Today's Teamster News 10.04.14

Teamster News
Passavant Workers Take Strike Vote  New Castle News   ...Members of Teamsters Local 538 voted Thursday to give a 10-day strike notice to Passavant Health and Retirement Center in Zelienople. Betty Fischer, Teamsters Local 538 secretary/treasurer, said the vote was “overwhelming.”...
Environmental Activist To Address Bridgeton Landfill Concerns  St. Louis Public Radio   ...Environmental activist Lois Gibbs will be in St. Louis this weekend for a “teach-in” to address problems at the adjoining Bridgeton and West Lake landfills, located in Bridgeton a few miles from Lambert Airport...
Rev. Brian Jordan Blesses Horses With Holy Water, Praises City's Carriage Industry  New York Daily News   ...The veteran clergyman, an ardent supporter of the industry, delivered some kind words for the carriage horse owners as well. “These horses are cared for like children,” said Jordan, wearing cargo shorts and running shoes beneath his robe.
Assembly's Gary Pretlow: Veterinarians Say Carriage Horses 'Healthy, Happy, Well-Fed'  New York Daily News   ...State Assemblyman Gary Pretlow says the city's horse carriage industry should live on -- doctor's orders. The Westchester County Democrat, who sponsored legislation this spring to save the jobs of the drivers, is upping the ante by sending the City Council and mayor's office a testimonial from the state Veterinary Medical Society in support of keeping the horses on the job...
35 Port Truck Drivers Fired After Strike  AFL-CIO   ...The drivers, supported by the Teamsters, are some of the lowest paid workers in our communities. Because of their misclassification as “independent contractors,” some even take home negative paychecks. The 35 port drivers were fired from Total Transportation Services (TTSI). They include Jose Rosales, a port driver for over 10 years, husband and father of three children...
Trade
TTIP - Four Letters That Spell Rising Poverty (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...Cheap labour may be good for investors and shareholders, but at the societal level at which governments operate, it creates a whole new set of problems...
Trade Deals Worsen Immigration Pressures (opinion)  Baltimore Sun   ...These trade agreements failed to achieve the promised increases in employment and wages and actually caused so much economic disruption and hardship in those countries that pressures for workers to emigrate actually increased instead of decreasing...
State Battles
New Temp Worker Bill Could Have Large Impact  Monterey Herald   ...A bill that used Taylor Farms as its rallying cry is likely to have a major affect across the state. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the "Temp Worker Protection Bill" on Sunday, which holds businesses liable when subcontractors violate wage or safety laws...
GOP Candidate Busted For Potential Voter Fraud! The Story Of Leslie Rutledge  Salon.com   ...Leslie Rutledge, the Republican candidate for Attorney General in Arkansas, has been discovered to have been registered to vote in multiple states in addition to Arkansas, and even voted by absentee ballot in Arkansas’ general election in November of 2008 –after she had registered to vote in Washington D.C. in July of the same year...
Christie defends Koch Brothers, calls questions about anonymous donors 'silliness' in Arizona  NJ.com   ...Questioning the lack of transparency about who has been funneling millions of dollars in negative campaign ads into the Arizona governor's race is "silliness" and "sophistry," Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday night while stumping for Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Ducey...
Early voting hours unlikely to change before Election Day  cleveland.com   ...  the statewide early, in-person voting hours set Monday by Secretary of State Jon Husted will hold throughout Election Day on Nov. 4. That schedule includes early, in-person voting on the two Saturdays prior to Election Day, Sunday before Election Day and Monday before Election Day...
Michigan Legislature Approves Anti-Human Trafficking Bills  Associated Press   ...The bills now headed to Gov. Rick Snyder would let victims clear their criminal records. Minors under age 18 suspected of prostitution would be presumed to be trafficking victims, and “Johns” soliciting sex from minors would face stiffer criminal penalties...
