Battle against TPP heads to Atlanta

Trade officials involved in the negotiations of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) may believe they are nearing the end of the process with meetings in Atlanta this week. But the Teamsters and other fair trade allies aren't going down without a fight.

Beginning tomorrow, unions members, environmentalists, health care advocates and others will take to streets of the Peach City as well as to the Internet to stress why this Pacific Rim trade agreement is bad. The pact, still largely a secret to the public, will result in thousands of U.S. jobs being shipped overseas, falling wages and unsafe food and products being shipped to our shores. It could also raise drug prices while hurting the environment.

Dissent remains rampant in this country and around the globe. This morning, for example, six House Democrats asked the U.S. State Department's inspector general to look into what led to Malaysia's upgrade on the agency's human trafficking list. Many believe the improved rating allowed fast track to proceed through Congress in June, The Hill newspaper reported:

The lawmakers said that given the significance of the report in helping to fight global human trafficking, they want to know if there was any request by officials at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Commerce Department, or any other federal agency to influence or change Malaysia's standing in the latest report. 

They also want information about whether Malaysia’s promotion in status was “unduly influenced” by political considerations instead of unbiased expert analysis.

Meanwhile, Canadian dairy farmers brought their tractors and cows to Ottawa today to protest dairy concessions contained in the TPP.

As the Teamsters have said before, there are just no good reason for everyday Americans to support this agreement. First and foremost is the deal won't create any new jobs here. That is significant and can't be pushed aside by proponents. After all, TPP backers like to insist it will result in new work for Americans, although they can never quite explain how. There's a reason why their responses are so vague.

There is something for everyone to lose if the TPP moves forward. The U.S. and participating nations should keep that in mind as they mull this deal. Can they in good conscience say it will benefit the citizens of the world?

The answer is no.

Teamsters protest in Mo. Capitol against right to work

Another battle is raging in the state of Missouri against a right-to-work-for-less legislative attack on unions. And Teamsters are on the front line with other union members fighting for American workers.

On Monday, workers and union leaders stormed the Missouri Capitol as state lawmakers heard testimony on the proposed bill to make the "Show-Me-State" the 26th "right to work" state in the country.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Springfield), had this to say in response to opposition to his anti-union project:

Opposition will say that people make less money in states that provide right to work. The truth is, we’ve always made less money.

Way to set the bar low for workers, Burlison. There's no denying that wages are lower in right-to-work states. So ALEC-aligned politicians in the Missouri statehouse want to remind folks that (non-union) Missouri workers have always suffered low-wages -- and apparently they want those wages to fall even more, for union and non-union workers alike.

The right-to-work bill passed the Missouri House earlier in the session and the state Senate is taking up the measure today.

Hundreds of workers, including Teamsters from Local 618 and others, are making their voices heard against the latest corporate assault on working families. Missourians have packed the gallery and overflow room of the Capitol while the Senate debates the bill.

We've seen a lot of anti-worker schemes come out of ALEC's bag of tricks in recent years. But "right to work" still appears to be the preferred weapon against workers and their unions.

By preventing unions from collecting dues for representation, unions are drained of resources and less equipped to fight on behalf of workers. While most member-based organizations outside the labor movement require members to pay dues in order to keep the organization running, "right to work" laws strip unions of the their ability to do the same.

Fortunately, every time these laws rear their heads in states across the country, workers and their families can be counted on to rise up against them - just like our Teamster brothers and sisters are doing right now in Missouri.

What happens in Missouri matters to all workers today. Keep up the fight!

Teamsters, organic consumers protest UNFI and Whole Foods at Natural Products Expo West

Sergio Acosta came to Expo West 2015 because
he was fired by UNFI for organizing a union.

UNFI, America’s largest organic and natural foods wholesaler, claims to be a values-driven corporation. Teamsters know otherwise. They came to a natural foods conference in Anaheim, Calif., to tell attendees about how UNFI bullies its workers.

Here's the story they told at the National Products Expo West: UNFI intimidated, fired and threatened immigrant workers trying to organize a union in Moreno Valley, Calif., breaking federal laws that protect workers' rights.  The corporation even made death threats against workers, according to a 2012 report by the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF). UNFI violated workers' rights in Auburn, Wash., when it threatened to replace them permanently, according to the ILRF.

Presently, UNFI still refuses to recognize the union formed by UNFI drivers in Moreno Valley. The Teamsters Union was federally certified last November as the drivers’ union after UNFI managed to delay the counting of the ballots for over a year.

In Anaheim, protesters also targeted Whole Foods because UNFI is its dominant supplier. “If values matter, like Whole Foods advertises, then it should live by them,” said Randy Korgan, Organizing Director for Teamsters Local 63 in Covina, Calif. Korgan explained,

Whenever a group of workers at a UNFI warehouse or truck yard attempts to form a union, UNFI management brutalizes them with a barrage of tactics based on contempt and fear, solely for the purpose of intimidating their own workers. 

Teamsters have a message for UNFI.

Sergio Acosta is a warehouse worker who was fired by UNFI when he tried to organize a union with his co-workers. He came to Expo West and talked to hundreds of people. Said Acosta:

Many people are showing their support here at Expo West. They agree that if Whole Foods and UNFI want to start living their professed values, UNFI needs to stop firing workers like me, stop the death threats against immigrant workers like they did in Moreno Valley and start recognizing the workers’ union.

This airplane banner flew over the Anaheim Convention Center.

Protesters handed out leaflets describing UNFI’s community and worker abuses. They held banners that read, “UNFI: Stop the Bullying” and “UNFI is Unsustainable.”

Unveiling a banner at Expo West.

Marc Moran, organizer at Teamsters Joint Council 42 in Pomona, Calif., said the workers' stories about UNFI's behavior sparked similar complaints from small retailers and organic foods producers. Said Moran in a statement released by the Teamsters,

We came to Natural Products Expo West to inform the businesses and organizations in this industry about UNFI’s unconscionable behavior. What’s amazing is how many buyers, restaurant owners and organic producers told us they also feel bullied by UNFI and Whole Foods’ abuse of dominant market power.

Small retailers and producers were unwilling to share their stories publicly for fear of retaliation from UNFI and Whole Foods.

Steve Vairma, Teamsters Warehouse Division Director, said it's time for UNFI to stop the bullying and intimidation. Said Vairma,

Over the years UNFI has tried to undermine workers who have asserted their rights protected by United States law, even where the Teamsters have been certified as the workers’ union through federally supervised elections. UNFI wants to destroy its workers’ fundamental rights to join together to improve their working conditions.

