Teamsters
Berlin Metals, Teamsters reach new contract NWI.com ...The Berlin Metals steel service center in Hammond reached a new five-year agreement with Teamsters Union Local 142, which represents its warehouse workers...
EYE ON CLALLAM: County to consider pact with Teamsters at Tuesday meeting in Port Angeles PeninsulaDailyNews.com ...Clallam County has been bargaining a new contract with the union for more than 20 months...
Trade
TPP market access gains for U.S. dairy must be a priority Ohio Country Journal ...“It is crucial for the U.S. to prioritize delivery of benefits to our dairy industry, not other TPP countries,” said Tom Suber, USDEC president...
Europeans fear American 'Frankenfood' in trade deal UPI ..."Hormone-boosted beef. Chlorine-washed chicken. Genetically altered vegetables. This is what they want for us," French organic farmer Jean Cabaret tells the Washington Post. "In France, food is about pleasure, about taste. But in the United States, they put anything in their mouths. No, this must be stopped."...
The European Citizens Initiative to stop the TTIP pressenza …“We are an alliance of nearly 300 European organisations running a self-organised European Citizens’ Initiative against TTIP and CETA. We believe that these two trade and investment agreements must be stopped because they pose a threat to democracy, the rule of law, the environment, health, public services as well as consumer and labour rights...
State Battles
Arizona county mulls not hiring smokers Associated Press ... The proposal would also impose a 30 percent health-insurance surcharge on employees who smoke or consume other tobacco products...
War on Workers
The poor used to have the most opportunity in America. Now the rich do. Washington Post ... It seems almost impossible now, but the income of the poorest households -- the bottom 10 percent of them -- grew the fastest in JFK-era America, with the top 1 percent a little bit behind...
As college costs rise, more food pantries sprout on campus Kansas City Star ...Emporia is among the latest colleges in Kansas and Missouri to start a food pantry for cash-strapped students. Washburn University in Topeka also opened a pantry last month, Pittsburg State opened one in October and the University of Missouri-Kansas City student activities office is working on opening a food pantry in March...
Why Poor People Stay Poor Slate …It’s amazing what things that are absolute crises for me are simple annoyances for people with money. Anything can make you lose your apartment, because any unexpected problem that pops up, like they do, can set off that Rube Goldberg device...
Judge: Give NSA unlimited access to digital data PC World ...The U.S. National Security Agency should have an unlimited ability to collect digital information in the name of protecting the country against terrorism and other threats, an influential federal judge said during a debate on privacy. “I think privacy is actually overvalued,” Judge Richard Posner, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, said...
Mother-of-six dies suddenly just four weeks after giving birth: Fast food worker collapsed outside her workplace and never recovered Daily Mail ...A kind mother-of-six has died suddenly at the age of 43, just four weeks after giving birth to her sixth child...
Worker dies after being electrocuted KHOU.com …A worker died Saturday while working on trimming trees near a power line...
Showing posts with label AZ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AZ. Show all posts
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Hidden camera catches ALEC lobbyists plying AZ lawmakers with $70 steaks
A hidden news camera caught ALEC lobbyists wining and dining Arizona state lawmakers behind closed doors at a restaurant that serves $70 steaks.
It didn't look good for ALEC to be holding an expensive backroom party for 17 state lawmakers, especially since ALEC claims it's a charity that doesn't do much lobbying.
As we all know by now, ALEC is a corporate lobby that tries to lower wages, eradicate public education, eliminate environmental protections, weaken unions, make workplaces more dangerous and empower corporations.
"Are they buying access to your state leaders?" CBS 5 asks rhetorically. And then answers its own question, calling the story "an exclusive look at how one of the countries' most controversial nonprofit organizations influences state leaders."
The camera "spots state lawmaker after state lawmaker, along with lobbyists and power brokers heading into a backroom -- a closed-door dinner with an open bar at a restaurant with $70 steaks."
You can watch the video here.
Rep. Debbie Lesko, ALEC's state chairman, said ALEC is "no different than any other organization." (We love that she said she "talked about what ALEC offers."
Well, yeah, it is. ALEC lobbyists get access to lawmakers that environmental activists and union members don't.
And CBS 5 reporter Morgan Loew checked and found four ALEC bills before the Arizona Legislature. The voting records of the 17 lawmakers at the ALEC party showed none of them voted against ALEC bills.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Today's Teamster News 02.16.14
Teamster News
Teamsters Celebrate, Remember James R. Hoffa teamster.org ... He was the man who introduced himself as “I’m Jimmy Hoffa and I stand up for the American workers...”
Republic Airways reaches tentative deal with pilots union for its three airlines Dallas Morning News ...According to a Teamsters press release, "The tentative agreement includes increases in pay that will place Republic pilots at or near the top of its regional airline peers. It also includes improvements in work rules, quality of life enhancements and more flexibility in scheduling as well as a significant signing bonus if ratified...
State Battles
Historic election brings outside interference in the vote of Chattanooga Volkswagen workers UAW ...Volkswagen workers voted against joining the union in a vote of 712 to 626. The decision follows three days of voting during an election supervised by the National Labor Relations Board and comes amid a firestorm of interference and threats from special interest groups...
FitzGerald vows to fight for unions if elected Toledo Blade ...Ed FitzGerald, the leading Democratic candidate to run against Republican Gov. John Kasich this November, told supporters Thursday at the United Auto Workers headquarters in Maumee that if elected, he would veto any right-to-work bill that gets passed...
County Commissioners get into 'Paycheck Protection' fight: Friday Morning Coffee The Patriot-News ...The proxy fight over "Paycheck Protection" being waged by national labor unions and astrotuf groups such as FreedomWorks and the Koch Brothers-funded American Legislative Exchange Council is playing out in the state Legislature with bills in the state House and Senate...
House repeals 2013 election law that angered many Associated Press ...The Arizona House voted Thursday to repeal a sweeping 2013 Arizona election law that included trimming the state's permanent early voting list and a host of other provisions that incensed voter-rights advocates...
Teamsters Celebrate, Remember James R. Hoffa teamster.org ... He was the man who introduced himself as “I’m Jimmy Hoffa and I stand up for the American workers...”
Republic Airways reaches tentative deal with pilots union for its three airlines Dallas Morning News ...According to a Teamsters press release, "The tentative agreement includes increases in pay that will place Republic pilots at or near the top of its regional airline peers. It also includes improvements in work rules, quality of life enhancements and more flexibility in scheduling as well as a significant signing bonus if ratified...
State Battles
Historic election brings outside interference in the vote of Chattanooga Volkswagen workers UAW ...Volkswagen workers voted against joining the union in a vote of 712 to 626. The decision follows three days of voting during an election supervised by the National Labor Relations Board and comes amid a firestorm of interference and threats from special interest groups...
FitzGerald vows to fight for unions if elected Toledo Blade ...Ed FitzGerald, the leading Democratic candidate to run against Republican Gov. John Kasich this November, told supporters Thursday at the United Auto Workers headquarters in Maumee that if elected, he would veto any right-to-work bill that gets passed...
County Commissioners get into 'Paycheck Protection' fight: Friday Morning Coffee The Patriot-News ...The proxy fight over "Paycheck Protection" being waged by national labor unions and astrotuf groups such as FreedomWorks and the Koch Brothers-funded American Legislative Exchange Council is playing out in the state Legislature with bills in the state House and Senate...
House repeals 2013 election law that angered many Associated Press ...The Arizona House voted Thursday to repeal a sweeping 2013 Arizona election law that included trimming the state's permanent early voting list and a host of other provisions that incensed voter-rights advocates...
