Teamster News
Teamsters: Port Truck Driver Strike Spreads To Intermodal Rail Yards teamster.org ...Early Tuesday morning, the port truck driver strike spread from the Ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach to intermodal rail yards that are serviced by Pacer Cartage and Harbor Rail Transport (HRT). These rail yards dispatch cargo to and from warehouses and distribution centers across America...
Teamsters Rally At Facebook teamster.org ...Teamsters and Facebook drivers rallied today at Facebook headquarters, along with community and political leaders. ABC News in San Francisco reports on the efforts by Facebook drivers to organize with Teamsters Local 853 in San Leandro, Calif...
Facebook shuttle drivers to vote on union Associated Press ...Facebook shuttle bus drivers will vote to decide whether to unionize in an attempt to get better pay and working conditions...
Teamsters host giving event Saturday Troy Messenger ...The holiday season is quickly approaching and many local organizations are seeking to help those in need during a giving season, including members of Teamsters National Black Caucus...
Teamsters continue contentious talks with Hernando over delayed pay raises Tampa Bay Times ...the union has now requested minimum increases for all of its members of at least 8 percent...
Trade
Elections featured bipartisan appeal to Americans’ opposition to unfair trade The Hill ...only 20 percent of Americans believed that the trade status quo has led to U.S. job creation, while half of Americans said the result has been U.S. job losses...
Time running out for action on fast-track trade authority: Senator Reuters ...U.S. lawmakers have very little time to consider granting the White House power to fast-track trade deals before Congress finishes up for the year, the head of the Senate committee responsible for trade said on Tuesday...
State Battles
Workers’ Rights Expand Under Proposed S.F. Ordinances Washington Post ...San Francisco restaurant and retail workers could soon have more predictable schedules, more opportunity for full-time work and more rights in general after the Board of Supervisors’ budget committee sent two proposed ordinances to the full board over the objections of the business community...
Supreme Court To Hear Right-To-Work Arguments In Jan. Lansing State Journal ...The Michigan Supreme Court will in January hear oral arguments on whether the state’s controversial right-to-work law applies to state employees and on another case related to state employee pensions...
Illinois Lawmakers Rush To Pass Wage Hike Voters Asked For Bloomberg Businessweek ...By a 2-to-1 margin, Illinois voters passed a nonbinding ballot measure in the Nov. 4 midterms urging the legislature to raise the state minimum wage. But they also elected a new governor, Republican Bruce Rauner, who’s supported reducing or eliminating it entirely. So outgoing Governor Pat Quinn is pressing the legislature to pass the wage increase the voters asked for—and to do so in the two months remaining before the governor they elected has the chance to veto it...
Wisconsin developer went to Walker with interest in buying state buildings Associated Press ...One of Wisconsin's largest real estate developers wrote to Gov. Scott Walker to express his interest in buying several prominent state office buildings at the same time the Legislature was considering doing away with competitive bidding for such sales, according to newly released records...
War on Workers
Seven big U.S. companies paid CEOs more than Uncle Sam in 2013: study Reuters ...the study said the seven companies, which in 2013 reported more than $74 billion in combined U.S. pre-tax profits, came out ahead on their taxes, gaining $1.9 billion more than they owed. At the same time, the CEOs at each of the seven companies last year was paid an average of $17.3 million...
Mega-Mergers Popular Again On Wall Street New York Times ...Mergers worth $100 billion, made on Monday, put Wall Street on pace for a year of deal-making rivaling those during the dot-com bubble and the private equity upsurge just before the financial crisis...
Uber Executive Suggests Digging Up Dirt On Journalists BuzzFeed ...A senior executive at Uber suggested that the company should consider hiring a team of opposition researchers to dig up dirt on its critics in the media — and specifically to spread details of the personal life of a female journalist who has criticized the company...
Owners: Taj Mahal Closing Expected By Dec. 12 Philadelphia Inquirer ...The owners of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City said in a court filing Friday they expected to close the Boardwalk property on or before Dec. 12...