The view from Wisconsin

Brother Rob Moss, Business Agent for Teamsters Local 695 in LaCrosse, has been fighting with everything he has against the right-to-work bill that job-killer Gov. Scott Walker says he'll sign on Monday. Brother Rob sent us the photo above, along with this message that he agreed to let us share:

I wanted to share this picture I took this morning about 1 a.m. I had to move the Joint Council 39 semi to different parking spots for the protest at 12 p.m on Thursday the 5th. As I was walking around the square I came across this sight of the Capitol building with no one else around.  

As I stood there in the dark alone, I had thoughts about my Father (Bill Moss) who was a Teamster for 37 years. A WWII Normandy invasion trooper who served this great country and then raised a family of five kids on Teamster wages. He was not a high school graduate, as he had to start in the workforce early back when many large families had to in order to survive. His American Dream was provided like many others by belonging (under Hoffa Sr.) to our great Union. My family had six Teamsters from both sides and three generations of middle-class life.

I wondered what he would think about this great building that now still stands great but is seized by the equivalent of modern day pirates with political agendas targeting unions. I've always wished for my Dad to live longer then his 67 years, however I'm glad he did not have to witness what is going on in our great state today. Sadly, if this nutcase governor does not get derailed at the national level the rest of the country will suffer along with us. I won't say his name as he not deserving!

I'm hopeful that the big money falls short of buying this country completely. Right now I could only hope to return some future night and witness this sight in better times!  

In solidarity,
Rob

The Joint Council 39 semi at night.

And if you're wondering where those pirates are coming from, Shepherd Express has the answer:

...the “vast right-wing network” that supports Walker and his allied legislators—pro-business interests such as the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC), the governor’s billionaire benefactors, the uber-conservative Bradley Foundation and, last but not least, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the pro-corporate “bill-mill” outfit that churns out anti-worker, anti-consumer and anti-environment model legislation.

Read more here.

Teamsters fight back against right to work in Wisconsin

Organized labor in the Wisconsin Capitol.

Wisconsin Teamsters took to the right-to-work battlefield this morning, arriving in the Capitol along with hundreds of riled-up union members. The Wisconsin state Senate is ramming through a right-to-work bill starting this morning with a committee hearing on the bill.

Gov. Scott Walker, the Koch brothers' favorite toady, said he will sign the bill when it arrives on his desk.

Brother Tom Bennett, President of Teamsters Local 200 in Milwaukee, tells us the officers and representatives of organized labor who have building trades members met at the Capitol at 7 am and then attended the hearing. Local 200 members are there.

Brother Pat Tappa in Milwaukee.

Last night, Brother Pat Tappa, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 344, inspired the shivering crowd at an outdoor "Defeat Right to Work" rally in Milwaukee.

Wisconsin Teamsters have prepared since last year for this fight. If you live in Wisconsin or know someone who does, help our brothers and sisters out by calling your state senator at 1-844-334-3438 and tell them to vote no on this anti-worker bill.

Today, the NFL Players Association announced its opposition to right to work. The Cap Times quoted NFLPA De Smith:

Our guys work for a living. And when it comes to the issues of working men and women in America, our issues really aren't so divergent from theirs. Our guys want a safe workplace. They want a fair wage. They want a fair pension. And they want to know that they can address all of those issues as a collective team rather than being subjected to an employer who has a significant, if not tremendous, amount of bargaining leverage over an individual.

Packed hearing room.

During the committee hearing this morning, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald sneered that low wage workers should drop their union to save pennies, ignoring the fact that unions raise wages by dollars. And as @cathysherwin, one of our all-time favorite tweeters, pointed out

30 minutes ago

.@SenFitzgerald keeps saying "freedom" when he runs out of facts. That's cause it can be explained in 3 letters: L-I-E #wipolitics #wiunion

Economist Gordon Lafer testified that right-to-work laws lower wages -- which is the whole idea behind them.

Marquette University economist Abdur Chowdhury told the Senate committee:

If wages are lower, we expect to see an outflow of workforce. The skilled workers tend to leave the state and will go to another place where the wages are higher. 

Good places to follow what's going on in Wisconsin include the Wisconsin AFL-CIO Facebook page and the Defeat "Right to Work" Facebook page. Follow @cathysherwin, @onewisconsinnow, @wisaflcio, @WeRWisconsin, @WEAC and the hashtag #RightToWorkIsWrong. Or you can make a contribution here.

Anti-TPP activists rally from coast to coast against Fast Track

All over the United States this week, American citizens on the left and on the right are rallying against a Fast Track bill to let Congress rubber stamp the TPP. The targets are members of Congress who haven't said where they stand on the issue.

The TPP, or Trans-Pacific Partnership, would send U.S. jobs overseas, lower wages, raise the cost of medicine and imperil food safety and the environment. TPP supporters want to pass Fast Track so Congress can send the secretly negotiated deal to the president before the public wakes up and realizes what happened.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, said he wants to introduce a Fast Track bill by the end of this month.

If we stop Fast Track, we stop the TPP.

Rally outside Rep. Jared Polis' office.

That's why Teamsters from Local 455 and other Coloradoans rallied yesterday outside the Boulder office of U.S. Rep. Jared Polis. Polis hasn't said how he'll vote on Fast Track. Public News Service reported:

A coalition of community, labor and environmental groups held a rally outside U.S. Rep. Jared Polis' office in Boulder on Tuesday. They want Polis, a Democrat, to oppose President Obama's request for "fast track" authority for the Trans Pacific Partnership, a trade deal involving the United States and 11 other countries.

The Fair Trade or Bust Bus

The story was the same in the Pacific Northwest, where a Fair Trade or Bust! bus set out yesterday on a two-day tour. Washington and Oregon residents let lawmakers know the impact the trade deal will have on jobs, wages, and the environment through a series of rallies and other press events in a half-dozen cities.

On Tuesday morning, Teamsters from Local 313 in Tacoma joined the Fair Trade or Bust! bus riders outside the Mount Vernon office of Congresswoman Suzan DelBene. They rallied for Washington's food suppliers, good-paying jobs, and a healthy environment.

In Tacoma, Wash., 100 people (including Teamsters) came out to a rally in Fireman's Park to tell Congressman Derek Kilmer to vote no on Fast Track.

