Teamster News
'My Horse For A Kingdom:' Mayor de Blasio And The Tyranny Of Denial Huffington Post ...After 10 months of filming New York's Greatest Living Icons, the gentle carriage horses, those who love them... and those who hate them, I can say, without equivocation, there is no abuse, no cruelty of any kind, only love...and lots of carrots...
Public Works Employees in Florida Join Teamsters Local 385 teamster.org ...Casselberry, Florida Public Works employees have unanimously voted to join Teamsters Local 385 in Orlando…. Thirty-one ballots were returned and the vote was 31-0 to join Local 385. There are 44 workers in the bargaining unit...
Trade
Trade deficit with China sets new record Trade Reform ...Our deficit with China — People’s Republic of China/Chinese Communist Party/People’s Liberation Army — is an all-time record...
State Battles
Indiana Supreme Court To Hear Right-To-Work Arguments Today Indianapolis Star ...The Indiana Supreme Court will hear oral arguments this morning on the state’s right-to-work law that brought thousands of union protesters to the Statehouse in 2012 when it was passed...
Minimum wage debate returns to Indianapolis WISHTV.com ...A nationwide push to raise the minimum wage returns to Indianapolis Thursday with more local protests. It’s a hot button issue from the nation’s capital to the fast food counter. Fast food workers have protested a handful of times over the last year...
Pension Tax Bites Michigan’s Snyder in Re-Election Bid Bloomberg ...Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s 2011 tax increase on retirement income from pensions is haunting the Republican as he runs for a second term in a graying state still recovering from the recession...
Tax The Big Businesses That Won’t Pay Connecticut Workers A Living Wage (opinion) The CT Mirror ...If companies with 500 or more employees decide they don’t want to pay a fair wage, then they must repay Connecticut taxpayers for supporting their corporate bottom line...
Alabama's Voter ID Law Blamed For At Least 282 Ballots Uncounted In Primary Birmingham News ...The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund is alleging that at least 282 ballots in the state's June 3 primary election were not counted due to Alabama's law requiring voters to show a valid photo identification card...
Husted’s suppression efforts have costs taxpayers over $400,000 Ohio Democratic Party ...In 2013, the State of Ohio paid the Wiley Rein law firm $285,902.50 to unsuccessfully defend Jon Husted’s attempt to cut early voting in Ohio before the 2012 general election alone...
Bad Labor News for Wisconsin Center for Media and Democracy ... the state still falls 21,900 jobs short of where it was seven years ago--and about 58,000 jobs short of where it would be if it had kept pace with the national recovery rate...
Former Va. Gov. Bob McDonnell Found Guilty In Corruption Case DCist ...Former Va. Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen were found guilty today on several charges in the corruption case stemming from gifts, including an engraved Rolex and lavish vacations, and thousands of dollars in loans they accepted from a businessman in exchange for political favor...
War On Workers
Fast Food Strikes Hit 150 US Cities MSNBC ...Police arrested at least 19 people outside of a McDonald’s in New York City early Thursday morning as thousands of fast food workers across the country walked off the job...
Congresswoman Gwen Moore arrested during minimum wage protest CBS News ...U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore was arrested by West Milwaukee police during a minimum wage protest on Miller Park Way...
The United States Leads in Low-Wage Work and the Lowest Wages for Low-Wage Workers Economic Policy Institute ...the wages of low-wage workers (the 10th percentile of wage earners) declined by five percent over the 1979-2013 period, despite a generation of productivity gains (64.9 percent)...
Groups Accuse Apple Supplier in China of Labor Violations New York Times ...The employees are made to work excessive overtime and handle toxic chemicals without proper protective clothing, according to a report released Thursday by Green America, an environmental nonprofit group, and China Labor Watch, a workers’ rights group based in New York...
Voting Restrictions Are Key Variable In Midterm Elections New York Times ...Voting in midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress, ends this fall. But it starts in North Carolina this week...
Worker Killed on the Job: Four Wheeler Accident News4JAX ...A man was killed on the job after the four wheeler he was riding flipped and landed in a near by lake. The vehicle pinned the man beneath the water...
McMansions not only survive, they’re getting bigger Washington Post ...In 1973, the median newly-completed single-family house was 1,525 square feet; forty years later, in 2013, it was 2,384 square feet. That is a record high...
The Koch Brothers have funded 44,000 ads in the 2014 election Washington Post ...Americans for Prosperity alone has run more than 27,000 ads, which is significantly more than groups like American Crossroads/Crossroads GPS -- groups with close ties to former Bush White House political svengali Karl Rove...
Miscellaneous
Large US Tech Firms Plan 'Go Slow' Day In Protest Over Net Neutrality Rules The Guardian ...Some of the world’s largest tech firms are planning a “go slow” day next week in protest of proposals that could create fast lanes on the internet for some companies...
Showing posts with label apple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apple. Show all posts
Friday, September 5, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Today's Teamster News 02.25.14
Teamster News
Here's 30 Billion Reasons Why Mexican Trucks Are No Joke Huffington Post ...The Mexican trucking industry has repeatedly failed to get its own carriers to participate in a cross-border pilot program created in 2011 to study whether Mexican truckers are meeting basic safety standards set up in the wake of NAFTA...
CCTA says it's open to continued contract negotiations with Teamsters Burlington Free Press ...The general manager of the Chittenden County Transportation Authority says CCTA is open to continued contract negotiations with the Teamsters Local 597, a bus drivers’ union that has suggested a work action could begin March 10 without a deal...
Academy Awards 2014: Workers Who Make Oscar Statuettes In Labor Dispute Reuters ...A labor dispute is playing out between Teamsters Local 743 and R.S. Owens in Chicago, where Academy Awards are manufactured...
Crews stage large rally in Burbank to support film tax credit Los Angeles Times ...More than 1,000 entertainment industry workers, including members of Teamsters Local 399, gathered in Burbank on Saturday, launching a campaign to support an expansion of California's film and TV tax credit program...
The War on Workers
Union: Detroit Restructuring Plan ‘A Gut Punch To City Workers And Retirees CBS News ... Now that Detroit’s emergency manager has laid out a plan for bankruptcy, city retirees are getting a look of what their future might include: big cuts to both their pensions and health insurance funds...
Bye Bye Chained CPI and Other Budget Surprises Economic Populist ... Only time will tell if chained CPI is really gone and the threat to reduce retirement benefits along with it...
The Grand Bargain’s dead. What now? msnbc ...Hopes for a Grand Bargain between the White House and Congress to overhaul entitlements and taxes disappeared many months ago. But President Obama is making the end of that era official in his 2015 budget...
This Is Your Brain on Poverty: What Science Tells Us About Poverty Truthout ...People in poverty suffer from many different psychological and physical problems and once they escape it, they become healthier...
Long-term unemployed describe lack of mobility, depression in personal stories PBS Newshour ...Amid a difficult economic landscape for out-of-work Americans, more than 1.7 million have lost their emergency unemployment benefits since Dec. 28...
Wal-Mart and Other Retailers Consider Higher Wages (Opinion) Wall Street Journal ...Note to the National Retail Federation: You can't keep fighting increases in the minimum wage and then wonder why consumers aren't spending more money in your members' stores...
Worse than Wal-Mart: Amazon’s sick brutality and secret history of ruthlessly intimidating workers Salon ...You might find your Prime membership morally indefensible after reading these stories about worker mistreatment...
Truckers: if Hampton Roads port traffic isn't fixed, work will stop Daily Press ...Though the independent truck drivers avoided talk of unionizing, a number of the drivers said collective action is needed to ensure executives at Hampton Roads' container ports take seriously the congestion at their facilities causing drivers to spend more of their days in lines and less time making money...
How Covert Agents Infiltrate the Internet to Manipulate, Deceive, and Destroy Reputations The Intercept ...western intelligence agencies are attempting to manipulate and control online discourse with extreme tactics of deception and reputation-destruction...
State Battles
Missouri lawmakers considering payday loan changes Associated Press ...A proposed overhaul of Missouri's loan industry would give borrowers more time to pay but could allow lenders to charge higher fees and interest...
Union asks Supreme Court to affirm right-to-work law is unconstitutional NWI Times ...The International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150, is urging the Indiana Supreme Court to uphold Lake Superior Judge John Sedia's ruling that portions of the state's 2012 right-to-work law are unconstitutional...
Trade
Trans-Pacific Partnership: No deal at Singapore meeting BBC News ...An ambitious 12-nation free trade plan, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), has hit a new roadblock after four days of negotiations in Singapore. Sticking points over market access and differences over tariffs on imported goods were the main reasons cited…
'Trade' Deals on the Ropes Huffington Post ...The globalization agenda of American financial elites that has dominated both parties' trade policy for three decades is on the verge of crashing and burning. There is escalating, perhaps fatal, opposition to the proposed Pacific and Atlantic deals in both the U.S. Congress and among partner nations...
Japan, U.S. must play last card to successfully conclude TPP talks Japan News ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks appear to be reaching a make-or-break point over whether a broad agreement can be reached...
Miscellaneous
In Missouri, Rand Paul says the GOP needs more people with tattoos Kansas City Star ...“We need a more diverse party. People with tattoos, and without tattoos. With earrings, and without earrings,” said Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican, at a recent event...
Woes of Megacity Driving Signal Dawn of ‘Peak Car’ Era Bloomberg ...The world will reach “Peak Car” -- a point at which annual global sales growth will top out -- in the next decade, several auto-industry analysts predict...
