Today's Teamster News 03.09.15

Teamsters
Teamsters Stand With Jimena Lopez, Women Union Leaders On International Women's Day  teamster.org   ...The Teamsters Union honors International Women’s Day today, standing in solidarity with Jimena Lopez, a woman union leader who was fired during a successful union organizing effort at LAN Ecuador, an subsidiary of LAN Airlines, the largest airline in Latin America...
Teamsters endorse Williams in mayoral campaign  Philly.com   ...State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams' mayoral bid has won the endorsement of Philadelphia Teamsters District Council 107...
Trade
China is Obama's trump card in push for Pacific Rim trade pact  Los Angeles Times   ...As the White House looks to wrap up years of negotiations on a highly contested Pacific Rim trade pact, administration officials are increasingly casting the agreement as vital to helping the U.S. face its most daunting economic rival: China...
New Zealand Witnesses Protests Against Trans Pacific Pact: Critics Allege TPP Is Harmful To Common Man  International Business Times   ...New Zealand witnessed nationwide protests on March 7, against the proposed Trans Pacific Pact--the U.S.-led trade deal covering 12 countries in the Pacific region. Protesters held demonstrations, waved banners and placards while speakers addressed gatherings, giving their version of the trade deal...
State Battles
Right-to-work: the anti-union laws soon to be on the books in 25 states  Vox   ...Wisconsin's legislature passed a right-to-work law on Friday, and Gov. Scott Walker, a conservative hero and likely 2016 presidential candidate, will sign it Monday. That move will help cement his reputation as a fierce union opponent and make Wisconsin the 25th "right-to-work" state...
War on Workers
Jobs and the Federal Reserve  New York Times   ...rising rates in the near term would lock in high unemployment among minorities and wage stagnation...
NEWS & POLITICS
One Simple Way to Save American Democracy: Get Serious About Taxing the Mega-Rich  Alternet   ...The Founding Fathers were very clear that they didn't want America to ever degenerate into an oligarchy...
Why Your Workplace Might Be Killing You  Stanford Business   ...Stanford scholars identify 10 work stressors that are destroying your health...