Estimated Gross State Product for Wisconsin and Minnesota Econbrowser ...Since 2011, Minnesota’s per capita GSP has grown a cumulative 2.1 percentage points (log terms) more than Wisconsin’s...
Trade
Spying by N.S.A. Ally Entangled U.S. Law Firm New York Times ...A top-secret document, obtained by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden, shows that an American law firm was monitored while representing a foreign government in trade disputes with the United States...
Momentum Builds to Stop Fast Track Trade Deals, Thanks to You Trade Reform ...Thanks to the efforts of tens of thousands of people—including people like you—more and more congressional leaders, including Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, are joining the chorus of voices standing up for us—America’s 99%—and saying that Fast Track is wrong...
The War on Workers
Foreclosure Filings Jump as Investors Eye Exits truthout ...The reason prices have been rising is because of the Fed’s loosy-goosey monetary policy (fake rates and QE), inventory suppression, bogus gov mortgage modification programs, and unprecedented speculation. (mainly Private Equity and investors groups) Those are the four legs of the stool propping up housing. Only now it looks like a couple of those legs are in the process of being sawed off which is going to put downward pressure on sales and prices...
Brazil's World Cup courts disaster as delays, protests and deaths mount The Guardian ...Another week, another storm of teargas and rubber bullets at a World Cup host city in Brazil. This time, the clashes were in the capital, Brasília, where 15,000 protesters from the Landless Workers Movement marched from the Mané Garrincha football stadium to the Palácio do Planalto state office of the president, Dilma Rousseff...
California's New 'Dust Bowl': "It's Gonna Be a Slow, Painful, Agonizing Death" For Farmers zero hedge ...For the state that produces one-third of the nation's fruits and vegetables, the driest spell in 500 years has prompted President Obama to make $100 million in livestock-disaster aid available within 60 days to help the state rebound from what he describes is " going to be a very challenging situation this year... and potentially some time to come..."
Rising Inequality – Recovery Occurring Almost Exclusively Among the Wealthy naked capitalism ...America’s income inequality has grown so wide that the current “recovery” is driven primarily by the upper fifth of income earners, as revealed by the latest consumer spending data. Right now, more than 60% of all consumer spending is done by just the top 20% of income earners...
AOL's CEO Proves Women and Children Make Easy Scapegoats in the Workplace Next New Deal ...AOL CEO Tim Armstrong recently ignited a firestorm of criticism when he announced the company would be restructuring its retirement benefits. Armstrong explained that the financial burden of Obamacare and the deliveries of two “distressed babies”, which cost the company $1 million each, had forced the company to reduce 401(k) matching contributions...
Trade
Spying by N.S.A. Ally Entangled U.S. Law Firm New York Times ...A top-secret document, obtained by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden, shows that an American law firm was monitored while representing a foreign government in trade disputes with the United States...
Momentum Builds to Stop Fast Track Trade Deals, Thanks to You Trade Reform ...Thanks to the efforts of tens of thousands of people—including people like you—more and more congressional leaders, including Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, are joining the chorus of voices standing up for us—America’s 99%—and saying that Fast Track is wrong...
The War on Workers
Foreclosure Filings Jump as Investors Eye Exits truthout ...The reason prices have been rising is because of the Fed’s loosy-goosey monetary policy (fake rates and QE), inventory suppression, bogus gov mortgage modification programs, and unprecedented speculation. (mainly Private Equity and investors groups) Those are the four legs of the stool propping up housing. Only now it looks like a couple of those legs are in the process of being sawed off which is going to put downward pressure on sales and prices...
Brazil's World Cup courts disaster as delays, protests and deaths mount The Guardian ...Another week, another storm of teargas and rubber bullets at a World Cup host city in Brazil. This time, the clashes were in the capital, Brasília, where 15,000 protesters from the Landless Workers Movement marched from the Mané Garrincha football stadium to the Palácio do Planalto state office of the president, Dilma Rousseff...
California's New 'Dust Bowl': "It's Gonna Be a Slow, Painful, Agonizing Death" For Farmers zero hedge ...For the state that produces one-third of the nation's fruits and vegetables, the driest spell in 500 years has prompted President Obama to make $100 million in livestock-disaster aid available within 60 days to help the state rebound from what he describes is " going to be a very challenging situation this year... and potentially some time to come..."
Rising Inequality – Recovery Occurring Almost Exclusively Among the Wealthy naked capitalism ...America’s income inequality has grown so wide that the current “recovery” is driven primarily by the upper fifth of income earners, as revealed by the latest consumer spending data. Right now, more than 60% of all consumer spending is done by just the top 20% of income earners...
AOL's CEO Proves Women and Children Make Easy Scapegoats in the Workplace Next New Deal ...AOL CEO Tim Armstrong recently ignited a firestorm of criticism when he announced the company would be restructuring its retirement benefits. Armstrong explained that the financial burden of Obamacare and the deliveries of two “distressed babies”, which cost the company $1 million each, had forced the company to reduce 401(k) matching contributions...
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)...
Monday, February 3, 2014
States spend more on corporate tax breaks than worker pensions
In 10 states, the revenue lost to corporations through loopholes and tax breaks is bigger the current cost of pension benefits to state employees, according to a new report by Good Jobs First.
Philip Mattera, research director of Good Jobs First, said politicians are balancing their budgets on the backs of public employees, though Wall Street caused their revenue shortfalls. And:
...our research shows that corporate interests are generally prioritized over teachers, firefighters, police officers, and thousands of other employees who dedicate their lives to public service.No shock there. What is shocking is the size of the corporate subsidies. In Pennsylvania, for example, corporate subsidies and loopholes cost $4 billion every year -- two-and-a-half times the cost of public pensions.
Said Mattera:
As a matter of honest accounting and fair budgeting, state leaders should examine all forms of spending before they single out pensions or any other expense,” said Mattera. “Corporate tax breaks and loopholes are often poorly understood and little-noticed because they do not get debated as appropriations, nor do they often get sunsetted or audited. But over time they add up to hundreds of millions, or even billions, of dollars per year.Good Jobs First studied 10 states where legislatures are
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Illinois
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Today's Teamster News 06.20.13
American middle-class prosperity is pure fantasy Salon ...New research reveals that the US ranks 27th in the world when it comes to middle-class wealth...
Wages in U.S. fall amid overseas pressure Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...Competition from China and other low-wage rivals, coupled with fallout from the 2007-09 financial crisis, has put American wages under such unprecedented strain that they have shifted into reverse -- not merely stagnating, but falling...
Brazil protesters win U-turn on fare rises The Guardian ...A quarter of a million people took to the streets in at least 12 cities on Monday to call for better public services, an end to corruption, punishment for police brutality, and less wasteful spending on the World Cup. Sporadic protests have continued since and spread to smaller cities...
U.S. piracy law opens new possibilities for exporters The Hindu ...The Unfair Competition Act (UCA), an anti-piracy law that was recently introduced in the United States, may provide Indian rubber exporters a chance to improve their presence in the fast growing U.S. rubber products market...
Port truckers unite Connect Savannah ...Oh, how we struggle with our love/hate relationship with cheap stuff. We knit our brows over children toiling away in faraway places like Saipan and China, but we can't help but help ourselves to six-dollar Old Navy t-shirts and 50 percent off tube socks at Sam's...
U.S. lawmakers urge careful review of American-US Airways deal Reuters ...Two U.S. lawmakers with antitrust oversight have urged the Obama administration to carefully review a planned merger of American Airlines and US Airways Group to ensure that it will not lead to higher prices for air travelers...