Here's 30 Billion Reasons Why Mexican Trucks Are No Joke Huffington Post ...The Mexican trucking industry has repeatedly failed to get its own carriers to participate in a cross-border pilot program created in 2011 to study whether Mexican truckers are meeting basic safety standards set up in the wake of NAFTA...
CCTA says it's open to continued contract negotiations with Teamsters Burlington Free Press ...The general manager of the Chittenden County Transportation Authority says CCTA is open to continued contract negotiations with the Teamsters Local 597, a bus drivers’ union that has suggested a work action could begin March 10 without a deal...
Academy Awards 2014: Workers Who Make Oscar Statuettes In Labor Dispute Reuters ...A labor dispute is playing out between Teamsters Local 743 and R.S. Owens in Chicago, where Academy Awards are manufactured...
Crews stage large rally in Burbank to support film tax credit Los Angeles Times ...More than 1,000 entertainment industry workers, including members of Teamsters Local 399, gathered in Burbank on Saturday, launching a campaign to support an expansion of California's film and TV tax credit program...
The War on Workers
Union: Detroit Restructuring Plan ‘A Gut Punch To City Workers And Retirees CBS News ... Now that Detroit’s emergency manager has laid out a plan for bankruptcy, city retirees are getting a look of what their future might include: big cuts to both their pensions and health insurance funds...
Bye Bye Chained CPI and Other Budget Surprises Economic Populist ... Only time will tell if chained CPI is really gone and the threat to reduce retirement benefits along with it...
The Grand Bargain’s dead. What now? msnbc ...Hopes for a Grand Bargain between the White House and Congress to overhaul entitlements and taxes disappeared many months ago. But President Obama is making the end of that era official in his 2015 budget...
This Is Your Brain on Poverty: What Science Tells Us About Poverty Truthout ...People in poverty suffer from many different psychological and physical problems and once they escape it, they become healthier...
Long-term unemployed describe lack of mobility, depression in personal stories PBS Newshour ...Amid a difficult economic landscape for out-of-work Americans, more than 1.7 million have lost their emergency unemployment benefits since Dec. 28...
Wal-Mart and Other Retailers Consider Higher Wages (Opinion) Wall Street Journal ...Note to the National Retail Federation: You can't keep fighting increases in the minimum wage and then wonder why consumers aren't spending more money in your members' stores...
Worse than Wal-Mart: Amazon’s sick brutality and secret history of ruthlessly intimidating workers Salon ...You might find your Prime membership morally indefensible after reading these stories about worker mistreatment...
Truckers: if Hampton Roads port traffic isn't fixed, work will stop Daily Press ...Though the independent truck drivers avoided talk of unionizing, a number of the drivers said collective action is needed to ensure executives at Hampton Roads' container ports take seriously the congestion at their facilities causing drivers to spend more of their days in lines and less time making money...
How Covert Agents Infiltrate the Internet to Manipulate, Deceive, and Destroy Reputations The Intercept ...western intelligence agencies are attempting to manipulate and control online discourse with extreme tactics of deception and reputation-destruction...
State Battles
Missouri lawmakers considering payday loan changes Associated Press ...A proposed overhaul of Missouri's loan industry would give borrowers more time to pay but could allow lenders to charge higher fees and interest...
Union asks Supreme Court to affirm right-to-work law is unconstitutional NWI Times ...The International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150, is urging the Indiana Supreme Court to uphold Lake Superior Judge John Sedia's ruling that portions of the state's 2012 right-to-work law are unconstitutional...
Trade
Trans-Pacific Partnership: No deal at Singapore meeting BBC News ...An ambitious 12-nation free trade plan, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), has hit a new roadblock after four days of negotiations in Singapore. Sticking points over market access and differences over tariffs on imported goods were the main reasons cited…
'Trade' Deals on the Ropes Huffington Post ...The globalization agenda of American financial elites that has dominated both parties' trade policy for three decades is on the verge of crashing and burning. There is escalating, perhaps fatal, opposition to the proposed Pacific and Atlantic deals in both the U.S. Congress and among partner nations...
Japan, U.S. must play last card to successfully conclude TPP talks Japan News ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks appear to be reaching a make-or-break point over whether a broad agreement can be reached...
Miscellaneous
In Missouri, Rand Paul says the GOP needs more people with tattoos Kansas City Star ...“We need a more diverse party. People with tattoos, and without tattoos. With earrings, and without earrings,” said Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican, at a recent event...
Woes of Megacity Driving Signal Dawn of ‘Peak Car’ Era Bloomberg ...The world will reach “Peak Car” -- a point at which annual global sales growth will top out -- in the next decade, several auto-industry analysts predict...
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Today's Teamster News 01.02.14
Little Holiday Cheer for IKEA Workers truthout ...IKEA's inconsistent labor relations violate international union standards, leaving hundreds of employees without work in Canada and other countries across the globe...
Chief Justice Warns Sequestration Cuts Already Threatening Public Safety ThinkProgress ...Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, in his annual Year-End Report on the State of the Federal Judiciary, blasted the 2011 Budget Control Act’s automatic “sequestration” federal spending cuts and warned that the cuts to the federal court system’s budget “pose a genuine threat to public safety.”...
50 Is the New 65: Older Americans Are Getting Booted from Their Jobs -- and Denied New Opportunities Alternet ...Workers as young as 50 are shocked to find themselves suddenly tossed onto the employment rubbish heap, just when they felt on top of their game. They’re feeling stressed, angry and betrayed by a society which has benefited greatly from their contributions...
Pomp and Exceptional Circumstance: How Students Are Forced to Prop Up the Education Bubble Boston Review ...The challenge of student debt, like climate change and other urgent needs, threatens to exceed the capacity of our current political and economic systems...
Apple’s Top Crimes of 2013 Counterpunch ...From tax dodging to toxic sweatshops...
Overthrow the Speculators (opinion) OpEdNews ...Speculators at megabanks or investment firms such as Goldman Sachs are not, in a strict sense, capitalists. They do not make money from the means of production. Rather, they ignore or rewrite the law -- ostensibly put in place to protect the vulnerable from the powerful -- to steal from everyone, including their shareholders. They are parasites...
The Life of a Fast-Food Worker New Yorker ...According to estimates from union groups, paying workers a living wage would raise the price of a burger or a bucket of chicken by a couple of cents per meal...
The Top 25 Most Censored Stories of 2013 Project Censored ...The news that didn't make the news...
Chief Justice Warns Sequestration Cuts Already Threatening Public Safety ThinkProgress ...Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, in his annual Year-End Report on the State of the Federal Judiciary, blasted the 2011 Budget Control Act’s automatic “sequestration” federal spending cuts and warned that the cuts to the federal court system’s budget “pose a genuine threat to public safety.”...
50 Is the New 65: Older Americans Are Getting Booted from Their Jobs -- and Denied New Opportunities Alternet ...Workers as young as 50 are shocked to find themselves suddenly tossed onto the employment rubbish heap, just when they felt on top of their game. They’re feeling stressed, angry and betrayed by a society which has benefited greatly from their contributions...
Pomp and Exceptional Circumstance: How Students Are Forced to Prop Up the Education Bubble Boston Review ...The challenge of student debt, like climate change and other urgent needs, threatens to exceed the capacity of our current political and economic systems...
Apple’s Top Crimes of 2013 Counterpunch ...From tax dodging to toxic sweatshops...
Overthrow the Speculators (opinion) OpEdNews ...Speculators at megabanks or investment firms such as Goldman Sachs are not, in a strict sense, capitalists. They do not make money from the means of production. Rather, they ignore or rewrite the law -- ostensibly put in place to protect the vulnerable from the powerful -- to steal from everyone, including their shareholders. They are parasites...
The Life of a Fast-Food Worker New Yorker ...According to estimates from union groups, paying workers a living wage would raise the price of a burger or a bucket of chicken by a couple of cents per meal...
The Top 25 Most Censored Stories of 2013 Project Censored ...The news that didn't make the news...
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Today's Teamster News 12.18.13
Teamsters Stand in Solidarity with Korean Railway Workers on Strike teamster.org ...The Teamsters and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division of the Teamsters are standing in solidarity with striking Korean railway workers...
Port Workers In IKEA Supply Chain Hold Solidarity Actions Over Lockout teamster.org ...hundreds of dock workers at 10 ports around the globe held rallies to show their support for the 350 Teamsters who have been locked out from their jobs without pay for seven months at IKEA’s store in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada...
Teamsters Donating Toys to Hershey Ronald McDonald House teamster.org ...Teamsters Local Union 776 in Harrisburg will be donating more than $7,500 in toys to the Ronald McDonald House in Hershey...
SCI Deceives Grieving Family For $15,000 Funeral, Relatives Outraged teamster.org ...“We had no clue there was a change of ownership,” Johnson said. “We went there on the memory of a good family business only to find out it is owned by this huge conglomerate that is mistreating workers and basically spitting on the memory of my mom...”
Northern Tier Refinery Workers Vote To Strike teamster.org ...workers from the Northern Tier refinery in St. Paul Park, Minn. voted overwhelmingly to strike if necessary, rejecting cuts proposed by management that could dramatically undermine the safety of operations. The refinery workers are represented by Teamsters Local 120...
GES Exposition Services Threatens Chicago's Convention Business teamster.org ...The company is demanding a laundry list of concessions from the Teamsters, including more work-rule restrictions, further crew-size reductions and changes in seniority...
It’s Time to Halt Middle-Class Housing Crisis teamster.org ...10 million homeowners still owe more than their homes are worth...
