Today's Teamster News 01.28.14

First Student School Bus Workers Join Teamsters Local 332  Drive Up Standards   ...School bus workers with First Student in Flint, Mich., have voted overwhelmingly in favor of representation by Teamsters Local 332...
Growing Film Industry Brought Record $358M to Illinois in 2013  Teamsters Joint Council 25   ...Illinois' Gov. Pat Quinn visits set of 'Chicago Fire,' thanks Teamsters for commitment to industry...
Pete Seeger, Songwriter and Champion of Folk Music, Dies at 94  New York Times   ...He toured the world, performing and collecting folk songs, in 1963, and returned to serenade civil rights advocates, who had made a rallying song of his “We Shall Overcome.”...
Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Will Be Holding a Press Conference and a Lobby Day on Tuesday, January 28, 2014 to Urge State Legislators to Oppose Bills that Would Silence the Voice of Pennsylvania’s Working Families  Pennsylvania AFL-CIO   ...The legislation threatens all workers’ ability to advocate for improved working conditions and safer jobs.  Workers attending the press conference will be talking to their State Representatives and State Senators urging them to oppose this legislation and any proposals that silence or weaken the voices of working men and women...
Life Is Worse In Right-To-Work States  Economic Policy Institute   ...According to Politico, 4 of the 5 best states to live in are non-right-to-work. In order, they are New Hampshire, Minnesota, Vermont, Utah, and Massachusetts. Right-to-work states account for 8 of the 10 worst states, and all 5 of the 5 worst states (in order, from 46th-50th: Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississsippi)...
Tax-Free Gifts Quadrupled in US When Congress Raised Limit  Bloomberg News   ...Congress voted in December 2010 to let wealthy Americans make tax-free gifts of as much as $5 million, and the money flowed. U.S. taxpayers reported making $122 billion in nontaxable gifts on the returns they filed in 2012, more than four times the amount they made in each of the two previous years...
In Global Trade, China Plays by Its Own Rules  Epoch Times   ...China continues to impose duties on U.S. grain oriented flat-rolled electrical steel, resulting in a $247 million decrease in exports from the United States to China, falling from $250 million to $3 million a year...
Spy Agencies Tap Data Streaming From Phone Apps  New York Times   ...When a smartphone user opens Angry Birds, the popular game application, and starts slinging birds at chortling green pigs, spies could be lurking in the background to snatch data revealing the player’s location, age, sex and other personal information, according to secret British intelligence documents...

e New Jersey Turnpike Authority has scheduled a public hearing Tuesday on a plan to privatize toll collectors on the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway. The Christie administration contends it could save a significant amount of money, but the unions representing toll collectors disagree.

Read More: NJ Moves to Privatize Toll Collectors [POLL/AUDIO] | http://nj1015.com/nj-moves-to-privatize-toll-collectors-audio/?trackback=tsmclip

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority has scheduled a public hearing Tuesday on a plan to privatize toll collectors on the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway. The Christie administration contends it could save a significant amount of money, but the unions representing toll collectors disagree.

Read More: NJ Moves to Privatize Toll Collectors [POLL/AUDIO] | http://nj1015.com/nj-moves-to-privatize-toll-collectors-audio/?trackback=tsmclip

The new face of food stamps: working-age Americans  Associated Press   ...In a first, working-age people now make up the majority in U.S. households that rely on food stamps — a switch from a few years ago, when children and the elderly were the main recipients...
Killing the Economy  Economic Populist   ...John Williams writes that consumer inflation, if properly measured, is running around 9%, far above the 2% figure that is the Fed’s target and more in line with what consumers are actually experiencing. We have just had a 6.5% annual increase in the cost of a postage stamp...
Justice Department Inquiry Takes Aim at Banks’ Business With Payday Lenders  New York Times   ...Federal prosecutors are scrutinizing whether banks have allowed businesses to siphon billions of dollars from consumers’ accounts...
Rough Patch for Uber Service’s Challenge to Taxis  New York Times   ...Uber is being sued by its drivers, who say it is stealing their tips. Competitors are pressing it from all sides...
Kellogg's Delivers Memphis a Slap in the Face  Truthout   ...this February, workers at the Memphis Kellogg cereal plant face the prospect of spending Black History Month on the picket line after the company locked them out...
High court rules against steelworkers' claim   Associated Press   ...The Supreme Court says steelworkers do not have to be paid for time they spend putting on and taking off protective gear they wear on the job...
NJ Moves to Privatize Toll Collectors  New Jersey 101.5 Radio   ...The New Jersey Turnpike Authority has scheduled a public hearing Tuesday on a plan to privatize toll collectors on the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway. The Christie administration contends it could save a significant amount of money, but the unions representing toll collectors disagree...

