United Teamsters face down divided ownership at Heidelberg Distributing Co.

Feuding family members who own Heidelberg Distributing Co.in Ohio are making unreasonable contract demands on Teamster employees, but Teamsters stand united against the owners.

Teamsters represent approximately 500 workers at six of Heidelberg’s family-owned distributorships of beer, wine and spirits in Ohio.

Heidelberg employees voted to join Teamsters Local 284 in Columbus two years ago, but are still without a contract. In Youngstown, Teamsters have been bargaining for a first contract for more than 18 months. Contracts with Heidelberg in Toledo, Cleveland and Dayton expired or are on the verge of expiring.

Members of Teamsters Local 1199 in Cincinnati have a contract until April 2016, but that didn't stop them last month from joining other Heidelberg Teamsters in a show of solidarity during contract talks in Columbus. Teamsters from six locals that represent Heidelberg declared their solidarity by marching together into negotiations with Teamsters Local 284.

Yesterday, 100 percent of  Teamsters Local 957 who work at Heidelberg's Dayton facility voted yes on strike authorization. The strike vote followed a standing-room-only meeting in Cleveland with Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall.

From l to r: Bill Lichtenwald, Ken Hall, Randy Verst, and Max Zemla
talk solidarity with Heidelberg TeamsterFamly!

WCPO reported: 

Union workers are threatening a statewide strike at one of the largest beer and wine distributorships in the Midwest, citing stalled contract negotiations over better wages and health care. 

This is the latest blow for Heidelberg Distributing Co., which is embroiled in a bitter legal battle between its two sibling owners, who accuse each other of using the company for personal gain. Union leaders say the family dispute is spilling into the workplace and dampening contract negotiations. 

The issue attracted a visit from the second-in-command of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Ken Hall, who met with Heidelberg workers in Cleveland on Sunday. He is secretary-treasurer of the Teamsters, just under president James P. Hoffa, at one of North America’s largest unions. 

“We’re worried that this family feud is really going to lead to the destruction of a company that our members helped to build,” Hall said. “Right now, the company is just not bargaining reasonably with the union.”

Today's Teamster News 01.18.15

Teamster News
Teamsters Reach Tentative Contract Deal At Hunts Point  teamster.org   ...Teamsters Local 202 announced this afternoon that it had reached a tentative contract agreement with Hunts Point Market. The union's 1,300 members at the market, who have the final say, will vote Wednesday on the tentative deal...
Trade
USTR Still Insists That 'Listening' Is 'Transparency' Even As It Keeps Details Completely Secret  tech dirt   ...the USTR is really about as transparent as pea soup, with an institutional focus on secrecy. The negotiating positions that it takes on various trade agreements are shrouded in secrecy. When other countries push to be more transparent, the USTR inevitably rejects those pleas. While lobbyists get full access to some of the documents (including the ability to log in and see the latest texts), members of Congress who want to see the details have to go to the USTR, aren't allowed to bring any staffers, and aren't allowed to make any copies or take any notes...
Vanity of Vanities; All Is Vanity: Obama's Vain Search for a TPP "Legacy" (opinion)  truthout   ...if you're not already familiar with TPP you should be asking yourself, "if the draft agreement is so secret that members of Congress are not permitted to have copies of it, how did the corporations and their attorneys not only get copies of the drafts, but actually craft the drafts for the private benefit of their clients?"...
New AFL-CIO Report: Failed Trade Policy Contributed to Unaccompanied Minors Crisis  AFL-CIO   … A new, eye-opening report issued by the AFL-CIO sheds light on how failed trade policies contributed to the unaccompanied minor crisis at the U.S. border during last summer...
State Battles
At $37 million and counting, mega-donor Sinquefield says he's not going anywhere  St. Louis Post-Dispatch   ...“In Jefferson City, the first question legislators ask is not, ‘What do my constituents think?’ It’s, ‘What does Rex think?’,” says [U.S. Sen. Claire] McCaskill, who has made Sinquefield the poster child in her quest to set campaign contribution limits in Missouri. “They’re not saying it out loud, because they’re afraid of him, but everyone is uncomfortable about what’s going on.”...
Several Kentucky counties passing or considering 'right to work' laws  Kentucky.com   ...Since mid-December, Fulton, Hardin, Simpson, Todd and Warren counties have passed right-to-work ordinances. Cumberland and Pulaski counties have given first readings to similar proposals...
War on Workers
Who Needs Lobbyists? See What Big Business Spends To Win American Minds  Huffington Post   …Of $3.4 billion in contracts reported by the 144 trade groups from 2008 through 2012, more than $1.2 billion, or 37 percent, went toward advertising, public relations and marketing services, more than any other category. The second-highest total, $682.2 million, or 20 percent of the total, was directed toward legal, lobbying and government affairs...
The Poor Pay More in Taxes  Economic Populist   …in 2015 the poorest fifth of Americans will pay on average 10.9 percent of their income in state and local taxes, the middle fifth will pay 9.4 percent and the top 1 percent will average 5.4 percent...
Obama Proposes New Tax Hikes on Wealthy to Aid Middle Class  Bloomberg   …President Barack Obama is proposing new taxes on the wealthiest Americans that would limit their profits from investments and make it harder for them to pass assets to heirs...
Miscellaneous
Falling Oil Prices: Good For Drivers, Bad For Banks  NPR   …Lending money to energy companies can be pretty profitable, but if oil prices drop enough, the threat of bank defaults becomes real...