Club for Growth won't disclose source of money for local ad buy  Columbia Daily Tribune   ...the Tribune reported Thursday that the ads were purchased with funds from the Missouri Club for Growth PAC, a political fund that has received $3.6 million, more than 99 percent of its funding in the past three years, from wealthy conservative activist Rex Sinquefield...
U.S. Supreme Court is asked to block Wisconsin's voter ID law  Associated Press   ...Opponents of Wisconsin's photo ID requirement for voters took their case to the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday, seeking an emergency halt to the state's implementation of the law before the fast approaching Nov. 4 election...
Group sues state over campaign coordination  Associated Press   ...A conservative group and ally of Gov. Scott Walker filed a federal lawsuit Thursday asking that a Wisconsin law limiting coordination between third-party organizations and political candidates be declared unconstitutional...
War On Workers
The Missing Trio in Today's Jobs Report  Bloomberg   ...At 3 million, the number of long-term unemployed hardly budged. Youth unemployment rose somewhat to 20 percent, giving up half the gains of the prior month. And joblessness among those lacking a college education is still too high...
‘We Can’t Haul’: Rebounding Economy Reveals Shortage Of Truck Drivers  Bangor Daily News   ...In 1980, Vieth said, the average trucker earned four times the wage of a food service worker. But the $40,940 the average truck driver makes today is just 1.8 times that of food service workers...
Labor Participation Rate Drops To 36 Year Low; Record 92.6 Million Americans Not In Labor Force  zero hedge   ...while according to the Household Survey, 232,000 people found jobs, what is more disturbing is that the people not in the labor force, rose to a new record high, increasing by 315,000 to 92.6 million!...
Hackers’ Attack Cracked 10 Companies in Major Assault  New York Times   ...The breadth of the attacks — and the lack of clarity about whether it was an effort to steal from accounts or to demonstrate that the hackers could penetrate even the best-protected American financial institutions — has left Washington intelligence officials and policy makers far more concerned than they have let on publicly...
Huh? Walmart Foundation Battles Hunger As Walmart Workers Turn to Food Stamps  Inside Philanthropy   ...Last month, the foundation launched a new campaign, "Fight Hunger, Spark Change," that asks people to vote for which local food banks it should donate funds to. All this is ironic to say the least, given the food security challenges of Walmart's own huge labor force, many of whom don't earn much more than the minimum wage...
EXCLUSIVE AUDIO: How the Koch Brothers Are Molding the Next Scott Walkers  The Nation   ...Walker has, since his 2010 gubernatorial run, been a top recipient of campaign contributions from the Kochs, and a beneficiary of the “independent” campaigns of Koch-fueled groups such as Americans for Prosperity...
Koch-backed group plans direct attacks in Senate races  USA Today   ...Americans for Prosperity's decision to move to pointed attacks is significant because it shifts the group into more direct political activity — something tax-exempt organizations are required to limit. It also means the group must disclose its election-related activity — though not its donors — to federal regulators...
Worker Dies   Valdosta Today   ...Officials say that 61-year old Isabel Gomez died after a piece of heavy equipment fell and crushed him. Sheriff Andy Hester of Turner County reports that Gomez and his brother were working on a fork lift...
Worker dies after truck with gravel tips over  WOKV   ...the man was unloading gravel from a truck which had an apparatus raised up. That caused the truck to get unsteady and ultimately tip on to the man who was crouched next to it working...
High-Speed Trader Accused Of Commodity Market ‘Spoofing’  Bloomberg News   ...A high-frequency trader was indicted for “spoofing” -- placing and immediate canceling orders as a way to manipulate commodities markets -- in what the U.S. Justice Department says is the first criminal case of its kind...
Man Shoots Down Drone, Lawyers Scratch Their Heads  Popular Science   ...A man in New Jersey fired a shotgun at his neighbor's drone, and as the quadcopter crashed to the ground, the incident raised new legal challenges about when and if it’s okay to shoot a robot...
Miscellaneous

