Teamsters
Hoffa: China's Currency Manipulation Should Serve As A Warning About TPP Huffington Post ...Currency manipulation has long been a drag on the U.S. economy and our jobs. But China's decision last week to devalue the Yuan shows the kind of damage such tinkering can bring to America. And it's why Congress cannot approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) until something is done about it...
Sun Tran Bus Strike Enters 12th Day, No End In Sight KTTU ...The Sun Tran union worker strike is now in its twelfth day, and any hopes of returning to the bargaining table are fading fast. Each side is claiming it wants to negotiate, but that the other will not. A federal mediator is involved, but as of Monday, there were no talks scheduled...
Global Labor & Trade
Greece Needs Further Debt Relief After Third Bailout Deal In Five Years, Says IMF Chief The Guardian ...Greece needs more significant debt relief from its creditors, the head of the International Monetary Fund said, after the bankrupt country accepted tough conditions to secure its third bailout deal in five years...
Déjà Vu: Germany Tightens Its Economic Power Over Europe Truthout ...Germany pushed hardest for the harshest Greek austerity. That too was a maneuver for domestic political advantage. Merkel loudly depicted herself as protecting Germans from higher taxes (to pay Germany's share of any future institutions' bailouts of European countries like Greece that did not repay their debts). Merkel and her finance chief rigidly refused to relieve Greece of its debts (even though the IMF and countless experts said openly that Greece's debts were simply "unsustainable" and could never be paid). Merkel's refusal meant that Greeks' tax payments would go not for roads, schools and hospitals, nor to rebuild a crisis-shattered economy, nor to pay and pension Greek public workers. Greeks' taxes must instead be used to service Greece's debts to the institutions for limitless years into the future...
China Turned To Risky Devaluation As Export Machine Stalled New York Times ...When Prime Minister Li Keqiang convened the Chinese cabinet last month, the troubled economy was the main topic on the agenda. The stock market had stumbled after a yearlong boom. Money was flooding out of the country. Most ominously, China’s export machine had stalled, prompting labor strikes...
State & Living Wage Battles
Poll: Americans' View Of Labor Unions Improving Politico ...Approval of unions jumped to 58 percent this year, an increase of five percentage points from 2014, though still well below the 75 percent organized labor enjoyed in the early 1950s but greater than the 48 percent who approved in 2009 in the grips of the recession...
The Problem With House Prices New York Times ...One solution for many troubled borrowers would be to modify their loan terms. But as Gretchen Morgenson of The Times reported recently, banks are still unwilling to modify loans, despite rules imposed by regulators and legal settlements after the bust that were supposed to make it easier and fairer for borrowers to obtain relief...
Northwestern Football Players Won't Be Getting Their Union For Now Huffington Post ...The National Labor Relations Board announced Monday that it would not wade into the case of Northwestern football players who were seeking to unionize, meaning college football will remain union-free, at least for the time being...
City Council To Consider Establishing $10.10 Minimum Wage In Birmingham AL.com ...The Birmingham City Council is set to consider the establishment of a $10.10 minimum wage in the city. The council could vote on an ordinance as soon as Tuesday...
Gov. Brown Signs Job Protections For Grocery Workers Los Angeles Times ...Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday signed 14 bills, including a measure that requires that large grocery stores keep their workers for at least 90 days after a change in store ownership...
Why Amazon May Take a Page From Walmart’s Labor Playbook New York Times ...As Walmart, based in Bentonville, Ark., has expanded, it has faced growing legal fire and public scrutiny over the treatment of its 1.3 million workers. Since 2000, the company, the nation’s largest private employer, has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in fines over employees forced to work off the clock or denied breaks...
Competing Referendums Put Brakes On KC Minimum Wage Increase Kansas City Business Journal ...It seems that the minimum wage will not be changed in Kansas City until November, at the earliest. Even then, its unclear whether the city can compel businesses to actually pay a higher wage...
U.S. Labor
Build A New Hudson River Tunnel New York Times ...The only long-term solution is the construction of a new tunnel complex, as proposed by Amtrak in its Gateway Program. Without a new tunnel and new rail tracks, a massive storm or some other disaster could sever a critical link in the Northeast rail corridor that serves more than 750,000 people a day on 2,000 intercity and commuter trains. For commuters and rail passengers crossing the Hudson River who are already complaining about delays, it can only get worse...
The Amazon Economy Huffington Post ...Unions, protection against arbitrary firing and abusive workplaces, and social protections like guaranteed health care and higher education were all ways of institutionalizing the goal of security and dealing ever more people into it. Amazon's attitude is exactly the opposite: security is the enemy. Equated with slacking, it is hunted down mercilessly wherever it appears. This agenda is a revealing caricature of the unquestioned common sense of today's economics profession and managerial elite. They, too, tend to see security as the problem, not the goal...
Old Models Don't Fit The New Economy New York Times ...When presidential candidates in the United States talk about the economy, they speak in terms that have the reassuring familiarity of an old shoe. Candidates on the left decry corrupt banks and waning unions and a government safety net with too many holes. Candidates on the right rail against excessive regulations and taxation. Many arguments could have just as easily been uttered, unadapted, in 1975...
Social Justice & Other News
Racial Wealth Gap Persists Despite Degree, Study Says New York Times ...Even with tuition shooting up, the payoff from a college degree remains strong, lifting lifelong earnings and protecting many graduates like a Teflon coating against the worst effects of economic downturns. But a new study has found that for black and Hispanic college graduates, that shield is severely cracked, failing to protect them from both short-term crises and longstanding challenges...
Citizens Bank Shortchanged Depositors New York Times ...When depositing checks at the bank, there is always a chance for error. The bank’s scanner might misread the checks or the deposit slip. Or the total on a deposit slip might not match the actual deposit. But you usually rest assured that the bank will correct the mistake and notify you of the difference. Not at Citizens Bank. For years, it turns out, Citizens often kept the difference, up to $50. Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other federal bank regulators ordered Citizens, which operates in New York and 10 other states, to refund at least $14 million to customers and pay $20.5 million in penalties for unfair and deceptive banking...
The Plight Of Refugees, The Shame Of The World New York Times ...The world is facing the biggest refugee crisis since World War II, a staggering 60 million people displaced from their homes, four million from Syria alone. World leaders have abdicated their responsibility for this unlucky population, around half of whom are children...
Puerto Rico Crisis: It's Not About The Debt, It's About the Politics Huffington Post ...It is notable, then, that throughout the public discussion and debate over the past several months about the insolvency of Puerto Rico, there has been little or no discussion of the ultimate responsibility of Congress for events that have transpired. Congress has never been shy about exercising its oversight powers in areas that offer political opportunity -- Benghazi and the IRS are recent examples -- and is often swift to demand full accountability and point the finger of blame at others for any manner of controversy or scandal that might come up, but with respect to the territories, where the responsibility of Congress is clear, we have heard a deafening silence...
First-Ever Women To Graduate From Ranger School Politico ...Making military history, two female soldiers will become the first women to ever graduate from the Army’s notoriously tough 61-day Ranger School training program on Friday, Army officials have announced...
CFPB Probes Education Department Loan Contractors Over Potentially Faulty Practices Huffington Post ...The federal consumer bureau on Monday launched an industry-wide investigation to determine why borrowers with federal student loans are being kicked out of generous programs that keep their payments affordable...
Showing posts with label college athletes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college athletes. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Today's Teamster News 12.18.14
Teamster News
Teamsters, Consumers And Community Protest UNFI Shareholders Meeting teamster.org ... Teamsters, organic food consumers, supply chain workers and community leaders protested the unsustainable practices of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE: UNFI) and its retail partner Whole Foods Market at UNFI’s annual shareholders meeting today. The protestors informed UNFI shareholders and put management on notice that continued worker abuse and intimidation will not be tolerated...
BLET/Teamsters, Smart-TD And Four Other Rail Unions Bargain Together teamster.org ...Top leaders of the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART–TD) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) announced today that their organizations will be participating with four other rail unions in coordinated bargaining in the upcoming round of national negotiations...
Some Labor Unions Reluctant To Back ’24 Olympics Effort Boston Globe ...The International Olympic Committee wants assurances that there is broad public support in the city that would host the Games. And the support of [Teamsters] Local 25’s 11,000-person army of truck drivers, parking lot attendants, and others could play a crucial role...
St. Louis County Council Cites 'Growing Consensus' On West Lake Landfill Dangers St. Louis Post Dispatch ...The St. Louis County Council says there is “growing consensus” that the radioactively contaminated West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton “presents an active danger to the community,” and it’s putting new pressure on federal regulators to take action...
Trade
New TISA Leak: US on Collision Course With EU Over Global Data Flows techdirt …Like TPP and TAFTA/TTIP, TISA is being negotiated in strict secrecy, but earlier this year the financial services annex leaked, giving us the first glimpse of the kind of bad ideas that were being worked on. Now, another leak has surfaced, which reveals the US's proposals to free up data flows online...
GPhA Expresses Concern Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Negotiations Could Hinder Access and Competition to Generic Drugs First Word Pharma ...GPhA and its member companies are concerned about any effort to include provisions in the TPP agreement that would hinder competition and access to the safe and affordable medicines that the generic pharmaceutical industry provides to patients in the United States and abroad...
State Battles
How ALEC helped undermine public unions Washington Post ... the success of ALEC-derived labor bills resulted in lower public union density beginning three to four years after those bills became law. On average, state public-sector union density fell by about three percentage points per year, or nearly 10 percent of the current level of public-sector union density in the country as a whole...
Missouri’s Minimum Wage Rises In 2015, No Change In Kansas Kansas City Star ...Missouri is among 29 states that have, or will have as of Jan. 1, state minimums that are higher than the current federal rate of $7.25 an hour...
Unions, retirees sue to block Chicago pension changes Reuters …Chicago public employee unions and others on Tuesday opened a new front in the battle over pension cuts for public workers, suing to block a law aimed at shoring up funding for two of the city's public pension systems…
Los Angeles hotel groups sue city over minimum wage ordinance Washington Post …The American Hotel & Lodging Association and the Asian American Hotel Owner Association filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the city of Los Angeles over an ordinance that raises minimum wage for hotel workers to $15.37...
State high court to take up Doe cases centered on Walker's campaign Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ... Four of the justices have benefited from political spending by the Wisconsin Club for Growth, one of the groups at the center of the investigation. Some legal experts have argued that at least some of those justices should not hear the cases because of actual or perceived biases from that political help...
War on Workers
How the NLRB may expand responsibility for labor violations Reuters ...The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is expected to rule soon on if, and how, companies can be held responsible for labor violations carried out by their contractors or franchisees - a move that could have far-reaching implications for businesses...
Metro-North Faces Historic Fine For Retaliating Against Worker Who Reported Injury Hartford Courant ...In fining the railroad $260,000 plus legal fees, the U.S. Department of Labor said it found a culture of intimidation, in which supervisors actively tried to discourage workers from filing injury reports and punished workers who did. In November, the National Transportation Safety Board, following a string of accidents, including fatalities, said Metro-North failed to maintain effective safety programs...
100 defects found during state crude oil rail inspections Albany Times Union ...The latest round of the state’s targeted crude oil tank car and rail inspections showed 100 track and train car defects, including eight that require immediate action, the governor’s office announced Monday...
More than 60 million households rely on low-wage workers The Hill ...The research shows that most low-wage workers are frequently the primary breadwinners in their families and they are not, as commonly thought, teenagers with few skills still living with their parents, according to the report by Oxfam America and the Economic Policy Institute...
For Low-Wage Americans, The Holiday Season Is A Time To Work Huffington Post ...More than 30 percent of Americans were living in poverty for at least two months from 2009 to 2011 -- a 4.5 percent increase from the period 2005 to 2007...
Americans Are Trading Sleep For Work, And It’s Literally Killing Us Washington Post ...This isn't a particularly healthy way to live -- insufficient sleep is associated with obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and a host of other physical ailments. Drowsy driving causes around 80,000 automobile accidents every year, 1,000 of which are typically fatal...
Child Labor: Number Of Children Involved Is Shrinking Every Year Christian Science Monitor ...While there are fewer children involved in child labor every year, the rate at which child labor is decreasing is slowing down at both the global and regional levels...
Worker Killed In Mesa Industrial Accident Arizona Republic ...One person was killed in an industrial accident at a plant in west Mesa on Wednesday morning, according to a Mesa fire spokesman...
Construction Worker Killed In Caldwell Parish Crash KNOE ...A Cadillac ATS, driven by 42-year-old Jan Williams of Columbia, was traveling north on US 165 in the outside travel lane when she attempted to move into the inside lane but struck the rear of Chevrolet pickup and all three construction workers...
Teamsters, Consumers And Community Protest UNFI Shareholders Meeting teamster.org ... Teamsters, organic food consumers, supply chain workers and community leaders protested the unsustainable practices of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE: UNFI) and its retail partner Whole Foods Market at UNFI’s annual shareholders meeting today. The protestors informed UNFI shareholders and put management on notice that continued worker abuse and intimidation will not be tolerated...
BLET/Teamsters, Smart-TD And Four Other Rail Unions Bargain Together teamster.org ...Top leaders of the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART–TD) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) announced today that their organizations will be participating with four other rail unions in coordinated bargaining in the upcoming round of national negotiations...
