Today's Teamster News 03.12.15

Teamsters
Teamsters hit FMCSA with lawsuit over move to open border for Mexican carriers  Overdrive   ...The Teamsters Union announced this week it has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s recent move to expand its cross-border trucking program with Mexico...
Teamsters Win Landslide Shareholder Vote At Hologic  teamster.org   ... A shareholder proposal sponsored by the Teamsters-affiliated GCC Benevolent Trust Fund secured an overwhelming majority vote of shareholders at last week’s Hologic Incorporated annual meeting. The proposal called on the Board of Directors to submit the adoption, maintenance or extension of any poison pill plan to a vote of the shareholders...
Hoffa: Film Tax Credits Are Worth Saving  Detroit News   ...Lawmakers on the campaign trail in Michigan have rightfully stressed the need for jobs in recent years. They say it is a top priority. But once within the cozy confines of the Statehouse in Lansing, too many seem to lose sight of the issue or its importance to their constituents. Case in point — a House committee’s decision last week to back legislation that ends some $50 million in annual tax credits to encourage films and television shows to shoot in the Great Lakes State...
Teamsters, RI Hospital Negotiations Stall  Rhode Island Public Radio   ...The Teamsters represent about 2500 nursing assistants, food service, and other workers at Rhode Island Hospital. They’ve threatened to strike if negotiators can’t agree on job protections and wage hikes, as well as improvements to their retirement plan...
Debate Over Fawn's Police Coverage Intensifies  Pittsburgh Tribune Review   ...Smith had a copy of a letter dated March 2, from Tom Huck, business agent for Teamsters Local 249 which represents the police, to supervisors chairman David Montanari. The supervisors and Teamsters negotiators were unable to come to a contract agreement for the police and the contract is headed to arbitration. In the letter, also sent to the Valley News Dispatch, Huck criticized the supervisors for allowing the shifts to go unmanned...
County Employees Receive Pay Hike  Ottumwa Courier   ...Employees in two different bargaining units were given identical pay increases by Wapello County Board of Supervisors Tuesday night. Teamsters Local 238 for the courthouse bargaining unit and Teamsters Local 238 for the sheriff's bargaining unit will receive a two percent increase on July 1, 2015, and July 1, 2016 and a two and half percent increase on July 1, 2017...
Trade
Push against investment rules in U.S. trade deals picks up  Reuters   ...Law professors from across the United States urged lawmakers to keep rules to protect foreign investors out of trade pacts on Wednesday, warning they would give big companies too much power...
Huckabee slams 'globalists,' free trade agreements  Politico   ...Expressing deep skepticism of proposed free trade agreements, Mike Huckabee warned in Iowa Saturday that the United States is becoming like communist China...
Unions To Fight Trade Pact By Freezing Political Donations  Wall Street Journal   ...The move is part of the unions’ campaign against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, which the Obama administration is negotiating with 11 nations around the Pacific Ocean. The unions worry the trade agreement could send more jobs to low-wage countries, including Vietnam and Malaysia...
Paul Krugman: TPP At The NABE  New York Times   ...Why, exactly, should the Obama administration spend any political capital – alienating labor, disillusioning progressive activists – over such a deal?...
Health Impact Assessment: TPP Poses Risks To Affordable Medicines, Tobacco Control And Nutrition Labeling  Techdirt   ...The negotiations are still being conducted with a total lack of transparency -- especially compared to TAFTA/TTIP, where public pressure has led to the release of a large number of documents from the EU, though not from the US...
State Battles
Unions Challenge Wisconsin's New 'Right-To-Work' Law In Court  Reuters   ...The Wisconsin state AFL-CIO and two other unions filed suit on Tuesday challenging a new statute that lets private-sector employees avoid joining unions or paying dues even when covered by union-negotiated contracts...
Right-To-Work: NM Senate Panel Tables Bill  KOTA   ...A New Mexico Senate panel has voted along party lines to stop the advance of a bill that prohibits requiring workers to join a union and pay dues as a condition of employment...
War on Workers
Not a Puzzle—Wages Growth is Sluggish Because Employers Hold All the Cards  Economic Policy Institute   ...We’ve finally seen 12 consecutive months of job growth above 200,000, but wage growth shows little sign of accelerating. The question that everyone seems to be asking now is, when will wage growth pick up?...
Business Pushes for Delay, Litigation, and One-Sided Access in Union Elections  Economic Policy Institute   ... The NLRB is updating obsolete election rules that fail to recognize modern developments like e-mail, and which encourage excessive litigation and delay. Yet a panel stacked with anti-union lawyers attacked the rules as if they were ending American democracy...
How income fraud made the housing bubble worse  Science Daily   ... The researchers place the blame for falsified earnings listed on mortgage applications -- which the researchers call "buyer income overstatement" -- on brokers producing mortgages intended to be sold as securities...
Worker Electrocuted, Killed On South Tropical Trail  Space Coast Daily   ...A worker was killed Tuesday at about 2:45 p.m. while replacing power poles...

