Unions speak the truth on Social Security

Social Security, the program that provides over half  of American seniors a majority of their income, is more important than ever. Across America, nearly 58 billion workers and their families rely on Social Security every month to pay the bills.

But once again, the greedy billionaires behind Fix the Debt are trying to cut Social Security benefits so they don't have to pay their fair share of taxes. They don't care that Social Security keeps millions out of poverty. They don't care that it's essential to sustaining what's left of the middle class.

The greedy billionaires are now trying to persuade Congress to cut Social Security (and probably Medicare) when they meet in three months to discuss budget cuts. They're trying to disguise it by calling it "chained CPI," which is nothing but jargon for "cuts."

Unions are out front warning Americans of the looming threat -- just like the last time the billionaires tried to push the cuts through Congress. Teamster General President Jim Hoffa staunchly opposes the cuts, which hurt the oldest and poorest retirees the most:

Social Security does not contribute to the budget deficit and should remain off the table in these year-end budget negotiations.  Americans work all their lives to earn the Social Security benefits they were promised. It would be a terrible mistake to go back on that promise.

Even though less than three-quarters of the fund comes from payroll deductions, Fix the Debt minions have been spreading misinformation, saying that Social Security will cause the US to go bankrupt.  When an anchor from CNBC claimed that the US may well go bankrupt from Social Security, Damon Silver, the AFL-CIO's policy director, set the record straight:

That’s frankly not true. That is a lie put forward by billionaires who don’t want to pay higher taxes....The people who believe what you said are people not counting on those programs and who are worried their very large incomes will be taxed.

Chained CPI is like the vampire of American politics. It keeps being shot through the heart and it keeps reviving. The reason it keeps coming back is because it has billionaires behind it.

Our nation needs to keep the decades-old promise to workers.  There is no such thing as an acceptable cut -- especially when the country has more than enough resources to fund the program that keeps millions of seniors out of poverty.

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 07.30.13

Waste Drivers In Michigan Join Teamsters Local 337  IBT   ...On July 26, drivers who transport trash in their tractor-trailer rigs voted overwhelmingly to join Local 337 in Detroit/Port Huron...
Teamsters Still Question Mexican Truck Safety Despite Court Decision  IBT ...The Teamsters today questioned the safety of Mexican trucks after a federal court refused to rehear the union’s challenge to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s cross-border truck pilot program...
Teamster horse-and-carriage drivers lash out on ASPCA’s alleged anti-Christine Quinn moves  New York Daily News   ...Teamsters Local 533 says the ASPCA violated its nonprofit status by giving $450,000 over the past several years to New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets, or NYCLASS, which wants to end the horse-carriage industry and runs a website called QuinnHatesAnimals.com...
Latest UPS Update  IBT   ...As you are aware, the national agreement was approved by a majority of Teamsters who voted. However, 17 supplements and riders were not approved...
Teamster Lake Transit workers vote to strike indefinitely  Lake County News   ...On Sunday, Lake Transit Authority workers, who are members of Teamsters Local 665, voted to strike until they settle their new contract--a move that's expected to result in curtailed services for the county's transit riders...
Massive Cuts Looming for MTD Bus Riders  Santa Barbara Independent   ...Four Lines Face Outright Elimination, Another 13 Threatened With Reduced Service. Unless funding is restored, 50 MTD bus drivers, who are represented by Teamsters Local 186, would be affected by the cuts...
BART And Unions Still Far Apart Before Strike Deadline  KCBS5 News   ...While Bay Area Rapid Transit worker contract talks were scheduled to continue this week, the transit agency’s management and labor unions remain as far apart as ever, offering little hope that an agreement will be made before the strike deadline August 4th...
Misclassification of employees carries penalties (opinion)  ABQ Journal   …This practice of misclassification has created substantial problems for affected employees and for the United States Treasury, the Social Security and Medicare...
Fast food strikes intensify in seven cities  Salon   ...The biggest walkout yet began yesterday morning -- and the strikes could have far-reaching implications for labor…
Teachers crowd final Raleigh 'Moral Monday' protest  Associated Press   ...Thousands of North Carolina teachers and other protesters on Monday staged one of the largest of the almost-weekly demonstrations opposing Republican policy decisions...
Michigan attorney general backs pensioners in Detroit bankruptcy  Global Post   ...Michigan's Attorney General Bill Schuette, a Republican, said on Saturday he would defend retirees who risk losing public pensions because of Detroit's bankruptcy, putting him at odds with the city's emergency manager appointed by fellow Republican Governor Rick Snyder...
Labor playing field needs to be leveled with ideas from both sides of the aisle (opinion)  Oakland Press   ...A recent guest opinion asserted that the passage of so-called Right-to-Work legislation in Michigan led to the state's mild economic recovery. To the contrary, it is highly doubtful that Michigan gained a single high-wage job as a result of Right-to-Work or any other piece of anti-labor legislation...
Quinn signs bill allowing online voter registration in Illinois  Chicago Tribune   ...Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn signed a measure into law Saturday that will make Illinois the 18th state to allow voters to register online...
Landmark California regulations under federal fire  Los Angeles Times   ...Companies are going through Congress to fight California's stricter workplace, consumer and environmental laws. Gridlock and sympathetic Republicans in the House could work in their favor...
State agencies crack down on local temp worker abuse  Burlington County Times   ...The Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor in South Jersey has some advice for employers who think they are not responsible for making sure temporary workers are getting paid minimum wage: Don’t...
Openness lost in privatization  Muskogee Phoenix   ...A push toward the privatization of Oklahoma state services is spawning criticism from those who see the trend as the decline of government transparency and accountability...