TEAMSTERS
Teamsters file labor charges against New England trucking firm JOC.com ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters union filed unfair labor practices charges against a Massachusetts-based trucking company that shut down Dec. 21, laying off 75 employees, including 40 truck drivers. Teamsters Local 42 in Lynn, Massachusetts filed charges against Crystal Motor Express with the National Labor Relations Board, a spokesperson for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in Washington said...
Teamsters allege tech shuttle company ‘bullied’ drivers SF Examiner ...The Teamsters have filed a complaint alleging Bauer’s bullied its workers into voting down forming a union, which the National Labor Relations Board will address in an upcoming hearing on Feb. 1. Bauer’s is one major provider of so-called “tech shuttles” that ferry tech industry workers in their San Francisco-to-Silicon Valley commute. Teamsters successfully unionized two other providers of tech shuttles...
GLOBAL LABOR & TRADE
Rotterdam port workers strike over job losses Dutch News ...Port workers at Rotterdam’s container terminal were set to begin a 24-hour strike on Thursday afternoon and five other day-long strikes are being planned, news agency ANP reports. The unions want port companies to rule out making compulsory redundancies, despite overcapacity and growing automation in the sector...
TPP Countries to Sign Trade Pact in New Zealand Feb. 4 BNA ...The 12 nations party to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will formally sign the agreement on Feb. 4 in New Zealand. Andres Rebolledo, director general of Chile's General International Economic Relations Bureau (DIRECON), confirmed the Feb. 4 date in a meeting yesterday with the country's National Human Rights Institute to discuss how the agreement would affect human rights issues in Chile...
Sen. Sherrod Brown warns against TPP threat to hurt auto industry WFMJ ...With the increase in car sales, Senator Sherrod Brown warns against Trans-Pacific Partnership threat to turn its back on auto industry recovery and hurt auto jobs. U.S. car sales hit a record high in 2015. “To continue that progress and protect jobs, we must ensure a level playing field for America's auto suppliers, but TPP and it's weak auto provisions stand to roll back recovery and cost Ohio jobs,” said Brown...
US Chamber announces support for TPP The Hill ...The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is throwing its weight behind President Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement between the United States and 11 other nations. But the Chamber's endorsement comes with conditions.
The business group wants the Obama administration to work with them and Congress to address concerns about the completed deal that range from intellectual property to financial services...
Business groups united on TPP Politico ...The administration leveled up this week by officially scoring the endorsements of all the major trade associations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. But while the business groups said they would fight for the deal in Congress, the direct message in each of the statements of support this week is to the administration, not lawmakers...
The TPP Train Could Still Get Derailed Foreign Policy ...Trade agreements only mean something in the United States if Congress passes implementing legislation. And that means grappling with domestic trade politics, which have become increasingly contentious. Trade votes, if they pass at all, frequently move with hardly a vote to spare...
Turkey Seeks Inclusion in US-EU TTIP Free Trade Deal - Turkish Deputy PM Sputnik News ...Turkey hopes to renegotiate its current trade agreements with the European Union, so it can be included in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) free trade deal between the United States and EU, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said. The TTIP free trade agreement would reduce barriers to trade in goods and services between Europe and its largest export market, the United States...
TPP, Public Comment Period Open! Huffington Post ...Activists from all sectors converged and spoke with a loud voice against this dangerous "trade" deal. This is important to Americans on both sides of the political aisle as well as anyone concerned with job security, the environment, social justice, or public health. Now the public has an opportunity to weigh-in before it is voted on...
Bleak Prospects for Latin America Under Trans-Pacific Partnership Truthout ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership, agreed to on October 5, 2015 by the twelve participating countries, is likely to prove disastrous for the Latin American states - Chile, Mexico, and Perú - that have joined the pact up to now. Multinational economic interests based in the United States have exerted extraordinary influence over the accord, inserting language that will arguably serve to damage Latin American interests...
STATE & LIVING WAGE BATTLES
Wisconsin Loses 10,000 More Jobs After Passing Right To Work NH Labor News ...Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is in deep trouble as his state is losing jobs at record rates. Last year Walker promised that if the they passed Right To Work they would create tens of thousands of new jobs, once again proving that Right to Work is not a job creator. Gov. Walker’s administration quietly acknowledged over the busy holiday season that Wisconsin surpassed 10,000 layoffs last year as a result of plant closings and economic challenges...
Republican Senate Majority’s Priorities: Education Reform, Right-to-Work and More WFPL ...The priority bills of the Kentucky state Senate’s Republican majority include several familiar policies: right-to-work, repealing the prevailing wage and enacting medical review panels. Senate Republican leaders announced on Wednesday the bills they’ll focus on passing during the 2016 legislative session, which began Tuesday...
NC voter ID trial set for Jan. 25 News & Observer ...The federal judge who will preside over the trial about North Carolina’s voter ID law told attorneys in an order this week to be ready to make their arguments on Jan. 25. In a status report filed two days before the end of the year, the NAACP and others challenging the law continue to argue that much confusion remains about what voters will need in order to cast ballots...
Michigan Governor Declares State of Emergency Due to Flint's Lead Poisoned Water Crisis Jezebel ...In Michigan, Governor Rick Snyder has declared a state of emergency regarding the water crisis in Flint, Michigan where, due to deliberately careless resource management, the number of kids with dangerous levels of lead in their blood doubled in 2015. Sender’s announcement follows Flint Mayor Karen Weaver’s state of emergency declaration: she called the lead poisoning crisis a “manmade disaster” in December...
Voter Suppression Battles To Watch In 2016 Think Progress ...As of this month, a total of 36 states have passed laws requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls, and 33 of those states will enforce their laws in 2016. A number of the state’s provisions are being challenged in court, and litigation in Texas and North Carolina could determine the courts’ ability to apply the VRA after its vital provisions were gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013...
This Is What $15 an Hour Looks Like The Nation ... The movement for a $15 minimum wage began three years earlier, on a chilly fall morning in 2012, when 200 fast-food workers walked off the job in New York City. Their demand was audacious: $15 an hour was more than twice what many of them earned. But more strikes and protests followed, with the movement spreading quickly, driven by workers...
Gazette editorial: ‘Right to work’ dangerous for WV Gazette Mail ...“Right to work” sounds so appealing, doesn’t it, with the vague suggestion that if West Virginia could just get some oppressor’s boot out of its back, its people would be free to prosper? It might be good marketing by out-of-state political interests, but it’s not good policy. The AFL-CIO is right to point out that states that enacted “right to work” laws have suffered...
U.S. LABOR
Phoenix bus contract negotiations continue, strike averted for now AZ Central ...Negotiations to avoid a bus strike by hundreds of drivers along dozens of Phoenix routes will continue Wednesday, with service operating normally for now. Officials from Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1433 and transit company Transdev, which operates 34 routes for the city of Phoenix, did not reach a contract agreement Tuesday...
Union: Dematic’s potential move to Mexico ‘a slap in the face’ WoodTV ...Around 300 people could lose their jobs if Dematic moves forward with plans to relocate its manufacturing plant in Grand Rapids to Mexico. UAW Local 1485 President Scott Wahlfeld said employees were informed Wednesday morning by company leaders about the potential move. Wahlfeld said Dematic will consider finalizing the decision on Feb. 8...
Taxi drivers oppose MSP airport proposal on Uber, Lyft: What's at stake MPR News ...Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is weighing new rules that could better accommodate ride-sharing services like Lyft and Uber. But more than 200 cab drivers showed up at a Metropolitan Airports Commission meeting Monday night in Bloomington to voice their opposition to the plan. They said ride-sharing through smartphone apps like Lyft and Uber would have an unfair advantage...
The Rescue of 17 Workers Trapped in a Salt Mine in Upstate New York The Atlantic ...The miners became stuck 900 feet underground while descending in the elevator to the floor of the mine to begin their shift at around 10 p.m. Wednesday. Emergency officials from Tompkins County were able to communicate with the trapped miners, the county said, and send them blankets and other supplies for the night. The mine, which is north of Ithaca, New York, has been in operation since 1922...