Moral Monday Protests Lead To 84 More Arrests In North Carolina: 'We Cannot Be Silenced' Huffington Post ...For the seventh week in a row, protesters crowded into the North Carolina General Assembly building on Monday in a boisterous demonstration against state GOP policies that ultimately led to 84 arrests...
Brewer signs controversial election bill into law Arizona Republic ...Her signature Wednesday on House Bill 2305 ushers in a wave of changes, from limits on who can return a voter’s ballot to the polls, to stricter controls on citizen initiatives, to tougher requirements for minor-party candidates to qualify for the Arizona ballot...
RI senate committee approves biweekly pay bill sought by business Providence Journal ...Over the objections of organized labor, a Senate committee has approved a bill that would relieve private-sector employers from having to pay their workers weekly...
Amazon dumps Minnesota affiliates to avoid collecting online state sales tax Pioneer Press ...In advance of having to collect online state sales tax, Amazon.com said that at the end of the month it will sever ties with its Minnesota-based affiliate websites that receive a fee for referring shoppers to the retail giant's online store…
Walker’s anti-union law heads for new test in court People’s World ...Here we go again in Wisconsin: Right-wing Gov. Scott Walker's anti-union law is headed for another test in the state's Supreme Court....
Hoffa: CEOs Want To Hide Riches Through Repeal Of Wage Gap Disclosure Requirement (opinion) Huffington Post ...The divide in pay between top executives and regular workers is out of control. A recent Bloomberg News calculation concluded that chief executives on average take home 204 times more than their rank-and-file employees...
First Student Drivers Join Local 174 IBT ....More than 370 First Student school bus drivers in Seattle have joined Teamsters Local 174 in Tukwila, Wash. The drivers, who work at four First Student yards, join the 17 school bus mechanics who are already members of Teamsters Local 174.
Teamster clerical workers at Washington Hospital get raises The Daily Review ...Clerical workers at Washington Hospital in Fremont, Calif., who are represented by Teamsters Local 856, will see their pay jump 5 percent under a deal approved by the board of directors...
UPS trucker wins Oklahoma driving championship The Oklahoman ...UPS driver Richie Guess, who has worked for UPS for 29 years, is one of nine truck drivers who will represent Oklahoma at the National Truck Driving Championships in August. Guess was named grand champion at this month's Oklahoma Truck Driving Championships...
Wages in U.S. fall amid overseas pressure Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...Competition from China and other low-wage rivals, coupled with fallout from the 2007-09 financial crisis, has put American wages under such unprecedented strain that they have shifted into reverse -- not merely stagnating, but falling...
Brazil protesters win U-turn on fare rises The Guardian ...A quarter of a million people took to the streets in at least 12 cities on Monday to call for better public services, an end to corruption, punishment for police brutality, and less wasteful spending on the World Cup. Sporadic protests have continued since and spread to smaller cities...
U.S. piracy law opens new possibilities for exporters The Hindu ...The Unfair Competition Act (UCA), an anti-piracy law that was recently introduced in the United States, may provide Indian rubber exporters a chance to improve their presence in the fast growing U.S. rubber products market...
Port truckers unite Connect Savannah ...Oh, how we struggle with our love/hate relationship with cheap stuff. We knit our brows over children toiling away in faraway places like Saipan and China, but we can't help but help ourselves to six-dollar Old Navy t-shirts and 50 percent off tube socks at Sam's...
U.S. lawmakers urge careful review of American-US Airways deal Reuters ...Two U.S. lawmakers with antitrust oversight have urged the Obama administration to carefully review a planned merger of American Airlines and US Airways Group to ensure that it will not lead to higher prices for air travelers...
Moral Monday Protests Lead To 84 More Arrests In North Carolina: 'We Cannot Be Silenced' Huffington Post ...For the seventh week in a row, protesters crowded into the North Carolina General Assembly building on Monday in a boisterous demonstration against state GOP policies that ultimately led to 84 arrests...
Brewer signs controversial election bill into law Arizona Republic ...Her signature Wednesday on House Bill 2305 ushers in a wave of changes, from limits on who can return a voter’s ballot to the polls, to stricter controls on citizen initiatives, to tougher requirements for minor-party candidates to qualify for the Arizona ballot...
RI senate committee approves biweekly pay bill sought by business Providence Journal ...Over the objections of organized labor, a Senate committee has approved a bill that would relieve private-sector employers from having to pay their workers weekly...
Amazon dumps Minnesota affiliates to avoid collecting online state sales tax Pioneer Press ...In advance of having to collect online state sales tax, Amazon.com said that at the end of the month it will sever ties with its Minnesota-based affiliate websites that receive a fee for referring shoppers to the retail giant's online store…
Walker’s anti-union law heads for new test in court People’s World ...Here we go again in Wisconsin: Right-wing Gov. Scott Walker's anti-union law is headed for another test in the state's Supreme Court....
Hoffa: CEOs Want To Hide Riches Through Repeal Of Wage Gap Disclosure Requirement (opinion) Huffington Post ...The divide in pay between top executives and regular workers is out of control. A recent Bloomberg News calculation concluded that chief executives on average take home 204 times more than their rank-and-file employees...
First Student Drivers Join Local 174 IBT ....More than 370 First Student school bus drivers in Seattle have joined Teamsters Local 174 in Tukwila, Wash. The drivers, who work at four First Student yards, join the 17 school bus mechanics who are already members of Teamsters Local 174.
Teamster clerical workers at Washington Hospital get raises The Daily Review ...Clerical workers at Washington Hospital in Fremont, Calif., who are represented by Teamsters Local 856, will see their pay jump 5 percent under a deal approved by the board of directors...
UPS trucker wins Oklahoma driving championship The Oklahoman ...UPS driver Richie Guess, who has worked for UPS for 29 years, is one of nine truck drivers who will represent Oklahoma at the National Truck Driving Championships in August. Guess was named grand champion at this month's Oklahoma Truck Driving Championships...
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Today's Teamster News 04.21.13
Conservative Koch Brothers Turning Focus to Newspapers New York Times ...Koch Industries, the sprawling private company of which Charles G. Koch serves as chairman and chief executive, is exploring a bid to buy the Tribune Company’s eight regional newspapers, including The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, The Orlando Sentinel and The Hartford Courant...
Obama's Pacific Trade Deal Is No Deal At All (opinion) U.S. News ...Question: When is a Trade Pact not a Trade Pact? Answer: When it protects legacy industries from competition and strips from governments the means to manage their own economies...
Maine trucking companies in quandary over new hours-of-service rules Bangor Daily News ...Legal challenges over federal regulations governing hours-of-service for long-haul truck drivers have put Maine trucking companies in a bind: Do they wait for a favorable court ruling on their national trade group’s challenge of those rules before the July 1 compliance date? Or, do they take on training and implementation costs that could be negated if the regulations are overturned?...
Arizona set to OK gold, silver currency The Arizona Republic ...Arizona is on track to become the second state in the nation to recognize gold and silver coins as legal tender. It would join Utah as part of a conservative movement arising out of a lack of confidence in the Federal Reserve and a fear that paper money could become virtually worthless as U.S. debt deflates the value of the dollar...
Jack McElroy: Bill sneers at the First Amendment (opinion) KnoxNews.com ...Ag Gag bills are being promoted all across the country by the American Legislative Exchange Council, which pushes corporation-friendly legislation at the state level...
Plain Talk: How to help real farmers, not JP Morgan The Cap Times ...other provisions that worry Farmers Union members. The lifting of the cap on land ownership by foreigners, for instance. Current law limits ownership by foreigners to 640 acres. Von Ruden fears that if outside interests can gobble up land, it will drive land prices so high that family farmers won’t be able to buy a neighbor’s farm should it come up for sale...