Today's Teamsters News 12.30.13

Refinery news: Minnesota Northern Tier workers may strike Dec. 31 on wages, safety issues: Teamsters  Platts   ...Minnesota's Northern Tier refinery is facing a potential strike that could shut its refinery in Saint Paul Park, Minnesota, as soon as December 31, according to Teamsters Local 120, which represents about 200 workers at the plant...
Service Corporation International : Teamsters Local 727 Updates on Service Corp. International Refuses Interest Arbitration  Teamsters Local 727   ...Teamsters Local 727 announced Service Corp. International refused an interest arbitration offer made by the Teamsters to end a five- month lockout of Chicago funeral directors and drivers...
Antiques to replace NYC horse carriages  CNN   ...If activists have their way, horse-drawn carriages in New York City may soon be replaced by antique electric cars...
Charts: The Worst Long-Term Unemployment Crisis Since the Depression  Mother Jones   ...the economic downturn remains in full effect for millions of Americans, particularly the nearly 40 percent of the unemployed who have been looking for work for six months or more...
Where the 1.3 million people losing unemployment aid this week live  Washington Post   ...every state but one — North Dakota — has added more people than jobs since the recession began...
Elizabeth Warren: It's the Right of Every American to Retire with Dignity -- Why We Must Expand Social Security  Alternet   ...If we do nothing, Social Security will be safe for the next 20 years and even after that will continue to pay most benefits through the end of the century. With some modest adjustments, we can keep the system solvent for many more years, and could even increase benefits...
Wis. teachers refuses award from Paul Ryan during MLK ceremony: 'Lackey for the 1%'  The Blaze   ... A Wisconsin teacher refused to accept an award from Rep. Paul Ryan during a ceremony last week, saying he couldn’t do so “in good conscience” because of the Republican congressman’s politics...
As critics gain, ALEC gives ground  Politico   ...The American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative group of state lawmakers and corporations that, among other things, drafts model legislation, saw an exodus of members and a sharp decline in fundraising after it was tied to controversial “stand your ground laws” like the one made infamous following the shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin...
“Honey, I Shrunk Killed the Middle Class”  naked capitalism   ... even as the stock market roars ahead, more investors are coming to recognize the shoddy foundations of this so-called recovery and perhaps more important, that the legitimacy of the ruling classes erodes quickly when ordinary citizens recognize how badly the deck is stacked against them...
'Military-Style' Raid on California Power Station Spooks U.S.  Foreign Policy   ...Around 1:00 AM on April 16, at least one individual (possibly two) entered two different manholes at the PG&E Metcalf power substation, southeast of San Jose, and cut fiber cables in the area around the substation. That knocked out some local 911 services, landline service to the substation, and cell phone service in the area, a senior U.S. intelligence official told Foreign Policy. The intruder(s) then fired more than 100 rounds from what two officials described as a high-powered rifle at several transformers in the facility. Ten transformers were damaged in one area of the facility, and three transformer banks -- or groups of transformers -- were hit in another...
Home Prices Back at Peaks in Some Areas  Wall Street Journal   ...Home prices have zipped back into record territory in a handful of American cities, a milestone that comes seven years after the housing bust ravaged the market and the broader economy. Values are up more than 13% from their 2007 high in Oklahoma City and by more than 6% in the Denver metro area. Prices are back to all-time highs in 10 of the nation's 50 largest metropolitan areas...
This Trade Fight Is Against ‘Global Apartheid’ (opinion)  Campaign for America's Future   ...organizations ... (should) step up against is what she calls “this global apartheid phenomenon” in which “international elites, some of whom don’t have a allegiance to any country,” are creating conditions that are worsening economic inequality and racial inequities around the world, including the United States...
Why China is stepping up its presence in Detroit auto industry  TradeReform   ...Encouraged by the low price of real estate and the high level of advanced engineering talent, dozens of Chinese auto companies and suppliers are opening plants and offices in and around the Motor City, where they hope to one day sell cars to US buyers...
‘Safe Harbor’ in Bankruptcy Is Upended in Detroit Case  New York Times   ...“When you’re in a municipal bankruptcy, where the debtor is a municipality, there are very strong public-interest considerations that ought to be balanced,” Mr. Schwarcz said. He and other specialists said there had not been any such discussion in Detroit’s case...
France’s Hollande Gets Court Approval for 75% Millionaire Tax  Bloomberg   ...French President Francois Hollande received approval from the country’s constitutional court to proceed with his plan to tax salaries above 1 million euros at 75 percent for this year and next....
Setback for Scalia in Attempt to Curtail Labor Rights  truthout   ...the Supreme Court decided against ruling on a legal decision from a lower court which, if broadly applied, could have undermined some of the few remaining effective union organizing techniques: neutrality and card check agreements...

Koch whore booed in WI (VIDEO)

Congressman Paul Ryan, the corporate stooge who wants to get rid of Medicare and Social Security, is booed here in this video when he defends our government's generous tax treatment of the wealthiest individuals.

The audio is a little muffled, so Think Progress tells us what went on:

During a town hall meeting in Milton, a constituent who described himself as a “lifelong conservative” asked Ryan about the effects of growing income inequality in our nation. The constituent noted that huge income disparities contributed to the Great Depression and the Great Recession, and thus wanted to know why the congressman was “fighting to not let the tax breaks for the wealthy expire.”

Ryan argued against “redistribut[ing]” in this manner. After the constituent noted that “there’s nothing wrong with taxing the top because it does not trickle down,” Ryan argued that “we do tax the top.” This response earned a chorus of boos from constituents.

Ryan, another Koch whore from Wisconsin, wants to slash Social Security benefits, even though he received them himself at age 16.

PoliticusUSA has the story:

When Representative Paul Ryan was 16 years old , tragedy struck his family. His 55 year old father had passed away from a heart attack. Young Paul Ryan found his father’s lifeless body and was burdened by the fact that he had to tell his mother and siblings of this horrible situation.

After his father’s passing, young Paul Ryan started collecting social security benefits until the age of 18 years old. He took this benefit and saved it for his college education. Representative Paul Ryan is one example of the millions of people whose lives have depended on our social contract with the American people. Without this benefit, his mother would have had to make even tougher decisions and Representative Paul Ryan may not have been able to pay for his college education. This social contract lifted him and his entire family out of a tough situation.