Today's Teamster News 01.11.14

Teamsters Joint Council 16 Applauds Governor Cuomo's Signing of New York State Commercial Goods Industry Fair Play Act  Teamsters Joint Council 16   ...Teamsters Joint Council 16 expressed their thanks to Gov.  Andrew Cuomo for signing the New York State Commercial Goods Industry Fair Play Act (A5237B/S5867) and giving the Empire State the strongest worker misclassification legislation in the country...
Teamsters overwhelmingly reject YRC contract extension  Kansas City Star   ...YRC said it would operate normally despite the vote’s outcome...
Liam Neeson lambastes call to ban horse-drawn carriages  New York Post   ...Hollywood badass Liam Neeson went one-on-one with killjoy Mayor de Blasio, slamming Hizzoner for vowing to ban the city’s 220-plus clip-clopping, carriage-pulling equines from city streets and Central Park...
Teamsters, World Airways Fail To Reach Concessionary Agreement  teamster.org   ...Today, Teamster representatives of the Flight Attendants and Pilots of World Airways announced that bankruptcy discussions with their employer failed to yield an agreement on concessions their carrier was seeking...
Trade bill to open debate on globalization as Congress demands more oversight  Washington Post Lawmakers have proposed a bill that would narrow the Obama administration’s room to negotiate new free-trade agreements, demanding that sensitive issues such as currency ma­nipu­la­tion be covered in future treaties and deepening congressional oversight of the process...
20 years of NAFTA show why TPP must be stopped  Raw Story   ...The post-NAFTA era has been marked by growing inequality, declining job security and new leverage for corporations to attack government regulations enacted in the public interest...
The Majority Of Congresspeople Are Millionaires For The First Time Ever  ThinkProgress   ...More than half of all members of Congress had a net worth of more than a million dollars in 2012, according to a review by the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP). It is the first time in American history that a majority of federal lawmakers have been millionaires, the group said...
U.S. Economy Added Only 74,000 Jobs in December  New York Times   ...The latest data from the Labor Department suggests that the economy lost some momentum, even as the unemployment rate dropped to 6.7 percent...
People Not In Labor Force Soar To Record 91.8 Million; Participation Rate Plunges To 1978 Levels  zero hedge   ...in December the civilian labor force did what it usually does in the New Normal: it dropped from 155.3 million to 154.9 million, which means the labor participation rate just dropped to a fresh 35 year low...
300,000 Without Water After Coal Industry Chemical Spill In W. Virginia  crooksandliars   ...A chemical spill into West Virginia's Elk River has led to a tap water ban for up to 300,000 people, shut down bars and restaurants and led to a run on bottled water in some stores as people looked to stock up...
How is Privatization Failing America?  The Real News   ... From healthcare to education, research shows an increase in privatization leaves the public with the losses and corporations with the gains...
How the Big Cell Phone Companies Are Getting Away with Ripping You Off Each Month  AlterNet   ...If you live in America, there’s a good chance you’ve not been overjoyed by your wireless plan. Simply by using a device essential to your daily life, you have been screwed...
Life in the Electronic Concentration Camp: The Many Ways That You're Being Tracked and Controlled  Truthout   ...“A security camera doesn’t respond to complaint, threats, or insults. Instead, it just watches you in a forbidding manner. But we don’t even scream back because technology companies have convinced us that we need to be connected to them to be happy...
We Need Privacy Laws for the Digital Era  The Salon   ...Updating the Fourth Amendment has been done before, to address the invention of cars, phones and GPS. It’s time to do it again...
Swiss Bank Helped 400 Americans Dodge Taxes On $600 Million  ThinkProgress   ...Swiss bank Julius Baer told hundreds of Americans how to evade U.S. taxes on a total $600 million in wealth, according to a court ruling published Wednesday in Switzerland...
Wall Street Predicts $50 Billion Bill to Settle U.S. Mortgage Suits  New York Times   ...Wall Street could pay nearly $50 billion to buy peace from federal authorities who are taking aim at the banks over their role in the mortgage crisis...
The Income Inequality Implications of Job Automation: Over 47 Percent of Jobs May Be at Risk  Huffington Post ...Researchers have pointed out that our nation's growing income inequality is indicative of increased automation. When will the exponential growth of computing technology allow for jobs that may be viewed as safe to be taken over?...
Why it’s Great to Be the Boss  Pew Research Center   ...In addition to bigger paychecks, America’s bosses are more satisfied with their family life, jobs and overall financial situation than are non-managerial employees, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey...
Target says up to 70 million customers had data stolen in holiday breach  Associated Press   ...Retail giant revises previous estimate of 40m customer accounts, which included credit cards as well as phone numbers and emails...
Georgia GOPer Attacking Free School Lunch Expensed $4,200 In Meals  Talking Points Memo   ..."Kingston and his staff expensed nearly $4200 in meals for business purposes to his congressional office, paid for by the American taxpayer," WSAV 3's Dan Kartunen reported. The amount could have purchased nearly 2,000 Georgia school lunches...
Alaska moves step closer to vote on legalizing recreational marijuana use  The Guardian   ...A citizens' group hoping to make Alaska the third state in the nation to legalize recreational use of marijuana took a step closer Wednesday, submitting more than 46,000 signatures to the state election office...
Boeing machinists allege unfair labor practices, seek revote  Reuters   ...Angry Boeing machinists have filed eight unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging their union's top leaders manipulated a recent contract vote, and demanding that ballots be recast...
The Boeing kleptocracy  Corrente   ...CEO Jim McNerney dumped 282,037 shares this past August. This is not management, it is asset stripping...

