Today's Teamster News 01.31.13

Libor Lies Revealed in Rigging of $300 Trillion Benchmark   Bloomberg  ...the manipulation of Libor stands out for its breadth and audacity. Details are only now revealing just how far-reaching the scam was...
Activists shine a light on secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership talks  The Straight  ...“We are talking about allowing, basically, a parallel system that would undermine national sovereignty...It would allow conglomerates to sue citizens, threaten citizens, and remove [Internet] content that they disagree with or that they think is infringing on their intellectual property.”...
GOP's Electoral Vote Scheme Already on Life Support  Talking Points Memo  ...Key Republican officials in Virginia, Ohio, Florida, and Michigan are coming out against a RNC-backed scheme to rig the electoral vote in Democratic-leaning states in order to boost Republican presidential candidates. That leaves just Pennsylvania and Wisconsin ...
States Tax The Richest 1 Percent At Half The Rate Of The Poor  Think Progress  ...The poorest Americans are subject to a tax rate at the state and local level that is twice as high as the tax rate paid by the wealthiest earners... Middle-class taxpayers also pay higher effective rates than the wealthy....
Right-to-work bill back before N.H. Legislators  Associated Press  ...Legislation that would excuse nonunion employees from contract-negotiation fees is up for discussion once again before lawmakers, after two recent failed attempts...
UAW, salaried Chrysler workers receiving bonuses or profit sharing checks  Michigan Live  ...All eligible Chrysler Group LLC’s salaried and hourly workers will receive either a performance bonus or a profit-sharing check ... the Auburn Hills-based automaker’s turnaround ... included a $1.7 billion profit, up from $183 million in 2011...
Hoffa Statement On The Decline In U.S. Gross Domestic Product  IBT   ...the U.S. economy is shrinking due to a fall in government spending. That should tell us that government austerity is not just wrong, it's bad economic policy...
Hoffa Statement On President Obama's Immigration Reform Proposal  IBT ...We're especially concerned that the final result truly protects all workers and isn't reminiscent of guest worker programs of the past...
Nowak Sworn In As New President of Michigan Teamsters Joint Council 43  IBT ...Determined to chart a new course for Michigan Teamsters during the challenging months and years ahead, Teamsters Local 1038 President Greg Nowak was sworn in today...
Durham, Teamsters Negotiate on School Bus Driver Salaries  Mount Pleasant Patch   ...A Durham School Services spokesman said Wednesday the company is offering school bus drivers a 3 percent raise in response to their request for a 12 percent raise, ABC News 4 reported...In response to Durham's press conference Wednesday, Teamsters 509 released this statement: Durham School Services initially told us they did not want to negotiate this contract through the media. We have honored their request despite the fact that they have not done the same...
Sanitation workers end strike against Republic Services  The Commercial Appeal  ...The 180 members of Teamsters Local 984 still don't have a contract with Republic Services; it expired last fall. But they decided to end a three-day strike after learning the company is handing over bonus checks that were two weeks late...
Workers at Avis Budget Group in Florida Join Teamsters Local 385  IBT  ...by a 15-7 vote, workers at the Avis Budget Group chose to join Local 385 in Orlando, Florida. There are 27 workers in the bargaining unit, located at Orlando International Airport...
Arkansas Best Corp. Reports Loss, Seeks End to Teamsters Talk  Arkansas Business Online  ...ABF Freight System Inc. expects contract negotiations with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to be resolved by a March 31 deadline, but the CEO of its parent company said Wednesday that the firm is exploring options in case a new agreement can't be reached...
Union: We offered to suspend NYC school bus strike, but Bloomberg said 'no'  Staten Island Advance ...The striking workers of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181 say they've offered a two-to-three-month "cooling off" period where they would return to their school bus routes...

