Today's Teamster News 03.21.15

Teamsters
Employees Vote On Whether They Want Teamsters Representation  Fontana News Herald   ...Ballots were mailed out last week to more than 15,000 San Bernardino county, city and agency employees to vote in an election for Teamsters representation. The workers, who are members of the San Bernardino Public Employees Association (SBPEA), will have the opportunity to vote in favor of affiliating with the Teamsters...
SEC to allow shareholder vote on Wal-Mart independent chairman  Reuters   ...Wal-Mart had argued that the proposal, submitted by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters General Fund, should be omitted because it was vague in its standard of independence...
Sysco, US Foods Seek Disclosure Of FTC Witness Identities  JDSupra   ...The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) went head-to-head last week with Sysco Corp. and US Foods Inc. over whether to make public the names of the declarants relied on by the FTC in its preliminary injunction to block Sysco and US Foods’ merger. Sysco and US Foods filed a motion in a Washington, D.C. federal district court on March 6 asking the judge to publicize the names, which the FTC quickly opposed...
Special Election 170th Legislative District: Dem. Sarah DelRicci Vs. Rep. Martina White  Philadelphia Public Record   ...The unions backing White are FOP Lodge 5; International Association of Fire Fighters Local 22; International Union of Painters & Allied Trades District Council 21; AFSCME DC 33; Teamsters Local 500; Gas Workers Local 686; Drywall Fitters Local 1955; International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 8; Glaziers Local 252; Sprinkler Fitters Local 692; Steamfitters Local 420; Painters 2011; and Plasterers Local 8...
In Sunset Park, Doubts About Development Plan  Wall Street Journal   ...The groups holding Sunday’s rally, at Uprose’s offices, include Neighbors Helping Neighbors, a tenant-advocacy group, and the Teamsters Local 812, which wants to preserve union port jobs. The developers are seeking a rezoning, which will require approval from the City Planning Commission and City Council...
Trade
DeLauro clashes with Obama trade officials over U.S. exports  the ct mirror   ...DeLauro, D-3rd District, was one of eight House Democrats who sent Froman a letter Thursday accusing him of inflating the number of U.S. exports and misleading Congress. The lawmakers also held a press conference challenging Froman’s calculations...
Dem: Trade officials ‘baffling’ lawmakers ‘with bullshit’  The Hill   ...Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) on Thursday accused the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) of “baffling” Democrats “with bullshit” in an effort to advance President Obama's trade agenda...
Japan says difficult to reach Japan-U.S. trade deal without TPA  Reuters   ...Japanese Economy Minister Akira Amari said on Friday it would be difficult to reach an agreement in two-way trade talks between Japan and the United States unless U.S. lawmakers fast-tracked trade promotion legislation...
Fair trade is racial justice issue (opinion) Sky Valley Chronicle   ...Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal could make matters worse in places like Ferguson, Mo...
State Battles
Wisconsin Lawmakers Go After Workers’ Weekends  ThinkProgress   ...Two Wisconsin state lawmakers have proposed a bill that would roll back the state’s requirement that companies give workers at least one day off every seven days...
Texas Senate considering bill that could financially kill public-sector unions  Breitbart   ...The bill, SB 1968, was filed at the very end of the bill filing period for this Legislative Session last Friday, and would end the practice of automatic payroll deductions for labor union dues for the majority of public-sector unions...
8 ways Nevada Republicans want to shift power from labor unions  Reno Gazette-Journal   ...Republican lawmakers have long been on a quest to eat away at the power local government employee unions have when negotiating the labor contracts that govern their salaries, benefits and working conditions...
Kansas Senate Committee Advances Bill On Public Sector Unions  Wichita Eagle   ...The Kansas Senate is headed for a fight with the state’s public sector unions after a committee advanced a bill limiting public employees’ collective bargaining power and changing the way unions collect dues. The bill would limit automatic paycheck deductions for public employee unions and other organizations such as charities. The head of United Way of the Plains called it “a kick in the teeth.”...
Wisconsin Judge Declines To Block New Right-To-Work Law  Chicago Tribune   ...Dane County Circuit Judge William Foust rejected the request by three unions to grant a temporary injunction blocking the law from being enforced pending the outcome of their legal challenge...
Illinois: Governor Tells Agencies To Divert Union Fees  New York Times   ...Gov. Bruce Rauner, dogged in his attempts to eliminate fees paid to unions by workers who choose not to join, has instructed state agencies to divert money from nonunion employee paychecks away from organized labor until a judge settles the matter...
War on Workers
OSHA Whistleblower Investigator Blows Whistle on Own Agency  NBC Bay Area   ...Employee says the federal whistleblower program isn’t protecting whistleblowers or the public...
Missing Citigroup Checks Spur Lawmaker to Call for Investigation  Bloomberg   ...Citigroup Inc.’s failure to pay 24,000 people owed money as part of a settlement with the government over foreclosure abuses has prompted a U.S. lawmaker to call for an investigation into whether banks missed other borrowers...
Congress sets up veto showdown with vote to roll back labor rule  Los Angeles Times   ...Setting up another veto showdown with President Obama, Congress on Thursday approved a measure that seeks to roll back a new labor rule that allows workers to conduct union elections more quickly...
House Passes Bill To Overturn Labor Board Rule  Wall Street Journal   ...The vote was 232-186. It followed Senate passage earlier this month of the measure, which uses a rarely invoked law that allows Congress to reverse certain agency actions. The White House has said Mr. Obama’s senior advisers would recommend that he veto the resolution...
Worker Killed: Electrocuted, Struck By Motorcycles  Space Coast Daily   ...A man working on a utilities truck that was cleaning storm drains along S. Harbor City Boulevard was killed Thursday night as a result of an unusual chain of events...
Tolland DPW Truck Hits And Kills Worker Patching Potholes  WVIT   ...A veteran Tolland public works employee died after he was hit by one of his own trucks while patching potholes in town on Thursday, according to state police...

