Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Today's Teamster News 03.24.15

Teamsters
BMWED/Teamsters: Improving Track Safety Is Key To Oil Train Safety  teamster.org   ...“The key to reducing the frequency of oil train derailments plaguing North America is improved track maintenance,” says Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division President Freddie N. Simpson...
Teamsters, Rhode Island Hospital Forge Tentative Agreement  NPR   ...The Teamsters Union Local 251 and Rhode Island Hospital management have reached a tentative agreement on a four-year contract that the union says will bring $19 million in improved wages and benefits to workers at the Lifespan hospital network...
Sysco, US Foods To Reveal FTC Informants  The Packer   ...Defense attorneys representing Sysco Corp. and US Foods Inc. plan to reveal the names and employers of 92 people who provided information to the Federal Trade Commission for its anti-trust investigation into the foodservice suppliers’ merger...
Teamsters And Technology: Developing Labor Issues For Technology Industry Employers  National Law Review   ...Unions have been using this discontent to increase  their  influence in the TMT industry. Facebook’s shuttle bus drivers voted to unionize this past November and ratified a first contract on February 21 of this year. On February 27th shuttle bus drivers employed by a contractor that provides shuttle services for Apple, eBay, Yahoo, and Zynga employees voted to be represented by the Teamsters...
Trade
TPP Facing Stiff Opposition In Congress (opinion)  Denver Post   ...Keen to reach a trade deal with 11 other countries along the Pacific Rim, the Obama administration is actively engaged in intense negotiations. But the proposed deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (TPP) — the largest such accord since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) — is facing stiff opposition in Congress, primarily from Democrats...
State Battles
Labor groups fear `union Armageddon' in Nevada Legislature  Associated Press   ...Despite union protests, a bevy of bills to weaken collective bargaining and restructure public employee pensions remain on the legislative agenda, including one scheduled for a hearing Wednesday that labor groups call the "Union Armageddon Bill."...
Oil Giant BP Drops Membership With ALEC  National Journal   ... Major oil-and-gas corporation BP announced Monday it is parting ways with the American Legislative Exchange Council, marking just the latest—and likely most significant—departure of a blue-chip company from the conservative group in recent months, National Journal has learned. Major oil-and-gas corporation BP announced Monday it is parting ways with the American Legislative Exchange Council, marking just the latest—and likely most significant—departure of a blue-chip company from the conservative group in recent months, National Journal has learned...
Minimum Wage Increase Killing Seattle Restaurants? Anatomy Of A Lie From Inside The Bubble  Forbes   ...Never mind that not so much as one of the restaurant closings discussed in the original piece referenced the coming rise in minimum wage as a reason for their decision to shutter their business. And never mind that the owner of one of the four eateries discussed is currently opening two new restaurants in Seattle. It was a headline that opponents of the citywide minimum wage increase could not resist—and the facts could not be allowed to stand in the way...
'It's a disgrace': civil liberties groups in frantic bid to stop Wisconsin voter ID law  Guardian   ...Civil liberties campaigners filed an emergency motion on Monday to stop Wisconsin’s “disenfranchising” new voter identification requirements from going into effect, setting up an instant showdown after the US supreme court turned away an appeal to throw out Wisconsin’s controversial law that forces people already registered to vote to show photo ID...
New St. Louis County Health Chief Promises To Study Bridgeton Landfill Effects  St. Louis Post Dispatch   ...St. Louis County’s new health director made it clear that his department would be more involved in the issues stemming from the smoldering landfill here, promising first a new survey of residents’ health conditions...
War on Workers
If We Don't Overturn Citizens United, the Congress Will Become Paid Employees Of The Billionaire Class (opinion)  Huffington Post   ...Who are those members of Congress elected with the help of billionaires going to be representing? Do you think they're going to be representing the middle class and working families? The answers seem clear to me. Unless the campaign financing system is reformed, the U.S. Congress will become paid employees of the people who pay for their campaigns -- the billionaire class. Needless to say, not everyone on the Committee agreed. It was an interesting and informative debate. Not one Republican supported the amendment and it lost by a 12-10 vote...
Miscellaneous
Congress Won’t Tackle NSA Reform Before Cybersecurity  National Journal   ...Congress likely needs to pass cybersecurity legislation before it can pave the way to addressing the National Security Agency bulk collection of American phone records, despite the looming June expiration of a key surveillance authority, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee says...