Today's Teamster News 10.08.13

Wegmans, teamsters back in talks   City Newspaper   ...Wegmans and representatives of Teamsters Local 118 are set to resume contract negotiations on Friday...
Hernando County, Teamsters, tentatively agree to 3 percent raise  Tampa Bay Times   ...Hernando County employees represented by the Teamsters Union settled Monday on a 3 percent across-the-board pay increase, their first since 2007...
The “Debt Ceiling” Smokescreen  Counterpunch   ...The media is ratcheting up “debt ceiling” hysteria to launch a surprise attack on Social Security and Medicare...
Democrats and Republicans Pedal to the Metal in Debt Ceiling/Shutdown Game of Chicken  naked capitalism   ...Norquist has been making the rounds trying to give everyone, meaning those Democrats who need to get the message that they need to whack all sorts of spending, especially Medicare and Social Security, the outlines of where Republicans think a budget deal lies...
U.S. trade official says to seek TPP deal by year-end  Reuters   ...The United States maintained it hopes to seal an ambitious trade pact on schedule by year-end despite resistance in some countries and the absence of President Barack Obama from a regional summit that is ironing out differences on the pact...
Rich People Just Care Less (opinion)  New York Times   ...A growing body of recent research shows that people with the most social power pay scant attention to those with little such power...
8 states where student debt is out of control  USA Today   ...The surprising top of the list goes to New Hampshire, which, with a whopping average debt of $32,440 for graduates running a loan tab, comes in at nearly $2,500 more than its nearest competitor...
Enron billionaire expands craven plot to abuse workers  Salon   ...the word “reform,” is now the preferred euphemism for “rip-off scheme.” In the context of pensions, it means pleading poverty to justify cuts to public employees guaranteed retirement income, all while preserving massive corporate welfare and, in many cases, funneling pension cash to Wall Street hedge fund managers...
'Why Isn't Poverty Falling? Weakening of Unemployment Insurance Is a Pivotal Factor'  Economist's View   ...One key reason why poverty has remained virtually frozen despite continued economic growth is the weakening of unemployment insurance...
Wind turbine blade manufacturer adds U.S. production and jobs  Salon   ... Big turbine blade manufacturer LM Wind Power put out word that it is “adding more than 850 jobs to support increased volumes from major customers” in the United States...
At a Nissan Plant in Mississippi, a Battle to Shape the U.A.W.’s Future  New York Times   ...It has enlisted thousands of union members in Brazil to picket Nissan dealerships there as the company prepares to co-sponsor the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The union has sent a team of Mississippi ministers and workers to South Africa, where Nissan has an assembly plant, to try to embarrass the company with accusations that it violates workers’ rights at the Canton plant...
NYC Bridge and Tunnel Bosses Won’t Budge on Foreign Steel  Portside   ...New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority refused to change its plans to spend $34 million on Chinese steel to repair the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge...
America's police are looking more and more like the military (opinion)  The Guardian   ... Last week, in a small county in upstate New York with a population of roughly 120,000 people, county legislators approved the receipt of a 20-ton Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle, donated by the US Defense Department to the county sheriff...
Near-destitute woman unable to buy €1.20 bus ticket now told to pay €720 penalty  ENet English   ...A woman who was caught earlier this year travelling on an Athens bus without the required €1.20 ticket and who was unable to pay the €72 fine has been told she is now liable for a €720 penalty at her local tax office, in a move that has been described as a "gratuitous blow" by the country's most prominent voluntary health clinic...
Eastern Ohio legislators push for restoration of Homestead Exemption  Youngstown Vindicator   ...Starting in 2007, under Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, everyone 65 and over and permanently disabled Ohioans qualified for the exemption, which saves them about $400 per year on their property taxes...

Today's Teamster News 01.17.13

Obama Warned On Social Security Reform By House Democrats   Huffington Post   ...White House Press Secretary Jay Carney recently said the president would be open to implementing chained Consumer Price Index (CPI), which would alter the annual adjustment in how benefits are paid to Social Security recipients by using a less generous baseline of inflation...
Equal Opportunity, Our National Myth (opinion)  New York Times   ...Today, the United States has less equality of opportunity than almost any other advanced industrial country...
Financial Crisis Cost Tops $22 Trillion, GAO Says  Huffington Post   ...The agency said the financial crisis toll on economic output may be as much as $13 trillion -- an entire year's gross domestic product. The office said paper wealth lost by U.S. homeowners totalled $9.1 billion. Additionally, the GAO noted, economic losses associated with increased mortgage foreclosures and higher unemployment since 2008 need to be considered as additional costs...
Kansas's Renewable Portfolio Standard Is Under Attack  Natural Resources Defense Council   ...the 19 wind farms currently operating in the state have created more than 12,300 jobs for Kansas citizens, $13.7 million in payments to landowners annually, and $10.4 million in contributions to communities each year. And, according to the Kansas Corporate Commission (Kansas’s public utilities commission), all this has been achieved without any significant increases in electricity costs for ratepayers...
Vorys: John Kasich’s sales tax expansion “a nightmare” for Ohio businesses  Plunderbund   ...“This tax expansion will hit Ohio businesses most directly and hardest.”...
Walker’s budget calls for selling state properties  Channel 3000   ...Walker spokeswoman Jocelyn Webster says proceeds will be used to pay off debt on the properties and raise $200 million to pay for renovations on Milwaukee's Zoo Interchange...
Assembly to drop fundraising prohibition during budget-writing process  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...The vote was taken not in front of television cameras but by a paper ballot with minimal public notice - a growing practice in the Legislature in recent years...
Georgia ALEC/Chamber Puppets Try to Wipe Out Labor (AGAIN)  Daily Kos   ...The minions of ALEC and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce are once again trying double down on "Right to work for less" laws in Georgia by introducing "the son of SB 469" dubbed House Bill 361...
Teamsters union again seeking AA mechanics' vote  Tulsa World   ...The Teamsters Union, which represents about 18,000 airline mechanics at 10 carriers, says it has nearly enough cards signed to bring a representation dispute to the National Labor Relations Board...

