Teamsters
Anti-Union Allegiant CEO Lives His Worst Dream: Teamster Pilots Forbes ...In January, pilots voted 465-8 to authorize a strike. Now, the union is moving on two fronts to use the threat of a strike to improve working conditions. Pilots were prepared to strike on April 2, but on April 1 a U.S. district court judge in Las Vegas issued a temporary restraining order. A hearing is scheduled for Friday, April 10...
Horse Carriage Foes Spend $14k on Subway Ads City & State ...Demos Demopoulos, executive officer of the Teamsters Local 553 union that represents about 120 horse carriage drivers, said his group is also lobbying the Council. Demopoulos claimed a majority is opposed to the bill and noted that polling has shown that public opinion is on the side of drivers...
Detroit residents unite to honor Viola Liuzzo USA Today ...The committee, supported by the Greening of Detroit, has received financial commitments totaling $300,000 from the UAW-Ford and the Teamsters, among others, and two fundraisers are planned for upcoming days. (Anthony Liuzzo Sr., who died in 1978, was a Teamsters official.)...
NYCHA worker may have been killed by faulty trash machine NY Daily News ...An investigation by Teamsters Local 237, which represents 8,000 NYCHA workers, has since found evidence that contradicts the NYPD theory and suggests maintenance failures may have contributed to Jackson’s death...
Global Labor & Trade
White House Says Enviros Love This Trade Pact, But Enviros Say Otherwise Huffington Post ...The Obama administration has angered a host of environmentalist organizations with an Internet campaign that suggests green groups broadly support the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership, which environmentalists have in fact been fighting for years...
The True Myths on the Trans-Pacific Partnership CEPR ...The proponents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are doing everything they can to try to push their case as they prepare for the fast-track vote before Congress this month. They begin by giving us three myths, all of which happen to be accurate depictions of reality...
Strikes proliferate in China as working class awakens Today Online ...More than three decades after Beijing began allowing market reforms, China’s 168 million migrant workers are discovering their labour rights through the spread of social media. They are on the forefront of a labour protest movement that is posing a growing and awkward problem for the ruling Communist Party...
State & Living Wage Battles
Right-to-work backers vow continued push Albuquerque Journal ...A high-profile push to approve a New Mexico right-to-work law stalled during the recent 60-day legislative session, but the issue appears likely to be back next year — both in the Roundhouse and on the 2016 campaign trail...
State Looking For National Role In Union-Backed Bill Hartford Courant ...Connecticut gained widespread attention in recent years as a national leader in Democratic circles by increasing the minimum wage and passing a first-in-the-nation statewide mandate for paid sick days for some service employees...
Nevada Senate approves minimum wage increase bill Las Vegas Review Journal ...A Republican-backed bill to overhaul Nevada’s overtime law and increase the minimum wage for some workers was approved Friday by the state Senate on a party-line vote, with Democrats calling the measure a “slap in the face” to the working poor...
U.S. Supreme Court Declines To Review North Carolina Voting Law Huffington Post ...The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review the legality of new Republican-backed voting restrictions in North Carolina that were part of a law opponents argued was aimed at making it harder for voters who tend to favor Democrats to cast ballots...
Kansas Will Limit Welfare Recipients To $25 A Day Think Progress ...During debate over the bill state Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau (D) pointed out that many recipients need to withdraw hundreds of dollars some days in order to be able to pay rent...
Fast Food Workers: Thanks for the Raise, McDonald’s, But We Said $15 an Hour, Not $10 In These Times ...The company, fighting to improve its battered image, may not have intended the move to be a joke. But in the end, many workers saw the welcome boost in pay and benefits as largely a fraud perpetrated on the public as well as on fast food workers...
This City Could Become The Next Detroit Think Progress ...Starting this week, 25,000 households in Baltimore will suddenly lose their access to water for owing bills of $250 or more, with very little notice given and no public hearings...
U.S. Labor
Be Nervous (But Not Panicked) About The March Jobs Report FiveThirtyEight ...Employers added 126,000 jobs last month, breaking a 12-month streak of growth over 200,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. The report was far weaker than most economists expected and represented the slowest pace of growth since the end of 2013. The government also revised down its estimate of January and February hiring by a combined 69,000 jobs...
Michigan Factory Owner Gives Out $6 Million In Thank-You Bonuses Huffington Post ...When J.C. Huizenga sold his namesake machinery manufacturing company, he wanted to share the spoils. The Huizenga Group chairman gave out nearly $6 million in bonuses to more than 575 workers in his two Michigan factories. It was his way of thanking the employees for helping grow the company, which now earns about $170 million in annual sales, according to CBS News...
Trade workers set to benefit from Gov. Jerry Brown's project list Los Angeles Times ...At his recent groundbreaking for the state's high-speed train, Gov. Jerry Brown paused while extolling the project to laud the union workers who will build it. "You've got to put something in the ground," Brown said, riffing on what drives economic growth. "You've got to get these building trades men and women doing stuff. That's what makes America — what makes the world — go 'round."...
Workers — not employers — are the real wage movers and shakers (opinion) Washington Post ...“We’re too big and complicated a system to do anything in reaction to a particular group or something happening,” Karen King, who has the wonderful title of “chief people officer” at McDonald’s, said Wednesday, explaining her company’s decision to raise wages for some of its employees. If you believe that, don’t go near anyone purporting to sell you a bridge, even if it comes with fries on the side...
Showing posts with label Detroit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Detroit. Show all posts
Monday, April 6, 2015
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Today's Teamster News 11.13.14
Teamster News
Trade Agreement Could Cost Michigan Jobs (opinion) Detroit News ...A lame-duck session of Congress convenes this week, and Capitol Hill lawmakers could consider fast-track trade promotion authority in the coming weeks that would jeopardize thousands of jobs in Michigan and nationwide...
Twinkie Maker’s Success Story Tempting Entenmann’s New York Post ...Members of Teamsters Local 802, which represents roughly 300 Entenmann’s drivers in New York and northern New Jersey, are preparing for the worst and have authorized union leaders to call a strike...
NetJets Threatens To Fire Middle Class Workers On Behalf Of The Global Super-Rich teamster.org ...Berkshire Hathaway’s [BRK/B] NetJets, Inc. is threatening to fire workers over the International Brotherhood of Teamsters decision to publicize the names of wealthy customers who stand to benefit from the company’s attack on the wages, benefits and working conditions of middle class employees...
Sysco Doesn’t Expect US Foods Deal to Close This Year Wall Street Journal ...Sysco Corp. , the nation’s biggest food distributor by sales, again pushed back the timeline for completing its acquisition of rival US Foods Inc., saying talks with antitrust regulators are taking longer than expected...
Sysco Expands; Buys Pacific Star Foodservice In Mexico Zacks ...this leading foodservice distributor of North America is rapidly expanding in Latin America. Apart from Latin America, Sysco has expanded in Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Bahamas....
Trade
House Dems say trade bills have no chance of passing The Hill ...A trio of House Democrats said Wednesday that neither fast-track nor an Asia-Pacific trade deal have any chance of passing in the lame-duck session or in the next Congress...
China Suspected Of Breaching U.S. Postal Service Computer Networks Washington Post ...Chinese government hackers are suspected of breaching the computer networks of the United States Postal Service, compromising the data of more than 800,000 employees — including the postmaster general’s...
State Battles
Appeals court upholds conviction of Kelly Rindfleisch, former aide to Scott Walker Wisconsin State Journal ...Rindfleisch, 46, was sentenced to six months in jail with work release privileges and three years of probation for doing campaign work on county time, but that sentence was stayed pending appeal...
State Street, Governor Elect Rauner Both Implicated in Pay-to-Play Scandals naked capitalism ... Illinois governor elect Bruce Rauner, who comes out of the private equity industry, took over $140,000 in campaign contributions from executives at funds that manage state money, which violates state and federal laws, since Rauner will be appointing pension system trustees...
Detroit Emerges From Bankruptcy, Yet Pension Risks Linger New York Times ...foundations, the state of Michigan, the Detroit Institute of Arts and even the city’s water and sewer system have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to bolster the municipal pension system and give the art collection new, bankruptcy-proof ownership. In return, retired workers accepted reductions to their monthly checks and other cutbacks...
War on Workers
Jobs Growth Far from Strong: It Will Be 2018 Before the Economy Looks like 2007 Economic Policy Institute ...if we extrapolate this rate of jobs growth into the future, it will be 2018 before we return to a labor market resembling the one we had before the recession began...
FedEx Pilots Picket for 'Respect' WIBC ...Dozens of pilots descended on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis Wednesday. They're among some 800 picketing pilots across the nation. They're represented by the Air Line Pilots Association. They say they've been in contract talks for nearly four years with FedEx...
Apple’s iTunes earnings mostly untaxed Australian Financial Review ...More than two-thirds of the money Apple’s iTunes makes outside North America goes through the group’s Luxembourg holding company where it is not taxable, thanks to an intra-group fees agreement signed in 2008...
Banks Reach Settlement In Foreign-Exchange Probe Wall Street Journal ...Six banks agreed Wednesday to pay a total of about $4.2 billion to U.S., British and Swiss regulators to resolve allegations that for years they worked together to try to manipulate the vast foreign-exchange market to boost their profits...
Dad’s Disbelief Over Son’s Missing Shows Mexico Reeling Bloomberg ...“It’s impossible for me to believe that they just made 43 students disappear,” Gonzalez, 49, said on Nov. 3 as he looked out over fields at Cesar’s school in the town of Ayotzinapa, Guerrero. “The worst thing,” he said, tears filling his eyes, “is knowing it wasn’t organized crime that instigated this -- this was our own government...”
In Bolivia, A Child's Place Is In The Market And The Mines NPR ...In the Bolivian city of El Alto on a recent day, youngsters shout out the destinations of departing buses to lure passengers. One of these barkers is 15-year-old Luis Canaza. He earns about 12 cents for every bus he fills...
Uzbekistan: Forced To Labor In Cotton Fields, Students Rebel EruAsiaNet ...Third-year male journalism students were ordered to the cotton fields by the rector and faculty deacon, says the letter. It is addressed to Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev; the prosecutor’s office; the National Security Service (SNB); the Higher Education Ministry; and the university rector, Mirzo Mukhamedov...
Construction Worker Killed In Warwick’s Apponaug Section WPRI ...An unidentified man from Fall River died early Wednesday morning after a large piece of equipment fell on him at a construction site in Apponaug...
Private sanitation worker killed by falling dumpster at Staten Island golf course Staten Island Advance ...A private sanitation worker was killed when a dumpster fell and struck him outside the Richmond County Country Club in Dongan Hills Wednesday night, police said...
Miscellaneous
Dan Sullivan Beats Mark Begich In Alaska Politico ...Republican Dan Sullivan has won the Alaska Senate race, ousting Democratic incumbent Mark Begich, according to The Associated Press, which called the race for Sullivan late Tuesday night following the first day of counting early and absentee ballots...
Trade Agreement Could Cost Michigan Jobs (opinion) Detroit News ...A lame-duck session of Congress convenes this week, and Capitol Hill lawmakers could consider fast-track trade promotion authority in the coming weeks that would jeopardize thousands of jobs in Michigan and nationwide...
Twinkie Maker’s Success Story Tempting Entenmann’s New York Post ...Members of Teamsters Local 802, which represents roughly 300 Entenmann’s drivers in New York and northern New Jersey, are preparing for the worst and have authorized union leaders to call a strike...
NetJets Threatens To Fire Middle Class Workers On Behalf Of The Global Super-Rich teamster.org ...Berkshire Hathaway’s [BRK/B] NetJets, Inc. is threatening to fire workers over the International Brotherhood of Teamsters decision to publicize the names of wealthy customers who stand to benefit from the company’s attack on the wages, benefits and working conditions of middle class employees...
Sysco Doesn’t Expect US Foods Deal to Close This Year Wall Street Journal ...Sysco Corp. , the nation’s biggest food distributor by sales, again pushed back the timeline for completing its acquisition of rival US Foods Inc., saying talks with antitrust regulators are taking longer than expected...
Sysco Expands; Buys Pacific Star Foodservice In Mexico Zacks ...this leading foodservice distributor of North America is rapidly expanding in Latin America. Apart from Latin America, Sysco has expanded in Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Bahamas....
Trade
House Dems say trade bills have no chance of passing The Hill ...A trio of House Democrats said Wednesday that neither fast-track nor an Asia-Pacific trade deal have any chance of passing in the lame-duck session or in the next Congress...
China Suspected Of Breaching U.S. Postal Service Computer Networks Washington Post ...Chinese government hackers are suspected of breaching the computer networks of the United States Postal Service, compromising the data of more than 800,000 employees — including the postmaster general’s...
State Battles
Appeals court upholds conviction of Kelly Rindfleisch, former aide to Scott Walker Wisconsin State Journal ...Rindfleisch, 46, was sentenced to six months in jail with work release privileges and three years of probation for doing campaign work on county time, but that sentence was stayed pending appeal...
State Street, Governor Elect Rauner Both Implicated in Pay-to-Play Scandals naked capitalism ... Illinois governor elect Bruce Rauner, who comes out of the private equity industry, took over $140,000 in campaign contributions from executives at funds that manage state money, which violates state and federal laws, since Rauner will be appointing pension system trustees...
