Teamsters
Hoffa: China's Currency Manipulation Should Serve As A Warning About TPP Huffington Post ...Currency manipulation has long been a drag on the U.S. economy and our jobs. But China's decision last week to devalue the Yuan shows the kind of damage such tinkering can bring to America. And it's why Congress cannot approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) until something is done about it...
Sun Tran Bus Strike Enters 12th Day, No End In Sight KTTU ...The Sun Tran union worker strike is now in its twelfth day, and any hopes of returning to the bargaining table are fading fast. Each side is claiming it wants to negotiate, but that the other will not. A federal mediator is involved, but as of Monday, there were no talks scheduled...
Global Labor & Trade
Greece Needs Further Debt Relief After Third Bailout Deal In Five Years, Says IMF Chief The Guardian ...Greece needs more significant debt relief from its creditors, the head of the International Monetary Fund said, after the bankrupt country accepted tough conditions to secure its third bailout deal in five years...
Déjà Vu: Germany Tightens Its Economic Power Over Europe Truthout ...Germany pushed hardest for the harshest Greek austerity. That too was a maneuver for domestic political advantage. Merkel loudly depicted herself as protecting Germans from higher taxes (to pay Germany's share of any future institutions' bailouts of European countries like Greece that did not repay their debts). Merkel and her finance chief rigidly refused to relieve Greece of its debts (even though the IMF and countless experts said openly that Greece's debts were simply "unsustainable" and could never be paid). Merkel's refusal meant that Greeks' tax payments would go not for roads, schools and hospitals, nor to rebuild a crisis-shattered economy, nor to pay and pension Greek public workers. Greeks' taxes must instead be used to service Greece's debts to the institutions for limitless years into the future...
China Turned To Risky Devaluation As Export Machine Stalled New York Times ...When Prime Minister Li Keqiang convened the Chinese cabinet last month, the troubled economy was the main topic on the agenda. The stock market had stumbled after a yearlong boom. Money was flooding out of the country. Most ominously, China’s export machine had stalled, prompting labor strikes...
State & Living Wage Battles
Poll: Americans' View Of Labor Unions Improving Politico ...Approval of unions jumped to 58 percent this year, an increase of five percentage points from 2014, though still well below the 75 percent organized labor enjoyed in the early 1950s but greater than the 48 percent who approved in 2009 in the grips of the recession...
The Problem With House Prices New York Times ...One solution for many troubled borrowers would be to modify their loan terms. But as Gretchen Morgenson of The Times reported recently, banks are still unwilling to modify loans, despite rules imposed by regulators and legal settlements after the bust that were supposed to make it easier and fairer for borrowers to obtain relief...
Northwestern Football Players Won't Be Getting Their Union For Now Huffington Post ...The National Labor Relations Board announced Monday that it would not wade into the case of Northwestern football players who were seeking to unionize, meaning college football will remain union-free, at least for the time being...
City Council To Consider Establishing $10.10 Minimum Wage In Birmingham AL.com ...The Birmingham City Council is set to consider the establishment of a $10.10 minimum wage in the city. The council could vote on an ordinance as soon as Tuesday...
Gov. Brown Signs Job Protections For Grocery Workers Los Angeles Times ...Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday signed 14 bills, including a measure that requires that large grocery stores keep their workers for at least 90 days after a change in store ownership...
Why Amazon May Take a Page From Walmart’s Labor Playbook New York Times ...As Walmart, based in Bentonville, Ark., has expanded, it has faced growing legal fire and public scrutiny over the treatment of its 1.3 million workers. Since 2000, the company, the nation’s largest private employer, has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in fines over employees forced to work off the clock or denied breaks...
Competing Referendums Put Brakes On KC Minimum Wage Increase Kansas City Business Journal ...It seems that the minimum wage will not be changed in Kansas City until November, at the earliest. Even then, its unclear whether the city can compel businesses to actually pay a higher wage...
U.S. Labor
Build A New Hudson River Tunnel New York Times ...The only long-term solution is the construction of a new tunnel complex, as proposed by Amtrak in its Gateway Program. Without a new tunnel and new rail tracks, a massive storm or some other disaster could sever a critical link in the Northeast rail corridor that serves more than 750,000 people a day on 2,000 intercity and commuter trains. For commuters and rail passengers crossing the Hudson River who are already complaining about delays, it can only get worse...
The Amazon Economy Huffington Post ...Unions, protection against arbitrary firing and abusive workplaces, and social protections like guaranteed health care and higher education were all ways of institutionalizing the goal of security and dealing ever more people into it. Amazon's attitude is exactly the opposite: security is the enemy. Equated with slacking, it is hunted down mercilessly wherever it appears. This agenda is a revealing caricature of the unquestioned common sense of today's economics profession and managerial elite. They, too, tend to see security as the problem, not the goal...
Old Models Don't Fit The New Economy New York Times ...When presidential candidates in the United States talk about the economy, they speak in terms that have the reassuring familiarity of an old shoe. Candidates on the left decry corrupt banks and waning unions and a government safety net with too many holes. Candidates on the right rail against excessive regulations and taxation. Many arguments could have just as easily been uttered, unadapted, in 1975...
Social Justice & Other News
Racial Wealth Gap Persists Despite Degree, Study Says New York Times ...Even with tuition shooting up, the payoff from a college degree remains strong, lifting lifelong earnings and protecting many graduates like a Teflon coating against the worst effects of economic downturns. But a new study has found that for black and Hispanic college graduates, that shield is severely cracked, failing to protect them from both short-term crises and longstanding challenges...
Citizens Bank Shortchanged Depositors New York Times ...When depositing checks at the bank, there is always a chance for error. The bank’s scanner might misread the checks or the deposit slip. Or the total on a deposit slip might not match the actual deposit. But you usually rest assured that the bank will correct the mistake and notify you of the difference. Not at Citizens Bank. For years, it turns out, Citizens often kept the difference, up to $50. Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other federal bank regulators ordered Citizens, which operates in New York and 10 other states, to refund at least $14 million to customers and pay $20.5 million in penalties for unfair and deceptive banking...
The Plight Of Refugees, The Shame Of The World New York Times ...The world is facing the biggest refugee crisis since World War II, a staggering 60 million people displaced from their homes, four million from Syria alone. World leaders have abdicated their responsibility for this unlucky population, around half of whom are children...
Puerto Rico Crisis: It's Not About The Debt, It's About the Politics Huffington Post ...It is notable, then, that throughout the public discussion and debate over the past several months about the insolvency of Puerto Rico, there has been little or no discussion of the ultimate responsibility of Congress for events that have transpired. Congress has never been shy about exercising its oversight powers in areas that offer political opportunity -- Benghazi and the IRS are recent examples -- and is often swift to demand full accountability and point the finger of blame at others for any manner of controversy or scandal that might come up, but with respect to the territories, where the responsibility of Congress is clear, we have heard a deafening silence...
First-Ever Women To Graduate From Ranger School Politico ...Making military history, two female soldiers will become the first women to ever graduate from the Army’s notoriously tough 61-day Ranger School training program on Friday, Army officials have announced...
CFPB Probes Education Department Loan Contractors Over Potentially Faulty Practices Huffington Post ...The federal consumer bureau on Monday launched an industry-wide investigation to determine why borrowers with federal student loans are being kicked out of generous programs that keep their payments affordable...
Showing posts with label student loan crisis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label student loan crisis. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Friday, August 14, 2015
Today's Teamster News 08.14.15
Teamsters
Public Employees To San Bernardino: Keep Your Promises Teamster.org ...At this week’s San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors public meeting, more than 60 county employees, who are members of Teamsters Local 1932, attended in order to testify in front of the Board about how wage theft is directly impacting not only the cost of living, but their basic needs, many holding signs that read, “San Bernardino: Keep Your Promises.”...
Contract Between EVSC, Teamsters Still Up In The Air WFIE ...President of Teamsters Local 215 Chuck Whobrey says the EVSC never had any intention of reaching an agreement with the union...
Sun Tran Union Workers Contact Federal Mediator KTTU ...The Teamsters Local Union 104 released a press release on Thursday evening, stating they have contacted a federal mediator and presented a "comprehensive proposal addressing all open items."...
Burnco Ends Labour Dispute 660 News ...A labour dispute at the Burnco Rock Products plant in Calgary is over. The company and the Teamsters Local Union 362 reached an agreement Thursday evening, but no specific details have been released...
Global Labor & Trade
Greece Crisis: Eurogroup Agrees To Third Bailout BBC News ...Eurozone finance ministers have agreed on a new bailout deal for Greece after Athens backed the plan. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the deal sent a message "loud and clear" - Greece will stay in the eurozone...
Sen. Sherrod Brown Blocks Trade Nominee To Protest TPP Secrecy Cleveland Plain Dealer ...U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown has decided to block a cabinet-level trade nominee from being confirmed, saying he will relent if President Barack Obama drops a secrecy requirement that has made it hard for Congress to review a pending trade deal with Pacific Rim nations...
TTIP Controversy: Secret Trade Deal Can Only Be Read In Secure 'Reading Room' In Brussels The Independent ...The European Commission is making the secret Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) trade deal even more secret, introducing a new rule that means politicians can only view the text in a secure 'reading room' in Brussels...
State & Living Wage Battles
Court Rejects Suit Over Obama Immigration Moves Politico ...A federal appeals court Friday upheld the dismissal of an Arizona sheriff's lawsuit challenging President Barack Obama's executive actions on immigration, but one judge on the panel expressed strong doubts about the constitutionality of Obama's moves — now largely on hold as a result of other litigation...
Workers Score Paid Sick Leave Victory In Pittsburgh Next City ...The bill, which passed 7-1 with one abstention, requires employers with 15 employees or more to provide as much as 40 hours of paid sick time per year, while employers of fewer than 15 people will be required to provide up to 24 hours per year. Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, who ran for office on a progressive track record and platform, is expected to sign the bill, in the face of assurances from business groups that a legal challenge is on its way...
Florida: Disputed Plan For Voting Map Advances New York Times ...A House panel on Thursday approved changes to Florida’s 27 congressional districts, despite criticism that the move would disenfranchise black voters. The new map would make several changes, including shifting the district now held by Representative Corrine Brown, a Democrat who is suing to stop the Legislature and says the proposal would dilute the voting strength of blacks...
City Begins Minimum Wage Outreach Santa Monica Daily Press ...Santa Monica is considering local rules that would raise the minimum wage in a way similar to a recently passed law in Los Angeles. As of July 1, 2016 Los Angeles will begin raising the minimum wage annually to $10.50, $12, $13.25, $14.25 and $15 by 2020. The rules allow small companies to delay implementation for a year and have an additional year exemption for nonprofits that help the disadvantage or receive a majority of funding from government grants. The increases are indexed to inflation and an enforcement office will be established...
How Corporate Farmers Are Waging War On Our 1st Amendment AlterNet ...The First Amendment may be inconvenient to some people at times, but it’s still the law of the land. Case in point: so-called “ag-gag laws.” These are laws in Idaho, Montana, Utah, North Dakota, Missouri, Kansas, and Iowa that prohibit people from taking photos or videos of farms without permission. They’re designed to prevent the exposure of cruelty to animals on factory farms...
$15 Minimum Wage Proposal Could Go On November Ballot In Kansas City Kansas City Star ...The Kansas City Council has taken the first step toward putting a $15 minimum wage question on the November ballot. In a procedural move Thursday, an ordinance was introduced on the council docket to submit a petition initiative to voters in the Nov. 3 election. The council must discuss and vote on the measure by next Thursday to meet election authorities’ deadline for the November ballot...
U.S. Labor
Pilots Are Spotting More Drones, Prompting Worries About Collisions Wall Street Journal ...Pilots are spotting drones in flight at a far higher rate than last year, U.S. regulators said, triggering authorities to step up efforts to prevent a midair collision as drones proliferate in U.S. skies...
The Many Ways You Can Be Screwed Out Of Unemployment Benefits The Nation ...Unemployment insurance provides a critical income support to workers who lose their jobs “through no fault of their own.” But this compensation, which states generally award on the basis of past earnings, don’t quite work for the millions who are forced to work irregular part-time shifts or stuck in unstable “casual” service work. For these “irregular” workers—filling our retail stores, restaurants and warehouses—being forced to quit because of unsustainable hours is routine. But the standard unemployment check is often out of reach...
Retirement Isn't What It Used To Be The Atlantic ...As the idea of retirement continues to evolve for Americans, the hope is that seniors still be able to afford the leisure they seek—whether it’s through social-security reforms or companies taking greater responsibility in their workers’ retirement plans—and that they’re healthy enough to work if they’d like...
Social Justice & Other News
Citizens United Means Wealthy, White Donors Dominate 2016 Presidential Fundraising The Intercept ...Though the American population is becoming more and more diverse, the presidential candidates are being bankrolled by a pool of very wealthy donors, the vast majority of whom are white...
John Kerry Raises U.S. Flag At American Embassy In Cuba Huffington Post ...Watched over by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, U.S. Marines raised the American flag at the embassy in Cuba for the first time in 54 years on Friday, symbolically ushering in an era of renewed diplomatic relations between the two Cold War-era foes...
Let's Expand Social Security On Its Birthday Huffington Post ...Eighty years ago, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law, creating a national plan to provide economic security for American workers. Since then, Social Security has proven to be the most successful anti-poverty program in our history. Each year, Social Security lifts more than 20 million Americans - including a million children - out of poverty...
