Teamster News
Teamsters Applaud U.S. Appeals Court Decision Reinstating Misclassified Port Truck Drivers teamster.org ...In a landmark victory for misclassified “independent contractors” across America, two previously fired port truck drivers have returned to work today as employees of Green Fleet Systems (GFS) in Long Beach, Calif. Earlier misclassified as independent contractors by GFS...
Waste Workers In Houston Vote To Join Teamsters Local 988 teamster.org ...Workers at WCA Waste Corporation in Houston, who are seeking fair wages, job security and safer working conditions, voted today to join Teamsters Local 988. The vote was 90 to 28...
Trade
Thousands rally against trade agreement TVNZ ...There's been an outcry against secretive trade talks, with thousands joining rallies around [New Zealand]. The target of the protesters' anger in 17 towns and cities is the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement...
What the 2014 Election Results Mean for Trade Policy Public Citizen ...The GOP takeover of the U.S. Senate probably reduces the chances that President Barack Obama gets Fast Track at all before his presidency is over or that a deal is completed on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
State Battles
One Community Beat Big Money On Election Day. Here's How They Did It. Huffington Post ...Voters in Florida's capital city overwhelmingly approved an extraordinary ethics and campaign finance reform ballot initiative that fights money in politics corruption, reclaims local government for the people, and provides a path to victory for national reform efforts...
Kansas Governor’s Grand Tax Cut Experiment Is Gutting His State’s Services Think Progress ...Kansas brought in $23 million less in tax revenue in October than the state had predicted, continuing a pattern of serious shortfalls that began when Gov. Sam Brownback’s (R) massive tax cuts went into effect in 2012...
Wingnut Voter ID Group Fails Again: “Voter Integrity” Outfit Unable To Find Midterm Fraud Salon.com ...Despite army of monitors, Catherine Engelbrecht's discredited organization uncovers 0 polling place impersonations...
Former Mississippi Prisons Head Charged With Getting Kickbacks, Bribes On Prison Contracts Slate ...A 49-count federal indictment unsealed on Thursday charges the head of prisons in Mississippi, Christopher Epps, with orchestrating a massive corruption scheme where he pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from private prison companies in return for contracts to work in the Mississippi prison system...
War on Workers
U.S. labor market tightens, but wages still anemic Reuters ...Average hourly earnings rose only three cents last month, leaving the year-on-year increase at 2.0 percent, the level it has been around for the last few years. The muted wage growth partly reflects the types of jobs being created. In October, about a fifth of the new jobs were in the food services sector...
The hidden truth about job growth, lost amidst the statistical noise & optimists’ hopes Fabius Maximus ...The key thing to know about the latest job report is the same thing to know about all 2014’s job reports: there has been no change to the trend. No sign of the acceleration so confidently forecast by so many. This confirms the other economic indicators, amidst the slowing world economy...
Whole Foods Employees Ask For a Union Gawker ... There is now an official movement on to unionize at least one Whole Foods store on 4th street in San Francisco. A press release that went out yesterday says that 20 workers held a rally and "initiated a temporary work stoppage to deliver a petition to Whole Foods management demanding a $5 an hour wage increase for all employees and no retaliation against workers for organizing a union."...
Facebook Conducted ‘Psychological Experiment’ On Users To Manipulate US Election Turnout Addicting Info ...The company admits that it deliberately suppressed personal posts from people on your friend’s list, while promoting other posts, in an experiment designed to exploit users emotional response in relation to the 2012 election...
Lawsuit: Chicago Futures Market Creates “Guaranteed Winners and Guaranteed Losers” Wall Street on Parade ...Last week three futures traders told a Federal court in Chicago that it’s not just the high frequency trading firms that are reaping a windfall but the exchanges who are engaged in a conspiracy with them to create “guaranteed winners and guaranteed losers.”...
Citizens United Boss: Supreme Court Ruling Handed Midterm Elections To Republicans Raw Story ...“Citizens United, our Supreme Court case, leveled the playing field, and we’re very proud of the impact that had in last night’s election,” said David Bossie, chairman of the conservative advocacy organization...
Explosive Oil Transported Through Indiana Counties Without Notice WISH ...For months, trains hauling millions of gallons of highly flammable crude oil passed through at least 12 Indiana counties with no advanced warning to firefighters, hazardous materials directors or local emergency managers, an I-Team 8 investigation has found...
More Employers Are Hiring But They Aren’t Raising Pay FiveThirtyEight ...7 in 10 Americans said in exit polls that the economy is in bad shape, and only 28 percent said their financial situation had improved in the past two years. Dissatisfaction with the state of the economy was widely cited as a principal reason for Republicans’ big gains...
Maintenance Worker Dead After Being Trapped In Machine At Fairfield Bowling Alley WCPO ...A maintenance worker at a Butler County bowling alley died Thursday afternoon after getting caught in a machine he was trying to repair...
Miscellaeous
Nation's first soda tax is passed USA Today ...Berkeley, Calif., became the first U.S. city to pass a law taxing sugary drinks including sodas...
Mexico scraps high-speed rail project won by China over corruption worries McClatchy ...Perceptions that Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto rewarded friends with a share of a $4.3 billion high-speed rail contract won by a Chinese-led consortium led this week to a stunning decision by Mexico to scrap the deal and start over with new bidding...