Detroit Emerges From Bankruptcy, Yet Pension Risks Linger New York Times ...foundations, the state of Michigan, the Detroit Institute of Arts and even the city’s water and sewer system have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to bolster the municipal pension system and give the art collection new, bankruptcy-proof ownership. In return, retired workers accepted reductions to their monthly checks and other cutbacks...
War on Workers
Jobs Growth Far from Strong: It Will Be 2018 Before the Economy Looks like 2007 Economic Policy Institute ...if we extrapolate this rate of jobs growth into the future, it will be 2018 before we return to a labor market resembling the one we had before the recession began...
FedEx Pilots Picket for 'Respect' WIBC ...Dozens of pilots descended on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis Wednesday. They're among some 800 picketing pilots across the nation. They're represented by the Air Line Pilots Association. They say they've been in contract talks for nearly four years with FedEx...
Apple’s iTunes earnings mostly untaxed Australian Financial Review ...More than two-thirds of the money Apple’s iTunes makes outside North America goes through the group’s Luxembourg holding company where it is not taxable, thanks to an intra-group fees agreement signed in 2008...
Banks Reach Settlement In Foreign-Exchange Probe Wall Street Journal ...Six banks agreed Wednesday to pay a total of about $4.2 billion to U.S., British and Swiss regulators to resolve allegations that for years they worked together to try to manipulate the vast foreign-exchange market to boost their profits...
Dad’s Disbelief Over Son’s Missing Shows Mexico Reeling Bloomberg ...“It’s impossible for me to believe that they just made 43 students disappear,” Gonzalez, 49, said on Nov. 3 as he looked out over fields at Cesar’s school in the town of Ayotzinapa, Guerrero. “The worst thing,” he said, tears filling his eyes, “is knowing it wasn’t organized crime that instigated this -- this was our own government...”
In Bolivia, A Child's Place Is In The Market And The Mines NPR ...In the Bolivian city of El Alto on a recent day, youngsters shout out the destinations of departing buses to lure passengers. One of these barkers is 15-year-old Luis Canaza. He earns about 12 cents for every bus he fills...
Uzbekistan: Forced To Labor In Cotton Fields, Students Rebel EruAsiaNet ...Third-year male journalism students were ordered to the cotton fields by the rector and faculty deacon, says the letter. It is addressed to Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev; the prosecutor’s office; the National Security Service (SNB); the Higher Education Ministry; and the university rector, Mirzo Mukhamedov...
Construction Worker Killed In Warwick’s Apponaug Section WPRI ...An unidentified man from Fall River died early Wednesday morning after a large piece of equipment fell on him at a construction site in Apponaug...
Private sanitation worker killed by falling dumpster at Staten Island golf course Staten Island Advance ...A private sanitation worker was killed when a dumpster fell and struck him outside the Richmond County Country Club in Dongan Hills Wednesday night, police said...
Miscellaneous
Dan Sullivan Beats Mark Begich In Alaska Politico ...Republican Dan Sullivan has won the Alaska Senate race, ousting Democratic incumbent Mark Begich, according to The Associated Press, which called the race for Sullivan late Tuesday night following the first day of counting early and absentee ballots...
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Today's Teamster News 07.31.14
Teamster News
Consumer Watchdog Campaign: Teamsters, Transit Workers Back Prop 46 Campaign To Protect Patient Safety Insurance News ...Two powerful labor groups, the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council and the California Conference Board-Amalgamated Transit Union, have joined the growing list of organizations and individuals that support Proposition 46, the patient safety initiative on California's Nov. 4 ballot...
Police Union Endorses Lake County Sheriff’s Challenger, Jason Patt Lake Forester ...The Teamsters Local 700, the union representing corrections officers and supervisors along with lieutenants and sergeants of the Lake County Sheriff’s Highway Patrol Division, has endorsed the sheriff’s opponent in the upcoming election...
Teamsters Applaud Putnam County Decision To Reject Republic Services’ Florida Landfill Bid teamster.org ...The Teamsters Union is lauding the Putnam County (Fla.) Board of Commissioners today on its decision to reject Republic Services’ [NYSE: RSG] bid to buy the Putnam County landfill...
IKEA Canada To Pay Damages To The Teamsters Union teamster.org ...The British Columbia Labour Relations Board … concluded that Ikea violated the law when it negotiated directly with workers and offered to all workers who accepted to cross the picket line better working conditions (including a $2.50 an hour premium and a $500 bonus) than the working conditions that it had offered to the Teamsters at the bargaining table...
NLRB Reviews Local Teamster Petition to Expand Definition of 'Dual Employer' National Legal and Policy Center ...When does being employed by a contractor also mean being employed by the corporation with which it contracts? The National Labor Relations Board currently is reviewing this issue in a potential landmark case. If the board rules in favor of a Teamsters local, unions everywhere could have a powerful organizing weapon...
LA Unified reaches agreement with principals, police, teamsters LA School Report ...Teamsters Local 572, whose members include school administrative assistants, cafeteria managers, area operations supervisors and bus supervisors approved a similar contract with a bonus payment for the last year...
State Battles
Chris Christie Pension Cuts Could Damage Economy: Report International Business Times ...when combined with private pension benefits, the spending generated by the national retirement system supports more than 6 million jobs: 4.4 percent of the total national workforce. The report also says that the economic multiplier effect from retirees spending their pension benefits generates $135 billion a year in federal, state and local tax revenues...
N.J. Unions Update Lawsuits To Block Christie's Pension Cuts Newark Star-Ledger ...More than a dozen public-worker unions have updated their lawsuits aiming to stop Gov. Chris Christie from slashing scheduled payments to New Jersey's pension system for government employees...
In Kansas, Brownback tried a red-state ‘experiment.’ Now he may be paying a political price Washington Post ...Advised by Arthur Laffer, the father of supply-side economics, and supported by special interest groups backed by conservative billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, he pushed through legislation that cut taxes and spending, eliminated state jobs and denied far more applications for welfare assistance...
The Republican Occupation of Detroit Daily Beast ...City agencies and entire school districts have been outsourced or privatized; public employees have been laid off in droves; municipalities have sold off vast swaths of public land; and city employee unions have seen their contracts whittled down to nothing...
Cargill to close Milwaukee beef facility, cut 600 jobs Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ..."It is unfortunate that we must close any beef plant because of the impact to good people, their families and the community...
Democratic Assembly Candidates In Northern Wisconsin Say Act 10 Has Caused ‘Teacher Flight' Wisconsin Public Radio ...Gov. Scott Walker’s Act 10 law, saying it’s causing teachers to leave the state. When Walker pushed Act 10 through the Legislature in his first few months as governor in 2011, he called it a tool for local governments and school boards to balance budgets because it took away almost all union bargaining power...
Sick Leave Policies Pick Up Steam CNN Money ...the San Diego city council was one of two cities -- the other being Eugene, Ore. -- to pass new laws mandating paid sick leave on Monday...
War On Workers
Employees’ Pay in U.S. Is Smaller Slice of Income Pie Bloomberg ...Worker pay was a smaller piece of the U.S. income pie than earlier estimated as some Americans collected significantly more in interest and dividend payments over the past two years...
White Collar Wage Theft Is Trending: Companies Using Jail And Illegal Arrangements To Prevent Employees From Leaving Forbes ...white collar occupations such as engineers and developers are facing intricate wage theft schemes that are obfuscated by backroom deals and threats of criminal prosecution on a national scale...
A Bill to Get the Labor Movement Back on Offense The Nation ...The Ellison-Lewis legislation would amend the National Labor Relations Act to include protections found under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to include labor organizing as a fundamental right. That would give workers a broader range of legal options if they feel discriminated against for trying to form a union...
Banks Cash In On Inversion Deals Intended To Elude Taxes New York Times ...Investment banks are estimated to have collected, or will soon collect, nearly $1 billion in fees over the last three years advising and persuading American companies to move the address of their headquarters abroad (without actually moving)...
The Charter School Profiteers Jacobin ...When we welcome schools that lack democratic accountability (charter school boards are appointed, not elected), when we allow public dollars to be used by those with a bottom line (such as the for-profit management companies that proliferate in Michigan), we open doors for opportunism and corruption...
Construction Worker Killed At FSU Construction Site Tallahassee Democrat ...A 25-year-old construction worker was killed Monday afternoon in a construction elevator accident on Florida State University campus, said Major Jim Russell, Florida State University Police Department spokesman...
Higher Minimum Wage, Faster Job Creation (opinion) New York Times ...The minimum wage has been raised many times without hurting employment...
Miscellaneous
Wall Street Analysts Predict The Slow Demise Of Walmart And Target Huffington Post ...Shoppers are increasingly turning to the web or to smaller, more conveniently located stores, cutting into the market share of big-box retailers like Walmart and Target, the analysts wrote...
Consumer Watchdog Campaign: Teamsters, Transit Workers Back Prop 46 Campaign To Protect Patient Safety Insurance News ...Two powerful labor groups, the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council and the California Conference Board-Amalgamated Transit Union, have joined the growing list of organizations and individuals that support Proposition 46, the patient safety initiative on California's Nov. 4 ballot...
Police Union Endorses Lake County Sheriff’s Challenger, Jason Patt Lake Forester ...The Teamsters Local 700, the union representing corrections officers and supervisors along with lieutenants and sergeants of the Lake County Sheriff’s Highway Patrol Division, has endorsed the sheriff’s opponent in the upcoming election...
Teamsters Applaud Putnam County Decision To Reject Republic Services’ Florida Landfill Bid teamster.org ...The Teamsters Union is lauding the Putnam County (Fla.) Board of Commissioners today on its decision to reject Republic Services’ [NYSE: RSG] bid to buy the Putnam County landfill...
IKEA Canada To Pay Damages To The Teamsters Union teamster.org ...The British Columbia Labour Relations Board … concluded that Ikea violated the law when it negotiated directly with workers and offered to all workers who accepted to cross the picket line better working conditions (including a $2.50 an hour premium and a $500 bonus) than the working conditions that it had offered to the Teamsters at the bargaining table...
NLRB Reviews Local Teamster Petition to Expand Definition of 'Dual Employer' National Legal and Policy Center ...When does being employed by a contractor also mean being employed by the corporation with which it contracts? The National Labor Relations Board currently is reviewing this issue in a potential landmark case. If the board rules in favor of a Teamsters local, unions everywhere could have a powerful organizing weapon...
LA Unified reaches agreement with principals, police, teamsters LA School Report ...Teamsters Local 572, whose members include school administrative assistants, cafeteria managers, area operations supervisors and bus supervisors approved a similar contract with a bonus payment for the last year...
State Battles
Chris Christie Pension Cuts Could Damage Economy: Report International Business Times ...when combined with private pension benefits, the spending generated by the national retirement system supports more than 6 million jobs: 4.4 percent of the total national workforce. The report also says that the economic multiplier effect from retirees spending their pension benefits generates $135 billion a year in federal, state and local tax revenues...
N.J. Unions Update Lawsuits To Block Christie's Pension Cuts Newark Star-Ledger ...More than a dozen public-worker unions have updated their lawsuits aiming to stop Gov. Chris Christie from slashing scheduled payments to New Jersey's pension system for government employees...
In Kansas, Brownback tried a red-state ‘experiment.’ Now he may be paying a political price Washington Post ...Advised by Arthur Laffer, the father of supply-side economics, and supported by special interest groups backed by conservative billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, he pushed through legislation that cut taxes and spending, eliminated state jobs and denied far more applications for welfare assistance...
The Republican Occupation of Detroit Daily Beast ...City agencies and entire school districts have been outsourced or privatized; public employees have been laid off in droves; municipalities have sold off vast swaths of public land; and city employee unions have seen their contracts whittled down to nothing...
Cargill to close Milwaukee beef facility, cut 600 jobs Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ..."It is unfortunate that we must close any beef plant because of the impact to good people, their families and the community...
Democratic Assembly Candidates In Northern Wisconsin Say Act 10 Has Caused ‘Teacher Flight' Wisconsin Public Radio ...Gov. Scott Walker’s Act 10 law, saying it’s causing teachers to leave the state. When Walker pushed Act 10 through the Legislature in his first few months as governor in 2011, he called it a tool for local governments and school boards to balance budgets because it took away almost all union bargaining power...
Sick Leave Policies Pick Up Steam CNN Money ...the San Diego city council was one of two cities -- the other being Eugene, Ore. -- to pass new laws mandating paid sick leave on Monday...
War On Workers
Employees’ Pay in U.S. Is Smaller Slice of Income Pie Bloomberg ...Worker pay was a smaller piece of the U.S. income pie than earlier estimated as some Americans collected significantly more in interest and dividend payments over the past two years...
White Collar Wage Theft Is Trending: Companies Using Jail And Illegal Arrangements To Prevent Employees From Leaving Forbes ...white collar occupations such as engineers and developers are facing intricate wage theft schemes that are obfuscated by backroom deals and threats of criminal prosecution on a national scale...