Student Loan Delinquencies Jump As Crisis Spreads Huffington Post ...About 11.5 percent of outstanding student debt was at least 90 days late or in default as of June 30, up from around 10.9 percent at the same time last year, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The New York Fed estimates that nearly one in four borrowers whose loans have come due are severely delinquent, or double the published rate, because nearly half of student debt doesn't presently require a monthly payment...
Public Employees To San Bernardino: Keep Your Promises Teamster.org ...At this week’s San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors public meeting, more than 60 county employees, who are members of Teamsters Local 1932, attended in order to testify in front of the Board about how wage theft is directly impacting not only the cost of living, but their basic needs, many holding signs that read, “San Bernardino: Keep Your Promises.”...
Contract Between EVSC, Teamsters Still Up In The Air WFIE ...President of Teamsters Local 215 Chuck Whobrey says the EVSC never had any intention of reaching an agreement with the union...
Sun Tran Union Workers Contact Federal Mediator KTTU ...The Teamsters Local Union 104 released a press release on Thursday evening, stating they have contacted a federal mediator and presented a "comprehensive proposal addressing all open items."...
Burnco Ends Labour Dispute 660 News ...A labour dispute at the Burnco Rock Products plant in Calgary is over. The company and the Teamsters Local Union 362 reached an agreement Thursday evening, but no specific details have been released...
Global Labor & Trade
Greece Crisis: Eurogroup Agrees To Third Bailout BBC News ...Eurozone finance ministers have agreed on a new bailout deal for Greece after Athens backed the plan. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the deal sent a message "loud and clear" - Greece will stay in the eurozone...
Sen. Sherrod Brown Blocks Trade Nominee To Protest TPP Secrecy Cleveland Plain Dealer ...U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown has decided to block a cabinet-level trade nominee from being confirmed, saying he will relent if President Barack Obama drops a secrecy requirement that has made it hard for Congress to review a pending trade deal with Pacific Rim nations...
TTIP Controversy: Secret Trade Deal Can Only Be Read In Secure 'Reading Room' In Brussels The Independent ...The European Commission is making the secret Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) trade deal even more secret, introducing a new rule that means politicians can only view the text in a secure 'reading room' in Brussels...
State & Living Wage Battles
Court Rejects Suit Over Obama Immigration Moves Politico ...A federal appeals court Friday upheld the dismissal of an Arizona sheriff's lawsuit challenging President Barack Obama's executive actions on immigration, but one judge on the panel expressed strong doubts about the constitutionality of Obama's moves — now largely on hold as a result of other litigation...
Workers Score Paid Sick Leave Victory In Pittsburgh Next City ...The bill, which passed 7-1 with one abstention, requires employers with 15 employees or more to provide as much as 40 hours of paid sick time per year, while employers of fewer than 15 people will be required to provide up to 24 hours per year. Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, who ran for office on a progressive track record and platform, is expected to sign the bill, in the face of assurances from business groups that a legal challenge is on its way...
Florida: Disputed Plan For Voting Map Advances New York Times ...A House panel on Thursday approved changes to Florida’s 27 congressional districts, despite criticism that the move would disenfranchise black voters. The new map would make several changes, including shifting the district now held by Representative Corrine Brown, a Democrat who is suing to stop the Legislature and says the proposal would dilute the voting strength of blacks...
City Begins Minimum Wage Outreach Santa Monica Daily Press ...Santa Monica is considering local rules that would raise the minimum wage in a way similar to a recently passed law in Los Angeles. As of July 1, 2016 Los Angeles will begin raising the minimum wage annually to $10.50, $12, $13.25, $14.25 and $15 by 2020. The rules allow small companies to delay implementation for a year and have an additional year exemption for nonprofits that help the disadvantage or receive a majority of funding from government grants. The increases are indexed to inflation and an enforcement office will be established...
How Corporate Farmers Are Waging War On Our 1st Amendment AlterNet ...The First Amendment may be inconvenient to some people at times, but it’s still the law of the land. Case in point: so-called “ag-gag laws.” These are laws in Idaho, Montana, Utah, North Dakota, Missouri, Kansas, and Iowa that prohibit people from taking photos or videos of farms without permission. They’re designed to prevent the exposure of cruelty to animals on factory farms...
$15 Minimum Wage Proposal Could Go On November Ballot In Kansas City Kansas City Star ...The Kansas City Council has taken the first step toward putting a $15 minimum wage question on the November ballot. In a procedural move Thursday, an ordinance was introduced on the council docket to submit a petition initiative to voters in the Nov. 3 election. The council must discuss and vote on the measure by next Thursday to meet election authorities’ deadline for the November ballot...
U.S. Labor
Pilots Are Spotting More Drones, Prompting Worries About Collisions Wall Street Journal ...Pilots are spotting drones in flight at a far higher rate than last year, U.S. regulators said, triggering authorities to step up efforts to prevent a midair collision as drones proliferate in U.S. skies...
The Many Ways You Can Be Screwed Out Of Unemployment Benefits The Nation ...Unemployment insurance provides a critical income support to workers who lose their jobs “through no fault of their own.” But this compensation, which states generally award on the basis of past earnings, don’t quite work for the millions who are forced to work irregular part-time shifts or stuck in unstable “casual” service work. For these “irregular” workers—filling our retail stores, restaurants and warehouses—being forced to quit because of unsustainable hours is routine. But the standard unemployment check is often out of reach...
Retirement Isn't What It Used To Be The Atlantic ...As the idea of retirement continues to evolve for Americans, the hope is that seniors still be able to afford the leisure they seek—whether it’s through social-security reforms or companies taking greater responsibility in their workers’ retirement plans—and that they’re healthy enough to work if they’d like...
Social Justice & Other News
Citizens United Means Wealthy, White Donors Dominate 2016 Presidential Fundraising The Intercept ...Though the American population is becoming more and more diverse, the presidential candidates are being bankrolled by a pool of very wealthy donors, the vast majority of whom are white...
John Kerry Raises U.S. Flag At American Embassy In Cuba Huffington Post ...Watched over by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, U.S. Marines raised the American flag at the embassy in Cuba for the first time in 54 years on Friday, symbolically ushering in an era of renewed diplomatic relations between the two Cold War-era foes...
Let's Expand Social Security On Its Birthday Huffington Post ...Eighty years ago, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law, creating a national plan to provide economic security for American workers. Since then, Social Security has proven to be the most successful anti-poverty program in our history. Each year, Social Security lifts more than 20 million Americans - including a million children - out of poverty...
Student Loan Delinquencies Jump As Crisis Spreads Huffington Post ...About 11.5 percent of outstanding student debt was at least 90 days late or in default as of June 30, up from around 10.9 percent at the same time last year, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The New York Fed estimates that nearly one in four borrowers whose loans have come due are severely delinquent, or double the published rate, because nearly half of student debt doesn't presently require a monthly payment...
Monday, July 14, 2014
Today's Teamster News 07.14.14
Teamsters
Teamsters Nominate Bob Davidson To YRCW Board Of Directors teamster.org ...After thorough consideration, TNFINC has nominated William R. “Bob” Davidson to serve on YRC Worldwide’s Board of Directors to fill a seat that was vacated earlier this year...
'Revolutionary Teamsters: The Minneapolis Truckers' Strike of 1934,' by Bryan D. Palmer Minneapolis Star-Tribune ...This cadre of drivers steered the city’s truckers through three strikes between February and July 1934...
Events to commemorate 80th anniversary of 1934 strike Workday Minnesota ...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...
Trade
TPP-ing over? New Straits Times ...TRADE negotiators from a dozen countries, including Malaysia, are gathering for their 20th official meeting in Ottawa, Canada, but all signs are that talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) won’t get very far, if anywhere at all...
TPP: A Thoroughly Predatory Pact Dissident Voice ...U.S. transnational corporations are working behind the scenes to change the rules governing them. You may say ‘big deal, this doesn’t affect me’. However if you use the internet, view movies, take pharmaceuticals, want a clean and safe environment, believe in democracy, etc., you likely will be negatively impacted...
State Battles
New Jersey law would bar donations from recipients of subsidies The Guardian ...A new law to prevent political contributions by corporations that receive multi-million dollar public subsidies in New Jersey has been proposed in the state senate, following reports by the Guardian on awards made by governor Chris Christie’s administration...
War on Workers
Samsung suspends factory in China after finding evidence that it used child labor Quartz ...Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker, has temporarily closed one of its factories in China after finding evidence that its supplier, Dongguan Shinyang Electronics, was using child labor. The moves comes after China Labor Watch (CLW) accused Dongguan of hiring underage workers, forcing them to work as long as 11 hours a day, and denying all overtime pay...
How property tax lenders prey on the state’s most vulnerable homeowners. Texas Observer ...These high-interest loans are part of a multibillion-dollar industry native only to Texas and Nevada. ... But there’s growing concern that homeowners take on unnecessary risk with property tax loans. And while demand is apparently high, their usefulness may be limited, especially after a recent change in the law that requires counties to offer payment plans to homeowners with delinquent taxes...
Companies That Offer Help With Student Loans Often Predatory, Officials Say New York Times ...federal and state regulators are spotting new instances of abuse as the companies shift away from their traditional targets — credit card and mortgage debt — to zero in on student loans. The companies are coming under fire for potentially questionable tactics...
Home, hacked home The Economist ... “If my PC is hit by a cyber-attack, it is a nuisance; if my car is attacked, it could kill me...”
Teamsters Nominate Bob Davidson To YRCW Board Of Directors teamster.org ...After thorough consideration, TNFINC has nominated William R. “Bob” Davidson to serve on YRC Worldwide’s Board of Directors to fill a seat that was vacated earlier this year...
'Revolutionary Teamsters: The Minneapolis Truckers' Strike of 1934,' by Bryan D. Palmer Minneapolis Star-Tribune ...This cadre of drivers steered the city’s truckers through three strikes between February and July 1934...
Events to commemorate 80th anniversary of 1934 strike Workday Minnesota ...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...
Trade
TPP-ing over? New Straits Times ...TRADE negotiators from a dozen countries, including Malaysia, are gathering for their 20th official meeting in Ottawa, Canada, but all signs are that talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) won’t get very far, if anywhere at all...
TPP: A Thoroughly Predatory Pact Dissident Voice ...U.S. transnational corporations are working behind the scenes to change the rules governing them. You may say ‘big deal, this doesn’t affect me’. However if you use the internet, view movies, take pharmaceuticals, want a clean and safe environment, believe in democracy, etc., you likely will be negatively impacted...
State Battles
New Jersey law would bar donations from recipients of subsidies The Guardian ...A new law to prevent political contributions by corporations that receive multi-million dollar public subsidies in New Jersey has been proposed in the state senate, following reports by the Guardian on awards made by governor Chris Christie’s administration...
War on Workers
Samsung suspends factory in China after finding evidence that it used child labor Quartz ...Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker, has temporarily closed one of its factories in China after finding evidence that its supplier, Dongguan Shinyang Electronics, was using child labor. The moves comes after China Labor Watch (CLW) accused Dongguan of hiring underage workers, forcing them to work as long as 11 hours a day, and denying all overtime pay...
How property tax lenders prey on the state’s most vulnerable homeowners. Texas Observer ...These high-interest loans are part of a multibillion-dollar industry native only to Texas and Nevada. ... But there’s growing concern that homeowners take on unnecessary risk with property tax loans. And while demand is apparently high, their usefulness may be limited, especially after a recent change in the law that requires counties to offer payment plans to homeowners with delinquent taxes...
Companies That Offer Help With Student Loans Often Predatory, Officials Say New York Times ...federal and state regulators are spotting new instances of abuse as the companies shift away from their traditional targets — credit card and mortgage debt — to zero in on student loans. The companies are coming under fire for potentially questionable tactics...
Home, hacked home The Economist ... “If my PC is hit by a cyber-attack, it is a nuisance; if my car is attacked, it could kill me...”
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Today's Teamster News 06.11.14
Teamster News
Teamsters’ salaries set Tri-Town News ...The Howell, (N.J.,) Township Council has adopted an ordinance that will provide retroactive salary ranges and raises for employees who are members of Teamsters Union Local 469...
Teamsters Union Joins Steel Industry Call for Trade Enforcement. Trade Reform ...America’s steel manufacturers and workers have joined forces to fight back against dumped imports of steel pipe used in the extraction of America’s oil and natural gas reserves. Now, another major American union is adding its support...
Job-killer Scott Walker goes to New York City, and Teamsters are there to greet him TeamsterNation ...Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker took a break from stifling jobs in his home state and flew to New York City for a fundraiser, where he was greeted by none other than Teamsters Local 553 President Demos Demopoulos -- and quite a few LOUD union members...
About 100 Cumberland County Employees Seek Unionization Through Teamsters The Patriot News ...Cumberland County has received notice that several employees are taking the initial steps of forming a union, which will be the fourth in the county. Chief Clerk Larry Thomas confirmed Monday that the county's court-related employees filed notice in May, indicating they are going through the process of unionizing through the Teamsters...
Trucker in Tracy Morgan crash hadn’t slept for more than 24 hours Washington Post ...Teamsters Union President James P. Hoffa wrote in a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday... “Drivers feel pressure from their employers to drive more than 60-70 hours a week with insufficient rest.”...