Today's Teamster News 02.13.14

Teamsters
Washington Twp. cops might go union  Pittsburgh Tribune-Review   ...The Washington Township Police Department soon might become members of Teamsters Local 205, based in White Oak, Pennsylvania. The state's Labor Relations Board will schedule an election within the next month for township officers...
Union Negotiations Continue at Beverly's Armstrong Plant  12 WBOY News   ...Negotiations are still underway between Armstrong and the Teamsters to reach a new agreement at its plant in Randolph County, WV. The current contract expires Saturday...
Collective Bargaining: How to Negotiate Strong Teamster Contracts  teamster.org   ...The IBT Training and Development Department is conducting a Teamsters Leadership Academy (TLA) on collective bargaining, March 11-14. Get the details here...
Trade
Pelosi comes out against fast track bill  The Hill   ...Pelosi made clear on Wednesday night that she isn’t opposed to the concept of TPA, also known as fast-track authority, but she can’t support a bill introduced by Baucus, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Senate Finance Committee ranking member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)...
Hoffa: Voices Against Fast Track Are Growing Louder  teamster.org   ...Thousands of Teamsters have contacted Congress in recent weeks to let them know “fast track” trade authority is the wrong track for America. And the message is getting through...
Crowley Opposes Fast Track  New York Daily News   ...Rep. Joe Crowley’s far from shocking statement opposing the authority, which lets the president force trade bills, like a pending Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, to receive up or down votes in both congressional chambers...
State Battles
Tennessee Paper Pushes Koch-Connected Anti-Union Message Ahead Of UAW Vote  Media Matters   ...A misleading op-ed in Chattanooga's Times Free Press, co-written by a Koch and ALEC ally, falsely claimed creating a union in a local Volkswagen plant would negatively impact the state economy and plant relations, despite evidence to the contrary...
U.S. senator drops bombshell during VW plant union vote  Reuters   ...U.S. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said on Wednesday he has been "assured" that if workers at the Volkswagen AG plant in his hometown of Chattanooga reject United Auto Worker representation, the company will reward the plant with a new product to build. Corker's bombshell … runs counter to public statements by Volkswagen...
Tennessee Republicans Don't Believe in a Free Market  Center for Economic and Policy Research   ...these politicians believe they are better able to run a car company than the Volkswagen's managers. This is an interesting view coming from people who usually claim to be supporters of a free market and to believe that the government should not interfere in the running of a business...
Austerity in Maine has forced state troopers to go without heating and feed their families roadkill  Salon   ...Back in 2013, the lawmakers of the state of Maine decided to freeze state merit and longevity pay for its state troopers. According to a report in the Bangor Daily News, for at least some state troopers — and their families — the consequences have been dire...
Harsh words for CDOT at public meeting on 50-year U.S. 36 contract  Daily Camera   ...Colorado Department of Transportation officials took a verbal beating Wednesday night from a crowd of hundreds who blasted the agency for partnering with a private firm to maintain and operate U.S. 36 between Boulder and Denver for the next 50 years.
Assembly committee takes up bill tossing some "living wage" ordinances  WHBL   ...Wisconsin lawmakers were hearing testimony Wednesday on a bill to throw out local "living wage" ordinances...
Kentucky sinkhole opens up at Corvette museum, swallows vintage Corvettes dailykos   ...The museum issued a statement that said six of the damaged cars were owned by the museum and two — a 1993 ZR-1 Spyder and a 2009 ZR1 Blue Devil — were on loan from General Motors...
States, U.S. Forfeit Billions in Corporate Tax Revenue Annually  teamster.org   ...States could save more than $1 billion a year in tax revenue if they would make simple reforms that would crack down on shady corporate practices that funnel dollars away from their coffers. But only two states have put the brakes on such practices thus far...
How California’s Worsening Drought Could Make Your Grocery Bill Spike  ThinkProgress   ...If what the tree rings say is true, California hasn’t been this dry in more than 500 years. If what the leading climate scientists say is true, that dryness will only get worse in the coming years, which will adversely impact the agricultural industry...
This Is What It Looks Like When 100,000 Gallons Of Coal Waste Spill Into A West Virginia Stream  ThinkProgress   ...A pipe break at a Patriot Coal preparation site spewed more than 100,000 gallons of coal slurry into a waterway near Charleston, WV on Tuesday...
Pence wants state to replace some proposed local business tax cuts  Indianapolis Star   ...In the face of a growing outcry from mayors across the state, Gov. Mike Pence announced Tuesday that he supports replacing some of the revenue local governments would lose under proposals to cut Indiana's tax on business equipment...
The War on Workers
Lawsuit Calls Government’s Sweetheart Deal With JP Morgan ‘Unlawful’   ThinkProgress ...The Justice Department (DOJ) broke the law when it settled mortgage finance market fraud allegations against JP Morgan in a headline-grabbing legal settlement last year, according to a lawsuit filed Monday...
Former Enron Trader Funding PBS Series On Pensions  firedoglake   ... billionaire and Enron alum John Arnold has financed a new two-year news series entitled “Pension Peril.” A program that, not surprisingly, pushes an agenda that companies like Enron would love. The series, promoting cuts to public employee pensions, is airing on hundreds of PBS outlets all over the nation...
RealtyTrac: Monthly foreclosure filings reverse course, rise 8%  Housing Wire   ...Monthly foreclosure filings — including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — reversed course and increased 8% to 124,419 in January from December...
AT&T Mobility, CWA reach tentative agreement  Atlanta Journal-Constitution ...AT&T Mobility has reached a tentative agreement with the Communications Workers of America on a contract covering more than 11,500 employees in Georgia and other parts of the Southeast...
What the jobless do when the benefits end  Washington Post   ...Many facing the end of benefits will turn to Social Security. Others will cobble together what they can...
Bob Costas is right: Going to work sick is a terrible idea  Washington Post   ..."Presenteeism" is actually a vexing problem for employers that could, by some estimates cost them as much as $150 billion per year...

