Friday, July 26, 2013

Today's Teamster News 07.26.13

In Industry Where Few Workers Are 'Employees,' Teamsters Mount Multi-Front Attack  The Nation   ...A rare union election victory in New Jersey and a battery of wage theft complaints in California represent the latest steps in the Teamsters union’s effort to transform port trucking, a growing industry in which most workers aren’t considered employees under the law...
After a Long Battle, Teamster Waste Workers in Evansville, Indiana Ratify Contract  IBT   ...On July 22, 80 workers at Republic Services/Allied Waste in Evansville, Ind., who are members of Teamsters Local 215, ratified a contract that provides significant wage increases and strong retirement security...
U.S., Vietnam to intensify talks despite protests  Reuters   ...The United States and Vietnam have agreed to intensify talks on a regional free-trade agreement in hopes of finishing by the end of the year, the U.S. Trade Representative's Office said on Wednesday, following a call by labor and human rights groups for negotiations with Hanoi to be suspended...
Journalist Covers Extreme Violence Against Workers and Union Activists in Colombia  AFL-CIO Now   ...“The dangers faced by union members and human rights activists mirror a long-lasting vortex of violence propelled by guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries, drug cartels, criminals and, according to human rights groups and others, military and government officials as well...”
Former UBS bankers get prison terms for muni bid-rigging  Reuters   ...Three former UBS AG (UBSN.VX) bankers were sentenced to prison on Wednesday for deceiving U.S. municipalities by rigging bids to invest municipal bond proceeds, with the longest sentence at 27 months, a fraction of what prosecutors had sought...
Detroit: latest battleground in the war on the Middle Class  NH Labor News   ...On Wednesday afternoon, the federal judge overseeing Detroit’s bankruptcy proceedings suspended all other legal actions by public workers who are trying to protect their constitutional rights. And it is very unlikely that workers’ rights will be considered during the bankruptcy proceedings...
Georgia cities unable to file for bankruptcy  WALB News   ...Detroit's bankruptcy filing has some asking if a Georgia city could be next, but one attorney said the answer is no. State law prohibits cities from filing bankruptcy to absolve themselves of debt and forces city leaders to make tough decisions on raising taxes and cutting benefits and jobs...
Union reps decry liquor privatization, expired beer in Erie stores  Erie Times-News   ...A union group opposing liquor privatization was at a local grocery store Wednesday claiming some stores in Erie, Pennsylvania, have been selling beer past its expiration date...
80 dead, 31 critical after Spain train crash blamed on high speed; 1 American among the dead  Washington Post   ...A Spanish train that hurtled off the rails and smashed into a security wall as it rounded a bend was going so fast that carriages tumbled off the tracks like dominos, killing 80 people and maiming dozens more, according to eyewitness accounts and video footage obtained Thursday...
Low-wage workers rally in New York  PressTV   ...Demonstrators gathered in Brooklyn on Wednesday calling for better wages and denouncing harsh working conditions without benefits. The rally was organized by Fast Food Forward. The participants said the rally is part of the national movement of low-wage workers fighting for a better future...
Justice Department to challenge states’ voting rights laws  Washington Post   ...The Justice Department is preparing to take fresh legal action in a string of voting rights cases across the nation, U.S. officials said, part of a new attempt to blunt the impact of a Supreme Court ruling that the Obama administration has warned will imperil minority representation...
North Carolina First to Toughen Voting Laws After Ruling  Bloomberg News   ...North Carolina is poised to become the first state to pass a more restrictive voting law after the U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a core provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act...
Wisconsin’s union workers will have to wait for 1% raise   Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel ...Democratic Sen. Jon Erpenbach is upset that at least 2,000 union state workers won't immediately share in the 1% pay raise put forward by Scott Walker's administration for each of the next two fiscal years. "Passing a state employment compensation plan without including any represented state employees reeks of punishment," Erpenbach said...
Police clash with Capitol singers for second straight day  Wisconsin State Journal   ...For the second day in a row, police at the state Capitol arrested people gathered in the rotunda without a permit as part of the long-running noontime singalong in protest of Gov. Scott Walker...
Most big American tech groups slip European tax net  Reuters   ...Most big U.S. technology firms cut their tax bills by not declaring a tax residence in their main European markets, preventing tax authorities in those countries from even assessing their income, a Reuters analysis of hundreds of corporate filings shows...