Today's Teamster News 01.03.15

Teamsters
Dunkin' Donuts Delivery Drivers in Chicago Join the Teamsters  Teamsters Joint Council 25   ...By a 2-to-1 margin, approximately 30 drivers who make deliveries to Chicago-area Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants recently voted to join Teamsters Local 734...

BLET reaches tentative agreement with Norfolk Southern  BLET   ...The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) has reached a tentative contract agreement with Norfolk Southern (NS) governing rates of pay and work rules for more than 4,500 locomotive engineers...
Inaugural Toledo Walleye Winter Brewfest is a hit  The Blade   ...Toledo firefighter Jenny Hill fist-bumps Mark Sobczak, vice president of Teamsters Local 20, as she dispenses beer during the inaugural Toledo Walleye Winter Brewfest...
McGrain to head Ingham Board of Commissioners  Lansing State Journal   ...In other business, the board … Approved a 2015 wage reopener that calls for a 2.5 percent boost to the current salary schedule of members of Teamsters Local 580, the Potter Park Zoo supervisory unit...
Trade
Obama’s Trade Chief, Undaunted by Odds, Pushes for Trans-Pacific Partnership  New York Times   ...the deal’s completion is certainly not guaranteed. Republicans inclined to give the president trade-negotiating authority are still seething at his executive action deferring deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants. Many conservatives are in no mood to give Mr. Obama anything, said Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, and a former United States trade representative in the George W. Bush administration...
The President Set a Goal of Doubling Exports by 2014—Why Haven’t We?  Economic Policy Institute   ...Total U.S. goods and services exports increased by less than 50 percent ($766 billion, or 48.4 percent) between 2009 and 2014 (estimated), as shown in the figure below. Meanwhile, imports increased by an even larger $883.8 billion, and as a result, the U.S. trade deficit increased by $117.0 billion...
Trade's big breakout  Politico   ...Republicans and President Barack Obama are both eager to act on a massive Asia-Pacific deal, an even bigger agreement with the European Union and legislation that would fast-track their approval by Congress — all of which have a shot of moving next year...
TTIP: Chemical corporations against safety protections  Ecologist   ...Under the TTIP US-EU trade agreement, the world's largest chemical corporations would be able to attack US states' attempts to regulate for chemical safety, writes Patrick Gleeson. In both the US and the EU, corporate rights - asserted in secret courts - would trump democracy and attempts to raise health, safety and welfare standards...
State Battles
EBay parts ways with controversial political group ALEC  Reuters   ...Critics fault ALEC, a coalition of state lawmakers and companies, for promoting measures to deny the existence of climate change, defund public services, oppose Internet neutrality and limit workers' protections...
Sweatshops in California Guilty of Wage Theft  Law Firm Newswire   ...lothing made in California for outlets such as Macy’s, JC Penney and Kohl’s, actually comes from local sweatshops where some employers routinely unplug the clock intended to keep track of worker’s hours...
War on Workers
Koch-Funded News Outlet Defends Dark-Money Organizations  Media Matters for America   ...Conservative news outlet Watchdog.org released a six-part series defending dark-money organizations -- politically focused groups that conceal the identities of their donors -- but failed to disclose its own funding from the Koch brothers and other conservative dark-money players...
Pay-disclosure advocates chafe at SEC rule delays  MarketWatch   ...Supporters of a rule that would require public companies to disclose the ratio between executive and median employee pay say the Securities and Exchange Commission should move soon to enact the regulation....
Worker dies after falling into well  WESH.com   ...Thomas Wood, 41, was working at a gas station under construction on U.S. 1 and Beville Road when he fell into the 6-foot fuel tank well...
Refinery worker dies in accident in Gibbstown  Associated Press   ...An air compressor line broke and struck 63-year-old Gary Grimming, who was sandblasting a tank at the time. Grimming was employed by a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based company...
Miscellaneous
U.S. slaps new sanctions on North Korea after Sony hack  CNN   ...The United States is hitting North Korea with a new set of economic sanctions after determining the country was behind last month's computer hack at Sony...
Why Airlines Want to Make You Suffer  The New Yorker   ...In 2013, the major airlines combined made about $31.5 billion in income from fees, as well as other ancillaries, such as redeeming credit-card points...
Falling oil prices both good and bad for manufacturers  Fortune   ...On one hand, a steep decline in the cost of oil leads to lower expenses. But on the other, business may suffer because of lower spending by oil and chemical companies on big-ticket items like computers and new machinery...