Today the Fair Trade or Bust Bus started out at Rep. Suzanne Bonamci's office to tell her the same thing. At noon the bus rolled into Portland to wave Teamsters' 'Fast Track Wrong Track' signs in front of Congressman Earl Blumenauer's office. They head next to the office of Ron Wyden, who holds a key to the fate of Fast Track in the U.S. Senate.

On the East Coast, Rep. Richard Neal woke this morning to a Berkshire Eagle op-ed telling him to vote no on Fast Track. Later in the day rallies were held outside his Massachusetts offices in Springfield and Pittsfield.

That's just a small sampling of the rallies, protests, meetings, Town Halls and news conferences going on this week. They're happening in Sacramento, San Diego, Bridgeport, Conn., Chicago, Rockville, Md., St. Louis, New York City, New Hope, N.C., and other cities where members of Congress haven't seen the light. Teamsters political representatives are also holding under-the-radar screen meetings in district offices.

You can help shine a light on the secretive TPP by joining a Twitterstorm on Thursday, Feb. 19 between 1-2 pm Eastern Time. Look for the #FightFastTrack hashtag.

Please help Walmart workers disciplined for striking against the company

The OUR Walmart campaign held demonstrations across the country last week calling on Walmart managers to reverse disciplinary actions against 35 workers.

The workers in nine different states participated in Black Friday protests against the retail giant.

Walmart managers have been illegally spying on, disciplining and even firing workers who spoke out.

Despite Walmart’s publicly stated anti-retaliation policy, the company lets the managers get away with targeting workers who exercise their rights.

Mother Jones reported on what happened to one of the Walmart workers, 26-year-old Kiana Howard of Sacramento, Calif.

I didn't graduate from high school because I couldn't pass the math part of the exit exam. I did go back in 2013 and get my diploma. I was screaming and crying. I was so happy. 

About a week later, I started working at the local Walmart. I love working around people and having conversations while ringing them up. You could be having a bad day and one customer in line says a joke and changes your whole day. My coworkers there were like family. We took care of each other because we were all going through the same situation. The managers, on the other hand, they don't give a damn about us. 

I started off at $8.40 an hour. Then California raised the minimum wage, and I got my yearly raise, which put me up to $9.80. But the most hours I could get in any week after picking up extra days and taking extra shifts was 36. After paying rent and utilities, I was barely scraping by. I was on welfare, getting $300. When they cut that off, I really started struggling. And then they cut my food stamps down by more than half, to $136, so I started having to spend money on food. I went to food banks to make sure I fed my seven-year-old son. 

I live an hour away. I don't have a car. I have to catch the bus and the light rail every day. My schedule was all over the place. Some days I would have to be at work at 5:30 in the morning, and then some days I would work from 8 p.m. to midnight. I was tired all the time. It was just madness. Especially because there's no buses that run after 10 p.m...
I missed three days because my son was sick, and I was late three days. They hold that against us for a whole year... 

Around August of last year, I'd had enough and put in an availability change with my supervisor. I told them I could only work between 5:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. That way I could get home to my son. People who had worked there for years told me, "Oh, they are going to cut your hours back for a while, and then you will get them back again." But they cut my hours back—to just 23 a week—and they kept them cut back. It went on for a good month or two. That's one reason I decided to join Our Walmart... 

On Black Friday we went on strike. The organizers picked us up in a white van and drove us to a picket at the Rancho Cordova store. It was me and a couple of other Our Walmart people. They had balloons; they tied them on our wrists. They had posters. And we stood out there for a minute, we talked, and we had people get on the mic and speak. We had a DJ out there. It was like a little party. I did an interview on the news... 

They retaliated on January 13, which was the day I got fired. I had a four-hour shift. Thirty minutes before I was about to get off, they pulled me off the register and brought me in the office. It was like, "You went on strike for Black Friday…" I wasn't listening because I was upset. She said it counted as my fourth unexcused absence and that rolls over into me being terminated. I signed my papers and I gave her my badge and my vest and I left.

You can help support the workers who were fired and disciplined for fighting back. Sign the worker petition telling Walmart US Labor Relations Manager Vice President Vicky Dawson to uphold Walmart’s policy and immediately discipline or fire these managers that have been involved in trying to illegally silence workers. (Click here to sign the petition.)