Some Labor Unions Reluctant To Back ’24 Olympics Effort Boston Globe ...The International Olympic Committee wants assurances that there is broad public support in the city that would host the Games. And the support of [Teamsters] Local 25’s 11,000-person army of truck drivers, parking lot attendants, and others could play a crucial role...
St. Louis County Council Cites 'Growing Consensus' On West Lake Landfill Dangers St. Louis Post Dispatch ...The St. Louis County Council says there is “growing consensus” that the radioactively contaminated West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton “presents an active danger to the community,” and it’s putting new pressure on federal regulators to take action...
Trade
New TISA Leak: US on Collision Course With EU Over Global Data Flows techdirt …Like TPP and TAFTA/TTIP, TISA is being negotiated in strict secrecy, but earlier this year the financial services annex leaked, giving us the first glimpse of the kind of bad ideas that were being worked on. Now, another leak has surfaced, which reveals the US's proposals to free up data flows online...
GPhA Expresses Concern Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Negotiations Could Hinder Access and Competition to Generic Drugs First Word Pharma ...GPhA and its member companies are concerned about any effort to include provisions in the TPP agreement that would hinder competition and access to the safe and affordable medicines that the generic pharmaceutical industry provides to patients in the United States and abroad...
State Battles
How ALEC helped undermine public unions Washington Post ... the success of ALEC-derived labor bills resulted in lower public union density beginning three to four years after those bills became law. On average, state public-sector union density fell by about three percentage points per year, or nearly 10 percent of the current level of public-sector union density in the country as a whole...
Missouri’s Minimum Wage Rises In 2015, No Change In Kansas Kansas City Star ...Missouri is among 29 states that have, or will have as of Jan. 1, state minimums that are higher than the current federal rate of $7.25 an hour...
Unions, retirees sue to block Chicago pension changes Reuters …Chicago public employee unions and others on Tuesday opened a new front in the battle over pension cuts for public workers, suing to block a law aimed at shoring up funding for two of the city's public pension systems…
Los Angeles hotel groups sue city over minimum wage ordinance Washington Post …The American Hotel & Lodging Association and the Asian American Hotel Owner Association filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the city of Los Angeles over an ordinance that raises minimum wage for hotel workers to $15.37...
State high court to take up Doe cases centered on Walker's campaign Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ... Four of the justices have benefited from political spending by the Wisconsin Club for Growth, one of the groups at the center of the investigation. Some legal experts have argued that at least some of those justices should not hear the cases because of actual or perceived biases from that political help...
War on Workers
How the NLRB may expand responsibility for labor violations Reuters ...The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is expected to rule soon on if, and how, companies can be held responsible for labor violations carried out by their contractors or franchisees - a move that could have far-reaching implications for businesses...
Metro-North Faces Historic Fine For Retaliating Against Worker Who Reported Injury Hartford Courant ...In fining the railroad $260,000 plus legal fees, the U.S. Department of Labor said it found a culture of intimidation, in which supervisors actively tried to discourage workers from filing injury reports and punished workers who did. In November, the National Transportation Safety Board, following a string of accidents, including fatalities, said Metro-North failed to maintain effective safety programs...
100 defects found during state crude oil rail inspections Albany Times Union ...The latest round of the state’s targeted crude oil tank car and rail inspections showed 100 track and train car defects, including eight that require immediate action, the governor’s office announced Monday...
More than 60 million households rely on low-wage workers The Hill ...The research shows that most low-wage workers are frequently the primary breadwinners in their families and they are not, as commonly thought, teenagers with few skills still living with their parents, according to the report by Oxfam America and the Economic Policy Institute...
For Low-Wage Americans, The Holiday Season Is A Time To Work Huffington Post ...More than 30 percent of Americans were living in poverty for at least two months from 2009 to 2011 -- a 4.5 percent increase from the period 2005 to 2007...
Americans Are Trading Sleep For Work, And It’s Literally Killing Us Washington Post ...This isn't a particularly healthy way to live -- insufficient sleep is associated with obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and a host of other physical ailments. Drowsy driving causes around 80,000 automobile accidents every year, 1,000 of which are typically fatal...
Child Labor: Number Of Children Involved Is Shrinking Every Year Christian Science Monitor ...While there are fewer children involved in child labor every year, the rate at which child labor is decreasing is slowing down at both the global and regional levels...
Worker Killed In Mesa Industrial Accident Arizona Republic ...One person was killed in an industrial accident at a plant in west Mesa on Wednesday morning, according to a Mesa fire spokesman...
Construction Worker Killed In Caldwell Parish Crash KNOE ...A Cadillac ATS, driven by 42-year-old Jan Williams of Columbia, was traveling north on US 165 in the outside travel lane when she attempted to move into the inside lane but struck the rear of Chevrolet pickup and all three construction workers...
Friday, August 15, 2014
Today's Teamster News 08.15.14
Teamster News
Democratic Party, Teamsters Challenge Yost's Suggestions Youngstown Vindicator ...On Wednesday, the Ohio Democratic Party and Teamsters Local 377 blasted the audit’s recommendations for $384,000 in annual concessions in the Teamsters local’s labor contract. That local represents 51 of the engineer’s office employees...
Any Problems With Garbage Deal Will Belong To City (opinion) Contra Costa Times ...Our members will be fine working for either company. We've had our share of problems with both of them, just as we've helped make both a success...
Trade
EU-Canada Trade Deal Leak ‘Ridicules’ TTIP Consultation EurActiv ...The leaked text of an EU-Canada free trade deal confirms fears that multinationals may sue EU states in special tribunals for enacting laws that upset their profit forecasts, and makes a mockery of public consultation on a free trade deal with the US, campaigners say...
Wisconsin Farmers Union President Cautions Against Free Trade’s False Promises Bloomer News ...Behind the rosy projections about the benefits of free trade, history presents us with the cold hard facts. The 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has been devastating for farmers in the U.S., and we are headed down the same path with the current Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) proposals...
State Battles
Wisconsin Employment under Walker Econbrowser ...Since January 2011, Wisconsin private nonfarm payroll employment growth has been a cumulative 2.8% lower than that for the United States as a whole...
Powerful D.C. Lobbies Join Fight Against Seattle Minimum Wage Seattle Post-Intelligencer ...Two of the most powerful lobbies in Washington, D.C. — the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Restaurant Association — have joined in a lawsuit against Seattle’s new $15-an-hour minimum wage ordinance...
Labor sharks sink teeth into low-wage immigrant workers AlJazeera America ...In New York, employment agencies face few penalties for charging advance fees for jobs that don’€™t exist...
War On Workers
Wal-Mart’s Sales Stagnation Reignites Concern About Economy Bloomberg ...Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT)’s latest struggles to revive U.S. sales, following a disappointing Commerce Department report earlier this week, add to evidence that the economy isn’t recovering as quickly as expected...
Fed: Typical American family doesn't have $400 on hand WWL ...The Federal Reserve survey shows a typical American household cannot raise $400 without borrowing money or selling possessions...
Europe’s Greater Depression is worse than the 1930s Washington Post ...it's been six-and-a-half years, and eurozone GDP is still 1.9 percent lower than it was before the Great Recession began. It "only" took the U.S. economy seven years to get back to where it'd been before the Great Depression hit...
Among Workers At Revel There's Shock, Anxiety, Uncertainty, And Even Some Optimism Philadelphia Inquirer ...The 3,200 workers who have made Revel home the last 28 months are hoping against hope that the casino snags a buyer before its targeted Sept. 10 closing to save their jobs and a key piece of Atlantic City's skyline...
Worker Killed In Lamar County Plant Fire KXII ...A worker has been killed in a fire Wednesday at a trailer manufacturing facility in Lamar County. News 12 has learned one employee was found dead just before 2 p.m...
Congressman Who Voted Against Minimum Wage Hike Complains He Hasn't Gotten A Raise Huffington Post ...Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) says Congress can't afford a pay cut because its last salary increase occurred six years ago...
Starbucks to Revise Policies to End Irregular Schedules for Its 130,000 Baristas New York Times ...The change comes amid a growing push to curb scheduling practices, enabled by sophisticated software, that can cause havoc in employees’ lives: giving only a few days’ notice of working hours; sending workers home early when sales are slow; and shifting hours significantly from week to week...
Berlin Bans Uber App Citing Passenger Safety BBC News ...It is the latest setback for Uber, which has faced bans and protests in cities across Europe. The Berlin authority said passengers may not be covered by insurance because they aren't traditional cabs...
Virgin America Flight Attendants Vote To Join Union Huffington Post ... The attendants would be the first Virgin America employees to be represented by a labor union...
Miscellaneous
Improving Our Railways: A Key Part of Rebuilding America manufacture this ...Virtually every wealthy nation in the world has invested in a high-speed rail network—with the striking exception of the United States. From Japan to France, even from Turkey to Russia, trains travel through the country at speeds of 150 miles per hour or above...
Where We Came From, State by State New York Times ...We charted how Americans have moved between states since 1900. See how your state has changed...
Koch brothers group to keep pressure on Common Core USA Today ...Convinced of wins during last week's elections in Tennessee, a group led by the billionaire Koch brothers has vowed to continue to spend aggressively in the state in pursuit of derailing Common Core academic standards here...
Democratic Party, Teamsters Challenge Yost's Suggestions Youngstown Vindicator ...On Wednesday, the Ohio Democratic Party and Teamsters Local 377 blasted the audit’s recommendations for $384,000 in annual concessions in the Teamsters local’s labor contract. That local represents 51 of the engineer’s office employees...
Any Problems With Garbage Deal Will Belong To City (opinion) Contra Costa Times ...Our members will be fine working for either company. We've had our share of problems with both of them, just as we've helped make both a success...
Trade
EU-Canada Trade Deal Leak ‘Ridicules’ TTIP Consultation EurActiv ...The leaked text of an EU-Canada free trade deal confirms fears that multinationals may sue EU states in special tribunals for enacting laws that upset their profit forecasts, and makes a mockery of public consultation on a free trade deal with the US, campaigners say...
Wisconsin Farmers Union President Cautions Against Free Trade’s False Promises Bloomer News ...Behind the rosy projections about the benefits of free trade, history presents us with the cold hard facts. The 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has been devastating for farmers in the U.S., and we are headed down the same path with the current Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) proposals...
State Battles
Wisconsin Employment under Walker Econbrowser ...Since January 2011, Wisconsin private nonfarm payroll employment growth has been a cumulative 2.8% lower than that for the United States as a whole...
Powerful D.C. Lobbies Join Fight Against Seattle Minimum Wage Seattle Post-Intelligencer ...Two of the most powerful lobbies in Washington, D.C. — the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Restaurant Association — have joined in a lawsuit against Seattle’s new $15-an-hour minimum wage ordinance...
Labor sharks sink teeth into low-wage immigrant workers AlJazeera America ...In New York, employment agencies face few penalties for charging advance fees for jobs that don’€™t exist...
War On Workers
Wal-Mart’s Sales Stagnation Reignites Concern About Economy Bloomberg ...Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT)’s latest struggles to revive U.S. sales, following a disappointing Commerce Department report earlier this week, add to evidence that the economy isn’t recovering as quickly as expected...
Fed: Typical American family doesn't have $400 on hand WWL ...The Federal Reserve survey shows a typical American household cannot raise $400 without borrowing money or selling possessions...
Europe’s Greater Depression is worse than the 1930s Washington Post ...it's been six-and-a-half years, and eurozone GDP is still 1.9 percent lower than it was before the Great Recession began. It "only" took the U.S. economy seven years to get back to where it'd been before the Great Depression hit...
Among Workers At Revel There's Shock, Anxiety, Uncertainty, And Even Some Optimism Philadelphia Inquirer ...The 3,200 workers who have made Revel home the last 28 months are hoping against hope that the casino snags a buyer before its targeted Sept. 10 closing to save their jobs and a key piece of Atlantic City's skyline...
Worker Killed In Lamar County Plant Fire KXII ...A worker has been killed in a fire Wednesday at a trailer manufacturing facility in Lamar County. News 12 has learned one employee was found dead just before 2 p.m...
Congressman Who Voted Against Minimum Wage Hike Complains He Hasn't Gotten A Raise Huffington Post ...Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) says Congress can't afford a pay cut because its last salary increase occurred six years ago...
Starbucks to Revise Policies to End Irregular Schedules for Its 130,000 Baristas New York Times ...The change comes amid a growing push to curb scheduling practices, enabled by sophisticated software, that can cause havoc in employees’ lives: giving only a few days’ notice of working hours; sending workers home early when sales are slow; and shifting hours significantly from week to week...
Berlin Bans Uber App Citing Passenger Safety BBC News ...It is the latest setback for Uber, which has faced bans and protests in cities across Europe. The Berlin authority said passengers may not be covered by insurance because they aren't traditional cabs...
Virgin America Flight Attendants Vote To Join Union Huffington Post ... The attendants would be the first Virgin America employees to be represented by a labor union...
