Congress needs to solve stagnant wages

The U.S. economic recovery is not what it seems. Yes, it is clear that the unemployment rate has fallen dramatically since the Great Recession ended. But the benefits that usually follow such a change, like wage hikes for everyday Americans, have been much harder to find.

In fact, low- and middle-income earners are struggling just to reach their salary levels before the recession. Nearly 15 percent of Americans lived in poverty last year, and the household median income hasn't budged in recent years. Why is that? There are a multitude of reasons.

As former labor reporter Steven Greenhouse wrote in The New York Times:

In fact, the labor market is a lot softer than a 5.1 percent jobless rate would indicate. For one thing, the percentage of Americans who are working has fallen considerably since the recession began. This disappearance of several million workers — as labor force dropouts they are not factored into the jobless rate — has meant continued labor market weakness, which goes far to explain why wage increases remain so elusive. End of story, many economists say. 

But work force experts assert that economists ignore many other factors that help explain America’s stubborn wage stagnation. Outsourcing, offshoring and imports exert a steady downward tug on wages. Labor unions have lost considerable muscle. Many employers have embraced pay-for-performance policies that often mean nice bonuses for the few instead of across-the-board raises for the many.

The Teamsters have been sticking up for workers on this issue for years, and renewed that push as part of our "Let's Get America Working" platform rolled out in September. Finally, it seems others are beginning to take notice as well. Income inequality is becoming rampant in this country. But how do we overcome it?

It begins by having Congress reject lousy trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would ship thousands of jobs overseas and reduces the wages for many that are left behind. Elected officials also need to invest in infrastructure, which in turn will create good-paying jobs. And they must allow workers to organize for more power and fairness on the job.

Lawmakers can no longer turn a blind eye to the nation's workers. They need to be recognized and represented. That means approving policies that help them, not just big business.

New jobs don't make dent in U.S. poverty rate

The U.S. economic recovery is not everything it might seem to be at first blush. Anyone looking at the number of jobs created or the falling unemployment rate would certainly be encouraged by the nation's path forward since the end of the Great Recession, for instance.

But when it comes to standard of living, however, the economy is not delivering. In nearly every state in the nation, the poverty rate remains higher than where it stood pre-recession. And despite the growth in jobs, poverty overall has remained persistent, according to new U.S. Census Bureau statistics this month.

Data culled from the 2015 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement found:

• Changes in income inequality between 2013 and 2014 were not statistically significant as measured by the shares of aggregate household income.
  
• The poverty rate for families and the number of families in poverty were 11.6 percent and 9.5 million in 2014, neither statistically different from the 2013 estimates.
  
• In 2014, 6.2 percent of married-couple families, 30.6 percent of families with a female householder and 15.7 percent of families with a male householder lived in poverty. For married-couple families, both the poverty rate and the number in poverty increased. For families with a female householder, the poverty rate was not statistically different from 2013, while the number in poverty declined. Neither the poverty rates nor the estimate of the number of families in poverty showed any statistically significant change between 2013 and 2014 for families with a male householder.

Here's one thing we do know -- the jobs being created are paying low wages. They don't allow everyday Americans to earn enough to support their families. They are not going to put this country on a real path to economic recovery.

That's why the Teamster rolled out a plan earlier this month called Let's Get America Working that would create good-paying jobs by investing in infrastructure and vocational education. These are sustainable opportunities that will help not only workers, but U.S. businesses as well.

It's time for America to move beyond being a fast-food jobs nation. It must become a real jobs nation that provides employment that gives respect and dignity to workers.That's how this country will truly get back on track.

Today's Teamster News 02.03.15

Teamsters
Dutchess County LOOP Strike Averted As Negotiations Continue  Daily Freeman   ...The potential strike by the union representing Dutchess County LOOP bus drivers, mechanics, office employees and bus washers has apparently been averted. Teamsters Local 445 Business Agent Jerry Ebert said ... the company said it would resume negotiations, resulting in the union calling off its threat to strike.....
City Of Monroe Reports On Feb. 1 Snow Removal Efforts  Monroe News   ..."I am proud to report that all 15 Teamster personnel, both of our 2 supervisors, and our Superintendent of Public Services, Bill Walters, have all already been involved in our efforts today to combat the winter storm...
Leslie Marshall Show Features Teamsters Fight At Allegiant Air  teamster.org   …Teamsters Local 1224 President Daniel Wells talks with Leslie Marshall about the more than 500 Teamster Allegiant Air pilots and their fight for a fair contract...
Sysco Offers To Sell 11 Facilities To Win Merger Approval  New York Times   ...Sysco said on Monday that it had agreed to divest 11 distribution centers in a bid to obtain the blessing of regulators including the Federal Trade Commission. Sysco will sell the centers for an undisclosed sum to Performance Food Group, which will be its nearest rival after the deal for US Foods closes...
Trade
TPP negotiators agree on copyrights protection  NHK World News   …Negotiators of the Trans Pacific Partnership free trade pact say they are a step closer to reaching a deal on copyright duration in principle. The plan is for copyrights to last for 70 years...
Let's Take Apart The Corporate Case For Fast Track Trade Authority  Economy In Crisis   …an argument that TPP and similar agreements will “expand trade” masks what the bulk of these agreements are really about, which is getting governments off the backs of the giant corporations and protecting their profits from competition and democratic regulation...
Syriza-Led Greek Parliament ‘Will Never Ratify TTIP’  EurActiv   ...After making its voice heard in the debate over sanctions on Russia, the new government in Athens is now making its opposition known to the EU-US trade deal, TTIP...
State Battles
Legislation is detrimental to Missouri workers (opinion)  St. Louis Post Dispatch   …Missouri House Speaker John Diehl wants to make so-called worker freedom a key emphasis for the Legislature by passing right-to-work and “paycheck protection” bills. This legislation has nothing to do with workers’ rights or workers’ protection. Actually, these bills attack both. They undermine the ability of workers to have a voice and to organize opposition to the out-of-state, well-heeled efforts of extremists and the 1 percent...
Right To Work bill introduced in Senate  The InterMountain.com   …Proposed legislation would make West Virginia a Right To Work state...
Scott Walker To Cut $300 Million From Universities, Spend $500 Million On A Pro Basketball Stadium  Think Progress   ...Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) will unveil a budget Tuesday night that aims to slash hundreds of millions of dollars from the state’s public universities over the next two years....
War on Workers
U.S. workers strike for second day at nine refineries; one to shut  Reuters   …Union workers were on strike for a second day on Monday at nine U.S. refineries and chemical plants as they sought a new national contract with oil companies covering laborers at 63 plants...
Croatia just canceled the debts of its poorest citizens  Washington Post   …the government scheme aims to help some of the 317,000 Croatians whose bank accounts have been blocked due to their debts. Given that Croatia is a relatively small Mediterranean country of only 4.4 million inhabitants, the number of indebted citizens is significant and has become a major economic burden for the country…
World Bank Declines Child Labor Investigation World Bulletin   ...The World Banks internal watchdog has decided to pursue and investiage the link between the banks' loans and the Uzbek government-organised forced labour. The request by human rights campaigners to investigate the use of forced labour and child labour was declined, even though it has acknowledged that farms benfitting from its assistance might be forcing both adults and children against their will...
The Mental And Physical Toll Of Student Loans  The Atlantic   ...“Cumulative student loans were significantly and inversely associated with better psychological functioning,” according to the results. That means, generally speaking, student-loan debt was not great for the mental health of study participants...
Portland strippers head to Salem to lobby for better work conditions  Associated Press  …Tired of watching well-meaning strangers impose their own visions for improving the plight of the dancer, some of Portland's seasoned strippers are working directly with state lawmakers and professional lobbyists...
Uber Opening Robotics Research Facility In Pittsburgh To Build Self-Driving Cars  Tech Crunch   …Driver-on-demand service Uber is building a robotics research lab in Pittsburgh, PA to “kickstart autonomous taxi fleet development,” sources close to the decision have confirmed to TechCrunch. They say the company has hired talent from Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute, including lead engineering and commercialization experts...
The New Face of the Koch Campaign  The Daily Beast   …A father of two was sentenced to 55 years in jail for selling pot. The Koch brothers want to help set him free and make him the face of their new campaign for criminal justice reform...
Worker Dies On The Job At Chattanooga's Wrigley Plant  News Channel 9   …A worker died while on the job at Chattanooga's Wrigley Plant in Tuesday's early morning hours…This is the second time someone has died on site of the Wrigley Plant…
Cops: Social Worker Killed to Cover Up Embezzlement  Newser   …In a case that Philadelphia police say has left them "angry and confounded," a social worker allegedly gunned down a colleague in broad daylight after she discovered that he had embezzled tens of thousands of dollars from an after-school outreach program...
Miscellaneous
Keystone XL Pipeline Bill House Vote Eyed For Next Week  International Business Times   ...The House can either vote on the Senate version of the bill as is or write its own bill, pass that and then go into a conference committee with Senate leaders to hash out compromise legislation. A compromise bill might take too long, especially because eight agencies have a Monday deadline to weigh in on Keystone, according to Politico...