Today's Teamster News 01.06.15

Teamsters
Trade issues are focus of Wyden town hall in Salem  Statesman Journal   ...Local union leaders and others asked Oregon's senior senator to oppose "fast-track" authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, a proposed free trade treaty with 12 Pacific-rim countries. "I want to know why he feels this is a good idea," Chris Muhs, secretary of Teamsters Local 324, said while holding a sign reading "Fast Track: Wrong Track."...
Trade
Senator Wyden Ends Portland Town Hall After Protesters Take Over  Oregon Public Radio   ...Protesters with the group Don’t Shoot Portland forced Oregon Senator Ron Wyden to cancel a town hall meeting on Saturday after the first 30 minutes. About 200 people had gathered in an auditorium at the Southeast Portland campus of Portland Community College to speak with the senator, who is holding six town halls across Western Oregon this weekend. Many in the audience held signs opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement the U.S. is negotiating with 11 countries in Asia...
Bernie Sanders' Brutal Letter On Obama's Trade Pact Foreshadows 2016 Democratic Clash  Huffington Post   ...Progressive unrest over free trade policies is shaping up to be a major issue in the contest for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, if a strongly worded letter from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to the top Obama administration trade official is any sign...
The Growth Projections for the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Pact Are a Joke  Center for Economic and Policy Research   ... The deal is likely to strengthen patent and copyright protections, leading to higher prices for drugs, software, and other products, all of which will be a drain on consumers and a drag on growth...
State Battles
Delegate Tim Armstead about to make history  Charleston Gazette   ...[Incoming West Virginia House Speaker Tim] Armstead offered no firm commitments but said a number of longtime Republican proposals would be in play. Making West Virginia a “right to work” state, where employees cannot be required to pay union dues? “That’s certainly being discussed,” Armstead said. A law requiring voters to show some sort of ID at the polls? “That’s another area,” Armstead said. “We don’t want to make it harder to vote, at the same time we want to make sure that each person’s vote counts.”...
Unions see right-to-work bill as political attack  Albuquerque Journal   ... labor views so-called right-to-work legislation in New Mexico as a political attack from the right, saying the bill would curtail its ability to raise and spend money to influence public policy...
Right-to-work legislation draws buzz, not necessarily votes  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...The leader of the state Senate has called for a quick debate on so-called right-to-work legislation, but it's unclear whether there are enough Republican votes to pass it...
Scott Walker, Starting Second Term as Wisconsin Governor, Resists New Union Battle  New York Times   ...Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who rose to national prominence in the Republican Party by cutting the collective bargaining rights of most public sector unions, strongly indicated in the final days of his re-election campaign that he had no plans to expand the battle with labor unions that defined his first term...
War on Workers
Even with Recent Low Inflation, Real Wages Continue to Stagnate  Economic Policy Institute   ... real wage growth has been about zero on average for the last five years, and there is no sign of acceleration...
The Real Winners Of The Recovery: The Superrich  firedoglake   ...new research shows that the top .1% has broken away from their uber-wealthy peers and amassed more than 22% of the wealth . In other words, the top one-thousandth of the country controls one-fifth of the wealth...
Railroads seek one-person crews for freight trains  Associated Press   ..."These trains are 7,000 tons going 50 mph. You have to have two people," said J.P. Wright, an engineer for CSX railroad in Louisville, Ky. "It's mind-boggling to me that the railroads would go this far with it."...
CEO Who Said He’d Probably Have To Fire Employees If Obama Won Is Now Giving Them Raises  ThinkProgress   ...Siegel informed Westgate employees that instead of layoffs, he would boost their minimum wage to $10 per hour beginning in 2015...
Nobel Laureate Stiglitz Blocked From SEC Panel After Faulting High-Speed Traders  Bloomberg   ...Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel laureate economist who called for a tax on high-frequency trading, has been blocked from a government panel that will advise regulators on issues facing U.S. equity markets, according to people familiar with the matter. Stiglitz’s rejection shows the partisan infighting that has bogged down Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White’s plan to set up a panel of experts to advise the agency on topics ranging from rapid-fire stock trading to dark pools...
The protesters who are trying to upend the ‘fantasy world’ of economics  Washington Post   ...Harrington now runs a campaign called Kick it Over, which aims to combat what it describes as “the fantasy world of neoclassical economics — a faith-based religion of perfect markets, enlightened consumers and infinite growth that shapes the fates of billions.”...
Let the Fed Lend Directly to Cities and States to Save Taxpayers Billions (opinion)  Next New Deal   ...The Federal Reserve should be allowed to make long-term loans directly to cities, states, school districts, and other public agencies so taxpayers can get low interest rates and avoid predatory Wall Street fees...
Miscellaneous
After two-year delay, construction on California's bullet train is set to start  Los Angeles Times   ...California's bullet-train agency will officially start construction in Fresno this week on the first 29-mile segment of the system, a symbol of the significant progress the $68-billion project has made against persistent political and legal opposition...
Global stocks fall for second day amid oil, Greece worries  Associated Press   ...Global stocks sank Tuesday for a second day as slumping oil prices and concern Greece might leave the European currency union fueled unease about the global growth outlook...

Today's Teamster News 10.11.14

A note to our readers: TeamsterNation will take a short break over the next two days. We will return on Tuesday, Oct. 14. 
Teamster News
Teamsters' teach-in spotlights environmental injustice at hazardous Missouri landfill  Peoples World   ...Corporate environmental injustice - in this case, Republic Service at its toxic waste landfill and Superfund site in Bridgeton, Missouri - led the discussion at an October 3 St. Louis teach-in on the dump, its future and responsibility for cleaning it up...
FedEx workers at New Jersey facility reject union representation  Reuters   ...Workers at a New Jersey facility of package delivery company FedEx Corp (FDX.N) unit FedEx Freight voted against union membership on Friday...
Collective agreement reached between the Canadian Transit Company and Teamsters Local 879  KCEN-TV   ...The Honourable Dr. K. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women, congratulated the Canadian Transit Company and Teamsters Local 879 today on reaching a new collective agreement covering 14 employees working as general maintenance employees, janitors, patrolmen and traffic guards at the Ambassador Bridge...
Golden Gate Bridge Workers To Hold One Day Strike Next Friday  San Francisco Appeal   ...Tim Jenkins, a labor representative of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 856, said the District’s bus workers, servicers, mechanics and dispatchers work hard and fear that the new contract proposed by the District will deprive them of quality, affordable health insurance...
4 Arrested In Culinary Protest Near Red Rock Resort  KSNV   ...During the protest, Culinary organizing director Donell Henderson was arrested after he attempted to park a truck on Charleston for people giving speeches to stand on. Police took the truck away. Not long afterward, three organized labor leaders were intentionally arrested: Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Geoconda Arguello-Kline, Culinary President Ted Pappageorge and Chris Griswold, the secretary-treasurer of California Teamsters Local 986...
Bell Island Workers Get 4.5 Percent Raise, Signing Bonus  The Telegram   ...Keith Hollahan, business agent for the Teamsters, said the offer accepted was very close to what the union had been asking...
Chicago's 2014 Columbus Day Parade  ABC News   ...The parade will start on State at Wacker Drive and continue south to Van Buren. Serving as this year's Grand Marshal is John Coli, President, Teamsters Joint Council 25 and Vice President, Central Region, International Brotherhood of Teamsters...
Trade
Trans-Pacific Partnership Taking on Water, May Sink  Forbes   ...There are two big problems. One is that Congress is in a less charitable mood where trade is concerned than it was the last time it was asked to ratify a free trade agreement. The other is Japan, which stubbornly refuses to drop its tariffs on agricultural exports, even though all other parties to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) have committed to eliminate or phase out their tariffs on everything...
TTIP Negotiating Mandate Finally Declassified  EurActiv   ...The Council of the European Union Thursday (9 October) finally published the secret negotiating mandate for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the US...
State Battles
Teachers protest pension tax at Snyder town hall  WOOD-TV   ... Outside the event at Noto’s restaurant in Cascade Township were several dozen teachers protesting the governor’s visit. Among them was JoAnne Peterson, who taught at Grand Rapids City High for 35 years before retiring in 2010. But then something happened that she had never planned for: A tax on her pension was instituted...
Philadelphia Students Strike to Support Teachers  Portside   ...Two days after the Philadelphia School Reform Commission unilaterally canceled the teachers' contract and announced it would impose changes, hundreds of high school students went on "strike" Wednesday to support their teachers...
Study: Voter ID Laws Cut Turnout By Blacks, Young  Associated Press   ...tates that toughened their voter identification laws saw steeper drops in election turnout than those that did not, with disproportionate falloffs among black and younger voters, a nonpartisan congressional study released Wednesday concluded...
New right-to-farm laws protect Big Ag, not small farmers  Aljazeera America   ...The new wave of state right-to-farm laws is meant to stop environmental regulation and animal rights activists and protect industrial-scale agriculture. Across the country, supporters of right-to-farm laws are demanding that there be no restrictions on fertilizer use or animal antibiotics — even when they are used solely for growth stimulation and create human health problems — and no limits on puppy mills or crowding and caging of farm animals...
War on Workers
Bank Of America’s No-Bid Prison Contract Facing Criticism In Congress  firedoglake   ...Bank of America received an extremely lucrative and favorable deal to be the exclusive provider of technology and financial services in all federal prisons. The terms of the Bank of America deal are so favorable that even members of Congress seem uneasy. Treasury gave the contract out without competitive bid and and the transparency most federal contracts are required to have...
EXCLUSIVE: Bank of America’s horrid “customer service” scandal  Salon   ...Tony (last name not included for fear of reprisal on the job) has worked at Bank of America for 11 years as a customer service associate. He takes phone calls from customers whose needs range from a simple change of address to a family crisis that leaves the caller unable to pay their bills, and he tries to help them solve their problems. And Tony and his coworkers are organizing. Bank of America has had more complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau than any other American financial institution...
22 States Where Adjunct Faculty Are Organizing for Justice  In These Times   ...A wave of organizing is sweeping contingent faculty. Below, a list of current campaigns in 22 states and D.C. shows how far and wide this wave has spread. The new thing is the Metro Strategy, where multiple institutions are targeted at once so a whole regional workforce becomes unionized. This takes advantage of how contingent (also known as adjunct) faculty members typically commute among various campuses, facing equally bad working conditions everywhere they go...
Walmart Health Insurance Could Leave A Really Sick Worker Broke  Forbes   ...First the Walmart employee would face the $2,750 deductible, less the $250 reimbursement, or $2,500. That leaves $27,500, 20 percent of which is $5,500. Walmart’s insurance would require the employee to pay $5,000. An employee in for an extended stay or possibly an operation now faces bills of $7,500. That may be affordable for employees who make higher salaries, but it isn’t for the bulk of Walmart workers...
Kia Worker Suffocated To Death  LaGrange News   ...Investigators and Kia officials are staying tight-lipped about the cause of an accident that killed a 57-year-old Lanett, Alabama, man Tuesday at the sprawling Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia plant in West Point...
Worker killed after machinery falls in Baltimore  Associated Press   ...A man has died after a piece of machinery fell on him at a building in downtown Baltimore...
Miscellaneous
Amazon to open first physical store for holiday season – report  Associated Press   ...E-commerce giant plans its first physical store for Manhattan, possibly temporarily, set to open for the holiday shopping season...