Miscellaneous
Improving Our Railways: A Key Part of Rebuilding America manufacture this ...Virtually every wealthy nation in the world has invested in a high-speed rail network—with the striking exception of the United States. From Japan to France, even from Turkey to Russia, trains travel through the country at speeds of 150 miles per hour or above...
Where We Came From, State by State New York Times ...We charted how Americans have moved between states since 1900. See how your state has changed...
Koch brothers group to keep pressure on Common Core USA Today ...Convinced of wins during last week's elections in Tennessee, a group led by the billionaire Koch brothers has vowed to continue to spend aggressively in the state in pursuit of derailing Common Core academic standards here...
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Today's Teamster News 08.12.14
Teamster News
Cab Companies Unite Against Uber And Other Ride-Share Services Washington Post ...“These companies are basically stealing work from drivers who are doing everything completely legal,” Teamsters organizer Joel Wood said...
New Rules Of The Road For Ridesharing Companies WUSA ...Uber and its ridesharing competitors Lyft and Sidecar now may operate legally in Virginia after a temporary agreement was reached with Governor Terry McAuliffe's administration. The deal allows rideshare drivers, who use their own cars as 'private taxis,' to pick up passengers as long as the companies follow a slew of new regulations, including providing primary commercial liability insurance in the event of a crash...
Waiting for a ban as a Central Park horse carriage driver Metro New York ...Wilson is just one of 240 licensed buggy drivers who will be out of work if Mayor Bill de Blasio and anti-horse carriage activists are successful in banning the decades-old Central Park tradition...
Trade
Currency manipulation costs jobs in Indiana Indianapolis Star ... if the United States truly addressed currency manipulation by its foreign rivals as many as 5.8 million U.S. jobs could be created — with nearly 152,600 of those jobs created here in Indiana...
Critical Moment to Stop The TPP & Other Rigged Trade Agreements Op-Ed News ...We are poised to stop these attempts to rig the international economy in favor of multinational corporations and move to a new model of trade that respects the rights of people and nature, but it will take a coordinated effort. We must be prepared for moves to thwart that effort and organize to avoid them...
Textile manufacturing returns to Carolinas – by way of China Charlotte Observer ...Now, in an ironic turn of events, Chinese companies are looking to manufacture in the U.S., lured by lower costs of energy, cotton and land, and wary of rising labor costs in China...
State Battles
Minnesota Republicans Want To Follow Wisconsin's Lead, Data Says Maybe They Shouldn't Cap Times ...The four Republican candidates aiming to challenge Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton have all campaigned on plans to follow economic policies similar to those of Walker and Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback...
Koch Brothers And D.C. Conservatives Spending Big On Nonpartisan State Supreme Court Races Center For American Progress ...Unlike previous Tennessee judicial elections, the justices were forced to run ads funded by campaign cash from attorneys with a financial stake in the court’s rulings. Given its deep pockets, the RSLC could come to dominate nonpartisan judicial elections across the country—just as it has in Tennessee. More money means more attack ads and more fundraising by judicial candidates...
As Scott Walker Falls, His Democratic Challenger Continues To Rise Time Magazine ...“At the moment, Burke has an important quality: the potential to defeat Walker,” says Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison...
Higher education -- and voters -- vs. Ohio politicians (opinion) Toledo Blade ...A large majority of us want state government to spend more money to help maintain such a system (of state universities and colleges). So when will the politicians who supposedly represent our interests in Columbus -- the ones who elevate tax cuts for the richest Ohioans above the preservation of essential public services -- finally get the message?...
Some Hot Kansas Races Loom In November, Including Trouble For Gov. Sam Brownback Kansas City Star ...I selected two Kansas state representative races to make predictions because the Koch Brothers and the Kansas Chamber of Commerce threw the kitchen sink against two moderate Republicans, trying once again — as they successfully did two years ago — to knock out all moderate Republicans in the Legislature. Money doesn’t always prevail. Both Barbara Bollier and Stephanie Clayton were victorious, as we expected. Their districts are moderate and cannot be bought by an avalanche of vicious mailers...
War On Workers
Ralph Lauren Under Fire For Refusing To Sign Worker Safety Pacts Huffington Post ...Activists are rallying against the clothing company Ralph Lauren for its staunch refusal to sign an international agreement that seeks to improve conditions for factory workers in Bangladesh, one of the world's biggest clothing suppliers...
EPI and AEI Agree: Cutting Jobless Benefits Did Not Boost Employment Economic Policy Institute ...Coming from perspectives that diverge greatly along the ideological spectrum, scholars at both AEI and EPI have come to the conclusion that this “bootstraps” theory is incorrect—curtailing jobless benefits did not boost employment...
Higher Housing Costs Aren’t Likely to Fade Soon, Cleveland Fed Study Says Wall Street Journal ...They see housing inflation slowing to around 2% by the end of next year in the Northeast while rising to around 3% in the South. The model forecasts inflation holding at its current level of around 2.9% in the West and falling to 2% in the Midwest...
Virginia Worker Killed In Logging Truck Accident Billings Gazette ...Police in Arlington say a logging company worker died when a tree rolled off a flatbed truck and struck him...
Miscellaneous
N.C.A.A. Must Allow Colleges To Pay Athletes, Judge Rules New York Times ...In a decision that could drastically reshape the world of college sports, a federal judge ruled on Friday that the N.C.A.A.’s decades-old rules barring payments to college athletes were in violation of antitrust laws...
Cab Companies Unite Against Uber And Other Ride-Share Services Washington Post ...“These companies are basically stealing work from drivers who are doing everything completely legal,” Teamsters organizer Joel Wood said...
New Rules Of The Road For Ridesharing Companies WUSA ...Uber and its ridesharing competitors Lyft and Sidecar now may operate legally in Virginia after a temporary agreement was reached with Governor Terry McAuliffe's administration. The deal allows rideshare drivers, who use their own cars as 'private taxis,' to pick up passengers as long as the companies follow a slew of new regulations, including providing primary commercial liability insurance in the event of a crash...
Waiting for a ban as a Central Park horse carriage driver Metro New York ...Wilson is just one of 240 licensed buggy drivers who will be out of work if Mayor Bill de Blasio and anti-horse carriage activists are successful in banning the decades-old Central Park tradition...
Trade
Currency manipulation costs jobs in Indiana Indianapolis Star ... if the United States truly addressed currency manipulation by its foreign rivals as many as 5.8 million U.S. jobs could be created — with nearly 152,600 of those jobs created here in Indiana...
Critical Moment to Stop The TPP & Other Rigged Trade Agreements Op-Ed News ...We are poised to stop these attempts to rig the international economy in favor of multinational corporations and move to a new model of trade that respects the rights of people and nature, but it will take a coordinated effort. We must be prepared for moves to thwart that effort and organize to avoid them...
Textile manufacturing returns to Carolinas – by way of China Charlotte Observer ...Now, in an ironic turn of events, Chinese companies are looking to manufacture in the U.S., lured by lower costs of energy, cotton and land, and wary of rising labor costs in China...
State Battles
Minnesota Republicans Want To Follow Wisconsin's Lead, Data Says Maybe They Shouldn't Cap Times ...The four Republican candidates aiming to challenge Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton have all campaigned on plans to follow economic policies similar to those of Walker and Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback...
Koch Brothers And D.C. Conservatives Spending Big On Nonpartisan State Supreme Court Races Center For American Progress ...Unlike previous Tennessee judicial elections, the justices were forced to run ads funded by campaign cash from attorneys with a financial stake in the court’s rulings. Given its deep pockets, the RSLC could come to dominate nonpartisan judicial elections across the country—just as it has in Tennessee. More money means more attack ads and more fundraising by judicial candidates...
As Scott Walker Falls, His Democratic Challenger Continues To Rise Time Magazine ...“At the moment, Burke has an important quality: the potential to defeat Walker,” says Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison...
Higher education -- and voters -- vs. Ohio politicians (opinion) Toledo Blade ...A large majority of us want state government to spend more money to help maintain such a system (of state universities and colleges). So when will the politicians who supposedly represent our interests in Columbus -- the ones who elevate tax cuts for the richest Ohioans above the preservation of essential public services -- finally get the message?...
Some Hot Kansas Races Loom In November, Including Trouble For Gov. Sam Brownback Kansas City Star ...I selected two Kansas state representative races to make predictions because the Koch Brothers and the Kansas Chamber of Commerce threw the kitchen sink against two moderate Republicans, trying once again — as they successfully did two years ago — to knock out all moderate Republicans in the Legislature. Money doesn’t always prevail. Both Barbara Bollier and Stephanie Clayton were victorious, as we expected. Their districts are moderate and cannot be bought by an avalanche of vicious mailers...
War On Workers
Ralph Lauren Under Fire For Refusing To Sign Worker Safety Pacts Huffington Post ...Activists are rallying against the clothing company Ralph Lauren for its staunch refusal to sign an international agreement that seeks to improve conditions for factory workers in Bangladesh, one of the world's biggest clothing suppliers...
EPI and AEI Agree: Cutting Jobless Benefits Did Not Boost Employment Economic Policy Institute ...Coming from perspectives that diverge greatly along the ideological spectrum, scholars at both AEI and EPI have come to the conclusion that this “bootstraps” theory is incorrect—curtailing jobless benefits did not boost employment...
Higher Housing Costs Aren’t Likely to Fade Soon, Cleveland Fed Study Says Wall Street Journal ...They see housing inflation slowing to around 2% by the end of next year in the Northeast while rising to around 3% in the South. The model forecasts inflation holding at its current level of around 2.9% in the West and falling to 2% in the Midwest...
Virginia Worker Killed In Logging Truck Accident Billings Gazette ...Police in Arlington say a logging company worker died when a tree rolled off a flatbed truck and struck him...
Miscellaneous
N.C.A.A. Must Allow Colleges To Pay Athletes, Judge Rules New York Times ...In a decision that could drastically reshape the world of college sports, a federal judge ruled on Friday that the N.C.A.A.’s decades-old rules barring payments to college athletes were in violation of antitrust laws...
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Today's Teamster News 08.05.14
Teamster News
Bus Drivers May Go On Strike Thursday KVOA ...Sun Tran and Teamsters Local 104 are still working to avoid a bus strike. Saturday night, the union overwhelmingly voted down Sun Tran's contract offer. The current agreement expires at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday...
Charter School Teachers Turn To Union For Help Worcester Telegram & Gazette ...Eighty teachers and guidance counselors at the Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School in Marlboro recently made history when they joined a union — but not the one you might think. ...they joined Teamsters Local 170 in Worcester, a 4,000-member union of mostly truck and bus drivers and warehouse workers...
Motorcycle Run Raises Funds For Family Of Slain Gary Police Officer Chicago Post-Tribune ...Teamsters Local 142 showed Sunday that union solidarity knows no boundaries when it comes to helping family. At least 75 motorcycle enthusiasts brought out their bikes for the second annual Solidarity Run from its Clark Street hall. Last year, the ride, which brought out about 35 riders, brought in money for the union’s philanthropic works, such as Christmas baskets for needy families...
Trade
Walmart Is Giving Priority To U.S. Manufacturers Who Hire American Workers; CEO Bill Simon Says Reviving Industry Is Essential For Walmart’s Success Trade Reform ...Walmart is accelerating its program to purchase billions of dollars of more products from U.S.-based manufacturers. On July 8. Walmart held its first-ever Made in USA ‘Open Call’ Event” at its Arkansas headquarters. Five-hundred manufacturers pitched their products to Walmart buyers. The only requirement was that their products be manufactured or assembled in the United States...
State Battles
Kansas, Arizona Require Proof Of Citizenship For Voting Wall Street Journal ...Election rules in Kansas and Arizona are set to bar thousands of people in coming weeks from casting ballots in state primaries even as the federal government allows some of them to vote in congressional races...
War On Workers
The United States Needs Corporate 'Loyalty Oaths' Daily Beast ...2014 will be remembered for the plague of “corporate inversion,” which the news media should start routinely calling “corporate desertion.” So far, 47 American-based companies have renounced U.S. citizenship and bought foreign subsidiaries in order to dodge American taxes. Many more are preparing to flee...
Another Settlement – JP Morgan Receives Slap On The Wrist Despite Years Of Fraudulent CFTC Data zero hedge ...the CFTC will impose a meager $650,000 fine on JP Morgan, despite years of warnings about fraudulent data reports...
A Paper Mill Goes Quiet, and the Community It Built Gropes for a Way Forward New York Times ...It is something to do here, witnessing the disintegration of the Great Northern Paper mill, which conjured this town out of the backwoods and sustained it for a century. Once among the biggest mills of its kind, it pulled power from the river and made pulp from spruce, filling wallets and pantries for thousands of families and supporting a bustling main street...
1 Highway Worker Killed In Dallas-Area Wreck KSAT ...One highway worker has been killed and another hurt after a car plowed into a highway maintenance vehicle and trailer on a Dallas-area toll road...
S&P: Wealth gap is slowing US economic growth Associated Press ...The widening gap between the wealthiest Americans and everyone else has made the economy more prone to boom-bust cycles and slowed the 5-year-old recovery from the recession...
Pregnant Walmart Worker Ends Up Fired After Walmart Said It Would Help Pregnant Workers Think Progress ...Candis Riggins has a new baby. But, since she got fired from Walmart, she no longer has her job or her house...