Today's Teamster News 01.29.13

Apple shelters almost $1bn a week from US tax man  The Telegraph   ...Apple's completely legal tax avoidance strategies bring the total the company has sheltered from the US tax authorities to $94bn...
Senators Reach Bipartisan Immigration Reform Deal  Talking Points Memo   ...the package would include an e-verify program to prevent employers from hiring undocumented workers in the future, an expanded visa and guest worker program to manage future immigration, and a seperate streamlined path towards citizenship for undocumented immigrants who were bought to America as children...
Report: Treasury approved excessive pay for executives at bailed-out AIG, GM and Ally  Associated Press   ...Treasury also allowed pay packages totaling $5 million or more for nearly a quarter of the executives at those firms...
The Rise of the Permanent Temp Economy  New York Times   ...one-third of adults who live in poverty are working but do not earn enough to support themselves and their families. A quarter of jobs in America pay below the federal poverty line for a family of four ($23,050)...
Study: Nearly half are overqualified for their jobs  USA Today   ...Nearly half of working Americans with college degrees are in jobs for which they're overqualified, a new study out Monday suggests...
Sen. Colbeck Tells Koch-Funded Group RTW Passed Because of DeVos Funding  Progress Michigan ...“This just confirms what we’ve long suspected, that Gov. Snyder’s so-called Right to Work billwas bought-and-paid for by billionaire CEO Dick DeVos. It’s time for politicians likeSnyder and Colbeck to start protecting middle class families, not the special interests..."
Va right-to-work measure dies on 20-20 Senate tie  Associated Press   ... On a party line vote, the Virginia Senate has killed a measure that would write the state's longstanding right-to-work law into its constitution...
Chris Christie Vetoes Minimum Wage Hike That 82 Percent Of New Jerseyans Support  Bold Progressives   ...This minimum wage increase would’ve brought the wage to $8.50 and then tie it to the consumer price index for the future. ..
Roxanne Rubin, Nevada Republican, Accepts Plea Deal After Committing Voter Fraud  Huffington Post   ...Roxanne Rubin, 56, a casino worker on the Las Vegas Strip, was arrested on Nov. 3, 2012 after trying to vote twice, once at her poling site in Henderson and then at a second site in Las Vegas...
Negotiations Continue Between Teamsters, Durham  WestAshleyPatch   ...“We had to take a strike vote to get Durham to get serious in negotiations. We’ve met over 39 times with the contractor and they hadn’t moved on the key issues of concern to the drivers and monitors,” President of Local 509 L.D. Fletcher said in a statement...

Today's Teamster News 11.03.12

U.S. job growth quickens, giving Obama some relief  Reuters   ...U.S. employers stepped up hiring in October and a small increase in the jobless rate was due to more workers restarting their job hunts, a hopeful sign for a lackluster economy that has been a drag on President Barack Obama's re-election bid...
Gas Shortage Lingers, Crippling Aid Organizations And Recovery Effort  Huffington Post   ...Thursday, a deadly cocktail of mass power outages, port closures and skyrocketing demand for fuel shut down gas stations across New York and New Jersey, spurring mile-long lines and fights at the few pumps that remained open. Now, the shortage is crippling aid organizations spearheading relief in devastated areas...
Dems see chance as Gregg narrows gap to single digits in gov’s race  Associated Press   ...Democrat John Gregg has begun tying Pence to Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, whose candidacy is in jeopardy following remarks he made last week that a pregnancy resulting from rape is something “God intended...”
Department of Justice Investigating Alleged Ballot Fraud At Clackamas County Elections  Willamette Week   ...the woman filled in a straight Republican ticket on the ballots where preferences had been left blank by voters...
Early voting in Florida not extended despite long lines  Raw Story   ...Florida Gov. Rick. Scott denied a request from the League of Women Voters and Florida Democrats on Friday to extend early voting, according to the News-Press. Long lines and record turnout prompted the call, but Scott reiterated that “Early voting will end Saturday night,” although he said he wants “everyone to get out to vote...”
Vultures Descend On Bainport: Sensata Plant Set to Close November 5.  Wisconsin Citizens Media Cooperative   ... Overpass Light Brigade  illuminated  the procession of masked vultures and large puppets with “VULTURE IN CHIEF” over to the Sensata plant in defiance of management’s orders that workers not be on the property outside of their assigned shifts...
Waukegan school bus drivers join Teamsters  Lake County News-Sun   ...The Waukegan workers had voted in a National Labor Relations Board election in May 2012 ... The Waukegan drivers lost their election by a vote of 86-90... The Teamsters local ... filed more than 20 unfair labor practice charges and seven objections to the election. The NLRB found merit in the charges...
County sanitation workers want union  The Champion Newspaper   ...DeKalb County sanitation workers say they need their voices to be heard. That’s why they want to be represented by the Teamsters union...
Some Rivers Casino employees might form union  Daily Herald   ...A movement to organize workers at Rivers Casino in Des Plaines is gaining support from the town’s Mayor Marty Moylan, himself a former union representative. Moylan, who retired earlier this year from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union Local 134, said he was asked by the casino’s parking and valet attendants to support their efforts to unionize under the Teamsters Local 727...

