Today's Teamster News 05.27.14

Trade
WTO Final Ruling: European Ban on Products from Inhumane Seal Harvest Violates WTO Rules  Public Citizen   ...The WTO today added fuzzy white baby seals clubbed to death on bloody ice flows to dolphins and sea turtles as animals that the WTO has declared cannot be protected by domestic laws because they  violate “trade” rules, which will just fuel public and policymaker skepticism about these so-called trade deals...
W.T.O. Sides With U.S. in Dispute Over Chinese Car Tariffs  New York Times   ... The World Trade Organization sided with the United States on Friday in a dispute over punitive Chinese tariffs on American exports of cars and sport utility vehicles...
U.S. Case Offers Glimpse Into China’s Hacker Army  New York Times   ...Many hackers working directly for the Chinese government are men in their 20s and 30s who have been trained at universities run by the People’s Liberation Army and are employed by the state in myriad ways. ..
War on Workers
Using Jailed Migrants as a Pool of Cheap Labor  New York Times   ...As the federal government cracks down on immigrants in the country illegally and forbids businesses to hire them, it is relying on tens of thousands of those immigrants each year to provide essential labor — usually for $1 a day or less — at the detention centers where they are held when caught by the authorities...
The loss of Memorial Day's meaning is just one way we short-change veterans (opinion)  The Guardian   ...from 2009 to 2011, according to estimates by the Department of Veteran Affairs, 22 soldiers a day committed suicide – an average of nearly one per hour. That means that, in just one year, more than 8,000 veterans take their own lives – more than the total number of OIF and OEF casualties combined...
Atlas hid: Uber has set up a decoy office to keep drivers away from its shiny new HQ  Pando   ...Euphemistically called a “driver center,” one Uber driver told us the second office is actually more of a decoy: allowing the company to fulfill its promise to be more accessible to drivers without, you know, actually having them make Uber’s real office look untidy. …  Uber’s office on Mission Street has been a focal point for protests by drivers...
The US labor market is not working  Antonio Fatas on the Global Economy   ...Among OECD economies, the US stands towards the bottom of the table when it comes to employment to population ratio...
Federal probe into Major League Baseball for illegal pay practices expands  Salon   ...A federal investigation of pay practices in Major League Baseball has been expanded to include two more teams—the Baltimore Orioles and Oakland A’s—bringing to four the number of clubs that have come under scrutiny for possible violations of U.S. wage standards. The Labor Department’s focus is pay for clubhouse and administrative workers and interns...
Chlorine in your chicken: Why poultry is more dangerous than ever  Salon   ... poultry workers, who ... already report an injury rate that’s more than 50 percent higher than the injury rate for all U.S. workers...
New Docs Reveal Extensive Monitoring of Occupy  In These Times   ...The monitoring appears similar to that conducted by the FBI counterterrorism officials...
Miscellaneous
Train accident kills at least 40 in Northern India   Associated Press   ...The Gorakhpur Express passenger train was traveling at high speed and slammed on its brakes in an attempt to stop, but hit the train sitting on the tracks near a railway station in Uttar Pradesh state, district magistrate Bharat Lal said...

Today's Teamster News 04.19.14

Trade
One-Fifth of China’s Farmland Is Polluted, State Study Finds  New York Times   ...The Chinese government released a report on Thursday that said nearly one-fifth of its arable land was polluted, a finding certain to raise questions about the toxic results of China’s rapid industrialization, its lack of regulations over commercial interests and the consequences for the national food chain...
Progress but no deal in US-Japan TPP trade talks  Agence France-Press   ...The United States said Friday there had been progress but no final deal in talks with Japan that are crucial to advancing the ambitious 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal...
State Battles
Nebraska Joins States Banning Employers from Asking Job Applicants About Criminal History  Alternet   ...Gov. Dave Heineman  signed a bill Wednesday making Nebraska the 11th state that bars employers from asking prospective employees if they have a criminal record. The prohibition is a provision in a law designed to reduce prison overcrowding...
War on Workers
The tea party radio network  Politico   ...conservative groups spent nearly $22 million to broker and pay for involved advertising relationships known as sponsorships with a handful of influential talkers including Beck, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh between the first talk radio deals in 2008 and the end of 2012...
Inmates to strike in Alabama, declare prison is “running a slave empire”  Salon   ...Inmates at an Alabama prison plan to stage a work stoppage this weekend and hope to spur an escalating strike wave...
Judge says American can't end retiree benefits yet  Associated Press   ...A federal judge has rejected an attempt by American Airlines to quickly cut off benefits for many of its retirees...
Job Loss Would Quickly Lead to Hardship for Many in U.S.  Gallup   ...A substantial minority of U.S. workers say they could go just one week (14%) or one month (29%) before experiencing significant financial hardship if they lost their job...
Princeton Study: U.S. No Longer An Actual Democracy  Talking Points Memo   ...Asking "[w]ho really rules?" researchers Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page argue that over the past few decades America's political system has slowly transformed from a democracy into an oligarchy, where wealthy elites wield most power...
Big banks lend to corporations over consumers  CNN Money   ...Lending was up in the first quarter, but that jump has hidden the fact that individuals are still having a tough time getting loans...
As we sweat government surveillance, companies like Google collect our data  Guardian   ...Google confirmed this week what many people had assumed: even if you're not a Gmail user, your email to someone who does use their services will be scanned by the all-seeing search and the advertising company's increasingly smart machines...
Miscellaneous
Keystone decision delayed yet again  Politico Pro   ...The State Department declined to specify how long the delay will last, saying only that it needs to extend its review because of an ongoing dispute in front of the Nebraska Supreme Court that could affect the project’s route inside the state...