1.6 Million-Member American Federation Of Teachers Bans Coca-Cola Products Citing Child Labor And Human Rights Record KWQC ...Corporate Campaign, Inc. and the Campaign to Stop Killer Coke announce that the American Federation of Teachers (AFT, AFL-CIO) has declared the banning of all Coca-Cola products from its facilities and events, as an official policy of the union...
“An Ongoing Criminal Enterprise”: Why America’s Housing Disaster Is Back And Wreaking Terror Salon.com ...According to housing analyst RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings shot up 15 percent last month, the largest increase in over four years... [mortgage servicers] are breaking laws and degrading the integrity of the courts to kick people out of their homes, a sad and enduring legacy of the destruction of the nation’s property system during the housing bubble years....
Worker at New Bedford trash hauler dies on the job Associated Press ...64-year-old Manuel Viera was walking in ABC Disposal's parking lot at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday when a large flatbed truck that transports Dumpsters accidentally struck him...
Senate Democrats reject bill to build oil pipeline Associated Press ...The Democrat-controlled Senate has defeated a bill to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline...
Showing posts with label casinos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label casinos. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Today's Teamster News 09.09.14
Teamster News
Vote On County Pay Raises In The Offing St. Petersburg Tribune ...The Teamsters has asked for a $15 per hour minimum. Sholtes said the request has nothing to do with a national movement among fast-food workers for a $15 minimum wage. The union used data from the living wage calculator, which sets the minimum hourly wage at $15 to support two adults and $9.63 for one adult...
EVSC board votes to accept Teamsters contract 14 News ...Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation board members voted Monday night to accept the contracts of several employee groups, including the Teamsters Union. Members of Teamsters Local 215 includes custodians, bus drivers, bus aids, and secretaries...
Teamsters Port Division Assisting Truck Drivers Fired By TTSI teamster.org ...On Wednesday evening, Sept. 3, 2014, at least thirty-three (33) port truck drivers who participated in recent unfair labor practice strikes and filed “wage and hour” claims with the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) were fired by their employer, Total Transportation Services Inc. (TTSI), when they refused to acquiesce to the company’s illegal demand to withdraw their claims for wage theft as misclassified “independent contractors.”...
Trade
The Transatlantic Trade And Investment Partnership: Getting The Criticism Right The Journal ...As an investment agreement, the TTIP is probably bad for everyone whose name does not end in Ltd, Plc, or something similar...
China’s Runaway Steel Industry Trade Reform ...production capacity for China’s steel industry has grown by an astonishing 200 million tons since late 2012, to 1.1 billion tons today. (By contrast, the entire U.S. steel industry produced only 87 million tons in 2013.) Yet first half domestic consumption of steel stands at 376.1 million tons, up an anemic 0.4 percent over the same period last year. Steel exports are growing but at the expense of “increasing trade conflicts and constant trade remedy investigations.”...
State Battles
The shortfall that wouldn't die Uppity Wisconsin ...Today's news that the budget shortfall is nearly 2 billion dollars and apparently rising leads one to believe that maybe too little cash is sticking in Madison. Other recent news makes it clear that the administration has been helping put more cash in the pockets of some taxpayers (and out-of-staters) than others...
As lawyers prep for John Doe hearing, legal tab tops $672,000 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...The cost to taxpayers for defending the state against lawsuits over an investigation into Gov. Scott Walker and his allies has quickly escalated to more than $672,000...
Voter ID On Trial in Texas (opinion) New York Times ...Laws like these used to be blocked by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which required that the federal government preapprove any voting rules enacted by states and localities with a history of discriminatory voting practices. But in a destructive ruling last year, the Supreme Court struck down Section 5 as unconstitutional. Only hours after that ruling, Texas resurrected its voter-ID law, which had been stopped by Section 5...
Ruling In Nebraska Could Have Big Overall Impact On Keystone XL Nebraska Radio Network ...A ruling by the state Supreme Court on the law that authorized the Keystone XL route through Nebraska could have ramifications well beyond this state. Attorney General Jon Bruning is confident the Supreme Court will uphold the law that set the route...