Today's Teamster News 12.13.14

Teamster News
While Cromnibus Waits, Teamsters Object to Pension Plan  Roll Call   ...the Senate might not be able to hold its final vote on the measure until Monday...Teamsters Object. With the fiscal 2015 spending bill on track for action, the Teamsters union is weighing in with a last-ditch effort to get lawmakers to reject the measure. A statement from Teamsters President Jim Hoffa pointed to pension changes in the measure, which the union said would result “in an untold number of retirees losing a substantial percentage of their fixed income should reductions be required.” The Teamsters are also objecting to the controversial hours of service rules in the bill...
34-Hour Restart Changes: House Passes Spending Bill; Eyes On Senate  Commercial Carrier Journal   ...First, it removes the requirement that drivers’ 34-hour restarts include two 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. periods. Second, it removes the one-per-week limit of the restart’s use. It also requires FMCSA to produce a study to show how the restart provisions improve safety. The stay of enforcement of the rules will end after Sept. 30, 2015, and after FMCSA provides its report justifying the rules...
Reid Announces Weekend Votes After Blockade (Updated)  Roll Call   ...Reid also said that absent an agreement, the Senate would vote at 1 a.m. Sunday to limit debate on the cromnibus spending package...
CRomnibus Disaster Signals a Sad New Normal in D.C.  The Fiscal Times   ...Under the bill, trustees would be enabled to cut pension benefits to current retirees, reversing a 40-year bond with workers who earned their retirement packages...
Sysco Poised To Complete $8.2B Merger With US Foods  New York Post   ...Sysco is poised to complete the $8.2 billion merger with its closest rival, US Foods, but at a much stiffer price than expected, The Post has learned. America’s biggest food-service provider, Sysco is selling assets worth $5 billion to Performance Food Group (owned by Steve Schwarzman-led Blackstone Group) to win regulatory approval, two sources said. That is equal to roughly one-quarter of US Foods’ revenue...
Congressman Urges Cooperation Between Teamsters And Giant Eagle Distributor  WFMJ   ...Representative Ryan as sent letters pleading with the Tamarkin Company and Teamsters Local 377  to “quickly and efficiently negotiate a fair resolution to the ongoing labor dispute. The result of an impasse is simply not in the best interests of the workers, the company or this community,” writes Ryan...
State AFL-CIO opposes Bill de Blasio's horse carriage ban  New York Daily News   ... A resolution passed Friday by the state AFL-CIO says New York City's carriage industry provides 300 good middle-class jobs. The major statewide labor coalition is the latest of several union groups to vow to fight the mayor's proposal...
Trade
Growing U.S. trade deficit with China cost 3.2 million jobs between 2001 and 2013, with job losses in every state  Economic Policy Institute   ...a growing U.S. goods trade deficit with China has the United States piling up foreign debt, losing export capacity, and losing jobs, especially in the vital but under-siege manufacturing sector...
Obama 'more optimistic' about Pacific trade deal  The Hill   ...President Obama said Thursday he believes the odds for striking a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement are "significantly higher than 50-50" in a meeting Thursday with his export council...
State Battles
Warren County Votes To Become Right To Work County  WBKO   ...Fiscal Court approved a right to work ordinance on the first reading Thursday morning with a vote of 5-1, democrat Tommy Hunt was the lone magistrate against it...
Jury still out on Michigan's growth, lack of since becoming right-to-work state  WNEM.com   …Woods said right-to-work isn't creating jobs in Michigan. "Michigan still ranks in the top 10 states in unemployment rate at 7.1 percent," she said...
Rex Sinquefield’s million-dollar donation heralds new craziness in Missouri  Kansas City Star   ...many Missouri Republicans are very nervous about Sinquefield’s ostentatious bankrolling of his personal slate of candidates for the 2016 statewide ticket...
NJ AFL-CIO supports ‘Buy America’ bills  PolitickerNJ   ...Urgently needed legislation that will give American-made products and U.S. workers a fair shake in the domestic marketplace cleared another legislative hurdle on Thursday, December 11, when it was released by the Assembly Budget Committee...
GOP may seek last push for Pa. action  TribLive   ...[Pennsylvania] Lawmakers could make a final push to privatize state liquor stores, reform the public pension system and end government collection of union dues from paychecks — proposals Wolf opposes...
The Koch Wall Street Crusade To Rob Pensions Is Underway  PoliticusUSA   ...despite sending his state into an economic tailspin after squandering a budget surplus and cutting services to provide unimaginable tax cuts for the rich, Kansas governor Sam Brownback is robbing employee pensions to cover the state’s devastating budget shortfalls...
Koch brothers group files suit against Calif. AG, refuses to disclose donors  Legal Newsline   ...nonprofit group founded by the Koch brothers is challenging California Attorney General Kamala Harris’ threat to take its state tax-exempt status unless it discloses the identities of its donors...
War on Workers
Ruling Lets Work Email Be Used To Organize Unions  New York Times   ...Calling that ruling “clearly incorrect,” the current majority noted how technology had transformed daily habits. “The workplace is ‘uniquely appropriate’ and ‘the natural gathering place’ for such communications,” the board wrote, “and the use of email as a common form of workplace communication has expanded dramatically in recent years.”...
The Vanishing Male Worker: How America Fell Behind  New York Times   ...Working, in America, is in decline. The share of prime-age men — those 25 to 54 years old — who are not working has more than tripled since the late 1960s, to 16 percent. More recently, since the turn of the century, the share of women without paying jobs has been rising, too. The United States, which had one of the highest employment rates among developed nations as recently as 2000, has fallen toward the bottom of the list...
Wage Theft Costing Workers Millions of Dollars  RH Reality Check   ...The lost wages in those two states represent $20 million in lost income per week in New York and $29 million in lost income per week in California...
Construction Worker Killed After Roof Collapsed  WGTU   ...A 51-year-old West Branch man was killed after falling through the roof of a building...
Miscellaneous
Verizon's New, Encrypted Calling App Comes Pre-Hacked For The NSA  Bloomberg Businessweek   ...Verizon is the latest big company to enter the post-Snowden market for secure communication, and it's doing so with an encryption standard that comes with a way for law enforcement to access ostensibly secure phone conversations...

Today's Teamster News 12.06.14

Teamster News
Judge Rules Against Sequim Labor Lawsuit  Peninsula Daily News   ...A Clallam County Superior Court judge has spiked — again — an attempt to change the city of Sequim’s process for labor negotiations with its employees. Judge Erik Rohrer on Thursday granted the city’s and Teamsters Local 589’s motions for summary judgment and denied an opposing motion by Susan Brautigam...
Bankruptcy Court Ruling Helps Anti-Union Grocer Slash Benefits And Pensions For 1,100 Workers  In These Times   ...Members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey are angry over the loss and apprehensive about their futures, union leaders say. Their new employer, C&S Wholesale Grocers, has a reputation of buying up unionized companies, shifting the work of handling retail food products to non-union distribution centers and then getting rid of the union members altogether...
Council To Introduce Horse Ban Next Week  Capital New York   ...Council members Danny Dromm and Ydanis Rodriguez will officially introduce legislation on Monday to ban horse carriages in the city. According to a copy of the Council’s stated meeting agenda for December 8, the bill will be introduced “by the request of the mayor” through the Council’s transportation committee...
Trade
US Government Study Predicts TPP Trade Agreement Will Produce Practically No Extra Growth For Anyone  TechDirt   ...nearly a half of the increased trade that TTIP might bring according to this forecast would consist of swapping cars across the Atlantic...
It's Not a Free Trade Deal and Michael Froman Wants to Take Food Choices Away from Individuals  Center for Economic and Policy Research   ...the TTIP is not a "free trade" agreement as asserted in the article. The increased protections in the pact, in the form of stronger patent and copyright protections, are likely to do more to raise prices and block trade than any tariff reductions that are included...
Report: More Evidence Samsung Supplier Using Child Labor In China  Tech In Asia   ...American nonprofit group China Labor Watch announced yesterday that it has collected additional evidence that child and student workers were employed “under exploitative working conditions” at the factory of Samsung supplier HEG Technology. That evidence includes interviews with children below China’s legal working age who say they worked ten-hour days with a single day of rest each week for the Samsung supplier...
State Battles
Metro Council Panel Delays Minimum Wage Vote  Louisville Courier Journal   ...A vote on raising the minimum wage in Louisville was delayed Thursday by a Metro Council committee after a Republican request for a study of the possible effects, angering supporters...
War on Workers
Senate considering lowering truck safety standards for special interests  TeamsterNation   …Sen. Susan Collins of Maine wants the government to allow bigger, heavier trucks and to eliminate the mandatory two days rest for drivers. The Teamsters and allies are doing all they can to prevent that from happening...
DOT secretary against longer hours for truck drivers  The Hill   ...Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx is urging Senate and House Appropriations committee members to reject an amendment that would allow semi-truck drivers to drive for longer hours...
Workers hit the streets across US in growing minimum wage fight  AlJazeera America   …Fast-food workers and other low-wage employees in nearly 200 cities across the country took part in a strike and protests Thursday, demanding a base wage of $15 per hour and the right to form unions in the latest in a series of day-long labor actions coordinated through a nationwide coalition of workers’ groups...
Hypereducated and on Welfare  Elle   ...a good education may not keep you from hovering near the poverty line. The number of people with graduate degrees receiving food assistance or other forms of federal aid nearly tripled between 2007 and 2010, according to the U.S. Census…
Temporary Work is Bad for Your Cognitive Health  naked capitalism   ...The findings of this study on the effects of temporary work on individuals’ skills has important ramifications for the US ... The first is that workers are harmed by this practice, and not just via stress or having uncertain income. But second is that employers over time also suffer by degrading the capabilities of the labor pool...
Does The Media Care About Labor Anymore?  Politico   ...With the middle class still down in the dumps, the beat’s more important than ever...
Uber launches in Portland, Oregon despite being completely illegal there  The Verge   ...Uber has a remarkably rich history of upsetting local city transportation officials by setting up shop before laws and regulations have been ironed out...
Michigan Road Worker, 21, Killed When Struck By Pickup, Flying 75 Feet  MLive   ...A 21-year-old road construction worker was killed when a pickup struck him and sent him flying more than 75 feet through the air, the Huron County Sheriff's Department reports...
Worker in Vehicle Collision at CNRL Site  Canada Journal   …A worker has been killed in a collision at the Horizon Oil Sands mine north of Fort McMurray early Friday morning, the third workplace fatality in northern Alberta this week...
Miscellaneous
China Just Passed U.S. as World's Largest Economy  Economic Populist   ..."For the first time since Ulysses S. Grant was president, America is not the leading economic power on the planet ...
How the NSA Hacks Cellphone Networks Worldwide The Intercept   …the NSA plans to secretly introduce new flaws into communication systems so that they can be tapped into—a controversial tactic that security experts say could be exposing the general population to criminal hackers...
U.S. Adds 321,000 Jobs In November; Unemployment Rate Remains At 5.8%  Huffington Post   ...U.S. employers added a whopping 321,000 jobs in November, the biggest burst of hiring in nearly three years and the latest sign that the United States is outperforming other economies throughout the developed world...

