Today's Teamster News 05.14.13

The 182 Percent Loan: How Installment Lenders Put Borrowers in a World of Hurt  ProPublica   ...Katrina Sutton stood at a gas pump and swiped her debit card. Insufficient funds. But that couldn't be. She'd been careful to wait until her $270 paycheck from Walmart had hit her account. The money wasn't there? It was all she had. And without gas, she couldn't get to work. She tried not to panic, but after she called her card company, she couldn't help it. Her funds had been frozen, she was told, by World Finance. Here’s how and why...
Bangladesh Garment Factories Shut Down Amid Worker Unrest, Minimum Wage Change  Huffington Post   ...Following worker protests and a decision by the Bangladeshi government to reevaluate the minimum wage, the lone national association of garment manufacturers on Monday shut down all factories in Ashulia, one of the country's major garment industry hubs...
Moms Working At Walmart Earn Less Than They Need To Feed Their Kids  Huffington Post   ...As Mother's Day approached, Charlene Fletcher, mother of two, found herself occupied with the needs of other families, attending to the crush of shoppers last week at the Walmart in Pasadena, Calif., where she works. But like many employees at Walmart, the largest private employer in the United States, she earns so little that she has to rely on government assistance to feed her kids...
IRS Set To Close Next Week  Forbes   ...A number of taxpayers will be taking next Friday off by choice. It is, after all, the day before the Memorial Day weekend begins – the perfect time to grab an extra day. But what if you were forced to take the day off as an unpaid furlough day?...
White House orders look at pay equity inside government  Washington Post   ...President Obama has called for creation of a government-wide strategy “to address any gender pay gap in the Federal workforce,” focusing on how salaries are set when employees are first hired and when they are promoted...
Early campaigns for Virginia governor toil on both the national and local stage   Washington Post
If Virginians weren’t foggy-headed enough from last year’s barrage of political ads and robo-calls, now comes a race that’s producing double vision — the two men running for governor this year are each running two campaigns featuring different issues, calendars and strategies...
Landmark $240M EEOC verdict to be slashed to $1.6M   Associated Press   ...A landmark $240 million verdict awarded to 32 mentally disabled Iowa plant workers who were subjected to years of abuse by their handlers will be reduced to just $1.6 million because of a federal cap, attorneys in the case agree...
Florida lawmakers pay peanuts for health insurance  Miami Herald   ...Florida House Republicans last month loudly and proudly rejected billions of dollars in federal money that would have provided health insurance to 1 million poor Floridians. Quietly, they kept their own health insurance premiums staggeringly low...
Rand Paul's Iowa visit triggers talk of 2016 White House bid  Mankato Free Press   ...Sen. Rand Paul brought his national ambitions to Iowa on Friday, ripping potential Democratic rival Hillary Clinton while urging his own Republican Party to broaden its appeal as he campaigned like it was already 2016...
N.J.'s plan to seize $142M in unspent COAH money from towns is 'a real slap in the face to property taxpayers'  Times of Trenton   ...Municipal officials are angrily criticizing the state’s plan to seize money from their unused affordable housing trust funds, saying the Christie administration is trying to balance the state budget by grabbing resources meant for those who need it the most...
Minnesota budget deal: Tax hikes on high earners, tobacco  Star Tribune   ...New revenue would boost school spending and fund a property tax relief plan. GOP responded with scorn...
Inspiring Stories Captivate Unity Conference Attendees  IBT …The war on workers and what the Teamsters Union is doing to fight back took center stage today at the 2013 Unity Conference, and the attendees were uplifted by powerful speeches by leaders, members and soon-to-be members...

Today's Teamster News 11.04.12

Payroll Growth Shows U.S. Labor Market Healing Before Election  Bloomberg   ...The broad-based job gains -- from positions at car dealers and hospitals to factories and construction sites -- indicate consumers will likely spend more freely, shoring up the three- year expansion in the face of a global economic slowdown and political gridlock in Washington over taxes and spending...
Storm Sandy: Frustration at NY's slow pace of recovery  BBC News   ...Nearly a million people in New York state remain without power after Storm Sandy, as frustration grows over the slow pace of recovery. Power returned to large parts of Manhattan on Saturday, but on Staten Island people were still struggling without electricity and with a huge shortage of fuel...
One Safety Net That Needs to Shrink  New York Times   ...Election Day is upon us, and neither President Obama nor Mitt Romney has really addressed one of the nation’s most pressing economic issues: the risk that one day taxpayers might have to bail out swashbuckling financial institutions again...
FEMA has 9,106 disaster assistance employees. Only 770 get federal health insurance.  Washington Post   ...disaster assistance employees “generally do not have access to employer-provided health insurance and must carry their own private insurance...”
Mexican Cartels Enslave Engineers to Build Radio Network  Wired   ...The Mexican military is trying to dismantle an extensive network of radio antennas built and operated by the notorious Zeta drug cartel...the cartel has also apparently found some unwilling — and alarming — assistance by kidnapping and enslaving technicians to help build it...
Ohio provisional ballot voting order criticized  Associated Press   ...Voter advocates on Saturday criticized an order by Ohio's elections chief dealing with the casting of provisional ballots, saying it increases the likelihood that votes could be wrongly rejected...