War On Workers
The Fast Food Strikes Have Been A Stunning Success For Organized Labor Slate ...at this early date, it’s more useful to think of them as the spearhead of a broader living wage movement that has also seen retail workers at stores such as Walmart protest for better pay. Framed that way, the effort has been startlingly effective. For the cost of a few Super Bowl ads, the SEIU and some dedicated fast food workers have managed to completely rewire how the public and politicians thinks about wages...
STILL 1.4 Million Fewer Full-Time Jobs Than in 2008 naked capitalism ...It’s still 1.4 million below 2008? In 2008, the economy was in full collapse mode. The Fed has expanded its balance sheet by $3.7 trillion since August 2008 and there are fewer full-time jobs now than then? Remind me again what that $3.7 trillion has bought!...
Koch 101 Slate ...The Koch brothers are paying millions to inject libertarian ideas into high school curriculums...
Koch Industries adopts new public posture to neutralize opponents, recast image Washington Post ...Koch Industries, which produces goods ranging from Angel Soft toilet paper to iPhone parts, is adopting a more visible strategy to neutralize critics on the left and promote a warm, patriotic image of its multinational empire...
Evidence Says That Students Do Better In Schools With Strong Teachers’ Unions Addicting Info ... Collective bargaining provides a legal, structured process in which local unions and management can develop reforms, such as peer review or performance-based pay...
Senate moves forward with amendment to the Constitution on elections The Hill ...The Senate on Monday advanced a constitutional amendment meant to reverse two recent Supreme Court decisions on campaign spending...
Some Uber Drivers Say Company’s Promise Of Big Pay Day Doesn’t Match Reality Washington Post ...The lure of taking home 80 percent of the fares he collected as a driver for Uber was a sweet incentive for Demek Dagnachew to sign up with the ride-sharing service in April. But soon after he started ferrying passengers around the District in his 2012 Toyota Camry, he said he noticed his earnings didn’t quite reflect the 80/20 split he’d been promised...
Sources: Taj To File For Bankruptcy, Close In November CBS News ...A source confirms to CBS 3 Eyewitness News that the Taj Mahal has already begun the process for bankruptcy and layoff notices could go out to workers next week. As of August, the casino hotel had more than 2,800 employees...
State Consultant Says Bridgeton Landfill Fire Spreading North St. Louis Post Dispatch ...The consultant hired by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources says the “subsurface fire” at the Bridgeton Landfill is expanding and moving closer to the radioactive West Lake Landfill...
Miscellaneous
Exclusive: Safety concerns dog Boeing 787 Aljazeera ...Using a concealed camera, the worker films inside the Boeing South Carolina plant, recording his discussions with colleagues. He randomly asks 15 of his co-workers who assemble the 787 "Dreamliner" if they would fly on the plane. Ten say they would not...
Vote On County Pay Raises In The Offing St. Petersburg Tribune ...The Teamsters has asked for a $15 per hour minimum. Sholtes said the request has nothing to do with a national movement among fast-food workers for a $15 minimum wage. The union used data from the living wage calculator, which sets the minimum hourly wage at $15 to support two adults and $9.63 for one adult...
EVSC board votes to accept Teamsters contract 14 News ...Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation board members voted Monday night to accept the contracts of several employee groups, including the Teamsters Union. Members of Teamsters Local 215 includes custodians, bus drivers, bus aids, and secretaries...
Teamsters Port Division Assisting Truck Drivers Fired By TTSI teamster.org ...On Wednesday evening, Sept. 3, 2014, at least thirty-three (33) port truck drivers who participated in recent unfair labor practice strikes and filed “wage and hour” claims with the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) were fired by their employer, Total Transportation Services Inc. (TTSI), when they refused to acquiesce to the company’s illegal demand to withdraw their claims for wage theft as misclassified “independent contractors.”...
Trade
The Transatlantic Trade And Investment Partnership: Getting The Criticism Right The Journal ...As an investment agreement, the TTIP is probably bad for everyone whose name does not end in Ltd, Plc, or something similar...