Today's Teamster News 01.30.13

Wall Street Banks Seize Opportunity to Profit from Nation's Unemployed  Common Dreams  ...'Too Big to Fail' banks including JP Morgan Chase, U.S. Bancorp and Bank of America have seized on an opportunity to profit off the nation's jobless by siphoning millions of dollars in fees from state unemployment programs...
Case-Shiller Index Shows Home Prices Increased 5.5% From a Year Ago in November 2012  Economic Populist   ...home prices are now comparable to September 2003...
Ray LaHood to step down as U.S. transportation secretary  Washington Post  ...Ray LaHood, the Illinois Republican who turned distracted driving into a national crusade while serving a Democratic president, will step down after four years as transportation secretary in the Obama administration... 
Obama Urges Speed on Immigration Plan, but Exposes Conflicts  New York Times ...President Obama challenged Congress on Tuesday to act swiftly to put 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States on a clear path to citizenship... 
31 Senate Republicans Opposed Sandy Relief After Supporting Disaster Aid For Home States  Think Progress  ...When the Senate passed the long-delayed $50.5 billion Hurricane Sandy relief package Monday, 36 Republicans voted against the bill. But of the 32 no-votes from Senators who are not brand-new members, at least 31 came from Republicans who had previously supported emergency aid efforts following disasters in their own states... 
Viewpoint: The Decline of Unions Is Your Problem Too  TIME  ...If we want a better economy, then, we need a better story about how the economy works, in which a union worker is not a cost but a customer... 
Right-to-work legislation returns to Augusta  Bangor Daily News  ...Two controversial proposals that would make Maine a “right-to-work” state are back on the table in Augusta... 
Michigan asks for state high court ruling on 'right-to-work' law  Reuters ...Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has asked the state Supreme Court to rule whether a law passed last month making payment of union dues voluntary is constitutional, a move critics said was designed to circumvent legal challenges by labor unions... 
Gov. Rick Snyder Backs Off ‘Unfair’ Electoral Rigging Plan  Think Progress  ...Gov. Rick Snyder (R) came out against the plan this year... 
Republicans say Electoral College changes not in store for Ohio  Plain Dealer ...Ohio's Republican leaders...told The Plain Dealer this week that they are not pursuing plans to award electoral votes proportionally by congressional district...
Bill Gates: nice charity work, shame about the business practices  The Guardian  ...Perhaps the Republic Services dispute indicates that relying upon the generosity of billionaires is not a model upon which we can build a just and equal society – especially since the road to billionaire-dom oft seems paved with exploitation of workers, tax avoidance (hello Microsoft), and ever-decreasing wages...
Republic Services replacement worker fires shot in air at picket line  MENAFN.com  ...a replacement worker fired shots into the air at a picket line at the company's North Shelby Landfill in Millington...About 180 Teamsters went on strike early Monday morning over what they charge is the company's unfair labor practices...
‘Conciliators’ will decide on raise for sheriff’s staff  Columbus Dispatch ...Pickaway County is pleading poverty, but unionized sheriff’s-office employees contend that the county can afford to award them their first pay raises since 2009...Teamsters Local 285, which represents 30 corrections and communications employees, sought a 4 percent raise each of the next three years...

Today's Teamster News 01.27.13

Sen. Tom Harkin won't seek re-election in 2014  DesMoines Register   ...Harkin shoulders an important assignment in the Senate: He’s chairman of the HELP committee, which stands for Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, a huge jurisdiction...
Not Everyone is Living Longer  Mother Jones   ...the life expectancy of white working class men (who dropped out of high school) fell by three years from 1990 to 2008, and that of white working class women by five years...
A handy guide to Davos-speak  Reuters   ...Ray Dalio, who runs Bridgewater, the world’s biggest hedge fund ... said... the big conversation in politics and economics, he said, will be about how to get more out of workers – growth won’t come  from the next Internet, the next real estate boom or any new asset, in other words. This means, he said, hard choices about questions like “How long is a vacation?” or “What is a good life?”...
ALEC Has Opposed "Popular Vote" Efforts Which Would Protect Against Partisan Rigging of Electoral College  Center for Media and Democracy   ...The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has actively lobbied against state plans to implement a national popular vote for president, urging state legislators to preserve the Electoral College -- which GOP legislators are now trying to rig to ensure the the next president is a Republican...
Morsi sends army to Suez after deadly clashes  Aljazeera   ...The protesters have demanded the establishment of an official minimum wage and a suspension of the new constitution, which opponents of the president say was rushed through...
New Walmart store to open in Chinatown despite protests  PressTV   ...A new Walmart store planned for a historical Los Angeles neighborhood is moving forward, despite protests from labor groups...But labor groups say they remain committed to preventing that opening from ever occurring...
Snyder admits making Michigan a Right to Work state was never about creating jobs  Eclectablog   ...“Over 90 percent of the jobs that you’re looking at aren’t going to be in a situation where right to work is even relevant,” Snyder said...
Pa. Right-to-Work Fight Battle Lines Drawn  Upper Macungie Patch   ...Gov. Tom Corbett already has said that he Pennsylvania “lacks the political will” to pass right-to-work laws, though he would sign them if they came across his desk. But that sentiment seems to fuel right-to-work supporters...