Today's Teamster News 08.31.14

Teamsters
Wage Watch: Court ruling could upend FedEx's business model  Fortune   ...In a ruling with the potential to upend the logistics industry, a three-judge panel on Wednesday decided that FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery drivers are employees of the company and not independent contractors, as FedEx had characterized them...
Trade
Top TPP negotiators to meet in Hanoi for 10-day trade talks  Japan Times   ...Top trade negotiators from 12 countries will hold 10-day talks in Hanoi from Monday, aiming to clinch a broad accord on a proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership pact by the end of November...
Wake up America Champions  Trade Reform   ...Post World War II we had about 19 million people employed directly in manufacturing – a sector where producers work.  That was roughly 10% of the population.  Today there are about 330 million people living in the United States.  About 3.5% of the population makes the stuff we consume. ..

State Battles
John Ketzenberger: Right to work and unions  The Star Press   ...The Indiana Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case Sept. 4 from Lake County that found the right-to-work law unconstitutional. Another Lake County judge ruled the law unconstitutional in July. Both decisions hinge on the "particular services" clause of the state Constitution, which states "no person's particular services shall be demanded without just compensation."...
Who's Getting a Raise? Minimum Wage Hikes Gain Steam in States, Cities  NBC News   ...“Because Congress hasn’t acted, states and cities are doing it instead; $10.10 is the new starting point...”
Michigan hourly minimum wage rises to $8.15 on Labor Day  Oakland Press   ...It’s scheduled to increase regularly over the next few years before topping out Jan. 1, 2018 at $9.25...
War on Workers
Private equity's giant collusion case is over, as Carlyle folds  Fortune   ...The plaintiffs had argued that Carlyle and its co-defendants had conspired to not bid against each other on eight large “take-private” buyouts that occurred prior to the financial crisis...
Skydiving event in memory of worker killed in propeller accident  Journal-News   ...Sarah Rhoads, 24, of Miamisburg, died after being critically injured when she accidentally walked into an operating airplane propeller this past June...
More Jobs That Pay Decent Wages: How To Fight Poverty In The United States  IMF   ...nearly 40 percent of American adults will spend at least one year in poverty by the time they reach 60. During 1968–2000, the risk was less than 20 percent. More devastatingly, 1 in 5 children currently live in poverty and, during their childhood, roughly 1 in 3 Americans will spend at least one year living below the poverty line...
The Unprecedented Failure to Regulate Citigroup Continues  Wall Street on Parade   ...Wall Street’s self-regulator, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), charged Citigroup with cheating its customers out of fair prices on preferred stock trades — 22,000 times. Citigroup was fined a meager $1.85 million, ordered to pay $638,000 in restitution, allowed to neither deny or admit the charges, and sent on its merry way to loot the next unwary investor...