Accidental Tax Break Saves Wealthiest Americans $100 Billion Bloomberg ...By shuffling his company stock in and out of more than 30 trusts, he’s given at least $7.9 billion to his heirs while legally avoiding about $2.8 billion in U.S. gift taxes since 2010, according to calculations based on data in Adelson’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings...
U.S. preparing civil charges against Citigroup, Merrill Lynch: sources Reuters ...Civil investigators have compiled evidence that allegedly shows that investors lost tens of billions of dollars after purchasing securities Citigroup had marketed as safe even though the bank had reason to believe otherwise...
Elizabeth Warren’s New Bill Aims to Stop Employers Discriminating Against the Poor truthdig ...Employers often use credit scores to weed out poorer applicants despite the fact that studies show these numbers have nothing to do with productivity or dedication, but the Equal Employment for All Act introduced Tuesday would prohibit this form of discrimination from taking place...
Why are we letting China buy American companies? New York Post ...The Smithfield buyout is a great loss because the company has become a huge exporter, to Japan and elsewhere, and has developed, with taxpayer assistance, systems and technologies that are best in class. Of course, that was why it became a target and why China Inc. overpaid to get it. But the only American beneficiaries will be a handful of investors. The rest of Smithfield’s stakeholders, and the American economy, will be bruised...
Another Apple Supplier in China Admits Gross Violations of Worker Rights Economic Policy Institute ...In a swift reaction to ugly publicity about suicides, injuries, and mistreatment of workers, Biel Crystal, one of Apple’s most important suppliers of touchscreen cover glass for its iPhones, reached an agreement with the Chinese labor rights group, SACOM, to take three steps toward better conditions by January 2014...
Mexico's rights body warns of growth of vigilantes Associated Press ...Raul Plascencia, president of the National Human Rights Commission, said the growth of these groups are already undermining the rule of law but could also lead to more violence. He blamed the emergence of such groups on an official failure to provide security...
Merkel compared NSA to Stasi in heated encounter with Obama The Guardian ...German chancellor furious after revelations US intelligence agency listened in on her personal mobile phone...
Court: Occupy Columbia can sue Haley over arrests Associated Press ...Gov. Nikki Haley isn't immune from being sued by Occupy Columbia protesters who were kicked off the Statehouse grounds in 2011, a federal appeals court ruled Monday...
Port Workers In IKEA Supply Chain Hold Solidarity Actions Over Lockout teamster.org ...hundreds of dock workers at 10 ports around the globe held rallies to show their support for the 350 Teamsters who have been locked out from their jobs without pay for seven months at IKEA’s store in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada...
Teamsters Donating Toys to Hershey Ronald McDonald House teamster.org ...Teamsters Local Union 776 in Harrisburg will be donating more than $7,500 in toys to the Ronald McDonald House in Hershey...
SCI Deceives Grieving Family For $15,000 Funeral, Relatives Outraged teamster.org ...“We had no clue there was a change of ownership,” Johnson said. “We went there on the memory of a good family business only to find out it is owned by this huge conglomerate that is mistreating workers and basically spitting on the memory of my mom...”
Northern Tier Refinery Workers Vote To Strike teamster.org ...workers from the Northern Tier refinery in St. Paul Park, Minn. voted overwhelmingly to strike if necessary, rejecting cuts proposed by management that could dramatically undermine the safety of operations. The refinery workers are represented by Teamsters Local 120...
GES Exposition Services Threatens Chicago's Convention Business teamster.org ...The company is demanding a laundry list of concessions from the Teamsters, including more work-rule restrictions, further crew-size reductions and changes in seniority...
It’s Time to Halt Middle-Class Housing Crisis teamster.org ...10 million homeowners still owe more than their homes are worth...
Accidental Tax Break Saves Wealthiest Americans $100 Billion Bloomberg ...By shuffling his company stock in and out of more than 30 trusts, he’s given at least $7.9 billion to his heirs while legally avoiding about $2.8 billion in U.S. gift taxes since 2010, according to calculations based on data in Adelson’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings...
U.S. preparing civil charges against Citigroup, Merrill Lynch: sources Reuters ...Civil investigators have compiled evidence that allegedly shows that investors lost tens of billions of dollars after purchasing securities Citigroup had marketed as safe even though the bank had reason to believe otherwise...
Elizabeth Warren’s New Bill Aims to Stop Employers Discriminating Against the Poor truthdig ...Employers often use credit scores to weed out poorer applicants despite the fact that studies show these numbers have nothing to do with productivity or dedication, but the Equal Employment for All Act introduced Tuesday would prohibit this form of discrimination from taking place...
Why are we letting China buy American companies? New York Post ...The Smithfield buyout is a great loss because the company has become a huge exporter, to Japan and elsewhere, and has developed, with taxpayer assistance, systems and technologies that are best in class. Of course, that was why it became a target and why China Inc. overpaid to get it. But the only American beneficiaries will be a handful of investors. The rest of Smithfield’s stakeholders, and the American economy, will be bruised...
Another Apple Supplier in China Admits Gross Violations of Worker Rights Economic Policy Institute ...In a swift reaction to ugly publicity about suicides, injuries, and mistreatment of workers, Biel Crystal, one of Apple’s most important suppliers of touchscreen cover glass for its iPhones, reached an agreement with the Chinese labor rights group, SACOM, to take three steps toward better conditions by January 2014...
Mexico's rights body warns of growth of vigilantes Associated Press ...Raul Plascencia, president of the National Human Rights Commission, said the growth of these groups are already undermining the rule of law but could also lead to more violence. He blamed the emergence of such groups on an official failure to provide security...
Merkel compared NSA to Stasi in heated encounter with Obama The Guardian ...German chancellor furious after revelations US intelligence agency listened in on her personal mobile phone...
Court: Occupy Columbia can sue Haley over arrests Associated Press ...Gov. Nikki Haley isn't immune from being sued by Occupy Columbia protesters who were kicked off the Statehouse grounds in 2011, a federal appeals court ruled Monday...
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Another Apple factory in China exposed for worker abuse
Ross Eisenbery at the Economic Policy Institute tells us:
SACOM has regularly revealed Apple’s failure to abide by its so-called code of conduct, and along with another watchdog group, China Labor Watch, has monitored Apple’s failure to live up to its announced intention to clean up sweatshop conditions at its factories in China and to stop the use of indentured student labor.
In April, China Labor Watch reported that two more Apple/Foxconn workers had committed suicide by jumping from buildings to their death. China Labor Watch also found labor law violations at ten other Apple suppliers, including Pegatron.SACOM's most recent investigation reveals horrific labor conditions inside Biel Crystal in Huizhou, Guangdong. The factory produces the touch screens and camera glass covers that go into Iphones. Here's what SACOM found:
- Excessive working hours: Workers are forced to sign an “application for voluntary overtime”. They have to work 11 hours a day and seven days a week during the peak production time; and they have only a 24-hour break at the end of each month for shift change;
- Numerous suicides in the factory: At least five incidences of suicide have taken place in the factory since 2011;
- Blank work contract: Workers are asked to sign a blank work contract, and they have to turn in their copy when they resign. This makes workers unable to prove their working relation with the factory;
- Serious work injuries: Work injuries are common in the factory, and injured workers cannot get reasonable compensation as entitled by the Law;
- Irregular pay day: The factory changes the pay day at will and does not follow clauses and conditions of the work contract;
- Military-style management: The punitive system is unfair and there is massive use of security to control workers’ activities.
SACOM also puts responsibility on Apple to pressure Biel Crystal to clean up its act.
Read the whole report here.
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...
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...
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Today's Teamster News 07.31.13
Teamsters, Paratransit employees strike Lake County Record-Bee ...The Teamsters and 35 employees of Lake County transit went on strike Monday after negotiations with Paratransit management failed to end in an agreement for a new contract...
UNITE HERE/Teamsters: Gate Gourmet faces labor trouble in North America Enquirer Herald ...Facing crucial votes by workers in the US and Canada, Gate Gourmet, the world's largest independent airline caterer, finds itself headed toward two separate labor disputes that could impact the majority of its unionized North American workforce...
Teamsters, Long Beach Area Trucking Companies in Labor Struggle Long Beach Business Journal ...Having secured its first contract for truck drivers working at the Port of Los Angeles, local Teamster organizers are stepping up their efforts to secure contracts for drivers who work for or with other short-haul drayage companies at the twin ports...
Sign Up While There’s Still Time for the Teamster Women's Conference IBT ...Don’t forget to register for the Teamster Women’s Conference that will be held September 19-21, 2013 in The Big Easy. Join your Teamster Sisters and Brothers for this dynamic gathering of great speakers, educational workshops and networking. The hotel registration deadline is August 20...
Senate Confirms NLRB Nominees; Board at Full Strength AFL-CIO Now ...The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is now fully staffed and able to continue to function to protect workers’ rights after the U.S. Senate today confirmed five members...
More than 200 fast-food workers strike in St Louis, Kansas City Associated Press ...at least 150 workers walked off the job Tuesday at about 60 restaurants in the St. Louis area, including some in Illinois. She says at least 70 workers in the Kansas City area walked picket lines outside of dozens of restaurants...
Fourth round of arrests made at Wisconsin Capitol Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...Police made a new round of arrests Tuesday at the state Capitol, as opponents of Gov. Scott Walker resumed their singalong protest in the rotunda...
Bloomberg's ban on big sodas is unconstitutional: appeals court Reuters ...New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's controversial plan to keep large sugary drinks out of restaurants and other eateries was rejected by a state appeals court on Tuesday, which said he had overstepped his authority in trying to impose the ban...