Court turns down lawsuits against Mexican trucks Associated Press ...The three-judge panel Friday denied challenges by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association...
Teamsters approves new contract Hernando Today ...Teamsters Local 79 members Thursday night ratified a new contract which now goes to county commissioners for approval...
Obama's Pacific Trade Deal Is No Deal At All (opinion) U.S. News ...Question: When is a Trade Pact not a Trade Pact? Answer: When it protects legacy industries from competition and strips from governments the means to manage their own economies...
Maine trucking companies in quandary over new hours-of-service rules Bangor Daily News ...Legal challenges over federal regulations governing hours-of-service for long-haul truck drivers have put Maine trucking companies in a bind: Do they wait for a favorable court ruling on their national trade group’s challenge of those rules before the July 1 compliance date? Or, do they take on training and implementation costs that could be negated if the regulations are overturned?...
Arizona set to OK gold, silver currency The Arizona Republic ...Arizona is on track to become the second state in the nation to recognize gold and silver coins as legal tender. It would join Utah as part of a conservative movement arising out of a lack of confidence in the Federal Reserve and a fear that paper money could become virtually worthless as U.S. debt deflates the value of the dollar...
Jack McElroy: Bill sneers at the First Amendment (opinion) KnoxNews.com ...Ag Gag bills are being promoted all across the country by the American Legislative Exchange Council, which pushes corporation-friendly legislation at the state level...
Plain Talk: How to help real farmers, not JP Morgan The Cap Times ...other provisions that worry Farmers Union members. The lifting of the cap on land ownership by foreigners, for instance. Current law limits ownership by foreigners to 640 acres. Von Ruden fears that if outside interests can gobble up land, it will drive land prices so high that family farmers won’t be able to buy a neighbor’s farm should it come up for sale...
Court turns down lawsuits against Mexican trucks Associated Press ...The three-judge panel Friday denied challenges by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association...
Teamsters approves new contract Hernando Today ...Teamsters Local 79 members Thursday night ratified a new contract which now goes to county commissioners for approval...
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Woot! Paycheck deception, picket restrictions ruled unconstitutional in Ariz.
Call it ALEC overreach.
A federal judge ruled earlier this week that two anti-worker laws in Arizona are unconstitutional. One restricts picketing, which the judge ruled infringes on the right of free speech. The other forbids some employers from honoring employees' requests to have their union dues deducted from their paychecks (also known as paycheck deception). That violates the right to equal protection under the law, the judge found.
Both of these laws are linked to ALEC, the escort service for corporations and state lawmakers that's supported by the
Efforts to roll back ALEC-inspired anti-worker bills are succeeding in other states for the same reasons cited by the judge in Arizona. Wisconsin
KFYI News tells us more about the Arizona cases:
Senate Bill 1365 required employee consent before their employer could deduct money from their paychecks for "political purposes" including lobbying. Judge Murray Snow found the law was unconstitutional because it exempted public safety unions, which the bill's sponsor, former Republican Sen. Frank Antenori, said he had done because public safety unions told him they operate differently from most other unions.
SB 1365 never took effect because it was put on hold due to the lawsuit against it. The other measure, SB 1363, limited picketing by striking workers. Judge Snow ruled that the law limited free speech.According to a Pennsylvania brother, these Koch-sponsored anti-worker laws aren't just unconstitutional. They're sinful and evil.
We're inclined to agree.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Today's Teamster News 03.14.13
Out of Control – New Report Exposes JPMorgan Chase as Mostly a Criminal Enterprise naked capitalism ...as you read the report, it’s hard to see the bank as anything but a criminal racket just days away from imploding, were it not propped up by implicit bailout guarantees and light-touch regulators...
Oil Riding Rails Creates Jobs as Buffett Puffs Chest: Freight Bloomberg News ...They’re boosting employment in the process: Rail transportation payrolls have climbed by 9.1 percent, a pace more than twice as fast as total job growth, since the end of 2009...
Sales at U.S. Retailers Advance by Most in Five Months Bloomberg News ...Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) and Ford Motor Co. are benefiting as employment gains bolster confidence and enable Americans to withstand the payroll tax increase that took effect in January...
Europeans want U.S. to Ditch “Buy American” Rules Trade Reform ...Obama keeps pushing a Trans Atlantic trade deal with Europe, despite the fact that other trade deals have helped make the trade deficit worse. One of the goals for Europeans is to get rid of Buy American rules in the U.S...
Majority of British children will soon be growing up in families struggling 'below the breadline' The Independent ...The impact on children of the economic downturn and austerity measures was underlined by an analysis that concluded that the number of under-18s living in households below minimum income standards would increase by 690,000 between 2010 and 2015...
Getting rich off of schoolchildren Salon ...Stop pretending wealthy CEOs pushing for charter schools are altruistic "reformers." They're raking in billions...
Measure May Undermine Union Politics Arizona Public Radio ...Voters may get a chance next year to decide on a measure that would undermine union political influence...
What tax changes mean for Michigan's working class Michigan Public Radio ...many poor, working-class families saw an increase in their taxes in addition to tax increases they felt from other legislative changes...
Editorial: Missouri Senate blames unions for economic woes. Oh, please. St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...Early Tuesday morning, while some of those workers were helping roll over your grandma or grandpa at the nursing home so they didn’t get bed sores, the Republicans who lead the state Senate set things right. They gave initial approval to a bill that will make it a little harder for the unions that represent those public employees to collect fees that might be used to elect thoughtful people to elected office...
Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll resigns amid state, federal probe of non-profit veterans group Miami Herald ...Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll abruptly resigned Tuesday after law enforcement officials questioned her about ties to a purported veterans charity organization at the center of a $300 million multi-state racketeering investigation...
Report: Some Pa. lawmakers received $117K in gifts; legislators deny freebies influenced votes The Republic ...Some Pennsylvania lawmakers took free trips to Ireland, Poland, Taiwan and Turkey. Others accepted tickets to Steelers, Penn State, Pitt and 76ers games, according to financial disclosure statements filed with the State Ethics Commission...
Governor trying to reduce pensions for state workers/teachers WHTM ..."Our (Pennsylvania) members did pay for a lot of years and they continued to pay," said Wendell Young, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers union. "They earned those benefits and they played by the rules. Now this governor comes along and kind of forgets that the state got a pass."...
Scott Walker signs bills on worker training, secretary of state powers Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...La Follette sharply criticized the measure, which is the latest in a long line of steps to strip the secretary of state's office of most of its meaningful powers...
Hoffa, Floyd Demand Mayor Bloomberg Negotiate Settlement Of Equal Pay Class Action Suit By School Safety Agents IBT ...More than 5,000 current and former school safety agents—70 percent of whom are women—have joined the gender-based wage discrimination suit, which seeks to remedy the fact that other peace-officer titles, which are 70 percent male, receive $7,000 more in annual pay...
Judge orders Pratt to rehire truck drivers McClatchy-Tribune ...The ruling could also result in the truck drivers getting union representation. The company in April terminated Lower Nazareth resident Christian Salazar, who was speaking with other truck drivers about organizing a union with the Teamsters. Shortly afterward, the company laid off 11 additional truck drivers...
Teamsters to rally Youngstown Vindicator ...Teamsters Local 377 will have a rally and leafleting event today at the headquarters of Exal Corp. at One Performance Place to stir up support and inform employees of its efforts to unionize 364 workers at the aluminum-can-making company...
