Dunkin' Donuts Delivery Drivers in Chicago Join the Teamsters Teamsters Joint Council 25 ...By a 2-to-1 margin, approximately 30 drivers who make deliveries to Chicago-area Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants recently voted to join Teamsters Local 734...
BLET reaches tentative agreement with Norfolk Southern BLET ...The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) has reached a tentative contract agreement with Norfolk Southern (NS) governing rates of pay and work rules for more than 4,500 locomotive engineers...
Inaugural Toledo Walleye Winter Brewfest is a hit The Blade ...Toledo firefighter Jenny Hill fist-bumps Mark Sobczak, vice president of Teamsters Local 20, as she dispenses beer during the inaugural Toledo Walleye Winter Brewfest...
McGrain to head Ingham Board of Commissioners Lansing State Journal ...In other business, the board … Approved a 2015 wage reopener that calls for a 2.5 percent boost to the current salary schedule of members of Teamsters Local 580, the Potter Park Zoo supervisory unit...
Trade
Obama’s Trade Chief, Undaunted by Odds, Pushes for Trans-Pacific Partnership New York Times ...the deal’s completion is certainly not guaranteed. Republicans inclined to give the president trade-negotiating authority are still seething at his executive action deferring deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants. Many conservatives are in no mood to give Mr. Obama anything, said Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, and a former United States trade representative in the George W. Bush administration...
The President Set a Goal of Doubling Exports by 2014—Why Haven’t We? Economic Policy Institute ...Total U.S. goods and services exports increased by less than 50 percent ($766 billion, or 48.4 percent) between 2009 and 2014 (estimated), as shown in the figure below. Meanwhile, imports increased by an even larger $883.8 billion, and as a result, the U.S. trade deficit increased by $117.0 billion...
Trade's big breakout Politico ...Republicans and President Barack Obama are both eager to act on a massive Asia-Pacific deal, an even bigger agreement with the European Union and legislation that would fast-track their approval by Congress — all of which have a shot of moving next year...
TTIP: Chemical corporations against safety protections Ecologist ...Under the TTIP US-EU trade agreement, the world's largest chemical corporations would be able to attack US states' attempts to regulate for chemical safety, writes Patrick Gleeson. In both the US and the EU, corporate rights - asserted in secret courts - would trump democracy and attempts to raise health, safety and welfare standards...
State Battles
EBay parts ways with controversial political group ALEC Reuters ...Critics fault ALEC, a coalition of state lawmakers and companies, for promoting measures to deny the existence of climate change, defund public services, oppose Internet neutrality and limit workers' protections...
Sweatshops in California Guilty of Wage Theft Law Firm Newswire ...lothing made in California for outlets such as Macy’s, JC Penney and Kohl’s, actually comes from local sweatshops where some employers routinely unplug the clock intended to keep track of worker’s hours...
War on Workers
Koch-Funded News Outlet Defends Dark-Money Organizations Media Matters for America ...Conservative news outlet Watchdog.org released a six-part series defending dark-money organizations -- politically focused groups that conceal the identities of their donors -- but failed to disclose its own funding from the Koch brothers and other conservative dark-money players...
Pay-disclosure advocates chafe at SEC rule delays MarketWatch ...Supporters of a rule that would require public companies to disclose the ratio between executive and median employee pay say the Securities and Exchange Commission should move soon to enact the regulation....
Worker dies after falling into well WESH.com ...Thomas Wood, 41, was working at a gas station under construction on U.S. 1 and Beville Road when he fell into the 6-foot fuel tank well...
Refinery worker dies in accident in Gibbstown Associated Press ...An air compressor line broke and struck 63-year-old Gary Grimming, who was sandblasting a tank at the time. Grimming was employed by a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based company...
Miscellaneous
U.S. slaps new sanctions on North Korea after Sony hack CNN ...The United States is hitting North Korea with a new set of economic sanctions after determining the country was behind last month's computer hack at Sony...
Why Airlines Want to Make You Suffer The New Yorker ...In 2013, the major airlines combined made about $31.5 billion in income from fees, as well as other ancillaries, such as redeeming credit-card points...