Today's Teamster News 10.18.14

Teamster News
Frontier Airlines President Says Nurse On Flights May Have Been At More Advanced Stage Of Ebola Than Thought  Associated Press   ...The president of (Teamster-represented) Frontier Airlines says a nurse who was on flights between Dallas and Cleveland and who later tested positive for Ebola may have been at a more advanced stage of the illness than previously thought...
Aramark Workers Negotiate New Contract  Chicago Maroon   ...The contract was negotiated by Debra Simmons-Peterson, the president of Teamsters Local 743, who represents the dining hall and academic café employees.... “Health insurance is more affordable for members and is now provided through [Teamsters Local’s] health and welfare plan, which includes short term disability and dental insurance,” Catharine Schutzius, a business agent for Teamsters Local 743, said...
Square D Workers Intimidated Into Contract, Union Leader Says  Lincoln Journal Star   ...A tentative settlement reached early Thursday could end strikes almost two weeks old at two of Schneider's six U.S. factories in Peru, Indiana, and Oxford, Ohio.  The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, IBEW and International Association of Machinists all represent some of the workers for Schneider...
Golden Gate Bridge Workers Unions, District Reach Tentative Contract Agreement  San Francisco Examiner   ...The tentative agreement - for which details remain confidential pending votes from all 13 bridge worker unions and the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District - came after both sides met for the first time since Teamsters Locals 856 and 665 announced Oct. 9 a planned bus strike. District spokesman Priya Clemens did reveal that "healthcare is an area where a compromise was reached."...
Sysco Looks To Divestitures To Nail Down US Foods Deal  Reuters   ...Food distributor Sysco Corp., fighting to complete a merger with U.S. Foods Inc , is attempting to craft a package of potential asset sales weighty enough to convince U.S. antitrust regulators to approve the deal...
State Says Bridgeton Landfill Owner Must Do More To Contain Fire's Spread  St. Louis Public Radio   ...Republic Services has confirmed that it agreed on Thursday, in writing, to comply with all of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' requirements ― although the company remains committed to its position that the additional measures are not needed...
First Student Teamsters in Georgia to Take Strike Vote  teamster.org   ... Employees of First Student, who provide school bus service to Chatham County schools, Georgia will vote Saturday to authorize their union to call a strike over unfair labor practices and the Company’s refusal to meet their demands regarding income security over the summer months...
Teamster Taxi Drivers Protest at Union Station in D.C.  teamster.org   ...Taxi drivers, represented by the Teamster-affiliated Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association, held a protest today outside Union Station in Washington, D.C. to send a strong message to the City Council that drivers demand fairness now...
Business Briefs  St. Cloud Times   ...The Minnesota Public Transportation Association named Metro Bus driver Jerry Gillman as Minnesota Bus Operator of the Year… He also serves as a driver instructor and Teamsters Local 638 union steward representing Dial-a-Ride bus operators and dispatchers…
Trade
Leaked TPP Chapter Exposes Sweet Deals for Big Pharma and US Bully Tactics  RINF   ...WikiLeaks on Thursday released a second updated version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Intellectual Property Rights chapter, charging that it will hinder affordable access to medicines globally, increase online surveillance, and impinge on civil liberties while benefiting Big Pharma and other corporate interests...
The TTIP: A Brief History Of An Agenda For Corporate Plunder  CounterCurrents.org   ...The public is not allowed to know the positions held by the EU (unlike business interests) in these talks, who is being given access to whom and who is lobbying for what on whose behalf...
State Battles
U.S. Census Migration Report: WI Lost Nearly 2K Residents to MN in Past Year  Uppity Wisconsin   ...9,352 more people moved out of Wisconsin than moved into Wisconsin and a large share of those leaving-- 1,972 to be exact-- are going to our next door neighbor, Minnesota...
Tax returns show Chris Christie and his wife made $698,838 last year, paid $193,510 in taxes  Star-Tribune   ...Christie's wife, Mary Pat … works part-time on Wall Street and earned $475,854 for her job as a director at Angelo, Gordon & Co. and $34,698 from Cantor Fitzgerald...
War on Workers
FedEx Ground Says Its Drivers Aren't Employees. The Courts Will Decide  Bloomberg Businessweek   ...several recent court decisions have rejected FedEx Ground’s arguments that the drivers are contractors, which could stem a broader trend of U.S. companies treating more workers as contractors instead of employees...
Walmart Workers Arrested In New York And Washington Protesting For $15 Minimum Wage  UPI   ...At least 42 Walmart workers and labor rights activists were arrested Thursday while marching for $15 per hour minimum wage outside of heiress Alice Walton's New York City apartment and in front of the Walton Family Foundation's Washington headquarters...
Construction worker involved in flood repair killed by semi on Lefthand Canyon Drive  Daily Camera   ...Federal workplace safety investigators are conducting an investigation into the death Friday of a road construction worker who was killed on Lefthand Canyon Drive when a truck involved in flood repair backed over him...
Private donors, including Target and IBM, supply spy gear to cops  Pro Publica   ...police foundations operate with little transparency or oversight and can be a way for wealthy donors and corporations to influence law enforcement agencies' priorities...
Miscellaneous
Hawk Attacks Man's Quadcopter Drone  NBC News   ...A hawk attacks a man's quadcopter while he was attempting to film the fall foliage in Cambridge, Massachusetts...