Working conditions at T-Mobile under scrutiny Bangor Daily News ...The German company’s biggest subsidiary has enjoyed two years of rapid expansion in a fiercely competitive U.S. market that has seen it overtake its closest rival Sprint in terms of subscribers. But it has been accused by its main labor union, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), of flouting employees’ rights and was last year found to have engaged in illegal work practices...
NLRB Cites Ingredion for Federal Law Violations at CR Plant KCRG ...The National labor Relations Board has found “sufficient evidence” to issue a complaint against Ingredion Inc., owner of Penford Products in Cedar Rapids, alleging violations of federal law in its contract negotiations with the union at the plant. The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) Local 100G filed a complaint with the NLRB alleging multiple violations of the National Labor Relations Act...
Chicago Teachers Union Joins Demand for Rahm Emanuel, Anita Alvarez To Resign In These Times ...The Chicago Teachers Union's House of Delegates, the union's member-led governing body, voted tonight to demand the resignations of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and State's Attorney Anita Alvarez in the wake of the Laquan McDonald scandal, which has roiled the city for nearly two months and led to the resignations of multiple city officials, including Chicago police superintendent Garry McCarthy...
SOCIAL JUSTICE & OTHER NEWS
Democrats lash out at Obama over immigration raids Politico ...Democrats and immigrant-rights groups have turned against the Obama administration in an uproar over recent deportation raids, likening the president to bombastic GOP front-runner Donald Trump and warning him that the controversial strategy will tarnish his legacy on immigration...
Psst: Illegal Immigration Is Actually Declining Time ...With Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz coming out with new ads this week featuring droves of people streaming over the U.S. border, you would be forgiven for thinking that illegal immigration is on the rise. But it isn’t. In fact, the number of immigrants crossing illegally into the U.S. has actually declined over the last nine years...
Executive Action: Bush Opened Guantánamo Without Congress, So Why Can't Obama Close It? Democracy Now ...As President Obama takes executive action on gun control without going through Congress, could closing Guantánamo be next? In January 2009, Obama ordered the closure of the Guantánamo Bay military prison in one of his first executive actions. Seven years later, 107 prisoners are still there...
Sanders Promises to Break Up Big Banks, Tax Speculation, and Establish Postal Banking The Nation ...Speaking just a few dozen blocks from Wall Street Wednesday, Bernie Sanders announced that, with regard to so-called “too-big-to-fail” banks, he would “break them up.” “If a bank is too big to fail, it is too big to exist,” announced the senator from Vermont, as he brought his presidential campaign to New York City’s Town Hall...
Ben Carson’s Flat Tax Would Only Benefit The Rich Think Progress ...On Monday, Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson released his tax plan, the center of which is a flat tax of 14.9 percent. On a static basis — that is, without any assumptions baked in about how the plan might change economic growth or other factors — the Tax Foundation found that only the richest 10 percent would see a benefit. Everyone else would actually see their tax burdens increase...
State Trooper Who Arrested Sandra Bland Indicted on Perjury Charge Common Dreams ...Brian T. Encinia, the Texas State Trooper who made the initial and violent arrest of Sandra Bland during a routine traffic stop just days before she was found dead in a jail cell last summer, was indicted on charges of perjury by state prosecutors on Wednesday for making false statements regarding his behavior during the incident...
Showing posts with label layoffs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label layoffs. Show all posts
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Friday, October 30, 2015
Disney Teamsters make trip extra special for Local 891 Katrina survivor
 |
| The Mauffrays share a moment with a princess at Walt Disney World. |
On Sunday, Local 385 members were busy putting together a special welcome for Local 891 member Bobby Mauffray and his family after learning in Teamster Magazine that they were “Disney fanatics” and "counting down the weeks" to surprise their three kids with a trip to Disney World. The Mauffray family lost their home 10 years ago during Hurricane Katrina, and during the interview for the anniversary story Bobby’s wife Marla – who claims to be the most Disney-obsessed Mauffray – revealed plans of a surprise trip to the Magic Kingdom.
They were incredible. It truly made our surprise all the more special, especially for the kids to spend time with their favorite characters. I want to thank Local 385 from the bottom of my heart. Marla and I are beyond grateful.Meanwhile, 250 nonunion workers at Disney would be on the receiving end of a far more disturbing surprise when they learned they were being laid off, replaced by foreign labor.
The data workers who keep operating systems humming smoothly for Disney resorts and theme parks said they did not suspect trouble when they were recently summoned by management for an unexpected meeting to learn their jobs were being replaced with foreign labor. Even more troubling, they were told they would be spending the next three months training their replacements from India, who will be working under temporary visas and making significantly less each year:
I just couldn’t believe they could fly people in to sit at our desks and take over our jobs. It was so humiliating to train somebody else to take over your job. I still can’t grasp it.As Teamster character performers brightened the day of a fellow Teamster, the Orlando Sentinel ran the story of Disney’s decision to lay off the 250 data workers. The cruel irony is not lost on Bobby Mauffray:
It’s crazy to think that while we were being greeted by Teamster character performers, hundreds of workers were being laid off. Like I said in the magazine — I can’t imagine where I’d be without a good-paying, union-backed job. I feel for them. I really do.
Friday, April 11, 2014
Today's Teamster News 04.11.14
Teamster News
After Protests, Teamsters Take Over An Art Fair Crain's New York Business ...After facing protests last year, the Randall's Island Art Fair has agreed to employ Teamsters and theater union members to set up tents and temporary galleries for the show that begins May 9...
Greece School District Teamsters Approve Contract International Brotherhood of Teamsters ...Teamsters Local 118 in Rochester, N.Y. is pleased to announce the ratification of a new four-year agreement with Greece Central School District...
North Las Vegas Teamsters, firefighters OK settlements with struggling city Las Vegas Review-Journal ...officials had settled with half of the city’s union heads for exactly $3.35 million — the settlement figure City Council members offered city Teamsters and firefighters early this month...
Starving Artists Fed Up; Seek To Establish Industry Standards With Teamsters Local 705 Digital Journal ...Teamsters and artists may seem like an unlikely combination, but professional artists at Chicago's Mana Terry Dowd fine art packers and movers are organizing in an effort to establish income and benefit standards in their profession...
Polk Township Road Crew Workers Ratify Teamster Contract Gnomes ...Road crew workers employed by Polk Township, PA have recently voted for their first Teamster contract and to be represented by Teamsters Local 773 in Allentown...
Trade
H&M calls for faster factory inspections in Bangladesh Reuters ...Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), the world's second-biggest fashion retailer, said on Thursday Bangladesh needed to speed up inspections of its garment industry, almost a year after the collapse of a factory that killed more than 1,100 people...
U.S. Claims Country Building Its Own Network to Protect Against NSA Spying Violates Trade Laws Washington's Blog ...The U.S. is trying to not only protect U.S. businesses, but also keep the NSA’s hand in the cookie jar by arguing (wait for it…) that closing borders to the NSA would violate trade law...
State Battles
Corker, Haslam Subpoenaed By UAW For Volkswagon Appeal Talking Points Memo ...The United Auto Workers on Wednesday subpoenaed Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R), along with 18 other officials, for the union's challenge of the Chattanooga, Tenn. Volkswagon plant workers' vote to reject unionization, the Associated Press reported...
New Rule Prohibits Voters In Miami-Dade County From Using The Restroom, No Matter How Long The Line ThinkProgress ...Earlier this year, the Miami-Dade County Elections Department quietly implemented a policy to close the bathrooms at all polling facilities...
War on Workers
Getting Walmart Workers Off Food Stamps Would Cost Customers Barely Anything Huffington Post ...Would you be willing to spend one penny more for a box of macaroni and cheese if it meant that Walmart workers would no longer need food stamps to survive? Because that's all it would cost, according to an analysis by American Public Media’s Marketplace...
Koch Brothers Received Millions In Obamacare Subsidies ThinkProgress ...Charles and David Koch may have spent millions of dollars opposing President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, but that didn’t stop them from benefiting from the law to the tune of $1.4 million in subsidies...
Billionaires Score Big Win With McCutcheon Decision Truthout ...The Supreme Court’s McCutcheon ruling dealt another 5-4 body blow to our democracy...