Today's Teamster News 09.29.14

Trade
TPP deadline moves again  Radio New Zealand   ...Another self-imposed deadline to agree a Pacific-wide trade deal appears to be crumbling...
Study Confirms: Offshoring Sucks  Economic Populist   ...ever since Bill Clinton granted permanent normal trade relations to the China, the U.S has lost over 64,000 manufacturing firms and at least 5.8 million manufacturing jobs...
CAFTA and the Forced Migration Crisis  Public Citizen   ... The deal appears to have actually contributed to the economic instability feeding the region’s increase in violence and forced migration...
State Battles
Jerry Brown signs subcontractor bill  The Sacramento Bee   ...In a major victory for California labor unions, Gov. Jerry Brown announced Sunday that he has signed legislation that will hold businesses liable when subcontractors violate wage, workplace safety or workers’ compensation rules...
LA Hotel Workers Win $15.37 Minimum Wage: a New Day for Labor in the United States?  Economic Policy Institute   ...The LA County AFL-CIO, UNITE HERE Local 11 (the LA area union of hospitality workers), and the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, which led the campaign, don’t intend to rest on their laurels and will push for an across-the-board minimum wage increase to $13.25 an hour, far above the national minimum wage of $7.25 an hour...
Thank Goodness Wisconsin Turned Down High Speed Rail!  Econbrowser   ...We find that sales and measured productivity rose substantially for firms near the new (high speed rail) stations after the opening...
Under Scott Walker, Wisconsin slows updates of building and safety codes  The Cap Times   ...DuPont, a lobbyist representing the Alliance for Regulatory Coordination, a consortium of more than a dozen state industry and public safety groups, warned Ross that failure to do so “can negatively impact both public safety and the economy in Wisconsin because products and designs offered across the nation most often reflect the newest national model regulations...”
War on Workers
Watchdog presses SEC for CEO pay disclosure  The Hill   ...The Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) slammed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday for dragging its feet on the CEO pay disclosure rule amid pressure from business groups to scrap it...
Hong Kong Protesters Defy Officials’ Call to Disperse  New York Times   ...The continued public resistance underscored the difficulties that the Hong Kong government faces in defusing widespread anger that erupted on Sunday, after the police used tear gas, pepper spray and batons to break up a three-day sit-in by students and other residents demanding democratic elections in the semiautonomous Chinese territory...
Court to Weigh Political-Contribution Ban for Government Contractors  Wall Street Journal   ...A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday will consider a fresh challenge to campaign-finance rules, this time a 74-year-old law prohibiting government contractors from making political contributions tied to federal elections...
'Why They Hate Us': A Rant Against U.S. Before Attack on Chicago Air Traffic Hub  Bloomberg   ...The man charged with setting fire to a Chicago-area air-traffic facility, paralyzing travel through the city’s two major airports, was consumed by the U.S. government’s “immoral and unethical acts,” according to a Facebook message under his name. The posting, which includes references to being under the influence of drugs, calls government workers “lazy and useless” and said the government “would rather take care of itself and the money in the world, definitely not its people.”...
Construction worker killed in Rockdale County wreck  Atlanta Journal-Constitution   ...A construction worker died Saturday night in Rockdale County after being trapped underneath a dump truck...