Today's Teamster News 10.13.13

Interior allows a dozen iconic national parks to reopen with state funding  Washington Post   ...What began as a sort of modern Sagebrush Rebellion — with Utah county commissioners threatening to bring in a posse and dismantle federal barricades themselves — has become an intense negotiation between Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and governors across the country eager to reopen public lands that generate valuable tourism revenue...
Over 865,200 Gallons of Fracked Oil Spill in ND, Public In Dark For Days Due to Government Shutdown  Desmogblog.com   ...Over 20,600 barrels of oil fracked from the Bakken Shale has spilled from aTesoro Logistics pipeline in Tioga, North Dakota in one of the biggest onshore oil spills in recent U.S. history. Though the spill occurred on September 29, the U.S. National Response Center- tasked with responding to chemical and oil spills - did not make the report available until October 8 due to the ongoing government shutdown...
Report Finds Police Worldwide Criminalize Dissent, Assert New Powers in Crackdown on Protests  truthout   ... the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations details a global crackdown on peaceful protests through excessive police force and the criminalization of dissent…. The case studies detailed in this report show how governments have reacted to peaceful protests in the United States, Israel, Canada, Argentina, Egypt, Hungary, Kenya, South Africa and Britain...
U.S. Said to Open Criminal Probe of FX Market Rigging  Bloomberg   ...The U.S. Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation of possible manipulation of the $5.3 trillion-a-day foreign exchange market, a person familiar with the matter said...
Stop the Presses: Apple Has Not Been Cleared on Tax Avoidance Charges  Citizens for Tax Justice   ...the SEC is now satisfied that Apple is not violating the rules in the disclosure of its tax circumstances to the agency, which has nothing to do with the legal validity of its tax avoidance methods more generally...
Anti-government anger fuels long-shot Maryland breakaway bid  Reuters   ...His Western Maryland Initiative is just one of several secession proposals that are emerging across the United States. Nearly a dozen rural Colorado counties have put nonbinding secession referendums on their November ballots. A split-off proposal for southern Florida has also been floated.
Some residents of northern California want to join with counties in southern Oregon to form their own state. Liberals in Tucson, Arizona, fed up with the conservative state governor and lawmakers, want out as well...
Power outage shuts U.S. food stamp program for hours in 17 states  Reuters   ...A brief power outage caused food stamp recipients in 17 states to lose access for much of Saturday to the electronic system used by stores to verify their benefits, leaving many unable to buy groceries, the company that manages the system said. The power outage that started the problem was fixed within 20 minutes, Xerox Corp spokesman Kevin Lightfoot said, but shoppers kept running into difficulties through the day...
Europe proposes more global governance to eclipse U.S. laws  Trade Reform   ...The European Union’s top trade official, in one of the first concrete proposals in the trade negotiations with the United States, called on Thursday for a new trans-Atlantic group that would coordinate the work of United States and European regulatory agencies...
France is pushing for a Europe-wide Google tax  Quartz   ...France is pushing for a the European Union as a whole to adopt a minimum tax on digital companies, which it will formally introduce at an EU summit meeting about the digital economy later this month...
China Exports Unexpectedly Drop  Bloomberg   ...China’s exports unexpectedly fell in September, signaling constraints from global demand and highlighting distortions from fake invoices that have yet to be eliminated from trade data...
Fast Food Workers Win a Union…through Zoolidarity   BeyondChron   ...Last month 142 mostly part-time food service workers, public employees at the Oregon Zoo, showed it could be done, winning a landslide election to join Laborers Local 483 in Portland. They join 137 already-union admissions and custodial employees at the zoo—about half of these are temps—doubling the size and power of the bargaining unit just in time for contract negotiations...