Today's Teamster News 01.08.15

Teamsters
New contracts approved for police, crossing guards  TribLive   ...McKeesport city council on Wednesday unanimously approved three-year contracts with Teamsters Local 205 on behalf of city police officers and crossing guards...
Bogeyman Of Credit Crisis Needs Reform To Align Risks And Responsibilities In CDS Market  The Conversation   ...In 2009, US trucking company YRC Worldwide faced ruin as it struggled to restructure its debt. With tens of thousands of jobs at stake, the Teamsters union, led by James Hoffa, accused some YRC bondholders of sabotaging restructuring negotiations by purchasing credit default swaps (CDS) on their debt...
Everett Lee Jones  roanoke.com   ...Everett Lee "Pete" Jones, 81, of Blue Ridge, went to be with the Lord on Monday, January 5, 2015. Staff Sergeant Jones was Honorable Discharged from the United States Air Force after serving four years as Crew Chief on B-47 Bombers where he was recognized by both his Wing and Squadron Commanders for Outstanding Performance. He was also a member of the American Legion. Pete was a member of Teamsters Local 592 in Richmond and drove for Mason Dixon where he was awarded the 1,000,000 mile Safety Record for driving without an accident...
Trade
Obama touts auto bailout success, Michigan worries about trade  Reuters   ...President Barack Obama, on a trip to unveil elements of his State of the Union address, took a victory lap in Michigan on Wednesday to tout his support of the auto industry, but concerns about trade policies hung in the background of his tour...
Our View: Huge trade deal needs congressional and public scrutiny  Bennington Banner   ...Vt. Sen. Bernie Sanders is sounding an alarm about the Trans Pacific Partnership, a huge proposed trade deal that has been in process for about 10 years...
State Battles
Kentucky Senate puts right-to-work bill on fast track; House expected to balk  kentucky.com   ...A state Senate committee on Wednesday put on the fast track a bill that would allow people to work for unionized employers without joining the union, but the measure is expected to die in the House...
Indiana Lawmakers Push For Increasing Minimum Wage To $10.10 An Hour  WXIN   ...“We still have a minority out there and although we may be few in number, somebody has to speak for them,” said State Senator Karen Tallian. Tallian authored Senate Bill 41 (SB41). If passed, it would boost Indiana’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour....
Kansas Is Totally Screwed  Mother Jones   ...As further tax cuts phase in over time—the state's income tax rate, which has already fallen from 6.45 percent to 4.9 percent, is set to fall another point by 2018—the gap between spending commitments and revenue will only grow more dire. For fiscal year 2016, which starts in July, state legislators will need to slash an additional $650 million, according to the legislature's research office. Standard & Poor's and Moody's, two of the top three credit-ratings agencies, downgraded the state's credit rating last year due to the budget woes...
War on Workers
Time To Get Real On Jobs, Wages, And Growth (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...Most Americans -- 99 percent of them or so -- are still struggling. Economic inequality is soaring, social mobility is declining, earnings at most income levels are stagnant or falling, and the percentage of working-age Americans who are actually working is at a record low...
The Massive Retirement Gap For CEOs Versus Workers  CBS News   ...On average, Americans have saved only about $58,000 for their retirements, BlackRock found... CEO pensions at the 10 biggest U.S. companies are on average 239 times larger than the average employee's 401(k) balances for those same businesses...
On Day One, The New Congress Launches An Attack On Social Security  Los Angeles Times   ...As one of its first orders of business upon convening Tuesday, the Republican House of Representatives approved a rule that will seriously undermine efforts to keep all of Social Security solvent...
Keystone XL Pipeline's Gift: 42,000 Jobs (opinion)  Chicago Tribune   ...Let the construction begin, and see the benefits to local communities as they absorb the more than $2 billion in worker payments from Keystone XL jobs. Let the construction begin and offer men and women new job opportunities. Let these new employees put their skills to work and use their earnings to buy cars and clothes, to pay for college tuition or a family vacation. Communities along the pipeline route will also see property tax revenues increase substantially; revenues that will pay for better schools, parks, libraries and infrastructure...
Third worker dies of injuries from Oklahoma rig fire  Petro Global News   ...A rig fire at an Oklahoma drilling site claimed a third life last weekend after a worker burned in the explosion succumbed to his injuries...
Miscellaneous
How $50 Oil Changes Almost Everything  Bloomberg   ...The biggest collapse in energy prices since the 2008 global recession is shifting wealth and power from autocratic petro-states to industrialized consumers, which could make the world safer, according to a Berenberg Bank AG report...
Uber Bases Suspended After Refusing To Hand Over Trip Records  New York Post   ...The agency needs the data to make decisions that will affect the taxi industry, as well as investigate passenger complaints. “This data has very real significance to policy, and also to the safety of the riding public,” said TLC spokesman Allan Fromberg...
ADP Says Companies In U.S. Added 241,000 Workers In December  Bloomberg News   ...Companies added more workers than forecast in December, indicating the U.S. job market was sustaining strength as 2014 drew to a close, according to a private report based on payrolls. The 241,000 increase in employment was the biggest since June and followed a 227,000 November gain that was more than initially reported...