Today's Teamster News 11.10.13

U.S. Economy Expanded At Surprising Rate Ahead Of The Government Shutdown  Associated Press   ...The U.S. economy expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate from July through September, a surprising sign of strength ahead of the 16-day partial government shutdown. Exports rose, businesses stocked up, home construction increased and state and local governments spent at the fastest pace in four years…Analysts expect the shutdown will slow growth in the October-December quarter…
How the Koch Brothers Organized the Federal Shutdown  Buzzflash   ...The two chief contributors to Cruz's political career donated over a million dollars to it (and no other entity donated as much as $100,000 to it). These two top sources of contributions to Mr. Cruz's political career were Club For Growth, and Senate Conservatives Fund, which together donated over a million dollars to it...
Switzerland Weighs Radical Approach To Runaway Executive Compensation  ThinkProgress   ...A referendum is set for November 24 on a law called the “1:12 Initiative” that would impose a flexible cap on top employee compensation at Swiss companies. If approved, the highest-paid employee of any given Swiss firm could not earn more in a month than its lowest-paid employee makes in a year...
The Origins and Evolution of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)  Global Research   ...THE free trade agreement being negotiated by the regional bloc known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has provoked widespread opposition in the countries involved in its negotiation...
The TPP, If Passed, Spells the End of Popular Sovereignty for the United States  naked capitalism   ...TPP replaces popular sovereignty with transnational investor rule, in two ways...
US seeks $864m from Bank of America after mortgage fraud verdict  The Guardian   ...Countrywide's program emphasized and rewarded employees for the quantity rather than the quality of loans produced, and eliminated checkpoints designed to ensure that loans were sound...
A Fraying of the Public/Private Surveillance Partnership  The Atlantic   ...The publicity resulting from the Snowden documents has made companies think twice before allowing the NSA access to their users' and customers' data...
Wage theft outstrips bank, gas station and convenience store robberies  DailyKos   ...Fully 64 percent of low-wage workers have some amount of pay stolen out of their paychecks by their employers every week, including 26 percent who are effectively paid less than minimum wage...
The Scott Walker Effect: Helping Democrats Win and Republicans Lose  The Nation   ...Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli counted on Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to provide the conservative candidate with some of the “star power” he needed to get him elected November 5. It didn’t work...