Today's Teamster News 10.24.12

WTO Hands Obama Victory In U.S.-China Steel Case  Trade Reform   ... The World Trade Organization barred China on Thursday from imposing duties on certain U.S. steel exports, siding with U.S. President Barack Obama in a dispute with Beijing over a type of steel made in two election battleground states...
Thousands in Madrid protest 2013 budget cuts  RT   ...Cordoned off by police riot vans, the crowd outside the government headquarters in Madrid yelled slogans lambasting further austerity measures and political corruption, demanding the resignations of the deputies of both the ruling conservative Popular Party and the opposition Socialists...
UPS Rises After Asia Exports Post Surprise Increase  Bloomberg News   ...United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) rose the most since March after posting third-quarter earnings that matched analysts’ estimates, buoyed by higher export shipments in Asia and a gain in U.S. deliveries...
Ohio County Mailer Sends Wrong Voting Location And Date To 2300 People  ThinkProgress   ...The Ohio Democratic Party is calling for corrections to an Ottawa County Board of Elections mailer riddled with errors...
Bankrupt San Bernardino halts payments to CalPERS pension fund  Los Angeles Times   ...the delinquent payments would not have any immediate effect on pension payments to retirees, but eventually could if the situation persists...
Teamsters, Joint Logistics reaches impasse  Quad Cities Business Journal   ...Negotiations between members of Teamsters Local 371 who work for Joint Logistics Managers Inc., or JLMI, at the Rock Island Arsenal, and the company, are at an impasse, according to Howard Spoon, president of Local 371. He said union members have approved a strike authorization...

Today's Teamster News 10.21.12

Walmart supply chain: warehouse staff agencies accused of wage theft  Guardian   ...a class action lawsuit (was) recently filed against Roadlink Workforce Solutions, who supply staff to Walmart's Elwood warehouse. The case alleges numerous ways in which wages are stolen or underpaid...
Spain’s main labor unions approve general strike for November 14  El Pais   ...The industrial action will coincide with a general strike in Portugal and with demonstrations and protests called by the European Trade Union Confederation against the austerity drive in Europe. General strikes may also be called for the same day in Cyprus, Malta and Greece...
Italian workers rally against job losses, spending cuts  Reuters   ...Thousands of Italian trade unionists rallied in central Rome on Saturday to protest against public spending cuts, job losses and factory closures, urging Mario Monti's government to do more to help workers hit by recession...
Third instance of voter registration dumping found in Virginia  Ray Story   ...A third instance of fraudulent voter registration has been uncovered in the important swing state of Virginia, where a Republican consultant has been arrested and thousands of discarded voter registration forms were recovered from a dumpster earlier this week...
International monitors at US polling spots draw criticism from voter fraud groups  The Hill   ...United Nations-affiliated election monitors from Europe and central Asia will be at polling places around the U.S. looking for voter suppression activities by conservative groups, a concern raised by civil rights groups during a meeting this week...
Scott Walker To Headline David Koch Hosted Fundraiser  Huffington Post   ...Invitations to the $1,000-a-plate lunch at New York City's 21 Club on Nov. 1 have been sent out, billing Walker as a "special guest" at the effort to raise funds for the Empire State's Republican Party...