The NCAA Makes Billions and Student Athletes Get None of It StudentNation ...Despite devoting forty to sixty hours per week to their sport most of the year, Division I football players lack basic economic rights under the NCAA’s cartel restrictions...
Do You Know Where Your Government Uniform Was Made? The Nation ...Despite some laudatory local and state efforts, taxpayer dollars are still being used to purchase clothes made in sweatshops...
The Worst Cash Rip-Off Since Bank Fees? Behold an Infuriating New Scheme to Sap Your Money AlterNet ...If prepaid debit cards sound too good to be true, it's because they're a scam. Here's the hidden truth behind them...
Family Dollar to cut jobs, shut 370 stores as sales fall Reuters ...The discount retailer, which caters to lower income shoppers--many of whom live from paycheck to paycheck, said it would it would cut jobs, shut hundreds of underperforming stores and slash prices...
Uninsured Greek patients with contagious diseases are being left untreated, voluntary health clinic warns EnetEnglish ...One health clinic in Greece warned that uninsured patients have contagious and serious diseases but are left untreated due to austerity...
Miscellaneous
Senator Durbin Asks For IG Investigation into Federal Agency's Oversight of Trucking Companies With a History of Violations eNews Park Forest ...U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) asked the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Inspector General (IG) to audit the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s investigative practices after a report that the FMCSA ordered, but never actually launched, an investigation into an Illinois motor carrier with a long history of violating safety rules...
After Protests, Teamsters Take Over An Art Fair Crain's New York Business ...After facing protests last year, the Randall's Island Art Fair has agreed to employ Teamsters and theater union members to set up tents and temporary galleries for the show that begins May 9...
Greece School District Teamsters Approve Contract International Brotherhood of Teamsters ...Teamsters Local 118 in Rochester, N.Y. is pleased to announce the ratification of a new four-year agreement with Greece Central School District...
North Las Vegas Teamsters, firefighters OK settlements with struggling city Las Vegas Review-Journal ...officials had settled with half of the city’s union heads for exactly $3.35 million — the settlement figure City Council members offered city Teamsters and firefighters early this month...
Starving Artists Fed Up; Seek To Establish Industry Standards With Teamsters Local 705 Digital Journal ...Teamsters and artists may seem like an unlikely combination, but professional artists at Chicago's Mana Terry Dowd fine art packers and movers are organizing in an effort to establish income and benefit standards in their profession...
Polk Township Road Crew Workers Ratify Teamster Contract Gnomes ...Road crew workers employed by Polk Township, PA have recently voted for their first Teamster contract and to be represented by Teamsters Local 773 in Allentown...
Trade
H&M calls for faster factory inspections in Bangladesh Reuters ...Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), the world's second-biggest fashion retailer, said on Thursday Bangladesh needed to speed up inspections of its garment industry, almost a year after the collapse of a factory that killed more than 1,100 people...
U.S. Claims Country Building Its Own Network to Protect Against NSA Spying Violates Trade Laws Washington's Blog ...The U.S. is trying to not only protect U.S. businesses, but also keep the NSA’s hand in the cookie jar by arguing (wait for it…) that closing borders to the NSA would violate trade law...
State Battles
Corker, Haslam Subpoenaed By UAW For Volkswagon Appeal Talking Points Memo ...The United Auto Workers on Wednesday subpoenaed Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R), along with 18 other officials, for the union's challenge of the Chattanooga, Tenn. Volkswagon plant workers' vote to reject unionization, the Associated Press reported...
New Rule Prohibits Voters In Miami-Dade County From Using The Restroom, No Matter How Long The Line ThinkProgress ...Earlier this year, the Miami-Dade County Elections Department quietly implemented a policy to close the bathrooms at all polling facilities...
War on Workers
Getting Walmart Workers Off Food Stamps Would Cost Customers Barely Anything Huffington Post ...Would you be willing to spend one penny more for a box of macaroni and cheese if it meant that Walmart workers would no longer need food stamps to survive? Because that's all it would cost, according to an analysis by American Public Media’s Marketplace...
Koch Brothers Received Millions In Obamacare Subsidies ThinkProgress ...Charles and David Koch may have spent millions of dollars opposing President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, but that didn’t stop them from benefiting from the law to the tune of $1.4 million in subsidies...
Billionaires Score Big Win With McCutcheon Decision Truthout ...The Supreme Court’s McCutcheon ruling dealt another 5-4 body blow to our democracy...
The NCAA Makes Billions and Student Athletes Get None of It StudentNation ...Despite devoting forty to sixty hours per week to their sport most of the year, Division I football players lack basic economic rights under the NCAA’s cartel restrictions...
Do You Know Where Your Government Uniform Was Made? The Nation ...Despite some laudatory local and state efforts, taxpayer dollars are still being used to purchase clothes made in sweatshops...
The Worst Cash Rip-Off Since Bank Fees? Behold an Infuriating New Scheme to Sap Your Money AlterNet ...If prepaid debit cards sound too good to be true, it's because they're a scam. Here's the hidden truth behind them...
Family Dollar to cut jobs, shut 370 stores as sales fall Reuters ...The discount retailer, which caters to lower income shoppers--many of whom live from paycheck to paycheck, said it would it would cut jobs, shut hundreds of underperforming stores and slash prices...
Uninsured Greek patients with contagious diseases are being left untreated, voluntary health clinic warns EnetEnglish ...One health clinic in Greece warned that uninsured patients have contagious and serious diseases but are left untreated due to austerity...
Miscellaneous
Senator Durbin Asks For IG Investigation into Federal Agency's Oversight of Trucking Companies With a History of Violations eNews Park Forest ...U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) asked the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Inspector General (IG) to audit the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s investigative practices after a report that the FMCSA ordered, but never actually launched, an investigation into an Illinois motor carrier with a long history of violating safety rules...
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Today's Teamster News 12.07.13
A-B InBev makes progress in negotiations with Teamsters St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...In a joint statement on Friday, the two parties said they have finalized all local non-economic issues for the company's 12 U.S. breweries. They will reconvene on Dec. 16 to begin discussions about national non-economic issues...
McDonald's to Employees: Don't Forget to Tip Your Nannies Gawker ... On its employees-only "McResource Line" website, the fast-food behemoth posted a tipping etiquette guide that suggests holiday bonuses for such common hired helpers as au pairs (one week's pay or a gift from the family), housekeepers (one day's pay), and pool cleaners (the cost of one cleaning)...
Xerox calls police before layoffs at Cary call center ABC11 ...Xerox called police to its Cary facility Friday morning just before laying off 168 employees. The company called 911 around 6 a.m. to request a police presence at their Crescent Green Drive facility. Cary Dispatch confirmed to ABC11 that Xerox said they "were expecting trouble."...
ALEC Opposed Divestment From South Africa’s Apartheid Regime ...many American conservative organizations opposed his struggle by fighting against sanctions and divestment from the apartheid regime that oppressed him. For ALEC, that meant partnering with corporations that faced calls for South African divestment and creating template legislation to block the pro-Mandela movement...
What Dave Ramsey gets wrong about poverty Belief Blog ...When medical bills are the biggest cause of bankruptcy in the United States, there are systemic injustices at work...
U.S. deadline looms over negotiations on Trans-Pacific Partnership AFP ...analysts said an agreement on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was unlikely to be reached during the four-day meeting, owing to differences on key issues such as intellectual property protection...
USTR Reveals Few Details In Response To FOIA Request For TPP Info Inside US Trade ...The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has largely deflected an attempt by public interest group Intellectual Property Watch to shed new light on the substance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations and the influence of Washington lobbyists over the contents of the trade deal...
LA city attorney sues Bank of America over lending Associated Press ...The Los Angeles city attorney is suing Bank of America for mortgage discrimination it claims led to a wave of foreclosures that cost the city a fortune in extra expenses and lost taxes...
Republic Windows ex-CEO gets 4 years in prison Portside ...Five years to the day after a sit-in by workers at an abruptly shuttered Chicago factory drew national attention, its former CEO pleaded guilty today to one count of theft for looting Republic Windows & Doors and was promptly sentenced to 4 years in prison...