Food Stamp Cuts Set To Kick In, Congress Not Paying Attention Huffington Post ... Regardless of whether Republicans succeed in cutting food stamps this year, the 22 million American households relying on the program will see their benefits drop in November...
Where Did The Good Jobs Go? Globalization, Free Trade And The Demise Of America’s Middle Class MintPress News ...U.S.-based multinational corporations decreased their number of U.S. workers by 3.3 million from 1989-2011. Helping to accelerate this shift has been the proliferation of trade pacts like NAFTA, which eliminated nearly 700,000 U.S. jobs since it was first enacted in 1994...
Massive damage but no deaths in blast at central Florida propane plant CNN ...Equipment failure and human error likely caused the propane tank cylinders to explode at a central Florida refilling plant late Monday. The blasts at the Blue Rhino plant in Tavares injured eight plant workers...
The Force Behind Bills To Lower Wages and Suppress Workers’ Rights? In These Times ...You Guessed It: ALEC. The right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has modeled legislation to strip workers of their rights nationwide...
Georgia AG sues over online payday loans from SD The Daily Republic ...State Attorney General Sam Olens has filed a lawsuit against two companies saying they’ve been using the Internet to provide illegal payday loans to Georgia consumers...
Minnesota's child-care union fight is heating up StarTribune ...Judge ruled lawsuits to halt unionization effort were premature. Now opposing camps will try to get their messages out to about 12,700 family child-care providers...
Apple Supplier Accused Of Labor Abuses By China Watchdog (VIDEO) Associated Press ...A labor rights group Monday accused a Chinese company that makes iPhones for Apple Inc. of abuses including withholding employees' pay and excessive working hours...
FedEx Reaches $21.5 Million Settlement in Overcharging Suit Bloomberg News ...FedEx Corp. will pay $21.5 million to settle a lawsuit over claims that it overcharged customers by billing for deliveries to businesses and governments at higher residential rates...
Gov. Scott Walker wants to now limit bargaining powers for police and fire unions Fox6 News ...The Act 10 law currently limits most collective bargaining powers for most public employees, except for police and fire unions. Now, Gov. Scott Walker has suggested expanding Act 10 to include those unions...
The Outrageous Truth About A $12 Minimum Wage And Your Grocery Bill NH Labor News ...Opponents imagine that inflation will skyrocket; some have even claimed that ‘milk will be $10.00 a gallon’ if we raise the minimum wage. Oh, the hysteria. Milk is currently around $3.50 a gallon and that is up 25% from just ten years ago. Is that 25% due to rising wages? Sadly, no – wages in America have declined during that time. Let’s look at a few facts about minimum wage...
UNITE HERE/Teamsters: Gate Gourmet faces labor trouble in North America Enquirer Herald ...Facing crucial votes by workers in the US and Canada, Gate Gourmet, the world's largest independent airline caterer, finds itself headed toward two separate labor disputes that could impact the majority of its unionized North American workforce...
Teamsters, Long Beach Area Trucking Companies in Labor Struggle Long Beach Business Journal ...Having secured its first contract for truck drivers working at the Port of Los Angeles, local Teamster organizers are stepping up their efforts to secure contracts for drivers who work for or with other short-haul drayage companies at the twin ports...
Sign Up While There’s Still Time for the Teamster Women's Conference IBT ...Don’t forget to register for the Teamster Women’s Conference that will be held September 19-21, 2013 in The Big Easy. Join your Teamster Sisters and Brothers for this dynamic gathering of great speakers, educational workshops and networking. The hotel registration deadline is August 20...
Senate Confirms NLRB Nominees; Board at Full Strength AFL-CIO Now ...The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is now fully staffed and able to continue to function to protect workers’ rights after the U.S. Senate today confirmed five members...
More than 200 fast-food workers strike in St Louis, Kansas City Associated Press ...at least 150 workers walked off the job Tuesday at about 60 restaurants in the St. Louis area, including some in Illinois. She says at least 70 workers in the Kansas City area walked picket lines outside of dozens of restaurants...
Fourth round of arrests made at Wisconsin Capitol Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...Police made a new round of arrests Tuesday at the state Capitol, as opponents of Gov. Scott Walker resumed their singalong protest in the rotunda...
Bloomberg's ban on big sodas is unconstitutional: appeals court Reuters ...New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's controversial plan to keep large sugary drinks out of restaurants and other eateries was rejected by a state appeals court on Tuesday, which said he had overstepped his authority in trying to impose the ban...
Food Stamp Cuts Set To Kick In, Congress Not Paying Attention Huffington Post ... Regardless of whether Republicans succeed in cutting food stamps this year, the 22 million American households relying on the program will see their benefits drop in November...
Where Did The Good Jobs Go? Globalization, Free Trade And The Demise Of America’s Middle Class MintPress News ...U.S.-based multinational corporations decreased their number of U.S. workers by 3.3 million from 1989-2011. Helping to accelerate this shift has been the proliferation of trade pacts like NAFTA, which eliminated nearly 700,000 U.S. jobs since it was first enacted in 1994...
Massive damage but no deaths in blast at central Florida propane plant CNN ...Equipment failure and human error likely caused the propane tank cylinders to explode at a central Florida refilling plant late Monday. The blasts at the Blue Rhino plant in Tavares injured eight plant workers...
The Force Behind Bills To Lower Wages and Suppress Workers’ Rights? In These Times ...You Guessed It: ALEC. The right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has modeled legislation to strip workers of their rights nationwide...
Georgia AG sues over online payday loans from SD The Daily Republic ...State Attorney General Sam Olens has filed a lawsuit against two companies saying they’ve been using the Internet to provide illegal payday loans to Georgia consumers...
Minnesota's child-care union fight is heating up StarTribune ...Judge ruled lawsuits to halt unionization effort were premature. Now opposing camps will try to get their messages out to about 12,700 family child-care providers...
Apple Supplier Accused Of Labor Abuses By China Watchdog (VIDEO) Associated Press ...A labor rights group Monday accused a Chinese company that makes iPhones for Apple Inc. of abuses including withholding employees' pay and excessive working hours...
FedEx Reaches $21.5 Million Settlement in Overcharging Suit Bloomberg News ...FedEx Corp. will pay $21.5 million to settle a lawsuit over claims that it overcharged customers by billing for deliveries to businesses and governments at higher residential rates...
Gov. Scott Walker wants to now limit bargaining powers for police and fire unions Fox6 News ...The Act 10 law currently limits most collective bargaining powers for most public employees, except for police and fire unions. Now, Gov. Scott Walker has suggested expanding Act 10 to include those unions...
The Outrageous Truth About A $12 Minimum Wage And Your Grocery Bill NH Labor News ...Opponents imagine that inflation will skyrocket; some have even claimed that ‘milk will be $10.00 a gallon’ if we raise the minimum wage. Oh, the hysteria. Milk is currently around $3.50 a gallon and that is up 25% from just ten years ago. Is that 25% due to rising wages? Sadly, no – wages in America have declined during that time. Let’s look at a few facts about minimum wage...
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Today's Teamster News 05.30.13
Smithfield Foods to be bought by Chinese firm The Washington Post ...Smithfield Foods, whose signature hams helped make it the world’s largest pork producer, is being taken over by a Chinese firm in a deal is the biggest takeover that might raise sensitive issues about Chinese involvement in the U.S. food supply...
Shell Admits Real Reason Coast Guard Had To Rescue Its Arctic Drilling Rig: Failed Tax Avoidance Scheme ThinkProgress ...The main reason an offshore oil rig ran aground off the coast of Alaska late last year was because oil company Royal Dutch Shell was trying to depart state waters to avoid paying millions in taxes...
Americans Now Know More About Often Pathetic Personal Finances mni ...Fewer than half, 41%, of Americans spend less than they make...
Case-Shiller Shows Home Prices Are Skyrocketing Back to the Bubble Years Economic Populist ...The March 2013 S&P Case Shiller home price index shows a 10.9% price increase from a year ago for over 20 metropolitan housing markets and a 10.3% change for the top 10 housing markets from March 2012...
16 Countries Where People Work the Longest Hours The Fiscal Times ...When it comes to annual hours worked in 2010, the U.S. tied with Italy for 13th place among the OECD countries...
ALEC: Shining Sunlight on a Secretive Lobby Group The Pilot ...the Republican supermajority in the North Carolina General Assembly is getting many of its worst ideas for how to change our state from the Washington, D.C.-based American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Every citizen needs to know more about ALEC and its stealth efforts to undermine our modern-day democracy...
House Democrats gear up for Affordable Care Act outreach Politico ...Democrats on Capitol Hill are beginning a significant outreach effort to get lawmakers prepared for Obamacare enrollment, which will begin Oct. 1...
The World's Richest 8% Earn Half of All Planetary Income AlterNet ...The top 1 per cent has seen its real income rise by more than 60 per cent over those two decades...
Income Inequality Gets Worse When You Slash Taxes On The Rich: Study Huffington Post ...The rich just keep getting richer -- not only by gobbling up more income, but also by paying less in taxes. That means less support for the poor, who are getting increasingly poorer relative to the top one percent...
Apple’s U.S. revenue should be taxed (opinion) Washington Post …The open secret of many global corporations’ success — and occasionally, downfall — is to fall between the cracks. Apple, which is based in Cupertino, Calif., created an Irish subsidiary with no employees, into which it funneled roughly $30 billion between 2009 and 2012 on which neither Ireland nor the United States levied taxes...
