Friday, July 5, 2013

Today's Teamster News 07.05.13

Most in U.S. Still Proud to Be an American  Gallup   ...Despite their widespread national pride, Americans evince a much more negative response when asked if the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be pleased or disappointed by the way the United States has turned out...
Ralph Nader questions Corporate Patriotism  Economic Populist   ..."Corporations and their attorneys like to be judged as 'persons' under our constitutions and laws. So it is entirely appropriate to judge the character of a U.S. chartered corporation by the measure of corporate patriotism – especially if it is operating worldwide..."
Four Years Into Recovery, Austerity’s Toll is At Least 3 Million Jobs  Economic Policy Institute   ...The fact that four years into the recovery we still have not yet come close to making up the jobs lost in the downturn, (much less the jobs needed to keep up with growth in the potential workforce over that time), is a grimmer situation than anything our labor market has seen in seven decades...
Paid Sick Leave Laws Generate Concern, but Not Much Pain  New York Times   ...Among those companies that did have to put a new policy in place, about half reported that adopting and managing it was not difficult, according to the study. And many businesses fearful that paying for sick leave would drive up expenses have since reported that those concerns were unfounded...
Prosecutions of offshore banks may help turn tide against secrecy  McClatchy   ...The U.S. accused the Swiss adviser of working closely with Swiss banks to help Americans access their undeclared money...
Misinformation on classified NSA programs includes statements by senior U.S. officials  Washington Post   ...But details that have emerged from the exposure of hundreds of pages of previously classified NSA documents indicate that public assertions about these programs by senior U.S. officials have also often been misleading, erroneous or simply false...
EU Votes To Suspend U.S. Data Sharing Agreements Over NSA Scandal  firedoglake.com   ...The fallout from the NSA spying scandal may be just beginning as the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution that would back the European Commission if it decides to suspend data sharing agreements with the U.S...
The next time someone tells you Scott Walker balanced the budget…  Forward Lookout   ...…tell them that they are wrong...
Oregon legislature passes bill to give free tuition to in-state residents  Raw Story   ...This week the Oregon Senate passed a bill that would create a fund allowing it to bypass traditional student lenders by giving free tuition to students who then pay it back with a deduction from their paychecks after they graduate...
Teamsters file unfair labor charge against state prison system  Tampa Bay Times   ...The Teamsters Union on Wednesday filed a new complaint against the state Department of Corrections, challenging time-off restrictions instituted by Gov. Rick Scott's administration dealing with earned time off for more than 20,000 correctional officers...