Teamsters
New contracts approved for police, crossing guards TribLive ...McKeesport city council on Wednesday unanimously approved three-year contracts with Teamsters Local 205 on behalf of city police officers and crossing guards...
Bogeyman Of Credit Crisis Needs Reform To Align Risks And Responsibilities In CDS Market The Conversation ...In 2009, US trucking company YRC Worldwide faced ruin as it struggled to restructure its debt. With tens of thousands of jobs at stake, the Teamsters union, led by James Hoffa, accused some YRC bondholders of sabotaging restructuring negotiations by purchasing credit default swaps (CDS) on their debt...
Everett Lee Jones roanoke.com ...Everett Lee "Pete" Jones, 81, of Blue Ridge, went to be with the Lord on Monday, January 5, 2015. Staff Sergeant Jones was Honorable Discharged from the United States Air Force after serving four years as Crew Chief on B-47 Bombers where he was recognized by both his Wing and Squadron Commanders for Outstanding Performance. He was also a member of the American Legion. Pete was a member of Teamsters Local 592 in Richmond and drove for Mason Dixon where he was awarded the 1,000,000 mile Safety Record for driving without an accident...
Trade
Obama touts auto bailout success, Michigan worries about trade Reuters ...President Barack Obama, on a trip to unveil elements of his State of the Union address, took a victory lap in Michigan on Wednesday to tout his support of the auto industry, but concerns about trade policies hung in the background of his tour...
Our View: Huge trade deal needs congressional and public scrutiny Bennington Banner ...Vt. Sen. Bernie Sanders is sounding an alarm about the Trans Pacific Partnership, a huge proposed trade deal that has been in process for about 10 years...
State Battles
Kentucky Senate puts right-to-work bill on fast track; House expected to balk kentucky.com ...A state Senate committee on Wednesday put on the fast track a bill that would allow people to work for unionized employers without joining the union, but the measure is expected to die in the House...
Indiana Lawmakers Push For Increasing Minimum Wage To $10.10 An Hour WXIN ...“We still have a minority out there and although we may be few in number, somebody has to speak for them,” said State Senator Karen Tallian. Tallian authored Senate Bill 41 (SB41). If passed, it would boost Indiana’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour....
Kansas Is Totally Screwed Mother Jones ...As further tax cuts phase in over time—the state's income tax rate, which has already fallen from 6.45 percent to 4.9 percent, is set to fall another point by 2018—the gap between spending commitments and revenue will only grow more dire. For fiscal year 2016, which starts in July, state legislators will need to slash an additional $650 million, according to the legislature's research office. Standard & Poor's and Moody's, two of the top three credit-ratings agencies, downgraded the state's credit rating last year due to the budget woes...
War on Workers
Time To Get Real On Jobs, Wages, And Growth (opinion) Huffington Post ...Most Americans -- 99 percent of them or so -- are still struggling. Economic inequality is soaring, social mobility is declining, earnings at most income levels are stagnant or falling, and the percentage of working-age Americans who are actually working is at a record low...
The Massive Retirement Gap For CEOs Versus Workers CBS News ...On average, Americans have saved only about $58,000 for their retirements, BlackRock found... CEO pensions at the 10 biggest U.S. companies are on average 239 times larger than the average employee's 401(k) balances for those same businesses...
On Day One, The New Congress Launches An Attack On Social Security Los Angeles Times ...As one of its first orders of business upon convening Tuesday, the Republican House of Representatives approved a rule that will seriously undermine efforts to keep all of Social Security solvent...
Keystone XL Pipeline's Gift: 42,000 Jobs (opinion) Chicago Tribune ...Let the construction begin, and see the benefits to local communities as they absorb the more than $2 billion in worker payments from Keystone XL jobs. Let the construction begin and offer men and women new job opportunities. Let these new employees put their skills to work and use their earnings to buy cars and clothes, to pay for college tuition or a family vacation. Communities along the pipeline route will also see property tax revenues increase substantially; revenues that will pay for better schools, parks, libraries and infrastructure...
Third worker dies of injuries from Oklahoma rig fire Petro Global News ...A rig fire at an Oklahoma drilling site claimed a third life last weekend after a worker burned in the explosion succumbed to his injuries...
Miscellaneous
How $50 Oil Changes Almost Everything Bloomberg ...The biggest collapse in energy prices since the 2008 global recession is shifting wealth and power from autocratic petro-states to industrialized consumers, which could make the world safer, according to a Berenberg Bank AG report...
Uber Bases Suspended After Refusing To Hand Over Trip Records New York Post ...The agency needs the data to make decisions that will affect the taxi industry, as well as investigate passenger complaints. “This data has very real significance to policy, and also to the safety of the riding public,” said TLC spokesman Allan Fromberg...
ADP Says Companies In U.S. Added 241,000 Workers In December Bloomberg News ...Companies added more workers than forecast in December, indicating the U.S. job market was sustaining strength as 2014 drew to a close, according to a private report based on payrolls. The 241,000 increase in employment was the biggest since June and followed a 227,000 November gain that was more than initially reported...