Today's Teamster News 03.05.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Local 174 Members Overwhelmingly Ratify Contract at First Student  teamster.org   ...Teamsters Local 174 has reached an agreement with First Student covering more than 450 school bus drivers who transport K-12 students for the Seattle School District...
Spring Grove school board hears bus safety complaints  York Dispatch   ...A group of bus drivers, parents and residents told Pennsylvania's Spring Grove Area School District's school board their concerns about multiple safety issues with vehicles from Durham School Services. The bus drivers are represented by Teamsters Local 776...
Trade
Daschle distorts NAFTA outcomes to sell TPP (Opinion)  The Hill Blog   ...The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and "fast track" trade authority are generating heated debate. TPP would expand on terms first established in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and extend them to additional countries.Unfortunately, former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) misconstrued the facts of NAFTA’s legacy in his February 20 op-ed in The Hill, “Trade Pacts Are a Tonic for the Economy.”...
Gibson joins labor, community groups to oppose TPP  Mid-Hudson News   ...Congressman Christopher Gibson (R, NY-19) Monday spoke out against the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement that is being worked on by the administration in Washington behind closed doors...
The U.S. needs a stronger domestic supply chain in the event of an attack  Manufacture This   ...Where lies the United States' greatest vulnerability to a physical terrorist attack? Transformers.
No, not the robots in disguise: Those large gray boxes of steel that move power across the country pose a serious risk to our power grid... only a handful of companies build them in the U.S., and shipments from overseas could take months or years to arrive if one is unexpectedly damaged...
State Battles
Right-to-work among 12 Oregon ballot measures dropped  Statesman Journal   ...Twelve ballot initiatives have been dropped — including one that would have made Oregon’s public sector subject to “right to work” laws — as part of a deal reached by Gov. John Kitzhaber’s office...
The story behind those communist China "right to work" billboards in Kansas City  The Pitch   ...Terry Akins, a labor executive with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers No. 124 in Kansas City, had this thought in mind when he brandished a map of China with an accompanying hammer and sickle upon a billboard along Interstate 70...
How large corporations avoid paying income taxes in Wisconsin  Fox6Now   ...“They were — in a sense — blackmailing Fond du Lac County, blackmailing the state of Wisconsin. The Mercury Marine story is really the perfect example of what’s wrong with assuming that business is always right, because here, we were begging them to take money, some of it was in low interest loans, some of it was just cash on the barrel head — and they’re not paying taxes in Wisconsin,”...
The War on Workers
McDonald’s to SEC: Strikes hurt, and we might have to hike pay  Salon   ...Worker strikes and social media shaming “can adversely affect us,” and “increasing public focus” on “income inequality” could spur higher wages, fast food giant McDonald’s acknowledged in an annual report filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission...
White House Suggests Social Security Cuts Remain 'On The Table'  Talking Points Memo   ...Even though President Barack Obama's formal budget proposal Tuesday omitted cuts to Social Security, the White House strongly suggested that a controversial policy to cut the program "remains on the table" if Republicans are willing to compromise...
Fed Nominee Stanley Fischer Has a Citigroup Problem  Wall Street on Parade   ...Citigroup collapsed in 2008 and is only alive today because the U.S. government pumped in $45 billion in equity, made $300 billion in asset guarantees, and the Fed chipped in over $2 trillion in below market rate loans to the listing shipwreck...
Exclusive: Report Finds Taking A Paid Day Off When Sick Is A Privilege Of The Wealthy  ThinkProgress  ...In 2012, 61 percent of private sector workers older than 18 had access to paid sick days, an increase from 57 percent in 2009, according to a new report...
Supreme Court extends whistle-blower protections under anti-fraud law  Los Angeles Times   ...The Supreme Court on Tuesday expanded protections for whistle blowers covered by an anti-fraud law passed following the collapse of energy giant Enron, ruling outside accountants, auditors and lawyers cannot be fired or punished for exposing fraud...
Toyota Union Cites ‘Big Gap’ With Carmaker in Wage Talks  Bloomberg News   ...Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, faces a “big gap” in negotiations with its workers’ union in Japan, according to the head of the Toyota Motor Workers’ Union...
Port driver files class action complaints against two California drayage companies  Land Line   ... Two new class action lawsuits have been filed against two Southern California-based drayage companies by a former port driver who worked for both companies. This comes just days after a report was released by labor groups, which was critical of port companies that allegedly misclassify port drivers as independent contractors...
Pittsburgh's Largest Employer Draws Hundreds Of Protesters Over 'Poverty' Wages  Huffington Post   ...Hundreds of demonstrators poured into downtown Pittsburgh Monday to protest low wages at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, escalating a two-year showdown between labor groups and the area's largest employer...
Miscellaneous
Sprint Accused of Overcharging Feds Millions for Wiretapping  Wired   ...Sprint, of Overland Park, Kansas, inflated charges approximately 58 percent between 2007 and 2010, according to a lawsuit (.pdf) the administration brought against the carrier today...
“Retirement Security in an Aging Society,” or the Lack Thereof  Baseline Scenario   ...50% of households have personal retirement accounts worth $5,000 or less; 50% of households have other financial assets of $15,000 or less; and 50% of households have no defined benefit pensions...
Bill protects taxpayers from government contractors  The Tennessean   ...All over the country, cash-strapped state and local governments have handed over control of critical public services and assets to corporations that promise to handle them better, faster and cheaper. Unfortunately for taxpayers, these services failed to keep this promise...
RadioShack to close up to 1,100 'underperforming' stores  Los Angeles Times   ...Beleaguered electronics retailer RadioShack Corp. reported its fourth-quarter store sales were down 19% compared to last year and that it would close up to 1,100 underperforming...
Chevron $9.5 Billion Judgment by Ecuador Is Ruled Fraudulent by U.S. Court  Bloomberg News   ...Chevron Corp. won a U.S. judge’s ruling that a multibillion-dollar pollution judgment issued in Ecuador was procured by fraud, making it less likely that plaintiffs will collect the $9.5 billion award...