Today's Teamster News 08.28.14

Teamster News
Teamsters At Fred Meyer Warehouse Vote To OK Strike  The Stand   ...Teamster warehouse workers employed at the Fred Meyer grocery distribution center in Puyallup voted overwhelmingly over the weekend to authorize a strike. The final vote was 241-2. Voting took place at the Teamsters Union hall in Tukwila...
Safety Agents and de Blasio Administration Reach Labor Deal  New York Times   ...Mayor Bill de Blasio and Teamsters Local 237, the municipal union representing school safety agents and special officers, announced a tentative contract and the proposed settlement of a pay equity lawsuit on Tuesday that would distribute $38 million in back pay to current and former school safety agents who are overwhelmingly female...
City Pays $38M To Settle Equal Pay Lawsuit From Female Safety Agents Being Paid Far Less Than Male Counterparts  New York Daily News   ...In a move timed to Women’s Equality Day, the city announced Monday it had settled a four-year-old lawsuit from a group of safety agents who were paid far less than their male counterparts. The suit was settled for $38 million as part of a new labor agreement with Teamsters Local 237...
Mayor’s Office: Union Contract Means Pay Equity For Largely Female School Safety Agents  CBS News   ...The deal with Teamsters Local 237, which represents both the largely female school safety agents and special officers, was reached Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office announced...
Union Employees Air Contract Dispute On MDI  Bangor Daily News   ...Municipal employees of three Mount Desert Island towns who are members of the Teamsters labor union are airing their grievances as they try to reach a new labor contract with the towns...
Contract Disputes Lead To Demonstrations On Mount Desert Island  Maine Public Broadcasting   ...Members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters are demonstrating on Mount Desert Island this afternoon to draw attention to ongoing contract disputes with three area towns...
Weary U.S. Workers Are Still Experiencing Hard Times (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...Despite a dip in unemployment during the past few years, low pay continues to plague many employees while their corporate bosses rake in record profits...
Trade
TPP: Expansive Rights for Big Pharma, Expensive Medicines for U.S. Consumers  Public Citizen   ...Leaked draft intellectual property texts for the TPP reveal broad monopoly protections for pharmaceutical corporations, which elevate the costs of medicines and medical procedures...
Turkish Firms Hit By Anti-Dumping Duties On Steel Pipes To US  Todays Zaman   ...The US International Trade Commission (USITC) decided to impose anti-dumping duties on Turkish steel pipes last week following an investigation into export prices, a development that is likely to hurt Turkish pipe exporters to this country...
State Battles
Minimum Wage Bump Would Help Close Wealth Gap For 23% In S.F.  San Francisco Chronicle   ...If San Francisco voters approve raising the minimum wage law in November, 142,000 workers - or 23 percent of the city's workforce - would get a raise by the time it fully kicks in to $15 an hour by 2018...
Scott Walker, J.B. Van Hollen Again Ask Court To Reinstate Voter ID  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...Gov. Scott Walker and Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen are asking a federal court to reinstate Wisconsin's voter ID law, but they have not finalized a plan to comply with a different court's decision requiring the state to provide IDs to people who don't have birth certificates...
War On Workers
Market Basket Revolt Ends as Arthur T. Demoulas Wins Bid  Bloomberg   ...Arthur T. Demoulas, the ousted chief executive officer of the Market Basket supermarket chain whose employees gained national attention in a revolt to get him back, won his bid to buy the company...
Why America’s Workers Need Faster Wage Growth—And What We Can Do About It  Economic Policy Institute   ...Comparing the first half of 2014 with the first half of 2013, real (inflation-adjusted) hourly wages fell for workers in nearly every decile—even for those with a bachelor’s or advanced degree...
The Expanding World of Poverty Capitalism (opinion)  New York Times   ...Sentinel Offender Services … oversees case management, including breath alcohol and drug-testing services, “all at no cost to county taxpayers.”…Sentinel is a part of the expanding universe of poverty capitalism. In this unique sector of the economy, costs of essential government services are shifted to the poor...
Caught on Tape: What Mitch McConnell Complained About to a Roomful of Billionaires (Exclusive)  The Nation   ...At a secret meeting of elite donors convened by the Koch brothers, McConnell laid out his plan for shrinking the federal government and whined about having to vote on minimum wage bills...
At Koch Retreat, Top GOP Senate Candidates Credited Koch Network For Their Rise  Huffington Post   ...Iowa state Sen. Joni Ernst and Arkansas Rep. Tom Cotton directly credited donors present at the June 16 retreat in Dana Point, California, for propelling them forward. Colorado Rep. Cory Gardner told attendees that his race would likely be decided by the presence of "third party" money -- an obvious pitch for generosity from the well-heeled crowd...
Argentina Set for Second National Strike as Economic Woes Deepen  Bloomberg   ...Argentina is bracing for a day of road blocks and disruption as labor unions stage a second national strike in less than five months while July’s bond default threatens to fuel inflation and undermine growth...
40 Percent of Restaurant Workers Live In Near-Poverty  Mother Jones   ...The industry's wages have stagnated at an extremely low level. Restaurant workers' median wage stands at $10 per hour, tips included—and hasn't budged, in inflation-adjusted terms, since 2000...
Miscellaneous
U.S. Budget Gap Narrows to Smallest Since 2007, CBO Says  Bloomberg   ...The projected shortfall will be $506 billion in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, compared with an April prediction for $492 billion and a $680 billion gap posted last year, the nonpartisan CBO said today in a report. In 2015 it’s projected to shrink for a sixth straight year, to $469 billion, capping the longest stretch of fiscal improvement since 2000, near the end of an era of surpluses...

Today's Teamster News 08.20.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Local Union Ratifies New Agreement With Penn State  Penn State News   ...Members of Teamsters Local Union No. 8 employed by Penn State have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with the University to replace the current agreement, which expired June 30. Teamsters Local Union No. 8 represents the bargaining unit consisting of approximately 2,600 technical-service employees at University locations throughout the Commonwealth...
Negotiations Continue Between EVSC And Teamsters  WTVW   ...While there is still no contract in hand, communication is still open between the EVSC and Teamsters Local 215 Union. ...The Teamsters Union is made up of bus drivers, custodians, and secretaries, or about 20 percent of the EVSC's staff...
Dubuque's unions name grand marshal for annual Labor Day parade  KWWL.com   ...This year, members of Dubuque's United Labor Participation Committee selected long-time local Teamsters leader Dave Baker as the parade's grand marshal...
Trade
China fines Japanese car parts firms for price-fixing  BBC News   ...he country's anti-monopoly regulator said the companies were found to have colluded to reduce competition. Japan's Sumitomo Electric and Mitsubishi Electric were among the firms that received the heaviest fines...
If America Won’t Invest in America’s Infrastructure, China Will  manufacture this   ...there is a big gap between eastern and western China in terms of transportation infrastructure. China will strengthen infrastructure construction in central and western areas while promoting exports in technology and high-speed railway and highway equipment. China is willing to join the United States in upgrading transportation infrastructure...
State Battles
WEDC is marketing industrial properties owned by Walker donors  WKOW.com   ...The only private properties being marketed through a Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) land development program are owned by companies whose executives have donated extensively to the campaign of Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin)...
Group Backing Minimum Wage Hike Submits More Signatures  Arkansas News   ...A group seeking to place on the November ballot an initiated act to raise the state minimum wage submitted what it said were 69,070 additional signatures in support of the measure to the secretary of state’s office Monday...
San Diego Defies Mayor, Raises Minimum Wage  CNN Money   ...San Diego is the latest city to pass a minimum wage hike despite a veto from Mayor Kevin Faulconer. On Monday, the San Diego City Council overrode his veto to approve a gradual wage increase and paid sick days...
Students Appeal to 4th Circuit for Stay of Voter Suppression Law  Camel City Dispatch   ...On Monday Students who have filed suit against the state of North Carolina over new voter suppression legislation (HB589 which Republican messaging call a voter ID bill) have filed a notice of appeal of U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder’s August 8 ruling denying a stay of the new law, pending the 2014 elections...
War On Workers
Wendy's Worker Says She Was Fired For Being Sick  Huffington Post   ...A 6-year veteran Wendy's worker in Alabama is alleging that management fired her for "job abandonment" while she was being treated for an ovarian cyst that would require surgery...
Lawn Worker Killed By Vehicle On McIntosh Road  WWSB   ...Authorities are investigating the death of a lawn maintenance worker that was struck by a vehicle while he mowed along McIntosh Road Monday morning...
Outside Campaign Spending Jumps In 2014  The Hill   ...Outside political groups are on track to eclipse their spending during the 2010 GOP wave election, but only a fraction of that money has been reported to the public. ... outside groups have spent $72 million on independent expenditures in nine Senate races, a pace set to exceed the $97 million that such groups spent on 37 Senate races in the 2010 cycle...