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...

The TPP would not improve the US economy, says the US government

The TPP wouldn't increase U.S. economic output one little bit -- even if it removed all tariffs -- according to none other than the U.S. government.

That shouldn't come as a surprise. The TPP, or Trans-Pacific Partnership, is little more than a corporate power grab that will lower wages, send jobs overseas, jack up the cost of medicines and make it easier for foreign companies to attack our laws. The Teamsters are fighting hard against this corporate giveaway.

Now the U.S. government's own agriculture department tells us the TPP holds no promise of economic growth for the United States -- and none or close to none for the other 10 countries negotiating the deal.

As our friends at Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch pointed out,

USDA calculates that even under the unlikely scenario of wholesale tariff elimination, the TPP would result in a GDP gain of 0.00 percent for Australia, Canada, Chile, Peru, Singapore, and the United States.  For Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Mexico, the projected gain amounts to a rounding error – 0.01 or 0.02 percentage points.  Vietnam is projected to get the biggest GDP boost at a mere one tenth of one percent. 

The U.S. news media ignored the report, but an Australian group called the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network caught it. (Australia is one of the xx countries negotiating the TPP.

Patricia Ranald, who coordinates the group, issued a statement:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released a report that shows Australia can expect zero economic growth from the TPP, even if all tariffs and other barriers to imports are removed. Since we know this most favourable outcome is unlikely, the report begs the question of why the government is continuing with negotiations which will be of no overall economic benefit to Australia.

The government, she wrote, 'should walk away from such a deal.'

Today's Teamster News 11.17.14

Trade
Critics challenge US plans for the TPP  Al Jazeera America   ..."I personally, as an American citizen, find it puzzling that the Obama administration is pushing for an economic policy abroad which will increase the cost of health care, reduce access, where at the same time, one of his signature presidential legacies is supposed to be affordable care," Professor Susan Sell at George Washington University told Al Jazeera...
No rush in TPP talks  Japan Times   ...Top leaders of countries taking part in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade negotiations last Monday in Beijing failed to set a time frame for a final agreement. In doing so they abandoned the earlier goal of completing a broad agreement by year’s end...
State Battles
How Local Governments Are (or Aren’t) Examining Economic Development Dollars  Governing   ...A new survey provides a detailed portrait of how local governments use business incentives, finding many lack basic accountability measures...
War on Workers
Court orders strip club to pay $10M in back wages to dancers  CNN   ...More than 2,000 current and former exotic dancers in New York City were awarded $10 million in a class-action lawsuit they brought against their employer, Rick's Cabaret. The federal judge's order came on Friday, four years after the dancers filed their lawsuit alleging the company cheated them out of wages...
This Fed President is Correctly Worried About a 1937-Style Slump  Wall Street on Parade   ...The reference to 1937 relates to the fact that as the U.S. economy was showing signs of improvement from the conditions of the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Federal government and the Federal Reserve overreacted to inflationary concerns with contractive measures in 1937, sending the economy into a sharp slump in late 1937 and 1938...
Plant where workers died reported recent violations  Texas Tribune   ...State records show that in the last five years, the plant has been cited at least two-dozen of times by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for violating state law...
Miscellaneous
Democrat-led Senate set to finally vote this week on Keystone, in odd turn of political events  FOX News   ...The Democrat-controlled Senate is expected to take a long-awaited vote Tuesday on approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline -- in an unexpected and politically-charged turn of events for legislation that has languished in the upper chamber for roughly six years...

Today's Teamster News 08.22.14

Teamster News
What the Hell Went on Between Boston’s Teamsters and the ‘Top Chef’ Crew?  Boston Globe   ...Teamsters Local 25 have released a statement about the Deadline Hollywood story and vehemently disagree with the details offered by the unnamed “Top Chef” crew members...
Teamsters Ratify Contracts At Stroehmann, Grocery Haulers Inc.  teamster.org   ...Teamsters Local 264 members at Stroehmann Bakeries and Grocery Haulers Inc. (GHI) in Olean, N.Y., have voted overwhelmingly to ratify contracts providing for significant workplace improvements...
Local 135 Strikes Against Trucking Company  Kokomo Tribune   ...Members of Teamsters Local Union 135 went on strike Wednesday morning against Diamond Trucking Inc. after new contract negotiations broke down Tuesday night...
Carpenters Locked Out Of Pa. Convention Center Since May Seek End To Dispute  CBS News   ...Carpenters who claim they’ve been locked out of the Pennsylvania Convention Center were back out on the street on Wednesday protesting management’s refusal to put them back to work...
Protest-Stalled Ship At Port Of Oakland Finally Unloaded, Sails Away  Contra Costa Times   ...During the protest, the Teamsters had issued a statement calling on longshore workers to "immediately unload the ship" and said their issue was not the Gaza conflict, but the impact the protests have on local jobs...
Sodexo Workers Overwhelmingly Ratify First Teamster Contract With Local 633  IBT   ...Seventy (70) Teamster members employed by Sodexo, Inc., who provide cafeteria services, have overwhelmingly ratified their first ever Teamster contract...
Trade
TPP: The “Trade” Deal that Could Inflate Your Healthcare Bill  Public Citizen   ...Leaked draft TPP texts… contain expansive rules that would constrain the ability of the U.S. government to reduce medicine prices...
Trade Data Pours Cold Water on "Rising Star" Outlook for American Manufacturing  manufacture this   ...The U.S. trade deficit in manufactures surged by $21.6 billion, or 19%, in the second quarter, compared with 2013, following an 8% increase in the first quarter. In the opposite direction, the Chinese surplus increased in the second quarter by $20.0 billion, or 9%...
State Battles
Scott Walker’s Offshoring Flip-Flop  In These Times   ...Mr. Right-to-Work is trying to divert attention from his administration’s abysmal record on jobs and labor in a state still mired in the effects of the Great Recession...
War On Workers
Prayers For Atlantic City As Closings, Layoffs Loom  Philadelphia Inquirer   ...Gaming analysts and industry experts have said Atlantic City has too many casinos and not enough gambling demand to sustain them all. After the three casinos fold, the resort will be left with eight...
Microsoft Leaves ALEC: Horsetrading & The Price to Pay  firedoglake   ...President Obama may soon decide on executive action regarding “a rule allowing spouses of H-1B visa holders, now barred from working in the U.S., to get jobs.” The H-1B high skill guestworker visa allows employers to hire non-citizens for skilled work often in fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics...
One Paragraph Cuts Through The Hype Of Robots Taking Your Job  Business Insider   ...people have tended to overestimate, historically, the effect of technology on labor. And while robots are good at performing some repetitive tasks, jobs that require judgment are not so easily replaced by robots (these include jobs at the low and high end)...
How the Largest Worker Owned Co-op in the US Lifts People Out of Poverty  YES! Magazine   ...New York City is going—in a big way—for worker-owned cooperatives. Inspired by the model of CHCA and prodded by a new network of co-op members and enthusiasts, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Council allocated $1.2 million to support worker cooperatives in 2015’s budget...
There Are Zero States Where The Percentage Of People Employed Has Gone Up Since The Recession  Washington Post   ...From 2007 to 2014, the employment rate among 25- to 54-year-olds has declined in the United States by 3.5 percent, and no state reported employment gains during that time, according to data released by the Pew Charitable Trust on Tuesday...
Miscellaneous
Health Care Data Breaches Have Hit 30M Patients And Counting  Washington Post   ...the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' database of major breach reports (those affecting 500 people or more) has tracked 944 incidents affecting personal information from about 30.1 million people...
Home and Jobs Data Suggests Momentum  Reuters   ...Sales of existing homes in the United States rose in July to a 10-month high, and the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, signaling strength in the economy early in the third quarter...

