Teamsters
NYCLASS flyers aim to convince New Yorkers that horse-carriage ban supports Bill de Blasio’s ‘progressive agenda’ New York Daily News ...“There’s nothing progressive about taking away jobs for 300 families,” said George Miranda, the head of Teamsters Joint Council 16...
Trade
A New Threat Looms on the Horizon: TISA Economy in Crisis ...The Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) covers 50 countries and 68.2 percent of world trade in services. The U.S. and the European Union (EU) are the main proponents of the agreement. If enacted, the agreement would severely limit the ability of the U.S. to regulate the financial sector...
War on Workers
Why New Credit Cards May Fall Short on Fraud Control Wall Street Journal ...Big U.S. banks are steering clear of an advanced security measure used in credit cards around the world, opting for a system that is more convenient for shoppers but may leave them vulnerable to fraud...
Tax Inversion Remains (Huge) naked capitalism ...The recent Treasury measures raised legal obstacles, but the heart of the problem remains unaddressed...
Coca-Cola’s anti-American outsourcing scheme: How Big Soda gets the public to shoulder its costs Salon ...“Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola capitalism,” traces the history of Coke’s empire through the company’s reliance on offloading its costs and risks in precisely this way, tapping into public goods like curbside recycling and municipal water systems while eschewing ownership of the resources and infrastructure needed to produce its iconic beverage...
Anti-terror plan to spy on toddlers 'is heavy-handed’ The Telegraph ...Nursery school staff and registered childminders must report toddlers at risk of becoming terrorists, under counter-terrorism measures proposed by the [British] Government...
U.S. health worker arrives in Nebraska for Ebola evaluation Reuters ...An American health care worker possibly exposed to the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone arrived at a hospital in Omaha on Sunday for evaluation and any necessary treatment, an official said...
Miscellaneous
Jaguar Demos a Car That Keeps an Eye on Its Driver Technology Review ...An Australian company called Seeing Machines is turning sensing inward with technology that focuses on drivers themselves in hopes of reducing distracted and drowsy driving...
Auto Industry Galvanized After Record Recall Year New York Times ...More than 60 million vehicles have been recalled in the United States, double the previous annual record in 2004. In all, there have been about 700 recall announcements — an average of two a day — affecting the equivalent of one in five vehicles on the road...
The Future of Getting Arrested The Atlantic ...Several cities have recently put in place networks of microphone-based gunshot sensors, and others are likely to adopt similar systems. When a sensor picks up a suspicious noise, a computer program analyzes the sound and, if it resembles gunfire, determines its point of origin to within a few yards...
Princeton graduate, 30, 'who shot dead his $200m hedge fund founder father, 70, in NYC apartment' arrested after he 'went on the run and barricaded himself in his Manhattan home' Daily Mail ...A Princeton graduate has been arrested after he allegedly executed his multimillionaire hedge-funder father at the family's Manhattan apartment on Sunday...
Showing posts with label 553. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 553. Show all posts
Monday, January 5, 2015
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Today's Teamster News 11.01.14
Teamster News
FedEx Freight Workers In New Jersey Vote To Join Teamsters Local 701 teamster.org ...A group of 113 drivers at FedEx Freight’s South Brunswick, N.J., terminal voted today to join Teamsters Local 701. The vote was 66 to 42...
Teamsters Local 988 Laundry Drivers Ratify Contract teamster.org ...Laundry drivers and members of Teamsters Local 988 in Houston have voted unanimously to ratify a two-year contract with Angelica Textile...
The Ballot Box Is The Great Equalizer For Workers (opinion) Huffington Post ...There are real consequences for workers if they don't make it to the ballot box,...
NYC Carriage Horses Clip-Clop Away While De Blasio Stalls Bloomberg Businessweek ...New York Mayor Bill de Blasio assured animal-rights activists during his run for City Hall that he would rid Central Park of horse-drawn carriages, which he called inhumane….Now, 10 months into his term, tourists still pay $50 for a 20-minute trot through the park, while at City Hall, a draft for legislation has yet to be written and no one is saying why....
Nicholas Lanzilli Secures Additional Endorsements Medford Transcript ...I am honored to receive additional endorsements by a number of respected groups in the area. ...Teamsters Local 25...
Teamsters Trumpet Unemployment Payout To LA-LB Port Truck Driver Journal of Commerce ...A Los Angeles-Long Beach port truck driver who said she was misclassified as an independent contractor was awarded a check for $9,000 in unemployment benefits by the California Employment Development Department this week, giving Teamsters fuel in their campaign to organize local drayage drivers...
Unfinished Construction Has Protesters Marching Near The West Lake Landfill Fox 2 St. Louis ...Unfinished construction work along St. Charles Rock Road has demonstrators raising public health concerns...
Trade
TTIP Debate Suffering From Lack Of Transparency The Parliament Magazine ...The transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP), currently being negotiated between the EU and the US, is by far the most controversial agreement the EU has ever negotiated. Since the start of discussions, opposition has been growing among the civilian population and certain political parties, despite the fact that the final content of the project cannot be discussed in detail, even one year on...
State Battles
McConnell victory could make Kentucky right-to-work Politico ... “Should the Kentucky House go Republican,” writes Labor & Employment’s Mike Elk, “state Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer has already said that his first priority will be to pass a right-to-work bill.” Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear would likely veto, but to no avail: In Kentucky, all it takes to override a gubernatorial veto is a simple majority of both houses...
Mark Schauer will ax the 'retirement tax' - and Republicans will help him Michigan Live ...If Mark Schauer is elected governor, you can probably kiss the reviled "retirement tax" and other tax hikes goodbye...
All about absentees? Michigan Democratic Party push appears to be paying off in early returns Michigan Live ...One out of every three or four residents who vote in Michigan's general election could do so via absentee ballot before the polls even open on Tuesday, and early indications suggest the trend may benefit Democrats...
Ohio May Disenfranchise Voters For Technical Errors ThinkProgress ...election officials in Ohio can throw out legitimate absentee and provisional ballots that have small errors — such as leaving out a middle name — and in many cases they don’t have to give the voter a chance to fix the problem...
Closing Argument: Kochs Fight To Save Candidate Cronies In Critical Election RealKochFacts ...learn more about Republican candidates who share the Koch agenda and are being propped up by the secretive billionaires in North Carolina, Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Michigan, Oregon,Wisconsin, and Florida...
Midterms 2014: Candidates With Ties To Pension Business May Gain Control Of State Pension Funds International Business Times ...government ethics experts express concern that governors drawn from the ranks of companies that manage pension money could bring an inherent conflict of interest: Their duty to do right by taxpayers and retirees could be pitted against their personal financial interests and their loyalties to longtime Wall Street associates...
“Indescribably insane”: A public school system from hell Salon ...The needs of [Philadelphia] children are secondary, however, to a right-wing governor in Tom Corbett who remains fixated on breaking the district in order to crush the teachers union and divert money to unproven experiments like vouchers and privately run charters. If the city’s children are left uneducated and impoverished among the smoldering wreckage of a broken school system, so be it...
San Francisco To Raise Minimum Wage To $11.05 Per Hour Reuters ...San Francisco will raise the city's minimum wage to $11.05 per hour from the start of next year, up from $10.74 currently, the mayor's office said on Thursday...
Kansas tax cuts fail again, as new revenue numbers plague Sam Brownback but help Paul Davis Kansas City Star ...In October, individual income tax receipts were almost $27 million below what the state had estimated it would take in, or a jarring 15 percent off expectations. Why does that matter? Because this is the tax that Brownback and the Legislature cut in 2012. The promise then was that more jobs would flood Kansas, eventually pumping back up income tax collections. That’s not working — at all...
More Than 750 people Turn Out For Meeting On Oil-Train Study Seattle Times ...State officials are proposing more funding and more regulatory authority to step up oversight of the surging numbers of oil trains carrying crude through Washington, and to better prepare for any possible spills...
Donors get special access to GOP governors as potential 2016 contenders Washington Post ...One key to the [Republican Governors' Association] fundraising prowess is the exclusive donor access effort, called the Executive Roundtable program, which gives wealthy contributors up-close access to governors at quarterly policy seminars. The initiative has helped create a permanent network of high-net-worth donors who augment the group’s funding from corporation...