Today's Teamster News 04.23.13

The U.S. Corporate Tax Code Is a Giveaway  Economic Populist   ...The GAO issued a new report which shows use of corporate tax breaks cost the U.S. government $181.4 billion in 2011 alone...
Westboro Baptist Church No-Shows At Krystle Campbell Funeral As Teamsters Form Human Shield  The Inquistr   ...Westboro Baptist Church protesters apparently did not show up at yesterday's funeral for Krystle Campbell. But the local Teamsters Union wasn’t taking any chances...
Canada foils 'al-Qaeda linked' terror attack on train  BBC News   ...Two foreign men living in Canada have been charged with plotting a terrorist attack on a passenger train with support from al-Qaeda elements in Iran...
EU near austerity limit, says Barroso  The Guardian   ...The European Union's focus on austerity has hit the limits of public acceptance, according to the head of the EU's executive arm, as Brussels joined the International Monetary Fund in raising concerns over the impact of public spending cuts...
The Real Faces of the Minimum Wage  Common Dreams   ...Most minimum-wage workers are adults, the majority of them are women, and many are parents who are trying to raise their children on poverty wages...
White House: Federal agencies evaluating fertilizer plant inspections  The Hill Blog   ...That fertilizer plant in West, TX that exploded last week, killing at least 14 and injuring 100s more, had not been inspected by the Occupation Health and Safety Administration since 1985, though other federal and state officials were aware of the plant and its hazardous materials. Federal agencies are assessing “their inspection practices” now. That’s it?...
Restyled as Real Estate Trusts, Varied Businesses Avoid Taxes  The New York Times   ...“A small but growing number of American corporations . . . are declaring that they are not ordinary corporations at all.” They’re “special trusts that are typically exempt from paying taxes.” Congress will no doubt spring into action and fix this...
Former Nestle CEO: 'Water should be privatized, it's not a right'  Examiner.com   ...On April 20, Americans Against the Tea Party shared a video of the former CEO of Nestle, coincidentally also the largest seller of bottled water in the world, where he says that he feels that water is not a right and it should be privatized and sold. Really?...
Karl Rove, Koch brothers lead charge to control Republican data  Politico  ...The GOP didn’t have an answer for Big Democratic Data in 2012, costing them in close races from Congress to the White House. Now, they’ve got lots of answers — possibly too many...
Costs, number of deleted files pile up in redistricting case  Wisconsin State Journal   ...Names of two Republican legislative aides who deleted those “hundreds of thousands” of redistricting data files have now been revealed...
Michigan road funding: Americans For Prosperity launching 'Don't raise MI taxes' statewide tour Michigan Live   ...Americans For Prosperity-Michigan, the state chapter of the national conservative advocacy group, is fighting proposals by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Republican lawmakers to boost road funding through increased taxes or fees...
Detroit emergency manager eyes end to union bargaining  Reuters   ...Detroit's emergency manager indicated for the first time that he may end collective bargaining with city employees as part of his effort to shore up the city's sagging finances...
Prevailing wage challenged  News-Tribune   ...Both the federal and state governments require contractors to pay the “prevailing wage” on public construction projects, such as schools, municipal buildings and sewer systems. But some in the (Missouri) Legislature want to change that — to cancel the state law, which has been on the books since 1957...
Indiana suffers from bad tax system, bad tax cuts (opinion) The Indianapolis Star   ...Do Hoosiers even want Gov. Mike Pence’s income tax cut? And should they, considering that Indiana has one of the most regressive, elitist, tax systems in the nation, and what’s on the table will only make matters worse?...
Courtney Johnson commentary: Should Ohio voters support a right-to-work ballot issue? No  The Columbus Dispatch   ...The last time our state was confronted with an unsafe, unfair attack on workers — Senate Bill 5 — voters in Ohio emphatically rejected the flawed law...
Liquor privatization will change Pennsylvania (opinion)  The Quad   ...In March, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed House Bill 790. If the bill is voted into law, the liquor industry will be privatized. When introduced, the bill quickly gained support from many Republicans including Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett. Supporters claim privatization will bring prosperity to the Commonwealth by instilling competition. Unfortunately, many people will be hurt by this bill...
Petition seeks repeal of Anchorage labor law  Associated Press   ...The Anchorage Assembly last month eliminated the right to strike by eight city unions and took away performance bonuses and incentives in future city contracts. The measure also limits annual pay hikes and creates a system for outsourcing certain city work...
Public employees deserve pensions (opinion)  Sun-Sentinel   ...it is not responsible or fair to cut further into the financial security of working Americans because they happen to be public employees...
LePage: “I am going to be the next Scott Walker”  Bangor Daily News   ...“I will guarantee you that you will see the most vicious education campaign ads that you’ve ever seen in your life next year, because I am going to be the next Scott Walker in this country, because I am challenging the status quo,” declared LePage...
Ohio Teamsters Suspend Strike Over Republic Services' Unfair Labor Practices  IBT   ...Today, 23 workers at Republic Services’ landfill in Youngstown, Ohio returned to work after an unfair labor practice strike that began on March 27, 2013...
Teamsters will decide soon on YRC network changes  Kansas City Business Journal   ...The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is expected to decide whether to adopt YRC Worldwide Inc.’s sweeping change of operations request by the end of the week after meeting with union leadership in Dallas on Friday...
ABF, Teamsters agree to another 30-day contract extension after union leaders spurn offer  DC Velocity   ...The Teamsters union and less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier ABF Freight System Inc. agreed late Friday to another 30-day extension of their current contract...