Banks screwing students the way they screwed homeowners

Once again, family finances are in danger from big banks.  Thousands of students with loans are complaining their student loan companies are breaking laws in the same way mortgage servicers did during the foreclosure crisis. That's according to a newly released Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) report that warns of increased fees and financial trouble to come:

Many of the private student loan complaints mirror the problems heard from consumers in the mortgage market following the wake of the financial crisis.

In the past year, CFPB received 3,800 complaints from student loan borrowers. Eight servicing companies received 87 percent of the complaints, including Sallie Mae, Wells Fargo, Citi and JPMorgan Chase.

Lenders pay other companies, called servicers, to process loans.  These subcontractors make the least money when people pay back the loan on time -- and the most when people are struggling, since the subcontractors keep all of the late fees for themselves.

CFPB's report suggests a pattern of lawbreaking by student loan servicers. And why not? Wall Street saw how profitable foreclosing on families was.  Although millions of Americans lost their homes due to criminal behavior, banks were just handed tax-deductible fines and banned from messing with the housing market like that again.  But the student loan market remained open -- and  too-big-to-fail banks knew they could get away with it again.

As David Dayen points out in Salon: 

the past performance of regulators on mortgage servicing has been pretty toothless. And that’s why student loan servicers believe they have a license to steal.

Here's what the student loan services are up to, according to the CFPB report:

• Violating the Truth in Lending Act by charging student lenders fees for prepaying their private student loans. 
• Forcing military borrowers -- including those in combat zones -- to resubmit unnecessary paperwork and then charging higher interest rates when they can't come up with the paperwork.
• Making it too complicated and difficult for most struggling graduates to refinance their loans.

It's no surprise over 14 percent of 2010 graduates defaulted on their loans within three years. Without reform and actual enforcement of lending laws, the default rate is only going to rise.  We just wonder why this is still legal.

Today's Teamster News 09.24.13

Warehouse Workers in Georgia Join Teamsters Local 528  teamster.org   ...On September 11, warehouse workers at Americold in McDonough, Georgia voted to become Teamsters...
Teamsters at Darigold Leaflet Walmart & Sam's Club Shoppers at 10 Locations  Teamsters Local 117 ...Teamster production workers and lab technicians, employed by Darigold, distributed leaflets at ten Walmart and Sam’s Club locations throughout the day to inform consumers about the company’s multiple violations of federal labor law and the growing threat of a potential lockout or strike...
Wegmans Employees Disgruntled Over Retirement Payments  Rochester Homepage   ...Dozens of people were outside Wegmans' company officers Friday practicing picketing over disagreements with Wegmans on retirement payments and wages. Current warehouse and driver employees are represented through the Teamsters Union...
The Average American Family Pays $6,000 a Year in Subsidies to Big Business  AlterNet   ...That's more than an insult—it's an attack...
White House rebuffed union pleas to ditch Walmart  Salon   ...Labor leader says allies in the Administration tried to persuade First Lady to dump retail giant -- but were denied...
Bank of America goes to trial over U.S. mortgage fraud charges  Reuters   ...Bank of America Corp heads to trial this week over allegations its Countrywide unit approved deficient home loans in a process called "Hustle," defrauding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the U.S. government enterprises that underwrite mortgages...
One Big Trader Lost Millions Betting on Romney, Study Finds  Washington Wire   ...A new academic paper digging into presidential betting in the final weeks of the 2012 election finds that a single trader lost between $4 million and $7 million placing a flurry of Intrade bets on Mitt Romney—perhaps to make the Republican nominee’s chance of victory appear brighter...
Child Labor Dropped By One-Third Over The Past Decade, But UN Officials Urge Faster Progress  Associated Press   ...The number of children doing hazardous work dropped by half to 85 million from 2000 to 2012, but the rate of progress isn't fast enough to meet the goal of having no child laborers by 2016...
Suicides Spiked One Year After Great Recession: Study  Huffington Post   ...The Great Recession resulted in 5,000 additional suicides worldwide in 2009, according to a recent study -- the first to look at suicide trends globally in the wake of the crisis...
At 77, He Prepares Burgers Earning in Week His Former Hourly Wage  Bloomberg News   ...At the height of his corporate career, Tom Palome was pulling in a salary in the low six-figures and flying first class on business trips to Europe. Today, he juggles two part-time jobs: one as a $10-an-hour food demonstrator, the other flipping burgers…
Why are 47 million Americans on food stamps?  Washington Post   ...There's a fairly basic question underlying the current food-stamp debate in Congress. Why has the program grown so rapidly over the past few years — to the point where 47 million people, one-sixth of the country, now receive food stamps?...
Buy a House, Make Your Payments, Then Discover You've Been Foreclosed On Without Your Knowledge  AlterNet   ...This should never happen, but it did, thanks to the sordid mortgage servicing industry...
Chiquita Asks Court To Block Suits Blaming Banana Giant For Violent Deaths  Associated Press   ...Faced with potentially billions of dollars in legal liability, Chiquita Brands is asking a federal appeals court to block lawsuits filed against it in the U.S. by thousands of Colombians whose relatives were killed in that country's bloody, decades-long civil war...
Ag-gag resurfaces, threatens whistleblowers  Fort Wayne Journal Gazette   ...Opponents of ag-gag legislation reasonably fear that it obstructs First Amendment rights. Such legislation also protects illegal and unethical practices while punishing whistleblowers...
Major police union will sit out race for New Jersey governor  Star-Ledger   ...In a blow to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Barbara Buono, one of New Jersey’s two largest police unions has decided to sit out the election for governor...
Florida offers to cut loan balances for 'underwater' homeowners  Orlando Sentinel   ...Florida homeowners with "underwater" mortgages may now qualify to have as much as $50,000 chopped from their loan balance under a new program announced Friday by the state...
Amazon to collect 6 pct sales tax in WV  Associated Press   ...Amazon will start collecting a 6 percent sales tax on purchases shipped to West Virginia starting Oct. 1...
BART prepares for another possible worker strike  Associated Press   ...As another potential strike looms, Bay Area Rapid Transit officials are preparing other ways to get commuters to work, including possibly allowing managers to drive a limited number of trains...