War on Workers
Judge in Maine Eases Restrictions on Nurse New York Times ...In a victory for a nurse who treated Ebola patients in West Africa, a judge in Maine on Friday rejected arguments by the state that her movements should be firmly restricted, praising her “compassion” even as he acknowledged the public’s fears about the virus...
Casino Closings Take Toll On Atlantic City Travel Press of Atlantic City ...Fewer cars, buses, airport passengers and rail riders are heading to Atlantic City following the shutdown of three casinos in recent weeks, the latest travel figures show...
Police: Construction worker killed by dump truck DelawareOnLine ...State troopers and emergency crews are on the scene of a fatality in Lewes where a construction worker was hit by a dump truck, police said...
Lafayette construction worker dies on the job KLFY ...Scott Police responded to a 911 call just before 9 a.m. Tuesday regarding a Scott Materials employee that was fatally injured on the job...
Miscellaneous
Starbucks to deliver coffee to your desk starting in 2015 Los Angeles Times ...The delivery service will be available through Starbucks Corp.’s mobile app, which currently lets customers pay at the store through their phone, Schultz said...
Lack of mechanics threatens U.S. Air Force target date for F-35 Reuters ...The U.S. Air Force may miss its target of August 2016 to start using the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jet in combat if Congress blocks the service's plan to retire its A-10 tank-killer aircraft, a top U.S. general said...
FedEx Freight Workers In New Jersey Vote To Join Teamsters Local 701 teamster.org ...A group of 113 drivers at FedEx Freight’s South Brunswick, N.J., terminal voted today to join Teamsters Local 701. The vote was 66 to 42...
Teamsters Local 988 Laundry Drivers Ratify Contract teamster.org ...Laundry drivers and members of Teamsters Local 988 in Houston have voted unanimously to ratify a two-year contract with Angelica Textile...
The Ballot Box Is The Great Equalizer For Workers (opinion) Huffington Post ...There are real consequences for workers if they don't make it to the ballot box,...
NYC Carriage Horses Clip-Clop Away While De Blasio Stalls Bloomberg Businessweek ...New York Mayor Bill de Blasio assured animal-rights activists during his run for City Hall that he would rid Central Park of horse-drawn carriages, which he called inhumane….Now, 10 months into his term, tourists still pay $50 for a 20-minute trot through the park, while at City Hall, a draft for legislation has yet to be written and no one is saying why....
Nicholas Lanzilli Secures Additional Endorsements Medford Transcript ...I am honored to receive additional endorsements by a number of respected groups in the area. ...Teamsters Local 25...
Teamsters Trumpet Unemployment Payout To LA-LB Port Truck Driver Journal of Commerce ...A Los Angeles-Long Beach port truck driver who said she was misclassified as an independent contractor was awarded a check for $9,000 in unemployment benefits by the California Employment Development Department this week, giving Teamsters fuel in their campaign to organize local drayage drivers...
Unfinished Construction Has Protesters Marching Near The West Lake Landfill Fox 2 St. Louis ...Unfinished construction work along St. Charles Rock Road has demonstrators raising public health concerns...
Trade
TTIP Debate Suffering From Lack Of Transparency The Parliament Magazine ...The transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP), currently being negotiated between the EU and the US, is by far the most controversial agreement the EU has ever negotiated. Since the start of discussions, opposition has been growing among the civilian population and certain political parties, despite the fact that the final content of the project cannot be discussed in detail, even one year on...
State Battles
McConnell victory could make Kentucky right-to-work Politico ... “Should the Kentucky House go Republican,” writes Labor & Employment’s Mike Elk, “state Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer has already said that his first priority will be to pass a right-to-work bill.” Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear would likely veto, but to no avail: In Kentucky, all it takes to override a gubernatorial veto is a simple majority of both houses...
Mark Schauer will ax the 'retirement tax' - and Republicans will help him Michigan Live ...If Mark Schauer is elected governor, you can probably kiss the reviled "retirement tax" and other tax hikes goodbye...
All about absentees? Michigan Democratic Party push appears to be paying off in early returns Michigan Live ...One out of every three or four residents who vote in Michigan's general election could do so via absentee ballot before the polls even open on Tuesday, and early indications suggest the trend may benefit Democrats...
Ohio May Disenfranchise Voters For Technical Errors ThinkProgress ...election officials in Ohio can throw out legitimate absentee and provisional ballots that have small errors — such as leaving out a middle name — and in many cases they don’t have to give the voter a chance to fix the problem...
Closing Argument: Kochs Fight To Save Candidate Cronies In Critical Election RealKochFacts ...learn more about Republican candidates who share the Koch agenda and are being propped up by the secretive billionaires in North Carolina, Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Michigan, Oregon,Wisconsin, and Florida...
Midterms 2014: Candidates With Ties To Pension Business May Gain Control Of State Pension Funds International Business Times ...government ethics experts express concern that governors drawn from the ranks of companies that manage pension money could bring an inherent conflict of interest: Their duty to do right by taxpayers and retirees could be pitted against their personal financial interests and their loyalties to longtime Wall Street associates...
“Indescribably insane”: A public school system from hell Salon ...The needs of [Philadelphia] children are secondary, however, to a right-wing governor in Tom Corbett who remains fixated on breaking the district in order to crush the teachers union and divert money to unproven experiments like vouchers and privately run charters. If the city’s children are left uneducated and impoverished among the smoldering wreckage of a broken school system, so be it...
San Francisco To Raise Minimum Wage To $11.05 Per Hour Reuters ...San Francisco will raise the city's minimum wage to $11.05 per hour from the start of next year, up from $10.74 currently, the mayor's office said on Thursday...
Kansas tax cuts fail again, as new revenue numbers plague Sam Brownback but help Paul Davis Kansas City Star ...In October, individual income tax receipts were almost $27 million below what the state had estimated it would take in, or a jarring 15 percent off expectations. Why does that matter? Because this is the tax that Brownback and the Legislature cut in 2012. The promise then was that more jobs would flood Kansas, eventually pumping back up income tax collections. That’s not working — at all...
More Than 750 people Turn Out For Meeting On Oil-Train Study Seattle Times ...State officials are proposing more funding and more regulatory authority to step up oversight of the surging numbers of oil trains carrying crude through Washington, and to better prepare for any possible spills...
Donors get special access to GOP governors as potential 2016 contenders Washington Post ...One key to the [Republican Governors' Association] fundraising prowess is the exclusive donor access effort, called the Executive Roundtable program, which gives wealthy contributors up-close access to governors at quarterly policy seminars. The initiative has helped create a permanent network of high-net-worth donors who augment the group’s funding from corporation...
War on Workers
Judge in Maine Eases Restrictions on Nurse New York Times ...In a victory for a nurse who treated Ebola patients in West Africa, a judge in Maine on Friday rejected arguments by the state that her movements should be firmly restricted, praising her “compassion” even as he acknowledged the public’s fears about the virus...
Casino Closings Take Toll On Atlantic City Travel Press of Atlantic City ...Fewer cars, buses, airport passengers and rail riders are heading to Atlantic City following the shutdown of three casinos in recent weeks, the latest travel figures show...
Police: Construction worker killed by dump truck DelawareOnLine ...State troopers and emergency crews are on the scene of a fatality in Lewes where a construction worker was hit by a dump truck, police said...
Lafayette construction worker dies on the job KLFY ...Scott Police responded to a 911 call just before 9 a.m. Tuesday regarding a Scott Materials employee that was fatally injured on the job...
Miscellaneous
Starbucks to deliver coffee to your desk starting in 2015 Los Angeles Times ...The delivery service will be available through Starbucks Corp.’s mobile app, which currently lets customers pay at the store through their phone, Schultz said...
Lack of mechanics threatens U.S. Air Force target date for F-35 Reuters ...The U.S. Air Force may miss its target of August 2016 to start using the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jet in combat if Congress blocks the service's plan to retire its A-10 tank-killer aircraft, a top U.S. general said...
Monday, April 21, 2014
Save the New York City horse carriages! Watch the video, sign the petition!
Teamster horse-carriage drivers are getting a reprieve from New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who says he won't destroy their jobs (by banning horse carriages) until year end. Let's hope the mayor is adopting the tried-and-true political tactic of hoping something goes away -- that is, pressure from animal rights people.
The animal rights activists don't seem to notice the carriage horses are well cared for and -- according to horse lover Liam Neeson -- happy.