Contractors Receive Huge Raise on Same Day Income Inequality Discussed POGO ...On the same day that the President spoke eloquently and fervently about the rising income inequality in the United States, the ever-contractor-friendly Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) increased the maximum amount of contractor compensation that can be charged to government contracts from a mere $763,029 per employee per year to what OFPP apparently considers a much more reasonable $952,308 per employee per year...
The Metro-North crash was preventable Scientific American ...Rail experts say an automated safety system already in place in Europe, but stalled in the U.S. despite a Congressional mandate, probably could have prevented a speeding commuter train from flying off the tracks while rounding a bend last weekend in New York City, killing four passengers and injuring 63 others...
McDonald's to Employees: Don't Forget to Tip Your Nannies Gawker ... On its employees-only "McResource Line" website, the fast-food behemoth posted a tipping etiquette guide that suggests holiday bonuses for such common hired helpers as au pairs (one week's pay or a gift from the family), housekeepers (one day's pay), and pool cleaners (the cost of one cleaning)...
Xerox calls police before layoffs at Cary call center ABC11 ...Xerox called police to its Cary facility Friday morning just before laying off 168 employees. The company called 911 around 6 a.m. to request a police presence at their Crescent Green Drive facility. Cary Dispatch confirmed to ABC11 that Xerox said they "were expecting trouble."...
ALEC Opposed Divestment From South Africa’s Apartheid Regime ...many American conservative organizations opposed his struggle by fighting against sanctions and divestment from the apartheid regime that oppressed him. For ALEC, that meant partnering with corporations that faced calls for South African divestment and creating template legislation to block the pro-Mandela movement...
What Dave Ramsey gets wrong about poverty Belief Blog ...When medical bills are the biggest cause of bankruptcy in the United States, there are systemic injustices at work...
U.S. deadline looms over negotiations on Trans-Pacific Partnership AFP ...analysts said an agreement on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was unlikely to be reached during the four-day meeting, owing to differences on key issues such as intellectual property protection...
USTR Reveals Few Details In Response To FOIA Request For TPP Info Inside US Trade ...The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has largely deflected an attempt by public interest group Intellectual Property Watch to shed new light on the substance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations and the influence of Washington lobbyists over the contents of the trade deal...
LA city attorney sues Bank of America over lending Associated Press ...The Los Angeles city attorney is suing Bank of America for mortgage discrimination it claims led to a wave of foreclosures that cost the city a fortune in extra expenses and lost taxes...
Republic Windows ex-CEO gets 4 years in prison Portside ...Five years to the day after a sit-in by workers at an abruptly shuttered Chicago factory drew national attention, its former CEO pleaded guilty today to one count of theft for looting Republic Windows & Doors and was promptly sentenced to 4 years in prison...
Contractors Receive Huge Raise on Same Day Income Inequality Discussed POGO ...On the same day that the President spoke eloquently and fervently about the rising income inequality in the United States, the ever-contractor-friendly Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) increased the maximum amount of contractor compensation that can be charged to government contracts from a mere $763,029 per employee per year to what OFPP apparently considers a much more reasonable $952,308 per employee per year...
The Metro-North crash was preventable Scientific American ...Rail experts say an automated safety system already in place in Europe, but stalled in the U.S. despite a Congressional mandate, probably could have prevented a speeding commuter train from flying off the tracks while rounding a bend last weekend in New York City, killing four passengers and injuring 63 others...
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Today's Teamster News 11.07.13
D.C. Taxi Operators Sue to Stop Fines, Towings teamster.org ...The Teamster-affiliated Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the city’s more than 6,000 cab drivers, demanding that the District stop towing and impounding taxis and issuing fines to drivers who have been unable to install new dome lights or credit card machines...
Teamsters,Wegmans Meet With Federal Mediator teamster.org ...Teamsters Local 118 representatives and Wegmans resumed discussions Tuesday to resolve an ongoing contract dispute, this time joined by a mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS.) Previous efforts to engage FMCS were thwarted by a 16-day government shutdown...
eBay CEO Shares Lessons from His First Job as a Teamster EcommerceBytes.com ...eBay’s CEO John Donahoe talks about his job after high school working for his friend's father's beer distribution company as a Teamster, which taught him two great leadership lessons…
Planned layoffs jumped in October on drug, financial firm cutbacks Los Angeles Times ...Planned layoffs by U.S. employers jumped 13.5% last month, led by cutbacks at pharmaceutical and financial services firms, according to a report Wednesday...
Planned treaties cause pain for citizens; pleasure for corporations (opinion) Lebanon Daily News ...If you don't know what the TPP and the TTIP are, you can be forgiven. The governments and corporations involved don't want you to know because these international agreements they are negotiating are that good for them and that bad for you...
South Carolina Ports Launch Clean Trucks Program Truckinginfo ...The South Carolina Ports Authority has announced a new Clean Truck Certification Program to take effect on Jan. 1, 2014 that would require trucks serving the container terminals to have engines manufactured in 1994 or later...
One by One, States Are Pushing Bans on Sick Leave Legislation Economic Policy Institute ...Nearly 40 million Americans—almost 40 percent of the private-sector workforce—lack the right to even a single day of paid sick leave. These employees commonly go to work sick, or leave sick children home alone, out of fear of dismissal...
California Wal-Mart workers strike, following stunning Florida victory The Salon ...West Coast Wal-Mart workers walked off the job as the union-backed campaign says Florida strikers won major changes...
Next Time You're Tempted To Give A Bad Tip, Consider This Huffington Post ...The federal minimum wage for tipped workers is only $2.13 per hour...
The Biggest, Baddest Prison Profiteer of Them All Huffington Post ..."CCA" has become a dirty word. Because profiting off mass incarceration is a dirty business. When private prison company Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) squanders taxpayer money and runs facilities rife with human rights abuses, it's dragging its own name through the mud...
The super-rich no longer need a middle class AlterNet ...They now inhabit a privatized economy and have left us at the mercy of the market...
Inside the Psyche of the 1% -- Many Actually Believe Their Ideology of Greed Makes for a Better World AlterNet ...If the 1% are to develop the same level of understanding of others that the 99% has, they will need to walk in their shoes...
US Tax Policy In One Chart: Rising Individual Income Taxes; Falling Corporate Income Taxes Zero Hedge ...Because those record offshore (tax-haven arbitraged) corporate cash balances will not grow themselves, obviously...
Apple discloses government data requests -- what little it can Los Angeles Times ...The company released a report Tuesday that provided some general information about requests for information it receives from governments. But seeking full disclosure is an effort in futility...
Euro Crisis Takes Major Toll On Life Satisfaction Reuters ...Ordinary people's satisfaction with life has plunged in the euro zone countries worst hit by the financial crisis as faith in their governments' ability to ease the strain has shrunk according to a recent study...
Consumer watchdog targets debt collectors Los Angeles Times... The federal government's consumer financial watchdog plans to crack down on the nation's 4,500 debt collectors with new rules to rein in the companies' aggressive tactics...
It’s Time To Stop Starving U.S. Investment teamster.org ...An analysis of infrastructure spending by the Financial Times shows U.S. public investment is at its lowest level since World War II. Public sector investment is now just 3.6 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, and austerity is hurting everything from building roads to investing in science and education...
Teamsters,Wegmans Meet With Federal Mediator teamster.org ...Teamsters Local 118 representatives and Wegmans resumed discussions Tuesday to resolve an ongoing contract dispute, this time joined by a mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS.) Previous efforts to engage FMCS were thwarted by a 16-day government shutdown...
eBay CEO Shares Lessons from His First Job as a Teamster EcommerceBytes.com ...eBay’s CEO John Donahoe talks about his job after high school working for his friend's father's beer distribution company as a Teamster, which taught him two great leadership lessons…
Planned layoffs jumped in October on drug, financial firm cutbacks Los Angeles Times ...Planned layoffs by U.S. employers jumped 13.5% last month, led by cutbacks at pharmaceutical and financial services firms, according to a report Wednesday...
Planned treaties cause pain for citizens; pleasure for corporations (opinion) Lebanon Daily News ...If you don't know what the TPP and the TTIP are, you can be forgiven. The governments and corporations involved don't want you to know because these international agreements they are negotiating are that good for them and that bad for you...
