Teamsters
Teamsters Denounce DOT Decision To Open Border To Mexican Trucks teamster.org ...“I am outraged that the Department of Transportation has chosen to ignore the findings of the DOT Inspector General and is moving forward with a plan to open the border to Mexican trucks in the coming months....
Teamsters' Update About YRCW Executives' Employment Restructuring teamster.org ...On Friday, January 2, YRCW announced it was restructuring its employment relationships with its CEO James Welch and its CFO Jamie Pierson. The Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee had no prior knowledge of the January 2 announcement although we were aware that both Welch and Pierson’s existing four-year contracts were expiring in 2015...
Port Truck Drivers With Shippers Transport Express Join Teamsters Local 848 teamster.org ... Port truck drivers from Shippers Transport Express, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SSA Marine, have designated Teamsters Local 848 as their exclusive bargaining representative and will now begin the process of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with their employer...
POLB, POLA Truckers Agree To Neutral Unionization Process, Employee-Based Business Model Long Beach Post ...months of productive dialogue between Shippers Transport Express and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the union seeking to represent the employees, has produced a "historic agreement to modernize drayage operations that the parties predict will improve efficiency and stabilize the workforce while respecting drivers' rights to decide whether to form a union."...
Trade
Will Fast-Track/TPP Warnings Reach The Public? It’s Up To You. Campaign for America's Future ...There is a virtual media blackout of news that might inform the public about TPP and the “fast track” process that will be pushed through Congress. Fast track essentially pre-approves TPP before its contents are even revealed...
Sanders blasts leaders over trade negotiations Burlington Free Press ...Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is blasting the Obama administration for a lack of transparency in negotiating a major trade deal that he says will be "disastrous" for workers...
Now Or Never: Fight Back Against Fast Track (opinion) Huffington Post ...Except for corporate management and their large shareholders, the rest of us will lose big if Fast Track is adopted, making TPP a certainty. Passing Fast Track means a guaranteed vote in the House and Senate on TPP within a short period of time and with no amendments allowed on a 2000 page Trade treaty that has been negotiated in almost total secrecy...
State Battles
Nebraska Court Clears Obstacle For Keystone Pipeline Politico ...Rejecting arguments from three anti-Keystone landowners, the Nebraska justices upheld a 2012 state law that allowed Republican Gov. Dave Heineman — rather than an independent commission — to approve Keystone’s route inside the state...
Senate Passes Heroin, Right-To-Work Bills Richmond Register ...The [Kentucky] Senate also passed a “right-to-work bill,” sponsored by Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, easily – but no Democrat voted for it...
War on Workers
US to Allow Mexican Trucks in With Screening Associated Press ...The U.S. Department of Transportation says it will soon allow Mexican trucking firms to apply for authorization to make long-haul cross-border runs, potentially ending a longstanding dispute...
December Caps A Strong Year For Jobs, But Wages Dip New York Times ...the good news on job creation was tempered by a poor showing in average hourly earnings, which fell 0.2 percent in December after rising 0.4 percent in November...
The AFL-CIO Is On Sound Political Ground To Push For Wage Increases (opinion) Washington Post ...the AFL-CIO would launch projects this year in the four states that hold the first four presidential primaries and caucuses of 2016 — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — as a way to make presidential candidates spell out exactly what they would do to boost Americans’ increasingly anemic wages...
Keystone XL Moves Closer To Congressional Approval Wall Street Journal ...Congress moved closer to a likely approval of the Keystone XL pipeline Thursday, as a Senate panel advanced the legislation and the House prepared for a vote on Friday...
Local Worker Killed In Accident Harlingen Morning Valley Star ...A 30-year employee of the Harlingen Irrigation District was killed when he was pinned by a backhoe, officials said Thursday...
Miscellaneous
Uber, On A Collision Course With City Officials Around The World, Doubles Down On Politico Hires Fast Company ...Uber, with its operations facing suspension in cities around the world, is marshaling a small army of policy staffers to do battle with local authorities. India and Spain banned the on-demand taxi service last year, France followed suit, and today China announced that it would be cracking down on unauthorized private cars, less than a month after Uber inked a $600 million deal with Chinese search engine Baidu...
Minnesota Bill Would Ban NSA Activity Called The “Biggest Threat Since the Civil War” Tenth Amendment Center ...Introduced by Sen. Branden Petersen (R Dist. 35), SF33 stipulates that “a government entity may not obtain personal identifying information concerning an individual without a search warrant. A court order granting access to this information must be issued only if the government entity shows that there is probable cause for belief that the individual who is the subject of the personal identifying information is committing, has committed, or is about to commit a criminal offense.”...