Today's Teamster News 10.16.12

Wal-Mart aims to one-up Amazon with same-day delivery  CNET   ... Wal-Mart is working with UPS to ship the orders, which will be delivered between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. that day...
Chinese funding Florida charter schools  Miami Today   ...Investment money is pouring into Florida from wealthy Chinese who find that Florida has exactly what they are looking for — and what they need to secure US green cards. Chinese investors are taking advantage of the EB-5 investment visa program, the so-called "green card via red carpet," by putting millions into Florida's charter schools and an aquaculture farm in Central Florida...
False Residency: Epidemic Form of Elite Voter Fraud That Cannot Be Prevented by Photo ID  The BRAD BLOG   ...there have been a growing number of claims that political elites have used a false residence to vote, often to insure their own elections in a district where they do not reside...
The not-so-lazy 47 percent  The Ed Show   ...almost 70 percent of workers who had the option to stay home or go on vacation or run errands or whatever just didn’t take it...
Teamsters authorize strike against newspapers  philly.com   ...Newspaper delivery drivers, clerks, dispatchers, security guards, and building services personnel represented by Teamsters Local 628 voted Sunday to authorize a strike against Interstate General Media, the company that owns The Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com...
Hammond public works employees to get 1% raise, Teamsters official confirms  NWI Times   ...The one-year extension provides a 1 percent raise for Teamster-represented employees, in line with the salary increase most Hammond employees likely will receive next year, said Larry Regan, Teamsters Local 142 vice president...

Today's Teamster News 10.09.12

IMF Sees ‘Alarmingly High’ Risk of Deeper Global Slump  Bloomberg   ...The IMF report called for U.S. policy makers to find an alternative to planned automatic tax increases and spending cuts that would trigger a recession. Europeans must follow on their commitments for a more integrated monetary union, and many emerging markets can afford to cut interest rates or pause tightening to fight off risks to their economies, the IMF said...
In Pilot Program, Student IDs Track the Students  Texas Tribune   ...“It gives the kids a little bit more responsibility, knowing that we as a faculty are keeping up with them,” she said. “Once they get out there in the real world, they’re going to have to be on the job on time, and they’re going to have to be accountable...”
In voter registration fraud case, it's not Mickey Mouse you have to worry about  Miami Herald   ...it’s not blatant fraud like this that has elections experts worried about possible voting mayhem come November. Rather, it’s the re-registration of voters, where personal information such as someone’s party affiliation, signature or address could have been changed without the person’s knowledge...
Subpoena for Gov. Walker's testimony filed in misconduct case against former county staffer  Associated Press   ...Kelly Rindfleisch is accused of using county time to conduct campaign work for a Republican who lost a lieutenant governor race in 2010. Rindfleisch was Walker's deputy chief of staff when he was the Milwaukee County executive...
Kasich closer to turnpike lease  Columbus Dispatch   ...A lease would need the legislature’s approval. The Ohio Turnpike Commission has the authority to finance debt, but the legislature would have to change state law to allow the money to be used outside the turnpike...
UPS, Teamsters start contract talks  Press-Enterprise   ...UPS and the Teamsters are still almost a full 10 months away from the expiration of their contracts. But the two sides began negotiations on Sept. 27, and both sides are hoping they can settle their differences by coming up with a tentative agreement by March 31, 2013...

Today's Teamster News 10.08.12

Obama Better For Economy, Workers And Economists Agree  Huffington Post   ...Economists gave Obama's economic plan an average grade of 3.15 on a five-point scale: nearly 50 percent higher than their 2.14 grade of Romney's plan, according to a new survey by The Economist...
Real-Live Voter Fraud  Washington Monthly   ...What do forged absentee ballots and vote-buying have in common? They occur more often than in-person impersonation (which is virtually non-existent) and are unaffected by voter ID laws...
The jobs numbers: never mind the quantity, check the quality  The Guardian   ...more workers are in stuck in part-time jobs because their hours were cut back or they're unable to find full-time positions. The number of workers in this category shot up to 8.5 million in September – an increase of 581,000 from last month...
Desperately Chasing Jobs in a Polarized Wisconsin Town (television review)  New York Times   ...the energy and political capital expended on those 120 potential jobs are a sign of how desperate things are in Janesville and surrounding Rock County, where the closing of the auto plant is estimated to have cost 11,000 jobs. (The film makes no reference to Representative Paul D. Ryan...
Andy Kroll, The Death of the Golden Dream of Higher Education  TomDispatch   ...For the first time in generations, California's community colleges and state universities are turning away qualified new students and shrinking their enrollments as state funding continues its long, slow decline...
Wells Fargo boosts lobbying presence in Maine, elsewhere  Bangor Daily News   ...After becoming a national bank, Wells Fargo now has lobbyists bending state legislators’ ears everywhere from Denver to Baton Rouge, La. In Maine, state records show Wells lobbied on three bills, including one that would require banks to provide original documents while foreclosing. It was vetoed by the governor. Wells had no lobbyists in Maine five years ago...