Today's Teamster News 04.15.13

Foreclosure Settlement Shows 4.2 Million Borrowers Shafted in 2009-2010  Economic Populist   ...Close to 1.2 million borrowers, or about 30 percent of the more than 3.9 million households whose properties were foreclosed on by 11 leading financial institutions in 2009 and 2010, had to battle potentially wrongful efforts to seize their homes despite not having defaulted on their loans, being protected under a host of federal laws, or having been in good standing under bank-approved plans to either restructure their mortgages or temporarily delay required payments...
Is the Fed Handing Out Valuable Tips to Insiders?  Washington Blog   ...Congressman Grayson Asks for an Investigation into Federal Reserve’s FOMC leak...
The Terrifying Reality of Long-Term Unemployment  The Atlantic   ...It's an awful catch-22: employers won't hire you if you've been out of work for more than six months...
U.S., Guatemala reach deal to resolve labor dispute  Reuters   ...The new 18-point labor enforcement plan "reflects Guatemala's commitment to constructive engagement to meet its labor obligations under our trade agreement," Acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis said in a statement...
Margaret Thatcher the tax snatcher? Mystery of her £6m house with links to THREE tax havens  Mirror   ...“How can a former prime minister spend more than two decades living in a house in London that has been owned for many years by a company based in the British Virgin Islands? ... We all have a duty to pay our taxes, and that includes former politicians...
Portugal's fed-up youth pack and go as their nation slides into reverse  The Guardian   ...Job prospects are grim, health and education are in crisis and, with more austerity to come, emigration is increasingly the only solution...
U.S. grants Michigan permit to build 2nd Detroit-Canada bridge  Detroit Free Press   ...The U.S. State Department announced its issuance of a presidential permit to the state of Michigan for the New International Trade Crossing between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, moving the project an important step closer to completion...
After Courts Block GOP Laws, Wisconsin GOP Pushes Bill To Strip Most State Courts’ Power To Block Laws  ThinkProgress   ...Last November, Wisconsin was able to run a fair election unmarred by one of the Republican Party’s favorite voter suppression tactics because two lower courts struck down the state’s unconstitutional voter ID law, and the conservative state supreme court repeatedly refused requests to take up the case before it winds its way through the normal appeals process. Now, a group of Wisconsin Republicans are pushing legislation to ensure that something like this never happens again:...
Flaws Seen in Protection of Animals on the Set  New York Times   ...Trainers, who are already heavily regulated by state and federal officials, are particularly incensed by the idea that the (American Humane) association might seek to extend its authority beyond film sets, to include certification of those who house and supply animals — something they see as an attempt to bolster funds by tapping them for fees...

Kitty litter in cigarettes, horsemeat in burritos

As Congress  flushes the U.S. economy into into the toilet allows across-the-board government spending cuts, Gawker brings us two gems that show why consumers need more (not less) government protection from powerful corporations.

First we learn the spreading horse meat scandal now hits Taco Bell:

The latest round of tests conducted by Britain's Food Standards Agency found that ground beef used at all local Taco Bell locations contained trace amounts of horse DNA...

Ikea had to stop selling Swedish meatballs after horse meat was found in them. Burger King also acknowledged that some of its burgers had horse meat in them.

Taco Bell released a statement in the U.S., saying:

Our domestic restaurants have not been, and will not be, impacted because we do not use any meat from Europe. We stand for quality and we use 100% premium beef. Like all beef in the United States, ours is USDA inspected and then passes our own 20 quality checkpoints.