A Bill to Get the Labor Movement Back on Offense The Nation ...The Ellison-Lewis legislation would amend the National Labor Relations Act to include protections found under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to include labor organizing as a fundamental right. That would give workers a broader range of legal options if they feel discriminated against for trying to form a union...
Banks Cash In On Inversion Deals Intended To Elude Taxes New York Times ...Investment banks are estimated to have collected, or will soon collect, nearly $1 billion in fees over the last three years advising and persuading American companies to move the address of their headquarters abroad (without actually moving)...
The Charter School Profiteers Jacobin ...When we welcome schools that lack democratic accountability (charter school boards are appointed, not elected), when we allow public dollars to be used by those with a bottom line (such as the for-profit management companies that proliferate in Michigan), we open doors for opportunism and corruption...
Construction Worker Killed At FSU Construction Site Tallahassee Democrat ...A 25-year-old construction worker was killed Monday afternoon in a construction elevator accident on Florida State University campus, said Major Jim Russell, Florida State University Police Department spokesman...
Higher Minimum Wage, Faster Job Creation (opinion) New York Times ...The minimum wage has been raised many times without hurting employment...
Miscellaneous
Wall Street Analysts Predict The Slow Demise Of Walmart And Target Huffington Post ...Shoppers are increasingly turning to the web or to smaller, more conveniently located stores, cutting into the market share of big-box retailers like Walmart and Target, the analysts wrote...
Friday, July 18, 2014
Today's Teamster News 07.18.14
Teamster News
1934 Teamsters strike in Minneapolis remembered on 80th anniversary Minneapolis Star Tribune ...“This event hit national significance in terms of the American labor movement,” said David Riehle, an organizer for the Remember 1934 festivities and a former railroad engineer. “It really was one of the battles that ignited the struggle for unionization that unfolded throughout the ’30s....”
Teamsters On Set Of New Sci-Fi Netflix Series Being Filmed In Chicago teamster.org ..."Right out of the gate, our members know they’ll be working on 10 episodes of this new show..."
Teamster Drivers At GET Bus On Strike For Fair Contract teamster.org ...The local union has been negotiating a new contract with the employer since January. Union members are drivers, mechanics and support staff at the public transportation company...
Teamsters Local 337 Trash Transporters Ratify First Contract teamster.org ...“The contract addresses their concerns about fair wages, respect on the job and more affordable health insurance—they will be covered under the Michigan Conference of Teamsters health fund...”
Trade
#noTTIP: The Rising Global Movement against the US-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) Centre For Research On Globalization ...As the next round of negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) take place in Brussels this week, civil society groups are continuing to mobilise against this ongoing free trade agreement between the U.S. and EU that poses a threat to our public services, environment, food, privacy and democracy...
The deadline is Monday to stop government trade deception Trade Reform ...Under a proposed federal rule, an iPhone made in China and sold to Europe could be falsely considered an American export!...
LA area Port Traffic: Imports increasing Econbrowser ...Imports were up 13% year-over-year in June, exports were up 7% year-over-year. Imports were 4% below the all time high for June (set in June 2007), and it is possible that imports will be at a record high later this year...
Young Workers Deserve Opportunities, Not Exploitation New York Times ...Despite national and international laws, conventions and standards prohibiting child labor, businesses continue to stumble in their efforts to stop young workers from being exploited at manufacturing sites around the world...
State Battles
Progressive Groups Merge in Effort to Counter ALEC in State Capitols Wall Street Journal ...The Progressives States Network and the American Legislative and Issue Campaign Exchange – ALICE, compared to the conservative ALEC – are merging in order to push state-level progressive legislation...
Firefighters union seeks to stop Detroit restructuring over bargaining rights Detroit News ...The city’s last remaining major labor union that hasn’t reached a contract deal in bankruptcy was in court Wednesday arguing Detroit’s changes to pensions for the next decade violates its members’ collective bargaining rights...
GOP Governor Implements GOP Economics, Disaster Ensues Washington Post ...At a time when most states are seeing higher revenues as the country recovers economically, Kansas’ revenues have plummeted. The result has been cuts to schools, cuts to higher education, cuts to libraries, and cuts to local health centers. Kansas’ job growth and income growth are lagging the nation’s. In response to the fiscal difficulties, Moody’s recently lowered the state’s bond rating...
If Congress Won’t Raise the Minimum Wage, These Cities Will The Nation ...cities around the country have begun doing end-runs around the gridlock. San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Fe and Washington, DC, have all passed their own minimum-wage boosts, while Seattle set the record this spring with its $15 an hour minimum-wage hike. Now, San Diego has joined the effort, recently passing an ordinance to lift the city minimum to $11.50 an hour, and Los Angeles may be heading in that direction. Will more cities follow? ...
Proposal To Raise Minimum Wage Clears Initial Hurdle The Times Record ...A ballot proposal to raise the minimum wage in Arkansas has met the initial signature requirement, Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office said Wednesday...
San Francisco Task Force Says Licenses Of Wage Theft Violators Should Be Revoked Daily Labor Report ...San Francisco must increase staffing, improve interdepartmental coordination and enact an ordinance allowing permit suspension and revocation for employers found to have committed wage theft, a task force recommended to the city's board of supervisors July 10...
Eric Holder May Step Into Wisconsin's Voter ID Lawsuits Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel ...Gov. Scott Walker and Republicans in the Legislature approved a law in 2011 that required voters to show photo ID at the polls. Four lawsuits — two in federal court and two in state court — quickly followed...
War On Workers
Koch High: How The Koch Brothers Are Buying Their Way Into The Minds Of Public School Students Huffington Post ...With spending on public education under heavy assault -- in large part by Koch-funded organizations and politicians they support -- the nation's poorest school districts are in desperate need of resources, making the free Koch curriculum an attractive alternative to nothing...
Worker killed in construction accident at UofL WAVE3 News ...Warner was working on a dorm under construction at 2501 S. 4th Street. Carroll says it appears Warner had fallen...
Young adults drive record U.S. trend of multi-generational homes Reuters ...The number of Americans living in multi-generational households has doubled since 1980. The figure spiked during the 2007-2009 recession and has moved higher since then, the analysis by the Pew Research Center said...
Worker killed at Kings Mountain plant WCNC ...Officials are investigating a deadly accident at a printing plant...The Department of Labor says the worker died as a result of his skull being crushed...
Snowden: NSA employees routinely pass around intercepted nude photos ars technica ...Edward Snowden has revealed that he witnessed “numerous instances” of National Security Agency (NSA) employees passing around nude photos that were intercepted “in the course of their daily work.”...
1934 Teamsters strike in Minneapolis remembered on 80th anniversary Minneapolis Star Tribune ...“This event hit national significance in terms of the American labor movement,” said David Riehle, an organizer for the Remember 1934 festivities and a former railroad engineer. “It really was one of the battles that ignited the struggle for unionization that unfolded throughout the ’30s....”
Teamsters On Set Of New Sci-Fi Netflix Series Being Filmed In Chicago teamster.org ..."Right out of the gate, our members know they’ll be working on 10 episodes of this new show..."
Teamster Drivers At GET Bus On Strike For Fair Contract teamster.org ...The local union has been negotiating a new contract with the employer since January. Union members are drivers, mechanics and support staff at the public transportation company...
Teamsters Local 337 Trash Transporters Ratify First Contract teamster.org ...“The contract addresses their concerns about fair wages, respect on the job and more affordable health insurance—they will be covered under the Michigan Conference of Teamsters health fund...”
Trade
#noTTIP: The Rising Global Movement against the US-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) Centre For Research On Globalization ...As the next round of negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) take place in Brussels this week, civil society groups are continuing to mobilise against this ongoing free trade agreement between the U.S. and EU that poses a threat to our public services, environment, food, privacy and democracy...
The deadline is Monday to stop government trade deception Trade Reform ...Under a proposed federal rule, an iPhone made in China and sold to Europe could be falsely considered an American export!...
LA area Port Traffic: Imports increasing Econbrowser ...Imports were up 13% year-over-year in June, exports were up 7% year-over-year. Imports were 4% below the all time high for June (set in June 2007), and it is possible that imports will be at a record high later this year...
Young Workers Deserve Opportunities, Not Exploitation New York Times ...Despite national and international laws, conventions and standards prohibiting child labor, businesses continue to stumble in their efforts to stop young workers from being exploited at manufacturing sites around the world...
State Battles
Progressive Groups Merge in Effort to Counter ALEC in State Capitols Wall Street Journal ...The Progressives States Network and the American Legislative and Issue Campaign Exchange – ALICE, compared to the conservative ALEC – are merging in order to push state-level progressive legislation...
Firefighters union seeks to stop Detroit restructuring over bargaining rights Detroit News ...The city’s last remaining major labor union that hasn’t reached a contract deal in bankruptcy was in court Wednesday arguing Detroit’s changes to pensions for the next decade violates its members’ collective bargaining rights...
GOP Governor Implements GOP Economics, Disaster Ensues Washington Post ...At a time when most states are seeing higher revenues as the country recovers economically, Kansas’ revenues have plummeted. The result has been cuts to schools, cuts to higher education, cuts to libraries, and cuts to local health centers. Kansas’ job growth and income growth are lagging the nation’s. In response to the fiscal difficulties, Moody’s recently lowered the state’s bond rating...
If Congress Won’t Raise the Minimum Wage, These Cities Will The Nation ...cities around the country have begun doing end-runs around the gridlock. San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Fe and Washington, DC, have all passed their own minimum-wage boosts, while Seattle set the record this spring with its $15 an hour minimum-wage hike. Now, San Diego has joined the effort, recently passing an ordinance to lift the city minimum to $11.50 an hour, and Los Angeles may be heading in that direction. Will more cities follow? ...
Proposal To Raise Minimum Wage Clears Initial Hurdle The Times Record ...A ballot proposal to raise the minimum wage in Arkansas has met the initial signature requirement, Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office said Wednesday...
San Francisco Task Force Says Licenses Of Wage Theft Violators Should Be Revoked Daily Labor Report ...San Francisco must increase staffing, improve interdepartmental coordination and enact an ordinance allowing permit suspension and revocation for employers found to have committed wage theft, a task force recommended to the city's board of supervisors July 10...
Eric Holder May Step Into Wisconsin's Voter ID Lawsuits Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel ...Gov. Scott Walker and Republicans in the Legislature approved a law in 2011 that required voters to show photo ID at the polls. Four lawsuits — two in federal court and two in state court — quickly followed...
War On Workers
Koch High: How The Koch Brothers Are Buying Their Way Into The Minds Of Public School Students Huffington Post ...With spending on public education under heavy assault -- in large part by Koch-funded organizations and politicians they support -- the nation's poorest school districts are in desperate need of resources, making the free Koch curriculum an attractive alternative to nothing...
Worker killed in construction accident at UofL WAVE3 News ...Warner was working on a dorm under construction at 2501 S. 4th Street. Carroll says it appears Warner had fallen...
Young adults drive record U.S. trend of multi-generational homes Reuters ...The number of Americans living in multi-generational households has doubled since 1980. The figure spiked during the 2007-2009 recession and has moved higher since then, the analysis by the Pew Research Center said...
Worker killed at Kings Mountain plant WCNC ...Officials are investigating a deadly accident at a printing plant...The Department of Labor says the worker died as a result of his skull being crushed...
Snowden: NSA employees routinely pass around intercepted nude photos ars technica ...Edward Snowden has revealed that he witnessed “numerous instances” of National Security Agency (NSA) employees passing around nude photos that were intercepted “in the course of their daily work.”...
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Today's Teamster News June 15, 2014
Teamsters
Obama signs order; SEPTA Regional Rails to roll Sunday Philly.com ...President Obama signed an executive order Saturday evening, appointing an emergency board to mediate the SEPTA labor dispute, thus averting a lengthy strike. All 13 SEPTA Regional Rail lines should be back to normal operating schedules Sunday morning...
Trade
Obama’s Free Trade Strategy Falters in Asia Inter Press Service ...Obama’s latest trip to Asia, however, underlined the inability of Washington to balance its economic and geopolitical initiatives in the region. While Obama managed to strike new strategic agreements with leading Southeast Asian countries, namely Malaysia and the Philippines, and strengthen bilateral military alliances with Japan and South Korea, there was, in turn, no concrete development vis-à-vis the ongoing TPP negotiations...
State Battles
Mayor vetoes collective bargaining ordinance WANE ...(Fort Wayne) Mayor Tom Henry has vetoed the ordinance passed by the City Council that would have ended collective bargaining for non-public safety union employees...
International Human Rights Violations in Detroit On the Commons ...The water department has decreed that it will turn the water off to all 150,000 residences that are behind on their bills by the end of the summer although it has made no such threat to the many corporations and other institutions that are in arrears on their bills as well...
War on Workers
Recession linked to more than 10,000 suicides CBS News ...New research suggests that the economic downturn could be linked with more than 10,000 suicides across North America and Europe. The study found that between 2008 and 2010, rates of suicide surged in the European Union, Canada and the United States…
A Three-Pronged Attack on Organized Labor Huffington Post ...The claim that companies leave the U.S. to avoid paying union wages is false. It's an outright lie disseminated by free market fundamentalists, and anyone who believes it is a dupe. The reason companies leave is to avoid paying an American wage...