Today's Teamster News 06.26.14

Teamster News
Downtown D.C. Traffic Gridlocked As Taxi Drivers Protest Uber, Lyft, Sidecar  Washington Post   ...Drivers in and around downtown D.C. were gridlocked in traffic Wednesday as a caravan of angry taxi drivers made its way  from East Potomac Park to Freedom Plaza — in a protest against app-based ride sharing services such as UberX...
DC Cabbies Join Protest Against Online Services  The Hill   ... The protest is being organized by the Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association, which is affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union. The union said cab drivers in the nation’s capital are upset because Internet-based taxi services don't face the same regulations as rank-and-file operators...
Teamsters hold 'Just Practicing' picket in Mobile to protest waste company's proposed health insurance plan changes  AL.com   ...Republic wants to be able to change health insurance plans without having to bargain with its workers, even though the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Republic is required to bargain over any changes to workers' health care," Jim Gookins, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 991, said in a press release...
How Do Los Angeles Uber Drivers Protest? They Take a Beach Day  Bloomberg   ...DeWolf says he and his fellow drivers were spurred by concerns over the company’s refusal to shoulder responsibility for insuring drivers; capricious-seeming policy changes, such as a recent announcement that pre-2010 cars will be phased out for Uber Black or Uber SUV services; and opaque disciplinary procedures...
Teamsters go on strike against concrete company  Turnto10   ...Twenty-two men from the Teamsters union in Smithfield and Cranston went on strike Wednesday morning. "We believe in a fair day's work for a fair day's pay," said Stu Mundy, a union supporter...
Teamsters Local 43 Overwhelmingly Votes To Merge With Local 200  Teamsters Local 200   ... Teamsters Local 200 announced that members of Local 43 in Racine, Wisc. overwhelmingly voted to merge with the Milwaukee-based chapter. With the vote, the more than 600 members of Local 43 will join the 3,700 members of Local 200...
Trade
Capitol Hill Shines Spotlight on #SOSJobs  manufacture this   ...The fight to Save Our Steel Jobs came to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, as the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing looking at how enforcing trade rules can level the playing field for U.S. companies and workers...
Mexican Shale Industry Hoist on Nafta-Induced Gang Violence Petard  naked capitalism   ...There’s perilous little recognition in the US of how much of the rise in gang violence and drug wars, as well as much harsher economic conditions for ordinary people, is the direct result of Nafta...
State Battles
Union Dues Deduction Bill Advances In Pennsylvania  WHTM   ...Business-backed legislation that would restrict labor union deductions from the paychecks of unionized public employees is advancing in the Pennsylvania state Legislature...
Under Scott Walker, Wisconsin keeps increasing its long-term borrowing  The Cap Times   ...Under Walker’s 2013-15 budget, debt service will climb even higher, claiming 5.26% of general fund dollars in 2014 and 4.88% in 2015, according to WISTAX. The state’s historical debt level target has been 4%...
War On Workers
U.S. Economy Shrank in First Quarter by Most in Five Years  Bloomberg   ...Gross domestic product fell at a 2.9 percent annualized rate, more than forecast and the worst reading since the same three months in 2009, after a previously reported 1 percent drop, the Commerce Department said today in Washington...
Microsoft lawyer says future is ‘bleak’ because of NSA surveillance  RT   ...Microsoft’s top lawyer doesn’t see much reason to be optimistic going forward if the National Security Agency doesn’t stop its bulk collection of private data, pointing to a “bleak future” and a lack of justice and accountability...
Walmart Flunks Its Fact-Check: The Truth Behind Its Sarcastic Response To The Times  Salon.com   ...Walmart isn’t going away and any conversation about wages, manufacturing and the reliance on public benefits by the employees of America’s largest corporations is ultimately going to include its participation. This latest salvo seems to indicate it remains intent on making it as unproductive a conversation as possible...
Miscellaneous
Supreme Court Issues Bold Ruling On Cell Phone Privacy  Think Progress   ...As of today, in nearly all circumstances, the police must obtain a warrant before they can search through your cell phone...
Fifty Years After Freedom Summer, The Voting Rights Act Is Needed More Than Ever (opinion)  Moyers & Company   ...All across the country, we’re seeing the most significant push to restrict voting rights since Reconstruction...

US economy shrinks, and New York Times says it's bad for....who???

We had to laugh at this New York Times story about the U.S. economy shrinking: The newspaper wrote it's bad for the White House.

Really? The White House? How about the millions of other people in this country whose wages are falling, who are losing their homes, who can't get a job, who shoulder enormous student debt, who work for temp agencies at poverty wages for years, who are middle-aged and living with their parents, who are 50 years old and scared to lose their jobs because they'll never get another one, who are 60 years old with no retirement savings, who graduated from college and are working at a fast-food restaurant, who got fired for trying to form a union, who are 76 and still working, who have given up looking for work because there are no jobs, who are dipping into their 401(k) plans before they retire?