Today's Teamster News 08.01.13

Teamsters Protest McKesson's Worker Abuse And Executive Pay At Shareholder Meeting  IBT   ...Teamsters from across the country protested today outside the annual shareholder meeting of San Francisco-based McKesson Corporation, North America’s leading pharmaceutical distributor...
No end in sight for Teamsters strike against Gold Cross  Imperial Valley Press   ...The Gold Cross ambulance employees strike entered its third day Tuesday, and with talks between the company and the employees’ union at a standstill, there is no end in sight...
UPS Freight Negotiations Update  IBT   ...The UPS Freight National Negotiating Committee met today to discuss concerns that members have raised about the tentative agreement that was rejected. The committee also discussed the next steps for continuing negotiations with the company so that an agreement can be put to another membership vote. View the memo here...
Civil Service ruling in Scranton Parking Authority case seen as harbinger   Scranton Times-Tribune   ...A state Civil Service Commission dismissal of a furlough appeal by Scranton Parking Authority's former executive director may be a harbinger in an unrelated arbitration case involving union workers, who are members of Teamsters Local 229, who also were laid off...
2013 Teamsters Leadership Academy (TLA) Course Summary and Registration Form  IBT   ...Check out the Teamsters Leadership Academy schedule of programs for Teamster leaders that available for the remainder of this year. Download the schedule here...
Economic Recovery by Statistical Manipulation  Counterpunch   ...he Obama administration will announce a major revision of how it calculates GDP which will bump up GDP numbers by as much as 3% according to some estimates...
New Amtrak trains, made in USA  manufacture this   ...The Department of Transportation reports that the first of Amtrak's new fleet of electric locomotives, called Cities Sprinters, rolled out of a Siemens plant in Sacramento, CA...
Trucks transported 60.8% of U.S.-NAFTA trade in May 2013   Trucker News Services   ...The Bureau of Transportation Statistics released May, North American Free Trade Agreement freight numbers showing that trucks carried 60.8 percent of the $98.6 billion of freight moved in May 2013 between the United States and its NAFTA partners, Canada and Mexico...
Union leader says BART contract talks were unproductive  KTVU News   ...BART management met with union leaders again Tuesday to try to reach an agreement before the contract for the transit agency's employees expires Sunday night but a union official said the talks weren't productive...
Protests about low wages continue in Kansas City  Kansas City Star   ...Stand Up KC, a campaign to give a collective voice to low-paid fast-food workers, staged a rally and march Tuesday afternoon at which 500 people advocated for higher pay and union rights...
Bankrupt Detroit Receives Less U.S. Aid Than Colombia  Bloomberg News   ...President Barack Obama proposed giving Colombia about $323 million in aid next year, mostly to combat drug trafficking and violence. Detroit, with an 81 percent higher homicide rate, will get $108.2 million...
Walmart Embroiled in D.C. Wage Battle  KNWA-TV   ...Walmart is threatening to pull out three of its stores that are planned to open this fall in the nation's capital. If the mayor signs the Large Retailer Accountability Act that was passed by the D.C. Council, the corporation could be forced to pay its employees more than $4 above minimum wage...
Fox Claims That Feeding Seniors In Need Is An Effort To Buy Their Vote  Media Matters for America   ...Fox News continued its campaign to demonize programs that provide necessary food assistance to millions of Americans by attacking the AARP's effort to enroll eligible seniors in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), baselessly claiming the program was an effort to buy their vote and dismissing the fact that many eligible seniors find it difficult to get the assistance they need...
Prison Guard Union Still Smarting Over Closure Announcement  WXXI News   ...Correction officers say they are still in “shock”, that late on a July Friday, with very little advance warning, New York's Gov. Cuomo’s prison agency announced the closure of four prisons within the next year...
Group accuses Apple supplier of labor abuses  Associated Press   ...A labor rights group Monday accused a Chinese company that makes iPhones for Apple Inc. (AAPL) (AAPL) of abuses including withholding employees' pay and excessive working hours...
Opinion: NC House Dances With Joy Over Their Accomplishments  CNN iReport  ...It should have been a solemn day last Thursday when the NC General Assembly passed legislation that has been called the most severe voter restrictions  ... in the country, but instead there was fiddling, dancing and ice cream...

