Teamsters
Clark County School District Workers Choose Teamsters Local 14 teamster.org …The support staff workers at the Clark County School District (CCSD) in southern Nevada voted to join the Teamsters Union today. CCSD workers voted 71 percent in favor of joining Teamsters Local 14 in Las Vegas...
California Truckers Win $2 Million In Wage Theft Suit Yahoo News ...Seven Los Angeles-area truckers have won a $2 million claim against an international shipping company accused of stealing their wages by improperly classifying them as independent contractors and charging them to lease its trucks to drive...
Sysco At Standstill With FTC Over U.S. Foods Buyout Wall Street Journal ...The stalemate comes despite Sysco’s proposed agreement announced Monday with rival Performance Food Group Co. to sell the company 11 U.S. Foods distribution centers with a combined $4.6 billion in annual revenue. That is more than double the $2 billion in revenue that Sysco originally planned to divest to win regulators’ blessing...
CP Rail Encourages Office Workers To Learn How To Drive Trains CBC News ...The Teamsters union said the railway may be making preparations in case of a work stoppage. "I have received several reports recently that CP Rail is phoning up retired railroad workers and asking them if they will come in to be replacement workers in the event of a strike or a lockout," Finnson said...
Robert P. Sullivan Sioux City Journal …Robert P. Sullivan, 91, of Sioux City died Monday, Feb. 2, 2015, at Countryside Retirement Center in Sioux City…He was employed as a truck driver by Sioux City Transportation for 25 years and retired in 1982. Bob was a member of the Teamsters Union and the Teamsters Retirement Group...
Trade
Japan, U.S. Resume Working-Level TPP Talks Japan Times ...Japan and the United States on Monday resumed working-level talks on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, aiming to resolve bilateral disagreements on the scope of tariff reduction on farm products and autos, informed sources said...
TPP and Provisions to Stop Currency Management: Not That Hard Economic Policy Institute …currency management is a key cause of persistent U.S. trade deficits, and it is widespread. Given that our trade deficit drags on demand growth, and given that generating sufficient demand to reach full employment is likely to be a key economic problem in coming years, this is an important issue to address. Further, given that U.S. tariffs are extremely low, it’s hard to think of any other issue besides currency management that could possibly matter more for trade flows, so excluding it from the TPP seems odd. And yet many TPP proponents are extremely reluctant to include binding tools to stop currency management in the treaty...
TISA: Leaked document uncovers secret discussions that undermine access to health care Third World Health Aid …A secret discussion note for the Trade in Service Agreement (TISA) – leaked today by Associated Whistle-Blowing Press- uncovers that negotiators discuss reforms to the national health care systems in favour of international trade and the commercialisation of health care. This proposal, made by Turkey, has been discussed by the member states of the EU during the TISA negotiations that took place in Geneva in September 2014...
State Battles
Unions crowd Capitol for Right-to-Work hearings Missouri Times …The same day that conservative mouthpiece Ed Martin announced he would not be returning as Chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, Martin’s own legacy lived on as several of his supporters held hearings on their bills to make Missouri the 25th “Right-to-Work” state...
Experts discuss right-to-work legislation [VIDEO] New Mexico Political Report … the Taft-Hartley Act already makes it illegal to force employees to join a worker’s union. What’s not illegal in New Mexico is deducting money from an employee’s paycheck for pay negotiations and health care. That practice is known as Fair Share, and union supporters say it’s necessary to keep unions financially solvent and that unions provide a service to all workers...
"Right to Work" legislation stirs up debate among lawmakers, local businesses WQOW.com …Republican lawmakers and Wisconsin businesses are clocked in for discussion on proposed legislation. "To be honest, we're a little concerned about the unintended consequences that of ‘Right to Work'. Initially, there's going to be a distraction instead of our people taking care of our clients," President of Market & Johnson Jerry Shea said. "They could potentially be focusing on the effects of this."…
Rauner's 'right-to-work' proposal stirs debate The Times ...Last week, Rauner took aim at unions by stating one of his top priorities is passing legislation to create "right-to-work zones." Rauner envisions these "zones" to be set up in economically depressed areas sanctioned by the state where local officials could decide whether union participation and fees would be voluntary for local workers…
Minimum Wage Bills Rejected In House Committee Albuquerque Journal ...A Republican-controlled House committee on Monday spiked Democrats’ proposals to raise New Mexico’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. It was a strong signal that Republicans and their allies in the business community aren’t open to an increase of that size. But with the 60-day session barely two weeks old, the issue is far from settled...
Wisconsin Union Membership Drop Among Highest For States Without Right-To-Work Law Cap Times ...Of 26 states that don't have a right-to-work law in place, Wisconsin had the third-highest percentage drop in union membership between 2010 and 2014...
Arguments Before the Michigan Supreme Court on Right-to-Work Law Beside the Point (opinion) Truthout ...Let's not pretend that the Michigan Supreme Court is deciding whether or not the right-to-work law applies to public employees. The court is deciding on what it means to say that American workers are free...
War on Workers
Opponents of mandatory union fees hope Supreme Court will side with them McClatchy …Her case could pose a major threat to public-sector unions whose clout grew in the 1970s after the Supreme Court upheld laws requiring all employees who benefit from collective bargaining to contribute to unions...
The Big Lie: 5.6% Unemployment Gallup … If you, a family member or anyone is unemployed and has subsequently given up on finding a job -- if you are so hopelessly out of work that you've stopped looking over the past four weeks -- the Department of Labor doesn't count you as unemployed...
Ashley Furniture faces $1.76M in fines after OSHA finds more than 1,000 worker injuries at Wisconsin site in past 36 months U.S. Department of Labor … In a three-and-a-half year period, 4,500 employees at Ashley Furniture Industries Inc., in Arcadia, experienced more than 1,000 work-related injuries. One worker became another terrible statistic when he lost three fingers in July 2014 while operating a dangerous woodworking machine without required safety mechanisms in place. Of the injuries recorded, more than 100 were caused by similar machinery...
Labor charges filed at Taj Mahal casino; Revel in turmoil Associated Press …Fights over the fates of two bankrupt Atlantic City casinos heated up Tuesday as the main casino workers’ union filed 27 charges of unfair labor practice against the Trump Taj Mahal’s owner and Revel urged a judge not to delay its sale any further...
Worker Killed When Air Tank Explodes Chicago Tribune ...The accident happened around 9:30 p.m. Monday at the Maac Machinery company at 590 Tower Blvd. in the west suburb, according to the Carol Stream Fire Department...
Worker Crushed By Large Trailer At Local Facility Dies KWTX.com …A worker died Tuesday after he was crushed by a large trailer while performing maintenance on a vehicle at an energy services company facility outside of Hillsboro...
Miscellaneous
Inflation Well Short Of Fed’s 2% Target Wall Street Journal ...The price index for personal consumption expenditures was up 0.7% in December from a year earlier, the Commerce Department said Monday. That was the smallest 12-month gain for consumer prices since October 2009, and it marks the 32nd consecutive month below the Fed’s 2% inflation target...
U.S. Consumers In Rainy-Day Mode Wall Street Journal ...Personal spending, which measures outlays for everything from hardware to health care, decreased a seasonally adjusted 0.3% from the prior month, the Commerce Department said Monday, the first such fall since January and the biggest decline in more than five years. But Americans’ savings rate rose to 4.9% in December from 4.3% the prior month as Americans set aside an additional $75 billion for a rainy day...