South Carolina Ports Launch Clean Trucks Program Truckinginfo ...The South Carolina Ports Authority has announced a new Clean Truck Certification Program to take effect on Jan. 1, 2014 that would require trucks serving the container terminals to have engines manufactured in 1994 or later...
One by One, States Are Pushing Bans on Sick Leave Legislation Economic Policy Institute ...Nearly 40 million Americans—almost 40 percent of the private-sector workforce—lack the right to even a single day of paid sick leave. These employees commonly go to work sick, or leave sick children home alone, out of fear of dismissal...
California Wal-Mart workers strike, following stunning Florida victory The Salon ...West Coast Wal-Mart workers walked off the job as the union-backed campaign says Florida strikers won major changes...
Next Time You're Tempted To Give A Bad Tip, Consider This Huffington Post ...The federal minimum wage for tipped workers is only $2.13 per hour...
The Biggest, Baddest Prison Profiteer of Them All Huffington Post ..."CCA" has become a dirty word. Because profiting off mass incarceration is a dirty business. When private prison company Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) squanders taxpayer money and runs facilities rife with human rights abuses, it's dragging its own name through the mud...
The super-rich no longer need a middle class AlterNet ...They now inhabit a privatized economy and have left us at the mercy of the market...
Inside the Psyche of the 1% -- Many Actually Believe Their Ideology of Greed Makes for a Better World AlterNet ...If the 1% are to develop the same level of understanding of others that the 99% has, they will need to walk in their shoes...
US Tax Policy In One Chart: Rising Individual Income Taxes; Falling Corporate Income Taxes Zero Hedge ...Because those record offshore (tax-haven arbitraged) corporate cash balances will not grow themselves, obviously...
Apple discloses government data requests -- what little it can Los Angeles Times ...The company released a report Tuesday that provided some general information about requests for information it receives from governments. But seeking full disclosure is an effort in futility...
Euro Crisis Takes Major Toll On Life Satisfaction Reuters ...Ordinary people's satisfaction with life has plunged in the euro zone countries worst hit by the financial crisis as faith in their governments' ability to ease the strain has shrunk according to a recent study...
Consumer watchdog targets debt collectors Los Angeles Times... The federal government's consumer financial watchdog plans to crack down on the nation's 4,500 debt collectors with new rules to rein in the companies' aggressive tactics...
It’s Time To Stop Starving U.S. Investment teamster.org ...An analysis of infrastructure spending by the Financial Times shows U.S. public investment is at its lowest level since World War II. Public sector investment is now just 3.6 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, and austerity is hurting everything from building roads to investing in science and education...
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Today's Teamster News 06.12.13
NSA Leaker's Six-Figure Pay Should Spark Debate: Why Are Federal Workers Being Replaced With Pricier Contractors? Forbes ...Why is a 29-year-old high school drop-out making more as a low-level contractor than any senior manager in the federal government short of the President himself, and a very few other special category employees?...
Edward Snowden: Exhibit A for How Washington Blows Money on Contractors The Atlantic ...the government has outsourced huge chunks of its operations wholesale to private contractors like Booz Allen, particularly in the realm of intelligence gathering. And it's costing Washington untold billions every year...
Obama Hosts Peru’s Humala in Push for Pacific Trade Deal Bloomberg ...President Barack Obama called Peru one of the most reliable partners of the U.S. in the Western Hemisphere and said a Pacific region trade pact being negotiated will enhance the economic relationship...
Overdrafts accounted for 61% of bank fees in 2011, report finds New York Times ...Overdrafts accounted for 61 percent of the fees banking customers paid in 2011, according to a report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The bureau conservatively estimates that the banking industry made $12.6 billion in such fees...
Banks Seen as Aid in Fraud Against Older Consumers New York Times ...The pitch arrived, as so many do, with a friendly cold call. Bruno Koch, 83, told the telemarketer on the line that, yes, of course he would like to update his health insurance card. Then Mr. Koch, of Newport News, Va., slipped up: he divulged his bank account information. What happened next is all too familiar...
Federal agencies turning to UPS, Fed Ex instead of USPS for delivery needs Washington Free Beacon ...The U.S. Postal Service’s bottom line has been hit as the federal government has increased its contracts with publicly traded companies, and spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year for these services. The lion’s share of contracts has gone to the United Parcel Service (UPS)...
Employers: Pay your interns. Labor Department: Bust them if they don’t! Economic Policy Institute ...At a time when the real value of the minimum wage is well below the levels of the 1960’s (making entry-level workers quite affordable), when the weak labor market is forcing college graduates in record numbers to take jobs that don’t require a college degree and entry level wages for college grads are already substantially below the levels of 10 years ago, the exploitation involved in not paying employees anything at all is shameful and economically dangerous...
When it comes to open records, ALEC needs to be put in its place Cap Times ...Communications with Wisconsin legislators are open records under the state's long-standing openness laws and for good reason. Citizens have a right to know who is influencing the conduct and actions of their elected representatives...
Walmart CEO Mike Duke, Other Execs Face Dissent In Shareholder Vote Huffington Post ...Wal-Mart's final shareholder vote for its board of directors showed another year of dissent against key executives and directors, including its CEO Mike Duke, as the company deals with the fallout from overseas bribery allegations...
Residents shut out of packed Detroit emergency manager meeting; Reporters tossed out Michigan Live ...(Emergency Manager Kevyn) Orr ... spoke in the meeting about making full use of either his broad powers under the state emergency manager law or Chapter 9 bankruptcy to address the city’s finances...
Bill would give Michigan college grads tax credits for student loans Central Michigan Life ...A new bill working its way through the state Legislature in Lansing would give college graduates an income tax credit if they continue to live in Michigan...
OSHA targets industrial truck safety FleetOwner ...OSHA is launching a new program in Idaho that will emphasize safety when working with industrial trucks like forklifts and lift trucks. Investigations will begin this month identifying and evaluating hazards associated with using these trucks...
Foreclosure abuse victims in Virginia to get checks Associated Press ...Checks are going out this week to more than 22,500 Virginians participating in the national mortgage foreclosure settlement, said Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli...
Davidson County judge blocks Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam's plan to lay off state workers Chattanooga Times Free Press ...Gov. Bill Haslam's plan to lay off more than 200 state workers this month struck a pothole late Monday afternoon when a Davidson County judge issued a temporary restraining order after state employees filed suit...
Record Temperatures Bring Reminders of Heat-Related Illness from Cal/OSHA EHS Today ...With parts of California experiencing record-breaking temperatures, with some highs in in the triple digits, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is reminding employers and employees of ways to beat the heat...
Teamsters Lead The Charge On Behalf Of Women Teamsters Canada ...The Teamsters Union has decided to lead the charge on behalf of pregnant women whose jobs are governed by the Canada Labour Code. The union wants to ensure that these women continue to be paid if they have to take a preventive withdrawal...
Edward Snowden: Exhibit A for How Washington Blows Money on Contractors The Atlantic ...the government has outsourced huge chunks of its operations wholesale to private contractors like Booz Allen, particularly in the realm of intelligence gathering. And it's costing Washington untold billions every year...
Obama Hosts Peru’s Humala in Push for Pacific Trade Deal Bloomberg ...President Barack Obama called Peru one of the most reliable partners of the U.S. in the Western Hemisphere and said a Pacific region trade pact being negotiated will enhance the economic relationship...
Overdrafts accounted for 61% of bank fees in 2011, report finds New York Times ...Overdrafts accounted for 61 percent of the fees banking customers paid in 2011, according to a report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The bureau conservatively estimates that the banking industry made $12.6 billion in such fees...
Banks Seen as Aid in Fraud Against Older Consumers New York Times ...The pitch arrived, as so many do, with a friendly cold call. Bruno Koch, 83, told the telemarketer on the line that, yes, of course he would like to update his health insurance card. Then Mr. Koch, of Newport News, Va., slipped up: he divulged his bank account information. What happened next is all too familiar...
Federal agencies turning to UPS, Fed Ex instead of USPS for delivery needs Washington Free Beacon ...The U.S. Postal Service’s bottom line has been hit as the federal government has increased its contracts with publicly traded companies, and spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year for these services. The lion’s share of contracts has gone to the United Parcel Service (UPS)...