Will Labor Solidarity Save the Post Office? Huffington Post ...A successful boycott to stop the further privatization of the post office could then move demand that the post office be restored to its former glory and effectiveness by reopening processing centers, extending local post office hours and rehiring experienced staff...
Miscellaneous
NLRB Gets The Case Of The Northwestern Football Player Union And The Wait Begins Chicago Business Journal ...The matter of whether Northwestern University scholarship football players can unionize is now in the hands of the full National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C...
Bus Drivers May Go On Strike Thursday KVOA ...Sun Tran and Teamsters Local 104 are still working to avoid a bus strike. Saturday night, the union overwhelmingly voted down Sun Tran's contract offer. The current agreement expires at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday...
Charter School Teachers Turn To Union For Help Worcester Telegram & Gazette ...Eighty teachers and guidance counselors at the Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School in Marlboro recently made history when they joined a union — but not the one you might think. ...they joined Teamsters Local 170 in Worcester, a 4,000-member union of mostly truck and bus drivers and warehouse workers...
Motorcycle Run Raises Funds For Family Of Slain Gary Police Officer Chicago Post-Tribune ...Teamsters Local 142 showed Sunday that union solidarity knows no boundaries when it comes to helping family. At least 75 motorcycle enthusiasts brought out their bikes for the second annual Solidarity Run from its Clark Street hall. Last year, the ride, which brought out about 35 riders, brought in money for the union’s philanthropic works, such as Christmas baskets for needy families...
Trade
Walmart Is Giving Priority To U.S. Manufacturers Who Hire American Workers; CEO Bill Simon Says Reviving Industry Is Essential For Walmart’s Success Trade Reform ...Walmart is accelerating its program to purchase billions of dollars of more products from U.S.-based manufacturers. On July 8. Walmart held its first-ever Made in USA ‘Open Call’ Event” at its Arkansas headquarters. Five-hundred manufacturers pitched their products to Walmart buyers. The only requirement was that their products be manufactured or assembled in the United States...
State Battles
Kansas, Arizona Require Proof Of Citizenship For Voting Wall Street Journal ...Election rules in Kansas and Arizona are set to bar thousands of people in coming weeks from casting ballots in state primaries even as the federal government allows some of them to vote in congressional races...
War On Workers
The United States Needs Corporate 'Loyalty Oaths' Daily Beast ...2014 will be remembered for the plague of “corporate inversion,” which the news media should start routinely calling “corporate desertion.” So far, 47 American-based companies have renounced U.S. citizenship and bought foreign subsidiaries in order to dodge American taxes. Many more are preparing to flee...
Another Settlement – JP Morgan Receives Slap On The Wrist Despite Years Of Fraudulent CFTC Data zero hedge ...the CFTC will impose a meager $650,000 fine on JP Morgan, despite years of warnings about fraudulent data reports...
A Paper Mill Goes Quiet, and the Community It Built Gropes for a Way Forward New York Times ...It is something to do here, witnessing the disintegration of the Great Northern Paper mill, which conjured this town out of the backwoods and sustained it for a century. Once among the biggest mills of its kind, it pulled power from the river and made pulp from spruce, filling wallets and pantries for thousands of families and supporting a bustling main street...
1 Highway Worker Killed In Dallas-Area Wreck KSAT ...One highway worker has been killed and another hurt after a car plowed into a highway maintenance vehicle and trailer on a Dallas-area toll road...
S&P: Wealth gap is slowing US economic growth Associated Press ...The widening gap between the wealthiest Americans and everyone else has made the economy more prone to boom-bust cycles and slowed the 5-year-old recovery from the recession...
Pregnant Walmart Worker Ends Up Fired After Walmart Said It Would Help Pregnant Workers Think Progress ...Candis Riggins has a new baby. But, since she got fired from Walmart, she no longer has her job or her house...
Will Labor Solidarity Save the Post Office? Huffington Post ...A successful boycott to stop the further privatization of the post office could then move demand that the post office be restored to its former glory and effectiveness by reopening processing centers, extending local post office hours and rehiring experienced staff...
Miscellaneous
NLRB Gets The Case Of The Northwestern Football Player Union And The Wait Begins Chicago Business Journal ...The matter of whether Northwestern University scholarship football players can unionize is now in the hands of the full National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C...
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Today's Teamster News 07.24.14
Teamster News
Teamsters Back Rubain Dorancy for Central Brooklyn Senate Seat New York Observer ...Council 16 of the union representing drivers of various trades decided to back the education activist in his primary race against Mr. Adams’ former aide Jesse Hamilton and Community Board 9 member Demetrius Lawrence. ...
Bus Strike: GET Board Meets To Consider Union Proposal KBFX ...Golden Empire Transit District board members first met in open session to take public input, then they held a closed meeting to consider the proposal from the Teamsters...
Servisair Inc. and Teamsters reach new collective agreement CNW ...Today, the Honourable Dr. K. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women, congratulated Servisair Inc. and Teamsters Local 419 on ratifying a collective agreement for members working at Toronto Pearson International Airport...
Trade
Senate advances bill to end tax breaks for outsourcing The Hill ...The Senate voted 93-7 on Wednesday to advance a bill that would end tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas...
The Trans-Pacific Partnership and “Police Militarization”: The Coming Calamity, The Coming Resistance Centre For Research On Globalization ...While many praise the Trans-Pacific Partnership as free trade, one must be wary not only due to the geopolitical aspects, but also due to it being so secret that “often times, members of Congress and Parliament are denied access to them, even though the agreement will set out legal obligations that these elected officials will be expected to meet.”...
State Battles
Lake County judge strikes down Indiana right-to-work ban on union fees in 2nd blow to law The Republic ...Lake County Circuit Court Judge George Paras determined the law violates the state constitution by forcing unions to provide services to workers without payment...
Sealed Air jobs leaving the area Racine Journal Times ...All of the approximately 300 local Sealed Air jobs will leave the Racine area within the next three years, with the moves starting next year...
'Brain Drain' Continues As More Young Graduates Leave Wisconsin Wisconsin Public Radio ...UW Professor Says State Loses 14K College Graduates Per Year, Most Of Them Between Ages Of 21 And 29...
Unemployment up in Wisconsin's largest cities Associated Press ...The state Department of Workforce Development reported Wednesday that unemployment rates in June increased in all of the state's 32 largest cities. Unemployment rates went up in 61 of 72 counties and remained unchanged in the other 11...
Scott Walker Gets Very Little Money From The Little People Cap Times ...Of the $8.2 million the governor raised in the first six months of the year, only $1.3 million – less than one sixth – came from such donors giving $75 or less. Nearly as much came from the 106 donors who gave him the maximum contribution of $10,000, and nearly twice as much – $2.47 million – came from donors who gave at least $5,000. Most of Walker’s money, $4.7 million, came from those who gave at least $1,000...
War On Workers
United Airlines' Outsourcing Jobs To Company That Pays Near-Poverty Wages Is Shameful Huffington Post ...On October 1, United Airlines is planning to outsource 630 gate agent jobs at 12 airports to companies that pay near-poverty level wages. The airports affected include Salt Lake City; Charlotte, North Carolina; Pensacola, Florida; Detroit and Des Moines, Iowa. As a result hundreds of employees who formerly made middle-class, living wages will be forced to transfer to other cities, take early retirement or seek employment elsewhere...
Postal Workers Protest Staples In Chicago NBC Chicago ...Hundreds of members of the American Postal Workers Union protested outside a Staples in Chicago Tuesday in hopes to keep mini-post offices from opening up inside the business...
ODOT Worker Killed During Workplace Accident In Eastern Oregon KATU ...A 54-year-old Oregon Department of Transportation worker was killed on the job Tuesday, the agency said...
Koch Brothers Back 'Creepy Carenival' Where Clowns Deter Millennials From Obamacare Forbes Magazine ...Creepy Uncle Sam is back. This time, he’s bringing you to a “Creepy Carenival” – an anti-Obamacare spectacle backed by the billionaire Koch brothers where smirking clowns choose patients’ surgeries by throwing knives at a revolving wheel, insurance premiums explode and a “Dropped Coverage” game dunks millennials into a “High-Risk Pool.”...
Miscellaneous
60 Percent Of Incoming College Football Players Support Unions, Says Survey SB Nation ...60 percent of the 2015 recruiting class is in favor of unionization for college athletes, and more than 86 percent are in favor of athletes receiving some sort of stipend...
Teamsters Back Rubain Dorancy for Central Brooklyn Senate Seat New York Observer ...Council 16 of the union representing drivers of various trades decided to back the education activist in his primary race against Mr. Adams’ former aide Jesse Hamilton and Community Board 9 member Demetrius Lawrence. ...
Bus Strike: GET Board Meets To Consider Union Proposal KBFX ...Golden Empire Transit District board members first met in open session to take public input, then they held a closed meeting to consider the proposal from the Teamsters...
Servisair Inc. and Teamsters reach new collective agreement CNW ...Today, the Honourable Dr. K. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women, congratulated Servisair Inc. and Teamsters Local 419 on ratifying a collective agreement for members working at Toronto Pearson International Airport...
Trade
Senate advances bill to end tax breaks for outsourcing The Hill ...The Senate voted 93-7 on Wednesday to advance a bill that would end tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas...
The Trans-Pacific Partnership and “Police Militarization”: The Coming Calamity, The Coming Resistance Centre For Research On Globalization ...While many praise the Trans-Pacific Partnership as free trade, one must be wary not only due to the geopolitical aspects, but also due to it being so secret that “often times, members of Congress and Parliament are denied access to them, even though the agreement will set out legal obligations that these elected officials will be expected to meet.”...
State Battles
Lake County judge strikes down Indiana right-to-work ban on union fees in 2nd blow to law The Republic ...Lake County Circuit Court Judge George Paras determined the law violates the state constitution by forcing unions to provide services to workers without payment...
Sealed Air jobs leaving the area Racine Journal Times ...All of the approximately 300 local Sealed Air jobs will leave the Racine area within the next three years, with the moves starting next year...
'Brain Drain' Continues As More Young Graduates Leave Wisconsin Wisconsin Public Radio ...UW Professor Says State Loses 14K College Graduates Per Year, Most Of Them Between Ages Of 21 And 29...
Unemployment up in Wisconsin's largest cities Associated Press ...The state Department of Workforce Development reported Wednesday that unemployment rates in June increased in all of the state's 32 largest cities. Unemployment rates went up in 61 of 72 counties and remained unchanged in the other 11...
Scott Walker Gets Very Little Money From The Little People Cap Times ...Of the $8.2 million the governor raised in the first six months of the year, only $1.3 million – less than one sixth – came from such donors giving $75 or less. Nearly as much came from the 106 donors who gave him the maximum contribution of $10,000, and nearly twice as much – $2.47 million – came from donors who gave at least $5,000. Most of Walker’s money, $4.7 million, came from those who gave at least $1,000...
War On Workers
United Airlines' Outsourcing Jobs To Company That Pays Near-Poverty Wages Is Shameful Huffington Post ...On October 1, United Airlines is planning to outsource 630 gate agent jobs at 12 airports to companies that pay near-poverty level wages. The airports affected include Salt Lake City; Charlotte, North Carolina; Pensacola, Florida; Detroit and Des Moines, Iowa. As a result hundreds of employees who formerly made middle-class, living wages will be forced to transfer to other cities, take early retirement or seek employment elsewhere...
Postal Workers Protest Staples In Chicago NBC Chicago ...Hundreds of members of the American Postal Workers Union protested outside a Staples in Chicago Tuesday in hopes to keep mini-post offices from opening up inside the business...
ODOT Worker Killed During Workplace Accident In Eastern Oregon KATU ...A 54-year-old Oregon Department of Transportation worker was killed on the job Tuesday, the agency said...
Koch Brothers Back 'Creepy Carenival' Where Clowns Deter Millennials From Obamacare Forbes Magazine ...Creepy Uncle Sam is back. This time, he’s bringing you to a “Creepy Carenival” – an anti-Obamacare spectacle backed by the billionaire Koch brothers where smirking clowns choose patients’ surgeries by throwing knives at a revolving wheel, insurance premiums explode and a “Dropped Coverage” game dunks millennials into a “High-Risk Pool.”...
Miscellaneous
60 Percent Of Incoming College Football Players Support Unions, Says Survey SB Nation ...60 percent of the 2015 recruiting class is in favor of unionization for college athletes, and more than 86 percent are in favor of athletes receiving some sort of stipend...
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Today's Teamster News 07.16.14
Teamster News
Teamsters Propose End To Potential $283M Executive Pay Give-Away At McKesson IBT ...ISS, the country’s largest proxy advisor, announced its recommendation that McKesson shareholders vote ‘FOR’ Item #6 on the company proxy to support a Teamster-sponsored proposal that urges the company to address the automatic accelerated vesting of equity awards in the event of a change of control and termination...
YRC, Teamsters Sign Off On New Board Member Kansas City Business Journal ...William "Bob" Davidson will join YRC Worldwide. Late Friday, the Overland Park-based less-than-truckload carrier (Nasdaq: YRCW) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced that the union-nominated company-approved Davidson will join YRC's nine-member board...