Today's Teamster News 08.16.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Battle Senator’s Scheme To Lengthen Truckers’ Hours Behind The Wheel  People's World   ...Saying that lengthening the consecutive hours truckers could stay behind the wheel endangers both truckers and other drivers, the Teamsters are battling a Republican senator's scheme to do just that...
Teamsters Reach Deal Ending Quixote Studios Boycott  Deadline Hollywood   ...The deal, which covers about 30 drivers, also calls for an election to see if the company’s 80 warehouse workers want to be represented by the union as well...
Tom O’Donnell Replaces Leo Reed As Director Of Teamsters  Deadline Hollywood   ...Tom O’Donnell, the current president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 817 in New York, has been named director of the Teamsters Motion Picture and Theatrical Trades Division, replacing the venerable Leo Reed, who left the post in January after 25 years at the helm...
Battle Lines Drawn As J.R. Simplot And Teamsters Local 120 Continue To Square Off  Valley News Live   ...The Union members today overwhelmingly voted down some new changes to their contracts this afternoon and say they will continue to walk the picket line 24/7. The Union’s contract expired June 1st. They were hoping for a new deal, but they say it never came...
Teamsters Hispanic Caucus Brings Fight Against Republic Services To Denver  MarketWatch   ...Tonight, Teamsters in Denver attending the Teamsters Hispanic Caucus Convention went to the Colorado Rockies game to educate Denver residents about the illegal actions of Republic Services...
Trade
Certification Allows US Trade Negotiators to Rewrite TPP Copyright Rules  EFF   ...The United States, exclusively amongst the dozen negotiating partners, is reserving the right to vet other countries' implementation of the agreement before its own obligations come into effect. This has worrying implications for other countries planning to take advantage of whatever flexibilities remain in the TPP text after the negotiations are finished...
State Battles
U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Joins Lawsuit Against 'Discriminatory' Seattle Minimum Wage Hike  Huffington Post   ...The U.S. Chamber of Commerce signed onto an amicus brief Tuesday in support of the International Franchise Association's (IFA) lawsuit against a “discriminatory” provision in Seattle’s recently passed minimum wage increase...
Federal Judge Denies Stay Of Wisconsin Voter ID Ruling  Jurist   ...A federal judge on Wednesday denied a request by Wisconsin's Attorney General JB Van Hollen to stay the his April ruling against the state's voter identification law. The April ruling found that the Act 23 requirement that all residents present photo ID when voting violated the Voting Rights Act and the US Constitution...
War On Workers
In the sharing economy, a rift over worker classification  Boston Globe   ...A class-action lawsuit filed this summer in Massachusetts and California courts is challenging that. The suit asserts that Uber improperly classifies its drivers, who own their cars and use Uber’s smartphone app to get work, as independent contractors. No sick time, no health insurance, no 401k contributions...
NC Forest Service Employee Dies In Tree Accident  WSOC   ...Tuttle State Educational Forest in Lenoir was closed Thursday after a North Carolina Forest Service employee died in an accident there Wednesday afternoon...
Bank Of America Could Get Tax Break On Part Of $16 Billion Mortgage Settlement  Charlotte Observer   ...As Bank of America prepares for a possible multibillion-dollar settlement with the government, the deal is expected to share a feature common to similar settlements with other banks – a big portion that’s tax-deductible as a business expense...
Miscellaneous
NSA Cyberwarfare Could Pick The Wrong Targets, Snowden Says  Fox News   ...Snowden described MonsterMind as problematic, noting that cyberattacks are often routed through computers in “innocent” third countries. This raises the possibility of U.S. counter attacks against the wrong targets.  “You could have someone sitting in China, for example, making it appear that one of these attacks is originating in Russia,” he said. “And then we end up shooting back at a Russian hospital. What happens next?”...

Today's Teamster News 08.13.14

Teamster News
Working Families Party opposing Bill de Blasio's proposed horse carriage ban  New York Daily News   ...The influential party staked out its position in a letter to City Council members — a rare instance of a key de Blasio ally opposing him on one of his signature issues... 
Wisconsin Teamsters Endorse Rockwood  Urban Milwaukee   ...Teamsters Joint Council 39 has officially endorsed Chris Rockwood‘s campaign to become the United States Representative to Wisconsin’s 5th Congressional District. Teamsters Joint Council 39 comprises all of the local Teamsters Unions in Wisconsin. The endorsement cites Rockwood’s “consistent shared commitment to organized labor, the collective bargaining process and the ongoing fight for worker’s rights.”...
Teamsters Turn Down Contract With Transit Contractor  KRNV   ...Members of Teamsters Union Local 533 voted down a contract offer from MV Transportation, the Texas-based contractor paid to manage the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County transit system...
MA Charter School Association Skeptical Of Teachers Unionizing  Go Local Worcester   ...After the historic decision by the teachers and guidance councilors of the Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School (AMSA) to join the Teamsters Local 170 in Worcester, many of the major stakeholders were full of comment and emotion...
Doc Teamsters Resoundingly Reject State's Proposal  Local 117   ...Washington State correctional employees, represented by Teamsters Local 117, have voted by an overwhelming margin to reject the State’s Last, Best, and Final proposal for their 2015-2017 collective bargaining agreement...
Trade
TTIP: It's Not About Trade  Atlantic Community   ...The pursuit of free trade is just a cover for the real agenda of the TTIP. The deal is about imposing a regulatory structure to be enforced through an international policing mechanism that likely would not be approved through the normal political processes in each country...
The De-industrialization of America  Paul Craig Roberts   ...Between October 2008 and July 2014 the working age population grew by 13.4 million persons, but the US labor force grew by only 1.1 million. In other words, the unemployment rate among the increase in the working age population during the past six years is 91.8%...
State Battles
With Burke’s win, the three biggest months of Scott Walker’s political career begin  Washington Post   ...Walker, a national conservative star, faces a tough reelection campaign. The general election officially kicked off for him Tuesday with ex-state commerce secretary Mary Burke's easy win in the Democratic primary...
Report: Wage gap growing rapidly in Indy area  Indianapolis Star   ...Wage inequality grew twice as rapidly in the Indianapolis metro area as in the rest of the nation since the recession, according to a new report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The primary culprit: Jobs recovered in the U.S. since 2008 pay $14,000 less on average than the 8.7 million jobs lost since then...
Another Poll Shows Sam Brownback Trails Paul Davis  The Pitch   ...It's difficult to imagine a more troubling campaign year for Gov. Sam Brownback. State finances look more grim with each passing month, two credit rating agencies have downgraded the Kansas bond ratings on the account of the eroding state balance sheet, an FBI probe has targeted one of Brownback's closest associates, and roughly 100 current and former Republican officeholders annoyed with the governor have thrown their support behind Democratic challenger Paul Davis...
Corporate Lobby Sets Its Sights On Your Garbage Man  Bloomberg Businessweek   ...The American Legislative Exchange Council, a corporate-funded nonprofit that promotes a free-market agenda through state legislatures, has spawned an offshoot to press its case through local governments...
War On Workers
A Main Street Lobby Group Gets Closer To Big Business  Bloomberg Businessweek   ...The National Federation of Independent Business has been linked to a right-leaning organization with corporate backers. Again...
Jimmy John's Accused of 'Systematic Wage Theft'  Huffington Post   ...In their lawsuit filed Friday in federal court, Karolis Kubelskas and Emily Brunner claim that they were forced to regularly work off the clock because of unreasonably low payroll budgets provided to individual Jimmy John's stores, leading to minimum wage and overtime violations...
Crisis stalks Europe again as deflation deepens, Germany stalls  The Telegraph   ...Portugal has crashed into deep deflation and Italy’s inflation rate has fallen to zero as the eurozone flirts with recession, automatically pushing these countries further towards a debt compound spiral...
Japan's economy shrinks after sales tax rise  BBC News   ...Japan's economy contracted by an annualised 6.8% in the second quarter of the year, the biggest fall since 2011 when it was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami...
U.S. Bank Profits Near Record Levels  Wall Street Journal   ...U.S. banks posted $40.24 billion in net income during the second quarter, the industry's second-highest profit total in at least 23 years, according to data from research firm SNL Financial. The latest profits are just below the record $40.36 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2013...
Even the Upper Middle Class Struggles to Save Money  Bloomberg   ...Just 45 percent of upper-middle-class households (income from $75,000 to $99,999) saved anything in 2012, according to the Fed study. That means the other 55 percent didn’t save for a house, retirement, or education...
Feds Quietly Stop Reporting Some Hospital Errors  DC Medical Malpractice & Patient Safety Blog   ...“The federal government this month quietly stopped publicly reporting when hospitals leave foreign objects in patients' bodies or make a host of other life-threatening mistakes,”...
Hopewell highway worker killed in Farmington crash  WHEC Rochester   ...A 56-year-old who works for the Hopewell town highway department was killed in Tuesday afternoon’s crash in Farmington, Ontario County Sheriff’s deputies stated in a release early Tuesday evening...