SEPTA To Impose Terms On Regional Rail Workers; Union Says Strike Likely Philadelphia Inquirer ...SEPTA moved Monday to impose management's terms in a long-running labor dispute with Regional Rail workers, which union leaders said could prompt a strike that would halt all commuter rail service at 12:01 a.m. Saturday...
Trade
New hacking allegations surface against China's military manufacturethis ...If we want to see China curtail its hacking activity, maybe we should consider revisiting the favorable trade terms that we grant the world’s largest police state...
War On Workers
Trafficked into slavery on Thai trawlers to catch food for prawns Guardian ...The Thai fishing industry is built on slavery, with men often beaten, tortured and sometimes killed - all to catch 'trash fish' to feed the cheap farmed prawns sold in the west...
These Waiters Don't Make Tips. Instead They Make $15 An Hour Think Progress ...Packhouse Meats, a restaurant that opened in Newport, Kentucky in January, doesn’t allow tipping. Instead, it pays its employees a decent wage. Servers at the restaurant make a minimum wage of $10 an hour. But they can also make 20 percent of their sales in commission — which is based on sales volume, the quality of service, and a few other factors — if it’s higher than that wage. This means that, on average, the servers are making $15 an hour...
Will Loan Forgiveness Offer Long-Term Student Debt Solution? PBS ...The average student who graduated last year had nearly $30,000 in student loan debt. Today, in the White House East Room, President Obama signed an executive order that would allow borrowers who took out federal loans prior to 2007 to tie their repayments to their incomes...
Number Of Unemployed Without A Safety Net Hits 3 Million Think Progress ...The number of long-term unemployed workers who would be getting benefits if the program hadn’t been allowed to lapse hit 3 million on Monday, according to the House Ways and Means Committee...
Miscellaneous
Union-Made Father's Day Shopping Ideas AFL-CIO Now ...If you're thinking of splurging, spring for some game-day tickets so you can watch your favorite baseball players, who are members of the Major League Baseball Players Association, and make sure dear old dad gets a heaping cup of Budweiser beer, made by the Teamsters and IAM...
Finding A Job Opening Has Gotten Easier, But Getting A Job Hasn't FiveThirtyEight ...The good news for the unemployed is that more openings means more chances to land a job. There were 2.2 jobseekers for every available position in April, the best ratio since before the recession began. But those openings don’t mean much if companies won’t fill them...
NSA: Our Systems Are So Complex We Can't Stop Them From Deleting Data Wanted For Lawsuit Washington Post ...The National Security Agency recently used a novel argument for not holding onto information it collects about users online activity: it's too complex...
Big Three Automakers Pledge $26 Million To Help Save Detroit's Art Wall Street Journal ...Top U.S. auto makers pledged $26 million to help protect Detroit's art collection from being broken up or sold during the nation's largest municipal bankruptcy case...
Union-Made Father's Day Shopping Ideas
Teamsters’ salaries set Tri-Town News ...The Howell, (N.J.,) Township Council has adopted an ordinance that will provide retroactive salary ranges and raises for employees who are members of Teamsters Union Local 469...
Teamsters Union Joins Steel Industry Call for Trade Enforcement. Trade Reform ...America’s steel manufacturers and workers have joined forces to fight back against dumped imports of steel pipe used in the extraction of America’s oil and natural gas reserves. Now, another major American union is adding its support...
Job-killer Scott Walker goes to New York City, and Teamsters are there to greet him TeamsterNation ...Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker took a break from stifling jobs in his home state and flew to New York City for a fundraiser, where he was greeted by none other than Teamsters Local 553 President Demos Demopoulos -- and quite a few LOUD union members...
About 100 Cumberland County Employees Seek Unionization Through Teamsters The Patriot News ...Cumberland County has received notice that several employees are taking the initial steps of forming a union, which will be the fourth in the county. Chief Clerk Larry Thomas confirmed Monday that the county's court-related employees filed notice in May, indicating they are going through the process of unionizing through the Teamsters...
Trucker in Tracy Morgan crash hadn’t slept for more than 24 hours Washington Post ...Teamsters Union President James P. Hoffa wrote in a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday... “Drivers feel pressure from their employers to drive more than 60-70 hours a week with insufficient rest.”...
SEPTA To Impose Terms On Regional Rail Workers; Union Says Strike Likely Philadelphia Inquirer ...SEPTA moved Monday to impose management's terms in a long-running labor dispute with Regional Rail workers, which union leaders said could prompt a strike that would halt all commuter rail service at 12:01 a.m. Saturday...
Trade
New hacking allegations surface against China's military manufacturethis ...If we want to see China curtail its hacking activity, maybe we should consider revisiting the favorable trade terms that we grant the world’s largest police state...
War On Workers
Trafficked into slavery on Thai trawlers to catch food for prawns Guardian ...The Thai fishing industry is built on slavery, with men often beaten, tortured and sometimes killed - all to catch 'trash fish' to feed the cheap farmed prawns sold in the west...
These Waiters Don't Make Tips. Instead They Make $15 An Hour Think Progress ...Packhouse Meats, a restaurant that opened in Newport, Kentucky in January, doesn’t allow tipping. Instead, it pays its employees a decent wage. Servers at the restaurant make a minimum wage of $10 an hour. But they can also make 20 percent of their sales in commission — which is based on sales volume, the quality of service, and a few other factors — if it’s higher than that wage. This means that, on average, the servers are making $15 an hour...
Will Loan Forgiveness Offer Long-Term Student Debt Solution? PBS ...The average student who graduated last year had nearly $30,000 in student loan debt. Today, in the White House East Room, President Obama signed an executive order that would allow borrowers who took out federal loans prior to 2007 to tie their repayments to their incomes...
Number Of Unemployed Without A Safety Net Hits 3 Million Think Progress ...The number of long-term unemployed workers who would be getting benefits if the program hadn’t been allowed to lapse hit 3 million on Monday, according to the House Ways and Means Committee...
Miscellaneous
Union-Made Father's Day Shopping Ideas AFL-CIO Now ...If you're thinking of splurging, spring for some game-day tickets so you can watch your favorite baseball players, who are members of the Major League Baseball Players Association, and make sure dear old dad gets a heaping cup of Budweiser beer, made by the Teamsters and IAM...
Finding A Job Opening Has Gotten Easier, But Getting A Job Hasn't FiveThirtyEight ...The good news for the unemployed is that more openings means more chances to land a job. There were 2.2 jobseekers for every available position in April, the best ratio since before the recession began. But those openings don’t mean much if companies won’t fill them...
NSA: Our Systems Are So Complex We Can't Stop Them From Deleting Data Wanted For Lawsuit Washington Post ...The National Security Agency recently used a novel argument for not holding onto information it collects about users online activity: it's too complex...
Big Three Automakers Pledge $26 Million To Help Save Detroit's Art Wall Street Journal ...Top U.S. auto makers pledged $26 million to help protect Detroit's art collection from being broken up or sold during the nation's largest municipal bankruptcy case...
Union-Made Father's Day Shopping Ideas
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Today's Teamster News 05.15.14
Teamster News
Teamsters and California Hauling Company Reach Settlement through NLRB – Back Wages and New Bargaining Agreement Result Beeson, Tayer & Bodine ...Dispatch Transportation, the operating name for Commodity Trucking Acquisition, LLC, is paying $262,000 in back pay to the former employees of the predecessor to Dispatch, Valley Aggregate Transport, Inc. Even better, perhaps, is that Dispatch has entered into a three-year collective bargaining agreement with Local 137 that includes a generous wage and benefit package in line with what other Union contractors provide in the industry...
Teamsters Take On National Express Group At Annual General Meeting teamster.org ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa led a powerful delegation of Teamsters, including North American school bus workers, in calling on the National Express Group PLC (NEX: LN) Board of Directors to address the company's poor worker rights record at its North American subsidiaries...
Road Bills Could Lead To Taxpayer Rage Detroit News ...Michigan's roads are in dire need of repair. But a House-passed package of bills in Lansing that would allocate upwards of $500 million a year to fix streets and bridges is a far cry from a permanent solution...
Adams County Board Approves Union Contracts Quincy Journal ...The Adams County Board unanimously passed three year contracts with most of its bargaining units....
Savannah-Chatham school bus drivers demand year-round pay Savannah Now ...Local school bus drivers are demanding new contracts and year-round pay in response to new legislation that bars them from claiming unemployment during the summer break. They protested at the First Student school bus transportation offices Wednesday and last week at the Savannah-Chatham public school board meeting...
Swift Transportation Shareholders Give Mandate: Eliminate Dual Class Structure teamster.org ... A Teamster shareholder proposal to address Swift Transportation’s dual class stock structure received 79.2 percent support by shareholders of the company’s Class A, publicly traded shares, based on results disclosed by the company in its 8-K dated May 13, 2014 and filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC)...
IBEW, BLET joint statement regarding SEPTA negotiations teamster.org ...SEPTA’s decision on May 9 to decline the proffer of binding arbitration from the National Mediation Board (NMB) is regrettable. We continue to maintain that binding arbitration is a reasonable and expeditious method of resolving the dispute between the labor unions and SEPTA...
Teamsters Announce UPS Will Add Thousands Of New Union Package Jobs teamster.org ...Hiring has already started, and the new jobs will be in addition to the regular filling of jobs through attrition...
Trade
Is The Trans-Pacific Partnership An Environmental Disaster Waiting To Happen? TreeHugger ...President Obama's environmental legacy is in deep trouble and in large part will hinge on a trade deal that his administration is discussing in Vietnam the week of May 12...
State Battles
Governor Brown Signs SB 27 – Sheds Light on Dark Money Common Cause ...Today Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 27, reforming the Political Reform Act of 1974 to further regulate campaign financing, adding the requirement that committees disclose donors of $100 or more where those donations were solicited for the purpose of making contributions or expenditures in California. This essential campaign disclosure bill will go a long way toward improving California’s campaign disclosure laws by closing the nonprofit reporting loophole...
War On Workers
Walmart Warehouse Contractor To Pay $21 Million To Settle Wage Theft Allegations Huffington Post ...A Walmart contractor that operates many of the retailer's distribution centers has agreed to pay $21 million in back pay to warehouse workers in California who claim they were systematically shorted on pay for years...
Walmart US CEO Gets A $1.5 Million Bonus For Missing Expectations While A Worker Gets $0 Think Progress ...Walmart US CEO William Simon's contract gave him the opportunity to earn a $1.5 million bonus on top of $10 million in salary and stock awards if the company's American net sales grew by 2 percent...
Nurses Launch New Campaign to Alert Public to Dangers of Medical Technology and Erosion of Care Standards National Nurses United ...An unchecked proliferation of unproven medical technology and sharp erosion of care standards are rapidly spreading through the health care system, far outside the media spotlight but frighteningly apparent to nurses and patients, says National Nurses United...
How Student Debt Keeps Young People From Buying Houses Slate ...It seems obvious that owing a lot of student debt should make it difficult to buy a house. After all, if you're stuck paying interest on college loans, it's hard to save up for a 20 percent down payment...
Big Tobacco's Secret Workforce: Child Farm Workers Think Progress ...Hundreds of children too young to buy cigarettes are working 60 hours a week on tobacco farms across the South, a new report from Human Rights Watch finds...
Spying Is Meant to Crush Citizens’ Dissent, Not Catch Terrorists Washington's Blog ...The record is suffused with examples of groups and individuals being placed under government surveillance by virtue of their dissenting views and activism – Martin Luther King, the civil rights movement, anti-war activists, environmentalists...
Teamsters and California Hauling Company Reach Settlement through NLRB – Back Wages and New Bargaining Agreement Result Beeson, Tayer & Bodine ...Dispatch Transportation, the operating name for Commodity Trucking Acquisition, LLC, is paying $262,000 in back pay to the former employees of the predecessor to Dispatch, Valley Aggregate Transport, Inc. Even better, perhaps, is that Dispatch has entered into a three-year collective bargaining agreement with Local 137 that includes a generous wage and benefit package in line with what other Union contractors provide in the industry...
Teamsters Take On National Express Group At Annual General Meeting teamster.org ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa led a powerful delegation of Teamsters, including North American school bus workers, in calling on the National Express Group PLC (NEX: LN) Board of Directors to address the company's poor worker rights record at its North American subsidiaries...
Road Bills Could Lead To Taxpayer Rage Detroit News ...Michigan's roads are in dire need of repair. But a House-passed package of bills in Lansing that would allocate upwards of $500 million a year to fix streets and bridges is a far cry from a permanent solution...
Adams County Board Approves Union Contracts Quincy Journal ...The Adams County Board unanimously passed three year contracts with most of its bargaining units....
Savannah-Chatham school bus drivers demand year-round pay Savannah Now ...Local school bus drivers are demanding new contracts and year-round pay in response to new legislation that bars them from claiming unemployment during the summer break. They protested at the First Student school bus transportation offices Wednesday and last week at the Savannah-Chatham public school board meeting...
Swift Transportation Shareholders Give Mandate: Eliminate Dual Class Structure teamster.org ... A Teamster shareholder proposal to address Swift Transportation’s dual class stock structure received 79.2 percent support by shareholders of the company’s Class A, publicly traded shares, based on results disclosed by the company in its 8-K dated May 13, 2014 and filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC)...
