Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Today's Teamster News 07.16.13

Democrats Confident They Have 51 Votes For Nuclear Option  Talking Points Memo   ...Senate Democrats are confident that they’ve rounded up the 51 votes needed to nuke the filibuster for executive branch nominations, should they follow through with their threat to change the rules if Republicans block seven pending nominees...
McDonalds Tells Workers To Budget By Getting A Second Job And Turning Off Their Heat  ThinkProgress   ...McDonalds has partnered with Visa to launch a website to help its low-wage workers making an average $8.25 an hour to budget...it actually underscores exactly how hard it is for a low-paid fast food worker to get by.
US blocks crackdown on tax avoidance by net firms like Google and Amazon  The Guardian   ...France has failed to secure backing for tough new international tax rules specifically targeting digital companies, such as Google and Amazon, after opposition from the US forced the watering down of proposals that will be presented at this week's G20 summit...
Judge to mull whether airlines owe WTC owners  Associated Press   ...A judge will decide whether the owners of the World Trade Center can try to make aviation companies pay billions of dollars in damages stemming from the Sept 11 attacks. Lawsuit says defendants were negligent in allowing hijackers to board...
Audits: Prison vendor charged for unserved meals  Associated Press   ...A private vendor in line to begin feeding roughly 100,000 prison inmates in Ohio and Michigan has a track record of billing for food it doesn't serve, using substandard ingredients and riling prisoners with its meal offerings, past audits in several states show...
Arizona failed to distribute federal aid to struggling homeowners  The Republic   ...Arizona has failed to pass along tens of millions of dollars in federal aid to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure, despite being one of the states hit hardest by the housing bust...
New e-commerce strategies threaten UPS, FedEx  Reuters   ...UPS and FedEx might be worried about international shipments to slowing economies like China, but perhaps they should be more concerned about what's going on in their own back yards...
'Moral Monday' crowd rallies for women's rights; 101 arrested  WRAL.com   ...About 100 people were arrested Monday after their singing and clapping protest outside the state Senate chamber was declared an unlawful assembly, in what has become a weekly demonstration against Republican initiatives...
North Carolina Lawmakers to tweak law cutting jobless benefits  Winston-Salem Journal   ...North Carolina lawmakers plan to make some changes in a new law that cuts unemployment benefits after the U.S. Labor Department pointed out some parts of the law that do not comply with federal regulations...
Concern mounts as Ohio labor groups watch Michigan Supreme Court refuse to intervene in RTW controversy  PR NewsChannel   ...With Ohio’s Right to Work battle at a political standstill for the summer, labor advocates have had a moment to take stock of the nationwide battle for worker rights. And the labor group advocates don’t have to look far to find one of the best examples of why failure is not an option...
Super-Sized Terminal on the Horizon at Port of Oakland  Journal of Commerce   ...The Port of Oakland’s board of commissioners has unanimously approved a lawsuit settlement that could produce the port’s first super-sized terminal...
Buffalo-Area Emergency Medical Crisis Looming With Teamsters Strike  IBT   ...At the annual “Taste of Buffalo” this weekend, local paramedics and EMTs protested their employer, Rural/Metro Corporation. The 400 first responders, members of Teamsters Local 375, have voted to strike on July 15 at midnight, due to Rural/Metro’s substandard wage offer...
First Student Mechanics Join Teamsters   IBT   ...School bus mechanics with First Student in Pine Bush, N.Y., have voted unanimously to join Local 445 in Rock Tavern, N.Y. The seven mechanics joined the Teamsters seeking the guarantees and protections of a contract, including better wages, benefits and working conditions...
Pacific Harbor Line, BLET ink five-year labor agreement  Progressive Railroading   ...Pacific Harbor Line Inc. (PHL) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) recently signed a new five-year agreement covering the short line's operating and maintenance-of-way employees...