Today's Teamster News 10.24.13

Local 700 Member Saves 19-Month-Old, Receives Life Saving Award  Teamsters Local 700   ...East Hazel Crest Police Officer Mitchell Drake was responding to a gas leak when a dispatcher called and redirected him to help a family whose baby stopped breathing...
Voting on grocery deal expected to take 2 weeks  The Olympian   ...Puget Sound union grocery workers, including Teamsters, will decide over the next two weeks whether to accept a new contract proposal from four major grocers or head back to the bargaining table...
Lansing approves wage hikes, benefit cuts for 200 workers  Lansing State Journal   ...Lansing City Council has approved a new three-year contract with its public service employees that call for wage increases and reduced pension and healthcare benefits. The city is now is negotiating contracts with Lansing firefighters and with city workers represented by Teamsters Local 580...
Unions Back MGM Plan For Casino  WBAL News   ...The unions, including Teamsters Local 639, that represent construction and labor workers in Prince George's County, Maryland are throwing their support behind a plan by MGM to build a casino at the National Harbor...
Ohio unions remain steady as opposition postures ‘support’ for Right to Work  Beverly Hills Courier   ...As Right to Work supporters ramped up efforts to take the law into their own hands and force the controversial Right to Work agenda onto a statewide ballot in 2014, unions say they are not only ready to fight but believe they have common sense and the public on their side...
Lawsuit holding up sale dates to errant newspaper toss  Telegram and Gazette   ...The lawsuit stalling billionaire John W. Henry's $70 million purchase of two Massachusetts newspaper stems from whether newspaper carriers classified as independent contractors should really be considered employees...
Diebold Charged With Bribery, Falsifying Docs, 'Worldwide Pattern of Criminal Conduct'  BradBlog   ...One of the world's largest ATM manufacturers and, formerly, one of the largest manufacturers of electronic voting systems, has been indicted by federal prosecutors for bribery and falsification of documents ... a U.S. Attorney says the latest charges are in response to "a worldwide pattern of criminal conduct" by the company....
Video: McDonald’s tells workers to get food stamps  Salon   ...A new recording captures the fast food giant's worker 1-800 number touting public assistance...
The number of families with children living in deep poverty has gone up 130 percent since 1996  Salon   ... the number of families with children living on $2 a day or less has gone up nearly 130 percent...
Americans spend less now than in '73, report says  McClatchy   ...Even with the added cost of smartphones and other technology, American families spend less of their total income today than 40 years ago, according to new research. But people aren't saving that extra money...The roughly 14 percent of unaccounted-for income today may go toward expenses such as debt, but it's impossible to be sure...
Bangladesh workers could get 50% raise – but that’s just 9 cents more  The Salon   ...While strikes may garner improvements for garment workers, the real decision maker will be Western retailers...
New York Sets Work Rules for Young Models  New York Times   ...Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation on Monday night that will recognize fashion models under the age of 18 as child performers. The new law, which is expected to go into effect in 30 days, will have a significant impact on the casting of models for the next New York Fashion Week in February...
US Free Trade Agreements Are Bad Not Just For The Economy, But For The Environment, Too  Techdirt   ...Far from boosting US exports and creating more jobs as purported by the politicians, both the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and KORUS, the free trade agreement with South Korea, actually did the opposite. They increased the US trade deficit with those countries, and destroyed hundreds of thousands of American jobs...
BP Oil Refinery Waste Stored At Koch Brothers-Owned Site Polluting Nearby Chicago Neighborhoods  Huffington Post   ...Residents in several lower-income Chicago neighborhoods say a dirty oil byproduct from a nearby BP refinery is creating environmental and health hazards -- and no one is doing enough to stop it...
Food stamp benefits going down before the holidays  NBC News   ...Millions of American families could face a sparse holiday table when food stamps benefits get reduced in November, and that could be just the start of deeper cuts to the program to feed poor families...

Taxpayers To Help Pay JPMorgan’s Fine For Causing 2008 Financial Crisis  Fire Dog Lake   ...Feeling generous? You should because you are about to help pay for JPMorgan’s $13 billion fine for causing the 2008 financial crisis... Justice Department Misrepresents JP Morgan Settlement  The Real News   ..."it's a $6 billion deal,” said Black. “That still, of course, is a large number, but compared to how much wealth was extracted by the senior officers and directors, it's actually not that big a deal, and compared to the losses they caused to the world through these frauds that drove the financial crisis, it's actually a pittance...” Countrywide defrauded Fannie and Freddie, federal prosecutor says  Bloomberg News   ...Bank of America Corp.'s Countrywide unit defrauded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by selling them thousands of loans known to be defective, an attorney for the U.S. said in closing arguments in a lawsuit against the lender…

IRS delays start of tax season due to government shutdown  Associated Press   ...Here's more fallout from the government's partial shutdown: Early tax filers will have to wait an extra week or two to get tax refunds next year...
This 1 Chart Makes Gordon Gekko Look Like An Average Joe  Huffington Post   ...In 1987 … our typical Wall Street character brought home some $69,550, which was easily more than double the $26,750 of the typical non-Wall Street employee in New York City… That is, until you consider 2012, by which time those two numbers had jumped to $360,700 and $69,200, respectively...
Social Security Pumps $2 Into US Economy for Every Benefit Dollar Spent  Truthout   ...Just as food stamps stimulate the economy by creating about $1.80 of economic activity for every dollar of food stamps spent, Social Security pumps up job-generating and business activity by about $2 for every dollar recipients spend...
Is Detroit really broke? Crucial bankruptcy trial to begin  Associated Press   ...A judge starts exploring that question in an unusual trial to determine whether Detroit indeed is eligible to scrub its books in the largest public bankruptcy in U.S. history. Unions and pension funds are claiming the city failed to negotiate in good faith before filing for Chapter 9 protection in July...
Zoos Get Pandas, China Gets Uranium: Is This a Fair Trade?  Truthout   ...China’s central government seems, more than ever, to be using its monopoly on pandas as a valuable bargaining chip to gain resources including uranium (to power nuclear plants) and access to renewable energy technology...
As many as 300,000 jobless affected by state software snags  Los Angeles Times   ...Problems are growing worse for the state's Employment Development Department after a new computer system backfired, leaving some Californians without much-needed benefit checks for weeks...
Alabama makes plan for issuing free voter IDs  Associated Press   ...The secretary of state's plan for implementing Alabama's photo ID requirement for voting includes making free ID cards available at many locations throughout the state...
Report: Scott Walker decisions drove insurance rates much higher in Wisconsin than in Minnesota  The Cap Times   ...Gov. Scott Walker’s rejection of federal Medicaid money and the state’s hands-off approach to rate regulation has pushed health care exchange rates up to 99 percent higher than in neighboring Minnesota...