Today's Teamster News 08.11.14

Teamsters
Teamsters reject contract with Washoe RTC operator  Reno Gazette-Journal   ...Public transit workers in Washoe County turned down a contract Sunday afternoon with MV Transportation, which manages the county's transit system for the Regional Transportation Commission...
Trade
Critical Moment to Stop The TPP & Other Rigged Trade Agreements (opinion)  The Real News   ...It is time to declare the TPP, TAFTA and the Services agreements as dead, develop a new approach to trade and begin to renegotiate past trade agreements like NAFTA that are doing ongoing damage to the economy, planet and people...
State Battles
The 'P3' dilemma: How effective are public-private partnerships?  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette   ...Six months after Chicago inked the deal, the city’s inspector general conservatively estimated the city received $974 million less from the 75-year lease than it would have received by keeping the meters and operating them under the same terms it gave to the investors...
The War on Workers
Are Wages Really Rising?  Global Economic Intersection   ...The standard of living of most Americans continues to decline. Just as a house divided against itself cannot stand, neither can an economy where nearly half of its actors are losing purchasing power. It steadily becomes a house more divided. It’s bad economically and bad for society...
The Trucking Industry Needs More Drivers. Maybe It Needs to Pay More.  New York Times   ...The industry complains of shortages of truck drivers, but in real terms tractor-trailer drivers made less in 2013 than they did a decade earlier...
Texas Energy Company Worker Killed in Egypt  Associated Press   ...An American employee of Texas-based energy company Apache Corp was killed last week in an apparent carjacking in the western Egyptian desert, officials said Sunday...
Pollsters: 'Everything is terrible'  Politico   ...Americans are also bummed out about the future in general, especially the economy. Things are so low that even an old favorite, sugar, polled poorly...
In the Future We'll All Be Renters: America's Disappearing Middle Class  new geography   ...Homeownership, which peaked in 2002 at nearly 70 percent, has dropped, according to the U.S. Census, to 65 percent in 2013, the lowest in almost two decade...
Why a $16 Billion Fine Is Chicken Scratch for a Big Bank  Alternet   ...Bankers fraudulently inflated a housing bubble. They became extremely wealthy as a result, but the U.S. housing market lost $6.3 trillion in value when the bubble burst. It had only recovered 44 percent of that lost value by of the end of 2013...
Miscellaneous
Want to meet a millionaire? Here's where to go  CNN Money   ...Looking to meet a millionaire? Head to Europe, where in some places nearly three in every ten people is one...
Personal Consumption Expenditures by State, 1997-2012 (Prototype Estimates)  Bureau of Economic Analysis   ...The prototype statistics show that total PCE rose in all states in 2012, but generally at a slower rate than in 2011. Growth was fastest in North Dakota at 11.5%, after growing 11.6% in 2011. PCE grew faster in 2012 compared with 2011 in Arizona, the District of Columbia, North Carolina, Nevada, and Utah...

Today's Teamster News 07.30.14

Teamster News
Fired McKesson Worker Fights CEO Hammergren's Potential Exit Pay  Bloomberg   ...McKesson, which distributes pharmaceuticals and medical products, has agreed to pay Hammergren $292 million in severance if the San Francisco-based company were sold and he lost his job in the process. About $114 million of that is pension pay while $140.6 million is unvested restricted stock and options that would become immediately payable in the event of a change in control and Hammergren’s termination...
Port Of Poulsbo Employees Unionize, Begin Contract Negotiation  North Kitsap Herald   ...Port of Poulsbo employees have unionized and are in labor-contract negotiations with the port district. Port employees voted to unionize and join Teamsters Local 589 on June 2...
Massachusetts Charter School Teachers Join Teamsters Local 170  teamster.org   ...Teachers in Massachusetts made history recently when they became the first group of charter school teachers to join the Teamsters Union...
Wheels On Sun Tran To Keep Going Around, At Least For Another Week  Tucson Sentinel   ...Tucson's municipal bus system will continue normal operations until at least Aug. 6, as officials with Sun Tran and Teamsters Local 104 agreed to extend the current labor contract for a week. The agreement was set to expire on Thursday, but drivers will avoid a strike — at least for the moment...
Trade
The TTIP Threat To Locally-Sourced Food  The London Economic   ...when deliberations are completed, the controversial TTIP is expected to bypass national judiciaries, encourage deregulation, liberalise almost every public service and get rid of supposed ‘barriers to investment’, which the World Development Movement (WDM) describes as “environmental protection, workers’ rights legislation and food safety standards”...
USTR Tells Press that TPP Negotiators Are Down to “A Dozen Issues,” While House Republicans Threaten to Withhold Support  infojustice.org   ...Inside US Trade reports that U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman told reporters Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiators are “down to a dozen issues” in the intellectual property chapter.  However, these are among the most difficult issues remaining...
State Battles
Florida Republicans Are Taking Secret Trips On Big Sugar And No One Will Talk About It  Huffington Post   ...(Florida Gov. Rick) Scott, along with several other prominent Florida Republicans over the past three years, have traveled to a hunting lodge in Texas owned by industry giant U.S. Sugar. The lodge is located at King Ranch, one of the largest ranches in Texas and itself a stakeholder in several sugar-related businesses...
Pence stands by right-to-work law  NWI Times   ...Gov. Mike Pence is not giving up on the state's right-to-work law, even though two Lake County judges have ruled it incompatible with the Indiana Constitution...
August Primary Will Be First Wisconsin Election With Limited Early Voting  Wisconsin Public Radio   ...Early in-person absentee voting begins on Monday for Wisconsin's Aug. 12 partisan primary, but for the first time it won't be available on the weekend. This will be the state's first election since Gov. Scott Walker signed a law that ended weekend voting and restricted early voting to weekdays between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m...
Judge: Mercedes-Benz violated organizing rights in Alabama  Detroit News   ...An administrative judge said Mercedes-Benz USA violated the rights of workers at its Vance, Ala., plant who were seeking to convince other employees to form a union during off-time, but ruled in the company’s favor in other points of contention and imposed no fines...
NC Budget Hole Grows Based On New Tax Cut Analysis  WPTF   ...North Carolina income tax collections for 2014 are expected to fall $205 million short of earlier projections following Republican-backed tax cuts approved last year...
S.F. Supervisor Wants 'Bill Of Rights' For Chain Store Retail Workers  San Francisco Business Times   ...San Francisco Supervisor Eric Mar will introduce legislation tomorrow to mandate more predictable work schedules for retail workers and require chain stores to offer additional work hours to part-time employees before hiring new or temporary workers...
San Diego Approves $11.50 Minimum Wage  Huffington Post   ...The San Diego City Council gave formal approval on Monday to an ordinance that would incrementally raise the minimum wage in California's second-largest city to $11.50 an hour by January 2017, mostly for workers in the restaurant and retail sectors...
War On Workers
McDonald's Could Be Liable for Labor Practices  Associated Press   ...The National Labor Relations Board said Tuesday that the world's biggest hamburger chain could be named as a joint employer in several complaints regarding worker rights at franchise-owned restaurants. The decision is pivotal because it could expose McDonald's Corp. to liability for management practices in those locations...
Delinquent Debt in America  Urban Institute   ...Roughly 77 million Americans, or 35 percent of adults with a credit file, have a report of debt in collections. These adults owe an average of $5,178 (median $1,349)...
Miscellaneous
Reshad Chakari, Uber Driver, Arrested For D.C. Sexual Assault Charge  WJLA   ...District of Columbia police say detectives have arrested a man after a woman reported an Uber car service driver had sexually assaulted her...