China’s Runaway Steel Industry Trade Reform ...production capacity for China’s steel industry has grown by an astonishing 200 million tons since late 2012, to 1.1 billion tons today. (By contrast, the entire U.S. steel industry produced only 87 million tons in 2013.) Yet first half domestic consumption of steel stands at 376.1 million tons, up an anemic 0.4 percent over the same period last year. Steel exports are growing but at the expense of “increasing trade conflicts and constant trade remedy investigations.”...
State Battles
The shortfall that wouldn't die Uppity Wisconsin ...Today's news that the budget shortfall is nearly 2 billion dollars and apparently rising leads one to believe that maybe too little cash is sticking in Madison. Other recent news makes it clear that the administration has been helping put more cash in the pockets of some taxpayers (and out-of-staters) than others...
As lawyers prep for John Doe hearing, legal tab tops $672,000 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...The cost to taxpayers for defending the state against lawsuits over an investigation into Gov. Scott Walker and his allies has quickly escalated to more than $672,000...
Voter ID On Trial in Texas (opinion) New York Times ...Laws like these used to be blocked by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which required that the federal government preapprove any voting rules enacted by states and localities with a history of discriminatory voting practices. But in a destructive ruling last year, the Supreme Court struck down Section 5 as unconstitutional. Only hours after that ruling, Texas resurrected its voter-ID law, which had been stopped by Section 5...
Ruling In Nebraska Could Have Big Overall Impact On Keystone XL Nebraska Radio Network ...A ruling by the state Supreme Court on the law that authorized the Keystone XL route through Nebraska could have ramifications well beyond this state. Attorney General Jon Bruning is confident the Supreme Court will uphold the law that set the route...
War On Workers
The Fast Food Strikes Have Been A Stunning Success For Organized Labor Slate ...at this early date, it’s more useful to think of them as the spearhead of a broader living wage movement that has also seen retail workers at stores such as Walmart protest for better pay. Framed that way, the effort has been startlingly effective. For the cost of a few Super Bowl ads, the SEIU and some dedicated fast food workers have managed to completely rewire how the public and politicians thinks about wages...
STILL 1.4 Million Fewer Full-Time Jobs Than in 2008 naked capitalism ...It’s still 1.4 million below 2008? In 2008, the economy was in full collapse mode. The Fed has expanded its balance sheet by $3.7 trillion since August 2008 and there are fewer full-time jobs now than then? Remind me again what that $3.7 trillion has bought!...
Koch 101 Slate ...The Koch brothers are paying millions to inject libertarian ideas into high school curriculums...
Koch Industries adopts new public posture to neutralize opponents, recast image Washington Post ...Koch Industries, which produces goods ranging from Angel Soft toilet paper to iPhone parts, is adopting a more visible strategy to neutralize critics on the left and promote a warm, patriotic image of its multinational empire...
Evidence Says That Students Do Better In Schools With Strong Teachers’ Unions Addicting Info ... Collective bargaining provides a legal, structured process in which local unions and management can develop reforms, such as peer review or performance-based pay...
Senate moves forward with amendment to the Constitution on elections The Hill ...The Senate on Monday advanced a constitutional amendment meant to reverse two recent Supreme Court decisions on campaign spending...
Some Uber Drivers Say Company’s Promise Of Big Pay Day Doesn’t Match Reality Washington Post ...The lure of taking home 80 percent of the fares he collected as a driver for Uber was a sweet incentive for Demek Dagnachew to sign up with the ride-sharing service in April. But soon after he started ferrying passengers around the District in his 2012 Toyota Camry, he said he noticed his earnings didn’t quite reflect the 80/20 split he’d been promised...
Sources: Taj To File For Bankruptcy, Close In November CBS News ...A source confirms to CBS 3 Eyewitness News that the Taj Mahal has already begun the process for bankruptcy and layoff notices could go out to workers next week. As of August, the casino hotel had more than 2,800 employees...
State Consultant Says Bridgeton Landfill Fire Spreading North St. Louis Post Dispatch ...The consultant hired by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources says the “subsurface fire” at the Bridgeton Landfill is expanding and moving closer to the radioactive West Lake Landfill...