Today's Teamster News 12.08.13

Army of Rightwing Groups Plan Assault on State Laws in 2014  Common Dreams   ...more than forty state-level conservative groups are planning a "US-wide assault" on "education, healthcare, income tax, workers' compensation and the environment..."
Does Lowering Corporate Tax Rates Create Jobs? Answer is a resounding "no"  ataxingmatter   ... a supermajority (22) of the 30 corporations paying the HIGHEST tax rates created 200,000 jobs between 2008 and 2012, while only 8 of those 30 had any reductions in the number of employees.  IN contrast, the 30 profitable corporations paying no or very little taxes in that period had an aggregate loss of more than 51,000 jobs--half created a few jobs and half reduced jobs between 2008 and 2012...
Members of Congress: Fast Tracking the TPP is a Non-Starter  Public Citizen   ...On the eve of an attempt by executive branch negotiators to rush the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to conclusion in negotiations happening in Singapore this weekend, members of Congress, speaking from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, declared that an attempt to Fast Track the secretive, sweeping pact through Congress would be dead on arrival...
Lies, Damn Lies, and Retirement Savings  Economic Policy Institute   ...The sad reality is that the only households with any 401(k) savings to speak of are white non-Hispanic college-educated married couples. Even within this narrow demographic, all but the wealthiest, who use retirement accounts as tax shelters, would be better off under a more egalitarian and efficient system...
Citigroup and JPMorgan Settle With EU Commission for Rigging Libor; U.S. Justice Department Stays Mum  Wall Street on Parade   ...As lawsuits by municipalities across America pile up in the courts, the question on everyone’s mind is: “why isn’t the Justice Department bringing charges against U.S. banks”?...
U.S. IRS not fully ready for law against offshore tax evasion -watchdog  Reuters   ...The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has spent 19 months and more than $8.6 million getting ready to enforce a new law against offshore tax evasion that takes effect next year, but the agency is still not prepared, a watchdog group said...
The One-Day Strike: The New Labor Weapon of Last Resort  Time   ...“You don’t know if something like this is going to fizzle out or if it’s going to keep going and gaining steam and hit a tipping point where change can actually happen.”...

Ex-Citigroup CEO sides with Teamsters on banking reform

The Teamsters have long called for financial reform. Now a retired Citigroup chief executive who was once one of Wall Street’s biggest proponents of the creation of mega-banks has seen the light. John Reed, who led Citigroup from 1984 to 2000 and then served as the head of the New York Stock Exchange, now says banking rules need to be changed to avoid another economic crash.

Well, better late than never.

Reed led Citigroup -- one of the nation’s largest banks -- when it was ramping up in size. He pushed for a repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act when Citi wanted to dabble in both investment and commercial banking, which was barred under the law. So in 1999 he and his big banking friends got it changed. But he now says the current business model is broken and the law needs to be reinstated.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Angus King (I-Maine) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) introduced an updated version of Glass-Steagall in July that attempts to rein in the financial chaos of Wall Street.  It would require banks that accept federally insured deposits to focus on traditional lending and not engage in more risky securities trading. But now the lawmakers need to move the process forward.

The current law allows banks to gamble customers’ hard-earned dollars in shady dealings like the creation of derivatives that puts workers’ money at risk.

While filing legislation that would prevent many of the financial failings that led to the bank bailouts is a good first step, a bill alone isn’t enough. Congress must take action now. Failing to do so will ensure a repeat of the financial meltdown of 2008.

Stay tuned...