Today's Teamster News 07.06.13

Yes, the Sequester Is Affecting the Job Market  New York Times   ... in the last few months, the defense-sensitive industries have been shedding jobs, while the rest of the country’s employers have been adding jobs over all...
The Fall of the American Worker  New Yorker   ...Without unions to support them, they are all at the mercy of indifferent employers and the harsh vagaries of the post-industrial economy...
Chinese Officials Ignored Safety Violations, Leading To The Industrial Fire That Killed 121 People Think Progress   ...Dozens of Chinese public officials were charged Friday with dereliction of duty for failing to inspect the site of a fire at the Jilin Baoyuanfeng Poultry Co. plant that killed 121 in June...
So-called free trade talks should be in the public, not corporate interest (opinion)  The Guardian   ... the goal is a managed trade regime – managed, that is, to serve the special interests that have long dominated trade policy in the west...
Pensioners at ‘breaking point’ because of austerity budgets  Independent.ie   ..."The feedback we received during our national consultation process in March (in Ireland) was shocking, with older people telling us how they were going to bed in the early evening to stay warm, using hot water bottles to stay warm rather than turning on their heating, or seriously considering the option of getting rid of their pet cat because they could no longer afford to feed it..."
Next week's Moral Mondays protest to focus on the numbers  News and Observer  ...Next week’s “Moral Mondays” protest by the NAACP will be about numbers. Each protest has focused on a theme. Monday’s theme will be about the number of people that the organization says have been harmed by Republican legislators’ economic actions, including ending some Medicaid funding and unemployment benefits...
Top Mich. court won't rule early on right-to-work  Associated Press   ...The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday unanimously decided not to step in early to decide the legality of the state's right-to-work law...
How Scott Walker strangled Wisconsin’s jobs recovery  Institute for Wisconsin's Future   ...The only ‘good news’ is that we’re not falling behind the nation quite as rapidly as we once were. But Wisconsin is still missing out on the national recovery. And our governor’s policies are largely to blame...
Alabama voters' photo ID law can now be implemented for 2014 elections  The Clarion   ...The U.S. Supreme Court voted to strike down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, an act created to outlaw practices such as literacy tests and other discriminatory means that disenfranchised voters based on race or color...
Delaware Supreme Court weighs whether former Countrywide shareholders can pursue lawsuit Associated Press   ...The Delaware Supreme Court is considering whether former shareholders of Countrywide Financial Corp. should be allowed to pursue a federal lawsuit filed against leaders of the former mortgage lending giant before it was acquired by Bank of America in 2008...
American Airlines fires back against lawsuit to stop merger  Dallas Business Journal   ...American Airlines has returned fired against a lawsuit claiming the Fort Worth-based carrier's planned merger with US Airways Group will harm consumers, calling the suit baseless...
Calif. lawmakers approve bill to extend tax breaks as part of business incentive overhaul  Associated Press   ...The Senate and Assembly voted Wednesday to extend a sales tax exemption for manufacturing and research-and-development equipment to eight years. The credit would have expired for some businesses after 4 1/2 years...
Washington County to get workers comp refund check  Marietta Times   ...About 210,000 employers across the state will see refund checks form the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation in amounts ranging from $5 to more than $3 million...
New Jersey postpones surcharge on unemployment premiums in effort to boost job market  Press of Atlantic City   ...Lawmakers passed a bill that postponed a 10 percent insurance surcharge, which Gov. Chris Christie signed into law June 28. The increase was meant to fill a projected $300 million shortfall in the fund that provides unemployment benefits to the state's laid-off workers...
Rural/Metro union signals its intention to go on strike  Buffalo News   ...Teamsters Local 375 on Friday delivered 10-day notice signaling its intent to strike privately owned Rural/Metro Medical Services if progress is not made to fix a system in which, according to the union, first responders are paid below the city’s living wage...

