Monday, December 10, 2012

Today's Teamster News 12.10.12

Editorial: A failure of leadership: Snyder's about-face on right-to-work betrays voters  Detroit Free Press   ...The argument that right-to-work status makes states more competitive or prosperous is refuted by a mountain of evidence that shows right-to-work states trailing their union-friendly counterparts in key metrics like per capita wealth, poverty rates and health insurance coverage...
Obama Expected To Weigh In On Michigan Right-To-Work Battle In Detroit Speech  Huffington Post   ...When President Barack Obama arrives in Michigan on Monday to sell his vision for addressing the so-called fiscal cliff, he will be stepping into a state that is currently witnessing a massive battle between its governor and labor community. And according to union officials, Obama will weigh in on the controversy and speak out against "right-to-work" laws...
Top Michigan Newspaper Turns On Snyder: Slams Governor For Sneaking Through Anti-Union ‘Right-To-Work’ Legislation  ThinkProgress   ...The Detroit Free-Press, which endorsed Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) in his 2010 campaign and has generally supported him since, blasted his decision to ram through a union-busting “right-to-work” law in a lame-duck legislative session...
Protesters deck mall with right-to-work carols  Detroit Free Press   ...They looked jolly in red scarves and reindeer antler headbands, but the carolers outside of Oakland Mall in Troy on Sunday were actually protesters conveying a serious message: No to right-to-work legislation in Michigan...
Chinese company buys battery maker that got recovery funds  Washington Post   ...Wanxiang America, the U.S. arm of a Chinese automotive parts giant, won the bidding for a bankrupt Massachusetts-based lithium battery manufacturer that was once hailed as a cornerstone of President Obama’s quest for American dominance in electric vehicles and battery technology...
How Corruption Is Strangling U.S. Innovation  Harvard Business Review   ...The corruption  ...  is the phenomenon of money in politics...One of the prime drivers of economic growth inside America over the past century has been disruptive innovation; yet the phenomenon ... is increasingly being used by large incumbent firms as a mechanism to stave off the process. Given how hard it can be to survive a disruptive challenge, and how effective lobbying has proven in stopping it, it's no wonder that incumbent firms take this route so often...
Europe clings to scorched-earth ideology as depression deepens  The Telegraph   ...Like the generals of the First World War, Europe’s leaders seem determined to send wave after wave of their youth into the barbed wire of tight money, bank deleveraging, and fiscal austerity...
Einhorns' contribution to Walker could trigger 'pay-to-play' rule  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...Conservative Milwaukee financier Stephen Einhorn and his wife, Nancy, donated $25,000 to Gov. Scott Walker a month before Einhorn's firm won a contract to manage $1 million of taxpayer money, potentially triggering federal "pay-to-play" conflict of interest rules...
Chamber of Commerce wants to ban teachers' unions dues deducted from paychecks  Indianapolis Star Tribune   ...After two years of labor battles that roiled the Indiana Statehouse, lawmakers are gearing up for a new fight, this time over paycheck deduction of union dues...