Oil Riding Rails Creates Jobs as Buffett Puffs Chest: Freight Bloomberg News ...They’re boosting employment in the process: Rail transportation payrolls have climbed by 9.1 percent, a pace more than twice as fast as total job growth, since the end of 2009...
Sales at U.S. Retailers Advance by Most in Five Months Bloomberg News ...Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) and Ford Motor Co. are benefiting as employment gains bolster confidence and enable Americans to withstand the payroll tax increase that took effect in January...
Europeans want U.S. to Ditch “Buy American” Rules Trade Reform ...Obama keeps pushing a Trans Atlantic trade deal with Europe, despite the fact that other trade deals have helped make the trade deficit worse. One of the goals for Europeans is to get rid of Buy American rules in the U.S...
Majority of British children will soon be growing up in families struggling 'below the breadline' The Independent ...The impact on children of the economic downturn and austerity measures was underlined by an analysis that concluded that the number of under-18s living in households below minimum income standards would increase by 690,000 between 2010 and 2015...
Getting rich off of schoolchildren Salon ...Stop pretending wealthy CEOs pushing for charter schools are altruistic "reformers." They're raking in billions...
Measure May Undermine Union Politics Arizona Public Radio ...Voters may get a chance next year to decide on a measure that would undermine union political influence...
What tax changes mean for Michigan's working class Michigan Public Radio ...many poor, working-class families saw an increase in their taxes in addition to tax increases they felt from other legislative changes...
Editorial: Missouri Senate blames unions for economic woes. Oh, please. St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...Early Tuesday morning, while some of those workers were helping roll over your grandma or grandpa at the nursing home so they didn’t get bed sores, the Republicans who lead the state Senate set things right. They gave initial approval to a bill that will make it a little harder for the unions that represent those public employees to collect fees that might be used to elect thoughtful people to elected office...
Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll resigns amid state, federal probe of non-profit veterans group Miami Herald ...Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll abruptly resigned Tuesday after law enforcement officials questioned her about ties to a purported veterans charity organization at the center of a $300 million multi-state racketeering investigation...
Report: Some Pa. lawmakers received $117K in gifts; legislators deny freebies influenced votes The Republic ...Some Pennsylvania lawmakers took free trips to Ireland, Poland, Taiwan and Turkey. Others accepted tickets to Steelers, Penn State, Pitt and 76ers games, according to financial disclosure statements filed with the State Ethics Commission...
Governor trying to reduce pensions for state workers/teachers WHTM ..."Our (Pennsylvania) members did pay for a lot of years and they continued to pay," said Wendell Young, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers union. "They earned those benefits and they played by the rules. Now this governor comes along and kind of forgets that the state got a pass."...
Scott Walker signs bills on worker training, secretary of state powers Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...La Follette sharply criticized the measure, which is the latest in a long line of steps to strip the secretary of state's office of most of its meaningful powers...
Hoffa, Floyd Demand Mayor Bloomberg Negotiate Settlement Of Equal Pay Class Action Suit By School Safety Agents IBT ...More than 5,000 current and former school safety agents—70 percent of whom are women—have joined the gender-based wage discrimination suit, which seeks to remedy the fact that other peace-officer titles, which are 70 percent male, receive $7,000 more in annual pay...
Judge orders Pratt to rehire truck drivers McClatchy-Tribune ...The ruling could also result in the truck drivers getting union representation. The company in April terminated Lower Nazareth resident Christian Salazar, who was speaking with other truck drivers about organizing a union with the Teamsters. Shortly afterward, the company laid off 11 additional truck drivers...
Teamsters to rally Youngstown Vindicator ...Teamsters Local 377 will have a rally and leafleting event today at the headquarters of Exal Corp. at One Performance Place to stir up support and inform employees of its efforts to unionize 364 workers at the aluminum-can-making company...
Friday, March 8, 2013
Today's Teamster News 03.08.13
Senators blast financial regulators over 'prosecution-free zone for large banks' The Hill ..."If you're caught with an ounce of cocaine, the chances are good you're going to jail," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) at the Banking Committee hearing. "Evidently, if you launder nearly $1 billion for drug cartels and violate our international sanctions, your company pays a fine and you go home and sleep in your own bed at night."...
Study Demolishes the Myth That U.S. Workers Lack Skills In These Times ... “The problem isn’t a malfunctioning ‘talent pipeline.' The problem is a sputtering job-creation machine, in both the quantity and quality of jobs created.”...
The children going hungry in America BBC ...Child poverty in the US has reached record levels, with almost 17 million children now affected. A growing number are also going hungry on a daily basis...
Yes, America’s trade deficit with China just rose AGAIN. manufacture this ...the U.S. trade deficit with China jumped 14% from the previous month: ...While not a record, it is 6% larger than last year's historically high average...
Costco CEO: Raise The Minimum Wage To More Than $10 Per Hour Huffington Post ...paying employees good wages makes good sense for business," Jelinek said in a statement. "We pay a starting hourly wage of $11.50 in all states where we do business, and we are still able to keep our overhead costs low."...
Europe's recession deepens - ECB CNN Money ...The European Central Bank downgraded its forecast for the eurozone economy Thursday but decided against cutting interest rates to a new record low despite tame inflation, record unemployment and political instability in Italy...
Koch Brothers Organize to Stop Medicaid Expansion in Arizona, Nationwide Blog for Arizona ...Americans for Prosperity-- the Koch Brothers' astroturf group-- is organizing the citizenry to fight against their own self interests to defeat Medicaid expansion...
No matter how you spin job numbers, Wisconsin near bottom compared to other states The Cap Times ...going back two years, Wisconsin is No. 50 in percentage change, with an actual decline of 15,900 jobs since January 2011...
Kasich, Yost in showdown over JobsOhio Columbus Dispatch ...State Auditor Dave Yost issued a subpoena for the financial records of JobsOhio yesterday after Gov. John Kasich’s privatized economic-development agency failed to turn them over...
Snyder's numbers still down in the dumps Public Policy Polling ...Rick Snyder's numbers are not recovering yet following the plunge they took in December after he signed the right to work law. Only 37% of voters in the state approve of the job he's doing to 54% who disapprove...
Council votes to appeal Snyder's plan for emergency manager Detroit Free Press ...The resolution passed by council this afternoon says the city does indeed have a plan to fix the financial problems that have plagued the city for years...
Mark Dayton envisions minimum wage between $9 and $9.50 Associated Press ...As Minnesota legislators debate raising the state's minimum wage, Gov. Mark Dayton says he'd be comfortable with hiking the rate to $9 or $9.50 per hour...
Plan for LCB privatization is formally introduced Philly.com ...The plan faces a tough fight in the legislature, which for years has been loath to make even minor changes to the state-run liquor model that has been in place since Prohibition ended...
Teachers’ unions fighting restrictions on contract talks in Kansas Kansas City Star ...“We are seeing a lot of things that appear to be a direct attack on teachers...”
Flight Attendants Union Coalition Launches Nationwide Opposition to Knives in Cabin AFA ...The Flight Attendants Union Coalition, representing nearly 90,000 Flight Attendants at carriers across the county, is coordinating a nationwide legislative and public campaign to reverse yesterday's announcement from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that effective April 25, knives would be allowed in the aircraft cabin for the first time since 9/11...
Study Demolishes the Myth That U.S. Workers Lack Skills In These Times ... “The problem isn’t a malfunctioning ‘talent pipeline.' The problem is a sputtering job-creation machine, in both the quantity and quality of jobs created.”...
The children going hungry in America BBC ...Child poverty in the US has reached record levels, with almost 17 million children now affected. A growing number are also going hungry on a daily basis...