Employers: Pay your interns. Labor Department: Bust them if they don’t! Economic Policy Institute ...At a time when the real value of the minimum wage is well below the levels of the 1960’s (making entry-level workers quite affordable), when the weak labor market is forcing college graduates in record numbers to take jobs that don’t require a college degree and entry level wages for college grads are already substantially below the levels of 10 years ago, the exploitation involved in not paying employees anything at all is shameful and economically dangerous...
When it comes to open records, ALEC needs to be put in its place Cap Times ...Communications with Wisconsin legislators are open records under the state's long-standing openness laws and for good reason. Citizens have a right to know who is influencing the conduct and actions of their elected representatives...
Walmart CEO Mike Duke, Other Execs Face Dissent In Shareholder Vote Huffington Post ...Wal-Mart's final shareholder vote for its board of directors showed another year of dissent against key executives and directors, including its CEO Mike Duke, as the company deals with the fallout from overseas bribery allegations...
Residents shut out of packed Detroit emergency manager meeting; Reporters tossed out Michigan Live ...(Emergency Manager Kevyn) Orr ... spoke in the meeting about making full use of either his broad powers under the state emergency manager law or Chapter 9 bankruptcy to address the city’s finances...
Bill would give Michigan college grads tax credits for student loans Central Michigan Life ...A new bill working its way through the state Legislature in Lansing would give college graduates an income tax credit if they continue to live in Michigan...
OSHA targets industrial truck safety FleetOwner ...OSHA is launching a new program in Idaho that will emphasize safety when working with industrial trucks like forklifts and lift trucks. Investigations will begin this month identifying and evaluating hazards associated with using these trucks...
Foreclosure abuse victims in Virginia to get checks Associated Press ...Checks are going out this week to more than 22,500 Virginians participating in the national mortgage foreclosure settlement, said Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli...
Davidson County judge blocks Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam's plan to lay off state workers Chattanooga Times Free Press ...Gov. Bill Haslam's plan to lay off more than 200 state workers this month struck a pothole late Monday afternoon when a Davidson County judge issued a temporary restraining order after state employees filed suit...
Record Temperatures Bring Reminders of Heat-Related Illness from Cal/OSHA EHS Today ...With parts of California experiencing record-breaking temperatures, with some highs in in the triple digits, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is reminding employers and employees of ways to beat the heat...
Teamsters Lead The Charge On Behalf Of Women Teamsters Canada ...The Teamsters Union has decided to lead the charge on behalf of pregnant women whose jobs are governed by the Canada Labour Code. The union wants to ensure that these women continue to be paid if they have to take a preventive withdrawal...
Thursday, March 28, 2013
100 NY Teamsters, pawns in political games, to be laid off 04.03.13
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| Local 72 members, in solidarity. |
One hundred Teamster brothers and sisters from Local 72 will be laid off from their jobs on the New York State Thruway at close of business on Wednesday, April 3.
Marty Latko, the local's president, wrote an impassioned letter about this injustice. We thought we'd share it with you:
Sisters and Brothers:
"These are the times that try men's souls."
Thomas Paine (1737-1809), American revolutionary
Organized labor finds itself in a time of crisis. Employers want layoffs and givebacks, with nothing given in return. Since when did this become the trade-off for lifetimes of dedicated service?
The Thruway Authority, under the control of its political manipulators, has been transitioning what was once a totally self-sufficient, user-funded superhighway efficiently staffed by loyal, hardworking New Yorkers, into just another financial burden on the backs of the taxpayers of New York.
The Canal System was forced on the Thruway Authority in the early 1990's by a governor playing the shell game with State finances. That move has been costing the Thruway somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 million annually ever since.
Despite the Thruway charging significantly less than many other toll roads, the political manipulators have repeatedly rejected reasonable and sensible toll increases, and have even eliminated tolls, all for political gain.
There have always been the political appointees. We don't have to agree with that, but we get it. However, do you actually keep around high-priced political hacks while you lay off necessary, skilled employees that actually play a daily role in the maintenance, safety and operation of the Thruway?
Now, the Thruway Authority wants to offset the results of all of those political games. How? For one thing, the State has decided to contribute $85 million to the Authority. All of the taxpayers of New York, whether or not they utilize the Thruway, will now be chipping in for the first time. You can bet that this is just the beginning of taxpayer subsidy for what should have remained a purely user funded operation.
But the most devastating effects of the attempt to offset those political games are going to be felt by the individual loyal, hardworking employees who have been targeted for layoff. The impact on them, and their families, cannot be measured.
The Thruway Authority claims that layoffs can be averted by giving in to demands that employees contribute 16% toward individual health care coverage and 31% to family coverage. That equates to hundreds of dollars less in each employee's monthly pay. None of us can afford that. If layoffs can be averted, then that must mean that the Authority needs each employee targeted for layoff, because, as everyone knows, employers don't keep unnecessary people on the payroll (with the exception of those political appointees, of course). No doubt, then, that the loss of anyone of those targeted employees is going to result in compromised service and safety for the motoring public.
Nobody has to use the Thruway unless they want to. There are plenty of alternate routes. But since the 1950's, motorists have been drawn to the Thruway because it has been well-maintained, safe and user friendly. Each of our members is part of that long. history of service to the motoring public by loyal, dedicated workers. Many sacrifices have been made by our members in return for the benefits that they have earned. A politically manipulated Thruway Authority that uses the threat of layoffs to attempt to divide us will not be tolerated.
Fraternally yours,
Martin A. Latko
President, Teamsters Local 72
Friday, February 8, 2013
Today's Teamster News 02.08.13
US citizens braced for austerity impact Financial Times ...The Pentagon has said that 800,000 civilian employees would see their hours cut by 20 per cent for the rest of the year and 46,000 temporary workers would be laid off. Other agencies would also see deep cuts in staff. There are estimates of a 25 per cent drop in border patrol agents, 600 fewer food safety inspectors at slaughterhouses and meat processing plants, and 1,200 fewer air traffic control operators...
Tax Holiday Ends, Consumers Scrimp Wall Street Journal ...Surveys show the majority of Americans who are aware of the tax increase say they plan to cut spending, and consumer confidence has wavered. Companies like Target Corp. and women's clothier Cato Corp. say the tax increase has crimped sales...
Profound Weight of Layoffs Is Seen in Work Trends Survey New York Times ...While about 8 percent of Americans are unemployed, nearly a quarter of Americans say they were laid off at some point during the recession or afterward...Of those laid off in recent years, nearly a quarter said they still had not found a job...
Postal Service dying from 1,000 cuts and a GOP stab in the back (opinion) Los Angeles Times ...Republicans are always insisting that the USPS be run like a good capitalist enterprise, but few, if any, private businesses could bear the burden of funding three-quarters of a century of retired employees’ medical costs over just one decade...
American Airlines And US Airways Near Merger Deal Forbes ...AA’s parent company, AMR Corp., is in the final stages of talks with US Airways Group on a merger deal, and an agreement could be reached as soon as February 15th...
Tunisia faces general strike after Belaid assassination sparks crisis The Guardian ...The UGTT, Tunisia's trade union federation, called the strike in protest at the murder of Chokri Belaid on Wednesday. It will be the first such strike since 1978...
Senators look to revamp local pension plans Sun-Sentinel ...A panel of Florida lawmakers on Wednesday debated how best to revamp 492 municipal pension plans across the state...
Washtenaw County takes stance against right-to-work legislation with unanswered legal questions AnnArbor.com ...the commission voted 6-1 to approve the resolution that not only served as a formal expression of the majority of the commission's opposition to the right-to-work measures passed by the lame duck Michigan legislature in December, but also to direct staff to expedite union contract negotiations...
Dayton: Tax cuts caused Minn. economic problems Minnesota Public Radio ..."In the decade after Minnesota's income tax reductions, our economy fared worse than the nation and most other states," Dayton said...
Voter poll pulls losing numbers for Corbett's lotto plan Philly.com ...Sixty-four percent of the voters polled said they oppose his plan to turn over control of the lottery to a British company, Camelot Global Services...