Today's Teamster News 08.23.14

Trade
U.S. Steel Producers Win Anti-Dumping Case Against Cheap Imports  Reuters   ...The U.S. International Trade Commission on Friday voted to impose anti-dumping duties against steel pipe imports from six countries, exempting two, handing a victory to domestic producers who had complained that the cheap imports were undercutting their prices...
State Battles
Documents Allege Scott Walker Pressured Groups To Donate To Campaign  Huffington Post   ...Newly released court documents include excerpts from emails showing that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's recall election campaign team told him to instruct donors to give to a key conservative group that would run ads for Walker and distribute money to other conservative groups backing him. … The documents are part of a secret investigation into whether Walker's campaign illegally coordinated with conservative groups during the run-up to the June 2012 recall...
Minimum Wage Ballot Campaign Begins  KGTV   ...A campaign spearheaded by local businesses to put the minimum wage ordinance before voters kicked off Thursday. The San Diego Small Business Coalition announced the referendum campaign at a news conference Thursday morning in Sorrento Valley...
Appeals Court Delays Wisconsin Voter ID Decision  WCWF   ...A federal appeals court put off a decision until next month on whether to put Wisconsin’s voter ID law back in place...
Survey: Economy Slows Down In Rural Areas Of Kansas  KMUW   ...A new monthly survey of bankers suggests the economy is slowing down in rural areas of Kansas, Missouri and eight other states...
Cruel Cuts: Philadelphia Public Schools Pay The Price For Pa.’s Expanded Neo-Voucher Program  Americans United   ...For the second year in a row Philadelphia’s public schools are struggling to open on time, and it appears deep budget cuts – including money siphoned for a voucher-like program – are to blame...
War On Workers
Bank Of America Papers Show Conflict And Trickery In Mortgages  New York Times   ...A founder of Countrywide Financial warned three years before the housing market collapsed that his company could face “financial and reputational catastrophe” if it continued holding certain risky mortgages on its balance sheet. Still, Countrywide continued to sell these loans to investors...
Few homeowners expected to benefit from Bank of America's $16.65B settlement  Associated Press   ...Only a fraction of homeowners would be eligible for refinancing under the settlement. And the process by which people would qualify and receive aid could drag on for years, with payouts set to be completed as late as 2018...
Man Claims Uber Driver Promised Him A Low Fare, Then Charged Him $814  LAist   ...A man says that Uber charged his group a whopping $814 for a ride from El Monte to Culver City even though his driver promised it wouldn't be much more than $150...
Rebuilding America, One Bridge At A Time (opinion)  Washington Post   ...Our public infrastructure is rusting, rotting and, in some cases, falling apart, and we now lag behind nations that are investing in modern, efficient, low-carbon infrastructure...
Economic harassment and the Ferguson crisis (opinion)  Los Angeles Times   ...the Ferguson court is a "chronic offender" in legal and economic harassment of its residents. There's not much of a secret why: the municipality collects some $2.6 million a year in fines and court fees, typically from small-scale infractions like traffic violations. This is the second-largest source of income for that small, fiscally-strapped municipality...
A Walmart Manager Describes Walmart's Mismanagement  Gawker   ...Last week, we received an email from a current Walmart manager in Oklahoma asking to share his story. Below is his description of the policies that America's largest employer uses to pit managers against low-level employees, for the benefit of the richest family in America...
A first for Jackson Hole — protesters are here, and they don’t want rate hikes  Marketwatch   ...Protesters, worried that the central bank is about to put its foot on the brakes, have come to the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole retreat this year to urge the central bank to hold off and give the economy more time to heal. This is believed to be the first time there ever has been protesters at the event...
Miscellaneous
Americans' Satisfaction With Job Security at New High  Gallup   ...In the U.S., 58% of full- or part-time workers are completely satisfied with their job security. This represents an increase from the levels recorded during the aftermath of the Great Recession -- from 2009 to 2013 -- when roughly 50% of Americans said they were completely satisfied...

Today's Teamster News 08.22.14

Teamster News
What the Hell Went on Between Boston’s Teamsters and the ‘Top Chef’ Crew?  Boston Globe   ...Teamsters Local 25 have released a statement about the Deadline Hollywood story and vehemently disagree with the details offered by the unnamed “Top Chef” crew members...
Teamsters Ratify Contracts At Stroehmann, Grocery Haulers Inc.  teamster.org   ...Teamsters Local 264 members at Stroehmann Bakeries and Grocery Haulers Inc. (GHI) in Olean, N.Y., have voted overwhelmingly to ratify contracts providing for significant workplace improvements...
Local 135 Strikes Against Trucking Company  Kokomo Tribune   ...Members of Teamsters Local Union 135 went on strike Wednesday morning against Diamond Trucking Inc. after new contract negotiations broke down Tuesday night...
Carpenters Locked Out Of Pa. Convention Center Since May Seek End To Dispute  CBS News   ...Carpenters who claim they’ve been locked out of the Pennsylvania Convention Center were back out on the street on Wednesday protesting management’s refusal to put them back to work...
Protest-Stalled Ship At Port Of Oakland Finally Unloaded, Sails Away  Contra Costa Times   ...During the protest, the Teamsters had issued a statement calling on longshore workers to "immediately unload the ship" and said their issue was not the Gaza conflict, but the impact the protests have on local jobs...
Sodexo Workers Overwhelmingly Ratify First Teamster Contract With Local 633  IBT   ...Seventy (70) Teamster members employed by Sodexo, Inc., who provide cafeteria services, have overwhelmingly ratified their first ever Teamster contract...
Trade
TPP: The “Trade” Deal that Could Inflate Your Healthcare Bill  Public Citizen   ...Leaked draft TPP texts… contain expansive rules that would constrain the ability of the U.S. government to reduce medicine prices...
Trade Data Pours Cold Water on "Rising Star" Outlook for American Manufacturing  manufacture this   ...The U.S. trade deficit in manufactures surged by $21.6 billion, or 19%, in the second quarter, compared with 2013, following an 8% increase in the first quarter. In the opposite direction, the Chinese surplus increased in the second quarter by $20.0 billion, or 9%...
State Battles
Scott Walker’s Offshoring Flip-Flop  In These Times   ...Mr. Right-to-Work is trying to divert attention from his administration’s abysmal record on jobs and labor in a state still mired in the effects of the Great Recession...
War On Workers
Prayers For Atlantic City As Closings, Layoffs Loom  Philadelphia Inquirer   ...Gaming analysts and industry experts have said Atlantic City has too many casinos and not enough gambling demand to sustain them all. After the three casinos fold, the resort will be left with eight...
Microsoft Leaves ALEC: Horsetrading & The Price to Pay  firedoglake   ...President Obama may soon decide on executive action regarding “a rule allowing spouses of H-1B visa holders, now barred from working in the U.S., to get jobs.” The H-1B high skill guestworker visa allows employers to hire non-citizens for skilled work often in fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics...
One Paragraph Cuts Through The Hype Of Robots Taking Your Job  Business Insider   ...people have tended to overestimate, historically, the effect of technology on labor. And while robots are good at performing some repetitive tasks, jobs that require judgment are not so easily replaced by robots (these include jobs at the low and high end)...
How the Largest Worker Owned Co-op in the US Lifts People Out of Poverty  YES! Magazine   ...New York City is going—in a big way—for worker-owned cooperatives. Inspired by the model of CHCA and prodded by a new network of co-op members and enthusiasts, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Council allocated $1.2 million to support worker cooperatives in 2015’s budget...
There Are Zero States Where The Percentage Of People Employed Has Gone Up Since The Recession  Washington Post   ...From 2007 to 2014, the employment rate among 25- to 54-year-olds has declined in the United States by 3.5 percent, and no state reported employment gains during that time, according to data released by the Pew Charitable Trust on Tuesday...
Miscellaneous
Health Care Data Breaches Have Hit 30M Patients And Counting  Washington Post   ...the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' database of major breach reports (those affecting 500 people or more) has tracked 944 incidents affecting personal information from about 30.1 million people...
Home and Jobs Data Suggests Momentum  Reuters   ...Sales of existing homes in the United States rose in July to a 10-month high, and the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, signaling strength in the economy early in the third quarter...