Events July 17-20 To Commemorate 80th Anniversary Of 1934 Teamsters Strike Twin Cities Daily Planet ...Events planned for four days July 17-20 will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Minneapolis Teamsters strikes of 1934. considered the most significant single labor event in Minnesota history. Films, music, speeches, a march, a street festival, a picnic and a lecture by the author of a new book about the 1934 strike will be featured. Event organizers also have reached out to descendants of 1934 strikers to include them in 80th anniversary events...
Oxford Deputies To Picket Courthouse Tuesday To Protest Wages Oxford Hills Sun Journal ...Oxford County Sheriff's deputies are expected to picket in front of the courthouse on Western Avenue on Tuesday morning to draw attention to their labor dispute with the county. Deputies are asking for a contract, higher wages and a reinstatement of border patrols, according to Ray Cote, Teamsters Local 340 representative...
GET Bus Strike Starts At 12:01 A.M. Tuesday Bakersfield Californian ...With no breakthrough in sight Monday, a six-month-old labor dispute pushed Bakersfield to the brink of its first bus strike in 34 years. The union representing 257 bus drivers and mechanics at Golden Empire Transit District said its members walked off the job at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday after failing to reach agreement with management on raises and some drivers' classification...
Trade
Japan, U.S. to meet again in August on TPP Japan Times ...Japan and the United States reaffirmed their commitment to settle as soon as possible the disputes standing in the way of finalizing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, agreeing to hold talks again next month, Japanese officials said...
Dems Push to Delay Trans-Pacific Partnership Until After Elections New American ...Democrats in Congress are pumping the brakes on negotiations of a multinational trade pact, worried that a significant bloc of their base would leave the party should the agreement be approved before the November elections...
State Battles
Activists Pitch L.A. Ballot Measure For Citywide $15 Minimum Wage Los Angeles Times ...A coalition of activists has taken the first step in a campaign for a $15 minimum wage for workers across Los Angeles, drafting language for a ballot measure that would follow in the footsteps of a boost recently approved in Seattle...
Obama admin to join voting rights cases in Ohio and Wisconsin MSNBC ...The moves would represent the first time that Holder’s Justice Department has intervened against statewide voting laws outside the areas that the Supreme Court freed from federal oversight in last year’s Shelby County v. Holder ruling...
War On Workers
The Inverted World of Mobile Capital Project Syndicate ...A growing number of American companies are seeking to move their legal headquarters abroad by acquiring or merging with foreign companies...
A Push to Give Steadier Shifts to Part-Timers New York Times ...The recent, rapid spread of on-call employment to retail and other sectors has prompted proposals that would require companies to pay employees extra for on-call work and to give two weeks’ notice of a work schedule...
Debt Collection 'Factory' Preyed On Broke Americans: Lawsuit Huffington Post ...A federal watchdog is suing a collection agency that allegedly operated like a "factory" churning out lawsuits against cash-strapped borrowers, often using misleading, deceptive and illegal practices...
The Staples Boycott: A Big Teachers Union Gets on Board Wall Street Journal ...“Postal workers are the most amazing public servants,” said American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten. “Who does Staples really want and need to come into its stores every single day? Teachers. The best way we can help is if we say to Staples: ‘You do this to the postal workers, and we aren’t buying supplies in your stores.’”...
A Tale Of ‘Too Big To Fail’ In Higher Education New York Times ...to varying degrees, the predicament of unaccountable colleges overseen by ineffective accreditors exists nationwide...
Miscellaneous
Germany's plan to take on NSA: Block eavesdroppers with classical music, and use typewriters Telegraph ...Politicians in Germany have devised an ingenious solution to combat the threat of eavesdropping by American spies: playing classical music during their meetings...
Senators Blast NCAA, ESPN In Review Of College Athletics Roll Call ...Senators hammered NCAA President Mark Emmert on July 9, as questions about student-athlete compensation, graduation rates, health care and sexual assault took center stage. Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., kicked off by (saying) ... There’s a growing perception that college athletics, particularly Division I football and basketball, are not avocations at all. What they really are is highly profitable commercial enterprises.”...
Teamsters Propose End To Potential $283M Executive Pay Give-Away At McKesson IBT ...ISS, the country’s largest proxy advisor, announced its recommendation that McKesson shareholders vote ‘FOR’ Item #6 on the company proxy to support a Teamster-sponsored proposal that urges the company to address the automatic accelerated vesting of equity awards in the event of a change of control and termination...
YRC, Teamsters Sign Off On New Board Member Kansas City Business Journal ...William "Bob" Davidson will join YRC Worldwide. Late Friday, the Overland Park-based less-than-truckload carrier (Nasdaq: YRCW) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced that the union-nominated company-approved Davidson will join YRC's nine-member board...
Events July 17-20 To Commemorate 80th Anniversary Of 1934 Teamsters Strike Twin Cities Daily Planet ...Events planned for four days July 17-20 will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Minneapolis Teamsters strikes of 1934. considered the most significant single labor event in Minnesota history. Films, music, speeches, a march, a street festival, a picnic and a lecture by the author of a new book about the 1934 strike will be featured. Event organizers also have reached out to descendants of 1934 strikers to include them in 80th anniversary events...
Oxford Deputies To Picket Courthouse Tuesday To Protest Wages Oxford Hills Sun Journal ...Oxford County Sheriff's deputies are expected to picket in front of the courthouse on Western Avenue on Tuesday morning to draw attention to their labor dispute with the county. Deputies are asking for a contract, higher wages and a reinstatement of border patrols, according to Ray Cote, Teamsters Local 340 representative...
GET Bus Strike Starts At 12:01 A.M. Tuesday Bakersfield Californian ...With no breakthrough in sight Monday, a six-month-old labor dispute pushed Bakersfield to the brink of its first bus strike in 34 years. The union representing 257 bus drivers and mechanics at Golden Empire Transit District said its members walked off the job at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday after failing to reach agreement with management on raises and some drivers' classification...
Trade
Japan, U.S. to meet again in August on TPP Japan Times ...Japan and the United States reaffirmed their commitment to settle as soon as possible the disputes standing in the way of finalizing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, agreeing to hold talks again next month, Japanese officials said...
Dems Push to Delay Trans-Pacific Partnership Until After Elections New American ...Democrats in Congress are pumping the brakes on negotiations of a multinational trade pact, worried that a significant bloc of their base would leave the party should the agreement be approved before the November elections...
State Battles
Activists Pitch L.A. Ballot Measure For Citywide $15 Minimum Wage Los Angeles Times ...A coalition of activists has taken the first step in a campaign for a $15 minimum wage for workers across Los Angeles, drafting language for a ballot measure that would follow in the footsteps of a boost recently approved in Seattle...
Obama admin to join voting rights cases in Ohio and Wisconsin MSNBC ...The moves would represent the first time that Holder’s Justice Department has intervened against statewide voting laws outside the areas that the Supreme Court freed from federal oversight in last year’s Shelby County v. Holder ruling...
War On Workers
The Inverted World of Mobile Capital Project Syndicate ...A growing number of American companies are seeking to move their legal headquarters abroad by acquiring or merging with foreign companies...
A Push to Give Steadier Shifts to Part-Timers New York Times ...The recent, rapid spread of on-call employment to retail and other sectors has prompted proposals that would require companies to pay employees extra for on-call work and to give two weeks’ notice of a work schedule...
Debt Collection 'Factory' Preyed On Broke Americans: Lawsuit Huffington Post ...A federal watchdog is suing a collection agency that allegedly operated like a "factory" churning out lawsuits against cash-strapped borrowers, often using misleading, deceptive and illegal practices...
The Staples Boycott: A Big Teachers Union Gets on Board Wall Street Journal ...“Postal workers are the most amazing public servants,” said American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten. “Who does Staples really want and need to come into its stores every single day? Teachers. The best way we can help is if we say to Staples: ‘You do this to the postal workers, and we aren’t buying supplies in your stores.’”...
A Tale Of ‘Too Big To Fail’ In Higher Education New York Times ...to varying degrees, the predicament of unaccountable colleges overseen by ineffective accreditors exists nationwide...
Miscellaneous
Germany's plan to take on NSA: Block eavesdroppers with classical music, and use typewriters Telegraph ...Politicians in Germany have devised an ingenious solution to combat the threat of eavesdropping by American spies: playing classical music during their meetings...
Senators Blast NCAA, ESPN In Review Of College Athletics Roll Call ...Senators hammered NCAA President Mark Emmert on July 9, as questions about student-athlete compensation, graduation rates, health care and sexual assault took center stage. Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., kicked off by (saying) ... There’s a growing perception that college athletics, particularly Division I football and basketball, are not avocations at all. What they really are is highly profitable commercial enterprises.”...
Friday, June 6, 2014
Today's Teamster News 06.06.14
Teamster News
Teamsters Caution FTC Sysco-US Foods Merger Could Harm Competition, Consumers, Workers IBT ...On Wednesday, the Teamsters cautioned the Federal Trade Commission staff and state attorneys general investigating Sysco's proposed acquisition of US Foods for anti-trust issues that a merger of the top two U.S. food service providers could limit competition...
Trade
Chicken from China? Your Seafood is Already Being Processed There Trade Reform ...fish processors in the Northwest, including Seattle-based Trident Seafoods, are sending part of their catch of Alaskan salmon or Dungeness crab to China to be filleted or de-shelled before returning to U.S. tables...
OMB Bureaucratic Fraud: Foreign Goods to Be Classified as U.S. Produced! Trade Reform ...…Apple iPhones built by Foxconn in China and sold in Japan will be counted a U.S. export!...
State Battles
R.I. Senate Committee Oks Bill Raising Minimum Wage Providence Journal ...Rhode Island's minimum wage moved one step closer to a one-dollar hike Wednesday. By a unanimous vote, the Senate Labor Committee passed a bill that raises the minimum wage from $8 an hour to $9 an hour, effective Jan. 1, 2015...
Ohio Proposal Aimed At Barring College Athletes From Unionizing Heads To Gov In Budget Bill U.S. News ...Ohio lawmakers have passed a bill that says college athletes are not public employees under state law. The idea cleared the state legislature Wednesday as part of a broader bill now headed to the governor's desk...
Study finds strong evidence for discriminatory intent behind voter ID laws Washington Post ...State legislators who support voter ID laws are motivated in no small part by racial bias, according to a new study from the University of Southern California...
Some states already lashing at climate rule Politico Pro ...Kentucky has gone even further, enacting a law this spring that could block the state from complying with EPA’s rule. West Virginia and Kansas have new laws taking aim at the regulation one way or another, and states like Ohio, Louisiana and Missouri are considering similar measures...
War On Workers
Who Is Behind the National Right to Work Committee and Its Anti-Union Crusade? Truthout ...If the court follows National Right to Work's lead, every state in the country would essentially turn into an anti-union "right to work" state, which would be a significant blow to public sector unions' collective bargaining efforts and also complicate thousands of existing contracts between organized workers and municipalities, cities, counties, and states across the country...
Well-Paid Workers Strengthen Local Economies New York Times ...Orthodox economists and trickle-down dogmatists are sputtering in disbelief over Seattle's new $15 minimum wage, convinced it will destroy our economy. As House Speaker John Boehner is fond of saying, "If you raise the price of employment, guess what happens? You get less of it." They are wrong...
Three New Ways The Koch Brothers Are Screwing America Rolling Stone ...The fourth-richest men in America target low-wage workers, minority voters and unions...
Walmart Workers Strike Today, As Report Says Women Hardest Hit By Retail's Low Wages Cleveland Plain-Dealer ...Women are disproportionately impacted by the low wages and often erratic work schedules in the retail industry, says a new report...
Walmart's Executive Tax Bonuses Have Cost Taxpayers $104 Million Since 2009 Think Progress ...Since 2009, Walmart has ducked $104 million in taxes by exploiting a tax loophole around bonus payments to just eight top executives, according to a report from the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS)...
McDonald's CEO: 'We Will Support' A Minimum Wage Hike Huffington Post ...McDonald's CEO Don Thompson recently suggested his company would support a bill, proposed by President Barack Obama, raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour from $7.25...
Miscellaneous
Unions Set High Goal: Collective Bargaining For All Workers Wall Street Journal ...Organized labor has embarked on a project to develop legislation that would expand collective bargaining rights of private sector workers, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said...
UAW Elects Dennis Williams President In A Landslide: 'I Feel The Energy' Detroit Free Press ...The UAW elected Dennis Williams its 11th president Wednesday in a landslide, putting him in charge of a union struggling to regain bargaining leverage, rebuild its finances and restore political clout...
The Snowden Effect: 8 Things That Happened Only Because Of The NSA Leaks Huffington Post ...Brazil gave a massive fighter jet contract to Saab instead of the American company Boeing...
Teamsters Caution FTC Sysco-US Foods Merger Could Harm Competition, Consumers, Workers IBT ...On Wednesday, the Teamsters cautioned the Federal Trade Commission staff and state attorneys general investigating Sysco's proposed acquisition of US Foods for anti-trust issues that a merger of the top two U.S. food service providers could limit competition...