Who actually earns the minimum wage? CBS News ...While more than a quarter of all low-wage workers were teenagers back in 1979, today only about one in 10 are teens ... almost 37 percent of these employees on low wages, defined as less than $10.10 per hour, are between 35 to 64 years old...
Senior NSA Executive: NSA Started Spying On Journalists in 2002 … In Order to Make Sure They Didn’t Report On Mass Surveillance Washington's Blog ...Senior NSA executive Thomas Drake tells Washington’s Blog that the spying on reporters started12 years ago – in 2002 – and has been fairly systematic...
Miscellaneous
As Iraq fighting rages, gas prices climb CBS Money Watch ...A rising tide of violence in Iraq is driving up prices at the pump...
Wait Times at the VA Angry Bear ...the VA is well beyond the typical private healthcare system in providing “evidence-based protocols of care — not inadvertently ordering up dangerous combinations of drugs, or performing unnecessary surgeries and tests just to make a buck and treating the whole patient and not just one part at a time...”
Obama signs order; SEPTA Regional Rails to roll Sunday Philly.com ...President Obama signed an executive order Saturday evening, appointing an emergency board to mediate the SEPTA labor dispute, thus averting a lengthy strike. All 13 SEPTA Regional Rail lines should be back to normal operating schedules Sunday morning...
Trade
Obama’s Free Trade Strategy Falters in Asia Inter Press Service ...Obama’s latest trip to Asia, however, underlined the inability of Washington to balance its economic and geopolitical initiatives in the region. While Obama managed to strike new strategic agreements with leading Southeast Asian countries, namely Malaysia and the Philippines, and strengthen bilateral military alliances with Japan and South Korea, there was, in turn, no concrete development vis-à-vis the ongoing TPP negotiations...
State Battles
Mayor vetoes collective bargaining ordinance WANE ...(Fort Wayne) Mayor Tom Henry has vetoed the ordinance passed by the City Council that would have ended collective bargaining for non-public safety union employees...
International Human Rights Violations in Detroit On the Commons ...The water department has decreed that it will turn the water off to all 150,000 residences that are behind on their bills by the end of the summer although it has made no such threat to the many corporations and other institutions that are in arrears on their bills as well...
War on Workers
Recession linked to more than 10,000 suicides CBS News ...New research suggests that the economic downturn could be linked with more than 10,000 suicides across North America and Europe. The study found that between 2008 and 2010, rates of suicide surged in the European Union, Canada and the United States…
A Three-Pronged Attack on Organized Labor Huffington Post ...The claim that companies leave the U.S. to avoid paying union wages is false. It's an outright lie disseminated by free market fundamentalists, and anyone who believes it is a dupe. The reason companies leave is to avoid paying an American wage...
Who actually earns the minimum wage? CBS News ...While more than a quarter of all low-wage workers were teenagers back in 1979, today only about one in 10 are teens ... almost 37 percent of these employees on low wages, defined as less than $10.10 per hour, are between 35 to 64 years old...
Senior NSA Executive: NSA Started Spying On Journalists in 2002 … In Order to Make Sure They Didn’t Report On Mass Surveillance Washington's Blog ...Senior NSA executive Thomas Drake tells Washington’s Blog that the spying on reporters started12 years ago – in 2002 – and has been fairly systematic...
Miscellaneous
As Iraq fighting rages, gas prices climb CBS Money Watch ...A rising tide of violence in Iraq is driving up prices at the pump...
Wait Times at the VA Angry Bear ...the VA is well beyond the typical private healthcare system in providing “evidence-based protocols of care — not inadvertently ordering up dangerous combinations of drugs, or performing unnecessary surgeries and tests just to make a buck and treating the whole patient and not just one part at a time...”
Monday, December 30, 2013
Today's Teamsters News 12.30.13
Refinery news: Minnesota Northern Tier workers may strike Dec. 31 on wages, safety issues: Teamsters Platts ...Minnesota's Northern Tier refinery is facing a potential strike that could shut its refinery in Saint Paul Park, Minnesota, as soon as December 31, according to Teamsters Local 120, which represents about 200 workers at the plant...
Service Corporation International : Teamsters Local 727 Updates on Service Corp. International Refuses Interest Arbitration Teamsters Local 727 ...Teamsters Local 727 announced Service Corp. International refused an interest arbitration offer made by the Teamsters to end a five- month lockout of Chicago funeral directors and drivers...
Antiques to replace NYC horse carriages CNN ...If activists have their way, horse-drawn carriages in New York City may soon be replaced by antique electric cars...
Charts: The Worst Long-Term Unemployment Crisis Since the Depression Mother Jones ...the economic downturn remains in full effect for millions of Americans, particularly the nearly 40 percent of the unemployed who have been looking for work for six months or more...
Where the 1.3 million people losing unemployment aid this week live Washington Post ...every state but one — North Dakota — has added more people than jobs since the recession began...
Elizabeth Warren: It's the Right of Every American to Retire with Dignity -- Why We Must Expand Social Security Alternet ...If we do nothing, Social Security will be safe for the next 20 years and even after that will continue to pay most benefits through the end of the century. With some modest adjustments, we can keep the system solvent for many more years, and could even increase benefits...
Wis. teachers refuses award from Paul Ryan during MLK ceremony: 'Lackey for the 1%' The Blaze ... A Wisconsin teacher refused to accept an award from Rep. Paul Ryan during a ceremony last week, saying he couldn’t do so “in good conscience” because of the Republican congressman’s politics...
As critics gain, ALEC gives ground Politico ...The American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative group of state lawmakers and corporations that, among other things, drafts model legislation, saw an exodus of members and a sharp decline in fundraising after it was tied to controversial “stand your ground laws” like the one made infamous following the shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin...
“Honey, I Shrunk Killed the Middle Class” naked capitalism ... even as the stock market roars ahead, more investors are coming to recognize the shoddy foundations of this so-called recovery and perhaps more important, that the legitimacy of the ruling classes erodes quickly when ordinary citizens recognize how badly the deck is stacked against them...
'Military-Style' Raid on California Power Station Spooks U.S. Foreign Policy ...Around 1:00 AM on April 16, at least one individual (possibly two) entered two different manholes at the PG&E Metcalf power substation, southeast of San Jose, and cut fiber cables in the area around the substation. That knocked out some local 911 services, landline service to the substation, and cell phone service in the area, a senior U.S. intelligence official told Foreign Policy. The intruder(s) then fired more than 100 rounds from what two officials described as a high-powered rifle at several transformers in the facility. Ten transformers were damaged in one area of the facility, and three transformer banks -- or groups of transformers -- were hit in another...
Home Prices Back at Peaks in Some Areas Wall Street Journal ...Home prices have zipped back into record territory in a handful of American cities, a milestone that comes seven years after the housing bust ravaged the market and the broader economy. Values are up more than 13% from their 2007 high in Oklahoma City and by more than 6% in the Denver metro area. Prices are back to all-time highs in 10 of the nation's 50 largest metropolitan areas...
This Trade Fight Is Against ‘Global Apartheid’ (opinion) Campaign for America's Future ...organizations ... (should) step up against is what she calls “this global apartheid phenomenon” in which “international elites, some of whom don’t have a allegiance to any country,” are creating conditions that are worsening economic inequality and racial inequities around the world, including the United States...
Why China is stepping up its presence in Detroit auto industry TradeReform ...Encouraged by the low price of real estate and the high level of advanced engineering talent, dozens of Chinese auto companies and suppliers are opening plants and offices in and around the Motor City, where they hope to one day sell cars to US buyers...
‘Safe Harbor’ in Bankruptcy Is Upended in Detroit Case New York Times ...“When you’re in a municipal bankruptcy, where the debtor is a municipality, there are very strong public-interest considerations that ought to be balanced,” Mr. Schwarcz said. He and other specialists said there had not been any such discussion in Detroit’s case...
France’s Hollande Gets Court Approval for 75% Millionaire Tax Bloomberg ...French President Francois Hollande received approval from the country’s constitutional court to proceed with his plan to tax salaries above 1 million euros at 75 percent for this year and next....
Setback for Scalia in Attempt to Curtail Labor Rights truthout ...the Supreme Court decided against ruling on a legal decision from a lower court which, if broadly applied, could have undermined some of the few remaining effective union organizing techniques: neutrality and card check agreements...
Service Corporation International : Teamsters Local 727 Updates on Service Corp. International Refuses Interest Arbitration Teamsters Local 727 ...Teamsters Local 727 announced Service Corp. International refused an interest arbitration offer made by the Teamsters to end a five- month lockout of Chicago funeral directors and drivers...
Antiques to replace NYC horse carriages CNN ...If activists have their way, horse-drawn carriages in New York City may soon be replaced by antique electric cars...
Charts: The Worst Long-Term Unemployment Crisis Since the Depression Mother Jones ...the economic downturn remains in full effect for millions of Americans, particularly the nearly 40 percent of the unemployed who have been looking for work for six months or more...
Where the 1.3 million people losing unemployment aid this week live Washington Post ...every state but one — North Dakota — has added more people than jobs since the recession began...
Elizabeth Warren: It's the Right of Every American to Retire with Dignity -- Why We Must Expand Social Security Alternet ...If we do nothing, Social Security will be safe for the next 20 years and even after that will continue to pay most benefits through the end of the century. With some modest adjustments, we can keep the system solvent for many more years, and could even increase benefits...
Wis. teachers refuses award from Paul Ryan during MLK ceremony: 'Lackey for the 1%' The Blaze ... A Wisconsin teacher refused to accept an award from Rep. Paul Ryan during a ceremony last week, saying he couldn’t do so “in good conscience” because of the Republican congressman’s politics...
As critics gain, ALEC gives ground Politico ...The American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative group of state lawmakers and corporations that, among other things, drafts model legislation, saw an exodus of members and a sharp decline in fundraising after it was tied to controversial “stand your ground laws” like the one made infamous following the shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin...
“Honey, I Shrunk Killed the Middle Class” naked capitalism ... even as the stock market roars ahead, more investors are coming to recognize the shoddy foundations of this so-called recovery and perhaps more important, that the legitimacy of the ruling classes erodes quickly when ordinary citizens recognize how badly the deck is stacked against them...
'Military-Style' Raid on California Power Station Spooks U.S. Foreign Policy ...Around 1:00 AM on April 16, at least one individual (possibly two) entered two different manholes at the PG&E Metcalf power substation, southeast of San Jose, and cut fiber cables in the area around the substation. That knocked out some local 911 services, landline service to the substation, and cell phone service in the area, a senior U.S. intelligence official told Foreign Policy. The intruder(s) then fired more than 100 rounds from what two officials described as a high-powered rifle at several transformers in the facility. Ten transformers were damaged in one area of the facility, and three transformer banks -- or groups of transformers -- were hit in another...
Home Prices Back at Peaks in Some Areas Wall Street Journal ...Home prices have zipped back into record territory in a handful of American cities, a milestone that comes seven years after the housing bust ravaged the market and the broader economy. Values are up more than 13% from their 2007 high in Oklahoma City and by more than 6% in the Denver metro area. Prices are back to all-time highs in 10 of the nation's 50 largest metropolitan areas...
This Trade Fight Is Against ‘Global Apartheid’ (opinion) Campaign for America's Future ...organizations ... (should) step up against is what she calls “this global apartheid phenomenon” in which “international elites, some of whom don’t have a allegiance to any country,” are creating conditions that are worsening economic inequality and racial inequities around the world, including the United States...
Why China is stepping up its presence in Detroit auto industry TradeReform ...Encouraged by the low price of real estate and the high level of advanced engineering talent, dozens of Chinese auto companies and suppliers are opening plants and offices in and around the Motor City, where they hope to one day sell cars to US buyers...
‘Safe Harbor’ in Bankruptcy Is Upended in Detroit Case New York Times ...“When you’re in a municipal bankruptcy, where the debtor is a municipality, there are very strong public-interest considerations that ought to be balanced,” Mr. Schwarcz said. He and other specialists said there had not been any such discussion in Detroit’s case...
France’s Hollande Gets Court Approval for 75% Millionaire Tax Bloomberg ...French President Francois Hollande received approval from the country’s constitutional court to proceed with his plan to tax salaries above 1 million euros at 75 percent for this year and next....
Setback for Scalia in Attempt to Curtail Labor Rights truthout ...the Supreme Court decided against ruling on a legal decision from a lower court which, if broadly applied, could have undermined some of the few remaining effective union organizing techniques: neutrality and card check agreements...
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Today's Teamster News 11.21.13
Cook County Corrections Officers Vote to Remain Teamsters teamstersjc25.com ...Officers at the Cook County Department of Corrections voted last week to remain members of Teamsters Local 700, the strongest union in Cook County...
Why Port Truckers Are Striking: 12-Hour Shifts, Noxious Fumes and $12.90 Paychecks In These Times ...The drivers have filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board charging that the company retaliated against them for pushing forward with a drive to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters...
Wall Street Boom Doesn’t Lessen Workers’ Gloom teamster.org ...A key Wall Street indicator, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, crossed above 16,000 for the first time this week. But for Teamsters and other working Americans concerned about economic security, the news meant damn near nothing...