And as Guardian columnist Sadhbh Walshe puts it, the bigger picture is disturbing:
...there seems to be more concern for the rights of working horses than there is for the everyday exploitation and abuse endured by working people.She interviewed a young man holding a cumbersome advertising sign on the same New York streets deemed so dangerous for horses. He's paid less than minimum wage with no benefits or sick days. Walshe notes that he'd have his own protest movement if he were a horse.
Meanwhile, the New York Daily News is continuing to support our brothers and sisters with sympathetic news coverage and a petition drive. If you haven't yet, you can sign the petition here.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Today's Teamster News 04.20.14
Teamster News
SeaTac airport workers fight exclusion from $15 minimum wage PBS News Hour ...Tracey Thompson, Teamsters Local 117: It’s not just the represented workers that matter. It’s the non-represented workers, and women and persons of color are the ones who are suffering most by having such low minimum wage and poverty level wages here...
Animal rights protesters march outside Liam Neeson's home in support of horse ban New York Daily News ...About 60 activists gathered in front of Neeson’s building on Saturday, criticizing the actor for his support of the carriage horse industry...
Mayor Bill de Blasio's horse sense (opinion) Crain's New York Business ...when the mayor changed his mind last week, saying he'd postpone the industry ban until the end of the year, we welcomed the reprieve. Still, Mr. de Blasio's capricious approach to one industry continues to leave us concerned for every law-abiding business in this town. Apparently, following the rules and paying taxes is no longer sufficient for the privilege to try to earn a living in New York...
Trade
U.S.-Japan Talks Said Unable to Overcome Deal Obstacles Bloomberg ...U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Japanese Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy Akira Amari yesterday concluded talks in Washington on the Trans-Pacific Partnership without striking a deal on some of the most contentious issues...
State Battles
Local Media Fooled By Discredited Economic Competitiveness Report Media Matters ...Despite the uncritical, often glowing, pick-up by local media outlets, ALEC's competitiveness report has received scrutiny in the past, mostly due to evidence showing that economic data does not comport with the results of their study...
Column: Some fear Charles Koch's influence damages FSU's integrity Tampa Bay Tribune ...Koch's foundation has been funneling money to the economics department at FSU since 2008. This would be the same Koch who funds ultraconservative think tanks and preaches less government regulation...
Christina Bullins: Are our prisons safe in Florida? Florida Public Employees Partnership ...the inmate population had no significant changes. Despite the addition of 245 positions last year, the number of officers reported in DOC’s budget request is 727 officers less than the year before...
War on Workers
Jon Stewart Demolishes the NCAA's Case Against Student-Athlete Unions The Wire ...players are forbidden from accepting nearly any gifts, including food – just ask the Oklahoma players punished for being served "pasta in excess."...
Student debt holds back many would-be home buyers Los Angeles Times ...Of the many factors holding back young home buyers — rising prices, tougher lending standards, a still-shaky job market — none looms larger than the recent explosion of college debt...
UConn’s 2,135 graduate assistants unionize CT Mirror ...The governing board of the state's flagship university unanimously voted in a "special meeting" last week to approve an agreement between the newly formed union -- UConn GEU-UAW -- and the university...
Miscellaneous
Senator Holds Commuter Safety Presser, Almost Gets Hit By Train Gawker ...Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal received an unexpected lesson in practicing what you preach at a press conference yesterday. Standing on the platform at the Milford Metro-North station, Blumenthal and his easel narrowly dodged an oncoming train as Milford Mayor Ben Blake spoke about commuter safety...
SeaTac airport workers fight exclusion from $15 minimum wage PBS News Hour ...Tracey Thompson, Teamsters Local 117: It’s not just the represented workers that matter. It’s the non-represented workers, and women and persons of color are the ones who are suffering most by having such low minimum wage and poverty level wages here...
Animal rights protesters march outside Liam Neeson's home in support of horse ban New York Daily News ...About 60 activists gathered in front of Neeson’s building on Saturday, criticizing the actor for his support of the carriage horse industry...
Mayor Bill de Blasio's horse sense (opinion) Crain's New York Business ...when the mayor changed his mind last week, saying he'd postpone the industry ban until the end of the year, we welcomed the reprieve. Still, Mr. de Blasio's capricious approach to one industry continues to leave us concerned for every law-abiding business in this town. Apparently, following the rules and paying taxes is no longer sufficient for the privilege to try to earn a living in New York...
Trade
U.S.-Japan Talks Said Unable to Overcome Deal Obstacles Bloomberg ...U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Japanese Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy Akira Amari yesterday concluded talks in Washington on the Trans-Pacific Partnership without striking a deal on some of the most contentious issues...
State Battles
Local Media Fooled By Discredited Economic Competitiveness Report Media Matters ...Despite the uncritical, often glowing, pick-up by local media outlets, ALEC's competitiveness report has received scrutiny in the past, mostly due to evidence showing that economic data does not comport with the results of their study...
Column: Some fear Charles Koch's influence damages FSU's integrity Tampa Bay Tribune ...Koch's foundation has been funneling money to the economics department at FSU since 2008. This would be the same Koch who funds ultraconservative think tanks and preaches less government regulation...
Christina Bullins: Are our prisons safe in Florida? Florida Public Employees Partnership ...the inmate population had no significant changes. Despite the addition of 245 positions last year, the number of officers reported in DOC’s budget request is 727 officers less than the year before...
War on Workers
Jon Stewart Demolishes the NCAA's Case Against Student-Athlete Unions The Wire ...players are forbidden from accepting nearly any gifts, including food – just ask the Oklahoma players punished for being served "pasta in excess."...
Student debt holds back many would-be home buyers Los Angeles Times ...Of the many factors holding back young home buyers — rising prices, tougher lending standards, a still-shaky job market — none looms larger than the recent explosion of college debt...
UConn’s 2,135 graduate assistants unionize CT Mirror ...The governing board of the state's flagship university unanimously voted in a "special meeting" last week to approve an agreement between the newly formed union -- UConn GEU-UAW -- and the university...
Miscellaneous
Senator Holds Commuter Safety Presser, Almost Gets Hit By Train Gawker ...Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal received an unexpected lesson in practicing what you preach at a press conference yesterday. Standing on the platform at the Milford Metro-North station, Blumenthal and his easel narrowly dodged an oncoming train as Milford Mayor Ben Blake spoke about commuter safety...
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Today's Teamster News 02.20.14
Teamster News
City of Santa Rosa's biggest labor group affiliates with Teamsters The Press Democrat ...The 410 members of the Santa Rosa City Employees Association last week voted overwhelmingly to join the Teamsters Local 856, which represents about 8,000 workers in the Northern California...
Mayor Wants To Drive Horse-Drawn Carriages Out Of NYC WEKU ...Stewart's studios are just around the corner from the largest of New York's four carriage horse stables, called Clinton Park. It looks like Cinderella's parking garage, with rows of fancy carriages lined up against whitewashed walls. The stalls appear clean and roomy, 8 by 10 feet — with freshly laid hay and clean water available...
Why truck drivers are getting dinged on pay CNN Money ...Many port trucker drivers across the country are making fast-food wages. These truck drivers haul goods from ports to warehouses, distribution centers and rail yards so that products can get to stores. They make an average of $28,700 per year, working an average of 59 hours per week, according to a report from the National Employment Law Project (NELP), a labor rights advocacy group...
State Battles
VW workers may block southern U.S. deals if no unions: labor chief Reuters ...Volkswagen's top labor representative threatened on Wednesday to try to block further investments by the German carmaker in the southern United States if its workers there are not unionized...
‘I’m sorry’ bill gets Assembly approval Wisconsin Law Journal ...The state Assembly approved on a voice vote Tuesday on a bill that would let doctors and other medical providers apologize or express fault for botched medical procedures without having to worry their words would be used against them in court...
Walker asked for daily call between campaign and official aides, e-mails show Washington Post ...Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) instructed a top aide to organize a daily conference call that involved both official and campaign staffers when he was executive of Milwaukee County in 2010, according to documents released publicly for the first time Wednesday that could complicate Walker's future as he eyes another term and a possible run for president...
This Could Be the Start of Scott Walker’s Bridgegate Salon ... Walker's aides regularly exchanged emails about the campaign during business hours, but for the first time, one of those emails directly implicates Walker in breaking campaign law...