Trade
Chicken from China? Your Seafood is Already Being Processed There Trade Reform ...fish processors in the Northwest, including Seattle-based Trident Seafoods, are sending part of their catch of Alaskan salmon or Dungeness crab to China to be filleted or de-shelled before returning to U.S. tables...
OMB Bureaucratic Fraud: Foreign Goods to Be Classified as U.S. Produced! Trade Reform ...…Apple iPhones built by Foxconn in China and sold in Japan will be counted a U.S. export!...
State Battles
R.I. Senate Committee Oks Bill Raising Minimum Wage Providence Journal ...Rhode Island's minimum wage moved one step closer to a one-dollar hike Wednesday. By a unanimous vote, the Senate Labor Committee passed a bill that raises the minimum wage from $8 an hour to $9 an hour, effective Jan. 1, 2015...
Ohio Proposal Aimed At Barring College Athletes From Unionizing Heads To Gov In Budget Bill U.S. News ...Ohio lawmakers have passed a bill that says college athletes are not public employees under state law. The idea cleared the state legislature Wednesday as part of a broader bill now headed to the governor's desk...
Study finds strong evidence for discriminatory intent behind voter ID laws Washington Post ...State legislators who support voter ID laws are motivated in no small part by racial bias, according to a new study from the University of Southern California...
Some states already lashing at climate rule Politico Pro ...Kentucky has gone even further, enacting a law this spring that could block the state from complying with EPA’s rule. West Virginia and Kansas have new laws taking aim at the regulation one way or another, and states like Ohio, Louisiana and Missouri are considering similar measures...
War On Workers
Who Is Behind the National Right to Work Committee and Its Anti-Union Crusade? Truthout ...If the court follows National Right to Work's lead, every state in the country would essentially turn into an anti-union "right to work" state, which would be a significant blow to public sector unions' collective bargaining efforts and also complicate thousands of existing contracts between organized workers and municipalities, cities, counties, and states across the country...
Well-Paid Workers Strengthen Local Economies New York Times ...Orthodox economists and trickle-down dogmatists are sputtering in disbelief over Seattle's new $15 minimum wage, convinced it will destroy our economy. As House Speaker John Boehner is fond of saying, "If you raise the price of employment, guess what happens? You get less of it." They are wrong...
Three New Ways The Koch Brothers Are Screwing America Rolling Stone ...The fourth-richest men in America target low-wage workers, minority voters and unions...
Walmart Workers Strike Today, As Report Says Women Hardest Hit By Retail's Low Wages Cleveland Plain-Dealer ...Women are disproportionately impacted by the low wages and often erratic work schedules in the retail industry, says a new report...
Walmart's Executive Tax Bonuses Have Cost Taxpayers $104 Million Since 2009 Think Progress ...Since 2009, Walmart has ducked $104 million in taxes by exploiting a tax loophole around bonus payments to just eight top executives, according to a report from the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS)...
McDonald's CEO: 'We Will Support' A Minimum Wage Hike Huffington Post ...McDonald's CEO Don Thompson recently suggested his company would support a bill, proposed by President Barack Obama, raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour from $7.25...
Miscellaneous
Unions Set High Goal: Collective Bargaining For All Workers Wall Street Journal ...Organized labor has embarked on a project to develop legislation that would expand collective bargaining rights of private sector workers, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said...
UAW Elects Dennis Williams President In A Landslide: 'I Feel The Energy' Detroit Free Press ...The UAW elected Dennis Williams its 11th president Wednesday in a landslide, putting him in charge of a union struggling to regain bargaining leverage, rebuild its finances and restore political clout...
The Snowden Effect: 8 Things That Happened Only Because Of The NSA Leaks Huffington Post ...Brazil gave a massive fighter jet contract to Saab instead of the American company Boeing...
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Today's Teamster News 05.13.14
Teamster News
Teamsters End Strike At PepsiCo Plant Indianapolis Star ...A 10-day strike involving about 350 Teamsters who work at a PepsiCo bottling plant on the Northwest side ended after they approved a new five-year contract...
National Labor Relations Board Rules In Favor Of Teamsters Against Durham teamster.org ...School bus drivers and monitors in Santa Rosa County, Fla., who are members of Teamsters Local 991 in Mobile, Ala., have won a major victory in a decision handed down by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, D.C...
AGY, Union Leaders Remain Mum As 'Lock Out' Continues Aiken Standard ...Employees aren't the only ones being "locked out" after Aiken's AGY plant reportedly deactivated the access badges of all it's workers more than a week ago...
Trade
The Free-Trade Regime: Oligarchy In Action Asia Times ...The United States is not really a democracy. That's the (simplified) conclusion of a recent study from Princeton University. Instead, economic elites and special interest groups enjoy tremendous sway in Washington, while "the preferences of the average American...
Trade accord carries health warning Stuff ...a trade deal is interfering with New Zealand doing the right thing to control cigarettes...
State Battles
Missouri Senate Republicans send two priorities back to House after late-night deal is struck St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...Democrats agreed to stand down on a constitutional amendment to allow some early voting in Missouri and a measure to extend the waiting period before an abortion. In exchange, Senate Republicans agreed not to push for voter photo identification or the paycheck deduction bill...
Florida Couple Fined $746 For Crime Of Feeding Homeless People Think Progress ...After feeding the hungry in a Daytona Beach park every weekend for more than a year, it's just as easy to imagine Chico and Debbie Jiminez given a ticker-tape parade as what they actually got: a slew of citations and a permanent ban from the park...
GOP Vote Scheme Finally Imploding: Why The End May Be Here Salon.com ...it seems that the recent landmark court ruling in WI, followed by last week’s towel toss in Pennsylvania and embarrassing revelations in Iowa, may be seen in the not-too-distant future as the moment that the GOP “voter fraud” fraud finally began to permanently unravel...
For State Workers, a Thaw in Frozen Wages Stateline ...Government workers across the U.S. are expected to get raises this year, many of them for the first time since the Great Recession spurred states to freeze wages, furlough employees and slash workforces...
War On Workers
Looting The Pension Funds Rolling Stone Magazine ...In the final months of 2011, almost two years before the city of Detroit would shock America by declaring bankruptcy in the face of what it claimed were insurmountable pension costs, the state of Rhode Island took action to avert what it called its own looming pension crisis...
A Deal to Dodge the Tax Man in America New York Times ...Pfizer’s pursuit of AstraZeneca raises a huge public policy red flag. It plans to move its holding company to Britain from the United States so it can achieve a much lower tax rate and use cash that it has held abroad to avoid paying United States taxes...
ALEC Fires Back, But Proves Its 'Pro-Business' State Index Is Bogus Los Angeles Times ...Plainly stung by the chorus of ridicule that has greeted their latest attempt to paint anti-union policies and tax cuts for the rich as pathways to economic nirvana, the folks at the American Legislative Exchange Council have struck back with a "response to the critics"...
Despite Falling Revenues, Walmart Increases Pay for Top Execs firedoglake ...despite falling revenues, and despite only reluctantly paying minimum wage to its workers, Walmart increased the pay for its top executives...
Making Ends Meet At Walmart New York Times ...This has not been a good year for Walmart shareholders. Amid a torrid market over the last 12 months, this giant retailer's stock has flat lined, reflecting a slowdown in sales growth...
The Minimum Wage Loophole That's Screwing Over Waiters And Waitresses Mother Jones ...As Republicans stonewall President Obama's initiative to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour by 2016, some state lawmakers have taken the matter into their own hands...
Players Union Has Been Beneficial For Baseball Philadelphia Inquirer ...A prominent plaque at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum contains this familiar quotation from French-born historian Jacques Barzun: "Whoever wants to learn the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball"...
Teamsters End Strike At PepsiCo Plant Indianapolis Star ...A 10-day strike involving about 350 Teamsters who work at a PepsiCo bottling plant on the Northwest side ended after they approved a new five-year contract...
National Labor Relations Board Rules In Favor Of Teamsters Against Durham teamster.org ...School bus drivers and monitors in Santa Rosa County, Fla., who are members of Teamsters Local 991 in Mobile, Ala., have won a major victory in a decision handed down by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, D.C...
AGY, Union Leaders Remain Mum As 'Lock Out' Continues Aiken Standard ...Employees aren't the only ones being "locked out" after Aiken's AGY plant reportedly deactivated the access badges of all it's workers more than a week ago...
Trade
The Free-Trade Regime: Oligarchy In Action Asia Times ...The United States is not really a democracy. That's the (simplified) conclusion of a recent study from Princeton University. Instead, economic elites and special interest groups enjoy tremendous sway in Washington, while "the preferences of the average American...
Trade accord carries health warning Stuff ...a trade deal is interfering with New Zealand doing the right thing to control cigarettes...
State Battles
Missouri Senate Republicans send two priorities back to House after late-night deal is struck St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...Democrats agreed to stand down on a constitutional amendment to allow some early voting in Missouri and a measure to extend the waiting period before an abortion. In exchange, Senate Republicans agreed not to push for voter photo identification or the paycheck deduction bill...
Florida Couple Fined $746 For Crime Of Feeding Homeless People Think Progress ...After feeding the hungry in a Daytona Beach park every weekend for more than a year, it's just as easy to imagine Chico and Debbie Jiminez given a ticker-tape parade as what they actually got: a slew of citations and a permanent ban from the park...
GOP Vote Scheme Finally Imploding: Why The End May Be Here Salon.com ...it seems that the recent landmark court ruling in WI, followed by last week’s towel toss in Pennsylvania and embarrassing revelations in Iowa, may be seen in the not-too-distant future as the moment that the GOP “voter fraud” fraud finally began to permanently unravel...
For State Workers, a Thaw in Frozen Wages Stateline ...Government workers across the U.S. are expected to get raises this year, many of them for the first time since the Great Recession spurred states to freeze wages, furlough employees and slash workforces...
War On Workers
Looting The Pension Funds Rolling Stone Magazine ...In the final months of 2011, almost two years before the city of Detroit would shock America by declaring bankruptcy in the face of what it claimed were insurmountable pension costs, the state of Rhode Island took action to avert what it called its own looming pension crisis...
A Deal to Dodge the Tax Man in America New York Times ...Pfizer’s pursuit of AstraZeneca raises a huge public policy red flag. It plans to move its holding company to Britain from the United States so it can achieve a much lower tax rate and use cash that it has held abroad to avoid paying United States taxes...
ALEC Fires Back, But Proves Its 'Pro-Business' State Index Is Bogus Los Angeles Times ...Plainly stung by the chorus of ridicule that has greeted their latest attempt to paint anti-union policies and tax cuts for the rich as pathways to economic nirvana, the folks at the American Legislative Exchange Council have struck back with a "response to the critics"...
Despite Falling Revenues, Walmart Increases Pay for Top Execs firedoglake ...despite falling revenues, and despite only reluctantly paying minimum wage to its workers, Walmart increased the pay for its top executives...
Making Ends Meet At Walmart New York Times ...This has not been a good year for Walmart shareholders. Amid a torrid market over the last 12 months, this giant retailer's stock has flat lined, reflecting a slowdown in sales growth...
The Minimum Wage Loophole That's Screwing Over Waiters And Waitresses Mother Jones ...As Republicans stonewall President Obama's initiative to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour by 2016, some state lawmakers have taken the matter into their own hands...
Players Union Has Been Beneficial For Baseball Philadelphia Inquirer ...A prominent plaque at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum contains this familiar quotation from French-born historian Jacques Barzun: "Whoever wants to learn the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball"...
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Today's Teamster News 04.26.14
Teamster News
Republic Nuclear Dump Fire Threatens Investors, Workers Huffington Post ...Since 2010, a landfill fire has been moving toward 8,700 tons of unlined illegally dumped radioactive waste in Bridgeton, Missouri. The site is in the middle of working-class neighborhoods, right next to the Saint Louis airport, and near a hospital, schools and a great number of businesses. The Teamsters believe Bill Gates and other investors in Republic Services, Inc. should take a closer look...
Chicago Art Handlers Vote To Become Teamsters, Today Art World ...Art handlers with Mana-Terry Dowd LLC may set an industry precedent this month by being the first employees of a major art transportation company in Chicago to unionize...
Mayor de Blasio Laughs Off Idea Central Park Horse-Carriage Drivers Will Be Offered Taxi Cab Medallions New York Daily News ...Mayor de Blasio laughed off a report the city is offering tax cab medallions in exchange for their handsome cab licenses. Asked Thursday if a proposal was on the table, de Blasio gave a one word answer: "No."
Trade
Even Without Deal, U.S., Japan Play Up TPP Talks Wall Street Journal ...The U.S. and Japan tried to put their best face on their failure to reach a trade deal during President Barack Obama's Tokyo visit, saying major progress was made during nearly round-the-clock talks...
State Battles
Missouri House Republican leaders continue to push for 'right to work' bill St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...The prospects of a second vote on “right to work” remain uncertain, but state House Republican leaders said they continue to work on trying to gather enough votes to advance the measure...
Hicks receives warm understanding and support from colleagues and constituents after RTW vote Missouri Times ...Hicks initially felt alienated when he took the vote against RTW, but now feels more validated. “When I stood up and voted no, I went against my party for the first time...