Today's Teamster News 08.30.12

Bank of America hasn't modified any mortgages so far under settlement  Reuters   ...The agreement required Bank of America, which bought subprime lender Countrywide Financial in 2008, to provide the most consumer relief. But in a securities filing this month it said a significant number of modifications had not yet been completed "due to the time required to underwrite the modified loans." The bank so far has provided no relief through refinancings, according to the report...
California Defies Lower-Tax Texas In Creating More Jobs  Bloomberg   ...California, which sent a delegation to Austin last year to find out how the Lone Star State had beat it in employment growth, surged ahead of Texas to lead the nation in job creation for the last two consecutive months...
Romney Party Yacht Flies Cayman Islands Flag  ABC News   ...Gov. Mitt Romney's campaign toasted its top donors Wednesday aboard a 150-foot yacht flying the flag of the Cayman Islands...
Paul Ryan’s brazen lies  Salon   ...His Republican National Convention speech was stunning for its dishonesty...
Florida Victory: Federal Court Removes New Restrictions on Voter Registration Groups  Brennan Center for Justice   ...Civic groups and Florida voters scored a decisive victory today when a federal judge indicated he will permanently remove controversial restrictions on community-based voter registration drives...
The Party of Lincoln and the Right to Vote  The Atlantic   ...While Republicans convene in Tampa this week to figure out how to win more votes, a three-judge panel of jurists convenes in the nation's capital to evaluate the legality of a new state law that's designed to ensure that fewer registered voters are permitted to cast a ballot...
Teamsters Local 79, Pasco still at odds  Tampa Bay Online   ...Pasco County has rejected a special magistrate's ruling that union employees should get a 3 percent pay raise...

Today's Teamster News 08.10.12

U.S. scores dead last again in healthcare study  Reuters   ...Americans spend twice as much as residents of other developed countries on healthcare, but get lower quality, less efficiency and have the least equitable system, according to a report released on Wednesday...
Just 14% Think Today’s Children Will Be Better Off Than Their Parents  Business Insider   ...Confidence in the U.S. job market has fallen again, with the highest number of Americans in 10 months describing the employment situation as worse than it was a year ago...
Justice Dept. says it won’t prosecute Goldman Sachs or its employees in financial fraud probe  Associated Press   ...“The department and investigative agencies ultimately concluded that the burden of proof to bring a criminal case could not be met based on the law and facts as they exist at this time,” the department said...
Watchdog Offers Mortgage Rules  Wall Street Journal   ... Under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposal, loan servicers would be required to evaluate homeowners’ applications for loan-assistance within 30 days of receiving an application and would be barred from going ahead with a foreclosure until a final decision has been reached on a borrower’s application for help...
Michigan Board of State Canvassers puts Emergency Manager Law repeal on November ballot  eclectablog   ...Although PA 4 is now officially suspended until the election to determine if it’s repealed or upheld, there is now certain to be a court battle over what happens in the interim...
DOJ subpoenas Miami-Dade, 8 other counties in noncitizen voter purge  Miami Herald   ...The U.S. Department of Justice sent subpoenas to nine of Florida's county election supervisors, demanding extensive information as to how the counties may have sought to remove non-citizens from the voter rolls...