IBEW, BLET joint statement regarding SEPTA negotiations teamster.org ...SEPTA’s decision on May 9 to decline the proffer of binding arbitration from the National Mediation Board (NMB) is regrettable. We continue to maintain that binding arbitration is a reasonable and expeditious method of resolving the dispute between the labor unions and SEPTA...
Teamsters Announce UPS Will Add Thousands Of New Union Package Jobs teamster.org ...Hiring has already started, and the new jobs will be in addition to the regular filling of jobs through attrition...
Trade
Is The Trans-Pacific Partnership An Environmental Disaster Waiting To Happen? TreeHugger ...President Obama's environmental legacy is in deep trouble and in large part will hinge on a trade deal that his administration is discussing in Vietnam the week of May 12...
State Battles
Governor Brown Signs SB 27 – Sheds Light on Dark Money Common Cause ...Today Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 27, reforming the Political Reform Act of 1974 to further regulate campaign financing, adding the requirement that committees disclose donors of $100 or more where those donations were solicited for the purpose of making contributions or expenditures in California. This essential campaign disclosure bill will go a long way toward improving California’s campaign disclosure laws by closing the nonprofit reporting loophole...
War On Workers
Walmart Warehouse Contractor To Pay $21 Million To Settle Wage Theft Allegations Huffington Post ...A Walmart contractor that operates many of the retailer's distribution centers has agreed to pay $21 million in back pay to warehouse workers in California who claim they were systematically shorted on pay for years...
Walmart US CEO Gets A $1.5 Million Bonus For Missing Expectations While A Worker Gets $0 Think Progress ...Walmart US CEO William Simon's contract gave him the opportunity to earn a $1.5 million bonus on top of $10 million in salary and stock awards if the company's American net sales grew by 2 percent...
Nurses Launch New Campaign to Alert Public to Dangers of Medical Technology and Erosion of Care Standards National Nurses United ...An unchecked proliferation of unproven medical technology and sharp erosion of care standards are rapidly spreading through the health care system, far outside the media spotlight but frighteningly apparent to nurses and patients, says National Nurses United...
How Student Debt Keeps Young People From Buying Houses Slate ...It seems obvious that owing a lot of student debt should make it difficult to buy a house. After all, if you're stuck paying interest on college loans, it's hard to save up for a 20 percent down payment...
Big Tobacco's Secret Workforce: Child Farm Workers Think Progress ...Hundreds of children too young to buy cigarettes are working 60 hours a week on tobacco farms across the South, a new report from Human Rights Watch finds...
Spying Is Meant to Crush Citizens’ Dissent, Not Catch Terrorists Washington's Blog ...The record is suffused with examples of groups and individuals being placed under government surveillance by virtue of their dissenting views and activism – Martin Luther King, the civil rights movement, anti-war activists, environmentalists...
Friday, May 9, 2014
Today's Teamster News 05.09.14
Teamster News
Teamsters Question Executive Compensation At Republic Services Shareholder Meeting teamster.org ..."Republic's sanitation workers risk their lives every day to protect the public health, in the sixth-most dangerous job in America," said Robert Morales, Teamsters Solid Waste, Recycling and Related Industries Division Director. "It is offensive that the Republic's CEO's estate will get $14 million if he dies, and in the meantime the company is risking the health of communities and workers..."
Mazel Tov! UPS deliveryman matches a Jewish couple along his route in Crown Heights New York Daily News ...Terry Spiers, a UPS deliveryman, played matchmaker on his Crown Heights route earlier this year — and two of the lovebirds he introduced got engaged this month...
Trade
Trans Pacific Partnership A Bad Deal For America Town Hall ...The good news is that the Obama administration plans to create a lot of new jobs. The bad news is that those jobs will mostly be in Asia. President Obama's recent trip to Asia revived debate about the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement...
State Battles
ALEC vs. American democracy (opinion) Detroit News ...without a strong labor movement, both union and nonunion workers have no real avenue to compel employers to provide decent wages, affordable health care and retirement security...And that’s the way the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) wants it...
Ohio unions applaud Missouri elected officials for taking stand against Right to Work PR News Channel ...With Missouri union supporters attempting to steer clear of becoming a Right to Work state, labor supporters across the country are giving kudos to the Arnold (Missouri) City Council for passing a resolution that opposes Right to Work...
Wage Theft: State, Activists Help Keep Laborers From Being Ripped Off By Employers Aurora Sentinel ...The issue has now snared the attention of state lawmakers who this week passed a bill that would make it easier for state investigators to follow-up on wage theft cases and easier for workers who feel cheated to file a claim. The legislation, Senate Bill 5, passed the state Senate last month and the state House on May 5. It is now waiting on Gov. John Hickenlooper’s signature...
Rhode Island Senate Considering “Maximum Wage” Legislation naked capitalism ...Section 37-2-81 empowers and directs the head of the department of administration to establish rules and regulations that give priority in contract and/or subcontract awards to business enterprises whose best-paid executive receives compensation and/or salary equal to thirty-two times or less than the compensation and/or salary paid to its lowest-paid full-time employee...
War On Workers
150 Workers Die Each Day Just From Doing Their Jobs Think Progress ...In 2012, 4,628 workers were killed on the job, which makes an average of 13 deaths per day, according to the AFL-CIO. An estimated additional 50,000 workers died from occupational diseases...
49 Million Americans Go Hungry Despite So-Called Recovery Huffington Post ...Dan Ryan and his wife make a combined $2,700 a month, an amount that is too high for them to qualify for food stamps but too low to feed them and their three children...
Japanese Restaurant Eliminates Tipping And Just Pays A Higher Wage Think Progress ...Riki Restaurant, a Japanese restaurant in New York, recently decided to eliminate tipping and instead raised its menu prices to pay staff higher wages...
Where The Average Student Loan Burden Is Largest Washington Post ...More than a million Americans this year will graduate with substantial student loan debt, the National Conference of State Legislatures recently reported...
Wide Majorities Losing Faith In John Roberts' Supreme Court, Want Term Limits Huffington Post ...The landmark Citizens United ruling was opposed by a whopping 80-18 margin. The more recent McCutcheon decision, which lifted caps on total giving, was said by a 51 percent majority to be likely to create more corruption, while 8 percent suggested it would lead to less...
Miscellaneous
Chinese experts 'in discussions' over building high-speed Beijing-US railway Guardian ...The proposed line would begin in north-east China and run up through Siberia, pass through a tunnel underneath the Pacific Ocean then cut through Alaska and Canada to reach the continental US, according to a report in the state-run Beijing Times newspaper...
Teamsters Question Executive Compensation At Republic Services Shareholder Meeting teamster.org ..."Republic's sanitation workers risk their lives every day to protect the public health, in the sixth-most dangerous job in America," said Robert Morales, Teamsters Solid Waste, Recycling and Related Industries Division Director. "It is offensive that the Republic's CEO's estate will get $14 million if he dies, and in the meantime the company is risking the health of communities and workers..."
Mazel Tov! UPS deliveryman matches a Jewish couple along his route in Crown Heights New York Daily News ...Terry Spiers, a UPS deliveryman, played matchmaker on his Crown Heights route earlier this year — and two of the lovebirds he introduced got engaged this month...
Trade
Trans Pacific Partnership A Bad Deal For America Town Hall ...The good news is that the Obama administration plans to create a lot of new jobs. The bad news is that those jobs will mostly be in Asia. President Obama's recent trip to Asia revived debate about the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement...
State Battles
ALEC vs. American democracy (opinion) Detroit News ...without a strong labor movement, both union and nonunion workers have no real avenue to compel employers to provide decent wages, affordable health care and retirement security...And that’s the way the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) wants it...
Ohio unions applaud Missouri elected officials for taking stand against Right to Work PR News Channel ...With Missouri union supporters attempting to steer clear of becoming a Right to Work state, labor supporters across the country are giving kudos to the Arnold (Missouri) City Council for passing a resolution that opposes Right to Work...
Wage Theft: State, Activists Help Keep Laborers From Being Ripped Off By Employers Aurora Sentinel ...The issue has now snared the attention of state lawmakers who this week passed a bill that would make it easier for state investigators to follow-up on wage theft cases and easier for workers who feel cheated to file a claim. The legislation, Senate Bill 5, passed the state Senate last month and the state House on May 5. It is now waiting on Gov. John Hickenlooper’s signature...
Rhode Island Senate Considering “Maximum Wage” Legislation naked capitalism ...Section 37-2-81 empowers and directs the head of the department of administration to establish rules and regulations that give priority in contract and/or subcontract awards to business enterprises whose best-paid executive receives compensation and/or salary equal to thirty-two times or less than the compensation and/or salary paid to its lowest-paid full-time employee...
War On Workers
150 Workers Die Each Day Just From Doing Their Jobs Think Progress ...In 2012, 4,628 workers were killed on the job, which makes an average of 13 deaths per day, according to the AFL-CIO. An estimated additional 50,000 workers died from occupational diseases...
49 Million Americans Go Hungry Despite So-Called Recovery Huffington Post ...Dan Ryan and his wife make a combined $2,700 a month, an amount that is too high for them to qualify for food stamps but too low to feed them and their three children...
Japanese Restaurant Eliminates Tipping And Just Pays A Higher Wage Think Progress ...Riki Restaurant, a Japanese restaurant in New York, recently decided to eliminate tipping and instead raised its menu prices to pay staff higher wages...
Where The Average Student Loan Burden Is Largest Washington Post ...More than a million Americans this year will graduate with substantial student loan debt, the National Conference of State Legislatures recently reported...
Wide Majorities Losing Faith In John Roberts' Supreme Court, Want Term Limits Huffington Post ...The landmark Citizens United ruling was opposed by a whopping 80-18 margin. The more recent McCutcheon decision, which lifted caps on total giving, was said by a 51 percent majority to be likely to create more corruption, while 8 percent suggested it would lead to less...
Miscellaneous
Chinese experts 'in discussions' over building high-speed Beijing-US railway Guardian ...The proposed line would begin in north-east China and run up through Siberia, pass through a tunnel underneath the Pacific Ocean then cut through Alaska and Canada to reach the continental US, according to a report in the state-run Beijing Times newspaper...
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Today's Teamster News 05.07.14
Teamster News
AGY Seeks 'Collective Bargaining Agreement' Aiken Standard ...AGY released a statement in response to a demonstration by employees that was initially called a strike, but is now being called a "lockout". Employees of the plant began standing outside the plant entrances on Wagener Road and U.S. 78 on Friday...
Teamsters back cutting Swift CEO voting power with stock structure changes Overdrive ...The Teamsters union is pushing a plan to change Swift Transportation’s dual-class stock structure in order to give stockholders equal voting power...
Jeff Klein Snags Teamsters Endorsement New York Observer ...State Senator Jeff Klein, who is facing a Democratic primary challenge, is set to snag the endorsement of the teamsters union later this morning–marking one of his largest union nods so far...
Convention Center: Teamsters, Carpenters could be out by weekend Philly.com ...THE TEAMSTERS and carpenters who set up exhibits at the Pennsylvania Convention Center could find themselves out of work by Saturday, after refusing yesterday to sign a labor agreement that changes their work rules...
Trade
U.S. Trade Deficit Drops 3.6 Percent In March ABC News ...The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in March as exports rebounded to the second highest level on record, led by strong gains in sales of aircraft, autos and farm goods...
State Battles
Missouri Senate Looks To Curb Union Fee Collection The Missourian ...The Missouri Senate is expected to debate legislation this week that would curb the ability of public employee unions to collect fees from workers' paychecks...
Surprise! 'Pro-business' policies hurt state economic growth (opinion) Los Angeles Times ...What's worst about these ALEC policies, Chinn reports, is that the relentless budget-cutting they require leave crucial state services, particularly education, gasping for breath. That's a formula for long-term decline, not growth...
Tax Breaks Abound in Wisconsin, but Job Growth Remains Slow Wisconsin Budget Project ...Wisconsin lawmakers have cut taxes 43 times since 2011, reducing revenue by $1.9 billion over that period and limiting investments in Wisconsin’s schools, workforce, and transportation networks. Despite – or because of – the substantial tax cuts, private sector job growth in Wisconsin has been slower than the national average...
Companies Ramp Up Fight Against $10.10 Wage CNN Money ...Businesses are pulling out all the stops to fight a federal minimum wage increase to $10.10 from $7.25 an hour. A new commercial went up on cable news channels last week from the Employment Policies Institute...
War On Workers
Even Millionaires Think The Rich Should Pay Higher Taxes Huffington Post ...In the heated debate of inequality, the wealthy are usually portrayed as the cause rather than the solution. But CNBC's first-ever Millionaire Survey reveals that 51 percent of American millionaires believe inequality is a "major problem" for the U.S. and nearly two-thirds support higher taxes on the wealthy...
Billionaires try to convince Americans it’s good to import foreign workers, increase immigration Bangor Daily News ...Since 2007, political lobbies spent a whopping $1.5 billion to expand immigration, according to the watchdog Sunlight Foundation...
Jungle Jack Frustrated With The Koch Brothers Involvement In Columbus Zoo Levy WBNS ...One of the most recognized faces in Central Ohio - Jack Hanna, Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium - says he is frustrated by the involvement of a Washington, DC based group and it's efforts to defeat the Columbus Zoo levy...
Koch Group Tries To Sink Ohio Zoo’s Tax Proposal: ‘There Is No Issue We Won’t Get Involved In’ Think Progress ...a proposal for a modest tax increase to fund the zoo’s programs has attracted the attention of Americans for Prosperity, a national group funded by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch...