Falling oil prices both good and bad for manufacturers Fortune ...On one hand, a steep decline in the cost of oil leads to lower expenses. But on the other, business may suffer because of lower spending by oil and chemical companies on big-ticket items like computers and new machinery...
Inaugural Toledo Walleye Winter Brewfest is a hit The Blade ...Toledo firefighter Jenny Hill fist-bumps Mark Sobczak, vice president of Teamsters Local 20, as she dispenses beer during the inaugural Toledo Walleye Winter Brewfest...
McGrain to head Ingham Board of Commissioners Lansing State Journal ...In other business, the board … Approved a 2015 wage reopener that calls for a 2.5 percent boost to the current salary schedule of members of Teamsters Local 580, the Potter Park Zoo supervisory unit...
Trade
Obama’s Trade Chief, Undaunted by Odds, Pushes for Trans-Pacific Partnership New York Times ...the deal’s completion is certainly not guaranteed. Republicans inclined to give the president trade-negotiating authority are still seething at his executive action deferring deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants. Many conservatives are in no mood to give Mr. Obama anything, said Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, and a former United States trade representative in the George W. Bush administration...
The President Set a Goal of Doubling Exports by 2014—Why Haven’t We? Economic Policy Institute ...Total U.S. goods and services exports increased by less than 50 percent ($766 billion, or 48.4 percent) between 2009 and 2014 (estimated), as shown in the figure below. Meanwhile, imports increased by an even larger $883.8 billion, and as a result, the U.S. trade deficit increased by $117.0 billion...
Trade's big breakout Politico ...Republicans and President Barack Obama are both eager to act on a massive Asia-Pacific deal, an even bigger agreement with the European Union and legislation that would fast-track their approval by Congress — all of which have a shot of moving next year...
TTIP: Chemical corporations against safety protections Ecologist ...Under the TTIP US-EU trade agreement, the world's largest chemical corporations would be able to attack US states' attempts to regulate for chemical safety, writes Patrick Gleeson. In both the US and the EU, corporate rights - asserted in secret courts - would trump democracy and attempts to raise health, safety and welfare standards...
State Battles
EBay parts ways with controversial political group ALEC Reuters ...Critics fault ALEC, a coalition of state lawmakers and companies, for promoting measures to deny the existence of climate change, defund public services, oppose Internet neutrality and limit workers' protections...
Sweatshops in California Guilty of Wage Theft Law Firm Newswire ...lothing made in California for outlets such as Macy’s, JC Penney and Kohl’s, actually comes from local sweatshops where some employers routinely unplug the clock intended to keep track of worker’s hours...
War on Workers
Koch-Funded News Outlet Defends Dark-Money Organizations Media Matters for America ...Conservative news outlet Watchdog.org released a six-part series defending dark-money organizations -- politically focused groups that conceal the identities of their donors -- but failed to disclose its own funding from the Koch brothers and other conservative dark-money players...
Pay-disclosure advocates chafe at SEC rule delays MarketWatch ...Supporters of a rule that would require public companies to disclose the ratio between executive and median employee pay say the Securities and Exchange Commission should move soon to enact the regulation....
Worker dies after falling into well WESH.com ...Thomas Wood, 41, was working at a gas station under construction on U.S. 1 and Beville Road when he fell into the 6-foot fuel tank well...
Refinery worker dies in accident in Gibbstown Associated Press ...An air compressor line broke and struck 63-year-old Gary Grimming, who was sandblasting a tank at the time. Grimming was employed by a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based company...
Miscellaneous
U.S. slaps new sanctions on North Korea after Sony hack CNN ...The United States is hitting North Korea with a new set of economic sanctions after determining the country was behind last month's computer hack at Sony...
Why Airlines Want to Make You Suffer The New Yorker ...In 2013, the major airlines combined made about $31.5 billion in income from fees, as well as other ancillaries, such as redeeming credit-card points...
Falling oil prices both good and bad for manufacturers Fortune ...On one hand, a steep decline in the cost of oil leads to lower expenses. But on the other, business may suffer because of lower spending by oil and chemical companies on big-ticket items like computers and new machinery...