The Kochs' Alternative GOP Comes Out Against Columbus Zoo Animals The Wire ...Ohio's chapter of American's for Prosperity, the Koch-brothers funded activist zoo group, sent out a mailer opposing a tax increase for the Columbus, Ohio zoo...
Koch Brothers Group Wipes Cliven Bundy Support From Social Media Accounts Huffington Post ...Americans for Prosperity Nevada, the state affiliate of the Koch Brothers-backed group, appears to have hastily deleted social media posts expressing support for Cliven Bundy, the renegade rancher who exposed himself as a racist in recent press conferences...
Republican Senator proposes Michigan minimum wage increase to undermine ballot proposal Michigan Live ...State Sen. Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge) on Thursday said he introduced a bill to increase the minimum wage from $7.40 an hour to $8.15 per hour starting Dec. 1, 2014. It also would raise the minimum rate for tipped employees from $2.65 per hour to $2.75 per hour...
Lawmakers advance minimum wage bill KHON2 ...Lawmakers advanced a bill today to raise Hawaii’s minimum wage for the first time since 2007...
Murray says minimum-wage agreement will take more time Seattle Times ...Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said there’s still a few more weeks before a drop-dead deadline for an accord on a $15 minimum-wage proposal...
War on Workers
Northwestern University Football Players To Vote On Union Amid Debate Over Labor Rights Washington Post ...Northwestern University football players are scheduled to vote Friday whether to join a union, part of a labor battle that is drawing intense scrutiny from colleges with major athletic programs, national labor leaders and higher education lobbyists in Washington...
Miscellaneous
Americans Have Fewer Credit Cards And Less Debt FiveThirtyEight ...A new poll from Gallup suggests that Americans are less reliant on credit cards than any time since 2001. The survey, which was based on a random sample 1,026 adults, found that 29 percent of Americans do not own any credit cards...
Occupy Amazon: Elizabeth Warren, Thomas Piketty, Michael Lewis Books Surging Online Huffington Post ...If Amazon's top-sellers list is any indication, Americans are fed up with rising income inequality. As of Thursday evening, Sen. Elizabeth Warren's new memoir, A Fighting Chance is the number two best-selling book on Amazon...
Republic Nuclear Dump Fire Threatens Investors, Workers Huffington Post ...Since 2010, a landfill fire has been moving toward 8,700 tons of unlined illegally dumped radioactive waste in Bridgeton, Missouri. The site is in the middle of working-class neighborhoods, right next to the Saint Louis airport, and near a hospital, schools and a great number of businesses. The Teamsters believe Bill Gates and other investors in Republic Services, Inc. should take a closer look...
Chicago Art Handlers Vote To Become Teamsters, Today Art World ...Art handlers with Mana-Terry Dowd LLC may set an industry precedent this month by being the first employees of a major art transportation company in Chicago to unionize...
Mayor de Blasio Laughs Off Idea Central Park Horse-Carriage Drivers Will Be Offered Taxi Cab Medallions New York Daily News ...Mayor de Blasio laughed off a report the city is offering tax cab medallions in exchange for their handsome cab licenses. Asked Thursday if a proposal was on the table, de Blasio gave a one word answer: "No."
Trade
Even Without Deal, U.S., Japan Play Up TPP Talks Wall Street Journal ...The U.S. and Japan tried to put their best face on their failure to reach a trade deal during President Barack Obama's Tokyo visit, saying major progress was made during nearly round-the-clock talks...
State Battles
Missouri House Republican leaders continue to push for 'right to work' bill St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...The prospects of a second vote on “right to work” remain uncertain, but state House Republican leaders said they continue to work on trying to gather enough votes to advance the measure...
Hicks receives warm understanding and support from colleagues and constituents after RTW vote Missouri Times ...Hicks initially felt alienated when he took the vote against RTW, but now feels more validated. “When I stood up and voted no, I went against my party for the first time...
The Kochs' Alternative GOP Comes Out Against Columbus Zoo Animals The Wire ...Ohio's chapter of American's for Prosperity, the Koch-brothers funded activist zoo group, sent out a mailer opposing a tax increase for the Columbus, Ohio zoo...
Koch Brothers Group Wipes Cliven Bundy Support From Social Media Accounts Huffington Post ...Americans for Prosperity Nevada, the state affiliate of the Koch Brothers-backed group, appears to have hastily deleted social media posts expressing support for Cliven Bundy, the renegade rancher who exposed himself as a racist in recent press conferences...
Republican Senator proposes Michigan minimum wage increase to undermine ballot proposal Michigan Live ...State Sen. Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge) on Thursday said he introduced a bill to increase the minimum wage from $7.40 an hour to $8.15 per hour starting Dec. 1, 2014. It also would raise the minimum rate for tipped employees from $2.65 per hour to $2.75 per hour...
Lawmakers advance minimum wage bill KHON2 ...Lawmakers advanced a bill today to raise Hawaii’s minimum wage for the first time since 2007...
Murray says minimum-wage agreement will take more time Seattle Times ...Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said there’s still a few more weeks before a drop-dead deadline for an accord on a $15 minimum-wage proposal...
War on Workers
Northwestern University Football Players To Vote On Union Amid Debate Over Labor Rights Washington Post ...Northwestern University football players are scheduled to vote Friday whether to join a union, part of a labor battle that is drawing intense scrutiny from colleges with major athletic programs, national labor leaders and higher education lobbyists in Washington...
Miscellaneous
Americans Have Fewer Credit Cards And Less Debt FiveThirtyEight ...A new poll from Gallup suggests that Americans are less reliant on credit cards than any time since 2001. The survey, which was based on a random sample 1,026 adults, found that 29 percent of Americans do not own any credit cards...
Occupy Amazon: Elizabeth Warren, Thomas Piketty, Michael Lewis Books Surging Online Huffington Post ...If Amazon's top-sellers list is any indication, Americans are fed up with rising income inequality. As of Thursday evening, Sen. Elizabeth Warren's new memoir, A Fighting Chance is the number two best-selling book on Amazon...
Friday, April 25, 2014
A historic day: Northwestern football players vote on union representation
College sports are extremely popular in America. Collectively, it is a multibillion dollar business. Coaches at the helms of these programs receive multimillion dollar salaries and plush benefits. Pat Fitzgerald, the head football coach at Northwestern, makes over $2.2 million dollars. But what do the players, the engine in the vehicle that is the NCAA, get from this? An education, rife with limitations on majors and the potential for fraud or abuse. Injuries that can linger for a lifetime and are not covered by the NCAA.
The NCAA is exploiting these kids to the point that, even after winning a championship, they go to bed without food in their stomach.
The National Labor Relations Board has begun to fix this situation. A landmark ruling gave these players a profound choice: the option to join their professional counterparts, unionize and negotiate for better healthcare, stipends to cover the full cost of an education, and revenue from the video games and jerseys sold in their name. Many of these student athletes come from tough economic backgrounds and they rightly see athletics as a way to empower themselves.
We won't know for a while what the outcome is, but we're sure looking forward to finding out.
Today's Teamster News 04.25.14
Teamster News
Teamsters Union Calls On Bill Gates For Westlake Landfill Cleanup CBS News ...The Teamsters union is lobbying billionaire Bill Gates to support the total cleanup of radioactive waste from the West Lake Landfill. Chuck Stiles, the Assistant Director of the Teamsters Solid Waste Division...
Teamsters, Taylor Farm Workers Help Push Bill To Protect Temp Workers TeamsterNation ...The Teamster organizing struggle at Taylor Farms in California moved to the state capitol yesterday where workers helped push forward a bill to make companies responsible for workers hired through temp agencies...
UPS Contract Facts Memo To Locals teamster.org ...The documents ... include a UPS contract facts memo from the National Negotiating Committee to Local Unions and supporting documents...
Trade
Japan, U.S. fail to reach agreement on TPP The Asahi Shimbun ...Last-minute negotiations between Japan and the United States failed to produce substantive agreement on a Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal...
Why Corporations Are Freaking Out About Obama's Big Trade Deal Huffington Post ...as the current head of Ford Motor Co.'s international lobbying operations, Biegun now finds himself allied with environmental activists, labor unions, and some of the most progressive Democrats in Congress -- all raising strong objections to President Barack Obama's proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, or TPP...
State Battles
Right-To-Work Bill Divides Missourians As It Moves Through Legislature The Missourian ...Dave Anderson, a shop steward for United Food and Commercial Workers in Columbia, is convinced that organized labor helps far more people than simply its members...
War On Workers
Exclusive: Apple, Google agree to pay over $300 million to settle conspiracy lawsuit Reuters ...Four major tech companies including Apple and Google have agreed to pay a total of $324 million to settle a lawsuit accusing them of conspiring to hold down salaries in Silicon Valley, sources familiar with the deal said, just weeks before a high profile trial had been scheduled to begin...
Danger on the rails: outdated tankers carrying crude oil Axis Philly ...Virtually all of the petroleum crude being transported around the United States by rail is being shipped in DOT-111s.
And many of those tank cars have been deemed unsafe for the transportation of flammable liquids, like petroleum crude oil, by government agencies...
Port Authority Board Approves Raises For All 12K Airport Workers New York Daily News ...All 12,000 of the New York area's poorly paid airport workers are now officially set for financial takeoff. Three months after the Daily News launched a campaign to improve conditions for the struggling airport workers, Port Authority board members...
Many Low-Wage Workers Not Protected By Minimum Wage CNN Money ...President Obama's push to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, coupled with recent state-level increases, is welcome news for many people getting by on small paychecks...
Pressure Builds As Northwestern Football Team Union Vote Nears CNN ...No matter what the ballots say, Friday will be historic for college sports. By noon, members of Northwestern University's will have cast their ballots that will decide whether they will form a workers union and start demanding more rights...
Breaking the Law? Northwestern Football Coach Pressures Players Not to Unionize The Nation ...it takes an enormous amount of chutzpah for Fitzgerald to so strenuously oppose the efforts of his players to have a seat at the table when he is making $2.2 million per year and received a $2.5 million loan from the school upon signing his most recent contract. Yet Fitzgerald’s stance is not only distasteful. It may be illegal...
Meet The Real Amazon Drones Huffington Post ...At least five days a week, Myron Ballard races around Washington, DC with a cargo van full of Amazon Prime packages. A career delivery driver with 20 years behind the wheel, Ballard typically gets paid $1.50 for each address he visits...
Miscellaneous
Families Of Aurora Shooting Victims Call Out Koch Backed Group For Insensitive Ad Huffington Post ...A group backed by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch has agreed to adjust an ad featuring President Obama and Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) after facing complaints about an insensitive photo. Families of the Aurora movie theater shooting victims called on the conservative nonprofit Americans for Prosperity...
Everything You Need To Know About The End Of Net Neutrality Huffington Post ...It may be the end of the internet as we know it. That was the reaction from consumer advocates and some websites after the Federal Communications Commission announced new rules governing internet service on Thursday...
Teamsters Union Calls On Bill Gates For Westlake Landfill Cleanup CBS News ...The Teamsters union is lobbying billionaire Bill Gates to support the total cleanup of radioactive waste from the West Lake Landfill. Chuck Stiles, the Assistant Director of the Teamsters Solid Waste Division...
Teamsters, Taylor Farm Workers Help Push Bill To Protect Temp Workers TeamsterNation ...The Teamster organizing struggle at Taylor Farms in California moved to the state capitol yesterday where workers helped push forward a bill to make companies responsible for workers hired through temp agencies...
UPS Contract Facts Memo To Locals teamster.org ...The documents ... include a UPS contract facts memo from the National Negotiating Committee to Local Unions and supporting documents...
Trade
Japan, U.S. fail to reach agreement on TPP The Asahi Shimbun ...Last-minute negotiations between Japan and the United States failed to produce substantive agreement on a Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal...
Why Corporations Are Freaking Out About Obama's Big Trade Deal Huffington Post ...as the current head of Ford Motor Co.'s international lobbying operations, Biegun now finds himself allied with environmental activists, labor unions, and some of the most progressive Democrats in Congress -- all raising strong objections to President Barack Obama's proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, or TPP...
State Battles
Right-To-Work Bill Divides Missourians As It Moves Through Legislature The Missourian ...Dave Anderson, a shop steward for United Food and Commercial Workers in Columbia, is convinced that organized labor helps far more people than simply its members...
War On Workers
Exclusive: Apple, Google agree to pay over $300 million to settle conspiracy lawsuit Reuters ...Four major tech companies including Apple and Google have agreed to pay a total of $324 million to settle a lawsuit accusing them of conspiring to hold down salaries in Silicon Valley, sources familiar with the deal said, just weeks before a high profile trial had been scheduled to begin...
Danger on the rails: outdated tankers carrying crude oil Axis Philly ...Virtually all of the petroleum crude being transported around the United States by rail is being shipped in DOT-111s.
And many of those tank cars have been deemed unsafe for the transportation of flammable liquids, like petroleum crude oil, by government agencies...
Port Authority Board Approves Raises For All 12K Airport Workers New York Daily News ...All 12,000 of the New York area's poorly paid airport workers are now officially set for financial takeoff. Three months after the Daily News launched a campaign to improve conditions for the struggling airport workers, Port Authority board members...