Today's Teamster News 07.23.14

Teamster News
Protecting Two-Person Crew Is Still Our Goal  BLET   ...We will continue to work with the National Representatives of SMART’s Transportation Division wherever and whenever in an effort to preserve and protect two-person crews...
Chicago Teamsters Will March to Department of Human Rights on July 28  teamster.org   ...A Chicago sink manufacturer that’s restricting employees’ time in the bathroom is now refusing to negotiate with unionized workers until they keep quiet about the discriminatory policy...
Seattle Teamsters Ratify Contracts With Three Major Grocers  IBT   ...Hundreds of Teamsters at three grocery warehouses – Safeway, SuperValu, and Unified Grocers – voted overwhelmingly to ratify their contracts over the weekend. The agreements contain annual wage increases and protections against subcontracting and the rising cost of health care...
GET Board To Vote On Proposal From Striking Union  Bakersfield Californian   ...he proposal was put forward by union negotiators during a Friday morning bargaining session between GET and Visalia-based Teamsters Local 517, which represents more than 250 striking GET bus drivers and mechanics...
Chesco Human Services Employees Ratify Contract  The Mercury   ...Unionized employees of the Chester County Department of Human Services have ratified a new contract that will guarantee them annual raises of about 9.25 percent over the next three years combined, according to those involved with negotiations. The contract comes about 15 months after the employees, who serve county residents needing social services, voted to be represented by Teamsters Local 384 ...
Trade
Administration Flooded with 26,000 Comments Opposing Proposal to Disguise Offshoring of U.S. Manufacturing  Public Citizen   ...More than 26,000 people nationwide have submitted comments opposing Obama administration proposals that would severely distort U.S. job and trade data by reclassifying U.S. corporations that offshore American jobs as “factoryless goods” manufacturers...
A quarter of McDonald’s restaurants in China may have been serving expired meat  Washington Post   ...  The supplier, Shanghai-based Husi Food Co Ltd, was forced to shut down after local television station Dragon TV (link in Chinese) ran footage of the company's factory workers picking hamburger patties and meat from off the factory floor and throwing them directly into meat mixers, and using bare hands to handle poultry and beef on the assembly line. The footage also showed sewage and trash spread on the floor of the processing plant; in addition, expired meat, which was described as “stinky” by workers themselves, was either concealed by mixing it together with non-expired meat, or simply altering its expiration date...
State Battles
Taxi Group Unveils Plan To Boost Fares, Fees To Help Drivers' Plight  Chicago Sun-Times   ...Mileage and waiting times that drive up Chicago taxicab fares would rise by 25 percent under a 10-point plan proposed Monday to put more money into the pockets of struggling cabbies...
Poor Job Growth Still Afflicts Kansas Despite Sam Brownback's Tax Cuts  Kansas City Star   ...Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and his advisers want to create an alternate reality when it comes to job growth in the state. They keep throwing out misleading numbers to the public while trying to cloud Kansas’ mediocre jobs picture...
War On Workers
BNSF Moves Toward Allowing Trains With Only One Engineer  Omaha World-Herald   ...BNSF Railway said Monday it has reached a tentative agreement with its largest labor union to permit single engineers to drive trains equipped with a pending new safety system mandated by Congress...
City of Austin worker killed in southeast Travis County crash  KXAN   ...A City of Austin worker was killed following a crash involving an 18-wheeler and a pickup truck on FM 973 just north of Highway 71...
Construction Worker Killed In 50-Foot Fall From Ladder  Q13Fox   ...A construction worker was found dead Monday at Bellevue College after what appeared to be a fall from a ladder around 50 feet above the ground, police said...
Miscellaneous
Imposter Uber Driver Reported In Virginia Highland Area  NBC News   ...She said when they arrived at her location she could see her friends standing on the sidewalk directly across the street, but the driver refused to let her get out and he quickly drove to another secluded location. She stated he demanded all of her money...
Workers At A Subway Sandwich Shop Vote To Unionize  Huffington Post   ...A group of Subway sandwich makers just proved that it isn't impossible for fast food workers to unionize. Workers at a Subway location in Bloomsbury, N.J., on Friday voted in favor of joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The 13 workers are employed by the Tennessee-based travel center company Pilot Flying J, but they all work inside the company's Subway franchise at the rest stop...