Today's Teamster News 07.29.13

Teamsters On Strike Against Gold Cross Ambulance  Local 542   ..."It is the hope of Teamsters Local 542 that the company realizes the danger that their actions and position has put the residents of the Imperial County in and that they come back to the table with an offer for their employees that will end this strike as soon as possible..."
Exclusive: Signs of declining economic security  Associated Press   ...Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream...
U.S. Multinationals Were Hiring Like Mad in 2011...Abroad   Economic Populist   ...we have a 0.1% increase in hiring for jobs in the United States while MNCs (multinational corporations) increased their hiring abroad by 4.4%...
REPORT: Canceling Sequestration Could Add Up To 1.6 Million Jobs  ThinkPtogress   ...Fully canceling sequestration at the beginning of August would likely add 900,000 jobs to the economy but could add up to as many as 1.6 million, according to a new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office...
The Bogus High-Tech Worker Shortage: How Guest Workers Lower US Wages  PBS Newshour   ...When Bill Clinton was president, wages for American IT workers were climbing and American students were clamoring to become computer scientists. Fifteen years later, average real IT wages are no higher. It is no coincidence that high-tech industries are now using guest workers to fill two-thirds of new IT jobs...
It’s Been A Busy Week Of Protests In America: Teachers, Pensions, Minimum Wage…  Mint Press News   ...Detroit is bankrupt, Chicago just layed off 2,100 teachers, and California Wal-Mart workers are on strike. Across the U.S., a growing number of Americans are fed up with low pay and spending cuts that are touted as a panacea for budget deficit and years of overspending by American cities...
Activists protest outside Wells Fargo executive's San Marino home  Los Angeles Times   ...About 70 anti-foreclosure activists gathered Saturday afternoon outside the San Marino home of Wells Fargo Chief Financial Officer Tim Sloan, testing a city law against political protest in residential areas that was enacted after a previous demonstration at the bank executive’s house...
Fighting Back Against Wretched Wages  New York Times   ...More walkouts are expected at fast-food restaurants in seven cities on Monday...
Unlike American Parents, Prince William Gets Paid Paternity Leave After The Royal Baby Is Born  ThinkProgress   ...the U.K. guarantees a weekly sum of £136.78 (equivalent to $209.78) or 90 percent of a father’s average weekly earnings – whichever is lower – for the duration of leave...
Governor Admits He ‘Does Not Know Enough’ About The Voter Suppression Bill He’s About To Sign  ThinkProgress   ...North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) said Friday he would sign a bill passed by the North Carolina legislature that would become the most suppressive voting law in the nation...
Solidarity Sing Along crowd grows as arrests continue at Wisconsin Capitol  The Cap Times   ...Arrests of protesters continued for the third straight day Friday at the state Capitol, suggesting a renewed effort by Gov. Scott Walker’s administration to silence the ad-hoc “Solidarity Sing Along” group is doing little to stop the daily event...
Let Me Show You Why People Support Scott Walker  Daily Kos   ...Propaganda disguised as news...
Lew: No federal bailout for Detroit  The Hill   ...Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Sunday defended the administration’s decision not to help bail out Detroit, saying that the city would need to negotiate its own resolution with creditors...
California Hunger Strikers Enter Third Week, Face Retaliation  Truth-out   ...The strike encompassed people in two-thirds of California's state prisons and four out-of-state private prisons contracted by California...