Well, maybe not for long, according to Food Safety News:

...the nearly 9 percent across-the-board budget cut could mean that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which oversees 80 percent of the food supply, could cut 2,100 food facility inspections and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, in charge of meat and poultry safety, could be forced to furlough all its employees for a total of 15 days to meet the reductions.

Then there's this charming item about tobacco companies putting kitty litter in cigarettes to avoid a federal excise tax. Gawker tells us:

Apparently there is cat litter in cigarettes—or rather the clay found in cat litter is used in cigarettes as filler. This allows tobacco companies to "weigh down" their cigarettes so that they will fall into the "large cigar" category-helping the companies avoid a federal excise tax increase of 2,653%. The rule goes as follows:

It requires "a rolled tobacco product to weigh at least 3 pounds per 1,000 to be labeled as a 'large' or 'premium' cigar where taxes increased just 155 percent."

This filler is legal; though the rule states that weight must be achieved to qualify as a large cigar, there is no stipulation about how this weight is achieved.

Corporate tax avoidance is a big reason the U.S. government doesn't have enough revenue to meet its obligations. Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa commented on that today:

We cannot allow working people to again be victimized by the Republican Party’s ongoing battle to protect billionaires and multinational corporations from their responsibility to pay their fair share of taxes. 

By not acting to end the sequester, Republicans are telling us that that these tax loopholes and their billionaire benefactors are more important than creating jobs and stimulating commercial activity in their own country. They prefer to defend an unfair tax code while attacking retirement and health benefits that Americans work all their lives to earn.

Read the whole thing here.

Teamsters to take to the Hill for Jobs Not Cuts

The Teamsters Union, other labor unions, and progressive organizations will rally against cuts to vital programs -- Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid --  in Washington, D.C., tomorrow. Instead, millionaires and big corporations should be paying their fair share.

Ken Quinnell at the AFL-CIO Now blog reminds us today of the heavy toll corporate tax avoidance takes on public services:

A new report from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) reveals that state governments lost $39.8 billion in revenues because corporations and wealthy individuals are using offshore tax havens to avoid paying their statutory tax rates. We've seen the devastating effects that offshoring jobs have had on America's workers, and offshoring has long been talked about in terms of lost federal revenue, where $150 billion a year goes unpaid, but little focus has been given to state losses from the practice. Federal and state tax laws allow companies to claim that at least some portion of their profits were earned in other countries, particularly those whose tax rates are low or nonexistent. 

If you're in the Washington, D.C. area on Tuesday please come to Upper Senate Park (Constitution Ave. NW, between New Jersey Ave. NW and Delaware Ave. NE) at noon. You'll hear AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, AFSCME President Lee Saunders, AFGE President J. David Cox, and middle class workers who depend on the programs that may be on the chopping block.

Today's Teamster News 01.22.13

Obama's second term foe - China: Column  USA Today   ...roughly 30% of American manufacturing job loss since 2001 can be tied to the China PNTR decision...
Hilda Solis, Outgoing Labor Secretary, Reflects On Economic Recovery, Right-Wing Attacks  Huffington Post   ...Although mine safety reform has stalled in Congress, Solis said the department has worked to make improvements, including a new rule issued this week that would make it easier for the government to shut down mines with a history of safety violations...
Investigation ordered after Spanish politicians got ‘salaries’ from private companies  AFP   ...senior members of the party, which Rajoy has led since 2004, had received undeclared salaries, mainly from private companies, over a 20-year period...
Back down on austerity, Osborne urged as Britain slips towards triple-dip  The Guardian   ...A second negative quarter, from January to March, would mark the onset of Britain's third recession in five years...
$240 billion amassed by 100 richest people enough to end extreme poverty four times over: Oxfam  Raw Story   ...The report found that the richest 1% had increased their incomes by 60% in the past 20 years, with the financial crisis accelerating rather than slowing the process...
Cayman Islands to Disclose Tax Shelter Companies  The Progressuve   ...After decades of secrecy, the tax-haven country is considering a public database that will make the names of thousands of previously hidden companies and their directors, public...
Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein Gets 75 Percent Raise: Report  Huffington Post   ...Lloyd Blankfein made $21 million last year, including a $2 million salary and a $19 million bonus...
Goldman bankers get rich betting on food prices as millions starve  The Independent   ...Goldman Sachs made more than a quarter of a billion pounds last year by speculating on food staples, reigniting the controversy over banks profiting from the global food crisis...
Analysis: 201,000 in Florida didn't vote because of long lines  Orlando Sentinel   ...The long Election Day lines around Florida may have turned away more than 200,000 frustrated would-be voters who gave up and went home before they cast ballots — or else saw the lines and elected not to join them...
Sanitation workers march for union rights in DeKalb Co.  My Fox Atlanta   ...DeKalb County sanitation workers marched in downtown Atlanta on Monday in an effort to have their union recognized by the county commission. They had the support of two retired sanitation workers who marched in Memphis nearly 45 years ago just before the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr….
Turner and Leach are supporting attempts by DeKalb County sanitation workers to get the county commission to recognize them as members of Teamsters Local 728...
More Bad News From Private Prison  City Beat   ...Since the end of 2012, four have been arrested and charged with smuggling. Another four were arrested Monday and police suspect they were in Conneaut for a smuggling job... the four suspects arrested Monday were only caught due to the increased police presence outside the Lake Erie prison...
Virginia Senate Sneaks Through Gerrymandering Bill While Country Watches Inauguration  ThinkProgress   ...the move could potentially eliminate at least one Democratic seat, the 25th district, which currently belongs to former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sen. Creigh Deeds (D)...