Walmart Workers Are Back on Strike Over a New Wave of Alleged Threats The Nation ...half a dozen workers in Laurel, Maryland, walked off the job in protest of alleged retaliation by Walmart management...
Workers at UNFI vote to ratify 5-year contract agreement Auburn Reporter ...Warehouse workers and drivers, represented by Teamsters Local 117, overwhelmingly voted to ratify a fully-recommended 5-year contract agreement with United Natural Foods, Inc. on Thursday...The agreement provides for the reinstatement of all workers, including the 72 who had been permanently replaced, health and welfare protections for workers, and meaningful wage increases...
Moreno Valley warehouse charged with harassing union Press Enterprise ...The National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that enforces workplace laws and supervises union elections, has issued a complaint against a Moreno Valley food distribution center... union officials filed labor board charges alleging that employees were harassed and threatened by company officials...
Arbitrator rules in favor of deputy sheriffs on pay Capital Gazette ...An arbitrator has ruled in favor of the county's deputy sheriffs union in its grievance against the county for failing to pay negotiated wage increases in fiscal 2010...The sheriff's deputies are represented by Teamsters Union Local 355...
Teamsters Release Video Of Sanitation Workers At Martin Luther King, Jr. March IBT ...more than 400 sanitation workers from Atlanta, Ga., Pensacola, Fla., Mobile, Ala. and Memphis, Tenn. joined workers from the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike to demand that Republic Services/Allied Waste treat its workers with respect...
Tax Holiday Ends, Consumers Scrimp Wall Street Journal ...Surveys show the majority of Americans who are aware of the tax increase say they plan to cut spending, and consumer confidence has wavered. Companies like Target Corp. and women's clothier Cato Corp. say the tax increase has crimped sales...
Profound Weight of Layoffs Is Seen in Work Trends Survey New York Times ...While about 8 percent of Americans are unemployed, nearly a quarter of Americans say they were laid off at some point during the recession or afterward...Of those laid off in recent years, nearly a quarter said they still had not found a job...
Postal Service dying from 1,000 cuts and a GOP stab in the back (opinion) Los Angeles Times ...Republicans are always insisting that the USPS be run like a good capitalist enterprise, but few, if any, private businesses could bear the burden of funding three-quarters of a century of retired employees’ medical costs over just one decade...
American Airlines And US Airways Near Merger Deal Forbes ...AA’s parent company, AMR Corp., is in the final stages of talks with US Airways Group on a merger deal, and an agreement could be reached as soon as February 15th...
Tunisia faces general strike after Belaid assassination sparks crisis The Guardian ...The UGTT, Tunisia's trade union federation, called the strike in protest at the murder of Chokri Belaid on Wednesday. It will be the first such strike since 1978...
Senators look to revamp local pension plans Sun-Sentinel ...A panel of Florida lawmakers on Wednesday debated how best to revamp 492 municipal pension plans across the state...
Washtenaw County takes stance against right-to-work legislation with unanswered legal questions AnnArbor.com ...the commission voted 6-1 to approve the resolution that not only served as a formal expression of the majority of the commission's opposition to the right-to-work measures passed by the lame duck Michigan legislature in December, but also to direct staff to expedite union contract negotiations...
Dayton: Tax cuts caused Minn. economic problems Minnesota Public Radio ..."In the decade after Minnesota's income tax reductions, our economy fared worse than the nation and most other states," Dayton said...
Voter poll pulls losing numbers for Corbett's lotto plan Philly.com ...Sixty-four percent of the voters polled said they oppose his plan to turn over control of the lottery to a British company, Camelot Global Services...
Walmart Workers Are Back on Strike Over a New Wave of Alleged Threats The Nation ...half a dozen workers in Laurel, Maryland, walked off the job in protest of alleged retaliation by Walmart management...
Workers at UNFI vote to ratify 5-year contract agreement Auburn Reporter ...Warehouse workers and drivers, represented by Teamsters Local 117, overwhelmingly voted to ratify a fully-recommended 5-year contract agreement with United Natural Foods, Inc. on Thursday...The agreement provides for the reinstatement of all workers, including the 72 who had been permanently replaced, health and welfare protections for workers, and meaningful wage increases...
Moreno Valley warehouse charged with harassing union Press Enterprise ...The National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that enforces workplace laws and supervises union elections, has issued a complaint against a Moreno Valley food distribution center... union officials filed labor board charges alleging that employees were harassed and threatened by company officials...
Arbitrator rules in favor of deputy sheriffs on pay Capital Gazette ...An arbitrator has ruled in favor of the county's deputy sheriffs union in its grievance against the county for failing to pay negotiated wage increases in fiscal 2010...The sheriff's deputies are represented by Teamsters Union Local 355...
Teamsters Release Video Of Sanitation Workers At Martin Luther King, Jr. March IBT ...more than 400 sanitation workers from Atlanta, Ga., Pensacola, Fla., Mobile, Ala. and Memphis, Tenn. joined workers from the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike to demand that Republic Services/Allied Waste treat its workers with respect...
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Today's Teamster News 12.06.12
Capitol protests grow as Dems, unions worry GOP plans right-to-work bill Lansing State Journal ...Expectations are high that a right-to-work bill could be introduced in the state Capitol Thursday after more than a week of lawmakers and interest groups battling over the issue that has stirred huge controversy across the state...
WH 'Absolutely' Willing To Go Off 'Fiscal Cliff' ABC News ...President Obama's lead negotiator in the "fiscal cliff" talks said the administration is "absolutely" willing to allow the package of deep automatic spending cuts and across-the-board tax hikes to take effect Jan. 1, unless Republicans drop their opposition to higher income tax rates on the wealthy...
Pelosi: Dems must say No to raising Medicare eligibility age Washington Post ...“I am very much against that, and I think most of my members are,” Pelosi said in an interview with me today. “I don’t see any reason why that should be in any agreement...”
Top GOP Rep Wants ‘More Pain’ For Middle Class, While Preserving Tax Cuts For The Rich ThinkProgress ...Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) argued that raising marginal rates on the very rich would slow-down job creation but insisted that the nation’s debt problem requires the government to allow the payroll tax holiday to expire. Price said that individuals — presumably those who benefit most from the holiday — must feel “more pain” to help set the country on a sound fiscal footing...
Depression Deepens Greek Middle Class Despair With Crime Bloomberg ...For thousands of Greeks like Karagaitanaki, the fabric of middle-class life is unraveling. Teachers, salaries slashed by a third, are stealing electricity. Families in once-stable neighborhoods are afraid to leave their homes because of rising street crime...
Wall Street Bank Cuts 11,000 Jobs After Paying Ousted Executives $14 Million ThinkProgress ...The moves comes one month after Citigroup paid out nearly $14 million to two former executives, CEO Vikram Pandit and Chief Operating Officer John Havens, who were ousted for poor management...
Layoffs at CP Rail: The Teamsters Await Details Northumberland View ...The company has announced its intention to eliminate 4500 jobs, but has yet to meet with the leaders of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) which represents conductors, yardmen, locomotive engineers and railway traffic controllers...
R.I.P. Former NY Teamsters Boss Thomas R. O’Donnell Deadline New York ...Thomas R. O’Donnell, the longtime leader of Teamsters Local 817, which controlled the transportation for every movie, TV and Broadway production in New York, has died of a heart attack at age 83...
WH 'Absolutely' Willing To Go Off 'Fiscal Cliff' ABC News ...President Obama's lead negotiator in the "fiscal cliff" talks said the administration is "absolutely" willing to allow the package of deep automatic spending cuts and across-the-board tax hikes to take effect Jan. 1, unless Republicans drop their opposition to higher income tax rates on the wealthy...
Pelosi: Dems must say No to raising Medicare eligibility age Washington Post ...“I am very much against that, and I think most of my members are,” Pelosi said in an interview with me today. “I don’t see any reason why that should be in any agreement...”
Top GOP Rep Wants ‘More Pain’ For Middle Class, While Preserving Tax Cuts For The Rich ThinkProgress ...Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) argued that raising marginal rates on the very rich would slow-down job creation but insisted that the nation’s debt problem requires the government to allow the payroll tax holiday to expire. Price said that individuals — presumably those who benefit most from the holiday — must feel “more pain” to help set the country on a sound fiscal footing...