Today's Teamster News 07.10.14

Teamster News
Buy American: It Makes Dollars And Sense  Detroit News   ...a proposed 12-nation Pacific Rim trade deal could take away the federal government’s ability to enforce a law allowing it to favor American companies when purchasing goods...
Chelsea City Employees Get 2 Percent Raises, City Manager's Contract Extended  Chelsea Standard   ...Police Officer's Association of Michigan (POAM) and Teamsters Local 214 recently negotiated with the city, in closed sessions, and have reached collective bargaining agreements for fiscal year 2014-15...
Truckers Strike Briefly Shuts 4 Terminals At L.A., Long Beach Ports  Los Angeles Times   ...On Tuesday picket lines moved to some port terminals ... In a brief escalation of the day-old strike, dockworkers walked off the job at the Evergreen, APL and Yusen terminals in Los Angeles around 9 a.m., and at the Long Beach Container Terminal an hour later...
Labor Dispute Briefly Shuts LA, Long Beach Ports  Grand Island Independent   ...Nearly 1,000 dockworkers briefly walked off their jobs Tuesday at the massive ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, disrupting the movement of international cargo before a mediator ordered them back..
Union Workers Picket Outside EVSC Administration Building  WTVW  ...Teamsters Local 215 members take an old school approach to grab attention and a few honks...
GET Drivers Poised To Strike Next Week  Bakersfield Californian   ...Bakersfield public bus drivers are poised to walk off the job Tuesday unless there is a breakthrough in labor contract negotiations. Members of Visalia-based Teamsters Local #517 voted Sunday to authorize a strike, half a dozen drivers with Golden Empire Transit District said...
Teamsters locals sued over ‘illegal strikes’  Post-Tribune   ...International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 142 in Gary and Local 179 in Joliet, Illinois, used several strikes in 2012 to get Roberts Pipeline to use Teamsters members on its construction projects, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Hammond...
Trade
U.S. International Goods and Services  Bureau of Economic Analysis   ...total May exports of $195.5 billion and imports of $239.8 billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $44.4 billion, down from $47.0 billion in April,  revised... 
State Battles
Why is Wisconsin lagging other states on jobs? (opinion)  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ... well over 400,000 Wisconsin workers were forced to cut their spending significantly. Some of that reduced spending would have been on goods produced elsewhere ... But much of that reduced spending would have been on locally produced services — restaurant meals, trips to the Dells and hair salon appointments — reducing job growth in Wisconsin. That's where the job gap shows up — in about 30,000 fewer private service-sector jobs than expected, over the past three years...
Courtroom Drama: Voting Rights Paid for in Blood Under Siege in North Carolina  American Prospect   ...Glazier laid out how his Republican colleagues—with almost no study or debate—stripped away more than a decade’s worth of reforms that had dramatically increased ballot access for African Americans...
L.A. Hotel Workers Could Get $15.37 An Hour - The Highest Minimum Wage In The U.S.  CNN Money   ...Now, Los Angeles hotel workers might be outdoing them all with the country's highest minimum wage: $15.37 an hour, thanks to a new city ordinance that is expected to pass by Labor Day...
War On Workers
Chinese Hackers Pursue Key Data on U.S. Workers  New York Times   ...Chinese hackers in March broke into the computer networks of the United States government agency that houses the personal information of all federal employees, according to senior American officials...
Corporate Tax Behavior So Bad Even Fortune Magazine Can’t Stomach It  American Prospect   ...There is “a new kind of American corporate exceptionalism...: companies that have decided to desert our country to avoid paying taxes but expect to keep receiving the full array of benefits that being American confers, and that everyone else is paying for...
Is wage stagnation keeping homebuyers away?  Housing Wire   ...In Atlanta, asking prices rose 15.7% while wages only rose 0.8%. In Bakersfield, California, asking prices rose 13.9% while wages actually dropped by 0.3%...
Is Uber Above The Law? Probably Not  Bloomberg Businessweek   ...The Virginia and Ann Arbor showdowns come amid an escalating series of legislative skirmishes on both sides of the Atlantic, with divergent results. Last week, Pittsburgh judges issued their own cease-and-desist instruction to Uber and Lyft, while a London agency rejected a complaint against the companies brought by taxi drivers, granting Uber a reprieve until courts rule on legal challenges to their operation later this year...
How Corporate Tax Cheats Still Get Billions In Government Business  Think Progress   ...Despite supposed bans on companies that move offshore to avoid paying U.S. taxes getting federal contracts, more than a dozen large off-shored companies get more than $1 billion a year from government work, according to a Bloomberg News investigation...
Miscellaneous
NSA Spied On Five Politically Active Citizens, The Intercept Reports  Huffington Post   ...The National Security Agency spied on five American citizens despite a lack of any finding that they posed a threat to national security, The Intercept, an investigative outlet co-founded by Greenwald, is reporting Wednesday...
US military studied how to influence Twitter users in Darpa-funded research  The Guardian   ...The activities of users of Twitter and other social media services were recorded and analysed as part of a major project funded by the US military, in a program that covers ground similar to Facebook’s controversial experiment into how to control emotions by manipulating news feeds...

Today's Teamster News 06.07.2014

Teamster News
Descendants Of 1934's Teamster Strike Carry Proud Legacy  Twin Cities Daily Planet   ...The 10 or so people gathering in a 1920's home in St. Paul might have been meeting for the first time, but they forged an instant bond. Their parents or grandparents 80 years ago stood together and fought in the streets of Minneapolis for the right to organize a union during 1934's Teamsters strikes...
MetraPark Workers Will See Pay Raise Under New Contract  Billings Gazette   ...The Teamsters Local 190 and Yellowstone County have settled negotiations for MetraPark workers in a deal that calls for a five-year contract...
Union Representing JCPS Bus Drivers Puts Up Billboard  WHAS   ...When you drive down the Watterson Expressway you'll soon see something different. A new billboard is going up in an effort to protect Jefferson County Public School bus drivers...
Trade
Enormous, Humongous Trade Deficit Up In April  Trade Reform   ...Imagine American factories and other businesses receiving an additional $44.2 billion in orders last month, and every single month, and you can visualize the effect of this trade deficit. How many people would be hired due to an additional $44.2 billion in orders? How many suppliers would get a boost in orders? How many local businesses surrounding these thriving factories would be getting extra business?...
Statistics that Spin: Foreign Goods to Be Considered U.S. Goods?   Economic Policy Institute   ...the proposal, if adopted, would create a statistical fiction that companies that are American in name only, which outsource 100 percent of their production, assembly and services to other countries like China, will be deemed to be manufacturers...
USDA Approves Checkoff Advertisements Featuring “North American Beef”  Trade Reform   ...
“USDA is sanctioning consumer deception by approving government-mandated advertisements that mislead consumers into believing that their Wendy’s burger may have originated in El Salvador or Panama...
State Battles
Virginia DMV orders Lyft, Uber to stop operating  PilotOnLine.com   ...The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles sent cease-and-desist orders Thursday to Lyft and Uber, telling the two taxi-like services they must stop operating in violation of state law or face fines against their drivers...
War On Workers
Wal-Mart: ‘Headed Toward a Dark Place’  Barron's   ...Shares of Wal-Mart have gained just 2.7% during the past 12 months, lagging the S&P 500′s 20% rise during the same period...
Walmart Plans Family Succession As Low-Wage Worker Plea Voted Down At Meeting  Forbes   ...something is wrong when the richest family in America pays hundreds of thousands of associates so little they cannot survive without relying on food stamps, on public health insurance, and on the charity of co-workers...
One Percent's Twisted New Heist  Salon.com   ...A new study from In the Public Interest, a think tank focused on how privatization, (shows) the routine practice of outsourcing government functions is another important reason why the middle class is shrinking as those at the very top reap more and more of the fruits of our economy...
Farm Workers' Low Wages Hinder San Joaquin Valley's Economy  NPR   ...If you look at the jobs picture across the U.S., one place stands out for high levels of unemployment: Central California's San Joaquin Valley. It's been called the Appalachia of the West...
Economy Added 217,000 Jobs In May; Unemployment Unchanged At 6.3 Percent  Think Progress   ...The economy added 217,000 jobs in May while the unemployment rate remained at 6.3 percent, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics...
Jobs Report Won't Juice Unemployment Situation  Huffington Post   ...Gersley Kendricks figures Congress has given up on him. Kendricks, 63, has been unemployed since early last year and without an income since Congress declined to renew long-term unemployment insurance at the end of December. He's one of nearly 3 million people who have missed out on compensation since then...
Taxes: Who Pays How Much In Eight Charts  Moyers and Company   ...Ideological arguments about whether taxes are too high or low miss the crucial question of who ends up bearing how much of the burden of financing our public sector...
What America Could Buy With Offshore Tax Money  Moyers and Company   ...The federal government forgoes billions of dollars in revenue each year due to corporate tax write-offs and loopholes enshrined in America's tax code...