Trade
Poll: Voters Blame Trade Agreements For Job Losses Campaign for America's Future ...voters overwhelmingly see unfair trade agreements and outsourcing as a main cause of our job problem...
Politics to Shadow Obama’s Trade Talks in Mexico New York Times ...President Obama traveled to Mexico on Wednesday for a brief but politically fraught visit aimed at forging closer trade ties with America’s two closest neighbors even as his party’s leaders back home have vowed to undercut his efforts...
The War on Workers
Wal-Mart Says ‘Looking’ at Support of Federal Minimum Wage Rise Bloomberg ...Wal-Mart is weighing the impact of additional payroll costs against possibly attracting more consumer dollars at its stores, David Tovar, a company spokesman, said today in a telephone interview. Increasing the minimum wage means that some of the 140 million people who shop at the chain weekly would “now have additional income,” Tovar said...
Walmart denies reports saying it is considering minimum wage increase The Guardian ...Walmart, America’s largest private employer, denied reports Wednesday that it is looking at supporting an increase in the federal minimum wage...
Government drops plan to collect license tag data Associated Press ...The Homeland Security Department abruptly reversed course Wednesday and dropped plans to ask a private company to give the government access to a nationwide database of license plate tracking information...
How Dark Money Flows Through the Koch Network Pro Publica ...Fundraising by the libertarian billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch supports a tangle of nonprofits, sometimes referred to as the Kochtopus, all aimed at advancing conservative causes. Two groups, the Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce and TC4 Trust, handed out almost $264 million from mid-2011 to October 2012 to 30 other nonprofits...
A hopeful first day for players? ESPN ... an attorney for Northwestern ... conceded that the labor board could conclude that college athletes may be employees, something that Northwestern had steadfastly refused even to consider as a possibility since Colter and the College Athletes Players Association filed their petition with the National Labor Relations Board on Jan. 28...
NSA, DHS drop parody complaint The Hill ...It isn't illegal to print the National Security Agency's (NSA) official seal above the words “Spying On You Since 1952” on a novelty mug, the agency acknowledged on Tuesday...
Miscellaneous
Another Apparent Suicide Brings Financial World Death Toll to 6 in 2014 truthdig ...A 33-year-old JPMorgan employee jumped to his death from the roof of the firm’s Hong Kong headquarters Tuesday, adding to a series of untimely deaths in the banking and big business arena in recent weeks...half from JPMorgan...
City of Santa Rosa's biggest labor group affiliates with Teamsters The Press Democrat ...The 410 members of the Santa Rosa City Employees Association last week voted overwhelmingly to join the Teamsters Local 856, which represents about 8,000 workers in the Northern California...
Mayor Wants To Drive Horse-Drawn Carriages Out Of NYC WEKU ...Stewart's studios are just around the corner from the largest of New York's four carriage horse stables, called Clinton Park. It looks like Cinderella's parking garage, with rows of fancy carriages lined up against whitewashed walls. The stalls appear clean and roomy, 8 by 10 feet — with freshly laid hay and clean water available...
Why truck drivers are getting dinged on pay CNN Money ...Many port trucker drivers across the country are making fast-food wages. These truck drivers haul goods from ports to warehouses, distribution centers and rail yards so that products can get to stores. They make an average of $28,700 per year, working an average of 59 hours per week, according to a report from the National Employment Law Project (NELP), a labor rights advocacy group...
State Battles
VW workers may block southern U.S. deals if no unions: labor chief Reuters ...Volkswagen's top labor representative threatened on Wednesday to try to block further investments by the German carmaker in the southern United States if its workers there are not unionized...
‘I’m sorry’ bill gets Assembly approval Wisconsin Law Journal ...The state Assembly approved on a voice vote Tuesday on a bill that would let doctors and other medical providers apologize or express fault for botched medical procedures without having to worry their words would be used against them in court...
Walker asked for daily call between campaign and official aides, e-mails show Washington Post ...Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) instructed a top aide to organize a daily conference call that involved both official and campaign staffers when he was executive of Milwaukee County in 2010, according to documents released publicly for the first time Wednesday that could complicate Walker's future as he eyes another term and a possible run for president...
This Could Be the Start of Scott Walker’s Bridgegate Salon ... Walker's aides regularly exchanged emails about the campaign during business hours, but for the first time, one of those emails directly implicates Walker in breaking campaign law...
Trade
Poll: Voters Blame Trade Agreements For Job Losses Campaign for America's Future ...voters overwhelmingly see unfair trade agreements and outsourcing as a main cause of our job problem...
Politics to Shadow Obama’s Trade Talks in Mexico New York Times ...President Obama traveled to Mexico on Wednesday for a brief but politically fraught visit aimed at forging closer trade ties with America’s two closest neighbors even as his party’s leaders back home have vowed to undercut his efforts...
The War on Workers
Wal-Mart Says ‘Looking’ at Support of Federal Minimum Wage Rise Bloomberg ...Wal-Mart is weighing the impact of additional payroll costs against possibly attracting more consumer dollars at its stores, David Tovar, a company spokesman, said today in a telephone interview. Increasing the minimum wage means that some of the 140 million people who shop at the chain weekly would “now have additional income,” Tovar said...
Walmart denies reports saying it is considering minimum wage increase The Guardian ...Walmart, America’s largest private employer, denied reports Wednesday that it is looking at supporting an increase in the federal minimum wage...
Government drops plan to collect license tag data Associated Press ...The Homeland Security Department abruptly reversed course Wednesday and dropped plans to ask a private company to give the government access to a nationwide database of license plate tracking information...
How Dark Money Flows Through the Koch Network Pro Publica ...Fundraising by the libertarian billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch supports a tangle of nonprofits, sometimes referred to as the Kochtopus, all aimed at advancing conservative causes. Two groups, the Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce and TC4 Trust, handed out almost $264 million from mid-2011 to October 2012 to 30 other nonprofits...
A hopeful first day for players? ESPN ... an attorney for Northwestern ... conceded that the labor board could conclude that college athletes may be employees, something that Northwestern had steadfastly refused even to consider as a possibility since Colter and the College Athletes Players Association filed their petition with the National Labor Relations Board on Jan. 28...
NSA, DHS drop parody complaint The Hill ...It isn't illegal to print the National Security Agency's (NSA) official seal above the words “Spying On You Since 1952” on a novelty mug, the agency acknowledged on Tuesday...
Miscellaneous
Another Apparent Suicide Brings Financial World Death Toll to 6 in 2014 truthdig ...A 33-year-old JPMorgan employee jumped to his death from the roof of the firm’s Hong Kong headquarters Tuesday, adding to a series of untimely deaths in the banking and big business arena in recent weeks...half from JPMorgan...
Friday, February 14, 2014
Today's Teamster News 02.14.14
Teamster News
Teamsters Celebrate, Remember James R. Hoffa teamster.org ...“I shook his hand!” “He remembered my name.” “He was always one of us.” “He changed my life.” These comments and hundreds more like them still can be heard at Teamster retiree meetings held at union halls and truck stops all across the country...
Teamsters Local 542 and United Food and Commercial Workers 135 representatives meet with National Beef employees Imperial Valley Press ...National Beef workers met with their respective union representatives throughout the day Wednesday to discuss what they can expect to happen as the April 4 scheduled plant closing draws nearer...
Teamsters' 4-year contract with Allegheny County doesn't include retroactive raises Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ...Members of Teamsters Local Union 249, whose salt and plow truck driving members threatened to strike last week as a snow storm loomed, have signed a new contract with Allegheny County...
The elephant in the room New York Daily News ...Now that NYCLASS members expect Mayor de Blasio to banish the horses, as he promised, they have moved on to considering new wrongs to right. Next up? The circus...
Carriage horses focus of cruelty debate USA Today ..."What would be abuse is if we go out of business – we can't keep these horses," Hemingway said, standing next to a massive Belgian draft horse named Duke. "I guarantee you, we go out of business, they'd be in a bag of dog food in a month..."
State Battles
Whose vote is it? Move over politicians: This is a union vote timesfreepress.com ...It's a union election. It concerns more than 1,500 hourly workers and Volkswagen in Chattanooga. But with politicians wildly gesticulating on every podium from here to Nashville, you would think it was government business. It isn't...
John Doe investigation records to be released Feb. 19 Channel 3000 ...Thousands of emails and other documents uncovered during a secret investigation into a former aide to Gov. Scott Walker will be released Feb. 19...