A shrinking economy means things got worse for them.

This is what the New York Times actually published:

The Commerce Department said on Thursday that the nation’s overall output shrank at an annual rate of 1 percent in the first three months of the year ...It is the first quarter in three years in which the nation’s output of goods and services has contracted.
The figures are bad news for the White House...

Maybe it's just an attempt at self-parody...

(Anyhoo, the good news is that commercial activity appears to be picking up.)

Today's Teamster News 03.11.14

Teamster News
Teamster bus strike off for now as drivers must vote on new CCTA offer  Burlington Free Press   ...The proposed Monday strike by members of Teamsters Local 597 has been averted — at least temporarily — while the bus drivers consider the latest offer from management...
Teamsters Union starts negotiations with Cedar Falls schools  Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier   ...Teamsters Local 238, which represents 45 Cedar Falls (Iowa) school district custodial and maintenance staff members, has begun negotiations with the school district...
Driving Horses Remains Passion for Teamster School Bus Worker  teamstersjc25.com   ...Local 777's 'Real Teamster' moonlights with high-end carriage company...
Trade
Lives at stake in TPP trade deal  Asia Times   ...If you or some family members or friends suffer from cancer, hepatitis, AIDS, asthma or other serious ailments, it's worth your while to follow the negotiations on the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement and other similar bilateral trade agreements. It's really a matter of life and death. For the TPPA can cut off the potential supply of cheaper generic medicines that can save lives...
State Battles
Missouri Democrats Solidly Against 'Right To Work,' Less So Regarding 'Right To Farm'  St. Louis Public Radio   ...The banners, the stickers and the rhetoric at this weekend’s Democrat Days made one thing clear: When it comes to “right to work,’’ Missouri Democratic activists and politicians are solidly against it...
WI GOP Marches in Lockstep with ALEC Agenda, Voting Records Show  Center for Media and Democracy   ...Sixty-one legislators, all Republicans, voted with the ALEC agenda 100 percent of the time, according to Stampen's analysis. This amounts to 46 percent of Wisconsin's 132 lawmakers...
Vermont Votes for Public Banking  The Nation   ...The bill would create a “10 Percent for Vermont” program that would “deposit 10 percent of Vermont’s unrestricted revenues in the VEDA bank and allow VEDA to leverage this money, in the same way that private banks do now, to fund…unfunded capital needs”...
Oregon labor supporters savor win as governor drops Right to Work ballot initiative Beverly Hills Courier   ...Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber has struck a blow to the controversial Right to Work movement by reaching a deal that drops an upcoming ballot initiative...
Union calls on Illinois to pay back wages  The Southern Illinoisan ...AFSCME is calling on Illinois lawmakers to make room in next year’s budget for back pay owed to more than 24,000 state employees who didn’t receive pay wage increases due them from July 2011 to July 2013 because no money was appropriated...
SC wants to require food stamp recipients to work or be looking  WCBD TV 2   ...South Carolina will ask for permission from the federal government to require food stamp recipients to work or be looking for work. The state is scrapping a proposal to ban food stamps from being used to buy junk food...
Volkswagen sides with UAW on appeal  Times Free Press   ...The United Auto Workers and Volkswagen Group of America have filed their opposition to two groups supporting some Chattanooga VW workers who want to intervene in the union's appeal for a new election at the plant...
War on Workers
A Modern Day ‘Harvest of Shame’  Pro Publica   ...temp work has grown nine times faster than private-sector employment as a whole. Overall, nearly one-sixth of the total job growth since the recession ended has been in the temp sector...
U.S. network to scan workers with secret clearances  Associated Press   ...U.S. intelligence officials are planning a sweeping system of electronic monitoring that would tap into government,  financial and other databases to scan the behavior of many of the 5 million federal employees with secret clearances, current and former officials told The Associated Press...
Chicagoans Want the Koch Brothers to Stop Polluting The City  VICE News   ...“The piles of petcoke that have been growing along the Calumet River are getting wafted into our homes and onto our children,” nearby resident Olga Bautista told VICE News when we visited the area...
Wal-Mart’s newest big lie: Another misleading ad campaign from a job-killing behemoth  Salon   ...The majority shareholders of the company are members of the Walton family who inherited the stock and have a combined wealth of nearly $145 billion – more than the combined wealth of 42 percent of American families...
MORGAN STANLEY: The Economy's Slow Growth Is Now Permanent  Business Insider   ...drops in productivity and Labor Force Participation mean a new, slower growth track than what we're used to...
McDonald's Worker Claims Manager Told Her to "Put a Bullet" in Her Head  5 NBC Chicago   ...Workers rallied at Chicago’s Rock N’ Roll McDonald’s Saturday afternoon to "call to an end to verbal abuse in McDonald's"...
California Farmworkers Often Forced To Live in Squalor, Says Report  In These Times   ...For California’s farmworkers, toiling all day in the brutal, sun-scorched fields is hard enough; the homes they return to each night are often in even worse conditions...
1,500 Bangladesh factories to be inspected  Associated Press   ...About 1,500 factories in Bangladesh are on track to be inspected by the end of August as part of a safety pact signed by more than 150 clothing brands and 20 countries, according to organizers of the pact...
Miscellaneous
No consensus on how to notify data breach victims  Associated Press   ...The data breach at Target Corp. that exposed millions of credit card numbers has focused attention on the patchwork of state consumer notification laws and renewed a push for a single national standard...
US Plans to Speed Poultry Slaughtering, Cut Inspections  Inter Press Service   ...The U.S. government is in the final stages of weighing approval for an overhaul of regulations governing the country’s poultry industry that would see processing speeds increase substantially even while responsibility for oversight would be largely given over to plant employees...
CPAC Presidential Straw Poll Picks Guy Who Thinks Whites-Only Lunch Counters Should Be Legal  Think Progress   ...With 31 percent of the vote, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) won the closely watched Conservative Political Action Conference presidential straw poll this weekend, dwarfing second place finisher Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) 11 percent of the vote...