Yes, America’s trade deficit with China just rose AGAIN. manufacture this ...the U.S. trade deficit with China jumped 14% from the previous month: ...While not a record, it is 6% larger than last year's historically high average...
Costco CEO: Raise The Minimum Wage To More Than $10 Per Hour Huffington Post ...paying employees good wages makes good sense for business," Jelinek said in a statement. "We pay a starting hourly wage of $11.50 in all states where we do business, and we are still able to keep our overhead costs low."...
Europe's recession deepens - ECB CNN Money ...The European Central Bank downgraded its forecast for the eurozone economy Thursday but decided against cutting interest rates to a new record low despite tame inflation, record unemployment and political instability in Italy...
Koch Brothers Organize to Stop Medicaid Expansion in Arizona, Nationwide Blog for Arizona ...Americans for Prosperity-- the Koch Brothers' astroturf group-- is organizing the citizenry to fight against their own self interests to defeat Medicaid expansion...
No matter how you spin job numbers, Wisconsin near bottom compared to other states The Cap Times ...going back two years, Wisconsin is No. 50 in percentage change, with an actual decline of 15,900 jobs since January 2011...
Kasich, Yost in showdown over JobsOhio Columbus Dispatch ...State Auditor Dave Yost issued a subpoena for the financial records of JobsOhio yesterday after Gov. John Kasich’s privatized economic-development agency failed to turn them over...
Snyder's numbers still down in the dumps Public Policy Polling ...Rick Snyder's numbers are not recovering yet following the plunge they took in December after he signed the right to work law. Only 37% of voters in the state approve of the job he's doing to 54% who disapprove...
Council votes to appeal Snyder's plan for emergency manager Detroit Free Press ...The resolution passed by council this afternoon says the city does indeed have a plan to fix the financial problems that have plagued the city for years...
Mark Dayton envisions minimum wage between $9 and $9.50 Associated Press ...As Minnesota legislators debate raising the state's minimum wage, Gov. Mark Dayton says he'd be comfortable with hiking the rate to $9 or $9.50 per hour...
Plan for LCB privatization is formally introduced Philly.com ...The plan faces a tough fight in the legislature, which for years has been loath to make even minor changes to the state-run liquor model that has been in place since Prohibition ended...
Teachers’ unions fighting restrictions on contract talks in Kansas Kansas City Star ...“We are seeing a lot of things that appear to be a direct attack on teachers...”
Flight Attendants Union Coalition Launches Nationwide Opposition to Knives in Cabin AFA ...The Flight Attendants Union Coalition, representing nearly 90,000 Flight Attendants at carriers across the county, is coordinating a nationwide legislative and public campaign to reverse yesterday's announcement from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that effective April 25, knives would be allowed in the aircraft cabin for the first time since 9/11...
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Today's Teamster News 03.05.13
Vulnerable U.S. Dairy Industry Could Be Harmed By TPP Trade Deal IBT ...Congress should not approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal without carefully considering the impact on vulnerable U.S. dairy farms and workers. ... the Teamsters would not support any trade deal that provides lesser protections to workers than to corporations...
Regulators Crack Down on Classifying Workers as Contractors Wall Street Journal ...State and federal regulators have cracked down on companies in recent months by filing lawsuits against companies that classify workers as independent contractors...Targeted companies span the labor spectrum from construction and package delivery to trucking and exotic dance...
Obama taps Walmart Foundation head as budget chief NBC Politics ...President Barack Obama will nominate Walmart Foundation Sylvia Mathews Burwell to direct the Office of Management and Budget ... one of the most important jobs in the administration...
Banks Find More Wrongful Foreclosures Among Military Members New York Times ...The nation’s biggest banks wrongfully foreclosed on more than 700 military members during the housing crisis and seized homes from roughly two dozen other borrowers who were current on their mortgage payments...
Despite Colombia's measures, labor union officials' lives at risk Los Angeles Times ...Last year, about 20 union leaders were killed in Colombia, with few if any of the slayings resulting in arrests. In addition, 90 labor leaders were kidnapped and 431 labor leaders were threatened, according to CUT, the nation's labor umbrella organization...
Union contracts could be in crosshairs as Gov. Snyder intervenes in Detroit Fox News ...Michigan lawmakers tired of failed efforts to save Detroit from its long, slow decline are poised to appoint an emergency manager who will assume control of virtually all aspects of city government. And union contracts could be in the crosshairs...
GOP may punish Mich. schools that sign long labor contracts before right-to-work deadline The Republic ...Michigan public universities and K-12 districts that consider signing unusually long new contracts before the contentious right-to-work law goes into effect March 28 may have to think twice. Some Republican lawmakers with the power of the purse are threatening to limit their state aid and call them into the Capitol for an explanation...
Mo. Senate stalled on 'paycheck protection' bill Associated Press ...An effort to ban public employee unions from automatically deducting dues from a member's paycheck has been gaining momentum across the country, but Missouri Democrats were able to stall it — at least for now...
Critics assail reform plans for Arizona elections Arizona Republic ...One bill would pare down early-voting lists; another would make it more difficult to deliver other people’s ballots to polling places; and other bills would make it more difficult to place citizen initiatives on the ballot...
Walker Walks Away from "John Doe" Investigation, Pushes Budget Deal Only ALEC Could Love Center for Media and Democracy ...There is no doubt that Walker emerges from the scandal in a stronger position to advance his extreme legislative agenda and his plans for higher office...
Regulators Crack Down on Classifying Workers as Contractors Wall Street Journal ...State and federal regulators have cracked down on companies in recent months by filing lawsuits against companies that classify workers as independent contractors...Targeted companies span the labor spectrum from construction and package delivery to trucking and exotic dance...
Obama taps Walmart Foundation head as budget chief NBC Politics ...President Barack Obama will nominate Walmart Foundation Sylvia Mathews Burwell to direct the Office of Management and Budget ... one of the most important jobs in the administration...
Banks Find More Wrongful Foreclosures Among Military Members New York Times ...The nation’s biggest banks wrongfully foreclosed on more than 700 military members during the housing crisis and seized homes from roughly two dozen other borrowers who were current on their mortgage payments...
Despite Colombia's measures, labor union officials' lives at risk Los Angeles Times ...Last year, about 20 union leaders were killed in Colombia, with few if any of the slayings resulting in arrests. In addition, 90 labor leaders were kidnapped and 431 labor leaders were threatened, according to CUT, the nation's labor umbrella organization...
Union contracts could be in crosshairs as Gov. Snyder intervenes in Detroit Fox News ...Michigan lawmakers tired of failed efforts to save Detroit from its long, slow decline are poised to appoint an emergency manager who will assume control of virtually all aspects of city government. And union contracts could be in the crosshairs...
GOP may punish Mich. schools that sign long labor contracts before right-to-work deadline The Republic ...Michigan public universities and K-12 districts that consider signing unusually long new contracts before the contentious right-to-work law goes into effect March 28 may have to think twice. Some Republican lawmakers with the power of the purse are threatening to limit their state aid and call them into the Capitol for an explanation...
Mo. Senate stalled on 'paycheck protection' bill Associated Press ...An effort to ban public employee unions from automatically deducting dues from a member's paycheck has been gaining momentum across the country, but Missouri Democrats were able to stall it — at least for now...
Critics assail reform plans for Arizona elections Arizona Republic ...One bill would pare down early-voting lists; another would make it more difficult to deliver other people’s ballots to polling places; and other bills would make it more difficult to place citizen initiatives on the ballot...