Today's Teamster News 02.21.12

America’s last hope: A strong labor movement  Salon   ...Americans give up their individual freedom and democratic voice every single day they walk into work. The workplace is an authoritarian dictatorship, and we accept this as legitimate...
U.S. oil gusher blows out projections  Houston Chronicle   ...many say the booming shale oil fields in Texas and North Dakota and the growth of deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico will allow the nation to cut its reliance on oil imports significantly over the next couple of decades...
Some Doubt a Settlement Will End Mortgage Ills  New York Times   ...Even as government officials prepare to unveil new standards this week for how banks treat millions of Americans facing foreclosure, housing advocates and homeowners are skeptical the rules will be able to do something past efforts have not: provide a beleaguered borrower with one individual to help them navigate the mortgage maze...
Massachusetts Home Seizures Threatened in Loan Case: Mortgages  Bloomberg Business Week   ...The highest court in Massachusetts is poised to rule as soon as this month on a foreclosure case that could lead to a surge in claims from home owners seeking to overturn seizures...
Cooper Tire, drivers of fleet trucks reach deal  Toledo Blade   ...Cooper said the drivers, represented by Teamsters Local 20, gave final approval Saturday. The new contract is a three-year agreement, though terms weren't revealed...
Teamsters union may soon represent employees at Production Engineering MLive.com   ...Alan Sprague, president of the Teamsters Local 164, confirmed Monday the union has put out a petition to hold an election March 16 at Production Engineering...

Today's Teamster News 02.10.12

Haridopolos: Private prison vote is next week  Orlando Sentinel   ...Haridopolos was coy though when asked if that meant he had the votes to pass the bill. “We’ll see,” he said...
Pro-labor Republicans recruit challengers for right-to-work supporters in Indiana House  Associated Press   ...some candidates, such as high school teacher Diana Boersma, are taking on powerful House members, such as Rep. Douglas Gutwein of Francesville. Others, such as Randy Conner and Jon D. Hare, are challenging freshmen legislators elected in 2010's Republican sweep...
ALEC wrote parts of LePage education agenda  Maine's Majority   ...ALEC, a corporate-funded organization that encourages conservative lawmakers to advance big business-friendly laws on the state level, is currently under fire for its efforts to influence the legislative process in several states, including Maine...
Jobs, Economy Most Important Issues To NH Residents  WMUR   ...Coming in a distant second place is the Republican majority in the Legislature...
SD Panel Strikes Down Collective Bargaining Ban  Keloland.com   ...Lawmakers unanimously rejected a bill Wednesday that would have ended collective bargaining for public employees in South Dakota...
This is no bailout for Main Street America  The Guardian   ...While the government's help to homeowners is far from adequate or just, it represents a partial and late recognition of trickle-down economics' inadequacy as policy...
Disgruntled Greeks Start 48-Hour National Strike  New York Times   ...Greek workers walked off the job for the second time this week on Friday in a snap 48-hour general strike called to protest new austerity measures the country must take to avert a disastrous default next month...
This Teamsters Memo Shows How The Threat Of A Union Strike Could Seal Hostess' Fate  Business Insider   ...union officials are calling Hostess's demands — which include a five-year wage freeze and scrapping employer contributions to health and pension plans — unreasonable...

Today's Teamster News 02.07.12

Gov. Walker says DA requested talks on John Doe probe  Associated Press   ...Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says he voluntarily agreed to the Milwaukee County district attorney's request to meet with him about a secret investigation that so far has led to charges against five of Walker's former close aides and associates...
Critics right: No evidence to support privatizing state prisons  (opinion)  Palm Beach Post   ...This plan, believed to be the largest prison privatization in U.S. history, is being rushed through without nearly the amount of study an overhaul of this magnitude merits...
Company Faces Forgery Charges in Mo. Foreclosures  New York Times   ...One of the largest companies that provided home foreclosure services to lenders across the nation, DocX, has been indicted on forgery charges by a Missouri grand jury — one of the few criminal actions to follow reports of widespread improprieties against homeowners...
For Sale: AIG's Subprime Bonds  Wall Street Journal   ...Five Wall Street banks have been invited to bid this week for another multibillion-dollar bundle of risky mortgage bonds held by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as a result of its 2008 rescue of American International Group Inc....
Greek protesters, police clash outside Parliament  Associated Press   ...Riot police fired tear gas to repel hundreds of anti-austerity protesters trying to break a cordon outside Parliament, but no arrests or injuries were reported and the clashes quickly subsided...
Danbury Moves Away from Traditional Pension Plans  Danbury Patch   ...The city's Teamster Union agreed to take raises of 0 percent, 2.25 percent, 2.75 percent and 2.75 percent for the contract it radified through July 1, 2015...

