Teamster News
Teamsters Local 174 Members Overwhelmingly Ratify Contract at First Student teamster.org ...Teamsters Local 174 has reached an agreement with First
Student covering more than 450 school bus drivers who transport K-12 students
for the Seattle School District...
Spring Grove school board hears bus safety complaints York Dispatch ...A group of bus drivers, parents and residents told Pennsylvania's Spring Grove Area School District's school board their concerns about multiple safety issues with vehicles from Durham School Services. The bus drivers are represented by Teamsters Local 776...
Trade
Daschle distorts NAFTA outcomes to sell TPP (Opinion) The Hill Blog ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and "fast track" trade authority are generating heated debate. TPP would expand on terms first established in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and extend them to additional countries.Unfortunately, former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) misconstrued the facts of NAFTA’s legacy in his February 20 op-ed in The Hill, “Trade Pacts Are a Tonic for the Economy.”...
Gibson joins labor, community groups to oppose TPP Mid-Hudson News ...Congressman Christopher Gibson (R, NY-19) Monday spoke out against the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement that is being worked on by the administration in Washington behind closed doors...
The U.S. needs a stronger domestic supply chain in the event of an attack Manufacture This ...Where lies the United States' greatest vulnerability to a physical terrorist attack? Transformers.
No, not the robots in disguise: Those large gray boxes of steel that move power across the country pose a serious risk to our power grid... only a handful of companies build them in the U.S., and shipments from overseas could take months or years to arrive if one is unexpectedly damaged...
State Battles
Right-to-work among 12 Oregon ballot measures dropped Statesman Journal ...Twelve ballot initiatives have been dropped — including one that would have made Oregon’s public sector subject to “right to work” laws — as part of a deal reached by Gov. John Kitzhaber’s office...
The story behind those communist China "right to work" billboards in Kansas City The Pitch ...Terry Akins, a labor executive with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers No. 124 in Kansas City, had this thought in mind when he brandished a map of China with an accompanying hammer and sickle upon a billboard along Interstate 70...
How large corporations avoid paying income taxes in Wisconsin Fox6Now ...“They were — in a sense — blackmailing Fond du Lac County, blackmailing the state of Wisconsin. The Mercury Marine story is really the perfect example of what’s wrong with assuming that business is always right, because here, we were begging them to take money, some of it was in low interest loans, some of it was just cash on the barrel head — and they’re not paying taxes in Wisconsin,”...
The War on Workers
McDonald’s to SEC: Strikes hurt, and we might have to hike pay Salon ...Worker strikes and social media shaming “can adversely affect us,” and “increasing public focus” on “income inequality” could spur higher wages, fast food giant McDonald’s acknowledged in an annual report filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission...
White House Suggests Social Security Cuts Remain 'On The Table' Talking Points Memo ...Even though President Barack Obama's formal budget proposal Tuesday omitted cuts to Social Security, the White House strongly suggested that a controversial policy to cut the program "remains on the table" if Republicans are willing to compromise...
Fed Nominee Stanley Fischer Has a Citigroup Problem Wall Street on Parade ...Citigroup collapsed in 2008 and is only alive today because the U.S. government pumped in $45 billion in equity, made $300 billion in asset guarantees, and the Fed chipped in over $2 trillion in below market rate loans to the listing shipwreck...
Exclusive: Report Finds Taking A Paid Day Off When Sick Is A Privilege Of The Wealthy ThinkProgress ...In 2012, 61 percent of private sector workers older than 18 had access to paid sick days, an increase from 57 percent in 2009, according to a new report...
Supreme Court extends whistle-blower protections under anti-fraud law Los Angeles Times ...The Supreme Court on Tuesday expanded protections for whistle blowers covered by an anti-fraud law passed following the collapse of energy giant Enron, ruling outside accountants, auditors and lawyers cannot be fired or punished for exposing fraud...
Toyota Union Cites ‘Big Gap’ With Carmaker in Wage Talks Bloomberg News ...Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, faces a “big gap” in negotiations with its workers’ union in Japan, according to the head of the Toyota Motor Workers’ Union...
Port driver files class action complaints against two California drayage companies Land Line ... Two new class action lawsuits have been filed against two Southern California-based drayage companies by a former port driver who worked for both companies. This comes just days after a report was released by labor
groups, which was critical of port companies that allegedly misclassify
port drivers as independent contractors...
Pittsburgh's Largest Employer Draws Hundreds Of Protesters Over 'Poverty' Wages
Huffington Post ...Hundreds of demonstrators poured into downtown
Pittsburgh Monday to protest low wages at the University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center, escalating a two-year showdown between labor groups and
the area's largest employer...
Miscellaneous
Sprint Accused of Overcharging Feds Millions for Wiretapping Wired ...Sprint, of Overland Park, Kansas, inflated charges approximately 58 percent between 2007 and 2010, according to a lawsuit (.pdf) the administration brought against the carrier today...
“Retirement Security in an Aging Society,” or the Lack Thereof Baseline Scenario ...50% of households have personal retirement accounts worth $5,000 or less; 50% of households have other financial assets of $15,000 or less; and 50% of households have no defined benefit pensions...
Bill protects taxpayers from government contractors
The Tennessean ...All over the country, cash-strapped state and
local governments have handed over control of critical public services
and assets to corporations that promise to handle them better, faster
and cheaper. Unfortunately for taxpayers, these services failed to keep
this promise...
RadioShack to close up to 1,100 'underperforming' stores Los Angeles Times ...Beleaguered electronics retailer RadioShack Corp. reported its fourth-quarter store sales were down 19% compared to last year and that it would close up to 1,100 underperforming...
Chevron $9.5 Billion Judgment by Ecuador Is Ruled Fraudulent by U.S. Court
Bloomberg News ...Chevron Corp. won a U.S. judge’s ruling that a
multibillion-dollar pollution judgment issued in Ecuador was procured by
fraud, making it less likely that plaintiffs will collect the $9.5
billion award...