CEOs With Massive Retirement Fortunes Push Social Security Cuts The Nation ...“I find it hypocritical to see CEOs sitting on massive retirement fortunes of their own saying that the solution to the country’s fiscal challenge is to put an even greater burden on retirees, many of whom already struggling,”...
Inequality is (Literally) Killing America The Nation ...“The lower people’s income, the earlier they die and the sicker they live,”...
Fact Check: Social Security Does Not Increase the Deficit Alternet ...Bought politicians and pundits continue to spread nonsense about America's best-loved program...
Poll: Voters want Social Security expanded, not cut Salon ...A new poll from the Democratic-aligned Public Policy Polling (PPP) and MoveOn.org has found that by overwhelming margins, voters want Social Security expanded — not cut...
Meet the Koch funded “stink tanks” that are influencing policy Salon ...By disguising corporate propaganda as legitimate research they're pushing a hard-right agenda...
In an Attack Ad, an Alaskan Voter Is Really an Actress From Maryland New York Times ...In a tough new advertisement from the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity, an unnamed woman looks directly into the camera and upbraids Senator Mark Begich, Democrat of Alaska...
Gov't finds merit in labor claims against Wal-Mart Associated Press ...Federal officials said Monday they are prepared to file formal complaints against Wal-Mart for allegedly violating the legal rights of protesting workers last year...
How can you study when you can’t eat? The invisible problem of hunger on campus Salon ...Thousands of students around the country are homeless or hungry, and their classmates and colleges might never know...
David Beats Goliath!: How the Little Guy Beat A Mega-Corporation AlterNet ...Target publicly announced it would “ban the box” on all its employment applications nationwide. This is great news for hundreds of thousands of job seekers across the country who have criminal histories, people who, in this economy, need access to jobs more than ever...
Man claims Bank of America gave him heart attack, files lawsuit WSOC-TV ...A man is suing Bank of America claiming the bank gave him a heart attack. He said their mistake caused him stress and he collapsed in a local branch and had to be rushed to the hospital...
US to advise Puerto Rico on economy Associated Press ... The U.S. government is sending a team of federal officials to help Puerto Rico manage an economic crisis as the U.S. territory braces for its eighth year of recession...
Hundreds of Chinese workers protest after Microsoft Nokia deal Reuters ...Hundreds of workers shouted slogans on Wednesday outside a Nokia factory in southern China to protest against what they called nfair compensation after the company sold its mobile telephones business to Microsoft Corp...
The reality of hungry schoolchildren EnetEnglish ...Based on a sample of 16,000 (Greek) households last year, research funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation found that 60% faced food insecurity, while 23% were experiencing food insecurity accompanied by hunger...
Supreme court prosecutor says former finance minister should face criminal charges EnetEnglish ...Former finance minister George Papaconstantinou should be tried by a special court over his handing of the so-called Lagarde list of over 2,000 suspected Greeks with undeclared cash deposits in a Swiss bank, a supreme court prosecutor recommended on Wednesday...
Japan Pitches Its High-Speed Train With An Offer To Finance New York Times ...They are trying to bring a maglev train to the crowded Northeast Corridor that will cruise between New York and Washington at more than twice the 150-mile-an-hour top speed of Amtrak’s Acela, the fastest train in the United States. Maglev trains could make the journey in an hour, compared with just under three hours, on a good day, for Acela...
Anheuser-Busch provides relief to tornado victims Packaging Digest ...Anheuser-Busch is providing 2,156 cases of emergency drinking water-or 51,744 cans-for use by residents affected by the recent storms in Washington, Pekin and East Peoria, IL...
Utah town forgets to hold election — again Salt Lake City Tribune ..."Wallsburg never advertised or prepared for an election this year, so no one signed up," said Wasatch County Clerk Brent Titcomb. "They’re going to have to appoint the current mayor and council for two more years and they’ll advertise and have people elected [in 2015]."...
Detroit accused of exaggerating $18bn debts in push for bankruptcy The Guardian ...A Demos thinktank report ... lays the blame for the city's woes at the feet of falling revenues, Wall Street banks and "extreme assumptions" calculated to make its problems worse than they are...
How Wall Street — not pensioners — wrecked Detroit Salon ...Detroit’s bankruptcy was primarily caused by a severe decline in revenue and exacerbated by complicated Wall Street deals that put its ability to pay its expenses at greater risk...
Non-Union Contractors Hit with $400k Fine in Deadly Philly Building Collapse The Building Trades ...Because of the lack of safety procedures in place by Campbell Construction and S&R Contracting, the demolition project of a vacant four-story structure went disastrously wrong; resulting in a large masonry wall collapsing onto an adjacent Salvation Army store next door to the project...
Ohio Senate votes to reduce days for early voting, eliminate so-called 'Golden Week" Cleveland Plain Dealer ...In a party-line vote, the Ohio Senate on Wednesday approved a bill to shorten early voting to eliminate the so-called “Golden Week” that allowed people to both register to vote and cast early in-person absentee ballots at the same time...
Why Port Truckers Are Striking: 12-Hour Shifts, Noxious Fumes and $12.90 Paychecks In These Times ...The drivers have filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board charging that the company retaliated against them for pushing forward with a drive to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters...
Wall Street Boom Doesn’t Lessen Workers’ Gloom teamster.org ...A key Wall Street indicator, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, crossed above 16,000 for the first time this week. But for Teamsters and other working Americans concerned about economic security, the news meant damn near nothing...
CEOs With Massive Retirement Fortunes Push Social Security Cuts The Nation ...“I find it hypocritical to see CEOs sitting on massive retirement fortunes of their own saying that the solution to the country’s fiscal challenge is to put an even greater burden on retirees, many of whom already struggling,”...
Inequality is (Literally) Killing America The Nation ...“The lower people’s income, the earlier they die and the sicker they live,”...
Fact Check: Social Security Does Not Increase the Deficit Alternet ...Bought politicians and pundits continue to spread nonsense about America's best-loved program...
Poll: Voters want Social Security expanded, not cut Salon ...A new poll from the Democratic-aligned Public Policy Polling (PPP) and MoveOn.org has found that by overwhelming margins, voters want Social Security expanded — not cut...
Meet the Koch funded “stink tanks” that are influencing policy Salon ...By disguising corporate propaganda as legitimate research they're pushing a hard-right agenda...
In an Attack Ad, an Alaskan Voter Is Really an Actress From Maryland New York Times ...In a tough new advertisement from the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity, an unnamed woman looks directly into the camera and upbraids Senator Mark Begich, Democrat of Alaska...
Gov't finds merit in labor claims against Wal-Mart Associated Press ...Federal officials said Monday they are prepared to file formal complaints against Wal-Mart for allegedly violating the legal rights of protesting workers last year...
How can you study when you can’t eat? The invisible problem of hunger on campus Salon ...Thousands of students around the country are homeless or hungry, and their classmates and colleges might never know...
David Beats Goliath!: How the Little Guy Beat A Mega-Corporation AlterNet ...Target publicly announced it would “ban the box” on all its employment applications nationwide. This is great news for hundreds of thousands of job seekers across the country who have criminal histories, people who, in this economy, need access to jobs more than ever...
Man claims Bank of America gave him heart attack, files lawsuit WSOC-TV ...A man is suing Bank of America claiming the bank gave him a heart attack. He said their mistake caused him stress and he collapsed in a local branch and had to be rushed to the hospital...
US to advise Puerto Rico on economy Associated Press ... The U.S. government is sending a team of federal officials to help Puerto Rico manage an economic crisis as the U.S. territory braces for its eighth year of recession...
Hundreds of Chinese workers protest after Microsoft Nokia deal Reuters ...Hundreds of workers shouted slogans on Wednesday outside a Nokia factory in southern China to protest against what they called nfair compensation after the company sold its mobile telephones business to Microsoft Corp...
The reality of hungry schoolchildren EnetEnglish ...Based on a sample of 16,000 (Greek) households last year, research funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation found that 60% faced food insecurity, while 23% were experiencing food insecurity accompanied by hunger...
Supreme court prosecutor says former finance minister should face criminal charges EnetEnglish ...Former finance minister George Papaconstantinou should be tried by a special court over his handing of the so-called Lagarde list of over 2,000 suspected Greeks with undeclared cash deposits in a Swiss bank, a supreme court prosecutor recommended on Wednesday...
Japan Pitches Its High-Speed Train With An Offer To Finance New York Times ...They are trying to bring a maglev train to the crowded Northeast Corridor that will cruise between New York and Washington at more than twice the 150-mile-an-hour top speed of Amtrak’s Acela, the fastest train in the United States. Maglev trains could make the journey in an hour, compared with just under three hours, on a good day, for Acela...
Anheuser-Busch provides relief to tornado victims Packaging Digest ...Anheuser-Busch is providing 2,156 cases of emergency drinking water-or 51,744 cans-for use by residents affected by the recent storms in Washington, Pekin and East Peoria, IL...
Utah town forgets to hold election — again Salt Lake City Tribune ..."Wallsburg never advertised or prepared for an election this year, so no one signed up," said Wasatch County Clerk Brent Titcomb. "They’re going to have to appoint the current mayor and council for two more years and they’ll advertise and have people elected [in 2015]."...
Detroit accused of exaggerating $18bn debts in push for bankruptcy The Guardian ...A Demos thinktank report ... lays the blame for the city's woes at the feet of falling revenues, Wall Street banks and "extreme assumptions" calculated to make its problems worse than they are...
How Wall Street — not pensioners — wrecked Detroit Salon ...Detroit’s bankruptcy was primarily caused by a severe decline in revenue and exacerbated by complicated Wall Street deals that put its ability to pay its expenses at greater risk...
Non-Union Contractors Hit with $400k Fine in Deadly Philly Building Collapse The Building Trades ...Because of the lack of safety procedures in place by Campbell Construction and S&R Contracting, the demolition project of a vacant four-story structure went disastrously wrong; resulting in a large masonry wall collapsing onto an adjacent Salvation Army store next door to the project...
Ohio Senate votes to reduce days for early voting, eliminate so-called 'Golden Week" Cleveland Plain Dealer ...In a party-line vote, the Ohio Senate on Wednesday approved a bill to shorten early voting to eliminate the so-called “Golden Week” that allowed people to both register to vote and cast early in-person absentee ballots at the same time...
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Today's Teamster News 10.16.13
ABF Teamsters Approve Western Office Supplement teamster.org ...Teamsters at ABF, who work under the Western Office Supplement, have approved the supplement. Ballots were counted on Monday, October 14. About 67 workers are covered by the supplement...
A union against Inquirer publisher Philadelphia Inquirer ...On Tuesday, the battle over The Inquirer shifted to employees. Outside the newspaper's Center City headquarters, members of the Teamsters locals who package and deliver the paper inflated a 15-foot rat and protested for two hours against publisher Robert J. Hall...
Teamsters Warn of Possible Strike or Lockout at CN Rail Waterloo Region Record ...The Teamsters Union is warning of a potential strike or lockout at CN Rail starting on Oct. 28 after an offer to continue a conciliation effort was rejected by the company...
Unions, pension funds fight to kick Detroit out of bankruptcy court Detroit News ...All the big acronyms will be in federal court at 10 a.m. as labor unions, retirees, pension funds and others try to convince a judge that Detroit is not eligible for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection...
Bodies Double as Cash Machines With U.S. Income Lagging: Economy Bloomberg ...Hair, breast milk and eggs are doubling as automated teller machines for some cash-strapped Americans...
Here Are The Sleaziest Things Congress Has Done During The Shutdown Huffington Post ...After almost two weeks into the shutdown, recent polling has shown record levels of support for replacing every member of Congress, and lawmakers are now less popular than witches and dog poop...
Hypocrites! Corporate Leaders Bemoan the Default Crisis Created by Tea Partiers They Funded AlterNet ...Now big-wigs are begging these yo-yos not to crash the economy...
Support for GOP's Budget Strategy Falls Further Still Slate ...New poll, same takeaway: No one's winning the shutdown/debt ceiling blame game, but congressional Republicans are losing it worse than either congressional Democrats or President Obama...
Mrs. Ted Cruz: VP Goldman Sachs, Economic Policy Advisor to Bush-Cheney Daily Kos ...These people don't even hide their conflicts of interest anymore…
World Bank support for China solar and wind power may have cost U.S. jobs Washington Post ...As investment in alternative energy rebounded in 2011, U.S. wind and solar companies found stiff new competition — Chinese firms dominating the green industries that American officials looked to for growth...
Irish Unveil Austerity Budget, Seek Bailout Exit Associated Press ...Ireland unveiled its seventh straight austerity budget Tuesday, a plan to slash 2.5 billion euros ($3.4 billion) from next year's deficit and pave the way for the nation to escape from its international bailout...
Should Rich Kids Get Most of the Scholarships? Truthout ...it makes a heck of a big difference to your scholarship chances if you don’t have to work 25 hours a week...