Switzerland Weighs Deal in Tax Cases Deal Book ...The Swiss government is considering a proposal to disclose bank client names and pay a multibillion-dollar fine to the United States to help resolve a long-running dispute between the two countries over the handling of tax-evasion cases...
Proposed law would allow state to check, freeze private bank accounts to recover overpayments to jobless Wisconsin State Journal ...A bill that is speeding through the state Legislature would require jobless people to provide more proof that they are seeking work, and make it easier for the state to recover overpayments — including those made because of government errors — by allowing officials to peek into unemployed people’s bank accounts...
County-by-county details: How badly Wisconsin trails the nation in job-creation Institute for Wisconsin's Future ...private-sector wages in Wisconsin falling at 2% a year, twice the national rate. Wisconsin ranked 44th out of 50 in wage growth...
Giants Fans Bring Their Own Lunches To Support Concessions Workers’ Strike In These Times ...After three years without a contract, and on one of the busiest weekends of the season, hundreds of concessions workers at the San Francisco Giants’ ballpark staged a one-day strike. As baseball fans arrived on Saturday afternoon to watch the Giants take on the Colorado Rockies, strikers asked them not to buy food and drink inside the stadium...
After going nowhere in 2013, supporters hope to bring “right to work” back next year The Missouri Times ...Though prevailing wage and “paycheck protection” bills passed both chambers, another labor-related topic that saw minimal action this session was the “right to work” issue...
No mere luxury: Liquor privatization is about much more Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ...Concern is rising in the General Assembly, particularly among Democrats, that House Republicans may be linking a bill to end the government's liquor monopoly with a measure to increase transportation funding...
Teamsters Power Consumer Electronics Show IBT ...Every year, Las Vegas is visited by an average of nearly 5 million conventioneers as the city plays host to more than 21,000 shows. Local 631 in Las Vegas represents more than 3,000 trade show and convention workers that help to keep shows on track and on time...
Teamsters Offer Free Disability Services to Military Veterans Teamsters Joint Council 25 ...An offshoot of the national Helmets to Hardhats program, the Teamsters Military Assistance Program (TMAP) provides disability assistance for all military veterans and job placement opportunities for veterans in the construction industry...
Stop Cuts To Public Safety And Economic Growth IBT ...Sequestration is more than a confusing term being debated in Washington. There is immediate and future impact that many Americans will feel based on significant reductions in funding numerous government programs that touch the lives of all segments of our society...
Shell Admits Real Reason Coast Guard Had To Rescue Its Arctic Drilling Rig: Failed Tax Avoidance Scheme ThinkProgress ...The main reason an offshore oil rig ran aground off the coast of Alaska late last year was because oil company Royal Dutch Shell was trying to depart state waters to avoid paying millions in taxes...
Americans Now Know More About Often Pathetic Personal Finances mni ...Fewer than half, 41%, of Americans spend less than they make...
Case-Shiller Shows Home Prices Are Skyrocketing Back to the Bubble Years Economic Populist ...The March 2013 S&P Case Shiller home price index shows a 10.9% price increase from a year ago for over 20 metropolitan housing markets and a 10.3% change for the top 10 housing markets from March 2012...
16 Countries Where People Work the Longest Hours The Fiscal Times ...When it comes to annual hours worked in 2010, the U.S. tied with Italy for 13th place among the OECD countries...
ALEC: Shining Sunlight on a Secretive Lobby Group The Pilot ...the Republican supermajority in the North Carolina General Assembly is getting many of its worst ideas for how to change our state from the Washington, D.C.-based American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Every citizen needs to know more about ALEC and its stealth efforts to undermine our modern-day democracy...
House Democrats gear up for Affordable Care Act outreach Politico ...Democrats on Capitol Hill are beginning a significant outreach effort to get lawmakers prepared for Obamacare enrollment, which will begin Oct. 1...
The World's Richest 8% Earn Half of All Planetary Income AlterNet ...The top 1 per cent has seen its real income rise by more than 60 per cent over those two decades...
Income Inequality Gets Worse When You Slash Taxes On The Rich: Study Huffington Post ...The rich just keep getting richer -- not only by gobbling up more income, but also by paying less in taxes. That means less support for the poor, who are getting increasingly poorer relative to the top one percent...
Apple’s U.S. revenue should be taxed (opinion) Washington Post …The open secret of many global corporations’ success — and occasionally, downfall — is to fall between the cracks. Apple, which is based in Cupertino, Calif., created an Irish subsidiary with no employees, into which it funneled roughly $30 billion between 2009 and 2012 on which neither Ireland nor the United States levied taxes...
Switzerland Weighs Deal in Tax Cases Deal Book ...The Swiss government is considering a proposal to disclose bank client names and pay a multibillion-dollar fine to the United States to help resolve a long-running dispute between the two countries over the handling of tax-evasion cases...
Proposed law would allow state to check, freeze private bank accounts to recover overpayments to jobless Wisconsin State Journal ...A bill that is speeding through the state Legislature would require jobless people to provide more proof that they are seeking work, and make it easier for the state to recover overpayments — including those made because of government errors — by allowing officials to peek into unemployed people’s bank accounts...
County-by-county details: How badly Wisconsin trails the nation in job-creation Institute for Wisconsin's Future ...private-sector wages in Wisconsin falling at 2% a year, twice the national rate. Wisconsin ranked 44th out of 50 in wage growth...
Giants Fans Bring Their Own Lunches To Support Concessions Workers’ Strike In These Times ...After three years without a contract, and on one of the busiest weekends of the season, hundreds of concessions workers at the San Francisco Giants’ ballpark staged a one-day strike. As baseball fans arrived on Saturday afternoon to watch the Giants take on the Colorado Rockies, strikers asked them not to buy food and drink inside the stadium...
After going nowhere in 2013, supporters hope to bring “right to work” back next year The Missouri Times ...Though prevailing wage and “paycheck protection” bills passed both chambers, another labor-related topic that saw minimal action this session was the “right to work” issue...
No mere luxury: Liquor privatization is about much more Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ...Concern is rising in the General Assembly, particularly among Democrats, that House Republicans may be linking a bill to end the government's liquor monopoly with a measure to increase transportation funding...
Teamsters Power Consumer Electronics Show IBT ...Every year, Las Vegas is visited by an average of nearly 5 million conventioneers as the city plays host to more than 21,000 shows. Local 631 in Las Vegas represents more than 3,000 trade show and convention workers that help to keep shows on track and on time...
Teamsters Offer Free Disability Services to Military Veterans Teamsters Joint Council 25 ...An offshoot of the national Helmets to Hardhats program, the Teamsters Military Assistance Program (TMAP) provides disability assistance for all military veterans and job placement opportunities for veterans in the construction industry...
Stop Cuts To Public Safety And Economic Growth IBT ...Sequestration is more than a confusing term being debated in Washington. There is immediate and future impact that many Americans will feel based on significant reductions in funding numerous government programs that touch the lives of all segments of our society...
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Today's Teamster News 05.22.13
How to help tornado victims The Oklahoman ...If you are able to do so, please do what you can to help families impacted by the recent storms. Several nonprofit organizations are collecting donations...
Rubber bullets greet Bangladesh garment workers' pay protest AFP ...Bangladeshi police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at thousands of garment workers as they demanded a wage hike at a protest in a manufacturing hub outside the capital Dhaka...
Poverty Among Senior Citizens is Worse than Official Numbers Fire Dog Lake ...A new analysis shows that poverty among seniors is significantly worse than official estimates...
Low-wage workers picket outside federal buildings Washington Post ...Food-service workers in Washington, D.C. walked off their jobs in the food court of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center on Tuesday morning as part of a day-long protest of low wages paid to federal contract employees...
Why Austerity Kills: From Greece to U.S., Crippling Economic Policies Causing Global Health Crisis Democracy Now! ...there have been more than 10,000 additional suicides and up to a million extra cases of depression across Europe and the United States since governments started introducing austerity programs...
Occupy Our Homes Activists Arrested At Justice Department Headquarters Fire Dog Lake ...About 100 protesters with groups called the Home Defenders League and Occupy Our Homes marched on the building ... According to D.C. police, 17 people were arrested. Ann C. Wilcox, an attorney who represents protesters, said several were tased during the scuffle...
Apple Avoids Paying $17 Million In Taxes Every Day Through A Ballsy But Genius Tax Avoidance Scheme Business Insider ...Apple has found the secret to not paying taxes. You just avoid taxes by not declaring a tax residency for the company that oversees the entirety of your international income...
Delaware judge orders Wal-Mart to give shareholders more info related to bribery allegations Associated Press ...A judge in Delaware ordered attorneys for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to turn over more information to shareholders seeking records on how the company responded to allegations of bribery involving its operations in Mexico...
Can crowd funding rescue the LA Times? MSN Money ...An advocacy group wants to raise $660 million from lots of little guys to keep Tribune's newspapers away from the billionaire Koch brothers...
Unions are integral part of modern free society (opinion) Cincinnati Enquirer ...Well-organized union work has given us the 40-hour work week, the weekend, Labor Day, safety laws and health laws among other enhancements. The so-called “right to work” is a referenda between choosing to work in a unionized business or agency, or being stripped of workplace rights that protect people and further freedom...
City underpaid Teamsters' health fund Utica Observer Dispatch ...The Teamsters audited the health fund from January 2010 to December 2012 and discovered the error...