Today's Teamster News 07.15.13

Low-income U.S. students getting less college aid than better off ones: study  Reuters   ...Low-income students are increasingly bypassed when colleges offer applicants financial aid, as schools compete for wealthier students who can afford rising tuition and fees, according to a public policy institute's analysis of U.S. Department of Education data...
Prisoners Stage Hunger Strikes Worldwide  The Real News   ...30,000 California prisoners on hunger-strike find solidarity from Guantanamo Bay to the occupied territories of Palestine...
The wheels are coming off the whole of southern Europe (opinion)  The Telegraph   ...Europe’s debt-crisis strategy is near collapse. The long-awaited recovery has failed to take wing...
Brazil's Major Unions Join Movement for First Time, Strike in 150 Cities  Free Speech TV   ...After a month with plenty of demonstrations, when more than a million people reached the streets to protest and obtained important political and social achievements, such as the investment of a full 100 percent of oil revenue in education and health, today was the first day that workers paralyzed the country and joined the demonstrations...
Teachers' unions call further strikes in pay row  The Guardian   ...Teachers are to stage a one-day national walkout in the autumn in an ongoing row over pay, pensions and workload...
To Rescue Local Economies, Cities Seize Underwater Mortgages Through Eminent Domain  The Nation   ...In Richmond, California, home prices plummeted 58 percent since their peak. Now the city is trying out a new way to help homeowners refinance—and halt the slide into foreclosure...
'Moral Monday' crowd to rally for women's rights  WRAL.com   ...The North Carolina chapter of the NAACP says Monday's protest at the state legislative building will focus on the rights and leadership of women...
New right-to-work laws might cloud state contract talks  Lansing State Journal   ...Before negotiators even approach a bargaining table later this summer, state officials and the unions that represent 36,000 state workers are still at odds over one key issue: Do Michigan’s new right-to-work laws apply to civil service employees?...
Group Works To Get Enough Signatures To Put Right To Work On The Ballot  NBC4   ...Supporters of making Ohio a Right to Work state gathered for a discussion Saturday at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Columbus...
Retirees hit hard in Kasich’s budget  Plunderbund   ...Kasich’s budget shifts the tax burden from the wealthy onto those who are lower income or on fixed incomes – especially retirees...

Today's Teamster News 05.09.13

Court Bars Notice to Workers on Right to Unionize  New York Times   ...A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down a National Labor Relations Board rule requiring most private sector employers to post a notice informing employees of their right to unionize...
US Under Fire over Privatization of Prisons  PressTV   ...Outside a correctional facility just a few miles from the US Congress, prison guards and rights activists gathered to speak out against the continued privatization of prisons throughout the US...
Death Toll Passes 900 In Bangladesh Factory Collapse  Associated Press   ...The death toll from a garment factory building that collapsed outside the Bangladesh capital has climbed past 900, as recovery workers continue pulling bodies from the wreckage more than two weeks after the disaster...
Study: U.S. taxpayers employ more low-wage workers than Wal-Mart, McDonald’s combined  Washington Post   ...Federal taxpayers employ more low-wage workers than Wal-Mart and McDonald’s combined, a new study calculates...
Elizabeth Warren: Trade talks could weaken bank oversight  Politico   ...Elizabeth Warren raised concerns Tuesday that negotiations over new trade agreements could be used as a backdoor way to water down financial regulations. Speaking at a Senate confirmation hearing for Export-Import Bank President Fred Hochberg...
Sanford victory could spell trouble for House GOP leadership  The Hill   ...Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) is heading back to Congress — and that may not be good news for House GOP leadership...
Legislative package seeks to weaken derivatives provisions of Dodd-Frank law  Washington Post   ...Nearly three years after Congress passed the Dodd-Frank financial law to limit risky activities on Wall Street, a series of bills could weaken regulation of derivatives — the exotic securities that helped fuel the crisis...
California set to fine utility $2.25 billion for deadly pipeline failure  CNN   ...California regulators recommended a record $2.25 billion fine for the state's largest utility Monday in the 2010 gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people in a San Francisco suburb...
California Farm Workers Fired for Leaving Fields During Wildfire  NBC4   ...More than a dozen farm workers in Southern California were out of a job after walking out of the fields last week, forced indoors because of heavy smoke from a massive wildfire burning nearby...
TSA knife rule: would an airborne fistfight been worse?  Washington Post   ...Seems a serious fistfight broke out in the first-class section of an American Airlines flight last week. “They were actually throwing punches,” Army Brig. Gen. Jason T. Evans told a local television reporter. “It was actually a fight,” Evans said. Might have been worse if they’d pulled out their knives, but of course knives aren’t allowed on airplanes...for now...
Washington State Has Third Fewest Workplace Deaths for 2011 NBC KNDO 23   ...Washington state ranks third in the nation for having the fewest workers killed on the job in 2011...
Minnesota Senate approves 'modest' minimum wage hike   Star Tribune   ...The Minnesota Senate on Wednesday approved a minimum wage hike that could give 200,000 a raise. The measure, passed on a 39-28 vote, would raise the minimum wage to $7.75 an hour by 2015...
Pa. high court upholds redrawn legislative maps  Associated Press  ...A revised plan to redraw the boundaries of Pennsylvania's legislative districts won the unanimous approval Wednesday of the state Supreme Court, which rejected renewed appeals by citizen challengers and Democrats who argued the plan...
Surprise fast food strike planned in St. Louis  Salon   ...For the third time in five weeks, non-union fast food workers in a major American city are scheduled to strike for higher wages and the chance to form a union without intimidation... 
NY officials vow attack on predatory debt-fixing  Associated Press   ...Federal authorities announced a crackdown Tuesday on predatory businesses that cheat "desperate and vulnerable" people harmed by the 2008 financial crisis with phony promises to consolidate their debt...
Iowa Senate rejects voter ID proposal  Des Moines Register   ...The Iowa Senate Tuesday night rejected a Republican-sponsored amendment to require Iowa voters to show a photo identification when they are voting. The effort failed on a 26-24 vote with Democrats against and Republicans in support...
NM legislators receive pensions, but no salary  Associated Press   ...Voters booted Republican Dan Foley from office after a decade in the New Mexico Legislature, and within months he began collecting taxpayer-financed pension benefits — even though he was only 39 years old...
$667M in business tax cuts advances in Texas House  Associated Press   ...A major tax bill proposing $667 million in breaks for Texas businesses cleared the state House on Tuesday night against the backdrop of Gov. Rick Perry demanding muscular tax relief as the Legislature enters a furious final three weeks...
Teamsters Honor 150 Year Anniversary Of The Brotherhood Of Locomotive Engineers And Trainmen   IBT ...The following is a statement by Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa and General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen...