Walker Walks Away from "John Doe" Investigation, Pushes Budget Deal Only ALEC Could Love Center for Media and Democracy ...There is no doubt that Walker emerges from the scandal in a stronger position to advance his extreme legislative agenda and his plans for higher office...
ABF Freight, Teamsters talks look to get in gear Kansas City Business Journal ...In the latest round of talks, which concluded last week, the two sides moved closer to an agreement, a Friday release from the Teamsters said. The statement said that ABF has withdrawn its initial proposal and now is negotiating based on the existing labor agreement...
CitationAir Forces Pilots to Work a Month for Free IBT ...CitationAir, the Greenwich, Conn.-based provider of luxury business jet and charter aircraft services, radically altered the work schedules of the company's nearly 230 pilots...Management's new schedule pattern now requires pilots to be available for duty eight consecutive workdays during each two-week period for an increase of 26 more workdays per year...
Teamsters issue strike notice to sanitary district Northwest Indiana Times ...The district announced in a news release Monday that the Teamsters Local 705 bargaining unit has submitted a notice that it intends to strike as soon as Wednesday...The district and union have been negotiating a four-year contract for the past 2-1/2 years...
CitationAir Forces Pilots to Work a Month for Free IBT ...CitationAir, the Greenwich, Conn.-based provider of luxury business jet and charter aircraft services, radically altered the work schedules of the company's nearly 230 pilots...Management's new schedule pattern now requires pilots to be available for duty eight consecutive workdays during each two-week period for an increase of 26 more workdays per year...
Teamsters issue strike notice to sanitary district Northwest Indiana Times ...The district announced in a news release Monday that the Teamsters Local 705 bargaining unit has submitted a notice that it intends to strike as soon as Wednesday...The district and union have been negotiating a four-year contract for the past 2-1/2 years...
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Today's Teamster News 02.21.13
U.S. Banks Bigger Than GDP as Accounting Rift Masks Risk Bloomberg News ...Applying stricter accounting standards for derivatives and off-balance-sheet assets would make the banks twice as big as they say they are -- or about the size of the U.S. economy...
JPMorgan Leads U.S. Banks Lending Least Deposits in 5 Years Bloomberg News ...The biggest U.S. banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. are lending the smallest portion of their deposits in five years as cash floods in from savers and a slow economy damps demand from borrowers...
The European debt crisis claims a new victim: Bulgaria Marketplace ...The government of Bulgaria has quit after nationwide protests against austerity measures...
Watchdog Group Sues IRS Over Dark Money Rules Talking Points Memo ...Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) ... sue(d) the IRS, accusing the agency of creating a loophole that has allowed groups like the American Action Network to flourish...
U.S. Ups Ante for Spying on Firms Wall Street Journal ...The White House threatened China and other countries with trade and diplomatic action over corporate espionage as it cataloged more than a dozen cases of cyberattacks and commercial thefts at some of the U.S.'s biggest companies...
Michigan Weighs Detroit Takeover Wall Street Journal ...This city inched closer to a state takeover on Tuesday after a review team appointed by Michigan's governor concluded Detroit was in a state of financial emergency with no realistic plan to resolve the crisis...
Risky business tax breaks cost Maine $100 million per year Portland Press Herald ...Reducing or eliminating what critics call corporate welfare has proved difficult because of the political clout of businesses, experts say...
Right-to-work law doesn't apply to us, state employees unions say in lawsuit Detroit Free Press ...Several state employee unions are asking the Michigan Court of Appeals to formally declare that new right-to-work laws do not apply to labor agreements that affect the 34,500 unionized state workers...
Dayton signs bill ratifying state employee contracts Minnesota Public Radio ...The contracts give a two percent across-the-board pay increase to 35,000 state workers...
Beer distributors oppose privatization TribLive.com ...A new proposal by Gov. Tom Corbett's administration to privatize wine and liquor sales and expand where beer is sold could pose the greatest threat to businesses like (Cox Distributors) since the 1930s...
Teachers, unions cry foul over legislators' surprise move to prevent dues collections Evansville Courier & Press ...A House panel advanced a measure Tuesday that would bar schools from deducting union fees from teachers’ paychecks — a move backed by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce...
Rick Scott's first job creator, Vision Airlines, charged with grand theft Miami Herald ...The airline abandoned its flights to Fort Walton Beach in less than two years. It also, local officials say, abandoned its contractual obligations to the area. In December, county commissioners sued the company for nearly $150,000 in unpaid airline fees...
Prison Unions Skeptical as Bipartisan 'Smart Justice Bill' Filed in Legislature Sunshine State News ...As many as 1,200 prisoners could get a new lease on life if two of the Florida Legislature's leading figures on criminal justice issues have their way; one of the state's largest unions is supporting the gist of the reform package, but taking strong issue with its prison privatization component...
Anti-union bills held back in Arizona Legislature Phoenix Business Journal ...Two anti-union bills in the Arizona Legislature are being held back after drawing concerns from police and firefighter groups...
Senior Flexonics Workers Overwhelmingly Join Teamsters Local 330 Teamsters Joint Council 25 ...By a 3-to-1 margin, approximately 350 automotive, energy, medical and aerospace supply manufacturers in suburban Chicago voted to join Teamsters Local 330 on Feb. 15...
Teamsters Local 237 Backs Incumbent Brooklyn District Attorney Joe Hynes New York Daily News ... The Teamsters' biggest local is backing Brooklyn DA Joe Hynes for election to a seventh term...
JPMorgan Leads U.S. Banks Lending Least Deposits in 5 Years Bloomberg News ...The biggest U.S. banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. are lending the smallest portion of their deposits in five years as cash floods in from savers and a slow economy damps demand from borrowers...
The European debt crisis claims a new victim: Bulgaria Marketplace ...The government of Bulgaria has quit after nationwide protests against austerity measures...
Watchdog Group Sues IRS Over Dark Money Rules Talking Points Memo ...Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) ... sue(d) the IRS, accusing the agency of creating a loophole that has allowed groups like the American Action Network to flourish...
U.S. Ups Ante for Spying on Firms Wall Street Journal ...The White House threatened China and other countries with trade and diplomatic action over corporate espionage as it cataloged more than a dozen cases of cyberattacks and commercial thefts at some of the U.S.'s biggest companies...
Michigan Weighs Detroit Takeover Wall Street Journal ...This city inched closer to a state takeover on Tuesday after a review team appointed by Michigan's governor concluded Detroit was in a state of financial emergency with no realistic plan to resolve the crisis...
Risky business tax breaks cost Maine $100 million per year Portland Press Herald ...Reducing or eliminating what critics call corporate welfare has proved difficult because of the political clout of businesses, experts say...
Right-to-work law doesn't apply to us, state employees unions say in lawsuit Detroit Free Press ...Several state employee unions are asking the Michigan Court of Appeals to formally declare that new right-to-work laws do not apply to labor agreements that affect the 34,500 unionized state workers...
Dayton signs bill ratifying state employee contracts Minnesota Public Radio ...The contracts give a two percent across-the-board pay increase to 35,000 state workers...
Beer distributors oppose privatization TribLive.com ...A new proposal by Gov. Tom Corbett's administration to privatize wine and liquor sales and expand where beer is sold could pose the greatest threat to businesses like (Cox Distributors) since the 1930s...
Teachers, unions cry foul over legislators' surprise move to prevent dues collections Evansville Courier & Press ...A House panel advanced a measure Tuesday that would bar schools from deducting union fees from teachers’ paychecks — a move backed by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce...
Rick Scott's first job creator, Vision Airlines, charged with grand theft Miami Herald ...The airline abandoned its flights to Fort Walton Beach in less than two years. It also, local officials say, abandoned its contractual obligations to the area. In December, county commissioners sued the company for nearly $150,000 in unpaid airline fees...