Woot! 2 more ALEC members drop out

ALEC, the shadowy corporate dating service for state lawmakers, has lost two more members. The reason? The two groups represent the renewable energy industry, something ALEC has been trying to strangle in its crib. That's because ALEC is the brainchild of the  Benedict Arnold Koch brothers, who are trying to protect their oil-and-gas fortune. 

The two new dropouts are the American Wind Energy Association and the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Greenwire tells us:

...the groups decided to drop out after ALEC adopted the "Electricity Freedom Act" model bill in October, which would end requirements that utilities generate a set amount of electricity from renewable sources, such as wind and solar (E&ENews PM, Nov. 5, 2012). SEIA allowed its one-year membership to expire last fall, and AWEA dropped out earlier this month...

Environmental and clean energy groups cite watchdog websites that show companies like Koch Industries, Exxon Mobil Corp., Duke Energy and Peabody sit on ALEC's energy, environment and agriculture task force and have a hand in crafting energy legislation. 

"There are 29 states that have renewable portfolio standards, and it's my understanding that ALEC is targeting each one," said Bill Gupton, an outreach director at Consumers Against Rate Hikes. 

The two groups join 42 corporations and four nonprofits that dumped ALEC, according to the Center for Media and Democracy.

Poor widdle ALEC...

Today's Teamster News 01.02.13

House approves 'fiscal cliff' deal, rescinding broad tax hike  Los Angeles Times   ...It blocked income tax hikes for roughly 99% of households, but allowed rates to rise for those with incomes above $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples. It also renewed tax credits aimed at low-income households and college students, extended unemployment benefits, delayed automatic spending cuts in defense and other government programs for two months...
Eight corporate subsidies in the fiscal cliff bill, from Goldman Sachs to Disney to NASCAR  naked capitalism   ...Sec. 306 provides tax credits to certain railroads for maintaining their tracks. It’s unclear why private businesses should be compensated for their costs of doing business...
Congress Averts 'Dairy Cliff'  Wall Street Journal   ...The fiscal-cliff bill that cleared Congress Tuesday includes a measure to avert the "dairy cliff," a sharp rise in consumer prices for milk that could have been triggered by the expiration of the 2008 farm bill...
House pulls plug on Sandy aid bill  Reuters   ...Absent a change of heart, the upshot now is that the Senate bill will die with this Congress on Thursday at noon. And the whole affair is sure to bring back memories of the famous Daily News headline in 1975—“Ford to City: Drop Dead...”
Minimum Wage Gap Grows Wider Between States  Associated Press   ...Automatic increases designed to compensate for inflation have steadily pushed up wages in some states, even through the recession, expanding the pay gap between areas that make annual adjustments and those that don't...
Lake-water infusion to delay Mississippi closing  Chicago Tribune   ...The drought-hit Mississippi River will stay open to commerce a few days longer than expected following the release of water from a lake in southern Illinois, a group of shippers said Friday...
Major banks close to big settlement on home loans  Reuters   ...U.S. regulators are close to securing another multibillion-dollar settlement with the largest banks to resolve allegations that they unlawfully cut corners when foreclosing on delinquent borrowers...
Why did a Train Carrying Biofuel Cross the Border 24 Times and Never Unload?  Oil Price   ...The cargo of the train was owned by Bioversal Trading Inc., or its US partner Verdero, depending on what stage of the trip it was at. The companies “made several million dollars importing and exporting the fuel to exploit a loophole in a U.S. green energy program.”...
Right to Work panned  Blackburn News   ...A labour studies professor at the University of Windsor fears Ontario may be next to contemplate Right to Work legislation. Michigan became the 24th U.S. state to pass Right to Work legislation earlier this month, and the Ontario Progressive Conservatives have publicly said they think it would be a good step forward for Ontario...
Court: Hutterites Must Pay Workers' Compensation  Associated Press   ...A sharply divided Montana Supreme Court has ruled that forcing a Hutterite religious colony to pay workers' compensation insurance for jobs outside the commune is not an unconstitutional intrusion into religion...
Scott Walker still hasn't issued a pardon  Wisconsin State Journal   ...Senate Minority Leader Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, said Walker is shirking his duties. "Maintaining an effective and fair pardon process is an important fail-safe to an imperfect judicial system..."
Nonprofit Pays Top Executive $1.2 Million  Miami Herald   ...A nonprofit company that holds two dozen state contracts to care for troubled juveniles in Florida pays its chief executive more than $1.2 million a year in salary and benefits, most of it courtesy of taxpayers...