Today's Teamster News 01.25.13

U.S. business urges Obama to pursue new trade negotiating power  Reuters  ...A leading U.S. business group urged President Barack Obama on Thursday to build on trade successes of the past two years by seeking legislation that would allow him to submit trade deals to Congress for straight up-or-down votes without amendments...
Senate Leaders Finalize Scaled-Back Filibuster Deal  Talking Points Memo  ...The final details of the deal struck by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), which make only minor changes to the filibuster rules in the Senate, show why leading reformers are so disappointed in the outcome...
U.S.weekly jobless claims drop to 5-year low of 330,000  AP  ...The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell last week to the lowest level in five years, evidence that employers are cutting fewer jobs and may step up hiring…
Data Points to Slow Recovery in Euro Zone   New York Times  ...The euro zone economy took a step closer to recovery this month as the rate of decline in the bloc’s private sector eased more than expected, a business survey showed on Thursday...
Spanish Jobless Rate Hits Record  Bloomberg  ...Spanish unemployment rose to a record in the final quarter of 2012 as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government imposed the deepest budget cuts in the country’s democratic history. The number of jobless approached 6 million people, or 26.02 percent, from 25.01 percent in the previous three months...
GOP senators seek constitutional amendment on union elections  Northwest Indiana Times ...Having prevailed last year in putting right-to-work into state law, some Republican senators now want to amend the Indiana Constitution to make it even more difficult for labor unions to organize...On a party-line vote Wednesday, the Republican-controlled Senate Pensions and Labor Committee approved a proposed constitutional amendment requiring secret ballots be used for any union representation decision...
Virginia Republicans move forward on plan to give GOP more electoral votes  The Hill  ...Republicans in the Virginia state Senate are moving forward with a plan that would give the GOP presidential nominee a big boost at winning most of the state's electoral votes even if the Democratic candidate won the statewide vote...
California unions grow, bucking U.S. trend  LA Times  ...The latest snapshot of the U.S. working class shows that unions are in trouble...But California and a few nearby states in the Southwest are showing a vastly different picture - labor's ranks are on an upswing...
Union leader: We don’t like the Republic Airlines deal, but we expected it  Dallas Morning News  ...Tony Gutierrez, who heads the Air Line Pilots Association unit at American Eagle, criticized American Airlines’ deal to send commuter-airline flying to Republic Airlines. But, the chairman of ALPA’s Eagle master executive council, told ALPA members that the deal like this was expected...
New York City school bus strike continues as feds investigate  Queens Chronicle  ...Washington may soon intervene in the school bus strike that has left parents of about 150,000 New York City school children scrambling for alternative transportation since last week...
Teamsters forced to authorize bus driver strike  People's World  ...The unyielding bargaining stance of a private school bus company in South Carolina forced two groups of Charleston-area school bus drivers, represented by Teamsters Local 509, into unanimous strike authorization votes...
SC Board of Education Authorizes Strikebreaking Bus Drivers  North Charleston Patch  ...The State Board of Education has unanimously authorized an emergency measure to aid in student transportation in two districts with privatized school bus workforces that are threatening to strike. The districts have contracted with private company Durham School Services to provide transportation services. Durham's employees are unionized under Teamsters 509 and authorized a strike last week and this week as negotiations with the company stalled... 