Bombshell Report: $100 Million in Taxpayer $$ Wasted or Stolen by Deregulated Charter Industry Diane Ravitch's Blog ...A new report reveals massive waste, fraud, and corruption in the charter industry, where private corporations control public funds with minimal oversight or accountability...
Oregon Woman Wins 3-Year Fight Against Wells Fargo Foreclosure ABC News ... her mortgage payments have been deposited by Wells Fargo. Despite efforts to clear up the mistake and paying more than $12,000 in attorney fees, her home went into judicial foreclosure...
Miscellaneous
The World Will Have Its First Trillionaire Within 25 Years Think Progress ...Billionaires will finally have someone to envy by 2040. The world will mint its first trillionaire within 25 years as the wealthiest people's investment gains push global inequality wider and wider...
How the Middle Class Lifestyle Became Unaffordable oftwominds.com ...As the real economy stagnated, the state (which includes the Federal Reserve) incentivized financialization and speculative credit bubbles to keep the money flowing to feed its own spending...
Oh, Good: More Sports Teams Asking Taxpayers To Pay For Their Stadiums Mother Jones ...Cleveland's professional sports teams have poured more than a million dollars into a fight they're hoping will end in victory on Tuesday. The end goal isn't a championship, though--it's a municipal tax extension...
AGY Seeks 'Collective Bargaining Agreement' Aiken Standard ...AGY released a statement in response to a demonstration by employees that was initially called a strike, but is now being called a "lockout". Employees of the plant began standing outside the plant entrances on Wagener Road and U.S. 78 on Friday...
Teamsters back cutting Swift CEO voting power with stock structure changes Overdrive ...The Teamsters union is pushing a plan to change Swift Transportation’s dual-class stock structure in order to give stockholders equal voting power...
Jeff Klein Snags Teamsters Endorsement New York Observer ...State Senator Jeff Klein, who is facing a Democratic primary challenge, is set to snag the endorsement of the teamsters union later this morning–marking one of his largest union nods so far...
Convention Center: Teamsters, Carpenters could be out by weekend Philly.com ...THE TEAMSTERS and carpenters who set up exhibits at the Pennsylvania Convention Center could find themselves out of work by Saturday, after refusing yesterday to sign a labor agreement that changes their work rules...
Trade
U.S. Trade Deficit Drops 3.6 Percent In March ABC News ...The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in March as exports rebounded to the second highest level on record, led by strong gains in sales of aircraft, autos and farm goods...
State Battles
Missouri Senate Looks To Curb Union Fee Collection The Missourian ...The Missouri Senate is expected to debate legislation this week that would curb the ability of public employee unions to collect fees from workers' paychecks...
Surprise! 'Pro-business' policies hurt state economic growth (opinion) Los Angeles Times ...What's worst about these ALEC policies, Chinn reports, is that the relentless budget-cutting they require leave crucial state services, particularly education, gasping for breath. That's a formula for long-term decline, not growth...
Tax Breaks Abound in Wisconsin, but Job Growth Remains Slow Wisconsin Budget Project ...Wisconsin lawmakers have cut taxes 43 times since 2011, reducing revenue by $1.9 billion over that period and limiting investments in Wisconsin’s schools, workforce, and transportation networks. Despite – or because of – the substantial tax cuts, private sector job growth in Wisconsin has been slower than the national average...
Companies Ramp Up Fight Against $10.10 Wage CNN Money ...Businesses are pulling out all the stops to fight a federal minimum wage increase to $10.10 from $7.25 an hour. A new commercial went up on cable news channels last week from the Employment Policies Institute...
War On Workers
Even Millionaires Think The Rich Should Pay Higher Taxes Huffington Post ...In the heated debate of inequality, the wealthy are usually portrayed as the cause rather than the solution. But CNBC's first-ever Millionaire Survey reveals that 51 percent of American millionaires believe inequality is a "major problem" for the U.S. and nearly two-thirds support higher taxes on the wealthy...
Billionaires try to convince Americans it’s good to import foreign workers, increase immigration Bangor Daily News ...Since 2007, political lobbies spent a whopping $1.5 billion to expand immigration, according to the watchdog Sunlight Foundation...
Jungle Jack Frustrated With The Koch Brothers Involvement In Columbus Zoo Levy WBNS ...One of the most recognized faces in Central Ohio - Jack Hanna, Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium - says he is frustrated by the involvement of a Washington, DC based group and it's efforts to defeat the Columbus Zoo levy...
Koch Group Tries To Sink Ohio Zoo’s Tax Proposal: ‘There Is No Issue We Won’t Get Involved In’ Think Progress ...a proposal for a modest tax increase to fund the zoo’s programs has attracted the attention of Americans for Prosperity, a national group funded by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch...
Bombshell Report: $100 Million in Taxpayer $$ Wasted or Stolen by Deregulated Charter Industry Diane Ravitch's Blog ...A new report reveals massive waste, fraud, and corruption in the charter industry, where private corporations control public funds with minimal oversight or accountability...
Oregon Woman Wins 3-Year Fight Against Wells Fargo Foreclosure ABC News ... her mortgage payments have been deposited by Wells Fargo. Despite efforts to clear up the mistake and paying more than $12,000 in attorney fees, her home went into judicial foreclosure...
Miscellaneous
The World Will Have Its First Trillionaire Within 25 Years Think Progress ...Billionaires will finally have someone to envy by 2040. The world will mint its first trillionaire within 25 years as the wealthiest people's investment gains push global inequality wider and wider...
How the Middle Class Lifestyle Became Unaffordable oftwominds.com ...As the real economy stagnated, the state (which includes the Federal Reserve) incentivized financialization and speculative credit bubbles to keep the money flowing to feed its own spending...
Oh, Good: More Sports Teams Asking Taxpayers To Pay For Their Stadiums Mother Jones ...Cleveland's professional sports teams have poured more than a million dollars into a fight they're hoping will end in victory on Tuesday. The end goal isn't a championship, though--it's a municipal tax extension...
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Today's Teamster News 05.06.14
Teamster News
2014 Teamsters Unity Conference Convenes teamster.org ...The 2014 Teamsters Unity Conference convened Sunday, May 4, with General President Jim Hoffa welcoming more than 1,400 Teamsters who learned about several key challenges facing the union...
Lilly Ledbetter joins Teamsters and others in support of pay equality for city's 5,000 school safety agents teamster.org ...Lilly Ledbetter, the tireless advocate for equal pay, whose historic Supreme Court case led the way to the Fair Pay Act of 2009—which bears her name—will join Teamsters Local 237 President Gregory Floyd; Sonia Ossorio, President of the New York City Chapter of National Organization for Women; and Mary Lou Urban, Co-President of the League of Women Voters, at a rally in support of resolving the pay disparity of school safety agents...
Trade
Trans Pacific Partnership Still Stalled The Register ...In spite of optimistic official rhetoric from the White House, Japan seems to be the latest speed bump on the road to the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership trade treaty...
Is Another Aspect Of The TPP They Hid From Us, Legally Stoning Gays? Down With Tyranny ...The dictator (of Brunei) is an hereditary sultan and this one is a homophobic psychotic who has just mandated the death penalty (by stoning) for gays. He's one our our esteemed partners in the TPP...
Oscars 'Night Before' Party Pulled From Beverly Hills Hotel Over Sultan of Brunei Ownership (Exclusive) Hollywood Reporter ...The Night Before the Oscars, Hollywood's starriest annual charity event, will not be held at the Beverly Hills Hotel because of the hotel’s ties to Brunei, where Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah instituted a severe new anti-gay penal code based on Sharia law last week...
State Battles
The drive to ban mandated sick days America Al-Jazeera ...the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) ... and the National Restaurant Association ... are pushing legislatures and governors to enact pre-emption (or kill-shot) laws to bar cities and counties from passing paid sick day mandates...
Outside Spending Enters Arena of Judicial Races New York Times ...The primary race for Justice Hudson’s Supreme Court seat alone has drawn more than $1 million — the bulk of it by independent groups including the Republican committee and an arm of the state Chamber of Commerce, which has spent $250,000 to promote both of her opponents with money from companies including Reynolds American, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Koch Industries.
The costly and fierce primary shows how the revolution in financing political campaigns, with the surging role of “super PACs” and other groups financed by corporations, unions and other interests, has entered what was the quieter arena of judicial elections...
War On Workers
Enron 2.0: Goldman-Linked Investors Set to Manipulate East Coast Electricity Prices naked capitalism ...With Brayton Point closed, New England consumers and businesses will spend as much as $2.6 billion more per year for electricity, critics of the deal suggest in documents filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission...
There's no evidence that privatisation works, but it marches on (opinion) ...Governments will always need to deal with markets for procurement and regulation – but that needs a strong, experienced civil service with equal cunning, not one cut by 30%, losing memory of past errors...
Bonuses For Federal Workers Cut In Half, Figures Show USA Today ...Bonus pay for 1.3 million federal workers fell of a proverbial fiscal cliff last year, dropping nearly 50% as a result of draconian budget cuts tied to a partial government shutdown and recent caps on employee awards...
Why Is This Farm Using Guest Workers As Strike Breakers? The Nation ...By law, a company can’t hire H-2A guest workers if it is in a labor dispute with its US workforce. But that is exactly what this Washington State berry grower is trying to do....
The Recession Made Income Inequality Even Worse Think Progress ...The gap between the rich and the poor has grown faster since the financial crisis than it did the entire decade before it, according to a new report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)...
Your Paycheck Proves There Was No Recovery Huffington Post ...Stock prices and corporate profits are setting records, jobs are growing and yet most Americans think the recession never ended. How can this be? Because in the one place it counts--your paycheck--the recovery never happened...
Miscellaneous
Declining Business Dynamism in the United States: A Look at States and Metros Brookings Institute ...dynamism is slowing down. Business churning and new firm formations have been on a persistent decline during the last few decades, and the pace of net job creation has been subdued. This decline has been documented across a broad range of sectors in the U.S. economy, even in high-tech...
2014 Teamsters Unity Conference Convenes teamster.org ...The 2014 Teamsters Unity Conference convened Sunday, May 4, with General President Jim Hoffa welcoming more than 1,400 Teamsters who learned about several key challenges facing the union...
Lilly Ledbetter joins Teamsters and others in support of pay equality for city's 5,000 school safety agents teamster.org ...Lilly Ledbetter, the tireless advocate for equal pay, whose historic Supreme Court case led the way to the Fair Pay Act of 2009—which bears her name—will join Teamsters Local 237 President Gregory Floyd; Sonia Ossorio, President of the New York City Chapter of National Organization for Women; and Mary Lou Urban, Co-President of the League of Women Voters, at a rally in support of resolving the pay disparity of school safety agents...
Trade
Trans Pacific Partnership Still Stalled The Register ...In spite of optimistic official rhetoric from the White House, Japan seems to be the latest speed bump on the road to the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership trade treaty...
Is Another Aspect Of The TPP They Hid From Us, Legally Stoning Gays? Down With Tyranny ...The dictator (of Brunei) is an hereditary sultan and this one is a homophobic psychotic who has just mandated the death penalty (by stoning) for gays. He's one our our esteemed partners in the TPP...
Oscars 'Night Before' Party Pulled From Beverly Hills Hotel Over Sultan of Brunei Ownership (Exclusive) Hollywood Reporter ...The Night Before the Oscars, Hollywood's starriest annual charity event, will not be held at the Beverly Hills Hotel because of the hotel’s ties to Brunei, where Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah instituted a severe new anti-gay penal code based on Sharia law last week...
State Battles
The drive to ban mandated sick days America Al-Jazeera ...the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) ... and the National Restaurant Association ... are pushing legislatures and governors to enact pre-emption (or kill-shot) laws to bar cities and counties from passing paid sick day mandates...
Outside Spending Enters Arena of Judicial Races New York Times ...The primary race for Justice Hudson’s Supreme Court seat alone has drawn more than $1 million — the bulk of it by independent groups including the Republican committee and an arm of the state Chamber of Commerce, which has spent $250,000 to promote both of her opponents with money from companies including Reynolds American, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Koch Industries.
The costly and fierce primary shows how the revolution in financing political campaigns, with the surging role of “super PACs” and other groups financed by corporations, unions and other interests, has entered what was the quieter arena of judicial elections...
War On Workers
Enron 2.0: Goldman-Linked Investors Set to Manipulate East Coast Electricity Prices naked capitalism ...With Brayton Point closed, New England consumers and businesses will spend as much as $2.6 billion more per year for electricity, critics of the deal suggest in documents filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission...
There's no evidence that privatisation works, but it marches on (opinion) ...Governments will always need to deal with markets for procurement and regulation – but that needs a strong, experienced civil service with equal cunning, not one cut by 30%, losing memory of past errors...
Bonuses For Federal Workers Cut In Half, Figures Show USA Today ...Bonus pay for 1.3 million federal workers fell of a proverbial fiscal cliff last year, dropping nearly 50% as a result of draconian budget cuts tied to a partial government shutdown and recent caps on employee awards...
Why Is This Farm Using Guest Workers As Strike Breakers? The Nation ...By law, a company can’t hire H-2A guest workers if it is in a labor dispute with its US workforce. But that is exactly what this Washington State berry grower is trying to do....