GOP vote fraud scandal spreads to FL, CA, CO, NV, VA, NC

Good luck with that.

Reports of voter registration fraud are coming fast and furious out of these six (and counting) states. They are linked to the Republican Party and the Romney campaign. Not just a few lowly rogue staffers, but the GOP establishment.

It started in Palm Beach County, Fla. (what a shock). An election official turned over 109 questionable signatures on voter registration forms to the state attorney general last week. More suspicious signatures were found in eight other Florida counties. Now word of the fraud is spreading even as the Republican Party cuts all ties to the company perpetrating the alleged misdeeds.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

The controversy in Florida -- which began with possibly fraudulent forms that first cropped up in Palm Beach County --  has engulfed the Republican National Committee, which admitted Thursday that it urged state parties in seven swing states to hire the firm, Strategic Allied Consulting.The RNC paid the company at least $3.1 million -- routed through the state parties of Florida, Nevada, Colorado, North Carolina and Virginia -- to register voters and run get-out-the-vote operations. Wisconsin and Ohio had not yet paid the firm for get-out-the-vote operations it was contracted to do.

Sproul's sleazy reputation was well-known to the Republican National Committee, the L.A. Times reports:

But his reputation is such that when Sproul was tapped by the RNC to do field work this year, officials requested that he set up a new firm to avoid being publicly linked to the past allegations, Sproul told The Times. The firm was set up at a Virginia address, and Sproul does not show up on the corporate paperwork.

The Brad Blog reports Sproul wasn't the only perp. Brad Blog reports Democrats were screened out from registration drives in other states.

The way it's done: lying to potential registrants about a "voter survey," rather than disclosing that workers are actually there to register voters --- but only Republican-leaning ones. The deceptive tactic has so far been seen this year in several of the five battleground states where the RNC's controversial, and potentially criminal, $3 million registration program was scuttled late last week... 

The BRAD BLOG has also collected evidence suggesting that the dishonest registration tactic also appears to be in use in states where the RNC's firm, Strategic Allied Consulting, is not said to be operating, suggesting that the practice is not just one used by the discredited firm, but, rather, a nationwide voter scheme by the GOP.

In Riverside County, Calif., 133 residents filed complaints that they were unwillingly registered as Republicans.  

WePartyPatriots tells us,

The state’s Republican Party has spent $430,840 for voter registration and petition gathering to a company named “Grassroots Outreach LLC” which shares an address with Sproul’s office in Arizona and uses the same tactics that gained him infamy in the 2004 election. 

We also learn that in Colorado Springs, 

...a woman shopping at the local Safeway noticed that a teenage girl was registering only voters who said they would likely vote for Romney. She then videotaped her own encounter with the girl via her cell phone. The video (here), shows the girl admitting she was only trying to get registrations for one candidate.

It turns out the teenagers worked for Strategic Allied Consulting.

WePartyPatriots notes Indiana may take the cake: 

...the hypocrisy runs thick as the Secretary of State himself was caught illegally voting in 10 straight elections using the address of his ex-wife. 

The story made some news in February, but it is being revisited now leaving many Indianans wondering how to trust a man with an election when he himself has a history of voter fraud... 