No deal: Bay City Commission rejects Teamsters contract for managers Michigan Live ...The Bay City Commission rejected a new contract for nine managers working in City Hall...
Teamster reps endorse ABF contract The City Wire ...Monday’s action paves the way for a vote among the estimated 7,500 union workers employed by Fort Smith-based ABF...
Rubber bullets greet Bangladesh garment workers' pay protest AFP ...Bangladeshi police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at thousands of garment workers as they demanded a wage hike at a protest in a manufacturing hub outside the capital Dhaka...
Poverty Among Senior Citizens is Worse than Official Numbers Fire Dog Lake ...A new analysis shows that poverty among seniors is significantly worse than official estimates...
Low-wage workers picket outside federal buildings Washington Post ...Food-service workers in Washington, D.C. walked off their jobs in the food court of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center on Tuesday morning as part of a day-long protest of low wages paid to federal contract employees...
Why Austerity Kills: From Greece to U.S., Crippling Economic Policies Causing Global Health Crisis Democracy Now! ...there have been more than 10,000 additional suicides and up to a million extra cases of depression across Europe and the United States since governments started introducing austerity programs...
Occupy Our Homes Activists Arrested At Justice Department Headquarters Fire Dog Lake ...About 100 protesters with groups called the Home Defenders League and Occupy Our Homes marched on the building ... According to D.C. police, 17 people were arrested. Ann C. Wilcox, an attorney who represents protesters, said several were tased during the scuffle...
Apple Avoids Paying $17 Million In Taxes Every Day Through A Ballsy But Genius Tax Avoidance Scheme Business Insider ...Apple has found the secret to not paying taxes. You just avoid taxes by not declaring a tax residency for the company that oversees the entirety of your international income...
Delaware judge orders Wal-Mart to give shareholders more info related to bribery allegations Associated Press ...A judge in Delaware ordered attorneys for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to turn over more information to shareholders seeking records on how the company responded to allegations of bribery involving its operations in Mexico...
Can crowd funding rescue the LA Times? MSN Money ...An advocacy group wants to raise $660 million from lots of little guys to keep Tribune's newspapers away from the billionaire Koch brothers...
Unions are integral part of modern free society (opinion) Cincinnati Enquirer ...Well-organized union work has given us the 40-hour work week, the weekend, Labor Day, safety laws and health laws among other enhancements. The so-called “right to work” is a referenda between choosing to work in a unionized business or agency, or being stripped of workplace rights that protect people and further freedom...
City underpaid Teamsters' health fund Utica Observer Dispatch ...The Teamsters audited the health fund from January 2010 to December 2012 and discovered the error...
No deal: Bay City Commission rejects Teamsters contract for managers Michigan Live ...The Bay City Commission rejected a new contract for nine managers working in City Hall...
Teamster reps endorse ABF contract The City Wire ...Monday’s action paves the way for a vote among the estimated 7,500 union workers employed by Fort Smith-based ABF...
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Expose of Apple's neo-slaves gets pushback
At least that's what you'd think is going on if you peruse the headlines. Yahoo reported "The New York Times Gets Its Pulitzer For Picking On Apple." Forbes ran the exact same headline. "Apple bashing earns New York Times a Pulitzer" was the way The iDownloadBlog put it.
We suspect those headlines were written with Apple's help. Because the story is a good one, and it doesn't reflect well on Apple. It's about the company's practice of using manufacturers in Asia that treat their workers like indentured servants. To put it nicely.
The story didn't just appeal to Pulitzer judges. It struck a nerve with American workers watching their incomes stagnate or fall as their workloads increase -- or worse, as their hours get cut to part time or they receive a devastating lay-off notice. At fault for their plight are companies like Apple that abandon the U.S. for cheap labor and subsidized factories overseas.
The story the Times told was a fair one. Headline "How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work," it reported:
Apple employs 43,000 people in the United States and 20,000 overseas, a small fraction of the over 400,000 American workers at General Motors in the 1950s, or the hundreds of thousands at General Electric in the 1980s. Many more people work for Apple’s contractors: an additional 700,000 people engineer, build and assemble iPads, iPhones and Apple’s other products. But almost none of them work in the United States. Instead, they work for foreign companies in Asia, Europe and elsewhere, at factories that almost all electronics designers rely upon to build their wares.
“Apple’s an example of why it’s so hard to create middle-class jobs in the U.S. now,” said Jared Bernstein, who until last year was an economic adviser to the White House.
“If it’s the pinnacle of capitalism, we should be worried.”The story alludes -- but doesn't dwell on -- China's unfair trade practices. Apple chose to manufacture glass for the iPhone screen in a Foxconn factory subsidized by the Chinese government.
The Chinese government had agreed to underwrite costs for numerous industries, and those subsidies had trickled down to the glass-cutting factory. It had a warehouse filled with glass samples available to Apple, free of charge. The owners made engineers available at almost no cost. They had built on-site dormitories so employees would be available 24 hours a day.If "on-site dormitories" sounds a bit like slave quarters to you, well, we can't disagree. Then there's this:
The facility has 230,000 employees, many working six days a week, often spending up to 12 hours a day at the plant. Over a quarter of Foxconn’s work force lives in company barracks and many workers earn less than $17 a day...Foxconn employs nearly 300 guards to direct foot traffic so workers are not crushed in doorway bottlenecks. (Ed note: Yeah, sure, that's why they employ guards.)...
In mid-2007, after a month of experimentation, Apple’s engineers finally perfected a method for cutting strengthened glass so it could be used in the iPhone’s screen. The first truckloads of cut glass arrived at Foxconn City in the dead of night, according to the former Apple executive. That’s when managers woke thousands of workers, who crawled into their uniforms — white and black shirts for men, red for women — and quickly lined up to assemble, by hand, the phones.No, we're not feeling a lot of love for Apple. We think the Pulitzer board made a good choice.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Today's Teamster News 01.13.13
Treasury: We won’t mint a platinum coin to sidestep the debt ceiling Washington Post ...“Neither the Treasury Department nor the Federal Reserve believes that the law can or should be used to facilitate the production of platinum coins for the purpose of avoiding an increase in the debt limit...”
‘Right to work’ laws are poor strategy for long-term growth Standard-Examiner ...Given the evidence of monopoly power, RTW laws turn states into accomplices in tilting the balance of collective bargaining power in favor of businesses, a policy contrary to free market principles...
Don’t be fooled by Apple’s PR: Workers strike against sweatshop conditions Economic Policy Institute ...the strike resulted from the sweatshop working conditions at the plant, poor pay, lack of union representation, health and safety violations, and general lack of respect for the workers...
House Leadership's Anti-Worker Proposal Comes Straight from ALEC Corporate Bill Mill Progress Missouri ...This legislation is often called a 'right to work' proposal, a misleading label that masks the true intention of the bill: to silence middle class voices on behalf of radical billionaire CEOs...
'Buy America' legislation introduced in Ky. KFVS ... the bill would require public works projects funded with taxpayer dollars to use American made iron, steel and manufactured goods when they are available...
Satanists To Rally in Favor of Rick Scott Miami New Times ...members of the Florida-based Satanic Temple will gather on the steps of the Governor's office on January 25 to rally in favor of Florida Governor Rick Scott...
With Walker, the people always the last to know (opinion) The Cap Times ...This governor has a habit of revealing the details of his agenda first to those who can benefit him most politically — either with support on the national political circuit, where he spends so much of his time, or with the campaign contributions he so craves...
‘Right to work’ laws are poor strategy for long-term growth Standard-Examiner ...Given the evidence of monopoly power, RTW laws turn states into accomplices in tilting the balance of collective bargaining power in favor of businesses, a policy contrary to free market principles...
Don’t be fooled by Apple’s PR: Workers strike against sweatshop conditions Economic Policy Institute ...the strike resulted from the sweatshop working conditions at the plant, poor pay, lack of union representation, health and safety violations, and general lack of respect for the workers...
House Leadership's Anti-Worker Proposal Comes Straight from ALEC Corporate Bill Mill Progress Missouri ...This legislation is often called a 'right to work' proposal, a misleading label that masks the true intention of the bill: to silence middle class voices on behalf of radical billionaire CEOs...
'Buy America' legislation introduced in Ky. KFVS ... the bill would require public works projects funded with taxpayer dollars to use American made iron, steel and manufactured goods when they are available...
Satanists To Rally in Favor of Rick Scott Miami New Times ...members of the Florida-based Satanic Temple will gather on the steps of the Governor's office on January 25 to rally in favor of Florida Governor Rick Scott...
With Walker, the people always the last to know (opinion) The Cap Times ...This governor has a habit of revealing the details of his agenda first to those who can benefit him most politically — either with support on the national political circuit, where he spends so much of his time, or with the campaign contributions he so craves...
Friday, December 28, 2012
Today's Teamster News 12.28.12
"Fiscal Cliff": There is no Drop Dead Date and more thoughts Calculated Risk ...The "fiscal cliff" is about too much austerity too quickly (cutting the deficit too quickly). The "cliff" is a combination of expiring tax cuts (income taxes, payroll taxes, and more will increase), and forced spending cuts (mostly for defense). This has NOTHING to do with other long term fiscal issues, primarily related to medicare...
Meet the Grandfather of the Fiscal Cliff: He Works for ALEC Alternet ...Through his work for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and a host of other outlets, (Arthur) Laffer’s prescriptions have gained purchase in several tax debates around the country, including in Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee...