Today's Teamster News 02.10.14

Vt. lawmakers balk at no-media trade talks  Associated Press   ...Vermont lawmakers are refusing to meet a demand from the office of the U.S. trade representative that they conduct secret talks over the impacts of a proposed international trade agreement...
Obama signs farm bill that trims food stamps  Associated Press   ...President Barack Obama on Friday signed into law an agriculture spending bill that will spread benefits to farmers in every region of the country, while trimming the food stamp program that inspired a two-year battle over the legislation...
If You Thought You Couldn't Go To Jail For Debt Anymore, You're Wrong  Business Insider   ...n Ohio, the practice has been dealt a major blow ... The Ohio Supreme Court released a "bench card" to every state and municipal court judge in Ohio explaining how they must avoid sending people to jail who are too poor to pay their court fines. This bench card is the first of its kind in the nation...
Chinese Official Made Job Plea to JPMorgan Chase Chief  New York Times   ...Federal authorities are now investigating whether the hiring at JPMorgan — and at least six other big banks — was done explicitly to win business from Chinese companies. The authorities could decide to bring charges against individuals or a bank if they find such activity to be in violation of anti-bribery laws...
Suspicious Death of JPMorgan Vice President, Gabriel Magee, Under Investigation in London  Wall Street on Parade   ...No solid evidence exists currently to suggest that the death was a suicide. In fact, there is a strong piece of evidence pointing in the opposite direction...
Tapering of Quantitative Easing Is Throwing Emerging Markets into Chaos - And Big Banks Are Getting Richer  The Real News   ...the economy is growing, but it's growing in a very dysfunctional way... it is growing out of proportion. It is not growing in areas that affect Main Street, small businesses, wages...
Decades of Greed: Behind the Scenes With An Angry Walmart Manager  Gawker   ...How come in 1999 Walmart could pay me over $10 an hour but in 2014 I hire people in at $8.00 an hour?...
Crybabies of the 1 Percent: The Rich Complain While Getting Away With Everything  Alternet   ...Consider the case of a Texas teenager who  killed four people and severely injured two others while drunk-driving in his father’s pickup truck. Prosecutors wanted to send him to prison for 20 years, but a judge decided to give him no jail time at all after an expert witness for the defense testified that the defendant was suffering from “affluenza.” This affliction, the psychologist testified, was a product of the defendant having spent his life in the lap of luxury...
Group: Bangladesh Workers Threatened Over Union  Associated Press   ...dozens of workers who said they were beaten, lost their jobs or forced to resign after trying to organize unions...
Author: When It Comes To High-Speed Internet, U.S. 'Falling Way Behind'  NPR   ...American Internet service is falling behind other nations because cable companies have such dominance in many markets, and that will undermine our ability to compete in a global economy...
Subway Takes Chemical Out of Sandwich Bread After Protest  ABC News   ...Subway said today it is removing a chemical used in yoga mats and shoe soles from the bread of it its popular sandwiches after a food blogger got more than 50,000 signatures in a petition drive...
Right-to-work push (LTE)   Kansas City Star   ...Right to work is really the right to work for less. Sen. Ed Emery confirmed this when he said, “One of the things that will be advocated by the unions is look at all these right-to-work states, average wages all go down. Sure they go down.”...

Today's Teamster News 01.11.14

Teamsters Joint Council 16 Applauds Governor Cuomo's Signing of New York State Commercial Goods Industry Fair Play Act  Teamsters Joint Council 16   ...Teamsters Joint Council 16 expressed their thanks to Gov.  Andrew Cuomo for signing the New York State Commercial Goods Industry Fair Play Act (A5237B/S5867) and giving the Empire State the strongest worker misclassification legislation in the country...
Teamsters overwhelmingly reject YRC contract extension  Kansas City Star   ...YRC said it would operate normally despite the vote’s outcome...
Liam Neeson lambastes call to ban horse-drawn carriages  New York Post   ...Hollywood badass Liam Neeson went one-on-one with killjoy Mayor de Blasio, slamming Hizzoner for vowing to ban the city’s 220-plus clip-clopping, carriage-pulling equines from city streets and Central Park...
Teamsters, World Airways Fail To Reach Concessionary Agreement  teamster.org   ...Today, Teamster representatives of the Flight Attendants and Pilots of World Airways announced that bankruptcy discussions with their employer failed to yield an agreement on concessions their carrier was seeking...
Trade bill to open debate on globalization as Congress demands more oversight  Washington Post Lawmakers have proposed a bill that would narrow the Obama administration’s room to negotiate new free-trade agreements, demanding that sensitive issues such as currency ma­nipu­la­tion be covered in future treaties and deepening congressional oversight of the process...
20 years of NAFTA show why TPP must be stopped  Raw Story   ...The post-NAFTA era has been marked by growing inequality, declining job security and new leverage for corporations to attack government regulations enacted in the public interest...
The Majority Of Congresspeople Are Millionaires For The First Time Ever  ThinkProgress   ...More than half of all members of Congress had a net worth of more than a million dollars in 2012, according to a review by the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP). It is the first time in American history that a majority of federal lawmakers have been millionaires, the group said...
U.S. Economy Added Only 74,000 Jobs in December  New York Times   ...The latest data from the Labor Department suggests that the economy lost some momentum, even as the unemployment rate dropped to 6.7 percent...
People Not In Labor Force Soar To Record 91.8 Million; Participation Rate Plunges To 1978 Levels  zero hedge   ...in December the civilian labor force did what it usually does in the New Normal: it dropped from 155.3 million to 154.9 million, which means the labor participation rate just dropped to a fresh 35 year low...
300,000 Without Water After Coal Industry Chemical Spill In W. Virginia  crooksandliars   ...A chemical spill into West Virginia's Elk River has led to a tap water ban for up to 300,000 people, shut down bars and restaurants and led to a run on bottled water in some stores as people looked to stock up...
How is Privatization Failing America?  The Real News   ... From healthcare to education, research shows an increase in privatization leaves the public with the losses and corporations with the gains...
How the Big Cell Phone Companies Are Getting Away with Ripping You Off Each Month  AlterNet   ...If you live in America, there’s a good chance you’ve not been overjoyed by your wireless plan. Simply by using a device essential to your daily life, you have been screwed...
Life in the Electronic Concentration Camp: The Many Ways That You're Being Tracked and Controlled  Truthout   ...“A security camera doesn’t respond to complaint, threats, or insults. Instead, it just watches you in a forbidding manner. But we don’t even scream back because technology companies have convinced us that we need to be connected to them to be happy...
We Need Privacy Laws for the Digital Era  The Salon   ...Updating the Fourth Amendment has been done before, to address the invention of cars, phones and GPS. It’s time to do it again...
Swiss Bank Helped 400 Americans Dodge Taxes On $600 Million  ThinkProgress   ...Swiss bank Julius Baer told hundreds of Americans how to evade U.S. taxes on a total $600 million in wealth, according to a court ruling published Wednesday in Switzerland...
Wall Street Predicts $50 Billion Bill to Settle U.S. Mortgage Suits  New York Times   ...Wall Street could pay nearly $50 billion to buy peace from federal authorities who are taking aim at the banks over their role in the mortgage crisis...
The Income Inequality Implications of Job Automation: Over 47 Percent of Jobs May Be at Risk  Huffington Post ...Researchers have pointed out that our nation's growing income inequality is indicative of increased automation. When will the exponential growth of computing technology allow for jobs that may be viewed as safe to be taken over?...
Why it’s Great to Be the Boss  Pew Research Center   ...In addition to bigger paychecks, America’s bosses are more satisfied with their family life, jobs and overall financial situation than are non-managerial employees, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey...
Target says up to 70 million customers had data stolen in holiday breach  Associated Press   ...Retail giant revises previous estimate of 40m customer accounts, which included credit cards as well as phone numbers and emails...
Georgia GOPer Attacking Free School Lunch Expensed $4,200 In Meals  Talking Points Memo   ..."Kingston and his staff expensed nearly $4200 in meals for business purposes to his congressional office, paid for by the American taxpayer," WSAV 3's Dan Kartunen reported. The amount could have purchased nearly 2,000 Georgia school lunches...
Alaska moves step closer to vote on legalizing recreational marijuana use  The Guardian   ...A citizens' group hoping to make Alaska the third state in the nation to legalize recreational use of marijuana took a step closer Wednesday, submitting more than 46,000 signatures to the state election office...
Boeing machinists allege unfair labor practices, seek revote  Reuters   ...Angry Boeing machinists have filed eight unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging their union's top leaders manipulated a recent contract vote, and demanding that ballots be recast...
The Boeing kleptocracy  Corrente   ...CEO Jim McNerney dumped 282,037 shares this past August. This is not management, it is asset stripping...