The Recession Made Income Inequality Even Worse Think Progress ...The gap between the rich and the poor has grown faster since the financial crisis than it did the entire decade before it, according to a new report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)...
Your Paycheck Proves There Was No Recovery Huffington Post ...Stock prices and corporate profits are setting records, jobs are growing and yet most Americans think the recession never ended. How can this be? Because in the one place it counts--your paycheck--the recovery never happened...
Miscellaneous
Declining Business Dynamism in the United States: A Look at States and Metros Brookings Institute ...dynamism is slowing down. Business churning and new firm formations have been on a persistent decline during the last few decades, and the pace of net job creation has been subdued. This decline has been documented across a broad range of sectors in the U.S. economy, even in high-tech...
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Today's Teamster News 04.30.14
Teamster News
Teamsters Applaud School Board Decision To Investigate Durham School Services Teamster.org ...Teamsters applaud the Charleston County School Board members for their unanimous (9-0) vote Monday night to conduct an investigation into unsafe practices by Durham School Services, the school bus transportation contractor for Charleston County schools...
Teamsters Protest Republic Services' Toxic Landfills at Waste Expo Teamster.org ...Today, Teamsters and community members protested Republic Services, Inc. [NYSE: RSG] at WASTE EXPO 2014 at the Atlanta Convention Center...
Teamsters Lead Effort To Break CEO Moyes' Control at Swift Teamster.org ...ISS, the country’s largest proxy voting advisory firm, recommends that shareholders of Swift Transportation [NYSE: SWFT] vote ‘FOR’ Item #4 on the company’s proxy – a Teamster proposal that seeks to address the company’s dual class stock structure which currently provides CEO Jerry Moyes with majority voting control of the company despite owning a minority of the outstanding shares...
Teamsters Call for Improved Oversight at National Express Teamster.org ...As shareholders of National Express Group PLC, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters General Fund, along with three major United Kingdom-based pension funds, are calling for a vote FOR Resolution 22 at the Annual General Meeting on May 14 in Birmingham, England...
Most City Council Members Undecided About Carriage Horse Ban New York Daily News ...Both sides of the raging debate over horse carriages have their work cut out for them: a majority of the City Council is undecided about banning the rides, a Daily News poll shows...
OCTA Approves New Contracts With Coach Operators, Maintenance Workers Orange County Breeze ...The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) Board of Directors today approved three-year collective bargaining agreements with its coach operators and maintenance employees. Both of the contracts with Teamsters Local 952 run through 2016...
Trade
Western Mass. Residents Demonstrate In Opposition To Proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement Outside Rep. Richard Neal's Springfield Office Mass Live ...As President Barack Obama and his team left Springfield without a deal following negotiation work on terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, some in Western Massachusetts aren't shy about voicing their opposition to the new proposal...
The troops will finally wear American-made sneakers manufacturethis ...Late Friday afternoon, the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) received very exciting news from Rep. Michael Michaud regarding American-made shoes: the Department of Defense (DOD) will comply with the Berry Amendment to ensure that all service members purchase #MadeinUSA shoes with their footwear allowance...
State Battles
Wisconsin Voter ID Law Rejected By Federal Judge Huffington Post ...A federal judge in Milwaukee has struck down Wisconsin's voter identification law, saying it unfairly burdens poor and minority voters. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman issued his long awaited decision Tuesday. It invalidates Wisconsin's law...
Louisiana About To Make It Illegal For Homeless People To Beg For Money ThinkProgress ...If you are poor, live in Louisiana, and have the audacity ask someone else for help, be prepared to spend up to six months in jail...
War On Workers
Trucking Used To Be A Ticket To The Middle Class. Now It's Just Another Low-Wage Job Washington Post ...It’s the skewed economics of Tigre’s trade that prompted port truckers to go on strike in Los Angeles on Monday as part of a union-backed campaign to regain some of the pay, benefits and respect they say they’ve lost after three decades of decline...
Woman Loses Her Home For Owing $6 ThinkProgress ...Eileen Battisti owed $6.30 in interest on school district taxes. That was enough, a Pennsylvania court has ruled, for her to lose her house over...
Wall Street’s Pension Gamble Moyers & Company ...So what is happening to retirees’ money? ... more and more of it is going to pay the exorbitant fees charged by the Wall Street firms managing the pension money. “Fees have skyrocketed over 1,000 percent since 2000 and have almost doubled since (2008) from $217 million to $416 million...”
How Bank Watchdogs Killed Our Last Chance At Justice For Foreclosure Victims Huffington Post ...If the program hadn't been shut down, aggrieved homeowners could have received another $1.5 billion in cash, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office released Tuesday....
Bank of America Pleads “We’re Idiots, not Crooks!” firedoglake ...The acquisition of Merrill Lynch was in 2009, Bank of America only caught this mistake last week, and you’re happy they are handling it swiftly?...
What A Higher Minimum Wage Would Mean For Me Detroit Free Press ...I have worked as a tipped server for 15 years and, not counting tips, I still only make $2.65 an hour. I'm a divorced mother with three kids. I need to put food on the table...
U.S. Knew Sallie Mae Cheated Service Members On Student Loans, But Still Renewed Contract Huffington Post ...Federal investigators discovered evidence showing Sallie Mae cheated active duty service members on their federal student loans at least two months before the Department of Education told the company it planned to renew its lucrative contract to collect loan payments...
NFL Cheerleaders: We're Not Even Making Minimum Wage CNN Money ...Cheerleading isn't as glamorous as one might think. Several current and former cheerleaders are suing their NFL employers over pay. Three separate suits against the Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals describe contracts that don't guarantee the minimum wage and claim the cheerleaders are vastly underpaid...
Miscellaneous
Justices Back Rule Limiting Coal Pollution New York Times ...the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the smog from coal plants that drifts across state lines from 28 Midwestern and Appalachian states to the East Coast...
Teamsters Applaud School Board Decision To Investigate Durham School Services Teamster.org ...Teamsters applaud the Charleston County School Board members for their unanimous (9-0) vote Monday night to conduct an investigation into unsafe practices by Durham School Services, the school bus transportation contractor for Charleston County schools...
Teamsters Protest Republic Services' Toxic Landfills at Waste Expo Teamster.org ...Today, Teamsters and community members protested Republic Services, Inc. [NYSE: RSG] at WASTE EXPO 2014 at the Atlanta Convention Center...
Teamsters Lead Effort To Break CEO Moyes' Control at Swift Teamster.org ...ISS, the country’s largest proxy voting advisory firm, recommends that shareholders of Swift Transportation [NYSE: SWFT] vote ‘FOR’ Item #4 on the company’s proxy – a Teamster proposal that seeks to address the company’s dual class stock structure which currently provides CEO Jerry Moyes with majority voting control of the company despite owning a minority of the outstanding shares...
Teamsters Call for Improved Oversight at National Express Teamster.org ...As shareholders of National Express Group PLC, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters General Fund, along with three major United Kingdom-based pension funds, are calling for a vote FOR Resolution 22 at the Annual General Meeting on May 14 in Birmingham, England...
Most City Council Members Undecided About Carriage Horse Ban New York Daily News ...Both sides of the raging debate over horse carriages have their work cut out for them: a majority of the City Council is undecided about banning the rides, a Daily News poll shows...
OCTA Approves New Contracts With Coach Operators, Maintenance Workers Orange County Breeze ...The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) Board of Directors today approved three-year collective bargaining agreements with its coach operators and maintenance employees. Both of the contracts with Teamsters Local 952 run through 2016...
Trade
Western Mass. Residents Demonstrate In Opposition To Proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement Outside Rep. Richard Neal's Springfield Office Mass Live ...As President Barack Obama and his team left Springfield without a deal following negotiation work on terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, some in Western Massachusetts aren't shy about voicing their opposition to the new proposal...
The troops will finally wear American-made sneakers manufacturethis ...Late Friday afternoon, the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) received very exciting news from Rep. Michael Michaud regarding American-made shoes: the Department of Defense (DOD) will comply with the Berry Amendment to ensure that all service members purchase #MadeinUSA shoes with their footwear allowance...
State Battles
Wisconsin Voter ID Law Rejected By Federal Judge Huffington Post ...A federal judge in Milwaukee has struck down Wisconsin's voter identification law, saying it unfairly burdens poor and minority voters. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman issued his long awaited decision Tuesday. It invalidates Wisconsin's law...
Louisiana About To Make It Illegal For Homeless People To Beg For Money ThinkProgress ...If you are poor, live in Louisiana, and have the audacity ask someone else for help, be prepared to spend up to six months in jail...
War On Workers
Trucking Used To Be A Ticket To The Middle Class. Now It's Just Another Low-Wage Job Washington Post ...It’s the skewed economics of Tigre’s trade that prompted port truckers to go on strike in Los Angeles on Monday as part of a union-backed campaign to regain some of the pay, benefits and respect they say they’ve lost after three decades of decline...
Woman Loses Her Home For Owing $6 ThinkProgress ...Eileen Battisti owed $6.30 in interest on school district taxes. That was enough, a Pennsylvania court has ruled, for her to lose her house over...
Wall Street’s Pension Gamble Moyers & Company ...So what is happening to retirees’ money? ... more and more of it is going to pay the exorbitant fees charged by the Wall Street firms managing the pension money. “Fees have skyrocketed over 1,000 percent since 2000 and have almost doubled since (2008) from $217 million to $416 million...”
How Bank Watchdogs Killed Our Last Chance At Justice For Foreclosure Victims Huffington Post ...If the program hadn't been shut down, aggrieved homeowners could have received another $1.5 billion in cash, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office released Tuesday....
Bank of America Pleads “We’re Idiots, not Crooks!” firedoglake ...The acquisition of Merrill Lynch was in 2009, Bank of America only caught this mistake last week, and you’re happy they are handling it swiftly?...
What A Higher Minimum Wage Would Mean For Me Detroit Free Press ...I have worked as a tipped server for 15 years and, not counting tips, I still only make $2.65 an hour. I'm a divorced mother with three kids. I need to put food on the table...
U.S. Knew Sallie Mae Cheated Service Members On Student Loans, But Still Renewed Contract Huffington Post ...Federal investigators discovered evidence showing Sallie Mae cheated active duty service members on their federal student loans at least two months before the Department of Education told the company it planned to renew its lucrative contract to collect loan payments...
NFL Cheerleaders: We're Not Even Making Minimum Wage CNN Money ...Cheerleading isn't as glamorous as one might think. Several current and former cheerleaders are suing their NFL employers over pay. Three separate suits against the Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals describe contracts that don't guarantee the minimum wage and claim the cheerleaders are vastly underpaid...
Miscellaneous
Justices Back Rule Limiting Coal Pollution New York Times ...the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the smog from coal plants that drifts across state lines from 28 Midwestern and Appalachian states to the East Coast...
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Today's Teamster News 04.24.14
Teamster News
New Teamsters Report Details Mounting Liabilities For One of Republic Services' Nuclear Waste Landfills Teamster.org ...Today the Teamsters released a report that details the escalating costs to the public and investors for Republic Service Inc's management of its Bridgeton/West Lake Superfund landfill in Bridgeton, Missouri...
Teamsters, Other Unions Pledge Support to Regional Pilots Teamster.org ...The head of one of the largest Teamster pilot unions joined other union leaders across the industry in spearheading an agreement to set new standards for regional pilot contracts and to stand together during negotiations...
UPS Employees Union votes to override local bargaining units Atlanta Business Chronicle ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said in the memo that the UPS national negotiating committee "voted overwhelmingly" to declare the new contract in effect...
Workers Memorial Day to highlight jobs that kill People's World ..."Forty-three years ago, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, promising every worker the right to a safe job," Teamsters President James Hoffa adds. "Decades of struggle by workers and their unions resulted in significant improvements in working conditions...
Trade
Obama trade push gets thumbs down from Democrats Politico ...In an atmosphere in which populism is driving both parties’ bases and more represented in the Senate than ever, convincing members to sign on to multinational trade deals is next to impossible...
Obama fails to secure breakthrough in Japan trade talks CNN Money ...Trade talks between the United States and Japan failed to produce a breakthrough Thursday, in yet another blow to the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement...
State Battles
Paycheck Protection heard in Senate Missouri Times ...So-called “paycheck protection” legislation that would be placed on the 2014 ballot if approved was heard in a senate committee today, marking another step in the fight between labor leaders and conservative Republicans...
Karl Rove And Americans For Prosperity Join Forces To Aid ALEC Stalwart in North Carolina Race PR Watch ...Some powerful players are coming to the aid of ALEC board member Thom Tillis, the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, who seeks to challenge Democrat Kay Hagen for her U.S. Senate seat...
War On Workers
Massive new fraud coverup: How banks are pillaging homes — while the government watches
Salon ...Joseph and Mary Romero of Chimayo, N.M., found that their mortgage note was assigned to the Bank of New York three months after the same bank filed a foreclosure complaint against them; in other words, Bank of New York didn’t own the loan when they tried to foreclose on it... Housing Rebound in U.S. Losing Steam as Prices Rise Bloomberg ...Sales dropped a surprising 14.5 percent to a 384,000 annualized pace, lower than any forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg and the weakest since July, Commerce Department data showed today in Washington. Three of the four regions saw setbacks, with demand in the West slumping to the lowest level in more than two years...
