tell Police About It  AlterNet   ...A security company collects data from license plate readers and shares it with police and federal law enforcement, no warrant needed...
New Report Says Rich Are Richer And Spending More Than Ever  AlterNet ...A new report released this week by the elitist property management firm Knight Frank confirms the ranks of the rich are expanding, and they're spending their money with the gilded abandon so characteristic of our era... 

Today's Teamster News 11.05.13

Cab Drivers Deliver Letter To Gray, Ask For Impoundment Halt  DCist   ...With the Teamsters behind them, a group of D.C. cab drivers gathered outside the Wilson Building to continue their fight against what they see as the problematic rollout of modernization efforts and to get Mayor Vince Gray's attention...
New grocery contract passes by ‘overwhelming majority’  Seattle Times   ...Grocery workers, who are represented by the Teamsters and UFCW in Western Washington, approved a new 3-year contract, ending a month-long series of negotiations that nearly led to a strike...
UPS driver wins praise for working 51 years without a crash  Detroit Free Press   ...UPS driver Tom Camp and his big, brown truck have done something no other UPS driver has accomplished: 51 years without an accident...
“We have the right to educate you”: Workplace indoctrination caught on tape  The Salon   ...In leaked recordings, bosses lecture workers not to unionize, and insist 'This truly is for your best interest'...
Despite Eight Ongoing Criminal/Civil Investigations of JPMorgan, the Bank’s a Law Enforcement Partner With the NYPD  Wall Street on Parade   ...The photo shows an employee of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s number one target for financial fraud investigations, JPMorgan Chase, working inside a high security spy center in Lower Manhattan to — wait for it — help the New York City Police Department catch crooks...
If 'Stop and Frisk' Is Such an Effective Tactic, Why Not Use an Electronic Version on Potentially Corrupt Bank CEOs?  Huffington Post   ...It's estimated that the 2008 financial crisis cost over $6 trillion. In 2009 alone, it's believed that an additional 5,000 people committed suicide due to the financial crisis and resulting unemployment, as the result of malfeasant senior bank officers...
Reich: The American Economy Is Cannibalizing Itself, and We the People Are Going to Pay a Huge Price  AlterNet   ...The bottom 90 percent of Americans have disappeared from official Washington...
One Million K-12 Students Are Homeless  Truthout   ...For many students, when they go to school each morning, they may have no idea where they will be sleeping that night...
Blaming the Poor for Poverty  Truthout   ...Most of the poverty in the U.S. is created from the sort of policies that cut taxes on the wealthy, do away with fiscal and other business regulations, shred the social safety net, and erode middle-class stability – all while singing the praises of self-reliance and individual responsibility...
How We Have Ended Up Paying for 1 Percenters Beach Vacation Homes  The Salon   ...It's time for the wealthy with vacation homes and valuable shoreline land to pay their own way -- and not rely on us...5 Ways Super-Rich Are Betraying America  AlterNet   ...This small group of takers is giving up on the country that made it possible for them to build huge fortunes...
Mexico gun battles leave many dead  The Guardian   ...Thirteen killed in border city of Matamoros as gunmen clash with Mexican armed forces in region ravaged by drug gangs...
Immigration Reform Requires Dismantling NAFTA and Respecting Migrants' Rights  The Real News   ...“When the North American Free Trade Agreement allowed big U.S. grain companies, for instance, to dump cheap, cheap corn on the Mexican market, hundreds of thousands of Mexican farmers essentially were not able to sell their crops for the cost of growing it,” says Bacon.  “[They] had to leave home in order to survive, and wound up migrating to the north of Mexico, crossing the border, and coming here to the United States.”...
Colombian women on 'crossed legs' sex strike over crumbling highway  Global Post   ...Why, they asked, should they bring any more babies into the world when pregnant women were dying along the highway trying to get to the hospital?...
Bangladesh Garment Workers Get A Raise (But They Still Earn the Lowest Wages In The World) Associated Press ...A government-appointed panel in Bangladesh voted Monday to raise the minimum wage for millions of garment workers to about $66 a month — still the lowest in the world and well below what workers have been seeking...
Kochs’ Group Has Big Ambitions in Small Elections  New York Times   ...Backed by the billionaire Koch brothers, Americans for Prosperity has been involved in local political contests in Kansas, Ohio, Texas and Iowa, but some are skeptical of its motives...
Koch group, unions battle over Colorado schools race  Politico   ...This fall, Americans for Prosperity is also spending big in the wealthy suburbs south of Denver to influence voters in the Douglas County School District, which has gone further than any district in the nation to reshape public education into a competitive, free-market enterprise...
Fewer than 1/4th of Republicans Support Electing More Women to Congress  AlterNet   ...New poll reveals staggering partisan gender divide on women in politics...
Texas' Restrictive Voter ID Law Stops A Former U.S. House Speaker From Getting A Voter ID Card  Huffington Post   ...Former U.S. Speaker of the House Jim Wright (D-Texas) unsuccessfully tried to get a voter identification card at a Texas Department of Public Safety office on Saturday...
As Pennsylvania Prepares to Fail, Other States Are Not Far Behind (opinion)  Talking Points Memo   ...It's hard to imagine that Pennsylvania is preparing to become a failed state, but it is. Despite world-class universities, active industries, and a global economic footprint, the Commonwealth has decided to cut funding for students and place its bets on a growing prison population...
Auto Workers Try a New Angle at Volkswagen  Truthout   ...The United Auto Workers, so long frustrated in their attempts to organize foreign-owned auto plants in the U.S., may have found a different way in...
BART union members approve contract  Progressive Railroading   ...Members of Bay Area Rapid Transit's (BART) two largest unions have ratified four-year contracts that will increase wages, require employee pension contribution, improve safety and allow BART to adopt technology to streamline operations…