Critics blast Arizona superintendent for promoting private schools azcentral.com ...John Huppenthal, the state’s superintendent of public instruction, made an automated call to families promoting a program that uses taxpayer dollars to send kids to private school...
Gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer vows to repeal right-to-work law Michigan NBC News ...The gubernatorial candidate is making a lot of promises including a repeal of right-to-work. “Governor Snyder cannot point to one job that's been created as a result of right to work,” says Schauer...
Report: Missouri voter-ID bill could disenfranchise 220,000 MSNBC ...A proposed voter ID bill in Missouri could disenfranchise 220,000 registered voters, according to an impact report released on Tuesday by Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander...
New Hampshire low-wage workers: We need help to buy basics Associated Press ...Anita Mendes, 67, who lives in the Monadnock region, told a House committee she supplements her Social Security income with a minimum-wage job 18 hours a week, despite having a master's degree in social work. She also said her 90-year-old mother helps her make ends meet...
Koch brothers bombard vulnerable Senate Democrat Kay Hagan Politico ...Americans for Prosperity, a group co-founded by the conservative billionaires, has already dropped $8.2 million on TV, radio and digital ads in an effort to defeat the North Carolina Democrat. According to sources tracking media buys, the group has so far spent more in North Carolina than all Democratic outside groups in every Senate race in the country — combined...
Trade
As Obama Meets Neighbors, Nafta Critics Warn Over New Trade Deal Wall Street Journal ...Veteran critics of the North American Free Trade Agreement warn that some of the negative effects of the 20-year-old deal could be repeated in a larger trade bloc that spans the Pacific Ocean...
NAFTA’s 20-Year Legacy and the Fate of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Public Citizen ...NAFTA proponents’ projections of broad economic benefits from the deal have failed to materialize. Instead, millions have suffered job loss, wage stagnation, and economic instability from NAFTA...
War on Workers
Cold weather chills retail sales, jobless claims up Reuters ...U.S. retail sales fell unexpectedly in January and more Americans filed for jobless benefits last week, the latest signs the economy started the year on softer footing as unseasonably cold weather took its toll...
How Comcast Buying Time Warner Cable Could Impact You — And The Entire Entertainment Industry Think Progress ...this deal only means that Comcast is buying Time Warner Cable, rather than the suite of Time Warner entertainment businesses, which includes a number of magazine properties, cable networks like HBO, CNN, TNT, and CBS...
How ALEC Helps Big Telecom Change State Laws for Corporate Gain Center for Media and Democracy ... At closed-door ALEC meetings, state legislators sit down with lobbyists for corporations like AT&T, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, Comcast, and News Corp to be handed changes to our laws that further the right wing agenda and directly benefit the corporate bottom line...
Communities With More Walmart Stores Also Have More Crime Jezebel ...The study looked at annual crime rates in 3,109 counties between 1991 and 2009. Wolfe was especially focused on the 1990s, when crime rates plummeted nationwide and Walmart experienced dynamic growth. The study found that the crime reduction was slowed in communities where Walmart expanded, a trend that continued in the 2000s...
Opinion: Walmart Is Far From A Victim Of 'Partisan' Labor Board Forbes ...the Board’s General Counsel was simply upholding the law. The real victims here are Walmart employees who, according to the NLRB’s complaint, face retaliation and even termination if they speak out against poverty wages and poor working conditions...
Unemployment rate crosses 28% threshold, reaching new high Enet English ...Crossing a new threshold, the unemployment rate (in Greece) hit another historic high in November, with 28.0% of the workforce without a job, acccording to the Hellenic Statistics Authority (Elstat)...
Teamsters Celebrate, Remember James R. Hoffa teamster.org ...“I shook his hand!” “He remembered my name.” “He was always one of us.” “He changed my life.” These comments and hundreds more like them still can be heard at Teamster retiree meetings held at union halls and truck stops all across the country...
Teamsters Local 542 and United Food and Commercial Workers 135 representatives meet with National Beef employees Imperial Valley Press ...National Beef workers met with their respective union representatives throughout the day Wednesday to discuss what they can expect to happen as the April 4 scheduled plant closing draws nearer...
Teamsters' 4-year contract with Allegheny County doesn't include retroactive raises Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ...Members of Teamsters Local Union 249, whose salt and plow truck driving members threatened to strike last week as a snow storm loomed, have signed a new contract with Allegheny County...
The elephant in the room New York Daily News ...Now that NYCLASS members expect Mayor de Blasio to banish the horses, as he promised, they have moved on to considering new wrongs to right. Next up? The circus...
Carriage horses focus of cruelty debate USA Today ..."What would be abuse is if we go out of business – we can't keep these horses," Hemingway said, standing next to a massive Belgian draft horse named Duke. "I guarantee you, we go out of business, they'd be in a bag of dog food in a month..."
State Battles
Whose vote is it? Move over politicians: This is a union vote timesfreepress.com ...It's a union election. It concerns more than 1,500 hourly workers and Volkswagen in Chattanooga. But with politicians wildly gesticulating on every podium from here to Nashville, you would think it was government business. It isn't...
John Doe investigation records to be released Feb. 19 Channel 3000 ...Thousands of emails and other documents uncovered during a secret investigation into a former aide to Gov. Scott Walker will be released Feb. 19...
Critics blast Arizona superintendent for promoting private schools azcentral.com ...John Huppenthal, the state’s superintendent of public instruction, made an automated call to families promoting a program that uses taxpayer dollars to send kids to private school...
Gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer vows to repeal right-to-work law Michigan NBC News ...The gubernatorial candidate is making a lot of promises including a repeal of right-to-work. “Governor Snyder cannot point to one job that's been created as a result of right to work,” says Schauer...
Report: Missouri voter-ID bill could disenfranchise 220,000 MSNBC ...A proposed voter ID bill in Missouri could disenfranchise 220,000 registered voters, according to an impact report released on Tuesday by Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander...
New Hampshire low-wage workers: We need help to buy basics Associated Press ...Anita Mendes, 67, who lives in the Monadnock region, told a House committee she supplements her Social Security income with a minimum-wage job 18 hours a week, despite having a master's degree in social work. She also said her 90-year-old mother helps her make ends meet...
Koch brothers bombard vulnerable Senate Democrat Kay Hagan Politico ...Americans for Prosperity, a group co-founded by the conservative billionaires, has already dropped $8.2 million on TV, radio and digital ads in an effort to defeat the North Carolina Democrat. According to sources tracking media buys, the group has so far spent more in North Carolina than all Democratic outside groups in every Senate race in the country — combined...
Trade
As Obama Meets Neighbors, Nafta Critics Warn Over New Trade Deal Wall Street Journal ...Veteran critics of the North American Free Trade Agreement warn that some of the negative effects of the 20-year-old deal could be repeated in a larger trade bloc that spans the Pacific Ocean...
NAFTA’s 20-Year Legacy and the Fate of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Public Citizen ...NAFTA proponents’ projections of broad economic benefits from the deal have failed to materialize. Instead, millions have suffered job loss, wage stagnation, and economic instability from NAFTA...
War on Workers
Cold weather chills retail sales, jobless claims up Reuters ...U.S. retail sales fell unexpectedly in January and more Americans filed for jobless benefits last week, the latest signs the economy started the year on softer footing as unseasonably cold weather took its toll...
How Comcast Buying Time Warner Cable Could Impact You — And The Entire Entertainment Industry Think Progress ...this deal only means that Comcast is buying Time Warner Cable, rather than the suite of Time Warner entertainment businesses, which includes a number of magazine properties, cable networks like HBO, CNN, TNT, and CBS...
How ALEC Helps Big Telecom Change State Laws for Corporate Gain Center for Media and Democracy ... At closed-door ALEC meetings, state legislators sit down with lobbyists for corporations like AT&T, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, Comcast, and News Corp to be handed changes to our laws that further the right wing agenda and directly benefit the corporate bottom line...
Communities With More Walmart Stores Also Have More Crime Jezebel ...The study looked at annual crime rates in 3,109 counties between 1991 and 2009. Wolfe was especially focused on the 1990s, when crime rates plummeted nationwide and Walmart experienced dynamic growth. The study found that the crime reduction was slowed in communities where Walmart expanded, a trend that continued in the 2000s...