Miscellaneous
Exclusive: Safety concerns dog Boeing 787 Aljazeera ...Using a concealed camera, the worker films inside the Boeing South Carolina plant, recording his discussions with colleagues. He randomly asks 15 of his co-workers who assemble the 787 "Dreamliner" if they would fly on the plane. Ten say they would not...
Friday, January 10, 2014
Today's Teamster News 01.10.14
YRCW Teamsters Reject Extending, Modifying Current Restructuring Agreement teamster.org ...Teamsters at YRC Worldwide Inc. (YRCW) rejected the company’s proposal that would have extended and modified the existing memorandum of understanding. Members voted over the past several weeks and ballots were counted today. The proposed extension and modification was voted down 61 percent to 39 percent...
Massive trade deal filed in Congress; you can help stop it TeamsterNation ...Legislation was filed today to make it easier to pass job-killing trade deals like NAFTA...
Hoffa: Fast-Track Bill Will Take Congress, Public Out of Process teamster.org ...the lack of transparency in considering TPP and other trade deals will hurt not only workers but families as well...
Workers Need Government Attention Now teamster.org ...Middle-class jobs have dwindled due to trade deals like NAFTA...
Millionaires' Club: For First Time, Most Lawmakers are Worth $1 Million-Plus open secrets ...For the first time in history, most members of Congress are millionaires, according to a new analysis of personal financial disclosure data by the Center for Responsive Politics...
15 Chris Christie Controversies You Missed Politico ...Using inflated cost estimates to justifying canceling the ARC tunnel...The Access to the Region’s Core tunnel was a commuter rail project that would have more than doubled the number of trains from New Jersey to Manhattan, easing congestion on the state’s notorious (especially now) highways. After initially endorsing the project, which could have created an estimated 45,000 permanent jobs and 6,000 temporary construction jobs, Christie changed his mind...
Eight Million Jobs Are Still Missing in America Huffington Post ...That's how many more people would have jobs today if the economy were truly healthy, according to a new study released Thursday by the Economic Policy Institute...
Bank of America employs 20 full-time social media spies, watches anarchists and occupy protesters PrivacySOS ...the powerful financial institution employs a staff of 20 full-time social media spies, and references public-private surveillance efforts directed at activists who aim to hold banks accountable for social crises like the foreclosure disaster....
Employees at Koch-Owned Georgia-Pacific Can Now Tweet About Work Without Fear In These Times ...Thanks to a new decree by the National Labor Relations Board, however, employees can now feel free to post about their jobs to Facebook or Instagram without fear of retribution...
Food stamp cuts expected to near $9 billion Washington Post ...Negotiations are almost complete on a long-overdue farm bill that will set new spending levels for the federal food stamp program and add yet another wrinkle to the national debate over income inequality as Congress mulls how to help unemployed and low-wage workers...
One in three Americans slipped below the poverty line between 2009 and 2011 Washington Post ...How many people in the United States are poor? It’s a surprisingly tricky question...
Why Poverty Is A Much Bigger Problem Than The Government Thinks ThinkProgress ...A massive new study from the Half in Ten Campaign and the Center for American Progress of American attitudes about work, the war on poverty, and new proposals to fight poverty in the future underscores just how bad the problem is...
No Warrant, No Problem: How the Government Can Get Your Digital Data ProPublica ...The government isn't allowed to wiretap American citizens without a warrant from a judge. But there are plenty of legal ways for law enforcement, from the local sheriff to the FBI to the Internal Revenue Service, to snoop on the digital trails you create every day...
The Fed Shifts Ground on Big Banks New York Times ...there are signs that top officials are prepared to take a tougher stand on reining in large, complex financial institutions...
Pot Shares Rally 21% to 1,700% as Speculators See Green Bloomberg News ...They’ve got high hopes. The chief executive officer of Hemp Inc. (HEMP), who has seen his stock soar 205 percent to 8 cents in the last three days, says investors are suddenly bidding up marijuana companies because they want to find “the next Microsoft.”...
Sen. Elizabeth Warren demands transparency when feds settle claims against big banks Raw Story ...A new bill introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) would shine a light on corporate wrongdoing by allowing the public greater access to terms of settlements they reach with the government...