ALEC secret meeting in Dallas exposed by protesters

The state lawmakers and their corporate paymasters were probably not pleased by the attention 500 protesters brought to ALEC's confab at a four-star hotel in Dallas last week. It was a bad time for ALEC's annual meeting, as newspapers have been splashing across their pages the failures of ALEC economics in Kansas and Wisconsin. Turns out ALEC's 'business-friendly' (read ALEC-member-friendly) agenda kills jobs, stifles commerce and leaves states too strapped to pay for education and infrastructure.

Actually, ALEC doesn't like exposure at any time. That's because large corporations use ALEC to control state lawmakers and loot state treasuries, which isn't terribly popular among ordinary voters desperately fighting to stay in the middle class. At a time when privatization is viewed (properly) with suspicion, ALEC still wants to turn government services like corrections, highways and education over to private corporations. (They call it 'Effective Tools for Promoting Limited Government.')

ALEC wouldn't let reporters into its secret meetings, but we do know this happened at the luxurious Hilton Anatole, thanks to truthout:

Two grassroots activists from North Texas locked themselves inside the lobby of the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Thursday morning, as another two dropped a banner from the upper stories of the hotel to greet lawmakers and corporate officials gathered for the 41st annual meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)...

As lawmakers schmoozed with corporate officials during the day's panels and luncheons, hundreds of protesters lined the streets outside the Hilton Anatole to oppose ALEC's agenda on issues ranging from labor rights, environmental policy, political spending, public education and health care.  

There was also a giant inflatable pig...

Jim Hightower gave the best explanation for the protests:

...I’m here because this bunch over here, corrupt coziness between corporate power and our state lawmakers all over the country are stealing our democracy and so we have to stand up. The powers that be aren’t going to save us on this one because they own the powers that be. So, we the people have got to get out here and alert other people of what’s going on.

Watch his speech here.

Today's Teamster News 07.17.14

Teamster News
Horse and carriage drivers rally at City Hall, drop off 40,000 signatures supporting the industry  New York Daily News   ...Three months after the Daily News kicked off its campaign to stop de Blasio's proposed ban on the horse-drawn carriages, over 100 supporters rallied on de Blasio's door step to drop off five bags of signed petitions supporting the industry...
Hoffa: Sufficient Rest Key To Truck Driver Safety  IBT   ...The Teamsters Union today called for a renewed commitment by Congress to protect the driving public by keeping current hours of service rules in place to help prevent tragedies that are the result of driver fatigue...
Teamsters Ratify New Pipeline Agreement  IBT   ...An overwhelming majority of Teamster local unions that represent pipeline construction workers in the United States voted in favor of a new three-year contract, the Teamsters Union announced today. The contract covers about 4,000 Teamsters...
Teamsters Submit Comments On FAA Requirements For Drug Testing At Foreign Repair Stations  IBT   ...The Teamsters Aviation Mechanics Coalition (TAMC) called for the implementation of a single standard of drug testing for airline mechanics in its comments submitted today to the FAA on its proposed rulemaking, (Docket No. FAA-2012-1058), for required drug testing at foreign repair stations...
Funeral Giant SCI Continues Mistreatment Of Chicago-Area Workers  IBT   ...Funeral giant Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) is once again mistreating its Chicago-area workers by proposing draconian, regressive changes while employing delay tactics and refusing to give Teamsters Local 727 a last, best and final offer for its membership to vote...
Oxford County Deputies Protest 'Low' Wages  Oxford Hills Sun Journal   ...Deputies from the Oxford County Sheriff's Office held a protest Tuesday morning to highlight their ongoing labor dispute with the county. Around 10 deputies and members of Teamsters Local 340 marched in front of the Oxford County Courthouse on Western Avenue to bring attention to the ongoing battle to raise their wages...
Trade
The TPP and Civil War  Counterpunch   ...While the poor, and what remains of the middle and the working classes, suffer defeat after defeat, the wealthy are hammering out yet another “free trade agreement.”...
To End Child Labor, Washington Must Press Companies to Act (opinion)  New York Times   ...Regulation and collective bargaining by independent unions free from political repression are the most important means to reduce child labor and other abuses in developing countries. Unfortunately the U.S. government has not put its enormous influence on the side of enforceable labor rights in the commercial agreements that it negotiates, fighting instead for the rights of patented drug companies and other corporations to exploit global monopolies. These priorities must be changed...
State Battles
Colorado Attorney General Files “Massive” Lawsuit Against Foreclosure Mills, Paving Way for Suits in Other States  naked capitalism   ...The Colorado case filed on Tuesday (embedded below) gives a detailed account of how the two largest foreclosure law firms in the state colluded to set prices on various services well above permissible levels, garnering as much as $97 million in ill-gotten gains since 2006...
Brownback Tax Cuts That Ravaged Surplus Hinder Re-Election Bid  Bloomerg   ...A policy that he promised would create an economic juggernaut produced a sinkhole. A projected $27 million surplus in fiscal 2015 is all that remains of $700 million two years ago, according to budget analysts. Job growth didn’t materialize, Moody’s Investors Service cut the state’s debt rating, former Republican Party chairwoman Rochelle Chronister called Brownback’s plan “ruinous” and “crazy” and 104 members of the party yesterday endorsed his Democratic opponent...
No outsourcing after taking WEDC money (opinion)  Racine Journal Times   ... at least two companies that received financial awards from the WEDC later outsourced jobs to foreign countries, with one of those companies receiving a second WEDC award after the fact...
War On Workers
US Port Strike Threat Highlights Supply Chain Risk  naked capitalism   ...Fears of a strike or lockout at the west coast ports that handle more than 40 per cent of all container imports to the US are disrupting businesses’ supply chains, as shippers anticipating a stoppage divert cargo to Canadian ports...
A Rare Win For The Unions? Staples Abandons Postal Service Trial  Wall Street Journal   ...The labor movement hasn’t had the best 2014 so far, with a bruising defeat for the UAW in its attempts to organize auto workers in the South, and an ominous Supreme Court ruling for public sector unions. But today, the American Postal Workers Union and its allies seem to be making progress in an important battle...
FBI warns driverless cars could be used as 'lethal weapons'  The Guardian   ...Google’s driverless car may remain a prototype, but the FBI believes the “game changing” vehicle could revolutionise high-speed car chases within a matter of years. The report also warned that autonomous cars may be used as "lethal weapons"...
Miscellaneous
Study Urges Pay Increase For Jersey's 'Tipped' Workers  Philadelphia Inquirer   ...New Jersey's servers, bellhops, and bartenders earn lower hourly wages than their counterparts in Pennsylvania and Delaware, pushing them into poverty, according to a report released Wednesday...