Opinion: Walmart Is Far From A Victim Of 'Partisan' Labor Board Forbes ...the Board’s General Counsel was simply upholding the law. The real victims here are Walmart employees who, according to the NLRB’s complaint, face retaliation and even termination if they speak out against poverty wages and poor working conditions...
Unemployment rate crosses 28% threshold, reaching new high Enet English ...Crossing a new threshold, the unemployment rate (in Greece) hit another historic high in November, with 28.0% of the workforce without a job, acccording to the Hellenic Statistics Authority (Elstat)...
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Today's Teamster News 01.23.14
Midwest Foods Warehouse Workers Choose Teamsters teamstersjc25.com ...Thirty distribution employees and drivers at Midwest Foods overwhelmingly voted to join Teamsters Local 703, which negotiated a strong, new five-year contract for their newest members...
N.Y. Teamsters Join Anti-Fast Track Fight teamster.org ...The Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 553 in New York City, spoke out Tuesday against legislation that would force a quick up-or-down vote on bum trade deals like the TPP...
Unions coalesce against ‘paycheck protection’ legislation Pennsylvania Independent ...Unions across Pennsylvania are fighting a proposal that would end the practice of automatically deducting dues from public workers’ paychecks. The plan squelches the voice of organized labor, the labor groups say...
Thievery: How Congress Keeps Stealing From Our Retirement Benefits and Social Safety Net AlterNet...Military pensions, unemployment, disability and Social Security are all targets...
Labor, business interests debate Missouri 'right to work' legislation Colombia Missourian ...Labor and business representatives turned out in large numbers Tuesday morning in the second public hearing for House Bills 1053 and 1143, popularly known as the "right to work" bills...
No, It’s About Profits, Not “Free Speech” NH Labor News ...Don’t be fooled. Tueday's Supreme Court hearing in Harris v. Quinn was about corporate profits – the cold, hard cash that employers can save when they break their workers’ union...
BP Employees, Outraged by Lack of Compensation, Warn Oil Spill Victims Truthout ...Long-term employees accuse oil giant BP of greed, exploitation and lying about their pensions...
Public Employees Are Transforming the Workplace Jobs With Justice ...As the 2014 state legislative sessions commence, an increasing number of elected officials have declared open season on public employees and their unions. Yet examples abound of productive labor-management relations in the public sector—even in the wake of government agencies reeling from the Great Recession...
NSA sets dangerous global trend for surveillance The Raw Story ...The U.S. is setting a dangerous example for the world with its sweeping surveillance programmes, giving governments an excuse for mass censorship of online communications, Human Rights Watch said in its annual report Tuesday...
Housing costs are killing the American Dream Moyers & Company ...Historically, economic and geographic mobility have been intertwined. Studies have shown that the number one reason that people pick up and move to another community is for work:. But something has happened. In the 1980s, we began to stay put...
West Virginia Governor On Safety Of Water Supply: ‘It’s Your Decision… I’m Not A Scientist’ ThinkProgress ...Amid growing concern over whether or not West Virginia's water is actually safe, the state's governor said it was up to residents to decide whether they use it...
Company that contaminated WV water supply reaches bankruptcy deal, bemoans 'perception' problem
DailyKos ...The spill is causing the spiller a "perception" problem...
The Myth of the Absent Black Father ThinkProgress ...CDC research dispels prevailing assumptions about black fathers, they're more involved with their children's lives than previously thought...
New study reveals major gaps in FDA’s ‘regulatory flexibility’ The Raw Story ...Consumers may expect that medical treatments approved for the US market are safe and thoroughly tested, but a study out Tuesday said that is not always the case...
Ownership of WaPo by CIA Contractor Puts U.S. Journalism in Dangerous Terrain The Real News ...Norman Solomon: There is a major conflict of interest in the ownership of The Washington Post by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who holds a $600 million contract with the CIA...
Senator Warren: Let students refinance their loans Associated Press ...U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is planning to file a bill to let students refinance their old loans at a new lower rate...
Slumping Intel to cut more than 5,000 jobs in 2014 Associated Press ...Intel plans to trim more than 5,000 jobs from its workforce this year in an effort to boost its earnings amid waning demand for its personal computer chips...
Texas Instruments cutting 1,100 jobs; 4Q profit up Seattle Post-Intelligencer ...Chipmaker Texas Instruments Inc. said Tuesday that it will cut 1,100 jobs worldwide, about 3 percent of its workforce, to trim costs and will reduce its investments in certain markets...
N.Y. Teamsters Join Anti-Fast Track Fight teamster.org ...The Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 553 in New York City, spoke out Tuesday against legislation that would force a quick up-or-down vote on bum trade deals like the TPP...
Unions coalesce against ‘paycheck protection’ legislation Pennsylvania Independent ...Unions across Pennsylvania are fighting a proposal that would end the practice of automatically deducting dues from public workers’ paychecks. The plan squelches the voice of organized labor, the labor groups say...
Thievery: How Congress Keeps Stealing From Our Retirement Benefits and Social Safety Net AlterNet...Military pensions, unemployment, disability and Social Security are all targets...
Labor, business interests debate Missouri 'right to work' legislation Colombia Missourian ...Labor and business representatives turned out in large numbers Tuesday morning in the second public hearing for House Bills 1053 and 1143, popularly known as the "right to work" bills...
No, It’s About Profits, Not “Free Speech” NH Labor News ...Don’t be fooled. Tueday's Supreme Court hearing in Harris v. Quinn was about corporate profits – the cold, hard cash that employers can save when they break their workers’ union...
BP Employees, Outraged by Lack of Compensation, Warn Oil Spill Victims Truthout ...Long-term employees accuse oil giant BP of greed, exploitation and lying about their pensions...
Public Employees Are Transforming the Workplace Jobs With Justice ...As the 2014 state legislative sessions commence, an increasing number of elected officials have declared open season on public employees and their unions. Yet examples abound of productive labor-management relations in the public sector—even in the wake of government agencies reeling from the Great Recession...
NSA sets dangerous global trend for surveillance The Raw Story ...The U.S. is setting a dangerous example for the world with its sweeping surveillance programmes, giving governments an excuse for mass censorship of online communications, Human Rights Watch said in its annual report Tuesday...
Housing costs are killing the American Dream Moyers & Company ...Historically, economic and geographic mobility have been intertwined. Studies have shown that the number one reason that people pick up and move to another community is for work:. But something has happened. In the 1980s, we began to stay put...
West Virginia Governor On Safety Of Water Supply: ‘It’s Your Decision… I’m Not A Scientist’ ThinkProgress ...Amid growing concern over whether or not West Virginia's water is actually safe, the state's governor said it was up to residents to decide whether they use it...
Company that contaminated WV water supply reaches bankruptcy deal, bemoans 'perception' problem
DailyKos ...The spill is causing the spiller a "perception" problem...
The Myth of the Absent Black Father ThinkProgress ...CDC research dispels prevailing assumptions about black fathers, they're more involved with their children's lives than previously thought...
New study reveals major gaps in FDA’s ‘regulatory flexibility’ The Raw Story ...Consumers may expect that medical treatments approved for the US market are safe and thoroughly tested, but a study out Tuesday said that is not always the case...
Ownership of WaPo by CIA Contractor Puts U.S. Journalism in Dangerous Terrain The Real News ...Norman Solomon: There is a major conflict of interest in the ownership of The Washington Post by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who holds a $600 million contract with the CIA...
Senator Warren: Let students refinance their loans Associated Press ...U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is planning to file a bill to let students refinance their old loans at a new lower rate...
Slumping Intel to cut more than 5,000 jobs in 2014 Associated Press ...Intel plans to trim more than 5,000 jobs from its workforce this year in an effort to boost its earnings amid waning demand for its personal computer chips...
Texas Instruments cutting 1,100 jobs; 4Q profit up Seattle Post-Intelligencer ...Chipmaker Texas Instruments Inc. said Tuesday that it will cut 1,100 jobs worldwide, about 3 percent of its workforce, to trim costs and will reduce its investments in certain markets...
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Today's Teamster News 01.21.14
Teamsters to review new agreement with YRC RecordOnline ...A committee of Teamsters local officials will meet Tuesday to decide whether workers will vote on a new proposed contract with YRC Worldwide...
Vogel: Galloping to ban NYC horse-drawn carriages (opinion) AMNewYork ...With so many urgent issues facing the city, why did Mayor Bill de Blasio make getting rid of New York's iconic horse-drawn carriages his first priority?...