Today's Teamster News 04.14.13

Billionaire Koch brother wins $12.38 million bad wine verdict  UPI   ...A New York jury this week awarded oil industry billionaire William Koch $12.38 million in damages in his beef with Internet mogul Eric Greenberg over bad wine...
Lloyd Blankfein's $21m haul makes him the world's best paid banker  Guardian   ...Goldman Sachs paid its chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein, $21m last year – and granted him a further $5m in bonus shares in January...
Dems fear Obama Social Security cut will haunt them in 2014 races  The Hill   ...Although Democrats have long-championed the retirement program, they say Obama's plan to reduce payments for future beneficiaries through a chained consumer price index (CPI) has weakened their stance and opened the door for Republicans to vilify the president...
In Spite of the Recovery, More Workers Are Borrowing From 401(k)s  Bloomberg   ...One statistic about U.S. household finances is so startling that it deserves its own post: Nearly one in three employees say they took a hardship loan or distribution from their 401(k) retirement accounts last year, up from one in four in 2011...
Michelle Rhee’s Reign of Error  Taking Note   ...Michelle A. Rhee, America’s most famous school reformer, was fully aware of the extent of the problem when she glossed over what appeared to be widespread cheating during her first year as Schools Chancellor in Washington, DC...
Highland result suggests RBS bankers no longer above the law  Ian Fraser   ...Finally, we have evidence that banks and bankers are not above the law in the United Kingdom. It seems the courts have finally woken up to the fact that allowing them to lie, cheat, deceive and defraud without legal impediment may not be a particularly good idea...
IOSHA inspectors say quotas threaten worker safety as feds begin probe  Indianapolis Star   ...Documents indicate Indiana’s workplace safety agency is trying to boost the number of inspections it conducts without hiring new staff — a strategy that some employees say will discourage complex workplace investigations and endanger workers...
My Word: All workers should have state plan's security (opinion)  Orlando Sentinel   ...the trend should be reversed with all workers having a secure plan such as the Florida Retirement System...
Prison company: Workers falsified staffing records  Associated Press   ...A private company that operates Idaho's largest prison acknowledged Thursday that its employees falsified nearly 4,800 hours of staffing records over seven months last year in violation of its contract with the state.