Today's Teamsters News 09.30.12

I am a job creator: A manifesto for the entitled (opinion)  Washington Post   ...I am the misunderstood superhero of American capitalism, single-handedly creating wealth and prosperity despite all the obstacles put in my way by employees, government and the media...
Europe is Revolting  Counterpunch   ...A general strike in Greece, massive protests by the indignados in Spain, public transport strikes in Portugal (and Spain), and industrial action by aluminium, steel and public sector workers in Italy headlined this week...
The “Pauperization Of Europe”  Testoserone Pit   ... “Poverty is returning to Europe,” said Jan Zijderveld, head of Unilever’s European operations, in an interview. The British–Dutch consumer products company, third largest in the world, was adjusting its commercial strategy to this new reality, he said, by redeploying to Europe what worked in poor countries of the developing world...
Bain Workers Bus Tour Slams 'Romney Economy' In Swing State Excursion  Huffington Post   ..."Bain workers know firsthand what a Romney-Bain Economy looks like," the group wrote on its website. "Outsourcing the good jobs to China, [and] leaving mostly low-wage jobs with limited benefits here in our communities..."
Vote counting company tied to Romney  The Free Press   ...Bain alumni, now raising big money as Romney bundlers are also in the electronic voting machine business. This appears to be a repeat of the the infamous former CEO of Diebold Wally O’Dell, who raised money for Bush while his company supplied voting machines and election management software in the 2004 election...
Teamsters reach deal on pay-hike contract  The Olympian   ...Teamsters Local 117 struck a deal with negotiators for Gov. Chris Gregoire late last night, assuring a deal that mirrors one struck two weeks ago by the larger Washington Federation of State Employees...the Teamster deal reverses the 3 percent reduction in pay and hours worked for all 5,690 covered workers...

Today's Teamster News 08.29.12

China's currency suddenly gains value as U.S. presidential candidates talk tough on trade policy.  manufacture this   ...China's currency has recently gained value, despite Beijing's long-term policy of deliberate undervaluation.  By keeping the Chinese currency, the Yuan, undervalued, Chinese exporters have continually enjoyed an artificial price advantage over their U.S. competitors...
Portugal at flashpoint as austerity lights fires in mild-mannered populace  Guardian   ...On Saturday, demonstrators will gather again to march against the spending cuts they believe have pushed their country deeper into recession. Meanwhile, workers have downed tools in protest over changes to working regulations...
Washington liquor privatization increases consumer cost  The Oregonian   ...The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Washington shoppers are paying 17 percent more for distilled spirits since the Costco initiative was passed. Store, bar and restaurant volume was down 9 percent in June...
Suspicious voter registration forms found in 10 Florida counties  Los Angeles Times   ...Florida elections officials said Friday that at least 10 counties have identified suspicious and possibly fraudulent voter registration forms turned in by a firm working for the Republican Party of Florida, which has filed an election fraud complaint with the state Division of Elections against its one-time consultant...
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra cancels Oct. 5 and 6 performances  Indianapolis Star   ...The ISO locked out the musicians and terminated their health benefits Sept. 8. Since then, the musicians have been performing from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday outside Hilbert Circle Theatre in Downtown Indianapolis and will continue to do so during the lockout...
School bus drivers roll with Teamsters  Southtown Star   ...Drivers and bus aides at Alpha School Bus Co. in Crestwood have voted to be represented by Local 777 of the Teamsters, the union said Friday...

Today's Teamster News 09.27.12

Chart of the day: The long decline of labor  Reuters   ...Labor income has been declining for a good 25 years, and the only substantial countertrend was the dot-com bubble. The trend is a bad one, and it’s getting worse. And while I don’t see any policies, on either side of the aisle, which really try to address it, the fact is that Republican policies seem explicitly designed to exacerbate it...
NFL, referees end labor dispute  Boston Globe   ...on the toughest issue to hammer out, the NFL has agreed to extend the defined pension plan for five more years before the referees are converted to a 401(k) plan...
Union Background Has Profound Influence On Politicians: Study  Huffington Post   ...Politicians who come of age with the labor movement in their lives are more likely to advocate on behalf of worker-friendly policies, regardless of their political leaning, the makeup of their district and financial support from labor, according to a new study on union members and voting behavior...
On the job, Scott Walker's failing jobs' performance  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...the rough total of jobs created since Walker took office (is) at 27,311. That leaves about 222,689 jobs to go, with a little more than two years left in his term...
Feds slam state agencies over use of economic-development money  Wisconsin State Journal   ...Among the most serious findings are that the state failed to perform required underwriting — the proceess of determining the financial soundness of a company — before giving $390,000 to Gilman USA LLC, a machining company in Grafton, and $1 million to Morgan Aircraft in Sheboygan...
“Questionable” Palm Beach County voter registration forms forwarded to state attorney for review  Palm Beach Post   ...The Republican Party of Florida is dumping a firm it paid more than $1.3 million to register new voters, after Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher flagged 106 “questionable” registration applications turned in by the contractor this month...