Prison Unions Skeptical as Bipartisan 'Smart Justice Bill' Filed in Legislature Sunshine State News ...As many as 1,200 prisoners could get a new lease on life if two of the Florida Legislature's leading figures on criminal justice issues have their way; one of the state's largest unions is supporting the gist of the reform package, but taking strong issue with its prison privatization component...
Anti-union bills held back in Arizona Legislature Phoenix Business Journal ...Two anti-union bills in the Arizona Legislature are being held back after drawing concerns from police and firefighter groups...
Senior Flexonics Workers Overwhelmingly Join Teamsters Local 330 Teamsters Joint Council 25 ...By a 3-to-1 margin, approximately 350 automotive, energy, medical and aerospace supply manufacturers in suburban Chicago voted to join Teamsters Local 330 on Feb. 15...
Teamsters Local 237 Backs Incumbent Brooklyn District Attorney Joe Hynes New York Daily News ... The Teamsters' biggest local is backing Brooklyn DA Joe Hynes for election to a seventh term...
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Today's Teamster News 02.19.13
Job-Killing Trade Deficits Soar under "Free Trade" Agreements Public Citizen ... the newly-released government trade data for 2012 shows that job-eroding U.S. trade deficits have ballooned with "free trade" agreement (FTA) partners while declining with the rest of the world...
Mississippi Officially Ratifies the 13th Amendment and Outlaws Slavery Deep South Progressive ...Mississippi had in fact voted to ratify the amendment in a more timely fashion – only 130 years late in 1995 – but because of an "oversight" in which the state never officially notified the US Archivist, it wasn't official. That glaring "oversight" has been corrected...
Incoming SEC head faces early test Financial Times ...A proposal to force public companies for the first time to disclose all their political activity to investors is emerging as an early litmus test for Mary Jo White...
Now A Vast Political Espionage Scandal To Top Off The Sordid Corruption Scandal In Spain Testosterone Pit ...Spain just can’t catch a break—a horrid economy with dizzying unemployment, collapsing banks, a prime minister and ruling party tarred by corruption.... Now a political espionage scandal blew up, scattering debris and money laundering allegations far and wide...
Rally held in Joplin against right-to-work push Joplin Globe ...Jim Kabell, a representative of Teamsters Local 245 in Springfield, was one of the morning’s featured speakers. “This is long-term bad for Missouri workers,” Kabell said...
National conservative group's 'model legislation' ends up becoming law in Oklahoma The Oklahoman ...“Model legislation” developed by the American Legislative Exchange Council or shared through conferences the council has hosted, played a part in a 2006 “Stand Your Ground” law that allows Oklahomans to use deadly force when threatened in public places, a 2010 resolution that prohibits any law from compelling a person to purchase health care and a state question that same year that requires voters to show an identification card before receiving a ballot...
GOP Electoral Vote Scheme Still Alive And Kicking In Pennsylvania Talking Points Memo ...State Senate president Dominic Pileggi (R) is pushing a plan to change Pennsylvania’s current winner-take-all allocation of the state’s 20 electoral votes to a system that apportions them proportionally by each candidate’s share of the statewide vote...
NH Voter ID Law Under Attack Lawrence Eagle-Tribune ...A year after New Hampshire asked voters to present photo identifications at the polls, state lawmakers are considering repeal of the new Voter ID Law...
Winds of protest still blow around Wisconsin Capitol USA Today ...Anger over Gov. Scott Walker's union measures hasn't subsided two years later...
DeCesare pushes right-to-work bill The Daily News ...Proposed right-to-work and prevailing wage legislation was filed as a rallying point, not necessarily with the expectation it would immediately pass, a local (Kentucky) lawmaker says...
Right-to-work roils Dem leadership Crain's Detroit Business ...A rift among Michigan Democrats over the future leadership of the party has pitted longtime state party chairman Mark Brewer against challenger Lon Johnson, who has deep ties to Washington...
GOP wary of measures attacking unions Arizona Daily Sun ...House Speaker Andy Tobin is sidelining two anti-union measures rather than bringing them to the floor for a divisive -- and potentially losing -- vote...
American Airlines, US Airways Merger: Teamsters Look To Acquire AA Mechanic Representation At Tulsa Maintenance Base International Business Times ...The Teamsters Airline Division and the Teamsters Aviation Mechanics Coalition is looking to capitalize on the recently announced merger of American Airlines and U.S. Airways (NYSE: LCC)...
Mississippi Officially Ratifies the 13th Amendment and Outlaws Slavery Deep South Progressive ...Mississippi had in fact voted to ratify the amendment in a more timely fashion – only 130 years late in 1995 – but because of an "oversight" in which the state never officially notified the US Archivist, it wasn't official. That glaring "oversight" has been corrected...
Incoming SEC head faces early test Financial Times ...A proposal to force public companies for the first time to disclose all their political activity to investors is emerging as an early litmus test for Mary Jo White...
Now A Vast Political Espionage Scandal To Top Off The Sordid Corruption Scandal In Spain Testosterone Pit ...Spain just can’t catch a break—a horrid economy with dizzying unemployment, collapsing banks, a prime minister and ruling party tarred by corruption.... Now a political espionage scandal blew up, scattering debris and money laundering allegations far and wide...
Rally held in Joplin against right-to-work push Joplin Globe ...Jim Kabell, a representative of Teamsters Local 245 in Springfield, was one of the morning’s featured speakers. “This is long-term bad for Missouri workers,” Kabell said...
National conservative group's 'model legislation' ends up becoming law in Oklahoma The Oklahoman ...“Model legislation” developed by the American Legislative Exchange Council or shared through conferences the council has hosted, played a part in a 2006 “Stand Your Ground” law that allows Oklahomans to use deadly force when threatened in public places, a 2010 resolution that prohibits any law from compelling a person to purchase health care and a state question that same year that requires voters to show an identification card before receiving a ballot...
GOP Electoral Vote Scheme Still Alive And Kicking In Pennsylvania Talking Points Memo ...State Senate president Dominic Pileggi (R) is pushing a plan to change Pennsylvania’s current winner-take-all allocation of the state’s 20 electoral votes to a system that apportions them proportionally by each candidate’s share of the statewide vote...
NH Voter ID Law Under Attack Lawrence Eagle-Tribune ...A year after New Hampshire asked voters to present photo identifications at the polls, state lawmakers are considering repeal of the new Voter ID Law...
Winds of protest still blow around Wisconsin Capitol USA Today ...Anger over Gov. Scott Walker's union measures hasn't subsided two years later...
DeCesare pushes right-to-work bill The Daily News ...Proposed right-to-work and prevailing wage legislation was filed as a rallying point, not necessarily with the expectation it would immediately pass, a local (Kentucky) lawmaker says...
Right-to-work roils Dem leadership Crain's Detroit Business ...A rift among Michigan Democrats over the future leadership of the party has pitted longtime state party chairman Mark Brewer against challenger Lon Johnson, who has deep ties to Washington...
GOP wary of measures attacking unions Arizona Daily Sun ...House Speaker Andy Tobin is sidelining two anti-union measures rather than bringing them to the floor for a divisive -- and potentially losing -- vote...
American Airlines, US Airways Merger: Teamsters Look To Acquire AA Mechanic Representation At Tulsa Maintenance Base International Business Times ...The Teamsters Airline Division and the Teamsters Aviation Mechanics Coalition is looking to capitalize on the recently announced merger of American Airlines and U.S. Airways (NYSE: LCC)...
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