Today's Teamster News 12.28.11

Homeowner wins $21MILLION payout from mortgage firm in dispute over credit rating  Daily Mail   ...U.S. Army sergeant David Brash has won more than $21million in damages from PHH Mortgage after it falsely claimed he defaulted on his loan...
House prices fell to new post-bubble lows in October  Calculated Risk   ...these indexes will hit new lows in the next few months since prices are falling again...
Jed S. Rakoff: Federal District Judge Of New York's Southern District (The Inspirationals)  Huffington Post   ...it is a measure of how timid our politics have become that this federal judge is widely viewed as the only man in government with the cojones to take on the banking corporations that nearly destroyed the American economy in 2008 and that seem, for the most part, unrepentant...
LETTER: Poverty rises in right-to-work states  The Republic   ...seven of the 10 states with the highest unemployment rate are right-to-work states...
Four inmates escape cell, stab man, officials say  Merced Sun-Star   ...Several Norteño gang members broke free of their cell and attacked an inmate worker Monday night at the Merced County Jail, officials said, an ordeal that some think is a result of lowered staffing at the jail...
Oscar Makers in Chicago Ratify New Contract  Local 743   ...Fifty Teamsters with R.S. Owens & Company in Chicago voted overwhelmingly to ratify their first new contract in four years. The three-year agreement includes the workers' first new wage increases since 2006...

Today's Teamster News 11.29.11

Knight: Teamsters’ strength stands up to power (opinion)  Pekin Daily Times   ...in less than a month, the union has shown that a determined few can stand up for themselves; with their union brothers and sisters they can stand up to the rich and powerful...
Walker Recall Effort Says 300,000 Signatures In  Associated Press   ...The United Wisconsin coalition needs 540,208 signatures by Jan. 17 to force a recall election sometime in 2012...
Rich James: Indiana doesn’t need right-to-work legislation (opinion)  Post-Tribune   ...there will be an unwarrated attack upon organized labor. The Republicans, who do the bidding of corporations and other businesses, will seek the passage of a right-to-work bill...
Voting Rights Advocate Held At Gunpoint By SWAT Team With No Warrant  Crooks and Liars   ...Last Monday, attorney Barbara Arnwine was rudely awakened by the sounds of a police raid on her home...
Euro zone crisis biggest threat to global economy-OECD  Reuters   ...The euro zone has already entered a mild recession but much worse could follow unless policy makers take decisive action to get ahead of the market...
Judge Blocks Citigroup Settlement With S.E.C.  New York Times   ... Taking a broad swipe at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s practice of allowing companies to settle cases without admitting that they had done anything wrong, a federal judge on Monday rejected a $285 million settlement between Citigroup and the agency...

Today's Teamster News 11.20.11

Egypt protesters resume occupation of Tahrir Square  BBC   ...Several hundred protesters spent the night in the square, having fought off police attempts to remove them...
SF police arrest 6 Occupy protesters in early raid  Associated Press   ...San Francisco arrested six anti-Wall Street protesters early Sunday and dismantled a tent encampment...
Lobbying Memo Seeks Methods to Discredit Occupy Movement  firedoglake   ...MSNBC’s Chris Hayes ... obtained a memo from a DC lobbying firm spelling out a strategy to undermine Occupy Wall Street...
Thousands rally against Wisconsin Republican governor  Reuters   ...The Wisconsin Department of Administration estimated that between 25,000 and 30,000 people gathered at an afternoon rally at the Capitol building to boost the state-wide petition drive for a Walker recall election that began on November 15...
Older, Suburban and Struggling, ‘Near Poor’ Startle the Census  New York Times   ...100 million people — one in three Americans — (are) either in poverty or in the fretful zone just above it...
Why Not Break-Up Citigroup?  Baseline Scenario   ...Earlier this week, Richard Fisher – President of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank – captured the growing political mood with regard to very large banks: “I believe that too-big-to-fail banks are too-dangerous-to-permit...”

Citigroup forecloses on Iraq War veteran

Ok, this may not be as bad as throwing someone in jail for trying to cash a legitimate check, but it's bad.

Citigroup foreclosed on the home of an active-duty soldier who was serving in Iraq, according to a lawsuit filed by the veteran, Jorge Rodriguez. Reports Bloomberg,

CitiMortgage lawyers falsely said in an affidavit that Rodriguez wasn’t on active service at the time, depriving him of protection under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, or SCRA, according to the complaint. Rodriguez is seeking to have the suit certified as a class action against CitiMortgage on behalf of other service members whose homes were foreclosed...

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and Morgan Stanley agreed in May to pay $22.4 million to resolve U.S. allegations that they improperly foreclosed on active-duty soldiers. JPMorgan Chase & Co. earlier agreed to a $56 million settlement of claims that it illegally overcharged military personnel on home loans...

And, of course, no one will go to jail.

The. Banks. Are. Too. Big.