Google’s Privacy Violations Under Fire Fire Dog Lake ...Everyone’s favorite tax dodger, Google inc., is trying to put out multiple fires concerning their seeming total disregard for user privacy. In an effort to snatch even more revenue in search – a category they may already be violating anti-trust laws in…
There's an International Plan to Censor the Internet in the Works -- Let's Stop It in Its Tracks AlterNet ...How the Trans Pacific Partnership making its way through Washington seriously undermines citizens’ rights to participate in a free and open Internet...
Burger Cooks Cost $7 Billion a Year in Government Aid Bloomberg ...Hamburger grillers and other fast-food workers at restaurants such as McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) and Wendy’s Co. get about $7 billion a year in U.S. government aid, a report recently published shows...
California Now Seventh State To Bar Employment Discrimination Against Domestic Violence Victims ThinkProgress ...On Friday, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a law that bars employment discrimination against victims of domestic violence and those who experience stalking or sexual assault...
Petitions seek ‘right-to-work’ vote in 2014 Columbus Dispatch ...Supporters of a proposed “right-to-work” issue on Ohio’s 2014 statewide ballot said they have gathered 100,000 signatures and plan a big push next month for more names...
Scott Walker Creates Phantom Jobs To Boost Aides’ Pay ThinkProgress ...Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), who has so far fallen well short on his promise of 250,000 new jobs by 2015, at the same time has created phantom jobs to boost his employees’ pay, including some top aides...
A union against Inquirer publisher Philadelphia Inquirer ...On Tuesday, the battle over The Inquirer shifted to employees. Outside the newspaper's Center City headquarters, members of the Teamsters locals who package and deliver the paper inflated a 15-foot rat and protested for two hours against publisher Robert J. Hall...
Teamsters Warn of Possible Strike or Lockout at CN Rail Waterloo Region Record ...The Teamsters Union is warning of a potential strike or lockout at CN Rail starting on Oct. 28 after an offer to continue a conciliation effort was rejected by the company...
Unions, pension funds fight to kick Detroit out of bankruptcy court Detroit News ...All the big acronyms will be in federal court at 10 a.m. as labor unions, retirees, pension funds and others try to convince a judge that Detroit is not eligible for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection...
Bodies Double as Cash Machines With U.S. Income Lagging: Economy Bloomberg ...Hair, breast milk and eggs are doubling as automated teller machines for some cash-strapped Americans...
Here Are The Sleaziest Things Congress Has Done During The Shutdown Huffington Post ...After almost two weeks into the shutdown, recent polling has shown record levels of support for replacing every member of Congress, and lawmakers are now less popular than witches and dog poop...
Hypocrites! Corporate Leaders Bemoan the Default Crisis Created by Tea Partiers They Funded AlterNet ...Now big-wigs are begging these yo-yos not to crash the economy...
Support for GOP's Budget Strategy Falls Further Still Slate ...New poll, same takeaway: No one's winning the shutdown/debt ceiling blame game, but congressional Republicans are losing it worse than either congressional Democrats or President Obama...
Mrs. Ted Cruz: VP Goldman Sachs, Economic Policy Advisor to Bush-Cheney Daily Kos ...These people don't even hide their conflicts of interest anymore…
World Bank support for China solar and wind power may have cost U.S. jobs Washington Post ...As investment in alternative energy rebounded in 2011, U.S. wind and solar companies found stiff new competition — Chinese firms dominating the green industries that American officials looked to for growth...
Irish Unveil Austerity Budget, Seek Bailout Exit Associated Press ...Ireland unveiled its seventh straight austerity budget Tuesday, a plan to slash 2.5 billion euros ($3.4 billion) from next year's deficit and pave the way for the nation to escape from its international bailout...
Should Rich Kids Get Most of the Scholarships? Truthout ...it makes a heck of a big difference to your scholarship chances if you don’t have to work 25 hours a week...
Google’s Privacy Violations Under Fire Fire Dog Lake ...Everyone’s favorite tax dodger, Google inc., is trying to put out multiple fires concerning their seeming total disregard for user privacy. In an effort to snatch even more revenue in search – a category they may already be violating anti-trust laws in…
There's an International Plan to Censor the Internet in the Works -- Let's Stop It in Its Tracks AlterNet ...How the Trans Pacific Partnership making its way through Washington seriously undermines citizens’ rights to participate in a free and open Internet...
Burger Cooks Cost $7 Billion a Year in Government Aid Bloomberg ...Hamburger grillers and other fast-food workers at restaurants such as McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) and Wendy’s Co. get about $7 billion a year in U.S. government aid, a report recently published shows...
California Now Seventh State To Bar Employment Discrimination Against Domestic Violence Victims ThinkProgress ...On Friday, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a law that bars employment discrimination against victims of domestic violence and those who experience stalking or sexual assault...
Petitions seek ‘right-to-work’ vote in 2014 Columbus Dispatch ...Supporters of a proposed “right-to-work” issue on Ohio’s 2014 statewide ballot said they have gathered 100,000 signatures and plan a big push next month for more names...
Scott Walker Creates Phantom Jobs To Boost Aides’ Pay ThinkProgress ...Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), who has so far fallen well short on his promise of 250,000 new jobs by 2015, at the same time has created phantom jobs to boost his employees’ pay, including some top aides...
Monday, August 5, 2013
Today's Teamster News 08.05.14
The Payday Playbook: How High Cost Lenders Fight to Stay Legal ProPublica ...Outrage over payday loans, which trap millions of Americans in debt and are the best-known type of high-cost loans, has led to dozens of state laws aimed at stamping out abuses. But the industry has proved extremely resilient. In at least 39 states, lenders offering payday or other loans still charge annual rates of 100 percent or more. Sometimes, rates exceed 1,000 percent...
Members of Congress denied access to basic information about NSA The Guardian ...Members of Congress have been repeatedly thwarted when attempting to learn basic information about the National Security Agency (NSA) and the secret FISA court which authorizes its activities, documents provided by two House members demonstrate...
Why Do the People Raising Our Children Earn Poverty Wages? The Nation ...Childcare workers perform that most vital labor, rearing our young. But across the country, they are invisible and poorly paid, without healthcare, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation or other benefits...
Higher Wages Don't Destroy Fast Food Next New Deal ...high wages can lead to more prosperous companies, and those companies aren't getting the bad press about wage-related strikes...
Has the Rise of Online Shopping Made Traffic Worse? The Atlantic ...all those Amazon deliveries could just as easily be increasing congestion by putting more UPS trucks on the road, while at the same time freeing you up to travel for other reasons...
Top Fed economist slams 'incoherent' ECB The Telegraph ...The US Federal Reserve has launched a blistering attack on the European Central Bank, calling for quantitative easing across the board to lift the eurozone fully out of its slump...
Will Medical Trade Be Included in the EU Trade Deal and the TPP? If Not, Why Not? CEPR ... our hospitals, doctors, and medical equipment makers benefit from tariffs on the order of 500 percent or more. If the Obama administration really is interesting in promoting growth through trade it would be difficult to imagine a sector with larger potential gains than trade in medical care...
Detroit workers fear city’s bankruptcy could wipe out their pensions Agence France-Press ...their city-run plan is the only thing keeping them out of food banks or even homeless shelters...
After Detroit bankruptcy, Brits and bankers target Chicago Examiner ...Wall Street bankers are maneuvering to loot municipal pension funds across the country...
Boston Globe newspaper sells for fraction of buying price BBC News ...The New York Times company bought it for $1.1bn (£700m) in 1993 but has now agreed to sell it for $70m...
'Moral Monday' protests heading to Asheville WRAL ...With the North Carolina General Assembly finished for the year, protesters are bringing their Moral Monday demonstrations on the road...
Break given to Christel House could have spared two IPS schools from state takeover Indianapolis Star ...Two Indianapolis Public Schools might never have been taken over by the state if then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett had offered the district the same flexibility he granted a year later to the Christel House Academy charter school...
Members of Congress denied access to basic information about NSA The Guardian ...Members of Congress have been repeatedly thwarted when attempting to learn basic information about the National Security Agency (NSA) and the secret FISA court which authorizes its activities, documents provided by two House members demonstrate...
Why Do the People Raising Our Children Earn Poverty Wages? The Nation ...Childcare workers perform that most vital labor, rearing our young. But across the country, they are invisible and poorly paid, without healthcare, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation or other benefits...
Higher Wages Don't Destroy Fast Food Next New Deal ...high wages can lead to more prosperous companies, and those companies aren't getting the bad press about wage-related strikes...
Has the Rise of Online Shopping Made Traffic Worse? The Atlantic ...all those Amazon deliveries could just as easily be increasing congestion by putting more UPS trucks on the road, while at the same time freeing you up to travel for other reasons...
Top Fed economist slams 'incoherent' ECB The Telegraph ...The US Federal Reserve has launched a blistering attack on the European Central Bank, calling for quantitative easing across the board to lift the eurozone fully out of its slump...
Will Medical Trade Be Included in the EU Trade Deal and the TPP? If Not, Why Not? CEPR ... our hospitals, doctors, and medical equipment makers benefit from tariffs on the order of 500 percent or more. If the Obama administration really is interesting in promoting growth through trade it would be difficult to imagine a sector with larger potential gains than trade in medical care...
Detroit workers fear city’s bankruptcy could wipe out their pensions Agence France-Press ...their city-run plan is the only thing keeping them out of food banks or even homeless shelters...
After Detroit bankruptcy, Brits and bankers target Chicago Examiner ...Wall Street bankers are maneuvering to loot municipal pension funds across the country...
Boston Globe newspaper sells for fraction of buying price BBC News ...The New York Times company bought it for $1.1bn (£700m) in 1993 but has now agreed to sell it for $70m...
'Moral Monday' protests heading to Asheville WRAL ...With the North Carolina General Assembly finished for the year, protesters are bringing their Moral Monday demonstrations on the road...
Break given to Christel House could have spared two IPS schools from state takeover Indianapolis Star ...Two Indianapolis Public Schools might never have been taken over by the state if then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett had offered the district the same flexibility he granted a year later to the Christel House Academy charter school...
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Low-wage strike comes to Chicago, Detroit, Flint, Mich.
 |
| Workers in Chicago picket Whole Foods market over pay, poor treatment. |
Hundreds of workers joined the nationwide low-wage strike today, walking off retail and fast-food restaurant jobs in Chicago, Detroit and Flint, Mich. to protest low wages and abuse. It marked the third day of short strikes in cities across the country, part of a nationwide movement to raise wages and end retaliation for organizing a union.
In Detroit and Flint, the low-wage strike forced restaurant
closings. Large rallies were held in Chicago outside of Whole Foods, McDonald’s
and Checkers, while some fast-food workers took their message to the community.
Workers in other industries have joined the revolt. Teamster
paramedics and EMTs in El Centro, Calif., are in the fourth day of a strike to
fight low wages paid by Gold Cross Ambulance. Teamsters are even now protesting
pharmaceutical distributor McKesson’s retaliations against workers at a
Lakeland, Fla., warehouse. They are
engaging in a rally and shareholder action at McKesson’s annual meeting in San
Francisco.
A wave of labor unrest has hit low-wage employers since last
fall, when fast-food workers first went on strike in New York City. Since then,
a series of short, sudden one-day strikes captured the news media’s attention
and elicited sympathy from a broader public. Revelations of extravagant CEO pay
have helped galvanize the movement, as worker productivity rose and wages fell
since the end of the 2008 recession.
Today in the Windy City, Fight for Fifteen reported more than 200 employees picketed in front of a Whole Foods
market at midday to bring attention to poverty wages and the company’s poor
treatment of them. Strikers demanded higher pay and an end to Whole Foods’
arbitrary point system used to punish workers.
Circling in front of the supermarket entrance, video of the event showed energetic employees making clear they are not going to
stand for mistreatment anymore. Among the chants heard were:
“Hey workers, I’ve got a story. Let’s tell the whole world this is union territory!” as well as “When workers are under attack what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”
 |
| Detroit workers demand fair pay at fast-food restaurant. |
Hold your burgers, hold your fries, make our wages super-sized.
Workers also took the low-wage strike into the community.
Workers at a McDonald’s in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood, for instance, began handing out leaflets in the surrounding area to raise awareness about their
plight. Detroit organizers, meanwhile, used Twitter to call on the public to sign online petitions to show their solidarity with
fast-food workers in their push for a living wage.
In all, employees from 80 restaurant chains in Detroit and Flint walked off the job. Organizers in Chicago said workers from 26 fast-food and retail chains were expected to strike as well. They join the
low-wage strike started this week by workers in New York City, St. Louis and
Kansas City who are fighting for higher
wages and the right to form a union without retaliation.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Today's Teamster News 07.30.13
Waste Drivers In Michigan Join Teamsters Local 337 IBT ...On July 26, drivers who transport trash in their tractor-trailer rigs voted overwhelmingly to join Local 337 in Detroit/Port Huron...
Teamsters Still Question Mexican Truck Safety Despite Court Decision IBT ...The Teamsters today questioned the safety of Mexican trucks after a federal court refused to rehear the union’s challenge to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s cross-border truck pilot program...