Today's Teamster News 01.06.14

Better Than Expected US Economic Data  The Big Picture   ...Generally, the data supports the view that US manufacturing should improve this year...
Meet the Americans Who've Lost Their Unemployment Benefits: "I'm Thoroughly Petrified"  Mother Jones   ..."When you apply for a job at 50 people laugh at you. When you apply for a job at 65 people just look at you like you are crazy..."
The New Financial Scam Driving Workers Deep Into Debt  Alternet   ... there is a new game in town. It’s called “workplace loans” but in many cases they should be called “company store loans...”
Once Upon a Time We Were Winning the War on Poverty  CEPR   ...The rise in inequality over the last three decades explains the lack of progress on reducing poverty...
How Many Constitutional Rights Have Americans Lost?  Washingtons Blog   ...This post explains the liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights – the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution – and provides a scorecard on the extent of the loss of each right...
The Exciting New Trend In Citizenship Programs  Q Experts' Blog   ...Citizenship by Investment, also known as Economic Citizenship, has gained popularity in recent years as a means of acquiring a second passport. One of the achievements of the “immigration consultancy” business as a whole has definitely been to make the whole process more respectable...
Proof that offshore banking is the key to embezzling billions  Quartz   ...Four countries’ legal systems are trying to recoup billions from Ablyazov, who used his position as chairman of the bank to make more than $1.7 billion in loans to holding companies in the British Virgin Islands that were never repaid. Those companies are allegedly controlled by Ablyazov...
TAFTA: 'The Global Corporate Coup', Part Two  The BRAD BLOG   ...Don't care for the secretly-negotiated Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal? You're not gonna like the Trans-Atlantic 'Free Trade' Agreement (TAFTA) much better...
Chinese dam builders rush to Latin America  China Business   ...China's growing involvement in hydropower development in the region boosts clout but also leads to allegations of poor corporate responsibility...
Right-to-work laws do nothing to increase jobs (opinion)  Statesman-Journal   ...How inevitable is a right-to-work fight in Oregon? Our sense is that it is almost as if a big red X has been affixed to a map of our state by outside influences who have decided in secret that we are to be the next target in their misinformation campaign...
Oregon County Won't Raise Taxes, Resorts to Posse  Economic Populist   ...These people do not have the money to pay more taxes and if you want to blame anyone, blame Congress for stopping timber payments to rural regions where jobs are scarce.  It's no surprise areas with poverty rates above 20% reject an increase in mandatory taxes under these circumstances. Bottom line, these rural areas are returning to the wild west and vigilante justice is sure to follow...

Today's Teamster News 01.01.14

Settlement reached at Northern Tier Refinery in St. Paul Park Minneapolis Star Tribune ...Union and company negotiators reached a tentative agreement about 5 p.m. Tuesday, averting a strike that had been called to begin at midnight at the Northern Tier Refinery in St. Paul Park. The deal, which must still be voted on by about 190 workers, came just in time, said Chris Riley, business agent for Teamsters Local 120. “We went to the edge of the cliff,” Riley said…
Are we heading for the world's first TRILLIONAIRE? Tax Justice Network ...if you're under 60 years of age, you're likely to witness the emergence of the world's first trillionaire...
In No One We Trust (opinion) New York Times ...trust is becoming yet another casualty of our country’s staggering inequality:..
30 Million People Worldwide Are Living As Slaves Huffington Post ...The Global Slavery Index released a shocking report last week, estimating that almost 30 million people worldwide are living as slaves...
US population growing at slowest rate since 1930s, census data shows The Guardian ...“This sharp bump that we've seen in the last few years does suggest that the economy has a lot to do with it.”...
How NAFTA Drove Mexicans into Poverty and Sparked the Zapatista Revolt Alternet ...The North American Free Trade Agreement, passed 20 years ago, has resulted in increased emigration, hunger and poverty...
Case-Shiller Home Prices Double Digit Annual Increase Party May Be Over Economic Populist ...The October 2013 S&P Case Shiller home price index shows a seasonally adjusted 13.6% price increase from a year ago for both the 20 metropolitan housing markets and the top 10 housing markets. This is an incredible price run up and has not been seen since the height of the housing bubble, February 2006...
Only A Quarter Of Unemployed Americans Receiving Benefits After Congress Failed To Act: Data Huffington Post ...The number is the lowest since the Department of Labor began keeping records in 1946. Before Congress let the federal unemployment benefit-assistance plan expire on Dec. 28, 38 percent of unemployed Americans who paid unemployment taxes were receiving unemployment insurance either through their state or the federal government...
Residents allowed to return home after smoky North Dakota rail crash Reuters ...Mandatory evacuation orders were lifted on Tuesday in Casselton, North Dakota, where a fiery oil train crash a day earlier triggered a series of blasts and forced residents from their homes...
Business property tax cut could drive up other taxes, report says Indianapolis Star ...A new legislative report says cutting the business personal property tax could raise taxes for homeowners and workers across the state...
Pot Shops in Denver Open Door to $578 Million in Sales Bloomberg ...Fox’s shop is among 14 in Denver that got state and local licenses in time to sell marijuana to anyone 21 or older starting Jan. 1, just over a year after Colorado and Washington voters made their states the first to legalize recreational use. Washington’s shops are expected to open later in the year. Colorado projects $578.1 million a year in combined wholesale and retail marijuana sales to yield $67 million in tax revenue…
Solidarity Sing Along up; The YMCA of Dane County down Isthmus ...The state's Fourth District Court of Appeals rules that people who were charged for singing in the (Wisconsin) Capitol Rotunda during the noontime protests are allowed to use discovery in their defense, which means they can call witnesses and seek evidence the state has against them...