The Koch Brothers Extra Baggage Washington Post ...The Republican Party's biggest sugar daddies, the Koch brothers are a mixed bag for the GOP: They bring money, but lots of baggage. Their downside isn't only that they're a convenient foil for Democratic turnout, but they could exacerbate existing tensions within the Republican Party...
Fast Food CEOs Earn Super Sized Salaries; Workers Earn Small Potatoes NPR ...At a time when fast-food workers earn an average of about $9 an hour, what are the chief executives bringing home? According to a new report, YUM! (Owner of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut) compensated its CEO $22 million in 2013...
Kellogg Locked Out Kevin to Cut Costs, Paid CEO $8 Million AFL-CIO Now ...For 13 years Kevin worked at the Kellogg Co.’s Memphis, Tenn., cereal plant, until the company locked out him and 225 of his co-workers in October. While they missed the rest of the year’s paychecks—and continue to do so—Kellogg CEO John Bryant pocketed nearly $8 million in 2013 compensation...
Northwestern Football Players To Vote On Union Friday Chicago Tribune ...Northwestern University football players are scheduled to vote Friday morning on whether they want to be represented by a union. Northwestern, which is a private university, is not allowing reporters on campus at Welsh-Ryan arena, citing the players' wishes to avoid media attention...
US Workers Were Once Massacred Fighting For The Protections Being Rolled Back Today Moyers & Company ...On April 20, 1914, the Colorado National Guard and a private militia employed by the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company opened fire on a tent camp of striking coal miners at Ludlow, Colorado. At least 19 people died in the camp that day, mostly women and children...
Miscellaneous
Students Seek Loan Forgiveness In Overwhelming Numbers MSNBC ...Enrollment in federal student loan debt forgiveness programs skyrocketed nearly 40 percent in the last 6 months, the U.S. Education Department told the Wall Street Journal as education costs rise...
New Records: IRS Targeted Progressive Groups More Extensively Than Tea Party ThinkProgress ...A series of IRS documents, provided to ThinkProgress under the Freedom of Information Act, appears to contradict the claims by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that only Tea Party organizations applying for tax-exempt status “received systematic scrutiny because of their political beliefs.”...
New Teamsters Report Details Mounting Liabilities For One of Republic Services' Nuclear Waste Landfills Teamster.org ...Today the Teamsters released a report that details the escalating costs to the public and investors for Republic Service Inc's management of its Bridgeton/West Lake Superfund landfill in Bridgeton, Missouri...
Teamsters, Other Unions Pledge Support to Regional Pilots Teamster.org ...The head of one of the largest Teamster pilot unions joined other union leaders across the industry in spearheading an agreement to set new standards for regional pilot contracts and to stand together during negotiations...
UPS Employees Union votes to override local bargaining units Atlanta Business Chronicle ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said in the memo that the UPS national negotiating committee "voted overwhelmingly" to declare the new contract in effect...
Workers Memorial Day to highlight jobs that kill People's World ..."Forty-three years ago, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, promising every worker the right to a safe job," Teamsters President James Hoffa adds. "Decades of struggle by workers and their unions resulted in significant improvements in working conditions...
Trade
Obama trade push gets thumbs down from Democrats Politico ...In an atmosphere in which populism is driving both parties’ bases and more represented in the Senate than ever, convincing members to sign on to multinational trade deals is next to impossible...
Obama fails to secure breakthrough in Japan trade talks CNN Money ...Trade talks between the United States and Japan failed to produce a breakthrough Thursday, in yet another blow to the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement...
State Battles
Paycheck Protection heard in Senate Missouri Times ...So-called “paycheck protection” legislation that would be placed on the 2014 ballot if approved was heard in a senate committee today, marking another step in the fight between labor leaders and conservative Republicans...
Karl Rove And Americans For Prosperity Join Forces To Aid ALEC Stalwart in North Carolina Race PR Watch ...Some powerful players are coming to the aid of ALEC board member Thom Tillis, the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, who seeks to challenge Democrat Kay Hagen for her U.S. Senate seat...
War On Workers
Massive new fraud coverup: How banks are pillaging homes — while the government watches
Salon ...Joseph and Mary Romero of Chimayo, N.M., found that their mortgage note was assigned to the Bank of New York three months after the same bank filed a foreclosure complaint against them; in other words, Bank of New York didn’t own the loan when they tried to foreclose on it... Housing Rebound in U.S. Losing Steam as Prices Rise Bloomberg ...Sales dropped a surprising 14.5 percent to a 384,000 annualized pace, lower than any forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg and the weakest since July, Commerce Department data showed today in Washington. Three of the four regions saw setbacks, with demand in the West slumping to the lowest level in more than two years...
The Koch Brothers Extra Baggage Washington Post ...The Republican Party's biggest sugar daddies, the Koch brothers are a mixed bag for the GOP: They bring money, but lots of baggage. Their downside isn't only that they're a convenient foil for Democratic turnout, but they could exacerbate existing tensions within the Republican Party...
Fast Food CEOs Earn Super Sized Salaries; Workers Earn Small Potatoes NPR ...At a time when fast-food workers earn an average of about $9 an hour, what are the chief executives bringing home? According to a new report, YUM! (Owner of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut) compensated its CEO $22 million in 2013...
Kellogg Locked Out Kevin to Cut Costs, Paid CEO $8 Million AFL-CIO Now ...For 13 years Kevin worked at the Kellogg Co.’s Memphis, Tenn., cereal plant, until the company locked out him and 225 of his co-workers in October. While they missed the rest of the year’s paychecks—and continue to do so—Kellogg CEO John Bryant pocketed nearly $8 million in 2013 compensation...
Northwestern Football Players To Vote On Union Friday Chicago Tribune ...Northwestern University football players are scheduled to vote Friday morning on whether they want to be represented by a union. Northwestern, which is a private university, is not allowing reporters on campus at Welsh-Ryan arena, citing the players' wishes to avoid media attention...
US Workers Were Once Massacred Fighting For The Protections Being Rolled Back Today Moyers & Company ...On April 20, 1914, the Colorado National Guard and a private militia employed by the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company opened fire on a tent camp of striking coal miners at Ludlow, Colorado. At least 19 people died in the camp that day, mostly women and children...
Miscellaneous
Students Seek Loan Forgiveness In Overwhelming Numbers MSNBC ...Enrollment in federal student loan debt forgiveness programs skyrocketed nearly 40 percent in the last 6 months, the U.S. Education Department told the Wall Street Journal as education costs rise...
New Records: IRS Targeted Progressive Groups More Extensively Than Tea Party ThinkProgress ...A series of IRS documents, provided to ThinkProgress under the Freedom of Information Act, appears to contradict the claims by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that only Tea Party organizations applying for tax-exempt status “received systematic scrutiny because of their political beliefs.”...
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Today's Teamster News 04.23.14
Teamster News
Teamsters Urge Buffalo Common Council To Keep Rural Metro Contract The Buffalo News ...The unionized workforce of Buffalo's exclusive ambulance provider came to city hall today to urge the common council not to change providers...
Trade
Obama Faces Headwinds On Trans-Pacific Partnership In East Asia Trip South China Morning Post ...As US President Barack Obama embarks on a four-nation Asian tour, his effort to push the economic side of the US "rebalancing" towards the Asia-Pacific faces hurdles...
Abe-Obama Deal On TPP Unlikely The Japan Times ...Japan and the United States are not expected to announce a broad bilateral agreement for a Pacific trade pact when their leaders meet Thursday in Tokyo, as they remain considerably apart over the issue of market access for agricultural products and automobiles...
State Battles
Missouri Considers Right-To-Work Law The Patriot Post ...Following on the heels of some of its Midwest regional neighbors, Missouri's legislature is considering right-to-work legislation. With a heavily Republican legislature it seemed like passage would be a slam dunk. But that hasn't turned out to be the case...
Ohio Labor Supporters Gain Valuable Lesson From Missouri Right To Work Fight PR News Channel ...In Ohio, union supporters have so far kept the legislature off the ballot and are working tirelessly to ensure Right to Work doesn’t gain a foothold in their state....
War on Workers
The American Middle Class Is No Longer the World’s Richest New York Times ...After-tax middle-class incomes in Canada — substantially behind in 2000 — now appear to be higher than in the United States. The poor in much of Europe earn more than poor Americans...
Moving in with parents becomes more common for the middle-aged Los Angeles Times ...For seven years through 2012, the number of Californians aged 50 to 64 who live in their parents' homes swelled 67.6% to about 194,000, according to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the Insight Center for Community Economic Development. The jump is almost exclusively the result of financial hardship caused by the recession...
Cabdrivers Seek To Unionize To Push Case For Fair Hike Chicago Sun Times ...Tired of waiting nine years for a fair increase and being pushed around as independent contractors, Chicago cab drivers are trying a different tack to press their case for a "living wage"...
White House approves stricter coal dust rule The Hill ...The rule was proposed in 2010 by the Mine Health and Safety Administration in an attempt to reduce black lung disease, a deadly condition that kills hundreds of miners each year and is caused by coal dust...
Sherpas Move to Shut Everest in Labor Fight New York Times ...The avalanche that killed at least 13 Sherpas last Friday has prompted an extraordinary labor dispute, as Mount Everest’s quiet workhorses took steps on Tuesday to shut down the mountain for the season, demanding that the government share proceeds from what has become a multimillion-dollar business...
Miscellaneous
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Michigan Affirmative Action Ban Think Progress ...The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Michigan's ban on affirmative action in higher education Tuesday morning, in the latest ruling to effectively weaken affirmative action without killing it...
Teamsters Urge Buffalo Common Council To Keep Rural Metro Contract The Buffalo News ...The unionized workforce of Buffalo's exclusive ambulance provider came to city hall today to urge the common council not to change providers...
Trade
Obama Faces Headwinds On Trans-Pacific Partnership In East Asia Trip South China Morning Post ...As US President Barack Obama embarks on a four-nation Asian tour, his effort to push the economic side of the US "rebalancing" towards the Asia-Pacific faces hurdles...
Abe-Obama Deal On TPP Unlikely The Japan Times ...Japan and the United States are not expected to announce a broad bilateral agreement for a Pacific trade pact when their leaders meet Thursday in Tokyo, as they remain considerably apart over the issue of market access for agricultural products and automobiles...
State Battles
Missouri Considers Right-To-Work Law The Patriot Post ...Following on the heels of some of its Midwest regional neighbors, Missouri's legislature is considering right-to-work legislation. With a heavily Republican legislature it seemed like passage would be a slam dunk. But that hasn't turned out to be the case...
Ohio Labor Supporters Gain Valuable Lesson From Missouri Right To Work Fight PR News Channel ...In Ohio, union supporters have so far kept the legislature off the ballot and are working tirelessly to ensure Right to Work doesn’t gain a foothold in their state....
War on Workers
The American Middle Class Is No Longer the World’s Richest New York Times ...After-tax middle-class incomes in Canada — substantially behind in 2000 — now appear to be higher than in the United States. The poor in much of Europe earn more than poor Americans...
Moving in with parents becomes more common for the middle-aged Los Angeles Times ...For seven years through 2012, the number of Californians aged 50 to 64 who live in their parents' homes swelled 67.6% to about 194,000, according to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the Insight Center for Community Economic Development. The jump is almost exclusively the result of financial hardship caused by the recession...
Cabdrivers Seek To Unionize To Push Case For Fair Hike Chicago Sun Times ...Tired of waiting nine years for a fair increase and being pushed around as independent contractors, Chicago cab drivers are trying a different tack to press their case for a "living wage"...
White House approves stricter coal dust rule The Hill ...The rule was proposed in 2010 by the Mine Health and Safety Administration in an attempt to reduce black lung disease, a deadly condition that kills hundreds of miners each year and is caused by coal dust...
Sherpas Move to Shut Everest in Labor Fight New York Times ...The avalanche that killed at least 13 Sherpas last Friday has prompted an extraordinary labor dispute, as Mount Everest’s quiet workhorses took steps on Tuesday to shut down the mountain for the season, demanding that the government share proceeds from what has become a multimillion-dollar business...
Miscellaneous
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Michigan Affirmative Action Ban Think Progress ...The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Michigan's ban on affirmative action in higher education Tuesday morning, in the latest ruling to effectively weaken affirmative action without killing it...
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Student debt burden hurting the housing recovery
The student loan crisis is devastating the housing recovery, according to Rohit Chopra, student loan ombudsmen for the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, at a conference presentation late last week.
As student debt loans increase every year, the struggle to pay for college debt is replacing mortgage savings, Chopra said:
For the past 30 years, the typical first-time homebuyer has been 30-32 years-old, according to the National Realty Association’s annual home buyer survey.
A tough job market and over $1 trillion in student debt has the next generation unable to think about a future home. Only 32 percent of buyers this August bought a house for the first time. Compare that to three years ago, when first-time buyers made up 50 percent of the total. And over a quarter of first-time buyers had to rely on their parents to afford a down payment on their house.
With student debt on the rise, experts predict it will get worse. Nearly half -- 40 percent -- of the 25-year-old who are expected to buy houses in the next five years hold student loan debt. Their average balance is $25,000 – and one in every seven graduates with student loan debt currently defaults in the first three years.
So much for young people's home-buying dreams. And for their parents hopes of an empty nest.
As student debt loans increase every year, the struggle to pay for college debt is replacing mortgage savings, Chopra said:
...student indebtness impacts the credit profile of first-time homebuyers. Three-fourths of the fall in household formation can be directly correlated to student debt.First-time home buyers represent a significant section of the house market. On average, 40 percent of houses bought are by first-time buyers.