People Pressure Is Making Fast Tracking the TPP Politically Toxic TruthDig ...After four years of secret negotiations with more than 600 corporate advisers, the once seemingly invincible largest trade bill in history, covering 40% of the world’s economy , looks very much like it can be defeated...
Supreme Court to hear 1st Amendment challenge to labor unions Los Angeles Times ...The Supreme Court will hear a 1st Amendment case this week involving Chicago-area in-home care providers that could end up dealing a major blow to public-sector labor unions...
Oxfam: 85 richest people as wealthy as poorest half of the world The Guardian ...The wealth of the 1% richest people in the world amounts to $110tn (£60.88tn), or 65 times as much as the poorest half of the world, added the development charity, which fears this concentration of economic resources is threatening political stability and driving up social tensions...
UN: More than 200 million jobless last year Associated Press ...an estimated 201.8 million people were unemployed in 2013. That's 4.9 million more than the previous year. An annual ILO report points to an uneven global economic recovery and says East and South Asia together accounted for more than 45 percent of last year's increase…
The Global Fight Against Corporate Rule The Nation ...Until three decades ago, governments could pass laws to protect consumers, workers, health, the environment and domestic firms with little threat of outside legal challenge from corporations. All that changed when corporations started acquiring the “right” to sue governments over actions—including public interest regulations—that reduce the value of their investments. These rights first appeared in little-known bilateral investment treaties...
Many Baby Boomers Reluctant to Retire Gallup ...While the average age at which U.S. retirees say they retired has risen steadily from 57 to 61 in the past two decades, boomers -- the youngest of whom will turn 50 this year -- will likely extend it even further. Nearly half (49%) of boomers still working say they don't expect to retire until they are 66 or older, including one in 10 who predict they will never retire...
2 dead, all others accounted for in Neb. explosion Associated Press ...Omaha officials say two people are dead and all other workers are accounted for in the animal feed plant that exploded. The explosion Monday morning brought down part of the International Nutrition plant. Two people were killed and 10 others seriously hurt…
Corporations Hoard Cash While Americans Go Without A Job Economic Populist ...corporate taxes are at a 60 year low...
New Accusations Against Freedom Industries in West Virginia Spill Bloomberg ... a local water utility has accused Freedom Industries, the chemical supplier blamed for the leak in Charleston, of trying to pull a fast one in its federal bankruptcy filing...
Real Supporters of the "Free Market" Do Not Believe that Companies Can Pollute Drinking Water With Impunity Center for Economic and Policy Research ...Freedom Industries, will largely escape responsibility for the damage it caused with its actions since it declared bankruptcy. This means that the victims of the spill were effectively forced to give money to Freedom Industries. This is antithetical to free market principles...
House bill an attack on unions (opinion) Standard Speaker ...There is a bill pending in the Pennsylvania Legislature that if passed, would destroy unions and the middle class as we know them. House Bill 1507 would prohibit unions from having dues collected by any public employer...
Vogel: Galloping to ban NYC horse-drawn carriages (opinion) AMNewYork ...With so many urgent issues facing the city, why did Mayor Bill de Blasio make getting rid of New York's iconic horse-drawn carriages his first priority?...
People Pressure Is Making Fast Tracking the TPP Politically Toxic TruthDig ...After four years of secret negotiations with more than 600 corporate advisers, the once seemingly invincible largest trade bill in history, covering 40% of the world’s economy , looks very much like it can be defeated...
Supreme Court to hear 1st Amendment challenge to labor unions Los Angeles Times ...The Supreme Court will hear a 1st Amendment case this week involving Chicago-area in-home care providers that could end up dealing a major blow to public-sector labor unions...
Oxfam: 85 richest people as wealthy as poorest half of the world The Guardian ...The wealth of the 1% richest people in the world amounts to $110tn (£60.88tn), or 65 times as much as the poorest half of the world, added the development charity, which fears this concentration of economic resources is threatening political stability and driving up social tensions...
UN: More than 200 million jobless last year Associated Press ...an estimated 201.8 million people were unemployed in 2013. That's 4.9 million more than the previous year. An annual ILO report points to an uneven global economic recovery and says East and South Asia together accounted for more than 45 percent of last year's increase…
The Global Fight Against Corporate Rule The Nation ...Until three decades ago, governments could pass laws to protect consumers, workers, health, the environment and domestic firms with little threat of outside legal challenge from corporations. All that changed when corporations started acquiring the “right” to sue governments over actions—including public interest regulations—that reduce the value of their investments. These rights first appeared in little-known bilateral investment treaties...
Many Baby Boomers Reluctant to Retire Gallup ...While the average age at which U.S. retirees say they retired has risen steadily from 57 to 61 in the past two decades, boomers -- the youngest of whom will turn 50 this year -- will likely extend it even further. Nearly half (49%) of boomers still working say they don't expect to retire until they are 66 or older, including one in 10 who predict they will never retire...
2 dead, all others accounted for in Neb. explosion Associated Press ...Omaha officials say two people are dead and all other workers are accounted for in the animal feed plant that exploded. The explosion Monday morning brought down part of the International Nutrition plant. Two people were killed and 10 others seriously hurt…
Corporations Hoard Cash While Americans Go Without A Job Economic Populist ...corporate taxes are at a 60 year low...
New Accusations Against Freedom Industries in West Virginia Spill Bloomberg ... a local water utility has accused Freedom Industries, the chemical supplier blamed for the leak in Charleston, of trying to pull a fast one in its federal bankruptcy filing...
Real Supporters of the "Free Market" Do Not Believe that Companies Can Pollute Drinking Water With Impunity Center for Economic and Policy Research ...Freedom Industries, will largely escape responsibility for the damage it caused with its actions since it declared bankruptcy. This means that the victims of the spill were effectively forced to give money to Freedom Industries. This is antithetical to free market principles...
House bill an attack on unions (opinion) Standard Speaker ...There is a bill pending in the Pennsylvania Legislature that if passed, would destroy unions and the middle class as we know them. House Bill 1507 would prohibit unions from having dues collected by any public employer...
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
New York's new mayor's top priority: Get rid of Teamster jobs
 |
| Our Teamster Brother Steve Malone. |
Unfortunately, that person is the new mayor of New York City, Bill deBlasio.
DeBlasio says he'll replace the iconic carriages with electric replicas of antique cars. (We're not kidding.) Teamsters Local 553 is fighting to save the jobs of the 100 carriage drivers who, by all accounts (except for obsessed animal rights activists) treat their horses very, very well.
George Miranda, Teamsters Joint Council 16 president, said:
Our members in the iconic Central Park horse drawn carriage industry are proud of their heritage, take tremendous care of their horses and support their families with good blue collar jobs. The Teamsters will fight for their survival.Demos Demopolous, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 553, is leading the fight. He told Politico:
We are against the thought of the electric car replacing the horse carriage industry.
These are all horse people. This is what they do.(To help save the jobs of our equestrian brothers and sisters, click here.)
Here are just some of the people who think Mayor deBlasio has, um, the wrong priorities.