What does your state's economy look like?

Look at all that green!

Every month the Philadelphia Federal Reserve takes a look at economic indicators in each state to see which states are thriving and which states are not. The dark green areas are booming, light green represents modest improvement, and red is shrinking. How does your state look?

Things improved for 44 states in October. And over the past three months, according to Calculated Risk:

...the indexes increased in 45 states and decreased in five...This map was all red during the worst of the recession, and all green at times during the recovery.

Of course, the map doesn't show wage increases...

Today's Teamster News 12.02.13

 Commuter train derailment kills 4 in NYC  USA Today   ...A commuter train heading into the city derailed in the Bronx on Sunday, killing four people and injuring more than 60 as rail cars tumbled to within inches of the Hudson and Harlem rivers...
Amazon Reveals It Wants To Deploy Delivery Drones. No Joke.  Huffington Post   ...Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos revealed the giant online store is developing a drone-based delivery service called Prime Air. According to Bezos, Prime Air would be able to get customers their products only a half-hour after they click the "buy" button. His "optimistic" estimate to "60 Minutes" was that Prime Air will be available to customers within 4 to 5 years...
Hardships pile up as Ikea-vs.-Teamsters dispute drags on at Richmond store  The Province   ...For the union, the main issue in the dispute initially was a two-tier wage system for long-term and newer employees demanded by the company in its first offer. In its second, mediated offer, Ikea revised the two-tier system by offering lump-sum payments and a complex system of percentage pay hikes based on what the union calls unrealistic sales targets...
Wage Strikes Planned at Fast-Food Outlets  New York Times   ...Seeking to increase pressure on McDonald’s, Wendy’s and other fast-food restaurants, organizers of a movement demanding a $15-an-hour wage for fast-food workers say they will sponsor one-day strikes in 100 cities on Thursday and protest activities in 100 additional cities...
How Walmart Shortchanges Employees Who Work Thanksgiving  ThinkProgress   ...the company calculates holiday pay differently from other retailers and manipulates staff schedules so they’re paid less on Thanksgiving than the retailer implies...
Black Friday Weekend Spending Drop Pressures U.S. Stores  Bloomberg   ...The first spending decline on a Black Friday weekend since 2009 reinforced projections for a lackluster holiday, increasing chances retailers will extend the deep discounts already hurting their profit margins...
Germany, Austerity’s Champion, Faces Some Big Repair Bills  New York Times   ... Its infrastructure — roads, bridges, train tracks, waterways and the like — is aging in a way that experts say could undermine its economic growth for years to come. As it has been preaching austerity to its neighbors, Germany itself has kept a tight rein on spending at home...
Peter Buffett: Big Philanthropy and Philanthro-Feudalism  truthout   ..."Poverty, hunger, the environment, education, health - all those things are symptoms of a larger problem of nobody really wanting to get in there and blow some things up," Buffett says...

Today's Teamster News 11.28.13

Teamsters YRCW Local Union Leaders to Meet on December 6  teamster.org   ...The Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee (TNFINC) has called a meeting with Teamster Local Unions that represent YRCW members on December 6th to review a forthcoming proposal from YRCW that modifies the existing Restructuring Agreement that is not scheduled to expire until March 31, 2015...
United Airlines Mechanics Escalate Actions For Joint Agreement At 12 U.S. Airports  teamster.org   ...United Airlines (UAL) professional aviation mechanics represented by the Teamsters Union escalated their actions to pressure the company to live up to its promises by hand-billing UAL customers inside and outside 12 major airports around the country...
‘IKEA Hurts Families’ Campaign Featured on Leslie Marshall Show  teamster.org   ...Radio host Leslie Marshall interviews Tim Beaty, Director of Global Strategies for the Teamsters, about the ‘IKEA Hurts Families’ campaign and the ongoing lockout of 350 Teamsters by IKEA in Canada...
Union-Made in America Thanksgiving  AFL-CIO Now   ...double check your shopping list to make sure your Turkey Day fixin's are all union made in America...
'Walmart Illegally Fired Me, But I’m Still Fighting for Change This Black Friday'  Alternet   ...A Walmart worker who was fired after taking part in the longest strike ever against the corporation continues to fight for his former co-workers...
These Retailers Say No to Thanksgiving Madness  Wall Street Journal   ...Discount chain T.J. Maxx and regional department store Dillard's Inc., along with warehouse clubs and some electronics stores are holding true to tradition and waiting for Friday before kicking off the all-important holiday shopping frenzy...
The NSA is crippling America’s economy  Salon   ...many American companies have been reporting large profit losses due to the spying revelations. By some estimates, the damage to U.S. companies could run as high as $180 billion...
Pope Francis: Why are Deaths of the Homeless not a Headline but a 2-point Dow Jones rise is?   informed comment   ..."Until exclusion and inequality in society and between peoples is reversed, it will be impossible to eliminate violence," he wrote...
SeaTac $15 Minimum Wage Barely Passes In Final Vote Tally, Recount May Follow  Huffington Post   ...After weeks of careful ballot counting, officials in Washington state on Tuesday certified the results in a potentially historic vote that will create far and away the highest minimum wage in America...
For U.S. stores it is ugly out there: in more ways than one  Reuters   ...With growing online competition, weak consumer confidence and no fashion must-haves, most U.S. retailers will have to offer both big discounts and stellar service to get consumers to spend freely, according to analysts who joined Reuters reporters on visits to stores in New York, New Jersey, California and Illinois ahead of the holiday season...
Holiday shopping: Love it or hate it, more do it online  Pew Research Center   ...Just 2% of Americans say they will shop on Thanksgiving Day itself — the majority of Americans (76%) believe stores should be closed then...
The IRS Moves to Limit Dark Money – But Enforcement Still a Question  ProPublica   ...The IRS and Treasury Department announced proposed guidelines clarifying the definition of political activities for social welfare nonprofits Tuesday afternoon, a move that could restrict the spending of the dark money groups that dumped more than $254 million of anonymous money into the 2012 elections...
Sriracha: judge orders partial shutdown of California factory  The Guardian   ...Claims smell sickened residents lacked 'credible evidence', said judge, but Huy Fong Foods must cease production and reduce future odours...