Teamster horse-and-carriage drivers lash out on ASPCA’s alleged anti-Christine Quinn moves New York Daily News ...Teamsters Local 533 says the ASPCA violated its nonprofit status by giving $450,000 over the past several years to New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets, or NYCLASS, which wants to end the horse-carriage industry and runs a website called QuinnHatesAnimals.com...
Latest UPS Update IBT ...As you are aware, the national agreement was approved by a majority of Teamsters who voted. However, 17 supplements and riders were not approved...
Teamster Lake Transit workers vote to strike indefinitely Lake County News ...On Sunday, Lake Transit Authority workers, who are members of Teamsters Local 665, voted to strike until they settle their new contract--a move that's expected to result in curtailed services for the county's transit riders...
Massive Cuts Looming for MTD Bus Riders Santa Barbara Independent ...Four Lines Face Outright Elimination, Another 13 Threatened With Reduced Service. Unless funding is restored, 50 MTD bus drivers, who are represented by Teamsters Local 186, would be affected by the cuts...
BART And Unions Still Far Apart Before Strike Deadline KCBS5 News ...While Bay Area Rapid Transit worker contract talks were scheduled to continue this week, the transit agency’s management and labor unions remain as far apart as ever, offering little hope that an agreement will be made before the strike deadline August 4th...
Misclassification of employees carries penalties (opinion) ABQ Journal …This practice of misclassification has created substantial problems for affected employees and for the United States Treasury, the Social Security and Medicare...
Fast food strikes intensify in seven cities Salon ...The biggest walkout yet began yesterday morning -- and the strikes could have far-reaching implications for labor…
Teachers crowd final Raleigh 'Moral Monday' protest Associated Press ...Thousands of North Carolina teachers and other protesters on Monday staged one of the largest of the almost-weekly demonstrations opposing Republican policy decisions...
Michigan attorney general backs pensioners in Detroit bankruptcy Global Post ...Michigan's Attorney General Bill Schuette, a Republican, said on Saturday he would defend retirees who risk losing public pensions because of Detroit's bankruptcy, putting him at odds with the city's emergency manager appointed by fellow Republican Governor Rick Snyder...
Labor playing field needs to be leveled with ideas from both sides of the aisle (opinion) Oakland Press ...A recent guest opinion asserted that the passage of so-called Right-to-Work legislation in Michigan led to the state's mild economic recovery. To the contrary, it is highly doubtful that Michigan gained a single high-wage job as a result of Right-to-Work or any other piece of anti-labor legislation...
Quinn signs bill allowing online voter registration in Illinois Chicago Tribune ...Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn signed a measure into law Saturday that will make Illinois the 18th state to allow voters to register online...
Landmark California regulations under federal fire Los Angeles Times ...Companies are going through Congress to fight California's stricter workplace, consumer and environmental laws. Gridlock and sympathetic Republicans in the House could work in their favor...
State agencies crack down on local temp worker abuse Burlington County Times ...The Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor in South Jersey has some advice for employers who think they are not responsible for making sure temporary workers are getting paid minimum wage: Don’t...
Openness lost in privatization Muskogee Phoenix ...A push toward the privatization of Oklahoma state services is spawning criticism from those who see the trend as the decline of government transparency and accountability...
Teamsters Still Question Mexican Truck Safety Despite Court Decision IBT ...The Teamsters today questioned the safety of Mexican trucks after a federal court refused to rehear the union’s challenge to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s cross-border truck pilot program...
Teamster horse-and-carriage drivers lash out on ASPCA’s alleged anti-Christine Quinn moves New York Daily News ...Teamsters Local 533 says the ASPCA violated its nonprofit status by giving $450,000 over the past several years to New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets, or NYCLASS, which wants to end the horse-carriage industry and runs a website called QuinnHatesAnimals.com...
Latest UPS Update IBT ...As you are aware, the national agreement was approved by a majority of Teamsters who voted. However, 17 supplements and riders were not approved...
Teamster Lake Transit workers vote to strike indefinitely Lake County News ...On Sunday, Lake Transit Authority workers, who are members of Teamsters Local 665, voted to strike until they settle their new contract--a move that's expected to result in curtailed services for the county's transit riders...
Massive Cuts Looming for MTD Bus Riders Santa Barbara Independent ...Four Lines Face Outright Elimination, Another 13 Threatened With Reduced Service. Unless funding is restored, 50 MTD bus drivers, who are represented by Teamsters Local 186, would be affected by the cuts...
BART And Unions Still Far Apart Before Strike Deadline KCBS5 News ...While Bay Area Rapid Transit worker contract talks were scheduled to continue this week, the transit agency’s management and labor unions remain as far apart as ever, offering little hope that an agreement will be made before the strike deadline August 4th...
Misclassification of employees carries penalties (opinion) ABQ Journal …This practice of misclassification has created substantial problems for affected employees and for the United States Treasury, the Social Security and Medicare...
Fast food strikes intensify in seven cities Salon ...The biggest walkout yet began yesterday morning -- and the strikes could have far-reaching implications for labor…
Teachers crowd final Raleigh 'Moral Monday' protest Associated Press ...Thousands of North Carolina teachers and other protesters on Monday staged one of the largest of the almost-weekly demonstrations opposing Republican policy decisions...
Michigan attorney general backs pensioners in Detroit bankruptcy Global Post ...Michigan's Attorney General Bill Schuette, a Republican, said on Saturday he would defend retirees who risk losing public pensions because of Detroit's bankruptcy, putting him at odds with the city's emergency manager appointed by fellow Republican Governor Rick Snyder...
Labor playing field needs to be leveled with ideas from both sides of the aisle (opinion) Oakland Press ...A recent guest opinion asserted that the passage of so-called Right-to-Work legislation in Michigan led to the state's mild economic recovery. To the contrary, it is highly doubtful that Michigan gained a single high-wage job as a result of Right-to-Work or any other piece of anti-labor legislation...
Quinn signs bill allowing online voter registration in Illinois Chicago Tribune ...Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn signed a measure into law Saturday that will make Illinois the 18th state to allow voters to register online...
Landmark California regulations under federal fire Los Angeles Times ...Companies are going through Congress to fight California's stricter workplace, consumer and environmental laws. Gridlock and sympathetic Republicans in the House could work in their favor...
State agencies crack down on local temp worker abuse Burlington County Times ...The Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor in South Jersey has some advice for employers who think they are not responsible for making sure temporary workers are getting paid minimum wage: Don’t...
Openness lost in privatization Muskogee Phoenix ...A push toward the privatization of Oklahoma state services is spawning criticism from those who see the trend as the decline of government transparency and accountability...
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Today's Teamster News 07.28.13
Funeral homes win ruling to hold striking Teamsters at bay Chicago Tribune ...A judge has granted a temporary restraining order to prevent Teamsters Local 727 from picketing funeral homes and halting alleged harassment of grieving families in its dispute with SCI Illinois Services Inc....
‘Made in Vietnam’ a concern for Teamsters Cumberland Times-News ...Teamsters union President James P. Hoffa, along with human rights leaders, say there’s a bleak reality behind imported clothing: Forced labor, child labor and gender discrimination, among other issues...
Will U.S. Face Trade Sanctions for Anti-Smoking Law? Public Citizen ...As the World Trade Organization (WTO) deadline passes today for the United States to comply with a WTO ruling against a U.S. ban on sweet-flavored cigarettes targeting youth, the spotlight shifts back to the WTO, which could now authorize trade sanctions if requested by Indonesia, the country that won the WTO challenge...
Prison Labor Booms As Unemployment Remains High; Companies Reap Benefits Huffington Post ..."nearly a million prisoners are now making office furniture, working in call centers, fabricating body armor, taking hotel reservations, working in slaughterhouses, or manufacturing textiles, shoes, and clothing, while getting paid somewhere between 93 cents and $4.73 per day..."
SPLC secures release of Alabama man jailed after failing to pay $88 trash bill Southern Poverty Law Center ...Though debtors’ prison is supposed to be a thing of the past, a 60-year-old man in Baldwin County, Ala., spent two weeks in jail after failing to pay an $88 trash bill...
You Want a Living Wage With That? Fast Food Workers of N.Y.C. Prep for Another Strike Village Voice ...The strike will be their third since November, when fast food workers from Domino's, McDonald's, Wendy's, Taco Bell and other chains organized a massive walkout...
Fast Food, Low Pay (opinion) New York Times ... Workers with nothing to lose are demanding a living wage of $15 an hour, and gaining strength and confidence...
Evidence Mounts Agent Provocateurs Used by Brazilian Police Common Dreams ...Police sent infiltrators and agent provocateurs into crowds of protesters in Rio de Janeiro Monday—the first day of the Pope's visit to Brazil— as extensive video footage and witness testimony strongly suggests...
Where's the Beef?: The First Thing Obama Can Do By Himself to Create Good Jobs (opinion) Next New Deal ...He can start with an executive order to boost job quality for at least 2 million workers whose pay is financed by the federal government...
Minimum Wage Hike Would Boost Kids and Workers Out of Poverty AFL-CIO Now ...26% of kids younger than 3 are poor and the rate for African American children is 39%. Yet two-thirds of children living in poverty have at least one parent with a full-time, year-round job and many of those are minimum wage jobs...
What parents really think about school reform Washington Post ...most parents want strong neighborhood schools — not choices of schools for their children to attend. They don’t want public money diverted to private-school vouchers, or low-performing schools to be closed, or resources being taken away from traditional public schools to be used for public charter schools...
Student Loans Tied to Rise in Market Rates While Wall Street Banks Have Received a Fixed 6% Return from the Government for the Past Century Wall Street on Parade ... Loans taken out after July 1 of this year will rise to 3.9 percent for undergraduates; to 5.4 percent for graduate students; and to 6.4 percent for parents taking out the student loans...
The tax break that corporate America wants kept secret CNN Money ...Oracle, Google, and Amazon are just a few of the hundreds of large companies that have cut confidential deals with the IRS to help lower their tax bills, and critics want the agency to disclose the details of these complex pacts...
Apple’s record cash haul could repay Detroit’s debt eight times over Quartz ...Apple now has $146.6 billion in cash and marketable securities on its balance sheet, with some $106 billion kept offshore, the company said during today’s earnings call. That’s a record for the poster-child of tech companies maintaining mountains of overseas green. It’s enough to pay off bankrupt Detroit’s $18.5 billion in debt about eight times over...
New $444 million hockey arena is still a go in Detroit CNN Money ...Detroit's financial crisis hasn't derailed the city's plans to spend more than $400 million in Michigan taxpayer funds on a new hockey arena for the Red Wings...
Armed, Masked and Dangerous: the Militias of Privatization vs. the Public Good TruthOut ...Wisconsin, the battleground state where Governor Scott Walker has wielded his power with the grace of an elephant in a Crate and Barrel outlet store, has become the scene of armed, mask wearing, camouflaged security outfits patrolling the backwoods on the lookout for eco-terrorist types at the behest of a mining company more than willing to defile the environment for profits...
A voting rights showdown in North Carolina? CBS News ...North Carolina, a battleground state that's sure to be one again, is putting in place a new package of measures for voter ID requirements and - importantly - changing its early voting periods, among other measures, steps that many believe have it headed for a voting rights lawsuit...
‘Made in Vietnam’ a concern for Teamsters Cumberland Times-News ...Teamsters union President James P. Hoffa, along with human rights leaders, say there’s a bleak reality behind imported clothing: Forced labor, child labor and gender discrimination, among other issues...
Will U.S. Face Trade Sanctions for Anti-Smoking Law? Public Citizen ...As the World Trade Organization (WTO) deadline passes today for the United States to comply with a WTO ruling against a U.S. ban on sweet-flavored cigarettes targeting youth, the spotlight shifts back to the WTO, which could now authorize trade sanctions if requested by Indonesia, the country that won the WTO challenge...
Prison Labor Booms As Unemployment Remains High; Companies Reap Benefits Huffington Post ..."nearly a million prisoners are now making office furniture, working in call centers, fabricating body armor, taking hotel reservations, working in slaughterhouses, or manufacturing textiles, shoes, and clothing, while getting paid somewhere between 93 cents and $4.73 per day..."
SPLC secures release of Alabama man jailed after failing to pay $88 trash bill Southern Poverty Law Center ...Though debtors’ prison is supposed to be a thing of the past, a 60-year-old man in Baldwin County, Ala., spent two weeks in jail after failing to pay an $88 trash bill...
You Want a Living Wage With That? Fast Food Workers of N.Y.C. Prep for Another Strike Village Voice ...The strike will be their third since November, when fast food workers from Domino's, McDonald's, Wendy's, Taco Bell and other chains organized a massive walkout...
Fast Food, Low Pay (opinion) New York Times ... Workers with nothing to lose are demanding a living wage of $15 an hour, and gaining strength and confidence...
Evidence Mounts Agent Provocateurs Used by Brazilian Police Common Dreams ...Police sent infiltrators and agent provocateurs into crowds of protesters in Rio de Janeiro Monday—the first day of the Pope's visit to Brazil— as extensive video footage and witness testimony strongly suggests...
Where's the Beef?: The First Thing Obama Can Do By Himself to Create Good Jobs (opinion) Next New Deal ...He can start with an executive order to boost job quality for at least 2 million workers whose pay is financed by the federal government...