Many Low-Wage Workers Not Protected By Minimum Wage CNN Money ...President Obama's push to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, coupled with recent state-level increases, is welcome news for many people getting by on small paychecks...
Pressure Builds As Northwestern Football Team Union Vote Nears CNN ...No matter what the ballots say, Friday will be historic for college sports. By noon, members of Northwestern University's will have cast their ballots that will decide whether they will form a workers union and start demanding more rights...
Breaking the Law? Northwestern Football Coach Pressures Players Not to Unionize The Nation ...it takes an enormous amount of chutzpah for Fitzgerald to so strenuously oppose the efforts of his players to have a seat at the table when he is making $2.2 million per year and received a $2.5 million loan from the school upon signing his most recent contract. Yet Fitzgerald’s stance is not only distasteful. It may be illegal...
Meet The Real Amazon Drones Huffington Post ...At least five days a week, Myron Ballard races around Washington, DC with a cargo van full of Amazon Prime packages. A career delivery driver with 20 years behind the wheel, Ballard typically gets paid $1.50 for each address he visits...
Miscellaneous
Families Of Aurora Shooting Victims Call Out Koch Backed Group For Insensitive Ad Huffington Post ...A group backed by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch has agreed to adjust an ad featuring President Obama and Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) after facing complaints about an insensitive photo. Families of the Aurora movie theater shooting victims called on the conservative nonprofit Americans for Prosperity...
Everything You Need To Know About The End Of Net Neutrality Huffington Post ...It may be the end of the internet as we know it. That was the reaction from consumer advocates and some websites after the Federal Communications Commission announced new rules governing internet service on Thursday...
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Today's Teamster News 04.20.14
Teamster News
SeaTac airport workers fight exclusion from $15 minimum wage PBS News Hour ...Tracey Thompson, Teamsters Local 117: It’s not just the represented workers that matter. It’s the non-represented workers, and women and persons of color are the ones who are suffering most by having such low minimum wage and poverty level wages here...
Animal rights protesters march outside Liam Neeson's home in support of horse ban New York Daily News ...About 60 activists gathered in front of Neeson’s building on Saturday, criticizing the actor for his support of the carriage horse industry...
Mayor Bill de Blasio's horse sense (opinion) Crain's New York Business ...when the mayor changed his mind last week, saying he'd postpone the industry ban until the end of the year, we welcomed the reprieve. Still, Mr. de Blasio's capricious approach to one industry continues to leave us concerned for every law-abiding business in this town. Apparently, following the rules and paying taxes is no longer sufficient for the privilege to try to earn a living in New York...
Trade
U.S.-Japan Talks Said Unable to Overcome Deal Obstacles Bloomberg ...U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Japanese Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy Akira Amari yesterday concluded talks in Washington on the Trans-Pacific Partnership without striking a deal on some of the most contentious issues...
State Battles
Local Media Fooled By Discredited Economic Competitiveness Report Media Matters ...Despite the uncritical, often glowing, pick-up by local media outlets, ALEC's competitiveness report has received scrutiny in the past, mostly due to evidence showing that economic data does not comport with the results of their study...
Column: Some fear Charles Koch's influence damages FSU's integrity Tampa Bay Tribune ...Koch's foundation has been funneling money to the economics department at FSU since 2008. This would be the same Koch who funds ultraconservative think tanks and preaches less government regulation...
Christina Bullins: Are our prisons safe in Florida? Florida Public Employees Partnership ...the inmate population had no significant changes. Despite the addition of 245 positions last year, the number of officers reported in DOC’s budget request is 727 officers less than the year before...
War on Workers
Jon Stewart Demolishes the NCAA's Case Against Student-Athlete Unions The Wire ...players are forbidden from accepting nearly any gifts, including food – just ask the Oklahoma players punished for being served "pasta in excess."...
Student debt holds back many would-be home buyers Los Angeles Times ...Of the many factors holding back young home buyers — rising prices, tougher lending standards, a still-shaky job market — none looms larger than the recent explosion of college debt...
UConn’s 2,135 graduate assistants unionize CT Mirror ...The governing board of the state's flagship university unanimously voted in a "special meeting" last week to approve an agreement between the newly formed union -- UConn GEU-UAW -- and the university...
Miscellaneous
Senator Holds Commuter Safety Presser, Almost Gets Hit By Train Gawker ...Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal received an unexpected lesson in practicing what you preach at a press conference yesterday. Standing on the platform at the Milford Metro-North station, Blumenthal and his easel narrowly dodged an oncoming train as Milford Mayor Ben Blake spoke about commuter safety...
SeaTac airport workers fight exclusion from $15 minimum wage PBS News Hour ...Tracey Thompson, Teamsters Local 117: It’s not just the represented workers that matter. It’s the non-represented workers, and women and persons of color are the ones who are suffering most by having such low minimum wage and poverty level wages here...
Animal rights protesters march outside Liam Neeson's home in support of horse ban New York Daily News ...About 60 activists gathered in front of Neeson’s building on Saturday, criticizing the actor for his support of the carriage horse industry...
Mayor Bill de Blasio's horse sense (opinion) Crain's New York Business ...when the mayor changed his mind last week, saying he'd postpone the industry ban until the end of the year, we welcomed the reprieve. Still, Mr. de Blasio's capricious approach to one industry continues to leave us concerned for every law-abiding business in this town. Apparently, following the rules and paying taxes is no longer sufficient for the privilege to try to earn a living in New York...
Trade
U.S.-Japan Talks Said Unable to Overcome Deal Obstacles Bloomberg ...U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Japanese Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy Akira Amari yesterday concluded talks in Washington on the Trans-Pacific Partnership without striking a deal on some of the most contentious issues...
State Battles
Local Media Fooled By Discredited Economic Competitiveness Report Media Matters ...Despite the uncritical, often glowing, pick-up by local media outlets, ALEC's competitiveness report has received scrutiny in the past, mostly due to evidence showing that economic data does not comport with the results of their study...
Column: Some fear Charles Koch's influence damages FSU's integrity Tampa Bay Tribune ...Koch's foundation has been funneling money to the economics department at FSU since 2008. This would be the same Koch who funds ultraconservative think tanks and preaches less government regulation...
Christina Bullins: Are our prisons safe in Florida? Florida Public Employees Partnership ...the inmate population had no significant changes. Despite the addition of 245 positions last year, the number of officers reported in DOC’s budget request is 727 officers less than the year before...
War on Workers
Jon Stewart Demolishes the NCAA's Case Against Student-Athlete Unions The Wire ...players are forbidden from accepting nearly any gifts, including food – just ask the Oklahoma players punished for being served "pasta in excess."...
Student debt holds back many would-be home buyers Los Angeles Times ...Of the many factors holding back young home buyers — rising prices, tougher lending standards, a still-shaky job market — none looms larger than the recent explosion of college debt...
UConn’s 2,135 graduate assistants unionize CT Mirror ...The governing board of the state's flagship university unanimously voted in a "special meeting" last week to approve an agreement between the newly formed union -- UConn GEU-UAW -- and the university...
Miscellaneous
Senator Holds Commuter Safety Presser, Almost Gets Hit By Train Gawker ...Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal received an unexpected lesson in practicing what you preach at a press conference yesterday. Standing on the platform at the Milford Metro-North station, Blumenthal and his easel narrowly dodged an oncoming train as Milford Mayor Ben Blake spoke about commuter safety...
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Today's Teamster News 04.17.14
Teamster News
Chicago Art Handlers Vote To Become Teamsters, 4/25 Art World News ...Art handlers with Mana-Terry Dowd LLC may set an industry precedent by being the first employees of a major art transportation company in Chicago to unionize...
Teamsters drop grievance against inmates doing pothole patching Youngstown Vindicator ...Sheriff Jerry Greene said today that county Engineer Patrick Ginnetti received a letter from the Teamsters’ union on Tuesday, saying the union was withdrawing the grievance because of the extreme winter weather the county has recently experienced and in the interest of public safety...
Trade
U.S. Allows Japan To Exclude Rice In Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations Oryza ...The U.S. has allowed Japan to exclude rice in Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, but has asked the Japanese government to increase imports of U.S. rice, according to local sources...
State Battles
State GAB vote approved probe into Scott Walker recall Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...Former judges on the state Government Accountability Board voted unanimously last year to authorize the investigation of fundraising and spending by Gov. Scott Walker's campaign and his allies during the recent recall elections, according to a Tuesday court filing...
U.S. States Revive Debtors’ Prisons firedoglake ...More and more states have revived the debtors prison, albeit in a specific form, locking people up for failure to pay court costs and fees...
Missouri Supreme Court Expands Legal Rights For Injured Workers Kansas City Star ...The Missouri Supreme Court overturned 30 years of precedent with a ruling Tuesday that gives greater legal protections to injured workers who are fired from their jobs...
One Democratic Congressman Escalates The Fight Over ALEC Washington Post ...A federal lawmaker from Arizona wants the Interior Department to investigate an active conservative group for what he alleges is unregistered lobbying...
Koch Brothers Are Killing Rapid Bus Transit In Tennessee Auto Blog Green ...Last week, the Tennessee Senate voted 27-4 against the very idea of rapid bus transit in the state. The vote, which is oddly specific about its target--the Amp Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project in Nashville--was supported by the wealthy Koch brothers, Charles and David, and their group Americans for Prosperity...
War on Workers
When Did Men's Income Peak? Demo Memo ...The median income of men aged 25 to 34 has plunged since 1973, falling from $46,598 to $34,113 after adjusting for inflation—a loss of $12,485...
Income Inequality Institute Will Pay Paul Krugman $25,000 Per Month Gawker ...According to a formal offer letter obtained under New York’s Freedom of Information Law, CUNY intends to pay Krugman $225,000, or $25,000 per month (over two semesters), to “play a modest role in our public events” and “contribute to the build-up” of a new “inequality initiative...”
Gap Between Executive Pay And Worker Wages Continues To Grow Al-Jazeera America ...In 2013 the average American CEO was paid 331 times what the average worker in the United States earned and 774 times what full-time minimum wage workers made, according to a new analysis released Tuesday by the AFL-CIO...
Clemson Studying Impact Of Sports Labor Ruling Greenville News ...Clemson University President James P. Clements said Tuesday he and other major college presidents are examining a stunning labor ruling that could revolutionize college sports...
Chicago Art Handlers Vote To Become Teamsters, 4/25 Art World News ...Art handlers with Mana-Terry Dowd LLC may set an industry precedent by being the first employees of a major art transportation company in Chicago to unionize...
Teamsters drop grievance against inmates doing pothole patching Youngstown Vindicator ...Sheriff Jerry Greene said today that county Engineer Patrick Ginnetti received a letter from the Teamsters’ union on Tuesday, saying the union was withdrawing the grievance because of the extreme winter weather the county has recently experienced and in the interest of public safety...
Trade
U.S. Allows Japan To Exclude Rice In Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations Oryza ...The U.S. has allowed Japan to exclude rice in Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, but has asked the Japanese government to increase imports of U.S. rice, according to local sources...
State Battles
State GAB vote approved probe into Scott Walker recall Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...Former judges on the state Government Accountability Board voted unanimously last year to authorize the investigation of fundraising and spending by Gov. Scott Walker's campaign and his allies during the recent recall elections, according to a Tuesday court filing...
U.S. States Revive Debtors’ Prisons firedoglake ...More and more states have revived the debtors prison, albeit in a specific form, locking people up for failure to pay court costs and fees...
Missouri Supreme Court Expands Legal Rights For Injured Workers Kansas City Star ...The Missouri Supreme Court overturned 30 years of precedent with a ruling Tuesday that gives greater legal protections to injured workers who are fired from their jobs...
One Democratic Congressman Escalates The Fight Over ALEC Washington Post ...A federal lawmaker from Arizona wants the Interior Department to investigate an active conservative group for what he alleges is unregistered lobbying...
Koch Brothers Are Killing Rapid Bus Transit In Tennessee Auto Blog Green ...Last week, the Tennessee Senate voted 27-4 against the very idea of rapid bus transit in the state. The vote, which is oddly specific about its target--the Amp Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project in Nashville--was supported by the wealthy Koch brothers, Charles and David, and their group Americans for Prosperity...
War on Workers
When Did Men's Income Peak? Demo Memo ...The median income of men aged 25 to 34 has plunged since 1973, falling from $46,598 to $34,113 after adjusting for inflation—a loss of $12,485...
Income Inequality Institute Will Pay Paul Krugman $25,000 Per Month Gawker ...According to a formal offer letter obtained under New York’s Freedom of Information Law, CUNY intends to pay Krugman $225,000, or $25,000 per month (over two semesters), to “play a modest role in our public events” and “contribute to the build-up” of a new “inequality initiative...”
Gap Between Executive Pay And Worker Wages Continues To Grow Al-Jazeera America ...In 2013 the average American CEO was paid 331 times what the average worker in the United States earned and 774 times what full-time minimum wage workers made, according to a new analysis released Tuesday by the AFL-CIO...
Clemson Studying Impact Of Sports Labor Ruling Greenville News ...Clemson University President James P. Clements said Tuesday he and other major college presidents are examining a stunning labor ruling that could revolutionize college sports...
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