Robert King out as UW System president finalist Wisconsin State Journal ...Some on campus and in Madison raised questions about King’s background as a conservative politician in New York and officeholder on the American Legislative Exchange Council...
North Carolina: Battleground State Truthout ...First it was Wisconsin. Now it’s North Carolina that is redefining the term “battleground state.” On one side: a right-wing government enacting laws that are changing the face of the state. On the other: citizen protesters who are fighting back against what they fear is a radical takeover...
Maryland Unions Hit Jobs Jackpot with New Casinos In These Times ...Labor unions in the Washington, D.C. area got an early Christmas present December 20, when Maryland state officials announced their approval of a plan to build a massive MGM Resorts International casino complex just a few miles from the nation’s Capitol building...
Washington State Boeing Workers Accept Pension Concessions The Real News Network ...By a narrow margin, members of the Seattle area machinists union voted to accept the new contract after Boeing threatened to take the production of its new 777X aircraft out of the state...
Union pushes for certification vote at Canada Toyota plants Reuters ...Canada's largest private-sector union said on Wednesday it plans to hold an organization vote for about 7,000 workers at two Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc assembly plants in Ontario early this year...
Unions file lawsuits claiming Alberta labour legislation violates Charter of Rights and Freedoms Edmondton Journal ...The Alberta government used Bill 46 as a “trump card” that coloured its negotiations with the province’s largest public-sector union, a provincial labour board hearing was told Wednesday...
Massive trade deal filed in Congress; you can help stop it TeamsterNation ...Legislation was filed today to make it easier to pass job-killing trade deals like NAFTA...
Hoffa: Fast-Track Bill Will Take Congress, Public Out of Process teamster.org ...the lack of transparency in considering TPP and other trade deals will hurt not only workers but families as well...
Workers Need Government Attention Now teamster.org ...Middle-class jobs have dwindled due to trade deals like NAFTA...
Millionaires' Club: For First Time, Most Lawmakers are Worth $1 Million-Plus open secrets ...For the first time in history, most members of Congress are millionaires, according to a new analysis of personal financial disclosure data by the Center for Responsive Politics...
15 Chris Christie Controversies You Missed Politico ...Using inflated cost estimates to justifying canceling the ARC tunnel...The Access to the Region’s Core tunnel was a commuter rail project that would have more than doubled the number of trains from New Jersey to Manhattan, easing congestion on the state’s notorious (especially now) highways. After initially endorsing the project, which could have created an estimated 45,000 permanent jobs and 6,000 temporary construction jobs, Christie changed his mind...
Eight Million Jobs Are Still Missing in America Huffington Post ...That's how many more people would have jobs today if the economy were truly healthy, according to a new study released Thursday by the Economic Policy Institute...
Bank of America employs 20 full-time social media spies, watches anarchists and occupy protesters PrivacySOS ...the powerful financial institution employs a staff of 20 full-time social media spies, and references public-private surveillance efforts directed at activists who aim to hold banks accountable for social crises like the foreclosure disaster....
Employees at Koch-Owned Georgia-Pacific Can Now Tweet About Work Without Fear In These Times ...Thanks to a new decree by the National Labor Relations Board, however, employees can now feel free to post about their jobs to Facebook or Instagram without fear of retribution...
Food stamp cuts expected to near $9 billion Washington Post ...Negotiations are almost complete on a long-overdue farm bill that will set new spending levels for the federal food stamp program and add yet another wrinkle to the national debate over income inequality as Congress mulls how to help unemployed and low-wage workers...
One in three Americans slipped below the poverty line between 2009 and 2011 Washington Post ...How many people in the United States are poor? It’s a surprisingly tricky question...
Why Poverty Is A Much Bigger Problem Than The Government Thinks ThinkProgress ...A massive new study from the Half in Ten Campaign and the Center for American Progress of American attitudes about work, the war on poverty, and new proposals to fight poverty in the future underscores just how bad the problem is...
No Warrant, No Problem: How the Government Can Get Your Digital Data ProPublica ...The government isn't allowed to wiretap American citizens without a warrant from a judge. But there are plenty of legal ways for law enforcement, from the local sheriff to the FBI to the Internal Revenue Service, to snoop on the digital trails you create every day...