GOP election rigging: It's the only way they can win

Chris Matthews says the only way the Republican Party will be able to win elections in the future is to rig them.

The party is in a quandary as it become obvious it represents a narrow class of plutocrats. Republicans who support workers -- like former Ohio Rep. Steve LaTourette -- are getting pushed out of the party as extremists take their place.

In November, the majority of American voters sided with Democrats, despite vast amounts of money thrown at Republican candidates from Mitt Romney on down.

So now the GOP is adding election rigging to its nasty bag of tricks -- a bag that already includes voter suppression.

John Nichols points out in The Nation that they're even admitting it.

Shaken by the overwhelming defeats of 2012—a 5 million popular-vote defeat in the presidential race, an Electoral College wipeout, the loss of two US Senate seats in a year where they had been expected to gain, a 1.4 million popular vote deficit in US House races nationwide and the loss of seven of eleven gubernatorial races that were in play—Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus has made it clear that he wants his partisan minions to use what power they retain to rig the electoral process.

We've told you one way they're doing it: gerrymandering. That's why states that President Obama won comfortably have state legislatures that are overwhelmingly Republican: Florida, Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

It's in those states where the next phase of election rigging is happening. ThinkProgress tells us:

The Republican election rigging plan targets blue states that President Obama won in 2008 and 2012, and changes the way they allocate electoral votes to give many of these votes away for free to the Republican candidate for president. Under the Republican Plan, most electoral votes will be allocated to the winner of individual Congressional districts, rather than to the winner of the state as a whole. Because the Republican Plan would be implemented in states that are heavily gerrymandered to favor Republicans, the resulting maps would all but guarantee that the Republican would win a majority of each state’s electoral votes, even if the Democratic candidate wins the state as a whole.

That's what the Virginia state Senate tried to do on Inauguration Day. An angry Charles Pierce calls it "Jim Crow" in his Daily Politics blog in Esquire

This is a legislature acting to devalue African American voters to the advantage of white voters. This is Jim Crow bullshit, and no politician who deals in it, and no political party that continues to support said politician, is worthy of support by decent people in the year 20-goddamn-13. 

...Sen. Charles W. "Bill" Carrico, R-Grayson, said the change is necessary because Virginia's populous, urbanized areas such as the Washington, D.C., suburbs and Hampton Roads can outvote rural regions such as his, rendering their will irrelevant. 

Thank you, Senator "Bill," for making it plain.... the system is unfair because white people don't win any more. It's not like we shouldn't know it when we see it because it's not like we haven't seen this before.

Other devious methods have been used by Republican governors such as John Kasich in Ohio, Job-killer  Scott Walker in Wisconsin and Rick Scott in Florida. Kasich tried to eliminate early voting, Walker tried to shut down DMVs in Democratic districts and Scott limited early voting, resulting in long lines that disenfranchised 200,000 voters. In November, voters in Florida, Virginia, Ohio and other states waited in line for up to seven hours to cast ballots. Some voters were still in line in the early hours of Wednesday morning, long after the polls had closed.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., introduced an election reform bill, the LINE Act, to prevent long lines in federal elections. According to a statement, the bill:

...would help ensure that all American voters can cast a ballot in federal elections without enduring hours-long delays at their polling places. ..

(It) would require the Attorney General, in consultation with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), to issue new national standards by January 1, 2014 regarding the minimum number of voting machines, election workers, and other election resources that are necessary to conduct Federal elections on Election Day and during early voting periods. The bill explicitly states that the goal of minimum standards is to prevent a waiting time of more than one hour at any polling place.  

Senator Boxer’s bill also would require states where voters endured long lines to implement remedial plans to fix the problems before the next federal election. Under the legislation, the Attorney General working with the EAC would identify states that had a substantial number of voters who waited more than 90 minutes to vote in the 2012 election. Those states would have to comply with a remedial plan to ensure voters would not face similar delays in the future.