Today's Teamster News 03.01.13

Bureaucratic Blunder helps over 100 Oil Companies Avoid Paying Royalties  Oil Price.com   ...Democratic lawmaker Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts ... claims that more than 100 oil and gas producers, including Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), BP Plc (NYSE: BP), Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), Royal Dutch Shell Plc, (NYSE: RDS-A) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), have benefitted from bungled leases awarded by the federal government. The leases enabled the companies to drill for oil and gas in federal waters without paying, or at least paying at a much lower rate, any royalties...
Wal-Mart Struggles to Restock Store Shelves as U.S. Sales Slump  Bloomberg   ...Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT), already struggling to woo shoppers constrained by higher taxes, is “getting worse” at keeping shelves stocked, the retailer’s U.S. chief told executives...
Big Energy Firm Agrees to Replace Coal-Burning Plants with Wind and Solar Operations  AllGov   ...American Electric Power (AEP) will stop using coal by 2015 at power plants in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. It intends to replace the energy produced by the plants with new wind and solar investments in Indiana and Michigan...
Revised GDP: Economy grew 0.1 pct in fourth quarter  CBS News   ...The U.S. economy grew at a 0.1 percent annual rate from October through December, the weakest performance in nearly two years...
Spain falls further into recession as GDP plunges by 0.8%  The Guardian   ...Spain's recession worsened dramatically at the end of last year as the government made a final austerity push in order to meet deficit targets imposed by Brussels. GDP fell by 0.8% over the final quarter of 2012, as state spending was reduced and the public sector continued to shed jobs...
13 arrested as 200 march on Wells Fargo demanding fair banking practices Occupy Homes MN ...demanding turnover of vacant homes to community control and fair banking practices. The march, organized by Occupy Homes MN, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, and allies from faith and labor communities, began at the home of Gayle Lindsey, fighting her foreclosure...
Only 6% Rate News Media As Very Trustworthy  Rasmussen Reports   ...25% use the Internet as their main source of news, while only 10% still rely on print newspapers...
Governor to announce EFM decision tomorrow; State takeover of Detroit possible  WXYZ   ...Detroit Mayor Dave Bing says ... the governor will announce his decision regarding the possible appointment of an Emergency Financial Manager for the city of Detroit on Friday...
Proposed union law a bad idea, city workers tell Assembly  Anchorage Daily News   ...Hundreds of union workers jammed Assembly Chambers at Loussac Library, spilled out into the lobby, and filled another meeting room Wednesday night for an Assembly hearing on Mayor Dan Sullivan's plan to limit the power of city labor groups....
Maverick Maine Democrat signs on to public sector right-to-work bill  Bangor Daily News   ...Rep. Terry Hayes, D-Buckfield, will be the only Democratic co-sponsor of the bill...
Does Taylor teacher pact flout right-to-work law?  Detroit Free Press   ...The union agreed to a 10% wage cut over the first three years of the contract in exchange for the lengthy contract...
Carlson Takes Aim at ALEC, Seeks to Rein In Undeclared Lobbyists  Burnsville Patch   ...Carlson is one of several co-authors listed on a bill authored by District 61 Sen. Scott Dibble (DFL) that would define ALEC—and other organizations that propose "model legislation" for legislators as lobbyists. Such a move would require those groups to adhere to stricter financial reporting requirements under Minnesota campaign finance laws...
"Paycheck Protection" Bill Remains Stalled In Mo. Senate  KBIA   ...The Missouri Senate spent a few hours Wednesday debating legislation that would bar labor unions for public workers from withholding money from public employees’ paychecks....
The Tuesday Count: Effort underway to introduce “Right-to-Work” laws in Ohio  Ballot News   ...Chris Littleton, of the group Ohioans for Workplace Freedom, is sponsoring the initiative effort and believes he will be able to deliver the necessary 396,000 names by July in order to place the measure on the ballot this year...
Deal Reached for Dorchester 2 Bus Drivers, Durham  SummervillePatch   ...Durham School Services and Dorchester Two spokespersons released statements confirming Teamster Local 509 members have ratified an agreement with the private company that runs the bus system...
Charleston bus drivers to vote on new contract Associated Press ...The drivers plan to vote on a new contract Saturday. The president of Teamsters Local 509, L.D. Fletcher, says if union members reject the contract, a strike would begin Monday...
Council OKs contract for Transit employees  The Leader Herald   ...the Common Council unanimously passed a resolution establishing a new contract with the city's transit union...Teamsters 294 Business Agent Thomas Quackenbush said the union is pleased that an agreement finally has been reached between the transit employees and the city...
OSHA Finds Norfolk Southern Railway Violated Federal Railroad Safety Act  BMWED   ...OSHA, after a full investigation, concluded that NS fired Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED) members merely for seeking medical attention for on-the-job injuries...
City reaches agreements with employee unions  The Beach Reporter   ...The city and its Police Officer and Firefighter Associations, as well as California Teamsters Local 911, have successfully negotiated three-year Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) following several months of labor negotiations...

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...