Friday, January 31, 2014

Today's Teamster News 01.31.14

Hoffa Praises Bill to Discourage Excessive CEO Pay  teamster.org   ...Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa praised U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, for introducing a bill to end a taxpayer subsidy for excessive CEO pay...
Teamsters Win First Contract at Kennedy Space Center  teamster.org   ...Badging clerks at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center ratified their first union contract on Tuesday as members of Teamsters Local 769. The new pact secures wage increases, improved vacation benefits and protection of full-time jobs in the 10-member bargaining unit...
Teamsters, Fast Track opponents making an impact. You can too.  TeamsterNation   ...Members of Congress are starting to listen to the thousands of Teamsters who are calling, emailing, rallying and telling them face-to-face: Vote NO on Fast Track...
Applications are now being accepted for the JRHMSF  teamster.org   ...The 2014-2015 scholarship for high school seniors has an application deadline of March 31, 2014. Visit the James R. Hoffa Scholarship Fund Information Center for eligibility requirements and application procedures...
Lunches seized from kids in debt at Salt Lake City elementary  The Salt Lake Tribune   ...Up to 40 kids at Uintah Elementary in Salt Lake City picked up their lunches Tuesday, then watched as the meals were taken and thrown away because of outstanding balances on their accounts — a move that shocked and angered parents...
The Danish Government Nearly Collapsed Today Over A Deal With Goldman Sachs  Business Insider   ...Denmark's government is in turmoil after the Socialist People's Party (SF) quit the ruling coalition over a deal with Goldman Sachs, Lars Eriksen of the Guardian reports. The deal involves Goldman purchasing a 19% stake in state-owned utility Dong Energy for $1.5 billion. Denmark’s shareholding would fall to about 60%...
Coal Markets Hit Hard as Emerging Economies Begin to Wobble  Oil Price   ...Slowing growth in developing countries has started to affect the commodities market, especially for coal, as orders are slashed and prices have fallen as much as 10 percent in a month...
Spy Agencies Work On Psychologically Profiling Everyone  Washington's Blog   ...Newly-released documents from Edward Snowden show that the NSA and other spy agencies are tracking people’s psychological and lifestyle traits such as sexual preference, extroversion-versus-introversion, and whether people are leaders or followers...
Beer buzz? FAA grounds plan to deliver 12-packs by drone  Minneapolis Star Tribune   ...The idea seemed ingenious: Delivering 12-packs of beer to the cold, windswept surfaces of popular ice fishing lakes — using a drone...
Lawsuit: KBR transported soldiers' ice in unsanitized morgue trailers  Military Times   ...The Justice Department is suing KBR and two foreign companies for allegedly defrauding the Army. The most shocking accusation: Workers used “refrigerated trailers to transport ice for consumption by the troops that had previously been used as temporary morgues without first sanitizing them.”...
Wall Street’s New Housing Bonanza  New York Times   ... Investment bankers and lawyers are now lining up to finance investors, from big private equity firms to plumbers and dentists moonlighting as landlords, who are buying up foreclosed houses and renting them out...
U.S. West Coast Labor Tensions Push Shippers to Look at Alternative Routes  Journal of Commerce ...Li & Fung Logistics is preparing alternatives to shipping through U.S. West Coast ports, as the global sourcing giant expects some type of International Longshore and Warehouse Union disruption tied to the negotiations for a contract to replace the current one that expires June 30...
States Have Lost $1.76 Billion After Long-Term Unemployment Benefits Lapsed  ThinkProgress   ...State economies have lost $1.76 billion after Congress let the benefits program for the long-term unemployed lapse at the end of last year, according to a calculation from the Democratic Policy & Communications Center...
Citigroup to limit work hours, force bankers to use vacation time  Bloomberg News   ...Citigroup Inc. will require junior bankers to take Saturdays off and use all of their vacation time each year as the firm joins an industry effort to improve working conditions...
State Moves To Make Sure Workers Don’t Lose Pay If They Get The Flu  ThinkProgress   ...On Wednesday, the Washington State House passed a bill that would guarantee workers paid time off for an illness or to care for a sick family member...
U.S. has launched criminal probe into Target cyberattack  Los Angeles Times   ...The Justice Department said Wednesday that it has launched a criminal investigation into the recent cybertheft of more than 110 million Target customers' personal data...
Union Members Overwhelmingly Vote to Ratify Caesars Entertainment Contract  unitehere.org   Members of the Culinary and Bartenders Unions voted yesterday to ratify a new five-year agreement with Caesars Entertainment. The contract covers 13,000 workers in Las Vegas...