Forget The Fiscal Cliff: Three Bigger Perils Lie Ahead Business Insider ...The “fiscal cliff” is a metaphor for a government that no longer responds to the biggest challenges we face because it’s paralyzed by intransigent Republicans, obsessed by the federal budget deficit, and overwhelmed by big money from corporations, Wall Street, and billionaires...
Minimum wage indexing protects nearly a million low-wage workers this New Year Economic Policy Institute ...On Jan. 1, nearly a million workers in 10 states will see the value of their paychecks preserved against inflation. Workers in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington are protected each year by automatic indexing of their state’s minimum wage...
Apple loses another copyright lawsuit in China: Xinhua Reuters ...Apple is to pay compensation to eight Chinese writers and two companies for violating their copyrights, the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court ruled on Thursday, Xinhua said...
Financial controls lacking at state jobs agency Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...When Gov. Scott Walker and lawmakers created the state's partly independent jobs agency 18 months ago, they left out a basic legal requirement put on similar state authorities and commonly practiced by private businesses: to compile and audit its financial statements...
Is Scott's plan to create jobs working? Record proves mixed Sun-Sentinel ...Democrats argue the governor has been claiming credit for job creation while simultaneously damaging it with massive spending cuts that led to layoffs of teachers, state employees and workers at companies such as road builders that rely on government contracts...
Meet the Grandfather of the Fiscal Cliff: He Works for ALEC Alternet ...Through his work for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and a host of other outlets, (Arthur) Laffer’s prescriptions have gained purchase in several tax debates around the country, including in Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee...
Forget The Fiscal Cliff: Three Bigger Perils Lie Ahead Business Insider ...The “fiscal cliff” is a metaphor for a government that no longer responds to the biggest challenges we face because it’s paralyzed by intransigent Republicans, obsessed by the federal budget deficit, and overwhelmed by big money from corporations, Wall Street, and billionaires...
Minimum wage indexing protects nearly a million low-wage workers this New Year Economic Policy Institute ...On Jan. 1, nearly a million workers in 10 states will see the value of their paychecks preserved against inflation. Workers in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington are protected each year by automatic indexing of their state’s minimum wage...
Apple loses another copyright lawsuit in China: Xinhua Reuters ...Apple is to pay compensation to eight Chinese writers and two companies for violating their copyrights, the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court ruled on Thursday, Xinhua said...
Financial controls lacking at state jobs agency Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...When Gov. Scott Walker and lawmakers created the state's partly independent jobs agency 18 months ago, they left out a basic legal requirement put on similar state authorities and commonly practiced by private businesses: to compile and audit its financial statements...
Is Scott's plan to create jobs working? Record proves mixed Sun-Sentinel ...Democrats argue the governor has been claiming credit for job creation while simultaneously damaging it with massive spending cuts that led to layoffs of teachers, state employees and workers at companies such as road builders that rely on government contracts...
Friday, December 21, 2012
Investigation finds iPhone 5 workers treated brutally in China
Our friends at the Economic Policy Institute shared the findings of a French undercover investigation of conditions at Foxconn, the Chinese maker of Apple products.
EPI's Isaach Shapiro brought us a translation of the French, which tells us at Foxconn’s iPhone 5 factory in Zhengzhou:
Apple invited a group called the Fair Labor Association to conduct an earlier investigation. The FLA painted a rosy picture of reforms at Foxconn. Shapiro is skeptical. Read why here.
- Many workers are living in unfinished dorms that have no elevators, electricity, or running water.
- Eight workers living in dorms with electricity were killed in a fire caused by workers plugging electronic devices into overloaded circuits, according to the reporters’ translation of a safety speech given by a Foxconn supervisor.
- Student workers are still being forced to work there, including 16-year old students who said their teachers told them they would not earn their diplomas if they refused to participate in a three-month “internship” which amounted to assembly line work, including night shifts. The students also believed their scholarships were at risk. Their parents tried to stop this arrangement, to no avail.1
- Wages are still substantially absorbed by payments back to the company for housing, insurance, and food, and work hours can still be excessively long.
Friday, December 7, 2012
Today's Teamster News 12.07.12
Michigan Republicans brush aside Democrats, union protesters to OK right-to-work legislation Associated Press ...In an audacious flex of political muscle, Republicans in a single day reached the brink of a goal that for years has seemed an all-but-impossible dream: making the labor bastion of Michigan a right-to-work state...
Teamsters Make Oral Arguments In Appeals Court Against Mexican Truck Program IBT ...The Teamsters Union argued in court today that the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) pilot program to open the border to Mexican trucks must be shut down because it is dangerous and illegal...
Wisconsin has nation's biggest jump in new jobless benefit claims WTAQ ...U.S. labor officials said Thursday that almost 5,900 Wisconsin workers filed benefit applications during the week ending November 24th. That’s more than twice as many as second-place Oregon...
Apple CEO confirms company will begin manufacturing one line of computers in the United States manufacture this ... Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, confirms the company will begin manufacturing one of its existing Mac lines in the United States starting next year...
Adelsons donate $33 million to GOP super PACs in closing days CNN ...Nevada casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam contributed $33 million to two major Republican super PACs in the closing weeks of the 2012 campaign, according to campaign finance disclosure reports filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission...
Indiana privatization consultant heads Ohio Turnpike study Plunderbund ...KPMG employee Tim Wilschetz was paid to advise the “private consortia” bidding on the Indiana Toll Road in 2005. The following year the road was leased to foreign investors who, after doubling tolls on the road, are now on track to default on their loans to finance the deal...
Teamsters Make Oral Arguments In Appeals Court Against Mexican Truck Program IBT ...The Teamsters Union argued in court today that the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) pilot program to open the border to Mexican trucks must be shut down because it is dangerous and illegal...
Wisconsin has nation's biggest jump in new jobless benefit claims WTAQ ...U.S. labor officials said Thursday that almost 5,900 Wisconsin workers filed benefit applications during the week ending November 24th. That’s more than twice as many as second-place Oregon...
Apple CEO confirms company will begin manufacturing one line of computers in the United States manufacture this ... Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, confirms the company will begin manufacturing one of its existing Mac lines in the United States starting next year...
Adelsons donate $33 million to GOP super PACs in closing days CNN ...Nevada casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam contributed $33 million to two major Republican super PACs in the closing weeks of the 2012 campaign, according to campaign finance disclosure reports filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission...
Indiana privatization consultant heads Ohio Turnpike study Plunderbund ...KPMG employee Tim Wilschetz was paid to advise the “private consortia” bidding on the Indiana Toll Road in 2005. The following year the road was leased to foreign investors who, after doubling tolls on the road, are now on track to default on their loans to finance the deal...
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Today's Teamster News 12.05.12
(UPDATE: Adding news items about Florida prison privatization, wage theft, organizing low-wage workers, port strike)
Hoyer: Entitlement benefit cuts on the table in talks with GOP on 'fiscal cliff' The Hill ...A number of Democratic leaders ... said they would support some spending reductions in Medicare, but that cuts to direct benefits should not be a part of the negotiations. Along with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), they also maintain that Social Security reform has no place at all in the "fiscal cliff" talks. But Hoyer, the Democratic whip, warned that taking entitlement benefits off the table is a bad place to start the negotiations. Such entrenched positions are little different, he said, than the Republicans' refusal to consider hikes in tax rates — a central element of President Obama's deficit-reduction proposal...
Nearly Half Of Republicans Believe Defunct Organization Stole The Election For Obama ThinkProgress ...Forty nine percent of Republicans believe that President Obama won reelection thanks to the allegedly illegal work of a group that no longer exists, according to a Public Policy Polling survey...
47% Of People Think The Deficit Would INCREASE If We Go Over The Fiscal Cliff Business Insider ...for all the hype about the issue, very few people really understand what The Fiscal Cliff actually is...
Unionizing the Bottom of the Pay Scale New York Times ... either we build an economy in which most workers can earn enough to adequately support their families or we build a government with the wherewithal to subsidize the existence of a lower class that can’t survive on its own. We are doing neither...
The New iMac: Designed By Apple In California, Assembled In USA TechCrunch ...Your next Mac could be assembled in America. Apple is assembling at least some of the new, ultra-thin iMacs in the U.S...
Snyder puts right to work on agenda Detroit News ...Facing mounting pressure from conservative activists and business groups, Gov. Rick Snyder said Tuesday "right to work is on the agenda" but didn't say whether the Republican-controlled Legislature would pursue the controversial legislation this year...
Department vows to appeal ruling blocking privatization of prison health care Tallahassee Democrat ... Deputy Corrections Secretary Mike Crews said the state “disagrees with, and intends to appeal” today’s ruling blocking the privatization of health care services in North and Central Florida...
Palm Beach County scraps wage-theft law Sun Sentinel ...Palm Beach County commissioners sided with business interests Tuesday in opting for watered-down wage-theft help for local workers...
Deal brings end to L.A., Long Beach ports strike Los Angeles Times ...Clerical workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will return to work Wednesday, ending a strike that crippled America's busiest shipping hub for more than a week...
Walker, Wis. GOP, Consolidate Power with ALEC’s Help The Progressive ...Every committee chair has the dubious distinction of having scored 96% or 100% on the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce legislative scorecard ... Most are members of the American Legislative Exchange Council, an organization funded by corporations, which writes model legislation to promote their interests...
Hoyer: Entitlement benefit cuts on the table in talks with GOP on 'fiscal cliff' The Hill ...A number of Democratic leaders ... said they would support some spending reductions in Medicare, but that cuts to direct benefits should not be a part of the negotiations. Along with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), they also maintain that Social Security reform has no place at all in the "fiscal cliff" talks. But Hoyer, the Democratic whip, warned that taking entitlement benefits off the table is a bad place to start the negotiations. Such entrenched positions are little different, he said, than the Republicans' refusal to consider hikes in tax rates — a central element of President Obama's deficit-reduction proposal...