Today's Teamster News 01.14.13

Tax Avoidance Saves Wealthiest Americans $3 Trillion Each Year  Huffington Post   ...Three trillion dollars a year. That's how much the wealthiest Americans avoid through the system of subsidies and schemes and sweet deals that deprive middle-class workers of their earned benefits. That's three times more than the deficit...
Taxation: Unsafe offshore  Financial Times   ...Galvanising co-ordinated action, Britain, Germany and France have thrown their weight behind an urgent review of the international tax standards, which they say, faces “difficulty keeping up with changes in global business practices, such as the development of ecommerce in commercial activities”. The potential reforms will start to take shape next month at a Group of 20 meeting in Russia...
Double trouble: House GOP eyes default, shutdown  Politico   ...The idea of allowing the country to default by refusing to increase the debt limit is getting more widespread and serious traction among House Republicans than people realize, though GOP leaders think shutting down the government is the much more likely outcome of the spending fights this winter...
House to Take Up Storm Relief Bill Amid Battle Over Spending  New York Times   ...Squeezed between the demands of Northeastern Republicans and conservatives, House Republican leaders have orchestrated a legislative approach that they say will allow $50 billion in aid to be approved on Tuesday...
Union leader warns of civil unrest in face of austerity programme  The Independent   ...Unite's Len McCluskey pledged to "fight all the way to the next election" as he said no form of protest, including the prospect of a general strike, should be ruled out. He said the Govern- ment's policies, designed to balance the nation's books, were leaving working people feeling "battered"...
China Export Surge Spurs Data Skepticism at Goldman, UBS  Bloomberg   ...The 14.1 percent jump from a year earlier was the biggest positive surprise since March 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The increase didn’t match goods movements through ports and imports by trading partners according to UBS, while Goldman Sachs and Mizuho Securities Asia Ltd. cited a divergence from overseas orders in a manufacturing index...
Michigan Gov Snyder to pick new Supreme Court justice – will he show moderation or ideological Republican extremism?  eclectablog   ...Snyder’s Supreme Court appointment will set the tone for the 2013 legislative session...

Today's Teamster News 01.08.12

US 'seriously' considering $1 trillion coin to pay off debt  The Telegraph   ...The US is "seriously" considering creating a $1 trillion platinum coin to write down part of its debt to stop the world's largest economy defaulting as early as next month...
US Foreclosure Settlement Angers Wall Street Critics  RIA Navosti   ...A multibillion-dollar settlement announced Monday between US financial regulators and major banks over alleged abuses related to home foreclosures is the latest example of the financial industry running roughshod over the rule-of-law without repercussions, Wall Street critics said. “The bottom line is: Fraud pays...
Just 8% Now Say They Are Tea Party Members  Rasmussen Reports   ...Views of the Tea Party movement are at their lowest point ever, with voters for the first time evenly divided when asked to match the views of the average Tea Party member against those of the average member of Congress.  Only eight percent (8%) now say they are members of the Tea Party, down from a high of 24% in April 2010 just after passage of the national health care law...
Behind the Made-In-America Label  manufacture this   ...Given the choice between an American-made product and one made abroad, 78 percent of respondents would buy American...
Tax Avoidance On the Rise: It’s Twice the Amount of Social Security and Medicare  The Cagle Post   ...The wealthiest Americans save $3 trillion dollars a year through a system of subsidies and tax avoidance schemes, which totals three times more than our annual deficit. That’s enough for a full-time job for every middle-class household in America...
Wendy’s Franchise Cuts Employee Hours To Part-Time To Avoid Obamacare  ThinkProgress   ...this strategy may backfire on the Omaha Wendy’s operations. This fall, Denny’s quickly distanced itself from a franchisee’s similar ploy, while Darden Restaurants saw a sharp 37 percent drop in profit after threatening to cut workers to part-time...
Arkansas to Study Possibility of High-Speed Rail Connecting Memphis, Little Rock and Texarkana We party Patriots   ...State transportation officials anticipate spending between $1 million and $1.25 million in federal and state funds to study two long-range railroad transportation plans...
Scott Remains Polarizing Figure as He Faces Re-election  Miami Herald   ...polls show he remains unpopular with no hint of improvement, a red flag that the public’s negative view is unyielding. If Scott is going to improve his standing with Floridians, it’s now or never...
Michigan Legislature Walk of Shame  Facebook   ...Legislators will be sworn-in at a ceremony at the State Capitol on Wednesday, January 9, where they will be welcomed with a ‘Walk of Shame’ highlighting their votes during the lame duck session...