Actor Liam Neeson:
I was in the stables today and many days over the past few years, I know some of these guys, and I just hate how they’re — the horse-drawn carriage industry is being attacked nowadays...these are the fittest, well-fed, best kept horses I’ve ever seen. I’m a horse rider and lover for many, many years.Jimmy Fallon:
He wants to get rid of horse-drawn carriages in Central Park because they're inhumane. Meanwhile, thousands of unemployed New Yorkers said, 'I'll pull the carriage.'American Spectator writer Robert Stacy McCain:
Defenders of the carriage industry point to a real-estate executive who is one of de Blasio's major campaign donors as the driving force behind the effort to abolish the carriages.Journalist Michael Gross, writing about real-estate executive Steve Nislick:
What are the odds that good neighbor Nislick, the out-of-state real estate developer, simply covets those valuable, underdeveloped New York lots — and has teamed up with ambitious pols to use the emotions of animal rights activists as fuel for their own agendas?The Daily Beast columnist Nick Gillespie:
A hundred-plus years of tradition and a hundred-plus jobs (for humans) gone, just like that, because de Blasio believes that horse-drawn carriages “are not humane.”New York Times writer Andrew Rosenthal:
Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio ... has a problem prioritizing. While we wait for him to appoint his team (oh so slowly) and we wonder what his policies are going to be, exactly, on things like schools, Mr. de Blasio announced yesterday that one of his first acts will be … to ban carriage horses from Central Park.Conservative Washington Examiner columnist Judson Phillips:
De Blasio is starting his term as dictator by dictating. He is dictating a group of people out of their jobs. These are the iconic horse drawn carriages in New York.Christina Hansen, carriage driver and liaison for the Horse and Carriage Association of New York City:
De Blasio has never visited our stables,” , told FoxNews.com. “This really has nothing to do with the welfare of the horses. If it did, we could sit down with Mayor de Blasio or the City Council ... and have a discussion. This is about radical animal rights ideology, it’s about money power, politics and real estate.Dr. Harry Warner, former chairman of American Association of Equine Practitioners' (AAEP) Equine Welfare Committee, who examined the horses:
I didn't see a single horse that didn't show all the signs that we associate with contentment.James Baussmann, a senior account manager with Text100 Boston, a global communications firm:
It should be left alone! My wife and I just moved from NYC after 10 years of living in Manhattan/Queens. A hansom cab ride was/is on our ‘NYC bucket list’ that we created before we moved. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to it before we moved … and now we’re afraid we’ll never get the chance.Father Brian Jordan, Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum and Maryam Kashmir, president of the Muslim Student Association at St. Francis College, writing in the New York Daily News:
Many of New York City’s horse carriage drivers ... have followed a calling to work with animals, and they have been denied basic respect by those seeking to ban their carriages. These drivers must be permitted to continue their good work and carry on the tradition of caring and respecting the horses that help provide them a fair living.Rush Limbaugh:
...these people think that automobiles and fossil-fueled vehicles are destroying the climate and would love to take us back to the horse and buggy days, except the new mayor of New York thinks it is cruel and inhumane for horses to pull carriages with people in them.Once again, help our brothers and sisters out. Click here.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Today's Teamster News 01.03.14
Teamsters Local 553 Fights to Protect NYC Horse-Drawn Carriages CNN ...Teamsters Local 553 leads the fight against a proposed ban of one of the city's most recognized and beloved attractions. See the video here...
Billionaires Worth $3.7 Trillion Surge as Gates Wins 2013 Bloomberg News ...The richest people on the planet got even richer in 2013, adding $524 billion to their collective net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world’s 300 wealthiest individuals...
Court Beefs Up Protections for Workers Injured By Chemicals Mother Jones ...Last week, a federal court issued a ruling strengthening protections for Americans injured by chemicals on the job...
Senate Democrats plan to reinstate lost unemployment benefits The Guardian ...Democratic leaders in the Senate are planning to fast-track legislation to extend unemployment insurance, a move that would provide a lifeline to more than a million Americans who lost their benefits last week...
Public service unions brace for coming showdown over sick leave Ottawa Citizen ...A big issue in the Conservative government’s upcoming showdown with federal unions over a plan to eliminate accumulated sick leave is what to do with the $5.2 billion in unused leave that public servants have already banked and rolled over...
Home, Sweet (Privatized Military) Home Truthout ...The goals of faster and cheaper military housing may have been achieved through privatization, but problems including unreliable builders and an unwillingness to fix persistent problems including mold has led to legal action by tenants...
The “middle class” myth: Here’s why wages are really so low today The Salon ...Want to understand the failures of the "free market" and the key to getting a decent wage? Here's the real story...
Home Depot Founder: Pope Francis’ Criticism Of Capitalism Will Scare Away Rich People ThinkProgress ...Ken Langone, the billionaire founder of Home Depot, is worried Pope Francis’ recent criticism of the wealthy and capitalism will be a “hurdle” for rich donors...
Retirement unlikely for some Americans Associated Press ...Whether they work on the farm or at a blue collar job, baby boomers worry that Social Security won't be enough to allow them to retire...
Loan Monitor Is Accused of Ruthless Tactics on Student Debt New York Times ...As the Educational Credit Management Corporation fights borrowers who file for bankruptcy on federal loans, there is growing concern over its collection practices...
Congress just let 55 tax breaks expire The Washington Post ...There are 55 tax breaks for individuals and businesses that expired at the end of 2013. Read up on the tax breaks so you don’t miss out when you file this year...
Walmart Recalls Donkey Meat In China Because It Contained Fox Reuters ...Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer, has recalled donkey meat sold at some outlets in China after tests showed the product contained the DNA of other animals, the U.S. company said...
Fiat shares jump after deal to buy rest of Chrysler, but unions worry about jobs in Italy Associated Press ...Shares in Fiat soared on Thursday on the news the Italian automaker will take full ownership of Chrysler, but some Italian unions worried what the deal will mean for jobs and investments in the country...
In Cambodia, pressure from labor disputes mounts on a longtime leader Reuters ...Labor strikes in Cambodia have taken on a new significance and are presenting a rare challenge to one of the world's longest-serving leaders...
Bangladesh shipbuilder sets benchmark in health and safety standards The Guardian ...Chittagong shipyard partners with German firm to promote better workplace health and safety practices and reduce accidents...
Workers In A Third State Can Now Take Paid Family Leave ThinkProgress ...Rhode Island's new paid family leave law went into effect as the new year arrived, making it the third state (along with California and New Jersey) that has such a program...
Billionaires Worth $3.7 Trillion Surge as Gates Wins 2013 Bloomberg News ...The richest people on the planet got even richer in 2013, adding $524 billion to their collective net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world’s 300 wealthiest individuals...
Court Beefs Up Protections for Workers Injured By Chemicals Mother Jones ...Last week, a federal court issued a ruling strengthening protections for Americans injured by chemicals on the job...
Senate Democrats plan to reinstate lost unemployment benefits The Guardian ...Democratic leaders in the Senate are planning to fast-track legislation to extend unemployment insurance, a move that would provide a lifeline to more than a million Americans who lost their benefits last week...
Public service unions brace for coming showdown over sick leave Ottawa Citizen ...A big issue in the Conservative government’s upcoming showdown with federal unions over a plan to eliminate accumulated sick leave is what to do with the $5.2 billion in unused leave that public servants have already banked and rolled over...
Home, Sweet (Privatized Military) Home Truthout ...The goals of faster and cheaper military housing may have been achieved through privatization, but problems including unreliable builders and an unwillingness to fix persistent problems including mold has led to legal action by tenants...
The “middle class” myth: Here’s why wages are really so low today The Salon ...Want to understand the failures of the "free market" and the key to getting a decent wage? Here's the real story...
Home Depot Founder: Pope Francis’ Criticism Of Capitalism Will Scare Away Rich People ThinkProgress ...Ken Langone, the billionaire founder of Home Depot, is worried Pope Francis’ recent criticism of the wealthy and capitalism will be a “hurdle” for rich donors...
Retirement unlikely for some Americans Associated Press ...Whether they work on the farm or at a blue collar job, baby boomers worry that Social Security won't be enough to allow them to retire...
Loan Monitor Is Accused of Ruthless Tactics on Student Debt New York Times ...As the Educational Credit Management Corporation fights borrowers who file for bankruptcy on federal loans, there is growing concern over its collection practices...
Congress just let 55 tax breaks expire The Washington Post ...There are 55 tax breaks for individuals and businesses that expired at the end of 2013. Read up on the tax breaks so you don’t miss out when you file this year...
Walmart Recalls Donkey Meat In China Because It Contained Fox Reuters ...Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer, has recalled donkey meat sold at some outlets in China after tests showed the product contained the DNA of other animals, the U.S. company said...
Fiat shares jump after deal to buy rest of Chrysler, but unions worry about jobs in Italy Associated Press ...Shares in Fiat soared on Thursday on the news the Italian automaker will take full ownership of Chrysler, but some Italian unions worried what the deal will mean for jobs and investments in the country...
In Cambodia, pressure from labor disputes mounts on a longtime leader Reuters ...Labor strikes in Cambodia have taken on a new significance and are presenting a rare challenge to one of the world's longest-serving leaders...
Bangladesh shipbuilder sets benchmark in health and safety standards The Guardian ...Chittagong shipyard partners with German firm to promote better workplace health and safety practices and reduce accidents...
Workers In A Third State Can Now Take Paid Family Leave ThinkProgress ...Rhode Island's new paid family leave law went into effect as the new year arrived, making it the third state (along with California and New Jersey) that has such a program...
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