The Fed Shifts Ground on Big Banks New York Times ...there are signs that top officials are prepared to take a tougher stand on reining in large, complex financial institutions...
Pot Shares Rally 21% to 1,700% as Speculators See Green Bloomberg News ...They’ve got high hopes. The chief executive officer of Hemp Inc. (HEMP), who has seen his stock soar 205 percent to 8 cents in the last three days, says investors are suddenly bidding up marijuana companies because they want to find “the next Microsoft.”...
Sen. Elizabeth Warren demands transparency when feds settle claims against big banks Raw Story ...A new bill introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) would shine a light on corporate wrongdoing by allowing the public greater access to terms of settlements they reach with the government...
Robert King out as UW System president finalist Wisconsin State Journal ...Some on campus and in Madison raised questions about King’s background as a conservative politician in New York and officeholder on the American Legislative Exchange Council...
North Carolina: Battleground State Truthout ...First it was Wisconsin. Now it’s North Carolina that is redefining the term “battleground state.” On one side: a right-wing government enacting laws that are changing the face of the state. On the other: citizen protesters who are fighting back against what they fear is a radical takeover...
Maryland Unions Hit Jobs Jackpot with New Casinos In These Times ...Labor unions in the Washington, D.C. area got an early Christmas present December 20, when Maryland state officials announced their approval of a plan to build a massive MGM Resorts International casino complex just a few miles from the nation’s Capitol building...
Washington State Boeing Workers Accept Pension Concessions The Real News Network ...By a narrow margin, members of the Seattle area machinists union voted to accept the new contract after Boeing threatened to take the production of its new 777X aircraft out of the state...
Union pushes for certification vote at Canada Toyota plants Reuters ...Canada's largest private-sector union said on Wednesday it plans to hold an organization vote for about 7,000 workers at two Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc assembly plants in Ontario early this year...
Unions file lawsuits claiming Alberta labour legislation violates Charter of Rights and Freedoms Edmondton Journal ...The Alberta government used Bill 46 as a “trump card” that coloured its negotiations with the province’s largest public-sector union, a provincial labour board hearing was told Wednesday...
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Is the gambling tsunami starting to crash?
Since New Hampshire started the first state lottery in 1964, gambling has spread well beyond Las Vegas to riverboats and reservations, racetracks and resorts. But gambling may be starting to decline, judging by faltering revenues at some tribal casinos in the Northeast and a troubled new casino in Atlantic City.
The problem: Pennsylvania is now grabbing some of the gambling dollars that have flowed to New Jersey and Connecticut. Massachusetts and New York may soon grab more.
In Connecticut's two casino resorts, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, revenue is falling. Reports the New Haven Register,
Foxwoods Resort Casino on Friday reported $50.5 million revenue on a “handle” of $592.5 million, which represents a 3.3 percent decline from the same month in 2011.
Mohegan Sun’s August slot revenue, or “win,” was down almost 6 percent to $56.3 million. It was $59.9 million a year ago, although Tropical Storm Irene likely cut into that month’s revenues on the final weekend of August 2011 for both casinos.David Cay Johnston, a Reuters columnist, warns that cities and towns shouldn't depend on gambling to solve their financial problems. He asks,
The liberties of the people, and all private wealth, depend on stable government that defines and protects rights and property alike. So why would we roll the dice on financing the foundation of our society?Johnston notes that gambling revenue is also falling in Atlantic City. Casino hotels at the seaside resort have cut their workforces, lowered wages and received huge property tax refunds because property values are falling. And Atlantic City's hot new casino resort, the Revel, isn't bringing in enough money to pay its mortgage. Writes Johnston,
Since opening April 2 it has lost more than $35 million. (Manager Kevin) DeSanctis is arranging a $100 million credit line to get through the cold months.
Moody’s lowered the credit ratings on Revel debt, suggesting those who bought its bond may also have made a bad bet on this new model for Atlantic City.
All these facts should prompt taxpayers to think carefully about embracing more gambling as a way to ease their tax burdens.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)