Today's Teamster News 07.16.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Propose End To Potential $283M Executive Pay Give-Away At McKesson  IBT   ...ISS, the country’s largest proxy advisor, announced its recommendation that McKesson shareholders vote ‘FOR’ Item #6 on the company proxy to support a Teamster-sponsored proposal that urges the company to address the automatic accelerated vesting of equity awards in the event of a change of control and termination...
YRC, Teamsters Sign Off On New Board Member  Kansas City Business Journal   ...William "Bob" Davidson will join YRC Worldwide. Late Friday, the Overland Park-based less-than-truckload carrier (Nasdaq: YRCW) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced that the union-nominated company-approved Davidson will join YRC's nine-member board...
Events July 17-20 To Commemorate 80th Anniversary Of 1934 Teamsters Strike  Twin Cities Daily Planet   ...Events planned for four days July 17-20 will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Minneapolis Teamsters strikes of 1934. considered the most significant single labor event in Minnesota history. Films, music, speeches, a march, a street festival, a picnic and a lecture by the author of a new book about the 1934 strike will be featured. Event organizers also have reached out to descendants of 1934 strikers to include them in 80th anniversary events...
Oxford Deputies To Picket Courthouse Tuesday To Protest Wages  Oxford Hills Sun Journal   ...Oxford County Sheriff's deputies are expected to picket in front of the courthouse on Western Avenue on Tuesday morning to draw attention to their labor dispute with the county. Deputies are asking for a contract, higher wages and a reinstatement of border patrols, according to Ray Cote, Teamsters Local 340 representative...
GET Bus Strike Starts At 12:01 A.M. Tuesday  Bakersfield Californian   ...With no breakthrough in sight Monday, a six-month-old labor dispute pushed Bakersfield to the brink of its first bus strike in 34 years. The union representing 257 bus drivers and mechanics at Golden Empire Transit District said its members walked off the job at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday after failing to reach agreement with management on raises and some drivers' classification...
Trade
Japan, U.S. to meet again in August on TPP  Japan Times   ...Japan and the United States reaffirmed their commitment to settle as soon as possible the disputes standing in the way of finalizing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, agreeing to hold talks again next month, Japanese officials said...
Dems Push to Delay Trans-Pacific Partnership Until After Elections  New American   ...Democrats in Congress are pumping the brakes on negotiations of a multinational trade pact, worried that a significant bloc of their base would leave the party should the agreement be approved before the November elections...
State Battles
Activists Pitch L.A. Ballot Measure For Citywide $15 Minimum Wage  Los Angeles Times   ...A coalition of activists has taken the first step in a campaign for a $15 minimum wage for workers across Los Angeles, drafting language for a ballot measure that would follow in the footsteps of a boost recently approved in Seattle...
Obama admin to join voting rights cases in Ohio and Wisconsin  MSNBC   ...The moves would represent the first time that Holder’s Justice Department has intervened against statewide voting laws outside the areas that the Supreme Court freed from federal oversight in last year’s Shelby County v. Holder ruling...
War On Workers
The Inverted World of Mobile Capital  Project Syndicate   ...A growing number of American companies are seeking to move their legal headquarters abroad by acquiring or merging with foreign companies...
A Push to Give Steadier Shifts to Part-Timers  New York Times   ...The recent, rapid spread of on-call employment to retail and other sectors has prompted proposals that would require companies to pay employees extra for on-call work and to give two weeks’ notice of a work schedule...
Debt Collection 'Factory' Preyed On Broke Americans: Lawsuit  Huffington Post   ...A federal watchdog is suing a collection agency that allegedly operated like a "factory" churning out lawsuits against cash-strapped borrowers, often using misleading, deceptive and illegal practices...
The Staples Boycott: A Big Teachers Union Gets on Board  Wall Street Journal   ...“Postal workers are the most amazing public servants,” said American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten. “Who does Staples really want and need to come into its stores every single day? Teachers. The best way we can help is if we say to Staples: ‘You do this to the postal workers, and we aren’t buying supplies in your stores.’”...
A Tale Of ‘Too Big To Fail’ In Higher Education  New York Times   ...to varying degrees, the predicament of unaccountable colleges overseen by ineffective accreditors exists nationwide...
Miscellaneous
Germany's plan to take on NSA: Block eavesdroppers with classical music, and use typewriters  Telegraph   ...Politicians in Germany have devised an ingenious solution to combat the threat of eavesdropping by American spies: playing classical music during their meetings...
Senators Blast NCAA, ESPN In Review Of College Athletics  Roll Call   ...Senators hammered NCAA President Mark Emmert on July 9, as questions about student-athlete compensation, graduation rates, health care and sexual assault took center stage. Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., kicked off by (saying) ... There’s a growing perception that college athletics, particularly Division I football and basketball, are not avocations at all. What they really are is highly profitable commercial enterprises.”...