Depression Deepens Greek Middle Class Despair With Crime Bloomberg ...For thousands of Greeks like Karagaitanaki, the fabric of middle-class life is unraveling. Teachers, salaries slashed by a third, are stealing electricity. Families in once-stable neighborhoods are afraid to leave their homes because of rising street crime...
Wall Street Bank Cuts 11,000 Jobs After Paying Ousted Executives $14 Million ThinkProgress ...The moves comes one month after Citigroup paid out nearly $14 million to two former executives, CEO Vikram Pandit and Chief Operating Officer John Havens, who were ousted for poor management...
Layoffs at CP Rail: The Teamsters Await Details Northumberland View ...The company has announced its intention to eliminate 4500 jobs, but has yet to meet with the leaders of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) which represents conductors, yardmen, locomotive engineers and railway traffic controllers...
R.I.P. Former NY Teamsters Boss Thomas R. O’Donnell Deadline New York ...Thomas R. O’Donnell, the longtime leader of Teamsters Local 817, which controlled the transportation for every movie, TV and Broadway production in New York, has died of a heart attack at age 83...
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Restraining order against Elmhurst Teamsters as the fight for their jobs continues
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| Informational picket at Elmhurst Dairy last week. |
A district court judge issued a temporary restraining order Monday preventing the Elmhurst 42 from picketing outside the plant:
Defendants, their officers, agents, representatives, members, employees and attorneys, and all persons in active concert or participation with them having notice from any source or in any manner of the entry of this order be and hereby are enjoined and restrained from calling, causing, inducing, encouraging, authorizing, conducting, continuing in or engaging in any strike, concerted work stoppage, concerted work slowdown, sit-down or refusal to work or any other act or coercion or interference with Plaintiff's normal operations.
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| Davinder Singh and his parents. |
The Elmhurst 42 were dismissed in blatant violation of the contract. They were replaced by low-wage, unskilled workers. So Julio Montes, who's been a loyal Elmhurst Dairy employee since 2004, now has no work. He supports five daughters and a wife on disability.
Davinder Singh worked at Elmhurst Dairy since 2003, but no longer:
I have worked at Elmhurst Dairy with pride. I would love waking up and going to work every morning. Elmhurst Dairy had been great to me over the years, until now. I have performed best of my ability at anything i did at the company. Currently I am in charge of my mortgage payment. I am the provider for my family and household. Currently I am supporting my elderly mother and father (whom neither of them work). I was in charge of all and every house bill.
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| This is what solidarity looks like. Voting to support the brothers. |
They have no idea what they have started but I can tell you we will finish this fight.Workers already held an informational picket a week ago. No work was stopped.
Charges were filed with the National Labor Relations Board to reinstate the 42 workers. And soon, Teamsters will leaflet grocery stores in Brooklyn and Queens asking patrons to boycott Golden Flow kosher milk from Elmhust Dairy.
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| Julio Montes. |
We know that the dairy industry has faced tremendous economic hardship in the last few years and we want to work together with management to find resolutions that will protect our members and ensure the viability of the industry.But until then, no justice, no peace.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Today's Teamster News 06.15.12
Wal-Mart’s PR Firm Sent This Flack to Pose as a Reporter to Spy on a Pro-Labor Group Gawker ...Wal-Mart is trying to open a new store in LA's Chinatown area. Local labor groups, among others, are challenging the store's permitting. It's a fight with big stakes for Wal-Mart, as it goes right to the heart of the company's strategy of expanding in large cities. And now, one labor group says that an employee of a PR firm working for Wal-Mart actually posed as a reporter in order to infiltrate one of their meetings...
Layoff threats put Congress on notice Reuters ...Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defense contractor and a bellwether of the industry, already has started preparing for the possibility of staff reductions. The company, which is dependent on government contracts for the bulk of its revenue, recently has seen its stock price slide...
Senators Suck Up to Jamie Dimon, Get Paid for It The Nation ...when historians look back upon the current era of unbridled financial sector influence on American government—unless all historians are by then employed at CitiBankofAmericaChaseOne Institutions of Higher Learning™—Wednesday’s hearing of the Senate Banking Committee will be an instructive example of our perverse power structure...
Walker will use his personal name-recognition to promote Wisconsin's economy WTAQ.com ...Governor Scott Walker says he’ll use whatever national stature he gained during his recall battle to promote Wisconsin, and reach out to businesses to try-and-attract jobs...
CMD Asks Elections Board to Investigate Tea Party Group Supporting Walker The Center for Media and Democracy ...The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) has filed a complaint requesting that Wisconsin’s elections board investigate a Tea Party-affiliated group from California that spent tens of thousands of dollars on ads supporting Governor Scott Walker in the June 5 recall election, but did not register as a political committee in the state or report its funding and spending, as required by Wisconsin election law...
Contract talks break down between Waste Management, Teamsters q13fox.com ...Contract negotiations between Waste Management and the Teamsters union representing about 150 recycle truck drivers broke down Thursday, increasing the possibility of a strike or lockout that could affect pickups starting next week...
Friday, September 2, 2011
Today's Teamster News 09.02.11
Banks Brace For New Wave Of Mortgage Lawsuits, U.S. May Seek Up To $30 Billion Forbes ...The worst of banks’ mortgage-related legal battles may be yet to come as the Federal Housing Finance Agency readies a massive new wave of lawsuits aimed at a dozen major lenders...
Ohio sells state prison to private contractor for $73 million Reuters ...Officials said the state had sold the Lake Erie Correctional Institution, an 11-year-old prison housing about 1,500 nonviolent prisoners, to the Corrections Corporation of America...
Mich. holds off sending layoff notices -- for now Bloomberg Business Week ...Gov. Rick Snyder on Thursday decided to hold off on sending notices to state employees warning they could lose their jobs in 30 days, and his spokeswoman said the governor still hopes a labor coalition representing most of the workers will make $145 million in concessions so layoffs aren't needed...
Christie and Labor: Ready for the Next Round NJ Spotlight ...In the coming year, the governor's relationship with public- and private-sector unions will deeply affect New Jersey's politics and its economy...
Farmworkers march for union bill Monterey County Herald ...(Alejandro) Nolasco left Saturday to join the 200-mile march to Sacramento that farmworkers and their supporters are undertaking to try to convince the governor to sign legislation that would make it easier to unionize...
Sotheby’s Auction House Tries to Break Union, Teamsters Vow “If they don’t settle, we’re going to shut this place down” The Indypendent ...The 43 locked-out art handlers at Sotheby’s, all members of Teamsters Local 814, sent their message loud and clear – negotiate now – to management at a rally on August 26, where their ranks were swelled by hundreds of Teamster women in town from across the country for the annual Teamster Women’s Conference...
Ohio sells state prison to private contractor for $73 million Reuters ...Officials said the state had sold the Lake Erie Correctional Institution, an 11-year-old prison housing about 1,500 nonviolent prisoners, to the Corrections Corporation of America...
Mich. holds off sending layoff notices -- for now Bloomberg Business Week ...Gov. Rick Snyder on Thursday decided to hold off on sending notices to state employees warning they could lose their jobs in 30 days, and his spokeswoman said the governor still hopes a labor coalition representing most of the workers will make $145 million in concessions so layoffs aren't needed...
Christie and Labor: Ready for the Next Round NJ Spotlight ...In the coming year, the governor's relationship with public- and private-sector unions will deeply affect New Jersey's politics and its economy...
Farmworkers march for union bill Monterey County Herald ...(Alejandro) Nolasco left Saturday to join the 200-mile march to Sacramento that farmworkers and their supporters are undertaking to try to convince the governor to sign legislation that would make it easier to unionize...
Sotheby’s Auction House Tries to Break Union, Teamsters Vow “If they don’t settle, we’re going to shut this place down” The Indypendent ...The 43 locked-out art handlers at Sotheby’s, all members of Teamsters Local 814, sent their message loud and clear – negotiate now – to management at a rally on August 26, where their ranks were swelled by hundreds of Teamster women in town from across the country for the annual Teamster Women’s Conference...
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