Today's Teamster News 01.29.12

State senate will hold right to work hearing Monday  Post-Tribune   ...On the heels of the Indiana House passing divisive right-to-work legislation, the Indiana Senate will hold a committee hearing Monday with the goal of sending the bill to the governor before the Super Bowl...
Dave Bachman: Prison makeover is too big and too fast  Tallahassee Democrat   ...The one consideration that I feel has not been sufficiently aired is the potential that such widespread changes may have to upset the good order, control and discipline in some institutions, resulting in "unintended consequences..."
Scott Walker Faces Tightening Noose in John Doe Investigation  Veterans News Now   ...a John Doe investigation covering Walker’s tenure as Milwaukee County executive and his successful 2010 run for governor has reached into the inner circles of Scott Walker’s longtime aides and allies. “A criminal complaint has uncovered a ’secret email system’ that was ‘routinely used by selected insiders within the Walker administration’ for county business as well as unofficial purposes such as campaigning...
A Victory for the Public on Foreclosures?  Rolling Stone   ...this deal ... appears to have been effectively negotiated down from a bloocurdling outrage to whatever it is now, which is probably something far less than that: it may still be a serious underpay, but it's not the unreal, criminal giveaway it was originally meant to be...
Trying to Inch the WTO Away from Extreme Financial Deregulation  Eyes on Trade   ...The World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Trade in Services limits the kinds of financial regulations countries can impose...
Erie Teamsters vote to give leaders strike authorization  Go Erie   ...The union represents about 160 city of Erie workers, including Bureau of Streets employees...

Today's Teamster News 01.26.12

Right-to-work measure clears Indiana House  Associated Press   ...Indiana is poised to become the first right-to-work state in more than a decade after the Republican-controlled House passed legislation on Wednesday banning from collecting mandatory fees from workers...
Private-prisons bill advances in Florida Senate  Miami Herald   ...opposition is building on multiple fronts. Correctional officers and unions say privatization is being rushed and will cause widespread disruption to families, where it is common for two or more members of the same family to hold prison jobs...
Five Democratic State Senators In Missouri Threatened With Sniper Crosshairs On Their Office Doors  Addicting Info   ...Just a few days ago, a Democratic campaign manager in Arkansas arrived home to find his children’s pet cat murdered with the word ‘Liberal’ scrawled across its fur. And now, Missouri lawmakers are also being threatened...
California calls $25-billion mortgage settlement 'inadequate'  Los Angeles Times   ...“Our state has been clear about what any multistate settlement must contain: transparency, relief going to the most distressed homeowners and meaningful enforcement that ensures accountability. At this point, this deal does not suffice for California..."
Bank of America Poses a Grave Threat to U.S. Financial Stability  Public Citizen   ...Petition calling on Federal Reserve and Financial Stability Oversight Committee to break up Bank of America...
Trucking Industry, Teamsters Clash Over Owner-Operator Bill  Journal of Commerce   ...The harbor trucking industry is clashing with the Teamsters union over a bill before the Washington state legislature that would classify owner-operators as employees rather than as independent contractors...

Today's Teamster News 01.24.12

Indiana House Dems lose right-to-work referendum vote, possibly resume boycott in labor battle  Associated Press   ...While Indiana House Republicans were bracing for another possible Democratic boycott in the bruising right-to-work battle, Senate Republicans on Monday were cheering the final passage of the measure in their chamber just a few hundred feet away...
Prison privatization bills move forward in Senate  Associated Press   ...Dozens of people spoke against the bills, telling senators privatization would put state employees out of work and will reduce public safety...
Romney’s released tax return reveals 13.9% rate, holdings in foreign ‘tax havens’  Reuters   ...Romney’s tax rate is below that of most wage-earning Americans because most of his income, as outlined in more than 500 pages of tax documents, flows from capital gains on investments...
‘Licking Their Chops’ on K Street and Capitol Hill  Bill Moyers   ...“Former senators could expect to earn somewhere between $800,000 and $1.5 million in annual salary next year at lobby firms, while ex-House members could earn between $300,000 and $600,000, headhunters estimated.”...
Settlement with mortgage lenders inadequate, activists say  Washington Post   ...a significant number of state attorneys general and activist groups fear the pending settlement would allow banks to pay only a fraction of what is warranted and escape legal culpability for a wide range of abuses that have yet to be fully investigated. They also say too lenient a settlement would send a troubling message that the financial giants who helped create the housing bubble won’t be held accountable for their role in the bust...
Teamsters remain on Nichols picket line  Quad City Business Journal   ...The two sides said they have not communicated since Friday, and no plans for coming back to the negotiating table are scheduled...