Minimum Wage Hike Would Boost Kids and Workers Out of Poverty AFL-CIO Now ...26% of kids younger than 3 are poor and the rate for African American children is 39%. Yet two-thirds of children living in poverty have at least one parent with a full-time, year-round job and many of those are minimum wage jobs...
What parents really think about school reform Washington Post ...most parents want strong neighborhood schools — not choices of schools for their children to attend. They don’t want public money diverted to private-school vouchers, or low-performing schools to be closed, or resources being taken away from traditional public schools to be used for public charter schools...
Student Loans Tied to Rise in Market Rates While Wall Street Banks Have Received a Fixed 6% Return from the Government for the Past Century Wall Street on Parade ... Loans taken out after July 1 of this year will rise to 3.9 percent for undergraduates; to 5.4 percent for graduate students; and to 6.4 percent for parents taking out the student loans...
The tax break that corporate America wants kept secret CNN Money ...Oracle, Google, and Amazon are just a few of the hundreds of large companies that have cut confidential deals with the IRS to help lower their tax bills, and critics want the agency to disclose the details of these complex pacts...
Apple’s record cash haul could repay Detroit’s debt eight times over Quartz ...Apple now has $146.6 billion in cash and marketable securities on its balance sheet, with some $106 billion kept offshore, the company said during today’s earnings call. That’s a record for the poster-child of tech companies maintaining mountains of overseas green. It’s enough to pay off bankrupt Detroit’s $18.5 billion in debt about eight times over...
New $444 million hockey arena is still a go in Detroit CNN Money ...Detroit's financial crisis hasn't derailed the city's plans to spend more than $400 million in Michigan taxpayer funds on a new hockey arena for the Red Wings...
Armed, Masked and Dangerous: the Militias of Privatization vs. the Public Good TruthOut ...Wisconsin, the battleground state where Governor Scott Walker has wielded his power with the grace of an elephant in a Crate and Barrel outlet store, has become the scene of armed, mask wearing, camouflaged security outfits patrolling the backwoods on the lookout for eco-terrorist types at the behest of a mining company more than willing to defile the environment for profits...
A voting rights showdown in North Carolina? CBS News ...North Carolina, a battleground state that's sure to be one again, is putting in place a new package of measures for voter ID requirements and - importantly - changing its early voting periods, among other measures, steps that many believe have it headed for a voting rights lawsuit...
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Today's Teamster News 07.25.13
Labor and Human Rights Coalition, including Teamsters, Call for Suspension of Trade Discussion with Vietnam IBT ...Yesterday, a coalition of labor and human rights leaders called on negotiations with Vietnam around the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to be suspended until the country can prove it has met basic labor, environmental and human right standards...
SCI is a Bad Neighbor, Forcing Teamsters Out on Strike IBT ...SCI, a $3.5 billion corporation which operates 16 funeral homes in the Chicagoland area, forced its Local 727 Teamsters out on an unfair labor practices strike on July 2. Visit http://www.integrityinillinois.com/ for updates on their fight for fairness. View the video here...
The Teamsters donate $40,000 to the victims of Lac-Mégantic Canada Newswire ...Teamsters Canada has collected $40,000 from its locals throughout the country and it will be donated to help out the victims of the Lac-Mégantic rail tragedy...
Teamster nursing staff at ECRMC in contract negotiations with hospital Imperial Valley Press ...El Centro Regional Medical Center’s nursing staff has presented the hospital with a financial proposal as part of its first contract with the hospital as an organized labor group, a representative from Teamsters Local 542 confirmed...
BLET wants feds to mandate 2-member train crews Associated Press ...Most railroads in the U.S. use at least two crew members to operate freight trains. But there's no federal rule to prevent them from using one employee as did a Maine-based railroad whose train, while unattended, careened into a Canadian town, causing an explosion and fire that killed 47 people…
Some CPD officers seek to join Teamsters Local 142 Chesterton Tribune ...Within the next 30 to 60 days, full-time employees of the Chesterton (Indiana) Police Department -- both sworn officers and civilians -- could put unionization to the vote...
Teamsters Support Vance-Cooks for U.S. Public Printer IBT ...George Tedeschi, on behalf of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, has written Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) in support of the nomination of Davita Vance-Cooks as U.S. Public Printer...
Fired Walmart Workers Arrested in Protest at Yahoo Headquarters The Nation ...Five activists were arrested at Yahoo! headquarters Monday afternoon in a protest over the firing of eleven Walmart employees who this month went on strike...
Wal-Mart Workers Launch Surprise Strike Over Safety Issues Mint Press News ...At least 30 non-union Wal-Mart warehouse workers in California launched a surprise two-day strike this morning to protest alleged retaliation for exposing safety risks...
Wisconsin Capitol Protest Leads To Two Dozen Arrests As Police Crack Down On Anti-GOP Demonstration Huffington Post ...Police made numerous arrests inside the Wisconsin's Capitol building on Wednesday, more than two years after tens of thousands of Wisconsinites filled the rotunda in Madison to protest Gov. Scott Walker's (R) budget...
Chicago Teachers Protest Layoffs, Chanting ‘Emanuel Has Got To Go!’ In These Times ...Bravo and Johnson were among several hundred teachers, parents and community members marching outside the Chicago Board of Education Wednesday morning, protesting the layoffs of more than 2,100 teachers and staff in the past week and other public school cuts...
Detroit firefighters protest outside of bankruptcy hearing Detroit News ...A group of about 40 Detroit firefighters joined protesters gathered outside the downtown federal courthouse Wednesday, to fight against expected cuts to pensions and the potential loss of public safety positions, as lawyers gathered inside for the first hearing in the historic bankruptcy case...
Congress Tells Detroit to Forget Financial Bailout Bloomberg ...Lawmakers in Congress are dismissing the possibility of a federal bailout for Detroit, the largest U.S. city to declare bankruptcy....
Hundreds protest Pittsburgh’s most notorious low-wage employers WPXI-TV ...Hundreds of protestors joined together Wednesday to call on Pittsburgh’s most notorious low wage employers...
North Carolina Senate Passes the Most Draconian Voter Suppression Bill Ever Politicususa ...This bill makes registering hard and voting harder – with the added bonus of longer voting lines. To add insult to the pretense that this is about preserving election integrity, they are making it easier for thugs like True the Vote and the Voter Integrity Project to intimidate voters and for outside groups to help Art Pope buy the government...
OSHA To Require Flight Department Hazmat Training Aviation International News ...New regulations from the OSHA mandate the training of thousands of airline workers by December 1 to educate them on how to identify and protect themselves from hazardous chemicals used in the workplace...
Are Shrinking Unions Making Workers Poorer? The Atlantic ...Here's what we know: Union membership has been nearly cut in half over the past thirty years. During that time, income inequality grew, with the top one percent of wealthiest Americans seeing especially big gains in their pre- and post-tax income. And although the economy has grown, wages have not…
Worker Centers Offer a Backdoor Approach to Union Organizing Wall Street Journal ...Juan Campis was sweating in the 90-plus degree heat as he whipped a white towel across a gleaming black Chevy TrailBlazer at a carwash here in Bronx, N.Y.—one of six in the city that was unionized in recent months with help from two nonprofit community groups…
3 Months After Texas Fertilizer Explosion, Workplace Safety Still Ignored Mint Press News ...Long after the explosion of a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, killed 15 people, workplace safety violations continue to plague workers across the U.S...
New Illinois law to fight misclassification of workers WREX13 ...A bill addressing the misclassification of construction workers as independent contractors has been signed into law by Governor Pat Quinn., meant to fight employers who missclassify their workers in an attempt to avoid paying state employment taxes, unemployment insurance, worker's compensation, and overtime...
Senate passes student loan interest rate compromise Politico ...A hard fought deal to keep student loan interest rates down cleared the Senate Wednesday on a 81-18 vote, despite strong opposition from liberal Democrats who believe it would make skyrocketing student debt even worse in the long run...
SCI is a Bad Neighbor, Forcing Teamsters Out on Strike IBT ...SCI, a $3.5 billion corporation which operates 16 funeral homes in the Chicagoland area, forced its Local 727 Teamsters out on an unfair labor practices strike on July 2. Visit http://www.integrityinillinois.com/ for updates on their fight for fairness. View the video here...
The Teamsters donate $40,000 to the victims of Lac-Mégantic Canada Newswire ...Teamsters Canada has collected $40,000 from its locals throughout the country and it will be donated to help out the victims of the Lac-Mégantic rail tragedy...
Teamster nursing staff at ECRMC in contract negotiations with hospital Imperial Valley Press ...El Centro Regional Medical Center’s nursing staff has presented the hospital with a financial proposal as part of its first contract with the hospital as an organized labor group, a representative from Teamsters Local 542 confirmed...
BLET wants feds to mandate 2-member train crews Associated Press ...Most railroads in the U.S. use at least two crew members to operate freight trains. But there's no federal rule to prevent them from using one employee as did a Maine-based railroad whose train, while unattended, careened into a Canadian town, causing an explosion and fire that killed 47 people…
Some CPD officers seek to join Teamsters Local 142 Chesterton Tribune ...Within the next 30 to 60 days, full-time employees of the Chesterton (Indiana) Police Department -- both sworn officers and civilians -- could put unionization to the vote...
Teamsters Support Vance-Cooks for U.S. Public Printer IBT ...George Tedeschi, on behalf of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, has written Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) in support of the nomination of Davita Vance-Cooks as U.S. Public Printer...
Fired Walmart Workers Arrested in Protest at Yahoo Headquarters The Nation ...Five activists were arrested at Yahoo! headquarters Monday afternoon in a protest over the firing of eleven Walmart employees who this month went on strike...
Wal-Mart Workers Launch Surprise Strike Over Safety Issues Mint Press News ...At least 30 non-union Wal-Mart warehouse workers in California launched a surprise two-day strike this morning to protest alleged retaliation for exposing safety risks...
Wisconsin Capitol Protest Leads To Two Dozen Arrests As Police Crack Down On Anti-GOP Demonstration Huffington Post ...Police made numerous arrests inside the Wisconsin's Capitol building on Wednesday, more than two years after tens of thousands of Wisconsinites filled the rotunda in Madison to protest Gov. Scott Walker's (R) budget...
Chicago Teachers Protest Layoffs, Chanting ‘Emanuel Has Got To Go!’ In These Times ...Bravo and Johnson were among several hundred teachers, parents and community members marching outside the Chicago Board of Education Wednesday morning, protesting the layoffs of more than 2,100 teachers and staff in the past week and other public school cuts...
Detroit firefighters protest outside of bankruptcy hearing Detroit News ...A group of about 40 Detroit firefighters joined protesters gathered outside the downtown federal courthouse Wednesday, to fight against expected cuts to pensions and the potential loss of public safety positions, as lawyers gathered inside for the first hearing in the historic bankruptcy case...
Congress Tells Detroit to Forget Financial Bailout Bloomberg ...Lawmakers in Congress are dismissing the possibility of a federal bailout for Detroit, the largest U.S. city to declare bankruptcy....
Hundreds protest Pittsburgh’s most notorious low-wage employers WPXI-TV ...Hundreds of protestors joined together Wednesday to call on Pittsburgh’s most notorious low wage employers...
North Carolina Senate Passes the Most Draconian Voter Suppression Bill Ever Politicususa ...This bill makes registering hard and voting harder – with the added bonus of longer voting lines. To add insult to the pretense that this is about preserving election integrity, they are making it easier for thugs like True the Vote and the Voter Integrity Project to intimidate voters and for outside groups to help Art Pope buy the government...
OSHA To Require Flight Department Hazmat Training Aviation International News ...New regulations from the OSHA mandate the training of thousands of airline workers by December 1 to educate them on how to identify and protect themselves from hazardous chemicals used in the workplace...
Are Shrinking Unions Making Workers Poorer? The Atlantic ...Here's what we know: Union membership has been nearly cut in half over the past thirty years. During that time, income inequality grew, with the top one percent of wealthiest Americans seeing especially big gains in their pre- and post-tax income. And although the economy has grown, wages have not…
Worker Centers Offer a Backdoor Approach to Union Organizing Wall Street Journal ...Juan Campis was sweating in the 90-plus degree heat as he whipped a white towel across a gleaming black Chevy TrailBlazer at a carwash here in Bronx, N.Y.—one of six in the city that was unionized in recent months with help from two nonprofit community groups…
3 Months After Texas Fertilizer Explosion, Workplace Safety Still Ignored Mint Press News ...Long after the explosion of a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, killed 15 people, workplace safety violations continue to plague workers across the U.S...
New Illinois law to fight misclassification of workers WREX13 ...A bill addressing the misclassification of construction workers as independent contractors has been signed into law by Governor Pat Quinn., meant to fight employers who missclassify their workers in an attempt to avoid paying state employment taxes, unemployment insurance, worker's compensation, and overtime...
Senate passes student loan interest rate compromise Politico ...A hard fought deal to keep student loan interest rates down cleared the Senate Wednesday on a 81-18 vote, despite strong opposition from liberal Democrats who believe it would make skyrocketing student debt even worse in the long run...
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