For the past 30 years, the typical first-time homebuyer has been 30-32 years-old, according to the National Realty Association’s annual home buyer survey.
A tough job market and over $1 trillion in student debt has the next generation unable to think about a future home. Only 32 percent of buyers this August bought a house for the first time. Compare that to three years ago, when first-time buyers made up 50 percent of the total. And over a quarter of first-time buyers had to rely on their parents to afford a down payment on their house.
With student debt on the rise, experts predict it will get worse. Nearly half -- 40 percent -- of the 25-year-old who are expected to buy houses in the next five years hold student loan debt. Their average balance is $25,000 – and one in every seven graduates with student loan debt currently defaults in the first three years.
So much for young people's home-buying dreams. And for their parents hopes of an empty nest.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Today's Teamster News, 07.19.13
KORUS Has Cost the United States 40,000 Jobs Economic Policy Institute ...While KORUS has already hurt the U.S. economy, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and an upcoming trade agreement with the European Union could further increase the threat of rapidly growing trade deficits and job losses...
J.P. Morgan Staring at Record Fine Over Energy Wall Street Journal ...Bank Set to Pay Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Over Allegations of Electricity-Market Manipulation...
Enough subsidizing CEOs’ insane salaries! (opinion) Salon ...Part of our income taxes helps pay for sky-high executive compensation, and it needs to stop...
One-man train crews are unsafe, says union negotiating with Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway Bangor Daily News ...“We have always been and continue to be opposed to one-man trains,” said Mike Twombly, vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, on Monday. “We have opposed it and tried to negotiate it out [of union contracts] but Mr. Burkhardt [Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway Chairman Edward Burkhardt] was equally vehement...
Senators reach deal on student loans Associated Press ...Heading off a costly increase for returning college students, a bipartisan group of senators reached a deal Wednesday that would offer students better rates on their loans this fall but perhaps assign higher rates in coming years...
Detroit goes bankrupt, largest municipal filing in U.S. history Washington Post ...Detroit filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in the nation’s history Thursday, marking a new low in a long decline that has left the U.S. automaking capital bleeding residents and revenue, while rendering city services a mess...
OSHA cites Ford's Buffalo plant over asbestos Associated Press ...Federal safety officials have cited Ford Motor Co.'s Buffalo-area plant for alleged asbestos violations. The Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed fines of $41,800...
Arizona lawmaker works to keep new voting laws intact Capitol Media Services ...Calling a referendum drive misleading, state Sen. Michele Reagan, R-Scottsdale, has launched a campaign to keep voters from overturning extensive changes made by the Republican-controlled legislature to voting laws. Reagan wants to collect funds to counter the petition drive to force a public vote on the provisions of HB 2305...
Unions see results in 2013 legislative session NW Labor Press ...The Oregon Legislature wrapped up what — for organized labor — was a moderately successful session. With Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, legislators passed a law barring public sector union-busting, closed a loophole in the state prevailing wage law, and approved hundreds of millions of dollars in new construction and infrastructure spending...
Rhode Island to let certain day care workers join unions ABC6 News ...Certain child care workers in Rhode Island will now be able to join unions. The law signed by Gov. Chafee, allows home–based day care workers – who get state subsidies, to negotiate for better pay and benefits. Chafee says it will lead to better trained day care workers...
McCrory signs anti-union bill pushed by construction industry News & Observer ...North Carolina’s Gov. Pat McCrory (R) on Wednesday signed an anti-union bill that prohibits government entities from requiring contractors to sign a project labor agreement (PLA) or other agreements with labor unions as a condition for performing work on public construction projects...
Hoffa: Congress Shouldn't Outsource Its Trade Negotiating Authority Huffington Post ...The looming Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is potentially the biggest so-called "free trade" agreement in the world. And you've probably never heard about it. TPP negotiations are being held in secret. Right now. Behind closed doors...
Teamsters Applaud Senate Confirmation of Tom Perez for Labor Secretary IBT ...The Teamsters Union applauds the Senate’s confirmation of Thomas Perez for Labor Secretary in a vote held yesterday. Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa praised Senate Leader Harry Reid for pushing for the compromise with Republican Senators that led to the 54-46 vote for confirmation...
New Agreement For PHL Railroad Employees BLET ...BLET operating and maintenance of way members, working on the Pacific Harbor Line railroad have ratified a new, five-year agreement...
Chicagoland Religious Leaders Call On Dignity Memorial To Resume Good Faith Negotiations IBT ...Rev. Thomas Mulcrone, Chaplain of the Chicago Fire Department, Metropolitan Iakovos and Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago and Bishop Timothy Lyne and Rev. John Boivin of Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral have joined 46 other area clergy to call upon Service Corporation International to resume negotiations with striking funeral directors and drivers...
BLET Photographs, Convention Badges And Other Historical Items On Display IBT ...There are membership cards, caps, photographs and more on temporary display at the Teamsters Union headquarters, Washington, D.C., from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET)...
J.P. Morgan Staring at Record Fine Over Energy Wall Street Journal ...Bank Set to Pay Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Over Allegations of Electricity-Market Manipulation...
Enough subsidizing CEOs’ insane salaries! (opinion) Salon ...Part of our income taxes helps pay for sky-high executive compensation, and it needs to stop...
One-man train crews are unsafe, says union negotiating with Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway Bangor Daily News ...“We have always been and continue to be opposed to one-man trains,” said Mike Twombly, vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, on Monday. “We have opposed it and tried to negotiate it out [of union contracts] but Mr. Burkhardt [Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway Chairman Edward Burkhardt] was equally vehement...
Senators reach deal on student loans Associated Press ...Heading off a costly increase for returning college students, a bipartisan group of senators reached a deal Wednesday that would offer students better rates on their loans this fall but perhaps assign higher rates in coming years...
Detroit goes bankrupt, largest municipal filing in U.S. history Washington Post ...Detroit filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in the nation’s history Thursday, marking a new low in a long decline that has left the U.S. automaking capital bleeding residents and revenue, while rendering city services a mess...
OSHA cites Ford's Buffalo plant over asbestos Associated Press ...Federal safety officials have cited Ford Motor Co.'s Buffalo-area plant for alleged asbestos violations. The Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed fines of $41,800...
Arizona lawmaker works to keep new voting laws intact Capitol Media Services ...Calling a referendum drive misleading, state Sen. Michele Reagan, R-Scottsdale, has launched a campaign to keep voters from overturning extensive changes made by the Republican-controlled legislature to voting laws. Reagan wants to collect funds to counter the petition drive to force a public vote on the provisions of HB 2305...
Unions see results in 2013 legislative session NW Labor Press ...The Oregon Legislature wrapped up what — for organized labor — was a moderately successful session. With Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, legislators passed a law barring public sector union-busting, closed a loophole in the state prevailing wage law, and approved hundreds of millions of dollars in new construction and infrastructure spending...
Rhode Island to let certain day care workers join unions ABC6 News ...Certain child care workers in Rhode Island will now be able to join unions. The law signed by Gov. Chafee, allows home–based day care workers – who get state subsidies, to negotiate for better pay and benefits. Chafee says it will lead to better trained day care workers...
McCrory signs anti-union bill pushed by construction industry News & Observer ...North Carolina’s Gov. Pat McCrory (R) on Wednesday signed an anti-union bill that prohibits government entities from requiring contractors to sign a project labor agreement (PLA) or other agreements with labor unions as a condition for performing work on public construction projects...
Hoffa: Congress Shouldn't Outsource Its Trade Negotiating Authority Huffington Post ...The looming Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is potentially the biggest so-called "free trade" agreement in the world. And you've probably never heard about it. TPP negotiations are being held in secret. Right now. Behind closed doors...
Teamsters Applaud Senate Confirmation of Tom Perez for Labor Secretary IBT ...The Teamsters Union applauds the Senate’s confirmation of Thomas Perez for Labor Secretary in a vote held yesterday. Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa praised Senate Leader Harry Reid for pushing for the compromise with Republican Senators that led to the 54-46 vote for confirmation...
New Agreement For PHL Railroad Employees BLET ...BLET operating and maintenance of way members, working on the Pacific Harbor Line railroad have ratified a new, five-year agreement...
Chicagoland Religious Leaders Call On Dignity Memorial To Resume Good Faith Negotiations IBT ...Rev. Thomas Mulcrone, Chaplain of the Chicago Fire Department, Metropolitan Iakovos and Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago and Bishop Timothy Lyne and Rev. John Boivin of Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral have joined 46 other area clergy to call upon Service Corporation International to resume negotiations with striking funeral directors and drivers...
BLET Photographs, Convention Badges And Other Historical Items On Display IBT ...There are membership cards, caps, photographs and more on temporary display at the Teamsters Union headquarters, Washington, D.C., from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET)...
Friday, July 5, 2013
Today's Teamster News 07.05.13
Most in U.S. Still Proud to Be an American Gallup ...Despite their widespread national pride, Americans evince a much more negative response when asked if the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be pleased or disappointed by the way the United States has turned out...
Ralph Nader questions Corporate Patriotism Economic Populist ..."Corporations and their attorneys like to be judged as 'persons' under our constitutions and laws. So it is entirely appropriate to judge the character of a U.S. chartered corporation by the measure of corporate patriotism – especially if it is operating worldwide..."
Four Years Into Recovery, Austerity’s Toll is At Least 3 Million Jobs Economic Policy Institute ...The fact that four years into the recovery we still have not yet come close to making up the jobs lost in the downturn, (much less the jobs needed to keep up with growth in the potential workforce over that time), is a grimmer situation than anything our labor market has seen in seven decades...
Paid Sick Leave Laws Generate Concern, but Not Much Pain New York Times ...Among those companies that did have to put a new policy in place, about half reported that adopting and managing it was not difficult, according to the study. And many businesses fearful that paying for sick leave would drive up expenses have since reported that those concerns were unfounded...
Prosecutions of offshore banks may help turn tide against secrecy McClatchy ...The U.S. accused the Swiss adviser of working closely with Swiss banks to help Americans access their undeclared money...
Misinformation on classified NSA programs includes statements by senior U.S. officials Washington Post ...But details that have emerged from the exposure of hundreds of pages of previously classified NSA documents indicate that public assertions about these programs by senior U.S. officials have also often been misleading, erroneous or simply false...
EU Votes To Suspend U.S. Data Sharing Agreements Over NSA Scandal firedoglake.com ...The fallout from the NSA spying scandal may be just beginning as the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution that would back the European Commission if it decides to suspend data sharing agreements with the U.S...
The next time someone tells you Scott Walker balanced the budget… Forward Lookout ...…tell them that they are wrong...
Oregon legislature passes bill to give free tuition to in-state residents Raw Story ...This week the Oregon Senate passed a bill that would create a fund allowing it to bypass traditional student lenders by giving free tuition to students who then pay it back with a deduction from their paychecks after they graduate...
Teamsters file unfair labor charge against state prison system Tampa Bay Times ...The Teamsters Union on Wednesday filed a new complaint against the state Department of Corrections, challenging time-off restrictions instituted by Gov. Rick Scott's administration dealing with earned time off for more than 20,000 correctional officers...
Ralph Nader questions Corporate Patriotism Economic Populist ..."Corporations and their attorneys like to be judged as 'persons' under our constitutions and laws. So it is entirely appropriate to judge the character of a U.S. chartered corporation by the measure of corporate patriotism – especially if it is operating worldwide..."
Four Years Into Recovery, Austerity’s Toll is At Least 3 Million Jobs Economic Policy Institute ...The fact that four years into the recovery we still have not yet come close to making up the jobs lost in the downturn, (much less the jobs needed to keep up with growth in the potential workforce over that time), is a grimmer situation than anything our labor market has seen in seven decades...
Paid Sick Leave Laws Generate Concern, but Not Much Pain New York Times ...Among those companies that did have to put a new policy in place, about half reported that adopting and managing it was not difficult, according to the study. And many businesses fearful that paying for sick leave would drive up expenses have since reported that those concerns were unfounded...
Prosecutions of offshore banks may help turn tide against secrecy McClatchy ...The U.S. accused the Swiss adviser of working closely with Swiss banks to help Americans access their undeclared money...
Misinformation on classified NSA programs includes statements by senior U.S. officials Washington Post ...But details that have emerged from the exposure of hundreds of pages of previously classified NSA documents indicate that public assertions about these programs by senior U.S. officials have also often been misleading, erroneous or simply false...
EU Votes To Suspend U.S. Data Sharing Agreements Over NSA Scandal firedoglake.com ...The fallout from the NSA spying scandal may be just beginning as the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution that would back the European Commission if it decides to suspend data sharing agreements with the U.S...
The next time someone tells you Scott Walker balanced the budget… Forward Lookout ...…tell them that they are wrong...
Oregon legislature passes bill to give free tuition to in-state residents Raw Story ...This week the Oregon Senate passed a bill that would create a fund allowing it to bypass traditional student lenders by giving free tuition to students who then pay it back with a deduction from their paychecks after they graduate...
Teamsters file unfair labor charge against state prison system Tampa Bay Times ...The Teamsters Union on Wednesday filed a new complaint against the state Department of Corrections, challenging time-off restrictions instituted by Gov. Rick Scott's administration dealing with earned time off for more than 20,000 correctional officers...
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