Nearly Half Of Republicans Believe Defunct Organization Stole The Election For Obama ThinkProgress ...Forty nine percent of Republicans believe that President Obama won reelection thanks to the allegedly illegal work of a group that no longer exists, according to a Public Policy Polling survey...
47% Of People Think The Deficit Would INCREASE If We Go Over The Fiscal Cliff Business Insider ...for all the hype about the issue, very few people really understand what The Fiscal Cliff actually is...
Unionizing the Bottom of the Pay Scale New York Times ... either we build an economy in which most workers can earn enough to adequately support their families or we build a government with the wherewithal to subsidize the existence of a lower class that can’t survive on its own. We are doing neither...
The New iMac: Designed By Apple In California, Assembled In USA TechCrunch ...Your next Mac could be assembled in America. Apple is assembling at least some of the new, ultra-thin iMacs in the U.S...
Snyder puts right to work on agenda Detroit News ...Facing mounting pressure from conservative activists and business groups, Gov. Rick Snyder said Tuesday "right to work is on the agenda" but didn't say whether the Republican-controlled Legislature would pursue the controversial legislation this year...
Department vows to appeal ruling blocking privatization of prison health care Tallahassee Democrat ... Deputy Corrections Secretary Mike Crews said the state “disagrees with, and intends to appeal” today’s ruling blocking the privatization of health care services in North and Central Florida...
Palm Beach County scraps wage-theft law Sun Sentinel ...Palm Beach County commissioners sided with business interests Tuesday in opting for watered-down wage-theft help for local workers...
Deal brings end to L.A., Long Beach ports strike Los Angeles Times ...Clerical workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will return to work Wednesday, ending a strike that crippled America's busiest shipping hub for more than a week...
Walker, Wis. GOP, Consolidate Power with ALEC’s Help The Progressive ...Every committee chair has the dubious distinction of having scored 96% or 100% on the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce legislative scorecard ... Most are members of the American Legislative Exchange Council, an organization funded by corporations, which writes model legislation to promote their interests...
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Today's Teamster News 10.20.12
Unemployment rate drops in 41 states, including most swing states Washington Post ...the state-based unemployment numbers can actually be a better indication of how the voters that matter in the 2012 election (i.e. swing state voters) are viewing the economy than the national unemployment figures...
Unions shift political muscle to state and local races to limit anti-labor measures Associated Press ...In New Hampshire, unions want to keep the governor’s seat in Democratic hands to prevent a right-to-work measure. In Maine and Minnesota, labor leaders hope to overturn Republican majorities in state legislatures. And in Michigan, unions are trying to enshrine collective bargaining rights in the state constitution...
Can Apple start making their product in the U.S. again? The answer is YES. manufacture this ... labor is a small part (probably less than 10 percent) of Apple’s cost of manufacturing, far less than capital equipment and components. With wages rising in China and U.S. manufacturing workers actually being far more productive, the labor cost differential become very small...
Does the Romney Family Now Own Your e-Vote? truthout ...Through a closely held equity fund called Solamere, Mitt Romney and his wife, son and brother are major investors in an investment firm called H.I.G. Capital. H.I.G. in turn holds a majority share and three out of five board members in Hart Intercivic, a company that owns the notoriously faulty electronic voting machines that will count the ballots in swing state Ohio November 7...
Teamsters Applaud Signing Of Military Commercial Drivers' License Act iBT ...The demand for qualified, safe truck drivers has risen over the past few years and the new law will make it easier for veterans and service men and women to obtain Commercial Drivers Licenses (CDL), making them more employable once they leave active-duty...
Atlas Air / Polar Air Cargo Teamsters Reach Tentative Agreement By International Brotherhood of Teamsters IBT ...Flight Dispatchers to Vote on a First Contract, Securing Strong Job Improvements...
Unions shift political muscle to state and local races to limit anti-labor measures Associated Press ...In New Hampshire, unions want to keep the governor’s seat in Democratic hands to prevent a right-to-work measure. In Maine and Minnesota, labor leaders hope to overturn Republican majorities in state legislatures. And in Michigan, unions are trying to enshrine collective bargaining rights in the state constitution...
Can Apple start making their product in the U.S. again? The answer is YES. manufacture this ... labor is a small part (probably less than 10 percent) of Apple’s cost of manufacturing, far less than capital equipment and components. With wages rising in China and U.S. manufacturing workers actually being far more productive, the labor cost differential become very small...
Does the Romney Family Now Own Your e-Vote? truthout ...Through a closely held equity fund called Solamere, Mitt Romney and his wife, son and brother are major investors in an investment firm called H.I.G. Capital. H.I.G. in turn holds a majority share and three out of five board members in Hart Intercivic, a company that owns the notoriously faulty electronic voting machines that will count the ballots in swing state Ohio November 7...
Teamsters Applaud Signing Of Military Commercial Drivers' License Act iBT ...The demand for qualified, safe truck drivers has risen over the past few years and the new law will make it easier for veterans and service men and women to obtain Commercial Drivers Licenses (CDL), making them more employable once they leave active-duty...
Atlas Air / Polar Air Cargo Teamsters Reach Tentative Agreement By International Brotherhood of Teamsters IBT ...Flight Dispatchers to Vote on a First Contract, Securing Strong Job Improvements...
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Hilarious SNL skit on Apple's Chinese workers
Our friends at the Economic Policy Institute brought this to our attention. They've done plenty of serious work on the terrible working conditions at the Foxconn factory that makes iPhones. Those include forced labor (aka slavery), wage theft, overcrowding, filth and low pay. It's even worse in some of Apple's other factories.
Read up on it at EPI's website here.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Foxconn isn't the only sweatshop making iPhones
According to the Economic Policy Institute:
China Labor Watch ... found working conditions at the Foxconn factory to be severe, with workers employed long hours at low pay under harsh living conditions. The CLW report also breaks new ground in three areas. The report finds ... for instance, that employees in most of the factories typically work 11 hours a day and can only take one day off a month (low wage levels and management pressure compel them to work such hours); that employee dorms are frequently overcrowded, dirty and lacking in facilities; and that there is little ability for workers at Apple suppliers to push for reasonable working conditions on their own.
As bad as working conditions at Foxconn are, they are even worse at some of the other factories in China that supply Apple. The report flags the three Riteng factories investigated as particularly difficult places to work. ... Riteng workers typically work 12 hours per day nearly every day of the year (including weekends and holidays), compared to 10 hours per day at the Foxconn factories, with some days off. The average wage for the Riteng workers amounts to $1.28 per hour, or well below the already quite low average hourly wage of $1.65 for Foxconn workers. Health and safety conditions are much worse at the Riteng factories than at the Foxconn factory, and living conditions are worse for the Riteng workers as well.
Certain serious labor problems have so far been neglected in the discussion of work practices at Apple suppliers in China. In particular, the new report documents the troubling yet common practice by Apple suppliers of using dispatched labor. This practice enables factories to reduce the compensation and benefits they provide to their workers, makes it even easier to compel workers to work exceptionally long overtime hours, and creates damaging uncertainty over who is responsible for any worker injuries.ComputerWorld magazine points out that sweatshop conditions exist in many overseas computer factories, not just Apple's suppliers:
In a report last year, China Labor Watch warned: "Foxconn should not bear the only responsibility for worker suicides: Apple, HP, Dell and other international OEMs should also be held responsible, as their goal of profit maximization comes at the cost of workers' wages and sub-optimal working conditions."
That's the rub: Apple this year seems to have become the company everybody wants to hate. That's inevitable, of course, because everybody hates you when you become successful (in the words of Morrisey), but that focus on Cupertino shouldn't blind critics to the grim reality that every large or small-scale worker abuse within the Apple value chain is almost inevitably being repeated across the supply chain of every other consumer electronics firm: Dell, HP, you name them.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Today's Teamster News 06.05.12
World-Wide Factory Activity, by Country Wall Street Journal ...A global manufacturing slowdown took hold in May, as Europe weighed heaviest on world-wide factory activity...
Can Apple Start Making Their Product In The U.S. Again? The Answer Is YES. Campaign for America's Future ...Apple CEO Tim Cook was quoted this week at an All Things Digital Conference as saying he'd like to see his company make more components, and possibly assemble them, in the U.S....Fox Spins Walker's "Worst In The Nation" Jobs Record On Eve Of Recall Media Matters for America ...In an effort to put a positive spin over Scott Walker's tenure as Wisconsin governor on the eve of his recall election, Fox News repeated questionable jobs numbers released by Walker's administration and pointed to the drop in the state's unemployment rate to prove its case. In fact, data show that there are few things to cheer about regarding Wisconsin's economic situation under Walker...Wisconsin governor's recall unites public safety workers Marketplace ...What this guy did is he came in and basically, you don't have a voice, you are servants of your employer and you don't have a voice at the table anymore...Teamsters Agreement Maintains Recycling Service on Mercer Island Mercer Patch ...The city's waste and recycling provider Republic Services reached agreement with recycling truck drivers from Teamsters Local 117 on terms for a new 5-year contract...Allied Waste, union remain at contract stalemate Evansville Courier & Press ... Allied Waste and Teamsters Local 215 remained at odds Monday, with the next scheduled meeting two weeks away...
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