Today's Teamster News 11.26.12

Top 1% Got 93% of Income Growth as Rich-Poor Gap Widened  Bloomberg   ...the U.S. has gone through two recoveries. The 1.2 million households whose incomes put them in the top 1 percent of the U.S. saw their earnings increase 5.5 percent last year, according to estimates released last month by the U.S. Census Bureau. Earnings fell 1.7 percent for the 96 million households in the bottom 80 percent -- those that made less than $101,583...
CEO Council Demands Cuts To Poor, Elderly While Reaping Billions In Government Contracts, Tax Breaks  Huffington Post   ...The corporate CEOs who have made a high-profile foray into deficit negotiations have themselves been substantially responsible for the size of the deficit they now want closed. The companies represented by executives working with the Campaign To Fix The Debt have received trillions in federal war contracts, subsidies and bailouts, as well as specialized tax breaks and loopholes that virtually eliminate the companies' tax bills...
Factory Fire Kills More Than 100 People in Bangladesh  New York Times News Service   ...an “ethical sourcing” official for Walmart flagged “violations and/or conditions which were deemed to be high risk” at the factory in May 2011, though it did not specify the nature of the infractions. The notice said that the factory had been given an “orange” grade and that any factories given three such assessments in two years from their last audit would not receive any orders from Walmart for one year...
Offshore secrets revealed: the shadowy side of a booming industry  Guardian   ...a worldwide joint investigation by the Guardian, the BBC's Panorama and the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has uncovered a booming offshore industry that leaves the way open for both tax avoidance and the concealment of assets. More than 21,500 companies have been identified using this group of 28 so-called nominee directors...
NLRB Judge Rips 24-Hour Fitness Class Action Ban  Trial Insider   ... The fitness centers’  “arbitration policy unlawfully requires its employees to surrender core Section 7 [organizing] rights by imposing significant restraints on concerted action regardless of whether the employee opts to be covered by it or not...”
Catalans start voting in election that could lead to independence  Guardian   ...Catalonia has its own distinct language and culture, and many Catalans think they would be better off without Spain, because some estimates show they pay more in tax than they get back from Madrid...

Mitt Romney's tax dodges, Part IX

Rolling Stone's thorough reporting allowed us to present what we thought was an eight-part series about Mitt Romney's tax dodges. But yesterday we read a Bloomberg report about another one. So today we bring you the charitable remainder trust tax-avoidance scheme.

THE CHARITABLE REMAINDER TRUST DODGE

According to Bloomberg, 

In 1997, Congress cracked down on a popular tax shelter that allowed rich people to take advantage of the exempt status of charities without actually giving away much money. 

Individuals who had already set up these vehicles were allowed to keep them. That included Mitt Romney, then the chief executive officer of Bain Capital, who had just established such an arrangement in June 1996 

...Romney used the tax-exempt status of a charity -- the Mormon Church, according to a 2007 filing -- to defer taxes for more than 15 years. At the same time he is benefiting, the trust will probably leave the church with less than what current law requires, according to tax returns obtained by Bloomberg this month through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Bloomberg explains that Romney was basically renting his favorite charity's tax-exempt status. Here's how it works:

When individuals fund a charitable remainder unitrust, or “CRUT,” they defer capital gains taxes on any profit from the sale of the assets, and receive a small upfront charitable deduction and a stream of yearly cash payments. Like an individual retirement account, the trust allows money to grow tax deferred, while like an annuity it also pays Romney a steady income. After the funder’s death, the trust’s remaining assets go to a designated charity.

As trusts and estates attorney Michael Arlein said,

The Romneys get theirs off the top and the charity gets what’s left. So by definition, if it’s not performing as well, the charity gets harmed more.